| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08661110B2 |
Methods for identifying and recovering non-revenue generating network circuits established outside of the United States
A method includes issuing a retrieval instruction, such as a database query, to retrieve from a database system a datum associated with a network circuit established outside of the United States. Upon receiving the datum from the database system, it is determined, based on the datum retrieved, whether the network circuit is incurring a charge. It is further determined, based on the datum retrieved, an amount of revenue generated by the network circuit. When the amount of revenue generated by the network circuit is below a predetermined threshold, a termination instruction to terminate a service associated with the network circuit is issued. |
| US08661106B2 |
Method of correction of network synchronisation
The invention relates to a method of synchronizing the clock of different clusters including a first cluster (1) and a second cluster (2) which are connected by means of a connecting element (3) wherein the timing of the second cluster (2) is at least almost aligned to the timing of the first cluster (1), wherein the timing of the second cluster is determined by a node (4) of the second cluster which is connected to a reference node of the first cluster and wherein the node of the second cluster synchronizes itself with the reference node's timing and transfers an offset correction to the second cluster. |
| US08661104B2 |
Capacity planning using user-level data and upward projections
A telecommunications network capacity planning system. The telecommunications network capacity planning system includes a telecommunications network including a telecommunications services provider, subscribers and a network coupling the telecommunications services provider and the subscribers for provisioning of the telecommunications services. A database system is used for collecting and storing data at the user-level associated with provisioning of telecommunication services over the telecommunications network. A processor is coupled to the database system. The processor models the telecommunications network by generating upward projections from the stored user-level data and transforms the modeling of the network to a visual display of capacity information and network parameters for manipulation to evaluate capacity planning scenarios. |
| US08661102B1 |
System, method and computer program product for detecting patterns among information from a distributed honey pot system
A honey pot system, method and computer program product are provided. In use, information is collected which relates to network traffic targeting a plurality of computers associated with a distributed honey pot system. Next, a pattern is detected among the information collected from the distributed honey pot system. To this end, response data is generated, if the pattern is detected. |
| US08661101B2 |
Method of IP address de-aliasing
A method of internet protocol (IP) address de-aliasing that involves obtaining IP addresses from devices in a network, pinging pairs of the IP addresses by sending packets to pairs of the IP addresses, obtaining ping response orders for the packets, and determining whether the pairs of IP addresses are aliases of the same network device based on the obtained ping response orders. |
| US08661099B2 |
Electronic apparatus and system capable of assigning appropriate address
In order to prevent unnecessary APIPA process from being executed in a LAN environment which does not adopt APIPA, an ICMP echo request for a predetermined IP address is broadcast. Whether there are more than N apparatuses using APIPA is checked based on the replies, and if there are, IP address setting by APIPA is executed. In a LAN environment which adopts APIPA, whether the IP address to be assigned to an apparatus is already being used by another apparatus is checked. If the date and time when the another apparatus was assigned the IP address is earlier than the date and time when the apparatus was assigned the IP address, APIPA is executed to decide the IP address of the apparatus. |
| US08661093B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing personalized supplemental programming
A method and apparatus for providing personalized supplemental programming is provided. In one embodiment, the invention can include searching text for a keyword, the text associated with primary programming to be provided to an element of an entertainment system, accessing a database upon finding the keyword, retrieving content associated with the keyword from the database, combining the retrieved content with the primary programming to generate combined programming, and providing the combined programming to the element of the entertainment system. |
| US08661091B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method
A digital document is generated based on document content information obtained by reading a paper document, and instruction content information for document generation. Explanatory information of the paper document is generated based on the instruction content information. Feed data as data used to notify an external apparatus of generation of the digital document is generated with reference to the explanatory information. The feed data is transmitted to the external apparatus in response to a request from the external apparatus. |
| US08661086B2 |
Method and apparatus for immunizing data in computer systems from corruption by assuming that incoming messages are corrupt unless proven valid
A system for immunizing a computer network against adverse effects caused by the receipt of a corrupting message. Each message transfers into a protocol-based controlled environment for a specific recipient where message criteria determine whether the incoming message is deemed to be a valid or suspicious message. Transmission criteria determine the final message disposition. If the message is valid, it is delivered to a recipient computer system in the network. If the incoming message is suspicious, the message is isolated in the controlled environment where the transmission criteria may provide remote access to the recipient. |
| US08661084B1 |
Metadata based platform for accessing and managing multiple heterogeneous information services
A request is received for a service provider to perform an action associated with a canonical feature. Metadata associated with the service provider is used to interact with the service provider in a way that causes the service provider to perform the action. |
| US08661083B2 |
Method and system for implementing sequence start and increment values for a resequencer
Described is an improved method, system, and computer program product for implementing an improved resequencer, along with related mechanisms and processes. Some embodiments provide an approach for generating a message sequence having start and increment values. |
| US08661080B2 |
Propagating changes in topic subscription status of processes in an overlay network
A method of updating statuses of processes in a network is provided. The method may include the following steps: connecting N processes on a K-connected overlay network of nodes which is in operative association with a computer network; determining an update of subscription and un-subscription statuses of at least some of the processes; generating update messages reflecting the subscriptions and the un-subscriptions, the update messages being differences between previous update and current update; and propagating the update messages through the K-connected graph, such that at least some of the processes transfer the update to its respective K neighboring nodes, wherein at least one of the connecting, the subscribing, the unsubscribing, the generating, and the propagating is executed by at least one processor. |
| US08661077B2 |
Methods, systems and computer readable media for providing a failover measure using watcher information (WINFO) architecture
Methods, systems, and computer readable media system for collecting and distributing session initiation protocol (SIP) event watcher entity subscription information in a communications network are disclosed. According to one aspect, the method includes receiving, at a first notifier server from a watcher entity client, a first subscription request for SIP event information associated with one or more watched entity clients. The method also includes receiving, at a watcher information (WINFO) entity, SIP event subscription information that includes an identifier indicating that the first notifier server serves the watcher entity client, storing the SIP event subscription information in the WINFO entity, detecting the unavailability of the first notifier server. The method further includes sending an instruction message, based on the identifier in the stored SIP event subscription information, to direct the watcher entity to generate a second subscription request associated for the SIP event information. |
| US08661076B2 |
Business networking information feed alerts
Various embodiments described or referenced herein are directed to different devices, methods, systems, and computer products for providing information external to an organization in an information feed. A message may be received from an information service provider in accordance with a previously defined request. The defined request may include one or more parameters specifying requested data. The message may include data provided in accordance with the one or more parameters. The data in the message may be processed to create a data object. The data object may include at least a portion of the data provided in accordance with the one or more parameters. The data object may be stored in a database. The data object may then be provided for display on a display device in an information feed associated with the record. |
| US08661074B2 |
Adaptive choice for context source request
Method and service node (10) for providing a service in a communication network (1). The service node (10) is arranged to evaluate a request comprising an expression (A), a function of multiple elements. The elements (eventually) relate to data originating from context sources (B, D, E) available in the communication network (1). Each of the one or more context sources (B, D, E) has an associated context source weight for a query by the service. The context source (E) for which evaluation of the expression has a lowest expression evaluation weight is determined, based on the associated context source weights, and this context source (E) is interrogated first. |
| US08661069B1 |
Predictive-based clustering with representative redirect targets
An automated method may include clustering documents into a plurality of clusters, selecting a representative document, respectively, for two of the plurality of clusters, determining a final redirect target document for each of the representative documents in the two of the plurality of clusters, determining whether the final redirect target documents are duplicate documents of each other; and re-clustering the two of the plurality of clusters together if it is determined that the final redirect target documents are duplicate documents. |
| US08661062B1 |
Managing analysis of activity data
A method is used in managing analysis of activity data. Activity data is analyzed for a security investigation by using a content bundle. The content bundle specifies a set of actions. The set of actions are performed based on a set of inputs provided to the content bundle. Results of analysis of the activity data is provided in a format based on a set of outputs configured for the content bundle. |
| US08661060B2 |
Editing a network of interconnected concepts
Systems and methods that create and edit a network of interconnected concepts are disclosed. In one embodiment, a semantic engine implements a method comprising receiving a primary term representing a first concept to be added to a network of interrelated concepts, receiving at least one related term related to the primary term, receiving at least one relationship between the first concept and a second concept, receiving a strength value associated with the relationship, and adding the first concept to the network. |
| US08661059B1 |
Compliance framework database schema
Generating a compliance framework. The compliance framework facilitates an organization's compliance with multiple authority documents by providing efficient methodologies and refinements to existing technologies, such as providing hierarchical fidelity to the original authority document; separating auditable citations from their context (e.g., prepositions and or informational citations); asset focused citations; SNED and Live values, among others. |
| US08661053B2 |
Method and apparatus for enabling virtual tags
A method and apparatus for enabling virtual tags is described. The method may include receiving a first digital image data and virtual tag data to be associated with a real-world object in the first digital image data, wherein the first digital image data is captured by a first mobile device, and the virtual tag data includes metadata received from a user of the first mobile device. The method may also include generating a first digital signature from the first digital image data that describes the real-world object, and in response to the generation, inserting in substantially real-time the first digital signature into a searchable index of digital images. The method may also include storing, in a tag database, the virtual tag data and an association between the virtual tag data and the first digital signature inserted into the index of digital images. |
| US08661050B2 |
Hybrid recommendation system
A recommendation system may use a network of relationships between many different entities to find search results and establish a relevance value for the search results. The relevance value may be calculated by analyzing trust and similarity components of each relationship between the search user and the entity providing the search results. The entities may be, for example, persons associated within express or implied social networks, or corporations or other organizations with a historical or other reputation. The relationships may be created through many different contact mechanisms and may be unidirectional, asymmetric bidirectional, or symmetric bidirectional relationships. The relationships may be different based on topic or other factors. |
| US08661044B2 |
Dynamic submission and preference indicator
Indicating preference for a content contribution is disclosed. A request for information associated with the content contribution is received from a first entity. The status of the content contribution is determined. A response is provided to the first entity. Determining the status of the content contribution includes determining whether a submission of the content contribution was previously received. |
| US08661036B2 |
Metadata editing control
A metadata management architecture. The architecture includes a property component that lists one or more properties related to a file, and a viewing component that present files having one or more of the related properties. A synchronization component provides immediate synchronization between property editing fields of the property component and a view in the property-based browser component, providing both instantaneous feedback on property changes and an ability to manipulate properties graphically. Thus, a change in the property pane is immediately reflected in the view component, and a change in the view component is immediately reflected in the property pane. |
| US08661033B2 |
System to provide search results via a user-configurable table
In a particular embodiment, a graphical user interface (GUI) generated by a processor of a search system includes a search results window operable to display a set of search results within a table that includes a plurality of sub-tables corresponding to a plurality of categories. Each sub-table represents at least one category and includes a respective subset of the set of search results. The GUI further includes a plurality of local control elements, where each local control element is associated with a respective sub-table of the plurality of sub-tables. Each local control element is accessible to a user to selectively sort the respective subset of the set of search results within the respective sub-table according to a user-selected local sort parameter without altering a sort order of respective subsets of the set of search results within other sub-tables of the plurality of sub-tables. |
| US08661032B2 |
Vocabulary engine
A system and method are provided for generating an output comprising data pertaining to a vehicle. A set of vehicle data pertaining to a selected vehicle is requested and the vehicle data is obtained from a database. The vehicle data is stored, e.g. using a hash map and a script generated outside of the system is obtained, which defines the structure of the output. The script is then run while using the vehicle data to generate the output and the output is provided to an application. |
| US08661031B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining the significance and relevance of a web page, or a portion thereof
A method for determining the significance of a web page, or a portion thereof, is disclosed. Accordingly, a search engine or some other application analyzes user-generated highlights (as well as user-provided comments associated with the highlights) of a document to determine a document relevance score (e.g., Highlight Rank) for the document containing the user-generated highlights. The particular algorithm for determining the document relevance score will vary depending upon the particular implementation, but may generally be based upon an analysis of the number and quality of user-generated highlights and associated comments within a document. Based on this analysis, the search engine assigns the document a document relevance score, which is used for processing the document in accordance with instructions associated with a search query. For example, the document relevance score may be used in selecting and ordering documents returned in search results for a particular search query. |
| US08661028B2 |
Web browser accessible search engine that identifies search result maxima through user search flow and result content comparison
An Internet infrastructure contains a search server that delivers search result pages of web sites to client devices based upon a search string. Maxima categories are provided that sort search results or web pages based upon popularity and/or context similarity. A web browser contained within a client device is coupled to display various search result pages of web sites delivered by the search server. A maxima determination module within the search server responds to the delivery of the initial search string by first categorizing search results applicability to the search string on the basis of maxima or by generating maxima categories with search results contained therein that correlated to the search string. These search results within each applicable maximum are then sorting on the basis of popularity within each of the maxima categories to effectuate popularity ranks for each search result or web page. |
| US08661024B2 |
Database query resource management using select statement condition
A resource allocation system for a database environment. In a specific embodiment, the resource allocation system is adapted to implement a method that includes receiving a first signal from a user input device to identify a SQL SELECT statement to be used in a future database query. The system receives a second signal from the user input device to determine a resource to be used when the SELECT statement is executed. The system then stores, in a storage device, an indication of the resource in association with the SELECT statement so that when the SELECT statement is executed the resource is used. |
| US08661022B2 |
Database management method and system
Disclosed is a database management method which generates an execution plan with respect to a factorized character string generated by factoring an execution value list of a query and stores the factorized character string and an execution plan identifier with respect to the factorized character string, matching each other. The database management method includes receiving, from a client, a factorized character string generated from a query; determining whether the factorized character string is stored in a memory; transmitting an execution plan identifier matching the factorized character string stored in the memory to the client when the factorized character string is stored in the memory, or generating and transmitting an execution plan identifier with respect to an execution plan of the factorized character string to the client when the factorized character string is not stored in the memory; receiving a query request consisting of the execution plan identifier and an execution value list included in the query from the client; and providing a query result obtained using the query request to the client. |
| US08661021B2 |
Virtual private supply chain
A generic Internet based system for viewing supply chain data is provided. The system includes an Internet based data viewing engine and a data store that holds both viewable data and metadata associated with the viewable data. The metadata can be employed by the Internet based data viewing engine to control the presentation of the viewable data. The generic Internet based supply chain data viewing engine may be employed in a virtual private supply chain (VPSC). A VPSC includes a data acceptor that can receive supply chain data items from supply chain members, a supply chain data store that can store transformed, validated supply chain data items received from the supply chain members and a data accessor operable to selectively present supply chain data items stored in the supply chain data store to viewing supply chain members. One example of the data accessor is the generic Internet based viewing engine. |
| US08661018B2 |
Data service response plan generator
A method, a service optimization system, and a set of instructions are disclosed. A user interface 150 may receive a data request 230 from a user 210. A service plan generation module 410 may generate in real time a preliminary data response plan 300 based upon the data request 230. A service optimization module 412 may create in real time an optimized data response plan 350 by reorganizing the preliminary data response plan 300 into a new order of execution to optimize a response time for the data response 414. |
| US08661014B2 |
Stream processing by a query engine
A database system executes a method that receives, at a query engine in the database system, a continuous stream of data. The query engine continuously analyzes the continuous stream of data with window functions in a single long-standing query. |
| US08661012B1 |
Ensuring that a synonym for a query phrase does not drop information present in the query phrase
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that identifies a synonym for a query phrase in a manner that ensures that the synonym does not drop information from the query phrase. First, the system identifies a synonym for the query phrase and synonyms for sub-components of the query phrase. If the identified synonym for the query phrase is also a synonym for a subcomponent of the query phrase, the system does not use the identified synonym as a synonym for the query phrase. |
| US08661004B2 |
Representing incomplete and uncertain information in graph data
A method for representing and querying incomplete and uncertain information in graph data receives a plurality of graphs containing subject nodes, object nodes and predicates extending between subject and object nodes. The subject nodes and predicates can be URIs or blank, and the object nodes can be URIs, literals or blank. Incomplete graph data sets are created by a variable into each blank subject node, each blank predicate and each blank object node, and uncertain graph data sets are created by substituting alternative values for all variables in the incomplete data graph. A query is received from a user and a naïve search of the graph data is performed for certain data. The incomplete and uncertain graphs are then used to determine potential answers and certain potential answers based on user-specified requirements. The certain answers and potential certain answers are returned to the user. |
| US08661002B2 |
Self populating address book
System, methods and computer program products for creating and maintaining an address book are described. The address book may collect or update its existing contact information from sent or received communications. Contact information associated with the existing contacts also may be collected (or updated based on information received) from outside sources (e.g., external to an application hosting or accessing the address book). The address book may intelligently combine profile data from various sources to enrich the existing records associated with the contacts. |
| US08660993B2 |
User feedback for search engine boosting
A system, method and program product for that utilizes user feedback as a boosting mechanism for closed loop content space search processes, such as site-specific web search engines. A search engine is disclosed that includes: a system for searching a database of content items such as web pages; a data collection system for collecting user feedback from users viewing displayed content items regarding information appearing in said displayed content items; a scoring system for assigning a score to content items from the database based on the user feedback; and a system for ranking a set of search results based on the score assigned to content items in the set of search results. |
| US08660992B2 |
Method and system for on-demand communities
In an embodiment, communities are generated on demand. In this specification a community is a group of webpages in which users share ideas with one another by posting ideas and sending messages for one another to read. An on-demand community is a community that may be created via tools specialized for creating communities, with just a few keys strokes and/or mouse clicks and by adding information (e.g., about the members and/or the topic or set of topics that the community is focused upon), such that a community may be established within a short amount of time, such as a few minutes or a few hours. Optionally, the communities may be initially populated with ideas related to a particular topic or set of topics. Optionally, each member may be provided with tools for establishing one or more profile page and/or one or more friend pages. |
| US08660987B2 |
Data cache techniques in support of synchronization of databases in a distributed environment
A method for synchronizing a database server to a current status of a client database using data cache techniques is provided. Upon initiating synchronization, the database server receives an identification of a client connection, and creates a server-cache-table having a structure that is compatible with the client database. Database records from a corresponding client-cache-table are received through the client connection and inserted into the server-cache-table. The server-cache-table is merged into the database server. Similar cache-tables can be utilized to synchronize data from the database server to the client. Optionally, a parent-cache-table can be created on the server and populated with records associated with the identified client. Queries and other database operations during synchronization can be performed over the parent-cache-table to further optimize performance. |
| US08660984B1 |
Method and system for automatic categorization of check-based financial transactions
An optical image of a check is obtained at the approximate time of a check-based financial transaction and the approximate time of the check-based financial transaction is recorded. Geographical position/location data and/or voice memo data is then obtained at, or about, the time the optical image of the check is obtained. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology is then used to extract image-based financial transaction data from the optical image of the check and the geographical position/location data, and/or voice memo data, is also transformed into financial transaction data associated with the check and the check-based financial transaction. The extracted and/or transformed financial transaction data is then used, at least in part, to automatically assign a financial category to the check-based financial transaction and/or transform the category status of the check-based financial transaction. |
| US08660982B1 |
Measuring marginal influence of a factor in a decision
An apparatus includes an analytic network process (ANP) storage memory that stores an ANP weighted supermatrix representing an ANP model; and a processor in communication with the ANP storage memory. The processor is configured to facilitate measuring an instantaneous rate of change of alternative scores with respect to a fixed node of the ANP model, to determine a marginal influence of the fixed node. Also, the processor is configured to facilitate maintaining a same proportionality in the stored ANP weighted supermatrix as an importance of the fixed node is changed to measure the instantaneous rate of change. |
| US08660978B2 |
Detecting and responding to unintentional contact with a computing device
A computing device is described herein for detecting and addressing unintended contact of a hand portion (such as a palm) or other article with a computing device. The computing device uses multiple factors to determine whether input events are accidental, including, for instance, the tilt of a pen device as it approaches a display surface of the computing device. The computing device can also capture and analyze input events which represent a hand that is close to the display surface, but not making physical contact with the display surface. The computing device can execute one or more behaviors to counteract the effect of any inadvertent input actions that it may detect. |
| US08660973B1 |
Systems and methods for cognition-based processing of knowledge
The present invention involves a system for processing and acting on information comprising a processor and associated storage with a plurality of knowledge units. Each knowledge unit includes at least one item of data or a sequence of further knowledge units. An observation software module obtains experiential data from external events and stores experiential data in a Universe of Information Units. An operator software module acts on information units in a plurality of operations including at least one of: conditional association, causal relationship, assignment of a value, editing operation, self-observation, shock initiation, shock resistance, threshold determination, and generalization. A dynamic engine software module coordinates interaction of the observation and operator software modules and modifies contents of the knowledge units. An energy software module directs activation of at least one knowledge unit. A goal software module applies rules for determining actions of the dynamic engine module. An object software module encapsulates information units. A domain software module provides a predetermined set of information units relating to a particular domain, and has a rules software module that determines dynamic rules for the predetermined set of information units. |
| US08660967B2 |
System and process to automate a job seeker's profile and job application
A software application tool to assist users for an efficient job searching process. The present invention provides a number of tools that helps the user organize all of their job application documents, keep track of tasks that need to be done, keep track of all of their job application progresses, make goals, and associate documents to each job application. The users are provided the means to access a plurality of job sites through the present invention. This prevents the need for the users to log onto a large variety of job sites. The organization tools and the accessibility to different jobsite provide the users with a much more efficient job application process for more time to upgrade their own skills and expand their network. |
| US08660966B2 |
Payment system and method
In one embodiment, transferring payment between a first user and a second user of a communication system includes displaying a contact list in a user interface of a client executed at a user terminal of the first user, the contact list including the second user. The client retrieves and displays at least one page from a payment provider responsive to the first user selecting the second user from the contact list. The client transmits, to the payment provider, information related to the payment entered into the page by the first user, which causes the payment provider to transfer the payment from an account of the first user to an account of the second user. |
| US08660965B1 |
System and method for mobile proximity ordering
A method for transmitting an order from a mobile device to a physical location of a merchant involves receiving, by the mobile device, the order while the mobile device is outside a predetermined distance from the physical location, storing the order to a storage device, and determining, by the mobile device and after storing the order, that the mobile device is within the predetermined distance from the physical location. The method further involves receiving, by the mobile device, a request from the user to submit the order after determining the mobile device is within the predetermined distance from the physical location, retrieving the order from the storage device in response to the request, and transmitting the order to the merchant after retrieving the order when the mobile device is within the predetermined distance of the physical location. |
| US08660964B2 |
Secure device licensing
A system for generating a transferable license key and method thereof are described. The system comprises a license key generator for generating a transferable license key responsive to receipt of a license key request. The license key request comprises a hardware identifier and the transferable license key comprises an uninstall key. The system further comprises a storage device arranged to store the hardware identifier and the uninstall key. The method comprises storing a generated hardware identifier in a first device and transmitting a license key request to a second device, wherein the license key request comprises the hardware identifier. A feature of the first device is activated based on a license key received from the second device. The license key received at the first device is stored and the license key comprises a license identifier and an uninstall verification portion from the second device. |
| US08660959B2 |
Content distribution platform
A system is adapted to manage the distribution of content to one or more cooperating media/substrates. The system receives data representative of environment conditions for one or more cooperating media/substrates adapted to display digital content. The media/substrates may be located in public spaces. The system compares the received data representative of environment conditions with selection criteria to identify content for distribution to the media/substrates. The selected content is distributed to the one or more cooperating media/substrates. |
| US08660957B2 |
Control features in a system and method for processing checks and check transactions
A method of processing paper checks that divides into two independent paths the processing of a data file representing a check and the digital image of the check. The data files and image files are separated both in time and in space, with the data files being used to promptly initiate the transfer of funds to and from appropriate accounts, while the paper checks, at a remote location and typically lagging in time, are scanned to create digital image files and deposited as an image or substitute check if deemed ACH ineligible. The process further provides for a trial period protocol for performing image matching on ACH-eligible items during a trial period before sending such transactions for settlement. |
| US08660954B2 |
Fraud and events integrated management method and system
Methods and systems are disclosed for processing banking events. The methods and systems store data regarding a plurality of first banking events in a database. The methods and systems receive data regarding a second banking event and determine whether an electronic banking event analyzing system is available. If it is determined that an electronic banking event analyzing system is available, the stored data is analyzed, using the electronic banking event analyzing system, according to predetermined rules to determine a score indicative of proposed action regarding the second banking event. If it is determined that an electronic banking event analyzing system is not available, then a previously determined score is used as the score indicative of proposed action. The methods and systems electronically transmit the score indicative of proposed action and update the database with data regarding the second banking event based on the analysis. |
| US08660953B2 |
Computer-implemented method, system, and program product for identifying business offerings based on customer needs
The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method, system, and program product for identifying business offerings based on customer needs. In a typical embodiment, the present invention is implemented in conjunction with a spreadsheet computer program such as LOTUS 1-2-3, MICROSOFT EXCEL or the like. In any event, under the present invention, at least one initial analysis/customer detail will be designated. Based on the designation(s), a set of customer needs will be identified from a set of possible customer needs. Thereafter, at least one customer need from the set of customer needs will be designated. Based on this designation and a mapping of customer needs to possible business offerings, a set of prioritized business offerings will be identified from a set of possible business offerings. |
| US08660948B2 |
System and method for managing transactions with a portable computing device
A method and system include verifying credentials for gaining access to a transactional controller with the portable computing device. The transactional controller may receive a merchant identifier corresponding to a merchant and then it may compare the merchant identifier against loyalty account data stored in a database. The transactional controller may also receive product scan data and compare the product scan data against one of offer data and coupon data in a database. After these comparisons, any matches of product scan data to offer data or coupon data may be sent to the PCD and the POS controller. Similarly, any matches of the merchant identifier to loyalty account data may be transmitted to the POS controller. During or after the purchase transaction, a message may be generated by the transaction controller which lists one or more preferred payment options that may be selected using the PCD to complete a purchase. |
| US08660941B2 |
Method and system for providing a multi-channel virtual collections center
An integrated multi-channel virtual collections center and methods for using the same are disclosed. The collections center may include a program management module, a communications module and a data analytics module. The program management module may be configured to generate a plurality of scenarios for a debt collection campaign. The communications module may be configured to automatically present a scenario to a debtor and to receive response data from the debtor. The communications module may include a plurality of communication channels. The data analytics module may be configured to automatically analyze response data received from the communications module and to select a communications channel and a scenario for the communications module based on the response data. |
| US08660940B2 |
Automated trading system in an electronic trading exchange
An electronic exchange system network includes a trader site having an automated trading system capable of submitting orders and/or quotes to an exchange site. The automated trading system determines whether an order or quote should be submitted based on, for example, the current market price of an option and theoretical buy and sell prices. The theoretical buy and sell prices are derived from, among other things, the current market price of the security underlying the option. The theoretical buy and sell prices are calculated when underlying factors that contribute to the theoretical prices change. Computation times of the theoretical prices may be reduced by using precalculated values and/or using interpolation and extrapolation. Other techniques may be used in addition or in the alternative to speed automatic decision-making. In addition, a system of checks may be conducted to ensure accurate and safe automated trading. The automated trading system may be capable of automatically submitting orders in connection with the underlying security in order to hedge part of the delta risk associated with the automated option trades. |
| US08660939B2 |
Method for mortgage customer retention
This invention relates generally to a method and system by which mortgage customers are linked to their existing mortgage servicer via an improved Internet process for achieving a mortgage modification, by their existing mortgage servicing institution rather than by a mortgage refinancing with loss of the customer to another servicing institution. |
| US08660936B1 |
Detection and mitigation of effects of high velocity price changes
The disclosed embodiments relate to mechanisms to rapidly detect and respond to situations where a market is not operating in a fair and balanced manner or otherwise where the market value is not reflective of a true consensus of the value of the traded products among the market participants. In particular, the disclosed embodiments continually scan for, rapidly detect and respond to extreme changes, either up (“spike”) or down (“dip”) in the market, such as a “flash crash,” where a precipitous market move occurs. Generally, the disclosed embodiments determine when a market for a particular product moves too quickly in too short of period of time, e.g. the velocity of the market exceeds a defined threshold limit. |
| US08660935B2 |
Computer-implemented systems and methods for calculating estimated transaction costs for transactions involving tradable financial products
Computer-implemented systems and methods for computing a transaction cost metric for a transaction (or trade order) involving a tradable financial product, such as a FX currency pair. The transaction cost metric can be computed pre-trade and compared to a quoted price for the trade from a dealer to evaluate the quoted price. The computed transaction cost metric, which is based on a slippage premium for the trade order, is based on at least a notional size for the trade order. The slippage premium represents a difference between an effective price at which the trade order is filled and a price for the financial product at inception of the trade order. The transaction cost metric may be computed as an average of a strip of options, where the values of the options are computed using an option pricing formula. The strip of options may comprise one or more options, each with different tenors, where the tenors correspond to the expected time periods for orders to arrive to fill the trade order. |
| US08660933B2 |
Futures contracts on restricted compensation securities
Futures contracts on options contracts are provided in which the duty to purchase the right to purchase a commodity or security may be agreed upon by two or more parties. The futures contract segment of the exchange device is the duty to purchase the underlying options contract at a specific time. The options contract segment of the exchange device is the right to buy an underlying security or commodity. Margin schemes may be included in either segment of the exchange device or the exchange device as a whole. |
| US08660932B2 |
Method and system for providing a quotation and reservation mechanism for integrated auction services on a seller's e-commerce site
An internal auction system may generate a quotation for the quantity of a product included in an auction published on the seller's e-commerce site so that the appropriate quantity of the product is identified and/or available on the successful completion of the auction. In conjunction with generating the quotation, a message may be sent to a seller's business information management system, such as for example an inventory control system, reserving an existing and/or anticipated quantity of the product to meet the quantity specified in the auction. This quotation may be rescinded if the auction does not successfully conclude. Otherwise, an order may be created in the business information management system anticipating the winner performing the necessary auction checkout procedures. The order may contain a block in order to prevent it from being further processed until the completion of the auction checkout process by the winning bidder. Upon completion of the auction checkout process, any blocks on the order that may exist are removed and the ordered is released. |
| US08660925B2 |
Algorithmic trading system and method
A system and method for allowing market participants to evaluate the likelihood of finding hidden volume. The model can predict hidden volume and assess the probability that a market order will be executed within the spread and better than the mid-quote. The cost per immediate execution can be assessed. |
| US08660918B2 |
Virtual financial aid office
A virtual system and method is disclosed for administering, evaluating, and processing financial aid for post-secondary students. The subject virtual system is preferably hosted in a web-based environment and is accessible by and/or interactive with various entities such as students, educational institutions, student financial aid processing centers, government agencies related to educational funding, and loan guarantors. Particular features and methodology are preferably provided in accordance with the virtual system such that a student can conveniently obtain educational funding within a completely automated and integrated online process. The virtual system preferably provides features such as direct links to applications for federal funding, an electronic messenger service to communicate among networked system entities, and a financial aid estimator to predict amounts of aid for which a student is eligible. A user of the virtual system can apply for a personal identification number (PIN) and complete a student interview process to initiate a financial aid processing. Such information is then preferably combined into a personalized user file with information electronically obtained and verified from outside sources. This file then undergoes a review process, including compliance checks, quality control, and loan certification. Once a file is sufficiently reviewed, aid can then be routed to a student's specified institution for use towards his or her educational expenses. Review and reporting services are preferably available throughout this automated process such that a user can conveniently track certain information, including progress of the financial aid process steps. |
| US08660916B2 |
System and method for automated notification
Systems and methods are provided which make use of outbound calling systems to automate notification campaigns. Automated campaigns using outbound calling systems can provide a number of significant advantages over the traditional notification campaign, potentially resulting in faster, more efficient, more accurate, and more cost-effective notification campaigns. |
| US08660915B2 |
Managing an inventory of service parts
An inventory of service parts may be managed by assessing a company's capability, optimizing the inventory and implementing a management program based on the assessment and optimization. Optimizing target stock levels for the inventory of parts may be accomplished by calculating an inventory baseline for understanding information about the currently held inventory; developing a service strategy for a set of segments; quantifying a service level for each of the segments; analyzing the segments and their service levels for identifying at least one logistically distinct business; assigning each of the segments to a “best-fit” planning model for indicating each segment's deployment, replenishment, forecasting and review characteristics; identifying a probability distribution function for estimating a demand process of each of the segments; and calculating a target stock level for each segment. |
| US08660913B2 |
Remote servicing system
Embodiments of the invention provide methods to manage communication between a local and remote computing system communicating with each other through a network. In some embodiments, a method includes broadcasting a poll across a network to a plurality of remote computing systems in response to user interaction at the local computing system, as well as establishing video conferencing between one of the plurality of remote computing systems and the local computing system in response to the one of the plurality of remote computing systems answering the poll. In alternative embodiments, a method includes automatically establishing video conferencing between a local computing system and a remote computing system in response to receiving a poll from the local computing system, as well as automatically establishing control of at least a portion of the local computing system from the remote computing system. |
| US08660912B1 |
Attribute-based navigation of items
A method for exploring similar items can include receiving a request to explore items similar to an item identified by a user and retrieving a set of similar items to output for display to the user. The similar items can be similar to the identified item, and the set of similar items can include one or more attribute values for each similar item. In addition, in response to receiving a selection of one or more of the attribute values by the user, the method can further include retrieving similar items corresponding to the user-selected attribute values. Moreover, the method can include outputting at least a subset of the similar items for display. |
| US08660906B2 |
Computer-based ordering system
A computer-based ordering system for ordering goods and services includes a plurality of self-service client terminals and a server. Each self-service client terminal runs a self-order application including a set of interactive menu screens having buttons that allow the customer to select and customize products for the order. An administration tool application communicates with the server to administer the self-service client terminals. The administration tool application including a menu editor that enables the administrator to create and edit the interactive menu screens provided by the self-order application at the self-service client terminals. The menu editor accesses a library of menu templates containing predefined groupings of buttons, and uses the menu templates, as directed by the administrator, during creation and editing of the interactive menu screens. |
| US08660905B2 |
Method and system for validating process models
A method and system are described for validating process models. A process semantic model including a semantic directed graph including nodes associated with tasks and edges associated with a direction of flow of execution of the tasks may be obtained. Edges entering nodes include annotations including precondition semantic indicators associated with the entering edges and edges exiting nodes include annotations including postcondition semantic indicators associated with the exiting edges. The process semantic model may be traversed to determine a flow of execution of activities associated with the tasks based on visiting the nodes based on a depth-first traversal. A validity of execution associated with a flow of execution of the activities associated with the tasks may be determined based on checking a validity of execution status based on a semantic processing of one or more semantic annotation indicators associated with the precondition semantic indicators and the postcondition semantic indicators. |
| US08660902B2 |
Methods and systems for selling apparel
Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with the present invention provide a garment that complements one or more figure characteristics. A garment is selected from a collection containing a number of garments each of which is categorized as being within one or more garment types. Information regarding a person's body shape is obtained. The body shape information is analyzed to identify at least one figure characteristic of the body shape. At least one garment type is identified that compliments the identified figure characteristic. Garments within the collection that are categorized as being within the identified complimentary garment type are identified. The identified garments are recommended. An input corresponding to a desired garment selected from the recommended identified garments is received. |
| US08660900B2 |
Multi-site message sharing
A computer application is used for the serving and creation of user-annotated web pages, which may include associated advertisements, to client devices. The user is able to submit comments to one or more web servers wherein the web server or servers appends the submitted comment or comments and updates them for use and display on one or more web pages at one or more client devices. The comments are also distributed for viewing or listening, potential annotation, and update by other users viewing the same or related annotations across multiple websites. Annotated advertisements are an embodiment of the invention. |
| US08660893B2 |
Multi-vendor multi-loyalty currency program
Loyalty programs can be operated within a payment processing system having multiple vendors, thereby providing access to detailed transaction data and with the flexibility for customization of the loyalty programs themselves, by establishing a communication for the transfer of data via a customer-facing channel. When the payment processing system processes a transaction between a merchant and an account holder, in addition to obtaining payment for the merchant from the account via an acquirer and an issuer, respectively, a transaction handler tabulates and stores, different types of loyalty currencies in a loyalty reward account associated with the account holder if the account holder is enrolled in a loyalty program and criteria for applying the loyalty program are satisfied. The account holder is provided access to the loyalty account via the customer-facing channel. |
| US08660889B2 |
Electronic voting terminal and voting system
An electronic voting terminal includes: a display; a data input device; a biometric input device; a case having an open and a closed position, the case protecting the display, the input device, and the biometric input device in the closed position, the case making the display, input device and biometric input device accessible by the voter in the open position; a communications medium; a microprocessor to control the display, the data input device, the biometric input device, and the communications medium; and a power supply that accepts alternating current and provides direct current to the microprocessor The device utilizes the biometric input device to validate the identity of the voter, utilizes the data input device to receive the ballot from the voter, and utilizes the communications medium to transmit the ballot. A system for voting also includes a centralized computer and voter registration database. |
| US08660885B2 |
Defining service ownership for a service oriented architecture
Defining service ownership for an SOA includes defining, in response to an event requiring a change in service ownership and in dependence upon data describing business functions within a business, a service domain. Embodiments also include reviewing the defined service domain for approval and upon approval of the defined service domain, identifying potential impact upon currently existing service domains caused by implementation of the defined service domain. Embodiments also include identifying a potential owner of the defined service domain in dependence upon a service type of the defined service domain and funding requirements of the service domain and presenting, to relevant stakeholders in the business, the potential owner of the defined service domain for approval. Upon approval of the potential owner of the defined service domain, embodiments include assigning the potential owner of the defined service domain responsibility for managing the defined service domain. |
| US08660882B2 |
Maximizing retailer profit and customer satisfaction using multi-channel optimization
A data integration module is operable to integrate a plurality of data sources, a customer preference module builds a model representing preference to different channels in merchandise category for each customer segment. A customer satisfaction module creates a model representing customer satisfaction metrics. A joint multi-channel optimization module is operable to use an optimization model that utilizes the customer preference model and the customer satisfaction model and maximize retailer's profit and customer satisfaction. |
| US08660881B2 |
Mechanism for facilitating dynamic visual workflow and task generation in an on-demand services environment
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for facilitating dynamic generating of visual workflow and corresponding tasks in an on-demand services environment. In one embodiment and by way of example, a method includes receiving a request to perform a business process at a computing system. The performing of the business process may include creating a new business process relating to workings of an organization. The method may further include interpreting content of the request, and dynamically generating a visual workflow in response to the interpretation of the content of the request. The visual workflow may be used to perform the business process. |
| US08660869B2 |
System, method, and computer program product for processing and visualization of information
Systems and methods for processing and reporting information and data, such as business information, and more particularly, to systems, software, hardware, products, and processes for use by businesses, individuals and other organizations to collect, process, distribute, analyze and visualize information, including, but not limited to, business intelligence, data visualization, data warehousing, and data mining. Real-time monitoring of web site interactions allows users to modify and fine-tune their websites to maximize value realized. |
| US08660867B2 |
Method and system for automated transportation use tracking and billing
A user registers with an automated transportation use and billing system. The user's geographical location/position is monitored and periodically compared with the geographical location/position of one or more public transportation systems. When a determination is made that the user's geographical location/position is the same as the geographical location/position of a public transportation system, an assumption is made that the user is making use of the public transportation system and once the user's geographical location/position data differs from the public transportation system's geographical location/position data, it is further assumed that the user is no longer making use of the public transportation system. Data indicating the users assumed use of the public transportation system, calculated as described above, is then recorded and credited to the user's account. |
| US08660866B1 |
Methods and systems for administering life insurance products through classifying insured lives to allocate costs
In some embodiments, the instant invention is directed to a computer-implemented method that at least includes: programming a Process Administrator computer system to perform: receiving life insurance data for a plurality of life insurance policies; identifying a life insurance policy that has a catch-up deduction; classifying the insured lives of the life insurance policy into a plurality of insured classes of the insured lives; determining investment amount in a separate account; receiving investment data resulted from investing in an investment option; calculating an investment return amount attributed to the life insurance policy; determining a net investment return amount to be credited to the life insurance policy based on: an insured class, the investment return amount, and the catch-up deduction; and transmitting the net investment return amount so as to result in crediting the net investment return amount to the life insurance policy. |
| US08660864B2 |
Systems and methods for intelligent underwriting based on community or social network data
A system for underwriting using community and/or social networking based data includes an automated insurance underwriting platform for rating and pricing insurance policies through the accessing and evaluating of community, social and business network based information. Community or social network rating data may be analyzed and weighting factors may be applied to the community or social network rating data. An underwriting decision for the potential entity to be insured may then be transmitted based at least in part on the community or social network rating data. |
| US08660861B2 |
Allocation of financial incentives for employee wellness programs
System and method for providing participants, and in particular employees, a choice of how to allocate their non-typical benefits, i.e. earned reward amounts or incentives of an employee wellness program, and to manage these additional benefits in conjunction with other employee benefit programs such as health benefits, retirement benefits, 401(k) plans etc. in a manner that provides maximum benefit, interaction, and understanding of selected benefit allocation. The system provides increased user control to increase the perceived value of the rewards earned as well as increase to the participants' engagement in the behavior being incentivized. The system also provides a way to integrate various benefit programs providing a more user friendly and efficient system that encourages employee interaction and understanding. |
| US08660860B2 |
System and method for synchronizing medication configuration information among systems containing medication configuration information
A method and system for synchronizing medication configuration information. A primary medication configuration computer is adapted to receive medication configuration content from a medication configuration content source. The primary medication configuration computer is also adapted to generate medication configuration change information and transmit the medication configuration change information to an ancillary medication configuration computer, adapted to receive the medication configuration change information from the primary medication configuration computer. The ancillary medication configuration computer is also adapted to filter the medication configuration change information by applying a filtering rule to generate filtered medication configuration change information. The ancillary medication configuration computer is further adapted to store the filtered medication configuration change information in a repository and transmit at least a portion of the filtered medication configuration change information to a management client computer. The ancillary medication configuration computer is also adapted to receive an implementation decision about the portion of the filtered medication configuration change information, accepting or rejecting the portion of the filtered medication configuration change information. The ancillary medication configuration computer is also adapted to transmitting the accepted filtered medication configuration change information to an ancillary system database for integrating the accepted filtered medication configuration change information into the ancillary system database. |
| US08660858B2 |
Automated configuration of a medical practice management system using global content
Methods and apparatus for facilitating an automated configuration of a component of a practice management system for use by a healthcare provider associated with a medical practice. An initial configuration of the component is generated based, at least in part, on global content stored by the practice management system. A self-service implementation tool provided by the practice management system enables a user at the medical practice to refine the initial configuration via a user interface that presents the user with a plurality of tasks to perform. By allowing providers to actively participate in the configuration process by completing assigned tasks via the user interface, the process of configuring a component of the practice management system is simplified compared to conventional practice management systems, which often require an administrator of the practice management system to create a customized solution for each provider or medical practice from scratch. |
| US08660857B2 |
Method and system for outcome based referral using healthcare data of patient and physician populations
A recommendation system and method includes extracting patient features for a current patient to generate representation of the current patient. The patient features for the current patient are compared to physician features of one or more physicians and patient-to-physician features of a group of patients from medically related records. Outcome measures associated with physicians are compared related to a current query. A future outcome for patient, physician pairs are predicted for the current patient based upon at least one predictive model constructed from the features and outcome measures to output. |
| US08660856B2 |
Healthcare service management using a centralized service management module
A system and method for scheduling or managing receipt of healthcare services are disclosed. A centralized service management module is coupled to one or more client devices and to one or more service providers, such as healthcare providers or insurance providers. The centralized service management module receives an interaction, such as an appointment request, from a client device or a service provider associated with healthcare services. The centralized service management module associates a service provider with the interaction based on a stored user profile. The interaction is then transmitted by the centralized service management module to the associated service provider, which provides data associated with a healthcare product or service associated with the interaction to the centralized service management module. The data is stored in the user profile and transmitted, buy the centralized service management module, to a client device using a communication protocol specified by the user profile. |
| US08660854B1 |
Rapid syndrome analysis apparatus and method
In a computer; a computer readable medium for providing rapid syndrome analysis includes instructions for measuring a plurality of CUSUMs simultaneously and generating CUSUM data in response to an observed value. It also includes instructions for comparing the CUSUM data with a predetermined plurality of threshold values and instructions for generating a signal when the CUMSUM data exceeds any of the plurality of threshold values by a predetermined amount. |
| US08660842B2 |
Enhancing speech recognition using visual information
Speech recognition device uses visual information to narrow down the range of likely adaptation parameters even before a speaker makes an utterance. Images of the speaker and/or the environment are collected using an image capturing device, and then processed to extract biometric features and environmental features. The extracted features and environmental features are then used to estimate adaptation parameters. A voice sample may also be collected to refine the adaptation parameters for more accurate speech recognition. |
| US08660841B2 |
Method and apparatus for the use of cross modal association to isolate individual media sources
Apparatus for isolation of a media stream of a first modality from a complex media source having at least two media modality, and multiple objects, and events, comprises: recording devices for the different modalities; an associator for associating between events recorded in said first modality and events recorded in said second modality, and providing an association output; and an isolator that uses the association output for isolating those events in the first mode correlating with events in the second mode associated with a predetermined object, thereby to isolate a isolated media stream associated with said predetermined object. Thus it is possible to identify events such as hand or mouth movements, and associate these with sounds, and then produce a filtered track of only those sounds associated with the events. In this way a particular speaker or musical instrument can be isolated from a complex scene. |
| US08660832B2 |
Method for configuring a test arrangement, test method and test arrangement
The invention relates to a method for configuring a test arrangement for a device to be tested, which is one component of a system containing, several components. The components of the system are described by data records, which have elements that describe relationships of components with one another. The method includes linking the data records to generate a system description based on the linked data records, simulating of the system by a simulation based on the system description, wherein an image of the device to be tested is in the simulation. The method also includes removal of the image of the device from the simulation and provision of one or more test interfaces in hardware for communication between the simulation facility and the device. |
| US08660831B2 |
Extension of COSMO-SAC solvation model for electrolytes
An extension of COSMO-SAC to electrolytes (eCOSMO-SAC) combines the COSMO-SAC term for short range molecule-molecule, molecule-ion and ion-ion interactions with the extended symmetric Pitzer-Debye-Hückel term for long range ion-ion interactions. The extension recognizes that like-ion repulsion and local electroneutrality govern the surface segment contacts, and introduces a dual sigma profile concept for electrolyte systems. The eCOSMO-SAC formulation predicts activity coefficients of several representative electrolyte systems. |
| US08660829B2 |
Machine emulator machines
Emulator computer program machines including an emulator module are disclosed. A machine includes a computer usable medium having computer readable program code for emulating a process of a machine having actuators and mechanical elements. The computer readable program code includes computer readable code instructions configured to display a graphical user interface having input fields corresponding to the actuators and mechanical elements, and to display a graphical representation of output response data of the machine using inputted parameters. Computer readable code instructions for receiving a plurality of parameters inputted into the plurality of input fields, and for emulating a mechanical operation of the machine using the plurality of parameters inputted into the plurality of input fields by simulating the programmable logic controller code are included. Output response data based on an emulation of the mechanical operation of the machine is generated and displayed. |
| US08660827B2 |
Method of creating particle size distribution model, method of predicting degradation of fuel cell catalyst using the method of creating particle size distribution model, and method of controlling fuel cell using the method of predicting degradation of fuel cell catalyst
A particle size distribution creating method includes a particle size range determining step, an integrating step of integrating the frequency of appearance of particles within the particle size range determined in the particle size range determining step, a division point determining step of determining particle sizes that provide division points, using the integral of the frequency of appearance obtained in the integrating step, and a typical point determining step of determining the minimum particle size, maximum particle size and the particle sizes of the division points as typical points. This method is characterized by assuming a particle size distribution which contains particles having the particle sizes of the respective typical points and is plotted such that the frequency of appearance of the particles having the particle size of each of the typical points is equal to the integral over each of the regions defined by the typical points, and obtaining the assumed particle size distribution as a particle size distribution model. |
| US08660824B2 |
Discretely gridding complex fracturing for simulation
Embodiments of methods and systems for improved gridding of complex networks such as geological fractures are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, a method in accordance with the present disclosure includes adjusting a location of at least one non-fixed pillar of an initial grid, including: establishing a multi-point stencil of pillars that includes the at least one non-fixed pillar; selecting a fixed pillar of the initial grid toward which the non-fixed pillar is to be adjusted; determining a distance from each pillar of the multi-point stencil to the selected fixed pillar; calculating an inverse-distance weighted mean position based on the determined distances of the pillars of the multi-point stencil; and adjusting a position of the at least one non-fixed pillar to the inverse-distance weighted mean position. |
| US08660823B2 |
Nonlinear and lie algebra structural analysis system for enzyme cascades, metabolic signal transduction, signaling pathways, catalytic chemical reaction networks, and immunology
A computer modeling system for study of behavior of complex signaling pathways is described. The computer modeling system includes a computer representation of one or more nonlinear models of at least one signaling pathway arrangement involving enzyme cascades and/or allosteric enzymes and feedback. The computer representation of the model is transformed into at least portions of a bilinear dynamical system representation from which a series of Lie bracket operations are computed and the result tested for transitivity conditions of the associated semisimple Lie matrix algebra so as to determine potential instabilities and crosstalk susceptibilities. Also, the computer model can additionally comprise accurate numerical simulations, equilibrium condition analysis tools, and other algebraic structural tools involving graphs and matroids. The computer representation further includes a modular model environment for models to evolve with new discovery, trial of experimental models, combining multiple nonlinear models into more complex models, interactive user environments, crosstalk study, and detailed comparative analysis. |
| US08660819B2 |
Utilization of HFR-based cathode inlet RH model in comparison to sensor feedback to determine failed water vapor transfer unit and utilize for a diagnostic code and message
A system and method for determining whether there is a cross-over leak, or other failure, in a WVT unit that humidifies the cathode inlet airflow to a fuel cell stack in a fuel cell system. The fuel cell system includes an HFR circuit that determines the humidity level of the membranes in the fuel cell stack and an RH sensor that measures the relative humidity of the airflow to the cathode side of the fuel cell stack. The HFR humidity calculation is compared to RH measurements from the RH sensor, and if the difference between the two RH values is greater than a predetermined calibration value, then the system may determine that the WVT unit is failing and needs to be serviced or replaced. |
| US08660818B2 |
Systemic diagnostics for increasing wafer yield
A method of performing systemic diagnostics for a wafer includes selecting a design for manufacturability (DFM) rule for analysis. For each IC chip on the wafer, two sets of IC features adjacent the rule can be extracted based on the chip's layout design. Upconverted diagnostics can be run to generate computed numbers associated with combination categories for each set. Zonal analysis can be run on the two sets using the computed numbers to derive metrics for the two sets. A report can be generated based on the zonal analysis. |
| US08660815B2 |
Methods and apparatus for filtering noise in a three-dimensional position measurement system
A method of filtering noise in a three-dimensional position measurement system comprising receiving distance data representative of the respective distances between at least four spatially dispersed known points and an unknown point, performing triangulation calculations to determine at least two solutions to the three dimensional position of the unknown point relative to the known points, calculating a symmetrical bounding surface such as a sphere or cube which just encloses the said solutions, comparing the maximum dimension of the bounding surface with a first predetermined error threshold, and if the maximum dimension is less than the first error threshold, determining the center position of the bounding surface and outputting the center position as a noise-filtered position for the unknown point. |
| US08660813B2 |
Method and system for disaggregating heating and cooling energy use from other building energy use
Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method and system for disaggregating climate control energy use from non-climate control energy use for a building. The method includes receiving a series of building energy use values and corresponding outdoor temperature values for a time period. Each of the energy use values and outdoor temperature values is associated with a time interval. The method further includes determining a series of temperature difference values for the time period based on a difference in temperature between a predetermined baseline temperature and each of the outdoor temperature values. A regression analysis is used to determine a climate control coefficient and a non-climate control coefficient from the energy use values and temperature difference values. The climate control coefficient and/or the non-climate control coefficient is used to determine climate control energy use and/or non-climate control energy use for the building. |
| US08660810B2 |
System and method to calculate RMS current and true power in a multidrop sensor network
According to one aspect, embodiments of the invention provide a system for monitoring a plurality of circuit branches coupled to an input line, the system comprising a communication bus, a plurality of sensor circuits, each configured to be coupled to the communication bus and at least one of the plurality of circuit branches, wherein each sensor circuit is further configured to sample current in the at least one of the plurality of circuit branches, a controller configured to be coupled to the communication bus and the input line; wherein the controller is further configured to sample voltage on the input line, and wherein the controller is further configured to synchronize, via the communication bus, current sampling performed by the plurality of sensor circuits with the voltage sampling performed by the controller. |
| US08660806B2 |
Electronic component for a sensor apparatus, sensor apparatus and method of configuring a sensor apparatus
The invention relates to an electronic component for a sensor apparatus comprising a first terminal device for connecting a sensitive device which is influenceable by a target, a second terminal device for the external communication, and a control device and/or an evaluation device which provides output signals, wherein the component is programmable via the second terminal device, characterized by a first programming level in which parameters for the setup of the sensor apparatus are adjustable and a second programming level in which a characteristic curve of the sensor apparatus is adjustable, wherein the first programming level is hierarchically superordinate to the second programming level and adjustments and/or possibilities of adjustment in the second programming level are a function of adjustments in the first programming level. |
| US08660805B2 |
Method and system for characterizing a plasma
Disclosed are a method and system for measuring the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) in a plasma which has a pronounced drifting Maxwellian component of the EEDF. The method comprises fitting an acquired unfiltered electron current vs. bias voltage curve to a functional form which assumes an EEDF comprising at least one stationary Maxwellian component and at least one drifting Maxwellian component. The method and system allow more accurate characterization of plasmas with electron components with pronounced drift, such as plasmas in microwave surface wave plasma (SWP) sources. |
| US08660804B2 |
Measuring method and system for components, in particular for pistons and piston engines
The invention relates to the non-destructive measurement of components, in particular the functional assessment of the bonding of cast-in parts, eg. in pistons for internal combustion engines. With such a measurement or functional assessment, it is a question of assessing the function and completeness of the bonding between the base material and the material cast in or otherwise joined. The quality of the component or its suitability for a specific purpose can thus be assessed and/or quality monitoring of the production process, e.g. in the foundry or during production, can take place. According to the invention, this purpose is served by a multi-stage correction procedure, wherein the measured values ascertained by means of a suitably devised measuring arrangement and method, e.g. using ultrasound, are subjected to a multi-stage determination process, which minimises universally and for each individual measurement the disturbing factors which, being inherent in the system, occur in the measurement and ascertains therefrom the desired results. A correspondingly devised system minimises both error influences, which occur in the performance (especially with the setting-up/adjustment) of such a measurement, as well as measurement errors and incorrect assessments in the performance of the measurement, which occur due to geometrical tolerance deviations or differences between a number of components to be measured or due to differences in the material or structural composition, as well as other disturbing influences. |
| US08660803B2 |
Using phase matched filters for NQR detection of continuous Rabi transitions
Nuclear quadrupole resonance measurement using two or more wire loop(s) within a space to define a portal, and driving the wire loop(s) with a baseband digital transmitter generating a chirped or stepped signal, to create a corresponding varying electromagnetic field within the portal. Coherent emissions reflected thereby are detected through a directional coupler feeding the transceiver. The detected coherent emissions are processed with a matched filter to determine presence of a target object within the portal. |
| US08660801B2 |
Gene signature for the prediction of radiation therapy response
Described are mathematical models and method, e.g., computer-implemented methods, for predicting tumor sensitivity to radiation therapy, which can be used, e.g., for selecting a treatment for a subject who has a tumor. |
| US08660800B2 |
Multi-treatment planning apparatus and method
A treatment planning apparatus (100) includes a treatment modeler (102). The treatment (104) modeler uses models (1121-N) of a plurality of treatment modalities in a treatment space (104) to generate a treatment protocol (110) that includes one or more the modalities in the treatment space. In one implementation, a treatment modality includes the removal of targeted treatment agents from an object. |
| US08660798B2 |
System and method for attenuating aliasing in seismic data caused by acquisition geometry
Seismic data representing the propagation of seismic energy through a geologic volume of interest is processed. The seismic energy propagates through the geologic volume of interest from one or more source locations at or near the geologic volume of interest to one or more detector locations at or near the geologic volume of interest. In processing the seismic data, the seismic energy is modeled as beams (e.g., Gaussian beams). The processing includes determining a filter for the seismic data that attenuates aliasing which may be present in the seismic data due to spacing between detector locations. |
| US08660796B2 |
Method and system of processing gamma count rate curves using neural networks
Processing gamma count rate decay curves using neural networks. At least some of the illustrative embodiments are methods comprising obtaining a gamma count rate decay curve one each for a plurality of gamma detectors of a nuclear logging tool (the gamma count rate decay curves recorded at a particular borehole depth), applying the gamma count rate decay curves to input nodes of a neural network, predicting by the neural network a geophysical parameter of the formation surrounding the borehole, repeating the obtaining, applying and predicting for a plurality of borehole depths, and producing a plot of the geophysical parameter of the formation as a function of borehole depth. |
| US08660792B2 |
Method and apparatus for distribution of satellite navigation data
A method and apparatus for distributing satellite navigation data is described. In one example, satellite signals are processed at each of a plurality of reference stations to receive a respective plurality of satellite navigation data streams. Packets are formed in response to said plurality of satellite navigation data streams to generate a plurality of packetized satellite navigation data streams. The packetized satellite navigation data streams are sent to a processing system. The processing system removes duplicate packets within said plurality of packetized satellite navigation data streams to generate a combined packet stream. The combined packet stream is then sent into a communication network. |
| US08660790B2 |
Dynamic alerts for calendar events
A computing device can access a calendar entry having an associated time and an associated location, in a calendar application. The computing device can dynamically determine an estimated travel time to the location associated with the calendar entry. The computing device can provide an alarm indication for the calendar entry at a time based on the estimated travel time. |
| US08660787B2 |
Map information updating systems, methods, and programs
Systems, methods, and programs store a plurality of combinations of departure points and destination points that have been set in the past, store pre-update map information, and store post-update map information. The systems, methods, and programs compare, for each of the combinations of departure points and destination points, a route retrieved using the pre-update map information and a route retrieved using the post-update map information, and transmit the comparison results to the navigation apparatus so that a user of the navigation apparatus can appreciate the benefits of updating map information. |
| US08660786B2 |
Positioning module
A positioning device includes a magnetometer configured to detect and provide heading information, a motion sensor configured to detect and provide motion information, a microcontroller coupled to the magnetometer and the motion sensor and configured to generate position data based on the heading information and the motion information, a transmitter coupled to the microcontroller and configured to wirelessly transmit a signal including the position data, and a piezoelectric power source configured to supply power to at least one of the microcontroller, the magnetometer, the motion sensor and the transmitter. |
| US08660783B2 |
Systems and methods for detecting ownship deviation from assigned taxiway clearance
Systems and methods for identifying ownship deviation from assigned taxi-clearance in the area of taxiway intersection. An exemplary system provides alerts in the event of a significant deviation from the assigned clearance, but does not give unwanted alerts when the flight crew is performing normal turning maneuvers in the area of an intersection. |
| US08660779B2 |
Row-running control system and vehicle
A vehicle platooning control system is a vehicle platooning control system that controls a relative relationship between vehicles so that a plurality of vehicles runs in a row. In this system, each target value of a relative relationship between vehicles continuous in the longitudinal direction of a row is determined on the basis of a relative relationship error propagation ratio which is a ratio of an error of the relative relationship propagated to the rear vehicles running in the row. |
| US08660778B2 |
Running plan creating apparatus
A running plan creating apparatus for creating a running plan including position information of a vehicle at each time comprises road information acquiring means for acquiring road information concerning a running path for the vehicle to run, action predicting means for predicting positions and speeds of other vehicles running about the vehicle at each time by utilizing the road information, characteristic information acquiring means for acquiring characteristic information in each of the other vehicles, risk degree estimating means for estimating respective degrees of risk of the other vehicles by utilizing the characteristic information, risk degree distribution setting means for setting a risk degree distribution at each time on the running path by utilizing the road information and the positions and degrees of risk of the other vehicles, and running plan creating means for creating the running plan of the vehicle by utilizing the risk degree distribution. |
| US08660775B2 |
Method and device for operating an engine start-stop function for the driving engine of a motor vehicle
In a method for operating an engine start-stop function for an engine of a motor vehicle, the engine start-stop function executes engine start-stop interventions in the form of an automatic shutting down and a subsequent automatic switching on of the engine, as a function of one or more vehicle states. An engine start-stop intervention determined by the engine start-stop function is selectively prevented as a function of a statement on the number of starting procedures of the engine carried out. |
| US08660774B2 |
Engine governor
An engine governor calculates the amount of fuel supplied to an engine based on the difference in speed between the target engine speed (Nset) and actual engine speed (Nact). The amount of fuel supplied to the engine is adjusted based on the calculation results. When the difference in speed between the target engine speed (Nset) and low idle engine speed (Nlow) is equal to or less than a first predetermined speed, the difference in speed between the actual engine speed (Nact) and target engine speed (Nset) is equal to or greater than a second predetermined speed, and the calculation results are equal to or less than the minimum value of the actual engine speed (Nact), the P gain is set at a value equal to or greater than the normal value, and in cases where the I component is a negative value, the I component is set to zero. |
| US08660772B2 |
Liquid concentration measuring device
A microcomputer of an alcohol concentration sensor reads a first measurement value corresponding to a first frequency and reads a second measurement value corresponding to a second frequency. The microcomputer calculates a difference between the first and second measurement values. The microcomputer performs stuck failure abnormality determination when a state where the difference between the measurement values is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value continues. The microcomputer outputs a PWM signal of a specific frequency, which is different from a frequency in a case of a normality, to an engine ECU. Thus, a failure of the alcohol concentration sensor can be surely determined. |
| US08660770B2 |
System for controlling at least one aircraft engine and an aircraft comprising such a control system
A system for controlling at least one aircraft engine and an aircraft comprising such a control system are disclosed. The system (4) comprises a control lever (5), the intermediary range of automatic regulation thereof of the engine speed comprises a single marked position (II) with which there are associated a climbing speed and an automatic regulation speed. Such a lever is able to occupy another take-off and go-around marked position, with which there are associated a take-off speed and a go-around speed. |
| US08660763B2 |
System and method for machine control with rate limiting
A machine control system may include a processor configured to communicate with an operator interface including an acceleration pedal and a forward-neutral-reverse selector, a power source, and a transmission assembly. The processor may be configured to obtain a request from the forward-neutral-reverse selector. The processor may also be configured to provide an instruction for adjusting operation of the transmission assembly in response to the forward-neutral-reverse selector request. The process may also be configured to obtain a request for an increase in a speed of the power source at a first rate. The power source speed request may be based on a position of the acceleration pedal. The processor may also be configured to provide an instruction for increasing the power source speed at a second rate slower than the first rate. This may provide the transmission assembly with time to respond to the forward-neutral-reverse selector request by switching from one of a forward travel state, a neutral state, and a reverse travel state, to another of the forward travel, neutral, and reverse travel states. |
| US08660757B2 |
Method and control device for triggering passenger protection means for a vehicle
A method and a control device for triggering passenger protection means for a vehicle are provided, at least one sensor signal from an accident sensor system being provided by an interface. Furthermore, at least two characteristics are generated from the sensor signal, which are mapped onto one single value range. The triggering of the passenger protection means occurs as a function of the at least two mapped characteristics. |
| US08660755B2 |
Electric power steering system
A power relay is provided in a power line, which supplies power from a power source to a motor through an inverter circuit, to shut off power supply from the power source to the inverter circuit when an abnormality arises. A microcomputer diagnoses a short-circuit failure of the power relay when a steering wheel is not steered during a normal control operation of assisting the steering operation of the steering wheel. An EPS shuts off power supply by the power relay when the steering wheel is not steered, so that the short-circuit failure of the power relay is diagnosed without affecting the assist operation for the steering wheel. |
| US08660754B2 |
Steer by wire control system
The invention provides a steering system for a vehicle, a ship etc. The steering system has a steering handle for the operator of the vehicle, a set of signal processors, a sensor which determines a position of the steered element of the vehicle, and a controller which moves the steered element. The steered element could e.g. be the front wheels of a car. The signal processors are adapted to determine an error between the desired position of the steered element and an actual position of the steered element. In order to make the steering system more fault tolerant, the error signal is amplified based on the speed by which the steering handle is moved, and an error in the sensor therefore becomes less critical. The invention further provides a steering method, a steering control unit and a vehicle provided with a steering system of the mentioned kind. |
| US08660752B2 |
Electric power steering system
An electric power steering system includes an overheat protection current value arithmetic unit that computes an overheat protection current value to which a current flowing into a motor is limited, and an overheat protection control unit that limits the current, which flows into the motor, on the basis of the computed overheat protection current value, suppresses heat dissipation caused by the current flowing into the motor, and thus protects onboard equipment. Information relevant to the computed overheat protection current value is stored. Whether a newly computed overheat protection current value is abnormal is decided based on comparison of the newly computed overheat protection current value with the stored information relevant to the overheat protection current value. |
| US08660750B2 |
System for enhancing cornering performance of a vehicle equipped with a stability control system
A system for controlling a vehicle having a brake assembly for exerting braking force on at least one wheel on the basis of a number of control parameters is provided. The system has a vehicle stability control system configured to generate the control parameters as a function of a control quantity associated with the intensity of the braking force to be exerted on the wheels; and a vehicle handling enhancement system configured to calculate, in the presence of cornering acceleration of the vehicle, a reference vehicle yaw rate on the basis of at least the longitudinal velocity of the vehicle and the steer angle of the vehicle, and to adjust the control quantity to zero the difference between the actual yaw rate and the reference vehicle yaw rate. |
| US08660748B2 |
Control wheel with haptic feedback
A control wheel for controlling at least one function of a system by a user includes a moveable engagement wheel for engagement by the user and an actuator coupled to the engagement wheel for providing force or haptic feedback to the engagement wheel in response to movement of the engagement wheel. A sensor for sensing movement of the engagement wheel is provided and a control system is coupled to the sensor for receiving information about positioning and movement of the engagement wheel, and is also coupled to the actuator for controlling force to the engagement wheel. The control system also provides control of the at least one function of the system. |
| US08660745B2 |
Control arrangement for a trailer vehicle
A control arrangement for a trailer vehicle comprises a brake system, a lighting system, a control device for controlling the lighting system, and a data transfer system for transferring data between the control device and the brake system. The control device and the brake system are arranged such that information about the status of the lighting system is transferred to the brake system by means of the control device, and/or information about the brake system is transferred to the control device for changing the status of the lighting system. |
| US08660742B2 |
Road wheel disturbance detection
A control method for a vehicle is provided. The control method includes estimating a magnitude of wheel disturbance based on wheel velocity, and generating a disturbance status signal based on the magnitude of wheel disturbance. |
| US08660741B2 |
Particulate filter ash loading prediction method and vehicle with same
A particulate filter ash loading prediction method including the steps of determining a maximum average lifetime for the particulate filter; performing a calculation of a running average of time between regenerations of the particulate filter; calculating an end-of-service-life ratio of the particulate filter dependent upon the maximum average lifetime and the running average; and comparing the end-of-service-life ratio to a predetermined minimum end-of-service-life ratio. If the end-of-service-life ratio is equal to or less than the minimum end-of-service-life ratio then indicating that at least one of service and replacement of the particulate filter is needed due to ash loading. |
| US08660739B2 |
Monitoring the status of a vehicle
An asset tracking system for tracking assets, for example, a vehicle, with an integrated topology that is configured minimize the complexity of the system by eliminating hardware duplication and sensing the ignition state while obviating the need to access the ignition switch circuit; the asset tracking system optionally including a loan obligation management system that is integrated with the asset recovery system which provides in-vehicle notifications of loan obligations for the asset upon which the loan obligation is based from a remote location directly to the asset. |
| US08660738B2 |
Equipment performance monitoring system and method
Methods and systems are disclosed for evaluating performances of a piece of equipment and equipment operator. One disclosed method includes sensing a plurality of operating parameters of the equipment. The method then includes resolving a plurality of segments the equipment is sequentially performing from the sensed operating parameters to provide a sequence of resolved segments. The method then includes resolving what application the equipment is performing based upon the sequence of resolved segments to provide at least one resolved application. The method then includes applying at least one metric to the resolved application to provide at least one applied application metric. Then, the method includes evaluating the performance of the equipment and operator using the applied application metric. Various systems for installation on existing work equipments or new work equipments such as loaders and excavators are also disclosed. |
| US08660733B2 |
Control device for hybrid vehicle
A control device for a hybrid vehicle includes an engine operating point setting device, a coolant temperature prediction device, a battery state-of-charge prediction device, and a determination device. The determination device determines whether an amount of heat of coolant is short or excess based on coolant temperature predicted by the coolant temperature prediction device and determines whether an amount of charge of a battery is short or excess based on SOC of the battery predicted by the battery state-of-charge prediction device. When at least one of the amount of heat and the amount of charge is short or excess as a result of the determination by the determination device, the engine operating point setting device sets an engine operating point, which is shifted in a direction to eliminate the shortage or the excess. |
| US08660731B2 |
In-vehicle charging system
In an in-vehicle charging system, a charging display function is improved while versatility of the system is ensured, and usability is improved by enhancing charging display content. An EV controller (4) calculates a charge amount and outputs the calculated charge amount and a state of charge of a battery (2) to a communication line (9). A meter device (6) calculates a time required for completing charging of a battery based on the charge amount and the state of charge of the battery received via the communication line (9), and then calculates an end time based on the required time to display the end time on a display (5) while controlling colored lighting that indicates a remaining required time in accordance with the set time determined in advance. |
| US08660730B2 |
Vehicle and method for energizing catalyst device
A vehicle includes: a catalyst device configured to be electrically heatable for purifying exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine; a first temperature detection unit for detecting the temperature of the catalyst device; a state-of-charge detection unit for detecting the state of charge of a power storage device; a second temperature detection unit for detecting the temperature of the power storage device; a catalyst power supply device supplying the catalyst device with electric power for heating it; and a controller. The controller calculates first electric power that the power storage device can supply based on the state of charge of the power storage device and an output of the second temperature detection unit, and the controller determines according to an output of the first temperature detection unit whether to cause the catalyst power supply device to supply the catalyst device with the first electric power. |
| US08660727B2 |
Electric drive apparatus and process
An electric drive apparatus includes a controller for controlling an electric motor and a continuously-variable transmission connected with the motor. The controller controls the motor and the continuously-variable transmission in a first control mode to control the transmission ratio of the continuously-variable transmission to a predetermined fixed ratio so as to hold the transmission ratio at the fixed ratio, and to control the motor to achieve the demand motor torque when a demand motor operation point determined from a predetermined assumed ratio is within a predetermined operation range, and to control the motor and the continuously-variable transmission in a second control mode to vary the transmission ratio and to control the motor to achieve a desired driving torque for a driven member driven by the motor when the demand motor operation point is not within the predetermined operation range. |
| US08660725B2 |
Control device of hybrid vehicle and hybrid vehicle
A hybrid vehicle includes a motor generator used for driving the vehicle, an engine used in combination with the motor generator, an accelerator sensor arranged in an instructing unit instructing increase and decrease in required drive torque, and a control device starting the engine when a required engine output value exceeds a start threshold. The controller decreases the start threshold according to at least increase in required drive torque, and preferably decreases the start threshold further according to decrease in vehicle speed sensed by a vehicle speed sensor. |
| US08660724B2 |
Drive system for a vehicle
A drive system for a vehicle is provided, in particular for an agricultural or industrial utility vehicle. The drive system comprises a first and a second drive assembly (, a first and a second branch, at least one control unit and at least one output interface. The first drive assembly is connectable to the first branch. The second drive assembly is connectable to the second branch. The first branch and/or the second branch is/are reversibly connectable to the output interface. The drive assemblies are controllable by the at least one control unit such that the drive assemblies output independently from each other infinitely variable power. |
| US08660719B2 |
Four-dimensional flyable area display system for aircraft
A method and apparatus for displaying information for an aircraft. Information is identified for the aircraft. An aeronautical chart is displayed on a display system. An envelope is displayed in the aeronautical chart based on the information. The envelope defines a space flyable by the aircraft that meets a number of objectives. |
| US08660717B2 |
Method of correcting guidance commands for fluid medium
A method of approximately correcting a vehicle's guidance system command for the disturbing effects of the medium through which it is moving, without having to sense or estimate the speed and direction of that medium. The correction is determined by taking the ratio of two scalar quantities: the speed of the vehicle relative to the medium, which can be estimated from the known fluid dynamic characteristics of the vehicle, divided by an approximation of inertial speed, which can be obtained using one or more on-board sensors such as a GPS, thus increasing transient performance of the vehicle moving through the fluid medium. |
| US08660712B2 |
Reconfigurable aircraft
A reconfigurable aircraft having a fuselage and a series of wing segments that form a wing, and an extra wing segment that is interchangeable with a wing segment that is part of the wing. The wing segments are readily attachable and detachable from the fuselage, allowing for the interchanging of the wing segments. At least one of the two interchangeable wing segments is configured with one type of mission-specific equipment, and the other may be configured with a second type of mission-specific equipment, allowing for the quick reconfiguration of the aircraft. Alternatively, the two interchangeable wing segments are each configured with the same mission-specific equipment, allowing for mission-specific equipment is serviced without interfering with the flight schedule. With an additional fuselage and set of wing segments that form a wing a mission may be continuously flown. |
| US08660710B2 |
Radio control transmitter, a method for transmitting steering signal in the radio control transmitter
The channel assignment data is generated by assigning a channel of the radio control transmitter for the trainee 1B associated with the same controlled object to a channel of the radio control transmitter for the trainer 1A, and stored in the radio control transmitter for the trainer 1A. The radio control transmitter for the trainer 1A converts the channel of the received trainer signal into the steering signal according to the channel assignment data, and transmits the steering signal. |
| US08660709B2 |
Vehicle security system and method
A method and apparatus for validating a vehicle operator. In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises an input device for allowing entry of vehicle operator identification information, a transceiver for transmitting a message and receiving a response to the message, an interface for allowing a processor to communication with a vehicle sub-system, and a processor connected to the input device, the transceiver, and the interface, the processor for receiving the vehicle operator identification information from the input device, for generating the message comprising the vehicle operation identification information and providing the message to the transceiver, for receiving the response from the transceiver and for controlling the vehicle sub-system, via the interface, based on the response. |
| US08660704B2 |
Demand flow pumping
Demand Flow operates chilled water plants at substantially improved efficiency, regardless of plant load conditions. In general, Demand Flow utilizes an operating strategy which controls chilled and condenser water pumping according to a constant Delta T line, which is typically near or at design Delta T. This reduces or eliminates Low Delta T Syndrome and reduces energy usage by chilled and condenser water pumps for given load conditions. Operation of chilled water pumps in this manner creates a synergy which generally balances flow rates throughout the plant, reducing undesirable bypass mixing and energy usage at air handler fans and other components of the chilled water plant. At plant chillers, application of Demand Flow increases the refrigeration effect through refrigerant sub-cooling and superheating, while preventing stacking. Demand Flow includes a critical zone reset feature which allows the constant Delta T line to be reset to adjust to changing load conditions. |
| US08660701B2 |
Modular control system and method for water heaters
A water heater has a modular control system. The water heater comprises a tank, a heating element, a first controller, and a second controller. The heating element is coupled to the tank. The first controller is mounted on the tank and has a first communication port. The second controller has a second communication port communicatively coupled to the first communication port of the first controller. The first controller is configured to control the heating element in accordance with any desired algorithm in an absence of the second controller, and the second controller is configured to perform at least one function in addition to or in lieu of the first controller. |
| US08660697B2 |
Shape detection system
A shape detection system includes a distance image sensor that detects an image of a plurality of detection objects and distances to the detection objects, the detection objects being randomly arranged in a container, a sensor controller that detects a position and an orientation of each of the detection objects in the container on the basis of the result of the detection performed by the distance image sensor and a preset algorithm, and a user controller that selects the algorithm to be used by the sensor controller and sets the algorithm for the sensor controller. |
| US08660695B2 |
Robotic hand
Aspects of the subject technology relate to a robotic finger digit including a distal finger joint coupled between a distal finger part and a middle finger part, a middle finger joint coupled between the middle finger part and a proximal finger part and an extend tendon coupled at a first end to the distal finger joint, and coupled at a second end to an actuation device. In certain aspects, the robotic finger can further include a flex tendon coupled at a first end to the distal finger joint, and coupled at a second end to the actuation device, wherein the actuation device is configured to move the extend tendon and the flex tendon substantially the same distance in order to flex and/or extend the robotic finger digit. |
| US08660693B2 |
Component integration apparatus and method for collaboration of heterogeneous robot
Provided is a technique that enables a robot to be remotely controlled (by a server) and enables a robot component to access an external component (a component of a server) in order for cooperation of heterogeneous robots operating on the basis of different component models. A component integration apparatus for collaboration of a heterogeneous robot according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a standard interface unit that provides a common standard interface for controlling components that control the individual functions of the robot; an adapter component that transmits commands to enable external components to call the components through the standard interface unit; and a proxy component that transmits commands to enable the components to call the external components through the standard interface unit. |
| US08660691B2 |
Automatic machine and method for controlling the same
An automatic machine includes an output unit, a storage unit and a control unit. The storage unit stores a motion pattern corresponding to a command and recording N predetermined motion information and N time tags. The control unit receives the command, reads a current motion information of the output unit, looks the motion pattern up in the storage unit according to the command and the current motion information, determines that the current motion information is between the i-th predetermined motion information and the (i+1)-th predetermined motion information, calculating a time adjusting information by the (i+1)-th predetermined motion information, the (i+1)-th time tag and the current motion information, and controls the output unit to execute the (i+1)-th predetermined motion information according to the current motion information, the first time tag through the i-th time tag, and the time adjusting information. |
| US08660690B2 |
Robot control system
A robot control system has a portable operating device TP and a robot control device RC. The portable operating device TP is actuated by a rechargeable secondary battery and used to operate a robot R. The robot control device RC is capable of wireless communication with the portable operating device TP and performs automatic operation of the robot R based on teaching data provided by the portable operating device TP. The robot control system causes an emergency stop of the robot R when the wireless communication between the portable operating device TP and the robot control device RC is interrupted. The robot control system further includes a charging device CU, a connection monitoring section 12, and an automatic operation continuing section 11. The charging device CU charges the secondary battery by electrically connecting the portable operating device TP to the robot control device RC. The connection monitoring section 12 monitors whether connection between the portable operating device TP and the robot control device RC through the charging means is established. Even if it is detected that the aforementioned connection is not established when the robot R is in automatic operation, the automatic operation continuing section 11 ends wireless communication without causing an emergency stop of the robot R and continues automatic operation of the robot R solely through the robot control system RC. |
| US08660682B2 |
Air wipe and sheet guide temperature control on paper and continuous web scanners
Paper and continuous web scanners operate at varying and high temperature conditions. Regulating the temperature within the measurement gap between dual scanner heads during measurement and calibration modes of operation by employing air wipe and sheet guide temperature control assures consistent and accuracy sensor measurements of sheet characteristics. Air wipes blow pre-heated air into the measurement and the sheet guides are heated. The air temperature fluctuations that otherwise caused significant adverse effects on the sensors that measure, for example, the basis weight, ash content, and thickness of the moving sheet, are eliminated. |
| US08660681B2 |
Method and system for excursion monitoring in optical lithography processes in micro device fabrication
A process monitoring system may detect out-of-control situations on the basis of a single criterion for a plurality of different lithography processes. To this end, each data set related to a specific type of lithography process may be processed so as to determine relative data, which may be centered around the same mean value for each of the different process types for a standard control situation. |
| US08660675B2 |
System gaming
A system provides a player tracking system and system gaming apparatus for playing non-base games by funding the credit side of a gaming cycle. The system further includes at least one gaming device having a base game. The player tracking system and system gaming apparatus includes a player tracking user interface. The player tracking user interface provides a player with an opportunity to select and play a non-base game that may be promotional-funded or player-funded. |
| US08660671B2 |
Multifunction receiver-on-chip for electronic warfare applications
What is provided is a receiver-on-a-chip comprising a monolithic integrated circuit that reduces the receiver to a cigarette-pack-sized assembly mountable directly at an antenna element, with a much-increased operational bandwidth and instantaneous bandwidth, increased dynamic range and with a two-order-of-magnitude decrease in size and weight. Moreover, because of the elimination of all of the I/O drivers and attendant circuitry, power consumption is reduced by two-thirds, whereas the mean time before failure is increased to 10,000 hours due to the robustness of the monolithic integrated circuit and use of fiber optics. |
| US08660670B2 |
Controller with artificial intelligence based on selection from episodic memory and corresponding methods
A controller and corresponding method for operating a machine maintains a historical database including at least one sequence of parameters relating to the operating environment, corresponding actions taken, and corresponding outcomes of operation of the machine. The controller searches the database for episodes satisfying relevance criteria relative to a current sequence of parameters and then performs a randomized selection between two or more options, at least one of which is derived from similar episodes from the database. At least one control signal is then output to the machine indicating an action to be performed as determined based on the selected option. |
| US08660665B2 |
Electrode arrangements for tissue stimulation and methods of use and manufacture
A lead has a paddle body with a non-conductive material and multiple electrodes disposed within the non-conductive material. At least one of the electrodes includes one or more anchoring arrangement, such as opening(s) through the electrode through which the non-conductive material can pass; anchors that extend away from the electrode and into the non-conductive material of the paddle body; or flow-through anchors attached to the electrode with an opening through which the non-conductive material may pass. |
| US08660657B2 |
Systems and methods of facilitating manual adjustment of one or more cochlear implant system control parameters
An exemplary cochlear system includes a sound processing unit configured to process an audio signal, an implantable cochlear stimulator communicatively coupled to the sound processing unit and configured to apply stimulation representative of the audio signal to a patient via one or more electrodes in accordance with the processing of the audio signal, and a user input facility communicatively coupled to the sound processing unit. The sound processing unit and the implantable cochlear stimulator are configured to operate in accordance with a plurality of control parameters, which may be selectively associated and disassociated with the user input facility in order to facilitate manual adjustment of one or more of the control parameters. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed. |
| US08660656B2 |
Cuff assembly
A cuff assembly includes a frame assembly configured to be positioned about a limb of a user and support a functional electrical stimulation system, and an over center closure mechanism coupled to the frame assembly and configured to secure the frame assembly relative to the limb, the over center closure mechanism being located on a medial side of the limb when the frame assembly is positioned about the limb. |
| US08660655B2 |
System and method for increasing relative intensity between cathodes and anodes of neurostimulation system
A method and neurostimulation system for providing therapy to a patient is provided. A plurality of electrodes is placed adjacent to tissue of the patient. The electrodes include first and second electrodes, with the first electrode having a first tissue contacting surface area and the second electrode having a second tissue contact surface area greater than the first tissue contacting surface area. Anodic electrical current is simultaneously sourced from one of the first and second electrodes to the tissue and while cathodic electrical current is sunk from the tissue to another of the first and second electrodes to provide the therapy to the patient. |
| US08660653B2 |
Seamless integration of different programming modes for a neurostimulator programming system
A system and method for programming a neurostimulation device coupled to a plurality of electrodes implanted adjacent tissue of a patient are provided. A first electrode configuration corresponding to a first mode of programming the neurostimulation device is defined. A second programming mode of programming the neurostimulation device different from the first programming mode is selected. A second electrode configuration is defined based on the first electrode configuration in response to the selection of the second programming mode. The neurostimulation device is programmed using the second programming mode. |
| US08660652B2 |
Topical analgesia using electrical and vibration stimuli
Various embodiments disclosed herein relate to a device having a base and a stimulation module that can be attached to a patient's skin and actuated to mask the pain caused when sharp objects penetrate the skin. The stimulation module is designed to generate vibration energy, or alternatively, is designed to generate both vibration and electrical energy. |
| US08660650B2 |
Electroencephalogram activation apparatus
Provided is an electroencephalogram activation apparatus, including: an electroencephalogram acquisition unit configured to acquire brain waves of a user; an electrical stimulation unit configured to apply transcranial electrical stimulation to the scalp of the user; and a control unit configured to control the electrical stimulation unit based on the brain waves acquired by the electroencephalogram acquisition unit. |
| US08660644B2 |
System and method for avoiding, reversing, and managing neurological accommodation to electrical stimulation
A method of operating a neurostimulation device comprises outputting a pulsed electrical waveform from the neurostimulation device between a plurality of electrodes while at least one of the electrodes has a first polarity, thereby stimulating neural tissue adjacent the electrode(s), allowing the neural tissue to undergo neurological accommodation in response to the electrical energy output between the electrodes, switching the electrode(s) from the first polarity to a second polarity, outputting the pulsed electrical waveform from the neurostimulation device between the electrodes while the electrode(s) has the second polarity, thereby hyperpolarizing the neural tissue to reverse the neurological accommodation, switching the electrode(s) from the second polarity to the first polarity, and outputting the pulsed electrical waveform from the neurostimulation device between the electrodes while the electrode(s) has the first polarity, thereby stimulating the previously hyperpolarized neural tissue. |
| US08660643B2 |
Non-sustained tachyarrhythmia analysis to identify lead related condition
Techniques for determining whether a lead related condition exists based on analysis of a cardiac electrical signal associated with a non-sustained tachyarrhythmia (NST) are described. In some examples, the techniques include determining the duration of intervals between consecutive cardiac events, e.g., R-R intervals, during an NST. The techniques may further include determining one or more metrics based on the durations of the intervals during the NST. Examples of metrics include an average, a minimum, a maximum, a range, a median, a mode, or a mean. A lead related condition is identified based on the values of the one or more metrics, e.g., by comparison to respective thresholds. In some examples, an alert is provided or a therapy modification is suggested if a lead related condition is identified. |
| US08660637B2 |
Miniature spectrometer
A miniaturized spectrometer is adapted for placement within a body near tissue to be characterized. The spectrometer includes a light source and a plurality of light detectors. The light source generates light to illuminate the tissue. The detectors detect optical signals from the illuminated tissue and convert these optical signals to electrical signals. The miniaturized spectrometer can be disposed at the distal end of an interventional device. Optical conduits, such as fiber optic cables or strands, extending the length of the interventional device are not required when the miniature spectrometer is employed. |
| US08660630B2 |
ECG leads system for newborn ECG screening
An apparatus including a chest strip comprising a plurality of precordial and limb leads for an electrocardiogram (ECG) and an ECG data recorder coupled to the chest strip, wherein the ECG data recorder configured to receive signals from the leads. An apparatus including a chest strip comprising a plurality of precordial leads positioned to correspond with desired lead placement for an electrocardiogram (ECG) and an ECG data recorder; a plurality of limb leads coupled to the chest strip, wherein the ECG data recorder is coupled to plurality of precordial leads and the plurality of limb leads and configured to receive electrocardiogram data generated by the plurality of precordial leads and the plurality of limb leads. A method including coupling a chest strip including precordial leads and a data recorder to a newborn, the data recorder configured to receive electrocardiogram data from the precordial leads; and transmitting electrocardiogram data from the data recorder. |
| US08660629B2 |
Apparatus for connecting impedance measurement apparatus to an electrode
A method of monitoring pulmonary oedema in a subject using a processing system. The method includes, determining a measured impedance value for at least two body segments, at least one of the body segments being a thoracic cavity segment. For each body segment, the measured impedance values are used to determine an index, which is in turn used to determine the presence, absence or degree of pulmonary oedema using the determined indices. |
| US08660628B2 |
Analyte sensors comprising blended membrane compositions and methods for making and using them
Embodiments of the invention provide analyte sensors having elements designed to modulate their chemical reactions as well as methods for making and using such sensors. In certain embodiments of the invention, the sensor includes an analyte modulating membrane that comprises a blended mixture of a linear polyurethane/polyurea polymer, and a branched acrylate polymer. |
| US08660627B2 |
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. The analyte monitor may also be part of a drug delivery system to alter the level of the analyte based on the data obtained using the sensor. |
| US08660626B2 |
System and method for mitigating interference in pulse oximetry
A pulse oximetry sensor adapted to emit light from an emitter proximate to a patient's tissue and detect a portion of the emitted light on a detector proximate to the tissue. The pulse oximetry system is adapted to acquire position data for the emitter and for the detector with one or more position indicators. The pulse oximetry system is adapted to process the position data to obtain a change in position of the emitter and the detector; and to process pulse oximetry measurements using the change in position to obtain a motion-corrected pulse oximetry data. |
| US08660625B2 |
Signal processing systems and methods for analyzing multiparameter spaces to determine physiological states
The present disclosure relates to signal processing systems and methods, and more particularly, to systems and methods for analyzing multiparameter spaces to determine changes in a physiological state. In embodiments, a first signal and a second signal may be obtained, from which a first plurality of values of a physiological parameter may be determined. At least one of the signals also may be used to generate a scalogram derived at least in part from the signal. A second plurality of values may be determined based at least in part on a feature in the scalogram. The first and second plurality of values may then be associated, and a physiological state may be analyzed using the associated first and second values. In an embodiment, the signals may be PPG signals and the associated first and second values may include a parameter scatter plot that may permit a user to determine changes in a patient's ventilation state over time. |
| US08660623B2 |
Mobile wireless device with integrated antenna and audio transducer assembly and related methods
A mobile wireless communications device may include a portable housing, a circuit board carried by the portable housing, a wireless communications circuit carried by the circuit board, and an audio circuit carried by the circuit board. The device may further include an antenna assembly including an antenna carrier frame coupled to the circuit board and defining a cavity therein, and at least one antenna element carried on the carrier frame and coupled to the wireless communications circuit. The device may also include an audio output transducer carried within the cavity of the antenna carrier frame and coupled to the audio circuit. |
| US08660620B2 |
Antenna built in mobile terminal
An antenna built in a mobile phone that includes a front case having, on its surface, an operation portion and a rear case arranged on the rear of the front case is provided. The antenna includes a bar-shaped support member that is made of a synthetic resin and is located in the rear case along an upper side of the inside surface thereof, an antenna element integrally formed with the support member, and a concave portion provided in the support member to avoid interfering with a strap retaining portion that projects into the rear case at the center of the upper side of the rear case. The antenna element is formed in such a manner that the antenna element straddles a gap between edge portions of both side walls of the concave portion to avoid interfering with the strap retaining portion. |
| US08660618B2 |
Wireless communication apparatus
According to one embodiment, a wireless communication apparatus includes a filter module, a generator, a first comparator and a power management module. The filter module is configured to transmit an uplink channel component among a received signal by an antenna. The generator is configured to generate an input voltage by using the uplink channel component. The first comparator is configured to output a first high signal when the input voltage is higher than a first threshold voltage, and output a first low signal when the input voltage is not higher than the first threshold voltage. The power supply management module is configured to change a power supply for transmission and reception of a wireless signal from an off state to an on state when the first high signal is continuously output for a minimum transmission time of an uplink signal or more. |
| US08660614B2 |
Method and system for messaging across cellular networks and a public data network
A computer program product for instant message communication in a wireless and non-wireless environment. A message is sent from a mobile unit device over a wireless communication network. The message includes a destination address, information associated with the mobile unit device's user, message content and message address. If, according to information previously stored for the mobile unit device's user at the instant message system, the destination address is associated with an instant message function, the associated instant message function is executed at the instant message system using the information contained in the message content, if required as determined by the associated instant message function. If, according to information previously stored for the mobile unit device's user, the destination address is associated with an instant message name, an instant message is created according to the message content and is sent to the user with the associated instant message name. |
| US08660609B2 |
Method and system for IP network admission control
There is disclosed a manner of controlling traffic by admission control in a communication network such as one operable according to GSM standards. When a call setup request is received from an MS, the BSC forwards the request to an MSC, which selects a MGw that is accessible to the BSC via an IP backbone. When notified of the MGw selection, the BSC runs an algorithm to assess the transmission quality of the IP backbone toward the MGw. The BSC then determines whether to reject the call setup request depending on whether the quality level is acceptable as determined by the algorithm. If the call setup proceeds, the MGw may run a similar algorithm to assess the quality of the IP backbone toward the BSC. The BSC and MGw may also check their own bandwidth limitations prior to running their respective algorithms. |
| US08660607B2 |
Apparatus, system and method for remote operation of a mobile communication device
Method, system, and device for remote operation of a wireless communication device. The method for remote operation of a wireless communication device using an accessory involves establishing a communication channel between the accessory and the wireless communication device, providing output to a user on the accessory, receiving user input on the accessory, processing the user input and generating control signals for transmission to the wireless communication device to initiate one or more actions on the wireless communication device. The accessory comprises a touchscreen for presenting information to a user and receiving user input. The accessory may optionally be a hinged accessory with a dual touchscreen. |
| US08660606B2 |
Prompt method for detachable element, mobile electronic device using detachable element and computer-readable medium thereof
A prompt method for a detachable element, a mobile electronic device using the detachable element and a computer-readable medium thereof are provided. The method comprises recording environmental information when detecting the detachable element is detached from the mobile electronic device. The method also includes determining whether the mobile electronic device conforms to a prompt condition according to the environmental information. The method further includes performing a prompt operation when the mobile electronic device conforms to the prompt condition. |
| US08660601B2 |
Communication system including base stations and terminal for multi-cell cooperative communication
Provided is a communication system for a multi-cell cooperative communication. A serving base station and at least one neighboring base station may communicate with at least one terminal through mutual cooperation. Each of the serving base station and the at least one neighboring base station may shift a phase of at least one element among elements included in a precoding matrix, using a phase shift matrix, and precode at least one data symbol. A terminal may feed back preferred phase shift matrix information to the serving base station, so that the serving base station and the at least one neighboring base station may adaptively determine a phase shift matrix. The terminal may calculate the phase shift matrix with small calculation amounts. The serving base station, the at least one neighboring base station, and the terminal may pre-store a plurality of candidate matrices with respect to the phase shift matrix. |
| US08660597B2 |
Systems and method for coordinated multipoint downlink transmissions
A method for determining antenna weights for use in transmitting data from a plurality of base stations to a user device is disclosed. The antenna weights are determined using an input covariance matrix (S), and the input covariance matrix is determined subject to a predetermined power constraint and a predetermined, non-zero interference constraint. |
| US08660594B2 |
Method and data card for shielding short message receiving function
The disclosure discloses a method for shielding a short message receiving function. The method includes the following steps of: storing parameters related to short-message-receiving-function-shielding in an Element File (EF) in a Subscriber Identity Model (SIM) card; performing inter-verification by utilizing the EF in the SIM-card and a Non Volatile (NV) random access memory in a data card to determine whether the SIM-card is applied to the data card; and when the SIM-card is determined to be applied to the data card, reporting the parameters related to short-message-receiving-function-shielding to a network during the process of attaching mobile terminal to the network. Compared with the conventional art, the technical solution of the disclosure can shield the short message receiving function without generating short message fee, so as to enhance the stability of the data service to a large extent and increase the flexibility for a subscriber in selecting the service type at the terminal. |
| US08660590B2 |
Unified view of short message service (SMS) interaction history with other channel messages based on case identifier in a customer relationship management (CRM) application
A method to provide a unified and integrated view of the SMS Interaction history with other channel messages (irrespective of the Interaction channel) based on Case ID (Case Identifier) in a CRM application. The method parses the incoming SMS message text for the Case Identifier. The Interaction Thread belonging to the same Case ID is retrieved from the CRM application database and the incoming SMS message is added to that Interaction Thread. The whole interaction history pertaining to the same Case ID is displayed on the CRM application user interface at one place along with latest received massage via SMS along with various other channels of communication in order to enable proper management of the customer interaction. In case there is no Interaction Thread having same Case ID, a new Interaction Thread is created and all subsequent messages are threaded to the new Interaction Thread. |
| US08660589B2 |
Apparatus and method for operating an idle mode in a wireless communication system
An apparatus and method for operating an idle mode in a wireless communication system. The method includes transmitting, by a Mobile Station (MS) to a Base Station (BS), a RaNGing REQuest (RNG-REQ) message for changing a paging cycle while operating the idle mode; transmitting, by the BS to the MS, a RaNGing ReSPonse (RNG-RSP) message including paging information to be changed; and operating a new idle mode by the MS and the BS according to the paging information transmitted and received while operating the idle mode. |
| US08660585B2 |
Method and device for controlling wireless communication terminal service based on positional area
A method for controlling wireless communication terminals based on location areas is disclosed, including: a wireless communication terminal obtaining its own current location information (101); using a service and function control table to deactivate services and functions that need to be restricted according to the obtained location information, and storing the location information and the deactivated services and functions (102); the wireless communication terminal re-obtaining the location information, activating restriction-cancelled services and functions or deactivating restricted services and functions according to the re-obtained location information, the stored location information and/or the deactivated services and functions; a device for controlling wireless communication terminals based on location areas is also disclosed, and the method and device can be used to control all the services and functions of the wireless communication terminal at the terminal side, so that controlling the wireless communication terminal is more flexibly and more targeted. |
| US08660583B2 |
Methods and systems for delivering travel-related information
Methods and systems are provided for delivering travel related information with an intelligent network. One method embodiment includes establishing a communication with the intelligent network through an access device, determining a location of the access device, and obtaining the travel-related information with the access device through the intelligent network, wherein the travel-related information includes data related to a location of the access device. Additional system and computer-readable media embodiments of the present methods and systems are also provided. |
| US08660582B2 |
System and method for electronic communications between users in a similar geographic location
A method and system are provided providing electronic communications between users in a similar geographic location. Mobile devices determine geographic location information based on signals received from external devices, such as GPS satellites or cell sites, and web browsers determine geographic location using external devices or third party software, such as Google Loader, or based on the IP address of the computer running the web browser. The system receives geographic location information from a mobile device or web browser in addition to a user-input message. The system distributes the message to users of the system with geographic locations within a predetermined distance from the geographic location that the message was input. |
| US08660581B2 |
Mobile device indoor navigation
A method for indoor navigation in a venue derives positioning of a mobile device based on sounds captured by the microphone of the mobile device from the ambient environment. It is particularly suited to operate on smartphones, where the sounds are captured using microphone that captures sounds in a frequency range of human hearing. The method determines a position of the mobile device in the venue based on identification of the audio signal, monitors the position of the mobile device, and generates a position based alert on an output device of the mobile device when the position of the mobile device is within a pre-determined position associated with the position based alert. |
| US08660580B2 |
Method of providing location-based service using location information of mobile terminal
Disclosed is a location-based service method using location information of a mobile terminal in a mobile communication system. In a location-based service providing method, second mobile terminals within a predetermined range of a first mobile terminal are searched for, status information and relative location information of one or more second mobile terminals found is collected, and display data comprising the relative locations and status information of the one or more second mobile terminals found is sent to the first mobile terminal. |
| US08660574B2 |
Generic positioning protocol
In an aspect, a generic positioning protocol (GPP) may be used to support satellite-based positioning methods and terrestrial-based positioning methods for different access types. A terminal may exchange a first GPP message with first information for a positioning method and an access type supported by GPP. The terminal may exchange a second GPP message with second information for the positioning method and the access type. Each GPP message may include at least one position element, and each position element may be for a specific positioning method. The terminal may obtain a position estimate for itself based on the second information. In another aspect, positioning may be performed based on measurements for cells of different wireless access types. In yet another aspect, received transmission times may be transformed to converted times based on common timing, which may be applicable for multiple wireless access types. |
| US08660573B2 |
Location service requests throttling
A technique to allow a server such as a location server to throttle concurrent or closely timed location requests for the position of a given wireless device such that within a certain time period preferably only one location request will be initiated to the positioning engine and the remaining closely-timed location requests will be buffered or cached. When a position for the given wireless device is returned per the outstanding location request, then the retrieved position will be used to respond to each of the buffered location requests. Thus, a plurality of location requests are satisfied with a single request to the positioning engine. By optimizing the use of cached position requests, throttling of location requests per the invention reduces network traffic significantly, increases the efficiency of a positioning server (therefore reducing business cost), and provides for an improved grade or quality of location based services in general. |
| US08660571B2 |
Positioning-triggered handover
A method for estimating the location of a terminal operating in a communication system having at least two networks having overlapping areas of coverage, each network supporting at least one method for estimating the location of the terminal, and the terminal being in communication with a first one of the networks, the method comprising: assessing which of the networks is likely to form the more accurate estimate of the location of the terminal; and if that is the first one of the networks, estimating the location of the terminal by means of the first one of the networks, and if that is a second one of the networks, handling over the terminal to the second one of the networks and estimating the location of the terminal by means of the second one of the networks. |
| US08660569B2 |
Semi-distributed, quality-of-service-based scheduling protocols, with minimum control plane signaling
Methods and apparatus for scheduling link resources in a wireless communication system are disclosed. In an exemplary method, a first scheduling policy vector, or SPV, is generated, the SPV including scheduling elements that prescribe a probability of use for each of several corresponding quantities of link resources. In some embodiments the link resources are LTE resource blocks. The SPV is transmitted to a mobile terminal for use in determining a quantity of link resource units to be scheduled in at least a first transmission time interval. The SPV may be transmitted along with a scheduling window parameter that specifies a period of applicability for SPV. |
| US08660568B2 |
Method and apparatus for interference control in a wireless communication system with hierarchical cell layout
A method and apparatus for interference control in a wireless communication system with a hierarchical cell layout are provided. The method includes acquiring edge-bands of femto BSs within an area of the macro BS, determining whether an MS receiving a service from the macro BS is located in an area adjacent to the femto BS, and, if the MS is located in the area adjacent to the femto BS, allocating, to the MS, an edge-band of the femto BS to which the MS is adjacent. |
| US08660566B2 |
UL FFR-based signal transmission method
The present invention relates to a method for transmitting control information in a multi-cell based mobile communication system, the method comprising: extracting information on a fractional frequency reuse (FFR) pattern that represents whether terminal transmission power for a plurality of frequency resource groups is boosted to apply uplink fractional frequency reuse (UL FFR) to a particular cell; and broadcasting power control information that is configured separately by each of the plurality of frequency resource groups based on the extracted FFR pattern. |
| US08660565B2 |
Wireless fault monitoring system
If a mobility aid develops a problem, the person controlling the aid may be unable to move or request assistance or call for help. Furthermore, even if someone was alerted to their predicament, that person may not be able to identify and thus rectify the problem expediently without expert assistance. A system (10) for monitoring for a fault in a mobility aid (12) includes a fault detector for detecting a fault in the mobility aid. The system also includes a signal generator (14) for generating a signal representative of the fault is also provided. A wireless transmitter (16) for transmitting fault signal, and a wireless receiver (18) for receiving the fault signal are also provided. The receiver is also operable for causing an alert to be sent to an operator that the mobility aid (12) requires attention. |
| US08660562B2 |
Radio communication system, communication control method, and base station and mobile terminal
A radio communication system includes first and second base stations that are capable of communicating with a mobile terminal and are also capable of communicating with each other. The first base station includes a first notification means configured to notify the second base station of first resource information indicating a radio resource which reduces interference from the first base station to communication between the second base station and the mobile terminal. The second base station includes a first allocation means configured to allocate the radio resource indicated by the received first resource information to communication between the second base station and the mobile terminal. |
| US08660561B2 |
MBMS feedback and neighboring cell measurement reporting
A method and equipment by which a mobile station receiving a point-to-multicast (p-t-m) transmission from a radio access network (RAN) of a wireless communication system communicates information to the RAN of use in the mobile changing to a neighboring cell for receiving the p-t-m transmission; in particular, the mobile station indicates to the RAN whether cell reselection parameters for the neighboring cell have been received, and/or whether neighboring cell information indicating parameters for receiving the p-t-m transmission in the neighboring cell have also been received by the mobile. In a typical embodiment, the mobile would indicate not only whether parameters for receiving the p-t-m transmission in the neighboring cell have been received, but which set of parameters have been received. The information of use in the mobile changing to the neighboring cell is communicated to the RAN in an acknowledgment message uplinked on a packet access control channel. |
| US08660557B2 |
System and method for transmitting/receiving neighbor BS information in a communication system
In a communication system, a base station transmits a message including neighbor base station information to a mobile station, wherein neighbor base stations in the base station include m first type neighbor base stations and n second type neighbor base stations, the message includes an identifier dedicatedly allocated to the mobile station when the mobile station can get a service from one of the n second type neighbor base stations, the first type is different from the second type, the neighbor base station information includes information on the n second type neighbor base stations, and each of m and n is an integer identical to or greater than 1. |
| US08660551B2 |
Look-ahead capability determination via device profiles
A network device may receive a call request message. The call request message may include information identifying a user to which the call is destined. The network device may further retrieve, using the information identifying the user, information identifying a device with which the user is associated. In addition, the network device may retrieve, using the information identifying the device, a first list of codecs that the device is willing to support, and establish the call to the device using a codec from the first list of codecs. |
| US08660550B2 |
Method and system for determining communication mode in a communication system
A method and system for determining a communication mode in a communication system are provided. The system and method include determining whether a first MS and a second MS are located within a preset area where P2P communications are available, estimating a first expected performance that can be achieved when the first and second MSs operate in a cellular communication mode, estimating a second expected performance that can be achieved when the first and second MSs operate in a P2P communication mode if the first and second MSs are located within the predetermined area, and selecting one of the cellular communication mode and the P2P communication mode as a communication mode between the first and second MSs by comparing the first expected performance with the second expected performance. |
| US08660541B1 |
Provision of location-based venue information
Various embodiments are directed to systems and methods for determining a neighborhood location of a person using a mobile computing device. The mobile computing device may transmit its location to an application server system. The application server system may perform at least one search of a venue database over a plurality of venue categories considering the received location and may determine a neighborhood location of the mobile computing device based on results of the search. |
| US08660539B2 |
Data collection and targeted advertising systems and methods
Embodiments of a mobile device and server system are described. The mobile devices communicate with the server system and present targeted content, such as advertisements to the mobile device users. The content is targeted based on usage statistics stored on the server system which were previously collected from the mobile device. The server receives the usage statistics collected from the mobile device, makes inferences about preferences of users by tracking application and/or content usage behaviors of the users, generates recommendations for advertisements targeted toward the users of the mobile devices based on usage statistics; and transmits the recommendations to one or more of the mobile devices for presentation to the user(s). |
| US08660534B2 |
Policy based controls for wireless cameras
A system and method provide parental and corporate control for a wireless camera. An administration authority web site is provided that enables an owner of a wireless camera to log into a server and establish a set of control policies that specify what actions on the phone are authorized for what user. The control policies are downloaded to the wireless camera, and the wireless camera is then operated such that a user of the wireless camera is only able to perform actions authorized by the control policies. In a further embodiment, a control policy is provided that requires the wireless camera to upload captured images to the server for review by the wireless camera owner. In addition, the images may be quarantined until the wireless camera owner authorizes their release to the user. |
| US08660533B2 |
System, method and apparatus for pairing SIM or UICC cards with authorized wireless devices
A wireless device and a process of authorizing a wireless device are disclosed. The process includes storing a list of authorized terminals within a memory accessible by a wireless device. The process further includes comparing the list of authorized terminals in the memory to at least one of terminal profile data and an IMEI of the wireless device and allowing network access if at least one of the terminal profile data and the IMEI are found on the list of authorized terminals and limiting network access if at least one of the terminal profile data and the IMEI are not found on the list of authorized terminals. |
| US08660532B2 |
User authentication method for access to a mobile user terminal and corresponding mobile user terminal
A user authentication method for access to a mobile user terminal including one or more movement sensor supplying information on movements of the mobile terminal, includes authenticating a user on the basis of a movement performed handling the mobile terminal. A test pattern of values is sensed by one or more movement sensor related to a movement performed in a predetermined condition corresponding to an action for operating the mobile terminal. In a biometric recognition phase the acquired test pattern is compared to a stored pattern of values obtained from the one or more movement sensor by a training phase executed by an accepted user performing the action for operating the mobile terminal. The comparison includes measuring a similarity of the acquired test pattern to stored pattern. An authentication result is obtained by comparing the measured similarity to a threshold. |
| US08660530B2 |
Remotely receiving and communicating commands to a mobile device for execution by the mobile device
Methods and systems are presented for remotely commanding a mobile device. In one aspect, a method includes receiving input identifying a mobile device, presenting to a user one or more remote commands corresponding to the mobile device, receiving user input selecting a remote command from the one or more presented remote commands, generating a remote command message instructing the mobile device to execute the selected remote command, and transmitting the remote command message to a server for publication in a message topic. Further, a selectable list of mobile devices associated with a remote management account can be presented to the user, the selectable list including information uniquely identifying each mobile device. Additionally, the selectable list of mobile devices can include an indication of whether an included mobile device is online. |
| US08660529B2 |
Mobile terminal for preventing illegitimate change of identification number by matching authentication information
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal and a method for preventing illegitimate change of an identification number of the mobile terminal. The method includes receiving, if change of an identification number is requested, and storing new authentication information and encoding the authentication information; determining whether a previously stored first authentication information exists; storing, if a previously stored first authentication information does not exist, an identification number, and storing the encoded authentication information as a first authentication information; and determining, if a previously stored first authentication information exists, whether the encoded authentication information corresponds to the first authentication information, and storing an identification number, if the encoded authentication information corresponds to the first authentication information, and performing error handling, if the encoded authentication information does not correspond to the first authentication information. |
| US08660527B2 |
Control of data call origination based on prior origination attempts
A wireless device receives a request to originate a data call, e.g., from the user or a higher layer application. If origination control is not to be applied, then the wireless device originates the data call immediately. Otherwise, the origination of the data call is controlled based on prior data call origination attempts that are applicable to the data call. For example, the wireless device may originate the data call immediately if (1) the most recent origination attempt was successful or (2) the most recent origination attempt was unsuccessful but a predetermined time period has elapsed since this unsuccessful origination attempt. If the most recent origination attempt was unsuccessful and the predetermined time period has not elapsed, then the wireless device may (1) wait until this predetermined time period elapses and then originate the data call or (2) reject the data call. |
| US08660523B2 |
Method of providing rate tiers in wireless communication systems
The present invention provides a method of providing rate tiers in a wireless communication system. Embodiments of the method include forming, at a network element in the wireless communication system, a statistical representation of resource usage for a user in the wireless communication system as a function of location and/or time using measurements of the user's resource usage at a plurality of locations. Embodiments of the method also include defining, at the network element, a plurality of rate tiers based on the statistical representation. Each rate tier indicates a rate for a different level of resource usage offered to the user. |
| US08660519B2 |
Apparatus, method, and computer program product for locating a mobile device
An apparatus, method, and computer program product are provided for permitting mobile devices to generate a location alert in response to receiving activation signals. The apparatus may receive a signal, determine if the received signal is a predefined activation signal representative of a location request, and generate an alert if the received signal is a predefined activation signal. |
| US08660515B2 |
Integrated wireless transceiver and audio processor
Circuits, methods, and apparatus incorporate both a wireless physical interface and audio processing unit on a single integrated circuit. The wireless physical interface may include a receiver, transmitter, or a complete transceiver. The audio processing unit is typically in communication with both the wireless interface and one or more wired physical interfaces. The integrated circuit may be as simple as a wireless physical interface and audio processing unit, or it may include other circuits such as graphics processors, networking interfaces, memories, or other circuits. |
| US08660512B2 |
High-frequency prestage and receiver
A filter stage for use in a receiver includes a switch with an input coupled to an antenna terminal, a first output and a second output; a first filter of a first type coupled to the first output; and a second filter of a second type different from the first type, coupled to the second output. A receiver includes a filter stage as mentioned above; and a switching unit coupled to the filter stage for controlling a switching state of the switch, to selectively connect the antenna terminal to the second output, depending on a selection signal. |
| US08660509B2 |
Mobile terminal station and synchronous control method
A mobile terminal station sets a fixed gain set value that is a predetermined gain value at initial synchronization and amplifies a received signal received from a wireless base station in accordance with the set fixed gain set value. Then, the mobile terminal station detects a synchronizing signal pattern from the amplified received signal, and controls to perform an automatic gain control by using the fixed gain set value as the initial value of the automatic gain control when the synchronizing signal pattern is detected and modifies the fixed gain set value when the synchronizing signal pattern is not detected. |
| US08660503B2 |
Transmitter
Embodiments provide a transmitter and a method for transmitting data via a combination of a first signal modulated at a first carrier frequency, and a second signal modulated at a second carrier frequency, different to the first carrier frequency. In one embodiment the transmitter includes a local oscillator and is configured to adaptively configure the local oscillator to operate at a first local oscillator frequency and an alternative local oscillator frequency, different to the first frequency, in dependence on a required signal strength of the first signal relative to a required signal strength of the second signal. |
| US08660500B2 |
Method and system for a voltage-controlled oscillator with a leaky wave antenna
Methods and systems for a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with a leaky wave antenna are disclosed and may include transmitting wireless signals via one or more leaky wave antennas in one or more tank circuits coupled to one or more VCOs. The VCOs may be two-point modulated. Two modulating signals may be communicated to the one or more VCOs via varactors coupled to tank circuits on the one or more VCOs. The varactors may include CMOS transistors with source and drain terminals shorted together. The one or more leaky wave antennas may be integrated on the chip, on a package to which the chip is affixed, or on a printed circuit board to which the chip is affixed. The VCOs may be integrated in a phase-locked loop and an output of the one or more VCOs in the phase-locked loop may be fed back via a multi-modulus detector. |
| US08660499B2 |
Delivery system, delivery apparatus, terminal apparatus and method
A delivery system includes a delivery apparatus for delivering a common control signal to an area having one or more available communication systems and a terminal apparatus for receiving the common control signal transmitted from the delivery apparatus. The common control signal includes system information required to access the communication systems in the area, and the system information includes multiple control information items. The delivery system causes the delivery apparatus to generate a first common control signal commonly used in one or more areas, to receive a delivery request signal from the terminal apparatus requesting to deliver a certain control information item and to generate a second common control signal including the certain control information item to transmit to the terminal apparatus. Criteria to determine which of the control information items is to be included in the first common control signal are updated in accordance with a statistical tendency of the delivery request signals from the terminal apparatuses. |
| US08660496B2 |
Arrangement and technique for interference mitigation
In a telecommunications network. including a first cell with a first base station node having a first node controller component and a first radio network controller (RNC) component; a method of mitigating interference within the first cell including: the first base station node determining when the first cell is experiencing interference; and the first base station node determining which one or more adjacent cells is likely to be a source of the interference; and the first base station node initiating a command configured to effect a reduction in power used by the one or more adjacent cells. The determination of likely interference source may be by received total wideband power (RTWP) measurements or outer loop power control (OLPC) commands. Preferably the first base station node determines the likely source of interference via the user terminals within its cell which are currently in soft handover, in that the cell or cells that they are in soft handover with are likely to contain the source of the interference. |
| US08660492B2 |
Mobile terminal and method of controlling the same
A mobile terminal and a method of controlling the same are provided. The mobile terminal includes: a wireless Internet module; a short range communication module; and a controller for exchanging data through a first communication link using the wireless Internet module, wherein the first communication link is formed based on link data including maintenance information that acquires through a second communication link that forms with at least one other terminal positioned within a predetermined distance using the short range communication module. Therefore, a communication link using a wireless Internet module based on information acquired through a communication link formed using a short range communication module can be formed. |
| US08660487B2 |
Contactless data transmission
A contactless device having an energy antenna configured to transmit/receive an energy signal; and a data antenna configured to transmit a data signal. Also, a method for transmitting a contactless signal including transmitting/receiving an energy signal from an energy antenna of a contactless device; and transmitting a data signal from a data antenna of the contactless device. |
| US08660485B2 |
Near field communication device
Near field communication (NFC) devices may be required to operate at low power and so process small signals which are more susceptible to corruption by noise. An NFC device 100 is described having an antenna 10 which can be adapted to receive signal from a further NFC device. When a signal is received by the antenna, an input voltage is generated. A variable resistance element 12 is connected in series between the antenna 10 and an amplifier 14, which is adapted to increase the input resistance with increasing input voltage. By increasing the resistance when the input voltage is increased, the current drawn from the coil is reduced. This results in a lower overall power consumption of the device while maintaining reliable performance, because the higher input signal level is less susceptible to corruption by the noise generated by the variable resistance element 12, and the amplifier 14. |
| US08660483B2 |
Antenna switching system and antenna switching method
According to one embodiment, an antenna switching system includes a (a≧3) antennas and a selector. The selector selects b1 (2≦b1 |
| US08660482B2 |
Broadband satellite with dual frequency conversion and bandwidth aggregation
A broadband satellite having a payload subsystem configured to provide dual frequency conversion and bandwidth aggregation is communicatively coupled (i) to at least one gateway by a feeder link operating at a first frequency band; and (ii) to a plurality of user terminals by user links operating at a second frequency band. The payload subsystem has a first and a second frequency converter a satellite feeder link antenna feed, and a satellite user link antenna feed. The first frequency converter down converts, to a third frequency band, as an aggregated block, signals received at the satellite feeder link antenna feed from the gateway via the feeder link. The third frequency band is substantially lower than both the first and second frequency band. The down converted signals are routed to the second frequency converter for up converting to the second frequency band for transmission over the user link to the user terminals. |
| US08660480B2 |
Methods and systems for relaying out of range emergency information
A report message may be transmitted with collaborated information related to the occurrence of an emergency event. A plurality of devices, such as mobile communications devices, that are out of range of a communications network can communicate via direct communication, such as device-to-device communication, to corroborate characteristics that are indicative of an occurrence of an emergency event. Information related to the occurrence may be collaborated amongst the plurality of devices. A transmitting device, which may be one of the plurality of devices that corroborates characteristics or collaborates information, may generate and transmit the report message comprising the collaborated information. A receiving device may provide the message over a communications network, or the report message may continue to be handed off between devices capable of direct communication, the message eventually reaching a device that is within range of the communications network. |
| US08660474B2 |
Image forming apparatus having fixing device with air nozzle for separating sheet
An image forming apparatus including a fixing device to fix a toner image on a recoding medium; a compressed air generator to generate a compressed air; an air nozzle to inject the compressed air to separate the recording medium having the fixed toner image from the fixing device; a first switching unit to switch the air nozzle between injection and termination, which is provided upstream from the air nozzle; and a buffer unit to retain the compressed air, which is provided upstream from the air nozzle and downstream from the first switching unit. |
| US08660472B2 |
Developing roller, process cartridge, and electrophotographic apparatus
Provided is a developing roller in which: even when the roller is stored under a high-temperature, high-humidity environment over a long period of time, bleeding is suppressed; and the fusion of toner to its surface upon repeated output of images under low temperature and low humidity is suppressed. The developing roller includes: a mandrel; an elastic layer on an outer periphery of the mandrel; and a surface layer on an outer periphery of the elastic layer, in which: the surface layer contains carbon black and a polyester-polyurethane resin containing a specific structure; and the surface layer has a storage modulus E′ as measured at a temperature of 0° C. and a frequency of 10 Hz of 5 MPa or more and 20 MPa or less. |
| US08660471B2 |
Developer supply device and image forming apparatus having the same
A developer supply device is provided, which includes a developer retrieving member disposed to face a developer holding surface of a developer holding member across a predetermined distance in a position downstream relative to a developer supply position where the developer holding member faces an intended device to be supplied with development agent in a direction perpendicular to a main scanning direction parallel to an axial direction of the developer holding member. The developer retrieving member is driven to rotate around an axis parallel to the main scanning direction and configured to retrieve the development agent from the developer holding surface under a retrieving electric field that is generated when a retrieving voltage is applied between the developer retrieving member and the developer holding member. |
| US08660468B2 |
Developing device including refill operation
A developing device is refilled with an initial developer while the developing device and a photoreceptor are maintained within an image forming apparatus in the same state as in an image forming process. When refilling the developing device, a control unit of the image forming apparatus first drives a stirring feed member (screw) to feed the initial developer into the developing device, and then drives a developer carrier (developing roller) and a latent image carrier (photoreceptor) to supply the developer onto the developer carrier. |
| US08660467B2 |
Electrophotographic printer development system with multiple augers
A development system (10) for an electrophotographic printer (100) with multiple augers containing a development roller (11), a first channel (12) containing a feed auger (13), and a second channel (19) containing a mixing auger (20) with the second channel having regions optimized for either developer mixing or developer transport. Optimizing the regions of the second channel for mixing and transport ensures that a homogeneous developer is steadily provided to the first channel and the development roller, thus enabling the production of uniform, high-quality images. |
| US08660462B2 |
Image forming apparatus with replaceable member
An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body including a positioning portion, a replaceable member that is provided so as to be attachable to and detachable from the apparatus body, and has a portion to be positioned that comes into contact with and is positioned by the positioning portion at least at one longitudinal end, and an urging mechanism that urges the portion to be positioned toward the positioning portion, wherein when the position of the replaceable member in a longitudinal direction is determined, the replaceable member is mounted on the apparatus body as the urging mechanism is switched from the state where the urging force of the urging mechanism does not act to the state where the urging force of the urging mechanism acts so that the positioning portion and the portion to be positioned come into contact with each other. |
| US08660459B2 |
Drum unit having side seals and image-forming apparatus including the same
In some embodiments, a drum unit may include an electrophotographic photosensitive member having a base member and a photosensitive layer on the base member. An embodiment may include a cleaning blade configured to abut the photosensitive layer to remove a developer remaining on the photosensitive layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. Some embodiments may include side seals disposed at both ends of the cleaning blade to inhibit leakage of the developer. In some embodiments, a portion of a side seal may be in contact with at least a portion of the surface and an end face of the photosensitive layer. |
| US08660455B2 |
Image formation apparatus
An image formation apparatus includes: an image formation unit configured to form a developer image; an image transfer unit configured to transfer the developer image from the image formation unit to a recording medium; a fixation unit having a heater to fix the developer image to the recording medium; a duct provided between the image formation unit and the fixation unit, the duct comprising a first circumference section made of heat conductive material and a second circumference section made of heat insulation material; and a fan to flow air through the duct. |
| US08660452B2 |
Power supply system and image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a transfer member, and a power supply unit that outputs a voltage to the transfer member. The power supply unit includes a first voltage generation circuit that includes a piezoelectric transformer driven at a drive frequency within a predetermined frequency area to output a first voltage having a predetermined polarity, and a second voltage generation circuit that outputs a second voltage with a polarity opposite to the predetermined polarity. In addition, a control unit controls the power supply unit to output a superposed voltage as a voltage having the predetermined polarity and corresponding to a voltage output from the piezoelectric transformer by driving the piezoelectric transformer at a driven frequency out of range of the predetermined frequency area, with the superposed voltage being a voltage in which the first voltage and the second voltage are superposed. |
| US08660447B2 |
Multi-pass image forming apparatus having voltage divider
An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of developing devices to develop toners of different colors on an image carrier; a power supply to supply the plurality of developing devices with a first voltage to develop the toners on the image carrier; a switching unit to connect the power supply to one of the plurality of developing devices; and a voltage divider to supply some of the other developing devices that are not connected to the power supply with a second voltage to prevent toner development and to supply any other remaining developing device with a third voltage, an absolute value of which is less then an absolute value of the second voltage. |
| US08660442B2 |
Method and apparatus for premature consumable replacement detection on printing systems
According to aspects of the embodiments, there is provided an apparatus and method to detect when a consumable such as a toner bottle is replaced before end of life (EOL), throwing out toner that could be used for future printing incurs a cost. In metered accounts, the supplier incurs the cost of this waste. This disclosed process proposes monitoring the approximate rate of toner and then calculating the average amount of consumption per bottle since the last time the bottle was detected as empty. This then determines the toner consumption per bottle yield rate. Yield rate (YR) is calculated based on the estimated amount of toner delivered from a known bottle quantity at the point when the current bottle goes empty. The yield rate is displayed as a gauge on the user interface of the printer. |
| US08660441B2 |
Information storage device, removable device, developer container, and image forming apparatus
An information storage device installed in a removable device configured to be removably installed in an image forming apparatus body, includes: an information storage unit that stores information communicated between the image forming apparatus body and the removable device; a terminal that comes in contact with a body side terminal; and a substrate that holds the information storage unit and the terminal and includes a hole configured to be engaged with a protruding section installed in the image forming apparatus body. The terminal includes a plurality of terminals each including one of a plurality of metallic plates arranged in a transverse direction thereof. An earth terminal, which comes in contact with a body side earth terminal formed in the protruding section, is formed in the hole. The hole is disposed at a position sandwiched between two metallic plates among the plurality of metallic plates. |
| US08660433B2 |
Pilot-assisted data transmission in a coherent optical-communication system
In one embodiment, an optical transmission system transmits data using a format according to which a data frame has two or more pilot-symbol blocks, each having a guard interval, and two or more payload-symbol blocks that are concatenated without a guard interval between them. The use of guard intervals in the pilot-symbol blocks helps the synchronization and channel-estimation procedures performed at a receiver of the optical transmission system to be robust in the presence of certain transmission impairments. The absence of guard intervals in the payload-symbol blocks helps to minimize the transmission overhead and thus achieve relatively high payload-data throughput. Pilot-symbol blocks have a structure that enables the receiver to determine channel-response characteristics for each data frame and then apply appropriate channel-response-compensation procedures to signals corresponding to the payload-symbol blocks of the frame to recover, with a relatively low bit-error rate, the data encoded in those signals. |
| US08660428B2 |
Variable channel spacing in a coherent transmission system
The present disclosure provides a transmission system, apparatus and method to provide for variable channel spacing in multiplexed or combined optical signals for transmission over a network infrastructure. The channel spacing may be monitored and maintained at desired values in order to maximize the channel density under various conditions related to the network infrastructure. The individual carrier frequencies associated with each signal channel of the transmission system may be individually controlled to define the desired channel. The channel spacing may be altered to provide for higher channel densities increasing system capacity, or to provide for lower channel densities improving the overall reach of the transmission system. The channel spacing may be continuously monitored and maintained at desired values allowing for rapid and automated reconfiguration of the transmission system, which may result in maximized capacity and reduced costs. |
| US08660427B2 |
Method and apparatus of the architecture and operation of control processing unit in wavelenght-division-multiplexed photonic burst-switched networks
A method and apparatus for control and data burst routing in WDM photonic burst-switched network is disclosed. In one embodiment, only the control bursts and network management labels are going through optical-electrical-optical conversion inside the photonic burst switching (PBS) module. The building blocks of the control processing unit inside the PBS module may include input and output buffers, control burst parser, burst scheduler, PBS configuration and control, contention resolution, forwarding engine, network management controller, control burst generator, and queue manager. The contention resolution block may be used to resolve resource contention between multiple data bursts. Such contention resolution may take the form of adding additional delays to one of the data bursts, changing one of the data bursts to an alternate wavelength, or dropping some of the data bursts based on various criteria such as relative priority and wavelength. |
| US08660422B2 |
Combined communication and broadcasting dual switching system and method
Disclosed herein are a combined communication and broadcasting dual switching system and method. The system includes broadcasting transmission means, an Optical Line Terminal (OLT), an optical detection unit, an active path determination unit, an optical switch unit, and a combining unit. The broadcasting transmission means converts a Radio Frequency (RF) broadcast signal into an optical signal. The OLT includes dual lines and selectively outputs an Internet data signal. The optical detection unit detects a line from which the Internet data signal is being output. The active path determination unit determines that the line is an active path. The optical switch unit receives the optical signal from the broadcasting transmission means, and switches to the active path. The combining unit receives the optical signal output after having been switched, receives the Internet data signal from the OLT, and multiplexes the received optical signal and the received Internet data signal. |
| US08660418B2 |
Apparatus and method of adjusting automatic focus
An apparatus and method of adjusting an auto focus are provided. The apparatus includes: an imaging pickup device for generating an image signal by capturing light passing through an imaging lens; a shutter for controlling light exposure of the image pickup device; a focus detector that calculates a contrast value from the image signal and detecting a focus from the contrast value; and a release controller for controlling a release operation constituting a photographing operation of a still image, wherein the release controller includes, as driving modes, a first mode that directs a focus lens included in the imaging lens to be driven while driving the shutter, and a second mode that directs the focus lens not to be driven while driving the shutter. Accordingly, a photographing time is reduced. |
| US08660417B2 |
Drive motor, image blur correction unit, and imaging apparatus
A drive motor includes: an output shaft provided as an axis of rotation; a first attachment plate having a first fixing hole; a second attachment plate having a second fixing hole and located in a position separate from the first attachment plate in an axial direction of the output shaft; a magnet attached to one surface of the first attachment plate; a coil attached to one surface of the second attachment plate and facing the magnet; a first shaft holding member that is inserted into the first fixing hole and fixed to the first attachment plate and holds the output shaft; and a second shaft holding member that is inserted into the second fixing hole and fixed to the second attachment plate and holds the output shaft. |
| US08660414B2 |
Thermal processor employing radiant heater
A thermal processor including a rotatable hollow drum including a drum core having an interior surface and an exterior surface, and a radiant heater positioned within an interior of the drum and configured to provide radiant energy to heat the drum, wherein at least one radiant energy absorption characteristic of the interior of the drum varies across its longitudinal width Wd so that selected areas of the interior of the drum absorb more radiant energy than other areas of the interior of the drum so as to compensate for non-uniform heat loss from the drum and to provide the exterior surface of the drum core at a desired temperature which is substantially uniform across the longitudinal width of the drum core. |
| US08660410B2 |
Closed caption tagging system
A closed caption tagging system provides a mechanism for inserting tags into an audio or video television broadcast stream prior to or at the time of transmission. The tags contain command and control information that the receiver translates and acts upon. The receiver receives the broadcast stream and detects and processes the tags within the broadcast stream which is stored on a storage device that resides on the receiver. Program material from the broadcast stream is played back to the viewer from the storage device. Tags indicate the start and end points of a program segment. Program segments such as commercials are automatically replaced by the receiver with new program segments that are selected based on various criteria. |
| US08660408B2 |
Method and system for altering the presentation of broadcast content
A method and system for altering a presentation of broadcast content is disclosed. Embodiments provide an accurate and efficient mechanism for suppressing advertisements by using downloaded templates to identify advertisements before suppression for a duration indicated by information downloaded about the advertisement, where the suppression is effectuated by controlling a display or set-top box using remote-control functionality. In one embodiment, a digital signal comprising broadcast content is accessed. A plurality of templates are received and stored, wherein each template represents a known portion of the broadcast content. The digital signal is then compared against a portion of the plurality of stored templates. Upon a match, a control signal operable to alter a component of a presentation of the known portion of the broadcast content is generated. |
| US08660405B2 |
Data processing device
The possibility that one who is not accustomed with manipulation may cause inadvertent alteration or deletion by using an easy-remote control is reduced.A data processing apparatus includes a reception section for distinguishably receiving a first remote control signal sent from a first remote control and a second remote control signal sent from a second remote control; a processor for generating image data representing a list of contents by using, from a storage medium on which content-related information is recorded, information being read from the storage medium, such that image data representing a different list of contents is generated depending on whether the first remote control signal is received or the second remote control signal is received; and an output section for outputting the image data representing the list of contents. |
| US08660404B2 |
Reproducing apparatus
A reproducing apparatus includes a reproducing section picking up any signals compressed in a plurality of different compression methods from a recording medium. The recording medium records the signals compressed in a plurality of different compression methods and record management information denoting association of the signals compressed in a plurality of different compression methods with each other, respectively. A decoding section decodes the signal picked up from said recording medium, and a recording section records reproduction management information including reproduction-interruption information in the reproducing section associated with the record management information onto the recording medium. |
| US08660399B2 |
Linearity calibration standard for fiber optic power meters
An integrated, more automated system for determining the linearity of measurements of fiber optic power meters reduces the time and expense needed for linearity calibration. The system uses the triplet superposition method of linearity calibration and aids in performing the necessary series of measurements. A linearity measurement system for an optical power meter comprises an apparatus to output an optical signal to the optical power meter, the apparatus configured to output the optical signal at a controllable plurality of optical powers, a controller for controlling an optical power output from the apparatus to the optical power meter, a display device for displaying a state of the apparatus based on information from the controller, and an input device for commanding the controller to control the optical power output from the apparatus to the optical power meter. |
| US08660398B2 |
Optical transition box
The present invention embraces an optical transition box for housing the connection between a riser cable and a drop cable of an optical access network. The box has a base, which itself typically includes: a bottom for housing the excess lengths of the optical fibers of the riser cable and of the drop cable, a first sidewall and a splice-holder element for housing the splices between the optical fibers. Typically, the splice-holder element is fixed to the first sidewall and overhangs above the bottom. A distance not less than the diameter of an optical fiber is typically provided between the bottom and the splice-holder element. |
| US08660395B2 |
Highly nonlinear optical waveguide structure with enhanced nonlinearity and mechanical robustness
There is described an optical waveguide structure exhibiting nonlinear properties, a method of fabricating such, and an optical coupling device made of two of such optical waveguide structures. The optical waveguide structure comprises an optical waveguide portion made of a light transmitting material for supporting a light mode traveling therein. The light transmitting material has an intrinsic nonlinearity parameter suitable for inducing a nonlinearity on the light mode, and the optical waveguide portion having a diameter sized to securely confine the light mode therein and to increase the nonlinearity on the light mode. The optical waveguide structure also has a coating surrounding the optical waveguide portion to mechanically support or to protect the optical waveguide portion from surface damage. |
| US08660394B2 |
Optical cable with dry core and dry buffer tubes
An optical fiber cable includes at least one buffer tube that includes a plurality of water-blocking plugs and an optical fiber. The water-blocking plugs can be spaced along the buffer tubes, substantially filling the cross-sectional space within the buffer tube not already filled by the optical fiber. The water-blocking plugs can provide a stronger bond between the optical fibers and the inner tube. This is reflected by a high normalized pullout force for the optical fiber, such as, above 5.0 N/m. Yet, the resulting fiber optic cable does not suffer from problems associated with a higher pullout force, such as attenuation. |
| US08660391B1 |
Heterogeneous waveguide integrated optical isolator and circulator utilizing one or more optical grating couplers
Embodiments of the invention utilize optical structures created by processes in the wafer fabrication foundry to form optical isolators and circulators. Grating coupling structures are utilized to couple light having a chosen polarization component into free space through non-reciprocal rotation material; said light is captured by another set of grating coupling structures after experiencing a 45 degree rotation of the polarization. By non-reciprocally rotating the polarization, the input and output ports of the optical isolator will be different depending on the direction of the light propagation.The amount of non-reciprocal rotation material utilized by embodiments of the invention may be small, and the grating coupling structures may be efficiently made to couple to each other as their field profiles may be matched and their position may be precisely defined by lithographic means. |
| US08660389B2 |
Optical connector and optical tomographic imaging apparatus
Provided are an optical connector and an optical tomographic imaging apparatus, by which no noise occurs and a high quality image without a distortion can be obtained. In the optical connector, optical fibers are inserted into a lumen of a tube from opposite ends thereof; one of the optical fibers is fixed to the tube and the other optical fiber is held so as to be rotatable relative to the tube; an end of one of the optical fibers is separated from an end of the other optical fiber to form a gap therebetween in the lumen; a connecting section which connects the exterior space of the tube and the gap is formed; and a liquid or fluid made of a material which can transmit light is held in the exterior space, the gap, and the connecting section. Consequently, a significant pressure variation in matching liquid does not occur if the distance between the facing optical fibers changes. |
| US08660388B2 |
Optical modulation apparatus, method for controlling optical modulator, and control device for optical modulator
An optical modulation apparatus including: a Mach-Zehnder optical modulator having two optical waveguides, two output optical waveguides and a join-and-branch portion; a phase adjustment circuit configured to output a phase control signal to phase adjustment electrodes provided respectively on the two optical waveguides; a drive circuit configured to output a modulation signal to modulation electrodes provided respectively on the two optical waveguides as a differential signal, the modulation signal modulating lights propagated in the two optical waveguides; and a signal polarity reversal circuit configured to reverse a polarity of the differential signal to be output from the drive circuit. |
| US08660386B1 |
Large-scale image processing using mass parallelization techniques
Assets of raw geo-located imagery can be divided into tiles and coverage masks can be generated for each tile. For each tile, fragments of pixels from coverage masks of neighboring tiles can be extracted and tagged. The fragments can be sorted and stored in a data structure so that fragments having the same tag can be grouped together in the data structure. The fragments can be used to feather the coverage mask of the tile to produce a blend mask. Multi-resolution imagery and mask pyramids can be generated by extracting fragments from tiles and minified (e.g., down-sampled). The minified fragments can be tagged (e.g., by ancestor tile name), sorted and stored in a data structure, so that fragments having like tags can be stored together in the data structure. The fragments can be assembled into fully minified tiles for each level in the pyramid. |
| US08660382B2 |
Mosaic oblique images and methods of making and using same
A computer system running image processing software receives an identification of a desired geographical area to be imaged and collected into an oblique-mosaic image; creates a mathematical model of a virtual camera looking down at an oblique angle, the mathematical model having an oblique-mosaic pixel map of the desired area encompassing multiple source images; assigns surface locations to pixels included in the oblique-mosaic pixel map; creates a ground elevation model of the ground and vertical structures within the oblique-mosaic pixel map using overlapping source images of the desired geographical area, wherein the source oblique images were captured at an oblique angle and compass direction similar to that of the virtual camera; and reprojects, with the mathematical model, source oblique image pixels of the overlapping source images for pixels included in the oblique-mosaic pixel map using the ground elevation model to thereby create an oblique-mosaic image of the desired area. |
| US08660381B2 |
Image processing apparatus, method, and computer readable medium for arranging images based on size ratio
A plurality of images are input, specific regions are set for each of the inputted plurality of images, a typical size of the specific regions of each of the plurality of images is determined, and the ratio of the typical size to the size of the entire image is calculated as a typical size ratio. A typical size ratio used as a reference is selected from the typical size ratios calculated for the respective images as a reference ratio, and a candidate region upon trimming that image is determined based on the specific regions of each of the plurality of images. A trimming region for each of the plurality of images is determined based on the reference ratio, and the typical size ratio and candidate region of each image, and each of the plurality of images is trimmed according to the trimming region. |
| US08660375B2 |
Image coding method, image decoding method, image coding apparatus, image decoding apparatus, and image coding and decoding apparatus
The image coding method is used to code images to generate a coded stream. The image coding method includes: writing, into a sequence parameter set in the coded stream to be generated, a first parameter representing a first bit-depth that is a bit-depth of a reconstructed sample in the images; and writing, into the sequence parameter set, a second parameter which is different from the first parameter and represents a second bit-depth that is a bit-depth of an Intra Pulse Code Modulation (IPCM) sample in the images. |
| US08660371B2 |
Accuracy of recognition by means of a combination of classifiers
In one embodiment, there is provided a method for an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system. The method comprises: recognizing an input character based on a plurality of classifiers, wherein each classifier generates an output by comparing the input character with a plurality of trained patterns; grouping the plurality of classifiers based on a classifier grouping criterion; and combining the output of each of the plurality of classifiers based on the grouping. |
| US08660369B2 |
Systems and methods using mobile devices for augmented reality
Systems, methods, apparatus, means and computer program code for operating a mobile device are provided which includes program instructions for detecting a capture of an image, instructions for detecting a location and a time associated with said capture of said image, instructions for transmitting, to a processing system, a request for information associated with said image, said request including information identifying said location and said time, and instructions for receiving a response from said processing system, said response including information associated with said image. |
| US08660367B1 |
Template matching systems, methods, and articles of manufacture
Systems, articles of manufacture, and methods for template matching at least one template image and an image to be searched using a plurality of template matchers at at least one alignment shift. |
| US08660364B2 |
Method and system for determining a quality measure for an image using multi-level decomposition of images
Method and system for determining a measure of quality for images by using multi-level decomposition are presented. Multi-level decomposition of images is performed in the wavelet domain producing subbands at each level of decomposition. Aggregation of subbands is performed across multiple levels to produce an accurate measure of image quality. By aggregating only selected subbands the computational complexity of the method is greatly reduced. |
| US08660363B2 |
Method and system for determining a quality measure for an image using a variable number of multi-level decompositions
Method and system for determining a measure of quality for images are presented. Multi-level decomposition of images in the wavelet domain using a variable number of levels of decomposition and aggregation of selected subbands is performed to obtain an accurate measure of quality. The processing time is reduced in comparison to that required by other methods for generating measures of quality. |
| US08660360B1 |
System and method for reduced incremental spectral clustering
A method of clustering and reducing hyperspectral image data having a plurality of spatial pixels, and a plurality of spectral dimensions associated with each spatial pixel, includes computing an initial basis vector associated with the hyperspectral image data, unmixing the initial basis vector with the hyperspectral image data to generate an initial set of coefficients and an associated set of residual vectors, generating a set of clusters based on the initial set of coefficients, and iteratively computing one or more additional basis vectors and updating the set of clusters. The iterative computing includes calculating a subsequent basis vector based on a residual vector associated with a prior unmixing, unmixing the subsequent basis vector with a prior set of residual vectors to generate additional coefficients associated with each pixel, and iteratively computing cluster centers and content including an additional dimension associated with the subsequent basis vector. |
| US08660356B2 |
Recognizing text at multiple orientations
Systems, methods, and apparatus, including software tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, involve identifying text in an electronic document. An electronic document that includes an image object is received. In a first region of the image object, a first set of text characters having a first orientation are recognized. In a second region of the image object, a second set of text characters having a second orientation are recognized. The electronic document is modified to include a first text object identifying the first set of text characters and a second text object identifying the second set of text characters. Each identification of text characters includes a set of values that each represent an individual text character recognized in the corresponding region. |
| US08660354B2 |
Image processing apparatus including an obtaining unit, an isolating unit, a classifying unit, information processing apparatus, and image reading apparatus
An image processing apparatus includes: a memory; an obtaining unit that obtains image data representing an image including concatenated pixels; an isolating unit that isolates a rendering element, the rendering element being an image surrounded by border lines of a color in an image represented by the image data; and a classifying unit that, in a case where a plurality of rendering elements has been isolated by the isolating unit, and in a case where color difference between two of the plural rendering elements or the distance between the two rendering elements is less than a threshold, classifies the two rendering elements into the same group, associates pieces of image data that represent rendering elements belonging to the same group with one another, and stores the pieces of image data in the memory. |
| US08660350B2 |
Image segmentation devices and methods based on sequential frame image of static scene
Provided is an image segmentation device and method based on a sequential frame image of a static scene. The image segmentation device includes an image extraction unit, a seed point detection unit, and an image segmentation unit. The image extraction unit extracts a plurality of sequential frame images from a static scene, and calculates an average and standard deviation of each corresponding pixel. The seed point detection unit extracts a seed point with the average and standard deviation of each pixel calculated by the image extraction unit. The image segmentation unit generates a segmentation image through labeling by a region growing technique, based on the seed point. The image segmentation method captures a sequential frame of a static scene to generate an average and standard deviation of each pixel in the sequential frame and an average image, extracts a seed point with the generated average and standard deviation, and labels a plurality of pixels adjacent to the seed point in a region growing technique which bundles the same regions by allocating a label. |
| US08660349B2 |
Screen area detection method and screen area detection system
A screen area capturing an image including the screen area; obtaining candidate boundaries of the screen area; converting the candidate boundaries into straight lines; carrying out binary image processing with regard to the captured image; obtaining boundary pixels of a maximum target area, and letting the boundary pixels serve as an outline of the maximum target area; selecting straight lines on the outline from the converted straight lines; dividing the selected straight lines into four classes; and obtaining final straight lines by carrying out straight line fitting with regard to straight lines in the respective classes so as to obtain four boundaries of the screen area. |
| US08660345B1 |
Colorization-based image compression using selected color samples
A system and method provide compressing an input color image using selected color samples of the input image. The image compression method comprises accessing the input color image and generating a grayscale image and color channel images from the input image. The method compresses the grayscale image and segments the color channel images into multiple image segments. For each color channel of the input image, the method selects a number of color samples for each image segment and compresses the selected color samples. From the compressed grayscale image and selected color samples, the method generates a compressed input color image. |
| US08660344B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and recording medium
An image processing apparatus includes: an obtaining section which obtains a subject existing image in which a subject and a background exist; a first specification section which specifies a plurality of image regions in the subject existing image; a comparison section which compares a representative color of each of the image regions with a predetermined color; a generation section which generates an extraction-use background color based on a comparison result of the comparison section; and a second specification section which specifies a subject constituent region constituting the subject and a background constituent region constituting the background in the subject existing image based on the extraction-use background color. |
| US08660343B2 |
System and method of detecting abnormal segments of video
A system and a method of detecting abnormal or security-significant segments of a video are provided. The video is divided into several segments. A set of features of each segment of the video is extracted in order to calculate a set of factors corresponding to each segment. A value deemed abnormal of each segment is calculated according to the set of factors corresponding to each segment. One or more abnormal segments are determined from the segments based on the abnormal values. The set of features includes a color variable feature, a movement variable feature, a movement variable ratio feature and a background variable feature. |
| US08660337B2 |
Image processing apparatus, method and computer program to adjust 3D information based on human visual characteristics
An image processing apparatus includes: a depth information extraction means for extracting depth information from an input 3D image; a luminance extraction means for extracting luminance components of the 3D image; a contrast extraction means for extracting contrast components of the 3D image based on the luminance components; a storage means for storing a performance function indicating relation between the contrast components and depth amounts subjectively perceived, which is determined based on visual sense characteristics of human beings; and a contrast adjustment means for calculating present depth amounts of the inputted 3D image from the contrast components based on the performance function with respect to at least one of a near side region and a deep side region of the inputted 3D image which are determined from the depth information and adjusting contrast components of the inputted 3D image based on the calculated present depth amounts and a set depth adjustment amount. |
| US08660336B2 |
Defect inspection system
A defect inspection system is disclosed for easily setting inspection conditions and providing an inspection condition and a defect signal intensity to an operator. The defect inspection system digitizes a defective image, and a reference image corresponding thereto and a mismatched portion of the defective image and the reference image as a defect signal intensity and accumulates them in association with the inspection condition. The inspection conditions are changed to repeat evaluations while repeating accumulating works until the evaluation of all the inspection conditions in a set range is completed. A recipe file including the accumulated conditions having the high defect signal intensity and an inspection condition item distribution as a inspection condition recipe is automatically outputted and provided to the operator. |
| US08660335B2 |
Transient pixel defect detection and correction
A method of processing images produced by an imaging system includes detecting transient defects by comparing the value of a selected pixel with values of a plurality of the neighboring pixels, excluding known defective pixels. The value of the selected pixel may be compared with the maximal or minimal value of the neighboring pixels, and if the comparison shows that the value of the selected pixel exceeds the maximal or minimal value by a predetermined value, then the pixel may be identified as producing transient defect. Alternatively, the value of the selected pixel may be compared with the median value of the neighboring pixels, and if the comparison shows that the value of the selected pixel deviates the median value by a predetermined value, then the pixel may be identified as producing transient defect. |
| US08660334B2 |
Component presence/absence judging apparatus and method
A component presence/absence judging apparatus judges the presence/absence of components through a registration step and an inspection step. The registration step includes an ante-mounting feature acquisition step, a post-mounting feature acquisition step and a classifier configuration step. At the ante-mounting and post-mounting feature acquisition steps, ante-mounting features and post-mounting features are respectively acquired from an ante-mounting image and a post-mounting image taken at each of predetermined places on an ante-mounting board and a post-mounting board. At the classifier configuration step, a classifier is configured by registering the ante-mounting features and the post-mounting features as training data to a support vector machine. Then, at the inspection step, the presence/absence of a component at each of the predetermined places on each post-mounting operation board to be inspected is judged by inputting post-mounting operation features acquired from each of the predetermined places on each post-mounting operation board to the support vector machine configured as the classifier. |
| US08660332B2 |
Blood and cell analysis using an imaging flow cytometer
Multimodal or multispectral images of cells comprising a population of cells are simultaneously collected. Photometric and/or morphometric image features identifiable in the images are used to identify differences between first and second populations of cells. The differences can include changes in a relative percentage of different cell types in each population, or a change in a first type of cell present in the first population of cells and the same type of cell in the second population of cells. The changes may be indicative of a disease state, indicative of a relative effectiveness of a therapy, or indicative of a health of the person from whom the cells populations were obtained. |
| US08660328B2 |
High efficiency computer tomography
A system comprising: one or more transmitters to transmit an excitation energy into an object under observation; one or more detectors to generate projection space data encoding an energy received by the one or more detectors in response to the transmitted excitation energy into the object under observation; a controller to control the one or more transmitters to transmit the excitation energy and the one or more detectors to generate the projection space data; and an image reconstructor to receive the projection space data and to process the projection space data by: computing a first quantity characterizing a difference between the projection space data and predicted projection data; computing a second quantity corresponding to at least one impulse response, each impulse response corresponding to a reference voxel of unit-intensity; computing an update value using the first quantity and an inverted function of the second quantity; and reconstructing an object space image representing the object under observation using the update value. |
| US08660326B2 |
Image processing method for estimating a risk of atheroma plaque breakage
The invention relates to an image processing method for estimating a risk of atheroma plaque breakage, that includes the step of receiving (40) a so-called elastogram image representing the inner deformation resulting from the compression of an analyzed blood vessel tissue based on blood pressure, the step of pre-segmenting (50) the elastogram in order to obtain a pre-segmented image including a plurality of areas, and the step of calculating an elasticity image (60) representing the elasticity of at least one region of the elastogram, the region corresponding to an area selected among the plurality of areas of the pre-segmented image, and the elasticity image enabling the user to estimate the risk of atheroma plaque breakage, wherein said method is characterized in that: the pre-segmentation is carried out while considering the tissue as being a non-compressible elastic solid in order to determine the Young modulus gradient as equal to the sum of the Lagrange multiplier gradient and of a space depending vector, and in that the pre-segmentation includes determining the outlines of each area in the plurality of areas using said space depending vector. |
| US08660325B2 |
Efficient user interaction with polygonal meshes for medical image segmentation
An apparatus for delineating a structure of interest includes: a plane selection interface (32, 70) for selecting a contouring plane of selectable orientation in a three-dimensional image or map (80); a contouring interface (32, 72) for defining a contour in the selected contour plane; and a mesh constructor (74, 76) configured to construct a three-dimensional polygonal mesh (90) delineating the structure of interest in the three-dimensional image or map. The mesh constructor positions constrained vertices (102, Vc) on or near a plurality of non-coplanar delineation contours (84, Ccor, Cobl) defined using the contouring interface. |
| US08660323B2 |
Image Preprocessing
A method performed by a software process executing on a computer system includes selecting a first set of pixels in a digital image in the RGB color space. The pixels are selected such that, for each pixel in the set, a red component is a highest value component and a blue component is a lowest value component. The method also includes identifying at least a subset of the first set as a region of orange hue in the digital image. |
| US08660321B2 |
Authentication system, apparatus, authentication method, and storage medium with program stored therein
Unauthorized use of a biological pattern registered in a face image authorization system is made difficult. With respect to the previously registered biological pattern for authorization, additional information is held concerning a change that can be reproduced by a user having the biological pattern for authentication, and success or failure of the authentication is evaluated according to consistency between the biological pattern for authentication that is reproduced using the additional information and a pattern input at the time of authentication as an evaluation factor. By changing the additional information as necessary, unauthorized use of biological pattern data or the like is made difficult. |
| US08660315B2 |
Method for administering a drug program to determine whether an animal has been given a drug
Systems and methods are described that provide a fast and simple way of administering a drug program related to an animal. Specifically, systems are provided that can receive, compile and analyze information regarding the condition of an organ in a form that is readily readable, transferable to others, and associated with, or linked to, other information such as the presence or absence of an administered drug, combination of drugs, or drug program. |
| US08660314B2 |
Motion-controlled device and method thereof
An electronic device obtains a motion of a displaced object in two captured video frames utilizing phase correlation of the two frames. The device identifies magnitude of the motion and an area in a phase correlation surface corresponding to an area of the object, and accordingly determines if the motion is a qualified motion operable to trigger a gesture command of the device. The phase correlation surface is obtained from the phase correlation of the two frames. |
| US08660307B2 |
Methods and apparatus to count people in images
An example method includes analyzing frame pairs of a plurality of frame pairs captured over a period of time to identify a redundant person indication detected in an overlap region, the overlap region corresponding to an intersection of a first field of view of a first image sensor and a second field of view of a second image sensor, each of the frame pairs including a first frame captured by the first image sensor and a second frame captured by the second image sensor; eliminating the identified redundant person indication to form a conditioned set of person indications for the period of time; grouping similarly located ones of the person indications of the conditioned set to form groups; analyzing the groups to identify redundant groups detected in the overlap region; and eliminating the redundant groups from a people tally generated based on the groups. |
| US08660299B2 |
Automated person identification and location for search applications
A “be on the look out” or BOLO device is an unsupervised device that can be deployed at a particular location to watch for a specific target or person. A camera produces scene images that the BOLO device analyzes to determine if they contain a pattern matching a target descriptor. If a matching pattern is found, then the BOLO device emits an alarm signal. The alarm signal can contain the BOLO device's location or identification. A location database can produce the device's location when given the device's identification. A target transmitter can supply new target descriptors to deployed BOLO devices. |
| US08660296B1 |
Systems and methods for facilitating video fingerprinting using local descriptors
Systems and methods for facilitating video fingerprinting are provided. In one embodiment, a system can include: a memory, a microprocessor, a communication component that receives a video, and a video fingerprinting component that fingerprints the video with a subfingerprint (SFP). The video fingerprinting component can employ an SFP component stored in the memory and that comprises: a feature extraction component that determines local descriptors for at least one frame of a video; and a quantization component that quantizes the local descriptors to generate first frame information including a set of values for the at least one frame. The SFP component can also include: an accumulation component that accumulates first frame information over a snippet of the video; and an SFP generation component that computes the SFP associated with the snippet. The SFP can be computed based on a hash based on the accumulated first frame information over the snippet. |
| US08660295B2 |
Watermarking of digital images using watermark-indicators
Methods and systems for watermarking of digital images are presented. In one aspect, a method of embedding information in a digital image includes transforming the digital image to a set of coefficient blocks having coefficients in a frequency domain, embedding a watermark-indicator in one or more of the coefficient blocks, and embedding a watermark in one or more watermark blocks that have a predetermined number of coefficient blocks. The embedded watermark is substantially invisible in the output watermarked digital image. Another aspect is a method of extracting a watermark from a digital image that includes transforming a digital image to a coefficient matrix, determining if the digital image is watermarked based on a predetermined watermark-indicator, and retrieving a watermark from a projected watermark block of a projected watermark block distribution. |
| US08660294B2 |
Form data extraction without customization
A form processing method for extracting data items from a form previously digitized in the form of a digital image, the method comprising prompting a user to indicate a location of one or more physical fields each physical field relating to a data item of specific type; receiving one or more indications provided by the user on the location of the physical fields; and identifying content and location of the data items of the physical fields using related data formats. |
| US08660285B2 |
Accessory adapter for cochlear implant system providing simultaneous T-mic and external audio input
A special accessory adapter for use with a BTE device of a cochlear implant (CI) system provides two inputs: a T-Mic input and an auxiliary audio input. Both inputs (the T-Mic input and the auxiliary audio input) are connected to a special mixer circuit integrated into a body of the accessory adapter. The body of the accessory adapter connects to the BTE using the same earhook attachment mechanism used by other accessories used by the CI system. The special mixer circuit prevents signals from either the T-Mic input or the auxiliary audio input from interfering with each other. Both signals, however, can still be processed by the processing circuits of the BTE and combined in such a way that user is able to perceive both signals at the same time. |
| US08660283B2 |
Hearing aid having a behind the ear component
A hearing aid is provided having a behind the ear component comprising a casing adapted to cover, accommodate or protect electronics components of the hearing aid. Further the hearing aid has at least one through going opening in the casing element and electronic switching elements placed at the through going opening. According to the invention a plate element is provided, which is mountable in the through going opening and adapted to form, when mounted herein, a surface flush with the casing. This plate element which covers the switches is used when the switches has been disabled such as is often the case with hearing aids for small children. |
| US08660276B2 |
Driving circuit for a sound outputting apparatus
A driving circuit for a sound outputting apparatus includes a H-bridge and a charge pump established by six switches for driving two types of loudspeakers, respectively. The six switches include two common switches to be configured in the H-bridge and the charge pump, thereby reducing the costs and circuit area of the driving circuit. |
| US08660274B2 |
Beamforming pre-processing for speaker localization
Embodiments of the present invention relate to methods, systems, and computer program products for signal processing. A first plurality of microphone signals is obtained by a first microphone array. A second plurality of microphone signals is obtained by a second microphone array different from the first microphone array. The first plurality of microphone signals is beamformed by a first beamformer comprising beamforming weights to obtain a first beamformed signal. The second plurality of microphone signals is beamformed by a second beamformer comprising the same beamforming weights as the first beamformer to obtain a second beamformed signal. The beamforming weights are adjusted such that the power density of echo components and/or noise components present in the first and second plurality of microphone signals is substantially reduced. |
| US08660272B2 |
Parameter setting method and audio apparatus
A method of setting a parameter for an audio apparatus including a delay processing unit which applies a delaying process and an amplifying process on an input audio signal in accordance with the set parameter, includes: performing a measuring process including: causing an outputting device to output measurement sound; and measuring a first impulse response at a sound receiving point; performing a specifying process including: analyzing the measured first impulse response; calculating a second impulse response at the sound receiving point when the outputting device outputs sound in case where a parameter is set in the audio apparatus and an audio signal indicative of the measurement sound is input to the audio apparatus; and specifying a parameter in accordance with the calculated second impulse response; and performing a setting process of setting the specified parameter in the delay processing unit. |
| US08660271B2 |
Stereo image widening system
A stereo widening system and associated signal processing algorithms are described herein that can, in several embodiments, widen a stereo image with fewer processing resources than existing crosstalk cancellation systems. These system and algorithms can advantageously be implemented in a handheld device or other device with speakers placed close together, thereby improving the stereo effect produced with such devices at lower computational cost. However, the systems and algorithms described herein are not limited to handheld devices, but can more generally be implemented in any device with multiple speakers. |
| US08660267B2 |
Method and device for generating and detecting a fingerprint functioning as a trigger marker in a multimedia signal
A device is configured to perform a method that detects a trigger marker for an action corresponding to a segment of a multimedia signal. A fingerprint is generated based on the segment of the multimedia signal at a trigger time point. The generated fingerprint is stored in a database and communicated to the device. During playback of the multimedia signal, fingerprints of segments of the multimedia signal are generated and matched against fingerprints in the database. When a match is found, one or more associated actions for the segment are retrieved by the device. The trigger time point may be determined as a time point near or at the segment of the multimedia signal with the matched fingerprint. In this way, trigger markers for actions may be enabled without modifying the multimedia signal. |
| US08660265B2 |
Cipher implementation
At least one of a keystream and a message authentication code are generated with a partial KASUMI block cipher, without utilizing a full KASUMI block cipher. |
| US08660263B2 |
Power analysis attack countermeasure for the ECDSA
Execution of the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) requires determination of a signature, which determination involves arithmetic operations. Some of the arithmetic operations employ a long term cryptographic key. It is the execution of these arithmetic operations that can make the execution of the ECDSA vulnerable to a power analysis attack. In particular, an attacker using a power analysis attack may determine the long term cryptographic key. By modifying the sequence of operations involved in the determination of the signature and the inputs to those operations, power analysis attacks may no longer be applied to determine the long term cryptographic key. |
| US08660262B2 |
Method and device for generating random wait states
A random source for generating a random number r with a bit length k, r=r0, . . . , rk-1, a memory for storing a threshold value state variable s, which is represented by a number with a bit length n≧k, s=s0, . . . , sn-1, and a comparator to compare two numbers with a bit length k, i.e. from r with a subset of the bits from s are provided. Two calculation rules R1 and R2, which are able to change the content of the memory for the threshold value state variable s (i.e. functions from s to s), are defined for a method of generating random wait states. |
| US08660257B2 |
Method and system for configuring a contact database associated with a user
A method implemented by a network entity that comprises identifying contact information associated with a previously-originated call, receiving from a user information indicative of a desired modification to a database associated with the user, wherein the desired modification involves the contact information associated with the previously-originated call. The method further comprises configuring the database associated with the user at least in part on the basis of the desired modification and the contact information associated with the previously-originated call. |
| US08660255B2 |
Call control across multiple interfaces
Methods and apparatuses for call control are disclosed. In one example, methods and apparatuses for receiving communications associated with a monitoring of a first interface, a second interface, and a third interface for an incoming call. A current active call is placed in a bold queue, the hold queue configured to contain calls placed on hold received over the first interface, the second interface, and the third interface. Notification of a second user action to place the incoming call on a hold status is received. The incoming call is placed in the hold queue, a next call from the hold queue is retrieved, and the next call is activated. |
| US08660253B2 |
System and method for providing location information
In a particular embodiment, a method includes presenting, at a first communication device, first location information after an incoming communication is answered. The first location information corresponds to a first location of the first communication device. The method further includes presenting updated first location information, at the first communication device, prior to the incoming communication being terminated. |
| US08660245B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing advertising-supported call service
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for advertising-supported call service are disclosed. According to one method, a SIP call setup message associated with a first call from a calling subscriber to a called subscriber is received. It is then determined whether the calling subscriber subscribes to a play advertisement pay less (PAPL) service. In response to determining that the calling subscriber subscribes to the PAPL service, an advertisement is presented to the calling subscriber via the subscriber's telephone, the call is connected to the called subscriber, and a reduced charge is effected for the call based on the PAPL service. |
| US08660236B2 |
Method and apparatus for detecting low and high x-ray flux
A method and apparatus for detecting low and high x-ray densities is provided for use in CT imaging. Two photodetectors, one having a relatively low dynamic range and the other having a relatively high dynamic range, are coupled to the same transducer. The first photodetector may be, for example, a SiPM which is passively quenched. |
| US08660234B2 |
RAM based implementation for scalable, reliable high speed event counters
There is broadly contemplated herein an arrangement whereby each event source feeds a small dedicated “pre-counter” while an actual count is kept in a 64-bit wide RAM. Such an implementation preferably may involve a state machine that simply sweeps through the pre-counters, in a predetermined fixed order. Preferably, the state machine will access each pre-counter, add the value from the pre-counter to a corresponding RAM location, and then clear the pre-counter. Accordingly, the pre-counters merely have to be wide enough such that even at a maximal event rate, the pre-counter will not be able to wrap (i.e., reach capacity or overflow) before the “sweeper” state machine accesses the pre-counter. |
| US08660233B2 |
Non-volatile memory counter
A counter in a non-volatile memory including at least two sub-counters, each counting with a different modulo, an increment of the counter being transferred on a single one of the sub-counters and the sub-counters being incremented sequentially. |
| US08660228B2 |
Communication system, information transmission method, code setting method, base station, and mobile station
A communication system includes a communication station that converts a value information into a code value based on a corresponding relationship in which a difference between a first value information and a second value information is set to any value equal to or greater than two, where the second value information corresponds to a code value where an error occurs in one bit of the code value corresponding to the first value information. |
| US08660227B2 |
Radio communication system, receiver, and transmitter
A radio communication system has a transmitter and a receiver that transmits and receives, respectively, synchronization signals. The transmitter has a multiple-synchronization-signal generation section configured to generate the synchronization signals, a radio circuit configured to transmit the synchronization signals in a predetermined transmission cycle from a start time of the predetermined transmission cycle and with an interval shorter than the predetermined transmission cycle, and a synchronization signal sequence number generation section configured to assign a sequence number to each of the synchronization signals. The receiver has a synchronization signal detection section configured to detect any one of the synchronization signals transmitted by the transmitter, and has a clock error correction section configured to correct an error of a reference clock based on the sequence number assigned by the synchronization signal sequence number generation section to the synchronization signal detected by the synchronization signal detection section. |
| US08660225B2 |
Method and device for acquiring precoding matrix
A method and device for acquiring a precoding matrix are provided by the present invention. The method for acquiring a precoding matrix includes: for each receiving end, selecting the interference vectors as the interference space basis vectors from whole interference vectors, representing the remaining interference vectors as the linear combination of the interference space basis vectors, wherein the remaining interference vectors are the interference vectors in the whole interference vectors of the receiving end except the interference vectors which act as the interference space basis vectors (101); determining the currently used precoding matrix according to the linear combination of the interference space basis vectors represented by the remaining interference vectors of each receiving end and the current channel condition (102). The technical solution of the present invention can eliminate interference and do not generate Bit Error Rate (BER) floor. |
| US08660220B2 |
Reduced frequency data processing using a matched filter set front end
Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for reduced clock rate data processing. As an example, a circuit is disclosed that includes a matched filter bank that receives a series of symbols at a rate corresponding to a sample clock. The matched filter bank includes a first matched filter tuned to detect a first bit sequence in the series of symbols and to assert a first symbol proxy upon detection of the first bit sequence, and a second matched filter tuned to detect a second bit sequence in the series of symbols and to assert a second symbol proxy upon detection of the second bit sequence. The circuit further includes a detector circuit that processes a series of symbol proxies including the first symbol proxy and the second symbol proxy at a rate corresponding to a reduced rate clock. The reduced rate clock is the sample clock divided by a factor. |
| US08660217B2 |
Methods and apparatus for low complexity soft-input soft-output group detection
Certain aspects of the present disclosure propose methods and apparatus for low complexity soft-in soft-out detection that divide a plurality of received symbols into a plurality of groups of symbols and performs preprocessing on the symbols in each group to suppress interference from other groups. The preprocessing may utilize a priori information for one or more symbols in one or more groups that are not yet detected, and/or a posteriori information for one or more symbols in one or more groups that are already detected and/or decoded. The preprocessed symbols may then be detected using a soft-in soft-out detection algorithm. |
| US08660216B2 |
Method and apparatus for mitigating the residual CFO effect on channel estimation for OFDM receivers
A CFO tracking loop module comprises: a numerically-controlled oscillator (NCO) that calculates a phase output; a CFO phase error block that generates a corrected NCO phase output by subtracting half of residual CFO phase error from the NCO phase output; a multiplier that corrects pilot subcarrier's phase by multiplying complex values of the pilot subcarriers by a conjugated complex value of the corrected NCO phase output; a pilot processor that generates a phase error by averaging phases over pilot subcarriers; and a loop filter that filters phase error from the pilot processor and updates the NCO with the filtered phase error. |
| US08660205B2 |
Energy efficient constellation method and system
A method and apparatus employing statistical physics energy minimization methods to signal constellation design. By using statistical physics concepts, an energy-efficient signal constellation design algorithm (EE-SCDA) is described. In the presence of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise and channel impairments, we use EE-SCDA to determine a source distribution, and represent the signal constellation design as a center of mass problem. Furthermore a discrete-time implementation of D-dimensional transceiver as well as corresponding EE polarization-division multiplexed (PDM) system is described. |
| US08660203B2 |
Data reception using low density parity check coding and constellation mapping
Modern coding and modulation techniques have greatly improved the transmission and reception of signals. A method is described including receiving a signal de-mapping the signal into a first and second substream, decoding the first and second substream using a low density parity check decoding process, and combining the first and second decoded substream into a single data stream. An apparatus is described including a symbol de-mapper that receives a signal de-maps the modulation symbols in the signal into a first and second substream, a first decoder that decodes the first substream using a low density parity check coding process at a first decoding rate, a second decoder that decodes the second substream at a second encoding rate, and a combiner that combines the first substream and the second substream into a single data stream. |
| US08660201B2 |
Apparatus for transmitting a synchronous signal in a multi-antenna system
An apparatus for transmitting a synchronization signal using a plurality of transmit (Tx) antennas is provided. The apparatus includes a synchronization signal generator for generating a synchronization signal used for tracking timing or frequency synchronization, a transmission processor for allocating different subcarriers to a plurality of Tx antennas without overlapping, mapping the synchronization signal to the subcarriers, and generating an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol by performing inverse fast Fourier transformation (IFFT), a control signal coupler for controlling codes as a resource not to overlap among the plurality of Tx antennas, and the plurality of Tx antennas for transmitting the OFDM symbol. |
| US08660200B2 |
Dual-pass joint channel estimation and data demodulation for OFDM systems
The present invention provides architectures and methods which implement dual-pass joint channel estimation and data demodulation in communication systems to provide enhanced performance of the communication link. While not limited to any particular communication protocol, such architectures and methods are particularly beneficial in OFDM systems. Channel estimates may be performed using reference symbols and demodulated data symbols according to certain patterns of subcarriers for OFDM symbols. The channel estimates obtained from different patterns may be combined for dual-pass channel estimate which may have reduced estimation error. Such a procedure enables more accurate channel estimation and improved data demodulation, thereby enhancing system performance. |
| US08660196B2 |
Communications system using beamforming
In a MIMO communications system a first communications device applies beamforming to a complete transmission packet including both synchronization data and either payload data or training symbols. A second communications device evaluates the beamformed synchronization data and determines and transmits a feedback information indicating minimum required synchronization data and/or a minimum number of training symbols. The first communications device tailors the synchronization data and/or number of training symbols on the basis of the feedback information. Beamforming the complete transmission packet facilitates signal suppression at defined locations. When the channel properties change, the second communications device may provide further channel state information to adapt beamforming in the first communications device without transmission of not beamformed training symbols. The communications system may be a powerline telecommunications system. |
| US08660193B2 |
Parallel, pipelined, integrated-circuit implementation of a computational engine
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to parallel, pipelined, integrated-circuit implementations of computational engines designed to solve complex computational problems. One embodiment of the present invention is a family of video encoders and decoders (“codecs”) that can be incorporated within cameras, cell phones, and other electronic devices for encoding raw video signals into compressed video signals for storage and transmission, and for decoding compressed video signals into raw video signals for output to display devices. A highly parallel, pipelined, special-purpose integrated-circuit implementation of a particular video codec provides, according to embodiments of the present invention, a cost-effective video-codec computational engine that provides an extremely large computational bandwidth with relatively low power consumption and low-latency for decompression and compression of compressed video signals and raw video signals, respectively. |
| US08660192B2 |
Picture encoding method and picture decoding method
A picture encoding method of the present invention is a picture encoding method of predictively encoding an input picture with reference to pictures stored in a picture buffer, decoding the encoded input picture, judging whether or not the decoded picture is a picture for reference and whether or not the decoded picture is a picture for output which needs to be stored until its display time, and storing, in the picture buffer, the picture for reference and the picture for output based on the determination result. |
| US08660191B2 |
Software video decoder display buffer underflow prediction and recovery
Prediction of and recovery from display buffer underflow are described. A first time delay for displaying a first group of one or more frames of a video picture stream located in an output frame buffer is calculated. A second time delay for displaying a second group of one or more frames in the picture stream is calculated. The second group directly follows the first group in the output buffer and is currently decoded by a decoder, but not yet deposited into the output frame buffer. A third time delay for decoding a third group of one or more frames in the picture stream is calculated. The third group directly follows the second group and is not yet decoded by the decoder. The decoder switches to or remains in a fast decoding mode if the sum of the first and second time delays is less than the third time delay. |
| US08660190B2 |
Image processing apparatus implemented in IC chip
When a reverse reproduction is instructed, an MPEG video stream is once decoded and is converted to image video signals by a first display circuit. Thereafter, the image video signals are again recoded by an image input circuit and an MPEG video encoder, so as to be overwritten in a storage area of a hard disk. An MPEG video decoder reads out this recoded data sequence in a reverse time-series manner and decodes it successively. Then the thus decoded data are converted to image video signals by a second display circuit, so as to be displayed on a display. |
| US08660189B2 |
Generation apparatus generating a stream including a flag, mode information and an encoded picture, and a generation method performing the same
A moving image encoding method of encoding a moving image while switching between variable-length encoding schemes. In this method, a continuous unit to be continuously reproduced is determined (S5201), a stream is generated by encoding the moving image without switching between variable-length encoding schemes in the continuous unit (S5202), and management information is generated that includes a first flag information indicating that a variable-length encoding scheme is fixed in the continuous unit (S5204, and S5205). |
| US08660188B2 |
Variable length coding apparatus, and method and integrated circuit of the same
An image coding apparatus reduces arithmetic processing and includes an intermediate stream generating unit generating an intermediate stream, by generating an intermediate code from image data, coding header information among coding conditions for image coding, and synthesizing the generated intermediate code and the coded header information. The image coding apparatus also includes a coded stream generating unit outputting a coded stream, by performing variable length coding on the intermediate code included in the intermediate stream to generate coded image data, and synthesizing the generated coded image data and the header information, and includes a parameter information extracting unit extracting, from among the coding conditions, parameter information required for performing variable length coding on the intermediate code. The coded stream generating unit generates the coded image data by performing the variable length coding on the intermediate code using the parameter information extracted by the parameter information extracting unit. |
| US08660187B2 |
Method for treating digital data
The disclosure relates to a method for treating digital data, including a quantification step of calculating, in a space of dimension d, at least one vector index I1 for at least some of the vectors 1, the vectors 1 forming input data descriptors. The method is characterized in that the vector index I1 corresponds to the number of vectors preceding the vector 1 in the reverse lexicographic order, without involving a step of determining all of the vectors. |
| US08660186B2 |
Video frame encoding transmitter, encoding method thereof and operating method of video signal transmitting and receiving system including the same
An encoding method comprises receiving a plurality of video frames including first and third reference frames (F1, F3) and a target frame (F2); generating a temporary frame based on assumed constant-velocity motion between the first and third reference frames (F1, F3); comparing the temporary frame target frame to detect nonlinear motion (errors in the temporary frame) between the first and third reference frames and to produce motion vector information between the target frame and at least one of the reference frames according to the comparison; and encoding the reference frames and the motion vector information. |
| US08660185B2 |
Picture decoding apparatus and method for decoding a picture using motion compensation
A picture coding apparatus includes a motion vector estimation unit and a motion compensation unit. The motion vector estimation unit selects one method for deriving a motion vector of a block to be motion-compensated, depending on a motion vector of a block located in a corner of a decoded macroblock from among a group of blocks that compose the decoded macroblock corresponding to the current macroblock to be coded and determines the motion vector derived by the selected method for derivation to be a candidate of the motion vector of the current macroblock to be coded. The motion compensation unit generates a predictive image of the block to be motion-compensated based on the estimated motion vector. |
| US08660182B2 |
MPEG motion estimation based on dual start points
A more efficient motion estimation process that utilizes a plurality of predicted start points (e.g., two predicted start points) based on blocks adjacent to the current block together with other improvements and requires minimal system resources (e.g., hardware resources and CPU processing) in its hardware implementation is provided. More particularly, the motion estimation technique in accordance with the present invention performs a plurality of coarse searches (either sequentially or in parallel) using a plurality of predicted start positions followed by a fine search. |
| US08660181B2 |
Method of compressing video data and a media player for implementing the method
A method of receiving video data comprising the steps of: receiving at least one chunk of video data comprising a number of sequential key video frames where the number is at least two and, constructing at least one delta frame between a nearest preceding key frame and a nearest subsequent key frame from data contained in the either or each of the nearest preceding and subsequent frames. |
| US08660178B2 |
Method and system for multi-layer rate control for a multi-codec system
A video transmitter comprising a plurality of encoders may be operable to determine, for a transport stream, a constant overall number of bits per time interval corresponding to a frame in the transport stream. For each time interval corresponding to a start and an end of encoding of each of frames using each of the encoders, the video transmitter may allocate a target number of bits to each of the frames to achieve the constant overall number of bits. The allocation of the target number of bits may be based on frame types of the frames and CODEC types of the encoders, where the allocated target number of bits for each of the frames meets buffer overflow/underflow requirements associated with each of the encoders. A quantization parameter (QP) may be calculated and adjusted at each of one or more layers for generating an actual number of bits during encoding. |
| US08660175B2 |
Selective display of interpolated or extrapolated video units
Display of an interpolated or extrapolated video unit, such as a video frame, may be selectively enabled based on a quality analysis. This disclosure also describes selection of reference video frames to be used for interpolation or extrapolation. A decoder may apply a quality-focused mode to select a reference frame based on quality criteria. The quality criteria may indicate a level of quality likely to be produced by a reference frame. If no reference frames satisfy the quality criteria, interpolation or extrapolation may be disabled. A decoder may apply a resource-focused frame interpolation mode to enable or disable frame interpolation or extrapolation for some frames based on power and quality considerations. In one mode, frame interpolation may be disabled to conserve power when reference frames are not likely to produce satisfactory quality. In another mode, the threshold may be adjustable as a function of power saving requirements of the decoder. |
| US08660173B2 |
Video reference frame retrieval
A video data processing apparatus is provided comprising processing circuitry for performing video processing operations requiring access to video reference frames, and a memory management unit configured to translate virtual addresses into physical addresses. Translation circuitry is provided responsive to a memory access request for reference frame pixel data issued by the processing circuitry to perform a translation process on video reference frame information such that the set of input values for at least one hash function in the memory management unit comprises video reference frame identifier bits contained with the video reference frame information. This approach has been found to reduce the frequency of aliasing in the memory management unit when retrieving video reference frames. |
| US08660172B2 |
Pulse signal receiving apparatus and transmission system
A pulse signal receiving apparatus may include a reception unit that receives a pulse signal modulated by a double-edge modulation scheme, a measurement unit that measures an edge interval of the pulse signal, which has been received by the reception unit, a detection unit that detects a deviation of the edge interval, which has been measured by the measurement unit, for a pulse-width reference value indicating a reference value of a width of the pulse signal, a correction unit that corrects the edge interval, which is to be measured next by the measurement unit, by using the deviation, which has been detected by the detection unit, and a decoding unit that decodes the pulse signal, of which the edge interval has been corrected by the correction unit, so as to output a digital signal. |
| US08660165B2 |
System and method for detecting spread spectrum signals in a wireless environment
An apparatus for detecting a spread spectrum signal in a wireless signal environment includes at least one antenna for receiving spread spectrum signals, such as UMTS signals, from a signal source in the wireless signal environment. In one embodiment, a detection circuit is configured for correlating a code in signal received by the apparatus with a set of possible codes for spread spectrum signals in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal. In another embodiment, a detection circuit is configured for obtaining at least one reference frame of data from a received signal. The detection circuit is further operable for correlating a segment of the reference frame with a repeated segment of at least one subsequent frame of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal. A repeater might incorporate such an apparatus wherein the variable gain of the repeater is adjusted based upon the correlation and the detection of a spread spectrum signal. |
| US08660157B2 |
Means for improved implementation of laser diodes and laser diode arrays
A laser diode system is disclosed in which a substrate made of a semiconductor material containing laser diodes is bonded to a substrate made from a metallic material without the use of any intermediate joining or soldering layers between the two substrates. The metal substrate acts as an electrode and/or heat sink for the laser diode semiconductor substrate. Microchannels may be included in the metal substrate to allow coolant fluid to pass through, thereby facilitating the removal of heat from the laser diode substrate. A second metal substrate including cooling fluid microchannels may also be bonded to the laser diode substrate to provide greater heat transfer from the laser diode substrate. The bonding of the substrates at low temperatures, combined with modifications to the substrate surfaces, enables the realization of a low electrical resistance interface and a low thermal resistance interface between the bonded substrates. |
| US08660150B2 |
High quality timing distribution over DSL without NTR support
A method and system in which a Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) that is part of a DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) system is able to provide synchronous services to end user equipment connected to the DSLAM via a DSL link and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). A sniffer device having direct or indirect access to a Primary Reference Clock (PRC) of the DSL system calculates the phase difference between the PRC and the DSLAM's Local Timing Reference (LTR). The phase difference is sent to the CPEs requiring accurate reference clock frequency. The CPEs are able to derive the PRC from the phase difference information transmitted by the sniffer device thus enabling synchronous end user equipment operation. |
| US08660149B2 |
Data communication network system
A data communication network system which enables an intended unit to determine a start point for a transmission schedule in communication is provided.In a data communication network system in which a plurality of electronic control units perform network communication through a communication line based on a time triggered communication protocol, a control section for previously putting the communication line in a communication inhibited state, and canceling the communication inhibited state at a predetermined time is included, and a predetermined one unit among the plurality of electronic control units transmits a message for synchronization, in a communication time, with the other units thereamong immediately after the communication inhibited state is cancelled. |
| US08660145B2 |
MAC-HS processing in an HSDPA-compatible receiver in a 3G wireless network
In one embodiment, a method for processing a series of MAC-hs protocol data units (PDUs) in an HSDPA-compatible (high-speed downlink packet access) receiver in a 3G wireless communication network, the method including: (a) receiving a MAC-hs PDU having: (i) a queue identification (QID), (ii) a transmission sequence number (TSN), and (iii) one or more MAC-d PDUs, (b) then disassembling the MAC-hs PDU (c) then distributing the one or more MAC-d PDU to a reordering queue indicated by the QID, and (d) then performing reordering processing for the corresponding reordering queue based on the TSN. Steps (a) and (b) are performed in a physical layer of the receiver. Steps (c) and (d) are performed in a data-link layer of the receiver. |
| US08660144B2 |
Multi-receiver frame aggregation
When using a multi-receiver aggregation protocol in a wireless communications network, a sub-header may be used to identify groups of data units that share common parameters, such as destination addresses, acknowledgement modes, modulation/coding rates, lengths, etc. The layout of this sub-header may permit each receiving device to identify the portion of the aggregated payload that is addressed to that receiving device, where that portion is located, how long that portion is, and how to demodulate it. In addition, by controlling the selection and timing of various acknowledgement modes used by the mobile stations, a base station may improve overall network efficiency and throughput. |
| US08660138B2 |
Methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to allocate ports to vectored digital subscriber line (DSL) groups
Example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to allocate ports to vectored digital subscriber line (DSL) groups are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes obtaining data representative of a statistical distribution of service penetration for a non-vectored DSL service, estimating an expected vectored DSL group size from the data, and configuring a DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM) to reserve a number of ports of the DSLAM for a vectored DSL group based on the expected vectored DSL group size. |
| US08660135B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining if a mobile terminal is the intended recipient for information provided via a control channel
A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided that may reduce the number of false accepts by reducing the instances in which a mobile terminal mistakenly determines that control channel information is intended for the mobile terminal. The method, apparatus and computer program product may determine whether control channel information appears to be directed to a respective mobile terminal, determine whether one or more filler bits have respective predefined values and thereafter identify the information to not be intended for the respective mobile terminal in an instance in which the filler bits fail to have the predefined values. In an instance in which the control channel information provides an uplink grant, the method, apparatus and computer program product may cause data to be transmitted via an uplink established per the uplink grant only if the filler bits have the predefined values. |
| US08660133B2 |
Techniques to utilize queues for network interface devices
In general, in one aspect, included are descriptions of providing a single network interface from physical network interfaces that provides a number of receive queues equal to the sum of the number of receive queues provided by each of the physical network interfaces. |
| US08660131B2 |
Storage unit for communication system node, method for data storage and communication system node
The present invention relates to a data storage unit for a communication system node, a method for data storage and a communication system node. More particularly it relates to storing buffering data and control data in a unit located outside of a Communication Controller on system or host-controller level, wherein a time-triggered protocol runs on the node. By locating control and buffering related data, including format and behavior, outside the Communication Controller it becomes far more flexible, extendable, and re-configurable as data buffering related restrictions, e.g. buffer sizes and number of buffers, are moved from Communication Controller level to system level. |
| US08660120B2 |
Packet forwarding apparatus and method
A network device includes at least one source physical port configured to be coupled to a network, a plurality of egress ports, and a packet processor. The packet processor includes a processing stage configured to implement a logical port assignment mechanism to assign source logical port information to a data packet received via one of the at least one source physical port, wherein the source logical port information is based on characteristics of the data packet, wherein the source logical port information corresponds to a logical entity that is different from any source physical port, and a forwarding engine to determine one or more egress ports for forwarding the data packet based on at least the assigned source logical port information. |
| US08660119B2 |
Communication system capable of transmitting packet having sub-packets
A communication system is provided. The communication system includes a first communication device having a first processing unit, and a second communication device having a second processing unit. When packetizing a packet, the first processing unit is configured to, depending on a size of information to be transmitted from the first communication device to the second communication device in the packet selectively, prepare a first sub-packet including a first sub-packet information of a first predetermined size and a first sub-packet error averting information into a first predetermined range of a first payload space of the packet, and to deliver the packet having the first sub-packet to the second processing unit. |
| US08660117B2 |
Packet switching device and local communication network with such a packet switching device
A packet switching device comprises a network interface configured to send and receive data packets via a communication network, a plurality of string interfaces configured to transmit and receive data packets to/from a plurality of participants and a switching unit connected to the network interface and to the plurality of string interfaces. The a switching unit comprises a control unit configured to control a data throughput. The control unit comprises an interface association table which determines that data packets received via the network interface are mandatorily outputted via the string interfaces and the data packets received via the string interfaces are mandatorily outputted via the network interface. |
| US08660116B2 |
Private multimedia contents broadcasting equipment which uses ISM radio frequency band or 5GHzUNII radio frequency band, private multimedia contents broadcasting system and method thereof
An individual multimedia contents broadcasting equipment is disclosed, which includes an individual broadcast process unit which provides a private IP address through a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to a receiving terminal, which requests a connection, and makes a connection of the receiving terminal through a radio network, and transmits a broadcast content to the connected receiving terminal; and a radio communication unit which forms a radio network and communicates data with the connected receiving terminal through the radio network. |
| US08660112B2 |
Adaptive router architecture using logical internal addressing
A method and a related router comprising a network interface, a logical addressing module and a forwarding element card. The logical addressing module is capable of maintaining at least one local table associating at least one card of the router with at least a portion of at least one service provided by the router. The forwarding element card is capable of receiving a packet stream on the network interface, detecting that the packet stream requires further treatment from a further card of the router and, upon detection, consulting the local table to find an identifier, to which the further card is linked, based on information found in the packet stream before forwarding the packet stream toward the further card. |
| US08660108B2 |
Synchronizing timeslots in a wireless communication protocol
A method for synchronizing communications in wireless mesh network operating in a process control environment and including a plurality of network devices includes defining a communication timeslot of a predetermined duration, wherein each of the plurality of network devices transmits or receives data only within the communication timeslot generating a network schedule including at least one superframe having repeating superframe cycles each having a number of communication timeslots sequentially numbered relative to a beginning of each cycle, the number of communication timeslots defining a length of the at least one superframe, maintaining an absolute slot number indicative of a number of communication timeslots scheduled since a start time of the wireless network, synchronizing each of the plurality of network devices with respect to a timing of an individual communication timeslot, and synchronizing each of the plurality of network devices with the network schedule based on the absolute slot number. |
| US08660104B2 |
Method and system for communicating information in a multi-antenna system
Certain aspects of a method and system for communicating information in a multi-antenna system are disclosed. Aspects of one method may include receiving at least one narrowband RF signal via at least one of a plurality of receiving antennas that is unused within a wideband diversity radio frequency (RF) receiver comprising a plurality of receiving antennas, when the wideband diversity RF receiver is operating in a narrowband receiving mode. |
| US08660103B2 |
Wireless routing device
The disclosure discloses a wireless routing device. The device include: a wideband wireless access module configured to implement wireless access of wideband data; an embedded operating system software module, embedded in the wideband wireless access module, configured to enable a user to access a wireless local area network (WLAN), and to forward the wideband data received from the wideband wireless access module to a WLAN communication module; the wireless local area network communication module is configured to receive the wideband data and to enable users in the WLAN to share the wideband data; and a power supply module configured to supply power for the wideband wireless access module and the wireless local area network communication module. The disclosure adequately utilizes the hardware resources of the wideband wireless access module, and saves a hardware of an independent Access Point (AP) Router processor module so that the hardware structure is simpler, the power consumption is lower during the normal standby and operation, and meanwhile the lasting time of the battery mode is longer, and the portability and the mobility of the wireless route product are improved. |
| US08660102B2 |
Method of exploitation of co-channel interference, apparatus and computer program
A method of canceling co-channel interference of a signal received by a mobile station having at least two receiving antennas, in a cellular OFDMA-TDD communication network having a serving base station and at least one interfering base station. The signal is a result of a serving signal transmitted by the serving base station which is distorted by at least one interfering signal transmitted by the interfering base station. The serving signal is transmitted with a first modulation scheme and the interfering signal is transmitted with a second modulation scheme. The method includes: a channel estimation phase delivering channel estimations of the serving signal and the interfering signal; and a MIMO detecting phase, detecting symbols by using the channel estimations of the serving signal and the interfering signal. The MIMO detection phase is realized using a non-linear method which uses the first modulation scheme and the second modulation scheme. |
| US08660090B2 |
Communication control apparatus, identifier allocation method for the communication control apparatus, and mobile communication system
A first base station forms a cell group including a first cell and a second cell partly overlapping with the first cell. A second base station forms a cell group including a third cell and a fourth cell partly overlapping with the third cell. An allocator of a communication control apparatus specifies an identifier for wireless communication that differs from any of wireless communication identifiers already allocated to mobile devices existing within either the first or second cell forming the cell group, and allocates the specified wireless communication identifier to a mobile device existing in the cell group constituted by the first and second cells. A transmitter transmits the identifier allocated by the allocator to the mobile device via the first base station. |
| US08660089B2 |
Method for reselection among home base station cells
The present invention discloses a method for reselection among home base station cells, which comprises the following steps that: a user terminal camps on a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) cell (S101); when a closed subscriber group cell on a frequency is found meeting a reselection condition, the frequencies of the source closed subscriber group cell and a target closed subscriber group cell are assigned with the same frequency priority (S102), and the user terminal performs the cell reselection (S103). With a modified reselection policy, the present invention can implement effective reselection, significantly improve the signal quality of the user terminal, and solve the problem that the priorities of CSG cells cannot be guaranteed to be the same when a user terminal carries out reselection based on the priority-based reselection method by assigning the frequencies of the accessible CSG cells with the same priority. |
| US08660088B2 |
Method and arrangement in a telecommunication system
The invention relates to a method and arrangement in a serving Radio Network Controller, SRNC for controlling inter RAT handover to E-UTRAN of a UE with E-UTRA capability operating in a serving network comprising said SRNC, wherein the SRNC receives, from a Serving GPRS Support Node, SGSN, security keys generated at authentication and key agreement, AKA, upon attachment of the UE to the serving network; characterized in the steps of —determining (202) which type of UICC the UE is equipped with by analyzing the security keys received from SGSN; —using the knowledge of which type of UICC the UE is equipped with to base a decision (204) on whether to allow handover of the UE to E-UTRAN. |
| US08660086B2 |
Method and apparatus for admission control and forced handover in a multi-layer network configuration
In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, a method comprises collecting measurements from each of a plurality of mobile stations in a serving layer upon deciding that the serving layer is overloaded; computing a cost function for each of the mobile stations based on the collected measurements; selecting at least one mobile station from the plurality of the mobile station in the serving layer based on the cost function for a forced handover from the serving layer to an under-loaded layer; and initiating the forced handover from the serving layer to the under-loaded layer via a signaling message to the selected at least one mobile station. |
| US08660084B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting reference signal in wireless communication system
A method and apparatus of transmitting a reference signal in a wireless communication system is provided. Demodulation Reference Signals (DMRSs) for a plurality of respective antennas is generated. The DMRSs are mapped to a resource region, and transmitted through the respective corresponding antennas. The DMRSs are multiplexed using at least one of frequency division multiplexing (FDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), and time division multiplexing (TDM) methods and mapped in the resource region. Also, a position of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol to which the DMRSs are mapped in the resource region is an OFDM symbol to which a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a legacy cell-specific reference signal (CRS) are not mapped. |
| US08660078B2 |
Data radio bearer (DRB) enhancements for small data transmissions apparatus, systems, and methods
A method of transmitting data packets with a wireless communication device includes requesting a preconfigured data radio bearer (DRB) from a base station during a connection request; receiving the preconfigured DRB from the base station in response to the request; and providing security configuration information to a network control entity that provides the security configuration information to the base station. |
| US08660076B2 |
Apparatus and method of transmitting scheduling request in wireless communication system
A method and apparatus of transmitting a scheduling request to request uplink resources are provided. A user equipment receives a scheduling request (SR) configuration and a transmission indicator from a first serving cell. The transmission indicator enables the simultaneous transmission of the SR and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The user equipment transmits a SR on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) in a subframe to the first serving cell and transmits uplink data on the PUSCH in the subframe to a second serving cell. |
| US08660075B2 |
Congestion notification in private VLANs
One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch. During operation, in a network with a private VLAN configuration, the switch allows a congestion notification message with an isolated virtual local area network identifier (VLAN ID) to be forwarded via an isolated VLAN port. |
| US08660068B2 |
Method for sending status information in mobile telecommunications system and receiver of mobile telecommunications
Discussed is a method of sending status information (STATUS PDU) in which a receiving side reports a data received state to a transmitting side in a mobile telecommunication system. A receiving side RLC entity considers an available radio resource to construct a status PDU fit to the size of the radio resource and then sends the constructed status PDU to a transmitting side RLC entity, thereby avoiding a deadlock situation of RLC protocols. |
| US08660066B2 |
Method for constructing RACH preamble and method for transmitting RACH signal
A wireless communication system is disclosed. A method for constructing a RACH preamble according to a cell radius of a base station (BS) irrespective of a guard time (GT) and a method for allocating the RACH preamble are disclosed. A method for constructing a preamble of a random access channel (RACH) includes acquiring time-length information of a predetermined cyclic prefix (CP) for each cell radius of a base station (BS), acquiring sequence time-length information of a single sequence or a repeated sequence, and constructing the preamble using the predetermined CP time-length information and the sequence time-length information, irrespective of a time length of a guard time (GT). |
| US08660065B2 |
Radio network and a method for operating a radio network
A radio network allows a flexible distribution of data flows between a mobile station and a mobility anchor of the network over different interfaces. Data flows are routed between at least one mobile station and a mobility anchor of the network. The mobile station can connect to the mobility anchor using multiple network interfaces simultaneously, the radio network including an application function capable of processing and/or analyzing information about routing policies contained in a signalling received from a mobile station, which is able to push or signal the processed and/or analyzed information from the application function to an entity that can enforce routing policies to forward the data flows to one or more selected interfaces and which is able to signal routing policies received from the network to the mobile station. Further, an according method for operating a radio network, especially for routing data flows within the network, is disclosed. |
| US08660064B2 |
Method for transmitting and receiving paging information in a broadband wireless access system
A method for efficiently transmitting and receiving a paging message and system information from and in a mobile station of a broadband wireless access system is disclosed. A method for receiving a paging message in a mobile station comprise receiving paging information from a serving base station, the paging information including paging sub group identifier (paging sub_group ID) indicating a paging sub group to which the mobile station belongs; and receiving the paging message for a predetermined paging interval of the paging sub group, wherein the paging sub group is determined separately from a paging group and a geographical location determining the paging group, and is maintained while the mobile station is being operated in an idle mode. |
| US08660063B2 |
Method and apparatus for cell detection in a wireless communication system
A method (300) and apparatus (200) for cell detection in a wireless communication system may include acquiring (315), using a transceiver, synchronization to first radio frame boundaries of a first physical channel from a cell. The method may include attempting to decode frames (320) of a second physical channel that has second radio frame boundaries that are a multiple of the first radio frame boundaries. The method may include performing (325) a cyclic redundancy check on the frames of the second physical channel. The method may include extracting (345) predictable information from a payload from frames that fail the cyclic redundancy check. |
| US08660062B2 |
Methods and apparatus for quality of service-based uplink polling schemes
A method for allocating polling bandwidth may include generating polling tokens corresponding to connections maintained by a base station. The polling tokens may be generated at configurable time intervals. The method may also include assigning priorities to the polling tokens. The priority of a polling token may depend on a scheduling type of a corresponding connection. The method may also include allocating polling bandwidth to the connections that correspond to the highest priority polling tokens when uplink bandwidth is available to allocate for polling. |
| US08660054B2 |
Method for supporting distribution of warning messages
A method for supporting distribution of warning messages, is characterized in that an NGN (Next Generation Network) infrastructure is employed for distribution, wherein the infrastructure includes a plurality of network elements including endpoints, wherein a hierarchical architecture is defined for the network elements, wherein groups of network elements including endpoints with specific characteristics are defined, wherein each of the network elements provides its group membership information to at least one higher-tier network element, and wherein at least one group warning controller is provided that, upon receiving a request from a source node, generates a warning message for one or more target groups and forwards the warning message to lower-tier network elements of the respective target group or groups towards endpoints. |
| US08660052B2 |
Method, base station and user equipment for transmitting and acquiring control information in broadcast multicast system
Various embodiments provide a method for transmitting control information in a broadcast multicast system, the method includes: broadcasting identifier information of N Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) areas to which the current cell belongs through a system message wherein N is an integer with N>1; transmitting indication information of control information of the N MBSFN areas through a system message or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message; and transmitting the control information of the N MBSFN areas respectively through a Multicast Control Channel (MCCH) of the current cell according to the indication information. Various embodiments can guarantee normal working of a UE when the UE is located in an area overlapped by multiple MBSFN areas. |
| US08660051B2 |
Relay apparatus, communication apparatus, communication system, and frame transfer method
A relay apparatus converts a received multicast frame to a unicast frame, sets a relatively higher communication rate than a specified communication rate, and forwards the converted unicast frame to a communication apparatus at the relatively higher communication rate. The relay apparatus attaches conversion information, which represents execution of the conversion, to the unicast frame. On reception of a unicast frame from the relay apparatus, the communication apparatus determines whether the received unicast frame is the converted unicast frame from the multicast frame, based on the conversion information attached by the relay apparatus. Upon determination that the received unicast frame is the converted unicast frame, the communication apparatus reconverts the received unicast frame to a multicast frame and transfers the reconverted multicast frame to an application installed in the communication apparatus to utilize a multicast frame. This arrangement enables the communication apparatus to effectively utilize a received unicast frame that is a converted unicast frame from a multicast frame. |
| US08660047B2 |
Method of broadcasting data packets in a network of mobile nodes and associated terminal
Disclosed is a periodic broadcasting of data packets in an ad hoc network formed by a plurality of mobile nodes that can move along traffic lanes forming junctions and can be located. A data packet is broadcast by a broadcaster node elected from a set of candidate nodes at each junction. The broadcaster node is elected in a decentralized manner at each candidate node by comparing the estimated travel time to reach the center of the junction with a particular reference time period between two successive broadcasts. |
| US08660043B2 |
Communication apparatus to support multiband communication
A communication apparatus to support multiband communication is provided. The communication apparatus may be applicable to, for example, a duplexer module for the multiband communication. The communication apparatus may be manufactured to be small and light by simplifying a circuit structure of the duplexer module. |
| US08660041B2 |
Method and apparatus for time division duplex communication
Embodiments provide a method and apparatus for performing time division duplex communication, such as may be performed over a wireless communications network. In the embodiments a first circuit pathway is used to transmit a first radio frequency signal in a transmission mode and a second circuit pathway is used to receive a second radio frequency signal in a reception mode. In the reception mode, the first radio frequency signal is switched to an alternate circuit pathway. This may be performed by a radio frequency integrated circuit or by other control circuitry. Switching to an alternate circuit pathway reduces leakage of the first radio frequency signal into the second radio frequency signal. |
| US08660038B1 |
Previewing voicemails using mobile devices
Previewing voice over internet protocol (VoIP) voicemail is disclosed. A request is sent for VoIP voicemail available to preview using a data channel associated with a cellular phone system. Information of voicemail available to preview and one preview portion for each of the voicemail available to preview are received. Information of voicemail available to preview is displayed. A selection of one of the available voicemails is received. A preview portion of the voicemail corresponding to the selection of one of the available voicemails is played. |
| US08660035B2 |
Wireless relay network media access control layer control plane system and method
A method and system for using a communication network having a relay node to provide wireless communication with a mobile station. A ranging region is established with the mobile station in which the establishment of the ranging region includes the transmission of control information corresponding to the relay node. The mobile station is allowed to enter the communication network. The relay node is used to wirelessly communicate with the mobile station in at least one of the uplink and downlink directions. |
| US08660033B2 |
Apparatus and method for providing service in service zone
A method for providing a service in a service zone comprises: receiving, from an access point, a service set identifier (SSID) or a basic service set identifier (BSSID); when the SSID or the BSSID has been received for a preset time, transmitting, to a server, a message requesting for service identification information corresponding to the received SSID or BSSID; receiving, from the server, the service identification information; and creating an object based on the received service identification information. |
| US08660031B2 |
Communication device, control method therefor, and program
Even when a plurality of communication parameter providing devices exist, a communication parameter setting process is enabled.When a plurality of communication parameter providing devices exist, one of the communication parameter providing devices is determined. For example, all the communication parameter providing devices are caused to stop the providing process. Alternatively, a user is allowed to select a communication parameter providing device. Alternatively, a communication parameter providing device is determined in accordance with a predetermined rule. |
| US08660030B2 |
High performance and low complexity scheduling method for adaptive resource usage in OFDMA wireless relay networks
A method for scheduling transmissions in wireless network includes receiving information ranging from conventional data to real-time streaming applications into a basestation of an OFDMA wireless relay network and scheduling transmission of the information from the basestation by influencing adaptive frame segmentation and access hop reuse in the transmission of the information for achieving higher transmission flow of the information, Where the scheduling is formulated as an integer program, the scheduling includes solving a linear programming relaxation of the integer program and rounding to integral allocations with allocation to at least one of a subset of wireless users and subsets of relays in the network for obtaining frame segmentation and reuse. Where the scheduling is formulated by following a bisection approach to guide adaptation of the frame segmentation, the scheduling determines a subset of users with maximum flow per unit resource for a given frame segmentation and the resulting flow from current and previous scheduling being used to guide adaptation of frame segmentation towards convergence. |
| US08660029B2 |
Method for designating a dual region
A method for designating a dual region according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: enabling a terminal which is in communication with a first network to calculate a channel state threshold value corresponding to data; comparing the channel state value of the first network and the channel state value of the second network, acquired using a pilot signal of a second network, with the channel state threshold value; calculating a network evaluation score of the first network; comparing the network evaluation score of the first network with a network evaluation threshold value for designating a dual region, if the channel state value of the first network and the channel state value of the second network are larger than the channel state threshold value; and determining whether to designate a dual region in accordance with the result of the comparison using the network evaluation threshold value. The method of the present invention can reduce service cutoff or delay time during inter-radio access. |
| US08660024B2 |
Estimation method to evaluate a system reliability of a cloud computing network
An estimation method applies to evaluating a system reliability of a cloud computing network, and the steps thereof includes: providing a network model which sends data through at least two path between a cloud and a client; inputting a demand, a time constraint and a maintenance budget into the network model; providing plural capacity vectors corresponding to different states of the flow of the cloud computing network; selecting a first set of vectors from the capacity vectors for satisfying the demand and the time constraint; deleting the capacity vectors which do not meet the maintenance budget from the first set of vectors to form a second set of vectors; and computing an upper boundary of the system reliability based on the first set of vectors and an lower boundary of the system reliability based on the second set of vectors. |
| US08660016B2 |
Testing and monitoring voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service using instrumented test streams to determine the quality, capacity and utilization of the VoIP network
The present invention enables testing of a VoIP network using various instrumented test streams. The testing can determine the quality of the transmission network before an internet VoIP service is put into production. The testing also enables regular diagnostic audits of a VoIP network to maintain the quality of the VoIP network. The testing enable measurement of, for example jitter, packet loss and delay and allow characteristics of the VoIP network to be obtained. In addition, the present invention can to determine the capacity and utilization of a VoIP transport network. Based on the measurements and characteristics of the VoIP network the present invention can control routing of a call on the VoIP network or can prevent a call from being made. The present invention also enables dynamic switching of CODECS during a session to enhance the performance of the VoIP network. |
| US08660011B2 |
Intelligent jack providing perceptible indication of network connectivity
An intelligent network jack configured for connection to a communication network includes a housing, an input connector, an output connector adapted for coupling to the communication network, processing circuitry arranged within the housing and operative to perform a test for connectivity between the network jack and the communication network, and a display for presenting a result of the connectivity test in a user-perceptible manner. In one embodiment, the network jack comprises an in-wall network jack configured for installation with the housing primarily on one side of a wall and with at least the input connector and display accessible on an opposite side of the wall. In another embodiment, the network jack comprises an adaptor network jack with the output connector configured for insertion into an input connector of an existing conventional in-wall network jack. |
| US08660010B2 |
System and method for second order multi-layer traffic grooming for optical network optimization
A method includes forming a set of direct connections (including a high-speed connection and a low-speed connection) between an origination central office (OCO) and a destination central office (DCO). The method includes forming a spoke connection between the OCO and a hub node and forming a connection between the hub node and the DCO. The spoke connection is formed to carry first residual demand traffic from the OCO to the hub node. The connection is formed to carry the first residual demand traffic and second residual demand traffic (received at the hub node from other OCOs) from the hub node to the DCO. The method includes determining a first estimated cost (of forming the set of direct connections) and a second estimated cost (of forming the spoke connection and the connection). The method includes determining whether the first estimated cost exceeds the second estimated cost. |
| US08660007B2 |
Performing rate limiting within a network
Methods and systems for performing rate limiting are provided. According to one embodiment, information is maintained regarding a set of virtual networks into which a network has been logically divided. Each virtual network comprises a loop-free switching path, reverse path learning network and provides a path through the network between a first and second component thereby collectively providing multiple paths between the first and second components. Packets are received by the first component that are associated with a flow sent by a source component. The packets are forwarded by the first component to the second component along a particular path defined by the set of virtual networks. A congestion metric is determined for the particular path and based thereon it is determined whether a congestion threshold has been reached. Responsive to an affirmative determination, the source component is instructed to limit the rate at which the packets are sent. |
| US08660005B2 |
Load balancing hash computation for network switches
Techniques to load balance traffic in a network device or switch include a network device or switch having a first interface to receive a data unit or packet, a second interface to transmit the packet, and a mapper to map between virtual ports and physical ports. The network device includes hash value generator configured to generate a hash value based on information included in the packet and based on at least one virtual port. The hash value may be optionally modified to load balance egress traffic of the network device. The network device selects a particular virtual port for egress of the packet, such as by determining an index into an egress table based on the (modified) hash value. The packet is transmitted from the network device using a physical port mapped to the particular virtual port. |
| US08660004B2 |
Systems and methods for multicast admission control
Systems and methods for multicast admission control are provided. In one embodiment, a node comprises: a first interface configured to receive a multicast channel access request, from a subscriber interface, including an address for a channel; a memory including a subscriber profile and VLAN configuration data for the network; a processor that identifies a first VLAN corresponding to the address from the VLAN configuration data and determines whether the subscriber is authorized to receive the channel via the first VLAN based on access policy designated by the subscriber profile; wherein the processor further determines whether granting access to the channel violates admission control policy based on predefined bandwidth requirements and/or a stream count limit for the first VLAN; wherein when the subscriber interface is authorized to receive the channel and when granting access to the channel does not violate admission control policy, the processor routes the channel to the subscriber. |
| US08660002B1 |
Managing media resources utilizing session initiation protocol
Provides management of the communication of media communicated to a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) enabled multiplexer in a media distribution network. A SIP enabled multiplexer receives information from one or more components of the media distribution network to identify the status of the media distribution networks. Utilizing the information, a level of communication that media is to be communicated from a media source is determined. The level of communication is maintained until a request is received to communicate media from the media source. The request is compared to the determined level of communication at which the media is to be communicated. The media source receives an indication as to the level of communication that media is to be communicated. As a result, the media source communicates a request to communicate media at the indicated level of communication. |
| US08659998B2 |
IO latency reduction
An application and audio driver communicate audio data via a ring buffer using a system interface. An application reads or writes data from the buffer in a unit of data. Positions within the buffer correspond to a particular time. To write data to the buffer at a particular position in the buffer that corresponds to a particular time, an application is awaken a period of time (“client-side offset”) before the driver reaches the position. The period of time is computed based on a variety factors. One factor is the amount of time the system interface assumes an application uses to write the unit of data to the buffer. For operations that entail the application inserting data into the buffer, the application may specify a weight value to apply to the factor to reduce it and the latency period. |
| US08659994B2 |
Method and system for communicating multicast traffic over protected paths
In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method is provided for communicating multicast traffic. The method may include in response to receipt of multicast control traffic at a network element to be communicated to a protection switching group, communicating the multicast control traffic to each of a working path and a protection path of the protection switching group. The method may also include in response to receipt of multicast control traffic via either of the working path and the protection path, processing the multicast control traffic as if the multicast control traffic was received via both the working path and the protection path. |
| US08659993B2 |
Priority domains for protection switching processes
Embodiments of the invention describe apparatus, systems and methods for creating a protection switching domain having a control virtual local area network (vlan), a first set of high priority protected data vlans, and a second set of lower priority protected data vlans. When a fault is detected at a ring network, indicating a failed link between adjacent nodes, said fault is communicated to a master node of the ring network via the control vlan.Embodiments of the invention allow a user to specify a priority for each of its domains on a given set of ring ports. The higher priority protected data domains are serviced to completion prior to servicing the lower priority protected data domains, ensuring that data traffic convergence time does not increase across these vlans. |
| US08659991B2 |
Minimizing the number of not-via addresses
In an embodiment, a method comprises determining a set of protected components that are associated with a notifying node; determining a single network repair address for the set of protected components, wherein the single network repair address is for use in response to unavailability of any of the protected components when transmitting network traffic to the notifying node; assigning the single network repair address to each of the protected components; wherein the notifying node is an internetworking device and wherein the method is performed by one or more processors. |
| US08659990B2 |
Serial networking fiber-to-the-seat inflight entertainment system
An entertainment system that exhibits advantages of fiber-to-the-seat systems, has improved failure recovery characteristics, and reduces the connection components is disclosed. In one aspect, an inflight entertainment system comprises a plurality of head end line replaceable units physically interconnected in a ring configuration and a plurality of serially-connected networking line replaceable units physically interconnected in a serial configuration, wherein two of the serially-connected networking line replaceable units at the edge of the serial configuration are physically interconnected with two of the head end line replaceable units, respectively, wherein a loop-free head end data path is maintained between active head end line replaceable units by regulating link participation in the head end data path, and wherein one or more loop-free serially-connected networking data paths are maintained between at least one of the two head end line replaceable units and active serially-connected networking line replaceable units by regulating link participation in the serially-connected networking data paths. |
| US08659989B2 |
Method and apparatus for waveform independent ranging
A system and method for calculating a time of arrival (TOA) of an electromagnetic signal is presented. A method receives a fast Fourier transform (FFT) signal that is a FFT of an original electromagnetic signal containing symbol data. The FFT signal is either multiplied or divided with a value to remove the symbol data. Removing the symbol data generates a perturbed data values representing perturbed signal with a perturbed covariance. The method calculates a perturbed covariance of the perturbed data values. After the perturbed covariance is calculated, the method at least partially corrects the perturbed covariance to produce a corrected covariance. The TOA of the original electromagnetic signal is calculated based, at least in part, on the perturbed covariance. |
| US08659986B1 |
Crosstalk cancellation for a multiport ethernet system
A transceiver system is disclosed. The transceiver system comprises a first transceiver physical layer circuit (PHY) having a first plurality of channels and a second transceiver PHY disposed adjacent the first transceiver PHY and having a second plurality of channels. Filter circuitry is coupled between at least one of the plurality of first channels and at least one of the plurality of second channels. |
| US08659985B2 |
Optical pickup and optical read/write drive
In one embodiment of the present invention, an optical pickup for writing and reading data on an optical storage medium comprises a diffractive element for diffracting a light beam to split it into multiple light beams. The diffracted light beams includes a zero-order diffracted light beam for writing data on a track of the land or the groove of the optical storage medium and non-zero-order diffracted light beams for reading the data from the track. The diffractive element has first and second diffraction gratings that have mutually different grating vector directions and pitches. The first diffraction grating forms light beam spots on the same track by the non-zero-order and zero-order diffracted light beams. The second diffraction grating forms a light beam spot to extend to both sides of said track, or forms a light beam spot on one side of said track, by the non-zero-order diffracted light beams. |
| US08659980B2 |
Recording head with waveguide
An apparatus having a first pole with a first side and a second side opposite from the first side, a second pole positioned on the first side of the first pole, and a waveguide positioned on the second side of the first pole wherein the waveguide has an end adjacent to an air bearing surface. The first pole includes a first portion spaced from the waveguide and a second portion extending from the first portion to the air bearing surface, with the second portion being structured such that an end of the second portion is closer to the waveguide than the first portion. |
| US08659975B2 |
Vibration generation and detection in shear wave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry with large background motions
A method for measuring a mechanical property of a subject includes using an ultrasonic transducer to apply ultrasonic vibration pulses to a vibration origin in the subject in an on-off time sequence in order to impart a harmonic motion at a prescribed frequency to the subject, and when the vibration pulses are off, preferably using the same transducer to apply ultrasonic detection pulses to a motion detection point and to receive echo signals therefrom in order to sense the harmonic motion on the subject at the motion detection point The ultrasonic detection pulses are interspersed with the vibration pulses and can be applied in a non-uniform manner From the received ultrasonic echo signals, a harmonic signal is detected and a characteristic such as amplitude or phase of the detected harmonic signal is calculated using a Kalman filter or interpolation. |
| US08659974B2 |
System and method of 3D salt flank VSP imaging with transmitted waves
According to a preferred aspect of the instant invention, there is provided herein a system and method for imaging complex subsurface geologic structures such as salt dome flanks using VSP data. In the preferred arrangement, a receiver wave field will be downward continued through a salt flood model and a source wave field will be upward continued through a sediment flood model until they “meet” at the subsurface locations of the VSP receivers. The source and receiver wave fields will be cross correlated as an imaging condition at each depth interval. |
| US08659973B2 |
Sequential-write, random-read memory
In one embodiment, a method includes, in response to assertion of a write-enable signal at a memory array that comprises a plurality of words, sequentially and at a first clock frequency writing data to the memory array starting at a beginning of the memory array until the memory array is full. The method includes, independent of the writing of data to the memory array, asynchronously and at a second clock frequency that is slower than the first clock frequency reading data from the memory array based on read addresses received at the memory array. |
| US08659970B2 |
Memory device power control
The apparatus described herein may comprise a first set of transistors, including a first transistor and a second transistor, and a second set of transistors, including a third transistor and a fourth transistor. Gates of the first and second transistors may be coupled to a first signal and a second signal, respectively, each indicating whether a corresponding one of a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage reaches a first threshold voltage or a second threshold voltage to power on a first circuit or a second circuit of a memory device. Gates of the third and fourth transistors may be coupled to a first inverted version of the first signal and a second inverted version of the second signal, respectively. An outcome signal of the second set of transistors may indicate a power-on state of the memory device responsive to power states of the first and second signals. |
| US08659969B2 |
Semiconductor device
By using a fact that a bit error in an on-chip embedded memory occurs at a random address, means for creating a chip-unique ID and utilizing this ID are provided. A controller having received a verification request from outside instructs a variable power supply circuit to decrease a voltage supplied to a memory to be lower than that at the normal operation time. When the voltage supplied to the memory is stabilized, the controller requests a memory test to a memory BIST. By using an address where an error occurs due to a result of the memory test, the controller creates the chip-unique ID and uses the ID as a response to the verification request. |
| US08659968B2 |
Power supply circuit and semiconductor memory device including the power supply circuit
According to one embodiment, a power supply circuit, which generates a power supply voltage which is applied to a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cells disposed at intersections between a plurality of word lines and a plurality of bit lines, comprises a first boost circuit configured to boost an input voltage, a first voltage step-down circuit having an input connected to an output of the first boost circuit, and a voltage control circuit configured to control the first boost circuit and the first voltage step-down circuit. The voltage control circuit is configured to generate, not via the first voltage step-down circuit, a voltage which is boosted by the first boost circuit, when a first voltage is transferred to a non-selected memory cell. |
| US08659965B2 |
Sense amplifier having loop gain control
Memories, sense amplifiers, and methods for amplifying a current input are disclosed, including a sense amplifier including a bias circuit configured to provide a bias voltage having a magnitude responsive to maintaining a substantially constant loop gain, and further including an amplifier stage coupled to the bias circuit to receive the bias voltage and configured to amplify a input current at an input-output node, a loop gain of the current amplifier stage is controlled at least in part to the bias voltage. |
| US08659963B2 |
Enhanced power savings for memory arrays
A memory array is provided that comprises a plurality of global bit lines such that each bit line is coupled to a plurality of memory cells. The memory array further comprises a plurality of precharge logic such that each precharge logic is coupled to an associated global bit line in the plurality of global bit lines. Identification logic in the memory array is coupled to the plurality of precharge logic. The identification logic provides a precharge enable signal to a subset of the plurality of precharge logic on each clock cycle such that the subset of precharge logic precharges its associated subset of global bit lines to a voltage level of a voltage source, thereby reducing the power consumption of the memory array. |
| US08659962B2 |
Semiconductor device, semiconductor system having the same and operating method thereof
A semiconductor device includes a data storage unit configured to receive input data, outputs the input data with a difference in voltage level between logic levels, and output comparison data whose logic level is distinguished from the input data; a test operation unit configured to determine a logic level of test data periodically in response to a data reference voltage whose voltage level is determined in response to a level test code during a test operation period defined by a test entry command and a test exit command, and generate a test result signal by comparing a logic level of the comparison data with the logic level of the test data; and a test operation sensing signal generation unit configured to generate a test operation sensing signal that is activated in response to the test entry command and inactivated in response to the test result signal. |
| US08659959B2 |
Advanced memory device having improved performance, reduced power and increased reliability
An advanced memory having improved performance, reduced power and increased reliability. A memory device includes a memory array, a receiver for receiving a command and associated data, error control coding circuitry for performing error control checking on the received command, and data masking circuitry for preventing the associated data from being written to the memory array in response to the error control coding circuitry detecting an error in the received command. Another memory device includes a programmable preamble. Another memory device includes a fast exit self-refresh mode. Another memory device includes auto refresh function that is controlled by the characteristic device. Another memory device includes an auto refresh function that is controlled by a characteristic of the memory device. |
| US08659955B2 |
Memory array having word lines with folded architecture
According to an exemplary embodiment, a memory array arrangement includes a plurality of word lines, where at least two of the plurality of word lines are concurrently active word lines. Each of the plurality of word lines drive at least one group of columns. The memory array arrangement also includes a multiplexer for coupling one memory cell in a selected group of columns to at least one of the plurality of sense amps, thereby achieving a reduced sense amp-to-column ratio. The memory array arrangement further includes a plurality of I/O buffers each corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of sense amps. The memory array arrangement thereby results in the plurality of word lines having reduced resistive and capacitive loading. |
| US08659951B2 |
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method of data write therein
A bit line is electrically connected to one end of a current path of a memory cell. A word line is commonly connected to the memory cells arranged in a direction intersecting the bit line. A control circuit executes a write operation for applying a write voltage to the word line so shift a threshold voltage of the memory cell to be data written that the threshold voltage of the memory cell to be data written reaches a certain threshold voltage. During the write operation, the control circuit, while applying a gradually rising write voltage to the word line, gradually changes a voltage applied to the bit line based on a relationship between the threshold voltage of the memory cell to be written and a number of times of the write voltage applications. |
| US08659949B1 |
Three-dimensional memory structure and method of operating the same hydride
A three-dimensional memory structure is provided, comprising plural stacked structures vertically formed on a substrate, each stacked structure comprising a bottom gate, wherein the bottom gates of the stacked structures are electrically connected; plural gates and gate insulators alternately stacked on the bottom gate; and two selection lines formed above the gates and spaced apart form each other and the selection lines being independently controlled, wherein the gate insulator fills between the selection lines, between the gate and the selection lines and forms on top of the selection lines for insulation. The 3D memory structure further comprises plural charge trapping multilayers formed outsides of the stacked structures and extending to the bottom gates; plural ultra-thin channels formed outsides of the charge trapping multilayers and lined between the adjacent stacked structures; and a dielectric layer formed between the ultra-thin channels and between the stacked structures. |
| US08659948B2 |
Techniques for reading a memory cell with electrically floating body transistor
A semiconductor device along with circuits including the same and methods of operating the same are described. The device comprises a memory cell consisting essentially of one transistor. The transistor comprises a gate, an electrically floating body region, and a source region and a drain region adjacent the body region. The device includes data sense circuitry coupled to the memory cell. The data sense circuitry comprises a word line coupled to the gate region and a bit output coupled to the source region or the drain region. |
| US08659946B2 |
Non-volatile memory devices including vertical NAND strings and methods of forming the same
A NAND based non-volatile memory device can include a plurality of memory cells vertically arranged as a NAND string and a plurality of word line plates each electrically connected to a respective gate of the memory cells in the NAND string. A plurality of word line contacts can each be electrically connected to a respective word line plate, where the plurality of word line contacts are aligned to a bit line direction in the device. |
| US08659945B2 |
Nonvolatile memory device and method of operating same
A nonvolatile memory device comprises a bulk region and a plurality of memory cells connected to a source line and a plurality of wordlines. The method comprises applying a source line voltage to the source line with a first magnitude, applying a bulk voltage to the bulk region with a second magnitude lower than the first magnitude, and performing access operations on the plurality of memory cells while maintaining a substantially constant difference between the bulk voltage and the source line voltage. |
| US08659944B2 |
Memory architecture of 3D array with diode in memory string
A 3D memory device includes a plurality of ridge-shaped stacks, in the form of multiple strips of conductive material separated by insulating material, arranged as strings which can be coupled through decoding circuits to sense amplifiers. Diodes are connected to the bit line structures at either the string select of common source select ends of the strings. The strips of conductive material have side surfaces on the sides of the ridge-shaped stacks. A plurality of conductive lines arranged as word lines which can be coupled to row decoders, extends orthogonally over the plurality of ridge-shaped stacks. Memory elements lie in a multi-layer array of interface regions at cross-points between side surfaces of the conductive strips on the stacks and the conductive lines. |
| US08659942B1 |
Adapting read reference voltage in flash memory device
In one embodiment, a method comprises determining, by a hardware component, an adaptation for a reference voltage used in a flash memory device as a function of a difference of bit error types experienced by the flash memory device. The reference voltage is shifted at least in part by the adaptation. |
| US08659939B2 |
Spin-torque memory with unidirectional write scheme
Spin torque magnetic memory elements that have a pinned layer, two free layers, and a current-blocking insulating layer proximate to at least one of the free layers. The resistive state (e.g., low resistance or high resistance) of the memory elements is altered by passing electric current through the element in one direction. In other words, to change from a low resistance to a high resistance, the direction of electric current is the same as to change from a high resistance to a low resistance. The elements have a unidirectional write scheme. |
| US08659933B2 |
Hereto resistive switching material layer in RRAM device and method
A non-volatile memory device includes a first electrode, a resistive switching material stack overlying the first electrode. The resistive switching material stack comprising a first resistive switching material and a second resistive switching material. The second resistive switching material overlies the first electrode and the first resistive switching material overlying the second resistive switching material. The first resistive switching material is characterized by a first switching voltage having a first amplitude. The second resistive switching material is characterized by a second switching voltage having a second amplitude no greater than the first switching voltage. A second electrode comprising at least a metal material physically and electrically in contact with the first resistive switching material overlies the first resistive switching material. |
| US08659929B2 |
Amorphous silicon RRAM with non-linear device and operation
A non-volatile memory device includes a resistive switching device having a first electrode, a second electrode, and a resistive switching element, wherein the resistive switching element comprises a silicon material disposed in an overlapping region between the first electrode and the second electrode, wherein the second electrode comprises at least a metal material physically and electrically in contact with the resistive switching material, wherein the resistive switching element is characterized by a resistance depending on an electric field in the resistive switching element, and a non-linear device coupled between the first electrode and the resistive switching element, wherein the non-linear device is configured to conduct electric current when a voltage greater than a first voltage is applied to the second electrode, wherein the resistive switching device is configured to change from a first state to a second state in response to the first voltage. |
| US08659927B2 |
Wiring substrate in which equal-length wires are formed
In a wiring substrate, a double data rate (DDR) memory and a memory controller controlling the DDR memory are mounted. Further, in the wiring substrate, plural equal-length wires connecting the DDR memory and the memory controller are formed. The plural equal-length wires include a differential transmission line, such as a clock wire transmitting a clock signal, which is connected via a common mode choke coil. The differential transmission line may have a wire length shorter than a wire length of another equal-length wire, by a wire length corresponding to delay time of a transmission signal due to the common mode choke coil. |
| US08659926B1 |
PMC-based non-volatile CAM
Methods and circuits for CAM cells using PMCs are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a BCAM cell can include: (i) a first PMC coupled to a first access transistor and a bit node, where the first access transistor is coupled to a true bit line; (ii) a second PMC cell coupled to a second access transistor and the bit node, where the second access transistor is coupled to a complement bit line, and the first and second access transistors are controllable by a word line; (iii) a program enable transistor coupled to the bit node, and configured to couple a program control voltage to the bit node when enabled; and (iv) a match indication transistor configured to discharge a match line in response to states of the true and complement bit lines relative to the bit node. |
| US08659920B2 |
Switching device provided with a flowing restriction element
A switching device includes a flowing restriction element, a conductor and a snubber resistor. The flowing restriction element has an opening and closing function to open and close a flowing path of an electric current. The conductor is connected to the flowing restriction element. The snubber resistor is connected to the flowing restriction element and constitutes a snubber circuit. The snubber resistor is disposed along the conductor. |
| US08659918B2 |
Method of controlling power conversion device
A correction-term adder 1 compares a maximum value max(V*) with an absolute value of a minimum value min(V*). The correction-term adder 1 selects a signal 1−max(V*) when the maximum value max(V*) is larger than the absolute value of the minimum value min(V*), on the other hand, selects a signal −1−min(V*) when the absolute value of the minimum value min(V*) is larger than the maximum value max(V*). Thereby, a signal of correction amount α is calculated. Moreover, the correction-term adder 1 produces a triangular-wave-shaped signal k(max(V*)+min(V*)) by multiplying a gain k by an addition signal max(V*)+min(V*) of the maximum value max(V*) and the minimum value min(V*). This triangular-wave-shaped signal k(max(V*)+min(V*)) is synchronized with the correction amount α. The correction-term adder 1 produces a correction amount β by selecting smaller one in absolute value between the triangular-wave-shaped signal k(max(V*)+min(V*)) and the correction amount α, and adds the correction amount β to the voltage command values V*U, V*V, V*W. |
| US08659905B2 |
Aseismic server rack
An aseismic (earthquake-secure) server rack is fastened to an earthquake frame in order to increase rigidity and is fixed to the floor at least via the earthquake frame. |
| US08659901B2 |
Active antenna array heatsink
An active array heat sink cooled by natural free convection is disclosed. A long extruded heat sink is partitioned into multiple, shorter zones separated by gaps having horizontal baffles. The gaps and baffles serve to act as air vents and air inlets for the convection currents. As such, the heat transfer for the overall heat sink is improved because hot convection currents are vented and replaced by cool ambient air along the length of the heat sink. |
| US08659898B2 |
Integrated circuit stack
The invention relates to an integrated circuit stack (1) comprising a plurality of integrated circuit layers (2) and at least one cooling layer (3) arranged in a space between two circuit layers (2). The integrated circuit stack (1) is cooled using a cooling fluid (10) pumped through the cooling layer (3). The invention further relates to a method for configuring of such an integrated circuit stack (1) by optimizing a configuration of the cooling layer (3). |
| US08659897B2 |
Liquid-cooled memory system having one cooling pipe per pair of DIMMs
Each pair of memory modules in a memory system are cooled using a shared cooling pipe, such as a heat pipe or liquid flow pipe. An example embodiment includes one pair of memory module sockets on opposite sides of the respective cooling pipe. An inner heat spreader plate is thermally coupled to the cooling pipe and in thermal engagement with a first face of the memory module adjacent to the included cooling pipe. Heat is conducted from the second face of the memory module to the cooling pipe, such as from an outer plate in thermal engagement with an opposing second face of the memory modules and with the inner plate. |
| US08659892B2 |
Electronic device with heat pipe chamber cover for dissipating heat
An exemplary electronic device includes a base, a cover, side plates, a heat conduct plate, a wick structure, a working medium and at least one electronic element. The cover and the base cooperatively define a cavity. The at least one side plate extends from the cover and receives in the cavity. The heat conduct plate and the at least side plate and the cover cooperatively defines a sealed chamber. The wick structure is attached to an inner surface of the sealed chamber. The working medium is received in the wick structure. The at least one electronic element is received in the cavity and thermally connected to the heat conduct plate. |
| US08659889B2 |
Docking station for providing digital signage
Various embodiments of digital signage systems and docking stations are described. In one embodiment, a digital signage system includes an electronic device having a rear surface and an opposing front surface at which a display of the electronic device may be viewed. The system also includes a body for supporting the electronic device. A recessed region is formed in the body from a top surface of the body, and the electronic device is positioned within the recessed region such that the rear surface of the electronic device fits entirely within the recessed region and the front surface of the electronic device is substantially flush with a portion of a top surface of the body that surrounds the recessed region. An aperture may be formed at least partially through the recessed region for receiving a cable assembly operable to connect to the electronic device. An elongated cutout may also be formed, extending from the aperture to an edge or edge surface of the body, and sized so that an insulated wire of the cable assembly can extend from the aperture to the edge or edge surface of the body. |
| US08659888B2 |
Disk drive assembly
A disk drive assembly includes a disk drive and a drive bracket. The disk drive includes a first sidewall. The first sidewall includes a first sidewall body, a first resilient tab and a second resilient tab. The first resilient tab and the second resilient tab extend outward from the sidewall body. An extending direction of the first resilient tab is opposite to an extending direction of the second resilient tab. The drive bracket includes a bottom panel and a first side panel substantially perpendicular to the bottom panel. The first side panel is substantially parallel to the first sidewall body. The disk drive is located on the bottom panel. The drive bracket further includes two resilient protrusions extending from the first side panel. The two resilient protrusions resiliently resist the first resilient tab and the second resilient tab. |
| US08659882B2 |
Keyboard
A keyboard includes a main body, a bottom plate, and a circuit board. The main body includes a top plate, a bottom plate opposite to the top plate, and a plurality of keys secured to the top plate. The bottom cover is secured to the bottom plate and includes a mounting portion. The mounting portion defines an installation opening. The circuit board is secured to the bottom plate and extends out of the installation opening. A gap is defined between each adjacent two keys. The bottom plate defines a plate opening corresponding to each key. The mounting portion abuts the bottom cover. A receiving space is defined between the bottom cover and the bottom plate. The bottom cover defines a cutout communicating with the receiving space. The gap, the plate opening, the receiving space, and the cutout corporately define a water path. |
| US08659879B2 |
Switchgear cabinet or rack
A switchgear cabinet or rack comprises a mounting unit with vertical mounting sections laterally delimiting a cabinet frame for installed user-side units, said sections having flat fixing sections that lie on a front mounting plane used to fix laterally projecting mounting sections of the installed units, and comprising components for determining the presence of an installed unit in an installation position of the cabinet frame. A vertical antenna strip contains antenna elements and code carriers as transponder elements. In order to ensure the secure installation and reliable functioning of the detection device, each transponder element is attached to the mounting section of the associated installed unit that adjoins the antenna strip by a retaining element via a connecting section and the retaining element has a support section that adjoins the connecting section and projects outwards, parallel to the mounting plane. The transponder element is attached to the support section. |
| US08659878B2 |
Switchgear cabinet or rack
A switchgear cabinet or rack comprises a mounting unit with vertical mounting profiles laterally delimiting an installation space. Flat fixing sections lie on a mounting plane to fix laterally projecting mounting sections of installed units and comprise components of a detection device for determining the presence of an installed unit in the installation space. A vertical antenna strip is attached to a mounting section and contains antenna elements. Code carriers designed as transponder elements are provided on the installed units. The front face of the antenna strip lies on or is set back by a maximum of 10 mm from said plane, with each transponder element in front of the front face of the antenna strip, fixed to a support section of a retaining element that overlaps the antenna strip, said retaining element being attached to the neighboring mounting section of the associated installed unit by a connection section. |
| US08659877B2 |
Solid electrolytic capacitor
A solid electrolytic capacitor includes a capacitor element, an anode terminal, and a cathode terminal. The capacitor element includes an anode body, an anode member buried in the anode body, a dielectric layer formed on part of a surface of the anode body, an electrolyte layer formed on the dielectric layer, and a cathode layer formed on the electrolyte layer. The anode member extends in a predetermined direction along a lower surface of the anode body, and has a lower end portion exposed at the lower surface of the anode body. The anode terminal is electrically connected to the lower end portion. The cathode terminal is electrically connected to the cathode layer at a position below the lower surface of the anode body. The anode and cathode terminals are spaced apart from each other in a direction substantially perpendicular to a direction in which the anode member extends. |
| US08659873B2 |
Multilayer capacitor
A first inner electrode is integrally provided with a first terminal connection part connected to a first terminal electrode and a first linking connection part connected to a first linking electrode. A second inner electrode is integrally provided with a second terminal connection part connected to a second terminal electrode and a second linking connection part connected to a second linking electrode. A third inner electrode is integrally provided with a third linking connection part connected to the first linking electrode. A fourth inner electrode is integrally provided with a fourth linking connection part connected to the second linking electrode. The third inner electrode is adjacent to the first and fourth inner electrodes in a laminating direction of the plurality of dielectric layers. The first and fourth inner electrodes overlap the third inner electrode as seen in the laminating direction of the plurality of dielectric layers. |
| US08659870B2 |
Modular EMI filtered terminal assembly for an active implantable medical device
A modular EMI filtered terminal assembly for an active implantable medical device (AIMD) includes a hermetic terminal subassembly having at least one conductor extending through an insulator in non-conductive relation with the AIMD housing, and a feedthrough capacitor subassembly disposed generally adjacent to the hermetic terminal assembly. The feedthrough capacitor subassembly includes a conductive modular cup conductively coupled to the AIMD housing, and a feedthrough capacitor disposed within the modular cup. A first electrode plate or set of electrode plates is conductively coupled to the conductor, and a second electrode plate or set of electrode plates is conductively coupled to the modular cup. |
| US08659869B2 |
Method for forming rutile titanium oxide and the stacking structure thereof
A method for forming a stacking structure, including forming a ruthenium oxide layer over a substrate; forming a praseodymium oxide layer over the ruthenium oxide layer; and forming a titanium oxide layer over the praseodymium oxide layer; wherein the titanium oxide layer has a rutile phase with the existence of the praseodymium oxide layer underneath. The oxide layers are deposited by a plurality of atomic layer deposition cycles using ruthenium precursor, praseodymium precursor, titanium precursor, and ozone. |
| US08659867B2 |
Wind power system for generating electric energy
A wind power system having a tower, a nacelle fitted to the tower to rotate about a first axis, a hub fitted to the nacelle to rotate about a second axis, and at least one blade fitted to the hub to rotate about a third axis, and wherein an elastic conducting member is positioned between the blade and the nacelle to connect the blade electrically to the nacelle. |
| US08659862B2 |
Directional fault location and isolation system
A directional fault location and isolation system for a three phase electric power circuit that identifies a faulted segment by determining the direction of the fault at multiple tap points in the electric power circuit. The directional fault controller, which may be a centralized controller or a number of peer-to-peer controllers located at the tap points, includes communication equipment for exchanging information with the monitoring equipment and the sectionalizing equipment at each sectionalizing control point, which includes the tap points and may also include the substations. The controller also includes processing equipment that determines the directionality of a fault on the power line at each current monitoring device, identifies a faulted line section by identifying a change in the directionality of the fault associated with the faulted line section, and operates one or more of the sectionalizing switches to isolate the faulted line section from the circuit. |
| US08659861B2 |
Electronic component device and package substrate
In an electronic component device, an ESD protection element including a cavity portion and a pair of opposed discharge electrodes is disposed inside a package substrate. A composite portion made of a composite material including a metal material and an insulating material is disposed on a bottom of the cavity portion. The package substrate including the ESD protection element disposed therein reduces the size of the electronic component device and reliably prevents damage to and malfunctioning of the electronic component device. |
| US08659859B1 |
Electrostatic discharge protection scheme for high-definition multimedia interface transmitters
An apparatus generally having a first circuit, a second circuit and a third circuit is disclosed. The first circuit may be configured to selectively switch a bonding pad to (i) a first rail of a power source and (ii) a discharge rail in response to an electrostatic discharge. The second circuit is generally configured to clamp the electrostatic discharge between the discharge rail and the first rail. The third circuit may be configured to bias the discharge rail to a second rail of the power source. |
| US08659855B2 |
Trilayer reader with current constraint at the ABS
A magnetoresistive read sensor with improved sensitivity and stability is described. The sensor is a trilayer stack positioned between two electrodes. The trilayer stack has two free layers separated by a nonmagnetic layer and a biasing magnet positioned at the rear of the stack and separated from the air bearing surface. Current in the sensor is confined to regions close to the air bearing surface by an insulator layer to enhance reader sensitivity. |
| US08659854B2 |
Magnetoresistive shield with stabilizing feature
A magnetoresistive (MR) reader is adjacent to at least one shield that extends from an air bearing surface (ABS) a first distance. The shield has a stabilizing feature that is contactingly adjacent the MR reader and extends from the ABS a second distance that is less than the first distance. |
| US08659850B2 |
Brushless motor, disk drive apparatus, and method of manufacturing the brushless motor
A stationary unit of a brushless motor includes a flat armature and a base member arranged to support the armature. The armature includes a power supply portion to which a lead wire is connected. The base member includes a wall portion and a window portion. The wall portion is radially opposed to an outer edge portion of the armature. The window portion is positioned below the power supply portion to axially extend through the base member. An adhesive agent exists between the wall portion and the outer edge portion of the armature. Accordingly, the base member and the armature are strongly fixed to each other. Further, a sealing material is interposed between a whole periphery of an edge of the window portion and the armature, so that the window portion is sealed. |
| US08659849B2 |
Hermetically resealable hard-disk drive configured for recharging with a low-density gas
A hermetically resealable hard-disk drive (HDD) configured for recharging with a low-density gas. The hermetically resealable HDD includes a disk enclosure (DE), a magnetic-recording disk, a head-slider, an actuator, a low-density gas, a through-hole, and a plug. The DE includes a base, and a first cover and a second cover joined to the base. The second cover is disposed above the first cover. The through-hole is configurable for injection of a low-density gas into the DE. The low-density gas, having a density less than air, substantially fills the DE. The plug is press-fitted into, and hermetically seals, the through-hole. The plug is removable to allow recharging the DE with the low-density gas; and, the through-hole is configured to accept a resealing plug to be press-fit into, and to reseal hermetically, the through-hole after recharging. A method for injecting low-density gas into, and sealing, the hermetically resealable HDD is also provided. |
| US08659844B2 |
Motor for driving lenses
Disclosed is a motor for driving lenses. The motor includes a case, a yoke fixed in the case, a magnet fixed in the yoke, a carrier equipped with lenses and installed in the magnet such that the carrier moves up and down within the magnet, a coil coupled with the carrier, a spring unit including first and second springs having arc shapes and being separated from each other while forming a ring shape as a whole, a spacer supporting an outer peripheral surface of the spring unit, and a terminal provided on the spacer, in which one side of the terminal protrudes downward by passing through a bottom of the case to make connection with the spring unit and a main PCB of a product. |
| US08659842B1 |
Image capturing device and assembling method thereof
An image capturing device and an assembling method thereof are provided. The assembling method includes the following steps. Firstly, a lens holder, a lens module and a casing are provided, wherein the lens holder includes a containing cavity. Next, the lens module is disposed in the containing cavity of the lens holder. Then, the casing is disposed on the lens holder and the lens module, wherein the casing covers a part of the lens module. Finally, an Ultrasonic Welding is applied on the lens holder and the casing for forming a melting interface between the lens holder and the casing so as to fix the casing to the lens holder. |
| US08659839B2 |
Imaging lens and imaging device
Disclosed is an imaging lens by which astigmatism and field curvature are satisfactorily corrected by arranging on a first surface a concave surface having an appropriate radius of curvature. Condition (1) defines the radius of curvature of the concave surface arranged on the object-side surface of a bonded compound lens. By fulfilling condition (1), a lens can be obtained in which astigmatism and field curvature are satisfactorily corrected. Condition (1): −1.5 |
| US08659838B2 |
Image pickup lens, image pickup device provided with image pickup lens, and mobile terminal provided with image pickup device
Provided is an image pickup lens that forms an image on an image pickup element with light from a subject. In the image pickup lens, a lens that is disposed on an image pickup element side is fixed in position, and a focusing lens group having a plurality of lenses including a lens closest to the subject is moved in an optical axis direction, thereby performing focusing. |
| US08659837B2 |
Adjustable lens structure
An adjustable lens structure includes a lens housing, a lens module, a rotatable lens seat, and a shifting apparatus. The lens housing has a front housing and a top housing located behind the front housing. The front housing is a hollow cylinder and the rotatable lens seat is placed inside the front housing. The lens module is placed on the rotatable lens seat. The shifting apparatus is engaged with the top housing. The shifting apparatus has a gear assembly engaged with the rotatable lens seat to provide adjustable shooting angle for the lens module. |
| US08659836B2 |
Zoom lens system, interchangeable lens apparatus and camera system
A zoom lens system, in order from an object side to an image side, comprising a first lens unit having negative optical power, a second lens unit having positive optical power, a third lens unit having negative optical power, and a fourth lens unit having positive optical power, wherein the first lens unit is composed of at least three lens elements, has at least one lens element having positive optical power, and moves along an optical axis in zooming, and the conditions: np>1.88 and 1.5 |
| US08659834B2 |
Achromatic gradient index singlet lens
A method of making an achromatic gradient index singlet lens comprising utilizing a gradient index material with a curved front surface in which light does not follow a straight line as it travels through the material and wherein different color rays traverse different curved paths, utilizing the natural dispersion of the curved front surface as a strong positive lens, and developing a weakly diverging GRIN distribution within the lens to balance the chromatic aberrations of the curved front surface. |
| US08659831B2 |
Optical system
An optical system comprising a circular image strip comprising an inner image strip, an outer image strip, and an effective zone, and a circular lenticule configured to direct light reflected from the inner image strip to a first eye of a viewer and to direct light reflected from the outer image strip to a second eye of a viewer when the viewer views an effective zone of the circular image strip is disclosed. |
| US08659828B2 |
Polarization preserving projection screen with engineered particle and method for making same
Polarization preserving projection screens provide optimum polarization preservation for 3D viewing. The projection screens additionally provide improved light control for enhanced brightness, uniformity, and contrast for both 2D and 3D systems. Generally, the disclosed method for providing a projection screen comprises embossing at least a first side of a first substrate to produce an optically functional material and then cutting the optically functional material into pieces to produce a plurality of engineered particles. The plurality of engineered particles may then be deposited on a second substrate to produce a substantially homogeneous optical appearance of the projection screen. |
| US08659827B2 |
Spherical aberration correction for an optical microscope using a moving infinity-conjugate relay
An infinity-conjugate lens relay with a moving first lens is used to select a plane of interest from an image volume. This plane can be selected so that the image is corrected for spherical aberration due to non-ideal imaging conditions. This effectively will allow for deeper, corrected imaging for high power microscopes. Using an infinity-conjugate relay, this device has an ideal “bypass” mode for regular imaging without correction. The device also utilizes software that automatically controls the device for correcting live images. |
| US08659824B2 |
Laser microscope
A laser microscope includes an objective lens that radiates a laser beam onto a specimen; a stimulation optical system having an LCOS-SLM located at a position optically conjugate with the pupil position of the objective lens and which modulates the phase of the laser beam; and an observation optical system having a galvanometer mirror that scans the laser beam across the specimen, as observation illuminating light, and a PMT that detects the observation light coming from the specimen and collected by the objective lens. A control unit forms a three-dimensional image of the specimen and sets, in that image, stimulation sites in the specimen to be irradiated with a laser beam serving as a stimulation beam by the stimulation optical system at a plurality of different positions in the optical axis direction. The LCOS-SLM modulates the laser beam such that the stimulation sites are irradiated with the laser beam. |
| US08659821B2 |
Device for amplifying light pulses
The present invention relates to a device (1, 11) for amplifying light pulses (2, 12), the device comprised of a stretcher (4, 14) which temporally stretches the light pulses (2, 12), and comprised of at least one amplifier (5, 15) which amplifies the stretched light pulses (2, 12), and comprised of a compressor (6, 16) which recompresses the stretched and amplified light pulses (2, 12), the stretcher (4, 14) and the compressor (6, 16) being dispersive elements with essentially oppositely identical dispersion. To provide a device (1, 11) for amplifying light pulses (2, 12) which is of a compact setup and which can be flexibly applied, the present invention proposes that the dispersion of the amplifier (5, 15), the dispersion of further optical elements of the device (1) and/or a mismatch of dispersion of the stretcher (4, 14) and compressor (6, 16) are at least partly compensated by self-phase modulation of the light pulses (2, 12) and/or by at least one additional element (17) of variable dispersion. |
| US08659819B2 |
Apparatus and method for operating an acousto-optical component
An apparatus for controlling an acousto-optical component influencing at least one of illumination light and detection light in a microscope is described. The apparatus comprises a radio-frequency generator for supplying the acousto-optical component with a radio frequency. The radio-frequency generator is configured to compensate deviations in the characteristics of the light due to temperature fluctuations in the acousto-optical component by adapting the radio frequency. The apparatus can be operated by generating a control signal for controlling the radio frequency of the radio-frequency generator; measuring the temperature of the acousto-optical component; adapting the control signal depending on the measured temperature; and sending the adapted control signal into the radio-frequency generator for compensating deviations in the characteristics of the light due to temperature fluctuations and can be used in optical coherence tomography, particularly white light interferometry, optical tweezers in lithography, and distance measurement. |
| US08659818B2 |
Optical-path-switching apparatus and light signal optical-path-switching method
An optical-path-switching apparatus according to the present invention includes a reducing optical system capable of guiding signal light and control light along the direction of gravity into a thermal-lens-forming optical element having an incidence plane positioned to be perpendicular to the direction of gravity in such a way as to differentiate respective convergence points in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis. The apparatus further includes a light-receiving unit configured to converge or condense straight-traveling signal light in the absence of irradiation with the control light and signal light whose optical path has been switched due to irradiation with the control light using the same optical element. Further, the apparatus includes a wedge-type prism provided at a passing position of the optical-path-switched signal light to increase the distance between the optical axis of the optical-path-changed signal light and the optical axis of the straight-traveling signal light. |
| US08659815B2 |
Optical bank and method for producing the optical bank
The invention relates to an optical bank (1) comprising a carrier (10) for receiving optical components (60, 70) and a crystal (30) that is mechanically connected to the carrier, for changing the frequency of the light irradiated into the crystal (30) from a light source (50). Two rails (12) are arranged essentially in parallel on the carrier (10). The crystal (30) and the carrier (10) are mechanically connected by a surface of the rails (12), facing away from the carrier (10). A heat conducting element (20) is arranged on the crystal, said heat conducting element being applied to the surfaces of the rails (12), that face away from the carrier (10). |
| US08659812B2 |
Wavelength selective switch
Provided is a wavelength selective switch, which includes: an input/output unit; a dispersive portion; a deflection portion; and an ovalization relay optical system. In the input/output unit, input/output portions are two-dimensionally arranged. The dispersive portion is capable of dispersing signal light along a first plane. The deflection portion deflects the signal light. The ovalization relay optical system condenses the signal light beams on to a first conjugate point. The ovalization relay optical system makes a beam waist forming position along a first direction coincide with the first conjugate point. The ovalization relay optical system condenses signal light, in a second direction, onto a first condensing point. The ovalization relay optical system makes the first condensing point conjugate to the first conjugate point. The ovalization relay optical system ovalizes the beam shape of the signal light beams incident on the deflection element. |
| US08659811B2 |
Actuator, optical scanner and image forming device
An actuator, includes: a movable plate; a supporter to support the movable plate; a pair of linking portions to link the movable plate and the supporter so as to allow the movable plate to rotate relative to the supporter; and a piezoelectric element to rotate the movable plate. The piezoelectric element elongated and contracted by an energization twists the pair of linking portions to rotate the movable plate, and each of the pair of the linking portions includes an axial member extending from the movable plate and a returned portion that links the axial member and the supporter and is formed so as to return to a side adjacent to the movable plate. |
| US08659810B2 |
Apparatus for the exact reconstruction of the object wave in off-axis digital holography
A method and apparatus for preparing a digital hologram representing an image of an object includes generating a measurement beam and a first reference beam, irradiating the object by the measurement beam, and guiding the measurement beam reflected to an optical sensor. The method also includes guiding the first reference beam to a first mirror, and guiding the reflected beam to the optical sensor so that both beams generate an interference pattern on the sensor. The method includes providing a digital signal representing the interference pattern on the optical sensor, to obtain a digital hologram, and subjecting the digital hologram to a Fourier transform in the spatial frequency domain to obtain a spectrum. The method further includes replacing a section of a first image term overlapped by a DC-term by a corresponding section of a second image term. |
| US08659807B2 |
Image reading apparatus
An image reading apparatus comprises: a guide portion that is linked to a driving portion and extends so as to guide the movement of a reading carriage; a guide rail that guides the reading carriage while supporting the reading carriage; and an interlocking portion that is provided in the reading carriage, has a first sliding surface that makes contact with the guide rail on the side of the guide rail facing the guide portion and a second sliding surface that makes contact with the guide rail on the side of the guide rail that is on the opposite side as the guide portion. The position at which the first sliding surface of the interlocking portion makes contact with the guide rail is lower on the guide rail than the position at which the second sliding surface of the interlocking portion makes contact with the guide rail. |
| US08659802B2 |
Image scanner and image scanning method
An image scanner includes a transparent plate, a scanning device, a driving device, a positioning member, a light absorbing portion and a white reference portion. The transparent plate has an original placing surface. The scanning device irradiates an original with light by means of a light source and scans reflected light from the original. The driving device reciprocates the scanning device along the transparent plate. The positioning member positions the original placed on the original placing surface of the transparent plate. The light absorbing portion, which is disposed on the original placing surface side of the positioning member and at substantially a central portion of the positioning member in moving directions of the scanning device, absorbs ambient light entering to the original placing surface side of the positioning member through the transparent plate. The white reference portion is provided to the original placing surface side of the positioning member. |
| US08659801B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming method determining correct pixel value of target pixel subject to interpolation
An image forming apparatus includes an image interpolation unit to compute a correct pixel value of a target pixel subject to interpolation of a halftone image. The image interpolation unit includes a base pattern setting unit to set a base pattern including the target pixel, a reference pattern setting unit to set reference pattern in a region peripheral to the target pixel, an analogous pattern acquisition unit to acquire at least one analogous pattern analogous to the base pattern from the reference pattern, a high-resolution pattern creating unit to create a high-resolution pattern having a predetermined resolution or higher by synthesizing the acquired analogous pattern, a pixel value estimating unit to compute an estimated pixel value of the target pixel based on the created high-resolution pattern, and a pixel value determination unit to determine the correct pixel value of the target pixel based on the computed estimated pixel value. |
| US08659800B2 |
Facsimile sending system including a plurality of facsimile devices and a server sending first sending data to the public line continuously following sending of a second sending data to a specific destination as an identical sending job
A facsimile sending system is provided with facsimile devices and a server. Each facsimile device scans a document, is capable of inputting information concerning a destination, creates sending data including data of the scanned document and the input information, sends the sending data, receives sending data sent from the server, sends the sending data sent from server to a destination determined based on the information included in its sending data, and sends its own facsimile device's running status to the server. The server receives the sending data sent from each facsimile device, receives the running status sent from each facsimile device, selects one facsimile device from the plurality of the facsimile devices based on the running status of each facsimile device, and sends the sending data sent from the facsimile device to the selected facsimile device. |
| US08659795B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing system
An image processing apparatus for performing color tone conversion on a predetermined original image data using a predetermined color tone conversion parameter, includes a converted image data generating unit that generates weight-applied converted original image data obtained by performing the color tone conversion by the color tone conversion parameter while applying weighted values, which is determined such that the lower the degree to be changed by the color tone conversion is, the smaller the value becomes, on the original image data for each of a predetermined range. |
| US08659789B2 |
Printer
When a period from the point of time of receipt of instruction information concerning a cutting instruction to the point of time of receipt of instruction information concerning a printing instruction subsequent to the receipt of the instruction information concerning the cutting instruction has reached a prescribed period, a recording medium is cut and conveyed in a reverse direction by a prescribed distance, and then new printing is started. When the period from the point of time of receipt of the instruction information concerning the cutting instruction to the point of time of receipt of the instruction information concerning the printing instruction subsequent to the receipt of the instruction information concerning the cutting instruction has not reached the prescribed period, the recording medium is cut and then new printing is started without convey of the recording medium in the reverse direction. |
| US08659782B2 |
Image forming apparatus using option controller for printing
An image forming apparatus includes a print engine configured to print an image based on raster image data, a main controller configured to execute a process that depends on the print engine, and a relay unit configured to receive the raster image data from an option controller that generates the raster image data, store the raster image data in a memory, receive a control command based on a result of the process that depends on the print engine from the main controller, read the raster image data from the memory in accordance with the control command, and supply the read raster image data to the print engine. |
| US08659779B2 |
Non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing print management program, print management device, print management method, and print system configured for causing a computer to function as a job progress status display unit
Disclosed is a non-transitory computer readable recording medium that stores a print management program causing a computer to function as a job progress status display unit that divides job progress statuses of a print job into plural categories and displays plural of the categories so that each of the categories can be selected; and a job list display unit that selects and lists first print jobs in a first job progress status from a first table that stores job progress statuses of print jobs. The job list display unit selects first functions corresponding to the first job progress status of the listed first print jobs from a second table that stores functions corresponding to the divided job progress statuses, and displays icons. Here, each of the icons accepts execution of corresponding one of the selected first functions. |
| US08659777B2 |
Server system, print device, network print system including server system and print device, and downloading method in network print system
In print systems based on data reception from a server, it takes much time to receive data of a large size. Therefore systems have been developed in which data is divided before being received. However, if divided data items are received by a print device while temperature adjustment or calibration is performed for an engine of the device, the divided data items are not immediately printed, resulting in a long print time. A print device sequentially receives divided data items if the print device is in a printable status. Otherwise, the print device simultaneously receives the divided data items in a plurality of sessions. |
| US08659776B2 |
Print job management server which manages print jobs to be processed by an image forming apparatus
A print server in a print job management system including an information processing apparatus, a print server, and an image forming apparatus, comprises: a management unit configured to receive a print request from the information processing apparatus, and to manage a status of a print job to be executed by the image forming apparatus in response to the print request; and a request receiving unit configured to receive the print request from the information processing apparatus, and to return a response to the print request, wherein the request receiving unit returns the response including a command which controls the information processing apparatus to send a status acquisition request of a print job to the image forming apparatus to the information processing apparatus, and the management unit updates a status of the managed print job in accordance with a status of the print job received from the information processing apparatus. |
| US08659775B2 |
Print shop management method for customizing print-on-demand driver
A method implemented in a print shop management system that includes a data processing apparatus having a non-transitory memory for storing a computer software program and a processor for executing the software program, wherein the program includes a program code configured to cause the data processing apparatus to execute a process for customizing a print-on-demand (POD) driver, which process includes the steps of accessing a configuration file of the POD driver having a plurality of fields with respective values; and modifying values of the configuration file fields to customize available user interfaces and print job settings editing options of the POD driver. |
| US08659767B2 |
Image forming apparatus that changes the form of the display in an overlapping manner based on the selection of either a one-sided image forming mode or a dual-sided image forming mode
In an image forming apparatus including a control unit made of a display panel and a touch panel display and having one-sided image forming mode and dual-sided image forming mode, the touch panel display includes: a finished state preview controller for displaying the finished state of a hard copy; and a confirmatory display controller. The display panel includes a first display area, a second display area and a third display area. The image forming apparatus includes a display position switching controller that switches the position of the image of the page to be turned to be displayed in the third display area, depending on the image forming mode. |
| US08659765B2 |
Three-dimensional shape determining apparatus and three-dimensional shape determining method
Pattern lights A and B of which patterns respectively having bright and dark sections have been in an inverted relation are projected on a subject to calculate luminance distributions L1 and L2 of the subject and average values Ave(L1) and Ave(L2) of the distributions. A luminance distribution obtained by multiplying a luminance distribution L0 of the subject of only a natural light component by a coefficient η is subtracted from the luminance distribution L2 obtained by projecting the pattern light B on the subject and a correction value L2′ thereof is calculated so that a difference e of the average values become zero. Then, an intersection point of the luminance distribution L1 obtained by projecting the pattern light A on the subject and the correction value L2′ of the luminance distribution L2 obtained by projecting the pattern light B on the subject is derived. |
| US08659762B2 |
Optical measuring element having a single-piece structure
An optical measuring element measures forces in at least one direction. The measuring element has a single-piece structure. There is an outside wall with notches introduced therein. Each notch defines parallel edges, and the notches define more or less elastically flexible zones in the structure and constitute the only connection between a first region and a second region of the structure. For optical distance measurements between the two regions of the structure, one or more optical fibers are each attached with one end thereof to a region of the structure such that reflective surfaces are located close to the ends. The reflective surfaces are firmly connected to another region. The optical fibers are disposed on the outside wall. |
| US08659760B2 |
Resonator fiber optic gyroscope utilizing laser frequency combs
A resonator fiber optic gyroscope comprises a first light source having a first frequency comb spectrum, and a second light source having a second frequency comb spectrum. A first filter is in optical communication with the first light source and configured to pass a first frequency comb portion. A second filter is in optical communication with the second light source and configured to pass a second frequency comb portion. A resonator is in optical communication with the first and second filters. The free spectral range values of the first and second frequency comb portions are adjusted to be an odd integer multiple of the free spectral range value of the resonances of the resonator. The second frequency comb portion is spectrally separated apart from the first frequency comb portion by a multiple of the free spectral range value of the resonances plus a frequency value proportional to rotation rate. |
| US08659754B2 |
Inspection system and method for fast changes of focus
An inspection system includes a first focusing unit configured to perform fast focus changes to a first focusing function applied to an incident light beam. A traveling lens acousto-optic device is arranged to receive the light beam focused by the first focusing function and produce focused spots using a plurality of traveling lenses generated in response to radio frequency signals. The traveling lenses apply a second focusing function and the traveling lens acousto-optic device is arranged to alter the second focusing function at a fast rate. The inspection system also includes optics arranged to direct the focused spots onto an inspected object and to direct radiation from the inspected object to a sensor. |
| US08659752B2 |
Automated warm-up and stability check for laser trackers
A method for determining when a laser tracker is stable includes performing a plurality of first frontsight measurements and a plurality of first backsight measurements on a first target with the laser tracker, wherein the plurality of first frontsight measurements and the plurality of first backsight measurements are alternated in time, calculating a plurality of first two-face errors based on the plurality of first frontsight measurements and the plurality of first backsight measurements, determining at least one first stability metric based at least in part on the plurality of first two-face errors, the at least one first stability metric being a value defined by a rule, determining whether the laser tracker is stable based at least in part on the at least one first stability metric and a first termination criterion and generating an indication whether the laser tracker is stable or not stable. |
| US08659750B2 |
Test apparatus, test method, and device interface
Provided is a test apparatus that tests a device under test including an optical coupler for transmitting optical signals in a surface direction and a first groove for holding an optical transmission path connected to the optical coupler. The test apparatus comprises a substrate on which the device under test is to be loaded; an optical transmission path to be connected to the optical coupler; and a pressing section that presses the optical transmission path from the substrate side toward the first groove. Also provided is a test method. |
| US08659746B2 |
Movable body apparatus, exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method
In a liquid crystal exposure apparatus, base pads are respectively placed on two surface plates, and one step board is supported by the base pads. A device main body of an empty-weight cancelling device moves from above one of the surface plates to above the other by moving on the step board, and therefore, a boundary section between the two adjacent surface plates that are separately placed does not function as a guide surface used when the empty-weight cancelling device moves. Accordingly, a fine movement stage that holds a substrate can be guided along an XY plane with high accuracy although the two surface plates are placed apart. |
| US08659742B2 |
Lithographic apparatus and a device manufacturing method
An immersion lithographic apparatus is disclosed that has a fluid handling system configured to provide immersion liquid between a final element of a projection system and a surface which includes, in cross-section, a feature, and has an adjustment fluid source configured to locally change the composition of the immersion liquid to cause a local decrease in surface tension of the immersion liquid at least when a meniscus of the immersion liquid contacts the feature. |
| US08659740B2 |
Drive error compensation for projection optics
The present invention provides an exposure apparatus comprising a projection optical system configured to project a pattern of a reticle onto a substrate, a driving unit configured to drive a plurality of optical elements which form the projection optical system so as to adjust an imaging state of light which passes through the projection optical system, a detecting unit configured to detect a driving error when the driving unit drives a first optical element of the plurality of optical elements, and a control unit configured to control the driving unit to drive a second optical element different from the first optical element of the plurality of optical elements so as to reduce a change in the imaging state of the light which passes through the projection optical system due to the driving error. |
| US08659739B2 |
Liquid crystal lens and display including the same
Provided are a liquid crystal lens which controls an optical path, and a display including the liquid crystal lens. The liquid crystal lens includes a first and a second electrode which face each other, a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode and has flat top and bottom surfaces, and a dielectric layer interposed between the second electrode and the liquid crystal layer, where the dielectric layer includes a first and a second dielectric sub-layer, the first dielectric sub-layer made of a material having a different dielectric constant from that of the second dielectric sub-layer, the first dielectric sub-layer includes one or more unit patterns, a surface of each of the unit patterns includes a plurality of flat sections, and a height of each of the unit patterns in a first flat section is different from the height thereof in a second flat section. |
| US08659733B2 |
Liquid crystal display and method for fabricating the same
A liquid crystal display device includes: a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines formed horizontally and vertically to define pixel areas on a substrate; thin film transistors (TFTs) formed at crossings of the gate lines and data lines; a common line formed to be parallel to the gate line; a common electrode formed at each pixel area, connected to the gate line, and having one end overlapping with the data line; and a pixel electrode connected to the TFT and formed to be parallel to the common electrode between the common electrodes formed at each pixel area. The common electrode has a mesh structure to thus reduce a potential deviation of common electrodes in a panel and restrain a reduction in an aperture ratio. |
| US08659731B2 |
Liquid crystal display element
A liquid crystal display element comprises a pair of substrates facing each other with a predetermined gap, strips of first electrodes formed on one substrate, strips of second electrodes formed on another substrate and crossing the first electrodes, an alignment film formed on at least one of the substrates and treated with an alignment process in a direction not perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the second electrodes, a vertical alignment mode liquid crystal layer placed between the substrates and having a pretilt angle, and a pair of polarizers sandwiching the substrates, wherein the fist and the second electrodes cross each other to form pixels, and non-uniform alignment regions where liquid crystal molecules in a center of a thickness of the liquid crystal layer are aligned in a different direction from the direction defined by the alignment process appear near an edge of each pixel. |
| US08659730B2 |
Liquid crystal display device comprising a first orientation film and a second orientation film surrounding the first orientation film wherein a side surface and a top surface of the first orientation film are in contact with the second orientation film
A liquid crystal dripping method has a problem in that an uncured sealant increases in width at the time of attaching a pair of substrates and thus a liquid crystal material enters the sealant and unevenness occurs in the inner periphery of the sealant. A region in which reduced is the speed of diffusion of liquid crystal at the time of attaching a pair of substrates is provided between a sealant and an orientation film. Further, time for diffusing the liquid crystal and coming in contact with the sealant is made long. Accordingly, the sealant is subjected to photo-curing before the liquid crystal comes in contact with the sealant. The region in which reduced is the speed of diffusion of the liquid crystal is formed using a material for forming a vertical orientation film, a silane coupling agent, a substance having a photocatalytic function, or the like. |
| US08659726B2 |
Liquid crystal display and method of manufacturing liquid crystal display
Transflective-type and reflection type liquid crystal display devices having a high image quality are provided with a good production efficiency.A liquid crystal display device according to the present invention is a liquid crystal display device which includes; a first substrate and a second substrate between which liquid crystal is interposed; a first electrode and a second electrode formed on the first substrate for applying a voltage for controlling an orientation of the liquid crystal; a transistor having an electrode which is electrically connected to the first electrode; a metal layer being formed on the first substrate and including a protrusion, a recess, or an aperture; and a reflective layer formed above the metal layer on the first substrate for reflecting incident light toward a display surface. The metal layer is made of a same material as that of a gate electrode of the transistor. The reflective layer includes a protrusion, a recess, or a level difference which is formed in accordance with a protrusion, a recess, or an aperture of the metal layer. |
| US08659721B2 |
Liquid crystal display device having reflecting surface in zigzag manner with polygonal line
A liquid crystal display device capable of efficiently obtaining a high brightness with reduced unevenness in brightness using a single light-emitting section is provided. The liquid crystal display device includes: a liquid crystal panel for controlling display by changing orientation of a liquid crystal composition; a single cylindrical light-source section (634); and a reflecting section (636) provided so that the single cylindrical light-source section is sandwiched between the reflecting section and the liquid crystal panel, for reflecting the light emitted from the single cylindrical light-source section (634) toward the liquid crystal panel, in which at least a part of a sectional shape of a reflecting surface of the reflecting section (636) in a cross section perpendicular to an axial direction of the single cylindrical light-source section (634) is formed based on a parabola whose focal point is a position of the single cylindrical light source section (634). |
| US08659714B2 |
Light emitting device
A light emitting device includes a light emitting structure comprising a first conductivity type semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity type semiconductor layer; a first ohmic layer and a first electrode provided on the first conductivity type semiconductor layer; and a second electrode provided on the second conductivity type semiconductor layer, wherein a contact area between the first conductivity type semiconductor layer and the first ohmic layer comprises oxygen at 5% or more of an atomic ratio or nitrogen at 50% or more of an atomic ratio. |
| US08659713B2 |
Active matrix substrate and liquid crystal device
In an active matrix substrate, the source electrode side and/or the drain electrode side of a crystalline semiconductor film extends to an area located outside both the thin-film transistor and the gate electrode, and a metal light-shielding film is provided, in the same layer as the gate electrode, between the contacting portion between the source electrode or the source line and the crystalline semiconductor film and the gate electrode, and/or between the contacting portion between the drain electrode and the crystalline semiconductor film and the gate electrode. An impurity-implanted region implanted with n-type impurity may be formed between the contacting portion between the source electrode or the source line and the crystalline semiconductor film and the gate electrode, and/or between the contacting portion between the drain electrode and the crystalline semiconductor film and the gate electrode. |
| US08659704B2 |
Apparatus and method for mixing graphics with video images
In one embodiment, graphics from a general-purpose computer are mixed with video images from a video source. A first interface receives the graphics, the graphics including a plurality of graphics frames, at least some graphics frames including one or more regions having pixels set to one or more predetermined color values. A second interface receives video images from the video source, each video image corresponding to one of the plurality of graphics frames. A video mixer includes logic configured to recognize pixels in the at least some graphics frames that are set to the one or more predetermined color values, and in the one or more regions where the pixels are set to the one or more predetermined color values to mix pixels from the corresponding video image with the graphics frame, to create a plurality of mixed images. One or more output interfaces outputs the mixed images. |
| US08659700B2 |
Method for converting a video signal for flicker compensation, and associated conversion device
Method and apparatus for converting a first video signal into a second video signal, including a succession of frames wherein each includes a plurality of points having a luminance. The points of the second video signal can be displayed on corresponding pixels of a display device. The method includes calculating the luminance of a point of a current frame of the second video signal by a weighted sum of a luminance of a corresponding point of a current frame of the first video signal and of a luminance of a corresponding point of a previously stored frame, and storing the luminance of the corresponding point of the current frame of the first video signal. The calculation is repeated for all the points of the current frame of the second video signal, and the storage is repeated for all the points of the current frame of the first video signal. |
| US08659697B2 |
Rapid auto-focus using classifier chains, MEMS and/or multiple object focusing
A smart-focusing technique includes identifying an object of interest, such as a face, in a digital image. A focus-generic classifier chain is applied that is trained to match both focused and unfocused faces and/or data from a face tracking module is accepted. Multiple focus-specific classifier chains are applied, including a first chain trained to match substantially out of focus faces, and a second chain trained to match slightly out of focus faces. Focus position is rapidly adjusted using a MEMS component. |
| US08659696B2 |
Assembly and method for aligning an optical system
An assembly for aligning an optical system over an image sensor is described. The assembly may include a lens structure positioned over an image sensor and a lens holder positioned over the lens structure and secured onto a substrate. The lens structure may incorporate an optical section and a structural section extending from the optical section and may rest directly on an image sensor with one or more stoppers that may serve to elevate the optical system with respect to the image sensor at a distance corresponding to a near optimal focal length distance. A lip also included in the structural section of the lens structure may abut two or more opposing sides to secure the lens structure over the image sensor in a centered position with respect to the image sensor. |
| US08659694B2 |
Pausing column readout in image sensors
An image sensor includes a two-dimensional array of pixels having multiple column outputs and an output circuit connected to each column output. Each output circuit is configured to operate concurrent sample and read operations. An analog front end (AFE) circuit processes pixel data output from the output circuits and an AFE clock controller transmits an AFE clocking signal to the AFE circuit to effect processing of the pixel data. A timing generator outputs a column address sequence that is received by a column decoder. During one or more sample operations the timing generator suspends the column address sequence and subsequently during the one or more sample operations the AFE clock controller suspends the AFE clocking signal. The AFE clocking signal and the column address sequence resume at the end of the one or more sample operations. |
| US08659691B2 |
Solid-state imaging apparatus, imaging system, and drive method of solid-state imaging apparatus
In a solid-state imaging apparatus, if the total read out time of all pixels is shortened when effective pixels are thinned out without thinning out OB pixels, then the rows have different reset time periods, and the problem of uneven charge accumulation time periods arises. An improvement by the present invention is that, if no signals are read out from a part of the rows in an effective pixel region to skip the rows, then the time period in which the rows to be skipped are selected is made shorter than that in which the rows from which signals are read out are selected, and the pixels in the optical black pixel region and those in the effective pixel region are driven by the drive pulses of patterns different from each other. |
| US08659687B2 |
Photoelectric conversion film stack-type solid-state imaging device and imaging apparatus
A photoelectric conversion film stack-type solid-state imaging device includes a semiconductor substrate, a photoelectric conversion layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a conductive light shield film. A signal reading portion is formed on the semiconductor substrate. The photoelectric conversion layer is stacked above the semiconductor substrate and includes a photoelectric conversion film formed between a first electrode film and a second electrode films which is divided into a plurality of regions corresponding to pixels respectively. The first light transmission layer is stacked above the light incidence side of the photoelectric conversion layer and made of a material that transmits light at least partially. The conductive light shield film is formed in the same layer level as the first light transmission layer and covers an outside of an effective pixel region. |
| US08659684B2 |
Image processing apparatus, program, method and image capturing system
An image processing apparatus with extended dynamic range includes a first gradation-conversion-characteristics calculating unit that calculates first gradation conversion characteristics for each of a plurality of areas of input image signals; and a gradation conversion unit that performs gradation conversion on each of the areas of the image signals by using the first gradation conversion characteristics. A filter processing and reduction processing unit generates a plurality of band signals having mutually different frequency bands by multi-resolution conversion processing from the image signals subjected to the gradation conversion. A second gradation-conversion-characteristics calculating unit calculates second gradation conversion characteristics associated with the individual band signals from the first gradation conversion characteristics An NR processing unit performs processing for noise reduction on the individual band signals by using the second gradation conversion characteristics; and an adding unit combines the band signals subjected to the processing for noise reduction. |
| US08659674B2 |
Digital photographing apparatus and method for controlling the same during manual operation
A digital photographing apparatus which, when operating in a manual mode for externally manipulating and setting photographing variables, determines when a photo is to be taken, and if photographing conditions are changed from those which occurred when photographing variables were set, notifies a user of the change so that a photo can be taken with desired photographic variables. A method of controlling a digital photographing apparatus to perform these operations is also provided. |
| US08659669B2 |
Image stabilization circuit with high pass filter
A first high-pass filter comprising a low-pass filter which allows only a frequency component of an input signal less than or equal to a first frequency to pass, a latch unit which latches an output of a low-pass filter according to a control signal, and a calculating unit which outputs a difference between an input signal and an output of the latch unit are provided on an image stabilization circuit. When latching in the latch unit is released, a held value of the latch unit is stepwise changed to the output value of the low-pass filter. Such a first high-pass filter is used in a centering process of an optical element. |
| US08659666B2 |
Electronic apparatus
An electronic apparatus has a first sending unit that sends predetermined data to an external apparatus, the predetermined data is generated by mixing video data and first error data; a second sending unit that sends second error data to the external apparatus without mixing video data and the second error data; and a selecting unit that selects one of the first sending unit and the second sending unit based on a state of the external apparatus to cause the external apparatus to notify an error associated with the electronic apparatus. |
| US08659660B2 |
Calibration apparatus and calibration method
A calibration apparatus for executing a camera calibration for each of a plurality of cameras mounted on an object so that image capturing ranges of two of the plurality of cameras overlap each other, the calibration apparatus includes an image obtaining unit configured to obtain first and second images captured by the two cameras, a temporary link structure forming unit configured to form a temporary link structure by using the first and second images including images of markers sets, a link angle determining unit configured to determine an effective link angle to form an effective link structure from the temporary link structure, and a parameter determining unit configured to determine a parameter for positioning at least one of the cameras on the basis of the effective link angle. |
| US08659659B2 |
System of gauging a camera suitable for equipping a vehicle
A system and process of gauging a camera suitable for equipping a vehicle. The system and process determines at least one value of at least one geometrical parameter of the camera, at least in accordance with an item of information that represents a parameter associated with an object detected by the camera, compares the determined value to a value of reference (θpitching_ref, θrolling_ref, θtwisting_ref) of the geometrical parameter of the camera, and controls the geometrical parameter of the camera in accordance with the comparison, particularly by modifying the value of reference in such a way as to gauge the camera. |
| US08659656B1 |
Hyperspectral imaging unmixing
Methods, circuits, and systems for time encoder-based unmixing of hyperspectral imaging data are disclosed. A method of unmixing hyperspectral imaging data includes receiving mixed image data of one or more pixels. The mixed image data is generated by an imaging device that captures hyperspectral data. The mixed image data includes sensed spectral band intensities of materials in an area represented by a particular pixel. The mixed image data is converted from first analog domain signals into pulse domain signals. A solution to a mixing equation in the pulse domain is generated to identify abundances of one or more of the materials based on the sensed spectral band intensities. The sensed spectral band intensities are compared to reference spectral band intensities of a set of considered materials. The solution is converted from a pulse domain into an analog domain as second analog domain signals. |
| US08659654B2 |
Image verification with tiered tolerance
Comparing a sample image to a reference image. Differences between the color channel values of the pixels in the sample image and the corresponding color channel values for the corresponding pixels in the reference image are calculated and compared to predefined tolerances. Based on the comparisons, a pixel status for the pixels in the sample image is defined. An image status indicating whether the sample image differs from the reference image is defined based on the defined pixel status. |
| US08659653B2 |
Device for evaluating the surface of a tire
A device for evaluating the appearance of the surface of a tire (P) comprising a color linear camera (1) comprising means (14, 15, 16) for separating the light beam (F) reflected by the surface of said tire (P) and entering the camera (1) into at least two base colors (R, G, B) of given wavelength, so as to direct the light beam to as many sensors (11, 12, 13) capable of obtaining a basic image in gray level (41, 42, 43) for each of the base colors, as many lighting means (21, 22, 23) as base colors, said lighting means being oriented so as to light the surface to be evaluated at different angles, characterized in that each of the lighting means (21, 22, 23) emits a colored light (R, G, B) that differs from that of the other lighting means, and the wavelength of which corresponds substantially to the wavelength of one of the base colors selected by the camera. |
| US08659646B2 |
Endoscopy device supporting multiple input devices
The present invention provides a remote-head imaging system with a camera control unit capable of supporting multiple input devices. The camera control unit detects an input device to which it is connected and changes the camera control unit's internal functionality accordingly. Such changes include altering clock timing, changing video output parameters, and changing image processing software. In addition, a user is able to select different sets of software program instructions and hardware configuration information based on the head that is attached. The remote-head imaging system utilizes field-programmable circuitry, such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), in order to facilitate the change in configuration. |
| US08659642B2 |
Stereoscopic video file format and computer readable recording medium in which stereoscopic video file is recorded according thereto
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic video file format capable of improving bit efficiency and processing efficiency and a computer-readable recording medium in which the corresponding stereoscopic video file are recorded. The present invention includes: a file type box that stores file format information and information indicating whether or not to include monoscopic data; a movie box that stores a plurality of trak boxes configuring stereoscopic video streams; a media data box that stores multimedia resources; a stereoscopic video media information box that stores at least one common stereoscopic video stream arrangement information; a stereoscopic camera and display information reference box that stores camera parameter and recommendation display information referenced by the plurality of trak boxes; a stereoscopic camera and display information box that exists at each stereoscopic image frame of the stereoscopic video stream and stores reference information of the stereoscopic camera and display information reference box; and a meta box that stores metadata, thereby making it possible to minimize overlapping data and optimizing a configuration of a file format in a simple form. |
| US08659640B2 |
Digital 3D/360 ° camera system
The digital 3D/360° camera system is an omnidirectional stereoscopic device for capturing image data that may be used to create a 3-dimensional model for presenting a 3D image, a 3D movie, or 3D animation. The device uses multiple digital cameras, arranged with overlapping fields of view, to capture image data covering an entire 360° scene. The data collected by one, or several, digital 3D/360° camera systems can be used to create a 3D model of a 360° scene by using triangulation of the image data within the overlapping fields of view. |