最新美国发明专利第2015-03-10期 - 专利汇|PatentHub专利检索|专利查询网|发明专利查询分析

Document	Document Title
US08977006B2	Target recognition system and target recognition method executed by the target recognition system A target recognition system operatively connected to a stereo imaging device to capture a stereo image of an area ahead of the target recognition system, includes a parallax calculator to calculate parallax of the stereo image including two captured images; a target candidate detector to detect a candidate set of recognition target areas based on a luminance image of one of the captured images; and a target recognition processor to limit the candidate set of recognition target areas detected by the target candidate detector within a range of threshold values of characteristics in the candidate set of recognition target areas set in advance based on the parallax calculated by the parallax calculator to extract and output the one or more recognition targets.
US08977004B2	Methods and systems for vascular pattern localization using temporal features A system and method of localizing vascular patterns by receiving frames from a video camera, identifying and tracking an object within the frames, determining temporal features associated with the object; and localizing vascular patterns from the frames based on the temporal features associated with the object.
US08977002B2	Method of point source target detection for multispectral imaging A method of point source target detection for multispectral imaging is disclosed. In one embodiment, a background source spectral ratio is determined using at least one radiant source, such as baseline intensities, camera optics sensitivity properties and atmospheric transmission properties. Further, a spectral difference is computed for each pixel in an incoming frame by applying the background source spectral ratio to a spectral band-specific radiant intensity value of each pixel. Furthermore, offset biasing in the incoming frame is removed by applying spatial median filtering to each computed spectral difference in the incoming frame.
US08977001B2	Device and method for monitoring video objects The invention relates to a device, method, computer program, and a computer program product for monitoring objects, in particular for monitoring scenes of objects captured on video. An object is thereby repeatedly detected and tracked, wherein a tracking device is fed back to a device for object model selection, so that when detected repeatedly, considering tracking parameters determined when tracking the object, the tracking parameters are fed to the selection device and can be considered for detecting.
US08976999B2	Vehicle detection apparatus A vehicle detection apparatus includes a lamp candidate extraction unit that extracts a pixel region that may correspond to a tail lamp of a vehicle from pixel regions that an integration processing unit creates by extracting and integrating pixels of an image as a lamp candidate and a grouping unit that regroups groups containing the lamp candidate of the groups generated by grouping position data detected by a position detection unit and then regroups all groups. In the regrouping processing, a threshold used for regrouping groups containing the lamp candidate is set easier for regrouping than a threshold used for subsequently regrouping all groups.
US08976998B2	Methods involving maps, imagery, video and steganography The disclosure describes methods and apparatus of providing steganographic indicia or digital watermarking in image or video data. One implementation provides a method of embedding a digital watermark in image data captured by an imager, with watermark embedding occurring on-chip with the imager. Another implementation provides a method of managing images. Each of the images comprises plural-bit data steganographically embedded therein in the form of a digital watermark, with the plural-bit data corresponding to a geo-location. Yet another implementation provides a method of identifying locations on a map, with the map being for display via a computer display. Still another implementation provides a method of introducing a watermark message to a watermark embedder located on-chip with an image array. Other implementations and embodiments are provided as well.
US08976997B1	Transparent parametric emitter A transparent ultrasonic emitter includes a first transparent base layer; a transparent conductor disposed on the first transparent base layer; a second transparent base layer; and a partially open transparent conductive layer disposed on the second transparent base layer between the first and second transparent base layers, wherein the partially open conductive layer comprises conductive portions, the conductive portions having a thickness and being arranged to define one or more open volumes adjacent the second transparent base layer.
US08976995B2	Earpiece An ear unit for stably fitting in an ear includes a first surface facing inwardly toward the ear, a second, opposite surface facing outwardly from the ear and an outer circumferential surface formed between the first and second surfaces. The outer circumferential surface is shaped as a decremental curve. The distance between the ends of the decremental curve is approximately equal to the distance between a first cavity formed under the tragus of the ear and second cavity covered by the lower node of the antihelix of the ear. The first surface is provided with a curvature that provides a contact surface that substantially conforms to the concha, providing an improved attachment, thereby enabling the ear unit to fit closely against the concha when the ear unit is positioned into the ear.
US08976991B2	BTE/CIC auditory device and modular connector system therefor An earpiece auditory device is described which includes a behind-the-ear component shaped to fit behind the ear of a user. The behind-the-ear component can also have at least one microphone and processing circuitry, where the processing circuitry is used to processes audio signal from the microphone. The device also includes a speaker sized to fit in the ear canal of a user, and an ear mold holding the speaker in place. The ear mold can also be position to touch the bony portion of the ear canal and provide sound attenuation in the ear canal. A connector physically and electrically connects the behind-the-ear component to the speaker. The connector is capable of being used to insert and remove the speaker and ear mold from the ear canal of the user.
US08976985B2	Acoustic sensor and microphone Provided is an acoustic sensor capable of improving an S/N ratio of a sensor without preventing reduction in size of the sensor. A diaphragm 43 as a movable electrode plate is formed on the top surface of a silicon substrate 42. The diaphragm 43 has a rectangular form, and four corners and midsections of long sides of the diaphragm 43 are supported by anchors 46. A displacement of the diaphragm 43 is minimal on a line D that connects between the anchors 46 at the midsections of the long sides. A displacement maximal point G, at which a displacement is maximal, is present on each side of the line D, and the line D extends in a direction intersecting with a line connecting between the displacement maximal points G.
US08976980B2	Modulation of audio signals in a parametric speaker Methods and systems for amplitude modulation in a parametric speaker system are provided that perform truncated double sideband (TDSB) frequency modulation of audio signal in which most of the processing is performed in the frequency domain, thus permitting use of fast processing techniques for amplitude modulation (AM) and filtering and reducing computation cost over time domain processing. A maximum envelope value of the time domain audio signal may be to the carrier signal in the frequency domain that avoids emitting the carrier signal when the input signal level is low or mute. The application of the envelope value may be smoothed to reduce discontinuity at input block boundaries.
US08976977B2	Microphone array A microphone array, comprising N microphones, wherein N is greater than or equal to 3 is provided. The microphones are substantially equiangularly arranged over a circular arc subtending an angle ε, wherein ε is less than or equal to 2π, with the directional axes of the N microphones facing substantially radially outwards. Each of the N microphones have a substantially common directivity function Γ(θ) defining the directional response of the microphone, wherein θ=0 is the directional axis, and the directivity function Γ(θ) is arranged such that a sound source in acoustical free field is effectively captured by no more than two consecutive microphones in the array. By arranging the directivity function in this manner crosstalk between non-adjacent microphones can be minimized, which has been shown to improve auditory localization performance.
US08976976B2	Accessory adapter with user input interface Electronic devices and accessories such as headsets for electronic devices are provided. A microphone may be included in an accessory to capture sound for an associated electronic device. Buttons and other user interfaces may be included in the accessories. An accessory may have an audio plug that connects to a mating audio jack in an electronic device, thereby establishing a wired communications link between the accessory and the electronic device. The electronic device may include power supply circuitry for applying bias voltages to the accessory. The bias voltages may bias a microphone and may adjust settings in the accessory such as settings related to operating modes. User input information may be conveyed between the accessory and the electronic device using ultrasonic tone transmission. The electronic device may also gather input from the accessory using a voltage detector coupled to lines in the communications path.
US08976975B2	Balancing power plant sound Various embodiments of the invention include systems, computer program products, and related methods for managing power plant acoustics. In various embodiments, a system is disclosed including at least one computing device configured to perform the following: determine a difference between an A-weighted sound decibel (dBA) level and a C-weighted sound decibel (dBC) level (Δ dBC-dBA) from a power plant system within a sound spectrum; compare the Δ dBC-dBA with a predetermined threshold difference for the sound spectrum; and provide instructions to increase the dBA level of a balancing sound in the spectrum proximate the power plant system in response to determining the Δ dBC-dBA exceeds the predetermined threshold difference.
US08976971B2	Method and apparatus for adjusting channel delay parameter of multi-channel signal A method and an apparatus for adjusting a channel delay parameter of a multi-channel signal are provided in the embodiments of the present invention. The method includes: performing down-mixing processing on a multi-channel signal to obtain a processed signal (101); calculating energy distribution of the processed signal (102); and judging whether a comb filtering effect occurs in the processed signal according to the energy distribution of the processed signal, and adjusting a channel delay parameter of the multi-channel signal if the comb filtering effect occurs in the processed signal (103).
US08976967B2	Mediator monitoring and controlling access to electronic content Methods, systems and apparatuses for a mediator controlling access to an electronic content, are disclosed. One method includes receiving, by a mediator server of a mediator, a second share SKG2 from an owner server, wherein a first share SKG1 is provided to a member server of a member of a group by the owner server. Further, the mediator receives a request for mediation, including the mediator receiving a dispatch of the header of the encrypted electronic content from the member. Further, the mediator determines whether the member is eligible to decrypt the electronic content, if eligible, the mediator responding to the request for mediation with a member accessible header, wherein the member accessible header includes the header after application of SKG2.
US08976965B2	Mobile computing device and wearable computing device having automatic access mode control A system can include a mobile computing device and a wearable computing device. The wearable computing device can include a sensor that outputs an indication that the wearable computing device is being worn. In some examples, one or both of the devices can be operable to determine that the devices are within a threshold distance of each other. Responsive to receiving the indications that the wearable computing device is being worn and the devices are within the threshold distance of each other, one or both of the devices can be operable to change an access mode of computing environment provided by the respective device from a reduced access mode to an increased access mode.
US08976964B2	Key pair management method and image forming device In a key pair management method for use in an image forming device, one or more key pairs which are usable for secure communication between the image forming device and an external device are stored into a first area of a memory. A key pair required for the secure communication with the external device is received from the first area of the memory. After the key pair is received from the first area of the memory, the key pair required for the secure communication with the external device is generated in an asynchronous mode and stored into the first area of the memory again. The secure communication between the image forming device and the external device is performed using the key pair received from the first area of the memory.
US08976963B2	IPv6-over-IPv4 architecture Mobile clients can execute IPv6 applications in an IPv4 environment without the need for any specialized IPv6 hardware or upgrades to the network infrastructure. The architecture provides a seamless, disruption-free connectivity experience for mobile clients. Mobile clients are automatically connected to other mobile clients irrespective of their network connectively, whether wireless, wire line, IPv4, IPv6, public or private. Mobile clients communicate with other mobile clients using a secure, end-to-end IPv6 tunnel. This creates a persistent VPN connection between two clients using software.
US08976962B2	Apparatus and method for generating group key using status of wireless channel An apparatus and method for generating a group key using the status of a wireless channel are provided. The apparatus includes a representative channel response selection unit for selecting a representative channel response signal from among pilot signals received from slave terminals. A key generation unit generates a group key based on a representative channel response value of the representative channel response signal. A hash value generation unit generates a hash value corresponding to the group key. A transmission pilot control unit adjusts power intensities of transmission pilots of the respective slave terminals using the channel response value of the representative channel response signal and channel response values and transmission power intensities of the slave terminals. A communication unit is individually connected to the slave terminals and configured to transmit pilot signals, power intensities of which have been adjusted, and the hash value to the slave terminals.
US08976960B2	Methods and apparatus for correlation protected processing of cryptographic operations A method and an apparatus that generate a plurality of elements randomly as a split representation of an input used to provide an output data cryptographically representing an input data are described. The input may correspond to a result of a combination operation on the elements. Cryptographic operations may be performed on the input data and the elements to generate a plurality of data elements without providing data correlated with the key. The combination operation may be performed on the data elements for the output data.
US08976954B1	Recording invocation of communication sessions Systems and methods for recording a communication session between a customer and an agent of a customer center communication system are provided. In this regard, a representative method comprises: configuring a communication component of the customer center communication system to enable recording of a media stream associated with the communication session; transmitting the media stream over a network based on the configuration of the communication component; receiving the media stream over the network; and recording the received media stream.
US08976950B2	Expedited media interconnection in third party call control Third party call control in a service management platform (SMP) of an enterprise system comprising a private branch exchange (PBX) in communication with the SMP over a trunk and line. Receiving a request over the line for communication involving a device. Invoking reliable transmission of provisional responses in the trunk. Receiving a receive only session description over the trunk. Invoking specific event notification between the SMP and PBX for calls answered between the device and PBX. Receiving notification of a call answered between the device and PBX. Responding to the request with the first session description as a send/receive offer. Receiving acknowledgement including a second send/receive answer session description over the line. Updating the trunk the second description as a send/receive update. Receiving a third session description with a successful response message from the PBX; the third session description being a send and receive copy of the first session description.
US08976942B2	Method, system and software for implementing an automated call routing application in a speech enabled call center environment A system, method and software for implementing an automated call routing application in a speech enabled call center environment are provided. In operation, the invention provides for the identification of a call center transaction selection from a natural language user utterance and the invocation of one or more scripts operable to route the user to a call center service agent configured to service the selected transaction. In the event a transaction selection cannot be readily identified or can only be partially identified, the invention provides for the initiation of a dialog module or script directed to eliciting a discernable transaction selection and/or the presentation of one or more menus from which the user may select an available call center transaction.
US08976939B1	Prioritization of emergency calls Systems and methods to prioritize emergency calls being placed to an emergency call center are based on geographical information, context information, and/or historical information associated with the emergency calls.
US08976937B2	Method and apparatus for communication between a security system and a monitoring center A method for providing communications between a system control panel at a premises and a central monitoring center comprises transmitting an event code from the control panel to the monitoring center utilizing a first communications format and a network protocol, and causing the control panel to enter a call-back mode. The control panel is enabled to receive in-bound calls utilizing a second communications format. A two-way voice session is established utilizing the second communications format between the monitoring center and the control panel. The two-way voice session is initiated by the monitoring center.
US08976936B1	Collimator for backscattered radiation imaging and method of using the same The collimator for backscattered radiation imaging has a plurality of parallel, arrayed passages formed therethrough. The collimator is positioned in front of a radiographic imaging device, such as a radiographic plate, radiographic film or the like, such that the plurality of parallel, arrayed passages are positioned orthogonal to a plane of the radiographic imaging device. An object, such as a wall of an insulated pipe, for example, is then exposed to gamma or X-ray radiation, and image exposures are made on the radiographic imaging device of backscattered radiation from the wall of the insulated pipe or other object. The collimator is shifted in between each of the exposures. The collimator may have a parallelepiped body, or, alternatively, may have a cylindrical body. The parallelepiped collimator is shifted linearly in front of the radiographic imaging device, and the cylindrical collimator is rotated in front of the radiographic imaging device.
US08976935B2	Collimator grid and an associated method of fabrication A collimator grid and a method of fabricating the collimator grid are disclosed. The method includes molding a plurality of plates, each plate includes a plurality of grooves in a first surface, a plurality of fin tips in a second surface disposed opposite to the first surface, plurality of ribs on a first pair of peripheral sides, a plurality of first fiducials formed on the plurality of ribs, and a plurality of second fiducials formed on a second pair of peripheral sides. The method includes machining the second surface to form the plurality of fins having predefined dimensions. Further, the method includes stacking the plurality of plates overlapping each other based on the plurality of first fiducials, and machining the plurality of ribs and first fiducials to form the collimator grid.
US08976934B2	Radiation apertures for X-ray collimators A collimator includes an x-ray blocking surface including one or more generally flat plates defining an aperture edge. The aperture edge includes a first end portion including a first end of the aperture edge, a second end portion including a second end of the aperture edge, and a central portion including a center of the aperture edge. The first end portion of the aperture edge corresponds to a first end portion of a detector, the second end portion of the aperture edge corresponds to a second end portion of the detector, and the central portion of the aperture edge corresponds to a central portion of the detector. A profile of the aperture edge is discontinuous at a point between the first end of the aperture edge and the center of the aperture edge.
US08976932B2	X-ray generating device In an X-ray generator using an ultraviolet laser, the generation of the X-ray is stabilized. In an X-ray generation method for irradiating an ultraviolet laser beam emitted from an ultraviolet laser beam generator on an ultraviolet laser beam receiving surface of an electron beam emitting device, irradiating an electron beam emitted from an electron beam emitting surface of the electron beam emitting device distinguished from the ultraviolet laser beam receiving surface on a metal piece and generating an X-ray from the metal piece, denaturalization of substance of the ultraviolet laser beam receiving surface is prevented by controlling the ultraviolet laser beam.
US08976931B2	Mobile radiography imaging apparatus using prior related images before current image exposure and methods for same A mobile radiography apparatus has a moveable (e.g., wheeled) transport frame and an adjustable column mounted at the frame. A boom apparatus supported by the adjustable column can support an x-ray source. A display at the mobile radiography apparatus is configured to provide an examination procedure for a patient, the examination procedure to include a visual indication that at least one related prior image exists for the examination procedure.
US08976927B2	Substrate for mirrors for EUV lithography Substrates suitable for mirrors which are used at wavelengths in the EUV wavelength range have a main body (2) and a polishing layer (3). The polishing layer (3) has a thickness of less than 10 μm and a root-mean-square roughness of less than 0.5 nm and the main body (2) is produced from an aluminum alloy. Moreover, a highly reflective layer (6) is provided on the polishing layer (3) of the substrate (1) of the EUV mirror (5).
US08976922B2	Shift register unit, shifter register circuit, array substrate and display device The present invention provides a shift register unit, a shift register circuit, an array substrate and a display device, and relates to the area of display manufacturing. The time of the bias working on the de-noising transistor can be reduced without affecting the circuit stability, so that the operational lifespan of the device can be extended. A shift register comprises: a capacitor, a first transistor, a second transistor, a third transistor, a fourth transistor, a fifth transistor, a sixth transistor, a de-noising control model. The present invention is used for manufacturing displays.
US08976921B2	Fuel bundle flow limiter A fuel bundle flow limiter according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention may include a plurality of base sections, wherein each of the plurality of base sections has at least one opening. A plurality of channels may separate the plurality of base sections. A plurality of vertical webs may extend from the plurality of base sections. A locking tab may be disposed in at least one of the plurality of vertical webs. By using the flow limiter, the moisture carry over (MCO) level at the exit of the fuel bundle may be decreased, thereby reducing radiation exposure to plant operators and reducing damage to reactor equipment.
US08976919B2	Low power communication device for scheduling data segments using hold time or lock time of phase locked loop A device communicating with a node, includes a communication unit configured to transmit a transmitting data segment to the node, and receive a receiving data segment from the node. The device further includes a phase locked loop (PLL) configured to generate an operating frequency for the communication unit. The device further includes a PLL controller configured to control a hold time and a lock time, of the PLL, that are shared between the node and the device. The device further includes a scheduler configured to schedule the transmitting data segment and the receiving data segment based on the controlled hold time and lock time.
US08976918B2	Wireless communication device and weight coefficient computation method A wireless communication device includes a reception processing circuit including a weight coefficient computation circuit that includes a computation circuit to compute a weight coefficient which is used for removing a distortion of a reception signal caused by a multi-path, and which of each of fingers corresponds to each of a specified number of paths among a plurality of paths caused by the multi-path between the device and the opposing device, by iteratively performing a computation including a complex multiplication between a weight coefficient while being iteratively computed and a component of a correlation matrix, and a control circuit to cause the computation circuit to compute complex multiplications between a first (second) component of a pair of components having a complex conjugate relationship and a first (second) weight coefficient while being iteratively computed when the pair of components is present among components used for computing the weight coefficient.
US08976915B2	Adjacent-channel interference reject filter device, wireless communication device, and keyless entry device According to one embodiment, an adjacent-channel interference reject filter comprises a short-pulse inverter which includes a short-pulse sensor configured to detect a pulse in an intermediate frequency signal supplied to the device. The short-pulse sensor detects pulses having a pulse width less than or equal to some predetermined width. The short-pulse inverter also includes a pulse inverter configured to invert the pulse detected by the short-pulse sensor. The adjacent-channel interference reject filter may also include an inversion controller to control the inverting of detected short pulses. An adjacent-channel interference reject filter may be included in various devices such as wireless communication devices.
US08976914B2	Multi-tap IQ imbalance estimation and correction circuit and method A system for correcting gain imbalance and phase imbalance between first (IOUT) and second (QOUT) signals which are 90° out of phase, including circuitry for estimating the phase mismatch (φ) and gain mismatch (Δ) between the first signal and the second signal signals in a plurality of frequency bands. An inverse fast Fourier transform is performed on each of a number of arrays of the phase mismatch estimates and the gain mismatch estimates to generate correction filter coefficients (h[N]) for a N tap correction filter. The N tap correction filter filters an uncorrected value of the second signal to generate a corrected value of the second signal.
US08976912B1	Decoding apparatus and decoding method A decoding apparatus including an operation unit to calculate a branch metric between first and second instants of time based on receiving likelihood data and an anterior likelihood, and to use, in a state transition in a butterfly represented by first and second states at the first instant of time and third and fourth states at the second instant of time, a first anterior cumulative metric for the first state, a second anterior cumulative metric for the second state and a first difference based on the branch metric between the first state and the third state and on a second difference between the first anterior cumulative metric and the second anterior cumulative metric to calculate a third anterior cumulative metric for the third state and a fourth anterior cumulative metric for each butterfly and at each instant of time, and a storage unit to store the second difference.
US08976911B2	Joint sequence estimation of symbol and phase with high tolerance of nonlinearity A method and system for a sequence estimation in a receiver, such as for use when receiving a sample of a received inter-symbol correlated (ISC) signal corresponding to a transmitted vector of L symbols, with L being a integer greater than 1, and with symbol L being a most-recent symbol and symbol 1 being least recent symbol of the vector. A plurality of candidate vectors may be generated, wherein element L−m of each candidate vector holding one of a plurality of possible values of the symbol L−m, with m is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and elements L−m+1 through L of each candidate vectors holding determined filler values. A plurality of metrics may be generated based on the plurality of candidate vectors, and based on the generated plurality of metrics, a best one of the possible values of the symbol L−m may be selected.
US08976910B1	Methods, systems, and computer readable media for smart decoding of downlink signals in the presence of interference caused by reference signals of different generation air interface equipment The subject matter described herein relates to methods, systems, and computer readable media for smart decoding of downlink signals in the presence of interference caused by reference signals of different generation air interface equipment. One method includes receiving, at a decoder, a downlink signal including interference caused by different generation network equipment. The method further includes providing information regarding reference signal locations to the decoder. The method further includes, at the decoder, weighting decoding error metrics resulting from received bits corresponding to the reference signal locations relative to decoding error metrics resulting from received bits corresponding to other locations to account for the presence of the interference caused by the reference signals. The method further includes decoding the received bits based on the relative weights and outputting a sequence of likely transmitted bits.
US08976908B1	Channel estimation for a WLAN through increased use of preamble A system including a receiver to receive, over a wireless channel, a packet including a preamble portion that includes a plurality of training fields and a first signal field and a controller to generate a first estimate of the wireless channel based on one or more of the plurality of training fields, and decode the first signal field based on the first estimate. Subsequent to decoding the first signal field, the controller re-encodes the first signal field to generate a second signal field. The controller verifies whether the first signal field was properly decoded by comparing the second signal field to the first signal field prior to being decoded. In response to the first signal field being correctly decoded, the controller generates a second estimate of the wireless channel based on the first signal field as decoded. The second estimate is usable to refine the first estimate.
US08976904B2	Automated erasure slicer threshold control and modification of symbol estimates to be erased Methods and systems to vary an erasure slicer threshold based on a measure computed from prior soft and/or hard symbol decisions, identify reliable symbol estimates based on the threshold, identify unreliable symbol estimates for erasure based on the threshold, modify the identified symbol estimates, output the reliable symbol estimates and the modified symbol estimates as erasure slicer decisions, and filter the decisions in a feedback filter of a decision feedback equalizer (DFE). The erasure slicer threshold may be based on signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or mean-squared-error (MSE). A symbol estimate may be identified for erasure when a coordinate of the corresponding soft decision is within an erasure area defined by the threshold. Symbol modification may include replacing a corresponding coordinate of the symbol estimate with a coordinate of a decision boundary associated with the erasure area.
US08976903B2	Unified iterative decoding architecture using joint LLR extraction and a priori probability Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to a method and an apparatus for unified iterative demodulation-decoding that can be employed in both multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and non-MIMO wireless systems.
US08976901B2	Phase shift keying transmitter circuit A phase shift keying transmitter circuit that includes: a variable frequency conversion stage adapted to receive a first data signal, wherein the variable frequency conversion stage comprises a plurality of frequency modulating elements, wherein the first data signal controls the number of the plurality of frequency modulating elements that are operated so as to control an operating frequency of the variable frequency conversion stage; and an output stage configured to switch between one of two possible outputs, the signals provided by one of the two possible outputs having an opposite polarity to the other, wherein the output stage is configured to receive a second data signal to control the switching between the two possible outputs, wherein the output stage is coupled to the variable frequency conversion stage and wherein the switching between the two possible outputs changes the phase of a signal from the variable frequency conversion stage by 180°.
US08976897B2	Suppression of spurious harmonics generated in TX driver amplifiers The transmission path of a communication device includes, in part, N upconverters each of which receives M phases of a signal to be transmitted. Each upconverter further receives one of N sets of phases of a LO signal. Each of the N sets includes M phases of the LO signal. The communication device further includes at least one combiner, and N amplifiers each responsive to a different one of the N upconverters to generate N amplified signals. The combiner combines the N amplified signals to generate an output signal. By selecting the gain of one of the amplifiers to be different than the gain of the remaining amplifiers, the undesired harmonics of the signal to be transmitted, caused by non-linearity of the amplifiers, is reduced. Each upconverter optionally includes a multitude of upconverters whose outputs are combined to further reduce the spurious harmonic upconversion products and the counter-intermodulation distortion (IM3).
US08976888B2	Method for uplink multi-user cooperation communication The present invention discloses a method for uplink multi-user cooperation communication, including a first, and a second source node and a target node. When transmitting a signal to the target node, the first source node also transmits the signal to the second source node, the second source node changing to a relay node of the first source node and forwarding the signal to the target node; the target node obtains its reception Signal Noise Ratio (SNR) by using a maximal ratio combining mode according to the signal directly transmitted from the first source node and the signal forwarded from the second source node, sets a precoding policy according to the reception SNR, and selects the optimal precoding as a precoding vector which is used when the first source node transmits a signal to the target node.
US08976885B2	Method and system of receiver parametric computation for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission A method of calculating combining weight vectors associated with a received composite information signal comprising at least one data stream transmitted from at least a first antenna and a second antenna is disclosed. The method starts with computing a parametric estimate of an impairment covariance matrix including at least a first impairment term associated with common pilots deployed by the first antenna and the second antenna respectively. The first impairment term captures effects of interferences between the common pilots, in addition to effects of interferences caused by each common pilot singly. The impairment covariance matrix further includes a data covariance term capturing effects of the at least one data stream and an interference term caused at least partially by contribution of thermal noise of receiver branches. Then the method computes the combining weight vector using the computed impairment covariance matrix.
US08976884B2	Method and apparatus for antenna array channel feedback A method and apparatus provide antenna array channel feedback. The method can include receiving a first set of channel state information reference signals on resource elements, and a second set of channel state information reference signals on resource elements. The method can include determining a first precoding matrix based on the received first set of channel state information reference signals. The first precoding matrix can be chosen from a first codebook. The method can include determining a second precoding matrix based on the second set of channel state information reference signals. The second precoding matrix can be chosen from a second codebook that is different than the first codebook. The method can include transmitting a representation of at least one of the first precoding matrix and the second precoding matrix.
US08976882B2	Precoding weight generation method and control apparatus A precoding weight generation method involves generating a channel matrix having channel state information transmitted as feedback from mobile stations undergoing spatial multiplexing for each cell that base stations manage, and generating precoding weights. When data transmission is targeted for a first mobile station that transmits the channel state information as feedback as well as transmits the channel state information to a weight generation target cell that is a target for generation of precoding weights, precoding weights are generated so as not to suppress interference on a second mobile station that transmits the channel state information as feedback as well as transmits the channel state information to the weight generation target cell, while suppressing interference on a third mobile station that does not transmit the channel state information as feedback except to the weight generation target cell.
US08976880B2	Communication apparatus and communication method A wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication method wherein even when the permissible delay amount of data is small, the permissible delay thereof can be satisfied. A data type determining part determines whether the delay of transport data or control information should be allowed or not. A pilot signal insertion control part decides, based on pilot insertion interval information and allowable delay information, that a pilot signal is placed adjacently to data that is not allowed to delay. A multiplexing part multiplexes encoded and modulated transport data with the pilot signal generated by a pilot signal generating part in such a manner that realizes the placement decided by the pilot signal insertion control part.
US08976879B2	Communication device and communication method A modulator performs a predetermined operation for making an absolute value of an operation result of at least one element of an input signal greater than 0 on the individual elements of the input signal. The modulator generates post-operation data by associating individual elements of the input signal with individual elements of a data series which is a set of pieces of data which are equal in number to the elements of the input signal and whose absolute values are equal to one another, and multiplying the individual elements of the input signal which are subjected to the predetermined operation by the elements of the data series. An IFFT calculator performs inverse fast Fourier transformation on the post-operation data, and a synthesizer synthesizes operation results from the IFFT calculator to generate a baseband signal. A transmitter generates a transmission signal from the baseband signal and transmits the transmission signal.
US08976878B2	Polynomial phases for multi-carrier modulation schemes with time domain windowing In one aspect, a method includes performing a mapping on bits to form a complex data symbol, applying a frequency rotation mask to the complex data symbol based on a polynomial phase, performing an inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) after applying the frequency rotation mask, applying a time domain window after performing the IDFT, converting digital data to analog data after applying the time window and transmitting the analog data as an analog signal.
US08976875B2	Clock-embedded source synchronous semiconductor transmitting and receiving apparatus and semiconductor system including same The present invention relates to a clock-embedded or source synchronous semiconductor transmitting and receiving apparatus and to a semiconductor system including same. The semiconductor apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: a data providing unit for providing differential data; a multi-phase clock generator for generating a first clock signal provided to the data providing unit, and a second clock signal having a different phase from the first clock signal; and a combining unit for receiving the differential data and the second clock signal and combining same to generate a combined signal, wherein the second clock signal is a single clock signal and has n (here, n is an integer of two or greater) times a symbol period of the differential data, the first and second clock signals have a 90 degree phase difference, and the combination signal is transmitted to the outside through differential transmission lines.
US08976873B2	Apparatus and method for performing error concealment of inter-coded video frames An embodiment relates to performing error concealment of a corrupted block in a video frame, which is capable of performing a real time reconstruction of corrupted blocks which allow to precisely recover small details and fine movements, in particular, the error concealment apparatus and method according to an embodiment selects a replacement block by taking into account the luminance distortion and the motion characteristics of the video sequence. The latter is represented by the distance of the motion vectors chosen as candidate replacements and the average value of the motion vectors of the blocks surrounding the missing block in the current frame.
US08976870B1	Block and mode reordering to facilitate parallel intra prediction and motion vector prediction A method for processing a plurality of sub-blocks in a block of video is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) intra predicting a first group of the sub-blocks in a first quadrant of the block, (B) intra predicting a second group of the sub-blocks in a second quadrant of the block after starting the intra predicting of the first group and (C) intra predicting a third group of the sub-blocks in the first quadrant after starting the intra predicting of the second group, wherein the first group and the third group together account for all of the sub-blocks in the first quadrant.
US08976869B2	Filtering strength determination method, moving picture coding method and moving picture decoding method A moving picture coding apparatus includes an inter-pixel filter having the filters for filtering decoded image data so as to remove block distortion which is high frequency noise around block boundaries. The inter-pixel filters includes filters having different filtering strength. The coding apparatus also includes a filter processing control unit for determining a filtering strength of the inter-pixel filter.
US08976866B2	Method of determining motion vectors for bi-predictive image block In one embodiment, the method includes determining a motion vector of a current image block equal to a motion vector of an image block based on a reference picture index indicating a reference picture for the image block. For example, the motion vector of the current image block may be equal to the motion vector of the image block if the reference picture index indicates a long-term reference picture for the image block.
US08976864B2	Video encoding apparatus, video encoding method, and computer program A video encoding apparatus, video encoding method, and computer program, which are capable of employing an adaptive filter that provides improved encoding performance while reducing the processing cost required for calculation. A video encoding apparatus estimates interpolation filter coefficients by means of an image frequency characteristic analysis. When a loop continuation condition is satisfied, the video encoding apparatus performs re-estimation of the interpolation filter coefficients. As the loop continuation condition, a first condition can be used, in which the number of times the re-estimation has been consecutively performed for the current frame to be processed is smaller than a predetermined number, for example.
US08976860B2	Method and apparatus for determination of motion estimation search window area utilizing adaptive sliding window algorithm A method and apparatus for motion estimation utilizing adaptive sliding window algorithm, the method includes estimating motion estimation search window size, transferring data from a previous picture relating to the search window, wherein the size of the search window is determined, and calculating motion vector of the current block by block matching the current block with data of the previous picture in search window.
US08976859B2	Processing a video for spatial and temporal magnification with minimized image degradation What is disclosed is a novel video processing system and method wherein a plurality of image frames of a video captured using a video camera with a spatial resolution of (M×N) in the (x, y) direction, respectively, and a temporal resolution (T) in frames per unit of time. A first and second magnification factor f1, f2 are selected for spatial enhancement in the (x, y) direction. A third magnification factor f3 is selected for a desired temporal enhancement in (T). The video data is processed using a dictionary comprising high and low resolution patch cubes which are used to induce spatial and temporal components in the video where no data exists. A high resolution course video X0 is generated which has an enhanced spatial resolution of (f1M)×(f2N) and an enhanced temporal resolution of (f3*T) frames. The course high resolution video is then smoothed, when found required, to generate a smoothed high resolution video.
US08976858B2	Error resilience using out of band directory information A method and apparatus to improve error resiliency in processing a multimedia bitstream is described. A directory of header information is generated for a multimedia bitstream. The directory information comprises packet header information associated with the multimedia bitstream. The directory information may be transmitted to a receiver along with the multimedia bitstream. A receiver of the multimedia bitstream and the directory can utilize the header information to identify and locate packets within and subsequent to erroneous data in the received bitstream. By identifying and locating packets that may otherwise be discarded, the receiver may be able to improve error recovery and decoding of the multimedia data.
US08976857B2	Quality-based video compression Various embodiments are disclosed herein that relate to quality-based video encoding. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides a video compression system configured to compress a video item at a constant average quality to form compressed video data. Further, the system is configured to compare a bit rate of each portion of a plurality of portions of the compressed video data to a threshold bit rate, and if a bit rate of a selected portion of the compressed video data meets or exceeds the threshold bit rate, then adjust a compression process variable while compressing a segment of the video item corresponding to the selected portion of the compressed video data to reduce the bit rate of the portion of the compressed video data.
US08976850B2	Method and apparatus for sharing channel state information (CSI) in a multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) environment Provided is a channel state information (CSI) sharing method and apparatus in a Multiple User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) environment. Each node may use network-coding to reduce overhead necessary for sharing CSI between all nodes in the MU-MIMO environment. A transmitter may dynamically select, based on the CSI between receivers, a path used for transmitting data to each receiver and a receiver to be used as a relay based on the global CSI. A decoding performance may be improved based on the CSI between the transmitter and the receivers.
US08976849B2	Calibration signal generator A calibration signal generator for use in a balancing circuit calibration device in a radio receiver, the calibration signal generator comprising: a means of amplifying a clocking signal from a clocking signal generator to provide a first calibration signal; a means of generating a second calibration signal from the clocking signal, the first and second calibration signals being transmissible to a one or more mixing circuits in the balancing circuit calibration device; and a means synchronizing the operation of other circuit elements in the balancing circuit calibration device with the clocking signal; characterized in that the clocking signal generator is present in the radio receiver and used therein for other functions.
US08976848B2	Method of reducing interference between a first carrier current signal transmitted between modems in an electrical network and a second signal transmitted between modems in another network A method and device for reducing interference between a first signal of the carrier current type (Se) transmitted between modems (MCPL) in an electrical network (Re) and a second signal (S) transmitted between modems (M) in another network (R), the signals (Se, S) being coded by distribution of the data over allocated carrier frequencies in the same reserved frequency band (BF). The method includes: a step of measurement, by each modem (MCPL) in the electrical network, of transmission characteristics of each carrier frequency (F) that may be used for coding the first signal (Se), a step of detection, by analysis of the measured transmission characteristics, of at least one second carrier frequency (F2,n), which is allocated or may be allocated for coding the second signal (S) and is common with at least one first carrier frequency (F1,m), which is allocated for coding the first signal (Se), and a step of optimization of the distribution of the data of the first signal (Se) over carrier frequencies.
US08976847B2	Communications system and method for the adaptation of transmission parameters on the basis of reliability information of reconstructed data A communications system provides a first communications device, which is connected via a bidirectional transmission channel to a second communications device, wherein the communications devices each comprise a data reconstruction unit. Each communications device comprises a control unit, which is provided for a configuration of various transmission parameters such as modulation type and/or code rate and/or transmitter power and/or size of data packets dependent upon a reliability value evaluated within the control unit. The reliability value indicates a probability for a reliability or a quality of a data reconstruction, which reconstructs transmitted data from received signals within the data reconstruction unit.
US08976844B2	Receiver for detection and time recovery of non-coherent signals and methods of operating same A method for processing a signal having a plurality of codes. The method includes receiving the signal at a receiver and removing a carrier signal from the signal. The method further includes isolating a data stream from the carrier signal and determining timing of the plurality of codes. The plurality of codes is filtered to separate from the plurality of codes in the data stream a particular code for each plurality of codes that correlates to the received signal.
US08976841B2	Installation for the transmission/reception of radio signals A transmitting/receiving installation of microwave radio signals including a transmitting/receiving unit. The unit includes a receiving module to receive electrical signals, known as terrestrial electrical signals, issued from the transformation of radio signals received terrestrially, a module to transform the electrical signals modulated according to a spread spectrum protocol, known as satellite electrical signals, into radio signals able to be transmitted by satellite, a transmitter to transmit to a satellite of the microwave radio signals obtained after transformation of the satellite electrical signals and an amplifier to amplify the satellite electrical signals. The installation includes a box including a modulator of electrical signals according to a spread spectrum protocol and a coaxial cable connecting the transmitting/receiving unit and the box.
US08976840B2	Radio receiver for detecting an additive white Gaussian noise channel The method disclosed herein is implemented in a radio receiver to detect an AWGN channel, where the radio receiver comprises a rake receiver. The radio receiver receives signals transmitted via a propagation channel from a transmitter, and determines that the propagation channel is an AWGN channel when a filtered version of a minimum value of a metric is lower than a threshold value. The metric relates to a difference between a normalized measured power profile of the propagation channel and a normalized power template, which normalized power template is dependent on predetermined sampling timing shifts and on rake finger positions within the rake receiver.
US08976837B1	Low probability of detection (LPD) waveform A system and method for generating a low probability of detection (LPD) waveform is presented. The method modulates pre-modulated symbols using pulse-position modulation (PPM) to produce PPM modulated signals with a modulated in-phase (I) component and a modulated quadrature (Q) component. Next, frequency hopping is used to transmit the modulated I component at a randomized start time within a time slot and to transmit the modulated Q component at the randomized start time within the same slot. The modulated Q component does not overlap with the modulated I component. The method can also overlay transmission security (TRANSEC) pseudorandom (PN) overlay on the modulated Q component and the modulated I component before the modulated Q component and the modulated I component are transmitted.
US08976834B2	Method of generating enhanced intra-resonator laser light, enhancement resonator and laser device A method of generating intra-resonator laser light (1) comprises the steps of coupling input laser light (2), e. g. laser pulse or continuous-wave light, into an enhancement resonator (20), which comprises at least two curved resonator mirrors (21, 22, 23, 24) and which is free of a laser light amplifying medium, said at least two curved resonator mirrors (21, 22, 23, 24) being consecutively arranged and spanning at least one resonator path with a predetermined resonator length (Lres), wherein said at least two curved resonator mirrors (21, 22, 23, 24) providing at least two pairs of consecutive curved resonator mirrors which are serially coupled along said at least one resonator path, and coherent addition of the input laser light (2) in the enhancement resonator so that the intra-resonator laser light (1) is formed, wherein said at least two pairs of consecutive curved resonator mirrors each have a detuned concentric configuration, which deviates from a concentric configuration with regard to at least one of a distance between the curved mirrors. and an angle of incidence on the curved mirror surfaces. Furthermore, an enhancement resonator (20), in particular being configured for generating intra-resonator laser light (1), a laser device (100) including the enhancement resonator device (20) and applications of the enhancement resonator device (20) are described.
US08976833B2	Light coupling device and methods of forming same An embodiment is a semiconductor device comprising an optical device over a first substrate, a vertical waveguide on a top surface of the optical device, the vertical waveguide having a first refractive index, and a capping layer over the vertical waveguide, the capping layer configured to be a lens for the vertical waveguide and the capping layer having a second refractive index.
US08976830B2	Lasers with GaPSb barrier layers A laser active region can include a quantum well barrier having GaPSb. The active region can include one or more quantum wells, and a quantum well barrier having GaPSb bounding each side of each of the one or more quantum wells. The quantum well barrier can be GaP1-wSbw, where w ranges from about 0.12 to about 0.25 mole fraction, and can have a thickness of from about 20 Angstroms to about 50 Angstroms. The one or more quantum wells include InGaAs or InGaAsP. Various types of lasers can have the laser active region. Such a laser can be capable of emitting light having a wavelength of about 850 nm or +/−150 nm. As an example, a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) having the laser active region. The laser may also be a tunneling laser.
US08976829B2	Edge-emitting semiconductor laser An edge-emitting semiconductor laser is specified. A semiconductor body includes an active zone suitable for producing electromagnetic radiation. At least two facets on the active zone form a resonator. At least two contact points are spaced apart from one another in a lateral direction by at least one intermediate region and are mounted on an outer face of the semiconductor body.
US08976814B2	Method of transporting data from sending node to destination node A method of transporting data from a sending node to a destination node includes processing select data to form a stream of data packets at a sending node for transport to a destination node. The stream including a group of data packets. The group carrying a segment of the select data. The segment including fragments of the select data. The segment associated with a segment identifier. Each fragment associated with a fragment identifier. Each group data packet carries a corresponding fragment, a fragment identification value, a segment identification value, and a verification check value. A last group data packet carries an end of segment value. The method includes transmitting the group of data packets to the destination node, with the last data packet transmitted last such that the transmitting continues without waiting for a segment response message from the destination node between transmissions of the group of data packets.
US08976812B2	Communication apparatus and band control method A communication apparatus includes: an attaching unit configured to attach, to an input frame to be processed in the communication apparatus, a frame identifier of the input frame and a band control correction value corresponding to the frame identifier and the output port; a correction unit configured to correct an amount of data of the frame to be output to a network via the output port, based on the band control correction value; a band control unit configured to control a band of each of the output ports, based on the amount of data of the frame corrected by the correction unit; and an editing unit configured to edit, according to the frame identifier, a frame that the attached frame identifier and correction value thereof has been removed from and that has been band controlled, the edited frame being output to the network via the output port.
US08976809B2	Communication system, monitoring device of ring network, and flow rate monitoring method of ring network A communication system includes a plurality of communication devices forming a ring network and a monitoring device. Each of the plurality of communication devices appends, to a frame that the communication device relays, an ID tag indicating the number of communication devices relaying that frame in the ring network. The monitoring device refers to frames received by a predetermined communication device and having the ID appended thereto, and tallies an amount of data for frames for each number of relaying communication devices.
US08976807B2	Dynamically determining hostnames of network devices Techniques are disclosed for dynamically determining or learning hostnames. According to embodiments described herein, a solicitation message is received at a first network device. Based on the solicitation message, a hostname is determined for a second network device that sent the solicitation message. A first network address is also determined for the second network device that sent the solicitation message. A mapping between the hostname and the first network address is stored at the first network device.
US08976805B2	Method for communicating with data through component carriers in mobile communication system to which carrier aggregation method is applied and apparatus therefor The present invention relates to a method for enabling a terminal to communicate with data by modifying an association relationship among component carriers in a mobile communication system supporting carrier aggregation and an apparatus therefor. The method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, comprises: receiving a message including identifier information for modifying an association relationship among at least one downlink component carrier and at least one uplink component carrier from a base station; receiving predetermined data through at least one downlink component carrier from the base station; and transmitting feedback data to the base station for data received through the uplink component carrier modified according to the identifier information.
US08976804B1	Power supply filtering for programmable logic device having heterogeneous serial interface architecture In a programmable logic device with a number of different types of serial interfaces, different power supply filtering schemes are applied to different interfaces. For interfaces operating at the lowest data rates—e.g., 1 Gbps—circuit-board level filtering including one or more decoupling capacitors may be provided. For interfaces operating at somewhat higher data rates—e.g., 3 Gbps—modest on-package filtering also may be provided, which may include power-island decoupling. For interfaces operating at still higher data rates—e.g., 6 Gbps—more substantial on-package filtering, including one or more on-package decoupling capacitors, also may be provided. For interfaces operating at the highest data rates—e.g., 10 Gbps—on-die filtering, which may include one or more on-die filtering or regulating networks, may be provided. The on-die regulators may be programmably bypassable allowing a user to trade off performance for power savings.
US08976803B2	Monitoring resource congestion in a network processor Embodiments of the invention are directed to monitoring resources of a network processor to detect a condition of exhaustion in one or more of the resources over a predetermined time interval and to provide an indication of the condition. Some embodiments periodically sample various resources of a network processor and from the samples calculate utilization of the network processor's memory bus and core processor, and determine if an interworking FIFO packet queue error has occurred. Such information may help network operators and/or support engineers to quickly zero in on the root cause and take corrective actions for network failures which previously could have been attributed to many different causes and that would have required significant time and effort to troubleshoot.
US08976802B2	Prediction-based switch allocator An arbitration technique for determining mappings for a switch is described. During a given arbitration decision cycle, an arbitration mechanism maintains, until expiration, a set of mappings from a subset of the input ports to a subset of the output ports of the switch. This set of mappings was determined during an arbitration decision cycle up to K cycles preceding the given arbitration decision cycle. Because the set of mappings are maintained, it is easier for the arbitration mechanism to determine mappings from a remainder of the input ports to the remainder of the output ports without collisions.
US08976800B1	Configurable switch element and methods thereof A switching element and methods thereof are provided. The switching element includes a port from among a plurality of ports, which when configured to operate as a network protocol port sends and receives network information and when configured to operate as a storage protocol port sends and receives storage information. The port includes a control segment for generating a control signal for setting an operating mode of a serial and de-serializer (SERDES). The operating mode of the SERDES is selected based on whether the port is configured to operate as a network protocol port or as a storage protocol port.
US08976798B2	Method and system for communicating over a segmented virtual private network (VPN) An approach for providing secure communication services is disclosed. A secure (e.g., a Virtual Private Network (VPN)) tunnel from a source node over an access network, such as a satellite network, to a destination node, wherein the nodes are external to the network. A connection that supports a mechanism for enhancing performance of the network is established for a portion of the secure tunnel that traverses the network.
US08976797B2	System and method for indicating classification of a communications flow System and method for providing a layer 2 switch in the access network that switches based upon one or more carrier tags identifying customer traffic. Customer traffic conforming to any variety of different layer 1 or layer 2 protocols may be encapsulated and identified according to carrier tag values. The layer 2 switch may determine how to handle the traffic by interpreting and manipulating the carrier tag values. The layer 2 switch may be capable of switching TDM input traffic to either TDM or packet output traffic, and switching packetized input traffic to either TDM or packet output traffic. Handling classification values may also be processed by the layer 2 switch to affect prioritization of handling of encapsulated traffic.
US08976795B2	Gateway advertisement in a wireless mesh A computing environment containing a mesh network that is adapted to provide a reliable transport mechanism over which services may be delivered. Nodes of the mesh can automatically select routable addresses without conflicts, which allows nodes of the mesh to be accessed, even as the mesh changes through the addition or deletion of nodes. Also, nodes communicate with a protocol that supports service advertisements. These advertisements can identify mesh nodes that supply services, such as file or print servers, for which devices that have not yet connected to the network may be searching. Advertisements can also identify services to be used by nodes in the network, allowing, for example, a node to select a gateway providing a reliable connection to an external network. The mesh network can be used as a transport for communication using protocols, such as TCP/IP, that generally exhibit poor performance when using unreliable transports.
US08976794B2	Method to carry FCoE frames over a TRILL based network An apparatus for forwarding an Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) data frame into an Ethernet network comprising a processor configured to receive a data frame on a input port, obtain a first destination address and a virtual local area network identifier (VID), determine whether the first destination address and the VID matches an entry within a forwarding table, construct a key when the first destination address and VID matches the entry and the data frame is a FCoE frame, and forward the data frame as an outgoing data frame via an output port when the key matches a rule that permits forwarding the data frame.
US08976793B2	Differential forwarding in address-based carrier networks The invention relates to enabling differential forwarding in address-based carrier networks such as Ethernet networks. There is described a method of and connection controller for establishing connections (76, 77) in a frame-based communications network comprising nodes (71-75 and 78) such as Ethernet switches. The connections are established by configuring, in various of the nodes, mappings for forwarding data frames, such as Ethernet frames. The mappings are from a combination of a) a destination (or source) address corresponding to a destination (or source) node (73) of the connection and b) an identifier, such as a VLAN tag. The mappings are to selected output ports of the various nodes. By using the combination of destination (or source) address AND identifier, the mappings enable data frames belonging to different connections (76, 77) to be forwarded differentially (ie forwarded on different output ports) at a node (75) despite the different connections having the same destination node. This enables flexibility in routing connections and the ability to perform traffic engineering.
US08976791B1	Methods and apparatus for processing multi-headed packets A packet is received at a network device, the packet having a header that includes destination information for a first network in a first header portion, and destination information for a second network in a second header portion. The packet is processed, in a first pass, to make a first forwarding decision to forward the packet to a destination in the first network based on information contained in the first header portion. The packet is replicated and the packet, or the replicated packet, is returned for processing in a second pass. The packet, or the replicated packet, is processed in the second pass to make a second forwarding decision to forward at least a portion of the packet or the replicated packet to a destination in the second network based on information contained in the second header portion without relying on information contained in the first header portion.
US08976788B2	Data plane independent assert election Avoiding duplicative forwarding of multicast traffic is disclosed. A join message received at a first router is directed to a peer router of the first router from a first downstream node of the first router and the peer router without passing through the peer router. The join message indicates that one or more downstream nodes of the peer desire to receive from the peer multicast traffic specified in the join message. It is determined whether the join message from the first downstream node to the peer would result in duplicative forwarding by the peer of multicast traffic from an upstream source upstream of the peer and the first router based on the join message. Based at least in part on a determination that the join message would result in duplicative forwarding of the multicast traffic, an election procedure is initiated to avoid such duplicative forwarding of the multicast traffic.
US08976782B1	Network session management for telephony over hybrid networks A communication system providing telephony communication across combined circuit switched and packet switched networks, such as a telephone network and the Internet, which are connectable to terminals, such as telephones and computers, for selective communication therebetween. The communication system includes an authorization and account control object in the packet switched network, multiple gateways between the circuit switched and packet switched networks providing controlled connectivity between those networks, and an information retrieval object in the packet switched network.
US08976773B2	Cell identifier encoding and decoding methods and apparatus In an embodiment, a wireless communication system (100, FIG. 1) includes one or more nodes (102-108) and one or more user equipments (UE) (110). A node may apply (502, FIG. 5) a cell-specific spreading code to a cell identifier, which indicates an identity of a cell (113, FIG. 1) serviced by the node. The node may insert (504, FIG. 5), into a frame (200, FIG. 2), at least one synchronization channel symbol, which corresponds to the spread cell identifier, and the node may transmit (506, FIG. 5) the frame over an air interface. A UE may receive (702, FIG. 7) a frame from the air interface. The UE may despread (708) the spread cell identifier, and acquire (712) a cell identifier corresponding to a particular cell.
US08976770B2	Method and device whereby base station allocates nodes to terminal in a semi-static fashion in multi-node system The present invention relates to wireless communication, and more specifically, to a method and device whereby a base station allocates nodes to a terminal in a semi-static fashion in a multi-node system. The method, according to one aspect of the present invention, whereby a base station allocates at least a portion of a plurality of nodes to a terminal in a multi-node system comprising the plurality of nodes and the base station for controlling the plurality of nodes, comprises the steps of: receiving, from the terminal, data showing at least one first node that is preferred among the plurality of nodes by the terminal; and transmitting, to the terminal, first data for allocating the first node(s) to the terminal. The first data may comprise pilot data which is required by the terminal in order to transmit, to the base station, feedback data concerning the first node.
US08976769B2	Simultaneously multi-networked handheld multimedia gateways A user may simultaneously access sources of multimedia information via multiple wireless networks using a handheld multimedia gateway. A user interface may support the selection of information services that are each provided separate, but possibly overlapping, viewing spaces. Circuitry in the multimedia gateway manages the operation of the multiple wireless communication paths, and enables the display of visual information through two or more display devices. The user may customize the display, the size, and the location within a display of regions in which the information is presented.
US08976767B2	System and method for communicating over an 802.15.4 network A method of reducing data transfer while increasing image information over an 802.15.4 network includes obtaining an image with a sensor, modulating a representation of the image using a first 802.15.4 modem, sending the representation of the image to a coordinator, demodulating the representation of the image using a second 802.15.4 modem, and digitally enhancing at least one of the representation of the image and the image. A system for communication over an 802.15.4 network includes a sensor for obtaining data, the size of the data being at least an order of magnitude greater than the size of an 802.15.4 packet, a first 802.15.4 modem coupled to the sensor, a buffer for temporarily storing the data to allow transmission of portions of the data; the buffer being coupled to the sensor, a coordinator coupled to the sensor, the coordinator being capable of communicating with a computer, and a second 802.15.4 modem coupled to the coordinator.
US08976764B2	Accommodating semi-persistent scheduling in heterogeneous networks with restricted subframe patterns A method is provided for operating a network element in a wireless communications network. The method comprises transmitting, by a network element configured to utilize time domain measurement resource restriction, a first initial transmission under a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) scheme, wherein retransmissions of the first initial transmission follow a first retransmission pattern. The method further comprises transmitting, by the network element, a second initial transmission under the SPS scheme, wherein retransmissions of the second initial transmission follow a second retransmission pattern, the second retransmission pattern allowing at least one retransmission of the second initial transmission to occur in a restricted subframe.
US08976763B2	Method and system for allocation guaranteed time slots for efficient transmission of time-critical data in IEEE 802.15.4 wireless personal area networks A guaranteed time slot allocation scheme is provided for the IEEE 802.15.4 standard for use in wireless personal area networks having sensor devices to overcome bandwidth under-utilization for time-critical or delay-sensitive data transmissions. A fractional knapsack problem is formulated to obtain optimal guaranteed time slot allocation with which a minimum bandwidth requirement is guaranteed for the sensor devices.
US08976762B2	Radio frequency architecture for spectrum access networks Radio frequency (RF) architectures for spectrum access networks are provided. Embodiments of the invention generally provide a radio frequency (RF) architecture for customer premise equipment (CPE) for use in, for example, IEEE 802.22 wireless regional area networks (WRANs). In some embodiments, the CPE RF architecture includes two receive chains with a directional antenna and an omni-directional antenna, respectively. The CPE RF architecture facilitates opportunistic out-of-band spectrum sensing and WRAN signal receiving that are performed in parallel with data transmission.
US08976757B2	Call continuity A method is provided of transferring a call connection with a mobile terminal from a first network to a second network. The first network is capable of handling both circuit-switched and packet-switched modes of connection. The second network is capable of handling one of the packet-switched or circuit-switched modes of connection but not both. The terminal is capable of both packet-switched and circuit-switched call modes of connection. The method comprises the first network: identifying the location of the mobile terminal with respect to at least one of the networks, identifying the mobile terminal as being in a mode of connection not usable in the second network, instructing the mobile terminal to transfer the call connection to the other mode of connection, and transferring the call connection to the second network.
US08976752B2	Terminal device and method for transmitting a power headroom report in a wireless communication system supporting multiple component carriers The present invention relates to a terminal device and method for transmitting a power headroom report (PHR) in a wireless communication system supporting multiple component carriers. The terminal device of the present invention comprises a transmitter for transmitting, to a base station, PHR information on at least one component carrier and information on the maximum power reduction (MPR) of the terminal device, wherein the PHR information on the at least one component carrier includes component carrier index information, and the MPR information of the terminal device may be an MPR value of said at least one component carrier, or a sum of the MPR values of said at least one component carrier.
US08976751B2	Method for transmitting control information and apparatus for same Channel state information (CSI) reporting is described. CSI configuration information for a plurality of cells, and information requesting an aperiodic CSI report for a first cell are received. A periodic CSI report for a second cell different from the first cell with the aperiodic CSI report for the first cell in a corresponding subframe is transmitted. If a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) are transmitted in the corresponding subframe simultaneously, the periodic CSI report for the second cell is transmitted via the PUCCH and the aperiodic CSI report for the first cell is transmitted via the PUSCH in the corresponding subframe. Otherwise, the periodic CSI report for the second cell is piggybacked on the PUSCH and the periodic CSI report for the second cell and the aperiodic CSI report for the first cell are transmitted via the PUSCH in the corresponding subframe.
US08976747B2	Aperiodic sounding reference symbol configuration in a wireless communication system A method for configuring aperiodic sounding reference symbols is disclosed. The method avoids transmission of unused configuration parameters. In particular, parameters for use with DCI format 4 are not configured for user equipment that does not support the format. Accordingly, the method may include: configuring UL transmission mode equal to 1; configuring aperiodic SRS for DCI format 0/1a; and not configuring aperiodic SRS parameter sets for DCI format 4. The method may also include: configuring UL transmission mode equal to 2; configuring aperiodic SRS for DCI format 0/1a; and not configuring aperiodic SRS parameter sets for DCI format 4.
US08976746B2	Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data A transmission scheme newly adds a Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS) to estimate a channel response for demodulation. When a transmission scheme based on Long Term Evolution Common Reference Signal (LTE CRS) is set in a user, a corresponding user cannot receive data in a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) sub-frame. To solve this problem, the present scheme separates and sets a transmission mode for sub-frame and a transmission mode for MBSFN.
US08976743B2	Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving resource allocation scheme information in a wireless communication system A method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving a Service Specific Scheduling Control Header (SSSCH) in a wireless communication system are provided, in which the SSSCH includes SSSCH type information and a Quality of Service (QoS) parameter change indicator. The SSSCH type information indicates at least one of a QoS parameter set change request, an ACKnowledgment (ACK) for a QoS parameter set change request, and a Negative ACK (NACK) for a QoS parameter set change request, and the QoS parameter change indicator indicates whether a QoS parameter set will be changed.
US08976742B2	Systems and methods for achieving high data-rate wireless communication An embodiment of the present invention provides a system for increasing aggregate throughput in a wireless network array comprising a first node and a second node. The first node comprises a first plurality of wireless radios, a scheduling module, and an adaptive carrier sensing module. The second node can comprise a second plurality of wireless radios. The first node can be configured to simultaneously wirelessly transmit a first data packet from the first wireless radio in the first plurality of wireless radios to a first wireless radio in the second plurality of wireless radios at a first frequency and wirelessly transmit a second data packet from a second wireless radio in the first plurality of wireless radios to a second wireless radio in the second plurality of wireless radios at a second frequency, wherein the first frequency and second frequency are in a predetermined frequency band.
US08976737B2	Method and system for dynamic ACK/NACK repetition for robust downlink MAC PDU transmission in LTE A method and apparatus for dynamic acknowledgement repetition for a downlink medium access control packet data unit transmission ‘MAC PDU’ requiring multiple acknowledgements, the method having the steps of: receiving the downlink MAC PDU requiring multiple acknowledgements; and utilizing a differentiating factor and acknowledgement scheme, sending the multiple acknowledgements.
US08976736B2	Wireless communication system, base station apparatus, mobile station apparatus, and wireless communication method A mobile station apparatus (1) determines an uplink carrier component to which a physical downlink control channel instructing to start random access procedure corresponds. Provided is a wireless communication system in which a base station apparatus (3) and a mobile station apparatus (1) communicate with each other using a plurality of component carriers, wherein the base station apparatus (3) includes a random access controller (1012) that preliminarily allocates random access resources corresponding to a specific downlink component carrier, by means of which the mobile station apparatus (1) can start a random access communication, and a transmission processor (111) that transmits control information instructing to start the random access procedure, and wherein the mobile station apparatus (1) includes a random access processor (2012) that, upon receipt of the control information instructing to start the random access procedure, starts the random access procedure by means of the random access resource corresponding to a specific downlink component carrier preliminarily allocated by the base station apparatus (3).
US08976735B1	Channel scanning Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for channel scanning. In one aspect, a method includes, while maintaining an association with a first access point on a first channel during first, second, and third consecutive time slices: (i) monitoring, by a client device, a single second channel during the first time slice and the third time slice, and (ii) monitoring, by the client device, the first channel during the second time slice; receiving a beacon from a second access point during the first time slice or the third time slice; and determining a property of the client device or the second access point using the beacon, without using the beacon to determine whether to establish an association with the second access point.
US08976727B2	Cyclical obstruction communication system Techniques for improving data rates at mobile terminals that are subject to periodic channel interruptions in a beyond-line-of-sight communication system are disclosed, including improved encoding and decoding systems that identify blockages and modify receiver operation during blockages to reduce data errors. In certain embodiments, encoding, symbol mapping, interleaving, and use of unique periodic identifiers function to enable a series of packets that may be received in a blockage impaired channel with reduced errors.
US08976717B2	Method for data forwarding The present invention provides a method for data forwarding. The method includes: transmitting, by a source system, Selected IP Traffic Offload (SIPTO)/Local Internet Protocol Access (LIPA) indication information to a destination system, the SIPTO/LIPA indication information indicating that the source system adopts an optimized user plane network structure; performing, by the destination system, an optimized data forwarding mechanism after receiving the SIPTO/LIPA indication information. According to the present invention, it can be ensured that a system sets up an optimized data forwarding mechanism during a handover process of a terminal.
US08976713B2	Method and apparatus for performing transmission and reception simultaneously in same frequency band There are provided a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving signals in the same frequency band at the same time. A signal is received using a dual polarization antenna, the main axis of the polarization of the reception signal is predicted by performing adaptive polarization tracking, and polarization filtering is performed in order to remove interference. A signal is transmitted through a polarization completely orthogonal to the tracked polarization. In accordance with the present invention, in a wireless communication system, signals can be transmitted and received in the same frequency band at the same time.
US08976709B2	Methods, systems, and products for network topology Methods, systems, and products simulate a topology of a residential home network. The residential home network has a residential gateway and one or more devices communicating with the residential gateway. Each device is queried by the residential gateway for configuration and performance data. A simulated view of a topology of the residential home network is then generated.
US08976708B1	Parameterized device models for openflow A controller in a communication network may be responsible for generating a device model that defines intended forwarding behavior of a network. The device model may be generated using a target-independent universal language of network primitives. The controller may assign a first set of parameters to the device model to generate a first parameterized device model. The controller may assign a second set of parameters to the device model to generate a second parameterized device model. The controller may send the first parameterized device model or the second parameterized device model to a target device. The target device may statically or dynamically translate the received parameterized device model(s) to implementation. The controller is not required to generate a new device model for each modification made to the network: the controller may parameterized a generic device model to reflect the modifications.
US08976704B2	Method, system and nodes for network topology detection in communication networks Method for switching to an appropriate network topology type in a telecommunication network including of a node (b) sending to a further node a message (M1) including of a discovery request, receiving from further nodes of the telecommunication network messages (M3, M11) including of discovery results, thereafter, sending a message (M5) including of a proposal of a network topology type and switching to an appropriate network topology type.
US08976703B2	Performance monitoring-based network resource management with mobility support A device receives, from a mobile device, a registration request when the mobile device moves to a new service area of a network, where the registration request includes a resource management (RM) extension and a performance monitoring (PM) extension. The device also inspects quality of service requirements of the registration request, identifies performance aspects of the registration request to be verified, and inspects performance monitoring information associated with the registration request to identify a performance monitoring test needed to make a resource management decision. The device further executes the performance monitoring test, collects results of the execution of the performance monitoring test, analyzes the collected results of the performance monitoring test, determines whether intervention related to network topology and configuration is possible, and accepts or rejects the registration request based on the analysis of the collected results of the performance monitoring test.
US08976702B2	Co-channel utilization estimation Devices, methods and instructions encoded on computer readable media are provided herein for estimation of the available bandwidth in a frequency channel shared by a first access point and at least one neighboring access point. In one example, an impact value that represents the impact of traffic associated with the neighboring access point on the first access point is calculated. Based on the impact value, a first utilization metric associated with the first access point is generated. The first utilization metric represents the bandwidth available on the frequency channel in the presence of the traffic associated with the neighboring access point.
US08976701B2	Method for handling inter-radio access technology measurement requests in a mobile telecommunications device Apparatus and a method are described for handling inter-radio access technology measurement reports in a radio telecommunications device, the device being operable with a first cellular radio access technology (e.g. UTRAN, E-UTRAN), GERAN and Generic Access Network, the radio telecommunications device being capable of adopting a cellular preferred mode. The method comprises, in the radio telecommunications device, when the radio telecommunications device is in cellular preferred mode and operating with the first cellular radio access technology and the radio telecommunications device is registered with a Generic Access Network Controller that operates as a GERAN network component, and a quality of a signal from the first cellular radio access technology is below a certain threshold and a quality of a signal from the GAN is above a certain threshold and a request has been received to send an inter-RAT measurement report, generating inter-radio access technology measurements and, when there is at least one GERAN cell that satisfies a triggering condition, transmitting a measurement report in respect of the GERAN cell(s) and a measurement report in respect of the generic access network.
US08976700B2	Method and device for maintaining the performance quality of a communication system in the presence of narrow band interference A system that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a method for analyzing a wide frequency band with respect to signal power levels in specified narrow frequency bands, detecting narrow band signal power levels received in the specified narrow frequency bands, determining an average composite wideband power level from the narrow band signal power levels, determining an adaptive threshold, detecting narrow band interference according to one of the average composite wideband power level, the adaptive threshold, or both, prioritizing the detected narrow band interference, and selectively filtering a portion of the detected narrow band interference according to the prioritization. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US08976693B2	Method for reporting emergency and terminal in mobile communication system Disclosed is a method for a terminal to report an emergency in a mobile communication system, the method including detecting an emergency and transmitting an emergency report header to a base station to notify the base station of the emergency, the emergency report header including a field indicating a signaling header for emergency reporting.
US08976691B2	Method and apparatus for adaptive searching of distributed datasets A first communication device comprising memory in which data is stored may receive a request packet from a second communication device, measure received signal strength for the request packet, and determine whether to perform the requested search of the data stored in the memory based on the received signal strength and the power at which the request packet was transmitted. The search request packet may comprise a request to search the data stored in the memory, and a transmit power field that indicates a power at which the request packet was transmitted. The determining may be based on a result of a comparison between the received signal strength and a threshold and/or based on a comparison of a relative power and a threshold. The relative power may be calculated utilizing the received signal strength and the power at which the packet was transmitted.
US08976687B2	Broadcasting method and access control apparatus It is specified that a frame containing at least the plurality of slots is repeated. A detecting unit detects a slot usable in the communications between terminal apparatuses, from among a plurality of slots. A modem unit and an RF unit broadcast the information on the detected slot. A power measuring unit in the detecting unit measures the respective received powers of the plurality of slots, and an empty slot identifying unit identifies a slot whose received power is less than a threshold value.
US08976681B2	Network system, network management server, and OAM test method A network system, management server, and OAM test management method for grouping the virtual networks, selecting a test target for each group, and lowering the network load and the operating load in the OAM testing. Grouping the multiple virtual networks based on their physical topology and selecting a representative virtual network for each group, allows selecting a test target virtual network from among the representative virtual networks for the virtual network selected by the operator and executing tests.
US08976676B2	Adaptive signaling for network performance measurement, access, and control Systems and methods are provided for initiation, use, access, and control of functionality of a network. In one aspect, the systems and methods can be utilized to generate information defining signaling or control performance and operational characteristics associated with the functionality in a variety of network environments. In another aspect, based on such information, adaptive signaling can be utilized to monitor, analyze and detect specific signaling signatures associated with the functionality. Managing signaling or control messages in response to information collected by monitoring and analyzing the adaptive signaling permits originating or requesting the functionality without conventional operation of a network component.
US08976674B2	Method and system to detect packets of different formats A method and system in accordance with the present invention presents a new packet structure and an improved method for detecting the packet. The method and system comprise adding an additional field to the packet structure to allow for a sufficient time to process a very high throughput (VHT) signal field; and enabling the detection of the VHT signal field of the packet structure. The VHT signal field is distinguishable from other signal fields and the VHT signal field allows for a backward compatibility with other devices.
US08976672B2	Efficiently decoupling reservation and data forwarding of data flows in a computer network In one embodiment, a node (e.g., a router) performs reservations for data flows, each on a corresponding selected (reserved) path having adequate reservation availability. Also, the node forwards data from data flows, each over a corresponding selected (forwarded) path having adequate load availability, wherein forwarded paths are decoupled from reserved paths for the data flows.
US08976671B2	Information processing apparatus, congestion control method, and computer-readable recording medium A TCP node stores a congestion window size before congestion is detected, the congestion window size limiting the amount of data to be transmitted. If congestion is detected, the TCP node reduces a current congestion window size to a predetermined size. If path switching subsequently occurs after congestion is detected, the TCP node uses a round-trip time or bandwidth information of a path after switching to correct the congestion window size before congestion detection. The TCP node then changes the reduced congestion window size to the corrected size.
US08976670B2	System and method for delivering packet data over a multiplicity of communication links This invention provides a system, method and apparatus for managing congestion on heterogeneous network communication links, the first communication link and second communication link being heterogeneous with respect to each other. The system, method and apparatus including a routing decision module, the routing decision module evaluating a queue of information packets scheduled for transmission across the first communication link to determine whether to generate a command signal to route a portion of information packets over the second communication link. The system, method and apparatus may further include a communication link threshold module, the communication link threshold module storing threshold limit values corresponding to a first communication link technology of the first communication link.
US08976669B2	Switch fabric end-to-end congestion avoidance mechanism Aspects of a switch fabric end-to-end congestion avoidance mechanism are presented. Aspects of a system for end-to-end congestion avoidance in a switch fabric may include at least one circuit that enables reception of a congestion notification message that specifies a traffic flow identifier. The circuitry may enable increase or decrease of a current rate for transmission of data link layer (DLL) protocol data units (PDU) associated with the specified traffic flow identifier as a response to the reception of the congestion notification message.
US08976656B2	Available bandwidth measurement system, transmission device, available bandwidth measurement method and recording medium A packet generation unit (10) generates a predetermined number of measurement packets at predetermined transmission intervals that increase in equal increments, and a transmission/reception unit (13) transmits the measurement packets to a reception device (2) in accordance with control performed by a transmission control unit (12). A calculation unit (21) calculates an available bandwidth in accordance with the reception intervals of the measurement packets received by a transmission/reception unit (20), and the transmission/reception unit (20) transmits the available bandwidth to a transmission device (1). A resolution alteration unit (14) determines, in accordance with the available bandwidth received by the transmission/reception unit (13), whether or not to change the measurement resolution. A size alteration unit (15) changes the minimum packet size, maximum packet size and packet size incremental increase amount when the resolution alteration unit (14) determines that the measurement resolution is to be changed. The packet generation unit (10) newly generates measurement packets in accordance with the changed values.
US08976653B2	Communication devices and methods for determining status of remote communication devices A communication device may include a transmitting circuit for transmitting packets from a first communication device to a second communication device and a processor in the first communication device and coupled with the transmitting circuit. The processor may evaluate the packet receipt status information to identify a packet receipt characteristic associated with the second communication device and control data packet transmission from the first communication device to the second communication device based on the packet receipt characteristic associated with the second communication device.
US08976651B2	Load balance control unit, load balance control method and storage medium [Solution to Problem] A load balance control unit, which is included in a transmission apparatus for transmitting a plurality of units of data, each being a piece of transmission data delimited by a given data length, to an opposite apparatus via a plurality of transmission lines, includes sorting buffers which are provided for the respective transmission lines; a threshold setting element which sets upper limit retention threshold values for the respective sorting buffers; and a sorting determination element which determines, for each of the units of data, in which of the sorting buffers the each of the units of data is to be written, taking into consideration retention states and the upper limit retention threshold values of the respective sorting buffers, and a data amount of the each of the units of data.
US08976649B2	Method for providing bearer specific information for wireless networks A Packet Control Function (PCF) may not have enough knowledge about packet data arriving on a bearer path via a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) to appropriately decide how best to handle the packet data. Thus, the PDSN may provide bearer-specific information by encapsulating the packet data within the payload of a Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) frame, and for a requested feature, setting a protocol-type field in the header of the GRE frame indicating that the packet includes an attribute field, and adding an attribute field to the payload of the GRE packet to provide attribute data corresponding to the requested feature. The PCF may send an A-11 request to the PDSN indicating which features the PDSN is requested to enable. For example, for short data indication, the PCF may request the PDSN add to the GRE frame an attribute field containing attribute data indicating when a Short Data Burst is suitable.
US08976648B2	Method and apparatus for managing load on service devices in a communication network A method, system and apparatus for managing load on service devices in a communication network are provided. At a processor of a relay device, it is determined that the service devices are available after being unavailable, the relay device comprising a communication interface and a processor for relaying messages, via the communication interface, between a communication device and the service devices. In response, the processor blocks incoming messages associated with a subset of the service devices, the incoming messages from the at least one communication device.
US08976647B2	Hardware-based dynamic load balancing that avoids flow packet reordering statistically A network component comprising a hash generator configured to generate a first hash value using a first hash function and a packet, and generate a second hash value using a second hash function and the packet, a memory comprising a first hash table related to the first hash function and a second hash table related to the second hash function, the first and second hash tables comprising one or more entries, the one or more entries comprising a signature, a timestamp, and a path identification, a comparator configured to compare the first hash value and the second hash value with the one or more entries, and a forwarding decision module configured to forward the packet on a selected path.
US08976641B2	Systems and methods for non-linear digital self-interference cancellation A system and method for non-linear digital self-interference cancellation including a pre-processor that generates a first pre-processed digital transmit signal from a digital transmit signal of a full-duplex radio, a non-linear transformer that transforms the first pre-processed digital transmit signal into a non-linear self-interference signal according to a transform configuration, a transform adaptor that sets the transform configuration of the non-linear transformer, and a post-processor that combines the non-linear self-interference signal with a digital receive signal of the full-duplex radio.
US08976640B2	Information recording medium and disc An information recording medium includes a plurality of wobbled tracks, in which a phase mismatch range of an adjacent wobble is a portion of a range of one track.
US08976639B2	Disk-shaped recording medium and recording/reproducing device for disk-shaped recording medium When recording layers were provided on both the front and back sides of an optical disk in order to increase the recording capacity, whether the reproducing surface of the optical disk taken out of the cartridge was the front side or the back side could not be determined. This problem can be solved by adding to the BCA, in addition to disk identification information: type information indicating whether a recording surface is provided on one side or both sides; side information indicating whether the surface with which reproduction is being performed is side A or side B; recording layer quantity information indicating whether the disk has a single layer or a double layer; information indicating the areas other than the BCA and the directions in which data on the read-in, data zones, and read-out are recorded/reproduced; and information indicating the presence/absence of a disk cartridge.
US08976638B2	Holographic memory information encoding method, holographic memory recording method, and holographic memory device Provided is an information encoding method and a holographic memory device which increase the amount of information per page of a holographic memory and reduce the bit error rate to ensure a larger multiplexing number. The holographic memory information encoding method expresses information of signal page data in a holographic memory as a multi-stage data using different resolution by block coding, and superimposes each data on a single page of signal page data. The multi-stage data using different resolution is realized by light amplitude data and phase data. The amplitude data is divided by area through block coding. When n odd-numbered ON bits exist in a divided area of the phase data, a phase of 2πs/n (where n and s are natural numbers) is imparted as s-th phase information to one value of binary data, and the same phase is imparted to the other value of binary data.
US08976634B2	Devices including at least one intermixing layer Devices that include a near field transducer (NFT), the NFT including a peg having five exposed surfaces, the peg including a first material; an overlying structure; at least one intermixing layer, positioned between the peg and the overlying structure, the at least one intermixing layer positioned on at least one of the five surfaces of the peg, the intermixing layer including at least the first material and a second material.
US08976632B2	Timepiece faceplate and timepiece presenting A timepiece faceplate includes a plate-shaped member provided on one surface with a ridge having a function for reflecting and scattering incident light, which is made of a material having optical transmission properties; and a layer in which numerous powder particles having a function for reflecting light are dispersed and which faces a surface opposite from the surface on which the ridge of the plate-shaped member is provided. The plate-shaped member and the layer of the timepiece faceplate are superimposed when viewed from above.
US08976630B2	Dial assembly and timepiece A dial assembly held within a timepiece case together with a movement for which the hour hand and minute hand are supported to be able to rotate is provided. The movement supports at least one miniature hand to be able to rotate at a position different from the hour hand and minute hand. The dial assembly comprising includes a first dial that is light transmissive, a second dial arranged on the back surface side of the first dial, and at last one spacer forming a ring shape arranged between the first dial and the second dial. The miniature hand rotates within a space enclosed by the first dial, the second dial, and the spacer.
US08976628B2	Wristwatch provided with an electrical connector The wristwatch (1) is provided with an electrical connector (5), which is connected via a connection element (15) to at least one electronic circuit and/or to a rechargeable battery which are disposed inside the watch case. The electrical connector (5) is a female USB electrical connector, which is disposed on an inner surface of the bracelet (4), and where the bracelet is fixed to the middle part (3) of the watch case. The inner surface of the bracelet comes into contact with the user's wrist when the watch is worn. The connection element (15) passes through the middle part to connect a contact area of the electrical connector to the electronic circuit and/or the rechargeable battery inside the case.
US08976627B2	Micro-geophone A micro geophone having pole pieces do not extend out around the sides of the magnet, thereby allowing a reduced geophone diameter for a given magnet diameter. The pole pieces are adhesively bonded to the magnet using an adhesive, which may be made suitably electrically conductive by silver or nickel fillers or non-conductive by mica fillers such as borosilicate glass micro-spheres. Axial space is economized by eliminating traditional spider retaining rings. The spider springs are seated directly against the coil form and secured by adhesive fillets disposed on the outward-facing spring circumferences. The spider springs include circumferential notches to receive adhesive. A two-piece bimetallic coil form of aluminum and a heavier material, joined by adhesive, is provided. Headers are affixed to the housing within the seats by adhesive. A straight or rounded chamfer at each of the geophone ends allows the overall geophone dimensions to be maximized.
US08976625B2	Optimization approach to Q-factor estimation from VSP data A zero-offset VSP survey is carried out with spaced apart receivers located in a vertical wellbore. Spectra of the signals at the receivers following wavefield separation are estimated. An absorption coefficient is estimated using differences in spectra between all pairs of receivers.
US08976615B2	Semiconductor memory device capable of performing refresh operation without auto refresh command A semiconductor memory device includes an internal address generating circuit; an internal command generating circuit; and a memory cell array including one or more memory bank groups. The semiconductor memory device is configured such that when a read command or a write command is input, if a first portion of a plurality of memory banks of a first memory bank group from among one or more memory bank groups of the memory cell array performs a read operation or a write operation, a second portion of the plurality of memory banks of the first memory bank group performs a refresh operation.
US08976605B2	High voltage generation circuit and semiconductor device including the same A high voltage generation circuit includes a plurality of pumps configured to generate a final pump voltage, a plurality of switches configured to couple the pumps to various nodes, a voltage division circuit configured to divide the final pump voltage from the pumps interconnected by the switches, and outputting a divided voltage, a section signal generation circuit configured to generate a plurality of section signals by comparing the divided voltage with each of different reference voltages, and a section signal combination circuit configured to generate enable signals for controlling the switches by combining the section signals.
US08976604B2	Method and apparatus for copying data with a memory array having redundant memory A page copy operation such as copy back programming is performed between a source page of the memory array and a destination page of the memory array in different segments. The segments divide the columns of the main array and the set of redundant columns of the redundant array into, for example, sets of rows. The copy back programming transfers data from a part of the source page in the redundant array to a part of the destination page in the main array, and transfers data from a part of the source page in the main array to a part of the destination page in the redundant array.
US08976603B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device A control circuit is configured to, during an erase operation, set a voltage of a first line connected to a selected cell unit to a voltage larger than a voltage of a gate of a first transistor included in the selected cell unit by an amount of a first voltage. The control circuit is configured to, during the erase operation, set a voltage difference between a voltage of a first line connected to an unselected cell unit and a voltage of a gate of a first transistor included in the unselected cell unit to a second voltage, the second voltage differing from the first voltage. In addition, the control circuit is configured to, during the erase operation, apply in the selected cell unit and the unselected cell unit a third voltage to a gate of at least one of dummy memory transistors in a dummy memory string, and apply a fourth voltage to a gate of another one of the dummy memory transistors in the dummy memory string, the fourth voltage being lower than the third voltage.
US08976600B2	Word line driver circuit for selecting and deselecting word lines A memory circuit includes word lines coupled to a memory array, including a first set of one or more word lines deselected in an erase operation, and a second set of one or more word lines selected in the erase operation. Control circuitry couples the first set of one or more word lines deselected in the erase operation to a reference voltage, responsive to receiving an erase command for the erase operation. Some examples further include a first transistor that switchably couples a word line to a global word line, and a second transistor that switchably couples the word line to a ground voltage. The control circuitry is coupled to the first transistor and the second transistor, wherein the control circuitry has a plurality of modes including at least an erase operation. In a first mode, the first transistor couples the word line to the global word line, and the second transistor decouples the word line from the ground voltage. In a second mode, the first transistor decouples the word line from the global word line, and the second transistor couples the word line to the ground voltage.
US08976597B2	Electrically rewriteable nonvolatile semiconductor memory device A control circuit executes an erase operation that includes an erase pulse application operation and an erase verify operation. The erase pulse application operation applies an erase pulse voltage to a memory cell to change the memory cell from a write state to an erase state. The erase verify operation applies an erase verify voltage to the memory cell to judge whether the memory cell is in the erase state or not. The control circuit changes conditions of execution of the erase verify operation when the number of times of executions of the erase pulse application operation in one erase operation reaches a first number.
US08976595B2	Non-volatile memory device and related method of operation A nonvolatile memory device comprises a cell array connected to a plurality of bit lines in an all bit line structure, a page buffer circuit connected to the plurality of bit lines, and control logic configured to control the page buffer circuit. The control logic controls the page buffer circuit to sense memory cells corresponding to both even-numbered and odd-numbered columns of a selected page in a first read mode and to sense memory cells corresponding to one of the even-numbered and odd-numbered columns of the selected page in a second read mode. A sensing operation is performed at least twice in the first read mode and once in the second read mode.
US08976594B2	Memory read apparatus and methods Apparatus and methods are disclosed, including a method that raises an electrical potential of a plurality of access lines to a raised electrical potential, where each access line is associated with a respective charge storage device of a string of charge storage devices. The electrical potential of a selected one of the access lines is lowered, and a data state of the charge storage device associated with the selected access line is sensed while the electrical potential of the selected access line is being lowered. Additional apparatus and methods are described.
US08976589B2	Storage device According to one embodiment, a storage device includes a nonvolatile memory and a controller. The nonvolatile memory includes blocks which store data. Each of the blocks is an erase unit. The controller controls an operation of the nonvolatile memory. The controller executes writes and erases with respect to a first block of the blocks in the nonvolatile memory for the first number of times during a first period. The controller executes writes and erases with respect to other blocks for the second number of times smaller than the first number of times during the first period.
US08976588B2	NVSRAM cells with voltage flash charger The present invention discloses two preferred embodiments of a 12T NVSRAM cell with a flash-based Charger and a pseudo 10T NVSRAM cell with one shared Flash-based Charger. The Flash-based Charger can be made of a 2-poly floating-gate type or a 1-poly charge-trapping SONOS/MONOS flash type, regardless of PMOS type or NMOS type. In an alternative embodiment, the Store operation of above two preferred NVSRAM cell use a DRAM-like charge-sensing scheme with Flash cell configured into a voltage follower associated with Flash Charger and 2-step SRAM amplification technique to amplify the threshold level difference ΔVt stored in the paired Flash transistors. The ΔVt can be detected as low as 1V when the coupled charges through the Flash charger are sufficient by ramping a gate control of the Flash Charger as high as VPP or by increasing the channel length for the Flash Charger.
US08976584B2	Flash memory device and method of programming the same A method is provided for programming a flash memory device including memory cells formed in a direction perpendicular to a substrate, a first sub word line connected to first memory cells and selectable by a first selection line, and a second sub word line connected to second memory cells and selectable by a second selection line, the first and second memory cells being formed at the same level and being supplied with a program voltage at the same time. The method includes performing LSB program operations on the first and second sub word lines by enabling the first and second selection lines, respectively; performing CSB program operations on the first and second sub word lines by enabling the first and second selection lines, respectively; and performing MSB program operations on the first and second sub word lines by enabling the first and second selection lines, respectively.
US08976583B2	Non-volatile semiconductor memory device and reading method thereof Provided are a semiconductor memory device has improved read disturbance characteristics as well as improved retention characteristics at a high temperature, and a reading method thereof. The non-volatile semiconductor memory device includes at least one bit line; and a cell string configured to be coupled with the bit line respectively, and include normal memory cells and dummy memory cells that are alternately coupled with each other, where normal data are programmed and read to and from the normal memory cells, and dummy memory cells are programmed with dummy data.
US08976579B2	Magnetic memory element, magnetic memory, and magnetic memory device According to one embodiment, a magnetic memory element includes: a magnetic wire, a stress application unit, and a recording/reproducing unit. The magnetic wire includes a plurality of domain walls and a plurality of magnetic domains separated by the domain walls. The magnetic wire is a closed loop. The stress application unit is configured to cause the domain walls to circle around along the closed loop a plurality of times by applying stress to the magnetic wire. The recording/reproducing unit is configured to write memory information by changing magnetizations of the circling magnetic domains as the domain walls circle around and to read the written memory information by detecting the magnetizations of the circling magnetic domains.
US08976575B1	SRAM performance monitor A semiconductor circuit can include an array of static random access memory (SRAM) cells. A first SRAM cell may provide a first current through an insulated gate field effect transistor (IGFET) having a first conductivity type. A second SRAM cell may provide a second current through an IGFET having a second conductivity type. A first current division slew circuit can provide a first slew output current proportional to the first current to change the charge on a first slew capacitor. A second current division slew circuit can provide a second slew output current proportional to the second current to change the charge on a second slew capacitor. A pulse may be generated having a first edge determined by a launch signal and a second edge determined by the time the first or the second capacitor reach a predetermined potential.
US08976574B2	Process corner sensor for bit-cells An integrated circuit is disclosed. The integrated circuit includes a plurality of bit-cells arranged to store data. The integrated circuit also includes a sensor configured to generate an output for determining whether the bit-cells are operating at a process corner. The sensor comprises the same circuitry as the bit-cells.
US08976565B2	Selector device using low leakage dielectric MIMCAP diode MIMCAP diodes are provided that can be suitable for memory device applications, such as current selector devices for cross point memory array. The MIMCAP diodes can have lower thermal budget as compared to Schottky diodes and controllable lower barrier height and lower series resistance as compared to MIMCAP tunneling diodes. The MIMCAP diode can include a barrier height modification layer, a low leakage dielectric layer and a high leakage dielectric layer. The layers can be sandwiched between two electrodes.
US08976562B2	Resistive memory architectures with multiple memory cells per access device A resistive memory structure, for example, phase change memory structure, includes one access device and two or more resistive memory cells. Each memory cell is coupled to a rectifying device to prevent parallel leak current from flowing through non-selected memory cells. In an array of resistive memory bit structures, resistive memory cells from different memory bit structures are stacked and share rectifying devices.
US08976560B2	Inverter control device and inverter control method An inverter control device includes a voltage detector, a target value calculation section, an inverter control section, an abnormality detector and a voltage clamp unit. The target value calculation section calculates a target value of an alternating current output from the inverter based on a detection voltage. The inverter control section controls a switching element of the inverter based on the detection voltage and the target value. The abnormality detector detects an abnormality in the voltage detector. The voltage clamp unit holds the detection voltage, for calculating the target value, at a first assured voltage determined based on a lower limit area of an assured voltage range that assures an operation of the inverter: and holds the detection voltage, for generating the control signal, at a second (higher) assured voltage, upon detecting the abnormality in the voltage detector.
US08976557B2	Reactive energy compensator comprising N parallel inverters, N capacitor banks, and means for connecting the banks through passive electrical components A reactive energy compensator is provided. The compensator is connected to an alternating electrical network including M phase(s), M being an integer greater than or equal to 1. The compensator includes M connection terminals, N banks of capacitor(s) capable of providing reactive energy, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2, N two-way voltage inverters, connected to each other in parallel and each connected to a unique capacitor bank, each inverter being able to convert a direct current into an alternating current including M phase(s) in one direction and the alternating current into direct current in the other direction, each inverter including first and second input terminals and M output terminal(s), the input terminals being connected to the corresponding capacitor bank, each output terminal corresponding to a phase of the alternating current and being connected to a corresponding connection terminal, and a device for balancing the voltage of the N capacitor banks.
US08976555B2	Converter A converter has converting groups with a first stage connected to input lines thereof and a second stage connected to output lines. The first and second stages have positive and negative branches that are connected together.
US08976543B1	Full bridge power supply with digital feedback A circuit includes a full-bridge converter circuit coupled to a transformer for converting a first voltage level to a second voltage level. A sensing circuit is coupled to the transformer for sensing a size of a load coupled to the transformer. A digital feedback circuit is coupled to the full-bridge converter and to the sensing circuit for adjusting a rate at which the full-bridge converter is switched based on a signal received from the sensing circuit.
US08976542B2	High frequency cathode heater supply for a microwave source A high frequency cathode heater supply for a microwave source includes a SMPS inverter and an isolation transformer having a primary winding arranged to be powered by the SMPS inverter, a monitor winding passing through primary core assemblies of the primary winding and a secondary winding arranged for connection to the cathode heater. A current monitor is arranged to monitor a current in the primary windings. Signal processing modules are arranged to receive a first input signal from the monitor winding indicative of a voltage across the cathode heater and a second input signal from the current monitor indicative of a current through the cathode heater. The signal processing modules are arranged to output a control signal to the SMPS inverter to control power supplied to the cathode heater dependent on a monitored resistance of, or monitored power supplied to, the cathode heater as determined from the first input signal and the second input signal.
US08976541B2	Electrical power and data distribution apparatus An electrical power and data distribution apparatus comprises an enclosure having a rear connector configured to connect to a first cable including electrical power and data conductors, a front connector configured to connect to a second cable including electrical and data conductors, at least one electrical power outlet configured to connect to a power plug and at least one data input/output connector configured to connect to a device having a predetermined connection configuration. A power hub is connected to the rear connector to receive electrical power, and to the front connector and the power outlet to supply electrical power. The data conductors of the front and rear connectors are connected to a network interface of a controller for sending and receiving data with a first protocol, and the data input/output connector is connected to an input/output section of the controller for sending and receiving data with a second protocol.
US08976539B2	Optical transceiver having corrugated inner side surfaces An optical transceiver that reduces the EMI noise leaked therefrom is disclosed. The optical transceiver provides a metal housing, an optical subassembly, and an electronic circuit. The metal housing includes a first space to install the electronic circuit, and a second space to install the optical subassembly. At least the first space has inner surfaces having a corrugated shape to reduce the resonance of the electromagnetic waves.
US08976536B2	Latching cam handle assembly for securing mated circuit boards An apparatus comprises a housing that includes a first housing portion and a second housing portion coupled at a first end. The apparatus further comprises a bulkhead secured to a second end of the second housing portion, and a handle pivotally secured to a second end of the first housing portion. The bulkhead includes a distally extending pin and a spring latch. The handle has a hole that is sized and positioned to selectively receive the distally extending pin and allow the handle to close only with the first and second housing portions in a closed position. The handle also has a hook that is captured by the spring latch in response to the handle being closed. A torsion spring may be used to bias the handle to an open position where the handle can be easily grabbed when the handle has not been latched.
US08976532B2	Slide unit for electronic apparatus The present invention relates to a slide unit for an electronic apparatus, including a base having a flat surface extending in front and rear directions and having a left end part and a right end part along the front and rear directions on both sides along a width direction perpendicular to top and bottom directions of the flat surface, a pair of left and right intermediate plates attached to the left end part and the right end part, respectively, to be slideable in the front and rear directions via a first slider mechanism, and a slide plate attached to the pair of left and right intermediate plates to be slideable in the front and rear directions via a second slider mechanism, wherein at least one of the first slider mechanism and the second slider mechanism includes a slide member extending in the front and rear directions, and a sliding member slideably supporting the slide member from both sides of the top and bottom directions and from both sides of the width direction.
US08976529B2	Lid design for reliability enhancement in flip chip package In a package structure, a stiffener ring is over and bonded to a top surface of a first package component. A second package component is over and bonded to the top surface of the first package component, and is encircled by the stiffener ring. A metal lid is over and bonded to the stiffener ring. The metal lid has a through-opening.
US08976523B2	Mobile terminal A mobile terminal includes: a body having a slot at one side thereof; a socket mounted to the body, and to which an external device is connected through the slot; a slide door coupled to the body so as to expose or cover the socket; and a guide portion formed in the body, and configured to guide motion of the sliding door, wherein the slide door comprises: a base having a plate shape; a manipulation portion protruding from a front surface of the base, and exposed to the outside through the slot; and a rail portion formed to be slidable along the guide portion, and coupled to a rear surface of the base so as to be covered by the base.
US08976517B2	Electronic device with impact-resistant display module An electronic device includes a shell, a display module and a cushion. The shell includes a bottom plate and a top plate. The top plate defines an opening. The display module is disposed in the shell and faces the opening. The display module is spaced from the bottom plate of the shell. The cushion is disposed between the display module and the bottom plate of the shell, and brought into contact with the display module for cushioning the display module when an external force is applied to the display module.
US08976510B2	Cable assembly and electronic device An electronic device including an electronic unit and a cable assembly is provided. The cable assembly includes a first connector module, a second connector module, and a cable connecting between the first and the second connector modules. The first connector module detachably connected to the electronic device includes a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) connector and a connector with at least four terminals.
US08976508B2	Electrochemical cell The electrochemical cell of the present invention is provided with a hermetic container having a base member, a jointing material fixed to the base member, and a lid member welded on the base member via the jointing material, and in which a housing space sealed between the base member and the lid member is defined, and an electrochemical element which is housed inside the housing space and which is available to effect charging and discharging, wherein the lid member is made of stainless steel.
US08976506B2	Metal-on-metal capacitor with diagonal feedline A design for an improved metal-on-metal capacitor design is described. The design includes a substantially diagonal feedline (411, 412, 413) in each metal layer. Each metal layer (21, 22, 23) comprises two sets of metal fingers which are interleaved. Each set of fingers comprises two subsets of fingers and the subsets of fingers are arranged at right angles to each other. Fingers in a first of the two sets are all connected to the diagonal feedline, while fingers in the other set are connected together via fingers at the periphery of the device. The design is repeated in adjacent layers, where the design may be identical or rotated (e.g by 180°) between adjacent metal layers.
US08976505B2	Method for controlling a glow plug in a diesel engine A method for controlling a glow plug in a diesel engine, in particular in the preheating phase, is described. According to the invention, it is provided that the time gradient of an electrical variable which varies according to the temperature of the glow plug is measured and compared with a threshold value, and when said time gradient exceeds or drops below the threshold value, the electric supply voltage of the glow plug is changed.
US08976504B2	Ignition system and spark plug An ignition system having a spark plug, a discharge power supply, and an AC power supply. Voltage from the discharge power supply and AC power from the AC power supply are supplied to a spark discharge gap through an electrode of the spark plug. The AC power from the AC power supply is applied to a spark generated by the voltage from the discharge power supply in the spark discharge gap.
US08976502B2	Electromagnetically actuated switching device and a method for controlling the switching operations of said switching device A switching device comprising control means for controlling the switching operations of the device, the control means receiving the sensing signals generated by a sensor means; the control means are arranged so that, during execution of a switching operation, the control means send a first control signal to a power supply means to start with the supply of excitation current from a first instant onwards; determine, on the base of the information provided by the sensing signals, a second instant, at which the power supply means have to stop with the supply of excitation current, the second instant occurring before the movable plunger has reached the stop position during the movement from the start position towards the stop position; send a second control signal to the power supply means to stop with supply of excitation current from the second instant and until a movable plunger reaches the stop position.
US08976500B2	DC block RF coaxial devices A DC block RF device includes a housing defining a cavity having a central axis, an input conductor disposed in the cavity of the housing and extending substantially along the central axis of the cavity and an output conductor disposed in the cavity of the housing and extending substantially along the central axis of the cavity. The DC block RF device further includes a first capacitor connected to the input conductor and a second capacitor connected to the output conductor and the first capacitor. In addition, the DC block RF device includes a coil for grounding surge signals, the coil having an inner edge connected to the center conductor and an outer edge connected to the housing of the device. During a surge, the first capacitor is configured to arc the surge across the capacitor without damaging the capacitor so the surge can dissipate through coil to ground.
US08976497B2	Preventing electrostatic discharge (ESD) failures across voltage domains An electrostatic discharge (ESD) device implemented within a power domain to mitigate ESD events imparted from another power domain for reducing integrated circuit (IC) failures. A first power domain includes an interface where ESD events are received and an output that can impart ESD event voltages on other components. A second power domain includes an ESD device coupled to the output of the first power domain and a protected IC. In one embodiment, the ESD device includes a floating device with an input terminal coupled to the interface output. By floating the device receiving the ESD event in the second power domain, damaging ESD induced voltages are reduced. Embodiments of the ESD device can be implemented using standard cell libraries to simplify integration.
US08976496B2	Electrostatic discharge blocking circuits Techniques and architectures corresponding to electrostatic discharge blocking circuits are described.
US08976494B2	Device for detecting a fault in an AC supply A device for detecting a fault in an AC supply comprises a circuit (CT, 100) for detecting a particular type of fault in an AC supply to a load (LD) and providing a corresponding output (10). A relay (RLA) is responsive to said output (10) to open a set of load contacts (SW1) in the AC supply to disconnect the load from the supply. Test means (TS, Rt, W2) are provided for simulating a supply fault of the said type, and means (C3, R5, SCR2, SOL, SW2) are provided for causing the load contacts (SW1) to open if they do not open in response to the simulated fault within a certain period of time.
US08976483B1	Rotational vibration compensation using microactuator An apparatus includes a feedback controller receiving feedback from a position error signal of a hard drive read/write head. The feedback controller provides respective voice coil motor and microactuator control signals to a voice coil and microactuator that together position the hard drive read/write head in response to a position control signal. A rotational vibration feed-forward compensator receives vibration measurements via a sensor and providing a rotational vibration compensation signal in response thereto. A dynamic control allocator is coupled to the feedback controller and the rotational vibration feed-forward compensator. The dynamic control allocator is configured to combine a high frequency component of the rotational vibration compensation signal with the microactuator control signal; and to combine a low frequency component of the rotational vibration compensation signal with the voice coil motor control signal.
US08976482B2	Servo control A tape head includes a set of one or more segments, wherein each segment of the set is individually movable with respect to a frame; each segment of the set comprising at least one of a write element configured to write data to a tape and a read element configured to read data from the tape; and each segment of the set comprising a further read element having a width transverse to a motion direction of the tape being at least a width of the write element of the segment or, in the event that no write element is comprised in the segment, of a write element of a different segment.
US08976481B1	Touch down detection with HDI sensor DC mode Methods are provided for determining the heater power level of a dynamic flying height (DFH) type write head at which a touch down (TD) occurs. Each method makes use of the DC component of a head-disk interference (HDI) sensor and the determination of the TD heater energy is deduced from certain characteristics of the function relating heater power to HDI DC signal strength. Characteristics that provide reliable indication of a TD include points of minimum slope, structure of the slope's slope and the properties of a linear fit to the slope if the slope does not converge to a consistent value. It is found that the use of all methods in combination allow a reliable TD determination under virtually all conditions.
US08976480B1	Method to convert and calibrate the embedded contact sensor signal to clearance and spacing information using interface voltage control Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method for obtaining head/disk clearance based on ECS signal. The ECS is calibrated by applying different interface voltages to cause changes in the head/disk clearance, the ECS signal at each interface voltage is obtained, and the relationship between the change in head/disk clearance and the ECS signal is calculated. From this relationship, the head/disk clearance may be obtained based on ECS signal.
US08976477B1	System and method for generating soft-orthogonal syncmarks The disclosure is directed to a system and method of generating soft-orthogonal syncmarks for at least a first set of tracks and a second set of tracks. Random pairs of sync patterns are searched to identify one or more pairs where the sync patterns of each pair exhibit delta-like autocorrelation and small cross-correlation with each other and with preamble portions of the tracks. Then a pair of sync patterns is selected from the one or more identified pairs, where the selected pair includes sync patterns that are distinguishable from the user data portions of the tracks at least partially based upon a data characteristic of the user data portions of the tracks. The selected pair of sync patterns is then used to generate a first syncmark for the first set of tracks and a second syncmark for the second set of tracks.
US08976474B1	Universal modulation coding for a data channel Technologies are described herein for implementing a universal modulation coding mechanism for a data channel. A user data sequence comprising a first number of bits is received. The user data sequence is encoded into a codeword sequence comprising a second number of bits utilizing a modulation encoder. The modulation encoder may encode the user data sequence based on a set of Markov state transition probabilities. The modulation encoder may implement a data de-compressor algorithm from a lossless data compression scheme. The codeword sequence is output to the data channel. The codeword sequence is subsequently received from the data channel, and the user data sequence is decoded from the codeword sequence utilizing a modulation decoder. The modulation decoder may decode the user data sequence based on the same set of Markov states transition probabilities. The modulation de-coder may implement the data compressor algorithm from the lossless data compression scheme.
US08976473B1	Inter-track interference cancellation based on predetermined data patterns in adjacent tracks Technologies are described herein for cancelling adjacent track interference in a storage device using an ITI predictor determined from predetermined data patterns in adjacent tracks. A first signal is read from a first portion of a data track, the first portion containing a first predetermined data pattern. Next, a value for an inter-track interference predictor associated with an adjacent track is determined based on the first signal, the first predetermined data pattern, and a second predetermined data pattern contained in a corresponding portion of the adjacent track. A second signal is read from a second portion of the data track, and inter-track interference from the adjacent track in the second signal is cancelled utilizing the value for the inter-track interference predictor.
US08976469B2	Lens driving system and method A lens driving system is configured for driving a lens to a focus position, and includes a control unit and a driving unit electrically connected to the control unit and coupled with the lens. The control unit acquires the focus position, calculates a main current value according to the focus position, and calculates a number of secondary current values according to the main current value. The secondary current values gradually increase to the main current value. The driving unit drives the lens to the focus position according to the secondary current values.
US08976467B2	Mobile device and optical imaging lens thereof The present invention provides a mobile device and an optical imaging lens thereof. The optical imaging lens comprises an aperture stop, first, second, third and fourth lens elements positioned sequentially from an object side to an image side. The first lens element with positive refracting power has a surface facing toward the object side. The second lens element with negative refracting power has a convex surface facing toward the object. The third lens element has a positive refracting power. The fourth lens element has a surface facing toward the object side with a concave portion in the vicinity of the optical axis and a surface facing toward the image side with a convex portion in the peripheral vicinity. The optical imaging lens of the present invention is capable of shortening the total length of the optical imaging lens efficiently and has good optical characteristics.
US08976466B2	Imaging optical system and imaging apparatus using the same An imaging optical system smaller than conventional systems yet with well-corrected aberrations, comprises five lenses L1-L5 having refractive powers, in order from the object side: positive, negative, positive, positive, and negative, with an aperture at an endmost object-side position. In one embodiment, L1 is biconvex, L2's object-side surface is convex, L5's object-side surface is convex, and 1.0≦f3/f1≦4.9, f1 and f3 being the focal lengths of L1 and L3, respectively. In a variant thereof, L2 is a meniscus lens and L5's object-side surface is concave. In another embodiment, L1 is glass, and −4.0<(r6+r7)/(r6−r7)<−0.51, r6 and r7 being paraxial curvature radii of L3's object-and image-side surfaces, respectively. In another embodiment, L1 is glass, and −1.5
US08976464B2	Imaging lens An imaging lens comprising, in order from the object side: an aperture stop; a positive first lens having convex object-side and image-side surfaces; a double-sided aspheric negative second lens having a concave object-side surface; a meniscus double-sided aspheric positive third lens having a convex image-side surface; and a meniscus double-sided aspheric negative fourth lens having a concave image-side surface. All of the lenses are made of a plastic material.
US08976460B2	Varifocal lens barrel A varifocal lens barrel includes a plurality of lens groups, each of which are linearly movable in the optical axis direction thereof without rotating about the optical axis during a zooming operation and during a focusing operation, including a base barrel which is linearly movable in the optical axis direction by rotation of a zoom operational ring, wherein lens frames of the respective lens groups are each supported by the base barrel.
US08976459B2	Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus using the same A zoom lens comprises in order from an object side, a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, and at the time of zooming from a wide angle end to a telephoto end, the first lens unit moves, and the zoom lens satisfies the following conditional expression (1). FNO(W)<1.64 (1) where, FNO(W) denotes an F-number of the zoom lens at the wide angle end.
US08976457B2	Projection lens system and projector An aperture stop is arranged on the reduction side of the most reduction-side lens element in a fourth group; during zooming from the tele-end to the wide-end through a middle position that fulfills conditional formula 0.99
US08976456B2	Detachable lens for variable focus spectacles A detachable lens for variable focus spectacles, the lens including a plurality of magnets in a groove on its rear surface for holding the lens to the spectacles. An interlocking boss keeps the lens from sliding off the spectacles, and a locating tab provides a means for assuring that the lens is installed on the correct side of the spectacles and with the proper orientation.
US08976450B2	Optical light switch having two internally located diffraction gratings separated by liquid medium A light switch (or valve) made up of two mutually inverted, substantially identical diffraction gratings with a liquid medium therebetween, arranged to allow the grating substrates to be shifted laterally relative to one another so as to align and mis-align the grating elements. When aligned, incident-polarized light passes through the switch and when misaligned, light does not pass through the switch but is reflected.
US08976449B2	Identification medium and method for identification thereof An identification medium, in which a pattern is clearly altered in observation through a right-handed circularly polarizing filter and observation through a left-handed circularly polarizing filter, is provided. The identification medium is formed by laminating a cholesteric liquid crystal layer, a λ/4 plate, and a linearly polarizing filter layer, in that order, from an observing side. The cholesteric liquid crystal layer is formed with a hologram and selectively reflects light. In an observation through a circularly polarizing filter that transmits the light reflected at the cholesteric liquid crystal layer, light reflected at a pattern printed layer is not perceived due to the function of a circularly polarizing layer. Images are clearly altered by switching a right-handed and a left-handed circularly polarizing filter.
US08976448B1	Method of producing optical film laminate A method of producing an optical film laminate includes: stretching and dyeing a laminate including a resin substrate and a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin layer formed on one side of the resin substrate to produce a polarizing film on the resin substrate; laminating a first protective film on the polarizing film on an opposite side to the resin substrate; and peeling the resin substrate, followed by laminating a second protective film on the polarizing film on a side from which the resin substrate has been peeled. The first protective film is a protective film to be placed on an optical cell side when the optical film laminate is attached to the optical cell, the second protective film is a protective film to be placed on an opposite side to the optical cell when the optical film laminate is attached to the optical cell.
US08976441B2	Programmable light beam shape altering device using programmable micromirrors A digital micromirror device (“DMD”) is used to alter the shape of light that is projected onto a stage. The DMD selectively reflects some light, thereby shaping the light that is projected onto the stage. The control for the alteration is controlled by an image. That image can be processed, thereby carrying out image processing effects on the shape of the light that is displayed. One preferred application follows the shape of the performer and illuminates the performer using a shape that adaptively follows the performer's image. This results in a shadowless follow spot.
US08976440B2	Autonomous electrochromic assembly This disclosure describes system and methods for creating an autonomous electrochromic assembly, and systems and methods for use of the autonomous electrochromic assembly in combination with a window. Embodiments described herein include an electrochromic assembly that has an electrochromic device, an energy storage device, an energy collection device, and an electrochromic controller device. These devices may be combined into a unitary electrochromic insert assembly. The electrochromic assembly may have the capability of generating power sufficient to operate and control an electrochromic device. This control may occur through the application of a voltage to an electrochromic device to change its opacity state. The electrochromic assembly may be used in combination with a window.
US08976438B2	Display and electronic unit There are provided a display and an electronic unit capable of enhancing visibility. The display includes: a plurality of pixels each including a light-emission device, and having a light-transmission region in at least a part thereof; and one or more transmittance control devices capable of controlling a transmittance of incident light.
US08976437B2	Transflective electrochromic liquid crystal display device According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a transflective electrochromic liquid crystal display device, comprising a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer and an electrochromic layer and a liquid crystal layer, wherein the electrochromic layer is located between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer. The present invention can achieve a good display effect in each of a reflective mode and a transmissive mode; and production costs are low, and resolution and aperture ratio can be increased.
US08976434B2	Apparatus and method for collimating diffused light using a compound holographic optical element A collimator can be made of a compound holographic optical element made of three holographic optical elements. The first reflection holographic optical element will have recorded within it continuous lens configured to receive light from a diffuse light beam and diffract the received light as a first collimated light beam. The second reflection holographic optical element will have recorded within it a regular hologram that is configured to permit the light from the diffuse light source to transmit through it to reach the first reflection holographic element, the second reflection holographic element having within it a second holographically reflective structure configured to receive the first collimated light beam and diffract the first collimated light beam as a second collimated light beam. The third transmission holographic optical element is configured to receive the second collimated light beam and diffract it as a third holographic light beam.
US08976431B1	Color adjustment for a scanned image The color of a pixel in a scanned image is represented by two color components and is adjustable by interpolating between color component values obtained from elements in a bidimensional color remap look-up table. The table is sparsely populated and may be readily implemented in most scanner circuits without adding memory.
US08976428B2	Image information managing method, image information managing apparatus and image information managing system for preparing and measuring an evaluation chart An evaluation chart has test patterns, a first code mark, and a second code mark. The evaluation chart is electronically read at one time to obtain first code information that specifies measuring conditions for the evaluation chart and second code information that specifies image forming conditions for the evaluation chart. Quantized information of the test patterns that is measured under the measuring conditions is associated with the image forming conditions.
US08976422B2	Image forming apparatus, lens array and forming method of same A lens array includes a transparent substrate arranged on a plane perpendicular to an optical axis, first lenses, which are arranged in a main scanning direction with respect to an light incident on the transparent substrate, and which condense the light, light shielding portions arranged on the transparent substrate except in areas of the first lenses to shield the light, and second lenses, which are laminated on the first lenses, and which are made of a material with a wettability different from that of a material of the first lenses.
US08976418B2	Image processing apparatus for determining a X coordinate value of an edge on a current scan line from among a plurality of X coordinate values An image forming apparatus determines, with respect to intermediate data including a start edge and an end edge indicating a shape of an object and which do not intersect and where an edge direction of the start edge and an edge direction of the end edge are aligned, whether an edge read from the intermediate data is the start edge or the end edge based on an edge direction of the edge, determines an X coordinate of an edge to be determined for each scan line as a minimum value of a corresponding scan line, and determines, an X coordinate of an edge to be determined for each scan line, as a maximum value of a corresponding scan line.
US08976417B2	Dither-synchronized image scanning An optical scanning device performs sequential scanning passes. Individual pixels are scanned in response to a clock whose frequency is dithered in repeatable cycles to reduce electro-magnetic interference, and scanning passes are coordinated with the repeatable cycles.
US08976416B2	Image processing apparatus and method thereof In a case in which image data used to form an image on a recording medium in a plurality of scans performed across a recording area of the recording medium is generated, a coefficient determination unit determines assignments of output density for the scans on the basis of density characteristics corresponding to the type of recording medium indicated by a recording-medium signal. Multipliers and binary conversion units generate image data for the scans from input image data on the basis of the assignments of the output density.
US08976412B2	Method and system for recognizing tab sheets and displaying one or more sets of tabs sheets on a graphical user interface A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer readable code embodied therein for displaying one or more sets of tab sheets on a graphical user interface, the computer readable program code configured to execute a process, which includes inputting attributes of one or more sets of tab sheets into an image forming apparatus. The attributes of the one or more sets of tab sheets are converted into a thumbnail image. Upon selecting tab paper in a paper media menu on a graphical user interface, the thumbnail image of the one or more sets of tab sheets is displayed. A set of tab sheets is then selected for insertion into a print job, and the print job is sent to the image forming apparatus for printing.
US08976409B2	Large sheet image on paper registration An image registration system which helps to accurately produce an image onto an oversized media substrate in a large scale printer. The image registration system includes a rail support track, a printing zone, and a platen cart moveable along the rail support track through said printing zone. The image registration system also includes an image capturing apparatus for capturing a position of the media substrate in relation to the platen cart in order to ensure accurate image on media substrate reproduction.
US08976408B2	Apparatus, method, and computer-readable storage medium for maintaining reproducibility of lines or characters of image An image processing apparatus includes a setting unit configured to set two pixels, one of which is adjacent to a processing target pixel in a vertical direction and the other of which is adjacent to the processing target pixel in a horizontal direction, as first determination pixels, and to set two pixels adjacent to and opposite across one of the two first determination pixels, as second determination pixels, and an output unit configured to output a black pixel for the processing target pixel, in a case where one of the first determination pixels is a black pixel and one of the second determination pixels is a black pixel.
US08976407B2	Methods and apparatus for adaptive imposition templates Methods and apparatus are provided for receiving a print file having an actual page size, and a nominal imposition template specifying a nominal page size, and generating an imposition flat for printing. If the actual page size matches the nominal page size, the nominal imposition template is applied to the print file without change. If, however, the actual page size differs from the nominal page size, the nominal imposition template is automatically modified based on the actual page size, and then the modified imposition template is applied to the print file to create the imposition flat.
US08976403B2	Document processing system, image forming apparatus, document processing method and computer readable medium for generating a synthetic image A document processing system includes: a generator that generates a document image to be printed; a memory that stores document images for plural pages, the document images generated by the generator in print processing; an arithmetic unit that performs an AND operation on document images for a plural number of specific pages among the document images stored in the memory; and a display controller that causes a display device to display a synthetic image obtained by the AND operation by the arithmetic unit.
US08976399B2	Image forming apparatus and image forming method for determining whether or not paper sheets have been collected from a paper sheet discharge portion An image forming apparatus is connected to a plurality of external apparatuses. A job reception portion receives from each of the external apparatuses request to execute print job for forming image on paper sheet. A print control portion causes image forming portion to form image on paper sheet based on the print job received by the job reception portion, and causes discharge portion to discharge to paper sheet discharge portion the paper sheet on which the image has been formed by the image forming portion based on the print job. A collection determination portion, after the person detection portion has detected the presence of person, when person detection portion has not detected the presence of person and discharge detection portion has not detected the presence of paper sheet, determines that all paper sheets discharged to the paper sheet discharge portion have been collected.
US08976395B2	Network system, interface board, method of controlling printing on an network system, and program A client terminal has a web page acquisition unit that gets a web page having an embedded print control script that operates on a web browser and controls printing related to the web page from a web application server, a drawing process unit that writes input operations on the web page in a drawing area, a print data generation unit that generates print data from the image data in the drawing area according to the print control script when triggered by a print operation on the web page, and a print command unit that commands printing the print data according to the print control script.
US08976388B2	Printer identification validation procedure on a cloud computer system to recognize the target printer In one embodiment, a request is received at a first computer system included within a first domain. The request is a request to send content to a network connected printer identified according to a printer identifier attributing the printer to a second domain, wherein the printer is included within a third domain. A validation request message is sent to a second computer system within the second domain requesting validation of the printer identifier. Responsive to receipt of validation information from the second system, the content, or a content availability message that the content is available to be obtained by the printer, is sent to a third computer system within the third domain, for the third system to forward to the printer.
US08976383B2	Method and system for document printing management and control, and document source tracking Disclosed is a method and system for document printing management and control and source tracking. A printing management service program runs at a server end. A printing monitoring service program runs at a client end. The printing management service program saves client end information, monitors and manages a client end computer, sets a printing management policy, and delivers operation instructions to the client end. The printing monitoring service program collects the client end information, sends the client end information to the server end, and executes the operation instruction.
US08976381B2	Printing apparatus, method for controlling printing apparatus, and storage medium A printing apparatus determines whether software to be updated is software related to a GUI display function. If the software to be updated is determined to be software related to the GUI display function, the printing apparatus performs control to display information about a status of the own apparatus during execution of the update by using a CUI display function.
US08976380B2	Image forming apparatus that shifts to different power state, method of controlling the same, and storage medium An image forming apparatus capable of more quickly executing a fail-safe function for shifting to a power state different in power consumption. The apparatus can operate in power states different in power consumption. A controller controls the apparatus. A power supply controller controls supply of power. A reset circuit resets the controller. When a power switch is operated by a user, a monitoring time period, set in advance, is decided according to a type of user's operation and the power state. One of operations to be executed when the monitoring time period has elapsed, for causing the controller to cut off the supply of power to the controller and for causing the reset circuit to reset the controller, is set according to the type of user's operation and the power state. The set operation is executed when the decided monitoring time period has elapsed.
US08976378B2	Pre-flight system for PDF/VT A method for validating a splitting operation accesses a document and a catalog tree. The method selects a subset of the total pages in the document. The method splits a section of branches from the catalog tree using a splitter in a user device. Each branch corresponds to a page included in the subset. The method processes the subset using the branches to generate split output pages. The method analyzes each split output page to determine if the file split correctly. In response to a split failure, the method determines if the split failure is related to one of a structure error and a metadata syntax error. In response to a correct split, the method provides the print job to an associated output device in communication with the user device.
US08976376B2	Printing control apparatus, printing system, recording medium having recorded thereon printing control program, and printing control method A first RIP processing unit reads cache data from a first cache unit. The first RIP processing unit transmits first RIP-processed variable part data to a printer. Since an identifier read by the first RIP processing unit is not a transmitted identifier, the first RIP processing unit transmits RIP-processed reuse part data to the printer. A second RIP processing unit reads cache data from a second cache unit. The second RIP processing unit transmits second RIP-processed variable part data to the printer. Since an identifier read by the second RIP processing unit is a transmitted identifier, the second RIP processing unit does not transmit the RIP-processed reuse part data to the printer.
US08976375B2	Image forming apparatus and computer-readable storage medium containing a computer program for limiting text entry and selection An image forming apparatus is provided which has an operating panel capable of providing a screen display and a Web browser. The image forming apparatus includes a storage for storing predetermined text that is data to be entered into a text entry box of a Web page; a text entry limiting portion for, when the Web page displayed on the operating panel by the Web browser contains the text entry box, limiting text to be entered into the text entry box to the predetermined text stored in the storage; a display processing portion for, when the text entry limiting portion limits text to be entered, displaying, on the operating panel, a screen for a user to designate the predetermined text as text to be entered into the text entry box; and an operation processing portion for informing the Web browser of the predetermined text designated by the user.
US08976372B2	Display device, electronic device and image processing apparatus including the display device, and method of displaying information On a touch-panel display of an image forming apparatus, pieces of information are displayed divided into five areas, that is, a system area , a function selecting area, a preview area, an action panel area and a task trigger area, of which arrangement is kept unchanged even when operational modes are switched. With such an arrangement, the same or similar pieces of information are displayed on an area arranged at the same position even in different operational modes.
US08976369B2	Method for evaluating thin-film-formed wafer A method for evaluating a thin-film-formed wafer, being configured to calculate a film thickness distribution of a thin film of the thin-film-formed wafer having the thin film on a surface of a substrate, wherein light having a single wavelength λ is applied to a partial region of a surface of the thin-film-formed wafer, reflected light from the region is detected, reflected light intensity for each pixel obtained by dividing the region into many pieces is measured, a reflected light intensity distribution in the region is obtained, and the film thickness distribution of the thin film in the region is calculated from the reflected light intensity distribution. The method enables a film thickness distribution of the micro thin film (an SOI layer) that affects a device to be measured on the entire wafer surface at a low cost with a sufficient spatial resolution in a simplified manner.
US08976367B2	Structured light 3-D measurement module and system for illuminating a subject-under-test in relative linear motion with a fixed-pattern optic A surface measurement module for 3-D triangulation-based image acquisition of a subject-under-inspection and under observation by at least one camera. The module having: (a) casing housing an optical system comprising a plurality of lens elements positioned between a fixed-pattern optic and a light source; (b) an output of said fixed-pattern optic comprising a multi-frequency pattern comprising a plurality of pixels representing at least a first and second superimposed sinusoid projected simultaneously, each of the sinusoids represented by the pixels having a unique temporal frequency and each of the pixels projected to satisfy I n p = A p + ∑ k = 1 K ⁢ B k p ⁢ cos ⁡ ( 2 ⁢ ⁢ π ⁢ ⁢ f k ⁢ y p + 2 ⁢ ⁢ π ⁢ ⁢ kn N ) Eq . ⁢ ( 1.1 ) (c) the subject-under-inspection and fixed-pattern optic in relative linear motion during projection onto the subject-under-inspection of the output of the fixed-pattern optic; and (d) plurality of images captured of this output during projection onto the subject-under-inspection are used for the image acquisition.
US08976366B2	System and method for monitoring LED chip surface roughening process A measurement system for monitoring an LED chip surface roughening process is described. A reflective illuminator can run reflectance measurements. A vertical positioning means can adjust a distance between an objective lens and an industrial sample. A horizontal positioning means can move objects in XY plane, and is specifically configured to hold the industrial sample and a reference sample. An optical sensor can acquire images of the industrial sample. A spectrometer can acquire reflectance spectrums of the industrial sample and the reference sample. A processor can control these components. The processor can perform deskew, and calculate an average reflectance and an oscillation amplitude from the reflectance spectrums of the industrial sample.
US08976363B2	System aspects for a probe system that utilizes structured-light A probe system includes an imager and an inspection light source. The probe system is configured to operate in an inspection mode and a measurement mode. During inspection mode, the inspection light source is enabled. During measurement mode, the inspection light source is disabled, and a structured-light pattern is projected. The probe system is further configured to capture at least one measurement mode image. In the at least one measurement mode image, the structured-light pattern is projected onto an object. The probe system is configured to utilize pixel values from the at least one measurement mode image to determine at least one geometric dimension of the object. A probe system configured to detect relative movement between a probe and the object between captures of two or more of a plurality of images is also provided.
US08976360B2	Surface plasmon sensor and method of measuring refractive index To provide a surface plasmon sensor for measuring a refractive index by which a refractive index can be easily measured with high accuracy without relying on an absorption curve. The surface plasmon sensor includes: a reflection plate which includes a metal layer having a periodic structure and on which a specimen is arranged; a light source which irradiates an incident light to the reflection plate; a light receiving part which receives a reflected light reflected on the reflection plate; and a measurement part which measures a refractive index of the specimen based on phase information on two kinds of waves which are included in reflected light reflected on a periodic structure surface and differ in polarization direction.
US08976359B2	Nanostructure diffraction gratings for integrated spectroscopy and sensing The present disclosure pertains to metal or dielectric nanostructures of the subwavelength scale within the grating lines of optical diffraction gratings. The nanostructures have surface plasmon resonances or non-plasmon optical resonances. A linear photodetector array is used to capture the resonance spectra from one of the diffraction orders. The combined nanostructure super-grating and photodetector array eliminates the use of external optical spectrometers for measuring surface plasmon or optical resonance frequency shift caused by the presence of chemical and biological agents. The nanostructure super-gratings can be used for building integrated surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectrometers. The nanostructures within the diffraction grating lines enhance Raman scattering signal light while the diffraction grating pattern of the nanostructures diffracts Raman scattering light to different directions of propagation according to their wavelengths. Therefore, the nanostructure super-gratings allows for the use of a photodetector array to capture the surface enhanced Raman scattering spectra.
US08976356B2	Measurement mark, method for measurement, and measurement apparatus According to one embodiment, a measurement mark includes: a first line pattern, first lines extending in a first direction, the first lines arranged in a second direction in the first line pattern, the first line pattern capable of forming a first moire pattern by overlapping with an arrangement pattern including a pattern, and a first polymer and a second polymer being alternately arranged in the pattern;a second line pattern, second lines extending in the first direction, the second lines being arranged in the second direction in the second line pattern, the second line pattern capable of forming a second moire pattern by overlapping with the arrangement pattern; and a reference pattern with a reference position configured to assess a first shift amount from the reference position of the first moire pattern and a second shift amount from the reference position of the second moire pattern.
US08976354B2	Polarization state measurement apparatus and polarization state measurement method An optical apparatus has a light detecting section which detects light and emits transmitted light where linearly polarized light, which is converted by a polarizing section, is transmitted through a subject. In addition, the optical apparatus has an orthogonal separating section which orthogonally separates the emitted light from the light detecting section and a light reception section which receives light which is orthogonally separated by the orthogonal separating section. A calculation apparatus outputs a rotation control signal to a rotation apparatus and rotation controls the light detecting section so that the rotation plane is orthogonal with regard to an optical path of the transmitted light. Then, the calculation apparatus measures the polarization state of the transmitted light, which is transmitted through the subject S using the intensity with which the light, is received by the light receiving section.
US08976353B2	Multiwell plate lid for improved optical measurements A lid for multiwell plates, allowing improved optical measurement of liquid samples within its wells, while mitigating evaporation from said samples, is disclosed. A surface element protrudes from the bottom of the lid into the fluid within a well. The protruding element may be hollow or solid such that light directed into the element may act to capture or direct the beam while preventing backscatter from reaching one or more detectors. The protruding element may direct the beam from the well without requiring the beam to pass through a fluid/air interface. The angle and shape of the lid surfaces and/or light absorbing/blocking colorization may be employed to minimize or eliminate back reflection. Evaporation is controlled by physically capping the well with the lid, either sealing against the face at the top of the well or the inside surface of the well.
US08976352B2	Microparticle analysis apparatus A microparticle analysis apparatus includes at least: a detecting unit having one or a plurality of light sources and a plurality of photodetectors, configured to emit excitation light from the light sources, and to detect light emitted from microparticles on which the excitation light is irradiated, at the photodetectors; a first storage unit configured to store, for each microparticle, data detected at the photodetectors of the detecting unit based on detected time; and a second storage unit configured to store data relating to a particular microparticle of detected data stored in the first storage unit.
US08976350B2	Method for determining carbon in cast iron A method of determining the carbon content of an iron alloy may include starting of the measurement of a sample in a spark spectrometer, creation of a plasma in a pre-sparking phase, detection and recording of an intensity signal for the carbon, calculation and cutting out of an unstable plasma phase, calculation of an excessive rise in the carbon signal, and calculation of the content of dissolved and undissolved carbon.
US08976347B2	Inspection apparatus Light that is scattered by a defect on a wafer is very weak, and a PMT and an MPPC are used as detection methods for measuring the weak light with high speed and sensitivity. The methods have a function of photoelectronically converting the weak light and multiplying an electron, but have a problem in that a signal light is lost and an S/N ratio is reduced because the quantum efficiency of the photoelectron conversion is as low as 50% or less. Direct light is amplified prior to the photoelectron conversion. The optical amplification is an amplification method in which the signal light and light of pump light are introduced into a rare-earth doped fiber, a stimulated emission is caused, and the signal light is amplified. In the present invention, the optical amplification is used. The amplification factor is changed according to various conditions.
US08976346B2	Optical coupling lens and system for measuring optical attenuation coefficient An optical coupling lens includes a refraction surface, a first total reflection surface, a second total reflection surface, a first aligning member and a second aligning member. The refraction surface, the first total reflection surface and the second total reflection surface are orderly connected end to end. The first aligning member and the second aligning member are formed on the refraction surface.
US08976339B2	Traffic scanning LIDAR A system for determining the speed and position of objects comprises a beam source, a transmit reflection device, a beam receiver, a receive reflection device, and a controller. The beam source may generate a beam. The transmit reflection device may reflect the beam at the objects and may include a plurality of transmit faces with each transmit face oriented at a different angle and operable to reflect the beam at a different height. The beam receiver may detect the beam. The receive reflection device may include a plurality of receive faces with each receive face oriented at a different angle and operable to focus the beam reflected from objects at different heights onto the beam receiver. The controller may determine the position of the objects over time and calculate the speed of the objects based on a change in the position of the objects.
US08976336B2	Shear-layer chuck for lithographic apparatus A lithographic apparatus is described that comprises a support structure to hold an object. The object may be a patterning device or a substrate to be exposed. The support structure comprises a chuck, on which the object is supported, and an array of shear-compliant elongated elements normal to the chuck and the stage, such that first ends of the elongated elements contact a surface of the chuck and second ends of the elongated elements contact a stage. Through using the array of elongated elements, a transfer of stress between the stage and the chuck is substantially uniform, resulting in minimization of slippage of the object relative to the surface of the chuck during a deformation of the chuck due to the stress.
US08976335B2	Lithographic apparatus and removable member A lithographic apparatus arranged to transfer a pattern from a patterning device onto a substrate, the lithographic apparatus having a first object and a planar member mounted on the first object to improve thermal transfer to/from a second object.
US08976333B2	Lithographic apparatus and lithographic apparatus cooling method A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam; a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate; a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate; and a cooling system to cool a part of the lithographic apparatus with increased cooling capabilities to reduce the heat transfer from the part to other parts of the apparatus.
US08976332B2	Conduit system for a lithographic apparatus, lithographic apparatus, pump, and method for substantially reducing vibrations in a conduit system A conduit system for a lithographic apparatus is disclosed, the conduit system including a conduit configured to guide a liquid or liquid-gas mixture, and a gas injection nozzle configured to introduce a gas in the liquid or liquid-gas mixture to at least partially absorb pressure peaks or waves in the liquid or liquid-gas mixture. In an embodiment, the gas injection nozzle may be arranged in a pump of the conduit system. The pump further includes a pump inlet, a pump outlet and a pump chamber between the pump inlet and the pump outlet arranged for compression of the liquid or liquid-gas mixture.
US08976329B2	Array substrate and LCD panel The present invention discloses an array substrate, comprising: multiple pixel units arranged in an array having rows and columns, and each of the pixel units comprises a pixel electrode, and the pixel electrode comprises at least a trunk portion corresponding to an opaque dark area; and multiple scan lines, and each of the scan lines is disposed within the vertical projection of the trunk portion for inputting a scanning signal to one of the pixel units. The present invention also discloses an LCD panel. By the above way, the present invention can improve the transmittance and the aperture ratio of the LCD panel.
US08976327B2	Optical shutter applicable in stereoscopic viewing glasses Optical shutter (50), e.g. fort-stereoscopic shutter glasses, is disclosed. The optical shutter includes a light source, e.g. LCD, CRT or plasma display, that emits polarized light (12) that has a first polarization state, a first polymeric substrate (100) that receives the polarized light and transmits the polarized light without substantially changing the first polarization state of the polarized light, a second polymeric substrate (107) that faces the first polymeric substrate, and an optical stack (60) that is disposed between the first and second polymeric substrates. The optical stack includes first and second electrically conductive layers (101, 102), first and second oriented chromonics alignment layer (103, 106), and an oriented liquid crystal layer (105).
US08976326B2	Ultra slim bezel structure of liquid crystal display device The present invention relates to an ultra slim bezel structure of liquid crystal display device, which includes a TFT surface having an inner face on which a PI film is arranged, a CF surface having an inner face on which a PI film is arranged, a sealant, and a first color resist barrier and a second color resist barrier. The inner faces of the TFT surface and the CF surface are in registration with each other in a vertical direction and edges of the inner faces of the TFT surface and the CF surface are bonded together with the sealant. The first color resist barrier includes a linear color resist barrier that is formed by continuously arranging color resist on the inner face of the TFT surface adjacent to the sealant to extend along the edge of the TFT surface. The second color resist barrier includes a linear color resist barrier that is formed by continuously arranging color resist on the inner face of the CF surface adjacent to the sealant to extend along the edge of the CF surface. The first color resist barrier and the second color resist barrier oppose each other at upper and lower sides and respectively block spread of the PI films on the TFT surface and the CF surface. The present invention effectively controls spread areas of PI films and realizes an ultra slim bezel design to thereby effectively handle peripheral mura.
US08976325B2	VA-mode liquid-crystal display device Disclosed is a VA-mode liquid-crystal display device wherein the total of retardation along the thickness-direction at a wavelength of 550 nm of the color filter layer, RthCF(550), and retardation along the thickness-direction at a wavelength of 550 nm of the whole rear-side retardation region, Rthrear(550), satisfies following formula (I): (I) \|RthCF(550)+Rthrear(550)\|≦90 nm.
US08976324B2	Displays with optical fiber layers An electronic device may have a display such as a liquid crystal display. The display may have multiple display layers for generating display light such as a color filter layer and a thin-film transistor layer. The display may include first and second layers of optical fibers formed over the display layers. The first and second layers of optical fibers may guide display light generated in the display layers to an outer surface of the display. The first layer of optical fibers may include optical fibers having a first numerical aperture. The second layer of optical fibers may include optical fibers having a second numerical aperture. The first numerical aperture may be smaller than the second numerical aperture. The second layer of optical fibers may include vertical and angled optical fibers. The angled optical fibers may help reduce the size of an inactive region around the center of the display.
US08976317B2	Display device A display device comprising a first substrate, a second substrate, a blue phase liquid crystal layer and an optical element is provided. The first substrate has a display area and is opposite to the second substrate. The blue phase liquid crystal layer is disposed between the first and the second substrate and reflects a light selectively. The spectrum peak of the light is within an intersection interval corresponding to a cross point of x_bar, y_bar and z_bar stimulus value spectrums, and the intersection interval has a wavelength range from 480 nm to 520 nm. The optical element has at least one function for adjusting a phase of the light or absorbing the light.
US08976309B2	Liquid crystal display device In one embodiment, a first wiring line is pulled out from an active area, and a short ring circuit is provided in a peripheral portion of the active area. A first electrode is formed in the same layer as the first wiring line. A semiconductor layer is formed on the first electrode. A portion of a second electrode faces the first electrode through an insulating layer and arranged on the semiconductor layer. A third electrode is arranged on the semiconductor layer in the same layer as the second electrode. The first electrode includes a cutout portion arranged under an edge of the second electrode.
US08976307B2	Patterned retarder 3D liquid crystal display and the manufacturing method thereof A patterned retarder 3D liquid crystal display is disclosed. The liquid crystal display includes a display panel, a polarizer, and a patterned retarder film. The display panel includes a first substrate and a second substrate spaced apart from each other. The second substrate includes an up stutter and a down surface, and the up surface is farther to the first substrate than the down surface. A black matrix is arranged on the down surface of the second substrate. A mask is arranged on a first surface or the second surface of the polarizer. The first surface of the polarizer is adjacent to the patterned retarder film and the second surface of the polarizer is adjacent to the second substrate. The mask corresponds to portions of the black matrix. In addition, a manufacturing method of the patterned retarder 3D liquid crystal display is also disclosed.
US08976305B2	Display apparatus and method of manufacturing the same A display apparatus includes a light generating part and a display panel. The display panel includes a first substrate, and a second substrate facing the first substrate. The second substrate includes a plurality of pixel units including a sensor sensing the light generated from the light generating part and reflected from an object disposed on the display panel, and a pixel. The display panel further includes a light blocking member which is positioned at a position corresponding to an area in which the sensor is disposed and prevents the light generated from the light generating part from being directly incident to the sensor. The light blocking member is disposed on the first substrate.
US08976301B2	Television tuner and method thereof The invention provides a digital television tuner having at least two branches that receive a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal carries M channels (M is a positive integer). A target image data is generated in real time since at least one of the branches pre-extracts the image compression data of the next channel to be switched to.
US08976300B2	Display control apparatus, image display system, display control method, and computer-readable recording medium which displays a captured image with an overlaid input image when a video signal is not input A display control apparatus receives an input of a video signal from an input device and makes a control that causes a video to be displayed on a display apparatus. The display control apparatus includes a capturing unit (410) configured to capture image data that represents a frame image of the input video signal; a signal detector (420) configured to detect whether the video signal is input and issue an instruction to cause the display apparatus to display the video or the frame image on the basis of a result of the detection; and a control unit (400, 430, 440, 450, 460) configured to generate the frame image from the image data captured most recently to cause the display apparatus to display the generated frame image when it is detected that the video signal is not input and the control unit receives the instruction to cause the display apparatus to display the frame image.
US08976293B2	Electronic apparatus, control method of electronic apparatus, and control program of electronic apparatus One embodiment provides an electronic apparatus, including: a first detector configured to attempt to detect a telop and a warning sound from a received video content at a first image reading interval and a first sound reading interval, respectively; and a second detector configured to attempt, upon a detection of at least one of a telop and a warning sound by the first detector, to detect a telop and a warning sound from the video content at a second image reading interval and a second sound reading interval which are shorter than the first image reading interval and the first sound reading interval, respectively.
US08976292B2	Perceptual video quality improvement for videos containing black bars A method of improving the perceptual video quality of video sequences containing black bars. Horizontal or vertical black bars caused by a missmatch between the aspect ratio of the encoded video and the display device. The presence of black bars is detected, and the encoding process is adjusted to eliminate visual depredation of the reproduced video.
US08976291B2	Image sensor module with substrate defining gas pressure relieving hole and camera module using same An image sensor module includes a ceramic substrate, an image sensor, and a filter. The ceramic substrate defines a light transmitting hole and a receiving recess communicating with the light transmitting hole. The image sensor is received in the receiving recess. The filter is positioned on the ceramic substrate.
US08976288B2	Light field data acquisition A light field data acquisition device includes optics and a light field sensor to acquire light field image data of a scene. In at least one embodiment, the light field sensor is located at a substantially fixed, predetermined distance relative to the focal point of the optics. In response to user input, the light field acquires the light field image data of the scene, and a storage device stores the acquired data. Such acquired data can subsequently be used to generate a plurality of images of the scene using different virtual focus depths.
US08976283B2	Solid-state imaging device, manufacturing method thereof, and camera with alternately arranged pixel combinations having differing on-chip lenses A solid-state imaging device includes a semiconductor substrate; and a pixel unit having a plurality of pixels on the semiconductor substrate, wherein the pixel unit includes first pixel groups having two or more pixels and second pixel groups being different from the first pixel groups, wherein a portion of the pixels in the first pixel groups and a portion of the pixels in the second pixel groups share a floating diffusion element.
US08976280B2	Distortion estimating image processing device, method, and non-transitory storage medium An image processing device includes an image input portion, a motion vector acquisition portion and a distortion component estimation portion. The image input portion inputs a target image which is an image to be processed. The motion vector acquisition portion acquires a motion vector generated by relative movement with respect to a subject drawn in the target image when an imaging device which has generated the target image generates the target image. The distortion component estimation portion estimates a rolling shutter distortion component of the target image based on the motion vector.
US08976277B2	Image sensors Provided is an image sensor having a depth sensor. The image sensor includes a substrate including a visible light region and a non-visible light region, a first well and a second well having a first conductivity type and in the non-visible light perception region, and a first gate and a second gate configured to receive voltages of opposite phases, respectively, and apply voltages to the first well and the second well, respectively.
US08976276B2	Image processing apparatus, image capturing apparatus, and image processing method When various reverse operations are performed using a scan reverse function that reverses an image vertically or horizontally, there is a problem in that color information of the first pixel of an image after being reversed is different from color information of the first pixel of a Bayer image before interpolation processing. An image processing apparatus performs interpolation processing on a first image of a Bayer pattern, generates a second image in which colors are arranged in an order reverse to the predetermined order from an interpolated image, and stores the second image in a memory. The image processing apparatus reverses the second image when reading the second image from the memory.
US08976267B2	Image pickup device with photography positioning guidance An image pickup device may include a storage unit that maps photographing position information to at least two pieces of target direction information, and stores the mapped information; an acquisition unit that acquires apparatus position information and photographing direction information; a calculation unit that selects at least one from among the plurality of pieces of photographing position information stored in the storage unit based on the apparatus position information acquired by the acquisition unit, and calculates at least two direction differences that are differences between the at least two pieces of target direction information, which are mapped to the selected photographing position information and are stored in the storage unit, and the photographing direction information acquired by the acquisition unit; and a display unit that displays information corresponding to the at least two direction differences calculated by the calculation unit.
US08976265B2	Apparatus for image and sound capture in a game environment An apparatus for capturing image and sound during interactivity with a computer game in a game environment is provided. The apparatus includes a housing and a base stand for supporting the housing. An image capture device is defined along a front portion of the housing. Also, an array of microphones is defined along the front portion of the housing. The array of microphones is defined by a single microphone positioned on a first lateral side of the image capture device and two or more microphones positioned on a second lateral side of the image capture device opposite the first side. The apparatus also includes a connector for connecting to a computing device.
US08976257B2	Automatic exposure calibration and compensation for machine vision An automatic process for calibrating the optical image exposure value to compensate for changes in machine vision systems to maintain optimal exposure of captured images and adjust for the different characteristics among cameras components, such as imaging sensor sensitivity, LED strength, external lighting, reflective functions of any background material, different external lighting conditions, possible changes or updates of the systems over the years, such as LED changes, and even the aging of camera sensor and LEDs over time. A series of images of a target are captured with a predetermined sequence of exposure values, the saturation exposure percentage of a region of interest is calculated in each of the images, and the saturation exposure percentages are compared to determine the exposure value that has a saturation exposure percentage that varies the least from the saturation exposure value of the preceding and following exposure values.
US08976252B2	Acquisition of color calibration charts The present disclosure related to acquisition of color calibration charts. In at least some examples herein, an image of a calibration color chart is processed. A lighting condition of the color calibration chart may be automatically determined.
US08976248B2	Monitoring system Monitoring system of person coming to entrance comprises camera for capturing image of the person and recorder for the captured image, the system informing the person of the image recordation for deterring a crime in bad visit case or making polite notice in goodwill visit case. Unlock system has an intercom for visitor to request unlock and a self unlock operating portion for resident. If unlock done through intercom with acquaintance confirmed, polite notice is preferred, whereas “note record” is added to the image record in case of intercom unlock with unacquainted assumed. If unlock done by resident, the information and the image recordation are withheld. If entrance in a group detected, “note record” is added to the image record in case bad person successively follows goodwill person duly unlocking entrance. Privacy of acquaintance visitor image is protected by password. “Note record” is added to image record without voice message.
US08976245B2	Optical orbital debris spotter An orbital debris detection system positionable on a satellite launchable into an earth orbit includes a light source having a collimated light output, a curved mirror for receiving the collimated light output and forming a light sheet outside the satellite, and a scattered light detector for detecting a scattered light from the light sheet resulting from orbital debris intersecting the light sheet and scattering light toward the detector. The system can provide damage attribution on a space vehicle (whether it was just hit by a piece of debris), data gathering for debris models (time, location, approximate debris size, direction of trajectory) that are starved for information on small (<1 cm) debris pieces, measuring density and distribution of predominantly small (<1 cm) orbital debris in a debris cloud (e.g. a cloud that is the result of a satellite collision), and monitoring the performance of orbital debris removal efforts that target small debris.
US08976237B2	Adaptive multi-modal integrated biometric identification detection and surveillance systems A surveillance system is provided that includes at least one sensor disposed in a security area of a surveillance region to sense an occurrence of a potential security breach event; a plurality of cameras is disposed in the surveillance region; at least one camera thereof has a view of the security area and can be configured to automatically gather biometric information concerning at least one subject person in the vicinity of the security area in response to the sensing of a potential security breach event; one or more other of the plurality of cameras can be configured to search for the at least one subject person; a processing system is programmed to produce a dossier corresponding to the at least one subject person to match biometric information of one or more persons captured by one or more of the other cameras with corresponding biometric information in the dossier.
US08976230B1	User interface and methods to adapt images for approximating torso dimensions to simulate the appearance of various states of dress Embodiments of the invention relate generally to computer-implemented image capture and processing, and more particularly, to user interfaces, systems, computer-readable media, and methods for approximating torso dimensions of a subject in an image to, for example, simulate appearance of the subject in various states of dress and/or generate imagery including different simulated layers of clothing for the subject of the image.
US08976228B2	Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus equipped with same A zoom lens includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a positive first lens unit, a negative second lens unit, a positive third lens unit, and a positive fourth lens unit. During zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end, the first lens unit moves with a locus convex toward the image side, and the third lens unit moves toward the object side. The first lens unit includes, in order from the object side to the image side, a negative first lens, a positive second lens, and a positive third lens. A distance (d12) between the first lens and the second lens, a focal length (fw) of the entire zoom lens at the wide-angle end, and a refractive index (Np) of a positive lens having the lowest refractive index among the refractive indices of materials of all positive lenses included in the first lens unit are appropriately set based on predetermined mathematical conditions.
US08976224B2	Controlled three-dimensional communication endpoint A controlled three-dimensional (3D) communication endpoint system and method for simulating an in-person communication between participants in an online meeting or conference and providing easy scaling of a virtual environment when additional participants join. This gives the participants the illusion that the other participants are in the same room and sitting around the same table with the viewer. The controlled communication endpoint includes a plurality of camera pods that capture video of a participant from 360 degrees around the participant. The controlled communication endpoint also includes a display device configuration containing display devices placed at least 180 degrees around the participant and display the virtual environment containing geometric proxies of the other participants. Placing the participants at a round virtual table and increasing the diameter of the virtual table as additional participants are added easily achieves scalability.
US08976222B2	Image processing apparatus and image processing method An image processing apparatus includes an image processing command input section to receive image processing commands for image data written into a memory by units of one line, a line number deriving section to derive a number of lines of the image data required to execute image processing operations based on the image processing commands received by the image processing command input section, a line number indicating section to output a numerical value indicating the number of lines of the image data derived by the line number deriving section, a read timing controlling section to control read timing from the memory in response to the numerical value output from the line number indicating section, a parameter indicating section to output parameters used for the image processing operations, and an image processing section to execute the image processing operations.
US08976220B2	Devices and methods for hosting a video call between a plurality of endpoints A video call host module comprising a processor configured to decode video data corresponding to videos from endpoints and rank the videos based on motion indicators corresponding to each of the endpoints. The motion indicators are calculated from motion vectors corresponding to each of the videos. A predetermined number of highest-ranking videos are selected for display. A method of hosting a video call includes receiving encoded video data including motion vectors. Videos are ranked based on a motion indicator calculated from the motion vectors for each of the videos. Encoded video data is converted to decoded video data, and decoded video data corresponding to a predetermined number of the highest ranking videos is combined to create a single video.
US08976218B2	Apparatus for providing feedback on nonverbal cues of video conference participants An electronic device is communicatively coupled to at least one video camera during a video conference, and also includes a touchscreen display having video conference participant representations displayed on the touchscreen display. A haptics feedback system is integrated into the touchscreen display and is responsive to a user touching the video conference participant representations displayed on the touchscreen display. A speech-to-text controller converts video conference participant's speech into text and creates an identification tag for each video conference participant. In addition, an ongoing commentary controller provides feedback on non-verbal cues about the video conference participants.
US08976214B2	Device for marking and/or scanning an object The invention relates to a device for marking and/or scanning an object comprising a head, in particular a marking head or a scanning head, having a plurality of regular operating elements for marking and/or scanning the object, and comprising a driving mechanism for providing a relative movement of the object relative to the head in an advance direction during a working operation, at least a part of the regular operating elements being arranged in a rectangular pattern of rows and columns. The inventive device is characterized in that at least one spare operating element is provided, which is idle in case that all regular operating elements are functioning, the at least one spare operating element is movable relative to the regular operating elements, in case that one of the regular operating elements is defective, the at least one spare operating element is movable into a position in which the defective operating element is replaced by the spare operating element and the at least one spare operating element is settable to an active state. The invention further relates to a method for marking and/or scanning an object.
US08976211B2	Image forming apparatus, erasing device, image erasing system, and consumable According to one embodiment, an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a medium includes an image forming material erasable by heat, a storage medium having stored therein information concerning temperature for heating the image forming material, and a controller configured to control an image forming operation on the basis of the information concerning the temperature stored in the storage medium. The information concerning the temperature includes forming temperature, which is temperature for heating the image forming material during image formation, and erasing temperature, which is temperature for heating the image forming material during image erasing.
US08976210B2	Method for displaying a remote desktop on a portable touch screen device A remote access application queries the client device for its display properties. Using the display properties of the client device and optionally the size of the fingertip of the user, a connection resolution for a remote desktop connection is determined. A remote desktop session is retrieved at the connection resolution and remote pixels are mapped to client pixels at a non-1:1 ratio. Remote desktop is then optionally resized to full screen.
US08976206B2	Display device and method driving the same A display device is disclosed. The device includes: a timing controller configured to derive data signals for a display panel from external signals; a date driver configured to derive data voltages from the data signals and apply the data voltage to data lines on the display panel; a gamma IC (integrated circuit) chip configured to apply gamma voltages to the data driver; a power supply IC chip configured to apply a most significant voltage to the data driver; a DAC (digital-to-analog converter) configured to receive the gamma voltages and the most significant voltage from the gamma IC chip and the power supply IC chip and generate the data voltages opposite to the data signals; and a power supply unit configured to convert the gamma voltages and the most significant voltage using the data signals and apply the converted voltages to the DAC.
US08976204B2	Display device Disclosed is a liquid crystal display device (1) provided with a backlight part (3) that has a light-emitting diode (light source), and a liquid crystal panel (display part) (2) that includes a plurality of pixels (P) and displays information using illumination light from the backlight part (3). A video generating device (control part) (9) decides, in a frame in which a gray-scale transition occurs, at least a length of either an OFF period of the light-emitting diode in a first half of the frame or an ON period of the light-emitting diode in a latter half of the frame, based on the time information from the time information generating part (26), and outputs an instruction signal to a light source driving part (14) in accordance with the decided OFF or ON period for driving the light-emitting diode.
US08976203B2	Wavelength conversion device and image display apparatus using same A wavelength conversion device includes an excitation light source that generates excitation light, a laser medium that generates fundamental light by means of the excitation light, two resonator mirrors that are disposed with the laser medium being interposed therebetween and resonate the fundamental light, a wavelength conversion element that is disposed between the two resonator mirrors and wavelength-converts the fundamental light to harmonic light, and a drive unit that generates a pulse modulation signal to pulse-drive the excitation light source. The laser medium is formed of a material having a thermo-optical effect and a positive thermo-optical constant. The pulse modulation signal generated by the drive unit has an initial interval including a rising edge of a pulse and a remaining interval subsequent to the initial interval. An average signal intensity during the initial interval is higher than an average signal intensity during the remaining interval.
US08976202B2	Method for controlling the display of a portable computing device The present document describes a method for controlling an output presented on a visual display of a portable computing device having an orientation, the portable computing device comprising a memory on which is stored visual content comprising at least one of graphics data, photo data and video data, and text content substantially comprising text data, the text content further comprising a visual content indicator indicative of the existence of the visual content, the method comprising: detecting the orientation of the portable computing device as corresponding to one of a first display mode and a second display mode; in the orientation corresponding to the first display mode, presenting the text content on the visual display in the first display mode; in the presence of the visual content indicator, detecting a change of the orientation corresponding to the first display mode to the orientation corresponding to the second display mode; and in the orientation corresponding to the second display mode, presenting the visual content in the second display mode on the visual display.
US08976198B2	Method, system and computer program product for creating shape collages A method, system and computer program product for creating shape collages are provided. The method includes receiving a shape specification signal which specifies at least one desired shape having an area. The method further includes receiving image data which represents a plurality of images. The method still further includes processing the shape specification signal and the image data to obtain a shape collage of the images at least partially covering the area of the at least one desired shape. The step of processing may include the steps of at least partially covering the at least one desired shape with at least one shape primitive and placing at least one image over the at least one shape primitive to at least partially fill the at least one shape primitive. The method may further include receiving a command signal to either locate a user-specified image essentially or approximately at a desired location in the shape collage or resize the user-specified image from an initial size in the initial collage to a desired size. The method may still further include processing the command signal and the shape collage to create a finished shape collage having either the user-specified image essentially or approximately at the desired location or the user-specified image with the desired size to increase visual appeal of the finished shape collage to the user.
US08976196B1	System, device, and method for generating and presenting separate images on dual-view aircraft display unit for two separately-located viewers Novel and non-trivial system, device, and method for generating and presenting different images to separate viewers of a dual-view aircraft display unit are disclosed. An image generator is configured to receive first and second sets of image data, generate third image data from both sets, and provide the third image data to a dual-view aircraft display unit configured to present a left image to a left viewer and a right image to a right viewer. The first and second sets of image data are representative of first and second images, respectively, and comprised of first and second pixel columns, respectively. The third image data is representative of a left image and a right image and, if the images are not shared, comprised of first pixel columns interleaved with second pixel columns. The left or right viewer may change his or her own image without affecting the other's image.
US08976193B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer program An information processing apparatus that executes information display processing is disclosed. The apparatus includes: a display unit that executes information display; and a data processing unit that executes a control of the information display of the display unit and data processing based on a user input. The data processing unit displays an image browsing screen, which corresponds to image data stored in a storage unit, on the display unit and executes display of a map at the position, which corresponds to position information included in attribute information of a selected image, on the basis of a user's input of image selection information and map display request.
US08976192B2	Contrast control for display device A contrast control device is provided. The device of the invention includes a detecting unit, a judging unit, a backlight control unit, a gain generating unit and a contrast gain processing unit. The detecting unit calculates an average value and detects a maximum value of a current image. The judging unit generates a gain index and a brightness index according to the average value. The backlight control unit generates a backlight control signal according to the brightness index. The gain generating unit generates a first contrast gain value and a soft-clamping gain value according to the gain index, the average value and the maximum value and then selects one from the first contrast gain value and the soft-clamping gain value for output as a second contrast gain value according to an input pixel value of the current image. The contrast gain processing unit generates an output pixel value according to the second contrast gain value and the input pixel value.
US08976179B2	Determining 3D model information from stored images Methods and systems are provided for determining and transmitting applicable lighting information, applicable viewing perspective, and a 3D model for an object in response to a search query. An example method includes receiving, at a server, a search query regarding an object. A 3D model for the object is determined. The 3D model includes three-dimensional shape information about the object. The method also includes determining, based on a plurality of stored images of the object, at least one applicable light field and at least one applicable viewing perspective. A search query result is transmitted from the server. The search query result may include the 3D model, the applicable light field(s), and the applicable viewing perspective(s). A server and a non-transitory computer readable medium are also disclosed that could perform a similar method.
US08976177B2	Graphics processing A graphics processor includes a vertex shader 20 that processes input attribute values from a vertex buffer 26 to generate output vertex shaded attribute values 28 to be used by a rasteriser/fragment shader 22 of the graphics processor when processing an image for display. Vertex shader output attributes for which the vertex shader input attributes that the vertex shader output attribute depends on are defined solely on a per-vertex basis or solely on a per-instance basis are identified. Then, for such vertex shader output attributes, the vertex shader 20 stores, for use by the rasteriser/fragment shader 22 of the graphics processor when processing an image for display, only one copy of the vertex shader output attribute for a given vertex or instance, respectively, irrespective of the number of instances or vertices, respectively, that the output attribute value applies to.
US08976175B2	Depth estimation data generating device, computer readable recording medium having depth estimation data generating program recorded thereon, and pseudo-stereo image display device A depth estimation data generating device includes a difference data generator and negative and positive shift amount generators. The difference data generator calculates the difference between a non-stereo image and the average value data of the average brightness of the non-stereo image to generate the difference data. The negative shift amount generator generates a negative shift amount, wherein the difference data generated using the minimum value data of the minimum brightness of the non-stereo image has a minimum value of shift amount and the shift amount approaches zero from the minimum value as the difference data approaches zero. The positive shift amount generator generates a positive shift amount, wherein the difference data generated using the maximum value data of the maximum brightness of the non-stereo image has a maximum value of shift amount and the shift amount approaches zero from the maximum value as the difference data approaches zero.
US08976174B2	Bi-illuminant dichromatic reflection model for image manipulation In a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an automated, computerized method for manipulating an image comprises the steps of manipulating the image to provide an intensity adjusted image, deriving a bi-illuminant dichromatic reflection model representation of the image and utilizing the bi-illuminant dichromatic reflection model representation to manipulate the intensity adjusted image to generate a color correct intensity adjusted image. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the step of manipulating the image to provide an intensity adjusted image is carried out by executing a gamma correction method.
US08976172B2	Three-dimensional scanning using existing sensors on portable electronic devices The disclosed embodiments provide a method and system for operating a portable electronic device. The portable electronic device includes a camera that obtains a set of images and one or more inertial sensors that obtain inertial data associated with the portable electronic device. The portable electronic device also includes an analysis apparatus that uses the set of images to obtain a set of features in proximity to the portable electronic device. Next, the analysis apparatus updates a set of locations of the features based on the set of images and the inertial data. Finally, the analysis apparatus uses the set of features and the set of locations to provide a model of an environment around the portable electronic device without requiring the use of specialized hardware to track the features and the locations.
US08976164B2	Circuit for eliminating shutdown afterimages of a display device The invention relates to a field of display technique. There is disclosed a circuit for eliminating shutdown afterimages of a display. By designing a circuit capable of generating voltages for tuning on TFTs in a time-division way, it is realized that when the display screen shuts down, not only the significant discontinuous differences of pictures are ensured to be not perceived by human eyes so as to eliminate the shutdown afterimages, but also such a problem can be avoided that the circuitry in the panel is burned out by the overlarge instantaneous current caused by the simultaneous turning on of all the TFTs at the moment of shutdown.
US08976162B2	Electrophoretic display device, driving method of the same, and electronic apparatus The electrophoretic display device includes: an electrophoretic layer which is disposed between first and second substrates disposed to face each other and has a plurality of first electrically-charged particles colored into a first color, a plurality of second electrically-charged particles colored into a second color, and a dispersion medium which retains the first and second electrically-charged particles; first and second pixel electrodes provided on the first substrate; an opposite electrode provided on the second substrate; and a reflective electrode provided at a position on the first substrate side rather than on the electrophoretic layer, wherein the first electrically-charged particle has permeability in a first wavelength region and absorbability in the other wavelength regions, and the second electrically-charged particle has reflectivity in a second wavelength region and absorbability in the other wavelength regions.
US08976159B2	Variable size sensing system and method for redefining size of sensing area thereof In a variable size sensing system and a method for redefining the size of a sensing area thereof, the sensing system includes four elements, a mark and two image sensing devices. The four elements are consecutively connected and thereby forming a frame. Two of the four elements have variable lengths so as to adjust the size of the frame. The inner edge of the frame defines a sensing area of a parallelogram shape. The sensing system has a first and a second working mode. The sensing area has a first size and a second size when the sensing system is in the first working mode and the second working mode respectively, wherein the first size is predetermined and smaller than the second size. The mark is used to mark a fixed length. When the sensing system is changed from the first working mode to the second working mode, the mark sensed by the image sensing devices can be utilized to redefine the size of the sensing area in the sensing system.
US08976158B2	User interface for white goods and associated multi-channel proximity sensors A touch sensor including a housing, a light guide mounted in the housing the light guide featuring an aperture through which light exits and enters the light guide, and an inner surface facing the interior of the housing, the sensor further includes two light emitters mounted in the housing for emitting light beams into the light guide that exit the aperture at diverging angles and a light receiver mounted in the housing for receiving reflected light beams entering the aperture at an angle of incidence different than the diverging angles.
US08976154B2	Touch panel system and electronic device A touch panel system (71a) includes a capacitance value distribution detection circuit (72). The capacitance value distribution detection circuit (72) switches a connection state between a first connection state and a second connection state, which first connection state makes first signal lines (HL1 to HLM) serve as drive lines (DL1 to DLM) and second signal lines (VL1 to VLM) serve as sense lines (SL1 to SLM), and which second connection state makes the second signal lines (VL1 to VLM) serve as the drive lines (DL1 to DLM) and the first signal lines (HL1 to HLM) serve as the sense lines (SL1 to SLM).
US08976146B2	Method of reducing computation of water tolerance by projecting touch data A method of reducing computation of water tolerance by projecting touch data is disclosed, targeting the handheld devices. The method targets first at obtaining a difference array, followed by extracting minimum values of rows and columns of the difference array to obtain a row projection list and a column projection list respectively. By repeated implementing of mutual capacitance detection, ghost water blocks can be wiped out from the multiple water blocks. Once integrating with a local spatial boundary detection algorithm, the sensed signals of intended input located within a rectangular water block yet beyond a real water block are consequently detected. The computational algorithm of the water tolerance of this invention is successfully built into the touch panel controller due to its substantially reduced computation.
US08976145B2	Reduction of noise and de-ghosting in a mutual capacitance multi-touch touchpad Decreasing the cost of a touchpad by avoiding the cost of simultaneously measuring all signals from sense electrodes by using a limited number of measuring circuits to accomplish noise reduction and de-ghosting of signal data to thereby obtain the precise location of multiple fingers on a touchpad, wherein the touchpad separates the drive electrodes into groups to thereby provide a means for obtaining granular location information for de-ghosting the touchpad, and wherein overlapping measurements are made of groups of sense electrodes to obtain data that is separated in time to thereby obtain an averaged signal for each electrode and thereby reduce sensitivity to noise.
US08976139B2	Electronic device An electronic device 10 includes a casing 14, a display section 12 for displaying information, a touch panel 11 to be touched by the user, a connecting portion 16 for connecting together the casing 14 and the touch panel 11, a vibrating section 13 for vibrating the touch panel 11, and a vibration control section 33 for controlling the vibration of the vibrating section 13. The vibration control section 33 controls the vibration so as to generate a greater vibration when the touch panel 11 is supported only by the connecting portion 16 than when the touch panel 11 is supported by the connecting portion 16 and another point of support other than the connecting portion 16.
US08976138B2	Touch display device A touch display device including a display module and a touch module is provided. The touch module is disposed above the display module and includes a transparent cover, a touch electrode layer and a phase retardation protection layer. The display module is configured to provide an image light. The touch-sensing layer is disposed on the transparent cover and between the display module and the transparent cover. The phase retardation protection layer covers the touch-sensing layer. A polarization direction of the image light provided by the display module is changed after passing through the phase retardation protection layer. A touch display device including a phase retardation planarization layer is also provided.
US08976125B2	Operator control apparatus and method for operating an operator control apparatus with improved approach sensing The invention relates to an operator control apparatus and to a method for operating an operator control apparatus which comprises at least one operator control element for capturing user inputs and an approach recognition device which is designed to sense an approach by an actuating element, in particular a body part, of a user to the operator control element before the at least one operator control element is touched, wherein the approach recognition device comprises a reflection light barrier, which has at least one lamp (22a-22d) for emitting electromagnetic detection radiation (35) in front of the at least one operator control element into a physically limited detection area (4) which does not cover an entire volume in front of the at least one operator control element, and a reception element (28) for detecting a detection radiation (35) component which is scattered and/or reflected at the actuating element of the user during an approach to the at least one operator control element, wherein the approach recognition device is designed to recognize an approach from intensity of the received detection radiation.
US08976124B1	Reducing sleep current in a capacitance sensing system An apparatus and method of measuring a collective capacitance on a group of capacitive sense elements from at least one of rows or columns of a capacitance sense array when in a first mode, and individually measuring capacitances on each of the rows and columns when in a second mode.
US08976122B2	Control unit, sensing device for a capacitive touch panel and method therefor A noise reducing device for a capacitive touch panel and a method of reducing noise for a capacitive touch panel are disclosed to solve problems related to noise generated by a conventional filter circuit and an integrating circuit or external noise. In the invention, at least one switch circuit is used so that the conventional filter circuit and integrating circuit used in the prior are omitted. Signals output from a current measurement circuit are transmitting to a control unit to calculate the location of a touch point, reducing any noise.
US08976120B2	Tactile touchscreen for electronic device A portable electronic device includes a housing with a front frame; a moveable touch-screen display framed by the front frame of the housing, the moveable touch-screen display including a touch-sensitive input surface overlying a display device, the front frame including corners curved outwardly away from the surface of the touchscreen display; a mechanical switch disposed between a back surface of the touchscreen display and a base of the housing; and operational components including a processor within the housing and connected to the touchscreen display. The touchscreen display moves or pivots relative to the housing about a pivot axis in response to application of sufficient force on the touchscreen. This movement or pivoting results in the actuation of the single mechanical switch and the pivot axis depending on the location of application of the force.
US08976117B2	Keypad with integrated touch sensitive apparatus A touch sensitive keypad device (101) for an electronic device (100) includes one or more keys (106,107,108,109,110) situated in a keypad carrier (206). One or more conductive layers (115,116,117,118) span the keys. One or more transverse conductive layers (119,120,121,122,123,124) are integrated with a non-key component, such as the keypad carrier (205). A capacitance sensing circuit (126) detects changes in capacitance between the conductive layers and the transverse conductive layers to detect user input, thereby allowing a user (1990) to use a matrix (1902) of keys as a touch pad.
US08976114B2	Device that manages power provided to an object sensor A hand-held device with a sensor for providing a signal indicative of a position of the hand-held device relative to an object surface enables power to the sensor at a first time interval when the hand-held device is indicated to be in a position that is stationary and adjacent relative to the object surface, enables power to the sensor at a second time interval shorter than the first time interval when the hand-held device is indicated to be in a position that is moving and adjacent relative to the object surface, and enables power to the sensor at a third time interval when the hand-held device is determined to be in a position that is removed relative to the object surface.
US08976111B2	Electronic device and method for operating electronic device Electronic devices and methods for operating the electronic devices are disclosed. The method for operating an electronic device includes a first body and a second body that can be magnetically connected with each other. The method including: obtaining an attachment position at which the first body is attached to the second body; controlling the electronic device to operate in a first mode when the first body is attached to the second body at a first attachment position; and controlling the electronic device to operate in a second mode when the first body is attached to the second body at a second attachment position. The first attachment position is different from the second attachment position, and the first mode is different from the second mode.
US08976109B2	Content output system, output control device and output control method Based on captured images obtained when an image capture device takes images in an image capture range, a change in the moving speed of one passerby or each of a plurality of passerby contained in the captured images is calculated. When there is a passerby whose moving speed is decreased in the image capture range, the passerby is paying attention to the content, and therefore content to be outputted by a content output device is switched from ordinary content to specific content. On the other hand, when only passerby who are moving at constant speed are present in the image capture range, the passerby are not paying attention to the content, and hence the content output device continues to output the ordinary content.
US08976106B2	Liquid crystal display panel An LCD panel being driven in an overlapping drive mode by applying a gate high voltage during n horizontal synchronous intervals is disclosed. The LCD panel includes: a plurality of gate lines; and a gate driver configured to include a plurality of stages connected to the plurality of gate lines. The plurality of stages are grouped in a plurality of stage groups each including n stages. Odd-numbered stage groups each allows the n stages to be arranged in a Z shape with having a display area therebetween. Even-number stage groups each allows the n states to be arranged in an inverse-Z shape with having the display area therebetween.
US08976105B2	Individual control of backlight light-emitting diodes In one embodiment, a method includes, by software of a computing device, dynamically identifying a particular region of a display of the computing device. The method also includes, by the software and through a device driver of the computing device, dynamically adjusting one or more particular ones of a plurality of backlighting components of the display associated with the particular region.
US08976104B2	Display device and driving method thereof A display device comprises a optical member, a plurality of light sources to illuminate the optical member, a representative determining part to determine representative values of image blocks based on image signals applied to the image blocks, wherein the image blocks are arranged in a matrix and correspond to portions of a display panel, a representative integration part to integrate the representative values of the image blocks in one of a row and a column direction of the matrix and determine integrated representative values, and a light control part to control the plurality of light sources based on the integrated representative values.
US08976102B2	Timing controller utilized in display device and method thereof A timing controller utilized in a display device includes an image processing circuit, a luminance adjusting circuit, a data converting circuit and a driving signal generating circuit. The image processing circuit performs image processing on image data of an image signal. The luminance adjusting circuit adjusts luminance of the processed image data according to a luminance characteristic of the display panel of the display device. According to a pixel arrangement of the display panel, the data converting circuit converts the adjusted image data to display data provided to a driving circuit of the display panel. The driving signal generating circuit generates a driving signal to control the driving circuit according to a synchronous signal of the image signal.
US08976101B2	Liquid crystal display device and method of driving the same A display device includes a display panel including a gate line and a data line, a gate driver that outputs a gate voltage to the gate line according to a gate output enable signal, a data driver that outputs a data voltage to the data line, a detecting circuit that detects a state of a clock signal. The state of the clock signal includes a normal or abnormal state. A masking circuit performs a masking operation for the gate output enable signal according to the state of the clock signal and a level of a reset signal, where the level of the reset signal includes a first or second level corresponding to a power-on or off of the display device, respectively.
US08976095B2	Power saving control method and apparatus employing the same An apparatus and method for saving power in an office machine having a display panel are provided. The method comprises setting the apparatus in an operation standby mode, detecting whether an error exists in the apparatus and turning on the display panel to display the error thereon when the error is detected. Furthermore, the apparatus keeps the display panel in an off state when the error is not detected. Thus, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a power saving method of an office machine which prevents unnecessary power consumption during an operation of an office machine having a display panel.
US08976094B2	Display edge seal improvement Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and electronic devices incorporating LCDs having an organic passivation layer positioned between edge-sealed two substrates. Specifically, embodiments of the present disclosure employ lithographic techniques (e.g., a half-tone mask, diffractive exposure mask, etc.) to remove or not deposit a portion of the organic passivation layer near the edges of the substrates prior to sealing the substrates along these edges. As described herein, this reduction in the thickness of the organic layer near the edges of the device may improve the strength of the edge seal due to reduced strain in the organic layer.
US08976093B2	Printed interactive card with piezo-powered indicator An interactive card or the like employs a piezoelectric charge generator (piezo-strip) for temporarily driving an indicator. The piezo-strip may be displaced (bent) in order to generate charge to drive the indicator. Printed electronic processes are utilized to produce the indicator and/or the piezoelectric charge generator The need for a printed battery or supplemental power source is obviated. The card may carry printed indicia which corresponds to the states of the indicator (e.g., indication of a test answer selection). Multiple display elements and selector switches may provide multiple indicator states. Multiple piezo-strips may provide a selection function as well as a rest function. Applications include business cards, greeting cards and novelty items, toys and games, advertising and promotions, testing and education, sensors, and so forth.
US08976090B2	Pixel circuit with multiple holding capacitors, method of driving the pixel circuit, display panel, display device and electronic unit There is provided a pixel circuit capable of obtaining high-luminance while suppressing power consumption. Further, there are provided a display panel having the pixel circuit, and a display device including the display panel. Still further, there is provided an electronic unit including the display device. The pixel circuit includes a first transistor driving a light-emitting element, a plurality of holding capacitors connected in series between a gate and a source of the first transistor, a second transistor provided between a first signal line and the gate of the first transistor, and a third transistor provided between a second signal line and one of junctions of the holding capacitors.
US08976086B2	Apparatus and method for a bioptic real time video system A method and apparatus of displaying an electronic video image using a head-worn near-to-eye display in a non-immersive fashion, such that the wearer can choose, through simple adjustments of their neck and eye angles, to either look at the displayed video image or their natural environment. The invention also relates to the incorporation of prescription lenses into the optical chain of the near-to-eye display. The invention also relates to the use of motion and position sensors incorporated into the head-worn device to enable automatic stabilization of the video image. The invention also relates to the use of motion and position sensors incorporated into the head-worn device to automatically adjust the vertical angle of either the camera or the electronic display or both, by sensing the vertical angular position of the user's head.
US08976071B1	Integrated L/C/Ku band antenna with omni-directional coverage An integrated antenna system is disclosed which may include a first antenna sub-system. The integrated antenna system may further include a second antenna sub-system. The first antenna sub-system may be a Ku-band antenna sub-system. The second antenna sub-system may be one of: an L-band antenna sub-system or a C-band antenna sub-system. The second antenna sub-system may be tightly/seamlessly integrated with the first antenna sub-system, thereby providing a system with integrated antenna bands which provides omni-directional coverage.
US08976068B2	Antenna apparatus having first and second antenna elements fed by first and second feeder circuits connected to separate ground conductors An antenna element is connected to a feeder circuit, and an antenna element is connected to a feeder circuit. The grounding terminal of the feeder circuit is grounded by being connected to a grounding conductor. The grounding terminal of the feeder circuit is grounded by being connected to a grounding conductor. Grounding conductors interpose therebetween the first portion of the antenna element, and grounding conductors interpose therebetween the third portion of the antenna element. The grounding conductors are mutually electrically connected by jumper conductors.
US08976064B2	Systems and methods for solution separation for ground-augmented multi-constellation terminal area navigation and precision approach guidance A navigation system includes first receiver receiving satellite signals, second receiver receiving differential correction data from ground receivers, and processing device coupled to receivers. Processing device determines correction data for satellite signals based on differential correction; determines position solution based on satellite signals and corresponding differential correction data; determines first position sub-solutions based on satellite signals from all but one satellite (different for each first position sub-solution) and corresponding differential correction data; calculates first separations as function of first differences between position solution and first position sub-solutions; determines second position sub-solutions for mobile object based on satellite signals and corresponding differential correction data from all but one block of ground receivers (different for each second position sub-solution); calculates second separations as function of second differences between position solution and second position sub-solutions; detects error in position solution when one of first separations or second separations exceed corresponding separation limit.
US08976063B1	Automated detection of vehicle parking and location In one example, a method includes determining, based on first motion data, that a change in an angle of a mobile computing device relative to gravity satisfies a threshold amount of change, and, responsive to determining that the change in the angle satisfies the threshold amount of change, initiating, at a first position of the mobile computing device, storage of second motion data, wherein the first position is a reference position. The method may also include determining, based on an external signal, a second position of the mobile computing device, wherein the second position is a current position of the mobile computing device that is different from the reference position, and, responsive to determining the second position of the mobile computing device, determining, based on the second motion data and the current position, the reference position of the mobile computing device.
US08976060B2	RF chirp signal propagation delay measurement Distance between two radio frequency devices is estimated by receiving a plurality of spread spectrum chirp signals frequency offset from one another, and evaluating the received plurality of spread spectrum chirp signals for relative phase shifts between the plurality of spread spectrum chirp signals. A fine propagation time is derived using the phase shifts between the spread spectrum chirp signals. A frequency domain despreading window is shifted to reduce the influence of time-delayed near multipath signals in receiving the plurality of spread spectrum chirp signals.
US08976059B2	Identification and removal of a false detection in a radar system In one aspect, a method to identify and remove a false detection includes receiving a detection from a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) processor, performing a first similarity measure on adjacent coherent integration time values (CITs) corresponding to the detection, performing a second similarity measure on neighbor CITs corresponding to the detection, determining if at least one of the first or second similarity measure is below a threshold and discarding the detection if at least one of the first or second similarity measures is below the threshold.
US08976057B1	TCAS primary antenna on aircraft underside system and method A system and method for operational placement of Traffic Collision and Avoidance System (TCAS) antennas on an aerial vehicle. A TCAS primary directional antenna is configured to mount on a lower surface of the aerial vehicle wherein the directional antenna receives and determines a direction of reception of an RF signal. The omnidirectional antenna is mounted on an upper surface of the aerial vehicle for transmission and reception of TCAS signals. A TCAS processor has associated ports to send and receive signals to each antenna for communicating with TCAS target aircraft. The TCAS processor is configured to recognize a mounted location of the antennas via signals received from the inputs. The TCAS processor is further configured to accept a plurality of inputs via the associated ports from the lower mounted directional antenna yet still output accurate TCAS information to the TCAS display.
US08976055B2	Method for operating an electrical device and electrical device The invention relates to a method for operating an electrical device which during operation emits electromagnetic radiation at least temporarily, and to a method for operating a locating device for identifying objects. The method for operating an electrical device is characterized in that the presence of an external radiation source or radio communication service is detected. The invention also relates to an electrical device, especially a locating device comprising at least one UWB sensor, which device is operated according to the method of the invention.
US08976054B2	Time-to-digital conversion circuit and time-to-digital converter including the same A time-to-digital conversion circuit for converting a time difference between two input signals to a 1-bit digital value, and adjusting the time difference between the two input signals to generate two output signals includes: a phase comparator configured to compare phases of the two input signals with each other to generate the digital value; a phase selector configured to output one of the two input signals which has a leading phase as a first signal, and the other of the two input signals which has a lagging phase as a second signal; and a delay unit configured to output the first signal with a delay, wherein the time-to-digital conversion circuit outputs the signal output from the delay unit and the second signal as the two output signals.
US08976051B2	Floating point timer techniques Aspects of the present disclosure relate to floating point timers and counters that are used in a variety of contexts. In some implementations, a floating point counter can be used to generate a wave form made up of a series of pulses with different pulse lengths. An array of these floating point counters can be used to implement a pool of delays. In other implementations, an array of floating point counters can be used to analyze waveforms on a number of different communication channels. Analysis of such waveforms may be useful in automotive applications, such as in wheel speed measurement for example, as well as other applications.
US08976048B2	Efficient processing of Huffman encoded data A method of decoding Huffman-encoded data may comprise receiving a symbol associated with the Huffman encoded data, selecting a target group for the symbol based on a bit length value associated with the symbol, associating the symbol with the target group, associating the symbol with a code, and incrementing a starting code for each of a plurality of groups associated with a starting code that is equal to or greater than the starting code of the target group.
US08976047B2	Electronic apparatus that detects different kinds of operations on rotational operation member A mechanism enabling an electronic dial to operate without generating a click noise. The dial includes a rotational operation member that is turnable. A rotary plate is rigidly secured to the operation member. The rotary plate is formed of a conductive material and has a plurality of detecting portions circumferentially formed thereon. A printed circuit board is disposed between the operation member and the rotary plate. The printed circuit board has a first detection electrode group formed on a surface thereof opposed to the operation member and a second detection electrode group formed on a surface thereof opposed to the rotary plate. A detection circuit detects a touch operation onto the operation member based on an output from the first detection electrode group and detects a turning operation of the operation member based on an output from the second detection electrode group.
US08976041B2	Traffic analysis using wireless receivers and vehicle detection devices Methods, systems, and devices for monitoring roadway traffic. A method includes transmitting wireless signals from at least one roadside equipment (RSE) device and receiving responses by the RSE device from a wireless device, the responses including a unique identifier corresponding to the wireless device. The method includes determining a signal strength of each of the responses by the RSE device and transmitting response data from the RSE device to a control system, the response data including the unique identifier, the signal strength of each of the responses, and times that the responses were received. The method includes detecting at least one vehicle by the control system using a vehicle detection device and associating the response data with the detected vehicle. The method includes determining traffic information associated with the wireless device based on the received response data and the associated detected vehicle.
US08976037B2	Operation machine To accurately grasp a generation situation of a warning generated in an operation machine, the operation machine is provided with: warning generation means 55 adapted to determine whether or not there is abnormality, and in the case where there is abnormality, generate a warning; warning storage means 56 adapted to store warning information on the warning; display means adapted to display the warning information stored in the warning storage means 56; and warning erasing means adapted to erase the warning information, wherein the warning storage means 56 is configured to store warning information on a warning generated after the erasure by the warning erasing means 57.
US08976034B2	Apparatus for reporting fault of battery management storage system using the same An apparatus for reporting fault information of a battery of a power storage system includes a receiving portion configured to receive state information of the battery from a battery management system of the power storage system, a controller configured to produce fault information of the battery from the state information of the battery received by the receiving portion by comparing the state information of the battery with a prestored reference value; and a display configured to display the fault information produced by the controller, wherein the receiving portion and the controller are positioned inside a storage space with the power storage system, and the display is outside of the storage space.
US08976031B2	Personal compliance dispenser A portable personal dispenser assembly comprising a combination of a dispenser and a communication enabled, portable handheld pocket-sized, personal computer in which the pocket-sized personal computer performs compliance monitoring of use of the dispenser and preferably controls and powers the use of the dispenser.
US08976029B1	Product management system A system of managing product at a location in which a weight-sensing RFID tag is utilized to determine the weight or pressure applied to a substrate and then this information is read by an RFID reader and then transmitted to a data storage repository and processing program for further handling of the data. The data storage repository and processing program may be near the RFID reader or may be remotely located with respect to the RFID reader.
US08976027B2	Information processing system for consumers at a store using personal mobile wireless devices and related methods An information processing system is for determining information about consumers at a store where at least some of the consumers may carry personal mobile wireless devices, and each personal wireless mobile device may transmit signals for identifying the respective consumer. The system may include at least one RF receiver device arranged about the store for receiving communications from the personal mobile wireless devices, and a processor coupled to the at least one RF receiver device. The processor may be for generating consumer position data of the consumers during movement about the store based upon communications from the respective personal mobile wireless devices to the at least one RE receiver device, and associating the consumer position data with respective identities of the consumers.
US08976025B2	Home monitoring enhancements A system may include a set-top box configured to receive a television signal and provide the television signal to a media playing device, and a home monitoring device configured to obtain a video recording using a security camera, provide the video recording to a media manager device across a network, and provide information about the video recording to the set-top box. The set-top box may be further configured to provide the information about the video recording upon activation of the set-top box by a customer, receive a request to view the video recording from the customer, retrieve the video recording from the media manager device, and provide the video recording to a media playing device.
US08976022B2	Mobile tracking identification system, method, and computer program product A mobile tracking identification system, method, and computer program product uses a tracking chip, a pickup apparatus, a wireless network, and a controller unit. The tracking chip is disposed within a human body and is configured to passively transmit a data beacon via a wireless link. The pickup apparatus is configured to generate a triggering signal that activates the tracking chip as well as receive a data beacon from the tracking chip. The wireless network is configured to relay the data beacon from the pickup apparatus via a transmission medium. The controller unit is configured to receive the data beacon from the wireless network and generate geolocational data, store the geolocational data to produce a tracking vector, and initiate a commandeering function as needed.
US08976019B2	Human tumble detecting and alarming device A human tumble detecting and alarming device includes an external shell body, a sensor module for detecting body postures of an object to be detected in real time, a data processing module for analyzing information detected by the sensor module and judging whether the detected object tumbles or not according to analyzing results, a wireless communicating module connected to the data processing module and a power source module for respectively supplying the sensor module, the data processing module and the wireless communicating module with electricity. The sensor module is a triaxial acceleration sensor. The sensor module, the data processing module, the wireless communicating module and the power source module are all provided within the external shell body. The human tumble detecting and alarming device is simple in structure, small-sized, portable and easy to operate.
US08976012B2	Touch panel assembly with haptic effects and method of manufacturuing thereof An assembly for providing haptic effects includes a panel adapted to be mated to another structure, a frame placed around and spaced apart from the panel, at least one flexible coupling to connect the panel to the frame, a display connected to the panel so as to be stationary with respect to the panel, and a touch screen assembly connected to the frame. The touch screen assembly is placed over the display.
US08976008B2	Cross-domain collaborative systems and methods The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for secure and authentic electronic cross domain collaboration between a plurality of users using a combination of biometric security, a separate and secure network infrastructure, management processes, encrypted electronic storage, and collaborative templates. In an exemplary embodiment, an cross domain collaboration system includes a server including a network interface connected to the Internet, a data store including electronic data storage, and a processor, wherein each of the network interface, the data store and the processor are communicatively coupled, and wherein the network interface, the data store and the processor are collectively configured to: biometrically authenticate a plurality of users, wherein each of the plurality of users comprises a security level and a domain; and enable cross domain collaboration between the plurality of users based on the security level of each of the plurality of users.
US08976005B2	Movement history assurance for secure passive keyless entry and start systems A passive keyless system including a base that selectively allows access to a restricted environment through a base transceiver operating with an encrypted link on first and second frequencies, and a base recording element storing base measured movement history information. Also, a passive keyless device with at least one sensor detects a movement property of the device, a device recording element stores movement history information about the device and reflecting the detected movement property, and a device transceiver communicating with the base transceiver, and transmitting to the base transceiver encrypted security information identifying the device in accordance with a passive keyless protocol and/or the movement history information, and an access request element that causes the device transceiver to request access to the base transceiver. The base uses the base measured movement history information and movement history information when allowing access to the restricted environment.
US08976003B2	Large-scale document authentication and identification system Computer-implemented methods, systems, and computer program products for document authentication and identification using a large-scale distributed system are provided. A method includes receiving a digitized document at a trusted system managed by a trusted third-party that is separate from a creator of content in the digitized document. The digitized document is compared to a set of markers to determine whether the digitized document includes one or more of the markers, and in response thereto, information associated with the one or more markers is extracted using a decoder on the trusted system according to encoding strategies. The method further includes generating a comparison registration identifier on the trusted system as a summary of the extracted information and the one or more markers, and comparing the comparison registration identifier with a stored registration identifier in an encoding history via the trusted system to authenticate and identify the received digitized document.
US08976001B2	Protective device A protective device includes a substrate, two first electrodes, a low-melting point metal layer and an assisting layer. The first electrodes are respectively arranged at two opposite sides of the substrate. The low melting point metal layer is arranged over the two first electrodes. The assisting layer is formed on the low melting point metal layer. The liquidus temperature of the assisting layer is below the liquidus temperature of the low melting point metal layer, and the liquidus temperature of the assisting layer is not below a predetermined temperature which is below the maximum working temperature of reflow soldering process by 25 degrees.
US08976000B2	Blade fuse A blade fuse includes a first terminal includes an outer edge and an inner edge, the inner edge includes a first portion notched away from the inner edge beneath the first portion; a second terminal includes an outer edge and an inner edge, the inner edge include a second portion notched away from the inner edge beneath the second portion; an element extending from the first portion of the inner edge of the first terminal to the second portion of the inner edge of the second terminal; and a housing covering the element.
US08975996B2	Electronic component and method of manufacturing the same Provided is an electronic component that can suppress the occurrence of disconnections between line conductor layers and via hole conductors and a method of manufacturing the electronic component. A multilayer body is formed by stacking insulating layers. A conductor layer is provided on a first insulating layer. A line conductor layer is provided on a second insulating layer that is provided on an upper side of the first insulating layer in a stacking (z-axis) direction. A via hole conductor connects an end portion of the line conductor layer to the conductor layer and extends through the second insulating layer in the z-axis direction. In the via hole conductor, a connection surface connected to the line conductor layer is formed of a circular portion and a protrusion. The protrusion protrudes from the circular portion in the x-axis direction in which the line conductor layer extends from the end portion.
US08975993B2	Transformer A transformer that improves the DC superposition characteristic without incurring eddy-current losses. In the transformer, a part of a plate-like core opposing a top face of a flange of a drum core is formed with a first opposing portion opposing none of input and output terminals and a second opposing portion opposing the input and output terminals. A first gap is formed between the top face and the first opposing portion by a spacer. A second gap greater than the first gap is formed by a recess of the plate-like core provided so as to correspond to the second opposing portion. This allows magnetic fluxes to pass between the top face and the first opposing portion where the gap is formed and inhibits them from passing between the plate-like core and the input and output terminals where the second gap greater than the first gap is formed.
US08975992B2	Electromagnetic drive An electromagnetic drive for an electrical switch such as a circuit breaker, has at least one movable armature that can implement a lifting movement along a pushing direction for moving a movable switching contact of the switch. In a closed armature position, the armature closes a magnetic circuit through first and second magnetically conductive yoke parts. A permanent magnet produces a magnetic field for the magnetic circuit and a holding force for holding the armature in the closed position. A coil is disposed to generate a magnetic flux in the same or opposite direction as the magnetic flux of the permanent magnet. The electromagnetic drive can be readjusted after installation, where the first and second yoke parts are moved relative to one another by the permanent magnet into the adjusted state, whereupon they are fixed in position.
US08975987B2	Transmission line having band-shaped resistors connected to outer sides of ground electrodes in the transmission line Provided is a transmission line used to transmit high-frequency electrical signals which can remove a dip-shaped (S21) loss of transmission characteristics due to wall surface resonance, furthermore, can further decrease the size, and can suppress the manufacturing cost at a low level. The transmission line used to transmit high-frequency electrical signals (1) is made up of a signal line (3) used to transmit high-frequency electrical signals which is formed on a front surface (2a) of a dielectric substrate (2), GND electrodes (4) formed outside the signal line (3) and in vicinities of end portions of the front surface (2a), a GND electrode (6) that is electrically connected to the GND electrodes (4) through via holes (5) formed across an entire rear surface (2b) of the dielectric substrate (2), and band-shaped resistors (7) that are formed outside the GND electrodes (4) and in the end portions of the surface (2a) and are electrically connected to the GND electrodes (4).
US08975985B2	Frequency-tunable microwave bandpass filter A frequency-tunable microwave bandpass filter including a wave guide having a rectangular cross-section and including a stationary first conductive portion I and a movable second conductive portion II. The first portion includes first conductive partitions having one or more conductive obstacles related to complementary openings in the section of the guide that forms capacitive irises. The first partitions are transversely mounted, at the propagation of the wave in the guide, define cavities in the longitudinal direction of the guide, are rigidly connected to the first portion and the second conductive partitions that have one or more openings defining capacitive irises, and, in combination with the adjacent guide lengths, form immitance inverters. The first partitions form a series of resonating cavities coupled by the immitance inverters. A means ensures electrical contact between the conductive portions I and II.
US08975979B2	Transformer with bypass capacitor An electronic device comprises first, second and third inductors connected in series and formed in a metal layer over a semiconductor substrate. The first and second inductors have a mutual inductance with each other. The second and third inductors having a mutual inductance with each other. A first capacitor has a first electrode connected to a first node. The first node is conductively coupled between the first and second inductors. A second capacitor has a second electrode connected to a second node. The second node is conductively coupled between the second and third inductors.
US08975978B2	Interconnect substrate and electronic device Provided is an interconnect substrate that includes a laminated body including an electric conductor and an insulator, over which an electronic element (141) is disposed, wherein the laminated body includes a first layer (130) having at least one first conductor (131) separated in an island shape, a first connecting member (142) which is buried in the laminated body in order to electrically connect the electronic element (141) and the first conductor (131), a second layer (110) having a third conductor (111) which is provided opposite to at least a partial region of the first conductor (131), a second conductor (122) which is provided opposite to at least one of the first conductor (131) and the third conductor (111) with a layer of an insulator interposed therebetween, wherein when the laminated body is seen in a plan view, the second conductor (122) is located at a region less than a quarter of a wavelength occurring at a frequency of noise propagated from the electronic element (141) to the first conductor (131), from an end of the first conductor (131).
US08975972B2	Oscillator system An oscillator system includes a first oscillator, a second oscillator, and a changeover component. The first oscillator is configured to generate a first signal at a selected frequency. The second oscillator is configured to generate a second signal at about the selected frequency. The changeover component is configured to generate a changeover output signal according to the first signal and the second signal.
US08975963B2	Offset reduction for analog front-ends A circuit includes a first amplifier configured to amplify an input signal to generate an output signal. An offset sensor is configured to sense DC offset based on the output signal, where the offset sensor includes a second amplifier configured to generate an offset reduction signal for the first amplifier based on the sensed DC offset. A T-network in the circuit includes at least three resistors coupled to provide a feedback connection between the input signal and the output signal for the first amplifier and to receive the offset reduction signal to mitigate DC offset in the first amplifier. Since this method reduces the low-frequency component of the signal, it also shapes and reduces the flicker noise.
US08975957B1	Amplification systems and methods with one or more channels Systems and methods are provided for amplifying multiple input signals to generate multiple output signals. An example system includes a first channel, a second channel, and a third channel. The first channel is configured to receive one or more first input signals, process information associated with the one or more first input signals and a first ramp signal, and generate one or more first output signals. The second channel is configured to receive one or more second input signals, process information associated with the one or more second input signals and a second ramp signal, and generate one or more second output signals. The first ramp signal corresponds to a first phase. The second ramp signal corresponds to a second phase. The first phase and the second phase are different.
US08975954B2	Method for performing adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) and integrated circuit configured to perform AVS An integrated circuit (IC) includes an adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) controller configured to control a voltage supplied to a portion of the IC and at least one sensor configured to sense at least one state of the IC and to provide an output signal indicative of the at least one sensed state to the AVS controller, the IC having a first setting and a second setting, the AVS controller being configured to use the output signal to control the voltage in the first setting and the AVS controller being configured to control the voltage independently of the output signal in the second setting. Also a method of performing AVS is provided.
US08975953B2	Method of improving noise immunity in a signal processing apparatus, and a signal processing apparatus having improved noise immunity A signal processing apparatus that includes a circuit in which a signal processing function is performed during a first time period, the signal processing apparatus including or being associated with a switch or a filter in a power supply to the signal processing apparatus so as to disconnect the signal processing apparatus from the power supply or to filter the power supply during a second time period that is coincident with at least part of the first time period.
US08975952B2	CMOS logic circuit using passive internal body tie bias This disclosure is directed to devices, integrated circuits, systems, and methods for implementing an internal body tie bias circuit in a CMOS logic circuit. In one example, a CMOS logic circuit is formed in an integrated circuit. The CMOS logic circuit includes a PMOS transistor, an NMOS transistor; and a body tie bias circuit formed in the integrated circuit. The body tie bias circuit is coupled between a body tie connection terminal of the PMOS transistor and a body tie connection terminal of the NMOS transistor.
US08975951B2	Semiconductor integrated circuit Electronic apparatus that can suppress the operating voltage of an incorporated semiconductor integrated circuit to a low voltage is provided. Electronic apparatus 1 includes a power supply circuit 13, a semiconductor integrated circuit 10 that operates by a supply voltage supplied from the power supply circuit 13, and a temperature sensor 11 that measures the temperature of the semiconductor integrated circuit 10. The power supply circuit 13 decreases the supply voltage according to a rise in the measured temperature.
US08975950B2	Switching device having a discharge circuit for improved intermodulation distortion performance Radio-frequency (RF) switch circuits are disclosed providing improved switching performance. An RF switch system includes at least one field-effect transistor (FET) disposed between a first node and a second node, each having a respective source, drain, gate, and body. The system includes a coupling circuit including a first path and a second path, the first path being between the respective source or the respective drain and the respective gate of the at least one FET, the second path being between the respective source or the respective drain and the respective body of the at least one FET. The coupling circuit may be configured to allow discharge of interface charge from either or both of the coupled gate and body.
US08975946B2	Mixer A mixer includes a first node to which an intermediate frequency (IF) signal is input; first and second transistors that respectively have control terminals supplied with local signals having mutually opposite phases and output terminals connected to the first node; a first filter that is connected between the output terminal of the second transistor and the first node and suppresses passage of the IF signal; a second node to which the IF signal is input; third and fourth transistors that respectively have control terminals supplied with local signals having mutually opposite phases and output terminals connected to the second node; a second filter that is connected between the output terminal of the fourth transistor and the second node and suppresses passage of the IF signal; and a combiner combining a signal output from the first node and a signal output from the second node.
US08975942B2	System for a clock shifter circuit A clock shifter circuit may receive a input clock in a first voltage domain and may generate a level-shifted output clock in a second voltage domain. The circuit may include a cross-coupled pair of transistor switches and a pair of capacitors. Each switch may have a drain coupled to one of the capacitors, a source coupled to a circuit supply voltage, and a gate coupled to the other capacitor. One capacitor may receive a true input clock version, while the other may receive a complement version. Each capacitor, in an alternating manner, may activate an opposing transistor switch to charge its capacitor during an active phase of its respective input clock. The circuit may generate the output clock from an output node connected between one of the transistor switches and its capacitor. The output clock may drive a load directly coupled to the output node.
US08975938B2	Integrated circuit comprising at least one digital output port having an adjustable impedance, and corresponding adjustment method An integrated circuit may include a digital output port including a buffer stage that includes subassemblies of MOSFET transistors. One subassembly may include two pull-up transistors having sources connected to a common high voltage, and having drains connected to a common node connected to the output terminal. Another subassembly may include pull-down transistors having sources connected to a common low voltage, and having drains connected to the common node. The pull-up and pull-down transistors are formed in a thin semiconductor layer of an FDSOI substrate. The substrate may include a thick semiconductor layer and an oxide layer separating the thin and thick semiconductor layers. Areas of the thick semiconductor layer facing the pull-up and pull-down transistors may be connected to a circuit configured to vary a threshold voltage of the pull-up and pull-down transistors.
US08975936B2	Constraining clock skew in a resonant clocked system An integrated circuit includes a plurality of resonant clock domains of a resonant clock network. Each resonant clock domain has at least one clock driver that supplies a portion of clock signal to an associated resonant clock domain. The resonant clock network operates in a resonant mode with inductors connected to pairs of resonant clock domains at boundaries between the resonant clock domains. Each inductor forms an LC circuit with clock load capacitance in the pair of resonant clock domains to which the inductor is connected.
US08975932B2	Pulse signal generation circuit and operating method thereof The present invention relates to a pulse signal generation circuit for changing a pulse width of an input pulse signal and outputting an output pulse signal having the changed pulse width. In an aspect, the pulse signal generation circuit may include a control signal generator configured to generate at least one control signal according to a pulse width of a input pulse signal and a pulse signal generator configured to control a pulse width of an input pulse signal in response to a control signal and to generate an output pulse signal with the controlled pulse width. The control signal controls the pulse width of the output pulse signal.
US08975931B2	Circuit configuration and method for limiting current intensity and/or edge slope of electrical signals A circuit configuration for the limiting of current intensity and/or the edge slope of electrical signals includes: a voltage source; a switching element connected to the voltage source and equipped for switching the voltage source; and a limiting unit functionally positioned between the switching element and the voltage source, the limiting unit being equipped to limit a current intensity and/or an edge slope of an electrical signal in response to a switching process of the voltage source while using the switching element.
US08975930B2	Semiconductor device and method for driving semiconductor device Direct-path current is reduced in a semiconductor device including CMOS circuits. One embodiment of the present invention is a method for driving a semiconductor device that includes a first CMOS circuit between power supply lines, a first transistor between the power supply lines, a second CMOS circuit between the power supply lines, and a second transistor between an output terminal of the first CMOS circuit and an input terminal of the second CMOS circuit. The first transistor and the second transistor each have lower off-state current than a transistor included in the first CMOS circuit. In a period during which the voltage of a first signal input to the first CMOS circuit is changed, a second signal is input to the first transistor and the second transistor to turn off the first transistor and the second transistor.
US08975924B2	Phase frequency detector circuit A phase-frequency detector (PFD) circuit is disclosed. The PFD circuit includes a PFD portion adapted to detect frequency and phase difference of two input signals and to generate control signals according to the detected frequency and phase difference and a delay and reset portion adapted to delay the generated control signals, to generate reset signals for resetting the PFD portion based on a combination of the control signals and the delayed control signals, and to provide the generated reset signals to the PFD portion.
US08975923B2	Protective multiplexer Apparatus and methods for a protective multiplexer, among other things, are provided. In an example, a protective multiplexer circuit can include a first switch that in a first state can be configured to couple an input of a power supply to at least one of first or second signal nodes of a passgate when a first voltage of the at least one of the first or second signal nodes is below a first limit voltage.
US08975920B2	Programmable transceiver circuit A multi-function programmable transceiver is described. The transceiver includes a driver circuit and a receiver circuit, which allows an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) device to drive and receive data from other ASIC devices. Both the driver and receiver circuits share a common input/output (I/O) pin. The driver circuit can be programmed to provide one of the several driver functions, such as CMOS, TTL, PCI, HSTL, SSTL and LVDS. Other functional features of the transceiver that can be programmed are driving strengths or output impedance, output power supply voltage, single ended or differential mode of HSTL/SSTL transceivers, and class 1 or class 2 operations for SSTL/HSTL transceivers. The receiver circuit can also be programmed to provide one of the several receiver functions, such as CMOS, TTL, PCI, HSTL, SSTL and LVDS.
US08975918B2	Lookup table and programmable logic device including lookup table To optimize the arrangement of configuration data stored in a configuration memory. A lookup table includes a memory configured to store configuration data, a plurality of multiplexers each configured to select one signal from a plurality of input signals in accordance with the configuration data supplied from the memory and output the one signal, and an inverter. The plurality of multiplexers are connected in a binary tree with multiple levels. The inverter is provided between one of input terminals of a multiplexer in an uppermost level and an output terminal of a multiplexer in one level lower than the uppermost level. Signal selection is performed in each of the multiplexers so that the multiplexer in the uppermost level outputs, as an output signal, one signal of all input signals of the multiplexers in a lowermost level.
US08975917B2	Programmable logic device A programmable logic device includes a plurality of arithmetic circuits; a configuration changing circuit for changing a logic state of each of the plurality of arithmetic circuits by rewriting configuration data; a power supply control circuit for switching between start and stop of supply of power supply voltage to the plurality of arithmetic circuits; a state memory circuit for storing data on configuration, data on a state of power supply voltage, data on use frequency, and data on last use of each of the plurality of arithmetic circuits; and an arithmetic state control circuit for controlling the configuration changing circuit and the power supply control circuit in accordance with the data stored in the state memory circuit. One of the plurality of arithmetic circuits includes a transistor comprising an oxide semiconductor film in a channel formation region.
US08975912B2	Multi-tunable superconducting circuits A tunable superconducting circuit includes a first charge island, a second charge island, a third charge island, a fourth charge island, a first junction loop electrically coupled to the first and third charge islands, a second junction loop coupled to the second and third charge islands and a third junction loop coupled to the third and fourth charge islands, wherein the first, second and third junction loops are tuned in frequency to operate together as a qubit.
US08975909B1	Methods and apparatus for reducing electrostatic discharge during integrated circuit testing A test structure operable to receive an integrated circuit is described. The test structure includes a substrate, a test contact member, a base structure, an aperture, and a conductive contact member. The test contact member extends from a surface of the substrate and has a tip at one end. The base structure is suspended above the surface of the substrate and has an aperture in which the test contact member is positioned. Furthermore, the conductive member is disposed in the aperture. The conductive member is positioned further away from the surface of the substrate compared to the tip of the test contact member. A method to test an integrated circuit (IC) utilizing the test contactor is also described.
US08975906B2	Probe for inspecting electronic component A probe for inspecting electronic components, and more particularly, to a probe for inspecting electronic components, which connects a target electronic component to an inspection apparatus to inspect defects of the target electronic component. The probe for inspecting electronic components includes: a cylinder body having a cylindrical shape; a piston body reciprocating between an inside and an outside of the cylinder body; a spring surrounding an outer circumference of the cylinder body and the piston body, and forcing a part of the piston body to resiliently move out of the cylinder body when inserted into the cylinder body; a probing unit extending from the cylinder body to be brought into contact with a target electronic component to be inspected as to flow of electric current therethrough; and a contact unit extending from the piston body to be connected to an inspection apparatus for inspecting the target electronic component.
US08975905B2	Display apparatus with reduced number of test lines for array test process and method of testing the same A display apparatus includes a display panel including a plurality of pixels, a plurality of first lines and a plurality of second lines, a plurality of first pads electrically connected to the first lines, respectively, where the first pads are divided into a first group and a second group, a plurality of pads including a second pad, a third pad, a fourth pad and a fifth pad, a first shorting bar configured to be connected to the first group of the first pads and to be connected between the second pad and the fourth pad during a test process of the first lines, and a second shorting bar configured to be connected to the second group of the first pads and to be connected between the third pad and the fifth pad during the test process of the first lines.
US08975904B2	Wafer inspection interface and wafer inspection apparatus A wafer inspection interface IF comprises a probe card, an adsorption unit configured to adsorb a wafer to the probe card, a wafer adsorption sealing member to which the probe card is adsorbed, and a fixing ring configured to fix the wafer adsorption sealing member to a card holder. The adsorption unit includes an air exhaustion unit, a first air duct whose right end portion is opened in the hermetically closed space and the left end portion is opened at a side of the fixing ring, a second air duct whose right end portion is opened to face an opening of the left end portion of the first air duct and the left end portion is opened to be connected with the air exhaustion unit, and a hole by which the first air duct is in communication with the second air duct.
US08975902B2	Power circuit Various embodiments provide systems and methods for controlling sub-system components during power disturbance events. More particularly, various embodiments provide systems and methods for preventing a controller (215) within a sub-system from turning OFF a switching device (220) during power disturbance events related to other sub-systems.
US08975897B2	State-of-charge estimating apparatus A state-of-charge estimating apparatus includes at least a first arithmetic unit configured to calculate, as a first estimation value, the present estimation value calculated based on a battery capacity, the last estimation value, and an electric current flowing in and out between a current control apparatus, which controls charge and discharge amounts of a power storage apparatus, and the power storage apparatus, and a second arithmetic unit configured to calculate, during constant current control, as the present value of a second estimation value, an estimation value calculated based on an equivalent circuit model of a battery and a voltage of the battery and, on the other hand, calculate, during constant voltage control, as the second estimation value, the present estimation value calculated taking into account a resistance change of the battery based on the equivalent circuit model of the battery and the voltage of the battery.
US08975895B2	Method for correcting motion-induced phase errors in magnetic resonance imaging A method for correcting motion-induced phase errors in diffusion-weighted k-space data acquired with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system is provided. The MRI system is directed to acquire the following data from an imaging volume: three-dimensional diffusion-weighted k-space data, three-dimensional diffusion-weighted navigator data, three-dimensional non-diffusion-weighted k-space data, and three-dimensional non-diffusion-weighted navigator data. Initial estimates of k-space shift values and a constant phase offset value are calculated using the three-dimensional diffusion-weighted navigator data and the three-dimensional non-diffusion-weighted navigator data. These initial k-space shift values and constant phase offset value are then updated by iteratively minimizing a cost function that relates the phase of the diffusion-weighted k-space data to the phase of the non-diffusion-weighted k-space data, as shifted by the initial k-space shift values and constant phase offset value. The diffusion-weighted k-space data is then corrected for motion-induced phase errors using the updated k-space shift values and constant phase offset value.
US08975894B2	Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus includes a housing which has a bore to which a magnetic field for use in an MRI scan is applied, a moving table on which an inspection target may be placed and that enters the bore of the housing, a projector which projects an image onto an inner wall that forms the bore of the housing, and a controller which controls the projection unit and transmits a video signal to the projector.
US08975892B2	Method of optimizing magnetic resonance image contrast with MRI relaxation time scanning parameters correlated to age of a subject A method (100) that automates the process of selecting parameters for MR imaging acquisition to provide imaging with optimal image contrast.
US08975891B2	Apparatus and method for determining in-plane magnetic field components of a magnetic field using a single magnetoresistive sensor A method to measure an applied magnetic field in a plane is provided. The method includes simultaneously applying a first and second alternating drive current to a respective first and second strap overlaying a magnetoresistive sensor so the magnetoresistive sensor is subjected to a periodically rotating magnetic drive field rotating in the plane in the magnetoresistive sensor. When the applied magnetic field to be measured is superimposed on the periodically rotating magnetic drive field rotating in the plane, the method includes extracting a second harmonic component of an output voltage output from the magnetoresistive sensor. The magnitude of the magnetic field to be measured in the plane is proportional to an amplitude of the extracted second harmonic component of the output voltage. The orientation of the magnetic field to be measured in the plane is related to a phase angle of the extracted second harmonic component of the output voltage.
US08975890B2	DC and AC current detection circuit A circuit for detecting a DC current in a conductor (L1) includes a current transformer (CT) having a ferromagnetic core (10), a primary winding comprising the conductor (L1) and at least one secondary winding (W1). The circuit further includes an oscillator (12) for supplying an oscillating signal across the secondary winding and means for detecting a dc offset in the current flowing in the oscillator circuit. The circuit includes a capacitor (C1) in series with the secondary winding, and the detecting means is arranged to detect a non-zero voltage across the capacitor above a certain level.
US08975889B2	Current difference sensors, systems and methods Embodiments relate to current difference sensors, systems and methods. In an embodiment, a current difference sensor includes first and second conductors arranged relative to one another such that when a first current flows through the first conductor and a second current, equal to the first current, flows through the second conductor, a first magnetic field induced in the first conductor and a second magnetic field induced in the second conductor cancel each other at a first position and a second position; and first and second magnetic field sensing elements arranged at the first and second positions, respectively.
US08975888B2	Miniature high-voltage power supplies The present invention provides miniature power supplies and circuitry for powering high-voltage devices.
US08975883B2	Soft start scheme under low voltage power A soft start circuit includes an error amplifier for generating a control signal according to an input voltage, a feedback voltage and a reference voltage, a feedback circuit for generating the feedback voltage according to an output voltage, an internal voltage source for generating a soft start voltage, and a sink circuit including a first transformation module for generating a first transformation current according to the soft start voltage, a second transformation module for generating a second transformation current according to the feedback voltage, a comparison module coupled to the first transformation module and the second transformation module for generating a comparison result according to the first transformation current and the second transformation current, and an output module coupled to the comparison module for generating a sink current according to the comparison result, so as to control the control signal.
US08975882B2	Regulator with improved wake-up time A regulating circuit includes a first comparator configured to control a turning on and a turning off of a first transistor based on a first comparison a reference voltage to a feedback voltage. The first transistor is coupled between an output node and a first voltage supply. A second comparator is configured to control a turning on and a turning off of a second transistor based on a second comparison of the reference voltage to the feedback voltage. The second transistor is coupled to the output node. A high-impedance circuit is coupled in series with the second transistor such that the high-impedance block is disposed between the second transistor and a second power supply. The high-impedance circuit is configured to generate a constant current between the output node and the second voltage supply when the second transistor is turned on.
US08975879B2	Switching converter having a plurality N of outputs providing N output signals and at least one inductor and method for controlling such a switching converter This invention provides a switching converter having a plurality N of outputs providing N output signals and at least one inductor, comprising a first controlling device for controlling the total energy flowing over the inductor to the N outputs dependent on a first control signal, at least a second controlling device for distributing the total energy between the N outputs by means of at least a second control signal, wherein the first controlling device is coupled to all N outputs for receiving a number M of the respective feedback output signals of the N outputs, M≦N, wherein the first controlling device comprises first means for weighting the M feedback output signals and second means for providing the first control signal dependent on the weighted M feedback output signals.
US08975878B2	Switched reluctance generator integrated controls A method of controlling a generator (110) of an electric drive (104) associated with an engine (102) is provided. The method may determine an operational state of the electric drive (104) based on a speed of the engine (102), and selectively engage one of a map-lookup control scheme (150) and a fixed-theta off control scheme (152) for operating the generator (110) based on the operational state of the electric drive (104).
US08975873B2	Composite device system A composite device system including: a first device including a nonvolatile memory; and a second device configured to supply a power to the first device, the second device including: a power supply circuit configured to stabilize a first power supplied from an external part into a second power lower than the first power, and to supply the second power to the first device; a communication circuit configured to receive control data from the first device; and a switch configured to switch between on and off based on the control data, and to supply the first power to the first device when the switch is on, wherein the second device receives the control data from the first device by the communication circuit when data is written into the nonvolatile memory so that the switch is turned on and the first power is supplied to the first device.
US08975872B2	Battery heating circuits and methods with resonance components in series using voltage inversion based on predetermined conditions A circuit for heating a battery includes a switch unit, control module, damping component, energy storage circuit, and superposition unit. The energy storage circuit forms a loop with the battery, and includes current and charge storage components. The damping component, switch unit, current storage component, and charge storage component connect in series. The control module switches on the switch unit so current flows between the battery and energy storage circuit and switches off the switch unit to stop current flow. The superposition unit superposes energy in the energy storage circuit with energy in the battery after the switch unit switches on and off. The control module switches the switch unit off after the first positive half cycle of current flow through the switch unit after the switch unit switches on. Voltage applied to the switch unit when the switch unit switches off is lower than the switch unit's voltage rating.
US08975869B2	Portable terminal battery pack and apparatus and method for controlling battery unit of the battery pack to extend battery use time Disclosed is a portable terminal, a battery pack and an apparatus for controlling a battery unit. The battery pack includes k battery units, wherein k is an integer of 2 or more; a power supply control unit that conducts control operation such that at least one of the k battery units supplies a power to a load by a time period, and other battery units except for the at least one are in an idle state in a whole or part of the time period.
US08975868B2	Charging station for portable X-ray detectors A charging station for a portable X-ray detector is described. In one embodiment, the charging station includes one or more biasing members that act to guide and align a portable detector when inserted into the charging station. In certain embodiments, a physical, pin-type connector for connecting to an inserted portable detector is present, while in other embodiments no pin-type connector is present.
US08975867B2	Secondary battery pack of novel structure Disclosed herein is a secondary battery pack including a battery cell having a pair of coupling grooves, each of the coupling grooves having a predetermined depth, an insulative mounting member mounted to the top of the battery cell, a protection circuit module (PCM) having a pair of connection coupling members protruding downward, and an insulative cap coupled to the top of the battery cell, wherein the connection coupling members are inserted into coupling grooves formed at electrode terminals of the battery cell through openings of the insulative mounting member in a state in which the insulative mounting member is mounted to the top of the battery cell, thereby achieving the coupling of the PCM to the battery cell and the insulative mounting member and the electrical connection between the battery cell and the PCM.
US08975866B2	Systems and methods for battery life maximization under fixed-route applications An embodiment of the invention provides a method of charging an energy storage system for an electric vehicle. The method includes determining the estimated consumption for a specific route of the electric vehicle at different times and setting a target end point for the energy storage system based upon a minimum state of charge level for the energy storage system. The method further includes determining charge set points for the energy storage system based upon the target end point and the determined estimated consumption and determining the actual end point of the energy storage system after operation of the electric vehicle on the given route. The method also includes comparing the actual end point to the target end point and determining the difference in state of charge for the energy storage system between the actual end point and the target end point. In addition, the method includes using the difference between the actual end point and the target end point to adjust the charge set points for the energy storage system.
US08975863B2	Charging station for use in charging electrically powered vehicles Charging stations for use in charging an electrically powered vehicle and related methods are disclosed. One example charging station includes a housing defining an interior and an opening configured to permit access to the interior, a door configured to substantially cover the opening, and a hinge assembly configured to provide a pivotal movement of the door relative to the housing between at least a closed position, a first open position, and a second open position. The hinge assembly includes a base member and a bracket including a projecting member. The projecting member and the base member are configured to permit removal of the door from the housing when the door is in the first open position. The projecting member and the base member are configured to prevent removal of the door from the housing when the door is in the second open position
US08975862B2	Power supply apparatus In a power supply apparatus, a power source generates electric power at a predetermined source voltage. The first converter circuit converts the source voltage into a first voltage or a second voltage. The secondary battery is charged with electric power at the first voltage when the first converter circuit outputs electric power at the first voltage. The second converter circuit converts the first voltage of the electric power outputted from the first converter circuit or the secondary battery into the second voltage. The electric load device is supplied with electric power at the second voltage outputted from the second converter circuit. The direct power supply circuit directly supplies electric power at the second voltage outputted from the first converter circuit to the electric load device without passing through the second converter circuit when the first converter circuit outputs the electric power at the second voltage.
US08975851B2	Temperature estimating device and temperature estimating method A temperature estimating unit includes an energy calculating unit that calculates a heat generation energy rate of a motor on the basis of a difference between power input to the motor and power output from the motor, a heat radiation energy calculating unit that calculates a heat radiation energy rate from a target member on the basis of a difference between a previous temperature estimation value Tm of the target member and an ambient temperature, and a thermal coefficient of the target member, and an amount calculating unit that calculates a temperature increase rate of the target member on the basis of a difference between the heat generation energy rate and the heat radiation energy rate, and an estimation value calculating unit that calculates a current temperature estimation value of the target member on the basis of the temperature increase rate and the previous temperature estimation value.
US08975849B2	Motor control apparatus There are provided a first notch filter disposed in a feedback control system, an oscillation extracting filter for outputting signal x1 containing an oscillation component, a second notch filter for inputting signal x1, a notch control portion for changing a notch center frequency based on signal x1 and second notch filter output signal x2, a notch depth control portion for changing a notch depth of the first notch filter based on signal x1, and a control determining portion for carrying out control to operate either the notch control portion or the notch depth control portion.
US08975848B2	Methods and systems for starting an electric motor Methods and systems for starting an electric motor using a motor controller including a processor are provided. The method includes determining if the electric motor is operating, increasing a failed start counter if the electric motor is determined not to be operating, determining a reverse rotation by comparing a failed start counter to a predetermined threshold, and applying a reverse rotation start routine to the electric motor when a reverse rotation is determined.
US08975847B2	Power conversion device A power conversion device includes a first capacitor connected in parallel to a direct-current power supply, plural power converters that drive plural synchronous machines, a second capacitor connected in parallel to a direct-current side of power converters, a switching circuit inserted between the first and second capacitors, a switch-start instruction unit that controls starting of an operation of the power converters, and a control unit that controls the power converters based on a motor velocity and a voltage of the first capacitor. The switch-start instruction unit turns off the switching circuit while the power converters stop, turns off the switching circuit until a terminal voltage of each of the synchronous machines becomes equal to a predetermined value when each of the power converters starts operating, and turns on the switching circuit when the terminal voltage of each synchronous machine becomes equal to or smaller than the predetermined value.
US08975842B2	Permanent magnet motor control A three-phase permanent magnet motor is controlled by generating two-phase control signals. A rotation speed value is generated representing a rotation speed of the permanent magnet motor based on a q-current reference value and a q-current feedback value, the q-current reference value and the q-current feedback value corresponding to a q-phase winding. A d-phase voltage change value is generated based on a d-current reference value and a d-current feedback value, the d-current reference value and the d-current feedback value corresponding to the d-phase winding. A first d-phase voltage value is generated based on the rotation speed value, the d-phase voltage change value, the d-current reference value and the q-current reference value. A first q-phase voltage value is generated based on the rotation speed value, the q-current reference value and the d-current reference value.
US08975834B2	Control circuit and illuminating device having different operation modes The present invention relates to a control circuit for an illuminating device, characterized in that the control circuit comprises a detecting unit, a central control unit and an illumination mode control unit, the detecting unit detects ambient brightness and generates a detection signal, the central control unit controls the illumination mode control unit, according to the detection signal, to generate a plurality of first driving signal enabling the illuminating device to operate in a first illumination mode or a plurality of second driving signal enabling the illuminating device to operate in a second illumination mode. The control circuit can automatically adjust the illuminating device to be in different operation modes according to different ambient brightness.
US08975832B2	Stacked, non-inverted dielectrically isolated, organic light emitting diode display formed on a silicon-on-insulator based substrate and method of same A display and method of making a display, comprising first and second stacked, non-inverted, dielectrically isolated, organic light emitting diodes formed on a silicon on insulator substrate. The display includes a means for applying both a positive or negative voltage across the stack, and a common intermediate control node situated between the diodes. The control node is electrically connected through vias to receive a control voltage signal, such that altering the relationship between the control voltage signal and the voltage applied across the stack regulates the actuation of the individual diodes.
US08975831B1	Pre-charging inductor in switching converter while delaying PWM dimming signal to achieve high PWM dimming ratio in LED drivers In a method for controlling a current regulator for dimming an LED load, an adjustable delay circuit generates a delayed second dimming signal from an original first dimming signal. The second dimming signal has a duty cycle that controls the LED ON-time and LED OFF time at a fixed frequency. An ON-time pulse of the first dimming signal starts a pre-charging of the regulator's inductor to approximately the inductor current previously detected at the end of the previous ON-time of the LEDs. The pre-charging ends at the leading edge of the delayed ON-time pulse of the second dimming signal. The second dimming signal controls the regulator to only supply current to the LED load during the LED ON-time. The delay time is adjusted by a feedback loop. Therefore, the current pulse magnitudes applied to the LED load are constant at every duty cycle even with very low duty cycles.
US08975830B2	Light emitting system, optical power control device, and control signal module A light emitting system includes a light emitting device having a forward voltage, and an optical power control device. The optical power control device includes a control signal module and a current controller. The control signal module generates a control signal according to the forward voltage, and the current controller permits flow of a driving current through the light emitting device according to the control signal.
US08975826B1	Output regulation with dynamic digital control loop compensation A digital compensator detects time-varying or periodic variations in the input voltage and, via the use of an iterative-learning control (“ILC”) system, a repetitive-control (“RC”) system, or a run-to-run control (“R2R”) system, generates a compensating signal based on prior behavior of the time variance.
US08975820B2	Smooth dimming of solid state light source using calculated slew rate A method and system are provided for smoothly dimming a solid state light (SSL) source. The method includes measuring a dimming angle (S322) of a voltage received from a dimmer, determining a target brightness (S323) of light to be output by the SSL source corresponding to the dimming angle, determining a current brightness (S324) of light currently output by the SSL source, and determining a slew rate (S325) based on the current brightness and the target brightness. The current brightness of the light currently output by the SSL source is adjusted (S326) to the target brightness using the nonlinear slew rate.
US08975818B2	LED illumination device and validation methodology of LED illumination device's lifespan A LED illumination device and validation methodology of LED illumination device's lifespan, comprises a controller, timing chip and low-voltage DC power supply, the controller is connected to the display terminal, the timing chip is positioned inside the LED illumination device, so as to get real-time recording of the operating time of the LED illumination device which is transmitted to the display terminal for display; meanwhile, a light sensor is placed in the luminous zone to obtain luminosity data so as to measure real-time luminous maintenance rate. When the measured luminous maintenance rate gets lower than the luminous maintenance rate predetermined for critical lifespan, the operating time recorded by the LED illumination device at this moment is the lifespan of this LED illumination device.
US08975817B2	Pressure controlled heat pipe temperature control plate A showerhead electrode assembly for a plasma processing chamber, which includes a showerhead electrode; a heater plate secured to the showerhead electrode; at least one pressure controlled heat pipe secured to an upper surface of the heater plate, the at least one pressure controlled heat pipe having a heat transfer liquid contained therein, and a pressurized gas, which produces a variable internal pressure within the at least one pressure controlled heat pipe; a top plate secured to an upper surface of the at least one heat pipe; and wherein the variable internal pressure within the at least one pressure controlled heat pipe during heating of the showerhead electrode by the heater plate displaces the heat transfer liquid from a thermal path between the top plate and the heater plate, and when removing excess heat from the showerhead electrode returns the heat transfer liquid to the thermal path.
US08975816B2	Multiple output cavities in sheet beam klystron A RF generator includes a structure having an input section, an output section, and an opening extending between the input section and the output section, wherein the output section has a first cavity and a second cavity, and wherein the first and second cavities are spaced apart from each other so that they are electromagnetically uncoupled from each other. A method of providing RF energy, includes receiving an electron beam, providing a first RF energy through a first cavity, wherein the first RF energy is generated using the electron beam, and providing a second RF energy through a second cavity, wherein the second RF energy is generated using the electron beam, wherein the first cavity and the second cavity are spaced apart from each other so that they are electromagnetically uncoupled from each other.
US08975814B2	Scattering film for organic EL, and organic EL light-emitting device equipped with same Disclosed is a scattering film which can be used in an organic EL light-emitting device, in which the light utilization efficiency and field-of-view dependence, which have been problems so far in organic EL light-emitting devices, can be improved without interfering the two properties with each other. Specifically disclosed is a scattering film for an organic EL, which can be placed on the light emission surface side of an organic EL light-emitting device for use, and involves a scattering layer, wherein the scattering layer comprises a binder resin, microparticles having a different refractive index from that of the binder resin, and resin particles having a larger average particle diameter than that of the microparticles. The content of the microparticles is preferably 5 to 90 parts by weight relative to 100 parts by weight of the binder resin, and the content of the resin particles is preferably 100 to 300 parts by weight relative to 100 parts by weight of the binder resin.
US08975811B2	Light emitting display device that effectively prevent fluorine diffusion to the light emitting layer and method for fabricating the same A light emitting display device includes: a substrate; a first electrode disposed on the substrate in each pixel area; an insulating film disposed on the substrate, where a first opening, which exposes the first electrode, is defined in the insulating film; a blocking film disposed on a side surface of the insulating film, which defines the first opening; a light emitting layer disposed in the first opening and on the first electrode, where the light emitting layer is in contact with the blocking film; and a second electrode disposed on the light emitting layer.
US08975810B2	Compositions of mercury isotopes for lighting Described herein is a mercury sample that has an isotopic composition that differs from the naturally occurring distribution of isotopes. In various configurations of an isotopically tailored mercury sample, the fraction of one or more isotopes is increased or decreased with respect to the natural fraction(s). A example of a lighting device comprises an envelope, a buffer gas enclosed within the envelope, a isotopically tailored sample of mercury vapor, and a current injection mechanism configured to excite the mercury vapor to emit light. In various configurations, the lighting device emits radiation at a wavelength of 254 nm and/or at a wavelength of 185 nm. In various configurations, the lighting device envelope includes a fluorescent coating that is excited by ultraviolet (UV) light emitted by the mercury vapor. In various configurations, the lighting device provides improved efficiency as compared to lamps employing mercury with a naturally occurring isotope distribution.
US08975808B2	Light diffusion of visible edge lines in a multi-dimensional modular display Embodiments of the present invention provide light diffusion into edge lines of a modular display, and thus provide a modular display that is capable of displaying a single, continuous image without visible edge lines between individual display modules. One display module includes a multitude of pixels that contain red, green, blue, and white light sources. The replacement of an edge line blocking dam with the light diffusion edge line of the individual display module can provide a single, continuous image to be displayed thereon without visible, image-quality-reducing edge lines. With various heights of the buffer layer, the light can concentrate on the edge line in modular display. The individual display modules can be light emitting diode (LED), organic LED (OLED), UV LED, RGB LED, Phosphor-based LED, Quantum dot LED, or displays based upon a combination thereof. Furthermore, the variable height buffer layer allows for a modular display image in 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional formats.
US08975802B2	Acoustic wave device An acoustic wave device includes: a comb-like electrode provided on a piezoelectric substrate; and a first medium that covers the comb-like electrode and has at least a silicon oxide film in which an element is doped, wherein sonic speed in the silicon oxide film in which the element is doped is lower than sonic speed in an undoped silicon oxide film.
US08975800B2	Rotor for an electric motor, an electric motor and a production process for an electric motor A rotor (100) for an electric motor (1000). The rotor (100) has a rotor shaft (10) and a rotor core (20) attached onto the rotor shaft (10). The rotor core has a plurality of core laminations (40, 140) arranged along an axis (A) of the rotor core (20), and has a plurality of poles of at least one pole pair, the core lamination (40, 140) having:a central recess (70, 170) through which the rotor shaft (10) passes and which has a contour (71, 171) as well as adjacent areas (AF), and a plurality of receiving structures arranged at peripheral angular positions in order to each form a receiving element for a pole-forming element on the rotor core (20). In this context, it is provided according to the invention that the rotor core has a surface (OF) facing the rotor shaft (10) that is formed together with the adjacent areas (AF) of the central recess (70, 170) of the plurality of core laminations (40, 140), and that has uneven areas crosswise to the axis (A) of the rotor core (20) that are formed by the contours (71, 171) of the central recesses (70) of the plurality of core laminations (40, 140). The contours (71, 171) of the central recesses (70, 170) of at least a first core lamination and a second core lamination of the plurality of core laminations (40, 140) are arranged so as not to be congruent with each other.
US08975799B2	Broad-pole type square-wave three-phase brushless permanent magnet direct current motor and assembling method thereof A broad-pole type square-wave three-phase brushless permanent magnet direct current motor and an assembling method thereof are disclosed. The number of magnetic poles on a rotor core is: 2P=4. The number of slots in a stator core is: Z=6. Six teeth on the stator are composed of three large teeth and three small teeth. The sum of mechanical angels of one large tooth and one small tooth is 120 degree. Electrical angles corresponding to the mechanical angles are: P* 120=240° . Three-phase concentrated windings are wound on three large teeth separately, and only one winding is arranged at each phase. The advantages of the motor are low positioning torque, simple structure, effective production cost, convenient to wind the windings, and low copper loss, etc.
US08975798B1	Method for attenuating bearing current in a rotating electrical device and system therefor A method and system for reducing bearing failure in a rotating electrical device includes installing a magnetic core around the rotor shaft between the rotor and the bearing. The magnetic core creates an electrical impedance which reduces the current which flows through the bearings, and therefore reduces bearing failure.
US08975797B2	Disk-rotating motor and disk-driving device A disk-rotating motor includes a rotor section including a rotor magnet attached to a rotor frame and a shaft fixed to a center of the rotor frame, and a stator section including a shaft-bearing which bears the shaft, wherein the stator section includes the shaft-bearing, a shaft-bearing housing which holds the shaft-bearing, a thrust plate which bears the shaft in an axis direction, a stator core which is arranged to face the rotor magnet and provided with wire-winding, a core holder which holds the stator core, and a bracket which holds the shaft-bearing housing. The bracket has a projecting part which fixes the shaft-bearing at a central part thereof, an inner diameter part of the shaft-bearing is press-fitted to be tightened to the projecting part, and an outer diameter part of the shaft-bearing housing is adhered to be tightened to an inner diameter part of the core holder.
US08975796B2	Electric motor and electric equipment with same A motor includes a stator integrally molded together with a stator member, which includes a stator iron-core wound with a winding, by insulating resin, a rotor mounted on a shaft as a center and confronting the stator, two bearings supporting the shaft rotatably, brackets fixing the bearings, and a drive circuit board including a drive circuit which supplies an electric current to the winding and drives the rotor. Either one of the two bearings includes an outer ring and an inner ring both of which are electrically insulated from each other.
US08975793B2	Actuator assembly with rotational position sensor An actuator assembly includes a housing having a central axis, a motor compartment on one end defined about the central axis, a gear compartment on the other end. An electronic rotational position sensor is fixed relative to the housing proximate the motor compartment. A motor assembly is disposed in the motor compartment and has a hollow input shaft extending along the central axis into the gear compartment. An output shaft extends along the central axis and has a lower end extending out of the gear compartment and an upper end extending freely through the hollow input shaft to a point proximate to the electronic rotational position sensor. A gear assembly is supported within the gear compartment for translating rotation of the input shaft to the output shaft. A sensed object is disposed on the upper end of the output shaft opposed to the speed sensor.
US08975787B2	Reduced parts count isolated AC current switching and sensing An appliance's control and sensing circuit selectively applies AC electrical power to a load (72). The circuit includes a relay (44) having contacts (52) connected in series between an AC power source and the load (72). When energized, the relay's electromagnetic coil (54) changes the contacts (52) to supplying electrical power to the load (72) or conversely. The control and sensing circuit measures AC voltage induced in the coil (54) by an alternating magnetic field produced by AC electrical current supplied to the load (72) through the relay's contacts (52). A microcontroller (46) included in the control and sensing circuit: 1. measures the AC voltage produced by the coil (54); 2. compensates the measured voltage for inductive coupling between the AC current flowing through the contacts (52) and the coil (54); and 3. determines various characteristics of the AC power supplied to the load (72).
US08975786B2	Portable electronic equipment and method of controlling the same When portable electronic equipment drops, CPU stops power supply to a prescribed unit. A prescribed unit is a unit that is not necessary for the continuous operation of the portable electronic equipment. When the portable electronic equipment collides with the floor or the ground, the battery terminal may be momentarily detached from the connector. In this case, instantaneous voltage drop or momentary power failure may occur. Power supply to a prescribed unit is stopped while power supply to CPU and RAM is continued. Therefore, power supply to CPU and RAM can be continued with electric charge stored in a capacitor inside the portable electronic equipment.
US08975782B2	Reverse power Y-adapter A power Y-adapter provides power at a high voltage to an output end from at least two input ends to which power of a lower voltage and a phase difference is provided and includes a first polarity sensitive current isolation device, a second polarity sensitive current isolation device, a control section, and an output section. When the voltage signals supplied to the hot wire terminals of the first input connector and the second input connector sufficiently are out of phase, the Y-adapter can produce a voltage of higher magnitude between the first and the second hot wire terminals of the output connector.
US08975779B2	Load management controller The present invention relates to a load management controller for a household electrical installation comprising a pair of electricity supplies, a grid supply and a micro-generator supply, providing electricity to a plurality if sub-circuits. The household electrical installation has means to monitor the amount of electricity being supplied by the micro-generator supply and the amount of electricity being consumed in the household. The load management controller has means to access and use that information to control the supply of electricity to an energy storage sub-circuit to route surplus electricity supplied by the micro-generator to the energy storage sub-circuit. Furthermore, the load management controller can communicate with a remote electricity supplier to control the loads in the household to achieve better grid management and efficiency.
US08975778B2	Load control system providing manual override of an energy savings mode A load control system for a building having a lighting load, a window, and a heating and cooling system comprises a lighting control device, a daylight control device, and a temperature control device operable to be controlled so as to decrease a total power consumption of the load control system in an energy-savings mode. The energy-savings mode can be manually overridden in response to actuation of the actuator of an input control device, such that the load control system enters a manual mode for manually adjusting the loads controlled by the lighting control device, the daylight control device, and the temperature control device. The load control system is operable to automatically return to the energy-savings mode at a time after the load control system entered the manual mode.
US08975774B2	HV-battery, in particular traction battery for a vehicle The invention relates to a HV-battery, in particular a traction battery for a vehicle, having a plurality of cell modules which each comprise a plurality of cells, wherein each cell module is assigned a controller for cell monitoring and/or for cell balancing, wherein the controllers are connected to a battery management control device for communication or open-loop control and/or closed loop control purposes, wherein the HV-battery is of modular construction by configuring the cell modules as plug-in modules that are detachably mountable or can be mounted to a printed circuit board.
US08975773B2	Charging system for electric vehicle A charging system for an electric vehicle is disclosed in the present invention. It includes a rechargeable battery module, a motor driver, a power switch, and a control circuit. The motor driver stops outputting electric power from the rechargeable battery when the control signal from the control circuit is received and keeps outputting electric power from the rechargeable battery when the control signal doesn't exit. The design of the present invention is in a series connection. It can not only be charged simultaneously, but also control the drive motor to stop running. Danger of hard acceleration of the motor due to charge can be avoided.
US08975772B2	Contactless power delivery system for power-assisted door and method Power delivery systems and methods for delivering power from a vehicle to a vehicle door. The system includes a supporting device having a first portion fixedly mounted to a main frame and a second portion attached to a door. The second portion being movable about a hinge axis portion that connects the first portion to the second portion. An energy transmitting source is connected to a power frequency generator. The power frequency generator is connected to a power source and configured to couple an oscillating signal to the energy transmitting source. The energy transmitting source is mounted on the hinge axis portion of the supporting device. An energy receiving device is magnetically coupled to the energy transmitting source to receive a power signal from the energy transmitting source. The energy receiving device is mounted on the second portion of the supporting device at a fixed distance from the energy transmitting source. The energy receiving device receives the power signal from the energy transmitting source to deliver the power signal to powered components associated with the door. The power delivery is uninterrupted during opening and closing of the door.
US08975768B2	Methods for operating wind turbine system having dynamic brake Wind turbine systems and methods for operating wind turbine systems are provided. In one embodiment, a method includes gating on a dynamic brake switch of a dynamic brake in a wind turbine power converter when an experienced direct current (DC) bus voltage is equal to or greater than a threshold DC bus voltage. The method further includes disabling a threshold temperature rating for the dynamic brake switch when the dynamic brake switch is gated on, and gating off the dynamic brake switch when the experienced DC bus voltage is less than the threshold DC bus voltage.
US08975765B2	System for generating electricity from arena seating A system which generates electricity from the movement of at least a portion of a seat in an arena and, preferably, combines electricity generated by the movement of a plurality of seats to create usable quantities of electrical energy.
US08975761B2	Organic light-emitting display comprising a substrate having a fan-out unit configured to connect a display region with a pad unit A display apparatus and an organic display apparatus are disclosed. In one aspect, the display apparatus includes a display substrate divided into a display region for displaying an image via a plurality of pixels for emitting light and a non-display region around the display region. It includes a pad unit formed on the non-display region. It also includes a fan-out unit for connecting the display region and the pad unit. It further includes a plurality of line groups sequentially formed, wherein each line group includes a first fan-out line, a second fan-out line insulated from the first fan-out line by a first insulating layer, and a third fan-out line insulated from the second fan-out line by a second insulating layer, and wherein the third fan-out line at least partially overlaps with at least one of the first and second fan-out lines.
US08975758B2	Semiconductor package having interposer with openings containing conductive layer A semiconductor package includes a first structural body having a first surface and a second surface which faces away from the first surface, and formed with first connection members on the first surface; a second structural body placed over the first structural body, and formed with second connection members on a surface thereof which faces the first surface of the first structural body; and an interposer interposed between the first structural body and the second structural body, and having a body which is formed with openings into which the first connection members and the second connection members are inserted and a conductive layer which is formed to fill the openings.
US08975754B2	Chip package for high-count chip stacks A chip package is described. This chip package includes a substrate having a side at an angle relative to the top and bottom surfaces of the substrate that is between that of a direction parallel to the top and bottom surfaces and that of a direction perpendicular to the top and bottom surfaces (i.e., between 0° and 90°). This side may be configured to couple to a stack of semiconductor dies in which the semiconductor dies are offset from each other in a direction parallel to the top and bottom surfaces so that one side of the stack defines a stepped terrace. For example, the side may include electrical pads. These electrical pads may be coupled to electrical pads on the top surface by through-substrate vias (TSVs) in the substrate. Moreover, the electrical pads on the top surface may be configured to couple to an integrated circuit.
US08975753B2	Three dimensional interconnect structure and method thereof A three-dimensional interconnect includes a first substrate bonded to a second substrate, the first substrate including a device layer and a bulk semiconductor layer, a metal pad disposed on the second substrate, an electrically insulating layer disposed between the first and second substrates. The structure has a via-hole extending through the device layer, the bulk semiconductor layer and the electrically insulating layer to the metal pad on the second substrate. The structure has a dielectric coating on a sidewall of the via-hole, and a plasma-treated region of the metal pad disposed on the second substrate. The structure includes a via metal monolithically extending from the plasma-treated region of the metal pad through the via-hole and electrically interconnecting the device layer of the first substrate to the metal pad of the second substrate.
US08975752B2	Multiple access over proximity communication A multiple access Proximity Communication system in which electrical elements on an integrated circuit chip provide the multiplexing of multiple signals to a single electrical receiving element on another chip. Multiple pads formed on one chip and receiving separate signals may be capacitively coupled to one large pad on the other chip. Multiple inductive coils on one chip may be magnetically coupled to one large coil on another chip or inductive coils on three or more chips may be used for either transmitting or receiving. The multiplexing may be based on time, frequency, or code.
US08975750B2	Electronic device In a conventional electronic device and a method of manufacturing the same, reduction in cost of the electronic device is hindered because resin used in an interconnect layer on the solder ball side is limited. The electronic device includes an interconnect layer (a first interconnect layer) and an interconnect layer (a second interconnect layer). The second interconnect layer is formed on the undersurface of the first interconnect layer. The second interconnect layer is larger in area seen from the top than the first interconnect layer and is extended to the outside from the first interconnect layer.
US08975749B2	Method of making a semiconductor device including barrier layers for copper interconnect A method of making a semiconductor device includes forming a dielectric layer over a semiconductor substrate. The method further includes forming a copper-containing layer in the dielectric layer, wherein the copper-containing layer has a first portion and a second portion. The method further includes forming a first barrier layer between the first portion of the copper-containing layer and the dielectric layer. The method further includes forming a second barrier layer at a boundary between the second portion of the copper-containing layer and the dielectric layer wherein the second barrier layer is adjacent to an exposed portion of the dielectric layer. The first barrier layer is a dielectric layer, and the second barrier layer is a metal oxide layer, and a boundary between a sidewall of the copper-containing layer and the first barrier layer is free of the second barrier layer.
US08975746B1	Ball arrangement for integrated circuit package devices An integrated circuit package includes a ball arrangement that includes transmitter contact pairs arranged in a first portion of a ball grid array disposed in the integrated circuit package. Each of the transmitter contact pairs include transmitter differential signal contacts. Pairs of the transmitter contact pairs located adjacent to one another are in a staggered arrangement. The ball arrangement also includes receiver contact pairs arranged in a second portion of the ball grid array. Each of the receiver contact pairs include receiver differential signal contacts. Pairs of the receiver contact pairs located adjacent to one another are in a staggered arrangement. The ball arrangement also includes voltage supply contacts arranged at least between every two pairs of the transmitter contact pairs and the receiver contact pairs.
US08975743B2	Semiconductor device In a semiconductor device including a semiconductor element that produces heat and a substrate on which the semiconductor element is mounted, functions of the substrate are divided between a heat dissipating substrate and a wiring substrate. The heat dissipating substrate has a relatively high thermal conductivity, and includes principal surfaces defined by electric insulators, one of which is provided with an outer conductor located thereon. The wiring substrate is mounted on the upper principal surface of the heat dissipating substrate, has a thermal conductivity lower than that of the heat dissipating substrate, and includes a wiring conductor made mainly of silver or copper and located inside the wiring substrate, the wiring conductor being electrically connected to the outer conductor. The semiconductor element is mounted on the upper principal surface of the heat dissipating substrate and disposed in a through hole of the wiring substrate.
US08975741B2	Process for forming package-on-package structures A device includes an inter-layer dielectric, a device die under the inter-layer dielectric; and a die-attach film under the inter-layer dielectric and over the device die, wherein the die-attach film is attached to the device die. A plurality of redistribution lines includes portions level with the die-attach film. A plurality of Z-interconnects is electronically coupled to the device die and the plurality of redistribution lines. A polymer-comprising material is under the inter-layer dielectric. The device die, the die-attach film, and the plurality of Z-interconnects are disposed in the polymer-comprising material.
US08975736B2	Wafer level package, chip size package device and method of manufacturing wafer level package A wafer level package has a first wafer having a plurality of chips mounted or formed thereon in a plane, and a second wafer that is opposed to the first wafer. The first wafer and the second wafer are joined while a seal frame that seals a periphery of each chip is interposed therebetween. A gap is formed between the seal frames of the chips adjacent to each other. A partial connect part that partially connects the seal frames to each other is provided in the gap formed between the seal frames of the chips adjacent to each other.
US08975734B2	Semiconductor package without chip carrier and fabrication method thereof A semiconductor package without a chip carrier formed thereon and a fabrication method thereof. A metallic carrier is half-etched to form a plurality of grooves and metal studs corresponding to the grooves. The grooves are filled with a first encapsulant and a plurality of bonding pads are formed on the metal studs. The first encapsulant is bonded with the metal studs directly. Each of the bonding pads and one of the metal studs corresponding to the bonding pad form a T-shaped structure. Therefore, bonding force between the metal studs and the first encapsulant is enhanced such that delamination is avoided. Die mounting, wire-bonding and molding processes are performed subsequently. Since the half-etched grooves are filled with the first encapsulant, the drawback of having pliable metallic carrier that makes transportation difficult to carry out as encountered in prior techniques is overcome, and the manufacturing cost is educed by not requiring the use of costly metals as an etching resist layer.
US08975729B2	Integrating through substrate vias into middle-of-line layers of integrated circuits A semiconductor wafer has an integrated through substrate via (TSV). The semiconductor wafer includes a substrate. A dielectric layer may be formed on a first side of the substrate. A through substrate via may extend through the dielectric layer and the substrate. The through substrate via may include a conductive material and an isolation layer. The isolation layer may at least partially surround the conductive material. The isolation layer may have a tapered portion.
US08975727B2	Memory cell having an integrated two-terminal current limiting resistor A resistor structure incorporated into a resistive switching memory cell with improved performance and lifetime is provided. The resistor structure may be a two-terminal structure designed to reduce the maximum current flowing through a memory cell. A method is also provided for making such a memory cell. The method includes depositing a resistor structure and depositing a variable resistance layer of a resistive switching memory cell of the memory cell, where the resistor structure is disposed in series with the variable resistance layer to limit the switching current of the memory cell. The incorporation of the resistor structure is very useful in obtaining desirable levels of switching currents that meet the switching specification of various types of memory cells. The memory cells may be formed as part of a high-capacity nonvolatile memory integrated circuit, which can be used in various electronic devices.
US08975725B2	Bias circuit and method of manufacturing the same A bias circuit according to the present invention includes a resistor layer 2 which is placed above a substrate 1 and connected to a ground potential, and a conductor 4 for forming an inductor 5 placed above the resistor layer 2. Further, a manufacturing method of the bias circuit according to the present invention generates the resistor layer 2 above the substrate 1 and is connected to the ground potential, and generates the conductor 4 for forming the inductor 5 above the resistor layer 2. The present invention can provide a bias circuit and a manufacturing method of the bias circuit that enables easy integration on a semiconductor substrate and prevents parasitic oscillation.
US08975723B2	Integrated device incorporating low-voltage components and power components, and process for manufacturing such device An integrated device includes: a semiconductor body having a first, depressed, portion and second portions which project from the first portion; a STI structure, extending on the first portion of the semiconductor body, which delimits laterally the second portions and has a face adjacent to a surface of the first portion; low-voltage CMOS components, housed in the second portions, in a first region of the semiconductor body; and a power component, in a second region of the semiconductor body. The power component has at least one conduction region, formed in the first portion of the semiconductor body, and a conduction contact, coupled to the conduction region and traversing the STI structure in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the first portion of the semiconductor body.
US08975718B2	Avalanche photodiode-type semiconductor structure with low response time and process for producing such a structure The invention relates to an avalanche photodiode-type semiconductor structure (1) intended to receive electromagnetic radiation in a given wavelength. The structure comprises a first semiconductor zone (210) with a first type of conductivity with a first longitudinal face (201), said first zone (210) being made of mercury-cadmium telluride of the CdxHg1-xTe type with a cadmium proportion x that is varied. The structure (1) also comprises at least one second semiconductor zone (310) in contact with the first zone (210), and a third semiconductor zone (410) in contact with the second zone (310). The first zone (210) comprises a doping element, such as arsenic, of which the concentration is varied alternately in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first longitudinal face (201) between a so-called low concentration and a so-called high concentration. The invention also relates to a process for producing a structure (1) according to the invention.
US08975717B2	Trench process and structure for backside contact solar cells with polysilicon doped regions A solar cell includes polysilicon P-type and N-type doped regions on a backside of a substrate, such as a silicon wafer. A trench structure separates the P-type doped region from the N-type doped region. Each of the P-type and N-type doped regions may be formed over a thin dielectric layer. The trench structure may include a textured surface for increased solar radiation collection. Among other advantages, the resulting structure increases efficiency by providing isolation between adjacent P-type and N-type doped regions, thereby preventing recombination in a space charge region where the doped regions would have touched.
US08975703B2	MOS transistor, formation method thereof, and SRAM memory cell circuit Various embodiments provide an MOS transistor, a formation method thereof, and an SRAM memory cell circuit. An exemplary MOS transistor can include a semiconductor substrate including a first groove on one side of a gate structure and a second groove on the other side of the gate structure. The first groove can have a sidewall perpendicular to a surface of the semiconductor substrate. The second groove can have a sidewall protruding toward a channel region under the gate structure. A stressing material can be disposed in the first groove to form a drain region and in the second groove to form a source region. Stress generated in the channel region of the MOS transistor can be asymmetric. The MOS transistor can be used as a transfer transistor in an SRAM memory cell circuit to increase both read and write margins of the SRAM memory.
US08975701B2	Antifuse of semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same An antifuse of a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same capable of causing an antifuse to stably operate by rupturing the antifuse at a specific point and stabilizing a current level when rupturing the antifuse are provided. The antifuse may include: a device isolation layer defining a first active region in a semiconductor substrate; a first and second junction regions provided in the first active region; a second active region formed over the first junction region; a gate insulating layer formed over the first active region and the second active region; and a gate electrode formed over the gate insulating layer.
US08975697B2	Integrated circuit having MOSFET with embedded stressor and method to fabricate same A structure includes a gate stack or gate stack precursor disposed on a SOI layer disposed upon a BOX that is disposed upon a surface of a crystalline semiconductor substrate. A transistor channel is disposed within the SOI layer. The structure further includes a channel stressor layer disposed at least partially within a recess in the substrate and disposed about the channel, and a layer of crystalline dielectric material disposed between the stressor layer and a surface of the substrate.
US08975695B2	Display device A display device capable of operating at high speed and with low power consumption is provided. A miniaturized display device occupying a small area is also provided. The display device includes a support; a display portion which includes a pixel; a light-blocking unit which is in the support and includes a light-blocking layer having a first opening overlapping with at least part of the pixel, and a movable light-blocking layer blocking light passing through the first opening; a transistor which is electrically connected to the light-blocking unit and includes an oxide semiconductor film; and a capacitor electrically connected to the transistor.
US08975692B2	Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same Provided are a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same. The method includes: forming a trench in a semiconductor substrate of a first conductive type; forming a trench dopant containing layer including a dopant of a second conductive type on a sidewall and a bottom surface of the trench; forming a doping region by diffusing the dopant in the trench dopant containing layer into the semiconductor substrate; and removing the trench dopant containing layer.
US08975687B2	Nonvolatile memory array with continuous charge storage dielectric stack An integrated circuit of an array of nonvolatile memory cells has a dielectric stack layer over the substrate, and implanted regions in the substrate under the dielectric stack layer. The dielectric stack layer is continuous over a planar region, that includes locations of the dielectric stack layer that store nonvolatile data, such that these locations are accessed by word lines/bit lines.
US08975686B2	Semiconductor device including a floating gate A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer with a trench dug downward from its surface, a source region formed on a surface layer portion adjacent to a first side of the trench in a prescribed direction, a drain region formed on the surface layer portion, adjacent to a second side of the trench opposite to the first side in the prescribed direction, a first insulating film on the bottom surface and the side surface of the trench, a floating gate stacked on the first insulating film and opposed to the bottom surface and the side surface of the trench through the first insulating film, a second insulating film formed on the floating gate, and a control gate at least partially embedded in the trench so that the portion embedded in the trench is opposed to the floating gate through the second insulating film.
US08975685B2	N-channel multi-time programmable memory devices N-channel multi-time programmable memory devices having an N-conductivity type substrate, first and second P-conductivity type wells in the N-conductivity type substrate, N-conductivity type source and drain regions formed in the first P-conductivity type well, the source and drain regions being separated by a channel region, an oxide layer over the N-conductivity type substrate; and a floating gate extending over the channel region and over the second P-conductivity type well in the N-conductivity type substrate, the multi-time programmable memory cell being programmable by hot electron injection and erasable by hot hole injection.
US08975677B2	Decoupling capacitor cell, cell-based IC, cell-based IC layout system and method, and portable device A decoupling capacitor cell includes: a first decoupling capacitor formed by only a pMOS transistor; and a second decoupling capacitor formed by two metal layers. The decoupling capacitor cell is arranged in an unused region not occupied by basic cells in a cell-based IC and is connected to a power wiring and a ground wiring.
US08975674B2	Bridge structure A bridge structure for use in a semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor structure layer. The semiconductor structure layer is formed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate and a lattice difference is formed between the semiconductor structure layer and the semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor structure layer includes at least a first block, at least a second block and at least a third block, wherein the first block and the third block are bonded on the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the second block is floated over the semiconductor substrate and connected with the first block and the third block.
US08975668B2	Backside-thinned image sensor using Al2 O3 surface passivation A structure and method of manufacture is disclosed for a backside thinned imager that incorporates a conformal, Al2O3, low thermal budget, surface passivation. This passivation approach facilitates fabrication of backside thinned, backside illuminated, silicon image sensors with thick silicon absorber layer patterned with vertical trenches that are formed by etching the exposed back surface of a backside-thinned image sensor to control photo-carrier diffusion and optical crosstalk. A method of manufacture employing conformal, Al2O3, surface passivation approach is shown to provide high quantum efficiency and low dark current while meeting the thermal budget constraints of a finished standard foundry-produced CMOS imager.
US08975662B2	Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using an impurity source containing a metallic recombination element and semiconductor device Source zones of a first conductivity type and body zones of a second conductivity type are formed in a semiconductor die. The source zones directly adjoin a first surface of the semiconductor die. A dielectric layer adjoins the first surface. Polysilicon plugs extend through the dielectric layer and are electrically connected to the source and the body zones. An impurity source containing at least one metallic recombination element is provided in contact with deposited polycrystalline silicon material forming the polysilicon plugs and distant to the semiconductor die. Atoms of the metallic recombination element, for example platinum atoms, may be diffused out from the impurity source into the semiconductor die to reliably reduce the reverse recovery charge.
US08975661B2	Asymmetrical bidirectional protection component An asymmetrical bidirectional protection component formed in a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, including: a first implanted area of the first conductivity type; a first epitaxial layer of the second conductivity type on the substrate and the first implanted area; a second epitaxial layer of the second conductivity type on the first epitaxial layer, the second layer having a doping level different from that of the first layer; a second area of the first conductivity type on the outer surface of the epitaxial layer, opposite to the first area; a first metallization covering the entire lower surface of the substrate; and a second metallization covering the second area.
US08975660B2	Organic light emitting diode display and method for manufacturing the same An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display includes: a substrate; an organic light emitting diode formed on the substrate; a first inorganic layer formed on the substrate and covering the organic light emitting diode; an intermediate layer formed on the first inorganic layer and covering an area relatively smaller than the first inorganic layer; and a second inorganic layer formed on the first inorganic layer and the intermediate layer, and contacting the first inorganic layer at an edge thereof while covering a relatively larger area than the intermediate layer. A third inorganic layer may be formed on the second inorganic layer so as to contact the second inorganic layer at an edge thereof. At least one of the first, second and third inorganic layers is formed by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method.
US08975658B2	Shunting layer arrangement for LEDs A shunting pattern on a surface of an LED die comprises an array of metal dots having widths that are on the order of 2Lt-5Lt (where Lt is transfer length) so as not to block a significant amount of light, yet have low contact resistance to the semiconductor current spreading layer. Contact resistance is not significantly reduced with widths greater than 2Lt. Each dot represents a current injection area. For a minimum 2Lt width and 50 square dots per mm2, the top surface area of an LED die will have about 1% of its surface covered by the dots. To cause the current to be evenly distributed over the top surface of the LED, the dots are connected with a grid of very thin metal connectors, having widths much less than 2Lt. In one embodiment, a wire bond electrode is formed near the middle of the top surface of the LED to create a more uniform current distribution.
US08975657B2	Package for semiconductor light-emitting device and light-emitting device An object of the present invention is to provide a package from which a metal wiring and the like are difficult to be detached even when heat is generated from a semiconductor light-emitting element. This object is achieved with a package for a semiconductor light-emitting device comprising at least a molded resin containing (A) a SiH-containing polyorganosiloxane and (B) a filler, wherein an amount of SiH existing in the molded resin, after a heat treatment thereof at 200° C. for 10 minutes, is 20 to 65 μmol/g.
US08975656B2	Light emitting elements, light emitting devices including light emitting elements and methods of manufacturing such light emitting elements and/or device An emitting device includes a first electrode on a base substrate, a second electrode on the base substrate, a third electrode on the base substrate, an emitting structure on and/or at a same level as the first electrode, a first pattern on the base substrate being electrically connected to the first electrode, and a plurality of second patterns on the base substrate, wherein at least one of the second patterns is arranged on a first side of the first pattern and is electrically connected to the second electrode and at least another one of the second patterns is arranged on a second side of the first pattern and is electrically connected to the third electrode, the first side opposing the second side.
US08975650B2	Semiconductor light emitting device including a vertically arranged light transmitting layer and light emitting structure A semiconductor light emitting device that includes: a light emitting structure; an electrode layer under the light emitting structure; a light transmitting layer under of the light emitting structure; a reflective electrode layer connected to the electrode layer; and a conductive supporting member under the reflective electrode layer and electrically connected to the reflective electrode layer. The reflective electrode layer includes a first part in contact with an under surface of the electrode layer and a second part spaced apart from the electrode layer. A portion of the light transmitting layer is physically contacted with an outer side of the electrode layer and is physically contacted with the lower surface of the light emitting structure. The conductive supporting member has a thickness thicker than a thickness of the light transmitting layer.
US08975649B2	Light emitting device with light path changing structure The inventive concept provides light emitting devices and methods of manufacturing a light emitting device. The light emitting device may include a transparent substrate including a first region and a second region, a first transparent electrode disposed on a first surface of the transparent substrate, a second transparent electrode facing and spaced apart from the first transparent electrode, an organic light emitting layer disposed between the first and second transparent electrodes, an assistant electrode disposed between the first and second transparent electrodes and selectively masking the second region, and a light path changing structure disposed on a second surface of the transparent substrate and selectively masking the second region.
US08975646B2	Optoelectronic semiconductor component and housing base for such a component An optoelectronic semiconductor component comprising at least one radiation emitting semiconductor chip disposed in a recess of a housing base body, wherein the recess is bounded laterally by a wall surrounding the semiconductor chip and is at least partially filled with an encapsulant that covers the semiconductor chip and is well transparent to an electromagnetic radiation emitted by the semiconductor chip An inner side of the wall, bounding the recess, is configured such that, as viewed looking down on the front side of the semiconductor component, a subarea of the inner side is formed which extends ring-like all the way around the semiconductor chip and which is in shadow as viewed from the radiation emitting semiconductor chip and which is at least partially covered by encapsulant all the way around the semiconductor chip. A housing base body for such a semiconductor component is also specified.
US08975644B2	Optoelectronic devices Optoelectronic devices have a photoactive region containing semiconductor material doped with ions of a rare earth element. Characteristic transitions associated with internal energy states of the rare earth dopant ions are modified by direct interaction of those states with an energy state in the semiconductor band structure. Eu+ and Yb+ doped silicon LEDs and photodetectors are described. The LEDs are emissive of radiation in the wavelength range 1300 nm to 1600 nm, important in optical communications.
US08975642B2	Transistor device and fabrication method Various embodiments provide transistor devices and fabrication methods. An exemplary transistor device with improved carrier mobility can be formed by first forming a confining layer on a semiconductor substrate to confine impurity ions diffused from the semiconductor substrate to the confining layer. An epitaxial silicon layer can be formed on the confining layer, followed by forming a gate structure on the epitaxial silicon layer. A portion of the epitaxial silicon layer can be used as an intrinsic channel region. A source region and a drain region can be formed in portions of each of the epitaxial silicon layer, the confining layer, and the semiconductor substrate.
US08975637B2	Semiconductor device, process for production of the semiconductor device, and display device equipped with the semiconductor device A thin film diode (100A) includes a semiconductor layer (130) having first, second, and third semiconductor regions, a first insulating layer (122) formed on the semiconductor layer (130), and a second insulating layer (123) formed on the first insulating layer (122). The first semiconductor region (134A) contains an impurity of a first-conductivity type at a first concentration; the second semiconductor region (135A) contains an impurity of a second-conductivity type different from the first conductivity type at a second concentration; and the third semiconductor region (133A) contains the first-conductivity type impurity at a third concentration lower than the first concentration, or contains the second-conductivity type impurity at a third concentration lower than the second concentration. The first semiconductor region (134A) conforms to an aperture pattern in the second insulating layer (123), or the second semiconductor region (135A) conforms to an aperture pattern in the second insulating layer (123).
US08975623B2	Organic electroluminescence element The organic electroluminescence element in accordance with the present invention includes: a light-emitting layer; a first electrode layer on a first surface in a thickness direction of the light-emitting layer; a second electrode layer on a second surface in the thickness direction of the light-emitting layer; an electrically conductive layer; and an insulating layer. The light-emitting layer is configured to emit light when a predetermined voltage is applied between the first and second electrode layers. The second electrode layer includes an electrode part covering the second surface and an opening part formed in the electrode part to expose the second surface. The electrically conductive layer is designed to allow the light to pass therethrough, and is interposed between the second surface and the second electrode layer to cover the second surface. The insulating layer is interposed between the second surface and the electrically conductive layer to overlap the electrode part.
US08975604B2	Emissivity enhanced mid IR source An infrared (IR) source apparatus that includes a desired infrared source element coupled to an insulating housing so to minimize overall source inefficiency at desired optical bandwidths is introduced. The insulation itself is machined or configured in a way so that the infrared source element is in contact with a designed cavity in the insulation so that the IR source image becomes the average of the insulation material and the infrared element. Such an arrangement of the present invention increases the emissivity of the IR source below about 1500 wave numbers, more often, below about 1100 wave numbers, and even more particularly, at about 1079 wave numbers. Accordingly, the combined emissivity of the infrared source and the insulation substantially enhances spectral emission and eliminates or reduces spectral artifacts from the formation of oxides on the infrared source surfaces.
US08975602B2	Active floor for proton therapy An operator positioning apparatus for a proton treatment system includes: a proton beam nozzle to emit a proton beam to a targeted region of a patient; a gantry wheel having a front face to support the proton beam nozzle to direct the proton beam to an isocenter of the gantry wheel corresponding to a center of the targeted region, wherein the gantry wheel rotates the proton beam nozzle around the isocenter; an active floor that horizontally translates across the front face of the gantry wheel, the active floor having an opening having a width through which the proton beam nozzle protrudes when the proton beam nozzle is located below the targeted region.
US08975601B1	Method and apparatus for electron beam lithography A method of manufacturing a wafer with an integrated circuit (IC) layout includes receiving a first plurality of pixels, wherein each of the pixels corresponds to a portion of the IC layout and includes data members. The method further includes transforming the first plurality of pixels into a second plurality of control signals, wherein at least some of the control signals include both a data member of one of the pixels and another data member of another one of the pixels. The method further includes transferring the control signals to a third plurality of mirrors, wherein the mirrors conditionally reflect an energy beam incident thereupon when coupled with the control signals.
US08975594B2	Mixed-material multispectral staring array sensor A multispectral staring array comprises, amongst other things, at least two sensors where each sensor is adapted to detect an image in a different predetermined spectral sensitivity; a first lens to focus capture spectral bands; a spectral filter between the lens and the sensors to subdivide the incident spectral bands; and a second lens to direct and focus the subdivided incident spectral bands on each of the sensors.
US08975593B1	Gas avalanche neutron detector A gas avalanche neutron detector (GAND) filled with counting gas for detecting thermal neutrons or neutron radiation without the use of a conventional proportional counter is provided. The GAND may include a layer of thermalization material, a cathode having a face with a layer of material, exhibiting neutron capture followed by charged particle emission such as Boron-10, a microstructure amplifier, and an anode. Thermal neutrons may enter the detector and interact with the material on the face of the cathode producing alpha particles. The alpha particles may ionize the counting gas inside the detector and produce ionization electrons. The cathode, microstructure amplifier and anode may have voltages applied that create electric fields that cause the ionization electrons to drift toward the microstructure amplifier. The microstructure then accelerates the electrons causing an avalanche effect within the gas and provides an amplification of the signal dramatically increasing neutron detection sensitivity.
US08975592B2	Ion detector An ion detector 1A for detecting positive ions is provided with a chamber 2 having an ion entrance 3 which allows positive ions to enter, a conversion dynode 9 which is disposed in the chamber 2 and to which a negative potential is applied, and an avalanche photodiode 30 that is disposed in the chamber 2 and has an electron incident surface 30a which is opposed to the conversion dynode 9 and also into which secondary electrons emitted from the conversion dynode 9 are made incident. The electron incident surface 30a is located closer to the conversion dynode 9 than a positioning part 14 which supports the avalanche photodiode 30 in the grounded chamber 2.
US08975588B2	Concentrating light towards a target element An optical device (102) configured for concentrating light towards a target element (104) is provided. The optical device (102) comprises a waveguide element (106) configured for guiding light towards the target element (104), and a wavelength conversion element (108) configured for converting incoming light of a first wavelength into outgoing light of a second wavelength. The wavelength conversion element (108) extends adjacent to the waveguide element (106). An interface (114) between the waveguide element (106) and the wavelength conversion element (108) comprises a surface roughness. The latter may provide for an in creased efficiency and low manufacturing costs of the optical device (102).
US08975584B2	Improved-efficiency fibre-coupled terahertz system A terahertz system can be configured for producing and coherently detecting terahertz radiation. The system can comprise a laser light source and two THz antennas, a first of which is used as a transmission antenna and a second of which is used as a receiver antenna, which are each optically coupled to the laser light source by an optical fiber and can be activated by light from this laser light source, wherein the THz antennas each have a semiconductor chip to which antenna conductors have been contact-connected and which comprises at least one photosensitive active layer with a band edge wavelength which is longer than a wavelength of the laser light source and at least one layer, adjoining the active layer, with a band edge wavelength which is shorter than the wavelength of the laser light source, wherein the band edge wavelength of the active layer of at least one of the THz antennas is at least 200 nm longer than the wavelength of the laser light source.
US08975582B2	Method and apparatus for reviewing defects A method of inspecting defects of a sample on a movable table includes a first step for, on a basis of position information of the defects which is previously detected by an other inspection system, driving the table so that the defects come into a viewing field of an optical microscope having a focus which is adjusted, a second step for re-detecting the defects to obtain a first detection result, a third step for correcting the position information of defects on a basis of position information of the re-detected defects, and a fourth step for reviewing the defects whose position information is corrected to obtain a second detection result. At the second step, re-detecting is performed using reflection light or scattered light from the sample which passes an optical filter which includes a light shielding portion and a light transmitting portion.
US08975580B2	Orthogonal acceleration system for time-of-flight mass spectrometer An orthogonal pulse accelerator for a Time-of-Flight mass analyzer includes an electrically-conductive first plate extending in a first plane, and a second plate spaced from the first plate. The second plate includes a grid that defines a plurality of apertures each having a first dimension extending in a first direction and a second dimension orthogonal to the first dimension, the first and second dimensions lying in the second plane and the second dimension begin larger than the first dimension. The first and second plates are positioned in the Time-of-Flight mass analyzer to receive, during operation of the mass analyzer, an ion beam propagating in the first direction in a region between the first and second plates, and the orthogonal pulse accelerator directs ions in the ion beam through the apertures.
US08975579B2	Mass spectrometry apparatus and methods A mass spectrometer having a mass filter which applies a transient voltage profile to accelerate ion packets. The voltage profile is chosen to have a functional form which imparts each ion species with a kinetic energy which is larger the larger the mass-to-charge ratio and a velocity which is smaller the larger the mass-to-charge ratio. The ions are detected in an ion detector which discriminates between different ion species based on their kinetic energy and taking account of the functional form of the voltage profile. Suitable voltage profiles include periodic functions such as sinusoids, triangles and sawtooths, which allow the amplification of drive pulses in the mass filter to be carried out with narrow band amplification stages, which are simple and inexpensive to construct.
US08975577B2	System and method for grouping precursor and fragment ions using selected ion chromatograms LC/MS data generated by an LC/MS system is analyzed to determine groupings of ions associated with originating molecules. Ions are grouped initially according to retention time, for example, using retention time or chromatographic peaks in mass chromatograms. After initial groupings are determined based on retention time, ion peak shapes are compared to determine whether ions should be excluded. Ions having peak shapes not matching other ions, or alternatively a reference peak shape, are excluded from the group.
US08975576B2	Method and apparatus for leak testing containers Close containers which are filled with a consumer product are tested on leakiness by means of mass spectrometry (10) in that an impact (AN(P)) by the consumer product (P) upon the surrounding atmosphere (A(P)) of the container to be leak tested is monitored by the mass spectrometry (10).
US08975575B2	Mass spectrometer and mass spectrometric method A mass spectrometry using helium as cooling gas is performed to obtain a first mass spectrum (S1), and another mass spectrometry using argon, which is heavier than helium, as cooling gas is performed to obtain a second mass spectrum for the same sample (S2). Due to the difference between the two gases in terms of the effect of promoting dissociation of modifications, an ion peak originating from a target compound from which all the modifications have been dissociated will appear with a higher intensity on the second mass spectrum. The peak patterns of the two mass spectra are compared to locate the all-dissociated ion peak while excluding unnecessary peaks (S3). Based on that peak, the assignment of each peak is determined (S4). Such a method is effective for enhancing the accuracy of the determination of the assignment of the peaks on the mass spectra and for improving the accuracy of identification or structural analysis in the case of a mass spectrometry of a compound to which an easily dissociable modification, such as a Sialylated glycosylated peptide, is bonded.
US08975574B2	Well-logging tool with azimuthal and spectral radiation detectors and related methods A well-logging tool may be positioned within a borehole of a subterranean formation. The well-logging tool may include a housing having an interior defining a dual-detector receiving chamber extending longitudinally, and having first and second portions, and a first azimuthal radiation detector carried by the first portion of the dual-detector receiving chamber. The first azimuthal radiation detector may include a first gamma-ray detector and a first photodetector associated with the first gamma-ray detector. The well-logging tool may include a second spectral radiation detector carried by the second portion of the dual-detector receiving chamber. The second spectral radiation detector may include a second gamma-ray detector and a second photodetector associated with the second gamma-ray detector.
US08975573B2	Systems and methods for calibrating mass spectrometers Systems and methods are disclosed for calibrating mass spectrometers. In accordance with one implementation, a system comprises a calibrant chamber within a housing of a mass spectrometer. The system also comprises a permeation tube enclosed within the calibrant chamber, wherein the tube contains a calibrant chemical that continuously outgasses the calibrant chemical. The outgassed calibrant chemical may be introduced to the mass spectrometer for analysis. The system may also comprise a heating block to control the temperature of the calibrant chemical. The system may further comprise a valve that introduces a known amount of the calibrant chemical into the calibrant chamber. In accordance with the present disclosure, systems and methods are provided for calibrating a mass spectrometer abundance scale.
US08975570B2	CMOS time delay and integration image sensor A CMOS time delay and integration image sensor is disclosed having analog sampling stages coupled to the column bus that correspond to a pixel in the column. The analog sampling stages have a first memory element that stores the pixels reset level signal and a second memory element that stores an output signal of a previous analog sampling stage in the column. The analog sampling stage integrates the signal of the previous analog sampling stage with the sampled photosignal of the corresponding pixel and subtracts the reset level. The analog sampling stage architecture provides global shuttering and correlated double sampling and only requires a single analog to digital conversion for each TDI line time.
US08975567B2	Coordinate detector A coordinate detector includes a light output part, a light detection part, a first guide part, and a second guide part. The light output part emits light. The light detection part outputs a detection signal according to the amount of entering light. The light output part and the light detection part are provided in an area around a display part on a side closer to a first surface of the display part than to its second surface facing away from the first surface. The first guide part guides light emitted from the light output part toward a direction along the first surface. The second guide part guides, toward the light detection part, light exiting from the first guide part and passing over the first surface.
US08975561B2	Electric heating apparatus, especially for motor vehicles The invention describes a heating apparatus comprising at least one heater (9) in which one or more electric heating elements (11) are arranged, and at least one heat transmitter (1), which is connected with the at least one heater (9), comprises heat transmitter surfaces and is formed from an extruded profile (1a, 28, 28a) in which the at least one heater (9) is fitted,in which at least part of the walls (6, 22, 22a) of the extruded profile (1a), which are not in contact with a heating element (11), is provided with openings through which a gaseous or liquid medium can flow through the extruded profile (1a, 28, 28a) in transverse direction to the direction of extrusion (17).
US08975556B2	Manufacturing apparatus of coordinate detecting device A coordinate detecting device includes a resistive film formed on a substrate and a common electrode for applying a voltage to the resistive film, wherein a potential distribution is created in the resistive film, an electric potential of the resistive film at a contact position is detected, and a position of the contact position of the resistive film is detected. In a manufacturing apparatus, a laser light source irradiates laser light to remove a part of the resistive film to form a resistive film removed part, an optical system converges the laser light, a plurality of probes measure electric potentials of a surface of the resistive film with the common electrode providing the voltage to the resistive film, an X-Y table moves the substrate at least two-dimensionally, and a control part controls the X-Y table and the laser light source.
US08975553B2	Workpiece mounting table for electric discharge machine A workpiece mounting table (20) for an electric discharge machine, which machines a workpiece (12) by discharging electricity between an electrode and the workpiece (12) in an interior of a work tank (6) and removing a surface of the workpiece (12), includes a surface-plate mounting table (3) made of a conductive material and arranged at the bottom of the work tank (6), a plurality of insulating materials (2), each of which has a flat shape and is arranged and fixed on the surface-plate mounting table (3) with a gap (4) between the insulating materials (2) to constitute an insulating flat plate (30), and a surface plate (1) made of a metal material, fixed on the insulating flat plate (30) and insulated from the surface-plate mounting table (3) by the insulating flat plate (30), for fixing thereon the workpiece (12).
US08975551B2	Arc chamber for a circuit breaker and circuit breaker having an arc chamber An arc chamber for a circuit breaker has first and second mounting bodies. The mounting bodies are disposed at the ends of an electrically insulating insulation section of the arc chamber. The insulation section is formed of at least two shell-shaped partial sections. The partial sections are curved concavely relative to a longitudinal axis of the arc chamber. A gap is formed between the edges of the bodies of the partial sections.

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