Document Document Title
US08812966B2 Configurator using structure and rules to provide a user interface
A configurator using structure and rules to provide a user interface. According to one embodiment of the invention, a customizable product class is created. The customizable product class includes a set of one or more attributes to define the customizable product class. A component product class is added to the customizable product class, where the component product class is a subclass of the customizable product. A customizable class rule is associated to the customizable product class, the customizable class rule including expressions which provide conditions on component products added to the customizable product. A customizable UI is mapped to the customizable product class, where the customizable UI provides access structure to the configurator.
US08812962B2 Web service interface and querying
Methods, systems, and computer-readable media are disclosed to generate an interface for a web service and to query the web service. A particular method includes generating a user interface associated with a web service. The user interface includes one or more input parameter options associated with the web service. The user interface is generated based on a service specification and one or more series specifications associated with the service specification. User input is received via the user interface, where the user input includes a selection of at least one of the one or more input parameter options. A query of the web service is generated based on the received user input, where the query reflects at least one selected input parameter option. The method includes invoking the generated query with respect to the web service to receive results and automatically adding the received results to the user interface.
US08812961B2 Dynamic collaborative techniques
Techniques for dynamic collaboration are provided. A main collaboration session having multiple interacting parties proceeds in a sequential and linear fashion. An element of the main collaboration session, where the element is not a last or most recent element of the main collaboration session, is acted upon and a sub communication session is initiated. The main collaboration session and the sub communication session proceed independent of one another but remained linked and can be later re-integrated with one another.
US08812960B1 Cohort-based presentation of user interaction data
An interactive, customizable, user interaction data analysis system is disclosed. The system may be configured to provide cohort-based analysis and/or graphical visualizations of user interaction data to a system operator. User interaction data may be obtained, for example, as users interact with one or more software applications. In various embodiments, interactive and customizable visualizations and analysis provided by the system may be based on user interaction data aggregated across groups of users (also referred to as cohorts of users), across particular time frames, and/or from particular software and/or computer-based applications. According to various embodiments, the system may enable insights into, for example, user interaction patterns, the frequency of software application features accessed, the performance of various aspects of software applications, and/or crashes of software applications, among others.
US08812957B2 Relevance slider in a site analysis report
In the context of a site analysis report showing paths between nodes, a relevance slider allows a user to dynamically specify how many node-to-node connections should be shown at any given time. The user can position the slider as desired, so as to specify a threshold level. Only those node connections having a relevance level (measured, for example, as a traffic level) exceeding the specified threshold are shown. In one embodiment, lines representing node connections fade in and out as the slider is moved, so as to provide instantaneous visual feedback.
US08812953B2 System and method for reading a web feed that represents multiple related objects
A method and computer program product for receiving, on a remote device, a data feed that includes a plurality of feed entries. The feed entries are processed to identify one or more page entries. The feed entries are processed to identify one or more object entries. At least a first and a second object entry, chosen from the one or more object entries, are associated with at least a first page entry chosen from the one or more page entries.
US08812946B1 Systems and methods for rendering documents
Generally, the systems and methods described herein are directed to rendering a document containing textual elements and graphical elements. The systems and methods include separating the graphical elements from the textual elements, and generating a bitmap rendering of the graphical elements and an HTML rendering of the textual elements. The HTML rendering may then be overlaid on the bitmap rendering to generate a composite document having textual elements that are accessible to screen reader software.
US08812945B2 Method of dynamically creating real time presentations responsive to search expression
The disclosure describes a method of dynamically creating real-time presentations responsive to search expressions. The method comprises retrieving information from search engines, parsing the retrieved information to create dynamically a structured document including mark-up tags, and rendering the structured document as a slide show presentation of images by a multimedia presentation module. The structured document may be editable, annotatable, storable, and publishable by a user viewing the slide show presentation on the client device. The information retrieved from the one or more search engines may be restricted to one or more specified web domains. Pertinent textual information about the object of interest may also be retrieved along with the image information for convenient review by the user. Each displayed image in the slideshow presentation may have an embedded hyperlink to the source page of the image.
US08812943B2 Detecting data corruption in medical binary decision diagrams using hashing techniques
In particular embodiments, a method includes receiving from a remote system a binary decision diagram (BDD) representing data streams from sensors, an input, and a first hash code, transforming the received BDD to a second arithmetic function by performing the arithmetic transformation on the received BDD, calculating a second hash code from the second arithmetic function and the input, and if the first hash code equals the second hash code, then indicating that the received BDD is uncorrupted data, else indicating that the received BDD is corrupted data.
US08812936B2 Using slow response memory device on a fast response interface
A method includes receiving a request to read data at a data storage device from an external device. In response to determining that the data is in a first memory of the data storage device, a first read operation is initiated to read the data from the first memory and a response is sent to the external device. The response indicates an error correction code (ECC) error. A read latency of the first read operation exceeds a reply time period corresponding to the request. The response is sent prior to completion of the first read operation and within reply time period.
US08812931B2 Memory system with ECC-unit and further processing arrangement
A memory system including a first memory for storing data and an ECC unit for accessing the first memory and for detecting errors in data retrieved from the first memory, and characterised by an error further processing arrangement operable to process errors detected by the ECC unit, the error further processing arrangement including a second memory for recording information relating to the detected errors. Also described is a method of operation in the memory system.
US08812930B1 Parallel encoder for low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes
A low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder that calculate parity check values for a message using an LDPC parity check matrix is provided. A matrix-vector multiplication unit is operative to multiply a portion of the LDPC parity check matrix and the message to obtain an intermediate vector. A parallel recursion unit is operative to recursively calculate a first plurality of parity check values for the message based on the intermediate vector and to recursively calculate a second plurality of parity check values for the message based on the intermediate vector. The first plurality of parity check values are calculated in parallel with the second plurality of parity check values.
US08812924B2 Method of handling a damage information-assisted hybrid ARQ scheme and related communication device
A method of handling a retransmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request scheme for a receiver in a communication system is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a first payload from a transmitter in the communication system, and feeding back a resource index to the transmitter, to indicate a size for a second payload in the next reception, when the receiver is unsuccessful to decode the first payload into a plurality of information bits, wherein the transmitter encodes the plurality of information bits into the first payload by using an error correction code.
US08812921B2 Dynamic clock domain bypass for scan chains
An integrated circuit comprises scan test circuitry and additional circuitry subject to testing utilizing the scan test circuitry. The scan test circuitry comprises at least one scan chain having a plurality of sub-chains associated with respective distinct clock domains, and clock domain bypass circuitry configured to selectively bypass one or more of the sub-chains. The scan chain is configurable in a scan shift mode of operation to form a serial shift register that includes fewer than all of the sub-chains with at least a remaining one of the sub-chains being bypassed by the clock domain bypass circuitry so as to not be part of the serial shift register in the scan shift mode. By selectively bypassing portions of the scan chain associated with particular clock domains, the clock domain bypass circuitry serves to reduce test time and power consumption during scan testing.
US08812919B2 Method and apparatus for evaluating and optimizing a signaling system
A method and apparatus for evaluating and optimizing a signaling system is described. A pattern of test information is generated in a transmit circuit of the system and is transmitted to a receive circuit. A similar pattern of information is generated in the receive circuit and used as a reference. The receive circuit compares the patterns. Any differences between the patterns are observable. In one embodiment, a linear feedback shift register (LFSR) is implemented to produce patterns. An embodiment of the present disclosure may be practiced with various types of signaling systems, including those with single-ended signals and those with differential signals. An embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to systems communicating a single bit of information on a single conductor at a given time and to systems communicating multiple bits of information on a single conductor simultaneously.
US08812918B2 Method and apparatus for evaluating and optimizing a signaling system
A method and apparatus for evaluating and optimizing a signaling system is described. A pattern of test information is generated in a transmit circuit of the system and is transmitted to a receive circuit. A similar pattern of information is generated in the receive circuit and used as a reference. The receive circuit compares the patterns. Any differences between the patterns are observable. In one embodiment, a linear feedback shift register (LFSR) is implemented to produce patterns. An embodiment of the present disclosure may be practiced with various types of signaling systems, including those with single-ended signals and those with differential signals. An embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to systems communicating a single bit of information on a single conductor at a given time and to systems communicating multiple bits of information on a single conductor simultaneously.
US08812916B2 Failure data management for a distributed computer system
Various systems, processes, products, and techniques may be used to manage failure data for a distributed computer system. In particular implementations, a system and process for managing distributed data for a distributed computer system may include the ability to determine at a service processor of a first node in a distributed computer system that comprises a plurality of nodes whether a failure has occurred in the first node and identify a service processor of a second node in the distributed computer system in which to store failure data if a failure has occurred. The system and process may also include the ability to store at least part of the failure data in the identified service processor and determine whether there is more failure data to store than the identified service processor can store.
US08812903B2 Computer system and boot control method
When a primary computer is taken over to a secondary computer in a redundancy configuration computer system where booting is performed via a storage area network (SAN), a management server delivers an information collecting/setting program to the secondary computer before the user's operating system of the secondary computer is started. This program assigns a unique ID (World Wide Name), assigned to the fiber channel port of the secondary computer to allow a software image to be taken over from the primary computer to the secondary computer.
US08812901B2 Methods and apparatus for marking writes on a write-protected failed device to avoid reading stale data in a RAID storage system
Methods and apparatus for improved building of a hot spare storage device in a RAID storage system while avoiding reading of stale data from a failed storage device. In the recovery mode of the failed device, all data is write protected on the failed device. A RAID storage controller may copy as much readable data as possible from the failed device to the hot spare storage device. Unreadable data may be rebuilt using redundant information of the logical volume. Write requests directed to the failed device cause the addressed logical block address (LBA) to be marked as storing stale data. When a read request is directed to such a marked LBA, the read request returns an error status from the failed device to indicate that the data is stale. The RAID controller then rebuilds the now stale data for that LBA from redundant information of the logical volume.
US08812899B1 Managing read caching
A method is used in managing read caching. First and second read caches are maintained in a data storage system. The first read cache is controlled by a first storage controller and the second read cache is controlled by a second storage controller. Read cache data is copied from the first storage controller to the second storage controller. A failure of the first storage controller is detected. Based on the detection, the copied read cache data is processed at the second storage controller to make the copied read cache data available for use at the second storage controller.
US08812898B1 System and method for transfer of data between memory with dynamic error recovery
A system and method are provided for ensuring reliable data transfers by automatically recovering from un-correctable errors detected in data traversing throughout a system and being retrieved from an unreliable intermediate data buffer between a first memory and a secondary slower memory. Additionally, measures to compensate for the use of unreliable or error-prone components and interconnects, such as, for example, SRAM memory as a temporary buffer are provided. Further, measures to detect and correct errors—whatever the type—injected or occurring at any stage throughout traversal of the system are provided.
US08812891B2 Image forming apparatus with motor drivers capable of directly communicating power abnormalities to other drivers
An image forming apparatus is provided, which includes a control unit, one or more motors, and a plurality of power supply management devices each of which includes one or more driving circuits for driving the motors, one or more power supply circuits for supplying electricity to the control unit and an external device, a signal output unit issuing a halting signal to the other power supply management devices in response to detection of an abnormality in the power supply management device, a halting unit halting an operation of the power supply management device in response to receipt of a halting signal from one of the other power supply management devices and detection of the abnormality in the power supply management device, and a restoring unit restoring the halted operation of the power supply management device in response to a predetermined restoring condition being satisfied.
US08812888B2 Systems and methods for scanning for a wake up packet addressed to a wireless device
A system and method for wireless waking computing devices over a computer network is provided. A signal is broadcast over the network that includes one or more device specific wake-up data sequences. Each device specific wake-up data sequence includes multiple iterations of the hardware address of the wireless network card associated with that device. While in a reduced power or “sleep mode”, the wireless network card monitors wireless channels for packets containing a wake-up data sequence. If a wake-up data sequence is received, the sequence is matched against the hardware address information for that network card. If a match is determined, the network card sends a signal to the computing device causing full system power to be restored. A signal is sent to the network confirming that the device has been successfully woken from the sleep mode.
US08812880B2 Multiprocessor system and multigrain parallelizing compiler
Provided is a multiprocessor system and a compiler used in the system for automatically extracting tasks having parallelism from an input program to be processed, performing scheduling to efficiently operate processor units by arranging the tasks according to characteristics of the processor units, and generating codes for optimizing a system frequency and a power supply voltage by estimating a processing amount of the processor units.
US08812878B2 Limiting false wakeups of computing device components coupled via links
Methods and apparatus relating squelch filtration to limit false wakeups are described. In one embodiment, a squelch logic generates a wakeup event for an agent based on occurrence of a number of pulses (originating from another agent) during a time period. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
US08812876B1 Enforcing restrictions related to a virtualized computer environment
An administrator may set restrictions related to the operation of a virtual machine (VM), and virtualization software enforces such restrictions. There may be restrictions related to the general use of the VM, such as who may use the VM, when the VM may be used, and on what physical computers the VM may be used. There may be similar restrictions related to a general ability to modify a VM, such as who may modify the VM. There may also be restrictions related to what modifications may be made to a VM, such as whether the VM may be modified to enable access to various devices or other resources. There may also be restrictions related to how the VM may be used and what may be done with the VM. Information related to the VM and any restrictions placed on the operation of the VM may be encrypted to inhibit a user from circumventing the restrictions.
US08812875B1 Virtual self-destruction of stored information
A method and apparatus are utilized to conveniently and swiftly render stored information inaccessible. Sensitive information is stored in an encrypted form and by eliminating the key or keys which are needed for decryption, the stored information becomes virtually destroyed. A variety of mechanisms and policies can be used to manage, set and eliminate decryption keys. In some cases decryption keys can be stored in volatile storage elements so that by merely interrupting power to the storage element, the decryption keys are eliminated. In this way, a manually controlled mechanism can be used to allow a user to accomplish a “self-destruct” of the stored information instantly without the need for the operation of any processor and without the need to change any stored information.
US08812874B1 Content deduplication in enterprise rights management
A system and method is disclosed for implementing an enterprise rights management (ERM) system that enables effective data deduplication of ERM-protected data. An ERM-aware application may segment data, such as a file, into one or more data segments. The chosen segmentation boundaries may depend on data already stored on a target storage system and/or on a segmentation scheme used by a target deduplication system. An ERM-aware application may derive a respective convergent encryption key for each data segment, the convergent encryption key being dependent on the contents of the data segment, and encrypt the data segment using that key. The ERM-aware application may include the respective convergent decryption keys (which may be identical to the respective convergent encryption keys) in a publishing license of the ERM-protected file.
US08812868B2 Secure execution of unsecured apps on a device
Given the volume of apps being developed and downloaded, performing operations to enable security for mobile devices, such as locating relevant classes and substituting different classes, can become very inefficient when done to a very high number of apps. In the invention, a device is enabled with an app security enforcement layer. The consumer can download unsecured apps and have the app execute on the phone in a secure manner, where potential data loss to the device, such as a smart phone or tablet, is minimized. To make the security wrapping process more efficient, an app template containing markers is created. This template is merged with data in an active user policy or is used to randomize or obfuscate the code to add more security. The process of security wrapping an app becomes more efficient.
US08812864B2 Simplified multi-factor authentication
A reader element is associated with an identity verification element. The reader element has a biometric input device and is configured, through enrollment of a biometric element is used to encrypt a character sequence associated with the identity verification element. In a verification phase subsequent to the enrollment, a user may be spared a step of providing the character sequence by, instead, providing the biometric element. Responsive to receiving the biometric element, the reader element may decrypt the character sequence and provide the character sequence to the identity verification element.
US08812863B2 Personal biometric system and method for wireless device control
In one embodiment, a biometric device includes a first portion having a processor and a second portion releasably coupled to the first portion. The processor is configured to determine whether the second portion is coupled to the first portion. The processor is configured to operate in an enrollment mode while the first portion is coupled to the second portion and operate in an authentication mode while the first portion is decoupled from the second portion. In one embodiment, a method of biometric authentication includes, first, coupling two portions of a biometric device to put it into an enrollment mode, collecting a biometric sample, and generating and storing a corresponding enrollment code; and second, decoupling the two portions of the biometric device, collecting a biometric sample, generating a corresponding access code, and granting or denying access to an asset based on comparison of the enrollment code and the access code.
US08812861B2 Graphical image authentication and security system
A method and system for protection of and secure access to a computer system or computer network. The method includes the steps of receiving a first login account identifier, such as a user name from a user in communication with the computer system or network. A determination is made if the user is recognized and enrolled from the first login account from the first login account identifier. If the user is recognized, a grid of randomly generated visual images is displayed including one visual image from an image category which has been preselected by the user upon enrollment. An image category identifier is randomly assigned to each visual image in the grid. An image category identifier, second login account identifier, such as a password, is entered and received. If the login account identifier and the image category is validated, access is permitted to the computer system or network.
US08812858B2 Broadcast stenography of data communications
In one embodiment, a mechanism for broadcast stenography of data communications is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes creating a plurality of messages for transmission to one or more recipients, the plurality of messages including one or more real messages intended for one or more of the recipients and one or more bogus messages intended for none of the recipients. The method further includes for each intended recipient of the one or more real message, calculating a message authentication code (MAC) based on the message and a shared secret key kept between a broadcaster of the plurality of messages and the intended recipient, and for each of the plurality of messages, creating a plurality of unique pseudo-MACs that have an identical format to a real MAC. In addition, the method includes sending the plurality of messages to the one or more recipients, with the calculated MACs for each intended recipient attached to the one or more real message and the associated unique pseudo-MACs attached to each message of the plurality of messages. Other embodiments are also described.
US08812857B1 Smart card renewal
A method includes storing creating a smart card with an expiration date and renewing the smart card after the expiration date. The smart card may be created with data stored upon the smart card for use in the renewal process. The data may comprise a certificate. The smart card may be issued at the information technology department of an organization and may be renewed at a user workstation of the organization. The renewal process may include a renewal environment for authenticating the holder of the smart card. The card holder may be required to provide a personal identification number in order to enter into the renewal environment. The rights conferred by the renewed smart card may be more limited than the rights conferred by the original smart card, both in duration and access to data within the organization.
US08812846B2 Streaming video server with virtual file system and methods for use therewith
A streaming video server generates a virtual file system that includes virtual addresses of a plurality of encrypted segments of a plurality of video programs at each of a plurality of bitrates, without storing the plurality of encrypted segments in persistent storage. A request is received from a client device to access a selected one of the plurality of video programs via a request to access the virtual file system. The plurality of encrypted segments of the selected one of the plurality of video programs are generated at a selected bitrate, in response to the request.
US08812837B2 Apparatus and methods for activation of communication devices
A method that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, storing, by a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including at least one processor, a digital root certificate locking a communication device to a network provider, and disabling an activation of the communication device responsive to receiving an indication of a revocation of the stored digital root certificate from a certificate authority, wherein the indication of the revocation of the stored digital root certificate is associated with a revocation of permission for an identity authority to issue a security activation information to the communication device on behalf of the network provide. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US08812829B2 Information processing apparatus and start-up method
An information processing apparatus includes, a processer, a non-volatile memory to store a plurality of programs, a volatile memory to store at least one program executed by the processor and data accessed by the program, an acceptance unit to accept context information when power supplied to the processor is resumed from a state in which power supplied to the processor is interrupted while a power supplied to the volatile memory is maintained, a selection unit to select one program from the plurality of programs stored in the non-volatile memory based on context information accepted by the acceptance unit, and a program determination unit to determine whether the one program selected by the selection unit is stored in the volatile memory. When the processor determines the one program selected by the program determination unit is stored in the volatile memory, the processor starts the one program stored in the volatile memory.
US08812821B2 Processor for performing operations with two wide operands
A programmable processor and method for improving the performance of processors by expanding at least two source operands, or a source and a result operand, to a width greater than the width of either the general purpose register or the data path width. The present invention provides operands which are substantially larger than the data path width of the processor by using the contents of a general purpose register to specify a memory address at which a plurality of data path widths of data can be read or written, as well as the size and shape of the operand. In addition, several instructions and apparatus for implementing these instructions are described which obtain performance advantages if the operands are not limited to the width and accessible number of general purpose registers.
US08812819B1 Methods and apparatus for reordering data signals in fast fourier transform systems
Data signal items output by a radix 4n2m fast Fourier transform (“FFT”) operation may not be in the order desired for further use of those data items (e.g., they may be output in a non-natural order rather than in a desired natural order). Memory circuitry (e.g., dual-port memory circuitry) may be used in conjunction with circuitry for addressing the memory circuitry with address signals that are reordered in a particular way for each successive set of N data items. This allows use of memory circuitry with fewer data item storage locations than would otherwise be required to reorder the data items from non-natural to natural order. In particular, the memory circuitry only needs to be able to store N data items at any one time, which is more efficient memory utilization than would otherwise be possible.
US08812815B2 Allocation of storage areas to a virtual volume
The storage control device of this invention allocates the physical storage area in RAID groups to virtual volumes in units of chunks including multiple pages.To the virtual volume 5, in accordance with write accesses from the host 20, the physical storage area in the pool is allocated. A RAID group 6 in the pool includes multiple chunks 7. Each chunk 7 includes multiple pages 8. To the virtual volume 5, the physical storage area is allocated in units of chunks 7. From the allocated chunks 7, the pages 8 required for writing write data are used.
US08812805B2 Mixed technology storage device that supports a plurality of storage technologies
A mixed storage device includes a set of storage units, each potentially based on a different storage technology, such as NAND flash drive, NOR flash drive, magnetic hard drive, magneto-optical drives, optical drives, etc. The mixed storage device comprises a host bus connector that is used to connect to a peripheral bus that facilitates communication to a processor of a device (such as a PC) and a controller. The controller manages a NAND flash storage device, a NOR flash storage device, an optical storage device, a hard drive and other storage components plugged into or integrated with the mixed storage device.
US08812801B2 Method of data replication in a distributed data storage system and corresponding device
A replication set of k storage devices is defined, that stores a particular data item. Each device in the replication set has an associated timer for which a timeout value for disconnection is determined based on individual downtime data distribution of the device. A new device for storing the data item is added to the replication set when the timer expires for a device in the replication set, and if the number of devices in the replication set that are still connected is below a predetermined threshold. Timeout values are adapted according to a factor of criticalness determined for the replication set, resulting in a more reactive, or on the contrary, a less reactive replacement of devices in the replication set. The factor of criticalness is determined according to a difference between the connected devices in the replication set and the predetermined number k.
US08812800B2 Storage apparatus and storage management method
The performance to transfer data to external storage media in thin provisioning is enhanced.A storage apparatus is connected via a network to a host system writing of data and to a tape management apparatus for managing tape storage media for storing the data. The storage apparatus is designed so that data, for which a write request is issued by the host system, is stored in a virtual volume; a predetermined area in a plurality of storage devices is allocated to a data storage area in the virtual volume storing the data; and if the virtual volume is a backup object to be backed up to the tape storage media, a predetermined area in a specified storage device, from among the plurality of storage devices, is allocated to the data storage area in the virtual volume; and if the virtual volume is not a backup object to be backed up to the tape storage media, a predetermined area in an unspecified storage device, from among the plurality of storage devices, is allocated to the data storage area in the virtual volume.
US08812796B2 Private memory regions and coherence optimizations
Private or shared read-only memory regions. One embodiment may be practiced in a computing environment including a plurality of agents. A method includes acts for declaring one or more memory regions private to a particular agent or shared read only amongst agents by having software utilize processor level instructions to specify to hardware the private or shared read only memory address regions. The method includes an agent executing a processor level instruction to specify one or more memory regions as private to the agent or shared read-only amongst a plurality of agents. As a result of an agent executing a processor level instruction to specify one or more memory regions as private to the agent or shared read-only amongst a plurality of agents, a hardware component monitoring the one or more memory regions for conflicting accesses or prevents conflicting accesses on the one or more memory regions.
US08812792B2 Technique for using memory attributes
A technique for using memory attributes to relay information to a program or other agent. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to using memory attribute bits to check various memory properties in an efficient manner.
US08812791B2 System and method of selectively caching information based on the interarrival time of requests for the same information
A system and method is provided wherein, in one aspect, a currently-requested item of information is stored in a cache based on whether it has been previously requested and, if so, the time of the previous request. If the item has not been previously requested, it may not be stored in the cache. If the subject item has been previously requested, it may or may not be cached based on a comparison of durations, namely (1) the duration of time between the current request and the previous request for the subject item and (2) for each other item in the cache, the duration of time between the current request and the previous request for the other item. If the duration associated with the subject item is less than the duration of another item in the cache, the subject item may be stored in the cache.
US08812790B2 Caching based on spatial distribution of accesses to data storage devices
A controller is communicatively coupled with a storage medium and with a cache device and configured to interface with a processor or a memory of a computer system. The controller is further configured to receive a specified quantity of address references associated with a storage system; determine a spatial distribution of references to addresses of the storage system based at least in part on the received specified quantity of the address references, where to perform a determination of the spatial distribution, the controller is further configured to omit a random quantity of address references between previous determination of the spatial distribution and said determination of the spatial distribution; combine the determined spatial distribution with the previous determination of the spatial distribution into a spatial locality metric of the storage system; and output the spatial locality metric to use in caching data from the storage medium to the cache device.
US08812789B2 Systems and methods for cache line replacement
A computer readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to receive an index value included in a cache invalidate by index instruction, an encoded way value, and an incrementer output value. The instructions further cause the processor to assign the index value as an identifier value in response to receiving the cache invalidate by index instruction. The identifier value indicates a cache line for replacement.
US08812785B2 Managing track discard requests to include in discard track messages
Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for managing track discard requests to include in discard track messages. A backup copy of a track in a cache is maintained in the cache backup device. A track discard request is generated to discard tracks in the cache backup device removed from the cache. Track discard requests are queued in a discard track queue. In response to detecting that a predetermined number of track discard requests are queued in the discard track queue while processing in a discard multi-track mode, one discard multiple tracks message is sent indicating the tracks indicated in the queued predetermined number of track discard requests to the cache backup device instructing the cache backup device to discard the tracks indicated in the discard multiple tracks message. In response to determining a predetermined number of periods of inactivity while processing in the discard multi-track mode, processing the track discard requests is switched to a discard single track mode.
US08812781B2 External state cache for computer processor
A processor can write its state to an external state cache. Thus, in the event of a processor failure, the stored state can be read and assumed, either by the original processor or another processor. Thus, a process can be resumed from the stored state rather than reconstructed from initial conditions.
US08812773B2 Method of merging blocks in a semiconductor memory device, and semiconductor memory device to perform a method of merging blocks
In a method of merging blocks in a semiconductor memory device according to example embodiments, a plurality of data are written into one or more first blocks using a first program method. One or more merge target blocks that are required to be merged are selected among the one or more first blocks. A merge-performing block for a block merge operation is selected among the one or more first blocks and one or more second blocks. A plurality of merge target data are written from the merge target blocks into the merge-performing block using a second program method that is different from the first program method.
US08812772B2 Data merging method for non-volatile memory and controller and storage apparatus using the same
A data merging method for merging data belonging to a first logical block in a rewritable non-volatile memory module is provided. The method includes getting a second physical block from a free area of the rewritable non-volatile memory module and determining whether a valid logical page number is smaller than a predetermined number. The method also includes, when the valid logical page number is smaller than the predetermined number, storing a corresponding page mapping table in a start physical page of the second physical block and writing at least one valid page data belonging to the first logical block into at least one physical page of the second physical block. Accordingly, the method can effectively shorten the time for merging data.
US08812770B2 Health reporting from non-volatile block storage device to processing device
Methods and devices are provided for adapting an I/O pattern, with respect to a processing device using a non-volatile block storage device based on feedback from the non-volatile block storage device. The feedback may include information indicating a status of the non-volatile block storage device. In response to receiving the feedback, a storage subsystem, included in an operating system executing on processing device, may change a behavior with respect to the non-volatile block storage device in order to avoid, or reduce, a negative impact to the non-volatile block storage device or to enhance an aspect of the non-volatile block storage device. The feedback may include performance information and/or operating environmental information of the non-volatile block storage device. When the non-volatile block storage device is not capable of providing the feedback, the processing device may request information about the non-volatile block storage device from a database service.
US08812769B2 Data storage devices
A data storage device includes a non-volatile memory array, a user input device, and a host interface adapted to connect the data storage device to a host device and convey data to the host device. In response to a first operation of the user input device, application configuration data is communicated from the data storage device to the host device. The application configuration data is configured to trigger execution by the host device of a configuration application that includes a listing of a plurality of applications for display by the host device allowing a user to identify a selected application. In response to selection of an application, application designation data is generated and stored in the non-volatile memory array. In response to a second operation of the user input device, the application designation data is communicated to the host device to trigger automatic execution by the host device of the selected application.
US08812768B2 System having one or more memory devices
A system having serially connected memory devices in a ring topology organization to realize high speed performance. The memory devices have dynamically configurable data widths such that the system can operate with up to a maximum common number of active data pads to maximize performance, or to operate with a single active data pad to minimize power consumption. Therefore the system can include a mix of memory devices having different data widths. The memory devices are dynamically configurable through the issuance of a single command propagated serially through all the memory devices from the memory controller in a broadcast operation. Robust operation of the system is ensured by implementing a data output inhibit algorithm, which prevents valid data from being provided to the memory controller when read output control signal is received out of its proper sequence.
US08812767B2 Method of controlling memory, memory control circuit, storage device and electronic device
A method of controlling a memory including a first storage area and a second storage area. The method includes determining, in response to a request for writing a write data string, whether the write data string changes a logical value stored in the memory from a first logical value to a second logical value, writing, to the first storage area, a logical value that is located in a position of the write data string and does not change an existing logical value of the memory from the first logical value to the second logical value, and writing the second logical value that is located in a position of the write data string and changes an existing logical value of the memory from the first logical value to the second logical value to the second storage area which is different from the first storage area.
US08812766B2 File mapping and converting for dynamic disk personalization for multiple platforms
File mapping and converting for dynamic disk personalization for multiple platforms are provided. A volatile file operation is detected in a first platform. The file supported by the first platform. A determination is made that the file is sharable with a second platform. The volatile operation is performed on the file in the first platform and the modified file is converted to a second file supported by the second platform. The modified file and second file are stored in a personalized disk for a user. The personalized disk is used to modify base images for VMs of the user when the user accesses the first platform or second platform. The modified file is available within the first platform and the second file is available within the second platform.
US08812765B2 Data coherence method and apparatus for multi-node computer system
A method for maintaining data coherency in a shared-memory computer system having a plurality of nodes divides the local memory of a given node into one or more blocks and stores a data record for each block indicating a plurality of node groups and a selection of the node groups. Each selected node group represents a number of nodes, and selected node groups represent at least one node that has requested access to the block. In response to receiving an access request from a requesting node that may or may not be in a selected node group, the method and system update the data record to indicate the correct selection. If the requesting node is not in any node group, the data record is adjusted to have new node groups, one of which represents the requesting node.
US08812764B2 Apparatus installing devices controlled by MDIO or SPI protocol and method to control the same
An apparatus including a plurality of internal devices that communicates concurrently with a controller by one of the MDIO protocol and the SPI protocol is disclosed. The controller of the invention couples with respective devices by the point-to-point arrangement. The controller couples with the external apparatus by the MDIO protocol and receives a packet containing an address of one of internal devices, the controller communicates with the device defined by the address by the protocol attributed to the device.
US08812762B2 Presence detectable baffle for electrical components in a computing system
A presence detectable baffle for electrical components in a computing system, including: a passive chassis having a form factor is consistent with an electrical component of the computing system; and a presence detectable pin set connected to the passive chassis, the pin set consistent with the electrical component.
US08812760B1 System and method for monitoring two-wire communication in a network environment
An example method is provided and includes receiving a first signal transmitted to an address on a two-wire bus from a master device, where the two-wire bus couples the master device with a first slave and a second slave that share the address such that the first slave and the second slave receive the first signal. The method includes blocking a second signal from the second slave to the master device using digital isolation buffers. In particular embodiments, the digital isolation buffers are configured between the master device and the second slave. In addition, the two-wire bus may include a clock line and a data line. The digital isolation buffers may include a first digital isolation buffer located on the clock line between the master device and the second slave, and a second digital isolation buffer located on the data line between the master device and the second slave.
US08812751B1 Media device auto-detection
A method for detecting a media device comprises generating a waveform on a bias node of a demonstration system. The waveform has a fundamental frequency that is greater than a maximum frequency of a media frequency range of the demonstration system. The waveform is rectified to produce a detection signal. An impedance between the bias node and a ground is modified in response to a coupling of the media device to the bias node. An output signal changes state in response to a change in the detection signal due to the modification of the impedance.
US08812750B2 Data processing system and data processor
One data processor is provided with an interface for realizing connection with the other data processor. This interface is provided with a function for connecting the other data processor as a bus master to an internal bus of the one data processor, and the relevant other data processor is capable of directly operating peripheral functions that are memory mapped to the internal bus from an external side via the interface. Accordingly, the data processor can utilize the peripheral functions of the other data processor without interruption of the program being executed. In short, one data processor can use in common the peripheral resources of the other data processor.
US08812748B2 Methods for generating display signals in an information handling system
An information handling system (IHS) is provide for generating display signals associated with an alternative display protocol. The system may include a display protocol receptacle operable to receive a display protocol plug and a display bus switch in communication with the display protocol receptacle. The system may also include a display converter in communication with the IHS. The display converter may include a first end having a display connector associated with an alternative display protocol and a second end having a display protocol plug. Moreover, upon receipt of the display protocol plug by the display protocol receptacle, the display bus switch may output display signals associated with the alternative display protocol.
US08812747B2 Network apparatus that sends back equipment information, method of controlling the apparatus, and storage medium
A network apparatus which enables, even when different information processing apparatuses use software programs different in device recognition capability, each information processing apparatus to easily acquire equipment information from the network apparatus and manage the network apparatus. The apparatus is connectable to a management terminal via a network and capable of sending back a response containing equipment information in response to an equipment information acquisition request from the terminal. Upon receipt of the request from the terminal, the apparatus determine whether or not the request contains a plurality of identical object identifiers. When the request contains a plurality of identical object identifiers, the apparatus decides whether or not to send back different equipment information items in association with the respective identical object identifiers. Then, the network apparatus sends back a response packet containing the equipment information according to the decision.
US08812744B1 Assigning priorities to data for hybrid drives
A hybrid drive includes multiple parts: a performance part (e.g., a flash memory device) and a base part (e.g., a magnetic or other rotational disk drive). A drive access system, which is typically part of an operating system of a computing device, issues input/output (I/O) commands to the hybrid drive to store data to and retrieve data from the hybrid drive. The drive access system assigns, based on various available information, a priority level to groups of data identified by logical block addresses (LBAs). With each I/O command, the drive access system includes an indication of the priority level of the LBA(s) associated with the I/O command. The hybrid drive determines, based on the priority level indications received from the drive access system, which LBAs are stored on which part or parts of the hybrid drive.
US08812740B2 Communication over bandwidth-constrained network
An apparatus and a system are provided to proxy one or more media signals between at least one local client device and at least one remote client device. For instance, the apparatus can include a first network interface, a media dispatcher, and a second network interface. The first network interface can be configured to receive a single media signal of the one or more media signals from a local client device via a first communication network with an asymmetric communication protocol (e.g., Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification and Digital Subscriber Line). The media dispatcher can be configured to duplicate the single media signal into a plurality of duplicate media signals. Further, the second network interface can be configured to transmit the plurality of duplicate media signals to a plurality of remote client devices over a second communication network.
US08812739B2 Recalibration of precision clocks in a computer network
In one embodiment, a clock on a network device is initialized, and then a first timing message is received at the network device from a reference device having a first timestamp indicating when the first timing message was transmitted from the reference device. The network device may then determine and store a one-way delay from the first timestamp to a first time at which the first timing message was received at the network device. In response to restarting the clock, the network device may receive a second timing message from the reference device having a second timestamp indicating when the second timing message was transmitted from the reference device. The network device may then calibrate the clock such that a second time at which the network device received the second timing message is the second timestamp plus the stored one-way delay.
US08812731B2 Service providing system allowing flexible cooperation between applications exploiting different protocols
In a service providing system, the problem of extensibility of applications may be overcome, and flexible cooperation is rendered possible between applications exploiting different protocols. An SIP environment and a Web environment are connected to a network. The SIP environment includes an SIP server, an SIP database, an SIP application server, an SIP application and a Web accessor component. The Web environment includes a Web server, a Web database, a Web application server, a Web application and an SIP accessor component. The management information is transmitted and received by cooperation management components, arranged in a Web accessor component and an SIP accessor component, respectively, in such a manner that the SIP environment and the Web environment cooperate with each other to provide services.
US08812725B2 System and method for latency reduction in a network environment
A method is provided in one example embodiment that includes identifying a foreground flow that has a higher priority than at least one background traffic flow in a network. The method also includes determining (e.g., periodically) a latency metric associated with the foreground flow, and activating a latency reduction response if the latency metric exceeds a threshold. In more particular embodiments, the latency reduction response may include diverting background flows in the network to a buffer for a delay period and/or delaying acknowledgements for background flows until the latency metric is below the threshold. In yet more particular embodiments, the latency metric may be a round-trip time.
US08812723B2 Assignment of network addresses
A technique relating to hierarchical address assignment in ad hoc networks includes receiving, by a device of an ad hoc network, a request to register in the ad hoc network from an enrollee device. The devices can be wireless mobile devices, and the ad hoc network can be an independent basic service set (IBSS) network. The method also includes responding to the enrollee with information representing (i) an address for the enrollee device, and (ii) a finite quantity of addresses to be assigned to future enrollee devices.
US08812722B2 Adaptive file delivery system and method
An adaptive file delivery system and method transmits a data file, such as an audio-video file, over a network or collection of networks in segments, each segment transmitted during a different time period. Each time period has a transmission portion to transmit its associated file segment and a wait portion in which no further interaction with the network occurs regarding the transmitted segment. In some implementations, the duration of the transmission portion of each time period is sufficient to reach a steady-state throughput condition, which allows the traffic load status of the network or networks to be determined from rate measurements of file segment transmissions. The duration of the wait portion of each time period is at least long enough to limit the average rate of file segment transmission to adapt to network traffic load variations while causing the entire file to be delivered in a predetermined delivery deadline.
US08812720B2 Method and system for pacing, acking, timing, and handicapping (PATH) for simultaneous receipt of documents
A method for facilitating substantially simultaneous receipt of content included in at least one document by a plurality of intended recipients is disclosed. At least one portion of impactful content is delimited in the at least one document to define at least one impactful block (IBlock). A remaining portion of content is delimited to define at least one non-impactful block (NIBlock). The least one IBlock is transmitted to be received substantially simultaneously by the plurality of intended recipients.
US08812716B2 Switching media streams in a client system based on environmental changes
A method and system for switching media streams of a video in a client system. The media streams are made available to the client system by a content providing system. A first media stream received from the content providing system is played in a SHOW mode in the client system. An environmental change in an environment within or adjacent to the client system is detected, resulting in executing a procedure for deciding whether to switch from playing the first media stream to playing a second media stream differing from the first media stream. The executed procedure decides to make the switch. The switch is made to playing the second media stream in the SHOW mode as the second media stream is being received from the content providing system in response having been requested from the content providing system. The switching preserves content continuity of the video.
US08812714B2 Systems and methods for application fluency policies
The present solution is directed towards embodiments of a feature generally referred to as Application Templates or AppTemplates, which allows a administrator of an intermediary, such as an appliance, to configure and manage settings per application on a basis of a subset of application network traffic. Once configured, the application settings can be exported in a file called the Application Template, and imported into other intermediary systems. The Application Template includes the settings for the application as configured via the intermediary.
US08812713B1 Augmenting media streams using mediation servers
An embodiment of the current invention is directed to displaying additional data related to a mobile video stream. A mobile video stream is received via a network interface. Metadata related to the mobile video stream is acquired. The mobile video stream is displayed on a display device. A communications link to a mediation server is established. The metadata are communicated to the mediation server. Additional data is received from the mediation server and is displayed.
US08812712B2 Proxy-driven content rate selection for streaming media servers
Methods for proxy-driven content rate selection for streaming media servers are provided. In one method, one or more maximum transmission rate parameters from a network controller are stored at a proxy server in response to a receiver report message from the client. A target rate for the media session is generated based on the stored maximum transmission rate parameters, and the target rate is transmitted to a media server in a proxy-to-server feedback message. The media server selects the content rate from among a plurality of supported content rates in response to the proxy-to-server feedback message from the proxy server, and streams streaming multimedia frames to the client at the selected content rate.
US08812710B2 Video content monitoring and display based on popularity
A method of providing video content includes monitoring packets communicated between data processing devices in a network. The packets are monitored at a third data processing device in the network backbone. Based on the monitored packets, statistics are collected that indicate the popularity of video content items available via the network. The most popular video content items, as indicated by the collected statistics, are made available via a web page.
US08812708B2 Transient unpruning for faster layer-two convergence
In one embodiment, a method includes detecting a change in network topology and broadcasting a transient unconditional unpruning message to all nodes in the network. The message is configured to instruct each network element receiving the message to start a phase timer in response to the broadcast message; unprune its operational ports; and, upon expiration of the phase timer, prune its ports in accordance with the results of a pruning protocol.
US08812707B2 Transmitting internet protocol over SCSI in a high availability cluster
A system may include information handling system devices connected together to form a computing cluster utilizing a SCSI interface. Each one of the information handling system devices may include an operating system kernel having a SCSI networking module for encapsulating Internet Protocol (IP) packets for transmitting between the information handling system devices. The system may also include SCSI hardware for connecting the information handling system devices together. The SCSI hardware may be configured to transmit the encapsulated IP packets between the information handling system devices.
US08812704B2 Method, apparatus and system for platform identity binding in a network node
Embodiments of apparatuses, articles, methods, and systems for binding various platform identities for a policy negotiation are generally described herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US08812703B2 Apparatus, method and computer program product for guaranteed content delivery incorporating putting a client on-hold based on response time
An apparatus, method and computer program product for guaranteeing network client-server response time while providing a way of putting the client on-hold when the response time temporarily prohibits access to the requested server. The apparatus is implemented within an interface unit connecting a plurality of servers and an on-hold server to the Internet, which is connected to a plurality of clients. According to one aspect of the invention, the method includes the steps of opening a connection between a client and the interface unit; determining which server the client desires a page from; determining the current response time of the requested server; if the response time is acceptable then opening a connection between the interface unit and the requested server if no free connection is open between the interface unit and the requested server; allowing the client to access information on the requested server-via the connections; and closing the connection between the client and the interface unit while keeping open the connection between the interface unit and the requested server. Alternatively, if the response time is not acceptable, then putting the client on-hold by redirecting the client to an on-hold server until the response time of the requested server becomes acceptable. According to a “on-hold distribution” aspect of the invention, the interface unit determines the on-hold preference of the client and selects the server hosting that on-hold preference. According to another aspect of the invention, instead of utilizing the interface unit, each server has the intelligence to put the client on-hold when applicable.
US08812702B2 System and method for globally and securely accessing unified information in a computer network
A client stores a first set of workspace data, and is coupled via a computer network to a global server. The client may be configured to synchronize portions of the first set of workspace data with the global server, which stores independently modifiable copies of the portions. The global server may also store workspace data which is not downloaded from the client, and thus stores a second set of workspace data. The global server may be configured to identify and authenticate a user seeking global server access from a remote terminal, and is configured to provide access to the first set or to the second set. Further, services may be stored anywhere in the computer network. The global server may be configured to provide the user with access to the services. The system may further include a synchronization-start module at the client site (which may be protected by a firewall) that initiates interconnection and synchronization with the global server when predetermined criteria have been satisfied.
US08812700B2 Method and apparatus for providing network based services to non-registering endpoints
Many of the current IMS standards and enriched services were originally designed for the individual subscribers that are serviced by the wireless network. However, the IMS standards do not fully address the problem of providing the IMS enriched services and features to business PBX customers or wholesale customers that do not directly register to the IMS network. The present invention discloses a method for providing IMS enriched services and features to business PBX customers or wholesale customers through the use of a static provisioning and registration method.
US08812695B2 Method and system for management of a virtual network connection without heartbeat messages
Systems and methods for management of a network connection without heartbeat messages are disclosed. One embodiment of a distributed proxy system performs a method for the communication of state between a client and a server in a distributed content delivery network using a state map. The state map sets a predicted communication correspondence frequency and thus eliminates the use or need of heart beat messages to manage session state and/or convey health status of system components.
US08812694B2 Dialog establishment over a peer-to-peer architecture
A device and method are described for establishing a dialog between Internet Protocol (IP) end points using a peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture. The device, method and computer readable memory utilize servers to determine one or more possible addresses to attempt the dialog establish using. The device and methods described allow for an early discovery of an end point address which can be used for the dialog establishment.
US08812685B2 Advanced gateway device
The present disclosure is directed to an advanced gateway device (“gateway”) for enabling communications between devices operating on or in communication with a communications network. The gateway includes a universal integrated circuit card (“UICC”), a router for interfacing with a number of devices, a network interface for communicating with the communications network, and one or more applications for managing associated devices and communications between the devices and the communications network. The gateway is registered with the communications network by transmitting information generated by the UICC to the communications network. Devices communicating with the gateway can access services provided by components of the communications network, and remote devices can access the devices communicating with the gateway based upon a trust relationship established between the gateway and the communications network.
US08812682B2 Concurrent web based multi-tasks support for computer system
The web based computing system did no support user space multitasking, therefore, if a task is submitted by a user from a web browser window via a user interface (“UI”), the user has to wait the task to be completed before the user can submit another task. Thus a problem associated with the issue of lack of web based user space multitasking will be escalated and become apparent to the user in many instances. For example the web browser window will experience being blocked or hanged and the user cannot do anything but wait. A method is disclosed herein for controlling each user initiated task to be run in background of the web based computing system and causing display of the UI again for the user without waiting the completion of said task in order to submit another task.
US08812677B2 Data processing method and apparatus for remote storage system
In an information system which includes a local site including a cache file server coupled with a host computer, and a remote site including a remote file server coupled with a surrogate processing computer, a method determines whether each of one or more files of data for a data processing request is cached or not. If yes, the method executes data processing for each cached file to produce results in local site. If no, the method includes creating a file list of files to be processed in remote site; sending the file list and processing program to the surrogate computer; if the processing is sufficiently effective to be done by the surrogate computer, receiving results of the processing executed in remote site, and, if not, then receiving an unprocessed file list from remote site and executing data processing in local site and receiving any results already executed in remote site.
US08812675B2 Method for multi-point cooperation considering delay in a wireless communication system
Provided is a method of a multi-node cooperation considering a delay in a wireless communication system. A frame format may perform scheduling so that uplink cooperation terminals having a similar delay attribute may be classified into an uplink cooperation zone, to thereby prevent interference between the uplink cooperation zone and a non-cooperation zone. An extended cyclic prefix may be applied according to a delay attribute occurring due to an application of the multi-node cooperation. A cooperation base station of an uplink and a downlink may be determined based on the extended cyclic prefix.
US08812673B2 Content rate control for streaming media servers
The present invention provides a method for content rate selection. The method includes selecting a content rate for play out of at least one frame transmitted from a media server to a media client via a wireless access network. Selection of the content rate is performed based on a statistical representation of a bandwidth available for transmission of frames.
US08812671B2 Arrangements and methods for access to stored data
An access server generates a handshake with storage servers resulting in more rapid access to the stored data, for example, video data, by a user. The handshake also results in load balancing effects.
US08812670B2 Architecture for virtualized home IP service delivery
A method implemented by a network element of an Internet service provider to provide network access through a visited network associated with a visited network owner to a device of a visiting user connecting to the visited networker. The visited network owner is a customer of the Internet service provider. The network element configures the visited network to provide access to resources of a remote home network to the device of the visiting user. The remote home network is in communication with the visited network over a wide area network. Connecting to a virtual gateway controller of the remote home network to obtain configuration information to establish a connection between the device and the remote home network. Establishing a connection between the device of the visiting user and a second access point. Providing access to the resource of the remote home network through the second access point.
US08812667B1 CIFS proxies for scanning protection
Methods and apparatus for transparently processing files that are manipulated between a server computer and a client computer using the CIFS protocol. The transparent processing employs an in-line CIFS proxy and may include virus scanning, content scanning, and/or security policy implementation.
US08812666B2 Remote proxy server agent
A software system for enabling remote data access to and task execution on a data processing system through a proxy server has an instance of the software residing on the data processing system for receiving and analyzing requests and performing according to request directive, and an instance of the software residing on the proxy server for identifying and authenticating a user and for redirecting requests to the data processing system. The system is characterized in that a user connects to a network accessible to the data processing system and initiates a request for services, wherein the request is after authentication of the user, redirected from the proxy server to the data processing system for task execution and possible return of results according to the contents of the request.
US08812662B2 Systems and methods for estimating available bandwidth and performing initial stream selection when streaming content
Systems and methods for determining available bandwidth and performing initial stream selection when commencing adaptive bitrate streaming using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. One embodiment of the invention includes measuring network bandwidth using a playback device, determining an initial network bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements, selecting an initial stream from said plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates rates using the playback device based upon the maximum bitrates of the plurality of streams and the initial bandwidth estimate; and commencing streaming of encoded media by requesting portions of the encoded media from the initial streams using the playback device.
US08812656B2 System and method for automatically managing a network of user-selectable devices
A system and method for automatically forming and/or maintaining a network of user-selectable devices, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.
US08812652B2 Honey monkey network exploration
A network can be explored to investigate exploitive behavior. For example, network sites may be actively explored by a honey monkey system to detect if they are capable of accomplishing exploits, including browser-based exploits, on a machine Also, the accomplishment of exploits may be detected by tracing events occurring on a machine after visiting a network site and analyzing the traced events for illicit behavior. Alternatively, site redirections between and among uniform resource locators (URLs) may be explored to discover relationships between sites that are visited.
US08812651B1 Systems and methods for client cache awareness
Before preloading a document to a client device, a server computer gets a client cache map associated with the client device. The client cache map has a matching entry for each document cached by the client device's cache. The server computer first checks if the document to be preloaded is already in the client device's cache by looking up the client cache map. If the document is cached, the server computer then checks whether the cached document's content is still fresh. As a result, the server computer preloads the document to the client device if the document is not cached or if the cached document's content is stale.
US08812650B2 Method and device for describing data transmissions through supplementary data
A method for transmitting useful data from a data source to a data sink, the data source being connected to a locating unit, the useful data in the data source being assigned supplementary data derived from information of the locating unit connected to the data source, which are transmitted to the data sink together with the useful data, wherein the received useful data in the data sink are assigned additional supplementary data, which are derived from additional information of a locating unit connected to the data sink. A system for transmitting useful data from a data source to a data sink, the data source being connected to a locating unit and the data source being designed to assign to the useful data supplementary data derived from information of the locating unit connected to the data source and to transmit it to the data sink together with the useful data, wherein the data sink is connected to a locating unit and the data sink is designed to assign to the received useful data additional supplementary data, which are derived from additional information of the locating unit connected to the data sink. When the supplementary data assigned on the source-side and the additional supplementary data assigned on the sink-side are set in relation to each other, information about the data transmission may be obtained therefrom.
US08812644B2 Enabling customized functions to be implemented at a domain
A system for enabling a customized function to be implemented at at least one device in a domain, including: a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) coupled with a system, wherein the system is coupled with a server managing a premises, wherein the system is configured for interacting with at least one third party application that has a set of instructions thereon, via the set of APIs, such that the at least one third party application can communicate with a device driver at the premises without having knowledge of a protocol thereon and without having knowledge of the at least one device, wherein the premises comprises the at least one device; and an instruction translator coupled with the set of APIs which translates the set of instructions received from the at least one third party application to be an action and protocol that the at least one device understands.
US08812642B2 Computer system, management method of the computer system, and program
Provided is a technique capable of efficient comprehensive management of a system, even if the system is a large-scale storage system. Management software acquires configuration information of a storage system (computer system) in two stages. In a first stage, the management software acquires only basic information of resources (identifiers of resources, the number of resources, and relationship between the resources) included in storage subsystems, host computers, switches, hubs, and the like. The management software determines a range and timing of acquiring detailed configuration information and necessity of holding the detailed configuration information based on the acquired basic information. In a second stage, the management software acquires the detailed configuration information of an appropriate range at appropriate timing. The management software always holds the basic information, but holds the detailed information only necessary to hold.
US08812641B2 Processing load with normal or fast operation mode
A data processing apparatus includes a processing unit for processing data, including receiving data packets from a sender and sending acknowledgements to the sender, the processing unit having a first and second mode of operation, the second mode of operation requires more power than the first mode, and the processing unit switches between the first and second modes of operation based on a processing load; a metric module for determining a metric indicative of the processing load; an acknowledgement module for sending one acknowledgement in respect of n received data packets; and an acknowledgement configuration module for setting n to be a value m greater than a first predetermined value if the metric lies in a predetermined range that includes a value that the metric assumes when the processing unit switches between the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation, and to the first predetermined value otherwise.
US08812640B2 Method and system for providing multi-layers item list in browsers with supporting of concurrent multiple users
Supporting end-user to view and operate computing resources by deploying logically organized and graphically represented multi-layered item list (“tree”) has been fully realized on native window based computer user work environment provided by modern operating system such as Windows Explore of Microsoft. The present invention has implemented such tree to represent structured resources, such as for a central controlled distributed scalable virtual machine (CCDSVM), and to be displayable and operable in any web browser on any type of computing system for user to access and manage the actual structured resources. The implementation of the tree is accomplished by creating the tree in memory to mirror the actual structure resource, where the mirrored tree is sent, via web page, to the computing system, where the computing system executes the web browser to display the tree and allow the user to access the actual structured resources via the displayed tree.
US08812639B2 Job managing device, job managing method and job managing program
A job managing device distributes jobs to be processed to a plurality calculation devices. The job managing device includes an information obtaining unit that obtains at least one of characteristic information or load information of the plurality of calculation devices, a job size determining unit that determines a job size to be allocated to each of the plurality of calculation devices based on the information obtained by the information obtaining unit, a job dividing unit that divides a job to be processed into divided jobs based on the job sizes determined by the job size determining unit, and a job distributing unit that distributes the divided jobs to the plurality of calculation devices.
US08812638B2 Method, apparatus and computer program product for controlling devices
A method of controlling an apparatus comprising a plurality of features and adapted to receive messages via a first network interface, wherein said method is implemented in a filter superposed on the top of an existing architecture of the apparatus. The method comprises the following steps: receiving network management message via said first network interface; interrogating said message in order to identify a feature said network management message relates to and filtering the received management message such that said management message is rejected if the identified feature is classified as disabled and said management message is allowed top go through if said feature is classified as enabled.
US08812635B2 Apparatus and method providing unified network management
A unified network management framework enables a network operator to manage an entire network as if the operator is managing a single device.
US08812634B2 System and method for copying light settings between lamps
The invention relates to copying of settings of a device to another device so that a user does not have to set up each device of a network of devices, such as to set up each lamp of a lighting system with a network of lamps. A basic idea of the invention is to equip a device such as a lamp with a network transmitter and receiver with a form of proximity detection in order to enable a user to easily copy the settings of one device to another device within their proximity. An embodiment of the invention provides a system for copying settings of one device to another device, comprising a network transmitter (10) coupled to a first device (12), a network receiver (14) coupled to a second device (16), wherein the network transmitter and the network receiver may establish a network connection (18) if their distance is essentially equal or less than a predetermined distance (20), the network transmitter is adapted to read device settings of the first device and to transmit the read device settings over the established network connection, and the network receiver is adapted to receive the device settings, being transmitted by the network transmitter over the established network connection, and to configure the second device in accordance with the received device settings.
US08812630B2 Session table framework
In accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, there are provided methods, systems, and apparatuses for implementing a session table framework including, for example, receiving a configuration request at a host organization from a client device; generating, via a configurator engine of the host organization, a configuration model having metadata therein; generating a user session unique to the client device in a memory of the host organization; creating a user session data table within the user session of the memory based on the metadata of the configuration model; populating data into the user session data table based on the metadata of the configuration model; generating a renderable User Interface (UI) based on the metadata of the configuration model and based further on the data in the user session data table; and transmitting the renderable UI to the client device for display, responsive to receiving the configuration request.
US08812628B2 Method and system for remote configuration of a device
Method for remote configuration of a device via a network by means of a remote autoconfiguration server (ACS), wherein the configuration includes creating new data, or modifying or deleting writeable data of the device. The TR-069 CPE WAN management protocol may be used for communicating between the ACS and the device. The remote management protocol uses sessions consisting of transactions, where a transaction is a single request followed by a single response. Within a session, when writeable data has to be created, modified or deleted by the ACS, at least the writeable data to be created, deleted or modified are write-locked for other management agents at the transaction level. The write-lock is released within the session, after a successful configuration and/or after a failure.
US08812624B2 Method for updating a table of correspondence between a logical address and an identification number
A method for updating a table of correspondence between a logical address associated to a user unit in a communication network and a unique identification number associated to one of a group of user units managed by a management center, a method where messages are exchanged between said management center and a specific user unit of said group by using said communication network, these messages being forwarded to the logical address of the specific user in said network, the method including searching in said table for the logical address of the user unit in said communication network corresponding to the unique identification number of the specific user unit; sending of messages to the user unit having the concerned unique identification number, to the logical address corresponding to said communication network; and if the messages are received incorrectly, sending a request containing an identifier of said specific user unit.
US08812622B2 Application optimization in a network system
A network system includes multiple network resource information handling systems (IHSs) for managing applications and application communications. An IHS operating system initializes an application optimizer to provide application acceleration capability to application optimizers, such as application delivery controllers (ADCs) and wide area network (WAN) optimizer controllers (WOCs) within the network system. Upon receipt of a server application request message (SARM), a network system server responds with a restful application optimizer message (RAOM) that includes protocol, policy, and other application optimizer information that pertains to the requesting SARM. Application optimizers may include clients, ADCs and WOCs that reside within the message communication path between client and server. Application optimizers may store protocol, policy, and other information from RAOM to populate application table data. Application optimizers intercept messages between network resources of the network system and apply message policies to improve message performance thereby improving application performance within the network system.
US08812618B2 Intelligent routing
Routing of content, including: receiving a request to access a content item from a device; determining at least one of status, location, and format of the content item; and planning a procedure to fulfill the request to access the content item, wherein the procedure includes a method and a route.
US08812616B2 Remote port access (RPA) server
Systems and methods for accessing data from one or more remote devices and providing data to remote devices installed behind one or more firewalls are provided. The remote devices are configured to automatically detect network connectivity and to open a network connection to a remote port access (RPA) server. The remote devices initiate the connection with the RPA server enabling the connection to be established through the firewall. A client device establishes a network connection to the RPA server in order to access data from or to provide data to one or more of the remote devices. The RPA server acts as an intermediary between the RPA server and the remote devices that receives data from the client device and sends the data to the remote device and receives data from the remote devices and sends the data to the client device.
US08812608B2 Portfolio optimization for media merchandizing
Embodiments are directed towards modifying when to publish content to a channel for distribution based on monitored actions associated with previously published content. A plurality of publishing slots may be determined from a plurality of time slots. Each publishing slot may indicate a time to publish content to the channel. Content may be published to the channel at each of the plurality of publishing slots. User actions associated with the published content may be monitored. The plurality of publishing slots may be ranked based on these monitored actions. At least one of the plurality of publishing slots may be modified to a different time slot based on the rankings of the publishing slots. The publication of content at a publishing slot may be delayed based on a success of other content published at a previous publishing slot being above a threshold.
US08812604B2 Method and apparatus for internet-based human network brokering
Matches between search queries and potential targets of such search queries are automatically brokered by (i) comparing search criteria specified in the search queries with profile criteria describing the potential targets, and (ii) reporting instances of acceptable correspondence between the search criteria and the profile criteria, provided that access controls associated with the profile criteria of the targets permit such reporting in light of access levels assigned to the search inquiries. Initiators, using client applications at various remote locations, may formulate the search queries and the brokering may be performed at one or more server locations communicatively coupled (e.g., via the Internet) thereto. The profile criteria may include portions of rich descriptive profiles of the potential targets.
US08812598B2 Method and system, in a presence and intermediation system, to transfer from one owner to at least one watcher
Method, in a presence and intermediation system, to transfer from one owner (15) to at least one watcher (17) at least a share of owner's presence information related to at least one owner's buddy (13, 14, 16) in order to enable said watcher (17) to replace the owner (15) toward said buddy (13, 14, 16). Presence and intermediation system comprising means to apply the said method.
US08812593B2 Methods and systems for community-based content aggregation
Certain embodiments provide systems and methods for managing elements and users of a community-based content aggregation system. An element is received that includes content associated with a community topic. The element is provided to a moderator and an approval of the element is received. The element is stored with elements attributes that can include a comment, a rating, and a label identifying a sub-topic of the community topic. A search request is received and the element is outputted in response to the request. A rating and a comment on the element is received and stored in the element attributes. Approval of the comment is received. In some embodiments, points may be awarded to a user for participating in the community and the user's user level may be modified based on the points of the user.
US08812592B2 Information recommendation method, recommendation engine, network system
An information recommendation method, a recommendation engine, and a network system are disclosed in embodiments of the present invention. The method includes: acquiring a friend list of a user from a data source with a social relationship; acquiring a behavior record of a friend in the friend list of the user from a user behavior database; generating recommendation information matched with current behavior of the user, according to the behavior record of the friend in the friend list of the user and information of the current behavior of the user; and sending the recommendation information to an application website. Through the embodiments of the present invention, when information is recommended to a user, the recommendation information can be generated based on the social relationship and according to the behavior record of the friend of the user.
US08812586B1 Correlating status information generated in a computer network
In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products for correlating status information generated in a computer network. A computing system receives, for each particular computer server or application program in a group of computer servers and application programs that are executing on the computer servers, information that identifies statuses of the particular computer server or application program at a plurality of times. The computing system generates, using the information received, network signatures that each represent statuses of the computer servers and application programs in the group for a particular time, the network signatures being for multiple times. The computer system stores the network signatures along with data that identifies relationships, for each of the multiple times, between (i) application programs and the computer servers on which they were executing, and (ii) application programs that were in communication with each other.
US08812583B2 Method and system for conducting a plurality of cyber-based conventions
A method and system for conducting multiple Internet-based conventions, events, conferences, trade shows and meetings (“conventions”) includes a plurality of meeting planner clients, exhibitor/sponsor clients and attendee clients, all using web browser computers and a central website server on the Internet. The system receives and stores initial convention data, and control parameter rules from meeting planner clients. Then the system receives and stores exhibit booth display data and control parameter rules for said convention from exhibitor/sponsor clients. Based on search criteria provided by the participating attendee client, the central website server releases stored database convention information and provides a wide array of convention activity simulated with the program instructions and the databases. Thus, the system allows the creation of a “virtual convention venue” for conventions that exist only on the central website server and available using the Internet. Additionally, the system supports and augments a convention being held in a physical or venue-based center (e.g., Moscone Center in San Francisco).
US08812579B2 Apparatus for transferring data via a proxy server and an associated method and computer program product
An apparatus is provided for transferring data among clients, recipients, and servers. In general, an apparatus is described for coordinating and modifying data being transferred from clients to destination servers and from destination servers to recipients. A proxy server modifies requests and responses from clients and destination servers, respectively, and ultimately communicates related responses to recipients according to one or more predefined rules pertaining to each client and destination server. In this way, requests may be communicated from clients to the appropriate destination servers such that the requests may be fulfilled by the destination servers, and responses may be communicated from the destination servers to the appropriate recipients. The load on potential destination servers, network conditions, and the content of the responses received may be considered and addressed by the proxy server, facilitating the transfer of data.
US08812577B2 Mobile middleware supporting context monitoring and context monitoring method using the same
Disclosed herein is mobile middleware, a context monitoring method, a context-aware system, and a context-aware service provision method, which support energy-efficient context monitoring. The mobile middleware receives a request for a CMQ from context-aware application programs, receives sensor data from sensors, monitors whether the CMQ is satisfied, and transmits an event to the context-aware application programs according to results of the monitoring. In this case, the mobile middleware controls the sensors so that only sensor data required to determine whether the CMQ is satisfied needs to be transmitted so as to reduce energy consumption during the performance of the monitoring. Therefore, the mobile middleware can perform energy-efficient context monitoring, required by the context-aware application programs.
US08812575B2 Decimal floating-point square-root unit using Newton-Raphson iterations
A system including: an input processing unit configured to: extract a significant and a bias exponent from the decimal floating-point radicand; and calculate a normalized significand; a square root unit configured to: calculate, using a FMA unit, a refined reciprocal square-root of the normalized significand; calculate an unrounded square-root of the normalized significand by multiplying the refined reciprocal square-root by the normalized significand; and generate a rounded square-root based on a first difference between the normalized significand and a square of the unrounded square-root; a master control unit operatively connected to the input processing hardware unit and the square-root hardware unit and configured to calculate an exponent for the unrounded square-root based on the number of leading zeros and a precision of the decimal floating-point radicand; and an output formulation unit configured to output a decimal floating-point square-root of the radicand based on the rounded square-root and the exponent.
US08812569B2 Digital filter implementation for exploiting statistical properties of signal and coefficients
A method for implementing a digital filter is provided. The method includes (a) determining a bit-width of an incoming data sample of an incoming signal by measuring a distance between a leading zero or one of the incoming data sample and a trailing zero of the incoming data sample. The incoming data sample is obtained by sampling the incoming signal at a pre-defined time interval, (b) obtaining bit-width multipliers with variable bit-widths based on a first probability distribution function (PDF) of bit-widths of incoming data samples, (c) allocating the incoming data sample and a filter coefficient based on the bit-width of the incoming data sample and a bit-width of the filter coefficient to one bit-width multiplier of the bit-width multipliers, and (d) performing a multiply operation of a Multiply and Accumulate (MAC) operation on the one bit-width multiplier to generate an output of the digital filter.
US08812567B1 Creating a unification directory that unifies a plurality of file system directories
Various embodiments of a system and method for creating a unification directory to unify a group of directories are described herein. The system may enable a first directory to be unified with one or more other directories such that when directory operations are performed on the first directory, it appears to them that the first directory includes not only its own files, but also the files of the one or more other directories. This may be accomplished by creating a persistent, re-useable unification directory which includes directory entries corresponding to the names of the files in the first directory and the one or more other directories. The unification directory does not contain complete copies of the files. Instead, the unification directory is used to obtain a listing of the files when needed, and the system then re-directs file operations to the real files in the individual directories as necessary.
US08812564B2 Parallel uniqueness checks for partitioned tables
An insertion of a record into a table that includes a primary key column and a second column that includes a global uniqueness constraint across all of a plurality of data partitions across which the table is split is initiated without checking that a value of the record in the second column is globally unique by contacting other partitions the one partition to which the record is to be added to. The insertion can be processed, at least in part by implementing a write lock on the one partition but without implementing a read lock on the other partitions. The write lock on the one partition can be released after the insertion is completed, after which the validity of the insertion can be verified, for example by examining the other parts and a delta partition corresponding to the table. The insertion can be undone if the insertion was not valid.
US08812561B2 Systems and methods for sharing user generated slide objects over a network
In one embodiment, a method includes, in response to an address match in connection with a request for a target structured document, identifying one or more slide objects associated with the target structured document, the one or more slide objects defining a set of anchor point definitions in the target structured document; identifying one or more anchor points corresponding to the one or more slide objects in a document object model (DOM) representation of the target structured document based on the set of anchor point definitions; accessing content corresponding to the one or more slide objects; and rendering the target structured document and the content of the one or more slide objects proximal to the identified anchor points.
US08812559B2 Methods and systems for creating an advertising database
Systems and methods for applications of orthogonal corpus indexing (OCI), such as selecting ad words for purchase and improving visibility of web pages in search engines, are described. In one aspect, the systems and methods described herein employ OCI for creating an advertising database. The described systems and methods process an information database using orthogonal corpus indexing and a seed topic to derive keywords. The described systems and methods query a search engine with a first keyword of the keywords, and process the provided results page to determine content relating to a classification such as an advertiser, an advertisement, an ad word, and an advertising link page. The described systems and methods insert the determined content with respective classification in the advertising database.
US08812557B2 Database and a method for obtaining the address of a quality of service and charging control entity in an IMS network using such a database
A database (51) accessible in an IMS network and including at least one record including: an identifier of a terminal (10) in a transport plane; an identifier of said terminal (10) in a signaling plane; and at least one address of a quality of service and charging control entity (40) in said network.
US08812553B2 Method and device for improved ontology engineering
A method for populating a data system is provided. The method includes the step of mapping at least one application path of the data system to at least one conceptual path of an ontology system. The application path addresses parts of the structure of the data system, and the conceptual path addresses parts of the structure of the ontology system. The method further includes the step of automatically populating the data system at a location addressed by the application path with data values contained in the conceptual path.
US08812549B2 Corporate and entertainment management interactive system using a computer network
A computerized management system for corporate, entertainment or sports management by a remote party is disclosed. For instance, in entertainment management the entertainment an event is transmitted for the remote party to remotely analyze the performer or participant. A decision is received via a communications link from a remote computing device associated with the remote party, the decision relating to a reading by an actor, choosing between different scripts, a choice of a participant, editing of a script, angle of a lens for a camera shot, and closeness of a lens for a camera shot, which take of a scene is best, choosing between different endings of a script, total budget for a production, amounts to budget for each of a plurality of line items, amounts to spend in advertising, what markets to focus on for release, or what day to release a film in different markets.
US08812547B2 Fast identification of complex strings in a data stream
A method for detecting and locating occurrence in a data stream of any complex string belonging to a predefined complex dictionary is disclosed. A complex string may comprise an arbitrary number of interleaving coherent strings and ambiguous strings. The method comprises a first process for transforming the complex dictionary into a simple structure to enable continuously conducting computationally efficient search, and a second process for examining received data in real time using the simple structure. The method may be implemented as an article of manufacture having a processor-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor, causing the processor to match examined data to an object complex string belonging to the complex dictionary, where the matching process is based on equality to constituent coherent strings, and congruence to ambiguous strings, of the object complex string.
US08812537B1 Apparatuses, methods and systems for a descriptive business grammar syntax querier
The APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR A DESCRIPTIVE BUSINESS GRAMMAR SYNTAX QUERIER (“QUERIER”) implement efficient and scalable monitoring, regulation, and allocation of computational processing, data, labor, and/or the like resources within an enterprise. The Querier may include facilities for basal tagging to associate entities, employees, transactions, projects and/or assignments, and/or the like business data with various tables in an enterprise database, and the implementation of a descriptive business grammar to access, search, store, manipulate, modify and/or the like stored business data. The Querier allows for engagement of descriptive business grammar phraseology for accessing, querying, viewing and/or creating associations for data in a database, tailoring rules, managing and/or allocating enterprise resources, and/or the like.
US08812535B2 Propagating a query in a federated database
A method for propagating a query in a system made up of a number connectable database management system nodes, where each node is associated at least one database, includes: selecting a first node from the number of nodes; generating at least one connection operable to propagate a query from the first node to a first subset of the number of nodes; generating at least one connection operable to propagate a query from a second node in the first subset to a second subset of the plurality of nodes; where at least one node in the second subset is different from nodes in the first subset.
US08812533B1 System, method and computer program product for automatically presenting selectable options in a lookup field
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for automatically presenting selectable options in a lookup field. These mechanisms and methods for automatically presenting selectable options in a lookup field can enable more efficient identification of data via a lookup.
US08812528B1 Experience sharing system and method
A card creation indication is received from a first user concerning a request to create a future experience data card, wherein the future experience data card corresponds to a future experience. Two or more data items related to the future experience are received on the one or more computing devices. The two or more data items include at least one temporal indication. The future experience data card is generated on the one or more computing devices for the future experience based at least in part on the two or more data items related to the future experience. The future experience data card is stored, using the one or more computing devices, in an experience database. The experience database includes a plurality of experience data cards that are each associated with an experience and are each accessible by users of an interface to the experience database.
US08812527B2 Automatically recommending asynchronous discussion forum posts during a real-time collaboration
An approach for augmenting a real-time collaboration is presented. Content of a real-time collaboration is received. A key word which is included in the content or a theme of the content is determined. A match between the key word or theme of the real-time collaboration content and a theme of post(s) in a threaded discussion forum is determined. Based on the match, a display, on a monitor used for the real-time collaboration, of link(s) to the post(s) is initiated.
US08812526B2 Mobile content cross-inventory yield optimization
A system for selecting among a plurality of advertising content from a first and second mobile content inventory for presentation of the advertising content on a mobile communication facility includes (a) receiving at a server a request for an advertisement associated with a user-action initiated at the mobile communication facility operated by a user; (b) searching the first and second mobile content inventory for a first and second advertisement, respectively, that corresponds to the request for an advertisement; (c) determining that the first advertisement is more relevant for presentation to the mobile communication facility than the second advertisement, wherein the determination is based at least on a respective yield optimization of the first and second advertisements; (d) determining that the yield associated with the first advertisement is greater than the yield associated with the second advertisement; (e) and transmitting the first advertisement instead of the second advertisement.
US08812524B2 Method and system for preserving privacy of a dataset
A method and a system for preserving privacy of a dataset are provided. In the method, a k-anonymity value with respect to a sensitive data field is determined according to at least one first quasi-identifier. Data entries in each group have the same value in the one or more fields of the first quasi-identifier and data entries in different groups have different values in the one or more fields of the first quasi-identifier. A first group and a second group among the plurality of groups are determined according to the reference number Kr, where the first group and the second group are merged into a merging group. The number of data entries in the merging group is not less than a reference number Kr. One or more fields of at least one first quasi-identifier is masked for the merging group.
US08812518B1 Synonym identification based on search quality
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for obtaining one or more first search results that were generated for a search query; determining a score associated with the first search results; revising the search query using a query revision rule; obtaining one or more second search results that were generated for the revised search query; determining a score associated with the second search results; and evaluating the query revision rule by comparing the score associated with the first search results with the score associated with the second search results.
US08812516B2 Determining top N or bottom N data values and positions
A method includes executing an instruction at a processor, where executing the instruction includes comparing a data value of a plurality of data values to a first element stored at a first location of a storage device. When the data value satisfies a condition with respect to the first element, the method includes moving the first element to a second location of the storage device and inserting the data value into the first location of the storage device.
US08812514B2 Web-based competitions using dynamic preference ballots
In one example, a method for ranking items such as contest entries is provided. An exemplary method includes displaying sequential subsets of entries from a plurality of entries for a first user to vote on, e.g., making a selection of their preference of one over the other. The method further includes generating a first preference ballot of displayed entries based on selections by the first user, and ranking the plurality of entries based upon the first preference ballot and at least a second preference ballot received from another user. The ranking may be determined based on the first and second preference ballot by a Condorcet algorithm. Additionally, display of the entries may be determined based on previous selections associated with the contest entries, e.g., based on the state of the contest and/or the history of particular contest entries.
US08812509B1 Inferring attributes from search queries
Systems, techniques, and machine-readable instructions for inferring attributes from search queries. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a description of a collection of search queries, inferring attributes of entities from the description of the collection of search queries, associating the inferred attributes with identifiers of entities characterized by the attributes, and making the associations of the attributes and entities available.
US08812504B2 Keyword presentation apparatus and method
According to one embodiment, a keyword presentation apparatus includes an extraction unit, a selection unit and a clustering unit. The extraction unit is configured to extract, as technical terms, morpheme strings, which are not defined in a general concept dictionary, from a document set. The selection unit is configured to evaluate relevancies between each of basic term candidates and the technical terms, and to preferentially select basic term candidates having high relevancies as basic terms. The clustering unit is configured to calculate weighted sums of statistical degrees of correlation between the basic terms based on the document set, to calculate conceptual degrees of correlation between the basic terms based on the general concept dictionary, and to cluster the basic terms based on the weighted sums.
US08812503B2 Information processing device, method and program
An information processing device includes an obtaining unit that obtains a plurality of contents to which labels indicating users' subjective evaluation of the contents are assigned as metadata, a selection unit that selects labels having a high reliability in regards to evaluation of the contents among the labels assigned to the plurality of contents obtained by the obtaining unit, a calculation unit that calculates a degree of similarity between the labels selected by the selection unit, a clustering unit that clusters the labels based on the degree of similarity calculated by the calculation unit, and a storage unit that stores a cluster obtained as a result of the clustering in the clustering unit, as one label.
US08812501B2 Method or apparatus for selecting a cluster in a group of nodes
A method and apparatus is disclosed for selecting a cluster in a group of nodes in which a token is assigned to a first node of a group of nodes, subgroups of nodes that are interconnected are identified and if the two largest said subgroups comprise equal numbers of nodes then the subgroup containing the node to which said token is assigned is selected as the cluster.
US08812495B1 Universal ranking mechanism:method and apparatus for ranking search results with or without knowledge base for structured or unstructured content
A method and system for determining a degree of match between content and a search query are provided. The method includes the steps of determining a quality of recognition of a search query in accordance with a knowledge base, determining a quality of recognition of search content in accordance with a knowledge base, determining a quality of match between one or more knowledge base representations of the search query and one or more knowledge base representations of the search content, and computing a composite measure of the degree of match between search query and search content in accordance with the quality of recognition of the search query, quality of recognition of the search content, and the quality of match.
US08812491B2 Optimizing queries using predicate mappers
Provided are a computer implemented method, computer program product, and system for re-writing a query. A query including a query predicate is received. It is determined that the query predicate includes one column with an associated predicate mapper. An equivalent predicate is generated for the query predicate using the predicate mapper that provides a mapping from the one column to another column. A cost of the query with the equivalent predicate is evaluated. In response to determining that the cost of the query is optimal, the query is rewritten to replace the query predicate with the equivalent predicate.
US08812490B1 Data source joins
Database report generation technology for handling a single logical query that requires data that is physically located in two different sources. The system uses intelligent push-down joins, which move data from one source to the other and join data within that source. The system dynamically determines which direction to move data depending on how the data is used in a query.
US08812483B2 System and method for optimizing web searching and scheduling of service providers
A system for optimizing web searching and scheduling of service providers which has three main characteristics: a system and method for search optimization that automatically aggregates service providers and their services; checks, in real time, the availability information for the service providers; and proposes one or more optimized series of services for which there is availability. First, service providers and their services, including schedule are aggregated. Second the system checks, in real time, the availability information for the service providers. The availability is used as a criterion for the schedule optimization. Finally, the system proposes one or more optimized series of services for which there is availability, and that will take place in a given period of time. The optimization process aims at scheduling this succession of events under various constraints. An optimization algorithm assigns a score to each series of services that can thereby be ranked.
US08812479B2 Method and system for triggering web crawling based on registry data
A method of triggering crawling of a domain includes receiving information related to a domain from a registrar and processing the information related to the domain. The method also includes storing the processed information in a registry zone file and forming a list of registry data based on the processed information. The list of registry data comprises a subset of the registry zone file. The method farther includes crawling one or more of the domains in the list of registry data.
US08812477B2 System and method for universal storage and presentation of data
A method includes receiving, on an electronic device, one or more logical entities from a storage system having a universe of data. The one or more logical entities encapsulate data from the universe of data on the storage system. Each of the one or more logical entities belong to one of a plurality of logical-entity types defined by a universal representation format. The method additionally includes, for each of the one or more logical entities, rendering a representation of the logical entity on a spatial interface, the spatial interface comprising a plurality of spatial components.
US08812472B2 Abstract database query
Systems, apparatuses, methods, and media for configuring a terminal to access a database are provided. The systems, apparatuses, methods, and media determine connection properties of the database. The database is accessible via a uniform resource locator string. One of a plurality of database connectivity drivers that enables a connection with the database is determined based on the connection properties of the database. The one of the plurality of database connectivity drivers is provided to the terminal via a network. The one of the plurality of database connectivity drivers comprises the uniform resource locator string and is configured to establish the connection with the database via the network based on the uniform resource locator string to enable communication between the terminal and the database.
US08812464B2 Content management system and method of managing retention and disposition of content items
In specific embodiments, a content management system operable on one or more microprocessors comprises a content repository storing a plurality of content items and a content usage analyzer. The computer is usable to perform one or more operations on one or more contents items stored in the content repository, and when an operation is performed on a content item, audit data is captured related to the operation. The content usage analyzer is configured to identify an idle content item within the content repository based on the captured audit data.
US08812462B2 User-driven menu generation system with dynamic generation of target files with placeholders for persistent change or temporary security change over cloud computing virtual storage from template files
Dynamic generation of target files is described. A user can select a template file. The template file includes: at least first and second changeable fields configured to be changed persistently, and a third changeable field. The second changeable field is configured to receive a security-related value. A third changeable field includes a first value configured to be changed temporarily to receive an encrypted version of the first value. The template file is parsed to generate a user interface, including: a first prompting label, corresponding to the first changeable field, requesting the user to enter the user content value, a second prompting label, corresponding to the second changeable field, requesting that the user enter audit data and/or access control data. An encrypted version of the first value corresponding to the third changeable field is generated. The first value is temporarily replaced with the encrypted value. The target file is then generated.
US08812457B2 Dynamically processing an event using an extensible data model
Systems and methods of dynamically processing an event using an extensible data model are disclosed. One embodiment includes, specifying attributes of the event in a data model; the data model being extensible to add properties to the event as the dataset is streamed from the source to the sink.
US08812454B2 Apparatus and method for managing storage of data blocks
A data block storage management capability is presented. A cloud file system management capability manages storage of data blocks of a file system across multiple cloud storage services (e.g., including determining, for each data block to be stored, a storage location and a storage duration for the data block). A cloud file system management capability manages movement of data blocks of a file system between storage volumes of cloud storage services. A cloud file system management capability provides a probabilistic eviction scheme for evicting data blocks from storage volumes of cloud storage services in advance of storage deadlines by which the data blocks are to be removed from the storage volumes. A cloud file system management capability enables dynamic adaptation of the storage volume sizes of the storage volumes of the cloud storage services.
US08812451B2 Programming model for synchronizing browser caches across devices and web services
A computer user may use a computing environment comprising a set of computers that respectively feature a web browser having a browser cache containing many types of data objects, including application resources and user-generated data files. However, the contents of a browser cache significantly contribute to the computing environment of a computer, and the computing environments presented by each computer may diverge, providing an inconsistent computing environment. Instead, the contents of browser caches of the computers comprising the computing environment may be synchronized across computers. Additionally, the browser cache may be synchronized with the other data objects of a computing environment (such as relevant portions of the filesystem); the synchronizing may be implemented as an out-of-browser process executing independently of the applications, and even when the browser is not executing; and the synchronization may be exposed through a programmatic access with which web applications may interact.
US08812450B1 Systems and methods for instantaneous cloning
Techniques to clone a writeable data object in non-persistent memory are disclosed. The writeable data object is stored in a storage structure in non-persistent memory that corresponds to a portion of a persistent storage. The techniques enable cloning of the writeable data object without having to wait until the writeable data object is saved to the persistent storage and without needing to quiesce incoming operations (e.g., reads and writes) to the writeable data object.
US08812448B1 Computer implemented method for accelerating electronic file migration from multiple sources to multiple destinations
A method for migrating source material comprising meta data and electronic file content from source location folders to destination location folders using an administrative processor with administrative data storage which can be based in a computing cloud to create a migration profile, a file inventory using only metadata and the migration profile, optionally copying electronic file content based on the file inventory, optionally simulating a migration; and then performing an actual migration using the migration profile and a migration management console.
US08812445B2 System and method for managing scalability in a distributed database
This disclosure enables a user to incrementally increase or decrease the size of the cluster and, in particular, to incrementally increase or decrease the number of map regions implemented in a metadata manager associated with the cluster while maintaining availability of the cluster. In a representative embodiment, a configurable target map size is identified, either manually (e.g., by the user) or programmatically. If the target map size is found to be within an acceptable value (given the available node configuration), a procedure to create a new map is triggered. The new map preferably is generated as follows. Initially, one or more new temporary region(s) are created either to split or join the existing regions (depending on whether the map is being increased or decreased). For each temporary region, the process also generates MDPL backup regions. Metadata from an original region (or regions) is then migrated to the temporary region(s). Once the migrations have been completed, the old region or regions (from which the metadata is migrated) are removed and what were the temporary regions are, in effect, promoted. The result is the new map.
US08812444B2 Managing disconnected investigations
A system and a method enable an information analyst to use a stand-alone computer-based investigation application to conduct a disconnected investigation on shared database data in a remote location where network access to a shared data repository of the system might be only periodically available, unreliable, or non-existent. In addition, the system and method enable the disconnected investigation to incrementally incorporate ongoing updates made to the shared repository of data, and to periodically publish interim or final results of the disconnected investigation to the shared data repository. A disconnected investigation can be conducted entirely at the disconnected investigation location without having any network connectivity to the shared repository of data.
US08812441B2 Migration apparatus which convert database of mainframe system into database of open system and method for thereof
Provided are a migration apparatus and method for converting a database of a mainframe system into an appropriate database for an open system. The migration apparatus includes: a data extraction module connected with a database of the mainframe system and extracting data composed of Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC) in binary format; a code conversion module converting the extracted EBCDIC data into American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) code, full-width characters being converted into half-width characters corresponding to ASCII code using a previously set full-width/half-width conversion table; and a data transfer module transferring the data converted into ASCII code to store it in a database previously built in the open system to correspond to the database of the mainframe system. The migration apparatus and method efficiently reuse a conventionally used database via the rehosting process of converting a mainframe system into an open system.
US08812440B2 Web-based information delivery method, system, and apparatus
A method and system based on an enhanced publish-subscribe information delivery model for delivering information from information publishers to information subscribers on an Intranet or the Internet is disclosed. The invented system includes a centralized subject catalog that contains a hierarchy of categories with built-in functionality of browsing, searching, and navigation. Information publishers list information subjects in the appropriate categories in the subject catalog and publish information subsequently in terms of issues for the subject listings. Information subscribers find and make subscriptions to desired subject listings in the catalog. Then, the issues published by the publishers for the subject listings are delivered to and only to the corresponding subscribers in a timely manner. While emphasizing timeliness, the invented method and system permits great flexibility in information publication, subscription, and delivery.
US08812439B2 Folder structure and authorization mirroring from enterprise resource planning systems to document management systems
A system and accompanying method adapted to facilitate folder structure and authorization mirroring between a Document management System (DMS) and an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). An example method includes providing a first user option to view a representation of a database structure of a database application of an ERP system; displaying a second user option to select a portion of the representation of the database structure; and offering a third user option to create a folder structure for a Document Management System (DMS) based on the selected portion of the representation of the database structure. In a more specific embodiment, the method further includes providing a fourth user option to adjust permissions for users to access one or more folders of the folder structure based on permissions associated with a database object of the database structure. The fourth user option includes an option to synchronize one or more permissions and/or grants associated with the selected portion of the representation of the database structure with one or more ACLs associated with one or more folders of the folder structure.
US08812435B1 Learning objects and facts from documents
A system, method, and computer program product for learning objects and facts from documents. A source object and a source document are selected and a title pattern and a contextual pattern are identified based on the source object and the source document. A set of documents matching the title pattern and the contextual pattern are selected. For each document in the selected set, a name and one or more facts are identified by applying the title pattern and the contextual pattern to the document. Objects are identified or created based on the identified names and associated with the identified facts.
US08812433B2 Dynamic bulk-to-brick transformation of data
Multi-dimensional surrogation systems and methods are provided that generate at least one up-to-date data surrogate using information of data and numerous data changes received from at least one data source, including a production system. Embodiments described further perform bulk-to-brick transformation of the up-to-date data surrogate. Brick-level data, or item data, is further indexed and stored in an application-aware manner. The stored item data is easily accessible by many data management applications for integrated item search and recovery functions, audit functions, monitoring and supervision functions, legal discovery functions, compliance functions, archival functions, backup functions, disaster recovery functions, and more. Bulk-to-brick transformation and access of the stored item data occur off of the production system, thus contributing no performance degradation to the production system.
US08812412B2 Control apparatus
A control apparatus includes a learning portion which learns a control parameter by correcting a learning vector consisting of a plurality of variables and a control parameter based on a measurement vector. The control apparatus further includes an interpolation portion which computes the control parameter corresponding to current variables which represent a current environmental condition by interpolating the control parameter learned by the learning portion. The interpolation portion includes a selecting portion which selects three learning vectors from a plurality of learning vectors, and which computes the control parameter corresponding to the current variables by interpolating the control parameters on a flat surface including the selected three learning vectors.
US08812410B2 Efficient data profiling to optimize system performance
Systems and methods for data profiling are provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises monitoring value of at least a target parameter during execution of logic code in a computing environment, wherein the value of the target parameter is incrementally updated in a sequence of data points; and using statistical analysis to determine a target value for the target parameter as of a current data point, in response to determining a change in the value of the target parameter at each data point.
US08812402B2 Methods, apparatus and articles for use in association with token
In some embodiments, a method comprises receiving a request from a customer to temporarily associate a token issued to the customer with a payment account associated with the customer, and temporarily associating the token with the payment account in response at least in part to the request. In some embodiments, a method comprises issuing a token to a customer before the token is associated with a payment account; and arranging for the customer to have an ability to request that the token be associated with a payment account and usable as a payment token. In some embodiments, a method comprises receiving a mapping associating an identifier of a token with a payment account; receiving the identifier from a point of sale system; and determining the payment account based at least in part on the mapping and the identifier received from the point of sale system. In some embodiments, apparatus comprises: a processing system to: receive a request from a customer to temporarily associate a token issued to the customer with a payment account associated with the customer, and temporarily associate the token with the payment account in response at least in part to the request. In some embodiments, apparatus comprises: a processing system to: receive a mapping associating an identifier of a token with a payment account; receive the identifier from a point of sale system; and determine the payment account based at least in part on the mapping and the identifier received from the point of sale system.
US08812397B2 System and method for dynamic path- and state-dependent stochastic control allocation
The invention includes a system and process that employs contractual bargaining with agent-based computational methods for the dynamic allocation, optimization, and pricing of contingent rights and obligations between multiple counterparties with overlapping interests. The processes employ a dynamic and endogenous hierarchy or tiering of binding incentive compatible contingent strategies, which may include optimal liquidation policies for matched assets and liabilities based upon stochastic volume/price schedule related to statistically non-stationary supply/demand elasticities and order-flow, as well as variations in market microstructure. The invention includes a dynamic open system with distributed stochastic control of strategic interactions among dynamic optimizing agents across random states, wherein the actions of any one affects the joint costs and benefits for all the agents.
US08812393B2 Publish and subscribe system including buffer
Systems and methods for delivering a plurality of trading data messages to a server in connection with the monitoring the trading of financial instruments are provided. A listener subscribes to a subset of the plurality of trading data messages generated by market participants or components within the trading platform. A buffer receives the subset of the plurality of trading data messages and stores the subset of the plurality of trading data messages. A server, such as a live alerts server, receives the subset of the plurality of trading data messages stored from the buffer and analyzes the subset of the plurality of trading data.
US08812392B2 Method and a system for interacting and trading among users of online social commercial network
The embodiments herein generally relates to a method for interacting and trading among users of an online social commercial network. A user registers with a web portal and joins to a preferred group of users with a similar interest. The user completes the profile and adds an asset in the web portal. The asset includes an intellectual asset and a product. The user trades the assets with one or more users from a preferred interest. The asset is transacted in terms of a currency. The currency is stored in an online account. The online account is an online user account for keeping transaction related information. The user provides scores to the traded assets and a trading subscriber within the group. The web portal secures the user information in the web portal.
US08812389B2 System and method of listing and dividing assets between two or more parties
The present invention comprises a system and method for dividing assets in an estate. First, the assets of the estate are populated in a catalog. A survey is distributed to all parties to gain pertinent information relating to their interests in the estate. The system will incorporate the party's intent when determining a course of action for division of assets. The system will gather the party's interest in items, establish an agreed monetary value for all items, receive bids for items based on emotional interest, offer parties the opportunity to bid on items with real currency, and finally divide remaining assets by means of selection. The parties will have the opportunity to barter their items with each other. If a party has received more than their fair share of the estate, they must pay the balance to the estate.
US08812388B2 Systems and methods for multi-style portfolio (MSP) cash flow enhancement
Systems and methods are provided for multi-style portfolio cash flow enhancement. The systems and methods include identifying a first set of one or more investment sleeves within an investment account as underweighted relative to a desired target and identifying a second set of one or more investment sleeves within the investment account as overweighted relative to the desired target, where the investment account includes a plurality of investment sleeves and where each investment sleeve includes at least one asset. The systems and methods further include generating one or more sell orders in the second set to rebalance at least one overweighted investment sleeve of the second set to the desired target, associating one or more cash flows with each sell order, where each of the one or more cash flows is further associated with one of the underweighted sleeves of the first set, and performing at least one of the one or more cash flows to flow cash to one or more of the underweighted sleeves if the corresponding sell order is successfully executed.
US08812387B1 System and method for identifying related credit inquiries
In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a credit inquiry for a monitored consumer. The method further includes performing at least one credit-inquiry analysis on the credit inquiry. The performing yields at least one of a matched creditor from master creditor records and an inferred credit category based on a lexical analysis. In addition, the method includes, responsive to the performing, determining whether the credit inquiry is related to a previous credit inquiry for the monitored consumer. Further, the method includes, responsive to a determination that the credit inquiry is related to a previous credit inquiry, suppressing a credit alert to the monitored consumer.
US08812386B2 Retail planning application and method for consumer products
An improved forecasting and modeling tool for planning and estimating sales of consumer products, including social expression products in a retail operation. The tool enables retailers to create a plan based on information shared between the retailer and vendor of social expression products. The methodology employed begins with actual sales totals for the prior term and the plan goal for the current term and provides financial calculations based on a variety of factors to determine the sales bridge needed to meet the current term goal. Information relating to actual sales, significant events, door activity, current forecast, trending data, and vendor initiatives are input into the application and are used in financial calculations to determine a current term sales plan.
US08812384B2 Systems and methods for underlying asset risk monitoring for investment securities
Systems and methods are provided for evaluating asset risks using categories of primary loan underwriting factors associated with a pre-selected number of variables. An initial handle-based tree data structure is created based upon primary loan underwriting factors associated with a loan and includes a plurality of handle cells that segment loans according to values of the pre-selected variables. The initial handle-based tree data structure is modified by combining handle cells containing least significant splits and rank ordering of the modified handle-based tree data structure is performed to segment portfolio data.
US08812381B2 Electronic cargo payment system
Embodiments of the disclosure generally relate to an electronic cargo payment system and methods for electronically and automatically processing electronic payments for goods shipped by carriers for shippers. In embodiments, the accounts receivable system of the carrier transfers one or more invoices to a central payment system. The central payment system stores and organizes the invoices. A shipper communicates with the central payment system to view invoices related to that shipper. Upon approval of the invoice, the central payment system can automatically pay the invoice for the shipper and to the carrier.
US08812379B2 Method and system balancing net savings, resources and claims into retirement
The present disclosure relates to household portfolio simulation and analysis to provide retirement income. In particular, it discloses advanced technologies for modeling, simulation and analysis of potential economic futures, as applied to household retirement prospects. Improved modeling may capture factors such as concrete objectives of participants' priorities among objectives, risk adversity and starting conditions that impact tax consequences of transactions. Improved modeling may address consistency among similar factors, tax consequences in simulation periods and transactions in real estate and private investments. Improved analyses may apply a margin of safety and/or risk budget analysis to a household portfolio to produce a meaningful presentation.
US08812375B2 Method and system for product configuration validation
A computer-implemented method or system that is capable of configuring a product. The computer-implemented method or system receiving a product configuration matrix from a computer storage medium. The computer-implemented method or system also receiving user input defining a user selection of at least one feature or component of the product. The computer-implemented method or system generating a binary representation of the user selection. The computer-implemented method or system deriving a resolution matrix. The method or system comparing the resolution matrix and the binary representation of the user selection to determine whether one or more of the selected product features or components in the user selection are valid for the product. The computer-implemented method or system also generating a validation result that identifies one or more valid product features or components within the user selection.
US08812372B2 Method of anonymising an interaction between devices
A method is provided of anonymizing an interaction between a user entity and a service provider node wishing to provide a service to the user entity in dependence upon characteristics of the user entity determined or revealed as a result of the interaction, the method comprising: assigning the user entity to at least one set, each set comprising as members a plurality of user entities sharing a characteristic associated with that set; ensuring that the intersection of the at least one set comprises at least a predetermined minimum number of user entities; and providing to the service provider node information relating to the or each characteristic associated with the at least one set, the information being for use at the service provider node in providing a service to the user entity that is appropriate in view of the characteristics of the user entity but insufficient to identify the user entity.
US08812370B2 System and method of centralized customer information management for enhanced shopping experience
A system and method for providing a customer with enhanced shopping experience at a retail store provide associating the customer with a unique identification, storing information of the customer in a central database, wherein the information of the customer is retrievable according to the unique identification of the customer, responsive to a request by the customer, linking the customer to the information of the customer stored in the central database based on the unique identification of the customer, and based on an analysis of the information of the customer, providing the stored information of the customer to the customer to allow the customer to conduct a number of tasks including checking status of a transaction with the retail store, selecting a payment option for a transaction and receiving notification from the retail store about pending transactions.
US08812369B2 Method and apparatus for requesting service using multi-dimensional code
The present invention is directed to a method for requesting a service, using a multi-dimensional code. According to a preferred embodiment of this invention, a user terminal recognizes a multi-dimensional code displayed with information or advertisement in any of information delivery media (e.g., television, newspaper, magazine, etc.), and receives and displays detailed information corresponding to the information or advertisement or performs ordering/making a payment for a product corresponding to the advertisement. With the present invention, not only does it become more convenient to order/make a payment for an advertised product, but also a variety of services corresponding to the pertinent product can be provided.
US08812365B2 Apparatus and method for advertising in digital photo frame
A novel digital photo frame is configured to display user-loaded photographs, moving pictures, and other personal data and corporate-paid advertisements which are dynamically updatable by an advertising data distribution center or another communications service provider, such as a cellular service provider. The invention also discloses a related, novel method of advertising in a digital photo frame with dynamically-updatable-ads, in which initial advertising fees for one or more dynamically-updateable ads at least partially pay for manufacturing costs of the digital photo frame for inexpensive distribution of the digital photo frame to a targeted consumer.
US08812362B2 Method and system for quantifying user interactions with web advertisements
Methods and systems are provided that may be used to determine a probability of whether a visitor to a web document is likely to click on a web advertisement. An exemplary method may include detecting one or more features in a web document. One or more expert statistical models to which the web document belongs may be determined and associated weightings may be determined based, at least in part, on the one or more features detected. A click-through-rate probability for a web advertisement to be placed on the web document may be estimated based on the one or more expert statistical models.
US08812361B2 System and method of targeted advertisement
Systems and methods of targeted advertisement are disclosed. In an embodiment, the method includes performing a deep packet inspection process of packet traffic within at least a portion of a communication network. The deep packet inspection process includes determining source data and destination data from the packet traffic without inspecting packet payload data. The method includes receiving aggregate demographic data of users that are associated with at least some of the packet traffic and generating an anonymous first profile of a first user based on first data acquired via the deep packet inspection process and based on the aggregate demographic data. The method also includes retrieving first user profile data from the anonymous first profile and sending the first user profile data to an advertisement system to determine a targeted advertisement based on the first user profile data. The targeted advertisement is displayed to a second user while the second user is participating in a multi-user activity with the first user.
US08812358B2 Method of providing a shared virtual lounge experience
A method (400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900) of providing a shared virtual lounge experience. The method can include analyzing one or more messages communicated from a first participant (104) in a virtual world (102) to a second participant (106) in the virtual world to determine at least one context (110) of the message(s). Based on the determined context of the message(s), a context-specific virtual lounge (112) can be dynamically created to pertain to the determined context and host participant interactions.
US08812355B2 Generating customized marketing messages for a customer using dynamic customer behavior data
Customizing digital media marketing messages using customer behavior data is provided. In one embodiment, patterns of events in customer event data are identified to form customer behavior data. The customer event data comprises metadata describing a customer associated with a retail facility. The customer behavior data is processed to form dynamic data. A customized marketing message is generated for the customer using the dynamic data.
US08812354B2 Method and system for dynamic scheduling of content delivery
A method for use in providing content to a user includes providing a first item of content to the user, calculating a first remaining amount of time between an end of the first item of content and an end of a fixed period of time, selecting a second item of content based on information relating to the user and with a length of the second item of content being equal to or less than the first remaining amount of time, and providing the second item of content to the user. A storage medium stores a computer program for causing a processor based system to execute these steps, and a system for use in providing content includes a processing system configured to execute these steps.
US08812349B2 Charging for data offloading
A method performed by a wireless node including receiving charging policies for data offloading; performing data offloading with respect to a user data flow; generating charging information associated with data offloading based on the charging policies; and sending the charging information to at least one of an on-line charging function or an off-line charging function.
US08812347B2 Aggregating and capturing subscriber traffic
System(s), method(s), and device(s) that can aggregate all or substantially all data traffic, such as wireless data traffic egressing to the Internet, at one or more regional aggregation hubs and capture a portion(s) of data traffic associated with a subscriber(s) of interest at the regional hub(s) are presented. Data traffic associated with subscribers can be aggregated at an access concentrator(s) and respective public Internet Protocol (IP) addresses can be given to respective subscribers. The data traffic can be aggregated at the regional hub(s) and data traffic associated with a subscriber(s) of interest can be identified based at least in part on the public IP address(es) of the respective subscriber(s) of interest. The data traffic associated with a subscriber(s) of interest can be captured and provided to a consumer (e.g., law enforcement, service provider) who desires such data.
US08812345B2 Door to door sales management tool
A door to door sales management tool utilizes a mobile device configured to request data from a database regarding a neighborhood within proximity of that sale. The mobile device sends results back to the database, wherein the results are flagged as verified. A simplified prequalification system is shown where a salesperson may select a house on a map to run a prequalification on the expected occupants of the selected house.
US08812341B2 Method and system for optimizing process models
Within methods and systems for computer-aided optimization of process models, defined specifications and associated release criteria (quality gates) are available for every work stage. The specifications include service documents, result features that are to be generated in a work stage, and budget details and the latest end time for a work stage. The release criteria (quality gates) can identify the results of a work stage as successful and can assess the fulfillment of a work stage. A reference for all work stages simulates the model based on a fictitious sample project, interference variables are introduced, the project implementation is simulated for each interference variable, respectively, the deviations from the reference run are automatically determined, respectively, for each interference variable, and an analysis of the influence of the release criteria (quality gates) regarding compliance with the budget and the schedule is performed based on the determined deviations from the reference run.
US08812334B2 Well planning system and method
A method for performing oilfield operations for an oilfield having a subterranean formation with an underground reservoir therein, the oilfield being provided with at least one wellsite with oilfield equipment for extracting fluid from the underground reservoir, involving collecting data comprising trajectory and earth properties associated with a planned well for a geoscience application to obtain a geoscience model, invoking a well planning system integrated with the geoscience application, extracting the trajectory and earth properties from the geoscience model to obtain an extracted trajectory and extracted earth properties, determining at least one parameter for the planned well based on the extracted trajectory and the extracted earth properties, and displaying the at least one parameter associated with the planned well within a geological context of the geoscience application to allow refinement of the planned well for efficient fluid extraction from the underground reservoir.
US08812330B1 Usage-based insurance cost determination system and method
A system and method for calculating and applying insurance costs. For vehicle insurance under one embodiment of the present invention, insurance costs are calculated on a per-mile basis in a nonlinear fashion, assigning different levels of risk based upon the distance driven by a customer. In one embodiment of the present invention, the first miles or kilometers driven by a customer are assigned a greater level of risk than later-driven miles or kilometers. The present invention provides an actuarial method that more closely conforms the cost of insurance for a particular vehicle to its annual mileage by creating a Rate Per Mile Factor (RMF), where the RMF is expressed as a function of annual mileage.
US08812329B2 Laboratory instrumentation information management and control network
An interface point network (IPN) and a method for communication with a laboratory information system using an IPN, wherein the IPN includes at least one host computer in communication with at least one laboratory instrument, the laboratory information system and an interface point server in communication with the host computer and the laboratory information system, the interface point server being configured to function as a communication interface between the host computer and the laboratory information system in a manner responsive to a predetermined communication protocol. Use of bar code and RFID labels for tracking samples and in maintaining sample data is described.
US08812323B2 Dialogue system and a method for executing a fully mixed initiative dialogue (FMID) interaction between a human and a machine
A method for executing a fully mixed initiative dialogue (FMID) interaction between a human and a machine, a dialogue system for a FMID interaction between a human and a machine and a computer readable data storage medium having stored thereon computer code for instructing a computer processor to execute a method for executing a FMID interaction between a human and a machine are provided. The method includes retrieving a predefined grammar setting out parameters for the interaction; receiving a voice input; analyzing the grammar to dynamically derive one or more semantic combinations based on the parameters; obtaining semantic content by performing voice recognition on the voice input; and assigning the semantic content as fulfilling the one or more semantic combinations.
US08812322B2 Semi-supervised source separation using non-negative techniques
Systems and methods for semi-supervised source separation using non-negative techniques are described. In some embodiments, various techniques disclosed herein may enable the separation of signals present within a mixture, where one or more of the signals may be emitted by one or more different sources. In audio-related applications, for instance, a signal mixture may include speech (e.g., from a human speaker) and noise (e.g., background noise). In some cases, speech may be separated from noise using a speech model developed from training data. A noise model may be created, for example, during the separation process (e.g., “on-the-fly”) and in the absence of corresponding training data.
US08812321B2 System and method for combining speech recognition outputs from a plurality of domain-specific speech recognizers via machine learning
Disclosed herein are systems, methods and non-transitory computer-readable media for performing speech recognition across different applications or environments without model customization or prior knowledge of the domain of the received speech. The disclosure includes recognizing received speech with a collection of domain-specific speech recognizers, determining a speech recognition confidence for each of the speech recognition outputs, selecting speech recognition candidates based on a respective speech recognition confidence for each speech recognition output, and combining selected speech recognition candidates to generate text based on the combination.
US08812317B2 Signal processing apparatus capable of learning a voice command which is unsuccessfully recognized and method of recognizing a voice command thereof
Provided are an apparatus and method for recognizing voice commands, the apparatus including: a voice command recognition unit which recognizes an input voice command; a voice command recognition learning unit which learns a recognition-targeted voice command; and a controller which controls the voice command recognition unit to recognize the recognition-targeted voice command from an input voice command, controls the voice command recognition learning unit to learn the input voice command if the voice command recognition is unsuccessful, and performs a particular operation corresponding to the recognized voice command if the voice command recognition is successful.
US08812316B1 Speech recognition repair using contextual information
A speech control system that can recognize a spoken command and associated words (such as “call mom at home”) and can cause a selected application (such as a telephone dialer) to execute the command to cause a data processing system, such as a smartphone, to perform an operation based on the command (such as look up mom's phone number at home and dial it to establish a telephone call). The speech control system can use a set of interpreters to repair recognized text from a speech recognition system, and results from the set can be merged into a final repaired transcription which is provided to the selected application.
US08812315B2 System and method for adapting automatic speech recognition pronunciation by acoustic model restructuring
Disclosed herein are systems, computer-implemented methods, and computer-readable storage media for recognizing speech by adapting automatic speech recognition pronunciation by acoustic model restructuring. The method identifies an acoustic model and a matching pronouncing dictionary trained on typical native speech in a target dialect. The method collects speech from a new speaker resulting in collected speech and transcribes the collected speech to generate a lattice of plausible phonemes. Then the method creates a custom speech model for representing each phoneme used in the pronouncing dictionary by a weighted sum of acoustic models for all the plausible phonemes, wherein the pronouncing dictionary does not change, but the model of the acoustic space for each phoneme in the dictionary becomes a weighted sum of the acoustic models of phonemes of the typical native speech. Finally the method includes recognizing via a processor additional speech from the target speaker using the custom speech model.
US08812307B2 Method, apparatus and system for linear prediction coding analysis
The present invention relates to communication technologies and discloses a method, an apparatus and a system for Linear Prediction Coding (LPC) analysis to improve LPC prediction performance and simplify analysis operation. The method includes: obtaining signal feature information of at least one sample point of input signals; comparing and analyzing the signal feature information to obtain an analysis result; selecting a window function according to the analysis result to perform adaptive windowing for the input signals and obtain windowed signals; and processing the windowed signals to obtain an LPC coefficient for linear prediction. The embodiments of the present invention are applicable to LPC.
US08812298B1 Macro replacement of natural language input
In a method of creating a natural language (NL) macro, a first term/phrase and a second term/phrase in an imprecise syntax are obtained, and an association between the first and the second terms/phrases is created. The association is stored as an NL macro. In a method of using an NL macro in an NL query, it is determined that an original NL query includes an NL macro, and the NL macro is replaced with its corresponding NL value to form a revised NL query. The revised NL query is processed to generate one or more answers.
US08812297B2 Method and system for interactively finding synonyms using positive and negative feedback
Determining synonyms of words in a set of documents. Particularly, when provided with a word or phrase as input, in exemplary embodiments there is afforded the return of a predetermined number of “top” synonym words (or phrases) for an input word (or phrase) in a specific collection of text documents. Further, a user is able to provide ongoing and iterative positive or negative feedback on the returned synonym words, by manually accepting or rejecting such words as the process is underway.
US08812296B2 Method and system for natural language dictionary generation
A method and computer system for analyzing a text corpus in a natural language is provided. An initial morphological description having word inflection rules for various groups of words in the natural language is created by a linguist. A plurality of text corpuses are analyzed to obtain information on the occurrence of a plurality of word forms for each word token in each text corpus. A morphological dictionary which contains information about each base form and word inflection rules for each word token with verified hypothesis is generated.
US08812294B2 Translating phrases from one language into another using an order-based set of declarative rules
Translating a phrase from one language into another using an order-based set of declarative rules is disclosed. Information to be communicated as sensory perceptible output is received. An ordered set of rules is applied to generate a representation that expresses the information in a manner that embodies applicable communication system rules of a target symbolic communication system in which the information is to be communicated.
US08812288B2 Speed converting apparatus with load controlling function and information processing system
A speed converting apparatus with a load controlling function comprises a first interface unit operating for an emulation device according to a system clock of the emulation device, a second interface unit operating for an arithmetic unit according to a system clock of the arithmetic unit, and a load controlling unit controlling at least either a load of a request outputted to the emulation device on the emulation device or a load of a request outputted to the arithmetic unit on the arithmetic unit. In performance verification or connection verification of a target to be verified, the speed converting apparatus can vary a load of a request issued to the target to be verified on the target or a load issued to a verification device on the verification device, while absorbing a difference in operation speed between the target to be verified and the verification device.
US08812286B1 Emulation of power shutoff behavior for integrated circuits
A method for modeling power management in an integrated circuit (IC) includes: specifying a circuit design and a power architecture for the IC, the power architecture including a plurality of power domains for specifying power levels in different portions of the IC; determining an emulation module for the IC by including one or more hardware elements for modeling the power architecture in the emulation module; and using the emulation module to simulate changing power levels in one or more power domains of the IC including a power shutoff in at least one power domain.
US08812284B2 Highly representative real-time simulation of an avionics system
Optionally-mixed highly representative real time simulation of at least part of an avionics system (2). The simulation provides at least a step of translating communications interfaces into the form of models encoded in high level language on the basis of formal files in mark-up language; and dynamically managing descriptions that provide for grouping together, updating, and sharing a database that, for each piece of equipment, incorporates signals that transit via its input and/or output interfaces.
US08812283B1 Graphical modeling blocks that execute in more than one domain
A time-driven block provided in a block diagram model may be executed in an event domain without user modification. The time-driven block is connected to one or more event-driven blocks using event domain signals. The time-driven block automatically adapts to the execution rules of the event domain modeling and simulation environment. The blocks that are configured to execute in more than one modeling and simulation environments are called polymorphic blocks. The polymorphic blocks are indentified during the compilation stage of the block diagram model taking into consideration the port and line styles of the blocks. The execution rules of the polymorphic blocks are also determined during the compilation stage of the block diagram model.
US08812281B2 Methods for designing secondary cutting structures for a bottom hole assembly
A method for designing a secondary cutting structure for use in a bottom hole assembly, the method including defining initial design parameters for the secondary cutting structure and analyzing forces acting on the secondary cutting structure. Additionally, the method includes modifying at least one design element of the secondary cutting structure and simulating an effect of the modifying on both the secondary cutting structure and a primary cutting structure to determine if an improved condition is met. Also, a method for designing a drilling tool assembly, the method including defining initial drilling tool assembly design parameters including a primary cutting structure and a secondary cutting structure, and simulating a dynamic response of the drilling tool assembly. Additionally, the method includes adjusting at least one design element of the secondary cutting structure based on the dynamic response of the drilling tool assembly, determining if the adjusted design element improved a condition of the drilling, and repeating the simulating and adjusting until the condition is optimized.
US08812279B2 Apparatus and method for determining optimum paths in a multi-layer network using a routing engine
Network simulation equipment for determining routes across a multi-layer system, the network simulation equipment comprising: an adaptor module configured to convert a multi-layer system into a multi-layer network of nodes and links; a first routing engine configured to determine a plurality of populations of paths, each population of paths corresponding to a route across a layer of the multi-layer network; a second routing engine configured to determine a plurality of multi-layer populations of paths, each multi-layer population of paths corresponding to a route across the multi-layer network and comprising populations of paths for at least two different layers of the multi-layer network selected from the plurality of populations of paths determined by the first routing engine; and an evolving module configured to mate at least two multi-layer populations of paths from the plurality of multi-layer populations of paths to create a third multi-layer population of paths.
US08812277B2 Method of enhancing an optical metrology system using ray tracing and flexible ray libraries
Provided is a method of enhancing an optical metrology system comprising a metrology tool and an optical metrology model. The optical metrology model includes a model of the metrology tool and a profile model of the sample structure. A first library comprising Jones and/or Mueller matrices or components (JMMOC) is generated using ray tracing based on a representative ray. A difference library is generated comprising difference JMMOC for each ray of the set of rays, calculated using the difference from the representative JMMOC. During profile extraction, the JMMOC of the representative ray and each ray of the set of rays are regenerated using the first and difference libraries and a best match simulated diffraction signal is obtained using the regenerated JMMOC of the representative ray, regenerated JMMOC of the rays, and the optical metrology model to determine profile parameters of the sample structure.
US08812274B2 Methods for mapping data into lower dimensions
Methods and systems for creating ensembles of hypersurfaces in high-dimensional feature spaces, and to machines and systems relating thereto. More specifically, exemplary aspects of the invention relate to methods and systems for generating supervised hypersurfaces based on user domain expertise, machine learning techniques, or other supervised learning techniques. These supervised hypersurfaces may optionally be combined with unsupervised hypersurfaces derived from unsupervised learning techniques. Lower-dimensional subspaces may be determined by the methods and systems for creating ensembles of hypersurfaces in high-dimensional feature spaces. Data may then be projected onto the lower-dimensional subspaces for use, e.g., in further data discovery, visualization for display, or database access. Also provided are tools, systems, devices, and software implementing the methods, and computers embodying the methods and/or running the software, where the methods, software, and computers utilize various aspects of the present invention relating to analyzing data.
US08812273B2 Methods for generating design plans for physical spaces
A method for generating a design plan for a physical space includes providing a main computer having a database of design products and a remote computer in communication with the main computer, placing an object within a physical space, directing a camera toward the physical space, using the camera to capture a first digital image of the physical space at a first angle and a second digital image of the physical space at a second angle, with the object visible in both digital images. The captured digital images are transmitted to the main computer, photogrammetrically assimilated to produce a three-dimensional data set rendering of the physical space. The method includes using the three-dimensional data set rendering to create a design plan for the physical space, storing the design plan on the main computer, and using the remote computer for accessing the design plan from the main computer.
US08812268B2 Method and apparatus for resolving piled-up pulses by using a mathematical transform
A method and apparatus for resolving individual signals in detector output data, the method comprising obtaining or expressing the detector output data as a digital series, obtaining or determining a signal form of signals present in the data, forming a transformed signal form by transforming the signal form according to a mathematical transform, forming a transformed series by transforming the digital series according to the mathematical transform, the transformed series comprising transformed signals, evaluating a function of at least the transformed series and the transformed signal form and thereby providing a function output, determining at least one parameter of the function output based on a model of the function output, and determining a parameter of the signals from the at least one determined parameter of the function output. The method may include forming the model by modelling the function output.
US08812265B2 Analysis system
A method for analyzing the condition of a machine having a rotating shaft, including: generating an analog electric measurement signal (SEA) dependent on mechanical vibrations emanating from rotation of the shaft; sampling the analog measurement signal at a sampling frequency (fS) so as to generate a digital measurement data signal (SMD) in response to the received analog measurement data; performing a decimation of the digital measurement data signal (SMD) so as to achieve a digital signal (SRED) having a reduced sampling frequency (fSR1, fSR2); wherein the decimation includes the step of controlling the reduced sampling frequency (fSR1, fSR2) such that the number of sample values per revolution of the shaft (8) is kept at a substantially constant value; and performing a condition analysis function (F1, F2, Fn) for analyzing the condition of the machine dependent on the digital signal (SRED) having a reduced sampling frequency (fSR1, fSR2).
US08812263B2 Centrifugal chiller performance evaluation system
Design COP is iteratively computed. Provided is a centrifugal chiller performance evaluation system including a data acquisition section for acquiring operating data from a centrifugal chiller as input data; a storage section storing a design COP estimation formula obtained by adding correction values corresponding to losses occurring in an actual environment to a computational formula for ideal actual-machine COP expressed using COP characteristics of a reverse Carnot cycle; and a computing section for estimating a design COP at a current operating point using the operating data acquired by the data acquisition section and the design COP estimation formula stored in the storage section. The correction values include a first correction value calculated from a first computational formula including the load factor of the centrifugal chiller as a variable and a second correction value calculated from a second computational formula including a difference between cooling water outlet temperature and chilled water outlet temperature as a variable. The second correction value contains an offset from the first correction value depending on cooling water inlet temperature.
US08812259B2 Alarm setting and interfacing with gesture contact interfacing controls
A device configured for capture of activity data for a user includes a housing, a sensor, a motor, a memory, and a processor. The sensor is disposed in the housing to capture physical contact upon the housing. The motor causes vibration of the housing. The memory stores an alarm setting that defines a time of day for triggering an alarm on the device. The processor activates the alarm upon reaching the time of day defined by the alarm setting, with the alarm causing the motor to produce the vibration of the housing. The sensor, which is interfaced with the processor, is configured to detect a physical contact upon the housing. The processor is configured to deactivate the alarm if the physical contact qualifies as an input to deactivate the alarm. The deactivating of the alarm causes the vibration of the device to be suspended.
US08812258B2 Identifying a type of motion of an object
An apparatus for identifying a type of motion and condition of a user is disclosed. One apparatus includes a motion detection sensor operative to generate an acceleration signature based on sensed acceleration of the user, and a controller. The controller is operative to determine what network connections are available to the motion detection device, match the acceleration signature with at least one of a plurality of stored acceleration signatures, wherein each stored acceleration signatures corresponds with a type of motion of the user, wherein the apparatus distributes at least some of the acceleration signature matching processing when processing capability is available to the motion detection device though available network connections, and identify the type of motion of the user and identify a condition of the user based on the matching of the acceleration signature.
US08812256B2 System and apparatus for measuring the accuracy of a backup time source
An intelligent electronic device incorporates a first port that accepts a time signal from a time server over a network and a second port for receiving a second time signal over a separate network. The intelligent electronic device approximates the amount of error in the second time signal based on calculations of the error in the first time signal.
US08812254B2 Methods and systems for monitoring stator winding vibration
Embodiments of methods and systems for monitoring stator winding vibration of a rotating electric machine are provided. According to one example embodiment, a system includes at least one sensor including at least one conductive sensor antenna deposited on a first side of at least one layer of a printed circuit board substrate and positioned to substantially face a stator winding, and a non-conductive shield mounted to an opposing side of the printed circuit board substrate and positioned to substantially face away from the stator winding. The system further includes an alternating current power source in communication with the sensor and operable to deliver current to the conductive sensor antenna. A signal processing unit may be in communication with the sensor, operable to measure a load on the sensor antenna and to transmit vibration data to a controller responsive to the load on the sensor antenna.
US08812252B2 Determining the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and a material by utilizing transition modules
The present invention is a method, a system and a software arrangement that can be used to determine the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and a material. The invention simplifies the process of determining the interaction by separating the complex process into a plurality of simple transition modules. Each transition module is associated with at least one parameter and represents an electronic transition in the material.
US08812251B2 System and method for monitoring bonding integrity
The disclosure provides in one embodiment a system for monitoring adhesive integrity within a cured bondline of a bonded structural assembly. The system comprises a bonded structural assembly having a cured bondline. The cured bondline comprises an adhesive layer, a scrim ply layer integrated with the adhesive layer, and an electrical sensor network integrated with the scrim ply layer. The system further comprises an electrical power source for providing electrical power to the electrical sensor network. The system further comprises a digital data communications network for retrieving and processing data from the electrical sensor network. The electrical sensor network monitors adhesive integrity on demand by interpreting changes in local dynamic responses and electromechanical properties directly measured within the cured bondline.
US08812250B2 Ion mobility spectrometry systems and associated methods of operation
Ion mobility spectrometry systems, devices, and associated methods of operation are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method for performing ion mobility spectrometry includes ionizing a sample in gas phase and applying an electric field to the ionized sample in the gas phase, thereby moving the ionized sample along a drift region. The applied electric field has a plurality of strength values with respect to time, and the individual strength values being generally constant during a corresponding period of time. The method further includes detecting an ion intensity and a drift time of the ionized sample moving through the drift region under the applied electric field with the plurality of strength values.
US08812241B1 Method for normalizing clinical laboratory measurements
A computerized method for normalizing the results of clinical laboratory tests to a reference scale includes providing a measured value of a clinically significant parameter, providing a set of patient data, and providing a set of method data, including an indication of a method used by a testing instrument used to measure the measured value. One or more correlation factors are retrieved including a method correlation factor from a computer readable database based on the method data. The method correlation factor corresponds to the method used by the testing instrument used to measure the measured value. A normalized value of the clinically significant parameter is calculated based upon the one or more correlation factors. The normalized value may correspond to a value on the reference scale regardless of the method used by the testing instrument.
US08812236B1 Method for using particle size analysis in near time or real time to create a proper particle size distribution within a drilling fluid management system for improved well drilling efficiency
A method for optimizing drilling fluids by creating a proper particle size analysis and distribution curve of particle sizing within drilling fluid. The particle size distribution curve is maintained with a maximum particle sizing of 6 microns so as to not allow for coarser drilled solids to degrade beyond the point of mechanical separation to prevent a build-up of low gravity solids that can no longer be removed from the drilling fluid during the drilling operation due to their size. An optimal drilling system requires that drilling fluids be modified through the following process to attain the appropriate particle sizing distribution to: make the most efficient use of the drilling operation, reduce the amount to drilling fluids utilized, and reduce formation damage. The method generates corrective actions to modify the drilling fluids or adjust solids control equipment parameters, to obtain a unique particle size distribution throughout the drilling process.
US08812235B2 Estimation of N-dimensional parameters while sensing fewer than N dimensions
Embodiments of the present invention provide improved systems and methods for estimating N-dimensional parameters while sensing fewer than N dimensions. In one embodiment a navigational system comprises a processor and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that provides an output to the processor, the processor providing a navigation solution based on the output of the IMU, wherein the navigation solution includes a calculation of an n-dimensional parameter. Further, the navigational system includes at most two sensors that provide an output to the processor, wherein the processor computes an estimate of an n-dimensional parameter from the output of the at most two sensors for bounding errors in the n-dimensional parameter as calculated by the processor when the trajectory measured by the IMU satisfies movement requirements, wherein “n” is greater than the number of the at most two sensors.
US08812232B2 Method and apparatus for reducing energy consumption of a user equipment
An approach is provided for energy-efficient location tracking. An energy saving module obtains measured location data of the user equipment, and determines a function to forecast locations of the user equipment based on the measured location data to output forecast location data. The energy saving module further receives movement data from a sensor of the user equipment, and converts the movement data to converted location data. The energy saving module then compares the forecast location data with the converted location data for a deviation, and then it either initiates reporting of the deviation when the deviation exceeds a predetermined range, or disables the reporting of the deviation when the deviation is within the predetermined range.
US08812227B2 Collision avoidance system for rail line vehicles
A collision avoidance system (CAS) is described that includes one or more sensor technologies, including, for example, an Ultra Wideband (UWB) sensing technology. The collision avoidance system is designed to reliably track the location and speed of vehicles and the distance between vehicles over a wide variety of track and terrain. The collision avoidance system may utilize information from a variety of sensor technologies to determine whether one or more vehicles violate speed and/or separation criteria, and may generate a warning.
US08812222B2 Apparatus for starting engine and method of controlling engine
A starter includes a pinion gear that can be engaged with a ring gear coupled to a crank shaft of an engine, an actuator that moves the pinion gear to a position where the pinion gear is engaged with a ring gear, and a motor that rotates the pinion gear. An ECU stops the engine when a predetermined stop condition is satisfied, and cranks the engine with a motor when a predetermined start condition is satisfied after the engine is stopped. The motor and the actuator are supplied with electric power from a battery. The ECU includes a mode in which the motor is driven prior to driving of the actuator. The ECU restricts a stop of the engine if, of a decreased voltage of the battery after driving the motor and a decreased voltage of the battery after driving the actuator, the lower voltage falls below a threshold value.
US08812221B2 Stop control system and method for internal combustion engine
A stop control system for an internal combustion engine, which is capable of accurately stopping a piston at a predetermined position during stoppage of the engine while preventing occurrence of untoward noise and vibration. After stopping the engine 3, the stop control system 1 for the engine 3 according to the present invention executes a first stage control (step 34) in which a throttle valve 13a is controlled to a first stage control target opening degree ICMDOFPRE smaller than a second predetermined opening degree ICMDOF2, in order to stop the piston at the predetermined position, before executing a second stage control (step 42) in which the throttle valve 13a is controlled to the second predetermined opening degree ICMDOF2. Further, the stop control system 1 stabilizes initial conditions at the start of the second stage control by setting a first stage control start rotational speed NEICOFPRE and a first stage control target opening degree ICMDOFPRE according to a change in a corrected target stop control start rotational speed NEICOFREFN (steps 71 and 85).
US08812220B2 Diagnostic apparatus for internal combustion engine
A diagnostic apparatus for a multicylinder internal combustion engine includes: an EGR portion capable of executing an individual-cylinder EGR in which EGR gas is distributed and supplied individually to cylinders of the engine; a knock detection portion that detects a knock index value that represents degree of knocking, separately for each of the cylinders; an abnormality detection portion that determines presence or absence of a variation abnormality of air/fuel ratios of the cylinders during execution of the individual-cylinder EGR, and that pinpoints an abnormal cylinder after determining that the variation abnormality is present, and that calculates an imbalance index value that represents the degree of variation regarding the abnormal cylinder; and an abnormality location pinpointing portion that pinpoints an abnormality location in the abnormal cylinder based on the imbalance index value and the knock index value of the abnormal cylinder.
US08812215B2 Fuel injection system for internal combustion engine
A fuel injection system for an internal combustion engine is provided which calculates the quantity of fuel required to bring the pressure in a fuel accumulator into agreement with a target pressure and then control an operation of a high-pressure pump based on the required quantity. Even in the absence of a change in pressure in the accumulator, the system controls the high-pressure pump based on the required quantity. Specifically, the system calculates a feedback fuel quantity required to compensate for a difference between the required quantity and a quantity of the fuel actually supplied to the accumulator, in other words, leans such a quantity difference to correct the required quantity, thus resulting in an enhanced response of the system to control the high-pressure pump to a change in pressure in the accumulator.
US08812213B2 Vehicle speed control apparatus
A vehicle speed control apparatus including a driving force characteristic map section configured to have a previously recorded driving force characteristic map, to input a target driving force and a target vehicle speed, and to output an accelerator opening angle in accordance with the driving force characteristic map, a vehicle sensitivity calculating section configured to calculate an inverse number of a vehicle sensitivity in accordance with the driving force characteristic map, a vehicle speed feedback section configured to input a vehicle speed deviation and the inverse number of the vehicle sensitivity and to output an accelerator opening angle according to the inverse number of the vehicle sensitivity, and an addition section configured to add the accelerator opening angle from the driving force characteristic map section to the accelerator opening angle from the vehicle speed feedback section to provide an accelerator opening angle command.
US08812211B2 Adapting a braking process
A deceleration of a vehicle is determined based on one or more wheel speeds of the vehicle. A brake pressure of the vehicle is determined. A model of a relationship of the deceleration and the brake pressure is produced. At least one of a vehicle load and a vehicle weight is determined by using the model. The brake pressure is adapted to at least one of the determined vehicle load and the vehicle weight.
US08812202B2 Drive controller of operating machine
A drive controller of an operating machine configured to drive a structure by a hydraulic motor and an electric motor includes: a remote control valve configured to determine the operation amount of the structure; an electric motor torque calculation portion configured to calculate torque of the electric motor; a hydraulic motor torque calculation portion configured to calculate torque of the hydraulic motor; a controller configured to transmit an opening position control signal to the control valve based on the operation amount determined by the remote control valve such that torque necessary to drive the structure is obtained from the torque of the electric motor and the torque of the hydraulic motor; and solenoid-operated reducing valves and each configured to reduce a pilot pressure, to be applied to the control valve, based on the opening position control signal output from the controller.
US08812201B2 Hydraulic control system for automatic transmission
A hydraulic control system for an automatic transmission. The hydraulic control system is applied to an automatic transmission adapted to vary a torque capacity of a transmission member by an actuator. The hydraulic control system includes: a discharging device configured to discharge compressible gas entrained in the hydraulic fluid in the actuator; an interrupting device that interrupts power transmission; and a controller configured to determine an entrainment of the compressible gas in the hydraulic fluid, disconnect the power transmission via the interrupting device in a case that an entrained compressible gas is determined, and cause the entrained compressible gas to be removed from the hydraulic fluid by rotating the actuator while interrupting the power transmission.
US08812198B1 Docking assistance and display system
A system for assisting in docking of a machine at a loading location is provided. The system includes a first controller and a second controller. The first controller is configured to generate a list of loading locations associated with one or more loading machines. The second controller is communicably coupled to the first controller, a position detection unit and a display unit. The second controller is configured to receive the list of loading locations, receive a signal indicative of a current position of the machine, display a subset of the list of loading locations, select a target loading location from the subset of the list of loading locations based on a relative distance between the current position of the machine and each of the loading locations and display a zoomed in top view of the current position of the machine and the target loading location, based on the selection.
US08812184B2 Control device
A control device configured with a vibration reduction necessity determination section that determines whether or not a required drive operation point falls within a reduction necessary range, which is prescribed in advance as a range in which it is necessary to reduce torque vibration transferred from the internal combustion engine to the rotary electric machine. A cancellation control execution determination section that determines whether or not torque vibration cancellation control can be executed in the case where it is determined that the required drive operation point falls within the reduction necessary range. An execution control decision section that decides to execute the torque vibration cancellation control in the case where it is determined that the torque vibration cancellation control can be executed and that decides to execute operation point change control in the case where it is determined that the torque vibration cancellation control cannot be executed.
US08812180B2 Method and device for automatically managing the vertical profile of the flight plan of an aircraft
The vertical profile management device includes a flight management system unit that selects a plurality of successive standard cruise sections, each comprising a level phase and a transition phase. The cruise sections are defined by a plurality of features, including waypoints corresponding to a section starting point and a section ending point, a transition type, a transition mode, a transition speed, a level altitude, and a level speed. The flight management system unit also joins together the successive cruise sections in order to form a vertical profile of a flight plan. The cruise sections are configured to be added, removed, or re-sequenced in the flight plan because each section ending point is configured to be the section starting point of a next cruise section in the series.
US08812178B2 Method for automatic yaw axis control for aircraft with mechanical flight controls
A method for automatic yaw axis control in aircraft with mechanical controls, said aircraft including a yaw actuator to control orientation of a yaw control surface and deliver a measured value of the torque on the control surface, a yaw trim actuator driving movement of a yaw trim control surface limiting the force applied by the yaw actuator to orient the yaw control surface, and sensors supplying an estimate of a lateral yaw force, includes calculating a setpoint value for the position of the yaw control surface determined by the estimated lateral force, an estimated torque of the yaw actuator determined by the measured value of the torque of the yaw actuator and a measured position of the yaw control surface, the estimated torque calculated having a lower oscillation dynamic range than the measured torque, and a trim command for activating/deactivating the yaw trim actuator determined by the estimated torque.
US08812177B2 Integrated aircraft flight control units
According to one embodiment, an integrated aircraft trim assembly features a shaft, a mechanical stop, a trim motor, a clutch, and a measurement device. The mechanical stop device is operable to at least partially prevent rotation of the shaft outside of an allowable range of motion. The trim motor has an output component in mechanical communication with the shaft. The clutch separates the trim motor from the shaft. The measurement device is proximate to the shaft and operable to measure a position of the shaft and communicate the measured position to a flight control computer operable to change a position of a flight control device.
US08812170B2 Container data center
A container data center includes a cooling control system. The cooling control system reads a temperature of a container of the container data center and a direction of wind flowing across the container, and determines whether a first or a second cooling device of the container data center needs to be turned on according to the read temperature. The cooling control system further determines whether the read wind direction is the same to a direction of hot air expelled by the turned on cooling device. When the read wind direction is not the same as a direction of hot air expelled by the turned on cooling device, the cooling control system turns off the turned on cooling device, and turns on the other cooling device.
US08812165B1 Electric grid optimization
Various embodiments are directed to systems and methods for optimizing energy use with one or more optimization engine objects. An optimization engine object may have a plurality of dependent objects including at least a dependent optimization engine object, or at least one of a supply-side or demand-side object. The optimization engine object may receive dependent object attribute data from each of the at least one dependent objects; determine an optimal configuration for the plurality of dependent objects over the first time period subject to at least one optimization constraint; and conditioned upon the optimization engine depending from a superior optimization engine, transmit a net energy usage associated with the optimal configuration to the superior optimization engine.
US08812161B2 Robot apparatus
There is provided a robot apparatus that can rapidly obtain an ellipse indicating a stiffness characteristic, even if lengths of two links are different from each other.
US08812159B2 Robot system
A process includes defining, in a memory, arm-occupied regions including robot arms and a workpiece and tool attached to a robot wrist, a virtual safety protection barrier with which the arms are not allowed to come into contact, and movable ranges of robot axes; estimating the coasting angle of each robot axis for which the axis will coast when the robot is stopped due to an emergency stop while moving to a next target position, from an actually measured amount of coasting and the like; determining a post-coasting predicted position of the robot by adding the estimated coasting angles to the next target position; checking whether or not the arm-occupied regions at the post-coasting predicted position will come into contact with the virtual safety protection barrier, or whether or not the robot axes are within the movable ranges; and performing control to stop the robot immediately upon detection of abnormality.
US08812158B2 Method and handling system for automatically moving a gravity-compensated load body
A handling system and method for automatically moving a gravity-based load body using a robot. The load body is supported by a load body holding means connected to an end effector flange of the robot. A gravity compensation device includes a connector element acting on an element or the end effector flange of the robot to compensate for the gravity of the load body.
US08812157B2 Robot system having error detection function of robot and control method thereof
When an error occurs in robot system, a difference between first and second detection values of two sensors or first and second sensors occurs due to differences in position and responsibility. When this difference exceeds a predetermined threshold, control section detects that a difference has occurred in robot system. The first and second detection values of two sensors or first and second sensors are compared, and therefore, reliability of the detection values can be secured. Further, the abnormal state can be determined through the difference between the first and second detection values, and therefore, errors resulting from problems such as variations in gears and speed reducers due to temperature changes of the operational state and disposition environment of the robot can be avoided.
US08812156B2 Method and apparatus for birds control using mobile robot
Provided is a method including receiving information on a surrounding situation detected by the mobile robot; detecting birds from the received surrounding situation information; allocating a birds control mission to the mobile robot by extracting a birds control pattern corresponding to the surrounding situation; and verifying a result in accordance with performing the allocated birds control mission from the mobile robot. By controlling the birds so as to, in advance, prevent a loss of lives and economical loss which may be caused when the birds collide with airplanes at the airport, it is possible to improve productivity and efficiency of a birds repelling job in an airport and provide construction of a new type of aviation maintenance business model by activating an air traffic control industry through providing a safer airplane operating model while saving operating personnel costs for preventing collision of birds.
US08812155B2 Manipulator robot and associated control for fine positioning of the terminal end
The disclosure relates to a robot that has an articulated arm for moving an end in an N-dimensional space including at least N+1 motorized articulations, and a computer for controlling the movements of the motorized articulations. The computer controls a first step of prepositioning the terminal end of the articulated arm and a second step for its fine positioning.
US08812153B2 Medication dispensing cart
A medication dispensing cart having a computer and monitor, a work surface with pull out keyboard, and plural drawers arranged as a vertical series of cassettes that can be added as needed. The battery powered device uses software and pass codes for controlling access to each drawer, and requires a second pass code for any drawer designated to contain narcotics. Records can be kept of who dispenses what medication and when for each cart in a system of carts. The cart in the system is in wireless communication with a system administrator. Emails alerting the system administrator of low battery power, of a cart switching to off, of an attempted break-in, and of inventory and usage data are sent automatically by email.
US08812148B2 Modular storage system
A modular system for storage of cargo units, comprises: a plurality of pallets; a plurality of interconnected active cell units; each cell unit comprises an cell transporting mechanism; at least one active shuttle unit moveable between the plurality of cell units; each shuttle unit comprises a shuttle transporting mechanism adapted to transport at least one pallet of the plurality of pallets to and from one of the plurality of cell units and to and from the at least one shuttle unit; a central controller adapted to control the operation of the cell and the shuttle transporting mechanisms, the operation of which is performed in an independent manner via the central controller such that a construction of any arrangement of the cell units is performed to effectively exploit a designated space.
US08812147B2 Fulfilling orders for serialized products
Various embodiments are directed to a method for fulfilling orders from an inventory comprising serialized products. For example, a computer system may receive an order and derive from the order a plurality of products, a unit quantity for each of the plurality of products, and a serial identifier referencing a first product unit of at least one of the plurality of products. At least one of the plurality of products may be a non-reserved product. Also, the computer system may determine a first bin selected from a plurality of non-reserved product bins that is associated with product units of the non-reserved product and generate a pick instruction specifying the first bin and the unit quantity of the non-reserved product specified by the order. The computer system may also instruct a robot to retrieve the first product unit from one of the plurality of robot accessible bins. The robot may be programmed to load product units to the plurality of robot-accessible bins and retrieve product units from the plurality of robot-accessible bins.
US08812146B2 Batch creation
Apparatus, method, and system for combining a plurality of items into a batch having a set number of items. Number of items are put together onto a production line to form a batch along with non-batch items which are not suitable for inclusion within the batch onto the production line. The batch is advanced on the production line as a partial batch without the non-batch item being added to it when a batch is not complete. A reminder batch is created after the non-batch items have been added to the production line and the remainder batch includes the number of items that must be added to the partial batch to make a full batch.
US08812143B2 Systems and methods for the identification and/or distribution of music and other forms of useful information
The present invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications systems and methods. More specifically, the present invention is directed to systems and methods for identifying and/or distributing music and other types of useful information for users in a very simple and convenient manner. A variety of systems and methods are disclosed which provide users with quick and convenient access to various forms of information, such as, for example, audio information including music and news items as well as coupons and other information. The systems and methods allow users to store data representative of a time of transmission and preferably a source of transmission so that data of interest may be identified for ordering an/or downloading.
US08812137B2 Controlling sensor networks
A control element for a sensor network having a set of different sensors. In operation, the control element transfers connections between the control element and the set of different sensors, where the transfer connections are compliant with respective sensor-specific protocols. A sensor controller element is provided for each sensor, and establishes transfer connections between the control element and new sensors in runtime. Information obtained in a sensor-specific protocol format from the sensors is converted into a common format in the sensor controller elements. The common format information is processed by a set of common control components of the control element. The control element provides a service based on the information in the common format to at least one consumer, and updates the service in accordance with the sensors present in the sensor network.
US08812135B2 Suture holes on a flexible implant
A device according to some embodiments may include an implant unit which may include a flexible carrier, an antenna arranged on the flexible carrier, at least one pair of modulation electrodes on the flexible carrier, at least one implantable circuit electrically connected to the at least one pair of modulation electrodes and the antenna; and at least one pair of suture holes passing through the flexible carrier. The at least one pair of suture holes may be arranged on the flexible carrier such that the flexible carrier may be configured to conform to tissue in a subject's body, and such that each suture hole of the at least one pair of suture holes may be positioned to allow suturing to tissue adjacent to the suture holes.
US08812132B2 Temperature control of patients during surgery
An infrared radiant heating system for raising or maintaining a uniform core temperature of the body of a patient during surgery, substantially without affecting the temperature of the area surrounding the patient's body, includes an infrared radiant heater located near the patient to provide radiant heat to the entire body or one or more parts of the body of the patient. The system further includes a controller in communication with the heater for controlling the intensity level and distribution of intensity of the radiant heat on the patient's body such that the skin temperature of the patient's body is raised or maintained within a predetermined range resulting in the uniform core body temperature, substantially without affecting the temperature of the area surrounding the patient's body.
US08812126B2 System and method to define target volume for stimulation of the spinal cord and peripheral nerves
One embodiment provides a computer-implemented method that includes storing a volume of tissue activation (VTA) data structure that is derived from analysis of a plurality of patients. Patient data is received for a given patient, the patient data representing an assessment of a patient condition. The VTA data structure is evaluated relative to the patient data to determine a target VTA for achieving a desired therapeutic effect for the given patient.
US08812123B2 Patient programmer with input and sensing capabilities
A patient programmer can have a progress module, wherein the progress module may obtain progress input from a patient in which the generator is implanted. The progress module may include sensors that are able to obtain progress input based on patient interactions with sensors coupled to the patient programmer. The progress module may also include an interface that poses progress-related questions to the patient and obtains responses to the questions from the patient. The patient programmer is also able to store the progress input for reporting purposes.
US08812117B2 Therapy control using relative motion between sensors
The invention is directed to controlling therapy delivery based on a relative motion between a first and second activity sensor. The relative motion between the activity sensors is representative of the relative motion between the locations of the body of the patient at which the respective activity sensors are located. The use of relative motion, however, may substantially remove motion experienced by both the activity sensors, e.g., motion caused by the environment in which patient is located, thus providing a new reference frame from which to analyze the motion measurements. The relative motion may be used to detect a condition of a movement disorder and/or control delivery of the therapy delivered to patient to treat or reduce the condition.
US08812110B2 Implantable medical device
An implantable medical device (IMD) that can be wirelessly connected to user interface by which a patient can enter values of selected control parameters for controlling the IMD whereas other control parameters are not accessible via said user interface and can only be modified by a physician or other authorized personnel.
US08812105B2 Circuit-based devices and methods for pulse control of endocardial pacing in cardiac rhythm management
Tools and methods are particularly suited for certain cardiac conditions involving use of a catheter for pacing of the right and left ventricles from a lead in the right ventricle, e.g., to facilitate mechanically and/or electrically synchronous contractions for resynchronization. Certain aspects involve pacing and/or mapping by generating pulses for delivery to a cardiac site useful for improving heart function as measured, e.g., by QRS width, fractionation, late LV activation timing, mechanical synchronicity of free wall and septal wall, effective throughput/pressure, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, an implantable pulse generator includes circuitry for generating pacing profiles, with signals of opposite polarities, specifically selected for delivery on electrodes at a site near the septal wall of a right ventricle of the heart.
US08812102B2 Sensor response delay for hemodynamic stability detection during arrhythmia
An apparatus comprises a cardiac signal sensing circuit, a physiologic sensor circuit configured to provide a physiologic sensor signal representative of mechanical cardiac activity, a therapy circuit, and a control circuit. The control circuit includes a cardiac depolarization detection circuit, a tachyarrhythmia detection circuit, and a timer circuit. A time interval between a mechanical cardiac event and a detected fiducial electrical cardiac event is monitored. The control circuit is configured to correct the monitored time interval for variation with heart rate to form a corrected electromechanical time interval, initiate anti-tachyarrhythmia therapy when the corrected electromechanical time interval satisfies a specified time interval threshold value during a detected episode of tachyarrhythmia, and withhold anti-tachyarrhythmia therapy otherwise.
US08812100B2 Device and method for self-positioning of a stimulation device to activate brown adipose tissue depot in a supraclavicular fossa region
Self-positioning of at least a portion of a transdermal electrical stimulation patch within a target area (e.g., supraclavicular fossa region) of a human body to activate a depot of brown adipose tissue therein. An electric field is generated using the electrical stimulation patch to activate the brown adipose tissue within the supraclavicular fossa region of the body. The patch is self-positioned using one or more anatomical points (e.g., anatomical landmarks and/or anatomical features) or markings on the body. Brown adipose tissue may also be activated by applying an electrical signal to a body piercing partially implanted proximate a target area in which the tissue is disposed.
US08812098B2 Seizure probability metrics
In some examples, systems, devices, and techniques for determining a particular sleep stage of a patient, determining a seizure state of the patient during the particular sleep stage, and generating a seizure probability metric for the particular sleep stage based on the sleep stage and seizure state are described. In some cases, a patient may be more susceptible to seizure events during particular sleep stages. One or more seizure probability metrics indicative of a patient's susceptibility to seizure events during a particular sleep stage may be useful in creating a patient-specific treatment regimen.
US08812091B1 Multi-channel cardiac measurements
An automatic method of determining local activation time (LAT) in multi-channel cardiac electrogram signals including a plurality of cardiac channels, the method comprising: (a) storing the cardiac channel signals; (b) selecting a mapping channel, a ventricular channel, and a reference channel from among the plurality of cardiac channels; (c) using the selected channels to compute first LAT values at a plurality of mapping-channel locations; (d) monitoring the quality of at least one selected channel; (e) if the quality of a monitored cardiac channel falls below a standard, replacing the sub-standard channel with another channel of the plurality of channels having an above-standard quality; and (f) computing second LAT values based on the replacement cardiac channel.
US08812087B2 Method and system of spectrally encoded imaging
A spectrally encoded imaging device having a light transmission path arrangement which propagates light to illuminate a target object, a light collection path arrangement having a light collection waveguide which propagates a spectrally encoded portion of the light from the target object to a detector which forms an image of the target object accordingly, and a diffractive element which spectrally disperses at least one of the light and the spectrally encoded portion. The light transmission path arrangement and the light collection path arrangement are optically isolated from one another.
US08812084B1 Systems and methods for multispectral scanning and detection for medical diagnosis
The present invention relates to systems and methods for detecting biomaterial anomalies in a test subject for diagnosing existing and potential medical conditions. The general technique utilized is to expose a portion of the test subject to low doses of RF electromagnetic energy. Different biomaterials in a test subject may be differentiated and identified by characterizing their electromagnetic properties based on observed parameters, e.g., electromagnetic energy absorbed, thermal energy created, and electromagnetic energy emitted, during irradiation of the test subject.
US08812081B2 Time of flight based tracheal tube placement system
According to various embodiments, a tracheal tube may employ optical sensing techniques for determining a distance between the inserted tube and an anatomical structure, such as a carina. The distance information may provide an indication as to whether or not the tracheal tube is properly placed within the trachea. The optical techniques may include time of flight techniques.
US08812079B2 Compensation for magnetic disturbance due to fluoroscope
A method, consisting of generating, using a plurality of magnetic transmitters, a magnetic field in a region and introducing a field perturbing element into the region. The method includes characterizing multiple images of each magnetic transmitter in the field perturbing element, and calculating a reaction magnetic field in the region based on the characterized images. The method further includes positioning a probe in the region and measuring a perturbed magnetic field at the probe, and determining a location of the probe in response to the measured perturbed magnetic field and the calculated reaction magnetic field.
US08812076B2 Proton decoupled hyperpolarized magnetic resonance imaging
A system and method for improving available signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and speed of MR imaging of hyperpolarized substances is disclosed. The system and method include decoupling spin effects of hydrogen nuclei from non-hydrogen nuclei of interest during sampling of MR signals therefrom. Though the hydrogen nuclei of the hyperpolarized substance may not be directly bonded to the non-hydrogen nuclei of interest, resonance splitting may still impact SNR. Long range decoupling improves T2* time, and thus preserves signal strength and available SNR.
US08812074B2 Methods for detection of cardiac rhythm disorders using basket style cardiac mapping catheter
A method for sensing multiple local electric voltages from endocardial surface of a heart, includes: providing a system for sensing multiple local electric voltages from endocardial surface of a heart, including: a first elongate tubular member having a lumen, a proximal end and a distal end; a basket assembly including: a plurality of flexible splines for guiding a plurality of exposed electrodes, the splines having proximal portions, distal portions and medial portions therein between, wherein the electrodes are substantially flat electrodes and are substantially unidirectionally oriented towards a direction outside of the basket.
US08812072B2 Transcutaneous medical device with variable stiffness
The present invention relates generally to variable stiffness transcutaneous medical devices including a distal portion designed to be more flexible than a proximal portion. The variable stiffness can be provided by a variable pitch in one or more wires of the device, a variable cross-section in one or more wires of the device, and/or a variable hardening and/or softening in one or more wires of the device.
US08812067B2 Multi orientation cryostats
A multi-orientation cryostat 5 for a superconducting magnet 4 for use in a plurality of orientations. The cryostat 5 comprises a vessel 6 for holding cryogenic liquid and, leading away from the vessel, a quench duct 7 for allowing escape from the vessel of gas generated by boiling of the cryogenic liquid due to quenching of the magnet. The quench duct 7 is sinuous so as to provide at least to differently orientated anti-convection portions 71, each portion for functioning as an anti-convection portion with the cryostat in a respective corresponding orientation.
US08812065B2 System and method for monitoring the location of a communication device in a vehicle based on signal strength
A system for locating a personal communication device (PCD) in a vehicle is provided. A controller is configured to receive a first signal from the PCD at a first antenna in a driver zone and to generate a first signal strength value for the first signal. The controller is configured to receive the first signal from the PCD at the second antenna and to generate a second signal strength value for the first signal. The controller is configured to determine whether the first signal at the first antenna and the second signal at the second antenna are received within a predetermined amount of time of one another and to compare the first signal strength value to the second signal strength value if the first signal at the first antenna and the second signal at the second antenna are received within the predetermined amount of time.
US08812064B2 Multi-button control headset for a mobile communication device
The invention is directed at a headset for a mobile communication device having a multi-button control and is implemented with a standard headset jack. The multi-button control is decoded by a microprocessor after which an encoded signal is then transmitted from the processor to the handset. In this manner, by using the standard jack, no additional hardware is required on the handset.
US08812063B2 Signal characteristic-based leading edge detection
In a signal-based gain control scheme, one or more gain levels used for processing signals are selected based on characteristics of previously received signals. For example, different gain levels may be used to receive sets of signals whereupon certain characteristics of the received sets of signals are determined. One or more gain levels are then selected based on these characteristics whereby another signal is processed based on the selected gain level(s). In some aspects, the signal-based gain control scheme may be employed to facilitate two-way ranging operations between two devices. For example, leading edge detection may involve determining a characteristic of a received signal, determining a threshold based on the characteristic, and identifying a leading edge associated with the received signal based on the threshold. In some aspects, the signal-based gain control scheme may be employed in an ultra-low power pulse-based communication system (e.g., in ultra-wideband communication devices).
US08812059B2 Radiotelephones having contact-sensitive user interfaces and methods of operating same
A device includes a housing having a front surface, a rear surface and first and second side surfaces; the rear surface configured engage a user's palm. The device includes a radiotelephone communications transceiver and a contact-sensitive display, supported by the housing. The contact sensitive display is configured to display an image at the front surface of the housing, and produce an output signal in response to moving contact of an object along a contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive display. The device also includes a controller configured to control at least one of the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver and to scroll displayed rows along an axis of the display based upon the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer. The controller has a mode that is unresponsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer, the second mode being entered in response to an input from a user.
US08812056B2 Voice-based command driven computer implemented method
The present invention generally relates to a voice-based command driven computer implemented method and programmed apparatus that allows a user to easily add any open API communication product they choose to one interface. The computer implemented method filters all electronic communications selected by the user through a common source, such as the user's cell phone or computer. Each time an electronic communication is received, no matter through what program or application, the computer implemented method operates to communicate to the user that the electronic communication has been received and provides the user with the option of listening to and responding to the electronic communication, if appropriate. The user responds to the electronic communication through voice-based communication rather than physical interaction with the common source. The user may additionally initiate electronic communication through voice-based communication.
US08812050B1 Handoff management in a multi-layer wireless network
One or more short-range base stations in a network environment provide a substantially smaller coverage area than a long-range base station. The coverage area provided by each of the short-range base stations fully resides within or at least partially overlaps with the coverage provided by the long-range base station. Handoffs from the long-range base station to a respective short range base station, and vise versa, can be conditional on any number of one or more factors such as a speed of a mobile device through the network environment, a type of application and/or type of data transmitted over a respective communication link between the mobile device and the long-range base station, presence of one or more radio frequency layers in the network environment, mapping of a location of the mobile device to a speed limit value derived from a geographical map, etc.
US08812046B2 System and method for self-optimization of interference coordination in communication systems
In accordance with aspects of the present invention, a method, apparatus and system are provided for self-optimization of interference coordination in communication systems. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a measurement and reporting subsystem configured to perform measurements regarding a status of the apparatus and to provide a reliability report to a base station as a function thereof. The apparatus is configured to notify a strongest interferer about the status via the reliability report. In another embodiment, the apparatus includes a measurement report handler configured to process a reliability report received from a user equipment and an interference coordination subsystem configured to adjust interference coordination parameters based on the reliability report received from the user equipment.
US08812044B2 Apparatus and method for controlling data transmission rate in broadband wireless communication system
An apparatus and a method for controlling a data transmission rate in a broadband wireless communication system are provided. In the method, an interference factor representing an interference degree by an external sector is measured. Interference given to the external sector is estimated using the interference factor, an interference weight depending on a location of a terminal, and an amount of wireless resource use of a self sector. A data transmission rate is determined with consideration of an interference estimation value and a wireless channel state of the terminal.
US08812041B2 Tap-to-end feature for unlocking a virtual slide-to-lock feature in push-to-talk communication applications
A Tap-to-End feature for unlocking a virtual Slide-to-Lock lock feature on a display screen of the communication device running a PTT application. In one embodiment, the Tap-to-End is implemented by simply tapping the display screen. In a second embodiment, the Tap-to-End feature is implemented by contacting the display screen on the communication device running the PTT application for a predetermined period of time. When the threshold is exceeded, the Slide-to-lock feature is unlocked. In various embodiments, the threshold is 3 seconds or less. In yet other embodiments, the Tap-to-End feature may be implemented anywhere on the display screen of the communication device running the PTT application including, but not limited to, in the vicinity of where the virtual Slide-to-lock feature is implemented.
US08812032B2 Cordless telephone system
A low cost cordless telephone system including a base unit, connected to a telephone network, which can transmit and receive RF signals to and from sub-communicating devices. The sub-communicating devices include a cordless microphone for converting acoustical signals to electrical signals and providing same to a transmitter which transmits corresponding simplex RF signals on a cordless telephone frequency to a base unit attached to a telephone network; and a cordless speaker which receives simplex RF signals from a base unit and broadcasts a corresponding telephone conversation. The base unit may connect directly to a telephone network or, in an alternate embodiment, to the handset jack of an existing telephone, thereby interfacing to existing phones including those connected to digital telephone systems. The base unit may also include a speaker used to broadcast the telephone conversation. The base unit speaker and the cordless speaker each may optionally broadcast both sides of the phone conversation, including the presenter's speech received from the cordless microphone. The system may also be interfaced to an existing sound system via a remote interface unit or a base unit.
US08812030B2 Sensing relative position from a wireless transceiver
Disclosed is an apparatus, system and method for determining a location of a mobile device based on a location of a wireless network node, a distance between the wireless network node and the mobile device, and a bearing from the wireless network node to the mobile device, wherein the bearing is determined based on a directional signal and magnetometer measurements.
US08812026B2 System and method for autonomous connectivity to improve location-based information
A wireless location information system, device, and method are directed to a plurality of location origin network transceivers (LONTs) configured to facilitate wireless communications, and provide notification information of their presence within a servicing area and a wireless device including one or more transceivers configured to transmit and receive wireless signals and a location information database configured to store location-related information. Upon the wireless device entering the area serviced by the LONTs, the wireless device detects the presence of one or more LONTs, initiates an autonomous connection request with the detected LONTs, establishes a partial association connection link with the detected LONTs, the partial association connection link being insufficient to establish full network attachment connectivity, initiates location-related information request with the LONTs, retrieves the location-related information provided by the LONTs, and stores the location-related information in the location information database.
US08812025B2 Mobile terminal and control method for mobile terminal
A positioning portion does not identify a position of a mobile terminal in a case in which a stationary continuation determiner determines that the mobile terminal has continued to be stationary during a period, the positioning portion identifies the position of the mobile terminal in a case in which the stationary continuation determiner determines that the mobile terminal has not continued to be stationary during the period and in which a traveling condition determiner determines that the mobile terminal is in traveling condition, and the positioning portion does not identify the position of the mobile terminal in a case in which the stationary continuation determiner determines that the mobile terminal has not continued to be stationary during the period and in which the traveling condition determiner determines that the mobile terminal is in a stationary condition.
US08812024B2 Geo-fence entry and exit notification system
A method is provided for determining when a mobile communications device has crossed a geo-fence. The method comprises (a) providing a mobile communications device (209) equipped with an operating system and having a location detection application resident thereon, wherein the mobile communications device is in communication with a server (211) over a network (203), and wherein the server maintains a geo-fence database (213); (b) receiving, from the operating system, a notification that (i) the location of the mobile communications device has changed by an amount that exceeds a predetermined threshold, or (ii) that a period of time has passed; (c) querying the operating system for a data set comprising the general location of the mobile communications device and the corresponding location accuracy; (d) transmitting the data set to the server; and (e) receiving from the server, in response, a set of geo-fences (205) proximal to the general location.
US08812021B2 System and method for coordinating meetings between users of a mobile communication network
Systems and methods are provided to coordinate meetings between users of mobile devices on a mobile communications network. Users of the mobile communication network send one another meeting invitations over the network. The system receives the current geospatial position of one or more such users, as well as category selections that relate to attributes of potential meeting locations meetings. The system selects meeting locations for users using the current geospatial positions of the users and the category selections such that meeting locations are located at a geospatial positions between the users. The system can additionally select meeting locations that factor in user preferences and historical activities.
US08812017B2 Method and arrangement in a telecommunication system
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for enhancing signal measurements for positioning in a device (22) of a telecommunication network. The method comprises receiving a plurality of transmissions from a plurality of cells, at least partially cancelling a transmission from a first cell of the plurality of cells, and then attempting to detect a transmission from a second cell of the plurality of cells. Timing measurements may then be taken from the plurality of received transmissions to enable the position of the device to be determined.
US08812014B2 Audio-based environment awareness
A method of determining a position of a mobile device in a wireless communication network includes: accessing mobile device audio information from the mobile device; analyzing the mobile device audio information to determine an environmental characteristic of a present environment of the mobile device; and using the environmental characteristic to affect a determination of the position of the mobile device.
US08812012B2 Methods and apparatus for associating media devices with a demographic composition of a geographic area
Example methods and apparatus for associating media devices with a demographic composition of a geographic area are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes receiving a plurality of Internet Protocol addresses assigned to a media device associated with a panel member, determining a most used Internet Protocol address from the plurality of Internet Protocol addresses, accessing geographic information and determining a geographic location corresponding to the most used Internet Protocol address, accessing demographic information and determining a demographic profile associated with the geographic location, and associating at least one of the geographic location or the demographic profile with the media device.
US08812008B2 Methods and apparatus for assigning resources to schedule peer-to-peer communications in WWAN
A method of operating a wireless device includes determining an energy on each of a plurality of resources for broadcasting CIDs, sending information to a base station based on the determined energy for each of the CIDs, and receiving a CID from the base station. The received CID is one of the CIDs determined based on the information. A method of wireless communication includes receiving first information about a first plurality of CIDs from a first wireless device, receiving second information about a second plurality of CIDs from a second wireless device, comparing the first information and the second information to determine a subset of CIDs based on the first plurality of CIDs and the second plurality of CIDs, selecting a CID based on the subset of CIDs, and sending the selected CID to at least one of the first wireless device or the second wireless device.
US08812006B2 Methods and arrangements in a wireless communication system
The present invention relates to methods and arrangements in a wireless communication system supporting carrier aggregation and comprising a radio base station configured to broadcast system information in at least two cells. The method for the user equipment comprises receiving configuration information for an aggregation of the at least two cells from the radio base station, identifying a first of the at least two cells based on a configuration rule stating that the first of the at least two cells has a status that is different from the status of the remaining cells, and reading the broadcasted system information only in the identified cell. The method may also comprise obeying one or more parameters obtained from the read system information.
US08812002B2 Acquisition of information for a radio access network
There is provided an information acquisition method to be executed by a mobile station, connected to a first radio access network of a first radio access technology, to perform acquisition of an information set related to a second radio access network of a second, different radio access technology for enabling mobility to the second radio access network. Basically, the method comprises receiving (S1) message instances, wherein a set of the message instances includes the information set for enabling mobility to the second radio access network. The method further comprises investigating (S2) the message instances to find counter information in a message instance indicating the number of message instances the mobile station must acquire to assemble the information set. The method also comprises identifying (S3), in relation to the message instance in which the counter information is found, the set of message instances that includes the information set based on the counter information. The method then comprises collecting (S4) the information set from the identified set of message instances.
US08812000B2 Inter-system hand-over of a mobile terminal operable with a first and a second radio access network
The present invention provides a method of initiation a mobile originating service-based inter-system handover, and devices enabling the method. A communication network comprises at least two radio access networks (RANs) of different types, i.e. a radio access network (RAN) of a first type and a radio access network (RAN) of a second type. A dual-mode mobile terminal designed to be operable with both the RAN of the first type and the RAN of the second type communicates with the communication system via the RAN of the first type. The initiation of the inter-system handover is included in a transmission, which comprises at least one bearer capability (BC) field. The bearer capability (BC) field is set to indicate that a requested service is only operable with the RAN of the second type. In particular, at least one bearer capability (BC) field is set to a parameter value, which serves as indication for the receiving network and its processing entities, respectively, which receiving network indicated to carry out the inter-system handover initiated by the mobile terminal.
US08811998B2 Method and device for a relay node
A relay node (110) for a radio access network (100), arranged to be a relay node between one or more User Equipments (105) in a cell (125) of the radio access network and a base station (115) serving the cell. The relay node (110) is arranged to identify itself as a relay node in the cell (125) in the radio access network (100), and is also arranged to receive a non-support indication indicating that the base station serving the cell (125) is unable to support a relay node. The relay node (110) is arranged to, upon receiving said non-support indication, attempt to establish itself as a relay node in another cell.
US08811993B2 Method and arrangement for saving radio resources
The present invention relates to an arrangement, a communication network node and a method of saving radio resources during handover in a communication network system comprising a plurality of communication network nodes (15a, 15b, 15c) communicating with one or more user equipments (18). Each network node (15a, 15b, 15c) is serving at least one cell (19) through and in which the user equipments (18) are moving. The method and arrangement is based on: collection of long term handover statistics (1); selective triggering of Multiple Cell Preparation (2); definition of a Secondary Target Cell List (3); exclusion from the Secondary Target Cell List of cells rarely used (4); preparation of the cells on the Secondary Target Cell List for handover (5).
US08811991B2 Wireless handoffs between multiple wireless networks
A wireless communications device is disclosed. The wireless communications device is configured to support a call over a cellular network or an IP network to a remote communications device. The wireless communications device is further configured to handoff the call between the cellular network and the IP network. An Interworking Function (IWF) is configured to maintain a call between a wireless communications device and a communications device as the wireless communications device is handed off between a cellular network and an IP network.
US08811990B2 Method and apparatus for performing measurement on neighboring cells in a mobile communication system
A method for performing measurement on neighboring cells in a mobile communication system is provided. The method measurement method includes generating raw measurement result values by performing measurement on received signals from neighboring cells; receiving measurement-related parameters to be applied to neighboring cells having raw measurement result values exceeding an absolute threshold signaled from a base station as a result of the measurement, among the neighboring cells; generating final measurement result values by applying the measurement-related parameters to the raw measurement result values of the first neighboring cells; and performing cell selection or cell reselection to one of the first neighboring cells according to the final measurement result values, or transmitting a measurement report to a base station of a serving cell.
US08811984B2 Area-based access control method for terminals which carry out M2M communications in a wireless communication system
A regional access control method is provided in a Mobility Management Entity (MME) for network access for a User Equipment (UE) that performs Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication. An access request message and location information of the UE are received from a base station. The access request message is transmitted to the MME in response to reception of the access request message at the base station from the UE. A location of the UE that is determined based on the location information of the UE, is registered in a Home Subscriber Server (HSS). An allowed list of the UE is obtained from the HSS. It is determined whether the location information of the UE is registered in the allowed list.
US08811978B2 Method and apparatus for sending measurement report messages from a wireless telecommunications device to a wireless telecommunications network
Apparatus and a method for sending measurement report messages from a wireless telecommunications device to a wireless telecommunications network are disclosed. The method comprises at the wireless telecommunications device: generating a measurement report in respect of a first event; transmitting a first message including the measurement report in respect of the first event to the network; generating a subsequent measurement report for another event; determining whether conditions for the first event are still satisfied and, if so, including in a subsequent message the measurement report for the first event as well as the measurement report for the other event; and transmitting the subsequent message to the network.
US08811977B2 Device-driven intelligence and feedback for performance optimization and planning of a service network
System(s), device(s), method(s), and user interfaces are provided to enable a subscriber device to report network operation conditions, such as network performance incidents, to receive feedback from the network related to the incident and available or possibly available solutions, and to produce network intelligence suitable for network planning and network performance enhancement. Reporting of network performance incidents can be characterized by location and time of occurrence, wherein these intelligence is provided by the user device. Feedback provided by the network is based on the network performance data received as part of reporting an incident. The reporting described herein enables a network operator to generate network planning intelligence based on actual network performance as experienced at the subscriber level.
US08811974B2 Coordinated multipoint wireless communication
Multipoint wireless communications are coordinated in cells with radiation that is emanated from antennas in an inward direction. In an example embodiment, an apparatus includes a first antenna, a second antenna, a third antenna and a controller. The first antenna emanates radiation from a first location in an inwardly direction for a cell. The second antenna emanates radiation from a second location in an inwardly direction for the cell. The third antenna emanates radiation from a third location in an inwardly direction for the cell. The controller coordinates the emanation of the radiation via the first, second, and third antennas so as to reduce intra-cell interference for remote terminals located within the cell. The coordination may be effected in accordance with one or more coordinated multi-point (transmission/reception) (CoMP) techniques. Different numbers of sub-cells and antennas per cell and different CoMP cell organizations may be implemented.
US08811973B2 Peak-to-average power ratio management for multi-carrier modulation in wireless communication systems
Techniques for managing peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) for multi-carrier modulation in wireless communication systems. Different terminals in a multiple-access system may have different required transmit powers. The number of carriers to allocate to each terminal is made dependent on its required transmit power. Terminals with higher required transmit powers may be allocated fewer carriers (associated with smaller PAPR) to allow the power amplifier to operate at higher power levels. Terminals with lower required transmit powers may be allocated more carriers (associated with higher PAPR) since the power amplifier is operated at lower power levels. The specific carriers to assign to the terminals may also be determined by their transmit power levels to reduce out-of-band emissions. Terminals with higher required transmit powers may be assigned with carriers near the middle of the operating band, and terminals with lower required transmit powers may be assigned with carriers near the band edges.
US08811972B2 Communication terminal and communication control method
A communication terminal (10) including a first communication unit (11) and a second communication unit (12) with a shorter communication distance than the first communication unit (11) includes a presence status detection unit (13) that detects that a distance from a personal computer (50) has changed from a state possible to communicate to a state not possible to communicate for the second communication unit (12), and a communication status control unit (14) that causes a standby interval in intermittent reception performed by the first communication unit (11) to become shorter when a change of the second communication unit (12) from the state possible to communicate to the state not possible to communicate is detected by the presence status detection unit (13). This enables more detailed and accurate tracking of the connection status of the first communication unit (11), which can advance the timing to bring the first communication unit (11) to transition to a disconnection state or a standby state, allowing reduction of power consumption in the first communication unit (11).
US08811966B2 Short-range wireless communication apparatus
A short-range wireless communication apparatus is disclosed. The short-range wireless communication apparatus comprises: multiple connection devices and a control device. The connection devices are capable of simultaneously connecting multiple communication interfaces to a communication counterparty apparatus to enable sound data transfer. When the control device determines that, in cases where the communication interfaces are communicably connected, there arises a request to start outputting the sound data transferred by one of the communication interfaces, the control device disconnects another one of the communication interfaces while keeping the one of the communication interfaces connected and causes a sound data output device to output the sound data transferred from the communication counterparty apparatus by the one of the communication interfaces.
US08811963B2 Making a telephone connection to a mobile communication terminal with the calling party controlling how the call should be established
The invention relates to a method for establishing a telephone connection to a mobile communications terminal device (11) via a mobile communications network (5, 7, 9), with at least one mobile telephone number being assigned to the mobile communications terminal device (11), wherein a supplement i.e. prefix or suffix as a control parameter is added to the mobile telephone number, the supplement being independent from the mobile telephone number. Before establishing the telephone connection an analysis of this supplement is made and the reachability of the mobile communications terminal device (11) is determined. The “reachability” is that the calling party only wants to make the call if the called party is available in real time i.e. does not want to be forwarded to voice-mail. Another example is that the call should only be established for calls that remain in the same network, so as to save costs. The supplement indicates whether the establishment of a telephone connection shall be initiated or suppressed. The establishment of the telephone connection is then initiated dependent upon the supplement only if there is a certain reachability case of the called mobile communications terminal device (11), the reachability case being indicated by the supplement.
US08811962B1 Method and apparatus for establishing a conference call session with a wireless device
A method and system of establishing a conference call between end users provides initiating a request for at least one invitee to participate in the conference call. The request message is received on a first device prior to time the conference call is scheduled to begin. The message includes a hyperlink which may be activated to autonomously dial a number through the wireless device and connect with a conference call service provider. The conference call may be further accessed by satisfying one or more parameters necessary to enter the conference call. A communication link may be established between the at least one wireless device and the conference call service provider to begin the conference call via one or more autonomous conference call access operations.
US08811959B2 Bluetooth enabled credit card with a large data storage volume
A smart card is disclosed which includes a mass storage memory for storing biometric information of a user and private data. A radio is used as an interface to the card. When the user of the card wishes to invoke an application for the private data, biometric information about the user is provided to a device in communication with the card, enabling the card to authenticate the user as an authorized user of the private data, and in response to that authentication provide the data to the application in a manner that maintains privacy and integrity of data.
US08811958B2 Communication system, information analysis device, and information analysis method
A communication system aimed at easily and quickly collecting data regarding macroscopic population distribution, and easily and quickly obtaining survey results. An RNC of a communication system includes a signal-counting module that counts the number of signals indicating a quantity of signals transmitted and received between a mobile station and a BTS. An information analysis device includes a population distribution calculation module that calculates population distribution based on the number of the signals that the signal-counting module counts, and an output module that outputs the population distribution that the population distribution calculation module calculates.
US08811957B2 Advertising methods and apparatus for use in a wireless communications system
Methods and apparatus related to communicating advertisements and/or service announcements to devices in a communications system are described. In various embodiments mobile devices are used as mobile advertisement transmission platforms. Advertisements may be downloaded to the wireless communications device along with transmission constraints. Transmission of an advertisement is made when a transmission constraint, e.g., target audience constraint is satisfied. The wireless terminal may change its transmission frequency, coding rate and/or other transmission characteristics to satisfy a transmission constraint and/or optimize revenue. The mobile device reports advertisements transmissions to a network device, e.g., advertisement server and the owner of the device is compensated for the transmissions. Transmission constraints may involve a number of devices to be reached, the type of devices to be reached, and/or other constraints relating to the demographics of device users. Information may be obtained from peer discovery signals and used to determine if a constraint is satisfied.
US08811952B2 Mobile device power management in data synchronization over a mobile network with or without a trigger notification
A real-time communication architecture establishes a continuous connection between an enterprise network and a communication management system. The connection is continuously held open allowing mobile devices real-time access to enterprise email systems. The real-time communication architecture can support an entire enterprise email system or individual email users. The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
US08811945B2 Authentication for service server in wireless Internet and settlement using the same
The present invention is to provide individual and payment information to a service server by recognizing whether the service server is to be trusted when individual identification information provided by a user is received from the service server. So, the invention provides an authentication method of the service server and a payment method by using the same, which can prevent the individual identification information and payment from being accessed by a distrusted server in wireless Internet. This present comprises acts of: storing individual identification information provided from a user in an authentication server; authenticating the service server when request of the stored individual identification information is received from the service server, and transmitting the stored individual identification information to the service server when the authentication has succeeded; transmitting a message of requesting a service access to a mobile terminal of the user from the service server; and transmitting the individual identification information sent from the authentication server to the mobile terminal by means of a transmitting query of the individual identification information from the mobile terminal.
US08811943B2 Apparatus and method of handling simultaneous universal terrestrial radio access network radio resource control procedures which change the security configuration in a universal mobile telecommunications system user equipment
The details of an apparatus and method of handling simultaneous universal terrestrial radio access network radio resource control procedures which change the security configuration in a universal mobile telecommunications system user equipment are disclosed herein. According to one aspect of the present application, there is provided a user equipment apparatus having a message handler, a sequential processor, a command store, and a security configuration change detector, wherein said message handler is coupled to said command store, is coupled to said sequential processor, and is coupled to said security configuration change detector to save, process, and detect configuration changes in commands respectively, and to determine if there is an existing command at the user equipment, such that the user equipment appears to the UTRAN as though it were processing commands simultaneously. According to another aspect, there is provided a method of processing simultaneous commands at a user equipment having a security configuration, including the steps of: determining if there is an existing command at the user equipment; upon reception of a received command: suspending the existing command processing; determining if commands contain a security configuration change; and either rejecting the received command; or saving the received command prior to resuming the existing command; such that the user equipment appears to the UTRAN to be processing commands simultaneously.
US08811942B2 Method and apparatus for the activation of services
An approach is provided for presenting an activation indicator to a user. A connection with a mobile device is detected. Retrieval is caused, at least in part, of a unique hardware identifier associated with the mobile device. It is determined that the mobile device is eligible for a service based on the unique hardware identifier. Presentation is caused, at least in part, of a visual indicator of the eligibility for the service based on the determination.
US08811935B2 Emergency services in home cells system and method
A user equipment (UE) comprising a processor configured to cause the UE to transmit an emergency calls required indicator (ECRI) to a network component responsive to the UE receiving an instruction to place an emergency call; and to receive an emergency calls supported indicator (ECSI) prior to placing an emergency call, wherein a value of the ECSI indicates a type of emergency services supported by a femtocell, where the processor is further configured to cause the UE to transmit the ECRI before receiving the ECSI.
US08811934B2 Communications device, system and method
A system for communicating an alert message from a user to a recipient is disclosed. In one embodiment the system includes a communications network, a communication device, and a communications management system. The communications device is activatable by the user to transmit into the communications network a signal communicating identification information associated with the user. The communication management receives and processes the signal to establish a communications channel between the communications device and a communications service associated with a recipient. The communications service is selected according to the identification information. Method and devices for communicating an alert signal are also disclosed.
US08811932B2 Method and system for wireless communications between base and mobile stations
A method and system for wireless communications between base and mobile stations use reference signals transmitted from base stations prior transmission of data signals. The reference signals are used to determine propagation characteristics of communication channels between the base and mobile stations and optimize, in real time, parameters of receivers of the mobile stations for processing the following data signals. Applications of the invention include wireless communication systems compliant with OFDMA, 3GPP LTE, RFN-OFDMA, OFDM, TDMA, and the like communication protocols.
US08811931B2 Radio apparatus
According to one embodiment, a radio apparatus includes: a radio unit; a timer configured to count a first measurement time; a control unit configured to establish a first mode if the first measurement time is shorter than a first time, and establish a second mode if the first measurement time is longer than or equal to the first time; and a power control unit configured to control power to be supplied to the radio unit if the first mode is set and next data is not received even if a second time elapsed, and control power to be supplied to the radio unit if the second mode is set and next data is not received even if a third time elapsed, wherein the radio unit makes a transition to a sleep mode as a result of a power control by the power control unit.
US08811929B2 Power management for a battery-powered handheld audio device
A method for managing power of a battery-powered handheld audio device by receiving an indicia of signal quality for a received continuous-time radio signal. The method compares the indicia of signal quality to a signal quality threshold. Upon a favorable comparison, enacting a first analog signal conditioning setting. Upon an unfavorable comparison, enacting a second analog signal conditioning setting. The method further provides, upon the favorable comparison, disabling a digital filtering operation, and upon the unfavorable comparison, enabling the digital filtering operation.
US08811925B2 System and method for providing external receiver gain compensation when using an antenna with a pre-amplifier
In various embodiments, a system and method for improving a noise figure (NF) of a time division duplex (TDD) communications system includes a pre-amplified antenna unit having a plurality of antennas and associated low-noise amplifiers (LNA). Each of the associated LNA's is arranged to receive signals from a phase-matched pair of antennas selected from the plurality of antennas. For each of the phase-matched antenna pairs, a variable negative gain circuit may be coupled to a TDD signal output of the associated LNA such that a remote radio head (RRH) may be suitably coupled to an output of the variable gain circuit. The variable gain circuit is configured to provide a negative gain to the TDD signal appropriate to ensure that a dynamic range of the RRH is not reduced from a desired dynamic range due to excess gain provided by the LNA. A method of retrofitting a conventional pre-amplified antenna unit includes inserting a variable negative gain circuit so that the modified pre-amplified antenna may be used with any vendor's RRH.
US08811924B2 Diversity receiver and method performed by a diversity receiver
A diversity receiver includes a plurality of receiver circuits that are configured to receive and process the received radio frequency signals. A channel estimator is coupled to at least one of the plurality of receiver circuits and is configured to determine at least one channel estimation value for the received radio frequency signals. A controller is coupled to the channel estimator and to at least one of the plurality of receiver circuits and is configured to selectively activate or deactivate the at least one of the plurality of receiver circuits based on the determined at least one channel estimation value.
US08811916B2 Dual-standby terminal with a plurality of low-noise amplifiers and method for operating wireless communication unit thereof
A dual-standby terminal and a method for operating wireless communication unit are disclosed. The dual-standby terminal includes: a plurality of wireless communication units; a plurality of low-noise amplifiers located on reception paths of the wireless communication units, respectively; and a controller. The controller enables all of the plurality of low-noise amplifiers when the dual-standby terminal performs a simultaneous call. The controller also enables part of the plurality of low-noise amplifiers when the dual-standby terminal performs a single call or is operated in a standby state.
US08811915B2 Digital wireless narrow band radio
A network communication card is provided for facilitating ultra high frequency (UHF) radio communication between a terminal and a base station, the network communication card being in communication with an antenna and comprising a double-sided multilayer printed circuit board (PCB). The PCB comprises a digital interface, a receiver and a transmitter. The digital interface provides communication between the PCB and the terminal. The receiver receives incoming radio signals from the base station and processes the received signals for communication to the terminal via the digital interface. The transmitter transmits outgoing radio signals from the terminal via the digital interface to the base station and includes the following components. A digital synthesizer provides a highly accurate modulated carrier signal. An upconversion circuit increases the frequency of the carrier signal. A filter filters spurious content from the carrier signal. A phase locked loop (PLL) comprising a synthesizer and a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) generates a transmission signal from the filtered carrier signal. A transmission circuit transmits the transmission signal via the antenna.
US08811913B2 RF calibration data management in portable device
An embodiment of the invention provides an operation method for a portable device. The method comprises steps of mounting a first partition of a flash memory to an application processor, wherein a calibration data is stored in the first partition and the first partition is read only by the application processor; mounting a second partition of the flash memory to the application processor, wherein a radio data is stored in the second partition and the second partition can be read or written by the application processor; transmitting the calibration data and the radio data to a communication processor by the application processor; the communication processor operating according to the calibration data and the radio data.
US08811912B2 Remote control of mobile devices to perform testing of wireless communications networks
A remote testing and control system sends instructions to perform a test to a mobile device, receives test results from the mobile device in response to the instructions, presents the test results within a user interface so that that the test results are viewable by a user, and receives an input to control the test results. The test results may be received and presented within the user interface in real-time. The instructions to perform the test may be scheduled to be sent at a specified time.
US08811911B2 Radio-frequency processing device and method and related wireless communication device
A radio-frequency (RF) processing device, for a wireless communication device, is disclosed. The RF processing device comprises an antenna, an RF-signal processing module, a controller, for generating a control signal according to a band switching signal, and a matching adjustment module for adjusting an impedance between the antenna and the RF-signal processing module according to the control signal.
US08811907B2 Control method of radio communication system, radio communication system, and radio communication apparatus
A communication device 1 (transceivers 400) transmits a training signal from its own transmitting antenna while performing beam scanning, and a communication device 2 (transceivers 500) receives this training signal in a state where a quasi-omni pattern is generated in its own receiving antenna. Further, the device 1 transmits a training signal in a state where a quasi-omni pattern is generated in the transmitting antenna, and the device 2 receives this training signal by the receiving antenna while performing beam scanning. The device 1 and 2 detects, from respective reception results, transmitting-antenna-setting candidates of the device 1 and receiving-antenna-setting candidates of the device 2,and determines antenna-setting pairs (combinations of antenna-setting candidates). The above-described processes are also performed for a receiving antenna of the device 1 and a transmitting antenna of the device 2. The device 1 and 2 communicates by using the obtained antenna-setting pairs. In this way, when radio communication is performed by using beam forming, the time necessary for finding and setting a beam direction is reduced, thereby reducing the transmission-disconnected time.
US08811903B2 Spectrum assignment for networks over white spaces and other portions of the spectrum
Functionality is described by selecting a channel in an environment in which non-privileged entities have subordinate access rights to spectrum compared to privileged entities. The functionality operates by identifying spectrum that is available to all nodes involved in communication (where the nodes are associated with non-privileged entities). The functionality then generates a suitability assessment for each candidate channel within the available spectrum. The functionality selects a channel having the most desirable suitability assessment. The functionality can form a suitability assessment for a candidate channel of arbitrary width, e.g., by combining suitability assessments associated with constituent spectrum units within the candidate channel.
US08811901B2 Wireless power feeding system and wireless power feeding method
An object is to provide a power feeding system and a power feeding method which are more convenient for a power feeding user at the power receiving end, without causing increases in complexity and size of devices. An object is to provide a power feeding system and a power feeding method which also allow a power feeding provider (a company) which feeds power (at the power transmitting end) to supply power without waste. A power feeding device which wirelessly supplies power to a power receiver detects the position and the resonant frequency of the power receiver by receiving a position and resonant frequency detection signal using a plurality of sub-carriers having different frequencies from the power receiver, and controls the frequency of a power signal to be transmitted to the power receiver on the basis of the information. An efficient power feeding service can be offered by transmitting a power signal to the power receiver at an optimum frequency for high power transmission efficiency.
US08811900B2 System and method for hands free connect application for the automobile environment
A module executed on a mobile communications device (MCD) to automatically pair the MCD with a vehicle. The module determines whether the MCD's short range communication technology, e.g., Bluetooth® technology is enabled. If not, the module turns on the MCD's short range communication technology. The module also determines whether the MCD is in a discovery mode, which is the mode of the MCD that enables the MCD to pair. If not, the module turns on the MCD's discovery mode. The module then automatically pairs the MCD and the vehicle. In an embodiment the automatic pairing includes setting the vehicle's hands free telephone module to a discovery mode, if the short range communications from the MCD and HFT are being seen by each other than a personal identification number (PIN) is obtained. In an embodiment the PIN is not entered by a user of the MCD or vehicle, but is automatically determined. The MCD and HFT are then securely paired using conventional pairing techniques.
US08811898B2 Information processing device, communication control method and program
An information processing device is provided. The information processing device including a communication antenna having a variable Q value, for performing contactless-type communication with an external device by using a communication path capable of transmitting and receiving a signal using a carrier of a predetermined frequency, a communication speed determining unit for determining a communication speed in the communication with the external device, and a communication controlling unit for allowing the Q value of the communication antenna to be set to a value corresponding to a determined communication speed based on the communication speed determined in the communication speed determining unit.
US08811894B2 NFC card for handheld device
An NFC card includes an antenna circuit including an antenna coil having at least one magnetic axis, and at least one integrated circuit linked to the antenna circuit. The magnetic axis of the antenna coil is substantially parallel to at least one side of the card, and the card further includes at least one electrically conductive screen extending near the antenna coil, which does not cross the magnetic axis. The card does not include any magnetically permeable material between the at least one conductive screen and the antenna coil. Embodiments of the invention are applicable in particular to SIM-NFC card and SD-NFC cards.
US08811892B2 Systems, methods, and computer readable media for performing multiple transactions through a single near field communication (NFC) tap
The subject matter described herein includes a method of performing multiple transactions through a single near field communication (NFC) tap. The method includes storing, at a linking application in a wireless device, a plurality of application identifiers (AIDs) that identify a plurality of applications to be processed in a single NFC tap. The method can further include detecting, by a wireless device reader, a linking application AID in the wireless device that identifies the linking application upon interfacing the wireless device with the wireless device reader through the single NFC tap. The method can include accessing, by the wireless device reader, the plurality of AIDs using the linking application. The method can further include processing the plurality of applications associated with the plurality of AIDs through the single NFC tap.
US08811891B2 Apparatus and method for setting transmit power of a compact base station in a wireless communication system
An apparatus and method for setting transmit power of a compact Base Station (BS) in a wireless communication system are provided. In the apparatus and method a measurer measures a signal strength corresponding to each of one or more neighbor BSs while operating in a Mobile Station (MS) mode, a receiver receives a signal strength corresponding to each of the one or more neighbor BSs measured by one or more MSs from the corresponding one or more MSs, and a self-configuration controller sets a target signal strength based on the signal strength corresponding to each of the one or more neighbor BSs measured in the MS mode and controls a transmit power so that the signal strength corresponding to each of the one or more neighbor BSs measured by the one or more MSs substantially reaches the target signal strength.
US08811890B2 Hopping wireless medical care and monitoring device and method of operation
A hopping wireless medical caring and monitoring system, which is an ANT multiple nodes hopping network, includes at least one hopping node, at least one physical status measuring apparatus, a server and at least one user-end apparatus. The server communicates with the at least one user-end apparatus via the ANT network. The user-end apparatus reads a medical measurement result from the physical status measuring apparatus and transmits the results to the server via the ANT network. The wireless remote health and medical caring and monitoring system is suitable for home-care or a hospital.
US08811888B2 Wireless relay module for monitoring network status
A wireless relay module for networked communications between a series of medical devices and a remote monitoring device. An interface circuit coupled to each medical device communicates with the wireless relay module via a wireless relay network. The relay module communicates with the remote monitoring device over an internet-accessible wireless communication network. The controller determines a status of the networks. When the status indicates that the internet-accessible wireless communications network is available, a transmitter transmits medical device data over this network. When the internet-accessible wireless communications network is not accessible, another transmitter transmits the data to another wireless relay module. In addition, the controller obtains status information the two networks, and either transmits this information to one of the medical devices or prepares the information for display on a display of the wireless relay module.
US08811881B2 Cleaning device and image forming apparatus
A cleaning device, including, a first blade to slidably contact with a surface of an image carrier to which a toner including an external additive adheres, a second blade to slidably contact with the surface of the image carrier and to be provided downstream of the first blade in a rotation direction of the image carrier, and a lubricant applying mechanism section to apply a lubricant to the surface of the image carrier, wherein hardness of the first blade is equal to or more than hardness of the second blade.
US08811877B2 Induction heating type fusing device and image forming apparatus employing the same
An induction heating type fusing device and an image forming apparatus including the fusing device. The fusing device includes a magnetic flux generator and a compressing roller outside a fusing belt, first and second fusing rollers and a nip guide inside the fusing belt. The compressing roller compresses against the first and second fusing rollers and the nip guide to form nips, while the fusing belt is disposed between the compressing roller and the first and second fusing rollers and the nip guide.
US08811872B2 Image heating apparatus, film used for the apparatus, and manufacturing method of flexible resin material for the film
An image heating apparatus, for heating, in a nip, a recording material for carrying a toner image while conveying the recording material, includes a flexible cylindrical film; a nip-forming member contacting an inner surface of the film; and a pressing member for forming the nip between itself and the film. The inner surface of the film is provided with a roughened surface portion in a region in which the nip-forming member slides on the inner surface of the film. The roughened surface portion has a skewness Rsk satisfying: Rsk<0.
US08811871B2 Fixing device and image forming apparatus using the same
Provided are a fixing device and an image forming apparatus provided with the same, which prevent the winding of a small paper having a light weight on a fixing belt, and also prevents paper blockage and paper curling. A detachment angle, which is defined by a tangent line of a fixing roller and a paper conveying direction at a paper exit point of a fixing nip portion where the fixing roller and a pressing roller pressure-contact with each other, is kept at 23 degrees or more, and a sheet of paper passes through the fixing nip portion, and a setting temperature of the pressing roller is increased step by step in accordance with the number of the sheet of paper by a heater lamp provided in an inside of the pressing roller.
US08811868B2 Fusing unit and image forming apparatus employing the same
A fusing unit and an image forming apparatus, the fusing unit includes: a fusing frame which is grounded to the image forming apparatus when mounted in the image forming apparatus; a heating member which includes a release layer contacting the print medium and a heat transfer layer provided within the release layer, grounded to the fusing frame, and transfers heat from a heat source provided therein to a print medium passing a predetermined fusing nip; a supporting member which rotatably supports the heating member; a pressure roller, forms the fusing nip between the pressure roller and the heating member, presses the print medium passing the fusing nip and includes a conductive material; and a discharging member includes an end part which contacts the print medium passing the fusing nip, and discharges static electricity from the print medium.
US08811859B2 Developer container, development device, process unit, and image forming apparatus
A developer container includes a container body in which a developer containing chamber and a discharge outlet are formed, a developer conveyance member disposed inside the developer containing chamber and including a first conveyance portion and a second conveyance portion downstream from the first conveyance portion in a developer conveyance director, a canopy disposed inside the container body and facing the discharge outlet, a developer conveyance chamber defined by the canopy and an inner face of the container body in which the discharge outlet is formed, and a return opening formed in the canopy downstream from the discharge outlet. A developer conveyance velocity (Q2) of the second conveyance portion of the developer conveyance member to transports the developer toward the return opening is slower than a developer conveyance velocity (Q1) of the first conveyance portion of the developer conveyance member.
US08811854B2 Developing apparatus having a magnetic seal
A developing apparatus includes a developing container for accommodating developer including magnetic particles, a developer carrying member, rotatably provided in the developing container, for carrying the developer to a region where the developer carrying member is opposed to image bearing member, and a magnet stationarily provided in the developer carrying member, having a pair of magnetic poles of the same polarity adjacent to each other in a circumferential direction of the developer carrying member. In addition, a magnet member extends at each of longitudinal end portions of the developer carrying member within a circumferential range opposed to and between a half-peak width zone of one of the magnetic poles and a half-peak width zone of the other one of the magnetic poles. A side of the magnet member opposed to the developer carrying member is magnetized only to a polarity which is the same as the polarity of the pair of magnetic poles.
US08811850B2 Fixing device and image forming apparatus including the same
A fixing device includes an auxiliary duct. The auxiliary duct is provided between a cover member attached to a coil bobbin so as to cover a magnetic core and a coil, and a core holder provided opposing to the coil bobbin, to which the magnetic core is attached. The auxiliary duct communicates with an intake hole provided at one end in a longitudinal direction of the cover member, and has opening holes overlapping with some of holder opening portions formed on the core holder. The fixing device causes air to flow into between the core holder and the coil bobbin via the auxiliary duct and the holder opening portions from the intake hole, and discharges the air warmed by heat of the coil from an exhaust hole formed at the other end of the cover member, thereby adjusting the flowing amount of air in a longitudinal direction of the coil.
US08811844B2 Image forming device equipped with cleaning time determination unit
An image forming device, comprising: a recovering member that is provided for the at least one photosensitive body and recovers adhered substances adhered to the at least one photosensitive body; a belt cleaner that removes the adhered substances adhered to the transfer belt; a cleaning process execution unit that executes a cleaning process in which the adhered substances are transferred from the recovering member to the transfer belt via the at least one photosensitive body; a use amount calculation unit that divides a developer image for transferring to the sheet-like medium into a plurality of areas in a main scanning direction so as to calculate a developer use amount in each of the plurality of areas; and a cleaning time determination unit that determines a time for which the cleaning process is executed, based on a maximum value of the developer use amounts of the plurality of areas.
US08811843B2 Image forming apparatus for forming toner image on recording medium
An image forming apparatus for performing a copier job and a printer job includes a controller operatively connected to a fixing rotary body heater and a pressing rotary body heater to control the fixing rotary body heater and the pressing rotary body heater. The controller activates a standby mode after the copier job and the printer job are finished in which the controller turns off at least the fixing rotary body heater and a subsequent off mode in which the controller turns off the pressing rotary body heater and the fixing rotary body heater, and identifies which of the copier job and the printer job is to be performed to turn on and off the pressing rotary body heater in the standby mode according to the identified job.
US08811842B2 Fixing device and image forming apparatus
The fixing device using an electromagnetic induction heating (IH) method includes a fixing sleeve having a heating layer, a pressure roller to form a nip while contacting the fixing roller and rotate to drive the fixing sleeve, a temperature detector to detect a temperature on a circumference of the fixing sleeve, and an excitation coil provided near the fixing sleeve and configured to perform induction heating of the heating layer of the fixing sleeve based on the detection result from the temperature detector. The fixing device is configured to change a rotation speed of the fixing sleeve in a standby time during which the fixing sleeve, while rotating, is controlled to be heated so as to maintain a target temperature when a periodic temperature difference occurs on a circumference of the fixing rotary member and having a fluctuation amplitude larger than a predetermined value compared to the target temperature.
US08811838B2 Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same
A fixing device includes a protected object disposed opposite an outer circumferential surface of a pressing rotary body and upstream from a fixing nip formed between the pressing rotary body and a fixing rotary body in a direction of rotation of the pressing rotary body; a stationary duct disposed upstream from the protected object in the direction of rotation of the pressing rotary body, the stationary duct including a blowoff outlet disposed opposite the outer circumferential surface of the pressing rotary body through which airflow impinges on the outer circumferential surface of the pressing rotary body; and a shield interposed between the blowoff outlet of the stationary duct and the protected object in the direction of rotation of the pressing rotary body to protect the protected object against airflow from the blowoff outlet.
US08811836B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a control portion. The control portion determines a developer near end when the residual amount of a developer is in a range from a first predetermined amount to a second predetermined amount, and determines a developer end when the residual amount of the developer is equal to or lower than the second predetermined amount. Besides, in a case where the control portion determines the developer end after a predetermined number of printings are executed in a developer near end state, the control portion supplies the developer from a developer supply device to a development device via a first supply opening, and in a case where the control portion determines the developer end after more than the predetermined number of printings are executed, the control portion supplies the developer from the developer supply device to the development device via a second supply opening.
US08811835B2 Image forming apparatus with residual toner detection
Provided is an image forming apparatus, including: a developing unit which develops, with a developer, an electrostatic latent image formed on an image bearing member based on image data; a replenishing unit which replenishes the developing unit with the developer; a detecting unit which detects presence/absence of the developer in the replenishing unit; a counting unit which counts a number of dots according to the image data; a calculating unit which calculates an integrated value of the number of dots; and a control unit which performs a determination process of determining the presence/absence of the developer based on a detection result of the detecting unit, and which stops an image forming operation in a case where the control unit determines that the developer is present and that the integrated value exceeds a predetermined value.
US08811833B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a developing device, a detection mode execution unit, and a notice signal generating unit. The developing device supplies a toner bearing member with toner in a container by rotating a toner supply member in a contact manner with the toner bearing member. The detection mode execution unit executes a detection mode in which a predetermined period for changing a toner amount in the foam layer by rotating the toner supply member is provided, a capacitance C1 between the first and second electrode members is detected before the predetermined period, and a capacitance C2 between the first and second electrode members is detected after the predetermined period. The notice signal generating unit generates a low toner amount notice signal in response to an absolute value |C1−C2| of a difference between the capacitances C1 and C2 being smaller than a predetermined threshold.
US08811830B2 Multi-channel optical waveguide receiver
A multi-channel optical waveguide receiver includes an optical input port; an optical branching unit; light-receiving elements having bias electrodes and signal electrodes; optical waveguides being optically coupled between the optical branching unit and the light-receiving elements; capacitors electrically connected between the bias electrodes and a reference potential, the capacitors and the bias electrodes being connected through interconnection patterns; and a signal amplifier including input electrodes. The optical branching unit, the light-receiving elements, the optical waveguides, and the capacitors are formed on a single substrate, the substrate having an edge extending in a first direction. The signal amplifier and the substrate are arranged in a second direction crossing the first direction. The input electrodes and the signal electrodes are arranged along the edge of the substrate. Each of the signal electrodes of the light-receiving elements is electrically connected through a bonding wire to the input electrode.
US08811822B2 System and method for selection of ghost channels for mitigating polarization hole burning
A system and method for selecting ghost channels in an optical communication system, including components configured to examine an optical communication channel within a node of the optical communication system, examine a neighbor channel of the optical communication channel, determine whether using the neighbor channel as a ghost channel will create an undesirable level of risk of feedback within the optical communication system, if using the neighbor channel as a ghost channel will not create an undesirable level of risk of feedback, determine whether the neighbor channel is currently used as a ghost channel, and if the neighbor channel is not currently used as a ghost channel, select the neighbor channel as a ghost channel.
US08811817B2 Optical signal transmission device, optical signal reception device, wavelength division multiplexing optical communication device, and wavelength path system
Restrictions, due to wavelength paths which are non-alternative combinations of wavelengths and paths, are solved. An optical-signal-transmission device comprises M optical-output means outputting optical signals having different wavelengths; optical-switch means having M input ports respectively connected to the optical-output means and output ports, and switching connections between the input ports and the output ports; and wavelength-multiplexing means having M acceptance ports respectively connected to the output ports, N forward ports switchably connected to the acceptance ports corresponding to wavelengths of optical signals inputted to the acceptance ports and transmitting multiplexed-optical signals corresponding to the optical signals accepted by the acceptance ports, wherein when Y particular input ports of the input ports are connected to one particular output port of the output ports, the switch means combines Y optical signals inputted to the particular input ports to generate a combined signal, and outputs the combined signal to the particular output port.
US08811814B2 Method and system for camera module alignment
Described herein is a system and method for camera module alignment. A camera module comprises a terminal block and an endcap with a connector shroud. The terminal block includes flexible terminal legs connected to a circuit board and terminal pins for connection with an external connector through the connector shroud. The terminal block includes alignment ribs and an endcap includes alignment pockets. Placement of the alignment ribs into the alignment pockets flexes the flexible terminal legs, moves the terminal block across the circuit board surface and aligns the terminal pins for connection with the external connector through the connector shroud.
US08811813B2 Electronic device
First and second magnets are provided in a movable unit that is coupled with a body, the movable unit being rotatable with respect to the body around a first axis and a second axis that is substantially perpendicular to the first axis. First and second magnetic-field sensors are provided in the body. Based on output signals of the first and second magnetic-field sensors, control is performed in accordance with a state of the movable unit with respect to the body.
US08811810B2 Monitoring camera and operation method thereof
A monitoring camera and an operation method thereof are provided. The monitoring camera includes a light sensor, a voltage comparing unit and a reference voltage generating unit. The light sensor senses an environment brightness of the monitoring camera and generates an induced current accordingly. The voltage comparing unit generates a sensing voltage according to the induced current and compares the sensing voltage and a reference voltage to obtain a first comparison result, so that the monitoring camera can determine whether to perform at least one of a plurality of mode switching operations according to the first comparison result. The reference voltage generating unit outputs the first reference voltage and determines whether to reduce the first reference voltage according to the first comparison result.
US08811808B2 Camera lens assembly
A camera lens assembly comprising a lens assembly housing and a compound lens and a motion sensor arrangement within the lens assembly housing, wherein the motion sensor arrangement comprises: angular rotation sensors configured to detect angular rotation about three orthogonal axes of rotation; and linear acceleration sensors configured to detect linear acceleration in three orthogonal directions.
US08811807B2 Boiler for a machine for making hot beverages
A boiler for use in a machine for making hot beverages includes a heat diffuser with a first wall destined to be placed in contact with the liquid to be heated and a second wall opposite first wall, heating element consisting of at least one serigraphed or photo-engraved resistance arranged on second wall of heat diffuser and defining a pattern formed of at least on resistive track, a body which with first wall of heat diffuser defines a heating chamber inside which the liquid is to be heated. It also includes a bearing element shaped to bear on second wall of heat diffuser on at least one zone, the resistive track(s) being arranged on either side of the zone so that the bearing element receives at least part of the force transmitted by the liquid to heat diffuser and resulting from the pressurizing of liquid in the heating chamber.
US08811806B2 Power supply arrangement for direct electrical heating of a pipeline system
In a power supply arrangement for supplying electrical power to the pipeline, the power supply arrangement for direct electrical heating of a pipeline system has basically a three phase transformer, a symmetrization unit, and a compensation unit. The three phase transformer is adapted to support a single phase load connected between a first and a second phase of the transformer. The transformer has at least one first tap changer at a high voltage side of the transformer. The symmetrization unit has a first capacitor connected between the first phase and a third phase of the transformer and an inductor connected between the second phase and the third phase of the transformer. The compensation unit has a second capacitor connected between the first phase and the second phase of the transformer. The first tap changer, the first capacitor, the second capacitor and the inductor are adapted to be varied on-load.
US08811805B2 System and method for distributed trick play resolution using user preferences
Distributed trick play resolution in a distributed video viewing group network includes determining trick play preferences for each of a plurality of peer nodes in the distributed video viewing group network with respect to a video item. Conflicting trick play preferences between the peer nodes is determined based on one or more of a group consisting of: user rankings, user voting, trick play ranking, and owner resolution. The determined conflicting trick play preferences are resolved.
US08811804B2 Methods and systems for reducing moving image data volume while maintaining luminance data of the moving image
A moving image reproducing apparatus includes a moving image obtaining part which obtains first moving image data having, luminance data representing luminance of an image, and color data representing color of the image, a color data reduction part which generates second moving image data having the same luminance data as the luminance data of the first moving image data and color data whose data volume is reduced, by reducing a data volume of the color data of the first moving image data, a moving image generation part which generates third moving image data for moving image display, on the basis of the second moving image data, and a moving image output part which outputs the third moving image data.
US08811800B2 Metadata editing apparatus, metadata reproduction apparatus, metadata delivery apparatus, metadata search apparatus, metadata re-generation condition setting apparatus, metadata delivery method and hint information description method
Multimedia content containing moving pictures and audio is divided into multiple scenes and metadata is generated for each of the scenes obtained as a result of the division. It is possible to generate metadata containing scene structure information metadata that describes the hierarchical structure of the content in addition to scene section information and titles. Also, a name or an identifier of each descriptor contained in the metadata is described as hint information for manipulation of metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content.
US08811797B2 Switching between time order and popularity order sending of video segments
In an embodiment, if a number of segments of a video in a buffer after a buffer position is less than a play threshold, then a first plurality of segments is sent into the buffer in time order; and if the number of the segments in the buffer at the buffer position is not less than the play threshold, a second plurality of segments is sent to the buffer in popularity order, wherein the second plurality of segments are stored into the buffer in time order.
US08811794B2 Systems and methods of processing fulfillment of transactions involving celebrities and networked users
Systems and methods are disclosed for processing transactions and associated data. In one exemplary implementation, there is provided a method for processing information associated with transactions involving a product, wherein the product may comprise an experience, a physical product, and/or a digital product. Moreover, illustrative methods may include performing processing associated with a plurality of subroutines, such as a first subroutine for handling an experience, a second subroutine for handling a physical product and/or a digital product, and/or one or more additional subroutines associated with fulfillment.
US08811792B2 Optical cable connector
Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed for interconnecting two optical fibers using a protective insert, wherein the protective insert includes a connective segment that provides optical communication connection between the two optical fibers. Furthermore the protective insert includes two attachment mechanisms adjacent to the connective segment with each of the two attachment mechanisms adapted to removably attach one of the two optical fibers to the connective segment. Such a protective insert may be implemented inside a network interface device (NID) or with a wall-plate to be installed inside customer premises in a manner that allows a customer to easily interconnect a home network cable to an optical network terminal.
US08811790B2 Method for manufacturing an optical waveguide, optical waveguide, and sensor arrangement
A method for manufacturing an optical waveguide, in which a waveguide structure including a waveguide layer of ZnS—SiO2 is deposited on a first layer, wherein a first refractive index of the first layer is lower than the refractive index of the waveguide layer. A sensor arrangement includes a planar optical waveguide, a light source, a sensor, an application unit for applying an analyte on top of the planar waveguide and a processor connected to the sensor.
US08811787B2 Multicore optical fiber with reduced inter-core crosstalk
Various apparatus and methods for reducing inter-core crosstalk in a multicore optical fiber are disclosed. A multicore optical fiber may include a plurality of cores capable of transmitting optical signals, and a cladding surrounding the cores, the cladding having a heterogeneous refractive index such that the optical signals propagate at different velocities in different ones of the cores. A multicore optical fiber may include a first length including cores having heterogeneous modal velocities and a second length, adjacent to the first length, including cores having heterogeneous modal velocities, and the cores in the first length are aligned with cores in the second length having a different modal velocity. Inter-core cross talk in a multicore optical fiber may also be reduced by transmitting optical signals through cores of a multicore optical fiber and pumping light into the cores to create unequal modal velocities in the cores.
US08811774B1 Super resolution using an interpretive scaler
A method of generating an initial high resolution frame includes receiving at least two low resolution frames of an image at a processor, wherein the low resolution frames have a resolution lower than the high resolution frame, using one or more low resolution frames to interpolate a high resolution frame using an interpretive scaler, wherein the interpolation adapts to the contours of the image, and using the initial high resolution frame and the low resolution frame in an iterative super resolution process.
US08811770B2 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and storage medium
An image processing apparatus specifies, based on a reference image out of a plurality of images and a plurality of comparative images out of the plurality of images, a difference region, in each of the plurality of comparative images, including an object subjected to combination corresponding to a difference from a reference image, determines, based on a plurality of difference regions specified in the plurality of comparative images, an object region corresponding to an object included in the reference image, and combines, based on the determined object region in the reference image and the plurality of difference regions in the plurality of comparative images, with the reference image, the objects subjected to combination included in the plurality of difference regions so that an object corresponding to the object region is included in the reference image with which the plurality of difference regions are combined.
US08811768B2 Image enhancement system and method
A method and system for imaging information comprising at least one processor for processing information; a light source for illuminating first and second locations; a spatial receiver located at the second location for receiving the illuminating light comprising an array of pixel locations for detecting high resolution spatial information concerning the illuminating light; the spatial receiver being operatively connected, to the at least one processor and operating to transmit high resolution spatial information correlated to specific intervals of time to the processor; the at least one receiver operatively connected to the processor(s) and operative to receive light reflected from a subject and operating to transmit low resolution spatial information to the processor correlated to specific intervals of time; the processor operating to correlate a response by the at least one receiver with spatial information derived from the spatial receiver at correlating time intervals to create a high resolution image.
US08811766B2 Perceptual block masking estimation system
Systems and methods are disclosed for determining the perceptibility of noise in a block of images and/or video. The systems and methods may compute a mask value for the block using a block masking generator. The mask value may indicate the perceptibility of noise in the block. The mask value may be computed using a normalized activity value and/or a texture value for the block. The normalized activity value may indicate the relative activity in the block as compared to the activity in the image and/or video. The texture value may indicate the strength and/or number of edges in the block.
US08811764B1 System and method for scene dependent multi-band blending
Systems and methods for generating a composite image from a plurality of source images using a scene dependent multi-band blending operation are provided. The multi-band blending operation implements a filtering operation to reduce blending between objects or surfaces that have natural color and/or brightness differences. More particularly, the typical space invariant upsampling that occurs during multi-band blending can be replaced by a scene dependent filtering operation during upsampling that omits or reduces contributions from pixels associated with different objects in a scene during the multi-band blending process. The scene dependent filtering can be based on scene dependent data, such as height data or slope data, which can be used to identify different objects in a scene.
US08811763B2 Method and system for producing image frames using quantum properties
A system and method for generating a series of frames of a subject comprising measuring light reflected from the subject into at least one first receiver at first points in time; receiving spatial information relating to the light source illumination independent of interaction with the subject at second points in time into at least one second receiver, at least some of second points occurring before or after the first points in time; transmitting a measured value from the at least one first receiver to a processor; transmitting the spatial information relating to the light source illumination from a second receiver to a processor; correlating the measured values from the at least one first receiver at the first points in time with the spatial information derived from the at least one second receiver at the corresponding second points in time; and creating frames of a subject.
US08811757B2 Multi-pass video noise filtering
A method of noise filtering of a digital video sequence is provided that includes computing a motion image for a frame, wherein the motion image includes a motion value for each pixel in the frame, and wherein the motion values are computed as differences between pixel values in a luminance component of the frame and corresponding pixel values in a luminance component of a reference frame, applying a first spatial noise filter to the motion image to obtain a final motion image, computing a blending factor image for the frame, wherein the blending factor image includes a blending factor for each pixel in the frame, and wherein the blending factors are computed based on corresponding motion values in the final motion image, generating a filtered frame, wherein the blending factors are applied to corresponding pixel values in the reference frame and the frame, and outputting the filtered frame.
US08811756B2 Image compression
Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for image compression are provided. Embodiments include: examining, by an image controller, contextual data of a plurality of uncompressed images; selecting from the plurality of uncompressed images, by the image controller, a group of uncompressed images that have related contextual data; designating, by the image controller, one of the selected images to be a reference image; creating, by the image controller, delta images, each delta image representing differences between the reference image and one of the uncompressed images; and compressing and storing, by the image controller, the reference image and each of the delta images.
US08811755B2 Detecting recurring events in consumer image collections
A method of detecting recurring events in a digital image collection taken over a pre-determined period of time is disclosed. The method uses a processor for analyzing the digital image collection to produce a two-dimensional representation of the distribution of image capture activity over time and detecting recurring events by identifying spatial clusters in the two-dimensional representation.
US08811751B1 Method and system for correcting projective distortions with elimination steps on multiple levels
Method, system, device and computer program product for projective correction of an image containing at least one text portion that is distorted by perspective. The method includes the steps of image binarization, connected component analysis, horizontal vanishing point determination, vertical vanishing point determination and projective correction. The horizontal vanishing point is determined by estimating text baselines by means of position determining pixels of pixel blobs, identifying horizontal vanishing point candidates from the baselines, and determining a horizontal vanishing point from the candidates. The vertical vanishing point is determined on the basis of vertical features of the text portion. The method includes a first elimination step on the level of position determining pixels, a second elimination step on the level of text baselines and a third elimination step on the level of horizontal vanishing point candidates.
US08811749B1 Determining correspondence between image regions
Determining correspondence between image regions includes identifying first and second regions of visual content including pixels in a computer system. The first region includes a first patch of pixels having a first mapping to a second patch of pixels in the second region. Iterative evaluations of the first and second regions are performed, each including at least (i) a first evaluation phase selecting a best mapping for the first patch, according to a distance metric, the best mapping selected from among the first mapping and a second mapping obtained from mappings of nearby pixels, and (ii) a second evaluation phase selecting one of the best mapping and a third mapping obtained by perturbing the second mapping. A result of the iterative evaluations is recorded in the computer system that indicates a third patch of pixels in the second region identified in the iterative evaluations.
US08811743B2 Resource-aware computer vision
The described implementations relate to computer vision. In one case image data is received. Resource constraints associated with processing the image data are evaluated. Further, a visual recognition and detection processing strategy is selected for the image data based at least in part on the evaluated resource constraints.
US08811741B2 Differentiated processing method of image zones
A method for improving the perception of an image may include performing a main separation of the pixels of the image into two categories, one corresponding to pixels of a flat zone, and the other corresponding to pixels of a textured zone. The method may also include processing the pixels of each category according to a method optimized according to the type of zone. Before the main separation step, a preliminary separation of the pixels may be performed into one category of normal pixels intended for the main separation step, and one category of singular pixels, with the criterion for selecting the singular pixels being adapted to identify pixels that would be wrongly identified as pixels of a textured zone. The singular pixels may then be processed according to a method adapted to their nature.
US08811740B1 Automatic color correction
Methods, systems and computer program products for automatic color correction of image and video content are provided. A computer-implemented method may include generating an auto-level linear transform and a histogram equalization transform of a color distribution histogram for an original image among a set of sequential images. The auto-level linear transform and the histogram equalization transform are blended to create a modified image. Pixel color is adjusted in the modified image so that a color difference between a pixel and neighboring pixels in the modified image corresponds to a color difference between respective pixels in the original image.
US08811737B2 Method and apparatus for block based image compression with multiple non-uniform block encodings
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method and apparatus for block based image compression with multiple non-uniform block encodings. In one embodiment, an image is divided into blocks of pixels. In one embodiment the blocks are four pixels by four pixels, but other block sizes are used in other embodiments. In one embodiment, a block of pixels in the original image is compressed using two different methods to produce a first and second compressed block. Thus, each block in the original image is represented by two, typically different, compressed blocks. In one embodiment, color associated with a pixel is determined by combining the compressed information about the pixel in the first compressed block with information about the pixel in the second compressed block. In another embodiment, global information about the image is combined with the information in the first and second compressed blocks.
US08811736B2 Efficient content compression and decompression system and method
A content compression/compression system and method are disclosed in which a pre-processing step is performed before any compression and a post-processing step is performed once a compressed piece of content is decompressed.
US08811734B2 Color determination device, color determination system, color determination method, information recording medium, and program
In a color determination device (101) that determines a correspondence relationship between a character string indicating a color and the color indicated by the character string, a character string receiver (102) receives input of a character string; an image retriever (103) retrieves for an image relating to the received character string and obtains a plurality of images as a result of the image retrieval; a degree acquirer (104) represents, with a predetermined accuracy, colors appearing in the plurality of respective images and acquires degrees at which the colors represented with the predetermined accuracy appear in the plurality of images; and a color determiner (105) determines a color indicated by the received character string from the colors represented with the predetermined accuracy on the basis of the acquired degrees.
US08811730B1 Method and apparatus for selectively using quantized pixel fields of neighboring pixels to process a target pixel
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method comprising accessing a first pixel that is neighboring to a second pixel of an image, the first pixel including a plurality of color fields, each color field of the plurality of color fields associated with a respective color plane, wherein the second pixel is to be processed as a target pixel; quantizing the plurality of color fields to generate a corresponding plurality of quantized color fields, wherein said quantizing the plurality of color fields is based on a contribution of individual color planes of the plurality of color planes towards an intensity of the image; and processing the target pixel based at least in part on the plurality of quantized color fields. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US08811729B2 Illuminant estimation
In a method of chromagenic illuminant estimation pixels from mutually-corresponding images with different filtering are compared, a fraction of the brightest pixels being selected for a subsequent chromagenic estimation. The pixels may be at corresponding locations or they may correspond in that their mean brightness is in the same rank order. In one method, in which, in a first preprocessing stage, for a database of m lights Ei(λ) and n surfaces Sj(λ) there is calculated Ti˜QFQ+ where Q1F and QF represent the matrices of unfiltered and filtered sensor responses to the n surfaces under the i th light and + denotes an inverse, and in a second operation stage, given P surfaces in an image and 3×P matrices Q and QF, from these matrices there are chosen the r % brightest pixels giving the matrices Q′ and Q′F, and the scene illuminant Pest is estimated where formula (I) and (II).
US08811723B2 User input utilizing dual line scanner apparatus and method
A user input method and apparatus may comprise a two line object imaging sensor having a primary line scan-sensor providing a primary line scan-sensor output and a secondary line scan-sensor providing a secondary line scan-sensor output, representing pixels in a current primary scan row and a current secondary scan row, and adapted to scan an object; storing for each scan time each current primary line scan-sensor output and each current secondary line scan-sensor output and a correlation unit correlating at least one of the current representations of pixels in a primary line sensor output with stored representations and the current representations of pixels in a secondary line sensor output with stored representations and, the correlation unit providing as an output a motion indicator.
US08811719B2 Inferring spatial object descriptions from spatial gestures
Three-dimensional (3-D) spatial image data may be received that is associated with at least one arm motion of an actor based on free-form movements of at least one hand of the actor, based on natural gesture motions of the at least one hand. A plurality of sequential 3-D spatial representations that each include 3-D spatial map data corresponding to a 3-D posture and position of the hand at sequential instances of time during the free-form movements may be determined, based on the received 3-D spatial image data. An integrated 3-D model may be generated, via a spatial object processor, based on incrementally integrating the 3-D spatial map data included in the determined sequential 3-D spatial representations and comparing a threshold time value with model time values indicating numbers of instances of time spent by the hand occupying a plurality of 3-D spatial regions during the free-form movements.
US08811714B2 Method, apparatus and medium for determining the intensity distribution formed on a pupil plane of an illumination optical system
The present invention provides a determination method of determining a light intensity distribution to be formed on a pupil plane of an illumination optical system in an exposure apparatus, the method including a step of setting a cutline used to evaluate an image of a pattern of a mask, which is formed on an image plane of a projection optical system, and a target position of the image, and a step of determining an intensity of an element light source such that the position of a midpoint between edges of the image of the pattern of the mask on the cutline from a calculated image comes close to the target position, thereby determining the light intensity distribution.
US08811711B2 Recognizing financial document images
Embodiments of the invention are directed to methods, apparatus systems and computer program products that provide for using real-time video analysis for recognizing financial document images by capturing a real-time video stream using a mobile device, wherein the video stream features one or more financial documents, analyzing and correlating the images in the real-time video stream to the images necessary to process the financial document, providing notice to a user of additional images needed to process the financial document and communicating the information associated with the financial document to a financial institution to complete a transaction once sufficient images of the financial document have been captured to process the financial document.
US08811707B2 System and method for distributed processing of tomographic images
A system and method for distributed and coordinated image processing of tomographic images utilizing processors on a medical imaging device and a separate workstation is disclosed. The system includes an image acquisition device to acquire image data of a subject and an image processor to receive the image data therefrom. The image processor is programmed to reconstruct initial images of a region-of-interest (ROI) from the image data, identify initial images on which to perform image correction, and generate an image correction request for the images identified for image correction, with the image correction request specifying a processing operation to be performed on the respective images. The image processor is further programmed to transfer the reconstructed initial images to a separate workstation that automatically initiates the image correction upon verifying a presence of an image correction request on the initial images so as to generate corrected images.
US08811704B2 Method of and system for enhanced dynamic range assay analysis
The disclosed systems and methods allow composite images with enhanced dynamic range to be generated that result in more accurate, reliable, and efficient chemical and/or biological analyses. The disclosed systems include an image detector; a timer for tracking exposure time of the image detector; and computer readable medium, including instructions that when executed cause a computer system to generate a composite image using the multiple images of pixels.
US08811703B2 Perfusion imaging
A method includes determining a plausibility of one or more perfusion parameter maps generated based on perfusion image data and correcting at least one of the perfusion parameter maps when the plausibility for the at least one perfusion parameter map does not satisfy pre-set perfusion parameter plausibility criteria.
US08811702B2 Optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus, optical coherence tomographic imaging method, program for executing the optical coherence tomographic imaging method, and storage medium having the program stored thereon
In order to perform accurate evaluation for enhanced depth imaging (EDI) in which a tomographic image of a retina has a low luminance value in large part, provided is an optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus for acquiring an image of an object to be inspected by irradiating the object to be inspected with measuring light and causing return light from the object to be inspected to interfere with reference light, the optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus including: a unit for setting an imaging parameter of the image; a unit for selecting an image quality evaluation index in accordance with the imaging parameter; a unit for acquiring an image characteristic amount from the acquired image in accordance with the set imaging parameter; and a unit for evaluating image quality of the image based on the image characteristic amount and the image quality evaluation index.
US08811700B2 Exact local computed tomography based on compressive sampling
A system and method for tomographic image reconstruction using truncated projection data that allows exact interior reconstruction (interior tomography) of a region of interest (ROI) based on the known sparsity models of the ROI, thereby improving image quality while reducing radiation dosage. In addition, the method includes parallel interior tomography using multiple sources beamed at multiple angles through an ROI and that enables higher temporal resolution.
US08811699B2 Detection of landmarks and key-frames in cardiac perfusion MRI using a joint spatial-temporal context model
A method including receiving an image sequence, wherein the image sequence includes a plurality of two-dimensional (2D) image frames of an organ arranged in a time sequence; constructing a three-dimensional (3D) volume by stacking a plurality of the 2D image frames in time order; detecting a best bounding box for a target of interest in the 3D volume, wherein the best bounding box is specified by a plurality of parameters including spatial and temporal information contained in the 3D volume; and determining the target of interest from the best bounding box.
US08811698B2 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and computer-readable recording medium
An image processing apparatus includes: a gradient information calculating unit that calculates gradient information of each of pixels, based on pixel values of an intraluminal image; a closed region creating unit that, based on the gradient information, creates a closed region satisfying a condition where the closed region does not include, on the inside thereof, any pixel of which the gradient strength is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and also, the boundary of the closed region does not curve toward the interior of the closed region, with a curvature equal to or larger than a predetermined value; and an abnormal part detecting unit that detects an abnormal part from the inside of the closed region.
US08811693B2 Method and system for indicating a feeding vessel of a malformation in a medical image
A method and a system for indicating a feeding vessel of a malformation in a medical image are provided. The method first displays the medical image of the malformation and its surrounding vessels. This enables a manual selects a portion of the displayed medical image with reference to the tumor. The feeding vessel of the tumor is segmented and finally indicated in the medical image based on said manual selection.
US08811687B2 Natural media in digital representations
According to embodiments of the invention, there is provided a computer program product, a method, and a system to clean an image produced by the system. A digital canvas representation of an initial condition is produced. A set of real-time digital information is captured to form an unconstrained digital representation of the set of real-time digital information. A constraining digital mask based on the digital canvas representation of the initial condition is applied to the unconstrained digital representation of the set of real-time digital information to form a constrained digital representation of the set of real-time digital information. The constrained digital representation of the set of real-time data is stored, allowing an application program to use the constrained representation of the real-time data.
US08811684B2 Image recognition method
The present invention provides an image recognition method for recognizing a plurality of objects in an image, wherein each object is composed of a plurality of image segments. The image recognition method includes the steps of: sequentially acquiring every pixel of the image; identifying a start point of a newly detected image segment; recording information of the newly detected image segment pixel-by-pixel from the start point; identifying an end point of the newly detected image segment; recognizing an object to which the newly detected image segment belongs according to the start point and the end point of the newly detected image segment; and identifying an invalid object or a merged object thereby releasing the data space thereof.
US08811683B2 Automatic red-eye repair using multiple recognition channels
This disclosure pertains to apparatuses, methods, and computer readable media for automatic red-eye repair using multiple recognition channels. While it is possible to manually specify all of the eyes in an image to be repaired, it is desirable for repair to happen automatically. Since red-eye repair algorithms are dependent upon knowing the image position and size of each artifact to be repaired, in an automatic repair mode, the algorithm must be directed as to where the repair should be applied. Face detection is one way to determine eye positions and the interocular distance (IOD) with some degree of certainty. In some embodiments, red, golden, and white recognition channels may be used to locate and determine the type of the artifacts. Once an artifact has been characterized by, e.g., type, size, and location, the techniques disclosed herein may then repair the artifact, replacing it with a photographically reasonable result.
US08811680B2 Compact biometric authentication device and associated methodology of imaging and detecting living-tissue patterns
The apparatus enables biometric authentication without the risk of forgery or the like and enables living-tissue discrimination. The roughness distribution pattern of deep-layer tissue of the skin covered with epidermal tissue is detected, thereby extracting a unique pattern of the living tissue. Biometric authentication is performed based upon the detected pattern. The roughness distribution pattern of the deep-layer tissue of the skin is optically detected using difference in optical properties between the epidermal tissue and the deep-layer tissue of the skin. Long-wavelength light, e.g., near-infrared light, is used as illumination light cast onto the skin tissue. A fork structure of a subcutaneous blood vessel is used as the portion which is to be detected, for example. The portion which is to be detected is determined based upon the structure of the fork structure. The living-tissue discrimination may be made using the subcutaneous blood vessel.
US08811679B2 Digital map editing process using active contour manipulation
A method for realigning network elements in a digital map based on a new data set using active contour manipulation techniques. The active contour optimization process is controlled so that certain desirable features in the original shape of the active contour(s) are not distorted. In the case of network features which may be represented by two or more open active contours, the active contours are coupled prior to optimizing so that the original desirable shape, e.g., the parallel spacing of lanes in a dual carriageway road, may be maintained during the optimization process. In the case of certain closed active contours, for example roundabout geometries, a single closed active contour may be coupled to itself by linking its control points one-to-another and maintaining a proportional direction and distance movement during the optimizing process. As a result, data base networks can be assessed and aligned with less difficulty and geometric distortion.
US08811676B2 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and computer readable recording device
An image processing apparatus includes a distance information calculator that calculates distance information corresponding to a distance to an imaging object at each of portions in an image; a feature data calculator that calculates feature data at each portion in the image; a feature data distribution calculator that calculates a distribution of the feature data in each of regions that are classified according to the distance information in the image; a reliability determining unit that determines the reliability of the distribution of the feature data in each of the regions; and a discrimination criterion generator that generates, for each of the regions, a discrimination criterion for discriminating a specific region in the image based on a determination result of the reliability and the distribution of the feature data in each of the regions.
US08811675B2 Circular object identification system
A computer implemented method and system determines a center point of a circular object in an image. A circular object identification system identifies prospective center points of the circular object for each of multiple pixel points at a predetermined distance along a gradient direction determined for each of the pixel points, constructs an axis between the corresponding prospective center points and a corresponding pixel point, and locates prospective circumference points at predetermined angles from the constructed axis. The circular object identification system compares the gradient direction of each of the prospective circumference points with a direction defined by each of the prospective circumference points and a corresponding prospective center point to find a match, determines convergence of the gradient direction of each of the prospective circumference points to a corresponding prospective center point, and determines the center point based on resultant decision votes of each of the prospective center points.
US08811674B2 Incorporating video meta-data in 3D models
A moving object tracked within a field of view environment of a two-dimensional data feed of a calibrated video camera is represented by a three-dimensional model. An appropriate three-dimensional mesh-based volumetric model for the object is initialized by using a back-projection of a corresponding two-dimensional image. A texture of the object is projected onto the three-dimensional model, and two-dimensional tracks of the object are upgraded to three-dimensional motion to drive a three-dimensional model.
US08811671B2 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and recording medium
A processor of an image processing apparatus designates a target region. When an image is divided into a plurality of small regions which are smaller than a target region, the processor calculates a centroid obtained by weighting the central coordinates of each of the plurality of small regions by a likelihood of each of the plurality of the small regions and calculates a covariance matrix that depends on the centroid, the likelihood being based on characteristic value histograms of respective small regions inside and outside the target region. The processor detection unit detects a degree of separation according to a histogram, a likelihood, a centroid, and a covariance matrix. The processor also determines a post-update target region according to a degree of separation.
US08811669B2 Object tracking device
In an object tracking device, a search region setting unit sets the search region of an object in a frame image at a present point in time, based on an object region in a frame image at a previous point in time, zoom center coordinates in the frame image at the previous point in time, and a ratio between the zoom scaling factor of the frame image at the previous point in time and the zoom scaling factor of the frame image at the present point in time. A normalizing unit normalizes the image of a search region of the object included in the frame image at the present point in time to a fixed size. A matching unit searches the normalized mage of the search region for an object region similar to a template image.
US08811664B2 Vehicle occupancy detection via single band infrared imaging
What is disclosed is a method for vehicle occupancy detection using a single band infrared imaging system. First, an infrared image of a vehicle intended to be processed for human occupancy detection is captured using a single band infrared camera set to a predefined wavelength band. A candidate sub-image is identified within the captured image. A cumulative histogram is formed using the reflectance values of each pixel in the candidate region. A threshold reflectance value is then determined from the cumulative histogram using a pre-defined cumulative occurrence fraction value which corresponds to a value equivalent to an average sized human face. Embodiments for setting the threshold reflectance value are disclosed. Thereafter, human occupants can be distinguished in the image from the vehicle's interior by comparing pixel reflectances in the sub-image against the threshold reflectance value.
US08811663B2 Object detection in crowded scenes
Methods and systems are provided for object detection. A method includes automatically collecting a set of training data images from a plurality of images. The method further includes generating occluded images. The method also includes storing in a memory the generated occluded images as part of the set of training data images, and training an object detector using the set of training data images stored in the memory. The method additionally includes detecting an object using the object detector, the object detector detecting the object based on the set of training data images stored in the memory.
US08811661B2 Monitoring camera system, monitoring camera, and monitoring camera control apparatus
A system includes a plurality of image capturing units configured to capture an object image to generate video data, a video coding unit configured to code each of the generated video data, a measurement unit configured to measure a recognition degree representing a feature of the object from each of the generated video data, and a control unit configured to control the video coding unit to code each of the video data based on the measured recognition degree.
US08811659B2 Object detection method and apparatus
An object detection method and apparatus is provided. When an object pixel having a target pixel value is found while an image including an object is scanned at intervals of a preset number of pixels, whether or not each pixel around the object pixel has the target pixel value is sequentially determined, while spreading to pixels around the object pixel, to find an entire pixel region constituting the object and position values of the found pixels are stored. This ensures that an entire pixel region of the object is simply, easily, quickly, and correctly found.
US08811651B2 Speaker having multiple coils
A speaker enclosure has an enclosure having an open front section. A partition is formed in the enclosure. A cone is coupled to the partition, wherein an outer perimeter of the cone is unattached from the enclosure forming a gap between the outer perimeter of the cone and the enclosure. A coil assembly is coupled to the cone. A magnet unit is coupled to the cone.
US08811649B2 Ultrasonic vibrator
A mobile electronic device including a casing, a signal generator housed within the casing, for generating a signal that has a frequency higher than the human audible range, at least one speaker housed within the casing and coupled with the signal generator, for producing analog output from the signal generated by said signal generator, wherein the analog output produced by the at least one speaker is (i) substantially inaudible, and (ii) causes the casing to vibrate at a frequency approximately equal to a resonant frequency of the casing.
US08811640B2 Apparatus and method for transmitting human sound for removing interference signal
Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for transmitting human sound that cancel an interference signal generated by a non-linear property of a human body around an ear by synthesizing and transmitting a sound signal modulated by a single side band (SSB) transmission method and a carrier to one output unit and by synthesizing and transmitting the sound signal modulated by the single side band (SSB) transmission method and a carrier in which a phase of a signal is transited to the other output unit, by using two signal output units in a sound transmitting apparatus.
US08811639B2 Range control for wireless hearing assistance device systems
Disclosed herein, among other things, are apparatus and methods for wireless hearing assistance devices and in particular to a controllable range control for wireless hearing assistance device systems. An advertisement is used to allow the receiver to quickly receive streaming information, thus conserving power. In various embodiments, a system for communications with a hearing assistance device includes a wireless streaming device having a range control. The range control is configured to provide a first range for an advertisement transmission and a second range for a streaming information transmission. The first range is less than the second range, in various embodiments.
US08811637B2 Method and apparatus for detecting user activities from within a hearing assistance device using a vibration sensor
The present subject matter relates to method and apparatus for processing sound by a hearing assistance device. In one example, the present subject matter is an apparatus for processing sound for a hearing assistance device, comprising: a microphone adapted for reception of the sound and to create a sound signal relating to the sound; a transducer that produces an output voltage related to motion; a signal processor, connected to the microphone and the transducer, the signal processor adapted to process the sound signal and the output voltage, the signal processor performing a vibration detection algorithm adapted to adjust hearing assistance device settings for a detected activity; and a housing adapted to house the signal processor.
US08811636B2 Microspeaker with piezoelectric, metal and dielectric membrane
This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatus for microspeaker devices. In one aspect, a microspeaker element may include a deformable dielectric membrane that spans a speaker cavity. The deformable dielectric membrane can include a piezoactuator and a dielectric layer. Upon application of a driving signal to the piezoactuator, the dielectric layer can deflect, producing sound. In some implementations, an array of microspeaker elements can be encapsulated between a glass substrate and a cover glass. Sound generated by the microspeaker elements can be emitted through a speaker grill formed in the cover glass.
US08811632B2 Thermoacoustic device
A thermoacoustic device includes a substrate, at least two sound wave generators and at least two signal input devices. The substrate has at least two surfaces. Each of the at least two sound wave generators is located on each of the at least two surfaces. At least one of the at least two sound wave generator includes a carbon film. The carbon film includes at least one carbon nanotube layer and at least one graphene layer stacked with each other. The at least two signal input devices are configured to input signals to the at least two sound wave generator separately.
US08811626B2 Recording/reproducing apparatus
A recording/reproducing apparatus includes a plurality of unidirectional microphones and a plurality of direction indicator switches. The unidirectional microphones are each disposed in the periphery with a predetermined angle interval therebetween, whereas the direction indicator switches are able to indicate other directions other than a plurality of directions corresponding to the unidirectional microphones. In a normal reproducing mode, a plurality of audio signals which are picked up by the unidirectional microphones and subsequently recorded is read and reproduced in parallel. When any one of the direction indicator switches is operated, only the audio signal emitted in the designated direction is selectively read and reproduced. When another direction other than a plurality of directions corresponding to the unidirectional microphones is designated, audio signals picked up by two unidirectional microphones which are disposed to sandwich the designated direction is selectively read and reproduced.
US08811619B2 Encryption key management system and methods thereof
During execution of BIOS at an information handling system, a processor communicates with the storage controller via a command line protocol (CLP) communications channel. Via the channel, the processor obtains identification information for storage devices associated with the storage controller. The processor communicates the identification information to a key management client, which obtains encryption keys based on the identification information from a key management server. The processor receives the encryption keys, and communicates them to the storage controller via the CLP communications channel. The CLP communications channel thus provides a convenient and flexible interface for communication of security information prior to execution of an operating system.
US08811612B2 Using file metadata for data obfuscation
A system and method may assist in securing data for transmission to a receiving entity. Received data may include metadata associated therewith. The data may be encrypted using an encryption key encoded within selected portions of the metadata, where the selection of the selected portions is based on a scheme shared with the receiving entity. The encrypted data including the metadata may be transferred to the receiving entity. The receiving entity may decrypt the encrypted data using the selected portions of the metadata.
US08811608B2 Attack-resistant multivariate signature scheme
A cryptographic method, apparatus, and system, including selecting a first multivariate polynomial mapping, which includes first multivariate polynomial equations over first variables in a finite field, defining a second multivariate polynomial mapping, which includes at least some of the first multivariate polynomial equations and further includes second multivariate polynomial equations over the first variables together with second variables in the finite field, generating a public key based on the second multivariate polynomial mapping, and digitally signing a message, using a processor, with a digital signature that is verifiable using the public key and is generated by solving the first multivariate polynomial mapping to find respective first values of the first variables, solving a set of linear equations using the first values to find respective second values of the second variables, and applying a transform to the first and second values so as to generate a vector corresponding to the digital signature, wherein the second values are chosen so that a predefined group of elements of the vector will be zero. Related methods, apparatus, and systems are also described.
US08811603B2 Echo canceler circuit and method
An echo canceler circuit (10) and method attenuates at least post-echo canceler uplink data (90) to produce attenuated uplink data (100) in response to uplink echo return loss based attenuation data (40). The echo canceler circuit (10) includes an echo return loss based attenuation data generator (20) and at least an uplink data attenuator (30). The echo return loss based attenuation data generator (20) produces the uplink echo return loss based attenuation data (40) in response to echo return loss data (70). The echo return loss data (70) is based on at least one of: attenuated downlink data (50), pre-echo canceler uplink data (60), and/or amplifier gain data (80). The uplink data attenuator (30) attenuates the post-echo canceler uplink data (90) to produce attenuated uplink data (100) based on the uplink echo return loss based attenuation data (40).
US08811600B2 Optimizing the transmit power spectrum density (PSD) of a remotely deployed line to ensure spectral compatibility
An apparatus comprising a transmitter at a digital subscriber line (DSL) Cabinet configured to transmit a downstream signal in a subscriber line according to a power spectral density (PSD) configuration, wherein the PSD configuration comprises a cutoff frequency based on a required data-rate of the subscriber line. Also included is an apparatus comprising at least one processor configured to implement a method comprising determining a downstream PSD for a PSD mask for a DSL, determining a cutoff frequency for the PSD profile based on a data-rate required for the DSL, and adjusting a downstream signal power on the DSL according to the PSD mask. Included is a method comprising configuring a plurality of transmitted PSDs for a plurality of Exchange deployed lines and Cabinet deployed lines by varying a plurality of cutoff frequencies corresponding to the transmitted PSDs, wherein the cutoff frequencies are varied by line, with time, or both.
US08811598B2 Scheduling an agent based on a contact center history
When a customer communicates with a contact center, a history of the communication is stored. The communication from the customer can be in various media, such as a voice call, a video call, an email, an Instant Message (IM), a text message, and/or a blog posting. The history includes a context such as a reason for the communication and a time of the communication. The history of the communication is used to determine a pattern of the communication based on the context. Using the pattern, a time that the customer will communicate with the contact center is predicted. An agent associated with the customer is scheduled to be available at the predicted time. The predicted time can also be based on future events such as a product release or an event such as a political event, a sports event, and/or a convention.
US08811592B1 Script compliance using speech recognition and compilation and transmission of voice and text records to clients
Apparatus and methods are provided for using automatic speech recognition to analyze a voice interaction and verify compliance of an agent reading a script to a client during the voice interaction. In one aspect of the invention, a communications system includes a user interface, a communications network, and a call center having an automatic speech recognition component. In other aspects of the invention, a script compliance method includes conducting a voice interaction between an agent and a client and evaluating the voice interaction with an automatic speech recognition component adapted to analyze the voice interaction and determine whether the agent has adequately followed the script. In still other aspects of the invention, respective data for specific interactions, including voice records or panels, transcribed text equivalents to such voice records or panels, and/or script text governing such voice records or panels, can be forwarded to one or more respective clients.
US08811591B2 Operating management of a call center
To check the status of an agent assigned to a call center in which geographic areas are respectively associated with geographic area identifiers (IdZ) communication terminals (TC) are respectively associated with geographic areas, a mobile terminal (TM) in possession of a monitor capable of moving within geographic areas determines the geographic area's identifier within which an agent is located. The mobile terminal transmits a request comprising the geographic area's identifier to the data management server in order to retrieve from a lookup table an identifier (IdA) of the agent associated with the geographic area's identifier, and transmits a request comprising the agent's identifier (IdA) to the call center's server (SCA) in order to retrieve from a lookup table the identifier of the agent's status data (DonA) associated with the agent's identifier (IdA), then provides the agent's status to the monitor through graphical display based on the agent's retrieved status data (DonA).
US08811574B2 Transcoding voice to/from text based on location of a communication device
A device, method, and system for routing communications to an output of a communications device, such as a mobile telephone, based on the format of an incoming communication and an output mode of the communications device is disclosed. An incoming speech communication can be delivered to a speaker output or forwarded to a format converter to create a text communication that can be delivered to a display output. An incoming text communication can be delivered to a display output or forwarded to a format converter to create a speech communication for delivery to a speaker output. The output mode of the communication device can be set according to device settings, application settings, or location of the device, or a combination thereof. The invention provides new delivery options for communications which can be inure appropriate for a location or current use of the communication device than those previously available.
US08811573B2 Method and system for verifying the status of 911 emergency telephone services
A method and system allow a subscriber to test emergency 911 telephone services routed from the subscriber's location over a network to a response center. An alternative dialing code (*911) is provided for testing, and when a call placed by a subscriber to the alternative dialing code is received in the network, the network identifies the response center to which a 911 call placed from the subscriber's location is routed. An answering device is provided with status information with respect to the identified response center, and calls placed by the subscriber to the alternative dialing code are routed to the answering device, whereby when a subscriber places a call to the alternative dialing code, the answering device will supply the subscriber with status information with respect to the identified response center that receives a 911 call from the subscriber's location.
US08811570B2 Tomosynthesis apparatus and method
An X-ray inspection system is mounted around conveyor (2). An X-ray source (12) and a number of X-ray detectors record X-ray images of an object (8) such as baggage moving along the conveyor. A visual recordal system (18,22) tracks the motion of the object along the conveyor to identify the location and orientation of the object as it moves along the conveyor. A tomosynthesis image of the object is calculated from the plurality of X-ray images using the location and orientation information from the visual recordal system.
US08811568B2 Correction of optical elements by correction light irradiated in a flat manner
The disclosure relates to a correction light device for the irradiation of optical elements of an optical arrangement, in particular a lens, such a microlithography lens having a correction light, which include at least one correction light source and at least one mirror arrangement that deflects the light from the correction light source in the beam path to the optical element such that at least part of at least one surface of at least one optical element of the optical arrangement are irradiated in a locally and/or temporally variable fashion. The correction light strikes the surface of the optical element at a flat angle such that the obtuse angle between the optical axis of the optical arrangement at the location of the optical element and the correction light beam is less than or equal to 105°.
US08811567B2 Shift register
A shift register for providing a plurality of gate signals includes an Nth stage shift register unit and an (N+1)th stage shift register unit. The Nth stage shift register unit includes a first pull up unit, a first driving unit, a first control unit and a first auxiliary pull down unit. The (N+1)th stage shift register unit includes a second pull up unit, a second driving unit, a first pull down unit and a second auxiliary pull down unit. The first and second pull up units are both coupled to the first and second driving units for controlling the first and second driving units to generate gate signals. The first and second auxiliary pull down units are both coupled to the first control unit for pulling down the gate signals.
US08811565B2 Integrated reactor missile shield and crane assembly
An integrated reactor missile shield and crane assembly (IRMSCA) is disclosed and claimed. The IRMSCA replaces the existing concrete missile shields and reactor services crane. The IRMSCA is moveable such that the missile shield can be moved away from the reactor head, allowing the integral crane to lift the control rod drive mechanism components and other routine loads at the refueling cavity.
US08811564B2 Lid frame for nuclear fuel assembly shipping container and shipping container for nuclear fuel assemblies
A lid frame for a nuclear fuel assembly shipping container and a shipping container for nuclear fuel assemblies are provided. The shipping container includes a lower container having a cradle, an upper container detachably coupled to the lower container, and a base frame coupled to the cradle with at least one nuclear fuel assembly placed thereon. The lid frame includes a plurality of supports installed apart from each other so as to surround the nuclear fuel assembly placed on the base frame, a plurality of clamps separated from each other, coupled to the supports so as to be perpendicular to the supports, rotatably hinged to the base frame, and clamping the nuclear fuel assembly, and a plurality of gap compensators coupled to inner surfaces of the supports in order to compensate for a gap between the inner surfaces of the supports and the nuclear fuel assembly.
US08811563B2 Method and system for assessing failures of fuel rods
A system and method for assessing failure of fuel rods are disclosed. The method may include monitoring fuel rod operational conditions, comparing the fuel rod parameters to parameters limits, calculating the fuel rod performance parameters to determine the likelihood of failure of individual fuel rods, and updating plant operating parameters based on the calculated fuel rod parameters. The system may input the calculated fuel rod parameters into a fuel failure model to assess the probability of failure, and predict the probability of failure of individual fuel rods based on fuel rod parameters in the fuel failure model.
US08811561B2 Control rod drive mechanism for nuclear reactor
A control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) for use in a nuclear reactor, the CRDM comprising: a connecting rod connected with at least one control rod; a lead screw; a drive mechanism configured to linearly translate the lead screw; an electromagnet coil assembly; and a latching assembly that latches the connecting rod to the lead screw responsive to energizing the electromagnet coil assembly and unlatches the connecting rod from the lead screw responsive to deenergizing the electromagnet coil assembly. The latching assembly is secured with and linearly translates with the lead screw, while the electromagnet coil assembly does not move with the lead screw. The electromagnet coil assembly is at least coextensive with a linear translation stroke over which the drive mechanism is configured to linearly translate the lead screw.
US08811560B2 System of controlling steam generator level during main feed-water control valve transfer for nuclear power plant
A system and a method of transforming a gain and an integral time constant of a proportional-integral (PI) controller according to a timer lapse time to relieve an excessive phenomenon of a steam generator level caused by rapid changes in open degrees of a downcomer feed-water valve and an economizer feed-water valve when reactor power transfers between low and high power sections. Accordingly, an excessive phenomenon of a steam generator level is relieved at a transfer time when reactor power transfers between low and high power sections. Therefore, a possibility of a stop of a reactor caused by the excessive phenomenon of the steam generator level is reduced to relieve burden on an operator and improve an operation rate and economic feasibility of a nuclear power plant.
US08811559B1 Timing recovery circuit and receiver circuit including the same
A timing recovery circuit includes a clock generation circuit which generates clock signals having different periods in different modes, i.e., a first and a second operation mode, phase interpolation circuits each of which outputs a sample timing signal having a phase adjusted to fall between the phases of two clock signals in the first operation mode, and outputs one of the two clock signals as a sample timing signal in the second operation mode, sampler circuits which latch a data signal using the sample timing signals, and a phase control circuit which gives an instruction to select a clock signal or adjust the phase of a sample timing signal.
US08811556B2 Receiving circuit, clock recovery circuit, and communication system
High data-rate magnetic coupling communication is realized with a small circuit size without sacrificing the communication distance.A received data acquisition circuit performs a decision-feedback equalization process on a received signal to obtain a shaped signal, and also performs sampling of the shaped signal with a sampling rate equal to or higher than a self-resonant frequency, according to a sampling clock, to obtain a data sample. A midpoint sample acquisition circuit performs sampling of the received signal at an intermediate timing of a sampling timing of the received data acquisition circuit to obtain a midpoint sample. A phase adjustment circuit adjusts a phase of the sampling clock, based on the data sample and the midpoint sample.
US08811554B2 Interface circuit as well as method for receiving and/or for decoding data signals
In order to provide an interface circuit (100; 100′) as well as a method for receiving and/or for decoding, in particular for recovering, data signals (D; R, G, B), in particular high speed data signals, for example high speed sequential digital data signals, wherein at least one sampling clock signal (SC), in particular at least one multi-phase sampling clock signal (PC[n-1:0]) with n different phases, and/or the data signals (D; R, G, B) are delayed, and wherein it is possible to optimize the components, in particular the analog components, for a fixed operating frequency, it is proposed that the sampling clock signal (SC), in particular the multi-phase sampling clock signal (PC[n-1:0]), is asynchronous—to at least one interface clock signal (IC), by which the interface circuit (100; 100′), in particular the input of the interface circuit (100; 100′), can be provided with, and/or to the data signals (D; R, G, B).
US08811552B2 Downlink multi-user interference alignment scheme
A method, system and device are provided for using a predetermined vector, vref and channel knowledge H, G from each transmitter to compute and feedback equivalent channel vector information hi,jeq to its affiliated transmitter. With this information, each transmitter selects Li receivers and constructs a transmitted signal by applying a selected precoding vector to rank 1 data, thereby eliminating interference to the rest of the receivers in the network.
US08811548B2 Hypotheses generation based on multidimensional slicing
A sequence estimation circuit of a receiver may receive a sample of an inter-symbol correlated (ISC) signal corresponding to a time instant when phase and/or amplitude of the ISC signal is a result of correlation among a plurality of symbols of a transmitted symbol sequence. The sequence estimation circuit may calculate a residual signal value based on the sample of the ISC signal and based on a survivor sequence. The sequence estimation circuit may generate one or more branch vector hypotheses based on the residual signal value, where each of the hypotheses comprises a plurality of symbols. The sequence estimation circuit may generate an estimate of one or more of the plurality of transmitted symbols based on the one or more branch vector hypotheses.
US08811542B2 HDX demodulator
Low noise mixers for use in RFID readers and RFID readers configured to receive data from ISO HDX transponders in accordance with embodiments of the invention are illustrated. One embodiment of the invention receives the HDX FSK signal using a resonant antenna, upwardly mixes the FSK signal to an intermediate frequency, filters the intermediate frequency FSK signal using at least one ceramic bandpass filter, and demodulates the filtered intermediate frequency FSK signal to produce a binary output.
US08811538B1 IQ error correction
In a radio receiver having first and second mixers that mix a received communication signal to produce quadrature I and Q signals, measuring an output value of the I and Q signals. At a programmed processor: evaluating symmetry in the I and Q signals by calculating a symmetry test value; iteratively testing gain and phase shift correction values by applying the gain and phase shift correction values to the I and Q signals to identify a pair of gain and phase shift correction values that produces an improved symmetry test value; selecting the pair of gain and phase shift correction values; and applying the selected pair of gain and phase shift correction values to the I and Q signals from the first and second mixers. This abstract is not to be considered limiting.
US08811537B2 Signal receiving apparatus and method for wireless communication system using multiple antennas
Provided are a receiving apparatus and method for a wireless communication system using multiple antennas. A receiving method for a wireless communication system using multiple paths, the receiving method comprising: receiving signals through a predetermined number of multiple paths; sensing a carrier according to saturation state degrees of the signals, and providing saturation state information; calculating automatic gain components of the received signals by using the received signals and the saturation state information of the received signals; and performing a noise matching process to amplify noises on the predetermined multiple paths according to the automatic gain components during a predetermined period.
US08811533B2 Communications transmitter having high-efficiency combination modulator
A communications transmitter includes a combination modulator and a baseband processor configured to generate amplitude, angle, in-phase and quadrature signals. The combination modulator is configured to modulate in the quadrature domain or the polar domain, depending on an output power level of the transmitter and/or the type of modulation scheme being used. When configured to modulate in the quadrature domain, the baseband processor is configured to generate time-varying in-phase and quadrature modulating signals and time-invariant amplitude and angle signals for the combination modulator. When configured to modulate in the polar domain, the baseband processor is configured to generate time-varying amplitude and angle modulating signals and time-invariant in-phase and quadrature signals for the combination modulator. In another embodiment of the invention, the communications transmitter is configurable to operate in three different operational modes: linear, envelope tracking and switch modes. Which operational mode the communications transmitter is configured to transmit depends on the type of modulation scheme being used and/or the transmitter output power level.
US08811526B2 Delta modulated low power EHF communication link
A system for communicating modulated EHF signals may include a modulation circuit responsive to a bi-level transmit information signal for generating a transmit output signal. The transmit output signal may have an EHF frequency when the transmit information signal is at a first information state and may be suppressed when the transmit information signal is at a second information state. A transmit transducer operatively coupled to the modulation circuit may be responsive to the transmit output signal for converting the transmit output signal into an electromagnetic signal.
US08811522B2 Mitigating interferences for a multi-layer MIMO system augmented by radio distribution network
A wireless User Equipment (UE) receiving system, may include tunable receiving antennas; a channel estimation module configured to: carry out a periodic, non-continuous channel estimation to a plurality of desired signals and undesired co-channel downlink signals which are transmitted from different base stations and received by said plurality of antennas, causing interference; wherein the UE receiving system is configured to select between: tuning said plurality of tunable receiving antennas so as to maximize the total average power of said desired signals; and tuning said plurality of tunable receiving antennas so as to minimize the total average power of the strongest undesired co-channel base station's signals. Alternatively, the tuning is carried out so as to maximize a power ratio between said desired signals and a combination of said undesired co-channel downlink signals having the strongest interference level and an internal noise of the receiving system.
US08811521B2 Method and apparatus for feeding back and constructing correlation matrix in multi-input multi-output systems
The present invention provides a method for feeding back a correlation matrix in a multi-input multi-output system, comprising: constructing codebooks for the correlation matrix based on a conjugation nature of the correlation matrix and based on a predetermined relationship between diagonal elements and off-diagonal elements in the correlation matrix; selecting a codeword from the constructed codebook; and feeding back a corresponding index of the selected codeword in the codebook. Through the present invention, the throughput of the multi-input multi-output system can be enhanced, while reducing the encoder complexity or transfer load.
US08811520B2 User equipment apparatus and method for feeding back channel state information in a wireless communication system
A UE apparatus and method for feeding back Channel State Information (CSI) in a wireless communication system are disclosed. The UE apparatus includes a processor for determining a Rank Indicator (RI) for a predefined frequency band and selecting an index of a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) corresponding to the determined RI from a codebook set used for a transmission on the predefined frequency band, and a transmission antenna for transmitting the RI and the index of the PMI to a Base Station (BS). The RI and the index of the PMI are jointly encoded prior to the transmission.
US08811515B2 Adaptation to millimeter-wave communication link using different frequency carriers
To realize quick adaptation to a communication link between a transmitter and a receiver by using two different frequency carriers. A receiver detects a preamble from a transmission bit string. When determining that a total sum of the number of modified bits exceeds a certain threshold in a range of a payload following the preamble (when detecting that a reception state of a communication link has been degraded), the receiver issues, to a transmitter, a request for changing a transmission parameter (four parameters may be used for enhancement/lowering) for the transmission bit string by using a communication link, which is a relatively-low-frequency carrier. On the other hand, the transmitter receives the request for change, and executes the request for changing the transmission parameter for the transmission bit string while maintaining transmission of a payload in the transmission bit string.
US08811500B2 Data transmission
A system for transmitting data between a first device and a second device, the first device being arranged to transmit data to the second device and the second device being arranged to transmit an acknowledgement to the first device if the data transmitted by the first device is properly received by the second device; wherein the system comprises means to measure the quality of reception of acknowledgements by the first device and to modify one or more acknowledgement transmission parameters depending on the measurement. The parameters may include: transmission rate, degree of forward error correction coding, and output power. The parameters may be modified to improve the quality of reception of acknowledgements if the measured quality falls below a threshold. The means to measure the quality of reception may comprise means to determine a measure of the number, or relative number, of acknowledgements that were not properly received by the first device. In an embodiment the first device is arranged to retransmit the data if an acknowledgement is not properly received, and the means to determine a measure of the number of acknowledgements that were not properly received by the first device comprises means to determine the number of data packets that have been received by the second device which were previously properly received by the second device.
US08811493B2 Method of decoding a digital video sequence and related apparatus
A method for rendering an MPEG sequence includes decoding a first picture in the MPEG sequence; reducing a data size of the decoded first picture by quantizing at least one component of the first picture, the quantized component selected from the luminance and chrominance components of the first picture; storing a reduced data size representation of the decoded first picture to a memory; reading a prediction block of the reduced data size representation of the decoded first picture; inverse quantizing the selected component of the prediction block of the reduced data size representation of the decoded first picture to restore the prediction block of the decoded first picture; and decoding a block of a second picture in the sequence according to the restored prediction block of the decoded first picture.
US08811488B2 Method and apparatus for encoding/decoding motion vector
Provided are methods and apparatuses for encoding and decoding a motion vector including a method of decoding that includes obtaining a current coding unit by hierarchically split from a maximum coding unit according to a current depth, obtaining a prediction mode information of a current coding unit from bitstream, determining motion vector predictor candidates from among motion vectors of adjacent coding unit adjacent to the current coding unit, and determining a motion vector predictor of the current coding unit from among the motion vector predictor candidates based on prediction mode information of the current coding unit, wherein the adjacent coding unit comprise a first block outside the current coding unit located on a lower-left side of the current coding unit.
US08811484B2 Video encoding by filter selection
A method and a device are described for selecting between multiple available filters in an encoder to provide a frame having a low error and distortion rate. For each full and sub pixel position, determining whether to use an alternative filter over the default filter during interpolation by estimating the rate distortion gain of using each filter and signaling to the decoder the optimal filter(s) applied to each full and sub-pixel position. In one embodiment, identifying a reference frame and a current frame, interpolating the reference frame using a default filter to create a default interpolated frame, interpolating the reference frame using an alternative filter to create an alternative interpolated frame, determining for each sub-pixel position whether to use the default filter or the alternative filter based on a minimal cost to generate a final reference frame.
US08811483B2 Video processing apparatus and method
A video processing method includes decoding a bitstream that includes a plurality of groups of pictures and each group of pictures comprises a frame sequence, determining whether a current frame of a current group of pictures to be displayed has macroblocks with forward reference to a previous frame of a previous group of pictures, wherein the current group of pictures is subsequent to the previous group of pictures, and displaying the current frame of the current group of pictures when the current frame has no macroblock with forward reference to the previous frame of the previous group of pictures. The previous frame of the previous group of pictures is determined to be referenced by the current frame of the current group of pictures according to information specified from the encoding of the current frame.
US08811475B2 Multi-pass video encoding solution for buffer underflow
A method of encoding a sequence of video images is described. The method receives the sequence of video images. The method iteratively examines different encoding solutions for the sequence of video images to identify an encoding solution that optimizes image quality while meeting a target bit rate and satisfying a set of constraints regarding flow of encoded data through an input buffer of a hypothetical reference decoder for decoding the encoded video sequence. The iterative examining includes, for each encoding solution, determining whether the hypothetical reference decoder underflows while processing the encoding solution for any set of images within the video sequence.
US08811474B2 Encoder and encoding method using coded block pattern estimation
An encoder includes a motion estimation module configured to perform motion estimation of a current frame based on at least one reference frame, a motion compensation module configured to generate a signal including a compensation image for the current frame from the at least one reference frame using a result of the motion estimation performed by the motion estimation module, and a coded block pattern (CBP) estimation module configured to estimate a CBP based on the signal output from the motion compensation module.
US08811468B2 Method and system for FM interference detection and mitigation
Methods and systems for processing signals are provided and may include removing a DC component from a signal envelope comprising a combined signal within a range of allocated FM channels to generate a modified signal envelope. Fluctuation in power in the signal envelope may be detected based on a ratio of a magnitude of the signal envelope and a magnitude of the modified signal envelope. The removing may further include low-pass filtering the signal envelope to generate a low-pass filtered signal envelope. A square values of the low-pass filtered signal envelope may be determined to generate a squared signal envelope. The squared signal envelope may be high-pass filtered to generate a high-pass filtered signal envelope. The fluctuation in power in the signal envelope may be detected based on a ratio of a magnitude of the high-pass filtered signal envelope and a magnitude of the low-pass filtered signal envelope.
US08811458B2 Digitally controlled jitter injection for built in self-testing (BIST)
A digitally controlled jitter injection apparatus for built in self-testing includes a transceiver circuit having a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit. The digitally controlled jitter injection apparatus also includes a generator that generates a composite jitter including multi-tone jitter components. The digitally controlled jitter injection apparatus also includes a processor operable to digitally inject the composite jitter into a receiver circuit and/or a transmitter circuit of the transceiver circuit.
US08811455B2 System and method for performing weighted processing on down link signal
A method, device, and communications system for performing weighted processing on a downlink signal are provided. The method includes: acquiring a first CIR from a BS to a relay station and a second CIR from the relay station to a MS; determining a pre-coding weight and a relay weight according to the first CIR and the second CIR; and respectively sending the pre-coding weight and the relay weight to the BS and the relay station, so that the BS is enabled to perform weighted processing on a downlink signal according to the pre-coding weight to obtain a downlink pre-coding weighted signal and send the downlink pre-coding weighted signal to the relay station, and the relay station is enabled to perform weighted processing on the downlink pre-coding weighted signal received by the relay station according to the relay weight to obtain a downlink relay weighted signal and send the downlink relay weighted signal to the MS. Thereby, the downlink signal is optimized at the BS and the relay station respectively, thus optimizing the network capacity and improving the communication quality.
US08811454B2 Synchronization acquisition method of real time locating system
Provided are a method for dynamically acquiring a PN synchronization of a blink signal in a reader according to a channel state when a tag transmits a direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) blink signal having a predetermined period and the reader receives the blink signal in a 2.4 GHz RTLS system which complies with an ISO/IEC24730-2 standard, and a method for synchronizing a frame using a preamble.
US08811447B2 Semiconductor laser with varied-width waveguide and semiconductor laser module including the same
A semiconductor laser outputs a laser light from an output facet of a waveguide having an index waveguide structure, via a lens system. The waveguide includes, in order from a rear facet opposite to the output facet, a first narrow portion, a wide portion that is wider than the first narrow portion, a second narrow portion narrower than the wide portion, a first tapered portion formed between the first narrow portion and the wide portion, which expands toward the wide portion, and a second tapered portion formed between the wide portion and the second narrow portion, which narrows toward the second narrow portion. Each of the first narrow portion, the wide portion, and the second narrow potion has a uniform width.
US08811436B2 Laser apparatus, extreme ultraviolet light generation system including the laser apparatus, and method for controlling the laser apparatus
A laser apparatus may include a master oscillator configured to output a laser beam, at least one amplifier disposed in a beam path of the laser beam from the master oscillator, at least one power source for applying a high-frequency voltage to the at least one amplifier, and a controller for varying the high-frequency voltage to be applied to the at least one amplifier from the at least one power source.
US08811434B2 Fiber laser apparatus and method of detecting failure of fiber laser apparatus
A fiber laser apparatus in which pump light is introduced into an optical fiber to generate laser light includes a detecting section that detects signal light leaking out from a core of the optical fiber as leakage signal light, a determining section that determines that, in a case where there is a decrease in an intensity of the leakage signal light detected in the detecting section, a failure of the fiber has occurred, and a stopping section that stops, in a case where the determining section has determined that a failure of the fiber has occurred, the introduction of the pump light into the optical fiber. The detecting section detects the leakage signal light leaking out of a High Reflectivity FBG that is provided on a side opposite to an output side of the laser light.
US08811433B2 Method, system and device for uplink synchronization
A method for uplink synchronization in a multi-carrier system includes the following steps: a base station selects one or more first component carriers, which do not establish the uplink synchronization with the base station, from multiple component carriers supported by a terminal; then the base station obtains Timing Advance (TA) needed by the terminal to perform the uplink transmission on the first component carriers, and sends the TA information to the terminal; the terminal performs the uplink transmission on said first component carriers according to said TA. The application of the present invention enables the establishment of uplink synchronization between the base station and the user equipment in multi-carrier system.
US08811432B2 Method and system for synchronization between network elements
A system for synchronizing a first network device and a second network device. The first network device comprises an interface configured to release over a communication link a first signal carrying a first data stream clocked by a first clock signal. The second network device comprises an interface configured to receive the first signal over the communication link. The second network device also comprises a clock extraction module configured to generate an extracted clock signal from the received first signal; and a data coding module configured to clock a second data stream with an output clock signal selected based on a speed of a locally generated clock signal relative to the first clock signal or the extracted clock signal, thereby to produce a second signal for transmission from the second network element to the first network element.
US08811426B1 Method and apparatus for dynamically switching an operating bandwidth of a wireless transceiver
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with bandwidth switching are described. According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes a transceiver configured to operate at a first bandwidth. A bandwidth controller is configured to detect an operating condition of the apparatus and select a second bandwidth from a plurality of available bandwidths based on the operating condition, and cause the transceiver to temporarily operate at the second bandwidth and then cause the transceiver to subsequently operate at the first bandwidth.
US08811424B2 Adaptive bandwidth control with defined priorities for different networks
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code to receive data from a source at a plurality of gateways for distribution using a selected priority. The data is transmitted from the plurality of gateways to a plurality of receivers using the selected priority. Every gateway in the plurality of gateways has an adaptive bandwidth control process and a respective set of parameters for controlling the adaptive bandwidth control process for sending the data at the selected priority. Transmission of the data from each gateway for the selected priority has a different impact on other traffic at different gateways in the plurality gateways for the selected priority when different values are set for the set of parameters for the different gateways.
US08811420B2 System and method for contention-based channel access for peer-to-peer connection in wireless networks
A system and method for wireless communication is disclosed. One aspect of the system includes wireless devices, wherein the wireless devices are capable of establishing a peer-to-peer link by contention-based channel access, and wherein the wireless devices are free to contend any time for accessing a wireless channel. The system may include first and second wireless devices, each of which has a directional antenna system. The first wireless device can determine whether the wireless channel is available for establishing a peer-to-peer link, by repeating sensing whether the channel is idle in different directions each during different slot time periods. The first wireless device can also sequentially transmit multiple requests each in different directions for establishing a link with the second wireless device. The second wireless device can sequentially transmit multiple replies each in different directions for establishing the link with the first wireless device.
US08811419B2 Communication device
A relay device relays between two TCP communication items of a LAN side and a WAN side. When a line bandwidth of the WAN side is smaller than a line bandwidth of the LAN side, buffer overflow in a LAN side reception buffer and a WAN side transmission buffer of the relay device is prevented, and a connection is prevented from being forced to be canceled. A value of a reception window size (rwnd) described in an ACK packet returned to a transmission terminal of the LAN side is controlled based on a transmission throughput, a discarding rate, and an RTT measured in TCP communication of the WAN side, and a total size of unarranged data and a size of arranged data in a reception buffer of the LAN side and a size of untransmitted data and ACK awaiting data in a transmission buffer of the WAN side.
US08811416B2 Gateway device, mobile terminal, mobile communication method, and program
A gateway device connects a packet transfer device on a mobile high-speed network and a radio network controller on a mobile circuit-switched network via an IMS network, and if the gateway device receives from the packet transfer device a request signal for changing a bit rate of audio, the gateway device converts an audio compressed-and-encoded bit stream, stored in a packet transmitted from the packet transfer device or the radio network controller, into a bit rate requested in the request signal and transmits the converted bit stream to the radio network controller or the packet transfer device.
US08811414B2 Network system
An IO3 that is a connecting node reads waveform data from respective regions, in a TL frame circulated in a first sub-network system, corresponding to transmission channels allocated to any node belonging to the first sub-network system and writes the read waveform data into the regions, in a TL frame circulated in a second sub-network system, corresponding to the same transmission channels, and reads waveform data from regions, in the TL frame circulated in the second sub-network system, corresponding to the transmission channels allocated to any node constituting the second sub-network system and writes the read waveform data into the regions, in the TL frame circulated in the first sub-network system, corresponding to the same transmission channels.
US08811413B2 Scalable multi-hop mesh packet switch fabric
The present invention provides a multi-hop mesh fabric that allows existing systems to be more effectively scaled to increase bandwidth and the number of nodes within the fabric. The multi-hop mesh fabric also provides redundancy for each of the connections between nodes. The multi-hop mesh fabric may be realized in various different architectures including the maximum number of hops within the fabric and the layout of the fabric (e.g., full mesh vs. sparse mesh). The multi-hop mesh fabric may further improve its efficiency by employing various load balancing techniques, different scheduling methods, and other traffic management technologies known by one of skill in the art. Furthermore, the multi-hop mesh fabric may be realized in different environments including intra-devices, inter-device intra-blade, intra-blade intra-system, and inter-system intra-cluster.
US08811407B1 Weighted data packet communication system
A system for weighted communication of data packets via a data communication network. Data packets from sending devices are selectively transmitted in the upstream direction to recipient devices through the application of weights, or weight factors, which determine the number of data packets from each sending device transmitted upstream relative to the number of data packets from other sending devices during a round robin cycle of such devices. Data packets for delivery to receiving devices are selectively transmitted in the downstream direction to the receiving devices using the application of weights, or weight factors, which determine the number of data packets for each receiving device transmitted downstream relative to the number of data packets for other receiving devices during a round robin cycle of such devices. Weights may be associated with the service tier subscribed to with a communication service provider by an owner/user of a sending and receiving device.
US08811406B2 Delivering multicast frames to aggregated link trunks in a distributed switch
A distributed switch may include a plurality of sub-switches. These sub-switches may be arranged in a hierarchy that increases the available bandwidth for transmitting multicast data frames across the switch fabric. Moreover, the distributed switch may be compatible with link aggregation where multiple physical connections are grouped together to create an aggregated (logical) link. Link aggregation requires similar data frames to use the same data path when traversing the distributed switch. With a unicast data frame, the sub-switch in the distributed switch that receives the data frame typically identifies the destination port (during a process called link selection) and forwards the data frame to the sub-switch containing that port. However, with multicast data frames, instead of the receiving sub-switch performing link selection to determine the destination port, link selection may be done by a different sub-switch or not done at all.
US08811403B2 Systems and methods for physical layer (“PHY”) concatenation in a multimedia over coax alliance network
Systems and methods for concatenating messages in MoCA devices that are connected via a coax network are provided. One embodiment of a system according to the invention includes a home network having a plurality of nodes. The network is implemented over coaxial cable. The network includes a plurality of networked nodes. A transmitter of at least one of the networked nodes is configurable to transmit a concatenated burst. The concatenated burst includes a preamble, a first payload frame and a second payload frame. The first payload frame and the second payload frame are separated by a cyclic prefix of a first symbol of the second payload frame.
US08811402B2 Methods, systems, and computer program products for disabling an operative coupling to a network
Methods and systems are described for disabling an operative coupling to a network. In an aspect, first data received for forwarding is forwarded between a first node in a first network and a second node in a second network by a network relay via a first operative coupling to the first network of a first network interface hardware component in the network relay and via a second operative coupling to the second network of a second network interface hardware component in the network relay. A determination is made that a specified decoupling condition is met. The second operative coupling is disabled subsequent to the forwarding and in response to the determination while the first operative coupling remains enabled for receiving second data for forwarding.
US08811400B2 Method for identifying next hop
Datalink frames or networking packets contain protocol information in the header and optionally in the trailer of a frame or a packet. We are proposing a method in which part of or all of the protocol information corresponding to a frame or a packet is transmitted separately in another datalink frame. The “Separately Transmitted Protocol Information” is referred to as STPI. The STPI contains enough protocol information to identify the next hop node or port. STPI can be used avoid network congestion and improve link efficiency. Preferably, there will be one datalink frame or network packet corresponding to each STPI, containing the data and the rest of the protocol information and this frame/packet is referred to as DFoNP. The creation of STPI and DFoNP is done by the originator of the frame or packet such as an operating system.
US08811398B2 Method for routing data packets using VLANs
In a method for routing packets between a plurality of switches in a computer network, in which paths between the plurality of switches are identified as a plurality of virtual local area networks (VLANs) stored in a balancing table, a packet to be routed from a source switch to a destination switch is received. In addition, a VLAN is selected from the plurality of VLANs in the balancing table to route the packet through the computer network and the packet is routed through the selected VLAN.
US08811395B2 System and method for determination of routing information in a network
A system and method to use network flow records to generate information about changes in network routing and to understand the impact of these changes on network traffic. The inferences made can be determinative, if sufficient information is available. If sufficient information is not available to make determinative inferences, inferences may be made that narrow the range of possible changes that may have occurred to network traffic and the underlying network.
US08811394B2 Message forwarding method, access point, and system
The present disclosure discloses a message forwarding method, an Access Point, and a system. An Access Point obtains a forwarding configuration table, where the forwarding configuration table includes message types and forwarding modes; receives a message sent by a user station and obtains a message type of the message; determines the forwarding mode of the message according to the message type of the message and the forwarding configuration table; encapsulates and forwards the message according to the forwarding mode of the message. Through the present disclosure, forwarding control of messages of wireless users can be implemented on the Access Point, thereby avoiding the problem that wireless air interface control is separated from user access control on an AP controller (AC) in the local forwarding mode and the problem of waste of bandwidth between the AP and the AC in the tunnel forwarding mode.
US08811392B1 Lightweight control-plane signaling for aggregation devices in a network
Providing a label is disclosed. A first message is transmitted to an access device where the first message includes a set of available labels. A second message is received from the access device where the second message includes a label from the set of available labels selected to be used by the access device. The set of available labels is updated to account for the label selected by the access device.
US08811389B2 Transceiving apparatus and data processing system for communication base stations
A base station apparatus, methods of receiving and sending data, and a computer readable article of manufacture. A computer implemented method includes the following for receiving and sending data: receiving the data by an RF header module; grouping data received; transferring the grouped data to a data processing apparatus; distributing the grouped data into an uplink sub-channel; merging the distributed data using at least one downlink sub-channel; transferring the merged data to a transceiving apparatus; degrouping the merged data; and sending the merged data by RF header module. A method of receiving data, a method of sending data, and computer readable non-transitory articles of manufacture are also provided.
US08811388B2 Service instance applied to MPLS networks
Domain-wide unique node identifiers and domain-wide unique service identifiers are distributed within a MPLS domain using routing system LSAs. Nodes on the MPLS network compute shortest path trees for each destination and install unicast forwarding state based on the calculated trees. Nodes also install multicast connectivity between nodes advertising common interest in a common service identifier. Rather than distributing labels to be used in connection with unicast and multicast connectivity, the nodes deterministically calculate the labels. Any number of label contexts may be calculated. The labels may either be domain wide unique per unicast path or per multicast, or may be locally unique and deterministically calculated to provide forwarding context for the associated path. Multicast and unicast paths may be congruent, although this is not a requirement.
US08811386B2 Packet handler for high speed data networks
An improved packet handler for VoIP cable modems and other high-speed digital devices includes a direct communication link via hardware among internal processing components. Incoming and outgoing digital information packets are filtered into MAC packets, voice PDU packets, and non-voice PDU packets, such that priority can be given to relaying voice packets and minimizing potential voice delay within the cable network. Hardware components, including specialized logic circuitry, modify voice packets to an appropriate signal form for subsequent signal processing or signal transmission. Proprietary bus communication protocols can also be provided to facilitate relay of packets between a central processing unit (CPU) and a digital signal processor (DSP) within a VoIP cable modem. Line cards including subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) and subscriber line audio processing circuit (SLAC) components provide analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion functionality.
US08811381B2 Converged voice services
Novel tools and techniques for providing a subscriber with converged voice services, in which calls to one of the subscriber's telephone numbers is routed to some or all of the subscriber's telephone numbers (e.g., sequentially or simultaneously, depending on system configuration and/or subscriber preference). Some implementations employ a VoIP switch to handle call distribution among the subscriber's various phone lines, even if some (or all) of the subscribers telephone lines are not VoIP lines. In such implementations, upon receiving an incoming call directed to one of the subscriber's lines, a service switching point will route the call to a VoIP switch. Instructed by an application server, the VoIP switch will set up call legs (e.g., via the PSTN) to one or more of the subscribers' telephone numbers. Optionally, when one of the call legs is answered, the application server will instruct the VoIP switch to disconnect the other call legs.
US08811377B1 Apparatus and method for instrumenting devices to measure power usage using a multi-tier wireless network
Various embodiments provide an apparatus and method for instrumenting devices to measure power usage using a multi-tier wireless network. An example embodiment includes: establishing communication with a plurality of networked power monitors deployed at particular points in a facility, each power monitor of the plurality of networked power monitors being configured to monitor power consumption of a different one of a plurality of electronic devices in the facility; periodically obtaining system data from each of the plurality of networked power monitors using a wireless sensor network, the system data including power consumption data corresponding to associated electronic devices; using a communication hub to aggregate the system data from a plurality of associated power monitors, the communication hub and the plurality of associated power monitors forming a local network within the wireless sensor network; and using the system data to control operation of the plurality of electronic devices in the facility.
US08811372B2 Synchronization of a peer-to-peer communication network
In an ad hoc peer-to-peer communications network, timing synchronization can be facilitated between two or more nodes based on respective timing adjustments. A sequence of timing synchronization time intervals can be determined based on a first timing reference received from a source. A symbol timing can be determined and included in a first signal transmitted during a dedicated time interval, which can be a chosen fraction of one of the timing synchronization time intervals. In the remaining portion of the time interval, such as a non-chosen fraction, a second signal that includes a second timing reference can be received. Based on the symbol timing and the second timing reference, a timing adjustment can be determined and timing of each node adjusted accordingly.
US08811371B2 Transmit diversity scheme for uplink data transmissions
Systems and methods are described herein for transmitting uplink SC-FDMA symbols. When an extended cyclic prefix is used, the symbols are divided into pairs, and the first symbol and a function of the second symbol in each pair is transmitted via a first antenna and the second symbol and a function of the first symbol in each pair is transmitted via a second symbol. When an unpaired symbol remains, the unpaired symbol is divided into halves, and a first function of the halves is transmitted on the first antenna and a second function of the halves is transmitted on the second antenna.
US08811367B2 Qualifying available reverse link coding rates from access channel power setting
Data rate allocation decisions are made for a communications channel. A message is sent on a communication channel such as on a paging channel. The message indicates a forward Effective Radiate Power (ERP) of a pilot signal transmitted. The remote station then determines the received signal strength of this pilot signal, taking into account receiver gains. The path loss may be estimated as the difference between the forward ERP data value received and the detected received pilot power. This transmit power level information is encoded as a digital data word together with the forward path loss information. Upon transmission, the forward path loss estimate as calculated and the output power value can then help determine the amount of excess power available. This is indicative of the amount of dynamic range available in the transmit power amplifier. Coding rates which require a higher dynamic range may be acceptable for use.