| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08943611B2 |
Probe module, method for making and use of same
A probe module includes a mount; a cantilever disposed on the mount; an electrode disposed on the mount and opposing the cantilever, and a primary fastener disposed on the mount to mechanically separate the cantilever and the electrode at a primary distance. In the probe module, the cantilever is detachably disposed on the mount, the electrode is detachably disposed on the mount, or a combination thereof. |
| US08943610B2 |
System and/or method for distributing media content
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to distribution of media content. |
| US08943608B2 |
Document server and client device document viewer and editor
A method of storing a document on a server, including: extracting document content from a document stored on the server, using a processor on the server; dividing the document content into a plurality of document content sections; generating a parallel data structure for the plurality of document content sections based on a viewing size, where the parallel data structure includes a plurality of selectors, and the plurality of selectors includes pagination selectors; and storing the plurality of document content sections in a plurality of locations on the server. The method may further include storing the parallel data structure in a location on the server separate the plurality of document content sections; generating a table of contents based on the pagination; and rendering the plurality of document content sections into a plurality of document pages based on the plurality of selectors in the parallel data structure. |
| US08943606B2 |
Systems and methods for associating a virtual machine with an access control right
The present invention is related to associating a machine or virtual machine instance with an access control right in a cloud-based computing environment. In one aspect, the present invention relates to an apparatus for or a method of associating a machine or virtual machine instance with an access control right in a cloud-based computing environment. In various embodiments, the apparatus is capable of, and the method includes, the following: receiving, in a cloud-based computing environment, a request to perform an action; using an identifier for the machine or virtual machine instance to determine that the received request was sent by, or on behalf of, the machine or virtual machine instance; and identifying an access control right associated with the machine or virtual machine instance making the request, to determine whether to perform the action on behalf of, or grant access by, the machine or virtual machine instance. |
| US08943604B2 |
Providing user confidence information to third-party systems
An online services system includes a mechanism for providing user confidence information to an external data consumer, and for determining user contribution quality. Using stored information about user actions and interactions, user confidence is evaluated for one or more parameters associated with the validity of the user's account and/or quality of the user's contributions to the online services system. Confidence values are assigned to each parameter, and the values are exposed to external data consumers. Using stored information, user actions and interactions are correlated with contribution quality to produce a metric indicative of user contribution quality. Users with low quality parameter metrics may have their contributions shown to a smaller audience or have a lower prominence in a news feed. |
| US08943603B2 |
System and method for document policy enforcement
A system and method is disclosed for document policy enforcement. The method discloses: scanning document parts for a set of policy-eliciting terms; assigning a policy to a document part based on a policy-eliciting term found within the document part; and enforcing the policy. The system discloses a computer programmed with executable instructions which operate a set of modules, wherein the modules comprise: a policy editor and a policy daemon, for effecting the method. |
| US08943601B1 |
Method and apparatus for executing an application in a different application framework
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that executes an application designed for one application framework in a different application framework. First, the system receives an application designed to operate in the first application framework. The system determines a first set of security permissions used by the application in the first application framework, and maps these security permissions into a second set of security permissions associated with the second application framework. The system then configures the second application framework to provide the second set of security permissions. These steps allow the application to execute transparently in the second application framework with substantially similar security behavior as in the first application framework. |
| US08943600B2 |
Weighted security analysis
A method, computer program product, and system for transforming unit tests is described. A unit test associated with one or more software units is identified. A graphical representation of a portion of a computer program is built, wherein the graphical representation includes a control flow edge. A potentially vulnerable data flow associated with the control flow edge is identified. A control flow weight is assigned to the control flow edge, based upon, at least in part, identifying the potentially vulnerable data flow. A security analysis is applied to the portion of the computer program based upon, at least in part, the control flow weight. |
| US08943599B2 |
Certifying server side web applications against security vulnerabilities
Systems for server security verification include a report validation module configured to acquire a public key associated with a received report, where the received report was generated at a server, to decrypt the received report using the public key, and to determine a level of server-side security based on the decrypted report; and a processor configured to reconfigure a browser responsive to the determined level of server-side security. |
| US08943591B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer program products for mitigating email address harvest attacks by positively acknowledging email to invalid email addresses
A method of detecting and responding to an email address harvest attack at an Internet Service Provider (ISP) email system includes counting a number of failed email address look-ups during a single Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) session associated with an originating Internet Protocol (IP) address and responding to the originating IP address with a positive acknowledgement that an otherwise invalid email address exists when the count of the number of failed email address look-ups exceeds a threshold. |
| US08943589B2 |
Application testing system and method
A method, computer program product, and computer system for sending, by a first computing device, a payload from a plurality of payloads to a second computing device. A response from the second computing device responding to the payload is received at the first computing device. It is determined whether the payload has successfully attacked an application executing at the second computing device based upon, at least in part, the response. If not, at least a portion of the plurality of payloads that shares a structural overlap with the first payload is identified. At least a second payload of the portion is prevented from being sent to the second computing device in response to identifying that the second payload shares the structural overlap with the first payload. |
| US08943588B1 |
Detecting unauthorized websites
Various embodiments describe a website analyzer that can be used for the automatic identification of unauthorized or malicious websites. A website analyzer can include heuristics for automatically identifying a collection of behaviors typical of unauthorized websites. Some embodiments automatically scan content hosted across server computers in a virtual environment and proactively identify potentially malicious websites. The embodiments can also be used to automatically scan content on public networks, such as the Internet. In particular embodiments, the website analyzer can include a semantic analysis engine and a link analysis engine. The semantic analysis engine can use the tag-level structure of HTML pages to formulate metrics which define similarity of web page content. The link analysis engine can compare the structure of embedded URIs and scripts to define metrics which quantify the difference of links between an authorized site and a potentially malicious site. |
| US08943587B2 |
Systems and methods for performing selective deep packet inspection
A computer-implemented method for performing selective deep packet inspection may include 1) identify a traffic flow that includes a stream of data packets, 2) sample at least one packet from the stream of data packets, 3) analyze the sampled packet using a computing resource to determine whether the traffic flow is trustworthy, 4) determine that the traffic flow is trustworthy based on analyzing the sampled packet, and 5) divert the traffic flow to a hardware accelerator in response to determining that the traffic flow is trustworthy. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. |
| US08943585B2 |
Access monitoring method, information processing apparatus, and computer-readable medium storing access monitoring program
In an access monitoring method executed by a computer: information on a first link is recorded when a request for access through the first link is detected and authentication information is transmitted through the first link; and when an email containing information on a second link is received and a request for access through the second link is detected, a determination whether or not the information on the second link is identical, in a predetermined part, to the recorded information on the first link is made. In the case where yes is determined, access through a link is forbidden when the information on the link is identical, in the predetermined part, to the recorded information on the first link, and the recorded information on the first link is transmitted to a server which collects information on links. |
| US08943581B2 |
Controlled access to functionality of a wireless device
Various embodiments of the invention may be used to verify that a person being authorized by biometric techniques to use a device is a living person and not some form of recording intended to spoof the system. Some embodiments may try to cause a change in a measured biometric feature, and compare images taken before and after the change to verify the change occurred. In some embodiments, multiple stages of verification may be used, either to increase the difficulty of spoofing the security system, or to provide different levels of security for different levels of access to the device's functionality. |
| US08943578B2 |
Method and apparatus for fast check and update of anti-replay window without bit-shifting in internet protocol security
An apparatus comprising a processor configured to implement an anti-replay check for a plurality of received packets and a plurality of corresponding sequence numbers; and a circular buffer coupled to the processor and comprising a bitmap, wherein the bitmap is slided in a circular manner by updating a low index that points to a first sequence number for a first received packet and a high index that points to a last sequence number for a last received packet without bit-shifting, and wherein, when the update results in the new value of one of the low index and the high index exceeding the end of the circular buffer, the one of the low index and the high index wraps around from the beginning of the circular buffer. |
| US08943573B2 |
Authentication system and process
An authentication system including: (i) a user device, such as a mobile phone or media player, for storing random identification data for a user of the user device, and for processing entered token data to generate response data on the basis of the identification data; (ii) a client device, such as a personal computer, for use by the user to request a session, such as an online banking session, with a server system, for receiving the token data in response to the request, and for sending the response data to the server system; and (iii) a server of the server system, for storing the random identification data for the user, generating the token data for the client device on the basis of the identification data in response to the request, and for processing the response data to determine authentication for the client device for the session. |
| US08943571B2 |
Method and apparatus for protecting a single sign-on domain from credential leakage
Disclosed is a method for protecting a single sign-on domain from credential leakage. In the method, an authentication server provides an authentication cookie to a browser client. The cookie has at least one user authentication credential for the domain, and is associated with an authentication subdomain of the domain. The server receives the cookie from the browser client. Upon authentication of the user authentication credential in the received cookie, the server responds to the access request by forwarding, to the browser client, a limited-use cookie for the domain. The server receives a request from the content server to validate a session identifier of the limited-use cookie received from the browser client. Upon validation of the session identifier of the limited-use cookie, the server provides a valid session message to the content server for enabling the content server to forward requested content to the browser client. |
| US08943569B1 |
Wireless server access control system and method
A wireless server access control system comprising a wireless server generating a local wireless communications network, the wireless server having a processor and a plurality of redundant data memory devices. A first wireless device coupled to the wireless server through the local wireless communications network. An access control system operating on the wireless server, the access control system configured to generate a user control on a user interface of the first wireless device to allow a user to permit or deny access to the processor and the data memory devices of the wireless server by a second wireless device through the local wireless communications network. |
| US08943568B1 |
Secure video conferencing to conduct financial transactions
Methods and apparatuses, including computer program products, are described for secure video conferencing to conduct financial transactions. A server computing device receives a request to establish a video conference from a first client device associated with a user of the first client device. The server computing device authenticates the first client device using credential information. The server computing device establishes a video conference between the first client device and a second client device associated with a customer representative of a financial institution. The server computing device transmits video images associated with one or more cameras coupled to the first client device to the second client device, the video images comprising a view of the user and an area surrounding the user. The server computing device determines whether any persons other than the user are present in the area surrounding the user. |
| US08943567B2 |
Authentication of personal data over telecommunications system
An additional service that authenticates personal information of a second person by using the mobile identification service in response to a first person requesting authentication is provided. As a result, the authenticated personal information of the second person is shown to the first person. |
| US08943566B2 |
Increased security for computer userID input fields
A computer determines whether current location information of the computer indicates that the computer is at a home location. The computer determines a minimum number of characters to be entered by a user into a userID field to cause the computer to automatically display previously entered userIDs based on whether the computer is located at a home location. If fewer than the minimum characters are entered, previously entered userIDs are not displayed. Location information can be based on one or more of: wi-fi signal strengths, cell tower signal strengths and signal arrival timing information, whether the network connection is wireless or Ethernet cable, the wireless protocol, whether a wi-fi connection is secured or public, whether the computer is a mobile device, and satellite navigation system location. |
| US08943556B2 |
Secure information release
An embodiment of the invention provides a responder such as a health care professional with quick and secure access to select information about a user. An embodiment of such quick and secure access to select information may include receiving a user request to authenticate a responder mobile phone from the responder mobile phone, separately sending a common secure data to each of the responder's mobile phone and the user's mobile phone, receiving user authorization to release select data to the responder's mobile phone, the user's authorization received from the responder's mobile phone. Other embodiments are described herein. |
| US08943555B2 |
Asset streaming
A device streams assets to network-based storage in cooperation with servers administering the network-based storage. The servers manage and secure access to the stream of assets, on both an account level and an asset level, in accordance with asset metadata registered for the assets during streaming, and in accordance with account data associated with the assets being streamed and the device with which the assets are streamed. The servers operate to notify other authorized devices associated with the device that the assets are available to download, including initiating the download of assets automatically or in response to user input. |
| US08943553B2 |
Information processing apparatus, content management method, and computer-readable non-transitory recording medium encoded with content management program
An information processing apparatus includes: a storage portion having a plurality of storage areas; an authentication portion for authenticating a user; a content setting portion for storing content set public by the authenticated user in a public storage area with no access restriction, of the plurality of storage areas of the storage portion, and for storing content set private into a personal storage area accessible only by the authenticated user, of the plurality of storage areas of the storage portion; and an access permission portion for, when a predetermined process is executed on the content set private stored in the personal storage area, making the content set private accessible by others through the public storage area. |
| US08943552B2 |
Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
Example methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment are disclosed. A disclosed example method involves transmitting a request message to a network access point requesting identifiers indicative of authentication information required by the network access point to authenticate a wireless terminal. In addition, at least one authentication requirement identifier is retrieved from a response message transmitted by the network access point. The at least one authentication requirement identifier is indicative of an authentication value obtainable using operations performed by the wireless terminal at a media access control layer without providing access to an internet protocol layer to retrieve the authentication value. |
| US08943550B2 |
File system access for one or more sandboxed applications
Methods, systems, and machine-readable storage medium are described wherein, in one embodiment, identifiers, such as bookmarks, are used to allow access to files or folders in a sandboxed environment. One or more applications are restricted by an access control system, which can be, for example, a trusted software component of an operating system. In one embodiment, the bookmarks or other identifiers allow an application to have access to a file even if the file is renamed or moved by a user while the application has been terminated. In one embodiment, a resource manager, or other trusted access control system, can interact with an application to allow for the use of bookmarks in an environment in which a sandbox application controls access to the files such that each application must make a request to the sandbox application in order to obtain access to a particular file or folder. |
| US08943549B2 |
Methods and systems for online fraud protection
This disclosure describes, generally, methods and systems for certifying user identities (IDs). The method includes receiving, from a customer, a certification request for a user ID. The method then identifies the user ID's owner and collects information about the owner. The information may include financial information, personal information, biographical information, etc. The method then analyzes the collected information to generate a risk score associated with the user ID, and based on the risk score exceeding a threshold, the method certifies the user ID. |
| US08943548B2 |
System and method for dynamic multifactor authentication
A method of authenticating a user. The method comprises the step of sending an authentication request to a remote authentication device and generating a first piece of authentication information. A mobile device receives the first piece of authentication information from either an access terminal or the remote authentication device. The mobile device of the user generating a second piece of authentication information which is at least partially based on the received first piece of authentication information. The second piece of authentication information is sent to the remote authentication devices and the second piece of authentication information validated. If the second piece of authentication information is successfully validated an authentication signal is generated. |
| US08943539B2 |
Enabling a friend to remotely modify user data
The present invention allows users to interact with people, who have interacted with other people, and obtain media files and recommendations from those having common interests, thereby creating interactive media communities and spawning electronic social networks based on media and other types of electronic entertainment. |
| US08943535B2 |
Advertisement distribution apparatus and advertisement distribution method
An advertisement distribution apparatus includes: a receiver that receives a display request including a viewpoint condition and advertisement information; an advertisement space setting unit that sets an advertisement space corresponding to the viewpoint condition to video data of an arbitrary viewpoint position generated based on imaging data having different viewpoint positions; an advertisement information setting unit that sets the advertisement information received by the receiver to the advertisement space set by the advertisement space setting unit; and a video transmitter that transmits the video data of the arbitrary viewpoint position in which the advertisement information is set in the advertisement space to a terminal device. |
| US08943533B2 |
System and method for preferred placement programming of iTV content
Preferred placement of programming content is provided by a system and method to organize or sequence the display of a set of programmable content elements of an iTV application to a viewer, using business rules that describe the preferred placement conditions or criteria. Such criteria include brand, content owner, application location, current channel, current channel family, current channel category, time of day, content category, current program, current program genre, current iTV application, current content type, and/or subscriber and set-top box profile and behavior data. In one implementation, the present invention allows for managing the ‘shelf space’ within and for iTV applications. |
| US08943529B2 |
Systems, methods, and media for inhibiting the presentation of spoiler content based on requested content
Systems, methods, and media for inhibiting the presentation of spoiler content based on requested content are provided. In some embodiments, a method or content management is provided, the method comprising: determining a channel that has been selected for presenting content to a user; identifying the content presented on the channel as requested content based on a comparison of first metadata associated with the content and second metadata associated with recorded content on a storage device; determining that the requested content contains spoiler content based on one or more criterion, wherein the one or more criterion include (i) determining that the first metadata associated with the content includes episode data or airing data; (ii) determining that the first metadata associated with the content indicates that the content belongs to a non-excluded content category; or (iii) determining, for the recorded content not viewed to completion, that the second metadata associated with the recorded content indicates an earlier occurrence than the first metadata associated with the requested program; and, in response to determining that a plurality of the one or more criterion have been met, selecting an alternate channel for presentation. |
| US08943526B2 |
Estimating engagement of consumers of presented content
Technologies described herein relate to estimating engagement of a person with respect to content being presented to the person. A sensor outputs a stream of data relating to the person as the person is consuming the content. At least one feature is extracted from the stream of data, and a level of engagement of the person is estimated based at least in part upon the at least one feature. A computing function is performed based upon the estimated level of engagement of the person. |
| US08943519B2 |
Smart progress indicator for script processing
Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to progress indication and provide a method, system and computer program product for intelligent progress indication for script processing. In one embodiment, a progress indication data processing system can be provided. The system can include a script execution engine such as an ANT configured script execution engine, a history table, and a smart progress indicator coupled to the history table. The indicator can include program code enabled to compute an expected duration of execution of a script such as an ANT script by the script execution engine based upon measured observed durations of execution for annotated portions of the script, for instance, both for the current execution and for previous successful executions. |
| US08943518B2 |
Managing and optimizing workflows among computer applications
A middleware system, method and program product for managing workflows among computer applications. The middleware system includes: a common construct unit and a workflow export unit. The common construct unit (i) retrieves a mapping between a component of a macro workflow of the middleware system and a micro workflow component of a first computer application and (ii) executes the macro workflow which orchestrates micro workflows of the first computer application and a second computer application. The workflow export unit generates an output that enables the second computer application to execute a workflow that corresponds to the workflow of the first computer application. |
| US08943517B2 |
Generalized application message generation service
A message generation request is received from an application using a message generation application programming interface (MG API) at a message generation service (MGS) device. The message generation request includes a request for the MGS to generate a message on behalf of the application and includes message generation parameters passed by the application using the MG API. A distributable message is generated on behalf of the application according to the message generation parameters passed by the application using the MG API and a message file. The message file includes at least one template message construct usable to generate the distributable message. The distributable message is distributed, on behalf of the application, to a resource as requested. |
| US08943516B2 |
Mechanism for optimized intra-die inter-nodelet messaging communication
Point-to-point intra-nodelet messaging support for nodelets on a single chip that obey MPI semantics may be provided. In one aspect, a local buffering mechanism is employed that obeys standard communication protocols for the network communications between the nodelets integrated in a single chip. Sending messages from one nodelet to another nodelet on the same chip may be performed not via the network, but by exchanging messages in the point-to-point messaging buckets between the nodelets. The messaging buckets need not be part of the memory system of the nodelets. Specialized hardware controllers may be used for moving data between the nodelets and each messaging bucket, and ensuring correct operation of the network protocol. |
| US08943508B2 |
Service oriented collaboration
When a service is requested at a platform in a collaborative services environment, a service orchestration engine accesses a service definition from a repository and schedules a number of tasks at a number of end points in accordance with a number of end point profiles and a number of policies associated with the end points. |
| US08943507B2 |
Packet assembly module for multi-core, multi-thread network processors
Described embodiments provide a packet assembler for a network processor. The network processor includes a plurality of processing modules for processing received packets into one or more processed-packet portions. A shared system memory of the network processor receives processed-packet portions corresponding to packet assemblies. Each of the packet assemblies has associated tasks. A packet assembly processor constructs an output packet for each packet assembly from the processed-packet portions in accordance with instructions from the tasks associated with the packet assembly. The packet assembly processor coordinates storage of the processed-packet portions for each output packet that is read from the system memory based on the instructions from the tasks associated with the corresponding packet assembly. |
| US08943505B2 |
Hardware assisted real-time scheduler using memory monitoring
Apparatus and method for real-time scheduling. An apparatus includes first and second processing elements and a memory. The second processing element is configured to generate or modify a schedule of one or more tasks, thereby creating a new task schedule, and to write to a specified location in the memory to indicate that the new schedule has been created. The first processing element is configured to monitor for a write to the specified location in the memory and execute one or more tasks in accordance with the new schedule in response to detecting the write to the specified location. The first processing element may be configured to begin executing tasks based on detecting the write without invoking an interrupt service routine. The second processing element may store the new schedule in the memory. |
| US08943504B2 |
Tracking and releasing resources placed on a deferred unlock list at the end of a transaction
Requests of a PCD are determined if they are part of a transaction involving a plurality of resources. Next, each resource that is part of the request involving multiple resources is identified. As each resource is identified, a framework manager determines if a resource has completed processing the request directed at it. If the resource has returned a value that it has completed the request, then the framework manager allows the resource to return to an unlocked state while other requests in the transaction are being processed. If the resource has not completed processing and has deferred some of the processing to the end of the transaction, then the resource is added to a deferred unlock list. It is determined if the resource is a dependent on another resource in the current request path. If it is dependent, then the other resource is also placed on the deferred unlock list. |
| US08943503B2 |
Apparatus and method for thread progress tracking using deterministic progress index
Provided is a method and apparatus for measuring a performance or a progress state of an application program to perform data processing and execute particular functions in a computing environment using a micro architecture. A thread progress tracking apparatus may include a selector to select at least one thread constituting an application program; a determination unit to determine, based on a predetermined criterion, whether an instruction execution scheme corresponds to a deterministic execution scheme having a regular cycle or a nondeterministic execution scheme having an irregular delay cycle with respect to each of at least one instruction constituting a corresponding thread; and a deterministic progress counter to generate a deterministic progress index with respect to an instruction that is executed by the deterministic execution scheme, excluding an instruction that is executed by the nondeterministic execution scheme. |
| US08943495B2 |
Information processing apparatus and firmware application method
A PC determines whether or not firmware (a first firmware), which has already been downloaded to an image forming apparatus, is present, and, when the first firmware is present on the image forming apparatus, acquires information about the first firmware and information about a second firmware that matches the image forming apparatus. When the application of second firmware to the image forming apparatus is selected, the PC acquires a difference package corresponding to the difference between first firmware and second firmware based on information about first and second firmware, and applies a difference package and first firmware to the image forming apparatus. |
| US08943490B1 |
Intelligent non-stop software upgrade
In general, techniques are described for performing a controlled non-stop software upgrade (NSSU) of a network device. In some examples, a method includes receiving, by a first network device included in a virtual network device, a non-stop software upgrade (NSSU) request. The first network device is communicatively coupled to each of a computing device and a second network device. The method includes, in response to receiving the NSSU request, forwarding to the second network device, network packets that are received at the first network device and destined to the computing device. The method also includes sending a message to the computing device that instructs the computing device to stop sending network packets to the first network device. The method includes updating one or more software components within the first network device, after sending the message to the computing device and based at least in part on the NSSU request. |
| US08943489B1 |
High availability in-service software upgrade using virtual machine instances in dual computing appliances
Techniques are described for providing high availability during an in-service software upgrade (ISSU) of an appliance within a network device, e.g., a router, by running a pair of virtual machines on each of a primary appliance and a secondary appliance within the router. Examples of the appliances include a routing engine within a router, and a service physical interface card (PIC) within a forwarding engine of a router. An ISSU of the primary appliance may first upgrade the operating system instance of a secondary virtual machine, switch operation from a primary virtual machine to the secondary virtual machine, and then upgrade the operating system instance on the primary virtual machine. During the ISSU of the primary appliance, primary and secondary virtual machines on the secondary appliance provide high availability to the virtual machine on the primary appliance executing the original operating system. |
| US08943484B2 |
Code generation method and information processing apparatus
An information processing apparatus generates first and second operation trees representing a dependency relationship among the instructions included in a first code, and computes first and second operation sequences from the first and second operation trees. Then, the information processing apparatus computes the longest ones of operation subsequences common to the first and second operation sequences, evaluates, for each longest operation subsequence, the utilization of computing resources used for executing the combinations of instructions of the first and second operation trees corresponding to the operations included in the longest operation subsequence, and selects a combination pattern of instructions indicated by any one of the longest operation subsequences on the basis of the evaluation results. |
| US08943482B2 |
Incrementally constructing executable code for component-based applications
One embodiment of a method for constructing executable code for a component-based application includes receiving a request to compile source code for the component-based application, wherein the request identifies the source code, and wherein the source code comprises a plurality of source code components, each of the source code components implementing a different component of the application, and performing a series of steps for each source code component where the series of steps includes: deriving a signature for the source code component, retrieving a stored signature corresponding to a currently available instance of executable code for the source code component, comparing the derived signature with the stored signature, compiling the source code component into the executable code when the derived signature does not match the stored signature, and obtaining the executable code for the source code component from a repository when the derived signature matches the stored signature. |
| US08943480B2 |
Setting breakpoints in optimized instructions
A method, computer-readable storage medium, and computer system are provided. In an embodiment, in response to a command that requests setting a breakpoint at a line in a module, a determination is made whether a snapshot instruction exists before a machine instruction that implements a source statement at the line. If the snapshot instruction exists before the machine instruction that implements the source statement at the line, the breakpoint is set at the machine instruction that implements the source statement at the line. If the snapshot instruction does not exist before the machine instruction that implements the source statement at the line, the module is recompiled to add the snapshot instruction before the machine instruction that implements the source statement. |
| US08943475B2 |
Methods and systems for interactive debugging in a mixed computer environment
A method of debugging a computer program across a mixed computing environment is provided. The method includes attaching a first debug module to a first program module of the computer program, where the first program module is operating on a first node; attaching a second debug module to a second program module of the computer program, where the second program module operating a second node of a different computer architecture; and initiating debug functions of at least one of the first debug module and the second debug module through a distant linker. |
| US08943474B1 |
Code generation and execution for dynamic programming languages
A device receives programming code, corresponding to a dynamic programming language, that is to be executed by a computing environment, and executes the programming code. When executing the programming code, the device maintains a program counter that identifies an execution location within the programming code, and select blocks of the programming code based on the program counter. The blocks correspond to segments of the programming code, and are associated with type-based constraints that relate to types of variables that are used by the block. When executing the programming code, the device also compiles the selected blocks, caches the compiled blocks along with the type-based constraints, generates linking information between certain ones of the compiled blocks based on the type-based constraints, and executes the compiled blocks in an order based on the program counter, the type-based constraints, and the linking information. |
| US08943473B1 |
Consistently delivering a web page having source code with a dynamic instruction
According to some implementations, a method, system and computer program product for consistently delivering a web page having source code with a dynamic instruction is provided. The method begins with a copy of the source code being stored and analyzed to identify the dynamic instruction. A uniformity profile of the web page is generated based on the analyzing, the uniformity profile specifying a modification to a portion of the dynamic instruction to maintain consistent delivery of the web page. The portion of the dynamic instruction is modified based on the uniformity profile, and the first modified copy of the source code is delivered to a client. The portion of the dynamic instruction is modified based on the uniformity profile, resulting in a second modified dynamic instruction. Finally, a second modified copy of the source code is delivered to a client. |
| US08943471B2 |
Initialization safety
Embodiments of the disclosure are directed to inserting a declaration of a non-overwritable variable pointing to a current object in a source code, and inserting a code of storing a value referencing the current object to the non-overwritable variable. Embodiments of the disclosure are directed to converting a source code to generate a shared object in a lock-free mode by inserting a declaration of a non-overwritable variable pointing to a current object in the source code, and inserting a code of storing a value referencing the current object to the non-overwritable variable. |
| US08943470B2 |
Requirements framework
A computing device may be configured to interact with a requirement object using an object-based requirements framework. The computing device may further provide a design to the object-based requirements framework. The design may comply with design criteria of the object-based requirements framework. The computing device may also determine whether the design complies with the requirement object. The determining may be based on the interacting, and may produce a result. |
| US08943468B2 |
Wireframe recognition and analysis engine
A method and system for dynamically producing source code for a software application from a set of wireframe images is presented herein. A wireframe recognition and analysis engine receives a set of wireframe images from an end user's device over a network. The features that comprise each wireframe in the set of wireframe images are identified by comparing against a library of models, and saved to a data store. An inference engine, driven by a knowledge base of wireframe design rules, processes the contents of the data store to formulate a collection of wireframe components. A template engine dynamically produces source code for the software application using the collection of wireframe components and a set of source templates. All produced source code are compressed into a single archive file and provided to the end user's device to download. |
| US08943460B2 |
Control unit and method for designing a circuit board of a control unit
A control unit, e.g., for a motor vehicle, includes a circuit board, a high-impedance circuit component situated on the circuit board and having an impedance of 1 kΩ or higher in relation to ground of the control unit, and at least one conductive protection element electrically connected to ground and situated adjacent to the high-impedance circuit component. The protection element has a height within a protective distance from the high-impedance circuit component that is at least equal to the protective distance. A method for designing a circuit board of a control unit, and a computer program product for executing the method, include the steps of specifying a position of the high-impedance circuit component, and specifying a position of the protection element such that the protection element has a height within a protective distance from the high-impedance circuit component that is at least equal to the protective distance. |
| US08943459B2 |
Computing device and method for testing layout of power pin of chipset on circuit board
A testing system for testing a layout of a power pin of a chipset on a circuit board includes a layout information obtaining module, a power pin sorting module, a transmission line sorting module, a transmission line length calculating module, and a report generating module. The layout information obtaining module obtains layout information of the printed circuit board. The power pin sorting module sorts the power pin from a number of pins of the chipset. The transmission line sorting module sorts transmission lines that are connected to the power pin and are located on outer layers of the printed circuit board. The transmission line length calculating module calculates a total length of the transmission lines sorted by the transmission line sorting module and compares the total length with a threshold length. The report generating module generates a testing report indicating whether or not the power pin is qualified. |
| US08943457B2 |
Simulating scan tests with reduced resources
An aspect of the present invention replaces memory elements in a scan chain with corresponding new (memory) elements, with each new element having two paths to provide the corresponding data output. One of the two paths is operable to connect the data value to the combinational logic only during a capture phase of said test mode, and the second path is operable to connect the data value to the next element in the chain during a shift phase of said test mode. As a result, unneeded transitions/evaluations in the combinational logic are avoided during shift time, thereby reducing the resource requirements in the corresponding duration. However, the further processes (including various design phases and fabrication) are continued based on the original data (i.e., without the new elements) such that unneeded delays are avoided during the eventual operation in functional mode of the various fabricated IC units. |
| US08943454B1 |
In-phase grouping for voltage-dependent design rule
In some embodiments, in a method for considering in-phase grouping for a voltage-dependent design rule, for a first net and a second net in a schematic, first data for obtaining the differences between first voltage values of the first and second nets, and between second voltage values of the first and second nets is provided. For each of the first and second nets, the first voltage value is larger than the second voltage value. A layout for the schematic is generated. In the layout, a relationship of a first shape and a second shape associated with the first and the second nets, respectively, is defined using the first data. |
| US08943450B1 |
Model based analog block coverage system
A system, method, and computer program product for automatically providing circuit designers with verification coverage information for analog/mixed-signal circuit designs. A graphical user interface based environment allows circuit designers to assemble a schematic representation of a lower-level circuit design from pre-defined building blocks and various types of connections. Embodiments convert the schematic representation into a behavioral model for rapid simulation. Building blocks in the behavioral circuit have coverage-related terms defined either by the designer or by default, such as input and output value ranges, internal state changes, and state timers and timing-related constraints. Embodiments simulate the behavioral circuit, and determine and tangibly output coverage-related information. Manual and automatic behavioral circuit and stimulus modification can maximize coverage for improved behavioral circuit verification. Corresponding improvements to the underlying circuit may result, along with greatly reduced and better focused design and simulation efforts. |
| US08943446B2 |
Generation method, storage medium and information processing apparatus
The present invention provides a generation method of generating data of patterns of a plurality of masks used in an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate, including a step of specifying, from a plurality of points on a grid having pattern elements to be formed on the substrate as intersections, an allowable point that allows a pattern to be transferred other than points of target pattern elements constituting a target pattern to be formed on the substrate, and a step of, for a pattern element group including a target pattern element whose distance to an adjacent target pattern element is shorter than a resolution limit of the exposure apparatus, grouping the adjacent target pattern elements on the grid a space between which is filled with the allowable point. |
| US08943445B2 |
Method of merging color sets of layout
A method includes determining one or more potential merges corresponding to a color set Ai and a color set Aj of N color sets, represented by A1 to AN, used in coloring polygons of a layout of an integrated circuit. N is a positive integer, i and j are integers from 1 to N, and i≠j. One or more potential cuts corresponding to the color set Ai and the second color set Aj are determined. An index Aij is determined according to the one or more potential merges and the one or more potential cuts. A plurality of parameters F related to the index Aij is obtained based on various values of indices fi and fj. A parameter F is selected among the plurality of parameters F based on a definition of the index Aij. |
| US08943440B2 |
Method and system for organizing applications
A system and method for automatically organizing a user interface. A category is determined for content installed on a device. An icon for the content is displayed in a categorical row in a grid layout for the content's category. The categorical rows may be manipulated by touchscreen gestures, such as moving, expanding, and revealing details about the row, such as the row's categorical label. |
| US08943439B2 |
System and method for organizing application programs and status information
A terminal device includes a display unit having a function for displaying a menu screen on a display screen, a selection unit for causing a user to select one of the items in the menus screen displayed on the display screen, and a holding unit holding status information concerning at least one application among a plurality of applications. The display unit displays an item indicating the application on the display screen while presenting status information on the application held in the holding unit on the display screen. |
| US08943438B2 |
Vehicle-mounted device having portable-device detection capability
For each smartphone application included in a smartphone, an identifier, such as a name of the smartphone application, and information on whether the smartphone application operates in cooperation with a vehicle-mounted device, are registered in a smartphone application management table. From the smartphone applications included in the connected smartphone, higher priority is given to the smartphone applications that are registered in the smartphone application management table as applications that operate in cooperation with the vehicle-mounted device. A lower priority is given to other smartphone applications. Icons of the high priority smartphone applications are arranged on a first page of a smartphone application menu, whereas icons of the low priority smartphone applications are sequentially arranged on second and following pages. |
| US08943437B2 |
Disambiguation of USSD codes in text-based applications
A system and method for entering USSD codes through an ambiguous text entry interface. The disclosed system may be embedded in mobile devices or other devices having reduced (e.g., 12 key) keypads for text entry. The system receives text entry from users, disambiguates the text entry, and presents the user with descriptors (i.e., representative words, icons, or other visual indicators) that are associated with the entered text and correlated with USSD codes. In response to a user selecting a descriptor, the system retrieves the corresponding USSD code and causes the device to transmit a message to the USSD service. The USSD service receives the message and invokes appropriate processes to respond to the message. In some embodiments, the system presents the list of descriptors representing USSD codes to the user in an order that is related to the probability that the user will select the descriptor. |
| US08943433B2 |
Select drag and drop operations on video thumbnails across clip boundaries
A computer-implemented method includes displaying, within a user interface in a digital media system, a media pane, and a project pane, displaying, within the media pane, a thumbnail group representing a media item, the thumbnail group comprising one or more thumbnails, enabling a user to select, from the thumbnail group, a segment of the media item, and enabling a user to transfer the selected segment to the project pane. |
| US08943429B2 |
State machine user and validation interface system
State machine interface system, comprising state machine algorithms and a graphical user interface, adapted to receive signals from at least one sensor device, that are related to physiological activities of the heart and/or the circulatory system of a living being. The state machine algorithms are adapted to determine phases of heart cycles based upon said signals. The different phases of the heart cycle are determined by said state machine algorithms in a heart cluster state machine simulating the heart, and optionally the circulatory system, achieved by fusions of finite heart muscle cell state machines to form a ΔV-pump state machine. The determined heart cycle phases are evaluated by determining their respective local state diagram based upon said signal such that the respective correct time duration is determined for each heart cycle phase, and then determining the most representative global state diagram. The determined local and global state diagrams are presented at the graphical user interface such that the temporal relations between the different phases are illustrated. |
| US08943421B2 |
Customized rule application as function of avatar data
An avatar behavior rule is customized within a virtual universe environment as a function of individual avatar data. It is determined whether the activity of an avatar is relevant to a behavior rule for a virtual universe. If the activity is determined to be relevant to the rule, the rule is customized for the avatar as a function of individual avatar data associated with the avatar, and it is determined whether the activity exceeds a violation threshold of the customized rule. If the activity is determined to exceed the customized rule violation threshold, an appropriate action is taken as specified by the customized rule. |
| US08943419B2 |
System for creating collaborative content
Embodiments of a system, a method, and a computer-program product (e.g., software) for collaboratively generating content from multiple users is described. This system may allow multiple users to create and maintain content that includes a complicated object, including linked spatial and text information, which can include dynamic spatial relationships between components in the complicated object. In particular, the system may receive one or more modifications to content associated with the complicated object from one or more users, and may provide signals to display the modified complicated object in a 3-d space or virtual environment on a display based at least in part on the cumulative modifications. |
| US08943413B2 |
Visually representing and managing access control of resources
An approach is provided for controlling access to a resource. Visual representations of the resource and an entity are included in a display. A movement in the display of the entity representation to a position proximate to a boundary of the resource representation is detected. An attribute assigned to the entity representation is determined to not satisfy an access control requirement assigned to the resource representation. The entity is not permitted to access the resource based on the attribute not satisfying the access control requirement. Based on the entity not being permitted to access the resource, a visual cue is presented that indicates the entity representation is prevented from moving in the display across, and being placed within, the boundary of the resource representation. |
| US08943412B2 |
Game-based selection system
In accordance with some embodiments, a system may enable the user to selectively either make computer generated selections without game play or to make menu selections in a more limited way in some embodiments in association with game play. Thus if the user selects game play, the user would be provided with at least two game options that implement menu selection tasks. For example the game play may allow the users to use a game to select within a group of menu options or to select a user who then gets the right to make a menu selection as another example. |
| US08943411B1 |
System, method, and computer program for displaying controls to a user
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for displaying controls to a user. In use, input is received from a user. Additionally, a location of the user is determined with respect to a display, utilizing the input. Further, one or more controls are positioned on the display, based on the location of the user. |
| US08943406B2 |
Generating user help information for customized user interface
A method for generating user help information for a customized user interface, the customized user interface including one or more user interface components from a library of user interface components, the method comprising the steps of: associating library component help information with each user interface component in the library of user interface components; identifying component help information from the library component help information for each component in the customized user interface; aggregating the identified component help information into user help information for presentation to a user of the customized user interface. |
| US08943405B1 |
Assisted punctuation of character strings
A computing device receives one or more indications of user input to enter a character string. In response, the computing device determines, based on a corpus that includes punctuated character strings previously entered by a user of the computing device, one or more punctuated versions of the character string. Each of the one or more punctuated versions of the character string includes one or more punctuation marks not present in the character string. The computing device outputs, for display, at least one of the one or more punctuated versions of the character string. |
| US08943402B2 |
System and method for distribution and navigation of internet content
A system and method for navigating Internet content with a limited or non-existent return channel, limited bandwidth and/or a set-top box with limited processing power. |
| US08943401B2 |
Script-based content-embedding code generation in digital media benefit attachment mechanism
Particular embodiments of the present invention are related to a digital media benefit attachment mechanism for generating or attaching revenue rights and other benefits to one or more entities associated with socially distributed media. |
| US08943400B2 |
Document processing apparatus, document processing method and storage medium storing document processing program
A document processing apparatus has an attachment unit and a storage. The attachment unit attaches a comment to an electronic document as additional information. The comment relates to a modification of the electronic document. The storage associates the comment with modified place information and stores them. The modified place information indicates a modified place of the electronic document, when the electronic document is modified based on the comment. |
| US08943397B2 |
Configurable column display of information at a web client
A method including receiving input from a user, retrieving data based on the input, generating a tabular display of the data according to default settings and adjustable user settings, and transmitting the tabular display to the user. A system having a server application structured and arranged to receive input from a user, retrieve data based on the input, generate a tabular display of the data according to default settings and adjustable user settings, and transmit the tabular display to the user, and a client application structured and arranged to display the tabular display. |
| US08943396B2 |
Method and apparatus for multi-experience adaptation of media content
A method or apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a method for adapting media content of a source device for a recipient device. Characteristics of a first environment of a source device and of a second environment of a recipient can be identified. At least one difference between the characteristics of the first environment of the source device and the characteristics of the second environment of the recipient device can be determined. A presentation of media content can be modified according to the at least one difference between the characteristics of the first environment of the source device and the characteristics of the second environment of the recipient device. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US08943395B2 |
Previewing different types of documents
This is directed to a preview application for displaying several documents simultaneously in a single window, where the several documents are displayed as books. To view the pages of a document, the preview application can open the book and display the pages of the document (e.g., in a one or two-dimensional array). A user can also search for particular terms within the several documents. In response to a search, the preview application can filter the pages of the several documents and only display those pages that include the search terms. The displayed pages can be ordered in any suitable manner, including for example by search rank. |
| US08943394B2 |
System and method for interacting with live agents in an automated call center
Embodiments of an interface system that enables a call center agent to access and intervene in an interaction between an automated call center system and a caller whenever necessary for complex application tasks is described. The system includes a user interface that presents the agent with one or more categories of information, including the conversation flow, obtained semantic information, the recognized utterances, and access to the utterance waveforms. This information is cross-linked and attached with a confidence level for better access and navigation within the dialog system for the generation of appropriate responses to the caller. |
| US08943392B2 |
Viterbi butterfly operations
A decoding system suitable for Viterbi decoding includes a decoder that includes a state metrics array, a butterfly unit, and a constraint length multiplexer. The state metrics array includes registers in which each register is arranged to store a state metric for processing. The butterfly unit includes an array of butterfly elements where each butterfly element is arranged to generate intermediate state metrics in parallel with other butterfly elements in the butterfly unit. The constraint length multiplexer unit is arranged to generate new state metrics in response to the intermediate state metrics and a Viterbi constraint length value stored in a constraint length register. Transition bits can also be generated in response to the constraint length. |
| US08943390B1 |
Peel decoding for concatenated codes
A codeword that is associated with one uncorrected codeword in a set of first codewords is selected from a set of third codewords. Error correction decoding is performed on the selected codeword using a third, systematic error correction code. |
| US08943386B1 |
Generating soft read values which optimize dynamic range
Bin identification information for a cell is generated. An estimation function is received where the estimation function trends toward a maximum soft read value at a first end and trends toward a minimum soft read value at a second end. A soft read value is determined for the cell based at least in part on the bin identification information and the estimation function. |
| US08943382B2 |
Code-assisted error-detection technique
A circuit, wherein an encoder circuit encodes a set of N symbols as a given codeword in a code space, where the given codeword includes a set of M symbols. M drivers are coupled to the encoder circuit and are coupled to M links in a channel, where a given driver outputs a given symbol in the set of M symbols onto a given link. An error-detection circuit coupled to the encoder circuit generates and stores error-detection information associated with the set of M symbols, facilitating subsequent probabilistic determination of a type of error during communication of the set of M symbols to another circuit. A receiver circuit receives feedback information from the other circuit, which includes error information about detection of another type of error in the set of M symbols based on characteristics of the code space. Control logic performs remedial action based on the feedback information. |
| US08943381B1 |
Systems and methods for performing bit flipping in an LDPC decoder
Systems and methods are provided for decoding data using hard decisions and erasures. Circuitry receives data from each of a plurality of variable nodes which correspond to bits of data being decoded. Each variable node stores one of at least three values. The circuitry determines processes the values received from the plurality of variable nodes according to a set of processing rules. The processing rules are used to determine a condition related to the values stored by the plurality of variable nodes. The circuitry stores an indication of the stored condition at a check node. |
| US08943379B2 |
Retry based protocol with source/receiver FIFO recovery and anti-starvation mechanism to support dynamic pipeline lengthening for ECC error correction
Methods and apparatus relating to retry based protocol with source/receiver FIFO (First-In, First-Out) buffer recovery and anti-starvation mechanism to support dynamic pipeline lengthening for ECC error correction are described. In an embodiment, upon detection of an error, a portion of transmitted data is stored in one or more storage devices before retransmission. Other embodiments are also described and claimed. |
| US08943377B2 |
On-chip detection of types of operations tested by an LBIST
An integrated circuit includes an LBIST controller operative to run a test program on at least one selection of core logic of the integrated circuit to test the operability of the at least one selection of core logic. The integrated circuit also includes a monitoring logic structure operative to detect at least one type of operation executed for the test program from at least one particular control signal activated by the LBIST controller for controlling the at least one selection of core logic to execute the test program from among at least one control signal for controlling operations on the at least one selection of core logic. |
| US08943373B1 |
Keyboard, video and mouse switch identifying and displaying nodes experiencing a problem
A computer program product includes computer readable program code causing a keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) switch to communicate over a network with service processors of a plurality of compute nodes, computer readable program code for causing the KVM switch to identify a compute node from among the plurality of compute nodes that is experiencing one or more predetermined problems, and computer readable program code for causing the KVM switch to automatically generate a graphical user interface including the identity of the identified compute node for display on a display device that is connected to the KVM switch. |
| US08943371B2 |
Methods and systems for computer-aided identification of technical phenomena
A system for computer-aided identification of technical phenomena and related methods, particularly with technical problems is described. The system is equipped with a computer executing a program and provided with means for inputting alphanumeric data, means for entering graphical information, and a visual display. The execution of said program causes the computer to work by displaying a sequence of request and input windows for a description of the technical phenomenon by way of an alphanumeric, human natural language and/or a graphical image and according to specific logic and construction rules of the human natural language expression or of the graphic expression, at a detailed level, which construction rules change from window to window and are displayed at the margin of a data input field in the window. |
| US08943367B2 |
Method for metric ranking in invariant networks of distributed systems
A method for metric ranking in invariant networks includes, given an invariant network and a set of broken invariants, two ranking processes are used to determine and rank the anomaly scores of each monitoring metrics in large-scale systems. Operators can follow the rank to investigate the root-cause in problem investigation. In a first ranking process, given a node/metric, the method determines multiple scores by integrating information from immediate neighbors to decide the anomaly score for metric ranking. In a second ranking process, given a node/metric, an iteration process is used to recursively integrate the information from immediate neighbors at each round to determine its anomaly score for metric ranking. |
| US08943363B2 |
Method of fast reinitialization for instrument panel viewing device
The general field of the invention is that of the management of the faults of the viewing devices used on aircraft. An aircraft instrument panel viewing device comprises an electronic assembly, embedded software and a viewing screen. When the viewing device detects a fault arising after a predetermined time of proper operation, the reinitialization method according to the invention executes just the software verification tests without executing the electronic assembly verification tests termed “safety tests”, no specific presentation of fault being displayed on the viewing screen. The duration for which the pilot is deprived of information is thus considerably reduced. |
| US08943361B2 |
Geospatial optimization for resilient power management equipment
Methods and apparatus are provided for geospatial optimization for resilient power management equipment. A method includes predicting a power outage duration based on at least one of geographical data, location data, and historical data. The method further includes rendering a power management decision based on the predicted power outage duration and a remaining backup power duration. |
| US08943359B2 |
Common hot spare for multiple RAID groups
A storage system assigns one or more large disks in a storage enclosure as a common dedicated hot spare that is used by multiple RAID groups. Storage space equivalent to the smallest physical disk in a RAID group is allocated on the common dedicated hot spare. A mapping of this allocated storage space to the RAID group is maintained in nonvolatile memory. When a disk fails in the RAID group, the allocated storage space on the common dedicated hot spare receives a rebuild of the failed disk. Once the rebuild is complete, the allocated storage space acts as part of the RAID group. When the failed disk is replaced, the data on the allocated storage space is copied to the replacement disk. Once the copy is complete, the allocated storage space is once again set to act as a dedicated hot spare to the RAID group. |
| US08943358B2 |
Storage system, apparatus, and method for failure recovery during unsuccessful rebuild process
A storage control apparatus manages a plurality of storage devices which belong to a RAID Logical Unit (RLU) such that data is made redundant between different storage devices, where RAID stands for Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks. If a first storage device fails, a rebuild controller executes a rebuild process to store the same data as recorded in the first storage device in a spare storage device. When the rebuild controller executing the rebuild process has failed in reading out data from a second storage device, a data recovery controller restarts the first storage device, and reads out data to be stored in the spare storage device from the restarted first storage device. |
| US08943354B2 |
Method and device for predicting faults in an IT system
A method and device for predicting faults in a distributed heterogeneous IT system (100), the method comprising: creating a local checkpoint (19) in an explorer node (10) of said system (100), said local checkpoint (19) reflecting the state of said explorer node (10); running a path exploration engine (14) on said local checkpoint (19) in order to predict faults, wherein a plurality of possible inputs (71) are used by said exploration engine (14) in order to explore different paths, wherein path exploration comprises sending messages to remote client nodes (20), and receiving messages from said remote clients (20); wherein said received messages do not reveal checkpoints of said other nodes, so as to avoid leakage of any confidential information. |
| US08943351B2 |
USB based synchronization and timing system
A synchronization apparatus, comprising: a USB device having a USB microcontroller, circuitry for observing USB traffic, and circuitry for decoding from a USB data stream a periodic data structure (such as a clock carrier signal) containing information about a distributed clock frequency and phase and outputting a decoded carrier signal; and circuitry for receiving the decoded carrier signal, for generating a software interrupt upon receipt of a predefined data packet (such as a SOF packet) and for passing the software interrupt to the USB microcontroller; wherein the USB microcontroller is configured to respond to the software interrupt (such as with an interrupt service routine provided therein) by generating an output signal adapted to be used as a synchronization reference signal. |
| US08943349B2 |
Browsing terminal, charging terminal, and communication system as well as transmitting/receiving system using the same
To provide a browsing terminal and the like with high security, which can effectively prevent contents data stored in a terminal from being stolen unlawfully by a third party even if the terminal is accidentally lost. The browsing terminal includes: a receiving part for receiving contents data; a volatile memory for storing the received contents data; a display device with a memory function, which displays the contents data stored in the volatile memory; and a secondary battery for supplying power to the volatile memory and the display device. |
| US08943345B2 |
Emergency mobile device power source
In various aspects, a portable electronic device includes electrical components supported by a housing, the electrical components including a user interface coupled to a processor and a storage medium including an emergency power storage module coupled to the processor. The portable apparatus further includes one or more power storage devices configured to provide electrical energy to the electrical components, at least one power storage device operably controlled by the emergency power storage module to provide emergency electrical energy to the electronic components for an emergency communication. |
| US08943344B2 |
Power sourcing equipment for power over ethernet with low energy standby mode
A power sourcing equipment (PSE) exhibiting a low power sleep mode, the PSE constituted of: a sleep control circuitry comprising a first timer; an effective resistance threshold detector responsive to the sleep control circuitry and arranged to detect whether the effective resistance across the output port of the PSE is less than a predetermined threshold; and a detection and powering circuitry responsive to the sleep control circuitry, wherein the sleep control circuitry is arranged to load the first timer with a first predetermined time period, and at the expiration of the first predetermined time period: activate the effective resistance threshold detector for a second predetermined time period; and in the event the effective resistance threshold detector detects that the effective resistance across the output port of the PSE is less than the predetermined threshold, enable the detection and powering circuitry. |
| US08943343B2 |
Controlling an asymmetrical processor
In an embodiment, the present invention includes a multicoreprocessor with a front end unit including a fetch unit to fetch instructions and a decode unit to decode the fetched instructions into decoded instructions, a first core coupled to the front end unit to independently execute at least some of the decoded instructions, and a second core coupled to the front end unit to independently execute at least some of the decoded instructions. The second core may have a second power consumption level greater than a power consumption level of the first core and also heterogeneous from the first core. The processor may further include an arbitration logic coupled to the first and second cores to enable the second core to begin execution responsive to a start processor instruction present in the front end unit. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US08943339B2 |
Data processing apparatus
A data transmitting apparatus for processing data to be transmitted to a data receiving apparatus which reproduces received data stored in a received data storage unit, comprising: a signal processor for processing data; a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting the data processed in the signal processor to the data receiving apparatus; a signal processing controller for controlling the signal processor to operate intermittently; a clock/power controller for restricting a clock signal supply and/or power supply to the signal processing controller during a non-operating time period of the intermittent operation; and a wake-up controller for lifting the restriction put by the clock/power controller based on an amount of data stored in the received data storage unit. |
| US08943337B1 |
Power management within a data protection system
Various techniques for managing power consumption of computing devices within a data protection system are disclosed. For example, one method involves accessing policy information, which the policy information indicates when one or more data protection system activities should be performed and identifies whether a computing device is participating in the data protection system activities. Based upon this policy information, the method then identifies whether power consumption of the computing device can be reduced. In response to identifying that the power consumption of the computing device can be reduced, a power management command is automatically sent via a network. Performance of the power management command reduces the power consumption of the computing device. |
| US08943328B2 |
Key rotation for encrypted storage media
An I/O module is provided to service I/O requests from a host to access storage media. Data blocks of the storage media are encrypted with an old key, and the I/O module performs key rotation to cause data blocks to be re-encrypted with a new key. |
| US08943326B2 |
Systems and methods for accessing a tamperproof storage device in a wireless communication device using biometric data
A novel system and method for accessing data stored in a secure or tamperproof storage device in a wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device may include a biometric sensor for capturing a biometric sample of the user. The captured biometric sample may be compared to known biometric samples of users stored in a memory device of the wireless communication device. If the captured biometric sample matches one of the known biometric samples, the user is allowed access to the tamperproof storage device for a preset amount of time. The user may delete existing data, add new data, modify existing data or view existing data stored in the tamperproof storage device. |
| US08943322B2 |
Systems and methods for authenticating an electronic transaction
Systems and methods for authenticating a request between a client computer and a transaction server are provided. An application request, comprising an identity of a user originating the request, is received at an application server from the client. The application server constructs a signing key based on (i) the identity of the user making the request, (ii) a time based salt value, (iii) a secret shared between the application and transaction servers and, optionally, (iv) an identifier of the distributor or developer of the application. The signing key is embedded in an unbranded version of the application thereby branding the application. The branded application can sign a request with the signing key and submit the signed request to the transaction server with the identity of the user and the identifier of the distributor or developer of the application. |
| US08943320B2 |
Techniques for authentication via a mobile device
Techniques for authentication via a mobile device are provided. A mobile device is pre-registered for website authentication services. A user encounters a website displaying an embedded code as an image alongside a normal login process for that website. The image is identified by the mobile device, encrypted and signed by the mobile device and sent to a proxy. The proxy authenticates the code and associates it with the website. Credentials for the user are provided to the website to automatically authenticate the user for access to the website bypassing the normal login process associated with the website. |
| US08943319B2 |
Managing security for computer services
A method for providing security for a business application including receiving a request from a server including a server public key and a security token, deploying a virtual node implementing the business application in response to the request, using the security token in a bootstrap process by the virtual node to provide authentication to the server, and authenticating a message from the server using a server public key. |
| US08943318B2 |
Secure messaging by key generation information transfer
A system is configured to receive a first authentication request from a first device, authenticate the first device, establish a secure connection with the first device based on authenticating the first device, and receive, via the secure connection with the first device, a set of parameters from the first device. The first device is capable of generating an encryption key for a secure message, intended for a second device, based on the set of parameters. The system is also configured to receive a second authentication request from a second device, authenticate the second device and establish a secure connection with the second device based on receiving the second authentication request, and send, via the secure connection with the second device, the set of parameters to the second device. The second user device is capable of generating a decryption key for the secure message based on the set of parameters. |
| US08943316B2 |
Document security system that permits external users to gain access to secured files
A system includes a server with an access manager configured to restrict access to files of an organization and maintain at least encryption keys for internal and external users and an external access server connected to the server and coupled between the server and a data network. The data network is configured to allow the external users use of the external access server. The external access server is also configured to permit file exchange between the internal users and the external users via the server. |
| US08943312B2 |
Method of and system for authenticating online read digital content
A method of authenticating an online read right of a digital content includes: receiving an online read first request from a terminal, the first request including first user information, obtaining first right information corresponding to the first user information, generating a first right model, obtaining first certificate information corresponding to the first right model, generating a second request including the first right model and the first certificate information, and authenticating the first certificate information and M function rights in the first right model. |
| US08943310B2 |
System and method for obtaining a digital certificate for an endpoint
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method of establishing a digital certificate on an endpoint includes establishing a connection between a proxy function module and the endpoint. The proxy function module is remotely located from the endpoint and operable to communicate with the endpoint and a certificate authority. Authentication information is generated at the endpoint. A portion of the authentication information is transmitted to the proxy function module. The proxy function module obtains a digital certificate based on the portion of the authentication information. The digital certificate is received at the endpoint from the proxy function module. |
| US08943309B1 |
Cookie security system with interloper detection and remedial actions to protest personal data
A server receives a request from the client. The request includes a cryptographically protected object that includes a respective user identifier and validation value. When the respective user identifier is valid, the validation value fails a first requirement in a predefined manner, and a count of consecutively received cryptographically protected objects whose validation value has failed the first validation requirement is less than a threshold value that is greater than one, the server returns to the client a response to the request in accordance with the respective user identifier, the response including an updated cryptographically protected object that includes the respective user identifier and an updated validation value, and updates the count. When the respective user identifier is valid, the validation value fails a first requirement in the predefined manner, and the count is equal to or exceeds the threshold value, the server performs a predefined remedial action. |
| US08943296B2 |
Virtual address mapping using rule based aliasing to achieve fine grained page translation
One or more unused bits of a virtual address range are allocated for aliasing so that multiple virtually addressed sub-pages can be mapped to a common memory page. When one bit is allocated for aliasing, dirty bit information can be provided at a granularity that is one-half of a memory page. When M bits are allocated for aliasing, dirty bit information can be provided at a granularity that is 1/(2M)-th of a memory page. |
| US08943295B1 |
System and method for mapping file block numbers to logical block addresses
A system and method for mapping file block numbers (FBNs) to logical block addresses (LBAs) is provided. The system and method performs the mapping of FBNs to LBAs in a file system layer of a storage operating system, thereby enabling the use of clients in a storage environment that have not been modified to incorporate mapping tables. As a result, a client may send data access requests to the storage system utilizing FBNs and have the storage system perform the appropriate mapping to LBAs. |
| US08943294B2 |
Software architecture for service of collective memory and method for providing service of collective memory using the same
Disclosed is a software architecture supporting a large-capacity collective memory layer in a multi-node system by using a remote direct memory access technique and a software virtualization technique and a computing system performing computing processing by using the architecture. In particular, provided is a software architecture including: a memory region managing module collectively managing a predetermined memory region of a node, a memory service providing module providing a large-capacity collective memory service to a virtual address space in a user process, and a memory sharing support module supporting sharing of the large-capacity collective memory of the multi-node system. |
| US08943290B2 |
Automatic management of heterogeneous memory resources
A method for resource management, including: identifying a resource map corresponding to a thread stack of a first thread; reading, in the resource map and by a computer processor, a bit value referencing an address of a first binary value in the thread stack; determining, based on the bit value and by the computer processor, that the first binary value corresponds to a managed resource; reading, by the computer processor, a resource identifier section of the first binary value after determining that the first binary value corresponds to the managed resource; determining a type of the managed resource based on the resource identifier section; interpreting, based on the type of the managed resource, at least a portion of a payload of the first binary value as a reference to a resource address of the managed resource in a resource storage; and accessing the managed resource using the reference. |
| US08943289B2 |
Data moving method for flash memory module, and memory controller and memory storage apparatus using the same
A method of moving a first portion of data and a second portion of data, which belong to one page data and respectively stored in a second physical page and a third physical page, into a first physical page in a flash memory module is provided. The method includes transmitting a read command for reading page data stored in the second physical page; reading the first portion of data from a buffer area of the rewritable non-volatile memory module into a buffer memory; transmitting a read command for reading page data stored in the third physical page; transmitting the first portion of data from the buffer memory to the buffer area; and transmitting a write command for writing data stored in the buffer area into the first physical page. Accordingly, the method can effectively move one page data dispersedly stored in different physical pages into one physical page. |
| US08943288B2 |
Method of controlling memory access
Provided is a method of controlling memory access. In a system including a first layer element executed in a privileged mode having a first priority of permission to access the entire region of a memory and second and third layer elements executed in an unprivileged mode having a second priority of permission to access a partial region of the memory, the method of controlling memory access determines whether the memory is accessible for each page that is an address space unit, based on which mode a layer element currently accessing the memory is executed in between the privileged mode and the unprivileged mode; and determines whether the memory is accessible based on which one of the first, second and third layer elements corresponds to a domain currently being attempted to be accessed from among a plurality of domains of the memory. Accordingly, a memory domain allocated to a guest operating system kernel is effectively protected from an application executed in the unprivileged mode in which the guest operating system kernel is executed. |
| US08943275B1 |
Differential storage and eviction for information resources from a browser cache
Systems, methods and a computer program product the differential storage and eviction for information resources from a browser cache. In an embodiment, the present invention provides differential storage and eviction for information resources by storing fetched resources in a memory and assigning, with a processor, a persistence score to the resources. Further embodiments relocate the resources from a sub-cache to a different sub-cache based on their persistence score, and remove the resource from the memory based on the persistence score. |
| US08943273B1 |
Method and apparatus for improving cache efficiency
Aspects of the disclosure provide methods for cache efficiency. A method for cache efficiency can include storing data in a buffer entry in association with a cache array in response to a first store instruction that hits the cache array before the first store instruction is committed. Further, when a dependent load instruction is subsequent to the first store instruction, the method can include providing the data from the buffer entry in response to the first dependent load instruction. When a second store instruction overlaps an address of the first store instruction, the method can include coalescing data of the second store instruction in the buffer entry before the second store instruction is committed. When the second store instruction is followed by a second dependent load instruction, the method can include providing the coalesced data from the buffer entry in response to the second dependent load instruction. |
| US08943267B2 |
Management of memory refresh power consumption
Embodiments include a system, an apparatus, a device, and a method. The apparatus includes a processor, a dynamic memory, and a hardware-implemented memory control circuit. The hardware-implemented control circuit includes a control circuit for establishing an extended refresh period of the dynamic memory based at least in part on a monitored result that indicates an occurrence of a memory loss in the dynamic memory. The hardware-implemented control circuit also includes a control circuit for causing a refresh of the dynamic memory during each of at least two extended refresh periods. |
| US08943263B2 |
Efficient reduction of read disturb errors in NAND flash memory
Methods and apparatuses for reduction of Read Disturb errors in a NAND FLASH memory system comprise a controller configured to organize FLASH memory devices into blocks, each block having a plurality of pages, and each page defining an individually addressable physical memory location. The controller is further configured to accumulate a Block READ Count corresponding to the number of times any pages in a first block of pages have been read since the first block was last erased. Once the READ count reaches a predetermined number, the controller responds to subsequent READ requests for pages within the first block by moving data associated with a requested page to a page in a second, different block without moving data associated with other pages in the first block, and modifying a logical-to-physical translation table to associate the moved data with the physical address of the page in the second block. |
| US08943259B2 |
Relieving memory pressure in a host using database memory management
Memory of a database management system (DBMS) that is running in a virtual machine is managed using techniques that integrate DBMS memory management with virtual machine memory management. Because of the integration, the effectiveness of DBMS memory management is preserved even though the physical memory allocated to the virtual machine may change during runtime as a result of varying memory demands of other applications, e.g., instances of other virtual machines, running on the same host computer as the virtual machine. |
| US08943257B2 |
Protocol neutral fabric
An embodiment integrates non-PCI compliant devices with PCI compliant operating systems. A fabric system mimics the behavior of PCI. When non-PCI compliant devices do not know how to respond to PCI enumeration, embodiments provide a PCI enumeration reply and thus emulate a reply that would typically come from a PCI compliant device during emulation. Embodiments allow system designers to incorporate non-standard fabric structures with the benefit of still using robust and mature PCI infrastructure found in modem PCI compliant operating systems. More generally, embodiments allow an operating system compliant with a first standard (but not a second standard) to discover and communicate with a device that is non-compliant with the first standard (but possibly is compliant with the second standard). Other embodiments are described herein. |
| US08943250B2 |
Systems and methods for concatenating multiple devices
System and methods are provided. In one embodiment, a system includes serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus and a master device communicatively coupled to the serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus. The system further includes a first slave device communicatively coupled to the SPI bus. The system additionally includes a second slave device communicatively coupled to the SPI bus and to the first slave device; wherein the first and the second slave devices are communicatively coupled in parallel to the SPI bus and wherein the first and the second slave devices are communicatively coupled to each other by using a first chain line, and wherein the master device is configured to communicate with the first and with the second slave devices over the SPI bus. |
| US08943248B2 |
Method and system for handling discarded and merged events when monitoring a system bus
A bus monitoring and debugging system operating independently without impacting the normal operation of the CPU and without adding any overhead to the application being monitored. The bus is monitored for discarded speculative read and for merged write transactions in order to determine the true bus throughputs. Bus statistics that are relevant to providing insight to system operation are automatically captured. Logging of relevant events may be enabled or disabled when a sliding time window expires, or alternatively by external trigger events. |
| US08943245B2 |
Non-volatile type memory modules for main memory
A computing system is disclosed that includes a memory controller in a processor socket normally reserved for a processor. A plurality of non-volatile memory modules may be plugged into memory sockets normally reserved for DRAM memory modules. The non-volatile memory modules may be accessed using a data communication protocol to access the non-volatile memory modules. The memory controller controls read and write accesses to the non-volatile memory modules. The memory sockets are coupled to the processor socket by printed circuit board traces.The data communication protocol to access the non-volatile memory modules is communicated over the printed circuit board traces and through the sockets normally used to access DRAM type memory modules. |
| US08943244B2 |
Mobile device and USB system including the same
A mobile device includes a composite processing unit and a device controller driver. The composite processing unit is configured to provide a plurality of functions including a human interface device (HID) emulator function, select at least one activated function of the plurality of functions and automated operation content based on a connection status between the mobile device and a host, and generate client HID data including the automated operation content. The device controller driver is configured to provide the client HID data to the host, and provide event information to the composite processing unit based on the connection status. |
| US08943242B1 |
Timing controllers having partitioned pipelined delay chains therein
A timing controller includes a pipelined delay chain configured to process commands and control signals associated with the commands between a first device and a plurality of second devices having different timing requirements. The pipelined delay chain includes a cascaded arrangement of a primary delay chain, at least one secondary delay chain and a plurality of control signal sequence generators responsive to signals generated by the at least one secondary delay chain. The primary delay chain may include a plurality of serially-linked registers configured to support a pipelining of the commands and a stack configured to support operations to push and pop the control signals associated with the commands to and from the stack. |
| US08943239B2 |
Data snooping direct memory access for pattern detection
A direct memory access controller for efficiently detecting a character string within memory, the direct memory access controller generating signatures of character strings stored within the memory and comparing the generated signatures with the signature of the character string for which detection is desired. |
| US08943234B1 |
Multi-protocol storage controller
Systems and methods presented herein provide for coupling a storage controller to a plurality of different storage device types. One embodiment of the storage controller includes an interface operable to communicatively couple to a storage device. The storage controller also includes a processor operable to select between hardware protocol detection of the storage device and firmware protocol detection of the storage device, and to detect a protocol of the storage device when the storage device communicatively couples to the interface according to the selected protocol detection. The storage controller then selects a protocol to process input/output requests from a host based on the detected protocol of the storage device. |
| US08943231B2 |
Display device, projector, display system, and method of switching device
A display device is capable of switching a function of an indication body in accordance with the need of the user in the case in which the indication body is made to function as a pointing device. The display device is provided with a function device having a first interface. The configuration information of the first interface is stored in the storage section, and is supplied to a host device by a supply section via the function device. A change section is capable of change the configuration information in accordance with the operation of the user received by a reception section. |
| US08943228B2 |
Peripheral interface, data stream, and data transfer method
A peripheral interface for use with a control computer and a peripheral device. The peripheral interface has a controller receiving an input data stream from the control computer and delivering an output data stream to the peripheral device, the controller obtaining an instruction from the input data stream for a modification of the output data stream. Prior art devices transfer data streams for peripheral devices blockwise by means of DMA using peripheral interfaces. In conventional peripheral interfaces, a burdensome real-time operating system must be used on the control computer in order have a sufficiently short reaction time to bring about a continuous, uninterrupted data stream. The invention achieves the object using a non-real-time operating system. A data stream is generated in the control computer, comprising control data (Bn) for the peripheral device and a segment (SOS) having spare control data to be output in case of a break in the data stream, and a leading spare data marking, particularly a jump command (JMP) past the spare control data. The data stream is received in the peripheral interface, and output to the peripheral device, wherein an instruction for a modification of the output of the data stream is identified in the received data stream, and the data stream is modified for output according to the identified instruction. |
| US08943227B2 |
Data storage architecture extension system and method
A data storage architecture extension (DAX) system and method that daisy-chains multiple SATA disk drive storage elements to allow a single host bus adapter (HBA) to view the daisy-chain as one logical SATA disk drive is disclosed. The system/method may be broadly described as comprising a pass-thru disk drive controller (PTDDC) further comprising a pass-thru input (PTI) port, disk drive interface (DDI) port, and pass-thru output (PTO) port. The PTDDC intercepts and translates PTI port input to the requirements of a SATA disk drive connected to the DDI. Each PTDDC may be daisy-chained to other PTDDCs to permit a plethora of SATA drives to be associated with a given HBA, with the first PTDDC providing a presentation interface to the HBA integrating all SATA disk drive storage connected to the PTDDCs. Rack mounting of PTDDC-enabled SATA disk drives enables creation of inexpensive dynamically expandable petabyte-class storage arrays. |
| US08943226B1 |
Interface for heterogeneous PCI-e storage devices
Disclosed is a storage device interface. The storage device interface includes a plurality of PCIe device request engines. These PCIe device request engines receive I/O commands formatted for a respective one of a plurality of PCIe storage device communication standards. The storage device interface also includes a plurality of PCIe device completion engines. These PCIe device completion engines receive notifications of command completions from a plurality of PCIe storage devices that communicate using the aforementioned plurality of PCIe storage device communication standards. These notifications are validated. If an error is detected, processing of notifications of command completions associated with that device are blocked until the error is resolved. The plurality of PCIe device request engines and the PCIe device completion engines operate concurrently to process received I/O commands and received command completions. |
| US08943225B2 |
Enhancements to data driven media management within an electronic device
A centralized resource manager manages the routing of audio or visual information within a device, including a handheld device such as a smartphone. The resource manager evaluates data-driven policies to determine how to route audio or visual information to or from various input or output components connected to the device, including headphones, built-in speakers, microphones, bluetooth headsets, cameras, and so on. Among the data considered in the policies are connection status data, indicating if a device is connected, routing status data, indicating if a device is permitted to route information to or from a component, and grouping data, indicating logical relationships between various components. Components may be considered inherently routable, automatically routable, or optionally routable. Numerous other uses exist for such data, including providing simpler and more logical management interfaces. |
| US08943223B2 |
Adaptive session compression management method, compression manager and session management system
The invention provides an adaptive session compression management method and a compression manager in an application server, the compression management method comprising: acquiring the session state information indicated as needing to be saved from the session manager in the application server; determining whether to compress the session state information according the session state information itself and the configuration information related to the conditions of system resources; in case that the session state information needs to be compressed, determining the optimal compressor and the optimal compression method according to the conditions of the system resources in the application server, to compress the session state information; and storing the session state information at a specified location in the session manager, and in case that the session state information is compressed, storing the type information of a corresponding compressor together with the session state information. The invention determines appropriate time and appropriate method to compress the session state information, and can greatly enhance the performance and capability of the application server. |
| US08943222B1 |
System, method, and computer readable medium for emulating a sensor
A system, method, and computer readable medium for employing data obtained from an electronic network, such as the Internet, as an emulation of sensor data. A virtual sensor bridge mechanism may be interfaced to a data source, such as the Internet, to receive Web data or remote sensor data. The virtual sensor bridge may convert the received data into a format usable by a logic controller, thereby emulating sensor data and enabling the logic controller to treat the networked data source as a sensor. Furthermore, the virtual sensor bridge may interface directly with one or more sensors and may serve as an adapter or data relay between a sensor and the logic controller. |
| US08943220B2 |
Continuous deployment of applications
Concepts and technologies are described herein for continuously deploying applications. In accordance with the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a first host environment executes an application. An upgrade for the application is released by creating a backup of the application and content used by the application and restoring the backup at a second host environment. The application hosted by the second host environment is upgraded, traffic is routed to the second host environment, and performance of the upgraded application is monitored. If errors are detected in the upgraded application, the upgrade can be rolled back, and traffic can be rerouted back to the first host environment. If the errors are not detected, traffic can be increasingly routed to the second host environment and the first host environment can be deactivated. |
| US08943218B2 |
Method and apparatus for a fault resilient collaborative media serving array
Embodiments of the present invention provide methods, systems, and apparatuses for a fault resilient collaborative media serving array comprising a plurality of nodes. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method for creating a fault resilient collaborative media serving array where the array nodes do not share memory, the serving of a content file is accomplished by the collaborative efforts of many nodes in the array, and where there is no fixed allocation of sessions to nodes. |
| US08943217B2 |
Systems and methods for operating an appliance control device for an appliance
Systems and methods for operating an appliance control device for controlling the operation of a variety of appliances are provided. The appliance control device may acquire a list identifying one or more functions executable by an appliance. The list may further identify a corresponding protocol corresponding to each function included in the list. The appliance control device may transmit a request to the appliance for execution of a desired function selected from the list using a specified protocol selected based on the corresponding protocol corresponding to the desired function. In turn, the appliance may transmit the list to the appliance control device upon request. Further, the appliance may also receive the request to execute the desired function in accordance with the selected specified protocol, and execute the desired function in response to the request. |
| US08943216B2 |
Methods, circuits, devices, systems and associated computer executable code for caching content
Disclosed are methods, circuits, devices, systems and associated computer executable code for caching content. A client device may request content from a content source server connected to the Internet or some other distributed data network. The client device may be connected to the Internet or other distributed data network through a gateway network. As initial portions of requested content enter the gateway network, the requested content may be characterized and compared to content previously cached on a cache integral or otherwise functionally associated with the gateway network. In the event a match is found, a routing logic, mechanism, circuitry or module may replace the content source server with the cache as the source of content being routed to the client device. In the event the comparison does not produce a match, as content enters the network a caching routine running on processing circuitry associated with the gateway network may passively cache the requested content while routing the content to the client device. |
| US08943215B2 |
Distributed smooth streaming utilizing dynamic manifests
Content can be segmented and each segment encoded at multiple different quality levels. A manifest file can describe the segments, and encodings thereof, present on each computing device. A channel definition can define content, users and computing devices among which such content is shared. Computing devices receive notification of any new shared and can stream or download it from any one or more other computing devices that have such content encoded at a quality appropriate for the capabilities of the recipient computing device. The recipient computing device can aggregate manifests from currently available computing devices, or can receive an already aggregated manifest. The multi-segmented multi-encoded content can be obtained from multiple computing devices simultaneously by obtaining interleaving segments from individual computing devices. If content still cannot be obtained efficiently, a different encoding can be selected, thereby potentially making available other computing devices as additional sources. |
| US08943211B2 |
Reputation mashup
Techniques for reputation mashup are described. Reputation mashup refers to combining, aggregating, collecting, compiling, or otherwise organizing reputation data from multiple sources into a uniform format to facilitate making trust decisions for resources. In an implementation, reputation data for a resource is combined from a plurality of reputation sources. The combined reputation data for the resource is presented to a client to enable a trust determination to be made for the resource. Interaction with the resource by the client is selectively enabled or restricted in accordance with the trust determination made using the combined reputation data. |
| US08943210B2 |
Mastering music played among a plurality of users
Embodiments of the present invention allow a user to master the music played among a social network. Users of the social network subscribe to the master's session and synchronize their media player under control of the master. The master then distributes various selections of music and controls their playback. The master may also add other data, such as voice over or images, to accompany the playback. |
| US08943209B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for policy and charging rules function (PCRF) fault tolerance
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for PCRF fault tolerance are disclosed. One exemplary method for PCRF fault tolerance includes sending, from the PCRF to a Diameter peer, a message concerning Diameter application session state information associated with Diameter application sessions currently or previously managed by the PCRF. The method further includes receiving, by the PCRF, a message from the Diameter peer in response to the message concerning the Diameter application session state information. The method further includes, determining, by the PCRF and based on the response, whether the Diameter application session state information maintained by the PCRF is accurate. The method further includes, in response to determining that the Diameter application session state information maintained by the PCRF is not accurate, requesting, by the PCRF, Diameter application session state information. |
| US08943208B2 |
Controlling access to resources by hosted entities
Controlling resource access by entities hosted by an execution extension environment via entity identifiers associated with the resources or with the execution extension environment. Policy sets define the access to the resources. Each policy set includes a principal identifier for execution extension environment, a resource identifier for one of the resources, and access rights. The principal identifier or the resource identifier includes one of the entity identifiers. Access requests from entities are evaluated by comparing the entity identifiers to the policy sets. In some embodiments, the policy sets implement access control for web browsers hosting executable code that attempts to access resources on a computing device. |
| US08943206B2 |
Network bandwidth detection and distribution
Prioritizing network traffic among two or more distinct channels of communication within a single application in a node configured to communicate with one or more other nodes over a network is disclosed. For a particular time quantum, a bandwidth quantum may be distributed amongst two or more communication channels according to priorities associated with those channels. Ready data for each channel may be transmitted over a network path up to the size of the reserved portion for that channel and not greater than a path maximum transmission unit (MTU) size for a network path. This abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. |
| US08943203B1 |
System and method for storage and deployment of virtual machines in a virtual server environment
Described herein are systems and methods for storage and deployment of VMs in a virtual server environment. A VM deployment module executing on a server may produce VM container objects representing VMs, a VM container object comprising VM data describing a VM and vdisk configuration data. The VM deployment module may also later produce VMs on a server using the VM container objects. The VM deployment module may do so by producing a vdisk from a VM container object, the vdisk comprising the VM and vdisk configuration data. Rather than configuring the vdisk as typically done to make the vdisk useable to the server, the vdisk configuration data is used to make the vdisk useable and the VM data on the vdisk immediately accessible to the server. As such, the VM data may be immediately read to produce a VM on the server, thus providing rapid deployment of VMs. |
| US08943202B2 |
Network resource access using social networks
A network controller is enabled to control a network that is administered by a network administrator. The network controller provides the network administrator with an option to register an association with a social network from a plurality of available social networks. The network controller identifies a social network selected by the network administrator. The network controller receives, from the social network, a user identification associated with an account the network administrator in the first social network. The network controller receives from the network administrator configuration parameters for resources in the network. Based on the configuration parameters received from the network administrator, the network controller configures access to resources in the network. |
| US08943198B2 |
Automatically addressing performance issues in a distributed database
A database performance monitor monitors performance of a distributed database, identifies a database performance issue for the distributed database, determines from a distributed virtual network mechanism which physical networks are related to the database performance issue, determines a potential solution to the database performance issue that changes configuration of the distributed database, and applies the potential solution by automatically changing configuration of the distributed database without intervention of a user to address the database performance issue. |
| US08943186B2 |
Method and apparatus for performance and policy analysis in distributed computing systems
One embodiment of the present method and apparatus for performance and policy analysis in distributed computing systems includes representing a distributed computing system as a state transition model. A queuing network is then superimposed upon the state transition model, and the effects of one or more policies on the distributed computing system performance are identified in accordance with a solution to the queuing network. |
| US08943182B2 |
Method and system for transferring a communication session
A method and system for transferring an ongoing communication session from one application server (AS) to another is described. Multiple ASs are monitored and serviced by a Transfer Management Module (TMM). Each of the ASs serves a different network and each network includes various end devices. During an ongoing communication session, whether the session is to continue using the current AS is determined based on a set of rules. If the session is to be transferred, an alternative AS that provides the same application as the current AS is selected using a set of conditions. Upon selection of the alternative AS, the current AS transfers the control and/or media state of the ongoing session for one to all users through the TMM to the selected AS, and the session is continued. |
| US08943178B2 |
Continuous operation during reconfiguration periods
A method for continuously updating a set of replicas. The method comprises storing a plurality of replicas of data in a current configuration of members from a plurality of nodes, receiving a reconfiguration command by a member of said current configuration, selecting at least one estimated configuration from said plurality of nodes, receiving at least one write command by a member of said current configuration, disseminating said at least one write command to each member of said at least one estimated configuration and validating said at least one estimated configuration. At least one estimated configuration processes at least one of the write commands before the validating is completed. |
| US08943174B2 |
Identification of relay nodes in a communication network
A relay node identified by a unique relay node identifier relays communications between a donor base station and one or more user terminals. The donor base station acquires the relay node identifier during a relay node attach procedure from where the relay node or another node in the core network (e.g., mobile management entity). The donor base station may use the relay node identifier to retrieve configuration information for the relay node. The configuration information may be used to configure the relay node, to perform radio resource management functions, and/or to monitor the performance of the relay node. |
| US08943168B2 |
Remote monitoring systems for monitoring medical devices via wireless communication networks
A remote monitoring system for monitoring a plurality of medical devices at a patient care or home care facility. The system includes a device integration server in communication with wireless relay modules for receiving data packets from the medical devices including an identifier and data for each medical device. The system also includes a data management system and an outbound web server. The data management system is configured to log data for the medical devices. The web server is configured to provide webpages including the data of the medical devices for display on a remote monitoring computer, subject to authentication of an associated data request from the monitoring computer. The Web server is configurable to look up patient information from a secure source when user has appropriate permissions. In addition, the device integration server is configured to process alert messages received from the wireless relay modules and, in response, to transmit text message information to the wireless relay modules to be relayed to one or more text messaging recipients. |
| US08943164B2 |
Apparatus and methods for retrieving/ downloading content on a communication device
Apparatus, methods, processors, and computer readable media for receiving or transmitting content based on a presentation area size of a communication device are provided. In one aspect, the method includes obtaining a presentation area size of a display on a first communication device, and obtaining a first portion of content from a second communication device located across a communications network. The first portion of content is based on the presentation area size. The method further includes storing the first portion of content in a memory of the first communication device. |
| US08943162B2 |
Data services using location patterns and intelligent caching
Pre-caching may decrease the response time necessary for a wireless communication network to fulfill a user request. Pre-caching includes predicting what data the user will request next and preemptively fetching that data from a network (e.g., the Internet). Additionally, the wireless communication network may predict the geographic location of the mobile device when it makes the request. Instead of pre-caching the data in the memory of the mobile device, the data may be stored at a wireless access point that has a radiation pattern that covers the predicted geographic location of the mobile device. Once the wireless access point receives the request from the mobile device for the pre-cached data, the pre-cached data may be transmitted wirelessly to the mobile device, thereby avoiding having to forward the request to rest of the communication network. |
| US08943160B2 |
Methods for controlling ongoing triggered SUPL session by SLP and network-side SUPL agent
A method for controlling an ongoing network-initiated triggered session in compliance with a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) standard is provided, and the method proposes that the SUPL Agent sends a request to the SUPL Location Platform (SLP), so that the SLP further indicates the target SUPL Enabled Terminal (SET) to pause the ongoing network-initiated triggered session via a SUPL TRIGGERED STOP message. Also, a method for controlling an ongoing SET-initiated triggered session is provided, and the method proposes that the SLP indicates the target SET to pause the ongoing SET-initiated triggered session via a SUPL TRIGGERED STOP message. |
| US08943158B2 |
System, method and computer program product for performing an action based on an aspect of an electronic mail message thread
A system, method and computer program product are provided for performing an action based on an aspect of a thread associated with electronic mail messages. In use, an aspect of a thread associated with a plurality of electronic mail messages is identified. Further, an action is performed based on the aspect of the thread. |
| US08943157B2 |
Coasting module to remove user from logical group
Systems and methods for the forming of user device groups are presented. In one example, a message received at a user device from a server system, the message indicating that a user of the user device has been added to a logical group of users. Then content may be transmitted from the user device to the server system for distribution to the logical group of users. Then, in response to a determination that the user device has been out of communication with the server system for a predetermined period of time, a determination is made, utilizing a coasting module on the user device, that the user should be removed from the logical group of users based on a factor other than a length of time the user device has been out of communication with the server system. |
| US08943154B1 |
Systems and methods for modeling relationships between users, network elements, and events
Certain embodiments herein relate to modeling relationships between users, network elements, and events in an organization. Organizational information regarding users and network elements may be collected and analyzed to create a relationship graph relating users and network elements. The relationship graph may include nodes representing users and network elements and edges connecting pairs of users and/or network elements. The edges may be weighted based on a number of factors, such as operational dependencies, user preferences for receiving information associated with events, and a user's historical actions, which may determine whether a user may receive an event. A relationship graph as described herein may be leveraged to provide various uses, including generating a relationship subgraph that may allow users to identify the impact of events on other users and network elements in an organization. |
| US08943152B2 |
Messaging
A device for transmitting a message for reception by another device, comprising: a processor for adding location information to the message, before transmission, wherein the location information identifies an area within which the message is to be hosted for reception by the other device; and a transmitter for transmitting the message, with the location information. |
| US08943148B2 |
Internet E-mail bridge
An Internet mail bridge is provided for downloading e-mail messages from Internet mail servers supporting different email protocols, such as the Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) and Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (Web DAV) protocol, and delivering the downloaded messages, which are in different formats, to a mail server on a local area network. The Internet mail bridge has a mail manager that is independent from particular e-mail protocols or e-mail formats. For each e-mail account, the mail manager instantiates a mail connector object that contains logic for downloading e-mail according to the e-mail access protocol of that account, and invokes the mail connector object to download e-mail messages from that account. The mail manager then instantiates and invokes mail deliverer objects tailored for handling different message formats to deliver the downloaded messages to the local mail server. |
| US08943145B1 |
Customer support via social network
A method to provide customer support including searching a social network server for a pre-determined customer support keyword in social network messages, to obtain information of a social network message sender where the pre-determined customer support keyword identifies a need of the sender for customer support, automatically sending a surrogate social network message to the sender including an offer to obtain customer support via a customer support link embedded in the surrogate social network message, and presenting customer support information to the sender in response to the sender activating the customer support link upon receiving the surrogate social network message and accepting the offer. |
| US08943141B2 |
Social networking system and methods of implementation
A social networking system that allows video chatting in combination with other interactive social activities such as, for example, shopping, picture sharing and viewing streaming videos, amongst others, is disclosed. A method implemented in a computing infrastructure includes initiating a user session by generating a unique user ID and group ID for the user session. The method further includes streaming at least one of music and video to a plurality of users on separate computing devices within the user session. The method further includes providing video chatting amongst the plurality of users on the separate computing devices, within the session, at the same time as the streaming. |
| US08943131B2 |
Predictive collaboration management
A method and apparatus for managing collaborations. Requests are received by a computer for collaboration on a topic. A set of experts is identified by the computer having expertise in the topic for the collaboration and having activity prior to the collaboration relating to the topic to predict a likelihood of participation by the respective expert in the collaboration. The set of experts are identified from searching a number of collections of information. |
| US08943125B2 |
Method of handling step execution result in software and application control management object
A method of handling a step execution result in software and application control management object (SACMO) for a client of a service system supporting Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) device management (DM) is disclosed. The method comprises handling an execution result of a step in software and application control management object for a service system. |
| US08943122B2 |
Method and system for authoring mobile content in word for delivery to a mobile device
A system and method is provided for delivering content to a wireless device in a content delivery system. The system and method may: provide web services for publishing the content and exporting the content to a content server, the content being in a first format; convert the content from the first format to a second format compatible with the wireless device; and in response to a request for the content, deliver the content to the wireless device. |
| US08943120B2 |
Enhanced barrier operator within a streaming environment
Techniques are described for processing data. Embodiments receive streaming data to be processed by a plurality of processing elements. An operator graph of the plurality of processing elements is established. The operator graph defines at least one execution path and at least one of the processing elements of the operator graph is configured to receive data from at least one upstream processing element and transmit data to at least one downstream processing element. Additionally, a first processing element in the operator graph includes a barrier operator that joins the output of one or more upstream operators included on one or more of the plurality of processing elements. Embodiments initiate one or more timeout conditions at the barrier operator. Embodiments also determine, at the first processing element, that one or more timeout conditions have been satisfied before data has been received from each of the one or more upstream operators. Upon determining that the one or more timeout conditions have been satisfied, embodiments generate output data at the barrier operator without the data from at least one of the one or more upstream operators. |
| US08943114B2 |
Method for implementing 32 bit complex multiplication by using 16-bit complex multipliers
An apparatus including a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuit may be configured to receive a first 2N-bit complex number and a second 2N-bit complex number, each having a first format, and to reformat the first and the second 2N-bit complex numbers to a second format such that a lower portion of each real and imaginary part of each 2N-bit complex number is positive. The second circuit may be configured to multiply the first and the second 2N-bit complex numbers using at least one N-bit signed complex multiplier, where N is an integer. |
| US08943113B2 |
Methods and systems for parsing and interpretation of mathematical statements
Methods, systems, and devices are described that provide for entry of hybrid mathematical and natural language statements in a mathematical notation friendly language and system for a rigorous yet practically tractable formal grammar to distill the essence of natural math notation. Hybrid statements mixing natural language and symbolic expressions including assertions, commands, queries, and/or deductions may be entered that are processed according to natural language processing. The statements, along with the math objects are evaluated, and one or more results output. Furthermore, systems may provide automatic construction of one or more solution narratives that can be beneficial to student users pedagogically. |
| US08943112B2 |
Sampling/quantization converters
Provided are, among other things, systems, apparatuses, methods and techniques for converting a continuous-time, continuously variable signal into a sampled and quantized signal. One such apparatus includes an input line for accepting an input signal that is continuous in time and continuously variable, multiple processing branches coupled to the input line, and an adder coupled to outputs of the processing branches. Each of the processing branches includes a continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit, a sampling/quantization circuit coupled to an output of the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit, a digital bandpass filter coupled to an output of the sampling/quantization circuit, and a line coupling an output of the digital-to-analog converter circuit back into the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit. A center frequency of the digital bandpass filter in each the processing branch corresponds to a minimum in a quantization noise transfer function for the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit in the same processing branch. |
| US08943110B2 |
Method and system for managing data storage and access on a client device
A method, apparatus and computer program product for managing data storage and access on a computing device. The computing device is associated with a storage system accessible via a first communication interface and a second communication interface. A unified file system interface facilitates interaction with the computing device and is operable to facilitate interaction with content of the storage system via either of the communication interfaces, as available. The unified file system interface is configured as a file system capable providing access to content of the storage system via alias file paths which are independent of whether the unified file system interface is operating in the first mode or the second mode. |
| US08943108B2 |
Hardware off-load memory garbage collection acceleration
A memory allocation message for each primary memory allocation in a primary memory made by a primary processor is received at a hardware memory management module. A representation of each primary memory allocation is allocated within a second memory in response to each memory allocation message. A determination is made, based upon the allocated representations of each primary memory allocation within the second memory, to free a primary memory allocation in the primary memory. A memory free message is sent to the primary processor instructing the primary processor to free the primary memory allocation in the primary memory. |
| US08943107B2 |
Generating and using temporal metadata partitions
Concepts and technologies are disclosed herein for generating and using temporal metadata partitions. Metadata can be stored in temporal metadata partitions based upon a time range included in the metadata. Furthermore, metadata can be stored in multiple temporal metadata partitions to which the metadata is relevant. As such, metadata can be stored in manner that allows event data to be understood in the context of temporally accurate and/or relevant metadata. Functionality for executing queries of event data and providing results in view of metadata, as well as the merging of multiple temporal metadata partitions also are disclosed. |
| US08943105B1 |
Exposing a proprietary disk file to a hypervisor as a native hypervisor disk file
Exposing a proprietary disk file to a hypervisor as a native hypervisor disk file. In one example embodiment, a method includes various steps. For example, the method includes creating a plugin file corresponding to a proprietary disk file having a proprietary file format. The method also includes intercepting, using a file system filter driver that sits between the hypervisor and a file system where the plugin file is stored, file read requests directed to the plugin file. The method further includes responding, using the file system filter driver, to each of the file read requests with data gathered from the plugin file and/or the proprietary disk file, where the data is structured such that the data appears to be gathered from a native hypervisor disk file due to being formatted in a native file format of the hypervisor. |
| US08943104B2 |
Dynamic record management for systems utilizing virtual storage access method (VSAM) data sets with a corresponding VSAM control block structure
When using virtually stored data sets, such as virtual storage access method (VSAM) data sets, while the data set is open (referred to as an open time) static data set characteristics and/or job parameters have been defined for the VSAM data set. In one approach, even after a data set is opened, a virtually stored control block structure for the data set may be modified, such as by providing a dynamic address space associated with the data set in order to interact with the data set in an environment which allows for a service block request to modify the control block structure, such that data set characteristics and/or job parameters for the data set may be modified during the open time of the data set. |
| US08943103B2 |
Improvements to query execution in a parallel elastic database management system
A database management system implemented in a cloud computing environment. Operational nodes are assigned as controller-nodes, compute-nodes or storage-nodes. The number of operational nodes, and their assignment as compute-nodes or storage-nodes can vary. Queries specify tables, with each such table assigned to a respective group of storage nodes. The number of operational nodes executing a given query may change by (a) changing the compute-nodegroup associated with a connection, or (b) adding or removing nodes from the compute-nodegroup; and/or distributing data from the tables among the nodes in a storage nodegroup. State information is maintained for each client connection, such that steps are executed assuming that the state exists. State changes are recorded during step execution for a given connection, so that subsequent steps from the same connection are executed with the state as left by a prior step, and so that subsequent queries on the same connection are executed with the state as left by the prior query. |
| US08943101B2 |
Keyword acquiring device, content providing system, keyword acquiring method, a computer-readable recording medium and content providing method
A keyword related to a user's interest is acquired. A keyword acquiring device including a tree storage unit that stores a keyword tree obtained by performing hierarchization according to the number of appearances and relevance in advance using a keyword associated with content as a node records a keyword associated with content previously selected by a user as a log, extracts a plurality of keywords based on a predetermined condition from a log corresponding to a certain user recorded in the log, extracts a partial tree including the extracted keywords from the keyword tree, and acquires a keyword in a node having no other lower node as a keyword related to the user's interest. |
| US08943100B2 |
System and method for storing data in a relational database
In a method for storing data in a relational database system using a processor, a collection of values is assigned to a structure dictionary, each of the values represents the value of a row for an attribute and has a unique ordinal number within the collection. and the structure dictionary contains structures defined based on at least one of interaction with a user of the system via an interface, automatic detection of structures occurring in data, automatic detection of frequencies of values occurring in data, analysis of a history of queries, and predetermined information about structures relevant to data content that is stored in the system. For each structure, forming a structure match list from ordinal numbers of values matching the structure, and a structure sub-collection from values matching the structure, using the processor. An outlier match list is formed from ordinal numbers of values that are not null and do not match any structure in the structure dictionary, and an outlier sub-collection is formed from values that are not null and do not match any structure in the structure dictionary. The collection of values is stored in the relational database in a form of structure match lists, structure sub-collections, outlier match list and outlier sub-collection. |
| US08943098B2 |
Managing information about relationships in a social network via a social timeline
A system, method, and computer program for generating a social timeline is provided. A plurality of data items associated with at least one relationship between users associated with a social network is received, each data item having an associated time. The data items are ordered according to the at least one relationship. A social timeline is generated according to the ordered data items. |
| US08943097B2 |
Information management apparatus, information management system, non-transitory computer readable medium that stores information management program and information management method
An information management apparatus includes: a memory storing main information to be stored to be identified by at least an identification code; a receiving unit receiving the identification code for identifying the main information and image information where character information for specifying a user of the main information is photographed; a specifying unit specifying the stored main information on the basis of the identification code and specifying the user on the basis of the character information, among the received image information; a character information photographing region determining unit determining which main character information photographing region the character information belongs to, among plural predetermined character information photographing regions; and an access right assigning unit assigning a predetermined type of access right to the user specified from the character information for each determined character information photographing region. |
| US08943096B2 |
Method and apparatus for storing, sharing, and/or organizing personal information
Embodiments of the subject invention relate to systems and methods for presenting and managing user information. Specific embodiments allow creating, editing, presenting, and storing user information. In a more specific embodiment, the systems and methods can be used to provide a digital safe deposit box (DSDB) that allows users to save, maintain, update, and/or share information about themselves and/or their organization. Specific embodiments provide a personal financial solution that is designed for customers interacting with professional institutions, such as accounting firms, banks, and insurance agencies, and/or interacting with family members and people that may need to access certain documents. Embodiments of the invention provide individuals, based on permission granted/allocated to them, access to specific information, while providing safety from fraud. |
| US08943093B2 |
One-stop shopping system and method
A system and method are disclosed for one-stop shopping for health-care services and related needs. The one-stop shopping system and method provide objective information for the system enrollee to assess and decide on health-care insurance and services. The system and method provide this objective information in a way that is easily accessible by system enrollees in an economical and rapid manner. |
| US08943086B2 |
Model-based backend service adaptation of business objects
The disclosure generally describes computer-implemented methods, software, and systems for allowing model-based backend services adaptations of business objects. One computer-implemented method includes receiving, at a generic interface associated with at least one backend application, a request for data from a particular backend application, identifying a service for execution associated with the received request based at least in part on the received request, identifying a configuration entry associated with the identified service in a configuration table, where the configuration entry defines a set of access-related information associated with at least one business object associated with the backend application, and requesting data from a business logic layer of the backend application based, at least in part, on the access-related information associated with the at least one business object. |
| US08943079B2 |
Apparatus and methods for anonymizing a data set
Methods and systems are disclosed for anonymizing a dataset that correlates a set of entities with respective attributes. The method comprises determine clusters of similar entities. Determining the clusters comprises (1) partitioning the entities into a first group with similar attributes to one another and a complement group of entities with similar attributes to one another and (2) recursively repeating the partitioning on the groups until every group meets one or more criteria. The partitioning a group comprises choosing a reference entity from the group, determining a symmetric set of attributes based on the reference entity attributes and on an average of the group's attributes, and assigning each entity to the first or second group depending on whether its attributes are more similar to those of the reference user or to those of the symmetric set. |
| US08943076B2 |
System to automate mapping of variables between business process applications and method therefor
Profiles associated with two applications are received. Each profile identifies a set of data fields identified by a corresponding full path name. Associations between data fields of the profiles are identified based on mapping pairs included in a full path mapping database, mapping pairs included in a shortest unique path mapping database, and mapping pairs included in a leaf mapping database. A prioritized list of mapping suggestions is provided based on the identified associations. A mapping suggestion can include a data manipulation operation according to information associated with a corresponding mapping pair. |
| US08943074B2 |
Generating and displaying an image tour in response to a user search query
A method, system and a computer program product for generating an image tour in response to a search query in one or more multimedia databases includes determining information corresponding to a first and last image of the image tour by conducting an analysis of the search query. Based on this information, the first and last images satisfying a first pre-defined criteria are identified from the multimedia database. At least one intermediate image satisfying a second pre-defined criteria is identified from one or more videos of the multimedia database based on the identified first and last images. The image tour is generated by placing the identified intermediate images between the first and last images. |
| US08943072B2 |
Determining OEM of rebranded device
Methods and systems obtain manufacturer data from a device being evaluated. The manufacturer data includes a system description, a system object identification, and a device-type description. The system description includes a serial number having a format. The system object identification includes a standards manufacturer field established by a standards organization. The methods/systems evaluate the standards manufacturer field to identify the manufacturer, and rank multiple system object identifications based on the quantity of data within each system object identification. Additionally, the methods/systems match the format of the serial number to known manufacturer serial number formats. The foregoing allows the methods/systems to determine the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the evaluated device based on the manufacturer appearing in the data string, the rank for each system object identification, and the manufacturer appearing in the serial number format match. |
| US08943069B2 |
Knowledge filter
A method and system for sharing knowledge may include receiving information input into a database and organizing items of information in the database. Some embodiments may also include collecting ratings and comments associated with each item of information and allowing users to access and sort items of information according to selected rating criteria in order to find the most reliable and/or valuable information from the database. The described system and method may allow individual members to easily locate the items of information from a collectively generated knowledge base that is presented in accordance with that individual's personal measure of value in the information. |
| US08943065B2 |
Catalog performance and integrity analysis
Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for managing catalog information that can include tracking and reporting search terms used for catalog items searches. According to one embodiment, a procurement application can maintain a log of unique search phrases which returned no search results. For example, the log can maintain records from a specific time period. A count can be maintained to capture how many times a phrase was used for search within the specific time period, and used to rank the frequency of the search phrases. Search phrases that exceed that time period may be purged. The accumulated counts and associated search terms can be provided to the managers periodically and/or upon request in the form of a summary or other graphical and/or textual report or presentation. |
| US08943060B2 |
Systems, methods and apparatus for identifying links among interactional digital data
The invention provides in some aspects methods of digital data processor-based analysis of digital data that represent interactions to identify distinct individuals and/or the entities with which they are affiliated (e.g., households, businesses, social or other groups) involved in those interactions. The methods can be employed, for example, to analyze digital data representing retail purchase, marketing and visitor interactions for tracking and/or reporting purposes. |
| US08943059B2 |
Systems and methods for merging source records in accordance with survivorship rules
According to some embodiments, a plurality of source records may be received from a plurality of data sources, with each source record including a plurality of fields. It may be determined that a match group of source records from different data sources relate to the same entity, and a single best record may be automatically created for the match group based on field values from different source records in the match group. The creating may includes, for example, assigning a first set of fields to a first survivorship group associated with a first survivorship rule and a second set of fields to a second survivorship group associated with a second survivorship rule. All records in the match group may then be simultaneously ranked in accordance with the first and second survivorship rules using a single query. The best record could then be stored for subsequent use by other applications. |
| US08943057B2 |
Method and system for distributed bulk matching and loading
A method for matching bulk data, involving receiving a plurality of input records, performing block distribution on the plurality of input records to obtain a plurality of block records, wherein performing block distribution comprises distributing the plurality of input records to a first plurality of containers, performing concurrent matching operations on the plurality of block records to obtain a plurality of single best records, and loading the plurality of single best records into a master index database. |
| US08943056B2 |
Machine data web
Methods and apparatus consistent with the invention provide the ability to organize and build understandings of machine data generated by a variety of information-processing environments. Machine data is a product of information-processing systems (e.g., activity logs, configuration files, messages, database records) and represents the evidence of particular events that have taken place and been recorded in raw data format. In one embodiment, machine data is turned into a machine data web by organizing machine data into events and then linking events together. |
| US08943051B2 |
Lexical answer type confidence estimation and application
A system, method and computer program product for automatically estimating the confidence of a detected LAT to provide a more accurate overall score for an obtained candidate answer. A confidence “score” or value of each detected LAT is obtained, and the system and method performs combining the confidence score with a degree of match between a LAT and an AnswerType of the candidate answer to provide improved overall score for the candidate answer. |
| US08943050B2 |
Method and apparatus for optimizing directory performance
A method for optimizing directory performance includes receiving a directory service operation. Attempting to respond to the operation using an alternate evaluator. Responding to the operation using a back-end evaluator when the alternate evaluator is not able to respond to the operation. |
| US08943045B2 |
Mechanisms for efficient autocompletion in XML search applications
Mechanisms are described for providing auto-completion capability in a user interface that allows users to search for XML tags and data in a collection of XML documents. A user searching for data in XML documents might not be aware of the entire structure of the data. A path context may be specified for narrowing the search to a particular set of nodes within the documents in the collection. When the user is in the process of typing in an XML tag name, but prior to submitting the tag name to the search engine, the user interface presents an ordered list of completed XML tags that match the prefix typed by the user. The order of the tags in the list reflects the frequency of the completed tags found within the specified path context of the collection of documents. Likewise, when the user is in the process of typing a string of text to be searched for within the value of XML nodes in the set of documents, but prior to submitting the test string to the search engine, the user interface presents an ordered list of completed text strings that match the partially specified text, where the order of the completed text strings reflects their frequency within the specified path context in the collection of documents. |
| US08943035B2 |
Distributing web applications across a pre-existing web
An embodiment is a system and method for a user to organize web content and applications and to share web content and applications with other users. A user may bubble web pages that interest them. The bubbles may be linked or stitched together to form a trail of pages that may not only aid the user to navigate relevant pages, but also be shared with other users. |
| US08943032B1 |
System and method for data migration using hybrid modes
Techniques for data migration of a storage system are described herein. According to one embodiment, a list of files stored in a source storage tier is identified as candidate files to be migrated to a target storage tier based on a migration policy. One of a regular data movement method and a bulk data movement method is selected based on a characteristic of the candidate files. The candidate files are then migrated from the source storage tier to the target storage tier using the selected data movement method. |
| US08943030B2 |
Digital file management system
A method for managing digital content is provided. The method includes accessing the digital content and applying at least one content management rule by a set-top box to the digital content. The content management rule operative to place the digital content in one of a first storage location and a second storage location, which are associated with the set-top box. The digital content may include programs or movies and the storage locations are generally operable to store multiple programs and/or movies. |
| US08943023B2 |
Receiver-side data deduplication in data systems
Methods and apparatus for receiving uploaded data from a sender at a receiver. A data deduplication technique is described that may reduce the bandwidth used in uploading data from the sender to the receiver. In the technique, the receiver, rather than the sender, maintains a fingerprint dictionary for previously uploaded data. When a sender has additional data to be uploaded, the sender extracts fingerprints for units of the data and sends the fingerprints to the receiver. The receiver checks its fingerprint dictionary to determine the data units to be uploaded and notifies the sender of the identified units, which then sends the identified units of data to the receiver. The technique may, for example, be applied in virtualized data store systems to reduce bandwidth usage in uploading data. |
| US08943017B2 |
Method and device for real-time knowledge processing based on an ontology with temporal extensions
Embodiments are directed towards a method and a computer server for receiving assertions, wherein an assertion can have a functional property such that for a given subject and a given property the object has a single value at any time, maintaining a knowledge base that includes (1) a history table that stores previously received assertions, and (2) a snapshot table that stores currently valid assertions, maintaining a snapshot cache in memory that stores a subset of the assertions in the snapshot table, initiating a processing cycle, selecting an assertion for processing, generating an assertion tuple that corresponds to the selected assertion, determining that the property of the selected assertion is functional, writing a retraction tuple to the history table, writing the assertion tuple to the snapshot table; and writing the assertion tuple to the history table. |
| US08943016B2 |
Systems and methods for semantic concept definition and semantic concept relationship synthesis utilizing existing domain definitions
Computer-implemented systems and methods for synthesis of concept definitions and concept relationships from a domain of data, utilizing different semantic processing protocols such as formal concept analysis and faceted classification synthesis from existing domain concepts that have a confidence gradient built into them. A cognitive of an input agent provides an input of an active concept which is matched against existing domain concepts. The resultant pool of relevant domain concepts is then used to derive virtual concept definitions using a semantic processing protocol. The derivation is then overlaid with a concept of relative proximity of an attribute from another within an attribute set. An additional layer of coherence is given by the relative proximity measure. The end result is a pool of related virtual concept definitions in a tree structure. |
| US08943015B2 |
Hierarchical behavioral profile
In a hierarchical profile, each node represents at least one feature of behavioral data collected about an entity profiled, with the topmost node selected as the “statistically most informative” feature of the data. A profile can cover numerous domains and be predictively very powerful in each domain. A number of observations can be “aggregated” together into a single datapoint. In use, the structure of the profile is compared against current information associated with the entity to produce a recommendation or prediction. If the profile represents at least some data aggregation, then new observations are folded into the profile based on statistical weights of the aggregations. Because of the way the profile is created and updated, its hierarchical structure maps the collected observations. Therefore, as new observations are incorporated, if the new observations change the profile's structure significantly, then it can be hypothesized that something “interesting” has happened to the entity. |
| US08943009B2 |
Method of adapting an event processing component having a plurality of event processing agents which carry out a plurality of rules complying with at least one correctness requirement to process a plurality of events
A method of adapting an event processing component. The method comprises designating an event processing component having a plurality of event processing agents which carry out a plurality of rules to process a plurality of events, selecting at least one rules correctness requirement, and automatically adjusting, using a processor, the plurality of event processing rules to comply with the at least one correctness requirement. |
| US08943008B2 |
Apparatus and methods for reinforcement learning in artificial neural networks
Neural network apparatus and methods for implementing reinforcement learning. In one implementation, the neural network is a spiking neural network, and the apparatus and methods may be used for example to enable an adaptive signal processing system to effect focused exploration by associative adaptation, including providing a negative reward signal to the network, which may increase excitability of the neurons in combination with decrease in excitability of active neurons. In certain implementations, the increase is gradual and of smaller magnitude, compared to the excitability decrease. In some implementations, the increase/decrease of the neuron excitability is effectuated by increasing/decreasing an efficacy of the respective synaptic connections delivering presynaptic inputs into the neuron. The focused exploration may be achieved for instance by non-associative potentiation configured based at least on the input spike rate. The non-associative potentiation may further comprise depression of connections that provide input in excess of a desired limit. |
| US08943005B2 |
Metric learning apparatus
A metric learning apparatus memorizes a learning pattern in a feature space and a category which the learning pattern belongs to, performs variable transformation of the learning pattern to a metric space by a transformation matrix, calculates a transformation matrix having a minimum loss value of a loss function in which the loss value is increased when there is a learning pattern belonging to a different category but closer than learning patterns up to kth closest learning pattern in an aggregate of the learning pattern belonging to the same category on the basis of the k-nearest neighbor algorithm and belonging to the same category, and determines that the metric learning is terminated and outputs the transformation matrix corresponding to the minimum loss value when the minimum loss value is at least equal to or smaller than a threshold value. |
| US08943003B2 |
Composite production rules
A method for forming and using a composite production rule may include compiling, by a computer system, a decision table or a decision tree to generate a composite production rule. The method may also include generating the composite production rule and selecting, by the computer system, an algorithm for compiling the composite production rule. The method may additionally include compiling, by the computer system, the composite production rule into an executable program based on pattern matching of the selected algorithm. The method may further include executing, by the computer system, the composite production rule to provide an output based on the composite production rule. |
| US08943001B1 |
Post-paid, single click payments
A deferred payment authorization system that allows users to exercise an instant purchase, deferred payment option for online payment without providing payment information. multiple transaction costs for frequent or recurring purchases can be reduced to a single transaction that can be processed offline at the user's convenience, particularly for small, online purchases made on a frequent or reoccurring basis. |
| US08943000B2 |
Connectivity system for multi-tenant access networks
A system may provide connectivity service in a multi-tenant network. A first node in the multi-tenant network can receive data packets, each of the data packets identifying one of a plurality of tenant devices. The first node can determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with each of the data packets. The first node can determine a Virtual Local Area Network Identifier (VLAN ID) based on the IP address, the VLAN ID being a unique identifier of a respective one of the tenants. The first node can add the VLAN ID of a corresponding one of the tenants into a header of each of the data packets. The first node can transport the data packets to a second node in the multi-tenant network via a multi-tenant network tunnel protocol. |
| US08942999B1 |
Methods systems and computer program products for estimating when taxpayer will receive tax refund
Methods, systems and computer program products for generating and presenting an estimate of when a taxpayer can expect to receive a tax refund. |
| US08942997B2 |
Payment system
Embodiments of the invention provide a method of processing payment authorization requests for payment transactions to be conducted via a data communications network on behalf of online merchants, the payment authorization requests are conducted as a result of orders by financial instrument holders via a plurality of different online merchant systems. Each of the online merchants has an online merchant identity. The method is conducted by a trusted central intermediary system which is arranged to transmit payment authorization requests to each of a plurality of different online merchant Internet Payment Service Provider (IPSP) systems. Each merchant IPSP system is arranged to transmit payment authorization requests to at least one of a plurality of acquiring bank payment processor systems, and each of said plurality of acquiring bank payment processor systems is responsible for processing payment authorizations for at least one of said acquiring banks. Embodiments of the invention enable a user to select a payment method on a per transaction basis, while removing the requirement for the user to provide payment details to individual online merchant systems or to their merchant IPSP systems. Thus, providing that online merchants, or their merchant IPSPs, subscribe to a service arranged to perform the method, users only have to submit their respective payment details, preferably only once, to a separate, trusted entity. |
| US08942996B2 |
Determination of customer proximity to a register through use of sound and methods thereof
A method is disclosed for determining a customer's progress through a checkout line at a store and for correlating customer satisfaction thereto. A mobile electronic device with mobile self checkout software thereon may record and analyze ambient noise to determine when a customer is in a checkout line as well as to track the customer's progress through the checkout line. The software may provide detailed data about the shopping and checkout experience. This information may be correlated to customer satisfaction and used identify particular strengths and weaknesses in the shopping experience offered by a store. |
| US08942995B1 |
Mobile autonomous dynamic graphical user interface
A system and method for generating a mobile autonomous dynamic graphical user interface is described. An illustrative system comprises a location-capable component, a user preference module, a server, a means for generating a display menu, and a wireless formatting engine. The location-capable component determines a location for a wireless device. The user preference module includes a variety of user preferences. The server selects targeted content based on the user preferences and the location of the wireless device. The selected content includes at least one user selectable menu button. A display menu is generated that includes the user selectable button. The wireless formatting engine formats the display menu and selected content for the wireless device. |
| US08942993B2 |
Profile advertisements
In one aspect, this application describes a method for determining personal advertisements for display with personal content in an online social network. The method includes obtaining personal content for a first member of an online social network, and obtaining information that characterizes a personal advertisement that advertises a second member of the online social network. The method also includes comparing the personal content for the first member to the information that characterizes the personal advertisement to determine whether the personal advertisement is related to the personal content for the first member, without determining whether the first member is related to the second member in the online social network. The method also includes providing the personal advertisement for display with the document for the first member in response to determining that the information that characterizes the personal advertisement is related to the personal content for the first member. |
| US08942992B1 |
Dynamic promotion code insertion in contactless payment transaction
A portable electronic device is provided comprising a processor, a memory, a first radio transceiver, a second radio transceiver, and an application stored in the memory that, when executed by the processor, receives a first rule associated with a first commercial promotion via the first radio transceiver. The application also determines, based on the first rule and information specific to the device, that the device is qualified to exercise a right associated with the first commercial promotion. The application also transmits to a server via the first radio transceiver a message indicating that the device has qualified to exercise the right associated with the first commercial promotion and associating a code with the first commercial promotion. The application also completes a payment transaction for one of a product or a service via the second radio transceiver, wherein the payment transaction comprises transmitting the code associated with the first commercial promotion. |
| US08942981B2 |
Natural language call router
A natural language call router forwards an incoming call from a caller to an appropriate destination. The call router has a speech recognition mechanism responsive to words spoken by a caller for producing recognized text corresponding to the spoken words. A robust parsing mechanism is responsive to the recognized text for detecting a class of words in the recognized text. The class is defined as a group of words having a common attribute. An interpreting mechanism is responsive to the detected class for determining the appropriate destination for routing the call. |
| US08942979B2 |
Acoustic processing apparatus and method
An acoustic processing apparatus is provided. The acoustic processing apparatus including a first extracting unit configured to extract a first acoustic model that corresponds with a first position among positions set in a speech recognition target area, a second extracting unit configured to extract at least one second acoustic model that corresponds with, respectively, at least one second position in proximity to the first position, and an acoustic model generating unit configured to generate a third acoustic model based on the first acoustic model, the second acoustic model, or a combination thereof. |
| US08942975B2 |
Noise suppression in a Mel-filtered spectral domain
Techniques are described herein that suppress noise in a Mel-filtered spectral domain. For example, a window may be applied to a representation of a speech signal in a time domain. The windowed representation in the time domain may be converted to a subsequent representation of the speech signal in the Mel-filtered spectral domain. A noise suppression operation may be performed with respect to the subsequent representation to provide noise-suppressed Mel coefficients. |
| US08942972B1 |
Systems and methods for data loss prevention in bilingual text messages with a data loss policy which recognizes only one primary language
A computer-implemented method for data loss prevention may include 1) identifying a network configured with a data loss prevention system including at least one data loss prevention policy directed to textual data expressed in a primary natural language, 2) identifying a textual object subject to a data loss prevention assessment within the network, 3) determining that the textual object includes a textual component that is not expressed in the primary natural language, 4) in response to determining that the textual object includes the textual component, translating the textual component from a secondary natural language that the data loss prevention policy does not recognize into the primary natural language that the data loss prevention policy does recognize, and 5) after translating the textual component into the primary natural language, applying the data loss prevention policy to a modified textual object including the translated textual component. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. |
| US08942971B1 |
Automated project localization into multiple languages by using machine translation
Applications can be localized by localization experts to allow them to be used by a broader customer base. The localization can be done given resource files containing localization resources. A localization resource may contain a programming component and non-programming component. The non-programming component can be sent to a machine localizer. The machine localizer may provide a plurality of localizations corresponding to a plurality of languages based on the non-programming component of the localization resource. A plurality of localized applications can be complied based on the localized non-programming components and the original programming component. |
| US08942966B2 |
Method for parameterizing and morphing stochastic reservoir models
A method for creating a modified realization of a geostatistical model of a subterranean hydrocarbon reservoir is described, which may be used in a history matching process. The modified realization is based on a current realization which is a function of a first uniform random number field. At least one further uniform random number field Ui is created and a linear combination made of the first uniform random number field and the further uniform random number field or fields Ui, together with combination coefficients ri, to derive a modified non-uniform random number field V. A uniform score transformation procedure is then performed, e.g. using an empirical cumulative distribution function, on the modified non-uniform number field V, to derive a modified uniform random number field Umod. A modified realization of the model can then be derived from the uniform random number field Umod. |
| US08942964B2 |
Optical state estimation and simulation environment for unmanned aerial vehicles
The present disclosure relates to a method and system for simulating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and simulating an environment in which the UAV may be flying. A plurality of visual sensors, e.g., cameras, positioned on the UAV, may be simulated. A UAV simulator is configured to simulate the UAV and a graphical simulator is configured to simulate the environment. The UAV simulator may be configured to: estimate pitch, roll and/or groundspeed based, at least in part, on outputs from the visual sensors, determine a position and/or an orientation of the simulated UAV in the simulated environment based, at least in part, on the estimate(s) and provide the position and/or orientation to the graphical simulator. The graphical simulator may be configured to display the simulated UAV at the position and/or orientation in the simulated environment and/or to display the simulated camera view(s). |
| US08942962B2 |
Method and system for measured value simulation
A method, system and computer program product for measured value simulation. The method including the steps of: observing measured values of an event to provide observed values, where the step of observing starts at a predetermined observation time; concurrently running a plurality of simulations, where the simulations have behaviors that are characterized by different parameters and start at the predetermined observation time; producing a discrete distribution at a predetermined timing after the predetermined observation time, where the discrete distribution are based on distances between the measured values provided by the predetermined timing and calculation of the simulations; and producing a second plurality of simulations based on the discrete distribution. |
| US08942957B2 |
Manufacturing system performance analysis tool software architecture
A method for analyzing performance of a manufacturing system includes constructing a descriptive representation of the manufacturing system, selectively binding the descriptive representation to an analytical module using a software isolation layer, invoking the analytical module, and utilizing an output of the analytical module using an end-user application program configured to utilize the output. |
| US08942946B2 |
Test apparatus and information processing system
Provided is a test apparatus that tests a device under test, comprising a test unit that sends and receives signals to and from the device under test; a control apparatus that controls the test unit; and a relay apparatus that relays between the control apparatus and the test unit. The relay apparatus includes a first communicating section that receives a command from the control apparatus to the relay apparatus and transmits the command to the test unit; a second communicating section that receives a return command that is transmitted back to the relay apparatus by the test unit that received the command; and an executing section that executes a process designated by the return command, in response to the second communicating section receiving the return command. |
| US08942943B2 |
Dynamic range improvement for mass spectrometry
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods of controlling an ion detector to minimize false peaks when utilizing extended dynamic range techniques. In one exemplary example, methods of controlling an ion detector are provided, comprising the steps of: determining an electronic baseline signal of the ion detector; receiving one or more ion input signals at the ion detector; comparing the ion input signal to the electronic baseline signal; and multiplying the ion input signal by a selected compensation factor when the ion input signal exceeds the electronic baseline signal. |
| US08942941B2 |
Current-to-voltage converters with dynamic feedback
An apparatus for modifying an output signal indicative of a downhole parameter that may include a carrier conveyable in a wellbore; a negative error compensator; and an output signal device. The negative error compensator may be configured to modify the output of the device to increase or decrease a characteristic of the output signal from the output signal device. Also, a method for modifying an output signal indicative of a downhole parameter that may include modifying a characteristic of an output signal produced by a output signal device in a wellbore using a negative error compensator. |
| US08942939B2 |
Real-time detection system and the method thereof
The invention discloses a real-time detection system for detecting the real-time machining by a rotating machine or rotating quality thereof. The real-time detection system comprises a signal capture module, a preprocessor, a processor and a comparison module. The signal capture module is used to capture a time-sequence signal of the rotating machine. The preprocessor is coupled to the signal capture module for receiving the time-sequence signal and generating a stationary time-sequence signal. The processor is coupled to the preprocessor for receiving the stationary time-sequence signal and calculating a plurality of entropies of the stationary time-sequence signal. The comparison module with an entropy table or a feature judgment mechanism of the entropy variation is coupled to the processor for receiving the plurality of entropy and comparing the plurality of entropy according to the entropy table or the feature judgment of the entropy variation and generating a quality signal. |
| US08942937B2 |
Linear device value estimating method, capacitance detection method, integrated circuit, touch sensor system, and electronic device
A capacitance distribution detection circuit includes a multiplexer, a driver, and a sense amplifier. The multiplexer switches states between a first connection state and a second connection state. The first connection state drives first signal lines in parallel so that voltages are applied, outputs, along second signal lines, a linear sum of electric charges stored in capacitors corresponding to that respective one of the second signal lines, and estimates, a capacitance of capacitors formed along that second signal line. The second connection state drives, the second signal lines in parallel so that voltages are applied, outputs, along the first signal lines, a linear sum of electric charges stored in the capacitors corresponding to that respective one of the first signal lines, and estimates, a capacitance of the capacitors formed along that first signal line. |
| US08942926B2 |
Method for the diagnosis of pathological conditions in animals
A method for diagnosing a disease or pathological condition in a non-human animal. An ion mobility spectrometry measurement (IMS) or a differential mobility spectrometry (DMS) is carried out on a body sample from the animal to determine an amount of ions formed by at least two biogenic amines contained in the sample. A ratio is calculated of the amounts of ions formed by the different biogenic amines in the sample, wherein the ratio is indicative of the presence or absence of the disease or pathological condition. |
| US08942925B2 |
Determination of complex dielectric constants from electromagnetic propagation measurements
A method of determining the dielectric constant of a formation, comprising acquiring phase-related and amplitude-related measurements for electromagnetic signals propagating though the formation from a transmitter to a receiver; deriving a complex-valued quantity comprising terms relating to the phase shift and attenuation of the signals; defining a one-component complex-valued relationship relating the phase shift, attenuation and complex dielectric constant; and using the derived complex-valued quantity in the defined relationship to obtain a calculated value of the complex dielectric constant. An apparatus for determining the dielectric constant of a formation, comprises a transmitter for transmitting electromagnetic signals into the formation; a receiver for receiving the electromagnetic signals that have propagated from the transmitter through the formation; and means for determining the dielectric constant of the formation in accordance with a method according to the first aspect of the invention. |
| US08942924B2 |
Travel guidance system, travel guidance apparatus, travel guidance method, and computer program
A travel guidance system and method are provided. The travel guidance system includes a navigation-route setting unit that sets a navigation route, a guidance junction on the navigation route and a junction acquiring unit that acquires a position of a preceding junction that is located closer to a departure place of the navigation route than the guidance junction. The system also includes a guidance setting unit that sets guidance on the guidance junction and a junction guiding unit that provides guidance on the guidance junction on the basis of the guidance set by the guidance setting unit. The system is configured such that the guidance includes a first phrase for specifying a positional relationship between the movable body and the preceding junction and a second phrase for specifying a positional relationship between the movable body and the guidance junction after the movable body has passed through the preceding junction. |
| US08942921B1 |
Displaying dynamic entertainment information on marquees in street-level imagery
An apparatus provides street-level images that include entertainment information. The apparatus may include a memory that stores at least one street-level image that includes a sign for displaying entertainment information. The sign may be located anywhere in the street-level image and the apparatus may be operative to identify a geometric shape associated with the sign. The geometric shape may define where entertainment information is to be displayed. Moreover, the apparatus may be operative to define different regions within the geometric shape such that the different regions display different types of entertainment information. Moreover, the entertainment information may be selectable by a user such that selection of the entertainment information displays a graphic, audiovisual file, or other media to the user regarding the selected entertainment information. |
| US08942920B1 |
Concepts for determining the accuracy of map data
Computer program products, methods, systems, apparatus, and computing entities are provided for determining the accuracy of map data. In one embodiment, map data and collected telematics data can be compared. The difference between the map data and the telematics data can be used to determine the accuracy of the map data. |
| US08942919B2 |
BEV routing system and method
A battery electric vehicle (BEV) navigation routing system and routing methods are presented, in which a traveling route is determined from the current vehicle location to the destination location by preferentially selecting low speed routes over higher speed routes if the present state of charge of the vehicle battery is insufficient to reach the destination location using shortest time or shortest distance routes. |
| US08942918B2 |
Multiple route pre-calculation and presentation for a vehicle navigation system
A navigation system and related operating methods are provided for instructing an operator of a vehicle. The navigation system obtains a destination location and generates a proposed route to the destination location. The proposed route is defined by one or more driver decision points and associated driving maneuvers. Before the vehicle reaches an approaching driver decision point, the navigation system pre-calculates alternate routes between the approaching driver decision point and the destination location, and saves the alternate routes for subsequent activation. Pre-calculated alternate routes can also be used to determine and indicate the relative importance of an approaching driving maneuver. The driver can consider the importance of driving maneuvers when deciding whether or not to follow the recommended route. |
| US08942913B2 |
System and method for on-road traffic density analytics using video stream mining and statistical techniques
A method and system for analyzing on-road traffic density are provided. The method involves allowing a user to select a video image capturing device and coordinates in a video image frame captured by the video image capturing device such that the coordinates form a region of interest (ROI). The ROI is processed to generate a confidence value and a traffic density value. The traffic density value is compared with a first set of threshold values. Based on the comparison, the traffic density values at different instants in a time window are displayed to enable monitoring of the traffic trend. |
| US08942909B2 |
Control apparatus for internal combustion engine
An intake air quantity information determining arrangement senses or computes one of an intake air quantity and a torque of an internal combustion engine as intake air quantity information. A misfire-avoidance control arrangement executes a misfire-avoidance control operation, which avoids misfire by controlling a throttle opening degree of a throttle valve such that a value of the intake air quantity information does not decrease below a normal combustion threshold value. |
| US08942908B2 |
Primary torque actuator control systems and methods
An engine control system includes a coordinated torque control (CTC) module, a diagnostic module, and an actuator limiting module. The CTC module determines a first position for a throttle valve of a spark-ignition, internal combustion engine and controls opening of the throttle valve based on the first position. The diagnostic module selectively diagnoses an engine shutdown fault and disables the control of the opening of the throttle valve based on the first position when the engine shutdown fault is diagnosed. The actuator limiting module determines a second position for the throttle valve based on an accelerator pedal position, selects a lesser one of the first and second positions, and selectively limits the opening of the throttle valve to the lesser one of the first second positions when the engine shutdown fault is diagnosed. |
| US08942907B2 |
Method of avoiding brake disc scoring in a vehicle
A method for avoiding reducing scoring of the brake disc or the brake drum of a vehicle driven under rainy conditions calculates a product of three parameters, and activates an automatic braking operation for the vehicle, regularly, whenever the product exceeds the pre-determined threshold level. The first parameter is a rain intensity based parameter, a measure of the current raining intensity. The second parameter is a brake-activation-free driving time parameter, representing the time elapsed since the braking system of the vehicle was activated last. The third parameter is a speed parameter, which represents a current speed of the vehicle. As the automatic braking operation is carried out, the particles of dust, water, snow and de-icing substances, adhered to the brake disc of the vehicle, and causing scoring of the brake disc, are quickly removed, thus, reducing disc scoring. |
| US08942904B2 |
Emergency brake assistance system for assisting a driver of a vehicle when setting the vehicle in motion
An emergency brake assistance system includes: a collision risk detection unit (12) to detect a risk of collision with an object in front of the vehicle, based on data from an environment sensor (14) for recording objects in front of the vehicle and data from an accelerator sensor (16) for recording an intention to accelerate by the driver; and a collision avoidance unit (18) to implement measures to prevent a potential collision with the object in front of the vehicle, based on data from the collision risk detection unit. The system temporarily deactivates, for a specified time duration, an override condition of a safety concept of the system when the accelerator sensor records the driver's intention to accelerate and the vehicle speed is below a specified speed threshold. Thus the driver's acceleration command when setting the vehicle in motion temporarily cannot override an automatic actuation of the emergency brake system. |
| US08942903B2 |
Method for predicting the temperature of a wheel bearing of a wheel of a vehicle
A method for predicting the temperature (Tin,p) of a wheel bearing of a vehicle wheel for a future moment (t+Δtp) in relation to a present moment (t) or for a future time interval (t, t+Δtp) in relation to a present moment (t), on the basis of a course of the temperature (Tin) of the wheel bearing in a past time interval (t−Δtb, t) in relation to the present moment (t), the predicted temperature (Tin,p) of the wheel bearing being determined from the sum of the temperature (Tin) of the wheel bearing at the present moment (t) and a corrective value (ΔTP) which is determined according to a change in at least one driving condition, such as the speed (Δvtrain), and a change in the temperature (ΔTb) of the wheel bearing within the past time interval (t−Δtb, t). |
| US08942902B2 |
Apparatus, method and computer program for actuating a disconnect clutch
An apparatus, method and computer for actuating a disconnect clutch which is arranged between a first drive unit and a second drive unit of a hybrid drive and which can be actuated by means of a hydraulic actuating element in order to couple or decouple the first drive unit to or from the rest of a powertrain. This is accomplished by adapting a transmission hydraulic pressure level to a disconnect clutch hydraulic pressure level required for actuating the disconnect clutch by a pressure converter arranged between the actuating element and a hydraulic medium supply for a transmission. |
| US08942901B2 |
Method of controlling a hydraulic control system for a dual clutch transmission
A hydraulic control system for a dual clutch transmission includes a plurality of solenoids and valves in fluid communication with a plurality of clutch actuators and with a plurality of synchronizer actuators. The clutch actuators are operable to actuate a plurality of torque transmitting devices and the synchronizer actuators are operable to actuate a plurality of synchronizer assemblies. Selective activation of combinations of the solenoids allows for a pressurized fluid to activate at least one of the clutch actuators and synchronizer actuators in order to shift the transmission into a desired gear ratio. |
| US08942898B2 |
Range switchover apparatus
In a range switchover control apparatus, a microcomputer checks, under a state that driving force of a motor is released, whether a range switchover mechanism is at rest and whether the range switchover mechanism is at rest in a bottom position, that is, whether an engagement member is fitted deep into a bottom of a range holding recess. If the range switchover mechanism is at rest in the bottom position, an encoder count value at a reference position (bottom position of a P-range) is calculated based on a present range and an encoder count value. By using the present range and the calculated encoder count value, an encoder count value of the bottom position of the present range can be determined. Based on this encoder count value, the encoder count value at the reference position can be calculated. |
| US08942895B2 |
Display system of hydraulic shovel, and control method therefor
A display system in a hydraulic shovel has a calculation unit and a display unit. The calculation unit is configured to calculate a distance between a design surface and a position closest to the design surface among positions of a blade edge of a bucket in a widthwise direction of the blade edge based on positional information for the blade edge and the design surface. The display unit is configured and arranged to display a guidance picture. The guidance picture includes an image showing the positional relationship between the design surface and the blade edge of the bucket, and information indicating the distance between the design surface and the position closest to the design surface. |
| US08942893B2 |
Predictive boom shape adjustment
A boom is attached to an application vehicle for applying a product during an agricultural application. The boom includes one or more sections that can be dynamically adjusted to satisfy one or more adjustment criteria. A boom controller communicates actuation commands to a boom adjustment system to dynamically adjust the shape of the boom. |
| US08942891B2 |
Vehicle interior-exterior structure
A vehicle interior-exterior structure of the present invention is equipped with a main body formed from a resin foam material, a covering formed from a resilient material to cover the main body, and a void formed between the main body and the covering. The vehicle interior-exterior structure is also equipped with a front bumper cover supported by a vehicle body and a pressure sensor that outputs a signal corresponding to the internal pressure of the void. A reaction force is obtained from the main body when a colliding body collides with the location where the void is positioned in the front bumper and the void undergoes compression deformation. The degrees of freedom for the placement position of the void, namely for the placement position of an impact detection region, can accordingly be raised. |
| US08942887B2 |
Machine, exhaust particulate filter system, and method
A machine includes an internal combustion engine, and an exhaust particulate filter system coupled therewith having an exhaust particulate filter for trapping particulates in exhaust from the internal combustion engine. A control system for the exhaust particulate filter includes a sensing mechanism such as an RF soot sensor and a data processor coupled with the sensing mechanism and configured to output a moisture compensation signal responsive to a pattern of inputs from the sensing mechanism indicative of moisture within the exhaust particulate filter, for controlling regeneration thereof. |
| US08942884B2 |
Transport system
A mobile moving system that faculties freight movement includes movable approach ramps and a mobile base. The mobile base includes material handling devices configured to move freight longitudinally between a loading position, a transport position, and an unloading position. Parallel pocket members having a hollow-box-like shape are positioned along a portion of the plurality of the material handling devices to increase the torsional strength and rigidity of the material handling devices. The parallel pocket members are spaced apart and dimensioned so that each of the plurality of parallel pocket members may receive one or more prongs of an industrial vehicle. |
| US08942883B2 |
Sensor messaging systems and methods
A pressure sensor module for a vehicle includes a sensing element module, a sampling module, a filtering module, and a monitoring module. The sensing element module measures a pressure of a fluid and outputs a pressure signal based on the pressure. The sampling module samples the pressure signal. The filtering module receives at least one filter coefficient from a control module and determines a filtered pressure based on at least one of the samples. The monitoring module receives a condition monitoring request from the control module, receives a predetermined value from the control module, and notifies the control module when a condition is satisfied based on a comparison of the predetermined value and one of the filtered pressure and a parameter determined based on the pressure signal. |
| US08942882B2 |
Vehicle health management systems and methods
Systems and methods for managing the exchange of vehicle information between software modules with different safety importance. In one embodiment, a vehicle health management system includes a mission critical software module, a flight critical software module and a gatekeeper. The mission critical software module receives vehicle state information and provides it to the flight critical software module if the gatekeeper confirms the validity of the vehicle information. |
| US08942879B2 |
Hybrid drive device
A hybrid drive device having an input member drivingly coupled to an internal combustion engine. Control is performed so that motor torque output by the motor produces at least a part of inertia torque needed for rotation change of input-related members during the shifting. The control device limits the motor torque in an inertia phase during the shifting to a set value that has been set to or below a value having a smaller absolute value between values of performance limit torque of the motor at times before and after the shifting, sets a target input rotational speed of the input member during the shifting, and controls the engagement state of the friction engagement elements that control the rotation change of the input-related members in the inertia phase so as to generate the inertia torque calculated from the target input rotational speed in the input-related members. |
| US08942878B2 |
Method for providing information relating to the operational state of a motor vehicle to a driver and motor vehicle having a control unit for carrying out the method
A method provides information relating to the operational state of a motor vehicle to a driver. The motor vehicle has at least one electric motor operating with a fixed gear ratio for driving the motor vehicle. During operation of the electric motor a virtual speed and a virtual gear-shift stage are continuously determined from at least one first operating parameter describing the operational state of the motor vehicle and an acoustic output, in particular an output of an engine noise, takes place on the basis of the virtual speed and the virtual gear-shift stage. |
| US08942875B2 |
System and method for determining state of charge display segments and range
A method and a system for changing the segments of an SOC indicator of a vehicle at non-linear rates or for changing the number of the segments in an on state more slowly when the SOC is high or low as opposed to when the SOC is in the middle range. The system can be implemented with a vehicle including a battery, a sensor, a processor, a controller and a display. The method may include determining a display SOC based on the SOC of the vehicle, providing, by a display, three sets of lights including a low-SOC set, a middle-SOC set, and a high-SOC set, each light is illuminated or de-illuminated based on whether the display SOC has changed by an amount greater than the light's assigned power increment or decrement, where the middle-SOC power increments and decrements are less than the low-SOC or high-SOC power increments and decrements. |
| US08942868B2 |
Train end and train integrity circuit for train control system
A train system that includes a plurality of train units including a first train unit and second train unit coupled together. Each first and second train unit includes a controller configured to detect a change in train configuration of the train units, and comprising a plurality of inputs; train integrity signal lines spanning each train unit and coupled with the controller at the plurality of inputs and configured to transmit signals between a front end and a rear end of the train system, the signals indicating a status of train integrity of the train system; and a plurality of relays in communication with the controller, and configured to indicate a coupling or non-coupling status of each train unit. |
| US08942864B2 |
Vehicle control system
A vehicle control system includes: a communication device provided in a vehicle to receive information relating to another vehicle from outside the vehicle; and a control device that performs travel control on the vehicle on the basis of information pertaining to a transfer function for a control target value used during travel control of the other vehicle and the control target value of the other vehicle, which is obtained via the communication device of the vehicle. Further, a vehicle control system includes: a communication device provided in a vehicle; and a control device that performs travel control using information relating to another vehicle, which is received from outside the vehicle via the communication device, wherein the communication device transmits information pertaining to a transfer function for a control target value used during the travel control. |
| US08942863B2 |
Worksite position control system having integrity checking
A position control system for use with a mobile machine at a worksite is disclosed. The control system may have a location receiver configured to generate a location signal indicative of an actual location of a base station, a communication device configured to wirelessly communicate with the mobile machine, and a controller in communication with the location receiver and the communication device. The controller may be configured to store an assumed location of the base station in memory, make a comparison of the location signal with the assumed location, and selectively generate a control instruction for the mobile machine based on the comparison. |
| US08942862B2 |
Method and system for guiding a robotic garden tool to a predetermined position
The present invention relates to a method (400) and a system (100) for guiding a robotic garden tool to a predetermined position. The robotic garden tool includes a control unit (104) and a sensor unit (102) to detect guiding signals. The sensor unit (102) detects a first guiding signal (110) from a first signal source (106) and the robotic garden tool follows the first guiding signal (110) at a variable distance from the first signal source (106) towards the predetermined position. While within a predetermined distance (D) from the predetermined position, the sensor unit (102) detects a second guiding signal (112) from a second signal source (108). Within the predetermined distance (D), the robotic garden tool follows one of the first and the second guiding signals (110 or 112) towards the predetermined position at a pre-configured distance from the corresponding signal source. |
| US08942855B2 |
Power distribution system
A power distribution system for distributing an electric power charged in a battery to a plurality of dwelling units includes a power generation device which has a independent power generation function and is configured to generate an electric power and charge the battery with at least a part of the electric power thus generated, a first control device having a residual amount measuring unit for measuring a residual amount of the electric power charged in the battery and a plurality of second control devices which are provided in a corresponding relationship with the dwelling units and make communications with the first control device. The first control device is configured to adjust an amount of the electric power supplied from the battery to the dwelling units based on a measurement result of the residual amount measuring unit and information received from each of the second control devices. |
| US08942854B2 |
System and method for identifying electrical devices in a power management system
Some embodiments relate to a method of identifying electrical devices in a power management system. The method includes accessing a controller using a server that includes identifiers of the electrical devices. The controller is electrically connected (directly or indirectly) to the electrical devices. The method further includes exchanging data between the server and the controller to correlate the identifiers with the electrical devices. The potential identifiers that may be used to correlate the identifiers with the electrical devices may be stored in an identifier database on the server. In some embodiments, the identifiers of the electrical devices may also be stored in an identifier database on the controller. |
| US08942851B1 |
Talon robot integrated accessory device
A device which permits two additional tools to be attached to the robot arm of a Talon® robot with remote operation of these same tools, from the existing operator control unit. The invention permits an operator to merely carry two tools down range while preserving full use of the robot's gripper, and then allow an operator to remotely use those two tools. These do not increase the amount of space the robot occupies, and still allow for continued use of existing equipment. |
| US08942845B2 |
Robot
A robot includes a gripping section and a main body section to which the pair of finger sections are attached, having one end sections of the pair of finger sections rotatably connected to each other around a first rotating shaft disposed at a position separate from the main body section, and adapted to open and close the pair of finger sections by swinging the other side of the pair of finger sections on a plane parallel to a mounting surface on which an object is mounted centered on the first rotating shaft to thereby grip the object, a moving device adapted to relatively move the object and the gripping section, and a control device adapted to control the moving device to move the gripping section relatively toward the object, and grip the object with the gripping section at at least three contact points. |
| US08942842B2 |
Varying optical coefficients to generate spectra for polishing control
A method of generating a library of reference spectra includes storing an optical model for a layer stack having at a plurality of layers, receiving user input identifying a set of one or more refractive index functions and a set of one or more extinction coefficient functions a first layer from the plurality of layers, wherein the set of one or more refractive index functions includes a plurality of different refractive index functions or the set of one or more extinction coefficient functions includes a plurality of different extinction coefficient functions, and for each combination of a refractive index function from the set of refractive index functions and an extinction coefficient function from the set of extinction coefficient functions, calculating a reference spectrum using the optical model based on the refractive index function, the extinction coefficient function and a first thickness of the first layer. |
| US08942841B2 |
Lens storage unit with programmable and communication elements for monitoring the condition of lenses and their response to geo-social phenomena
The present invention provides for a programmable processor in a ophthalmic lens storage unit for contact lenses. The processor can be in logical connection with a plurality of sensors that can provide data and a digital storage for storing the data and using it via executable software for lens monitoring. In some embodiments, the processor is additionally operative via the executable software to correlate geo-social phenomena with the optical performance of a lens. |
| US08942838B2 |
Measurement systems analysis system and method
This disclosure provides a method and system for measurement system analysis (MSA) that present a structured and effective way of performing an MSA. The MSA system and method involves determination of a category of MSA for a measurement system based on an application of the measurement system, a quantification of measurement variation, calculation of a decision rule value based on the quantified measurement variation and a decision rule associated with the determined category, a determination of whether the measurement system is capable of performing MSA for the category based on a comparison of the calculated decision rule value and a decision rule threshold value, and applying a measurement system determined as capable for performing MSA to manage. |
| US08942837B2 |
Method for inspecting a manufacturing device
A method is provided for inspecting a plurality of parts with an electronic measurement device and a processing system. The method includes a step of creating surface geometry maps of the parts utilizing the electronic measurement device, where each part was manufactured utilizing the manufacturing device. Geometric part models of the parts are generated from the surface geometry maps. The part models can subsequently be analyzed to determine whether a manufacturing device that manufactured the plurality of parts manufactures parts that comply with a part design specification. |
| US08942833B2 |
Display device with stepwise display scale control, stepwise control method of the display scale on a display device, and computer program for stepwise control of the display scale of a display device
Control devices, methods, and programs set a final control value by smoothly shifting from the control value to a final control value. The devices, methods, and programs specify an operation amount of a user operation with respect to a prescribed control value, and access a pre-change control value that is a value of the control value before a completed change. Based on the accessed pre-change control value and the specified operation amount of the user operation, devices, methods, and programs set a final control value by changing the control value in a stepwise manner from the pre-change control value to the final control value within a prescribed control value range. |
| US08942831B2 |
Distributed input/output control systems and methods
Apparatus and methods for controlling a system that operates responsive to a plurality of input control signals are disclosed. During operation the system generates a plurality of output status/control signals. A master controller has at least first and second controllers. The first controller outputs and inputs signals over a first communication path, and the second controller outputs and inputs signals over a second communication path. The first and second controllers output signals based on input signals received over the first and second communication paths, respectively, and also based on stored control data. A plurality of input/output modules are provided. Each of the input/output modules has first and second slave controllers. The first slave controller of each of the input/output modules inputs and outputs signals over the first communication path to the first controller, and the second slave controller outputs and inputs signals over the second communication path. Each of the first slave controllers outputs and inputs signals to and from a first input/output circuit, and each of the second slave controllers outputs and inputs signals to and from a second input/output circuit. Each of the input/output modules also includes a combiner circuit. At least some of the input control signals for controlling the system are generated by the combiner circuit of each input/output module based on signals output from both the first and second input/output circuits. The output control signals for controlling the system are generated based on output status/control signals from the system that are coupled to each of the first and second input/output circuits of the input/output modules. |
| US08942828B1 |
Minimally invasive cardiovascular support system with true haptic coupling
A family of minimally-invasive surgical (MIS) cardiac interventional tools with tactile feedback based upon cardiac mechanical data and physiologic parameters derived from sensors positioned upon the tools are configurable for optimal placement of an end-effector to provide acute cardiac resuscitation and/or remote cardiovascular intervention for a subject. A haptic interface (e.g., a haptic handle, haptic glove or a simulated haptic heart) provides a clinician with real, not virtual, interaction with the cardiovascular anatomy (including intrathoracic organs) of the subject to optimize end-effector placement. The MIS tools optionally include webbed blade portions for exploration of extracardiac or intrathoracic spaces. The blade portions are initially collapsed but expand into an array of finger-like projections that function as sensors, dilatation and/or dissection tools, pharmacological delivery tools, and/or electrodes for sensing, pacing and defibrillation, and/or as a manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic mechanical support system for cardiac resuscitation and/or for restoring intrathoracic organ function(s). |
| US08942827B2 |
Multizone epicardial pacing lead
A multizone epicardial pacing lead (10) having a lead body (12) with a proximal connector (14) for coupling to a generator of an active implantable medical device and, distally, an anchor to an epicardium wall and an active part comprising a plurality of stimulation electrodes, coming into contact with, or penetrating, the epicardium wall. This active part comprises a distributor housing (16) and a network of flexible microcables (18) radiating from the housing. Each microcable is formed of an electrically insulated conductor comprising at least one denuded area (20), each of these areas forming a stimulation electrode. |
| US08942824B2 |
Spatially selective vagus nerve stimulation
By targeting on selected branches or fascicles of a vagus nerve using electrode placement and/or selection, one or more target branches of the vagus nerve are substantially activated by electrical stimulation pulses delivered to a branch without substantially activating one or more non-target branches. In one embodiment, vagus nerve stimulation is delivered through an electrode placed on a thoracic vagus nerve that is separated from a recurrent laryngeal nerve, such that the vagus nerve is stimulated without causing laryngeal muscle contractions. In another embodiment, vagus nerve stimulation is delivered through a multi-contact electrode with one or more contacts selected for delivering the electrical stimulation pulses to stimulate the vagus nerve without causing laryngeal muscle contractions. |
| US08942823B2 |
Medical devices including polyisobutylene based polymers and derivatives thereof
The present invention is directed to a medical electrical lead including an insulative lead body formed, at least in part, from a polyisobutylene urethane, urea or urethane/urea copolymer. In some applications, the lead body can include at least one outer tubular insulator and/or an inner elongated member formed from a polyisobutylene urethane, urea or urethane/urea copolymer. Portions of the lead body formed form the polyisobutylene urethane, urea or urethane/urea copolymer can be either extruded or molded. |
| US08942820B2 |
Implantable electrode lead
An implantable electrode lead comprising an electric supply lead. The electric supply lead is designed to assume, after implantation of the electrode lead in a deformable supply lead section, a shape that is changed such that it induces higher inductance in the deformable supply lead section after deformation than before deformation, wherein the inductance is at least 0.1 μH. The implantable electrode lead can also comprise an outer sleeve within which the supply lead is disposed. The electric supply lead is designed to assume, after implantation of the electrode lead in a deformable supply lead section, a shape that has changed compared to the original shape thereof. The supply lead is also designed and disposed inside the sleeve such that the supply lead, in the deformable supply lead section thereof, is deformable relative to the outer sleeve and inside the outer sleeve. |
| US08942818B2 |
Communication with an implantable medical device during implantation
A system and method are described for delivering an implantable medical device in a patient and through a catheter. The delivery catheter comprises telemetry means for communicatively coupling the implantable medical device with an external instrumentation during implantation. |
| US08942816B2 |
Implantable electroacupuncture device and method for treating dyslipidemia
An Implantable ElectroAcupuncture Device (IEAD) treats dyslipidemia conditions of a patient through application of stimulation pulses applied at acupoint ST40, or its underlying nerves saphenous and peroneal. The IEAD comprises an implantable, coin-sized, self-contained, leadless electroacupuncture device having at least two electrodes attached to an outside surface of its housing. The device generates stimulation pulses in accordance with a specified stimulation regimen. Power management circuitry within the device allows a primary battery, having a high internal impedance, to be used to power the device. The stimulation regimen generates stimulation pulses during a stimulation session of duration T3 minutes applied every T4 minutes. The duty cycle, or ratio T3/T4, is very low, no greater than 0.05. The low duty cycle and careful power management allow the IEAD to perform its intended function for several years. |
| US08942812B2 |
Corpus callosum neuromodulation method
Neuromodulation assemblies with lead bodies having curvatures that mimic the curvatures of the splenium, trunk, genu, or rostrum of the corpus callosum. Methods of stimulating the corpus callosum and methods of securing an electrical lead in the brain are also provided. |
| US08942808B2 |
Stimulation paradigm to improve blood pressure dipping in an implantable electroacupuncture device
A coin-sized implantable electroacupuncture (EA) device defines a stimulation paradigm, or stimulation regimen, that controls when EA stimulation pulses are applied to a selected acupoint, or other specified tissue location, to treat hypertension or nondipping. The stimulation regimen is applied when the patient is sleeping in order to minimize or mitigate the occurrence of nondipping or reverse dipping of the patient's blood pressure. In one embodiment, medical personnel, set a timing reference marker at the time of implant that defines how much time should elapse before a nighttime stimulation window opens that allows an EA stimulation session to be applied to the patient. In another embodiment, the patient sets the time when the nighttime stimulation window opens or when the EA stimulation session begins. Typically, an EA stimulation session is applied to the patient at a low duty cycle, e.g., only once a week during the nighttime. |
| US08942805B2 |
Method and apparatus for right ventricular resynchronization
An apparatus comprises a cardiac signal sensing circuit and a first implantable electrode pair. At least one electrode of the first implantable electrode pair is configured for placement at a location in a right branch of a His bundle of the subject. The apparatus can include a therapy circuit and a control circuit. The control circuit can include an AH delay calculation circuit configured to calculate an optimal paced AH delay interval. The pacing stimulation location is distal to a location of RV conduction block in a right branch of the His bundle. The control circuit initiates delivery of an electrical stimulation pulse to the stimulation location in the His bundle according to the calculated paced AH delay interval and in response to an intrinsic depolarization event sensed in an atrium of the subject. |
| US08942804B2 |
Mechanism for detecting coronary ischemia
A system for detecting myocardial ischemia includes an implantable device having one or more leads connected thereto, at least one electrode on a lead of the device, and a microprocessor in the implantable device. The electrode is configured to stimulate the heart. The at least one sensor is configured to measure a characteristic of blood in a coronary vessel. The microprocessor is programmed to: run a stress test on the heart by stimulating the heart with the electrode; record data obtained from the at least one sensor during the stress test; and determine whether there is myocardial ischemia based upon the recorded data. |
| US08942803B1 |
System and method for distinguishing manual from automated CPR
A system and method for use during the administration of CPR chest compressions and defibrillating shock on a cardiac arrest victim. The system analyzes compression waveforms from a compression depth monitor to determine the source of chest compressions, and enables the delivery of defibrillating shock during a compression cycle if the compression waveforms are characteristic of an automated CPR chest compression device. |
| US08942802B2 |
Method for discriminating between ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias
The present invention is directed toward a detection architecture for use in implantable cardiac rhythm devices. The detection architecture of the present invention provides methods and devices for discriminating between arrhythmias. Moreover, by exploiting the enhanced specificity in the origin of the identified arrhythmia, the detection architecture can better discriminate between rhythms appropriate for device therapy and those that are not. |
| US08942801B2 |
Surgical access system and related methods
A surgical access system including a tissue distraction assembly and a tissue refraction assembly, both of which may be equipped with one or more electrodes for use in detecting the existence of (and optionally the distance and/or direction to) neural structures before, during, and after the establishment of an operative corridor to a surgical target site. |
| US08942798B2 |
Alternative operation mode for an implantable medical device based upon lead condition
A method, apparatus, and system for determining an adverse operational condition associated with a lead assembly in an implantable medical device used for providing a therapeutic electrical signal to a cranial nerve. A first impedance associated with the lead assembly configured to provide the therapeutic electrical signal to a cranial nerve is detected. A determination is made as to whether the first impedance is outside a first predetermined range. A second impedance is detected. The detection of the second impedance is performed within a predetermined period of time from the time of the detection of the first impedance. A determination is made as to whether the second impedance is outside a second predetermined range. If the first impedance is outside the first range and the second impedance is outside the second range, the implantable medical device is prevented from providing the therapeutic electrical signal. |
| US08942792B2 |
ECG calculation method for use in generating 12 lead ECG measurements from devices that have less than 10 electrodes
A method for generating an ECG measurement associated with a point on a patient's body such as one of the precordial points is disclosed for use with an apparatus that cannot make contact with the leg and the point simultaneously. The method includes simultaneously recording a hand signal and a leg signal during a first time period. The hand signal is also measured during a second time period together with a chest signal corresponding to one of the precordial points. A signal representing the leg signal in the second time period is then computed from the first time period data. A reference signal is then generated from the hand signal and computed leg signal during the second time period. The reference signal is then combined with the chest signal to provide the corresponding precordial signal. |
| US08942786B2 |
Tracking using field mapping
Methods and systems for determining the position of an object, such as tracking the position of one or more catheters in a patient's heart cavity are disclosed herein. |
| US08942785B2 |
Selectable orientation bent tip calibration-free probe
A probe is provided. The probe may include a shaft portion rotatably attachable to a position sensing device, a nonlinear portion at least partially removed from a center axis of the shaft portion, and a tip disposed at a distal end of the nonlinear portion and positioned on the center axis. The nonlinear portion may be selectably rotatable about the center axis to one of a plurality of rotational orientations. The tip may have a substantially constant position relative to the position sensing device. |
| US08942784B2 |
Therapy delivery system including a navigation element
An electromagnetic receiver assembly is included in a navigation element for a therapy delivery system. If the system is modular, the navigation element may be an insertable module thereof and/or include a lumen to receive another insertable module. |
| US08942783B2 |
Stochastic resonance and brownian motion for the reduction of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Inventive embodiments include a system for preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in an infant, by the application of Stochastic Resonance neurological stimuli. The system includes a crib mattress and copper noise grids, wherein the copper noise grids are embedded in the crib mattress. The system also includes a mechanism for generating time controlled white noise and time controlled cyclic signals, combined with a multitude of varying frequencies and harmonics, wherein the mechanism is adjustable for measured local (near crib) white noise power density levels, the mechanism further adjustable for diurnal and seasonal white noise power density level changes. The system also includes circuitry effective for producing positive and negative adjustable DC voltage levels. |
| US08942781B2 |
Medical system comprising a percutaneous probe
The percutaneous probe, made in MRI-compatible materials, comprises: a body percutaneously inserted into the tissue of a patient's body organ (8) having a region (10) to be analyzed, treated and monitored during a single medical procedure; at least one information collection sensing device (30,33,34); treatment application transducers (30) 360° disposed to emit focused or defocused therapeutic ultra-sound waves. The computerized system comprises a parametrizable command device (50) adapted to simulate then command a generation of the therapeutic ultra-sound waves, and to monitor the treatment by thermal MRI images. |
| US08942779B2 |
Monitoring a condition of a subject
Apparatus and methods are described, including a method for detecting an onset of a hypoglycemia episode in a subject. One or more critical parameters for hypoglycemia are monitored without contacting the subject. A variation of at least one of the critical parameters is detected, and an alarm is activated when at least one of the critical parameters deviates from an accepted value. Other applications are also described. |
| US08942778B2 |
Analyte monitoring sensor system for monitoring a constituent in body tissue
The invention generally relates to a sensor system. In particular to a sensor for glucose monitoring. The invention also also relates to an arrangement and a method for monitoring a constituent and in particular glucose in body tissue using a sensor system. |
| US08942777B2 |
Signal processing apparatus
The present invention involves a method and an apparatus for analyzing measured signals, including the determination of a measurement of correlation in the measured signals during a calculation of a physiological parameter of a monitored patient. Use of this invention is described in particular detail with respect to blood oximetry measurements. |
| US08942776B2 |
Physiological monitoring methods
A method of monitoring a subject includes attaching a sensor module having at least one optical emitter and detector to a body of the subject, delivering light from the at least one optical emitter into the body of the subject via a first light guide that is in optical communication with the at least one optical emitter, and collecting light from the body of the subject via a second light guide that is in optical communication with the at least one optical detector. The first light guide has a proximal end optically coupled to the at least one optical emitter and delivers light from the at least one optical emitter via a distal end thereof. The second light guide has a proximal end optically coupled to the at least one optical detector and collects light from the body of the subject via the distal end thereof. |
| US08942775B2 |
Handheld apparatus and method for the automated application of cosmetics and other substances
An applicator head is provided for a reflectance modifying agent (RMA) applicator is moved across the skin by means of a floating ring having dispersed raised contact points to maintain a proper distance from the surface to be treated, reduce the influence of outside light during scanning, and limit smudging during deposition. During an application session, software on the computer uses a camera to sense aspects of color and texture on human features, calculates cosmetic enhancements, and uses the printer head to apply RMA precisely to the features to create those enhancements. Skin landmarks are used for registration. The head uses differential lighting by providing a sequence of directional lighting, with some exposures left dark to adjust for ambient light leakage. The exposures are co-synchronized in stacks, where each stack is a grouping of data about a particular instant of time during the scanning. |
| US08942769B2 |
Mobile electronic device
According to an aspect, a mobile electronic device includes a projector, a display unit, a detector, and a processing unit. The projector projects a first image. The display unit displays a second image related to the first image. The detector detects a variation of an attitude. When the variation of the attitude is detected by the detector, the processing unit applies a variation to the first image in association with the variation of the attitude. Then, the processing unit varies the second image in association with the variation of the first image. |
| US08942762B1 |
Adjustment of communication parameters in a coverage area based on prevalence of eCSFB devices in the coverage area
Disclosed herein are methods and systems that may help to adjust, e.g., CDMA paging and access parameters in a coverage area, based on the prevalence of devices that are configured for enhanced circuit switch fallback (eCSFB) in the coverage area. For example, a base station in a radio access network (RAN) may: (a) determine a measure CSFB-device prevalence in a coverage area, (b) use the measure of CSFB-device prevalence in the coverage area as a basis for adjusting one or more parameters for communications with via a first channel (e.g., a CDMA paging or access channel), and (c) apply the one or more adjusted parameters to communications with devices via the first channel. |
| US08942759B2 |
Detected information correction apparatus and method
A detected information correction apparatus configured to correct detected information, includes: a usage status detecting configured to detect status information on the basis of detected information detected by one or more sensors, the status information indicating how a portable apparatus is being used; a correction data acquiring configured to acquire correction data at specific timing intervals, the correction data being used to correct the detected information; and a detected information correcting configured to correct the detected information with the correction data. |
| US08942758B2 |
Method and device for link-characteristic based selection of supporting access nodes
For uplink cooperation of a serving access node (100-1) one or more supporting access nodes (100-2) are selected. The selection is based on a characteristic of a link between a terminal (200) served by the serving access node (100-1) and the supporting access node (100-2), or is based on a characteristic of a link between a further terminal (200′) served by the supporting access node (100-2) and the serving access node (100-1). The characteristics of the links may comprise a signal quality, e.g. a path gain, a signal strength, or a latency. The characteristics of the links may also comprise scheduling information, e.g. time resources and/or frequency resources used on the link. |
| US08942757B2 |
Device and method for base stations dynamic clustering in mobile communication
Disclosed are a communication control device, a communication control method and the system thereof, which provide efficient multi-base station joint services in a mobile communication system using dynamic clustering. Optimal base station clustering is chosen according to the communication state between a terminal and each base station. The communication control device connects with multiple base stations through a network, and clusters the multiple base stations dynamically so that the clustered multiple base stations can provide services for the mobile terminal in union. The communication control device comprises: an interface, connecting with multiple base stations, receiving channel state information related to the mobile terminal from each base station; a memory unit, storing the channel state information of the mobile terminal received from the interface; a control unit, clustering each base station dynamically according to the channel state information of the mobile terminal stored in the memory unit. |
| US08942756B2 |
Uplink power control scheme
An uplink power control technique may include a simplified maximum sector throughput (SMST) and a generalized maximum sector throughput (GMST). The SMST and GMST techniques may be used to determine a maximum sector throughput and cell-edge throughput to enhance the overall efficiency of the communication system. The uplink power control technique may determine the optimal uplink power value without collecting interference over thermal noise and without computing the individual channel losses in each neighboring sector. |
| US08942753B2 |
Telecommunications network node and methods
A telecommunications network node and methods are disclosed. The method is for generating, by genetic programming, evolved algorithms for adjusting base station transmission power to control coverage of a cell to assist in providing desired base station operating characteristics. The method comprises the steps of: generating, using predetermined functions and terminals defined in a functions and terminals list, a plurality of evolved algorithms each of which determine whether, for any particular base station operating conditions, to adjust said base station transmission power; determining a fitness level indicative of each evolved algorithm's ability to adjust base station transmission power to control coverage to achieve said desired base station operating characteristics under expected operating conditions; and iteratively performing said steps of generating and determining to generate further evolved algorithms using at least one of said evolved algorithms determined to have achieved a particular fitness level. In this way, it can be seen that algorithms can be assembled and then tested to see how suitable they are at controlling base station power to achieve particular operating characteristics under particular operating conditions. Those algorithms which are determined to be the best at achieving those characteristics under those particular operating conditions may then be used to generate further algorithms which, in turn, are also then assessed. Hence, those individual algorithms which are suited to the operating characteristics and the operating conditions can rapidly be generated thereby avoiding the need to manually design new algorithms which are specialized to particular environments. |
| US08942752B2 |
Apparatus and method for cluster based opportunistic power control in wireless communication system
An apparatus and a method for a cluster-based power control at a macro base station in a wireless communication system are provided. The method includes broadcasting an interference allowance value determined based on a predefined aggregate interference to a femto cell, updating the interference allowance value with consideration of a channel activity for each femto cell group on a cluster basis, and when detecting a change in an aggregate interference generated due to femto cell power allocation, repeating determination of an interference allowance value so that a Quality of Service (QoS) of a macro cell user is met, and broadcasting the interference allowance value to a femto cell. |
| US08942750B2 |
Power control in a mobile device
A method and apparatus for controlling transmit power in a mobile wireless device connected simultaneously to two or more cells in a wireless network are described. The mobile wireless device is connected simultaneously to a first cell in the wireless network through a high speed data connection and to a second cell in the wireless network through a low speed voice connection. The mobile wireless device executes received transmit power up and transmit power down control commands received from the first cell. The mobile wireless device executes transmit power up control commands and ignores transmit power down control commands received from the second cell. |
| US08942746B2 |
Resource management and admission control for non-members of a closed subscriber group in home radio access networks
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate resource management and admission control with respect to non-members of a closed subscriber group associated with femto access points. A set of parameters can be provisions to a femto access point, wherein the set of parameters specify an access mode, a maximum number of concurrent non-members, and/or a maximum amount of resources assignable to non-members. The femto access point can implement resource scheduling decisions and/or access control decisions in accordance with the set of parameters. |
| US08942743B2 |
iALERT enhanced alert manager
iAlert_Enhanced_Alert_Manager enables a user to register an interest in their current location, as well as persons, places and/or things in which the user holds some regard. The iAlert_Enhanced_Alert_Manager provides notification and clarifying information to user's devices concerning events/happenstance that have occurred or are likely to occur within a proximity of registered persons, places, and/or things. The iAlert_Enhanced_Alert_Manager comprises data structures (e.g. an Affinity Table, a SPIN table, a SPIN-List Table, an Affinity-List Table, and a Keyword-List Table) to manage affinities, Spheres of Influence (SPINs), and relationships therebetween that may positively or negatively induce a person. Timely notification of events/happenstance to a user comprises the computation of iEvent-vectors and iAlert-vectors. An iEvent-vector contains fields pertaining to events/happenstance whereas an iAlert-vector comprises information pertaining to notifications. Transmission of a notification is determined as a function of the magnitude of an event/happenstance and the proximity of an event/happenstance to registered objects of interest. |
| US08942734B2 |
Apparatus and method for peripheral device control in portable terminal
An apparatus and a method for a peripheral device control in a portable terminal are provided. In the method for the peripheral device control in the portable terminal, the method includes selectively changing a communication path between a communication modem and a storage to a communication path between a controller and the storage by controlling a switch when the communication modem is turned off, determining information necessary for the peripheral device control through the communication path between the controller and the storage and controlling the peripheral device when the information satisfies a control condition. |
| US08942733B2 |
System and method for location based exchanges of data facilitating distributed location applications
Provided is a distributed system and method for enabling new and useful location dependent features and functionality to mobile data processing systems. Mobile data processing systems (MSs) interact with each other as peers in communications and interoperability. Data is shared between mobile data processing systems to carry out novel Location Based eXchanges (LBX) of data for new mobile applications. Information which is transmitted inbound to, transmitted outbound from, or is in process at, a mobile data processing system, is used to trigger processing of actions in accordance with user configured permissions, charters, and other configurations. In a preferred embodiment, a user configurable platform is provided for quickly building well behaving LBX applications at MSs and across a plurality of interoperating MSs. |
| US08942732B2 |
Location based exchange operating system
Provided is a distributed system and method for enabling new and useful location dependent features and functionality to mobile data processing systems. Mobile data processing systems (MSs) interact with each other as peers in communications and interoperability. Data is shared between mobile data processing systems to carry out novel Location Based eXchanges (LBX) of data for new mobile applications. Information which is transmitted inbound to, transmitted outbound from, or is in process at, a mobile data processing system, is used to trigger processing of actions in accordance with user configured permissions, charters, and other configurations. In a preferred embodiment, a user configurable platform is provided for quickly building well behaving LBX applications at MSs and across a plurality of interoperating MSs. |
| US08942729B2 |
Location based methods, systems, and program products for performing an action at a user device
Methods, program products, and systems for location-based reminders are disclosed. A first user device can receive an input specifying that a reminder be presented at a given location. The first user device can provide a reminder request, including type and content of the reminder and the location, to a server computer for pushing to one or more user devices. A second user device, upon receiving the reminder request, can determine a device location of the second user device. If the given location matches the device location, the second user device can present the reminder in a user interface. |
| US08942725B2 |
Location determination using a state space estimator
Methods, program products, and systems for using a location fingerprint database to determine a location of a mobile device are described. A mobile device can use location fingerprint data and readings of a sensor to obtain a location observation. The mobile device can use the location observation in a particle filter for determining a location of the mobile device at a venue. Using state of movement of the mobile device and a map of the venue, the mobile device can determine one or more candidate locations of the device. The mobile device can then update the candidate locations using a next observation, and determine a probability density function based on the candidate locations. The mobile device can then present to a user a most probable location as a current location of the device in the venue. |
| US08942724B2 |
Number of terminal estimation device and number of terminal estimation method
A number-of-terminals estimation device has a unit to acquire location data; a unit to acquire location acquisition time information of second location data immediately preceding the first location data and third location data immediately following the first location data, from location data including the same identification information; a unit to calculate a feature amount of the first location data, based on at least two of the location acquisition time information of the first to third location data; a unit to acquire observation target location data including location acquisition time information after an observation start time and before an observation end time and including location information corresponding to observation area information; and a unit to estimate the number of terminals located in the observation area during the observation period, based on feature amounts of the observation target location data and the length of the observation period. |
| US08942719B1 |
Locating a nearby mobile device without using GPS
A method, system, and medium are provided for locating a lost mobile device utilizing a radio frequency signal associated with the lost mobile device. One embodiment of the method includes activating a signal on a lost mobile device. An identifier associated with the lost mobile device allows a locating mobile device to receive the signal from the lost mobile device and filter out interference. The strength of the signal is determined and a location of the lost mobile device is communicated to a user based on the strength of the signal. |
| US08942718B2 |
Method and system for using cellular communication device availability information to predict coverage overlap between callers
Disclosed herein are methods and systems for determining the availability of a communication device. According to embodiments, a method may include receiving, via a network, first availability information from a first communication device and receiving second availability information from a second communication device. The method further includes determining an estimate of common coverage by comparing the first availability information with the second availability information and transmitting the estimate of common coverage to at least one of the first communication device and the second communication device. |
| US08942714B2 |
Method of controlling interference from femtocells in consideration of macrocell
A method of controlling femtocell interference considering a macrocell is provided. The method of controlling the interference includes a method of setting transmission power of the femtocell and methods of avoiding the interference of the femtocell. The methods of avoiding the interference include a PRB rotation method, a PRB transmission power restriction method, a hybrid method and a UB rotation method. The method of setting the transmission power and the methods of avoiding the interference may be implemented independently or implemented in combination with each other. Hence, according to the present invention, the femtocell itself can control the interference without affecting an interface of an existing macrocell base station and without signaling through the interface with the macrocell. |
| US08942713B2 |
Method and apparatus for allocating resources in a multicast/broadcast communications system
Methods, systems and apparatus for dispersing a group of user equipment (UEs) concentrated on a single channel is disclosed. After receiving a disperse command the UEs select a channel, and then select a cell. The channel selection may be performed using a random or pseudorandom function. The cell selection may be performed prior to camping on the cell. Prior to camping the UEs may test the acceptability of a candidate cell and/or may perform a cell reselection. The result of the dispersion is that the UEs are distributed amongst many channels (a, b, c, and d), where reference are found in FIGS. 1A and 1B. |
| US08942709B2 |
Call redirection for enterprise hosted dual mode service
Systems and methods provide a single E.164 number for voice and data call redirection and telephony services such as caller identification, regardless of in which type of network a dual mode mobile device operates. When the dual mode device registers and is active in a GSM network, temporary routing and status updates are triggered and resultant information is maintained in both networks. A mobile terminated call is routed through an enterprise WLAN with call control within the enterprise being handled by SIP or H.323 signaling, and the call is redirected to the mobile device in the GSM network, where call control is assumed by the SS7 network. Services are provided using the protocols native to the active network, and the single E.164 is used consistently along with or lieu of the temporary routing information for subscriber identity specific functions, such as caller identification and voice mail. |
| US08942708B2 |
Management of radio connection assignment in coverage area correlated with geographic region
A method, apparatus, and system for helping to manage advanced handoff to a coverage area based on correlation with a geographic region. A mobile station determines that it is in or approaching a defined geographic region, and the mobile station determines from correlation data that the geographic region is correlated with a particular cellular coverage area. The mobile station therefore requests handoff to the cellular coverage area and provides an advanced-handoff indication to cause the serving radio access network to maintain assignment of a radio connection in the coverage area longer than the network would normally, to help allow time for the mobile station to arrive at the coverage area and begin communicating on the radio connection with the network. |
| US08942707B2 |
Handover
A method of handover of a User Equipment (UE) from first to second Radio Access Network (RANs), the second RAN coupled to a Mobility Controller (MC) and having an association with the first RAN, the UE capable of communication with a Session Transfer Controller (STC) via the first and second RANs, includes receiving a first message at the MC from the first RAN requesting handover of the UE to the second RAN, sending a second message from the MC to the STC subscribing the MC to status updates from the STC, said status updates relating to status of a call, receiving one of said status updates at the MC originated by the STC, dependent on a communication via the first RAN from the UE to the STC of a change in the status, and in response to receipt of said status update, updating a call status indicator of the MC. |
| US08942706B2 |
Robust radio resource control signaling for HSDPA
A radio network controller is operable in both a unicast signaling mode and a bi-cast signaling mode. In unicast signaling mode, the radio network controller is operable to send radio resource control signals to a mobile station through a serving cell. The radio network controller is operable to go into bi-cast signaling mode during a hard handover. In the bi-cast signaling mode, the radio network controller is operable to send radio resource control messages to the mobile station through both the current serving cell and a target cell. The mobile station is configured to listen to both the current serving cell and the target cell for radio resource control messages. User data, however, is transmitted only from the current serving cell to the mobile station. |
| US08942705B1 |
Systems and methods for redirecting a mobile station via a traffic channel
Various embodiments are described for redirecting a mobile station via a traffic channel. In one embodiment, a first RAN receives a request from a mobile station to establish a traffic channel between the mobile station and the first RAN for use in a communication session. The first RAN makes a determination to not establish the communication session, but nevertheless establishes the requested traffic channel after making the determination. Then, without establishing the communication session, the first RAN redirects the mobile station via the established traffic channel to a second RAN. By establishing the traffic channel even though the RAN may be unable (or unwilling) to allow the mobile station to establish the communication session, the RAN is able to control the behavior of the mobile station in the event that the RAN cannot establish the requested communication session. |
| US08942704B1 |
Systems and methods of tracking area configuration
In systems and methods of tracking area configuration, a number of tracking area update messages received by a plurality of access nodes using a first tracking area configuration are monitored. It is determined that a number of tracking area update messages received by one of the plurality of access nodes meets an update message criteria. It is also determined that a number of connected wireless devices at the one of the plurality of access nodes meets a connection criteria. When the number of tracking area update messages meets the update message criteria and when the number of connected wireless devices meets the connection criteria, the second tracking area configuration is used at the access node. |
| US08942703B2 |
Method for switching service of management device serving network or device
Disclosed is a method for smoothly switching between services to allow networks or devices to coexist. The method of switching between services of a television band device (TVBD) network or device includes: receiving a request for switching between services of the TVBD network or device from a coexistence manager (CM); and transmitting a response with respect to the request to the CM, wherein the services include an information service obtaining, by the TVBD network or device, neighbor information of the TVBD network or device from the CM and a management service providing measurement results to the CM by the TVBD network or device, and the response includes an indicator indicating whether or not the request has been successfully processed. |
| US08942702B2 |
Inter-radio access technology (IRAT) handover
A user equipment (UE) acquires a time of a first cell of a first RAT and receives instructions to handover from a source RAT to the first cell of a first target RAT. The handover is delayed based on the acquired timing and the UE communicates on the source RAT during the delay. |
| US08942701B2 |
Method, apparatus, and computer program product for transferring responsibility between network controllers managing coexistence in radio frequency spectrum
Method, apparatus, and computer program product embodiments are disclosed for managing coexistence of secondary users in RF spectrum. An example embodiment includes selecting by an apparatus, a candidate network controller to which to transfer from a serving network controller, responsibility for resource allocation for a wireless network served by the serving network controller, based on one or more criteria for selection including characteristics of one or more wireless networks served by the candidate network controller; transmitting by the apparatus, to a selected candidate network controller, a request to transfer the responsibility for resource allocation for the wireless network, based on the one or more criteria for selection; and causing by the apparatus, the serving network controller to relinquish the responsibility for resource allocation for the wireless network, if the selected candidate network controller indicates that it will assume the responsibility. |
| US08942697B2 |
Method for uploading network information, and user equipment, network side equipment and system thereof
The disclosure relates to a method for uploading network information, and User Equipment (UE), network side equipment and system thereof. The method comprises the following steps: a network side equipment receives power supply capacity information reported by a UE; the network side equipment instructs the UE to upload needed network information according to the power supply capacity information; the network side equipment receives the network information, which is uploaded by the UE. The method for uploading network information by using the power supply capacity information of UE, and UE, network side equipment and system thereof, according to example embodiments of the present invention, avoid the problems of short standby time and the interruption of ongoing service for a user caused by uploading the network information, and reduces the operation cost, by uploading the network information according to the power supply capacity of the UE. |
| US08942693B2 |
System and method for targeting data processing system(s) with data
Provided is a system and method for targeting one or more receiving data processing systems with data by aiming a sending data processing system at the receiving data processing system(s) and performing a shoot action. Aiming information is transmitted from the sending data processing system to the receiving data processing system(s) to facilitate determining whether or not the one or more receiving data processing systems was targeted by the sending data processing system, for example, to subsequently pull data, push data, or interact. Aiming information may include location information, directional and posture information, distance information, target size, and/or other shooting data to further qualify the shoot action. Permissions and configurations can govern data pulled or pushed. Wave forms which are not controllably aimed by nature can be accurately aimed. |
| US08942692B2 |
Remote mobile device management
Remote mobile device management is provided. a master user account is established based on a request from a master user and a request to associate a remote mobile device with the master user account is received. The remote mobile device is associated with the master user account and management information is received from the master user account that is associated with the remote mobile device including restriction activation information. An indication of movement is received when the remote mobile device is moving at a speed above a restriction threshold and the restriction or monitoring of at least one device capability of the remote mobile device is provided based on the restriction activation information and the indication of movement. An indication of deceleration is received when the remote mobile device has decelerated and the restoration of the at least one device capability is provided based on the indication of deceleration. |
| US08942688B2 |
Methods and systems for call processing in a wireline and wireless network
Methods and systems are described for routing call in a wireless network environment. In one embodiment, a phone address is assigned to a subscriber and/or a subscriber's mobile telecommunications device. A call directed to the phone address is routed to a call processing system. An outbound call from the call processing system is placed to a wireless communication service provider so as to cause, at least in part, the wireless communication service provider to route the outbound call to the subscriber's mobile telecommunications device, wherein the call processing system configures call signaling parameters associated with the outbound call so that the outbound call appears to be to a phone number ported to the wireless communication service provider, and wherein the phone number has not been ported to the wireless communication service provider. The outbound call is bridged with the inbound call. |
| US08942681B2 |
Multiparty call processing method and apparatus for mobile terminal
A multiparty call processing method and mobile terminal implemented with the multiparty call processing method is provided. A multiparty call processing method for a mobile terminal detects a call request to a first network, determines whether the mobile terminal is in a full state of the first network, and sends a call request message to a second network when the mobile terminal is in the full state of the first network. |
| US08942680B2 |
System and method for retrieving the dynamic state of a mobile communication device
A system and method for retrieving the dynamic state of mobile communication devices is disclosed. The key state indicators from mobile communication devices are retrieved to target user requested contents or advertising contents for users of the communication devices. The method for delivering the contents to mobile communication devices includes determining key state indicators (KSI) of mobile communication devices sending the determined values to a server, and orienting the values to send the content to users of said mobile communication devices, on request. The key state indicators of mobile communication devices comprises of device state, link state, network state, behavior state and dynamic state of the device. The values of key state indicators are calculated and stored in said mobile communication device in a Mobile Advertising Record (MAR) format. |
| US08942679B2 |
Method and system for providing pattern based enterprise applications for organizing, automating, and synchronizing processes for mobile communication devices
A method is disclosed in which a server generates and transmits a reply to a mobile device via a wireless communication link in response to receiving a request from a mobile device. The reply includes first pattern information and data elements retrieved from a logical data model. The mobile device renders a first page on a screen thereof in response to receiving the reply. The first page includes visual representations of the data elements, and the first page presents the visual representations in a first pattern corresponding to the first pattern information. |
| US08942677B2 |
Transit account management with mobile device messaging
Embodiments of systems, methods, and machine-readable media are disclosed for enabling the management of a transit user account of a transit system with a mobile device. Embodiments of a transit system utilizing such transit user accounts are also disclosed. Embodiments for enabling a mobile device to manage a transit user account can include receiving an identification code of a fare media and receiving contact information of the mobile device. The transit user account, which can be used in transactions of the transit system associated with the fare media, can be created using user information and a passcode. Additionally, the mobile device can be authenticated by sending at least one message to the mobile device and receiving at least one message from the mobile device. |
| US08942676B2 |
Systems and devices for emergency tracking and health monitoring
The present disclosure provides for systems, devices, and methods which address needs of seniors, disabled persons, or any other similar users, at a stage in life when they can still live independently while benefiting from monitored care. Embodiments described herein enable a higher level of connectivity without requiring the member to be technologically savvy, and provides a simple mechanism for personalized emergency support. Embodiments utilize at least one personal communication device which may allow for remote interactions with medical and concierge personnel in a monitoring center or other emergency contacts, in order to fulfill requests for everyday needs, ranging from providing directions to a locations, to health alerts based on health and status measurements collected electronically and remotely. |
| US08942672B2 |
Mobile integrated distribution and transaction system and method for NFC services, and a mobile electronic device thereof
A mobile integrated distribution and transaction system and method for NFC services are described. The system comprises a server for creating a widget having a lifecycle and a certificate, distributing the widget, and retrieving the widget information used on NFC transactions, and at least one mobile electronic device having a transaction terminal comprising a NFC modem and at least one secure element for storing a plurality of secure applications, and a virtual machine for managing the widget and changing the widget information during the valid lifecycle while the NFC modem is enabling the NFC transactions with the secure element under a specific secure application. |
| US08942670B1 |
Carrier network determination for providing real-time customer feedback of call information
Real-time customer feedback of call information is determined by a carrier network. Databases are used to map individual phone numbers to the carrier currently servicing that number and to lookup the carrier information for the other party during each call. This information may be displayed on the customer's handset device. Furthermore, this called party network carrier information could be used in conjunction with information about the calling party's rate plan to display the actual cost status of the call on the customer's handset. |
| US08942667B2 |
Method and/or apparatus for location privacy via uniform resource identifier provisioning
The subject matter disclosed herein relates in one particular implementation to a method, apparatus, and/or system for transmitting, by a location server, a location identifier to a mobile device. The location identifier may be transmitted from the mobile device to one or more trusted entities. Access to a location estimate of the mobile device may be selectively authorized at least partially in response to a request received at the mobile device from the location server including the location identifier. |
| US08942666B2 |
Systems and methods for providing emergency messages to a mobile device
The present invention is directed to systems and methods for providing emergency messages to a mobile device. In an exemplary embodiment, a system for communicating emergency messages is provided comprising a mobile device comprising an emergency message application and a personal emergency message transceiver, an emergency message control center, wherein the emergency message application is enabled to receive a plurality of emergency messages generated by the emergency message control center. |
| US08942663B2 |
Techniques for supporting emergency communications in wireless communication system
Methods and apparatus for supporting emergency communications are provided. A method for a Radio Access Network (RAN) serving at least one Core Network (CN) to support emergency communications of a User Equipment (UE) includes determining whether at least one CN in a shared network environment supports emergency communications, if it is determined that the at least one CN in the shared network environment supports emergency communications, transmitting an emergency call support indication to the UE indicating that emergency communications are supported, receiving a request for emergency communications from the UE, and routing the request for emergency communications to another CN that supports emergency communications in the shared network environment, if a given CN does not support emergency communications. |
| US08942662B2 |
System and method to predict and avoid musculoskeletal injuries
A miniaturized, ruggedized, field-deployable Portable Exposure Assessment System (PEAS) is used to remotely monitor workers and provide real-time warning of exposure to musculoskeletal injury conditions via alarm and smart-phone transmission. The PEAS unit wirelessly acquires exposure data from sensors; conducts initial data analysis; triggers proximal and remote alarms; sends out text messages with abnormal data, GPS locations, and time stamps to a safety office; and saves data for more extensive assessment. Sensor technology is used in this field-deployable system to simultaneously measure and collect the body loads and awkward postures imposed by package handling as well as driving-related, low-frequency vibration exposures. Wireless technology is used to set up wireless communication links between the sensors and a data logger and between the data logger and a smart phone with GPS, date/time stamp and text messaging capabilities. |
| US08942661B2 |
Method and device for triggering an emergency call in a vehicle equipped with an airbag
A method and a device for triggering an emergency call in a vehicle equipped with an airbag. The device can be retrofitted in a vehicle equipped with an airbag to provide an emergency system which, in the event of an airbag being triggered, sends an emergency call (Ecall) to a suitable emergency call center in order to initiate auxiliary measures as may be necessary. |
| US08942657B2 |
Adaptive matching network
A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure can include, for example, an apparatus having a matching network adapted to reduce a magnitude of a signal reflection at a port of the matching network. The matching network can have one or more controllable variable reactive elements. A controller can be adapted to determine reflection coefficient information from incident and reflected waves sampled at the port of the matching network, and follow at least one cycle of a coarse tune process for generating one or more control signals to tune one or more reactances of the one or more controllable variable reactive elements. Additional embodiments are disclosed. |
| US08942653B2 |
Apparatus and method for low power amplification in a wireless communication system
An apparatus and a method for beamforming with less heat in a wireless communication system including multiple antennas are provided. The apparatus includes a digital signal processor for processing at least one baseband digital signal, and at least one Radio Frequency (RF) signal processor for converting a respective baseband digital signal of the at least one baseband digital signal into an RF analog signal and for amplifying a power of the RF analog signal for one or more antenna elements constituting a respective antenna of the at least one antenna. |
| US08942651B2 |
Cascaded converged power amplifier
A first radio frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA) stage, a second RF PA stage, and an alpha RF switch are disclosed. The first RF PA stage provides a first RF output signal. During a first alpha mode, the alpha RF switch forwards the first RF output signal to the second RF PA stage, such that the first RF PA stage functions as a driver stage and the second RF PA stage functions as a final stage. However, during one of a group of alpha modes, the alpha RF switch forwards the first RF output signal to provide a corresponding one of a group of alpha transmit signals, such that the first RF PA stage functions as a final stage. Further, the first alpha mode is not one of the group of alpha modes. |
| US08942650B2 |
RF PA linearity requirements based converter operating mode selection
A power amplifier (PA) envelope power supply, radio frequency (RF) PA circuitry, and a process to select a converter operating mode of the PA envelope power supply based on linearity requirements of the RF PA circuitry is disclosed. The PA envelope power supply operates in one of a first converter operating mode and a second converter operating mode. The process for selecting the converter operating mode is based on a required degree of linearity of the RF PA circuitry. The PA envelope power supply provides an envelope power supply signal to the RF PA circuitry. Selection of the converter operating mode may provide efficient operation of the PA envelope power supply and the envelope power supply signal needed for proper operation of the RF PA circuitry. |
| US08942649B2 |
Radio-frequency transmitter and amplifier
A method is provided for reducing non-linear effects in an electronic circuit including an amplifier. The method may include receiving a modulated signal at an input of the amplifier, the modulated signal comprising a baseband signal modulated by an oscillator frequency. The method may further include substantially attenuating counter-intermodulation in the modulated signal caused by harmonics of the oscillator frequency and the baseband signal by a resonant circuit. In some embodiments, the resonant circuit may include at least one inductive element and one capacitive element coupled to the at least one inductive element, the at least one inductive element and the at least one capacitive element configured to substantially attenuate counter-intermodulation in the modulated signal. |
| US08942646B2 |
Method and system for a 60 GHz communication device comprising multi-location antennas for pseudo-beamforming
Methods and systems for a 60 GHz communication device comprising multi-location antennas for pseudo-beamforming are disclosed and may include configuring antennas in RF modules for beamforming transmitted signals. Each of the RF modules may receive IF signals via coaxial lines. The beamformed RF signals may be transmitted via the antennas to external devices. The RF signals may be generated from IF signals from baseband signals. The RF modules may be configured utilizing a processor in the wireless communication device. The RF signals may be transmitted to a display device. Control signals for the RF devices may be communicated utilizing the coaxial lines. The RF devices may be selected for the beamforming based on a direction to a receiving device. The beamforming may include adding a phase shift in upconverting the IF signals to the RF signals, which may include 60 GHz signals. |
| US08942645B2 |
Method and system for communication via subbands in a 60 GHZ distributed communication system
Methods and systems for communication via subbands in a 60 GHz distributed communication system are disclosed and may include enabling one or more antenna configurations in remote RF modules within a wireless communication device based on a measured signal characteristic. The RF modules may receive IF signals from baseband signals via one or more coaxial lines. Output RF signals may be communicated in frequency subbands via the antenna configurations with external devices. The IF signals in the coaxial lines may be tapped at taps coupled to the RF modules. The baseband signals may include video, Internet streamed, and/or data from a local data source. Frequency division duplexed signals may be communicated to a display device. Control signals may be communicated utilizing the coaxial lines. The signal characteristic may include a received signal strength indicator, and or a bit error rate. The output RF signals may include 60 GHz subband signals. |
| US08942644B2 |
Systems and methods for protecting microelectromechanical systems switches from radio-frequency signals using switching circuitry
Electronic devices may be provided that contain wireless communication circuitry. The wireless communications circuitry may include microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switches that receive radio-frequency antenna signals from antennas. The wireless communications circuitry may include switching circuitry interposed between the MEMS switches and the antennas. The switching circuitry may protect the MEMS switches from radio-frequency signals that are received by the antennas by temporarily isolating the MEMS switches from the radio-frequency signals during MEMS switch configuration processes. The switching circuitry may include a crossbar switch formed from solid state circuitry. The wireless communications circuitry may include control circuitry that controls the MEMS switches and the switching circuitry. The control circuitry may direct the switching circuitry to temporarily disconnect a selected MEMS switch from the antennas and direct the selected MEMS switch to switch from a first configuration to a second configuration while the MEMS switch is disconnected from the antennas. |
| US08942643B2 |
Routing for a package antenna
An apparatus is provided. A plurality of transceiver antennas are arranged to form a phased array, where each antenna include a differential transmit antenna and a differential receive antenna arranged in a first pattern. A plurality of transceivers are arranged in a second pattern that is substantially symmetrical, and each transceiver is associated with at least one of the transceiver antennas and includes a feed network. Each feed network has a power amplifier (PA), a first matching network that is coupled between the PA and its associated transmit antenna so as to translate the phase of each differential transmit signal, a low noise amplifier (LNA), and a second matching network that is coupled between the LNA and its associated receive antenna so as to translate the phase of each differential receive signal. |
| US08942640B2 |
Absolute control of virtual switches
A telecommunications device for a telecommunications network comprises a controller configured to enable or disable said telecommunications device to reception and/or transmission of telecommunications data. The controller is further configured to generate a plurality of keep-alive signals for the telecommunications device. The telecommunications device is disabled to reception or transmission of said telecommunications data if no keep-alive signal is received by the telecommunications device after a predetermined time. |
| US08942637B2 |
Comfort device, system and method with electronic message display
A message playing system includes a plurality of comfort devices, each having a soft, huggable body and an electronic circuit in the body. The electronic circuit includes a WiFi or other wireless communication circuit for wireless electronic message communications. Each comfort device includes a display device for displaying messages. A server is connected over a communication network that includes at least one wireless communication link to each comfort device. The server is configured to receive and store messages and identification information for each message. The server is further configured to transmit the plurality of messages from the server to the comfort devices associated with the messages. |
| US08942631B2 |
Power-scavenging receiver to generate a signal to be used to control operational state
Methods and apparatuses for initiative communication between first and second wireless communication devices using first and second RFID transceivers. |
| US08942628B2 |
Reducing power consumption for connection establishment in near field communication systems
A method and apparatus for reducing power consumption associated with establishing a connection in a near field communication system is disclosed. According to some embodiments, when requesting an active mode NFC connection, the initiator device can selectively extend transmission of its NFC carrier signal by an extended period of time after transmitting a polling command to the target device. The extended period of time allows the target device additional time to stabilize its clock signal and transmit its own NFC carrier signal back to the initiator device. As a result, the initiator device may wait to enable its NFC clock generator until after receiving a polling command that requests the active mode NFC session. In this manner, when the initiator device requests a passive mode NFC connection, the target device may not enable its NFC clock generator, thereby reducing power consumption. |
| US08942627B2 |
Identifiers for MTC group in 3GPP systems
Machine-Type-Communication-type (MTC-type) devices of an MTC Group are uniquely identified across all types of wireless networks by a system and method in which a receiver is capable of receiving a signal from at least one node of a wireless network. The signal contains MTC Group ID information that corresponds to an MTC Feature that provides at least one system optimization for the wireless device. The received MTC Group ID is then processed to determine whether the MTC received Group ID corresponds to an MTC Feature to which a wireless device is a member. The MTC Group ID information contained in the received signal comprises part of a Mobile Subscription Identification (MSIN) field of an International Mobile Subscriber Identify (IMSI), additional digits added to an IMSI, of part of a separate MTC Group message. |
| US08942626B2 |
Electronic device and method for operating an electronic device
The present invention relates to an electronic device and a method of operating the same. The electronic device and the method of operating the electronic device may effectively form a connection between two or more electronic devices by allowing a relaying device to transfer connection information between the electronic devices to a counterpart. |
| US08942623B2 |
Reducing NFC peer mode connection times
Methods, apparatuses, systems, and computer-readable media for reducing Near Field Communication (NFC) Peer Mode connection times are presented. According to one or more aspects, a mode switching interval associated with an NFC device discovery loop may be defined. A first portion of the mode switching interval may be assigned to polling operations. A second portion of the mode switching interval may be assigned to listening operations. The first portion and the second portion of the mode switching interval respectively may occupy less than all of the mode switching interval, and the second portion of the mode switching interval may be shifted in position within the mode switching interval for respective iterations of the NFC device discovery loop. |
| US08942622B2 |
Communication device and communication system
A communication device includes an electrode, a communication unit configured to process a communication signal that is transmitted from/received by the electrode, and a control unit configured to control a communication operation in the electrode and the communication unit depending on a communication state. |
| US08942611B2 |
Fixing device and image forming apparatus
A fixing device includes: a fixing member that transports a recording medium on which a toner image has been transferred to fix the toner image to the recording medium; an endless belt member that rotates with a front surface of the belt member contacting the fixing member; a guide member that guides the belt member to a contact portion at which the belt member and the fixing member contact each other; plural rotational-direction projections formed on a guide surface of the guide member facing a back surface of the belt member and disposed at intervals in a rotational axis direction of the belt member, the rotational-direction projections extending in a rotational direction of the belt member and projecting toward the back surface; and an intersecting-direction projection formed on the guide surface, the intersecting-direction projection extending along an intersecting direction that intersects the rotational-direction projections and projecting toward the back surface. |
| US08942610B2 |
Fixing device
A fixing device for thermally fixing a developing agent image to a sheet includes a tubular member, a nip plate, a heater, a reflection plate, and a backup member. The tubular member has an inner peripheral surface defining an internal space and an axis defining an axial direction. The nip plate is disposed in the internal space, and the inner peripheral surface is in sliding contact with the nip plate. A heater is disposed in the internal space and confronts the nip plate in a confronting direction. The reflection plate is configured to reflect radiant heat from the heater toward the nip plate. A backup member is configured to provide a nip region in cooperation with the nip plate for nipping the fusing member between the backup member and the nip plate. |
| US08942605B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An endless belt is held by a first roller and a second roller each having an axis extending in an axial direction. A transfer member is disposed opposite to an image supporting member with the belt therebetween. The transfer member is configured to transfer a developer image supported by the image supporting member to a sheet conveyed by the belt. The image supporting member extends in the axial direction. The belt and the transfer member each have a width in a direction parallel to the axial direction. A first portion of the image supporting member and a first portion of the transfer member directly oppose each other without the belt therebetween. A second portion of the image supporting member opposes a first surface of the belt, and a second portion of the transfer member opposes a second surface of the belt, which is opposite to the first surface. |
| US08942604B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a primary transfer device to transfer a toner image formed on a photosensitive member onto an intermediate transfer member formed into a loop, a secondary transfer device disposed outside the looped belt to contact the intermediate transfer member to form a secondary transfer nip therebetween and transfer the toner image from the intermediate transfer member onto a recording medium, a first power supply to apply a constant-current controlled direct current bias to an inner circumferential side of the intermediate transfer member, and a second power supply to form an alternating electric field between the intermediate transfer member and the recording medium. The direct current bias has the same polarity as that of the toner image. The first power supply and the second power supply apply predetermined biases simultaneously when the recording medium is in the secondary transfer nip to transfer the toner image thereon. |
| US08942602B2 |
Developing device and image forming apparatus including same
A developing device having: a guide member creating a guide channel for guiding the developer being fed thereto while being supported on the developer support; and a regulating member regulating the amount of the developer that has passed through the guide channel, the guide member further creates a reflux channel in a gap from an inner surface of the housing, the reflux channel is connected to the guide channel via a communication channel such that the developer regulated by the regulating member returns toward an upstream end of the guide member, the upstream end of the guide member is disposed in a position opposed to the position where the magnetic flux density of the catch pole peaks, and the magnet assembly further includes a feeding pole that is disposed downstream of the catch pole and upstream of the developing pole, so as to be opposed to the guide channel. |
| US08942599B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a main body, a cover to open and close a front of the main body, a tray slidably mounted in the main body through the front of the main body, at least one developing cartridge mounted in the main body in a state in which the developing cartridge is received in the tray, at least one driving coupler member provided at one side of the main body to drive the developing cartridge mounted in the main body, a link member operating simultaneously with opening and closing of the cover to move in a first direction, and a guide member to support the at least one driving coupler member, the guide member operating simultaneously with the link member to move in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, wherein the guide member is pressed by the link member, when the cover opens the main body, to separate the driving coupler member from the developing cartridge. |
| US08942598B2 |
Image forming apparatus and rotating body unit
In an image forming apparatus, a rotating body has a follower member that is arranged to confront a drive member in an axial direction of the drive member. A drive transmitting member transmits drive force from the drive member to the follower member by coupling the drive member and the follower member with each other, while allowing relative positional deviation between the drive member and the follower member on a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the drive member within a prescribed range. The drive member and the follower member have a drive-member side contact part and a follower-member side contact part, respectively. A making-contact member brings the drive-member side contact part and the follower-member side contact part into contact with each other. |
| US08942595B2 |
Developing device and image forming apparatus
A developing device and image forming apparatus are provided. The developing device includes a chassis; a developer carrying member; a thickness regulating member; a supply member; and a conveying member. In a state in which the developing device is attached to a main body an opening of the chassis faces upward; the thickness regulating member pressure-contacts the developer carrying member from below the developer carrying member; the conveying member is disposed below the developer carrying member; the supply member overlaps a portion of the conveying member in a horizontal direction; and a portion of the conveying member is disposed within a vertical projection plane between a pressure-contact position of the thickness regulating member to the developer carrying member, and a contact position of the supply member to the developer carrying member. The image forming apparatus includes a main body; a plurality of photosensitive members; and a plurality of developing devices. |
| US08942592B2 |
Process cartridge, photosensitive drum unit, developing unit and electrophotographic image forming apparatus
A process cartridge usable with an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a main assembly of which is not provided with a mechanism for moving a main assembly side engaging portion provided in the main assembly to transmit a rotational force to an image bearing member in the direction of the rotational axis of the image bearing member by an opening and closing operation of a cover member for the main assembly. The process cartridge can be mounted to the main assembly in a direction substantially perpendicular to the rotational axis of the image bearing member without deterioration of the usability performance. With the process cartridge, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus can be downsized. in accordance with the movement of the process cartridge when the process cartridge is dismounted from the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a coupling member which is inclinable and translatable relative to a rotational axis of a rotational force transmitted member enters an inside of the recess of the main assembly side engaging portion to receive the rotational force from the main assembly engaging portion. |
| US08942588B2 |
Image forming apparatus and control method for image forming apparatus for switching a printing method based on state of drawing object
An image forming apparatus including a feeding unit configured to feed a paper sheet, a fixing unit configured to fix a toner image onto the paper sheet fed by the feeding unit based on an image to be printed, and a determination unit configured to determine, for each page, whether to execute, by the fixing unit, fingerprint trace removal processing for removing a fingerprint trace adhering to the paper sheet fed by the feeding unit, wherein if it is determined to execute the fingerprint trace removal processing, the fixing unit is configured to perform the fixing of the toner image after performing the fingerprint trace removal processing. |
| US08942587B2 |
Electrostatic image developer and image forming apparatus
An electrostatic image developer includes a toner containing an external additive having a volume-average particle size of about 80 to 400 nm and an average circularity of about 0.7 to 0.85. The developer is used in an image forming apparatus including an image-carrying member having a top surface layer containing fluorocarbon resin particles, and a developer-carrying member that faces the image-carrying member and carries an electrostatic image developer, in which a value obtained by dividing the amount of developer on the developer-carrying member [g/m2] by a shortest distance between the image-carrying member and the developer-carrying member [μm] is about 0.8 to 1.8, and a peripheral velocity ratio of the developer-carrying member to the image-carrying member is about 1.5 to 5.0 or the developer-carrying member moves in a direction opposite to the image-carrying member in a facing portion. |
| US08942585B2 |
Image forming apparatus with detection part that detects color concentration detection pattern
An image forming apparatus includes an image forming part that forms a developer image, transfers the developer image to an intermediate transfer belt at a first transfer position and the developer image on the intermediate transfer belt to a sheet at a second transfer position. The image forming apparatus includes a detection part located between the first transfer position and the second transfer position and configured to detect a concentration of the developer image; and a controller configured to start a transfer of a concentration detection pattern that is a developer image for concentration detection during a period from when the developer image for print is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt to when the developer image for print is transferred to the sheet, and then to control the detection part to read the concentration detection pattern. |
| US08942583B2 |
Optical sensor and image forming apparatus
An optical sensor is disclosed, including an irradiating system; a first photodetecting system including a first photodetector which is arranged on an optical path of a light which is specularly reflected from a subject; a second photodetecting system including an optical element which is arranged on an optical path of a light which is diffuse reflected from the subject within an incident face in the subject and which separates a linearly polarized component in a second polarizing direction which is orthogonal to a first polarizing direction and a second photodetector which receives a light separated by the optical element; and a restricting member which is arranged on an optical path of an incident light with respect to at least one of the first photodetector and the second photodetector and which restricts a light receiving range in the at least one photodetector. |
| US08942580B2 |
Image forming apparatus having a plurality of image forming modes
An image forming apparatus includes an intermediary transfer member, image forming portions each including an image bearing member first transfer portions, cleaning portions, and a controller capable of executing a single-color image forming mode operation in which a developer image of a single color is transferred onto the intermediary transfer member by an image forming operation of one of the image forming portions to form a single-color image. The controller executes, during the execution of the single-color image forming mode operation, a sequence in which the developer image is formed on the image bearing member at the image forming portion which does not operate for the image formation, and a bias voltage for charging the developer to an opposite polarity to a normal charge polarity of the developer is applied to the first transfer portion to permit the charged developer to reach the cleaning portion. |
| US08942573B2 |
Blind equalization algorithms for adaptive polarization recovery and PMD compensation
A device and method are disclosed for blind equalization of an optical signal to implement adaptive polarization recovery, Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) compensation, and residual Chromatic Dispersion (CD) compensation in a digital coherent optical communication system. |
| US08942570B2 |
Data detection for visible light communications using conventional camera sensor
The invention relates to a detection system for determining data embedded into the light output of a light source in a form of a repeating sequence of N symbols. The detection system includes a camera and a processing unit. The camera is configured to acquire a series of images of the scene via specific open/closure patterns of the shutter. The processing unit is configured to process the acquired series of images to determine the repeating sequence of N symbols. By carefully triggering when a shutter of the camera is open to capture the different symbols of the encoded light within each frame time of a camera, a conventional camera with a relatively long frame time may be employed. Therefore, the techniques presented herein are suitable for detecting the invisible “high frequency” coded light while using less expensive cameras as those used in the prior art. |
| US08942569B2 |
Optical transmission/reception system, optical transmitter, optical receiver, and optical transmission/reception method
An optical transmission/reception system includes a modulator for modulating light based on data to output signal light; a transmission-side signal processor performing transmission-side digital signal processing which imparts a polarization change to the signal light by the optical modulation with respect to an input signal; an optical transmitter in which the modulator performs the optical modulation based on the input signal subjected to the transmission-side digital signal processing in the transmission-side signal processor; and an optical receiver including a converter converting the signal light inputted from the optical transmitter via a transmission path to a digital electric signal for each polarization component, and a reception-side signal processor performing reception-side digital signal processing which imparts a polarization change having a property substantially inverse to a property of the polarization change in the transmission-side signal processor with respect to the digital electric signal from the converter. |
| US08942568B2 |
Optical communication apparatus
An apparatus has frame loss detecting unit 14 for detecting frame loss of a data frame; dispersion amount control request transmission device for transmitting, when the frame loss detecting device 14 detects the frame loss in an undetected state of an input break of an optical signal by optical input break detecting unit 13, an optical signal of a dispersion amount control request pattern to the opposite apparatus at a bit rate lower than that for transmitting the optical signal of the data frame until the frame loss becomes undetected state; and dispersion amount control request receiving device for receiving the optical signal of the dispersion amount control request pattern transmitted from the opposite apparatus, wherein dispersion compensator 21 controls the dispersion amount of transmission line between the apparatus and the opposite apparatus when the dispersion amount control request receiving device receives the optical signal of a specific pattern. |
| US08942561B2 |
Synchronization transport over passive optical networks
One embodiment provides an Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) system for clock transport. The system includes a reference clock configured to generate a frequency-reference signal, an optical line terminal (OLT) coupled to the reference clock, and an optical network unit (ONU). The OLT includes a clock generator configured to generate an OLT clock based on at least the frequency-reference signal. The ONU includes an optical transceiver, a clock recovery module, and a clock output mechanism. The optical transceiver is configured to transmit optical signals to and receive optical signals from the OLT. The clock-recovery module is configured to recover the frequency-reference signal from the received optical signals. The clock output mechanism is configured to output the recovered frequency-reference signal, thus facilitating transport of the frequency-reference signal over the EPON. |
| US08942559B2 |
Switching in a network device
As described herein, a network device includes an optical circuit switch to perform circuit switching. The network device also has a plurality of removable line cards, each of which includes a packet switch. A switching manager automatically reconfigures the optical circuit switch based on a configuration of the removable line cards to maintain a guaranteed packet switching bandwidth between active line cards. |
| US08942557B2 |
Super-channel optical parameters GMPLS signaling and routing extensions systems and methods
Methods and systems are disclosed including receiving, by circuitry of a node conforming to GMPLS protocol, a signal comprising at least one of an optical signal attribute indicative of parameters of a super-channel, the super-channel including a plurality of optical carriers, each of which having a corresponding one of a plurality of wavelengths and being modulated to carry a corresponding one of a plurality of data streams, the super-channel being provisioned in the optical network as one optical channel, wherein the optical signal attribute is one of: quantity of wavelengths of the super-channel, wavelength center frequency of the super-channel, wavelength modulation of the super-channel, wavelength baudrate of the super-channel, and wavelength FEC type of the super-channel. The node further receiving information indicative of frequency slices in use by the super-channel and calculating, using algorithms conforming to CSPF-TE protocol, a path of a second super-channel. |
| US08942555B2 |
Fiber protection and power save with security
A system and method for Passive Optical Networks (PON) providing integration (cross-correlation) of powersave and fiber protection, optionally with encryption, facilitating the successful operation and/or benefits that can be gained when operating a PON system with these features. A major problem with power save is the detection, since both the OLT and the ONUs rely on a valid signal in order to detect fiber failure. However, the OLT may not detect this for sleeping ONUs, and an ONU in Tx/Rx sleep-mode, may not detect a fiber failure, and may not be aware of the OLTs switchover. In addition to solving the problem of combined fiber protection and power savings, a solution is also needed for providing security for this combination.A current embodiment is a system and method for Passive Optical Networks (PON) providing integration (cross-correlation) of powersave and fiber protection, optionally with encryption. |
| US08942554B2 |
45 degree viewing accessory for camera viewfinder
A camera viewfinder viewer accessory mountable on a camera includes an elongated body portion having first and second ends and a longitudinal axis extending from the first end to the second end. A light-transmitting passageway extends through the body portion from the first end to the second end. A connector is disposed adjacent to the first end. The body portion second end includes an angled face disposed at a generally 45° angle relative to the longitudinal axis. An eyepiece is connected to the body portion second end adjacent the angled face. The eyepiece has a longitudinal axis generally disposed at an angle that is 45 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the body portion. A viewfinder image is directed from the camera viewfinder along the longitudinal axis of the body portion, the image is redirected along the longitudinal axis of the eyepiece, to be viewed through the eyepiece. |
| US08942549B2 |
Resume point for digital media playback
A system (and method and computer readable medium) are disclosed for configuring a digital media device to resume playback of content stopped at a first digital media playback device to resume at a second digital media playback device. The configuration detects a stop in play of content stored on a digital media storage device and determines digital media playback preference selections for the content played on the first digital media playback device. The configuration generates a playback preference file and determines a stop location for content, the stop location corresponding to a resume point for the content on the second media playback device. The configuration writes the playback preference file and the stop location to the digital media storage device. |
| US08942546B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method and recording medium
An information processing apparatus, as a recording apparatus, formulates a Clip Information file of a still picture file (TS file), made up by plural still pictures, and a PlayList, composed of plural PlayItems, indicating the replay path of a slide show, and records the information on a DVD along with the TS file. The Clip Information file has an EP_map, as a table indicating the relationship of correspondence between the value of the presentation time stamp PTS of the transport stream TS and the source packet number SPN in the TS the PTS value indicates. The information processing apparatus, as a reproducing apparatus, reads out and reproduces the data address of the TS, represented by the replay start time IN_time and the replay end time OUT_time of the PlayItem. |
| US08942543B1 |
Systems, methods, and software for improved video data recovery effectiveness
Methods, systems, and software are provided herein that allow for storing a data file in a storage device. The storage system splits a video data file into a plurality of data segments, generates a plurality of recovery headers for the data segments, and combines ones of the recovery headers with ones of the data segments to form a plurality of storage packets. |
| US08942542B1 |
Video segment identification and organization based on dynamic characterizations
This disclosure relates to video segment identification and organization based on dynamic characterizations. A characteristics component analyzes a video, and determines a set of video characteristics based at least in part on the analysis. The video characteristics include but are not limited to a category, a type, an identity of a person, and/or an identity of an object. A segmenting component segments the video based in part on the set of video characteristics, and an indicator component associates indicators corresponding to respective video characteristics with the corresponding video segments. |
| US08942539B2 |
Method of setting a system time clock at the start of an MPEG sequence
Method to enable a local system time clock counter (STC) of a receiving recording device to lock to program clock reference (PCR) information comprised in a received real time sequence of information signal packets, such as MPEG2 Transport Stream packets. The method comprising determining the number of cycles between arrival of the first information signal packet and the arrival of the information signal packet comprising the first Program Clock Reference (PCR) information. This information is stored as an attribute of the stored sequence. |
| US08942538B2 |
Apparatus, systems and methods for storing program events in an enhanced history buffer
Enhanced history buffer systems and methods are operable to temporarily store program content for program events. An exemplary embodiment receives program content corresponding to each of the plurality of program events, generates a unique discrete program content file in the enhanced history buffer for each of the plurality of program events, and stores the received program content for each of the plurality of program events in the associated one of the discrete program content files. Each discrete program content file begins at a known starting location in the enhanced history buffer and ends at a known ending location in the enhanced history buffer. |
| US08942536B2 |
Video navigation system and method
A video navigation system and method can be utilized to efficiently and adjustably navigate video content. In one embodiment, a video information control method facilitates efficient video navigation. A video stream is received and video access point selection between multiple access points in said video stream is controlled. The presentation information is forwarded for each of the multiple access points. In one exemplary implementation, the presentation information is forwarded to a display and the information is directed to presenting a main viewing area and navigation areas that present looping video clips or portions of the video stream at time intervals ahead of and behind the video portion being presented in the main viewing area. |
| US08942535B1 |
Implicit video location augmentation
A method and apparatus for performing implicit video location augmentation are provided. Implicit video location augmentation may include identifying a first geolocation for a first frame from a plurality of video frames based on a first image captured by the first frame, identifying a second geolocation for a second frame from the plurality of video frames based on a second image captured by the second frame, determining, by a processor, a third geolocation for a third frame from the plurality of video frames based on the first geolocation and the second geolocation, and storing an updated plurality of video frames such that the first frame is associated with the first geolocation, the second frame is associated with the second geolocation, and the third frame is associated with the third geolocation. |
| US08942529B2 |
Fibre optic tape assembly
An optical fiber tape assembly for attaching an optical fiber to the surface of a pipe comprising; at least one optical fiber; and a tape having an attachment means to enable attachment of the tape to the pipe; wherein the optical fiber runs longitudinal along the tape and is integral with the tape. |
| US08942524B2 |
Optical coupling lens and optical fiber coupling connector
An optical coupling lens includes a body portion, two locating posts, and two converging portions. The body portion includes a first surface, a second surface perpendicular to the first surface, and a reflecting surface obliquely interconnected between the first surface and the second surface. The first surface defines two light-passing recesses. The locating posts perpendicularly extend from the first surface. The converging portions are formed on the second surface and correspond to the light-passing recesses. The reflecting surface is configured for reflecting parallel light beams from one light-passing recess toward a corresponding converging portion, and for reflecting parallel light beams from one converging portion toward a corresponding light-passing recess. |
| US08942523B2 |
Probe
Optical probe having, independently, an irradiation light guide path for irradiation light and a received light guide path for acquiring radiated light. A first optical fiber configures the irradiation light guide path, and a second optical fiber configures the received light guide path. A condensing lens receives on one surface irradiation light from the first optical fiber and emits same on the other surface, and receives radiated light radiated from the other surface and concentrates same on the side of the first and second optical fibers. The central axis of the exit end of the first optical fiber is deviated relative to the optical axis of the condensing lens, moving reflected light at the condensing lens surface away from, and moving radiated light concentrated by the condensing lens closer to, the center of the light-receiving end of the second optical fiber. |
| US08942516B2 |
Multi-port optical circulator system
An optical circulator includes a first optical isolator including a first port and a second port and a plurality of optical isolators coupled to the second port of the first optical isolator. Each of the plurality of optical isolators comprise a first port and a second port. |
| US08942510B2 |
Apparatus and method for switching a display mode
There is provided an image processing device including an input image acquisition portion that acquires an input image, a past image acquisition portion that acquires a past image of a photographic subject in the input image, a mode selection portion that selects one of modes, using the input image, from among a plurality of modes including a first mode in which the photographic subject in the past image is overlapped with the photographic subject in the input image and a second mode in which the photographic subject in the past image is arranged side by side with the photographic subject in the input image, and a display control portion that superimposes the past image on the input image in accordance with the mode selected by the mode selection portion. |
| US08942505B2 |
Adaptive filter representation
The present invention teaches a filter process used in intra or inter prediction of pixel blocks. A first, optionally interpolation, filter is applied in the first filter process to get filtered, optionally interpolated, pixel values. A differential filter and an adaptive gain are utilized in the second process for improving the prediction performance. The adaptivity of the gain can be made even on block basis, allowing a fine tuning of the pixel prediction and/or a fine tuning of pixel rotation and zooming. Alternatively, a combined one-step filter process using the interpolation filter, the differential filter and the adaptive gain is applied to the pixel values. |
| US08942504B2 |
Recording medium having recorded thereon coded information using plus and/or minus rounding of images
Medium with image decoding program effecting: extracting motion vector information, quantized DCT coefficients, and rounding method information from input information; dequantizing quantized DCT coefficients to obtain DCT coefficients; performing inverse DCT conversion to obtain an error image; synthesizing a prediction image of a currently decoded image by performing motion compensation using motion vector information, rounding method information, and a previously decoded reference image; and adding the prediction and error images to obtain a decoded image; wherein motion compensation is performed with half-pixel accuracy and uses bilinear interpolation to calculate intensity values of chrominance or luminance at points where no pixels exist in the reference image, the interpolation using a positive or negative rounding method, and performed using rounding specified by rounding method information included in coded information of the currently decoded image; wherein the rounding method specifies one of two values specifying a positive or negative rounding method. |
| US08942501B2 |
Recording medium having recorded thereon coded information using plus and/or minus rounding of images
Medium having image decoding program effecting: extracting motion vector information, quantized DCT coefficients, and rounding method information; dequantizing quantized DCT coefficients to DCT coefficients; performing inverse DCT conversion on the DCT coefficients to an error image; synthesizing a prediction image of a currently decoded image via motion compensation using motion vector information, rounding method information, and a previously-decoded reference image; and adding the prediction and error images to a decoded image; wherein motion compensation is performed with half-pixel accuracy and uses bilinear interpolation to calculate intensity values of chrominance or luminance where no pixels exist in the reference image, using a positive or negative rounding method; wherein interpolation is performed using a rounding method specified by the rounding method information included in a header section of coded information of the current image; wherein the rounding method specifies one of two values specifying a positive or negative rounding method. |
| US08942493B2 |
Image coding method, image decoding method, image coding apparatus, and image decoding apparatus
An image coding method for performing compression-coding on image data includes: binarizing a signal to be coded of the image data, to generate a binary signal; determining a low-order context which is a context associated with a type of the signal to be coded, and a high-order context that is common to the low-order context and a context associated with another type; calculating coding probability information to be used in arithmetic coding of the binary signal, using (i) high-order probability information corresponding to the determined high-order context and (ii) low-order probability information corresponding to the determined low-order context; performing the arithmetic coding on the binary signal using the coding probability information; and updating the high-order probability information and the low-order probability information based on the binary signal. |
| US08942492B2 |
Recording medium having recorded thereon coded information using plus and/or minus rounding of images
Medium having image decoding program effecting: extracting motion vector information, quantized DCT coefficients, and rounding method information from input information; dequantizing quantized DCT coefficients to DCT coefficients; performing inverse DCT conversion on the DCT coefficients to an error image; synthesizing a prediction image of a currently decoded image by performing motion compensation using motion vector information, rounding method information, and a previously decoded reference image; and adding the prediction and error images to obtain a decoded image; wherein motion compensation is performed with half-pixel accuracy using bilinear interpolation to calculate intensity values of chrominance or luminance at points where no pixels exist in the reference image, the interpolation being performable using a positive or negative rounding method, and using a rounding method specified by rounding method information included in coded information of the currently decoded image, in a header section of the coded information of the current image. |
| US08942490B2 |
Method of high performance image compression
A method of compressing an image is provided by saving compressed color components into temporary buffers. In different time slots, compressed color components are stored in different temporary buffer. When data in the temporary buffers reach a predetermined size, data are moved to a second buffer larger than the temporary buffers. When the second buffer stores a predetermined amount of data, data are moved to an external memory. |
| US08942476B1 |
Saturation varying and lighting independent color color control for computer graphics
Color contributions from one or more light sources to scene entities are separated from the scene entities' respective unilluminated colors. This enables the color contributions of light sources as well as scene entities' unilluminated colors to be adjusted or modified independently of each other. Light source color contributions may be combined by groups of light sources, by light source to scene entity interaction, and/or by light source type. Adjustments to light source color contributions and/or unilluminated colors may be performed using a saturation varying color space or general tone mapping techniques. The light source color contributions and unilluminated colors of scene entities may be employed in contexts including an image processing application and within or as a shader of a renderer. |
| US08942473B2 |
Image processing method and display apparatus
A method and an apparatus for processing an image are provided. A buffer is provided and separated into a series of storage units. Each storage unit has a fixed size. The image is divided into pixel groups, and each pixel group corresponds to one storage unit. Each pixel group is compressed by one of candidate compression methods to obtain compressed data so that the compressed data of each pixel group fits the corresponding storage unit. |
| US08942472B2 |
Color judging apparatus, color judging method, image processing circuit and program
With a pixel included in image data as a reference pixel, a pixel that shares the same pixel value as the reference pixel or a pixel similar to the reference pixel is judged as a shared pixel, and for the pixel judged as the shared pixel, color of the reference pixel is regarded as a color judgment result of the shared pixel, thus making it possible to reduce color calculation processing for the shared pixel. This makes it possible to provide a color judging apparatus operating at higher speed and the like. Thereby, it is possible to provide the color judging apparatus operable at high speed and the like by reducing the number of times of the color calculation processing executed for an input image. |
| US08942471B2 |
Color sequential flash for digital image acquisition
A method and a System to obtain a more realistic image of an object by acquiring a plurality of e.g. monochromatic images without increasing the structure of a, for example, charged coupled device array by a sequential acquisition of the images by using a color sequential flash. |
| US08942465B2 |
Methods and systems for processing images for inspection of an object
Methods and systems for processing images are provided. One method includes obtaining a plurality of images corresponding to at least one area of an object and performing a rectification of at least some of the plurality of images using a reference structure. The method also includes performing a gradient vector field analysis on the rectified plurality of images of the object to identify anomaly regions within the object. |
| US08942464B2 |
Pattern measuring apparatus, and pattern measuring method and program
The present invention provides a pattern measuring apparatus (600) that: acquires the image contour of a circuit pattern formed by transferring design data; classifies the acquired image contour into shape structures; calculates normal vectors for each shape structure; maps the shape structures to the image contour; uses at least one normal direction for each shape structure to stabilize the normal directions to the image contour; and uses the normal vectors for each shape structure to determine the position of a SEM contour. |
| US08942463B2 |
Harmonic resist model for use in a lithographic apparatus and a device manufacturing method
A method for determining an image of a mask pattern in a resist coated on a substrate, the method including determining an aerial image of the mask pattern at substrate level; and convolving the aerial image with at least two orthogonal convolution kernels to determine a resist image that is representative of the mask pattern in the resist. |
| US08942461B2 |
Method for a banknote detector device, and a banknote detector device
A banknote detector device for an automatic teller machine, for differentiating between non-accepted and accepted banknotes, includes a banknote image sensor to receive and scan at least one face of an input banknote and to store a banknote image (BI) of each scanned. The image includes image data in the form of a number of pixels; and a reference banknote image (RBI) storage where one reference banknote image, being processed from a predetermined number of banknote images from accepted banknotes, is stored for each face of each banknote. The device includes an alignment, a banknote face classification unit, a printed pattern positioning unit and a comparison unit where, for at least one face of the banknote, the BI and RBI, being in exact pattern position in relation to each other, are compared pixel per pixel according to a predefined comparison procedure to classify the banknote as accepted or non-accepted. |
| US08942459B2 |
Methods and apparatus for fast identification of relevant features for classification or regression
In various embodiments, methods and apparatus are provided for automated selection of features of cells useful for classifying cell phenotype. The methods include determining a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) for each of a plurality of pairs of features, rather than S/N for individual features. The approach is capable of quickly identifying a small set of features of imaged cells that are most relevant for classification of a desired cell phenotype from among a very large number of features. The small group of relevant features can then be used to more efficiently and more accurately classify phenotype of unidentified cells. |
| US08942453B2 |
Ultrasonograph and method of diagnosis using same
An ultrasonograph of the present invention comprises a probe (1), a controller (3) connected to the probe (1), and a display (4) connected to the controller (3). The controller (4) causes the display (4) to display a detected image of a target object detected by the probe (1) and an angular position relationship image showing a relative angular position of the probe to the detected image of the target object. This enables even a non-expert to take accurate measurements. |
| US08942451B2 |
Method and system for mapping tissue status of acute stroke
The current invention provides a method of identifying a ischemic lesion. The method includes loading perfusion imaging data into an electronic memory element and deriving perfusion maps from the perfusion imaging data, where the perfusion maps include a cerebral blood volume (CBV) map and an arterial delay time (DT) map, which utilize arterial delay and dispersion effects. Ischemic pixels are determined from the perfusion imaging data, where the DT is greater than a predetermined first threshold value and the CBV is below a second threshold value and the infarct portion of the ischemic lesion is determined, where DT is greater than a predetermined third threshold value and/or the CBV is below a forth threshold value. A cluster analysis is applied to all of the determined ischemic lesion and infarct pixels and the penumbra is then determined, where mismatch regions between the ischemic lesion and the infarct core define the penumbra. |
| US08942448B2 |
Image processing device, image processing method, and program
There is provided an image processing device including a body hair detection unit that detects a body hair region corresponding to body hair from a process target image that includes skin, a texture structure estimation unit that estimates a structure of skin texture in the process target image, and an interpolation unit that interpolates the body hair region detected by the body hair detection unit based on the structure of the skin texture estimated by the texture structure estimation unit. |
| US08942446B2 |
System and method for planning a neurosurgical operation
A system (10) and method (20) for planning a neurosurgical operation are provided the system (10) comprises an input (11) for receiving functional data (25) and anatomical data of a brain region (31), and a processor (12) configured to perform the method (20) according to the invention. The method (20) comprises analyzing (26) the functional data (25) to form a network representation (27) of functional connections, mapping the network representation (27) of the functional connections and the anatomical data to a common coordinate system, determining an expected function loss associated with a simulated removal of network nodes (32) or network connections (42) from the network representation (27), and identifying critical network connections and/or critical network nodes based on the expected function loss. |
| US08942444B2 |
System and method for image compression in X-ray imaging systems
An imaging system includes an analog-to-digital converter configured to convert an analog pixel value into a first digital pixel value. The imaging system also includes an index value source configured to receive the first digital pixel value from the analog-to-digital converter and to generate a digital index value based on a comparison of the first digital pixel value to a digital reference value. In addition, the imaging system includes a transmitter in communication with the index value source and configured to transmit the digital index value. Further, the imaging system includes an image processing component configured to receive the digital index value and to generate a second digital pixel value based at least in part on the received digital index value and a lookup table of the image processing component. |
| US08942442B2 |
Method and device for aligning a needle
A method and a device for use in conjunction with an imaging modality (202), for controlling the angular orientation of a needle-shaped object (212) while moving it along a path (214) from a given entry point to a given target point in a body during a percutaneous intervention. The device comprises a support unit (502, 602, 702, 802) for supporting a guiding unit (506, 706), which support unit provides a pair of parallel control planes (604, 606) which are at least partially detectable by the imaging modality. The guiding unit establishes a guiding axis (612, 818) substantially perpendicular to the pair of parallel control planes along which guiding axis the needle-shaped object is translatable. The angular orientation of an imaging plane (204) applied by the imaging modality determines a reference for the angular orientation of the pair of parallel control planes. By aligning the pair of parallel control planes with the imaging plane, the guiding axis is in correlation with the path from the entry point to the target point. |
| US08942441B2 |
Optimizing the initialization and convergence of active contours for segmentation of cell nuclei in histological sections
A computer-implemented segmentation method is used to process an image representing a plurality of nuclei. The method is implemented in a computer having a processor and a physical memory. A set of instructions are provided to the processor the physical memory of the computer. The processor is configured by executing the set of instructions in the physical memory so as to automatically segment the image by: thresholding a grey-scale image to create a black and white image; identifying objects in the black and white image and removing objects failing to meet predetermined criteria; extracting objects; and applying an edge detector on the segmented image to identify the edges of the nuclei. Overlapping nuclei are split to improve results. |
| US08942438B2 |
Method and apparatus for authenticating swipe biometric scanners
Methods and apparatuses for authenticating a biometric scanner, such as swipe type finger print scanners, involves estimating unique intrinsic characteristics of the scanner (scanner pattern), that are permanent over time, and can identify a scanner even among scanners of the same manufacturer and model. Image processing and analysis are used to extract a scanner pattern from images acquired with the scanner. The scanner pattern is used to verify whether the scanner that acquired a particular image is the same as the scanner that acquired one or several images during enrollment of the biometric information. Authenticating the scanner can prevent subsequent security attacks using counterfeit biometric information on the scanner, or on the user authentication system. |
| US08942435B2 |
Pre-record data storage device and pre-record data storage method
A pre-record data storage device includes: a first recorder; a second recorder having a capacity larger than that of the first recorder; a face comparison processor that executes a face comparison process on a person's face detected from an image obtained by photographing the person; and a recording controller. The recording controller allows the first recorder to start pre-recording of the image of the person from a face detection time when the person's face is detected, and to finish the pre-recording at a matched time when matching is confirmed as a result of the face comparison process of the face comparison processor. The recording controller stores pre-recorded data from the face detection time to the matched time in the second recorder. |
| US08942433B2 |
System for scheduling, recordation and biometric validation of interpersonal interactions
A system for scheduling and recording interpersonal interactions using biometric validation to verify user identity and assure user conformance with preselected criteria upon which approval of an interpersonal interaction is contingent. |
| US08942431B2 |
Biometrics based methods and systems for user authentication
Disclosed are computer-implemented methods and systems for authentication of users through capturing and analyzing biometrics data such as keystroke dynamics. Once the keystroke dynamics is acquired, a corresponding feature vector related is calculated by calculating multiple sub-feature values using various algorithms such as normalization, relations between keystroke dynamics events, relations of sums of various sub-feature values, and so forth. The feature vector is then selectively compared to a group of reference feature vectors associated with the user. If it is determined that the newly obtained feature vector is similar to the selected group reference feature vectors, the user is authenticated. The process of determining similarity involves decomposition of feature vectors and reference feature vectors onto multiple sub-vectors and calculation similarity therebetween. |
| US08942429B2 |
Method for improving false acceptance rate discrimination for biometric authentication systems
A method, system and computer program product for improving error discrimination in biometric authentication systems. The error discrimination is set to a predetermined security policy. A plurality of biometric samples are provided and authenticated by a computer system in conjunction with a security token. An alternate embodiment allows inputting of the plurality of biometric samples in a predetermined sequence. The predetermined input sequence is maintained as an authentication secret which may be used to further reduce the authentication transaction error rate. A user may input one or more biometric samples, where a portion of the biometric samples are inputted in a predetermined sequence, selecting from among a plurality of available processing units, a set of processing units which will generate intermediate results from the processing of the biometric samples, processing at least a portion of the biometric samples by the selected set of processing units to provide intermediate results, verifying the predetermined sequence, and arbitrating the intermediate results to generate a final result which at least meets a predetermined security policy. Various embodiments provide for a security token to perform at least a portion of the processing or the arbitration function. |
| US08942428B2 |
Isolate extraneous motions
A system may receive image data and capture motion with respect to a target in a physical space and recognize a gesture from the captured motion. It may be desirable to isolate aspects of captured motion to differentiate random and extraneous motions. For example, a gesture may comprise motion of a user's right arm, and it may be desirable to isolate the motion of the user's right arm and exclude an interpretation of any other motion. Thus, the isolated aspect may be the focus of the received data for gesture recognition. Alternately, the isolated aspects may be an aspect of the captured motion that is removed from consideration when identifying a gesture from the captured motion. For example, gesture filters may be modified to correspond to the user's natural lean to eliminate the effect the lean has on the registry of a motion with a gesture filter. |
| US08942427B2 |
Method and an apparatus for displaying a 3-dimensional image
A three-dimensional (3D) image display device may display a perceived 3D image. A location tracking unit may determine a viewing distance from a screen to a viewer. An image processing unit may calculate a 3D image pixel period based on the determined viewing distance, may determine a color of at least one of pixels and sub-pixels displaying the 3D image based on the calculated 3D image pixel period, and may control the 3D image to be displayed based on the determined color. |
| US08942421B1 |
Geolocation of remotely sensed pixels by introspective landmarking
A method of geodetically locating pixels of a captured image of a planetary body comprises the steps of: detecting an object on the planetary body using an imaging sensor viewing the planetary body; matching the object to a predetermined landmark on the planetary body; and updating, at a time tk, a state vector representing kinematics of the imaging sensor, and tk representing a present update time. Updating the state vector at the present time occurs if, and only if, the matching step is successful. In addition, the method includes computing a line-of-sight (LOS) vector from the imaging sensor to the planetary body, based on observations of the planetary body and the kinematics of the state vector; and geodetically locating the pixels of the captured image, based on the LOS vector. The LOS vector is based only on (a) the predetermined landmark and (b) a position command from a ground processing segment to the imaging sensor. |
| US08942418B2 |
Method of providing a descriptor for at least one feature of an image and method of matching features
A method of providing a descriptor for at least one feature of an image comprises the steps of providing an image captured by a capturing device and extracting at least one feature from the image, and assigning a descriptor to the at least one feature, the descriptor depending on at least one parameter which is indicative of an orientation, wherein the at least one parameter is determined from the orientation of the capturing device measured by a tracking system. The invention also relates to a method of matching features of two or more images. |
| US08942417B2 |
Method for detection of specimen region, apparatus for detection of specimen region, and program for detection of specimen region
A method for detecting the specimen region includes the first step for the first region detecting unit to detect the first region which is a region with contrast in the first image of an object for observation which is photographed under illumination with visible light, the second step for the second region detecting unit to detect the second region which is a region with contrast in the second image of the object for observation which is photographed under illumination with ultraviolet light, and the third step for the specimen region defining unit to define, based on the first and second regions mentioned above, the specimen region where there exists the specimen in the object for observation. |
| US08942416B2 |
Method and apparatus for embedding auxiliary information within original data
This patent application is generally related to watermarking and steganography. One claim recites a method of transmarking an audio or video signal previously embedded with a first digital watermark using a first digital watermark embedding method. The method includes: utilizing a programmed electronic processor, decoding the first digital watermark from the audio or video signal, in which the decoding determines relationships or values associated with local masking opportunities of the media signal; converting the audio or video signal into a different form; and utilizing a programmed electronic processor, embedding decoded message information from the first digital watermark into a second digital watermark in the different form such that the second digital watermark is adapted to robustness or perceptibility parameters associated with the different form. Of course, other combinations and claims are provided as well. |
| US08942415B1 |
System and method of identifying advertisement in images
A system and method is provided wherein, in one aspect, a processor determines whether multiple street level images have captured a nearly-identical face. If so, the images are processed to determine whether the face appears to be part of an advertisement. Once it is determined that the face is displayed on an advertisement, the boundaries of the advertisement may be determined and the location of the advertisement is stored for future use, e.g., potentially replacing the advertisement in the image with a different advertisement. |
| US08942410B2 |
Magnetically biased electromagnet for audio applications
An electronic device having an enclosure having a top panel and a bottom panel. An electromagnet is mounted within the enclosure, the electromagnet having a core portion attached to the top panel and a coil connected to the core portion. An attractor plate is attached to the bottom panel, the attractor plate forming part of a magnetic circuit of the electromagnet such that when an electrical audio signal is applied to the electromagnet, the bottom panel vibrates and produces a sound. A permanent magnet is further attached to the core portion, the permanent magnet is configured to create a bias in the magnetic circuit so as to modify a distortion in the sound. |
| US08942409B2 |
Magnetic suspension transducer
An improved electrodynamic acoustic transducer eliminates or reduces the need for flexible or elastic materials to suspend an internal magnetic element by using both static and dynamic signal-dependent magnetic fields to control its movement. In one implementation, the transducer has a magnet that moves within a surrounding tube. This tube in turn supports one or more electromagnetic coils that generate a dynamic signal-dependent magnetic field that causes the internal magnetic element to vibrate. The surrounding tube also supports one or more magnets whose location on the tube is fixed and whose magnetic fields provide appropriate restoring forces acting on the internal magnetic element. These fixed magnets may be replaced or supplemented by ferromagnetic materials. This transducer may provide sound and infrasonic vibration by coupling the internal magnetic element to other radiating elements or by being placed in close proximity to or in actual contact with the pinna or meatus of the human ear when used in headphones or earphones, for example, and it also may provide sound through the direct vibration of the air in contact with the surface of the internal magnetic element. When direct atmospheric coupling is not required, the transducer may be assembled in a sealed enclosure. |
| US08942404B1 |
Headset with retinal display and integrated computing system
The adjustable headset is an all in one device that includes an adjustable support band, a display system, a first and second ear cover, a computer system, a communications system, and a power source. The adjustable support band connects to each ear cover, with the ear covers being adjacent to a user's ears. The display system uses image projecting devices that use optics to refract images from through image refocusing devices and focus the projected image on a retina. The display system is attached to the ear covers by adjustable screen bars, which allow a user to change the general orientation of the display system. The computer system is capable of storing and running software programs and interfacing with connected devices by means of a set of connection ports or the communications system. The virtual goggles can adjust to meet individual comfort needs and interface with a variety of technologies. |
| US08942400B2 |
Subcutaneous piezoelectric bone conduction hearing aid actuator and system
An implantable bone-conduction hearing actuator based on a piezoelectric element, such as a unimorph or bimorph cantilever bender, is described. Unlike other implantable bone conduction hearing actuators, the device is subcutaneous and once implanted is entirely invisible. The device excites bending in bone through a local bending moment rather than the application of a point force as with conventional bone-anchored hearing aids. |
| US08942399B2 |
Methods for wideband receiver and module for a hearing assistance device
Disclosed herein, among other things, are systems and methods for wideband receiver modules for hearing assistance devices. One aspect of the present subject matter includes an apparatus for use with a hearing assistance device. The apparatus includes two low frequency spout-less receivers configured to act as a woofer, and a dual receiver attached to the front of the woofer, the receiver configured to act as a tweeter. According to various embodiments, the acoustical load for each of the two low frequency receivers form a channel on each side of the tweeter. The apparatus is adapted to extend bandwidth of the hearing assistance device and to maintain low vibration of the dual receiver, in various embodiments. Various embodiments include sharing back volumes for receivers and improved perforated wax protections guides to further improve device performance. |
| US08942392B2 |
Flat panel loudspeaker system
A flat panel speaker system is provided. The system includes, a modified panel having a front surface and a rear surface, wherein the modified panel acts as a diaphragm for the flat panel speaker system; a supporting member coupled to the rear surface of the modified panel; and a detachable driver operationally coupled to the supporting member. |
| US08942388B2 |
Modulation device and demodulation device
A modulation device includes: a spread code generation unit which generates a spread code having a predetermined cycle; an audio signal input unit to which an audio signal is input; a first modulation unit which phase-modulates the spread code in each cycle on the basis of a data code; and a combining unit which combines the audio signal with a modulation signal which has been generated on the basis of the phase-modulated spread code and distributed in a frequency range higher than a predetermined frequency to output a combined signal. |
| US08942386B2 |
Real-time quality monitoring of speech and audio signals in noisy reverberant environments for teleconferencing systems
A method for real-time monitoring of audio signals reception quality includes receiving output signals from a plurality of microphone clusters, each microphone cluster having at least two microphone units to receive audio signals from at least two distinct directions and output corresponding electrical signals; identifying comparative features of output signals for each of the microphone clusters; and selecting at least one microphone cluster based on the identified features. A system for real-time monitoring of audio signals reception quality includes a plurality of microphone clusters, each microphone cluster having at least two microphone units to receive audio signals from at least two distinct directions and output corresponding electrical signals; and a main audio unit to identify comparative features of output signals for each of the microphone clusters and to select at least one microphone cluster based on the identified features. |
| US08942383B2 |
Wind suppression/replacement component for use with electronic systems
Techniques associated with an acoustic vibration sensor are described, including a first detector that receives a first signal and a second detector that receives a second signal and a third signal, wherein the first signal comprises a skin surface microphone signal, a static equalization filter coupled to the first detector and configured to generate an equalized first signal, a voice activity detector coupled to the first detector, and a wind detector coupled to the second detector, the wind detector configured to correlate the second signal and the third signal and to derive from the correlation a plurality of wind metrics associated with a wind noise, the wind detector is further configured to determine a magnitude associated with the wind noise, to determine whether to suspend an activity of the system, and to determine a duration of time that the magnitude associated with the wind noise exceeds a threshold. |
| US08942379B2 |
Timeslot encryption in an optical transport network
An Optical Transport Network (OTN) frame comprises an optical channel payload unit that is divided into a plurality of timeslots. This OTN frame is received at a transmitter and the timeslots are grouped into blocks of timeslots. Two or more blocks of timeslots are selected for encryption and are encrypted/authenticated in parallel to generate an encrypted OTN frame in which only certain blocks of timeslots are encrypted. |
| US08942376B2 |
Apparatuses, systems, and methods for renewability with digital content protection systems
In one embodiment of the invention, a format for renewability content (e.g., a System Renewability Message (SRM)) corresponding to a content protection protocol (e.g., High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP)) may be interoperable with devices that are compliant with different versions of the standard (e.g., HDCP1.x and 2.x devices) and that include different amounts of storage for the renewability content (e.g., first and second generation devices). |
| US08942374B2 |
Encryption device
According to an embodiment, an encryption device includes a symmetric-key operation unit; a division unit; an exclusive OR operation unit; a multiplication unit that performs multiplication on a Galois field; and a control unit that controls the above units. When the input data is divided into blocks, with the predetermined length, and the first mode of operation is designated on a (j−1)-th block, the control unit performs control such that the multiplication unit performs multiplication with a predetermined value based on the (j−1)-th block, performs control such that the exclusive OR operation unit sums a multiplication result and data of a j-th block, and performs control such that the exclusive OR operation unit sums an operation result of the exclusive OR operation unit and an operation result of the multiplication unit on the (j−1)-th block. |
| US08942373B2 |
Data encryption and decryption method and apparatus
This present application relates to data encryption and decryption technology, and especially relates to a data encryption and decryption method and apparatus. The described encryption method comprises: packeting plaintext data to be encrypted, randomly assigning an encryption function to each group of the plaintext data, encrypting each group of the plaintext data with the encryption function respectively, and arranging the encrypted data according to its corresponding position in the plaintext data to form a ciphertext. The encryption apparatus includes: packet module, encryption function random assignment module and encryption processing module. This application also provides a data decryption method and apparatus. This invention randomly assigns an encryption function to the plaintext to be encrypted, and uses the assigned encryption function to encrypt the plaintext data to arrange and form a ciphertext, greatly strengthening the security of data storage, and achieving the perfect secrecy of data. |
| US08942372B2 |
Method and device for identifying objects
The invention relates to a method for identifying an object comprising at least one object identifier with an object code that is used to verify the authenticity of the object. The method comprises the following steps: creation of a unique random system code consisting of a first and a second system code, the first part of the system code being generated from a first character set by a first random method and the second part of the system code being generated from a second character set by a second random method and saving of the system code together with at least one first object-specific information in a first data memory, the first part of the system code being encrypted by a first encryption method and the second part of the system code by a second encryption method prior to being saved; creation of a random encryption key from a third character set by a third random method, creation of a unique assignment identifier by an assignment method and saving of the encryption key, assignment identifier and at least one second object-specific piece of information in a second data memory; creation of the object code, consisting of the first part of the system code and the assignment key, encryption of the object identifier by a fourth encryption method and saving of the encrypted system code together with the encrypted object identifier in a third data memory; and attachment of the object code to the object. |
| US08942371B2 |
Method and system for a symmetric block cipher using a plurality of symmetric algorithms
A method and system for hybrid encryption wherein all of the round function variables including the encryption algorithm change for each round. This permits the generation of block sizes and key sizes of any length and use standard block sizes and key sizes for the respective symmetric algorithm for each round function. |
| US08942370B2 |
Filter bank optimization for acoustic echo cancellation
A communications device is presented for providing bi-directional audio communications between a near-end user and a far-end user via a bidirectional communications channel. The communications device includes an adaptive echo canceller receiving a near-end audio signal and a far-end audio signal and providing an echo-canceled near-end audio signal for transmission to the far-end user via the communications channel. The adaptive echo canceller includes a first bank of analysis filters for filtering the near-end audio signal, a second bank of analysis filters for filtering the far-end audio signal, and a bank of synthesis filters for filtering sub-band echo-canceled signals generated within the adaptive echo canceller. The first and second filter banks have a frequency response optimized to reduce echo residual gain. |
| US08942366B2 |
RFID for available resources not connected to the network
Disclosed are apparatus and techniques for providing presence and location information from available media resources to participants in a media conference so that the participants can use then use such available resources in the conferencing interaction. When participating in such rich media conferences with presence and location capabilities, apparatus and techniques are provided for determining the device(s) being used and their capabilities and determining available resources presently connected to a network that is available to the participants and presenting such presence information to the conference participants. Additionally, apparatus and techniques are provided for obtaining presence and location knowledge of potential resources that are accessible but not connected to the network or shutdown and presenting such information to the participants. Thus, the participants can obtain presence and location information regarding accessible resources, including off-line or shutdown resources, and then use such information to enhance the conference in a number of ways. |
| US08942365B2 |
Monitoring and providing access to back to back scheduled conference calls
A method for monitoring and providing access to back to back scheduled conference calls within a teleconferencing system. The method includes receiving a call and a password entry from a caller. The method includes determining the password entry is valid for a scheduled conference call. The method includes determining the scheduled conference call is scheduled back to back with a previous conference call and that the previous conference call is not over. The method then includes determining the password entry is a specific password, wherein the specific password is issued only to callers accessing back to back scheduled conference calls and placing the caller on hold. |
| US08942363B2 |
Method and apparatus for abstracting telephony functions
A method and apparatus for abstracting telephony functions is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a terminal device having a User Interface (UI) element that presents a plurality of Graphical User Interface (GUI) elements that abstract a corresponding plurality of telephony functions, and a telephony element that initiates a telephony process in response to a selection by an end user of the terminal device of two or more of the plurality of GUI elements to form a combined telephony function. Additional embodiments are disclosed. |
| US08942362B2 |
Communication administration system
A communication administration system includes: a administration system, for managing basis information of at least one user; and a service system, for fetching basic information and current location information of a called party from the administration system in response to a communication request from a calling party, obtaining current location information and preference information of the called party from the called party, and generating a communication mechanism scenario according to a communication mechanism system for the calling party to make a selection and to make a call accordingly. |
| US08942360B2 |
Saving and forwarding customized messages
Methods and computer-readable media provide presenting a customized message to an incoming calling party and for allowing the calling party to save or forward the customized message. A called party submits a customized message to an intelligent network component of her telecommunications service provider along with identifiers for specified incoming callers who are to receive the customized message upon calling the called party. After the customized message is prepared, incoming callers who have been associated with the customized message are presented with the customized message before being connected to the called party. If the incoming call is not from a telephone directory number associated with the customized message, the incoming call is processed according to normal call processing methods. |
| US08942357B2 |
Stopping robocalls
A robocall is prevented from reaching a telephone subscriber, by an automated calling screening system that tests for presence of a human caller on the line, and disconnects calls absent a predetermined response indicating presence of a human caller. |
| US08942354B1 |
Message-indication testing
A computer-implemented method and system to remotely test message-waiting notifications over a communications network is provided. The method includes receiving broadband signaling from a voicemail platform; converting the broadband signaling to narrowband signaling; and transmitting the narrowband signaling, which generates status notifications, and transmits the status notifications to a remote test location. The system includes a switching element that routes the broadband signaling generated by the voicemail platform. The switching element routes the broadband signaling to a message processing component that executes code that searches a message-waiting-notification database to generate appropriate tones based on the broadband signaling received from the switching element. |
| US08942351B2 |
Systems and methods for cargo scanning and radiotherapy using a traveling wave linear accelerator based X-ray source using pulse width to modulate pulse-to-pulse dosage
Provided herein are systems and methods for operating a traveling wave linear accelerator to generate stable electron beams at two or more different intensities by varying the number of electrons injected into the accelerator structure during each pulse by varying the width of the beam pulse, i.e., pulse width. The electron beams may be used to generate x-rays having selected doses and energies, which may be used for cargo scanning or radiotherapy applications. |
| US08942348B2 |
Methods and apparatus for providing accessories to a patient during radiation treatment
An apparatus is provided for performing radiation therapy on a patient. In certain embodiments, the apparatus includes a patient support surface, a gantry having a radiation source rotatable around the patient support surface, a supply arm extending through the central bore, a supply interface disposed on the supply arm, and a supply line connecting the supply interface to a supply source. The apparatus delivers radiation therapy accessories to the patient while minimally interfering with access to the patient by radiation therapy personnel. |
| US08942346B2 |
Systems and methods for obtaining and displaying an X-ray image
Systems and methods for obtaining and displaying a collimated X-ray image are described. The methods can include providing an X-ray device having an X-ray source, a square or rectangular X-ray detector, and a collimator. The collimator can be sized and shaped to collimate an X-ray beam from the X-ray source that exposes a receptor region on the detector. The collimator can allow the X-ray image received by the X-ray detector to have any suitable shape that allows a relatively large view of the image to be displayed and rotated on the display device without changing the shape or size of the image as it rotated. In some instances, the collimator provides the image with superellipse shapes or cornerless shapes having four substantially straight edges with a 90 degree corner missing between at least two edges that run substantially perpendicular to each other. Other embodiments are described. |
| US08942345B2 |
Method for obtaining a 3D image dataset of an object of interest
A method for obtaining a 3D image dataset of an object of interest is proposed. A plurality of 2D X-ray images are captured and a 3D reconstruction is carried out using filtered back projection. The projection parameters have been measured with the aid of a calibrating phantom, possibly using an interpolation or extrapolation of such measurements. A model of effect strings of the components in an X-ray imaging device is obtained, and the model parameters are identified based on imaging of a calibrating phantom. A projection matrix can then be calculated for any positions on any desired trajectories, without having to use imaging of a calibrating phantom at precisely that position and desired trajectory. |
| US08942344B2 |
Method for determining the concentration of an element in a material
A method for determining the concentration of an element in a material includes irradiating the material with an X-ray beam having a continuum in the area of an absorption edge of the element to be measured. The intensity of the transmitted X-ray beam is measured with an energy dispersive sensor. The intensity of the transmitted X-ray beam in an energy interval above the absorption edge and in an energy interval below the absorption edge is determined. The concentration of the element is computed on the basis of said intensities. |
| US08942342B2 |
Multi-modality image acquisition
The techniques described herein provide a means for generating an x-ray image and ultrasound image depicting parallel planes of an object under examination and may be used in conjunctions with x-ray or ultrasound techniques known to those in the field (e.g., x-ray tomosynthesis, computed tomography ultrasound imaging, etc.). In one example, one or more x-ray images are spatially coincident to one or more ultrasound images and the images may be combined through spatial registration. It finds particular application to mammography examinations but may be used in other fields that use information from multiple modalities. |
| US08942340B2 |
Tetrahedron beam computed tomography with multiple detectors and/or source arrays
A tetrahedron beam computed tomography system including an x ray source array that sequentially emits a plurality of x ray beams at different positions along a scanning direction and a collimator that intercepts the plurality of x-ray beams so that a plurality of fan-shaped x-ray beams emanate from the collimator towards an object. The system includes a first detector receiving a first set of fan-shaped x ray beams after they pass through the object, the first detector generating a first imaging signal for each of the received first set of fan-shaped x-ray beams and a second detector receiving a second set of fan-shaped x ray beams after they pass through the object, the second detector generating a second imaging signal for each of the received second set of fan-shaped x-ray beams. Each detector and source pair form a tetrahedral volume. In other embodiments, the system may also have more than two detectors arrays and/or more than one source array. Each pair of source array and detector array forms a tetrahedral volume. Using multiple detector arrays and source arrays can increase field of view, reduce the length of detector and source arrays so that the imaging system is more compact and mobile. |
| US08942332B2 |
System and method for data serialization and inter symbol interference reduction
A system and method is disclosed for reducing inter symbol interference in a high speed data transfer system. One or more decision logic circuits and one or more pull circuits are used to enable the signal level of a bit in a serial bit stream to achieve its nominal value. |
| US08942327B2 |
Modulation division multiple access
The present invention employs hierarchical modulation to simultaneously transmit information on different modulation layers using a carrier RF signal. Initially, first data to be transmitted is assigned to a first modulation layer and second data is assigned to a second modulation layer. In one embodiment of the present invention, the first and second data are assigned based on reliability criteria. The first and second modulation layers are hierarchical modulation layers of the carrier RF signal. Once assigned, the first data is transmitted using the first modulation layer of the carrier RF signal and the second data is transmitted using the second modulation layer of the carrier RF signal. In one embodiment of the present invention, information may be transmitted to one end user using one modulation layer, and information may be transmitted to a different end user using a different modulation layer. |
| US08942323B2 |
Communication system with signal-to-noise ratio adjustment mechanism and method of operation thereof
A communication system includes: a partial-calculation module configured to determine a partial-sensitive output and a partial-insensitive output for a receiver message; a characterization module, coupled to the partial-calculation module, configured to calculate a mismatch characterization with a control unit using the partial-sensitive output and the partial-insensitive output; and a selection module, coupled to the partial-calculation module, configured to generate a mechanism-controller based on the mismatch characterization for communicating with a device. |
| US08942320B2 |
Data unit format for multi-user data in long-range wireless local area networks (WLANs)
A method includes receiving a data unit that includes a signal (SIG) field and a data field. The SIG field provides information for interpreting the data field. The method also includes detecting a first symbol constellation rotation of at least a first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol in the SIG field of the data unit, determining, based at least in part on the detected first symbol constellation rotation, a number of information bits per OFDM symbol in the SIG field of the data unit, processing the SIG field of the data unit according to the determined number of information bits per OFDM symbol in the SIG field, and processing the data field of the data unit according to the information for interpreting the data field as provided in the SIG field of the data unit. |
| US08942314B2 |
Transmit (TX) interference canceller and power detector
A method for Tx interference cancellation and power detection in a wireless device is described. A portion of a Tx output signal is down-converted to generate a feedback signal. A reconstructed interference signal and a weight are generated based on the feedback signal. A Tx power level is detected based on the weight. The reconstructed interference signal is subtracted from the Tx output signal. |
| US08942309B1 |
Signal output improvement using data inversion and/or swapping
An intermediate voltage is maintained between a first voltage and a second voltage by conditionally or selectively performing data bus inversion (DBI) and/or data swap operations on a first and second transmit channel. The operations are performed to, in some instances, create a current imbalance between the first and second channel where the intermediate voltage drifts toward a target range or target value between the first voltage and second voltage in response to the created imbalance. |
| US08942307B2 |
Antenna switching apparatus based on spatial modulation
An antenna switching apparatus based on spatial modulation includes a plurality of antennas; a control signal generator configured to generate a plurality of switching control signals; and a plurality of switches configured to switch on to apply a transmission signal to the respective antennas according to the respective switching control signals. Further, the antenna switching apparatus includes a delay analyzer configured to receive the transmission signal output from each of the plurality of switches to calculate delay information for synchronizing the switching control signals applied to the respective switches; and a delay adjuster configured to synchronize the switching control signals to apply the synchronized switching control signals to the respective switches according to the calculated delay information. |
| US08942298B2 |
Data communications
Data communication apparatus comprising transmission means adapted to transmit data as the ratio of pairs of frequencies between objects that are moving relative to one another. It is particularly applicable to acoustic data communications at ultrasound frequencies in air. |
| US08942295B2 |
Method and system for vertical filtering using window descriptors
Herein described is a method and system of vertically filtering a graphics image such that an enhanced image is provided to a display. Filtering of the graphics image may be accomplished by using one or more window descriptors. The method may be implemented by computing a weighted average of one or more pixel intensities. The system may comprise a memory, a processor, and a graphics engine. The graphics engine may comprise a graphics blender. The graphics blender may comprise one or more multipliers and one or more adders. The processor may execute software resident in the memory, such that the one or more window descriptors may be used to compute the weighted average. |
| US08942287B2 |
Method and apparatus for variable accuracy inter-picture timing specification for digital video encoding with reduced requirements for division operations
A method and apparatus for performing motion estimation in a digital video system is disclosed. Specifically, the present invention discloses a system that quickly calculates estimated motion vectors in a very efficient manner. In one embodiment, a first multiplicand is determined by multiplying a first display time difference between a first video picture and a second video picture by a power of two scale value. This step scales up a numerator for a ratio. Next, the system determines a scaled ratio by dividing that scaled numerator by a second first display time difference between said second video picture and a third video picture. The scaled ratio is then stored calculating motion vector estimations. By storing the scaled ratio, all the estimated motion vectors can be calculated quickly with good precision since the scaled ratio saves significant bits and reducing the scale is performed by simple shifts. |
| US08942285B2 |
Motion compensation filtering in an image system
Coding techniques for a video image compression system involve improving an image quality of a sequence of two or more bi-directionally predicted intermediate frames, where each of the frames includes multiple pixels. One method involves determining a brightness value of at least one pixel of each bi-directionally predicted intermediate frame in the sequence as an equal average of brightness values of pixels in non-bidirectionally predicted frames bracketing the sequence of bi-directionally predicted intermediate frames. The brightness values of the pixels in at least one of the non-bidirectionally predicted frames is converted from a non-linear representation. |
| US08942284B2 |
Method for decoding chroma image using luma quantization
Provided is a method that derives a chroma intra prediction mode of a prediction unit, determines a size of a current chroma block using luma transform size information, generates a chroma prediction block of the current chroma block using the chroma intra prediction mode, generates a chroma residual block of the current chroma block using the chroma intra prediction mode and a chroma quantization parameter, generates a chroma reconstructed block adding the chroma prediction block and the chroma residual block, and the chroma quantization parameter is generated using a luma quantization parameter and information indicating the relationship between the luma quantization parameter and the chroma quantization parameter. Therefore, the coding efficiency is improved by adjusting the chroma quantization parameter per picture. Also, the amount of bits for transmitting the luma and chroma quantization parameters is reduced by encoding the luma quantization parameter using neighboring luma quantization parameters. |
| US08942274B2 |
Radio apparatus
A radio apparatus comprising: a first transceiver means arranged to receive and transmit packets according to a first protocol; a second transceiver means arranged to receive or transmit packets according to a second, different protocol, the second transceiver means being located such that interference is possible between packets of the first and second protocols; analyzing means for determining a probability that a packet to be transmitted or received by the first transceiver means does not contain only redundant information; and decision means for making a decision based on the determined probability as to whether or not the packet should be respectively transmitted or received. The first transceiver means is arranged to respectively transmit or receive the packet or not according to the decision. |
| US08942273B2 |
Communication method of relay node using non-linear hybrid network coding and device using said method
Provided is a relay node that performs network coding with respect to signals transmitted from a plurality of sources. The relay node may partition a plurality of constellation points into a plurality of subsets, generate a new constellation diagram based on respective characteristics among the plurality of subsets, and perform network coding based on the new constellation diagram. |
| US08942269B2 |
Nitride semiconductor light-emitting device
A nitride semiconductor light-emitting device having an optical waveguide includes, in the following order, at least: a first cladding layer; an active layer; and a second cladding layer, wherein the second cladding layer includes (i) a transparent conductive layer comprising a transparent conductor and (ii) a nitride semiconductor layer comprising a nitride semiconductor, the nitride semiconductor layer being formed closer to the active layer than the transparent conductive layer. |
| US08942266B2 |
Angular beam adjustment systems and methods for laser systems
Embodiments are directed to systems and methods for correcting lateral and angular displacement of laser beams within a laser cavity. For some embodiments, such systems and methods are used to correct angular displacement of laser beams within a laser cavity that result from varying the lasing wavelength in a tunable laser system. |
| US08942257B2 |
Wireless network using feedback of side information and communication method using network coding
A receiver that generates side information associated with information that is transmitted with packet data and that is included in received packet data, and that feeds back the side information to the transmitter, is provided. The transmitter may generate and transmit additional redundant bits based on the side information. |
| US08942255B2 |
Managing data
An apparatus, method, and system are provided for binding application data associated with an application with content asset data associated with a content asset. In some embodiments, capacity or bandwidth for each of the application data and the content asset data may be allocated in accordance with one or more profiles. The one or more profiles may include horizontal aspects, vertical aspects, linear and non-linear aspects, and the like. In some embodiments, the binding may take place at a content provider location in accordance with early binding practices, at a central location in accordance with late binding practices, and/or at a user equipment device in accordance with user binding practices. |
| US08942253B2 |
System and method for data transmission on wireless alternating switching channels
A system for data transmission on wireless alternating switching channels comprises a user, which allows a user to have at least an additional service on multiple service channels. The user sends at least a service forwarder a request to get at least an additional service, and receives the replied information of a specified forwarding channel. Before the connection between the user and the service forwarder fails or ends, the user receives original service and the service forwarder uses a specified service channel and transmits or receives additional service data for the user in the service channel interval; while in the control channel interval, the service forwarder uses the specified forwarding channel and transmits selective control message and selective additional data for the user, and the user switches to the specified forwarding channel to receive the selective control messages and the selective additional data. |
| US08942252B2 |
Method and system synchronization of content rendering
A method and system for synchronizing the rendering of content at various rendering devices. Each rendering device has a device time and a rendering time. The synchronization system designates one of the rendering devices as a master rendering device and designates all other rendering devices as slave rendering devices. Each slave rendering device adjusts the rendering of its content to keep it in synchronization with the rendering of the content at the master rendering device. The master rendering device sends a message with its rendering time and corresponding device time to the slave rendering devices. Each slave rendering device, upon receiving the message from the master rendering device, determines whether it is synchronized with the master rendering time. If not, the slave rendering device adjusts the rendering of its content to compensate for the difference between the master rendering time and the slave rendering time. |
| US08942251B2 |
Shared cell receiver for uplink capacity improvement in wireless communication networks
A wireless communication method and system are provided in which an uplink data stream that has uplink data associated with a user device is received. Channel performance data based at least in part on a portion of the uplink data stream is determined. A determination is made whether the channel performance data meets a predetermined performance level. The portion of the uplink data stream is discarded when the channel performance data does not meet the predetermined performance level. The portion of the uplink data stream is tagged for additional processing when the channel performance data meets the predetermined performance level. |
| US08942247B1 |
System for automatic registration of expeditionary telecommunications deployments
A system and method for enabling voice and broadband data delivery to users in expeditionary deployments is disclosed. More specifically the system is composed of a registration server, a wireless telco network server, a wide area transport network, and an external network interconnect (like satellite or fiber location) such that when users arrive at a disaster scene where communications infrastructure has been destroyed or is unavailable, they are either handed a smart device (smartphone, laptop, tablet, etc.) or they utilize an existing smart device they brought with them (BYOD) and via the Wi-Fi interface they connect to the wide area transport network. |
| US08942244B2 |
Circuit and method of autonomous FoIP/MoIP/ToIP call establishment
Disclosed are new methods of fax-over-IP (FoIP), modem-over-IP (MoIP) or text-over-IP (ToIP) call establishment based on detecting a combination of contra-propagating signals from calling and answering terminals for autonomous connection of media gateways. |
| US08942243B2 |
Adaptive rate control in a communications system
The invention relates to a method for controlling a bit-rate of a session in a packet-switched communications system where multiple sessions are set-up via a shared resource. A current bit-rate of the session is compared to a bit-rate range valid for the session to determine a distance from the position of the current bit-rate to one of the end-points of the bit-rate range. The current bit-rate is then adapted differently depending on the distance to the selected end-point. By controlling the bit-rate of each session that is set-up via the shared resource for applications that provide delay-sensitive services to users in this way the method and corresponding system and sender-receiver arrangements have the effect that rate adaptations can be distributed among the applications so that users share responsibility for rate adaptations. |
| US08942242B2 |
Method and apparatus for self-learning of VPNS from combinations of unidirectional tunnels in MPLS/VPN networks
In one embodiment, a data packet is received at a network device. A layer-2 identification (L2ID) value is identified for the received data packet based on a destination address and a label stack of the received data packet. The L2ID value is specific to an application associated with the data packet. A 6-tuple is created that includes the L2ID value. The received data packet is classified using the 6-tuple. Deep packet inspection (DPI) services are performed based on the classification of the received data packet. The DPI services apply a set of one or more application-level policies to the received data packet. The received data packet is forwarded from the network device toward a destination. |
| US08942240B2 |
Broadband access for virtual private networks
Communications between a source and a destination include receiving, at an egress edge device from an ingress edge device, an upper layer packet including a virtual private network identification identifying a destination. The upper layer packet is authenticated at the egress edge device using the virtual private network identification by comparing the virtual private network identification against an expectation for the upper layer packet. Upon authentication, the upper layer packet is decapsulated into a lower layer packet for the destination. |
| US08942236B1 |
Stateless packet segmentation and processing
High-speed processing of packets to, and from, a virtualization environment can be provided while utilizing segmentation offload and other such functionality of commodity hardware. Virtualization information can be added to extension portions of protocol headers, for example, such that the payload portion is unchanged and, when physical address information is added to a frame, a frame can be processed using commodity hardware. In some embodiments, the virtualization information can be hashed and added to the payload or stream at, or relative to, various segmentation boundaries, such that the virtualization or additional header information will only be added to a subset of the packets once segmented, thereby reducing the necessary overhead. Further, the hashing of the information can allow for reconstruction of the virtualization information upon desegmentation even in the event of packet loss. |
| US08942235B1 |
Load balancing deterministic network address translation across session management modules
Techniques are described for load-balancing deterministic NAT functions in a mobile gateway or other device in which subscriber sessions are distributed across a plurality of session management cards. Each of the session management cards may host a non-contiguous set of public addresses and a non-contiguous set of private network addresses associated with the subscriber sessions. To facilitate deterministic NAT under such conditions, each of the session management cards locally maps the non-contiguous set of public network addresses to an internal contiguous sequence of identifiers for the public addresses and maps the non-contiguous set of private network addresses to an internal contiguous sequence of identifiers for the private addresses. Each of the session management cards may then perform deterministic NAT on packets based on the contiguous sequence of identifiers for the public addresses and the contiguous sequence of identifiers for the private addresses internal to the session management card. |
| US08942233B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing network address translation
An embodiment of the invention is a method and corresponding system for improved network address translation (NAT) operation, to enable efficient translation for packets destined for communication systems within a domain utilizing network addresses that are incompatible with source and destination addresses indicated in packets delivered from the global Internet. Since the addresses are not compatible with global Internet addresses, delivery cannot be accomplished except by some method of address translation. Traditional systems have not been constructed to enable such inbound translations, providing, instead, only communication outbound from the incompatibly addressed domain towards the global Internet. The example embodiment employs history and pattern matching between observable characteristics of the inbound payload, associated over time with specific destinations. The example embodiment may also employ DPI search techniques known from widely deployed systems in use today, to identify a field on which the pattern matching may operate. |
| US08942225B2 |
Optimizing communications
A method of transmitting a data stream to end-user nodes of a network, and a corresponding communication system, program, and distribution system for distributing the program. The method comprises: for each of a plurality of possible combinations of routes of the stream to a plurality of consuming end-user nodes, evaluating a utility function for each of the consuming end-user nodes, the utility function being dependent on route and defining a quantitative measure of end-user benefit that would be experienced at the respective end-user node by consumption of the stream; for each of the plurality of possible combinations of routes, determining an overall utility value based on the respective evaluation of the utility functions of each of the plurality of consuming end-user nodes; and selecting a preferred combination of routes for the stream based on the overall utility values of the different possible combinations. |
| US08942224B2 |
Method and system for handling security synchronization for prolonged periods of no-reception of voice frames
A method and system for handling security synchronization for prolonged periods of no-reception of voice frames. The method includes receiving one or more protocol data units (PDUs) by a radio link control (RLC) sub layer and determining a time period between the receiving of each PDU and a previously received PDU by the RLC sub layer. Further, the method includes initiating recovery procedure for the time period exceeding a first predefined time. The recovery procedure includes identifying count of the one or more PDUs to be recovered, deciphering each PDU using a plurality of hyper frame numbers (HFNs) and updating a master HFN based on the deciphering. The master HFN deciphers each PDU among the one or more protocol data units. Further, the method also includes delivering the one or more PDUs to a packet data convergence protocol sub layer where type verification of the PDU is performed. |
| US08942222B2 |
Frequency synchronization in wireless communication systems
The present invention provides a method of wireless communication over a communication link including at least one carrier that comprises a plurality of sub-carriers. The method includes modifying at least one frequency of at least one uplink sub-carrier in response to a signal indicating a modification of the frequency. |
| US08942220B2 |
Method and apparatus for policing a flow in a network
An example of a method of policing a flow in a home network such as a MoCA network may include calculating a policing period, calculating a first credit parameter, initializing a first usage variable at a beginning of the policing period, receiving a packet at an ingress node, calculating the first usage variable based on a first formula, determining whether the first usage variable is less than or equal to the first credit parameter, and making a reservation request when the first usage variable is less than or equal to the first credit parameter. The reservation request is different from an opportunistic reservation request. Examples of a system and a computer program product having instructions stored in a tangible computer-readable storage medium are also provided. |
| US08942218B2 |
Retransmission of data using sub-carrier frequency permutation
Embodiments of retransmission of data using sub-carrier frequency permutation are described herein. |
| US08942216B2 |
Hybrid band intelligent backhaul radio
A hybrid band intelligent backhaul radio (HB-IBR) is disclosed that is a combination of two radios operating in different bands. Embodiments include a dual radio configuration wherein a first radio operates in a non-line of sight (NLOS) radio link configuration and a second ancillary radio operates in a near line of sight or line of sight configuration (n)LOS. For example, the HB-IBR may have an Intelligent Backhaul Radio (IBR) operating in the non-line of sight mode of operation within the 5.8 GHz unlicensed band, and have an ancillary radio link operating in the FCC part 101 E band of operation at 60 GHz. A common medium access control (MAC) block may be utilized between the dual radios. |
| US08942209B2 |
Systems and methods for supporting an enhanced serving cell change when moving among different cell types
A system and method enable handover from a DC-HSUPA-capable node in a cellular wireless network to a non-DC-HSUPA-capable node. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, a handover may implement a legacy serving cell change procedure or an enhanced serving cell change procedure. In either case, signaling from the network to user equipment includes information to enable the user equipment to change or remove an Active Set when undergoing a handover from a cell with two uplink carriers and accordingly two Active Sets, to a cell with one uplink carrier and accordingly one Active Set. |
| US08942205B2 |
Performing idle mode mobility measurements in a mobile communication network
Methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture for performing idle mode mobility measurements in a mobile network are disclosed. An example method in a user equipment (UE) disclosed herein comprises receiving, from the mobile network, a system information block (SIB) message specifying idle mode mobility measurement is to be performed. If the measurement parameter threshold is not configured in the SIB message or if the SIB message includes an indication to not use a configured measurement parameter threshold in the SIB message, the UE sets a measurement parameter threshold for idle mode mobility measurement. |