| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08706282B2 |
Weldability prediction and recommendation systems and methods
In one or more embodiments, a weldability of a stack-up for use in vehicle part production may be determined. The determination may include receiving general stack-up information, welding standards data for forming a stack-up, and one or more inputs defining one or more stack-up design variables. Additionally, standardized stack-up information may be generated based on the general stack-up information, the one or more design variables, and the welding standards data. Furthermore, historical welding data may be received for predicting a weldability of the stack-up. Predictive logic may be applied to the standardized stack-up information based on the historical welding data to obtain one or more weldability predictions for the stack-up. The one or more weldability predictions may be transmitted for use in vehicle part production. |
| US08706281B2 |
Method and device for producing a master die tool
A device and a method for the production of a master die tool for a component. The method includes the following steps: a) receiving or creating a CAD model of the component; b) deriving a surface model for the master die tool based on the CAD model of the component; c) creating the master die tool with NC machines using the surface model; d) producing an entity of the component using the master die tool; e) detecting the contours of the entity of the component by way of a computed tomography-based coordinate measuring device which supplies a 3D point cloud of surface points of the entity of the component; f) comparing the 3D points of the 3D point cloud to the CAD model, and determining whether any deviations exist beyond predetermined tolerance thresholds, and if this is the case g) modifying the surface model based on the deviations detected; h) reworking the master die tool or recreating the master die tool with the NC machines based on the modified surface model; i) repeating steps d) to h) until no more deviations exist beyond the predetermined tolerance thresholds. |
| US08706280B2 |
Device and method for formulating a numerical model of a manufactured product
A device and associated method for formulating, via an information technology device having a user interface, a numerical model of manufactured products, the numerical model including components, variables and constraints executes different steps successively. Each step stores, via the information technology device, the predetermined numerical data in order to construct the numerical model in memory. The numerical model may then be used to create a configuration of the manufactured product by making, via a user interface, choices among the structural, technical, manufacturing, and commercial characteristics of the numerical model of the manufactured product. |
| US08706276B2 |
Systems, methods, and media for identifying matching audio
System, methods, and media that: receive a first piece of audio content; identify a first plurality of atoms that describe at least a portion of the first piece of audio content using a Matching Pursuit algorithm; form a first group of atoms from at least a portion of the first plurality of atoms, the first group of atoms having first group parameters; form at least one first hash value for the first group of atoms based on the first group parameters; compare the at least one first hash value with at least one second hash value, wherein the at least one second hash value is based on second group parameters of a second group of atoms associated with a second piece of audio content; and identify a match between the first piece of audio content and the second piece of audio content based on the comparing. |
| US08706275B2 |
Systems and methods for application sound management
Embodiments of the invention provide systems, methods, apparatuses and program products configured to intelligently manage sound options for applications of a computer system based on display device characteristics. Various embodiments of the invention are particularly well suited for optimizing the sound options of two or more applications running on two or more display screens of the computer system simultaneously. |
| US08706274B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program
An information processing apparatus is provided which includes a metadata extraction unit for analyzing an audio signal in which a plurality of instrument sounds are present in a mixed manner and for extracting, as a feature quantity of the audio signal, metadata changing along with passing of a playing time, and a player parameter determination unit for determining, based on the metadata extracted by the metadata extraction unit, a player parameter for controlling a movement of a player object corresponding to each instrument sound. |
| US08706264B1 |
Time synchronized registration feedback
A method for use in a part tracking system including a camera and a motion controller, the method comprising the steps of time synchronizing the motion controller and the camera at a trigger time when it is anticipated that a part is within the field of view of the camera, causing the camera to obtain an image, using the obtained image to determine an actual location of the part at the trigger time, comparing the actual location and the anticipated location of the part to identify a position difference and at the motion controller, using the position difference at the trigger time to adjust at least one operating characteristic of the automated system. |
| US08706263B2 |
Synchronization of execution of sequential function charts using transition groups
Systems and methods are provided that are capable of synchronizing an industrial process. The industrial process may include a plurality of process levels. A visualization group may be displayed, showing the various levels of a process. A transition group may be graphically defined that allows for the linking of the transitions between the various process levels. In certain embodiments, sequential function charts (SFC) may include expanded capabilities that allow for the visual definition, editing, and review of the transition groups. Such SFC embodiments may be capable of process flow synchronization across any levels of the modeled process. |
| US08706259B2 |
Insertion tool for paddle-style electrode
A system for lead implantation includes a lead having a paddle-style electrode extending from a proximal end to a distal end, the paddle-style electrode, having a back surface; an active surface; a plurality of electrode contacts disposed on the active surface; and a longitudinal lumen extending into the paddle-style electrode and defining an opening at the proximal end of the paddle-style electrode. The lead also has at least one lead body extending from the paddle-style electrode. The at least one lead body includes conductors that are electrically coupled to the electrode contracts. The system also includes an insertion tool having a distal portion for insertion into the longitudinal lumen of the paddle-style electrode. At least the distal portion of the insertion tool or the longitudinal lumen (or both) includes a low friction material forming a surface with a coefficient of friction of 0.1 or less. |
| US08706258B2 |
Method and apparatus for treating cancer
A method and apparatus for treating masses, such as prostate or breast cancer, or any other soft tissue cancerous or benign mass, employs a unique, three-dimensional software-controlled electronic amplifier array using arbitrary waveforms that dynamically and proportionally steer electrical currents by using two or more current vector paths, sequentially or simultaneously, through a mass containing electrically-conductive ionic solutions so as to obtain 100% thermal heating or hyperthermia through the mass, and destroying it with a minimally-invasive treatment which requires no radiation or chemotherapy which could be harmful to the patient. |
| US08706255B2 |
Holster for charging pectorally implanted medical devices
A system for recharging an implantable medical device. The system comprises a holster that may be donned in multiple respective configurations for charging implanted medical devices implanted at various locations within the patient's body. The system may further comprise a charging unit having an antenna on the patient's right side, a second configuration for charging a pectorally implanted medical device on the patient's left side, or a third configuration for use as a waist belt for charging a pectorally implanted medical device on either side of the patient. |
| US08706251B2 |
Secure long-range telemetry for implantable medical device
A method and system for enabling secure communications between an implantable medical device (IMD) and an external device (ED) over a telemetry channel. A telemetry interlock may be implemented which limits any communications between the ED and the IMD over the telemetry channel, where the telemetry interlock is released when the ED transmits an enable command to the IMD via a short-range communications channel requiring physical proximity to the IMD. As either an alternative or addition to the telemetry interlock, a data communications session between the IMD and ED over the telemetry channel may be allowed to occur only after the IMD and ED have been cryptographically authenticated to one other. |
| US08706250B2 |
Neurostimulation system for implementing model-based estimate of neurostimulation effects
A neurostimulation system for use in providing therapy to a patient comprises a user input device configured for receiving input from a user, and processing circuitry configured for selecting an electrode configuration in response to receiving the input from the user, providing an electrical model of a neuronal element of the patient, providing a discrete approximation of a differential equation of a neural response parameter (e.g., a transmembrane voltage potential) of the electrical model as a function of discrete space (e.g., nodes along the electrical model) and as a function of a finite time difference, computing the neural response parameter in the differential equation approximation at a specified time for each of a plurality of points on a membrane of the neuronal element, and performing a human-discernible function based on the computed neural response parameters. |
| US08706249B2 |
Implantable pulse generator for neurostimulation that comprises voltage conversion circuitry and method of operation thereof
In one embodiment, an implantable pulse generator (IPG) for generating electrical pulses for stimulation of tissue of a patient, comprises: a controller for controlling operations of the IPG; pulse generating circuitry for generating electrical pulses; and conversion circuitry for converting a received logic signal generated by a first voltage domain for provision to a second voltage domain, the conversion circuitry comprising a first stage and a second stage, wherein (i) the first stage receives first signals at first and second logic levels; (ii) the second stage receives second signals at third and fourth logic levels, (iii) the second stage comprising two sets of cross-coupled transistors for generating a rail-to-rail output at the third and fourth logic levels according to whether the received logic signal is at the first or second logic level. |
| US08706248B2 |
Directional sound processing in a cochlear implant
A cochlear implant implementing a directional sound processing system is provided. Specifically, the cochlear implants implementing the present invention comprise a plurality of audio sensors arranged in at least one external component of the cochlear implant to spatially receive ambient sound. At least one audio sensor is located in one of the external components of the cochlear implant, while one other audio sensor is located elsewhere, such as in a component other than the first component. The cochlear implant includes an directional sound processor comprising an array processor and a sound processor to convert the received sounds into a cochlea stimulation instruction signal. |
| US08706247B2 |
Remote audio processor module for auditory prosthesis systems
An exemplary auditory prosthesis system includes an auditory prosthesis configured to be implanted within a head of a patient and to apply electrical stimulation representative of an audio signal to one or more stimulation sites within the patient in accordance with one or more stimulation parameters, a behind-the-ear sound processing unit configured to be secured to an ear of the patient and to transmit the one or more stimulation parameters to the auditory prosthesis, and a remote audio processor module separate from the behind-the-ear sound processing unit and communicatively coupled to the behind-the-ear sound processing unit via a communication link, the remote audio processor module configured to perform at least a portion of a signal processing heuristic on the audio signal in order to facilitate generation of the one or more stimulation parameters. |
| US08706246B2 |
Fully implantable cochlear implant systems including optional external components and methods for using the same
An exemplary cochlear implant system includes an external module configured to be positioned external to and worn by a patient, the external module having an external microphone configured to detect an input audio signal presented to the patient, and an external speaker configured to acoustically transmit an audio signal representative of the input audio signal. The exemplary cochlear implant system further includes an implantable module configured to be implanted within the patient, the implantable module having an internal microphone configured to detect the acoustically transmitted audio signal, an internal sound processor configured to generate one or more stimulation parameters based on the acoustically transmitted audio signal, and an internal cochlear stimulator configured to apply electrical stimulation representative of the input audio signal to one or more stimulation sites within the patient in accordance with the one or more stimulation parameters. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. |
| US08706244B2 |
Fitting of brightness as a function of current amplitude in a visual prosthesis
To accurately represent a visual scene a visual prosthesis must convey luminance information across a range of brightness levels. To do this, the brightness of phosphenes produced by an individual electrode should scale appropriately with luminance, and the same luminance should produce equivalently bright phosphenes across the entire electrode array. Given that the function relating current to brightness varies across electrodes, it is necessary to develop a fitting procedure that will permit brightness to be equated across an entire array. The current invention describes a method of performing a brightness fitting that normalizes brightness across electrodes. The method determines a set of parameters that are stored in the subjects Video Configuration File—the look-up table that converts the video camera input to stimulation profiles for each electrode. One electrode would be specified as the standard. Brightness rating would be carried out on that electrode so “rating” as a function of current amplitude was known for that electrode. |
| US08706240B2 |
Method for direct modulation of the spinothalamic tract
A method for treating a patient suffering from chronic neuropathic pain, comprises epidurally applying electrical stimulation energy to a spinothalamic tract of the patient, thereby treating the chronic neuropathic pain. The method may further comprise increasing the activation threshold of a side-effect exhibiting neural structure relative to the activation threshold of the spinothalamic tract of the patient, wherein the electrical stimulation energy is applied to the spinothalamic tract of the patient while the activation threshold of the neural structure relative to the spinothalamic tract is increased, thereby treating the chronic neuropathic pain without stimulating the neural structure. |
| US08706239B2 |
Systems and methods for controlling neurostimulation based on regional cardiac performance for use by implantable medical devices
Techniques are provided for controlling neurostimulation such as spinal cord stimulation (SCS) using a cardiac rhythm management device (CRMD). In various examples described herein, neurostimulation is delivered to a patient while regional cardiac performance of the heart of the patient is assessed by the CRMD. The delivery of further neurostimulation is adjusted or controlled based, at least in part, on the regional cardiac performance, preferably to enhance positive effects on the heart due to the neurostimulation or to mitigate any negative effects. Regional cardiac performance is assessed based on parameters derived from cardiogenic impedance signals detected along various vectors through the heart. |
| US08706237B2 |
Brain stimulation response profiling
Various embodiments concern delivering electrical stimulation to the brain at a plurality of different levels of a stimulation parameter and sensing a bioelectrical response of the brain to delivery of the electrical stimulation for each of the plurality of different levels of the stimulation parameter. A suppression window of the stimulation parameter can be identified as having a suppression threshold as a lower boundary and an after-discharge threshold as an upper boundary based on the sensed bioelectrical responses. A therapy level of the stimulation parameter can be set for therapy delivery based on the suppression window. The therapy level of the stimulation parameter may be set closer to the suppression threshold than the after-discharge threshold within the suppression window. Data for hippocampal stimulation demonstrating a suppression window is presented. |
| US08706234B2 |
System and method for electrical stimulation of anorectal structures to treat anal dysfunction
A system and method for treating anorectal dysfunction includes implanting, in a minimally invasive manner, an electro-medical device for stimulation of two or more separate and distinct anatomical or histological structures of the anorectal region. Electrodes operably connected to the device are positioned proximate the target anatomical or histological structures. The device provides either the same or different stimulation algorithms to each anatomical or histological structure. Smooth muscle, such as the internal anal sphincter, is provided with a continuous stimulation algorithm, while skeletal muscle, such as the external anal sphincter, is provided with an on demand stimulation algorithm. Varying stimulation algorithms applied to multiple structures results in improved anorectal function without developing muscle fatigue and tolerance. |
| US08706233B2 |
Stimulation therapy including substantially simultaneous bilateral stimulation
In some examples, a medical device delivers a first electrical stimulation therapy to a patient, and, upon detecting a trigger event, delivers a second electrical stimulation therapy to the patient. In some examples, the first stimulation therapy includes unilateral stimulation or stimulation delivered to both lateral sides of the patient at different times at a stimulation intensity lower than, equal to, or greater than a threshold intensity level for the patient, or bilateral stimulation delivered substantially simultaneously to both lateral sides of the patient, where one lateral side of the patient receives stimulation at an intensity level that is lower than the threshold intensity level and the other lateral side receives stimulation at an intensity level that is greater than or equal to the threshold intensity level. The second stimulation therapy may include substantially simultaneous bilateral stimulation therapy at an intensity level that at or above the threshold intensity level. |
| US08706224B1 |
Systems and methods for paired/coupled pacing and dynamic overdrive/underdrive pacing
Techniques are described for use with an implantable cardiac stimulation device for performing paired/coupled pacing either alone or in conjunction with dynamic overdrive/underdrive pacing. In one technique, dynamic overdrive/underdrive pacing is delivered to the ventricles using paired pulses during an episode of atrial fibrillation. The use of paired pulses during dynamic ventricular overdrive/underdrive pacing helps lower and stabilize the ventricular rate to thereby reduce the risk of a ventricular arrhythmia. In another technique, the inter-pulse interval between paired pulses is optimized to lengthen the resulting refractory period to improve hemodynamics. Preferably, the optimized inter-pulse interval is used when applying dynamic ventricular overdrive/underdrive pacing with paired pulses so that the benefits of both techniques are obtained. The optimization technique is also applicable to setting the coupling interval for use with coupled pacing. |
| US08706222B2 |
Methods and apparatus for reducing spurious signals in implantable medical devices caused by x-ray radiation
An implantable medical device (IMD) includes a detector for detecting the presence of x-ray radiation, where the presence of x-ray radiation is detected in response to the strength of the x-ray radiation exceeding a first threshold. In one embodiment, the IMD includes a processor for adjusting a cardiac stimulation rate IMD in response to determining that the strength of the detected x-ray radiation exceeds a second threshold. The second pre-selected x-ray radiation threshold is greater than the first pre-selected x-ray radiation threshold. In another embodiment, the implantable device includes a detector for detecting the presence of any amount x-ray radiation and a processor for adjusting a stimulation rate provided by the IMD in response to detected x-ray radiation to reduce the chance of over-sampling artifacts or inappropriate therapy delivery. |
| US08706218B2 |
Battery longevity estimator that accounts for episodes of high current drain
System and method for estimating a remaining capacity of a battery of an implantable medical device. The implantable medical device has a battery producing a current and having a remaining battery capacity, the implantable medical device being configured to utilize a relatively low amount of the current and, in specific instances, a relatively large pulse of the current. The processor is coupled to the battery and configured to calculate an estimate of the remaining battery capacity based, at least in part, on a measured battery parameter and occurrences of the specific instances of delivery of the relatively large pulse of the current. |
| US08706216B2 |
Method and device for three-stage atrial cardioversion therapy
Methods and apparatus for a three-stage atrial cardioversion therapy that treats atrial arrhythmias within pain tolerance thresholds of a patient. An implantable therapy generator adapted to generate and selectively deliver a three-stage atrial cardioversion therapy and at least two leads, each having at least one electrode adapted to be positioned proximate the atrium of the patient. The device is programmed for delivering a three-stage atrial cardioversion therapy via both a far-field configuration and a near-field configuration of the electrodes upon detection of an atrial arrhythmia. The three-stage atrial cardioversion therapy includes a first stage for unpinning of one or more singularities associated with an atrial arrhythmia, a second stage for anti-repinning of the one or more singularities, both of which are delivered via the far-field configuration of the electrodes, and a third stage for extinguishing of the one or more singularities delivered via the near-field configuration of the electrodes. |
| US08706211B2 |
Systems, devices, and methods including catheters having self-cleaning surfaces
Systems, devices, methods, and compositions are described for providing an actively-controllable disinfecting implantable device configured to, for example, treat or prevent an infection in a biological subject. |
| US08706209B2 |
Devices, systems, and methods for measuring parallel tissue conductance, luminal cross-sectional areas, fluid velocity, and/or determining plaque vulnerability using temperature
Devices, systems, and methods for measuring parallel tissue conductance, luminal cross-sectional areas, fluid velocity, and/or determining plaque vulnerability using temperature. In at least one embodiment of a method to obtain parallel tissue conductance, the method comprises the steps of inserting at least part of a detection device into a luminal organ, applying current thereto, obtaining a native temperature measurement, injecting a solution of a known conductivity into the luminal organ, detecting a temperature change indicative of the fluid within the luminal organ, measuring an output conductance, and calculating a parallel tissue conductance based upon the output conductance and the conductivity of the injected solution. |
| US08706204B2 |
System and method for observing heart rate of passenger
A system and method is provided for observing a heart rate of a passenger. The system for observing a heart rate of a passenger includes a plurality of different types of heart rate sensors provided on a seat cushion or a seat back, and a control unit for collecting waveforms of the heart rate sensors for respective sensor types, computing accuracies of the waveforms for respective sensor types at each unit time, selecting a waveform having a highest accuracy at each unit time, and then calculating a heart rate. |
| US08706197B2 |
Planning method and planning device for knee implants
A planning method and device for knee implants, wherein spatial data on the configuration of a patient's genicular anatomy, in particular of at least a part of the femur and/or the patella and/or the tibia, are captured in order to be inputted into a computer-assisted planning station; the movement of the parts of the genicular anatomy is recorded using a tracking and/or motion capturing method; the captured anatomical and movement data are made available to the computer-assisted planning station; a part of the patient's genicular anatomy is virtually replaced in the planning station by a sample implant and movements of the knee together with the sample implant are simulated; contact and impingement between the non-replaced parts of the genicular anatomy and the implant during the virtual movement is ascertained according to its magnitude; and wherein an adjustment of the positioning, shape or orientation of the implant or of a number of these parameters is determined until the contact and impingement become non-critical and the adjustment thus determined is defined as a suitable adjustment. |
| US08706195B2 |
Method for producing an electrophysiological map of the heart
Method and system for producing an electrophysiological map of a heart of the body of a patient, the method including, for at least one target point, determining a respective target point location and a respective probe orientation, confirming that the tip of a probe is located at the respective target point location, confirming that the tip is oriented at the respective probe orientation, measuring at least one heart parameter value at the respective target point location, and superimposing at least one representation of the at least one heart parameter value on an image of the heart, at the respective target point location, to produce the electrophysiological map. |
| US08706189B2 |
Combined PET/MRI device, component and local coil
A combined PET/MRI device is disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the PET/MRI device includes an MRI unit for exciting nuclear spins in an examination volume and for receiving signals generated by the excitation in the examination volume, and a PET unit with a detector which surrounds the examination volume at least in part and is used for detecting radiation emanating from the examination volume, with, firstly, damping of the radiation emitted by the examination volume and, secondly, undesired interactions with electromagnetic fields of the MRI unit on the components of the PET/MRI device arranged between the examination volume and the detector being avoided due to the material properties and/or structural design of the components. Corresponding components such as, for example, patient couches, bearing or support apparatuses and local coils, are both MRI and PET compatible. |
| US08706180B2 |
Electrochemical analyte sensor
An electrochemical analyte sensor formed using conductive traces on a substrate can be used for determining and/or monitoring a level of analyte in in vitro or in vivo analyte-containing fluids. For example, an implantable sensor may be used for the continuous or automatic monitoring of a level of an analyte, such as glucose, lactate, or oxygen, in a patient. The electrochemical analyte sensor includes a substrate and conductive material disposed on the substrate, the conductive material forming a working electrode. In some sensors, the conductive material is disposed in recessed channels formed in a surface of the sensor. An electron transfer agent and/or catalyst may be provided to facilitate the electrolysis of the analyte or of a second compound whose level depends on the level of the analyte. A potential is formed between the working electrode and a reference electrode or counter/reference electrode and the resulting current is a function of the concentration of the analyte in the body fluid. |
| US08706171B2 |
Hands-free terminals and hands-free system for cars
A user of a hands-free phone cannot determine with which speech quality the distant side of communication is listened to, and does not know which action to be required to improve the speech quality. In the case of the present invention, a function of presenting an action to be implemented by the user to improve the speech quality at the opposite party is mounted on the hands-free terminal. For the presentation here, it is assumed that the hands-free terminal according to the present invention has a function of estimating the speech quality at the distant side, a function of estimating an action to be implemented by the user to improve the estimated speech quality, and a function of presenting the estimated action to the user. |
| US08706169B2 |
Interface overlay
A method and apparatus for providing a user interface overlay. In one embodiment, a toolbar remains visible and can be selected at any time to activate the interface overlay. The interface overlay provides an easily visible list computing options, such as contacts, that overlays the entire display area. The background of the overlay may be semi-transparent so that underlying windows are still visible, but the list is highlighted. The list includes selectable display elements with display characteristics, such as size or color, that indicate one or more attributes associated with the corresponding computing options, such as a frequency of interaction with certain contacts. In one embodiment, groups of contacts can be sorted or filtered by the attributes before display. Each selectable display element identifies a contact and may indicate a current availability. A user selects a display element to initiate communication, such as an instant messaging chat session. |
| US08706166B2 |
System and method for channel-adaptive antenna selection
Systems and methods that provide channel-adaptive antenna selection in multi-antenna element communication systems are provided. In one embodiment, a method that selects a subset of receive antennas of a receiver to receive a transmitted RF signal may include, for example, one or more of the following: establishing possible subsets of the receive antennas; determining sets of channel parameter statistics corresponding to the possible subsets of the receive antennas; computing output bit error rates of the receiver, each output bit error rate being computed based on at least one set of channel parameter statistics; selecting a particular possible subset of the receive antennas based upon a criterion predicated on the computed output bit error rates; and connecting one or more RF chains of the receiver to the receive antennas of the selected particular possible subset. |
| US08706164B2 |
Method and apparatus for supporting multiple frequency bands in mobile communication system
A method and an apparatus for supporting multiple frequency bands efficiently in a mobile communication system are provided. The method includes generating first system information including a frequency band indicator indicating a frequency band supported by the base station and an additional frequency band indicator indicating at least one frequency band supported by the base station, and broadcasting the first system information. |
| US08706163B2 |
Chip cards providing trusted time references
The subject innovation relates to a chip card to be inserted in terminals. An exemplary embodiment of the chip card includes a clock unit to provide a time reference and an internal power source to at least run the clock unit in case of absence of an external power source. The exemplary chip card also includes a signal receiver to receive a satellite navigation signal comprising a satellite time signal, the signal receiver being connected to the clock unit in order to synchronize the clock unit with the satellite time signal to enable the clock unit to provide the time reference as a trusted absolute time reference independently from a position of the chip card. |
| US08706160B2 |
System and method for delivering adaptively multi-media content through a network
A multimedia multimodal dynamic user interface for mobile/wireless devices is introduced in present invention. With this mechanism, service providers can offer rich user oriented applications and they have the freedom to explore new applications easily. A voice call path and a data path are setup for each call request to support the user interface and the device information is sent to a server during the call setup procedure. The user interface offers virtual user to user interaction by integrating multi-media with multi modal interactions. A user may enter inputs through multiple modals and inputs are synchronized and delivered to a server for processing. |
| US08706157B2 |
Mobile communication terminal and data synchronization method
A mobile terminal includes a transceiver unit for receiving a synchronization request message from a wireless network entity, a memory unit for storing first user data, a display unit for displaying a synchronization indicator to indicate a need for synchronization of the user data stored in the memory unit, and a controller for controlling display of the synchronization indicator responsive to the synchronization request message received by the transceiver unit. |
| US08706155B1 |
Transmission protocol modification to maximize mobile device battery life
A communications device and methods for terminating a communication session in a communications device. The method includes receiving a termination communication from a remote computing device. The termination communication indicates an intent by the remote computing device to terminate the communication session. The method also includes determining that one or more conditions exist under which the communications device should terminate the communication session without transmitting an acknowledgment communication to the remote computing device. The acknowledgement communication indicates an acknowledgment of the termination communication. The method further includes in response to determining that the one or more conditions exist, terminating the communication session on the communications device without transmitting the acknowledgment communication to the remote computing device. |
| US08706154B2 |
Uplink power control method and apparatus in wireless communication system
An uplink power control method and apparatus in a wireless communication system are provided. The uplink power control method in a terminal of a wireless communication system includes mapping one or more codewords to one or more layers, and multiplying the codewords mapped to the layers by a layer power control matrix so as to perform layer power control. |
| US08706151B2 |
User equipment terminal and signal power measurement method
A user equipment terminal for measuring signal power in a neighbor cell within a predetermined bandwidth includes a measurement band determining unit configured to determine a measurement band according to a measurement pattern in which the measurement band varies depending on a measurement time; a measurement unit configured to measure instantaneous values of signal power in the neighbor cell within the determined measurement band; and an averaging unit configured to average the measured instantaneous values of signal power to determine signal power in the neighbor cell. |
| US08706148B2 |
Messaging in mobile telecommunications networks
A method of routing legacy messages between a message center and a mobile telecommunications device registered with a mobile telecommunications network, which mobile telecommunications network includes a plurality of base stations each serving a plurality of mobile telecommunications devices, and a plurality of mobility management entities, each serving a plurality of said base stations, the mobility management entities (being adapted to communicate using a legacy protocol with a legacy network for routing the legacy messages between the message center and the mobile telecommunications device via the legacy network. A legacy message interworking function communicates with the mobility management entities using the legacy protocol and directly routes messages between the mobility management entities and the message center without routing the messages via the legacy network. |
| US08706147B2 |
Method, system and apparatus for enhancing digital voice call initiation between a calling telephony device and a called telephony device
A method system and apparatus for enhancing digital voice call initiation between a first telephony device and a second telephony device is provided. Text data is associated with digital voice data conveyed between the first telephony device and the second telephony device, the associating occurring prior to initiating transmitting the digital voice data, the text data based on input data received via an input device associated with the first telephony device. The text data is transmitted to the second telephony device in conjunction with transmitting the digital voice data, the text data to be provided synchronously at the second telephony device with an announcement of the digital voice data. |
| US08706146B2 |
Out-of-band paging with group identifier to reduce mobile detection latency
Systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are described for using an out-of-band (OOB) radio integrated with the femtocell to implement various novel proximity detection techniques. Proximity detection of access terminals (ATs) in the femtocell's access control list (ACL) can be desirable to support femto connectivity and service provision, for example, in context of idle macro-to-femto handoffs, active macro-to-femto hand-ins, etc. Implementations implement OOB proximity detection through multicasting directed proximity request messages to each AT in a femtocell's ACL. Responses to the proximity request message can include identification information used to determine the specific AT that is in proximity. |
| US08706144B2 |
1x and 1xEV-DO hybrid call setup
Systems and methods for hybrid call setup in a wireless communication system are disclosed. A page is sent on a first network informing a target device of a pending communication on a second network. The page also informs the target device a short data burst (SDB) will be sent on the first network. The short data burst (SDB) is sent on the first network containing setup information regarding the pending communication on the second network. |
| US08706143B1 |
Driver handheld computing device lock-out
Lock-out mechanisms for driver handheld computing devices. The lock-out mechanisms disable the ability of a handheld computing device to perform certain functions, such as texting, while one is driving. In one embodiment, a handheld computing device can provide a lock-out mechanism without requiring any modifications or additions to a vehicle by using a motion analyzer, a scenery analyzer and a lock-out mechanism. In other embodiments, the handheld computing device can provide a lock-out mechanism with modifications or additions to the vehicle, including the use of signals transmitted by the vehicle or by the vehicle key when engaged with the vehicle. |
| US08706140B2 |
System and method of passive and active scanning of WLAN-enabled access points to estimate position of a WLAN positioning device
Systems and methods of passive and active scanning of WLAN-enabled access points to estimate position of a WLAN positioning device. A device estimates the position of itself. The device includes a WLAN radio module for receiving WLAN signals, extraction logic for extracting information from said received WLAN signals to identify the WLAN APs, and logic to cooperate with a WLAN-based positioning system. The WLAN radio module includes a phase for active scanning of WLAN APs in range of said device and a phase of passive scanning of WLAN APs in range of said device, and the passive scanning phase scans only a pre-determined and selected subset of WLAN channels. Under certain embodiments, the WLAN radio module includes a passive scanning phase that simultaneously scans multiple WLAN channels. |
| US08706139B2 |
Apparatus, and associated method, for estimating a time zone at which a device is positioned
An apparatus, and an associated method, estimates a time zone at which an electronic device, such as a wireless device, is positioned. Parameters, such as a mobile country code, a GMT offset, a daylight savings time parameter, and geo location parameters are all candidate parameters from which to make an estimate. Received parameters are identified, and selectably used to obtain an estimate that is matched or verified to ensure likely accuracy. |
| US08706138B2 |
Mobile communication devices and location registration methods
A mobile communication device with a wireless module and a controller module is provided. The wireless module performs wireless transceiving to and from a first service network. The controller module transmits a location update request message to a first cellular station of the first service network via the wireless module, and receives a location update rejection message, which comprises a rejection cause indicating a network related failure, from the first cellular station via the wireless module. Also, the controller module transmits another location update request message to a second cellular station of the first service network via the wireless module in response to the location update rejection message. Particularly, the first cellular station and the second cellular station belong to a first location area and a second location area, respectively. |
| US08706137B2 |
Likelihood of mobile device portal transition
The subject matter disclosed herein may relate to methods, apparatuses, systems, devices, articles, or means for conditionally performing a scan responsive to a likelihood of a portal transition, etc. For certain example implementations, a method for a mobile device may comprise determining an indication of a likelihood that a position of the mobile device is transitioning from a first area identifiable by a first location context identifier to a second area identifiable by a second location context identifier via a portal linking the first area and the second area; and conditionally performing a scan for signals transmitted by one or more transmitter devices corresponding to the second area responsive to the indication of the likelihood that the position of the mobile device is transitioning to the second area via the portal. Other example implementations are described herein. |
| US08706136B2 |
Initialization of regulatory configurations of unlicensed wireless devices
In an example embodiment, a mobile wireless device, such as a mobile telephone, is employed to configure a second wireless device such as an access point. The mobile wireless device determines its location and a regulatory domain corresponding to the location. The mobile wireless device configures the second wireless device to operate in the regulatory domain. |
| US08706134B2 |
Method and system of providing navigation service with directory assistance
An approach is disclosed for providing navigation information for a requested listing to a mobile device caller of a directory assistance call. If the caller selects an option to receive driving directions to the listing destination, the directory assistance provider forwards the listing address to a platform that correlates the address with location coordinates. The platform can poll the calling device to obtain GPS identifying data for the mobile device and derive mapping and routing information. |
| US08706125B2 |
Allocation of communication channels
A method of allocating a plurality of communication channels of a network, for a plurality of network stations of the network. The method comprises generating a common transmission message for the plurality of network stations and transmitting the generated transmission message to the plurality of network stations. The message comprises channel allocation information allowing an allocation of channels by the network stations, the information relating to each of the plurality of network stations. A network managing station for communicating with the plurality of network stations, there being a plurality of communication channels available for use by the plurality of network stations. The network managing station comprises a processor, arranged to generate the common transmission message for the plurality of network stations and a transmitter arranged to transmit the generated transmission to said plurality of networks. A network station, capable of communicating over one or more of a plurality of communication channels, the network station comprising: a receiver, arranged to receive the common transmission message and a processor, arranged to determine a channel for use by the network station based on the received channel allocation information. |
| US08706121B2 |
Data processing in intra-site handover
The technology involves data processing during intra-site handover procedures. At least two directional antennas of a base station receive data carrying signals originating from a mobile units positioned in an intra-site handover area defined by the overlapping radio coverage of the antennas. The directional antennas performs an initial data signal detection of the received data signals resulting in detected data, which typically results in a loss of radio performance of the antenna. The detected data from the directional antennas is then processed to generate processed data. The performance loss is compensated by providing differential antenna gain of the directional antennas within the handover area. |
| US08706118B2 |
3G LTE intra-EUTRAN handover control using empty GRE packets
Empty GRE packets are used to ensure in-order delivery of data packets for a session to a UE during intra-EUTRAN handover involving SGW relocation. In particular, a PGW sends an empty GRE packet per PDN session of the UE to a source SGW upon handover execution to indicate the end of pre-handover data packets delivered to the source SGW. Upon receipt of the empty GRE packet, the source SGW generates an end marker packet, and sends it to the source eNodeB. The source eNodeB forwards buffered, pre-handover data packets not delivered to the UE, followed by the end marker packet, to the target eNodeB, either directly (X2 interface) or indirectly (GTP-U tunnel between source and target SGWs). The target eNodeB then sends the pre-handover data packets, and post-handover data packets delivered to it by the PGW, to the UE in order, in reliance on the end marker packet. |
| US08706116B2 |
Base transceiver station apparatus and mobile communications system
When carrying out a downlink handover, a source base transceiver station from which a mobile node is moving receives packets to be transmitted, via a wireless section, to the mobile node from an IP network, and copies and transfers them to a destination base transceiver station to which the mobile node is moving. On the other hand, when carrying out an uplink handover, the source base transceiver station compares the reliability of transport blocks which are received via a wireless section, from the mobile node and which are demodulated and decoded by the local station with that of transport blocks which are received via an IP network, from another base transceiver station and which are demodulated and decoded thereby, packetizes selected transport blocks with a better quality, and transmits them to a communications-partner node according to a route table, thereby implementing distribution of traffic via the IP network. |
| US08706115B2 |
Method for inter-radio access technology cell reselection
A method for performing cell reselection first determines a current cell selection quality value. The cell selection quality value is compared to a predetermined threshold. Measurements of neighboring cells are taken if the cell selection quality value is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold. Measurements can be taken of intra-frequency cells, inter-frequency cells, and inter-radio access technology cells. If a neighboring cell is found that is better than the current cell based on the measurements, then the better neighbor cell is reselected to. |
| US08706110B2 |
Methods for selecting cells in cellular telephone systems
User equipment such as cellular telephones and other wireless electronic devices may communicate wirelessly with 2G and 3G cells in a cellular network. The cellular network may broadcast a list of primary scrambling codes corresponding to 3G cell sites that are potentially available for wirelessly communicating with the user equipment. The user equipment may perform an evaluation of primary scrambling code pilot signal strengths for each of the primary scrambling codes in the list. The user equipment may also maintain a record whenever a more extensive full primary scrambling code scan fails. If the evaluation reveals that at least one signal strength is sufficient, the cellular telephone may establish a corresponding 3G wireless link. If the evaluation does not identify any sufficiently strong 3G cells, a full pilot signal scan may be performed, provided that no full scans have failed within a predetermined time interval before the current time. |
| US08706107B2 |
Method, apparatus and system for registering in universal service interface system
A method, an apparatus, and a system for registering in a USI system are disclosed herein. The method includes: an H-USI system receives a USI registration request message that carries an identifier of a terminal from a V-USI system; and the H-USI system interacts with an H-AAA server according to the USI registration request message to perform USI system registration for the terminal. An apparatus for registering in a USI system is disclosed herein. The apparatus includes a receiving module and a registering module. Through the method and the system disclosed herein, the terminal can be registered in the USI system successfully, and the USI service can be implemented smoothly. |
| US08706102B2 |
Server for sending new application portions to mobile wireless communications devices and related methods
A communications system is to communicate with an application server storing a plurality of applications. The communications system includes a mobile wireless communications device configured to store at least one application from among the plurality of applications, the at least one application having stored version information associated therewith. An intermediate server is configured to update the mobile wireless communications device by at least obtaining respective current version information for associated current versions of the plurality of applications and obtaining the stored application version information from the mobile wireless communications device for the at least one stored application. The stored application version information is compared with the current version information for the at least one stored application. New application portions are downloaded from a current application associated with the current version information, and the new application portions are sent to the mobile wireless communications device. |
| US08706099B2 |
Method and apparatus for power saving of femto base station using ANR function in wireless communication system
Provided are a method and an apparatus for power saving of a femto base station operating as a CSG cell in a wireless communication system. A femto base station according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes: a reception unit receiving signals from adjacent second femto base stations; a transmission unit transmitting signals to second femto base stations, and a control unit controlling to be transitioned to an active mode when a mode transition command is received from at least one second femto base station while operating in a sleep mode, in a wireless communication system constituted by a plurality of femto base stations using automatic neighbor relation (ANR). |
| US08706097B2 |
Delaying delivery of teleconference access information
A system and method for delaying delivery of teleconference access information includes at least one processor, at least one computer readable medium in communication with the processor, and at least one program module stored on the medium. The module is operative to create a teleconference notification in response to a request from a requestor device. The module can also assign a date, time, and access information for the teleconference, receive an input from the requestor device to delay delivery of the access information, and deliver the teleconference notification to at least one participant device. The teleconference notification has at least the date and time of the teleconference but not the access information. The module delays delivery of the access information to the at least one participant. For example, delivery of the access information is delayed until a predetermined time period from the assigned date and time of the teleconference. |
| US08706095B2 |
System for providing dynamic group and service assignments
System for providing dynamic group and service assignments. In one embodiment, a method is provided for dynamically assigning regional groups and service providers to provide services for equipment. The method includes determining that the equipment has moved into a selected regional group, and assigning the equipment to the selected regional group. The method also includes selecting a service provider associated with the selected regional group, and assigning the service provider to provide services for the equipment. |
| US08706094B2 |
Method, system, and computer program product for tracking and accounting for roaming of mobile devices
Roaming of mobile devices is tracked and accounted for automatically and accurately. Revenue records are received for at least one service provider due to roaming of mobile devices within a particular geographical area served by the at least one service provider for mobile devices that do not have a subscription for service with the service provider for the particular geographic area. Expense records are received for the service provider due to roaming of mobile devices within other geographical areas served by at least one other service provider and not served by the at least one service provider. Each of the revenue and expense records is associated with a particular mobile device and includes a code identifying a particular service provider with which the particular mobile device has a subscription and a code identifying a particular geographical area assigned to the particular mobile device. The codes identifying particular service providers and particular geographical areas assigned to the mobile devices are validated against a list of predefined service providers and predefined geographical areas. If the codes are valid, the revenue records and expense records received over a period of time are compiled and summarized. |
| US08706092B2 |
Outgoing voice mail recording and playback
Systems and methods for enabling users to listen to outgoing voice mail messages are provided. These systems and methods record an audio file corresponding to a voice message being left by a user during an outgoing telephone call to a recipient, link the audio file to contact information associated with the recipient, and provide the user access to the audio file through, for example, playback of the audio included in the file. These systems and methods may be implemented through individual communications devices, such as an iPhone, through a telephone communications provider, or a combination of the same. |
| US08706091B2 |
Attachment of rich content to a unified message left as a voicemail
A method in one embodiment includes storing a voicemail message in a mailbox of a recipient, the voicemail message being left by a sender, and then electronically receiving one or more attachments from the sender. The one or more attachments are stored as content associated with the voicemail message. Upon accessing the mailbox, the voicemail message and the one or more attachments are provided to the recipient. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. 37 CFR 1.72(b). |
| US08706085B2 |
Method and apparatus for authenticating communication device
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and an apparatus for authenticating a communication device, where the method includes: receiving an attach request including a group identifier and sent by an MTC device to be authenticated, where the group identifier is a group identifier of an MTC group where the MTC device to be authenticated is located; determining whether a first group authentication vector bound to the group identifier exists locally, where the first group authentication vector is an authentication vector used for authenticating MTC devices in the MTC group; and if existing, according to the first group authentication vector, authenticating the MTC device to be authenticated, and generating a system key of the MTC device to be authenticated. The technical solutions provided in the present invention can be applied to the technical field of authenticating the MTC device. |
| US08706084B2 |
Roaming selection of a v-ePDG
When a mobile device attaches to a non-3GPP network, it performs an AAA procedure with a 3GPP AAA. In addition to standard AAA process, the 3GPP AAA can perform a lookup based on information associated with the 3GPP AAA interactions to determine an appropriate vPLMN ID and v-ePDG address associated with the user equipment location. This information can then be provided to the UE so that its connection to the network can be appropriately configured. |
| US08706083B2 |
Bluetooth authentication system and method
A method of controlling an authorization device arranged to authorize a mobile communication device, the method including the steps of: a central control device generating a control parameter associated with the one or more authorization devices, the central control device communicating the control parameter to the one or more authorization devices, the central control device generating a Bluetooth compatible PIN based on the control parameter, and the central control device communicating the PIN to a mobile communication device. |
| US08706074B2 |
Inductive powering for a mobile communication device and a radio frequency integrated circuit
A power status signal is received in an integrated circuit that indicates an inductive power status of an inductive power module and a power status of an alternative source. A power mode is selected based on the at least one power status signal. A power mode signal is generated based on the selected power mode. A power supply signal is generated and adjusted in response to the power mode signal. |
| US08706072B2 |
Control message processing method in wireless mesh network and control message processing apparatus using the method
A control message processing method and a control message processing apparatus using the method on a wireless mesh network are provided where a neighbor solicitation (NS) information is generated by extracting a part or an entire NS message, the NS message having been generated to request a medium access control (MAC) address of a destination node. A modified route request (RREQ) message, including the NS information, is generated to request the MAC address of the destination node and a routing path to the destination node, and is broadcasted. |
| US08706071B2 |
Reconfigurable wideband receiver
One embodiment of the present invention provides a receiver for wireless communication. The receiver includes a demodulator and at least one filtering mechanism coupled to the demodulator, and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled to the filtering mechanism. The filtering mechanism can be configured to function as a low-pass filter (LPF) or a band-pass filter (BPF), thereby enabling the receiver to function as a direct-conversion receiver or a low-intermediate frequency (low-IF) receiver. |
| US08706066B2 |
Radio frequency distribution system and method
A system for configuring communication paths in a radio communications system including a plurality of radios, a plurality of antennas and radio frequency distribution communications equipment in communication with the plurality of radios and antennas. The configuring system includes at least one of (1) a graphical user interface display window including a list of radios and a list of paths by which the radios communicates with the antennas via the radio frequency distribution communications equipment, and (2) a block diagram including a plurality of radios, a plurality of antennas and paths by which the plurality of radios communicates with the plurality of antennas via the radio frequency distribution communications equipment. The system further includes means for changing at least one path displayed in at least one of the display window and the block diagram. Also disclosed are methods for implementing the system. |
| US08706065B2 |
Bluetooth and WLAN coexistence architecture having a shared low noise amplifier
A radio frequency front-end includes a first path, second path, and third path each coupled between an antenna and a transceiver. The first path is configured to convey WLAN signals from the transceiver to the antenna for transmission. The second path is configured to convey received Bluetooth signals and received WLAN signals from the antenna to the transceiver. The third path is configured to convey Bluetooth signals from the transceiver to the antenna for transmission when a WLAN link is active and not in a power save state, and is configured to convey received Bluetooth signals from the antenna to the transceiver, and Bluetooth signals from the transceiver to the antenna for transmission, when the WLAN link is either inactive or in the power save state. |
| US08706058B2 |
RF data transfer in a spherical cavity
A system comprises an outer shell having an inner spherical cavity and an inner sphere located in the spherical cavity. The inner sphere comprises a sensor; at least one transmit antenna; and at least one transmitter coupled to the sensor and to a respective one of the at least one transmit antenna. The system also comprises a first receive antenna located in the spherical cavity; a second receive antenna located in the spherical cavity; and a receiver located outside of the outer shell. The receiver is configured to determine the signal to noise ratio of a first signal received at the first receive antenna and the signal to noise ratio of a second signal received at the second receive antenna; and to combine the first and second signals based on the respective signal to noise ratios such that interference due to multi-path signals in the spherical cavity is reduced. |
| US08706055B2 |
Reduction of second-order distortion caused by transmit signal leakage
This disclosure describes techniques for reducing adverse effects of TX signal leakage in a full-duplex, wireless communication system. In particular, the disclosure describes techniques for reducing adverse effects of second order distortion of TX signal leakage. To reduce or eliminate second order distortion of transmit signal leakage, a wireless device squares a combined signal that carries both a desired RX signal and a TX leakage signal. For example, the device may include a device that exhibits a strong, second order nonlinearity to, in effect, square the combined signal. The device subtracts the squared signal from the output of the mixer in the receive path, canceling out at least some of the second-order distortion caused by the mixer. In this manner, the device can reduce the adverse effects of second order distortion of TX signal leakage, and thereby enhance or maintain receiver sensitivity. |
| US08706049B2 |
Platform integrated phased array transmit/receive module
Disclosed are integration approaches for mm-wave planar phased array type architectures using multilayer substrate technologies. For instance, an apparatus may include a plurality of substrate layers, an integrated circuit, and a connector module. The plurality of substrate layers includes a first substrate layer having one or more phased array elements. The integrated circuit exchange one or more radio frequency (RF) signals (e.g., mm-wave signals) with the one or more phased array elements. The connector module exchange further signals with the integrated circuit that correspond to the one or more RF signals. For example, these further signals may be baseband or intermediate frequency (IF) signals. |
| US08706047B2 |
Mobile terminal tester and mobile terminal test method
The object of the present invention is to provide a mobile terminal tester which can reduce the production cost from that of the conventional mobile terminal tester. The mobile terminal tester according to the present invention comprises a plurality of base transceiver station simulators (10,11) for respectively simulating base transceiver stations by exchanging signals with a mobile terminal (2) to be tested; a base transceiver station information storage (13) for storing therein a plurality of types of base transceiver station information to have the base transceiver station simulators (10,11) function; a base transceiver station information setting section (14) for setting the base transceiver station information to the base transceiver station simulators (10,11); a transmission status setting section (15) for setting transmission status of each base transceiver station simulator (10,11); and a test process executing section (17) for executing each process of a test of the mobile terminal (2) by controlling the base transceiver station information setting section (14) and the transmission status setting section (15), in which the number of the types of the base transceiver station information stored in the base transceiver station information storage (13) is more than the number of the base transceiver station simulators (10,11). |
| US08706042B2 |
Transmit phase control for the echo cancel based full duplex transmission system
A network component comprising a transmitter configured to transmit data at a transmitter phase, a receiver configured to receive data at a receiver, and a phase delay component coupled to the transmitter and the receiver and configured to control the transmitter phase relative to the receiver phase to maintain distortion in the transmitted data below a threshold, wherein the threshold is less than a maximum possible distortion in the transmitted data. |
| US08706040B2 |
Method for avoiding inter-cell interference in multi-cell environment using multiple codebooks
A method is disclosed for avoiding inter-cell interference in a closed-loop multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system using a plurality of codebooks. A base station of a serving cell transmits information about codebooks used in an interfering cell among the plurality of codebooks to a mobile station. The transmission of the information may be made at the request of the mobile station. Alternatively, the mobile station may directly measure information about codebooks used in the interfering cell among the plurality of codebooks. The mobile station measures restricted precoding matrix indexes (PMIs) or requested PMIs based on the codebook information. The measured PMIs are transmitted to the interfering cell and are used to restrict the use of a PMI in the interfering cell. |
| US08706036B2 |
Near field communication data conversion with an event-field
In one embodiment, a communication apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a near field communication circuit designed to update at least one event field, associated with a number of occurrences of at least one event, which converted from a first data coding format to a second data coding format and provided in an external communication message that is communicated automatically or in response to receiving an access command. Also included in the instant specification are communication systems, and methods of communicating. |
| US08706035B2 |
Authenticating multiple devices simultaneously over a wireless link using a single subscriber identity module
A system and method for allowing mobile devices to simultaneously access a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) are disclosed. The SIM contains a wireless transceiver, and the SIM may be located within a mobile phone, or it may be a stand-alone device. The mobile devices use a wireless protocol, such as Bluetooth, to retrieve identification information from the SIM. The devices then use this identification information to connect to a wireless communications network, such as a wireless local area network. Through this network the devices will be able to access the Internet. The SIM will never need to be removed and inserted from one device to another, and multiple devices can use the SIM simultaneously. Thus, the mobile phone will work regardless of whether other devices are also using the SIM. |
| US08706034B2 |
On-vehicle information processing apparatus and method
An on-vehicle information processing apparatus for implementing various functions in cooperation with a portable apparatus connected thereto in a cabin of a vehicle is disclosed. The on-vehicle information processing apparatus comprises: a communication device configured to communicate with the portable apparatus; and a screen generating device configured to generate an operation screen for the functions which can be implemented in cooperation with the portable apparatus. The screen generating device is configured to identify the functions which can be implemented in cooperation with the portable apparatus connected thereto via the communication device, based on information of the connected portable apparatus, and generate the operation screen which varies according to the identified available function or functions. |
| US08706030B2 |
Radio frequency-communication device and method for operating the same
A radio frequency communication device has data transmission means and data receiving means. The data transmission means comprise load modulating means being adapted to receive a radio frequency carrier signal emitted by another RF communication device and to modulate the RF carrier signal by means of load modulation in accordance with data to be sent. The data receiving means comprise a RF frequency carrier signal generator being adapted to emit a radio frequency carrier signal and load demodulating means being connected to an emission path of the radio frequency carrier signal and demodulating the radio frequency carrier signal when it has been load modulated by another RF communication device. |
| US08706027B2 |
System and method for extension of wireless footprint
A system and method for communicating through a host repeater. Data is received from a remote repeater communicating with a wireless device. The host repeater registers as the wireless device on a wireless network. The data is reformatted for transmission between the wireless devices and the wireless network. |
| US08706026B2 |
System and method for distributed power control in a communications system
An embodiment method for power control in a multi-hop communications system includes transmitting a power usage pattern for each relay node in a subset of relay nodes served by a communications controller, where the power usage pattern specifies transmit power levels for the relay node while the relay node is operating in a power control mode. The method also includes receiving channel measurements of access links between the relay nodes in the subset of relay nodes and subscriber equipment served by the relay nodes, determining backhaul link transmit power levels and access link transmit power levels based on the channel measurements of access links and channel measurements of backhaul links between the communications controller and the relay nodes, and transmitting the access link power levels to the subset of relay nodes. |
| US08706024B2 |
System and method for providing interactive mobile content using multiple communication paths
A method of and system for providing interactive services to a set of mobile devices is provided, comprising: providing at least one set of first information adapted for over-the-air broadcast to a set of mobile devices by at least one first facility, wherein the first information is selected from the group comprising program content, basic information and cloud content; providing at least one set of second information adapted for transmission to at least one of the mobile devices by at least one second facility, wherein the second information is selected from the group comprising non-linear information, on-demand information, cloud content and user-defined content, and wherein the second facility comprises a transmitter selected from the group comprising a short range wireless transmitter in intermittent communication with at least one of the mobile devices and a long range wireless transmitter; and receiving at least one set of third information based on information selected from the group comprising the first information and the second information from at least one of the mobile devices, wherein the third information is forwarded by a third facility comprising a receiver selected from the group comprising a short range wireless receiver in intermittent communication with at least one of the mobile devices and a long range wireless receiver. |
| US08706020B2 |
Bookbinding unit with a movable tray and image forming apparatus having the same
Disclosed are a bookbinding unit and an image forming apparatus having the same. The bookbinding unit includes a bookbinding unit main body, a pair of stack trays disposed in the bookbinding unit main body so as to support print media on the upper surfaces of the stack trays and a folding knife movable in the space between the pair of the stack trays to fold the print media on the stack trays and to move the folded print media into the space between the pair of the stack trays. The pair of the stack trays is rotatable in conformity with the movement of the print media into the space between the stack trays to provide a surface contact guiding of the folded print media. |
| US08706019B2 |
Recording material post-processing device and recording material processing apparatus using the same
The recording material post-processing device includes a post-processing mechanism, and additional post-processing mechanism and a transport control unit. The post-processing mechanism performs a post-process for a recording material transported from one branched transport path of an image forming device. The additional post-processing mechanism performs an additional post-process other than the post-process performed by the post-processing mechanism for the recording material transported from the other branched transport path of the image forming device. The transport control unit controls transport of the recording material such that the post-process using the post-processing mechanism is performed after the post-process using the additional post-processing mechanism is performed. |
| US08706018B2 |
Position detection apparatus, paper thickness detection apparatus, belt position detection apparatus, and image forming apparatus
A position detection apparatus includes: a moving member in contact with a detection object that moves following movement of the detection object; and a support member that rotatably supports the moving member; a detection unit that detects a positional change of the moving member, the moving member being acted on by a first force as a force to press the moving member against the detection object, a second force as a force to press the moving member substantially in a direction of a rotation shaft of the moving member, and a third force as a force to press the moving member in a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction of the rotation shaft of the moving member. |
| US08706015B2 |
Fixing device including fixing belt and image forming apparatus using the same
An image forming apparatus includes photoreceptor drums, a charger, an exposure unit, a developing unit, an intermediate transfer belt and a fixing unit for fixing a toner image to a recording medium. The fixing unit includes a fixing part and a pressing part. The fixing part has a fixing roller, a heating member and a fixing belt. The pressing part has a pressing roller. The heating member is arranged close to, and so as to cover, the outer peripheral side of the fixing roller, and formed with an opening. Both edges of the opening extending along the axial direction of the fixing roller, are positioned closer to the pressing part side than the center axis of the fixing roller is. |
| US08706011B2 |
Developing member, process cartridge, and electrophotographic apparatus
Provided is a developing member capable of exerting stable performance under various environments. The developing member comprises a mandrel, an elastic layer formed on a periphery of the mandrel, and a surface layer covering a peripheral surface of the elastic layer. The surface layer contains a polyurethane and zinc oxide particles dispersed in the polyurethane, and the polyurethane has, between two adjacent urethane bonds, one or both of structures selected from structures according to the following item (A) and the following item (B): (A) a structure represented by the following structural formula (1), and one or both of structures selected from a structure represented by the following structural formula (2) and a structure represented by the following structural formula (3); and (B) a structure represented by the following structural formula (4). |
| US08706010B2 |
Image forming apparatus using a toner container in which the toner outlet may be positioned in a horizontal or vertical direction
An image forming apparatus, including an image developer to develop an electrostatic latent image and a toner provider to provide a toner from a toner container to the image developer in a direction of gravitational force. The toner container is capable of taking a first position of directing a toner outlet in a horizontal direction; a second position of directing the toner outlet in a direction of gravitational force; and a position of being removed, directing the toner outlet upward relative to the horizontal direction when further rotating from the first position. The toner container includes a main cap member to close the toner outlet when taking the first position and the position of being removed; and a sub-cap member to cover the main cap member while the toner container is displaced from the first position to the position of being removed. |
| US08706009B2 |
Image forming apparatus
The image forming apparatus includes a discharge execution section for forcedly discharging toner from a developing device and forming a toner image on a photosensitive drum, in which a primary transfer roller transfers the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum by the discharge execution section by applying, to a predetermined area part of the toner image, a first transfer bias having a predetermined transfer efficiency with respect to an intermediate transfer belt and applying, to a part excluding the predetermined area part of the toner image, a second transfer bias whose transfer efficiency is at least smaller than the predetermined transfer efficiency of the first transfer bias. |
| US08706007B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a positively-charged single layer type electrophotographic photoreceptor, a charging device with a contact charging roller for charging a surface of the photoreceptor and an exposure device for exposing the charged surface of the photoreceptor to light to form an electrostatic latent image thereon. A developing device develops the electrostatic latent image into a toner image and a transfer device transfers the toner image to a transferred body. The charging roller is made of electrically conductive rubber having an Asker-C rubber hardness of 62 to 81°. A roller surface roughness of the charging roller has an average distance (Sm) between asperity peaks on a cross-sectional curve of 55 to 130 μm and that a ten-point average roughness (Rz) is 9 to 19 μm. The image forming apparatus is capable of preventing carrier trapping, film peeling and uneven charging in the photoreceptor. |
| US08706006B2 |
Developing device and image forming apparatus including the same
A developing device that attaches/detaches to/from a main body of an image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum, a charging roller to rotate while contacting the photosensitive drum to charge a surface of the photosensitive drum to a uniform potential, and a separating member to rotate between a first position where the charging roller is separated from the photosensitive drum and a second position where the charging roller contacts the photosensitive drum. The separating member includes a body into which a rotary shaft of the charging roller is inserted to be rotatable, and a contact portion extending from the body and contacting the surface of the photosensitive drum when the separating member is located at the first position so as to separate the charging roller from the photosensitive drum, wherein the contact portion includes a friction member including rubber. |
| US08706005B2 |
Process cartridge and developing cartridge
A process cartridge that is detachably mounted to a main body of an image forming apparatus, the process cartridge including: an image carrier cartridge that has an image carrier; and a developing cartridge that has a developer carrier. The developing cartridge includes: a driving input part, to which external power for rotating the developer carrier is input, is provided to a first axial end side of the developer carrier; a first supported part; a second supported part; and a third supported part. The image carrier cartridge includes: a first support part arranged on a rotational axis line of the driving input part, a second support part arranged at an image carrier side rather than the rotational axis line of the driving input part; and a third support part arranged at an opposite side to the second support part with the rotational axis line of the driving input part. |
| US08706002B2 |
Image forming apparatus with cartridge support
An image forming apparatus, includes: a main body frame; a process cartridge which comprises a driven gear unit which is driven to form a visible image on an image carrying body; and a bracket device which comprises a bracket main body which is coupled to the main body frame, a driving gear unit which is supported to the bracket main body, and which is to be engaged with the driven gear unit, and a guide which guides the process cartridge into a mounting position in the main body frame. |
| US08706001B2 |
Image forming apparatus with resin frame and method for molding the resin frame
An image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a resin frame composed of a resin and an image forming unit that is removably inserted in the resin frame. The resin frame includes a base having a supporting surface that supports the image forming unit, a guide portion that extends in the base in an insertion direction in which the image forming unit is inserted along the supporting surface and that guides the image forming unit in the insertion direction while limiting movement of the image forming unit in an orthogonal direction that is orthogonal to the insertion direction, and a side plate portion that is provided at a peripheral edge of the base so as to extend in a direction perpendicular to the supporting surface, the base, the guide portion, and the side plate portion being integrally molded from a resin. A mold opening direction of a mold for molding the guide portion is set to a direction parallel to the orthogonal direction, and downstream end portions of the side plate portion in the mold opening direction are integrally connected to each other and extend essentially parallel to the perimeter of the base. |
| US08705998B2 |
Printing apparatus, printing control method, and storage medium
A printing apparatus capable of processing a variable data printing (VDP) job including a plurality of records includes a determination unit configured to determine whether the number of occurrences of printing failures depending on a reusable object included in the VDP job is greater than or equal to a set number of times, and whether the number of appearing times of the reusable object on remaining pages of the VDP job is less than a set value, and a printing control unit configured to control continuing or cancelling the variable data printing job based on a determination result of the determination unit. |
| US08705997B2 |
Image forming apparatus that selectively changes current-feed ratio
An image forming apparatus includes a fusing unit configured to fuse an image formed on a recording medium to a recording medium, at a fusing position where a heater and a rotator nip the recording medium therebetween, and a current-feed controller configured to execute a first current-feed mode of changing a current-feed ratio of current-feed time from an AC power source to the heater to unit time by controlling switching of a switching circuit so that a temperature detected by a temperature detector falls within a target range. The current-feed controller executes a second current-feed mode of fixing the current-feed ratio to almost 100% or almost 0% in place of the first current-feed mode based on a timing when a position detector detects that an end of the recording medium in a conveying direction is located at the fusing position. |
| US08705996B2 |
Image forming apparatus controlling toner image overlapping ratio
When an unfixed toner image is formed on a recording material, a maximum toner amount per unit area satisfies A<(ρΠL)/30√3, where a specific gravity of a toner is ρ (g/cm3), a weight-average particle size is L (μm), and the toner amount per unit area of the unfixed toner image on the recording material is A (mg/cm2), in formation of the unfixed toner image with each color toner, and the unfixed toner image is fixed so that a region where colors of chromatic toners of respective colors in the above-described images are seen in an overlaid state is 84% or more. |
| US08705995B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a transporting section including a transport path for transporting a recording medium; an image forming unit that forms an image on the recording medium that is transported at the transporting section; a fixing device that fixes the image formed on the recording medium at the image forming unit while heating the image; and a controller that performs control so that Pw |
| US08705986B2 |
PMD-insensitive method of chromatic dispersion estimation for a coherent receiver
Consistent with the present disclosure, a method and system for estimating chromatic dispersion of an optical signal in a coherent receiver is provided that is insensitive to polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and other polarization effects in the optical communication system. The effects of chromatic dispersion in the optical system are estimated by first calculating a phase shift between a pair of related frequency domain data outputs of a Fourier transform circuit. The calculated phase shift includes a linear phase component that is proportional to the chromatic dispersion, a DC constant phase component, and a data spectrum component. The calculated phase shift is then averaged over a number of clock cycles to remove the data spectrum components. The time averaged result is used to normalize any effects of PMD from the received signal. A slope of the linear phase component as a function of frequency is then calculated and used to estimate the value for chromatic dispersion. The chromatic dispersion estimate is then used to determine a number of coefficients of an inverse frequency response of the chromatic dispersion in the system, and is used to compensate for the chromatic dispersion. |
| US08705984B2 |
Optical transmission apparatus and method for controlling variable optical attenuator
An optical transmission apparatus including a variable optical attenuator is provided. The optical transmission apparatus includes a module detection portion for detecting a type of module that receives light attenuated by the variable optical attenuator; and a variable optical attenuator control portion for controlling so as to change control parameters of the variable optical attenuator in accordance with the type of module detected by the module detection portion. |
| US08705983B2 |
Radio frequency optical communication system
An optical communication system for generating and transmitting a modulated optical signal in which light emitted by a light source is modulated by an optical modulator in accordance with an input electrical signal. A bias signal generator applies a bias electrical signal to bias the optical modulator at a bias angle away from quadrature. The bias signal generator monitors the input electrical signal and adjusts the applied bias electrical signal in dependence on the input electrical signal. The system further includes a receiver which may include an equalizer coupled to the photodetector of the receiver. |
| US08705982B2 |
System and method for reducing memory requirements for electrical domain compensation of intra-channel nonlinearity in an optical communications system
A digital filter processes an input signal to be conveyed through an optical communications system. The processing generates a predistorted signal using a compensation function that mitigates impairments of the optical communications system. The input signal has a sample period of T, while the predistorted signal has a sample period of T/2. The digital filter has a first branch including a respective first T-spaced filter for processing the input signal using the compensation function to generate a corresponding first output signal comprising nT/2 samples with n odd. A second branch includes a respective second T-spaced filter for processing the input signal with a delay of T relative to the first branch using the compensation function to generate a corresponding second output signal comprising nT/2 samples with n even. A combiner operates to combine the first and second output signals to generate the predistorted signal having a sample period of T/2. |
| US08705981B2 |
Driver circuit of optical modulator
A drive signal generation unit generates first and second drive signals for driving first and second phase modulators of a DQPSK optical modulator. First and second regeneration circuits regenerate the first and second drive signals with respect to clock signals. The first and second phase modulators are driven by the regenerated first and second drive signals. The amplitude of the first drive signal is adjusted by a first attenuator. The clock signal for the second regeneration circuit is applied after attenuated by a second attenuator. The delay time caused by the first attenuator is the same as the delay time caused by the second attenuator. |
| US08705976B2 |
Optical reflector assemblies for use optical rotary joints
The present invention relates generally to optical rotary joints (35) for enabling optical communication between a rotor and a stator, and to improved optical reflector assemblies for use in such optical rotary joints. |
| US08705975B2 |
Single wavelength bidirectional fiber optical link with beam-splitting element
An optical transceiver and method for bidirectionally communicating optical signals in an optical transceiver involve an optical element that bidirectionally separates incoming and outgoing optical signals of the same wavelength. The optical element can be a diffractive element such as a grating or, alternatively, a partially reflective element such as a transparent block having a thin-film coating. |
| US08705973B2 |
Optical transceiver with off-transceiver logging mechanism
A mechanism for an optical transceiver to log information about its operational parameters to an off transceiver host computing system (hereinafter referred to simply as a “host”). The optical transceiver may be communicatively coupled to the host. The optical transceiver is configured to identify operational information regarding itself. The operational information may include statistical data about operation, or may include measured parameters. The optical transceiver may log the information to the memory of the host in an off transceiver logging operation. |
| US08705972B2 |
Energy-efficient and fault-tolerant resonator-based modulation and wavelength division multiplexing systems
Systems and methods are provided for modulating, channels in dense wavelength division multiplexing (“DWDM”) systems. In one aspect, a modulation and wavelength division multiplexing system includes a channel source and a waveguide tree structure disposed on a substrate. The tree structure includes waveguides branching from a root waveguide. The waveguides include two or more terminus waveguides coupled to the channel source. The system also includes one or more modulator arrays disposed on the substrate. Each modulator array is optically coupled to one of the two or more terminus waveguides and is configured to modulate channels injected into a terminus waveguide from the channel source to produce corresponding optical signals that propagate from the terminus waveguide along one or more of the waveguides to the root waveguide. |
| US08705969B2 |
Optical backhaul network for wireless broadband service
An optical backhaul network for a wireless broadband service is provided. The optical backhaul network for a wireless broadband service includes: a plurality of optical network units for outputting an uplink optical signal having a multiplexed wavelength; an optical line termination for outputting a downlink optical signal of a single mode in order to transmit the downlink optical signal to the plurality of the optical network units in a broadcasting form; and a plurality of remote nodes for outputting a part of the downlink optical signal to the plurality of the optical network units and for outputting the uplink optical signal to the optical line termination. Therefore, one center and a plurality of access points can be efficiently connected. |
| US08705968B2 |
Optical fiber communication system and methods having a reflective optical network unit
An optical fiber communication system is provided, including a central office and an optical network unit. The central office generates a first downstream signal and a second downstream signal according to a radio frequency signal and a baseband signal, respectively. The optical network unit is coupled to the central office to receive the first downstream signal and the second downstream signal through a first fiber and a second fiber different from the first fiber, respectively, such that the optical network unit only modulates the second downstream signal to generate an upstream signal and then delivers the upstream signal to the central office through the first fiber, thereby decreasing signal Rayleigh backscatter noise. |
| US08705967B2 |
Serially-distributed access points in a communication network
Serially-distributed access points in a communication network include a cable including network communication wires, a plurality of access points connected in series with the network communication wires along a length of the cable, and a headend interface connected at one end of the cable and operable to provide a communication interface with the access points. Low-cost access point chipsets are used to build an enterprise-class communication network by embedding many low-cost, consumer grade access point chipsets into a single cable. The distance between the chipsets is small enough so as to create many microcells. |
| US08705965B2 |
Method of recovery from sleep state of an ONU in a PON system capable of power saving
There is a need to recover an ONU from a sleep state for communication with the PON before a specified sleep cancel time in a short period of time without degrading the band use efficiency. An OLT manages an electric state of each ONU connected to a PON. When at least one ONU is in sleep mode, the OLT transmits a grant to allocate a band for a sleep cancel report to the ONU. When the sleep-mode ONU requires communication, the ONU transmits the sleep cancel report to the OLT using the band for the sleep cancel report. When receiving the sleep cancel report, the OLT changes the managed ONU to a normal state and resumes the communication with the PON. |
| US08705960B2 |
M×N wavelength selective switch (WSS)
An M×N wavelength-selective switch (WSS) is provided. M input ports launch M input beams towards a wavelength-dispersing system, which disperses the M input beams into M×K sub-beams at K wavelength bands. A redirecting system redirects the M×K sub-beams towards a first 1×K switching array, which selects K sub-beams from the M×K sub-beams. The redirecting system blocks the (M−1)×K non-selected sub-beams, but re-images the K selected sub-beams onto a second 1×K switching array by means of at least one relaying element having optical power. The second 1×K switching array routes the K selected sub-beams to N output ports. The redirecting system redirects the K selected sub-beams towards the wavelength-dispersing system, which combines any selected sub-beams that are routed to a same output port. The N output ports then output the K selected sub-beams. |
| US08705956B2 |
Carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimator with low complexity and high accuracy for orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (CO-OFDM) systems
A system and method are provided for carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation for coherent optical orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (CO-OFDM) broadband systems. The method includes obtaining an initial estimate of a normalized CFO with an estimation range equal to ±L/2 subcarrier subspacing using a single training symbol with L identical portions. The method further includes obtaining a maximum likelihood (ML) estimate of the CFO by performing a local grid search based on the initial estimate. |
| US08705954B2 |
Optical switching network
An all-optical transmission system includes an optical switch matrix, a plurality of optical components communicating over the optical switch matrix, and a top of rack (ToR) switch coupled to each optical component. Each ToR switch communicates with the optical components and with other ToR switches. The optical component includes a send circuit and a receive circuit with the send circuit having a ToR transceiver to receive data, a multiplexer coupled to the ToR transceiver, a Wavelength Selective Switch (WSS) coupled to the multiplexer, and a circulator coupled to the WSS. |
| US08705952B2 |
Optical wavelength division multiplex (WDM) transmission system
The present invention embraces an optical wavelength division multiplex (WDM) transmission system, especially a WDM passive optical network, typically including a central node having a first and a second WDM port and a remote node having a first and a second WDM port and a plurality of channel ports, the central node first WDM port being connected to the remote node first WDM port via a bidirectional single-fiber optical working path and the central node second WDM port being connected to the remote node second WDM port via a single-fiber bidirectional optical protection path, and a group of basic optical node units (ONU's) each of which is connected to a respective remote node channel port via a bidirectional optical ONU path, each ONU including an optical receiver for receiving a downstream optical channel signal and an optical tunable transmitter for creating an upstream channel signal. |
| US08705951B2 |
Lens barrel, photographic device, and production method of same
A lens barrel comprising bayonet type mount projections to detachably attach to a lens-fitting unit of a camera body having a photographic region, wherein mount projections are formed to avoid cross-section of light path area where object light is introduced in the camera body. |
| US08705950B2 |
Early photographic critical point synchronization system and method
A system and method for synchronizing a photographic lighting device to image acquisition by a camera such that initiation of light emission of the photographic lighting device occurs after the first shutter blade of the camera begins to expose an image acquisition sensor of the camera to light and before X-sync associated with the first shutter blade stopping movement. |
| US08705949B2 |
Method and system for direct electric heating of a pipeline
Method and system for direct electric heating of a pipeline to contribute to removal or hindrance of plugs of ice and optionally hydrates, distinguished in that heating takes place to a temperature above the ice melting point, but below the hydrate melting point. |
| US08705948B2 |
Video playback device capable of controlling playback speed
A video playback device including a playback section which replays a video, a setting section which sets a predetermined area within the video frames being replayed by the playback section, a detecting section which detects whether or not a predetermined subject is included within the predetermined area, a selecting section which selectively switches between a first playback speed and a second playback speed based on the timing of the detection by the detecting section, and a control section which controls the playback speed of the playback section in accordance with a result of the selection by the selecting section. |
| US08705945B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program
An information processing apparatus includes: a priority content setting unit setting at least one of a plurality of contents managed in accordance with at least one of a plurality of recording formats as a priority content based on selection of a user or a predetermined rule; and a control unit performing control to change the recording format for managing the priority content so that the priority content is managed in accordance with a specific recording format among the plurality of recording formats, when an operation input of the user is receivable and the operation input is an operation input associated with a specific operation. |
| US08705937B2 |
Captured image data management method and image capturing apparatus
A captured image data management method is disclosed. Coverage direction data are input to a recorder-built-in type image capturing apparatus, and the coverage direction data are recorded to a nonvolatile memory and a record medium. The captured image data are obtained as files. A name of the file recorded on the record medium is automatically assigned based on title information contained in the coverage direction data, and the assigned file name is recorded to the nonvolatile memory and the record medium. |
| US08705934B2 |
Moving picture processing apparatus, moving picture processing method, and program
A moving picture processing apparatus including a representative picture selection unit for selecting a predetermined number of representative pictures that are representative of a plurality of pictures from a plurality of pictures of a moving picture, and a configuration image generation unit for generating a configuration image in which the predetermined number of representative pictures are reduced at a fixed ratio and arranged in order of appearance of the representative pictures of the moving picture. The representative pictures are selected as the predetermined number of pictures adjusted to maximize a display occupancy rate of the configuration image in a predetermined range of display area. |
| US08705933B2 |
Video bookmarking
The video bookmark feature allows a user to tag an item or segment of interest within audio/video content being watched. Each tag, or bookmark, can contain within it metadata associated with the content captured by the receiver at the time the bookmark was recorded; further information can be derived via interaction over the Internet with a service provider. Applications supported by video bookmarks include telescoping ads, capturing screen shots for later review or printing, and retrieving more information about any arbitrary subject being viewed, whether it is a scene in a program, an advertisement, or other associated information about the subject. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract. |
| US08705930B2 |
Transition housing and cap for fiber breakout assembly
A breakout assembly in accordance with one aspect of the invention includes a housing including a tubular body defining a passage extending from a first end to an opposite second end of the body. An interior surface of the body includes a plurality of longitudinal guides, the interior surface further including a stop. The tubular body defines a plurality of openings extending through the body on opposite sides of the stop. The breakout assembly further includes a cap which is slidably received within the body of the housing, wherein notches within the cap receive the guides of the housing, and wherein the cap is engageable with the stop. The cap defines a plurality of internal openings extending through the cap. A multi-fiber cable can be received within the body from one end, and a plurality of breakout tubings are received within the body of the opposite end. The multi-fiber cable includes a breakout end terminating within the tubular body wherein a plurality of the broken out fibers pass through the cap, and into the breakout tubings. In one preferred embodiment, epoxy is placed within the tubular body, on opposite sides of the cap. |
| US08705927B2 |
Universal cable management panel
A cable management panel including a chassis and a drawer. The chassis defining rear and side openings for cable entry and exit. The drawer having a front panel that may include angled adapters. The drawer having an open rear that accommodates cables entering from the rear openings of the chassis, and that accommodates the addition of a rear wall. The cable management panel being adaptable to provide a variety of cable routing configurations to accommodate a user's particular cable routing needs. |
| US08705926B2 |
Fiber optic housings having a removable top, and related components and methods
Fiber optic housings having a removable top, and related components and methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, a fiber optic housing is provided having a removable top or cover. In one embodiment, the fiber optic housing comprises a top, a bottom, a right side, and a left side defining at least one interior chamber configured to support fiber optic equipment. The top comprises a base and a cover in one embodiment. The cover of the top is configured to provide a gap between the base and the cover such that at least one of the right side and the left side of the fiber optic housing is configured to be slidably engaged into and out of the gap. In this manner, the top can be easily removed to provide access to the interior of the fiber optic housing. |
| US08705925B2 |
Optical waveguide film, laminated type optical waveguide film, optical waveguide, optical waveguide assembly, optical wiring line, optical/electrical combination substrate and electronic device
An optical waveguide film includes at least one optical waveguide area having an X-direction and a Y-direction orthogonal to the X-direction. Such an optical waveguide film includes a plurality of core portions arranged side by side within the same layer so as to extend along the X-direction, each of the core portions having side surfaces, and the core portions adjoining to each other in the Y-direction being arranged through a gap therebetween; and a plurality of cladding portions provided so as to cover the side surfaces of each of the core portions, each of the cladding portions formed of a resin having an optical refractive index smaller than that of each of the core portions, and the cladding portion between the adjoining core portions providing each gap. In the optical waveguide film, a size of the gap between the adjoining core portions varies along the X-direction in at least a part of the optical waveguide area. This makes it possible to precisely match a gap between core portions in a cut end surface with a desired value by selection of cutting positions of the optical waveguide film even when the optical waveguide film is shrunken. |
| US08705924B2 |
Ultra high numerical aperture optical fibers
Various embodiments described include optical fiber designs and fabrication processes for ultra high numerical aperture optical fibers (UHNAF) having a numerical aperture (NA) of about 1. Various embodiments of UHNAF may have an NA greater than about 0.7, greater than about 0.8, greater than about 0.9, or greater than about 0.95. Embodiments of UHNAF may have a small core diameter and may have low transmission loss. Embodiments of UHNAF having a sufficiently small core diameter provide single mode operation. Some embodiments have a low V number, for example, less than 2.4 and large dispersion. Some embodiments of UHNAF have extremely large negative dispersion, for example, less than about −300 ps/nm/km in some embodiments. Systems and apparatus using UHNAF are also disclosed. |
| US08705919B2 |
Lens-integrated optical waveguide and method of making the same
A lens-integrated optical waveguide includes an optical conduit, a lens, and a non-wetting coating underlying the lens. A method for making an lens-integrated optical waveguide includes: forming an optical conduit having an end defining a planar end surface through which lights are transmitted out and received in; injecting a curable glue into a mold to form a pool of curable glues, the mold including a cavity having a concave shape to define a lens outer face; dipping the planar end of the optical conduit into the pool of curable glues; and curing the pool of curable glues onto the planar end surface of the optical conduit. |
| US08705908B2 |
Optical transmission module, method for manufacturing optical transmission module, and electronic device
An optical transmission module has an optical wiring for transmitting light, and an optical element for irradiating a light incidence plane of the optical wiring with light and a control circuit component for driving light emission of the optical element based on an externally input electric signal, or an optical element for receiving light emitted from a light emitting surface of the optical wiring and converting to an electric signal and a control circuit component for amplifying the electric signal output from the optical element and outputting to the outside. A plurality of boards overlapped and stacked so as to form a step with each other is arranged. A first board stacked at one end in a stacking direction of the plurality of boards is mounted with the optical wiring and the optical element so as to sandwich both surfaces in the stacking direction, and a board surface on the first board side of a second board stacked at another end is mounted with the control circuit component. |
| US08705904B2 |
Photonic integrated circuits having chirped elements
Consistent with the present disclosure, optical devices are provided along different optical paths in a photonic integrated circuit (PIC). The optical components have different optical losses associated therewith so that optical signals propagating in the optical paths have desired power levels, which may be uniform, for example. |
| US08705903B2 |
Optical fiber instrument system for detecting and decoupling twist effects
An instrument system that includes an elongate body, an optical fiber, and a detector is provided. The elongate body is capable of being twisted. The optical fiber includes a first portion coupled to the elongate body and a second portion having a curved shape adapted to reduce transfer of twisting or bending from the elongate body to the second portion, the second portion having a strain sensor provided thereon. The detector is coupled to the optical fiber and adapted to receive a signal from the strain sensor. |
| US08705900B2 |
Optical modulator
Disclosed is an optical modulator which substantially lowers loss and has little attenuation in the intensity of an optical signal after modulation. The optical modulator includes a 1×2 RZ pulse carver wherein optical phase shifters used for modulation are arranged along two arm waveguides held between a 1×2 coupler and a 2×2 coupler, two interferometric modulators connected respectively to two output ports of the 2×2 coupler, and a 2×1 coupler for combining the outputs of the interferometric modulators. |
| US08705897B1 |
Method and apparatus for archiving and visualizing digital images
A computer based, digital image management system that visually presents an entire archive in a manner that facilitates easy, non-textual, searching for specific images. In one embodiment, the system includes two elements: a file management methodology and a graphical user interface. The file management method utilizes reference files that contain multiple properties (metadata) relating to each image file. Image files are grouped into a multiplicity of collections based on user-defined associations of the properties. The graphical user interface visually represents the groups of image files on 2-dimentional or 3-dimensional graphic metaphors. In addition, the graphical interface uses multiple display variables such as icons, mnemonics, size, movement, color, and luminance to signify relationships between groups, and/or communicate key properties of individual or groups of images. |
| US08705886B2 |
System, medium, and method compensating brightness of an image
A system, medium, and method compensating brightness of an image, by compensating the brightness of a main object included in the image. The system includes a brightness distribution calculation unit dividing the obtained image into a plurality of divided regions and calculating the brightness distribution of each divided region, and a compensation unit determining a main region including a main object in the obtained image according to the calculated brightness distribution and compensating the obtained image according to the determination result. |
| US08705884B2 |
Image processing apparatus and method for controlling the same
A first generation unit generates a RAW image reduced in the horizontal direction from a RAW image including pixels each having single-color signal information, by limiting the band of spatial frequencies in the horizontal direction and decreasing the number of pixels in the horizontal direction. The RAW image reduced in the horizontal direction is stored in a line memory. A second generation unit generates a reduced RAW image by decreasing, at least in the vertical direction, the number of pixels of the RAW image reduced in the horizontal direction. This makes it possible to generate a reduced RAW image using little memory capacity. |
| US08705883B2 |
Noise reduction device and noise reduction method
A noise reduction device includes a line buffer that stores a blend value obtained by blending a pixel value stored in the line buffer with a processing target pixel value at a given ratio by an amount of one line of an image, and a selector that selects the blend value when a difference between the blend value in the line buffer and the target pixel value is less than a threshold, and that selects the target pixel value when the difference is greater than or equal to the threshold. |
| US08705878B2 |
Imaging apparatus, character information association method and character information association program
An imaging apparatus configured to associate character information detected from an imaged picture displayed on a screen with a recorded picture displayed on the same screen including an imaging unit configured to image a subject and output an imaged picture, a picture recording unit configured to record pictures, a playback unit configured to play back a recorded picture recorded in the picture recording unit, and a character information detection unit configured to detect character information from the imaged picture outputted by the imaging unit. |
| US08705877B1 |
Method and apparatus for fast computational stereo
A method, system and computer program for segmenting an image are provided. The method may include the steps of acquiring a plurality of images, and clustering pixels from one of the plurality of images into one or more segments, each segment being defined in a state of either stable, mesostable or unstable. The clustering may include the steps of determining residual pixels changing by more than a predetermined threshold, grouping the determined residual pixels to form segments selected from the group of unstable and mesostable segments, determining depth for all unstable and mesostable segments, transitioning unstable segments to corresponding mesostable segments if predetermined stability criteria are met, transitioning mesostable segments to corresponding stable segments upon a determination that the mesostable segments have remained stable for a predetermined number of frames, and merging stable and mesostable segments. |
| US08705873B2 |
Secure item identification and authentication system and method based on unclonable features
The present invention is a method and apparatus for protection of various items against counterfeiting using physical unclonable features of item microstructure images. The protection is based on the proposed identification and authentication protocols coupled with portable devices. In both cases a special transform is applied to data that provides a unique representation in the secure key-dependent domain of reduced dimensionality that also simultaneously resolves performance-security-complexity and memory storage requirement trade-offs. The enrolled database needed for the identification can be stored in the public domain without any risk to be used by the counterfeiters. Additionally, it can be easily transportable to various portable devices due to its small size. Notably, the proposed transformations are chosen in such a way to guarantee the best possible performance in terms of identification accuracy with respect to the identification in the raw data domain. The authentication protocol is based on the proposed transform jointly with the distributed source coding. Finally, the extensions of the described techniques to the protection of artworks and secure key exchange and extraction are disclosed in the invention. |
| US08705869B2 |
Computer-readable storage medium, image recognition apparatus, image recognition system, and image recognition method
First, it is determined whether or not a contour or vertices have been detected from a certain image. Then, when it is determined that a contour or vertices have been detected from the certain image, a pattern matching process is performed on, in the image, an area surrounded by the contour or the vertices detected from the image. Then, when it is determined that a predetermined object or a predetermined design is displayed in the area, detection position information indicating a position related to the area is stored in a storage area. On the other hand, when it is determined that a contour or vertices have not been detected from the certain image, a pattern matching process is performed on the image on the basis of the detection position information stored in the storage area. |
| US08705868B2 |
Computer-readable storage medium, image recognition apparatus, image recognition system, and image recognition method
First, a difference between a pixel value of a first pixel in an image and a pixel value of a second pixel is calculated, the second pixel placed a predetermined number of pixels away from the first pixel. Then, when the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, an edge determination threshold is calculated on the basis of: the pixel value of the first pixel or a pixel value of a pixel near the first pixel; and the pixel value of the second pixel or a pixel value of a pixel near the second pixel. Then, an edge pixel corresponding to an edge present between the first pixel and the second pixel is detected by comparing the edge determination threshold with a pixel value of each pixel placed between the first pixel and the second pixel. |
| US08705866B2 |
Region description and modeling for image subscene recognition
A method and apparatus is described here that categorizes images by extracting regions and describing the regions with a 16-dimensional subscene feature vector, which is a concatenation of color, texture, and spatial feature vectors. By comparing the spatial feature vectors in images with similarly-obtained feature vectors in a Gaussian mixture based model pool (obtained in a subscene modeling phase), the images may be categorized (in a subscene recognition phase) with probabilities relating to each region or subscene. Higher probabilities are likelier correlations. The device may be a single or multiple core CPU, or parallelized vector processor for characterizing many images. The images may be photographs, videos, or video stills, without restriction. When used real-time, the method may be used for visual searching or sorting. |
| US08705860B2 |
Grouping variables for fast image labeling
This application describes grouping variables together to minimize cost or time of performing computer vision analysis techniques on images. In one instance, the pixels of an image are represented by a lattice structure of nodes that are connected to each other by edges. The nodes are grouped or merged together based in part on the energy function associated with each edge that connects the nodes together. The energy function of the edge is based in part on the energy functions associated with each node. The energy functions of the node are based on the possible states in which the node may exist. The states of the node are representative of an object, image, or any other feature or classification that may be associated with the pixels in the image. |
| US08705859B2 |
Methods and systems for image data processing
Methods, storage mediums, and systems for image data processing are provided. Embodiments for the methods, storage mediums, and systems include configurations to perform one or more of the following steps: background signal measurement, particle identification using classification dye emission and cluster rejection, inter-image alignment, inter-image particle correlation, fluorescence integration of reporter emission, and image plane normalization. |
| US08705858B2 |
Image processing device
An image processing device may create corrected image data by correcting object image data by utilizing base image data. The image processing device may determine a first polar coordinate value which represents first pixels in the object image data, calculate a first orthogonal coordinate by executing an orthogonal transformation on the first polar coordinate value, determine a second polar coordinate value which represents second pixels in the base image data, calculate a second orthogonal coordinate value by executing an orthogonal transformation on the second polar coordinate value, and create the corrected image data by correcting the object image data such that a coordinate value of each particular pixel in the object image data approaches the second orthogonal coordinate value. The each particular pixel may be included in a surrounding area of the first orthogonal coordinate value. |
| US08705857B2 |
System and method of image processing perceptual visibility of imagery
An image processing system and method corrects the perceptual quality of an image by adjusting the image colors. “Color” in this sense is to be understood as encompassing three-dimensional parameterizations of color, incorporating both intensity and hue. These measurements are made using creative computations developed and adapted from the RETINEX™ theory (Land, 1977), where the RETINEX implementation adjusts any pixel in any direction in color space and further to automatically determine the best direction for it to be adjusted to increase the perceptual visibility of the algorithm with a minimal amount of change to the original image values. |
| US08705849B2 |
Method and system for object recognition based on a trainable dynamic system
A system for object recognition in which a multi-dimensional scanner generates a temporal sequence of multi-dimensional output data of a scanned object. That data is then coupled as an input signal to a trainable dynamic system. The system exemplified by a general-purpose recurrent neural network is previously trained to generate an output signal representative of the class of the object in response to a temporal sequence of multi-dimensional data. |
| US08705846B2 |
Position measuring apparatus, position measuring method, image processing apparatus and image processing method
A position measuring apparatus which measures a position of a position measurement target easily and accurately without using any parameter inside a camera in the measurement, based on images captured from mutually different viewpoints. The position measuring apparatus which measures the three-dimensional position of the position measurement target, based on the input images captured from the mutually different viewpoints, and the position measuring apparatus includes: a ray information storage unit configured to store ray information in which each of ray vectors is associated with a corresponding one of pixels in one of the input images, each of the ray vectors indicating a forward direction of a light incident onto an optical system for a corresponding one of the input images; and a position measuring unit configured to measure the three-dimensional position of the position measurement target, using the ray information stored in the ray information storage unit. |
| US08705842B2 |
Robot cleaner and controlling method of the same
A robot cleaner and a method for controlling the same are provided. A region to be cleaned may be divided into a plurality of sectors based on detection data collected by a detecting device, and a partial map for each sector may be generated. A full map of the cleaning region may then be generated based on a position of a partial map with respect to each sector, and a topological relationship between the partial maps. Based on the full map, the robot cleaner may recognize its position, allowing the entire region to be completely cleaned, and allowing the robot cleaner to rapidly move to sectors that have not yet been cleaned. |
| US08705835B2 |
Paper sheet processing apparatus
A paper sheet processing apparatus that performs a recognizing process of a paper sheet includes: a paper sheet recognition sensor (11) that reads an image of a paper sheet; a number-attribute information memory (131) that stores number attribute information including number recognition conditions for recognizing a number given to a paper sheet; and an image processing unit (134) and a character recognizing unit (135) that recognize a number of a paper sheet from an image read by the paper sheet recognition sensor (11), based on number recognition conditions stored in the number-attribute information memory (131). |
| US08705830B2 |
Method and device for processing 3-D image data of a skull
The invention relates to a method and a device for processing 3-D image date of a skull (S), wherein image date are selected or calculated for the 3-D image data and are presented as 2-D image data in a plane. For fast, overview-like inspection of the skull (S), the skull surface (O) is determined from the 3-D image data, and the corresponding image data at a defined distance (d) from the skull surface (O) are determined and presented as 2-D image data in a plane. |
| US08705829B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing 2D to 3D registration
A method and apparatus for performing 2D to 3D registration includes an initialization step and a refinement step. The initialization step is directed to identifying an orientation and a position by knowing orientation information where data images are captured and by identifying centers of relevant bodies. The refinement step uses normalized mutual information and pattern intensity algorithms to register the 2D image to the 3D volume. |
| US08705824B2 |
Apparatus and method for ordering stored images
An apparatus comprising—an imaging component for acquiring magnetic resonance images;—a storage component for storing the magnetic resonance images in a stack;—a sorting component for sorting the magnetic resonance images in the stack using machine defined meta information of the images; and—an interface for reading the ordered stack. |
| US08705821B2 |
Method and apparatus for multimodal visualization of volume data sets
The invention relates to a method and a corresponding apparatus for multimodal visualization of volume data sets of an object, in particular a patient, comprising the following steps: acquiring a first volume data set of the object with a first imaging modality and a second volume data set of the object with a second imaging modality, said first and second volume data set each comprising a plurality of sample points and values (f1,f2) associated with said sample points, establishing a transfer function, said transfer function defining optical properties (c,α) of certain values (f1,f2) of said first and second volume data set, and visualizing the optical properties (c,α) of said certain values (f1,f2) of said first and second volume data set. In order to reduce the complexity of finding a good transfer function so that a transfer function can be defined by the user in an intuitive and familiar way, the transfer function is established by using information (I(f1),I(f2)) contained in a distribution (P(f1),P(f2)) of values (f1,f2) of said first and second volume data set. |
| US08705817B2 |
Measurement of geometric quantities intrinsic to an anatomical system
A method for measuring geometric quantities intrinsic to an anatomical system of a patient, based on two stereoscopic images. Registration data are received on each of the two stereoscopic images. By using geometric calibration information, a three-dimensional geometric primitive is determined defined by at least a portion of the received registration data. Based on the three-dimensional geometric primitive, a value of geometric quantity intrinsic to the anatomical system is computed. |
| US08705815B2 |
Systems and methods for automatic skin-based identification of people using digital images
Systems and methods are provided for automatic identification of a person based on an analysis of the person's skin. In one embodiment, a method for automatically identifying a person comprises acquiring white-light and UV images of a portion of the person's skin, generating a skin mask from the white-light image, and comparing the skin mask with a pre-stored skin mask of the person. If a substantial match is not found between the two skin masks, the person is not identified, and an error message such as “wrong person” or “person unknown” is returned. Otherwise, the method proceeds to obtain results associated with certain skin conditions using at least the UV image. The results are compared with pre-stored results to determine if the person is the right person or the wrong person. |
| US08705814B2 |
Apparatus and method for detecting upper body
Disclosed is a method of detecting an upper body. The method includes detecting an omega candidate area including a shape formed of a face and a shoulder line of a human from a target image, cutting the target image into the upper body candidate area including the omega candidate area, detecting a human face from the upper body candidate area, and judging whether the upper body of the human is included in the target image according to the result of detecting the human face. |
| US08705808B2 |
Combined face and iris recognition system
A system using face and iris image capture for recognition of people. The system may have wide field-of-view, medium field-of-view and narrow field-of-view cameras to capture images of a scene of people, faces and irises for processing and recognition. Matching of the face and iris images with images of a database may be a basis for recognition and identification of a subject person. |
| US08705805B2 |
Secure portable token and systems and methods for identification and authentication of the same
A portable token and systems and methods for identification and authentication of the same are disclosed. The portable token may be utilized for a variety of purposes and uses a thin section of rock as a unique identifying element, which is extremely resistant to forgery or duplication. Identification and authorization of tokens is achieved by a system that uses optical examination of the microstructure and the refractive properties of crystalline minerals within the identifying element, by transmitted polarized light techniques. Comparison between stored reference data and acquired examination data is the basis for verifying authenticity. The naturally-occurring three-dimensional orientations of the optical axes of mineral crystals contribute to the identification information by their effects. |
| US08705799B2 |
Tracking an object with multiple asynchronous cameras
The path and/or position of an object is tracked using two or more cameras which run asynchronously so there is need to provide a common timing signal to each camera. Captured images are analyzed to detect a position of the object in the image. Equations of motion for the object are then solved based on the detected positions and a transformation which relates the detected positions to a desired coordinate system in which the path is to be described. The position of an object can also be determined from a position which meets a distance metric relative to lines of position from three or more images. The images can be enhanced to depict the path and/or position of the object as a graphical element. Further, statistics such as maximum object speed and distance traveled can be obtained. Applications include tracking the position of a game object at a sports event. |
| US08705798B2 |
Systems and methods for multi-pass adaptive people counting utilizing trajectories
People are counted in a segment of video with a video processing system that is configured with a first set of parameters. This produces a first output. Based on this first output, a second set of parameters is chosen. People are then counted in the segment of video using the second set of parameters. This produces a second output. People are counted with a video played forward. People are counted with a video played backwards. The results of these two counts are reconciled to produce a more accurate people count. |
| US08705796B2 |
Obstacle detection device
The present invention provides an obstacle detection device that enables stable obstacle detection with less misdetections even when a bright section and a dark section are present in an obstacle and a continuous contour of the obstacle is present across the bright section and the dark section. The obstacle detection device includes a processed image generating unit that generates a processed image for detecting an obstacle from a picked-up image, a small region dividing unit that divides the processed image into plural small regions, an edge threshold setting unit that sets an edge threshold for each of the small regions from pixel values of the plural small regions and the processed image, an edge extracting unit that calculates a gray gradient value of each of the small regions from the plural small regions and the processed image and generates, using the edge threshold for the small region corresponding to the calculated gray gradient value, an edge image and a gradient direction image, and an obstacle recognizing unit that determines presence or absence of an obstacle from the edge image in a matching determination region set in the edge image and the gradient direction image corresponding to the edge image. The small region dividing unit divides the processed image into the plural small regions on the basis of an illumination state on the outside of the own vehicle. |
| US08705795B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program
An information processing apparatus includes a selection unit configured to select a plurality of specific areas of a target object, a learning unit configured to learn a detection model that relates to each of the plurality of specific areas, a generation unit configured to generate an area combination as a combination of specific areas selected from the plurality of specific areas, a recognition unit configured to recognize the target object based on the detection model and the area combination, and an addition unit configured to add a new specific area based on a recognition result obtained by the recognition unit. If the new specific area is added by the addition unit, the learning unit further learns a detection model that relates to the new specific area. |
| US08705789B2 |
Magnet-less loudspeaker
A loudspeaker, which includes a ferrite core, a voice coil, and a movable membrane. The voice coil is wound around the core and cooperatively defining an exciting device. The movable membrane is disposed in close proximity to the exciting device with a gap formed thereinbetween. The loudspeaker is constructed without permanent magnets. |
| US08705787B2 |
Custom in-ear headset
A custom in-ear headset. The headset includes a housing having a proximate housing portion and a distant housing portion. The distant housing portion is shaped and sized to fit inside an ear canal of a user. The headset includes a miniature speaker that is acoustically coupled to a sound outlet in the distant portion of the housing for conveying sound pressure to an ear canal of the user. The headset further includes any one or more of: (a) a microphone with a sound inlet in the proximate housing portion, (b) a bone conduction microphone arranged in the distant housing portion, or (c) a microphone with a sound inlet in the distant housing portion. The headset further includes at least one ridge projecting from and circumscribing the distant housing portion. |
| US08705786B2 |
Dynamic microphone unit and dynamic microphone
A dynamic microphone unit has a diaphragm 5 vibrating in response to sound waves, a voice coil 6 fixed to the diaphragm 5 and vibrating in cooperation with the diaphragm 5, a magnetic circuit including a magnetic gap around the voice coil 6 and generating a magnetic field in a magnetic gap, a first air chamber 11 adjacent to the reverse of the diaphragm 5 holding an acoustic resistance therein, a second air chamber 9 behind the voice coil, and a communication passage 22 for sound waves between the first air chamber 11 and the second air chamber 9. |
| US08705784B2 |
Acoustic in-ear detection for earpiece
An apparatus comprising an earpiece and a signal processor is disclosed. The earpiece is suitable to be applied at an auditory opening of a user's ear. The earpiece comprises a speaker enabled to be supplied with an audio signal for rendering, and a microphone arranged in vicinity of the speaker to acquire a sound signal from sounds present inside the auditory opening when the earpiece is applied at the ear. The signal processor is arranged to determine whether the earpiece is applied at the user's ear by analysis of the acquired sound signal comprising any of a sound signal component of an in-ear sound type present when the earpiece is applied or an outside-ear sound type present when the earpiece is not applied. A method and a computer program are also disclosed. |
| US08705779B2 |
Surround sound virtualization apparatus and method
A surround sound virtualization apparatus and method. The surround sound virtualization apparatus may include an audio decoder to perform head-related transfer function (HRTF) filtering, and a time delay unit to provide a time delay to a plurality of output signals of the audio decoder. |
| US08705775B2 |
Capacitive microphone with integrated cavity
A capacitive microphone and method of fabricating the same are provided. One or more holes can be formed in a first printed circuit board (PCB). A diaphragm can be surface micro-machined onto an interior surface of the first PCB at a region having the one or more holes. Interface electronics can also be interconnected to the interior surface of the PCB. One or more spacer PCBs can be attached to a second PCB to the first PCB, such that appropriate interconnections between interconnect vias are made. The second PCB and first PCB with spacers in between can be attached so as to create a cavity in which the diaphragm and interface electronics are located. |
| US08705757B1 |
Computationally efficient multi-resonator reverberation
A signal processor to produce a simulated reverberation effect based on an input signal and conveying the impression of multiple interconnected resonating spaces. A feedback delay network produces a reverberation tail signal, which is delayed by varying amounts in a delay module. A panning module produces a multi-channel signal based on the reverberation tail signal and its echoes. |
| US08705751B2 |
Compression and mixing for hearing assistance devices
This application relates to a system for compression and mixing for hearing assistance devices by application of compression to individual sound sources before mixing, according to one example. Variations of the present system using surround sound provide separate signals from a surround sound synthesizer which are compressed prior to mixing of the signals. |
| US08705748B2 |
Method for spatially processing multichannel signals, processing module, and virtual surround-sound systems
Embodiments of a virtual surround-sound system and methods for simulating surround-sound are generally described herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed. In some embodiments, a processing module may include spatial processor spatially processes surround-left and surround-right channel signals and front-left and front-right channel signals and combines the spatially-processed signals for providing to drivers of center speaker after crosstalk cancellation and combining with a center-channel signal. In some embodiments, the processing module may include circuitry to cause the spatial processor to refrain from spatially processing either the front-left and front-right channel signals when front-left and/or front-right speakers are connected. |
| US08705747B2 |
Object-based 3-dimensional audio service system using preset audio scenes
Provided are an object-based three dimensional (3-D) audio service system using preset audio scenes and a method thereof. The system and the method are suggested for enabling a user to easily and conveniently watch and listen an object based 3-D audio service by eliminating inconvenience that requires a user to control each of object audio signals of sound sources. The system includes: audio input means for inputting an audio signal; preset audio scene generating means for extracting object audio signals from the audio signal inputted through the audio input means and generating more than one of 3-D audio scene information by arranging the extracted object audio signals in a 3-D space and editing features of each object; and encoding means for encoding and multiplexing the audio signal and the 3-D audio scene information for each object audio signal. |
| US08705745B2 |
Method and system for transmitting deferred media information in an IP multimedia subsystem
A method for transmitting deferred media information in an Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem (IMS) includes: a sending party of the media information sends a key generation parameter encrypted with a Ka to a mailbox application server of a receiving party of the media information, the mailbox application server stores or saves the encrypted key generation parameters, and sends the encrypted key generation parameters to a key management server (KMS); the KMS generates a media key K and forwards it to the sending party through the mailbox application server of the receiving party; the receiving party obtains the encrypted key generation parameter from the mailbox application server and sends it to the KMS; the KMS generates the K and sends it to the receiving party; the receiving party decrypts the encrypted media information by using the K. A corresponding system is also disclosed. The method and system decrease signaling interaction between the sending party and the KMS, reduce the storage pressure of the KMS; realize the end-to-end secure transmission of the deferred media in the IMS. |
| US08705742B2 |
Data compression apparatus and data decompression apparatus
In a first data compression process, a compressed code of an input symbol is generated in accordance with a compression dictionary selected on the basis of P symbols immediately preceding the input symbol, and a (P+1)K+1-th compressed code is encrypted to generate a compressed and encrypted code. Then, compressed and encrypted data comprising compressed and encrypted codes and other compressed codes is output. In a second data compression process, a bit string is added to the head of compression target data, and a compressed code of an input symbol is generated in accordance with a compression dictionary selected on the basis of a bit string or a symbol immediately preceding the input symbol. Then, a plurality of compressed codes are alternately output to different output destinations. |
| US08705739B2 |
On-the-fly encryption on a gaming machine
Systems, apparatus and methods for on-the-fly encryption of data storage on a computerized wagering gaming machine are described herein. In some embodiments, a method includes accessing, using an on-the-fly encryption operation, data from a nonvolatile data storage in a computerized wagering gaming machine. |
| US08705736B2 |
Image encryption for print-and-scan channels using pixel position permutation
An image encryption method that includes receiving image data based on an image, wherein the image data comprises a plurality of pixel values, and permuting a plurality of, and preferably all of, the pixel values using at least a secret key to create permuted image data. Also, an image decryption method that includes scanning a printed image to create scanned image data. The printed image is generated from permuted image data that is generated by permuting a plurality of first pixel values of first image data using at least a secret key, obtaining a plurality of second pixel values from the scanned image data, and reverse-permuting a plurality of the second pixel values using at least the secret key to create reverse-permuted scanned image data. |
| US08705732B2 |
Generating a session key for authentication and secure data transfer
A device for generating a session key which is known to a first communication partner and a second communication partner, for the first communication partner, from secret information which may be determined by the first and second communication partners, includes a first module operable to calculate the session key using a concatenation of at least a part of a random number and a part of the secret information. The device also includes a second module operable to use the session key for communication with the second communication partner. |
| US08705728B2 |
Shared protection scheme for multiple variable batteries
A device includes a plurality of subscriber line interface circuits and a shared protection device. Each subscriber line interface circuit has a voltage input terminal and first and second interface line terminals. The shared protection device is coupled to the interface line terminals and operable to sense a negative reference voltage representing a most negative one of the voltages present on the voltage input terminals and to provide overvoltage protection responsive to a voltage on at least one of the interface line terminals exceeding the negative reference voltage. |
| US08705727B2 |
Methods and apparatus for enhancing ringback tone quality during telephone communications
A system for enhancing tonal quality for ringback signals in a telecommunications network by adjusting audio processing during an alerting interval of a telecommunications session (e.g. during a telephone call). The system may be embodied in a telecommunications switching device and include a ringback manager process that provides the ability to adjust audio processing (e.g., by signaling to in-path equipment) which enhances the tonal quality of the ringback signal. As an example, a telephone system (e.g. equipment associated with establishment and operation of telephone communications sessions) can disable or attenuate operation of voice quality enhancement processing such as echo cancellation, noise reduction, adaptive level control, and the like, during the ringback or alerting interval or period of a telephone call so that the ringback tone provided to the calling party is not distorted by such processing. |
| US08705724B2 |
Method of posting a voice related message on a remotely accessible networking page
A method of posting a voice related message on a remotely accessible networking page includes receiving, at a data center, a voice connection from a communications device. An account on the remotely accessible networking page that is associated with the voice connection is identified at the data center. A voice post is generated during or from the voice connection. Via the data center, the voice post is associated with the remotely accessible networking page so that the voice post is associated with the identified account. |
| US08705714B2 |
Telecommunication and multimedia management method and apparatus
A telecommunication and multimedia management apparatus and method that supports voice and other media communications and that enables users to: (i) participate in multiple conversation modes, including live phone calls, conference calls, instant voice messaging or tactical communications; (ii) review the messages of conversations in either a live mode or a time-shifted mode and to seamlessly transition back and forth between the two modes; (iii) participate in multiple conversations either concurrently or simultaneously; (iv) archive the messages of conversations for later review or processing; and (v) persistently store media either created or received on the communication devices of users. The latter feature enables users to generate or review media when either disconnected from the network or network conditions are poor and to optimize the delivery of media over the network based on network conditions and the intention of the users participating in conversations. |
| US08705712B2 |
System and method for delivering content to a user of a telephony device
A system and method for utilizing information exchanged during an initiation phase (i.e., the “ringing” phase) of a conventional telephone connection request received from a telephony device, in order to identify and provide a user with content or enhanced services. In a convention telephone call the connection request includes information that identifies the user and/or telephony device that placed the phone call (the originating number) and the dialed phone number (the signaling number). The connection request is rejected and the call is terminated Prior to termination of the call the originating dumber and/or signaling number are extracted and used to identify a task that is desired by a user; content associated with the task is delivered to the user. |
| US08705711B2 |
Method for processing a telephone call using IVR for delivery of multimedia messages to a mobile device
A method for processing a wireless or land line telephone call from a telephone caller over a public switched telephone network (PSTN) through an IVR system for providing control to the called party for delivering SMS and/or MMS messaging to a mobile device of the caller while the call is being processed or is placed “on-hold” which may include logging of demographic information of the caller derived from the 10 digit number to form a demographic profile of the caller to differentiate and classify the caller based on the caller's demographics. |
| US08705710B2 |
Methods and systems for telephony call completion
The present invention is directed to processing calls to busy and Do-Not-Disturb capable telecommunications lines. In one embodiment, the presence of a subscriber accessing a computer network over a first telephone line via a first computer terminal is detected, wherein the subscriber also has a first telephone station connected to the first line. When a caller calls the first line and the first line is busy, the call is forwarded to a second telephone line associated with a call manager system. The call manager system determines when the subscriber is no longer accessing the computer network. At least partly in response to determining that the subscriber is no longer accessing the computer network, the call manager system transmits a text message to the caller, the message including the subscriber's phone number. The caller can then call back the first line using the transmitted phone number. |
| US08705703B2 |
Emergency telephone call notification service system and method
A system and method for emergency telephone call notification. The system includes an AIN capable switch, a service control point (SCP) having a database of designated contact numbers associated with a service subscriber telephone number, and an intelligent peripheral (IP) in communication with the SCP for contacting the designated contact numbers. The method includes the steps of recognizing an N11 trigger and the SCP initiating telephone calls, via the IP, to each of the contact numbers corresponding to the telephone number of the subscriber making the emergency telephone call. |
| US08705696B2 |
Radiotherapy system
A radiotherapy system comprising a support for a patient undergoing radiotherapy treatment, a gantry rotatable about an axis, a source of radiation mounted on the gantry and producing a beam of radiation directed towards a target region of the patient, a collimator coupled to said radiation source, the collimator comprising a plurality of movable, beam-limiting elements, to collectively define a shaped aperture through which the radiation beam passes, a portal imager mounted on the gantry opposite the radiation source for detecting the radiation after it has passed through the patient and generating corresponding images, and associated circuitry for controlling at least the gantry, the source, the collimator, and the portal imager, collating detected data comprising a plurality of images acquired including images at a plurality of angles of rotation of said gantry and images at a plurality of collimator shapes; generating a three-dimensional image of the target region based thereon. |
| US08705687B2 |
Input circuit in high speed counter module in PLC
An input circuit in high speed counter module for PLC is provided, the input circuit being configured such that various types of pulse signals are changed to a single type of pulse signal and transmitted to an MPU, whereby the type of input pulse is checked or an operation of checking addition/deduction is omitted to increase an interrupt process speed. |
| US08705686B2 |
Adjustable hard stops for nuclear reactor restrainer brackets and methods of using the same
Hard stops are useable in an operating nuclear reactor to separate and bias restrainer brackets and inlet mixers. Hard stops include a lip clamp that clamps to a restrainer bracket and a wedge member that biases against the inlet mixer. The wedge member and lip clamp are engaged such that the two components can slide against one another to bias the restrainer bracket and inlet mixer. The lip clamp includes a clamp arm and an engagement member to clamp opposite sides of the restrainer bracket. Ratchet assemblies maintain selective positioning various components of the hard stops. Hard stops may be used in several different numbers, positions, and configurations in repair or modification systems. Hard stops may be installed by determining location on an outside of a restrainer bracket for the hard stop, securing the hard stop at the location, and biasing the hard stop between two components at the location. |
| US08705680B2 |
CDR circuit
A recovered clock (123) is generated by making the phase of a reference clock (122) having the same frequency as the data rate frequency of input data (120) match the phase of the input data (120). The input data (120) is written in a FIFO (101) using the recovered clock (123). For readout from the FIFO (101), the FIFO (101) is caused to output recovered data (121) using the reference clock (122) asynchronous to the recovered clock (123). |
| US08705679B1 |
Method and apparatus for clear channel assessment qualification
In a method for detecting a synchronization field in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal, a plurality of discrete Fourier transform (DFT) values corresponding to the OFDM signal are generated. A plurality of magnitude or power values corresponding to the plurality of DFT values is determined. It is determined whether the plurality of magnitude or power values corresponds to a pattern of magnitude or power values. An indication that the synchronization field is detected in the OFDM signal is generated based on whether it is determined that the plurality of magnitude or power values correspond to the pattern of magnitude or power values. |
| US08705678B1 |
Multiple channel distributed system and method
A complex acquisition system and method for synchronizing components thereof. The complex acquisition system further including a master acquisition module. The master acquisition module further including an analog to digital acquisition signal generator for generating an analog to digital acquisition signal, a memory acquisition signal generator for generating a memory acquisition signal, a delay calibration signal for generating a delay calibration signal, a step source signal generator for generating a step source signal, and a synchronization module. The complex acquisition system further includes a plurality of slave acquisition modules, each also including a synchronization module. The complex acquisition system additionally includes a distribution system for distributing each of the analog to digital acquisition signal, memory acquisition signal, delay calibration signal and step source signal to each of the synchronization modules in the master and plurality of slave acquisition modules. |
| US08705673B2 |
Timing phase detection using a matched filter set
Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for phase identification in data processing systems. As one example, a circuit is disclosed that includes a bank of matched filters with two or more matched filters tuned to detect patterns corresponding to a timing pattern sampled using different phases of a sample clock. In particular, the bank of matched filters includes at least a first matched filter tuned to detect a first pattern corresponding to the timing pattern sampled using a first phase of a sample clock, and a second matched filter tuned to detect a second pattern corresponding to the timing pattern sampled using a second phase of the sample clock. The circuits further include a logic circuit operable to determine whether the sample clock is closer to the first phase or the second phase based on an output of the first matched filter and an output of the second matched filter. |
| US08705665B2 |
Process for performing log-likelihood-ratio clipping in a soft-decision near-ML detector, and detector for doing the same
A process for computing Log-Likelihood-ratios (LLRs) in a detector of a wireless communication receiver is disclosed, with the, LLRs being used by a channel decoder. A signal is received from a telecom front end, the signal corresponding to data belonging to a finite set of constellation symbols, each constellation symbol being arranged in a lattice constellation impaired by additive noise and a multiplicative channel. A limited set of distances representative of Euclidian distances between the received signal and a finite set of predetermined constellation symbols are computed, possibly multiplied by the channel. A set of soft decision LLRs are derived from the computed set of distances under the constraint of a limited length of the list of distances. The derived LLRs are completed by clipping values read from a look-up table which is simultaneously addressed by the values of the SNR and a bit index. |
| US08705658B2 |
Method and apparatus of modulating signal in broadcasting and communication system
Modulating method and apparatus in a broadcasting and communication system are provided. The modulating apparatus includes: a first quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulating unit QPSK-modulating first data including in-phase (I) data and quadrature (Q) data to generate a first signal; a phase rotating unit rotating a phase of the first signal by θ to generate a phase rotated signal; a second QPSK modulating unit QPSK-modulating second data different from the first data and including I′ data and Q′ data to generate a second signal; and a layer modulating unit modulating the phase rotated signal and the second signal to output a final signal. |
| US08705656B2 |
Transmission and reception apparatus and method
A transmission apparatus includes a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation signal generators, which generate a first OFDM modulation signal and a second OFDM modulation signal. The transmission apparatus also includes a transmitter that transmits the first OFDM modulation signal from a first antenna and the second OFDM modulation signal from a second antenna, in an identical frequency band. A reception apparatus is provided, which includes a plurality of antennas that receive a plurality of OFDM modulation signals; a plurality of OFDM demodulators that transform the plurality of OFDM modulation signals to a plurality of reception signals using Fourier transform; an estimator that outputs a distortion estimation signal using one or more symbols for demodulation included in the plurality of reception signals; and a demodulator that compensates for distortion of the reception signals using the distortion estimation signal and demodulates a data symbol included in the reception signals. |
| US08705654B1 |
Measuring phase shift in a radio frequency power amplifier
The present disclosure relates to RF circuitry having delay locked loop (DLL) circuitry that may be used to measure amplitude modulation-to-phase modulation (AMPM) distortion of an RF power amplifier during factory calibration or during real time operation of the RF circuitry. During a calibration mode, the DLL circuitry may be calibrated using a reference clock signal. During a phase measurement mode, the DLL circuitry may use the reference clock signal, which is representative of an RF input signal to the RF power amplifier, and a feedback signal, which is representative of an RF output signal from the RF power amplifier, to measure a phase difference between the RF input signal and the RF output signal. By measuring the phase difference at different amplitudes of the RF output signal, the AMPM distortion of the RF power amplifier may be determined and used to correct for the AMPM distortion. |
| US08705647B2 |
Maximum-likelihood MIMO demodulation for frequency-selective channels
A method is described that enables maximum-likelihood (ML) demodulation for MIMO communications over frequency-selective channels. An equalizer is typically employed to suppress inter-symbol interference (ISI) due to frequency-selectiveness of the channel, but the noise of the equalizer output can be highly correlated such that standard ML-MIMO demodulations cannot directly apply. The method comprises first constructing equivalent post-equalization MIMO channel and noise covariance matrix, and then de-correlating the equalizer output so that ML or near-ML MIMO demodulations can be applied to improve the performance. Additionally, successive ISI cancellation (SIC) is described for further performance improvement. |
| US08705644B2 |
Method for generating and transmitting a reference signal for uplink demodulation in a clustered DFT-spread OFDM transmission scheme
Disclosed is a method for generating and transmitting a reference signal in a clustered DFT-spread OFDM transmission scheme. A method for generating and transmitting a DM-RS in a clustered DFT-spread-OFDM scheme comprises: a step of generating DM-RS sequences corresponding to the number of clusters allocated for an uplink transmission; and a step of mapping the generated DM-RS sequences to the relevant DM-RS symbol positions for each cluster. Accordingly, the method for generating and transmitting a reference signal according to the present invention, in which DM-RS sequences are allocated and transmitted on a cluster basis, uses a complete DM-RS sequence for each cluster, and therefore inter-cell interference can be weakened, and problems which might occur when applied to a multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) scheme can be solved. |
| US08705643B2 |
Channel estimation for a control channel in an OFDM system
A method of channel estimation for a control channel in an OFDM system of the present invention includes the steps of: performing weighted averaging over time of input LS estimates of a plurality of channel condition matrices; performing frequency domain averaging on the input LS estimates; performing channel estimates on multiple subcarriers of pilot OFDM symbols from the frequency domain averaged input LS estimates; and performing channel estimates on multiple subcarriers of OFDM symbols in the control channel from the channel estimates on the subcarriers of pilot OFDM symbols. |
| US08705642B2 |
Method for mitigating interference in OFDM communications systems
The method for mitigating interference in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communications systems uses comb-type pilot signals in a doubly selective channel where the pilot signals are calculated to have zero correlation sequences in order to maintain orthogonality where there is a high Doppler effect to mitigate intercarrier interference. The pilot signals may be precomputed, stored in a look-up table, and selected based upon total power constraints of the pilot signals. The steps of the method may be performed by a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) equalizer. |
| US08705625B2 |
Video compression and encoding method
Disclosed herein is a method for decoding a video signal having at least one frame with a plurality of blocks including a current block, including generating, for at least a selected pixel in the current block, a predicted value for at least one pixel located in a row i and a column j of the current block using a processor and according to the following equation: Xij=Li+Aj−C; wherein Xij is the predicted value, Li is the value of a pixel to the left of the current block, Aj is the value of a pixel in a row above the current block and C is the value of a pixel in the row above and the column to the left of the current block and decoding the current block using the predicted value. |
| US08705624B2 |
Parallel decoding for scalable video coding
A method for decoding a stream encoded using a scalable video coding and including a plurality of layers of frames divided into a plurality of blocks, decodes block-wise in parallel the layers of the stream. A target block in an enhancement layer is decoded as soon as the block data required for its decoding are available from the reference layer. |
| US08705622B2 |
Interpolation filter support for sub-pixel resolution in video coding
This disclosure describes filtering techniques applied by an encoder and a decoder during the prediction stage of a video encoding and/or decoding process. The filtering techniques may enhance the accuracy of predictive data used during fractional interpolation, and may improve predictive data of integer blocks of pixels. There are several aspects to this disclosure, including a useful twelve-pixel filter support that may be used for interpolation, techniques that use coefficient symmetry and pixel symmetry to reduce the amount of data needed to be sent between an encoder and a decoder to configure the filter support for interpolation, and techniques for filtering data at integer pixel locations in a manner that is similar to sub-pixel interpolation. Other aspects of this disclosure concern techniques for encoding information in the bitstream to convey the type of filter used, and possibly the filter coefficients used. Predictive coding of filter coefficients is also described. |
| US08705621B2 |
Method and apparatus for scalable compression of video
A method and apparatus for producing a fully scalable compressed representation of video sequences, so that they may be transmitted over networks, such as the Internet, for example. Because the signal is scalable, users receiving the signal can obtain the signal at the appropriate resolution and quality that their system will handle or that they desire. A “motion compensated temporal wavelet transform” is implemented in order to enable compression of the video in a scalable fashion while still taking advantage of inter-frame redundancy in a manner which is sensitive to scene and camera motion. The motion compensated temporal wavelet transform is implemented by decomposing the video sequence into a set of temporal frequency bands and then applying a sequence of motion compensated lifting operations to alternately update an odd frame sub-sequence based upon an even sub-sequence and vice versa in a manner which is sensitive to motion. |
| US08705617B2 |
Multiple layer video encoding
Certain embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for processing multimedia data. The systems and methods comprise receiving a first set of quantized coefficients representing at least one video frame, receiving a second set of quantized coefficients representing the at least one video frame, and generating, using the first set of quantized coefficients and second set of quantized coefficients, a third set of quantized coefficients representing the at least one video frame. In certain embodiments, quantization parameters associated with the first and second sets are used in producing the third set of quantized coefficients. |
| US08705615B1 |
System for generating controllable difference measurements in a video processor
Disclosed are systems and methods used in motion estimation and in other systems. Embodiments of the invention include a built-in masking function that can be used in conjunction with either a difference measurement. A controllable mask bit may be set for each individual ai:bi comparison. In one embodiment, to include the particular location represented by the “i” value in the comparison, the mask bit is left unset; to ignore any location, the mask bit is set. If the mask bit is set, the comparison value is calculated as zero, i.e., there is no difference entered into the calculation, even if there is an actual difference in the two datasets. |
| US08705613B2 |
Adaptive joint source channel coding
Adaptive joint source channel coding associates multiple predictors with a reference data unit, such as a macroblock or frame of video data. An encoder determines a sub-codebook in which each of the selected multiple predictors decodes to the reference data unit. An identifier for the sub-codebook is transmitted through a channel to a decoder for subsequent decoding of the reference data unit. The reference data unit itself does not need to be sent. The multiple predictors are contained within a decoding region and the identifier for the sub-codebook specifies the decoding region. The decoder uses the identified sub-codebook and one of the predictors to decode the reference data unit. If none of the original predictors are correctly received, different types of error handling are employed based on the type of channel. |
| US08705611B2 |
Image prediction encoding device, image prediction encoding method, image prediction encoding program, image prediction decoding device, image prediction decoding method, and image prediction decoding program
An image prediction encoding device includes a prediction signal generator that produces a prediction signal with respect to a target pixel signal of a target region that is among regions divided by a block division unit, a motion estimator that searches for a motion vector required for the production of the prediction signal from an already reproduced signal, and a subtractor that produces a residual signal indicating a difference between the prediction signal and the target pixel signal. The prediction signal generator determines a search region that is a partial region of the already reproduced signal based on the motion vector and produces one or more type 2 candidate prediction signals. The prediction signal generator includes a candidate prediction signal combining unit that produces the prediction signal by processing the type 2 candidate prediction signals and a type 1 candidate prediction signal produced based on the motion vector. |
| US08705609B2 |
Moving image coding device and method
The present invention relates to a moving image coding apparatus and method involving the simultaneous parallel running of respective modules, namely: a segment-unit-coding module in which an input image frame is divided into segment units and the integer pel (integer pixel) motion is estimated while at the same time the 1/n pixel images are generated with respect to the segments of the image coded in the coding module; and a macroblock-unit-coding module in which the segments of the image frame whose the integer pel motion has been estimated in the segment-unit-coding module are received as input in the form of macroblock units and are coded in macroblock units through the 1/n pixel motion estimation. By separating the coding units into different modules and employing the techniques of parallel processing and pipelining, the present invention makes it possible to effect high-speed encoding with reduced delay in the coding rate due to differences in the processing speeds of the respective modules. |
| US08705607B1 |
Non-disruptive adapter equalizer coefficient update method for active links
Various embodiments of the innovation provide adaptive equalization training for a receiver in a communication system. In certain embodiments, the receiver's coefficients are re-optimized while links are active and initialized. |
| US08705606B2 |
Methods and circuits for adaptive equalization
An integrated circuit equalizes a data signal expressed as a series of symbols. The symbols form data patterns with different frequency components. By considering these patterns, the integrated circuit can experiment with equalization settings specific to a subset of the frequency components, thereby finding an equalization control setting that optimizes equalization. Optimization can be accomplished by setting the equalizer to maximize symbol amplitude. |
| US08705603B2 |
Adaptive data recovery system with input signal equalization
Data receivers often include equalizers for operating on received signals. The equalizers often have a plurality of taps, with signals from each tap weighted based on tap settings or values. The tap settings may be set based on bit error rates of data output from the equalizer. In some embodiments data output from the equalizer is split into two signals, and the two signals are processed to indicate a data eye of the data output from the equalizer. Preferred tap settings may be determined by setting tap settings to different values and using tap settings expected to maximize the data eye. This may be performed separately for different bit settings in an attempt to reduce effects of inter-signal interference. |
| US08705595B2 |
Digital output power measurement in radio communication systems
Devices and methods related to devices capable to perform digital output power measurement besides attenuation control are provided. A device includes a digital signal processing unit, a transmitter and a feedback receiver. The digital signal processing unit is configured to control attenuation along a transmission path and a feedback path based on a comparison of a power of a digital input signal with a raw power of a corresponding digital feedback signal, and to calculate an output power value of an analog RF signal to be broadcasted, using the raw power of the digital feedback signal and one or more feedback gain factors related to gain in the feedback receiver. |
| US08705590B2 |
Code generating apparatus, reference signal generating apparatus, and methods thereof
A demodulation reference signal generator includes a non-correlation sequence generator to generate a non-correlation sequence for RS of a first resource block; a first spectrum spreading unit to spread spectrums of elements in the non-correlation sequence for RS to be mapped to a first frequency resource of the first resource block, by using a first group of codes; a second spectrum spreading unit to spread spectrums of elements in the non-correlation sequence for RS to be mapped to a second frequency resource of the first resource block, using a second group of Codes; the first and second frequency resources are adjacent frequency resources used for RS transmission in the first resource block, and the first and second groups of Codes are mirrors in column to each other; and a mapping unit to map the spectrum-spread elements to the first and second frequency resources. |
| US08705589B2 |
Method for pulse-based ultra-broadband communication between at least one transmitting node and at least one receiving node
An ultra-broadband signal having a plurality of pulses is transmitted from one or more transmitting nodes to one or more receiving nodes. In the ultra-broadband signal, data are transmitted by pulses having a first pulse rate in a first data transmission and by pulses having a second pulse rate in at least one second data transmission, with each second pulse rate higher than the first pulse rate. The pulses having the second pulse rate are transmitted in intervals, during which no pulses having the first pulse rate are transmitted. This has the advantage that by utilizing time gaps between pulses of the first data transmission, the data of a second data transmission can be transmitted at a higher pulse rate. The transmitting and receiving nodes need not be coordinated explicitly or coordinated from the outside. |
| US08705586B2 |
Solid-state laser element
To suppress the amplification of spontaneous emission light in a principal plane width direction to thereby suppress a gain in directions other than a beam axis direction and output a high-power laser, in a solid-state laser element of a plane waveguide type that causes a fundamental wave laser beam to oscillate in a beam axis direction in a laser medium of a flat shape and forms a waveguide structure in a thickness direction as a direction perpendicular to a principal plane of the flat shape in the laser medium, inclined sections 12 are provided on both sides of the laser medium, the inclined sections 12 inclining a predetermined angle to reflect spontaneous emission light in the laser medium to a principal plane side of the flat shape, the spontaneous emission light traveling in the beam axis direction and a principal plane width direction as a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction. |
| US08705585B2 |
Surface-emitting laser array, optical scanning device, and image forming device
A surface-emitting laser array includes a plurality of surface-emitting laser elements. Each surface-emitting laser element includes a first reflection layer formed on a substrate, a resonator formed in contact with the first reflection layer and containing an active layer, and a second reflection layer formed over the first reflection layer and in contact with the resonator. The second reflection layer contains a selective oxidation layer. The first reflection layer contains on the active layer side at least a low refractive index layer having an oxidation rate equivalent to or larger than an oxidation rate of a selective oxidation layer contained in the second reflection layer. The resonator is made of an AlGaInPAs base material containing at least In. A bottom of a mesa structure is located under the selective oxidation layer and over the first reflection layer. |
| US08705584B2 |
DBR laser diode with symmetric aperiodically shifted grating phase
In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, a DBR laser diode is provided where the wavelength selective grating of the laser diode is characterized by an aperiodically shifted grating phase φ and a Bragg wavelength λB. The aperiodically shifted grating phase φ is substantially symmetric or substantially π-shifted symmetric relative to a midpoint CL or shifted midpoint CL* of the DBR section. The phase φ of the wavelength selective grating is characterized by aperiodic phase jumps of magnitude φJ1, J2, . . . and segment lengths l0, 1, . . . . The phase jumps of the wavelength selective grating are arranged substantially symmetrically about a midpoint CL or shifted midpoint CL* of the DBR section along the optical axis of the DBR laser diode. At least two phase jumps reside on each side of the midpoint CL or shifted midpoint CL* of the DBR section. |
| US08705582B2 |
Distributed feedback laser having enhanced etch stop features
In one example embodiment, a DFB laser includes a substrate; an active region positioned above the substrate; a grating layer positioned above the active region, the grating layer including a portion that serves as a primary etch stop layer; a secondary etch stop layer positioned above the grating layer; and a spacer layer interposed between the grating layer and the secondary etch stop layer. |
| US08705579B2 |
Generating and implementing a signal protocol and interface for higher data rates
A data Interface for transferring digital data between a host and a client over a communication path using packet structures linked together to form a communication protocol for communicating a pre-selected set of digital control and presentation data. The signal protocol is used by link controllers configured to generate, transmit, and receive packets forming the communications protocol, and to form digital data into one or more types of data packets, with at least one residing in the host device and being coupled to the client through the communications path. The interface provides a cost-effective, low power, bi-directional, high-speed data transfer mechanism over a short-range “serial” type data link, which lends itself to implementation with miniature connectors and thin flexible cables which are especially useful in connecting display elements such as wearable micro-displays to portable computers and wireless communication devices. |
| US08705578B2 |
Method and system for implementing time synchronization in local area network (LAN)
A method and a system for implementing time synchronization in a local area network are disclosed, and the local area network includes a master system device (1) and a slave system device (31, 32, 33). The method includes: the master system device (1) synchronizing a local time according to a Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) time normally received from a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite and a network clock aligned with the UTC time, and regularly broadcasting the local time to each network node which serves as the slave system device (31, 32, 33) and needs to perform time synchronization; and the slave system device (31, 32, 33) synchronously updating the local time according to the received local time of the maser system device (1) and a local network clock aligned with the network clock of the maser system device (1). |
| US08705576B2 |
Method and apparatus for deblocking-filtering video data
Provided are a method and an apparatus for filtering video data. The method includes determining whether a difference value of illumination change (DVIC) of a current image processing unit containing a current block is different from a DVIC of an image processing unit that is adjacent to the current image processing unit and based on the determining, adjusting a filtering strength of a deblocking filter and performing deblocking filtering on a boundary of the current block using the filter with the adjusted filtering strength. |
| US08705573B2 |
Apparatus and method for coding an information signal into a data stream, converting the data stream and decoding the data stream
More customization and adaptation of coded data streams may be achieved by processing the information signal such that the various syntax structures obtained by pre-coding the information signal are placed into logical data packets, each of which being associated with a specific data packet type of a predetermined set of data packet types, and by defining a predetermined order of data packet types within one access unit of data packets. The consecutive access units in the data stream may, for example, correspond to different time portions of the information signal. By defining the predetermined order among the data packet types it is possible, at decoder's side, to detect the borders between successive access units even when removable data packets are removed from the data stream on the way from the data stream source to the decoder without incorporation of any hints into the reminder of the data stream. |
| US08705572B2 |
RoCE packet sequence acceleration
Disclosed herein are methods and apparatus for accelerating RoCE packet sequence transmission and reducing processing latency in received RoCE packets. Under the disclosed method, the RoCE protocol stack and RDMA verbs are implemented partially in the host software and partially in the adapter hardware, thereby providing a better balance between simplifying the adapter configuration and maximizing the host processing efficiency. Particularly, the adapter implemented with partial RoCE offload is able to perform a few major functionalities under the RoCE protocol, such as offloading a complete RoCE packet sequence for transmission, building individual packets out of the RoCE packet sequence and performing Invariant CRC calculation, insertion, validation and removal thereof. |
| US08705565B2 |
Secure transmission system and method
A method is provided for transmitting information from a user to a first network entity over a communications network. The user enters information into a browser executed at a user terminal. The browser generates a first message comprising the information using a first communication protocol for despatch over the network via a network port, the first message including an identifier of the first network entity. A client executed at the user terminal receives the first message before the first message reaches the network port. The first message is wrapped in a second message of a second communication protocol used for transmitting messages between the client and a second network entity. The second message is transmitted to the second network entity over the communications network. The first message is unwrapped from the second message at the second network entity, the identifier of the first network entity translated to a network address of the first network entity and the first message is transmitted to the first network entity over the communications network. |
| US08705561B2 |
Broadcasting method and radio apparatus
A processing unit sets the time interval before packet signals are broadcast, using a carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) scheme. A modem unit and an RF unit broadcasts the packet signals at the time intervals set by the processing unit. The RF unit and the modem unit receive a control signal broadcast from an access control apparatus at a predetermined frequency. The processing unit sets the time interval, during which the control signal is receivable, to a time length shorter than the time interval for the remaining cases. |
| US08705555B2 |
Route control method and route control system
A route control system includes a status measuring unit, a cost management unit, a route determining unit, and a route setting unit. The status measuring unit checks a status of each node included in a network. The status is a wake state or a sleep state. The cost management unit updates a link cost for a link connected to a node in the wake state to a value smaller than any link cost for a link connected to a node in the sleep state. The route determining unit determines an optimum route connecting a first terminal to a second terminal. A sum of the link costs for the optimum route is lowest among the link costs for other available routes connecting the first terminal to the second terminal. The route setting unit sets a requested data flow in the optimum route. |
| US08705553B2 |
Method for enabling a home base station to choose between local and remote transportation of uplink data packets
The present invention relates to methods and devices that allow for different types of transportation of data packets (6) in conjunction with a home base station (1). Traffic arriving in the home base station (1) from a mobile terminal (2) connected to the home base station (1) can be transported either via a core network (15) of a mobile telecommunications system or by means of local transportation, which implies that the traffic is forwarded to a local node (4) in a local network (20) without passing the core network (15). The home base station (1) examines data packets (6) that are received from the mobile terminal (1) and determines the appropriate type of transportation for each data packet (6). Thus it is not required for traffic that is destined for local nodes (4) to pass the core network (15), which allows for efficient traffic forwarding with several benefits such as offloading the core network (15). |
| US08705550B2 |
Device interface architecture and protocol
An interface architecture and protocol are provided for transferring messages between a plurality of devices. The architecture provides the capability to generate a plurality of service messages according to a single message format, and to transfer the service messages between a plurality of control points or service entities according to an efficient multiplexing protocol. The control points can be software applications or device drivers running on a terminal equipment device, and the service entities can be communication services such as network access services or device management services running on an attached data communication device such as a modem or a cellular phone. |
| US08705549B2 |
Structure and implementation of universal virtual private networks
A Universal Virtual Private Network (VPN) apparatus, and method and system for using universal VPNs. The Universal VPNs include a first Internet Protocol (IP) switch connected to a second IP switch by a public telecommunications medium. Each IP switch has an interswitch port and access ports to which hosts are directly connected. A virtual private line services (VPLS) packet received by the first IP switch from a source host directly connected to an access port of the first IP switch is routed by the first IP switch to destination hosts of a universal VPN attached to access ports of the first and second IP switches via respective transmission paths that use a VPLS transmission protocol throughout each respective transmission path. The VPLS packet includes a header appended to an IP frame including a packet payload including a first message, the header including a VPN label identifying the universal VPN. |
| US08705548B2 |
Method and apparatus for the transmission of data via a bus network using the broadcast principle
There is provided a method for the transmission of data via a bus network to which a plurality of subscribers are connected. The method includes a first step of transmitting data from at least one subscriber, e.g., Master, to at least another subscriber, e.g., TNx or STNx, by employing a data transmission protocol designed for point-to-point transmission. The method includes a second step of defining a broadcast message, within which selected data can be transmitted in a broadcast transmission mode, within the point-to-point transmission protocol. In a supplementary or alternative embodiment, the method includes inserting a safety broadcast message in addition to a standard or general broadcast protocol. There is also provided an apparatus for transmission of data via a bus network. |
| US08705547B2 |
Interconnecting network processors with heterogeneous fabrics
Techniques for performing protocol translation for a modular system may be described. In some examples, a first packet created in accordance with a first protocol may be received. A packet type for the first packet may be determined, a second protocol based on the packet type may be selected and the first packet may be translated to a second packet in accordance with the second protocol. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US08705542B2 |
L2 method for partial VLAN service migration
An upgraded edge node (e.g., enhanced PBB edge node, enhanced IP/MPLS edge node) and a method are described herein for providing a VLAN service for a customer in a metro network. In addition, a metro network is described herein which includes the upgraded edge nodes, traditional PB edge nodes, and a PB domain that has PB core nodes located therein. |
| US08705541B2 |
Network gateway for time-critical and mission-critical networks
A network gateway for time-critical and mission-critical networks is provided. The network gateway comprises a decision unit for determining, based on at least one network event; a processing unit for processing frames determined to be associated with the at least one service; a queue for buffering frames; and a traffic shaper for performing bandwidth management on frames stored in the queue. |
| US08705540B2 |
Network relay apparatus
The network relay apparatus includes: a plurality of distributed processing units configured to receive and send a packet from and to an external device; an integrated processing unit connected with the plurality of distributed processing units; and a mode selector configured to change over a processing mode of the network relay apparatus between a distributed processing mode and an integrated processing mode, based on at least either one of a load applied to the network relay apparatus and a packet type determined according to header information of the received packet. |
| US08705539B2 |
Determining a route advertisement in a reactive routing environment
In an example embodiment, a method and system is provided to determine and advertise a route advertisement in a reactive routing environment. In response to receiving a network address query with respect to a destination address at a routing device, an aggregate value, e.g. an address prefix, is determined and advertised in reply to the network address query. Determining of the aggregate value may comprise identifying within a range of network addresses represented by the aggregate value respective addresses for which the routing device does not have reachability information. The routing device may send address queries with respect to the identified addresses, to determine reachability via the routing device of those addresses. The aggregate value may be advertised conditional upon determining that a percentage of addresses within the corresponding range that can be reached via the routing device satisfies a predefined minimal coverage value. |
| US08705538B1 |
Methods and systems for dynamic division of path capacity
Methods and systems are disclosed that relate to selecting a path for sending an I/O request from a host to a data storage subsystem from among a plurality of paths from the host to the subsystem. An exemplary method includes identifying a limitation on the traffic level for the plurality of paths, tracking a first metric corresponding to the limitation on the traffic level for each path, and transmitting a first I/O request having an urgency level other than the highest urgency level by one of the plurality of paths whose first metric does not exceed its limitation on the traffic level. |
| US08705534B2 |
Provider edge bridge with remote customer service interface
A method and Provider Edge Bridge for providing a Port-based interface. In one embodiment, the Provider Edge Bridge includes a Customer Virtual Local Area Network (C-VLAN) component; a first Service VLAN (S-VLAN) component connected to the C-VLAN component and to a Provider Bridged Network; and a second S-VLAN component connected to the C-VLAN component, to the first S-VLAN component, and to customer equipments. In another embodiment, the Provider Edge Bridge includes the C-VLAN component and a single S-VLAN component connected to the C-VLAN component, to the Provider Bridged Network, and to the customer equipments. In both embodiments, the Provider Edge Bridge is configured to provide the Port-based interface without utilizing a S-VLAN mapping component. |
| US08705533B1 |
Fast packet encapsulation using templates
A network device assigns unique encoded values, represented by mnemonics, to protocol headers supported by the network device, and defines a plurality of templates, where each template includes a set of the mnemonics. The network device also stores the plurality of templates in a template table, where the template table enables the network device to create one or more protocol headers for packets transmitted by the network device. |
| US08705528B2 |
Subnet scoped multicast/broadcast packet distribution mechanism over a routed network
In one embodiment, a subnet-scoped multicast packet is received on an interface of a forwarding device that is connected to a host device of a subnet of a forwarding domain. The received subnet-scoped multicast packet is transmitted from one or more other interfaces of the forwarding device that are connected to one or more other host devices of the subnet. The received subnet-scoped multicast packet is also encapsulated with an additional header. The encapsulated subnet-scoped multicast packet is forwarded from the forwarding device to an intermediate router which routes the encapsulated subnet-scoped multicast packet to one or more other forwarding devices configured to decapsulate the encapsulated subnet-scoped multicast packet and transmit the decapsulated subnet-scoped multicast packet to one or more connected host devices of an additional portion of the subnet. |
| US08705523B2 |
Conjoined class-based networking
A data communication network includes two logically distinct class-based networks conjoined by at least one common node that has membership in each of the respective classes of the two logically distinct class-based networks. Optionally, three or more class-based networks may be conjoined to form a data communications network. |
| US08705522B2 |
Mobile router support for IPv6
A method and system for supporting mobile routers in Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is provided. A mobile router obtains a care-of-address associated with an address configuration. The mobile router registers the care-of-address with a home agent. A bi-directional tunnel is established between the mobile router and the home agent. Packets are then forwarded via the bi-directional tunnel. |
| US08705516B2 |
Enhanced directory assistance system with voice over IP call handling
A method for operating a directory assistance system responsive to Voice over IP device requests including receiving a first directory assistance request from at least one Voice over IP device and identifying the requested information on a database. The requested information is formatted in the database in accordance with a format required by the Voice over IP device and is then a notification message is transmitted to indicating its availability. A second request is received from the Voice over IP device for retrieval of the formatted requested information, which is in turn transmitted to the Voice over IP device via the web server. |
| US08705514B2 |
Apparatus for controlling a transfer destination of a packet originating from a virtual machine
Transfer destination of a packet originating from a virtual machine is controlled so as to allow a capture device arranged in a communication network to capture a packet that is transferred using a communication tunnel. A first server acquires a first packet originating from a source virtual machine being operated by the first server, encapsulates the first packet by adding source and destination addresses. The first server further adds a transfer-destination address to the encapsulated first packet to generate a second packet when the first packet is determined to be a target packet to be captured by the capture device. Then, the first server transmits the second packet including the transfer-destination address to the second server using the communication tunnel while the second packet including the first packet is transferred to the transfer-destination address. |
| US08705510B2 |
Method for transmitting feedback information and data using a precoding codebook for multicell cooperative communication in a wireless communication system
Disclosed are a feedback-transmitting method and data-transmitting method, and a method for generating a codebook that can be used in a system such as LTE-A. When multiple base stations operate in a cooperative mode, using a codebook generated according to the present invention, an existing codebook for single cell transmission can be used to generate a codebook for cooperative transmission. |
| US08705508B2 |
Method and system for performing time synchronization between nodes in wireless communication system
A method is provided for synchronizing time between nodes in a wireless communication system. A reference node transmits a first packet to a correspondent node. Upon receiving the first packet, the correspondent node transmits a second packet with a reception time of the first packet recorded therein, to the reference node. Upon receiving the second packet, the reference node calculates a forward delay time using a transmission time and the reception time of the first packet. The correspondent node receives a third packet with the forward delay time from the reference node, and calculates a reverse delay time. The correspondent node calculates an offset value for the synchronization using the forward delay time and the reverse delay time. |
| US08705507B2 |
Radio communication device and radio communication method
The present invention makes it possible to obtain the transmission diversity effect by applying a CDD while reducing the inter-code interference when performing a code multiplexing. When an Ack/Nack signal is transmitted from a user terminal to a base station in an upstream control channel by using an Ack/Nack resource, the signal is code-multiplexed by using a code sequence containing an orthogonal sequence and a cyclic-shifted sequence and transmitted from a plurality of user terminals to the base station. Upon using an aggregation size indicating the number of control signals of the downstream control channel, if the aggregation size is greater than one, it is determined that no resource located at the right of the axis of the cyclic-shifted amount of the cyclic-shifted sequence in the same orthogonal code of the orthogonal sequence is used, and the Ack/Nack signal to which CDD is applied from a plurality of antennas is transmitted by using a resource ACK #0 allocated to the own device and an unused resource ACK #1, which have the same orthogonal code, but have different cyclic-shifted amounts. |
| US08705506B2 |
Time reservation for a dominant interference scenario in a wireless communication network
Techniques for combating high interference in a dominant interference scenario are described. A terminal may observe high interference from an interfering base station in a dominant interference scenario. In an aspect, high interference may be combated by reserving time intervals for a serving base station. The terminal may communicate with the serving base station in the reserved time intervals and may avoid high interference that may desensitize a receiver at the terminal. In one design, the terminal may measure received power of base stations and may report its interference condition. The serving base station may receive a report from the terminal, determine that the terminal is observing high interference, and send a reservation request to the interfering base station to reserve time intervals. The interfering base station may grant the request and return a response. The serving base station may thereafter communicate with the terminal in the reserved time intervals. |
| US08705505B2 |
Distributed medium access scheduling with implicit ordering
Provided is distributed medium access scheduling with implicit ordering (DSIO). The DISO includes the steps of: (a) when any terminal of a plurality of terminals included in a terminal group has data to transmit, promoting the terminal to a transmission data existence layer; (b) when any blue terminal of a plurality of blue terminals included in a blue terminal group has no data to transmit, degrading the blue terminal to a transmission data non-existence layer; and (c) when any red terminal of a plurality of red terminals included in a red terminal group succeeds in intruding between the blue terminals and recognizes whether or not to transmit data without a collision, promoting the red terminal to the blue terminal group. |
| US08705502B2 |
Using encapsulation to enable 802.1 bridging across 802.11 links
In an example embodiment, packet encapsulation is employed to facilitate bridging between bridge ports that do not reflect frames (such as 802.1 compatible bridge ports) and bridge ports that do reflect frames (such as 802.11 compatible clients). Packets from a wireless access point may be sent twice, once with a predefined multicast address for processing by 802.11 clients contained in bridges, and once with the original destination address. In particular embodiments, additional means may be employed to minimize the circumstances where packets are duplicated. |
| US08705500B1 |
Methods and apparatus for upgrading a switch fabric
A method includes installing an interface card having a first module of a switch fabric and a second module of the switch fabric, and an interface card having a third module of the switch fabric in a first chassis, within a first time period. The switch fabric is in a first configuration and is operable as a three-stage switch fabric after the first time period and before a second time period. The interface card having the third module is removed from the first chassis within the second time period. An interface card having a fourth module of the switch fabric and a fifth module of the switch fabric is installed in the first chassis within the second time period. The switch fabric is in a transitional configuration and is operable as a three-stage switch fabric after the second time period but before the third time period. The interface card having the third module is installed in a second chassis and the first chassis is operatively coupled with the second chassis within the third time period. The switch fabric is in a third configuration and is operable as a five-stage switch fabric after the third time period. |
| US08705499B2 |
Mobile wireless access router for separately controlling traffic signal and control signal
A wireless access router for separately controlling a traffic signal and a control signal is provided. In a mobile communication access network structure, in order to optimally support a mobile communication terminal, a control signal and a traffic signal of a base station are divided, and a router is controlled by mobile communication system functions such as a mobility management function, a QoS management function, a session control of the terminal, a mobility control, and a QoS control function that are effectively processed. With a wireless access router having the divided control signal and traffic signal, it is expected the traffic concentration and a packet transmission delay can be prevented. |
| US08705498B2 |
Theme based advertising
Various embodiments of the present disclosure are related to leveraging mobility management techniques implemented in mobile networks to distribute advertisements to mobile devices. In certain embodiments of the present disclosure, advertisements can be transmitted on a broadcast control channel of a base station and in at least one embodiment the advertisements can be relevant to the area the base station services. Mobile devices that detect the broadcast control channel can store the advertisements. If for example, a user is interested in the service, e.g., a product or service, that is offered in the advertisement they can initiate a purchase procedure. |
| US08705495B2 |
Communication method using time-division multiplexing
The invention relates to a communication method using time-division multiplexing, which enables permanent communication between user terminals. One of the terminals is a master terminal, while the others are slave terminals. The transmission channel is divided into consecutive cycles, and each cycle is divided into timeslots. Each slave terminal identifies, in a listening mode, a free timeslot in the current cycle (6) and, in a transmission mode, transmits data in the identified timeslot during at least one subsequent cycle (7). As soon as the slave terminal stops transmitting, the identified slot becomes free again. |
| US08705494B2 |
WiMAX scheduling algorithm for co-located WiFi and WiMAX central points
After receiving an indication that a co-located central point is receiving co-location interference, a scheduling algorithm may be initiated. The scheduling may include allocating equal number of central points within each WiMAX frame. Each central point is allocated into a minimum number of frames subject to WiMAX capacity constraints. |
| US08705493B2 |
Method and apparatus for service identification in a wireless communication system
Methods, apparatuses, and systems for announcing services available in a macro-diversity region of a data frame broadcast by a plurality of base stations in a single frequency network to a plurality of subscriber stations, includes a data frame with at least a data region and a macro-diversity region. A media access control (MAC) management message is generated which identifies content and characteristics of the content in the macro-diversity region. Then the MAC management message is transmitted in the data region of the data frame, wherein the MAC management message is decoded by a client station to determine if there is content of interest to the client station in the macro-diversity region of the data frame. |
| US08705492B2 |
MIMO receiving apparatus and receiving method
A MIMO receiving apparatus that can demodulate a spatially multiplexed signal without using any division operation requiring a large quantity of operation resources. In the MIMO receiving apparatus, stream separation section (105) separates a spatially multiplexed signal into a plurality of streams based on numerator submatrix A. Numerator submatrix A is determined according to channel matrix H and a canceller scheme and corresponds to a numerator of stream separation matrix S that equalizes the phase and amplitude of the spatially multiplexed signal. Denominator part calculation section (108) calculates a denominator (denominator coefficient) of stream separation matrix S and correction section (117) corrects a threshold determined according to a modulation scheme of the spatially multiplexed signal using the denominator (denominator coefficient) of stream separation matrix S. Demapping sections (109-1 to 109-3) calculate likelihoods of the plurality of streams through a threshold decision using the corrected threshold. |
| US08705490B2 |
Handing over a user device from one technology to another
A server device may identify that a user device is connected to a first radio access network (“RAN”), via a first technology. The server device may identify that the user device is capable of accessing a second RAN, via a second technology, where the second RAN is different from the first RAN, and where the second technology is different from the first technology. The server device may also receive an indication that the first RAN is congested. The server device may further determine, based on the indication that first RAN is congested, and further based on identifying that the user device is capable of accessing the second RAN via the second technology, that the user device should be handed over to the second RAN. Additionally, the server device may instruct the user device to connect to the second RAN via the second technology. |
| US08705489B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling a handover between utra R6 cells and R7 cells
A method and apparatus for controlling an optimization of handover procedures between universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA) release 6 (R6) cells and UTRA release 7 (R7) cells are disclosed. When a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) is moving between an R6 cell and an R7 cell, or between R7 cells, a handover is initiated from a source Node-B to a target Node-B. In the R7 cell, the enhanced medium access control (MAC) functionality including flexible radio link control (RLC) protocol data unit (PDU) size and high speed MAC (MAC-hs) segmentation and multiplexing of different priority queues are supported. After the handover, a MAC layer and/or an RLC layer are reconfigured or reset based on functionality supported by the target Node-B. |
| US08705486B2 |
Methods and apparatus for scheduling peer to peer traffic in cellular networks
A wireless terminal receives peer to peer resource control information from a base station. The peer to peer resource control information is used by the wireless terminal in a peer to peer network to control transmission scheduling and/or resource utilization. The base station sends the control signals at a first rate which is slower than the rate at which wireless terminals make transmission decisions for traffic slots. During the intervals between receipt of the base station control signals, wireless terminals make transmission decisions with regard to multiple traffic segments. The decisions are also influenced based on peer to peer signaling occurring between the wireless terminals in the network for each traffic slot. Resource utilization feedback information is provided from the wireless terminal to the base station. Based on the feedback information the base station updates the resource utilization control information and sends updated resource utilization control signals to the wireless terminals. |
| US08705484B2 |
Method for varying transmit power patterns in a multi-cell environment
A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for varying transmit power patterns in a multi-cell wireless transmission environment. In one embodiment, the method comprises varying transmit power coordination patterns for base stations in the wireless communication system to jointly vary base station power over a set of virtual channels over base stations within a cluster and across clusters of base stations; and jointly transmitting by groups of the base stations to one or more user terminals in their respective clusters based on the transmit power coordination patterns. |
| US08705483B2 |
Downlink baseband signal generating method, relevant device and system
The downlink baseband signal generating method includes: performing channel coding and modulation on a downlink data stream of a user in a cell, and obtaining a downlink coded and modulated user signal of the cell; generating a downlink control channel signal according to physical-layer control information; and forwarding the reference signal, synchronization signal, broadcast channel signal, downlink coded and modulated user signal, and downlink control channel signal to the corresponding RRU, so that the corresponding RRU performs MIMO precoding on the downlink coded and modulated user signal, maps the MIMO-precoded signal, the downlink control channel signal, reference signal, synchronization signal, and broadcast channel signal to their respective subcarriers, performs IFFT transformation to obtain a downlink baseband signal, and sends the signal out. The embodiments of the present invention can reduce the signal transmission bandwidth between the C-RAN node and the RRU. |
| US08705478B2 |
Method for communicating with data through component carriers in mobile communication system to which carrier aggregation method is applied and apparatus therefor
The present invention relates to a method for enabling a terminal to communicate with data by modifying a connective relationship among component carriers in a mobile communication system to which a carrier aggregation method is applied and a terminal apparatus therefor. The method for enabling the terminal to communicate with the data by modifying the connective relationship among the component carriers in the mobile communication system to which the carrier aggregation method is applied, in connection with one embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: receiving a message including identifier information for modifying a connective relationship among at least one downlink component carrier and at least one uplink component carrier from a base station; receiving predetermined data through at least one downlink component carrier from the base station; and transmitting feedback data to the base station for data received through the uplink component carrier modified according to the identifier information. |
| US08705477B2 |
Simultaneous reporting of ACK/NACK and channel-state information using PUCCH format 3 resources
A new uplink control channel capability is introduced to enable a mobile terminal (1500, 1600) to simultaneously report multiple packet receipt status bits and channel-condition bits. In an example embodiment, an encoding circuit (1100) encodes the hybrid-ARQ ACK/NACK bits using a first encoder (1110) and separately encodes the channel-state information bits using a second encoder (1120). The encoded hybrid-ARQ ACK/NACK bits and the encoded channel-state information bits are interleaved, and the interleaved, encoded bits are transmitted in physical control channel resources of a first uplink subframe, on a single carrier. In some embodiments, the interleaved, encoded bits are transmitted in two slots of the first uplink subframe, the two slots having different subcarrier frequencies. In these embodiments, each slot carries a plurality of the encoded hybrid-ARQ ACK/NACK bits and a plurality of the encoded channel-state information bits. |
| US08705476B2 |
Base station apparatus, mobile station apparatus, method for mapping a response signal, and method for determining a response signal resouce
Provided is a radio communication base station device which can obtain a maximum frequency diversity effect of a downstream line control channel. The device includes: an RB allocation unit (101) which allocates upstream line resource blocks continuous on the frequency axis for respective radio communication mobile stations by the frequency scheduling and generates allocation information indicating which upstream line resource block has been allocated to which radio communication mobile station device; and an arrangement unit (109) which arranges a response signal to the radio communication mobile station device in the downstream line control channels distributed/arranged on the frequency axis while being correlated to the continuous upstream line resource blocks according to the allocation information. |
| US08705475B2 |
Scheduling apparatus considering quality of service (QOS)
Disclosed is an efficient scheduling apparatus and method for multi-cell transmission in evolved node bases (eNBs). An eNB scheduling for a multi-cell transmission service may allocate wireless resources based on a priority level, a minimum guaranteed bit rate, and a maximum bit rate. That is, a subframe may be efficiently used by minimizing the number of subframes allocated to a single session while satisfying a quality of service (QoS). |
| US08705472B2 |
Communication control method, mobile station apparatus, and base station apparatus
In order to reduce the amount of feedback information for specifying a precoding weight, the mobile station apparatus generates a control signal for specifying the precoding weight using bits representing a rank indicator (RI) and bits representing a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) from a bit space, including a plurality of bits representing the RI and a plurality of bits representing the PMI, in which the same bits representing the RI are allocated to a plurality of ranks equal to or higher than a predetermined rank. The control signal is transmitted in uplink using the antennas. |
| US08705471B2 |
Method and system for implementing ID/locator mapping
A method and a system for implementing an ID-Locator (ID/LOC) mapping are disclosed. The method includes: after allocating a new IP address to User Equipment (UE), the network side sending an ID/LOC mapping request to an ID-LOC-split Mapping Functional Entity (ILM-FE); and the ILM-FE returning a response with mapping information to the network side according to the received ID/LOC mapping request. The method initiates the ID/LOC mapping based on a network in an ID/locator separation in NGN (IPSPLIT) network, which improves the efficiency of the ID/LOC mapping. |
| US08705469B2 |
Method of sending a data signal via a plurality of transmitter entities
A method of sending a data signal having a series of symbols to a receiver includes generating multiple OFDM signals, which are transmitted by multiple transmitter entities. A succession of pairs of symbols is also generated. The method may also include generating at least one pair of symbols orthogonal to a current pair of symbols of the succession of pairs of symbols, generating at least one duplicated pair of symbols by duplicating the current pair of symbols, and allocating at least one current pair of symbols, at least one orthogonal pair of symbols, and at least one duplicated pair of symbols to the transmitter entities of the plurality of transmitter entities. Generating at least one orthogonal pair, generating a duplicated pair, and the allocating step may be repeated for all the pairs of symbols of the series of symbols. |
| US08705467B2 |
Cross-carrier preamble responses
Methods, apparatus, and program products are disclosed that perform the following: sending an offset to a user equipment; sending an assignment on a control channel, the assignment corresponding to a random access request by the user equipment, wherein the assignment is addressed to the user equipment by using a value determined using the offset; and sending a random access response for the user equipment on resources of a shared channel, the resources corresponding to the assignment. Methods, apparatus, and program products are disclosed that perform the following: receiving at a user equipment an offset; receiving an assignment on a control channel, the assignment corresponding to a random access request, wherein the assignment is addressed to the user equipment by using a value determined using the offset; and receiving a random access response for the user equipment on resources of a shared channel, the resources corresponding to the assignment. |
| US08705464B2 |
Packet scheduling method and communication apparatus using the same
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide several packet scheduling methods and communication apparatuses using the same. The packet scheduling method is different from the conventional packet scheduling method, since it does not schedule the sleep interval of the mobile subscriber station based upon the connections as the conventional packet scheduling method. Instead, the packet scheduling method considers the quality of service, and aggregates the data bursts to the frame corresponding to the frame index to which the data bursts are shifted based upon the individual packet, such that a total time length of the sleep intervals of the mobile subscriber station is maximized, and the maximum power saving efficiency is obtained correspondingly. |
| US08705457B2 |
Apparatus and method for transmitting control channel for frequency resource allocation in a wireless communication system
A method is provided for transmitting a control channel for resource allocation to a terminal by a base station in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) wireless communication system. An additional resource allocation indicator is set indicating whether the number of consecutive resource block sets allocated to a terminal is greater than one. A reference control channel is generated including reference resource allocation information for a first consecutive resource block set and the set additional resource allocation indicator. An additional control channel using additional resource allocation information is generated, when there are one or more additional consecutive resource block sets. At least one of the generated reference control channel and the generated additional control channels is encoded before transmission. |
| US08705454B2 |
Mutual broadcast period and contention access period operating system and method for load control
A method and a system for operating a Mutual Broadcast Period (MBP) and Contention Access Period (CAP) for load control are provided. The proposed system and method is suitable for a short-range communication environment such as communication environment in or around the human body, and is for a mesh network communication environment in which one piconet is formed around the human body or a plurality of devices are connected. When signals carrying biometric information are periodically received from a plurality of sensor devices for medical purposes, the system and method may achieve efficient resource access by performing load control in a distributed manner, contributing to a reduction in access delay and power consumption and enabling appropriate QoS control. |
| US08705451B2 |
Apparatus and method for switching MIMO modes in a wireless communication system
Disclosed is an apparatus for switching MIMO modes, which can efficiently switch an MIMO mode of a mobile station. The apparatus for switching MIMO modes includes an MIMO mode determining unit, a staying time determining unit, and an MIMO mode switching unit. The MIMO mode determining unit determines a current MIMO mode of a mobile station. The staying time determining unit determines a first staying time in a first MIMO mode of the mobile station when the MIMO mode determining unit determines the current MIMO mode of the mobile station as the first MIMO mode for transmitting the same data through a plurality of antennas, and determines a second staying time in a second MIMO mode of the mobile station when the MIMO mode determining unit determines the current MIMO mode of the mobile station as the second MIMO mode for transmitting different data by antenna. The MIMO mode switching unit switches the MIMO mode of the mobile station to the second MIMO mode when the first staying time is greater than or equal to a first threshold staying time. |
| US08705450B2 |
Method for discovering paths with sufficient medium time in wireless mesh networks
A method (200) for discovering paths between source nodes and destination nodes in mesh wireless media (WiMedia) based networks. Each of the discovered paths has sufficient medium time to enable efficient data transfers over the path. The method comprises, upon receiving a route request (RREQ), computing a number of available medium access slots (MAS) of a wireless link between a node receiving the RREQ and a node transmitting the RREQ (S210); computing a number of required MAS to deliver data over the wireless link in an upstream direction (S220); updating a local neighbor link (LNL) list when the number of required MASs is not above the number of available MASs (S240); computing an upper bound value and a lower bound value of a sufficient medium time coefficient (CSMT) (S250); and selecting the path based on at least the upper and lower bound CSMT values (S280). |
| US08705448B2 |
Voice and data connection control in a mobile device
Controlling non-simultaneous voice and data connections between a mobile wireless device and a wireless network is described. Following a voice connection origination failure between the mobile wireless device and the wireless network, the mobile wireless device sends a voice connection redial request only after closing an existing data connection between the mobile wireless device and the wireless network. The mobile wireless device tunes a wireless transceiver to a second voice connection channel radio frequency that differs from a first data connection channel radio frequency and establishes a voice connection with the wireless network on the second voice connection channel radio frequency. |
| US08705444B2 |
Wireless communication method and apparatus for decoding enhanced dedicated channel absolute grant channel transmissions
A method of decoding enhanced uplink absolute grant channel (E-AGCH) transmissions in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU). E-AGCH data is received, the E-AGCH data including a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) part and a data part, the CRC part having been masked with a WTRU identity (ID). The CRC part and the data part are demultiplexed and the CRC part is demasked with a first WTRU ID. A first CRC is performed with the data part and the CRC part demasked with the first WTRU ID. The data part is decoded on a condition that the first CRC passes. |
| US08705439B2 |
Delegation based mobility management
A method of handling mobility-related signaling in a communications system comprising a mobile node, a mobile router, and a peer node. The method comprises providing the mobile router with a delegation certificate that is cryptographically signed by or on behalf of the mobile node. At the mobile router, a mobility-related signaling exchange is initiated with the peer node on behalf of the mobile node, the mobile router providing to the peer node within this exchange, said delegation certificate or an identification of the certificate, and a sequence number associated with the certificate. At the peer node, the received sequence number is compared with a sequence number maintained by the peer node in respect of the delegation certificate, and the exchange authorized in dependence upon the result of the comparison. |
| US08705438B2 |
Methods and apparatus for selecting and/or using a communications band for peer to peer signaling
Methods and apparatus for supporting peer to peer communications are described. A plurality of wide area network communications bands in a wireless communications system are also available for use to communicate peer to peer signals. At different times it may be advantageous for a mobile peer to peer communications device to use a different communications band in order to efficiently share air link resources. A peer to peer communications device receives a signal transmitted by a WAN device, e.g., a base station or WAN wireless terminal, and selects a WAN communications band to use as a function of the received signal, e.g., a corresponding band. In some embodiments, the received signal strength measurements from WAN devices are used in the selection process. In other embodiments, recovered decoded information conveyed in a received WAN device signal is used in the selection process. |
| US08705434B2 |
Methods and arrangements in a wireless communications system
The present invention relates to methods and arrangements that make it possible to control the delay for the UEs to access the EUL resources in the Enhanced Uplink in CELL_FACH state procedure, independently from the delay for the UEs to access 5 ordinary UL resources in the RACH procedure. This is achieved by a solution where the timing of entering (or re-entering) a transmission procedure for Enhanced Uplink in CELL-FACH state is controlled with the help of a transmission control parameter defined specifically for this transmission procedure, instead of using the same parameter as for the RACH procedure. |
| US08705433B2 |
Base station, communication terminal and communication system
A base station (10B) includes a wireless communication unit (11) for performing wireless communication with a communication terminal (30A), a radio resource allocation unit (131) for allocating an individual channel in a resource of the wireless communication, a transmission/reception timing determination unit (132) for determining a transmission/reception timing at which transmission and reception with the communication terminal (30A) through the individual channel is performed, a communication state identification unit (134) for identifying whether the communication with the communication terminal (30A) is indirect communication with interposition of a relay device (50) or direct communication without interposition of the relay device 50, and a reception timing adjustment unit (133) for adjusting a timing at which the individual channel for upstream communication is used in accordance with a result of the identification made by the communication state identification unit (134). |
| US08705431B2 |
Method and system for providing autonomous retransmissions in a wireless communication system
A transmitter that may have marginal power availability is enabled to autonomously retransmit previously transmitted frames containing the same data. The transmitter sends an initial frame to a base transceiver station (BTS) and immediately retransmits the same frame without regard to any ACK/NAK transmission from the BTS. The retransmissions are accumulated in the receiver and decoded after a sufficient quantity of the frame is transmitted. After receiving the last retransmitted frame the BTS sends an ACK/NAK to the transmitter that is accepted. |
| US08705421B2 |
Methods and apparatus for timing synchronization for peer to peer devices operating in WWAN spectrum
A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product are provided in which a clock timing is determined for utilizing resources including peer-to-peer resources based on a WWAN downlink receive timing and a WWAN uplink transmit timing. In addition, the clock timing is utilized for peer-to-peer communication with the peer-to-peer resources. |
| US08705420B2 |
Mobile station and radio base station
A mobile station (UE) according to the present invention includes: a CP length determiner unit (15) configured to determine a length of a CP to be inserted in an uplink signal; and a CP adder unit (14) configured to generate the uplink signal by adding a CP to any one of an inputted signal modulated by DFT-Spread OFDM (Single Carrier FDMA) scheme and an inputted signal modulated OFDM scheme, the CP having the length determined by the CP length determiner unit (15), wherein the cyclic prefix length determiner unit (15) is configured to be capable of setting the length of the CP to be inserted in the uplink signal independently of a length of a CP inserted in a downlink signal. |
| US08705419B2 |
Subframe staggering for relay communication
Techniques for supporting relay communication with subframe staggering are described. For subframe staggering, subframes of different relays are staggered from one another, which can increase the number of potential backhaul subframes. In one design, a first relay determines its access subframes and backhaul subframes, which correspond to different non-overlapping subsets of the subframes of the first relay. The first relay communicates with at least one UE during the access subframes and communicates with a base station during the backhaul subframes. The subframes of the first relay are offset from the subframes of a second relay communicating with the base station. In one design, the access subframes of the first relay includes all subframes with either even or odd indices, which can support data transmission with HARQ. In one design, at least one access subframe corresponds to at least one reserved subframe having reduced transmit power from the base station. |
| US08705414B2 |
Method for transmitting and receiving data in wireless communication system
The present invention relates to a method for transmitting and receiving data in a wireless communication system. The method of transmitting data in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention supports time division duplex (TDD), and a base station transmits data to a terminal through a first sub-frame of a first frame and receives a confirmatory response to the data through a second sub-frame of a second frame. The second frame is determined according to hybrid automatic retransmit request (HARQ) processing latency which is the minimal required time from the reception of the data to the transmission of the confirmatory response by the first frame and the terminal. The second sub-frame is determined according to both the first sub-frame and the numbers of the downlink and uplink sub-frames of the first frame, wherein the downlink and uplink sub-frames are respectively used in the HARQ operation. |
| US08705413B2 |
Apparatus and method for transmitting ACK/NACK in TDD system
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for transmitting an ACK/NACK in a TDD system. A component carrier (CC) configuration for a user equipment (UE) and a transmission mode of each CC are received. An ACK/NACK feedback mode is selected based on an overhead status for feedback in an uplink. An ACK/NACK is processed according to the selected feedback mode. And the ACK/NACK is transmitted in the uplink. The method provided by the present invention can avoid excessive overhead for feedback in uplink in various extreme circumstances while ensuring satisfying performances of downlinks under many configurations. |
| US08705412B2 |
Apparatus and method for protecting receive circuits in TDD wireless communication system
An apparatus and a method for protecting receive circuits in a Time Division Duplexing (TDD) wireless communication system are provided. The receive circuit protecting apparatus includes a TDD controller for controlling transmission and reception modes according to transmission and reception intervals, a transmitter for power-amplifying and outputting a Radio Frequency (RF) signal in the transmission mode under control of the TDD controller, and a Transmit/Receive Antenna Switch (TRAS) for, in the transmission mode, forwarding a signal of the transmitter to an antenna feed line under the control of the TDD controller and for absorbing an output signal of the transmitter flowing to the receive circuits using a reflection structure positioned in a reception path, and, in the reception mode, for forwarding a signal fed from the antenna feed line to the receive circuits under the control of the TDD controller. |
| US08705410B2 |
Global conference roster for distributed bridges
When a conference bridge establishes a link line with another conference bridge to provide a global conference, a global conference application executing at the conference bridge establishes a SIP dialout with one or more remote conference bridges. The global conference application uses the XCON standard and/or the CCMP draft standard to subscribe for event notifications for that conference from the remote conference bridge. The received event notifications can be made available for use by the source conference bridge when constructing the roster information for applications executing at the source conference bridge. The received event notifications can be displayed and provide the proper diagram for the distributed conference complete with media, mode, and other information displayed. Further, the system allows the use of intelligent endpoint user interfaces to control mute, lecture mode, sidebars, breaking the bridge into sub-groups, and the like during the conference. |
| US08705408B2 |
Identifying a wireless network device across factory resets
Techniques are presented for discovering a previously configured network device. In one embodiment, a basic service set identification (BSSID) that uniquely identifies a network device (i.e., a router) is saved when the network device or a client device is configured. The stored BSSID indicates that the network device has previously been configured. After the network device is reset—i.e., one or more user-configurable settings return to their default settings—a client device may execute a setup application to reconfigure the network device. The setup application may compare the BSSID being broadcasted by the network device with the BSSID stored in the memory. If the BSSIDs match, the setup application may automatically select the network device without user input. Because the network device was previously configured, the setup application assumes that the user is attempting to reconfigure the network device after it has been reset. |
| US08705406B2 |
Wireless communication method and apparatus for supporting reconfiguration of radio link control parameters
A variety of wireless communication methods and apparatus for supporting reconfiguration of radio link control (RLC) parameters are disclosed. A radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message is generated that indicates that an RLC unit in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) or a universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) should be reconfigured from supporting flexible size RLC protocol data units (PDUs) to supporting fixed size RLC PDUs. If an information element (IE) “one sided RLC re-establishment” is present in the RRC reconfiguration message, only a receiving side subassembly in the RLC unit is re-established. Otherwise, both the receiving side subassembly and a transmitting side subassembly in the RLC unit are re-established. Flexible size RLC PDUs may be discarded and a message indicating the discarded flexible size RLC PDUs may be transmitted. The flexible size RLC PDUs may be modified such that they correspond to a set of pre-defined sizes. |
| US08705404B2 |
Method for transmitting and receiving signals using collaborative MIMO scheme
A method for reducing inter-cell interference and a method for transmitting a signal by a collaborative MIMO scheme, in a communication system having a multi-cell environment are disclosed. An example of a method for transmitting, by a mobile station, precoding information in a collaborative MIMO communication system includes determining a precoding matrix set including precoding matrices of one more base stations including a serving base station, based on signal strength of the serving base station, and transmitting information about the precoding matrix set to the serving base station. A mobile station in an edge of a cell performs a collaborative MIMO mode or inter-cell interference mitigation mode using the information about the precoding matrix set collaboratively with neighboring base stations. |
| US08705403B2 |
Load balancing multicast traffic
In certain embodiments, routing multicast traffic includes generating a multicast distribution tree for each mapping of a plurality of mappings. A mapping associates a source with a multicast group. Each multicast group has at least two multicast distribution trees. A frame destined for a first multicast group is received. The first multicast group has a first multicast distribution tree and a second multicast distribution tree. The first multicast distribution tree, but not the second multicast distribution tree, is selected for the frame. The frame is sent over a path designated by the selected multicast distribution tree. |
| US08705401B1 |
Method and apparatus for validating commands for VOIP network components
The invention comprises a method and apparatus for validating at least one command. Specifically, the method comprises receiving the at least one command, wherein the at least one command is associated with at least one command source, processing the at least one command for determining at least one network component for which the at least one command is destined, and validating the at least one command according to at least one attribute, wherein the at least one attribute is associated with at least one of the at least one network component, the at least one command source, and the at least one command. |
| US08705399B2 |
Transmission of synchronization and control signals in a broadband wireless system
In a broadband wireless communication system, a primary control signal may be relocated within the operation band for transmission while avoiding interference. For example, if the primary control signal employs P contiguous sub carriers, the primary control signal can be placed in any section of the band that has P contiguous subcarriers. If a narrow-band interferer appears at one end of the band, the primary control signals can be placed at the other end. If the interferer appears in the middle, the primary can be relocated to either end of the band. The placement of primary control signals can be changed as the interference environment changes. |
| US08705395B2 |
Method for time aware inline remote mirroring
A method of monitoring packet traffic is provided. The method includes: at a first access point, capturing portions of traffic packets passing therethrough separated by time intervals; encapsulating the portions of traffic packets thereby forming encapsulated packets and adding timestamps to the encapsulated packets so as to preserve the portions of traffic packets and information related to the time intervals; transmitting the encapsulated packets over a network; decapsulating the encapsulated packets so as to obtain replay packets and the capture timestamps, wherein the replay packets include the portions of the traffic packets; and, transmitting the replay packets separated by the time intervals, wherein the timestamps are used to reproduce the time intervals so as to imitate the traffic packets passing through the first access point. |
| US08705394B2 |
BGP slow peer detection
In one embodiment, a router selects a particular peer from an original update group used with an Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP) such as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). The original update group includes a plurality of peers of the router that share a same outbound policy and that receive common update messages, from the router, of routing table information. The router determines that the particular peer is a potential slow peer based on a first type of indicia, wherein a slow peer is a peer that cannot keep up with a rate at which the router generates update messages over a prolonged period of time. The router confirms that one or more second types of indicia are consistent with the particular peer being a slow peer. In response to the confirmation, the router determines that the particular peer is a slow peer. |
| US08705393B2 |
Apparatus and method for communicating data using sequential response protocol
Provided is a data communication method and apparatus based on a sequential response protocol that is applicable to a multiple user multiple input and multiple output (MU-MIMO) system. The data communication apparatus may include response indexes (RIs) with respect to multiple terminals in at least one spatio-temporal stream to be transmitted to the multiple terminals, and the response indexes may be information associated with a transmission sequence of data to be transmitted by the multiple terminals. |
| US08705392B2 |
MU-MIMO-OFDMA multi-rank CQI and precoder signaling schemes
Methods and systems for determining attributes of communication channels of MU-MIMO users in an (OFDMA) system are disclosed. One method includes receiving from a base station, for at least one sub-band of contiguous sub-carriers, an indication of an estimate of or an upper-bound on a total number of streams that are co-scheduled by the base station on the at least one sub-band. The method further includes determining one or more signal quality measures for the at least one sub-band based on the estimate of or the upper-bound on the total number of streams that are scheduled by the base station on the at least one sub-band in accordance with at least one of single-user scheduling rules or multi-user scheduling rules. In addition, the method includes transmitting to the base station an indication of the one or more signal quality measures and at least one tag identifying each signal quality measure as being determined in accordance with the single-user scheduling rules or the multi-user scheduling rules. |
| US08705390B2 |
Techniques for monitoring the quality of short-range wireless links
A method for monitoring of a wireless link quality comprises measuring the link quality of a wireless link (120-XY) between a beacon device (110-X) transmitting a beacon and a beacon device (110-Y) receiving the beacon, wherein the measuring is performed by the receiving device (S320); saving link quality measures in a local neighborhood link quality (LNLQ) table (400) maintained by the receiving device (110-Y) (S330); and advertising the link quality measures of wireless links by transmitting the measures in beacons (S340). |
| US08705387B2 |
Time synchronization of a plurality of different wireless networks with data sensors
The invention relates to a method for time synchronization of a plurality of different wireless networks A, B, each wireless network (A, B) comprising at least one data sensor (A.1, A.2, A.3, A.4, B.1, B.2, B.3, B.4) for measuring data and a gateway (A.0, B.0) to which the measured data is sent, wherein a common time master (TM) is used which broadcasts time synchronization messages to all networks (A, B) involved. This way, a possibility of time synchronization of a plurality of different wireless networks (A, B) in an easy, efficient and reliable manner is achieved. |
| US08705384B2 |
Remote control of transmitter-side rate adaptation
In general, this disclosure is directed to techniques for remotely controlling a transmitter-side rate adaptation algorithm. According to one aspect, a method includes detecting, with a receiver device, that a packet received from a transmitter is corrupted. The method further includes sending, with the receiver device, a positive acknowledgement for the packet to the transmitter in response to at least detecting that the packet is corrupted. According to another aspect, a method includes determining, with a receiver device, a targeted outcome for a rate adaptation algorithm performed by a transmitter. The method further includes using, with the receiver device, positive acknowledgements to remotely control the rate adaptation algorithm performed by the transmitter based on at least the targeted outcome. |
| US08705382B2 |
Method of communication between devices operating within a wireless communication system
A subscriber station (SS) utilizes uplink resources that have been assigned to it for communicating with an infrastructure station to exchange data with a neighboring SS while maintaining its link to the infrastructure station. This is accomplished by the SS receiving an uplink allocation from the infrastructure station, transmitting a subscriber-to-infrastructure station header and trailer to the infrastructure station using the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) assigned by the infrastructure station and also transmitting a subscriber-to-subscriber (S2S) message payload, optionally using a second MCS level appropriate for the link between itself and the receiving SS. The subscriber to infrastructure station message is composed so that it occupies the first m codewords and contains a header that describes the length of the subscriber to infrastructure station message. The subscriber to infrastructure station message, then, is followed by the S2S message, composed to occupy the remaining symbols of the allocation. |
| US08705381B2 |
Communication embodiments and low latency path selection in a multi-topology network
In one embodiment, a source device (e.g., a VOIP phone) establishes a call connection with a remote device depending on which of multiple network paths provides an acceptable latency (e.g., a lower latency). For example, in response to receiving a request to establish a connection with a remote destination device over a network, the source device (e.g., a caller's phone) obtains multiple service code values. The source device encodes each of multiple data packets to include a unique service code value for transmission of the messages over different network topologies to a remote destination. Thus, when transmitted, each of the multiple messages follows a different logical network topology of a network as specified by a respective service code value. Based on feedback from a remote device that receives the multiple messages, the source learns a preferred logical network topology of the network for establishing the call connection. |
| US08705375B2 |
Power save protocol interoperability detection
The present invention provides a method and apparatus featuring performing detection functionality to determine if a wirelessly connected node, point or terminal in a wireless network configured to operate according a predefined power saving scheme operates incorrectly; and adjusting the predefined power saving scheme when wirelessly connected with the particular node, point or terminal if an incorrect power saving operation is detected. The detection functionality may include probing types of power saving protocol tests and using lower and higher-layer protocol information to detect if the mobile device might be missing some data. The adjusting may include: 1) disabling the predefined power saving scheme, or 2) switching entering into the predefined power savings scheme only after a predefined inactivity period, wherein the predefined inactivity is substantially longer than in “normal” operation. |
| US08705374B1 |
Method and apparatus for isolating label-switched path impairments
A method and apparatus for diagnosing and isolating label-switched-path impairments in a network are disclosed. For example, the present method receives an impairment notification indicating a potential impairment for at least one label switched path between a source device and a destination device. The method then identifies all routers along each of the at least one label switched path. The method then determines automatically whether each of the routers along each of the at least one label switched path is enabled for exchanging label mapping information. Finally, the method identifies at least one of the at least one label switched path as being impaired if at least one of the routers on the switched path is deemed not enabled for exchanging label mapping information. |
| US08705370B2 |
RF channel switching in broadcast OFDM systems
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate monitoring RF channels in a wireless communication environment to determine whether one or more channels comprise a forward-link-only (FLO) signal. A receiver can receive a first RF channel with a FLO signal and can monitor other RF channels for FLO signals. Upon a determination that a monitored RF channel comprises a FLO signal, the receiver can switch between the first RF channel and the monitored RF channel to facilitate providing seamless reception of the FLO signal, which can be superframe synchronized between RF channels. FLO signal detection can be performed using one or more of a wide-area identification channel energy detection protocol and a wide-area overhead information symbol decoding error detection protocol. |
| US08705367B2 |
TCP extension and variants for handling heterogeneous applications
An extension to TCP is generally provided that allows TCP to handle heterogeneous applications, especially those with delay and smoothness-sensitive contents, and wireless transmission media having noisy, fading radio channels. The TCP extension decouples reliability control from rate control, sacrificing reliability for delay control (transmission rate and retransmission decision) that may be suitable for delay and smoothness-sensitive contents. Furthermore, the TCP extension may select TCP variants and modifications to the TCP variants based on one or more of application needs, channel conditions, or local observables such as loss and delay to better adapt to different types of applications and physical layers. |
| US08705363B2 |
Packet scheduling method and apparatus
Improved packet scheduling methods and apparatuses for use in, among other things, a network interface of a router (or other network element) are described herein. In one such improved method, packets buffered in a network interface are segmented for transmission on a communications link into multiple scheduling domains each being represented by a scheduling tree, each scheduling tree is assigned to a separate virtual port scheduling engine, and a top level scheduling engine is employed to schedule between the outputs of the virtual port scheduling engines to make the final choice of which buffered packet to transmit on the communications link (e.g., to move to the transmit queue of the network interface). By having the virtual port scheduling engines operate in parallel and substantially independently of each other, the rate at which packet can be moved into the transmit queue may increase greatly, thereby increasing the bandwidth of the network interface of the router. |
| US08705362B2 |
Systems, methods, and apparatus for detecting a pattern within a data packet
Systems, devices, and methods for finding a captured data packet including a data pattern of interest are herein provided. The captured data packet may be included in the traffic flow of data packets received at a network captured traffic distribution device and may be found by scanning the payload portions of data packets included in the traffic flow to find a data packet including a data content pattern of interest. An egress port of the network captured traffic distribution device associated with a found data packet may be determined based upon the data pattern of interest detected in the payload portion of the found data packet and the found data packet may then be transmitted to its assigned egress port. |
| US08705360B2 |
Stream control in a MIMO-enabled mesh network
In a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) enabled mesh network, streams for transmitting data from a node to a destination node are controlled based on next hop latency and available stream capacity at neighboring, next hop nodes. Routing information maintained and dynamically updated at each node includes latency information associated with each next hop for transmission from the node to a given destination node and current available stream capacity for such next hop nodes. A controller at the node utilizes that information to select one or more next hop nodes to which the data is forwarded as well as to determine a number of streams that may be initiated with each selected next hop node. |
| US08705357B2 |
Method and system for controlling TCP traffic with random early detection and window size adjustments
A method for controlling data traffic with random early detection and window size adjustments including performing random early detection on incoming data packets, calculating a simple moving average of packet dropping probabilities for the data packets as calculated when performing random early detection, decreasing an advertised window size if the simple moving average is greater than a probability target plus a tolerance factor, increasing the advertised window size if the simple moving average is less than the probability target minus a tolerance factor, and not adjusting the window size if the simple moving average is not greater than a probability target plus a tolerance factor and not less than a probability target minus a tolerance factor. |
| US08705356B2 |
Transparent network traffic inspection
Methods and systems are disclosed for providing parties with levels of transparency into filtering functionality of network traffic inspection implementations. Embodiments include receiving a filter change request from a subscriber over a network that defines a modification to a set of filter criteria for filtering network traffic, the filter criteria being stored in association with the subscriber in a filter criteria data store; updating the set of filter criteria in the filter criteria data store as a function of the filter change request; receiving a content dataset relating to the network traffic; identifying the content dataset as being associated with the subscriber; retrieving the set of filter criteria associated with the subscriber from the data store; and filtering the network traffic as a function of the set of filter criteria. Embodiments further provide layers of access for different entities to the filtered traffic. |
| US08705355B1 |
Network switch and method for asserting flow control of frames transmitted to the network switch
A first network switch includes a first queue that stores first frames transmitted to the first network switch from a second network switch, and stores second frames transmitted to the first network switch from a third network switch. A first port receives the first and second frames from the first queue, and transmits the first and second frames from the first network switch. A second port receives third frames transmitted to the first network switch from the third network switch, and transmits the third frames from the first network switch. A first control module, based on whether the first queue is filled above a threshold, sends a first message to the third network switch to assert flow control for the second frames and not for the third frames including adjusting a transmission rate of the second frames from the third network switch to the first network switch. |
| US08705351B1 |
Method and system for load balancing in networks
Method and system is provided for handling both network traffic and storage traffic to and from a plurality of nodes. The system includes a converged switch module that includes a plurality of ports configured to operate as a part of a group that is managed by a controller and each of the plurality of ports are configurable to process network traffic, storage traffic or a combination of both network traffic and storage traffic to and from a virtual port. The controller selects one of the plurality of ports to operate as a primary port for responding to a solicitation message from one of a plurality of nodes addressed to any of the ports within the group. |
| US08705350B2 |
Methods and systems for maintaining quality of service (QoS) levels for data transmissions
A system is provided for maintaining Quality of Service (“QoS”) parameters of data transmissions. A packet-switched network framework is provided. The network framework includes at least one router for routing the data transmissions over the network framework. The network framework also includes multiple links, including a first link and a second link. The first link forms at least part of a first path over the network framework, and the second link forms at least part of an alternate, second path over the network framework. A link utilization monitor is configured to monitor a link utilization rate of the first link and to determine whether the rate has exceeded a predetermined maximum utilization threshold. The router is configured to reroute data transmissions over the second link when the rate is determined to have exceeded the predetermined maximum utilization threshold. |
| US08705348B2 |
Use of metadata for time based anti-replay
A system and method for facilitating anti-replay protection with multi-sender traffic is disclosed. The system employs time-based anti-replay protection wherein a sender transmits a data packet with a pseudo-timestamp encapsulated in a metadata payload. At the receiving end, the receiver compares the pseudo-timestamp information received with its own pseudo-time, determines if a packet is valid, and rejects a replay packet. The pseudo-time information is transmitted through the metadata payload and new fields need not be added to the IPSec (IP Security) Protocol, thus the existing hardware can be employed without any changes or modifications. |
| US08705344B2 |
Graceful failover of a principal link in a fiber-channel fabric
In one embodiment, detecting a failure mode of a first communication link on a first port, selecting a second communication link on a second port associated with the first port, and transmitting a profile information associated with the second port are provided. |
| US08705342B2 |
Co-scheduling of network resource provisioning and host-to-host bandwidth reservation on high-performance network and storage systems
A cross-domain network resource reservation scheduler configured to schedule a path from at least one end-site includes a management plane device configured to monitor and provide information representing at least one of functionality, performance, faults, and fault recovery associated with a network resource; a control plane device configured to at least one of schedule the network resource, provision local area network quality of service, provision local area network bandwidth, and provision wide area network bandwidth; and a service plane device configured to interface with the control plane device to reserve the network resource based on a reservation request and the information from the management plane device. Corresponding methods and computer-readable medium are also disclosed. |
| US08705336B2 |
Delayed data feeding for increased media access control processing time
A system and method are provided that are operable for network communications that promote network devices to receive a transmit request, transmit a first part of a frame by a physical layer without a second part of the frame from a medium access control layer, and request the second part of the frame by the physical layer from the medium access control layer. These systems and methods also allow, in some embodiments, for the transmitting of the second part of the frame by the physical layer with data from the medium access control layer. |
| US08705334B2 |
Replica disk for data storage
Data storage replica disks having a surface relief pattern with replica lands and replica grooves are provided. |
| US08705330B1 |
Method and system for fault protection using a linear feedback shift register
A method, system and apparatus for fault protection using a linear feedback shift register are presented. The system comprises a protected register containing a first portion for holding a value for a sequence of numbers and a second portion for other parameters. The system also comprises a linear feedback shift register circuit configured to write the sequence of numbers to the first portion of the protected register. If the written sequence of numbers of the protected register matches a reference sequence of numbers, a rewrite circuit is configured to write the second portion of the protected register. |
| US08705329B2 |
Manufacturing method for optical disc, optical disc, playback method for optical disc, playback apparatus for optical disc, recording apparatus for optical disc
Address information that has been error correction encoded is recorded on a second version of a recording medium after being transformed such that such that the address decoding cannot be performed by a playback device that is not compatible with the second version of the recording medium. The address decoding for the second version of the recording medium cannot be performed by the incompatible playback device (for example, a playback device that was manufactured to be compatible only with a first version of the recording medium). In other words, in the playback device that is not compatible with the second version of the recording medium, a state is created in which address errors cannot be corrected, so access is impossible (recording and playback are impossible). |
| US08705328B2 |
Read signal evaluation method, information recording and reading method, and information recording and reading apparatus
A read signal evaluating means for ensuring compatibility in an optical phase multilevel recording and reading system is provided. In addition, a decoding means not large in circuit scale is provided. An optical phase is modulated based on user data, and phase information thus obtained is recorded in a recording medium. Then, the phase information recorded in the recording medium is optically read, and is converted into an electric signal. The signal is subjected to adaptive equalization and to partial response most-likely decoding. A shift in a time axis direction from a target wave of a predetermined pattern is detected from the read phase information and a statistical average is calculated. Meanwhile, a value of the phase read from the predetermined pattern is extracted from the read phase information and a statistical average is calculated. |
| US08705325B2 |
Thermal-assisted magnetic recording head capable of supressing the temperature rise of scatterer
The present invention suppresses temperature rise of an optical near-field generator while increasing optical near-field intensity in a thermally assisted magnetic recording head using a conductive scatterer as the optical near-field generator. The present invention uses a conductive scatterer having a cross-sectional shape in which its width is gradually reduced toward an apex where an optical near-field is generated, and also has a shape in which its width is reduced gradually or in a stepwise fashion toward the apex where the optical near-field is generated in a traveling direction of incident light. |
| US08705321B2 |
Electronic timepiece and time adjustment method for an electronic timepiece
An electronic timepiece includes a reception unit that receives satellite signals transmitted from positioning information satellites and acquires time information and positioning information, a time zone information storage unit that stores region data dividing geographical information containing time difference information into a plurality of regions, and time difference information contained in each region, a time difference information acquisition unit that extracts the region containing the positioning information acquired by the reception unit from the region data, and acquires the time difference information contained in that region, and a time calculation unit that calculates the current time based on the time difference information acquired by the time difference information acquisition unit and the time information acquired by the reception unit. The region data stored in the time zone information storage unit including region data dividing the geographical information into a plurality of regions, and region data further dividing each region that contains a plurality of time difference values into a plurality of regions. |
| US08705315B2 |
Simultaneous wavelet extraction and deconvolution in the time domain
Blind wavelet extraction and de-convolution is performed on seismic data to enable its practical usage in seismic processing and to provide quality control of data obtained in areas where data from wells are not available. The wavelet extraction and deconvolution are realized in the time domain by iteration, producing a mixed phase wavelet with minimal prior knowledge of the actual nature of the wavelet. As a result of the processing, the de-convolved seismic reflectivity is obtained simultaneously. |
| US08705314B2 |
Method for deployment of ocean bottom seismometers
A deployment and retrieval method for ocean bottom seismic receivers, the method employs a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) having a carrier attached thereto to carry a plurality of receivers. The receivers are individually placed on the ocean bottom floor by utilizing a conveyor to move the receivers along a linear path to remove the receivers from the carrier. In one embodiment, multiple linear conveyors may be operated independently to alter the relative positions of the receivers on the respective conveyors to adjust the weight distribution of the receivers within the carrier. |
| US08705312B2 |
Clock signal generation apparatus for use in semiconductor memory device and its method
A clock signal generation apparatus for generating a reference clock signal for outputting data in synchronization with an external clock signal from a semiconductor memory device, including: a clock signal generation unit for receiving an internal clock signal to generate the reference clock signal according to a control signal; and a control unit for generating the control signal based on a read command, a write command and an external address. |
| US08705311B2 |
Forming multiprocessor systems using dual processors
In one embodiment, link logic of a multi-chip processor (MCP) formed using multiple processors may interface with a first point-to-point (PtP) link coupled between the MCP and an off-package agent and another PtP link coupled between first and second processors of the MCP, where the on-package PtP link operates at a greater bandwidth than the first PtP link. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US08705310B2 |
Access methods and circuits for memory devices having multiple banks
A method can include storing bank addresses, if received, on at least rising and falling edges of a same clock cycle; and if addresses stored on the rising and falling edges of the same clock cycle correspond to different banks of a memory device, starting accesses to both banks after the falling edge of the clock cycle; wherein any of the banks can be accessed in response to an address stored on a rising edge of a next clock cycle. Devices and additional methods are also disclosed. |
| US08705307B2 |
Memory system with dynamic refreshing
An embodiment provided is a memory system with dynamic refreshing that includes a memory device with memory cells. The system also includes a refresh module in communication with the memory device and with a memory controller, the refresh module configured for receiving a refresh command from the memory controller and for refreshing a number of the memory cells in the memory device in response to receiving the refresh command. The number of memory cells refreshed in response to receiving the refresh command is responsive to at least one of a desired bandwidth characteristic and a desired latency characteristic. |
| US08705306B2 |
Method for using a bit specific reference level to read a phase change memory
A voltage derived from accessing a selected bit using one read current may be utilized to read a selected bit of an untriggered phase change memory after the read current is changed. As a result, different reference voltages may be used to sense the state of more resistive versus a less resistive selected cells. The resulting read window or margin may be improved in some embodiments. |
| US08705304B2 |
Current mode sense amplifier with passive load
Memories, current mode sense amplifiers, and methods for operating the same are disclosed, including a current mode sense amplifier including cross-coupled p-channel transistors and a load circuit coupled to the cross-coupled p-channel transistors. The load circuit is configured to provide a resistance to control at least in part the loop gain of the current mode sense amplifier, the load circuit including at least passive resistance. |
| US08705297B2 |
Semiconductor memory devices and semiconductor memory systems
A semiconductor memory device includes at least one memory cell block and at least one connection unit. The at least one memory cell block has a first region including at least one first memory cell connected to a first bit line, and a second region including at least one second memory cell connected to a second bit line. The at least one connection unit is configured to selectively connect the first bit line to a corresponding bit line sense amplifier based on a first control signal, and configured to selectively connect the second bit line to the corresponding bit line sense amplifier via a corresponding global bit line based on a second control signal. |
| US08705296B2 |
Memory controller and control method
A memory controller includes: a first write circuit configured to write a first dummy pattern including a plurality of consecutive first dummy values at a first address of a memory; a second write circuit configured to write a first pattern including a plurality of types of consecutive values at a second address of the memory after a write operation of the first dummy pattern by the first write circuit; a third write circuit configured to write a second dummy pattern including a plurality of consecutive second dummy values at a third address of the memory after a write operation of the first pattern by the second write circuit; a read circuit configured to read the written first pattern based on the second address of the memory; and a timing adjustment circuit configured to adjust a timing at which data is written into the memory based on a read first pattern. |
| US08705295B2 |
Semiconductor memory system and method for driving the same
A method for driving a semiconductor memory device includes controlling a plurality of erase voltages for a plurality of memory blocks, respectively, comparing the plurality of controlled erase voltages, and determining whether or not to enable the plurality of memory blocks for a subsequent write operation in response to a result of the comparison. |
| US08705294B2 |
Nonvolatile memory and method of controlling thereof
A memory system includes a nonvolatile memory and a controller. The nonvolatile memory includes a memory cell array storing setup data and reference data, and first and second latch units respectively configured to store the setup data and the reference data sensed from the memory cell array upon a power-up of the memory system. The controller is configured to control a sensing operation of the nonvolatile memory. An operating environment of the nonvolatile memory is determined by the setup data stored in the first latch unit, and the controller controls the nonvolatile memory to re-store the setup data of the memory cell array in the first latch unit when the reference data of the second latch unit is changed. |
| US08705293B2 |
Compact sense amplifier for non-volatile memory suitable for quick pass write
A compact and versatile sense amp is presented. Among its other features this sense amp arrangement provides a way to pre-charge bit lines while doing data scanning. Another feature is that the sense amp circuit can provide a way to set three different bit line levels used in the quick pass write (QPW) technique using dynamic latch, where quick pass write is a technique where cells along a given word line selected for programming can be enabled, inhibited, or partially inhibited for programming. Also, it can provide a convenient way to measure the cell current. |
| US08705292B2 |
Nonvolatile memory circuit with an oxide semiconductor transistor for reducing power consumption and electronic device
To provide a nonvolatile memory circuit having a novel structure. A first memory circuit, a second memory circuit, a first switch, a second switch, and a phase inverter circuit are included. The first memory circuit includes a first transistor formed using an oxide semiconductor film, a second transistor, a third transistor, and a capacitor. The first transistor formed using an oxide semiconductor film and the capacitor are used to form the nonvolatile memory circuit. Reductions in number of power supply lines and signal lines which are connected to the memory circuit and transistors used in the memory circuit allow a reduction in circuit scale of the nonvolatile memory circuit. |
| US08705288B2 |
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory with a source line potential level detection circuit
According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory includes a source line connected to first and second cell units, a cell-source driver setting the source line on a fixed potential in a programming, a data latch circuit temporary storing program data, a hookup circuit connecting one of the first and second bit lines to the data latch circuit, and connecting the other one of the first and second bit lines to the source line, in the programming, a level detection circuit detecting a potential level of the source line, and a control circuit determining a completion of a charge of the first and second bit lines when the potential level of the source line is larger than a threshold value, and making a charge time of the first and second bit lines variable, in the programming. |
| US08705283B2 |
Erase techniques and circuits therefor for non-volatile memory devices
Disclosed herein is a method that comprises applying a first voltage to a memory cell, applying again the first voltage to the memory cell when the memory cell have not been shifted to an erased condition, and applying a second voltage to the memory cell when the memory cell have not still been shifted to an erased condition, the second voltage being higher than the first voltage. |
| US08705277B2 |
Non-volatile memory programming
Some embodiments include a memory device and a method of programming memory cells of the memory device. One such method includes applying different voltages to data lines associated with different memory cells based on threshold voltages of the memory cells in an erased state. Other embodiments including additional memory devices and methods are described. |
| US08705276B2 |
Semiconductor memory device, reading method thereof, and data storage device having the same
A reading method of a semiconductor memory device having a multi-level memory cell includes the steps of: reading flag data indicating whether the most significant bit (MSB) of data programmed in the multi-level memory cell is programmed or not; storing the read flag data; reading the least significant bit (LSB) of the data programmed in the multi-level memory cell, based on the read flag data; and reading the MSB of the data programmed in the multi-level memory cell based on the stored flag data. |
| US08705274B2 |
Three-dimensional multi-bit non-volatile memory and method for manufacturing the same
The present disclosure relates to the field of microelectronics manufacture and memories. A three-dimensional multi-bit non-volatile memory and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The memory comprises a plurality of memory cells constituting a memory array. The memory array may comprise: a gate stack structure; periodically and alternately arranged gate stack regions and channel region spaces; gate dielectric layers for discrete charge storage; periodically arranged channel regions; source doping regions and drain doping regions symmetrically arranged to each other; bit lines led from the source doping regions and the drain doping regions; and word lines led from the gate stack regions. The gate dielectric layers for discrete charge storage can provide physical storage spots to achieve single-bit or multi-bit operations, so as to achieve a high storage density. According to the present disclosure, the localized charge storage characteristic of the charge trapping layer and characteristics such as a longer effective channel length and a higher density of a vertical memory structure are utilized, to provide multiple storage spots in a single memory cell. Therefore, the storage density is improved while good performances such as high speed are ensured. |
| US08705273B2 |
Negative voltage generator, decoder, nonvolatile memory device and memory system using negative voltage
A negative voltage generator includes a direct current voltage generator configured to generate a direct current voltage, a reference voltage generator configured to generate a reference voltage, an oscillator configured to generate an oscillation clock, a charge pump configured to generate a negative voltage in response to a pump clock, and a voltage detector. The voltage detector is configured to detect the negative voltage by comparing a division voltage, obtained by voltage dividing the direct current voltage, with the reference voltage, and to generate the pump clock corresponding to the detected negative voltage based on the oscillation clock. |
| US08705271B2 |
Semiconductor device
The performance of a semiconductor device including a nonvolatile memory is enhanced. Each of nonvolatile memory cells arranged over a silicon substrate includes: a first n-well; a second n-well formed in a place different from the place thereof; a selection transistor formed in the first n-well; and an electric charge storage portion having a floating gate electrode and a storage portion p-well. The floating gate electrode is so placed that it overlaps with part of the first n-well and the second n-well. The storage portion p-well is placed in the first n-well so that it partly overlaps with the floating gate electrode. In this nonvolatile memory cell, memory information is erased by applying positive voltage to the second n-well to discharge electrons in the floating gate electrode to the second n-well. |
| US08705267B2 |
Integrated circuit, method for driving the same, and semiconductor device
An integrated circuit which can be switched to a resting state and can be returned from the resting state rapidly is provided. An integrated circuit whose power consumption can be reduced without the decrease in operation speed is provided. A method for driving the integrated circuit is provided. The integrated circuit includes a first flip-flop and a second flip-flop including a nonvolatile memory circuit. In an operating state in which power is supplied, the first flip-flop retains data. In a resting state in which supply of power is stopped, the second flip-flop retains data. On transition from the operating state into the resting state, the data is transferred from the first flip-flop to the second flip-flop. On return from the resting state to the operating state, the data is transferred from the second flip-flop to the first flip-flop. |
| US08705261B2 |
Semiconductor device having dummy bit lines wider than bit lines
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a plurality of dummy line patterns arranged at a first pitch on an underlying region, forming first mask patterns having predetermined mask portions formed on long sides of the dummy line patterns, each of the first mask patterns having a closed-loop shape and surrounding each of the dummy line patterns, removing the dummy line patterns, forming a second mask pattern having a first pattern portion which covers end portions of the first mask patterns and inter-end portions each located between adjacent ones of the end portions, etching the underlying region using the first mask patterns and the second mask pattern as a mask to form trenches each located between adjacent ones of the predetermined mask portions, and filling the trenches with a predetermined material. |
| US08705255B2 |
Method for measuring an alternating current which is generated using inverters, and arrangement for carrying out the method
There is described a method for measuring an alternating current which is generated using inverters and is fed into an AC power system, wherein a zero crossing signal of the AC power system is predefined, and wherein, triggered by the zero crossing signal, the measured alternating current is periodically adjusted in such a manner that an adjustment value which is assigned to the zero crossing signal is predefined, a measured value which is assigned to the zero crossing signal being adapted to said adjustment value. This method makes it possible for the measurement signal detected by a measuring circuit to be periodically adjusted using an adjustment value even during operation. |
| US08705254B2 |
Single-phase and three-phase dual buck-boost/buck power factor correction circuits and controlling method thereof
The configurations of a single-phase dual buck-boost/buck power factor correction (PFC) circuit and a controlling method thereof are provided in the present invention. The proposed circuit includes a single-phase three-level buck-boost PFC circuit receiving an input voltage and having a first output terminal, a neutral-point and a second output terminal for outputting a first and a second output voltages, a single-phase three-level buck PFC circuit receiving the input voltage and coupled to the first output terminal, the neutral-point and the second output terminal, a first output capacitor coupled to the first output terminal and the neutral-point, a second output capacitor coupled to the neutral-point and the second output terminal, and a neutral line coupled to the neutral-point. |
| US08705253B2 |
Isolated SEPIC power converter for light emitting diodes and other applications
A system includes a load and a single-ended primary-inductance converter (SEPIC) power converter configured to provide power to the load. The SEPIC power converter includes a primary side and a secondary side that are electrically isolated by a transformer. The transformer includes a primary coil and a secondary coil. The primary side includes (i) a capacitor coupled to a first end of the primary coil and (ii) an inductor and a switch coupled to a second end of the primary coil. The primary side of the SEPIC power converter could also include a diode coupled between the inductor and the switch, where the diode is coupled to the second end of the primary coil. The capacitor could be configured to transfer energy to the secondary side of the SEPIC power converter through the transformer during valleys associated with a rectified input voltage. |
| US08705252B2 |
Off line resonant converter with merged line rectification and power factor correction
An off line resonant converter includes a boost storage inductance circuit coupled to a switcher circuit that includes stacked first and second passive switching devices coupled to the boost storage inductance circuit and stacked first and second active bidirectional switching devices coupled to the stacked first and second passive switching devices. The stacked first and second active bidirectional switching devices generate a square wave signal and alternately store energy in and receive energy from the boost storage inductance circuit such that a pulsating current is conducted between the boost storage inductance circuit and the switcher circuit. The pulsating current is bidirectional and flows in a direction responsive to a polarity of the ac input line voltage. A resonant circuit is coupled to an output of the switcher circuit to receive the square wave signal from the switcher circuit to generate an output of the resonant converter. |
| US08705251B2 |
Bidirectional DC/DC converter and power conditioner
A bidirectional DC/DC converter includes a bidirectional DC/AC conversion circuit including a push-pull circuit connected between voltage terminals and a winding and having a switching element and a switching element coupled to opposing ends of the winding respectively, and an up-conversion circuit coupled to the push-pull circuit and the voltage terminals, and the up-conversion circuit includes an inductor for allowing passage of a current through the winding, the switching element in an ON state and the switching element in an ON state owing to stored magnetic energy, and a switching element forming a current path going through the voltage terminal, the inductor and the voltage terminal but not through the switching element and the switching element as it is turned on. |
| US08705247B2 |
Circuit board and mother laminated body
A circuit board includes a laminated body including insulation layers made of a flexible material that are stacked on one another. External electrodes are provided on a bottom surface of the laminated body. Ground conductors are provided in the laminated body and that are harder than the insulation layers. The laminated body includes a flexible region and a rigid region that is adjacent to the flexible region when viewed in plan from a z-axis direction. The rigid region is defined by the ground conductors when viewed in plan from the z-axis direction. The external electrodes are provided within the flexible region when viewed in plan from the z-axis direction. |
| US08705244B2 |
Projector and unit for projector
A projector includes: a mounting unit for mounting optional unit (2) having an extension function section, connection substrate (7), and cable (6) for electrically connecting the extension function section and connection substrate (7); mother substrate (31) having connector (31a) to which terminal (7a) is electrically connected; Z-shaped guide metal fitting (40) located on the mounting unit and configured to movably guide terminal (7a) to connector (31a); and a case having mother substrate (31) located therein. One side face of the case has an opening for inserting/removing optional unit (2) into/from the case, and a side panel for covering the opening being removably located in the opening. When optional unit (2) is inserted into the case from the opening, connection substrate (7) is guided by Z-shaped guide metal filling (40), and optional unit (2) functions when terminal (7a) is electrically connected to connector (31a). |
| US08705243B2 |
External storage device
Described are external storage devices including a substrate, a controller electrically coupled to the substrate, at least one memory die stack electrically coupled to the substrate, a plurality of connection fingers electrically coupled to the substrate, and a mounting bar electrically coupled to the substrate. The mounting bar may include a plurality of springs. In other examples, the external storage device may include a substrate, a controller electrically coupled to the substrate, at least one memory die stack electrically coupled to the substrate, a plurality of connection fingers electrically coupled to the substrate, and a contact bar electrically coupled to the substrate. The contact bar may include a plurality of extensions. One or more memory die stacks may be coupled to one or more surfaces of the substrate and may include a plurality of dies in each memory die stack. |
| US08705241B2 |
Electronic device
An electronic device includes a casing and a battery module removably locked to the casing. The casing includes a connecting wall, two inner side walls connected to opposite ends of the connecting wall and having pillars protruding therefrom, and a first magnetic member disposed at the connecting wall. The battery module includes a first side wall to abut against the connecting wall, and two second side walls connected to two opposite ends of the first sidewall. A second magnetic member is disposed at the first side wall and has a magnetic attraction force with the first magnetic member. Each second side wall is formed with a guiding groove extending along an insertion direction of the battery module for engaging a corresponding pillar. |
| US08705237B2 |
Thermally conductive and electrically insulative card guide
A card guide may include an aluminum substrate and a hard anodized coating formed on the aluminum substrate. In some examples, the hard anodized coating may have an electrical resistance of greater than about 100,000,000 ohms. Additionally or alternatively, the hard anodized coating may have a thickness of greater than about 38.1 μm (0.015 inch). |
| US08705236B2 |
Loop heat pipe and electronic apparatus
A loop heat pipe includes: an evaporator to convert liquid phase working fluid into vapor phase working fluid; a condenser to convert vapor phase working fluid into liquid phase working fluid; a first vapor line and a first liquid line to allow the evaporator to communicate with the condenser and form a circular main loop; and a second vapor line and a second liquid line to allow the evaporator to communicate with the condenser and form a circular auxiliary loop; wherein the evaporator includes a reservoir that temporarily stores the liquid phase working fluid, a first vapor collector that communicates with the first vapor line, a second vapor collector that communicates with the second vapor line, first wick disposed between the reservoir and the first vapor collector, and second wick disposed between the reservoir and the second vapor collector. |
| US08705232B2 |
Heat sink system and heat sinking method having auto switching function
A heat sink system and a heat sinking method having auto switching function are disclosed. The heat sink receives a control command sent by an external device. An internal heat sink device is controlled according to content of the control command to control power ON or power OFF of a thermoelectric cooler of the heat sink device or to control power ON, power OFF, or change rotation speed setting of a heat sink fan in the heat sink device. Thus, the heat sink auto switches operations of the heat sink device correspondingly according to temperature changes of the external device. |
| US08705228B2 |
Pivoting apparatus
A pivoting apparatus includes first and second pivoting elements, and first and second waterproof structures. The first pivoting element is fixed to a base, and has a first internal space and an opening exposing the first internal space. The second pivoting element is pivoted on the first pivoting element and fixed to an electronic device. A second internal space and a gap exposing the second internal space are formed between the first and second pivoting elements. The second internal space communicates with the first internal space through the opening. The first waterproof structure is fixed to the first pivoting element and surrounds at least a portion of the opening to block liquid from entering the first internal space through the opening. The second waterproof structure is fixed to the second pivoting element and shields the gap to block liquid from entering the second internal space through the gap. |
| US08705226B2 |
Capacitor having a characterized electrode and method for manufacturing same
A capacitor includes a film previously provided on both sides or one side of a collector by anodizing or the like, further a conductive layer provided on the film, and a polarizable electrode layer as an electrode portion on the conductive layer. Thus, the capacitor suppresses the reaction between a driving electrolyte and the collector after a long time of use because the reactivity between the film previously provided on both sides or one side of the collector and the driving electrolyte is low. Furthermore, since the conductive layer is provided, it is possible to reduce an initial contact resistance on the surface of the collector, and to enhance an effect of suppressing performance deterioration by the film. |
| US08705225B2 |
Electric double layer capacitor with non-equal areas of the active material layers of the positive electrode and the negative electrode
An electric double layer capacitor comprising a plurality of electrode bodies comprising a positive electrode and a negative electrode laminated via a separator and being impregnated with an electrolyte solution, wherein the plurality of electrode bodies are electrically connected in series, the positive electrode and the negative electrode comprise an active material having pores, the electrolyte solution comprises an electrolyte having a cation and a counteranion of the cation, a ratio of an average pore diameter of the active material of the positive electrode to an ion diameter of the counteranion is in the range of 2.5 to 2.8, and a ratio of an average pore diameter of the active material of the negative electrode to an ion diameter of the cation is in the range of 1.65 to 1.85. |
| US08705218B2 |
Input buffer protection
Apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed that operate to boost an electrical potential of a control terminal of a transistor from a signal on an input terminal of the transistor to render a channel in the transistor more conductive. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed. |
| US08705217B2 |
Electrostatic discharge protection circuit
An integrated circuit includes an electrostatic discharge (ESD) detection circuit which detects an ESD event and generates an event signal. In response to that event signal, a control circuit controls the operation of a buffer circuit to function in an additional mode wherein the normal differential operation of the buffer circuit is disabled and the buffer circuit is instead configured to form a conduction path between supply rails to discharge the ESD event. Preferably, a plurality of buffer circuits are driven in parallel by the control circuit to function in the additional mode to form parallel discharge paths for the ESD event. Multiple ESD detection circuits may be provided, and any one of those detection circuits can trigger the control circuitry to place all of the buffer circuits in the additional mode. |
| US08705216B2 |
High sensitivity leakage current detection interrupter
A high sensitivity leakage current detection interrupter (LCDI) includes a shielded wire, a current leakage detection unit, and a tripping mechanism. A live core and a neutral core of the shielded wire are respectively wrapped in two conductive shell wires. The current leakage detection unit includes a pair of rectifying diodes reversely connected in series between a live line and a neutral line of a power supply, a voltage dropping resistor, thyristors, and resistor-capacitor (RC) voltage dropping filter circuits. The tripping mechanism includes control units with on/off respectively controlled by the thyristors. When either of the thyristors is turned on, the corresponding control unit is turned on, and the tripping mechanism is actuated to switch off the power supply. |
| US08705213B2 |
Magnetic field detecting device with shielding layer at least partially surrounding magnetoresistive stack
A disclosed device having a principle axis and including a magnetoresistive stack, the magnetoresistive stack having first and second opposing surfaces, the magnetoresistive stack including a free layer, a spacer layer, and a reference layer, wherein the spacer layer is positioned between the first and reference layer, the free layer includes magnetic material having a free magnetic orientation in a first plane; the spacer layer includes nonmagnetic material; and the reference layer includes magnetic material having a pinned magnetic orientation in a second plane, wherein the second plane is perpendicular to the first plane and parallel to the principle axis of the device; an insulating layer at least a portion of the outer surface of the magnetoresistive stack; a shielding layer surrounding at least a portion of the insulating layer; and a conducting layer, wherein the conducting layer provides electrical connection between the magnetoresistive stack and the shielding layer. |
| US08705209B2 |
Suspension clamp for clamping a disk drive suspension to an actuator arm
A suspension clamp is disclosed for clamping a disk drive suspension to an actuator arm. The suspension clamp comprises a housing including a spring operable to bias a latching member, wherein the latching member is rotatable about a pivot. After compressing the spring and rotating the latching member in a first direction, the latching member is operable to clamp the suspension to the actuator arm by decompressing the spring. |
| US08705205B1 |
Magnetic recording head having a dual sidewall angle
A magnetic transducer having an air-bearing surface (ABS) is described. The magnetic transducer includes a pole and at least one coil for energizing the pole. The pole has a pole tip proximate to the ABS, a yoke distal from the ABS, and a bottom surface including a bottom bevel. At least the yoke includes at least one sidewall having a first angle and a second angle. The first angle is between the bottom surface and the at least one sidewall. The second angle is a constant distance along the at least one sidewall from the first angle. |
| US08705202B2 |
Reduce leakage of low-density gas during low-density gas injection into a disk drive
Embodiments of the present invention help to prevent leakage of low-density gas during low-density gas injection into a disk drive device and to perform low-density gas injection efficiently. In a hard disk drive (HDD) according to one embodiment of the present invention, an injection hole filter with a valve function is attached to a helium injection hole in order to inject helium gas in an enclosure. The injection hole filter has a valve member configured to operate in an open state or closed state. The open state is a state while the helium gas is being injected and the closed state is a state after the helium gas has been finished to be injected. The valve member is in the open state if the outside pressure is higher than the inside pressure and is in the closed state if the inside pressure is higher than the outside pressure. |
| US08705199B2 |
Methods, systems and apparatus for reducing the effects of tape dimensional stability
A method, system, apparatus, and computer readable medium storing instructions for recording data tracks and a method and system for reading data tracks. For recording data tracks, virtual boundary of a first data track recorded on the storage medium is determined. The recording element is positioned based on the determined virtual boundary of the first track and a second data track is recorded by the positioned recording element. For reading data tracks, a first virtual boundary of a first data track and a second virtual boundary of the first data track are determined and a reading element is positioned at a center of the first data track based on the determined virtual boundaries. In the system of reading recorded data tracks, a number of forward reading elements and backward reading elements are provided. The forward reading elements have different pitches. |
| US08705198B1 |
Write position compensation
An implementation of a system disclosed herein provides a method of compensating for a change in write position of a recording head due to a change in an operating condition of the recording head. |
| US08705197B2 |
Information processing apparatus, protection method and medium storing protection program
Disclosed is an information processing apparatus comprising a housing (4), a magnetic disk drive unit (6), a sensor (8) and a control unit (10). The sensor (8), which is installed between the housing and the magnetic disk drive unit, detects an external force acting on the housing or a distortion caused in the housing by dint of the external force. The control unit (10) retreats a magnetic head (14) of the magnetic disk drive unit to a retreat area when the external force or the distortion, detected by the sensor, exceeds a predetermined level. |
| US08705195B2 |
Synchronized gaming and programming
To encourage viewer participation, games, contests and social interactions are able to be synchronized with programming such as television shows or commercials utilizing a second screen such as a cell phone, iPad® or laptop computer. The programming is able to be television programming, Internet programming (e.g. a video displayed on a webpage or mobile device) or any other programming. The gaming is able to be any game such as a game of skill or chance, for example, a scavenger hunt or a treasure hunt. |
| US08705188B2 |
Lens barrel, imaging device and manufacturing method thereof
A lens barrel and imaging device with a low likelihood of optical characteristics being degraded by an impact from a fall or the like may be provided. A lens barrel including: a retention member that retains an optical system; and a first guide shaft that guides the retention member to be movable along an optical axis of the optical system, wherein the retention member includes, a first engaging portion that engages with the first guide shaft, and an abutting portion disposed at the opposite side of the optical axis from the side thereof at which the first engaging portion is disposed, at a position that is offset in the optical axis direction from the engaging portion, the abutting portion being abuttable against an abutted portion when a force in the optical axis direction is applied at least to the retention member. |
| US08705186B2 |
Barrel driving system and backlash correction method thereof
The patent discloses a lens barrel driving system and a backlash correction method thereof. In such system, a zoom photo-interrupter (PI) is used to detect the movement of a zooming barrel and generate a first count value. The movement of a focusing barrel corresponds to the movement of the zooming barrel, so that when the zooming barrel is driven to move from an initial position to a first zooming position or from the first zoom position to a second zoom position, the focusing barrel moves correspondingly and its movement triggers a home PI to generate a second count value. Upon the generation of the second count value, a predetermined value is used to replace the first count value so as to correct the error caused by backlash of lens barrels. |
| US08705184B2 |
Multi-path, multi-magnification, non-confocal fluorescence emission endoscopy apparatus and methods
An optical scanner, scanner apparatus, or scanner assembly, which may be particularly advantageous for use in a multiphoton microscope, includes a first drivable bending component, a second drivable bending component mounted perpendicularly to the first component, and at least one optical waveguide coupled one or both of the first and second bending components, wherein the at least one optical waveguide provides both a propagation path for a multiphoton excitation radiation delivery between a light source and a target and a multiphoton-induced emission radiation delivery between the target and a detector. A GRIN relay lens. A multiphoton microscope incorporating the scanner and the GRIN relay lens. |
| US08705183B2 |
Focusing and sensing apparatus, methods, and systems
Apparatus, methods, and systems provide focusing, focus-adjusting, and sensing. In some approaches the focus-adjusting includes providing an extended depth of focus greater than a nominal depth of focus. In some approaches the focus-adjusting includes focus-adjusting with a transformation medium, where the transformation medium may include an artificially-structured material such as a metamaterial. |
| US08705180B2 |
Zoom lens, imaging device and information device
A zoom lens includes, in order from an object side in an optical axis a first lens group having a positive refractive power, a second lens group having a negative refractive power; a third lens group having a negative refractive power, a fourth lens group having a positive refractive power, a fifth lens group having a positive refractive power, and an aperture stop arranged between the third lens group and the fourth lens group, an interval between the first lens group and the second lens group being increased, an interval between the second lens group and the third lens group being varied, an interval between the third lens group and the fourth lens group being decreased, and an interval between the fourth lens group and the fifth lens group being decreased when changing a magnification from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end. |
| US08705177B1 |
Integrated near-to-eye display module
A head mounted display (“HMD”) includes a frame assembly for wearing on a head of a user and an integrated display module mounted to the frame assembly within a peripheral viewing region of an eye of the user when the HMD is worn by the user. The integrated display module includes a display source for outputting a computer generated image (“CGI”), a lens system optically aligned with the display source to focus the CGI emitted from the integrated display module towards the eye, and an actuator coupled to adjust a focal distance of the lens system for changing an image depth of the CGI displayed to the user. |
| US08705172B2 |
Microscopy method and microscope with enhanced resolution
Method for enhancing the resolution of a microscope during the detection of an illuminated specimen and a microscope for carrying out the method, wherein in a first position, an illumination pattern is generated on the specimen, the resolution of which is preferably within the range of the attainable optical resolution of the microscope or higher, wherein a relative movement, preferably perpendicular to the direction of illumination, from a first into at least one second position of the illumination pattern on the specimen is generated at least once between the detection and the illumination pattern with a step width smaller than the resolution limit of the microscope and detection and storage of the detection signals take place both in the first and in the second position. |
| US08705167B2 |
System and method for compensating for polarization dependent loss
In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure a system for compensating for polarization dependent loss experienced by an optical signal comprises an optical amplifier configured to amplify an optical signal and having a polarization dependent gain (PDG). The system also comprises a polarization rotator coupled to the amplifier and configured to rotate the polarization of the optical signal before the signal enters the amplifier. The system also comprises a polarization dependent loss (PDL) controller coupled to the amplifier and the rotator. The PDL controller may be configured to determine a post-amplifier PDL of the optical signal as the signal leaves the optical amplifier. The PDL controller may also be configured to control the rotator to rotate the polarization of the optical signal based on the post-amplifier PDL, such that the PDG of the amplifier compensates for the PDL experienced by the optical signal. |
| US08705162B2 |
Controlling transitions in optically switchable devices
This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus for controlling transitions in an optically switchable device. In one aspect, a controller for a tintable window may include a processor, an input for receiving output signals from sensors, and instructions for causing the processor to determine a level of tint of the tintable window, and an output for controlling the level of tint in the tintable window. The instructions may include a relationship between the received output signals and the level of tint, with the relationship employing output signals from an exterior photosensor, an interior photosensor, an occupancy sensor, an exterior temperature sensor, and a transmissivity sensor. In some instances, the controller may receive output signals over a network and/or be interfaced with a network, and in some instances, the controller may be a standalone controller that is not interfaced with a network. |
| US08705160B2 |
Photochromic compounds
A photochromic compound is provided, which may be a pyran, an oxazine, or a fulgide. The photochromic compound has at least one substituent Q attached thereto, each Q independently being —N3, —CN, —COOR′, —CCR′, —C(R′)C(R′)R′, —OCOR′, —OCOOR′, —SR′, —OSO2R′″, and/or —CON(R′)R′, wherein each R′ is hydrogen, an unsubstituted or substituted alkyl group having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms; an unsubstituted or substituted aryl group, an unsubstituted or substituted alkene or alkyne group having from 2 to 18 carbon atoms, wherein the substituents are halo or hydroxyl and R″′ is —CF3 or a perfluorinated alkyl group having from 2 to 18 carbon atoms. The number, locations and nature of the constituents Q are dependent upon the structure of the photochromic compound. |
| US08705157B2 |
Optical scanning device
An optical scanning device is provided, which includes a casing including a supporting wall supporting a deflector, a first reflecting mirror supporting portion and a second reflecting mirror supporting portion that are opposed to each other across the deflector and extend from the supporting wall and a reinforcing wall configured to extend from the supporting wall, between the deflector and first and second light source units, so as to connect the first reflecting mirror supporting portion with the second reflecting mirror supporting portion, the reinforcing wall including a first through-hole configured such that a first laser beam emitted by the first light source unit toward the deflector and the second laser beam emitted by the second light source unit toward the deflector pass therethrough. |
| US08705154B2 |
Spectral colorimetric apparatus and image forming apparatus using the same
A spectral colorimetric apparatus for detecting a color of an image of a subject, including: an illumination optical system illuminating the subject on a detection surface; a spectral optical system including a spectral element spectrally separating the beam diffused by the subject and a light receiving element array detecting a spectral intensity distribution; and a guiding optical system for guiding a beam diffused by the subject, wherein: the detection surface is parallel to a spectral plane including a principal ray of a beam entering the spectral optical system and a principal ray of a beam spectrally separated; the principal ray of the beam enters the spectral optical system within the spectral plane obliquely to a line joining a center of the light receiving element array with a surface vertex of the spectral element; and a light receiving surface of the light receiving element array is orthogonal to the spectral plane. |
| US08705151B2 |
Imaging device calibration methods, imaging device calibration instruments, imaging devices, and articles of manufacture
Imaging device calibration methods, imaging device calibration instruments, imaging devices, and articles of manufacture are described. According to one embodiment, an imaging device calibration method includes emitting light for use in calibration of an imaging device, providing an emission characteristic of the light, sensing the light using an image sensor of the imaging device, generating sensor data indicative of the sensing using the image sensor, and determining at least one optical characteristic of the imaging device using the generated sensor data and the emission characteristic for use in calibration of the imaging device, and wherein the at least one optical characteristic corresponds to the image device used to sense the light. |
| US08705149B2 |
Image reading apparatus
An image reading apparatus configured to reduce a force required for moving a document cover to an open position is provided. The image reading apparatus includes a document table having a top surface and a reading area and a document cover that is configured to pivot, around an axis extending in a first direction, between a closed position and an open position. The document cover includes a sheet. The top surface has a marginal area which is located outside of a reading area on a side opposite to the axis. The marginal area includes a contact area and a non-contact area which are arranged in the first direction. When the document cover is in the closed position, the top surface in the contact area contacts the sheet, and the top surface in the non-contact area does not contact the sheet. |
| US08705146B2 |
System for illuminating an original using additional colors and capturing an image thereof
An imaging device including a base and an enclosed chamber positioned on the base. The enclosed chamber has a scanning surface inclined with respect to the base, a reflecting member positioned opposite to the scanning surface and an imaging member adjacent the scanning surface and oriented towards the reflecting member. The imaging member is illuminated with a red, a green, a blue, and an additional color LED. In one embodiment the additional color is a color other than red, green, and blue. In an alternate embodiment the additional color is Ultraviolet (UV) or Infra-Red (IR). |
| US08705145B2 |
Systems and methods for resuming capture of a base image of an object by a mobile scanner
Systems and methods resume capture of a base image from an object by a mobile scanner operated by a user. An indication of an overlap area on a base image displayed within a computer display is received. A scan image is received from the mobile scanner positioned on the object at a location corresponding to the overlap area. A match between a segment of the scan image and a corresponding segment of the base image is determined, where the match defines a location and orientation of the mobile scanner relative to the base image. An indication that the scan has resumed is made to the user when the match is found, and images that are subsequently received from the mobile scanner are stitched to the base image based upon the determined location and orientation. The partially formed base image and the scanner image are concurrently displayed to the user. |
| US08705143B2 |
Image-forming device
In an image-forming device, an image-reading unit reads an image formed on an original document. A data-reading unit reads data stored in a storing member of the original document. A duplication-performing unit performs a plurality of duplication processes including at least an image/data-duplication process in which the duplication-performing unit forms the read image on a first recording medium having a storing member and writes the read data to the storing member of the first recording medium, and a data-duplication process in which the duplication-performing unit writes the read data to the storing member of the first recording medium without forming the read image on the first recording medium. A receiving unit receives an image/data-duplication instruction and a data-duplication instruction. The duplication-performing unit performs the image/data-duplication process if the receiving unit receives the image/data-duplication instruction, and performs the data-duplication process if the receiving unit receives the data-duplication instruction. |
| US08705142B2 |
Tint block image generation program, tint block image generation device, and tint block image generation method
A computer readable storage medium stores a tint block image generation program for generating tint block image data for forming, on a print medium, a tint block image including a latent image portion which is reproduced by copying, and a background portion of which copy output density drops. The program has a latent image portion generation step of generating data of a plurality of first dots in the latent image portion based on a dot clustered screen; and a background portion generation step of generating data of a plurality of second dots and data of a plurality of third dots dispersed among the second dots and having a size smaller than the second dots. And the first dots in the latent image portion and the second dots in the background portion are arranged at positions on common displacement vectors in an area of the tint block image. |
| US08705138B2 |
Image forming apparatus including an image calibration system
There is provided an image forming apparatus including a print head adapted to form an image on a recording medium, a transport path for the recording medium, the transport path being provided on at least one of a feed side and a discharge side of the recording medium with respect to the print head, an image reading device provided on the transport path, the image reading device being adapted to read an image formed by the print head, a correction chart provided opposite the image reading device with the transport path interposed in between, the correction chart being read by the image reading device in order to correct a reading result of the image reading device, based on information obtained from reading the correction chart, and a distance adjustment device adapted to increase or decrease the distance between the correction chart and the image reading device. |
| US08705136B2 |
Method, computer program and print system for trapping print data
In a method or system for trapping print data with a plurality of respective objects, the objects being individually transferred into a bit map pixel file, at least one overfill is determined for the respective object relative to color regions bordering the respective object in the pixel file according to predetermined trapping rules. The object and the at least one overfill are inserted into the pixel file, wherein the object and the overfill are rastered in the pixel file upon insertion. |
| US08705129B2 |
Printing system that performs a color conversion process, printing method, and non-transitory computer readable recording medium stored with printing program
A printing system of the present invention includes: a generating unit which performs a rasterizing process to print data while performing a color conversion process by applying a multi-dimensional lookup table for calibration, which is for matching a color of the image to be printed by a printing unit by combining base colors to a target color and for keeping the color of the image consistent, to generate image data; a storage unit which stores the image data; a calibration unit which applies a first one-dimensional lookup table for calibration to calibrate the color information of the image data at a first round of printing the image, and applies a second one-dimensional lookup table for calibration newer than the first one-dimensional lookup table for calibration to calibrate the color information of the image data at a second round of newly printing the image. |
| US08705127B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, and computer readable medium storing program
An image processing apparatus includes a setting unit and a correcting unit. The setting unit sets a gloss level of an image to be formed by forming plural toner images using a transparent toner and plural color toners having different colors and by fixing the plural toner images onto a recording medium in such a manner that the plural toner images are placed on top of one another on the recording medium. The correcting unit corrects image data defining density values per pixel of the toner images formed using the plural color toners of the respective colors so that a total density value that is a sum of a density value per pixel of the toner image formed using the transparent toner and density values per pixel of the toner images formed using the plural color toners of the respective colors may not exceed a predetermined threshold. |
| US08705123B2 |
Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and program
An image forming apparatus including an attribute-value-information holding unit that holds an attribute-value table showing correspondence between a type of gradation processing and a fixing-temperature control attribute value; an image-formation-attribute processing unit that determines a type of gradation processing and a corresponding fixing-temperature control attribute value on the basis of contents of a print instruction and the attribute-value table; a gradation processing unit that performs gradation processing in accordance with the type of gradation processing determined by the image-formation-attribute processing unit; and a fixing-temperature control unit that controls fixing temperature in formation of a print image according to the fixing-temperature control attribute value determined by the image-formation-attribute processing unit. |
| US08705121B2 |
Testing printer calibration
The systems and methods presented herein provide for the testing of calibration processing within a print controller. In one embodiment, a method provides for testing a printer calibration module. The method includes simulating an optical density response of the printer to generate a plurality of optical density curves for the printer and determining spectral reflectance values for corresponding optical density values in the optical density curves. The method also includes processing the spectral reflectance values via the printer calibration module to generate a calibration output. The method also includes analyzing the calibration output to determine accuracy of the printer calibration module. |
| US08705117B1 |
Hand-held printing device and method for tuning ink jet color for printing on colored paper
A hand-held printer is disclosed. The hand-held printer includes an image sensor configured to determine a color having plurality of color components associated with a print medium, an image processing module configured to process image data into a plurality of color layers; and a print module configured to receive information related to the plurality of color components from the image sensor and information related to the plurality of color layers from the image processing module. The print module being configured to enhance at least one of the plurality of color layers based on at least one of the corresponding plurality of color components associated with the print medium. |
| US08705115B1 |
Generation of inverse transfer function for image rendering device
An inverse transfer function is computed from a forward transfer function of an image rendering device. During the computation, device-dependent values are extrapolated for border nodes. The extrapolated values are out-of-gamut. |
| US08705111B2 |
Inkjet printing apparatus and print data generating method
An ink jet printing apparatus comprises a distributing unit configured to distribute print data for printing dot into data used for printing by first printing elements provided in a print head and data used for printing by second printing elements provided in the same print head, and a determining unit configured to, for the data used for printing by the respective parts of the printing element arrays of each of first and second print heads which have the overlapped print regions, determine a ratio between amount of the data used for printing by a combination of the first and second printing element arrays in the first print head and a combination of the first and second printing element arrays in the second print head. |
| US08705110B2 |
Method of generating a smooth image from point cloud data
A method is explained for processing an array of pixels in a point cloud. Local error bars are calculated for each pixel distance value. A difference is calculated between distance values of the pixel being processed and neighboring pixels with distance values within the error bars. If the difference is outside the error bars, the distance value of the pixel being processed is changed by a small fraction while remaining inside the error bars; if the difference is within the error bars, the pixel value is replaced by a weighted average. The neighboring pixels with distance values within the error bars of the pixel are counted and if a predetermined threshold is met, the counted values are averaged and replace the pixel value, but if not met, the pixel value is unchanged. If loop exit criteria have been met, the loop is terminated and if not, looping begins again. |
| US08705109B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming method for controlling object rendering order
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming method by which image data are prepared for performing image processing at high speed and while saving memory. Vector data are generated from data scanned by a scanning unit. In this process, a printing direction is determined from a content input from an operating unit or information on an outputting device. If the printing direction and the scanning direction differ, control of an order of the data is performed to prepare a document after rotation. |
| US08705103B2 |
Image processing system, image processing server, image forming apparatus, image processing method, and recording medium
An image processing system includes an image forming apparatus and first and second image processing servers connected to the image forming apparatus via a network, the first image processing server includes: a first image processor which performs a first image processing operation on target image data received from the image forming apparatus; and a protected area calculator which calculates a protected area to be prohibited from being processed next, which is related to the area processed by the first image processor, and generates image protection information including information of the protected area, and the second image processing server includes a second image processor which performs a second image processing operation on the areas excluding the protected area whose information is included in the image protection information generated by the protected area calculator. |
| US08705100B2 |
Image processing apparatus that displays screen on display unit using browser, control method therefor, and storage medium
An image processing apparatus that is capable of, even in a case where browser screens are forcefully changed when the image processing apparatus changes in status during operation by a user, continuing operation through a screen displayed until just before the change of the browser screens when the image processing apparatus is restored. The status of the image processing apparatus is detected, and a screen is created according to the detected status of the image processing apparatus. The screen is displayed as a new tab when the image processing apparatus changes in status. |
| US08705089B2 |
Printer driver, storage medium, and information processing apparatus
A printer driver includes a plurality of modules, an interface unit that accepts the addition of plug-in including one or more additional modules for realizing a predetermined function, and a storage unit that stores setting information that defines information related to a partial process for realizing the predetermined function of the plug-in. The plurality of modules performs a process that is the partial process for realizing the predetermined function and cannot be realized in the additional modules included in the plug-in in accordance with the setting information. |
| US08705086B2 |
Arrangement for extracting document from scan made with cover open
A scanner, an image forming apparatus including the same, an image processing method of the scanner and a printing method of the image forming apparatus. The image processing method includes acquiring an environment image, acquiring a main scan image by scanning a document on a flatbed, and extracting a document image from the main scan image using the environment image when the document is scanned with the cover in an open position. |
| US08705085B2 |
Printer with power saving module and method for printing
A printer includes a data receiving unit, a print mechanism, a print controlling module and a power management module. The data receiving unit is capable of receiving a file from a client. The print mechanism is used for printing out the file into hard copy. The print controlling module is connected to the print mechanism for processing the file. The power management module is capable of detecting activity of the data receiving unit and supplying power to the printing controlling module and the print mechanism. When no file is received by the data receiving unit for a predetermined time, the power management module is capable of cutting off the power to print management module and the print mechanism. |
| US08705081B2 |
System and method for including input method information on a printed document
There is provided a print medium processing system including an identification information generating unit that receives input method information which is referred to when image data is inputted to an application which processes the image data, and generates identification information for the received input method information, an information memory that stores the generated identification information in a manner associated with the input method information, a printing unit that adds the identification information of the input method information to image data to be printed, and prints the image data, a reading unit that reads image data printed in a print medium, an extracting unit that extracts the identification information from the image data, an obtaining unit that obtains the input method information specified by the identification information extracted from the information memory, and a transferring unit that transfers the image data to an application specified from the input method information. |
| US08705076B2 |
Printing system and method thereof
A printing system includes a host which includes a storage having one or more folders, establishes one of the folders as a target folder, and generates path information of the target folder, and an image forming apparatus to acquire a list of image files stored in the target folder based on the path information, to request thumbnail images corresponding to the image files on the list from the host, and to display the thumbnail images on a predetermined display unit by downloading the thumbnail images from the host. The host converts the image files stored in the target folder into the thumbnail images and transmits the thumbnail images to the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus selects at least one among the thumbnail images and prints an image file corresponding to the selected thumbnail image by downloading the image file from the host. |
| US08705073B2 |
Density detection apparatus and method and image forming apparatus
A density detection apparatus includes the following elements. A storage unit stores therein image information. A measuring unit measures amounts of light components reflected by an image carrier or density detection images represented by the image information. A light amount obtaining unit obtains a variation in amounts of light components reflected by each region in which the associated density detection image is formed, and obtains, as a reference value, a representative value of the amounts of light components. An image correcting unit corrects the image information by changing an arrangement order of the density detection images. An image forming unit forms the density detection images on the image carrier on the basis of the corrected image information. A density obtaining unit obtains density levels of density detection images corresponding to their area ratios by using the amounts of light components reflected by the density detection images and the reference values. |
| US08705072B2 |
Server system and control method thereof, and computer-readable medium
A server system comprises acquisition unit that acquires print data from a document management server based on information for acquiring the print data using received first authorization information without executing the authentication processing based on authentication information; transmission unit that issues second authorization information which permits an access to a cooperation server by executing authentication processing based on the authentication information transmitted from the printer management server, and transmits the second authorization information to the printer management server; and providing unit that provides, to the printer, the print data acquired by the acquisition unit or another print data generated based on the acquired print data without executing the authentication processing based on the authentication information in response to reception of a print data acquisition request from the printer which receives the second authorization information. |
| US08705064B2 |
Broadcast secure printing system
A secure printing method includes providing a user terminal with a user interface. The user terminal and interface enable a user to select a secure printing mode for printing a document. In the secure printing mode, a secure print job stored in the user terminal is released through execution of a secure release procedure. In this way, the document can be printed at a selected one of a plurality of designated printers. When a user selects the secure printing mode, page description language data for the secure print job is generated in a format, or multiple formats, compatible with the designated printers. The page description language data is stored at the user terminal and a request is communicated to each of the designated printers. The request identifies the secure print job, but the job itself is not transmitted with the request. When the predefined secure release procedure is executed, the secure print job is released to a selected printer. |
| US08705062B2 |
Quotas in distributed scan management systems
A method and apparatus is provided for processing acquired document data, using distributed scan management protocols, according to a quota limiting amounts of data that may be stored at DSM system destinations. A scanning device includes a distributed scan management service that implements a distributed scan device protocol and a distributed scan processing protocol. The distributed scan management service is configured, responsive to a quota handler service (included at the scanning device) designating a verification success for scan data, to send the scan data and information for post scan processing instructions to a scan server. The quota handler service is configured to determine whether a size of the scan data exceeds a limit on an amount of data that may be sent to a particular destination, and, responsive to determining that the size of the scan data does not exceed the limit, designate a verification success for the scan data. |
| US08705059B2 |
Image processing apparatus
Disclosed is an image processing apparatus that can implement a job by effectively employing the charged electric power, generated and stored by the locally-equipped power generator, and can cope with such a job whose urgency level is specifically high. The apparatus includes a job implementing section to implement a job in regard to image data; an electric generator section; an electrical accumulator section; and a controlling section to change a job implementation mode between a first job implementation mode, in which the job is implemented by employing the electrical accumulator section after the electrical accumulator section is sufficiently charged by an electric power generated by the electric generator section, and a second job implementation mode, in which the job is instantaneously implemented by employing an external electric power source, when an amount of electric power charge, stored in the electrical accumulator section, is in short supply for implementing the job. |
| US08705057B2 |
Image processing apparatus, method for displaying interface screen, and computer-readable storage medium for computer program
An image processing apparatus having a plurality of functions includes a scroll display portion that displays a row of markers and a slider for specifying one or more markers sequentially by moving along the row, an image display portion that displays functional images for representing functions corresponding to the markers specified by the slider, a setting portion that receives setting item details for a function specified by one of the functional images selected, and an extraction portion that extracts a function having the setting item details received by the setting portion different from an initial value. The image display portion displays a functional image for a longer time when the functional image represents the function extracted by the extraction portion than when the functional image does not represent the function extracted by the extraction portion. |
| US08705050B2 |
Providing thermal compensation for topographic measurement at an elevated temperature using a non-contact vibration transducer
A mechanism for providing thermal compensation when measuring surface topography at an elevated temperature using a non-contact vibration transducer, such as a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV). Thermal compensation is provided to a detector output signal to correct for thermal diffraction of a reflected portion of a beam of radiant energy directed at a surface of a test object. The thermal compensation is based on a calculated deviation between the detector output signal r2 at an elevated temperature and the detector output signal r1 at approximately room temperature. In one embodiment, the thermal compensation mechanism calculates a stationary signal r3(t) which represents the detector output signal without noise and corrected for thermal diffraction at the elevated temperature according to the following equation: r 3 ( t ) = lim T → ∞ 1 / T ∫ - t / 2 + t / 2 r 2 * ( t ) * r 2 * ( t + Δ t ) ⅆ t , wherein T represents the total number of spectrums measured at the elevated temperature at multiple times upon which the compensation is based, and wherein r2*=r2−r2(baseline). |
| US08705049B2 |
Three-dimensional shape measuring apparatus, three-dimensional shape measuring method, and three-dimensional shape measuring program
A three-dimensional shape measuring apparatus measures by analyzing an optical pattern projected to the measurement target, and luminance of the optical pattern. The apparatus includes a mounting stage having a reference plane of a height of the measurement target, a measurement head that projects the optical pattern, to the measurement target and reference plane, to capture images of the optical patterns, and a displacement portion displaces the measurement head in a height direction. A phase computing portion computes a phase of the optical pattern in a certain pixel included in the captured image. A height computing portion computes a height of the measurement target based on the phase, and a feed amount computing portion computes a displacement amount based on the height. The height computing portion computes the height based on the phase and corrects the height based on the displacement amount, thereby computing the height of the measurement target. |
| US08705048B2 |
Spectral domain optical coherence tomography system
An optical coherence tomography device is disclosed for improved imaging. Reduced levels of speckle in the images generated by the device are obtained by forming a B-scan from a plurality of A-scans, wherein each resolution cell of the B-scan is generated through compounding of a subset of the A-scans and wherein at least some of the subset of A-scans are separated by at least half the diameter of a speckle cell both tangent to and orthogonal to the B-scan at that cell. |
| US08705047B2 |
Optical coherence tomography imaging system and method
An optical imaging system includes an optical radiation source, a frequency clock module outputting frequency clock signals, an optical interferometer, a data acquisition (DAQ) device triggered by the frequency clock signals, and a computer to perform multi-dimensional optical imaging of the samples. The frequency clock signals are processed by software or hardware to produce a record containing frequency-time relationship of the optical radiation source to externally clock the sampling process of the DAQ device. The system may employ over-sampling and various digital signal processing methods to improve image quality. The system further includes multiple stages of routers connecting the light source with a plurality of interferometers and a DAQ system externally clocked by frequency clock signals to perform high-speed multi-channel optical imaging of samples. |
| US08705043B2 |
Height measurement by correlating intensity with position of scanning object along optical axis of a structured illumination microscope
A method for imaging an object using a microscope includes obtaining axial response data, the axial response data representative of a relationship between a separation between a top surface of the object and an objective lens of the microscope and an intensity of light reflected by the top surface of the object; positioning the object at a distance from the objective lens that is within a linear region of the axial response data; sequentially illuminating the object with a plurality of periodic patterns; obtaining a plurality of images of the object, each image resulting from the illumination of the object with a corresponding one of the plurality of periodic patterns; determining a reconstructed image of the object based on the plurality of images of the object; and, based on variations in the intensity of the reconstructed image, determining a topographic profile of the top surface of the object. |
| US08705042B2 |
Microscopy system, microscopy method and method of treating an aneurysm
A microscopy system and a microscopy method are provided for observing a fluorescent substance accumulated in a tissue. The microscopy system comprises a filter allowing to observe the tissue at a same time both with visible light and with fluorescent light. It is possible to observe a series of previously recorded fluorescent light images in superposition with the visible light images. An end of the series of images may be automatically determined. A thermal protective filter may be inserted into a beam path of an illuminating system at such automatically determined end of the series. |
| US08705039B2 |
Surface plasmon resonance sensor using vertical illuminating focused-beam ellipsometer
Provided is a multi-channel surface plasmon resonance sensor using beam profile ellipsometry; and, more particularly, to a high sensitive measuring technology, which is coupled with a vertical illumination type focused-beam ellipsometer using a multi-incident angle measurement method, and a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing part deposited with a metal thin film. The multi-channel surface plasmon resonance sensor includes a vertical illumination type focused-beam ellipsometer, in which light is polarized; a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing part which is provided at the objective lens part of the focused-beam ellipsometer so as to generate SPR according to an angle change of the polarized light; and a flow unit which supplies a buffer solution containing a bio material binding to or dissociation from the metal thin film generating surface plasmon, wherein the SPR and the ellipsometric phase change by change in an angle and a wavelength are simultaneously detected. |
| US08705037B2 |
Liquid densitometer
A liquid component concentration meter measures the concentration of a liquid in a liquid supply tube from outside the liquid supply tube. The concentration meter includes a liquid supply tube; a light transmission unit; a light emission unit for irradiating light to the light transmission unit; a light reception unit for receiving light passed through the light transmission unit; a support member that movably supports the light emission unit and the light reception unit such that a measurement position is moved along the light transmission unit; a measurement-position moving mechanism for moving the support member such that the measurement position is moved within a predetermined area in the light transmission unit; and a data processing unit for calculating the concentration of the liquid in the liquid supply tube based on intensities of light received by the light reception unit at different measurement positions. |
| US08705036B2 |
Method and device for determining the static and/or dynamic scattering of light
The invention relates to a method and device for determining the static and/or dynamic scattering of light. In the method, a plurality of different zones within a sample vessel (6) is illuminated during various time periods, wherein light is scattered on the sample. The scattered light is detected by means of a plurality of detectors (11, 12, 13, 14), wherein during the implementation of the method each detector captures scattered light from a plurality of different zones, and during a time period each detector detects scattered light from one zone and generates a signal. Said signals are transmitted to an electronic evaluation unit and are processed by said unit, wherein in each case those signals which are generated by the same detector and result from the detection of scattered light from the same zone are processed together. |
| US08705035B2 |
Target generation device
A device for determining a target generation condition for a target generator which is driven by a pulse voltage to generate a droplet of a target material may include a detector configured to detect a target generated by the target generator and output a detection signal of the target, and a controller configured to control a pulse duration of the pulse voltage for driving the target generator. The controller can determine whether or not a target is generated by the target generator based on the detection signal, and determine whether or not the generated target includes a plurality of droplets based on the detection signal. |
| US08705029B2 |
System and method for detection of analytes in exhaled breath
A device, system, and methods are disclosed for detecting the presence or determining a quantitative amount of at least one drug substance from exhaled breath of a subject in-situ. A collecting surface has a Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)-active layer that comprises at least one SERS-active material. The collecting surface is arranged as an outer surface of a waveguide for contact with exhaled breath, such that at least traces of said at least one drug substance in said exhaled breath can contact said SERS-active layer for read-out of a Raman shift spectrum that is detected in-situ for said detecting the presence or determining the quantitative amount of said at least one drug substance from said exhaled breath. |
| US08705028B2 |
Containerized systems
Containerized systems are provided. In one embodiment, a containerized system includes a moveable three-dimensional container, a first generator, a second generator, and a scanner. The first generator is located within the container, and the second generator is located outside of the container. The scanner is mechanically supported by the container and transmits waves received from the first and the second generators. The containerized system optionally includes one or more rails connected to the outside of the container, and the scanner moves along the one or more rails. The containerized system may also include a multi-axes arm that positions the scanner and that is mechanically supported by the container. Furthermore, the containerized system may include an interferometer, an electronics rack, and/or an air conditioning unit. |
| US08705023B2 |
Testing apparatus and method for testing light emitting diode lamp
Disclosed is an apparatus for testing an LED lamp which includes: a secured seat on which the LED lamp is seated; an up and down shifter which, when the LED lamp is seated on the secured seat, shifts from an initial position spaced upward from the LED lamp to a measurement position in which the up and down shifter contacts with a socket of the LED lamp, and which supplies electric power to the LED lamp when the up and down shifter is placed in the measurement position, and a sensor sensing that the up and down shifter is placed in the measurement position; and a quality determining means determining a quality of the LED lamp based on light emitted from the LED lamp, and comprising an illuminometer or a luminance meter. |
| US08705022B2 |
Navigation system using both GPS and laser reference
A machine control system uses a laser system and global navigation satellite system to determine the position of the machine. The laser system has a laser detector positioned in a known and fixed relationship with the nominal phase center of a global navigation satellite antenna. The laser detector receives laser light transmitted from a laser transmitter. The outputs of the laser system and the global navigation satellite system are used together to determine the position of the transmitter prior to being used to determine the position of the machine. |
| US08705021B2 |
Inspecting device, inspecting method, and method for manufacturing optical fiber
A detector sequentially detects intensity distribution of transmitted light which is transmitted through a center portion of a preform. A determining section determines at least one of a position of a through hole and a size thereof on the basis of a time series of a feature value in the intensity distribution. |
| US08705015B2 |
Integrated ambient light sensor and distance sensor
An integrated proximity and light sensor includes a first light-emitting device, a second light-emitting device, and a light sensing circuit configured as a single package. The light sensing circuit is configured to control the first light-emitting device and the second light-emitting device to emit light therefrom. Further, the light sensing circuit is configured to detect an ambient light level and to detect a reflection of the light emitted by the first light-emitting device from a surface for proximity detection. The light sensing circuit is also configured to control the second light-emitting device to stop emitting light therefrom for one or more of the ambient light level detection and the proximity detection. |
| US08705014B2 |
Radiation sensor for detecting the position and intensity of a radiation source
A radiation sensor is provided for detecting the position and intensity of a radiation source. The radiation sensor includes at least one photodetector having a radiation-sensitive surface. Furthermore, the radiation sensor includes a reflector that reflects the radiation emitted by a radiation source from specific directions at least partly in the direction of the radiation-sensitive surface of the photodetector. The reflector is arranged on that side of the radiation sensor that is remote from the radiation source. |
| US08705013B2 |
Diffractive optical element, distance measuring apparatus and distance measuring method
The present invention provides a small diffractive optical element that emits twisted beam, a small distance measuring apparatus and a distance measuring method using a small diffractive optical element. A diffractive optical element includes a first diffractive grating that twists, in a coordinate space defined by an x-axis, a y-axis and a z-axis, parallel light forming a flat plane parallel to the x-axis and going advance in the z-axis direction so that an angle of the flat plane relative to the x-axis becomes a predetermined angle at a location where the parallel light traveling in the z-axis by a predetermined distance reaches. |
| US08705007B2 |
Inspection apparatus, lithographic apparatus, lithographic processing cell and inspection method
For angular resolved spectrometry a radiation beam is used having an illumination profile having four quadrants is used. The first and third quadrants are illuminated whereas the second and fourth quadrants aren't illuminated. The resulting pupil plane is thus also divided into four quadrants with only the zeroth order diffraction pattern appearing in the first and third quadrants and only the first order diffraction pattern appearing in the second and third quadrants. |
| US08705006B2 |
Method and device for connecting an optical element to a frame
A method and a device for the material-fit connection of an optical element to a frame are disclosed. |
| US08704993B2 |
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display includes a first insulation substrate, a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines disposed on the first insulation substrate, a plurality of thin film transistors connected to the plurality of gate lines and the plurality of data lines, a plurality of pixel electrodes connected to the plurality of thin film transistors, a second insulation substrate disposed substantially opposite to the first insulation substrate; a plurality of column spacers disposed between the first and second insulation substrates and which supports the first and second insulation substrates, a light blocking member disposed on the first insulation substrate and including a sheet portion which includes an opening, a height controlling member disposed at the opening of the sheet portion of the light blocking member, where the plurality of column spacers is disposed on the height controlling member or the light blocking member. |
| US08704991B2 |
Liquid crystal display device capable of compensatng for a resistance variation in a link unit
Provided is an LCD capable of compensating for a resistance variation in a link unit. The resistance variations in the gate lines, data lines and common lines are reduced to minimize the signal distortion in the LCD. Accordingly, it is possible to enhance the image quality characteristics of the LCD. The resistance variation can be reduced by adjusting the number or the size of contact holes in the link unit. |
| US08704989B2 |
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is provided including: a display section including a plurality of pixels, a first substrate and a second substrate which are disposed opposite to each other with liquid crystal therebetween in the display section, pixel electrodes which are provided over one of the first substrate and the second substrate on a pixel basis and which each do not have a slit or opening in plan view, and a common electrode which is formed over the pixel electrodes, with an organic interlayer film composed of an organic film therebetween, and which has a plurality of slits. |
| US08704988B2 |
In-plane field type liquid crystal display device comprising liquid crystal molecules with more than two kinds of reorientation directions
A liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate, a pixel electrode and a counter electrode, an insulation film, and a first orientation film formed over the pixel electrode and the counter electrode on the first substrate, the first orientation film being responsive to a radiated polarized light to obtain an initial orientation direction. A second substrate is opposed to the first substrate, a second orientation film is formed over the second substrate, and a liquid crystal is sealed between the first and second substrates. The first and second orientation films are made of polyimide, the liquid crystal has negative dielectric anisotropy, and the liquid crystal display device is normally in a black mode. An angle formed between the electric field and the initial orientation direction of the first orientation film is in a range of greater than 0° to 45°. |
| US08704987B2 |
Graded index birefringent component and manufacturing method thereof
A graded index birefringent component is described and shown with at least one liquid crystal layer having a plurality of lens segments, wherein the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules varies across each lens segment of the liquid crystal layer. |
| US08704984B2 |
Method of preparing composite optical retarder
A method of preparing a composite optical retarder is provided. A first and a second liquid crystal coating materials are respectively disposed on opposite surfaces of a photoalignment film to respectively form a first and a second optical retarders. The composite optical retarder having the photoalignment film sandwiched by the first and the second optical retarders is thus obtained. |
| US08704981B2 |
Method of producing light-reflective film
Provided is a method of producing a light-reflective film that can prevent the blocking of a liquid crystal layer and a support without lowering transparency of the film.The method includes a step of coating a curable liquid crystal composition that contains a curable cholesteric liquid crystal compound onto one surface of a support of which a surface roughness Ra of the other surface thereof is 4.5 nm to 25 nm; a step of aligning the curable cholesteric liquid crystal compound to make a state of a cholesteric liquid crystal phase aligned by heating the coated curable liquid crystal composition; a step of irradiating in which a light-reflecting layer where the cholesteric liquid crystal phase has been fixed is formed by advancing a curing reaction of the curable liquid crystal composition; and a step of charging the support and the light-reflecting layer with the same polarity. |
| US08704975B2 |
Electroluminescent displays
An electroluminescent display comprising a mask defining the information to be displayed and an electroluminescent (EL) backlight. The mask compress a layer (13) of physically-stabilized liquid crystal switchable to define the information to be displayed mounted in front of an EL layer (16) of the backlight. At least one pair of electrodes (12, 20) are arranged to generate, in use, an electric field across both the EL layer (16) and the LC layer (13). A barrier layer (15) is provided between the LC layer (13) and the EL layer (16) that restricts migration of liquid crystal from the LC layer (13) to the EL layer (16). |
| US08704968B2 |
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display (LCD) includes an outer cover, a backlight module, a liquid crystal panel, and a bezel. The backlight module includes a reflection sheet, a light guide plate (LGP), an edge reflector, and a light source. The reflection sheet is disposed on the outer cover and faces the outer cover. There is an interval between the outer cover and the reflection sheet. The LGP is stacked on the reflection sheet and the edge reflector is disposed on the outer cover, wherein a containing space is defined by the outer cover and the edge reflector. The light source is disposed in the containing space. The liquid crystal panel is stacked on the LGP. The bezel is assembled to the outer cover. The outer cover and the bezel enclose the backlight module and the liquid crystal panel and the bezel exposes the liquid crystal panel. |
| US08704966B2 |
Pixel array, active device array substrate and flat display panel
A pixel array including a pixel electrode and an active device is provided. The active device includes a gate, a channel layer, a source, a drain, a connection electrode, a first branch portion and a second branch portion. The gate is electrically connected with a scan line. The channel layer located at a side of the gate is electrically isolated from the gate. The source, the drain and the connection electrode are disposed on a part region of the channel layer. The first branch portion disposed on a part region of the channel layer is connected with an end of the connection electrode. The first branch portion surrounds the source located on the channel layer. The second branch portion disposed on a part region of the channel layer is connected with the other end of the connection electrode. The second branch portion surrounds the drain located on the channel layer. |
| US08704958B2 |
Image display device and operation method thereof
An image display device and method may be provided for pairing with a remote control device for transmitting a command to the image display device. Upon power-on, the image display device may be paired with the remote control device. When the image display device is power-on, a guide screen may be displayed to indicate how to pair the image display device with the remote control device. A user may easily pair the remote control device with the image display device through the pairing guide screen. |
| US08704954B2 |
Signal output device and signal output method
A signal output device includes a signal output unit to output a video signal based on input image data, a storage unit to store the image data, a detection unit to detect whether or not the number of frames included in one set of image data stored in the storage unit satisfies a predetermined number, and a data creating unit to add, if the number of the frames included in the one set of image data does not satisfy the predetermined number, a new frame to the one set of image data so that the number of the frames included in the one set of image data satisfies the predetermined number, and to input, to the signal output unit, the one set of image data to which the new frame has been added. |
| US08704951B1 |
Efficient 2D adaptive noise thresholding for video processing
Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide techniques for performing video denoising (VDN). An adaptive noise threshold is dynamically determined and used to distinguish between frame to frame differences in pixel values that relate to image motion from those differences that relate to noise. The disclosed techniques enable the noise threshold to be continuously updated, for example as frequently as once per frame, so that the noise threshold may closely track to varying levels of noise in the input video data. The techniques may be implemented in, for example, a video format conversion apparatus. Advantageously, the techniques may be incorporated in programmable logic devices (PLD's) or Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA's) configurable to perform video format conversion, while adding only modest additional computational demands on the apparatus. |
| US08704950B2 |
Method of and apparatus for maintaining smooth video transition between distinct applications
A method and apparatus for maintaining smooth video transition between distinct applications includes a processor, a secondary memory and a system memory. In providing a smooth transition between applications, the apparatus and method provides synchronization of the video and graphics components while transitioning from a first application to a second application. If there is no video component in either application, no action is needed to provide a smooth transition between applications, and when only the first application includes a video component, the video component need only be turned off for smooth transition between the applications to occur. When both the first application and the second application include video components, smooth transition between the applications is dependent upon the display window size of the first application in comparison to the second application. A process is triggered according to the size of the display windows of the first and second applications. |
| US08704948B2 |
Apparatus, systems and methods for presenting text identified in a video image
Systems and methods are operable to present text identified in a presented video image of a media content event. An exemplary embodiment receives a complete video frame that is associated with a presented video image of a video content event, wherein the presented video image includes a region of text; finds the text in the complete video frame; uses an optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm to translate the found text; and presents the translated text. The translated text may be presented on a display concurrently with the video image that is presented on the display. Alternatively, or additionally, the translated text may be presented as audible speech emitted from at least one speaker. |
| US08704944B1 |
Handheld modular digital photography system
A handheld modular digital photography system is provided. A lens assembly includes a plurality of lens elements aligned on an optical axis to form an optical image on a plane of a digital image sensor. Both the lens elements and image sensor are fixedly mounted within a lens barrel. The image sensor is electrically-interfaced to a controller with a wireless transceiver. A modular chassis includes a structural frame, lens mount, and shutter control. The structural frame includes a cradle shaped to securely hold a handheld mobile device and an electrical coupler configured to electronically interface with the mobile device. The lens mount is on an outer surface of the modular chassis. The shutter control is provided to electrically signal the mobile device. The mobile device wirelessly sends the signal to the controller, which triggers image capture by the image sensor and wireless relay of the captured image to the mobile device. |
| US08704940B2 |
Imaging device and focusing control method
An imaging device includes an image pick-up device including phase difference detection pixel pairs, each formed from a pair of phase difference detection pixels respectively having their openings eccentrically formed on opposite sides of a main axis of an imaging lens, and imaging pixel pairs; a reading section that reads out signals from the pixels arrayed in the image pick-up device using a rolling shutter method; a first correlation computation section that performs correlation computation on the signals from the phase difference detection pixel pairs; a second correlation computation section that performs correlation computation on the signals from the imaging pixel pairs; a correction section that corrects a result from the first correlation computation section using a result from the second correlation computation section; and a focusing section that performs focus control using the corrected result. |
| US08704934B2 |
Solid-state imaging device having pixels arranged in a honeycomb structure
A solid-state imaging device includes: a light-receiving element making a photoelectric conversion and being disposed in each of a plurality of pixels, wherein a honeycomb structure in which a predetermined pixel is surrounded with six pixels neighboring the predetermined pixel out of the plurality of pixels or a structure in which one to three pixels out of the six neighboring pixels are omitted from the honeycomb structure is used as a basic unit. |
| US08704930B2 |
Image display apparatus, imaging apparatus, image display method, and program
This image display apparatus includes a display unit that displays at least an image, an operation input unit that is divided into a plurality of areas, predetermined operations being assigned to the respective areas, and a control unit that displays an operation manual screen on the display unit for a predetermined time when a full-screen display process starts, that presents content of the operations assigned to the respective areas of the operation input unit by the screen, and that performs control to perform, when one of the areas is pressed, the operation assigned to the area. |
| US08704925B2 |
Image sensing apparatus including a single-plate image sensor having five or more brands
Solid-state image sensing elements p and q arranged on an image sensor at a higher density than other solid-state image sensing elements are configured so that the focus error amount due to the axial chromatic aberration of an imaging lens between the solid-state image sensing elements p and q is equal to or larger than an amount corresponding to the depth of focus in a maximum aperture. Also, the imaging lens has a f-number which allows the focus error amount to fall within the range between the two ends of the depth of focus. |
| US08704923B2 |
Solid-state imager and signal processing system
A solid-state imager includes a pixel unit for converting incident light into an electrical signal, a substrate bearing the pixel unit formed thereon, an analog-to-digital converter, formed on the substrate, for converting a signal read from the pixel unit into a digital signal, an optical communication unit, arranged on the bottom surface of the substrate opposite the surface of the substrate bearing opposite the top surface of the substrate bearing the pixel unit receiving the incident light, for converting the digital signal converted by the analog-to-digital converter into a light signal and outputting the light signal, and a signal line for transferring the digital signal, converted by the analog-to-digital converter, to the optical communication unit arranged on the bottom surface of the substrate. |
| US08704921B2 |
Solid-state imaging device, manufacturing method thereof, and camera with grouped on-chip lens formation
A solid-state imaging device includes: photodiodes formed for pixels arranged on a light sensing surface of a semiconductor substrate; a signal reading unit formed on the semiconductor substrate to read a signal charge or a voltage; an insulating film formed on the semiconductor substrate and including optical waveguides; color filters formed on the insulating film; and on-chip lenses formed on the color filters. The first and second pixel combinations are alternately arranged both in the horizontal and vertical directions, the first pixel combination having a layout in which two green pixels are arranged both in the horizontal and vertical directions and a total of four pixels are arranged, the second pixel combination having a layout in which two pixels are arranged both in the horizontal and vertical directions, a total of four pixels are arranged, and two red pixels and two blue pixels are arranged cater cornered. |
| US08704920B2 |
Color filter array
The present invention relates to a color filter array. The color filter array includes a plurality of pixel arrays, which has four color filters arranged in an array. The color of the neighboring color filters is distinct to each other. Moreover, the pattern of the color filter array has enlarged color filters or extended edges in corners of the pattern. These enlarged color filters or extended edges increase the contact area between the pattern and a substrate that the pattern formed on. Therefore, the adhesion strength between the pattern and the substrate can be augmented to prevent peeling from the substrate. According to the invention, the yield of the product will be raised substantially. |
| US08704913B2 |
Image recording apparatus, image recording method, and storage medium storing program, for use in recording shot images
A map range determination unit determines a map range that includes all of the shooting locations of the image data items selected by the image selection unit. A map image creation unit creates a map image of a map range determined by the map range determination unit based on the map information. A superimposition unit superimposes symbols representing the shooting locations of the image data items selected by the image selection unit on a map image created by the map image creation unit. A index page insertion unit inserts a map image on which symbols have been superimposed by the superimposition unit into the electronic photo album in the form of an index page of the electronic photo album. |
| US08704906B2 |
Mobile phone terminal with camera function and control method thereof for fast image capturing
A mobile phone terminal with a camera function includes a camera hardware section having an image sensor and a camera lens, an instruction input section for inputting an instruction to start image capturing, an illumination sensor which is arranged on an outer surface of a housing and detects an ambient illumination value while a mobile phone function is activated, and an image capturing start control section. The image capturing start control section sets camera driver software into a standby state after starting it while the mobile phone function is activated. When an instruction to start image capturing is inputted from the instruction input section, the image capturing start control section determines an exposure value used for image capturing by using the detected illumination value, restores the camera driver software, and causes the camera hardware section to perform image capturing using the exposure value. |
| US08704894B2 |
Display device, television receiver, and method for starting up display device
Disclosed is a display device provided with a circuit board applicable to various models, wherein the operations of a system microcomputer on the circuit board can be switched without using a physical connector. The display device is provided with: a main board applicable to various models; and a TV microcomputer, which is provided on the main board and stores the set value data of each of the models. The main board is provided with: an external memory I/F which has external memory said external memory storing the model identifying information of the display device stored. The TV microcomputer specifies the set value data of the display device on the basis of the model identifying information of the display device, said model identifying information having been read out from the external memory, and the TV microcomputer switches the operation on the basis of the specified set value data. |
| US08704893B2 |
Ambient presentation of surveillance data
A system and method for presentation of surveillance data includes a first environment including one or more sensors configured to monitor the first environment wherein data is collected by the one or more sensors. A second environment includes one or more information presentation devices configured to convey an event or state occurring in the first environment by altering an ambient sensory condition in the second environment, such that the ambient sensory condition is modified in accordance with a type and/or level of the event or state. |
| US08704892B2 |
Electronic mirror
An electronic mirror includes a first display section, a second display sections and a half mirror disposed between the display sections. The first display section displays a surrounding image captured by an imaging device in a display region. The second display section displays a frame image that has a shape taken along an outer periphery of the display region. A distance between the first display section and a point of the half mirror is greater than a distance between the second display section and the point the half mirror so that the frame image is offset relative to the outer periphery of the surrounding image when viewed in the half mirror. |
| US08704889B2 |
Method and apparatus for acquiring images of car license plates
Apparatus and method for acquiring images of car license plates, the apparatus is configured to be part of an LPR (License Plate Recognition) system. The apparatus includes a camera, a multi band-pass filter, LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) and an illumination control board. The camera is configured for acquiring the images, having a focus shift corrected lens. The multi band-pass filter is coupled to the focus shift corrected lens, being configured for allowing only wavelengths of multiple predetermined spectrum ranges to reach the lens. Each one of said LEDs is configured for emitting light in at least one of the multiple predetermined spectrum ranges for the purpose of illuminating the car license plates and their vicinity. The illumination control board is coupled to the LEDs and to the camera, for controlling operation thereof. |
| US08704887B2 |
Multi-object appearance-enhanced fusion of camera and range sensor data
A transportation vehicle configured to track an object external to the vehicle. The vehicle includes a camera, a range sensor, and an on-board computer. The on-board computer includes a processor and a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform select steps. The steps include determining that new-object data corresponding to the object is available based on input received from the sensor sub-system of the vehicle. The steps also include registering the new-object data and estimating an expected location and an expected appearance for the object according to a prediction algorithm to generate a predicted track corresponding to the object. The steps also include analyzing motion for the object including comparing the predicted track with any existing track associated with the object and stored in a database of the on-board computer. |
| US08704886B2 |
Methods and apparatus to form a wavelet representation of a pathology slide having glass and tissue regions
Example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to form a wavelet representation of a pathology slide having glass and tissue regions are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes capturing a digital image of a pathology slide, identifying a portion of the digital image that represents a glass portion of the slide, and storing a value representing that the wavelet coefficients for the identified glass portion of the slide are unused without computing a wavelet transform for the identified glass portion. |
| US08704882B2 |
Simulated head mounted display system and method
To overcome problems with vergence, a binocular head mounted display (HMD) is used in a simulator in which an out-the-window scene is displayed in real time on a screen arrangement. Imagery for the left and right eyes of the HMD is derived by generating a starting HMD image for a Cyclops viewpoint between the user's eves, and then rendering respective views for each eve from the position of the eye in a virtual 3D model of the screen arrangement, wherein the starting HMD image is frustum projected against the screen arrangement of the 3D model. |
| US08704879B1 |
Eye tracking enabling 3D viewing on conventional 2D display
The exemplary illustrative non-limiting technology herein enables 3D viewing on conventional 2D displays such as home television sets by tracking a person's viewpoint. Detecting a player's viewpoint movement to change the viewing of the displayed object gives the illusion that the object is physically present in three-dimensional space. Viewpoint movement detection can provide collision-related game logic benefits such as allowing a player to dodge projectiles, giving a game character an ability to “see” the player when not behind line-of-sight obstacles, and other advantages. |
| US08704875B2 |
Apparatus for generating real-time stereoscopic image and method thereof
Disclosed is an apparatus and method for generating a real-time stereoscopic image from depth map. According to the depth information of the image, a depth-image-based rendering (DIBR) algorithm is used to shift (or move) the position of the object in the image to generate the stereoscopic image with parallax. When the object is shifted (or moved) away from its original position, a hole will occur in the original position. Therefore an image inpainting algorithm is developed to fill the hole. In order to achieve the real-time application, a hardware architecture and method have been developed to accomplish the DIBR and image inpainting algorithm. |
| US08704873B2 |
Receiving stream data which may be used to implement both two-dimensional display and three-dimensional display
There is provided a stream receiving device including an information receiving unit for receiving stream control information for a 3D stream to be distributed from an exterior over a network, the stream control information being described using metadata, a stream securing unit for executing a process related to securing of the 3D stream to be distributed using the stream control information received by the information receiving unit before the 3D stream is distributed, and reserving the stream, and a stream receiving unit for receiving the 3D stream distributed over the network based on the result of reservation in the stream securing unit. |
| US08704872B2 |
Method and device for switching video pictures
A method and device for switching video pictures are disclosed in the invention, which belong to video conference field. Said method includes: obtaining correspondence relations between participants and venues; finding, when a participant is called, a venue corresponding to the called participant according to the correspondence relations; and switching the video pictures to the venue corresponding to the called participant. According to the invention, it is possible to find the venue corresponding to the called participant according to the correspondence relations, and automatically switch the video to the venue or request to an MCU for switching the video to the venue, without a manual intervention of the participant or waiting for a response from the participant, so that continuity of the video conference is ensured, the video pictures can be switched in time, and “face to face” communion experience of the participants in the video conference is improved. |
| US08704870B2 |
Multiway telepresence without a hardware MCU
System and method for performing a videoconference. The videoconference may be established between at least three videoconferencing locations. Each videoconferencing location may include respective pluralities of displays, video inputs, and videoconferencing units. A first videoconferencing unit at a first videoconferencing location may receive an indication that there is an active talker at the first videoconferencing location. An indication that there is an active talker at the first videoconferencing location may also be provided to a second videoconferencing unit at the first videoconferencing location. The first and second videoconferencing units may provide signals to corresponding videoconferencing units at second and third videoconferencing locations indicating that videoconferencing signals from the first videoconferencing location should be displayed. The second and third videoconferencing locations may switch to display videoconferencing signals from the first videoconferencing location based on the signals which indicate that videoconferencing signals from the first videoconferencing location should be displayed. |
| US08704867B2 |
Method and system for optimal balance and spatial consistency
A method for assigning video signals includes receiving a plurality of video signals from a plurality of cameras located at one or more remote sites, the plurality of video signals for display on a plurality of monitors at a local site. The method includes determining an optimal monitor for displaying a first video signal associated with a first camera based on the location and alignment of the first camera in relation to one or more of the plurality of cameras. The method includes calculating a respective difference between a number of video signals assigned to the optimal monitor and a respective number of video signals assigned to each respective monitor of the plurality of monitors. The method further includes assigning the first video signal to the optimal monitor if the respective difference is not greater than a threshold value with respect to each of the plurality of monitors. |
| US08704862B2 |
Semiconductor composite device, method of manufacturing the same, optical print head and image forming apparatus
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor composite device, including steps of: preparing a substrate comprising circuit elements, which are part of a driving circuit; attaching an array of driven elements onto the substrate via a passivation layer, the array being formed of a semiconductor thin film having a crystal structure wherein the driven elements are arrayed to be driven by the driving circuit; and forming a metal wire by a photo-lithography method such that the circuit elements are electrically connected with the metal wire to form the driving circuit and the driving circuit is electrically connected to the driven elements with the metal wire. |
| US08704859B2 |
Dynamic display adjustment based on ambient conditions
The techniques disclosed herein use a display device, in conjunction with various optical sensors, e.g., an ambient light sensor or image sensors, to collect information about the ambient conditions in the environment of a viewer of the display device. Use of these optical sensors, in conjunction with knowledge regarding characteristics of the display device, can provide more detailed information about the effects the ambient conditions in the viewer's environment may have on the viewing experience. A processor in communication with the display device may create an ambient model based at least in part on the predicted effects of the ambient environmental conditions on the viewing experience. The ambient model may be used to adjust the gamma, black point, white point, or a combination thereof, of the display device's tone response curve, such that the viewer's perception remains relatively independent of the ambient conditions in which the display is being viewed. |
| US08704857B2 |
Three-dimensional display device, mobile terminal and three-dimensional display tracking method
A three-dimensional display device is provided in the present disclosure. The three-dimensional display device includes an image displaying device, an optical control element, a direction sensor and a control unit. The optical control element is positioned on a surface of the image displaying device, the direction sensor measures and inclination angle of the display panel, and the control unit adjusts images displayed by the image displaying device according to the inclination angle. The three-dimensional display device of the present disclosure has the advantages of fast tracking speed, high tracking precision and low cost. A mobile terminal and a three-dimensional display tracking method are also provided in the present disclosure. |
| US08704855B1 |
Force measurement system having a displaceable force measurement assembly
A force measurement system having a displaceable force measurement assembly includes: a force measurement assembly with a surface configured to receive a subject, and having at least one force transducer; at least one actuator operatively coupled to the force measurement assembly, the at least one actuator configured to displace the force measurement assembly; at least one visual display device having an output screen, the at least one visual display device configured to display one or more virtual reality scenes on the output screen so as to create a simulated environment for the subject; and one or more data processing devices operatively coupled to the force measurement assembly, the at least one actuator, and the at least one visual display device. In one or more embodiments, a method for testing a subject disposed on a displaceable force measurement assembly is further disclosed. |
| US08704850B2 |
Two-dimensional object packing
Various embodiments enable visual elements or objects, such as two-dimensional raster images, to be packed into a bounding region, such as a rectangular bounding region, in a manner that reduces wasted space. In at least some embodiments, a two-dimensional object packing component attempts to fit individual objects into the bounding region. The two-dimensional object packing component utilizes a span list to keep track of available space by tracking spans within the bounding region. Spans can occur laterally-adjacent placed objects and/or adjacent a placed object's bottom edge. In one or more embodiments, the span list is sorted left-to-right, top-to-bottom. |
| US08704848B2 |
Calibration system and method thereof for calibrating display
A transform model is established by the calibration system for color transformation between a first color space and a second color space. Three first target curves are defined and transformed by the transform model so as to establish three look-up tables. The display is calibrated according to the three look-up tables such that the color temperature of the display may be substantially constant for every gray-level. |
| US08704846B2 |
Information processing device and method, program, and information processing system
An information processing device, configured to perform color gamut conversion for compressing or enlarging the color gamut of image data, includes: a selecting unit configured to select a plurality of coordinate movement directions to be synthesized for determining the coordinate movement destination of a pixel to be processed during the color gamut conversion; a coordinate moving unit configured to move the coordinates of the pixel to be processed in each of the selected plurality of directions; and a synthesizing unit configured to synthesize coordinate movement in the selected plurality of directions. |
| US08704844B2 |
Power saving field sequential color
In embodiments of power saving field sequential color (FSC), an illumination source illuminates pixels of a displayable image by sequentially generating RGB (red, green, blue) components of a pixel in a timed sequence of field sequential color. The pixels of a displayable image may also include a white component derived from the RGB components. An illumination reduction algorithm is implemented to determine the highest RGB (or RGBW) components from any of the pixels of the displayable image. The highest RGB (or RGBW) components can be determined from any combination of the same or different pixels of the displayable image. The illumination reduction algorithm then divides each of the highest RGB (or RGBW) components by a maximum brightness value to generate respective RGB (or RGBW) component factors. A display controller then processes each pixel of the displayable image for display according to the RGB (or RGBW) component factors. |
| US08704843B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method
An image processing apparatus according to the present invention, comprises: a motion detection unit that detects a motion vector from an input image; a determination unit that determines whether an image is moving in each pixel in use of the detected motion vector, and determines whether a motion pixel, about which determination has been made that the image is moving therein, exists in a predetermined range from a still pixel about which determination has been made that the image is not moving therein; and a correction unit that performs correction processing to decrease at least one of high frequency components, contrast, and luminance for the still pixel about which determination has been made that a motion pixel exists in the predetermined range. |
| US08704841B2 |
Method and apparatus for the digital creation of fur effects
A system and method to generate digital representations of hair or animal fur on surfaces. In one embodiment the system and method includes methods to automatically place hairs on surfaces, comb the placed hairs, adjust the hairs on surface boundaries to ensure continuity across surface patches, selectively break hairs along fur tracks, and selectively clump hairs to provide wet fur looks. Rendering techniques are applied to the hairs to produce realistic two-dimensional images. |
| US08704837B2 |
High-level program interface for graphics operations
Disclosed is a system for producing images including an application program interface. The system includes an API and techniques for creating images by defining relationships between filters and images, such relationships programmatically assembled in an object by a cooperative session between a requesting application and a graphics services resource. The system also includes aspects regarding optimization of the programmatically assembled object and techniques for rendering in multi-processor environment. |
| US08704831B2 |
Irradiance rigs
Techniques are disclosed for using a local lighting representation to explicitly model spatial variation of a character in a graphics scene as well as for using error driven criteria to determine whether to evaluate a given light source analytically or in a lighting rig. For near light sources, the error driven criteria may be used to determine when a spherical light source should be evaluated in the lighting rig verses analytically. For large characters, local irradiance models may be used to provide a limited form of spatial variation. |
| US08704829B2 |
Avatar eye control in a multi-user animation environment
In a multi-participant modeled virtual reality environment, avatars are modeled beings that include moveable eyes creating the impression of an apparent gaze direction. Control of eye movement may be performed autonomously using software to select and prioritize targets in a visual field. Sequence and duration of apparent gaze may then be controlled using automatically determined priorities. Optionally, user preferences for object characteristics may be factored into determining priority of apparent gaze. Resulting modeled avatars are rendered on client displays to provide more lifelike and interesting avatar depictions with shifting gaze directions. |
| US08704826B1 |
Primitive re-ordering between world-space and screen-space pipelines with buffer limited processing
One embodiment of the present invention includes approaches for processing graphics primitives associated with cache tiles when rendering an image. A set of graphics primitives associated with a first render target configuration is received from a first portion of a graphics processing pipeline, and the set of graphics primitives is stored in a memory. A condition is detected indicating that the set of graphics primitives is ready for processing, and a cache tile is selected that intersects at least one graphics primitive in the set of graphics primitives. At least one graphics primitive in the set of graphics primitives that intersects the cache tile is transmitted to a second portion of the graphics processing pipeline for processing. One advantage of the disclosed embodiments is that graphics primitives and associated data are more likely to remain stored on-chip during cache tile rendering, thereby reducing power consumption and improving rendering performance. |
| US08704820B2 |
Image display method and image display device
The present invention discloses a method for displaying a picture comprising: calculating a static quality score S of a picture to be displayed based on static parameters of the picture and static parameters of a display module displaying the picture; calculating a dynamic quality score D of the picture based on dynamic parameters of the picture; calculating a quality score Score of the picture based on the static quality score S of the picture and the dynamic quality score D of the picture; calculating a display time T for displaying the picture based on the quality score Score of the picture; and the display module displaying the picture according to the display time T. The present invention further discloses a device for displaying a picture. |