| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08712328B1 |
Surround sound effects provided by cell phones
Systems and methods that reproduce surround sound effects from an audio source are described. Wireless communication devices form a wireless network in which music, for example, can be played on the speakers of the wireless communication devices to reproduce surround sound effects from a selected audio source. As the wireless communication devices roam with respect to each other or with respect to a focal point or listening position of the wireless network, the wireless network adjusts how the audio source is played at each speaker of the respective wireless communication device to maintain or to enhance the reproduction of surround sound effects from the audio source. |
| US08712323B2 |
Inductive antenna coupling
This invention pertains to the connection between a radio frequency circuit and its antenna. Miniaturization of radio frequency integrated circuits has made attaching these circuits to their antennas increasingly difficult and costly. This invention uses magnetic coupling, as performed in transformers, between circuits and antennas as a practical solution to reduce cost and effort in attaching the two sides as well as to protect the circuit against electrostatic discharge. Furthermore a simple pre-assembly testing methodology is accounted for as an additional benefit of the method. |
| US08712316B2 |
Post-processing device and image forming system
A post-processing device includes: a casing having an opening; a processing mechanism performing a process on a recording medium; an outputting unit including a contacting member contacting the recording medium and a moving member moving between a contact position to contact the recording medium and a non-contact position not to contact the recording medium and coming close to the contacting member when moving to the contact position, the outputting unit outputting the recording medium via the opening when the moving member is in the contact position; and a covering member moving between a covering position to cover the opening and an un-covering position to uncover the opening to pass the recording medium. When the processing mechanism performs the process, the covering member moves to the covering position, and after the process is performed, the covering member moves to the un-covering position while the moving member moves to the contact position. |
| US08712314B2 |
Method of sheet alignment and method of post-processing comprising the same and method of image formation
A method of a sheet alignment includes carrying a sheet from a sheet discharging port; transferring the sheet on a tray device toward a sheet end regulating device; moving the sheet on the tray device in a width direction orthogonal to the sheet discharging direction for widthwise alignment; and abutting again the sheet on the tray device against the sheet end regulating device while the sheet is in the widthwise alignment. When the sheet on the tray device is transferred toward the sheet end regulating device, the sheet is transferred at a predetermined speed. Before the sheet abuts against the sheet end regulating device, the speed is reduced to provide a conveying force to the sheet without stopping. While the conveying force is continuously applied to the sheet, the sheet is aligned in the width direction to thereby prevent skewing of the sheet relative to the sheet end regulating device. |
| US08712312B2 |
Cover opening and closing unit and image forming apparatus including the same
A cover opening and closing unit includes a cover installed to be opened from and close a main body and a manual paper feed tray that is rotatably installed on the cover. The cover is connected to the main body by a link element and a connection link is connected to the link element and the manual paper feed tray so that, when the cover is opened from the main body when the manual paper feed tray is in an opened state with respect to the cover, an open angle of the manual paper feed tray with respect to a vertical direction is maintained within 90 degrees. |
| US08712311B2 |
Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus
In an image reading apparatus which uses plural motors to open and close an original conveying apparatus, the original conveying apparatus can smoothly be opened and closed.The image reading apparatus includes an original base plate on which an original is placed; an original conveying apparatus which can be opened and closed with respect to the original base plate, the original conveying apparatus pressing the original against the original base plate while closed; a reading portion which reads an image of the original pressed against the original base plate by the original pressing portion; plural motors which open and close the original conveying apparatus; plural rotary encoders which detect actuation states of the motors; and an opening and closing action controlling portion which controls the motors to match actuation speeds of the plural motors with each other based on the actuation states detected by the rotary encoders. |
| US08712310B2 |
Image forming apparatus and control method therefor
An image forming apparatus includes a dual purpose tray that accommodates a document and a transfer sheet, a document transport mechanism to transport the document from the dual purpose tray to an image reading position, an image reading mechanism disposed beneath the document transport mechanism, an image forming mechanism disposed beneath the image reading mechanism, a transfer sheet transport mechanism to transport the transfer sheet from a bifurcation point through the image reading mechanism, a sheet feeding path that bifurcates into a first transport path through which the document is transported to the image reading position and a second transport path through which the transfer sheet is transported through the image reading mechanism to an image forming position by switching a switching member in accordance with one of a type of a recording medium set on the dual purpose tray and an operation mode of the image forming apparatus. |
| US08712308B2 |
Lubricant coating device and image forming apparatus
A lubricant coating device related to the present invention is characterized in that it comprises a lubricant supply unit 12 which supplies a lubricant 11 onto an outer peripheral surface of an image carrier 1 that is driven to rotate and a lubricant smoothing unit 13 which is disposed on the downstream side in a rotating direction of the image carrier 1 of the lubricant supply unit 12 and smoothes the lubricant 11 supplied onto the outer peripheral surface. In the lubricant coating device, the lubricant smoothing unit 13 rotates while being in surface contact with the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier 1 and thereby smoothes the lubricant 11 supplied onto the image carrier 1 by the lubricant supply unit 12. |
| US08712304B2 |
Fuser member
The present teachings provide a fuser member. The fuser member includes a substrate layer having a polyimide polymer and a fluoro acid. A method of manufacturing a fuser member is also described. |
| US08712302B2 |
Pressure-applying member, fixing device, and image forming apparatus
A fixing device includes a rotatable heating member including a heat source and a pressure-applying member pressed against the heating member. The pressure-applying member includes a band-shaped member that extends in a width direction of a medium that passes through a fixing area, a support member opposed to the heating member with the band-shaped member disposed therebetween, and a pressing member including a base-end portion supported by the support member and a free-end portion that extends toward the fixing area. The pressing member has urging portions arranged with intervals therebetween in the width direction. The urging portions are elastically deformable in accordance with a thickness of the medium when the medium passes through the fixing area. The free-end portion urges the band-shaped member toward the heating member so that the band-shaped member is pressed against the heating member. |
| US08712301B2 |
Fixing device and image forming apparatus
A fixing device includes a fixing member that includes a conductive layer and fixes toner on a recording material with heat generated in the conductive layer by electromagnetic induction; a magnetic-field-producing member that produces an alternating-current magnetic field when an alternating current is supplied to the magnetic-field-producing member, the alternating-current magnetic field intersecting the conductive layer; a first support member that faces the magnetic-field-producing member and has a first projection which projects toward the magnetic-field-producing member, the first support member supporting the magnetic-field-producing member at the first projection; and a second support member that faces the first support member with the magnetic-field-producing member interposed therebetween, the second support member supporting the magnetic-field-producing member by pressing the magnetic-field-producing member against the first support member. |
| US08712299B2 |
Image forming apparatus having a primary transfer unit, a secondary transfer unit, and a direct transfer unit
An image forming apparatus includes: a first image carrier; a first image forming unit that forms an image; an intermediate transfer belt; a primary transfer unit that primarily transfers the image onto the intermediate transfer belt; a secondary transfer unit that secondarily transfers the image transferred further onto a recording medium; a second image carrier that transfers the image onto the recording medium; a second image forming unit that forms an image on the second image carrier; a direct transfer unit that directly transfers the image onto the recording medium; a recording medium carriage belt, and a driving roller that drives the recording medium carriage belt; a speed fluctuation detecting unit; and a drive control unit that controls driving of the driving roller so as to reduce the cyclic speed fluctuation of the carriage belt based on a detection result of the speed fluctuation detecting unit. |
| US08712298B2 |
Release layer
At least a portion of an intermediate transfer member includes a release layer facing outwardly from and supported by a supportive portion. The release layer includes an inner layer and an outer layer over and in contact with the inner layer, The inner layer has a thickness of between about 1 μm and about 8 μm and a bulk swelling of between 120% and 350%. The outer layer has a thickness of less than about 5 μm and a bulk swelling of less than 120%. |
| US08712296B2 |
Developing device
A developing device is provided. The developing device includes a housing, a developer carrier which is rotatably supported by the housing, and a layer thickness regulating member which includes a blade configured to contact the developer carrier along a rotational axial direction of the developer carrier, a support member supporting the blade, and a reinforcement member provided at an opposite side to the support member with respect to the blade and reinforcing the blade. The support member includes a first part which contacts the blade, and to which the blade is fixed, a second part which is connected to the reinforcement member, and a third part which is attached to the housing. As viewed from the rotational axial direction, the first part and the third part are provided on a same first plane, and the second part is provided on a second plane intersecting with the first plane. |
| US08712293B2 |
Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus including the same
Disclosed is a toner cartridge including a gear for rotating a rotatable member, for example, an agitator, of the toner cartridge and a support for rotatably supporting the gear. The gear includes a gear body, a coupling portion coupled to an end of the rotational shaft of the rotating member and a first position determining portion. The support includes a second position determining portion having a shape that corresponds to the shape of the first position determining portion so that the first and second position determining portions are capable of being coupled to each other. The gear is rotatable with the first and second position determining portions coupled to each other. |
| US08712292B2 |
Color image forming apparatus with contact control of process units
The color image forming apparatus performs registration control and is operable in first and second image forming modes. Contact control in the first image forming mode is different from that in the second image forming mode. The control section causes an alignment correction amount to vary between registration control corresponding to image forming for a second or subsequent sheet in the first image forming mode and registration control corresponding to image forming for a second or subsequent sheet in the second image forming mode. An engine control section causes a color deviation correction amount for contact control of a process unit when shifting from image forming for a first sheet to image forming for a second sheet to vary between the first and second image forming modes. |
| US08712291B2 |
Charging member, electrophotographic apparatus, and process cartridge
Provided is a charging member capable of stably charging an object to be charged while suppressing adhesion of toner or an external additive onto a surface of an elastic layer and compression set of an abutting portion of the elastic layer. The charging member is a charging member, comprising a mandrel; and an electro-conductive elastic layer, wherein: the elastic layer has a universal hardness decreasing from a surface toward a depth direction thereof; and the hardnesses at a central portion and both end portions in a longitudinal direction of the charging member satisfy the relationships: in the surface of the elastic layer, the hardnesses at the both end portions are higher than that at the central portion; and at a position having a depth of t (μm) from the surface of the elastic layer, the hardness at the central portion is higher than those at the both end portions. |
| US08712289B2 |
Light irradiation element, image forming structure, and image forming apparatus
A light irradiation element includes a cavity through which light passes and a translucent light conduit bordering the cavity, allowing light to pass therethrough and transmitting the light passed through the cavity, the light irradiation element being disposed along a longitudinal direction of an image bearing body on which an electrostatic latent image is formed and directing the light passed through the light conduit to irradiate the image bearing body. |
| US08712288B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an intermediate transfer belt unit and a transfer belt unit each of which has a deviation control mechanism and which are held in contact with each other at a transfer portion, wherein at least a steering roller on which a secondary transfer belt is suspended is situated such that a traction surface thereof does not constitute a transfer surface including a transfer roller. |
| US08712281B2 |
Image forming apparatus
A photosensitive-drum supporting member has a pair of side walls confronting both ends of each photosensitive drum. The photosensitive-drum supporting member supports the photosensitive drums between the side walls. The photosensitive-drum supporting member moves between: a stowed position at which the photosensitive-drum supporting member is stowed within an apparatus main body; and a moved position at which the photosensitive-drum supporting member is moved from the stowed position to outside the apparatus main body through an opening. Exposing members are provided at the photosensitive-drum supporting member such that the exposing members move between: an exposing position at which each exposing member is adjacent to a corresponding photosensitive drum; and a retracted position at which each exposing member is separated from the corresponding photosensitive drum and is engaged by an engaging part. The exposing members are accommodated within the photosensitive-drum supporting member both at the exposing position and at the retracted position. |
| US08712279B2 |
Warm air generating apparatus, sheet feeding apparatus, and image forming apparatus including warm air generating apparatus and sheet feeding apparatus
A warm air generating apparatus includes: a blowing apparatus for generating an air flow in a predetermined direction; a heating member disposed on a flow path of the air flow for heating air; a temperature detection member that has a heat sensing portion and detects a temperature of the heating member; and a biasing member for applying a biasing force that causes the heat sensing portion to contact a part of the heating member. |
| US08712278B2 |
Image forming apparatus having exhaust fan
An image forming apparatus comprising a process unit having a charger that charges a photosensitive member, a fixing unit having a heat source for thermally fixing a developer image formed on a recording sheet by the process unit, an apparatus body configured to accommodate the process unit and the fixing unit and having an ejection port above the fixing unit, the ejection port being used for ejecting the recording sheet ejected from the fixing unit to the outside of the image forming apparatus and an exhaust fan configured to discharge air inside the apparatus body to the outside of the image forming apparatus. The exhaust fan is disposed at a fixing-unit side of the process unit and is disposed lower than both the charger and the heat source such that air entering through the ejection port from outside the image forming apparatus flows through the fixing unit and is discharged by the exhaust fan. |
| US08712277B2 |
Rotating-body electrification mechanism, image carrier unit, process cartridge, image forming apparatus, and method for electrifying image carrier unit
According to an embodiment, there is provided a mechanism for electrification of a rotating body used in an image forming apparatus. In the mechanism, compression of an elastically-deformable pressing member brings a portion of a cloth-like or sheet-like conductive member into contact with an electrification object and presses the rest of the conductive member against a conductive contact member, which is any one of the rotating body, a rotating shaft that rotates together with the rotating body, and a shaft that rotatably supports the rotating body. A connecting between the electrification object and the contact member is achieved via the conductive member. |
| US08712275B2 |
Image forming apparatus with enhanced display of guidance information
In an image forming apparatus, guidance information is stored in advance for guiding an optimal operation procedure for execution of a job, and the guidance information is displayed on a display portion based on operation input that is input to an input portion in order to execute a job of image formation. For example, a device control portion compares operation input that is input to the input portion in order to execute the job of image formation to the guidance information corresponding to the job executed by the operation input, and causes the display portion to display the guidance information in a case where an actual frequency of operation input is greater than a frequency of operation input that is specified in an operation procedure of the guidance information. |
| US08712272B2 |
Image heating apparatus
An apparatus includes a coil generating magnetic flux, a rotatable heater generating heat by the flux generated from the coil, for heating an image on a recording material, magnetic cores provided outside the heater and arranged in a rotational axis direction of the heater, a first mover moving at least a part of the cores from a first position to a second position spaced form the coils, an adjuster, movable between the cores and the heater, for reducing the flux directed from the cores toward the heater, and a second mover moving, when a first core in a non-sheet-passing area of the recording material is moved to the second position by the first mover and a second core adjacent to the first core in the non-sheet-passing area is disposed at the first position to heat the image, the adjuster to a position corresponding to the second core. |
| US08712267B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming method
An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier to carry a toner image, a transfer member to form a transfer nip by contacting the image carrier surface, and a power supply to output a voltage to the recording material captured in the transfer nip so as to transfer the toner image formed on the image carrier surface. The voltage is switching alternately between a voltage in the transfer direction and a voltage opposite to the voltage in the transfer direction, and a time average value (Vave) of the voltage is set to have a polarity of the transfer direction, and is set to a value in the transfer voltage side, and a change mode to change a cycle of the voltage output from the power supply can be changed based on the toner deterioration information which determines the deterioration status of the toner. |
| US08712266B2 |
Image forming apparatus
In the case where a peripheral velocity of photosensitive drums differs from a peripheral velocity of an intermediate transfer belt, the peripheral velocity of the intermediate transfer belt or the peripheral velocity of the photosensitive drums is corrected. The velocity of the intermediate transfer belt is transiently varied in an image forming operation. Accordingly, a plurality of tonner patch patterns including toner patches are formed on the intermediate transfer belt, and the difference in peripheral velocity between the intermediate transfer belt and the photosensitive drums is estimated based on a difference between the displacements in the tonner patch patterns. |
| US08712265B2 |
Image forming apparatus with an improved density adjustment unit
In an image forming apparatus, a density adjustment unit causes to form a cleaner toner image on a surface of an image carrier and remove the cleaner toner image for density adjustment, and causes to form a test pattern after removing the cleaner toner image. The cleaner toner image is formed to cover a whole area on which the test pattern may be formed. |
| US08712263B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member for carrying an electrostatic latent image; a developing device, containing a developer including a toner and a carrier, for developing the electrostatic latent image carried on the image bearing member into a toner image with the developer; a supplying device for supplying the toner to the developing device; a first detecting portion for detecting information on a temperature of the developing device; a second detecting portion for detecting information on a temperature of the supplying device; and a correcting portion for correcting, when detection results of the first and second detecting portions are different from each other, an image forming condition with increase of a supply amount of the supplying device. |
| US08712259B2 |
Toner cartridge
A toner cartridge comprises a toner container which contains toner, a driving member which rotationally drives a conveying member, an agitating member which agitates a toner in the toner container while being rotated, a driven member which rotates in association with the driving member which is for rotationally driving the agitating member, and a rotational body which rotates according to rotation of the driven member, has a plurality of slits in rotational circumference for identifying a type of the toner cartridge, and has 1/K or more of the slits when a ratio of a rotational speed R1 (rad/s) of the driving member and a rotational speed R2 (rad/s) of the driven member is K=R2/R1. |
| US08712258B2 |
Image processing apparatus capable of using replacement component, image forming apparatus capable of using replacement component, and method of administrating replacement component
An image processing apparatus is capable of using a replacement component. The image processing apparatus includes a storage unit for storing self apparatus identification information; an obtaining unit for obtaining component apparatus identification information registered in a data carrier disposed in the replacement component; and a control unit. The control unit includes a first comparing unit for comparing the self apparatus identification information stored in the storage unit with the component apparatus identification information obtained with the obtaining unit; a determining unit for determining that the replacement component is allowed to use when the self apparatus identification information matches the component apparatus identification information. |
| US08712254B2 |
Electronic dispersion compensation within optical communications using reconstruction
Electronic dispersion compensation within optical communications using reconstruction. Within a communication system that includes any optical network portion, segment, or communication link, etc., that optical component/portion of the communication system is emulated within the electronic domain. For example, in a communication device having receiver functionality, deficiencies that may be incurred by the at least one optical portion of the communication system are compensated in the electronic domain of the communication device having the receiver functionality by employing reconstruction logic and/or circuitry therein. Multiple decision feedback equalizers (DFE) circuitries, implemented in the electronic domain, may be employed to provide feedback from different portions of the receiver functionality in accordance with performing compensation of optical incurred deficiencies (e.g., dispersion, non-linearity, inter-symbol interference (ISI), etc.). Within a communication device's receiver portion, equalization and compensation is performed in the electronic domain as adapted for high speed applications and higher order modulation schemes. |
| US08712253B2 |
Optical packet signal transmission device and WDM optical communication network
An optical packet signal transmission device includes a transmitting unit which includes a plurality of data delay circuits; a plurality of optical branch units which branches some of the optical packet signals as monitor lights; an optical switch which selects one of the monitor lights; a test signal generation circuit which generates a test signal which is used to adjust a delay amount in the data delay circuits; a reference optical pulse generation circuit which generates a reference optical pulse based on the test signal; an optical phase comparator which detects an relative optical phase difference by comparing the phases of the selected monitor light and the reference optical pulse; and a control circuit which sequentially sends the test signals to the data delay circuits, switches the selected monitor light, detects a relative optical phase, determines the delay amount based on a detection result, and sets the delay amount. |
| US08712252B2 |
Optical signal output apparatus, electrical signal output apparatus, and test apparatus
To efficiently apply jitter to an optical signal using a simple configuration, provided is an optical signal output apparatus that outputs an optical pulse pattern signal including jitter, the optical signal generating apparatus comprising a light source section that outputs an optical signal having an optical frequency corresponding to a frequency control signal; an optical modulation section that modulates the optical signal output by the light source section, according to a designated pulse pattern; and an optical jitter generating section that delays an optical signal passed by the optical modulation section according to the optical frequency, to apply jitter to the optical signal. |
| US08712244B2 |
Communication system and time synchronization method
In a communication system using a PON, time synchronization of a slave device such as a base station is realized with respect to a master device such as an L2SW or the base station. Time information acquired by a GPS satellite is corrected by ranging information of a discovery function of an OLT so as to be reflected on time information of each ONU. A propagation delay from the L2SW to the OLT is obtained with the use of a delay estimation mechanism, a propagation delay from the OLT to the ONU which is obtained by ranging is added to obtain a propagation delay from the L2SW to the ONU. The obtained propagation delay from the L2SW to the ONU is added to the transmitted time stamp value whereby a time stamp value received at a base station or femtocell side becomes a time into which the propagation delay to the ONU is incorporated, and absolute values of clock timers can be synchronized with each other. The addition process can be realized by rewriting the time stamp value of the packet within the OLT or the ONU. |
| US08712240B2 |
Optical power measurement method, optical line terminal and optical network unit
The embodiments of the present invention relate to communications technology, and disclose an optical power measurement method, an Optical Line Terminal (OLT), and an Optical Network Unit (ONU). The method includes: generating a Physical Layer Operation Administration Maintenance (PLOAM) message that includes an identifier of at least one ONU to be measured and information about a time bucket that is allocated to the ONU to be measured and is used for sending upstream optical signals; sending the PLOAM message to the multiple ONUs; receiving the upstream optical signals that are sent, in the allocated time bucket, by the ONU to be measured; and detecting the received upstream optical signals, and determining the optical power of the upstream optical signals. The present invention avoid waste of bandwidth caused in the prior art when the DBA is required to allocate bandwidth to the ONU to be measured for the purpose of detecting the optical power. |
| US08712236B2 |
Power management implementation in an optical link
An optical link power management scheme takes the best advantage of a dynamic connection environment, where ports may be connected and disconnected at any time, and where data flows may start and stop as needed by the applications using the high speed data links. Power consumption is optimized, eye safety standards are met, and robust connection detection is preserved. |
| US08712234B1 |
Compact light shield for flash photography
A compact light shield for flash photography (800) comprises a bib-shaped barrier (805) with a pair of arms (810, 815) with end slots (820, 825), a band (500) with end slots (520, 525), and a plurality of H&L fasteners (505, 510, 515, 830, and 1200). One fastener (1200) is affixed to a flash (1100). The barrier can be stored flat and can be rolled into and held in a scoop shape by interlocking its arm slots. The band is formed and held in a circular shape by interlocking its end slots. The band is secured to the barrier and both are oriented with the bib-shaped part facing away from and secured to the flash. An alternative embodiment eliminates the band and secures the barrier directly to the flash. |
| US08712230B2 |
Lens barrel and imaging device
The lens barrel includes a first frame, a second frame, a drive actuator, and a transmission mechanism. The second frame includes a substantially cylindrical main body and a gear portion. The gear portion is disposed on the inner peripheral part of the main body. The gear portion transmits the drive force of the drive actuator via the transmission mechanism. The transmission mechanism includes a first transmission gear portion that engages with the gear portion, and a second transmission gear portion that is provided coaxially with the first transmission gear portion. The transmission mechanism includes a clutch. The clutch can temporarily disengage the transmission of the drive force between the first transmission gear portion and the second transmission gear portion. The imaging device includes the above-mentioned lens barrel and an imaging element that converts an optical image formed by the above-mentioned lens barrel into image data. |
| US08712227B2 |
Fluid conduit with PTC fabric heating
Fluid conduit segments are provided that include, but are not limited to integrated heating systems for protection against freezing. To this effect PTC-fabric heating elements are provided that are integrated in the fluid conduit segments and that in the negative temperature range include, but are not limited to a PTC-temperature-dependent resistance. The heating system thus provides a higher output in the negative temperature range and a lower output in the positive temperature range, i.e., the heating limits itself until temperature equalization has been reached. |
| US08712226B2 |
Plastic floor-wall transition methods, materials, and apparatus
A method of flooring installation includes positioning a welding tip having a v-shaped plastic welding rod therein adjacent to a v-shaped joint formed between plastic flooring and plastic trim and heating the flooring, trim, and welding rod to flow the welding rod into the v-shaped joint to form a plastic weld bead and seal the joint. A welding tip and a welding rod are also disclosed. |
| US08712225B2 |
Playback device for stereoscopic viewing, integrated circuit, and program
Ocular strain is reduced for the viewer by reducing extreme changes of depth value occurring at stereoscopic scene jumps, dimension switches from 2D to 3D video, and the like. A playback device includes a video plane and a depth value memory for storing depth values of a plurality of stereoscopic video frames. The depth value memory stores the depth values of a plurality of frames, at least including a destination frame, and of a starting frame. When a request to switch from 2D to 3D video or to switch scenes within 3D video is received, switch timing control or destination frame depth value adjustment is performed so as to reduce the occurrence of extreme depth value changes and provide smooth switching. |
| US08712223B2 |
Authoring method, authoring device and program
There is provided an authoring method including the steps of generating a first materialization file not including material data itself and referencing a recording position of the material data to mount a first real image having a stream data structure of a first file system, the first file system including time-division multiplexed material data, generating a second materialization file not including material data itself and referencing a recording position of the material data to mount a second real image having a stream data structure of a second file system, the second file system being different from the first file system including time-division multiplexed material data, and arranging the first materialization file and the second materialization file under a directory of a first virtual image to generate the first virtual image. |
| US08712221B2 |
Video recording and playing apparatus and its control method
A video recording and playing apparatus for recording and playing a broadcast program. The apparatus comprises a recording unit to record broadcast programs on a storage unit, and a deletion unit to automatically delete a broadcast program recorded on the storage unit. The deletion unit determines, from among a plurality of broadcast programs recorded on the storage unit, a broadcast program which becomes a target of deletion, based on an audio signal or a rating of each broadcast program, in cases where a video recording capacity of the storage unit becomes smaller than a predetermined value. |
| US08712214B2 |
Randomly accessible visual information recording medium and recording method, and reproducing device and reproducing method
Access point pictures designated as randomly accessible positions are I pictures or P pictures. Information indicating the decoding sequence (I1, P1, B1, B2, B3, B4, P2, . . . ) of pictures functioning as access points and attribute information (picture_type) indicating whether a picture functions as an access point or is necessary for decoding of the access point following a given access point are recorded on the video information recording medium. Random access is possible even if the GOP interval is lengthened. |
| US08712211B2 |
Image reproduction system and image reproduction processing program
An image reproduction system comprising: an image data storage unit that stores a plurality of image data, an image display unit that successively displays a plurality of images based on the plurality of image data, an audio input unit that receives as input sound of a surrounding environment, an audio determination unit that determines whether the sound received as input by the audio input unit is in a predetermined state, and a control unit that controls a display time of the image displayed on the image display unit at the time of determination by the audio determination unit based on the results of determination by the audio determination unit when continuously displaying the plurality of images on the image display unit while successively switching them. |
| US08712208B2 |
Storing a location within metadata of visual media
A device to detect location data, store a first location of the device within metadata of visual media if the location data is available, and store a second location within the metadata of the visual media if the location data is unavailable. |
| US08712205B2 |
Cable exit trough with insert
A cable exit trough defining an insert aperture for receiving a modular cable management inserts. The modular insert providing an additional cable management device such as a curved guidewall. The cable management device may alternatively be fixed to the cable exit trough. Removable snap-mounted flanges may also be included in the exit trough. The exit trough may also include an exit cover having a cover plate and a pivot plate hingedly mounted thereto for easy access to the trough. |
| US08712200B1 |
Fiber optic cables and assemblies for fiber toward the subscriber applications
A fiber optic cable includes an optical fiber, strength components disposed on opposite sides of the optical fiber, and a polymeric cable jacket. The optical fiber includes a glass core, a glass cladding, and a polymer coating. The cable jacket surrounds the optical fiber and the strength components. Further, the cable jacket is tightly drawn onto the optical fiber, where excess fiber length of the optical fiber is such that positive strain is present in the optical fiber at room temperature (25° C.). |
| US08712199B2 |
Configurable pitch reducing optical fiber array
The inventive optical fiber coupler array is capable of providing a low loss, high-coupling coefficient interface with high accuracy and easy alignment between a plurality of optical fibers (or other optical devices) with a first channel-to-channel spacing, and an optical device having a plurality of closely-spaced waveguide interfaces with a second channel-to-channel spacing, where each end of the optical fiber coupler array is configurable to have different channel-to-channel spacing, each matched to a corresponding one of the first and second channel-to-channel spacing. The novel optical coupler array includes a plurality of waveguides (at least one of which may optionally be polarization maintaining), that comprises at least one gradually reduced vanishing core fiber, at least in part embedded within a common housing structure. Alternatively, the novel coupler array may be configured for utilization with at least one of an optical fiber amplifier and an optical fiber laser. |
| US08712197B2 |
Ignition device in particular for an internal combustion engine, and method for manufacturing same
An ignition device, for an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle, having a laser device for generating laser pulses, and having an optical fiber device which is at least optically connected to the laser device for supplying the laser device with pumped light. The optical fiber device is configured and situated in the region of the laser device such that radiation incident in the region of the laser device and/or in the region of a combustion chamber associated with the laser device is injected into the optical fiber device. The optical fiber device advantageously allow the radiation which is injected into the optical fiber device to be analyzed, using a detector which is remotely situated, without having to provide additional, separate optical fiber devices for the radiation to be analyzed, because is conducted directly via the same optical fiber that is already used for supplying pumped light. |
| US08712193B2 |
Image capture and identification system and process
A digital image of the object is captured and the object is recognized from plurality of objects in a database. An information address corresponding to the object is then used to access information and initiate communication pertinent to the object. |
| US08712190B2 |
Collating device, collating method, and program
Provided are a collating device, a processing method and a collation program, in which a reference line is extracted from an image and each partial image is moved in a manner that the reference line becomes a predetermined one thereby to correct the image, and in which the corrected image is collated so that an authentication result can be obtained for a short time period without any rotating operation. At first, a reference line extracting unit extracts the center line or the contour line of the image as the reference line. Next, an image correcting unit moves each partial image in parallel thereby to correct the image so that the reference line obtained by the reference line extracting unit becomes a predetermined one. Moreover, an image collating unit collates the image corrected by the image correcting unit and a predetermined image to acquire an authentication result. |
| US08712187B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method
Disclosed are an image processing apparatus and an image processing method for producing a three-dimensional image frame. The image processing method includes: applying an offset value to an object abstracted from a two-dimensional image frame; obtaining image information corresponding to a distorted area from another image frame; and compensating the distorted area with the obtained image information, with respect to the distorted area of the image information in the two-dimensional image frame by the offset value. |
| US08712186B2 |
Method for combining images and magnetic resonance scanner
A method of combining a first image of a first region and a second image of a second region, having an overlapping region therebetween. The method including determining a superposed image as a weighted superposition of the first image and the second image in the overlap region, transforming the first image and the second image on the basis of a comparison of at least one of the first image and the second image with the determined superposed image; determining a further superposed image from the transformed first image and the transformed second image; and generating an overall image from the further superposed image when at least one convergence criterion is satisfied. |
| US08712184B1 |
Method and system for filtering noises in an image scanned by charged particles
A method for filtering noises in an image scanned by charged particles includes steps of grouping pixels with similar types in the image into a plurality of pixel groups; and removing noises for each pixel group in the image according to a corresponding noise model to obtain the scanned image with better quality and/or contrast. A system for filtering noises in an image scanned by charged particles is also disclosed. |
| US08712182B2 |
Image processing device, image processing method, and program
An image processing device includes an image estimation unit that estimates an image prior to the jaggedness occurrence from a jaggedness-occurring image and generates an estimated image prior to the jaggedness occurrence, and a weighting/adding unit that selects a jaggedness-occurring area as a processing target area in the estimated image prior to the jaggedness occurrence, detects a similar area that is a pixel area and similar to the processing target area, and then computes a weight according to the degree of similarity of each detected similar area to the processing target area, and detects a corresponding area in the jaggedness-occurring image to the processing target area and the similar area, and then computes a corrected pixel value of the processing target area of the jaggedness-occurring image through a weighting/adding process to which the weight of a pixel value of the detected corresponding area is applied. |
| US08712181B2 |
Real-time application of filters based on image attributes
Systems, methods, and computer readable media for automatically modifying digital image data in accordance with preferences of a user. When a user accesses a set of digital image data over a network using a computer system, the computer system automatically reads an identifier associated with the set of digital image data and applies at least one digital image filter to the set of digital image data, where the at least one digital image filter is correlated with or mapped to the associated identifier. The user is able to define the identifiers, the filters, and the mapping (correlation) between the identifiers and the filters, thus establishing image display preferences for the user. |
| US08712179B2 |
Reconstruction of deforming surfaces by canceling ambient occlusion and refining 3-D shape
Methods for improved reconstruction of a deforming surface may comprise canceling ambient occlusion of the deforming surface from an input image, computing an optical flow of the image, and refining a 3-D shape of the surface. Canceling ambient occlusion of the deforming surface may comprise computing the ambient occlusion of the surface, projecting the ambient occlusion onto each image plane, and then removing the ambient occlusion from the corresponding input image. |
| US08712175B2 |
Image processing system, image processing method and program for image processing
A geometric transformation parameter computing unit computes a geometric transformation parameter which represents the geometric transformation of an image from the previous frame to the current frame, and calculates the level of reliability in that geometric transformation parameter. A super-resolution image prediction unit generates a prediction of a super-resolution image in the current frame by transforming a super-resolution image in the previous frame on the basis of the geometric transformation parameter. A super-resolution image generation unit calculates a low-resolution image in the current frame from the prediction result of the super-resolution image in the current frame by a simulation, calculates a difference between a low-resolution image, which is an input image for the current frame, and the simulation result, and calculates a weighted mean between a result of upsampling the difference and the prediction result of the super-resolution image in the current frame. Herein, the weighted mean is calculated on the basis of the level of reliability in the geometric transformation parameter. |
| US08712172B2 |
Method of predicting a motion vector for a current block in a current picture
In one embodiment, a method of predicting a motion vector for a current block in a current picture by a moving picture decoding device includes obtaining, by the moving picture decoding device, a direction of a reference picture of the current picture, based on comparison of a display order of the reference picture and a display order of the current picture, obtaining, by the moving picture decoding device, at least three motion vectors for at least three other blocks than the current block based on the direction of the reference picture, predicting, by the moving picture decoding device, a motion vector for the current block by using a median operation of the at least three motion vectors and decoding the current block in the current picture using the predicted motion vector for the current block. |
| US08712168B2 |
Image sorting device, method, program, and integrated circuit and storage medium storing said program
Image group feature information indicating features of an image group composed of a plurality of images is calculated for each image group and, based on the calculated image group feature information and information indicating features of events into which image groups are to be classified, images are classified by image group. |
| US08712166B2 |
Difference detecting apparatus, difference output apparatus, and medium
A difference detecting apparatus include: an image receiving unit that receives at least one or more first images and at least one or more second images; and an exception region acquiring unit that acquires (i) first exception regions that include non-background-color pixels of a first common image, (ii) second exception regions that include non-background-color pixels of a second common image, or (iii) both of the first exception regions and the second exception regions. The difference detecting apparatus includes a first difference detecting unit that detects differences between a first image of attention which is at least one of the first images and a second image of attention which is one of the second images corresponding to the first image of attention except for the first exception regions, the second exception regions, or a union or product of sets of the first exception regions and the second exception regions. |
| US08712165B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method
A pixel output order pattern selecting section selects the first pixel output order pattern set by the pixel output order pattern setting section when the edge detecting section detects the edge portion in the pixel block, and selects any of the plurality of second pixel output order patterns stored in the pixel output order pattern storage section when the edge detecting section does not detect the edge portion in the pixel block. An image data generating section generates the image data of the pixel block in order that the dots may be output in conformity with the pixel output order pattern selected by the pixel output order pattern selecting section based on the gradation value obtained by the gradation converting section. |
| US08712163B1 |
Pill identification and counterfeit detection method
Disclosed is a computer-implemented method of pill analysis including the steps of acquiring a pill image having an image frame and detecting contrast shifts within the image frame to locate at least one object with an object outline. A first value for the object(s) is determined, where the value is an area, a position, a length, a width, an angle, a color, a brightness, a code, a shape, a crystal pile size, a crystal geometry, a substance identity, or a character identity. Based on the first and second values, the computer outputs a result to a user. |
| US08712160B2 |
Face recognition through face building from two or more partial face images from the same face
A device is trained for face recognition. A first acquired digital image of a scene includes a face. Face image data is extracted and stored in a face image library along with an unique identifier. A second acquired digital image may or may not include the face of the same person as the face in the first acquired digital image. Face recognition is applied to extracted face data of the second digital image, and the face of the first digital image is displayed as a match to the face of the second digital image when the first and second images are determined to match or the second digital image or a face therein is identified with biometric data stored along with the first digital image when the faces in the first and second images are determined to match. |
| US08712159B2 |
Image descriptor quantization
Image descriptor quantization technique embodiments are presented which quantize an image descriptor defined by a vector of number elements. This is generally accomplished by lowering the number of bits per number element to a prescribed degree. The resulting quantized image descriptor exhibits minimal loss of matching reliability while at the same time reducing the amount of storage space needed to store the descriptor in a database. Lowering the number of bits per number element also allows for increased matching speed. |
| US08712153B2 |
Subpixel-based image down-sampling
Systems, methods, and apparatus for sampling images using minimum mean square error subpixel-based down-sampling (MMSE-SD) are presented herein. A partition component can receive a first array of pixels, and divide the first array of pixels into two-dimensional (2-D) blocks of pixels. Further, a sampling component can diagonally down-sample subpixels of a block of the 2-D blocks, and generate a second array of pixels based on the down-sampled subpixels. The sampling component can alternately sample subpixels of adjacent pixels of the block in a diagonal direction, and generate the second array of pixels based on the subpixels. A reconstruction component can create a virtual image based on, at least in part, the second array of pixels. A MMSE-SD component can determine an optimal low resolution image based on, at least in part, respective color components of the virtual image and a high resolution image associated with the first array of pixels. |
| US08712151B2 |
Method and structure for image local contrast enhancement
A local contrast enhancement method transforms a first plurality of color components of a first visual color image into a modified brightness component by using a first transformation. The first plurality of color components are in a first color space. The modified brightness component is a brightness component of a second color space. The second color space also includes a plurality of chromatic components. The method transforms all the color components of the first color space into the chromatic components of the second color space. The method then transforms the modified brightness component and the chromatic components of the second color space into a plurality of new color components, in the first color space, of a second visual color image. The method transmits the plurality of new color components to a device such as a display device. The second visual color image has enhanced contrast in comparison to the first visual color image. |
| US08712150B2 |
Device and method for adjusting a chrominance signal based on an edge strength
An image color processing device adapted to process a luminance data and an input chrominance data of an image includes an edge detecting unit, a chrominance filtering unit, and a chrominance mixing unit. The edge detecting unit receives the luminance data and detects whether each pixel of the image is on an edge of an image object and correspondingly assigns an edge strength to each pixel. The chrominance filtering unit receives the input chrominance data and then outputs a filtered chrominance data. The chrominance mixing unit receives the edge strength, the filtered chrominance data and the input chrominance data, and mixes the filtered chrominance data and the input chrominance data by a weighting manner, according to the edge strength, so as to obtain an output chrominance data. |
| US08712147B2 |
Fractal method for detecting and filling data gaps within LiDAR data
Method for improving the quality of a set of a three dimensional (3D) point cloud data representing a physical surface by detecting and filling null spaces (606). The method includes analyzing (206) the data to identify the presence of a plurality of level 1 fractals (401), each defined by a plurality of voxels (400) containing data points arranged in one of a plurality of three-dimensional patterns. The method also includes selectively filling (212) voxels in the 3D point cloud data with a first predetermined limited number of data points to increase a number of instances where level 2 fractals (604) can be used for representing the 3D point cloud data. Each level 2 fractal is defined as a common plurality of the level 1 fractals having a common three-dimensional pattern, where the common plurality of level 1 fractals are also arranged in accordance with the common three dimensional pattern. |
| US08712146B2 |
Method of creating animatable digital clone from multi-view images
The present invention relates to a method of creating an animatable digital clone includes receiving input multi-view images of an actor captured by at least two cameras and reconstructing a three-dimensional appearance therefrom, accepting shape information selectively based on a probability of photo-consistency in the input multi-view images obtained from the reconstruction and transferring a mesh topology of a reference human body model onto a shape of the actor obtained from the reconstruction. The method further includes generating an initial human body model of the actor via transfer of the mesh topology utilizing sectional shape information of the actor's joints, and generating a genuine human body model of the actor from learning genuine behavioral characteristics of the actor by applying the initial human body model to multi-view posture learning images where performance of a predefined motion by the actor is recorded. |
| US08712143B2 |
Processing financial documents
Methods, computer readable media, and apparatuses for processing financial documents are presented. Image data associated with a first financial document, such as a check to be deposited, may be received. A first multivariate vector may be determined based on the received image data, and the first multivariate vector may include a plurality of vector components. Each vector component may represent a distance from an edge of the first financial document to a feature of the first financial document, and each vector component may be a ratio of distances. The determined first multivariate vector may be compared with a second multivariate vector associated with a second financial document. Based on the comparing, a confidence score for the first financial document may be determined. A transaction involving the first financial document may be authorized in response to the confidence score exceeding a threshold. |
| US08712142B2 |
Method and apparatus for analysis of histopathology images and its application to cancer diagnosis and grading
The invention relates to histology analyses, and in particular, to the assessment of pathological tissues to aid in the diagnosis of disease characterized by specific pathologies, for example cancer. The invention provides methods and apparatuses for analyzing tissue samples, as well as computer-readable media programmed with software for carrying out these diagnostic methods. |
| US08712141B2 |
Method for counting and segmenting viral particles in an image
The method is for intracellular counting and segmentation of viral particles or infectious agents in an image. An image is provided that has a plurality of items therein. A radius range of viral particles is determined. Items in the image having a radius within the predetermined radius range are identified. Elliptical items that are formable from the predetermined radius range are determined. The round and elliptical items identified into groups are sorted. The viral particles among the round and elliptical items are identified. For example, the method may be used for intracellular counting and segmentation of siRNA treated human cytomegaloviral particles in TEM images. |
| US08712138B2 |
Device and method for generating soft tissue contrast images
The present invention relates to a device for generating soft tissue contrast images of an area of interest of an examination object (5) comprising soft tissue. The proposed device comprises: an x-ray source unit (2, 3) for emitting one or more pulsed pencil x-ray beams (4), an actuator (8, 9) for actuating said x-ray source unit (2, 3) along and/or around said area of interest to direct said one or more pencil beams (11) onto said area of interest from various directions, an electromagnetic signal receiver (11) for receiving electromagnetic signals from the area of interest resulting from absorption and scatter of x-ray photons within the area of interest, and a signal processor unit (12) for processing said received electromagnetic signals and reconstructing a soft tissue contrast image of the area of interest. |
| US08712133B2 |
Cardiac chamber volume computation from contours and base plane in cardiac MR Cine images
A system receives cardiac cine MR images consists of multiple slices of the heart over time. A series of short axis images slices are received. Long axis images are also received by the system, wherein a base plane defined by landmark points is detected. An intersection of the base plane with a contour of a heart chamber is determined for a plurality of slices in the short axis image. A volume for each of the contour slices covering the heart chamber, including for contours that are limited by base plane intersections, is evaluated. All slice volumes are summed to determine a total volume of the chamber. In one embodiment the chamber is a left ventricle and the landmark is a mitral valve. An ejection factor is determined. |
| US08712129B2 |
Method and a system for registering a 3D pre-acquired image coordinates system with a medical positioning system coordinate system and with a 2D image coordinate system
Method for registering a three dimensional (3D) pre acquired image coordinates system with a Medical Positioning System (MPS) coordinate system and a two dimensional (2D) image coordinate system, the method comprising acquiring a 2D image of a volume of interest, the volume including an organ, the 2D image being associated with the 2D coordinate system, acquiring MPS points within the organ, the MPS points being associated with the MPS coordinate system, the MPS coordinate system being registered with the 2D coordinate system, extracting a 3D image model of the organ from a pre acquired 3D image of the volume of interest, estimating a volumetric model of the organ from the acquired MPS points, and registering the 3D coordinate system with the MPS coordinate system by matching the extracted 3D image model and the estimated volumetric model of the organ. |
| US08712126B2 |
Web-based system and method for video analysis
What is disclosed is a web-based system which comprises, in part, video analysis modules for performing different types of analysis services on a video, and a server in network communication with a user's computing device. A user selects one or more menu options displayed on a webpage. Each of the menu options is associated with a respective video analysis available to the user. The user makes their election and, within the same session, uploads to the server a video desired to be analyzed with respect to each of the video analysis services selected by the user. Once the server has obtained the user's selection(s) and has received the uploaded video, the server communicates the video to each video analysis module associated with each of the respective analysis services. Upon each completion of the video analysis, the results are communicated back to the user. Various embodiments are disclosed. |
| US08712124B2 |
Artifact removal in nuclear images
The present disclosure relates various approaches for removing or reducing the effects of out-of-field sources of radiation if emission tomography applications. In certain embodiments, a plurality of measured views are acquired about an organ or region of interest. The measured views may be reconstructed to form an image and the image may be used in a cleaning or correction process that allows generation of a final image having reduced or eliminated artifacts attributable to out-of-field source effects. |
| US08712123B2 |
Analysis, secure access to, and transmission of array images
Systems and methods are provided the autocentering, autofocusing, acquiring, decoding, aligning, analyzing and exchanging among various parties, images, where the images are of arrays of signals associated with ligand-receptor interactions, and more particularly, ligand-receptor interactions where a multitude of receptors are associated with microparticles or microbeads. The beads are encoded to indicate the identity of the receptor attached, and therefore, an assay image and a decoding image are aligned to effect the decoding. The images or data extracted from such images can be exchanged between de-centralized assay locations and a centralized location where the data are analyzed to indicate assay results. Access to data can be restricted to authorized parties in possession of certain coding information, so as to preserve confidentiality. |
| US08712121B2 |
Image generation device with optimized dose control
The present invention relates to an image generation device for generating an image from measured data, wherein image quality is optimized for a region of interest and to an imaging system comprising this image generation device. The image generation device comprises a noise determination unit for determining a distribution of noise in a projection domain of the region of interest, and a dose control unit (32) for determining a dose profile for a radiation source (2) of said image generation device based on said determined distribution of noise by using a noise propagation algorithm. Thereby, signal-to-noise ratio of a reconstructed volume can be improved and is not sensitively dependent on a selected region of interest. |
| US08712118B2 |
Automated measurement of concentration and/or amount in a biological sample
Provided are methods, computer implemented methods, and devices for machine vision. The methods and devices are capable of quantifying the amount of a particular color resulting from a particular stain in a sample stained with multiple agents. |
| US08712112B2 |
Dot templates for object detection in images
Dot templates are used for detecting objects within images. A computer-implemented method is performed for each of a number of dot templates corresponding to the object to be detected within an image. Each dot template is defined as a collection of points. At each position within the image, a value of the image is determined at each point of the dot template. The dot template is effectively overlaid at the given position within the image. A score of the dot template at this position is determined, based on the values of the image determined at the points of the dot template. Where the score is greater than a predetermined threshold, it can be concluded that the object is at least potentially located within the image at the position in question at which the dot template has been effectively overlaid. |
| US08712111B2 |
Image processing apparatus
An image processing apparatus includes an image inputting unit for inputting a plurality of facial images; a detecting unit for detecting a facial region of each of the facial images; a correction ratio calculating unit for calculating a correction ratio of the facial region of each of the facial images; a position calculating unit for calculating a positional deviation of the facial region of each of the facial images; and a correcting unit for correcting a layout of each of the facial images through enlarging or reducing each of the facial images according to the correction ratio and moving each of the facial images according to the positional deviation. |
| US08712109B2 |
Pose-variant face recognition using multiscale local descriptors
Representing a face by jointly quantizing features and spatial location to perform implicit elastic matching between features. A plurality of the features are extracted from a face image and expanded with a corresponding spatial location in the face image. Each of the expanded features is quantized based on one or more randomized decision trees. A histogram of the quantized features is calculated to represent the face image. The histogram is compared to histograms of other face images to identify a match, or to calculate a distance metric representative of a difference between faces. |
| US08712108B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information outputting method and computer program storage device
An apparatus, method and computer program storage device cooperate to acquire an image of at least a part of a meal. An analysis is then done on the image to determine a substance in the image. The analysis also considers caloric intake and exercise data and compares the same with a health management model to arrive at a recommendation for a user who consumed the meal. Various optional features include using wireless communications to receive exercise data from sensors, as well as communication related images such as the menu of a restaurant or the location of the restaurant. |
| US08712103B2 |
Method and device for determining processed image data about a surround field of a vehicle
A method for determining processed image data about a surround field of a vehicle includes a step of combining a map information item with a position and an orientation of the vehicle and with an image of the surround field acquired by a surround-field monitoring device of the vehicle, in order to obtain a position-specific image of the surround field. In addition, the method includes a step of processing the position-specific image so as to include at least one symbol that is assigned to a classified object in the position-specific image, in order to determine the processed image data. |
| US08712102B2 |
Relative pose estimation of non-overlapping cameras using the motion of subjects in the camera fields of view
A relative pose between two cameras is determined by using input data obtained from the motion of subjects, such as pedestrians, between the fields of view of two cameras, determining trajectory information for the subjects, and computing homographies relating lines obtained from trajectories in the first image data to lines obtained from the trajectories in the second image data. The two fields of view need not overlap. |
| US08712101B2 |
Imaging apparatus having selection unit to select focus detection areas
An imaging apparatus includes a first imaging unit, a second imaging unit, a light measurement calculator, a holding unit, a detection unit, a recognition unit, a selection unit, and a focus adjustment controller. The second imaging unit is configured to acquire first image information, second image information, and third image information. The selection unit is configured to select the at least one of focus detection areas using a recognition result of the recognition unit. The focus adjustment controller is connected to the selection unit and is configured to perform a focus adjustment control using a focus adjustment state in a focus detection area selected by the selection unit. The changing unit is connected to the recognition unit and is configured to change the predetermined range based on the first determination and the second determination. |
| US08712100B2 |
Profiling activity through video surveillance
Embodiments of the invention relate to profiling activity. Content is captured and keywords are identified in the captured content. In response to the keyword identification, rules associated with the keywords are identified. These rules are employed to identify and capture relevant content in real-time. |
| US08712098B2 |
Method and system for detecting target objects
Method for detecting target objects by a first sensor device containing at least one first sensor and a second sensor device containing at least one second sensor. The second sensor is alignable by a control device in different spatial directions. Method includes: detecting target objects by first sensor device, determining at least one first target parameter for target objects; and storing at least a part of target objects with at least one first target parameter and information on a spatial direction of target object relative to a position of second sensor. Method additionally includes: assessing stored target objects, and determining highest priority target object; aligning second sensor to highest priority target object, and obtaining a sensor signal of second sensor to target object; extracting at least one further target parameter by automatic evaluation of sensor signal; and performing assessing, aligning, and extracting repeatedly. |
| US08712097B2 |
Approaching object detection system
An approaching object detection system, approaching object can be accurately detected while reducing the load on a calculation processing. A first moving region detection unit (30) detects (#3) only an optical flow substantially in horizontal direction in an image (P) captured by a camera (10) (#1) and sets (#4) a rectangular image portion (Q) containing a region moving in a substantially horizontal direction according to the detected optical flow. A second moving region detection unit (40) obtains a distribution (profile) of signal values of the set rectangular image portion (Q), (#5) in a vertical direction (longitudinal direction). Furthermore, the second moving region detection unit (40) correlates distributions of signal values of image portions (Q, Q) of two continuous images (P, P) in time series (#6) based on dynamic programming based processing to obtain an enlargement rate (#7). An approaching object determining unit (50) determines according to the enlargement rate whether the object is actually approaching. |
| US08712096B2 |
Method and apparatus for detecting and tracking vehicles
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting and tracking vehicles. One embodiment of a system for detecting and tracking an object (e.g., vehicle) in a field of view includes a moving object indication stage for detecting a candidate object in a series of input video frames depicting the field of view and a track association stage that uses a joint probabilistic graph matching framework to associate an existing track with the candidate object. |
| US08712094B2 |
Digital watermark embedding apparatus, digital watermark embedding method, and digital watermark detection apparatus
A digital watermark embedding apparatus includes an interface unit which acquires video data and digital watermark information, and a processing unit which embeds the digital watermark information into the video data. The processing unit is adapted to: determine the position of a watermark pattern so that the watermark pattern moves with time according to the value of a symbol contained in the digital watermark information within a first moving range that contains at least a portion of a reference region on each image, and so that the average pixel value of the reference region overlapped with the watermark pattern varies in a periodic fashion as the watermark pattern moves; and correct the value of each pixel contained in a region where the reference region and the watermark pattern overlap each other by using the value of a corresponding one of the pixels contained in the watermark pattern. |
| US08712086B2 |
Acoustic reconfiguration devices and methods
Disclosed is a portable audio device and a quick-disconnect passive acoustic cover. The portable audio device includes a housing and a speaker supported by the housing that have a first system frequency response. The speaker of the portable audio device has a first side and a second side associated with a first audio port and a second audio port, associated with a first acoustic load and a second acoustic load respectively. The housing is configured to removably receive the cover which is configured to redefine at least one of the first acoustic load and the second acoustic load to replace the first system frequency response with a second system frequency response. The cover provides one or more additional surrounding structures, which replace the inherent frequency response with an improved frequency response. Different embodiments of the disclosed cover provide a plurality of sound quality enhancement options to a user. |
| US08712085B2 |
Light powered hearing aid
A hearing aid includes a case and a photovoltaic cell located in the case near a translucent portion of the case. A detector circuit includes a voltage comparator for monitoring the voltage from the photocell and indicating variations in voltage. The variations are analyzed to detect data for operating the hearing aid. |
| US08712083B2 |
Method and apparatus for monitoring wireless communication in hearing assistance systems
A system collects information on performance of short-range wireless communication in local hearing aid systems. The information is analyzed, for example, to inform local users to adjust the local hearing aid systems, to adjust operational parameters for improving wireless communication in the local hearing aid systems, and/or to improve wireless connectivity and reliability in future products. |
| US08712075B2 |
Spatially pre-processed target-to-jammer ratio weighted filter and method thereof
The present invention provides a spatially pre-processed target-to-jammer ratio weighted filter and a method thereof, which uses two microphones to receive audio signals. The audio signals are divided into a plurality of sinusoidal waves by a fast Fourier transform (FFT) module, and a beamformer uses the sinusoidal waves to generate beamformed signals. A reference generator generates at least one reference signal. The beamformed signals and reference signals are used to work out power spectral densities (PSD), and a target-to-jammer ratio (TJR) is worked out with the power spectral densities. TJR is used to determine whether a sound source exists. According to the determination result, a noise estimator is switched to eliminate noise from the beamformed signals and generate output signals. An inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) module recombines the output signals and then outputs the recombined signals. |
| US08712074B2 |
Noise spectrum tracking in noisy acoustical signals
A method estimates noise power spectral density (PSD) in an input sound signal to generate an output for noise reduction of the input sound signal. The method includes storing frames of a digitized version of the input signal, each frame having a predefined number N2 of samples corresponding to a frame length in time of L2=N2/sampling frequency. It further includes performing a time to frequency transformation, deriving a periodogram comprising an energy content |Y|2 from the corresponding spectrum Y, applying a gain function G(k,m)=f(σs2(km),σw2l (k,m−1), |Y(k,m)|2), to estimate a noise energy level |Ŵ|2 in each frequency sample, where σs2 is the speech PSD and σw2 the noise PSD. It further includes dividing spectra into a number of sub-bands, and providing a first estimate |{circumflex over (N)}|2 of the noise PSD level in a sub-band and a second, improved estimate |{circumflex over (N)}|2 of the noise PSD level in a subband by applying a bias compensation factor B to the first estimate. |
| US08712073B2 |
Method and apparatus for blind signal extraction
An apparatus for extracting a signal from convolutive mixtures includes a receiving unit which includes two or more receivers and receives a signal; a transfer function calculation unit which calculates transfer functions for demixing; and a demixing unit which demixes the received signal using the calculated transfer functions. The transfer function is determined such that a signal is extracted from a source closest to the receivers, and is calculated on the basis of a transfer function for a path to each receiver being approximated to a delta function as closer to the source. |
| US08712072B2 |
Multi-wired antenna for mobile apparatus
The present invention is directed to mobile devices. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention provide one or more antennas embedded into headsets and/or earphone for mobile devices. In an embodiment, an antenna wire having a length of about 100 mm to 150 mm is implement as a part of a headset or an earphone that has an overall length of at least 90 cm, where the antenna wire is substantially insulated from the audio wire(s). The headset or earphone is connected to a mobile device that receives television signals from the antenna. In a specific embodiment, a mobile device includes a connection circuit that is configured to separate television signals form audio signals. In an exemplary embodiment, various components of the mobile device positioned at predetermine location away from the connection circuit to reduce noise and/or interference. |
| US08712071B2 |
Headset electronics
A wireless headset device that includes an earbud assembly and a primary housing assembly, fixed to the earbud assembly, is provided. The earbud assembly can include an earbud flexible circuit board having mounted thereon a receiver and processing circuitry. The primary housing assembly can include a microphone and a primary housing flexible circuit board electrically coupled to the earbud circuit board and the microphone. In some embodiments, the headset device can include at least one flexible circuit board and the primary housing can include a connector assembly. The at least one flexible circuit board can be electrically coupled to the connector assembly and can include Universal Serial Bus (USB) circuitry operative to process USB protocol communications and serial circuitry operative to process serial protocol communications. |
| US08712064B2 |
Signal processing device, signal processing method and program
There is provided a signal processing device including: an audio signal acquisition portion that acquires audio signals; an external signal acquisition portion that acquires external signals; an output signal generation portion that generates output signals from the audio signals and the external signals; a mode setting portion that sets an external mode as an operation mode; and a fade control portion that controls the output signal generation portion in accordance with the operation mode. When the external mode is set, the fade control portion causes the output signal generation portion to generate the output signal for one of the right ear and the left ear of the user from at least the external signal, and also to generate the output signal for the other ear from at least the audio signal. |
| US08712062B2 |
Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding noise signal
Provided is a method and apparatus for encoding/decoding an audio signal. Sections which are not used to output noise components near important spectral components and sub-bands which are not used to output noise components, are determined to be encoded or decoded, so that the efficiency of encoding and decoding an audio signal increases, and sound quality can be improved using less bits. |
| US08712059B2 |
Apparatus for merging spatial audio streams
An apparatus for merging a first spatial audio stream with a second spatial audio stream to obtain a merged audio stream comprising an estimator for estimating a first wave representation comprising a first wave direction measure and a first wave field measure for the first spatial audio stream, the first spatial audio stream having a first audio representation and a first direction of arrival. The estimator being adapted for estimating a second wave representation comprising a second wave direction measure and a second wave field measure for the second spatial audio stream, the second spatial audio stream having a second audio representation and a second direction of arrival. The apparatus further comprising a processor for processing the first wave representation and the second wave representation to obtain a merged wave representation comprising a merged wave field measure and a merged direction of arrival measure, and for processing the first audio representation and the second audio representation to obtain a merged audio representation, and for providing the merged audio stream comprising the merged audio representation and the merged direction of arrival measure. |
| US08712055B2 |
Method for detecting security error in mobile telecommunications system and device of mobile telecommunications
According to one embodiment, a method of performing a re-establishment procedure in a mobile communication system includes: receiving, by a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity, at least one PDCP data unit; performing, by the PDCP entity, an integrity check on the received at least one PDCP data unit; indicating, by the PDCP entity, an integrity check failure to a radio resource control (RRC) entity if the integrity check fails with regard to the received at least one PDCP data unit; and performing, by the RRC entity, a re-establishment procedure upon the indication by the PDCP entity of the integrity check failure, wherein the at least one PDCP data unit is for a control plane. |
| US08712054B2 |
Method and system for establishing enhanced key when terminal moves to enhanced universal terminal radio access network (UTRAN)
The present invention discloses a method and system for establishing an enhanced key when a terminal moves from an EUTRAN to an enhanced UTRAN, so as to ensure that the terminal can carry out normal communication safely in the enhanced UTRAN. The method includes: when the terminal moves from the EUTRAN to the enhanced UTRAN, a target enhanced serving GPRS support node (SGSN+) in the enhanced UTRAN deducing an intermediate key used in the UTRAN according to a mapped traditional key obtained from a source mobile management entity; and the terminal, after deducing the mapped traditional key, further deduces the intermediate key used in the enhanced UTRAN by using an algorithm which is the same as that of the target SGSN+ according to the mapped traditional key. |
| US08712053B2 |
Method and system for security authentication of radio frequency identification
A method and system for security authentication of radio frequency identification are disclosed. All the security control in this method is completed by the security authentication control apparatus. The reader is for the command transmission and the tag data forwarding, and there is not the security authentication control logic, the security authentication and the non security authentication can be supported at the same time. The key in the tag is unreadable, which ensures that the tag is unable to be replicated; the constant for every security authentication is randomly generated by the control module, and is returned by the tag after being encrypted, which presents the air interface from intercepting the useful information. This method provides the inventory with the mask code before the security authentication, which can have a certain filtering function on the tag data. The mask code can be configured flexibly. |
| US08712051B2 |
Spoofing detection for civilian GNSS signals
A system and method for detecting spoofing of signals by processing intermittent bursts of encrypted Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals in order to determine whether unencrypted signals are being spoofed. The system and method can allow a specially equipped GNSS receiver to detect sophisticated spoofing that cannot he detected using receiver antonomous integrity monitoring techniques. The system and method do not require changes to the signal structure of encrypted civilian GNSS signals, but instead use a short segment of an encrypted signal that is broadcast by the same GNSS spacecraft which broadcast the unencrypted signal of interest. |
| US08712050B2 |
Method for implementing dynamic pseudorandom keyboard remapping
A method of implementing dynamic pseudorandom keyboard remapping of a system including a keyboard in communication with an operating system of a computing device includes encrypting an original keyboard scan code corresponding to each of a plurality of keyboard keys, using a mapping algorithm, wherein the mapping algorithm encrypts the original keyboard scan code by using both the original keyboard scan code and a current one of a sequence of pseudorandom numbers generated using a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) algorithm and an initial seed value; and decrypting the original keyboard scan code based on an encrypted scan code generated and transmitted from the keyboard to the operating, responsive to a keystroke of the keyboard, wherein the operating system also uses the mapping algorithm, the PRNG algorithm, and the initial seed value. |
| US08712046B2 |
Cryptographic key split combiner
A cryptographic key split combiner includes a plurality of key split generators adapted to generate cryptographic key splits, a key split randomizer adapted to randomize the cryptographic key splits to produce a cryptographic key, and a digital signature generator. Each of the key split generators is adapted to generate key splits from seed data. The digital signature generator is adapted to generate a digital signature based on the cryptographic key. The digital signature generator can also be adapted to generate the digital signature based on a credential value. A process for forming cryptographic keys includes generating a plurality of cryptographic key splits from seed data. The cryptographic key splits are randomized to produce a cryptographic key. A digital signature is generated based on the cryptographic key. Generating a digital signature based on the cryptographic key can include generating the digital signature based on a credential value. |
| US08712043B2 |
Secure provisioning of a portable device using a representation of a key
A portable device initially accesses a secure server and requests a certificate. The secure server generates a random key and encodes the generated key to generate a representation of the key, such as a two-dimensional bar code or an audio signal, and communicated to a local device, such as a laptop or desktop computer, using a web interface. The local device is used to present the representation of the key to a mobile device. The mobile device then captures the representation of the key from the local device, for example using an image capture device or audio capture device, and extracts the key by decoding the representation of the key. The key is then stored by the mobile device and used to securely communicate with the secure server without manually entering the key. |
| US08712037B2 |
Data encoding and decoding apparatus and method thereof for verifying data integrity
A data encoding apparatus for verifying data integrity by using a white box cipher includes: an encoding unit for encoding content by using a white box cipher table; and an arithmetic logic unit for performing an arithmetic logic operation on the white box cipher table and content information to output an encoded white box cipher table. The arithmetic logic operation is an exclusive OR operation. The content information is license information of the content or hash value of the license information of the content. |
| US08712036B2 |
System for encrypting and decrypting a plaintext message with authentication
The described system and method provide for an encryption and authentication technique that achieves enhanced integrity verification through assured error-propagation using a multistage sequence of pseudorandom permutations. The method generates intermediate data-dependent cryptographic variables at each stage, which are systematically combined into feedback loops. The encryption technique also generates an authentication tag with minimal post processing that is the size of the state. The size of the state is dependent on the number of pseudorandom permutations and the size of the LFSR. The authentication tag provides a unique mapping to the plaintext for any number of plaintext blocks that is less than or equal the size of the state. In addition to being a stand alone encryption algorithm, the disclosed technique is applicable to any mode that uses pseudorandom permutations such as, key dependent lookup tables, S-Boxes, and block ciphers such as RC5, TEA, and AES. |
| US08712033B2 |
Method and system for providing intelligent call rejection and call rollover in a data network
A system and method may include receiving an invite message associated with a calling device over a data network, the invite message requesting establishment of a voice over data communication session, and presenting a plurality of call rejection options, each of the plurality of call rejection options being associated with separate call rejection messages. The system and method may further include determining which one of the plurality of call rejection options is selected, where the plurality of call rejection options permit a called party to intelligently reject a voice over data communication session. |
| US08712032B1 |
Using location based services for determining a calling window
Telemarketing calls may originate from a call center based on processing a telephone number record which includes a telephone number. The telephone number record may also include other information pertaining to the telephone number, including whether it is a wireline or wireless number. Further information may indicate whether the solicitation call is being originated on behalf of a wireless carrier serving the wireless subscriber associated with the telephone number. The call center may use location information associated with the wireless number to ascertain a location of the wireless subscriber and to then ascertain a time zone of the wireless subscriber, so as to originate the telemarketing call within the appropriate regulatory calling time window. A dialer may originate calls for an agent using a list of wireline numbers and then using a list of wireless numbers. |
| US08712029B2 |
Method and system for routing telephony communications together with modified calling party identifier information
A method, comprising causing a telephony communication originating from a calling party communication device to be routed to a first called party communication device together with calling party identifier information associated with the calling party communication device. The method further comprises receiving an identification of a second called party communication device to which the telephony communication should be routed, and generating modified calling party identifier information associated with the telephony communication on the basis of modification information received from the first called party communication device. Finally, the method comprises routing the telephony communication to the second called party communication device together with the modified calling party identifier information. |
| US08712028B2 |
Telephone relaying apparatus, telephone relaying method, and program
A real number and a published number are allocated to a call origination telephone terminal 100. The real number is a telephone number used in the case of directly connecting to the telephone terminal, and the published number is a number published for a third party as a telephone number of the telephone terminal. The telephone relaying apparatus 200 stores the real number and the published number in correlation with each other for each of a plurality of telephone terminals. When receiving a first call in which the real number of the call origination telephone terminal 100 is a calling number, the telephone relaying apparatus 200 reads out the published number corresponding to the real number of the call origination telephone terminal 100. The telephone relaying apparatus 200 makes a second call in which the published number of the call destination telephone terminal 300 is a calling number, and performs a relaying process between the call origination telephone terminal 100 and the call destination telephone terminal 300. |
| US08712026B1 |
Method and system for distributing ringback files
Methods and systems for facilitating distribution of ringback files to caller devices are provided. A ringback file server may receive a request to associate a ringback file with a callee device and a caller device. Responsively, the ringback file server transmits a copy of the ringback file to the caller device, thus enabling the caller device to play out the ringback file when the caller device subsequently initiates a call to the callee device. Preferably, the ringback file is a high quality audio or video file. Thus, locally storing the ringback file at the caller device facilitates playout of high quality ringback media and also avoids requiring that the ringback file server stream ringback media in-band to the caller device. |
| US08712020B2 |
Pandemic protocol for emergency dispatch
Systems and methods are provided to guide an emergency dispatcher in responding to emergency calls involving a patient manifesting symptoms of a pandemic illness. The systems and methods may include an emergency dispatch protocol configured to facilitate uniform and consistent gathering of information concerning the emergency situation. The emergency medical dispatch protocol may include one or more dispatch protocols configured for particular emergency situations, such as to aid the dispatcher in processing calls relating to a pandemic illness (e.g., severe respiratory infection like influenza). The emergency dispatch protocol may present a pre-scripted interrogation, including preprogrammed inquiries for a dispatcher to ask the caller. The pre-scripted interrogation of the dispatch protocol facilitates uniform and consistent gathering of symptom information relating to a pandemic outbreak. The information may be received and stored and/or processed to determine a determinant value corresponding to an appropriate emergency dispatch response. |
| US08712018B2 |
Testing apparatus and testing method for telephone apparatus
A testing apparatus and a testing method for a telephone apparatus are disclosed. The testing apparatus includes an audio generator, an audio signal processor, and a noise analyzer. The audio generator transmits a testing audio signal to a receiver of the telephone apparatus. The audio signal processor receives the testing audio signal and an output audio signal. The audio signal processor performs a time-to-frequency transformation operation on a difference between the testing audio signal and the output audio signal to obtain a noise information. The noise analyzer receives the noise information and obtains a maximum noise component among a plurality of noise components respectively corresponding to frequencies in the noise information. The noise analyzer compares the maximum noise component with a predetermined threshold to generate a testing result of the telephone apparatus. |
| US08712014B2 |
Adaptive frame scanning scheme for pulsed X-ray imaging
A method for adaptive frame scanning for pulsed x-ray imaging comprising the steps of: scanning lines on an image detector sequentially; receiving an indication that radiation is about to begin; waiting a fixed delay after the indication is received; suspending scanning after the fixed delay has lapsed; and resuming scanning of lines on the detector upon receiving an indication that radiation has stopped. By monitoring for completion of a frame a predetermined frame delay can be added before commencing the next line scan to accommodate jitter in the radiation pulse timing. |
| US08712010B2 |
Digital X-ray detector arrangement and digital X-ray imaging method
The invention relates to digital imaging implemented using X-radiation and to a detector arrangement designed to be used in such imaging, the operation of said arrangement being based on counters counting signal pulses. In the invention, the detector arrangement comprises switch arrangements which are always connectable to at least two counters and which allow at least one of the counters to be always disconnected from a pixel. It is thus always possible to read out the information from at least one counter while another counter is simultaneously being used for counting signal pulses. The invention provides the advantage that the integration of image information need not be interrupted when information is to be read out from the detector during exposure as a change of the integrating counter can be effected during exposure without losing any image information. |
| US08712008B2 |
Generating a representation of an object of interest
A volumetric image of a space is acquired from an imaging system. The space includes an object of interest and another object, and the volumetric image includes data representing the object of interest and the other object. A two-dimensional radiograph of the space is acquired from the imaging system. The two-dimensional radiograph of the space includes data representing the object of interest and the other object. The two-dimensional radiograph and the volumetric image are compared at the imaging system. A two-dimensional image is generated based on the comparison. The generated two-dimensional image includes the object of interest and excludes the other object. |
| US08712005B2 |
Nuclear fission reactor, a vented nuclear fission fuel module, methods therefor and a vented nuclear fission fuel module system
Illustrative embodiments provide a nuclear fission reactor, a vented nuclear fission fuel module, methods therefor and a vented nuclear fission fuel module system. |
| US08712004B2 |
Nuclear fuel assembly bottom nozzle
A nuclear fuel assembly bottom nozzle, of the type including a perforated plate to allow water to pass through it, the nozzle having lateral faces, and at least one anti-debris element positioned on a lateral face to block out debris likely to infiltrate between the bottom nozzle and another adjacent bottom nozzle, characterized in that, in the free state, the or each anti-debris element permanently projects from the lateral face on which it is positioned, the or each anti-debris element being elastically deformable so as to retract towards the lateral face in the event of a force being exerted on the anti-debris element towards the lateral face. |
| US08712003B2 |
Jet pump and reactor
A jet pump has a plurality of nozzles installed to a nozzle base, a throat and a diffuser. A first nozzle straight-tube portion, a first nozzle narrowing portion, a second nozzle straight-tube portion, a second nozzle narrowing portion, and a nozzle lower end portion formed in those nozzles are disposed in this order from the nozzle base to a ejection outlet. A narrowing angle of the second nozzle narrowing portion is larger than of the first nozzle narrowing portion. The jet pump forms, in a lower end portion of the throat, a flow passage narrowing portion having a flow passage cross-sectional area that gradually diminishes. This flow passage narrowing portion is inserted into an upper end portion of the diffuser. |
| US08711995B2 |
Powerline communication receiver
Aspects of the present disclosure are directed towards a circuit-based apparatus for receiving data communications over power distribution lines that carry power using alternating current (AC). The apparatus has a processing circuit that is configured and arranged to receive an input signal representing the data communications over power distribution lines. For a quadrature encoded signal, the input signal is separated into intermediary signals representing a real portion of and an imaginary portion. The processing circuit can then determine timing information from the real portion of and the imaginary portion. The intermediary signals can then be decimated according to a variable rate of decimation that is responsive to the determined timing information. The decimated intermediary signals are also filtered. |
| US08711988B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating soft bit values in reduced-state equalizers
A demodulator is provided that functions as a reduced-state equalizer and produces reliable soft bit values. According to an embodiment, soft bit values are generated for a sequence of transmitted symbols using a demodulator by updating an M-state trellis managed by the demodulator responsive to a transition from symbol time n−1 to symbol time n, where M is a function of the number of bits per symbol in the sequence of transmitted symbols. Survivor metrics associated with the M states of the trellis are saved each symbol time so that the demodulator can calculate soft bit values with regard to transitions from symbol time n+D−1 to symbol time n+D. The trellis is traced back through to calculate soft bit values for a symbol detected at symbol time n−D based on survivor metrics saved for the M states at symbol time n−D. |
| US08711984B2 |
Methods and apparatus for map detection with reduced complexity
Methods and apparatus are provided for high-speed, low-power, high-performance channel detection. A soft output channel detector is provided that operates at a rate of 1/N and detects N bits per 1/N-rate clock cycle. The channel detector comprises a plurality, D, of MAP detectors operating in parallel, wherein each of the MAP detectors generates N/D log-likelihood ratio values per 1/N-rate clock cycle and wherein at least one of the plurality of MAP detectors constrains each of the bits. The log-likelihood ratio values can be merged to form an output sequence. A single MAP detector is also provided that comprises a forward detector for calculating forward state metrics; a backward detector for calculating backward state metrics; and a current branch detector for calculating a current branch metric, wherein at least two of the forward detector, the backward detector and the current branch detector employ different trellis structures. |
| US08711981B2 |
Integrated testing circuitry for high-frequency receiver integrated circuits
An integrated circuit comprises a receiver and an oscillator circuit. The receiver has a first input port for receiving a first oscillatory input signal, a second input port for receiving a second oscillatory input signal, and an output port for delivering an oscillatory output signal which is a function of both the first input signal and the second input signal. The oscillator circuit has a first output port for delivering a first oscillatory signal, and a second output port for delivering a second oscillatory signal. The first output port of the oscillator circuit is coupled to the HF port, and the second output port of the oscillator circuit is coupled to the LO port. The integrated circuit may be designed such that the HF port may be disconnected from the first output port of the oscillator circuit without affecting the operability of the receiver. An apparatus for testing the proper functioning of an integrated circuit as described above and a method of producing a receiver are also disclosed. The method may facilitate testing a receiver die during production. In particular it may avoid the need for feeding high-frequency signals from an external apparatus to the die. |
| US08711979B2 |
Method of improving sensitivity and interference rejection in wireless receivers
A wireless receiver for receiving a signal with a characteristic pattern includes a predictor for predicting the presence of a non-zero value of the characteristic pattern. A tracker tracks a noise component in the received signal between predicted non-zero values. The resulting noise component is subtracted from the received signal to output a processed signal, which is then decoded by a pattern discriminator and demodulator. The wireless receiver is less sensitive to noise and interference. |
| US08711975B2 |
Tomlinson Harashima precoding with additional receiver processing in a multi-user multiple-input multiple-output wireless transmission system
A method for processing user symbols with Tomlinson Harashima precoder (THP) in a base station, of a wireless system having K user terminals (UEs) which communicate with the base station via an uplink channel and a corresponding downlink (DL) channel, comprises estimating DL channel matrix; determining receiver processing matrix; computing effective matrix DL channel Heff; performing QR decomposition of Heff; computing THP matrices; calculating scalar weights for the UEs; processing user symbols by the THP having the THP matrices to produce an output of filtered vector symbols for the UEs; directing output of the THP to a channel represented by the DL channel matrix through which communications occur in the wireless system with the UEs; providing the receiver processing matrix to the UEs for performing additional receiver processing on the transmitted signals; and providing the scalar weights to the UEs to be used on the transmitted signals at the UEs. |
| US08711972B2 |
Radio communication system, transmission apparatus, reception apparatus, and radio communication method in radio communication
A radio communication system, including: a transmission apparatus; and a reception apparatus, wherein the transmission apparatus and reception apparatus performs a radio communication, the transmission apparatus includes: one or more processor configured to enlarge a sequence length of a transmission data by repeating a sequence of the transmission data, and to perform a first subcarrier arrangement to arrange each of components included in the enlarged transmission data to each of subcarrier according to positions of the each of components in the enlarged transmission data, and to puncture the component of the arranged transmission data, when the subcarrier is not used for transmission; and a transmitter which transmits the transmission data arranged on the subcarrier to the reception apparatus, and the reception apparatus includes a receiver which receives the transmission data. |
| US08711970B2 |
Precoding codebooks for MIMO communication systems
A method for communication includes configuring a communication system that includes a transmitter and a receiver with first precoding matrices for mapping up to N data streams onto N transmit antenna ports of the transmitter. Each of at least some of the first precoding matrices are derived from respective second and third precoding matrices. The second and third precoding matrices are configured for mapping data onto respective numbers of transmit antenna ports that are less than N. The data streams are mapped onto the N transmit antenna ports using a precoding scheme based on one of the first precoding matrices. The mapped data streams are transmitted over the N transmit antenna ports from the transmitter to the receiver. |
| US08711968B2 |
Method for providing information of access point selection
A method for providing information of access point (AP) selection in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system is provided. The method includes: receiving from candidate APs the AP selection information comprising channel correlation information for other stations associated with the candidate APs; and selecting one AP from candidate APs according to the channel correlation information corresponding to the candidate APs. Accordingly, a gain of multi-user multiple input multiple output (MIMO) can be increased, and an AP suitable for a terminal can be selected. |
| US08711966B2 |
Wireless device with extendable antenna
A wireless device has receiver circuits and/or transmitter circuits supporting at least two simultaneous independent transmit paths in the same frequency band, and a multiport antenna with N ports, for the available receiver or transmitter circuits. The multiport antenna has a compact mechanical state and an extended mechanical state, and is connected to the N ports of the receiver and/or transmitter circuits by a 2N-port matching and decoupling network. This has multiple, selectable electrical states, each corresponding to at least one of the mechanical states. One combination of the mechanical state and the electrical state allows operation in a wireless channel of rank N. A second combination of the mechanical state and the electrical state allows operation in a wireless channel of rank less than N. Better MIMO performance with the extended antenna configuration can be obtained with the convenience of retaining limited performance when the user cannot use the extended antenna. |
| US08711963B2 |
Unified feedback frame for supporting a plurality of feedback modes and a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system using the unified feedback frame
Provided is a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system that may provide a plurality of feedback modes. A receiver may feed back, to a transmitter, a base codeword indicator indicating one of base codewords included in the base codebook, a differential codeword indicator indicating one of differential codewords included in the differential codebook, and/or a correlation codeword indicator indicating one of correlation codewords included in the correlation codebook. The transmitter may generate a precoding matrix using at least one of the base codeword indicator, the differential codeword indicator, and the correlation codeword indicator. |
| US08711961B2 |
Communicating channel state information using predictive vector quantization
Techniques are generally described here for communicating channel state information using predictive vector quantization. In some examples, a method may include measuring channel state information based, at least in part, on signals received over a communications channel. An error vector may be calculated between the measured channel state information and predicted channel state information. The error vector may be quantized, and subsequent channel state information may be predicted based, at least in part, on the quantized error vector. |
| US08711959B2 |
Frequency offset estimation apparatus and method of OFDM system
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for estimating a frequency offset which are robust against non-Gaussian noise. In a frequency offset estimation method of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system using a training symbol, the method includes receiving a reception signal, setting a specific initial frequency offset corresponding to the reception signal, and calculating a log-likelihood function based on a Complex Isotropic Symmetric α Stable (CISαS) probability density function obtained by modeling non-Gaussian noise included in the reception signal and estimating an optimum frequency offset based on the log-likelihood function and the initial frequency offset through a Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE). Accordingly, in a non-Gaussian noise environment, frequency offset estimated performance can be improved as compared with a conventional method in which noise is assumed to be a normal distribution. |
| US08711955B2 |
Spreading technique applied to broadband mobile communications by satelite relying on DVB-RCS
A device (D1) is dedicated to the processing of signals to be transmitted by waves, within a communication terminal (T). This device (D 1) includes i) memory (M1) for temporarily storing a sequence of digital samples of an analogue input signal according to a first sampling frequency and in a manner synchronized with respect to starts of periodic time slots, and ii) digital/analogue conversion (CV2) for generating, during each time slot and according to a second sampling frequency equal to N times the first sampling frequency, with N an integer strictly greater than 1, an analogue output signal, to be transmitted, representative of N repetitions of the sequence of digital samples that is stored in the memory (M1) during the time slot concerned, so as to output the analogue signal according to a symbol rate equal to N times a reference symbol rate. |
| US08711952B2 |
Analog to digital converter with increased sub-range resolution
An analog to digital converter with increased sub-range resolution. The device includes an analog front end that produces an analog communication signal, a digital front end that receives a digital communication signal, and an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) that samples the analog communication signal across a full-range. The ADC includes a full-range ADC having a first quantization accuracy configured to sample the analog communication signal across the full-range and a central sub-range ADC having a second quantization accuracy greater than the first quantization accuracy and configured to sample the analog communication signal across a central sub-range of the full-range. The ADC also includes signal combining circuitry configured to process outputs of the full-range ADC and the central sub-range ADC to create the digital communication signal. |
| US08711949B2 |
System, device and method for transrating file based assets
A video transrater, and a transrater system and method. The transrater, system and method may select an optimal bit rate from among a plurality of available bit rates in order to obtain a particular video quality and/or format. |
| US08711947B2 |
Digital broadcasting transmission and reception system, and a signal processing method using turbo processing and turbo decoding
A digital broadcast receiver and a method for receiving a digital broadcast signal are provided. The digital broadcast receiver includes a receiving unit for receiving a transmission stream comprising known data, control information having information regarding the known data, and a supplementary data stream; and a turbo decoder for detecting the supplementary data stream from the received transmission stream, and performing turbo decoding on the detected supplementary data stream. |
| US08711945B2 |
Methods and devices for coding and decoding images, computer program implementing them and information carrier enabling their implementation
A method of coding a digital image which includes plural macroblocks of which one is designated as a “current” macroblock. Motion estimation is applied to the current macroblock and to at least one image designated as “reference”, to obtain one or more first predictors in each reference image. A second predictor is obtained from a spatial scalability level lower than the spatial scalability level of the current macroblock. At least one of the first predictors is transformed from the spatial domain to the frequential domain. At least one low spatial frequency coefficient is predicted on the basis of the second predictor, and at least one high spatial frequency coefficient is predicted on the basis of at least one high frequency coefficient of the transformed first predictor. |
| US08711944B2 |
Representations of compressed video
A method of compressing digital data includes the steps of (i) reading digital data as a series of binary coded words representing a context and a code word to be compressed, (ii) calculating distribution output data from the input data and assigning variable length code words to the result; and (iii) periodically recalculating the code words in accordance with a predetermined schedule, in order to continuously update the code words and their lengths. |
| US08711941B2 |
Motion estimation for a video transcoder
A video transcoder for converting an encoded input video bit-stream having one spatial resolution into an encoded output video bit-stream having a lower spatial resolution, wherein motion-vector dispersion observed at the higher spatial resolution is quantified and used to configure the motion-vector search at the lower spatial resolution. For example, for video-frame areas characterized by relatively low motion-vector dispersion values, the motion-vector search may be performed over a relatively small vector space and with the use of fewer search patterns and/or hierarchical search levels. These constraints enable the transcoder to find appropriate motion vectors for inter-prediction coding without having to perform an exhaustive motion-vector search for these video-frame areas, which advantageously reduces the computational complexity and processor load compared to those of a comparably performing prior-art video transcoder. |
| US08711939B2 |
Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding video based on first sub-pixel unit and second sub-pixel unit
Methods and apparatuses for encoding and decoding video are provided. The encoding method includes: performing motion estimation on a current block according to a first sub-pixel unit, and obtaining a motion vector in the first sub-pixel unit with respect to the current block; interpolating a reference picture indicated by the motion vector according to a second sub-pixel unit smaller than the first sub-pixel unit; using the interpolated reference picture, selecting a second sub-pixel in the second sub-pixel unit adjacent to a first sub-pixel in the first sub-pixel unit of the reference picture; selecting a corresponding region that has a smaller error with the current block, from among a first corresponding region of the reference picture and obtained with respect to the first sub-pixel, and a second corresponding region of the current block and obtained with respect to the selected second sub-pixel; and encoding information of the selected corresponding region. |
| US08711936B2 |
Method of and apparatus for recording motion picture, which generate encoded data with higher compression efficiency using a motion vector similarity
A motion picture recording apparatus that includes a similar-motion-area setup unit which sets up blocks having a similar motion vector as a similar motion area, the similar motion vector being included in motion vectors calculated by a block-based motion search unit. The recording apparatus also includes a representative-motion-vector calculation unit which calculates a representative motion vector by use of a motion vector provided by each block included in the similar motion area. The recording apparatus further includes a selection unit which selects either the representative motion vector or the motion vector provided by each block, which is to be used for each block in the similar motion area. The recording apparatus also includes an encoder which performs coding processing using the selected motion vector and a prediction picture, for each block in the similar motion area. |
| US08711932B2 |
Method and apparatus for decoding/encoding a video signal with inter-view reference picture list construction
A method of decoding a video signal is disclosed. The present invention includes obtaining identification information indicating whether a coded picture of a current NAL unit is an inter-view picture group, obtaining interview reference information of the inter-view picture group, and constructing a reference picture list for inter-view prediction using the inter-view reference information according to the identification information, wherein the inter-view reference information includes view identification information of an inter-view reference picture. |
| US08711930B2 |
Non-zero rounding and prediction mode selection techniques in video encoding
In one aspect of this disclosure, techniques are described for selecting among default weighted prediction, implicit weighted prediction, and explicit weighted prediction. In this context, techniques are also described for adding offset to prediction data, e.g., using the format of explicit weighted prediction to allow for offsets to predictive data that is otherwise determined by implicit or default weighted prediction. |
| US08711927B2 |
System and method for video encoding
An embodiment of the present disclosure relates to system comprises an encoding device. Said encoding device comprises a compression unit, a quantizer, a bit estimator, a bit rate encoder and a variable length encoder. An embodiment also is a method of encoding. Said method estimates a number of bits to encode a macroblock after compressing the data stream. Then the estimated bit encoded by a bit rate encoder and further quantized by the quantizer to get the final encoded bit stream. The number of bits required to encode a macroblock is estimated after the quantization process and before the encoding process. The macroblock bit estimator estimates the number of bits required to encode a particular macroblock depending on the quantized AC coefficients of that macroblock and the quantized AC coefficients of the neighboring frames normalized at a macroblock level. |
| US08711924B2 |
Method and apparatus for variable accuracy inter-picture timing specification for digital video encoding
A method and apparatus for variable accuracy inter-picture timing specification for digital video encoding is disclosed. Specifically, the present invention discloses a system that allows the relative timing of nearby video pictures to be encoded in a very efficient manner. In one embodiment, the display time difference between a current video picture and a nearby video picture is determined. The display time difference is then encoded into a digital representation of the video picture. In a preferred embodiment, the nearby video picture is the most recently transmitted stored picture. For coding efficiency, the display time difference may be encoded using a variable length coding system or arithmetic coding. In an alternate embodiment, the display time difference is encoded as a power of two to reduce the number of bits transmitted. |
| US08711922B2 |
Partial response decision feedback equalizer with distributed control
A multi-phase partial response equalizer is disclosed. The equalizer includes receiver circuitry to receive a data symbol over N bit intervals and to generate N sets of samples in response to N clock signals having different phases. A first storage stage is provided, including storage elements to store the sets of samples during a common clock interval. First and second selection circuits are respectively coupled to an input and an output of the first storage stage. An output storage stage is coupled to the second selection circuit to store an output sample. The first and second selection circuits, over multiple clock intervals, cooperatively select the output sample from one of the sets of samples based on a most recent previous output sample. |
| US08711919B2 |
Systems and methods for adaptive blind mode equalization
Various embodiments described herein are directed to methods and systems for blind mode adaptive equalizer system to recover complex valued data symbols from the signal transmitted over time-varying dispersive wireless channels. For example, various embodiments may utilize an architecture comprised of a channel gain normalizer, a blind mode equalizer with hierarchical structure (BMAEHS) comprised of a level 1 adaptive system and a level 2 adaptive system, and an initial data recovery subsystem. The BMAEHS may additionally be comprised of an orthogonalizer for providing a faster convergence speed. In various architectures of the invention, the BMAEHS may be replaced by a cascade of multiple equalizer stages for providing computational and other advantages. Various embodiments may employ either linear or decision feedback configurations. In the communication receiver architectures, differential encoders and decoders are presented to resolve possible ambiguities. Adaptive digital beam former architecture is presented. |
| US08711915B2 |
Method for determining a corrected variance representative of the condition of reception of signals representative of symbols
A method for determining a corrected estimated variance representative of the condition of reception of signals representative of symbols transferred by an emitter to a receiver through a communication channel. The method includes, executed by the receiver, producing an estimation of the variance by a Wiener channel estimator comprising a linear filter of which coefficients are determined at least from a given average signal to interference plus noise ratio value. The method further includes, executed by the receiver, multiplying the estimation of the variance by a correction factor. The value of the correction factor, being dependent at least on the number of coefficients of the linear filter of the Wiener channel estimator. |
| US08711911B2 |
Communication apparatus, integrated circuit, and communication method
In communication method for communicating via a transmission channel to which first communication apparatuses communicating based on a first communication system, second communication apparatuses communicating based on a second communication system, and third communication apparatuses communicating based on a third communication system are connected, a data transmission domain and a notification domain for notifying a data transmission within the data transmission domain are allocated to the first communication apparatuses, the second communication apparatuses, and the third communication apparatuses, respectively. In the communication method, notices of the data transmission for each of the first communication apparatuses, the second communication apparatuses and the third communication apparatuses are transmitted within the notification domain, and the data transmission domain is reallocated in accordance with the notices transmitted from the first, second and third communication apparatuses. |
| US08711910B2 |
Opportunistic modem
An opportunistic modem (OM) system receives user data at an input port and transmits a modem output signal at an output port. In one aspect the data is initially transmitted over a first carrier in the modem output signal having a first frequency and bandwidth. Subsequently a second carrier having a second frequency and bandwidth is established, initially used to transmit pilot data, and then the user data is divided between the first and second carriers in the modem output signal. In another aspect the data is initially transmitted over a first and a second carrier in the modem output signal having respective first and second frequencies and bandwidths. Subsequently the second carrier is used to transmit pilot data for a period time. After the period of time the second carrier is de-established. In another aspect establishment and de-establishment of carriers is performed in response to detected interference. |
| US08711907B2 |
PMI feedback with codebook interpolation
Various embodiments of this disclosure may describe apparatuses, methods, and systems for interpolation of precoding matrixes to increase feedback accuracy of the channel state information (CSI) feedback in a wireless communication network. Other embodiments may also be disclosed or claimed. |
| US08711905B2 |
Calibration of quadrature imbalances using wideband signals
Calibration of quadrature imbalance in direct conversion transceivers is contemplated. A transceiver controller may perform a self-calibration to address quadrature imbalance. The controller may couple the radio frequency (RF) section of the transmitter to the RF section of the receiver via a loopback path and transfer a wideband signal into the transmitter. In the loopback path, the controller may phase-shift the wideband signal that propagates through the transmitter using two different phase angles to produce two different signals that propagate into the receiver. By measuring the transmitter and receiver signals, and performing a Fast Fourier Transform calculation, the controller may be able to calculate correction coefficients, or parameters, which may be used to adjust elements that address or correct the quadrature imbalance for both the transmitter and receiver. |
| US08711903B2 |
Antenna array system
Antenna system connectable to a base station, the antenna system comprising a digital radio unit connectable to at least one antenna element, wherein the digital radio unit comprises: at least one micro radio for receiving/sending digital radio signals having a digital down-converter/a digital up-converter and a digital signal converter. The at least one micro radio converts the digital radio signals to analogue RF (radio frequency) signals and vice versa. The at least one micro radio has at least one hub for processing digital radio signals and control signals and for routing said digital radio signals and control signals via at least one serial link and at least one interface. The at least one serial link is provided between the at least one hub and the at least one micro radio. |
| US08711901B2 |
Video processing system and device with encoding and decoding modes and method for use therewith
A video processing device operates in an encoding mode when a mode selection signal has a first value and operates in a decoding mode when the mode selection signal has a second value. The encoding mode utilizes a plurality of function specific hardware engines that each perform a specific coding function and the decoding module utilizes at least one of the plurality of hardware engines. |
| US08711900B2 |
Methods and systems for distributing broadcast messages on various networks
Methods and systems for sending a broadcast message in frequency hopping and other systems. Instead of sending a complete message separately to each device, a relatively small packet or “chirp” is sent. These chirps are either targeted at known devices or sent in a manner to sweep the Radio Frequency (RF) band. Devices that hear the chirps get information about the channel and/or time that the broadcast data will be sent. These devices then listen for the broadcast data as instructed, e.g., at the specified time on the specified channel. A system may alternatively, or in addition, use a scheduled hopping sequence break as a broadcast moment. Such a broadcast moment can be scheduled to periodically interrupt the node hopping sequences so that, at such times, many or all nodes are scheduled to be on the same channel for potential broadcasts. |
| US08711899B2 |
Method and device for determining a set of frequencies that can be used for transmitting information between radio transceivers of a network operating with frequency hopping
The invention relates to a method for determining a set of frequencies that can be used in a frequency plane for transmitting information between transceivers of a network operating with frequency hopping. One inventive aspect includes determining an initial set of frequencies that can be used, whose variations having a magnitude lower than a threshold, monitoring first and second portions of the frequency plane, the first portion comprising the set of frequencies that can be used, the second portion comprising frequencies that do not belong to that set of frequencies, and subsequently determining a new set of frequencies that can be used. The determination associated with the first portion has a first threshold, and the determination associated with the second portion has a second threshold which is separate from the first. |
| US08711896B2 |
Alleviation of laser-induced damage in optical materials by suppression of transient color centers formation and control of phonon population
Laser-induced damage in an optical material can be mitigated by creating conditions at which light absorption is minimized. Specifically, electrons populating defect energy levels of a band gap in an optical material can be promoted to the conduction band—a process commonly referred to as bleaching. Such bleaching can be accomplished using a predetermined wavelength that ensures minimum energy deposition into the material, ideally promoting electron to just inside the conduction band. In some cases phonon (i.e. thermal) excitation can also be used to achieve higher depopulation rates. In one embodiment, a bleaching light beam having a wavelength longer than that of the laser beam can be combined with the laser beam to depopulate the defect energy levels in the band gap. The bleaching light beam can be propagated in the same direction or intersect the laser beam. |
| US08711893B2 |
Optoelectronic component and method for producing an optoelectronic component
An optoelectronic component contains an epitaxial layer sequence based on a nitride compound semiconductor having an active layer and an epitaxial growth substrate comprising Al1-xGaxN, where 0 |
| US08711890B2 |
Method and system for modularized configurable connector system for ethernet applications
A first modular Ethernet connector and a coupled corresponding second modular Ethernet connector may communicate data based on Ethernet standards. The Ethernet connectors may be configurable and comprise at least twelve contact positions. Different connector configurations may support widely different data rates. The Ethernet connectors may fit within a handheld device and/or may be sized to fit greater than twenty-four connectors in a 1 RU faceplate of a 19 inch rack. A variable number of conductor and/or ground contact positions may be unpopulated or populated with contacts of various materials. The Ethernet connectors may be configured with a properly fitting latching mechanism, with connector shielding and/or to ground cable shielding. The Ethernet connectors may be sized and fitted for secure coupling. The Ethernet connectors may be coupled to a twisted pair cable. Differential pair conductors are terminated adjacently. The Ethernet connectors may comprise POE, a PHY and/or an antenna. |
| US08711885B1 |
Signal processing apparatus and methods
A unified system of programming communication. The system encompasses the prior art (television, radio, broadcast hardcopy, computer communications, etc.) and new user specific mass media. Within the unified system, parallel processing computer systems, each having an input (e.g., 77) controlling a plurality of computers (e.g., 205), generate and output user information at receiver stations. Under broadcast control, local-computers (73, 205), combine user information selectively into prior art communications to exhibit personalized mass media programming at video monitors (202), speakers (263), printers (221), etc. At intermediate transmission stations (e.g., cable television stations), signals in network broadcasts and from local inputs (74, 77, 97, 98) cause control processors (71) and computers (73) to selectively automate connection and operation of receivers (53), recorder/players (76), computers (73), generators (82), strippers (81), etc. At receiver stations, signals in received transmissions and from local inputs (225, 218, 22) cause control processors (200) and computers (205) to automate connection and operation of converters (201), tuners (215), decryptors (224), recorder/players (217), computers (205), furnaces (206), etc. Processors (71, 200) meter and monitor availability and usage of programming. |
| US08711883B2 |
Multiple carrier compression scheme
A method of reducing the bandwidth required to send a plurality of client traffic frames over a plurality of carrier communications networks is disclosed. Related communications system, data stores and boundary nodes are also disclosed. |
| US08711880B2 |
Method for reserving network bandwidth for versioned network services
Methods and apparatus to minimize the amount of bandwidth reserved for versioned network services are described. According to one embodiment of the invention, a bandwidth reservation component in a network service manager server receives a change to a service version in a service family. The bandwidth reservation component determines that the change would affect a reserved bandwidth on at least one of the network links of the service version. The bandwidth reservation component analyzes whether to accept the change based on how the change would affect the reserved bandwidth. The bandwidth reservation component changes on each of the network links the reserved bandwidth according to the change if the change is accepted. |
| US08711876B2 |
Method of synchronization for low power idle
A method comprises receiving data, modulated according to a first modulation scheme, from a transmitter via an Ethernet link while the receiver is in a first mode. The first mode corresponds to a first power consumption level of the receiver. The method also includes receiving a sleep signal, and, in response, transitioning the receiver to a second mode. The second mode corresponds to a second power consumption level lower than the first power consumption level. The method also includes detecting an expiration of a predetermined time interval, and, in response, transitioning the receiver to a third mode. The third mode corresponds to a third power consumption level greater than the second power consumption level. The method also includes receiving a refresh signal modulated according to a different, second modulation scheme, synchronizing the receiver to the transmitter based on the refresh signal, and transitioning the receiver back to the second mode. |
| US08711875B2 |
Aggregating completion messages in a sideband interface
In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for receiving a request in a router from a first endpoint coupled to the router, where the request is for an aggregated completion. In turn, the router can forward the request to multiple target agents, receive a response from each of the target agents, and consolidate the responses into an aggregated completion. Then, the router can send the aggregated completion to the first endpoint. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US08711874B2 |
Method and system for an integrated host PCI I/O bridge and dual port gigabit ethernet controller
Embodiments may include two gigabit Ethernet controllers integrated within a single chip and an I/O bridge coupled to the two gigabit Ethernet controllers and integrated within the single chip. The system may further include an I/O function coupled to the I/O bridge that is integrated within the single chip. The I/O function may include I/O logic and an I/O buffer integrated within the single chip and coupled to the I/O bridge and/or the two gigabit Ethernet controllers. A timing function or timing block may also be coupled to the I/O bridge and integrated within the single chip. A host system may be coupled to the I/O bridge. The I/O bridge may further include a primary bus controller, which may be a primary PCI bus controller. The controller or controller block may include control and status registers that may be coupled to the primary bus controller. |
| US08711873B2 |
Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) protocols for power line communications (PLC)
Systems and methods for carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) protocols for power line communications (PLC) are described. In some embodiments, a method may include performing a virtual carrier sensing operation and, in response to the virtual carrier sensing operation indicating that a communication channel is idle, calculating a contention window. The method may also include performing a physical carrier sensing operation subsequent to the virtual carrier sensing operation, the physical carrier sensing operation based, at least in part, upon the contention window. In response to the physical carrier sensing operation indicating that the communication channel is idle, the method may then include transmitting data over the channel. In other embodiments, another method may include determining that a data transmission is a unicast transmission and that an acknowledgement message has not been received. The method may further include incrementing a backoff parameter and repeating one or more carrier sense operations. |
| US08711867B2 |
Credit flow control scheme in a router with flexible link widths utilizing minimal storage
A method includes receiving flits forwarded from an upstream router into a first input virtual channel (VC) associated with an input port. The flits are associated with packets originated from a first Intellectual Property (IP) core and forwarded to a second IP core. The flits are stored in a VC storage associated with the first input VC. The method further includes performing link width conversion based on a width of the flits being different from a width of an output port. Link width conversion includes accumulation of the flits when the width of the output port is wider and unpacking of the flits when the width of the output port is narrower. Credits are generated based on the flits being forwarded from the first input VC to the output port. The credits are sent to the upstream router to enable receiving more flits from the upstream router. |
| US08711865B2 |
Auto-provisioning of network services over an Ethernet access link
In one embodiment, an apparatus includes an Ethernet port, for connection to an Ethernet access network providing multiple different services. A plurality of local service ports are provided for connection to items of peripheral customer premises equipment (CPE), each item supporting a different, respective service. A bridge is coupled to convey data frames between the Ethernet port and the local service ports. A controller is coupled to receive via the Ethernet port at least one provisioning message indicating associations between the services and respective Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) identifiers, and to configure the bridge, responsively to the provisioning message, to forward the data frames received via the Ethernet port on each VLAN to a respective service port in accordance with the associations. |
| US08711863B2 |
Virtual links in a routed ethernet mesh network
Virtual links may be used to divert traffic within an Ethernet network without affecting overall traffic patterns on the Ethernet network. In one embodiment, the virtual link may be established on the network via a routing system in use on the network. Nodes on a defined path for the virtual link will install forwarding state for the virtual link so that traffic may follow the defined path through the network. The logical view of the virtual link, from a routing perspective however, has the same cost as the shortest path between the endpoints of the virtual link and, accordingly, does not affect other traffic patterns on the network. Once established, the end nodes on the virtual path will have two equal cost paths through the network—one following the shortest path tree and one along the path for the virtual link. The end nodes may use a tie breaking process in an Equal Cost Multi Path (ECMP) selection process to preferentially select the virtual link over the shortest path. |
| US08711858B2 |
Packet communication system and packet communication method, and node and user device
A node compares an address resolution result corresponding to first packet data that is sent by the user device for accessing a first content server and an address resolution result corresponding to second packet data having the sender of the first packet data as the local node. When the addresses are different, the node allocates the second address resolution result to the user device, and configures a communication path between the user device and a second content server indicated by the second address resolution result. The user device accesses to the second content server on the communication path using the allocated second address resolution result. |
| US08711843B2 |
Cryptographically generated addresses using backward key chain for secure route optimization in mobile internet protocol
Enhanced cryptographically generated addresses (ECGA) for MIPv6 incorporate a built-in backward key chain. The backward key chain prevents time-memory attacks to discover a network address and helps prevent spoofing a network address of a mobile node. The backward key chain also provides a means to authenticate network addresses of a mobile node. |
| US08711842B2 |
Distributed IP-PBX signal processing
Techniques are described by which an IP telephone system leverages the digital signal processing functions of end-user IP telephones by distributing signal processing tasks typically carried out by a centralized IP-PBX. The end-user IP telephones publicize their signal processing capabilities and availabilities to an IP-PBX, which maintains a resource capability mapping of the IP telephones. When the IP-PBX receive a bitstream for a communication session involving IP telephones and/or legacy phones of the IP telephone system, the IP-PBX determines the signal processing requirements for the bitstream, selects an available, capable IP telephone to perform the requirements, and distributes the bitstream to the selected IP telephone. The IP telephone performs the requisite signal processing and returns the processed bitstream to the IP-PBX, which forwards the processed bitstream to the destination endpoint for the communication session. |
| US08711839B2 |
Device and method to automatically configure port forwarding
An inventive Network Address Translation (“NAT”) device and method for automatic port forwarding whenever said NAT device detects that only one Local Area Network (“LAN”) IP address has been leased by its DHCP server is disclosed. Under this condition, the inventive NAT device automatically configures all ports to be forwarded (except those that may be reserved for applications running in the inventive NAT device), to the single leased LAN IP address. This minimizes, if not eliminates, the conventional address configuration required when a NAT device is added to an existing network. |
| US08711837B1 |
Methods, apparatus, and systems for facilitating control communications between disparate devices
An access node for facilitating communications between disparate devices is disclosed. The access node includes an access communication device (ACD) interface configured to connect to an ACD and a network interface configured to communicate with a network. The access node provides configuration information associated with the ACD to an edge device coupled to the network in a common format irrespective of a native format in which the configuration information is maintained by the ACD, and facilitates modification of configuration parameters of the ACD by the edge device. The access node also facilitates audio communications between the ACD and one or more edge devices irrespective of the location of such edge devices, or of differences between the manners of audio signaling of the ACD and the edge devices. |
| US08711835B2 |
OFDM control signaling in the presence of timing asynchronization in a peer-to-peer network
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitates mitigating the affects of asynchronous behavior when transmitting a data signal. According to various aspects, the system and methods are employed for selectively appending an appropriate time-shifting mechanism to a data signal in order to rectify the negative affects of asynchronous time behavior during a logical data burst. |
| US08711833B2 |
Base station synchronization for a single frequency network
Methods, apparatus and systems for generating and synchronizing a macro-diversity region transmitted by base stations in a network includes a receiving module configured to receive a plurality of packets of content data. A controller module coupled to the receiving module and configured to generate a macro-diversity region data that includes at least one packet of the plurality of packets of content data, and to generate a time reference and frame offset information to indicate an offset from the time reference and to further identify a second base station transmission frame that will include the second macro-diversity region data. A communication module to communicate a macro-diversity region message that includes the macro-diversity region data and the macro-diversity region control information to a plurality of base stations, configured to synchronize the transmission of the macro-diversity region data at the plurality of base stations. |
| US08711831B2 |
Front end for RF transmitting-receiving systems with implicit directional control and time-multiplexing method in submicron technology
A new design configuration of an RF-transceiver front end is proposed. The Power Amplifier (PA) output stage of the transceiver comprises a cascode circuitry of N-type transistors with open-drain-configuration. The cascode-transistor is acting as a common-gate-transistor, whose gate is controlled to block the transmitting-(TX) path. The Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) input stage uses a common-gate configuration of a p-channel MOS-transistor that is controlled by the voltage at the bulk terminal. Lifting the bulk potential of this PMOS-transistor above its source potential disables the receiving-(RX)-path. This design allows low cost implementation for TDMA-RF-transceivers especially for Bluetooth-Solutions. The number of external components is reduced. No additional TX/RX switch is required. The same port and the same matching elements for the antenna's bandwidth adaptation are used for both the TX-path and the RX-path. |
| US08711825B1 |
Client network device and method for adjusting parameters of client traffic windows based on discovery of other network devices
A client network device includes a physical-layer device, a parameter module, an adjusting module, and a power management module. The physical-layer device, during each client traffic window that occur within a predetermined period, (i) transmits, over a network, a request signal from the client network device to discover other network devices in the network, and (ii) receives, from one or more of the other network devices, corresponding responses to the request signal. The parameter module monitors a first parameter of the client network device. The adjusting module adjusts a second parameter based on the first parameter. The second parameter indicates a number of the client traffic windows to occur within the predetermined period. The power management module transitions the client network device from an active mode to a sleep mode between consecutive ones of the number of the client traffic windows that occur within the predetermined period. |
| US08711821B2 |
Method and apparatus for supporting management actions for very high throughput in wireless communications
A method and apparatus may be used in Very High Throughput (VHT) Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) management actions. Management action frames such as VHT Action frames may be used to implement VHT features in WLANs. Extensions to 802.11 Action frames may be used to support VHT features and provide backward compatibility. VHT Management Actions may be supported with VHT Action frames and VHT extensions to 802.11 Action frames in various categories such as Direct Link Setup (DLS), Public, Spectrum Management and high throughput (HT). An access point (AP) or a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) may indicate VHT capability by way of signaling. |
| US08711818B2 |
High performance data transport system and method
System and method for providing data transport Quality of Service (QoS) assurances in homogeneous and heterogeneous communication networks consisting of one or more communication interface types. The system includes Subnet Managers for managing the resources of nodes within the subnets and Flow Managers for managing the communication flows between the nodes. A Real-time Reservation Transport Protocol (RRTP) establishes the resource reservations and QoS transport services for the communication flow payload over the reserved paths. The communication flows are protected against topological variations in the network, such as from node mobility. QoS assurances are also provided to secure communication flows through interoperation with security protocols, such as Internet Protocol Security (IPsec), or encryption devices, such as High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptor (HAIPE). |
| US08711817B2 |
Low cost mesh network capability
A wireless device that utilizes a single network interface to simultaneously connect to an infrastructure network and a mesh network. The device has a driver layer with a media access control module for each network type. A multiplexing module and transceiver module within the driver can direct received information associated with one of the networks to an appropriate media access control and then to an appropriate network adapter. For transmitted data, the multiplexing module can receive data from the application layer through an appropriate network adapter and route it to an appropriate media access control module for processing. The processed data can be interleaved by the transceiver for transmission. |
| US08711815B2 |
Mobile terminal apparatus, radio base station apparatus and radio communication method
To provide a mobile terminal apparatus, radio base station apparatus and radio communication method capable of supporting user multiplexing methods for enabling more users to be efficiently multiplexed on an uplink shared channel, the mobile terminal apparatus performs spreading processing for multiplying a data signal by a code varying for each user, and transmits the spreading-processed data signal to the radio base station apparatus on the uplink shared channel, and the radio base station apparatus receives the data signal, and user-separates a reception signal in which is mixed a plurality of users multiplied by spreading codes varying for each user into desired user signals to be data signals for each user. |
| US08711814B2 |
Radio communication device and sequence length adjusting method
Provided is a radio communication device which can prevent generation of mutual correlation peak between ZC sequences and reduce degradation of BLER characteristic of a CS-ZC sequence. In this device, a sequence length adjustment unit (103) truncates or extends the ZC sequence while maintaining the symmetry of the ZC sequence inputted from a ZC sequence generation unit (102) so as to adjust the sequence length to the number of subcarriers equivalent to the transmission bandwidth of a reference signal inputted from a sequence length setting unit (101). More specifically, the sequence length adjustment unit (103) truncates or extends any one of symbols constituting the ZC sequence so as to truncate or extend the ZC sequence. A transmission RF unit (107) transmits the ZC sequence after the sequence length adjustment. |
| US08711813B2 |
Base station device and wireless communication method
A base station device and a mobile terminal for improving frequency-utilization efficiency to realize high-speed communication. The base station device forming a cell and performing radio communication with the mobile terminal being present in the cell includes determining unit configured to determine the application of adaptive demodulation and coding only to the radio communication with the mobile terminal present in a part of a predetermined area in the cell and an estimating unit configured to estimate channel state information on the basis of the pilot signal from the mobile terminal, wherein the determining unit determines whether or not the adaptive demodulation and coding is applied to the radio communication with the mobile terminal on the basis of the channel state information estimated by the estimating unit. |
| US08711811B2 |
Identifying multi-component carrier cells
Methods and apparatus for generating and determining multi-component carrier cells, without the use of neighbor-cell lists, are described. Methods for generating and informing a communication system terminal about other component carriers belonging to a certain cell identity (ID), and methods and apparatus for a mobile terminal utilizing extended synchronization information for doing multi-component carrier cell search are described. Also, methods for multi-component carrier measurements and methods of reporting such measurements to a network are described. |
| US08711809B2 |
Method and system for efficient DRX operation during handover in LTE
A method and system for efficient DRX operation during handover in LTE in which a user equipment expects handover to occur, the method having the steps of: checking whether a no handover initiation decision is received within a predetermined time period; if no, performing the steps of: ensuring the user equipment is not in a DRX sleep period during reception of a handover grant; checking whether a handover grant is received, and if yes, performing a handover procedure; and if no, resuming a DRX sleep interval; and if yes, ending the process. |
| US08711807B2 |
Method and apparatus for compensating QoS during handover by base station in wireless broadband access system
An apparatus and method for compensating Quality of Service (QoS) during a handover of a Mobile Station (MS) by a serving Base Station (BS) and a target BS in a wireless broadband access system are provided. The method includes generating a message during a handover from the serving BS to a target BS, the message including at least one of a data transmission/reception time just before the handover, a size of a time window for which a data transmission/reception history is recorded in an accumulated way, and an amount of data transmitted/received during the time window, and transmitting the message to the target BS. The target BS can more accurately find a handover break time and the amount of data transmission/reception in the serving BS at the time the MS has been handed over to the target BS, enabling fast and adequate QoS compensation/correction for each QoS class, and thus facilitating flexible, efficient and accurate QoS provisioning regardless of controlled handover and uncontrolled handover. |
| US08711806B2 |
Communication system and data transmission method thereof
A communication system and data transmission method thereof are provided. The method includes adding an end marker to the end of source data and transmitting the source data and the end marker for a Packet data network GateWay (PGW) to a source evolved Node B (eNB) if a handover is carried out from the source eNB to a target eNB while the PGW is transmitting the source data to the source eNB, forwarding the source data and the end marker from the source eNB to the target eNB, transmitting target data immediately following the source data from the PGW to the target eNB, and transmitting the source data and the target data, which is classified into the source data by the end marker and immediately follows the end of the source data, from the target eNB to user equipment. |
| US08711804B2 |
Retransmission control method, base station and mobile station
A base station, a mobile station and a retransmission control method for enabling communication to be more efficiently performed. In a communication system comprising a base station (100) and a mobile station (200), a time period required for the retransmission of a transport packet to complete is determined, and a retransmission control is performed, based on the required time period, to change the order of executing the retransmission of the transport packet and a handover. In this way, when it is estimated that the retransmission will complete soon, the retransmission is caused to complete in a handover source system, thereby avoiding waste of communication resources used in the preceding transmission and retransmission processes. When it is estimated that the retransmission will continue for a while, the communication resources used in the preceding transmission and retransmission processes are wasted, but a more appropriate MCS can be assigned, in a handover destination system, so as to perform a retransmission, thereby enabling communication to be efficiently performed. |
| US08711799B2 |
Apparatus and method of managing radio bearer in wireless communication system
A method and apparatus of managing a radio bearer is disclosed. A relay node (RN) sets up at least one UuRB for a Uu interface between a user equipment (UE) and the RN and a UnRB for a Un interface between the RN and a base station (BS). The at least one UuRB is mapped to the UnRB according to quality of service (QoS) guaranteed by the at least one UuRB to setup a RB between the UE and the BS. |
| US08711798B2 |
Provision of downlink packet access services to user equipment in spread spectrum communication network
A method of providing a packetized data transmission service to a mobile terminal (108) in a spread spectrum communication network (100), includes: at a transmitter (102), broadcasting an indication message to a cell on a downlink broadcast channel (114), the indication message providing notification of an available packetized data transmission service intended for the mobile terminal (108); at the mobile terminal (108), monitoring the broadcast channel (114) for the indication message, and upon receipt, acknowledging detection of the indication message to the transmitter (102) on an uplink contention channel (116); and at the transmitter (102), upon contention completion, transmitting packetized data transmission service configuration information to the mobile terminal (108) on the broadcast channel (114). |
| US08711795B2 |
Apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving data streams in wireless system
A method for transmitting data including a plurality of data streams in a wireless system. The method includes receiving one or more data streams; mapping the received data streams to an additional physical slot; configuring one or more frames including the additional physical slots; and transmitting the one or more frames at one or more radio frequencies. |
| US08711794B2 |
System and method for receiving MBMS broadcasting service
Disclosed are a system and a method for receiving an MBMS broadcasting service. In the present invention, in a mobile communication/wireless communication system, an MBMS service is provided by synchronizing a unicast bearer with a multicast bearer through scheduling information mapping at the time of transmitting a broadcast/multicast service through a unicast. Further, the present invention presents even a method for improving quality of experience (QoE) of the service by providing the MBMS service through the multicast bearer and the unicast bearer simultaneously. According to the present invention, MBMS services of various service qualities can be provided depending on wireless quality of a terminal or the capability of the terminal at the time of providing the MBMS service. |
| US08711791B2 |
Denial of service (DoS) attack prevention through random access channel resource reallocation
A method of managing wireless transmissions from a mobile handset includes determining whether the mobile handset is a source of a Random Access Channel (RACH) overload in the wireless network and, upon determining that the mobile handset is a source of the RACH overload, configuring the mobile handset to replace usage of a first RACH resource causing the RACH overload with usage of a second RACH resource specified by the processor. |
| US08711787B2 |
Communication system including relay station and data frame for the communication system
Provided is a communication method and a data frame for a communication system having a relay station. An uplink sub-frame of the data frame may include a first uplink relay sub-frame which corresponds to a time frame where relay stations selected among a plurality of relay stations simultaneously transmit uplink relay signals to a base station, and a second uplink relay sub-frame which corresponds to a time frame where the remaining relay stations transmit remaining uplink relay signals to the base station using a scheduled radio resource. A downlink sub-frame of the data frame may include a first downlink relay sub-frame which corresponds to a time frame where a base station simultaneously transmits downlink relay signals to relay stations selected from among a plurality of relay stations, and a second downlink relay sub-frame which corresponds to a time frame where the base station transmits remaining downlink relay signals to the remaining relay stations using a scheduled radio resource. |
| US08711783B2 |
Method and apparatus for coordinating hopping of resources in wireless communication systems
A method and apparatus for coordinating the resource assignment of a plurality of channel segments in a wireless communication system are disclosed. The method includes the steps of determining a number of resources available, determining a number of channel segments to include in a frame, determining a number of resource zones to be used for resource assignment of the plurality of channel segments, assigning each channel segment of the number of channel segments to a resource zone of the number of resource zones, and selecting a resource from the number of resources for transmitting said each channel segment in said resource zone. |
| US08711778B2 |
Wireless device and communication control method
A mobile station is capable of wireless communication with a base station in a plurality of frequency bands. The mobile station includes a receiving unit, a detecting unit, an acquiring unit, and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit receives band information indicating a frequency band to be used in the wireless communication with the base station from the base station. The detecting unit detects whether a wireless module assigned wireless communication processing in the frequency band indicated in the received band information supports MIMO transmission. The acquiring unit acquires classification information identifying desired method information among method information associated with MIMO support information indicating that MIMO transmission is enabled when it has been detected that the wireless module supports MIMO transmission. The transmitting unit transmits the acquired classification information to the base station. |
| US08711776B2 |
Methods and apparatus for adapting network characteristics in telecommunications systems
Methods in a network node, such as a radio base station (RBS) node or a radio network control (RNC) node, for adapting network characteristics in a telecommunications system are provided. A plurality of entities indicative of the performance of the network are measured simultaneously, by means of a single table, and one entity is selected as main entity. The measurements are stored within main entity ranges and a correlation of the measurements is performed to determine a relationship among the entities with main entity range(s). The result(s) of the correlation is used to adapt network characteristics for optimizing the network. Related network nodes are also discussed. |
| US08711775B2 |
SMS transport resource control
The invention provides for a method of controlling release of SMS transport resources between User Equipment and a MME of a communications network, wherein the release is permitted subsequent to a Control Protocol Acknowledge signal at a Mobile Switching Centre of the network, and in particular a method wherein the release is initiated by the MME responsive to receipt of a release signal, and further provides for a SGs Interface, and MME arranged to be employed with such a control method. |
| US08711774B2 |
Wireless communication system and wireless communication method
There is provided a wireless communication system in which a feedback volume is reduced as exceeding a communication speed demanded by a mobile station. The wireless communication system includes: a plurality of base stations 102a and 102b having a plurality of antennas; a plurality of mobile stations 103a to 103d having a plurality of antennas; and a base station controller 101a collectively controlling a plurality of the base stations. During a certain period of time (time slot), there are provided an (MIMO+TDMA) communication mode by which only one of the base stations and one of the mobile stations are communicated with each other, an (SDMA+TDMA) communication mode by which one of the base stations and the plurality of the mobile stations are simultaneously communicated with each other, and a (multipoint SDMA) communication mode by which the plurality of the base stations and the plurality of the mobile stations are simultaneously communicated with each other by coordinating the plurality of the base stations with each other by the base station controller. And, it is judged by the base station or the base station controller whether or not the communication speed requested from the mobile station can be exceeded, so that an appropriate communication mode is automatically decided by switching the communication modes. |
| US08711772B2 |
Paging of a user equipment (UE) within a wireless communications system
A user equipment (UE) determine to activate a data session. The UE configures a data session activation request message to include an indication of an association with communication sessions of a given type (e.g., delay-sensitive communication sessions), and then transmits the data session activation request message to an access network. The access network determines to establish an aggressive paging cycle of a downlink channel for the UE based in part upon receiving a message (e.g., which can be different than the data session activation request message) that conveys the indication of the association to the access network. The access network sends at least one instruction for facilitating an allocation of the aggressive paging cycle to the UE, and the UE receives the at least one instructions and monitors the downlink channel accordingly. |
| US08711770B2 |
Base station apparatus and communication control method
A base station apparatus used in a mobile communication system to which an OFDM scheme is applied in downlink is provided with: a scheduler configured to perform assignment of radio resources to a user apparatus for each subframe; a control channel generation unit configured to generate a control channel for reporting a result of scheduling by the scheduler to the user apparatus; and a mapping unit configured to map the control channel and a data channel, wherein the control information includes information indicating a radio resource amount used for the control channel, and the mapping unit multiplexes information indicating the radio resource amount used for the control channel into a first OFDM symbol. |
| US08711765B2 |
Uplink synchronization management in wireless networks
In at least some embodiments, a wireless networking system is provided. The wireless networking system includes a base-station and a plurality of user devices in communication with the base-station. The base-station selectively assigns each user device to one of a first group and a second group. Also, the base-station selectively assigns each user device to an uplink synchronized state and an uplink non-synchronized state. The base-station allocates a unique reduced identifier to each user device in the uplink synchronized state, but does not allocate unique reduced identifiers to user devices in the non-synchronized state. |
| US08711759B2 |
Frame timing synchronization in a geostationary satellite system
Aspects of the invention provide a system and method to allow inroute frame timing synchronization without the aid of hub signal loopback or satellite ephemeris data. Furthermore, it allows tracking and compensating of the satellite motion to allow multiple remotes to use TDMA on the inroute frequencies, while minimizing the aperture. Two main techniques proposed are CLT and polling based approaches, which are used in combination for an optimum solution. In CLT based approach, hub transmits remote specific timing correction feedback messages on the outroute on as needed basis. In polling based approach, the remotes derive their timing based on a per-beam average delay estimate broadcast by the hub and a measured local delay specific to each outroute stream from a remote. An aspect of the invention uses triangulation method to determine satellite position. Furthermore, an aspect of the invention uses hub burst arrival method instead of polling approach. |
| US08711752B2 |
Distributed multicast packet replication with centralized quality of service
A system includes a forwarding engine to schedule when replicas of a received multicast packet are forwarded towards one or more multicast recipients. The system also includes an egress interface device to replicate the multicast packet and forward the multicast packet replica towards the one or more multicast recipients when prompted by the forwarding engine based on the scheduling. |
| US08711751B2 |
Methods and apparatus for dynamic identification (ID) assignment in wireless networks
Methods and apparatus that reduce user identification overhead for communications. In one aspect of the invention, a reciprocal transmission channel characteristic (e.g., the channel impulse response) is used to derive shared and anonymous user identification between two wireless devices. In one embodiment, subscription-less data transmissions are broadcast from a base station to multiple user equipment, each user equipment receiving its correspondingly identified subscription-less data. The use of quantization levels and/or levels of tolerance for compensating for non-ideal differences in recipient and transmitter channel characteristics are also disclosed. |
| US08711750B2 |
Method and system for a low-power client in a wide area network
A network device may be operable to receive an indication from a cable modem termination system (CMTS) that media access control (MAC) management messages will be transmitted by the CMTS at fixed intervals. Subsequent to receiving the indication, the network device may be operable to power down one or more components of the network device and set a sleep timer to a value equal to an integer multiple of the fixed interval minus a transition period. The network device may power up the one or more components of the network device upon expiration of the sleep timer. The network device may power up the one or more components of the network device upon an amount of traffic in a buffer of the network device reaching a threshold. |
| US08711743B2 |
Node and wireless sensor network comprising the node
A node (100) according to the invention is able to generate or receive, process and transmit information (161). At runtime, the node (100) dynamically determines and activates the protocols for processing the generated or received information (161). |
| US08711740B2 |
Multi-radio coexistence
In a wireless communication device with multiple radio access technologies (RATs), frame timing for one RAT may be aligned with a frame timing of another RAT so as to reduce a number of communication frames of the different RATs that overlap in time with each other. The aligning reduces the number of communication frames that are subject to cancellation due to interference. Alignment may reduce a number of transmit frames of one RAT that overlap with multiple receive frames of another RAT. Alignment may reduce a number of receive frames of one RAT that overlap with multiple transmit frames of another RAT. |
| US08711739B1 |
Subcarrier cluster-based power control in wireless communications
Devices, systems and techniques to monitor signal fading based on a cluster of subcarriers at a receiver and feedback monitored signal fading to a transmitter in wireless communication systems such as OFDM and OFDMA systems. |
| US08711738B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for providing an event alert
Methods, systems, and computer-readable media provide for providing an event alert. According to embodiments, a method for providing an event alert is provided. According to the method, an incoming communication from a first device is detected. An initiating party associated with the first device is identified. Whether the initiating party associated with the first device is further associated with an alert tag is determined. The alert tag may include an identifying alert identifying the initiating party associated with the first device. In response to determining that the initiating party associated with the first device is associated with the alert tag, the identifying alert is provided as the event alert on a second device. |
| US08711731B1 |
Handover signaling in wireless networks
A base station receives a first radio resource control (RRC) message comprising parameter(s) indicating whether a wireless device supports an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH). The base station selectively transmits second RRC message(s) configuring first radio resources of a first ePDCCH. The base station makes a handover decision for the wireless device. The base station transmits a third message to a target base station. The third message comprises at least one of: parameter(s) indicating whether the wireless device supports an ePDCCH, and configuration information of the first ePDCCH. |
| US08711730B2 |
System and method for identifying a target signal in an optical transport network frame structure
In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for identifying a target signal in an optical transport network frame structure may be provided. The method may include determining an Access Identifier (AID) for the target signal. The method may also include determining at least one attribute for the target signal. The at least one attribute may define at least one of an Optical Transport Network (OTN) multiplexing structure associated with the target signal and one or more attributes associated with one or a higher order or an intermediate higher order optical data unit entity for a supporting entity of a lower order optical data unit associated with the target signal. The method may further include identifying the target signal based on the AID and the at least one attribute. |
| US08711729B2 |
Host route convergence based on sequence values
In an example embodiment, a method is provided that assigns a sequence value to a host. The host is identified by a host network layer address. After the assignment, the host network layer address and the sequence value are included in an advertisement for transmission. In another example embodiment, another method is provided. Here, a first sequence value associated with the host network layer address is received from a network device. In addition, a second sequence value associated with the same host network layer address is received from a different network device. The first sequence value is ranked relative to the second sequence value and data is transmitted to the network device based on the ranking. |
| US08711724B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing backup channel in multi-channel environment
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing a backup channel in a multi-channel environment. According to an aspect of the present invention, the method of managing a backup channel in a multi-channel environment includes transmitting a control region of a super frame through a first channel constituting the multi-channel and transmitting a data region of the super frame to a destination terminal through a second channel constituting the multi-channel. A transmission quality of the first channel is acquired using the control region transmitted through the first channel. |
| US08711722B2 |
Method for processing power headroom and terminal thereof
The invention discloses a method for processing power headroom and a terminal thereof, wherein the method comprises: when transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and/or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) on subframe i and component carrier group j, the terminal measures power headroom on the subframe i and the component carrier group j; the terminal reports the power headroom to the base station and indicates the type of the reported power headroom when reporting. The invention specifically indicates the type to which the power headroom belongs by reporting the type while reporting the power headroom, thereby avoiding confusion. |
| US08711721B2 |
Methods and systems for dynamic spectrum arbitrage
Methods and system are provided for managing and monitoring allocation of RF spectrum resources based on time, space and frequency. A network may be enabled to allocate excess spectrum resources for use by other network providers on a real-time basis. Allocated resources may be transferred from one provider with excess resources to another in need of additional resources based on contractual terms or on a real-time purchase negotiations and settlements. A network may be enabled to monitor the use of allocated resources on real-time basis and off-load or allow additional users depending on the spectrum resources availability. Public safety networks may be enabled to make spectrum resources available to general public by allocating spectrum resources and monitoring the use of those resources. During an emergency, when traffic increases on a public safety network, the public safety networks may off-load bandwidth traffic to make available necessary resources for public safety users. |
| US08711720B2 |
Cognitive radio cooperative spectrum sensing method and fusion center performing cognitive radio cooperative spectrum sensing
Provided are a cognitive radio (CR) cooperative spectrum sensing method and a fusion center (FC) performing CR cooperative spectrum sensing. The CR cooperative spectrum sensing method includes receiving, at an FC, local spectrum sensing information about a predetermined frequency band from each of N secondary users (SUs) in a predetermined zone, determining, at the FC, the optimum number of SUs for determining whether the predetermined frequency band is being used by a primary user (PU) on the basis of the received local spectrum sensing information, and performing cooperative spectrum sensing on the basis of local spectrum sensing information received from the optimum number of SUs in the predetermined zone. The method is implemented by the FC. Accordingly, the method and FC find how many SUs are needed to determine that a frequency of a PU is being used in a corresponding-channel situation, thereby enabling efficient communication. |
| US08711717B2 |
Method of requesting CQI reports
In a method and a device for requesting Channel Quality Indication (CQI) reports from a mobile station of a cellular radio system, the CQI reports are requested in response to a measured Block Error Rate (BLER) of transmissions from the mobile station. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention a CQI report is requested if the BLER of the mobile station is above a predetermined threshold value C. The threshold value C can be set to a value related to the BLER target. In particular the value C can be set to the same value or as a value close the BLER that is targeted to try to adapt the CQI report request to how well the base station knows the channel. It can also be set higher or lower to also consider how much CQI reporting the base station estimates can be afforded when it comes to uplink resources and uplink grant signaling in the downlink. |
| US08711706B2 |
Protocol delay measuring device and protocol delay measuring method
A protocol delay measuring device prevents an increase of the processing overhead of a communication terminal attributed to a protocol delay measurement. The measuring device determines the protocol delay by using first and second timestamps created respectively before and after a processed packet is obtained from an unprocessed packet by IPsec processing by the communication terminal. An acknowledges creates an identifier of the unprocessed packet. A timestamp database stores the created identifier along with the first timestamp and writes the identifier in a storage where the identifier is kept the same before and after the IPsec processing by the communication terminal. A correlator reads the identifier from the storage and extracts the first timestamp stored along with the same identifier as the read identifier in the timestamp database. A calculator calculates the difference between the extracted first timestamp and the second timestamp as the protocol delay. |
| US08711704B2 |
Method and apparatus for wireless communication in a mesh network with central control of communication relationships
A method and apparatus for communication in a wireless sensor network. In one embodiment, one or more routers in a network may be available for communication with one or more star nodes at a randomized time and/or frequency. A connectivity assessment, which may be performed at several different frequencies and/or times, may be performed to evaluate the quality of communications between devices in the network. Primary and secondary communication relationships may be formed between devices to provide for system redundancy. One or more proxies may be maintained where each proxy includes a status of one or more devices in the network, e.g., one or more star nodes or routers. Proxies may be used to handle information requests and/or status change requests, e.g., a proxy may be requested to change a communication relationship between devices in the network and may generate command signals to cause the corresponding devices to make the change. |
| US08711703B2 |
Load balancing in shortest-path-bridging networks
A flow classification process is used at the edge of the shortest path bridging network to determine a flow label for attachment to a client frame entering the network. Any of several flow labels can be assigned to a client frame traversing the network to a particular egress node, and the flow labels are used by forwarding nodes to select among multiple equal-cost paths. In several embodiments, the flow label is calculated as a function of the client frame contents, which provide an entropy source for randomizing the selection of the flow label. This entropy source comprises the Internet Protocol (IP) header in the client frame, in some embodiments, but may comprise other client frame content in other cases. |
| US08711702B2 |
Lightweight multicast method and apparatus for data distribution service
The present invention provides a lightweight multicast method and apparatus for a data distribution service. The lightweight multicast apparatus includes a network congestion detection unit for multicasting packets to a plurality of subscriber node terminals, and detecting a cause of network congestion using a negative response message transferred from a relevant subscriber node terminal that could not receive the packets among the plurality of subscriber node terminals. A network recovery control unit determines a recovery control policy depending on the cause of the congestion detected by the network congestion detection unit, and solves the cause of the congestion. |
| US08711701B2 |
Method and system and policy server for guaranteeing data not to be interrupted
The present invention discloses a method for guaranteeing data not to be interrupted in multi-network connection environment, which applies between a user equipment (UE) connected with multiple networks and the multiple networks, and comprises that, when one or more network connections of the UE have congestion, an IP flow of the UE is transferred to an uncongested network connection from the congested network connection(s). The present invention also discloses a system and a policy server for guaranteeing data not to be interrupted. In the case that multiple network connections are established simultaneously, the present invention guarantees that data is not interrupted and achieves the effects of enlarging bandwidth and optimizing bandwidth by transferring IP flow. |
| US08711697B1 |
Method and apparatus for prioritizing data transfer
In accordance with an embodiment, there is provided a network component, comprising a data port configured to receive data packets in accordance with a scheduling algorithm; and signal logic configured to while the data port is receiving data packets in accordance with the scheduling algorithm, generate a flow stop signal, wherein responsive to the flow stop signal being generated, the data port is configured to halt reception of data packets, and unconditionally generate a flow start signal subsequent to generating the flow stop signal, wherein responsive to the flow start signal being generated, (i) the scheduling algorithm is configured to be reset, and (ii) the data port is configured to resume reception of the data packets in accordance with the reset scheduling algorithm. |
| US08711692B2 |
Multiplexing channels by a medium access controller
A code division multiple access (CDMA) communication device comprises a medium access controller (MAC) configured to receive data from a plurality of channels. Each channel is associated with a priority and an identifier. The MAC is further configured to multiplex the data of the plurality of channels for transmission over a CDMA channel based on the priority. |
| US08711691B2 |
Apparatus and method for efficient transmission of acknowledgements
Method and apparatus for transmission of information in multiple access communication system is described. Information from a plurality of access terminals is received. Alternatively, an access terminal determines what information needs to be sent to the access point. A determination is made as to whether sufficient resources, such as time, power level, or channels, are available to send an indication of acknowledgment. If sufficient resources are not available at the given time, the transmission of an indication of acknowledgment is delayed until sufficient resources are available. |
| US08711690B2 |
System and method for a TCP mapper
A system for congestion control of traffic in a network that uses Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) includes a plurality of TCP congestion control programs having one or more parameters, a plurality of TCP congestion control units running the TCP congestion control programs, and a TCP mapper adapted to map incoming TCP traffic flow from a plurality of incoming TCP traffic flows to the TCP congestion control units based on at least one of (a) the type of application program from which the incoming TCP traffic flow originated (b) the type of network for which the incoming TCP traffic flow is destined, (c) parameters related to network performance (d) network constraints (e) source of the incoming TCP traffic flow, and (f) destination of the incoming TCP traffic flow. |
| US08711687B2 |
System and method for backup communication over ethernet
A system and method for providing backup communications over an Ethernet cable are disclosed. A backup communication system (BCS) is provided as part of a networked (TCP/IP) hospital communication system. The BCS is coupled to an Ethernet cable used for normal TCP/IP communications. When TCP/IP communications are interrupted, the BCS receives patient call signals from patient room terminals over a secondary communication mode of the Ethernet cable, and transmits those call signals to a nurses' station. The call signals are transmitted as voltage coded data such as voltage pulses or static levels. The voltage can include call information. 10V can represent a normal patient call, 15V can represent a patient emergency call, and 24V can represent a code call. Information can be relayed back to the room terminals using the same signaling technique. Thus, basic communications can be achieved when TCP/IP communications are unavailable. Other embodiments are disclosed and claimed. |
| US08711685B2 |
System and method for data reconfiguration in an optical communication network
A system and method for optical communication are disclosed that may include providing an optical network terminal (ONT) operable to transmit information over a passive optical network (PON) to an optical line terminal (OLT); transmitting gigabit encapsulation mode (GEM) frames from the ONT to the OLT; converting the GEM frames into IP fragments; and transmitting the IP fragments out of the OLT. |
| US08711684B1 |
Method and apparatus for detecting an intermittent path to a storage system
A method and apparatus for detecting an intermittent path to a storage system comprising accessing path statistics comprising indicia of path state of a path to a storage system, determining whether the path state has changed during a predefined period and, if the path state has changed at least a predefined number of times during the predefined period, identifying the path as intermittent. Once a path is deemed intermittent, the path is aged until either the path is no longer intermittent or the path is deemed dead. |
| US08711680B2 |
Method and apparatus for re-routing calls in a packet network during failures
Method and apparatus for re-routing a call in a packet network during failures is described. In one example, a failure condition is detected for a destination endpoint for the call. At least one alternative endpoint address is identified from an alternative routing plan registered with the packet network in response to the failure condition. For example, various alternative routing plans may be registered with the packet network and stored in a database. Each of the alternative routing plans may include alternative endpoint address data for a plurality of endpoint devices. The database may be queried using the destination endpoint as an index value and the at least one alternative endpoint address may be retrieved. The call is then routed to the at least one alternative endpoint address. |
| US08711679B2 |
Methods and systems for automatically identifying a logical circuit failure in a data network
A disclosed example method to identify a failure in a logical circuit involves receiving non-requested trap data from a plurality of switches forming a logical circuit. The logical circuit spans first, second, and third logical networks. The example method also involves polling first and second switches of the logical circuit exclusive of others of the plurality of switches of the logical circuit. The first switch forms a first network-to-network interface between the first logical network and the second logical network. The second switch forms a second network-to-network interface between the second logical network and the third logical network. The first and second switches are selected for polling based on the trap data indicating a problem at the first and second switches. The example method also involves identifying a failure of the logical circuit without manual intervention based on the polling. |
| US08711675B1 |
Systems and methods for reducing narrow bandwidth interference contained in broad bandwidth signals
Under one aspect of the present invention, a system for processing a group of signals and interference includes (a) an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter for digitizing the group of signals and the interference; (b) a Fourier transform circuit for obtaining a Fourier transform of the digitized group of signals and the interference and to provide as output spectral bins, at least one of which contains the interference; (c) a power analysis circuit for comparing the collective power level of the spectral bins to a predetermined threshold, and if the collective power level exceeds the predetermined threshold, and for excising at least one bin that contains the interference; and (d) an inverse Fourier transform circuit for obtaining an inverse Fourier transform of the remaining spectral bins and outputting a digitized group of signals less the interference in any excised spectral bin. |
| US08711667B2 |
Recording device, recording method, and program
A recording device includes: a recording and reproducing unit that records or reproduces data stored on a recording medium; and a control unit that interrupts recording during recording performed by the recording and reproducing unit, acquires an evaluation value of a recording quality of a recorded portion, changes recording speed based on the evaluation value, and resuming the recording. |
| US08711665B1 |
Method and apparatus for determining storage capacity error for a data storage device
A data storage device comprising a non-volatile media including a plurality of segments, and configured to store a defect list, and a controller configured to perform a defect management process. The defect management process can include testing the plurality of segments for defects, detecting a defect in a first segment of the plurality of segments, updating the defect list to include the first segment, determining a defective space amount based on the segments in the updated defect list, determining whether the defective space amount indicates a storage capacity error, transmitting a storage capacity error signal to the test system when the defective space amount indicates the storage capacity error, and when the defective space amount does not indicate the storage capacity error, continuing to test the plurality of segments for defects until the defective space amount indicates the storage capacity error or all the segments have been tested. |
| US08711664B2 |
Method of controlling mechanical mechanisms of optical storage apparatus for peak power/current reduction, and related optical storage apparatus and machine-readable medium
An exemplary method of controlling an optical storage apparatus includes: driving a first mechanical mechanism of the optical storage apparatus by applying a first control signal to the first mechanical mechanism, wherein a second mechanical mechanism of the optical storage apparatus is inactive while the first mechanical mechanism is operating in response to the first control signal; adjusting the first control signal applied to the first mechanical mechanism when the second mechanical mechanism is requested to be active; and driving the second mechanical mechanism by applying a second control signal to the second mechanical mechanism while the first mechanical mechanism is operating in response to the adjusted first control signal. |
| US08711661B2 |
Bi-directional pattern dependent noise prediction
A method performed by a disk drive, comprising: receiving a plurality of signal samples over a channel in the disk drive; executing a forward pattern-dependent noise prediction (PDNP) operation on the plurality of the signal samples; generating, based on execution of the forward PDNP operation, a first detection of recorded data bits in the plurality of received signal samples; executing a backward PDNP operation on the plurality of the received signal samples; generating, based on execution of the backward PDNP operation, a second detection of recorded data bits in the plurality of received signal samples; comparing the first detection to the second detection; identifying, based on comparing, one or more erasures in the received plurality of signal samples; and generating one or more sequences of bits that promote correction of the one or more erasures. |
| US08711659B2 |
Sequential control device for a striking mechanism
The invention concerns a mechanical device (100) for the sequential control of at least two levers for a timepiece mechanism, controlling a first lever (1) and a second (2) lever cooperating with a contact surface (10) in accordance with a sequence wherein each changes from a first torque consumption level (11; 21) to a second, higher level (12; 22) during an increasing phase (14; 24) in which it stores torque, then from said second level (12; 22) to said first level (11; 21) during a decreasing phase (15; 25) in which it transmits energy.The device is wherein it includes delaying means (4) creating, during the decreasing phase (15) of said first lever (1), a stabilizing stage at a third, intermediate level (13) between said first (11) and second (12) levels.The invention also concerns a timepiece incorporating a device (100) of this type. |
| US08711657B2 |
Converter and measuring apparatus
Provided is a converter that converts sound waves into electrical signals, comprising a piezoelectric section including a plurality of piezoelectric elements that each convert a sound wave detected by a detection surface into one of the electrical signals; and a multilayer substrate to which the piezoelectric section is fixed. The multilayer substrate includes a plurality of signal wires that correspond respectively to the piezoelectric elements and each transmit the electrical signal output by the corresponding piezoelectric element; and a shield portion that electromagnetically shields at least a portion of the signal wires. The piezoelectric section is fixed to the multilayer substrate such that a surface of the multilayer substrate on which the piezoelectric elements are fixed is inclined with respect to the detection surfaces of the piezoelectric elements. |
| US08711651B2 |
System and method for managing self-refresh in a multi-rank memory
Multi-rank memories and methods for self-refreshing multi-rank memories are disclosed. One such multi-rank memory includes a plurality of ranks of memory and self-refresh logic coupled to the plurality of ranks of memory. The self-refresh logic is configured to refresh a first rank of memory in a self-refresh state in response to refreshing a second rank of memory not in a self-refresh state in response to receiving a non-self-refresh refresh command for the second rank of memory. |
| US08711650B2 |
Semiconductor device including multi-chip
In order to implement a memory having a large storage capacity and a reduced data retention current, a non-volatile memory, an SRAM, a DRAM, and a control circuit are modularized into one package. The control circuit conducts assignment of addresses to the SRAM and DRAM, and stores data that must be retained over a long period of time in the SRAM. In the DRAM, a plurality of banks are divided into two sets, and mapped to the same address space, and sets are refreshed alternately. A plurality of chips of them are stacked and disposed, and wired by using the BGA and chip-to-chip bonding. |
| US08711647B2 |
DRAM refresh method and system
A DRAM refresh method used with a memory system organized into rows of memory cells, each of which has an associated data retention time, with the system arranged to refresh predefined blocks of memory cells simultaneously. For each block of memory cells that are to be refreshed simultaneously, the minimum data retention time for the memory cells in the block is determined. Then, an asymmetric refresh sequence is created which specifies the order in which the blocks of memory cells are refreshed, such that the blocks having the shortest minimum data retention times are refreshed more often than the blocks having longer minimum data retention times. |
| US08711637B2 |
Semiconductor device and data processing system
In a phase change memory, when M bit (8 bits=1 byte) data is written, erase operation and program operation are performed in units of n bit (M>n) data. Further, when M bit data is written, program operation is performed in units of the n bit (M>n) data. Further, when M bit data is read from the memory cell, read operation is performed in units of the n bit (M>n) data. For example, when the data is written into to the phase change memory, the data is not overwritten but program is performed after once erasing the target memory cell. The data size for erasure and the data size for program are made equal. Erase and program operation are performed only for the demanded data size. |
| US08711634B2 |
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method for controlling the same
During data read process, a control circuit gives a read voltage to a selected word line connected to a selected memory cell, and gives read pass voltages, for turning on memory cells, to unselected word lines connected to unselected memory cells. The control circuit respectively gives a first read pass voltage, a second read pass voltage, and a third read pass voltage to a first unselected word line adjacent to the selected word line at a side of at least one of a bit line and a source line, a second unselected word line adjacent to the first unselected word line at a side opposite to the selected word line, and a third unselected word line adjacent to the second unselected word line at a side opposite to the selected word line. The second read pass voltage is higher than the third read pass voltage. |
| US08711631B1 |
Management of memory array with magnetic random access memory (MRAM)
An embodiment of the invention includes a mass storage device with a storage media that includes magnetic random access memory (MRAM) devices with a NAND flash interface and NAND flash memory devices that are coupled to the MRAM devices. The storage media is partitioned into a hybrid reserved area made of a combination of MRAM array NAND array and hybrid user area made of a combination of MRAM array and NAND array and further includes a controller with a host interface and flash interface coupled to the MRAM and NAND flash memory devices through a flash interface. |
| US08711630B2 |
Programming method of non-volatile memory device
A programming method of a non-volatile memory device that includes a string of memory cells with a plurality of floating gates and a plurality of control gates disposed alternately, wherein each of the memory cells includes one floating gate and two control gates disposed adjacent to the floating gate and two neighboring memory cells share one control gate. The programming method includes applying a first program voltage to a first control gate of a selected memory cell and a second program voltage that is higher than the first program voltage to a second control gate of the selected memory cell, and applying a first pass voltage to a third control gate disposed adjacent to the first control gate and a second pass voltage that is lower than the first pass voltage to a fourth control gate disposed adjacent to the second control gate. |
| US08711625B2 |
Bad column management with bit information in non-volatile memory systems
Column based defect management techniques are presented. Each column of the memory has an associated isolation latch or register whose value indicates whether the column is defective, but in addition to this information, for columns marked as defective, additional information is used to indicate whether the column as a whole is to be treated as defective, or whether just individual bits of the column are defective. The defective elements can then be re-mapped to a redundant element at either the appropriate bit or column level based on the data. When a column is bad, but only on the bit level, the good bits can still be used for data. |
| US08711623B2 |
Memory device and semiconductor device
One of objects is to provide a nonvolatile memory device in which the occurrence of a defect in data writing is suppressed and whose area can be suppressed, or a semiconductor device including the nonvolatile memory device. A first memory portion including a nonvolatile memory element and a second memory portion (data buffer) for temporarily storing data in verifying operation in which whether the data is correctly written into the first memory portion is verified are provided. Further, the second memory portion includes a memory element and an insulated gate field effect transistor for controlling the holding of charge in the memory element; the off-state current or the leakage current of the transistor is extremely low. |
| US08711622B2 |
Compact semiconductor memory device having reduced number of contacts, methods of operating and methods of making
An integrated circuit including a link or string of semiconductor memory cells, wherein each memory cell includes a floating body region for storing data. The link or string includes at least one contact configured to electrically connect the memory cells to at least one control line, and the number of contacts in the string or link is the same as or less than the number of memory cells in the string or link. |
| US08711620B2 |
Memory device having collaborative filtering to reduce noise
An apparatus is described that is configured to modify a signal to at least substantially remove a noise portion from the signal. In one or more implementations, the apparatus is a collaborative filtering module that is configured to communicatively couple to a memory array having a plurality of memory cell blocks. The memory array is configured to furnish a signal representative of data stored within the plurality of memory cell blocks. The collaborative filtering module is configured to determine a noise distribution associated with the plurality of memory cell blocks and generate a noise prediction, which is based upon the noise distribution, when a read operation for the plurality of memory cell blocks is issued. The collaborative filtering module is also configured to modify the signal utilizing the noise prediction to at least substantially remove noise from the signal. |
| US08711619B2 |
Categorizing bit errors of solid-state, non-volatile memory
Bit errors affecting cells of a solid-state, non-volatile memory are assigned to at least a first or a second category based on a relative amount of voltage shift that caused the respective bit errors in the respective cells. A reference voltage used to access the respective cells is adjusted to manage the respective bit errors of the first category. Additional corrective measures are taken to manage the respective bit errors of the second category. |
| US08711614B1 |
Memory elements with increased write margin and soft error upset immunity
Memory elements are provided that exhibit immunity to soft error upset events when subjected to radiation strikes such as high-energy atomic particle strikes. The memory elements may each have four inverter-like transistor pairs that form a bistable element and a pair of address transistors. There may be four nodes in the transistor each of which is associated with a respective one of the four inverter-like transistor pairs. There may be two control transistors each of which is coupled between the transistors in a respective one of the inverter-like transistor pairs. During data writing operations, the two control transistors may be turned off to temporarily decouple the transistors in two of the four inverter-like transistor pairs. |
| US08711612B1 |
Memory circuit and method of forming the same using reduced mask steps
Disclosed is a memory circuit and method of forming the same. The memory circuit comprises a lower metallization layer defining first conducting lines. A continuous magnetic storage element stack is atop the lower metallization layer wherein a bottom electrode of the stack is in direct contact with the first conducting lines. An upper metallization layer is atop the continuous magnetic storage element stack, the upper metallization layer defining second conducting lines, which are in direct contact with said continuous magnetic storage element stack. Localized areas of the continuous magnetic storage element stack define discrete magnetic bits, each energizable through a selected pair of the first and second conducting lines. In a second aspect and a third aspect, the continuous magnetic storage element stack is respectively partially and fully etched through a single mask, to define the discrete magnetic bits. |
| US08711608B2 |
Memory with separate read and write paths
A memory unit includes a giant magnetoresistance cell electrically coupled between a write bit line and a write source line. The giant magnetoresistance cell includes a free magnetic layer. A magnetic tunnel junction data cell is electrically coupled between a read bit line and a read source line. The magnetic tunnel junction data cell includes the free magnetic layer. A write current passes through the giant magnetoresistance cell to switch the giant magnetoresistance cell between a high resistance state and a low resistance state. The magnetic tunnel junction data cell is configured to switch between a high resistance state and a low resistance state by magnetostatic coupling with the giant magnetoresistance cell, and be read by a read current passing though the magnetic tunnel junction data cell. |
| US08711607B2 |
Semiconductor device
A logic circuit in a system LSI is provided with a power switch so as to cut off the switch at the time of standby, reducing leakage current. At the same time, an SRAM circuit of the system LSI controls a substrate bias to reduce leakage current. |
| US08711600B2 |
High density molecular memory storage with read and write capabilities
A memory element is provided that includes a ferromagnetic (FM) layer having one or more ferromagnetic materials. One or more first molecule layers are positioned on the FM layer where charge transfer and interface chemistry between the one or more first molecule layers and FM layer induces a magnetic moment in the one or more first molecule layers. The magnetic moment is stored in the one or more first molecule layers acting as bit information that is retained or written into the one or more first molecule layers. One or more spin-filter layers are positioned on the one or more first molecule layers. The one or more spin-filter layers are positioned on the one or more spin-filter layers to form a physical or a chemical π-dimer layer structure. |
| US08711599B2 |
Polarization-coupled ferroelectric unipolar junction memory and energy storage device
A memory device is provided. The memory device includes a plurality of memory cells and a controller to write data to and read data from the memory cells. Each memory cell includes a first semiconductor material having a spontaneous polarization, a resistive ferroelectric material having a switchable spontaneous polarization, and a second semiconductor material having a spontaneous polarization, the resistive ferroelectric material being positioned between and in contact with the first and second semiconductor materials. The memory device can be configured to store energy that can be released by applying a voltage pulse to the memory device. |
| US08711598B1 |
Memory cell and memory cell array using the same
A memory cell includes six transistors. The first and second P-type transistors have the sources coupled to a first voltage. The first and second N-type transistors have the drains coupled to drains of the first and second P-type transistors, respectively; the sources coupled to a second voltage; and the gates coupled to gates of the first and second P-type transistors, respectively. The third N-type transistor has the drain coupled to a write word line; the source coupled to drain of the first N-type transistor and gate of the second N-type transistor; and the gate coupled to a first write bit line. The fourth N-type transistor has the drain coupled to the write word line; the source coupled to drain of the second N-type transistor and gate of the first N-type transistor; and the gate coupled to a second write bit line. A memory cell array is also provided. |
| US08711597B2 |
3D solid-state arrangement for solid state memory
The present invention generally relates to the three-dimensional arrangement of memory cells. This 3D arrangement and orientation is made with macro cells that enable the programming, reading and/or querying of any memory cell in the 3D array without the need for overhead wiring or by utilizing a minimal amount of overhead wiring. The individual macro cells are electrically coupled together such that a single transistor on the substrate can be utilized to address multiple macro cells. In such an arrangement, all the auxiliary circuits for addressing memory elements are simplified thereby diminishing their integrated circuit area. |
| US08711595B2 |
Semiconductor memory device, method of controlling read preamble signal thereof, and data transmission method
A system, includes a controller including a plurality of first external terminals configured to supply a command, a clock signal and an address, and communicate a data, and communicate a strobe signal related to the data, and a semiconductor memory device including a plurality of second external terminals corresponding to the plurality of first external terminals, one of the plurality of first external terminals and one of the plurality of second external terminals transferring an information specifying a length of a preamble of the strobe signal before the semiconductor memory device communicates the data. |
| US08711593B2 |
Generalized AC-DC synchronous rectification techniques for single- and multi-phase systems
Various circuit configurations and topologies are provided for single and multi-phase, single-level or multi-level, full and half-bridge rectifiers in which diodes are replaced by combinations of voltage-controlled self-driven active switches, current-controlled self-driven active switches and inductors in order to reduce the effects of conduction loss in the diodes. |
| US08711588B1 |
Power supply device
There is provided a power supply device including an alternating current (AC) power supply unit supplying a first primary current in a positive half cycle and supplying a second primary current in a negative half cycle; a transformer unit including a first transformer and a second transformer; a main switch unit including a first main switch and a second main switch; an auxiliary switch unit including a first auxiliary switch and a second auxiliary switch; an auxiliary inductor unit including a first auxiliary inductor and a second auxiliary inductor; and a path providing unit providing a conduction path based on power supplied from the AC power supply unit. |
| US08711586B2 |
Power converter and method including noise suppression by controlling phase shifting of converter cells
The noise generated from a power converter is suppressed by increasing the noise frequency to a level not lower than the maximum frequency of the human audible range. To obtain the frequency of an output current harmonic component as a noise source which has exceeded the maximum frequency of the human audible range, it is adequate to determine that the frequency of a driving carrier wave for the individual converter cells in the power converter, in which the phases of the carrier wave for the converter cells are mutually shifted by a given value between the converter cells, meets the following equation. |
| US08711582B2 |
Parasitic element compensation circuit and method for compensating for the parasitic element
A circuit and method for compensating for parasitic elements of a transistor. A transistor, a controller, and a compensation element are mounted to a printed circuit board. The transistor includes parasitic drain and source inductors. The compensation element may be a discrete inductor that has an inductance value equal to about the sum of the inductance values of the parasitic drain and source inductors. The magnitudes of the compensation voltage and the sum of the voltages across the parasitic drain and source inductances are substantially equal. Thus, the compensation voltage developed across the compensation inductor is used to adjust a reference voltage within the controller. A drain-to-source voltage is applied to one input of a comparator within the controller and the adjusted reference voltage is applied to another input of the comparator. An output signal of the comparator is input to drive circuitry that drives a gate of the transistor. |
| US08711581B2 |
Synchronous rectifier network unit circuit and method
A synchronous rectifier network unit and synchronous rectifying method. The synchronous rectifier network unit includes a first body diode to which a first current flows at a first time when the first current flows to a first coil, and a first transistor which is turned on after the first body diode is conducted, and to which the first current flows, and it rectifies the first current by differently controlling the turn-off time of the first transistor according to the first current. |
| US08711571B2 |
Portable multimedia player
The present disclosure relates to the field of players, and provides a portable multimedia player includes a housing; an integrated circuit module received in the housing for playing multimedia; a storage device interface electrically connected to the integrated circuit module, and configured to connect to an external storage device; and a male HDMI connector electrically connected to the integrated circuit module, configured to be connected to a female HDMI of an external display device. The multimedia function of the external display device is expanded by connecting the male HDMI 11 to the female HDMI of the external display device. The portable multimedia player is connected to the display device without any corresponding interface cable, such that it affords convenient using to users and beautiful appearance. |
| US08711570B2 |
Flexible circuit routing
Flexible circuits for routing signals of a device, such as a touch sensor panel of a touch sensitive device, are provided. The flexible circuit can include a first set of traces for routing a first set of lines and a second set of traces for routing a second set of lines. The first set of traces can couple together the ends of at least a portion of the first set of lines. Additionally, the first set of traces can be non-intersecting or non-overlapping with the second set of traces. The flexible circuit can have a T-shape configuration and can be incorporated within a touch sensitive device, display device, printed circuit board, or the like. The flexible circuit can be placed over another flexible circuit, and can extend onto the device. |
| US08711561B2 |
Cooling structure for electronic device
A heat generating component (3) is mounted on one surface of a circuit board (2). A heat release member (4) is disposed between the one surface and an opposite wall (12) of a housing (1). The heat release member (4) has a plate (41) that extends in a specified direction and is in contact with the heat generating component (3), and fins (42) that project from the plate (41) toward the opposite wall (12). In a region of the opposite wall (12) of the housing overlapping with the heat release member (4), an air inlet (1c) is provided so as to extend in the specified direction. The heat release member (4) is, at both end portions thereof in the specified direction, in contact with the opposite wall (12) via heat-conductive spacers (9), and a gap (8) is formed between the fins (42) and the opposite wall (12). |
| US08711559B2 |
Push to release cover for a portable electronic device
A cover assembly for a portable electronic device is described. The cover assembly has a cover comprising: two cover extensions extending substantially perpendicular from the cover. Each of the two cover extensions has an abutment towards a center. An angular spring with two wings and two upwards arcuate ends is included in the cover assembly, each of the wings forming a bias angle relative to a line between the two ends. Two housing extensions extend from a surface of the portable electronic device, each of the housing extensions has a protrusion mating the corresponding abutment, and a guide having a form substantially corresponding to the upwards arcuate end. When a force is applied to the center of the angular spring, the bias angle decreases and the upwards arcuate ends are urged upwards, thereby causing the abutments moving outwards, and unlocking the protrusions. |
| US08711558B2 |
Electronic device
An electronic device includes a case, a plate, and a detachable member. The case has a first receiving area, a second receiving area, and a movable latch. The first receiving area is adjacent to the second receiving area. The movable latch moves back and forth between the first receiving area and the second receiving area. The detachable member is assembled to the first receiving area. The plate is assembled to the second receiving area. When the movable latch is located in the first receiving area, the movable latch locks the detachable member to the case. When the movable latch moves to the second receiving area, the movable latch is locked to the plate. |
| US08711555B2 |
Mounting apparatus for PCI card
A mounting apparatus for a PCI card includes an enclosure, a mounting bracket, a securing bracket mounted in the enclosure, and a securing member pivotably mounted on the securing bracket. The mounting bracket is used for securing a first end of the PCI card. The securing bracket includes a main body and an elastic securing portion extending from the main body. The securing member includes a pressing panel and a securing part. The pressing panel defines a receiving slot. The securing part is used for engaging the elastic securing portion to enable the pressing panel to press a second end of the PCI card. The receiving slot is used for receiving the second end. |
| US08711553B2 |
Display system with mounting assemblies and associated methods
A mounting fixture includes a box, a first arm, and a second arm. The box includes a primary panel, four sidewalls rearwardly extending from the primary panel, and a central hub rearwardly extending from a rear surface of the primary panel. The first arm extends beyond one of the four sidewalls, includes a first elongated slot, and has a first hook section at an outermost end thereof. The first elongated slot extends around and is slidably adjustable relative to the central hub to cause the first arm to extend further from or closer to the one of the four sidewalls. The second arm extends beyond a different one of the four sidewalls, includes a second elongated slot, and has a second hook section at an outermost end thereof. The second elongated slot extends around and is slidably adjustable relative to the central hub. |
| US08711551B2 |
Electronic device with multi-orientation
An electronic device includes a back shell, a support, a slide button and an elastic member. The back shell defines a first sliding slot and at least three second slots communicating with and intersecting with the first sliding slot. The support includes a connection portion connected to the back shell. The connection portion defines a through hole and includes a stop portion. The slide button is slidably connected to the back shell and includes a positioning portion. The positioning portion passes through the through hole and is operable to be selectively received in one of the second slots to enable the support to maintain different positions. The elastic member includes two ends respectively abutting against the positioning portion and the stop portion. The elastic member is configured to apply a push force to hold the positioning portion in position. |
| US08711549B2 |
Thermally efficient busway
A busway having multiple busbar conductors and pads composed of a thermally conductive, insulating material (TCIM) sandwiched in between each of the conductors and between the outermost conductors and the inside of the busway housing. The busway preferably includes three sets of TCIM pads, one set in the center of the busway, and a set at either end of the busway where a joint pack is installed to join multiple sections of busway sections together. The insulating material on the conductors has a cutout to expose the bare metal of the conductors, and a TCIM pad is placed directly on the exposed metal through the cutout, to form a thermal conduit between the busbar conductors to the metal housing of the busway, thereby reducing the temperatures of the busbar conductors and the joint pack during normal operation in which hundreds or thousands of amps of current are carried through the busway sections. |
| US08711548B2 |
Automatic actuator for breakers or switches
A load center includes a housing, a cover, and a circuit breaker. The load center can be retrofitted to further include a rotational motor, an actuator member, and a guide insert. The rotational motor includes a threaded drive shaft positioned through an aperture formed in the cover. The actuator member is threadingly engaged with the threaded drive shaft. The actuator member is oriented relative to the cover such that a handle of the circuit breaker is positioned through an aperture of the actuating member. Rotation of the threaded drive shaft causes the actuator member to translate such that a first actuating surface of the actuator member engages the handle and switches the handle from an OFF position to an ON position. The handle of the circuit breaker has full range of travel between the ON and OFF positions in response to the actuator member being moved into a neutral position. |
| US08711546B2 |
Method of fabricating solid electrolytic capacitor and solid electrolytic capacitor
A method of fabricating a solid electrolytic capacitor of an aspect includes the steps of preparing an anode element with a dielectric layer formed on a surface thereof, forming a solid electrolytic layer on the dielectric layer, forming a carbon layer on the solid electrolytic layer, bringing an aqueous polymer into contact with the carbon layer, and forming a silver paste layer on the aqueous polymer. A method of fabricating a solid electrolytic capacitor and a solid electrolytic capacitor that can be improved in characteristics can thus be obtained. |
| US08711544B2 |
High voltage circuit for electrical stimulation
The present invention relates to a remote-receiving circuit (1) for providing and controlling an electric stimulus applied to an animal, the circuit (1) comprising: an isolated DC/DC converter (4) having a low voltage input powered by an energy source (3) and a high voltage output connected to a storage capacitor (8) suitable to be charged with stimulus energy by said converter (4); a first electrode (5) and a second electrode (6) configured to be in contact with the animal for delivering to it high voltage stimulus current and connected to the respective ends of said storage capacitor (8); a current-limiting circuit (9) connected in series with the storage capacitor (8) to control the stimulus current delivered to the animal through the electrodes (5, 6). |
| US08711543B2 |
Electrifying roller
Provided is an electrifying roller which may be used in a contact electrification method, which may be manufactured more easily, and which may better prevent problems caused by an electrically conductive material. |
| US08711540B2 |
Device for installing conducting components in structures
A device (1) for the installation of a conducting component (2) on a structure (3) made from composite material, the inside of this structure (3) comprising a substance which can be ignited, which comprises an installation element (4) onto which the conducting component (2) is positioned, a conducting insert element (5), by means of which the installation element (4) is joined to the composite material structure (3) by its internal part, a conducting layer (6) arranged on the external part of the installation element (4) and a conducting fixing element (7) which joins the structure (3) and the installation element (4) to the insert element (5) and the conducting layer (6) so that the device (1) defines a low impedance current path through the conducting layer (6) and the insert element (5) through which the energy is dissipated from an atmospheric discharge to the component (2) or to the structure (3), the interior face of the structure (3) remaining isolated. |
| US08711538B2 |
Externally gapped line arrester
An arrester for preventing an insulator supporting a power line from experiencing an electrical flashover comprises an electrode, a varistor, and a separating device. The electrode is spaced apart from the power line or a conductor that is electrically tied to the power line so as to define an external gap therebetween. The separating device, in turn, comprises two portions operative to separate from one another when the varistor experiences an electrical condition sufficient to cause the varistor to fail. The electrode, the external gap, the separating device, and the varistor are arranged in electrical series with one another and in electrical parallel with the insulator. |
| US08711536B2 |
Voltage detection apparatus and combination circuit
A voltage detection apparatus includes an operational amplifier, first and second switches coupled between a terminal of a detection target voltage source and a common node, a first capacitor including a plurality of capacitor elements coupled in series between the common node and an inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier, a third switch and a second capacitor, which are coupled between the inverting input terminal and an output terminal of the operational amplifier, a reference voltage selection circuit which applies one of a first reference voltage and a second reference voltage differing from one another to a non-inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier, and a controller which is capable of selecting a voltage detection mode and a self-diagnostic mode. |
| US08711534B2 |
Battery power management system and method
A battery power management system including a protection switch, a battery set, a high-voltage protection chip, a plurality of voltage-dividing units and a low-voltage measurement chip is provided. The protection switch and the battery set are connected in series between a first power terminal and a second power terminal of the battery power management system. The battery set includes a plurality of battery cells and has a plurality of sensing nodes. The high-voltage protection chip controls the protection switch according to a plurality of first sensing voltages from the sensing nodes. The voltage-dividing units are connected to a part of the sensing nodes and divide a part of the first sensing voltages to generate a plurality of second sensing voltages. The low-voltage measurement chip is connected to the voltage-dividing units and measures electric quantities of the battery cells according to the second sensing voltages. |
| US08711530B2 |
Pluggable power cell for an inverter
In one embodiment, a power cell chamber for a drive system includes moveable and fixed portions. The moveable portion includes a rectifier stage to rectify an input signal received from a secondary winding of a transformer to provide a rectified signal and an inverter stage having a plurality of switching devices to receive a DC signal and output an AC signal. This moveable portion can be slidably adapted within a cabinet of the drive system. In turn, the fixed portion includes a DC link having at least one capacitor to receive the rectified signal and provide the DC signal to the inverter stage. |
| US08711528B1 |
Tunnel magnetoresistance read head with narrow shield-to-shield spacing
A tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) read sensor having a tabbed AFM layer and an extended pinned layer and methods for making the same are provided. The TMR read sensor has an AFM layer recessed from the air bearing surface, providing a reduced shield-to-shield distance. |
| US08711526B2 |
Magnetic element with top shield coupled side shield lamination
A magnetic element is generally provided that can be implemented as a transducing head. Various embodiments may configure a magnetic stack to be separated from a side shield lamination on an air bearing surface (ABS). The side shield lamination can be constructed to have a plurality of magnetic and non-magnetic layers each coupled to a top shield. |
| US08711521B2 |
Suspension with flexure having laminated structure and bonding pads on opposing surfaces thereof, and head gimbal assembly and disk drive unit with the same
A suspension for a head gimbal assembly includes a flexure having a laminated structure including a substrate layer, an insulating layer formed on the substrate layer, and a conducting layer formed on the insulating layer. And first bonding pads are formed on the conducting layer at a first surface of the flexure, so as to electrically connect with a slider via solder balls, and second bonding pads are formed on the substrate layer at a second surface of the flexure opposite to the first surface, so as to electrically connect with extra components formed at the second surface via solder balls. The suspension can connect slider and other extra components at two opposite surfaces of the flexure with a simplified and compacted structure and a reduced cost. |
| US08711520B2 |
Device with a floating head having a heater element
In one embodiment, a method of manufacturing a magnetic disk includes rotating a magnetic disk, supporting a floating head on the rotating magnetic disk, the floating head having a slider body and an element unit formed on a trailing edge of the slider body, contacting a floating surface of the slider body with the magnetic disk, and protruding a portion of the floating head toward the magnetic disk due to application of power to a heater element within the element unit, wherein the element unit is positioned away from the magnetic disk. In another embodiment, a floating head includes a slider body comprising AlTiC, an element unit positioned on a trailing edge of the slider body, the element unit having an initial recess amount of at least about 4 nm, and a heater element positioned within an alumina protective film of the element unit. |
| US08711513B1 |
Disk drive
According to one embodiment, a disk drive includes a housing, a disk recording medium in the housing, a drive motor, a head, a carriage configured to support the head for movement, and a flow regulation member between the recording medium and a sidewall of the housing, except for a moving region for the carriage. The flow regulation member includes a shroud member, which is located substantially flush the recording medium and adjacently faces the outer peripheral edge of the recording medium, and a plurality of fins protruding from the shroud member and configured individually to guide an airflow passing along a surface of the recording medium toward the outer periphery of the shroud member and prevent a backflow toward a center of the recording medium. |
| US08711502B1 |
Preamplifier-to-channel communication in a storage device
An apparatus comprising a preamplifier, a channel, and a controller. The preamplifier may be configured to read/write data to a drive with a read/write head, in response to (i) a plurality of digital control signals multiplexed to be sent/received over a first bus and (ii) one or more analog data signals sent/received over a second bus. The channel may be configured to (i) connect to the first and second bus, and (ii) send/receive the plurality of digital control signals through (a) a plurality of interconnects and (b) the first bus. The controller may be configured to send/receive the digital control signals over the interconnects. The apparatus may be configured to (i) read/write the analog data signals to the drive and (ii) generate the digital control signals, in response to one or more input/output requests received from a drive interface. |
| US08711501B2 |
Customizing a range of acceptable tape dimensional stability write conditions
Described are embodiments of an invention for customizing the range of acceptable write conditions to a tape of a tape cartridge that contracts or expands laterally based on environmental conditions. The tape drive utilizes servo information to determine if the tape has expanded or contracted from the nominal dimension and to determine the magnitude of the expansion or contraction. In the case of expansion, the magnitude of the determined expansion and the stored maximum amount of contraction must be below a predetermined threshold value to allow a write. In the case of contraction, the magnitude of the determined contraction and the stored magnitude of expansion must be below the same predetermined threshold value to allow a write. If the determined magnitude of contraction or expansion is greater than the stored magnitude of contraction or expansion, respectively, then the new extreme is stored. |
| US08711498B2 |
Magnetic reading and writing device
In a magnetic reading/writing device, a controller derives at each radius of a recording medium a slope of a curve of track-averaged write performance with respect to an adjustment parameter, and determines a first set of fitting coefficients of a first equation approximating the derived slopes in terms of a first variable representing each radius. The controller acquires write performance dependence on a variable representing each of multiple circumferential positions of the medium by measuring track average write performance with respect to the circumferential positions, and determines a second set of fitting coefficients to approximate by a periodic function the acquired dependence in terms of the first variable. The controller corrects a condition value representing the adjustment parameter by subtracting from the condition value an adjustment value obtained from functions calculated with the first and second sets of fitting coefficients. |
| US08711493B2 |
Imaging lens
A four element lens system for use with an imaging sensor includes first, second, third, and fourth lens elements and an optical filter that are arranged sequentially in order from an object side to an imaging side. The lens elements are coated with an anti-reflective film. The lens system further includes an optical filter that is disposed at a distance from the imaging sensor. The lens elements are relatively positioned to each other to satisfy specific conditions. The lens elements further include thickness to diameters ratios that satisfy specific conditions. |
| US08711491B2 |
Imaging lens having five lens elements, and electronic apparatus having the same
An imaging lens includes: a first lens element having a positive refracting power, and having a convex object-side surface facing toward an object side; a second lens element having a negative refracting power, and having a concave image-side surface facing toward an image side; a third lens element having a negative refracting power; a fourth lens having a convex image-side surface facing toward the image side; and a fifth lens element having an image-side surface with concave and convex portions and facing toward the image side. Absolute value of a difference between Abbe numbers of the second and third lens elements is less than 10. A quotient of a thickness of the fourth lens element divided by a sum of widths of air gap among the lens elements ranges between 0.5 and 1. |
| US08711489B2 |
Zoom lens
In a zoom lens of a fixed total length, at the time of changing the magnification from the wide-angle end toward the telephoto end, the first lens group is anchored while the second lens group is moved, and the third and fourth lens groups are moved so as to be located at the object side of the telephoto end relative to the wide-angle end, such that: the interval between the second and third lens groups is decreased at the telephoto end relative to the wide-angle end; the interval between the third and fourth lens groups is increased at the telephoto end relative to the wide-angle end; and the interval between the fourth and fifth lens groups is increased at the telephoto end relative to the wide-angle end, and at the time of focusing a near object point from a remote object point, the second lens group is moved. |
| US08711488B2 |
Zoom lens
A zoom lens includes a first lens group that has a lens having negative refractive power and a light path changing member; a second lens group that includes a lens having positive refractive power and a lens having negative refractive power, and has negative refractive power as a whole; a third lens group that includes a stop, a front group lens having positive refractive power, and a rear group lens having negative refractive power, and has positive refractive power as a whole; and a fourth lens group having positive or negative refractive power. Upon changing magnification from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end, the first lens group and the fourth lens group are fixed. The second lens group moves to the object side after the second lens group moves to an image side, and the third lens group linearly moves to the object side. |
| US08711486B2 |
System for highlighting targets on head up displays with near focus plane
Methods and apparatus for displaying a near-focus one-dimensional marker on a head up display (HUD) such that the parallax disparity between the marker and a distant far-focus visual target is not apparent to a viewer looking at the visual target through the HUD. The one-dimensional marker is oriented at the same angle as the interocular line of the viewer's eyes, as captured by a digital camera facing the viewer. Additionally, a dashed one-dimensional marker is disclosed to reduce the visual noticeability of small inaccuracies in orientation. |
| US08711484B2 |
Fabrication of thin pellicle beam splitters
A method for fabricating a pellicle beam splitter includes etching an aperture in a support substrate; bonding a beam splitter substrate to an upper surface of the support substrate so that the beam splitter substrate covers the aperture; and depositing at least one optical coating on the beam splitter substrate. A pellicle beam splitter includes a support substrate, an aperture created in the support substrate using a semiconductor fabrication processes and a beam-splitting coating covering the aperture. |
| US08711482B2 |
Pressing mold for optical lenses and method for manufacturing glass optical lenses
A pressing mold for optical lenses, which molds a ring-zone-type diffraction lens having a plurality of concentric ring zones, the mold including: diffraction action transfer surfaces configured to form diffraction action surfaces that diffract light passing through the diffraction lens; and step transfer surfaces configured to form step surfaces that connect the adjacent diffraction action surfaces of the diffraction lens, wherein surface roughness of the step transfer surfaces is larger than surface roughness of the diffraction action transfer surfaces. |
| US08711476B2 |
Screen
A screen includes a polarization layer having plural acicular particles provided with their major axes oriented nearly in the same direction on a substrate, and has polarization selectivity of reflecting light in one polarization direction and absorbing light in the other polarization direction of two polarization directions orthogonal to each other on a plane perpendicular to incident light. |
| US08711473B2 |
Focus adjustment unit and optical scanning microscope
An optical scanning microscope is presented in which the observation magnification does not significantly change even when the working distance of an objective lens is changed. The optical scanning microscope includes an objective optical system that converts the light from a specimen into a substantially collimated light beam, an imaging optical system that forms an image from the collimated light beam, a pupil projection optical system that substantially collimates the light formed into an image, a lateral scanner that angularly deflects the collimated light beam from the pupil projection optical system to laterally scan the area of the specimen to be observed, and a lens driver that drives the imaging optical system and/or the pupil projection optical system along the optical axis direction. The imaging optical system is disposed such that its front focal point is positioned proximate to the back focal point of the objective optical system. |
| US08711471B2 |
High power fiber amplifier with stable output
A stable, single mode fiber amplifier is described. The amplifier consists of a seed source, a passive single clad multimode fiber, an active double clad multimode fiber or a multimode fiber horn and a semiconductor laser pump source. The passive fiber is packaged on a mandrel with a compound radius of curvature such that high order modes in the fiber are stripped from the core leaving only the fundamental mode. This fiber is then spliced to a multimode active fiber of similar core diameter. By exciting only the fundamental mode of this active fiber, stable single mode amplification is achieved. |
| US08711463B2 |
Light modulators and optical apparatuses including the same
Provided are examples of light modulators and optical apparatuses that may include the light modulators. A light modulator may include a plasmonic nano-antenna and an element for changing plasmon resonance characteristics of the plasmonic nano-antenna. The plasmon resonance characteristics of the plasmonic nano-antenna may be changed due to a change in refractive index of the element, and thus light may be modulated. |
| US08711462B1 |
Stroboscopic image modulation to reduce the visual blur of an object being viewed by an observer experiencing vibration
A method and apparatus for reducing the visual blur of an object being viewed by an observer experiencing vibration. In various embodiments of the present invention, the visual blur is reduced through stroboscopic image modulation (SIM). A SIM device is operated in an alternating “on/off” temporal pattern according to a SIM drive signal (SDS) derived from the vibration being experienced by the observer. A SIM device (controlled by a SIM control system) operates according to the SDS serves to reduce visual blur by “freezing” (or reducing an image's motion to a slow drift) the visual image of the viewed object. In various embodiments, the SIM device is selected from the group consisting of illuminator(s), shutter(s), display control system(s), and combinations of the foregoing (including the use of multiple illuminators, shutters, and display control systems). |
| US08711458B2 |
Scanned image projection system employing intermediate image plane
In imaging system (100), a spatial light modulator (101) is configured to produce images (102) by scanning a plurality light beams (104,105,106). A first optical element (107) is configured to cause the plurality of light beams to converge along an optical path (114) defined between the first optical element and the spatial light modulator. A second optical element (115) is disposed between the spatial light modulator and an output of the imaging system. The first optical element and the spatial light modulator are arranged such that an image plane (117) is created between the spatial light modulator and the second optical element. The second optical element is configured to collect the diverging light (118) from the image plane and collimate it. The second optical element then delivers the collimated light to a pupil (120) on the other side of the second optical element relative to the spatial light modulator. |
| US08711455B2 |
Three-dimensional holographic display using active shutter
A three-dimensional holographic image display device and a method using the same are provided. Light corresponding to left and right eye holograms is emitted according to a time division method and divided into a first path and a second path. Active shutters operate substantially in synchronization with the emitted left and right eye holograms to provide images to a user's left and right eyes. |
| US08711451B1 |
Image correction method
An image correction method is applied to a scanner device. The scanner device includes a main case, a drive module, an optical module, an analog-to-digital converter, a first-in and first-out data buffer, a data flow control unit, a set unit, a data classification unit and a memory storage unit which are electrically connected and assembled in the main case. The scanner device executes a program statement set by the set unit in the memory storage unit to get values for building an update shading table. The scanner device utilizes the update shading table to compensate pixel values corresponding to red, green and blue light of each scanned line of an image for doing a luminance compensation of image pixels corresponding to the red, green and blue light of each scanned line of the image so as to complete an image correction of each scanned line of the image. |
| US08711449B2 |
Systems and method for automatic color plane misregistration calibration
A system and a method for implementing an automatic color plane misregistration (CPR) calibration procedure on a printing device are provided. The system includes a printing device. The printing device includes a user interface configured to receive a set of user inputs corresponding to parameters of a desired print project. The printing device also includes an automatic CPR calibration component configured to automatically implement a CPR calibration procedure in response to a user-defined trigger condition being met. The user-defined trigger condition can be programmable and stored in a memory. |
| US08711447B2 |
Image scanning apparatus and image forming apparatus
An image scanning apparatus includes an image pickup device, a substrate connected to a terminal of the image pickup device, a heat radiation plate which is disposed between the image pickup device and the substrate and one surface of which contacts the image pickup device, and an insulating sheet which is sandwiched between the heat radiation plate and the substrate, respective surfaces of which contact the heat radiation plate and the substrate, and which electrically insulates the heat radiation plate from an electronic component on the substrate. |
| US08711446B2 |
Reading apparatus and reading method
Provided is a reading apparatus that includes a light source that emits a light to a source material and a plurality of image pickup elements that each receive the light reflected by the source material, to thereby read the source material. The plurality of image pickup elements are each located at different positions and each mounted at different angles with respect to a surface to be read of the source material. The reading apparatus compares read values acquired from the image pickup elements, so as to decide the property of the image expressed on the source material. |
| US08711444B2 |
Light-source control device, light-source control method, image reading device, and image forming apparatus
A light-source control device includes a light source including a first light emitter for emitting light and a second light emitter for emitting light due to the light emitted by the first light emitter; a constant current unit configured to maintain a current constant that is input via the light source from a power supply; a switching unit configured to switch the current to be input to the constant current unit at a designated duty ratio and cycle; and a control unit configured to control the current applied to the light source so that a rise transition time and a fall transition time of the current applied to the light source are nearly equal to each other. |
| US08711438B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing system, and image processing method
An image processing apparatus includes a recording control unit for recording, by a recording head, a recording position adjustment chart including a pattern for adjusting a recording position of the recording head discharging ink and a mark formed in a position different from that of the pattern, a reading unit for reading the recording position adjustment chart as image data, a first detection unit for detecting a position and inclination of the recording position adjustment chart when reading the recording position adjustment chart based on the mark, a second detection unit for detecting the position of the pattern based on the position and the inclination detected by the first detection unit, and a determination unit for determining adjustment values for the recording position adjustment based on the image data of the recording position adjustment chart in which the position of the pattern has been detected by the second detection unit. |
| US08711431B2 |
Image forming apparatus acquiring image processing time detected when the acquired time is longer that the previously set time and to correct output image density using generated patch pattern
An apparatus includes: a transfer unit configured to transfer recording agent onto a transfer sheet to print input data; an acquisition unit configured to acquire, when the transfer unit transfers and when it is detected that processing is to be performed due to which time is extended that is taken from ending processing on the transfer sheet to starting the processing on a following transfer sheet, the time generated due to performance of the detected processing; a generation unit configured to generate, when the acquired time is longer than a previously set time, a patch pattern on the transfer sheet; and a correction unit configured to correct output image density using the generated patch pattern. |
| US08711427B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image forming system, and computer-readable storage medium
An image processing apparatus includes an anti-aliasing processing unit configured to perform an anti-aliasing process on gloss-control plane image data that specifies a type of a surface effect applied to a recording medium and a drawing area to which the surface effect is to be applied to the recording medium and on color plane image data indicative of a drawing area of a color image. The anti-aliasing processing unit corrects a pixel value of each pixel in the color plane image data to a value obtained by multiplying the pixel value by a first area ratio of a drawing area of the color plane image data before rasterization in each pixel, and corrects a pixel value of each pixel in the gloss-control plane image data to a value obtained by multiplying the pixel value by an area ratio of 100 percent. |
| US08711426B2 |
Methods and systems for identifying and changing resolutions to cause an aspect ratio of a printed image to match an aspect ratio of image data
An image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure includes an image data analysis unit and an image conversion unit. The image data analysis unit is configured to identify a width-directional resolution and a height-directional resolution of image data. If the width-directional resolution and the height-directional resolution are not the same, the image conversion unit is configured to change at least one of pixel counts in a width direction and a height direction to cause a first aspect ratio for printing to match a second aspect ratio of the image data. |
| US08711424B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image printing apparatus and printing data generation method
In an image processing apparatus, a data amount of printing data generated for each different size of dot is reduced. Specifically, in quantization to obtain data for each printing head, printing data for a large dot is set as data in which a bit number per pixel is two bits, and printing data for a medium or small dot is set as data in which a bit number per pixel is one bit. Thereby, a data amount per pixel can be reduced compared with data in which all bit numbers per pixel for the large, medium and small dots are equally two bits. |
| US08711423B2 |
Image forming apparatus and method
An image forming apparatus includes a communication interface unit to receives an XML paper specification (XPS) file, an XPS file processing unit which converts the XPS file into an output data corresponding to printing paper to print the XPS file using information regarding the height and width of a FixedPage in the XPS file, and a control unit which controls the image forming apparatus to print the output data. Accordingly, even when an XPS file does not include information regarding printing paper, a user can select and print printing paper suitable for the user's demand. |
| US08711414B2 |
Print processing method, print relay server, control method, and storage medium to reserve print data
When information about an image forming apparatus is registered in a print service environment, to perform reservation printing, a relay virtual printer determines whether a print job acquired from a print service is reserved, and reserves a print job as a reservation print target after a user selects a bookmarklet and issues an instruction to perform the reservation printing. |
| US08711412B2 |
Information processing apparatus, including updating of program and program information, and method of updating program of the information processing apparatus
An information processing apparatus improved in the convenience of a program update operation performed by a user. A CPU updates firmware installed in the information processing apparatus. Update information on the program is stored in a hard disk when update of the program is executed the CPU. Operation information on other programs which are not updated is stored in the hard disk. A console section displays the update information in association with the operation information, when an instruction for displaying update history of the program is input. |
| US08711410B2 |
Image forming apparatus, information processing method, and storage medium for generating screen information
An image forming apparatus includes a web relay unit and, in a case where a file input field exists in screen information acquired from a web service provided by the web server capable of communicating via a network, the web relay unit extracts a file downloaded from another web service which can collaborate with the web service from a storage device, converts the file input field included in the screen information into a selection box, and transmits, to the web browser, screen information in which the extracted file is set to the option of the selection box. |
| US08711407B2 |
Method for generating optical codes for a print-context
One embodiment provides a system for printing a document from a portable device. During operation, the system captures an image of an optical code that identifies a printing device, wherein the optical code is displayed on a panel of the printing device or is printed by the printing device. Next, the system transfers information identifying the printing device to a remote printing service, thereby allowing the remote printing service to print a document at the printing device. |
| US08711404B1 |
Automatically selecting a paper with increased dimensions than originally desired for printing and adding advertisement content to the increased dimensional area of the paper
A method is provided to allow the use of paid promotional advertisements within physically printed document, either by using the blank space on a printer cover pages, or through insertion of useful document fragments on a target basis to the user, printer, room, user group, or other easily targetable criteria. Printer cover pages provide otherwise unused target are available for printed advertisements to a user. Additionally, the use of extended length paper stock in 8½ by 14 inch paper is provided having an 8½ by 11 inch upper portion integrally formed with a 8½ by 3 inch lower portion, integrally connected an separated by a foldable, tearable perforation laterally across the demarcation. Advertisements may occupy all previously blank space on the cover page; or the cover page may be divided into smaller sections and used to display multiple advertisements; or advertisements can be organized and positioned solely within the lower portion of the paper stock (with the user's requested printout maintained within the 8½ by 11 inch upper portion). |
| US08711402B2 |
Printing apparatus having extendable functionality and method thereof
A receiving unit 210 receives, from a PC 10, a print command that includes image data to be printed, an additional print parameter that is a print parameter of a function added to a printer driver of the PC 10 by installing a driver plug-in, and first identification information that is identification information on the driver plug-in; an identification-information storage unit 224 stores therein second identification information that is identification information on an installed main body plug-in; a determining unit 242 determines whether the main body plug-in can interpret the additional print parameter by comparing the first identification information with the second identification information; and a print unit performs a particular operation other than printing of the image data in accordance with the additional print parameter if it is determined that the additional print parameter cannot be interpreted. |
| US08711401B2 |
Facility to reuse paper
Systems and methods are described that facilitate sorting used printed sheets of paper or other media, identifying reusable pages (i.e., pages without print on one or both sides), and outputting the reusable pages for reuse. If print is detected on one side of a used page, a security or interference pattern, or a blackout pattern, is printed over the detected print (e.g., text or the like) to conceal or obscure the print to render it illegible. In this manner, potentially sensitive or confidential information is concealed, and the reusable pages are output for use in a user-selected application (e.g., label printing, etc.) while ensuring that confidential information is obscured. |
| US08711399B2 |
Adaptive take-off strips for smoothing ink consumption
Take-off strips are adaptively generated based on the color profile of the image to be printed to smooth ink consumption and present a more constant ink coverage and ink flow. Adaptive take-off strips have complementary color profiles to the image being printed. |
| US08711397B2 |
Printing system, information processing apparatus, print job processing method, information processing method, program, and storage medium
Device capability information associated with a print job is specified, and it is determined whether the specified device capability information is valid in a printing system. If it is determined that the specified device capability information is valid, print processing is done. If it is determined that the specified device capability information is invalid, it is further determined whether the printing system can execute the print job. Then, execution of the print processing is controlled. |
| US08711396B2 |
Managing multiple web services on a single device
Techniques are provided for managing multiple Web services on a single device. The device includes device metadata and a service manager. Each Web service registers with the service manager. Registration includes providing service metadata to the service manager. The service manager may generate (e.g., at least some) service relationship data based on the service metadata. The service relationship data indicates (either explicitly or implicitly) a relationship (e.g., a dependency) between a first Web service of the multiple Web services and a second Web service. In response to one or more criteria being satisfied with respect to the first Web service, the service manager uses the service relationship data and/or the device metadata to determine that one or more actions should be initiated with respective to the second Web service. |
| US08711389B2 |
Printing control method and printer for printing on a label
A printer and reprinting control method do not reprint when an error accompanied by no damage to the actual printing area or print image on paper occurs so that consumables are not wasted. The printer reprints the label on which the print image was being formed when a specific error occurs if the error occurred while the inkjet head was forming the print image in the actual printing area of the label. When the non-printing area of the label is passing the printing position of the inkjet head, the print image in the actual printing area that was printed immediately before an error occurs is reprinted only if a specific error is detected, such as a paper jam error or mechanical error with the possibility of damage to the paper or label. |
| US08711385B2 |
Image forming apparatus and system connectable with an authorization apparatus via a communications network, the image forming apparatus comprising an apparatus control section, an initial inquiry section, a change detection section, and a re-inquiry section
An image forming apparatus transmits to an authorization apparatus, in executing a job, condition information related to a process to be performed to a 1st page of the job, to obtain a processable number of sheets. When the condition information changes while the job is being executed, the image forming apparatus transmits to the authorization apparatus (i) the changed condition information and (ii) information of the number of sheets being processed based on a current condition information prior to the change in condition information, to inquire and obtain a processable number of sheets based on the changed condition information. Furthermore, while the job is executed, if the processed number of sheets meet the processable number of sheets obtained from the authorization apparatus, the image forming apparatus forbids the process to be performed to a new recording sheet and stops the job. |
| US08711384B2 |
Image forming apparatus, control method and computer-readable medium for stopping a print job during printing by a printer
An image forming apparatus including a drawing unit which generates pixel data based on print data and an image processing unit which performs image processing for the pixel data, the apparatus comprises: a determination unit configured to determine, while the drawing unit and the image processing unit are performing processing, whether the image processing unit as an output destination of pixel data generated is configured to be stopped when receiving a stop instruction for the processing from a control unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit pixel data of predetermined color values to the image processing unit for the number of pixels which have not been processed in processing of generating the pixel data when the determination unit determines that the image processing unit is not configured to be stopped, wherein the image processing unit performs image processing by using pixel data of the predetermined color values transmitted. |
| US08711381B2 |
Image forming apparatus and job request control method instructed by authenticated users
An image forming apparatus executing a job based on authority of an account and capable of controlling a job instructed by an authorized user is disclosed. The image forming apparatus includes a certification ticket generation unit generating a certification ticket corresponding to the job and account information of the account instructing the execution of the job; a job information generation unit generating job information of the job; a certification ticket validity determination unit determining whether the certification ticket is valid; a job validity determination unit determining whether the execution of the job by the account is valid based on the job information corresponding to the certification ticket that has been determined valid by the certification ticket validity determination unit; and a job control unit executing the job, the execution of the job having been determined valid by the job validity determination unit. |
| US08711378B2 |
Apparatus, method and program for image receipt, processing, conversion, and delivery to and from a plurality of external apparatuses
An image processing apparatus includes a generator, a storage, an image data format converter, and a sender. The generator generates print image data for printing an image, based on image data sent from an external device. The storage stores the print image data. The image data format converter converts the print image data into image data in a format handled by an external device. The sender sends the converted image data via an IP (internet protocol) network to the external device. The image data format converter performs one of color space conversion, expansion, compression, resolution conversion, filtering, halftone processing, density gamma conversion, and noise removal in accordance with parameters determined based on at least one of property information of the print image data and property information requested by the external device. |
| US08711376B2 |
Terminal device and image printing method
An image printing method to transmit a signal to an image printing device. The image printing device can be in either a normal print mode or a saving print mode, and maintains the selected print mode as standard mode information. The image printing method includes a step to obtain the standard mode information from the image printing device, a step to display a confirmation window including a print setting change button based on a user operation through a print start button while a print setting window including the print start button is displayed, a step to determine print settings for a print signal based on the standard mode information and a user operation through the print setting change button, and a step to generate the print signal including the determined print settings. The step to display the confirmation window determines whether the confirmation window is to be displayed or not based on the standard mode information. |
| US08711374B2 |
Method, apparatus, computer program, and computer readable storage media for controlling the insertion of tab sheets into a print job
A method for controlling within a printer driver the insertion of tab sheets into a print job. According to one embodiment, sheets of multiple levels are insertable. The printer driver provides at least input fields for entry and display of parameters for the definition of at least one tab sheet, and an interactive area for visualizing the hierarchical structure and the order of the at least one defined tab sheet corresponding to the level of the tab sheet in the print job. Depending on changes of a tab sheet defined by entered parameters, the visualization of the hierarchical structure and the order of the at least one defined tab sheet in the print job is updated in the interactive area. |
| US08711367B2 |
Position-measuring device
A position-measuring device, for ascertaining the position of two objects which are disposed in a manner allowing movement relative to each other in at least one measuring direction, includes a light source, as well as a splitting device by which a light beam, provided by the light source, is split into two or more partial beams of rays. The partial beams of rays traverse at least two partial-beam paths. Interfering partial beams of rays from the partial-beam paths strike a plurality of opto-electronic detector elements, so that displacement-dependent position signals are ascertainable via the detector elements. The light source takes the form of a semiconductor laser having a fiber-grating feedback device. |
| US08711362B2 |
Spectrometer
A spectrometer includes: a tungsten lamp which emits light with no peak wavelength within a wavelength range of visible light and having a light amount increasing as the wavelength becomes longer; a violet LED which emits light having a peak wavelength within the wavelength range of visible light; a light mixer which mixes light emitted from the tungsten lamp and the violet LED; an etalon which receives light mixed by the light mixer and transmits light contained in the received mixed light and having a particular wavelength; a light receiving unit which receives light transmitted by the etalon; and a measurement control unit which changes the wavelength of light that can pass through the etalon and measures spectral characteristics of the light having passed through the etalon based on the light received by the light receiving unit. |
| US08711358B1 |
Submersible remote smoke sensor
A device that detects smoke, both indoor and outdoor; especially applicable in areas prone to sustained water flooding. It can be used in underground locations susceptible to water ingress so it can be submersed in up to 6 feet of water for up to 24 hours. Usable in applications that requires NEMA 6P or IP68 level of water protection. |
| US08711352B2 |
Optical multiplexer/demultiplexer
An apparatus for optical spectrometry utilizes a simplified construction, reducing the number of independent optical elements needed while providing a sizeable dispersed spectrum. The apparatus provides a spectral intensity distribution of an input source wherein individual spectral components in the source can be measured and, in some embodiments, can be manipulated or filtered. |
| US08711347B2 |
Defect inspection method and device therefor
Disclosed is a defect inspection method which makes it possible to scan the entire surface of a sample and detect minute defects without causing thermal damage to the sample. A defect inspection method in which a pulse laser emitted from a light source is subjected to pulse division and irradiated on the surface of a sample which moves in one direction while the divided-pulse pulse laser is rotated, reflection light from the sample irradiated by the divided-pulse pulse laser is detected, the signal of the detected reflection light is processed to detect defects on the sample, and information regarding a detected defect is output to a display screen, wherein the barycentric position of the light intensity of the divided-pulse pulse laser is monitored and adjusted. |
| US08711346B2 |
Inspection systems and methods for detecting defects on extreme ultraviolet mask blanks
Provided are novel inspection methods and systems for inspecting unpatterned objects, such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask blanks, for surface defects, including extremely small defects. Defects may include various phase objects, such as bumps and pits that are only about 1 nanometer in height, and small particles. Inspection is performed at wavelengths less than about 250 nanometers, such as a reconfigured deep UV inspection system. A partial coherence sigma is set to between about 0.15 and 0.5. Phase defects can be found by using one or more defocused inspection passes, for example at one positive depth of focus (DOF) and one negative DOF. In certain embodiments, DOF is between about −1 to −3 and/or +1 to +3. The results of multiple inspection passes can be combined to differentiate defect types. Inspection methods may involve applying matched filters, thresholds, and/or correction factors in order to improve a signal to noise ratio. |
| US08711342B2 |
Photoacoustic joulemeter utilizing beam deflection technique
A joulemeter is capable of non-destructively measuring multiple characteristics of a laser beam. The joulemeter comprises a series of parallel probe beams, which are directed though a transparent media adjacent to an absorbing media that the tested beams pass through. Arrays of optical sensors or a chirp sensor are used to intercept and measure deflections the probe beams. A control unit renders measurements on selected properties of the laser. |
| US08711340B2 |
Auto-aligning spectroscopy system
An auto-aligning system is presented. One embodiment of the auto-aligning system includes a launcher unit configured to direct a first laser beam and a second laser beam through a chamber, wherein the first laser beam is co-linear with the second laser beam. The auto-aligning spectroscopy system further includes a receiver unit configured to receive the first laser beam and the second laser beam passing through the chamber. The receiver unit includes a first detector configured to determine an intensity of the first laser beam. The receiver unit also includes a second detector configured to determine a deviation of the second laser beam from a determined position. Further, the auto-aligning spectroscopy system includes a motorized stage configured to align the launcher unit to a base-line position based on the determined deviation of the second laser beam. |
| US08711337B2 |
Passive translational velocity measurement from optical information
The invention is a passive method to measure the translational speed of a visual scene using the distribution of light intensities. The invention combines two principles: perspective distortion matching over a broad field of view, and temporal filtering variation. The perspective distortion of the image is used to sample the visual scene at different linear wavelengths over the visual field. The result is a spatial sensitivity map of the visual scene. The obtained signal is then temporally filtered with cutoff frequencies proportional to the spatial sensitivity. The final result is a wide-spectrum computation of a ratio between temporal and linear spatial frequencies, in other words linear speed. The technique does not require the emission of a reference signal and is independent from external infrastructures. |
| US08711336B1 |
Multipoint photonic doppler velocimetry using optical lens elements
A probe including a fisheye lens is disclosed to measure the velocity distribution of a moving surface along many lines of sight. Laser light, directed to the surface and then reflected back from the surface, is Doppler shifted by the moving surface, collected into fisheye lens, and then directed to detection equipment through optic fibers. The received light is mixed with reference laser light and using photonic Doppler velocimetry, a continuous time record of the surface movement is obtained. An array of single-mode optical fibers provides an optic signal to an index-matching lens and eventually to a fisheye lens. The fiber array flat polished and coupled to the index-matching lens using index-matching gel. Numerous fibers in a fiber array project numerous rays through the fisheye lens which in turn project many measurement points at numerous different locations to establish surface coverage over a hemispherical shape with very little crosstalk. |
| US08711334B2 |
Light barrier and method for detecting objects
A light barrier comprising a semiconductor component (1) and to a method for detecting objects with a carrier (2), a semiconductor chip (4) which detects an electromagnetic radiation, a semiconductor chip (4) which emits an electromagnetic radiation, and a direction-selective element (5, 8), which delimits an angle range of the radiation which can be received by the detecting semiconductor chip (4) and/or of the radiation to be emitted by the emitting semiconductor chip (3), wherein a main radiation axis (V) of the radiation which can be received is tilted relative to a main radiation axis (U) of the radiation to be emitted. |
| US08711333B2 |
Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
In a lithographic projection apparatus, a liquid supply system maintains liquid in a space between a projection system of the lithographic projection apparatus and a substrate. A sensor positioned on a substrate table, which holds the substrate, is configured to be exposed to radiation when immersed in liquid (e.g., under the same conditions as the substrate will be exposed to radiation). By having a surface of an absorption element of the sensor, that is to be in contact with liquid, formed of no more than one metal type, long life of the sensor may be obtained. |
| US08711332B2 |
Mirror elements for EUV lithography and production methods therefor
A method for the production of a mirror element (10) that has a reflective coating (10a) for the EUV wavelength range and a substrate (10b). The substrate (10b) is pre-compacted by hot isostatic pressing, and the reflective coating (10a) is applied to the pre-compacted substrate (10b). In the method, either the pre-compacting of the substrate (10b) is performed until a saturation value of the compaction of the substrate (10b) by long-term EUV irradiation is reached, or, for further compaction, the pre-compacted substrate (10b) is irradiated, preferably homogeneously, with ions (16) and/or with electrons in a surface region (15) in which the coating (10a) has been or will be applied. A mirror element (10) for the EUV wavelength range associated with the method has a substrate (10b) pre-compacted by hot isostatic pressing. Such a mirror element (10) is suitable to be provided in an EUV projection exposure system. |
| US08711328B2 |
Stage drive method and stage unit, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method
When a transition from a first state where one stage is positioned at a first area directly below projection optical system to which liquid is supplied to a state where the other stage-is positioned at the first area, both stages are simultaneously driven while a state where both stages are close together in the X-axis direction is maintained. Therefore, it becomes possible to make a transition from the first state to the second state in a state where liquid is supplied in the space between the projection optical system and the specific stage directly under the projection optical system. Accordingly, the time from the completion of exposure operation on one stage side until the exposure operation begins on the other stage side can be reduced, which allows processing with high throughput. Further, because the liquid can constantly exist on the image plane side of the projection optical system, generation of water marks on optical members of the projection optical system on the image plane side is prevented. |
| US08711327B2 |
Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device manufacturing method
Two X encoder heads (X heads) and one Y head are mounted on one wafer stage, and an X scale and a Y scale corresponding to these heads are arranged on a surface facing the wafer stage so that the scales connect the exposure area and the alignment area. The wafer stage is made to move back and forth between the exposure area and the alignment area along a path where the X scale and the Y scale are set, while performing position measurement using three encoder heads. In this case, a switching process between XZ interferometer will not be necessary. |
| US08711325B2 |
Method and system for determining a suppression factor of a suppression system and a lithographic apparatus
The invention relates to a method for determining a suppression factor of a suppression system. The suppression system is arranged to suppress migration of a contaminant gas out of a first system. The suppression factor is an indication of the performance of the suppression system. The method includes introducing a tracer gas in the sub-system, providing a detection system configured to detect the amount of tracer gas that has migrated out of the first system, determining a first suppression factor for the suppression system for the tracer gas. The method further includes determining a second suppression factor for the suppression system for the contaminant gas based on the first suppression factor. |
| US08711323B2 |
Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
An immersion lithography apparatus comprises a temperature controller configured to adjust a temperature of a projection system, a substrate and a liquid towards a common target temperature. Controlling the temperature of these elements and reducing temperature gradients may improve imaging consistency and general lithographic performance. Measures to control the temperature may include controlling the immersion liquid flow rate and liquid temperature, for example, via a feedback circuit. |
| US08711320B2 |
Mounting structure, electro-optical apparatus, and touch panel
A mounting structure includes a first member that includes a first electrode, a second member that includes a second electrode facing the first electrode, and an anisotropic conductive material that includes conductive particles electrically connecting the first electrode and the second electrode by being deformed between the first electrode and the second electrode. The first electrode is positioned in a bottom portion of an opening portion of an insulating layer that is formed in the first member. At least a part of the periphery of the opening portion of the insulating layer overlaps with the second electrode in a plan view. Also, a particle diameter of the conductive particles is equal to or more than twice a depth value of the opening portion. |
| US08711317B2 |
Color image display device, color filter substrate, color pixel array substrate, and electronic device
Provided is a color filter substrate including: an end portion unit pixel including a plurality of kinds of end portion sub-pixels which correspond to a plurality of kinds of primary colors respectively in a one-to-one relationship; and an inner unit pixel including a plurality of kinds of inner sub-pixels which correspond to the plurality of kinds of primary colors respectively in a one-to-one relationship, wherein a relative area proportion of the end portion sub-pixels is set equal to that of the inner sub-pixels; and wherein the plurality of kinds of the end portion sub-pixels is arrayed in accordance with a position or a shape on an outer edge of the display region, an array direction of the plurality of kinds of the end portion sub-pixels and an array direction of the plurality of kinds of the inner sub-pixels configured to intersect each other. |
| US08711314B2 |
Liquid crystal display device
It is an object to provide a liquid crystal display device which has excellent viewing angle characteristics and higher quality. The present invention has a pixel including a first switch, a second switch, a third switch, a first resistor, a second resistor, a first liquid crystal element, and a second liquid crystal element. A pixel electrode of the first liquid crystal element is electrically connected to a signal line through the first switch. The pixel electrode of the first liquid crystal element is electrically connected to a pixel electrode of the second liquid crystal element through the second switch and the first resistor. The pixel electrode of the second liquid crystal element is electrically connected to a Cs line through the third switch and the second resistor. A common electrode of the first liquid crystal element is electrically connected to a common electrode of the second liquid crystal element. |
| US08711313B2 |
Structure of pixel electrode
A structure of pixel electrode includes a strip-like horizontal main trunk and a strip-like vertical main trunk, the horizontal main trunk and the vertical main trunk centrally and perpendicularly intersecting each other; a plurality of strip-like branches arranged in each of four domains that are formed by being equally divided by the central perpendicular intersection of the horizontal main trunk and the vertical main trunk, the plurality of strip-like branches extending outward from a central point of the perpendicular intersection of the vertical main trunk and the horizontal main trunk, the plurality of strip-like branches being spaced by a plurality of slits; and two centrally symmetric polygonal or sector openings provided in a central zone at the central perpendicular intersection of the horizontal main trunk and the vertical main trunk. |
| US08711310B2 |
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display includes a first substrate and a second substrate which face each other and each include a display area and a peripheral area, a liquid crystal layer in the display areas and between the first substrate and the second substrate, and a conductive sealant combining the first substrate and the second substrate. The first substrate includes a common electrode in the display and peripheral areas of the first substrate. The second substrate includes a first and signal lines in the peripheral area of the second substrate, a first insulating layer on the first signal line and the second signal line, and a conductor on the first insulating layer in the peripheral area and connected to the first signal line through a contact hole. The common electrode includes a cutout corresponding to the conductor, and the cutout is at a corner of the display areas. |
| US08711308B2 |
Flat panel display device and method of fabricating the same
Provided are a flat panel display device including a protection board configured to prevent damage of a display panel from external impact, and a method of fabricating the same. The display panel and the protection board are closely attached, and distortion of an image displayed on the display panel due to a space between the display panel and the protection board can be prevented. The flat panel display device includes a display panel including a lower substrate, an upper substrate and at least one light emitting element disposed between the lower and upper substrates, a protection board disposed on the display panel, and an adhesive layer disposed between the display panel and the protection board. The method includes preparing a display panel including a lower substrate, an upper substrate and at least one light emitting element disposed between the lower and upper substrates, preparing a protection board, forming an adhesive layer on one surface of the display panel or the protection board, arranging the display panel and the protection board such that the adhesive layer is disposed between the display panel and the protection board, and applying a predetermined pressure to attach the display panel to the protection board. |
| US08711307B2 |
Heat shield and laminated glass
A heat shield comprising a first light-reflective layer, having a reflectance peak both in a wavelength range of from 400 nm to less than 850 nm and in a wavelength range of from more than 850 nm to 1300 nm and satisfying C>A>B, is disclosed. “A” means the maximum reflectance in the wavelength range of from 400 nm to less than 850 nm; “B” means the reflectance at a wavelength of 850 nm; “C” means the maximum reflectance in the wavelength range of from more than 850 nm to 1300 nm; and “B” is equal to or less than 50%. |
| US08711304B2 |
Portable computer display structures
An electronic device housing may have upper and lower portions that are attached with a hinge. At least one portion of the housing may have a rear planar surface and peripheral sidewalls having edges. A display module may be mounted in the housing. The display module may have glass layers such as a color filter glass layer and a thin-film transistor substrate. The color filter glass layer may serve as the outermost glass layer in the display module. The edges of the display module may be aligned with the edges of the peripheral housing sidewalls to create the appearance of a borderless display for the electronic device. The display module may be provided with an opening that allows a camera or other electronic components to receive light. Traces may be provided on the underside of the thin-film transistor substrate to serve as signal paths for the electrical components. |
| US08711303B2 |
Liquid crystal display panel
A liquid crystal display panel that includes a number of pixel electrodes formed on a substrate and are located in a pixel region defined by gate lines and data lines that cross the gate lines. Each of the pixel electrodes located in the pixel region includes a number of sides, and at least one of the sides includes oblique lines and a protrusion formed by the oblique lines, and the pixel electrodes located in the pixel region and adjacent to each other in a first direction form a separation space that includes at least one protrusion, and a width of the separation space gradually reduces and gradually increases in a second direction crossing the first direction, and a singular point that controls the texture of liquid crystals is located at the narrowest width of the separation space. |
| US08711302B2 |
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display includes: a plurality of pixel electrodes each having a first sub-pixel electrode and a second sub-pixel electrode that face each other in a diagonal direction; a plurality of gate lines; and a plurality of data lines that intersect the plurality of gate lines and at least partially overlap the pixel electrodes. |
| US08711299B2 |
Buffering stop structure and corresponding packing case
The present invention relates to a buffering stop structure and a corresponding packing case. The buffering stop structure is disposed at a connecting corner between adjoining side surfaces of a corresponding case main body. The case main body is used to load a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel. The buffering stop structure comprises a fixing portion, a connecting portion and a case buffering portion. The manufacture cost of the buffering stop structure and the corresponding packing case of the present invention is lower, and the buffering effect thereof is better, so as to solve the problems of the packing case of existing technology that has higher manufacture cost and may cause environment pollution. |
| US08711296B2 |
Active matrix substrate, method for manufacturing same, and liquid crystal display apparatus
An active matrix substrate (30) of the present invention includes a substrate, a gate line (50) formed on the substrate, and an interlayer insulating layer (90) for insulating a layer formed on the gate line (50) from the gate line (50). In a region of the substrate, the interlayer insulating layer (90) is not provided on an upper surface of the gate line (50), and therefore, the upper surface is exposed. On the other hand, the insulating layer (90) is provided on the substrate so as to have contact with at least an edge face of the gate line (50) which edge face is on an extension of a longitudinal direction of the gate line (50). |
| US08711294B2 |
Multi-mode 3-dimensional image display apparatus
A multi-mode 3-dimensional image display apparatus comprises a backlight for emitting light; an image liquid crystal panel for displaying an image using the light emitted from the backlight; and a parallax barrier liquid crystal panel including a first transparent substrate, a first transparent electrode plate disposed on the first transparent substrate and having a front surface formed as a transparent electrode, a first insulation plate disposed on the first transparent electrode plate, a second transparent electrode plate disposed on the first insulation plate and having a transparent electrode material patterned in parallel in a vertical direction, a first alignment layer disposed on the second transparent electrode plate, a liquid crystal layer disposed on the first alignment layer, a second alignment layer disposed on the liquid crystal layer, a third transparent electrode plate disposed on the second alignment layer and having a transparent electrode material patterned in parallel in a vertical direction, in which the transparent electrode material is patterned so as to overlap a certain area with an area of the second transparent electrode plate patterned with the transparent electrode material, a second insulation plate disposed on the third transparent electrode plate, a fourth transparent electrode plate disposed on the second insulation plate and having a front surface formed as a transparent electrode, a second transparent substrate disposed on the fourth transparent electrode plate, and a polarizer plate disposed on the second transparent substrate. |
| US08711292B2 |
Integrated touch screen
In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a display stack for a touch-sensitive screen. The display stack comprises a plurality of layers in which a top layer comprises a substantially transparent cover layer. The display stack is configured to display a color image. The apparatus also includes a touch sensor provided within the display stack. The touch sensor comprises a plurality of first conductive electrodes contacting a layer of a subset of the plurality of layers of the display stack. The subset of the plurality of layers is below the substantially transparent cover layer. The touch sensor also includes a plurality of second conductive electrodes contacting a layer of the subset of the plurality of layers. |
| US08711289B2 |
Advertising apparatus
An advertising apparatus 10 including a generally flat base 12 and a broad face 14 which forms an acute angle 16 with the generally flat base 12. Further, the broad face 14 includes several display portions 20, 22, and 18 which, in one non-limiting embodiment of the invention, are programmable. In one non-limiting embodiment, the apparatus may include a selectively depressible alarm switch 100. |
| US08711287B2 |
Aspect ratio enhancement
An adaptive compensation system for aspect ratio conversion. Video information, intended for her first aspect ratio display, e.g. the standard NTSC aspect ratio, is processed to determine additional information that can enable that video to be displayed and fill a wider aspect ratio screen. The processing can be a calculation which calculates, for example, texture, color and/or brightness of the edge portions, and automatically calculates video information to match the texture, brightness or color. The processing can be a database lookup, which automatically looks up likely portions from a database. The processing can also be an adaptive determination of what vertical portions of the image can be stretched without affecting the viewability, and then an adaptive stretching of different portions by different amounts. |
| US08711284B2 |
LCD television set capable of external connection with application processor
A LCD television set includes a remote controller, a flat screen television processor, a docking base, and a first connector. The remote controller includes a first key group for operating the television set and a second key group for operating a smartphone. The flat screen television processor processes a television video signal, displays a frame on a display, and processes remote control signals corresponding to the first and second key groups. The docking base docks the smartphone and has the first connector in contact with a second connector disposed at the smartphone, such that an application processor of the smartphone and the flat screen television processor are electrically connected. The flat screen television processor outputs signals via the first and second connectors based on the remote control signals, thereby triggering the application processor to execute applications. |
| US08711275B2 |
Estimating optical characteristics of a camera component using sharpness sweep data
The sharpness sweep of a camera lens is performed while capturing several digital images of an object through the lens. The lens is swept in accordance with a range of distance-representing values. The images are analyzed to calculate a respective sharpness variable for each of several different regions of interest. For each region of interest, a peak value of the sharpness variable is found, as well as the distance-representing value associated with the peak. The pixel coordinates of each region of interest are converted into a pair of distance coordinates, which become part of a triple that is created for the region of interest and that also includes the associated distance-representing value. A surface to fit the triples is estimated, and a measure of the optical characteristic is computed using the estimated surface. Optical characteristics that may be estimated in this manner include tilt and curvature of field. Other embodiments are also described and claimed. |
| US08711272B2 |
Image stabilization apparatus and image pickup apparatus
An image stabilizer has a shooting optical system shooting an object whose principal point moves between first and second principal points in an optical axis direction, an acceleration detector detecting acceleration applied to the image stabilizer and disposed between the first and second principal points in the optical axis direction. An angular velocity detector detecting angular velocity applied to the image stabilizer, an acceleration detector disposed between principal points for proximity and infinity shootings and detecting acceleration applied to the image stabilizer, a rotation angular velocity calculator calculating rotation angular velocity component around the principal point of the shooting optical system based on the angular velocity detector, a revolution angular velocity calculator calculating revolution angular velocity component around the object based on the acceleration detector and the rotation angular velocity calculator, and a controller performing image stabilization control based on a difference between the rotation and revolution angular velocity components. |
| US08711270B2 |
Focus detection device and imaging apparatus having the same
A focus detection device having imaging pixels and focus-detecting pixels using a phase-difference focus detection method implements high-precision focus detection. In the focus detection device, a plurality of pixels each having a photoelectric conversion unit for converting an incident light flux into signal charges, and a microlens having a focus position near the photoelectric conversion unit are arranged. The plurality of pixels include a plurality of imaging pixels for generating a shot image, and a plurality of focus-detecting pixels for generating an image signal for focus detection by the phase-difference focus detection method. An opening for giving a pupil division function to the focus-detecting pixel is formed using electrodes arranged to read out signal charges from the photoelectric conversion unit. |
| US08711266B2 |
Digital photographing apparatus
A digital photographing apparatus may include a display unit and a controller electronically coupled to the display unit. The controller may be configured to adjust a moving picture or an image displayed on the display unit based on ambient brightness. |
| US08711263B2 |
Solid-state imaging device and electronic apparatus with antireflection structure
A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel region formed on a semiconductor substrate, an effective pixel region and a shielded optical black region in the pixel region, a multilayer wiring layer formed on a surface of the side opposite to a light incident side of the semiconductor substrate, a supporting substrate bonded to a surface of the multilayer wiring layer side, and an antireflection structure that is formed on the bonding surface side of the supporting substrate. |
| US08711260B2 |
Image sensor, electronic apparatus, and driving method of electronic apparatus
An image sensor that has a pixel array section in which pixels are arrayed in a two-dimensional manner in vertical and horizontal directions and that controls an exposure time of each pixel in a rolling shutter method is disclosed. The sensor includes control means for determining an electronic shutter occurrence number within one horizontal scanning period, which is the number of rows where electronic shutters are simultaneously performed in one horizontal scanning period, by an operation based on an address addition amount (P1, P2, P3, . . . , PN) when a vertical address movement amount of the pixel array section for every one horizontal scanning period in an exposure regulation shutter, which is an electronic shutter for regulating exposure, executed corresponding to electric charge reading in each pixel is expressed as repetition of the address addition amount (P1, P2, P3, . . . , PN). |
| US08711258B2 |
Solid-state imaging device and method for manufacturing the same
A solid-state imaging device includes a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of light-receiving portions (PD) formed therein, a wiring layer formed on the semiconductor substrate, color filters formed on the wiring layer in a manner individually corresponding to the light-receiving portions (PD) of the semiconductor substrate, and partition walls each formed between the individual color filters. Each of the partition walls includes a lower layer portion and an upper layer portion, an upper surface of the lower layer portion is modified into a modified layer, and an interface for facilitating reflection of penetration light from outside is structured between the modified layer and the upper layer portion. |
| US08711257B2 |
Color imaging device
A color filter array of a color imaging device is formed by repeatedly arranging a basic array pattern in which RGB filters are arrayed in an array pattern of 8×12 pixels, in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction. The basic array pattern is arranged in a matrix manner in the horizontal direction and/or the vertical direction and includes A array to D array having an array pattern of 4×4 pixels. In each of arrays, G filters are arranged in a checkered pattern and the arrangements of G filters have a mirror image relationship between arrays that are adjacent to each other. |
| US08711256B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program to create a composite image from color image data and monochrome image data
There is provided an image processing apparatus including an image acquisition unit that obtains color image data composed of wavelength components in a visible light region only, and monochrome image data which does not contain the wavelength components in the visible light region and which is composed of wavelength components in other than visible light region only, a color information extraction unit that extracts color information from the color image data, a luminance information extraction unit that extracts luminance information from the monochrome image data, and a synthesis unit that synthesizes the extracted color information and the extracted luminance information to generate composite image data. |
| US08711253B2 |
Camera system, video processing apparatus, and camera apparatus
Disclosed herein is a camera system including, a camera apparatus having, an image sensor, a correction section, a first transmission processing section, and a synchronization processing section, and a video processing apparatus having a second transmission processing section and a conversion section, wherein the video processing apparatus outputs the video data obtained by the conversion by the conversion section. |
| US08711251B2 |
Method and device for reducing image color noise
A device and method for reducing color noise of an image by using a distance weight depending on a distance from a central pixel for each pixel of an image and an edge weight depending on the difference in luminance and chrominance with the central pixel is provided, which can effectively reduce the color noise of the image by using the correlation between the luminance and the chrominance and edge characteristics. |
| US08711249B2 |
Method of and apparatus for image denoising
An image denoising system and method of implementing the image denoising system is described herein. Noise is decomposed within each channel into frequency bands, and sub-band noise is propagated. Denoising is then able to occur at any node in a camera pipeline after accurately predicting noise that is signal level-dependent, frequency dependent and has inter-channel correlation. A methodology is included for estimating image noise in each color channel at a sensor output based on average image level and camera noise parameters. A scheme is implemented for detecting a peak-white image level for each color channel and predicting image level values for representative colors. Based on a noise model and camera parameters, noise levels are predicted for each color channel for each color patch and these noise levels are propagated to the denoising node. A three dimentional LUT correlates signal level to noise level. Then, a denoising threshold is adaptively controlled. |
| US08711247B2 |
Automatically capturing images that include lightning
A method is disclosed for capturing one or more images that include a lightning strike using an image capturing device. The method is performed by one or more processors of the image capturing device. The one or more processors automatically capture a plurality of images during a period of time using the lens of the device. Each of the plurality of images is processed to detect a presence of lightning within each image. Each image is processed based, at least part, on two consecutive captured images. Images that have been determined to include the presence of lightning are stored in a memory resource of the image capturing device. |
| US08711244B2 |
Imaging apparatus for calculating a histogram to adjust color balance
An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit to acquire image data, an integration unit to calculate a white balance integration value, a first calculation unit to calculate a still image white balance control value, a second calculation unit to calculate a histogram white balance control value, and a histogram processing unit. The second calculation unit calculates the histogram white balance control value by converting a white balance control value which is used in white balance processing on the image data acquired by the imaging unit in an electronic view finder (EVF) mode to the still image white balance control value, and the histogram processing unit adjusts color balance of the image data acquired by the imaging unit using the calculated histogram white balance control value and performs the histogram processing in parallel with calculation of the white balance integration value. |
| US08711237B2 |
Circuit device for preventing radiation emission in portable terminal with two cameras
A circuit device for preventing radiation emission in a portable terminal with two cameras is provided. The device includes a first camera, a second camera, a processor, and a 3-state buffer. The processor outputs a first control signal controlling an operation of the first camera and a second control signal controlling an operation of the second camera. The 3-state buffer electrically connects between the first camera and the processor, and connects or disconnects between the first camera and the processor depending on the first control signal. |
| US08711231B2 |
Digital image processing device and processing method thereof
A digital image processing device and processing method thereof are provided. The device includes a digital image capturing module, an image enlarging module, an image correcting module, and an image blending module. The digital image capturing module captures a plurality of first resolution images. The image enlarging module enlarges the first resolution images and produces a plurality of second resolution images. The image correcting module selects a target image and produces a plurality of corrected images. The image blending module performs direction gradient operation on each of the pixels of the target and corrected images and produces a plurality of gradient differential values. The image blending module performs a weighting sum operation on each of the pixels of the target and corrected images and produces a third resolution images. |
| US08711227B2 |
Digital camera dock having movable guide pins
Use of a custom insert is obviated when a digital camera is attached to a base (dock). Two movable pins are provided, in such a way that a connector is sandwiched between the movable pins, on a digital camera attachment surface of a base (dock) which provides a digital camera with a recharging function and a printing function. The movable pins fit to holes in a bottom of the digital camera to thus act as guides during the course of attachment of the digital camera. Alternatively, the attachment surface itself may be configured so as to be vertically movable, and the attachment surface may descend during attachment of the digital camera and the attachment surface may be latched in a lower position after attachment of the same. |
| US08711226B2 |
Method and system for video parameter analysis and transmission
A system for analyzing video signals generated by an imaging modality is disclosed. The system includes a video signal input port to which a signal output of the imaging modality being can be connected. Additionally, there is a central processor that includes an analog input module, a signal analysis module, and a data communications module. A plurality of video signal parameters may be measurable from the video signal by the signal analysis module. The system also includes a data output port that is linked to the data communications module of the central processor, which is connectable to an external device for transferring the measure signal parameters thereto. |
| US08711225B2 |
Image-capturing device and projection automatic calibration method of projection device
An image-capturing device and a projection automatic calibration method of a projection device are provided. The image-capturing device includes an image sensing device, a lens, a processing unit and a storage unit. The lens is configured to image a calibration pattern on the image sensing device. The processing unit is configured to issue a projection calibration requirement and analyze the calibration pattern imaged on the image sensing device to obtain information relating to the calibration pattern, and the processing unit is further configured to convert imaging coordinates of the calibration pattern imaged on the image sensing device into projecting coordinates of the projection device by executing a calibration driving program to establish a coordinate conversion table. The storage unit is configured to store the calibration driving program and the coordinate conversion table. |
| US08711221B2 |
Visually tracking an object in real world using 2D appearance and multicue depth estimations
Estimating the dynamic states of a real-world object over time using a camera, two dimensional (2D) image information and a combination of different measurements of the distance between the object and the camera. The 2D image information is used to track a 2D position of the object as well as its 2D size of the appearance and change in the 2D size of the appearance of the object. In addition, the distance between the object and the camera is obtained from one or more direct depth measurements. The 2D position, the 2D size, and the depth of the object are coupled to obtain an improved estimation of three dimensional (3D) position and 3D velocity of the object. The object tracking apparatus uses the improved estimation to track real-world objects. The object tracking apparatus may be used on a moving platform such as a robot or a car with mounted cameras for a dynamic visual scene analysis. |
| US08711212B2 |
Monitoring device for monitoring a display device
A monitoring device for monitoring a display device, displaying target values. The values being predetermined by a target value specification device. The monitoring device has an image acquisition device, an analysis device, and a comparison device. The image acquisition device generates a recording of said display. The analysis device generates an analysis of said the recording. The comparison device compares the analysis and the target value. A signal can be generated if the analysis and the target value are different. |
| US08711211B2 |
Bessel beam plane illumination microscope
A microscope has a light source for generating a light beam having a wavelength, λ, and beam-forming optics configured for receiving the light beam and generating a Bessel-like beam that is directed into a sample. The beam-forming optics include an excitation objective having an axis oriented in a first direction. Imaging optics are configured for receiving light from a position within the sample that is illuminated by the Bessel-like beam and for imaging the received light on a detector. The imaging optics include a detection objective having an axis oriented in a second direction that is non-parallel to the first direction. A detector is configured for detecting signal light received by the imaging optics, and an aperture mask is positioned. |
| US08711210B2 |
Facial recognition using a sphericity metric
A facial recognition system and a method for performing facial recognition are provided. The facial recognition system includes a memory configured to store a target data set identifying a plurality of predefined points on a face of a target and a processor. The processor may be configured to receive an arbitrary number of photographs including a face of a subject, each of the photographs being at an arbitrary angle and at an arbitrary distance from the subject, create a subject data set identifying the plurality of predefined points on the subject's face based upon the received photographs, and perform facial recognition on the subject data set by comparing the subject data set to the target data set. |
| US08711201B2 |
Controlling a video window position relative to a video camera position
A position of one or more video cameras is determined. The position of one or more video cameras is communicated with a video communication application. A position of one or more video windows is controlled from the position of one or more video cameras, where controlling the position of one or more video windows further involves one or more video windows being positioned at a position closest to one or more video cameras. |
| US08711198B2 |
Video conference
A method to present participants in a video conference including determining a participant distance and aligning a region of interest on the participant using one or more depth cameras, creating a cropped video stream of the participant by cropping the region of interest from a video stream of the participant, and arranging the cropped video stream of the participant with additional cropped video streams of additional participants for display in the video conference. |
| US08711197B2 |
Surveillance apparatus and method for wireless mesh network
Provided are video nodes for wireless networks and methods thereof that wirelessly extend a wired surveillance system. A wireless interface device services wireless communications between a wired video surveillance network and a wireless viewing node. According to another aspect, a wireless interface device transmits an alert over the wireless network upon a triggering event. In yet another aspect, a technique for viewing an image source from a surveillance system includes displaying available surveillance systems for a user to select according to a display criteria and responsive to selection of an available surveillance system, enabling wireless access to the surveillance system. |
| US08711196B2 |
Weight-balanced polygonal mirror, light scanning unit using the polygonal mirror, and image forming apparatus
A polygonal mirror, a light scanning unit using the polygonal mirror, and an image forming apparatus. The polygonal mirror is formed of a plastic and includes a plurality of reflection surfaces that are formed in an outer portion of the polygonal mirror and rotate around a rotational axis, and an internal mirror surface that defines a hole, wherein a ratio of an internal diameter d to an outer diameter D satisfies 0.1≦d/D≦0.3. |
| US08711195B2 |
Optical writer and image forming apparatus including same
An optical writer includes a light source, an optical part, a housing, and an elastically deformable retainer. The light source projects light against a target. The optical part is disposed on a light path between the light source and the target. The housing houses the light source and the optical part. The elastically deformable retainer is detachably fixed to the housing and includes a plurality of contact portions on an inner surface of the retainer to hold the optical part. The retainer elastically deforms to separate at least one of the contact portions from other contact portions to hold the optical part by the plurality of contact portions. |
| US08711185B2 |
Apparatus and method for scrolling a screen of a portable terminal having a touch screen
Methods of scrolling a screen of a portable terminal having a touch screen. One exemplary method includes outputting a scrollable image; checking an entire scrolling amount of the image; measuring a drag-related variation when a drag is generated; calculating a scrolling rate based on the measured drag-related event with respect to a preset value; and outputting an image at a position corresponding to the scrolling rate based on the entire scrolling amount when the drag is cancelled. |
| US08711184B2 |
Scalable pixel coverage function-map
A method of generating an image of a scalable graphical object for reproduction on a display device is disclosed. The method provides a pixel map and a scaling factor, the map being a representation of at least of portion of the image with each pixel of the map corresponding to a pixel of the image and having a corresponding pixel coverage representation. The method, for at least one pixel in the map, identifies the pixel coverage representation associated with the pixel, and determines a pixel coverage value for the pixel using the pixel coverage representation and the scaling factor. The method then renders the scalable graphical object using the determined pixel coverage value for the pixel on the display device. |
| US08711183B2 |
Graphical user interfaces and occlusion prevention for fisheye lenses with line segment foci
A method for generating a presentation of a region-of-interest in an original image for display on a display screen, comprising: establishing a lens for the region-of-interest, the lens having a magnified focal region for the region-of-interest at least partially surrounded by a shoulder region having diminishing magnification, the focal region having a perimeter defined by a radius r from a line segment; receiving one or more signals to adjust at least one of the radius r and a length len of the line segment to thereby adjust the perimeter; and, applying the lens to the original image to produce the presentation. |
| US08711181B1 |
Pre-fetching map data using variable map tile radius
A pre-fetching map data system and method identifies a subset of map data to corresponding to one or more points of interest to be displayed on the map. The map data is stored on a remote map database and in the form of map data tiles. The system identifies those map data tiles that correspond to the subset of map data corresponding to the one or more points of interest, where the identified pre-fetch map data tiles are sent from the remote database to a client device for cache storage. The pre-fetch map data tiles are identified using a variable map tile radius, which when extended from the points of interest defines the map tiles that qualify as pre-fetch map data tiles. The tile radius can be fixed or dynamically adjusted and changes across different map zoom levels. |
| US08711178B2 |
System and method for generating profile morphing using cephalometric tracing data
A method for generating an animated morph between a first image and a second image is provided. The method may include: (i) reading a first set of cephalometric landmark points associated with the first image; (ii) reading a second set of cephalometric landmark points associated with the second image; (iii) defining a first set of line segments by defining a line segment between each of the first set of cephalometric landmarks; (iv) defining a second set of line segments by defining a line segment between each of the second set of cephalometric landmarks such that each line segment of the second set of line segments corresponds to a corresponding line segment of the first set of line segments; and (v) generating an animation progressively warping the first image to the second image based at least on the first set of line segments and the second set of line segments. |
| US08711177B1 |
Generation, display, and manipulation of measurements in computer graphical designs
Display of measurements in a graphical design on a computer system. In one aspect, shapes are displayed in an image, and a definition of a defined area of the image is received. One or more measurements are determined for one or more of the shapes displayed within the predefined area, the one or more measurements determined automatically without a user designating endpoints for the measurements. The one or more measurements are displayed as being associated with the one or more shapes. |
| US08711176B2 |
Virtual billboards
Disclosed are methods and apparatus for implementing a reality overlay device. A reality overlay device captures information that is pertinent to physical surroundings with respect to a device, the information including at least one of visual information or audio information. The reality overlay device may transmit at least a portion of the captured information to a second device. For instance, the reality overlay device may transmit at least a portion of the captured information to a server via the Internet, where the server is capable of identifying an appropriate virtual billboard. The reality overlay device may then receive overlay information for use in generating a transparent overlay via the reality overlay device. The transparent overlay is then superimposed via the device using the overlay information, wherein the transparent overlay provides one or more transparent images that are pertinent to the physical surroundings. Specifically, one or more of the transparent images may operate as “virtual billboards.” Similarly, a portable device such as a cell phone may automatically receive a virtual billboard when the portable device enters an area within a specified distance from an associated establishment. |
| US08711175B2 |
Method and system for simulating superimposition of a non-linearly stretchable object upon a base object using representative images
A method and system for creating and using a virtual dressing room, by superimposing a non-linearly stretchable object image onto a base image in a display screen of a communication device, the images being planar. The method comprises scanning an encoded indicium associated with the object image, accessing and uploading a URL associated with the object image, the object image including a plurality of object image critical points, accessing the base image at the communication device, the base image including a plurality of base image critical points respectively corresponding to the object image critical points, re-mapping the object image via global transformation of coordinates associated with the object image critical points, such that the re-mapped object image critical points coincide with the respective base image critical points, and superimposing the re-mapped object image onto the base image for display at the display screen. |
| US08711171B2 |
Image processing apparatus, method, and storage medium for performing soft proof processing
According to one aspect of the invention, an image processing apparatus includes: a lowpass filter generation unit configured to generate a lowpass filter corresponding to gonio-spectral reflection characteristics; a map generation unit configured to perform filter processing on intensity distribution of observation illumination in order to generate a map indicating a capture intensity distribution of observation illumination for a representative color; an intensity calculation unit configured to interpolate a capture intensity at a position corresponding to a pixel in the map in order to calculate a capture intensity of the observation illumination for the pixel; and a proofing color calculation unit configured to multiply the difference between a glossy component and a diffuse component by the capture intensity to calculate a proofing glossy component, and to add the diffuse component to the proofing glossy component in order to calculate a proofing color of the pixel. |
| US08711169B2 |
Image browsing device, computer control method and information recording medium
To provide an image viewing device for enabling a user to readily find their desired image. An image viewing device comprises a viewpoint position moving unit for moving a position of a viewpoint (54) in a virtual space (50) where one or more image objects (52) are placed, according to a viewpoint moving operation carried out by a user; a far-near value obtaining unit for obtaining a far-near value indicating an extent of apartness between the position of the viewpoint (54) and the positions of the respective image objects (52); a semi-transparency degree determination unit for determining a semi-transparency degree of the respective image object (52), based on the respective far-near value obtained by the far-near value obtaining unit; a space image production unit for producing a space image showing a picture obtained by viewing the virtual space (50) from the position of the viewpoint (54), according to the semi-transparency degree of the respective image object, (52), determined by the semi-transparency degree determination unit; and a space image display unit for displaying the space image produced by the space image production unit. |
| US08711168B2 |
Digital display devices and digital projectors with expanded color gamut
The color gamut of display devices like digital projectors and digital displays is expanded by incorporating additional passband filters into the optical path of the devices to produce presentations of color components in two different color gamuts. The composite visual effect of the two presentations is a presentation in an expanded color gamut. Special considerations in the modulation of color components of the image can reduce variations in color and brightness, which can otherwise manifest themselves as flicker. |
| US08711167B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating images using a color field sequential display
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for generating and transmitting video frame data from a graphics processing unit (GPU) to a color field sequential display device. A frame buffer image comprising per-pixel packed color channels is transformed to a frame buffer image comprising regions corresponding to the color channels with vertical blanking regions inserted between color sub-field regions. Each region of the transformed frame buffer image is sequentially transmitted to the color field sequential display device for display of the corresponding color channel. Backlight illumination for each color channel is controlled by the GPU for temporal alignment with display of each color channel during a vertical blanking interval. The GPU may compensate an individual pixel's color channel value based on a corresponding previous color channel value in order to minimize crosstalk between neighboring color fields. |
| US08711165B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image display apparatus, and image processing method
An image processing apparatus includes: an image quality improvement processing unit which is supplied with an image signal corresponding to an original image from an image supply device, executes image quality improvement processing to first image data based on the image signal and thus generates second image data; a resolution deciding unit which compares the first image data with the second image data and thus decides resolution of the original image; and a control unit which controls the image quality improvement processing unit according to the resolution of the original image decided by the resolution deciding unit and thus adjusts the image quality improvement processing. |
| US08711162B2 |
Arbitration circuit to arbitrate conflict between read/write command and scan command and display driver integrated circuit having the same
An arbitration circuit to arbitrate an issue between a read/write command and a scan command and a display driver integrated circuit including the arbitration circuit. The arbitration circuit includes a latch unit having a first latch circuit that latches and outputs a first signal related to a scan command and a second latch circuit that latches and outputs a second signal related to a read/write command, wherein the latch unit resets outputs of the first latch circuit and/or the second latch circuit in response to a ready signal related to a memory operation, and a maintaining unit to receive outputs of the first latch circuit and the second latch circuit, to generate a first internal signal to activate a scanning operation and a second internal signal to activate a reading/writing operation, maintain the first internal signal and the second internal signal, and to selectively activate the first internal signal or the second internal signal by changing the state of at least one of the first internal signal and second internal signal in response to the reset operation. |
| US08711158B2 |
Mobile terminal including stellar body watching hookup communications function
A mobile terminal includes a detecting unit that detects a direction of the mobile terminal turned toward a stellar body existence direction; a display processing unit that acquires an image of a specific stellar body corresponding to the detected direction of the mobile terminal and image identification information thereon from a stellar body watching engine and, when any one of a plurality of kinds of information transfer is selected, that controls to display a rendered effect screen corresponding to the selected information transfer and including the image of the specific stellar body; and a transmitting unit that transmits, when the selected information transfer is carried out in a state in which the rendered effect screen is displayed, at least the image identification information or a URL associated with the image identification information along with a content of the selected information transfer. |
| US08711152B2 |
Animation control apparatus, animation control method, and non-transitory computer readable recording medium
An animation control apparatus includes an interpolation component information creating unit that interpolates first and second component information included in first and second keyframe information, to create interpolation component information expressing an interpolation screen component; a rendering time period computing unit that calculates a rendering time period required in a rendering process of the interpolation screen component; and a rendering determination unit that determines, based on the rendering time period, whether or not the rendering process of the interpolation screen component is completed by a second rendering start time included in the second keyframe information. A display controller waits without performing the rendering process of the interpolation screen component, when determination is made that the rendering process is not completed by the second rendering start time, and then starts a rendering process of a screen component expressed by the second component information. |
| US08711148B2 |
Method and system for generating and displaying an interactive dynamic selective view of multiply connected objects
A method and system for generating a graph view on a user interface in a computing environment, is provided. One implementation involves: at a server, generating coordinate data for a graph representing multiply connected objects; transmitting the coordinate data to a client as lightweight object data; and at the client, based on the lightweight object data, rendering an interactive dynamic graph view on a user interface; wherein the rendered graph view includes representations of a plurality of the multiply connected objects selected according to control information. |
| US08711146B1 |
Method and apparatuses for solving weighted planar graphs
Methods and apparatuses for constructing a multi-level solver, comprising decomposing a graph into a plurality of pieces, wherein each of the pieces has a plurality of edges and a plurality of interface nodes, and wherein the interface nodes in the graph are fewer in number than the edges in the graph; producing a local preconditioner for each of the pieces; and aggregating the local preconditioners to form a global preconditioner. |
| US08711145B2 |
Representing polarized light in computer models
The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for representing polarized light in computer models. A rendering pipeline receives three dimensional modeling data (e.g., geometric primitives) for rendering a two dimensional image are received. The modeling data includes data representing a light source The light energy from the simulated transmission of particles at each pixel of the two dimensional image is calculated for any particles transmitted in an adjoint direction from a specified view point back to the light source. The light energies from each pixel are summed to calculate the total light energy present at the specified view point. The total light energy can be forwarded to other modules in rendering pipeline to more accurately render the two dimensional image, such as, for example, representing polarized light in the two dimensional image. |
| US08711141B2 |
3D image generating method, 3D animation generating method, and both 3D image generating module and 3D animation generating module thereof
For transforming a 2D image into a 3D image, or for transforming a 2D animation into a 3D animation, depths of the 2D image or the 2D animation are required and corrected by enhancing edges. Moreover, a 3D model is generated according to a corrected 2D depth map, and the 3D model is then filmed by virtual cameras to generate the 3D image or the 3D animation. While generating the 3D animation, key frames are selected for reducing processing time, and depths of unselected frames between the key frames are calculated by using interpolation. |
| US08711140B1 |
Systems and methods for building axes, co-axes and paleo-geographic coordinates related to a stratified geological volume
A method, apparatus and system for, in a computing system, modeling a subsurface structure at a time period when the structure was originally formed. A memory may store a first model having a plurality of non-planar horizons representing a current state of the subsurface structure. A processor may compute a vector field based on the non-planar geometry of the horizons of the first model. The vector field may be a non-uniform vector field (e.g., the axe and/or co-axe vector field) or a uniform vector field (e.g., a global axis). Using the vector field, the processor may transform geographic coordinates of the first model to paleo-geographic coordinates of a second model representing a predicted state of the subsurface structure at a time period when the subsurface structure was originally formed, where the non-planar horizons in the first model are transformed to planar horizons in the second model. A display may display the first model. |
| US08711133B2 |
Electronic device, display, image processing apparatus and electronic calculating apparatus
Provided are a control panel or a display as well as an image processing apparatus and an electronic calculating apparatus using the electronic device or the display, the electronic device and the display each using a light transmissive solar cell for electric power generation so as to allow a solar cell part and a display part to be disposed to overlap an input part so that a larger electric power than the conventional cases can be generated without increasing the size of the whole operation panel and the whole display. An electronic device of the present invention includes: a display part capable of electrically and magnetically changing a display region and displaying of a display content displayed in the display region; a solar cell part that transmits light in a visible light region; and an input part that detects whether or not any part of the display region is manipulated, and that transmits light in a visible light region. The solar cell part and the input part are disposed on a display surface side of the display part in such a manner to form layers. An electric power generated by the solar cell part allows the electronic device to change what is displayed in the display part and detect a manipulation of the input part. |
| US08711132B2 |
Display panel and gate driving circuit and driving method for gate driving circuit
An exemplary gate driving circuit is adapted for driving a display panel including multiple pixels and includes a first gate driving unit string and a second gate driving unit string. The first gate driving unit string includes multiple cascade-connected first gate driving units and receives a start pulse. The first gate driving units are for generating output pulses to drive the pixels. The second gate driving unit string includes multiple cascade-connected second gate driving units and receives the start pulse. The second gate driving units are for generating output pulses to drive the pixels. The output pulse generated from one of the second gate driving units is provided to one of first gate driving units to determine whether to disable the output pulse of the first gate driving unit which receives the output pulse generated from the second gate driving units. |
| US08711130B2 |
Position pointer, variable capacitor and inputting apparatus
A position pointer is provided, which includes a housing having an opening, a rod disposed in the housing such that one end thereof projects from the opening, and a variable capacitor having a capacitance value which varies in response to pressure applied thereto through the rod. The capacitor includes a dielectric member having a first face portion opposite a second face portion, a first electrode section disposed on the first face portion of the dielectric member, a conductive member facing the second face portion of the dielectric member and forming a second electrode section when brought into contact with the second face portion of the dielectric member, and an elastic member coupled with the conductive member and adapted for biasing the conductive member away from the second face portion. A contact area between the conductive member and the second face portion varies depending on the pressure applied through the rod. |
| US08711128B2 |
Method and apparatus for sensing an input object relative to a sensing region of an ultrasound sensor device
A subsystem, system and method for sensing an input object relative to a sensing region of an ultrasound sensor device are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a subsystem for sensing an input object relative to a sensing region of an ultrasound sensor device includes a circuit, a switch coupled to an output of the circuit, and an integrating capacitor coupled to the output of the circuit. The circuit has an input for receiving a resulting signal comprising positive and negative polarities, the resulting signal having effects indicative of the input object relative to the sensing region. The integrating capacitor is also coupled to a substantially constant voltage source and to the switch. The circuit is operable to output a rectified signal to the first integrating capacitor indicative of the input object relative to a sensing region. |
| US08711125B2 |
Coordinate locating method and apparatus
A coordinate locating apparatus for locating at least one touch point on a plane and the method thereof are provided. The coordinate locating apparatus comprises: a first detecting unit, comprising a first light emitting element and a first light receiving element, arranged at a first location of the plane; a second detecting unit, comprising a second light emitting element and a second light receiving element, arranged at a second location of the plane; a first optical element arranged along an edge of the plane for reflecting and retro-reflecting light from the first and the second light emitting elements; and a second and third optical elements arranged along two edges of the plane for performing at least one of reflecting and retro-reflecting light from the first and the second light emitting elements or light reflected from the first optical element, both of the two edges being adjacent to the edge along which the first optical element is arranged, wherein the at least one touch point is located on the basis of the detected intensities of light received by the first and the second light receiving elements, and the detected intensities of light are compared with a first threshold and a second threshold. |
| US08711122B2 |
Sensor apparatus and information processing apparatus
A sensor apparatus includes: a sensor panel that includes an input operation surface and is configured to detect positional coordinates of a detection object that comes into contact with the input operation surface; a casing; and a pressure-sensitive sensor that includes a first electrode fixed on the sensor panel side, a second electrode fixed on the casing side, and an elastic member that is provided between the sensor panel and the casing and elastically supports the sensor panel with respect to the casing, includes, between the first electrode and the second electrode, a first area formed with a first capacitance and a second area formed with a second capacitance larger than the first capacitance, and is configured to detect a pressing force input to the input operation surface as a change in a capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode. |
| US08711120B2 |
Single integrated circuit configured to operate both a capacitive proximity sensor device and a resistive pointing stick
A single integrated circuit for operating both a capacitive proximity sensor device and a resistive pointing stick comprises sensor circuitry to drive a first varying voltage signal onto a transmitter electrode of the capacitive proximity sensor device. The sensor circuitry is also configured to drive a second varying voltage signal onto a voltage divider of the pointing stick and a third varying voltage signal onto the voltage divider of the pointing stick. The sensor circuitry is configured to receive a first resulting signal from a receiver electrode of the proximity sensor device and receive a second resulting signal from the pointing stick. The single integrated circuit includes determining circuitry configured to determine positional information for input received in a sensing region of the proximity sensor device based on the first resulting signal; and to determine force information received as input to the pointing stick based on the second resulting signal. |
| US08711117B2 |
Electrophoresis display having touch screen and method for driving the touch screen
An electrophoresis display having a touch screen and a method for driving the touch screen are disclosed. The electrophoresis display includes an electrophoresis panel, an electrophoresis driving circuit, which is drives the electrophoresis panel and write an image to the electrophoresis panel, a touch screen panel mounted on the electrophoresis panel, a touch screen driving circuit which outputs coordinate data of a touch position on the touch screen panel based on a signal received from the touch screen panel, and a host system configured which recognize the coordinate data during a non-operation period of the electrophoresis panel as available data and recognize the coordinate data during an operation period of the electrophoresis panel as unavailable data. |
| US08711115B2 |
Display control device, display control method, and touchpad input system
A display control device (300) which controls display of objects placed on a display screen (111), based on inputs on touchpads (201, 202), the display control device including: an operation ratio setting unit (301) which sets an operation ratio indicating a ratio between operation capabilities of a user for the respective touchpads; an assigning unit (302) which assigns regions of the display screen to the touchpads; a position-on-screen determining unit (303) which determines a pointing position indicating a position on the display screen, based on information indicating one of the assigned regions, the pointing position corresponding to a position of an input on one of the touchpads by the user; and a display control unit (305) which controls display of an object placed at the pointing position, wherein the assigning unit assigns at least either the regions of the screen or the objects to the touchpads based on the operation ratio. |
| US08711113B2 |
Modular connector for touch sensitive device
Apparatus for providing modular connection means to electrodes in a touch-sensitive device. The modular connections may include electronics allowing controlling electronics to individually address electrodes associated with driving electrodes and sensing signals occurring on electrodes. |
| US08711105B2 |
Touchscreen with extended conductive pattern
Extended touchscreen pattern. A conductive pattern implemented within a touchscreen (e.g., using indium tin oxide (ITO) such as may be deposited on a substrate composed of polyester or some other material) provides paths for signals traveling through the touchscreen. By monitoring these signal in accordance with some means (e.g., cross point detection, zone detection, etc.) an estimate may be made as to a location of user's interaction with the touchscreen (e.g., finger or stylus touching of the touchscreen). The conductive pattern includes a number of conductors aligned in various directions (e.g., row and column conductors) across the touchscreen, and they may be co-planar or separated by a dielectric material. A conductor aligned in one direction includes one or more extended areas that complementarily align with a conductor aligned in another direction. The extended areas of one conductor may be viewed as filling voids (e.g., holes, notches, etc.) of another conductor. |
| US08711103B2 |
Information display device and program storing medium
A CPU determines whether or not the display position of a link character string is finger-touched when a touch sensor on a screen constituting a display unit is finger-touched, and when the link character string is touched, a user is informed that a jump to a link destination is possible through screen vibration or the like. |
| US08711102B2 |
Graphical communication user interface with graphical position user input mechanism for selecting a display image
New devices, systems and methods are hereby provided that enable a user to open a communication channel by selecting an image on a monitor. A device that includes a monitor and a graphical position user input mechanism is configured to display one or more images on the monitor, to receive a graphical position user input selecting one of the images, and to open a communication channel directed to a contact information element associated with the selected image. For example, this may include placing a phone call to a selected recipient, or opening an email, instant messaging, or text message composition panel addressed to a selected recipient, by touching, clicking on, or otherwise selecting an image of the recipient, or an image that is associated with the recipient. |
| US08711101B2 |
Information processing apparatus and storage medium for storing information processing program
An input coordinate point is obtained from a pointing device, and either one of first and second controls is selected in accordance with an operation performed by a user. When the first control is selected, a movement vector is calculated based on the input coordinate point and a predetermined coordinate point, and a display area of a virtual space, which is displayed on a display device, is moved. Alternatively, when the first control is selected, the movement vector is calculated based on the input coordinate point and predetermined coordinate point, and an object is moved within the virtual space. When the second control is selected, the object is moved to a position in the virtual space, the position corresponding to the input coordinate point. Then, the display device is caused to display the virtual space within the display area. |
| US08711100B2 |
Sign language keyboard and sign language searching apparatus using the same
Expression by sign language can be inputted more easily and reliably, and search can be performed therefor as well. A general-purpose keyboard is divided into finger input areas in which shapes of fingers are allotted to respective key tops and upper body input areas in which divided portions of an upper body of a sign language talker are allotted to key tops so that information, which is meant by the sign language, can be inputted by the aid of the keyboard in cooperation of key inputs of the respective areas. |
| US08711098B2 |
Handheld electronic device with text disambiguation employing advanced editing feature
A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided. Additionally, the device can facilitate the selection of variants by displaying a graphic of a special |
| US08711096B1 |
Dual protocol input device
A dual protocol input device for use with a host system is provided. In one embodiment, the input device comprises a chip with a number of semiconductor devices integrally formed thereon, including: an optical navigation sensor (ONS) to sense movement of the ONS relative to a surface; a wired protocol block to communicate data from the ONS to the host system by a wired communication protocol; a wireless protocol block to communicate data from the ONS to the host system by a wireless communication protocol; and a micro-controller coupled to the ONS, the wired protocol block and the wireless protocol block, to switch the input device between the wireless communication protocol and the wired communication protocol. |
| US08711095B2 |
Programmable computer mouse
System and method are disclosed for programming a user input device such as a computer mouse or computer keyboard. The user input device features memory for storing programming information associated with various user inputs, such as buttons or keys. The user may define macros, shortcuts, programs and other functions associated with any or all of user profiles so that the user may switch between various programmed data sets with ease. |
| US08711094B2 |
Portable gaming device and gaming system combining both physical and virtual play elements
A wireless input device for playing an interactive motion-sensitive game using a wireless-compatible game console in which a virtual play environment is represented through one or more computer-animated visual, aural or tactile effects is provided wherein game play is conducted by moving, shaking, twisting, waving or pointing the input device in a particular manner. The input device can include motion-sensitive circuitry and/or command circuitry for generating control signals and/or an effects generator and associated control circuitry to enable the input device to selectively generate at least one visual, aural or tactile effect comprising sound, lighting or vibration. The input device can include a wireless transceiver for providing two-way wireless communication with the wireless-compatible game console. An optional display screen displays short text messages received through wireless communications with the wireless-compatible game console. |
| US08711092B2 |
Pointing device, display apparatus and pointing system, and location data generation method and display method using the same
A pointing device, a display apparatus and a pointing system, and a location data generation method and a display method using the same are provided. The pointing device includes a sensor that detects signals, a storage unit which stores a signal pattern and a controller which generates location data corresponding to a time at which a signal is detected. Using the detected signals, it is possible to more precisely determine a location of the pointing device on a display apparatus, and to minimize errors caused by delays that may occur when the pointing device is wirelessly connected to the display apparatus. |
| US08711090B2 |
Content output control device and content output control method
When a content output apparatus which can use a plurality of content providing devices switches from a first content providing device to a second content providing device and displays a content, a determination section predicts a start-up timing of starting to prepare for making a content of the second content providing device available on the basis of an operation input by a user, which is obtained by an input section. The switching section supplies power to a second device processing section on the basis of the predicted start-up timing. |
| US08711088B2 |
Method for driving electrophoretic display device, electrophoretic display device, and electronic device
A method for driving an electrophoretic display device that includes a display unit having a plurality of pixels and an electrophoretic element provided between a pair of substrates is provided. The method includes displaying on the display unit a third image that includes an image component of a first image and an image component of a second image before changing the first image displayed on the display unit to the second image. |
| US08711083B2 |
Liquid crystal display backlight control
To improve contrast ratio of the image on a backlit display plane such as a liquid crystal display (“LCD”), each area of the image that has separately controllable backlight may be given full backlight until an average or composite brightness of the image in that area is less than a threshold value at which light leakage through the image from full-strength backlight begins to be noticable by a viewer. For image areas with composite brightness less than that threshold, backlight brightness may be reduced in proportion to how much below the threshold the area's composite image brightness is. Backlight brightness may also be adjusted for other image aspects such as (1) the presence of bright pixels in an otherwise relatively dark area, (2) whether the area is adjacent to one or more other areas in which the image information is in motion, and/or (3) time-averaging of image information over several successive frames of such information. |
| US08711078B2 |
Liquid crystal display and method of driving the same
A liquid crystal display (“LCD”) includes: a liquid crystal panel, a timing controller which receives previous image data and current image data, corrects or does not correct the current image data according to a reference bit of conversion image data generated using the previous image data, and outputs a display image signal to the liquid crystal panel, and a data driver which receives the display image signal and applies a data voltage corresponding to the display image signal to the liquid crystal panel. |
| US08711077B2 |
LCD driving circuit in which shift register units are driven by a first clock signal of fixed duty/amplitude and a second clock signal of variable duty/amplitude
An LCD device is configured to drive a plurality of shift register units using two clock signals having different driving abilities. Each shift register unit may thus generate a stronger signal for triggering a next-stage shift register unit, thereby improving cold-start. When the LCD device has been activated over a predetermined period of time, the driving ability of the clock signal having higher driving ability is gradually lowered, thereby reducing power consumption. |
| US08711075B2 |
Liquid crystal display wherein the data lines covered by each pixel electrode are supplied with data signals of opposite polarities
A liquid crystal display includes first and second pixel electrodes, first to fourth data lines, and a first gate line. The first pixel electrode has separated first primary and secondary sub-pixel electrodes. The second pixel electrode has separated second primary and secondary sub-pixel electrodes. The first data line is coupled to the first secondary sub-pixel electrode and covered by the first pixel electrode. The second data line is coupled to the first primary sub-pixel electrode and covered by the second pixel electrode. The third data line is coupled to the second primary sub-pixel electrode and covered by the second pixel electrode. The fourth data line is coupled to the second secondary sub-pixel electrode. The first gate line is coupled to the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode. |
| US08711074B2 |
Flat panel display
A high-speed flat panel display having a long lifetime. Thin film transistors in a pixel portion having a plurality of pixels are contacted differently from thin film transistors in driving circuit portions for driving the pixels, thereby enhancing luminance uniformity and reducing power consumption. The thin film transistors each have a channel region and a body contact region for applying a predetermined voltage to the channel region. At least one thin film transistor in the pixel portion is a source-body contact thin film transistor having the body contact region connected to one of source and drain electrodes so that the predetermined voltage can be provided to the channel region. Each thin film transistor in the driving circuit portion is a gate-body contact thin film transistor having the body contact region connected to the gate electrode so that a predetermined voltage can be provided to the channel region. |
| US08711072B2 |
Motion blur reduction for LCD video/graphics processors
The present invention relates to a method and a system of reducing motion blur in a liquid crystal cell. A basic idea of the invention is to process, in an LCD system, a luminance component (Y) of a picture frame to provide motion blur reduction, wherein overdrive is applied to the luminance component only. First, a luminance component related to a first picture frame is stored. Thereafter, a luminance component of a subsequent picture frame is acquired. To reduce motion blur in the LCD, a modified luminance component (Y′) is created based on a difference between the value of the luminance component of the subsequent frame and the value of the luminance component related to the first frame. Hence, based on the value of the difference in the luminance components, and color components (U, V) of the subsequent picture frame, a drive voltage is applied to the LC cell. |
| US08711071B2 |
Display for displaying three-dimensional images and method for displaying three-dimensional images
A display includes a gravity sensor, a timing controller, a backlight module, a first liquid crystal panel, a liquid crystal driver, and a second liquid crystal panel. The gravity sensor generates a direction signal. The timing controller receives a three-dimensional image, outputs a left eye image and a right eye image of the three-dimensional image in turn, outputs a control signal, and outputs a backlight control signal. The backlight module turns on a backlight. The first liquid crystal panel receives and displays the left eye image and the right eye image of the three-dimensional image. The liquid crystal driver receives the control signal and the direction signal, and outputs a voltage control signal. The second liquid crystal panel rotates liquid crystals within the second liquid crystal panel according to the voltage control signal. |
| US08711066B2 |
Image display device and display unit for image display device
To provide an image display device in which the number of pixels of arranged light emitting elements or the like can be reduced and the cost can be drastically reduced while image degradation is minimized, and a display unit used therefor. In an image display device in which plural display units including pixels formed by light emitting elements or the like are arranged in a plane, the display unit is configured by two-dimensionally arranging lattice-shaped pixel groups formed by providing pixels in locations corresponding to three lattice points of a square lattice, respectively, and forming a space area in which no pixel exists in a location corresponding to the remaining lattice point. |
| US08711065B2 |
Light emitting device and electronic device
A TFT for controlling the amount of current flowing into a power supply line when an EL element does not emit light (electric discharge TFT) is provided in each pixel. When an EL driving TFT is turned ON to make an EL element emit light, the electric discharge TFT is turned OFF. On the other hand, the electric discharge TFT is turned ON when the EL driving TFT is turned OFF and no EL element emit light. Therefore variation of the difference in electric potential over the length of a power supply line depending on an image to be displayed is contained. Thus reduced is the difference in amount of current flowing into EL elements in adjacent pixels while the EL elements emit light, thereby avoiding crosstalk. |
| US08711063B2 |
Self assembly of elements for displays
Various embodiments of methods and systems for designing and constructing displays from multiple light emitting elements are disclosed. Display elements having different light emitting and self-organizing characteristics may be used during display assembly. |
| US08711061B2 |
Multiplanar image displays and media formatted to provide 3D imagery without 3D glasses
An apparatus for providing a dimensional display such as a 3D effect without special-purpose glasses. The apparatus includes a foreground display assembly including a first planar display element with a front surface and an opposite back surface. Additionally, the apparatus includes a background display assembly including: (a) a second planar display element spaced apart from and parallel to the first planar display element; and (b) a light source backlighting a back surface of the second planar display element. The first and second display elements are emissive display units and concurrently display frames of a foreground image stream and corresponding frames of a background image stream. The first display element may be a transparent LCD panel, and the output light from the front surface of the second display element provides backlighting for the first display element such that foreground images are backlit by output light of the second display element. |
| US08711058B2 |
Information display
A method displaying information for viewing by a user characterized by the steps of: peripherally displaying primary information (5) on a first focal plane (3), and displaying secondary information (6) on at least a second focal plane (2) to said primary information (5), wherein said secondary information (6) exhibits at least one characteristic capable of augmenting the effect of the primary information (5) on the viewer. |
| US08711057B2 |
Color LED display device without color separation
A color LED display device without color separation comprises a substrate, a plurality of display units, a power supply unit, and a control unit. Each display unit comprises a driving chip, at least one red-light LED chip, at least one green-light LED chip, at least one blue-light LED chip, and a micro optical device assembly. The micro optical device assembly is disposed above the red-light, green-light and blue-light LED chips. When the control unit controls the display unit to emit light, the red-light, green-light and blue-light LED chips emit red, green and blue lights respectively and simultaneously. The red, green and blue lights pass through the micro optical device assembly, such that the light paths of the red, green and blue lights are changed and the three lights are combined on a two-dimensional plane. Therefore, the color separation phenomenon of the conventional color LED display device is solved. |
| US08711049B2 |
Potential separation for filling level radar
For safety reasons the potential of an electrical supply line of a radar sensor should be separate from the potential of the filling level container. An arrangement for potential separation for a filling level radar is provided, which arrangement comprises a separation element for insulating the waveguide from the antenna. The separation element, corresponding to the cross section of the waveguide, is ring shaped. In this way rotatability between the sensor housing and the antenna subassembly is provided without influencing the signal line between the antenna and the waveguide. |
| US08711048B2 |
Damage resistant antenna
The invention provides a damage resistant antenna using a super-elastic flexible metallic material to form antenna radiating structures with a high damage threshold. The invention accounts for the electro-magnetic properties of the super-elastic flexible metallic material in the design of the shape and dimensions needed to form antenna radiating structures with consistent performance after repeated deploy, stow, and transport cycling of the antenna. |
| US08711042B2 |
Mobile communication device
A mobile communication device equipped with a microphone, a receiver, a first circuit board which is provided with an antenna at the microphone side and a second circuit board opposing to the first circuit board, wherein the antenna has a first antenna part which is extended parallel to the edge of the first circuit board and a second antenna part which is extended from a free end of the first antenna part towards the second circuit board. The end of the second antenna part may also be extended in a direction parallel to the second circuit board so as to form a third antenna part. As a result, even if a user uses the device in a state with the receiver pressed against the ear, the antenna will not be affected by the user body and the antenna characteristics will not deteriorate. |
| US08711040B2 |
Wireless network device including a polarization and spatial diversity antenna system
A wireless access gateway for communication of wave signals at radio frequencies within a frequency band, includes an access gateway enclosed in a housing including a bottom wall and a main circuit board overlying the bottom wall and having an upper surface substantially parallel to the bottom wall. The gateway is equipped with an antenna system including at least two antennas: a first linearly polarized antenna for propagating a first wave signal along a first polarization axis including a first radiating element extending along a first longitudinal axis lying on a first plane substantially parallel to the base plane, and a second linearly polarized antenna for propagating a second wave signal along a second polarization axis oriented perpendicularly to the first polarization axis, the second antenna including a second radiating element extending along a second longitudinal axis lying on a second plane oriented perpendicularly to the first plane. The first and second antennas are positioned relative to each other at a distance of at least λ/2, where λ is the wavelength corresponding to a radio frequency within the frequency band. |
| US08711038B2 |
High-resolution ranging and location finding using multicarrier signals
The invention relates to methods and systems for accurate ranging and geo-locationing using coherent multicarrier (CM) signals and based on a high-resolution estimation of a receiver timing offset in a signal receiver that receives ranging CM signals. A transmitter transmits a ranging CM signal having a known subcarrier modulation pattern. The receiver samples the ranging CM signal it receives reflected back from an object or from the remote transmitter, and processes the sampled signal that preserves relative subcarrier phases using a high-resolution model channel response function to determine the receiver timing offset with resolution much better than the receiver sampling period. The receiver timing offset is used to determine a flight time for the ranging CM signal with high accuracy. |
| US08711033B2 |
Method and system for the geolocation of a radio beacon in a search and rescue system
A method for the geolocation of a device transmitting a signal containing at least one message to a plurality of relay satellites in a medium earth orbit, visible from said device, receiving said message and transmitting it to processing means, comprises at least the following steps: determination of the times of reception of the message by the relay satellites; determination of the pseudo-distances between the device and the relay satellites; searching for and acquiring a minimum number N of satellite radio navigation signals; determination of the time lags between the transmission of the radio navigation signals and their reception by the said device; broadcasting by the device of these time lags in the message; and, determination of the position of the device from at least the pseudo-distances, from the time lags and from the positioning coordinates of the relay satellites and of the radio navigation satellites. |
| US08711027B1 |
Analog-to-digital converter with input voltage biasing DC level of resonant oscillator
An analog-to-digital converter is disclosed comprising a resonant oscillator comprising an input operable to receive an analog input signal and an output operable to output an oscillating signal. A DC offset detector detects a DC offset in the oscillating signal caused by the analog input signal, wherein the DC offset is converted into a digital output signal representing the analog input signal. |
| US08711026B1 |
Data converter with configurable functions
A data converter module is provided with an analog interface to receive analog signals, a digital interface to transmit digital signals, and a configuration interface to accept configuration signals. The data conversion module also includes a data conversion array (DCA) with selectively engageable data conversion circuits for the conversion of analog input signals to digital output signals, where the data conversion circuits are responsive to the configuration signals. The DCA's data conversion circuits include configurable data resolution circuits and configurable data conversion speed circuits. For example, the configurable data resolution circuits may be selected from averaging, oversampling, and multi-stage pipelining circuits. The DCA configurable data speed circuit may interleave the outputs from multiple parallelly connected ADCs operating at different clock phases. In one aspect, the number of clock phases is selectable. Also provided are methods for configurable data conversion. |
| US08711022B2 |
Resistor-2 resistor (R-2R) digital-to-analog converter with resistor network reversal
A resistor-2 resistor (R-2R) digital-to-analog converter with resistor network reversal and methods of use are disclosed. A circuit includes a plurality of resistor stacks and a plurality of separation resistors which separate the resistor stacks. The circuit further includes a plurality of selection devices connected to a respective one of the plurality of resistor stacks. The circuit also includes a first termination resistor stack connected to a drain of a first resistor stack of the plurality of resistor stacks and a second termination resistor stack connected to a drain of a last resistor stack of the plurality of resistor stacks. The circuit further includes a first switch connected to the drain of the first resistor stack of the plurality of resistor stacks and an output. The circuit also includes a second switch connected to the drain of the last resistor stack of the plurality of resistor stacks and the output. |
| US08711021B2 |
Digital-to-analog converter and performing method thereof
A digital-to-analog converter and a performing method thereof are disclosed. The digital-to-analog converter includes a random rotation unit, a plurality of conversion units, and a summing unit. The random rotation unit receives a plurality of binary-weighted inputs and generates a plurality of rotated digital outputs according to a random rotation number. The conversion units respectively receive one of the rotated digital outputs and generate a respective analog output. The summing unit sums the respective analog outputs of the conversion units for generating an analog output. The present invention implements the dynamic element matching technique by randomly rotating the binary-weighted inputs, so as to reduce the manufacturing cost of the digital-to-analog converter. |
| US08711020B2 |
Analogue-to-digital converter
An integrated-circuit, continuous-time, sigma-delta analogue-to-digital converter has a single-ended analogue input, a converter reference input, and a ground connection. The converter has a resistor-capacitor integrator arranged to receive the single-ended analogue input. The integrator comprises a differential amplifier. The converter also has a clocked comparator connected to an output from the integrator, and circuitry arranged so that reference inputs to the amplifier and to the comparator can be maintained at a common voltage derived from the converter reference input. |
| US08711016B2 |
Binary-to-gray converting circuits and gray code counter including the same
A binary-to-Gray converting circuit includes a buffer unit and a conversion unit. The buffer unit generates a data code of n bits in response to a power supply voltage and a second binary bit signal through an nth binary bit signal except for a first binary bit signal corresponding to a least significant bit of a binary code of n bits. The conversion unit generates a Gray code of n bits based on the binary code and the data code, and generates a kth Gray bit signal of the Gray code by latching a kth data bit signal of the data code in response to a kth binary bit signal of the binary code. A logic level of the kth Gray bit signal is determined corresponding to a logic level of the kth data bit signal. |
| US08711015B2 |
Sparse data compression
The invention relates to compressing of sparse data sets contains sequences of data values and position information therefor. The position information may be in the form of position indices defining active positions of the data values in a sparse vector of length N. The position information is encoded into the data values by adjusting one or more of the data values within a pre-defined tolerance range, so that a pre-defined mapping function of the data values and their positions is close to a target value. In one embodiment, the mapping function is defined using a sub-set of N filler values which elements are used to fill empty positions in the input sparse data vector. At the decoder, the correct data positions are identified by searching though possible sub-sets of filler values. |
| US08711012B2 |
Encoding method, decoding method, encoding device, decoding device, program, and recording medium
A plurality of samples are vector-quantized to obtain a vector quantization index and quantized values; bits are assigned in a predetermined order of priority based on auditory perceptual characteristics to one or more sets of sample positions among a plurality of sets of sample positions, each set having a plurality of sample positions and being given an order of priority based on the auditory perceptual characteristics, the number of bits not being larger than the number of bits obtained by subtracting the number of bits used for a code corresponding to the vector quantization index from the number of bits assigned for the code corresponding to the vector quantization index; and index information indicating a group of coefficients that minimizes the sum of the error between the value of each sample included in each of the sets of sample positions to which the bits are assigned and the value obtained by multiplying the quantized value of each sample included in the set of sample positions by a coefficient corresponding to the position of the sample, of all the sample positions included in the set of sample positions, is output. |
| US08711011B2 |
Systems and methods for implementing pressure sensitive keyboards
Systems and methods for implementing pressure sensitive keys to produce digital signals that emulate actuation of conventional “momentary on” digital keys of a conventional keyboard. The pressure sensitive keys may be implemented to generate an alternating open/short digital signal representative of the amount of pressure applied to a given key at any given time. The open/short digital signal may be supplied as a signal representative of applied key pressure to a legacy keyboard key matrix and controller or other processing device of an information handling system that is configured to measure keyboard input based on “momentary-on” digital signals. |
| US08711003B2 |
Vehicle location information-based abnormal driving determination and warning system
The disclosed system includes a first unit including at least one sensor. The first unit senses driving situations (characteristics) of a vehicle through the at least one sensor. Furthermore a second unit is configured to receive location-based information about the vehicle, and a control unit which includes an operation statistic unit calculates an acceptable range to be output by the first unit on a particular type of road based on the information detected by the sensing unit and the information received by the location second unit. The control unit also includes an abnormal driving determination unit which compares values sensed by the first unit with values calculated by the operation statistic unit to determine whether or not the vehicle is being driven in an abnormal state. |
| US08711000B2 |
Wide viewing angle indicators for network devices
A network device and method for improving performance monitoring capabilities using wide view angle indicators are disclosed. A network device, in one embodiment, includes a first plate, a second plate, and a light source. The first plate has multiple performance indicators situated at a side of the network device. The second plate has multiple performance indicators wherein the second plate is situated at a surface having a predefined angle with respect to the first plate. The light source, which includes at least one light emitting diode (“LED”) and optical element(s), is capable of generating two illuminating beams. The first illuminating beam illuminates a portion of device performance viewable from the first plate and the second illuminating beam illuminates a first portion of device performance viewable from the second plate. |
| US08710997B2 |
Method and device for the detection of defects or correction of defects in machines
The present invention relates to a method and device for the detection or correction of defects in machines, whereby a defect is optically and/or acoustically displayed at its point of origin and/or correction by means of at least one reporting device (5). According to the invention, the reporting device (5) is arranged independently from the location and is preferably centrally arranged. Furthermore, the reporting device (5) marks the point of origin and/or correction of the defect remotely and both in an optical and/or acoustical manner. |
| US08710995B2 |
Lighting apparatus
A lighting apparatus of the present invention includes: a light source; a power source unit arranged to power the light source; a detector unit arranged to detect the deterioration of ability of the power source unit to power the light source; and a determination unit arranged to determine the life of the power source unit in response to the detector unit. |
| US08710993B2 |
Mitigating single point failure of devices in an analyte monitoring system and methods thereof
Methods, devices, and kits are provided for mitigating single point failure of at least one device in an analyte monitoring system. |
| US08710984B2 |
Systems and methods of device-free motion detection and presence detection
Systems and methods are provided for device-free motion detection and presence detection within an area of interest. A plurality of nodes, configured to be arranged around the area of interest, form a wireless network. The plurality of nodes transmit wireless signals as radio waves and receive transmitted wireless signals. The received signal strength (RSS) of the transmitted wireless signals between the plurality of nodes are measured and a value is reported. A computing device receives the reported values for the measured RSS and tracks the reported values over time. The computing device processes the reported values using an aggregate disturbance calculation to detect motion and presence within the area of interest. The computing device may notify notification device of a detected disturbance within the area of interest. |
| US08710983B2 |
Intelligent sensor network
The present application describes a sensor network and method for monitoring and detecting intrusion activities in accordance with various illustrative embodiments. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a first input from a first sensor at a first sensor node of a wireless ad hoc sensor network, and comparing the first input to a first predefined input threshold associated with an intrusion activity. The method also includes wirelessly communicating an indication of the intrusion activity to a gateway device via a second sensor node of the wireless ad hoc sensor network. The gateway device may include an interface between the wireless ad hoc sensor network and a user-interactive system configured to monitor the wireless ad hoc sensor network. |
| US08710982B2 |
Methods and systems for sending messages regarding an emergency that occurred at a facility
Systems and methods are disclosed for sending messages regarding an emergency at a facility. The messages can be sent to an emergency response service or directly to another facility through a wireless mesh network. The wireless mesh network can comprise one or more nodes that route measurement data, such as utility meter reading data. The emergency messages can be assigned a higher priority so that they travel through the wireless mesh network more quickly. A device receiving an emergency message may identify the address of the associated facility, for example, by identifying an address associated with utility service also provided at the same facility. The address can be forwarded to an emergency response service and a confirmation or other message may be sent back to the facility. A device at a facility may receive various messages from a control center, such as a weather center, over the wireless mesh network. |
| US08710981B1 |
Monitoring system
A monitoring system includes at least one fixed location monitoring station, a remote central station and a communications link interconnecting the monitoring station with the remote central station. The monitoring station includes a processor coupled to an input device for retrieving subject identification definition data and subject location definition data. The processor also retrieves physiological parameter sampling data from the subject and determines whether the physiological parameter sampling data lies within boundary limits of the identification definition data and also determines whether the location of the monitoring station lies within boundary limits of the location definition data. In the event the sampling data and the fixed location are within boundary limits, the processor may actuate an access control to permit the subject to enter or exit a controlled premises. Transaction logs including out of boundary conditions as well as in boundary conditions and the location of the monitoring station are transmitted to a remote central station. |
| US08710980B2 |
Asset control in location tracking system
The present invention provides a method for changing a usability status of an asset in a location tracking system. Establishment of a direct device-to-device wireless communication connection between a user tag and an asset tag of the location tracking system triggers a process to change a usability status of the asset associated with the asset tag. In the process, identifiers of the asset tag and the user tag obtained when pairing the asset tag and the user tag are used in order to link the user tag with the asset tag in the process for changing the usability status of the asset. |
| US08710978B2 |
Method and apparatus for communication
The invention relates to a method for a vehicle to communicate with another vehicle or with an infrastructure device which has a particular range which is dependent on the current position of the vehicle. In order to ensure correct operation of the communication, the range to be expected for the communication is derived inter alia from the nature of the surroundings, which is dependent on the current position of the vehicle. The invention also relates to an appropriate apparatus for communication. |
| US08710965B2 |
Devices, systems, and methods for tactile feedback and input
Devices and methods are disclosed which relate to tactile communication. Devices are included for direct tactile input and having logic for conversion of speech and other forms of audio into vibrotactile sequences. Vibrotactile sequences are transmitted to devices equipped with tactile output, such as vibrators. Voice coil vibrators create sensations of tapping and rubbing in addition to vibration. |
| US08710963B2 |
Receiver and transmitter receiver system
A receiver for receiving messages from a transmitter includes a controller and a driver stage for providing a supply voltage to the transmitter based on a control signal. The controller is configured to provide the control signal to compensate for changes of the supply voltage caused by a modulation of the current consumption of the transmitter, such that the supply voltage remains in a predefined range. Furthermore, the controller is configured to evaluate a series of succeeding values of the control signal to derive a message generated by the transmitter by modulating its current consumption. |
| US08710962B2 |
Systems and methods for programming an RFID reader
Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for performing RFID reader updates. As an example, systems are described that include a server, an RFID reader, and a portable update device. The server is operable to provide an RFID reader update via a communication network. The RFID reader has an nfc interface. The portable update device is operable to receive the RFID reader update via the communication network, and to transfer the RFID reader update to the RFID reader via the nfc interface. |
| US08710957B2 |
Method, apparatus and article for detection of transponder tagged objects, for example during surgery
A system determines the presence or absence of objects by interrogating or exciting transponders coupled to the objects using pulsed signals over a number of wide band frequency bands with dynamic tuning about a center frequency of each band and less sensitivity to noise fluctuation. |
| US08710951B2 |
Operation controlling apparatus
An operation controlling apparatus executing operation controlling for plural equipment connected therewith, including: an equipment management portion configured to manage a control command for each of plural numbers of control commands, for each of the plural numbers of equipments; a projector portion configured to project an image of each control item, for each of the plural numbers of equipments; a distance detector portion configured to detect distance from said projector portion to a projection surface, on which the projector portion project the image; and a controller portion configured to control the projector portion so as to change the control item to be projected by the projector portion, depending on the distance detected by the distance detector portion, and to bring the equipment of control target to execute the control command, which is managed by the equipment management portion, when execution of the control item projected is determined. |
| US08710950B2 |
Wireless control system for a patient support apparatus
A wireless control system includes a device for sending a wireless signal, a receiver for receiving the wireless signal, and circuitry for processing the wireless signal. The circuitry includes a learn mode in which a device is associated with the control signal to the exclusion of commands from other devices not associated with the circuitry. The device transmits a wireless signal redundantly over a plurality of frequencies. The control system may chooses a signal frequency and receiver combination to maintain a quality signal. |
| US08710949B2 |
Remote ignition system for a vehicle and method for securing a remote ignition function
The invention relates to a remote ignition system for a vehicle with a remote ignition control device for activating a remote ignition by providing a release signal, means for detecting a driver's intention to start driving, and an engine control device which comprises the following: a first evaluation unit for evaluating a signal which has been received from the remote ignition control device, a unit coupled to the first evaluation unit for starting of the engine in response to a release signal and for stopping the engine in response to a blocking signal, and a second evaluation unit for evaluating signals which have been received from the means for detecting the intention to start driving. The engine control device furthermore comprises a storage unit for storing the last signal evaluated by the first evaluation unit, and a test unit which is coupled to the second evaluation unit, to the storage unit, and to the unit for starting and stopping the engine and which is designed to read out the signal stored in the storage unit when the second evaluation unit has ascertained the intention to start driving and, if it is a release signal, to send a blocking signal to the unit for starting and stopping the engine and to modify the contents of the storage unit. The invention furthermore relates to a method for securing a remote ignition function. |
| US08710947B2 |
Inductance element
This disclosure provides an inductance element including a core, a conductive wire, and a pair of terminal electrodes. The core includes an upper flange portion and a lower flange portion formed on both ends of a winding-core portion, and the conductive wire is wound around the winding-core portion. End portions of the wire connect to a pair of terminal electrodes formed on a bottom surface of the lower flange portion. Each terminal electrode includes a principal electrode region and a pair of extension electrode regions extending from the principal electrode region toward respective side surfaces of the lower flange portion. Each extension electrode region of each terminal electrode is not formed on a region of the bottom surface of the lower flange portion through which one of the end portions of the conductive wires pass. |
| US08710945B2 |
Multistable electromagnetic actuators
A multistable electromagnetic actuator is provided which addresses a need for a more robust, reliable and energy efficient actuation device. It comprises an armature (10) having a permanent magnet (8), wherein the armature is movable between first and second stable positions, and two electric coils (14a,14b) disposed on opposing sides of the armature along its direction of movement, with their axes substantially aligned with said direction. A magnetic flux container (2) substantially surrounds the armature and the coils to contain magnetic flux generated thereby and to shield its interior from external magnetic flux. In each stable position magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet (8) extends around a magnetic circuit path including the container so as to retain the armature in its stable position. Energising the coils (14a,14b) causes the armature (10) to move from one stable position to the other. It is suitable for a broad range of applications, including fluid flow control for example. |
| US08710942B2 |
Bandpass filter and radio communication module and radio communication device using the same
Provided are a bandpass filter and a radio communication module and a radio communication device using the same. The bandpass filter includes: a first and a second grounding electrode arranged on the upper and the lower surface of a layered body; single resonance electrodes and composite resonance electrodes arranged to orthogonally intersect the single resonance electrodes; a first input coupling electrode opposing to the single resonance electrode of the input stage and a second input coupling electrode connected thereto and opposing to the composite resonance electrode of the input stage; a first output coupling electrode opposing to the single resonance electrode of the output stage and a second output coupling electrode connected thereto and opposing to the composite resonance electrode of the output stage. |
| US08710938B2 |
Electronic device including predicted frequency error estimation of a voltage controlled oscillator and related methods
An electronic device may include a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) and a temperature sensor. The electronic device may also include a controller configured to cooperate with the VCO and the temperature sensor to determine both a temperature and a frequency error of the VCO for each of a plurality of most recent samples. Each of the most recent samples may have a given age associated therewith. The controller may also be configured to align the temperature, the frequency error, and the given age for each of most recent samples in a three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system having respective temperature, frequency error and age axes. The controller may also be configured to estimate a predicted frequency error of the VCO based upon the aligned temperature, frequency error, and given age of the most recent samples. |
| US08710935B2 |
Hermetically sealed atomic sensor package manufactured with expendable support structure
A method of forming a physics package for an atomic sensor comprises providing an expendable support structure having a three-dimensional configuration, providing a plurality of optical panels, and assembling the optical panels on the expendable support structure such that edges of adjacent panels are aligned with each other. The edges of adjacent panels are sealed together to form a physics block having a multifaced geometric configuration. The expendable support structure is then removed while leaving the physics block intact. |
| US08710934B2 |
Atomic oscillator and manufacturing method
An atomic oscillator includes: a light-receiving element including a light-receiving section; a cell layer that is laminated on the light-receiving element and includes a cavity having an opening above the light-receiving section; gaseous alkali metal atoms sealed in the cavity; a transparent member to close the opening; and a light-emitting element to emit resonance light to the light-receiving section through the transparent member and the alkali metal atoms. |