最新美国发明专利第2015-04-21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
US09015861B2	Modification of atomic force microscopy tips by deposition of nanoparticles with an aggregate source The present invention relates to a method for covering Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) tips by depositing a material in the form of nanoparticles with an aggregate source.
US09015858B2	Graphical user interface for seamless secure private collaboration Seamless, secure, private, collaborative file synchronization across trust boundaries, typically as a companion to a store and sync file service. Information needed to recover a file is stored within the file itself, without giving away secret data. User specific personal keys are preferably only stored on the users' device(s). A unique ID is also created for each protected file; a password is generated that depends on (a) a key value that can either be (i) the user's personal key in the case of a file that is to be private or (ii) a shared key in the case of a file that is to be shared with other users, and (b) the unique file ID. The password is then encrypted using a recovery key and also stored in the file itself. The file is secured using a format that supports password-based content encryption.
US09015856B2	Mobile-device user authentication In one embodiment, receiving a notice from a first user associated with a first mobile device indicating that the first user wishes to share information of the first user with one or more second users respectively associated with one or more second mobile devices; accessing information known about one or more users and one or more mobile devices respectively associated with the one or more users; identifying at least one candidate for the first user based on the information known about the one or more users and the one or more mobile devices; and confirming one or more of the at least one candidate as the one or more second users.
US09015855B2	Secure tunneling platform system and method A system identifies a user, even a user behind a wireless router, and provides a virtual tunnel over the internet for communication with the user. A data center at an Internet Service Provider may work in concert with a central data center to authenticate the user and to provide access, for example using a layer 2 tunneling protocol and a point-to-point data (PPP) link protocol. A layer 2 tunneling protocol network server (LNS) may provide public IP address translation services.
US09015849B1	Method and apparatus for preventing data leakage of e-discovery data items A method and apparatus for preventing data leakage of e-discovery data items is provided. In one embodiment, the method for automatically configuring e-discovery data for data leakage prevention includes processing filtering information regarding at least one e-discovery data item that is selected for data leakage prevention and generating data leakage prevention information for the selected at least one e-discovery data item, wherein the data leakage prevention information is used to filter the at least one data item.
US09015848B2	Method for virtualizing a personal working environment and device for the same The present invention is directed to a method for virtualizing a personal working environment and a device for the same, relating to the information security field. The method comprises the steps of: installing a Virtual Machine (VM) environment on a device; upon virtualizing the personal working environment, connecting the device to a host, loading the VM environment into the host; and responding to a user operation and saving data of the user operation to the device by the VM environment. The device comprises a communication interface module, a VM environment storage module, and a control module. The present invention provides a means for secure and convenient mobile work.
US09015845B2	Transit control for data A method for an apparatus which operates in a data cloud includes requesting trust information from a service cloud, receiving the trust information from the service cloud, performing a trust assessment of the service cloud based on the trust information, and controlling transmission of data to the service cloud according to a result of the trust assessment.
US09015842B2	Method and system for protection against information stealing software A system and method for identifying infection of unwanted software on an electronic device is disclosed. A software agent configured to generate a bait and is installed on the electronic device. The bait can simulate a situation in which the user performs a login session and submits personal information or it may just contain artificial sensitive information. Parameters may be inserted into the bait such as the identity of the electronic device that the bait is installed upon. The output of the electronic device is monitored and analyzed for attempts of transmitting the bait. The output is analyzed by correlating the output with the bait and can be done by comparing information about the bait with the traffic over a computer network in order to decide about the existence and the location of unwanted software. Furthermore, it is possible to store information about the bait in a database and then compare information about a user with the information in the database in order to determine if the electronic device that transmitted the bait contains unwanted software.
US09015841B2	Method and apparatus for virus scanning Method and apparatus for virus scanning, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions for performing virus scanning. The method includes detecting a status of a system; and when the status of the system is idle, if current virus scanning has begun, continuing the current virus scanning, and if the current virus scanning has not begun, acquiring a scanning progress of previous virus scanning, beginning the current virus scanning according to the acquired scanning progress, and recording a scanning progress of the current virus scanning.
US09015839B2	Identifying malicious devices within a computer network This disclosure describes techniques for proactively identifying possible attackers based on a profile of a device. For example, a device includes one or more processors and network interface cards to receive, from a remote device, network traffic directed to one or more computing devices protected by the device, determine, based on content of the network traffic, a first set of data points for the device, send a response to the remote device to ascertain a second set of data points for the device, and receive, from the remote device, at least a portion of the second set of data points. The device also includes a security module operable by the processors to determine a maliciousness rating, and selectively manage, based on the maliciousness rating, additional network traffic directed to the one or more computing devices protected by the security device and received from the remote device.
US09015835B2	Systems and methods for procedure return address verification An example processing system may comprise: a stack pointer configured to reference a first return address stored on a stack; a return address buffer pointer configured to reference a second return address stored in a return address buffer; and a return address verification logic configured, responsive to receiving a return instruction, to compare the first return address to the second return address.
US09015833B2	Defense against DNS DoS attack A method for defending a computer system comprising a DNS server against a DoS or a DDoS attack directed at said DNS server comprises replacing the address of said system provided by a user to a client software with an alternative address, wherein said address is replaced by a software agent associated with said user, such that said client software is capable of connecting with said system.
US09015830B2	Verification apparatus and verification method A verification apparatus for verifying a verified apparatus corresponding to a first apparatus included in a plurality of information processing apparatuses includes a storage and a processor. The storage stores captured data acquired by capturing data transmitted and received among the plurality of information processing apparatuses. The processor receives first data transmitted from the verified apparatus. The first data is destined for a second apparatus included in the plurality of information processing apparatuses. The processor extracts, from the storage, second data transmitted from the second apparatus in response to third data transmitted from the first apparatus to the second apparatus. The third data corresponds to the first data. The processor transmits the extracted second data to the verified apparatus.
US09015828B2	Method and system for autonomous control and protection of computer systems A management system includes a plurality of components within a computer system. A plurality of component resource managers is provided, and each of the components is controlled by at least one of the plurality of component resource managers. A plurality of component management interfaces is also provided. Each of the components communicates with at least one of the controlling component resource managers via one of the component management interfaces. At least one runtime manager autonomously controls operation of the components and the component resource managers.
US09015827B2	Transitioning between access states of a computing device Aspects of this disclosure are directed to outputting, for display at a presence-sensitive display, a first set of two or more selectable objects in a first arrangement of locations, the computing device operating in a first instance of a limited access state. At least one of the selectable objects includes an element of a predetermined passcode. The computing device may receive an indication of a first gesture to select one of the selectable objects and an indication of a second gesture to designate the selected object as an element of a candidate passcode. The computing device may transition to an access state based at least in part on a comparison between the candidate passcode and the predetermined passcode. The computing device may transition to a second instance of the limited access state, and may output a second set of two or more selectable objects in a second, different arrangement.
US09015822B2	Automatic invocation of DTN bundle protocol A system and method for providing DTN services to legacy applications is provided. According to one example, a method for providing delay tolerant networking (DTN) services to legacy applications includes acts of intercepting a packet addressed to a software application, the packet including a payload, the software application being resident on a first computer, determining suitability of the packet for DTN processing and encoding the payload into a DTN bundle. According to another example, a system for providing delay tolerant networking (DTN) services to legacy applications includes a network interface, a memory anda controller coupled to the network interface and the memory. In this example, the controller is configured to intercept a packet addressed to a software application, the packet including a payload, the software application being resident on a computer, determine suitability of the packet for DTN processing and encode the payload into a DTN bundle.
US09015821B2	User authentication A user authentication method and system. A computing system receives from a user, a first request for accessing specified functions executed by a specified software application. The computing system enables a security manager software application and connects the specified software application to a computing apparatus. The computing system executes first security functions associated with the computing apparatus. The computing system executes second security functions associated with additional computing apparatuses. The computing system determines if the user may access the specified functions executed by the specified software application based on results of executing the first security functions and the second security functions. The computing system generates and stores a report indicating the results.
US09015820B1	Cross site request forgery mitigation in multi-domain integrations Systems and methods for authenticating a request submitted from a client device through a third party content provider to an electronic entity are described. In one embodiment, a method includes providing a trusted script to the third party content provider, passing a trust token to the third party content provider and to the client device, and, in response to a request submitted from the client device through the third party content provider, validating the trust token associated with the request with the token passed to the client device, and processing the request. The trusted script is configured to create a trusted window on the third party Web page displayed on the client computing device, receive a trust token from the electronic entity through the trusted window, and associate the trust token with requests submitted from the client computing device through the third party content provider to the electronic entity.
US09015815B2	Method and system for authenticating a network node in a UAM-based WLAN network The invention relates to a method and system for authenticating a mobile network node in a Wireless Local Area Network, wherein the mobile network node requests access to the WLAN at an access point. Within a closed first network region, before authentication all network protocol layers up to the Layer 3 protocol layer (L3) are set up. An authenticator based on Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) is generated on the Web server as captive portal and the Layer 3 protocol layer between the authenticator and the mobile network node comprising an EAP peer is extended bidirectionally by means of a defined bit sequence. In case of an access request, the Web server transmits an authentication stimulus to the mobile node by encoding an EAP message request and transmitting it in the Layer 3 protocol layer by means of the defined bit sequence. The mobile node decodes the EAP message request and transmits, in the Layer 3 protocol layer, by means of the defined bit sequence, an encoded EAP response message to the authenticator, the EAP response message comprises authentication data of the mobile network node. The Web server decodes the EAP response message from the bit sequence, transmits it to an AAA server including an EAP server by means of an authentication inquiry. On the basis of an authentication response by the AAA Server, access is enabled to a second network region for use by the mobile network node by means of a Network Access Server.
US09015810B2	System and method for authenticating manual interaction in a computing environment The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a secure manual interaction with one or more electronic devices in a network. An authentication module generates an authentication task to a user to input data using a user interface. The data is processed and a second security module generates security tasks to be responded by the user such that the security tasks are generated in real-time by using the input data fed by the user. A verification module correlates the input data with the security tasks responded by the user in order to check the data integrity before completing the interaction.
US09015807B2	Authorizing application access to secure resources An application submits a permission request to a resource server. In response to receiving the request, the resource server generates a user interface that asks the user to grant or deny the requested permissions. If the permissions are granted, data is stored indicating that the application has the requested permissions. When a runtime request for a resource is received, the resource server determines whether the request has been made by a user, by an application, or by an application on behalf of a user. If the request is made by an application only, the request is granted only if the application has permission to access the resource by way of a direct call not on behalf of a user. If the request is made by an application on behalf of a user, the request is granted only if both the user and the application have sufficient permission.
US09015806B2	Sending digital data visually using mobile display and camera sensor A system for establishing a connection between a first device and a wireless network includes a first control module, located on the first device, that receives encoded digital data. The encoded digital data corresponds to a plurality of images displayed sequentially on a display of a second device. Each of the plurality of images corresponds to a different portion of the encoded digital data. A decoder module, located on the first device, converts the encoded digital data into configuration data. The configuration data includes at least one of an identifier of the wireless network, an encryption key associated with the wireless network, and a password associated with the wireless network. The first control module uses the configuration data to establish the connection with the wireless network.
US09015803B1	Online personal library In a server-computer implemented system for online document collaboration, a document stored online in a first account may be modified by one or more of an authorized first group of users, which modifications are received and applied to the document. Electronic notification that the document is modified is sent to one or more of an authorized second group of users, who can thereafter further modify the document, or indicate their approval or disapproval of the modifications made by the one or more of the authorized first group of users. The one or more of the authorized first group of users is authorized to make specific permitted changes to the document, and if an attempt is made to change the document in a manner not permitted, then an alarm condition is generated.
US09015802B1	Personally identifiable information detection Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for privacy protection. In one aspect, a method includes accessing personally identifiable information (PII) type definitions that characterize PII types; identifying PII type information included in content of a web page, the PII type information being information matching at least one PII type definition; identifying secondary information included in the content of the web page, the secondary information being information that is predefined as being associated with PII type information; determining a risk score from the PII type information and the secondary information; and classifying the web page as a personal information exposure risk if the risk score meets a confidentiality threshold, wherein the personal information exposure risk is indicative of the web page including personally identifiable information.
US09015800B2	User security comparison and reversion A web interface may generate reports regarding changes in user security parameters in a computer network. The report may ease administrator's duties analyzing log files to determine the modifications to user accounts. The administrator may be presented with an option to revert a user to a prior state of user security parameters. Thus, the interface provides the administrator the ability to generate reports and modify user accounts from a single web page.
US09015794B2	Determining several security indicators of different types for each gathering item in a computer system For supervising the security of a computer system (SY) comprising several elementary computer items (BI), such as machines and applications, and several gathering items (BIg), such as networks, services or sites, gathering elementary items, a supervision device (DS) collects base measurements (MB) representative of states of the elementary items. A unit (UDI) determines several security indicators (I) of different types for each elementary item according to respective functions of the base measurements and several security indicators of different types for each gathering item. Each security indicator of a given type of a gathering item is determined according to a respective function of the security indicators of the given type of the elementary items gathered in the gathering item. The indicators of one item relate to the availability, the intrusion, the vulnerability and the compliance to a security policy.
US09015793B2	Hardware management interface A management controller of a computing device is identified on a network and queried for attributes of the computing device. The management controller is securely implemented in hardware of the computing device and is independent of a central processing unit (CPU) of the computing device. Data is received from the management controller that identifies one or more attributes of the computing device. A security policy of the network is implemented for the computing device based on the one or more attributes.
US09015791B2	Method of managing web application policy using smart card, and web server and mobile terminal for implementing the same A method of managing policy information in a mobile terminal by requesting an external policy management server for information about whether a change has been made to policy information and updating the policy information in a smart card web server of the mobile terminal to control access to resources based on the updated policy information.
US09015790B2	Integrating sudo rules with entities represented in an LDAP directory A method and apparatus for integrating Sudo rules into a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) repository. An LDAP directory server receives a request to add a sudo rule to the LDAP repository. The sudo rule defines at least one sudo command and one or more entities associated with the execution of the sudo command. The LDAP directory server creates an LDAP entry for the sudo rule, and links in the LDAP entry of the sudo rule an LDAP entry of the sudo command and LDAP entries of the entities associated with the execution of the sudo command.
US09015785B2	Terminal apparatus, server apparatus, information processing method, program, and linking application supply system [Object]To execute applications in link with the progression of content being viewed at user's home.[Solving Means]A terminal apparatus practiced as one embodiment of the present disclosure has an extracting block configured to extract signature data indicative of features of content to be reproduced, a query generating block configured to generate a query that at least includes the above-mentioned extracted signature, a communication block configured to transmit the above-mentioned generated query to a server apparatus and receive a response returned by this server in response to the above-mentioned response, and an application executing block configured to obtain an application on the basis of an application URL (Uniform Resource Locator) in which at least application identification information is written, this URL being included in the above-mentioned received response, and execute the obtained application. The above-mentioned terminal apparatus practiced as one embodiment of the invention is applicable to TV receivers.
US09015783B2	Bandwidth conservation A request to establish a switched digital video session with high-definition content is received from a subscriber of a video content network offering a switched digital video service. A determination is made that the subscriber only has capability of viewing standard definition content. Responsive to the request and the determination, the subscriber, in the session, is provided a signal with a standard definition version of the requested high-definition content. An exemplary switched digital video control apparatus and an exemplary system are also disclosed.
US09015781B2	Methods and apparatuses for providing load balanced signal distribution Methods and apparatuses provide load balanced signal distribution to client devices in a network, such as a digital home network. According to an exemplary embodiment, one of the methods includes the steps of receiving a request from a client device for downloading video from one of a plurality of video sources, receiving respective load indicators from first and second video receiving devices capable of receiving the plurality of video sources, selecting one of the first and second video receiving devices according to the load indicators, and instructing the selected video receiving device to transmit the video from the one of the plurality of video sources using an address known by the client device.
US09015779B2	Streaming video server with segment length control and methods for use therewith A streaming server includes a virtual file system that stores playlist data corresponding to video programs available from at least one video source and that further stores variant playlist data corresponding to each of the video programs for streaming. A command handler receives a request for a video program from a client device. A video encoder encodes the selected video program into a plurality of video program segments in response to the request. The plurality of video program segments each have a length that is controlled based on length data, wherein the plurality of video segments includes one or more initial video program segments having at least one initialization length and steady state video program segments having a steady state length where the initialization length is less than the steady state length.
US09015777B2	System and method for dynamic bandwidth allocation A system and method for conserving bandwidth for a data connection. A television is detected to have been turned off. Recording information is requested from a digital video record. A content stream to the digital video recorder and the television is terminated in response to receiving the recording information and determining the DVR is inactive.
US09015775B2	System and method for interfacing a portable media device with a vehicle information system An information system suitable for use in cooperation with portable media devices, such as an Apple iPod® digital electronic media device, and methods for manufacturing and using same. The information system provides a user-friendly communication interface for coupling with a portable media device and can perform a plurality of integration tasks simultaneously, enabling the personal media device to become fully integrated with the information system. Viewing content thereby can be selected from video and/or audio viewing content stored internally within the personal media device, and the selected viewing content can be communicated from the personal media device to the information system for presentation via a video presentation system and/or an audio presentation system of the information system. The personal media device likewise can receive control commands and/or operating power from the information system. Thereby, the personal media device advantageously can become a seamless part of the information system.
US09015773B2	Method for transmitting and receiving a broadcast signal and a broadcast receiver using the method The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving a broadcast signal. The method for receiving a broadcast signal comprises: generating a broadcast stream including at least one program; generating first program table information that represents the broadcast stream; receiving non-real time (NRT) service schedule information; generating second program table information that represents the NRT service, in accordance with the received NRT service schedule information; configuring a stream including the broadcast stream, the 1st program table information and the second program table information; and transmitting the stream.
US09015771B2	Apparatus for selected provision of linear and/or circular polarity signals The invention relates to apparatus and method which can be used to receive broadcast digital data. The apparatus and method are provided at one or more receiving locations and is connected to one or more broadcast data receivers at each location. The apparatus is capable of receiving and processing data in linear and/or circular polarity formats and the operating condition of the same can be altered in response to a command signal broadcast to the receiving locations prior to the transmission of data in a new format such as to the change in the operating condition of the apparatus to receive and process linear as well as the previously broadcast circular polarity format data.
US09015770B2	Digital broadcasting reception apparatus and digital broadcasting reception method A digital broadcasting reception apparatus (100) is provided with: a reception unit (111, 121) that receives a signal; a signal strength detection unit (112, 122) that detects the received strength of the received signal; a channel scan control unit (125) that detects receivable physical channels; an area map storage unit (129) that stores coverage area information indicating coverage areas; a current position detection unit (127) that detects the current position; a tuning control unit (118) that determines a distance threshold value on the basis of the received strength detected by the signal strength detection unit when the channel scan control unit (125) detects a physical channel and the current position, at which the detection was made, is not included within the coverage area of the detected physical channel; and an area map generating unit (128) that expands the coverage area on the basis of the determined distance threshold value.
US09015768B2	Digital television signal, digital television receiver, and method of processing digital television signal A DTV receiver includes a receiver to receive a digital television signal including a plurality of extended text table (ETT) instances that appear in transport stream packets with common PID values, the ETT instances having common table ID values, each ETT instance comprising a section header and a message body, the section header containing a table identification (ID) extension field that serves to establish uniqueness of each ETT instance, the message body containing an extended text message (ETM) which provides detailed descriptions of a virtual channel or an event associated with each ETT instance, wherein the section header further contains a protocol version field indicating a protocol version and a private indicator field indicating a private indicator a demodulator to demodulate the digital television signal and an identifier to identify at least one pertinent ETT instance from the plurality of ETT instances.
US09015762B2	Differentiated PSIP table update interval technology An apparatus, method and data structure for generating at least one table in a broadcast environment, are provided. The apparatus includes a generator to generate an event information table (EIT) and an extended text table (ETT). The ETT has program guide information for an n-hour span and has a transmission interval. The ETT has a transmission interval and program description information according to the EIT. The transmission interval of the EIT is shorter than the transmission interval of the ETT.
US09015761B2	System for interacting with an electronic program guide A computer system includes a display that displays an electronic program guide to a user. A data storage unit includes keywords related to television shows currently being broadcast. A server device is configured to retrieve real-time data related to a person of interest from the internet by monitoring messages that they generate. The server device can then identify one or more matches between the retrieved data and the stored keywords, and can output a modified electronic program guide including an indication of matching keywords. This can allow an electronic program guide to include an inference of the television show that a person of interest is likely to be watching or talking about online.
US09015757B2	Merged program guide A merged program guide which includes program metadata from a plurality of different media controllers. A first media controller receives program metadata that identifies a first plurality of programs. The first plurality of programs corresponds to a first content package provided by a content provider. A first program record identifying a first program of the first plurality of programs is generated. The first program record includes first program metadata associated with the first program. The first program metadata is transmitted onto a network to make the first program metadata available to a second media controller. The first media controller receives second program metadata associated with a second program of a second plurality of programs which correspond to a second content package associated with the second media controller. The first program metadata and the second program metadata are stored in a program guide on the first media controller.
US09015756B2	Interactive Program guide with graphic program listings Electronic program guides in which program listings may be graphically presented and in which sponsors and celebrities of those programs may be identified are provided. The electronic programs guides may be passive television program guides, interactive television program guides, and/or on-line television program guides. Television show text information, logos and/or trademarks, celebrity images, affiliation indicators, and advertisements may be present in the program listings to enhance the electronic program guides.
US09015753B2	Virtual channel table for a broadcast protocol and method of broadcasting and receiving broadcast signals using the same A virtual channel table for broadcasting protocol and a method for broadcasting by using the virtual channel table includes identification information identifying and permitting discrimination of active and inactive channels contained in the virtual channel table. At a receiver, the virtual channel table transmitted from the transmitting side is parsed, thereby determining whether the current received channel is an active or inactive channel.
US09015752B2	Virtual channel table for a broadcast protocol and method of broadcasting and receiving broadcast signals using the same A virtual channel table for broadcasting protocol and a method for broadcasting by using the virtual channel table includes identification information identifying and permitting discrimination of active and inactive channels contained in the virtual channel table. At a receiver, the virtual channel table transmitted from the transmitting side is parsed, thereby determining whether the current received channel is an active or inactive channel.
US09015747B2	Advertisement rotation A system and method for delivering content over a network is provided. Content may be primary content (e.g., music or a movie) or ancillary content (e.g., an advertisement). The ancillary content may further be classified as universal ancillary content that all users of the present system will receive; targeted ancillary content that particular users of the present system will receive; and context-specific ancillary content that users of the present system and viewing particular primary content will receive. The type of primary and/or ancillary content delivered to the user will depend, in part, on indicia of the user of a device receiving the content. The present invention seeks to ensure that a user has relevant and up-to-date ancillary content notwithstanding the nature or date of the primary content. Feedback data concerning the viewing of the ancillary content may also be generated such that a provider of the advertisement and/or product may provide targeted advertisements and improved products and services.
US09015746B2	Interest-based video streams Embodiments related to delivering a video stream to a requesting viewer are disclosed. In one example embodiment, a video stream is delivered by receiving a request for the video stream from a requesting device, the request including the requesting viewer's identity, assembling a list of selected video content items for display to the requesting viewer, the selected video items being selected from a plurality of video items based on the identity of the requesting viewer and a viewing interest profile comprising the requesting viewer's viewing interests, and sending the video stream for display, the video stream including one or more of the selected video items.
US09015741B2	Method and system for remotely controlling consumer electronic devices A media system replaces content in a first sequence of media content. The media system presents the first sequence of media content to an end-user and generates a fingerprint of the sequence of media content. The fingerprint is for comparison with a plurality of reference fingerprints so as to identify the first sequence of media content and determine a reference position within the first sequence of media content. The media system sends a request for a replacement sequence of content to a content replacement system, and receives replacement media content selected based on the identified first sequence of media content. The media system presents the replacement media content to the end-user instead of the first sequence of media content. Presenting the replacement media content begins at a position in the first sequence of media content that is determined based on the reference position.
US09015740B2	Systems and methods to wirelessly meter audio/visual devices Example systems and methods to wirelessly meter audio/visual (A/V) devices are disclosed. A disclosed example method receives media content from an A/V source device, embeds a video overlay in the wirelessly received media content, and wirelessly transmits the media content and the video overlay to the wireless A/V device. The example method wirelessly receives audience identification information in response to the transmitted video overlay, and wirelessly receives audience behavior information.
US09015737B2	Linked advertisements Embodiments of the present invention generate linked advertisements. Linked advertisements may include a preliminary advertisement and one or more subsequent advertisements. In one embodiment, the viewer is only shown the subsequent advertisement upon detecting a positive reaction to the preliminary advertisement. The subsequent advertisement is associated with presentation triggers that specify a context in which the subsequent advertisement should be presented. The context may be defined by a time of day, location, user activity, and/or other parameters. For example, the presentation trigger may specify a context in which the user is able to purchase an advertised good or service. For example, the context could be the user driving (activity context) near a coffee shop (location context) in the morning (time context). The reaction to the preliminary advertisement may be explicit or implicit.
US09015734B2	Turn table for spindle motor and spindle motor having the same A turn table for a spindle motor and a spindle motor having the turn table are provided, the turn table for a spindle motor according to an exemplary embodiment comprising a clamping plate configured to have a locking protrusion protruding from an inner surface of a first recess thereof, the first recess being concavely formed in an outer circumference of the clamping plate; and a turn-table body configured to have a second recess to receive the clamping plate, and a plurality of protrusions protruding from an inner surface defined by the second recess towards the first recess to lock the locking protrusion.
US09015731B2	Event handling system and method An event handling system includes a standard operating procedure (SOP) engine configured to process an SOP defined for an event and transmit the event, and an event publisher configured to transmit the event transmitted from the SOP engine to a target according to a type and a connection state of the target.
US09015726B2	Scheduling jobs of a multi-node computer system based on environmental impact Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for scheduling jobs on a multi-node computing system based on the predicted environmental impact of executing the jobs. In one embodiment, a plurality of job plans may be generated for processing a requested job on the multi-node computing system. The environmental impacts resulting from executing each job plan may be estimated by matching the job plans to stored data based on standardized executions of job plans. Further, environmental impacts may be estimated by matching the job plans to stored data based on actual environmental measurements obtained during prior executions of the job plan on the multi-node computer system. The job may be executed using a job plan selected based on predicted environmental impacts and time performance.
US09015725B2	Systems and methods for distributing a workload based on a local cooling efficiency index determined for at least one location within a zone in a data center A data center workload distribution management system includes a cooling cost engine to determine a cooling cost or cooling capacity for each of a plurality of zones of a data center and a workload distribution engine. The workload distribution engine is to identify the zone that has a lowest cooling cost and sufficient cooling capacity and also has sufficient processing capacity for a workload, determine a local cooling efficiency index for at least one location within the identified zone, and distribute the workload to the location having a local cooling efficiency index that indicates the highest cooling efficiency.
US09015724B2	Job dispatching with scheduler record updates containing characteristics combinations of job characteristics The present invention provides a method, program product, and information processing system that efficiently dispatches jobs from a job queue. The jobs are dispatched to the computational nodes in the system. First, for each job, the number of nodes required to perform the job and the required computational resources for each of these nodes are determined. Then, for each node required, a node is selected to determine whether a job scheduler has a record indicating if this node meets the required computational resource requirement. If no record exists, the job scheduler analyzes whether the node meets the computational resource requirements given that other jobs may be currently executing on that node. The result of this determination is recorded. If the node does meet the computational resource requirement, the node is assigned to the job. If the node does not meet the resource requirement, a next available node is selected. The method continues until all required nodes are assigned and the job is dispatched to the assigned nodes. Alternatively, if the number of required nodes is not available, it is indicated the job can not be run at this time.
US09015719B2	Scheduling of tasks to be performed by a non-coherent device A method for scheduling tasks to be processed by one of a plurality of non-coherent processing devices, at least two of the devices being heterogeneous devices and at least some of said tasks being targeted to a specific one of the processing devices. The devices process data that is stored in local storage and in a memory accessible by at least some of the devices. The method includes the steps of: for each of a plurality of non-dependent tasks to be processed by the device, determining consistency operations required to be performed prior to processing the non-dependent task; performing the consistency operations for one of the non-dependent tasks and on completion issuing the task to the device for processing; performing consistency operations for a further non-dependent task such that, on completion of the consistency operations, the device can process the further task.
US09015715B2	Common contiguous memory region optimized long distance virtual machine migration Embodiments relate to migrating a virtual machine (VM) between work groups. A first machine in a first work group generates a migration request that identifies one or more contiguous memory regions used by the VM for operation. The first machine transmits the migration request to a plurality of work groups. The first machine receives a score from each of the plurality of work groups indicating a number of contiguous memory regions identified in the migration request that are available at the respective work group. A second work group in the plurality of work groups is identified as a destination for the VM based on the scores and a distance of the second work group from the first machine. A migration of the VM from the first machine to a second machine in the second work group is caused based on the identification of the second work group as the destination.
US09015712B1	Environment template-driven environment provisioning in a virtual infrastructure A system for automated provisioning of heterogeneous virtual environments comprises a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to receive an environment template, receive an environment configuration, and provision an environment using the environment template and the environment configuration. The environment template is built using a blueprint. The environment configuration comprises an environment endpoint. The environment is for deploying an application. The memory is coupled to the processor and is configured to provide the processor with instructions.
US09015707B2	Virtual machine rapid provisioning system A rapid provisioning method for connecting to a cloud, copying blocks of a virtual machine image to the cloud and booting the virtual machine image in the cloud, wherein some aspects of copying the blocks and booting the virtual machine are contemporaneous or overlap. The method may include starting with copying the blocks of the virtual machine and continuing to copy the blocks of the virtual machine image while the virtual machine image boots in the cloud. The method may also include starting with booting the virtual machine in the cloud from the customer computer and continuing to boot while copying the blocks transferred during boot to cloud storage.
US09015697B2	On-demand software module deployment A method, system, program product and signal bearing medium embodiments of the present invention provide for deploying software modules for software application use in a computer system thereby reducing load time as well as memory requirements. Deployment of a plurality of software modules and associated deployment descriptors into a software module depository and creation of a deployment information repository from the associated deployment descriptors occurs. A name service is initialized with information from the deployment information repository and a requested software module identifier is then mapped to a respective enabler. Having mapped the requested software module to an enabler, the respective software module is enabled for the software application use. On-demand deployment in this manner saves start-up time as well as initial and ongoing memory allocation.
US09015696B2	System and method for licensing software A system and method for licensing software using a clearinghouse to license only the technology modules that an end user registers. The clearinghouse maintains registration information which can be used to bill a software provider for the technology licensed to the end user. The system can be used to compensate technology owners only after the end user registers an unlicensed technology module. Thus, the system and method allows software vendors to reduce costs by licensing only the technologies that an end user actually uses. The clearinghouse can also be used to track the usage of software functionality to determine the popularity of a particular technology.
US09015695B2	Information processing apparatus and information processing method Firmware of subsystems included in an information processing apparatus is divided according to functions so as to include data areas containing first version information. Second version information indicating a version of the entire firmware based on the first version information of the data areas. The information processing apparatus includes: an update reception unit in a first subsystem that receives a request for updating firmware and firmware updating data containing third version information; a determination unit in a second subsystem that compares the second version information with the third version information to determine which of the data areas needs to be updated; and a partial update execution unit that requests the first subsystem to transmit a data portion of the firmware updating data corresponding to the data area determined to need to be updated, and stores the data portion in a storage unit.
US09015694B2	Cloud-based firmware distribution service According to one embodiment of the invention, a method for altering stored firmware within a network device comprises receiving, by a first network device, information to download firmware. This information is provided from the first network device to at least a second network device, which is communicatively coupled to the first network device. The information enables the second network device to access a second version of firmware different than a first version of firmware installed on the second network device.
US09015691B2	Software object lock management using observations A method includes loading a software class containing class information for a lock state. The method includes allocating an instance of a software object derived from the software class, wherein the allocating includes allocating of a lock word as part of the instance of the software object. The lock word defines whether the object is locked by a thread of multiple threads. The method includes observing activity relative to the instance of the software object. The method includes responsive to observing the activity relative to the instance of the software object that indicates that the lock state of the instance of the software object is non-locking, removing the lock word from the instance of the software object.
US09015690B2	Proactive loop fusion of non-adjacent loops with intervening control flow instructions A system and method for optimization of code with non-adjacent loops. A compiler builds a node tree, which is not a control flow graph, that represents parent-child relationships of nodes of a computer program. Each node represents a control flow statement or a straight-line block of statements of the computer program. If a non-adjacent loop pair of nodes satisfy predetermined conditions, the compiler may perform legal code transformations on the computer program and corresponding node transformations on the node tree. These transformations may make adjacent this pair of loop nodes. The compiler may be configured to perform legal code transformations, such as head and tail duplication, code motion, and if-merging, in order to make adjacent these two loop nodes. Then loop fusion may be performed on this loop pair in order to increase instruction level parallelism (ILP) within an optimized version of the original source code.
US09015687B2	Register liveness analysis for SIMD architectures Systems and methods of allocating physical registers to variables may involve identifying a partial definition of a variable in an inter-procedural control flow graph. A determination can be made as to whether to terminate a live range of the variable based at least in part on the partial definition. Additionally, a physical register may be allocated to the variable based at least in part on the live range.
US09015686B2	Redundant run-time type information removal Redundant run-time type information is removed from a compiled program. The redundant type information may be unneeded and/or duplicate. Unneeded type information is removed by selecting instances of type information from read only data sections of object files. The entire compiled program is searched for instructions that use the instances. The instances that do not correspond to such instructions are removed from the object files. Duplicate type information is removed by selecting instances of type information from read only data sections of object files. The read only data sections of the other object files in the compiled program are then searched for the selected instances. The selected instances that exist in the read only data sections of the other object files are removed. Redundant type information may be removed from individual object files before concatenation into a single binary file and/or from a single binary file after concatenation.
US09015685B2	Code analysis for simulation efficiency improvement A method, computer program product, and computer system for analyzing code to improve efficiency of simulating a hardware system. A computer identifies one or more functions calling an application programming interface of a hardware simulator simulating the hardware system. In response to determining that left hand sides of respective one or more Boolean expressions are associated with the one or more functions calling the application programming interface and right hand sides are not associated with the one or more functions calling the application programming interface, the computer identifies the respective one or more Boolean expressions as one or more improvement points in source code for verifying a hardware model of the hardware system.
US09015684B1	Profiler-based optimization of automatically generated code A device generates code with a technical computing environment (TCE) based on a model and information associated with a target processor, registers an algorithm with the TCE, automatically sets optimization parameters applied during generation of the code based on the algorithm, executes the generated code, receives feedback based on execution of the generated code, and uses the feedback to automatically update the optimization parameters and to automatically regenerate the code with the TCE until an optimal code is achieved for the target processor.
US09015683B2	Method and apparatus for transforming program code Provided is a method of transforming program code written such that a plurality of work-items are allocated respectively to and concurrently executed on a plurality of processing elements included in a computing unit. A program code translator may identify, in the program code, two or more code regions, which are to be enclosed by work-item coalescing loops (WCLs), based on a synchronization barrier function contained in the program code, such that the work-items are serially executable on a smaller number of processing elements than a number of the processing elements, and may enclose the identified code regions with the WCLs, respectively.
US09015681B1	Creating and using array creation routines or a family of routines separate from algorithmic code A device obtains first program code that identifies a function, an input argument to which the function is to be applied when the first program code is executed, and a class identifier that identifies second program code that includes a set of routines. The set of routines includes a routine that identifies a manner in which a return value of the function is to be generated, when the first program code is executed. The second program code is stored separately from the first program code. The device executes the first program code, obtains the second program code based on executing the first program code, and executes the routine to generate the return value, based on the function, the input argument, and the class identifier. The device provides the return value.
US09015675B2	System reliability evaluation device A system reliability evaluation device 1000 includes a system reliability evaluating part 1100 that, based on connection defect information including the number of times that a defect has occurred in a connection between software components among a plurality of software components operating in connection with each other, evaluates system reliability which is the reliability of an information processing system executing the software.
US09015668B1	Instrumentation agent for manipulating component responses in a test A first software agent is used to intercept first data sent to a first software component from a second software component during a test of a particular software system, each of the first and second software components included in a plurality of software components that are included in the particular software system. The first agent is used to determine that a particular value of the intercepted first data is different from one or more preferred values for the first data. Substitute data having a preferred value is passed to the first software component in lieu of the intercepted data.
US09015657B2	Systems and methods for developing and delivering platform adaptive web and native application content Systems and methods for developing and delivering platform-adaptive web and native application content are disclosed. A hierarchy of templates is provided in which each template includes content compatible with a device that has various associated characteristics, such as particular hardware and software configurations. At least one of the templates has an inheritance relationship with one or more other templates in the hierarchy. A request for content is received from a requesting device. The request includes a device identifier, such as a user agent string, indicative of one or more characteristics associated with the requesting device. One or more of the templates are then selected based on the device identifier and are used to generate content compatible with the requesting device.
US09015654B2	System for providing test environments for executing and analysing test routines A system is operable to provide one or more test environments for executing and analyzing test routine. The system includes one or more user interfaces coupled via a communication network to a server arrangement for hosting a plurality of emulations of wireless communication devices or terminals. The server arrangement is operable to receive one or more software applications for execution upon the wireless communication devices or terminals, and one or more test routines for use in testing the wireless communication devices or terminals. Moreover, the server arrangement is operable to execute one or more the software applications and apply the one or more test routines thereto. Furthermore, the server arrangement is operable to monitor operation of the wireless communication devices or terminals and to provide corresponding test results to the one or more user interfaces.
US09015647B2	Dynamic printed circuit board design reuse Techniques for enabling the dynamic reuse of printed circuit board designs are provided. A master printed circuit board design comprising a plurality of modular flexible designs is received. Additionally, a target design that includes ones of the plurality of flexible designs is identified. Subsequently, as the master design, or ones of the plurality of flexible designs within the master design, are modified, the target design is correspondingly modified. With some implementations, the master design is housed within a library. The library may be used to implement versioning capability for the flexible designs. With further implementations, the master design may itself be a target design.
US09015646B2	System, method, and computer program product for translating a hardware language into a source database A system, method, and computer program product are provided for translating a hardware design. In use, a hardware design is received that is encoded as one or more data flows and one or more control constructs. A node is generated for each data flow of the one or more data flows and for each control construct of the one or more control constructs. Additionally, connectivity of the nodes is determined to generate a graph-based intermediate representation of the hardware design and the graph-based intermediate representation of the hardware design is stored in a source database.
US09015643B2	System, method, and computer program product for applying a callback function to data values A system, method, and computer program product are provided for applying a callback function to data values. In use, a plurality of data values and a callback function are identified. Additionally, the callback function is recursively applied to the plurality of data values in order to determine a result. Further, the result is returned.
US09015639B2	Methods and systems for navigating a list with gestures Methods and systems for facilitating the navigation of a list of content items with gestures are described. Consistent with some embodiments, a computing device detects simple gestures, and in response, display a preview of content items preceding, or following a currently selected content item, from the list of content items. Upon detecting a selection gesture, the computing device updates the view of the currently selected content item to display the newly selected content item.
US09015631B2	Animated icons to preview transformations related to 3D models An apparatus and a method for using 3D animated icons to preview transformations related to 3D models are disclosed. The apparatus includes a graphical user interface (GUI) which includes a visual depiction of the 3D model as well as a cursor and 3D animated icons which are representative of various transformations that may be performed on the model. The animation of the 3D icons provides the user with a preview, before selecting the icons, of what will happen to the 3D model depicted in the GUI if the transformations are in fact applied by user-selection of the icons. The method includes displaying, on a GUI, a 3D model as well as a cursor and at least one 3D animated icon which displays a representation of a respective transformation. The method further includes changing the state of an animated icon from static (i.e., a still frame) to animated when the user positions the cursor in the neighborhood of the icon, thereby illustrating the effect of the transformation. The method further comprises changing the icon to a different static state whenever the user selects the icon, at which point the icon will be displayed as a still frame that indicates that the icon has been selected.
US09015626B1	Method for generating an on-screen menu A method for generating an on-screen menu comprising menu buttons and other menu items, e.g. help text, is characterized in that one or more groups of menu buttons or menu items are defined, wherein a group comprises one or more menu buttons or menu items and has associated a defined area on the screen. A state is assigned to a button, the state being “enabled” or “disabled”, wherein only an enabled button or item may be displayed, and wherein within a group not more than one button or item may be enabled. The state of a button can be changed by commands associated with other buttons.
US09015624B2	Floating command object A floating command object is provided for offering a set of commonly or frequently used commands in close proximity to a selected text, data or other object in a document. When a given object is selected for editing, the floating object automatically displays near the object to allow easy selection of relevant commands such as formatting property commands. The object remains displayed to allow multiple command selections until it is closed by user action. If a mouse or touchpad pointer is moved away from the displayed object, the displayed object becomes increasingly translucent to visually deemphasize the relevance of the object to the new position of the pointer.
US09015615B2	User interface for medical imaging system applications A user interface configured to display a first set of subject data in a first image workspace on the at least one display. The user interface is further configured to provide for user selection of at least one of a plurality of subject data related to a plurality of image workspaces, attach user comments to and save user comments with the user-selected subject data in the first user-selectable tab after input of user comments, electronically mail the user-selected subject data to one or more designated recipients directly from a first user-selectable tab after input of instructions to electronically mail the user-selected subject data, and automatically open a second image workspace related to the user-selected subject data after user selection of a return link in the first user-selectable tab.
US09015610B2	Display of controllable attributes for a controllable item based on context In one embodiment, a method includes determining focus on a focus item associated with a controllable item. The focus item is displayed on an interface that includes a plurality of display positions. A context for the controllable item based on the focus being on the focus item and a set of controllable attributes associated with the controllable item are determined. The method dynamically determines an order of the set of controllable attributes based on the context. The context is used to prioritize the set of controllable attributes in the order. The set of controllable attributes is displayed in the order in at least a portion of the plurality of display positions.
US09015597B2	Generation and implementation of a social utility grid Information is gathered regarding a first party. Social relationships between the first party and other parties are determined by transforming the gathered information into the social relationships. Relationship types of the social relationships between the first party and the other parties are determined by transforming the gathered information into the relationship types. Relationship strengths of the social relationships between the first and the other parties are determined by transforming the gathered information into the relationship strengths. The social utility grid is generated based on the social relationships between the first party and the other parties, the relationship types of the social relationships, and the relationship strengths of the social relationships.
US09015596B1	Facilitating access to functionality via displayed information Techniques are described for facilitating access of computing system users to restricted or other functionality, such as internal functionality of a business or other organization. The functionality access may be facilitated by an access provider system that executes on a client computing system of an authorized user, such as a program operating in conjunction with another presentation program that presents publicly available information by modifying interactions available to the user when using the presentation program or otherwise providing additional information to the user. In some situations, the additional information is provided by temporarily modifying the information being presented by the presentation program, such as to provide additional information that is related to functionality corresponding to a subject area of the currently presented information and/or corresponding to an aspect of the currently presented information that is indicated by the user.
US09015591B2	Dynamic visualization generation and implementation Embodiments are directed to selecting and applying data-specific presentations, to adaptively selecting visual presentations based on historical data and to providing rendering hints for data presentations. In one scenario, a computer system receives an indication that a visual presentation is to be applied to a specified portion of data. The computer system analyzes the specified data to determine which of a plurality of data presentations is most relevant for the specified data. The relevance is based on relevancy factors including one or more of the following: end-user profile, structure of the specified data and patterns within the specified data. The computer system then applies the determined appropriate visual presentation to the specified data.
US09015587B2	Home network device and method of receiving and transmitting sound information using the same A home network device and a method of receiving and transmitting sound information using the same are provided. The home network device includes a reception unit, a display unit and a sound playing unit. The reception unit receives a user interface, which is used to control a control target device, and sound information, which is synchronized with the user interface, from the control target device connected through a home network. The display unit displays the received user interface. The sound playing unit plays the received sound information when the user interface is displayed.
US09015583B2	Editing apparatus and an editing method Editing apparatus and an editing method for editing a plurality of files, which are recorded on a storage part and correspond to one shot. The editing method includes a determination step determining a generation order in time sequence of a plurality of files which correspond to one shot and include interframe coded data; and an integration step S12 of arranging the plurality of files in the generation order and integrating the arranged files. The editing method may further include a displaying step of displaying one clip corresponding to the integrated files, and editing step editing the clip.
US09015577B2	Content flow through containers Content can be flowed through one or more containers that can be laid out analogously to printed material. Content is flowed into the first specified container until that container is “full” of content. Subsequent content is then flowed through subsequent containers, each of which is individually identified, and whose ordering is specified independently of their position and visual presentation. Multiple independent sources of content can be flowed through multiple independent collections of containers. Each container can format the content presented within it independently from other containers, and each container can comprise script, or other programmatic constructs, which can operate on, and modify, the content flowed into such a container. To provide for the rich layouts, content containers can be nested inside one another such that multiple layers, or levels, of the layout can be edited independently of one another.
US09015575B2	Property overrides on included material In one example embodiment, a system and method is shown that includes identifying a host setting related to a property of a document data structure and a property of a fragment data structure, the document data structure reflecting an organization of a document, and the fragment data structure reflecting an organization of a portion of the document. Additionally, the system and method may include overriding the property of the fragment data structure using the property of the document data structure, if the host setting includes a command that the property of the fragment data structure is to be overridden by the property of the document data structure.
US09015571B2	Synchronizing filter metadata with a multimedia presentation A method, system and apparatus for applying and synchronizing filter information with a multimedia presentation, such as a movie provided in a video-on-demand context, to suppress objectionable content. In one example, filter information, which includes an indicia of a portion of the multimedia presentation including objectionable content and a type of suppression action, is provided on either a set-top-box or a video-on-demand server. A user selects a particular video-on-demand presentation, and the selection is transmitted to the set-top-box. Filtering may take place at the set-top-box side such that the complete video-on-demand movie is transmitted to the set-top box and then content suppression, such as skipping, muting, cropping, and blurring, takes place at the set-top-box. Alternatively, some or all suppression may take place at the server such that some or all of the objectionable content is not transmitted to the set-top-box. Additionally, whether in a video-on-demand, DVD, or other environment it may be necessary to synchronize filter with the multimedia content so that the proper objectionable content is suppressed.
US09015570B2	System and method for providing a web event channel player Embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for providing access to a channel via an embedded web event channel player. In exemplary embodiments, an embeddable code associated with the channel is provided to a channel owner. Once embedded, the code will provide an instance of the channel player on a user's device that can access the channel. A list of events is aggregated and provided for the channel associated with the channel player. Upon a request by a user, an event from the list of events may be streamed to the channel player.
US09015569B2	System and method for resource-adaptive, real-time new event detection There are provided a system and method for resource adaptive, real-time new event detection. The method includes capturing, from among documents in a document streaming environment, first-story documents that mention previously unmentioned events. The method further includes dynamically adjusting a thoroughness of the capturing step by controlling a number of keywords and documents considered according to a real-time system load.
US09015565B2	Method for recovery of lost data and for correction of corrupted data A method for recovery of lost data and for correction of corrupted data transmitted from a sending device to a receiver device, the method comprising the steps: encoding the data by an encoder connected to the sending device, transmitting the data from the sending device to the receiver device via a transmitting device, and decoding the data by a decoder connected to the receiver device, whereby lost and/or corrupted data is recovered during decoding is conducted by solving the system of equations of a parity check matrix H.
US09015557B2	Simultaneous data transfer and error control to reduce latency and improve throughput to a host The disclosed embodiments provide a system that transfers data from a storage device to a host. The system includes a communication mechanism that receives a request to read a set of blocks from the host. Next, upon reading each block from the set of blocks from the storage device, the communication mechanism transfers the block over an interface with the host. The system also includes an error-detection apparatus that performs error detection on the block upon reading the block, and an error-correction apparatus that performs error correction on the block if an error is detected in the block. The communication mechanism may then retransfer the block to the host after the error is removed from the block.
US09015554B2	Management of non-valid decision patterns of a soft read retry operation An apparatus comprising a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuit may be configured to generate an output signal in response to (i) a value retrieved from a look-up table, and (ii) an index signal. The second circuit may be configured to generate the index signal in response to a plurality of page signals. The apparatus may manage decision patterns during a soft retry.
US09015553B2	Data integrity in memory controllers and methods The present disclosure includes methods, devices, and systems for data integrity in memory controllers. One memory controller embodiment includes a host interface and first error detection circuitry coupled to the host interface. The memory controller can include a memory interface and second error detection circuitry coupled to the memory interface. The first error detection circuitry can be configured to calculate error detection data for data received from the host interface and to check the integrity of data transmitted to the host interface. The second error detection circuitry can be configured to calculate error correction data for data and first error correction data transmitted to the memory interface and to check integrity of data and first error correction data received from the memory interface.
US09015552B2	Data deduplication using CRC-seed differentiation between data and stubs Various embodiments for differentiating between data and stubs pointing to a parent copy of deduplicated data are provided. Undeduplicated data is stored with a checksum of an initial value as a first cyclic redundancy check (CRC) seed. A stub pointing to the parent copy of the deduplicated data is stored with an additional checksum of a differing, additional initial value as a second CRC seed.
US09015551B2	Decoding apparatus with de-interleaving efforts distributed to different decoding phases and related decoding method thereof A decoding apparatus includes a memory device and a decoding circuit. The memory device is arranged for storing a data block with inter-row interleaving in a plurality of data rows of the data block and without intra-row interleaving in each of the data rows. The decoding circuit is coupled to the memory device. The decoding circuit is arranged for accessing the memory device to perform a first decoding operation with inter-row de-interleaving memory access, and accessing the memory device to perform a second decoding operation with intra-row de-interleaving memory access.
US09015550B2	Low density parity check layer decoder for codes with overlapped circulants The present inventions are related to systems and methods for decoding data in an LDPC layer decoder for LDPC codes with overlapped circulants.
US09015544B2	Accelerating scan test by re-using response data as stimulus data abstract Scan testing of plural target electrical circuits, such as circuits 1 through N, becomes accelerated by using the scan test response data output from one circuit, such as circuit 1, as the scan test stimulus data for another circuit, such as circuit 2. After reset, a scan path captures the output response data from the reset stimulus from all circuits. A tester then shifts the captured data only the length of the first circuit's scan path while loading the first circuit's scan path with new test stimulus data. The new response data from all the circuits then is captured in the scan path. This shift and capture cycle is repeated until the first circuit is tested. The first circuit is then disabled and any remaining stimulus data is applied to the second circuit. This process is repeated until all the circuits are tested. A data retaining boundary scan cell used in the scan testing connects the output of an additional multiplexer as the input to a boundary cell. The inputs of the additional multiplexer connect to the data input and data output of the boundary cell.
US09015543B2	Diagnosis-aware scan chain stitching Aspects of the invention relate to techniques for determining scan chains that could be diagnosed with high resolution. A circuit design and the information of scan cells for the circuit design are analyzed to determine information of potential logic relationship between the scan cells. The information of potential logic relationship between the scan cells may comprise information of fan-in cones for the scan cells. Based at least in part on the information of potential logic relationship between the scan cells, scan chains may be formed. The formation of scan chains may be further based on layout information of the circuit design. The formation of scan chains may be further based on compactor information of the circuit design.
US09015542B2	Packetizing JTAG across industry standard interfaces Apparatus and techniques for performing JTAG testing on production devices and systems through industry standard interfaces. The devices employ processors configured to receive packetized test input data from a tester over a standard communication interface such as a USB or Ethernet port and perform associated testing operations defined by the test input data, such as JTAG-compliant testing. This is facilitated, in part, via use of a bridge and one or more DFx handlers, with the bridge operating as an interface between the DFx handlers and a bus and/or interconnect over which test input and result data is transferred via the standard communication interface. The techniques enable testing such as JTAG testing to be performed on fully-assembled devices and systems without requiring the use of dedicated test or debug ports.
US09015540B2	Blind and decision directed multi-level channel estimation Data which is read back from a multi-level storage device is received. For each bin in a set of bins, a portion of reads which fall into that particular bin and which are to be maintained is received. The set of bins is adjusted so that the read-back data, after assignment using the adjusted set of bins, matches the received portions of reads which are to be maintained.
US09015539B2	Testing of non stuck-at faults in memory A method for identifying non stuck-at faults in a read-only memory (ROM) includes generating a golden value of a victim cell, providing a fault-specific pattern through an aggressor cell, generating a test reading of the victim cell in response to the provided fault-specific pattern, and determining whether the ROM has at least one non stuck-at fault. The determination is based on a comparison of the golden value and the test reading of the victim cell.
US09015538B2	Method for testing data packet signal transceivers with multiple radio access technologies using interleaved device setup and testing A method of using tester data packet signals and control instructions for testing a radio frequency (RF) data packet signal transceiver device under test (DUT) capable of communicating using multiple radio access technologies (RATs) having one or more mutually distinct signal characteristics. During mutually alternating time intervals, selected ones of which are substantially contemporaneous, tester data packet signals and control instructions are used for concurrent testing and configuration for testing, respectively, of multiple RATs of the DUT.
US09015537B2	Bit error rate based wear leveling for solid state drive memory According to exemplary embodiments, a system, is provided for bit error rate (BER)-based wear leveling in a solid state drive (SSD). A block-level BER value for a block in the SSD is determined. An adjusted PE cycle count for the block is incremented or decremented based on the block-level BER value. Wear leveling is then performed in the SSD based on the adjusted PE cycle count.
US09015535B2	Information processing apparatus having memory dump function, memory dump method, and recording medium An information processing apparatus that executes an operating system, the apparatus including a panic process unit configured to stop the operating system when the operating system has detected an error, a mapping process unit configured to assign, to the operating system stopped by the panic process unit, a second memory area which is other than a first memory area being used by a kernel of the operating system before stop or by a hypervisor that controls the operating system before stop of the operating system, a reactivation process unit configured to reactivate the operating system by using the second memory area as a usage area, and a memory dump process unit configured to read data in the first memory area, and to write the data to a dump file after the operating system is reactivated.
US09015533B1	Error handling for asynchronous applications Various embodiments are disclosed herein including systems and methods for implementing exception-based error handling in asynchronous, parallel, multi-threaded, and other distributed systems. Embodiments implement exception-based error handling in asynchronous workflow systems, providing try/catch blocks and tree-based cancellation of pending and currently executing activities.
US09015531B2	Preventing distribution of a failure Mechanisms for preventing a distribution of a failure caused by a sequence of instructions in a distributed client server environment are provided. These mechanisms comprise executing the sequence of instructions on a first client, the instructions being provided by a management control server and being indicative of maintenance actions. These mechanisms may further comprise determining by the first client a failure caused by the sequence of instructions, and generating a warning message by the first client based on the determined failure. The warning message may comprise an indicator for the sequence of instructions. In addition, these mechanisms may comprise sending the warning message for informing a second client about the sequence of instructions causing the failure in order to prevent a distribution of the failure.
US09015527B2	Data backup and recovery Techniques for data backup and recovery are described. In one implementation, at least one storage device storing original data which has failed is determined. Once the failed storage device is determined, backup related information corresponding to the failed at least one storage device is determined. Based on the backup related information at least one backup of the original data from a storage unit is identified. The backup as identified is eventually used for recovering data corresponding to the original data.
US09015526B2	Restoring method and computer system A NAS device providing a snapshot function for executing CoW processing in multiple successive block units is provided, wherein upon restoring a file saved in a file system sharing from a snapshot, the speed for restoring files is enhanced by restoring only data blocks that have been changed within the data blocks constituting a file, to thereby reduce the amount of data being restored and cut down CoW processing. Upon restoring a file stored in file system sharing from a snapshot file, data blocks storing different data between the restore source file and the restore destination file are specified based on a differential map table and a differential block table, and only the specified data blocks are restored. Further, upon restoring data from a file other than the snapshot, the data blocks constituting the restore source file and the restore destination file are compared, and only the data blocks storing different data are restored.
US09015522B2	Implementing DRAM failure scenarios mitigation by using buffer techniques delaying usage of RAS features in computer systems A method, system and computer program product are provided for implementing dynamic random access memory (DRAM) failure scenarios mitigation using buffer techniques delaying usage of RAS features in computer systems. A buffer is provided with a memory controller. Physical address data read/write failures are analyzed. Responsive to identifying predefined failure types for physical address data read/write failures, the buffer is used to selectively store and retrieve data.
US09015521B2	Method for switching a node controller link, processor system, and node Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method for switching an NC link, a processor system, and a node, where the processor system includes more than two nodes capable of communicating with each other, each node includes a node controller NC chip, a host bus adapter HBA apparatus, and at least one CPU, the NC chip is connected to each CPU in a node where the NC chip is located, and the HBA apparatus is connected to each CPU in a node where the HBA apparatus is located; an NC link borne by the NC chip is corresponding to an HBA link borne by the HBA apparatus. By using an HBA apparatus to deploy a redundant link, the cost of deploying the redundant link is reduced effectively under a premise of ensuring the reliability of the processor system.
US09015511B2	Non main CPU/OS based operational environment A computing system is described that includes a main system bus that remains active while said computing system operates within a non main CPU/OS based operational state. The computing system also includes a controller that operates functional tasks while the computing system is within the non main CPU/OS based operational state. The computing system also includes an I/O unit coupled to the main system bus that remains active while the computing system operates within the non main CPU/OS based operational state.
US09015507B2	Memory data inversion for reducing power consumption Disclosed herein are approaches to reducing a guardband (margin) used for minimum voltage supply (Vcc) requirements for memory such as cache.
US09015505B2	Delayed shut down of computer A computer-implemented computer shut-down method includes identifying that a computing device has been moved from an open configuration in which input and output mechanisms on the computing device are accessible to a user, to a closed configuration in which at least some of the input and output mechanisms are inaccessible to a user; starting a shut-down timer in response to identifying that the computing device has been moved from the open configuration to the closed configuration; waiting a predefined time period, as established by the shut-down timer, and determining from the shut-down timer that the computing device can be transitioned from an active state into a sleep state in which power consuming components of the computing device are powered down; and transitioning the computing device from the active state to the sleep state upon determining that the computing device can be transitioned.
US09015504B2	Managing power of thread pipelines according to clock frequency and voltage specified in thread registers A multi-threaded microprocessor for processing instructions in threads, including, in one embodiment, (1) at least one processor pipeline for the instructions; (2) a storage for a thread power management configuration; and (3) a power control circuit coupled to said at least one processor pipeline and responsive to said storage for thread power management configuration to control power used by different parts of the at least one processor pipeline depending on the threads, wherein said power control circuit is operable to establish different power voltages in different parts of the at least one processor pipeline depending on the threads.
US09015502B2	System and method for automatically determining an optimal power cap value Generating an optimal power cap value includes steps of: analyzing power usage of a system for a specified period of time; computing a power consumption value for the system for the specified period of time; and generating the optimal power cap value for the system, using the computed power consumption value. The system should be coupled with a power meter and should support power regulation technology.
US09015500B2	Method and apparatus for using dynamic voltage and frequency scaling with circuit-delay based integrated circuit identification One feature pertains to a method that includes implementing a Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) circuit, and obtaining a first set of output bits from the PUF circuit by operating the PUF circuit at a first supply voltage level and/or first frequency. Then, at least one of the first supply voltage level is changed to a second supply voltage level and/or the first frequency is changed to a second frequency, where the second supply voltage level and the second frequency are different than the first supply voltage level and the first frequency, respectively. A second set of output bits is then obtained by operating the PUF circuit at the second supply voltage level and/or the second frequency, where the second set of output bits is in part different than the first set. Secure data is generated using the first set of output bits and the second sets of output bits.
US09015495B2	Telecommunications device security A mobile terminal for use with a cellular or mobile telecommunications network includes a normal execution environment and a secure execution environment The mobile terminal enables the software of the terminal in the secure execution environment to be updated. The terminal may be provided with minimal software initially in the secure execution environment, and is operable to subsequently update the software by over the air transmission of software. Also disclosed is a method for managing rights in respect of broadcast, multicast and/or unicast (downloaded) data. The method defines a service protection platform implemented on mobile terminals having both normal execution environment and secure execution environment. Service protection is provided by separating the operation of service protection application components into those that operate in the normal environment and those that are adapted to execute only in the secure execution environment.
US09015494B2	Methods and apparatus for digital steganography A computer-implemented digital steganography method includes providing a target dataset comprising a plurality of target data elements, providing a source dataset comprising a plurality of source data elements, and creating a grille dataset configured to map each of the target data elements in the target dataset with a corresponding source data element within the source dataset in accordance with a predefined extraction method.
US09015492B2	Device, system and method for recording personal encounter history Provided are exemplary embodiments including a method for creating and using a personal encounter history using a communication device. The method involves the communication device receiving the transmission of a pseudo identifier from a proximal communication device where the pseudo identifier is associated with the user of the proximal communication device. Once received, the method continues with the wireless communication device requesting and receiving the actual identification of the user of the proximal communication device that is correlated with the pseudo identifier. The communication device includes a transceiver capable of communicating wirelessly with a mobile telecommunications network, a memory device and a processor. To ensure privacy, the processor is capable of receiving a pseudo identifier from a proximate communication device and then requesting an actual identification correlated with the pseudo identifier of the proximate communication device.
US09015490B2	Secure credential unlock using trusted execution environments Computing devices utilizing trusted execution environments as virtual smart cards are designed to support expected credential recovery operations when a user credential, e.g., personal identification number (PIN), password, etc. has been forgotten or is unknown. A computing device generates a cryptographic key that is protected with a PIN unlock key (PUK) provided by an administrative entity. If the user PIN cannot be input to the computing device the PUK can be input to unlock the locked cryptographic key and thereby provide access to protected data. A computing device can also, or alternatively, generate a group of challenges and formulate responses thereto. The formulated responses are each used to secure a computing device cryptographic key. If the user PIN cannot be input to the computing device an entity may request a challenge. The computing device issues a challenge from the set of generated challenges. Upon receiving a valid response back, the computing device can unlock the secured computing device cryptographic key associated with the issued challenge and subsequently provide access to protected data.
US09015481B2	Methods and systems for access security for dataloading Systems and methods for access security for dataloading are provided. In one implementation, a system comprises a first computer that transmits a packet, the first computer comprising: an authentication code memory that stores an authentication code for the packet; a first processing unit that executes communication instructions in a first memory, the communication instructions attaching the authentication code to the packet; and a first communication port that transmits the packet. The system also comprises a second computer that receives the packet, the second computer comprising: a second communication port that receives the packet; a verification code memory that stores a verification code for verifying the packet's authentication code; and a second processing unit that executes verification instructions in a second memory, the verification instructions comparing the verification code against the authentication code, wherein the second computer rejects the packet if the verification code does not match the authentication code.
US09015479B2	Host device and method for super-distribution of content protected with a localized content encryption key In one embodiment, a host device creates a super-distribution token by encrypting a content encryption key with a super-distribution key and stores the super-distribution token and encrypted content retrieved from a source storage device in a target storage device. In another embodiment, a host device provides a super-distribution token to a server, wherein the server is configured to generate an activation token from the super-distribution token, receive the activation token from the server, retrieve a content encryption key from the activation token, and decrypt encrypted content received from a storage device using the content encryption key retrieved from the activation token.
US09015476B1	Cryptographic device operable in a challenge-response mode Methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture for implementing cryptographic devices operable in a challenge-response mode are provided herein. A method includes storing a set of authentication information in a first cryptographic device associated with a user, receiving a challenge in the first cryptographic device in connection with a user authentication request responsive to a request from the user to access a protected resource, wherein the challenge comprises an index of at least one non-sequential portion of the authentication information stored in the first cryptographic device, and outputting a non-sequential portion of the authentication information from the set of authentication information stored in the first cryptographic device in response to the challenge for use in authenticating the user.
US09015470B2	Adaptive video server with fast initialization and methods for use therewith A streaming video server includes a virtual file system that stores playlist data corresponding to a plurality of video programs available from at least one video source and that stores at least one initial video program segment for each of the plurality of video segments. The streaming video server receives a request for a selected one of the plurality of video programs from a client device. The selected one of the plurality of video programs is retrieved from the at least one video source in response to the request. A plurality of encoded segments are generated from the selected one of the plurality of video programs, based on rate data. A multiplexer generates a plurality of output segments from the at least one initial video program segment corresponding to the selected one of the plurality of video programs and the plurality of encoded video program segments.
US09015464B2	Electronic device and start-up method thereof An electronic device and a method for starting up the same, wherein the electronic device includes a firmware control unit, a power supply state storage unit, a basic input output unit, and an Ethernet interface coupled to power supply apparatus to a Power over Ethernet to receive a power supply via a network cable. The firmware control unit determines whether the power supply state of the power supply is in a first power mode, by checking a power supply state signal. When the power supply state is not in the first power mode, the basic input output unit executes a second power booting program. The firmware control unit communicates with the power supply apparatus via a network, increases the rated power of the power supply, sets the power supply state signal for controlling the power supply state to be in the first power mode, and restarts the electronic device.
US09015456B1	Indicator for developer mode A dual-mode computing system and machine-implemented method for providing an indication of an operating mode of the system. The system including a processor, a memory storing verified code, a secure memory coupled to a processor and a developer mode indicator coupled to the secure memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute verified code to perform operations comprising initiating boot up of the system. The operations further comprising accessing a developer mode state stored within the secure memory to determine whether the system is in developer mode, wherein the developer mode allows the system to execute unverified code, activating the developer mode indicator when it is determined that the system is in developer mode and locking the secure memory to ignore subsequent calls to modify the developer mode state when it is determined that the system is in developer mode.
US09015455B2	Processsor integral technologies for BIOS flash attack protection and notification A system and method for BIOS flash attack protection and notification. A processor initialization module, including initialization firmware verification module may be configured to execute first in response to a power on and/or reset and to verify initialization firmware stored in non-volatile memory in a processor package. The initialization firmware is configured to verify the BIOS. If the verification of the initialization firmware and/or the BIOS fails, the system is configured to select at least one of a plurality of responses including, but not limited to, preventing the BIOS from executing, initiating recovery, reporting the verification failure, halting, shutting down and/or allowing the BIOS to execute and an operating system (OS) to boot in a limited functionality mode.
US09015450B2	Apparatus utilizing efficient hardware implementation of shadow registers and method thereof Embodiments of a processor architecture efficiently implement shadow registers in hardware. A register system in a processor includes a set of physical data registers coupled to register renaming logic. The register renaming logic stores data in and retrieves data from the set of physical registers when the processor is in a first processor state. The register renaming logic identifies ones of the set of physical registers that have a first operational state as a first group of registers and identifies the remaining ones of the set of physical registers as a second group of registers in response to an indication that the processor is to enter a second processor state from the first processor state. The register renaming logic stores data in and retrieves data from the second group of registers but not the first group of registers when the processor is in the second processor state.
US09015444B2	Access apparatus and available storage space calculation method A method used in an access module that uses a file system to manage a nonvolatile memory of an information recording module enables an available storage space to be calculated in a short time before file data is recorded, and shortens the time required from initialization of the file system to recording. An access module (1) manages information about area management of the file system configured in an information recording module in units of fixed-length blocks. A divisional available storage space calculation unit (103) performs an available storage space calculation process in units of the fixed-length blocks, and completes preparations for recording when detecting a minimum required storage space for recording file data and enables recording of the file data. This shortens the time required from initialization of the file system to recording.
US09015439B1	Event lock storage device A system and method are disclosed for an event lock storage device. The storage device includes a user partition and an event partition (which may be associated with an event). The storage device receives data from a host device, and stores the data in the user partition. In response to receiving an indication of an event, the storage device may designate the data as part of the event partition. The event partition may include a set of access rules that is different from the user partition, such as more restrictive rules for modification or deletion of a file containing the data.
US09015437B2	Extensible hardware device configuration using memory The present disclosure provides a system and method for implementing extensible hardware configuration using memory. A memory containing an Info Block is provided. The Info Block contains a set of descriptors, which comprises an address part and a data part. The OTP Engine reads each valid descriptor stored in the Info Block, and writes the data in the data part into the memory location specified by the address part. The OTP Engine interacts with the Info Block by accessing the Info Block Controller registers via the central system bus.
US09015436B2	Performing an atomic operation without quiescing an interconnect structure In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for receiving a lock message for an address in a processor from a quiesce master of a system. This lock message indicates that a requester agent of the system is to enter a locking phase with respect to the address. Responsive to receipt of this message, logic of the processor can write an entry in a tracking buffer of the processor for the address and thereafter allow a transaction to be sent from the processor via an interconnect if an address of the transaction does not match any address stored in the tracking buffer. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09015433B2	Resiliency with a destination volume in a replication environment A method to provide resiliency with a destination volume in a replication environment is disclosed. Data from a source volume, such as a primary volume or a secondary volume in a replication relationship, is migrated to the destination volume. A snapshot representing data on a source volume is generated. The replication relationship between the source volumes is broken, and a new relationship between a source volume and the destination volume is established. A delta of data between the snapshot and one of the volumes in the new relationship is generated. The delta is sent to the other of the volumes in the new relationship.
US09015431B2	Distributed storage revision rollbacks Multiple revisions of an encoded data slice can be stored in a distributed storage unit. Before writing a new revision of an encoded data slice to storage, the distributed storage unit can invoke a write lock for all encoded data slices having the same slice name as the slice being currently written. The slice being currently written can be stored in temporary storage, and a rollback timer started. If a commit command is received before expiration of the rollback timer, the currently written slice can be permanently stored and made accessible for read requests. If the rollback timer expires prior to the storage unit receiving a commit command, however, a previously stored revision will be used.
US09015426B2	High performance data storage using observable client-side memory access In one example, a system is provided that performs memory access operations on a storage volume stored in memory and identifies the memory access operations performed. A request to perform a memory access operation may be received at a communication interface. The request may comply with a memory access protocol. The memory access operation may be performed on a portion of the memory in response to the request, where the portion of the memory is included in the storage volume. One or more attributes of the memory access operation may be identified. An action related to the memory access operation may be performed based on the attribute of the memory access operation.
US09015423B2	Reducing store operation busy times A computer product for reducing store operation busy times is provided and relates to associating first and second platform registers with a cache array, determining that first and second store operations target a same wordline of the cache array, loading control information and data of the store operations into the platform registers and delaying a commit of the first store operation until the loading of the second platform register is complete. The method further includes committing the data from the platform registers using the control information from the platform registers to the wordline of the cache array at a same time to thereby reduce a busy time of the wordline of the cache array.
US09015420B2	Mitigate flash write latency and bandwidth limitation by preferentially storing frequently written sectors in cache memory during a databurst A method of operating a memory system is provided. The method includes a controller that regulates read and write access to one or more FLASH memory devices that are employed for random access memory applications. A buffer component operates in conjunction with the controller to regulate read and write access to the one or more FLASH devices. Wear leveling components along with read and write processing components are provided to facilitate efficient operations of the FLASH memory devices.
US09015419B2	Avoiding aborts due to associativity conflicts in a transactional environment Embodiments relate to a transactional read footprint after a cache line eviction. An aspect includes executing one or more read instructions in an active transaction. A cross invalidate (XI) request for a target cache line is received, and it is determined if the target cache line is part of a congruence class in a local cache. It is further determined whether an extension flag associated with the congruence class is set. The extension flag is used to indicate that cache lines of the congruence class associated with the active transaction have been replaced based only on being least recently used and that the target cache line is not in the cache. Execution of the active transaction continues based on determining that the extension flag is not set. Execution of the active transaction is aborted based on determining that the extension flag is set.
US09015406B2	Flash memory cache for data storage device A storage device made up of multiple storage media is configured such that a flash memory serves as a cache for data stored on a backend storage device having one or more magnetic storage media. The storage device includes a controller configured to maintain a direct mapping from respective backend block addresses of the backend storage device to respective physical addresses of the flash memory. Such mapping is used to translate a backend block address of the backend storage device at which a first block is stored into a physical address of the flash memory at which the first block is cached.
US09015405B2	Method and system for encoding data for storage in a memory array A method of storing data into a memory array converts an input string into a first binary array with (m−1) rows and (n−1) columns. A second binary array with m rows and n columns in an encoded bit pattern is then generated from the first binary array. The second binary array in the encoded bit pattern has at most n/2 1's in each row and at most m/2 1's in each column, and the m-th row and an n-th column contain information for decoding other entries of the second binary array. The encoded bit pattern of the second binary array is then stored into corresponding memory devices of the memory array.
US09015404B2	Persistent log operations for non-volatile memory In an embodiment, a first delayed persistence operation to store information in a log contained in a non-volatile memory (NVM) may be performed. The information may include, for example, a current value of a variable contained in the NVM. A second delayed persistence operation to store information in the variable may be performed. A third delayed persistence operation to store information in the NVM that indicates the log is cleared may be performed. A flush operation may be performed, for example after the first, second, and third delayed persistence operations. The flush operation may commit information associated with at least one of the first, second, or third delayed persistence operations to the NVM.
US09015399B2	Multiple data channel memory module architecture The present invention is directed generally to systems and methods which provide a memory module having multiple data channels that are independently accessible (i.e., a multi-data channel memory module). According to one embodiment, the multi-data channel memory module enables a plurality of independent sub-cache-block accesses to be serviced simultaneously. In addition, the memory architecture also supports cache-block accesses. For instance, multiple ones of the data channels may be employed for servicing a cache-block access. In one embodiment a DIMM architecture that comprises multiple data channels is provided. Each data channel supports a sub-cache-block access, and multiple ones of the data channels may be used for supporting a cache-block access. The plurality of data channels to a given DIMM may be used simultaneously to support different, independent memory access operations.
US09015398B2	Methods and structure for identifying support for super-standard features in communications between serial attached SCSI devices Methods and structure for determining compatibility between a pair of SAS devices for support of super-standard features of the devices. Features and aspects hereof provide for exchange of information between a first and second SAS device using SAS protocol in non-standard manners. The exchanges are designed to exchange information between compatible, enhanced device without causing protocol violation errors in either the first or second devices. The information exchanged represents super-standard features supported by each device. Mutually supported super-standard features are enabled for further communications between the devices. If no super-standard features are mutually supported or if the second device is non-enhanced, no super-standard features are enabled in further communications between the devices.
US09015397B2	Method and apparatus for DMA transfer with synchronization optimization A DMA optimization circuit transfers data from a single source device to a plurality of destination devices on a computer bus. A first DMA control circuit is configured to transfer a payload of data from the source device to a first destination device where the payload of data divided into a plurality of chunks of data. A second DMA control circuit is configured to transfer the payload of data from the source device to a second destination device, and is further configured to perform a logical operation on the data transferred to the second destination device. A synchronization controller is configured to control each DMA control circuit to independently transfer the chunk of data, and receives a signal indicating that both DMA control circuits have finished transferring the corresponding chunk of data. The synchronization controller then transfers of a next chunk of data only when both DMA control circuits have finished transferring the corresponding chunk of data.
US09015393B2	Master-slave interface A bus interface couples a master device and one or more slave devices. Upon detecting a condition on the bus, one or more of the slave devices may force an extension of the bus condition for a predetermined time period. The forced extension may comprise forcing a voltage level, causing other devices on the bus to change modes. A master on the bus may detect an out-of-variance bus condition and, in response, take action to change the bus state to a stable condition. The bus interface may include power contacts and a single-wire bus for communicating between a host device and one or more battery packs.
US09015387B2	Semiconductor device and operating method thereof An operating method of a semiconductor device includes selecting a block requiring storage space recycling from a memory device, checking costs required for performing the respective recycling techniques, selecting one of the recycling techniques based on the costs, and recycling a storage space by applying the selected recycling technique to the selected block.
US09015385B2	Data storage device and method of controlling data storage device A data storage device includes a processor or hardware circuit. The processor or hardware circuit copies data stored in regions of a copy source volume to a copy destination volume. The processor or hardware circuit sets up in a memory a management table for the regions. The management table includes first information and second information. The first information indicates whether a bitmap has been set up. The bitmap represents a state of progress of the copy. The second information specifies a bit value to be used when setting up the bitmap. The processor or hardware circuit sets up in the memory the bitmap corresponding to the regions on the basis of the second information.
US09015383B2	Method and apparatus for changing input type in input system using universal plug and play A method and apparatus for changing an input type in an input system using UPnP are provided. A control point requests input capability information of input devices, which are to perform input and receives the input capability information. The control point sets up a session by determining a receiving device for receiving an input signal and a transmitting device for transmitting the input signal, using the received input capability information. The receiving device receives input data from the transmitting device, and if an input type of the receiving device is changed, the receiving device transmits information about the changed input type to the transmitting device and receives a report descriptor including information about a format of input data according to the changed input type from the transmitting device.
US09015381B2	Pairing and storage access scheme between a handheld device and a computing system A method is described that involves detecting the presence of a pairing partner. Prior to establishing a paired relationship with the pairing partner, a user is prompted to verify himself/herself. In response to the user properly verifying himself/herself, the paring partner is paired with. The pairing includes invoking a remote storage protocol that contemplates a network between the partners to establish on a first of the partners access to non volatile storage resources for general use. The non volatile storage resources are located on a second of the partners. The second of the partners is a handheld device that provides wireless cell phone service, wireless Internet service and music playback service.
US09015380B2	Exchanging message data in a distributed computer system A method for exchanging message data in a distributed computer system between a sending and a receiving hardware system. The sending hardware system includes a first memory system and a receiving hardware system which includes a second memory system with a second data buffer and a second memory region. The sending hardware system and the receiving hardware system are coupled via a non-transparent bridge unit. The method includes allocating empty memory, writing information about the empty memory, copying payload data directly from the sending hardware system to the empty memory locations, and writing information about the copied payload data to the second data buffer of the second memory system inside the receiving hardware system. A computer program product for carrying out the method is also provided.
US09015378B2	Determining sensor information in the background on a mobile device Methods and systems for acquiring and batching sensor data using a mobile device are described. In one example, a system in a mobile device is provided. The system includes one or more sensors, a memory, a sensor processor, and a main application processor. The sensor processor is configured to determine sensor data using the one or more sensors on an interval basis and store the sensor data into one or more first-in, first-out (FIFO) queues. Additionally, the sensor processor is configured to replace at least a portion of the stored sensor data if a main application processor of the mobile device does not request the stored sensor data within a certain amount of time. The main application processor is configured to receive data indicating a request for sensor data for a recent time period and, in response, to retrieve the sensor data from the one or more FIFO queues.
US09015373B2	Storage apparatus and method of controlling storage apparatus A storage apparatus capable of achieving both an improvement in efficiency of data transfer processing and an improvement in availability and a method of controlling the storage apparatus are provided. A storage apparatus which includes a storage medium for providing an external apparatus with a data storage area includes: a processing unit including multiple processors which execute synchronous processing and asynchronous processing other than the synchronous processing, the synchronous processing being processing to be executed immediately in response to data I/O requests from the external apparatus, the asynchronous processing being processing to be executed as needed in response to a processing request generated in the storage apparatus; a temporary storage unit which provides a storage area where any of the processors temporarily stores write target data in accordance with a data write request among the data I/O requests; and a processor operating rate management part which manages a time schedule for each of the multiple processors to execute the synchronous processing or the asynchronous processing. In the storage apparatus, the processor operating rate management part acquires execution pro-portions of the synchronous processing and the asynchronous processing executed by each of the multiple processors in a past predetermined time period and an usage state of the temporary storage unit used by the multiple processors, compares the acquired execution proportions and the usage state with execution proportions of the synchronous processing, the asynchronous processing, and intensive writing processing set in advance for each of the processors, the intensive writing processing being processing of writing from the temporary storage unit to the storage medium, the execution proportion of the intensive writing processing defined corresponding to the usage state of the temporary storage unit, and sets an operation schedule of the multiple processors in such a way that at least one of the processors executes the synchronous processing at any point in a predetermined execution proportion management unit time.
US09015372B2	Managing data paths between computer applications and data storage devices Provided is a computer-implemented method of managing data paths between a computer application and a storage device. The I/O (input/output) load data of a computer application is obtained. If the I/O load data of the computer application is above a pre-determined threshold, data paths are provisioned between the computer application and the storage device based on a pre-defined policy applicable to the computer application.
US09015371B1	Method to discover multiple paths to disk devices cluster wide A system and method for discovering multiple paths to a disk device are disclosed. For example, the method can include discovering a plurality of paths that exist from a first host computer to a storage device. The plurality of paths includes at least one local path and at least one network path from the first host computer to the storage device. In addition, the first host computer is one of several host computers in a cluster. Once the paths have been discovered, a representation of the paths from the first host computer to the storage device is generated. Such a method can be performed, for example, without user intervention.
US09015363B2	Method and apparatus for USB signaling via intermediate transports According to one aspect of the teachings herein, a system includes first and second modules that respectively anchor host-side and device-side ends of an intermediate transport link that interconnects a USB host to a USB device. The system detects when the host activates an isochronous endpoint in the device for an isochronous IN data transaction, and the second module autonomously generates data requests for the device and forwards the isochronous data output from the device towards the first module. In turn, the first module buffers the data and provides it to the host in response to host's data requests. However, the first module blocks host requests from propagating to the device and it NACKs host requests until forwarded data is available from the second module. Such operation remains transparent to the host and device, while avoiding USB timing violations, even for extended intermediate transport links.
US09015360B2	Method of programming a USB device The invention is a method of programming a device comprising a USB® connector and a USB® chip. The USB® connector comprises first and second sets of connection pins. The USB® chip comprises a USB® interface and a programming interface. The method comprises a step of activating a selecting pin of said first set for selecting the programming interface and a step of sending programming data to the USB® chip through said second set and through the programming interface.
US09015358B2	Information processing apparatus, method therefor, and computer-readable storage medium An information processing apparatus connected with a peripheral apparatus via a communication line includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire information about a destination of the peripheral apparatus, and a provision unit configured to provide functions for at least one of managing and controlling the peripheral apparatus according to the destination information acquired by the acquisition unit. The provision unit is configured to refer to information indicating a function to be provided according to the destination of the peripheral apparatus and to provide a function for at least one of managing and controlling the peripheral apparatus.
US09015355B2	Data storage architecture extension system and method A data storage architecture extension (DAX) system and method that daisy-chains multiple SATA disk drive storage elements to allow a single host bus adapter (HBA) to view the daisy-chain as one logical SATA disk drive is disclosed. The system/method may be broadly described as comprising a pass-thru disk drive controller (PTDDC) further comprising a pass-thru input (PTI) port, disk drive interface (DDI) port, and pass-thru output (PTO) port. The PTDDC intercepts and translates PTI port input to the requirements of a SATA disk drive connected to the DDI. Each PTDDC may be daisy-chained to other PTDDCs to permit a plethora of SATA drives to be associated with a given HBA, with the first PTDDC providing a presentation interface to the HBA integrating all SATA disk drive storage connected to the PTDDCs. Rack mounting of PTDDC-enabled SATA disk drives enables creation of inexpensive dynamically expandable petabyte-class storage arrays.
US09015352B2	Adaptable datapath for a digital processing system The present invention includes an adaptable high-performance node (RXN) with several features that enable it to provide high performance along with adaptability. A preferred embodiment of the RXN includes a run-time configurable data path and control path. The RXN supports multi-precision arithmetic including 8, 16, 24, and 32 bit codes. Data flow can be reconfigured to minimize register accesses for different operations. For example, multiply-accumulate operations can be performed with minimal, or no, register stores by reconfiguration of the data path. Predetermined kernels can be configured during a setup phase so that the RXN can efficiently execute, e.g., Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT) and other operations. Other features are provided.
US09015346B2	Identification of a private device in a public network Methods, network address translation (NAT) devices, network nodes and system for allowing identification of a private device in a public network or treating traffic of a private device in a public network. The NAT may allocate a private IPv4 address to the private device, reserve a block of ports on the public IPv4 address for the private device and send an identification of the block of ports to a network node in the public network. The network node of the public network may receive an identification of a block of ports on the public IPv4 address indicating that the block of ports is reserved for the private device and activate a rule for treating traffic of the private device.
US09015338B2	Method and apparatus for suppressing silence in media communications A method and apparatus for suppressing silence frames in a stream of media includes receiving a stream of media from a user and suppressing at least one silence frame from the received stream of media. The suppressed silence frame includes an initial silence frame situated before a first media frame and/or a silence frame situated between two successive media frames.
US09015336B2	Convergent mediation system with improved data transfer An object is to create a convergent mediation system (10) and method that meet the technical requirements of low latency time and high reliability. According an aspect of the invention, these objects are achieved by providing a convergent mediation system (10) that comprises a plurality of independent processing nodes (120, 125) adapted to form processing streams (200) for the online processing (12) and off-line processing (14) of data. Each of the processing streams (200) comprises at least two independent nodes (120, 125) in sequence and buffers (145) between the nodes (120, 125). Furthermore, random access memory is utilized such that at least one of the buffers (145) in each of the online processing streams (212) is formed by a dedicated memory area in the random access memory.
US09015335B1	Server side stream switching Technology is provided for dynamically adjusting the delivery of content by switching streams during delivery in order to adapt to bandwidth information. A server (or set of servers) storing content transmits one or more portions of a first version of a set content to a client and monitors that transmission (or other transmission) to determine bandwidth information. The server determines whether to switch versions of the set of content based on the bandwidth information. One or more additional portions of the first version of the set of content are transmitted from the server to the client if the server determines that it should not switch versions of the set of content. One or more portions of a second version of the set of content are transmitted from the server to the client if the server determines that it should switch versions. The first version of the set of content and the second version of the set of content are at different quality levels.
US09015334B2	Media player with automatic streaming of media files A media streaming device which automatically senses the proximity of an auxiliary media player such as a digital picture frame or digital audio device, and automatically streams media information from the media streaming device to the auxiliary media player. Permissions can be set so that only some files are sent to the auxiliary media player, based on user specified permissions and/or based on copyright restrictions.
US09015331B2	Method for implementing a convergent wireless local area network (WLAN) authentication and privacy infrastructure (WAPI) network architecture in a local MAC mode A method for implementing a convergent Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI) network architecture in a local Medium Access Control (MAC) mode is provided and includes the following steps: the MAC function and WAPI function of Access Point (AP) are divided between Wireless Terminal Point (WTP) and Access Controller (AC) to construct a local MAC mode; the convergence of WAPI protocol and the convergent WLAN network architecture is implemented in the local MAC mode; the process of association and connection between Station (STA), WTP and AC is performed; the process of notification of the beginning of the execution of the WLAN Authentication Infrastructure (WAI) protocol between AC and WTP is performed; the process of the execution of the WAI protocol between STA and AC is performed; the process of notification of the end of the execution of the WAI protocol between AC and WTP is performed; the process of encrypted communication between WTP and STA is performed by use of WPI.
US09015330B2	Intercepting file transfers in multi-node topologies A system and method for intercepting and processing a payload sent between clients. A home server determines the roles that are intermediate to the clients by having intermediate servers insert identity information into a message of a session setup protocol. The home server selects a role to be the intercepting role, and sends a notification and aggregate information to a server of the selected role. A server of the intercepting role intercepts and processes the payload when it is sent between the clients. Payload processing may include content inspection or filtering based on any of a number of factors.
US09015329B2	Portable information apparatus that includes touch sensitive screen interface and wireless communication circuitry for selecting an output device on the touch sensitive screen and for wireless transmitting output stream to the selected output device A portable electronic device that includes a touch screen display and a wireless communication circuitry operable at least partly in the 2.4 GHz frequency band is disclosed and enabled. The portable electronic device includes features for searching output devices using the wireless communication circuitry; displaying on the touch screen display a list identifying one or more output devices found by the searching; receiving an input supplied to the touch screen display for selecting a selected output device; and subsequently, receiving, from at least the selected output device, via the wireless communication circuitry, an output device attribute; configuring an output stream using the output device attribute; and transmitting, via the wireless communication circuitry, the configured output stream to the selected output device. The output device may be a display device, a television, a printer, an audio device, or an external controller connectable to a television.
US09015323B2	Global server load balancing A global server load-balancing (GSLB) switch serves as a proxy to an authoritative DNS and communicates with numerous site switches that are coupled to host servers serving specific applications. The GSLB switch receives from site switches operational information regarding host servers within the site switches neighborhood. When a client program requests a resolution of a host name, the GSLB switch, acting as a proxy of an authoritative DNS, returns one or more ordered IP addresses for the host name. The IP addresses are ordered using metrics that include the information collected from the site switches or based on other metric information. Examples of metrics include weighted site, weighted IP, and active bindings metrics. The GSLB switch places the address that is deemed “best” at the top of the list.
US09015321B2	Concurrent web based multitasking support for computing system Supporting of multiple concurrent tasks to be submitted via a single web-browser is important because it improves efficiency for user to utilize the web browser for daily works. The supporting of web based multitasking is also an important step towards creating a web based computer user work environment.
US09015311B2	Systems and methods for analyzing network metrics The present solution is directed to systems and methods for providing, by a device intermediary to a plurality of clients and one or more servers, analytics on a stream of network packets traversing the device. The systems and methods include the device identifying, while the device manages network traffic between the plurality of clients and the one or more servers, a stream of network packets, from a plurality of streams of network packets of the network traffic traversing the device, corresponding to a flow identifier, e.g., a selected one of an internet protocol address, a uniform resource locator or an application identifier. The systems and methods may include a collector of the analytics engine collecting, while the device manages network traffic, metrics on the identified stream of network packets and generating one or more stream objects that comprise the collected metrics.
US09015310B2	Communication system using server agents according to simple network management protocol A plurality of communication devices communicates with each other via a network in accordance with a simple network management protocol (SNMP). The communication devices include agents with specific identifications. At least one communication device includes a proxy manager. The agent updates its status log at each status transition. The proxy manager periodically monitors communication devices, irrespective of their conditions as to whether or not communication devices are each under maintenance, independently of trap messages notifying events that occur on the network. The proxy manager collects statuses of agents included in communication devices so as to store them in connection with agents. Thus, it is possible to periodically monitor agents under maintenance without conducting a status monitoring operation.
US09015308B2	Multilayer distributed processing system The independencies of a plurality of layers executing dividingly a transaction can be easily enhanced. Anode (30) assigns to a transaction to anode (30) of a lower layer through a distributed transaction management section. The node (30) shares a predetermined transaction with the node (30) of the lower layer along with other nodes (30). The node (30) shared by the nodes (30) is a read-only node or a node to which data can be written by the characteristic of a function. Thus the node (30) searches for an unused node (30) in lower layers through the distributed transaction management section (34) when the node starts a new transaction. First, second, and third node hosts (3,4,5) check if each node (30) is used for which transaction or if each node (30) is used or not and store the results.
US09015305B1	Systems and methods for data source management Systems and methods for data source management using custom data sources are described. The system includes a custom data source created in response to a data source request, and a number of configuration modules to handle obtaining a connection with a data source. Other embodiments are also described.
US09015304B2	Systems and methods for supporting a SNMP request over a cluster The present disclosure is directed towards systems and methods for supporting Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) request operations over clustered networking devices. The system includes a cluster that includes a plurality of intermediary devices and an SNMP agent executing on a first intermediary device of the plurality of intermediary devices. The SNMP agent receives an SNMP GETNEXT request for an entity. Responsive to receipt of the SNMP GETNEXT request, the SNMP agent requests a next entity from each intermediary device of the plurality of intermediary devices of the cluster. To respond to the SNMP request, the SNMP agent selects a lexicographically minimum entity. The SNMP agent may select the lexicographically minimum entity from a plurality of next entities received via responses from each intermediary device of the plurality of intermediary devices.
US09015303B2	Message queue behavior optimizations Network and storage calls are reduced by batching messages. Messages are collected from a client and sent to the gateway or backend application in one round trip. Alternatively, the messages are collected for different entities, and the batched messages are durably stored. Related messages, which may have the same sessionID, are grouped into a logical unit or session. This session may be locked to a single message consumer. A session may be associated with an application processing state as an atomic unit of work while other operations are performed on the messages in the session. Acknowledgements are accumulated by a broker on a message server, but the messages are not immediately deleted. Instead, multiple messages in a selected range are periodically truncated from a message store in a single operation. Expired messages for active sessions are proactive cleaned up to prevent sessions from reaching a quota or limit.
US09015302B2	Scheduled network management A method and apparatus for managing a network. Signals are received from a plurality of time sources. A signal having a desired level of accuracy is selected from the signals. A reference time in the network is established using the signal. Data to be transmitted through the network is encrypted to form encrypted data. The encrypted data includes a number of encrypted headers and an encrypted body. A next node in the network is identified based on a destination for the encrypted data. A request is generated to reserve a number of time intervals for transmitting the encrypted data to the next node through the network. The encrypted data is transmitted in the network during the number of time intervals responsive to receiving an approval for the request from the next node.
US09015300B2	Method, computer program product, and device for network reconnaissance flow identification A method, computer program product, and device for detecting a reconnaissance of a network through the identification of the information flowing from the network to external sources are provided. The method may include monitoring the information flowing from the network to external sources in order to identify what properties may have been revealed to a potential attacker. The method may include monitoring a response of the network to an inquiry from an external source, determining potential properties of the network that may have been revealed from the response, storing the potential properties in a data repository, and determining a possible reconnaissance of the network based on the properties stored in the data repository. Determining the potential properties of the network revealed by the response may include comparing the response to one or more information templates. Each information template may be associated with one or more properties of the network.
US09015298B2	Data processing network and method for operating such To reduce the administration complexity required for a data processing (DP) network, provided particularly for use in the medical or clinical sector, a method is proposed which specifies a DP network which is advantageous in this respect and also an associated method of operation. The DP network includes a configuration server and also at least one further data processing appliance, on which an application, configured using prescribed configuration data, is installed. In this case, the configuration data are stored on the configuration server and are made available to the at least one DP appliance for the purpose of configuring the application (A).
US09015294B2	System and method for assigning addresses to information handling systems Information handling system network addresses are managed based on the location of the information handling system. For example, a blade information handling system chassis has network addresses stored in persistent memory and associated with each of plural slots. A blade information handling system inserted in a slot receives network addresses associated with the slot from a chassis management controller. A baseboard management controller of the blade information handling system receives the network addresses and applies the network addresses to power up networking components to communicate over a network with the network addresses, such as MAC addresses or WWN addresses.
US09015290B2	Enhanced network adapter framework An enhanced network adapter framework, in which parameters are stored in a configuration table, the parameters being customized for a network and an application. A network adapter customized for the network and the application is instantiated based on invoking a generic network adapter which externally references the configuration table, and communication between the application and the network is effected using the instantiated network adapter.
US09015287B2	Digital downloading jukebox system with user-tailored music management, communications, and other tools A digital downloading jukebox system including a mechanism for delivering custom services to a recognized user, including services for creating playlists, communicating with others, accessing other features, etc. is provided. In some exemplary embodiments, after a user is recognized, the jukebox system allows users to access a special front-end via an Internet-enabled device or on an actual jukebox. Then, the user may, for example, create playlists, share songs with friends, send messages to friends, and access other value-added content. Such a system preferably learns about networks of friends, and enables managers to send similar messages to regular customers and/or others known to the system. In some exemplary embodiments, changes via a first user interface on a first device are reflected on second user interface on other properly-configured devices.
US09015286B2	Digital downloading jukebox system with user-tailored music management, communications, and other tools A digital downloading jukebox system including a mechanism for delivering custom services to a recognized user, including services for creating playlists, communicating with others, accessing other features, etc. is provided. In some exemplary embodiments, after a user is recognized, the jukebox system allows users to access a special front-end via an Internet-enabled device or on an actual jukebox. Then, the user may, for example, create playlists, share songs with friends, send messages to friends, and access other value-added content. Such a system preferably learns about networks of friends, and enables managers to send similar messages to regular customers and/or others known to the system. In some exemplary embodiments, changes via a first user interface on a first device are reflected on second user interface on other properly-configured devices.
US09015284B2	Method, apparatus and system for addressing resources A method and an apparatus for addressing resources. The apparatus includes a component for forming a group having one or more end-points or other groups and for creating a first abstract universal resource identifier (URI) for the group, the abstract URI includes a domain name and a group identifier; a component for creating a second abstract universal resource identifier (URI) for the end-points, the abstract URI having an end-point and domain name; and a component configured to receive a look-up URI, the look-up URI having tag identifying the look-up URI as a group look-up, the address of the apparatus, optional domain and group parameters; and a component configured to resolve the look-up URI to one or more first or second abstract URIs.
US09015280B2	Communication terminal, address resolution server, and computer program A communication terminal (100c) is provided with: an obtaining device (101) for presenting the host name of the another end terminal (100d) to an address resolution server (200), thereby obtaining a second address bundle (221) indicating a network route from a global network (401), to which the address resolution server belongs, to the another end terminal; a recognizing device (102) for recognizing a positional relation on the network between the communication terminal and the another end terminal, on the basis of the second address bundle and a first address bundle (221) indicating a network route from the global network, to which the address resolution server belongs, to the communication terminal; and a determining device (103) for determining a host address which is used for the communication with the another end terminal from among the second address bundle, on the basis of the recognized positional relation.
US09015277B1	Delivering promotions associated with user profiles through multiple digital channels associated with the user profiles Multiple copies of the same coupon are delivered to a consumer simultaneously via different delivery channels. After one copy of the coupon has been presented in connection with a transaction and used, the coupon is marked as used with respect to all delivery channels for that consumer. Different copies of the coupon can have different coupon identifiers, for example when delivered through different channels. Consumers also can access such multichannel coupons without having to login each time they wish to access their coupons from multiple channels. In one implementation, each consumer has a user profile. A promotion is associated with that consumer's user profile. Each user profile also is associated with different channel identifiers representing communication channels to deliver instances of the promotion to the consumer. Each delivered instance of the promotion includes a coupon identifier associated with the promotion.
US09015275B2	Partial object distribution in content delivery network A method of distributing partial content objects may include receiving a request for a content object with a content identifier. The method may further include sending the content identifier from an edge server to a distribution server that is configured to determine that the content object is a candidate for partial object distribution, determine a first portion of the content object, and cause the first portion of the content object to be sent to the edge server. The method may additionally include caching, at the edge server, a second portion of the content object, where the first portion of the content object may include the second portion of the content object and a remaining portion of the content object, and where the second portion of the content object is smaller than the first portion of the content object.
US09015273B2	Methods and devices for transmitting and receiving sequential content in a content centric network Provided is a scheme of transmitting sequential content (or data) in a content centric network (CCN). The scheme includes a push scheme which may reduce a load on a network and inefficiency of a transmission that results from a constant transmission of a content request message between devices.
US09015272B2	Microcomputer Between a CPU and a communication module, a write buffer, a write control section, a read buffer and a read control section are provided. The CPU directly accesses and the write buffer and the read buffer. By periodically outputting a communication request, the read control section reads data, which the communication module received from other nodes, and transfers the data to the read buffer. The write control section transfers to the communication module the data written in the write buffer as transmission data. In addition, a bypass access control section and an access sequence control section are provided. The bypass access control section controls direct data read and data write between the CPU and the communication module. The access sequence control section controls sequence of accesses of the control sections to the communication module.
US09015270B2	Apparatus and methods for enforcing content protection rules during data transfer between devices Methods and apparatus for transferring data and content between devices while maintaining protection of the content. In one embodiment, one or more content protection rules are associated with the content. These rules include for example subscriber-specific, device-specific and/or content-specific rules on use, copying, or distribution. Content may be provided from a first device to second devices compliant with the rules. In one variant, a mobile version of the content is generated and provides to the requesting device. The original version of content is rendered unusable when the mobile version of the content is provided to the second device, and may only be useable again when the content is removed or otherwise disabled on the second device.
US09015265B2	Transmission apparatus and reception apparatus for message and method of data extraction A reception apparatus which receives a first and second message includes a determination unit configured to determine correspondence between the first message and the second message, an acquisition unit configured to acquire data length information expressing a data length from the first message, and an extraction unit configured to extract data which has the data length based on the data length information from the second message when the determination unit determines that the first message corresponds to the second message.
US09015264B2	Primary and secondary recipient indicators for conversations Systems and methods for providing information include receiving messages associated with a user. Each message is associated with a respective conversation. A request for conversations associated with the user is received from a client. In response, display information for displaying the conversations as a list, including first and second rows respectively representing first and second conversations, is sent to the client. The first row includes a first recipient indicator indicating that the user is a primary message recipient in the first conversation. The second row includes a second recipient indicator indicating that the user is a secondary message recipient in the second conversation. A single field in each row is provided for presentation of both the first and second recipient indicators in individual rows. The first recipient indicator is not used to identify the primary recipient and the second recipient indicator is not used to identify the secondary recipient.
US09015258B2	System and method for peer-to-peer media routing using a third party instant messaging system for signaling An improved system and method are disclosed for peer-to-peer communications. In one example, the method enables an endpoint to engage in a call with another endpoint using a third party instant message system to carry instant messages containing signaling information and a route that is external to the third party instant message system for both signaling and media information.
US09015252B2	Method and system for forcing e-mail addresses into blind carbon copy (“Bcc”) to enforce privacy A system for forcing e-mail addresses into the Bcc: field of transmitted messages in order to enforce user privacy. A user interface enables a user to indicate that their e-mail address is not to be included in a “To:” or “Cc:” field of an e-mail message from another user when the number of e-mail addresses contained in those fields exceeds a threshold size. The user's e-mail address and the associated threshold are stored for future reference when new messages are sent by the other user. Subsequently, when a new message is generated by the other user in which the number of e-mail addresses contained in the “To:” and/or “Cc:” field exceeds the threshold, then the disclosed system moves the user's e-mail address from the “To:” or “Cc:” field to the “Bcc:” field of the message before the message is transmitted to its recipients. Privacy messages may either be sent individually to specific users, or may be automatically generated as a result of a general privacy setting being indicated by the user.
US09015251B2	Methods and system for distributing information via multiple forms of delivery services Systems and methods of managing content and content requests are described. A data store of profiles of potential content contributors is provided. A request from a first source for content comprising content criteria is received, the content criteria comprising content contributor characteristics and content subject matter. Based on the content contributor characteristics and the profiles, at least a first potential content contributor is identified. At least a portion of the content request content criteria is transmitted to the first potential content contributor. If recorded content is received from the first content contributor, the first source is provided with access to the received recorded content. At least partly in response to acceptance by the first source of the received recorded content, the first source is enabled to publish the accepted received recorded content.
US09015249B2	System and method for associating audio data with image file data Methods and apparatus for associating audio file data with image file data according to various aspects of the present invention comprise a social object creation module that is configured to combine multiple files type into a single social media object that may be shared by users. The social object creation module may be installed on a computing device to enable the computing device to create the social object by combining a digital image with an audio file into a single object or data package that may be communicated to another computing device over a communication network.
US09015245B1	Experience sharing with commenting Exemplary embodiments involve real-time commenting in experience-sharing sessions. An exemplary method involves: (a) a server system facilitating an experience sharing session between a sharing device and one or more viewing devices, wherein the server system receives media in real-time from the sharing device and transmits the media to the one or more viewing devices in real-time, wherein the media comprises video; (b) during the experience sharing session, the server system receiving one or more comments from one or more of the viewing devices; (d) the server system filtering the received comments in real-time based on filter criteria; and (e) the server system initiating real-time delivery, to the sharing device, of one or more of the received comments that satisfy the filter criteria.
US09015244B2	Bulletin board data mapping and presentation The system provides a method and apparatus for sorting and displaying information from a BBS. The system provides a method of sorting and presenting messages from a BBS in a way so that the relationship in message threads can be easily observed and related messages can be identified. The system provides a way to view messages and map message threads in two and three dimensions so that the content of messages can be easily reviewed and the relationship between messages can be seen and followed. The system allows a user to enter into a message thread at any point and to then produce a visualization of the related threads and messages associated with each individual message. The system provides interfaces for either a linear or threaded BBS or even a hybrid BBS that is some combination of linear and threaded.
US09015242B2	Communicating with a user device Manipulating images on a display of a communication device. Data captured from a first image receiving device is displayed in a first display region disposed in a first position on a display of the communication device. Data captured from a second image receiving device is displayed in a first display region disposed in a second position on the display of the communication device. Selective swapping of said first position of said first display region with said second position of said second display region, upon receiving a selection for said swapping from a user, is enabled. Selective swapping of the data captured from the first image receiving device with data captured from a third image receiving device, upon receiving a selection for the swapping from the user, is enabled. Terminating a first portion of a communication on the communication device while maintaining a second portion of the communication upon receiving a selection for the terminating from the user, is enabled.
US09015232B2	Content management application for an interactive environment The content management application is an intranet application which provides a process for implementing changes to an internet website of a company by providing the company the ability to define and enforce a common style of page layout. The application can be accessed via a desktop browser and multiple users may access the application for multiple reasons at the same time. The application also dynamically generates new page designs and new component design with various people assigned to groups or teams enabling the continuous creation and processing of content. Once the content is created and reviewed, it is then launched onto the company's internet site for viewing by the internet users accessing the company's web page.
US09015226B2	Techniques for detecting new browser windows Embodiments of the present invention provide techniques for tracking the lifecycles of client-side browser windows in the context of a web application. In one set of embodiments, a server component of a web application can receive a request originating from a client-side browser window, where the request includes a resource locator (e.g., a URL) and a window identifier. In response, the server component can send a script to the window for retrieving the window's actual identifier/name. Based on the actual identifier returned by the script and the window identifier included in the initial request, the server component can determine whether the window is a new window or an existing window and can process the request as appropriate.
US09015225B2	Systems and methods for delivering messages over a network Systems and methods are described for delivering messages from one or more service hosts to clients via a network. A first request identifying the client is received at the message server, and a connection is established and maintained between the message server and the client in response to the first request. When a subsequent request that identifies the client is received from the service host, a message is transmitted from the message server to the client over the previously-established connection. The methods and techniques may be used, for example, to provide messages from various services to placeshifting devices or other clients communicating via the network.
US09015224B2	Interactive response of a remote monitoring and management system A system for providing management functions on remote devices includes a management module, a connection module, an execution module, a timer module, a notification module, and a response module. The management module configures management commands on a central management server. The connection module initiates a connection to the server from an agent on a remote device and retrieves commands. The execution module executes the commands on the device. The timer module controls the initiation of the connection and can be delayed by a timer offset. The notification module uses a local network to send notifications to other agents. The response module responds to the notifications. Some of the commands can modify the timer offset, and other commands can initiate the notifications.
US09015223B2	Method and device for providing triggering information to several clients using an electronic guide A method and a device for data processing. The method includes the following steps: (i) a triggering information is provided to several clients via an electronic guide; and (ii) based on the triggering information, each of the several clients determines, in particular via filtering parameters, whether or not to react to the triggering information.
US09015221B2	Method and apparatus for distributing objects A method and apparatus for distributing objects. In one embodiment, the method comprises computing a modulus operand based on a number of objects to be distributed and a number of objects pertaining to a first category; computing a modulus operation based on a number of distributed objects and the modulus operand; and distributing a first object or a second object based on a result of computing the modulus operation.
US09015216B2	Fast static rotator/shifter with non two's complemented decode and fast mask generation In one embodiment, a rotator, a mask generator, and circuitry configured to mask the rotated operand output by the rotator with the output mask generated by the mask generator perform a shift operation. The rotator is configured to rotate the input operand by the shift count. The mask generator is configured to generate an output mask by decoding a most significant bit (MSB) field of the shift count to generate a first mask, decoding a least significant bit (LSB) field of the shift count to generate a second mask, logically ANDing the bits of the second mask with the corresponding bit of the first mask and logically ORing the result with an adjacent bit of the first mask that is selected responsive to the shift direction.
US09015210B2	Activity-based block management of a clustered file system A technique for operating a client node in a clustered file system includes allocating a number of blocks during a first time window and tracking the number of blocks allocated during the first time window. The technique further includes transmitting a block allocation request to a server node of the clustered file system for a number of requested blocks in response to a number of free blocks in a client-side block map reaching a first threshold value. In this case, the number of the requested blocks is based on the number of blocks allocated by the client node during the first time window.
US09015206B2	Method and apparatus for organizing and playing data The present invention provides a general solution to presenting media interface and navigation tools for content provided from a plurality of sources. The invention maintains a user at a single site regardless of the source of the media content. This permits a consistent interface to be presented to the user. Because the user remains at the same site, differences in tiered membership may be tracked so that the user is only presented with content that the user is permitted to view. The invention uses a metadata language to characterize content so that viewer type, membership level, and other information can be maintained and used for an enjoyable viewing experience.
US09015202B2	Method and/or system for tree transformation Embodiments of methods, apparatuses, devices and/or systems for manipulating hierarchical sets of data are disclosed.
US09015200B2	Map update scripts with tree edit operations A geographic database is defined using hierarchical data trees and updated by changing selected portions of a data tree. A device defines a binary large object (BLOB) including map data as a first data tree and an update to the map data as a second data tree. The device computes a difference between the first data tree and the second data tree. The difference may include the data and links that are being updated. The device generates an update script including a sequence of edit operations needed to update the map data. The device may communicate the update script to a navigation device, which is configured to execute the update script to perform the update on a local version of the map data.
US09015198B2	Method and apparatus for large scale data storage A logical apparatus and associated methods provide highly scalable and flexible data storage in a network of computers. The apparatus provides flexible organizational and access control mechanisms and a practical and efficient way to work with smaller portions of a data storage system at a given time to enable sparse population, caching, paging and related functions. A data structure, called a virtual container, comprises references to objects stored in a data storage system such that the same object can be visible from different virtual containers, if such virtual containers hold references to said object. Access controls further enhance the effectiveness of the methods and structures to enable multiple simultaneous organizational schemes and selective sharing of objects. Participating nodes provide access to objects stored on said nodes and their participating peer nodes, employing the data storage apparatus, such that balance in the network is achieved by data placement decisions that may combine common constraints and a node's individual self interest.
US09015197B2	Dynamic repartitioning for changing a number of nodes or partitions in a distributed search system A distributed search system can include a group of nodes assigned to different partitions. Each partition can store indexes for a group of documents. Nodes in the same partition can independently processing document-based records to construct the indexes. One of the nodes can process a stored checkpoint to produce a repartitioned checkpoint. The group of nodes can respond to search requests during the construction of the repartitioned checkpoint. The repartitioned checkpoint can be loaded into the group of nodes to repartition the group of nodes.
US09015194B2	Root cause analysis using interactive data categorization A computer-implemented method for processing a plurality of data items includes defining a set of one or more categories having a corresponding set of conditions that associate the data items with the categories. A sub-categorization request, requesting to divide a category from among the categories into lower-level categories, is accepted from a user. The data items associated with the category are processed responsively to the sub-categorization request, so as to automatically suggest the lower-level categories.The automatically-suggested lower-level categories are presented to the user, and direction with respect to the automatically-suggested lower-level categories is accepted from the user. A hierarchical structure representing the categories is constructed responsively to the direction, by dividing the category into the lower-level categories. Output based on the hierarchical structure is presented to the user.
US09015193B1	Recursive aggregates Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for expressing and evaluating aggregation functions, including aggregation functions in the context of recursive aggregates, in data languages that implement fixed point semantics. One of the methods includes receiving input specifying, explicitly or implicitly, an aggregation function agg having an input type and an output type, a relation s that has a domain and a range and that represents one or more entities to be aggregated over, and a relation t that is a relation from the range of s to the input type of the aggregation function agg; and evaluating an aggregation construct agg* to calculate a relation between the domain of s and the output type of the aggregation function agg according to agg*(s, t)={(m, agg(n))\|∃d: (m,d)εs,nεπ{\|t(y)\|yεs(m)\|}}.
US09015192B1	Systems and methods for improved processing of personalized message queries Systems and methods for displaying electronic messages are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method includes, at a computing device, displaying an electronic message user interface and receiving a search query while displaying the electronic message user interface. The search query corresponds to a category identifier, of a plurality of predefined category identifiers. The method also includes, in response to receiving the search query, displaying one or more electronic messages, in a plurality of electronic messages, that satisfy the search query and concurrently displaying a set of data associated with an object identifier in a respective electronic message of the one or more electronic messages. The object identifier corresponds to the category identifier, and the set of data includes one or more entries defined in a data configuration associated with the category identifier.
US09015188B2	Methods and apparatus for monitoring execution of a database query program In one general aspect, a computer-readable storage medium can be configured to store instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform a process. The instructions can include instructions to receive, during a first portion of an execution of a main program including a database query program and based on a first configuration for monitoring the database query program, a parameter value representing performance of execution of the database query program. The instructions can include instructions to produce an indicator that a performance condition has been satisfied based, at least in part, on the parameter value, and instructions to trigger execution of a second configuration for monitoring the database query program during a second portion of the execution of the main program in response to the performance condition being satisfied.
US09015185B2	Ontology based recommendation systems and methods A search technology generates recommendations with minimal user data and participation, and provides better interpretation of user data, such as popularity, thus obtaining breadth and quality in recommendations. It is sensitive to the semantic content of natural language terms and lets users briefly describe the intended recipient (i.e., interests, eccentricities, previously successful gifts). Based on that input, the recommendation software system and method determines the meaning of the entered terms and creatively discover connections to gift recommendations from the vast array of possibilities. The user may then make a selection from these recommendations. The search/recommendation engine allows the user to find gifts through connections that are not limited to previously available information on the Internet. Thus, interests can be connected to buying behavior by relating terms to respective items.
US09015182B2	Product placement engine and method A product placement engine and method for automatically identifying products for association with a document, the engine including a parser, an analysis module adapted to determine word scores and to adjust the word scores of the words by predetermined weightings, a keyword constructor module adapted to construct a keyword query search string using words having the highest word scores, a search engine adapted to search a products database having product records to identify products satisfying the keyword query search string and assign product scores, and a post processing module adapted to identify word matches in each of the product records and the document and update the product score.
US09015181B2	Systems and methods for managing single instancing data Described in detail herein are systems and methods for managing single instancing data. Using a single instance database and other constructs (e.g. sparse files), data density on archival media (e.g. magnetic tape) is improved, and the number of files per storage operation is reduced. According to one aspect of a method for managing single instancing data, for each storage operation, a chunk folder is created on a storage device that stores single instancing data. The chunk folder contains three files: 1) a file that contains data objects that have been single instanced; 2) a file that contains data objects that have not been eligible for single instancing; and 3) a metadata file used to track the location of data objects within the other files. A second storage operation subsequent to a first storage operation contains references to data objects in the chunk folder created by the first storage operation instead of the data objects themselves.
US09015179B2	Media content tags A tag file associated with a content file provides a user with access to related content. A content provider can request that information be associated with selected content, such that when a user views the selected content a selectable element is generated and displayed to the user to provide easy access to the related content. Information such as keywords associated with the selected content also can be used to search for related content. Related content information is placed in tags of the tag file for the selected content, such that at a selected or other appropriate time information relating to the related content is displayed to the user. When a user selects the selectable element, the related content is located and displayed in place of, or in addition to, the selected content. Such an approach is useful for digital media networks such as IPTV applications.
US09015171B2	Method and system for linking and delinking data records Exemplary systems and methods for linking entity references to entities and identifying associations between entities are presented. In particular, a method for delinking one or more entity references linked to a same entity is provided, where the one or more entity references have at least one common data field. The method comprises the steps of evaluating at least one actual measurement of the entity based at least in part on one or more field values of the one or more entity references, determining a difference between the at least one actual measurement and at least one predefined measurement associated with the entity and delinking the one or more entity references based at least in part on a comparison of the difference and a defined threshold.
US09015163B1	Using cross-matching between users and matching against reference data to facilitate content identification Techniques for identifying video and/or audio content are presented. An identification management component (IMC) groups users determined to be at least potentially be watching the same content based on first content fingerprints associated with respective content viewed by the users on communication devices, and a defined matching criterion. IMC facilitates identifying the content associated with the group of users based on first content fingerprints associated with the group of users and first reference content fingerprints. IMC receives a second content fingerprint associated with a communication device of a user in the group, sends the second content fingerprint to a third-party identification component for comparison with second reference content fingerprints, and receives content identification information in response. IMC identifies the content for the group of users based on the content identification information and/or the content identification made based on the first content fingerprints associated with the group.
US09015162B2	Integrating smart social question and answers enabled for use with social networking tools Embodiments include a program product and a method for providing responses to questions provided on a social media site. The method includes receiving, via a processor, a user question from a social networking site and decomposing and filtering the user question so that it can be further analyzed. The method also includes generating a list of most closely matched potential responders based on analysis of the user question and sending the most closely matched potential responders the user question. Upon receiving responses back from the most closest matched potential responders, these responses are aggregated by the processor in a final response format.
US09015161B2	Mismatch detection system, method, and program A mismatch detection system includes: a statement unit extracting portion that extracts a set of statement units by dividing a given document, which is written in a natural language, into pieces; a statement constructing portion that constructs each statement as a combination of a context and specifics by sorting each of the statement units into the context, which indicate additional information of statements, and the specifics, which indicate information of the statements; and a data generating portion that generates a data set obtained by merging a set of predetermined check specifics and a set of the statements generated by the statement constructing portion. A clustering portion converts two most similar pieces of data in the generated data set into one new piece of data which is generated by linking the most similar two pieces of data, repeats the conversion to generate a new data set, and extracts, from the generated new data set, only pieces of data that contain the statements generated by the statement constructing portion, to thereby generate a clustering result set. The mismatch detection system further includes a detection portion that generates a check item for each combination of a predetermined check subject and check specifics, and detects a mismatch of the statements based on a degree of similarity between the generated check item and a clustering result.
US09015156B2	Interactive computing recommendation facility with learning based on user feedback and interaction The present application provides a method for content ranking for recommending content to a community of users. Recommending content to a community of users is provided by identifying data sources associated with a user of the recommendation system. Each data source comprises content items. Hyperlinks embedded in the content items from the data sources associated with the user are extracted. The hyperlinks and a set of user preferences are used to rank new time-sensitive content items associated with a plurality of data sources. A set of ranked time sensitive customized content items are presented to the user as recommended content.
US09015155B2	Multi-user communication system and method Systems and methods for enabling communication between a user and at least one entity by a communication service are disclosed. In one example, the method comprises acts of receiving a search for the at least one entity, analyzing the search, by a processor, to determine search results based on the search including the at least one entity, receiving a message from the user to the at least one entity, the message including inquiry information directed to the at least one entity, determining, by the processor, presence status associated with the at least one entity, establishing, by the processor, a communication channel between the user and the at least one entity based on the presence status, and transmitting a response to the message based on the inquiry information via the communication channel.
US09015144B2	Configuring web crawler to extract web page information Web crawling configuration includes: obtaining a webpage comprising a plurality of receiving a user selection of a node in the webpage; presenting a set of web crawling configuration options pertaining to a web crawling action to be performed with respect to the node, the set of web crawling configuration options depending at least in part on a type of an element included in the node and comprising: a first option to perform a first web crawling action in the event that the node include a first type of the element; and a second option to perform a second web crawling action in the event that the node includes a second type of the element; receiving a user input specifying the web crawling configuration option; and storing user specified web crawling configuration option, performing the web crawling action on the node according to the user input, or both.
US09015141B2	Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to measure search results Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to measure search results are disclosed. A disclosed example method to measure search results includes identifying a preview event for a search result associated with a search query, and storing the preview event in association with a search engine identifier and a web page identifier.
US09015139B2	Systems and methods for performing a search based on a media content snapshot image Systems and methods are provided for performing a search based on a snapshot image captured from media content presented to a user. The snapshot image contains features of the media content that the user wishes to target for the search. A search system recognizes features of the snapshot image and creates a search query based on the snapshot image. The search query is used to identify features of the snapshot image, and search results related to the identified features are presented to the user. Supplemental data or user input received with the snapshot image may be used in analyzing and identifying features of the snapshot image.
US09015138B2	Consumer driven methods for associating content identifiers with related web addresses The present invention provides methods to provide or establish links, web addresses or web content with media (e.g., audio, videos or imagery). In one implementation, we provide a method comprising: upon receipt of a content identifier associated with media, initiating a time-limited auction for a right to associated a link or website with the content identifier; receiving additional bids for the right; and at a conclusion of a predetermined time associated with the time-limited auction, awarding the right to associate a link or website with the content identifier. In another implementation we provide a method including awarding a right to provide or host web content; and monitoring provided or hosted web content to ensure that non-advertising content is maintained at or above a predetermined level. In yet another implementation, we provide a method including: receiving a content identifier associated with media; determining whether web content exists that is associated with the content identifier; if the web content exists, providing the web content or a pointer to the web content; and if web content does not exist, allowing a user who provided the content identifier to provide or host web content.
US09015133B2	Optimized resizing for RCU-protected hash tables A technique for resizing a first RCU-protected hash table stored in a memory. A second RCU-protected hash table is allocated in the memory as a resized version of the first hash table having a different number of hash buckets, with the hash buckets being defined but initially having no hash table elements. The second hash table is populated by linking each hash bucket thereof to all hash buckets of the first hash table containing elements that hash to the second hash bucket. The second hash table is then published so that it is available for searching by hash table readers. The first table is freed from memory after waiting for a grace period which guarantees that no readers searching the first hash table will be affected by the freeing.
US09015131B2	Information management method, and computer for providing information When an online storage service is used to expand a storage capacity of a file server, an amount of communication in synchronization processing and an amount of data retained on the online storage service are reduced to save an amount of charge. In a kernel module provided with a storage area on the online storage service, files are divided into block files and managed, and blocks overlapping with an already registered and saved block file group are not uploaded, but only configuration information of the files is changed. A mechanism is adopted, in which DBs for managing meta information and elimination of duplication are divided and managed, and only updated sections are appropriately uploaded.
US09015129B2	Cross-platform object level restoration from image level backups Systems and methods for restoring file system objects from image level backups of servers. The method receives a selection of an image level backup of a source, file system object(s) to be restored, and restoration parameters identifying a destination. The method initializes and attaches a virtual storage to a virtual appliance and an associated hypervisor. The method stores virtual storage data changes resulting from the file system object restoration in changes storage. The method preserves file system object information, wherein the file system object information corresponds to the source operating system (OS) and file system. The method preserves file system object information such as permissions and ownership through business logic that ensures that the file system object information for restored file system object(s) on the destination match file system object information from the source, even when the method operates on a host running a different OS than the source server.
US09015125B2	Flexibly managing record retention via a records management software program Program code determines whether a retention base, defined as a property within a disposition schedule has a value, wherein the disposition schedule defines additional properties and instructions for disposal of a record, and wherein the additional properties include a retention period. The program code identifies a change to at least one of the retention base and the retention period. The program code generates a point in time to perform the disposal of the record based on the change that is identified, wherein the disposal is an action defined for a phase of the disposition schedule.
US09015124B2	Replication system and method of rebuilding replication configuration A replication system includes N (>=3) storage devices and N nodes, connected to a host via a 1st network and connected to the N number of storage devices via a 2nd network, each to receive a request for accessing a storage device associated with itself and to have an access with a content in response to the received access request to the storage device, wherein when a node receives a write request of data from the host, each of M nodes (1
US09015122B2	Systems and methods for minimizing network bandwidth for replication/back up Systems and methods are disclosed for backing up a client data set on a computer by identifying changed files; generating a first sub-file signature for one or more segments of a changed file; subsequently generating a second sub-file signature for each file segment to detect insertions, removals, and rearrangements of data in the file; transmitting one more changed segment(s) in the file; and writing a manifest file reflecting the new target state.
US09015105B2	Declarative schema-directed data model management A form is received and loaded. It is determined if a schema structure definition defines one or more choice elements for data of the form. A data structure is created for the data. The data structure includes both a schema structure valid component and a non-validated component. When a user selects one of the choice elements, a first set of zero or more data elements corresponding to the selected choice element are loaded into the schema structure valid component of the data structure. The previous set of zero or more data elements and values associated with the previous set of data elements are then stored in the non-validated component of the data structure.
US09015104B2	Declarative schemea-directed data model management A form is received and loaded. It is determined if a schema structure definition defines one or more choice elements for data of the form. A data structure is created for the data, the data structure includes both a schema structure valid component and a non-validated component. When a user selects one of the choice elements, a first set of zero or more data elements corresponding to the selected choice element are loaded into the schema structure valid component of the data structure. The previous set of zero or more data elements and values associated with the previous set of data elements are then stored in the non-validated component of the data structure.
US09015103B2	Maintaining multiple sets of identity data A method of assigning the UNIX computers in a network to one of a plurality of groups called zones, of creating independent sets of UNIX identity information for each network entity (user or group) for separate zones, and of associating an entity's sets of UNIX entity information with a single global entity record for the entity in the network's identity resolver. A further method of allowing a UNIX computer to request entity information from the identity resolver, and of the identity resolver returning resolved entity information appropriate for the requesting computer's zone. A further method of managing sets of zone-specific UNIX identity information in the identity resolver to ensure that entity names and entity identification numbers are not duplicated within a zone and to all the same names and numbers to be duplicated across zones. Other embodiments are also described.
US09015100B2	Preceding-vehicle identifying apparatus and following-distance control apparatus The preceding vehicle identifying apparatus calculates an integrated probability of existence of a curved road ahead of an own vehicle based on at least two of the curvature of the curved road, the track of a vehicle running ahead of the own vehicle and the own vehicle' having entered the curved road. The preceding vehicle identifying apparatus further calculates an own-vehicle lane probability which is a probability that the vehicle is running in the same lane as an own-vehicle lane in which the own vehicle is running based on the distance between a predicted running line of the own vehicle and the track of the vehicle running ahead of the own vehicle, and compensates the calculated own-vehicle lane probability based on the integrated probability.
US09015099B2	Method, system and device for inferring a mobile user's current context and proactively providing assistance A device, method and system for automatically inferring a mobile user's current context includes applying a user activity knowledge base to real-time inputs and stored user-specific information to determine a current situation. Automated reasoning is used to infer a user-specific context of the current situation. Automated candidate actions may be generated and performed in accordance with the current situation and user-specific context.
US09015092B2	Dynamically reconfigurable stochastic learning apparatus and methods Generalized learning rules may be implemented. A framework may be used to enable adaptive signal processing system to flexibly combine different learning rules (supervised, unsupervised, reinforcement learning) with different methods (online or batch learning). The generalized learning framework may employ average performance function as the learning measure thereby enabling modular architecture where learning tasks are separated from control tasks, so that changes in one of the modules do not necessitate changes within the other. Separation of learning tasks from the control tasks implementations may allow dynamic reconfiguration of the learning block in response to a task change or learning method change in real time. The generalized learning apparatus may be capable of implementing several learning rules concurrently based on the desired control application and without requiring users to explicitly identify the required learning rule composition for that application.
US09015090B2	Evaluating a questionable network communication Identifying a questionable network address from a network communication. In an embodiment, a network device receives an incoming or outgoing connection request, a web page, an email, or other network communication. An evaluation module evaluates the network communication for a corresponding network address, which may be for the source or destination of the network communication. The network address generally includes an IP address. The evaluation module determines one or more properties of the network communication, such as time of day, content type, directionality, or the like. The evaluation module then determines whether the properties match or are otherwise allowed based on properties specified in the white list in association with the IP address.
US09015088B2	Method and system for psychological analysis by fusing multiple-view predictions One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for predicting a personality trait. During operation, the system initially obtains personality data associated with users. The system collects sample data associated with the users. Next, the system trains a predictor with the collected sample data and the personality data. Then, the system collects data associated with a particular user, and generates a personality trait score for the particular user by using the predictor to analyze the particular user's collected data.
US09015087B2	Methods, systems, and products for interfacing with neurological and biological networks Methods, systems, and products provide interfaces between intrahost networks and interhost networks within biological hosts. Neuroregional translations are performed to route communications to and from the biological hosts. Bioregional translations may also be performed to route communications to and from the biological hosts.
US09015085B2	Identification of entities likely to engage in a behavior To entities that are likely to engage in a behavior, a behavior discrimination threshold for each of a plurality of behavior variables is determined. Variable values for each entity of a plurality of target entities and for each of the behavior variables are compared to the relevant behavior discrimination threshold to provide identifying variables for each entity. An index value is determined for each of the plurality of target entities based on the identifying variables for that entity. An index threshold is determined such that those entities of the target entities having index values that meet or exceed the index threshold are likely to exhibit or engage in the behavior more frequently than a random sampling of the plurality of training entities. Actions designed to affect the likelihood that the resulting targeted entities will engage in the behavior may be directed to the targeted entities.
US09015082B1	Data quality assessment for vector machine learning A computing device receives a training data set that comprises a plurality of sensitive documents and a plurality of non-sensitive documents. The computing device determines a quality of the training data set. The quality may be determined using k-fold cross validation and/or latent semantic indexing. In response to determining that the training data set has a satisfactory quality, the computing device then analyzes the training data set using machine learning to train a machine learning-based detection (MLD) profile, the MLD profile to be used by a data loss prevention (DLP) system to classify new documents as sensitive documents or as non-sensitive documents.
US09015081B2	Predicting escalation events during information searching and browsing Escalations in users' goals or concerns in web-based searching and browsing may be predicted. An escalation feature is extracted from a webpage and run through a classifier trained to estimate a likelihood that a subsequent search query will comprise an escalation when compared to a previous search query and/or that a subsequent webpage selection will comprise an escalation when compared to a previous webpage selection. It can thus be predicted whether a user visiting a current webpage is likely to escalate or navigate to another webpage based upon the current webpage, for example.
US09015075B2	Method and apparatus for secure information distribution A system and method for secure generation and distribution of digital encryption keys is disclosed. The system may also be used to protect and distribute other types of secure information, including digital, audio, video, or analog data, or physical objects. The system may include a tamper-respondent secure token device, which may be configured to destroy or disable access to the secure information contained therein in response to attempts to physically or electronically breach the device. Outputs may be provided in a secure manner through various interfaces without using electricity (wires) or electromagnetic radiation. Inputs may be provided in a secure manner, including through the use of a gesture-based input interface. Destruction or disablement of the device and/or its secure contents may be provided upon detection of tamper attempts or upon input of a self-destruct command. Proof of the destruction or disablement of the device or its contents may be provided.
US09015072B2	Method and apparatus for automated inventory management using depth sensing A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and apparatus for managing inventory are disclosed. For example, the method monitors a region of interest to determine an inventory level based upon a depth image captured by a depth sensing device, calculates a change in a depth in the region of interest from the depth image that is captured and determines a change in the inventory level associated with the change in the depth of the region of interest.
US09015064B2	Utilizing a secure element for NFC transactions which includes response data during induction A method and system for conducting an online payment transaction through a point of sale device. The method includes receiving input from a user selecting an item for purchase through the point of sale device; calculating a total purchase amount for the item in response to a request from the user to purchase the item; and sending payment authorization for the total purchase amount from the point of sale device to a payment entity, in which the payment authorization is sent to the payment entity via a mobile communication device of the user. The method further includes receiving a result of the payment authorization from the payment entity through the mobile communication device; and completing the payment transaction based on the result of the payment authorization.
US09015062B2	Systems and methods for cross-browser advertising ID synchronization Systems and methods are for identifying online advertisements to display to a user based on historical user data collected across the user's use of a plurality of Internet devices. One method includes receiving, over a network, a request for an advertisement to display at a first device of the user, the request including a unique identifier stored on the user's first device; accessing, in a database, a demographic or browsing history information generated from the user's use of a second device, the demographic or browsing history information being stored in the database in relation to the unique identifier; and identifying, based on the demographic or browsing history information, an advertisement to display at the user's first device. The demographic or browsing history information is synchronized based on the unique identifier being stored on the user's first device and the user's second device.
US09015059B2	Wireless system for automatic ordering of maintenance parts for equipment A wireless equipment management system is provided which automatically orders parts in connection with equipment maintenance schedules generated using sensors remotely located with the equipment. The system additionally uses diagnostic software to analyze fault conditions within the equipment using the sensors, and parts are automatically ordered in conjunction with equipment service needs as determined by the system.
US09015056B2	Prescription refill reminder system and method A system and method for subscriber reminders. The method includes receiving, from a plurality of customers, prescription refill data. The method also includes processing the prescription refill data according to business rules. The method also includes sending, to a subscriber, a prescription refill reminder according to the prescription refill data and the business rules. The method also includes sending, to the subscriber, advertising data corresponding to the prescription refill reminder.
US09015045B2	Method for refining a search A method for refining a search is provided. Embodiments may include receiving a first speech signal corresponding to a first utterance and receiving a second speech signal corresponding to a second utterance, wherein the second utterance is a refinement to the first utterance. Embodiments may also include identifying information associated with the first speech signal as first speech signal information and identifying information associated with the second speech signal as second speech signal information. Embodiments may also include determining a first quantity of search results based upon the first speech signal information and determining a second quantity of search results based upon the second speech signal information. Embodiments may also include comparing at least one of the first quantity of search results and the second quantity of search results with a quantity of search results from a combination of information of the first and second signals and determining an information gain from the comparison.
US09015043B2	Choosing recognized text from a background environment A computer-implemented method includes receiving an electronic representation of one or more human voices, recognizing words in a first portion of the electronic representation of the one or more human voices, and sending suggested search terms to a display device for display to a user in a text format. The suggested search terms are based on the recognized words in the first portion of the electronic representation of the one or more human voices. A search query is received from the user, which includes one or more of the suggested search terms that were displayed to the user.
US09015042B2	Methods and systems for avoiding partial collapse in multi-block audio coding Embodiments are described of a multi-block coding scheme for an audio signal to prevent partial collapse conditions from causing pre-echo compression artifacts. An audio codec includes a segmentation component partitioning the audio signal into a plurality of tiles, wherein each tile comprises data from a particular segment of time and a particular set of frequencies of the audio signal; a band energy component determining an energy value for each tile corresponding to a signal component in a respective tile; an encoder flag tracking component marking a tile as not collapsed or collapsed based on the energy value in that tile; and a decoder flag tracking component filling all tiles marked as collapsed with pseudorandom noise at an estimated energy level.
US09015040B2	Apparatus and method for encoding and decoding an audio signal using an aligned look-ahead portion An apparatus for encoding an audio signal having a stream of audio samples has: a windower for applying a prediction coding analysis window to the stream of audio samples to obtain windowed data for a prediction analysis and for applying a transform coding analysis window to the stream of audio samples to obtain windowed data for a transform analysis, wherein the transform coding analysis window is associated with audio samples within a current frame of audio samples and with audio samples of a predefined portion of a future frame of audio samples being a transform-coding look-ahead portion, wherein the prediction coding analysis window is associated with at least the portion of the audio samples of the current frame and with audio samples of a predefined portion of the future frame being a prediction coding look-ahead portion, wherein the transform coding look-ahead portion and the prediction coding look-ahead portion are identically to each other or are different from each other by less than 20%; and an encoding processor for generating prediction coded data or for generating transform coded data.
US09015038B2	Coding generic audio signals at low bitrates and low delay A mixed time-domain/frequency-domain coding device and method for coding an input sound signal, wherein a time-domain excitation contribution is calculated in response to the input sound signal. A cut-off frequency for the time-domain excitation contribution is also calculated in response to the input sound signal, and a frequency extent of the time-domain excitation contribution is adjusted in relation to this cut-off frequency. Following calculation of a frequency-domain excitation contribution in response to the input sound signal, the adjusted time-domain excitation contribution and the frequency-domain excitation contribution are added to form a mixed time-domain/frequency-domain excitation constituting a coded version of the input sound signal. In the calculation of the time-domain excitation contribution, the input sound signal may be processed in successive frames of the input sound signal and a number of sub-frames to be used in a current frame may be calculated.
US09015032B2	Multilingual speech recognition and public announcement Embodiments of the present invention provide a system, method, and program product to deliver an announcement to people, such as a public announcement. A computer receives input representative of audio from one or more people speaking in one or more natural languages. The computer processes the input to identify the languages being spoken, and identifies a relative proportion of each of the identified languages. Using these proportions, the computer determines one or more languages in which to deliver the announcement. The computer then causes to be delivered the announcement in the determined languages. In other embodiments, the computer can also determine an order in which to deliver the announcement. Further, the computer can transmit the announcement in the determined languages and order for delivery in aural or visual form.
US09015028B2	Handheld electronic device with text disambiguation In view of the foregoing, an improved handheld electronic device includes a keypad in the form of a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. As a user enters keystrokes, the device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants from which a user can choose. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry, and when initiating an activity session on a word such as during editing, the display outputs variants of the entire word being edited, rather than providing as variants only those parts of a word that are being edited. The device also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. In certain predefined circumstances, the disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided. Additionally, the device can facilitate the selection of variants by displaying a graphic of a special key of the keypad that enables a user to progressively select variants generally without changing the position of the user's hands on the device.
US09015025B2	Verifying processor-sparing functionality in a simulation environment A simulation environment verifies processor-sparing functions in a simulated processor core. The simulation environment executes a first simulation for a simulated processor core. During the simulation, the simulation environment creates a simulation model dump file. At a later point in time, the simulation environment executes a second simulation for the simulated processor core. The simulation environment saves the state of the simulated processor core. The simulation environment then replaces the state of the simulated processor core by loading the previously created simulation model dump file. The simulation environment then sets the state of the simulated processor core to execute processor-sparing code and resumes the second simulation.
US09015024B2	Enabling reuse of unit-specific simulation irritation in multiple environments In the verification of an electronic design such as a microprocessor, a set of generic transaction types is applied to a unit in a unit simulation environment and then the same set of generic transaction types is applied to the unit in a larger (e.g., element) simulation environment using an abstraction layer which can interface with both a unit translation layer of the unit simulation environment and an element translation layer of the element simulation environment. The abstraction layer may comprise a generic driver interface which issues generic commands having command parameters including a command type, an address, and operand data. The invention can be extended to multiple units which make up the element, or to multiple elements in the element environment. The invention can further be extended in a hierarchical fashion to other levels of simulation environments, e.g., unit-element-system.
US09015022B2	Simulating non-volatile memory in virtual distributed switches A virtual non-volatile memory is simulated for a virtual switch. Operating instructions from the non-volatile memory of a physical switch may be translated into a flash type file. The flash type file may be stored on a virtual storage area in the virtual switch. Operating instructions in the virtual switch may access the flash type file in the virtual storage area without the need to access the non-volatile memory in the physical switch.
US09015016B2	System and method for three-dimensional schematic capture and result visualization of multi-physics system models A 3-D multi-physics design environment (“3-D design environment”) for designing and simulating multi-physics devices such as MEMS devices is discussed. The 3-D design environment is programmatically integrated with a system modeling environment that is suitable for system-level design and simulation of analog-signal ICs, mixed-signal ICs and multi-physics systems. A parameterized MEMS device model is created in a 3-D graphical view in the 3-D design environment using parameterized model components that are each associated with an underlying behavioral model. After the MEMS device model is completed, it may be exported to a system modeling environment without subjecting the model to preliminary finite element meshing.
US09015015B2	System for supporting robot hardware design and method thereof The present invention relates to a system and a method for supporting robotic hardware design, and the method comprises: loading a template which has information on the mechanical structure, operating mechanism, power transmission and motion data of robot modules; modifying the information for use in a simulator for further designing the robot modules; analyzing the behavior of each robot module according to respective motion data; applying the resulting data to modify each robot module according to simulation API; and controlling the selection/combination of robot parts for simulator assembly according to API and the resulting templates, databases on which robot parts are required and databases for information on selection/combination of robot parts and assembly of each robot module. The above system and method provide an optimal way to design robot hardware and reduce the time required for robot hardware design.
US09015010B2	Systems and methods for subsurface electromagnetic mapping Systems and methods which provide electromagnetic subsurface mapping to derive information with respect to subsurface features whose sizes are near to or below the resolution of electromagnetic data characterizing the subsurface are shown. Embodiments operate to identify a region of interest (203) in a resistivity image generated (202) using electromagnetic data (201). One or more scenarios may be identified for the areas of interest, wherein the various scenarios comprise representations of features whose sizes are near to or below the resolution of the electromagnetic data (204). According to embodiments, the scenarios are evaluated (205), such as using forward or inverse modeling, to determine each scenarios' fit to the available data and further to determine their geologic reasonableness (206). Resulting scenarios may be utilized in a number of ways, such as to be substituted in a resistivity image for a corresponding region of anomalous resistivity for enhancing the resistivity image (207).
US09015007B2	Sensor array processor with multichannel reconstruction from random array sampling A method and system for reconstructing random samples taken across multiple sensors of a sensor array, so that each sensor's output is reconstructed. The samples are processed using a compressive sensing process. The compressive sensing process uses a time-space transform basis that represents the multi-channel data in terms of both a frequency component and an azimuthal component.
US09015002B2	System for monitoring a high-temperature region of interest in a turbine engine A system (8) for monitoring a high-temperature region of interest in a turbine engine (10) is provided. The system includes an internally cooled stationary vane (12) located in a path of a working gas of the turbine. A monitoring port (14) is located in the stationary vane. A monitoring instrument (16) is operatively connected to the monitoring port of the stationary vane to provide a field of view of the region of interest.
US09015001B2	Temperature measurement device and temperature measuring method A temperature measurement device includes a temperature measurement part, a calculation part, and a control part for controlling the operation of the temperature measurement part and the calculation part; wherein the temperature measurement part has a substrate having a first surface as a contact surface with a measured body, and a second surface as an environment-side surface which is opposite the first surface; a first temperature sensor; a second temperature sensor; and an environment temperature acquiring part; and the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor measure a first temperature and a second temperature a plurality of times under conditions in which a third temperature varies; and the calculation part calculates a deep temperature in a deep part of the measured body, on the basis of a deep temperature calculation equation, by using the measured temperatures.
US09014999B2	Calibration of a profile measuring system A method for calibrating a measuring system, which system comprises a structured light source, optics and a sensor. The light source is adapted to produce a light plane or sheet and the optics is located between the light plane and the sensor. The method is performed in order to obtain a mapping from the sensor to the light plane. In the method the light source is switched on such that the light plane is produced. In order to account for distortions due to the optics, a mapping calibration profile is introduced in the light plane, wherein the mapping calibration profile comprises at least three points forming a straight line. A non-linear mapping from the sensor to the light plane is then computed by using the at least three points. Next, in order to account for perspective distortions, a homography calibration profile is introduced in the light plane, wherein the homography calibration profile comprises at least four points the relative distance between which are predetermined. A homography from the sensor to at the light plane based on these four points is then computed. A calibration object for using in such a method is also presented.
US09014996B2	Universal energy internet of things apparatus and methods A system to aggregate, filter, and share energy data for analysis receives first data associated with a first electrical circuit where the first data has a first protocol. The system samples the first data at a first sampling rate to generate first digital data where the first sampling rate is substantially continuous. Further, the system transmits at a reporting rate that is decoupled from the first sampling rate at least the first digital data over a network having a third protocol that is different from the first protocol. The network can be accessed by wired or wireless access and includes one or more servers in cloud configuration.
US09014994B2	Wet gas measurement A multi-phase process fluid is passed through a vibratable flowtube. Motion is induced in the vibratable flowtube. A first apparent property of the multi-phase process fluid based on the motion of the vibratable flowtube is determined, and an apparent intermediate value associated with the multi-phase process fluid based on the first apparent property is determined. A corrected intermediate value is determined based on a mapping between the intermediate value and the corrected intermediate value. A phase-specific property of a phase of the multi-phase process fluid is determined based on the corrected intermediate value.
US09014992B2	Sensor equipped wheel support bearing assembly A wheel support bearing assembly includes rolling elements interposed between outer and inner members, and sensor units are fitted to one of the outer and inner members, which serves as a stationary member. Each of the sensor units includes a strain generating member, having two or more contact fixing segments fixed to the stationary member, and two or more sensors fitted to the strain generating member for detecting strains occurring in the strain generating member. The two or more contact fixing members are arranged at the same axial positions of the outer diametric surface of the stationary member in a fashion spaced in a circumferential direction. A calculating section is provided for estimating the load acting in the wheel support bearing assembly by the sum of respective output signals of the sensors.
US09014990B2	Device for estimating survival cell count, computer program, and recording medium By accurately estimating the survival cell count in a probiotic product, the time for developing the product can be shortened. In a device (1) for estimating survival cell count, a calculation unit (14) calculates an estimated result of the survival cell count nt (CFU/g) of a specific strain contained in a composition after storage, in accordance with the following equation (I). (I) Log10nt=Log10n0−t×EXP{(AT×T+BT)w+(CT×T+DT)}, provided that t stands for the storage period (days)× 1/30, nt stands for the survival cell count (CFU/g) of the strain contained in the composition after the storage period t (days), n0 stands for the viable cell count (CFU/g) of the strain contained in the composition at the initiation of storage, T stands for the storage temperature (° C.), w stands for the water activity value of the composition, AT and CT stand for experimentally determined coefficients specific to the strain, and BT and DT stand for experimentally determined constants specific to the strain.
US09014989B2	Bioinformatics systems, apparatuses, and methods executed on an integrated circuit processing platform A system, method and apparatus for executing a sequence analysis pipeline on genetic sequence data includes an integrated circuit formed of a set of hardwired digital logic circuits that are interconnected by physical electrical interconnects. One of the physical electrical interconnects forms an input to the integrated circuit connected with an electronic data source for receiving reads of genomic data. The hardwired digital logic circuits are arranged as a set of processing engines, each processing engine being formed of a subset of the hardwired digital logic circuits to perform one or more steps in the sequence analysis pipeline on the reads of genomic data. Each subset of the hardwired digital logic circuits is formed in a wired configuration to perform the one or more steps in the sequence analysis pipeline.
US09014988B2	Apparatus and method for determining microscale interactions based on compressive sensors such as crystal structures Techniques for determining values for a metric of microscale interactions include determining a mesoscale metric for a plurality of mesoscale interaction types, wherein a value of the mesoscale metric for each mesoscale interaction type is based on a corresponding function of values of the microscale metric for the plurality of the microscale interaction types. A plurality of observations that indicate the values of the mesoscale metric are determined for the plurality of mesoscale interaction types. Values of the microscale metric are determined for the plurality of microscale interaction types based on the plurality of observations and the corresponding functions and compressed sensing.
US09014987B2	Analysis of community structures in environmental samples Systems and methods for analyzing community structures within a plurality of environmental samples are described herein. The method includes obtaining taxa data corresponding to taxonomic groups within the plurality of the environmental samples. Based on the taxa data, an abundance value for each of the taxonomic groups with respect to each of the plurality of environmental samples is determined. Further, based on abundance values, an interaction factor for each pair of the taxonomic groups in the plurality of environmental samples is computed. The interaction factor is indicative of a degree of interaction between a pair of taxonomic groups from among the taxonomic groups. Based in part on interaction factors and abundance values, the plurality of the environmental samples is clustered.
US09014986B2	Method for storing a series of measurements A method reducing storage volume of a series of measured time-dependent parameters measured in or on the human body such as glucose values from a continuous glucose monitor while permitting retrospective reconstruction of measured data with sufficient accuracy. The series comprises a first number of measured values, and a second number of values that are stored. In this case, the second number is smaller than the first number. A first storage mode is provided, in which an interval of time between successive stored values is variable and which is adjusted on the basis of a time-based variability of the measured values. A second storage mode may also be provided, in which the interval, of time between successive stored values is constant. Embodiments of the invention include a measuring apparatus and a computer program.
US09014985B2	System and method for compensating time and offset varying near-surface effects in seismic data background A system for and computer implemented method for transforming seismic trace information includes obtaining seismic trace information for each trace, the seismic trace information including shot to receiver offset and the vertical velocity of at least one subsurface primary reflector and including respective information resulting from near-surface layering and velocity effects and relating to the primary reflector, reversibly transforming seismic trace information from each non-zero offset trace such that the respective information resulting from the near-surface effects at each non-zero offset position is moved in a time dimension such that they become effectively periodic with respect to respective primary reflector information and in accordance with a periodicity for a zero offset trace at the same surface location, filtering the transformed seismic trace information to remove at least a portion of the information resulting from near-surface effects, and inverting the reversible transforming.
US09014979B2	Generating photogenic routes from starting to destination locations A method of computing at least one photogenic route from a starting location to a destination location, including; computing photogenic values for images in a large collection representing a geographic region that includes the starting location and the destination location; computing a photogenic index for each route segment based on computed photogenic values of images taken along the route segment; computing at least one photogenic route from the starting location to the destination location and presenting the route(s) to a user.
US09014978B2	Upgrading location-related data For a more efficient utilization of data that are relevant to safety and/or mobility, data are read from a plurality of data sources. The data of each data source sets of coordinates of real locations relevant for a respective aspect can be determined. Based on a respective set of coordinates for each of the real locations a respective area is then defined for each of the data sources, and a value assigned to the area is determined. Overlapping areas defined for a respective data source are aggregated so as to obtain non-overlapping areas with at least one assigned value for each of the data sources. The non-overlapping areas are superposed with the assigned values. The result is a value distribution, which reflects an overall situation with regard to the at least two aspects in a real region. An apparatus, a system, a program and a storage medium are configured accordingly.
US09014977B2	Method and apparatus for route determination based on one or more non-travel lanes An approach is provided for determining one or more non-travel lanes in at least one route segment. The approach involves determining whether to include the at least one route segment in a navigation route based, at least in part, on a minimization of a risk of being blocked by the one or more non-travel lanes.
US09014976B2	Navigation device If a destination set on a display 3 is a facility not having connection relation between facilities stored in a facility information DB 84, a scroll direction detecting unit 92 that detects a scroll direction of a map 31 detects a direction instructed for scroll as the scroll direction and a display controlling unit 94 performs scroll of the map 31 in the scroll direction. In addition, if the set destination is a facility having the connection relation between the facilities, the scroll direction detecting unit 92 that detects a scroll direction of the map 31 detects the scroll direction based on the connection relation of the destination and the direction instructed for scroll and the display controlling unit 94 performs the scroll of the map 31 to a position of a facility connected to the destination in the scroll direction.
US09014969B2	Guidance system, server, terminal device, and guidance method A guidance system includes an SNS server that distributes guidance information, e.g., to a smartphone. The SNS server includes a post information DB, a map DB, and a guidance information DB. Pieces of post information and selected guidance information are transmitted to the smartphone via a communication unit. The smartphone displays the pieces of post information, and includes a setting unit that sets, as a destination, a location contained in a piece of post information among the displayed pieces of post information, and a guidance unit that provides, by using the guidance information, guidance on a guidance route to the destination.
US09014968B2	Commuter route learning A commuter route learning program learns a telematics subscriber's common travel routes (e.g. work-home, home-school, etc.) and offers traffic reports based on the routes. In one aspect, three modes are used to establish routes and offer traffic reports. These modes include a Learn Mode during which the commuter route learning program learns new commuter trips, a Pattern Recognition Mode during which the commuter route learning program recognizes and categorizes routes from patterns of trips, and an Execution Mode during which the commuter route learning program automatically provides commuter route traffic congestion information to a subscriber.
US09014965B2	Virtual omnimover A ride control system for controlling a plurality of vehicles on a path includes a path processor and a bi-directional voting circuit in circuit with the path processor. Each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles may include a vehicle processor supported by the at least one vehicle and shunt relays in circuit with the at least one vehicle processor. Each vehicle processor may be configured to close a respective shunt relay upon a predetermined condition of the vehicle whereby the bi-directional voting circuit is activated to notify all other vehicles.
US09014964B2	Navigation apparatus capable of providing real-time navigation images A navigation apparatus is capable of image-capturing and is used to implement a navigation method including the steps of: a) obtaining current location information associated with the navigation apparatus, and location information of a reference target along a planned route that is being traversed; b) capturing real-time navigation images of the planned route according to an image-capture configuration parameter; c) obtaining a display screen position associated with the reference target with reference to the current location information, the target location information, and the image-capture configuration parameter; and d) showing on the display device the navigation images together with a mark corresponding in position to the display screen position.
US09014962B2	Electric-vehicle control device An electric-vehicle control device includes a light-load-regeneration control operation unit performing a control operation for returning, to an overhead wire, regenerative power generated by a motor driven by an inverter that converts voltage of a filter capacitor, which accumulates electric power supplied from the overhead wire, into desired alternating-current voltage. The light-load-regeneration control operation unit includes a proportional control system calculating, based on a filter capacitor voltage EFC, VECESL for suppressing regenerative torque of the motor and a regenerative-power control system calculating, based on regenerative power, which is calculated using an overhead wire voltage ES and an overhead wire current IS, and a torque pattern PTRN serving as a torque command, WEFCLMP for suppressing the regenerative torque of the motor, and the regenerative torque of the motor is controlled using output of the sum of VECESL and WEFCLMP as a torque control amount (a torque reduction amount).
US09014961B2	Method and device for aiding the navigation of an aircraft flying at a low altitude A method and device for aiding the navigation of an aircraft flying at low altitude as described. The device (1) includes positioning means (2) generating the current position of the aircraft, and calculation means (4) for detecting when the budgets allocated to a position error of the aircraft are exceeded by protection ranges.
US09014957B2	Methods and systems for determining fleet trajectories to satisfy a sequence of coverage requirements Methods and systems for determining trajectories for vehicles of a fleet of vehicles are provided. In one example, a method comprises receiving an initial location of one or more vehicles, and receiving a sequence of coverage requirements for a region and an associated period of time. The region may be divided into a plurality of landmarks and the period of time may be divided into a plurality of phases. The method also comprises determining for each of one or more phases and at least one respective landmark, a set of starting landmarks from which a vehicle could reach the respective landmark during the phase. The method further comprises determining which respective landmark that the vehicle should travel to during the one or more phases based on the sequence of coverage requirements and the set of starting landmarks for the one or more phases and the at least one respective landmark.
US09014956B2	Distance determination and type of aircraft determination during docking at the gate A device for detecting an object moving in a space includes a measuring device aimed at the object, the measuring device detecting a distance pattern which contains the distances of at least two different points on the object to the measuring device. The measuring device detects the object in the space if at least one part of the distance pattern remains constant over time.
US09014954B2	Traffic control system, vehicle control system, and traffic control method A traffic control system provides a driver of a vehicle, which runs in a predetermined running state among vehicles running on a road with information on the suppression of traffic congestion on the road. The predetermined running state is, for example, a running state constituting a cause of traffic congestion on the road. The information may be provided by urging the driver to perform a driving operation of at least one of acceleration and lane change.
US09014947B2	Exhaust-gas regeneration under rich conditions to improve fuel economy A method for operating a boosted gasoline engine. The method includes diluting an intake air charge of the engine to a first level of dilution when operating at a stoichiometric air-to-fuel ratio. The method also includes, in response to a condition of excessive exhaust temperature downstream of the engine, diluting the intake air charge of the engine to a second, greater level of dilution while operating at an enriched air-to-fuel ratio.
US09014946B2	Programmable gauge A programmable gauge having a read out (gauge), a microcontroller, an input to microcontroller, and an infrared receiver is disclosed. A handheld infrared transmitter is used to communicate with the programmable gauge. In some embodiments, the programmable gauge further includes an output control signal. In a nonlimiting example, the input to the microcontroller is a temperature sensor and the infrared transmitter is used to select a set point. When the microcontroller senses a temperature above the set point, the microcontroller provides an output signal, for example, to turn on a fan.
US09014941B2	System and method for validating adaptive cruise control operations A method of operating a vehicle comprising an adaptive cruise control system and an engine control module is provided. The engine control module is coupled to the adaptive cruise control system. The method comprises issuing a speed reduction signal from the adaptive cruise control system, verifying a speed reduction with a first sensor using the adaptive cruise control system, verifying the speed reduction with a second sensor using the engine control module, thereafter, receiving a resume signal from an operator input device, and executing a speed increase of the vehicle with the engine control module in response to receiving the resume signal with the engine control module.
US09014938B2	Travel control apparatus for four-wheel drive vehicle and travel control method for four-wheel drive vehicle A travel control apparatus for a four-wheel drive vehicle includes a throttle controller, a driving force distributor, a four-wheel drive controller, a vehicle stability assist controller, a requested target drive torque calculator, and an estimated drive torque calculator. In a case where a failure detector detects a failure and the four-wheel drive controller changes a drive control from a four-wheel drive control to a two-wheel drive control, the travel control apparatus sends a first throttle control signal to the throttle controller and changes the drive control from the four-wheel drive control to the two-wheel drive control when an estimated drive torque is greater than an requested target drive torque, and the travel control apparatus changes the drive control from the four-wheel drive control to the two-wheel drive control without sending the first throttle control signal when the estimated drive torque is not greater than the requested target drive torque.
US09014936B2	Method for the approximate determination of the torque which is actually transmitted by a clutch of a drive train of a vehicle A method for approximately determining the torque actually transmitted by a clutch of a drive train of a vehicle, includes the steps of: setting a closed state of the clutch and transmitting a torque by way of the drive train, providing a state space model showing the drive train, particularly a Kalman filter, determining a torque which can theoretically be transmitted or is transmitted by the clutch in the closed state, and approximately determining the torque actually transmitted by the clutch, by adding the theoretically transmittable or transmitted torque and a disturbance torque determined by calculation, wherein the disturbance torque is determined on the basis of the state space model and actual rotational speeds of individual drive train components and/or of actual torques transmitted by individual drive train components.
US09014927B2	Shift control system and shift control method A shift control system is mounted on a vehicle that includes a transmission. The transmission includes a multi-gear shifting mechanism. Also, the transmission is configured to shift a speed of rotational power from an engine in response to a shift request and to output the rotational power to a drive wheel side. The shift control system includes a detecting unit and a control unit. The detecting unit detects the shift request. When the detecting unit has detected a multiple-gear skip downshift request as the shift request from a first gear to a second gear, the control unit executes shift control that includes a skip shift from the first gear to a predetermined intermediate-speed gear and a sequential shift from the predetermined intermediate-speed gear to the second gear, the first gear been higher by multiple gears than the predetermined intermediate-speed gear.
US09014924B2	System and method for estimating material characteristics A system for determining material characteristics of a material of a work surface includes a position sensor and a controller. The controller stores a first estimate of the material characteristics and utilizes a planning system to determine an expected profile. The expected profile is based at least in part upon the first estimate of the material characteristics. The controller determines an actual profile of the work surface, compares the expected profile to the actual profile, and determines a second estimate of the material characteristics based at least in part upon the difference between the expected profile and the actual profile.
US09014922B2	System and method for optimizing a cut location A system for determining a cut location at a work surface includes a position sensor and a controller. The controller stores a desired operating parameter and a final design plane of the work surface and determines an actual profile of the work surface. The controller determines a plurality of target profiles corresponding to different cut locations. The target profiles are based at least in part upon the cut location, a loading profile, slot parameters, and the actual profile of the work surface. The controller further determines an optimized target profile relative to the desired operating parameter and the optimized target profile defines an optimized cut location.
US09014916B2	Vehicle dynamic control apparatus and vehicle dynamic control system using the same A vehicle dynamic control apparatus is designed to control a plurality of controlled objects according to a request value of a first parameter from an application associated with motion of a vehicle in a same direction to fulfill the request value of the first parameter. An availability obtainer obtains an availability corresponding to a controllable range of a second parameter of each of the plurality of controlled objects, the second parameter being associated with motion of the vehicle in the same direction. A selector determines an order of the plurality of controlled objects to be controlled based on the availability of the second parameter of each of the plurality of controlled objects, and selects at least one of the plurality of controlled objects to be controlled in accordance with the determined order.
US09014914B2	Method and apparatus for establishing a communication session between parked vehicles to determine a suitable parking situation An approach is provided for causing, at least in part, a sensing of information with at least one sensor, wherein the information is associated with at least one anticipated movement of the at least one parked vehicle. The approach also involves processing and/or facilitating a processing of the information to determine one or more conditions of the at least one anticipated movement of the at least one parked vehicle. The approach further involves causing, at least in part, an initiation of at least one action based, at least in part, on the one or more conditions, the at least one anticipated movement, or a combination thereof.
US09014909B1	Systems and methods for diagnosing a fault state of a shift linkage in a marine propulsion device A system and method are for diagnosing a fault state of a shift linkage in a marine propulsion device. A control lever is movable towards at least one of a maximum reverse position and a maximum forward position. A shift linkage couples the control lever to a transmission, wherein movement of the control lever causes movement of the shift linkage that enacts a shift change in the transmission. A shift sensor outputs a position signal representing a current position of the shift linkage. A control circuit diagnoses a fault state of the shift linkage when after the shift change the position signal that is output by the shift sensor is outside of at least one range of position signals that is stored in the control circuit.
US09014906B2	Remote distribution of software updates in a transportation management network A network device includes a memory, a processor, a display, and a network communication module configured to receive vehicle data, driver information, and driver communications, at pre-determined times, from at least one portable wireless data transfer and display device via a long-range wireless network. The network device is configured to present the vehicle data, driver information, driver communication, driver summary electronic report to a user via the display. The network device is configured to remotely update of at least one portable wireless data transfer and display device or at least one data acquisition devices associated with a portable wireless data transfer and display device via the network communication module.
US09014905B1	Cyclist hand signal detection by an autonomous vehicle Methods and systems for detecting hand signals of a cyclist by an autonomous vehicle are described. An example method may involve a computing device receiving a plurality of data points corresponding to an environment of an autonomous vehicle. The computing device may then determine one or more subsets of data points from the plurality of data points indicative of at least a body region of a cyclist. Further, based on an output of a comparison of the one or more subsets with one or more predetermined sets of cycling signals, the computing device may determine an expected adjustment of one or more of a speed of the cyclist and a direction of movement of the cyclist. Still further, based on the expected adjustment, the computing device may provide instructions to adjust one or more of a speed of the autonomous vehicle and a direction of movement of the autonomous vehicle.
US09014902B1	Method of material handling with automatic guided vehicles A system and method of automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) that is capable of providing synchronized travel along a line or path while maintaining a desired takt time such that regular manufacturing operations may be performed to material or workpieces on the vehicle without the need for a traditional conveyor systems.
US09014897B2	Torque distribution apparatus, torque distribution method, torque distribution value generation method, and program A torque distribution apparatus acquires instructed torque input and a motor efficiency map; detects vehicular speed and drive wheel rotational speed; calculates based on the speeds, a relational expression of a slip rate at drive wheels and a friction coefficient; creates based on the relational expression, a performance curve expression that indicates torque-drive wheel rotational speed relations, superimposes the performance curve expression on the motor efficiency map, creates an efficiency variation expression that indicates for each vehicular speed, the torque and efficiency values of the motor efficiency map, and calculates torque that optimizes efficiency, from the efficiency variation expression; calculates within a range of the slip rate being 0 to 0.2 and based on the instructed torque and torque optimizing efficiency, a torque distribution value for each of the motors such that total efficiency ηtotal=Σ((Tn/T)×ηdn×ηλn) is maximized; and controls based on the calculated torque distribution values, torque distribution among motors.
US09014895B2	Vehicle control system A control system for an electric vehicle equipped with a driving electric motor which is actuated by electric power, as supplied from a vehicle-driving battery, to drive a wheel of an electric vehicle, a power generating motor which is actuated by an engine to provide electric power to the vehicle-driving battery, and an air conditioner which works to regulate temperature in a cabin of the electric vehicle. The control system controls the engine so as to keep an output therefrom constant in response to an air condition request. The control system also keeps the output from the engine constant to actuate the power generating motor for charging the vehicle-driving battery when an amount of charge in the vehicle-driving battery is determined to be lower than or equal to a given threshold value, and the electric vehicle is determined to be at a stop.
US09014893B2	Plug-in hybrid vehicle A plug-in hybrid vehicle includes: an internal combustion engine outputting driving power; an electric motor outputting driving power; an electrical storage device storing electric power; and a controller. The controller is configured to learn an electric power consumption rate by calculating the electric power consumption rate when the vehicle has traveled on the electric power stored in the electrical storage device using only the electric motor as a driving force source and to control travel of the vehicle using at least one of the internal combustion engine and the electric motor as the driving force source. The controller is configured to, when a driving frequency of the internal combustion engine that is driven as the vehicle travels on at least one of an uphill and a downhill is higher than a predetermined frequency, invalidate the calculated electric power consumption rate or information acquired to calculate the electric power consumption rate.
US09014890B2	Control system and method of hybrid vehicle Disclosed is a control system and method for controlling starting of an engine in a hybrid vehicle. More specifically, a controller is implemented that confirms first and second brake and the first and second clutch are released so that the system is in a neutral condition, confirm that the engine is stopped, and control the first motor-generator and the second motor-generator to rotate the engine at a predetermined rotational speed to start the engine.
US09014889B2	Hybrid vehicle and method of controlling hybrid vehicle A hybrid vehicle includes an internal combustion engine; a rotating electrical machine that rotates an output shaft of the internal combustion engine; and a control unit that performs automatic stop control for the internal combustion engine. The control unit causes the output shaft to rotate using the rotating electrical machine, when a stop period of the internal combustion engine according to the automatic stop control is equal to or longer than a first period.
US09014888B2	Vehicle communication, analysis and operation system A communication and analysis system can manage data operations with a vehicle centric system. A vehicle that is in a communications link with a network can also manage its activities based on real-time, historical and predictive knowledge, without having this knowledge processing on-board. Such data processing includes the geo-spatial, internal functions and operator specific requirements. The rule based system also incorporates the use patterns of a specific vehicle, or a specific user. A use pattern can be transferred from one operator to another or be shared to assist with navigation and operations. A vehicle operator or vehicle multiple operators can share or upload information that can assist with efficient operations, including fuel conservation and time management. Use patterns can be assigned to geospatial regions and be used for comparative analysis for such activities as efficient operation, safe travel and navigation.
US09014884B2	Apparatus and method for controlling a locomotive consist A locomotive assembly including a legacy locomotive controller and an intercept locomotive controller and a method of controlling a locomotive are disclosed. The locomotive assembly includes a power bus, a locomotive, and an intercept locomotive controller. The locomotive includes a primary power unit coupled to the power bus and a legacy locomotive controller programmed to transmit a control command to the primary power unit. The intercept locomotive controller is electrically coupled between the locomotive controller and the primary power unit and is programmed to intercept an initial locomotive control signal transmitted from the legacy locomotive controller to the primary power unit indicating an amount of locomotive power, modify the initial locomotive control signal, and transmit the modified control signal to the primary power unit.
US09014879B2	Messaging and data entry validation system and method for aircraft A system and method for validating data entry in response to an instruction received in an aircraft cockpit includes receiving, in an aircraft cockpit, an instruction that requires an aircraft pilot to manually enter a target value into an avionics system using an avionics system user interface. The received instruction is processed to determine the target value that should be set by the aircraft pilot using the avionics system user interface. Haptic feedback is to the avionics system user interface during the manual entry by the aircraft pilot.
US09014872B2	Navigation environment establishing method for an intelligent moving-assistance apparatus A navigation environment establishing method for an intelligent moving-assistance apparatus moving in a movement area having a plurality of regions includes steps of: a navigation map is set, and the content of the navigation map including the relative locality of the regions. A current data indicating a current region is set. At least one target data indicating an available target region is set. Then, a navigation data is generated. The content of the navigation data includes the current region and a first target region, wherein the region where the intelligent moving-assistance apparatus first arrive when moving from the current region to the first target region according to a predetermined path is in a first direction with respect to the current region. Subsequently, the navigation data is recorded into an image identification tag. Finally, the image identification tag is placed in the current region.
US09014860B2	Rapid programming of thermostat with multiple programming mode conditions The invention provides for a controller such as a thermostat for an HVAC System comprising a housing having a circuit board and a display screen, the display screen having at least one alpha-numeric icon and a group of input control areas. A microprocessor is provided for control on the display screen. Buttons are pressed in order to program set-points of the thermostat so that seven days may be programmed simultaneously. The display includes a seven-day icon so that the user can program the thermostat set-points rapidly (e.g. setting time and temperature settings with minimal steps). The user may activate a first programming mode wherein the activating occurs by depressing a programming-mode button for a first pre-selected duration in order to select a first day for setting the conditioning mode. The user may activate a second programming mode wherein such activating occurs by depressing the programming-mode button for a second pre-selected duration that is longer than the first pre-selected duration in order to select programming for all seven days simultaneously.
US09014856B2	Methods for maximum torque driving of robotic surgical tools In one embodiment of the invention, a control system for a robotic surgical instrument is provided including a torque saturation limiter, a torque to current converter coupled to the torque saturation limiter, and a motor coupled to the torque to current converter. The torque saturation limiter receives a desired torque signal for one or more end effectors and limits the desired torque to a range between an upper torque limit and a lower torque limit generating a bounded torque signal. The torque to current converter transforms a torque signal into a current signal. The motor drives an end effector of one or more end effectors to the bounded torque signal in response to the first current signal.
US09014851B2	Systems and methods for tracking robotically controlled medical instruments Systems and methods are described herein for tracking an elongate instrument or other medical instrument in an image.
US09014850B2	Methods and computer-program products for evaluating grasp patterns, and robots incorporating the same Methods and computer-program products for evaluating grasp patterns for use by a robot are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of evaluating grasp patterns includes selecting an individual grasp pattern from a grasp pattern set, establishing a thumb-up vector, and simulating the motion of the manipulator and the end effector according to the selected individual grasp pattern, wherein each individual grasp pattern of the grasp pattern set corresponds to motion for manipulating a target object. The method further includes evaluating a direction of the thumb-up vector during at least a portion of the simulated motion of the manipulator and the end effector, and excluding the selected individual grasp pattern from use by the robot if the direction of the thumb-up vector during the simulated motion is outside of one or more predetermined thresholds. Robots utilizing the methods and computer-program products for evaluating grasp patterns are also disclosed.
US09014849B2	Robotic device, method for controlling robotic device, and computer program A robotic device includes a first calculation section adapted to calculate a first angular velocity of a first arm operating due to a first actuator provided with a first angle sensor based on rotational angle detection data of the first angle sensor of the fist actuator, a second calculation section adapted to calculate a second angular velocity of the first arm taking an arm linkage device as an axis based on angular velocity detection data of an inertial sensor provided to the first arm linked via the arm linkage device including the first actuator, which is a calculation object of the first calculation section, and a third calculation section adapted to calculate a torsional angular velocity between the first actuator and the first arm with a low-frequency component eliminated.
US09014848B2	Mobile robot system A robot system includes a mobile robot having a controller executing a control system for controlling operation of the robot, a cloud computing service in communication with the controller of the robot, and a remote computing device in communication with the cloud computing service. The remote computing device communicates with the robot through the cloud computing service.
US09014844B2	Methods and apparatus for stacking receptacles in materials handling facilities Methods and apparatus for stacking receptacles in materials handling facilities. An automated receptacle stacker may be integrated into a materials handling system to receive empty receptacles from upstream stations via an input conveyance mechanism, add the receptacles to a stack in a stack hopper, detect when the stack is complete, and output the stack onto an output conveyance mechanism. The output conveyance mechanism may convey the stack to a palletization station, and the stacker may begin another stack. This process may continue to build and output stacks of empty receptacles. In some implementations the receptacles may be stackable only when oriented correctly; in these implementations, orientation of the receptacles may be detected prior to stacking and incorrectly oriented receptacles may be either rotated to the correct orientation or diverted to a second receptacle stacker.
US09014842B2	Method and monitoring unit for checking position values A method for checking position values using a monitoring unit to which position values of a position measuring device are supplied at time intervals of a query interval, includes: calculating a movement value from at least two position values and the time interval of their arrival; calculating an expected value for a position value to be checked that follows the at least two position values, by adding the most recent of the at least two position values and a change in position that results from the movement value and the time until the position value to be checked arrives; determining a position expectation interval from the expected value and a maximum position interval; comparing the position value to be checked to the position expectation interval; and outputting a signal that indicates the result of the comparison.
US09014838B2	Sewing machine, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions A sewing machine includes a sewing portion, a processor, and a memory. The sewing portion is configured to perform sewing on a work cloth. The memory is configured to store computer-readable instructions. The computer-readable instructions cause the processor to perform processes that include specifying an inside position that is a position inside a hole in at least one sequin that has been disposed on the work cloth in advance, creating sewing data based on the inside position that has been specified, and causing the sewing portion to sew the at least one sequin onto the work cloth, based on the sewing data that has been created. The sewing data includes at least needle drop point data and is data for sewing the at least one sequin onto the work cloth. The needle drop point data indicates a point where a sewing needle is to pierce the work cloth.
US09014829B2	Method, apparatus, and system for occupancy sensing Embodiments of the present invention include an occupancy sensing unit configured to monitor an environment illuminated by a lighting fixture. An inventive occupancy sensing unit may include an occupancy sensor to detect radiation indicative of at least one occupancy event in the environment illuminated by the lighting fixture according to sensing parameters. The occupancy sensor can be coupled to a memory that logs sensor data, which represent the occupancy events, provided by the occupancy sensor. A processor coupled to the memory performs an analysis of the sensor data logged in the memory and adjusts the sensing parameters of the occupancy sensor based on the analysis.
US09014825B2	System and method for sequentially distributing power among one or more modules A programmable power distributing sequencer including a plurality of internal regulators, an internal memory adapted to store a user programmable script including instructions for sequentially enabling and disabling the regulators, and a controller adapted to enable and disable the regulators based on the script. The controller may receive the user programmable script from a programming source, such as an applications processor, an external memory, or external programming device. Before using the user programmable script, the controller may execute a default script stored in the internal memory to initially power up the programming source. The sequencer may further include an external port for similarly controlling one or more external regulators. The port may also be used to connect multiple sequencers together, such as in a cascaded, hierarchical, and/or redundant manner. Additionally, the sequencer may include a fault detection module for detecting faulty operating regulators.
US09014824B2	Bandage and electrode system A bandage having at least one support element and at least two electrodes that are spaced apart from one another, characterized in that at least two pads that are finable with a fluid are arranged on the at least one support element, and at least one electrode is fastened to each pad, wherein the at least two pads are connected to each other via at least one fluid connection in such a manner that an internal pressure compensation can take place between at least two of the pads.
US09014822B2	Pacing lead for a left cavity of the heart, implanted in the coronary system A pacing lead for a left cavity of the heart, implanted in the coronary system. This lead (24) includes a lead body with a hollow sheath (26, 28) of deformable material, having a central lumen open at both ends, and at least one telescopic microcable (42) of conductive material. The microcable slides along the length of the lead body and extends beyond the distal end (32) thereof. The party emerging beyond the distal end is an active free part (34) comprising a plurality of distinct bare areas (36, 38, 50, 50′, 50″), intended to come into contact (40) with the wall of a target vein (22) of the coronary system (14-22), so as to form a network of stimulation electrodes electrically connected together in parallel. The microcable further comprises, proximally, a connector to a generator of active implantable medical device such as a pacemaker or a resynchronizer.
US09014820B2	Neurostimulation system for matching ideal pole spacing with effective electrode separation A system for a neurostimulator coupled to electrodes. The system comprises a input device configured for generating control signals, and control circuitry configured for defining at least one ideal multipole configuration relative to the electrodes in response to the control signals, the control circuitry, for each of the ideal multipole configuration(s), being further configured for, designating at least one of the electrodes as a reference electrode, estimating an effective electrode separation at each of the reference electrode(s), defining a spacing between the poles based on the estimated effective electrode separation at each of the reference electrode(s), generating at least one stimulation parameter set respectively corresponding to the ideal multipole configuration(s), each of the stimulation parameter set(s) defining relative amplitude values for the electrodes that emulate the respective ideal multipole configuration, and instructing the electrical neurostimulator to convey electrical energy to the electrodes in accordance with the stimulation parameter set(s).
US09014819B2	Autonomic arousal detection system and method Various approaches to detecting arousals from sleep involve generating signals modulated by muscle tone, brainwave activity, and/or other nervous system activity associated with a patient's autonomic arousal response. Generating the signals and/or detecting autonomic arousals from sleep may be performed using an implantable device. Arousal information may be useful to identify sleep disorder events associated with arousals from sleep, for diagnostic purposes, and/or for therapy adjustment.
US09014814B2	Methods of determining tissue contact based on radiometric signals Methods and systems are provided for detecting tissue contact prior to and/or during energy delivery to tissue. For example, the methods may include calculating temperature and detecting tissue contact based on signal(s) received from a radiometer. The radiometer may provide information about whether a treatment device is in contact with the tissue, and thus provide feedback to assist a clinician in properly contacting and treating the tissue.
US09014812B2	Method for prevention of presbyopia and glaucoma, and means for carrying out said treatment A method of for prevention of presbyopia and glaucoma envisages stimulation of the ciliary body to determine contraction thereof via a low-voltage d.c. current sent in the form of pulse trains. This contraction, if applied in a rhythmic way at a constant frequency, subjects the ciliary muscle to a passive gymnastics increasing the force of contraction thereof, the dimensions, and the efficiency. This increase of force enables the crystalline to be moved with greater efficiency and consequently increases the power of accommodation thereof. The contraction of the ciliary muscle stretches the tendinous formation in direct contact with the sclero-corneal trabeculate and increases the distance between the lamellae of the sclero-corneal angle, restoring the natural function of the trabeculate and thus preventing glaucoma. Stimulation of the anatomical area corresponding to the ciliary body occurs through the use of conductive electrodes positioned in direct contact with the bulbar conjunctiva at an appropriate distance from the corneal limbus.
US09014806B2	System and method for performing a capture test based on the analysis of a cardiac vectogram Performing a capture test on a stimulated cardiac cycle based on the analysis of a cardiac vectogram using an active medical device including circuits and control logic for delivering electrical stimulation pulses to a heart chamber; collecting electrical activity of the heart chamber and producing two distinct temporal components (Vbip, Vuni) from two distinct intracardiac electrogram EGM signals from the heart chamber. The capture test detects an occurrence of a depolarization wave induced by the stimulation of the heart chamber, and determines a two-dimensional non-temporal characteristic (VGM) representative of the stimulated cardiac cycle, from the variation of one of the temporal components (Vuni) versus the other temporal component (Vbip). A bi-dimensional analysis delivers at least one descriptor parameter of the two-dimensional non-temporal characteristic, and determines a presence or loss of a capture based on the at least one descriptor parameter.
US09014803B2	Efficiently delivering acoustic stimulation energy to tissue A system for delivering an electrical stimulation pulse to tissue comprises a controller-transmitter and a receiver-stimulator. The controller-transmitter includes circuitry having an energy storage capacitor. The capacitance of the energy storage capacitor is adjusted to improve the efficiency of energy delivered from the receiver-stimulator to tissue by modifying the geometry of an acoustic drive burst from the controller-transmitter.
US09014802B2	Method and system for modulating neural activity in a limb Methods and related systems for modulating neural activity by cyclically blocking conduction in peripheral neural structures are disclosed. In an aspect, neural activity is blocked cyclically with a blocking stimulus source positioned adjacent a skin surface in a vicinity of a nerve. Neural modulation may be used, for example, to modulate an immune or inflammatory response or process.
US09014801B2	Electromagnetic field therapy delays cellular senescence and death by enhancement of the heat shock response Disclosed herein is a method comprising repetitive electromagnetic field shock to at least one living cell, wherein the repetitive electromagnetic field shock improves HSF1 and/or HSR function, and producing delaying and reversal of aging and age related diseases. Also disclosed herein is an apparatus adapted to deliver repetitive electromagnetic field shock to at least one living cell, wherein the repetitive electromagnetic field shock improves HSF1 and HSR function.
US09014796B2	Flexible polymer microelectrode with fluid delivery capability and methods for making same A flexible multi-modal microelectrode is provided that combines multi-channel fluidic and electrical interfaces for biological and other systems. Methods of making and using same are also disclosed.
US09014794B2	R-wave detection method A method for detecting an R-wave from an ECG signal derived from a living body, the ECG signal including a plurality of ECG channel signals, the method comprising the steps of providing a plurality of channel R-wave detectors each processing a distinct signal of the plurality of channel ECG signals to generate a distinct channel trigger signal of a plurality of channel trigger signals, and inputting each channel trigger signal into a composite R-wave detector to generate a composite R-wave trigger, whereby the composite R-wave detector more accurately detects R-waves than each of the plurality of channel R-wave detectors.
US09014793B2	Intracardiac tracking system In general, in one aspect, a method is disclosed for determining information about a position of an object. The method includes: (i) causing current to flow between each of three or more sets of current-injecting electrodes on a first catheter inserted into an organ in a patient's body, the organ having a periphery (ii) in response to current flow caused by each set of current injecting electrodes, measuring an electrical signal at each of one or more measuring electrodes located on one or more additional catheters inserted into the organ in the patient's body and (iii) determining the position of each of one or more of the measuring electrodes on the additional catheters relative to the first catheter based on the measured signals from the one or more measuring electrodes.
US09014784B2	Reconfigurable MRI-guided surgical apparatus Apparatus associated with improved magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guided needle biopsy procedures (e.g., breast needle biopsy) are described. One example apparatus includes a support structure configured to support a patient in a face-down prone position where a breast of the patient is positioned in a first free hanging pre-imaging position. The example apparatus includes an immobilization structure configured to reposition the breast into an immobilized position suitable for MRI and for medical instrument access. The immobilization structure may include a biopsy plate, a pressure plate, and MRI coils. The MRI coils are configured to be repositioned from a first position associated with the free hanging pre-imaging position to a second position associated with the immobilized position to facilitate improving the signal to noise ratio associated with signal received from the breast through the MRI coils. The biopsy plate is removable without removing either of the MRI coils.
US09014781B2	Systems and methods for magnetic resonance angiography Systems and methods for Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRI) are provided. One method includes obtaining Magnetic Resonance (MR) velocity data and determining a distance map for one or more vessels to define a distance path. The method also includes calculating, using the MR velocity data, at a plurality of time intervals and for a plurality of pixels (i) a distance traveled during a current time interval as a current distance traveled, wherein a total distance traveled is incremented by the current distance traveled and (ii) a bolus signal using a bolus signal profile, the distance path and total distance traveled, wherein a current time interval is incremented by a defined time step.
US09014774B2	Biosensor membranes Novel membranes comprising various polymers containing heterocyclic nitrogen groups are described. These membranes are usefully employed in electrochemical sensors, such as amperometric biosensors. More particularly, these membranes effectively regulate a flux of analyte to a measurement electrode in an electrochemical sensor, thereby improving the functioning of the electrochemical sensor over a significant range of analyte concentrations. Electrochemical sensors equipped with such membranes are also described.
US09014773B2	Analyte monitoring device and methods of use An analyte monitor includes a sensor, a sensor control unit, and a display unit. The sensor has, for example, a substrate, a recessed channel formed in the substrate, and conductive material disposed in the recessed channel to form a working electrode. The sensor control unit typically has a housing adapted for placement on skin and is adapted to receive a portion of an electrochemical sensor. The sensor control unit also includes two or more conductive contacts disposed on the housing and configured for coupling to two or more contact pads on the sensor. A transmitter is disposed in the housing and coupled to the plurality of conductive contacts for transmitting data obtained using the sensor. The display unit has a receiver for receiving data transmitted by the transmitter of the sensor control unit and a display coupled to the receiver for displaying an indication of a level of an analyte. The analyte monitor may also be part of a drug delivery system to alter the level of the analyte based on the data obtained using the sensor.
US09014767B2	Lid member with waterproof function, and method of manufacturing thereof A lid member with a waterproof function opening and closing an opening portion formed in a housing is structured by a rubber-like elastic material seal portion provided with a projection portion which is integrally formed in one surface of a resin main body of the lid member and is stored within the opening portion, an annular projection portion which is integrally formed in an outer peripheral surface of the projection portion and comes into close contact with a peripheral surface of the opening portion, and a reinforcing portion which extends from the annular projection portion to the vicinity of a junction portion of the outer peripheral surface with the main body, and a thermoplastic elastomer retention portion which exists so as to come into close contact with an outer peripheral surface of the reinforcing portion, and is integrally formed in a side of the main body.
US09014765B2	Mobile platform tracking in wireless networks A mobile station in a wireless network provides a presence indication when in a power saving state. The presence indication is sent periodically, and the period is dependent on whether the mobile station is stationary or in motion. The period may also be dependent on an asset protection level of the mobile station.
US09014761B2	Mobile terminal A mobile terminal is provided that includes a main body in which a structure is mounted, an antenna coil formed to be wound along edges of the structure to receive a change in magnetic flux in a vicinity of the main body, an electronic element disposed to be adjacent to the structure, and a ferrite sheet configured to remove noise with respect to reception of the change in the magnetic flux and disposed on one surface of the electronic element such that a distance is formed between the ferrite sheet and the antenna coil.
US09014760B2	Mobile terminal and method of controlling the same A mobile terminal and a method of controlling a mobile terminal may be provided. The mobile terminal may include a sensing unit, a wireless communication unit for exchanging data with at least one other terminal, and a controller for acquiring data from the at least one other terminal or transmitting data to the at least one other terminal through the wireless communication unit according to a transmission direction of determined data based on a result acquired through the sensing unit.
US09014754B2	Information processing system and information processing method An information processing system includes a mobile equipment and an information processing apparatus. The mobile equipment includes a sensor for acquiring biological information, a camera for acquiring an image corresponding to a visual field of a user, and a first communication means. The information processing apparatus includes a second communication unit and computing unit. The computing unit determines whether to activate the camera based on the biological information acquired by the sensor. Further, the computing unit extracts a feature from the image acquired by the camera and transmits information regarding the extracted feature to a public network using the second communication unit to acquire a searched result regarding the extracted feature.
US09014753B2	Communication system and information system for a motor vehicle In a communications system for a motor vehicle, the communications system includes: an interface for exchanging data between the communications system and a mobile telephone; a display with an assigned controller for displaying an image of the mobile telephone, the image including at least one control element, or for displaying a portion of an image of the mobile telephone, the portion of the image also having at least one control element; and a touch screen, which is located above the display and serves to operate the mobile telephone by touching the touch screen in the area of the displayed control element or by pressing upon the touch screen in the area of the displayed control element.
US09014752B2	Front end device A front end device includes an upper-level device and a lower-level device. The upper-level device includes an S/P interface unit. The lower-level device includes a parallel interface unit and a high-frequency processor. The S/P interface unit is connected to an RFIC and the parallel interface unit, receives a serial signal from the RFIC, converts the serial signal into a parallel signal, and transmits the parallel signal to the parallel interface unit. The parallel interface unit receives the parallel signal and supplies the parallel signal to the high-frequency processor. The high-frequency processor is connected between the RFIC and an antenna and performs certain processing on a high-frequency signal based on the parallel signal.
US09014746B2	Conserving the power of a node in a wireless communication system A method of reducing power consumption of a Radio Network Controller with a plurality of control units in a wireless communication system, each of the control units including one or more processors, the control units being adapted to operate in an active mode or adopt a power saving mode and a first control unit i operating in the active mode, the method comprising the steps of measuring a degree of utilization Cwi of the first control unit i, comparing the degree of utilization Cwi of the first control unit i with a first threshold Tsli, and changing the mode of the first control unit i to a power saving mode after a predetermined first period of time if the degree of utilization of the first control unit i is below the first threshold Tsli.
US09014744B2	Method and apparatus for reducing power consumption in a wireless communication device A method and apparatus for conserving power in a wireless communication device. The method includes receiving at least a portion of a PHY protocol data unit (PPDU) frame, where the PPDU frame includes an aggregate MAC protocol data unit (A-MPDU) field. The method also includes comparing a receiver address (RA) within the A-MPDU field to a stored address of the wireless communication device and, if the received RA does not match the stored address, causing power to be removed from one or more circuits of the wireless communication device for a calculated period of time.
US09014742B2	Push-to-talk telecommunications system utilizing an voice-over-IP network A method and system to provide ad-hoc push-to-talk calls between a plurality of users in a wireless packet data telecommunications network are described. The system may include: a wireless communication network including push-to-talk (PTT) functionality, with a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Proxy Server; a SIP Registrar and Location Server operable to store contact addresses of active mobile devices; a Realtime Transport Protocol (RTP) Media Gateway (PTT Server) operable to function as a call endpoint for each of a plurality of mobile devices wherein the plurality of mobile devices may be segmented into membership groups, the PTT Server further operable to multicast a communication from one member of the group to the other members of the group; and an Internet Protocol (IP) network interconnecting the SIP Proxy server, the SIP Registrar and Location Server, and the PTT Server.
US09014738B2	Dynamic allocation of spectrum sensing resources in a cognitive radio network A method of communicating in a wireless telecommunication network includes establishing a control channel at a control channel frequency in a first frequency band between a wireless terminal and a base station gathering information about a second frequency band indicative of at least a first portion of the second frequency band not being allocated to at least one other device and/or service; determining if the traffic load in the first frequency band is above a traffic load threshold; transmitting control channel data from the base station to the wireless terminal if the traffic load in the first frequency band is above the traffic load threshold; and establishing a communication channel at the communication channel frequency between the wireless terminal and the base station if the traffic load in the first frequency band is above the traffic load threshold. A base station associated with the method is also provided.
US09014737B2	Configuration of CSI-RS resources by network for enabling CoMP Example embodiments described herein are directed to systems and methods by which a group of base stations (BS) can configure pilot signals in time and time-frequency, called channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources, so that the user equipment (UE) such as mobiles and laptops can measure certain possible channel quality indicators (CQI) that correspond to specific channel and interference conditions that can arise during actual data submission. Using these values, example embodiments utilize an interpolation algorithm by which the group of base stations can estimate other possible CQI corresponding to a different set of channel and interference conditions.
US09014735B2	Base station and interference reduction method in base station A base station communicates with mobile terminals existing within a subordinate cell, and in addition executes control to reduce interference from mobile terminals existing within adjacent cells. The base station measures the total interference power received from mobile terminals in all adjacent cells, and if the total interference power is greater than a preset value, issues a request to the base stations of all adjacent cells to reduce interference. The base station which has received the interference reduction request discriminates mobile terminals which impart interference to the base station which is the source of the interference reduction request, and reduces interference by either temporarily lowering the uplink data transmission rate or temporarily halting uplink data transmission for such mobile terminals.
US09014732B2	Method and apparatus for synchronizing multiple transmitters A method and apparatus for synchronizing multiple transmitters is disclosed. A global time reference is used to synchronize the arrival of data from a plurality of transmitters in a receiver station. In one embodiment, the global time reference is provided by a GPS satellite, and may also be used to synchronize the carriers of the signals received at the receiver station from each of the plurality of transmitters
US09014728B2	Method and apparatus for operating call function of portable terminal A method for operating a call function of a portable terminal that may simply execute a call function while operating various applications, and intuitively provide a call relation interface, and an apparatus thereof, are provided. The method for operating a call function, includes displaying a call interface in which a phone number is automatically input when interaction is input to the call item, and executing a call function using the phone number when a call transmission interaction is input from the call interface.
US09014723B2	Managed access to multiple wireless carriers Systems, methods, apparatus, and computer program products are provided for managing access of mobile stations to a plurality of wireless carriers. For example, in one embodiment, a central system can provide configuration files to mobile stations. The mobile stations can use the configuration files to access a plurality of different wireless carriers, with the different wireless carriers potentially implementing distinct technologies and communication standards and protocols.
US09014715B2	Systems for and methods of determining likelihood of atypical transmission characteristics of reference points in a positioning system Systems for and methods of determining likelihood of atypical transmission characteristics of reference points in a positioning system are disclosed. A method of determining a measure of likelihood that a designated wireless device exhibits signal transmission characteristics atypical of a wireless device of a type matching the designated device includes determining reference points associated with the designated device, which are a geographic position at which signals from the designated device were detected and/or another wireless device from which signals were also detected by a receiver within a selected period of time during which the signals from the designated device were detected. The method also includes determining statistical measures of a spatial distribution of the reference points and determining a measure of likelihood that the designated device exhibits signal transmission characteristics that are atypical of a wireless device of a type matching the designated device based on the statistical measures.
US09014711B2	Communication system, communication method, base station, user equipment, and therein program The object of the present invention is to provide a technology of deciding CoMP point dynamically by considering the spectrum efficiency after channel-dependent scheduling with different possible combinations of CoMP points. According to the present invention, A wireless communication system, characterized in deciding number of CoMP (coordinated multipoint transmission and reception) point to a user equipment by using information related to scheduling.
US09014710B2	Method and wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for receiving multimedia broadcast/multicast service A method and wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for receiving a multimedia broadcast/multicast service (MBMS) data is disclosed. A WTRU receives MBMS data segments from a first MBMS transmitting source along with segmentation information. The WTRU receives MBMS data segments and segmentation information from a second MBMS transmitting source. The MBMS data segments from the first MBMS transmitting source and the MBMS data segments from the second MBMS transmitting source are received in different order. The WTRU reassembles the MBMS data segments based on the segmentation information received from the first MBMS transmitting source and the second MBMS transmitting source.
US09014708B2	Network entity for mobile communications towards a mobile station The present invention relates to a network entity for handling communications towards a mobile station over a communication network, the mobile station being capable of receiving a paging request from a mobile switching center of a pool of mobile switching centers, and, in response to the paging request, of transmitting a paging response over the communication network. The network entity comprises a receiver (101) for receiving the paging response, the paging response comprising mobile identity information identifying the mobile station, a processor (103) for identifying the mobile switching center to which to re-transmit the paging response upon the basis of the mobile identity information, and a transmitter (105) for retransmitting the paging response to the identified mobile switching center.
US09014703B1	Notification to mobile device of incoming call A user device receives a notification, via a first radio access technology (RAT), of an incoming user communication on a second RAT, and turns on a receiver associated with the second RAT. The user device then establishes a connection with a corresponding cell at its current location to receive the incoming user communication.
US09014700B2	User detachment when a handover or change occurs in heterogeneous network A method for user detachment when a handover or change occurs in a heterogeneous network is provided. The method includes: a user equipment (UE) is handed over or switched from a source network to a target network; a network element on a network side determines whether to detach the UE from the source network, and if yes, the network element on the network side detaches the UE from the source network. A system and a device for user detachment when a handover or change occurs in a heterogeneous network, and another method for user detachment when a handover or change occurs in a heterogeneous network are also provided.
US09014699B2	Power management and control synchronization within in a wireless network using modal antennas and related methods A means of power management and control via a reverse link of a CDMA or LTE network is disclosed. The protocol is set to superimpose itself in an agnostic way to the power management as one more layer of freedom is added. The adjustment depending on the power control is then derived by mismatch if too much power or antenna tuning to enhance the power. This is also following a table in the device that will adjust ECC in case of a MIMO transmission such as LTE as well as SAR. This will generate also a mean of a soft-handoff and load control on the base station.
US09014697B2	Wireless network selection A method and apparatus for wireless network selection by a wireless mobile device is disclosed. In one embodiment, network performance metrics related to the wireless networks to be considered can be evaluated. The network performance metrics can be weighted and a related ranking metric can be determined. The ranking metric can be used to select a wireless network. In one embodiment, network performance metrics can include a round trip time, which describes a round trip data transit time between the wireless mobile device to a particular network device, and a power metric describing the amount of power needed to transfer an amount of data.
US09014689B1	Method and system for offering to provide a femtocell to a subscriber A method and system for offering to provide a femtocell to a subscriber is disclosed. The method includes a computer system making a first determination (i) that a level of wireless performance experienced by a mobile station of a subscriber at a given location is less than a threshold and (ii) that at least one cause of the level of wireless performance being less than the threshold level is a network issue rather than a mobile-station specific issue. The method further includes the computer system making a second determination that the given location is location associated with a billing address of the subscriber. The method then includes, in response to making the first and second determinations, the computer system initiating a process of offering to provide a femtocell to the subscriber.
US09014687B2	Determining network quality Method, communications device and computer program product for determining network quality for the communications device which is capable of communicating over a communications network. The method comprises determining location information associated with a location of the device, querying a database using the determined location information, wherein the database stores a plurality of entries each comprising location information and corresponding network quality information, and obtaining, from the database in response to the query, network quality information from at least one entry of said entries which comprises location information corresponding to the determined location information.
US09014685B2	Mobile device which automatically determines operating mode A mobile device such as a cell phone is used to remotely control an electronic appliance such as a television or personal computer. In a setup phase, the mobile device captures an image of the electronic appliance and identifies and stores scale-invariant features of the image. A user interface configuration such as a virtual keypad configuration, and a communication protocol, can be associated with the stored data. Subsequently, in an implementation phase, another image of the electronic appliance is captured and compared to the stored features in a library to identify a match. In response, the associated user interface configuration and communication protocol are implemented to control the electronic appliance. In a polling and reply process, the mobile device captures a picture of a display of the electronic device and compares it to image data which is transmitted by the electronic appliance.
US09014683B2	Method and apparatus for maintaining user settings for over-the-air upgrades A method and apparatus for performing a software upgrade are disclosed. The method determines a plurality of mobile endpoint devices affected by a wireless network access software upgrade, and schedules a deployment of the wireless network access software upgrade. The method transmits a notification to the plurality of mobile endpoint devices, wherein the notification is configured to cause each of the plurality of mobile endpoint devices to store user settings in a memory of each of the plurality of mobile endpoint devices. The method downloads the wireless network access software upgrade wirelessly to the plurality of mobile endpoint devices, wherein the wireless network access software upgrade is configured to cause each of the plurality of mobile endpoint devices to install the wireless network access software upgrade and to restore the user settings from the memory of each of the plurality of mobile endpoint devices.
US09014682B1	Method and system for retaining synchronization across multiple wireless devices during extended power saving intervals A wireless device includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver configured to (i) selectively transition between operating in a power save mode and operating in a full power mode, and (ii) while operating in the full power mode, wirelessly communicate with a second wireless device. The wireless device also includes a mobile phone radio transceiver configured to receive, in accordance with a mobile phone protocol, time information from a first base station. The time information is based on a time reference maintained by the first base station. The wireless device also includes a controller configured to instruct the WLAN transceiver to transition to the full power mode upon expiration of a sleep period. The controller determines the expiration of the sleep period based on (i) the time information and (ii) an offset between the time reference and a second time reference maintained by a second base station.
US09014680B2	Apparatus, and an associated method, by which to activate a wireless device for a temporary period An apparatus, and an associated method, for providing secured effectuation of a communication service at a substitute mobile station. A user desiring temporarily to use a substitute mobile station to carry out the communication service initiates a request at the mobile station for its use. The communication service is available to be performed at the substitute mobile station for a selected period. Upon termination of the selected period, the communication service session ends, and data associated with the communication service session is deleted from the substitute mobile station.
US09014679B2	System and method for enhanced call information display during teleconferences An example aspect includes a mobile device that can perform a method where a conference call schedule is kept in a calendaring application, which is made to reference a temporary entry in a contact manager, which tracks access information, such as a dial-in number, an authentication code, and descriptive information for the call, such as a name for the call. The access information from the temporary contact entry is used to establish the call, and the descriptive information from the contact entry is outputted, such as through a display. An entry in a log can be created for the call using the descriptive information from the temporary contact entry. The temporary contact entry can be maintained if the conference call is to be repeated, or else it can be deleted. Such devices and methods provide an enhanced user experience for conference calls, by providing logging and display of more descriptive information about the calls.
US09014677B2	Voice connection to an intrastructure facility after an event Disclosed herein is a communication system for a vehicle for communicating with nearby vehicles which includes a control unit and a communication unit. After a triggering event occurs, an inquiry is sent to nearby vehicles whether a communication voice connection is to be established. Nearby vehicles can thereupon offer the establishment of the voice connection. This establishment can be accepted or rejected by the communication system.
US09014672B2	Apparatus and method for e-mail polling in portable terminal Provided is an apparatus and method for e-mail polling in a portable terminal. In the e-mail polling method, a state of the portable terminal is detected after a predetermined time period of a first timer expires in an idle state after a periodical e-mail polling mode is set in the portable terminal. E-mail polling is performed according to the detected state of the portable terminal. The state of the portable terminal is changed into an idle state after the performance of the e-mail polling.
US09014670B2	Method and mobile terminal for notifying and displaying message The present invention discloses a method and a mobile terminal for displaying an event notification. While running an application on a display of the mobile terminal, the terminal receives an event notification. If the event notification is compatible with the application, the terminal generates a user-interactive icon for the event notification on the display. In response to a user selection of the user-interactive icon, the terminal determines whether the event notification corresponds to a public or private event. If the event notification corresponds to a public event, the terminal replaces the application with a display of a list of public events including the public event. If the event notification corresponds to a private event, the terminal prompts a user to enter identity information for accessing private events and replaces the application with a display of a list of private events including the private event after verifying the user-entered identity information.
US09014668B2	Mobile terminal device and data sending/receiving system A mobile terminal device includes a wireless communication unit that wirelessly communicates with another mobile terminal device different from the mobile terminal device; a fingerprint detection unit that reads a user's fingerprint; and a control unit wherein the control unit performs control to create communication information, send the communication information to the another mobile terminal device, detect first fingerprint information on the user by the fingerprint detection unit, receive second fingerprint information on the user, which is detected by the another mobile terminal device, from the another mobile terminal device that received the communication information, and send information to the another mobile terminal device via the wireless communication unit if the first fingerprint information and the second fingerprint information match.
US09014666B2	Authentication based on geo-location history Methods and apparatus are disclosed for authenticating a user based on the geo-location history of a geo-location-enabled wireless device (e.g., a GPS-enabled wireless telecommunications terminal, a smart card, an RFID tag, etc.). In a first illustrative embodiment, a user of a geo-location-enabled wireless telecommunications terminal (e.g., a GPS-enabled cell phone, a GPS-enabled notebook computer, etc.) who attempts to access a restricted resource is challenged with one or more questions that are generated from the terminal's geo-location history. In a second illustrative embodiment, a user of a data-processing system who attempts to access a restricted resource is asked to provide a username Z. The user is then challenged with one or more questions that are generated from the geo-location history of a wireless device that is associated with username Z (e.g., a cell phone that belongs to the user whose username is Z, etc.).
US09014663B2	Sponsored data plan management A method for managing a Sponsored Data Plan (SDP) is provided in a mobile telecommunications network. The method includes: receiving a first request for an initial charging policy report in response to a detection of a user's data session with an Application Server (AS) (14) of a content provider; sending, in response to the first request, the requested initial charging policy report toward a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) (16) such that the PCRF (16) selects a first Policy Charging Control Rule (PCC-Rule) in accordance with the report for enforcement at a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF); receiving a second request to perform an online subscription of the user to the SDP; and sending, in response to the second request, information about the SDP toward the PCRF (16) such that the PCRF (16) selects a second PCC-Rule in accordance with the information for enforcement at the PCEF.
US09014660B2	Mobile alert reporting and monitoring systems and methods Computerized systems and methods may be used to enable users to report crimes, safety hazards or other perceived problems to the appropriate authorities via an alert. Such alerts may be communicated to the authorities through any suitable communication method such as, for example, phone calls, email and/or SMS text messages. In some example embodiments, the reporting system includes a computing device including, but not limited to, a mobile smartphone, tablet device, laptop computer, or desktop computer programmed with a software application.
US09014659B2	Method and apparatus for efficient and deterministic group alerting Systems and methods are provided for reliable, wireless group alerting in a system having a database, switch, wireless network, and a plurality of intelligent mobile receivers, and preferably employing a modified two-way paging based on ReFLEX™ protocol information service (IS) messages and a novel ALOHA command for multicast acknowledgement from mobile receivers. An encrypted message is broadcast to and received by a selected number of the mobile receivers. The network replies to the sender with detailed information about the individual members in the alert group. Each of the mobile receivers in the group then acknowledges the common message back to the system, decrypts the message, displays it to the user, and allows the user to respond. The system employs centralized management to simplify the roles of the mobile users and administrators, minimizing configuration and operational human errors that would otherwise result in confusion or lost messages.
US09014658B2	System and method for application context location based configuration suggestions Provided is a distributed system and method for enabling new and useful location dependent features and functionality to mobile data processing systems. Mobile data processing Systems (MSs) interact with each other as peers in communications and interoperability. Data is shared between mobile data processing systems to carry out novel Location Based eXchanges (LBX) of data for new mobile applications. Information transmitted inbound to, transmitted outbound from, is in process at, or is application modified at a mobile data processing system triggers processing of actions in accordance with user configured permissions, charters, and other configurations. In a preferred embodiment, a user configurable platform is provided for quickly building well behaving LBX applications at MSs and across a plurality of interoperating MSs. Tools, triggered interfaces and integrated applications are disclosed for a breadth of MS LBX configurations and functionality.
US09014657B2	Method and apparatus for creating emergency social network A mobile application for execution on a handheld computing device stores data regarding connections to public safety answering points with which to share information in an emergency situation and establishes connections with an appropriate public safety answering point upon activation of an emergency button, wherein the connections include voice, text, image and video connections. A user is able to create a list of contacts for a private social emergency response network with which to send previously stored private information in an emergency. In an emergency, the mobile application establishes a platform via which the user and those on the private social emergency response network can share information. The mobile application also sends previously stored private information to those on the list during an emergency.
US09014654B2	Semiconductor apparatus A semiconductor apparatus includes multiple field effect transistors provided between an antenna terminal to be connected to an antenna and multiple external terminals through which RF signals are capable of being supplied and a voltage generating circuit. When the field effect transistors provided between one of the multiple external terminals and the antenna terminal are turned off, the voltage generating unit charges a capacitor via a resistor circuit by switching the polarity of the RF signal to be supplied to the other external terminal with respect to the control signal and outputs a voltage based on a sum of the charge voltage and the voltage of the control signal as the gate drive voltage. The resistor circuit includes a first resistor including positive temperature characteristics and a second resistor including negative temperature characteristics.
US09014653B2	High-IF superheterodyne receiver incorporating high-Q complex band pass filter A novel and useful reconfigurable superheterodyne receiver that employs a 3rd order complex IQ charge-sharing band-pass filter (BPF) for image rejection and 1st order feedback based RF BPF for channel selection filtering. The operating RF input frequency of the receiver is 500 MHz to 1.2 GHz with a varying high IF range of 33 to 80 MHz. The gain stages are inverter based gm stages and the total gain of the receiver is 35 dB and in-band IIP3 at mid gain is +10 dBm. The NF of the receiver is 6.7 dB which is acceptable for the receiver without an LNA. The architecture is highly reconfigurable and follows the technology scaling.
US09014652B2	Mobile communication device Embodiments provide a mobile communication device comprising an adaptive filter for filtering a RF signal and a controller. The adaptive filter comprises a first terminal, a second terminal, a reference terminal for providing a reference potential, a first filter structure connected in series between the first terminal and the second terminal, a second filter structure connected in series between the first terminal and the reference terminal, and a third filter structure connected in series between the second terminal and the reference terminal, wherein at least one filter structure of the first, second and third filter structures comprises at least one switchable filter element. The controller is configured to selectively activate or deactivate the at least one switchable filter element based on the RF signal or a baseband version thereof.
US09014650B2	Received signal to noise indicator A method and device may be used to produce a received interference value in wireless communications. The device may include one or more components to measure a received power of a channel and measure an average noise plus interference power of the channel. The device may include a processor configured to calculate a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI) value. The RSNI may be based on the measured received power and the measured average noise plus interference power.
US09014649B2	Low-complexity diversity reception A system may comprise a plurality of signal processing paths, a bin-wise combiner, an inverse transformation block, and a DAC. Each signal processing path may comprise a transformation block that is operable to transform a first time-domain digital signal to an associated frequency-domain signal having a plurality of subband signals. The bin-wise combiner may be operable to combine corresponding subband signals of the plurality of signal processing paths. The inverse transformation block may be operable to transform output of the bin-wise combiner to an second time-domain signal. The DAC may be operable to converts the second time-domain signal to a corresponding analog signal.
US09014637B1	Dynamic switching frequency control of an on-chip or integrated voltage regulator Examples are disclosed for switching frequency control of an on-chip or integrated voltage regulator. In some examples, a switch frequency of an integrated voltage regulator may be monitored. A determination of whether the monitored switch frequency causes radio signal interference may cause the switch frequency to be adjusted to eliminate or reduce the radio signal interference. Other examples are described and claimed.
US09014632B2	Obtaining vehicle traffic information using mobile bluetooth detectors A method and system for obtaining traffic information from mobile Bluetooth detectors is disclosed. A mobile Bluetooth detector is a device located in a moving vehicle that includes Bluetooth and GPS firmware for collecting data from Bluetooth enabled devices. The mobile Bluetooth detector transmits the collected data to a remote facility where the data is processed to generate traffic information. A pair of mobile Bluetooth detectors may be used to collect data for generating ground truth.
US09014631B2	System, portable electronic device, and method for peer-to-peer communication of media A wireless media player and a related system and methodology are disclosed. One aspect of the wireless media player system pertains to a virtual connector system, apparatus, and method for the automatic establishment of wireless connectivity with other electronic devices. In one embodiment, the media player device employs the use of integrated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to exchange communication settings, media capability, and other parameters with an external device that also has integrated RFID technology. The automatic exchange of settings and other information via a proximity-based RFID data exchange allows a media player to quickly establish a secure communication link with another device via a commonly supported wireless protocol such as Ultra Wideband (UWB) or Bluetooth. Another aspect of the media player system pertains to a method of using the captured media capability of the connecting device to customize certain menu options and software parameters in the media player.
US09014626B2	Low noise bias circuit for phased array antenna element An antenna element includes a bias network circuitry for: during a receive mode, charging a transmit supply capacitor from a transmit power source while decoupling a receive supply capacitor from a receiver power source and coupling the receive supply capacitor to discharge and thereby provide bias to the receiver; and during a transmit mode, charging the receive supply capacitor from the receive power source while decoupling the transmit supply capacitor from the transmit power source and coupling the transmit supply capacitor to discharge and thereby provide bias the transmitter. The antenna element includes a phase shifter/attenuator section having an amplifier and a phase shifter and wherein bias voltage is provided to the amplifier and phase shifter by the transmit supply capacitor during the transmit mode and the receive supply capacitor during the receive mode.
US09014624B2	Method and apparatus for generating dedicated data channels in inductive coupled RFID systems An inductive coupling apparatus for modifying an incoming radio frequency (RF) signal includes an inductive element for modifying the incoming RF signal in accordance with a coupled impedance characteristic of the inductive element. A variable impedance circuit includes an output electrically coupled to the inductive element. A low pass delta sigma modulator is coupled to the variable impedance circuit and digitally controls the output of the variable impedance circuit, the coupled impedance of the inductive element being adjusted based on the output of the variable impedance circuit.
US09014621B2	Short-range cellular booster A repeater mediates traffic between a network transceiver and a user transceiver in a wireless communication system. The repeater comprises a network unit that maintains a network link with the network transceiver, a user unit that maintains a user link with the user transceiver, a two-way communication pathway between the network unit and the user unit; that facilitate the communication of signals between the network transceiver and the user transceiver in autonomous repeater hops between the network transceiver and the network unit, between the user transceiver and the user unit, and between the network unit and the user unit, and beam-formers respectively coupled to the network unit and the user unit and adapted to communicate signals in an operating frequency band of the network and user transceivers and to control effective radiated power.
US09014620B2	Satellite fleet deployment Methods, systems, and devices are described for managing satellite communications through the deployment of a fleet of multi-beam satellites serving overlapping and non-overlapping spot beams. In these methods, systems, and devices, a first communication service associated with a relatively wider spot beam of a first satellite is provided to a first coverage area having multiple terminals. A second communication service associated with a relatively narrower spot beam (e.g., high-gain spot beam) of a second satellite is provided to a second coverage area located within the first coverage area. A subset of terminals located within the second coverage area is identified, and the terminals of the identified subset are transitioned from the first communication service of the wide spot beam of the first satellite to the second communication service of the high-gain spot beam of the second satellite.
US09014619B2	Methods and systems for satellite communications employing ground-based beam forming with spatially distributed hybrid matrix amplifiers A satellite communications system includes a satellite configured to communicate with terminals, a station configured to communicate signals intended for the terminals to the satellite via a plurality of feeder links and a beamformer including an input multi-port hybrid matrix (MPHM) and a complementary output MPHM in a signal path with the plurality of feeder links. The output MPHM is positioned at the satellite and coupled to the input MPHM via the plurality of feeder links. For example, the input MPHM may be positioned at a ground-based satellite gateway. The input and output MPHMs may be configured to implement fully populated signal transformation matrices that collectively provide a substantially diagonal signal transformation matrix.
US09014617B2	Wireless relay device and wireless relay method In a wireless relay method for relaying a signal between a base station and a mobile station, if an SRS is transmitted in a subframe immediately previous to the backhaul subframe, the last symbol of an access link subframe is set as a fake symbol in which the SRS that the mobile station transmits to the wireless relay device is not configured. The signal transmitted from the mobile station to the wireless relay device in a previous symbol of one of the fake symbol is received, and switched to transmission from the wireless relay device to the base station. If the SRS is not transmitted in a subframe immediately previous to the backhaul subframe, the signal transmitted from the mobile station to the wireless relay device is received in the last symbol of the access link subframe, and switched to transmission from the wireless relay device to the base station.
US09014613B2	Easily accessible ejection tray for image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, an ejection portion from which a first sheet and a second sheet having images formed in the image forming unit are to be ejected, an ejection tray including a receiving portion configured to receive the sheet ejected from the ejection portion, and a stopper portion disposed on a downstream side of the ejection tray in a sheet ejection direction further than the ejection portion. The receiving portion has first and second recessed portions, which are recessed downward therefrom. The stopper portion is configured to stop the sheet ejected from the ejection portion. The recessed portions are located downstream from the ejection portion and upstream from the stopper portion in the sheet ejection direction, and spaced apart from each other at least in the sheet ejection direction.
US09014612B2	Cleaning device and image forming apparatus A representative configuration of a cleaning device and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes: a photosensitive drum which bears a toner image; a cleaning blade which abuts against the photosensitive drum and removes a toner remained in the photosensitive drum; a compression coil spring which is compressed to pressurize the cleaning blade against the photosensitive drum; and a positioning boss which is arranged to face the compression coil spring, with a predetermined gap being provided therebetween, allows a movement in a direction perpendicular to a compression direction of the compression coil spring, and regulates a movement of the compression coil spring such that the compression coil spring is not moved by more than a predetermined amount in the direction perpendicular to the compression direction of the compression coil spring.
US09014609B2	Fixing device having base tube with rough surface A fixing device includes: a flexible tubular member defining an internal space and extending in an axial direction; a first fixing member disposed within the internal space; and a second fixing member configured to nip the flexible tubular member in cooperation with the first fixing member. The flexible tubular member includes a metal base tube having an outer peripheral surface configured of a first area and a second area other than the first area in the axial direction. The first area has a 10-point average roughness of larger than 3 μm, and the second area has a 10-point average roughness of equal to or smaller than 3 μm.
US09014608B2	Image heating apparatus An image heating apparatus for heating a recording material, on which a toner image is carried, while conveying the recording material in a nip includes: a fixing roller including a metal core, a heat insulating layer formed on a surface of the core metal, and a high heat transfer layer which is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the heat insulating layer and has a higher thermal conductivity than the heat insulating layer; a heating member for heating the fixing roller from an outside; and a back-up member for forming the nip together with the fixing roller. When the fixing roller and the back-up member opposing the fixing roller are supplied with the same heat quantity, the temperature rise rate in a neighborhood of the surface of the back-up member supplied with the heat quantity is higher than that of the fixing roller.
US09014605B2	Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus includes: a developer-image carrier; a conveyance belt that contacts the developer-image carrier and conveys a developer image; and a transfer member contacting the conveyance belt from an opposite side of the developer-image carrier to transfer the developer image onto the conveyance belt. The transfer member includes a main roller body and a movable member including a first end portion fixed to a circumferential surface of the main roller body and a second end portion extending outward in a radial direction of the main oiler body and movable with respect to the first end portion. A rotation axis line of the main roller body is provided downstream of the rotation axis line of the developer-image carrier in a movement direction of the conveyance belt such that the main roller body contacts the developer-image carrier while interposing the conveyance belt therebetween.
US09014599B2	Rotation transmission unit, replacement unit, developer container and image forming apparatus A rotation transmission unit includes a driving unit that provides a rotational power; a rotation transmission member that is rotated due to reception of the rotational power transmitted from the driving unit; a rotation member that is rotated due to reception of a rotation of the rotation transmission member; a locking groove that is formed at one of the rotation transmission member and the rotation member; and a locking member that is arranged at the other of the rotation transmission member and the rotation member. A surface of the locking member on the locking groove side is flat.
US09014597B2	Image forming device having holder positioning arrangement An image forming apparatus includes a main frame, a holder and an exposure unit. The holder holds a plurality of photosensitive drums arrayed in a predetermined array direction, and movable in an accommodating direction to be accommodated in the main frame. The holder includes a pair of metal plates each positioned at each axial end portion of each photosensitive drum. Each of the pair of metal plates has a downstream end portion in the accommodating direction provided with a positioning portion. The main frame includes a pair of first side walls, a pair of second side walls, a linking member, and a support portion. Each of the pair of second side walls is fixed to each first side wall and made from a metal. Each second side wall includes a major portion supporting the exposure unit, and an extension portion extending from the major portion toward the photosensitive drum.
US09014593B2	Sealing assembly, developing device, process unit, and image forming apparatus incorporating same A sealing assembly to contact a rotator includes a sealing member to slidably contact a surface of an end of the rotator in an axial direction of the rotator. The sealing member has an end in a circumferential direction thereof to contact the surface of the rotator with a first pressure. The end in the circumferential direction is fixed to a bearing surface formed on the opening on at least one of an upstream side and a downstream side in a rotation direction of the rotator. The sealing member has an intermediate portion between an upstream end and a downstream end in the circumferential direction to contact the surface of the rotator with a second pressure lower than the first pressure.
US09014586B2	Image processing apparatus and controlling method for controlling a fixing temperature An image processing apparatus controls a fixing temperature of a fixing device which fixes an image to be formed. The apparatus obtains an attribute of each page included in a print job including a plurality of pages. Then, the apparatus controls a fixing temperature for each page, based on a change of the obtained attribute by the obtaining unit between continuous pages. In a case where there is a change of a printing mode between the continuous pages, the apparatus sets a fixing temperature of a preceding page according to the change close to a fixing temperature of a following page.
US09014585B2	System and method for detecting bias transfer roll positions using resistance detection A system and method is provided for determining the location of one or more biased transfer rolls relative to associated photoreceptors in a printer. The one or more biased transfer rolls can be moved into contact with an intermediate transfer surface bringing the surface into contact with associated photoreceptors to form a closed biased transfer roll image transfer nip for transferring an image from the photoreceptor to the intermediate transfer surface. The open or closed condition of the biased transfer roll image transfer nip is determined by applying a constant current to the biased transfer roll and evaluating a voltage at the biased transfer roll. The open or closed condition of different image transfer nips can be determined in a similar manner. A plurality of biased transfer rolls can be ganged together for simultaneous movement with respect to associated photoreceptors to form a plurality of image transfer nips, the open and closed condition which can also be determined.
US09014581B2	Printer with unfused toner process control system Toner printers are provided. In one printer a toner image is printed according to first printing instructions. An amount of toner in a target area of the toner image is determined and second printing instructions are generated causing the toner printer to print at least one subsequent toner image based upon the determined amount of first toner.
US09014577B2	Carrier dispense rate measurement A printing device (and associated method) comprises a carrier supply, one or more tubes operatively connected to the carrier supply, one or more developer stations operatively connected to the tubes, and at least two sensors connected to each of the tubes. The tubes supply a pulse of the carrier material (“slug”) from the carrier supply to the developer stations. The sensors are positioned a known distance apart along a length of the tubes. The sensors detect the slug of the carrier material passing in the tubes. The processor determines the slug speed based on the timing difference of when the different sensors detect the slug. The processor determines the size of the slug based on the slug speed and determines the dispense rate of the carrier supply based on the size of the slug.
US09014575B2	Sampling clock synchronizing apparatus, digital coherent receiving apparatus, and sampling clock synchronizing method In a sampling clock synchronizing apparatus, an A/D converter converts an analog signal to a digital signal based on a sampling clock, and a processor compensates a band limitation due to spectral narrowing by filter characteristics of characteristics opposite to those of the spectral narrowing with respect to a signal produced from the A/D converter subjected to the spectral narrowing, and detects a phase shift in the sampling clock based on a signal after the compensation of the spectral narrowing and synchronizes sampling timing.
US09014574B2	Optical receiver, polarization demultiplexer, and optical receiving method In order to appropriately demultiplex the polarization multiplexed BPSK signal without using a training sequence and decreasing the resistance to a frequency offset, an optical receiver includes a coherent optical detection unit receiving an optical signal in which BPSK modulated carrier waves are polarization-multiplexed, performing coherent detection by mixing the received optical signal with local light, and outputting first electrical signals corresponding to the carrier waves; a butterfly FIR filter receiving the first electrical signals and extracting second electrical signals corresponding to each of the carrier waves from the first electrical signals; and a coefficient control unit for calculating a sum of respective phases of the second electrical signals output from the butterfly FIR filter, adaptively controlling tap coefficients of the butterfly FIR filter so that the calculated phase sum may become equal to 0 or π, and outputting tap coefficients after being controlled to the butterfly FIR filter.
US09014572B2	Optical transmitter, control method for the same, and optical transmission system An optical transmitter includes an optical modulator having first and second waveguides to modulate carrier light at each of the waveguides using a driving signal with 2*n intensity levels (n is an integer 1 or greater); and a phase shifter to cause a phase difference between a first optical signal and a second optical signal output from the first waveguide and the second waveguide, respectively. A photodetector converts a portion of a multilevel optical modulation signal acquired by combining the first optical signal and the second optical signals into an electrical signal. A monitor detects a change in an alternating current component in the detected modulation signal. A controller controls at least one of a first bias voltage and a second bias voltage being supplied to the first waveguide and the second waveguide, respectively, so as to increase the power value of the alternating current component.
US09014568B2	Next generation optical access network with centralized digital OLT An optical access network with centralized digital optical line termination OLT including an optical line termination unit having a digital transmitter and a coherent receiver for downstream signal transmitting and upstream signal receiving, and at least one optical network unit ONU with transceiver functions for communicating with the OLT over an optical path, the ONU including intensity modulation and single photodiode detection, wherein the digital transmitter includes digital signal processing DSP, digital-to-analog conversion DAC and analog-to-digital conversion ADC functions that can be shared by all multiple ones of the ONU in the network, the DSP reducing or removing dispersion and non-linearity effects in the network and the coherent receiver enabling performance of the downstream stream signal transmitting to match that of the upstream signal receiving in the OLT.
US09014567B2	Electronic system having fanout optical buses An electronic system includes a plurality of electronic nodes, each having a transmitter module and a plurality of receiver modules, in which the transmitter module is positioned at a same location with respect to the receiver modules in each of the electronic nodes, and a plurality of fanout optical buses, each fanout optical bus comprising a transmitter section, a plurality of receiver sections, and at least one substantially straight optical waveguide extending between the plurality of receiver sections, wherein each transmitter section is optically connected to a transmitter module of a respective one of the electronic nodes and wherein the receiver sections of each of the fanout optical buses is connected to respective ones of the receiver modules of the electronic nodes.
US09014565B2	Optical microphone An optical microphone includes: a light source; a first polarizer for allowing linearly-polarized light, of light output from the light source, to pass therethrough; a second polarizer for allowing linearly-polarized light having a different polarization plane from the first polarizer to pass therethrough; a sound-receiving section including an acoustic medium having a smaller sound velocity than the air, wherein an acoustic signal propagates through the acoustic medium, the sound-receiving section being arranged so that the linearly-polarized light from the first polarizer passes through the acoustic medium and enters the second polarizer; and a photodetector for converting an intensity of light having passed through the second polarizer to an electric signal, wherein between the first polarizer and the second polarizer, the linearly-polarized light having passed through the first polarizer is given different phase shifts in two orthogonal directions which are each different from a polarization direction.
US09014559B2	Methods for efficient transmission in OTN networks In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure a method for shared mesh protection in an optical transport network comprises provisioning a route for each of a plurality of working demands through the optical transport network. The method further comprises provisioning a route for backup demands corresponding to each of the plurality of working demands. The method additionally comprises packing into a single optical data unit a first backup demand corresponding to a first of the plurality of working demands and a second backup demand corresponding to a second of the plurality of working demands, wherein the first and second of the plurality of working demands share at least one common link in the optical transport network. The method also comprises unpacking the first and second backup demands from the optical data unit.
US09014558B2	Client grooming interface The invention is directed to apparatus, systems and methods enabling a service provider to establish an optical demarcation point located at or within equipment controlled at least in part by a customer's domain such that the service provider's domain is able to directly control access of an optical signal to their domain based upon at least one optical signal characteristic and at least one of mapping and multiplexing properties pertaining to one or more information flows within said optical signal.
US09014557B2	Optical switch with power equalization An optical intensity control system for use with an optical switch providing individual signal paths between input and output ports. The system has optical splitters connectable to output multiplexers of the switch and has variable optical intensity controllers (VOICs) for insertion into the individual signal paths to individually control the intensity of optical signals present in the signal paths via intensity control signals. An equalizer is connected to the splitters and to the VOICs produces an estimate of the optical power of each individual switched optical signal and generates the intensity control signals. The equalizer is adapted to controllably isolate individual switched optical signals. In this way, individual and independent control of the power on each optical channel is provided.
US09014553B2	Signal reflection apparatus for testing optical feedback A satellite test signal reflection apparatus for testing transmitters sending out optical signals, the apparatus includes a plate that is at least partially permeable to optical signals. The plate has a base with a first surface with a residual reflective coating and a second surface. The residual reflective coating is configured to split an optical beam, which penetrates the plate in a first direction from the first surface to the second surface, into a reflective optical beam and a transmitted optical beam.
US09014552B2	Method and system for testing jitter compatibility A method and system for testing jitter compatibility are disclosed in the present invention, which includes: an interconnection testing board configured with a non-NRZ optical transponder needing to satisfy the board jitter performance specification, and according to the specification, testing the jitter performance of the interconnection testing board to indirectly judge whether the jitter compatibility of non-NRZ optical transponder at a line side of the interconnection testing board is qualified, wherein: at the line side and a client side of the interconnection testing board, a non-NRZ optical transponder to be tested and an NRZ optical transponder with qualified jitter performance are configured respectively, and the jitter performance of interconnection testing board is tested; if the qualified jitter performance of interconnection testing board is obtained through testing, believing that the jitter compatibility of non-NRZ optical transponder to be tested is qualified.
US09014550B2	Transmission device, transmission method, and program A cross connecting unit outputs an including frame whose type matches a type of an including frame stored in a storage unit in association with identification information of a multiplexing unit having a problem among including frames generated by an including unit to a backup multiplexing unit when any one of multiplexing units has a problem.
US09014549B2	Dome-type camera and aperture control method A dome-type camera includes a camera lens capable of rotating in a tilt direction, a dome cover for covering the camera lens, and an aperture control unit for controlling the amount of aperture of the camera lens. The amount of aperture is set to become smaller from an open value toward a closed value in accordance with the tilt angle of the camera lens becoming smaller from a zenith direction of the dome cover toward a horizontal direction. According to this dome-type camera, a desirable low tilt angle image with a reduced blur may be obtained even with a megapixel dome camera.
US09014544B2	User interface for retiming in a media authoring tool A novel method for creating multimedia presentations in a media editing application is provided. The method selects a portion of a media clip and retimes the selected portion of the media clip from a first playback speed to a second playback speed. The method defines a transition interval for a discontinuity between a first section of the media clip with the first playback speed and a second section of the media clip with the second playback speed. The media clip is played back according to a smoothed curve that is constrained by the transition interval, the first playback speed, and the second playback speed. The smoothed curve transitions gradually from the first playback speed at the start of the transition interval to the second playback speed at the end of the transition interval.
US09014540B1	Techniques for provisioning local media players with content A local media player in network communication with a remote storage system stores a portion of content. It then compares the portion of content stored on the local media player with content stored on the remote storage system to determine if the portion of content is duplicated on the remote storage system. If so, the portion of content stored on the local media player is replaced with a pointer to a duplicate portion of content stored on the remote storage system. The portion of content is played back by the local media player at least in part by receiving the duplicate portion of content from the remote storage system if the portion of content has been replaced by a pointer, or by accessing the portion of content stored on the local media player if the portion of content has not been replaced by a pointer.
US09014535B2	Systems and methods for synchronizing playback at multiple locations Embodiments provide methods and systems for synchronizing simultaneous media asset viewing for users at different geographical viewing locations. In some embodiments, a first user device receives a request to synchronize viewing of a media asset with a second user device. Control circuitry may automatically determine that the media asset is available to the second user device after becoming available to the first user device. Based on the determining, the control circuitry may automatically schedule the media asset for recording on the first user device. In some embodiments, control circuitry synchronizes viewing of the media asset when the media access becomes available to the second user device. The second user device may access a video feed transmitted by a media source, while the first user device accesses a video feed of a recorded media asset.
US09014531B2	Time-shifted viewing system, time-shifted viewing method, and time-shifted viewing apparatus and program A transmitting section of the present invention initiates transmission of a second video continuously after completing transmission of a first video being transmitted, in a case that a reproduction position of the first video being transmitted is beyond an end point of the first video, when a video recording start time of a second video stored in a video storage section and a video recording end time of the first video being transmitted coincide within a predetermined time difference.
US09014526B2	Waveguide system and methods Waveguide apparatuses and methods are provided. A waveguide method (700) can include stacking (710) a plurality of layers (110) to form a plurality of waveguides (120). Each of the plurality of layers can include at least one waveguide surface (140). The method can further include aligning (720) the plurality of layers using at least one alignment device (160). The method can also include trapping (730) the aligned, stacked plurality of layers between a first member (170) and second member (180).
US09014525B2	Trench-assisted multimode optical fiber A trench-assisted, multimode optical fiber includes a central core having an alpha refractive index profile with respect to an outer cladding. The optical fiber also includes an inner cladding, a depressed trench, and an outer cladding. The optical fiber achieves reduced bending losses and a high bandwidth.
US09014521B1	Semiconductor-based plasmonic phase modulator and method A plasmonic phase modulator and a method of phase modulation employ modulation of surface plasmons. The plasmonic phase modulator includes a semiconductor substrate configured to provide a surface charge that forms a plasmonic channel at the substrate surface. The modulator further includes an electrode and an insulator between the electrode and the semiconductor substrate. The electrode is configured to provide an electric field that influences the surface charge. The electric field includes a bias field component and a modulation field component. The surface plasmon is supported within the plasmonic channel at an interface between the semiconductor substrate surface and the insulator. A phase of the surface plasmon in the plasmonic channel is modulated by changes in the electric field. The method includes propagating the surface plasmon in the plasmonic channel and varying the modulation field component to modulate the phase of the propagating surface plasmon.
US09014520B2	Photoelectric mixed substrate and optical module A photoelectric mixed substrate includes a wiring substrate including a first ground wire, a signal wire arranged above the first ground wire and electrically connected to the photoelectric component and the electronic component, and a waveguide unit stacked on the wiring substrate to cover the signal wire. The waveguide unit includes a first clad layer formed on the wiring substrate, a second ground wire formed above the first clad layer, a core formed on the first clad layer and optically coupled to the photoelectric component, and a second clad layer formed on the first clad layer to cover the core.
US09014519B2	Optoelectronic interface An optoelectronic interface includes an optically transparent substrate; and an alignment layer comprising a pattern of alignment features disposed on said optically transparent substrate.
US09014517B2	Fiber unit A fiber unit has an illumination fiber and detection fibers. The illumination fiber and the detection fiber comprise a soft portion that is bendable, a distal end hard portion provided at an end thereof and having a greater hardness than the soft portion, and a pitch conversion portion that connects the soft portion and the distal end hard portion and changes a distance between adjacent fibers at the distal end hard portion with respect to a distance between the adjacent fibers at the soft portion, by bending and extending. 1.0 degree
US09014516B2	Object information derived from object images Search terms are derived automatically from images captured by a camera equipped cell phone, PDA, or other image capturing device, submitted to a search engine to obtain information of interest, and at least a portion of the resulting information is transmitted back locally to, or nearby, the device that captured the image.
US09014512B2	Object information derived from object images Search terms are derived automatically from images captured by a camera equipped cell phone, PDA, or other image capturing device, submitted to a search engine to obtain information of interest, and at least a portion of the resulting information is transmitted back locally to, or nearby, the device that captured the image.
US09014508B2	Multiplierless coprocessor for difference of Gaussian (DoG) calculation A hardware architecture is applied to the calculation of a Difference-of-Gaussian filter, which is typically employed in image processing algorithms. The architecture has a modular structure to easily allow the matching of the desired delay/area ratio as well as a high computational accuracy. A new solution is provided for the implementation of multiply-accumulators which allows a significant reduction of area with respect to the conventional architectures.
US09014506B2	Image processing method, program, image processing apparatus, image-pickup optical apparatus, and network device An image processing method is configured to denoise three-dimensional image data. The image processing method includes an image transform step of performing a frequency transform for the three-dimensional image data in the optical axis direction and of calculating three-dimensional transformed image data, an image modulation step of reducing an absolute value of the three-dimensional transformed image data in a specific frequency region and of calculating three-dimensional modulated image data, and an inverse image transform step of performing an inverse frequency transform corresponding to the frequency transform for the three-dimensional modulated image data in the optical axis direction and of calculating three-dimensional inversely transformed image data. The specific frequency region is a part of a predetermined.
US09014501B2	Methods and systems for enhancing data Methods and systems for data analysis using covarying data. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors of one or more lagged covariance matrices of data obtained over time may be generated and used to enhance the data.
US09014500B2	Digital media enhancement system, method, and apparatus Aspects are disclosed for enhancing digital media. In an aspect, a target object in a primary image is identified, and reference images that include the target object are located. The target object is then modified within the primary image according to data derived from analyzing the reference image. In another aspect, a primary file is received, and at least one reference file is referenced to generate enhancement data that facilitates enhancing the primary file from an extrapolation of the reference file. In yet another aspect, media files corresponding to a common event are aggregated, and a desired enhancement of a primary file is identified. Here, the desired enhancement corresponds to a modification of an obstruction included in the primary file. A reference file which includes data associated with the desired enhancement is then referenced, and the obstructed data is modified based on replacement data extrapolated from the reference file.
US09014490B2	Method to measure local image similarity and its application in image processing A method for effectively performing local image similarity measurement is proposed. A system equipped with such a method for effectively performing an image processing task includes an image processor that performs an intermediate-results calculation procedure to calculate intermediate result values that are based upon corresponding pixels of a target patch and one or more similar patches. The image processor typically moves the target patch of the intermediate-results calculation to different locations in a raster order or some other organized order. The image processor then performs an intermediate-results combination procedure by calculating appropriate statistics of the intermediate result values to produce processed pixel values. A processor device typically controls the image processor to effectively perform the image processing tasks including, but not limited to, demosaicing and denoising.
US09014488B2	Image analysis by object addition and recovery The invention described herein is generally directed to methods for analyzing an image. In particular, crowded field images may be analyzed for unidentified, unobserved objects based on an iterative analysis of modified images including artificial objects or removed real objects. The results can provide an estimate of the completeness of analysis of the image, an estimate of the number of objects that are unobserved in the image, and an assessment of the quality of other similar images.
US09014486B2	Systems and methods for tracking with discrete texture traces An active set of discrete texture traces to a target point is determined in a first video frame and is applied to a second video frame to detect the target location in a second video frame. An estimate is made of the target location in the second video frame. A score map is computed of an area of locations. A location with a highest score in the score map is the new target location. If a threshold value is not met the active set of texture traces is stored. A score map for each of stored active sets is computed to determine the target location. If no score meets the threshold the target location in a previous video frame is made the current target location and a new active set of discrete texture traces is determined. Systems that implement the steps of the methods are also provided.
US09014480B2	Identifying a maximally stable extremal region (MSER) in an image by skipping comparison of pixels in the region A difference in intensities of a pair of pixels in an image is repeatedly compared to a threshold, with the pair of pixels being separated by at least one pixel (“skipped pixel”). When the threshold is found to be exceeded, a selected position of a selected pixel in the pair, and at least one additional position adjacent to the selected position are added to a set of positions. The comparing and adding are performed multiple times to generate multiple such sets, each set identifying a region in the image, e.g. an MSER. Sets of positions, identifying regions whose attributes satisfy a test, are merged to obtain a merged set. Intensities of pixels identified in the merged set are used to generate binary values for the region, followed by classification of the region as text/non-text. Regions classified as text are supplied to an optical character recognition (OCR) system.
US09014477B2	Method and apparatus for automatically identifying character segments for character recognition A method and apparatus for automatically identifying character segments for character recognition is provided. The method involves receiving a plurality of words and a ground truth corresponding to each word of the plurality of words. The plurality of words may be received in a cursive script. Each word of the plurality of words is segmented into one or more character segments based on the ground truth corresponding to each word. Thereafter, the segmentation of each word is refined by iteratively re-segmenting each word based on one or more similar character segments.
US09014476B2	Background separated images for print and on-line use In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for producing background separated product images for print and on-line display. An image formation system provides lighting of a product to facilitate acquiring images that can be automatically processed to generate high resolution item-only images free of quality defects and imaging artifacts. Image processing programs accurately detect an outline of an item in a set of digital images taken using the image formation system and automatically store processed images in an image library. The images in the library may be repurposed for print, sales display, transmission to a user, on-line customer support, and the like. A user display configured with an adaptable user interface facilitates user interaction with images in the library.
US09014473B2	Frame of color space encoded image for distortion correction Embodiments of the present disclosure can include devices for storing and exchanging color space encoded images. The encoded images can store input data into high capacity multi-colored composite two-dimensional pictures having different symbols organized in specific order using sets in a color space. The encoding can include performing two-level error correction and generating frames based on the color space for formatting and calibrating the encoded images during decoding. The decoding can use the frames to perform color restoration and distortion correction. The decoding can be based on a pseudo-Euclidean distance between a distorted color and a color in a color calibration cells. In some embodiments, an encoded image can be further divided into sub-images during encoding for simplified distortion correction.
US09014472B2	Color balanced compression in dynamic range mismatched color systems Methods, systems and processor-readable media for color balanced compression in dynamic range mistmatched color environments. An input L* can be compensated based on Lmin in a destination space with respect to shadow colors while configuring a perceptual LUT during a profile phase. Input opponent color components a and b* can be compressed based on how much L* is compensated to generate newly compressed Lab* values. The newly compressed Lab* values can be treated as an output Lab* to configure the perceptual LUT for color balanced compression thereof. Finally, an operation can be performed for recording in the output LUT, optimized CMYK values with respect to the output Lab* to configure the perceptual LUT in an ICC profile and result in the color balanced compression thereof.
US09014468B2	Image processing apparatus, computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions and associated method An image processing apparatus may create text image data representing a text image, based on target image data representing a target image including text. The image processing apparatus may determine an extended text area in the target image based on information related to a sharpness of the text included in the target image. The extended text area may include a text area corresponding to pixels constituting text in the text image represented by the created text image data, and also include a surrounding area around the text area. The image processing apparatus may change a color of the extended text area to a color of a background of the target image to create background image data.
US09014465B2	System and method for detecting and tracking features in images A system and method for tracking features is provided which allows for the tracking of features that move in a series of images. A training set of images is processed to produce clustered shape subspaces corresponding to the set of images, such that non-linear shape manifolds in the images are represented as piecewise, overlapping linear surfaces that are clustered according to similarities in perspectives. A landmark-based training algorithm (e.g., ASM) is applied to the clustered shape subspaces to train a model of the clustered shape subspaces and to create training data. A subsequent image is processed using the training data to identify features in the target image by creating an initial shape, superimposing the initial shape on the target image, and then iteratively deforming the shape in accordance with the model until a final shape is produced corresponding to a feature in the target image.
US09014459B2	Identification method for valuable file and identification device thereof An identification method for a valuable file and an identification device thereof. The method includes the following steps: (1) acquiring an original infrared image, type, denomination and orientation data of a current valuable file; (2) obtaining size data and infrared characteristic data of a corresponding standard valuable file; (3) applying an image projection conversion technology, and correcting the original infrared image to form a second infrared image matched with the size of the standard valuable file; (4) obtaining the infrared characteristic data of the current valuable file from the second infrared image and comparing same with that of the standard valuable file to identify whether the current valuable file is true or false; and (5) outputting the identification result. This method and device correct the original infrared image, reducing the quality acquisition requirements thereof, and can collect an image directly using a camera on a simply equipped mobile device, improving identification accuracy.
US09014456B2	Computer aided diagnostic system incorporating appearance analysis for diagnosing malignant lung nodules A computer aided diagnostic system and automated method diagnose lung cancer through modeling and analyzing the visual appearance of pulmonary nodules. A learned appearance model used in such analysis describes the appearance of pulmonary nodules in terms of voxel-wise conditional Gibbs energies for a generic rotation and translation invariant second-order Markov-Gibbs random field (MGRF) model of malignant nodules with analytically estimated characteristic voxel neighborhoods and potentials.
US09014455B2	X-ray imaging apparatus and X-ray image generating method Disclosed herein are an X-ray imaging apparatus and an X-ray image generating method in which constituent materials of a target object are separated and mapped to different colors in order to provide one image which has improved distinction between tissues. The X-ray imaging apparatus includes an X-ray generator which generates X-rays and irradiates the X-rays toward a target object, an X-ray detector which acquires X-ray data which corresponds to a plurality of energy bands by detecting X-rays which have passed through the target object, and a controller which acquires a plurality of material images in which a plurality of materials constituting the target object are respectively displayed and brightness information from the X-ray data, generates one image by mapping different color channels to the plurality of material images and combining the plurality material images into a single image, and applying the brightness information to the generated image.
US09014454B2	Method and apparatus pertaining to images used for radiation-treatment planning A radiation-treatment planning apparatus accesses first information regarding a first image that pertains to a patient's body at a first time as well as second information regarding a second image that pertains to the patient's body at a second, later time. The radiation-treatment planning apparatus then correlates components of the patient's body as appear in the second image with components that appear in the first image while treating the components as comprising rigid structures regardless of whether those components, in fact, are rigid structures. The first information can include segmentation information as pertains to the components. These teachings will accommodate a wide range of components including, but not limited to, organs, portions of organs, and even implanted man-made objects.
US09014452B2	Orientation-aware average intensity histogram to indicate object boundary depth in ultrasound images Linear candidate lines at different angles are used to determine an average intensity for each pixel level of an ultrasound image. The resultant average intensities are collected into a histogram, and the histogram is used to determine the depth positions of tissue boundary lines within an ultrasound image.
US09014445B2	Visualization and characterization of pulmonary lobar fissures Systems and methods for visualizing pulmonary fissures including a processor and software instructions for creating a 3 dimensional model of the fissures. Creating the 3 dimensional model includes accessing volumetric imaging data of the patient's lungs, analyzing the volumetric imaging data to segment the lungs into lobes, using the segmented lobes to identify locations at which pulmonary fissures should be present where the lobes abut each other, analyzing the volumetric images to identify locations at which pulmonary fissures actually are present as existing fissure, comparing the locations at which pulmonary fissures should be present to the locations at which pulmonary fissures are present to identify locations of missing fissure, and creating a visual display comprising a 3 dimensional model of the pulmonary fissures including existing fissure portions and missing fissure portions, with the existing fissure portion visually distinct from the missing fissure portions.
US09014444B2	Method and apparatus for automatic HER2 scoring of tissue samples Certain aspects of an apparatus and method for method and apparatus for automatic HER2 scoring of tissue samples may include for determining a cancer diagnosis score comprising identifying one or more nuclei in a slide image of a tissue sample, determine one or more membrane strengths in the slide image surrounding each of the one or more nuclei, classifying one or more cells, each corresponding to the one or more nuclei, in a class among a plurality of classes according to the one or more membrane strengths and determining a cancer diagnosis score based on a percentage of cells classified in each of the plurality of classes.
US09014440B2	Dental cysts detector A system and method for detecting a cyst from a dental radiographic image is provided. The system and method comprises comparing the radiographic image to a plurality of template images, calculating a cross correlation coefficient between a plurality of regions in the radiographic image and a corresponding plurality of regions in the template image, determining a cyst region in the radiographic image based on a value of the cross correlation coefficient and computing a severity level of the cyst.
US09014439B2	Oblique centerline following display of CT colonography images A method for displaying colonography images includes presenting a series of oblique images of the colon at sequential locations along the colon centerline. Each image is generally centered on the centerline, presents a field of view generally perpendicular to the centerline, and is oriented with the bottom of the colon down.
US09014436B2	Systems and methods for applying commercial web search technologies to biometric matching and identification A system and method are provided for implementing a scheme to apply commercial web search technologies to biometric matching and identification based on converting biometric identification data to one or more text strings. Collected biometric identification information regarding particular physical traits is converted to a form that facilitates application of commercial Web search technologies to implement biometric matching and identification. A scalability of multi-modal biometric identification systems is maintained while substantially eliminating reliance on proprietary matchers and templates in support of interoperability and customer satisfaction. Separate biometric templates are converted into strings of searchable text in any combination of alpha-numerics during a standard biometric data enrollment process in order to limit the data storage requirements and streamline the later undertaken comparison process.
US09014434B2	Method for scoring and controlling quality of food products in a dynamic production line A method for scoring and controlling the quality of dynamic food products transitioning in the processing steps is performed using image analysis. An image of a plurality of moving food products on a conveyor system is captured by on-line vision equipment and image analysis is performed on the image via an algorithm that determines the percentage of pixels having varying intensities of colors and applies predetermined preferences to predict consumer dissatisfaction. The entire group of food products of one or more images is given an overall appearance score and each individual food product is also scored such that each may be ranked from least to more acceptable. The ranked food products can then be ejected in the order of worst to better rank to increase the overall quality score of the entire group.
US09014433B2	Measurement apparatus, information processing apparatus, information processing method, and storage medium A measurement apparatus includes a projection unit configured to project pattern light onto an object to be measured, an imaging unit configured to capture an image of the object to be measured on which the pattern light is projected to acquire a captured image of the object to be measured, a measurement unit configured to measure a position and/or orientation of the object to be measured on the basis of the captured image, a position and orientation of the projection unit, and a position and orientation of the imaging unit, a setting unit configured to set identification resolution of the pattern light using a range of variation in the position and/or orientation of the object to be measured; and a change unit configured to change a pattern shape of the pattern light in accordance with the identification resolution.
US09014432B2	License plate character segmentation using likelihood maximization A method determines a license plate layout configuration. The method includes generating at least one model representing a license plate layout configuration. The generating includes segmenting training images each defining a license plate to extract characters and logos from the training images. The segmenting includes calculating values corresponding to parameters of the license plate and features of the characters and logos. The segmenting includes estimating a likelihood function specified by the features using the values. The likelihood function measures deviations between an observed plate and the model. The method includes storing a layout structure and the distributions for each of the at least one model. The method includes receiving as input an observed image including a plate region. The method includes segmenting the plate region and determining a license plate layout configuration of the observed plate by comparing the segmented plate region to the at least one model.
US09014430B2	Image analysis platform for identifying artifacts in samples and laboratory consumables A High-resolution Image Acquisition and Processing Instrument (HIAPI) performs at least five simultaneous measurements in a noninvasive fashion, namely: (a) determining the volume of a liquid sample in wells (or microtubes) containing liquid sample, (b) detection of precipitate, objects of artifacts within microliter plate wells, (c) classification of colored samples in microliter plate wells or microtubes; (dl determination of contaminant (e.g. wafer concentration}; (e) air bubbles; (f) problems with the actual plate. Remediation of contaminant is also possible.
US09014428B2	Object detection using difference of image frames Object detection using a difference between image frames may include receiving a first image of a field of view, receiving a second image of the field of view, determining a difference between portions of the first image and corresponding portions of the second image, and declaring based on the difference between the portions of the first image and the corresponding portions of the second image that a specific object has been detected in the field of view.
US09014427B2	Medication storage device and method Devices, systems, and methods for monitoring and enhancing patient adherence to a prescription drug regimen are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a medication storage device includes a plurality of dose containers, each dose container having an interior region configured to contain a medication. The medication storage device also includes an event detection system that includes a plurality of sensors. The plurality of sensors are configured to detect a change in each dose container of the plurality of dose containers. The medication storage device also includes an imaging system. The imaging system includes a plurality of image capture devices configured to capture an image of the interior region of each dose container of the plurality of dose containers. A communications module is configured to send an indication of the change detected by the event detection system and/or an image captured by the imaging device to a remote device.
US09014426B2	Method and device for the detection of moving objects in a video image sequence Techniques for the detection of moving objects in a video image sequence are provided. Distinctive image variation points in a difference image are determined. An image variation threshold value is established and image variation points are determined as those points in the difference image in which the absolute image brightness value of which exceeds the image variation threshold value. The quality of the image variation points are determined based on at least one predetermined quality criterion. If the quality criterion is met, the determined image variation points determined are determined as the distinctive image variation points determined. Otherwise, the establishment of an image variation threshold value and determination of the quality of image variation points is repeated with a changed image variation threshold value.
US09014421B2	Framework for reference-free drift-corrected planar tracking using Lucas-Kanade optical flow Reference free tracking of position by a mobile platform is performed using images of a planar surface. Tracking is performed optical flow techniques, such as pyramidal Lucas-Kanade optical flow with multiple levels of resolution, where displacement is determined with pixel accuracy at lower resolutions and at sub-pixel accuracy at full resolution, which improves computation time for real time performance. Periodic drift correction is performed by matching features between a current frame and a keyframe. The keyframe may be replaced with the drift corrected current image.
US09014418B2	Digital watermark embedding apparatus and method, and digital watermark detecting apparatus and method A digital watermark embedding apparatus is disclosed. A first codeword including a bit sequence of digital watermark information is generated. A cyclic shift sequence is generated based on the digital watermark information. A second codeword is generated by cyclically shifting the first codeword based on the generated cyclic shift sequence. The generated second codeword is embedded in contents.
US09014412B2	Loudspeaker that is axially stabilized out of the diaphragm suspension plane An improved mid to high-frequency loudspeaker of the type having a central dome diaphragm having an outer periphery, and in one embodiment an outer ring-radiator diaphragm portion defining an inner periphery and an outer periphery, the ring-radiator diaphragm being attached at its inner periphery to an armature voice coil assembly and at its outer periphery to a diaphragm chassis in a first plane. The central diaphragm portion is attached at its outer periphery to either the inner periphery of the outer ring-radiator diaphragm or the voice coil armature, and the improvement comprises axially-located stabilizing means attached to the central diaphragm portion, or alternatively a central stabilizing framework, in a second plane parallel to the first plane and that is of sufficient distance from the first plane to provide leverage sufficient to stabilize the diaphragm to minimize rocking, allow improved alignment of the voice coil allowing tighter tolerances between the voice coil and magnet assembly, thus improving performance and minimizing distortion.
US09014410B2	Earphone device An earphone device includes a housing having a driver unit, and a sound guide tube mounted on a front surface of the housing to protrude from the front surface, in which the sound guide tube is disposed at a position deviated from a center position of the housing.
US09014409B2	Battery door An earcup assembly for a headset may include a housing having a first side adapted to engage the head of a user when in use and a second side opposite thereto. A recess provided in the second side of the housing receives and stores a battery. A battery door is arranged to slidably engage the second side of the housing such that the battery door may be moved between a first, open position in which the recess is accessible to a user and a second, closed position in which the recess is covered by the battery door. Preferably, the earcup assembly includes active noise reduction circuitry. One or a pair of such earcup assemblies may be arranged to form a headset, wherein the assemblies are coupled to a headband via yokes.
US09014408B2	Subwoofer structure and adjusting method A subwoofer (10) structure comprised of a transducer (30) located in a loudspeaker enclosure (11), an acoustic duct (21) expanding in a horn-like manner, a frontal chamber (40) and an aperture (22). A sound wave emanating from the transducer is conveyed via the acoustic duct portion expanding in a horn-like manner to the frontal chamber, and a sound wave emanating from the opposite side of the transducer is conveyed either to a closed space (20) or directly to the frontal chamber. The subwoofer can be adjusted without altering the external dimensions of the loudspeaker enclosure, utilising the entire volume of the loudspeaker enclosure, so that the frontal chamber is tuned by altering the size of the frontal chamber and/or the size of the aperture in the frontal chamber.
US09014404B2	Directional electroacoustical transducing A multichannel audio system for radiating sound to a listening area that includes a plurality of listening spaces. The audio system includes directional audio devices, positioned in a first of the listening spaces, close to a head of a listener, for radiating first sound waves corresponding to components of one of the channels and nondirectional audio devices, positioned inside the listening area and outside the listening space, distant from the listening space, for radiating sound waves corresponding to components of a second of the channels.
US09014393B2	Stationary apparatus for portable electronic device A withdrawable portable device mounting apparatus is provided in a vehicle audio system, in which a mount capable of mounting a portable electronic device is drawn out using an electromotive force with a very simple manipulation by pressing a drive button or the like. The apparatus may include a case, a front panel provided at a front surface of the case to have a control panel, a mounting unit loading hole, and a loading button, a drive unit configured to drive a mounting unit through a mounting unit loading hole of the front panel in a withdrawable manner, a loading unit mutually operated with the drive unit to allow the mounting unit to be drawn in or out, and a mounting unit inserted into the front panel in a folded state during a drawing-in operation, and unfolded through the mounting unit loading hole during a drawing-out operation.
US09014392B2	System for introducing sound outside vehicle Introduction of sounds outside a vehicle is automatically controlled according to a driving state of the vehicle. In a vehicle, a microphone device that collects sounds outside the vehicle and a speaker device that reproduces the collected sounds are installed. When a gear position for the vehicle is a reverse driving position, and until the vehicle reaches a predetermined speed for the first time after a key position in an ignition key switch is switched from an off position to an accessories position or an on position, the collected sounds are reproduced. The collected sounds are transmitted to a car navigation device or a car audio system via wires or wirelessly. When the sounds outside the vehicle are reproduced, sound reproduction in the car navigation device or the car audio system is stopped and the sounds outside the vehicle are reproduced at a set volume.
US09014388B2	Enable and disable comparator voltage reference This document discusses, among other things, systems and methods to reduce power use of an accessory detection device. The accessory detection device can be configured to be coupled to a mobile device having an audio jack configured to be coupled to a mobile device accessory having a send/end key. In an example, the accessory detection device can include a comparator and a switch. The comparator can be configured to receive mobile device accessory information from the mobile device accessory and to determine activation of the send/end key using the received mobile device accessory information. The switch can be configured to receive connection information indicative of mobile device accessory connection to the audio jack and to isolate a reference input of the comparator from a supply voltage using the connection information, for example, to reduce leakage current.
US09014385B1	Vent detection in a hearing assistance device with a real ear measurement system Disclosed herein, among other things, are methods and apparatus for vent detection in a hearing assistance device with a real ear measurement (REM) system. One aspect of the present subject matter relates to a method for estimating vent out effect for a hearing assistance device. A REM is performed to obtain a measured response for a hearing assistance device worn by a user. A first simulation of a real ear response is performed using an occluded hearing assistance device model. The REM is compared to the first simulation in a selected frequency range to determine a vent effect and a second simulation of the real ear response is performed using the determined vent effect. The REM is compared to the second simulation to derive gains that compensate for the shape and volume of the user's ear canal.
US09014384B2	System and method for adapting a loudspeaker signal A sound system 100 for producing sound on a loudspeaker 130 is provided wherein the temperature of a voice coil of the loudspeaker may be monitored continuously. The sound system comprises a signal generator 150 for generating an evaluation signal which is combined with an input sound signal 120 to obtain a loudspeaker signal and a monitor 140 for monitoring an electric response of the voice coil to the loudspeaker signal. The loudspeaker signal may be adapted 180 to control the temperature of the voice coil in dependency upon the monitored response. The system can determine the temperature of the voice coil 170 even if the input sound signal comprises only little sound energy.
US09014383B2	Sound processor, sound processing method, and computer program product According to one embodiment, sound processor includes: communication module; outputting module; recording module; display; input module; controller; and calculating module. The controller (i) displays, on display, message prompting user to move a sound input device to position proximate to speaker, (ii) causes the outputting module to output the test sound and causes the recording module to record first sound, (iii) displays, after the first sound is recorded, on the display, message prompting the user to move the sound input device to listening position, and (iv) causes the outputting module to output the test sound and causes the recording module to record second sound. The calculating module finds a first frequency characteristic of the first sound and a second frequency characteristic of the second sound, and calculates, based on a difference between the first and second frequency characteristics, a value for correcting the second frequency characteristic to a target frequency characteristic.
US09014381B2	Switch techniques for load sensing Techniques for sensing the resistance of a load. In an aspect, a sense resistor is provided in series with the load. Each terminal of the sense resistor is alternately coupled via switches to a sense amplifier. A second input of the sense resistor is coupled to a terminal of the load. The voltage drop across the load and the voltage drop across the load plus sense resistor are alternatively measured. These voltage drops may be digitized and used to compute a resistance of the load using, e.g., a digital processor.
US09014380B2	Control of a loudspeaker output A loudspeaker drive circuit comprises an input for receiving an audio signal and a signal processor for processing the audio signal before application to the loudspeaker. The signal processor processes the audio signal to derive a loudspeaker drive signal which results in the loudspeaker membrane reaching its maximum displacement in both directions of diaphragm displacement.
US09014375B2	Method and apparatus for supporting multiple broadcasters independently using a single conditional access system A method and apparatus for brokering the enablement of the communication of encrypted media programs from a plurality of independent broadcasters to a plurality of receivers is disclosed. The system makes use of a pairing key for each provided service, which is differently encrypted by a pairing server and by the broadcaster providing the service. The encrypted versions of the pairing key are decrypted in a first receiver module using information known to the pairing service but not the broadcaster and in a second receiver module using information known to the broadcaster. The pairing key is used to cryptographically bind the first and second receiver modules.
US09014374B2	Protecting video as it is decoded by a codec In one aspect, a method includes: obtaining compressed video content within a video content processing module, a portion of a document structure of the compressed video content conforming to a predefined codec, the portion of the document structure including a plurality of video frames; decrypting the compressed video content in accordance with a digital rights management data encryption applied to the compressed video content; adding information in an extension frame associated with a portion of the document structure; and applying an encoding technique to content of one or more of the plurality of video frames after the decrypting, wherein the extension frame flags the applied encoding technique; and providing the compressed video content, including the encoded content, to a media player including a codec conforming to the predefined codec.
US09014373B2	System and method for interleaving information into slices of a data packet, differentially encrypting the slices, and obfuscating information in the data packet Approaches for combining different information to be transmitted into different slices of a data packet and/or encrypting the slices using different cryptographic schemes for secure transmission of the information are disclosed. In some implementations, first information and second information may be received. A first data slice representing a portion of the first information may be generated based on a first cryptographic scheme. A second data slice representing a portion of the second information may be generated based on a second cryptographic scheme different than the first cryptographic scheme. A first header may be generated such that the first header may specify the first cryptographic scheme for the first data slice and the second cryptographic scheme for the second data slice. A first data packet may be generated such that the first data packet may include the first header, the first data slice, and the second data slice.
US09014367B2	DC/DC converter for a subscriber line interface circuit, system, method and apparatus A subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) is herein described. In accordance with one aspect of the present proffered solution, the SLIC includes a first interface circuit operably coupled to a first subscriber loop and a second interface circuit operably coupled to a second subscriber loop. The SLIC further includes a power supply circuit that is coupled to the first and second interface circuits to provide first and second output voltages to the respective interface circuits. The power supply circuit includes a switching power converter that is operably supplied with an input voltage and is configured to provide an intermediate voltage signal at an intermediate circuit node. At least a first and a second output branch are connected to the intermediate circuit node. Each output branch includes an output capacitor that is coupled to the intermediate circuit node and that provides an output voltage signal that depends on the intermediate voltage signal. The switching power converter is configured to repeatedly set the signal level of the intermediate voltage signal to a high voltage level for a first time interval and to a low voltage level when the first time interval has elapsed.
US09014365B1	Systems and methods for state information exchange Apparatus and method for sharing state information using a web-enabled system and a phone service system are disclosed. In some embodiments, a presence module is used to identify a currently accessed web page to an agent during an on-line session. In some embodiments, documents are delivered to a user through a web browser concurrent with an audio message delivered by phone. Concurrent delivery of documents configured to accept an electronic signature is disclosed.
US09014364B1	Contact center speech analytics system having multiple speech analytics engines Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer-program products for providing a plurality of speech analytics engines in a speech analytics module for detecting semantic and non-semantic speech characteristics in the audio of a call involving an agent in a contact center and a remote party. The speech analytics module generates event notification messages reporting the detected semantic and non-semantic speech characteristics and these messages are sent to an event handler module that forwards the messages to one or more application specific modules. In turn, the application specific modules provide functionality based on the semantic and non-semantic speech characteristics detected during the call such as, for example, causing information to be presented on the screen of a computer used by the agent during the call.
US09014361B2	System and methods for managing tandem switch information A system and associated methods for automation and management of trunk routing among switches in a telecommunications network between carriers connected to a third party tandem services provider or manager (a “neutral tandem network.”) The system and methodology can be used to, among other things, effectuate a business model for providing preferred rates, or other preferences, to a defined group of members or subscribers by managing and directing subscriber-associated call traffic from subscriber-owned switches to one or more tandem switches owned by a third-party tandem managing entity other than a LEC or ILEC.
US09014359B1	Generation of phone number lists and call filtering An analyzer resource receives call information about outbound phone calls from multiple phone numbers to target phone numbers in a phone network. The analyzer resource analyzes the call information to detect likely unwanted call activity. Based on the analyzing, the analyzer resource produces a list of phone numbers from which one or more entities originate unwanted calls to the subscribers in the phone network.
US09014357B2	Content delivery during call idle time A method for effective utilization of call idle time, including detecting by the processor of a phone, that a first person using the phone has initiated a phone call to a second person, and that the second person has not yet answered the call, wherein the phone is operative in an idle mode to present content pre-designated by the first person, and is operative in a normal mode to send and receive voice communications to and from the second person and to not present the pre-designated content, activating the idle mode of the phone in response to the detecting, subsequently detecting, by the processor of the phone, that the second person has answered the call, and subsequently activating the normal mode of the phone in response to the subsequently detecting.
US09014356B2	Convenience features in a method and system for providing enhanced caller identification A computer readable storage medium storing computer readable program code, the code configured to provide caller identification information to a called party when standard Caller ID cannot be provided. If standard caller ID information cannot be provided for a call, the call is interrupted by the present service and the calling party is prompted for audible caller identification information. In one embodiment, when the audible caller identification is provided, the call is presented to the called party with a distinctive ring at the called telephone station. In another embodiment, the calling party may enter a personal identification number (PIN) to bypass the requirement for audible caller identification information. In still another embodiment, when the PIN is entered, the call is presented with a distinctive ring at the called communication station. In still another embodiment, the called party may send the incoming call to a voice mail system.
US09014354B2	Updating routing patterns in an enterprise network The present disclosure is directed to updating routing patterns in an enterprise network. In some implementations, a method for routing sessions includes identifying information associated with call sessions in an enterprise network. The information includes costs to an enterprise for using carrier services during the call sessions. Routing patterns for call sessions are dynamically updated through at least a portion of the enterprise network based, at least in part, on the costs associated with the call sessions.
US09014345B2	Systems and methods for secure recording in a customer center environment Systems and methods for secure recording in a customer center environment are provided. The system receives data related to a communication at a media distribution device. A key is provided by a key server to the media distribution device to encrypt the received data. In addition, an identifier may be associated with the received data. The key and the identifier are stored in a database associated with the key server. The encrypted data is recorded the a recorder, where it is accessible to authorized users within the customer center. Upon request, the key is provided to the authorized user to decrypt the encrypted data for play back. The customer center environment may include a user interface for viewing customer contacts. The contact may be organized into folders and annotations associated with the customer contacts may be received.
US09014344B2	Methods and apparatus to send voice messages Methods and apparatus to send voice messages are disclosed. One example method includes recording a voice message using a mobile communication device; and receiving at the mobile communication device a specification of a communication from a remote device different from the mobile communication device, wherein receipt of the communication triggers sending of the voice message. Other examples are disclosed and claimed.
US09014339B2	Versatile x-ray beam scanner Apparatus for interrupting and/or scanning a beam of penetrating radiation, such as for purposes of inspecting contents of a container. A source, such as an x-ray tube, generates a fan beam of radiation effectively emanating from a source axis, with the width of the fan beam collimated by a width collimator, such as a clamshell collimator. An angular collimator, stationary during the course of scanning, limits the extent of the scan, and a multi-aperture unit, such as a hoop, or a nested pair of hoops, is rotated about a central axis, and structured in such a manner that beam flux incident on a target is conserved for different fields of view of the beam on the target. The central axis of hoop rotation need not coincide with the source axis.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10