| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08613111B2 |
Configurable integrated tamper detection circuitry
Tamper detection circuitry includes a first surface layer surrounding a protected memory, the first surface layer comprising a first plurality of conductive sections; a second surface layer surrounding the protected memory, the second surface layer comprising a second plurality of conductive sections; a programmable interconnect located inside the first surface layer, the programmable interconnect being connected to each conductive section by a plurality of conductive traces, the programmable interconnect being configured to group the conductive section of the first and second plurality of conductive sections into a plurality of circuits, each of the plurality of circuits having a different respective voltage; and a tamper detection module, the tamper detection module configured to detect tampering in the event that a conductive section that is part of a first circuit comes into physical contact with a conductive section that is part of a second circuit. |
| US08613110B2 |
Software piracy prevention through remote enforcement of an activation threshold
A system and method for preventing piracy of a given software application limits the number of times that such software application is activated. A given software application must be activated in order to become fully functional. The user must provide a unique software identification code, relating to the specific software which the user is attempting to activate, to a remote provider. The remote provider determines the number of times that such specific software has already been activated, and provides an activation code to the user unless the number of activations exceeds a predetermined threshold. Once activated, the software becomes fully operational, and the user is allowed complete access to its functions. |
| US08613103B2 |
Content control method using versatile control structure
A data object storing data in the memory device is associated with at least one software application. Accessing the object will invoke the at least one software application which processes the data in the object. Individual ones of a plurality of first sets of protocols are selectable for enabling data to be provided and stored in a data object. A second set of protocols can be used to retrieve data from the data object, or data derived from such data, irrespective of which of the first set of protocols was used to enable the provision and storing of data in the object. |
| US08613100B2 |
Data exchange processing apparatus and data exchange processing method
The data exchange processing apparatus pertaining to the present invention includes a cryptographic engine unit performing cryptographic processing and verification processing, a stream control unit outputting content while performing cryptographic processing of the content using the cryptographic engine unit, an unauthorized device list update unit verifying an unauthorized device list using the cryptographic engine unit, and a state management unit outputting a permission notification to the unauthorized device list update unit when detecting a low load section of the content according to metadata of the content and processing position of the stream control unit, the low load section being a section in which processing load on the cryptographic engine unit is lower than in other sections. The unauthorized device list update unit, when receiving the permission notification from the state management unit, causes the cryptographic engine unit to execute verification processing of the unauthorized device list. |
| US08613099B2 |
System for and method of dynamic extension assignment
A system for and method of system for performing dynamic extension assignment is presented. In one exemplary embodiment, the method may comprise receiving, via a network, an extension assignment request associated with a network endpoint, identifying the network endpoint based on one or more properties of the network endpoint, applying one or more rules to identify an extension to be assigned to the network endpoint based on the one or more properties of the endpoint, and assigning the extension to the network endpoint. |
| US08613098B1 |
Method and system for providing a dynamic image verification system to confirm human input
A method and system for providing a dynamic image verification system to confirm human input whereby a dynamic verification image that is pictorial in nature, and/or is animated, is displayed as part of a generated image verification test. The user is then asked to describe the pictorial image and/or the animation shown by the dynamic verification image and/or, in one example, respond to the dynamic verification image in a manner appropriate to the dynamic verification image. Any user entering a correct solution, i.e., describing the pictorial image and/or animated action of the dynamic verification image correctly, or, in one example, interacting with the dynamic verification image in an appropriate manner, is presumed to be a human being, and not a computing system or other automated device. |
| US08613083B1 |
Method for batching events for transmission by software agent
In one embodiment, the present invention provides for receiving security events from a network device by a distributed software agent of a network security system, determining a priority of each received security event, and storing the security events in a plurality of prioritized event buffers based on the determined priorities for a period of time determined by a timer. Upon expiration of the timer, a batch of security events for transport to a security event manager of the network security system can be created by including security events in the batch in order of priority until the batch is full. |
| US08613080B2 |
Assessment and analysis of software security flaws in virtual machines
Security analysis and vulnerability testing results are “packaged” or “bound to” the actual software it describes. By linking the results to the software itself, downstream users of the software can access information about the software, make informed decisions about implementation of the software, and analyze the security risk across an entire system by accessing all (or most) of the reports associated with the executables running on the system and summarizing the risks identified in the reports. |
| US08613078B2 |
Information processing apparatus, control method therefor, and program
The present invention enables improvement in user convenience while reducing security degradation. To accomplish this, an information processing apparatus includes a display unit that displays an operation screen; an acceptance unit that accepts input from a user; a display control unit that controls display so as not to change the operation screen to a predetermined state when a predetermined time elapses without accepting input from the user by the acceptance unit; and an acquisition unit that acquires biological information of the user, wherein the display control unit does not change the operation screen to the predetermined state even if the predetermined time elapses without accepting input from the user by the acceptance unit if, within the predetermined time, the acquisition unit acquires biological information of the last user from whom input was accepted by the acceptance unit before the predetermined time started to be counted. |
| US08613077B2 |
Provisional administrator privileges
A system grants “provisional privileges” to a user request for the purpose of provisionally performing a requested transaction. If the provisionally-performed transaction does not put the system in a degraded state, the transaction is authorized despite the user request having inadequate privileges originally. |
| US08613076B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and storage medium
When receiving an access request to a resource of a first application from a second application, a resource management unit transfers an authentication result for the first application included in the access request to the first application, and when receiving a determination result on whether access of the second application to the resource is permitted from the first application, the resource management unit returns the determination result to the second application. |
| US08613071B2 |
Split termination for secure communication protocols
Transaction accelerators can be configured to terminate secure connections. A server-side accelerator intercepts a secure connection request that is from a client and that is directed to a server. The server-side accelerator responds to the secure connection request in place of the server, thereby establishing a secure connection between the client and the server-side accelerator. Alternatively, the server-side accelerator monitors the establishment of a secure connection between the client and the server. After the secure connection has been established, the server-side accelerator forwards security information to a client-side accelerator, enabling the client-side accelerator to assume control of the secure connection. As a result of this arrangement, the client-side accelerator is able to encrypt and decrypt data on the secure connection and accelerate it in cooperation with the server-side accelerator. In a further embodiment, the accelerated traffic between accelerators is carried across the network via another secure connection. |
| US08613069B1 |
Providing single sign-on for wireless devices
Technologies for wireless device authentication are disclosed. A described technique includes intercepting, at a gateway device, data from an originating device, the data including a request for a uniform resource locator; determining whether the originating device is a wireless device; determining whether the originating device is in an authenticated state relative to the gateway device; if the originating device is a wireless device and is not in the authenticated state, sending data to the originating device, the data including a uniform resource locator redirection command to cause a browser executing on the originating device to launch an authentication application for authenticating the originating device relative to the gateway device by providing user-specific credential information to the gateway device; receiving the user-specific credential information from the originating device; and marking a network address of the originating device as being in the authenticated state based on a successful authentication. |
| US08613062B2 |
Method, terminal, apparatus, and system for device management in network communications
A method, a terminal, an apparatus, and a system for device management (DM) are provided. Specifically, a DM terminal, a DM apparatus, method for managing the terminal device are provided. The method for managing the terminal device includes the following steps: adding, by a DM terminal device, amanagement nodes in a DM tree of the DM terminal device; and recording, by the DM terminal device, MOs types supported by the DM terminal device in the management nodes added in the DM tree of the DM terminal device. Therefore, the problem that the server does not know the DM applications supported by the terminal, and in the method, a specific management operation is delivered to make the management of the server more flexible and effective. |
| US08613060B2 |
Logon system and method thereof
The invention discloses a logon system and a method thereof, which relates to information security field. The invention solves the problems that the user can log on Windows by username and password only. In the invention, the Credential Provider module adapted to pop up a human-computer interactive interface when the Credential Provider module is called by the operating system of the computer; further adapted to collect the information needed for logging on the operating system and transfer the collected information to the operating system of the computer; the Cryptographic Service Provider module is adapted to perform authentication with the information received from the operating system of the computer; and, if the authentication is successful, to perform operation with the corresponding private key of the key device logon certificate to generate credential information needed for logging on the operating system. The embodiments of the invention are applied for logging on the Windows, which provide more alternative logon ways for the user. |
| US08613059B2 |
Methods, systems and computer program products for secure access to information
Methods for secure communications are provided. The methods include creating a safe user account on a secure access system, wherein creating an account includes provision of at least one strong authenticator to be associated with a user of the secure access system; providing a unique login and the at least one strong authenticator associated with the user to the secure access system to gain access to information associated with a referring organization, the referring organization being registered with the secure access system; and accessing the information associated with the referring organization based on the unique login and the at least one strong authenticator provided to the secure access system. Related systems and computer program products are also provided. |
| US08613044B2 |
Delegating or transferring of access to resources between multiple devices
A gatekeeper device delegates an ability to access a resource to an access device by transmitting metadata, which includes access information for accessing the resource. The access device uses the metadata to retrieve the associated resource from a resource server. By transmitting the metadata in lieu of the resource, flexible use of the resources is implemented while enabling compliance with various restriction schemes. The system may condition the delegation or transfer of resource access on one or more factors, such as proximity between the gatekeeper device and the access devices. Using information about an access device, the resource server may optimize the resources for the receiving access device. |
| US08613043B2 |
Identity mediation in enterprise service bus
A method for identity mediation in an enterprise service bus is provided in the illustrative embodiments. A security information is received at the enterprise service bus from a first application executing in a first data processing system. The security information is a part of a request for service from a second application executing in a second data processing system. A part of the security information is identified to be transformed such that the part upon transformation is usable for handling the request by the second application. A security policy applicable to the identified part is selected and the identified part is transformed according to the security policy. The transforming results in a transformed security information. The transformed security information is sent to the second application. |
| US08613042B2 |
Access control list conversion system, and method and program threrfor
An access control list conversion system includes: a first rule judgment unit 12 that judges whether an access control rule is a permission rule or a prohibition rule; a temporary storage unit 15 that stores the access control rule which is judged to be the permission rule; a second rule judgment unit 13 that judges whether the actor user of the prohibition rule is the same as the actor user of the permission rule and whether the access target resource of the prohibition rule includes the access target resource of the permission rule; a resource DB that stores resource information in which all of the latest information of the access target resource is systematically recorded; and a resource expansion unit that removes the access target resource of the permission rule from the access target resource of the access control rule which is judged to have the actor user as that of the permission rule and to include the access target resource of the access control rule, with reference to the resource information. |
| US08613038B2 |
Methods and apparatus for decoding multiple independent audio streams using a single audio decoder
An embodiment of the present invention discloses a system and method for decoding multiple independent encoded audio streams using a single decoder. The system includes one or more parsers, a preprocessor, an audio decoder, and a renderer. The parser extracts individual audio frames from each input audio stream. The preprocessor combines the outputs of all parsers into a single audio frame stream and enables sharing of the audio decoder among multiple independent encoded audio streams. The audio decoder decodes the single audio frame stream and provides a single decoded audio stream. And the renderer renders the individual reconstructed audio streams from the single decoded audio stream. |
| US08613033B2 |
Mitigating potential video traffic interference
A particular method of mitigating potential video traffic interference includes receiving an alert at a network management system, where the alert indicates detection of a signal in an ultra high frequency (UHF) white space frequency at a video head-end of a video distribution network, where the signal has a potential to interfere with video traffic that has been detected. The method also includes sending data to the video head-end, where the data indicates at least one corrective measure to mitigate interference with the video traffic by the signal. |
| US08613029B2 |
Wireless transmission system, relay device, wireless sink device, and wireless source device
A wireless transmission system is provided that can minimize the control command transmission amount by operating a plurality of sink devices in conjunction with each other with respect to each group when performing a wireless AV transmission. The wireless transmission system includes: a bridge device (1) which wireless-transmits an AV content; and a plurality of wireless sink devices (5, 6) which reproduce the wireless-transmitted AV content. The bridge device (1) has a group identification table which stores a group identifier for identifying a group formed by the wireless sink device (5, 6). The bridge device (1) adds a group identifier extracted from the group identification table to a control command for controlling the sink devices (5, 6) and wireless-transmits the control command having the group identifier. The wireless sink devices (5, 6) receive a control command wireless-transmitted from the bridge device (1) if a corresponding group identifier is added to the control command. |
| US08613017B2 |
Programming of remote control operational modes
A remote control and method of programming a remote control for controlling components in an entertainment system are disclosed. The remote control may operate in multiple modes including a limited mode that prevents the remote control from sending predetermined commands to one or more components, even when instructed to do so by the user. In addition, the remote control may issue one or more commands to each component in response to a single user input. |
| US08613012B2 |
Method and device for displaying a message on a screen of a television
The present invention provides a method for displaying a message on a screen of a television including the steps of displaying a television picture on the screen; displaying the message in a message region of the screen, wherein the television picture is at least partly visible within the message region; and blurring the television picture in the message region. |
| US08613011B2 |
Services gateway video-on-demand service
A services gateway includes a processor configured to send a request for a video-on-demand content, receive a first content stream from a video-on-demand content server, and process the first content stream to retrieve the video-on-demand content. The first content stream includes the video-on-demand content and is protected with a first digital rights management scheme. The processor is further configured to encode the video-on-demand content in a second content stream, and provide the second content stream over a local area network to a playback device. The second content stream is protected with a second digital rights management scheme. In an embodiment, the processor can be further configured to store the video-on-demand content in a mass storage. |
| US08613010B2 |
Broadcasting processing apparatus and control method of the same
Disclosed are a broadcasting processing apparatus and a control method of the same. The broadcasting processing apparatus including: a broadcasting receiver which receives a broadcasting signal including contents and additional information about the contents; a condition access module which descrambles the contents if the contents have been scrambled; and a controller which controls the broadcasting receiver to receive the broadcasting signal during a power-off mode, and stores contents information about a shunning function that prevents the inputting of the contents to the condition access module among the received additional information. |
| US08613008B2 |
System and method for broadcasting media
A system comprising, at least one processor, at least one eye tracking system electronically connected to the at least one processor, at least one means for electronically connecting a display device to the system, wherein the means for electronically connecting a display device is electronically connected to the at least one processor, and computer executable instructions readable by the at least one processor and operative to use the at least one eye tracking system to determine the number of persons that are capable of viewing at least one display device electronically connected to the system, and control the content displayed on at least one display device connected to the system based on how many persons are determined to be capable of viewing the at least one display device.A method comprising using at least one processor to perform any or all of the following using at least one sensor to determine a number of persons that are capable of perceiving sensory perceivable content, and controlling the content based on how many persons are determined to be capable of perceiving the content.A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing a method comprising using at least one eye tracking system to determine a number of persons that are capable of perceiving sensory perceivable content, and controlling the content based on how many persons are determined to be capable of perceiving the content. |
| US08613003B2 |
Display apparatus and method of controlling the same
A display apparatus and a method of controlling the same are provided. The display apparatus includes: a signal processing unit which processes an image signal; a display unit which displays an image thereon corresponding to the processed image signal; a communication unit which communicates with a server which stores a plurality of application programs; and a controller which requests information about the plurality of application programs from the server, determines whether the application programs can be properly performed in the display apparatus based on the information received corresponding to the request, and controls the communication unit to receive only at least one application program that can be performed properly among the application programs. Accordingly, a display apparatus is capable of receiving only at least one application program that can be performed in the display apparatus from a server. |
| US08612999B2 |
System, method and computer program product for publishing an application-independent format event
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for publishing an application-independent format event. These mechanisms and methods for publishing an application-independent format event can enable optimized data communication, improved scalability, increased operational efficiency, etc. |
| US08612998B2 |
Coordinating device and application break events for platform power saving
Systems and methods of managing break events may provide for detecting a first break event from a first event source and detecting a second break event from a second event source. In one example, the event sources can include devices coupled to a platform as well as active applications on the platform. Issuance of the first and second break events to the platform can be coordinated based on at least in part runtime information associated with the platform. |
| US08612992B2 |
Operating systems
A method of enabling multiple different operating systems to run concurrently on the same RISC computer, comprising selecting a first operating system to have a relatively high priority (the realtime operating system, such as C5); selecting at least one secondary operating system to have a relatively lower priority (the general purpose operating system, such as Linux); providing a common program (a hardware resource dispatcher similar to a nanokernel) arranged to switch between said operating systems under predetermined conditions; and providing modifications to said first and second operating systems to allow them to be controlled by said common program. |
| US08612991B2 |
Dynamic critical-path recalculation facility
A method for dynamically recalculating a critical path in a job scheduling system is disclosed. In selected embodiments, the method may include determining when a first job associated with a critical path is substantially complete. The method may further include identifying a successor job of the first job and identifying multiple predecessor jobs of the successor job. The method may then determine whether there is at least one predecessor job that has not completed. In the event there is at least one predecessor job that has not completed, the method may recalculate the critical path. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product for implementing the above-stated method are also disclosed. |
| US08612988B2 |
Method for monitoring system resources and associated electronic device
A method, for monitoring resources of a system for performing a first task and a second task, includes calculating a first completion count of the first task; calculating a second completion count of the second task; and determining whether the resources of the system are exhausted according to the first completion count and the second completion count. |
| US08612987B2 |
Prediction-based resource matching for grid environments
A method, grid computing environment, and information processing system for managing resource requests includes receiving information associated with at least one of a current and a past grid workload of a grid computing environment. Information associated with available resource capacity of at least one resource for processing grid workload is received. An expected grid workload at a plurality of future time intervals is predicted based on the information associated with the current and the past grid workload associated with the grid computing environment. A resource capacity available to the grid computing environment at a plurality of future time intervals is predicted based on the information associated with the available resource capacity. Resource capacities and at least one resource for processing at least a portion of the current grid workload are allocated based on at least the predicted expected grid workload and the predicted available resource capacity. |
| US08612986B2 |
Computer program product for scheduling ready threads in a multiprocessor computer based on an interrupt mask flag value associated with a thread and a current processor priority register value
A computer program product for scheduling threads in a multiprocessor computer comprises computer program instructions configured to select a thread in a ready queue to be dispatched to a processor and determine whether an interrupt mask flag is set in a thread control block associated with the thread. If the interrupt mask flag is set in the thread control block associated with the thread, the computer program instructions are configured to select a processor, set a current processor priority register of the selected processor to least favored, and dispatch the thread from the ready queue to the selected processor. |
| US08612972B2 |
Running add-on components in virtual environments
Systems and methods for running add-on components in virtual environments are described. An add-on component can be executed in a virtual environment by setting up a communication link between a component proxy in the host operating system and a server process running in the virtual environment. The server process executes the add-on component based on commands forwarded by the component proxy forwards the commands from the operating system. |
| US08612965B2 |
Firmware updating apparatus, firmware updating method, and storage medium
Disclosed is a method that includes specifying a firmware version to be updated; determining whether or not a direct update from a current firmware version to the specified firmware version is enabled; determining whether or not the update to the specified firmware version enabled through an intervention of another version update, if it is determined that the direct update to the specified firmware version is disabled; and executing the update to the specified firmware version through the intervention of another version update, if it is determined that the update from the current firmware version to the specified firmware version is enabled through the intervention of another version update. |
| US08612964B2 |
Migrating unified modeling language models across unified modeling language profiles
A method and system for migrating a UML model across UML profiles. After retrieving a UML model, a source UML element, a source UML profile, a source stereotype, and a source meta-class, the target UML profile, stereotype and meta-class are looked up in a mapping table based on the source UML profile, stereotype, and meta-class. The target UML profile is applied on the UML model. Based on the source meta-class being different from the target meta-class, relationships of the source UML element are retrieved, a target UML element is created, the relationships are copied to the target UML element, and the source UML element is removed from the UML model. The target stereotype is applied to the target UML element. The source stereotype is removed from the target UML element. The source UML profile is removed from the UML model. |
| US08612962B2 |
Method for programming a memory-programmable controller with resistant storage of data in memory
The invention relates to a method for programming and/or diagnosis of a memory-programmable controller, having at least one memory-programmable function component. For programming, a predetermined programming system is used. In the context of this programming system variables are predetermined, and information exchange sequences are used for the programming. Results of the programming are output during at least one programming mode via an output device, and input information is at least in part stored permanently in memory. |
| US08612958B2 |
Program converting apparatus and program conversion method
A compiler, which corresponds to a recent processor having a multithread function, that enables execution of efficient instruction scheduling and allows a programmer to control the instruction scheduling includes: an instruction scheduling directive receiving unit which receives, from a programmer, a directive for specifying an instruction scheduling method; and an instruction scheduling unit which executes, conforming to one of instruction scheduling methods, instruction scheduling of rearranging intermediate codes corresponding to the source program. The instruction scheduling unit selects one of instruction scheduling methods according to the directive received by the instruction scheduling directive receiving unit, and executes instruction scheduling conforming to the selected instruction scheduling method. |
| US08612951B2 |
Method of determining which computer program functions are changed by an arbitrary source code modification
A method of determining which computer program functions are changed by a source code modification to a computer program's source code. The method includes compiling the computer program's source code, using a compiler that generates a relocation entry for each program access to a program function or a program data item. The method further includes compiling source code resulting from modifying the computer program's source code with the source code modification, using a compiler that generates a relocation entry for each program access to a program function or a program data item The method further includes constructing a list of object code differences by comparing the compiled source code, and excluding from the list specified object code differences. |
| US08612950B2 |
Dynamic optimization for removal of strong atomicity barriers
A method and apparatus for dynamic optimization of strong atomicity barriers is herein described. During runtime compilation, code including non-transactional memory accesses that are to conflict with transactional memory accesses is patched to insert transactional barriers at the conflicting non-transactional memory accesses to ensure isolation and strong atomicity. However, barriers are omitted or removed from non-transactional memory accesses that do not conflict with transactional memory accesses to reduce barrier execution overhead. |
| US08612949B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for compiler-creating helper threads for multi-threading
Methods and apparatuses for compiler-created helper thread for multi-threading are described herein. In one embodiment, exemplary process includes identifying a region of a main thread that likely has one or more delinquent loads, the one or more delinquent loads representing loads which likely suffer cache misses during an execution of the main thread, analyzing the region for one or more helper threads with respect to the main thread, and generating code for the one or more helper threads, the one or more helper threads being speculatively executed in parallel with the main thread to perform one or more tasks for the region of the main thread. Other methods and apparatuses are also described. |
| US08612943B2 |
Data transmission program, data transmission apparatus, and method for editing operation manual
A data transmission program, stored in a computer-readable recording medium, causing a computer to function as a transmission-request receiving unit configured to receive an editing-program transmission request from a second information processing apparatus displaying an operation manual that includes a procedure for remotely controlling a first information processing apparatus on a display device, the editing-program transmission request being transmitted from the second information processing apparatus, and a program transmitting unit configured to transmit, once the transmission-request receiving unit receives the editing-program transmission request, an operation-manual editing program for editing the operation manual to the second information processing apparatus, the program transmitting unit also transmitting an emulation program for causing the display device to display a control screen used at the time of remote controlling of the first information processing apparatus to the second information processing apparatus. |
| US08612942B2 |
System for debugging computer program
First tag addresses and data are stored in association with first index addresses in a memory cell unit provided in a cache memory. The first tag addresses and the first index addresses are configured based on address information respectively. Designation address information is provided to designate an address to read one of the stored data. The designation address information is converted to a second index address and second tag address by an address converter, in order to read the one of the stored data according to the designation address information. The memory cell unit is accessed according to the obtained second index address. When one of the first tag addresses matches the second tag address, the one of the data corresponding to the one of the first tag addresses is read. The designation address information and the one of the data are displayed in a cache memory display unit. |
| US08612941B2 |
System and method for analysis of a large code base using partitioning
A system and method for analysis of a large code base using partitioning. The present application relates to management of large code bases, by enabling fragmentation of large code bases into smaller code clusters. Further the system and method analyze small code clusters individually and combining the results obtained therefrom, illustrating to programmers the combined result for the entire code base. |
| US08612934B2 |
Virtual typing executables
A method for modifying a computer program. According to one embodiment, a new value to replace a value associated with a virtual type in a computer program is received. The new value is received during execution of the computer program by a processor unit. The replacement of the value by the new value modifies the computer program while the computer program is executed by the processor. |
| US08612933B1 |
Cross-platform mobile application development
A cross-platform software development kit and related services supports the use of platform-generic mobile applications across a variety of mobile platforms. These generic applications may consist of and be developed in a purely content-based format, without requiring any binary files to be distributed alongside a generic content application. Such applications may access platform-specific resources of a mobile device using generic device resource request tags. A platform-specific native shell running on a mobile device accesses a generic content application and identifies device resource request. In response, the platform-specific native shell performs platform-specific functionality associated with the requested device resource. |
| US08612932B2 |
Unified framework and method for call control and media control
A communication system and method include a server hosting an interactive voice response or self-help application in a Java virtual machine. The communication application is programmed with a unified communication API, which is provided by a unified application framework. The API provides a set of unified class objects for call control and media control. The unified class objects are constructed from class object primitives of individual standards-based Java call control API and media control API. The constructs are a structured and restricted set conforming to the object model of the application and its states. The API has a unified event handler for both call and media controls and dispatches events to the application based on the type of event and the application state of the object model. |
| US08612931B2 |
Interactive blueprinting for packaged applications
An interactive design of process model for packaged application software installation and configuration generates a process model from a natural language description of software installation or configuration related operation. A data structure representing one or more work products related to the process model is identified, and one or more elements of the data structure are identified that are related to one or more sub-processes of the process model. Input information associated with said one or more sub-processes is captured and stored. The input information is linked with the one or more elements of the data structure related to said one or more sub-processes. The one or more sub-processes in the process model may be also demonstrated through a simulation. |
| US08612928B2 |
Generating exception-based component models from non-exception-based models
Exception-based component models can be generated from non-exception-based models. For example, a non-exception-based interface contract (such as a non-exception-based interface contract in a header file) for a consumable software component can be parsed. Additionally, a wrapper for the consumable software component can be generated from the non-exception-based interface contract. The wrapper can have an exception-based interface contract implementation, and the exception-based interface contract implementation can be a mirror equivalent of the non-exception-based interface contract. If the non-exception-based interface contract hints at one or more arguments as being out argument(s) for a function in the consumable software component, then predefined heuristics can be used to select one of those argument(s) to be used by the exception-based interface contract implementation as a return value for the function. |
| US08612920B2 |
Field device for determining or monitoring a physical or chemical variable
A field device, comprising a sensor, and a control/evaluation unit. The control/evaluation unit is implemented on an application-specific integrated circuit—an ASIC—which, in at least a first section and in a second section, is embodied as a dynamically reconfigurable logic chip. In each of the two sections, in each case, a measuring path composed of a plurality of function modules can be configured; wherein the individual sections are spaced apart from one another in such a manner, that a temperature and/or a voltage change in one of the sections has no influence on the other section or the other sections. The control/evaluation unit partially dynamically reconfigures the function modules in the measuring paths as a function of the particular defined safety-critical application, so that the field device fulfills the required safety standard. |
| US08612918B2 |
Method for extracting information for a circuit design
The present disclosure is directed to a method for extracting information for a circuit design. The method includes establishing a reflexive relationship between a plurality of design shapes corresponding to a plurality of circuit components in the circuit design. The method includes receiving a design change for at least one design shape of the plurality of design shapes. The method includes identifying a set of changed shapes, a set of affected shapes, and a set of involved shapes. The method includes extracting at least one of a capacitance, an inductance or a resistance for the updated circuit design based on at least one of the set of changed shapes, the set of affected shapes and the set of involved shapes. The method includes updating the plurality of circuit components in the circuit design based on at least one of the set of changed shapes and the set of affected shapes. |
| US08612917B2 |
Method and system for selecting gate sizes, repeater locations, and repeater sizes of an integrated circuit
A method for selecting gate sizes for a logic network of an integrated circuit, wherein the logic network is defined by a plurality of logic paths that includes nodes, gates and interconnect, includes assigning, at one or more computers, gate sizes to gates adjacent to timing path end nodes of the logic network, determining an n-tuple of performance/loading parameters for each of the assigned gate sizes based on gate and interconnect delay models, and determining whether two or more logic paths share a descendent gate. Two or more logic paths that share a descendent gate are coupled. The method also includes grouping the n-tuples of parameters of coupled logic paths into bins based on gate sizes of the shared descendent gate, recursively propagating, node by node, the bins of n-tuples of parameters along the coupled logic paths, detecting whether any of the bins of n-tuples of parameters are suboptimal for all of the coupled logic paths based on a comparison of the n-tuples of parameters in bin-pairs, and eliminating all n-tuples of parameters of the suboptimal bins along the coupled logic paths to prune gate sizes associated with the suboptimal bins. |
| US08612913B1 |
Automated approach to planning critical signals and busses
A method and apparatus for determining the propagation delay of a selected net in a circuit design is described. In one exemplary embodiment, a selected net is received, where the selected net includes a plurality of characteristics that represent the physical and/or parasitic parameters of the net. A net is a set of one or more wires that connects a set of circuit junctions between a pair of endpoints of that net. In addition, a simulation is performed on the selected net using the plurality of characteristics. The circuit design system computes the propagation delay for the selected net based on the simulation and makes available the propagation delay of that net. The propagation delay for a net is the delay for a signal traveling between the endpoints of the net. |
| US08612910B2 |
Clock alias for timing analysis of an integrated circuit design
A timing analysis mechanism allows defining a clock alias that correlates a clock that is not present in an integrated circuit design to a real clock in the integrated circuit design. In a first implementation, when an existing user assertion references a clock alias, the timing analysis mechanism generates a new user assertion that references the real clock specified in the clock alias. The new user assertion is then used in the timing analysis and the existing user assertion is not. In a second implementation, when an existing user assertion references a clock alias, the timing analysis mechanism generates a duplicate clock in the timing database, preserving all its attributes, and then passes the assertion using the alias name as well as any assertions using the corresponding real clock name to the timing engine to be used in the timing analysis. |
| US08612898B1 |
Identification of illegal devices using contact mapping
A method includes receiving a device layout file in a computing apparatus defining a plurality of device structures in a semiconductor device. A foundry truth table designating valid device structures for a fabrication process is received in the computing apparatus. Device structures in the device layout file are designated as supported device structures by comparing the device structures in the device layout file to the valid device structures in the foundry truth table using the computing apparatus. Device structures in the device layout file that do not correspond to valid device structures for the fabrication process are designated as unsupported devices using the computing apparatus. A list of the unsupported device structures is generated using the computing apparatus. |
| US08612896B2 |
Mobile terminal, data control program, and data control method
A mobile terminal 10 is equipped with an LCD monitor 32 and a touch panel input device 24 mounted on an upper surface of the LCD monitor 32. The LCD monitor 32 displays character input keys and a received mail, so that character strings in a body text of the received mail are arbitrarily selected by operations on the touch panel input device 24. Further, related information of a selected character string is temporarily stored so as to be correlated with an arbitrary character input key. Then, when a touch-and-slide operation is performed from the character input key utilized in the temporary storage to a body text of a transfer mail, the temporarily stored related information can be inserted into the body text of the transfer mail. |
| US08612895B2 |
Instant message communication for filtering communication access for a mobile terminal and controlling method thereof
A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed, which facilitates a terminal to be used in further consideration of user's convenience. The present invention includes if a user having a prescribed ID logs in to an instant message server, receiving and displaying a pre-registered buddy list from the instant message server, setting a communication block for a first buddy in the buddy list not to inform the first buddy that the ID user has logged in, setting a communication grant for a second buddy in the buddy list to inform the second buddy that the ID user has logged in, displaying a dialogue window for an instant message communication with the first buddy, and receiving/transmitting an instant message from/to the first buddy despite that the communication block has been set for the first buddy. Accordingly, even if a user does not set a communication grant or block per a buddy in a buddy list in advance, it is able to effectively prevent a request for initiating an instant message communication with the user from being made by an unwanted buddy. Once one buddy is communication-blocked, it is able to receive an instant message from the communication-blocked buddy even before the communication block is released. |
| US08612893B2 |
Dynamic screentip language translation
When a user interface cursor hovers over a user interface item, a determination is made as to whether the user interface item has an associated screentip. If the user interface item has an associated screentip, text associated with the screentip is identified, a translated text string is located for the text string, and the translated text string is displayed in the screentip. If the user interface item does not have an associated screentip, a determination is made as to whether the user interface item contains a text string. If so, a determination is made as to whether a translated text string is available that corresponds to the text in the user interface item. If so, the translated text string is displayed in a screentip for the user interface item. |
| US08612892B2 |
Incremental run-time layout composition
Performing incremental runtime composition. A method includes a computing system receiving a user input gesture modifying a diagram displayed on a diagram surface. The diagram includes a first element, a second element, and a plurality of elements connected to the second element laid out in a particular layout pattern with respect to the second element. The method further includes interpreting the user input gesture to be a gesture creating a graph by connecting the first element to the second element of the diagram. The method further includes performing an auto layout of the diagram by automatically, and without user intervention, repositioning the second element with respect to the first element but without substantially repositioning the plurality of elements with respect to the second element by moving the second element and the plurality of elements as an atomic unit. |
| US08612891B2 |
System and method for rewarding a user for sharing activity information with a third party
The present invention provides a method and system for receiving a user privacy preference that indicates an amount of activity information that the user is willing to share in response to a reward, a value of the reward related to a degree of the user privacy preference. The method and system includes setting a privacy setting for the user based on the received user privacy preference. The method and system further includes tracking web browsing activity of the user during one or more web-browsing sessions based on the privacy setting to generate user activity information. The method and system further includes sending the user activity information and providing a reward to the user based on the user activity information sent. |
| US08612886B2 |
Sequential function chart (SFC) online editing without reset
A change monitor as part of an online editor of a sequential function chart (SFC) programming environment monitors edits to a control routine. The change monitor provides warning to users before taking actions that would result in a reset of the control routine currently being executed by an industrial controller. The change manager reduces or eliminates many situations that would otherwise result in a reset as well by instructing online editor as to what language elements need to be assembled to implement the change. The change monitor also filters the manner in which reset warnings are given to reduce unnecessary distractions. |
| US08612884B2 |
Device, method, and graphical user interface for resizing objects
A method for resizing a currently selected user interface object includes simultaneously displaying on a touch-sensitive display the currently selected user interface object having a center, and a plurality of resizing handles for the currently selected user interface object. The method also includes detecting a first contact on a first resizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles, and detecting movement of the first contact across the touch-sensitive display. The method further includes, in response to detecting movement of the first contact, when a second contact is detected on the touch-sensitive display while detecting movement of the first contact, resizing the currently selected user interface object about the center of the currently selected user interface object. |
| US08612883B2 |
User interface for managing the display of multiple display regions
User interfaces for multiple display regions are described. One embodiment provides an array of non-overlapping windows that are created from a set of overlapping windows, and a user can select one of the non-overlapping windows to obtain an enlarged view of that selected window while keeping the other windows in their non-overlapping state. In one embodiment, the array of non-overlapping windows can include minimized windows or windows in other virtual desktops (e.g. windows in other “Spaces”) or both. In one embodiment, only windows of a selected application are shown in non-overlapping mode while opened windows of other applications are not shown. |
| US08612878B2 |
Selecting alternate keyboard characters via motion input
In general, this disclosure describes techniques for selecting alternate keyboard characters via motion input provided by a user. One example method comprises displaying a graphical keyboard via a user interface and receiving, via the user interface, initial user input specifying a selection of a key on the graphical keyboard, wherein the initial user input comprises an initiation of a contact with the user interface. The method further includes displaying alternate characters via the user interface, wherein each alternate character is displayed to indicate at least one corresponding selection direction that is associated with that alternate character, and receiving, via the user interface, additional user input specifying a selection of at least one of the alternate characters, wherein the additional user input comprises motion in the at least one selection direction corresponding to the at least one selected alternate character, and a release of the contact from the user interface. |
| US08612868B2 |
Computer method and apparatus for persisting pieces of a virtual world group conversation
Computer method and apparatus persists portions of group conversations in a virtual environment. A group conversation is formed of group member communications. Indications or illustrations, such as chat bubbles, are displayed to end users to represent the group member communications. The invention system enables a user to persist a portion of the group conversation by selecting respective indicators (e.g., chat bubbles) corresponding to one or more of the group member communications. The processor (persist engine) also enables any user to interact with persisted conversation portions. Interactions supported include moving, arranging, tagging with metadata and saving snapshots of the persisted conversation portions, in the virtual environment. |
| US08612865B2 |
Mobile information services
Mobile communications devices display contextually relevant information based on the presence, status, and identification of a user. Lens templates control how the information is displayed and can be customized and designed for specific usage profiles. The lenses that are used can be updated at any time to accommodate changes in a user's presence. The granularity of the lenses and corresponding information can also vary to accommodate different needs and preferences. Lenses can also be specialized for different events or venues. The lenses allow a user to access contextually relevant information from a mobile communications device having limited display and/or browse capabilities without requiring a user to navigate through undesired information, wasting valuable resources in the process. |
| US08612864B2 |
User interface with visualization of real and virtual data
First acquired data that represents past values of one or more parameters is displayed in a user interface through which a user can monitor, control and predict system operations. Second acquired data that represents present values of the one or more parameters is displayed in the user interface. Virtual data that represents predicted future values of the one or more parameters is displayed in the user interface, wherein the first acquired data, the second acquired data and the virtual data are presented with a unified visual appearance such that a relationship between the past values, present values and predicted future values is visually indicated. |
| US08612858B2 |
Condensing graphical representations of media clips in a composite display area of a media-editing application
Some embodiments provide a computer readable medium storing a media editing application for creating multimedia presentations. The application includes a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI includes a composite display area for displaying graphical representations of a set of media clips that are part of a composite presentation. Each graphical representation of a particular media clip is assigned to a particular row in the composite display area, where each row corresponds to a particular track in the composite presentation. Some embodiments of the GUI include a compression tool for assigning the graphical representations to new rows so as to reduce blank space in the composite display area, where the assignment of the graphical representations to new rows eliminates the correspondence between the rows and the tracks. Some embodiments include a collapsing tool for reducing a size of graphical representations in the composite display area. |
| US08612857B2 |
Monitor configuration for media device
A display mode can be selected by identifying a plurality of display modes supported by a media client, wherein the plurality of display modes comprise safe modes; sequentially selecting a display mode from the plurality of display modes, wherein the plurality of display modes are ordered according to one or more of resolution, timing, and popularity; generating an output signal based on the selected display mode, wherein the generated output signal is provided to a display device; and selectively repeating the sequential selection of a display mode and generating an output signal based on the selected display mode until an input is received from a user indicating that the selected display mode is compatible with the display device. Further, the media client can be configured to utilize the selected display mode. Additionally, the plurality of display modes can be identified based on extended display identification data from the display device. |
| US08612855B2 |
Method and system for continuous notifications using subliminal and supraliminal cues
A method of notifying a person using a computer includes providing a computer system including at least one sensory cueing component. The method includes defining a subliminal and a supraliminal range of at least one human sense. A cue may be defined and includes a variable attribute, and the cue is directed to the at least one human sense. An alert level may be associated with the message and the alert level may be classified as being in the subliminal or supraliminal range. The method may include a presentation methodology of the cue and the message. The cue may be initiated and presented in either the subliminal range or the supraliminal range and directed to the at least one human sense in the user's sensory environment. The user acknowledges the cue and the message in either the subliminal or supraliminal range, before the cue is removed from the user's sensory environment. |
| US08612849B2 |
Laying out graphical elements on a page
Disclosed are methods for laying out objects on a page which may be operative at a pre-layout calculation stage (107) or a post-layout calculation stage (109). The methods involve objects such as panels (202) into which multiple containers (203) may be configured to negotiate for space within the panel (202) upon insertion of content (204) into the panels. Typically some of the content (204) is variable for each instance of document production according to the layout. The laying out involves the application of multiple arrangement rules (FIGS. 5A-5D) and arbitration between preferred and actual dimensions (eg. height and width) of the objects including panels and containers. |
| US08612846B2 |
Framework for providing visual context to www hyperlink
A method and a system for presenting Internet information to a user including providing to a user a visual image of a web page containing at least one hyperlink, and at least partially concurrently providing a visual image of another web page of at least one web site which is represented by the at least one hyperlink. |
| US08612840B2 |
Method for detecting an error in an A/D converter by parity predictions
For detecting an error of an A/D converter, which is designed to generate at least one digital output signal, which includes a quantity of output data bits, based on at least one analog input signal, and during a conversion, to generate a thermometer code which includes a quantity T of output data values, the detection method includes: ascertaining a first parity directly for the output data bits of the output signal; making a prediction for the output data bits on the basis of the T output data values of the thermometer code; ascertaining a second parity, which is a reverse of the first parity, for the predicted output data bits; and detecting an error for the A/D converter when both the first and second parities are identical. |
| US08612838B2 |
Convolutional code encoding method
An encoder and decoder using LDPC-CC (Low Density Parity Check-Convolutional Codes). An encoding rate setting unit sets an encoding rate (s−1)/s (s=z), and an information creating unit sets information including from information Xs,i to information Xz−1,i to zero. A first information computing unit receives information X1,i at time point i to compute the X1(D) term of a formula. A second information computing unit receives information X2,i at time point i to compute the X2(D) term of the formula. A third information computing unit receives information X3,i at time point i to compute the X3(D) term of the formula. A parity computing unit receives parity Pi−1 at time point i−1 to compute the P(D) of the formula. The exclusive OR of the results of the computation is obtained as parity Pi at time i. |
| US08612837B1 |
BM/LLR computations for multi-dimensional TCM/BCM codes
Systems and methods for processing and decoding TCM/BCM-coded signal vectors. A multi-dimensional signal vector is received by, for example, a TCM or BCM decoder. The TCM/BCM decoder identifies the closest signal points in the signal constellation set, or “nearest neighbors,” for each dimension of the received signal vector. The TCM/BCM decoder then forms a test set that includes a plurality of multi-dimensional test vectors, where each dimension of each test vector is based on an identified nearest neighbor. In particular, each test point in the test set is based on a different combination of the nearest neighbors. The TCM/BCM decoder can compute branch metrics based on only the test points in the test set, and can make detection decisions using the computed branch metrics. |
| US08612836B2 |
Non-volatile memory device with uncorrectable information region and operation method using the same
The non-volatile memory system includes a non-volatile memory and a controller. The non-volatile memory includes a data region including a sector region for storing sector data, and an uncorrectable information region for storing uncorrectable sector information on the sector region. The controller includes an information generation unit for generating the uncorrectable sector information that indicates whether the sector region is assigned to an uncorrectable sector region, according to a command output from a host. |
| US08612835B2 |
Cyclic shift device, cyclic shift method, LDPC decoding device, television receiver, and reception system
The present invention relates to using a barrel shifter in a cyclic shift device for an LDPC decoding device, a television receiver, and/or a reception system, whereby reduction in size of the device can be realized. |
| US08612824B2 |
Semiconductor memory device and controlling method
A semiconductor memory device includes: plural semiconductor memory chips to store information depending on an amount of accumulated charge; plural parameter storage units provided in correspondence with the semiconductor memory chips, each parameter to store therein a parameter that defines an electrical characteristic of a signal used for writing information into or reading information from a corresponding one of the semiconductor memory chips; an error correction encoding unit configured to generate a first correction code capable of correcting an error in the information stored in a number of semiconductor memory chips no greater than a predetermined number out of the semiconductor memory chips, from the information stored in the semiconductor memory chips; and a parameter processing unit configured to change the parameters respectively corresponding to the number of semiconductor memory chips no greater than the predetermined number, and write the parameters changed into the parameter storage units, respectively. |
| US08612823B2 |
Encoding of LDPC codes using sub-matrices of a low density parity check matrix
A method and apparatus are disclosed that include encoding an information word to generate a codeword using a systematic low density parity check matrix using an encoder, the low density parity check matrix comprising a first sub-matrix associated with information symbols, a second sub-matrix having a block triangular structure associated with a first subset of parity check symbols and a third sub-matrix that is invertible and associated with a second subset of parity check symbols, the encoding performed over the second sub-matrix before the third sub-matrix. |
| US08612822B1 |
Method and apparatus for enhanced error correction
A data unit is received, wherein the data unit includes a primary information data structure and a primary redundancy data structure. A field in the primary information data structure is detected. A secondary error correction operation is performed on the detected field. After performing the secondary error correction operation, a primary error correction operation is performed on the data unit using the primary redundancy data structure. |
| US08612821B2 |
Data transmission utilizing route selection and dispersed storage error encoding
A method begins by a processing module obtaining a set of encoded data slices for transmission to a receiving entity via a network, wherein the set of encoded data slices represents data that has been dispersed storage error encoded. The method continues with the processing module dividing the set into a plurality of sub-sets of encoded data slices in accordance with an error coding distributed routing protocol. The method continues with the processing module determining a plurality of routing paths within the network in accordance with the error coding distributed routing protocol. The method continues with the processing module transmitting the plurality of sub-sets of encoded data slices via the plurality of routing paths to the receiving entity in accordance with the error coding distributed routing protocol. |
| US08612820B2 |
Apparatus and methods for interleaving in a forward link only system
Methods and devices for encoding and interleaving data packets for broadcast and for de-interleaving and decoding data packets in a communication system eliminate detrimental biasing effects by using pseudo-random M-sequence bit encoding as part of the turbo encoding and decoding. The use of pseudo-random M-sequence bit encoding mitigates biasing effects that may otherwise be introduced if conventional r-c interleaving is applied to long turbo encoded data which would degrade reception in the presence of broadcast interference. |
| US08612814B1 |
Memory error detection circuitry
Integrated circuits with error detection circuitry are provided. Integrated circuits may include memory cells organized into frames. The error detection circuitry may compress each frame to scan for soft errors. The error detection circuitry may include multiple input shift registers (MISRs), a data register, and a signature comparator. The data frames may be read, compressed, and shifted into the MISRs in parallel. After all the data frames have been read, the MISRs may provide a scanned MISR signature at their outputs. Computer-aided design (CAD) tools may be used to calculate a precomputed MISR signature. The precomputed MISR signature may be loaded into the data register. The signature comparator compares the scanned MISR signature with the precomputed MISR signature. If the signatures match, then the device is free of soft errors. If the signatures do not match, then at least one soft error exists. |
| US08612813B2 |
Circuit and method for efficient memory repair
A circuit and method of testing a memory and calculating a repair solution for a given address location includes pausing a built in self test (BIST) operation on detection of a failing memory output data of an integrated circuit. During the pause, the circuit and method analyzes “n” number of groups of the failing memory output data during “n” cycles using analysis logic and calculating a repair solution. Normal operations can be resumed. |
| US08612811B2 |
Defective-ratio predicting method, defective-ratio predicting program, managing method for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and manufacturing method for semiconductor device
In a managing system for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a predicting unit 121 predicts a characteristic defective ratio and a foreign-substance defective ratio of each process obtains an actual defective ratio of each fail bit mode and a critical area of each process and each fail bit mode, calculates the number of foreign substances of each process by using the actual defective ratio of each fail bit mode and the critical area of each process and each fail bit mode, the fail bit mode being except for an arbitrary fail bit mode, calculates a foreign-substance defective ratio of each process and a foreign-substance defective ratio of each fail bit mode by using the number of foreign substances, and calculates a characteristic defective ratio of the arbitrary fail bit mode based on the foreign-substance defective ratio and actual defective ratio of each fail bit mode. |
| US08612809B2 |
Systems, methods, and apparatuses for stacked memory
Embodiments of the invention are generally directed to systems, methods, and apparatuses for hybrid memory. In one embodiment, a hybrid memory may include a package substrate. The hybrid memory may also include a hybrid memory buffer chip attached to the first side of the package substrate. High speed input/output (HSIO) logic supporting a HSIO interface with a processor. The hybrid memory also includes packet processing logic to support a packet processing protocol on the HSIO interface. Additionally, the hybrid memory also has one or more memory tiles that are vertically stacked on the hybrid memory buffer. |
| US08612807B2 |
Entertainment kiosk error handling and troubleshooting method
An entertainment kiosk error handling and troubleshooting method which facilitates correct of errors from a remote computer. An example method includes operating a camera for capturing images within the entertainment kiosk by a processor within the entertainment kiosk, detecting an error by the processor, associating recently captured images with the error, and sending an alert to a remote computer by the processor. |
| US08612806B2 |
Systems and methods for recording user interactions within a target application
A method includes executing instructions recorded on a non-transitory computer-readable storage media using at least one processor. The method includes receiving a notification of a selection of an user interface (UI) element within a UI of a target application, generating a request for an element listener instance, notifying multiple test recorder hooks of the request for the element listener instance, where each of the test recorder hooks is associated with a specific UI format having multiple different element listeners depending on a type of selected UI element, creating the element listener instance by one of the test recorder hooks based on the UI format and the selected UI element, registering, by the element listener instance, for events associated with the UI element and recording the events. |
| US08612805B2 |
Processor system optimization supporting apparatus and supporting method
In order to enable the optimization of a processor system without relying upon knowhow or manual labor, an apparatus includes: information obtainment unit for reading, from memory, trace information of the processor system and performance information corresponding to the trace information; information analysis unit for analyzing the trace information and the performance information so as to obtain a performance factor such as an idle time, a processing completion time of a task, or the number of interprocessor communications as a result of the analysis; and optimization method output unit for displaying and outputting a method of optimizing the system in response to a result of the analysis. |
| US08612804B1 |
System and method for improving wear-leveling performance in solid-state memory
Embodiments of the invention are directed to systems and methods for improving wear leveling performance in solid-state memory. The embodiments described herein make more consistent the number of wear leveling operations that need to be performed, so that sudden spikes in the number wear leveling operations may be reduced in solid-state memory. In one embodiment, a rule-based wear leveling approach is used to spread out the execution of wear leveling operations that otherwise would have been triggered in clusters. Under the rule-based approach, wear leveling is periodically triggered by a specified interval of erase counts associated with a unit of solid-state memory such as a group of blocks, rather than by a threshold based on erase counts. |
| US08612801B2 |
System and method for extending system uptime while running on backup power
A server chassis includes an uninterruptible power supply, and a server including a controller. The uninterruptible power supply is configured to provide a reserve power when a primary power is lost, and to send a power loss signal when the primary power is lost. The controller is configured to receive a desired server uptime, to receive an indication that a power limit for the server is fixed or decreasing over the desired server, to receive the power loss signal from the uninterruptible power supply, to send a power capacity query to the uninterruptible power supply, to receive a reserve power capacity of the uninterruptible power supply in response to the power capacity query, to calculate the power limit for the server based on the reserve power capacity of the uninterruptible power supply and on the desired server uptime, and to enforce the power limit on the server. |
| US08612799B2 |
Method and apparatus of backing up subversion repository
The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for backing up a subversion repository. In one embodiment, a method of backing up a subversion repository wherein a version attribute of a backup repository is preset and identifies a latest version of the backup repository, the method comprises: synchronizing the backup repository based on the version attribute of the backup repository; in an event of successful synchronization, updating the version attribute of the backup repository with an identification of a synchronized version; and in an event of unsuccessful synchronization, determining that a current version to be a non-synchronizable version, backing up an original repository by duplicating a copy of the original repository, and updating the version attribute of the backup repository with an identifier of the non-synchronizable version. |
| US08612794B2 |
Clock signal generating device and electronic device
To provide a clock signal generating device that changes the frequency of a predetermined clock signal in a short time and prevents or mitigates instability in the operation of the supply destinations of the clock signal when the frequency of the clock signal is changing.The clock signal generating device is provided with a second control unit that, when the target frequency changes, successively changes the voltage impressed on the clock signal generating unit with a preset change value and a preset interval in a preset time in place of the first control unit, causing the frequency of the clock signal newly generated by the clock signal generating unit to approach the target frequency. |
| US08612793B2 |
Dynamic power and performance calibration of data processing systems
A method for dynamic power and performance calibration of a data processing system is provided in the illustrative embodiments. A synthesized program loaded in the data processing system is executed responsive to detecting an event in the data processing system. The synthesized program is configured to generate a set of data that is indicative of the data processing system's power-performance characteristics under varying conditions of operation. Using the set of data, a determination is made of a performance limit on an operation of the data processing system under present operating conditions of the data processing system. A parameter of the data processing system is calibrated to operate the data processing system within the performance limit. |
| US08612791B2 |
Method of selective power cycling of components in a memory device independently by turning off power to a memory array or memory controller
In a non-volatile memory system, physically separate power rails are provided from a host system to a NVM device for independently power cycling a controller and memory array in the NVM device. The controller of the NVM device can send a power cycle request signal to the host system over a host channel, or updates a status register in the NVM device. The host system receives and decodes the power cycle request signal, or reads the status register, and performs the power cycle request, which can include power cycling the controller or the memory array in the NVM device, or both. The power cycle request can be based on a power state of the non-volatile memory system, which can be managed by the controller or the host system, or both. |
| US08612785B2 |
Optimizing energy consumption utilized for workload processing in a networked computing environment
Embodiments of the present invention provide an approach for optimizing energy consumption utilized for workload processing in a networked computing environment (e.g., a cloud computing environment). Specifically, when a workload is received, an energy profile (e.g., contained in a computerized data structure) associated with the workload is identified. Typically, the energy profile identifies a set of computing resources needed to process the workload (e.g., storage requirements, server requirements, processing requirements, network bandwidth requirements, etc.), energy consumption attributes of the set of computing resources, and a proposed duration of the workload. Based on the information contained in the energy profile (and resource availability) a schedule (e.g., time, location, etc.) for processing the workload will be determined so as to optimize energy consumption associated with the processing of the workload. In a typical embodiment, the schedule will be determined such that a total cost for processing the workload can be minimized and/or to any budgeted amount/costs can be met. |
| US08612784B2 |
Image processing apparatus and control method thereof
An image processing apparatus includes: a main controller which controls a processing of an image; a power supply which supplies power to the main controller; a switching unit which selectively allows the power to be supplied from the power supply to the main controller; and a sub controller which determines whether a first power-off event occurs, and controls the switching unit to cut off the power supplied to the main controller if the sub controller determines that the first power-off event occurs, wherein the main controller determines whether a second power-off event different from the first power-off event occurs, and the switching unit cuts off the power supplied to the main controller if the second power-off event occurs. |
| US08612783B2 |
Remote controlled computer system that avoids accidental power cycling by selectively transmitting a manual trigger signal to a motherboard based on the presence of a power activating signal from a connected power supply
A remote-controlled computer system includes a computer system electrically linked to a remote control device. The remote control device receives a manual operation to generate a manual trigger signal sent to the computer system. The computer system includes a motherboard, a power supply and a status control unit. The motherboard receives continuously the manual trigger signal and sends a power ON/OFF signal to start or stop the power supply. The power supply provides electric power to the motherboard for booting and a power activating signal to the motherboard. The status control unit is electrically connected to the motherboard, power supply and remote control device. The status control unit receives the manual trigger signal from the remote control device and transmits to the motherboard. The status control unit also detects absence of the power activating signal output from the power supply and stops sending the manual trigger signal. |
| US08612778B2 |
Terminal device capable to operate at a dual power feeding mode for supporting a dual-mode configuration having two different wireless communication modules
An apparatus and method for controlling a terminal having two modules connected to a network at power feeding in dual modes. A first power supply feeds main electric power via a main current limiting unit to a first controller and a second controller. The first controller controls a first wireless communication unit using the main electric power and changes a connection state with a first network by checking a connection state of a sub-electric power and determining whether connection with a second network is accessible in accordance with a request for the connection with the second network. A second controller controls a second wireless communication unit for connection to the second network using the main electric power. |
| US08612766B2 |
Secure credential unlock using trusted execution environments
Computing devices utilizing trusted execution environments as virtual smart cards are designed to support expected credential recovery operations when a user credential, e.g., personal identification number (PIN), password, etc. has been forgotten or is unknown. A computing device generates a cryptographic key that is protected with a PIN unlock key (PUK) provided by an administrative entity. If the user PIN cannot be input to the computing device the PUK can be input to unlock the locked cryptographic key and thereby provide access to protected data. A computing device can also, or alternatively, generate a group of challenges and formulate responses thereto. The formulated responses are each used to secure a computing device cryptographic key. If the user PIN cannot be input to the computing device an entity may request a challenge. The computing device issues a challenge from the set of generated challenges. Upon receiving a valid response back, the computing device can unlock the secured computing device cryptographic key associated with the issued challenge and subsequently provide access to protected data. |
| US08612763B1 |
Digital signature verification processes, methods and systems
Methods, processes, systems and devices for allowing a computer user to sign and execute a document over the interne using a pointer device such as a mouse to generate a digital signature by an cursive signature (handwritten). The invention allows for vector points in the digital signature to be encoded/encrypted, stored and later be retrieved so that it can be verified where it came from, and what specific document it was on. If necessary, the invention allows for a newly executed signature to be forensically verified against a signature sample. |
| US08612762B2 |
Communications apparatus, communications system, and method of setting certificate
An apparatus in a system which includes at least a high-level apparatus and a plurality of low-level apparatuses, said apparatus being one of the low-level apparatuses. The apparatus includes a storage unit configured to store an individual certificate set and a common certificate set and a communication unit configured to transmit own authentication information to the high level apparatus to allow the high level apparatus to perform decryption to authenticate the validity of the apparatus. |
| US08612759B2 |
Communication system for communicating data utilizing challenge data
A communication system includes an information processing device and a management device including a challenge input device, an encryption device, and a combination data output device. The challenge input device inputs challenge data output by the information processing device. The encryption device creates combination data including the challenge data and the predetermined data, and encrypts the combination data in units of blocks. The encryption device creates the combination data such that at least one block of the combination data includes both at least a part of the challenge data and at least a part of the predetermined data. The combination data output device outputs the combination data encrypted by the encryption device to the information processing device. The information processing device is provided with a challenge output device, a challenge storage, a combination data input device, a decryption device, and a data utilizing device. |
| US08612755B2 |
Security policy in trusted computing systems
A trusted computing platform includes one or more first logically protected computer environments (or “compartments”) associated with initialization of the system, and one or more second logically protected computing environments (or “compartments”). The one or each second compartment is associated with at least one service or process supported by the said system. The trusted computing platform is loaded with a predetermined security policy including one or more security rules for controlling the operation of each of the compartments such that the security rules relating to the one or each first compartment is loaded onto the trusted computing platform when the system is initialized. The one or more security rules relating to the one or at least one of the second compartments are only loaded onto the trusted computing platform if one or more services or processes associated therewith are enabled. |
| US08612752B2 |
Communicating a packet from a mesh-enabled access point to a mesh portal in a multi-hop mesh network
Methods are provided for processing a packet received by a mesh-enabled access point (MAP). When a first MAP receives a packet it can determine whether the packet is destined for a mesh portal based on the destination address. If so, the first MAP can retrieve an encryption key corresponding to the mesh portal, use the encryption key to encrypt the packet and set a mesh forwarding flag in the packet to indicate that the packet is destined for a mesh portal, and is encrypted with an encryption key corresponding to the mesh portal, and then forward the packet to the next hop MAP towards the a mesh portal. The mesh forwarding flag indicates that the packet is destined for a mesh portal, is encrypted with an encryption key corresponding to the mesh portal, and is to be forwarded to the next hop MAP without performing decryption/re-encryption processing on the packet. When a MAP receives a packet, the first MAP it determines whether a mesh forwarding flag is set in the packet. When the mesh forwarding flag is set in the packet, the first MAP skips decryption/re-encryption processing of the packet, and forwards the packet to the next hop MAP towards the mesh portal. When the mesh forwarding flag is not set in the packet, the first MAP retrieves an encryption key corresponding to the mesh portal, encrypts the packet using the encryption key, sets a mesh forwarding flag in the packet and forwards the packet to the next hop MAP. |
| US08612749B2 |
Medical device rights and recall management system
The embodiments provide systems and methods for medical device rights and recall management system. A digital IP rights and recall management device activates a central key server to authenticate software contents and services operated on a microprocessor based medical devices through a coding key that may be embedded in a medical device or in a service provider server or in an end user computer. The recall management server unlocks the software content transmitted from or to a value-added service provider and selectively recall the value-added software component without requiring any physical recall of the medical device. The system maintains a virtual device master record which enables quality control and recall capability for software elements independent of any physical hardware recall. |
| US08612746B1 |
Secure XML feeds
A system receives an Extensible Markup Language (XML) feed, where the XML feed includes a reference to secure content. The system downloads secure content from a remote location based on the reference included in the XML feed. |
| US08612743B2 |
Wireless network security
A method includes identifying a suspect node of a network that includes multiple nodes in wireless communication. The method also includes initiating formation of a sub-network of the network in response to identifying the suspect node. The suspect node is not a member of the sub-network. After formation of the sub-network, first communications between the suspect node and a device of the network are routed to or through at least one of the members of the sub-network. The sub-network is configured to enable second communications between members of the sub-network, where the second communications are communicated in a manner that is secured against access by the suspect node. |
| US08612740B2 |
Mobile terminal with a dedicated screen of a first operating system (OS) with at least an icon to touch for execution in a second OS
A method and system for controlling a mobile terminal provided with at least two operating systems. The method includes: displaying an application on a dedicated screen of a first OS (Operating System) among the at least two OSs (Operating Systems); determining that an execution command for the application is input to the dedicated screen of the first OS; determining whether the application is executable in the first OS if the execution command for the application is determined to have been input to the dedicated screen of the first OS; finding, among the at least two OSs in the memory, a second OS capable of executing the application if the first OS is determined not to be able to execute the application; activating the second OS; and executing the application via the activated second OS. |
| US08612736B2 |
Control apparatus and method for powering on a computer
A control apparatus includes a power supply unit, a power on unit, a control chip, a baseboard management controller (BMC) chip, and a south bridge. The power on unit sends a first power on signal to the control chip. The control chip receives the first power on signal and sends a triggering signal to the BMC chip. The south bridge is connected to the control chip and the BMC chip. The south bridge is driven to control the power supply unit to power on the computer by the control chip or the BMC chip according to states of the BMC chip after a predetermined time. If the BMC chip is in a start mode, the control chip drives the south bridge; if the BMC chip is in a working mode, the BMC chip receives the triggering signal and drives the south bridge. |
| US08612734B2 |
Method and apparatus for reprogramming applications in embedded devices
A method for uploading and storing application code in a re-writable, non-volatile memory of an electronic device is carried out by means of a bootloader. The bootloader receives the application code transmitted by a master unit through a communication channel, writes at least one portion of the application code to a portion of the non-volatile memory, and validates the at least one portion of the application code by means of the bootloader. |
| US08612733B2 |
Battery management systems with enumerating circuits
A system may include multiple chips and a host processor. The host processor can be coupled to the multiple chips and send an enumerate command. The multiple chips can propagate an enumerate packet including the enumerate command from chip-to-chip, and each chip can use information in the enumerate packet to determine its own unique address. |
| US08612731B2 |
Branch target buffer for emulation environments
Branch instructions are managed in an emulation environment that is executing a program. A plurality of entries is populated in a branch target buffer that resides within an emulated environment in which the program is executing. Each of the entries comprises an instruction address and a target address of a branch instruction of the program. When an indirect branch instruction of the program is encountered a processor analyzes one of the entries in the branch target buffer to determine if the instruction address of the one entry is associated with a target address of the indirect branch instruction. If the instruction address of the one entry is associated with the target address of the indirect branch instruction a branch to the target address of the one entry is performed. |
| US08612725B2 |
Multi-processor system with mesh topology routers comprising local cache storing for each data information indicating redundancy in neighbor router cache for cache management
According to one embodiment, each of routers includes: a cache mechanism that stores data transferred to the other routers or processor elements; and a unit that reads out, when an access generated from each of the processor elements is transferred thereto, if target data of the access is stored in the cache mechanism, the data from the cache mechanism and transmits the data to the processor element as a request source. |
| US08612716B2 |
Storage system having partition size set in accordance with drive type
An object of the present invention is to provide a storage system which is shared by a plurality of application programs, wherein optimum performance tuning for a cache memory can be performed for each of the individual application programs. The storage system of the present invention comprises a storage device which provides a plurality of logical volumes which can be accessed from a plurality of application programs, a controller for controlling input and output of data to and from the logical volumes in response to input/output requests from the plurality of application programs, and a cache memory for temporarily storing data input to and output from the logical volume, wherein the cache memory is logically divided into a plurality of partitions which are exclusively assigned to the plurality of logical volumes respectively. |
| US08612715B2 |
Storage system and utilization management method for storage system
A storage system 1000 providing a storage area to an external device 1500 comprises a plurality of storage apparatuses 1100, 1200 and 1300 of different performance capabilities, and a storage controller 2600. The storage controller 2600 holds storage cost coefficients 3202 of the respective storage apparatuses 1100, 1200 and 1300, user cost allocation information 3302 for each user using the storage system 1000 from the external device 1500, and user cost distribution information 3402 that defines, for each user, proportions of an available space amount distributed to the storage apparatuses 1100, 1200 and 1300. The storage controller 2600 calculates an ideal utilization 3502 for each user, from the storage cost coefficients 3202 and the user cost distribution information 3402, and allocates, for each user, the ideal utilization 3502 to each of the storage apparatuses 1100, 1200 and 1300, in the order of the performance capabilities from highest to lowest. |
| US08612713B2 |
Memory switching control apparatus using open serial interface, operating method thereof, and data storage device therefor
Provided is a memory switching control apparatus using an open serial interfacing scheme capable of enhancing flexibility, reliability, availability, performance in a data communication processes between a memory and a processing unit and an operating method thereof. The memory switching control apparatus includes: one or more processor interfacing units which perform interfacing with one or more processing units; one or more memory interfacing units which have open-serial-interfacing-scheme memory interfacing ports to interface with data storage devices connected to the memory interfacing ports in a serial interfacing scheme; and a plurality of arbitrating units which are provided corresponding to the memory interfacing units to independently arbitrate usage rights of the processor interfacing units to the memory interfacing units. |
| US08612704B2 |
Storage system with virtual areas and method for managing storage system
A first storage system copies data of a virtual area of a first virtual volume to a virtual area of a second virtual volume of a second storage system, monitors accesses with respect to multiple virtual areas of the first virtual volume, updates access information related to the accesses of the multiple virtual areas, and, based on the access information, reallocates data inside an actual area of a first pool allocated to the virtual area of the first virtual volume. The first storage system sends the access information to the second storage system. The second storage system receives the access information, and, based on the access information, reallocates data inside the actual area allocated to a virtual area of the second virtual volume. |
| US08612703B2 |
Storage system performing virtual volume backup and method thereof
The respective data fragments stored in each page assigned to the respective virtual areas of the virtual volume are copied to the logical volume, and information representing the respective copy source pages corresponding with information representing the respective virtual areas in the mapping information that indicates which storage area corresponds with which virtual area is updated to information representing the respective copy destination storage areas of the data fragments stored in the respective copy source pages and copies the updated mapping information to the logical volume which constitutes the data fragment copy destination. |
| US08612701B1 |
Method and apparatus for accessing a tape drive from a plurality of nodes
Embodiments of the present invention comprise a method and apparatus for performing data backup from multiple nodes of a computer network. In one or more embodiments, the method of performing a data backup from multiple nodes of a computer network comprising generating a control message within a control node and, in response to the control message, enabling two or more nodes of the multiple nodes to access a tape drive concurrently. |
| US08612690B2 |
Method for filtering traffic to a physically-tagged data cache
Embodiments of a data cache are disclosed that substantially decrease a number of accesses to a physically-tagged tag array of the data cache are provided. In general, the data cache includes a data array that stores data elements, a physically-tagged tag array, and a virtually-tagged tag array. In one embodiment, the virtually-tagged tag array receives a virtual address. If there is a match for the virtual address in the virtually-tagged tag array, the virtually-tagged tag array outputs, to the data array, a way stored in the virtually-tagged tag array for the virtual address. In addition, in one embodiment, the virtually-tagged tag array disables the physically-tagged tag array. Using the way output by the virtually-tagged tag array, a desired data element in the data array is addressed. |
| US08612684B2 |
Memory controller connection to RAM using buffer interface
Provided are memory control apparatus and methods for controlling data transfer between a memory controller and at least two logical memory busses connected to memory, comprising a memory controller; a buffer; a bidirectional data bus connecting the controller and the buffer; a control interface connecting the controller and the buffer, the buffer being connected to at least two logical memory busses for memory read and write operations, the buffer comprising data storage areas to buffer data between the controller and the logical memory busses, and logic circuits to decode memory interface control commands from the controller; and a data access and control bus connecting the buffer and each of the logical memory busses to control memory read and write operations. |
| US08612680B1 |
Data caching system and method
A system, computer program product, and computer-implemented method for defining a data stripe that spans one or more of N data storage devices and one or more of M erasure code devices. The one or more N data storage devices and the one or more M erasure code devices are included within a data storage system. A data chunk to be written to the data storage system is received. At least a portion of the data chunk is written to the portion of the data stripe that spans the one or more N data storage devices. Each of the N data storage devices and the M erasure code devices is included within a unique server computer. |
| US08612677B1 |
Memory system and method of writing data in a memory system
A memory system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a disk recording medium, a non-volatile memory, a temperature measurement module that measures a temperature of the vicinity of the non-volatile memory, a threshold temperature memory module that holds a threshold temperature. The memory system according to the embodiment further includes a controller that writes data in the non-volatile memory if the temperature measured by the temperature measurement module is higher than the threshold temperature upon receiving an instruction to write the data from a host. |
| US08612675B2 |
Storage controller and firmware updating method
A storage controller and method are provided. The storage controller includes control sections including storage sections into which data transmitted from a host unit is cached, one of the control sections being a main control section which controls firmware update in the control sections. The main control section includes an instruction updater sending an update instruction to a sub control section in the control sections in which firmware is to be updated, and an area instructor requesting the sub control section to transmit area information, the sub control section including an area information obtainer obtaining, according to the instruction from the area instructor and an area information transmitter transmitting to the area instructor; and an area setter setting the location of the cache area in the storage section on the basis of the instruction. |
| US08612673B2 |
Hierarchical immutable content-addressable memory processor
Improved memory management is provided according to a Hierarchical Immutable Content Addressable Memory Processor (HICAMP) architecture. In HICAMP, physical memory is organized as two or more physical memory blocks, each physical memory block having a fixed storage capacity. An indication of which of the physical memory blocks is active at any point in time is provided. A memory controller provides a non-duplicating write capability, where data to be written to the physical memory is compared to contents of all active physical memory blocks at the time of writing, to ensure that no two active memory blocks have the same data after completion of the non-duplicating write. |
| US08612670B2 |
Method and system for managing flash write
A method for managing flash memory operations in a flash memory, comprising; assigning a state code to said flash memory operations; updating a state code flag with the assigned state code upon completion of each of said flash memory operations; wherein the assignment of said state codes is selected in a way that each of said updating a state code flag is performed by changing of one bit of the state code flag from one to zero. |
| US08612668B2 |
Storage optimization system based on object size
A method and apparatus optimizes storage on solid-state memory devices. The system aggregates object storage write requests. The system determines whether objects associated with the object storage requests that have been aggregated fit in a block of the solid-state memory device within a defined tolerance. Upon the aggregation of object storage write requests that fit in a block of the solid-state memory device, the system writes the objects associated with the aggregated object storage write requests to the solid-state memory device. |
| US08612667B2 |
Method for performing data pattern management regarding data accessed by a controller of a flash memory, and associated memory device and controller thereof
A method for performing data pattern management regarding data accessed by a controller of a Flash memory includes: when the controller receives a write command, generating a first random function, where the write command is utilized for instructing the controller to write the data into the Flash memory; and adjusting a plurality of bits of the data bit by bit to generate a pseudo-random bit sequence, and writing the pseudo-random bit sequence into the Flash memory to represent the data, whereby data pattern distribution of the data is adjusted. An associated memory device and the controller thereof are also provided, where the controller includes: a ROM arranged to store a program code; a microprocessor arranged to execute the program code to control the access to the Flash memory and manage a plurality of blocks; and a randomizer arranged to generate a random function. The controller can perform data pattern management. |
| US08612665B2 |
Memory system and data transfer method thereof
A method for transferring data in a memory system including at least first and second memories, includes activating the first memory to conduct a read operation, activating the second memory during the read operation of the first memory, and transferring data which is obtained from the read operation, directly to the second memory from the first memory. |
| US08612664B2 |
Memory management process and apparatus for the same
Memory management process for optimizing the access to a central memory located within a processing system comprising a set of specific units communicating with each other through said memory, said process involving the steps of: a) arranging in a local memory at least a first and a second bank of storage (A, B) for the purpose of temporary object exchanged between a first data object producer (400) and a second data object consumer (410); b) arranging a address translation process for mapping the real address of an object to be stored within said banks into the address of the bank; b) receiving one object produced by said producer and dividing it into stripes of reduced size; c) storing the first stripe into said first bank; d) storing the next stripe into said second bank while the preceding stripe is read by said object consumer (410); e) storing the next stripe into said first bank again while the preceding stripe is read by said object consumer (410). f) repeating e) and c) until all stripes composing said data objects have been processed; g) arranging an interlocking mechanism for locking the writing and reading process in said banks to ensure producer has enough space to forward further data, as well as receiver has indeed data to read. |
| US08612663B1 |
Integrated circuit devices, systems and methods having automatic configurable mapping of input and/or output data connections
Integrated circuit devices are disclosed with receive ports having mapping circuits automatically configurable to change a logical mapping of data received on receive-data connections. Automatic configuration can be based on a data value included within a received data set. Corresponding systems and methods are also described. |
| US08612662B2 |
Queue sharing and reconfiguration in PCI express links
In one embodiment an electronic device comprises at least one processor, at least one PCI express link, a virtual channel/sub-link flow control module, and a memory module communicatively connected to the one or more processors and comprising logic instructions which, when executed on the one or more processors configure the one or more processors to determine, in an electrical device, whether a virtual channel/sub-link is inactive, and in response to a determination that at least one virtual channel/sub-link is inactive, reallocate queue space from the at least one inactive channel to at least one active channel. |
| US08612659B1 |
Hardware interrupt arbitration in virtualized computer systems
Hardware interrupts are routed to one of multiple processors of a virtualized computer system based on priority values assigned to the codes being executed by the processors. Each processor dynamically updates a priority value associated with code being executed thereby, and when a hardware interrupt is generated, the hardware interrupt is routed to the processor that is executing a code with the lowest priority value to handle the hardware interrupt. As a result, routing of the interrupts can be biased away from processors that are executing high priority tasks or where context switch might be computationally expensive. |
| US08612658B1 |
Interrupt reduction
An interrupt reducing device driver module reduces the rate at which interrupts from a peripheral burden a processor. The interrupt reducing device driver determines when data is associated with the interrupt. When data is present, such as when indicated by an interrupt status register, further interrupts are masked and a buffer associated with the peripheral is read-out. This read-out continues while data is present in the buffer. Once no further data is present, the data interrupts are unmasked. Reduction in the rate of interrupts prevents resource starvation and improves overall system response. Additionally, the processor and associated components are able to enter and remain in low power modes, improving battery life. |
| US08612654B2 |
Determining configuration parameters of a mobile network
A method of determining configuration parameters of a mobile network topology for testing and monitoring purposes at an interface (Iub) located between a first node and a second node of the mobile network where between the first and the second node there exist several channels includes finding the channel having signaling information, analyzing signaling information to determine the configuration parameters, updating the configuration parameters dynamically, and performing a monitoring activity or test scenario based on the configuration parameters. |
| US08612652B2 |
Systems, methods, and media for disabling graphic processing units
An information handling system (IHS) provides a method for managing power consumption. The method includes detecting a power-on in the IHS, wherein the IHS comprises a first graphics processing unit (GPU) and at least one additional GPU. The method also includes determining if a normal boot is implemented in the IHS and determining if an instant-on boot occurred if the normal boot is implemented. The at least one additional GPU is disabled if an instant-on boot occurred. |
| US08612649B2 |
Validation of priority queue processing
A method for validating outsourced processing of a priority queue includes configuring a verifier for independent, single-pass processing of priority queue operations that include insertion operations and extraction operations and priorities associated with each operation. The verifier may be configured to validate N operations using a memory space having a size that is proportional to the square root of N using an algorithm to buffer the operations as a series of R epochs. Extractions associated with each individual epoch may be monitored using arrays Y and Z. Insertions for the epoch k may monitored using arrays X and Z. The processing of the priority queue operations may be verified based on the equality or inequality of the arrays X, Y, and Z. Hashed values for the arrays may be used to test their equality to conserve storage requirements. |
| US08612647B2 |
Priority aware queue
Devices, systems, and methods are provided involving queue management. One embodiment includes a computing device having a priority aware queue. In this embodiment, the device includes a queue having a number of counters associated therewith to monitor a number of items each having a classification level associated therewith. The device also includes computer executable instructions to review each of the number of counters to determine whether to discard the item based upon whether at least one of the counters indicates that a higher classification item is being held in the queue. |
| US08612646B2 |
Devices, systems, and methods for multiplexing one or more services at a customer premises
Systems, devices, and methods for multiplexing one or more services are disclosed. Such systems and devices may have an architecture that includes communication interfaces, processors, storage devices, and software applications that generate virtual machines. Each of the virtual machines may receive a first set of service data for a service of the one or more services; process the first set of service data using the one or more software applications to generate a second set of service data and data instructions associated with the second set of service data; provides a service security function for the service; provide a service operating system; mine the first set of service data, including analytical information; and transmit the second set of service data and data instructions associated with the second set of service data to a display interface that may be a communication interface. |
| US08612641B1 |
Portable computing device as control mechanism
A portable or mobile computing device, such as a smart phone or portable media player, can be used to control one or more electronic devices over an appropriate wireless channel. In one example, a user can utilize a smart phone as a mouse for a notebook computer or Internet-capable television. The user can move the portable device on a surface and press appropriate selectable elements on the portable device, as if the user is using a wireless mouse. The portable device can send the commands over the wireless channel to the electronic device, which can provide inputs and/or control signals to the electronic device. In some embodiments, the user can take advantage of the processing capability of the portable device to work directly with elements such as a wireless keyboard and wireless monitor, without the need for a notebook or other such computing element therebetween. |
| US08612640B2 |
Control apparatus, control method and computer program
Functions of platform layer based on platform program are separated into a resource manager layer that performs logical controls for hardware resources and a resource controller layer that performs physical controls for the hardware resources. The resource manager layer requires identifying a desired data based on an application program, but does not require knowing the actual address of the desired data in a storing unit. The resource controller layer knows the actual address, and physically reads out and replies the data instructed by the resource controller layer. |
| US08612638B2 |
Wireless connection system that connects host and devices by radio, initial connection method therefor, storage medium that stores control program therefor, information processing apparatus and image forming apparatus that constitute the system
A wireless connection system capable of reducing a load on a user when constructing wireless connection environment including a host and devices. A wireless connection system comprises a host computer, a first device that has established a wireless connection with the host computer based on first association information, and a second device that has not established the wireless connection with the host computer. The host computer generates second association information for the wireless connection with the second device, and transmits the second association information to the first device by radio. The first device stores the second association information into a removable memory device when equipped with the removable memory device. The second device acquires the second association information from the removable memory device when equipped with the removable memory device that stores the second association information, and communicates with the host computer by radio based on the second association information. |
| US08612637B2 |
Configuring buffers with timing information
Configuring a buffer with timing information. Initially, a buffer for transferring data from a first device to a second device may be configured, e.g., in response to user input. For example, configuring the buffer may include specifying a size of the buffer, specifying timing for delivery of data of the buffer, and/or specifying transfer of the data from a first device to a second device. In response to the configuration of the buffer, code may be automatically generated which implements the transfer of the data from the first device to the second device according to the specified timing for delivery of the data of the buffer. Accordingly, the automatically generated code may be executable to transfer the data according to the specified timing from the first device to the second device. |
| US08612635B2 |
Reusing system configuration information and metadata for related operations
Reusing system configuration information and metadata for related operations is disclosed. It is determined that a group of content management system commands may be treated as a related set for purposes of updating content management system configuration information and/or metadata. The content management system configuration information and/or metadata are updated once for purposes of processing the group. |
| US08612632B2 |
Systems and methods for tag information validation in wide port SAS connections
Methods and structures for validating tag information received in SAS frames by any of a plurality of ports comprising a SAS wide port. Each port may have a dedicated transport layer processing element. A tag information table is shared by all of the one or more transport layer processing elements. The tag information table is used to store information regarding a particular tag value being valid for use with a particular device and is updated when the particular tag value is no longer valid for use with the particular device. The information is initially stored in response to transmission of a frame that first uses the particular tag value with the particular device. The tag information table is updated to indicate the particular tag value is no longer valid upon receipt of an appropriate SAS frame or by a processing element external to the one or more transport layer processing elements. |
| US08612631B2 |
Control apparatus including detachable keypad with communication port connecting personal computer to the keypad
The control apparatus according to the invention includes a keypad detachable from the control apparatus and including a communication device that facilitates communicating with a personal computer such that the keypad detached from the control apparatus is connected to the personal computer for setting the operations of the control apparatus and, then, the keypad is attached to the control apparatus to make the control apparatus conduct the control operations based on the setting contents set in the keypad. The control apparatus according to the invention facilitates setting the operations thereof in any place different from the place, therein the control apparatus is installed, and reducing the electric power fed to the control apparatus during the setting operation. |
| US08612630B2 |
Communication network system, gateway, data communication method and program providing medium
This invention relates to provide a communication network system, a gateway, and a data communication method, in which the gateway has an advanced functionality. A person who issues an access request can retrieve a desired access destination easily by the following configuration: functions of routing information providing and authentication processing are added to a gateway that performs protocol conversion between two different communication networks; when an access request is issued from a public communication network such as Internet to a terminal in a local (private) communication network connected to the gateway, a request terminal is authenticated to enable prevention of unauthorized data writing and reading; and an access request user who succeeded in the authentication is provided with an active terminal list comprising accessible terminal information, or with a user condition table. |
| US08612629B1 |
Multi-speed serial interface for media access control and physical layer devices
A network device including a media access control (MAC) device, and a physical layer (PHY) device. The physical layer (PHY) device is in communication with the MAC device via (i) a first serializer/deserializer (SERDES) and (ii) a second SERDES, wherein the first SERDES and the second SERDES operate at a fixed data rate. The MAC device comprises a translator configured to, in response to the MAC device operating at a data rate that is less than the fixed data rate, i) append a predetermined number of bits to data in a first data stream to be transmitted to the PHY device, and ii) subsequent to appending the predetermined number of bits to the data in the first data stream, duplicate the data having the appended predetermined number of bits to generate a second data stream at the fixed data rate. |
| US08612624B2 |
Apparatus, system, and method for multi-bitrate content streaming
An apparatus for multi-bitrate content streaming includes a receiving module configured to capture media content, a streamlet module configured to segment the media content and generate a plurality of streamlets, and an encoding module configured to generate a set of streamlets. The system includes the apparatus, wherein the set of streamlets comprises a plurality of streamlets having identical time indices and durations, and each streamlet of the set of streamlets having a unique bitrate, and wherein the encoding module comprises a master module configured to assign an encoding job to one of a plurality of host computing modules in response to an encoding job completion bid. A method includes receiving media content, segmenting the media content and generating a plurality of streamlets, and generating a set of streamlets. |
| US08612623B2 |
Protection of delivered media
Program code in a Web page hosted by a server and/or in server side code executed by the server is specially configured so that a modified media file whose source is embedded in the Web page and which is streamed by the server is properly playable only in browsers of media devices accessing the Web page. Thus, if a copy of the modified media file is downloaded to the media device or otherwise procured, the user of the media device is unable to properly play the downloaded copy by using a conventional media player. Further, if the downloaded copy is shared on a file sharing network, users of the file sharing network that download copies from the media device are also unable to properly play their downloaded copies by using conventional media players. |
| US08612622B2 |
Real-time message queuing for a processing ring
Systems and methods for gathering distributed information from a number of data agents for a messaging queue, which is coupled to a number of processing subscribers is disclosed. The data agents provide their gathered information to an interface defined by an API. The gathered data may be reformatted or further processed before adding the gathered information to the messaging queue. A number of processing subscribers listen to a content stream produced by the messaging queue to receive data they have subscribed to. Once the processing subscriber receives the content stream, the processing subscriber applies algorithms to the content stream to perform one or more other functions. For instance, the processing subscriber can feed back processed data into the messaging queue and/or perform an action based, at least in part, upon the content stream. Information in various degrees of processing and aggregation can be passed through any number of cycles in a processing ring to allow for a clearinghouse of information to flow in real time or near real time. |
| US08612620B2 |
Client capability adjustment
Mechanisms are provided to detect device client capabilities associated with screen size, video and audio codec support, bandwidth limitations, and memory limitations. A content server can intelligently select a media stream for transmission to the device using the client capability information for the device. In some instances, the content server presents prioritized selections to a user and the user can choose the optimal media stream. |
| US08612618B2 |
Peer-to-peer DNS networking method
The peer-to-peer DNS networking method network is built over Chord protocol as a secondary path to resolve Domain Name System (DNS) queries as a solution designed to avoid an intentional blocking from higher name servers. The DNS is a critical service in the Internet infrastructure that provides user-friendly name to Internet IP address mapping services, and must be protected from abuse, since the absence of the DNS has a severe impact on several Internet applications, such as HTTP, FTP, and/or e-mail that can cause such applications to become non-functional. The method is designed to keep DNS functional during intentional blocking from higher name servers, and the like. |
| US08612616B2 |
Client load distribution
Systems and methods for providing an efficient partitioned resource server. In one embodiment, the partitioned resource server comprises a plurality of individual servers, and the individual servers appear to be equivalent to a client. Each of the individual servers may include a routing table that includes a reference for each resource that is maintained on the partitioned resource server. Requests from a client are processed as a function of the routing table to route the request to the individual server that maintains or has control over the resource of interest. |
| US08612615B2 |
Systems and methods for identifying usage histories for producing optimized cloud utilization
Embodiments relate to systems and methods for identifying usage histories for producing optimized utilization in a cloud-based network. In particular, a target cloud can receive usage histories corresponding to end user usage in a respective set of other clouds. In embodiments, the target cloud can simulate an execution of the usage histories on resources in the target cloud to generate a set of utilization ratios. Further, the target cloud can determine a desirable usage history from the set of utilization ratios based on highly optimized resource usage within the target cloud. In embodiments, an administrator of the target cloud can provide a deployment recommendation to an administrator of the cloud associated with the desirable usage history. |
| US08612611B2 |
Proxy apparatus and operation method thereof
A proxy apparatus includes a multi-core CPU comprising a plurality of CPU cores; and an extended listen socket comprising a plurality of queues provided for the plurality of CPU cores respectively. A kernel thread and a proxy thread operate on each of the plurality of CPU cores. The kernel thread executes a receiving process of an establishment request packet of a first connection with a client terminal, assigned to a corresponding one of the plurality of CPU cores, and registers an establishment waiting socket which contained information of the first connection, on a corresponding one of the plurality of queues. The proxy thread refers to the corresponding queue, and establishes the first connection based on the establishment waiting socket when the establishment waiting socket is registered on the corresponding queue. |
| US08612608B2 |
Method and system for communications with remote embedded applications
A vending machine module (12) is pre-programmed with a unique serial number. It is also programmed to dial up and connect to a specific registration database when first installed and powered up in the vending machine (1) which is one example of a remote embedded application. When the vending machine module (12) dials up the registration database for the first time, the registration database identifies the specific module (12) by means of its unique serial number, and then programs the module (12) with all of its relevant customised configuration—such as, for example, Telnet and PTP passwords, PTP Public Encryption Keys, telephone numbers for local ISP access (local telephone rates), customer name, customised web pages, new user configuration, subsequent database IP addresses, etc. Having been programmed with all of this data, the vending machine (12) is then ready to dial up an ISP server (2) over the Internet, for file transfer sessions. Thus, the vending machine module (12) requires only minimal programming. Many similar almost exactly the same information, each differing only in its own, unique serial number. |
| US08612600B2 |
Negotiation tool and method for cloud infrastructure data sharing
A system and method are provided for data sharing. A sharing negotiation tool permits at least one consumer application to negotiate a service level agreement on a dataset which is being shared by a tenant application on a cloud. A capacity planner is configured to determine an appropriate allocation of cloud resources to ensure that the service level agreement of the at least one consumer application is satisfied. |
| US08612597B2 |
Computing scheduling using resource lend and borrow
The scheduling of a processing job to be performed by at least a portion of a cluster of processing resources distributed across multiple machines. The processing job is associated with a certain entity having a certain amount of guaranteed processing resources on the cluster. If there are enough processing resources to perform the job, then the job may be initiated. On the other hand, if there are not enough processing resources to perform the job, and there are yet some remaining processing resources that are guaranteed to the certain entity, then one or more other jobs that are associated with other entities are at least partially preempted until there are enough processing resources to perform the processing job. |
| US08612595B2 |
Wireless resource sharing framework
A system for making resources in an apparatus available to an entity outside of the apparatus. In at least one example operational scenario, an apparatus may wirelessly interact with other apparatuses via various communication protocols. These apparatuses may be part of an architecture that allows resources to be shared within the architecture. An “entity” may further exist in the architecture that controls how resources are borrowed from, or how resources are provided to, the individual participating apparatuses. Access to apparatus resources may be provided through reallocation of reconfigurable components to a control element within the apparatus, the control element corresponding to the entity existing outside of the apparatus. |
| US08612593B2 |
Extended proximity indication for private cells
A user equipment UE stores a first list of private cells to which the apparatus is authorized to access (e.g., a CSG whitelist). While under control of a serving first cell, the UE determines from a transmission received from a neighbor second cell a physical cell identity PCI of the neighbor cell, then compares the determined PCI to a stored second list to determine whether the UE is authorized to access the neighbor cell. In one embodiment the second list maps PCIs to CSG IDs; if the determined PCI matches one in the second list the CSG ID is selected and it that matches one in the first list the UE is authorized access. In another embodiment the second list is only the PCI of those CSG cells on the UE's first list that are within the area served by the serving cell, so if the determined PCI matches one in the second list the UE is authorized access. |
| US08612590B1 |
Method and apparatus for access management
Method and apparatus are disclosed for managing access to a plurality of resources including host servers where selected ones of the host servers provide at least one application accessible to users across a network. The apparatus comprises a session manager and a request manager. The session manager couples to the resources for managing sessions for administrative and non-administrative ones of the users including login, authentication and logout to selected ones of the plurality of resources. The request manager couples to the session manager to condition access for administrative ones of the users on access request records each including a target resource among the plurality of resources and a time of access to the at least one target resource. |
| US08612587B1 |
Identifying and controlling network sessions via an access concentration point
The present invention facilitates identification and control of peer-to-peer sessions via an access concentration point (ACP). The ACP will monitor packets routed therethrough and detect access messages intended for known peer-to-peer access services. The access messages sent from a communication client to the peer-to-peer access service, which will respond by sending an access reply message back to the communication client. The ACP will monitor the packets being routed to identify the access reply message, which will include routing addresses that may be associated with potential remote communication clients. With these addresses, the ACP can monitor packets to identify when an attempt to initiate a peer-to-peer communication session is being made to or through an entity associated with one or more of these addresses. Upon detecting a session initiation message to or through an identified address, the ACP may take any number of actions, depending on how the ACP is configured. |
| US08612583B2 |
Network management system scheduling for low power and lossy networks
In one embodiment, a network management system (NMS) determines an intent to initialize a request-response exchange with a plurality of clients in a low power and lossy network (LLN). In response, the NMS adaptively schedules corresponding responses from the clients to distribute the responses across a period of time based on a network state of the LLN. Accordingly, requests may be generated by the NMS with an indication of a corresponding schedule to be used by the clients to respond, and transmitted into the LLN to solicit the responses, which are then received at the NMS according to the indicated schedule. |
| US08612567B2 |
Apparatus for providing policy and terminal device for changing network in heterogeneous networks
Disclosed is a policy providing apparatus and a terminal device supporting an network change in heterogeneous networks. The terminal device accesses one network among two or more networks and uses a data service, and the policy providing apparatus recognizes service status information of the data service for the terminal device, generates a network change policy for inducing the terminal device to change the access network based on the recognized service status information, and provides the network change policy to the terminal device. Then, the terminal device determines whether it is possible to access a particular network required to be accessed based on the network change policy, and tries to access the particular network through the multi communication unit and changes the access network when it is possible to access the particular network. |
| US08612564B2 |
Method and system for handling computer network attacks
A method and apparatus for serving content requests using global and local load balancing techniques is provided. Web site content is cached using two or more point of presences (POPs), wherein each POP has at least one DNS server. Each DNS server is associated with the same anycast IP address. A domain name resolution request is transmitted to the POP in closest network proximity for resolution based on the anycast IP address. Once the domain name resolution request is received at a particular POP, local load balancing techniques are performed to dynamically select the appropriate Web server at the POP for use in resolving the domain name resolution request. Approaches are described for handling bursts of traffic at a particular POP, security, and recovering from the failure of various components of the system. |
| US08612559B2 |
Central controller for coordinating multicast message transmissions in distributed virtual network switch environment
A centralized control processor provides a unified management mechanism for multiple multicast switches or servers running virtual switches that is also capable of sending query messages based upon a subset of ports. |
| US08612552B2 |
Method for buffering streaming data and a terminal device
A method of streaming data from a server (S) at a server data rate (Cs) via a network to at least one terminal at a terminal reception data rate (Crec) is provided. A streaming section from the server (S) is requested by the terminal (T). Streaming data is forwarded from the server (S) to the network (N) at a server data rate (Cs) and from the network (N) to the terminal (T) at a reception data rate (Crec). Data received from the network (N) is buffered in the terminal buffer (AL) for at least a first period. The rendering of the buffered data is initiated after the first period at a first rendering rate (Cren), which is lower than the server data rate (Cs) or the reception data rate (Crec). The first rendering data rate (Cren) is adapted according to the filling of the terminal buffer (AL) with received streaming data until the rendering data rate (Cren) corresponds to the server data rate (Cs). |
| US08612541B2 |
Method and apparatus for multi-tenant policy management in a network device
A communication between a client and an intermediary device on a network is evaluated at multiple communication flow checkpoints according to a tenant-specific policy current at the outset of the communication and selected according to an identification of a tenant with which the client is associated, the identified tenant being one of a plurality of tenants services by the intermediary device. Non-current policies are maintained by the intermediary device for use in connection with communications that have not yet been fully processed so that consistency of policy enforcement is maintained even if policies change while transactions are in process. Further, long-standing transactions may be reevaluated in light of changed policies to determine whether or not the transactions should be dropped. |
| US08612533B1 |
System and method for creating and managing geofeeds
The disclosure relates to systems and methods of burning, snapshotting, streaming and curating geofeeds, each geofeed including a plurality of geofeed content items that are aggregated from a plurality of content providers using respective requests formatted specifically for individual ones of the plurality of content providers, where each individual set of a plurality of content is relevant to one or more geographically definable locations. Archives of a geofeed may be generated by burning portions or all of the geofeed content items and/or generating snapshots of geofeeds at different times. A real-time geofeed may be streamed by continuously or periodically obtaining newly available geofeed content items and updated a geofeed stream in real-time. Collections of geofeed content items may be curated in order to organize and follow geofeed content items of interest. |
| US08612532B2 |
System and method for optimizing response handling time and customer satisfaction scores
A system and method disclosed for using and updating a database of template responses for a live agent in response to user communications. The method includes computing an average string distance between each response from a live agent and a template, use to generate the response, modifying the computed average string distance based on a customer satisfaction score associated with each response and selecting a response that minimizes the computed average string distance and maximizes customer satisfaction. Upon receiving a further communication on a certain issue, the system presents a prototype response that has been added to the template database to the live agent for use in generating a response to the further communication that reduces handling time and increases customer satisfaction. |
| US08612530B1 |
Pass-through testing using message exchange identifiers
Various embodiments are directed to testing a pass-through device under test. For example, a computer system may receive a scenario describing a model of a message exchange involving the device under test, which specifies, for at least one message a source address location, a destination address location, and an identifier location. The computer system may also execute a plurality of instances of the scenario. Executing each instance may comprise generating a first outgoing message based on the model of the message exchange; and transmitting the first outgoing message to the device under test. Additionally, the computer system may receive and apply a filter to the first forwarded message from the device under test. Applying the filter may extract a second message exchange identifier value from the identifier location of the first forwarded message. Using the second message exchange identifier, the first forwarded message may be matched to at least one outgoing message. |
| US08612529B1 |
Method and system for suggesting messages and accounts from a real-time messaging platform
A real-time messaging platform and method are disclosed which suggests messages and accounts from the real-time messaging platform. |
| US08612526B2 |
System and method for prioritizing message transcriptions
Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for managing transcription resources. A system practicing the method retrieves a class of service for a subscriber recipient of a message deposited at a first server for transcription by a second server, determines a probability of near-term access of the message by the subscriber, assigns a weight to the message based on the class of service and the probability of the near-term access, and transcribes, at the second server, the message based on the weight. Classes of service can include a real-time class of service and/or one or more non-real-time class of service. The probability of near-term access can be based on subscriber presence, subscriber receipt of a new message notification, historical statistics of subscriber message access times, message urgency, and other message metadata. A channel manager can manage a finite number of channels between the first and second servers. |
| US08612523B1 |
Methods and apparatus for detecting botnet attacks
Botnet attacks may be detected by collecting samples of spam messages, forming clusters of related spam messages, and identifying the source or sources of the related spam messages. The related spam messages may be identified as those generated using the same template. For example, spam messages generated using the same image template, text template, or both may be deemed as related. To find related spam messages, images of spam messages may be extracted and compressed using a lossy compression algorithm. The compressed images may then be compared to one another to identify those generated using the same image template. The lossy compression algorithm may involve dividing an image into several blocks and then computing a value for each block for comparison. |
| US08612518B2 |
Dual screen PC
Systems for, and methods of, enabling selective control of resource of an electronic device having a display by a controlling electronic device having a display are disclosed. Selective control of the electronic device is implemented by the electronic device via a set of control permissions for a detected controlling device, based upon an identifier of the controlling device. A controlling device can be any electronic device having a processor, a memory, a display and a communication module. Enabling selective control of the display of an electronic device having a display, by a personal computer, enables the personal computer to operate as a dual screen personal computer. |
| US08612517B1 |
Social based aggregation of related media content
Systems and methods for media aggregation are disclosed herein. The system includes a media system that can transform user generated media items into at least one aggregated media item. A synchronization component can synchronize media items with respect to time. Synchronized media items can be analyzed and transformed into an aggregated media item for storage and/or display. In addition, the aggregated media item is capable of being manipulated to create an enhanced and customizable viewing and/or listening experience. Accordingly, media item aggregation can be accomplished. |
| US08612515B2 |
System, method and apparatus for media submission
The present invention, generally speaking, provides an improved web-based media submission tool. As with some existing tools, operation of the tool is drag and drop or the user can “click” to browse a directory to select media objects. Unlike existing tools, the tool provides the user an opportunity to confirm the submission, for example by generating a thumbnail image of an image file that has been dragged and dropped. Batch submission is provided for in which a user drags and drops a plurality of images or other media objects. Submission from a web page to a web page is also provided for. The submission tool is configurable to perform a variable amount of intelligent preprocessing on media objects prior to upload. In the case of digital images, the tool can perform sizing and formatting, for example. Information capture is performed with information being uploaded together with the media objects. In an exemplary embodiment, information capture is both user-transparent (e.g., user ID and/or password) and user-visible (e.g., the user can provide captions for media objects). The submission of information about the user and the media objects facilitates automatic integration of the media objects within existing databases. |
| US08612514B2 |
Serving software applications from servers to client computers
An application serving system is disclosed that comprises a target client computer that connects to a server system and subscribing institution host Web Server, over a network. Both the client computer Web server and server system implement a network protocol layer to communicate across the network. In a preferred embodiment, network is the Internet, or other public or private network, and the network protocol layers are implemented on top of TCP/IP or UDP/IP. Other network configurations and network protocols layers, however, could be implemented in place or in addition to the Internet such as wireless CDPD, GPRS, or other networks. The target, client computer is preferably a PC. |
| US08612512B1 |
Method and apparatus for providing network based virtual tours
A method and apparatus for providing subscribers of network services to enjoy in a virtual environment the experience of visitors who physically visit cultural landmarks, e.g., museums around the world are disclosed. These visitors often rent audio equipment to walk through popular exhibits as they listen to recorded information about each display. Thus, the present method enables a network to provide subscribers with the ability to select audio and video sessions that allow them to virtually stroll through popular destinations or landmarks of interest throughout the world and listen to audio information about each site. |
| US08612505B1 |
Minimum resource fast fourier transform
A minimum resource FFT design may calculate the FFT for an input data series using minimal logic resources to implement the FFT. In one implementation, the FFT design may include a butterfly component for performing one or more complex addition and multiplication operations and outputting a plurality of results; a first memory coupled to the butterfly component, the first memory including a number of memory banks equal in number to the number of the plurality of the results; a second memory coupled to the butterfly component, the second memory including a number of memory banks equal in number to a number of the plurality of the results; and a control component to control reading and writing from the first and second memories and the butterfly component using a ping-pong access technique that reads and writes intermediate values to the first and second memories to implement the FFT. |
| US08612496B2 |
Identification of files of a collaborative file storage system having relevance to a first file
Methods and systems for providing related files in a collaborative file storage system are disclosed. One method includes identifying a plurality of files within the collaborative file storage system, wherein the plurality of files each have a relationship with the first file, and wherein the collaborative file storage system allows sharing of the plurality of files between multiple users through a network. The method further includes generating, by a system server, a list of inquiries based on the plurality of files, providing, by the system server, the list of inquiries to at least one collaborator of the first file, receiving from the at least one collaborator at least one response to the list of inquiries, selecting a subset of the plurality of files based on the at least one response, and storing information related to the selected subset of the plurality of files. |
| US08612495B2 |
Computer and data management method by the computer
The client computer which transmits an access request specifying an object existing in the first file system and the second computer which accesses the second file system are connected to the first computer which accesses the first file system. The second file system includes a shared directory. A specific object which is an object complying with the path name including the name determined in accordance with the type of the second computer is stored in the shared directory. The controller mounts the shared directory to the first file system. The controller creates a link which comprises a name determined in accordance with a certain naming regulation independent of the type of the computer and corresponds to the specific object in the first file system. |
| US08612492B2 |
Relationship collaboration system
A computer implemented method of processing data containing information about relationships between contacts and a community of contact owners is provided, which includes the steps of: collecting data having contact information, contact owner information and one or more values related to the strength of a relationship between the contact and the contact owner; evaluating the strength of the relationship based on the one or more values; and storing the collected data and evaluated strength in a computer database. |
| US08612488B1 |
Efficient method for relocating shared memory
The present invention provides for an efficient method, apparatus, and system for updating file system information when shared memory contents are moved from one physical location in memory to another. Traditional file systems manage such memory movement at the granularity of physical memory blocks. However, it will often be the case that multiple blocks will be moved, and the present invention takes advantage of the fact that it is more efficient to process the shared memory movement of memory contents at the granularity of an extent. The invention employs a data structure, where each record in the data structure contains information about the shared memory extents of the file system. |
| US08612487B2 |
Transforming hierarchical language data into relational form
Described herein are methods, systems, apparatuses and products for transforming hierarchical language data into relational form. An aspect provides for assembling at least one statistical summary of at least one hierarchical language data source responsive to execution of program instructions accessible to at least one processor operatively connected to a memory device; accessing at least one entity of interest selected from the at least one statistical summary; generating at least one target hierarchical language model based on the at least one entity of interest; and transforming data from the at least one hierarchical language data source into at least one relational form by executing transformation artifacts generated based on a type of the relational form. Other aspects are disclosed herein. |
| US08612484B1 |
Systems and methods for creating geographic connection matrices
ZIP code connection matrices are created for use in insurance ratemaking by identifying common borders of geographically defined regions. ZIP codes and associated cartographic boundaries are read from a database. Pairs of coordinates for the boundaries are stored in a matrix and values are calculated that represent each pair of coordinates in the matrix. The calculated values are stored in an encoded coordinates matrix and used to determine common segments. A connection matrix is formed representing connections among ZIP codes. A neighborhood matrix is then calculated, which stores values that represent an indication of closeness of each ZIP code in the neighborhood matrix to a target ZIP code. |
| US08612483B2 |
Link swarming in an open overlay for social networks and online services
Systems and methods provide a “live social context” in which users can share multimedia content information. Upon finding multimedia content that a user would like to share with others, the user may select a “share” function Invitations may then be sent to other users across different services. In addition, the invitation may include content, such as a text comment or file that the user has added. The recipient users receive a live notification of the invitation and may then participate in an online discussion with the user. Furthermore, other users may be provided a live notification that activity has been initiated or in-progress about the multimedia content. These users may then request to join in the online discussion. |
| US08612481B2 |
System and method for proxying data access commands in a storage system cluster
A system and method proxies data access commands acrossed a cluster interconnect between storage appliances and a cluster using a file-level protocol. Each storage appliance activates two ports per data access, a local port for data access requests directed to clients of the storage appliance and a proxy port for data access requests directed to the partner storage appliance. Clients utilizing multi-pathing software may send data access requests to either the local port of the storage appliance or the proxy port of the storage appliance. The system and method improves high availability, especially during a loss of connectivity due to non-storage appliance hardware failure. |
| US08612480B2 |
Permitting utilization of computer system resources in accordance with their licensing
Permitting utilization of computer system resources in accordance with the licensing thereof is disclosed. A method includes conducting an inventory of the resources of a computer system. The method determines which of the resources of the computer system are licensed for current usage, and permits utilization of these resources. Other resources of the computer system that are not licensed for usage are prevented from being used. The method may include determining which resources are licensed for usage with metering. The method permits the utilization of such resources, and tracks utilization availability of these resources. The method may further include determining which resources are licensed for periodic usage. Once the method receives indication to allow the periodic usage of these resources, the method permits their utilization, and tracks their utilization availability as needed. Preferably, the method performs its functionality without rebooting or restarting the computer system. |
| US08612479B2 |
Systems and methods for monitoring and detecting fraudulent uses of business applications
A systems and methods are described detect fraud in existing logs of raw data. There can be several disparate logs, each including data of disparate data types and generated by different and possibly unrelated software enterprise applications. The fraud management system aggregates and organizes the raw log data, extends the raw data with reference data, archives the data in a manner that facilitates efficient access and processing of the data, allows for investigation of potentially fraudulent usage scenarios, and uses the results of the investigation to identify patterns of data that correspond to correspond to high risk usage scenarios and/or process steps. In subsequent processing, archived data can be compared against the identified patterns corresponding to high risk usage scenarios to detect matches, and the invention thereby automatically detects high risk usage scenarios and issues appropriate alerts and reports. |
| US08612478B1 |
Location based query-response management system
A computer implemented method and system for rendering time sensitive responses to a query associated with a target location is provided. A query-response management server receives a query containing information on a target location from a first client application on a requesting user's requesting device via a network. The query-response management server dynamically retrieves location information and activity information of each of multiple responding users via the network and identifies one or more of the responding users proximal to the target location based on the location information and the activity information. The query-response management server transmits the query to a second client application on a responding device of each of the identified responding users via the network. The query-response management server receives and aggregates responses to the query from the second client application via the network and renders the aggregated responses to the first client application on the requesting device. |
| US08612475B2 |
Generating a discussion group in a social network based on metadata
The present invention includes a system and method for generating a discussion in a social network based on visual search results. A mixed media reality (MMR) engine receives images from a user device and identifies matching MMR objects. A social network application determines whether a discussion group that is related to metadata associated with the images from user devices are related to a discussion group. If the discussion group does not yet exist, the social network application generates the discussion group and provides the user devices with information about the discussion group. |
| US08612471B2 |
Method and system for inventory data entry
A method and a system for inventory data entry. The method generates identification codes that correspond to labels affixed to items to be logged into inventory and stores information about items associated with the identification codes. The method further allows a user to search for an identification code in the database when the item is ready to be logged in. The system provides a memory and a processor for inventory data entry. |
| US08612470B1 |
Application recommendation using stored files
The disclosed technology can enable files to be stored with a networked environment. The files can be associated with information (e.g., properties) such as a file name, a file type, a date/time at which a respective file was last accessed, a number of times a respective file was accessed, data representing the contents of a respective file, and other information. Based at least in part on analyzing the information, the disclosed technology can select or identify a file and/or a file property (e.g., a file type) that the disclosed technology predicts to be most relevant to the user. The disclosed technology can then recommend applications based at least in part on the selected or identified file and/or file property (e.g., file type). |
| US08612469B2 |
Network-accessible collaborative annotation tool
A network-accessible toolbox permits collaborative annotation, facilitating interaction and communication among users. In an implementation, content on a Web page, or other page or document accessible through a network or the Internet, can be annotated. A user can view the page and with the toolbox, select content on the page and make an annotation or suggestion. Multiple users can view and make annotations to the same page at the same time. After annotations are made, users can view the page with annotations made by other users. The author or owner of the page can accept or reject the annotations or suggestions made to the page. If the owner accepts a particular suggestion, the selected content is replaced with the suggestion. |
| US08612467B2 |
Caching name-based filters in a full-text search engine
Techniques for filtering a full-text search result in a full-text search engine level are described herein. According to one embodiment, in response to a search query received at an ORM system for a full-text search in a relational database, a full-text search engine is invoked to perform the requested full-text search based on the search query. A filter is utilized to filter a search result generated from the full-text search engine using a filter object representing a filter associated with the search query and returning the filtered result to the application client. Thereafter, the filter object is cached in a cache memory of the ORM system such that the cached filter object can be used in subsequent search queries without having to recreating the same filter object. Other methods and apparatuses are also described. |
| US08612465B1 |
Image reacquisition
Observation bandwidth is allocated to an image provider such that an image may be reacquired while optimizing the utility of the image provider's observations. The observation bandwidth is allocated with reference to the rate of change associated with a location where images are acquired by the image provider and to an importance value associated with the location. The rate of change identifies how frequently the location is subject to modifications. The importance value indicates a likelihood that users are concerned with receiving current image data at the location. Different locations having substantially the same rate of change and importance value are grouped together. The same observation bandwidth is allocated for the image providers at locations that are grouped together such that each image provider may reacquire images at the allocated observation bandwidth. |
| US08612463B2 |
Identifying activities using a hybrid user-activity model
In a user-activity identification technique, a user's actions are monitored while the user is using a computer. While these user actions are associated with user activities, the user activities are initially unspecified, so the tracked user actions constitute unsupervised data. Then, the tracked user actions are aggregated into subsets (for example, using clustering analysis), and user-activity classifications for the subsets (such as activity labels) are provided by the user, so the subsets constitute supervised data. Subsequently, when additional user actions (which are associated with one or more initially unspecified current user activities) are tracked, they can be associated with one or more of the classified subsets. For example, information about the additional user actions can be mapped in real time (or near real time) to one or more of the subsets using a supervised learning technique. In this way, the one or more current user activities can be identified. |
| US08612458B2 |
Catalog management module in a custom product configuration system
A software system may be used to define configurable products for use in a selling application module by sellers of products to define custom configuration of products to satisfy customer needs. During periodic points in time, a subset of all configuration of these configurable products may be offered for sale by sellers user special price terms and conditions. Catalogs of sale products may provide a mechanism for configuring only products that are included within sale products. A catalog manager module may assist in preparing a catalog of product data and related configuration rules associated with only products included within a particular catalog. |
| US08612457B2 |
Method and system for comparing documents based on different document-similarity calculation methods using adaptive weighting
One embodiment provides a system for comparing documents based on different document-similarity calculation methods using adaptive weighting. During operation, the system receives at least two document-similarity values associated with two documents, wherein the document-similarity values are calculated by different document-similarity calculation methods. The system then determines the weight of a respective document-similarity calculation method for each of the two documents, as well as a weight-combination function for calculating a combined weight of the respective document-similarity calculation method associated with the two documents. Next, the system generates a combined similarity value based on the document-similarity values and the weight-combination function. |
| US08612456B2 |
Scheduling recording of recommended multimedia programs
Users provide preferred multimedia programs types and receive electronic messages with recommendations for recording upcoming broadcasts. In response to receiving reply messages to the recommendations, the recommended multimedia programs may be scheduled for transport to the user. Example multimedia programs that may be recommended include without limitation television shows, sporting events, and pay-per-view events. |
| US08612453B2 |
Topic distillation via subsite retrieval
A method and system for generating a search result for a query of hierarchically organized documents based on retrieval of subtrees that are key resources for topic distillation is provided. The retrieval system may identify documents relevant to a query using conventional searching techniques. The retrieval system then calculates a subtree feature for subtrees that have an identified document as their root. After the retrieval system calculates the subtree feature for the subtrees, the retrieval system may generate a subtree relevance score for each subtree based on its subtree feature. The retrieval system may then order the identified documents based on their corresponding subtree relevances. |
| US08612452B2 |
Information processing apparatus, control method therefor, and storage medium
An information processing apparatus capable of collecting electronic data efficiently and avoiding sharing highly confidential and secure electronic data with an indefinite number of users. The information processing apparatus is connected to an external apparatus through a network. The information processing apparatus receives electronic data from the external apparatus, registers attribute information related to the received electronic data in association with the received electronic data so that the received electronic data can be retrieved by using the attribute information, and controls the registering unit so as to register the attribute information related to the received electronic data when the received electronic data is not confidential data, and so as not to register the attribute information related to the received electronic data when the received electronic data is confidential data. |
| US08612449B1 |
Contributor-provided item attributes
Disclosed are various embodiments for using contributor-provided attributes in conjunction with an electronic item catalog. A request is received from a catalog user to obtain information an item in a catalog of items. Responsive to the request, the catalog is queried to obtain a plurality of attributes associated with the item. The attributes include at least one operator-controlled attribute and at least one contributor-provided attribute. A page is generated for display to the catalog user. The page includes the at least one operator-controlled attribute and at least one contributor-provided attribute. |
| US08612447B2 |
Systems and methods for ranking document clusters
Document cluster ranking systems and methods of ranking document clusters are described. In some example embodiments, the method comprises: obtaining, at a document cluster ranking system, a value associated with a first feature for each of a plurality of document clusters; based on the values associated with the first feature, automatically generating, at the document cluster ranking system, a plurality of first feature bins, each first feature bin defining a range of values and a bin identifier; and obtaining a score for one of the document clusters, by: i) identifying the first feature bin having a range of values which includes the obtained value associated with the first feature for that one of the document clusters; and ii) determining a score for that document cluster based on the first feature bin identifier for the identified first feature bin. |
| US08612446B2 |
System and method for generating a reference set for use during document review
A system and method for providing generating reference sets for use during document review is provided. A collection of unclassified documents is obtained. Selection criteria are applied to the document collection and those unclassified documents that satisfy the selection criteria are selected as reference set candidates. A classification code is assigned to each reference set candidate. A reference set is formed from the classified reference set candidates. The reference set is quality controlled and shared between one or more users. |
| US08612444B2 |
Data classifier
A document classifier may analyze documents for a search engine and tag the documents. A document classifier system may have several different classifiers, each with a separate algorithm for classification. Some of the data classifiers may learn or change the classification over time with a feedback loop. As those classifiers are modified, updated, replaced, or added, the documents that have already been classified by the classifier may be re-examined to update their classification. The document classifier system may maintain a database of documents with a timestamp that the document was classified that may be used to identify those documents whose classifications may be out of date. |
| US08612443B2 |
Explanatory animation generation
Various embodiments included herein include at least one of systems, methods, and software for explanatory animation generation. Some embodiments include receiving data representative of at least two data items, each data item to be presented as a node. Relationships between these data items are discovered in an interrelated dataset and the relationship is illustrated as a set of sequential nodes on a canvas. A text-script descriptive of each of the nodes is then generated. Finally, such embodiments include generating a visualization with a synchronized voiceover based on the sequence nodes and the text-script, the visualization including each node with a synchronized voiceover of each node. |
| US08612442B2 |
Displaying auto-generated facts about a music library
A method for surfacing auto-generated facts about a music library is provided. The method initiates with receiving from a client device a request to access an online music library associated with a user, the music library including a plurality of audio files, each of the audio files including audio data and metadata associated with the audio data. The metadata of the audio files in the music library are transmitted to the client device. A music application code is transmitted to the client device, the music application code configured to be executed by a browser application on the client device, the music application code including a fact template defining an analysis to be performed on the transmitted metadata and posting logic configured to display a result of the analysis performed according to the fact template in said browser application on the client device. |
| US08612440B2 |
Computer based method and system for generating custom dynamic templates
A method for a dynamically configurable imaging process, including: inputting, using a graphical user interface for at least one first specially programmed computer, computer instructions for executing at least one image processing task; creating template type information using the computer instructions and a first processor for the first computer, the template type information in a database; retrieving, using a second processor for at least one second specially programmed computer, the template type information from the database; inserting, using the second processor, the template type information into a service flow for a first imaging process; and executing, using the second processor, the template type information such that the computer instructions for the at least one image processing task are implemented as part of the service flow for the first imaging process. |
| US08612437B2 |
System and method for location-based searches and advertising
A system and method provides location-aware search results from a navigation or other device and provides one or more enhanced listings or advertisements with the results to offset the communication cost of the search. The sponsor may be charged for the listing or advertisement and the charge may be based on whether the device arrives in an area around the sponsor location within a threshold amount of time. |
| US08612434B2 |
Identifying social profiles in a social network having relevance to a first file
Methods and systems for providing related social profiles in a social network are disclosed. One method identifying a plurality of social profiles within the social network, wherein the plurality of social profiles each have a relationship with the first file, wherein the social network allows uploading and sharing of social profiles of users, and wherein each social profile includes a representation of a user. The method further includes generating, by a system server, a list of inquiries based on the plurality of social profiles, providing, by the system server, the list of inquiries to at least one author of the first file, receiving from the at least one author at least one response to the list of inquiries, selecting a subset of the plurality of social profiles based on the at least one response, and storing information related to the selected subset of the plurality of social profiles. |
| US08612430B2 |
Method for searching data
A method for searching data suitable for an electronic device is provided. A server is linked according to an input account, in which a plurality of user accounts and a plurality of marked results uploaded respectively by the user accounts are stored in the server. A searching string entered by the user is received through a browser. And searching in the server is performed so as to know whether or not the server contains the marked results with the above-mentioned searching string. The marked result and the corresponding user account are listed out when anyone of the marked results stored in the server contains the searching string. |
| US08612429B2 |
Apparatus, system, and method for information search
An apparatus, system, and method of searching are disclosed. When a search result includes a plurality of images being obtained from the same document, the plurality of images being obtained from the same document is displayed, one by one, in the order determined based on priority order information. |
| US08612421B2 |
Efficient processing of relational joins of multidimensional data
Predicate abduction involves identifying, from a database statement, predicates on attributes of dimensional data, and applying those predicates to corresponding measure data so that only measure values are fetched and returned for dimension values that satisfy the predicate. In contrast to processing joins of relational data, the subset of the measure data is determined without needing to join a fact table with a dimension table and, therefore, without processing every fact record to determine which measure values are associated with records that satisfy the condition. Buffer reuse involves storing in buffers the “domains” of queries executing on multidimensional data. Responsive to detecting that execution of a database statement requires multiple iterations of extracting the same multidimensional data, the data is extracted during the first iteration and stored in a buffer so that, for each subsequent iteration, the buffer-stored data is accessed rather than re-extracting the data. |
| US08612419B2 |
Intelligent content discovery for content consumers
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for intelligent content discovery for content consumers in the global Internet. In an embodiment of the invention, a method for intelligent content discovery for content consumers includes parsing a list of previously viewed content in a content browser executing in memory of a computer to identify different content sources for the previously viewed content. The method also includes directing crawling of the content sources over a computer communications network to retrieve updated content from the content sources. The method yet further includes filtering the updated content into a subset of updated content according to at least one parameter corresponding to one of an end user profile of an end user and an end user preference of the end user. Finally, the method includes presenting a list of the subset of updated content in the content browser. |
| US08612414B2 |
Grouped search query refinements
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on one or more computer storage devices, for grouping search query refinements. One of the methods includes while receiving a text input into an input field by a user and before the user has submitted the text input to a search engine obtaining query suggestions based at least in part on the text input. The method includes grouping query suggestions based on a common query term shared by the query suggestions, wherein the query suggestions include terms that refine the common query term. The method includes transmitting a set of query suggestions to a client device for presentation, wherein the set includes the query suggestions that are presented as a group with the common query term presented in a prominent position and the refinement terms presented in subordinate positions and wherein the common query term and the refinement terms are each user-selectable. |
| US08612412B2 |
Searching for a directory in a file system
Methods, apparatus, and products for searching for a directory in a file system are disclosed that include selecting, by a word selection module for inclusion in a word list, a word of text whose frequency of occurrence meets a predefined criterion; inserting, by the word selection module into the word list, the selected word; inserting, by an indexing module into a search index, the selected word in association with the directory name; receiving, by a search module from a user, a search request that includes the selected word; and returning, by the search module to the user in dependence upon the search request and the search index, a search result that includes the directory name. The directory is characterized by a directory name and includes computer storage resources, the computer storage resources including words of text, each word of text characterized by a frequency of occurrence among the computer storage resources. |
| US08612409B2 |
Method and apparatus for detecting and explaining bursty stream events in targeted groups
A method and apparatus are provided for detecting and explaining bursty stream events in targeted groups. In one example, the method includes receiving validated bursty events, finding explanatory data sources having relevant bursty events that are relevant to the validated bursty events, wherein the explanatory sources explain the presence of the validated bursty events, correlating the validated bursty events to the relevant bursty events of the explanatory data sources to obtain burst results, and sending the burst results to a burst database that is accessible to an end user. |
| US08612407B1 |
Source control inheritance locking
An embodiment of the invention provides a method for source control in a program, wherein the program includes hierarchical files for execution of processes, wherein the hierarchical files include parent files and child files. A revised process selected by a user on a graphical user interface is identified; and, files in the revised process are identified. The files in the revised process are locked with a source control processor. This includes disallowing revisions to the files in the revised process. One or more files that are descendents of a file in the revised process are identified. The one or more files that are descendents of a file in the revised process are locked with the source control processor. This includes disallowing revisions to the one or more files that are descendents of a file in the revised process. |
| US08612405B1 |
System and method of dynamic data object upgrades
A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for managing a cloud computing environment. In some embodiments, this includes modifying an object or a component of an object at runtime and storing the modified object or modified component of an object in a storage device. In some embodiments, components of an object such as data structures are modified. In some embodiments, objects may have more than one version. |
| US08612404B2 |
Harvesting file system metsdata
A harvester is disclosed for harvesting metadata of managed objects (files and directories) across file systems which are generally not interoperable in an enterprise environment. Harvested metadata may include 1) file system attributes such as size, owner, recency; 2) content-specific attributes such as the presence or absence of various keywords (or combinations of keywords) within documents as well as concepts comprised of natural language entities; 3) synthetic attributes such as mathematical checksums or hashes of file contents; and 4) high-level semantic attributes that serve to classify and categorize files and documents. The classification itself can trigger an action in compliance with a policy rule. Harvested metadata are stored in a metadata repository to facilitate the automated or semi-automated application of policies. |
| US08612392B2 |
Identifying modified chunks in a data set for storage
Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for identifying modified chunks in a data set for storage. Information is maintained on a data set of variable length chunks, including a digest of each chunk and information to locate the chunk in the data set. Modifications are received to at least one of the chunks in the data set. A determination is made of at least one range of least one of the chunks including data affected by the modifications, wherein each range identifies one chunk or sequential chunks having data affected by the modifications. The at least one chunk in each range is processed to determine at least one new chunk in each range, and for each determined new chunk, a digest of the new chunk. A determination is made as to whether at least one chunk outside of the at least one range has changed. For each determined at least one chunk outside of the at least one range that has changed, a determination is made of at least one new chunk and a new digest of the at least one new chunk. Adding to the set information the new digest information on the at least one new chunk and information to locate the new chunk in the data set. |
| US08612391B2 |
Creating and utilizing network restore points
The creation and utilization of network restore points is provided by a schema associated with a structured data set that can be conveniently backed up by periodically taking snapshots of the structured data to establish a series of restore points that can be used in the event that the primary structured data becomes lost or corrupted. In general, the snapshots are only taken after the structured data set has undergone a change in content, although they may be taken at other times as well. The snapshot may be taken by a network restore point engine that can be accessed by a user over the Internet. In addition, the snapshot may be stored on an Internet-based storage medium or it may be pushed to or pulled by the client so that the snapshot resides on a client-resident storage medium. |
| US08612384B2 |
Methods and apparatus for searching and accessing multimedia content
A method of synchronizing a multimedia content file with an associated text file includes subdividing the text file into one or more samples, where each sample includes zero or more consecutive characters of the text file. The samples are associated with a corresponding contiguous time interval of the multimedia content file. For each sample, a corresponding consumption rate value is determined, which represents a use ratio of characters of the sample within the associated time interval of the multimedia content file. The consumption rate values are then stored, so that they may subsequently be used to compute time positions within the multimedia content file associated with corresponding text characters within the text file. Additional information, such as time cues and interlude intervals, may also be recorded in order to improve the accuracy of synchronization. A corresponding method for cueing of playback of a multimedia content file to its associated text is also provided, along with computer-implemented and networked apparatus implementing the synchronization, cueing and playback methods. |
| US08612381B2 |
Enhanced synchronization framework providing improved sync granularity
A sync manager invokes a scheduled sync task that includes filter attributes for filtering a plurality of memory pages into a subset of memory pages. The sync manager selects file pointers that correspond to a plurality of files and traverses through the files using the selected file pointers. While traversing, the sync manager extracts file attributes for each of the files and, in turn, filters the files by comparing the filter attributes with the extracted file attributes. The sync manager then extracts memory page identifiers that correspond to the filtered files and synchronizes a subset of memory pages using the extracted memory page identifiers. |
| US08612379B2 |
Deploying multiple e-commerce systems in a single computing platform
A method, system, architecture and apparatus for deploying multiple e-commerce systems in a single computing platform. In accordance with the present invention, an e-commerce systems architecture can include an instantiable owning business logic component derived from an abstract business definition and one or more instantiable business element components configured for aggregation under the control of a business facility instance. The business facility instance can include a coupling to an instance of the owning business logic component. Finally, the architecture can include an instantiable partner business component derived from the abstract business definition. In particular, the instantiable partner business component can include a configuration for limited access to selected ones of the instantiable business element components aggregated under the control of the business facility instance. |
| US08612375B2 |
Dynamic playbook: experimentation platform for social networks
Embodiments are directed towards dynamically managing contextual recommendations that can be employed with content when provided to a channel. A test for a variable having at least two outcomes may be determined to be employed with selected content. Each outcome may correspond to a different contextual recommendation. An outcome to employ with the content may be randomly determined/selected such that each of the outcomes of the test is selected a substantially similar number of times. The content may be modified and/or provided to the channel based on contextual recommendations that correspond to the determined outcome. Actions associated with a plurality of content may be monitored and/or analyzed to determine metrics for each outcome of a test. A comparison of the metrics for each outcome may be utilized to determine a preferred outcome for the test. |
| US08612370B2 |
Pattern recognition device, pattern recognition method, and pattern recognition program
A pattern recognition device executes feature selection using a feature selection table. High recognition performance is possible by dimensionally lowering an n-dimensional feature vector. A feature selecting table generating section for generating a feature selecting table in a manner so that when features with up to pth priority (p·0) have been described in the feature selecting table, an additional feature selected from additional feature candidates for which no corresponding priorities have been assigned, among the n features, is added with (p+1)th priority. A recognition dictionary generating section determines the additional feature to be added with the (p+1)th priority and a (p+1)-dimensional reference vector having (p+1) features so that a loss (R) indicating risk that the input data is identified to be in a different class becomes minimum, notifies the determined additional feature to the feature selecting table generating section, and generates a recognition dictionary based on the (p+1)-dimensional reference vector. |
| US08612361B1 |
System and method for handling payment errors with respect to delivery services
Systems and methods which provide processing of payment errors with respect to delivery services in accordance with user preferences are disclosed herein. According to embodiments, a delivery service user provides information with respect to how payment errors with respect to delivery services provided to the user are to be handled to facilitate electronic and/or automated processing of such payment errors. A user may authorize payment shortages on the user's behalf, may request notification for an ad hoc determination as to how the shortage is to be handled, or may elect to have postal items returned in the case of payment shortage. Various levels of payment error handling services may be provided with respect to users. Detailed information, such as statistics with respect to users' payment errors, the numbers and types of payment errors, user's preferences in handling payment errors, etcetera, may be provided. |
| US08612358B1 |
Systems and methods for adjusting the value of distressed properties
Systems and methods are provided for providing an adjustment to a value estimate for a property that is considered distressed. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving the estimate of value for the property; determining, based on a model, the adjustment to the estimate of value, such that the model accounts for a characteristic of the property and a characteristic of the loan; and providing the adjustment. |
| US08612354B2 |
Method for controlling digital rights of the “Play N times” type for a digital audio and/or video content and device implementing this method
The invention relates to a method for controlling digital rights of the “Play N times” type for a digital audio and/or video content, referred to as controlled content, the controlled content being consumed by a consumer on a consuming device or on another device delegating the controlling of these rights to the consuming device. According to this method, charging of one additional usage is inhibited in at least one of the following cases where: the consumer momentarily consumes another content, on the same device where the controlled content is consumed, and then returns to the controlled content; the consumer effects a pause in the usage of the controlled content; the consumer performs a fast-forward of the controlled content; or the consumer performs a rewind of the controlled content. |
| US08612350B2 |
Travel account
A user can set up a travel account with a payment provider, to inform the payment provider of expected dates and locations of travel, along with limits or restrictions at the various locations and/or dates. When the user travels and attempts to make a payment, the payment provider can determine the location and date to aid in processing the payment request, resulting in an easier process for the user, while still providing additional security with the limits and restrictions. |
| US08612349B1 |
Cloud computing system and method for accumulating money
A cloud computing system and method for accumulating money using a client device, a computing cloud, and a network, wherein a cloud data storage contains computer instructions for presenting a user interface, creating a user profile, forming an account for accumulating money linked to another account, enabling the user to input goals, and enabling the user to make and receive deposits into the account for accumulating money. The deposits can include an amount of money selected by the user, an amount of money saved by not purchasing a product or service, an amount of money saved by purchasing a lower priced product or service, a similar product with a rebate, another promotional incentive for purchasing a product, or an amount of money associated with a non-monetary goal. |
| US08612348B1 |
Systems and methods for interfacing merchants with third-party service providers
In an implementation, a transaction request message is received at a computing device, wherein the transaction request message is associated with a merchant. Profile information associated with the merchant is retrieved by the computing device. Based in part on the retrieved profile information associated with the merchant or the transaction request message, third-party service providers associated with the transaction request message are determined by the computing device. Profile information associated with the determined third-party service providers is retrieved by the computing device. Based in part on the retrieved profile information associated with the merchant, the retrieved profile information associated with the determined third-party service providers, or the transaction request message, a formatted transaction request message is generated from the transaction request message by the computing device. The formatted transaction request messages may be provided to the determined third-party service providers by the computing device simultaneously or in the future. |
| US08612346B2 |
Method and system for closed loop collect on delivery (C.O.D.) payments
A trusted closed loop payment system and method that reduces the liability imposed upon carriers for delivery of C.O.D. shipments is provided. A third party payment system is authorized by the buyer to make payments to a shipper (and, if applicable, a freight forwarder) on behalf of the buyer upon receipt of goods by the buyer. Since the payment for the shipment is being made by the third party payment system, and guaranteed by the third party payment system, the liability imposed on the carrier to ensure the payment is proper and will be honored is removed. In addition, the present invention provides several advantages for shippers and buyers as well, including receipt of payment by a shipper in a much shorter time frame, and multiple payment options for buyers for account reconciliation with the third party payment system for the C.O.D. shipments. |
| US08612345B2 |
Routing for direct to account payments
Various systems and methods are described for analyzing multiple money transfer routing schemes. Each of these multiple money transfer routing schemes may comprise a route to transmit funds from the source for the money transfer transaction to the destination for the money transfer transaction. An internal money transfer routing scheme may refer to a money transfer routing scheme that utilizes a direct money transfer arrangement between the destination of the money transfer transaction and the money transfer network. An external money transfer routing scheme may refer to a money transfer routing scheme that utilizes at least one third party money transfer network between the destination of the money transfer transaction and the money transfer network. The multiple money transfer routing schemes may be analyzed and the preferable money transfer routing scheme at least partially based on the predefined criterion from among the multiple money transfer routing schemes may be identified. |
| US08612343B2 |
Network based payment service capable of generating coding for adding payment objects to pages of external sites
A network-based payment service and site provides various features for facilitating payments. One such feature enables users of the payment service to create pay boxes, or other types of payment objects, that can be incorporated into externally hosted web pages and used to make payments. In some embodiments, the payment objects enable users to make payments directly from the externally hosted web pages. |
| US08612338B2 |
Method, program and apparatus for collecting purchase information using network
A purchase information collecting method collecting reliable purchase information about any kind of commodity using a network. In the purchase information collecting method, a server apparatus is used, which communicates with a seller computer and a purchaser computer, and which stores received sales information in the first storing part when the sales information identifies a deal about a commodity and is generated and transmitted by the seller computer. The server apparatus, when receiving purchase information, which consists of personal information of a purchaser of a commodity and the sales information that is presented to the purchaser by a seller of the commodity, judges whether the sales information included in the received purchase information is stored in the first storing part. If the sales information is stored, the server apparatus stores the received purchase information as valid purchase information in the second storing part. |
| US08612335B2 |
System and method for management and analysis of electronic trade orders
A system and methods are provided for using order descriptor identifiers in relation to orders being used in trading strategies. According to one example method, when a hedge order is submitted upon detecting a fill of another order, the hedge order includes one or more order descriptor identifiers conveying a purpose of the hedge order to a user. The order descriptor identifiers can be used to search for desired orders and perform more effective order management and post trade analysis. |
| US08612331B2 |
Prediction market system and methods
Systems and methods for operating a prediction market, including methods for finding disagreement with the consensus among participants and methods for managing liquidity. Also, an interactive user interface to facilitate investing, with one user action, in a prediction market. |
| US08612330B1 |
Managing bandwidth for shared resources
Usage of shared resources can be managed by enabling users to obtain different types of guarantees at different times for various types and/or levels of resource capacity. A user can select to have an amount or rate of capacity dedicated to that user. A user can also select reserved capacity for at least a portion of the requests, tasks, or program execution for that user, where the user has priority to that capacity but other users can utilize the excess capacity during other periods. Users can alternatively specify to use the excess capacity or other variable, non-guaranteed capacity. The capacity can be for any appropriate functional aspect of a resource, such as computational capacity, throughput, latency, bandwidth, and storage. Users can submit bids for various types and combinations of excess capacity, and winning bids can receive dedicated use of the excess capacity for at least a period of time. |
| US08612329B1 |
Volume clarity trading display
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, an electronic trading interface and method for displaying trading data are provided. Reported trade prices are received. The largest volume for a trading price is determined. The largest volume for a trading price is normalized to establish a highest volume number. In one embodiment, the highest volume number is established by dividing the largest volume for a trading price by an adjusted percentage of itself. The remaining volumes for trading prices are normalized by the same method used to establish the highest volume number. The normalized volumes for trading prices are displayed. Thus, a trader is able to read volume earlier and clearer, thus providing an economic opportunity outside the singularity of the present. This Abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interprete or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. |
| US08612327B1 |
System, method and computer program product for a product catalog/pricing engine framework
A system, method and computer program product are provided including a catalog database with a plurality of product definitions. The product definitions includes a plurality of rules and attributes associated with a plurality of products. Further included is a pricing engine in communication with the catalog database. The pricing engine is adapted for charging for the products based on the rules and the attributes. |
| US08612322B2 |
Method and system for electronic delivery of sensitive information
A method and related system obtains consent from a user for electronic delivery of sensitive information. The user operating a first computer accesses a web page on a server system to input the consent. The web page prompts for the consent from the user. Once the consent is received at the server system, the consent is stored and sensitive information is delivered electronically to an e-mail address specified by the user. Once consent is indicated, it is communicated from the individual's computer to another computer such as a server over, for example, a modem connection. Having secured the individual's consent, the additional sensitive information may be delivered to the individual's computer as, for example, a URL attachment to an email message. |
| US08612321B2 |
System and method for the automated brokerage of financial instruments
Disclosed herein in a preferred embodiment is an automated financial instrument brokerage system wherein a front end layer interacts with customers to generate activity requests for an intermediate layer. The intermediate layer preferably processes the activity requests and places financial instrument orders on a financial market if appropriate. A backend layer preferably provides data to the intermediate layer for processing activity requests. Multiple heterogeneous front end customer applications may be supported by the same intermediate layer. Further, multiple backend layer applications may interact with the intermediate layer in a manner transparent to the front end layer. Further, scalability can be achieved be partitioning various tasks of the intermediate layer onto separate servers, and more preferably on separate redundant servers. Load balancers may then be used in the intermediate layer to provide distributed access to these servers. Also disclosed herein is a caching technique whereby turnaround time for processing activity requests can be reduced by reducing the number of times that the intermediate layer needs to interact with the backend layer. |
| US08612320B2 |
Method and apparatus for detecting fraudulent loans
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting fraudulent activity by preventing the rapid funding of multiple loans on the same property, by providing a collective database where real estate property information is examined and the apparatus detects whether at least two mortgage applications are the same property as collateral. |
| US08612318B1 |
Payroll tax settlement services
A method and system for payroll tax settlement that receives payroll tax files from a payroll provider system, the payroll tax files including payroll tax transaction data for a plurality of employers and a plurality of tax authorities. The payroll tax settlement system also receives transaction feedback data from a banking network, where the transaction feedback data provides completion and error information on payroll tax transactions between the plurality of employers and at least one tax authority. The system creates a ledger for each employer using the payroll tax transaction data from the payroll tax files and generates a reconciliation report by matching transaction feedback data with each employer and comparing transaction feedback data with the ledgers of the corresponding employer. The system provides the reconciliation report to the payroll provider system. |
| US08612317B1 |
Receipt visualization and receipt data applications
Visually presenting spending behavior, spending patterns, and spending activity to a consumer across of their all receipt based purchase transactions. Receipt data is received at a first or host computer from respective transaction processing devices or host systems of respective merchants, or received from self-service action of the consumer, and identifies respective goods or services purchased by the consumer. A user interface is displayed to the consumer and comprises a thumbnail arrangement of discrete objects, each of which represents respective receipts generated by respective transaction or transaction processing devices. A discrete object may comprise data of one or multiple goods or services and includes category indicators that visually inform the consumer about the type of good or service. Embodiments may also involve requesting receipt data utilizing a mobile communication device, searching receipt data collected by the computer and responding to the request with requested receipt data. |
| US08612316B2 |
Process for determining object level profitability
A process for determining object level profitability includes the steps of (1) preparing information to be accessed electronically, (2) establishing rules for processing the prepared information, (3) calculating at least one marginal value of profit using established rules as applied to a selected set of prepared information, and (4) combining the at least one marginal value of profit and fully absorbed value of profit adjustment to create a measure for object level profitability. The inventive process gives management profit measures tailored to its need for accurate decision oriented profit information required to manage a large organization based on profit measurement. |
| US08612314B2 |
System and method for the utilization of pricing models in the aggregation, analysis, presentation and monetization of pricing data for vehicles and other commodities
Embodiments of systems and methods for the aggregation, analysis, display and monetization of pricing data for commodities in general, and which may be particularly useful applied to vehicles are disclosed. In certain embodiments, one or more models may be applied over a set of historical transaction data associated with a vehicle configuration to determine pricing data. Some models may leverage incremental data in various conditions, including cases where fewer than a desired number of historical transactions are present in the bin of a specified vehicle, where fewer than, equal to, or more than a certain number of list prices for the specified vehicle available, and where no historical transaction data for new models is available. |
| US08612310B2 |
Method and system for commerce in media program related merchandise
The disclosed technology provides systems and methods for delivering a media program and purchase opportunities related to the media program to user equipment. A media program and its related merchandise information can be located at a distribution facility. The distribution facility can tailor the purchase opportunities it provides to the user equipment based on the user equipment's equipment category. When user equipment receives purchase opportunities, the user equipment can select the opportunities based on which types of merchandise are supported by the user equipment. The user equipment and/or a distribution facility may be able to determine the location of the user equipment. When the distribution facility provides merchandise information for physical merchandise to the user equipment, the merchandise information can be selected to include physical merchandise that are available for purchase at stores that are, for example, near the location of the user equipment. |
| US08612307B2 |
System and method to price and exchange data producers and data consumers through formatting data objects with necessary and sufficient item definition information
The invention provides a method and system to enable buyers and sellers of data items to adjust fees for one or a plurality of data items according to the compatibility of the data items with research and dataset compatibility requirements of the end user or buyer of the data items. It further provides a method for constructing data item pairs consisting of targets for observations and observations upon targets compatible with the requirement of the purchaser of the data. |
| US08612306B1 |
Method, system, and storage device for recommending products utilizing category attributes
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for related search suggestions for products. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a query for searching documents wherein the query specifies a first product. A number of occurrences of the first product in a plurality of prior queries of the documents submitted by users is determined. A product category for the first product is determined based on one or more attributes associated with the first product, the category having a predetermined plurality of category attributes. A suggested product is selected wherein the suggested product is associated with attributes that satisfy the category attributes. |
| US08612302B2 |
Credit swap in a virtual world
Rewards, which can be virtual currency which can include items, on one website are transferred to be used on another website. The one website on which the rewards are earned has reciprocity with other websites, and can send those rewards to another website, either associated with the user's own account, or with someone else's account. In one embodiment, the rewards can be transferred even if the user who earns those rewards does not participate in the website that is receiving the transfer. |
| US08612301B2 |
Method for crediting users based on propagating a transactional applet
A method of tiered promotion and distribution of a product comprises hosting a transactional applet accessible via the Internet; accessing the host to execute the applet for a first fan; enabling the first fan to process a voucher for the product; and enabling the first fan to propagate the applet to a terminal of a second fan wherein the propagated applet (i) renders content associated with the first fan and the product, (ii) accepts an input from the second fan to process a subsequent transaction relative to the product; (iii) credits the first fan with a credit, and (iv) generates a transactional record for delivery to the first fan. The generated record may include a notation of account credit, evidence of an entry ticket, or other information. The applet may be propagated to third or subsequent fans to provide further credits for the first, second, or subsequent fans. |
| US08612296B2 |
Read-only user access for web based auction
A networked computer arrangement and method in which a manufacturer or service provider may communicate to a plurality of traders the items, including goods and/or services, which may be available for purchase, the quantities of those available items, and any other conditions to be met for the purchase of the available items. Traders may apply guest bidder profiles or entitlement schema to the available goods lists to produce offerings for a plurality of guest brokers. Only bid-relevant product information is presented to each guest broker as needed in order to protect the offering party's overall position on the offered good(s). Guest broker profiles or entitlement schema may be based on perspective contractual arrangements between potential brokers, traders, and a manufacturer or service provider. Offerings are presented to the guest brokers, who are restricted from participating in the bidding process. |
| US08612295B2 |
Method and apparatus for processing order related messages
The invention is directed to techniques for processing order messages exchanged between a client and an order server. The order messages can be for products and services that the customer orders from a vendor. The client provides the input order messages, which contain order commands in a predefined document format, to an order message manager of the order server, which also provides an order message sorter and message processing modules. The order message sorter reads the input document in the input order message to determine a type for the message and then directs the message to a message processing module capable of processing that type of order message. The message processing module processes the input document, obtains data if needed from an order database, and prepares an output document to include in an output order message to be returned to the client. |
| US08612293B2 |
Generation of advertising targeting information based upon affinity information obtained from an online social network
Systems and methods for automatically generating targeting information for presentation of an offer via an online social network using affinity information collected concerning members of online social networks in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. One embodiment includes indexing member profiles within social networks for affinity to keywords using a targeting system that retrieves data concerning member profiles and activities from servers within an online social network, identifying member profiles that have affinity for at least one offer keyword using the targeting system and the index, identifying additional keywords for which the identified member profiles have affinity using the targeting system and the index, determining a set of keywords that target a desired audience based upon the identified additional keywords, and targeting presentation of advertisements for the specific offer to members of an online social network using the online social network and the targeting keywords. |
| US08612291B2 |
Optimized display of ad landing page
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including a computer program product for optimizing the display of landing pages in restrictive display environments are provided. A determined area or region of the landing page is identified. Upon receiving a request for content items to be presented on a device, a plurality of content items are identified for presentation on the device, each of the content items having an associated landing page destination address. If the requesting device is a restricted display device, a hash tag is appended to each of the associated destination addresses, each hash tag corresponding to a predefined section of an associated landing page. The plurality of identified content items are transmitted to the requesting device for presentation. |
| US08612288B2 |
Method and system for facilitating access to a promotional offer
A method of facilitating access to a promotional offer, the method comprising: receiving at a server system a page request from a client device; and sending program code executable in a browser application to the client device in response to the page request, the program code being executable to display at least one promotional offer and a promotional code, to provide a flash object at a display position of the promotional code and, in response to selection of the flash object, to cause the promotional code to be copied to a user-accessible memory of the client device and to open a new browser display of the browser application. |
| US08612287B2 |
System and method for rail transport of trailers
A trailer transport system for tracking trains having a plurality of rail cars, wherein each rail car can transport a trailer, is described. The system includes a computer system having a trailer tracking program, wherein the trailer tracking program receives information regarding a trailer to be transported and stores the information in a record and a plurality of terminals, wherein each terminal includes a terminal management system communicatively connected to the computer system, wherein the terminal management system pulls up the record corresponding to the trailer to be transported when the trailer arrives at the terminal and modifies the record to reflect the trailer's transportation status. |
| US08612286B2 |
Creating a training tool
Techniques for creating a training technique for an individual are provided. The techniques include obtaining video of one or more events and information from a transaction log that corresponds to the one or more events, wherein the one or more events relate to one or more actions of an individual, classifying the one or more events into one or more event categories, comparing the one or more classified events with an enterprise best practices model to determine a degree of compliance, examining the one or more classified events to correct one or more misclassifications, if any, and revise the one or more event categories with the one or more corrected misclassifications, if any, and using the degree of compliance to create a training technique for the individual. |
| US08612284B1 |
Quality of service differentiated cloud storage
A system, method and computer program product for managing the quality of service differentiated cloud storage. The cloud storage (and its services) is highly distributed. An overall speed of the storage is calculated based on storage speed and a traffic speed of the connection to the particular cloud storage. Data access expenses are calculated. Then, for each of the portions of the cloud storage the associated speed and traffic costs are calculated, so the user can select a level of data access guarantee (DAG) for his particular needs. In order to maintain the desired overall speed of the data access, geo-targeting with the cloud storage system is implemented, where the same data is retrieved from different locations based on optimal data movement costs. |
| US08612281B1 |
System and method for producing and distributing audio-visual content
A method and system for producing and distributing audio-visual content for a program such as, for example, a television program. The method includes producing the audio-visual content for a first predetermined number of program episodes and transmitting the audio-visual content for the first predetermined number of episodes to a distribution entity for display over a network to a plurality of consumers. After the first predetermined number of episodes are displayed to the plurality of consumers, the method includes receiving performance data relating to viewership of the first predetermined number of episodes by the plurality of consumers and evaluating the performance data to determine whether the performance data for a portion of the first predetermined number of episodes meets or exceeds a predetermined threshold. If the predetermined threshold is met or exceeded, an order for a second predetermined number of program episodes is automatically triggered. The first and second predetermined numbers of episodes total a syndicatable number of episodes. |
| US08612276B1 |
Methods, apparatus, and systems for dispatching service technicians
Scheduling of activities for field service technicians may be improved by modifying availability constraints associated with appointment windows for activities. Activities may be scheduled based on a performance deadline and relevant shift times of the resources to whom the activity may be allocated, as well as a variety of parameters relating to activities, resources and/or relevant environmental conditions (e.g., weather, traffic). An activity may be moved from one calendar day to another, a location constraint at the beginning and/or the end of a technician's shift may be removed or modified, and/or information updates may be provided in real time or near real time (e.g., every five minutes or less) throughout a work day to facilitate scheduling. In one example for scheduling dispatch of locate technicians for locate operations, ticket information relating to locate request tickets, as well as resource information relating to available technicians, may be extracted from a ticket database and a resource/technician database to provide appropriate inputs to a scheduling engine, based at least in part on matching available resources to performance deadlines associated with locate requests. |
| US08612273B2 |
Method and system for managing vehicle travel
Methods and systems for facilitating efficient travel management are disclosed. Exemplary embodiments comprise a processor configured to make selections from among a plurality of vehicle travel modes based on a vehicle travel mode selection rule using, at least in part, received travel plan information. In a preferred embodiment, this selection can be based on any of a number of factors, including monetary costs and carbon emissions associated with different vehicle travel mode options. |
| US08612272B1 |
System and method for skills-based staffing and scheduling
An invention for scheduling employees in a skills-based contact routing environment in which each employee has one or more skills and belongs to a skill group. The invention includes an initialization step and an iterative step. In the initialization step, the invention generates initial staffing levels and initial agent schedules for each skill group. In the iterative step, a skill group is selected and unscheduled while keeping agents in other skill groups on their current schedules, agent requirements for the skill group selected are updated using a staffing model that applies contact routing rules and includes the number of agents scheduled for work in other skill groups, and agents are rescheduled in the selected skill group. In each iteration each skill group is unscheduled, agent requirements are updated, and agents are rescheduled once. Iterations continue until one or more stopping criteria are satisfied. |
| US08612270B2 |
System and method to simulate the impact of leadership activity
A system and method to simulate the impact of leadership activity for individuals in leader and/or manager roles to be able to model their organization as a system and to simulate a plurality of actions that might be taken and their impact on the non-linear dynamics of the organization, its functions, capabilities, processes and outcomes. The system includes an Organization State component, a Leadership Activities component, an Environment State component, and a Simulation Module component. The Simulation Module component takes in initial conditions defined for the Organization State, Leadership Activities and the Environment State, iterates the functions and process of the organization through time, simulates the interactions of the various variables described in the Organization State, the Leadership Activities and the Environment State and the interactive effects among them and provides outputs of a plurality of measures for each time step. |
| US08612269B2 |
Method, system, and computer program product to store event information and corresponding event availability information
Methods and systems to store event information and corresponding event availability information. An event record and a corresponding availability count record may be stored together in a hash table, at an index computed from event information. Alternatively, event records may be stored in a first hash table at indexes computed from corresponding event information, and availability count records may be stored in a second hash table, at indexes computed from contents of the availability count records. Event records in the first hash table may include pointers to availability count records in the second hash table. To retrieve an availability count record for an event, the event information may be hashed with the first hash function to determine an index of the first hash table at which the event record and associated pointer are stored. From the pointer, the associated availability count record may be retrieved from the second hash table. |
| US08612265B2 |
Method and system for providing, administering, and coordinating a dual-purpose profit sharing plan
A method and system for providing, administering, and coordinating a Dual-Purpose Profit Sharing plan (DPPSP). The method comprising the steps of: establishing the DPPSP as a qualified fund in accordance with Internal Revenue Service provisions; providing retirement benefits accident, and health benefits within the DPPSP; determining an allocation of employee contributions and employer contributions to the DPPSP between the retirement benefits, accident benefits and health benefits based on a predetermined formula; establishing that i) the employer contributions and ii) the accident and health benefits are excluded from taxation as income, based on federal income tax exclusion rules and offering the DPPSP. |
| US08612264B2 |
Randomized competitive insurance pricing system and method
A system and method of generating insurance risk samples and for comparing hypothetical and real insurance premiums of different insurance companies is disclosed. In some embodiments, one or more rating factors are defined and have a plurality of possible values at least partially defining an insurance risk. Values for the one or more rating factors are selected according to a predetermined distribution. The selected values are then used to generate sample risks, calculate sample premiums for the risks, and/or compare sample premiums for different types of insurance policies. |
| US08612263B1 |
Systems and methods for providing a cash value adjustment to a life insurance policy
A method and system for performing a cash value adjustment to a life insurance policy issued by an insurer and owned by a policy owner, the method performed by a computer processing system. The method may include (1) inputting parameters of a life insurance policy, the parameters including controlling parameters, and the controlling parameters including: (i) a constraint dictated parameter of the life insurance policy; and (ii) a driven parameter of the life insurance policy. The method may further include analyzing the relationship between the constraint dictated parameter and the driven parameter; and performing a re-underwriting of the life insurance policy using the parameters of the life insurance policy and a set of re-underwriting criteria. The method may further include generating re-underwritten policy data to constitute a re-underwritten policy. The method may include providing an annuity. |
| US08612262B1 |
Market relationship management
A system and method for managing an insurance company's relationships with service providers is disclosed. Data about a service provider's performance is obtained for a variety of metrics. Performance rating models and business rules may be used to evaluate the data and to rate the performance of service providers. The resultant ratings can be used as a basis for recommending service providers to customers. Feedback may be provided to the service providers so as to inform them of their competitive position relative to other service providers. |
| US08612261B1 |
Automated learning for medical data processing system
In at least one embodiment, an automated medical data machine learning system and method allow a natural language processing (“NLP”) system to automatically learn via, for example, feedback to improve ongoing performance of the natural language processing system. The particular technology for improving the interpretation by the NLP system of future input data is a matter of design choice. In at least one embodiment, the automated medical data learning system and method includes a linguistics module that determines the part of speech of a particular term or term, such as use as a noun or verb. In at least one embodiment, the system and method learns an interpretation based on a source of the input data. In at least one embodiment, the system and method includes a statistics module that allows the system and method to determine a most probable interpretation or multiple interpretations. |
| US08612259B2 |
Methods and systems for managing distributed digital medical data
A network for mediating the peer-to-peer transfer of digital patient medical data includes a plurality of distributed agents each associated with a health care provider and connected to a central system. Periodically the agents collect local information relating to patient medical files and/or data streams, for example diagnostic images and associated reports, and process that information into metadata files acting as pointers to the original files. The metadata files are transmitted to the central system where they are parsed and the attributes are stored on the central system in patient records with records from the same patient grouped together whenever possible. Registered users can search the central system, even in the absence of a unique identifier, to identify patient records pointing to the remote patient medical files. Upon finding a patient medical file, the invention provides a streamlined process for communicating access authorization from the patient to the hospital or facility storing the medical files. Once patient authorization is received, secure processes are provided for transferring the data in its entirety to or for viewing by the user in a peer-to-peer fashion. |
| US08612256B1 |
System and software of enhanced pharmaceutical operations in long-term care facilities and related methods
A system, software and related methods of enhanced pharmaceutical operations in long term care facilities are provided. An embodiment of a system includes a long-term care facility pharmacy group management server, long-term care facility pharmacy management software associated with the long-term care facility pharmacy group management server to manage pharmacological operations in a plurality of long-term care facilities, a plurality of pharmaceutical storage and electronic dispensing carts each positioned in a long-term care facility remote from the long-term care facility pharmacy group management server and in communication therewith, a remote pharmacy group server in communication with the long-term care facility pharmacy group management server, and a plurality of pharmaceutical prescription document processors each positioned in a long-term care facility and in communication with the remote pharmacy group server or the long-term care facility pharmacy group management server. |
| US08612252B1 |
Care management and transportation workflow
A system for facilitating the provision of health care services to patients comprises a computer-readable medium containing information associated with the provision of health care services to patients; an electronic display disposed in a health care environment; and software configured to effect display of some of the information on the electronic display. A method for facilitating the provision of health care services to patients comprises inputting, via an electronic touch screen display, information corresponding to a patient or room; displaying, via the electronic touch screen display, the information; and providing, to a patient, physical health care services, based on the viewed information. The electronic touchscreen display preferably is not a part of a computer workstation and is configured for simultaneous viewing by a plurality of health care providers and caregivers. |
| US08612242B2 |
Minimizing speech delay in communication devices
Methods and apparatus for coordinating audio data processing and network communication processing in a communication device are disclosed. An exemplary method begins with demodulating a series of received communication frames, using a network communication processing circuit, to produce received encoded audio frames. An event report for each of one or more of the received encoded audio frames is generated, the event report indicating a network communication circuit processing time associated with the corresponding received encoded audio frames. The received encoded audio frames are decoded, using an audio data processing circuit, and the decoded audio is output to an audio circuit. The timing of the outputting of the decoded audio is adjusted, based on the generated event reports. |
| US08612241B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing packet loss or frame erasure concealment
A method for performing packet loss or Frame Erasure Concealment (FEC) for a speech coder receives encoded frames of compressed speech information transmitted from an encoder. The method determines whether an encoded frame has been lost, corrupted in transmission, or erased, synthesizes properly received frames, and decides on an overlap-add window to use in combining a portion of the synthesized speech signal with a subsequent speech signal resulting from a received and decoded packet, where the size of the overlap-add window is based on the unavailability of packets. If it is determined that an encoded frame has been lost, corrupted in transmission, or erased, the method performed an overlap-add operation on the portion of the synthesized speech signal and the subsequent speech signal, using the decided-on overlap-add window. |
| US08612237B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining audio spatial quality
Techniques for evaluating the audio quality of an audio test signal are disclosed. These techniques provide a quality analysis that takes into account spatial audio distortions between the audio test signal and a reference audio signal. These techniques involve, for example, determining a plurality of audio spatial cues for an audio test signal, determining a corresponding plurality of audio spatial cues for an audio reference signal, comparing the determined audio spatial cues of the audio test signal to the audio spatial cues of the audio reference signal, and determining the audio quality of the audio test signal. |
| US08612235B2 |
Method and system for considering information about an expected response when performing speech recognition
A speech recognition system receives and analyzes speech input from a user in order to recognize and accept a response from the user. Under certain conditions, information about the response expected from the user may be available. In these situations, the available information about the expected response is used to modify the behavior of the speech recognition system by taking this information into account. The modified behavior of the speech recognition system according to the invention has several embodiments including: comparing the observed speech features to the models of the expected response separately from the usual hypothesis search in order to speed up the recognition system; modifying the usual hypothesis search to emphasize the expected response; updating and adapting the models when the recognized speech matches the expected response to improve the accuracy of the recognition system. |
| US08612234B2 |
Multi-state barge-in models for spoken dialog systems
A method is disclosed for applying a multi-state barge-in acoustic model in a spoken dialogue system. The method includes receiving an audio speech input from the user during the presentation of a prompt, accumulating the audio speech input from the user, applying a non-speech component having at least two one-state Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to the audio speech input from the user, applying a speech component having at least five three-state HMMs to the audio speech input from the user, in which each of the five three-state HMMs represents a different phonetic category, determining whether the audio speech input is a barge-in-speech input from the user, and if the audio speech input is determined to be the barge-in-speech input from the user, terminating the presentation of the prompt. |
| US08612233B2 |
Expert conversation builder
An expert conversation builder contains a knowledge database that includes a plurality of dialogues having nodes and edges arranged as directed acyclic graphs. Users and authors of the system interface with the knowledge database through a graphical interface to author dialogues and to create expert conversations as threads traversing the node in the dialogues. |
| US08612232B2 |
System and method of spoken language understanding in human computer dialogs
A system and method are disclosed that improve automatic speech recognition in a spoken dialog system. The method comprises partitioning speech recognizer output into self-contained clauses, identifying a dialog act in each of the self-contained clauses, qualifying dialog acts by identifying a current domain object and/or a current domain action, and determining whether further qualification is possible for the current domain object and/or current domain action. If further qualification is possible, then the method comprises identifying another domain action and/or another domain object associated with the current domain object and/or current domain action, reassigning the another domain action and/or another domain object as the current domain action and/or current domain object and then recursively qualifying the new current domain action and/or current object. This process continues until nothing is left to qualify. |
| US08612231B2 |
Method and system for speech based document history tracking
A method and a system of history tracking corrections in a speech based document are disclosed. The speech based document comprises one or more sections of text recognized or transcribed from sections of speech, wherein the sections of speech are dictated by a user and processed by a speech recognizer in a speech recognition system into corresponding sections of text of the speech based document. The method comprises associating of at least one speech attribute (14) to each section of text in the speech based document, said speech attribute (14) comprising information related to said section of text, respectively; presenting said speech based document on a presenting unit (8); detecting an action being performed within any of said sections of text; and updating information of said speech attributes (14) related to the kind of action detected on one of said sections of text for updating said speech based document, whereby said updated information of said speech attributes (14) is used for history tracking corrections of said speech based document. |
| US08612228B2 |
Character mouth shape control method
A section corresponding to a given duration is sampled from sound data that indicates the voice of a player collected by a microphone, and a vocal tract cross-sectional area function of the sampled section is calculated. The vertical dimension of the mouth is calculated from a throat-side average cross-sectional area of the vocal tract cross-sectional area function, and the area of the mouth is calculated from a mouth-side average cross-sectional area. The transverse dimension of the mouth is calculated from the area of the mouth and the vertical dimension of the mouth. |
| US08612223B2 |
Voice processing device and method, and program
There is provided a voice processing device. The device includes: score calculation unit configured to calculate a score indicating compatibility of a voice signal input on the basis of an utterance of a user with each of plural pieces of intention information indicating each of a plurality of intentions; intention selection unit configured to select the intention information indicating the intention of the utterance of the user among the plural pieces of intention information on the basis of the score calculated by the score calculation unit; and intention reliability calculation unit configured to calculate the reliability with respect to the intention information selected by the intention selection unit on the basis of the score calculated by the score calculation unit. |
| US08612222B2 |
Signature noise removal
A speech enhancement system improves the perceptual quality of a processed voice signal. The system improves the perceptual quality of a voice signal by removing unwanted noise components from a voice signal. The system removes undesirable signals that may result in the loss of information. The system receives and analyzes signals to determine whether an undesired random or persistent signal corresponds to one or more modeled noises. When one or more noise components are detected, the noise components are substantially removed or dampened from the signal to provide a less noisy voice signal. |
| US08612219B2 |
SBR encoder with high frequency parameter bit estimating and limiting
An SBR encoder includes a filter bank that receives an input signal, a time/frequency grid generator that controls a number of bits of various parameters, a parameter calculator that calculates various parameters, a parameter coding unit that encodes the parameters, an upper-limit number-of-bit storage unit that stores an upper limit of the number of bit of encoded data of high-frequency component finally generated in a high-pass encoding process, and a number-of-bit controller. The number-of-bit controller controls the high-pass encoding process by preferentially encoding a parameter having a large influence to sound quality and not encoding a parameter having a small influence to the sound quality relative to a plurality of parameters, so that the number of bits of the encoded data of high-frequency component finally generated in the high-pass encoding process becomes equal to or less than the upper limit to be stored in the upper-limit number-of-bit storage unit. |
| US08612217B2 |
Method and system for noise reduction
Techniques pertaining to noise reduction are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, noise in an audio signal is effectively reduced and a high quality of a target voice is recovered at the same time. In one embodiment, an array of microphones is used to sample the audio signal embedded with noise. The samples are processed according to a beamforming technique to get a signal with an enhanced target voice. A target voice is located in the audio signal sampled by the microphone array. A credibility of the target voice is determined when the target voice is located. The voice presence probability is weighted by the credibility. The signal with the enhanced target voice is enhanced according to the weighed voice presence probability. |
| US08612216B2 |
Method and arrangements for audio signal encoding
To form an audio signal, frequency components of the audio signal which are allotted to a first subband are formed by means of a subband decoder using supplied fundamental period values which respectively indicate a fundamental period for the audio signal. Frequency components of the audio signal which are allotted to a second subband are formed by exciting an audio synthesis filter using an excitation signal which is specific to the second subband. To produce this excitation signal, an excitation signal generator derives a fundamental period parameter from the fundamental period values. The fundamental period parameter is used by the excitation signal generator to form pulses with a pulse shape which is dependent on the fundamental period parameter at an interval of time which is determined by the fundamental period parameter and to mix them with a noise signal. |
| US08612215B2 |
Method and apparatus to extract important frequency component of audio signal and method and apparatus to encode and/or decode audio signal using the same
A method and apparatus to extract an important frequency component of an audio signal and a method and apparatus to encode and/or decode an audio signal by using the same. The method of extracting an important frequency component of an audio signal includes converting an audio signal of a time domain into an audio signal of a frequency domain, selecting a frequency band having a harmonic feature from the converted audio signal of the frequency domain, and extracting an important frequency component from the selected frequency band having the harmonic feature. |
| US08612213B1 |
Correction of errors in character strings that include a word delimiter
In response to determining that a first series of user inputs corresponds to a first character string, the computing device outputs, for display at a display device, the first character string. In response to determining that the first character string does not match a word in a lexicon and in response to determining that the first character string ends with a word delimiter, the computing device replaces the first character string with a second character string. After receiving the first series of user inputs, the computing device receives a second series of user inputs. In response to determining that the second series of user inputs corresponds to a third character string, the computing device outputs the third character string. The computing device determines, based at least in part on the first and second series of user inputs, a fourth character string and outputs, for display, the fourth character string. |
| US08612212B2 |
Method and system for automatically detecting morphemes in a task classification system using lattices
The invention concerns a method and corresponding system for building a phonotactic model for domain independent speech recognition. The method may include recognizing phones from a user's input communication using a current phonotactic model, detecting morphemes (acoustic and/or non-acoustic) from the recognized phones, and outputting the detected morphemes for processing. The method also updates the phonotactic model with the detected morphemes and stores the new model in a database for use by the system during the next user interaction. The method may also include making task-type classification decisions based on the detected morphemes from the user's input communication. |
| US08612210B2 |
Handheld electronic device and method for employing contextual data for disambiguation of text input
A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software that is operable to disambiguate text input. In addition to identifying and outputting representations of language objects that are stored in the memory and that correspond with a text input, the device is able to employ contextual data in certain circumstances to prioritize output. |
| US08612205B2 |
Word alignment method and system for improved vocabulary coverage in statistical machine translation
A system and method for generating word alignments from pairs of aligned text strings are provided. A corpus of text strings provides pairs of text strings, primarily sentences, in source and target languages. A first alignment between a text string pair creates links therebetween. Each link links a single token of the first text string to a single token of the second text string. A second alignment also creates links between the text string pair. In some cases, these links may correspond to bi-phrases. A modified first alignment is generated by selectively modifying links in the first alignment which include a word which is infrequent in the corpus, based on links generated in the second alignment. This results in removing at least some of the links for the infrequent words, allowing more compact and better quality bi-phrases, with higher vocabulary coverage, to be extracted for use in a machine translation system. |
| US08612201B2 |
Hardware emulation system having a heterogeneous cluster of processors
A hardware emulation system having a heterogeneous cluster of processors is described. The apparatus for emulating a hardware design comprises a plurality of processors, where each processor performs a different function during an emulation cycle. The method performed by the apparatus comprises using a data fetch processor to retrieve data from a data array, evaluating the retrieved data using the data fetch processor to produce an output bit, supplying the output bit to an intracluster crossbar and using a data store processor to store the output bit in the data array. |
| US08612196B2 |
System and method for distributed simulation in which different simulation servers simulate different regions of a simulation space
Distributed continuous simulation of a three dimensional simulation space is provided using a set of simulation servers. The simulation space is partitioned into a set of regions. In one embodiment, each simulation server is responsible for simulating one of the regions of the simulation space. Users interacting with the simulation communicate directly with the simulation server responsible for simulating the region that the user is currently interacting with. |
| US08612195B2 |
Gradient-based workflows for conditioning of process-based geologic models
A method for correlating predicted data describing a subsurface region with obtained data describing the subsurface region is provided. Data is obtained describing an initial state of the subsurface region. Data describing a subsequent state of the subsurface region is predicted. A likelihood measure that determines whether the predicted data is within an acceptable range of the obtained data is dynamically and/or interactively updated. The predicted data is compared with the obtained data using the likelihood measure and determining a sensitivity of the predicted data if the predicted data is not within an acceptable range of the obtained data as measured by the likelihood measure. Data describing the initial state of the subsurface region is adjusted based on the sensitivity before performing a subsequent iteration of predicting data describing the subsequent state of the subsurface region. The predicted data is outputted. |
| US08612194B2 |
Updating a subterranean model using at least electromagnetic data
To update a subterranean model, an initial subterranean model is provided, and based on the initial subterranean model, changes to subterranean parameters are predicted using a reservoir simulator. Electromagnetic data representing characteristics of a subterranean structure is computed according to the predicted changes to the subterranean parameters, and the initial subterranean model is modified based on comparing the computed electromagnetic data with observed electromagnetic data. |
| US08612193B2 |
Processing and interpretation of real-time data from downhole and surface sensors
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method of processing large volumes of data to allow for real-time reservoir management is disclosed, comprising: a) acquiring a first data series from a first reservoir sensor; b) establishing a set of criteria based on reservoir management objectives, sensor characteristics, sensor location, nature of the reservoir, and data storage optimization, etc.; c) identifying one or more subsets of the first data series meeting at least one of the criteria; and optionally d) generating one or more second data series based on at least one of the subsets. This methodology may be repeated for numerous reservoir sensors. This methodology allows for intelligent evaluation of sensor data by using carefully established criteria to intelligently select one or more subsets of data. In an alternative embodiment, sensor data from one or more sensors may be evaluated while processing data from a different sensor. |
| US08612191B2 |
Method of generating two-wheeled vehicle dummy model and apparatus for performing a collision simulation of a two-wheeled vehicle
A method of and an apparatus for performing a collision simulation on a two-wheeled vehicle using a virtual model of a dummy developed for use on four-wheeled vehicles. |
| US08612189B2 |
System and method for evaluation of fluid flow in a piping system
A method of and a computer program for analyzing models of dry pipe systems. The computer program includes a user interface and a model generator in communication with the user interface. The method and computer program provide for modeling a referential dry pipe system as a plurality of interconnected nodes, the nodes corresponding to a pipe connector, the interconnection between the nodes corresponding to a pipe device. The plurality of nodes can define a dry portion and a wet portion with the wet portion including a liquid source and the dry portion including a plurality of interconnected pipes to define a volume of gas. The nodes in the dry portion can define a set of nodal devices open to ambient. The method and computer program can provide for computing fluid time based parameters to simulate the liquid flowing from the wet portion to determine at least flow time of the liquid from the wet portion to the open devices. The method and computer program can provide for verification of the liquid flow time in the model within 20% of an actual liquid flow time in the referential dry pipe system. |
| US08612188B2 |
Wave modelling
A computer implemented method of modelling propagation of a wave through a first space. In one embodiment, the instructions store data in the memory representing a first space and a second space, the first space being within the second space, wherein the second space comprises a plurality of calculation blocks, each calculation block that generates a value representing propagation of a wave at a point in the second space, each calculation block carrying out a calculation to determine a value for the point in the second space represented by the calculation block based upon a value generated by at least one other calculation block, and store data in the memory defining at least one boundary defining the first space within the second space, the at least one boundary further dividing the second space into at least two spaces outside of the first space. |
| US08612187B2 |
Test platform implemented by a method for positioning a sound object in a 3D sound environment
A test platform (11) for facilitating the selection of a sound configuration that is suitable for a target audio system that has a limited processing power (Pmax). During an objective selection of the configurations, the platform (11) adopts—from among a set of possible configurations—the sound configurations that are compatible with the available power (Pmax) of the audio system. Next, the platform (11) makes it possible for an integrator to test the sound rendering of each configuration adopted by enabling the selection of the number of virtual loudspeakers and the order (14.2) of the HRTF filters. For this purpose, the integrator can select different types of sound sources to which to listen. After listening to the sound rendering of different sound configurations, the integrator can select the configuration that is most suitable to the target audio system. |
| US08612183B2 |
Analysis model generation system
An analysis model generation system, for generating an analysis model of an analysis target, by correcting a distortion configuration owned by a configuration mesh data, which is generated by changing configuration of the analysis target, being made up with hexahedrons, into meshes, comprises a mesh data read-in portion 110 for reading the configuration mesh data therein, a mesh quality estimate portion 111 for estimating quality of a mesh of the configuration mesh data, a first database 101 for classifying distortion configuration of the mesh into a pattern, so as to register it therein as a distorted mesh pattern, in advance, a mesh pattern determination portion 112 for determining, on which one of the distorted mesh patterns a distortion corresponds, when the mesh has the distortion as a result of the quality estimation within the mesh quality estimation portion, a second database 115 for registering therein correction methods for correcting the distortion, corresponding to the distorted mesh pattern registered in the first database, a mesh correcting portion 113 for correcting the distortion of the mesh upon basis of the correction method, and a mesh data display portion 114 for displaying a result of conducting the correction. |
| US08612178B2 |
Geolocation using high order statistics
A specific emitter identification (SEI) method and apparatus is capable of identifying and tracking objects within a geographical area of interest wherein the system and method has not been preprogrammed to look for particular signals. The system and method receives all of the emitted electromagnetic signals emitted from area of interest. The system and method next performs high order statistical analysis on the received signals and determines which signals emanate from possible targets of interest and which likely emanate from background clutter/noise by comparing the relative degrees of Gaussianness of the signals (for example using entropy measurements). The least Gaussian signals are deemed to likely be signals from potential targets of interest while those which are more Gaussian are deemed to be likely from background clutter or noise. |
| US08612175B2 |
Measurement device and a system and method for using the same
A measurement device system and method of using the same for determining the depth of a pile being installed and/or the equipment used to install the pile. The device including an encoder assembly having a support attachable to a structural component of a rig wherein the support has a pivot joint coaxial with a load arm axis. The encoder assembly has a load arm rotatable about the arm axis and with a wheel near its distal end that is rotatable about a wheel axis with an encoder joined to the wheel that moves with the wheel. The encoder assembly further including a biasing assembly to urge the load arm and wheel into an engaged condition relative to the associated pile installation machine such that the wheel frictionally engages a surface of another structural component of the rig. Thus, the displacement of the first structural component relative to the second component rotates the wheel about the wheel axis and the encoder. This information can then be used to determine pile depth. |
| US08612174B2 |
Method and apparatus for dynamic 6DOF measurement
A method and apparatus is disclosed that modulates the position of one target tracked by a position measuring instrument, measures the path of the target, fits the parameters of a mathematical representation of the time varying path to the path of the target measured as a function of time, and obtains the position, orientation and velocity of the object on which the apparatus is mounted. Key aspects of the modulating nest and the improved method for determining the best fit mathematical representation of the path of the target resulting from the combined effect of the modulation and the motion of the object are disclosed. |
| US08612172B2 |
Relative positioning
For supporting a relative positioning, information on barometric pressure at a first device and information on barometric pressure at a second device is converted into a difference in altitude between the first device and the second device. The difference in altitude between the first device and the second device is then used in determining a position of the first device relative to the second device. |
| US08612170B2 |
Methods and apparatus for using black box data to analyze vehicular accidents
Disclosed are methods and apparatus for using black box data to analyze vehicular accidents. The methods include obtaining information from an event data recorder associated with a vehicle and using the data obtained therefrom in determining and analyzing the vehicular accident. Attributes to be analyzed include impact severity, change in velocity, and other desired parameters. Further disclosed are methods to securely communicate the downloaded black box information to a secure location for later analysis and processing. |
| US08612169B2 |
Method and system for detecting anomalies in a bipartite graph
A method of detecting anomalies from a bipartite graph includes analyzing the graph to determine a row-cluster membership, a column-cluster membership and a non-negative residual matrix, and in a processor, detecting the anomalies from the non-negative residual matrix. |
| US08612163B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing data processing and control in a medical communication system
Methods and apparatus for providing data processing and control for use in a medical communication system are provided. |
| US08612162B2 |
Mass analysis data processing method and mass spectrometer
A method creates an accurate mass spectrum with a high resolving power based on a plurality of TOF spectra, while reducing the computation to assure real-time processing. TOF spectra are measured when ions are ejected from the loop orbit. Then a coincidence detection method determines what mass-to-charge ratio a peak appearing on the TOF spectra originates from. The time range in which a corresponding peak appears on other TOF spectra is set, and the existence of the peak in that range is determined. When the corresponding peak is found on other TOF spectra, the m/z is deduced from the peak on the TOF spectrum with the highest resolving power and a mass spectrum is created. From the peak density around the peak of interest, the reliability of the deduction is computed. For a low reliability peak, the ion ejection time is optimized and the TOF spectrum is measured again. |
| US08612160B2 |
Identifying biological response pathways
A method for identifying a mechanism associated with a cellular response includes identifying molecules participating in the cellular response; accessing a database containing information characterizing molecular interactions; determining pathways connecting the identified molecules participating in the cellular response; and solving an optimization problem that includes determining a subset of the molecules and interactions having a minimum aggregate cost. The pathways include, nodes, each representing a molecule, and edges, each connecting a respective pair of nodes and representing an interaction between a respective pair of molecules represented by the respective pair of nodes. Nodes from a subset of nodes represent molecules identified as participating in the cellular response. |
| US08612159B2 |
Analyte monitoring device and methods of use
An analyte monitor includes a sensor, a sensor control unit, and a display unit. The sensor has, for example, a substrate, a recessed channel formed in the substrate, and conductive material disposed in the recessed channel to form a working electrode. The sensor control unit typically has a housing adapted for placement on skin and is adapted to receive a portion of an electrochemical sensor. The sensor control unit also includes two or more conductive contacts disposed on the housing and configured for coupling to two or more contact pads on the sensor. A transmitter is disposed in the housing and coupled to the plurality of conductive contacts for transmitting data obtained using the sensor. The display unit has a receiver for receiving data transmitted by the transmitter of the sensor control unit and a display coupled to the receiver for displaying an indication of a level of an analyte. |
| US08612158B2 |
Seismic interference noise elimination
An automatic and robust method to attenuate seismic interference noises in marine seismic survey using multi-dimensional filters in Tau-P domain to identify and isolate seismic interference noises as anomalies. |
| US08612157B2 |
Method to attenuate strong marine seismic noise
Methods to attenuating strong marine seismic noises using singular value decomposition, determining noisiest traces and estimating noise components only from these traces, iteratively estimating the noise and protecting signal behind the noise. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. 37 CFR 1.72(b). |
| US08612155B2 |
Methods and systems for microseismic mapping
Methods and systems for the detection and localization of microseismic events are proposed which operate in real-time. Hypocenters in three spatial dimensions are provided along with an estimate of the event origin time. Sensor positions may be distributed in 3D space, and are not confined to linear arrays in vertical wells. A location of the event is approximated and a grid search, based on the approximate location of the event, is used to derive a residual function over a finer sampling followed by a gradient search of the residual function to optimize the location of the event. |
| US08612154B2 |
Measurement of sound speed of downhole fluid by helmholtz resonator
A downhole logging tool is equipped with a modified Helmholtz resonator for facilitating acoustic formation evaluation and reservoir characterization. The resonator permits calculation of sound speed and viscosity of the fluid in the resonator cavity. The presence of gas bubbles in the fluid may also be detected. The modified Helmholtz resonator includes at least two openings so that fluid can flow through the resonator cavity. Because fluid can flow through the resonator cavity, local fluid can be measured under local conditions, e.g., downhole temperature, pressure, and gas influx from formations. Further, the modified Helmholtz resonator utilizes an acoustic signal at or near the frequency of interest for at least some acoustic logging tools. |
| US08612153B2 |
Apparatus and method for map data management
In a course of updating old map data on a hard disk drive to new map data, a low-priority portion of the old map data that has less importance/necessity is deleted to create a vacant area, and a high-priority portion of the new map data is copied to the vacant area as an update of the map data. Then, the high-priority portion of the old map data is deleted to create another vacant area, and a low-priority portion of the new map data is copied to the vacant area. During the update of the map data, restrictions on the usage of the map data are avoided at all efforts by having the high-priority portion of at least one of the new map data and the old map data maintained on the hard disk drive, while maximizing the utilization of storage resources in a map data management apparatus. |
| US08612145B2 |
Method for stand-alone alignment of an inertial unit for an onboard instrument capable of being mounted in an aircraft, and an onboard instrument being able to use such a method
In a method for stand-alone alignment of an inertial unit for an onboard instrument capable of being mounted in an aircraft, the method includes monitoring the appearance of a movement of the inertial unit during the alignment, suspending the alignment of the inertial unit in the event of the appearance of movement, and resuming the alignment of the inertial unit on the disappearance of the movement. |
| US08612136B2 |
System and method for road map creation
The present invention provides system and method for creation of a road map, the system comprising a plurality of navigation devices; and an application server to receive from the plurality of navigation devices time series of location points, and to create a road map based on the time series of location points. The method comprising receiving location points from plurality of navigation devices, along with respective time stamps indicating the time of recordation of each of the location points; identifying at least one route according to the location points and respective time stamps; and creating a road map based on the at least one route. |
| US08612129B2 |
Marine threat monitoring and defense system
A marine threat monitoring and defense system and method protects a target vessel in icy or other marine regions. The system uses communications, user interfaces, and data sources to identify marine obstacles (e.g., icebergs, ice floes, pack ice, etc.) near a target vessel performing set operations (e.g., a stationed structure performing drilling or production operations or a seismic survey vessel performing exploration operations with a planned route). The system monitors positions of these identified marine obstacles over time relative to the target vessel and predicts any potential threats. When a threat is predicted, the system plans deployment of support vessels, beacons, and the like to respond to the threat. For example, the system can direct a support vessel to divert the path or break up ice threatening the target vessel. |
| US08612124B2 |
Variable valve lift mechanism fault detection systems and methods
A system for a vehicle includes a filtering module, an indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) determination module, and a stuck mechanism indicator module. The filtering module generates engine speeds based on positions of teeth of a toothed wheel that rotates with a crankshaft and based on a crankshaft position signal generated by a crankshaft position sensor. The IMEP determination module determines an IMEP for a combustion cycle of a cylinder of an engine based on squares of first and second ones of the engine speeds during the combustion cycle. The stuck mechanism indicator module selectively diagnoses a fault in a variable valve lift (VVL) mechanism of the cylinder based on the IMEP. |
| US08612123B2 |
Internal combustion engine control device
A variable valve mechanism provided on a exhaust side of an internal combustion engine, in which a most advanced state is set as an initial state, operating condition detecting means for detecting operating conditions, variable valve control means for controlling an operation of the variable valve mechanism in accordance with the operating conditions, engine condition determining means for determining whether the internal combustion engine is in a cold state or a warm state, and stop request determining means for determining whether or not a stop request has been issued in relation to the internal combustion engine are provided. When a stop request is issued in the cold state, the internal combustion engine is stopped after returning the variable valve mechanism to the initial state. |
| US08612122B2 |
Method for controlling the speed of an internal combustion engine supercharged by means of a turbocharger
A method controls an internal-combustion engine (1) supercharged by a turbocharger (12) and including a turbine (13) and compressor (14). The control method comprises steps of determining a current reduced-mass-flow rate (QAHR) of the compressor (14), determining a safety threshold (Mmax_turbo) of the reduced-mass-flow rate (QAHR) that delimits in a “reduced-mass-flow rate/compression ratio” plane an area substantially close to achievement of sonic conditions, and imposing that the reduced-mass-flow rate (QAHR) has to be lower than a safety threshold (Mmax_turbo) of the reduced-mass-flow rate (QAHR). |
| US08612119B2 |
Adaptation control of lean NOx trap regeneration with biodiesel during engine transient operation
An engine is fueled with a fuel blend of diesel and bidiesel fuel. A feed forward fuel control term is provided corresponding to a 100 percent diesel fuel blend and a feedback fuel control term corrects for lambda deviations resulting in a final fuel control term. During regeneration of a lean Nox trap, the feed forward fuel control term is adapted with a factor as a function of the feed forward fuel control term and the final fuel control term. |
| US08612117B2 |
Apparatus for controlling the amount of waste heat of an engine
An apparatus is provided for application to a waste heat reuse system that recovers and reuses engine waste heat, and for controlling the amount of waste heat based on a requested heat amount of a heat utilization request. In the apparatus, an overlap angle between a valve-opening period of an intake valve and that of an exhaust valve of the engine is controlled based on an engine driving condition. Ignition timing of the engine is controlled to fall on maximum-efficient timing that minimizes fuel consumption in a current engine driving condition. When a requested heat amount cannot be satisfied, overlap-increase control is performed to increase an overlap angle, and ignition advance control is performed to advance ignition timing with reference to a maximum-efficient timing that corresponds to the increased overlap angle. Waste heat amount of the engine is controlled with the overlap-increase control and the ignition advance control. |
| US08612111B2 |
Automatic braking system including laser module and image capturing module and vehicle having same
An automatic braking system includes a laser module, an image capturing module, a braking module, and a control module. The laser module emits a laser beam along a forward direction of a vehicle and receives the reflected laser beam. The image capturing module captures a road image in front of the vehicle. The braking module slows the vehicle. The control module is electrically connected to the laser module, the image capturing module, and the braking module. When an intensity of the reflected laser beam is greater than a pre-set value, the image capturing module is controlled by the control module to captures the road image. When the control module decides that there are human characteristics in the road image, the control module activates the braking module. |
| US08612104B2 |
Clutch control device and μ correction coefficient calculating method
Actual-rotational-difference absorption-torque calculation means 150 inputs a rate-of-change ΔNe of an engine speed during shifting to an actual rotational difference absorption torque-ΔNe table 160 so that an actual-rotational-difference absorption-torque average value during shifting is calculated. Engine-torque calculation means 180 inputs a throttle opening and an engine speed to engine-torque estimation-value map 190, and derives an engine torque during shifting. An actual clutch capacity is calculated from the sum of the actual-rotational-difference absorption-torque average value and the engine torque average value during shifting. From the ratio of the actual clutch capacity and a demanded clutch capacity, μ-correction-coefficient calculation means 130 calculates a μ correction coefficient. By using a control correction amount calculated on the basis of the μ correction coefficient, a transmission control unit 100 drive-controls a first clutch CL1 and a second clutch CL2. Thus, correction on the clutch capacity is performed during running. |
| US08612103B2 |
Implement angle correction system and associated loader
A system for correcting an angle of an implement coupled to a loader is disclosed. The system comprises a controller that is configured to calculate a first angle correction signal based at least upon an engine speed signal and an operator interface actuation signal, the operator interface actuation signal commanding movement of a lift arm on a loader; calculate a second angle correction signal based at least upon a coupler angle signal; transmit the first and second angle correction signals to change the angle of a coupler configured to couple an implement to the lift arm; and temporarily disable transmission of the second angle correction signal. |
| US08612099B2 |
Occupant restraint system
An occupant restraint system including a harness coupled to the occupant by surrounding a portion of the occupant, a winding mechanism fixed to the vehicle and configured to operate in a first mode and a second mode, and a flexible linking member having a first end coupled to the harness and a second end coupled to the winding mechanism. The linking member is configured to selectively wind and unwind from the winding mechanism. When the winding mechanism is in the first mode of operation, the linking member may be unwound from the winding mechanism to allow the occupant to move freely about the vehicle. When the winding mechanism is in the second mode of operation, the winding mechanism winds the linking member to pull the harness toward the winding mechanism. |
| US08612098B2 |
Drive arrangement
A drive arrangement (1) for driving a motor (9) in a seat belt pre-tensioner incorporates a power supply circuit (6) in the form of an H bridge and a voltage boost circuit 16 which are controlled by a control unit (17). The control unit (17) controls the voltage boost circuit (16) to increase the voltage output to the motor (9) to speed up the rotation of the motor (9) whilst the motor (9) winds in slack in a seat belt (13). |
| US08612087B2 |
Method for the detection of a component malfunction along the life of an internal combustion engine
A method is provided for the detection of a component malfunction along the life of an Internal Combustion Engine. The engine, having at least a cylinder and being controlled by an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), the method includes, but is not limited to defining a pre-determined component malfunction classifier at the start of engine life and setting the classifier as active classifier, defining a validity condition for said active classifier, acquiring in real time a set of relevant signals relating to the operation of the component, feeding the signals to said active classifier in order to determine the occurrence or not of a malfunction of the component, and in case the validity condition of said actual classifier is not satisfied, defining a new classifier using the most recent relevant signals recorded by the ECU, and substituting the actual classifier with the new classifier. |
| US08612085B2 |
Autonomous navigation system and method for a maneuverable platform
An automated method for autonomous navigation of a maneuverable platform is disclosed. The method includes providing an autonomous navigation system that includes a situation awareness module to receive data from one or more sensors on one or more identifying parameters selected from the group of identifying parameters that includes position, course and speed, relating to the platform and obstacles in the vicinity of the platform. The platform also includes a decision module to choose course and speed for the platform based on the identifying parameters of the obstacles in the vicinity of the platform and the data on the position of the platform. The method further includes providing the decision module with information on a mission that includes at least one task assigned to the platform; and periodically obtaining the data and choosing a preferred option using the decision module, based on the identifying parameters, by assigning, for each option from a set of options, each option defining a distinct combination of course and speed, a grade which is indicative of the desirability of that option with respect to each of the obstacles and with respect to each of a plurality of objectives, for each option summing the grades assigned to that option with respect to all obstacles, wherein the preferred option is the option whose summed grades is indicative of the greatest desirability of that option. |
| US08612079B2 |
Optimizing system performance using state of health information
A method for optimizing performance of a system includes determining, via a controller, a state of health (SOH) for each of a plurality of components of the system, and determining a state of function (SOF) of the system using the SOH of each component. The method includes estimating the remaining useful life (RUL) of the system using the system SOF, selecting a cost-optimal control strategy for the system using a costing model, and dynamically, i.e., in real time, executing the selected strategy to extend the estimated RUL. The method may include comparing the selected cost-optimal strategy to a calibrated performance threshold, and executing the selected strategy only when the selected strategy exceeds the threshold. A system includes first and second components and a controller. The controller dynamically executes the above method with respect to the components, which may be a traction motor and battery in one possible embodiment. |
| US08612078B2 |
Parallel hybrid electric vehicle power management system and adaptive power management method and program therefor
A system, computer readable storage device and method for controlling torque in a hybrid electric vehicle. The method comprises determining a state of charge of an energy storage device, obtaining a reference state of charge, obtaining an error from a difference between the determined state of charge and the reference state of charge; and apportioning torque between a motor and an engine based upon the error. The motor is electrically coupled to the energy storage device and powered by the energy storage device. A state of charge (SOC) correction factor is determined based upon the error. The SOC correction factor is used to adjust a torque ratio of motor to engine torque that is determined for a given torque command. |
| US08612074B2 |
Regenerative braking control in vehicles
Methods and systems for modulating regenerative braking in a vehicle having a regenerative braking system and an energy storage system are provided. A value is obtained for a variable pertaining to a condition that affects energy absorption of the energy storage system. A regenerative braking torque capacity for the regenerative braking system is determined using the value. Regenerative braking is controlled via the regenerative braking system based at least in part on the regenerative braking torque capacity. |
| US08612073B2 |
Electric vehicle inverter apparatus and protection method therefor
In an electric vehicle inverter apparatus 100, a vehicle control controller 15 detects a switch open signal output from a collision detector 16 when the collision detector 16 is caused by a collision between electric vehicles to operate. Then, an inverter main circuit connection switch 10 of a high-voltage battery unit 8 is put into an open state. Thus, the direct-current power supply from a high-voltage battery 12 to a DC bus portion is interrupted. In addition, electric charges charged into a main circuit capacitor 7 are discharged by a forced discharge circuit portion 22b. |
| US08612070B2 |
Decision aid device for assisting the landing of an aircraft on the deck of a ship
A device for aiding the deck-landing of an aircraft, the aircraft being controlled remotely from a mobile station, such as a ship, includes means for receiving data from the aircraft, notably attitudes of the aircraft, the aircraft hovering ready to land on deck, the deck-landing decision having to be taken under certain conditions that must all be met, the device including a computer making it possible to deliver temporal indicators indicating that all the conditions are met. The device includes a temporal gauge including a temporal graduation indicating mobile graphical zones representing the periods during which all the conditions are met for authorizing a deck-landing. |
| US08612068B2 |
Apparatus and method for propagating the attitude of a vehicle
Apparatus and method is provided for propagating the attitude of a vehicle. A slew rate is computed based on angular rotation increments associated with a time interval. An incremental update is computed for the associated time interval based on an angular rate and the slew rate. An attitude of the vehicle is propagated based on the computed attitude increment and an initial attitude at the start of propagation. |
| US08612067B2 |
System for deicing and/or defogging an aircraft surface, method for controlling same, and aircraft equipped with same
The invention concerns a system for deicing and/or defogging an aircraft surface (4) comprising: a temperature sensor (5) located proximate said surface (4) and adapted to generate a temperature information (TPT); a computer (20) adapted to generate a control information (CMD) based on the temperature information (TPT) and to transmit the control information (CMD) over a computer network (18) of the aircraft; an electric power supply system (8) located in the electrical center of the aircraft (18) and comprising a switch (12) adapted to be switched based on the control information (CMD); a heating element (6) located proximate said surface (4) and electrically powered via said switch (12). The invention also concerns a method for controlling such a system. |
| US08612066B2 |
Control system for payload limiting of hauling operation
In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a control system for a machine with traction devices. The control system may have a sensor configured to sense an ambient temperature. The control system may also have a controller in communication with the sensor. The controller may be configured to determine a load limit of a machine based on an expected speed of the machine and the ambient temperature. The controller may further be configured to enforce the load limit of the machine during loading. |
| US08612064B2 |
Human user interface device with thermal controls
A system, comprises a thermal electric cooler (“TEC”) and a computer input device coupled to the TEC. The TEC is adapted to regulate a temperature of the computer input device via conduction. |
| US08612055B2 |
System and method for delivering a therapeutic agent according to default infusion schedule
A fluid delivery system comprises a pump configured to deliver a therapeutic agent to a patient, a memory storing a therapy program defining the delivery of the therapeutic agent to the patient by the pump and a default infusion schedule based on the therapy program, and a processor configured to control the pump to deliver the therapeutic agent to the patient according to the therapy program, to determine an error condition that prevents the pump from continuing to deliver therapy according to the therapy program, and, upon determination of the error condition, to control the pump to deliver the therapeutic agent to the patient according to the default infusion schedule. |
| US08612054B2 |
Robot walking control apparatus and method thereof
Disclosed are a robot walking control apparatus, which removes an ineffective motion, generated by a robot walking based on torque, by selecting a motion state of the robot based on torque and controlling torques of joints of the robot so that a ZMP of the robot is located in a safety area, when the walking of the robot is controlled, and a method thereof. |
| US08612051B2 |
Securing communications with robots
The present disclosure is directed to a system and method for managing communications with robots. In some implementations, a computer network, where operators interface with the network to control movement of robots on a wireless computer network includes a network arena controller and a plurality of robot controllers. The network arena controller is configured to provide firewall policies to substantially secure communication between robot controllers and the associated robots. Each controller is included in a different robot and configured to wirelessly communicate with the network arena controller. Each robot controller executes firewall policies to substantially secure wireless communication. |
| US08612049B2 |
Vehicle
When the load factor of a loading/unloading apparatus reaches a second reference value that is smaller in load factor than the first reference value, the operation speed of the loading/unloading apparatus becomes a reduction state. It is possible to make load vibration difficult to be generated in a load. Further, fine adjustment of the manipulation becomes easy, such that it is possible to prevent the load factor from reaching the first reference value due to careless manipulation of the operator. Even if the load factor reaches the first reference value, the operation speed of the loading/unloading apparatus has been reduced, such that it is possible to prevent load vibration of the load W when stopping. |
| US08612041B2 |
Method for optimizing component mounting sequence with variable pitch heads and component mounting device using the same
A method is provided for determining a sequence of mounting a plurality of components on a board by using variable pitch heads having a plurality of pitches. The method includes: partitioning the board into a plurality of sectors, each of the sectors including a plurality of mounting points arranged in parallel with a direction in which the heads are arranged; dividing the board into a plurality of sub-boards including first sub-boards based on the sectors, each of the first sub-boards including as many mounting points as the heads; and determining a combination of a sequence of mounting the components on the board and at least one pitch among the pitches required to mount the components on the board in a shortest time, compared to another sequence or other sequences of mounting the components on the board and another pitch or other pitches among the pitches, based on the first sub-boards. |
| US08612039B2 |
Method of making an article of footwear
A method of making an article of footwear is disclosed. The method includes the steps of designing an article of footwear via a website, converting a footwear representation into a set of two-dimensional portions, printing the two dimensional portions onto a sheet material, cutting and assembling the two dimensional portions into a finalized article of footwear. The method further includes a step of shipping the article of footwear to a pre-designated shipping address. Systems for receiving an order for a customized article of footwear are also disclosed. |
| US08612037B2 |
Method for manufacturing dental implant components
A method for making a rapid prototype of a patient's mouth to be used in the design and fabrication of a dental prosthesis. The method takes an impression of a mouth including a first installation site having a dental implant installed in the first installation site and a gingival healing abutment having at least one informational marker attached to the dental implant. A stone model is prepared based on the impression. The model is scanned. The scan data is transferred to a CAD program. A three-dimensional model of the installation site is created in the CAD program. The at least one informational marker is determined to gather information for manufacturing the rapid prototype. Rapid prototype dimensional information is developed. The rapid prototype dimensional information is transferred to a rapid prototyping machine which fabricate a rapid prototype of the patient's dentition as well as a dental implant analog position. |
| US08612036B2 |
Portable terminal, pairing system and pairing method
When pairing an AV device with a controller for linking to and controlling the AV device, it was necessary for the user operating the controller to select an AV device near the user in accordance with the position of the user. A controller 2 specifies a nearby device based on audio characteristic information (an audio fingerprint) generated from audio obtained by an audio input portion (microphone) or content information specified from such audio characteristic information, and audio characteristic information of devices obtained with a communication portion or content information specified from such audio characteristic information, to carry out the pairing. |
| US08612032B2 |
Terminal and method for efficient use and identification of peripherals having audio lines
A communication system comprises a terminal configured for being able to communicate with a computer and to operate according to at least one operational parameter. A peripheral device for use with the terminal has a characterizing parameter associated therewith. The terminal is operable for reading the characterizing parameter from the peripheral device when the device is coupled to the terminal. The terminal is further operable for configuring itself to operate according to an operational parameter associated with the characterizing parameter of the peripheral device. |
| US08612027B2 |
Segmental electronic circuit breaker and installation comprising same
A circuit breaker includes several elementary circuit breakers (1) arranged as several segments (2), each suitable for powering several independent loads (3). These provisions make it possible to improve the thermal equilibrium on each segment by distributing the heating over all the segments. The segmental circuit breakers are more particularly suitable for multi-wire networks which power a single load through a multitude of wires of the network in parallel. |
| US08612025B2 |
Cuff electrode having tubular body with controlled closing force
Nerve cuff electrode including a tubular body having a longitudinal slit and a flap curled over the slit. The tubular body includes a central cathode disposed between two anodes. The region opposite the slit includes a flexible region that determines the flexibility and strength of tube opening and closing. The cuff electrode having a hinge region with a non-linear effective spring constant which can be higher at low cuff openings and lower at large opening to provide an effective yet non-damaging closing force over a wide range of cuff openings. In use, the tube body can be pulled apart using attached suture loops, with one loop and flap pulled under the nerve followed by part of the tubular body. The tubular body can be closed over the nerve and the flap closed over the tube slit. |
| US08612024B2 |
User interface with 3D environment for configuring stimulation therapy
The disclosure describes a method and system that allows a user to configure electrical stimulation therapy by defining a three-dimensional (3D) stimulation field. After a stimulation lead is implanted in a patient, a clinician manipulates the 3D stimulation field in a 3D environment to encompass desired anatomical regions of the patient. In this manner, the clinician determines which anatomical regions to stimulate, and the system generates the necessary stimulation parameters. In some cases, a lead icon representing the implanted lead is displayed to show the clinician where the lead is relative to the 3D anatomical regions of the patient. |
| US08612021B2 |
Magnetic resonance imaging compatible medical electrical lead and method of making the same
This disclosure describes an implantable medical lead, and method of making such a lead or components of the lead, that reduces the undesirable effects the fields generated by an MRI device may have on the implantable medical lead and the implantable medical device. The implantable medical lead includes an RF filter placed in series with an electrical path to an electrode of the lead. In one example, the RF filter may comprise a conductor wound in such a manner that it provides an inductance and capacitance that provides the RF filter with a resonant frequency, and in some instances, multiple resonant frequencies. At frequencies around the resonant frequency of the RF filter, the RF filter presents a high impedance, thereby blocking the signal from or at least attenuating the signal propagating to the electrode. At frequencies far from the resonant frequency, the RF filter presents a low impedance. |
| US08612019B2 |
Coupled monopolar and multipolar pulsing for conditioning and stimulation
A method and neurostimulation system of providing therapy to a patient is provided. A plurality of electrodes are placed in contact with tissue of a patient, a conditioning pulse is conveyed from the plurality of electrodes in one of a monopolar manner and a multipolar manner, and a stimulation pulse is conveyed from the plurality of electrodes in a different one of the monopolar manner and the multipolar manner. As one example, the sub-threshold conditioning pulse may be a depolarizing pulse conveyed from the plurality of electrodes to render a first region of the tissue less excitable to stimulation, and the stimulation pulse may be conveyed from the plurality of electrodes to stimulate a second different region of the tissue. |
| US08612018B2 |
Array stimulator
An array stimulator has a plurality of electrodes in an array, the electrodes forming a plurality of electrode pairs, and a signal generator for generating signals to the electrodes so as to generate electrical pulse in a patient to which the stimulator has been applied either transcutaneously or by implantation. Those electrical pulses form a composite pulse in the patient which stimulates the nervous system of the patient. The composite pulse has a duration between 4 μs and 1500 μs and a maximum voltage between 2V and 50V when the stimulator is implanted, and 15V to 500V when applied transcutaneously. The electrical pulses themselves are significantly shorter duration than the composite pulse, so they stimulate the nervous system of the patient much less than the composite pulse or not at all. |
| US08612013B2 |
Method and apparatus for supplying energy to an implant
A system is disclosed which comprises an implantable electrical medical device (100) with an internal energy receiver (102). The system also comprises an external energy source (104) located externally for supplying wireless energy to the internal energy receiver (102). The external energy source (104) has a primary coil (11) for transmitting energy inductively to a first secondary coil (10) in the energy receiver (102). The system is arranged to measure parameters related to a first coupling factor (C1) between the primary and the first secondary coil (10), and the external energy source (104) is adapted to transmit energy to the energy receiver (102) for enabling the medical device (100) to detect information related to the first coupling factor (C1). The medical device (100) is adapted to wirelessly send feedback information related to said first coupling factor (C1) to the external energy source (104) with the external energy source (104) being arranged to receive the feedback information and to perform a predetermined action based on said feedback information. |
| US08612011B2 |
Recipient-controlled fitting of a hearing prosthesis
A method for fitting to a recipient a cochlear prosthesis having a sound processor that processes received sound in accordance with a MAP, the method comprises providing, by the hearing prosthesis, combinations of voice prompts and test stimuli for testing values of an element of the MAP; receiving from the recipient an indication of which of said values are desirable; and revising the MAP with the desired value for the tested element. A neural-stimulating device for stimulating nerve cells of a recipient is provided. |
| US08612006B2 |
Inducing neurogenesis within a human brain
Methods and apparatus for inducing neurogenesis within a human. An implantable signal generator is used to deliver high frequency stimulation to deep brain tissue elements. The implanted device delivers treatment therapy to the brain to thereby induce neurogenesis by the human. A sensor may be used to detect various symptoms of nervous system discovery. A microprocessor algorithm may then analyze the output from the sensor to regulate the stimulation and/or drug therapy delivered to the brain. |
| US08612004B2 |
Electrical stimulation treatment of hypotension
The present invention includes methods and devices for treating hypotension, such as in cases of shock, including septic shock, anaphylactic shock and hypovolemia. The method includes the step of applying at least one electrical impulse to at least one selected region of a parasympathetic nervous system of the patient. The electrical impulse is sufficient to modulate one or more nerves of the parasympathetic nervous system to increase the ratio of blood pressure to heart rate and relieve the condition and/or extend the patient's life. |
| US08611996B2 |
Implantable medical device crosstalk evaluation and mitigation
Electrical crosstalk between two implantable medical devices or two different therapy modules of a common implantable medical device may be evaluated, and, in some examples, mitigated. In some examples, one of the implantable medical devices or therapy modules delivers electrical stimulation to a nonmyocardial tissue site or a nonvascular cardiac tissue site, and the other implantable medical device or therapy module delivers cardiac rhythm management therapy to a heart of the patient. |
| US08611992B2 |
Diagnostic device and method for sensing hydration state of a mammalian subject
Timed sensing of collection of saliva in a liquid collection element of predetermined volumetric capacity may be used to determine salivary secretion rate, as may be indicative of state of euhydration or dehydration. Sensing of salivary flow rate may be further augmented by sensing concentration of at least one analyte in saliva (e.g., with an immunochromatographic assay performed in a lateral flow device) in order to determine a state of euhydration or dehydration. Production of saliva may be stimulated, and collected saliva may be analyzed to generate an analyte detection signal that indicative of presence and/or correlative of concentration of at least one analyte in the collected saliva to sense a state of euhydration or dehydration. |
| US08611991B2 |
System and method for conducting multiplexed electrical impedance tomography
A method is provided for taking electrical impedance tomography measurements using multiple electrodes located at selected positions external to a volume of a subject body. Multiple orthogonal or near-orthogonal signals are introduced simultaneously by way of selected different electrodes and resultant predetermined responses (if any) at receiving electrodes are recorded or determined. The signals are encoded using the technique of code division multiplexing and received signals at each receiving electrode are cross-correlated with original signals to determine the contribution of each original signal to a composite received signal. The invention also relates to apparatus suitable for use in applying a method. |
| US08611987B2 |
Method and device for assisting in determination of the suitability of a patient for a scan of the patient's heart using an X-ray computer tomograph and method and X-ray computer tomograph for scanning the heart of a patient
A method is disclosed for assisting in determination of the suitability of a patient for a scan of the heart of the patient using an X-ray computer tomograph. In at least one embodiment of the method, a) an electrocardiogram of the patient is recorded; b) the electrocardiogram is evaluated by predicting the occurrence time of at least the immediately following R wave on the basis of at least four immediately consecutive R waves of the electrocardiogram which were measured last, and comparing this with the actual measured occurrence time of the next R wave; and c) wherein the quality of the prediction is visualized qualitatively. Further, in at least one embodiment, a device is disclosed including an ECG instrument and a computation device for carrying out the method. At least one embodiment of the invention furthermore relates to a method and a device for scanning the heart of a patient on the basis of a prediction of R waves. |
| US08611986B2 |
System and method for electromagnetic navigation in the vicinity of a metal object
A system and method for performing object localization based on the emission of electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic fields are simultaneously emitted from different transmitters. One electromagnetic field is emitted at a base frequency; the remaining waves are emitted at frequencies that are harmonics of the base frequency. The composite magnetic fields are measured by sensors. The signal generated by each sensor is subject to a Fourier analysis to determine the strengths of the individual electromagnetic fields forming the composite electromagnetic field. These individual measure field strength data are then used to determine the position and orientation of the sensors relative to the transmitters. |
| US08611981B2 |
MRI-CEST diagnostic technique based on non-punctual analysis
An embodiment in the MRI-CEST field is proposed for analyzing a body-part, which includes a CEST agent providing a magnetization transfer with a bulk substrate of the body-part. A corresponding diagnostic system includes input means for providing an input map including a plurality of input elements each one for a corresponding location of the body-part; each input element is indicative of a spectrum of a magnetic response of the location, which spectrum includes the magnetic response at an agent frequency of resonance of the contrast agent (with the agent frequency that is at an agent offset of frequency from a bulk frequency of resonance of the bulk substance), and at a reference frequency at the opposite of the agent offset from the bulk frequency. The system further includes calculation means for calculating an agent value and a reference value for each one of a set of selected locations; the agent value is calculated according to the magnetic responses of the selected location in a non-punctual agent range of frequencies including the agent frequency, and the reference value is calculated according to the magnetic responses of the selected location in a non-punctual reference range of frequencies including the reference frequency (with the reference range that is symmetric to the agent range with respect to the bulk frequency). Comparison means is then provided for calculating a parametric value for each selected location; the parametric value is calculated according to a comparison between the agent value and the reference value of the selected location. |
| US08611980B2 |
Electrocardiograph monitoring device and connector
The present invention relates to electrocardiography and to electrode arrangements used in electrocardiographic monitoring devices. An EKG patch may include a plurality of individual EKG patches, each comprising a base layer and a plurality of electrodes capable of receiving an electrical signal generated by the myocardium of a human heart. Each of the plurality of the individual EKG patches may be stacked on top of each other such that each electrode in an individual patch aligns and contacts with at least one corresponding electrode in an adjacent EKG patch, thereby allowing a free flow of electricity through the plurality of stacked EKG patches, and such that the bottom-most EKG patch may be contacted with the skin of a patient. A temporary or release adhesive may be placed between each of the plurality of EKG patches such that the bottom-most EKG patch may be peeled away from the stack after each use. |
| US08611979B2 |
Implantable electrode lead having preformation and stiffening structure
An implantable electrode lead including an elongated electrode lead body having a proximal end and a distal end, at least one electrical supply lead which is enclosed in an electrically insulating material to electrically insulate the supply leads against the surroundings of the electrode lead, at least one electrically active surface which is disposed on the distal end, or in the vicinity thereof, and is connected to the at least one electrical supply lead, by way of which therapeutic signals can be output and/or diagnostic signals can be received, a plug disposed on the proximal end, which is electrically connected to the at least one electrical supply lead and can be connected to an electro-medical implant, and at least one preformed and/or stiffened section of the electrode lead body, which has an additional preformation and/or stiffening structure, by way of which the section is preformed and/or stiffened. |
| US08611971B2 |
Hinging interconnector for a clamshell handheld electronic communication device
A clamshell handheld wireless communication device having a hinging interconnector between the two housings, one in which the display screen is located and the other upon which the keyboard is located. The hinging interconnector is positioned between the two housings and navigation tool is located on the hinging interconnector. |
| US08611970B2 |
Standby time improvements for stations in a wireless network
A method includes receiving, at a station, a first delivery traffic indication message (DTIM) assigned to a first delivery interval. The first DTIM is configured to indicate whether group-addressed traffic is scheduled for delivery during a beacon interval. The first delivery interval is larger than a second delivery interval associated with a second DTIM. The method further includes receiving the group-addressed traffic during the beacon interval. |
| US08611969B2 |
Cable assembly with earpiece
A cable assembly for electronic devices such as cellular telephones and music devices is disclosed. The cable assembly can comprise either one or two earpieces, each of which is configured to be received into the concha of a user's ear. The earpiece(s) can be configured so as to be held in place by at least one anatomical structure of the concha. A speaker can be in acoustic communication with each earpiece. A cable can be configured to communicate a signal representative of sound from the electronic device to each earpiece. A microphone can be permanently attached or removably attachable to the cable to facilitate use with a cellular telephone. The cable assembly can facilitate hands free operation of a cellular telephone and can facilitate listening to a music device. Other implementations and related methods are also disclosed. |
| US08611967B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for determining and displaying service capabilities
Methods and apparatuses are provided for determining features provided by a cell and for indicating a service capability corresponding to the determined features. A user equipment may connect to a cell and determine one or more features provided by the cell. Information relating to the one or more features can be stored in a storage medium. An indicator may be displayed to identify a service capability corresponding to the stored information, as well as a capability of the user equipment. |
| US08611966B2 |
Communications device and method for associating contact names with contact methods
A method for selecting a communication option for communications from a mobile device which operates in a wireless communication network, the mobile device having access to stored address book information that includes contact names, the method including: storing for at least some of the contact names an indication of a last communication option used for communicating therewith; displaying a list of user selectable contact names on a display of the mobile device; after receiving user input selecting of one of the contact names from the list, causing a list of user selectable communication options for communicating with the selected contact name to be generated on the display; and automatically positioning a selection symbol on the display to highlight the selectable communication option that corresponds to a last communication option that was used for communicating with the selected contact name. |
| US08611964B2 |
Mobile terminal and method of controlling the same
A mobile terminal is provided. The mobile terminal includes a display and a controller, where the controller is configured to divide at least a part of the display into a first area for displaying at least one other party information item and a second area for displaying communication log information corresponding to the at least one other party information item, display at least one communication content corresponding to one of the at least one other party information item when a signal for selecting the one of the least one other party information item is received, and display at least one communication content belonging to one of at least one communication category of the communication log information when a signal for selecting the communication log information is received. |
| US08611963B2 |
Mobile terminal processing and transmitting information related to data play and playing data according to information
A mobile terminal includes a controller configured to process information related to a play of data on the mobile terminal at a specific time point of the played data, wherein the controller recognizes the specific time point and generates a control signal for enabling data play from the specific time point, and a wireless communication unit transmitting the control signal and the information. In the mobile terminal, the wireless communication unit receives the information related to the play of the data and the control signal for enabling the data play from the specific time point, and the controller facilitates the play of the data according to the received control signal and the information. |
| US08611961B2 |
Multi-mode mobile terminal device
A mobile terminal device of the invention is a mobile terminal device capable of placing and receiving calls by first identification information, and of placing and receiving calls by second identification information, and is characterized by having a mode changing section that changes a mode among a first mode, a second mode and a common mode, and an outgoing call control section which places a call by the first identification information in the first mode, places a call by the second identification information in the second mode, and places a call by either the first identification information or the second identification information in the common mode. |
| US08611958B2 |
Portable wireless device
Provided is a portable wireless device having a plurality of antennas of different frequency bands. By positively using one antenna for improving gains of other antennas, the one antenna can be effectively used and the gains of other antennas can be improved. Patterns (A1, A2, A3, B1, B2 B3) for adding a band disturbing element (80) (high frequency blocking means), which is composed of beads and a parallel resonance circuit, are arranged at a prescribed position of a magnetic field antenna (50). The band disturbing element (80) may be composed of ferrite core or the like. |
| US08611953B2 |
Integrated GPS receiver and cellular transceiver module for automotive bus applications
An integrated global positioning system (GPS) receiver and cellular transceiver module including (i) a printed circuit board substrate, (ii) a cellular multiband antenna disposed on the printed circuit board substrate, (ii) at least one first integrated circuit disposed on the printed circuit board substrate for processing signals from and signals to the cellular multiband antenna, (iii) a GPS antenna attached to the printed circuit board substrate, (iv) at least one second integrated circuit disposed on the printed circuit board substrate for processing signals from the GPS antenna and the at least one first integrated circuit, and (v) an electrical connector disposed on the printed circuit board substrate for establishing a data communication path between the at least one first and the at least one second integrated circuits and an electronic system of a vehicle, where the GPS receiver and cellular transceiver module is capable of being integrated into the electronic system of the vehicle. |
| US08611950B2 |
Apparatus and method for power scanning in mobile communication terminal with dual SIM card
An apparatus and method for providing a power scanning in a terminal with two or more Radio Frequency (RF) chips are provided. The method includes selecting one RF chip from the two or more RF chips, performing the power scanning on a full band supported by the selected RF chip by using the selected RF chip, gathering a power scanning result obtained by performing the power scanning, and sharing the power scanning result gathered by using the selected RF chip with an unselected RF chip. |
| US08611948B2 |
Signal processing apparatus
A signal processing apparatus is provided. The signal processing apparatus comprises a plurality of ports which are grouped according to types of signals, in which the signals are grouped according to at least one standard of a communication mode, a frequency use area, a signal band, and a type of a transmission/reception signal. |
| US08611945B2 |
Electronic device
An electronic device includes: a case member, at least a part of which is made of resin; and a speaker unit that is formed integrally with the case member, in which the speaker unit includes: a vibration generating unit; a vibrating plate that vibrates by vibration transmitted from the vibration generating unit; and a holding portion that holds an outer edge of the vibrating plate, a part or all of the holding portion being insert-molded into the case member. |
| US08611944B2 |
Method and system for controlling pilot power of Home NodeB
The present invention discloses a method for controlling pilot power of an HNB, comprising: initializing the HNB and setting up communication connection between the HMB and a mobile terminal user, and further comprising: determining a setting type of a current data communication service; increasing current pilot power when the current data communication service is of a first type and a current SNR is less than a predetermined threshold; and reducing the current pilot power when the current data communication service is of a second type and the current SNR is more than or equal to the predetermined threshold. The present invention further provides a system for controlling pilot power of an HNB, which can rationally distribute pilot power resources. |
| US08611929B1 |
Method and system for automatically adding related event information to social media location updates
A process for automatically adding related event information to social media location updates integrates one or more event data sources into the social media location update process and thereby provides the ability to automatically identify events associated with the identified location of a social media location update and automatically include information describing the identified event in a social media location and event update posting. |
| US08611923B2 |
Method and system for providing location information for emergency services
Emergency Services architecture for determining the location of a wireless caller. The architecture leverages a synchronization feature of GSM networks of the Base Station Subsystem (BSS) to enable employment of sparse networks by removing WLS (Wireless Location Sensor) equipment from selected cell sites. Thus, the location of a wireless caller within a sparse site can be determined. Sparse network location services can be provided further utilizing Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) technology, and other network-based location technologies such as Enhanced Observed Time Difference (EOTD) and Angle of Arrival (AOA). Hybrid network-based/handset-based location technologies may also be used with the disclosed invention. |
| US08611915B2 |
Method for providing control of push-to-talk communication
A method for providing control of push-to-talk communication of a plurality of wireless communication devices within a wireless communication system includes operating each of the plurality of wireless communication devices to: receive a load level indication broadcast from a base station, compare the received load level indication with an access privilege associated with each of one or more applications to determine whether initiation of each of the one or more applications is allowed, and disable at least one of the one or more applications when the compare step indicates initiation of the application is not allowed. |
| US08611907B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for adapting a quality of service mechanism based on feedback
Methods, systems, and computer-readable media provide for adapting a quality of service mechanism based on feedback. A condition that affects quality of service of a communications network is monitored. An adaptation of the quality of service mechanism is determined based on a change to the condition. The adaptation is implemented on the communications network to improve the quality of service. |
| US08611899B2 |
Base station apparatus, wireless communication terminal apparatus, communication method and computer readable medium thereof
A base station used in a communication system including the base station for broadcasting service information to a wireless communication terminal, and the wireless communication terminal for receiving the service information during an idle state, the base station includes: a storing section for storing information of other base stations existing nearby the base station and service compliant information indicative of whether the other base stations are compliant with transmission of the service information. |
| US08611897B2 |
Fallback between radio access technologies
A method for assigning a location area to a mobile device for use in circuit switched fallback from a first radio access network to a second radio access network. Two counters are implemented at the eNode B—a first counter to count the numbers of times a mobile reports a given last-used location area code and a second counter for counting the numbers of certain unique combinations of location area code and further identifying data. Whenever the eNode B receives a signal incorporating a location area code, checking the respective first counter for that code and conditionally incrementing the first counter such that if the first counter is below a predefined threshold the first counter is incremented. If the first counter is equal to the threshold, obtaining further identifying data in addition to the location area code and incrementing the corresponding second counter. |
| US08611889B2 |
Remote handset diagnostics
A system for remote handset diagnostics is provided. The system includes a plurality of handsets each having a diagnostic engine, and a carrier system having a plurality of encoder/decoder components. Each encoder/decoder component is operable to promote communication with at least one diagnostic engine to obtain diagnostic data. The carrier system further includes a diagnostic component that is operable to provide a common interface for diagnosing handsets. The diagnostic component is also operable to communicate with the plurality of encoder/decoder components and to facilitate diagnosis of the handset. |
| US08611888B2 |
Power restriction control for inter-band multi-carrier capable devices
There are provided measures for enabling power restriction control for inter-band multi-carrier capable devices, such as e.g. inter-band carrier aggregation capable devices. Such measures may exemplarily include a distortion level determination on a downlink band of a terminal device when using at least one output power restriction value for output power for at least one uplink band of the terminal device, and a power restriction control with respect to the at least one output power restriction value on the basis of the determined distortion level and a preconfigured distortion threshold condition. |
| US08611883B2 |
Pre-recorded voice responses for portable communication devices
A portable communication device may be used so that, in place of speaking into the portable communication device during a telephone call, users may initiate playback of pre-recorded messages to the party with whom the user is communicating. In one implementation, a device may receive, during a telephone call between a first party and a second party, a command from the first party to transmit a pre-recorded message to the second party. The pre-recorded message may be an audible message that was pre-recorded by the first party. The device may transmit the pre-recorded message to the second party in response to the command. |
| US08611878B2 |
Arrangement and method for controlling service activation on a mobile terminal
An arrangement and method in a wireless communication network provides users with full control of service management, defines how a user can enter or leave services, and defines dependencies between services. A mobile terminal initiates establishment of a group and creates a unique groupID. The terminal sends invitations to other terminals to join the group and includes the unique groupID and a service feature tag for a desired service. The terminal will not request a service if it is incompatible with a service already running. Terminals that receive invitations store the groupID and service feature tags. These parameters are used to send acceptances or rejections, and to join later or leave a service. |
| US08611876B2 |
Configurable phone with interactive voice response engine
A land-based or mobile phone and methods are provided for receiving inbound communications as either voice or text, and then based on the user's configuration settings, the inbound communication is provided to the user as it was received or is automatically converted into a format that is desired by the user. The phone also takes voice or text that is input by the user of the phone and converts the user's input to either voice or text based on the configuration settings stored in the user's contact list or otherwise. The outbound communication is configured according to how the intended recipient wants to receive a communication based on the configuration settings stored in the user's contact list or otherwise. The phone includes a controller that determines how the phone will handle and process inbound and outbound communications. The controller includes a speech recognition engine. |
| US08611873B2 |
Advanced contact identification system
A system and method of advanced identification information to be created and distributed to users of wireless communication devices, such as mobile phones. Subscribers can define their own personas as collections of information which define the users. Subscribers can then publish their persona(s) to their friends' and associates' mobile phones, and update the others' address books with the subscriber's contact information. Users can specify different personas to be presented to different users. |
| US08611871B2 |
Validation of mobile advertising from derived information
A system and method of validating an advertisement presented to an advertisement recipient via a mobile communication device includes presenting an advertisement for a product or service to a recipient via a mobile communication device, monitoring the geospatial location of the mobile communication device relative to some predetermined criteria, and inferring information about the reaction of the advertisement recipient to the advertisement on the basis of the monitored geospatial location information. |
| US08611869B2 |
Identification of an alternate contact for use in reaching a mobile device user
In one embodiment, a method includes detecting an unanswered communication received at a mobile device, identifying an alternate contact based on a location of the mobile device and a relationship between the mobile device user and the alternate contact, and transmitting a request to the alternate contact to notify the user of the mobile device of the communication. An apparatus and logic are also disclosed. |
| US08611868B2 |
Method and apparatus for commencing shared or individual transmission of broadcast content in a wireless telephone network
A wireless communications network includes roving subscriber-stations and base stations receiving broadcast programs from a content server. A subscriber-station evaluates whether a desired program is available from a subject base station. According to this evaluation, the subscriber-station takes steps to (1) receive the desired program on a shared channel for reception by multiple subscriber-stations, or (2) initiate base station delivery of the desired program to the subscriber-station on an individual channel. Responsive to a message from a subject subscriber-station identifying a desired program, a base station either (1) continues transmitting the desired program upon a shared channel, (2) starts transmitting the desired program on a shared channel, or (3) sends the subject subscriber-station a channel assignment message and commences transmission of the desired program on the assigned individual channel. |
| US08611866B2 |
System and method for providing user awareness in a smart phone
A system and method for providing a plurality of options to a mobile telephone user based upon the user's prior activities. The present invention includes an “action input,” the actuation of which results in a menu of previously performed activities by the user. For example, the menu can display activities that frequently occur at the same time each day. The device software can automatically update and arrange the respective options based upon the user's activities. |
| US08611864B2 |
Call termination to communicate a stored message
A method, apparatus, and system of using call termination to communicate a message are disclosed. In one embodiment, a system of a telecommunications network includes a mobile station associated with the telecommunications network, a switching module of the telecommunications network to establish a call between a communication device and the mobile station, a call termination module of the mobile station to determine if the mobile station is in a call termination mode and to communicate a communication protocol to the switching module to cause the switching module to terminate the call if the mobile station is in the call termination mode, and a message module of the telecommunications network to communicate a message to the communication device. |
| US08611862B2 |
Mobile terminal apparatus
A mobile terminal apparatus checks if a user is a proper user based on the operation of the user and, if the result of authentication is negative, uploads predetermined data, which is part of data stored in a memory, to a predetermined server. After the transmission is completed, the mobile terminal apparatus erases the uploaded data from the memory. It is also possible to instruct the mobile terminal apparatus to upload and erase data from an external source using an electronic mail or a telephone tone signal sequence. This may protect data contained in mobile terminal apparatus that has been lost, from a person who improperly attempts to access the data. |
| US08611857B2 |
Method for authenticating a universal subscriber identity module and system thereof
Disclosed are a method for authenticating a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) and a system thereof. The method for authenticating a universal subscriber identity module according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a step of determining whether the memory address for the USIM is stored when a USIM authentication-related message is received through a switch; a step of updating the memory address to a first memory address in which the memory address is increased by a predetermined value, if it is determined that the memory address is stored; a step of generating an authentication vector including the first memory address; and a step of transmitting the authentication vector to the USIM via the switch such that the USIM performs an authentication using the authentication vector. |
| US08611855B2 |
Obviating mobile airtime minutes for business telephone calls
Systems and methods are described that provide a phantom mobile telephone number that is assigned by the mobile telephone service provider, for business customers and/or customers subscribing to the service. Upon receipt of the phantom mobile telephone number at the mobile service provider's internal call routing system, the call is associated with a preexisting landline number assigned to a business. The mobile telephone call is forwarded to the preexisting landline telephone number and is not charged airtime minutes. |
| US08611852B2 |
Advice of promotion for usage based subscribers
Systems and method are described for providing advice of promotion to notify a subscriber about potential promotions that the subscriber would benefit from if he/she changed the context under which he/she plans to use a service. The process begins when a subscriber initiates a request to use the service, e.g. establish a call session. The operator identifies the subscriber by determining whether the subscriber is permitted to use the service, e.g. establish the session, and calculates a charge rate for the service usage, e.g. call session based on a usage plan associated with the subscriber. A rating engine is then invoked to identify a promotion that includes an additional rate that is different from the charge rate determined for the session. The promotion is identified based on parameters associated with the call session by determining which additional rate would apply if at least one of those parameters were modified. |
| US08611850B1 |
Providing an item of content to a mobile device in a prepaid context
Methods and products for providing an item of content to a mobile device in a prepaid context by way of a wireless telecommunications network are provided. One embodiment of a method includes receiving an indication that the item of content is desired to be communicated to a mobile device (which is associated with a certain customer); determining that the customer obtains wireless-telecommunications services by way of either a piecemeal plan or a recurring-fees plan; when the customer is associated with the piecemeal plan, determining that a remaining amount of the prepaid balance is insufficient to pay for the desired content (and thereby triggering a first follow-up process); and when the customer is associated with the recurring plan, determining that an immediate-payment option does not exist (and thereby triggering a second follow-up process). |
| US08611849B2 |
Method and apparatus to determine if a control channel signal is malicious or non-malicious based on a GPS location
A signal on a wireless communication system control channel can be identified as authentic or malicious by monitoring control channel signal strength changes. When a control channel signal level increases abnormally, a geographic location is obtained from a navigation system, such as a GPS. The determined location is compared to locations in a data base of locations where control channel jamming transmitters are known to exist, and/or likely to exist. If the then-current location is not in the data base, the detected control channel signal level increase is considered to be malicious, i.e., from a jamming transmitter, often used by car thieves. |
| US08611848B2 |
Method and system for providing tiered access to communication network resources
Methods and systems automatically allocate cellular communication network resources to emergency response personnel during emergency situations which are detected by call volumes exceeding a predetermined maximum. Access to cellular communication network resources is provided by dedicating a portion of communication channels to emergency response personnel use. By reserving whole communication channels for emergency communication purposes, emergency personnel are able to both initiate and receive calls from both other mobile devices as well as conventional landline telephone stations. Qualified emergency response personnel can preregistered their phones and be assigned personal identification numbers to enable access to allocated network resources. Users can also be registered “on the fly.” |
| US08611847B2 |
Apparatus and method for detecting communication interference
Location determination signals are received and a location of interest is determined from the location determination signals. A communication service is established and synchronized with a known, valid base station via a first communication channel. A value of a signal strength indicator associated with the first communication channel is monitored. When the value of the signal strength indicator falls below a threshold level, a warning message is transmitted to the known, valid base station before synchronization of the communication service is lost with the known, valid base station. |
| US08611846B2 |
One-way buffered communicator
A system and method of one-way buffered communication for reporting emergency or alarm situation where there is little or no time to wait for a telephone connection to be established. The buffered communication apparatus including apparatus for storing sound input and apparatus for establishing a connection between the communication apparatus and a predetermined party. Once the communication apparatus is activated, both sound storage and call establishment is started and the stored data is transmitted once the connection is established. |
| US08611845B2 |
Enhanced flexibility coupler for RF power detection and control
This invention describes a method by which the output power of a circuit or system at any point can be efficiently and cost effectively sampled in a simple and broadband fashion for processing in a closed loop system for applications such as power level control in very broadband circuits. A divider circuit consisting of a selection of passive lumped elements is used to create a very broadband means of sampling the RF power level at any point in a transmission line. Unlike prior art schemes of this nature, this circuit does not rely upon extremely accurate element values and minimization of parasitic reactances. Used in conjunction with a balanced detector-logarithmic or other amplifier combination this invention result in a very broadband low cost simplified realization of the traditional costly bandwidth limited directional coupler-detector combination. |
| US08611844B2 |
Low noise amplifier and method of input impedance control for terrestrial and cable modes
A low noise amplifier (LNA) for use in a receiver circuit includes an adjustable impedance network including an input for receiving a radio frequency signal, a plurality of control inputs, and an output. The LNA further includes a controller coupled to the plurality of control inputs and configured to control an impedance of the adjustable impedance network. The controller controls the adjustable impedance network to provide a relatively low impedance in a terrestrial mode and to provide a relatively high impedance in a cable mode. |
| US08611842B2 |
Apparatus and method for fast phase locked loop (PLL) settling for cellular time-division duplex (TDD) communications systems
A communications device is disclosed that adjusts a target signal to allow a reference phase locked loop (PLL) to lock onto a reference signal that is related to a desired operating frequency in a first mode of operation. The reference PLL locks onto the reference signal when the target signal is calibrated to be proportional to the reference signal. As the communications device transitions between the first mode of operation and a second mode of operation, the communications device performs a shorten calibration cycle on the reference PLL. The reference phase locked loop (PLL) locks onto the reference signal in response to the shorten calibration cycle in the second mode of operation. |
| US08611839B2 |
Robust signal detection using correntropy
A method (200) for detecting a periodic signal (141) in a noisy signal (101) is provided. The method can include applying (210) correntropy to the noisy signal to generate a non-linear mapping, and applying (220) a sub-space projection to the non-linear mapping to produce principal components. A correntropy kernel can be applied to the noisy signal to generate a Gram matrix that is used in a Temporal Principal Component Analysis (TPCA). The correntropy kernel projects nonlinearly the input data to a reproducing kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS) preserving the input time structure and attenuating impulsive noise. The correntropy kernel is data dependent, and the RKHS correlation matrix has the same dimension as the input data correlation matrix. A principal component having a majority of signal energy can be chosen (230) to detect the periodic signal. |
| US08611831B2 |
Transmission device
Numeric values “a” representing a respective order of transmission by a plurality of transmitting units, and a numeric value N representing the total number of transmitting units, are set for each of the transmitting units. At startup, a transmitting unit for which the value “a” representing the order of transmission of the unit has been set to 1 sets a trigger value to N and transmits information about the value “a” of the unit and detection information from a sensor, and, when the value N is detected from a received signal, transmits the value “a” of the unit and detection information. When a value of a−1 is detected from a received signal, the transmitting unit for which the value “a” representing the order of transmission of the unit has been set to other than 1 transmits the information of the value “a” of the unit and detection information. |
| US08611829B2 |
Tunable filter feedback to control antenna switch diversity
A method, antenna switching integrated circuit (IC), and communications device that connect a transmitter to a selected antenna to propagate at least one transmission signal to the selected one of at least two antennas, based on feedback information associated with one or more antennas. An antenna tuning and switching (ATS) controller receives feedback information about a current status of an antenna tuner, wherein the current status of the antenna tuner is either locked or unlocked. In response to the current status of the antenna tuner being in a locked state, the ATS controller triggers an antenna selection switch to connect the antenna (that is associated with the antenna tuner) to the transmitter in order to propagate the transmission signal(s) from the transmitter to the antenna. If the antenna tuner is in an unlocked state, the ATS controller selects a different antenna that is not associated with an antenna tuner. |
| US08611828B2 |
System and methods for self-powered, contactless, self-communicating sensor devices
The innovation introduces a new kind of smart biological-sensing controller, based on silicon and/or flexible polymer printed electronics. The purpose of the device is to monitor and/or control biological signals of living organisms (for example, microbes, bacteria, insects, plants, animals, and people). Embedded in a system, the innovation can work contactless and battery-free since it is self-powered, wirelessly self-communicating without the use of electromagnetic waves like radio frequencies (RF), infrared or other electromagnetic technologies. Instead, the innovation uses alternating electric fields for powering, measuring and communicating, and introduces an innovative new method of mobile vital signs monitoring. |
| US08611827B2 |
System, method, and program for correcting radiowave environment data
Radiowave environment data correction that uses the data measurement results obtained at measuring points in a base station peripheral area provided for a wireless communications system, is achieved accurately at a limited number of measuring points. A radiowave environment data correcting system includes correction data determining means that determines correction data for sub-areas, the sub-areas being regions into which an assessment area is divided, on the basis of data measurement results obtained at measuring points belonging to the sub-areas, wherein division into the area is based on an area usage division that is a division predefined according to a particular layout of objects or spaces in the assessment area. The system may also include sub-area dividing means that divides the assessment area into sub-areas in accordance with the area usage division, correction data calculating means that calculates the correction data in the sub-areas using the data measurement results obtained at the measuring points existing in the sub-areas, and radiowave environment data correcting means that uses the calculated correction data to correct radiowave environment data present inside the sub-areas. |
| US08611821B2 |
Communication device that detects and adapts to the presence of other devices and methods for use therewith
An adaptive communication device includes a transceiver that communicates with a first remote communication device in a millimeter wave frequency band in accordance with a first protocol. The transceiver generates conflict detection signals based on signals received from a second remote communication device that communicates in accordance with a second protocol. A conflict detection module detects communication by the second communication device based on the conflict detection signals and generates a model trigger signal in response thereto. A conflict modeling module responds to the model trigger signal by generating idle prediction data based on the conflict detection signals, wherein the idle prediction data predicts an idle period in the communications by the second remote communication device. A transmission control module generates transmit control signals based on the idle prediction data, wherein the transceiver times transmissions sent to the first remote communication device based on the transmit control signals. |
| US08611820B2 |
Signal separation for energy harvesting
Techniques for designing a communications unit including a signal separation module for energy harvesting. In an exemplary aspect, the signal separation module includes first and second quadrature hybrids coupled by band-pass filters (BPF's). Incoming signals within the pass-band of the BPF's are directed through the quadrature hybrids and through the BPF's, and emerge as a desired pass-band signal to be processed by an RX processing module. Incoming signals lying outside the pass-band of the BPF's are reflected from the BPF's back to the first quadrature hybrid, and output as a non-pass-band signal to be processed by an energy harvesting module. In a further exemplary aspect, the signal separation module resides in a detachable module coupleable to a wireless communications device, and a signal transmitted by the wireless communications device is coupled to the signal separation module for energy harvesting. |
| US08611819B2 |
Mobile terminal and controlling method thereof
A mobile terminal and controlling method may be provided by which a specific one of various external devices neighboring a mobile terminal may be easily searched and may be connected to the mobile terminal by short-range communication. |
| US08611816B2 |
Electronic circuit and communication functionality inspection method
To provide an electronic circuit capable of easily testing semiconductor chips that are inductively coupled to each other and that communicate with each other, and an inspection method performed in the electronic circuit. An electronic circuit includes: a first substrate; a first transmission coil that is formed by a wire and transmits a signal; a first transmission circuit that outputs a signal to the first transmission coil; a first reception coil that is formed by a wire at such a position that the first reception coil is inductively coupled to the first transmission coil and receives the signal from the first transmission coil; a first reception circuit that receives the signal from the first reception coil; and a first determination circuit that compares data input to the first transmission circuit and data output from the first reception circuit, the first transmission coil, the first transmission circuit, the first reception coil, the first reception circuit and the first determination circuit being mounted on the first substrate. |
| US08611815B2 |
Repeaters for enhancement of wireless power transfer
Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer. A wireless power transfer system include a transmit circuit with a transmit antenna driven from a power amplifier to generate a near field radiation at a resonant frequency within a first coupling mode region surrounding the transmit antenna. One or more repeater antennas are disposed at different locations within the first coupling mode region. Each repeater antenna generates an enhanced near field radiation at the resonant frequency within a coupling mode region corresponding to that repeater antenna. One or more receive circuits including a receive antenna receive power when they are disposed in one of the coupling mode regions corresponding to that repeater antenna. |
| US08611814B2 |
Communication system
The present application relates to a wireless communication system and related methods and apparatuses for transmitting a signal from a source apparatus to a destination apparatus, via at least one intermediate apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to techniques which seek to improve the throughput of data in multi-hop communication systems. |
| US08611809B1 |
Computationally efficient design for broadcast satellite single wire and/or direct demod interface
A broadcast satellite single wire interface comprises a low noise block amplifier module having multiple outputs, a plurality of filter banks, each filter bank coupled to each of the outputs of the low noise block amplifier module in a respective fashion and comprising a plurality of filters, and a plurality of analog-to-digital (A/D) converters, each A/D converter coupled to a filter in the plurality of filters in the plurality of filter banks in a respective fashion, wherein the A/D converters directly sample incoming downconverted broadcast satellite signals and the sampled incoming downconverted broadcast signals are output on a single wire in a stacked output. |
| US08611803B2 |
Induction heating type fusing device and image forming apparatus employing the same
An induction heating type fusing device and an image forming apparatus including the fusing device. The fusing device includes a magnetic flux generator and a compressing roller outside a fusing belt, first and second fusing rollers and a nip guide inside the fusing belt. The compressing roller compresses against the first and second fusing rollers and the nip guide to form nips, while the fusing belt is disposed between the compressing roller and the first and second fusing rollers and the nip guide. |
| US08611802B2 |
Fixing device
A fixing device for fixing a developing agent image to a sheet includes a tubular flexible member, a nip member, a backup member and a restricting member. The tubular flexible member has an inner peripheral surface defining an internal space having the nip member disposed therein and an outer peripheral surface opposite the inner peripheral surface, the tubular flexible member defining an axis extending in an axial direction. The backup member is configured to provide a nip region in cooperation with the nip member for nipping the tubular flexible member between the backup member and the nip member. The restricting member is configured to restrict the tubular flexible member from moving in the axial direction, the restricting member having a base section, and inner and outer guides protruding inward from the base section in the axial direction for guiding the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface, respectively. |
| US08611801B2 |
Fixing apparatus and image forming apparatus
The fixing apparatus is provided with a cleaning pad that is pressed against at least one of roller members composed of a fixing roller, a pressurizing roller and an external heating roller to clean a surface of the roller member, and the cleaning pad is composed of a pad member that cleans the surface of the roller member, and a support member that press the pad member against the surface of the roller member to support. The support member has a plurality of opening portions formed along a thrust direction of the roller member, and has a larger opening area per unit length of the support member at a center part of the support member than that at both edge parts thereof. For example, an interval of holes or slits is narrower at the center part of the support member than that at the both edge parts thereof. |
| US08611798B2 |
Developing device and image forming apparatus
A developing device includes: a developing housing in which a developer is to be contained; a first developer carrier that is placed opposedly to an image carrier which is rotated while a latent image is formed on a surface of the image carrier, that is supported by the developing housing, and that is rotated while holding the developer on a surface of the first developer carrier; a second developer carrier that is supported movably with respect to the developing housing, that is opposed to the image carrier on an upstream or downstream side of the first developer carrier in a rotation direction of the image carrier, and that is rotated while holding the developer on a surface of the second developer carrier; and a coupling defined herein. |
| US08611796B2 |
Wet type developing apparatus comprising an immersed cleansing arrangement
A wet type developing apparatus is disclosed which can eliminate the need to provide a separately built cleansing unit and, moreover, makes it unnecessary to dismount a developer supply unit for its cleansing operation and to perform its subsequent re-mounting operation.The apparatus in which a developing roller 2 is in rotational contact with a rotating photoconductor drum 1 and an electrostatic latent image made on a surface of the photoconductor drum is developed with a liquid developer 6 supplied onto the developing roller from a developer supply roller 3 whose surface is in part immersed in the liquid developer reserved in a developer reservoir 5, includes a cleansing arrangement, comprising a unit or units 7 and/or 8, which is disposed at a site in the developer reservoir which is always immersed in the liquid developer for cleansing a portion of the developer supply roller which is immersed in the liquid developer. |
| US08611794B2 |
Developer replenishing device, image forming apparatus, and developer replenishing method
A developer replenishing device for replenishing a developer to a development device includes a developer housing container configured to house the developer inside the container, a discharge outlet provided on the developer housing container and configured to discharge the housed developer outside the container, a conveying device provided between the discharge outlet and the development device, and configured to convey the developer in the developer housing container to the development device, and a motion providing device configured to provide a periodic motion to the developer housing container. The periodic motion is a circling motion, in which a trajectory of an arbitrary point of the developer housing container on a horizontal plane is at least one of circular and ellipsoidal trajectories, without a fixed rotation center on the horizontal plane. |
| US08611788B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member; a developing device provided movably in a direction in which the developing device is to be moved away from the image bearing member; a supplying device, provided with a supply port through which a developer is to be supplied, for supplying the developer; a shutter member provided so that the supply port can be covered and uncovered; a first interrelating mechanism for moving the shutter member from an opposing position in which the shutter member opposes the supply port to a retracted position in interrelation with a mounting operation of the developing device; and a second interrelating mechanism for moving the shutter member from the retracted position to the opposing position in interrelation with a demounting operation of the developing device. The second interrelating mechanism includes an engaging portion for engaging the shutter member with the developing device by moving the shutter member to the retracted position and includes a releasing portion for releasing engagement between the shutter member and the developing device by moving the shutter member to the opposing position. |
| US08611787B2 |
Process unit
A process unit includes a drum frame supporting a photoconductor drum and a development frame supporting a development roller. The development cartridge is swingably supported by the drum frame at a coupling joint provided at a first side of the development frame and a support portion provided at a second side of the development frame. A center of rotation of the development roller is located in a position shifted from a line segment connecting a center of rotation of the coupling joint and a center of rotation of the photoconductor drum to an upstream side with respect to a direction of rotation of the coupling joint as viewed in an axial direction of the development roller, such that the development roller is pressed against the photoconductor drum by the action of the rotatory force received by the coupling joint. |
| US08611785B2 |
Process cartridge including a plate configuration with inner and outer side plates that allow for attachment to an image forming apparatus
A process cartridge and an image forming apparatus are provided. The process cartridge is detachably mountable in an apparatus body of the image forming apparatus, and includes a plurality of photosensitive drums, a first outer side plate which is provided on one side of the photosensitive drums in an axial direction of the photosensitive drum, a second outer side plate which is provided on the other side of the photosensitive drums in the axial direction, and opposes the first outer side plate with the photosensitive drums interposed therebetween, and a plurality of input parts which are provided on ends of the photosensitive drums at the one side, respectively. An end face of each of the input parts being provided inward with respect to the outer surface of the first outer side plate. |
| US08611782B2 |
Image forming device and development unit attachable thereto
An image forming device includes an image forming unit that includes a development agent container, a development device that supplies development agent in the development agent container to an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductive body and forms a development agent image on the photoconductive body, a transfer unit transferring, onto a sheet, the development agent image on the photoconductive body, and a fixing unit fixing the development agent image on the sheet, a feed tray disposed under the image forming unit, a pickup unit feeding a sheet placed on the feed tray toward the image forming unit in a U-turn manner, a first conveying path tilted to extend downward obliquely from the pickup unit, and a second conveying path tilted to extend toward the fixing unit obliquely from a continuous section between the first conveying path and the second conveying path. |
| US08611776B2 |
Cleaning apparatus and image forming apparatus
A cleaning apparatus includes a first cleaning roller, and a second cleaning roller. The first cleaning roller is contrived to contact to a circumferential surface against a moving member to be cleaned and to apply a bias to the member to be cleaned while rotating such that the circumferential surface of the first cleaning roller moves in a same direction as the member to be cleaned moves. The second cleaning roller is contrived to contact to the member to be cleaned after the member has been cleaned by the first cleaning roller and to rotate such that a circumferential surface of the second cleaning roller moves in a direction opposite a direction in which the member being cleaned moves. |
| US08611775B2 |
Image forming apparatus comprising a fixing pressure switching unit and medium storing image forming programs therein
There is provided an image forming apparatus including: a forming unit that forms a toner image according to image information for an image to be formed on a sheet; a fixing unit that fixes the toner image formed on the sheet; a switching unit that switches a fixing pressure of the fixing unit by an operation; a stopping unit that, when the fixing pressure is switched to fix at a second fixing pressure lower than a predefined first fixing pressure, stops conveying a final sheet before the final sheet is fed after being fixed; and an instructing unit that, when the stopping unit stops conveying the final sheet, instructs switching to the first fixing pressure. |
| US08611772B2 |
Recording medium imaging apparatus for determining a type of a recording medium based on a surface image of a reference plate and a surface image of the recording medium
A recording medium imaging apparatus includes an irradiation unit configured to irradiate a recording medium with light, an imaging unit configured to capture reflected light which is irradiated by the irradiation unit and reflected by the recording medium as a surface image, and a reference plate which includes a background that reflects light irradiated by the irradiation unit, and a mark that has a different reflectance ratio to the background, wherein the imaging unit captures reflected light reflected by the reference plate as a surface image and includes a control unit that determines a type of the recording medium based on the surface image of the reference plate and the surface image of the recording medium. |
| US08611766B2 |
Replacement toner cartridge management apparatus, replacement toner cartridge management system, image forming apparatus, replacement toner cartridge management method, and recording medium
A replacement toner cartridge management apparatus is provided with: a receiver which receives first information indicating that a toner cartridge has been replaced with a new one and second information indicating that the remaining amount of toner contained in a toner cartridge reaches a predetermined value, from one or more than one image forming apparatus which the replacement toner cartridge management apparatus can access via a communication circuit; a determiner which determines the right type of a replacement toner cartridge to be loaded in place of the toner cartridge causing the first information or the second information, depending on which is received by the receiver, the first information or the second information; and a transmitter which outputs an instruction to deliver a replacement toner cartridge of the type determined by the determiner. |
| US08611764B2 |
Optical receiver module
An optical receiver module includes an optical receiver that receives and converts a plurality of optical signals depending on different polarized states into a plurality of electric signals, a bit error detector that detects a plurality of bit error rates from electric signals, a maximum value detector that detects a maximum bit error rate among bit error rates, a dispersion compensating controller that calculates a dispersion compensating value based on the maximum bit error rate, and a variable dispersion compensator that performs dispersion compensation against waveform degradation of received optical signals. Thus, it is possible to accurately search for an optimum dispersion compensating value in a transmission line susceptible to polarized dispersion. This makes it possible to stabilize dispersion compensating control on the optical receiver. |
| US08611763B2 |
Phase noise compensation in coherent optical communications systems
A method (10) of compensating phase noise in a coherent optical communications network. The method comprises: receiving a traffic sample (12); receiving an optical carrier and determining a phase noise estimate for the optical carrier (14); and removing the phase noise estimate from the traffic sample to form a phase noise compensated traffic sample (16). |
| US08611760B2 |
Optical modulation device and optical modulation method
An optical modulation device and method thereof is provided. The optical modulation device includes a decision circuit making a decision with respect to an input data signal in accordance with a timing of a first clock signal, a first modulator modulating light output based on the data signal by the decision circuit; a second modulator modulating the modulated light in accordance with a timing of a second clock signal; and delay controller delaying the first clock signal within a range of a phase margin of a decision circuit, and delaying the second clock signal, thereby controlling a state of a phase difference between the data signal and the second clock signal. |
| US08611756B1 |
Highly integrated system and method for optical communication
A lasing cavity can provide a substantial portion of a path over which data, messages, communication signals, or other information travels from a sender to a recipient. The lasing cavity can support light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. The sender can be coupled to an input port of the lasing cavity, while the recipient can be coupled to an output port of the lasing cavity. The sender can input information at the input port via applying energy to the lasing cavity, removing energy from the lasing cavity, perturbing the lasing cavity, lengthening the lasing cavity, shortening the lasing cavity, or otherwise inducing a cavity change or a dynamic response. The recipient can receive the information via monitoring the lasing cavity at the output port for changes or responses caused by the sender at the input port. |
| US08611747B1 |
Method and system for multiplexing optical communication signals
An optical waveguide can transmit multiple optical signals imprinted or encoded with different information, thereby increasing the waveguide's information carrying capability or bandwidth. Each optical signal can comprise multiple longitudinal modes that are energized and that are modulated substantially in unison. Thus, the photonic energy of each optical signal can be spread across a wavelength region in a substantially discrete or substantially discontinuous pattern. The respective wavelength regions of the optical signals can overlap or substantially overlay one another. Modes of one of the optical signals can be substantially interleaved, interspersed, or intermingled with modes of other optical signals. Systems at ends of the optical waveguide can feed the optical signals onto and off of the optical waveguide and discriminate the optical signals from one another. The systems can comprise ring resonators. The waveguide can support an on-chip network, such as for a multicore processor of a computer. |
| US08611746B2 |
Optical transmission between a central terminal and a plurality of client terminals via an optical network
A system and an associated method of bidirectional optical transmission between a central terminal (101) and a plurality of client terminals (11, 12) via a passive optical network (PON) (3), wherein the conversion of an OTDM signal into a WDM signal (respectively the conversion of a WDM signal into an OTDM signal) is effected by an optical converter (20) (respectively 21) by a soliton trapping effect during a downlink (respectively uplink) transmission stage. |
| US08611744B2 |
Monitoring system employing carrier recovery
The present disclosure provides a system, apparatus and method to provide for monitoring of characteristics of optical signals, as part of wavelength division multiplexed signals for example, transmitted over a network infrastructure. The characteristics of each optical signal may be monitored and maintained at desired values in order to optimize system performance. A system including a coherent detector, as part of a coherent receiver for example, may be employed to associate each transmitted optical signal with a modulated source. Control signals generated by the system can then be provided to elements of the modulated source to control characteristics, such as optical power, optical frequency, and optical phase, for example, of the transmitted optical signal. |
| US08611739B2 |
Focus adjusting apparatus and imaging apparatus
A focus adjusting apparatus includes an optical system including a focus lens, a driver configured to move the focus lens along an optical axis of the optical system, an obtaining unit configured to periodically obtain an evaluation value of a subject image formed via the focus lens, a determining unit configured to determine a target position to which the focus lens is moved based on the evaluation value, and a controller configured to control an operation of the driver based on the determined target position. The controller controls the driver to move the focus lens at a first speed for a first period including a backlash period which is defined from start of the operation of the driver to start of an actual movement of the focus lens, and controls the driver to move the focus lens at a second speed faster than the first speed for a second period after the end of the first period. |
| US08611737B2 |
Lens driving device, control method, and lens system
A lens driving device includes a control unit configured to control movement of a first lens to perform zooming operation and a second lens to perform focus adjustment based on information of a position of the first lens and a position of the second lens stored for each object distance, and when the first lens is on a telephoto side of a predetermined position, the control unit limits movement of the second lens to a position corresponding to a second object distance closer than the first object distance, and if a predetermined condition is satisfied after the second lens has reached a predetermined region including the position corresponding to the first object distance, the control unit permits the movement of the second lens to the position corresponding to the second object distance. |
| US08611736B2 |
Image sensing device, image sensing device control method, and program for the control method
For preventing frequent use of auto-focus control and also for acquiring stable in-focus positions for target-objects, this invention comprises system control section 60 having a second mode to drive magnification adjustment lens 11 or focus adjustment lens 12 upon a user command, and a third mode to transition to a first mode under pre-determined conditions in the second mode, and to set in-focus states of a lens group, wherein system control section 60 stores a reference target-object distance in reference target-object distance storage section 43 when focus adjustment lens 12 is driven by user commands in the second mode, drives focus adjustment lens 12 not based on a current target-object distance but the lens in-focus trajectory data to retain the reference target-object distance when the magnification adjustment lens 11 is driven by user commands, and re-transitions to the second mode without updating the reference target-object distance, after the third mode. |
| US08611729B2 |
Convertion apparatus and convertion method
A conversion apparatus and method is disclosed by which a file including data multiplexed therein can be edited or handled readily while maintaining the compatibility. A standard/independent conversion section converts a file of a standard AV multiplex format wherein video data and audio data are placed in a multiplexed state in a body into a file of an AV independent format wherein video data or audio data are placed collectively in a body. Meanwhile, an independent/standard conversion section converts a file of the AV independent formation into a file of the standard AV multiplex format. |
| US08611727B2 |
Personalization of mass-duplicated media
A process and facility supports recipient-specific customization of mass-duplicated tapes. Video from a master tape is passed through a VBI encoder whose output feeds two or more overlay units, each associated with a tape recorder. Recipient-specific watermarking instructions and address information for each tape are fed to the VBI encoder where they are encoded into the VBI of the video. Each overlay unit reads the VBI and decodes the address, and if relevant for that unit, applies the overlays to the video, which is recorded by its associated recording deck. Optionally, each tape and overlay unit includes a barcode that is scanned into a database where associations between tapes and the overlays are stored. Alternatively, high-density barcode labels that include the overlay instructions are printed and applied to tapes. The barcodes are scanned into the overlay units and applied following the receipt of a timecode or other trigger. |
| US08611725B2 |
Playback display device, image capturing device, playback display method, and storage medium
A playback display device including: a display unit; a data storage unit which stores data representing a travel route and a plurality of pieces of image data each associated with an image capturing place; a movement display control unit which displays a mark moving on a map displayed on the display unit based on the data representing the travel route; and an image playback unit which displays image data when, while the movement display control unit displays the mark moving on the map, a displayed position of the mark matches a corresponding position of the image capturing place associated with the image data. |
| US08611724B2 |
Computer readable medium, information processing apparatus and method for processing moving image and sound
A computer readable medium is provided. The computer readable medium has recorded an information processing program for causing a computer to execute a function including: a still image extraction mechanism; a sound detection mechanism; a moving image editing point setting mechanism; a moving image editing point determination mechanism; a sound editing point setting mechanism; a text extraction mechanism for converting a voice sound into a text and extracting the text; a still image selection mechanism for selecting a still image outputted at a moving image editing point; and a combination mechanism for combining the text extracted by the text extraction mechanism into the still image. |
| US08611722B2 |
Recording/reproduction apparatus and method as well as recording medium
The invention provides a recording/reproduction apparatus and method as well as a recording medium wherein, when nondestructive editing is executed for an AV signal, the AV signal can be reproduced seamlessly without suffering from any interruption. Information representative of states (an A type, a C type, a D type, or an E type) of an IN point and an OUT point on a Clip, designated by a Playitem, of a Playlist in which at least more than one Playitems are arranged in the order of reproduction is described in a block Playitem( ). |
| US08611721B2 |
Video playing apparatus and location search method thereof
A video playing apparatus includes a receiver which receives a video signal comprising a plurality of video frames and having no index information about location and time of the plurality of video frames; a user input unit which receives a target time for searching in the received video signal; a signal processor which processes and outputs a video signal corresponding to the target time; and a controller which calculates an average value of ratios of location change to time change by interpreting time and location of the plurality of video frames processed until receiving the target time among the plurality of video frames, when receiving the predetermined target time through the user input unit, and controls the signal processor to process and output the video signal of location corresponding to the target time on the basis of the calculated average value. |
| US08611711B2 |
Optoelectronic transmission device
An optoelectronic transmission device includes a base, a first optical fiber, a second optical fiber, an optical signal source, a light detector, a carrier, and a monocrystalline-silicon reflector. The first optical fiber transmits first light. The second optical fiber transmits second light. The optical signal source emits the first light. The light detector receives and converts the second light into electrical signals. The carrier has a first through hole and a second through hole. The first optical fiber is received in the first through hole. The second optical fiber is received in the second through hole. The monocrystalline-silicon reflector is positioned on the base and covers the light detector and the optical signal source. The monocrystalline-silicon reflector internally totally reflects the first light from the optical signal source to the first optical fiber and internally totally reflects the second light from the second optical fiber to the light detector. |
| US08611710B2 |
Optical collector and device with optical collector
An optical collector includes an optical input for incoupling light from multiple incoming optical waveguides into the collector and an optical output for outcoupling light from the collector into an outgoing optical waveguide. The collector includes an optical body having a base portion in which the optical input including at least two coupling points is arranged, and a tip portion in which the optical output including a second coupling point is arranged, wherein the first coupling points each include an optical input cross-sectional area and the second coupling point comprises an output cross-sectional area, and wherein the output cross-sectional area is smaller than the total of all input cross-sectional areas. The optical body of the collector can be cone-shaped and may include a hollow cone. |
| US08611709B2 |
Coupled waveguide photo detector with non-uniform coupling coefficient
An embodiment of the invention provides a coupled waveguide photo detector device. Optically, the device includes an input waveguide. An output waveguide is coupled to the input waveguide with a nonuniform coupling coefficient in a coupling section. An absorber is included in the coupling section to convert an absorbed portion of optical radiation into photo current. The location of absorber and the optical radiation intensity pattern in the coupling section are set to control the maximum intensity of output power absorbed by the output waveguide to be within a predetermined limit that avoids saturation. The absorber is also part of a transmission line collector which has a phase and group velocity to match those of the optical wave in the coupling section such that currents collected by the transmission line collector add in phase as the optical wave propagates in the output waveguide. |
| US08611705B2 |
Silicon optical switch devices
Embodiments relate to optical switching devices. In embodiments, the optical switching devices are implemented in a silicon substrate and comprise an absorbent element selectively movable into and out of the evanescent field of a light beam which passes through a lamella. The absorbent element attenuates the evanescent part of the light beam such that the beam can be switched on and off by movement of the absorbent element. |
| US08611699B2 |
Apparatus and method for chroma-key processing
Apparatus for interpolating or dispersing effects over a video frame, useful for chroma keying of an image comprising a foreground including a part to remove, such as a background or spill from the background. The apparatus handles pixels of the image one by one and includes an interpolation unit for applying an interpolation of attributes at a respective pixel and then applies a function based on the attributes. For example in chroma keying an opaqueness assigner may compare the local color with a color of the part to remove using the interpolation. Based on the comparison, keying is used to set at the respective pixel a level of opaqueness for the pixel. |
| US08611697B2 |
System for measuring the true dimensions and orientation of objects in a two dimensional image
The invention is a system for measuring the true dimensions and orientation of objects in a two dimensional image. The system is comprised of a ruler comprising at least one set of features each comprised of two or more markers that are identifiable in the image and having a known spatial relationship between them and a software package comprising programs that allow extension of the ruler and other objects in the two dimensional image beyond their physical dimensions or shape. The system can be used together with radiographic imagery means, processing means, and display means to take x-ray images and to measure the true dimensions and orientation of objects and to aid in the identification and location of a surgery tool vs. anatomy in those x-ray images. The invention provides a method of drawing and displaying on a two dimensional x-ray image measurements of objects visible in said image, graphical information, or templates of surgical devices. |
| US08611695B1 |
Large scale patch search
An image processing server enhances an original image using image data from other images. The server generates global descriptors of a set of received images and creates an image data structure therefrom. The server also identifies a set of patches for each of the received images, generates descriptors of the patches, and generates a patch data structure therefrom. The image processing system identifies a patch in an original image for which enhancement is desired. The image processing server uses a global descriptor of the original image to search the image data structure for a set of related images that are visually similar to the original image. The image processing server uses a patch descriptor of the patch for which enhancement is desired to search the patch data structures for the related images to identify a set of patches that are visually similar to the patch in the original image. |
| US08611692B2 |
Automated image registration with varied amounts of a priori information using a minimum entropy method
An image registration method includes: providing a reference image and a source image; using a wavelet transformation to produce a transformed reference image and a transformed source image; using the transformed reference image and the transformed source image to estimate affine transform parameters; using the reference image, the source image, and the affine transform estimates to maximize normalized mutual information between the reference image and the source image; and using the normalized mutual information to perform sub-pixel geo-spatial registration of the reference image and the source image to produce an output image. An apparatus that performs the method is also provided. |
| US08611688B2 |
Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding and multi-view image
A Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding a multi-view image are provided. The method of encoding a multi-view image includes determining whether each of pictures included in multi-view image sequences is a reference picture referred to by other pictures included in the multi-view image sequences for inter-view prediction, and encoding the pictures using at least one of inter-view prediction and temporal prediction based on the determination result, thereby efficiently encoding and decoding the multi-view image at high speed. |
| US08611686B2 |
Coding apparatus and method
Apparatus and method for image coding may group code units corresponding to an image based on a same at least one parameter of each of the code units. Each group of code units which is grouped includes code units of which values of the same at least one parameter are the same. In addition, the code units of each group of code units which is grouped are entropy coded in parallel. |
| US08611684B2 |
Recording medium having recorded thereon coded information using plus and/or minus rounding of images
Computer-readable medium having an image decoding program performing: storing a reference image of a previously decoded image; receiving coded information including motion vector and rounding method information specifying a rounding method for synthesizing a prediction image of a currently decoded image; and synthesizing the prediction image via motion compensation using the motion vector information and reference image, using a positive and negative rounding method for interpolating pixel intensity values; wherein interpolation of pixel intensity values uses a rounding method specified by the rounding method information included in the encoded current P frame bitstream; wherein the rounding method information is not received from the encoded I frame bitstream; wherein rounding method information specifies one of two values; and wherein one of the two values specifies a positive rounding method, and another of the two values specifies a negative rounding method, and wherein the rounding method information has one bit. |
| US08611682B2 |
Recording medium having recorded thereon coded information using plus and/or minus rounding of images
A method of decoding images including: extracting motion vector information from input information to be decoded; synthesizing a prediction image by performing motion compensation using the motion vector information and a reference image which is a previously decoded image; and synthesizing a decoded image by adding the prediction image to an error image, wherein the motion compensation includes specifying either a positive rounding method or a negative rounding method for interpolating intensity values of pixels in performing the motion compensation. |
| US08611679B2 |
Image processing device and image processing method
This invention provides an image processing device and an image processing method capable of implementing pattern matching based on an edge code at relatively high speed with a smaller circuit configuration. In the image processing device according to the present embodiment, an information amount of a valid zone is diffused over an entire edge code image. In other words, the amount of information used in the entire edge code image is compressed by reducing the number of bits to assign to each pixel and effectively using the number of bits assigned to each pixel as a whole. If a valid zone for an edge EDG1, the following invalid zone in which the invalid edge code value continues, and the following valid zone for an edge EDG2 appear in a profile of the edge code value, increase/decrease information from the edge code value contained in the valid zone for the edge EDG1 to the edge code value contained in the valid zone for the edge EDG2 is assigned to the element corresponding to the invalid zone. |
| US08611678B2 |
Grouping digital media items based on shared features
Methods, apparatuses, and systems for grouping digital media items based on shared features. Multiple digital images are received. Metadata about the digital images is obtained either by analyzing the digital images or by receiving metadata from a source separate from the digital images or both. The obtained metadata is analyzed by data processing apparatus to identify a common feature among two or more of the digital images. A grouping of the two or more images is formed by the data processing apparatus based on the identified common feature. |
| US08611677B2 |
Method for event-based semantic classification
A method of automatically classifying images in a consumer digital image collection, includes generating an event representation of the image collection; computing global time-based features for each event within the hierarchical event representation; computing content-based features for each image in an event within the hierarchical event representation; combining content-based features for each image in an event to generate event-level content-based features; and using time-based features and content-based features for each event to classify an event into one of a pre-determined set of semantic categories. |
| US08611675B2 |
Confusion matrix for classification systems
Techniques are described herein for generating and displaying a confusion matrix wherein a data item belonging to one or more actual classes is predicted into a class. The classes in which the data item may be predicted (the “predicted classes”) are ranked according to a score that in one embodiment indicates the confidence of the prediction. If the data item is predicted into a class that is one of the top K ranked predicted classes, then the prediction is considered accurate and an entry is created in a cell of a confusion matrix indicating the accurate prediction. If the data item is not predicted into a class that is not one of the top K ranked predicted classes, then the prediction is considered inaccurate and an entry is created in a cell of a confusion matrix indicating the inaccurate prediction. |
| US08611674B1 |
System and method for invariant-based normal estimation
A computer-implemented method for invariant-based normal estimation. The method includes calculating a set of measured invariants for a point associated with a surface of an object, where the set of measured invariants is based on pixel information that includes lighting information, calculating one or more sets of estimated invariants for the point associated with the surface of the object, where each set of estimated invariants is based on a known lighting environment for the object and a different normal for the point associated with the surface of the object, and determining a first normal for the point associated with the surface of the object that results in the set of measured invariants corresponding to a first set of estimated invariants. |
| US08611671B2 |
Thin line detection and enhancement for electronic images having different resolutions
A methodology for thin line detection and enhancement in electronic images is disclosed. The methodology includes associating an electronic image with at least one basic context window that is less than the size of the electronic image based on the input image resolution of the electronic image; detecting one or more predefined patterns which correspond to thin lines in the electronic image using the at least one basic context window; excluding patterns for the one or more detected patterns which are halftone patterns; and adding at least one pixel to the electronic image based on at least one of the remaining patterns so as to enhance thin line features in the electronic image. In some implementation, the methodology may be configured to handle electronic images having different resolutions. A system for thin line detection and enhancement in electronic images having different resolutions is also disclosed. |
| US08611664B2 |
Method for detecting fire-flame using fuzzy finite automata
A method for detecting a fire flame using fuzzy finite automata is provided. The fire-flame detection method comprises (1) acquiring an image required for the detection of fire-flame, (2) dividing the image into a number of blocks, (3) extracting a fire-flame candidate block using a brightness distortion of a pixel in the block, (4) detecting a fire-flame candidate region from the fire-flame block using a color probability model, and (5) determining whether the fire-flame candidate region corresponds to a fire-flame via fuzzy finite automata. The fire-flame detection method can detect fire-flames in a variety of fire images with relatively high precision, by establishing a probability model using the brightness distortion and wavelet energy in fire-flame regions with continuous and irregular fluctuation patterns and using the upward motion, and applying the model to fuzzy finite automata. |
| US08611663B2 |
Computer-readable medium storing an information image and apparatus and computer-readable medium for generating and detecting an information image with five pixel series
An information image includes a first, second, third, fourth and fifth pixel series which represent first, second, third, fourth and fifth information, respectively. The first and second information are successions of binary numbers 0 or 1. The first and third pixel series are series of pixel lumps arranged continuously as rows in a rectangle. The second and fourth pixel series are series of pixel lumps arranged continuously as columns in the rectangle. The row of the third pixel series is at a predetermined position with respect to that of the first pixel series. The column of the fourth pixel series is at a predetermined position with respect to that of the second pixel series. The fifth pixel series is a series of pixel lumps arranged in an area other than the rows and the columns of the first, second, third and fourth pixel series are arranged. |
| US08611662B2 |
Text detection using multi-layer connected components with histograms
A digital image is converted to a multiple level image, and multiple scale sets are formed from connected components of the multiple level image such that different ones of the scale sets define different size spatial bins. For each of the multiple scale sets there is generated a count of connected components extracted from the respective scale set for each spatial bin; and adjacent spatial bins which represent connected components are linked. Then the connected components from the different scale sets are merged and text line detection is performed on the merged connected components. In one embodiment each of the scale sets is a histogram, and prior to linking all bins with less than a predetermined count are filtered out; and each histogram is extended such that counts of adjacent horizontal and vertical bins are added (single region bins are filtered out) and the linking is on the extended histograms. |
| US08611659B2 |
Background separated images for print and on-line use
In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for producing background separated product images for print and on-line display. An image formation system provides lighting of a product to facilitate acquiring images that can be automatically processed to generate high resolution item-only images free of quality defects and imaging artifacts. Image processing programs accurately detect an outline of an item in a set of digital images taken using the image formation system and automatically store processed images in an image library. The images in the library may be repurposed for print, sales display, transmission to a user, on-line customer support, and the like. A user display configured with an adaptable user interface facilitates user interaction with images in the library. |
| US08611657B2 |
Robust fitting of surfaces from noisy data
Various embodiments of methods and apparatus for fitting a surface to a data set are disclosed. A frequency distribution of an input data set is determined. Determining the frequency distribution includes assigning each data point of the input data set to a category representing a value of a variable for the respective data point. Responsive to identifying one or more discontinuities of the frequency distribution, a continuous section of the frequency distribution is identified as a first data set. A first equation is fit to the first data set. |
| US08611651B1 |
Scoring items
A system identifies an image and determines whether the image contains inappropriate content based on first data associated with the image, second data associated with a document that contains the image or refers to the image, and/or third data associated with a group of documents with which the image is associated. |
| US08611642B2 |
Forming a steroscopic image using range map
A method for forming a stereoscopic image from a main image of a scene captured from a main image viewpoint including one or more foreground objects, together a main image range map and a background image. A first-eye image is determined corresponding to a first-eye viewpoint and a second-eye image is determined corresponding to a second-eye viewpoint. At least one of the first-eye image and the second-eye image is determined by warping the main image to the associated viewpoint, wherein the warped main image includes one or more holes corresponding to scene content that was occluded in the main image; warping the background image to the associated viewpoint; and determining pixel values to fill the one or more holes in the warped main image using pixel values at corresponding pixel locations in the warped background image; and forming a stereoscopic image including the first-eye image and the second-eye image. |
| US08611641B2 |
Method and apparatus for detecting disparity
An apparatus for detecting disparity is described. This apparatus detects the disparity between corresponding pixel positions in a first and second image capturing the same scene, the first and second image being viewable as a stereoscopic image captured using a parallel lens arrangement, the apparatus comprising: a determiner operable to determine the pixel positions of a plurality of points of change of an image property across a section of the first image and to determine the pixel positions of a plurality of points of change of said image property across a corresponding section of the second image; a comparator operable to compare the position of one of the points of change in the first image with a subset of the positions of the plurality of points of change of second image, whereby the subset is determined in accordance with the pixel positions of the points of change in the second image relative to the pixel position of the one of the points of change in the first image; wherein the determiner is operable to determine the similarity between pixels which have a pixel position adjacent the point of change in the first image, and the corresponding pixels adjacent each of the points of change in the subset; and an obtainer operable to obtain the disparity in accordance with the determined similarity of the pixels. |
| US08611633B2 |
Method for processing image, image processing apparatus and medical image system for performing the same
An image processing apparatus is provided. The image processing apparatus includes an extraction unit configured to extract a low-frequency band component and a high-frequency band component from a radiation image formed by passing through a subject, a contrast enhancement processing unit configured to perform a contrast enhancement process to the extracted low-frequency band component, a detail enhancement processing unit configured to perform a detail enhancement process to the extracted high-frequency band component, a synthesis unit configured to synthesize an image resulting from performing the contrast enhancement process and an image resulting from performing the detail enhancement process, and a generation unit configured to reconstruct the synthesized image and generate a diagnosis image. |
| US08611628B2 |
Using non-attenuation corrected PET emission images to compensate for incomplete anatomic images
When compensating for truncated patient scan data acquired by a multi-modal PET/CT or PET/MR imaging system (14, 16), such as occurs when a patient is larger than a field of view for an anatomical imaging device, a segmented contour of a non-attenuation-corrected (NAC) PET image is used to identify a contour of the truncated region. An appropriate tissue type is used to fill in truncated regions of a truncated CT or MR image for the attenuation map. The corrected attenuation map is then used to generate an attenuation-corrected PET image of the patient or a region of interest. Alternatively, the system can be employed in PET/CT or PET/MR imaging scenarios where two modalities are performed sequentially (e.g., not simultaneously), and thus the contour derived from the PET scan can be compared to the CT or MR image to infer potential subject motion between the PET and CT or MR scans. Additionally, the system can be employed in PET imaging scenarios where the contour derived from the NAC PET image is used as emission boundary for scatter correction using single-scatter simulation, in which a tail-fitting procedure utilizes an emission boundary to define pure-scatter tails (e.g., in the absence of true coincidence events). |
| US08611624B2 |
Method for adipose tissue quantification with magnetic resonance imaging
A system and method for calculating a quantitative metric of adipose tissue using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system are provided. The MRI system is used to acquire k-space data by sampling echo signals that are formed at a plurality of different echo times. From the acquired k-space data, a fat-concentration map, such as a fat-fraction map is produced. A maximum fat-concentration value is estimated from the fat-concentration map, and is used to threshold the fat-concentration map to produce an adipose mask. From the adipose mask, a quantitative metric of adipose tissue can be calculated. |
| US08611620B2 |
Advanced digital pathology and provisions for remote diagnostics
The present invention discloses a method for detecting and identifying pathologies in a magnified captured image. The method comprising the step of: performing macro image analysis for identifying abnormal and normal segments of the captured image, performing conversion of colored images to gray scale image, performing segmentation of the gray scale colored biopsy by applying two segmentation levels, merging the image results of the coarse level and the fine level segmentations by expanding the coarse image to fit scale of the fine image and identifying pixels having the same value at both levels, performing comparison between object's properties and characteristics appearing in abnormal segments and object's properties and characteristics appearing in normal segments, and calculating the deviations of each property between the abnormal segments and the normal segments and ranking objects based on the calculated deviations of each property and characteristic. |
| US08611613B2 |
Method and apparatus for checking print products, a computer program and a computer program product
The invention relates to a method and a device for checking print products of the same kind, more particularly printed sheets of paper of the same kind, which are transported by a conveying device. For this purpose, during a teach-in phase, test images are recorded at a plurality of points on the print product by means of a digital camera. The test images recorded, or parts thereof, are analyzed with respect to their characteristic information, and the test image having the most distinct characteristic information is selected as the reference image. For the purpose of checking print products of the same kind, the subsequent print products of the same kind are checked by recording at least one image at a position corresponding to the reference image and by comparing it with the image data of the reference image. Such checking is carried out by means of a device comprising a digital camera for recording test images of the print product, an illuminating device for illuminating the print product, an input for supplying a position signal, and a control and evaluation unit for controlling the digital camera and the illuminating device and for analyzing image data produced by the digital camera. The invention further relates to a computer program and to a computer program product. |
| US08611611B2 |
Three dimensional human pose recognition method and apparatus
The present invention discloses a three dimensional human pose recognition method and apparatus, where the three dimensional human pose recognition method includes steps of: a three dimensional pose initial recognition step of performing three dimensional pose recognition on an input image containing a human image to obtain image-based three dimensional human pose information; a sensor information acquisition step of acquiring, by a motion sensor, motion information of human articulation points; and a three dimensional pose correction step of correcting, with the motion information acquired by the sensor information acquisition step, the image-based three dimensional human pose information recognized by the three dimensional pose initial recognition step. According to the technical solution of the invention, it is possible to improve accuracy of the three dimensional human pose recognition efficiently. Further, the present invention also discloses a three dimensional human pose recognition method and apparatus, in which three dimensional half-body pose recognition is proposed, thereby speed of three dimensional human pose recognition can be improved significantly while improving accuracy of three dimensional human pose recognition. |
| US08611609B2 |
Lane line estimating apparatus
A fixed data memory stores data of a normal lane width between lane lines and a narrow lane width between inner guide lines of double white lines. A lane-line candidate setting section detects lane-line detection points on both sides of a driving lane using a captured image, and sets lane-line candidate points on the opposite lane lines at spaces of the widths and therebetween, using the detection points as starting points. A curve approximation processing section sets virtual lines on both sides of the driving lane from a curve approximation equation obtained using the detection and candidate points. A lane-line position setting section obtains dispersions of the candidate points to the left and right virtual lines, and estimates the type of at least one of the left and right virtual lines. |
| US08611605B2 |
Image pick-up apparatus having a function of recognizing a face and method of controlling the apparatus
It is judged whether or not a human face detecting mode is set. When it is determined that the human face detecting mode is set, a two-dimensional face detecting process is performed to detect a human face. When it is determined that a human face has not been detected in the two-dimensional face detecting process, a three-dimensional face detecting process is performed to detect a human face. In addition, when an animal face detecting mode is set, a three-dimensional face detecting process is performed to detect a face of an animal corresponding to the set detecting mode. |
| US08611604B2 |
Object detection device
A depth histogram is created for each of a plurality of local regions of the depth image by grouping, according to specified depths, the depth information for the individual pixels that are contained in the local regions. A degree of similarity between two of the depth histograms for two of the local regions at different positions in the depth image is calculated as a feature. A depth image for training that has a high degree of certainty is defined as a positive example, a depth image for training that has a low degree of certainty is defined as a negative example, a classifier that is suitable for classifying the positive example and the negative example is constructed, and an object that is a target of detection is detected in the depth image, using the classifier and based on the feature. |
| US08611595B2 |
Method and terminal for detecting and tracking moving object using real-time camera motion estimation
A method is provided for detecting and tracking a moving object using real-time camera motion estimation, including generating a feature map representing a change in an input pattern in an input image, extracting feature information of the image, estimating a global motion for recognizing a motion of a camera using the extracted feature information, correcting the input image by reflecting the estimated global motion, and detecting a moving object using the corrected image. |
| US08611594B2 |
Dynamic display of virtual content on several devices using reference tags
This is directed to determining the relative position of several devices by capturing representations of the device environments in which a tag is located. The devices can compare the captured representations to determine a perspective of the tag corresponding to each device. In some cases, a device can determine an absolute position relative to a coordinate system integrated in a tag. Using the positioning information, several devices can receive directions to come together at a particular meeting point. In some cases, several devices can operate an application that requires the interaction of several users of the devices (e.g., multi-player games). The application can control the time or manner in which inputs are provided based on the relative positions of the devices. In some cases, the devices can display virtual content that is shared across several devices, where the different devices can each interact with the virtual content. |
| US08611593B2 |
Foreground object detection system and method
A foreground object detection system and method establishes a background model by reading N frames of a video stream generated by a camera. The detection system further reads each frame of the video stream, detects the pixel value difference and the brightness value difference for each pair of two corresponding pixels of two consecutive frames for each of the N frames of the video stream. In detail, by comparing the pixel value difference with a pixel threshold and by comparing the brightness value difference with a brightness threshold, the detection system may determine a foreground or background pixel. |