| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08873746B2 |
Establishing, at least in part, secure communication channel between nodes so as to permit inspection, at least in part, of encrypted communication carried out, at least in part, between the nodes
An embodiment may include circuitry to establish, at least in part, a secure communication channel between, at least in part, a client in a first domain and a server in a second domain. The channel may include a first and second domain sessions in the first and second domains. The circuitry may generate first and second domain session keys that may encrypt, at least in part, respectively, the first and second domain sessions. The first domain session key may be generated based upon a first domain key assigned to the first domain and a first data set associated with the first domain session. The second domain session key may be generated based upon a second domain key assigned to the second domain and a second data set associated with the second domain session. |
| US08873745B2 |
Protection of a calculation on an elliptic curve
A method for protecting a calculation on an elliptic curve, by an electronic circuit, wherein a point of an elliptic curve is multiplied by a digital quantity, comprising the steps of: initializing a first variable with a value which is a function of a random quantity; initializing at least a second variable with a value which is a function of the digital quantity; at least for a bit at 1 of the digital quantity, the first variable is updated by: a) subtracting a multiple of the random quantity; and b) adding the content of the second variable; and once all the bits of the digital quantity have been processed, subtracting from the first variable the product of the point by the random quantity to provide the result. |
| US08873739B2 |
Instant message contact management in a contact center
The present invention is directed to a method for servicing a transaction in a contact center. When an instant message communication associated with a transaction is suspended prematurely, special treatment may be provided to the transaction initiator. The special treatment includes: (a) maintaining the assigned service priority for the transaction for assignment to a subsequent communication; (b) scheduling a subsequent outbound instant message to an external endpoint associated with the transaction initiator; (c) assigning to the transaction initiator a favored service priority when the subsequent inbound instant message is received by the contact center; and (d) maintaining previously selected item(s) in memory and providing the item(s) to the transaction initiator in a subsequent communication. |
| US08873738B2 |
Controlling hold queue position adjustment
A computer system detects a call from a caller at a hold queue, wherein an identity of the caller is authenticated according to a voice identity of the caller. The computer system accesses a caller profile according to the identity of the caller, wherein the caller profile comprises at least one previously earned advancement token. The computer system offers the caller an option of redeeming the previously earned advancement token for adjustment of a position of the caller in the hold queue. |
| US08873737B2 |
Routing communication sessions in a contact center
A system for routing communication sessions between a contact and an agent of a contact center is disclosed. The system is arranged to simultaneously connect more than one contact to an agent of the contact center capable of simultaneously handling a plurality of contacts. Typically, the contacts comprise non-voice contacts The system is arranged to obtain a respective time-varying characteristic associated with the various agents indicating an intermediate level of activity for the agents between the agents being unoccupied and the agents being fully occupied with handling contacts. New contacts received at the contact center are routed to an agent based at least partially the time-varying characteristic for the agents. |
| US08873735B1 |
Selective contact between customers and customer service agents
A network-based service may generate notifications regarding items of interest to a user. A contact selection service may receive the notifications and generate a user interface for transmission of the notification to the user. The generated user interface may include a unique identifier and may further enable the user to submit user contact information to request contact with a service agent. The contact selection service may further pre-authorize contacts between users and customer service agents CSA. The unique identifier, and optionally the submitted user contact information, may be employed by the contact selection service to selectively determine which customer contact requests received by the contact selection service are pre-authorized for contact with a CSA and enables such contacts between customers and CSAs to proceed. |
| US08873734B2 |
Global logging and analysis system
An event logging and analysis system and method are disclosed. The event logging and analysis system are described as being configured to analyze decisions made by a work assignment engine in a contact center, map the decisions to one or more events for a contact center entity, and storing information about the event in a buffer associated with the contact center entity, the information stored in the buffer describing how the new decision affected the contact center entity. |
| US08873729B2 |
Methods, systems, and products for providing ring tones
Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for processing a ring tone. An electronic database is queried for a calling number, and contact information associated with the calling number is retrieved. A ring tone database is queried for the contact information, and the ring tone database stores an association between the contact information and a ring tone. The ring tone associated with the contact information is retrieved and processed to alert a called number to a communication from the calling number. |
| US08873727B2 |
Method for determining a correct international phone number of a contact
A system and method for determining a correct international telephone number for a contact, based on the location of the user, the optional location of the contact and a set of rules representing the formats used in the two locations. The location information may be entered by the user or identified using the number and the set of rules. Once the location information is identified, the interface may determine the correct number to dial using the set of rules to produce a correct international telephone number. The correct telephone number may then be associated with the contact so that the correct telephone number is dialed upon receiving a user input to call the contact. |
| US08873725B2 |
Methods and apparatus for authenticating and authorizing ENUM registrants
AIN based methods and apparatus for authenticating and authorizing people to register information corresponding to a telephone number, e.g., in an ENUM database, are described. The methods of the invention may be used to authenticate a party seeking to register telephone number related information with ENUM. A trigger is set on an ENUM registration line. Calls to the ENUM registration line activate the trigger causing LIDB information corresponding to the calling party number to be retrieved. The retrieved information, e.g., name, address and/or phone number is supplied to an ENUM registration service which returns a password to be used when updating or supplying ENUM registration information corresponding to the phone number from which the registration call is placed at some future time, e.g., via the Internet. Assigned ENUM passwords can be obtained when forgotten by placing a call to the registration service from the registered or associated phone number. |
| US08873720B1 |
Recording contact center calls in various consent contexts
Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer-program products for determining whether and how to record voice calls, or portions thereof, for calls processed by a contact center. Calls can be classified as being in a context that is either single-party consent or dual-party consent depending on whether the call is inter-state or intra-state and which state(s) are involved. In one embodiment, the contact center may access tables that indicate for a telephone number whether the call involves a state that adheres to a single-party consent regime or a dual-party consent regime. A speech analytics system may further be used to ascertain whether aural consent is provided by the remote party, or whether the agent properly requested and responded to the remote party's response. Depending on the context, all parties, one party, or no parties may be recorded. |
| US08873719B2 |
Active assailant protocol for emergency dispatch
Systems and methods are provided to guide an emergency dispatcher in responding to emergency calls involving an active assailant. The systems and methods can include an emergency police dispatch protocol configured to facilitate rapid, uniform, and consistent handling of events involving active assailants. The emergency police dispatch protocol includes one or more dispatch protocols configured for particular incidents or emergency situations, such as to aid the dispatcher in processing calls relating to active assailants. The emergency police dispatch protocol presents a pre-scripted interrogation, including preprogrammed inquiries for a dispatcher to ask the caller. The pre-scripted interrogation of the dispatch protocol facilitates rapid, uniform, and consistent responses to incidents with active assailants. The dispatch protocol may facilitate deployment of responders as quickly as possible to active assailant events and update responders with information as it is gathered. |
| US08873718B2 |
Enhanced E911 location information using voice over internet protocol (VoIP)
An E-9-1-1 voice-over-IP (VoIP) solution is provided wherein a 911 call from a wireless VoIP device is routed directly to the correct Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP) via dedicated trunks, together with correct location information and call-back number. VoIP gateways are implemented locally, at least one per LATA, and accept VoIP packetized data inbound, and convert it to standard wireline voice calls. Calls are routed to an IP address at the VoIP gateway, which then egresses the call to a voice port at a selective router. Dedicated voice trunks (CAMA, SS7, FG-D) are installed between each local VoIP gateway and appropriate selective routers. An Automatic Location Identification (ALI) database is provisioned with ESRKs dedicated for VoIP use. TCP/IP circuits may be established between some or all of the various local VoIP gateways. |
| US08873715B2 |
Industrial X-ray tube
An industrial X-ray tube formed by accommodating a cathode and anode in a container having an evacuated interior, in which electrons emitted from the cathode are caused to strike the anode and X-rays are emitted from the anode. The cathode is formed from graphite. The graphite is a layered crystal obtained by layering a plurality of carbon hexagonal planes. The graphite is cut based on crystal axes of the carbon hexagonal planes. The resulting cut surface is caused to function as an electron-emitting surface. For example, directions of an a- and b-crystal axis may be set so as to be arbitrary between each of the layers of the carbon hexagonal planes, the graphite may be cut along a surface parallel to the c-axis, and the resulting cut surface may be caused to function as an electron-emitting surface. The graphite may also be cut along a surface orthogonal to the c-axis. |
| US08873714B2 |
Radiation imaging system and relay station selection method
This invention includes a radiation detector to detect the radiation transmitted through an object while being in a portable state or mounted on a detector holder, a control unit to control capturing of a radiographic image using the radiation detector, and a plurality of relay stations to relay wireless communication from the radiation detector. The detector holder includes a detection unit to detect the mounting of the radiation detector. The control unit determines the usage pattern of the radiation detector or the mounting of the radiation detector on a detector holder based on detection information from the detection unit or a connection request from the radiation detector, and selects one of the relay stations based on the determination result. |
| US08873712B2 |
Exposure control using digital radiography detector
A method for sensing a level of ionizing radiation directed from a radiation source through a subject and toward a digital radiography detector, executed at least in part by a logic processor, obtains image data that relates the position of the subject to the digital radiography detector and assigns one or more radiant-energy sensing elements of the digital radiography detector as one or more exposure control sensing elements. The one or more exposure control sensing elements are sampled one or more times during exposure to measure the exposure directed to the subject. A signal is provided to terminate exposure according to exposure measurements obtained from the one or more exposure control sensing elements within the digital radiography detector. |
| US08873709B2 |
Radiographic imaging system and radiographic imaging method
A radiographic imaging system is capturing a radiographic image of a subject. The radiographic imaging system has a radiation detector that detects radiation from which the radiographic image is obtained, a radiation source that irradiates the radiation detector with the radiation, a partition that is disposed adjacent to the radiation detector and that locates the subject at a predetermined position relative to the radiation detector, a distance measuring unit that measures a distance between the partition and the radiation source, a tilt detecting unit that measures a tilt of the partition, and an image processor that corrects the captured radiographic image based on the distance between the partition and the radiation source obtained by the distance measuring unit and the tilt of the partition obtained by the tilt detection unit. |
| US08873707B2 |
Well plate
An apparatus for preparing samples for measurement by x-ray fluorescence spectrometry. A plate has one or more holes passing through the plate. The holes are covered by a film on one side of the plate. The holes are less than 500 micrometers across in one dimension where the film covers the holes. The film is translucent to x-rays. |
| US08873705B2 |
X-ray CT apparatus
In order to improve the tiling workability in manufacturing an X-ray detector and provide a technology for acquiring high-quality reconstruction images, when aligning a plurality of detector blocks (or detector modules) in a slice direction, a distance between adjacent X-ray detection elements between detector blocks (inter-block distance) is not matched with a distance between adjacent detector elements within a detector block (intra-block distance). Instead, between reference positions when manufacturing each detector block, output values at the positions, the number of which is the same as the number of X-ray detection elements between the reference positions and which are spaced at equal intervals, are estimated from the acquired raw data. Projection data is generated from the position and the raw data. |
| US08873703B2 |
X ray imaging system with scatter radiation correction and method of using same
A CT scanner with scatter correction device and a method for scatter correction are provided. The method comprises positioning shields for shielding some of the CT detector elements from direct X ray radiation, while allowing scattered radiation to arrive at said shielded elements; measuring scatter signals from said shielded elements, indicative of scattered radiation intensity; and correcting for scatter by subtracting scatter intensity values estimated from said measured scatter signals from signals measured by unshielded detector elements. |
| US08873694B2 |
Primary neutron source multiplier assembly
A neutron emitting assembly, which is useful in nuclear reactors and other industrial applications, is made of a major amount of beryllium encapsulating a minor amount of 252Cf, which can be placed in a capsule having end plugs and a holding spring. |
| US08873693B2 |
Phase averaging-based clock and data recovery
In one embodiment, a method includes adjusting a first frequency of a first clock signal based on a frequency difference between the first frequency and a reference clock signal frequency of a reference clock signal, and further adjusting the first frequency and a first phase of the first clock signal based on a phase difference between the first clock signal and an input data bit stream and the frequency difference between the first frequency and the reference clock signal frequency to substantially lock the first frequency and the first phase of the first clock signal to the input data bit frequency and input data bit phase of the input data bit stream. |
| US08873691B2 |
Generating codes for sync words to avoid cyclic collision
Disclosed are various embodiments for circuitry that generates a sync code for wireless transmission. The system generates a sync word according to an identifier of the transmitter, the sync word being unique under a cyclic shift of the sync word. The system inserts a plurality of instances of the sync word into a data stream. The system also transmits, via the transmitter, the data stream to a receiver, the receiver being operable to perform a sliding correlation operation on the sync word. |
| US08873689B2 |
Phase interpolator for clock data recovery circuit with active wave shaping integrators
A phase interpolator for a CDR circuit produces an output clock having level transitions between the level transitions on two input clocks. The input clocks drive cross-coupled differential amplifiers with an output that can be varied in phase by variable current throttling or steering, according to an input control value. The differential amplifiers produce an output signal with a transition spanning a time between the start of a transition on the leading input clock up to the end of the transition on the lagging input clock. The output clock is linear so long as the transitions on the two input clocks overlap. Active integrators each having an amplifier with a series resistance and capacitive feedback path are coupled to each input to the cross-coupled differential amplifiers, which enhances overlap of the input clock rise times and improves the linearity of the interpolated output signal. |
| US08873682B2 |
Hybrid AFC using DCXO and RF PLL
A technique to provide hybrid compensation to correct for drifts in a reference frequency output from a digitally-controlled crystal oscillator (DCXO). A first compensation is provided to the DCXO to adjust for overlap or discontinuity of the reference frequency caused by switching capacitors in the capacitor array that controls drift of the reference frequency output. The second compensation is obtained at a phase-locked loop (PLL) that receives the reference frequency signal from the DCXO. The second compensation adjusts the PLL to adjust for variations of the reference frequency that remain after performing compensation in the DCXO. |
| US08873679B2 |
Reception apparatus and method, program and reception system
Disclosed herein is a reception apparatus, including: a reception section configured to receive an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed) signal obtained by modulating a common packet sequence configured from a packet common to streams and a data packet sequence configured from packets individually unique to the streams; a time counting section configured to count, using predetermined time indicated by additional information added to particular packets of the common and data packet sequences obtained by demodulating the received OFDM signal as a reference, elapsed time after the predetermined time; a detection section configured to compare the counted time and time indicated by the additional information added to the particular packets of the common and data packet sequences to detect a displacement in the time direction between the packets; and a correction section configured to correct the displacement between the packets of the common and data packet sequences in the time direction. |
| US08873664B2 |
Transmission beamforming method and apparatus in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-based MIMO wireless system
The present invention relates to a transmission beamforming method and apparatus in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based MIMO wireless system. In particular, the present invention relates to a transmission beamforming method in an OFDM-based MIMO wireless system and an apparatus therefor, wherein the transmission beamforming method comprises: estimating a channel from a received pilot signal and obtaining time for the estimating channel and 2D channel correlation information of a frequency band; obtaining estimated channel information based on the channel correlation information; obtaining differential information that represents a difference between the current channel and the estimated channel and quantizing the differential information; and generating a transmission beam weight by using a predefined code book from the quantized differential information. The present invention may also provide a method and apparatus for reducing the channel quantization error and feedback load by employing the OFDM-based MIMO in a wireless communication system using a transmission beamforming scheme, wherein a receiver estimates current channel information by using time and 2D channel correlation information of a frequency based on the previous channel information, compares the estimated current channel information with an actual channel and then feeds back the differential channel information, i.e., the difference between the estimated channel and the actual channel, to a transmitter. |
| US08873663B2 |
Mobile station apparatus, base station apparatus, MIMO system and data transmission method
A data transmission method includes, in the mobile station apparatus, selecting a PMI and an RI corresponding to an Hermitian transpose of a channel matrix indicative of channel characteristics and calculating a CQI from the PMI. The method further includes transmitting the PMI, the RI, and the CQI to the base station apparatus as feedback information. The method further includes, in the base station apparatus, calculating a first data rate of a case of performing SU-MIMO transmission based on the PMI transmitted from the mobile station apparatus as feedback and calculating a second data rate of a case of performing ZF MU-MIMO transmission based on the PMI. The method further includes selecting a transmission scheme corresponding to a higher data rate between the first and second data rates. |
| US08873661B2 |
Method and system for an alternating channel delta quantizer for MIMO pre-coders with finite rate channel state information feedback
Aspects of a method and system for an alternating channel delta quantizer for MIMO pre-coders with finite rate channel state information feedback may include quantizing a change in channel state information in a MIMO pre-coding system onto a codebook using a cost function and selecting the codebook from a set of codebooks; and generating the set of codebooks from a plurality of codebooks, where each may comprise one or more unitary matrices. The channel state information may be a matrix V that may be generated using Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and/or Geometric Mean Decomposition (GMD). The selecting of the codebooks may be enabled by alternating between the elements of the set of codebooks. The cost function f(A) may be defined by the following relationship: f ( A ) = ( 1 N ∑ j = 1 N a jj 2 ) where A is a matrix of size N by N and aij is element (i,j) of matrix A. |
| US08873653B2 |
Method for improving synchronization and information transmission in a communication system
A method is provided for improving synchronization and information transmission in a communication system, including: generating a signal with a centrally symmetric part s(k) exploitable for synchronization; and sending the signal over a communication channel. The signal is based on a uniquely identifiable sequence c(l) from a set of sequences exploitable for information transmission. The centrally symmetric part s(k) is centrally symmetric in the shape of absolute value thereof. The centrally symmetric part s(k) is of arbitrary length N. |
| US08873652B2 |
Parsing and encoding methods in a communication system
In a method for generating a physical layer (PHY) data unit for transmission via a communication channel, a plurality of information bits to be included in the PHY data unit is received. A number of padding bits that need to be added to the information bits such that the information bits, after having been encoded, fill an integer number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols is determined. The number of padding bits is added to the information bits prior to encoding and the information bits are parsed to a number of encoders. The information bits are encoded to generate coded data bits. A last block of the data unit is encoded differently from the previous blocks. The PHY data unit to include the coded data bits is generated. |
| US08873646B2 |
Method and devices for establishing communication between a first station and a second station
Methods and devices that establish communication between a first station and a second station are provided. To this end, an identifier, which identifies the first station and the second station as communication partners for communication, is transmitted between the first and second stations on a first partial connection. After receiving the identifier, communication is started between the first and second stations via a communication connection, wherein the transmission of the identifier via the first partial connection and the communication connection are based on different physical connections. The methods and systems can be used for loading or unloading processes of electrical vehicles, such as autonomous systems in the hospital field, or for vehicles for personal transportation. The methods and systems may provide reliable and cost-effective communication between the first and second stations. |
| US08873641B2 |
Moving picture coding apparatus
A moving picture coding apparatus is provided, which controls coding of a following stream, according to virtual buffer occupancy determined by a generated amount of coded data and an amount of coded data transferred to an output destination, when generating the following stream, such that a preceding stream and the following stream, which both have an image stream multiplexed with other information, are reproduced seamlessly. The moving picture coding apparatus generates the preceding stream and the following stream by multiplexing the image stream and the other information to form the preceding stream and the following stream, and determines an initial value of the virtual buffer occupancy for the following stream according to an amount of delay resulting from the multiplexing, and the virtual buffer occupancy at an end of the preceding stream. |
| US08873638B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing multi-threaded video decoding
An apparatus for enabling provision of multi-thread video decoding may include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured, with the processor, to cause the apparatus to perform at least assigning decoding of a respective video frame to a corresponding thread for each core processor of a multi-core processor in which each respective video frame is divided into macroblock rows, resolving dependencies for each respective video frame at a macroblock row level, and providing synchronization for video decoding of each corresponding thread at the macroblock row level. A corresponding method and computer program product are also provided. |
| US08873634B2 |
Method and device for modification of an encoded data stream
Embodiments provide methods for modification of an encoded data stream of data packets, wherein each data packet comprises one information bit. In the data stream, the information bits of sequential data packets display time intervals from each other which differ from desired time intervals and which are adapted to the desired time intervals by insertion of an artificially encoded, first data packet into the encoded data stream in the encoded domain temporally after a second data packet, or by removal of a fourth data packet present in the encoded data stream from the encoded data stream in the encoded domain. |
| US08873631B2 |
Video decoding device, video decoding method, video decoding program, and video decoding integrated circuit
With use of a simplified program or calculating device for motion compensation, a video decoding device decodes video data compressed by motion detection operations on macroblock units, as in the MPEG-4AVC standard. The video decoding device splits compressed data blocks of the prescribed size, 16×16 pixels for instance, to generate sub-blocks, which are smaller than the blocks and on which the video decoding device is able to execute motion compensation operations. The video decoding device duplicates a motion vector assigned to a given block to generate as many motion vectors as there are sub-blocks in the given block, and executes motion compensation on each sub-block using the corresponding duplicate motion vector. Data resulting from the motion compensation operation on each sub-block is combined to obtain a target block corresponding to the given block. |
| US08873627B2 |
Method and apparatus of video coding using picture structure with low-delay hierarchical B group
A method and apparatus for encoding a video sequence comprising a plurality of pictures are disclosed. In video coding systems, the temporal redundancy is exploited using motion compensated prediction. The video sequence is often organized into multiple GOP (group of pictures) where different types of GOP may be used. In conventional coding systems, IPPP and IBBP GOP structure is often used. In H.264/AVC and the emerging High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), hierarchical GOP structure, including hierarchical P GOP structure and hierarchical B GOP structure, has been introduced to allow temporal scalability. Furthermore, low-delay IBBB GOP structure has been also introduced, for low-delay application. In the present invention, a low-delay hierarchical B GOP structure is disclosed. The new structure uses low-delay B-pictures only so as to minimize the processing delay while the hierarchical structure provides the temporal scalability. The low-delay hierarchical B GOP structure has been shown to result in substantial improvement in coding efficiency. |
| US08873626B2 |
Template matching for video coding
In one aspect of this disclosure, template matching motion prediction is applied to B-frames. In another aspect of this disclosure, template matching motion prediction as applied to video block coding may include generating a template offset, generating a weighted sum of absolute differences, selecting a number of hypotheses used to encode video blocks based on the cost associated with the number of hypotheses and signaling, with a new syntax, to a decoder, the number of hypotheses used in encoding, rejecting hypotheses if the difference in value between a hypothesis and a reference hypothesis is greater than a threshold value, and/or generating the content of a sub-block that does not have reconstructed data available by combining motion-compensated prediction and luma residuals. |
| US08873624B2 |
Apparatus and method for generating a coded video sequence and for decoding a coded video sequence by using an intermediate layer residual value prediction
A video coder performs a motion-compensated prediction both in the base layer and in an enhancement layer to determine motion data of the enhancement layer by using the motion data from the base layer and/or to predict sequences of residual error pictures after the motion-compensated prediction in the enhancement layer by using sequences of residual error pictures from the base layer via an intermediate layer predictor. On the decoder side, an intermediate layer combiner is used for canceling this intermediate layer prediction. Thereby, the data rate is improved compared to scalability schemes without intermediate layer prediction with the same picture quality. |
| US08873622B2 |
Apparatus and method for generating a coded video sequence by using an intermediate layer motion data prediction
In the scalable video coding in connection with motion compensation both in a base layer and in an enhancement layer, a prediction of the motion data of the enhancement layer is performed by using the motion data of the base layer to obtain a scalability concept, which provides, on the one hand, a maximum flexibility for the calculation of the motion data of the different layers and, on the other hand, allows a lower bit rate. |
| US08873615B2 |
Method and controller for equalizing a received serial data stream
A controller and methods for adaptively adjusting a dispersion compensation circuit in a receiver of a communication link are disclosed. The controller receives a signal from an error detector coupled to the receiver. The controller includes a logic engine that provides configuration information to the dispersion compensation circuit. The configuration information defines a digital filter in response to at least one tap constraint and at least one coefficient constraint. In an example embodiment, the logic engine generates a measure of residual inter-symbol interference and a measure of a noise enhancement penalty and iteratively provides a set of adjusted coefficient values that when applied in the digital filter will result in an equalized receiver output signal that minimizes a mathematical combination of the measure of the residual inter-symbol interference and the measure of the noise enhancement penalty. Alternatively, for bandwidth limited channels, the controller provides a predetermined set of coefficient values. |
| US08873613B2 |
Detection process for a receiver of a wireless MIMO communication system
A detection process for a receiver of a wireless communication system based on Multiple-In-Multiple-Out antennas, the process involving: —a preprocessing which only depends on the channel H, said preprocessing involving: —A QRD decomposition (61) for the purpose of decomposing said channel H into two Q and R matrices, with QHQ=I and R being upper triangular; —a lattice reduction (62) for the purpose of generating (formula AA, formula BB) and a permutation matrix T; —a loading phase (63, 64, 65) comprising a linear LRA-Minimum-Mean-Square-Error equalization applied on said symbols y in accordance with the result of said lattice reduction for the purpose of generating a value (formula CC). The process is characterized by the fact that it further involves the steps of: —Performing a neighborhood search with a search center being equal to the result (formula CC) of said lattice reduction; —Determining the -BKest symbols in accordance with a Partial Euclidean Distance (PED) defined in accordance with the following formula (formula DD)—detecting each layer and with the result of said detection performing an update of the search center so as to perform detection of the next layer; —multiplying the estimated value (formula EE) by said matrix T plus quantizing it onto the original constellation so as to generate the estimated value (formula FF). |
| US08873611B2 |
Transmitter, control method, computer program and delta-sigma modulator
In order to improve radio characteristic in a transmitter, there are included a ΔΣ modulation means that ΔΣ modulates a given input signal; and a control means that changes parameters of the ΔΣ modulation means in accordance with a given condition. |
| US08873609B2 |
Communication apparatus and communication method
A communication apparatus including: a receiver to receive signals including reference signals at each of a plurality of different reception intervals; and a processor to estimate phase differences between the signals based on the reference signals, to determine a plurality of phase difference candidates for each of the reception intervals based on the phase differences, to select, from among a plurality of combinations of the phase difference candidates for the reception intervals, a combination of the phase difference candidates between the signals, and to estimate a frequency deviation of the signals based on the phase difference candidates included in the combination. |
| US08873608B2 |
Measurement of IQ imbalance in a vector modulator
Described are methods of determining imbalance in an IQ modulator. Example methods include applying a set of at least three test signals to the I channel and Q channel to generate an output, then receiving output from a frequency measuring device coupled to the IQ modulator. Some of the set of test signals may be substantially different than other test signals in the set. After the frequency specific output is received, the method measures one or more values and derives the imbalance in the IQ modulator from the measured values. Embodiments also include adjusting parameters of the test signals until a minimum distance is measured. A device is also described, which includes a test signal generator, an output analyzer, and a minimizer structured to cause the test signal generator to generate a set of test signals that cause a distance measured in the output to be a minimum distance. |
| US08873604B2 |
Method and apparatus for multiple signal aggregation and reception in digital chaos network
The present invention teaches method and apparatus to transform a featureless, unpredictable, and non-repeatable chaos waveform into digital chaos waveforms that maintain featureless characteristics to serve as a for wireless communications protocol, whereby unintended observers cannot detect or disrupt yet imprint a small measure of predictability and repeatability to aid intend observers in recovering embedded information. This invention discloses wireless communication systems with multiple signal aggregation at the transmitter and multiple detection at the receiver that uses embedding digital signals and digital information within multiple digital chaos waveforms. |
| US08873603B2 |
Method and apparatus for amplitude modulation of spread signal
Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for amplitude modulation of a spread signal that can increase a data transmission rate and frequency use efficiency by loading information on the amplitude of the spread signal used in digital communications. A method for amplitude modulation of a spread signal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes: receiving a first data signal; generating a spread signal by applying a spreading code to the first data signal; receiving a second data signal; and outputting the spread signal at an amplitude corresponding to a value of the second data signal. |
| US08873597B2 |
Method of control and of positioning with the aid of laser systems, and device for implementing said method
A method for adjusting laser beams (4) for scanners arranged on a support for radiotherapy, by a device consisting of a one-piece assembly (1) comprising (3) a suitable electronic control board (8), and position sensors (3) for visualizing the position of the beams (4), and adjusting them automatically by motor-driven systems, which is remarkable in that it comprises the steps of installing the apparatus (1); presetting of the position via 3 support feet (6) and embedded spirit levels (7); movement of the table of the scanner to position the front face (11) of the apparatus in the plane of the isocenter of the scanner and positioning via internal lasers of the scanner; acquisition of position control images of the apparatus (1) and finalization and validation thereof, movement of the table of the scanner by the nominal distance between the machine isocenter and the laser isocenter, which is determined and validated at the time of installation of the lasers; connection of the apparatus (1) and powering up thereof and of the laser beams (4) with 0 resetting of the positions; startup of the multiplexing-based laser beam (4) search sequence, the position of each laser beam (4) then being determined by virtue of the embedded cells (3) in the apparatus (1); acquisition of the values and transfer to the tablet PC of the adjustment phase of each laser beam (4). Device for implementing same. |
| US08873595B2 |
Laser processing method
The present invention relates to a method of processing a metal thin film formed on a transparent substrate by radiating pulsed light onto the metal thin film, and having the steps of repeatedly outputting the pulsed light by directly modulating a semiconductor laser of the seed light source in accordance with electric signals, amplifying the pulsed light using an optical amplifier including an optical amplification medium, controlling the full width at half maximum of the pulsed light that is amplified and outputted by the optical amplifier to be 0.5 ns or less, and removing the metal thin film by radiating the pulsed light thus having the controlled full width at half maximum onto the metal thin film through the transparent substrate. |
| US08873594B2 |
Modular fiber-based chirped pulse amplification system
A modular ultrafast pulse laser system is constructed of individually pre-tested components manufactured as modules. The individual modules include an oscillator, pre-amplifier and power amplifier stages, a non-linear amplifier, and a stretcher and compressor. The individual modules can typically be connected by means of simple fiber splices. |
| US08873593B2 |
Mode-locked multi-mode fiber laser pulse source
A laser utilizes a cavity design which allows the stable generation of high peak power pulses from mode-locked multi-mode fiber lasers, greatly extending the peak power limits of conventional mode-locked single-mode fiber lasers. Mode-locking may be induced by insertion of a saturable absorber into the cavity and by inserting one or more mode-filters to ensure the oscillation of the fundamental mode in the multi-mode fiber. The probability of damage of the absorber may be minimized by the insertion of an additional semiconductor optical power limiter into the cavity. |
| US08873591B2 |
System and method for bit-multiplexed data streams over multirate gigabit Ethernet
Input/output of network switches and the like are improved by a system including a gearbox, an inverse-gearbox, and a Gigabit Ethernet link coupling them. The gearbox and inverse-gearbox interconnect data streams received through wider lower rate Gigabit Ethernet interfaces through narrower faster rate interfaces. The gearbox is configured to bit-multiplex physical-layer data streams received through input interfaces to generate bit-multiplexed data streams. The inverse-gearbox is configured to demultiplex the multiplexed data streams and to output the recovered data streams through output interfaces. One of the output interfaces is selected for each recovered data stream according to a respective embedded physical-layer data stream identifier. |
| US08873590B2 |
Apparatus and method for correcting jitter
A jitter correction method of a transmitting device, a jitter correction method of a receiving device, a transmitting device, and a receiving device are provided. The jitter correction method of the transmitting device includes: determining a time stamp of a video frame; determining a transfer time of an real-time transport protocol (RTP) packet that includes at least a part of the video frame as a payload; generating the RTP packet including the time stamp and the transfer time; and transmitting the RTP packet to a receiving device. |
| US08873589B2 |
Methods and devices for clock synchronization
This invention relates to methods and devices for clock synchronization. The invention makes particular use of IEEE 1588 with offset and skew correction. In embodiments of the invention, the IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol is used to exchange time stamps between a time server and a client from which the client can estimate the clock offset and skew. In embodiments of the invention a free running clock at the client is provided with an estimation technique based on the time stamps from the IEEE 1588 PTP message exchange between the server and client clocks. The offset and skew from the estimation process can be combined with the local free running clock to give a synchronized local clock which is an accurate image of the master clock. |
| US08873588B2 |
Network distributed packet-based synchronization
A transparent clock may be provided between edge nodes of a non-precision time protocol network, with an arrival time of a packet at an edge of the non-precision time protocol network carried in a reserved field of a packet. |
| US08873585B2 |
Distributed antenna system for MIMO technologies
The invention is directed to a method and system for supporting MIMO technologies which can require the transport of multiple spatial streams on a traditional Distributed Antenna System (DAS). According to the invention, at one end of the DAS, each spatial stream is shifted in frequency to a pre-assigned band (such as a band at a frequency lower than the native frequency) that does not overlap the band assigned to other spatial streams (or the band of any other services being carried by the DAS). Each of the spatial streams can be combined and transmitted as a combined signal over a common coaxial cable. At the other “end” of the DAS, the different streams are shifted back to their original (overlapping) frequencies but retain their individual “identities” by being radiated through physically separate antenna elements. |
| US08873580B2 |
Method and apparatus for dynamic spectrum access
Apparatus and methods are disclosed for improving wireless and other network communications, e.g., through improving resource utilization, which may comprise the steps of accumulating channel modeling information relating to channel performance; calculating a channel parameter threshold based on the accumulated channel modeling information, whereby the channel parameter, as measured, being above the threshold indicates the channel is a good channel; adjusting traffic over a selected good channel to improve performance of the network or a network resource. The network resource may comprises battery life for devices operating on the network, data rate for devices operating on the network, constituting or reconstituting ad hoc networks comprising nodes separated by multiple hops, continuity of connectivity within a single communication link over the network, etc. The apparatus and method of operating the apparatus may also comprise dynamically performing the adjusting step resulting from repeating the calculating step over time. |
| US08873579B1 |
Multi-rate media independent interface over a physical coding sublayer
A method for inserting ordered sets into a data stream converted from a first rate to a second rate NA times greater than the first rate, while conforming to a requirement that symbols be arranged in units of symbol length M, includes receiving, at the first rate, a data packet containing data symbols, receiving Y1 symbols of control information, and identifying an ordered set based on the Y1 symbols. The method also includes generating NA repetitions of each data symbol of the data packet, determining whether Y1*NA/M has a non-zero remainder, and, at least partially in response to determining that Y1*NA/M has a non-zero remainder, generating a number of repetitions of the ordered set containing either more or fewer than Y1*NA symbols. The method also includes outputting, at the second rate, the data symbol repetitions and first ordered set repetitions. |
| US08873577B2 |
System and method of providing a broadband digital loop carrier cabinet
A broadband digital loop carrier and method for distributing communications signals to customers of a service provider may include a multi-service access platform unit and line termination unit in communication with the multi-service access platform unit. In one embodiment, the line termination unit is a multiplexer. The line termination unit may be configured to operate communications equipment that operates at bandwidths that are lower than cards operating in the multi-service access platform unit. |
| US08873574B2 |
Network-attached storage device having a connection to a local user device
A network-attached storage apparatus is configured to be in communication with a local device. The apparatus includes storage devices for storing data, one interface for establishing communication with the network and another interface for establishing communication with the local device. A processor enables the interfaces to alternatively establish communication with the local device or the network. |
| US08873564B2 |
Inter-unit transfer support using mobile internet protocol
A WTRU may receive a first data flow from a source device such as a correspondence node and perform a seamless IUT such that the correspondent node is unaware that the flow has been transferred to a different WTRU. The WTRU may register with a first home agent, wherein the first home agent receives a plurality of messages addressed for a home address. The home agent may forward the messages to the WTRU at a first care-of-address. The WTRU may send a binding update to the first home agent. The binding update may comprise a second traffic selector and a second action. The second action may specify that a second message of the plurality of messages is to be forwarded to a different WTRU when the second message matches the second traffic selector. |
| US08873557B2 |
Systems and methods for packet de-duplication
A method of packet processing includes receiving a first packet that includes a header, the header having a plurality of fields, one of the plurality of fields being an identification field, determining an identification value for the identification field in the header of the first packet, determining whether the identification value of the first packet matches an identification value in a header of a second packet, and using another one of the fields in the header of the first packet to determine whether the first packet is a duplicate packet when the identification value of the first packet matches the identification value of the second packet. |
| US08873555B1 |
Privilege-based access admission table
Data packets are received at a network interface. A source address and a destination address are extracted from each data packet. Thereafter, a first query is performed in an address database to retrieve access group information associated with the source address. A second query is performed in the address database to retrieve resource group information associated with the destination address. Based upon the access group and the resource group, a command is assigned to the data packet. Optionally, the access group information and resource group information are used in connection with an access matrix to assign the command to the data packet. |
| US08873554B2 |
Data structure-less distributed fabric multicast
A network device receives a packet with a multicast nexthop identifier, and creates a mask that includes addresses of egress packet forwarding engines, of the network device, to which to provide the packet. The network device divides the mask into two portions, generates two copies of the packet, provides a first portion of the mask in a first copy of the packet, and provides a second portion of the mask in a second copy of the packet. The network device also forwards the first copy of the packet to an address of a first egress packet forwarding engine provided in the first portion of the mask, and forwards the second copy of the packet to an address of a second egress packet forwarding engine provided in the second portion of the mask. |
| US08873553B2 |
Switch system, line card and learning method of FDB information
A representative line card in a switch system that is configured of a layer 2 switching processor and a plurality of line cards connected to the layer 2 switching processor, the plurality of line cards including at least one representative line card, comprising: an FDB table having FDB information entried therein, and; a learning unit that receives a learning notification including the FDB information from the other line cards excluding its own line card via the layer 2 switching processor, determines whether the FDB information of the learning notification has been entried into the FDB table of its own line card, updates the FDB table of its own line card when the FDB information has not been entried, and transmits the learning notification including the FDB information to the other line cards via the layer 2 switching processor with a multicast. |
| US08873552B2 |
Unregistered multicast (MC) packet forwarding to multicast router ports
In one embodiment, a system includes a switching processor, logic configured for installing a Multicast Control (MC) table on a switching processor managing switching on a virtual local area network, logic configured for determining if multicast flooding is disabled in the switching processor, logic configured for installing a drop entry in the MC table upon determining that multicast flooding is disabled in the switching processor, logic configured for detecting whether one or more multicast routers is connected to one or more ports coupled to the switching processor, logic configured for receiving at least one multicast packet, and logic configured for dropping the at least one multicast packet based on the drop entry when no multicast router is connected to any of the one or more ports coupled to the switching processor. Other systems, methods, and computer program products are presented in accordance with more embodiments. |
| US08873551B2 |
Multi-destination forwarding in network clouds which include emulated switches
Techniques are described which facilitate multi-destination forwarding in a Layer 2 Multipath (L2MP) network which includes an emulated switch. The emulated switch may correspond to two or more underlying peer link switches in the L2MP network, in which each of the peer link switches is linked to a Classical Ethernet (CE) switch over a virtual port channel (vPC). Traffic received by one of the peer link switches over the vPC is automatically forwarded to the other peer link switch (or switches). Multi-destination frames originating from the L2MP network addressed to hosts within the CE network are sent over only one of the peer link switches. |
| US08873548B1 |
Method and system for providing call-forwarding status indications in a packet-switched network
Preferred embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods subscribing to receive a call forwarding status notification associated with a call forwarding service, receiving a call forwarding status notification when a state associated with the call forwarding service changes, and interpreting the call forwarding status notification. |
| US08873546B2 |
Method and system for network switch element
Method and system for a network switch element is provided. The switch element includes a plurality of megaports, each megaport uniquely identified by a unique megaport address identifier for network addressing. Each megaport includes a plurality of operational ports, each operational port identified by a unique operational port address identifier. The switch element also includes a local crossbar for communication between the plurality of operational ports, and a shared logic module configured to provide common control of the plurality of operational ports within a megaport to allow operational ports to share resource of a single megaport to route network packets there between. The switch element also includes a global crossbar configured to allow communication between the megaports. |
| US08873544B2 |
Digital telecommunications system, program product for, and method of managing such a system
A digital telecommunications system, a method of managing communications in such a system and a program product for managing audio transmission in a digital communications system can include devices at network endpoints selectively, transparently providing voice samples of sufficient quality for authentication and identification during conversations with the devices. The devices can respond to an authentication request by collecting authentication samples of an ongoing conversation with the samples having sufficient detail for authentication. The devices send the authentication samples in parallel that do not disrupt the conversation. Authentication samples may be verified prior to authentication by comparison against the corresponding portion of the ongoing conversation. |
| US08873541B1 |
System and method for on-duty communication
Systems and methods are provided for establishing a communication session. A communication setup request with a service address may be received by a communication server from a first communication device. At least two communication devices associated with the service address may be identified. The communication server may transmit a call setup request to the at least two communication devices. A communication session can be established exclusively between the first communication device and a first one of the at least two communication devices that responds to the call setup request. |
| US08873538B2 |
System and method for supporting mobile node mobility
A system and method for supporting mobile node mobility are provided. A method for delivering a packet to a communications device having a destination address includes retrieving information related to the destination address from a second layer of a local portion of a distributed route information database, where the information includes binding information about the destination address and a care of address for the communications device in a visiting network to which the communications device is connected. The method also includes tunneling the first packet to the care of address. |
| US08873537B2 |
Synchronization method and system of control sequence numbers
A synchronization method and system of control sequence numbers is provide to achieve radio link control sequence number synchronization between different network elements. This method includes the following steps: allocating a preset radio link control sequence number to a first radio link control protocol data unit corresponding to a first packet in a data burst and successively allocating a radio link control sequence number to subsequent radio link control protocol data units corresponding to packets of this data burst, when each designated network element in a plurality of designated network elements performing radio link control protocol process on the packets in the data burst received by said each designated network element. |
| US08873536B2 |
Identifying a random advertising device as a connected device
An electronic device is described. When this electronic device receives a packet containing an address from another electronic device, the electronic device determines if a connection has already been established with the other electronic device using another address. If so, instead of establishing another connection with the other electronic device using the address, the electronic device modifies the packet by replacing the address with the other address so that it appears as if the packet was received via the connection with the other electronic device using the other address. In this way, the electronic device may avoid duplicate connections with the other electronic device, which can occur in communication protocols in which encoded information in advertising frames that specifies an address of the other electronic device is periodically changed. |
| US08873533B2 |
Method and a transmitter in a wireless communication network
The object of the present invention is to achieve a solution for handling the increased PAPR that is introduced by the FD and/or TD multi-antenna processing. This is achieved by isolating the PAPR increase to one, or a few antennas, that are matched with more powerful PAs, whereas the remaining antennas may use simpler/smaller PAs amplifying signals with smaller PAPRs. |
| US08873532B2 |
Apparatus and method for transmitting data in wireless communication system
An apparatus and a method for a random access scheme for multi-channel in a wireless communication system are provided. The method for performing the random access scheme for the multi-channel in the wireless communication system includes randomly generating a backoff counter value to transmit data; adjusting the backoff counter value by taking into account status of a plurality of idle subcarrier sets per backoff slot; when the backoff counter value becomes zero, selecting one or more subcarrier sets to carry the data from the idle subcarrier sets; and transmitting the data through the selected one or more subcarrier sets. The data collision probability between the terminals can be lowered, the channel utility can be enhanced, the transfer rate in the single-channel random access scheme can be raised, and the consumption of the radio resource can be reduced without using signals for the band request and allocation. |
| US08873528B2 |
Mobile router with priority rate limiting
An embodiment of a mobile router, comprises: a wireless wide area network interface to access a cellular network; a local area network interface to provide access to devices for transfer of data; priority information associated with predetermined types of download data; data rate information associated with the priority information; first apparatus to determine the priority of download data via the wide area network interface; second apparatus to determine if data is being transferred via the local area network interface; and third apparatus to control the data rate for the download data based on the priority information, the data rate configuration information, and whether data is being transferred via the local area network interface. |
| US08873526B2 |
Collision avoidance for wireless networks
In one embodiment, a particular node in a wireless network may receive a wireless signal, and may determine whether the wireless signal is intended for itself In response to determining that the wireless signal is intended for the particular node, the particular node may transmit a non-colliding wireless carrier sense detected alert (CSDA) signal during the received wireless signal to request that other nodes within communication distance of the particular node refrain from transmitting for a duration of the received wireless signal. In another embodiment, a node listens on a first frequency for a wireless CSDA signal regarding a second (colliding) frequency, and in response to receiving a CSDA signal, may refrain from transmitting a wireless signal on the second frequency for the particular duration, or else (if not receiving a CSDA signal), may allow transmission of a wireless signal on the second frequency, accordingly. |
| US08873523B2 |
Methods and apparatus for solicited activation for protected wireless networking
Methods and apparatus that enable solicited access to a secure wireless network having complex security protocols. In one embodiment, such solicited access is performed using a streamlined or reduced number of steps and includes an exemplary active/passive scanning protocol and use of an optimized service discovery protocol (SDP). Furthermore, multiple aspects of the invention are directed to improving and enhancing user experience, including a reduction of “human” interaction requirements for secure network operation (such as changing settings, entering addresses, etc.), and furthermore, integrated utilization of human readable text. |
| US08873521B2 |
Methods of determining information regarding remote user terminals and related systems and computer program products
A method of determining user terminal information may include initiating a communication at a first user terminal between the first user terminal and a second user terminal using a telephone number of the second user terminal. Information regarding the second user terminal may then be received at the first user terminal from the second user terminal during the communication over a non-voice channel without opening a voice channel between the first and second user terminals. Related systems and computer program products are also discussed. |
| US08873520B2 |
TDMA-based wireless networks
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for enabling two or more TDMA-based wireless networks to share a communication channel, each wireless network implementing superframes. The method comprises within each network, implementing active superframes separated by one or more inactive superframes and only implementing active superframes when the other networks are implementing inactive superframes, wherein a network only communicates during that networks active superframes and does not communicate during that networks inactive superframes. |
| US08873518B2 |
System and method for broadcasting messages to nodes within a wireless mesh network
A node within a wireless mesh network is configured to forward a high-priority message to adjacent nodes in the wireless mesh network by either (i) transmitting the message during successive timeslots to the largest subset of nodes capable of receiving transmissions during each timeslot, or (ii) transmitting the message on each different channel during the timeslot when the largest subset of nodes are capable of receiving transmissions on each of those channels. |
| US08873517B2 |
Wireless communication system, wireless communication apparatus, wireless communication method and computer program
The present invention eliminates a transmission-waiting operation which is unnecessary while accommodating a prioritized traffic. Although a communication station enters a transmission-disallowed state in response to detection of a signal addressed to another station in accordance with medium access control based on CSMA, if the communication station receives a frame transmitted with priority to a local station during the transmission waiting, it cancels the transmission-disallowed state, sends back a frame responding the frame transmitted with priority and effectively operates a transmission prioritized period. The communication station starts a search procedure to perform a processing of evading duplication of the transmission prioritized periods if it judges a possibility of a problem occurring in a time zone in which reception with priority is possible. |
| US08873515B2 |
Dynamic receive diversity switching
Dynamically control of receive diversity switching in a user equipment (UE) is disclosed. By dynamically controlling the switching between enabling and disabling the receive diversity, power consumption in UEs, such as smart phones and other mobile devices may be reduced. Control is based, at least in part, on measurements for data activity performed by the UE. When the UE finds measurements that would suggest data activity, the UE will switch to enable a receive diversity state when conditions are available for the switch. Similarly, when the UE finds measurements that would suggest data inactivity, the UE will switch to disable the receive diversity state when conditions are available for the switch. |
| US08873514B2 |
Method and apparatus for down link interference cancelation between adjacent base stations in base station with reconfigurable antenna
A transmit antenna pattern is provided. A method for determining the transmit antenna pattern includes determining first Signal to Interference and Noise Power Ratios (SINRs) of a first mobile station and a second mobile station based on first Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) values received from a first base station and a second base station in the first operation when a transmit antenna pattern of the first base station is fixed and a transmit antenna pattern of the second base station is changed, determining second SINRs of the first mobile station and the second mobile station based on second CQI values received from the first base station and the second base station when the transmit antenna pattern of the first base station is changed and the transmit antenna pattern of the second base station is changed, and determining a transmit antenna pattern exhibiting the best performance based on the determined SINRs. |
| US08873513B2 |
Methods and apparatus for transferring a mobile device from a source eNB to a target eNB
A method used in a wireless communication system including a plurality of cells, the method includes transmitting to a mobile device from a source enhanced node B, and sending a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) status report to a target enhanced node B. Another method includes transmitting to a mobile device from a source enhanced node B, and sending a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) status report to the source enhanced node B prior to a re-pointing to a target enhanced node B. |
| US08873509B2 |
Efficient handover method in broadband wireless access system
The present invention relates to a broadband wireless access system, and more particularly, to a handover method that can reduce a stop time in an entry before a break-type handover for performing more efficient handover, and to apparatus for performing same. A handover method for a terminal in a broadband wireless access system according to one embodiment of the present invention may include: receiving, from a serving base station, a handover command message including the information of a section in which scheduling for the terminal is not performed; transmitting a ranging code to a target base station during the section; and receiving information indicating the transmitted result of the ranging code from the serving base station. |
| US08873505B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing component carrier-specific reconfiguration
Techniques for component carrier-specific reconfiguration are disclosed. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) is capable of transmitting or receiving via multiple component carriers. The WTRU may perform component carrier reconfiguration on a component carrier basis to add, remove or replace a component carrier. Discontinuous reception (DRX) and/or discontinuous transmission (DTX) may be performed on at least one component carrier, wherein DRX and/or DTX patterns on the component carriers may not overlap each other. A random access procedure may be performed at the target cell on one component carrier while other component carriers are inactive. The component carrier-specific reconfiguration or handover of a component carrier or a channel may be implemented in coordinated multiple point transmission (CoMP), wherein a handover of a control channel, not a traffic channel, may be performed. Alternatively, a handover of a traffic channel may be performed. |
| US08873504B2 |
Flexible low complexity reference signal filtering for LTE receivers
A method and system generates channel response estimates by performing time direction filtering of first channel estimates obtained from frequency direction filtering. A baseband integrated circuit (BBIC) receives information signals comprising reference signals, control signals provided by physical control channels, and data signals provided by physical data channels. Using a latency requirement of a physical channel, symbol selection logic selects valid reference signal symbol positions corresponding to first channel estimates from among frequency filtered received reference signals. A coefficient set selection logic selects a set of filter coefficients from among multiple sets of pre-optimized coefficients, utilizing at least one of (a) the latency requirement, (b) a channel condition, and (c) the selected reference signal symbol positions. A time direction filter uses the selected filter coefficients to filter the first channel estimates in order to generate a channel response estimate for a resource element of the physical channel. |
| US08873503B2 |
Method and device for transmitting information in contention on time slots between transceiver nodes of an ad hoc network
The method for transmitting information in an ad hoc network comprises at least two transceiver nodes able to receive and transmit information and communicating with each other by sending information in random access time slots organized in frames.The nodes of the network are broken down into groups according to a distribution rule, the nodes of each group only having the right to transmit information in a predefined subset of frames specific to the group. |
| US08873502B2 |
Carrier selection
First and second indicators of a first available amount of an air-interface resources associated with a first and second channel, respectively, is received. A request for an allocation of an amount of the air-interface resource is received. Based on the request for the allocation, first and second ranking values associated with the first and second channels, respectively are determined. The first and second ranking values are selected such that the efficient allocations receive higher ranks. Based on the first ranking value and the second ranking value, the first frequency band is selected to provide the allocation of the amount of the air-interface resource. |
| US08873497B2 |
Apparatus and method for transmitting information on power headroom in multiple component carrier system
There are provided an apparatus and method for transmitting information about power headroom in a multi-component carrier system. There is disclosed a method of configuring a plurality of component carriers combined from a candidate component carrier group, based on component carrier configuration information, triggering a power headroom report on the plurality of combined component carriers, calculating power headroom for the plurality of combined component carriers and transmitting combination power headroom information, including a value of the calculated power headroom, to a eNodeB. The power headroom report is triggered, when the power headroom on the plurality of combined component carriers is greater than or equal to a predefined threshold.Accordingly, uplink signaling overhead can be reduced because a power headroom report can be semi-persistently made without the need to additionally send information about the combination component carrier. |
| US08873496B2 |
Channel state feedback for multi-cell MIMO
A method is disclosed which is intended for use in multiple-input multiple-output wireless communication systems which have a plurality of adjacent cells (cell A, cell B, cell C, cell D), each containing one or more base stations which co-operatively transmit signals to, and receive signals transmitted from, a user equipment (UE). The user equipment is operable to feed back to the relevant base station(s) CSI reports relating to channel(s) between the relevant base station(s) and the users, the base stations are operable to adapt signals for transmission to users, based on the fed back channel state information. The method involves the UE being configured to select at least one cell to be the subject of a CSI report, and to send the CSI report with an indication of the subject cell(s). Feedback overhead on the uplink is reduced when many cells co-operate in transmission to the user equipment. |
| US08873481B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving control information in a mobile communication system
A method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving control information in a mobile communication system. A User Equipment (UE) receives an UpLink Grant (ULG) signal from a BS, and transmits to the BS control information including state information indicating the absence of user data to be transmitted on a Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH). |
| US08873480B2 |
Techniques for dynamic spectrum management, allocation, and sharing
Techniques for managing detection, dynamic allocation, and sharing of available spectrum via cognitive radio systems and dynamic spectrum sharing. In some cases, RF carriers (e.g., secondary carriers or secondary cells) are not permanently assigned to base stations, user terminals, or the network. A base station can request allocation of secondary carriers using a reservation request. The assigned secondary carriers can be released and made available for assignment to another base station or radio access network. |
| US08873479B2 |
Assisted state transition of a user equipment (UE) for delay sensitive applications within a wireless communications system
In an embodiment, an application server receives a call message, from an originating user equipment (UE), that is configured to request initiation of a communication session, to be arbitrated by the application server, between the originating UE and at least one target UE. The application server selectively sends, in response to the call message, dummy data to a serving access network of a given UE associated with the communication session in order to facilitate a transition of the given UE to a dedicated-channel state. For example, the application server can selectively send the dummy data based on a size of the call message and/or based on a type of the communication session. |
| US08873478B2 |
Deferred access method for uplink packet channel
The equipment and techniques disclosed herein introduce a deferred acknowledgement (DACK), in the context of a protocol for a wireless station to request and obtain access to a wireless network resource for communication of one or more data packets. Essentially, a network node, such as a wireless base station, sends the DACK instruction in response to the access request telling the requesting station that the node has heard the request but that the requesting station should defer its transmission. The requesting station need not back off and re-initiate its access request. Instead, the requesting station waits for a later acknowledgement (ACK) granting access to a resource as requested. Although the DACK provides additional signaling, this technique can still utilize a fast ACK type message, that is to say a relatively short signaling packet. |
| US08873477B2 |
System and method for cooperative heterogeneous communications systems
A system and method for cooperative heterogeneous communications systems are provided. A communications system includes a plurality of cooperation sets, such as closed-space sets. Each closed-space set includes at least two information sources configured to operate cooperatively to transmit to a plurality of communications devices operating within a coverage area of the cooperation set. There is limited cooperation between closed-spaced sets. In addition, there may be limited or no overlap between the coverage areas of the adjacent closed-spaced sets. |
| US08873475B2 |
Method of controlling allocation of a radio resource for transmitting a radio resource allocation request
Provided is a allocation controlling method of a radio resource for a radio resource allocation request in a base station which allocates, to a terminal, in response to the radio resource allocation request received from the terminal, a radio resource for transmitting retention data in a transmission buffer of the terminal to the base station, and which transmits to the terminal a radio resource allocation notification indicating a result of the allocation. When an amount of retention data in the transmission buffer received from the terminal is not zero, a transmission cycle that is suited to the retention amount is determined as a transmission cycle of the notification of radio resource allocation for transmitting the retention data in the transmission buffer and, during cyclic transmission of the radio resource allocation notification, the allocation of a radio resource for the radio resource allocation request is stopped. |
| US08873470B2 |
Method of recovering communication access in dynamic spectrum access wireless systems
A wireless system and method including a medium access control (MAC) layer adapted to recover service in restricted channels. |
| US08873467B2 |
Control channel detection
A wireless device at least demodulates, descrambles and decodes a first control signal to generate a first signal. The wireless device processes the first signal by at least encoding, scrambling, modulating and scaling the first signal. The wireless device subtracts the processed first signal from received signals to generate a second signal. The wireless device at least demodulates, descrambles and decodes the second signal to generate a second control message. |
| US08873465B2 |
Base station supporting turbo decoding and packet splitting
A baseband processing module of a base station includes a Turbo decoding module. The Turbo decoding module decodes a Turbo code word to produce one or more Media Access Control (MAC) packet(s) carried by the turbo decode word. Each MAC packet includes a MAC packet header and the MAC packet payload, which carries one or more Radio Link Control (RLC) Packet Data Units (PDUs). The Turbo decoding module decodes the MAC packet header to determine boundaries of the PDUs carried in the MAC packet payload. The Turbo decoding module decodes RLC PDU headers and RLC PDU payloads of the RLC PDUs. The Turbo decoding module writes the decoded MAC packet header, the decoded RLC PDU headers, and the decoded RLC PDU payloads to memory in a word-aligned format. The Turbo decoding module may also operate in various other Turbo decoding modes. |
| US08873463B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving data in a relay communication system
A method and device for transmitting or transceiving data in a wireless system. The method includes: transmitting or transceiving a downlink signal by using a special subframe. The special subframe includes a first transmission period and a second transmission period. The first transmission period is set to transmit the downlink signal to the relay node or the terminal. The second transmission period is set to transmit the downlink signal to the relay node and is set to not decode a reference signal by the terminal. |
| US08873462B2 |
Reduced complexity receiver for UL CoMP
Methods, apparatus and computer program products are disclosed. A method includes receiving signals from a number of antennas, the signals from a number of user equipments and comprising a number of sub-bands allocated to the number of user equipments; selecting, based on one or more criteria and for each of number of selected sub-bands allocated to a selected one of the number of user equipments, one or more antennas of the number of antennas to be used for signal detection and interference suppression on the received signals for the selected user equipment; and performing, for the selected user equipment, the signal detection and interference suppression on the received signals for each of the number of selected sub-bands based on the corresponding selected one or more antennas for each of the number of selected sub-bands to create an output signal. |
| US08873461B2 |
Packet transmission/reception method and apparatus in wireless communication system
A method for simultaneously transmitting packets having different lengths to two or more users in a wireless communication system includes: generating the packets which are to be transmitted to the respective users; and simultaneously transmitting the generated packets to the respective users. Each of the packets contains information on the position of a symbol to which a tail field of the packet belongs, and the information on the position of the symbol to which the tail field belongs includes at least one of the maximum symbol number of the packet, the symbol number of transmission data of the packet, positional information of a last aggregated MAC protocol data unit (A-MPDU) subframe, and positional information of a null delimiter. |
| US08873454B2 |
Apparatus and method for transmit-response timing for relay operation in wireless communications
An apparatus and method for relay operation in a wireless communication system comprising determining a first set of subframes for downlink communication from an eNB to a relay node; determining a second set of subframes for uplink communication from the relay node to the eNB; determining a downlink (DL) hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) timing between a first control transmission and a HARQ acknowledge (ACK) message based on a first minimum delay and the first and the second sets of subframes; and determining an uplink (UL) hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) timing between a second control transmission and an uplink transmission based on a second minimum delay and the first and the second sets of subframes. |
| US08873453B2 |
Method and apparatus for wireless transmission of high data rate streams
Methods, system and devices for wireless transmission of HDMI data streams. Plurality of data multiplex converters are constructed and used in parallel to process one HDMI datastream into plurality of channels of data packets wherein the plurality of channels of data packets are transmitted through Wi-Fi wireless protocols to a destination device. The received plurality of channels of data packets are reassembled into one data stream for display or play. |
| US08873452B2 |
Multimedia multicast/broadcast service providing apparatus and multimedia multicast/broadcast service providing method using the same
An MBMS providing apparatus and an MBMS providing method using the same in a cloud radio access network are provided. The MBMS providing apparatus includes a third layer into which a plurality of network layers providing an MBMS are integrated in the plurality of DUs, and a second layer into which a plurality of datalink layers providing the MBMS are integrated in the DUs. Therefore, the present invention integrates the layers that provide the MBMS in the plurality of DUs, and provide the MBMS by MBSFN synchronization area through the integrated layers. Accordingly, by performing the MBMS by MBSFN synchronization area through respective integrated layers, the present invention can prevent the occurrence of an unnecessary load, thus enhancing the performance of a communication network. |
| US08873450B2 |
Synchronization processing method for multimedia broadcast multicast service, upper layer network element, and lower layer network element thereof
A synchronization processing method for multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), an upper layer network element, and a lower layer network element thereof. The method includes: an upper layer network element sends a synchronization protocol control frame to a lower layer network element, wherein, the synchronization protocol control frame carries the data packet length information of the pre-determined data frame in the synchronization sequence corresponding to the synchronization protocol control frame, and the pre-determined data frame includes at least one of: each data frame, part of a data frame. |
| US08873448B2 |
Method for broadcasting/multicasting transmissions in wireless networks
In a wireless communications network comprising a plurality of multicast and broadcast service (MBS) zones each of which comprises at least one base station, there is provided a method for providing a multicast and broadcast service to a mobile terminal capable of moving from one MBS zone to another. The method comprises the steps of: providing the mobile terminal with one or more multicasting/broadcasting transmissions comprising at least one multicast connection identification (MCID) associated with an MBS zone other than a current MBS zone at which the mobile terminal is currently receiving the one or more multicasting/broadcasting transmissions; retrieving information regarding the at least one MCID; and upon detecting that the mobile terminal is capable of receiving transmissions associated with the other MBS_ZONE, utilizing the MCID associated with that other MBS_ZONE to receive multicasting/broadcasting transmissions intended for that mobile terminal. |
| US08873443B2 |
Method and apparatus for power control for wireless transmissions on multiple component carriers associated with multiple timing advances
A method and apparatus for power control for wireless transmissions on multiple component carriers associated with multiple timing advances are disclosed. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) may perform power scaling or other adjustments on physical channels in each subframe to be transmitted on component carriers that belong to different timing advance groups (TAGs) if a sum of the transmit powers of the channels would or is to exceed a configured maximum output power for that subframe where each TAG may be associated with a separate timing advance value for uplink transmissions. The WTRU may adjust the transmit power of at least one physical channel if a sum of transmit powers in an overlapping portion of subframes of a less advanced TAG and a more advanced TAG would or is to exceed a configured maximum WTRU output power during the overlap. |
| US08873442B2 |
System and method for notifying back office prior to end of telematics unit standby period
The described method and system provide for notification to network applications by a telematics unit in standby mode of when the telematics unit is switching away from standby mode and will be come unavailable for communication with the network applications. The network application may include mobile applications for mobile devices (such as smartphones) and web applications accessible through web pages. The telematics unit may communicate with the back office(s) of the network applications. If the vehicle is a plug-type vehicle, the telematics unit or network application may further extend the standby period of the telematics unit or vehicle when the vehicle is plugged in. |
| US08873439B2 |
Subframe dependent physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) region design
According to certain aspects, resources allocated to a user equipment (UE) for physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions may be determined in a subframe-type dependent manner. As a result, PUCCH regions for different subframes may vary based on the subframe types. |
| US08873437B2 |
Base station apparatus and method in mobile communication system
A base station apparatus in a mobile communication system allowing for user equipment terminals having different numbers of receiving antennas is disclosed. The base station apparatus includes a mapping unit mapping a reference signal, a primary broadcasting signal, a synchronization signal, and an L1/L2 control signal onto a predetermined signal format; and a transmission unit transmitting the mapped signals, in which, within a sub-frame, the mapping unit maps the L1/L2 control signal and the primary broadcasting signal so as to be time-domain multiplexed, maps the primary broadcasting signal and the synchronization signal within a predetermined bandwidth in a middle of a system bandwidth, maps a reference signal included in a predetermined transmission stream within the predetermined bandwidth, but does not map a reference signal included in a transmission stream other than the predetermined transmission stream within the predetermined bandwidth. |
| US08873436B2 |
Routing and quality decision in mobile IP networks
A method for routing streams of traffic in IP networks, particularly in mobile IP networks. A plurality of streams of traffic to be transmitted are routed such that they are transmitted in one carrier/context. The streams of traffic having different destination networks are merged and are transmitted from a terminal via one carrier/context to a network access node in the IP network. They are routed from there to respective destination networks and devices. |
| US08873435B2 |
Short random access channel (RACH) disabling in TDD-LTE
In TDD-LTE wireless systems, an additional fourth preamble for the random access channel, called short RACH, may be used. If short RACH signaling is to be used, the random access preamble is transmitted in the uplink pilot time slot (UpPTS) field in the special subframe. The location of the uplink pilot time slot (UpPTS) is next to a downlink subframe. Therefore, interference from neighbor base stations may interfere with the short RACH preamble within the uplink pilot time slot. The interference to the short RACH will prevent the eNodeB from detecting the short RACH preamble and thus prevent the UE from accessing the network. An interference level on an Uplink Pilot Time Slot (UpPTS) may be measured and when the interference level exceeds a threshold value a User Equipment (UE) is instructed to disable short Random Access Channel (RACH) signaling. The UE may then be instructed to enable normal RACH. When the interference level falls below the threshold value the UE is instructed to resume short RACH signaling. |
| US08873431B1 |
Communications system and method for maintaining topology in a VLAN environment
In accordance with a non-limiting example, a communications system includes a plurality of Virtual Local Area Networks (VLAN) enabled switches interconnected together and each having a plurality of ports and configured into a plurality of VLAN's in a single topology map. The switches each comprise a processor and transceiver and configured to process and transport data packets and further comprising forwarding tables and operating in accordance with a Spanning Tree Protocol in a single topology map, for example, operating with the Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol and not having multiple topologies. When a topology changes occurs to a specified VLAN, the switches are configured to flush the forwarding tables only for the specified VLAN associated with the port of the switch whose state change caused the topology change. |
| US08873428B1 |
Peer-to-peer based group configuration for interconnected devices
Embodiments provide a method for discovering, by a network device of a network, a plurality of network devices of the network; establishing, by the network device, a group of network devices, wherein the group of network devices comprises the network device and a subset of the plurality of network devices; receiving, by the network device, information that is pertinent to one or more network devices included in the group of network devices; processing the information to generate processed information; and propagating the processed information to one or more network devices of the subset of the plurality of network devices. |
| US08873426B2 |
Wireless network connectivity in data centers
A method for wireless network connectivity in a data center includes communicating between nodes in a data center across a wireless interconnectivity through artificially created paths between nodes in the data center, the nodes being at least one of a server, router, switch, and other such components in the data center that require connectivity; and managing the wireless interconnectivity by a control and management entity. |
| US08873424B2 |
Adaptive load balancing
Methods and systems for performing load balancing within an Ethernet network are provided. According to one embodiment, a set of paths is maintained by a first component of multiple components coupled in communication with a network. Each path is a loop-free switching path, reverse path learning network and the first component and a second component of the multiple components are connected through each path. A packet destined for the second component is received by the first component. On a packet-by-packet basis or on a per flow basis, the first component dynamically selects a particular path of the multiple of paths by selecting a virtual network of the set of virtual networks for transporting the received packet that tends to balance traffic load across the set of virtual networks. The first component causes the received packet to be transported through the network to the second component via the particular path. |
| US08873423B2 |
Method of controlling connection between nodes in digital interface
A method of controlling connection between nodes in a digital interface whereby a first node that is a master node determines a second node to be the master and controls a point-to-point connection or a broadcast connection to another node. The first node having the display device determines the second node to be the master in accordance with a user selection, and transmits a connection command of a predetermined format for transmitting a data stream to the second node. The second node determined as the master in accordance with the transmitted connection command of the predetermined format is allocated with a channel and a bandwidth from an isochronous resource manager (IRM), and performs a point-to-point connection between the second node and the first node to transit the data stream. Thus, the transmission/reception, reproduction, and control of the data stream of the program can be smoothly performed. |
| US08873422B2 |
Systems, methods, and devices for electronic spectrum management for identifying open space
Systems, methods, and apparatus are provided for automated identification of open space in a wireless communications spectrum, by identifying sources of signal emission in the spectrum by automatically detecting signals, analyzing signals, comparing signal data to historical and reference data, creating corresponding signal profiles, and determining information about the open space based upon the measured and analyzed data in near real-time. |
| US08873420B2 |
Detecting extended acquisition indicators
A wireless communication device receives acquisition indicator (AI) data, including an acquisition indicator (AI), a corresponding AI signature, and a corresponding plurality of extended AI indicators (EAI). The device determines whether channel power corresponding to the received AI signature exceeds a first negative limit. The device determines whether a reliability metric of the extended acquisition indicators exceeds a second limit. If the channel power does not exceed the first negative limit and the reliability metric does not exceed the second limit, the device declares the AI to be an indeterminate indicator that denotes neither acknowledgment nor denial of an access request associated with the received AI data. |
| US08873417B2 |
Techniques using differential precoding for highly correlated channels in wireless networks
An embodiment of the present invention provides a method of using differential precoding feedback for correlated channels, comprising, transmitting by a mobile station (MS) as feedback an index angle for a differential discrete Fourier transform (DFT) codeword corresponding to a shift of a dominant beam represented by a base codeword, where the feedback corresponds to a precoding vector V(t)=Q({circumflex over (θ)}) for index angle {circumflex over (θ)}, where Q ( θ ^ ) = [ 1 ⅇ j 2 π m / 32 ⅇ j 4 π m / 32 ⅇ j 6 π m / 32 ] and m=−16 cos({circumflex over (θ)}). |
| US08873416B2 |
System and method for estimating round-trip time in telecommunication networks
A method for estimating round-trip time (RTT) values for data packets travelling in a telecommunication network is disclosed. During a first time interval (206) which begins with the start of a data transmission, estimated RTT values (14) are generated by filtering a periodic sequence of RTT samples (12) with a self-initializing expanding memory polynomial (EMP) filter (16) and, after a first switch-over time at the end of the first time interval, the estimated RTT values are generated by filtering the RTT samples with a fading memory polynomial (FMP) filter (18). The first switch-over time is determined by comparing an FMP estimation error and an EMP estimation error, where the FMP estimation error is the difference between an output of the FMP filter and the RTT samples, and the EMP estimation error is the difference between an output of the EMP filter and the RTT samples, and triggering the first switch-over time when the FMP estimation error becomes equal to or less than the EMP estimation error. |
| US08873415B2 |
Method for transmitting sounding reference signal in wireless communication system and apparatus for same
The present invention relates to a method in which a terminal transmits a sounding reference signal in a wireless communication system. Specifically, the method includes: receiving sounding reference signal setting information from a base station; and transmitting the sound reference signal to the base station on the basis of the sounding reference signal setting information, wherein an upstream link signal based on the sounding reference signal is transmitted over an upstream link control channel, and a frequency band corresponding to an upstream link data channel and a frequency band corresponding to an upstream link control channel are allocated as frequency resources for the sounding reference signal. |
| US08873414B2 |
Communication apparatus, communication method, and communication system
A communication apparatus that receives, from a plurality of other communication apparatuses, information indicating communication quality of a multicast transmission transmitted from the communication apparatus to each of the plurality of other communication apparatuses; and controls a multicast transmission rate to be lowered if a communication quality of a first one of the plurality of other communication apparatuses is less than a predetermined threshold and a communication quality of a second one of the other plurality of other communication apparatuses is greater than the predetermined value. |
| US08873412B2 |
Methods and devices for evaluating interconnection efficiency of parallel computer networks based upon static routing schemes
Methods and devices for characterizing the interconnection efficiency of a computer network based upon a static routing scheme are disclosed. The network comprises a plurality of items of equipment. After having determined (105) a plurality of types of links between said items of equipment, a theoretical number of routes per link and the associated number of links are determined (120, 125) for each type of at least one subset of said plurality of types of links according to the topology of said network. The determined theoretical number of routes per link and the associated number of links are then aggregated (135) to estimate at least one optimal routing point characterizing the theoretical efficiency of the network. Such optimal routing points can be compared with estimated actual routing points based upon the aggregation of actual numbers of routed per link and associated actual numbers of links to characterizes the network efficiency. |
| US08873408B2 |
Methods and apparatus for enhancing network testing procedures
Methods and arrangements for reporting of measurements in a wireless communication system are disclosed. The embodiments relate to methods and arrangements exercising automated collection of network performance statistics as an alternative to drive tests and reporting function called Minimizing Drive Tests (MDT). The described embodiments for reporting of measurements in a wireless communication system include acquiring suitable confidence information. |
| US08873407B2 |
Method for accessing a service unavailable through a network cell
A method performed by user equipment (UE) includes receiving a request to access a service unavailable through a first network cell associated with the UE, and receiving a message from an access device associated with the first network cell, wherein the message identifies a plurality of second network cells providing the service. |
| US08873398B2 |
Implementing EPC in a cloud computer with openflow data plane
A method for implementing a control plane of an evolved packet core (EPC) of a third generation partnership project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) network in a cloud computing system, including initializing the plurality of control plane modules of the EPC within the controller, each control plane module in the plurality of control plane modules initialized as a separate virtual machine by the cloud manager; monitoring resource utilization of each control plane module and the control plane traffic handled by each control plane module; detecting a threshold level of resource utilization or traffic load for one of the plurality of control plane modules of the EPC; and initializing a new control plane module as a separate virtual machine by the cloud manager in response to detecting the threshold level, the new control plane module to share the load of the one of the plurality of control plane modules. |
| US08873396B2 |
Method and system for congestion marking
The present invention provides a method and system wherein congestion information is taken from a lower level in the protocol stack and used for congestion marking in a higher layer. In particular, the method and system of the invention from a first aspect provide for congestion information in the lower layer to be generated downstream at a congested node, and to be fed back upstream to a source node. The source node then passes the congestion information, or information derived therefrom, up to the corresponding network element responsible for higher layer functions in the protocol stack, where higher level congestion marking can then be performed in dependence on the received lower level congestion information. Thus, congestion information from the lower layer which can typically be generated earlier before significant congestion occurs can be used in higher layer congestion control functions. Preferably the lower layer is the data link layer, and the higher layer is the network layer. |
| US08873395B1 |
Methods and systems for dynamically varying quality of service for wireless communications
Quality of Service (QoS) priority values and thresholds are defined for various service types assignable to user equipment (UE devices) including multiple bandclass devices. The QoS thresholds can be used for determining whether resources of a default or alternate bandclass should be used for a new call request or whether a timer should be initiated to wait for additional resources to become available. A default QoS priority values can be assigned to each service type and used for voice calls requested by UE devices. QoS priority values with lower priority can be used for data calls. The priority of priority values can decrease as the data rate for the data calls increases. Thresholds for blocking call requests can be increased or decreased to improve likelihood that resources for call requests with higher priority service types are granted at the expense granting resources for call requests with lower priority service types. |
| US08873393B2 |
Method for operating a wireless network and a wireless network
In order to allow an efficient use of data or frame aggregation techniques with real-time communications a method for operating a wireless network, especially a Wi-Fi technology based network, is described, wherein the network includes at least one wireless device for transmission of data and wherein the device may use a data or frame aggregation technique to provide an adjustable amount of aggregation. The method is characterized in that the amount of aggregation provided by the aggregation technique will be adjusted depending on a level of congestion in the network. Further, an according wireless network is described, preferably for carrying out the above mentioned method. |
| US08873390B2 |
Resource-aware system, method and program product for managing request traffic based on a management policy
Under the present invention, the performance of a set of system resources is monitored in response to incoming request traffic. When a system resource is approaching an overload condition, a corrective action is identified and implemented. Overload thresholds for each system resource and appropriate corrective actions are contained within a management policy. Based on a performance history of the corrective actions, the management policy can be changed/revised. |
| US08873387B2 |
Network congestion control for machine-type communications
A machine-type communications (MTC) device may attempt a network attach operation corresponding to a wireless network, and receive quality of service information, from the wireless network, in response to the network attach operation failing. The MTC device may determine a back-off time based on the quality of service information received from the wireless network. The back-off time may include a duration of time before re-attempting the network attach operation. The MTC device may re-attempt the network attach operation in response to detecting an expiration of the back-off time. |
| US08873383B2 |
Method for providing service quality in a WiMAX communication network, and method for selecting an access transport resource control function by means of a guideline decision-making function in a communication network
A method provides service quality in a WiMAX communication network, and a method selects an access transport resource control function by a guideline decision-making function in a communication network. According to a method for providing service quality on an air interface of an access network in a WiMAX communication network by an application function, the application function aims to provide a user of the WiMAX communication network with a service quality-related application. The desired service quality is signaled by an authentication, authorization and accounting infrastructure of the WiMAX communication network. |
| US08873380B2 |
System and method for setting redundant path segments in a multi-ring communication network
In a multi-ring communication network, first and second rings include first and second connection nodes, respectively, that are adjacently connected to each other. The first connection node receives, from adjacent nods, traffic information storing a pair of input and output node identifiers in association with each of storage areas included in a frame to be transmitted, where the input node identifier identifies an adjacent node from which data is inputted, and the output node identifier identifies an adjacent node to which the data is outputted. When the received traffic information includes the output node identifier identifying the second connection node, the first connection node sets a plurality of redundant path segments each including the second connection node, based on the received traffic information, where the plurality of redundant path segments includes a currently-used path segment. |
| US08873378B2 |
Switching method and system for ethernet path protection
A switching method for Ethernet path protection is provided in the disclosure. The method includes: setting a group of Traffic Engineering Service Instances (TESIs) protected by a protection group; detecting statuses of a working entity and a protection entity; implementing the path protection switching according to an outbound port configured for Ethernet Switching Path (ESP) of the TESI at the endpoint of the protection group and in conjunction with a corresponding protection switching mechanism selected in current status detection. A switching system for Ethernet path protection is also provided in the disclosure, wherein a switching unit is configured to implement the path protection switching according to the outbound port configured for the ESP of the TESI at the endpoint of the protection group and in conjunction with the corresponding protection switching mechanism selected in current status detection. The method and system of the disclosure can enhance the speed of fault recovery, reduce nodes for the protection switching, be beneficial to network optimization, and ensure the reliability of end-to-end traffic. |
| US08873374B2 |
Accelerated recovery during negotiation between a media gateway and a media gateway controller
A method is disclosed that enables an improved technique for recovering from an error scenario encountered during a call setup involving a malfunctioning media gateway and corresponding media gateway controller. The media gateway first detects a malfunction that affects a digital signal processing resource, and then proactively selects a processing resource available elsewhere at the gateway. The media gateway selects the new processing resource based on criteria including: i) the capabilities that were identified to handle the packet stream at the affected (faulty) processor; ii) the capabilities of the IP terminal originating the packet stream that is being moved; and iii) the Internet Protocol address of the affected processing resource. Advantageously, an effort is made to avoid having to inform the media gateway controller of the move, thereby minimizing any discontinuity in each packet stream and minimizing the time and processing that are required to establish the call. |
| US08873373B2 |
Ethernet transmission method, transmission apparatus and system
The present invention, provides an Ethernet transmission apparatus comprising a first and second MEPs provided for each of transmission lines of operational and non-operational systems and for performing the transmission/reception of a frame to be transmitted over each transmission line in a duplexed manner, and a switching processing part for switching the MEP to be used for reception by using ETH-CC which is transmitted at regular intervals, in which the above described first and second MEPs are configured to be able to confirm each other's received content and are adapted to add a continuous sequence number to the ETH-CC when transmitting the ETH-CC, and when the sequence number of the received ETH-CC is smaller than the sequence number of the ETH-CC received by the operational system side, the MEP of the non-operational system side is adapted not to transmit the frame. |
| US08873372B2 |
Method and apparatus for fast reroute in a connection-oriented network
A method and an apparatus for rapidly resuming, at times of failures, network traffic in a connection-oriented network by using an alternative route pre-computed and stored locally in nodes along an initial route without requiring signaling of upstream nodes or a master server. |
| US08873370B2 |
Power over ethernet management devices and connection between ethernet devices
In one embodiment, a connection is maintained between a pair of ethernet ports that have circuitry connected in series with the ports and receiving power-over-ethernet (PoE) from one of the ports, by providing a controllable bypass circuit coupled to the pair of ethernet ports in parallel with the circuitry receiving power-over-ethernet, sensing a preselected condition, and opening and closing the bypass circuit in response to the presence or absence of the preselected condition. Power sourcing equipment (PSE) may supply the one of the ports with power over ethernet, and the circuitry may transports data between the pair of ethernet ports. The circuitry may also supply the switch with a control signal in response to the detection of the preselected condition. |
| US08873369B2 |
Fiber channel 1:N redundancy
Network devices, systems, and methods, including executable instructions and/or logic thereon to achieve fiber channel one for N (1:N) redundancy. A network device includes a processing resource coupled to a memory. The memory includes program instructions executed by the processing resource to group a number of switches in a 1:N cluster and provide each switch with a (virtual) A_Port link to all members of the 1:N cluster. If a failure of a fiber channel over ethernet forwarder (FCF) occurs, the program instructions execute to re-establish or redirect a connection over an alternate path through a redundant FCF without having to synchronize a connection state across all switches in the cluster. |
| US08873367B2 |
Generic packet filtering
Embodiments contemplate one or more techniques for packet filtering. One or more embodiments may apply specific routing and/or forwarding rules on some or each packet when a device has one or more, or multiple, interfaces. Contemplated filtering techniques may be implemented in a module and/or without modifying an IP stack. The contemplated packet filtering techniques may apply to a terminal in uplink and/or downlink as well as to any network node. An incoming packet table may be created using 5-tuple, 6-tuple, and/or tags, among other mechanisms, to support incoming and/or outgoing packet filtering. |
| US08873366B2 |
Frequency division multiplexing system with selectable rate
An OFDM system uses a normal mode which has a symbol length T, a guard time TG and a set of N sub-carriers, which are orthogonal over the time T, and one or more fallback modes which have symbol lengths KT and guard times KTG where K is an integer greater than unity. The same set of N sub-carriers is used for the fallback modes as for the normal mode. Since the same set of sub-carriers is used, the overall bandwidth is substantially constant, so alias filtering does not need to be adaptive. The Fourier transform operations are the same as for the normal mode. Thus fallback modes are provided with little hardware cost. In the fallback modes the increased guard time provides better delay spread tolerance and the increased symbol length provides improved signal to noise performance, and thus increased range, at the cost of reduced data rate. |
| US08873362B2 |
Apparatus and method for enhancing features of uplink reference signals
Methods and apparatuses for configuring and transmitting Reference Signals (RS) accompanying data signals from User Equipments (UEs), such that Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) are transmitted from some UEs over a part of a possible transmission bandwidth, with or without the use of SRS bandwidth hopping. |
| US08873357B2 |
Recording management apparatus, recording management method, and program
A recording management apparatus includes: a control unit configured to perform track setting processing arranged to set, by recording purpose, a plurality of tracks serving as continuous recording areas to one layer of a recording medium having a plurality of layers serving as recording layers where recording of information is performed by laser irradiation, and closing track processing arranged to set each track to a continuous recording completed state within one layer alone. |
| US08873356B2 |
Disc device having a picker for conveying a pluralty of discs in a stacked state
A disc device with which the disc replacing time can further be suppressed includes a picker for conveying a plurality of discs in a stacked state, and a carrier which retains the plurality of discs in a stacked state, which supplies the retained plurality of discs to a respective one of a plurality of disc drives, respectively, and which collects the supplied plurality of discs in a stacked state. The carrier is structured to retain a stacked object made up of a first plurality of discs collected from the plurality of disc drives and a second plurality of discs to be supplied next to the plurality of disc drives. |
| US08873353B1 |
Estimating narrow, laser-induced protrusion at a near-field transducer
Fixed patterns are written on a track of a heat-assisted, recording medium at multiple, heater-induced write clearances via a recording head. The writing involves heating the recording medium via a near-field transducer of the recording head. Amplitudes of the fixed patterns are read back at a predetermined read clearance. A clearance difference between a start and an end of a first data sector of the track is determined based on the amplitudes. A narrow, laser-induced protrusion is estimated at the near-field transducer based on the clearance difference. |
| US08873343B2 |
Signaling device and method of use in caring for pets
Devices having symbols or messages that are illuminated and darkened in accordance with a care-taking schedule for a pet, and methods for using the devices. |
| US08873339B2 |
Method and apparatus for a clock and signal distribution network for a 60 GHz transmitter system
Herein is presented, a low power on-die 60 GHz distribution network for a beamforming system that can be scaled as the number of transmitters increases. The transmission line based power splitters and quadrature hybrids whose size would be proportional to a quarter wavelength (˜600 μm) if formed using transmission lines are instead constructed by inductors/capacitors and reduce the area by more than 80%. An input in-phase I clock and an input quadrature Q clock are combined into a single composite clock waveform locking the phase relation between the in-phase I clock and quadrature Q clock. The composite clock is transferred over a single transmission line formed using a Co-planar Waveguide (CPW) coupling the source and destination locations over the surface of a die. Once the individuals the in-phase I and quadrature Q clocks are required, they can be generated at the destination from the composite clock waveform. |
| US08873337B2 |
Systems and methods for overpinging synthetic aperture sonar transmitters
The systems and methods described herein relate to systems and methods for synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) or radar including overpinging with multiple SAS transmitters. |
| US08873336B1 |
Method and system for transmission of seismic data
The transmission method utilizes multiple seismic acquisition units within an array as intermediate short range radio receivers/transmitters to pass collected seismic data in relay fashion back to a control station. Any one seismic unit in the array is capable of transmitting radio signals to several other seismic units positioned within radio range of the transmitting unit, thus allowing the system to select an optimal transmission path. Utilizing an array of seismic units permits transmission routes back to a control station to be varied as needed. In transmissions from the most remote seismic unit to the control station, each unit within a string receives seismic data from other units and transmits the received seismic data along with the receiving unit's locally stored seismic data. Preferably, as a transmission is passed along a chain, it is bounced between seismic units so as to be relayed by each unit in the array. |
| US08873335B1 |
Method and system for transmission of seismic data
The transmission method utilizes multiple seismic acquisition units within an array as intermediate short range radio receivers/transmitters to pass collected seismic data in relay fashion back to a control station. Any one seismic unit in the array is capable of transmitting radio signals to several other seismic units positioned within radio range of the transmitting unit, thus allowing the system to select an optimal transmission path. Utilizing an array of seismic units permits transmission routes back to a control station to be varied as needed. In transmissions from the most remote seismic unit to the control station, each unit within a string receives seismic data from other units and transmits the received seismic data along with the receiving unit's locally stored seismic data. Preferably, as a transmission is passed along a chain, it is bounced between seismic units so as to be relayed by each unit in the array. |
| US08873333B2 |
Geophysical signal processing
A method of processing geophysical signals obtained by—monitoring the response of the earth to an source using a plurality of receivers is described including the evaluation of sums or integrals of functions of weighted signal values over a one or multidimensional domain such that the domain is split into a plurality of simplices and the signal values are interpolated across the simplices using a non-linear approximation of the function, the approximation including signals and gradients of the signals, and the evaluated sums or integrals are used to obtain a representation of characteristics of the earth. |
| US08873332B2 |
Method and device for marine seismic acquisition
Method and system for improving offset/azimuth distribution. The system includes plural streamers towed by a streamer vessel; a central source towed by the streamer vessel; first and second front sources located in front of the plural streamers along a traveling direction of the streamer vessel; and first and second large offset front sources located in front of the first and second front sources along the traveling direction. The offset distance between the first and second large offset front sources, along a cross-line direction, is larger than an offset distance between the first and second front sources. |
| US08873329B1 |
Patterned memory page activation
Row activation operations within a memory component are carried out with respect to patterns of storage cells that constitute a fraction of a row and that have been predicted or predetermined to yield a succession of page hits, thus reducing activation power consumption without significantly increasing memory latency. The patterns of activated storage cells may be predicted or predetermined statically, for example, in response to user input or configuration settings that specify activation patterns to be applied in response to memory request traffic meeting various criteria, or dynamically through run-time evaluation of sequences of memory access requests. |
| US08873325B2 |
Semiconductor device performing refresh operation
Disclosed herein is a device that includes a first semiconductor chip. The first semiconductor chip includes a first data storage area storing data, a first refresh circuit repeating a first refresh operation on the first data storage area to make the first data storage area retain the data, a first terminal supplied with a first control signal from outside of the first semiconductor chip, and a first control circuit coupled between the first terminal and the first refresh circuit to control a repetition cycle of the first refresh operation in response to the first control signal. |
| US08873324B2 |
Method of refreshing a memory device, refresh address generator and memory device
A refresh address is generated with a refresh period for refreshing a memory device with refresh leveraging. A respective refresh is performed on a weak cell having a first address when the refresh address is a second address instead of on a first strong cell having the second address. A respective refresh is performed on one of the first strong cell or a second strong cell having a third address when the refresh address is the third address. Address information is stored for only one of the first, second, and third addresses such that memory capacity may be reduced. In alternative aspects, a respective refresh is performed on one of a weak cell, a first strong cell, or a second strong cell depending on a flag when the refresh address is any of at least one predetermined address to result in refresh leveraging. |
| US08873319B2 |
Address output circuit and semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device includes a signal generation unit configured to generate a toggling signal and first and second pulse signals in response to a test signal and a burst pulse signal. An address output unit may be configured to receive first to fourth input addresses and output sequentially first to fourth output addresses in response to the toggling signal and the first and second pulse signals. A repair unit may be configured to perform a repair operation on a word line selected by the first to fourth output addresses. |
| US08873318B2 |
Mechanisms for built-in self repair of memory devices using failed bit maps and obvious repairs
Failure bit map (FBM) data and a built-in-self-test-repair (BISTR) module enable collecting and analyzing FBM data of an entire memory to identify the best repairing method (or mechanism) to make repairs. As a result, the repair method is better and more efficient than algorithms (or methods) known to the inventors, which only utilize partial (or incomplete) failure data. At the same time, the compressed data structures used for the FBMs keep the resources used to capture the FBM data and to repair the failed cells relatively limited. |
| US08873317B2 |
Memory device
According to one embodiment, during a transition to and from a state assumed while a signal is being received from outside a memory device at the terminal, a first pre-driver outputs a first signal which transitions at a lower rate than that during a transition to and from a state assumed while a signal is being output to outside the memory device at the terminal. During a transition to and from a state assumed while a signal is being received from outside the memory device at the terminal, a second pre-driver outputs a second signal which transitions at a lower rate than that during a transition to and from a state assumed while a signal is being output to outside the memory device at the terminal. |
| US08873312B2 |
Decoder circuit of semiconductor storage device
The present invention provides a row decoder of a semiconductor storage device that prevents an increase in a circuit area while maintaining a high operation speed. Namely, the row decoder of the semiconductor storage device includes a word line selection circuit that has voltage application MOS transistors for each of plural word lines, the voltage application MOS transistors applying a normal voltage to the word lines corresponding to memory cells selected among plural memory cells positioned at a portion where the plural word lines intersect plural bit lines in a predetermined normal operation, and applying a high voltage in a predetermined high voltage operation; and a level shift circuit that outputs the normal voltage or a ground voltage lower than the normal voltage in the normal operation, and that outputs the normal voltage or the high voltage in the high voltage operation, to the voltage application MOS transistor. |
| US08873306B2 |
Pipe latch control circuit and semiconductor integrated circuit using the same
A pipe latch control circuit and a semiconductor integrated circuit using the same are provided. The pipe latch control circuit includes a read command control unit that receives a first signal and generates a read signal in response to a control signal. In the pipe latch control circuit, the read command control unit selects, in response to the control signal, the first signal or selects a second signal obtained by delaying the first signal according to an internal clock, and generates the selected first or second signal as the read signal. |
| US08873303B2 |
Non-volatile memory and method with shared processing for an aggregate of read/write circuits
A non-volatile memory device capable of reading and writing a large number of memory cells with multiple read/write circuits in parallel has an architecture that reduces redundancy in the multiple read/write circuits to a minimum. The multiple read/write circuits are organized into a bank of similar stacks of components. Redundant circuits such as a processor for processing data among stacks each associated with multiple memory cells are factored out. The processor is implemented with an input logic, a latch and an output logic. The input logic can transform the data received from either the sense amplifier or the data latches. The output logic further processes the transformed data to send to either the sense amplifier or the data latches or to a controller. This provides an infrastructure with maximum versatility and a minimum of components for sophisticated processing of the data sensed and the data to be input or output. |
| US08873298B2 |
Nonvolatile semiconductor storage device
A nonvolatile semiconductor storage device according to an embodiment includes: a memory cell array including plural memory cells; and a control circuit that repeatedly performs a write loop including a program operation and a verify operation in data write performed to the memory cell, the verify operation including a preverify step to check whether a threshold voltage of the memory cell transitions to a preverify voltage, and a real verify step to check whether the threshold voltage of the memory cell transitions to the real verify voltage, the write loop including one or at least two verify operations corresponding to pieces of the data, the control circuit performing the write loop in which the preverify step of the verify operation corresponding to a first data is omitted after obtaining a first condition. |
| US08873297B2 |
Select gate programming in a memory device
Methods for programming select gates, memory devices, and memory systems are disclosed. In one such method for programming, a program inhibit voltage is transferred from a source to unselected bit lines. Bit line-to-bit line capacitance, between the unselected bit lines and selected bit lines to be program inhibited, boosts the bit line voltage of the selected, inhibited bit lines to a target inhibit voltage. In one embodiment, the voltage on the selected, inhibited bit line can be increased in a plurality of inhibit steps whereby either one, two, or all of the steps can be used during the programming of unprogrammed select gates. |
| US08873292B2 |
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device according to one embodiment includes: memory cells; word lines connected to the memory cells; and a control circuit configured to control a data read operation. When controlling the data read operation, the control circuit applies one of read voltages to a selected word line, applies a first read pass voltage to a first non-selected word line connected to one of data-written memory cells, and applies a second read pass voltage to a second non-selected word line connected to a non-written memory cell. Each of the read voltages is set to a voltage between two threshold voltage distributions. The first read pass voltage is set so that the data-written memory cells become conductive. The second read pass voltage is set so as to be lower than a highest read voltage, the highest read voltage being the highest voltage among the read voltages. |
| US08873290B2 |
Non-volatile memory device capable of multi-page programming by simultaneously activating a plurality of selection lines based on programmed data
A method of programming a non-volatile memory device including a plurality of strings arranged in rows and columns comprises activating all or a part of selection lines in one column at the same time depending upon data to be programmed, driving a bit line corresponding to the one column with a bit line program voltage, and repeating the activating and the driving until bit lines corresponding to the columns are all driven. |
| US08873289B2 |
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device
Word lines extend in a first direction and are commonly connected to memory cells in a plurality of NAND cell units. Bit lines extend in a second direction crossing to the first direction and connected to one ends of the NAND cell units. In one block, both a first and a second NAND cell unit are connected to one of the bit lines. A bit-line-side select transistor in the first NAND cell unit and a source-line-side select transistor in the second NAND cell unit are disposed adjacently to each other. The source-line-side select transistor in the first NAND cell unit and the bit-line-side select transistor in the second NAND cell unit are disposed adjacently to each other. |
| US08873284B2 |
Method and system for program scheduling in a multi-layer memory
A multi-layer memory and method for operation is disclosed. The memory includes an interface, at least one flash memory die having a plurality of layers and a controller. The controller is configured to select an appropriate one of a predetermined number of program cycles for programming a fixed amount of host data, and for carrying out maintenance operations in one or more of the layers sufficient to permit a next host data write operation. The controller calculates an interleave ratio of maintenance operations to host data programming operations in each of the layers used in the determined programming cycle so that creation of free space is interspersed with host data writes in a steady manner during execution of the determined programming cycle. |
| US08873281B2 |
Memory element and memory device
A memory element capable of simultaneously satisfying the number of repeating operation times and a low-voltage operation characteristic which are in a tradeoff relation is provided. The memory element has a high-resistivity layer and an ion source layer between a bottom electrode and a top electrode. The high-resistivity layer is made of an oxide containing Te. Any of elements other than Te such as Al, Zr, Ta, Hf, Si, Ge, Ni, Co, Cu, and Au may be added. In the case of adding Al to Te and also adding Cu and Zr, the composition ratio of the high-resistivity layer is preferably adjusted in the ranges of 30≦Te≦100 atomic %, 0≦Al≦70 atomic %, and 0≦Cu+Zr≦36 atomic % except for oxygen. The ion source layer is made of at least one kind of metal elements and at least one kind of chalcogen elements of Te, S, and Se. |
| US08873280B2 |
Spin transfer torque random access memory
A spin transfer torque random access memory includes a substance unit, a source line unit, an insulation unit, a transistor unit, a MTJ unit, and a bit line unit. The substance unit includes a substance layer. The source line unit includes a plurality of source lines formed inside the substance layer. The transistor unit includes a plurality of transistors respectively disposed on the source lines. Each transistor includes a source region formed on each corresponding source line, a drain region formed above the source region, a channel region formed between the source region and the drain region, and a surrounding gate region surrounding the source region, the drain region, and the channel region. The MTJ unit includes a plurality of MTJ structures respectively disposed on the transistors. The bit line unit includes at least one bit line disposed on the MTJ unit. |
| US08873276B2 |
Resistive-switching nonvolatile memory elements
Nonvolatile memory elements including resistive switching metal oxides may be formed in one or more layers on an integrated circuit. Each memory element may have a first conductive layer, a metal oxide layer, and a second conductive layer. Electrical devices such as diodes may be coupled in series with the memory elements. The first conductive layer may be formed from a metal nitride. The metal oxide layer may contain the same metal as the first conductive layer. The metal oxide may form an ohmic contact or a Schottky contact with the first conductive layer. The second conductive layer may form an ohmic contact or Schottky contact with the metal oxide layer. The first conductive layer, the metal oxide layer, and the second conductive layer may include sublayers. The second conductive layer may include an adhesion or barrier layer and a workfunction control layer. |
| US08873275B2 |
Semiconductor storage device
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor storage device includes multiple memory cells that include a variable resistance element and a control circuit to control the voltage that is applied to the memory cell. The control circuit is configured so that, during the set operation in which the variable resistance element is changed to the set state, a set voltage of a first polarity is applied to the select memory cell. The control circuit is configured so that, during the reset operation in which the variable resistance elements are changed to the reset state, and a cancel voltage of the first polarity is applied to an unselected memory cell to which voltage that is less than the reset voltage was applied. The voltage value and the voltage application time of the set voltage and the voltage value and the voltage application time of the cancel voltage have a set relationship. |
| US08873272B2 |
Semiconductor memory apparatus and test circuit therefor
Disclosed is a semiconductor memory apparatus, including: a memory cell array configured to include a plurality of memory cells; a switching unit configured to be coupled to data input and output pads and control a data transfer path of data applied to the data input and output pads in response to a test mode signal; a write driver configured to drive data transferred from the switching unit and write the data in the memory cell array at a normal mode; and a controller configured to transfer the data from the switching unit to the memory cell at a test mode. |
| US08873269B2 |
Read only memory bitline load-balancing
A Read Only Memory (ROM) bitline cell apparatus and programming method therefore. The programming methodology ensures a ROM structure having open state and/or breaks in the diffusion and/or dummy wordline rows to provide bitline load balancing. The ROM bitline cell apparatus and programming method exhibits improved load balancing for any combination of 1's or all 0's on the bitline. The programming methodology identifies groups of consecutive ‘1’s on the bitline and instead of connecting the ‘1’ devices between BL/BL or GND/GND, those ‘1’ devices can be connected between BL/OPEN, OPEN/BL, GND/OPEN, OPEN/GND or OPEN/OPEN. With little or no variation in bitline loading, timing can be optimized for that single case of bitline loading. |
| US08873268B2 |
Circuit and system of using junction diode as program selector for one-time programmable devices
Junction diodes fabricated in standard CMOS logic processes can be used as program selectors for One-Time Programmable (OTP) devices, such as electrical fuse, contact/via fuse, contact/via anti-fuse, or gate-oxide breakdown anti-fuse, etc. The OTP device has an OTP element coupled to a diode in a memory cell. The diode can be constructed by P+ and N+ active regions on an N well as the P and N terminals of the diode. By applying a high voltage to the P terminal of a diode and switching the N terminal of a diode to a low voltage for suitable duration of time, a current flows through an OTP element in series with the program selector may change the resistance state. The P+ active region of the diode can be isolated from the N+ active region in the N well by using dummy MOS gate, SBL, or STI/LOCOS isolations. If the resistive element is an interconnect fuse based on CMOS gate material, the resistive element can be coupled to the P+ active region by an abutted contact such that the element, active region, and metal are connected in a single rectangular contact. |
| US08873265B2 |
Semiconductor memory system
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory system includes a substrate, a plurality of elements and an adhesive portion. The substrate has a multilayer structure in which wiring patterns are formed, and has a substantially rectangle shape in a planar view. The elements are provided and arranged along the long-side direction of a surface layer side of the substrate. The adhesive portion is filled in a gap between the elements and in a gap between the elements and the substrate, where surfaces of the elements are exposed. |
| US08873264B1 |
Data forwarding circuits and methods for memory devices with write latency
A memory device can include a memory array section; a write first-in-first-out circuit (FIFO) configured to transfer write data to the memory array portion; at least one store circuit configured to store a copy of at least a portion of the write data stored in the write FIFO; and an address compare section configured to store write addresses corresponding to the write data of the forwarding circuit. |
| US08873260B2 |
Method and an apparatus for controlling the output voltage of a boost converter
The present invention concerns a method for controlling an output voltage of a boost converter composed of n bridge devices connected in series, each bridge device being composed of plural switches and a capacitor, the switches being controlled by periodical patterns decomposed in time intervals. In each time interval of a first and at least one second periodical patterns, the voltage between the input and the output of each ith bridge device with i from one to n, is equal to a null value, or an integer number ki times a first and at least on second positive value, or minus the number ki times the first and at least one second positive value, and in each time interval of at least one third periodical pattern, the voltage between the input and the output of each ith bridge device with i from one to n, being equal to a null value, or an integer number pi times and at least one third positive value, or minus the number pi times the at least one third positive value, at least one number ki being different from the number pi. |
| US08873251B2 |
Output adjustment circuit for power supply unit
An output adjustment circuit includes a rectifier and filter circuit, a voltage drop circuit, a voltage output circuit, a PWM regulator, and a feedback circuit. The rectifier and filter circuit receives an AC voltage and converts it into a square wave signal. The voltage drop circuit includes a primary coil and a secondary coil. The primary coil is connected to the rectifier and filter circuit. The primary coil receives the square wave signal. The voltage output circuit is connected to the secondary coil. The PWM regulator is connected to the primary coil. The PWM regulator generates a pulse signal to turn on and turn off the primary coil periodically. The feedback circuit controls a duty cycle of the pulse signal to adjust a during time of the primary coil being on in a cycle. The primary coil transmits energy to the secondary coil according the during time. |
| US08873250B2 |
Attachable extendable and retractable earpiece cable assembly for mobile communication and sound devices
An extendable and retractable earpiece or audio headset cable assembly for mobile electronic devices having an audio output port having a mount attached to a portion of the mobile communication or sound device, such as the battery access door or panel. An earpiece cable reel housing is removably connected to the mount, and the mount includes a flange having an outwardly extending rim. The reel housing includes a slot that receives and engages the rim of the flange to removably attach the reel housing to the mount. In another embodiment, the mount is integrally formed with the battery access door or panel. In a further embodiment, the reel housing is integrally formed with a protective casing that is attached to the mobile electronic device. |
| US08873241B2 |
Intrinsically safe serviceable transmitter apparatus and method
An intrinsically safe serviceable transmitter apparatus and method includes a sensor module composed of at least a sensor and a sensor electronic module in order to transmit an electrical signal from the sensor module to a dual cap electronic housing module. The dual cap electronic housing module includes an electronics module, a terminal block, and an intrinsically safe circuit and noise rejection unit. The electronic housing module includes a meter cap and a field-wiring cap in order to permit a user to open either side of the transmitter housing in an intrinsically sale environment. Once open, a local integral meter can be added to calibrate and reconfigure the apparatus and/or to replace a communications board. The terminal block located in a field-wiring compartment acts as an intrinsically safe barrier for the rest of the transmitter electronics and simplifies board replacement. |
| US08873240B2 |
Rotating mezzanine card bracket
An information handling system motherboard overlaps a component with a mezzanine card to provide additional room for components to couple to the motherboard. A mezzanine card bracket holds the mezzanine card in a parallel configuration over the motherboard. The mezzanine card bracket includes a rotating portion that supports the mezzanine card in a closed position and rotates to an open position to allow access to components disposed on the motherboard beneath the rotating portion, such as a memory module that is partially covered by the mezzanine card when the mezzanine card is installed on the mezzanine card bracket support surface. |
| US08873239B2 |
Electronic module, control module, and electronic module set
One variation of the invention is a electronic module comprising: a housing with external faces and electrically-conductive first, second, and third toes, each of which extends from one face to an adjacent face; first, second, and third magnetic elements arranged within the housing and proximal the first, second, and third toes, respectively; and a circuit arranged within the housing and electrically coupled to the toes. The circuit is operable between: a first mode when the first and second toes are in contact with a first terminal and a second terminal of a second electronic module, respectively; and a second mode when the second and the third toes are in contact with the second terminal and a third terminal of the second electronic module. The magnetic elements are configured to transiently retain the second electronic module against the housing, in both stacked and adjacent configurations, in the first and second modes. |
| US08873238B2 |
Chassis system and method for holding and protecting electronic modules
A chassis system includes a body, a lid, a cavity, a backplane, and an electrically conductive connector. The lid is removably attached to the body such that when the lid is attached to the body a cavity within the body is completely enclosed by the body and the attached lid. The lid and the body are made of at least one material that does not allow electromagnetic waves to enter the cavity. The backplane is attached to the body or the lid. The electrically conductive connector is attached to the body or lid. The connector is in wired or wireless communication with the backplane for allowing electricity or data to flow between the electrically conductive connector and the backplane. The chassis system may be used to environmentally protect one or more electronic modules inserted into the cavity of the chassis system. |
| US08873236B1 |
Electronic devices having cooling module with direction-configurable airflow
An electronic device with a housing or enclosure. At least one heat-generating electronic component is contained within the housing. The electronic device further comprises a fan module configured to direct cooling air over the at least one heat-generating electronic component. The fan module is pivotably secured to the housing and capable of pivoting through at least 180°, such that the cooling air can be directed in a front-to-back flow path or a back-to-front flow path. Either of a manufacturer and a customer can reconfigure the direction of airflow. |
| US08873234B2 |
Computer host with a rotatable socket mechanism
A host for a portable computer is disclosed. A main board is disposed in a casing. A socket mechanism is rotatably disposed in the casing, is electrically connected to the main board, and detachably connects to an electronic device. The electronic device protrudes to the exterior of the casing when the socket mechanism rotates to a first position. The electronic device is received in the casing when the socket mechanism rotates to a second position. |
| US08873228B2 |
LCD module and frame thereof
The invention provides an LCD module and a frame thereof. The frame comprises a plurality of segmented pieces constituting the frame; the frame comprises a front frame, and a middle frame; the structure of the segmented piece(s) constituting the front frame is the same as that of the segmented piece(s) constituting the middle frame. Because the front frame and the middle frame of the LCD module of the invention are comprised of a plurality of segmented pieces of the same structure, the segmented pieces constituting the front frame can be superposed outside the segmented pieces constituting the middle frame, and then the front frame and middle frame of different sizes can be respectively formed. Thus, because the segmented pieces constituting the front frame and middle frame are of the same structure, the segmented pieces can be produced by only one mold, and the front frame and the middle frame can be produced just by the same mold, thereby saving the production cost. In addition, the segmented pieces can be cut only on one section without singly producing each segmented piece, thereby further reducing the production cost of LCD modules. |
| US08873227B2 |
Flexible hinge support layer
Flexible hinge and removable attachment techniques are described. In one or more implementations, a flexible hinge is configured to communicatively and physically couple an input device to a computing device and may implement functionality such as a support layer and minimum bend radius. The input device may also include functionality to promote a secure physical connection between the input device and the computing device. One example of this includes use of one or more protrusions that are configured to be removed from respective cavities of the computing device along a particular axis but mechanically bind along other axes. Other techniques include use of a laminate structure to form a connection portion of the input device. |
| US08873223B2 |
Circuit interconnect device racking apparatus, racking assemblies, and methods of connecting circuit interconnect devices
A circuit interconnect device racking apparatus is disclosed. The circuit interconnect device racking apparatus has a body adapted to couple to a circuit interconnect device, one or more frame connectors coupled to the body, a racking lever coupled to the body by a lever pivot, the racking lever having a cam mechanism component, and one or more bus connectors configured to connect to or disconnect from one or more bus bars responsive to rotation of the racking lever. Circuit interconnect device racking assemblies having the circuit interconnect device racking apparatus and methods of connecting circuit interconnect devices to one or more bus bars are disclosed, as are other aspects. |
| US08873218B2 |
Actuator
According to one embodiment, an actuator includes a substrate, a lower electrode disposed on the substrate, an upper electrode, a support and a driving unit. The upper electrode is opposed to the lower electrode. The support supports the upper electrode. The driving unit is connected between the lower electrode and the upper electrode and feeds a driving voltage. The driving voltage at which the lower and upper electrodes start to come into contact with each other is defined as a pull-in voltage. A capacitance between the lower and upper electrodes is defined as a pull-in capacitance. There exist a first region and a second region. In the second region, a change rate of a capacitance ratio changes more slowly than in the first region, when the absolute value of the potential difference is further increased. The driving unit feeds the driving voltage in the second region. |
| US08873217B2 |
Arrangement for igniting spark gaps
The invention relates to an arrangement for igniting spark gaps with a trigger electrode T which is located on or in one of the main electrodes H2 and is insulated with respect to this main electrode H2, wherein the trigger electrode T is electrically connected to one of the other main electrodes H1 by means of at least one voltage-switching or voltage-monitoring element and there is an air gap between the trigger electrode T and the other main electrode H1. According to the invention, the trigger electrode T forms a sandwich structure with an insulation section I and a layer which is composed of a material M with a lower conductivity than the material of one of the main electrodes, wherein this sandwich structure represents a layered dielectric with the order of a first partial capacitor CI with the dielectric of the insulation section I and a second partial capacitor CM with the material M as dielectric. |
| US08873215B2 |
Ion generator mounting device
The present invention provides methods and systems for an ion generator mounting device for application of bipolar ionization to airflow within a conduit, the device includes a housing for mounting to the conduit having an internal panel within the enclosure, and an arm extending from the housing for extension into the conduit and containing at least one opening. At least one coupling for mounting an ion generator to the arm oriented with an axis extending between a pair of electrodes of the ion generator being generally perpendicular to a flow direction of the airflow within the conduit. |
| US08873211B1 |
Performance and isolation improvements for digitally controlled AC attenuation and protection circuits
A protection and attenuation circuit for sensitive AC loads is described. The circuit provides AC power protection and attenuation utilizing high-efficiency switch-mode techniques to attenuate an AC power signal by incorporating a bidirectional, transistorized switch driven from a pulse width modulation signal, PWM. The circuit monitors characteristics of the AC power signal driving a known load and characteristics of the load or other elements and determines the duty cycle of the pulse width modulated signal, PWM, based upon the duration and amplitude of the over-voltage, over-current, over-limit or other event. |
| US08873210B2 |
ESD protection device with reduced clamping voltage
Disclosed is an ESD protection circuit comprising a plurality of bipolar transistors, namely a plurality of ESD current conducting transistors (Q1, Q2, Q4) in a main ESD current conducting path between a first and a second terminal (T1, T2), and further comprises at least one driving transistor (Q3) connected in parallel to at least one of the ESD current conducting transistors (Q1) and provided for conducting a driving current (Ib2) to one or more of the ESD current conducting transistors (Q3) on occurrence of an ESD event. |
| US08873206B2 |
Switch control circuit, switch controlling method, and power supply device using the switch control circuit
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a switch control circuit, a switch control method, and a power supply device using the same.Embodiments generate a reference signal according to a full-wave rectification voltage and control a switching operation of a power switch according to a comparing result of a sense voltage corresponding to a current flowing to the power switch and the reference voltage. Embodiments determine whether a line is opened between a first output terminal and a second output terminal of the power supply device using the sense voltage. When the line is opened, Embodiments turn off the protection switch. |
| US08873205B2 |
Current limiter
This invention relates to a current limiter comprising a first circuit portion arranged in parallel with a second circuit portion, the first circuit portion comprising a superconductor element arranged in series with a switching arrangement, the second circuit portion comprising a load element, the superconductor element being disposed within a cooling chamber, and the cooling chamber and the switch being disposed within a vacuum chamber, wherein the switching arrangement comprises: a mechanical actuator which is operable between a closed condition in which current is conducted through the first circuit portion and an open condition in which current is diverted from the first circuit portion through the second circuit portion and a controller for monitoring and operating the switch. |
| US08873202B2 |
Head gimbal assembly in which flexure swing is suppressed and disk device including the same
A head gimbal assembly includes a base plate, a load beam, a first end of which is supported by the base plate, a magnetic head supported at a second end of the load beam, a flexure including a plurality of wirings electrically connected to the magnetic head, the flexure extending from a surface of the base plate to an edge of the base plate, an adhesive applied in a space formed between the surface of the base plate and a surface of the flexure facing the surface of the base plate to bond the flexure to the base plate and to the edge of the base plate. |
| US08873200B2 |
Spinstands for testing a head gimbal assembly
There is disclosed a spinstand for testing a head gimbal assembly. The spinstand includes a gripper operable to grip the head gimbal assembly and a load pick device operable to hold a head gimbal assembly and to move the head gimbal assembly into an exchange position where it can be gripped by the gripper. In the exchange position part of the load pick device registers with the gripper and another part of the load pick device is spaced from the gripper so as to form a space between, in which space at least part of the head gimbal assembly is located in use. |
| US08873191B2 |
Fly-height control and touchdown detection
An embedded contact sensor (ECS) element for fly-height control and touchdown detection. An embedded contact sensor (ECS) element with a resistance that changes with a temperature change, which senses a clearance change between a head slider and a disk of a disk drive. A resistance measurement section, within said head IC, that determines a value of direct current resistance (DCR) of said ECS element, wherein said value of DCR changes with a temperature change, wherein said temperature change is caused by an air bearing cooling and frictional induced heating at a head disk interface. A resistance slope to fly-height conversion section that dynamically determines a target fly-height value for said head slider over said disk based on changes in said value of DCR. |
| US08873186B2 |
Tape storage device
A method, and tape storage device configured to perform such method, according to various embodiments, includes writing data stored in a buffer onto a tape; writing an interval marker on the tape after the data stored in the buffer is written onto the tape; writing next data subsequent to the interval marker when the next data is stored in the buffer in a first round corresponding to a first-time write in a single track in the tape; writing data stored in the buffer in an area of the interval marker in a second round corresponding to a second-time write in the single track; and writing data stored in the buffer in an area of the interval marker in which no data is written in each of third and subsequent rounds corresponding to third- and subsequent-time writes in the single track. |
| US08873184B2 |
Tape drive device, tape library device, and data storing method
A tape drive device for storing data in a tape cartridge includes a comparison unit that compares a transfer speed of the data transmitted from a host machine to the tape drive device with a speed threshold, a speed determination unit that determines a writing speed to a tape cartridge using the speed threshold, and a data write unit that writes data to the tape cartridge, the data write unit writing data to the magnetic tape provided for the tape cartridge when the determined writing speed is higher than the speed threshold, and the data write unit writing subsequent data following data written to the magnetic tape to the non-volatile semiconductor memory provided for the tape cartridge when the determined writing speed is lower than the speed threshold. |
| US08873181B1 |
Method and apparatuses for synchronizing writing of data with a pattern of bit islands of media
A system includes a detection module, an adjustment module, a phase shifter module, and a write module. The detection module: samples a sensor signal to generate a digital signal; based on the digital signal, detects a pattern of first bit islands on media; and based on the pattern, determines a phase error of the digital signal. The adjustment module generates a second clock signal based on the phase error and a first clock signal. The second clock signal is synchronized with start or end times of the first bit islands. The phase shifter module, based on a predetermined value, adjusts a phase of the second clock signal. The detection module samples the sensor signal based on the second clock signal with the adjusted phase. The write module, based on the second clock signal prior to being phase adjusted, writes data to the first bit islands or second bit islands. |
| US08873178B2 |
Storing random and sequential data on different track widths of a recording medium
Host data to be written to a recording medium is categorized as one of sequential data or random data. The sequential data is written to a first track width on the recording medium. The random data is written to a second track width on the recording medium, the second track width being larger than the first track width. |
| US08873177B2 |
Hardware-based methods and apparatus for inter-track interference mitigation in magnetic recording systems
Hardware-based methods and apparatus are provided for inter-track interference mitigation in magnetic recording systems. Inter-track interference (ITI) is mitigated in a magnetic recording system by obtaining ITI cancellation data; and providing the ITI cancellation data to an ITI mitigation circuit using a write data path in the magnetic recording system. The write data path can optionally operate substantially simultaneously with the read data path performing the read operation. The ITI cancellation data comprises, for example, user data and/or media data. |
| US08873176B1 |
Non-linear transition shift identification and compensation
A system for identifying and compensating for non-linear transition shift in a magnetic medium data storage device is disclosed. The non-linear transition shift compensation system includes a non-linear transition shift estimation module adapted to generate non-linear transition shift estimates for specific bit patterns. The system further includes a pre-compensation module adapted to adjust the temporal spacing of binary transitions written to the magnetic medium based on the non-linear transition shift estimates generated by the non-linear transition shift estimation module for specific bit patterns corresponding to bit patterns appearing in the data being written to the magnetic medium. |
| US08873175B2 |
Reflective material and optical structure
A reflective material of the present invention is made of an optical medium which transmits light, and has (i) a first plane which is a surface on which inclined planes are aligned with no gap therebetween and (ii) a second plane which is opposite to the first plane and is a flat surface, and has the first plane having a shape and a refractive index such that at any time, light having entered the first plane or the second plane enters, at an entrance angle equal to or larger than a critical angle of total internal reflection, a corresponding opposite one of the first plane and the second plane directly from an inside of the reflective material. |
| US08873174B2 |
Mounting flexure contacts
A device may comprise a flexure formed of a first semiconductor material. A first trench may be formed in the flexure. The first trench may separate the first semiconductor material into a first portion and a second portion thereof. An oxide layer may be formed in the first trench. The oxide layer may extend over a top portion of the first semiconductor material. A second semiconductor material may be formed on the oxide layer. The first trench and the oxide layer may cooperate to electrically isolate the first portion and the second portion from one another. |
| US08873169B2 |
Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus using the same
A zoom lens includes first to fifth lens units arranged sequentially from object to image sides and having respective refractive powers. Compared to a wide-angle end, at a telephoto end, the distance between the first and second lens units, the distance between the third and fourth lens units, and the distance between the fourth and fifth lens units are increased, and the distance between the second and third lens units is decreased. Compared to the wide-angle end, at the telephoto end, the first lens unit is positioned closer to the object side. The first and second lens units each consist of a positive lens element and a negative lens element. The distances between the third and fourth lens units at the wide-angle and telephoto ends D34w and D34t and the focal length of the entire zoom lens at the wide-angle end fw are appropriately set. |
| US08873166B2 |
Objective lens for optical pickup device, and optical pickup device
An objective lens for an optical pickup device is characterized in that compatibility of three types of optical discs, which are a BD, a DVD, and a CD, may be realized by a common objective lens, and a flare can be created by providing an over-spherical aberration when a third optical disc is used from a size relationship between a pitch on a central region side and a pitch on an intermediate region side across a boundary and a relationship of a direction of a step in the base structures superimposed in a central region and an intermediate region of the objective lens. |
| US08873158B2 |
Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus equipped with same
A zoom lens includes, in order from its object side, a first lens unit having a negative refractive power, a second lens unit having a positive refractive power, and a third lens unit having a positive refractive power. At a time of zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end, the lens units move in such a way that the distance between the first lens unit and the second lens unit decreases and the distance between the second lens unit and the third lens unit increases. The zoom lens satisfies the conditions “0.35<|f1|/ft<0.55” and “1.80 |
| US08873157B2 |
Inner-focus zoom lens system
A zoom lens system has, in order from the enlargement side, a first lens group that remains stationary during zooming and that has a negative optical power and a plurality of lens groups that move during zooming. The first lens group includes three lens groups each having a negative optical power, namely a 1a-th lens group, a 1b-th lens group, and a 1c-th lens group. The 1a-th lens group remains stationary during focusing and includes at least one positive lens element. The 1b-th lens group moves toward the reduction side during focusing from infinity to a close distance. The 1c-th lens group moves toward the enlargement side during focusing from infinity to a close distance. |
| US08873156B2 |
Zoom lens and optical apparatus
A zoom lens and optical apparatus includes, in order from a magnification conjugate side, a first lens unit that has a positive refractive power and is fixed during magnification variations, and a magnification-variable unit configured to move for magnification variations. The first lens unit includes, in order from the magnification conjugate side, a first lens sub-unit that has a positive refractive power and is configured to move during focusing, and a second lens sub-unit that has a positive refractive power and moves during focusing. The first lens sub-unit and the second lens sub-unit move and reduce an interval between the first lens sub-unit and the second lens sub-unit for focusing from infinity to a close end. A surface of the second lens sub-unit closest to the magnification conjugate side has a concave shape on the magnification conjugate side. |
| US08873142B2 |
Display panel, display device, and electronic apparatus capable of improved stereoscopic display
A display panel includes a panel section having a display area in which a plurality of display pixels are two-dimensionally disposed and a ring-like frame area provided at the periphery of the display area, and a barrier section that is disposed at a position opposed to the panel section and has a barrier pattern composed of a light blocking area and a light transmissive area. Both the light blocking area and the light transmissive area are disposed in a first area opposed to the display area and a ring-like second area opposed to the frame area. |
| US08873139B2 |
Microscope system and observation control method
A microscope system and observation control method. An electric zoom consecutively changes a magnification for a sample. A revolver includes a plurality of objective lenses of different magnifications and switches the objective lens placed in an observation optical path to intermittently change the magnification for the sample. A control section calculates a total magnification at which the sample is observed based on a magnification provided by the electric zoom and the magnification of the objective lens currently placed in the observation optical path. The control section operates when the revolver switches the objective lens placed in the observation optical path, to determine a target magnification that is the magnification of the electric zoom required to keep the total magnification obtained after the switching of the objective lens equal to the total magnification obtained before the switching of the objective lens. |
| US08873131B2 |
Acousto-optic device having multi-layer nanostructure, optical scanner, optical modulator, and display apparatus using the acousto-optic device
An acousto-optic device includes an acousto-optic medium having a multi-layer nanostructure; and a sonic wave generator configured to apply sonic waves to the acousto-optic medium having the multi-layer nanostructure. The acousto-optic medium having the multi-layer nanostructure includes a second layer formed of at least two materials that have different dielectric constants and alternate with each other; and a first layer disposed on a first surface of the second layer and formed of a first material, and/or a third layer disposed on a second surface of the second layer and formed of a fourth material. |
| US08873130B2 |
Electronic paper display device and method of fabricating the same
Provided is an electronic paper display device. The electronic paper display device according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a first substrate, partition walls defining cell regions disposed on the first substrate, a first electrode disposed on a bottom surface of the cell regions, microcapsules disposed on the first electrode, a second electrode having one side facing the first electrode, and a second substrate disposed on the other side of the second electrode, in which the electronic paper display device may include first adhesive fixing parts including a plurality of patterns provided between the second electrode and the partition walls. |
| US08873124B2 |
Plastic optical element, optical scanner including the plastic optical element, and image forming apparatus including same
A plastic optical element for focusing light to a target includes a first lens and a second lens. The first lens includes an incident surface, a projection surface opposite the incident surface, and a non-optical surface through which light does not pass and that includes a non-transfer portion. At least one light beam passes from the incident surface to the projection surface. The second lens includes an incident surface, a projection surface opposite the incident surface, and a non-optical surface through which light does not pass and that includes a non-transfer portion disposed opposite the non-optical surface of the first lens. At least one light beam passes from the incident surface to the projection surface. The non-transfer portions of the first lens and the second lens are portions on which no surface is transferred from a surface of a mold used to form the plastic optical element. |
| US08873120B2 |
Computer implemented method for generating binary holograms
A numerical method of recording a two or three dimensional object scene in a binary hologram. When the binary hologram is illuminated with a reference beam, the original object scene can be reconstructed and observed by a viewer. As the hologram is binary, i.e. composed of black or white pixels, it can be printed with commodity printers. The process is simple, fast, and economical, hence decreasing the cost and time for hologram design and production. In addition, with binary holograms, the ability to store the holograms is enhanced and binary holograms facilitate efficient transmission of the holograms. |
| US08873119B2 |
System of displaying digital hologram based on projection and method thereof
A system and a method perform buoyance of a 3D hologram image on a hologram display screen in a projection mode. A system of displaying a digital hologram includes: a composite hologram unit configured to generate a hologram array by receiving hologram data of a fringe pattern and by compositing background image and a foreground image using the received fringe pattern; a hologram projection unit configured to project a hologram image through a wide-angle lens by applying a light to the hologram array; and a hologram display unit configured to perform space buoyance of the hologram image projected by the hologram projection unit on a 3D hologram display screen. The digital hologram content is managed in real time, and transmission of the digital hologram content to a remote place and site adaptive display of hologram image media may be achieved. |
| US08873118B2 |
Print control apparatus, print control method, program, and storage medium correcting images in band buffer based on amount of correction
In order to perform printing by using a minimum of band buffer and correcting bending/inclination in a sub-scanning direction without making optical adjustments and using special hardware, 1-band image data are stored in the band buffer, images stored in the band buffer are corrected, images lying outside a band area are stored in an intermediate buffer, and images including images stored in the intermediate buffer and corrected images of a next band that lie inside the band area are output. |
| US08873117B2 |
Sheet transport device and image forming apparatus
A sheet transport device includes a shaft member that extends in an axial direction orthogonal to a sheet transport direction, and a roller that includes plural components which are assembled together so as to surround the shaft member. The components have a shape such that a joint between the components is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the roller which is formed by assembling the components together. The joint extends from one end to another end of the outer peripheral surface in the axial direction while bending or curving at least at a portion in the middle thereof. |
| US08873110B2 |
Host apparatus to generate workform, workform management server to edit an image, workform management system, and method of editing an image using a workform
A host apparatus, a workform management system, a method of generating a workform and a method of executing a workform, in which an image editing plug-in capable of editing a scanned image is available for use in a workform, so that repetitive and frequently occurring jobs in image editing are easily processed by creating and executing a workform, thereby reducing unnecessarily repetitive jobs. |
| US08873109B2 |
Printing apparatus and method for combining a document image with a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image
A printing apparatus for combining a document image with a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image to perform printing includes a unit configured to determine a video count value from the document image, a unit configured to determine a video count value from the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image, and a unit configured to multiply the video count value determined from the document image by a rate of dots other than dots constituting the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image in the document image to obtain a product, and to add, to the product, the video count value determined from the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image to determine a video count value for the printing. |
| US08873105B2 |
Color monitoring method for printing presses
A method of signaling or indicating a coloration condition upon a change of an operating condition in a printing press having a control unit, includes the steps of specifying a target ink density for a print job, storing the specified target ink density in the control unit, calculating an actual ink density using the control unit based on an actual operating condition of the printing press, comparing the actual ink density to the target ink density in the control unit, and emitting a first signal using the control unit when the actual ink density is within a range of tolerance about the target ink density stored in the control unit. |
| US08873104B2 |
Color printing system calibration
A component of a color printing system, such as lookup tables for converting requested marking-agent coverages to corresponding half-tone screen sizes, is calibrated. The calibration can be effected off an arbitrary image and involves making reflectance spectrum measures of the printed image at multiple locations. Expected reflectance measures for each measurement location are computed based on the requested coverage value for each of the marking agents printed there. The computed measures may be dependent on a parameter. A value of the parameter is determined that minimizes the aggregate differences between the sensed and expected reflectance-spectrum measures, and this value is then used in calibrating the component. |
| US08873103B2 |
Image processing apparatus and method for suppressing uneven glossiness using clear inks
Uneven glossiness is effectively suppressed between areas where light inks are mainly used and areas where dark inks are mainly used. The gloss is raised in areas where dark cyan ink C is used. In other words, the application amount of second clear ink applied by after application printing is set to 32% at primary cyan (grid point 16) to equalize the gloss with areas where light cyan ink LC is used. Also, the application amount of first clear ink applied by common printing is set to 32% in a highlight portion (grid point 8) to equalize the gloss with the maximum gloss reached using dark cyan ink C. In so doing, it is possible to keep the gloss nearly constant over the entire range from white to cyan, or in other words, suppress uneven glossiness. |
| US08873102B2 |
Dynamic color separation at a digital press
A method for automatically generating a color separation at a digital press comprises defining a color ink array of n-color inks. A separation model is constructed at the digital press based on parameters of the digital press and ink parameters of each of the n-color inks. The constructed separation model is applied to an input digital file to enable printing an element of the input digital file using the n-color inks. |
| US08873101B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method
A correction in less than one pixel raises an issue of generation of image defect such as density unevenness caused by a destruction of a screen pattern that generates a cycle of image data. To solve this issue, an image processing apparatus includes a correction unit configured to perform a correction less than one pixel on image data, and a changing processing unit configured to perform a correction by one pixel on image data, wherein the correction unit performs processing for correction in less than one pixel by shifting a pixel according to a moving locus synchronized with a cycle of the image data. |
| US08873095B2 |
Delegate access in a distributed scan system
Approaches are provided for processing scan data based on a scan process definition (SPD) that defines a set of instructions for acquiring image data based on one or more printed documents. An SPD may include extension data that is used to store additional data in association with the scan data. An SPD may include rights management data that is used to provide security to the scan data that is generated based on the SPD. An SPD may be used as a print process definition for dictating how print operations are to be performed. An SPD may be associated with data that identifies one or more scan devices that are prohibited from using the SPD. An SPD may be associated with access delegation data that indicates one or more users who have been delegated access to the SPD. |
| US08873093B2 |
Deleting mail at a server after it is confirmed the mail is read
An image processing apparatus includes a communication unit capable of transmitting and receiving a mail through a network; a data storage unit for storing the mail; a print unit for printing image data of the mail; a mail generation unit for generating a mail and an open mail notification instruction; a mail analysis unit capable of analyzing an open mail notification response; a processing control unit for deleting the mail when the mail analysis unit determines that an external device opens the mail including the open notification instruction. The processing control unit is also provided for notifying a user to open the mail stored when the mail analysis unit determines that the external device does not open the mail. |
| US08873089B2 |
Printing system, print management apparatus, print control method, and storage medium
A printing system may include an archive job management apparatus and a print management apparatus. The archive job management apparatus stores job information relating a destination of an archive job, a quantity printing limit for the archive job, and archive job print history and manages the stored job information. The print management apparatus instructs printing of an archive job according to a print request from a client apparatus and includes an acquisition unit and a determination unit. Per the print request, the acquisition unit acquires the quantity printing limit and print history of the archive job. The determination unit determines that the archive job is printable if a number of times the archive job has been actually printed is equal to or less than a limiting number of times of printing based on a number of times of restrictive printing and the print history of the print requested archive job. |
| US08873087B2 |
Recording device and control method for replacing fonts with printer fonts correlates print data attributes
A recording device, a control method for a recording device, and a program can record even when recording using a font that is not internally stored by the recording device is specified. A printer 2 that records on a recording medium using a font specified by a host computer 4 has font substitution information 24C that correlates specified fonts to internal fonts based on the number of columns per line that can be recorded on the recording medium using the specified font. When a font is specified by the host computer 4, the printer 2 substitutes an internal font for the specified font based on the font substitution information 24C. |
| US08873082B2 |
Printing apparatus, printing control method, and storage medium for controlling printing performed by variable data printing
A printing apparatus that is configured to, in order to efficiently execute printing by suitably skipping a page that is not to be printed, receive information about an attribute of paper to be skipped without printing, and based on information about the received attribute, print a page that does not use paper having the attribute and skip printing of a page that uses paper having the attribute. |
| US08873081B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming system
An image forming apparatus includes an application management unit that detects a restricted function of which use by a given user is inhibited from among functions within an application. The image forming apparatus further includes a function monitoring unit that registers the restricted function detected by the application management unit, and inhibits the user from executing the restricted function. |
| US08873080B2 |
Image forming device generating screens for remote and local access, information processing method, and computer-readable recording medium
In an image forming device including a processor unit, a first screen generating part generates a screen to be displayed on an operation panel and displays the screen on the operation panel. A second screen generating part generates screen data to be displayed on an information processing device and transmits the screen data to the information processing device. An application managing part selects, in response to a request of execution of an application, one of the first and second screen generating parts as a candidate for use of the application based on a source inputting the request. The first and second screen generating parts are configured to receive a request of generation of a screen using a common interface, and the application inputs through the common interface the request to the selected one of the first and second screen generating parts. |
| US08873079B2 |
Image reader device and image formation apparatus that utilizes read parameters and image processing parameters
An image reader device reads images from pages of a document based on a read parameter for a current page, and outputs first image data. The first image data is processed based on an image processing parameter for the current page, to output second image data. A storage unit stores the second image data, the read parameter for a subsequent page, and the image processing parameter for the subsequent page. The stored read parameter for the subsequent page is provided directly to an image reading unit upon completion of the image read processing of the current page. The stored image processing parameter for the subsequent page is provided directly to an image processing unit upon completion of the image processing of the current page. |
| US08873077B2 |
Image forming apparatus, application switching method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with application switching program
A control portion of an image forming apparatus includes an internal control portion to execute a process predetermined for an internal command, a first application executing portion, and an application control portion to convert an application command output from one of second application executing portions into an internal command for output to the internal control portion. The application control portion includes a current task setting portion to set a second application executing portion to a currently selected state, and an arbitration portion to output operation identification information of a common operation accepted, to the second application executing portion currently selected. The first application executing portion includes a post-transition application determining portion which, when a process switching operation is accepted, determines a second application executing portion to be changed to the currently selected state next, on the basis of the process switching operation and the second application executing portion currently selected. |
| US08873076B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, information processing system, and storage medium
An information processing system configured to control assignment of processor cores to a processing unit that generates printing data from intermediate data based on an amount of the stored printing data. Intermediate data are generated using a specified processor core of a plurality of processor cores and stored in an intermediate data storing unit. Printing data are generated by processing the intermediate data using a processor core other than the specified processor core, and stored in a printing data storing unit. The number of processor cores used by the first processing unit is adjusted on the basis of an amount of intermediate data stored in the intermediate data storing unit. The number of processor cores used by the second processing unit is adjusted on the basis of an amount of printing data stored in the printing data storing unit. |
| US08873075B2 |
Operation device, image forming apparatus, and operation method storing orientation setting information
An operation device including: a touch screen;an orientation setting information storage unit that stores orientation setting information regarding a display orientation of the preview image;an orientation setting information acquisition unit that acquires the orientation setting information from the orientation setting information storage unit when the preview image is displayed on the preview image window in the predetermined display orientation; a tab display acceptance unit that selectably displays a tab key on the preview image window, the tab key including the orientation setting information acquired from the orientation setting information acquisition unit; and a display adjustment unit that displays the tab key seamlessly with the preview image on the touch screen, the tab key including the orientation setting information corresponding to the display orientation of the preview image displayed on the preview image window. |
| US08873074B2 |
Document camera apparatus and method for capturing, processing, and displaying image data
A document camera includes: n (n≧2) imagers; a temporal storage that temporarily stores m sets of image data captured by m (1≦m≦n) imagers among the n imagers; an image processor that performs predetermined image processing according to the number of image data sets m on the m sets of image data stored in the temporal storage; and an output image data output unit that outputs output image data to a display apparatus, the output image data being a single output image data set produced in the predetermined image processing. |
| US08873073B2 |
Information processing device, computer-readable recording medium on which operational control program is recorded, electrical device, and operational control system
An information processing device has a parts selection instruction receiving portion that receives from an operator a selection instruction of display object parts to be displayed on a screen for receiving an instruction from an operator. A job selection instruction receiving portion receives from an operator a selection instruction of a job that is executable by an electrical device and is associated with the display object parts indicated by the display object parts selection instruction. An external service selection instruction receiving portion receives from an operator a selection instruction of a service executable by an external device other than the electrical device and associated with the display object parts indicated by the display object parts selection instruction. A screen data generation portion generates screen data of the display screen based on content determined by the parts selection instruction, the job selection instruction, and the service selection instruction. |
| US08873071B2 |
Image forming method using universal printer driver and device for performing the image forming method
Provided are an image forming method using a universal printer driver and a device for performing the image forming method. According to the method, printing data may be output through an image forming device supporting a desired printing option, without checking printing options of image forming devices whenever the printing data is to be output, by providing a user interface displaying printing options supported by image forming devices connected to a host device in which a universal printer driver is installed; selecting at least one printing option from the provided user interface; and selecting on of the image forming devices determined to support the selected printing option and outputting printing data through the selected image forming device supporting the selected printing option. |
| US08873067B2 |
Interferometer for TSV measurement and measurement method using same
Provided herein is a TSV measuring interferometer that uses a variable field stop that adjusts such that a light is focused at an inlet and at a bottom surface of a TSV when measuring a diameter and depth of the TSV, thereby reducing a measurement time and result data, the interferometer also using a telecentric lens that adjusts the light injected into the TSV to be a straight line, so as to obtain a sufficient amount of light reaching the bottom surface to improve the accuracy of measurement even in a TSV having a large aspect ratio. |
| US08873065B2 |
Tomographic imaging apparatus and tomographic imaging method
A tomographic imaging apparatus includes an irradiation unit configured to irradiate with a plurality of measurement light beams, a sensor configured to convert into an electric signal a plurality of combined light beams via an optical imaging system by making return light beams from an inspection target, which are generated due to the plurality of measurement light beams, interfere with reference light beams, an output unit configured to output light beams of a single wavelength based on a wavelength width of the plurality of measurement light beams, and a generation unit configured to generate a tomographic image from an electric signal acquired by the sensor via the imaging optical system, based on a position of the light beam of the single wavelength on the sensor. |
| US08873061B1 |
Systems and methods for measuring a physical parameter of a substance based on an isoclinic point in the absorption spectrum of another substance
Systems and methods measure a physical parameter of a first substance having an absorption feature that varies based on the physical parameter. A tunable-frequency laser may transmit a first laser beam through the first substance and a second laser beam through a second substance having an isoclinic point. A first output is based on an intensity of the first laser beam transmitted through the first substance, and a second output is based on an intensity of the second laser beam transmitted through the second substance. Controller circuitry locks a first frequency of the first laser beam to the absorption feature based on the first output, and locks a second frequency of the second laser beam to the isoclinic point based on the second output. Measurement circuitry calculates the physical parameter of the first substance based on a difference between the first and second frequencies. |
| US08873060B2 |
Water-in-fuel sensor
An uncoated polymer optical fiber (POF) that is sensitive to a chemical (e.g. water) and is used to generate a detectable change in its optical properties for the purpose of detecting that chemical when it is dissolved in liquid fuel. The presence of the chemical directly affects the optical properties of the optical fiber. The POF may be made of water-permeable plastic material and may have a grating section comprising a periodic refractive index modulation that exhibits a characteristic reflection or transmission profile to be monitored by a detector. The water-permeability of the constituent material of the POF permits diffusion of water into the fiber, thereby affecting its refractive index or geometry and hence altering the characteristic reflection or transmission profile of the grating section. |
| US08873056B2 |
Spectroscopic sensor
A spectroscopic sensor 1 comprises a plurality of interference filter units 20A, 20B, 20C, having a cavity layer 21 and first and second mirror layers 22, 23 opposing each other through the layer 21, for selectively transmitting therethrough light in a predetermined wavelength range according to an incident position thereof; a light-transmitting substrate 3, arranged on the first mirror layer 22 side, for transmitting therethrough the light incident on the units 20A, 20B, 20C; and a light detection substrate 4, arranged on the second mirror layer 23 side, for detecting the light transmitted through the units 20A, 20B, 20C. The second mirror layers 23 are separated for the respective units 20A, 20B, 20C. The cavity layer 21 is formed integrally over the units 20A, 20B, 20C, while a part of the layer 21 enters a region between the second mirror layers 23, 23 adjacent to each other. |
| US08873048B2 |
Spectrometer arrangement
A spectrometer assembly (10), comprising an Echelle grating (18; 46) for dispersing radiation entering the spectrometer assembly (10) in a main dispersion direction, and a dispersion assembly (16; 40) for dispersing a parallel radiation bundle generated from the radiation entering the spectrometer assembly in a lateral dispersion direction, is characterized in that the dispersion assembly (16; 40) is reflective, and the dispersion assembly (16; 40) is arranged relative to the Echelle grating (18; 46) in such a way that the parallel radiation bundle is reflected in the direction of the Echelle grating. The Echelle grating (18; 46) may be arranged in such a way that the dispersed radiation is reflected back to the dispersion assembly (16; 40). |
| US08873043B2 |
Segmented chirped-pulse fourier transform spectroscopy
An emission can be obtained from a sample in response to excitation using a specified range of excitation frequencies. Such excitation can include generating a specified chirped waveform and a specified downconversion local oscillator (LO) frequency using a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), upconverting the chirped waveform via mixing the chirped waveform with a specified upconversion LO frequency, frequency multiplying the upconverted chirped waveform to provide a chirped excitation signal for exciting the sample, receiving an emission from sample, the emission elicited at least in part by the chirped excitation signal, and downconverting the received emission via mixing the received emission with a signal based on the specified downconversion LO signal to provide a downconverted emission signal within the bandwidth of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The specified chirped waveform can include a first chirped waveform during a first duration, and a second chirped waveform during a second duration. |
| US08873041B1 |
Raman spectroscopy using multiple excitation wavelengths
Raman spectrometers are provided that illuminate a sample with two or more different beams of light, each characterized by a different primary frequency. Scattered light from the sample is separated into multiple Raman spectra, one for each primary frequency. The multiple Raman spectra can be evaluated individually, or they can be added together to form a composite spectrum that is then evaluated. |
| US08873040B2 |
Raman apparatus and method for real time calibration thereof
A Raman spectrometer optically separates an optical signal scattered by a sample from an incident excitation light beam into an unshifted return component at a first wavelength and one or more Raman scattered components at shifted wavelengths characteristic of the sample. The unshifted return component—but not the Raman scattered components—is attenuated prior to impinging on an optical detector. The unshifted return then serves as the basis for real-time calibration to account for fluctuations in optical intensity, wavelength shift, and/or spectral peak width, based on a comparison of the unshifted return peak to a reference standard for stable reflectance. |
| US08873032B1 |
Optical probing system having reliable temperature control
An optical probe system for probing an electronic device includes a sample plate that can hold a target device comprising an integrated circuit, an optical objective system that can collect reflected or emitted light from the integrated circuit in the target device, and a temperature control chamber that can hold a fluid to control the temperature of the target device. |
| US08873030B2 |
Testing device, detection system, and automatic detection method thereof
A testing device, a detection system, and an automatic detection method thereof are disclosed. The detection system is used for testing an optical capturing module and includes a controlling module and the testing device. The controlling module is electrically connected to the optical capturing module. The testing device includes a base, a fixing unit, a testing unit and a track. The fixing unit is disposed on the base and used for mounting the optical capturing module. The testing unit is used for the optical capturing module to capture a sensing signal. The track is disposed on the base for the testing unit to move along the track. When the testing unit is moving, the optical capturing module is use for capturing a sensing signal curve according to the continuous movement of the test element and the control module determines whether the sensing signal curve is exceed a predetermined value. |
| US08873028B2 |
Non-destructive stress profile determination in chemically tempered glass
Apparatus, systems and methods for improving strength of thin cover glass for electronic devices are disclosed. Optical coherence tomography analysis may reveal fine details of a residual stress profile within chemically strengthened cover glass. One or more parameters of chemical strengthening treatments may be adjusted, based upon the analysis of the residual stress profile. |
| US08873026B2 |
Proximity sensor distance detection ambiguity removal
Example methods, apparatuses, or articles of manufacture are disclosed herein that may be utilized, in whole or in part, to facilitate or support one or more operations or techniques for proximity sensor distance detection ambiguity removal. |
| US08873025B2 |
EUV collector system with enhanced EUV radiation collection
A collector system for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation includes a collector mirror and a radiation-collection enhancement device (RCED) arranged adjacent an aperture member of an illuminator. The collector mirror directs EUV radiation from an EUV radiation source towards the aperture member. The RCED redirects a portion of the EUV radiation that would not otherwise pass through the aperture of the aperture member or that would not have an optimum angular distribution, to pass through the aperture and to have an improved angular distribution better suited to input specifications of an illuminator. This provides the illuminator with greater amount of useable EUV radiation than would otherwise be available from the collector mirror alone, thereby enhancing the performing of an EUV lithography system that uses such a collector system with a RCED. |
| US08873024B2 |
Illumination system for use in a stereolithography apparatus
The invention concerns an illumination system for use in a stereolithography apparatus, comprising a planar support supporting a two-dimensional array of individually controllable wide-angle light-emitting diodes (LEDs); and a multilens projector array arranged relative to the array, and adapted to project a focused image of the LEDs onto a work area. The multilens projector array is arranged to project light from the LED array having a light emitting edge area image spot size which is smaller than or equal to a light emitting central area image spot size. |
| US08873019B2 |
Manufacturing and detecting device and method of birefringent lens grating
The present disclosure provides a detecting device of a birefringent lens grating. The detecting device includes a projection pattern disposed adjacent to the birefringent lens grating; an illuminating light source for projecting light onto the projection pattern and the birefringent lens grating; an image capturing device for capturing the light out from the birefringent lens grating and obtaining a projection pattern image of the projection pattern; and a controller for comparing the projection pattern image with a reference to determine a refractive index matching degree of the birefringent lens grating. The present disclosure further provides a detecting method, a manufacture method and a manufacture device of the birefringent lens grating. |
| US08873017B2 |
Liquid crystal display device and method of manufacturing the same
A liquid crystal display device includes: first and second glass substrates; a seal pattern placed between the first and second glass substrates to bond the first and second glass substrates together, the seal pattern sealing a liquid crystal material in between the first and second glass substrates and holding the liquid crystal material in a liquid crystal layer; a plurality of columnar spacers placed between the first and second glass substrates in a display region surrounded by the seal pattern and corresponding to a display surface appearing when the liquid crystal display device is in operation, the columnar spacers holding a distance between the first and second glass substrates; and a plurality of gap holding members. The area share of the gap holding members indicating the ratio of a sectional area per unit area is larger than the area share of the columnar spacers. |
| US08873016B2 |
Method for manufacturing liquid crystal display device and liquid crystal display device
A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device by applying a sealant using a dispenser to form plural seal patterns on a first substrate in a matrix, dropping liquid crystal, bonding a second substrate to the first substrate, and then cutting into individual liquid crystal display devices. A process of forming the seal patterns in a matrix includes (1) a first step of sequentially applying a sealant to one long side and one short side out of four sides of a seal pattern of each liquid crystal display device with a single stroke, and (2) a second step of sequentially applying the sealant to the remaining long side and the remaining short side out of the four sides of the seal pattern of each liquid crystal display device with a single stroke. |
| US08873006B2 |
Liquid crystal display device and manufacturing method thereof
The present invention prevents the shaving of an alignment film caused by a columnar spacer in a liquid crystal display device of an IPS method using photo-alignment. A plinth higher than a pixel electrode is formed at a part where a columnar spacer formed over a counter substrate touches a TFT substrate. When an alignment film of a double-layered structure is applied over the pixel electrode and the plinth, the thickness of the alignment film over the plinth reduces by a leveling effect. When photo-alignment is applied in the state, a photodegraded upper alignment film over the plinth disappears and a lower alignment film having a high mechanical strength remains. As a result, it is possible to prevent the shaving of the alignment film. |
| US08872998B2 |
Image display apparatus
In an image display apparatus, a protruding portion is fixed to a chassis on a back side Z2 of a planar member and protrudes towards the planar member. The protruding portion has one or more first protruding members and one or more second protruding members and defines a small allowance region and a large allowance region for the planar member. In the small allowance region, an amount of displacement of the planar member towards the chassis side is regulated at most to a first predetermined value by the one or more first protruding members. In the large allowance region, an amount of displacement of the planar member towards the chassis side is regulated at most to a second predetermined value larger than the first predetermined value by the one or more second protruding member. |
| US08872996B2 |
Light source module and backlight assembly having the same
In a light source module and a backlight assembly having the light source module, the light source module includes a flexible printed circuit board; a light source part on an upper surface of the flexible printed circuit board and including a light emitting chip; a substrate on a lower surface of the flexible printed circuit board; and a heat dissipating part which extends from the light emitting chip and contacts the substrate. |
| US08872993B2 |
Liquid crystal display apparatus
A liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus includes a liquid crystal panel, a printed circuit board (PCB) that generates a driving signal to drive the liquid crystal panel, and a backlight unit between the liquid crystal panel and the PCB. The backlight unit has a through hole formed therein. The LCD also includes a flexible printed circuit (FPC) electrically connected to a driving integrated circuit (IC) of the liquid crystal panel and electrically connected to the PCB in the through hole. |
| US08872988B2 |
Image display apparatus and methods for displaying images
A disclosed apparatus includes a display device having a polarizer, a liquid crystal panel having a first liquid crystal region and a second liquid crystal region of different liquid crystal orientations, and a lenticular lens having a cavity to contain a third liquid crystal region and a fourth liquid crystal region of different liquid crystal orientations, wherein the liquid crystal panel is disposed between the lenticular lens and the display device, and the first liquid crystal region corresponds to the third liquid crystal region, and the second liquid crystal region corresponds to the fourth liquid crystal region. |
| US08872983B2 |
Information processing apparatus and display processing method
According to one embodiment, an information processing apparatus includes a receiver configured to receive content, an acquiring unit configured to acquire a time required for reproducing the content, a counter configured to count a first time including at least the required time, and a display controller configured to display the content on the display unit and terminate display of a video on the display unit after expiration of the first time. |
| US08872981B1 |
Backwards-compatible delivery of digital cinema content with extended dynamic range
A digital cinema signal is encoded to produce a resulting coded digital cinema bitstream. Decoding the resulting coded digital cinema bitstream allows backwards-compatible delivery of digital cinema content. A digital image or video signal is preprocessed to produce two normalized digital image or video signals of differing quality levels and forward and inverse mapping parameters, which relate the normalized digital image or video signals. The preprocessing can be used prior to the encoding of a digital cinema signal to enable backwards-compatible delivery of digital cinema content. |
| US08872979B2 |
Combined-media scene tracking for audio-video summarization
Techniques are presented for analyzing audio-video segments, usually from multiple sources. A combined similarity measure is determined from text similarities and video similarities. The text and video similarities measure similarity between audio-video scenes for text and video, respectively. The combined similarity measure is then used to determine similar scenes in the audio-video segments. When the audio-video segments are from multiple audio-video sources, the similar scenes are common scenes in the audio-video segments. Similarities may be converted to or measured by distance. Distance matrices may be determined by using the similarity matrices. The text and video distance matrices are normalized before the combined similarity matrix is determined. Clustering is performed using distance values determined from the combined similarity matrix. Resulting clusters are examined and a cluster is considered to represent a common scene between two or more different audio-video segments when scenes in the cluster are similar. |
| US08872976B2 |
Identification of 3D format and graphics rendering on 3D displays
In one embodiment, a 3D display has an image processor including an overlay detector connected to a display controller. The image processor receives a 3D-compatible image stream from a 2D legacy device that may superimpose overlays, e.g., a 2D captions, over 3D-compatible images. The overlay detector automatically determines whether a received image comprises a caption overlay and, if so, provides the location and dimensions of the overlay to the display controller. The display controller processes the overlaid 3D-compatible image to isolate the caption characters of the caption overlay and generates, for a viewer of the 3D display, different left-eye and right-eye images, each including overlaid caption characters that substantially match the characters of the caption overlay. The result is the appearance, to the viewer, of a substantially flat and coherent caption overlay over a 3D image. |
| US08872974B2 |
Method and system for avoiding discomfort and/or relieving motion sickness when using a display device in a moving environment
In one embodiment, a method for avoiding discomfort and/or relieving motion sickness when using a display device in a moving environment includes detecting at least one movement component of the moving environment, generating data for intermediate images indicating the movement component or at least one of the movement components, and modifying a series of images showing content to be displayed by inserting the intermediate images into the series. The modified series is divided into sequences of these images by the intermediate images. The method further includes displaying the modified series of images on an image display of the display device. The modified series includes the intermediate images. |
| US08872971B2 |
Video display apparatus, video processing method, and video display system
According to one embodiment, a video display apparatus includes: a broadcast data input module; a data input module; a restricting module; and a video processor. The broadcast data input module inputs broadcast contents including first video data. The data input module inputs information including the second video data from an information processor connected via a network. The information complies with a standard different from that of the broadcast contents. The restricting module sets a value related to an item so as to restrict reproduction of the first video data. The video processor restricts, when a value of the item of the first video data input from the broadcast data input module deviates from the value set by the restricting module while the data input module is inactive, reproduction of the first video data, and disables, when the data input module is active, the restriction restricted by the restricting module. |
| US08872969B1 |
Dynamic relative adjustment of a color parameter of at least a portion of a video frame/image and/or a color parameter of at least a portion of a subtitle associated therewith prior to rendering thereof on a display unit
A method includes storing data related to a video frame or an image separately from data related to a subtitle of the video frame or the image in a memory of a data processing device, and comparing, through a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, a color parameter of the data related to the video frame or the image to a color parameter of the data related to the subtitle. The method also includes dynamically adjusting a color parameter of at least a portion of the data related to the subtitle and/or a color parameter of at least a portion of the data related to the video frame or the image based on the comparison. Further, the method includes overlaying the data related to the subtitle on the data related to the video frame or the image following the dynamic adjustment prior to rendering thereof on a display unit. |
| US08872965B2 |
Image pickup apparatus that can reduce power consumption
An image pickup apparatus that can reduce power consumption of the image pickup apparatus, and take high-definition moving images at high speed without bringing about decreases in recordable time and the number of still images taken. An image pickup processing unit is operated in a plurality of operation modes, and has an image pickup device and a plurality of processing units that process image pickup signals outputted from the image pickup device. An interval control circuit causes the image pickup processing unit to switch between a standby ON state and a standby OFF state in predetermined timing. A control signal is outputted to the interval control unit according to an operation mode of the image pickup processing unit. When the image pickup processing unit lies in a predetermined operation mode, a control signal for causing the interval control circuit to perform the switching is outputted to the interval control circuit. |
| US08872960B2 |
Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus equipped with same
A zoom lens includes, in order from the object side, a first lens unit having a negative refractive power, a second lens unit having a positive refractive power, and a third lens unit having a positive refractive power. The first lens unit includes a negative lens and a positive lens. The zoom lens satisfies the following conditional expression (1): Σd13/ft<0.4 (1) where Σd13 is the total sum of the thickness of the lenses included in the first to third lens units of the zoom lens on the optical axis, and ft is the focal length of the entire zoom lens system at the telephoto end. |
| US08872959B2 |
Digital photographing apparatus, method of controlling the same, and recording medium having recorded thereon program for executing the method
A Digital photographing apparatus having a replaceable lens mounted thereon, a method of controlling the digital photographing apparatus, and a recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method are provided. The digital photographing apparatus includes an imaging device generating an image signal by imaging light through the mounted lens, a user interface receiving a selection of a user of one of a plurality of replaceable lenses, a reading unit reading specification information regarding the selected lens, a changing unit changing the image signal based on the read specification information regarding the selected lens, and a display unit displaying the changed image signal as a preview image. |
| US08872953B2 |
Solid-state imaging device, manufacturing method thereof, camera, and electronic device
A solid-state imaging device is provided, which includes a photodiode having a first conductivity type semiconductor area that is dividedly formed for each pixel; a first conductivity type transfer gate electrode formed on the semiconductor substrate via a gate insulating layer in an area neighboring the photodiode, and transmitting signal charges generated and accumulated in the photodiode; a signal reading unit reading a voltage which corresponds to the signal charge or the signal charge; and an inversion layer induction electrode formed on the semiconductor substrate via the gate insulating layer in an area covering a portion or the whole of the photodiode, and composed of a conductor or a semiconductor having a work function. An inversion layer is induced, which is formed by accumulating a second conductivity type carrier on a surface of the inversion layer induction electrode side of the semiconductor area through the inversion layer induction electrode. |
| US08872948B2 |
Solid-state imaging device which sets a black level reference when capturing an image
According to one embodiment, a solid-state imaging device includes an effective pixel portion in which effective pixels are provided, a light-shielded pixel portion in which light-shielded pixels are provided, an ADC circuit that performs an AD conversion operation for signal components read from the effective pixel and the light-shielded pixel, on the basis of a result of a comparison with a reference voltage on which a clamping voltage is superimposed, and an AD clamping circuit that calculates a clamping voltage for a target value of a black level read from the light-shielded pixel by extrapolating a relation between the clamping voltage and an AD-converted value of the black level read from the light-shielded pixel at the time when the clamping voltage is applied. |
| US08872945B2 |
Zoom lens and image pickup unit
A zoom lens includes: a first lens group having a positive refracting power; a second lens group having a negative refracting power; a third lens group having a positive refracting power; a fourth lens group having a positive refracting power; and a fifth lens group having a positive refracting power and configured of sub lens groups. The first, the second, the third, the fourth, and the fifth lens groups are arranged in this order from an object plane. The third lens group serves as a first compensation lens group, and one or more of the plurality of sub lens groups serves as a second compensation lens group. Each of the first compensation lens group and the second compensation lens group independently shifts in a direction perpendicular to a light axis to allow an image formed on an image plane to be shifted in the direction perpendicular to the light axis. |
| US08872941B2 |
Imaging apparatus and imaging method
Disclosed herein is an imaging apparatus including: imaging means for imaging a scene that is in a direction in which a user sees to obtain image data of the scene; temporary storage means for storing the image data obtained by imaging by the imaging means; and control means for controlling the temporary storage means to store the image data obtained by imaging by the imaging means, and, when a predetermined storage condition has been satisfied, extracting image data to be stored from the temporary storage means and adding metadata to the extracted image data to perform a storage process. |
| US08872939B2 |
Image processing apparatus and information management system
An image processing apparatus includes a storage unit for storing user information correlating user identification information and acknowledger information in advance; an image file acquiring unit for acquiring the image file; and a control unit for controlling a writing process in a detachable storage medium. The control unit includes a registration processing unit for correlating the user identification information and authentication information contained in an acknowledgement notice, and for registering the user identification information and the authentication information as acknowledgement information in the storage unit. The control unit further includes a determining unit for determining whether the user identification information and the authentication information received through an input unit are registered in the acknowledgement information, and for allowing the image file stored in the storage unit to be written in the detachable storage medium when the authentication notice is authenticated. |
| US08872932B2 |
Apparatus and method for removing lens distortion and chromatic aberration
An apparatus, computer readable medium, and method of processing an image of a data format having a plurality of color components, the method including generating a plurality of color component images corresponding to the plurality of color components; correcting lens distortion (LD) and chromatic aberration (CA) for each of the plurality of color component images; and generating a corrected image by integrating the corrected plurality of color component images. |
| US08872931B2 |
Camera module for reducing shutter delay, camera including the same, and method of driving the same
A camera module includes an image sensor configured to convert an optical signal received through a lens into an electrical signal and generate full-size image data, an image signal processing unit configured to calibrate and output the full-size image data, a first memory unit configured to periodically receive and store the full-size image data from the image signal processing unit, a scaling unit configured to scale down the full-size image data received from the first memory unit and periodically output scaled-down image data to a display device, and an encoder configured to receive the full-size image data stored in the first memory unit, convert it into a compressed file in a predetermined format, and output the compressed file upon opening of a shutter. |
| US08872921B2 |
Vehicle rearview back-up system and method
A vehicle rearview back-up system includes a backup camera, a display, a calculator, a storage unit, a detector, and a moving unit. The backup camera captures an image of a parking spot when the vehicle is backed-up to a predetermined position. The display displays the captured image and an outlined parking spot in the captured image defined by the driver. The calculator calculates an imaging ratio between the size of the captured image and the size of the outlined parking spot. The display displays a vehicle image in a predetermined region according to the calculated imaging ratio. The detector detects moving direction and moving distance of the vehicle. The moving unit moves the vehicle image in the display according to the moving direction and moving distance of the vehicle, and the calculated imaging ratio for implementing the back-up process of the vehicle. |
| US08872920B2 |
Camera calibration apparatus
A captured image including a preferential calibration index arranged in an exclusive region in a first plane and a non-preferential calibration index arranged in a common region is obtained. First, the coordinate position of the preferential calibration index is detected, and then the coordinate position of the non-preferential calibration index is calculated based on the positional relationship with the detected preferential calibration index. A homography between a captured-image surface of the image surface and the first plane is calculated based on the actual coordinate positions and the calculated coordinate positions representing the coordinates of at least four points, and camera calibration is performed using the homography. |
| US08872918B2 |
Method for exposure control for a camera in a motor vehicle
A method for exposure control for a camera system in a motor vehicle is provided. The camera system records a sequence of images of the surroundings of the vehicle using an optimal exposure time. The optimal exposure time is predetermined depending on the brightness of the surroundings or on the brightness of individual objects in the image. If the optimal exposure time is longer than a predetermined threshold value, at least one intermediate image is recorded using a short predetermined exposure time, i.e. an exposure time shorter than the optimal exposure time. At least two driver assistance functions are executed on the basis of the image data of the camera system. The image data recorded using the optimal exposure time is used for a first driver assistance system and the image data recorded using the short exposure time is used for a second driver assistance system. |
| US08872915B1 |
Doorbell communication systems and methods
Methods can include using a doorbell to wirelessly communicate with a remotely located computing device. Doorbells can include a speaker, a microphone, a camera, and a button to sound a chime. A doorbell shipping mode can detect whether the doorbell is electrically coupled to an external power source. Methods can include entering a setup mode or a standby mode in response to detecting electricity from the external power source. |
| US08872914B2 |
One camera stereo system
A one camera system that measures golf club and golf ball kinematics is disclosed. Preferably, a plurality of retroreflective or fluorescent markers are placed on the surface of a golf ball. Using a single strobe lamps, images of a golf ball at two points in motion are acquired. The output of each of the strobe lamps is preferably filtered to pass predetermined colors of light. The input to each of the cameras is also preferably filtered. The output from the strobe lamp passes through at least one of a beam splitting mirror and reflective front surface mirror. Based on the filtered light outputs generated by the strobe lamp and the filtered camera input, at least two images of the golf ball, taken from two different angles, may be acquired. The acquired images may be used to analyze the kinematics of the golf ball. |
| US08872913B2 |
System for positioning micro tool of micro machine and method thereof
The present invention discloses a system for positioning micro tool of micro machine is provided in this invention, wherein the system comprises a stereo-photographing device, an image analysis system, a PC-based controller, and a micro machine. The image analysis system can analyze position of the micro tool of the micro machine and work piece by using algorithm, and the micro tool is then positioned to a pre-determined location. A method for positioning micro tool of the micro machine is also provided in this invention. |
| US08872909B2 |
Method and apparatus for personal identification using finger imaging
A system for extracting finger vein and finger texture images from a finger of a person at the same time, the device including an image capture device configured to capture at least one image of at least one finger in a contactless manner, a feature extraction module configured to extract unique finger vein features and finger texture features from the at least one captured image, and a processing module configured to normalize the at least one captured image and integrate the extracted finger vein features and finger texture features. |
| US08872908B2 |
Dual-imager biometric sensor
Embodiments disclose a two imager biometric sensor. In some embodiments, the two imagers can include a direct imager and a TIR imager. In some embodiments, multispectral light sources can be used to illuminate target tissue imaged by two imagers. In some embodiments, composite images can be created from images detected using both imagers. |
| US08872902B2 |
Stereoscopic video processing device and method for modifying a parallax value, and program
A stereoscopic video processing device includes a candidate coordinate range calculation unit configured to calculate a range of candidate coordinates of a display position of a reference point of a two-dimensional object in a screen, a parallax total value calculation unit configured to calculate a total value of parallax values of pixels of a region overlapping the two-dimensional object in the stereoscopic video, for each candidate coordinate, a display position determination unit configured to determine a candidate coordinate having a smallest total value of the parallax values as the display position of the reference point of the two-dimensional object, a maximum value specifying unit configured to specify a maximum value of the parallax values of the pixels of the region overlapping the two-dimensional object in the stereoscopic video, and a parallax setting unit configured to set the parallax of the two-dimensional object displayed in the stereoscopic video. |
| US08872895B2 |
Real-time video coding using graphics rendering contexts
A method for encoding video for streaming includes receiving a plurality of sequential image frames generated by a 3D graphics rendering engine. Graphics rendering contexts are obtained, including pixel depth map, rendering camera parameters, and camera motion from the 3D rendering engine. The method next entails selecting key frames among the plurality of sequential image frames, interpolating non-key frames via 3D image warping, and encoding all key frames and warping residues of non-key frames. The system is implementable on a server linked to a mobile user device for receiving the encoded frame data. The mobile user device is configured to decode the encoded frame data and display a corresponding image to a user of the mobile user device. |
| US08872893B2 |
Systems and methods for managing distribution of 3D media
Systems and methods for managing distribution of three dimensional visual media to a plurality of displays. For example, there is a content server for managing distribution of three dimensional (3D) visual media to a client over a. network, where the client has a display.The content server comprises a server processor configured to determine a plurality of supported 3D) modes of the client, enable one the plurality of supported 3D modes, and provide the 3D visual media to the client for presentation on the display of the client. |
| US08872888B2 |
Content transmission apparatus, content transmission method, content reproduction apparatus, content reproduction method, program and content delivery system
Disclosed herein is a content transmission apparatus, including: a retaining section adapted to retain a multi viewpoint video content formed from a plurality of viewpoint videos imaged simultaneously by a plurality of different video cameras; a production section adapted to produce a VRT including acquisition destination information of the viewpoint videos which configure the multi viewpoint video content, VRT standing for View Relation Table; a supplying section adapted to supply the produced VRT to a content reproduction apparatus; a broadcasting section adapted to broadcast one or plural ones of the viewpoint videos which configure the retained multi viewpoint video content; and a delivery section adapted to deliver one or plural ones of the viewpoint videos which configure the retained multi viewpoint video content through a network. |
| US08872884B2 |
System and method for combining instant messaging and video communication systems
A method and apparatus for initiating videoconferences in instant messaging systems is described, including posting of a videoconference URL in the instant messaging chat window if any of the desired participants of the videoconferencing session is unavailable, so that the unavailable participants can simply click on the videoconference URL and join the videoconferencing session. |
| US08872883B2 |
ViSTORE
ViSTORE is a video teleconferencing system used with networked devices and is capable of storing all or parts of video conferencing sessions on demand that can be played back at a later time. The system consists of a web portal, where all multimedia data is stored, and a software application hosted in the networked devices. The networked devices can be any wired or wireless devices such as laptops and smart phones. The system is capable of hosting multiple videoconferencing parties and each user is capable of storing any part of a given user video session. The system also can play concurrently video feeds, such as a live TV channel, or video clips, such as those of news websites. In addition, the system can display simultaneously multimedia such as photos and images. Finally, the system allows user to create and display notes and MS Office applications files. |
| US08872878B2 |
Adaptation of video for use with different number of cameras and displays at endpoints
In one embodiment, a method includes identifying priority objects in a composite image created from one or more input video streams, processing the composite image, and generating a plurality of output video streams. The output video streams correspond to display screens available for viewing the output video streams and the number of output video streams is different than the number of input video streams. Processing the composite image includes positioning the priority objects to prevent placement of the priority objects at a location extending over two of the display screens. An apparatus is also disclosed. |
| US08872877B2 |
Motor control device, fluid ejection device, and motor control method
Motor control devices and methods are described herein. In one embodiment, such a device includes a fluid ejection head configured to eject a fluid onto a sheet that is on a downstream side from a transport driving roller along a supply direction of the sheet. The device also includes a first motor that provides a driving force for rotating a roll on which the sheet is wound, and a second motor that provides a driving force for driving the transport driving roller. The transport driving roller is on a downstream side from the roll along the supply direction of the sheet. The device also includes a motor control unit that simultaneously drives the first and second motors, and the motor control unit is configured to control an interpolation output that is given to the first motor while subjected to a change in a driving speed of the second motor. |
| US08872876B2 |
Optical scanner
An optical scanner includes a light source, optical deflector, mirror, first photosensitive drum, and second photosensitive drum. The light source emits a first light beam and a second light beam. The optical deflector deflects the first light beam and the second light beam. The mirror has a reflecting part that reflects the deflected first light beam and a passing part that passes the deflected second light beam. The passing part is displaced from the reflecting part. The first photosensitive drum performs a development with a first toner having a first color. The reflected first light beam scans the first photosensitive drum in a main scanning direction. The second photosensitive drum performs a development with a second toner having a second color different from the first color. The passed second light beam scans the second photosensitive drum in the main scanning direction. The first photosensitive drum and second photosensitive drum are arranged in a sub scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. |
| US08872871B2 |
Laser scanning unit and image forming apparatus including the same
A light scanning unit includes: a light source emitting a light beam according to an image signal; a light deflector deflecting and scanning the light beam emitted from the light source; and a synchronization detection optical system comprising a synchronization detection sensor detecting a synchronization signal by receiving a portion of the light beam that is deflected and scanned by the light deflector and a synchronization detection lens disposed between the light deflector and the synchronization detection sensor, wherein the synchronization detection lens is an anamorphic lens in which refractive power in a first direction and refractive power in a second direction different from the first direction are different, and wherein the first direction of the synchronization detection lens is inclined with respect to a main scanning direction in which a light beam incident on the synchronization detection lens is scanned. |
| US08872870B2 |
Method and apparatus for marking glass
In a method and apparatus for marking glass or a glass-like material a writing laser beam and the glass or the material are moved relative to each other in order to form an array of marks on the glass surface or material surface consisting of a plurality of discrete marks which are formed in discrete marking steps and are distributed along at least one direction. Marks directly adjacent to each other in a predetermined direction are formed in two marking steps, which are not carried out directly in succession one after the other. Thus, at least two series of marks are produced in the predetermined direction, wherein said marks are spaced at regular intervals from each other and are interleaved in the predetermined direction. As a result, and because of the temperature regime according to the invention during encoding, a particularly low-stress, crack-free marking of glass can be accomplished. |
| US08872868B2 |
Driving method of light emitting device
If a potential of a gate electrode of a driving transistor varies after a gray scale signal is inputted into each pixel, a current value of a current supplied to a light emitting element varies so that accurate gray scale display cannot be obtained. In particular, in the case of performing black display, current may flow, which makes clear black display difficult. Accordingly, the invention provides a light emitting device capable of performing accurate gray scale display, and a driving method thereof. According to the invention, a signal for display is inputted plural times within a predetermined timing period, or a writing operation period is lengthened. Consequently, the gate voltage of the transistor is determined after the anode potential of the light emitting element is stabilized, and therefore accurate gray scale display can be performed. |
| US08872866B2 |
3D display panel and pixel brightness control method thereof
A 3D display panel includes a plurality of first and second viewing angle pixels arranged along a first direction for displaying first and second viewing angle images respectively. The first viewing angle pixels and the second viewing angle pixels are interlacedly arranged along a second direction. A method for controlling pixel brightness of the 3D display panel includes determining a brightness value of a first block of a first viewing angle pixel according to a brightness value of the first viewing angle pixel and a brightness value of a second viewing angle pixel next to the first viewing angle pixel along the second direction, and determining a brightness value of a second block of the first viewing angle pixel according to the brightness value of the first block of the first viewing angle pixel and the brightness value of the first viewing angle pixel. |
| US08872863B2 |
Method for driving liquid crystal display device
In a first subframe period, light sources of a first region and a third region emit lights at the same time; light sources of a second region and a fourth region emit no light at the same time, in which light emission of different colors is performed in the first region and the third region. In a second subframe period, light sources of the second region and the fourth region emit lights at the same time; light sources of the first region and the third region emit no light at the same time, in which light emission of different colors is performed in the second region and the fourth region. The first region and the third region are separated from each other with the second region interposed therebetween; and the second region and the fourth region are separated from each other with the third region interposed therebetween. |
| US08872861B2 |
Apparatus for selecting backlight color values
One embodiment may employ one or more non-transitory computer-readable memories, the memories collectively storing instructions for executing a method of facilitating the display of an image. This method may comprise, in a display system comprising a display panel having pixels and a backlight having individually addressable colored light emitters configured to provide light to the pixels of the display panel, receiving image data corresponding to an image for display upon the display panel, the pixels each having a color to be displayed, so as to collectively display the image. The method also includes, for each pixel, evaluating whether the corresponding color to be displayed is out-of-gamut to the each pixel, so as to form a set of out-of-gamut pixels. A set of virtual primaries is determined, defining intensities of light emitted by the colored light emitters of the backlight during display of the image, the virtual primaries determined according to the colors of the set of out-of-gamut pixels. |
| US08872859B2 |
Liquid crystal panel driving method, and source driver and liquid crystal display apparatus using the method
Provided are a method of driving a liquid crystal panel which prevents unintended digital image data from being displayed on a liquid crystal panel when power is provided or interrupted, and a source driver and a liquid crystal display apparatus. The source driver includes output buffers; output pads; and a switching unit which is disposed between the output buffers and the output pads and controls an electrical connection state of the output pads. If a level up or a level down of a power voltage occurs, the switching unit prevents output signals of the output buffers from being transmitted to the liquid crystal panel via corresponding output pads and performs at least one of a charge sharing operation for connecting the output pads to each other and a discharging operation for providing a discharge path from the output pads to a ground terminal, in a preset period. |
| US08872850B2 |
Juxtaposing still and dynamic imagery for cliplet creation
Various technologies described herein pertain to juxtaposing still and dynamic imagery to create a cliplet. A first subset of a spatiotemporal volume of pixels in an input video can be set as a static input segment, and the static input segment can be mapped to a background of the cliplet. Further, a second subset of the spatiotemporal volume of pixels in the input video can be set as a dynamic input segment based on a selection of a spatial region, a start time, and an end time within the input video. Moreover, the dynamic input segment can be refined spatially and/or temporally and mapped to an output segment of the cliplet within at least a portion of output frames of the cliplet based on a predefined temporal mapping function, and the output segment can be composited over the background for the output frames of the cliplet. |
| US08872848B1 |
Rendering vector data as tiles
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for rendering vector graphics as multiple tiles in an interactive mapping system. In one aspect, a method includes receiving map data in an interactive mapping system. A set of one or more vertices is that defines a vector graphic is processed, where each vertex defines a map location corresponding to map coordinates. For one or more portions of a vector graphic that coincide with a user viewport, one or more respective vector tiles is generated, where the user viewport defines a first region in which map coordinates can be displayed. On a user command, one or more new vector tiles is rendered at the client device using vertices that coincide with the user viewport at a second region, where the respective new portions did not previously coincide with the user viewport at the first region. |
| US08872847B2 |
Architectures and methods for creating and representing time-dependent imagery
The present invention pertains to geographical image processing of time-dependent imagery. Various assets acquired at different times are stored and processing according to acquisition date in order to generate one or more image tiles for a geographical region of interest. The different image tiles are sorted based on asset acquisition date. Multiple image tiles for the same region of interest may be available. In response to a user request for imagery as of a certain date, one or more image tiles associated with assets from prior to that date are used to generate a time-based geographical image for the user. |
| US08872846B2 |
Interactive virtual weather map
An interactive map may be provided. The map may include weather information such as temperature information, precipitation information, radar information, or the like, street information such as road information, traffic information, or the like, and/or advertising information for a particular area that may be chosen by the user. The map may also display information related to points of interest such as schools, golf courses, entertainment, or the like that may be chosen by the user. The map may be dynamic such that the weather information, street information, and/or advertising information may be dynamically updated on the map. |
| US08872843B2 |
Method for editing images in a mobile terminal
A method for adding image effects to an existing image, selectively deleting the added image effects or storing an image with various image effects added in a mobile terminal are provided. The method comprises: displaying an image; selecting a frame and adding the selected frame to the image; selecting at least one icon and adding the selected icon to the image; inputting at least one text message and adding the input text message to the image; repeating the addition of the image effects; and randomly selecting one or more of the image effects added to the image and deleting or modifying each selected image effect. There is also provided a method for storing an image, which comprises when saving an image is selected, extracting information about an image effect added to the image; and storing image information comprising the extracted image effect information and original image information. |
| US08872842B2 |
Display device and electronics apparatus
A display device includes: a display unit having plural pixels each including red (R), green (G), and blue (B) sub-pixels, and a color (Z) sub-pixel whose luminance is higher than luminances of the above three sub-pixels; a conversion processing unit for generating output image signals corresponding to the colors R, G, B, and Z by performing predetermined processing using input image signals corresponding to the colors R, G, and B; and a drive unit with the conversion processing unit for performing display driving on the four sub-pixels, wherein the conversion processing unit generates the output image signals for performing display operation in the four sub-pixels if the luminance level of the Z sub-pixel is higher than a predetermined threshold; and generates the output image signals for performing the display operation in the R, G, and B sub-pixels, but not in the Z sub-pixel if not higher. |
| US08872833B2 |
Integrated circuit configuration system and method
The present invention systems and methods enable configuration of functional components in integrated circuits. A present invention system and method can flexibly change the operational characteristics of functional components in an integrated circuit die based upon a variety of factors, including if the die has a defective component. An indication of the defective functional component identification is received. A determination is made if the defective functional component is one of a plurality of similar functional components that can provide the same functionality. The other similar components can be examined to determine if they are parallel components to the defective functional component. The defective functional component is disabled if it is one of the plurality of similar functional components and another component can handle the workflow that would otherwise be assigned to the defective component. Workflow is diverted from the disabled component to other similar functional components. |
| US08872831B2 |
Semantic-driven profile curve interpolation for swept-surface extrusion
A method, apparatus, system, and computer readable storage medium provide the ability to transition between two different profile curves in a swept surface extrusion. Each curve has section sequences that include consecutive sections, which in turn include constant attributes, which in turn include graphic attributes and semantic attributes. The section sequences define a semantic pattern for each profile curve. A globally optimal match is computed between the sections of the different curves. Adapted curves are generated that are structurally identical but geometrically resemble their respective original curves. An actual profile curve is computed for a given position on an extrusion line using a one-to-one vertex position morphing based on the adapted curves. The swept surface extrusion is performed and the result is displayed. |
| US08872829B2 |
System and method for processing frequency spectrum of a signal in an image file
A system and method processes frequency spectrum of a signal in an image file of a computing device. The system loads the frequency spectrum from a storage system of the computing device, and displays the frequency spectrum on a user interface of the computing device. The method sets parameters of an object spectrum curve to be processed in the frequency spectrum and enables accessional functions for processing the object spectrum curve. According to the input parameters and the enabled accessional functions, an output range of the object spectrum curve may be displayed, and spectrum data of the object spectrum curve within the output range from the frequency spectrum may be output into a predetermined form, and stores the predetermined form according to a predetermined storage path. |
| US08872826B2 |
System and method for decoupled ray marching for production ray tracking in inhomogeneous participating media
Provided are systems and methods to perform ray marching for production ray tracing in inhomogeneous participating media. The systems and methods allow a reduction of the quadratic complexity without giving up the benefits of accurate ray traced lighting. In one implementation, the task of ray marching is reformulated into a task of transforming an unknown, spatially varying volume into a collection of piecewise homogeneous segments. Being homogeneous, inexpensive analytical formulas may be employed for evaluating and sampling the transmission term at arbitrary points in the segments. |
| US08872823B2 |
Automatic real-time shader modification for texture fetch instrumentation
A method and system are disclosed for automatic instrumentation that modifies a video game's shaders at run-time to collect detailed statistics about texture fetches such as MIP usage. The tracking may be transparent to the game application and therefore not require modifications to the application. In an embodiment, the method may be implemented in a software development kit used to record and provide texture usage data and optionally generate a report. |
| US08872816B2 |
Three-dimensional image display device and driving method thereof
A three-dimensional image display device includes: a display panel assembly including a display panel including pixels which alternately displays first and second images, and a data driver which transmits data voltages to the pixels; a backlight unit which provides light to the display panel assembly; and a shutter member including first and second shutters, where the backlight unit emits the light during light emitting periods, the light emitting periods includes first light emitting periods, during which the first image is displayed, and second light emitting periods, during which the second image is displayed, the first light emitting periods and the second light emitting periods alternate, and the first shutter is opened during at least two open periods, which are between neighboring second light emitting periods of the second light emitting periods and temporally spaced apart from each other. |
| US08872812B2 |
Power saving in mobile devices by optimizing frame rate output
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method comprising providing 2-D or 3-D graphics content to a graphics processing module; processing the graphics content to generate a stream of images (e.g., three dimensional images and/or two dimensional images) for display, the stream having a frame rate; and governing a rate of processing the graphics content to limit the frame rate of the generated stream of images to be less than or equal to a frame rate threshold. Other embodiments may also be described and claimed. |
| US08872804B2 |
Touch sensing display devices and related methods
The present disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus relating to touch sensing display devices that include a sensing device and a display device. In one aspect, a touch sensing display device can include adaptive addressing architecture to adjust an addressing characteristic based at least in part in a sensing characteristic of a sensing device. In another aspect, a touch sensing display device can include adaptive sensing architecture to adjust a sensing characteristic of a sensing device based at least in part on an addressing characteristic of a display device and/or on an electrical interference characteristic altered by an addressing circuit of the display device. |
| US08872799B2 |
Scalable distributed/cooperative/collaborative paradigm for multi-user interaction with projection-based display walls
A method of distributed/cooperative/collaborative gesture management may comprise queuing actions of gestures as the gestures move across a display, processing the actions of each of the gestures by a projector in which the projector's display is close to a gesture, sending an anticipatory action message that one of the gestures is predicted to enter a display region of a projector, processing the actions of one of the gestures by a projector in which the projector's display is close to the one of the gestures, and in response to the one of the gestures being in an overlapping display projected by overlapping projectors, the actions of the one of the gestures are processed by the overlapping projector with the smallest identifier. |
| US08872796B2 |
Mobile terminal and operation control method thereof
A method of controlling a mobile terminal, and which includes entering into a touch-lock mode to lock an entire display area on a touch screen, receiving an unlock signal corresponding to a selection of a touch-lock release button on the terminal, and unlocking an area of the touch screen that includes at least one displayed icon when the unlock signal is received such that a touching of the at least one icon displayed on the touch screen executes a corresponding function of the icon, and maintaining other areas of the touch screen in the touch-lock mode. |
| US08872792B2 |
Active stylus with energy harvesting
In one embodiment, a stylus includes one or more electrodes and one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying logic for transmitting signals wirelessly from the stylus to a device through a touch sensor of the device. The stylus has one or more sensors for kinetic, thermal, solar or electric energy harvesting from an environment of the stylus or from the stylus itself. |
| US08872790B2 |
Operating method of capacitive touch panel and touch control barrier-type 3D display device
An exemplary operating method of a capacitive touch panel adapted to a touch control barrier-type three-dimensional display device and including a sensing device is disclosed. In the operating method, a sensing voltage readout operation is performed only during a signal caused by a transient of a barrier voltage is smaller than a preset value. The voltage readout operation includes steps of: providing a first driving signal to the sensing device for performing the sensing voltage readout operation during the barrier voltage is at a logic high level; and providing a second driving signal to the sensing device for performing the sensing voltage readout operation during the barrier voltage is at a logic low level. A pulse amplitude of the first driving signal is smaller than that of the second driving signal. |
| US08872788B2 |
Systems and methods for detecting multiple touch points in surface-capacitance type touch panels
Surface-capacitance-based multi-touch touch panel apparatus including a multiplicity of electrically conductive shapes e.g. diamonds arranged along at least one of rows and columns whose capacitance is measured by capacitive sensors; wherein the rows and columns include a set of linear arrays including at least one individual linear array which includes a plurality of first sets of shapes, each first set including n>=1 shapes all shorted to a single set-specific capacitive sensor such that no two first sets are both shorted to a common capacitive sensor. |
| US08872785B2 |
Multipoint touchscreen
A touch panel having a transparent capacitive sensing medium configured to detect multiple touches or near touches that occur at the same time and at distinct locations in the plane of the touch panel and to produce distinct signals representative of the location of the touches on the plane of the touch panel for each of the multiple touches is disclosed. |
| US08872782B2 |
Display device
The display device according to the present invention has a display panel as well as a touch panel and a front window provided on the display panel on the front side, where the touch panel has a base made of a film and wires formed on the surface of the base, while the connection portion B for connecting the touch panel and the flexible printed circuit is provided in a protrusion of the base, the touch panel and the front window are pasted together with an adhesive layer in between, and at least the adhesive layer is not provided to the protrusion. |
| US08872781B1 |
Method and system for filtering movements on a trackpad
A trackpad system to filter movement includes a surface, a sensor operably coupled to the surface, a controller operably coupled to the sensor, a bus operably coupled to the controller, a device driver configured to communicate with the bus, and a gesture module configured to communicate with the device driver. The gesture module includes instructions to determine if each contact detected on the surface for an input frame was previously present on the surface. If the contact was previously present on the surface, the system computes, for each axis, position changes for the contact based on a record associated with the contact. The system determines if the position changes are unexpected based on a set of rules. If the position changes are unexpected, the system suppresses a display of movement associated with the contact for the input frame for the axis. |
| US08872780B2 |
Method and electronic device for gesture recognition
A method and an electronic device for gesture recognition are provided. The method is applied to an electronic device, which displays at least one object on a touch screen. Wherein the object has two states, one of which is a selected state and the other is an unselected state. The method includes: detecting a first touch point and a second touch point on the touch screen; when the first touch point and the second touch point are on the touch screen simultaneously, and the first touch point corresponds to at least one object, and the second touch point corresponds to at least another object, entering a multi mode. Wherein the at least one object corresponding to the first touch point and the at least one object corresponding to the second touch point are set to the selected state. It can simplify user operations by using this method. |
| US08872779B2 |
Method and software for testing touch panels
The method for testing a touch panel includes steps of providing the touch panel, providing a software for testing the touch panel, and determining the data variable parameter corresponding to the touch panel so as to test the touch panel. The software contains a data variable parameter, which includes one selected from a group consisting of an interface setting variable parameter, a touch controller IC variable parameter, an automatic test variable parameter, a manual test variable parameter and a combination thereof. |
| US08872778B2 |
Apparatus with correlated emitter-detector pairs
An apparatus such as a touch screen display includes correlated emitter-detector pairs for determining the amount of electromagnetic radiation received at a detector from its paired emitter. The apparatus comprises an array of emitters operable to emit electromagnetic radiation, an array of detectors for detecting the electromagnetic radiation, and drive control circuitry configured to control the array of emitters so that they emit pulses of electromagnetic radiation. The amplitude of the pulses is modulated using mutually orthogonal binary vectors such as a Paley construction of the Hadamard matrix. Each emitter has a different vector associated with it. Detection circuitry is provided to detect the electromagnetic radiation reaching each particular detector in the array of detectors using the mutually orthogonal binary vector associated with the correlated emitter to produce a correlation between particular emitter-detector pairs. The arrangement can discriminate between near field and touching objects. |
| US08872776B2 |
Method and device for analyzing two-dimension sensing information
A two-dimension (2D) sensing information is analyzed for determining touch related sensing information. The touch related sensing information may include touch related sensing information with inner low values within outer high values and with inner higher values within outer low values. |
| US08872774B2 |
Method for correcting and recording initial touch points on touch panel
While correcting and recording initial touch points on a touch panel, a plurality of sensors on the touch panel are classified into a plurality of first sensing groups assigned with serial numbers, and a plurality of sensors of each the first sensing group are equally divided into a plurality of second sensing groups assigned with serial numbers. After detecting initial touch points on the touch panel, a plurality of headers are generated for the plurality of first sensing groups, and a data structure is generated for each of the sensors having detected initial touch points according to whether first sensing groups corresponding to the headers have the sensors having the detected initial touch points or not. At last, the initial touch points are filtered off from a plurality of detected touch points on the touch panel, according to initial touch point information recorded in loaded data structures. |
| US08872773B2 |
Electronic device and method of controlling same
A method includes displaying, on a touch-sensitive display, information associated with a first application and information associated with a second application, detecting on the touch-sensitive display, a touch at a first location associated with the first application, reporting the touch as a first touch type to the first application, and when the first touch type is not utilized by the first application within a threshold period of time and when movement of the touch on the touch-sensitive display is detected, reporting the touch to the second application. |
| US08872769B2 |
Haptic input device
A distance vector from the original cursor position where the cursor exists before the manipulation to the cursor movement destination position is set to a movement direction distance vector, distance vectors from the original cursor position to each button position of a plurality of buttons are set to button distance vectors, and the button having the shortest movement time is determined as a target button intended by a user by computing the movement time to a plurality of buttons using the movement direction distance vector and a plurality of button distance vectors, so that the display control of the display unit is performed such that the cursor is dragged into the target button. |
| US08872759B2 |
Writing apparatus for an electronic paper
A writing apparatus for performing a writing operation on an electronic paper includes a writing controller and a pixel array writing unit. The writing controller includes a data driving unit for providing a plurality of data signals, and a scan driving unit for providing a plurality of scan signals. The pixel array writing unit is coupled electrically to the data driving unit and the scan driving unit, and is adapted to be disposed to confront a first planar side of the electronic paper for performing the writing operation on the electronic paper as controlled by the writing controller, where the data signals are written into the electronic paper with reference to the scan signals so as to enable the electronic paper to display a corresponding image. |
| US08872757B2 |
Mobile terminal and method of controlling the same
Disclosed are a mobile terminal and a method of controlling a mobile terminal. A different backlight dimming algorithm can be applied according to an application, and a dimming algorithm is selectively applied in association with an input image during executing of a specific application. |
| US08872756B2 |
Driver device, backlight unit and image display device
A backlight unit according to the present invention includes a plurality of LED drivers (5a) to (5i), an LED controller (61) that generates a control information group in which lighting control information for selected LED drivers is arranged and a cascade line that connects the LED drivers in cascade. The LED controller (61) enables the selected LED drivers (5), and feeds the control information group to the cascade line, and the enabled LED drivers (5) perform an operation (acquisition operation) of acquiring the lighting control information on itself among the control information group whereas the LED drivers (5) that are not enabled do not perform the acquisition operation. According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the performance of unnecessary operations of the backlight unit. The present invention can be utilized in a liquid crystal display device that uses LEDs as a light source of backlight. |
| US08872754B2 |
System, method, and computer program product for controlling stereo glasses shutters
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for controlling stereo glasses shutters. In use, a right eye shutter of stereo glasses is controlled to switch between a closed orientation and an open orientation. Further, a left eye shutter of the stereo glasses is controlled to switch between the closed orientation and the open orientation. To this end, the right eye shutter and the left eye shutter of the stereo glasses may be controlled such that the right eye shutter and the left eye shutter simultaneously remain in the closed orientation for a predetermined amount of time. |
| US08872752B2 |
Scan driver, display device having the same and method of driving a display device
A scan driver drives a display device having a plurality of gate lines transferring scan signals, and a plurality of source lines transferring data signals. The scan driver includes a shift register and a multiple signal applying unit. The shift register includes a plurality of cascade-connected stages, each stage having an output terminal electrically connected to a respective one of the plurality of gate lines. The multiple signal applying unit applies a sub scan signal and a main scan signal. The sub scan signal and the main scan signal sequentially activate each of the plurality of gate lines. Therefore, the scan lines receive the scan signal twice, so that the liquid crystal capacitors electrically connected to the gate lines receive the data voltage twice. As a result, even though the time for charging the liquid crystal capacitors may be reduced, the liquid crystal capacitors may be fully charged to enhance display quality. |
| US08872749B2 |
Display device
A shift register circuit has a plurality of shift pulse generation circuits, and a scanning voltage generation circuit has a plurality of base circuits. The base circuits are presented with a first shift pulse generated by a shift pulse generation circuit, and a scanning line clock. The base circuits have a first transistor in which the first shift pulse is input to a first electrode, and a first power supply voltage is input to a control electrode; and a second transistor in which a control electrode is connected to a second electrode in the first transistor, a scanning line clock is input to the first electrode, and the second electrode is connected to a scanning voltage output terminal. The base circuits output a selected scanning voltage synchronized with the scanning line clock from the scanning voltage output terminal when the first shift pulse is at a first voltage level. |
| US08872744B2 |
Display apparatus, liquid crystal display apparatus, drive method for display apparatus, and television receiver
In at least one embodiment a ripple, generated in an electric potential of data signal lines even in long-term reversal driving, is reduced and display quality is improved. In at least one example embodiment, the liquid crystal display apparatus of the present invention includes scanning signal lines and data signal lines, in which one scanning pulse is outputted to select one scanning signal line, each of the data signal lines receives data signals whose polarities are reversed per one vertical scanning period while in one horizontal scanning period, one of two data signal lines receives a data signal having a polarity and the other of the two data signal lines receives another data signal having another polarity, the two data signal lines being arranged adjacent to each other, scanning pulses are successively outputted in sets of two, and at a timing in which two scanning pulses fall, two scanning pulses rise. |
| US08872740B2 |
Display apparatus and display apparatus driving method
A display apparatus includes: a display panel that includes display elements having a current-driven light-emitting portion, in which the display elements are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix in a first direction and a second direction, and that displays an image on the basis of a video signal; and a luminance correcting unit that corrects the luminance of the display elements when displaying an image on the display panel by correcting a gradation value of an input signal and outputting the corrected input signal as the video signal. The luminance correcting unit includes a reference operating time calculator, an accumulated reference operating time storage, a reference curve storage, a gradation correction value holder, and a video signal generator. |
| US08872737B2 |
Organic light emitting device, and apparatus and method of generating modification information therefor
An organic light emitting device including a display panel including a plurality of pixels respectively including a driving transistor and an organic light emitting element; a driving unit to supply a driving signal to the display panel; a signal controller to control the driving unit; a signal modification unit to modify an input image signal based on modification information to generate a modified image signal; and a modification controller to generate and provide the modification information to the signal modification unit. The signal modification unit includes a first modification unit to convert the input image signal into a first modified signal according to first modification information generated based on a characteristic deviation of the driving transistor, and a second modification unit to convert the first modified signal into a second modified signal according to second modification information generated based on a characteristic deviation of the organic light emitting element. |
| US08872735B2 |
Head mounted display for adjusting audio output and video output in relation to each other and method for controlling the same
A head mounted display and a control method thereof are discussed. The head mounted display is designed to adjust an audio output and a video output of the head mounted display in relation to each other using the control method. |
| US08872734B2 |
System and method for switching two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) display modes
A 2D/3D switching system contains a 2D/3D switching device having a display area for selectively processing lights from 2D images and 3D images. The 2D/3D switching device includes a first substrate, a plurality of first electrodes formed on the first substrate, a second substrate, a plurality of second electrodes formed on the second substrate and arranged corresponding to the plurality of first electrodes and separated with a distance, and a liquid crystal layer placed between the first substrate and the second substrate to provide the display area. A driving unit is configured to provide driving voltages to the plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of second electrodes. The driving unit applies a plurality of voltages on the first electrodes and the second electrodes to enable the liquid crystal layer to operate in one of a full-screen 2D mode, a full-screen 3D mode, and a 2D/3D mode. |
| US08872733B2 |
Liquid crystal display device, multi-display device, method for determining light intensity, and storage medium
The liquid crystal display device 30, included in the multi-display device 1, includes (i) a receiving section 21 for receiving display image data indicative of a display image to be displayed on a display panel 11 of the liquid crystal display device 30 and (ii) a light intensity determining section 22 for determining light intensity for each of segments of a backlight device 12 of the liquid crystal display device 30. When the receiving section 21 receives peripheral display image data, which is indicative of a peripheral image contiguous to the display image, the light intensity determining section 22 determines the light intensities of the respective segments based on the display image data and the peripheral display image data. |
| US08872732B2 |
Multi-display system with backlight intensity correction
Each liquid crystal display device of a multi-display system includes a light intensity correcting section, which performs a light intensity correction in which backlight intensity of each of light intensity control areas belonging to a liquid crystal display device including the light intensity correcting section is corrected in accordance with backlight intensities of adjacent areas which are adjacent to the light intensity control area. In a case where another liquid crystal display device which is adjacent to the liquid crystal display device including the light intensity correcting section includes one of the adjacent areas, the light intensity correcting section accesses to the another liquid crystal display device via the communication section so as to obtain the backlight intensity of the one of the adjacent areas, in order to perform the light intensity correction in accordance with the obtained backlight intensity of the adjacent area. |
| US08872724B2 |
Mobile communication terminal casing equipped with internal antenna
Disclosed herein is a mobile communication terminal casing equipped with an internal antenna. The mobile communication terminal casing includes an antenna sheet having contact terminals, and an injection-molded casing product including an inner surface having an internal groove that is coupled to the antenna sheet and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface. A second surface opposite to a first surface of the antenna sheet on which the contact terminals are located comes into contact with the internal groove of the injection-molded casing product, and the first surface is injection-molded to be exposed outside of the injection-molded casing product. |
| US08872723B2 |
Light and RF transparent enclosure for use with asset tracking device
An electromagnetic (RF) and light transparent enclosure having a perforated metallic wall. The enclosure is particularly adapted for an RF wireless tracking system, as a housing for the transmitter device or for a cargo container in or on which the transmitter device is positioned. The enclosure is optically transparent to ensure any photovoltaic device of the transmitter device receives sufficient photons or other energy to power the transmitter device. The RF transparent enclosure attenuates less transmitted and/or received signal at specific frequency bands. |
| US08872721B2 |
RFID reader and RFID system
The invention relates to an RFID reader having a transmitting antenna (102) and a receiving antenna (104), wherein the transmitting antenna is located a first distance (114) from the receiving antenna, wherein the transmitting antenna has transmitting antenna coils (106) situated in a first plane (108), and wherein the receiving antenna has receiving antenna coils (110) situated in a second plane (112), and having means (130, 132) for positioning an RFID document at a position located a second distance (148) from the transmitting antenna, wherein the transmitting antenna is situated between the receiving antenna and the position. |
| US08872719B2 |
Apparatus, system, and method for integrated modular phased array tile configuration
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for phased array antenna communications. A phased array antenna tile includes a plurality of antenna elements. A beamformer module is integrated into the phased array antenna tile. The beamformer module is electrically coupled to each antenna element to process directional signals for the plurality of antenna elements. A plurality of cascadable connection points are disposed along a perimeter of the phased array antenna tile for connecting the phased array antenna tile to one or more additional phased array antenna tiles. |
| US08872717B2 |
High isolation dual polarized dipole antenna elements and feed system
An apparatus that achieves high isolation between dipoles and feed systems is provided. The apparatus includes a plurality of transmission lines, a first dipole electrically connected to a first set of the plurality of transmission lines, and second dipole electrically connected to a second set of the plurality of transmission lines. The electric field of the first dipole is parallel to an electric field of the first set of the plurality of transmission lines, and an electric field of the second dipole is parallel to an electric field of the second set of the plurality of transmission lines. |
| US08872712B2 |
Multi-band antenna
Methods and systems for extending a bandwidth of a multi-band antenna of a user device are described. A multi-band antenna includes a single radio frequency (RF) input coupled to a first antenna, the first antenna configured to provide a first resonant mode. The multi-band antenna also includes a second antenna parasitically coupled to the first antenna to provide additional resonant modes of the multi-band antenna. |
| US08872705B2 |
Dual-band mobile communication device having an antenna structure integrated with a coupling feed thereof
A dual-band mobile communication device includes a ground plane and an antenna located on a dielectric substrate and including a feeding portion and a shorted radiating portion. One end of the feeding portion is a feeding point of the antenna. A length of the shorted radiating portion is at least twice that of the feeding portion. A first end of the shorted radiating portion, electrically connected to the ground plane, is a shorting end, and the second end of the shorted radiating portion is an open end. The shorted radiating portion includes multiple bendings which form multiple fractional sections. The open end of the shorted radiating portion extends toward a first fractional section of the shorting end of the shorted radiating portion. A coupling gap exists between a second fractional section of the open end of the shorted radiating portion and the feeding portion. |
| US08872701B2 |
Location based determination to perform a ranging procedure
Methods and systems are described for using location-based information to determine whether to perform a ranging procedure. A change in location of a device is identified. The identified change in location represents the distance the device has moved during an interval between ranging procedures. The identified change in location is analyzed to determine whether the change exceeds a threshold distance. If the change in location does not satisfy the threshold distance, a change in a signal quality metric of the device from the location associated with the previously performed ranging procedure to the current location is identified. The identified change in signal quality metric is analyzed to determine whether the change exceeds a threshold value. If the change in location of the device is less than the threshold distance and the change in the signal quality metric is less than the threshold value, the next scheduled ranging procedure is bypassed. |
| US08872700B2 |
GNSS surveying receiver with multiple RTK engines
The position of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) surveying receiver is determined based on a plurality of RTK engines. A first RTK engine is implementing using a first set of parameters. A second RTK engine is implemented using a second set of parameter different than the first set. A plurality of GNSS signals are received from multiple satellites. At least one correction signal is received from at least one base receiver. A first position is determined from the first RTK engine based on the GNSS signals and the at least one correction signal. A second position is determined from the first RTK engine based on the GNSS signals and the at least one correction signal. A final position of the GNSS surveying receiver is determined based on the first position or the second position or a combination of both positions. |
| US08872699B2 |
Resampling a signal to perform synchrophasor measurement
Performing power quality and synchrophasor analysis on a resampled signal. A first signal may be initially received which corresponds to a power system. The first signal may have a plurality of cycles and may have a frequency that varies over time. One or more parameters may be determined from the first signal. Based on the one or more parameters, the first signal may be resampled to produce an even angle signal. Various power quality measurements may be performed on the even angle signal. Similarly, further processing may be performed to perform synchrophasor measurements, e.g., to determine phasor, frequency, and/or rate of frequency change for the first signal. In some embodiments, the resampling processing elements (e.g., circuitry, programmable hardware elements, processors and memories, etc.) may be shared between the two analyses. |
| US08872698B2 |
Apparatus and method for measuring spatial movements of plant structures
An apparatus and method for measuring spatial movements of plant structures, such as pipes, due for example to movement of the ground in presence of landslide phenomena, subsidence, collapse, or differential settling. The measuring apparatus includes at least one ground station that communicates with at least one corresponding signal-sending satellite station, the ground station being connected in a movable manner to a support constrainable in a fixed manner to the plant structure, the ground structure having an initial azimuthal orientation and an initial azimuthal height. The ground station is moved with respect to the support via a mechanism for adjusting the orientation and height of the same to compensate for an instantaneous orientation and height that are different from the initial orientation and height. |
| US08872697B2 |
Real time reconstruction of 3D cylindrical near field radar images using a single instruction multiple data interpolation approach
The present invention uses a Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) architecture to form real time 3D radar images recorded in cylindrical near field scenarios using a wavefront reconstruction approach. A novel interpolation approach is executed in parallel, significantly reducing the reconstruction time without compromising the spatial accuracy and signal to noise ratios of the resulting images. Since each point in the problem space can be processed independently, the proposed technique was implemented using an approach on a General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit (GPGPU) to take advantage of the high performance computing capabilities of this platform. |
| US08872694B2 |
Radar level gauging using frequency modulated pulsed wave
A method for measurement of a distance to a surface of a product kept in a tank method comprises transmitting a pulse train of distinct carrier wave pulses having a duration greater than 1 microsecond and shorter than 100 milliseconds, the pulse train has an average duty cycle of less than 50 percent, each pulse has a defined center frequency, selected according to a frequency scheme within a predetermined frequency range, greater than 5% of an average center frequency. The method further comprises correlating actual phase properties of received pulses with expected phase properties to provide an updated estimation of the distance.The present invention is based on transmitting a set of carrier wave pulses, each having a distinct frequency selected within a frequency range. The method is therefore referred to as a Frequency Modulated Pulsed Wave (FMPW). |
| US08872692B2 |
Distance measuring device and receiving devices thereof
Provided are a distance measuring device using an impulse signal and a receiving device thereof. The distance measuring device includes: a transmitting device transmitting an impulse signal; and a receiving device receiving the impulse signal and measuring a time interval (hereinafter, referred to as a delay time) between a transmitting timing and a receiving timing of the impulse signal, wherein the receiving device measures the delay time through a Time to Digital Converter (TDC) technique. According to the present invention, the distance measuring device measures the distance accurately and speedly. |
| US08872689B2 |
Circuit arrangement and method for operating an analog-to-digital converter
Circuit arrangement, including a first resistor, a second resistor, a current source and an analog-to-digital converter. The second resistor is thermally coupled to the first resistor. The current source is coupled to the second resistor. The analog-to-digital converter is configured to receive a first voltage measured via the first resistor as a voltage to be digitized, and is configured to receive a second voltage measured via the second resistor as a reference voltage of the analog-to-digital converter. |
| US08872681B2 |
Optical intensity-to-phase converter, mach-zehnder interferometer, optical A/D converter, and method of constructing optical intensity-to-phase converter
An optical intensity-to-phase converter according to the present invention includes first and second waveguides to which a first input light is input, a third waveguide to which a second input light is input, and an interaction region that is provided in common on the second and third waveguides in which the first and second input lights are multiplexed and interact. The optical intensity-to-phase converter provides delay to output lights output from the first and second waveguides based on intensity of the first or second input light. Then, it is possible to provide an optical intensity-to-phase converter that enables simple configuration of an optical A/D converter. |
| US08872678B2 |
Systems and methods for variable rate conversion
Poly-phase filters are used to offer an efficient and low complexity solution to rate conversion. However, they suffer from inflexibility and are not easily reconfigured. A novel design for rate converters employ poly-phase filters but utilize interpolation between filter coefficients to add flexibility to rate conversion. This interpolation can be implemented as an interpolation of the poly-phase filter results. Additional approximations can be made to further reduce the amount of calculations required to implement a flexible rate converter. |
| US08872677B2 |
Method and apparatus for compressing data-carrying signals
A compression method applies a selection rule to input symbols and generates a reduced partial set of symbols. The partial set is checked against a dictionary-index for a match. A match identifies a range of matching symbols in a dictionary. The length of the matching range is iteratively increased by checking previous and next symbols in the input data and the dictionary until a matching range length meets a threshold limit or the length of the matching range cannot be increased further. Compressed data corresponding to the input symbols is provided where input symbols are copied over and symbols in a matched range of data are replaced with a representation of their corresponding start location and length in the dictionary. |
| US08872674B1 |
Directional speed and distance sensor
A method of using a directional sensor for the purposes of detecting the presence of a vehicle or an object within a zone of interest on a roadway or in a parking space. The method comprises the following steps: transmitting a microwave transmit pulse of less than 5 feet; radiating the transmitted pulse by a directional antenna system; receiving received pulses by an adjustable receive window; integrating or combining signals from multiple received pulses; amplifying and filtering the integrated receive signal; digitizing the combined signal; comparing the digitized signal to at least one preset or dynamically computed threshold values to determine the presence or absence of an object in the field of view of the sensor; and providing at least one pulse generator with rise and fall times of less than 3 ns each and capable of generating pulses less than 10 ns in duration. |
| US08872665B2 |
Sanitization compliance monitoring system
A sanitization compliance monitoring system comprises care giver badges, patient bed beacons associated with patient beds, dispenser beacons associated with sanitization dispensers, and a central unit for wirelessly communicating with the badges. |
| US08872657B2 |
System and method for performing chemical analysis of fingerprints for providing at least one response
A system for sharing recommended information is presented including a plurality of electronic devices, each having a fingerprint collecting module for collecting fingerprint information and a chemical analysis module for performing a chemical analysis of the fingerprint information to create a chemical profile for identifying at least a select number of molecules and/or organic compounds for deriving distinguishing characteristics from the fingerprint information. |
| US08872655B2 |
System, method and network for monitoring of location of items
A network for monitoring of location of items is provided, including a plurality of wireless devices, where each of the plurality of wireless devices is associated with a monitored item. Each of a plurality of mobile stations are associated with a respective user and configured to generate an alert when at least one respective wireless device of the plurality of wireless devices exceeds a location parameter. A processing system is in communication with the plurality of mobile stations, and the processing system includes a database that collects and stores data related to the plurality of wireless devices and the plurality of mobile stations. |
| US08872652B2 |
Method and apparatus for wireless communication in test, measurement, control, and communication systems
A system for wireless multiple user access to a sensor comprises a sensor unit having a sensor element, a sensor user interface, and a sensor wireless transceiver that transmits information corresponding to the output of the sensor user interface. One or more receiving units each receive the information corresponding to the output of the sensor user interface, and provide that output to a receiver user interface. The receiver may be located near the sensor unit, or may be located remotely from the sensor unit. Multiple receiving units may be used, for example, by students receiving training on the use of a sensor unit. |
| US08872651B2 |
Wireless probe system and method for a fueling environment
A fueling environment is equipped with leak detection probes and liquid level probes. Each of the probes is associated with a wireless transceiver. The wireless transceivers send probe data to a site communicator wireless transceiver. To ensure that the site communicator receives the probe data, repeaters are used within the fueling environment. The repeaters receive the probe data, and some period of time after the sensor transceivers stop transmitting, the repeaters retransmit the probe data to the site communicator. The site communicator discards duplicative information and processes the probe data as needed. |
| US08872648B2 |
Fire detector with a man-machine interface and method for controlling the fire detector
A fire detector having a fire sensor device for detecting a fire and for outputting a fire signal. The fire detector also has an environmental sensor device for detecting bodies in the environment of the fire detector and for outputting an environmental signal. A control device sets a normal state and an alarm state of the fire detector on the basis of the fire signal, the fire detector additionally being in the form of a man-machine interface, and the control device checking whether the environmental signal can be deemed to be a user input. |
| US08872647B2 |
Method and apparatus for context adaptive multimedia management
In a first illustrative embodiment, a computer implemented method includes detecting a plurality of context providing devices accessible to a vehicle computing system. The illustrative method further includes evaluating context relevant information from each of the detected devices to compile a display. The illustrative method also includes outputting a compiled display to a vehicle display, including at least one portion of the display initially dedicated to vehicle-based service content and at least one portion of the display dedicated to content from a context providing device. |
| US08872640B2 |
Systems, computer medium and computer-implemented methods for monitoring health and ergonomic status of drivers of vehicles
Provided are embodiments of systems, computer medium and computer-implemented methods for monitoring a status of a driver when driving a vehicle. A system including a set of sensors configured to be disposed in the vehicle to collect driver status data. The system processing the driver status data to determine whether the driver is experiencing a health condition or crisis, and whether the driver's body position is ergonomic. In response to a health condition, generating a health alert indicative of the health condition. In response to the driver a health crisis generating a health alert indicative of the health crisis and inhibiting operation of the vehicle. In response to the driver's body position not being ergonomic, identifying and providing adjustments in the body position of the driver that need to be made for the driver to be positioned in a an ergonomically acceptable body position. |
| US08872638B2 |
Controlling communication among multiple industrial control systems
A communication control method and system for controlling communication among multiple industrial control systems connected via a network. The communication control system includes: a communication relay apparatus for relaying communication between at least two of multiple industrial control systems; a monitoring section for monitoring the multiple industrial control systems; and a control section for switching, if the monitoring section detects an anomaly from at least one of the multiple industrial control systems, communication between an industrial control system detected with an anomaly and a second industrial control system so that the communication is performed via the communication relay apparatus. |
| US08872636B1 |
Algorithm-based RFID loss-prevention system
In RFID systems employed for loss prevention, an item supplier or an ingress reader writes an ownership code associated with an organization or facility into a tag, indicating that an item to which the tag is attached is associated with the facility and not foreign. At checkout or point-of-sale an authorization reader or mobile device writes a computed code and/or a ticket into the tag indicating that the tagged item is allowed to leave the facility. At point-of-exit an exit reader determines if the tagged item is allowed to leave the facility by verifying the ownership code and the code or ticket. The loss-prevention system may issue an alert or sound an alarm if a facility-associated item is leaving the facility without a proper code or ticket indicating that the item is approved to leave. |
| US08872627B2 |
Tracking biological and other samples using RFID tags
RFID tags are affixed to vials used to store samples, such as biological samples stored in liquid nitrogen dewars or mechanical freezers. In one set of embodiments, an RFID tag is inserted into a recess at the bottom of a vial and held in place by an insert that engages with vial structure. In another set of embodiments, the RFID tag is retained in the recess by directly engaging with the vial structure and without using a separate insert. Mechanisms for keeping the insert and/or tag in place include tabs that gouge into the vial material, clips that allow the insert/tag to be inserted, but not removed, and holes in the side wall of the vial recess that receive tabs extending from the insert/tag. Tag-insertion techniques enable tags to be affixed to vials either before or after insertion of the sample, thereby enabling retrofitting of existing sample-storing vials with tags. |
| US08872622B2 |
Authentication of “source” for brands
A unique identifier and Authentication System is created to Authenticate to interested parties the BRAND “SOURCE” of: articles (such as clothing, accessories, jewels, fragrances, manufactures, etc.); of authorized dealers for such articles (wholesalers, retailers, etc.); of authorized service entities for such articles: and for the like; of the BRAND “SOURCE” which the provider of the article desires to authenticate its Brand source to the party acquiring the article(s) to substantiate to that acquiring party that they are receiving a genuine article and/or dealing with a “SOURCE” authorized entity. The Authentication System accommodates not only camera enabled imagers and hard wiring but also camera enabled smart phones and internet communications. In addition to responding, in real time, to Authentication Inquiries the system establishes a communication link between the “SOURCE” and the inquirer for marketing and other APP like matters. |
| US08872616B2 |
System and method for remote activation with interleaved modulation protocol
A system and method for remote activation of a device includes, in one embodiment, transmitting a command message according to a first modulation, and transmitting a signal representing the command message for the device according to a second modulation. The signal representing the command message transmitted according to the second modulation may be transmitted within the command message transmitted according to the first modulation. |
| US08872615B2 |
Magnetic nanoclusters
A method for preparing magnetic materials is disclosed. The magnetic materials are prepared by implanting low energy magnetic ions into a substrate and annealing with a charged particle beam. Magnetic materials comprising magnetic nanoclusters in the near-surface region of a substrate are also disclosed. The magnetic materials are useful in, for example, magneto-electronic devices such as magnetic sensors. |
| US08872611B2 |
Rogowski coil assemblies and methods for providing the same
Rogowski coil assemblies and methods for providing or forming Rogowski coil assemblies are provided. A Rogowski coil assembly may include a printed circuit board and a plurality of Rogowski coil sections mounted to an external surface of the printed circuit board by one or more respective circuit traces. The circuit traces may retain and connect the plurality of Rogowski coil sections. |
| US08872609B2 |
Inductor element and integrated circuit device
The invention relates to an inductor element and an integrated circuit device where the efficiency of use of wire materials is high and noise interference through capacitive/inductive coupling from peripheral wires is low.Coil elements 1, 2 are provided in at least two adjacent layer levels having main wires which run in different directions so that each coil element 1 (2) is connected to a coil element 2 (1) in a different layer level so as to form one coil, and shield wires 3, 4 are connected to a power 5 either above or below or to the left or right of said coil elements 1, 2. |
| US08872608B2 |
Magnetic structures and methods for defining magnetic structures using one-dimensional codes
An improved field emission system and method is provided that involves field emission structures having irregular polarity patterns defined in accordance with one-dimensional codes, where an irregular polarity pattern is at least one of an asymmetrical polarity pattern or an uneven polarity pattern. Such one-dimensional codes define at least one peak force and a plurality of off peak spatial forces corresponding to a plurality of alignments of said first and second field emission structures per code modulo, where a peak force is a spatial force produced when all aligned field emission sources produce an attractive force or all aligned field emission sources produce a repellant force and an off peak spatial force is a spatial force resulting from cancellation of at least one attractive force by at least one repellant force. |
| US08872604B2 |
Double film bulk acoustic resonators with electrode layer and piezo-electric layer thicknesses providing improved quality factor
A device includes: a first electrode having a first electrode thickness; a first acoustic propagation layer disposed on the first electrode, the first piezo-electric layer having a first acoustic propagation layer thickness; a second electrode having a second electrode thickness; a second piezo-electric layer disposed on the first electrode, the second piezo-electric layer having a second acoustic propagation layer thickness; and a third electrode having a third electrode thickness, wherein the second electrode thickness is between 1.15 and 1.8 times the first electrode thickness. The first and third electrode thicknesses may be equal to each other, and the first and second piezo-electric layer thicknesses may be equal to each other. The first and third electrodes may be connected together to provide two acoustic resonators in parallel with each other. |
| US08872601B2 |
Circuit module including a duplexer mounted on a circuit substrate having a specified second ground path
A circuit module includes a duplexer and a circuit substrate. A first signal path connects a first external electrode to a second external electrode. A second signal path connects a third external electrode to a fourth external electrode. A third signal path connects a fifth external electrode to a sixth external electrode. A first ground path connects a seventh external electrode to an eighth external electrode. A second ground path is connected to a ninth external electrode and is capacitively coupled to the second signal path. |
| US08872598B2 |
Combiner comprising acoustic transducers
An electrical signal combiner includes at least one first element and a second element respectively connected to a first input port and to a second input port, and a third element connected to an output port, the electrical signals being propagated between the input and output ports. The combiner includes a medium; and the first, second and third elements are acoustic wave transducers, the electrical signals being carried by acoustic waves propagated between the input and output ports within the medium. Advantageously, the first transducer and the third transducer are separated by an acoustic distance of (2k+1)λ/4 with k an integer greater than or equal to 0 with λ the acoustic propagation wavelength; the second transducer and the third transducer are separated by an acoustic distance of (2k′+1)λ/4 with k′ an integer greater than or equal to 0; and the first and second transducers are separated by an acoustic distance of (2k″+2)λ/4 with k″ an integer greater than or equal to 0—in such a manner as to, on the one hand, generate constructive interference at the output port and, on the other hand, to isolate the first and second input ports by destructive interference of acoustic waves at the ports. |
| US08872597B2 |
Equalizer for loss-compensation of high-frequency signals generated in transmission channels
An equalizer includes a circuit board and a compensation module. The compensation module includes first and second transmission lines, first to fourth resistors, and first to fourth micro-strips. Four vias extend through the circuit board and are grounded. First terminals of the four resistors are grounded through the vias. A second terminal of a first resistor is connected to a second terminal of the second resistor through the first micro-strip, and is connected to the first transmission line through the second micro-strip. A second terminal of the third resistor is connected to the second transmission line through the third micro-strip, and is connected to a second terminal of the fourth resistor through the fourth micro-strip. A length of the first micro-strip is equal to a length of the fourth micro-strip. A length of the second micro-strip is equal to a length of the third micro-strip. |
| US08872588B2 |
Amplifier
An amplifier comprising at least one amplifying element (20a, 25a) and a biasing circuit (32a, 32b) for biasing the or each amplifying element with a bias voltage is disclosed. The biasing circuit (32a, 32b) is adapted to vary the bias voltage such that the or each amplifying element switches between non-switching and switching modes of operation in response to a bias control signal (4) passing through a threshold value. |
| US08872586B2 |
Folded-cascode amplifier
An amplifier with gain boosting is disclosed according to an aspect of the subject technology. The gain boosting may be used to improve the noise figure of the amplifier, and may be achieved by feeding an input signal to the gates of multiple transistors in the amplifier, where each transistor provides a current gain contributing to the total current gain of the amplifier. The amplifier may also include an output driver stage for increasing the driving capability of the amplifier. The amplifier may also include a feedback resistor and an input resistor to obtain a gain with high linearity. |
| US08872585B2 |
Amplifier for receiving optical signals complementary to each other
An amplifier for detecting photocurrents complementary to each other is disclosed. The optical receiver includes two trans-impedance amplifiers (TIAs) each having the single phase arrangement, a level detector to detect an average level between respective outputs of the TIAs, a controller to detect a difference between each of the output of the TIA, and an offset canceller to bypass each of the photocurrents to compensate the output offset between two TIAs depending on the average level and the difference between two levels. |
| US08872577B2 |
Semiconductor device and power supply unit utilizing the same
A semiconductor device has pluralities of grid array terminals forming a grid array structure, e.g. a BGA structure, in which the output end of a built-in switch circuit is connected to multiple terminals of the grid array structure, thereby reducing the current that flows through each of the multiple terminals below a permissible level and minimizing the heat due to contact resistances of the multiple terminals in contact with the IC socket of the semiconductor device. Each pair of nearest neighbors of the multiple terminals is interposed by at least one further array terminal. The multiple terminals are all located at the outermost peripheral terminal positions of the grid array structure. Thus, the heat generated in the respective multiple terminals connected to the switch circuit is reduced, thereby minimizing the possibility of hazardous melting of the terminals. |
| US08872575B2 |
Semiconductor device
The present invention discloses a semiconductor device and relates to the semiconductor field. The semiconductor device comprises: a PMOS transistor for processing a input signal, the PMOS transistor comprising a gate and a source, the source being connected to a first voltage source; and a restoring circuit connected to the PMOS transistor for preventing degradation of the PMOS transistor, wherein the restoring circuit makes the gate voltage of the PMOS transistor to be higher than the voltage of the first voltage source, when the input signal is at a high level. According to the semiconductor device of the present invention, a positive bias voltage is applied on the gate of the PMOS transistor through the restoring circuit when the PMOS transistor is turned off, which can accelerate electric parameter recovery for PMOS transistors and therefore improve the performance of PMOS transistors. |
| US08872573B2 |
Gain control with multiple integrators
A method according to one embodiment includes receiving an increment signal at a first integrator when a second integrator overflows; receiving a decrement signal at the first integrator when the second integrator underflows; and incrementing or decrementing a gain applied to an analog signal based on receipt of the increment or decrement signal. A system according to one embodiment includes a first integrator configured to cause incrementing of a gain applied to an analog signal based on receipt of an increment signal when a second integrator overflows, the first integrator being configured to cause decrementing of the gain applied to the analog signal based on receipt of a decrement signal when the second integrator underflows; and the second integrator. |
| US08872572B2 |
Semiconductor device and electronic appliance
The amplitude voltage of a signal input to a level shifter can be increased and then output by the level shifter circuit. Specifically, the amplitude voltage of the signal input to the level shifter can be increased to be output. This decreases the amplitude voltage of a circuit (a shift register circuit, a decoder circuit, or the like) which outputs the signal input to the level shifter. Consequently, power consumption of the circuit can be reduced. Alternatively, a voltage applied to a transistor included in the circuit can be reduced. This can suppress degradation of the transistor or damage to the transistor. |
| US08872571B2 |
Level shifter and operational amplifier
A level shifter includes a signal receiving module, including at least one signal receiving end for receiving at least one input signal and being conducted or non-conducted according to the input signal; a level adjusting module, configured to generate the adjusted output signal according to the input signal, wherein the level adjusting module includes a first connection end and a second connection end, the second connection end is coupled to the signal receiving module; and a switch module, including a first end coupling to the first connection end and a second end coupling to the second connection end. If the switch module is conducted, an current path is formed between the first connection end, the second connection end and the signal receiving module through the switch module. If the switch module is not conducted, current is blocked from flowing from the first connection end to the second connection end. |
| US08872570B2 |
Multiple power domain circuit and related method
A multiple power domain circuit includes a trigger circuit, a high threshold voltage circuit electrically connected to an output terminal of the trigger circuit, and a low threshold voltage circuit electrically connected to the output terminal of the trigger circuit and an output terminal of the high threshold voltage circuit. The low threshold voltage circuit comprises a pulse generator electrically connected to the output terminal of the trigger circuit, and an inverter electrically connected to an output terminal of the pulse generator, and the output terminal of the high threshold voltage circuit. |
| US08872568B2 |
Method for setting offset gain of analog output module
A method for setting an offset gain of analog output module configured to convert a digital signal outputted from an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) to an analog signal and to output the converted analog signal is proposed, the method including outputting, by the MPU, a digital signal value to the analog output module, calculating an offset gain by measuring, by the analog output module, an analog signal value outputted by receipt and conversion of the digital signal value, and entering the measured analog signal value to an offset gain inverse function preset by the MPU, and setting the offset gain of the analog output module as the calculated offset gain. |
| US08872567B2 |
High speed pulse shaping technology
A circuit adapted to generate a high speed shaped pulse comprising an input adapted to receive a data signal and a control signal. A plurality of logic elements are configures to receive the data signal and the control signal and generate a plurality of output signals representative of the shaped pulse. A digital to analog converter is adapted to receive the plurality of output signals and generate a shaped pulse. |
| US08872566B2 |
Integrated circuit having latch circuits and using delay circuits to fetch data bits in synchronization with clock signals
A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a delay circuit connected between a source of data bits and a data input terminal of a latch circuit. The delay circuit includes a first delay section formed by connecting logic devices in series corresponding to a number of logic devices included in a clock signal path between a clock signal source and the latch circuit data input. The delay circuit also includes a second delay section having a delay time equal to an interconnect delay time corresponding to a wiring length of the clock signal path. |
| US08872564B2 |
Semiconductor device
The disclosed invention provides a semiconductor device capable of suitably controlling the level of an enable signal to resolve NBTI in a PMOS transistor. An input node receives an input signal alternating between high and low levels during normal operation and fixed to a high level during standby. A detection unit receives a signal through the input node and outputs an enable signal. The detection unit sets the enable signal to a low level upon detecting that the input node remains at a high level for a predetermined period. A signal transmission unit includes a P-channel MOS transistor and transmits a signal input to the input node according to control by the enable signal. |
| US08872561B2 |
Systems and methods for edge control based on detecting current direction in a switched output stage
In accordance with these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus and a method may include receiving a first input configured to indicate an output voltage of an output node of a switched output stage comprising a pull-down driver device coupled at its non-gate terminals between a ground voltage and the output node and a pull-up driver device coupled at its non-gate terminals between a supply voltage and the output node. The method may also include receiving a second input configured to indicate a gate voltage of a gate terminal of a first one of the pull-up driver device and the pull-down driver device. The method may further include detecting direction of an output current flowing into or out of the output node based on the first input and the second input. |
| US08872560B2 |
Semiconductor device having data output circuit in which slew rate thereof is adjustable
Disclosed herein is a device that includes: a first circuit configured to operate on a first power voltage to produce a first set of slew rate control signals; a second circuit configured to operate on a second power voltage to produce a second set of slew rate control signals in response to the first set of slew rate control signals; and a third circuit configured to operate on the second power voltage to produce a signal at a rate that is controllable in response to the second set of slew rate control signals. |
| US08872559B2 |
Numerically controlled oscillator and digital phase-locked loop
A digital phase-locked loop is provided. The digital phase-locked loop includes: a phase-locked loop, for generating an output frequency according to a reference frequency; and a numerically-controlled oscillator, coupled to the phase-locked loop, for generating the reference frequency, in which the numerically-controlled oscillator includes: a phase accumulator (PA), for outputting a sawtooth signal according to a clock signal and a frequency control word; and a most significant bit (MSB) detector, coupled to the phase accumulator, for detecting a most significant bit of the sawtooth signal outputted from the phase accumulator, thereby generating the reference frequency with a square waveform. |
| US08872553B1 |
Frequency multiplier
A frequency multiplier includes: a multiphase signal generator configured to generate multiphase signals in response to a source signal; a pulse generator configured to generate a plurality of pulse signals in response to the multiphase signals; and a synthesizer configured to generate a frequency multiplication signal in response to edges of the pulse signals. Each of the plurality of pulse signals is generated in response to a corresponding multiphase signal, and the frequency multiplication signal is obtained by multiplying a frequency of the source signal. |
| US08872551B2 |
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit includes a clock control unit configured to selectively output an external clock or a delayed clock acquired by delaying the external clock as an input clock in response to a divided clock generated by dividing the external clock, when a test mode is entered; and an internal circuit operating in response to the input clock. |
| US08872547B2 |
Nanomagnetic logic gate and an electronic device
A nanomagnetic logic gate arranged on a substrate according to an embodiment includes at least one nanomagnetic first structure, at least one nanomagnetic second structure and at least two layers including a first layer and a second layer, wherein at least one first structure is arranged in the first layer on or parallel to a main surface of the substrate, wherein at least one second structure is arranged in the second layer parallel to the first layer, and wherein at least one second structure includes an artificial nucleation center arranged such that a magnetic field component essentially perpendicular to the main surface provided by at least one first structure couples to the artificial nucleation center such that a magnetization of the second structure is changeable in response to the magnetic field component coupled into the artificial nucleation center, when a predetermined condition is fulfilled. |
| US08872545B2 |
Exclusive OR circuit
An exclusive OR circuit includes, inter alia: a low pass unit configured to apply a second data to an output node when a first data is at a low level and to apply the first data to the output node when the second data is at a low level, and a discharge unit configured to discharge a voltage level of the output node when the first and second data are at a high level. |
| US08872540B2 |
Method of sharing in use an impedance matching circuit of a memory circuit to perform an initial calibration and a full time refresh mode calibration, and memory circuit with an impedance matching circuit capable of being used in an initial calibration and a full time refresh mode calibration
A method of sharing in use an impedance matching circuit of a memory circuit to perform an initial calibration and a full time refresh mode calibration includes supplying power to the memory circuit, utilizing the impedance matching circuit to perform the initial calibration on the memory circuit, the memory circuit exiting the initial calibration, the memory circuit entering a driving mode, the memory circuit exiting the driving mode every a predetermined interval, utilizing the impedance matching circuit to perform the full time refresh mode calibration on the memory circuit according to a refresh command, an output voltage detection circuit determining a level of an output voltage of the memory circuit, and performing a corresponding operation according to a determination result generated by the output voltage detection circuit. |
| US08872539B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit including a power controllable region
A semiconductor integrated circuit capable of testing power control operation in the semiconductor integrated circuit includes a power controllable region. Power control switches have switch series each constituted by a plurality of switch cells. A power controllable region includes output nodes in the switch series. The output nodes output power control signals that have passed through final stages of the respective switch series of the power control switches to outside the power controllable region. A chip on which the semiconductor integrated circuit is mounted has output terminals that output outputs of the output nodes to outside of the chip. When inserting a scan path test, observation flip-flops that load the outputs of the output nodes to data terminals, and load scan data to scan-in terminals are disposed in correspondence with the respective output nodes. Those observation flip-flops are connected to constitute a scan path chain. |
| US08872538B2 |
Systems and methods for test time outlier detection and correction in integrated circuit testing
Methods and systems for semiconductor testing are disclosed. In one embodiment, devices which are testing too slowly are prevented from completing testing, thereby allowing untested devices to begin testing sooner. |
| US08872537B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit, circuit testing system, circuit testing unit, and circuit test method
This invention has an object of providing a semiconductor integrated circuit enabling further reduction of the number of test terminals without depending on a compression/expansion technique alone. The semiconductor integrated circuit of the invention is connected to a terminal group used to exchange test information of a circuit to be tested, and comprises a utilization device which utilizes, when reading a test result, a terminal subgroup of the terminal group, which is not used to transmit information required to read the test result, to receive the test result from the circuit to be tested. |
| US08872530B2 |
Method for correcting the voltage measured across the terminals of a sensor
A method for correcting measurement of a voltage across output terminals of a sensor, the sensor configured to be assimilated with an assembly including a generator and a series resistance, each of the output terminals being respectively connected to a pull up/down resistor. The method includes: evaluating the series resistance of the sensor, including measuring first and second voltages across the output terminals when first and second bias voltages are applied on each pull up/down resistor; evaluating the series resistance from the first and second voltages; and correcting, from the series resistance, a voltage measured across the output terminals of the sensor to infer therefrom a corresponding voltage generated by the generator. |
| US08872523B2 |
Automatic test equipment for testing an oscillating crystal and method for operating the same
Embodiments of the invention relate to automatic test equipment for testing a circuit having an oscillating crystal and to a method for operating such automatic test equipment. A generator generates a first signal comprising an oscillating part having at least one predetermined frequency. A first terminal couples the first signal to the oscillating crystal. At least one predetermined frequency is located inside a predetermined window around one of the resonance frequencies of the oscillating crystal. An analyzer has a second terminal coupled to the oscillating crystal for detecting a second signal and a rectifier connected in series with a low-pass filter for rectifying and filtering the second signal. A detector for detects a DC-signal at the output of the low-pass filter and for signals a valid test result for the oscillating crystal if the DC-signal exceeds a certain threshold value. |
| US08872518B2 |
Determining the state of-charge of batteries via selective sampling of extrapolated open circuit voltage
A method for estimating the state-of-charge of a battery. The method includes collecting a plurality of voltage measurements during operation of the system containing the battery and determining a time-constant of relaxation and an open-circuit voltage corresponding to the battery based, at least in part, on the voltage measurements. The method further includes estimating the state-of-charge of the battery based, at least in part, on the open-circuit voltage. |
| US08872514B2 |
Magnetic sensor, magnetic detector, and magnetic head
A magnetic sensor comprises a first ferromagnetic body, a second ferromagnetic body, a channel extending from the first ferromagnetic body to the second ferromagnetic body, a magnetic shield covering the channel, and an insulating film disposed between the channel and the magnetic shield, while the magnetic shield has a through-hole extending toward the channel. |
| US08872513B2 |
Medium discrimination apparatus and discrimination method thereof
Disclosed are a medium discrimination apparatus and a discrimination method thereof. The medium discrimination apparatus comprises first and second magnetic sensor, a differential analog/digital converter and a controller. The first magnetic sensor senses a magnetic component printed at a specific position of an introduced medium and having a form of an analog signal containing a first noise generated from an internal circuit and a second noise generated from an operation of an actuator. The second magnetic sensor senses the first and second noises which are caused when the medium is transferred and has a form of an analog signal. The differential analog/digital converter performs a subtraction operation for the first and second noises sensed by the first and second magnetic sensors and convert result signals into one digital signal. The controller determines if the introduced medium is genuine or counterfeit according to the digital signal. |
| US08872512B2 |
Bench and a method for magnetoscopically testing a turbine engine shaft
A bench for magnetoscopically testing a tubular part, the bench including a tool of elongate shape for inserting inside the part and carrying an endoscopic mechanism for ultraviolet illumination of the inside surface of the part and for observing any defects of the part, and an indexing mechanism co-operating by mutual engagement with external references of the tool that are regularly distributed over at least a fraction of its length to control accurately the advance and the position of the tool inside the part. |
| US08872507B2 |
Electronic device suitable for bioimplantation
The present application discloses an integrated circuit comprising a circuit portion (100) coupled between first and second power supply lines (110; 120); a first switch (115, 135) coupled between the first power supply line (110, 120) and the circuit portion (100) for disconnecting the circuit portion from the first power supply line during an inactive mode of the circuit portion; and an arrangement (315, 335, 410) for, during said inactive mode, providing the circuit portion (100) with a fraction of its active mode power supply at least when averaged over said inactive mode to prevent the circuit portion voltage to drop below a threshold value. The present application further discloses a method for controlling such an integrated circuit. |
| US08872506B2 |
Mounting systems for use with meters and method of assembling same
An electricity meter is provided. The electricity meter includes a body and a cover including at least one mount for coupling the cover to the body. The at least one mount includes a receiving portion on an exterior surface of the cover and having an aperture extending therethrough, the receiving portion including a top, a bottom, and at least one cutout extending from the top towards the bottom. |
| US08872505B2 |
Accessory presence detection
Disclosed is an electronic circuit with a first terminal for connecting an accessory thereto, and with a functionality for detecting the presence of an accessory connected to the first terminal. |
| US08872501B2 |
Voltage converters with reduced output frequency variations and associated methods
A switch-mode voltage converter has a switching transistor coupled between an input voltage (Vin) and the ground and a controller coupled directly between the input voltage (Vin) and the ground. The controller periodically turns on the switching transistor for a generally constant period of time. The controller is further coupled to a DC bias voltage (Vbias) and generates a control current based on the input voltage (Vin) and the DC bias voltage (Vbias) for generating a switching signal to the switching transistor. |
| US08872496B2 |
DC-DC converter and method of controlling DC-DC converter
A DC-DC converter includes a drive circuit configured to drive a first switching element, and a second switching element coupled between a low potential power terminal of the drive circuit and a first node corresponding to the input voltage or the output voltage. A current detecting section detects a load current flowing in the output terminal. A control circuit turns on a third switching element, which is coupled between the low potential power terminal of the drive circuit and a second node having a potential lower than both the input voltage and the output voltage, in a case where a difference between the input voltage and the output voltage is lower than a threshold. The control circuit controls the second and third switching elements based on a detection result of the current detecting section in a case where the difference is equal to or greater than the threshold. |
| US08872495B2 |
DC-DC converter circuit
A DC-DC converter circuit includes a DC-DC converter IC that inputs, via an input terminal connected to a power supply input line, a direct-current voltage converted from an alternating-current voltage and supplied by the power supply input line. The DC-DC converter IC outputs a direct-current voltage having a value converted by operation of the DC-DC converter IC. The DC-DC converter IC is able to operate when a voltage of a specified threshold value or greater is input from an enable terminal. The DC-DC converter circuit also includes an enable control circuit that makes the voltage input to the enable terminal equal to the threshold voltage or greater when the direct-current voltage supplied from the power supply input line reaches a specified value. |
| US08872492B2 |
On-chip low voltage capacitor-less low dropout regulator with Q-control
Systems and method for a capacitor-less Low Dropout (LDO) voltage regulator. An error amplifier is configured to amplify a differential between a reference voltage and a regulated LDO voltage. Without including an external capacitor in the LDO voltage regulator, a Miller amplifier is coupled to an output of the error amplifier, wherein the Miller amplifier is configured to amplify a Miller capacitance formed at an input node of the Miller amplifier. A capacitor coupled to the output of the error amplifier creates a positive feedback loop for decreasing a quality factor (Q), such that system stability is improved. |
| US08872486B2 |
Field instrument having a current control element
A current control element (variable resistance element) is provided on a supply path of the current from a voltage regulator to another voltage regulator. An alarm driving circuit is provided on a branch flow path of the current from the voltage regulator to the voltage regulator. When the alarm driving circuit needs to be operated, a current control element controlling unit controls the resistance value of the current control element to branch the current flowing through the supply path to the branch flow path. In this case, the current branched to the branch flow path is set to the amount required to operate the alarm driving circuit. Since the sum of the currents is supplied to the voltage regulator and is the same as the current flowing before the alarm driving circuit is activated, there is no shortage of supplied power to a CPU. |
| US08872485B1 |
Circuit and device for increasing power supply hold-up time
In an embodiment, set forth by way of example and not limitation, a circuit for increasing power supply hold-up time includes an inductor, two capacitors and a controller. A first capacitor has a first node coupled to a first node of the inductor and has a second node coupled to ground. A second capacitor has a first node coupled to a second node of the inductor and has a second node coupled to ground. The controller is preferably operative to direct current through the inductor such that the inductor can serve as a Boost inductor for the second capacitor and a Buck inductor for the first capacitor. |
| US08872482B2 |
Battery pack and active cell balancing battery management system including the same
The present invention discloses a battery pack which can be used for an electric vehicle, an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS), and a power supply for a smart grid and which can be easily manufactured and repaired and which is capable of improving productivity, the span of life, and performance, and a battery management system including the battery pack. The battery pack of the present invention comprises a casing in which a reception space is provided and battery modules coupled to the casing at regular intervals by fastening members so that the battery modules can be easily dismantled from the casing. Each of the battery modules includes a tray, a battery cell provided in the tray, a cell charger provided in the tray and configured to charge the battery cell, a cell controller provided in the tray and configured to control the cell charger, a heating mat coupled to the battery cell, and a temperature sensor provided in the tray and configured to sense a temperature of the battery cell. |
| US08872476B2 |
Charging management system and charger with the same
The present invention discloses a charging management system and a charger with such charging management system. The charging management system includes a first signal-output port, a second signal-output port, a third signal-output port and a controller electrically connected with the first, second and third signal-output ports. The first and second signal-output ports are adapted for outputting first and second control signals representing first and second charging currents, respectively, to a charging circuit. The third signal-output port is adapted for outputting a third control signal representing a variable third charging current to the charging circuit. The controller controls the charging management system to operate under at least one of two modes. In the first mode, the controller alternately controls the first and second signal-output ports to output the first and second control signals. In the second mode, the controller only controls the third signal-output port to output the third control signal. |
| US08872474B2 |
Fail safe serviceable high voltage battery pack
A fail safe battery pack is disclosed and claimed wherein first and second housings are affixed together. A plurality of battery cells reside within and fixedly engage the first and the second housings. First and second printed circuit boards (PCBs) reside within first and second lattice structures of the first and second housings. A variable bias device resides in the first and/or second lattice structure of the first and second housing and engages the first and/or second PCBs. When the bias of the variable bias device is sufficiently large it overcomes a plurality of fixed mechanically biased devices operating between the PCB and the plurality of battery cells and tending to separate same and causes the PCB to electrically communicate with the plurality of battery cells. When the bias of the variable bias device is sufficiently small, the plurality of fixed mechanically biased devices separates the PCB and the plurality of battery cells rendering the battery cells in an electrically safe condition. |
| US08872468B2 |
Method and device for operating an asynchronous motor with increased efficiency
Method and device for operating an asynchronous motor having increased efficiency. According to the invention, ranges for a motor size of the asynchronous motor are specified. In addition, a value of the motor size is calculated depending on at least one measurement value of a measurement parameter during the operation of the asynchronous motor, wherein the respective calculated value of the motor size is allocated to one of the ranges. Furthermore, a control parameter is changed depending on the range to which the calculated motor parameter is allocated to provide an optimised control parameter such that the control parameter is changed beginning from a starting value specified for the respective range of the motor size until a predetermined criterion for a specific motor size is reached. Furthermore, the optimised control parameter is stored as a support point of a continuous optimal characteristic curve for the control parameter depending on the range to which the calculated motor size is allocated. |
| US08872461B2 |
Improper wiring detecting system of parallel inverter system
An improper wiring detecting system of a parallel inverter system can include two polyphase inverters connected in parallel, and voltage detectors to detect an output voltage of each of the phases of each of the inverters. Control units can control turning-on and -off of semiconductor switching devices of the inverters, and a wiring condition deciding means can operate at least one control unit to turn-on specified switching devices in at least one inverter to form a closed circuit between arbitrary two phases of the at least one inverter. The system can carry out comparisons among values of output voltages of the two inverters corresponding to respective phases and detected by the voltage detectors, and make a decision as to whether wiring is correct or not on the basis of the results of the comparisons. |
| US08872456B2 |
Motor control device
A power supplied by an AC power supply is used as an input to a rectifying circuit, and an output of the rectifying circuit is used as an input to a smoothing capacitor having a capacitance of about 1/100 of the capacitance of conventionally used capacitance. The capacitor is provided between a positive electrode node and a negative electrode node located between bus lines of output of rectifying circuit. Diodes constituting a rectifying circuit are connected respectively with phase outputs of an inverter. The rectifying circuit is connected to the negative electrode node through a capacitor. The rectifying circuit is connected such that an electric current flows only in the direction from an output of the inverter to the capacitor. The load is connected in parallel with capacitor. |
| US08872455B2 |
Method and controller for an electric motor with fault detection
For each phase of a controller, semiconductor switches comprise a high side switch and a low side switch. A direct current voltage bus provides electrical energy to the semiconductor switches. A measuring circuit is adapted to measure the collector-emitter voltage or drain-source voltage for each semiconductor switch of the controller. A data processor determines that a short circuit in a particular semiconductor switch is present if the measured collector-emitter voltage or measured source-drain voltage for the particular semiconductor switch is lower than a minimum threshold and if an observed current associated with the particular semiconductor switch has an opposite polarity from a normal operational polarity. A driver simultaneously activates counterpart switches of like direct current input polarity that are coupled to other phase windings of the electric motor, other than the particular semiconductor switch, to protect the electric motor from potential damage associated with asymmetric current flow. |
| US08872452B2 |
Method for operating motor of motor-driven power steering
A method for operating a motor of a motor-driven power steering (MDPS) includes: generating, by an inverter operating unit, a two-phase operation command by projecting a Q-axis command onto a two-phase operation axis, when an error occurs in any one of three phases; converting, by the inverter operating unit, coordinates of the two-phase operation command into an actual operation axis; calculating, by the inverter operating unit, a two-phase operation voltage by performing proportional integral (PI) control on the two-phase operation command converted into the actual operation axis; and operating, by the inverter diving unit, a motor by applying the two-phase operation voltage to an inverter unit. |
| US08872451B2 |
Motor device and power tool
A motor device includes an electric motor operated when supplied with power from a rechargeable battery, a voltage detection unit that detects voltage of the rechargeable battery, a determination unit that performs an abnormality determination based on a comparison of the voltage of the rechargeable battery, which is detected by the voltage detection unit, and a determination value, a control unit that controls the operation of the electric motor in accordance with the determination result of the determination unit, and a temperature detection unit that detects the usage environment temperature. The determination unit changes the determination value in accordance with the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit and performs the abnormality determination based on the changed determination value. |
| US08872450B2 |
Electric operating machine
The power circuit comprises a voltage conversion part converting an input voltage entered in accordance with a voltage of a power source to generate an output voltage and outputting the generated output voltage to the motor and a current detection part outputting a first signal in accordance with a current flowing through a given part of the power circuit. The voltage conversion part lowers the voltage value of new output voltage being generated when the current detection part outputs the first signal. |
| US08872432B2 |
Solution for dynamic lighting control
A lighting system and method for controlling illumination of the same upon detection of a user in at least one of a first detection area and a second detection area. The lighting system can include a lighting fixture having one or more lighting sources and at least two sensors associated with separate detection areas. Each sensor can send a signal to a controller associated with the lighting fixture, and the controller can be configured to vary the illumination of one or more of the lighting sources depending on the each sensor's detection area. The present subject matter facilitates energy savings since areas away from an occupied area are not illuminated. Communication between neighboring lighting fixtures is not required since each lighting fixture can detect the presence of a user in an area proximate an adjacent lighting fixture in order to trigger illumination of the lighting fixture. |
| US08872430B2 |
LED drive circuit
An LED drive circuit is disclosed, which comprises a square wave generator configured to generate a square-wave signal for driving an LED unit, an LLC resonance circuit configured to transform the square-wave signal outputted by the square wave generator into a sinuous wave of a reduced voltage level, and the LED unit comprising at least one LED sub-unit. The LED sub-unit comprises at least a first LED lamp set and a second LED lamp set connected in parallel, and LEDs of the first LED lamp set are disposed in a direction opposite to those of the second LED lamp set. The square wave generator, the LLC resonance circuit and the LED unit are connected in sequence. The LED drive circuit of the present disclosure can drive an LED and has a reduced cost. |
| US08872426B2 |
Arrangements and methods for triac dimming of gas discharge lamps powered by electronic ballasts
An apparatus for powering and TRIAC dimming of a gas discharge lamp includes an electronic ballast for powering a gas discharge lamp from a TRIAC based dimmer connected to an AC line, an EMI filter for protecting the AC line from EMI generated by the ballast and the lamp, a DC bus without a smoothing electrolytic capacitor, a resonant DC-to-AC inverter connected to the DC bus for powering the gas discharge lamp with a high frequency current, wherein an auxiliary DC-to-DC power supply input is connected to the DC bus and a first resonant tank having in series a first resonant inductor and a first resonant capacitor, wherein the gas discharge lamp is connected in parallel to the resonant capacitor. |
| US08872422B2 |
Dinaphthyl ethylene derivativce, process for preparing it, film prepared from it, and OLED including the film
The present invention relates to a dinaphthyl ethylene derivative of formula (I), a process for preparing it, a film prepared from it useful in the manufacture of an organic light emitting device (OLED), an OLED including the film, and the use of the dinaphthyl ethylene derivative in the manufacture of an OLED. Wherein R1 to R16 are defined as in the specification. |
| US08872418B2 |
Field emission display
A field emission display is also provided. The field emission display includes a plurality of pixel units. Each of the plurality of pixel units includes a first electrode located on the insulating substrate; a plurality of first electron emitters located on and electrically connected to the first electrode; a first phosphor layer located on the first electrode; a second electrode located on the insulating substrate and spaced from the first electrode, wherein the second electrode extends at least partly around the first electrode; a plurality of second electron emitters located on and electrically connected to the second electrode; and a second phosphor layer located on the second electrode. |
| US08872416B2 |
Display device and manufacturing method of the same
A display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a display panel displaying an image, a window positioned on the display panel and protecting the display panel, and a protection film attached under the display panel and reflecting light transmitted from the outside. The protection film may comprise a first base layer, a metal layer positioned on the first base layer, and, optionally, a second base layer formed on the metal layer. The base layers may be formed of an organic polymer, and the metal layer may be formed of a metal that imparts light reflectivity. A method for manufacturing such a display device is also presented. |
| US08872415B2 |
Substrate, display panel, and display apparatus
A substrate includes: a plurality of pixels arranged two-dimensionally on a common wiring substrate, and each including a plurality of types of light emitting elements that differ from one another in emission color; a plurality of light-scattering sections each provided for a corresponding one of the pixels, and each provided above the corresponding one of the pixels; and a light-shielding section provided in a gap between adjacent ones of the pixels, or provided in an opposing region that opposes the gap when viewed in a normal direction of the wiring substrate. |
| US08872414B2 |
Light emitting device package
A light emitting device package is disclosed. The light emitting device package includes a package body, a heat radiating member disposed in the package body, a light emitting device disposed on the heat radiating member, a bonding member disposed between the light emitting device and the heat radiating member, and a bonding member fixing layer disposed around the bonding member, wherein the bonding member fixing layer has at least one through region. |
| US08872413B2 |
Perovskite oxide film and ferroelectric film using the same, ferroelectric device, and method for manufacturing perovskite oxide film
A perovskite oxide film is formed on a substrate, in which the perovskite oxide film has an average film thickness of not less than 5 μm and includes a perovskite oxide represented by a general formula (P) given below: (K1-w-x,Aw,Bx)(Nb1-y-z,Cy,Dz)O3 (P), where: 0 |
| US08872411B2 |
Method for operating a piezoceramic sensor and circuit for carrying out the method
In the case of a method for operating a piezoceramic sensor with an evaluation electrode, an electrical signal generated by the piezoceramic sensor at the evaluation electrode is evaluated to determine an actuating state of the piezoceramic sensor. The evaluation electrode is subjected to a predetermined reference potential during recurring time intervals, in order to reference the evaluation electrode with the reference potential during these time intervals. |
| US08872409B2 |
Method for manufacturing composite piezoelectric substrate and piezoelectric device
A piezoelectric device is manufactured in which the material of a supporting substrate can be selected from various alternative materials. Ions are implanted into a piezoelectric substrate to form an ion-implanted portion. A temporary supporting substrate is formed on the ion-implanted surface of the piezoelectric substrate. The temporary supporting substrate includes a layer to be etched and a temporary substrate. The piezoelectric substrate is then heated to be divided at the ion-implanted portion to form a piezoelectric thin film. A supporting substrate is then formed on the piezoelectric thin film. The supporting substrate includes a dielectric film and a base substrate. The temporary supporting substrate is made of a material that produces a thermal stress at the interface between the temporary supporting substrate and the piezoelectric thin film less than the thermal stress at the interface between the supporting substrate and the piezoelectric thin film. |
| US08872404B2 |
Fixating a winding head in a dynamoelectric machine
A dynamoelectric machine includes a rotor body, an annular winding head which is arranged axially next to the rotor body and coaxially in relation thereto, a support ring which is arranged radially inside the winding head and coaxially in relation thereto, the winding head and the support ring are torsion-proof with the rotor body, the winding head and the support ring are clamped together in the radial direction by tension rods which are guided through radial boreholes in the winding heads and in the support ring, where radially inner ends of the tension rods engage on the support ring and radially outer ends of the tension rods engage on bearing blocks which rest on the winding head, and the radially inner ends of the tension rods and the radially outer ends of the tension rods are mounted by the bearing blocks having a spherical surface. |
| US08872402B2 |
Terminal connection for a rotating electrical machine for vehicle
In a rotating electrical machine for vehicle, at least one of a rectifier device, a voltage regulator, and a brush holder includes an external terminal connection portion provided with an insert terminal inserted into resin and an insert nut inserted into the resin and superimposed on the insert terminal. The insert terminal includes a contact portion on a surface on a side opposing the insert nut and the insert terminal and the insert nut are superimposed via the contact portion and inserted into the resin. It thus becomes possible to provide a rotating electrical machine for vehicle provided with constituent components that are free from an inconvenience caused by a variance over time. |
| US08872397B2 |
Rotary electric machine
A rotary electric machine according to an embodiment includes a substantially cylindrical rotator that is freely rotatably supported, a stator, and a bracket that supports the rotator and the stator. The stator includes stator coils in which a plurality of air-cored coils are arranged in a ring shape and are integrated by resin, each of the air-cored coils being formed by winding a round copper wire and having an outer shape subjected to pressure molding, and stator cores divided for each of teeth. |
| US08872394B2 |
Linear vibration generating apparatus
A linear vibration generating apparatus employed in a portable terminal is provided. The linear vibration generating apparatus includes a bracket, a coil inserted into the bracket, a stator inserted into the bracket and including a central yoke concentrically fixed to an interior space of the coil, a vibrator including a permanent magnet disposed to surround an outer periphery of the coil, and a resilient body fixed to the stator to support the vibrator. |
| US08872393B2 |
Voice coil motor
The present invention provides a voice coil motor comprising a carrier, upper and lower spring plates, magnets, a base and a conductor. The carrier comprises a main body and a coil surrounding said main body. The upper spring plate is provided on the top of the main body and the lower spring plate is provided on the bottom of the main body. The lower spring plate comprises a lower securing portion and a lower actuating portion; the lower actuating portion is adjacent to the bottom of the base. The magnets are arranged outside of the coil; the conductor between the lower spring plate and the base comprises an attachment plate and two conductive legs. The attachment plate is attached to the lower securing portion and the two conductive legs are integrally formed with the attachment plate such that assembly of the voice coil motor is greatly facilitated. |
| US08872392B1 |
Fuel cell control system
A method includes receiving a direct current (DC) signal at an inverter control system from a bus. The inverter control system includes an inverter and an inverter controller. The received DC signal is compared to a reference value. Based at least in part on the comparison, the inverter controller determines whether to adjust a magnitude of the DC signal received through the bus. The DC signal is converted to an alternating current (AC) signal with the inverter, and the AC signal is provided to a load. |
| US08872389B2 |
Intelligent backup power system
Presented is a backup power system for a building that selectively provides power to particular circuits according to a power distribution priority profile. Power is applied sequentially to each particular circuit depending on the measured current loads of the particular circuits to which power has already been applied. |
| US08872384B2 |
Switching circuits for extracting power from an electric power source and associated methods
An electric power system includes N electric power sources and N switching circuits, where N in an integer greater than one. Each switching circuit includes an input port electrically coupled to a respective one of the N electric power sources, an output port, and a first switching device adapted to switch between its conductive and non-conductive states to transfer power from the input port to the output port. The output ports of the N switching circuits are electrically coupled in series and to a load to establish an output circuit. Each of the N switching circuits uses an interconnection inductance of the output circuit as a primary energy storage inductance of the switching circuit. |
| US08872383B2 |
Contactless power receiving apparatus, power receiving method for contactless power receiving apparatus and contactless power supplying system
Disclosed herein is a contactless power receiving apparatus, including a resonance element adapted to receive supply of AC power in a contactless fashion by resonance from a resonance element of a power supplying source; an excitation element adapted to receive supply of the AC power by electromagnetic induction from the resonance element; a rectification circuit adapted to generate DC power from the AC power from the excitation element and output the DC power; and a changeover circuit adapted to change over the AC power between a supplied state and a non-supplied state to the rectification circuit. |
| US08872382B2 |
Compensation of harmonics of electrical network
A system and a method for compensating harmonic components or a reactive power of an electrical network. The system comprises a measurement unit (1) configured to measure an electrical quantity to be compensated, a control unit (2) configured to determine harmonics contents or a reactive power need of the measured electrical quantity to be compensated as well as to determine, as relative values, desired values corresponding with the harmonics to be compensated or the reactive power to be compensated, one or more compensation units (5, 6) configured, responsive to the desired values provided by the control unit (2), to generate harmonic components or a reactive current according to the desired values given as relative values, and a communications connection (3) configured to communicate the desired values determined by the control unit (2) to the compensation units (5, 6). |
| US08872377B2 |
Autotransformer traction power supply system equipped with 2×27.5kV outdoor modularized electric apparatus in electrified railway
An autotransformer (AT) traction power supply system equipped with 2×27.5 kV outdoor modularized electric apparatus comprises a traction substation located beside an electrified railway, which connects with an up and a down line traction network at output terminal, a parallel apparatus located in the middle and the end of a feeder in the up and down line traction network, which functions as parallel power supply operation, and an over-zone apparatus located around a neutral section insulator between feeders of the up and down line traction network of two adjacent traction substations, which functions as over-zone power supply operation. The parallel apparatus connected with an AT equipment is a modularized electric apparatus which comprises four parallel power supply units. The AT equipment comprises four integrated AT substations which include the first AT, the second AT and an AT modularized electric apparatus. |
| US08872373B2 |
Switching device, starting device, and method for an electromagnetic switching device
A switching device has an electromagnetic switching element and a controller, the switching element including two coils on one core which act on a shared armature. In order to implement an operation of the armature to be activatable as rapidly and simply as possible with low power consumption, the controller is designed to have a switch in the current path of the coil in each case to activate each coil. |
| US08872372B2 |
Method and systems for operating a wind turbine when recovering from a grid contingency event
A method for controlling operation of a wind turbine included within a power generation and delivery system is described. The method includes receiving, by a controller, a power command signal, wherein the power command signal indicates recovery from the grid contingency event; and increasing, in a non-uniform manner, power injected into a grid by a power conversion assembly in response to the power command signal wherein the controller controls the power conversion assembly. |
| US08872371B2 |
Enhanced method of controlling the output of a hydroelectric turbine generator
There is described a method for controlling the output of a tidal hydroelectric turbine generator from a remote location, with the need for control circuitry to be housed local to the generator. The rotational speed of the turbine, and consequently the output power level of the generator, is controlled by varying the transmission line voltage of the submarine power cable connecting the off-shore turbine with an on-shore substation. |
| US08872369B2 |
Starter machine system and method
Embodiments of the invention provide a starter machine control system including an electronic control unit. The control system can include a starter machine that is in communication with the electronic control unit. The starter machine can comprise a solenoid assembly that includes a plurality of biasing members and a first and a second coil winding. The starter machine can also include a motor that is coupled to a pinion. The starter machine can comprise an electromagnetic switch that is coupled to the first coil winding and is configured to regulate a priming current passing through the first coil winding. In some embodiments, the motor can be electrically coupled to the first winding and the control unit can be capable of closing the electromagnetic switch to circulate the priming current from a power source to the motor through the first coil winding. |
| US08872364B2 |
Power generator
A power generator includes a heavy gyro body, a driving device, a transmission disk and an electricity generation module. The driving device is used to drive the heavy gyro body to rotate about a vertical spindle. The transmission disk is secured to and rotatable simultaneously with the heavy gyro body. The transmission disk has a plurality of rollers at a sidewall thereof. The electricity generation module has a rotation disk, which has a plurality of inclined grooves at a sidewall thereof. Each inclined groove is meshed with a corresponding roller of the transmission disk such that the transmission disk is able to drive the rotation disk to rotate, wherein an included angle between an inner sidewall of each inclined groove and a horizontal plane is more than 0 degree and less than 45 degrees. |
| US08872362B2 |
Sole for a footwear
A sole for footwear including a body having a length, a body portion of the body that is capable of expansion and contraction, and a drive generator located in the body for generating drive to drive a driven device in the body. The drive generator has an elongate drive member arranged to slide relative to the body portion in a direction along the length of the body, upon expansion and contraction of the body portion, for driving the driven device as the sole bends and unbends during use. |
| US08872361B2 |
Standby generators including compressed fiberglass components
A standby generator includes a base and a number of walls extending from the base including a wall having a removable panel. A cover is coupled to the wall having the removable panel and is moveable between a closed position and an open position. When the cover in the open position, the removable panel may be removed from the standby generator. |
| US08872359B2 |
MEMS devices
A method of manufacturing a MEMS device comprises forming a MEMS device element (12). A sidewall (20) is formed around the MEMS device element, and a sacrificial layer (14) is formed over the device element and within the sidewall. A package cover layer (16) is provided over the sacrificial layer, and the sacrificial layer is removed. This method provides additional sidewalls to the cap provided over the MEMS device. These additional sidewalls can then be deposited by a different process and be formed of a different material to the top part of the package cover layer. The sidewalls can prevent reflow of the sacrificial layer and improve the sealing properties of the sidewalls. |
| US08872357B2 |
Anisotropic conductive film composition and semiconductor device bonded by the same
An anisotropic conductive film composition for bonding a semiconductor device, the composition including: a binder system including a urethane resin having a glass transition temperature of about 100° C. or higher, a radical polymerizable compound, an organic peroxide, and conductive particles. |
| US08872351B2 |
Semiconductor devices having through electrodes
Provided are semiconductor devices with a through electrode and methods of fabricating the same. The methods may include forming a via hole at least partially penetrating a substrate, the via hole having an entrance provided on a top surface of the substrate, forming a via-insulating layer to cover conformally an inner surface of the via hole, forming a buffer layer on the via-insulating layer to cover conformally the via hole provided with the via-insulating layer, the buffer layer being formed of a material whose shrinkability is superior to the via-insulating layer, forming a through electrode to fill the via hole provided with the buffer layer, and recessing a bottom surface of the substrate to expose the through electrode. |
| US08872350B2 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
A semiconductor device containing: a semiconductor element; a support substrate; an insulating material layer for sealing the semiconductor element and a periphery thereof; a metal thin film wiring layer provided in the insulating material layer, with a part thereof being exposed on an external surface; and metal vias provided in the insulating material layer and electrically connected to the metal thin film wiring layer. The semiconductor element is provided in a plurality of units and the respective semiconductor elements are stacked via an insulating material such that a circuit surface of each semiconductor element faces the metal thin film wiring layer, and electrode pads of each semiconductor element are exposed without being hidden by the semiconductor element stacked thereabove. |
| US08872347B2 |
Semiconductor device having groove-shaped via-hole
The semiconductor device has insulating films 40, 42 formed over a substrate 10; an interconnection 58 buried in at least a surface side of the insulating films 40, 42; insulating films 60, 62 formed on the insulating film 42 and including a hole-shaped via-hole 60 and a groove-shaped via-hole 66a having a pattern bent at a right angle; and buried conductors 70, 72a buried in the hole-shaped via-hole 60 and the groove-shaped via-hole 66a. A groove-shaped via-hole 66a is formed to have a width which is smaller than a width of the hole-shaped via-hole 66. Defective filling of the buried conductor and the cracking of the inter-layer insulating film can be prevented. Steps on the conductor plug can be reduced. Accordingly, defective contact with the upper interconnection layer and the problems taking place in forming films can be prevented. |
| US08872346B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes: a substrate; a lower wiring on the substrate; an inter-layer insulating film covering the lower wiring; first and second upper wirings on the inter-layer insulating film and separated from each other; and a semi-insulating protective film covering the first and second upper wirings, wherein the protective film is not provided in a region right above the lower wiring and between the first upper wiring and the second upper wiring. |
| US08872333B2 |
System and method for integrated waveguide packaging
A millimeter wave integrated waveguide interface package device may comprise: (1) a package comprising a printed wiring board (PWB) and a monolithic microwave integrate circuit (MMIC), wherein the MMIC is in communication with the PWB; and (2) a waveguide interface integrated with the package. The package may be adapted to operate at high frequency and high power, where high frequency includes frequencies greater than about 5 GHz, and high power includes power greater than about 0.5 W. |
| US08872332B2 |
Power module with directly attached thermally conductive structures
A power module includes a substrate having an electrically insulative member with opposing first and second metallized sides and one or more semiconductor die attached to the first metallized side of the substrate. A plurality of thermally conductive structures are laterally spaced apart from one another and individually attached directly to the second metallized side of the substrate so that the plurality of thermally conductive structures extend outward from the second metallized side. |
| US08872330B2 |
Thin-film semiconductor component and component assembly
A thin-film semiconductor component having a carrier layer and a layer stack which is arranged on the carrier layer, the layer stack containing a semiconductor material and being provided for emitting radiation, wherein a heat dissipating layer provided for cooling the semiconductor component is applied on the carrier layer. A component assembly is also disclosed. |
| US08872324B2 |
Distributed semiconductor device methods, apparatus, and systems
Some embodiments include a device having a number of memory cells and associated circuitry for accessing the memory cells. The memory cells of the device may be formed in one or more memory cell dice. The associated circuitry of the device may also be formed in one or more dice, optionally separated from the memory cell dice. |
| US08872314B2 |
Method for producing a component and device comprising a component
A method for producing a component and device including a component is disclosed. A basic substrate having paper as substrate material is provided, at least one integrated circuit is applied to the basic substrate, the at least one integrated circuit applied on the basic substrate is enveloped with an encapsulant, and at least parts of the basic substrate are removed from the at least one enveloped integrated circuit. |
| US08872305B2 |
Integrated circuit structure having air-gap trench isolation and related design structure
A method of forming an integrated circuit structure includes: forming a vent via extending through a shallow trench isolation (STI) and into a substrate; selectively removing an exposed portion of the substrate at a bottom of the vent via to form an opening within the substrate, wherein the opening within the substrate abuts at least one of a bottom surface or a sidewall of the STI; and sealing the vent via to form an air gap in the opening within the substrate. |
| US08872303B2 |
Chip pad resistant to antenna effect and method
A chip pad structure of an integrated circuit (IC) and the method of forming are disclosed. The chip pad comprises a main pad portion and a ring pad portion. During a charging process involved in forming the chip pad structure, electrical connections from the gate electrodes of MOS transistors in the IC substrate generally are made only to the ring pad portion that has an antenna-to-gate area ratio substantially below a predetermined antenna design rule ratio, and thus is resistant or immune to antenna effect. The main pad portion and the ring pad portion are coupled together through metal bridges formed in an upper interconnect metal layer or in the top conductive pad layer. The chip pad may be used as probe pads on a parametric testline or bonding pads on an IC. |
| US08872301B2 |
Dual profile shallow trench isolation apparatus and system
The presented principles describe an apparatus and method of making the same, the apparatus being a semiconductor circuit device, having shallow trench isolation features bounding an active area and a periphery area on a semiconductor substrate to electrically isolate structures in the active area from structures in the periphery area. The shallow trench isolation feature bounding the active area is shallower than the shallow trench isolation feature bounding the periphery area, with the periphery area shallow trench isolation structure being formed through two or more etching steps. |
| US08872300B2 |
Light emitting device module
A light emitting device module is provided comprising a light emitting device package and a board including first and second dummy pads and an electrode pad arranged between the first and second dummy pads, on which the light emitting device package is disposed, wherein at least one of the first and second dummy pads has a dummy hole, and wherein the electrode pad adjacent to at least one of the first and second dummy pads has an electrode hole. |
| US08872298B2 |
Unit pixel array of an image sensor
A unit pixel array of an image sensor includes a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of photodiodes, an interlayer insulation layer on a front-side of the semiconductor substrate, and a plurality of micro lenses on a back-side of the semiconductor substrate. The unit pixel array of the image sensor further includes a wavelength adjustment film portion between each of the micro lenses and the back-side of the semiconductor substrate such that a plurality of wavelength adjustment film portions correspond with the plurality of micro lenses. |
| US08872297B2 |
Integrated photodiode for semiconductor substrates
A substrate section that is at least partially fabricated to include contact elements and materials. The substrate section includes doped regions that have a heavily doped N-type region and a heavily doped P-type region adjacent to one another. An exterior surface of the substrate has a topography that includes a light-transparent region in which light, from a light source, is able to reach a surface of the substrate. An application of light onto the light transparent region is sufficient to cause a voltage potential to form across a junction of the heavily doped regions. The substrate section may further comprise one or more electrical contacts, positioned on the substrate section to conduct current, resulting from the voltage potential created with application of light onto the light transparent region, to a circuit on the semiconductor substrate. |
| US08872294B2 |
Method and apparatus for reducing signal loss in a photo detector
Photonic structures and methods of formation are disclosed in which a photo detector interface having crystalline misfit dislocations is displaced with respect to a waveguide core to reduce effects of dark current on a detected optical signal. |
| US08872293B2 |
Solid-state imaging device and method of manufacturing the same and electronic apparatus
A solid-state imaging device includes: an optical filter in which a filter layer is formed on a transparent substrate; a solid-state imaging component that is arranged to be opposed to the optical filter and in which plural pixels that receive light made incident via the filter layer are arrayed in a pixel area of a semiconductor substrate; and a bonding layer that is provided between the optical filter and the solid-state imaging component and sticks the optical filter and the solid-state imaging component together. |
| US08872292B2 |
Push-pull magnetoresistive sensor bridges and mass fabrication method
A multi-chip push-pull magnetoresistive bridge sensor utilizing magnetic tunnel junctions is disclosed. The magnetoresistive bridge sensor is composed of a two or more magnetic tunnel junction sensor chips placed in a semiconductor package. For each sensing axis parallel to the surface of the semiconductor package, the sensor chips are aligned with their reference directions in opposition to each other. The sensor chips are then interconnected as a push-pull half-bridge or Wheatstone bridge using wire bonding. The chips are wire-bonded to any of various standard semiconductor lead frames and packaged in inexpensive standard semiconductor packages. |
| US08872290B2 |
Sensing environmental parameter through stress induced in IC
A sensor is provided for sensing a value of a physical parameter characteristic of the sensor's environment. The sensor is implemented in semiconductor technology. A behavior of the sensor's electronic circuitry is affected by stress. The stress is induced by a film covering the circuitry or only part thereof. The stress is caused by the film's material, whose dimensions depend on a value of the parameter. This dependence is different from the 5 dependence of the circuitry's substrate on the same parameter. |
| US08872276B2 |
Electronic device including a transistor and a vertical conductive structure
An electronic device, including an integrated circuit, can include a buried conductive region and a semiconductor layer overlying the buried conductive region, wherein the semiconductor layer has a primary surface and an opposing surface lying closer to the buried conductive region. The electronic device can also include a first doped region and a second doped region spaced apart from each other, wherein each is within the semiconductor layer and lies closer to primary surface than to the opposing surface. The electronic device can include current-carrying electrodes of transistors. A current-carrying electrode of a particular transistor includes the first doped region and is a source or an emitter and is electrically connected to the buried conductive region. Another current-carrying electrode of a different transistor includes the second doped region and is a drain or a collector and is electrically connected to the buried conductive region. |
| US08872272B2 |
Stress enhanced CMOS circuits and methods for their manufacture
A method for fabricating a stress enhanced CMOS circuit includes forming a first plurality of MOS transistors at a first pitch and forming a second plurality of MOS transistors at a second pitch. The second pitch is larger than the first pitch. The method further includes depositing a single stress liner overlying the first and second plurality of MOS transistors. The single stress liner is the only stress liner deposited in the fabrication of the stress enhanced CMOS circuit. A stress enhanced CMOS circuit includes a first plurality of MOS transistors formed at a first pitch and a second plurality of MOS transistors formed at a second pitch. The second pitch is larger than the first pitch. The circuit further includes a single stress liner overlying the first and second plurality of MOS transistors. The single stress liner is the only stress liner formed on the stress enhanced CMOS circuit. |
| US08872271B2 |
Pass gate, semiconductor memory, and semiconductor device
According to one embodiment, a pass gate provided between a data holding unit of an SRAM cell and a bit line, includes a first tunnel transistor and a first diode connected in series between the data holding unit and the bit line, and a second tunnel transistor and a second diode connected in series between the data holding unit and the bit line and connected in parallel to the first tunnel transistor and the first diode. Gate electrodes of the first tunnel transistor and the second tunnel transistor are connected to a word line. The first diode and the second diode have rectification in mutually opposite directions between the data holding unit and the bit line. |
| US08872269B2 |
Antenna cell design to prevent plasma induced gate dielectric damage in semiconductor integrated circuits
An antenna cell for preventing plasma enhanced gate dielectric failures, is provided. The antenna cell design utilizes a polysilicon lead as a gate for a dummy transistor. The polysilicon lead may be one of a group of parallel, nested polysilicon lead. The dummy transistor includes the gate coupled to a substrate maintained at VSS, either directly through a metal lead or indirectly through a tie-low cell. The gate is disposed over a dielectric disposed over a continuous source/drain region in which the source and drain are tied together. A diode is formed with the semiconductor substrate within which it is formed. The source/drain region is coupled to another metal lead which may be an input pin and is coupled to active transistor gates, preventing plasma enhanced gate dielectric damage to the active transistors. |
| US08872268B2 |
Controlled localized defect paths for resistive memories
Controlled localized defect paths for resistive memories are described, including a method for forming controlled localized defect paths including forming a first electrode forming a metal oxide layer on the first electrode, masking the metal oxide to create exposed regions and concealed regions of a surface of the metal oxide, and altering the exposed regions of the metal oxide to create localized defect paths beneath the exposed regions. |
| US08872262B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit devices including gates having connection lines thereon
Provided are semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) devices including gate patterns having a step difference therebetween and a connection line interposed between the gate patterns. The semiconductor IC device includes a semiconductor substrate including a peripheral active region, a cell active region, and a device isolation layer. Cell gate patterns are disposed on the cell active region and the device isolation layer. A peripheral gate pattern is disposed on the peripheral active region. A cell electrical node is disposed on the cell active region adjacent to the cell gate patterns. Peripheral electrical nodes are disposed on the peripheral active region adjacent to the peripheral gate pattern. Connection lines are disposed on the cell gate patterns disposed on the device isolation layer. The connection lines are connected between the cell gate patterns and the peripheral gate pattern. |
| US08872261B2 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method of the same
A semiconductor device includes first, second, and third semiconductor layers each having multiple diffusion layers. The first direction widths of the first diffusion layers are the same. The amount of impurity within the first diffusion layers gradually increases from the bottom end towards the top end of the first semiconductor layer. The first direction widths of the second diffusion layers are the same. The amounts of impurity within the second diffusion layers are the same. The first direction widths of the third diffusion layers are narrower than the first direction widths of the first diffusion layers and the first direction widths of the second diffusion layers at the same level, and gradually become narrower from the bottom end towards the top end of the third semiconductor layer. The amount of impurity within the third diffusion layers are the same. |
| US08872258B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device includes: a sense amplifier; a plurality of memory cell arrays; a shared MOS transistor that connects/disconnects the sense amplifier and a bit line included in the memory cell arrays; and a control circuit that controls operation of the shared MOS transistor. A part or whole of an in-sense-amplifier bit line that is a bit line connecting the sense amplifier and the shared MOS transistor is embedded in a semiconductor substrate. |
| US08872257B1 |
Semiconductor device
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes: a first region including: a first semiconductor layer; a first semiconductor region; a second semiconductor region; a third semiconductor region having higher impurity concentration than the first semiconductor region; a first electrode; a second electrode; an insulating film; a third electrode; a fourth electrode, a second region including a pad electrode, and the third region including: the first semiconductor layer; the first semiconductor region; a third semiconductor region; the first electrode; the second electrode; and a first insulating layer. |