| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09037527B2 |
Determining a dynamic user profile indicative of a user behavior context with a mobile device
Methods, apparatuses and articles of manufacture for use in a mobile device to determine whether a dynamic user profile is to transition from a first state to a second state based, at least in part, on one or more sensed indicators. The dynamic user profile may be indicative of one or more current inferable user behavior contexts for a user co-located with the mobile device. The mobile device may transition a dynamic user profile from a first state to a second state, in response to a determination that the dynamic user profile is to transition from the first state to the second state, and operatively affect one or more functions performed, at least in part, by the mobile device based, at least in part, on the transition of the dynamic user profile to the second state. |
| US09037523B2 |
Multiple two-state classifier output fusion system and method
A system and method for providing more than two levels of classification distinction of a user state are provided. The first and second general states of a user are sensed. The first general state is classified as either a first state or a second state, and the second general state is classified as either a third state or a fourth state. The user state of the user is then classified as one of at least three different classification states. |
| US09037520B2 |
Statistical data learning under privacy constraints
A computer-implemented method is provided for statistical data learning under privacy constraints. The method includes: receiving, by a processor, a plurality of pieces of statistical information relating to a statistical object and aggregating, by the processor, the plurality of pieces of statistical information so as to provide an estimation of the statistical object. Each piece of statistical information includes an uncertainty variable, the uncertainty variable being a value determined from a function having a predetermined mean. The number of pieces of statistical information aggregated is proportional to the reliability of the estimation of the statistical object. |
| US09037519B2 |
Urban traffic state detection based on support vector machine and multilayer perceptron
A system and method that facilitates urban traffic state detection based on support vector machine (SVM) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) classifiers is provided. Moreover, the SVM and MLP classifiers are fused into a cascaded two-tier classifier that improves the accuracy of the traffic state classification. To further improve the accuracy, the cascaded two-tier classifier (e.g., MLP-SVM), a single SVM classifier and a single MLP classifier are fused to determine a final decision for a traffic state. In addition, fusion strategies are employed during training and implementation phases to compensate for data acquisition and classification errors caused by noise and/or outliers. |
| US09037510B2 |
Money-transfer techniques
A technique for transferring money between a customer and a beneficiary comprises a money-transfer company, and a plurality of selling agents and paying agents. The money-transfer company maintains a server, a database, and a communications interface for communicating, via a telephone network and/or the Internet, with data terminals located at the selling and paying agents' sites. Customer transaction cards are distributed to customers. These cards have a visible card number and a corresponding alphanumeric card code stored in, e.g., a magnetic strip. In response to a customer's request, the money-transfer company activates the customer's transaction card by loading customer and beneficiary information into a corresponding transaction card record stored in the database. A selling agent initiates a money-transfer request from a data terminal. Specifically, the selling agent enters a monetary amount and swipes the customer's card in a magnetic strip reader located on the data terminal. Upon receiving the money amount and the customer's card code, the company creates a corresponding and unique transaction record associating the customer, his (her) card and the beneficiary, in the database and returns a fund pick-up (“folio”) number to the customer. The customer discloses the folio number to the beneficiary, who, with this number and appropriate personal identification, collects the transferred money from a paying agent. The customer can use the same transaction card to make subsequent money transfers, in any amount, to the same beneficiary. |
| US09037503B2 |
Sharing information on a network-based social platform
A system and method for sharing information on a network-based social platform is provided. An indication is received from a first user to share information regarding an item on a network-based social platform. The network-based social platform is a platform that allows the first user to communicative couple with other users of the network-based social platform. Profile information of the first user is accessed. A determination of whether the first user is authorized to share the information is made. Based on the first user being authorized, an identifier for the item is added to a list of recommended items that is accessible view the network-based social platform. |
| US09037502B2 |
Media delivery platform
Provided is a method of delivering an audio and/or visual media file comprising, without limitation, for example, one or more of full or partial master recordings of songs, musical compositions, ringtones, videos, films, television shows, personal recordings, animation and combinations thereof, over the air wirelessly, from one or more servers to an electronic device with or without an Internet connection, said method comprising transmitting and audio and/or visual media file in compressed format to said electronic device, and wherein the electronic device is effective to receive said audio and/or visual file and playback said audio and/or visual content on demand by a user. |
| US09037500B2 |
Method, medium, and system of generating a referral website URL using website listings in a cookie
A closed loop referral system and method is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a computer-implemented method, comprises embedding a tracking code into a first website. The tracking code communicates with a referral system. A user interface is provided on a browser for the first website. The browser is directed from the first website to a second website. Upon performance of a user action on the second website, the tracking code is executed. The tracking code communicates with the referral system to direct the browser to a third website determined by the referral system. |
| US09037496B2 |
ESL system using smart phone and operating method thereof
Embodiments of the invention provide an ESL system using a smart phone and an operating method thereof. In accordance with at least one embodiment, the operating method of an ESL system using a smart phone includes listing purchase target product items and transmitting a product purchase item list through a smart phone of a user, and receiving the product purchase item list through a gateway, searching products of purchase items, and transmitting position information of each product to the smart phone, by an ESL server. The method further includes calculating an optimal path from a current position of the smart phone to a position of each product based on the position information of each product by the smart phone, and transmitting final position information of a corresponding product to the smart phone by the ESL server, when the smart phone approaches the corresponding product of a purchase target depending on a movement of the user based on the optimal path. |
| US09037493B2 |
Security using EPCIS data and a virtual private database
An RFID event tracking and management system provides a standardized approach that can be utilized by various industry verticals. Loss of captured event data, such as RFID generated through an RFID event, can be prevented through a series of guarantee semantics. Approaches also provide for role-based data visibility. Queries received from a user or entity can be dynamically modified based on the role of the user/entity using a virtual private database (VPD). The modified query can result in a virtual private database automatically hiding or restricting access to event data at row, column, and/or cell levels, so that an authorized user/entity is only able to access data to which that user/entity should have access. |
| US09037492B2 |
Secure mobile-based financial transactions
Devices, systems and methods are disclosed which relate to securing payments from a mobile communications device. In exemplary embodiments, a mobile communications device communicates with a payment server via a point-of-sale device to conduct a transaction. The mobile communications device uses a client payment logic to send payment information to the point-of-sale device. The point-of-sale device uses a vendor payment logic to forward the payment information to the payment server. The payment server verifies the payment information and sends confirmation to the point-of-sale device. |
| US09037491B1 |
Card reader emulation for cardless transactions
Disclosed are method and apparatus that enable a cardless payment transaction to be executed from a merchant point-of-sale (POS) system. A user is enabled to check in at a merchant by using a mobile device of the user and then to pay by simply appearing at the merchant and mentioning his name. By emulating card read events and intercepting receipt printer outputs, the technique cleanly integrates into a conventional merchant POS system, without the need for customized software or hardware to accommodate individual POS vendor-proprietary application programming interfaces (APIs). |
| US09037489B2 |
Method and system for collecting access point information in linkage with mobile card payment system, and mobile communication terminal therefor
Provided is a method and system for collecting access point information in linkage with a mobile card payment system to measure a location of a user using an access point of a wireless local area network (WLAN) service. The method may include (a) receiving payment information relating to a mobile communication terminal from a card company server, (b) transmitting an access point information collecting control signal to the mobile communication terminal based on the payment information, (c) receiving access point information collected by the mobile communication terminal in response to the control signal, and (d) storing the received access point information in a storage means. |
| US09037487B2 |
Floor price management in an online auction system for ads to be placed in a diversified content inventory
An auction for ad inventory to be placed in streaming video content is characterized by a floor (minimum) price. A seller component receives, via a real time auction exchange system, a request for a set of ad impressions meeting specified criteria to be delivered by an online video streaming system, sometimes referred to as an “auction lot”. The seller component determines a floor price based on an inventory pressure calculated for the auction lot in response to receiving the request. The seller component determines the inventory pressure based on an inventory pressure determined for an inventory segment identified by the auction lot. The auction lot may then be entered into a bidding process including at least one bidder wherein bids less than the floor price are not accepted. |
| US09037486B2 |
Method for disabling and re-enabling third-party ads
A method for disabling and re-enabling third-party advertisements is disclosed. An Internet accessible “virtual world” or interactive on-line community can have its advertisements disabled by the entering and subsequent validation of a registration code that is associated with a toy into a website, once validated, displaying a virtual representation of the toy on the website, providing virtual world content so that the virtual representation of the toy is caused to interact with the virtual world content and the toy virtual representations of other users, displaying advertisement on the website in a first mode and allowing customization of the virtual world content including the disabling of advertisements in a second mode. In a similar manner the third party advertisements can be re-enabled. |
| US09037484B2 |
Dynamic control system for managing redirection of requests for content
Requests for content are received, for example, an HTTP request for a web page is received. Each request has a landing context, which may include information about the user sending the request, the request itself, the referrer, or another subject. This information can be found in the requests or external to the requests. The information of the landing context is compared to appropriate triggering criteria. For requests that satisfy the appropriate triggering criteria, a destination is provided based on one or more weighted treatments. The request is directed to the provided destination. The results of the requests are subsequently analyzed and used to adjust the treatments in an automated fashion. |
| US09037481B2 |
System and method for intelligent customer data analytics
According to some embodiments, an insurance business process may have a series of business process actions. Moreover, point of service customer interaction data associated with the insurance business process may be received along with external third-party information associated with a context of the insurance business process. Based on the external third-party data, the point of service customer interaction data may be systematically analyzed to identify a trend. The trend may be analytically mapped to a first business process action in the insurance business process. An indication of a recommended change to the first business process action may then be output based at least in part on the identified trend. |
| US09037478B2 |
Substance allocation system and method for ingestible product preparation system and method
A computationally implemented system and method that is designed to, but is not limited to: electronically using the electronically received operation information with the updated allocation plan to electronically direct control of the at least partial preparation of at least one of the instances of the ingestible product of the succession designated to be ingested by the particular individual living being, the at least one of the instances of the ingestible product containing the quantity of the at least one substance according to the updated allocation plan. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. |
| US09037471B2 |
Image processing apparatus and control method thereof and image processing system
An image processing apparatus including: image processor which processes broadcasting signal, to display image based on processed broadcasting signal; communication unit which is connected to a server; a voice input unit which receives a user's speech; a voice processor which processes a performance of a preset corresponding operation according to a voice command corresponding to the speech; and a controller which processes the voice command corresponding to the speech through one of the voice processor and the server if the speech is input through the voice input unit. If the voice command includes a keyword relating to a call sign of a broadcasting channel, the controller controls one of the voice processor and the server to select a recommended call sign corresponding to the keyword according to a predetermined selection condition, and performs a corresponding operation under the voice command with respect to the broadcasting channel of the recommended call sign. |
| US09037470B1 |
Script compliance and quality assurance based on speech recognition and duration of interaction
Apparatus and methods are provided for using automatic speech recognition to analyze a voice interaction and verify compliance of an agent reading a script to a client during the voice interaction. In one aspect of the invention, a communications system includes a user interface, a communications network, and a call center having an automatic speech recognition component. In other aspects of the invention, a script compliance method includes the steps of conducting a voice interaction between an agent and a client and evaluating the voice interaction with an automatic speech recognition component adapted to analyze the voice interaction and determine whether the agent has adequately followed the script. In yet still further aspects of the invention, the duration of a given interaction can be analyzed, either apart from or in combination with the script compliance analysis above, to seek to identify instances of agent non-compliance, of fraud, or of quality-analysis issues. |
| US09037468B2 |
Sound localization for user in motion
Methods, apparatus, and computer programs for simulating the source of sound are provided. One method includes operations for determining a location in space of the head of a user utilizing face recognition of images of the user. Further, the method includes an operation for determining a sound for two speakers, and an operation for determining an emanating location in space for the sound, each speaker being associated with one ear of the user. The acoustic signals for each speaker are established based on the location in space of the head, the sound, the emanating location in space, and the auditory characteristics of the user. In addition, the acoustic signals are transmitted to the two speakers. When the acoustic signals are played by the two speakers, the acoustic signals simulate that the sound originated at the emanating location in space. |
| US09037467B2 |
Speech effects
A method of complementing a spoken text. The method including receiving text data representative of a natural language text, receiving effect control data including at least one effect control record, each effect control record being associated with a respective location in the natural language text, receiving a stream of audio data, analyzing the stream of audio data for natural language utterances that correlate with the natural language text at a respective one of the locations, and outputting, in response to a determination by the analyzing that a natural language utterance in the stream of audio data correlates with a respective one of the locations, at least one effect control signal based on the effect control record associated with the respective location. |
| US09037466B2 |
Email administration for rendering email on a digital audio player
Methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for email administration for rendering email on a digital audio player. Embodiments include retrieving an email message; extracting text from the email message; creating a media file; and storing the extracted text of the email message as metadata associated with the media file. Embodiments may also include storing the media file on a digital audio player and displaying the metadata describing the media file, the metadata containing the extracted text of the email message. |
| US09037462B2 |
User intention based on N-best list of recognition hypotheses for utterances in a dialog
Disclosed herein are systems, computer-implemented methods, and tangible computer-readable media for using alternate recognition hypotheses to improve whole-dialog understanding accuracy. The method includes receiving an utterance as part of a user dialog, generating an N-best list of recognition hypotheses for the user dialog turn, selecting an underlying user intention based on a belief distribution across the generated N-best list and at least one contextually similar N-best list, and responding to the user based on the selected underlying user intention. Selecting an intention can further be based on confidence scores associated with recognition hypotheses in the generated N-best lists, and also on the probability of a user's action given their underlying intention. A belief or cumulative confidence score can be assigned to each inferred user intention. |
| US09037461B2 |
Methods and systems for dictation and transcription
Automated delivery and filing of transcribed material prepared from dictated audio files into a central record-keeping system are presented. A user dictates information from any location, uploads that audio file to a transcriptionist to be transcribed, and the transcribed material is automatically delivered into a central record keeping system, filed with the appropriate client or matter file, and the data stored in the designated appropriate fields within those client or matter files. Also described is the recordation of meetings from multiple sources using mobile devices and the detection of the active or most prominent speaker at given intervals in the meeting. Further, text boxes on websites are completed using an audio recording application and offsite transcription. |
| US09037455B1 |
Limiting notification interruptions
Techniques for a computing device operating in limited-access states are provided. One example method includes determining, by a computing device, that a notification is scheduled for output by the computing device during a first time period and that a pattern of audio detected during the first time period is indicative of human speech. The method further includes delaying output of the notification during the first time period and determining that a pattern of audio detected during a second time period is not indicative of human speech. The method also includes outputting at least a portion of the notification at an earlier in time of an end of the second time period or an expiration of a third time period. |
| US09037452B2 |
Relation topic construction and its application in semantic relation extraction
Systems and method automatically collect training data from manually created semantic relations, automatically extract rules from the training data to produce extracted rules, and automatically characterize existing semantic relations in the training data based on co-occurrence of the extracted rules in the existing semantic relations. Such systems and methods automatically construct semantic relation topics based on the characterization of the existing semantic relations, and group instances of the training data into the semantic relation topics to detect new semantic relations. |
| US09037450B2 |
Text overlay techniques in realtime translation
Architecture that employs techniques for overlaying (superimposing) translated text on top of (over) scanned text in realtime translation to provide clear visual correlation between original text and translated text. Algorithms are provided that overlay text in cases of translated scanned text of language written in first direction to a language written in same direction, translate scanned text from a first language written in a first direction to a second language written in the opposite direction, and translated scanned text from a language written in a first direction to language written in a different direction. |
| US09037449B2 |
Method for establishing paraphrasing data for machine translation system
A method for establishing paraphrasing data for a machine translation system includes selecting a paraphrasing target sentence through application of an object language model to a translated sentence that is obtained by machine-translating a source language sentence, extracting paraphrasing candidates that can be paraphrased with the paraphrasing target sentence from a source language corpus DB, performing machine translation with respect to the paraphrasing candidates, selecting a final paraphrasing candidate by applying the object language model to the result of the machine translation with respect to the paraphrasing candidates, and confirming the paraphrasing target sentence and the final paraphrasing candidate as paraphrasing lexical patterns using a bilingual corpus and storing the paraphrasing lexical patterns in a paraphrasing DB. According to the present invention, the consistent paraphrasing data can be established since the paraphrasing data is automatically established. |
| US09037446B2 |
Electrical-thermal co-simulation with joule heating and convection effects for 3D systems
In a method for simulating temperature and electrical characteristics within an circuit, a temperature of at least one volume within the circuit as a function of a resistance within the at least one volume is repeatedly calculated and the resistance as a function of the temperature is repeatedly calculated until the temperature is within a predetermined tolerance of a previous temperature result and until the resistance is within a predetermined tolerance of a previous resistance result. Once the temperature is within a predetermined tolerance of the previous temperature result and the resistance is within a predetermined tolerance of the previous resistance, then an output indicative of the temperature is generated. |
| US09037445B2 |
Flux balance analysis with molecular crowding
Methods are provided herein for: calculating cell growth rates in various environments and genetic backgrounds; calculating the order of substrate utilization from a defined growth medium; calculating metabolic flux reorganization in various environments and at various growth rates; and calculating the maximum metabolic rate and optimal metabolite concentrations and enzyme activities by applying a computational optimization method to a kinetic model of a metabolic pathway. The optimization methods use intracellular molecular crowding parameters and/or well as kinetic rates to assist in modeling metabolic activity. |
| US09037444B2 |
Energy usage in injection molding simulations
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for determining energy indicator values for a plurality of thermoplastic materials. An energy indicator value represents expected energy requirements for performing an injection of the material in a mold cavity. An injection of each of a plurality of thermoplastic materials in a first modeled mold cavity is simulated. A respective value of a first expected energy parameter is determined for each of the plurality of thermoplastic materials based on the simulated injections. A respective energy indicator is determined, for each of the plurality of thermoplastic materials, based at least on the corresponding value of the first expected energy parameter. The respective energy indicator value of one or more of the plurality of thermoplastic materials is presented. |
| US09037442B2 |
Dynamics simulation
Dynamics simulations are described. Dynamics simulations can include identifying a number of ink related components and a number of printing interactions. Dynamics simulations can also include generating a granular representation of the number of ink related components and calculating a number of Hamaker constants based on the granular representation of the number of ink related components. Dynamics simulations can include performing a dynamics simulation based on the number of Hamaker constants, the granular representation of the number of ink related components, and the number of printing interactions. |
| US09037441B2 |
Macro model of operational amplifier and circuit design simulator using the same
The present invention aims to simulate a response more similar to a actual machine while inhibiting load increase in analog operation. Program configuration of the present invention is a component of a simulation program for circuit design, which is executed by a computer. The computer includes an operation portion, a storage portion, a manipulation portion, and a display portion, so that the computer exerts a function of a circuit design simulator, and as a macro model of an operational amplifier for use in the circuit design simulator, enabling the computer to act by simulating a response of the operational amplifier on the circuit design simulator. The macro model of the operational amplifier includes a control portion (LMT1) for generating output exception in the event of input exception or power supply exception of the operational amplifier. |
| US09037439B2 |
Prioritization of three dimensional dental elements
The present disclosure includes methods, systems, and devices for prioritization of three dimensional dental elements. One method for prioritizing three dimensional dental elements includes receiving a virtual initial dental data set (IDDS) of teeth having spatial information regarding the positions of a number of teeth in the virtual IDDS with respect to each other for presentation of the teeth in a virtual three dimensional space to be viewed on a user interface, setting prioritization values of a number of elements of one or more of the number of teeth, and prioritizing the number of elements to be selected by a user based upon their prioritization values. |
| US09037435B2 |
Device and method for determining a sample rate difference
In embodiments, a device is illustrated for determining a sample rate difference between a first information signal and a second information signal including an offset determiner for determining for each of a plurality of segments of the first information signal, associated offset values which temporally align the plurality of segments with respect to the second information signal and a calculator for calculating the sample rate difference on the basis of the offset values. |
| US09037434B2 |
Method and apparatus for obtaining discrete axial clearance data using radial clearance sensors
A method and apparatus for determining axial clearance data between a rotor and a stator are disclosed. At least one radial clearance sensor is positioned on the stator and is configured to gather radial clearance data, i.e., measurements of a radial distance between the rotor and the stator taken at discrete time intervals. A computing device is operably connected with the at least one radial clearance sensor and is configured to use the radial clearance data to determine axial clearance data, i.e., an axial distance between the stator and the rotor. In one embodiment, the computing device uses, among other data points, an indication of a loss of signal from at least one radial clearance sensor to extrapolate the axial clearance data. |
| US09037430B1 |
Methods and systems for non-destructively testing a polycrystalline diamond element
Embodiments of the invention relate to electrical impedance tomography testing systems and methods for non-destructively testing a polycrystalline diamond element (e.g., a polycrystalline diamond table of a polycrystalline diamond compact or a freestanding polycrystalline diamond table) using electrical impedance tomography to locate one or more high-electrical-conductivity regions (e.g., one or more regions of poorly sintered diamond crystals and/or high-metal-solvent catalyst content) and/or one or more low-electrical-conductivity regions (e.g., porosity and/or cracks) in the tested polycrystalline diamond element. Further embodiments relate to a rotary drill bit including at least one polycrystalline diamond compact that has been selectively positioned so that one or more high-electrical-conductivity regions of a polycrystalline diamond table thereof identified using the non-destructive testing systems and methods disclosed herein are not positioned to engage a subterranean formation during drilling. |
| US09037429B2 |
Methods and apparatus for measuring the fundamental frequency of a line signal
The present invention provides methods, apparatus, and systems of measuring frequency. The invention includes sampling a first number of full cycles of a signal at a rate based on a nominal frequency of the signal; converting the samples to digital samples; processing the digital samples to identify a first pair of digital samples with each one disposed on either side of a first zero-crossing and a second pair of digital samples with each one disposed on either side of a last full cycle zero-crossing; interpolating the first pair of digital samples and the second pair of digital samples to determine a position of the first and last zero-crossings relative to each other in time; and calculating a fundamental frequency of the signal based on the first number of full cycles sampled and the relative position of the first and last zero-crossings. Numerous additional aspects are disclosed. |
| US09037428B2 |
Data collection device and associated system for monitoring and storing performance and maintenance data related to a component of an electrical system
The present invention provides systems and methods for testing and storage of information related to a component. A data collection device having a memory is fixedly connected to the component. A test device communicates with the data collection device to store test data concerning the component in the data collection device. The test device also performs analysis of the test data and provides information concerning the health and maintenance history of the component. The present invention also provides systems and methods for determining the current drawn or supplied by electrical components connected in parallel in an electrical system. A current sensor located between the electrical components determines the current supply or draw of one of the electrical components, while a current sensor between the electrical components and the remainder of the electrical system determine a cumulative current draw or supply by both the electrical components. |
| US09037425B2 |
Method for determining position of forced power oscillation disturbance source in regional interconnected power grid
Disclosed is a method for determining a position of a forced power oscillation disturbance source in a regional interconnected power grid. According to the method, when forced power oscillation occurs in a regional power grid, an algebraic sum of energy flow directional factors in the regions of the regional interconnected power grid is calculated so as to online determine the position of the disturbance source in real-time. Compared with the conventional disturbance source positioning method based on an energy function, the disturbance source positioning method based on calculation of the energy flow directional factors provided by the invention can reduce the impact of a periodic disturbance component and an initial constant on the determination of an aperiodic component of branch potential energy, thus achieving higher accuracy. Moreover, the integration links are reduced and the calculation process is simplified, thus better meeting the requirements for real-time power grid calculation. |
| US09037422B2 |
Leak detection in fluid conducting conduit
A method for detecting a leak in a fluid conducting conduit is disclosed. Inlet and outlet flowrates are measured for calculating a time derivative of average temperature of the fluid flowing in the fluid conducting conduit. A predicted difference in flowrate between a flowrate of fluid in the fluid conducting conduit adjacent the inlet and a flowrate of fluid in the fluid conducting conduit adjacent the outlet is calculated based on the calculated time derivative of the average temperature of the fluid flowing in the fluid conducting conduit. The predicted difference in flowrate is compared to a difference between the measured inlet flowrate and the measured outlet flowrate to determine whether a leak exists in the fluid conducting conduit. |
| US09037421B2 |
Leak detection system for uniform vacuum packaged products
A leak detection system and method are characterized by scanning a surface of a vacuum package, generating a contour signal corresponding with the contour of the scanned surface, and comparing the contour signal with a stored contour signal of a similar package which is known to be free of leaks. The system includes a sensor such as a scanning device which scans a surface of the package and generates the contour signal. A signal processor connected with the scanning device processes the signal to generate a profile of the package surface. This profile is compared with a stored profile corresponding to a normal configuration for the package surface. When the scanned profile deviates from the stored profile, a leak within the scanned package is indicated. |
| US09037419B2 |
Portable matrix phased array spot weld inspection system
A portable system for non-destructively characterizing spot welds that includes at least one matrix phased array probe and a body, wherein the body is designed to be hand-held and further includes an ergonomically designed outer casing; at least one input for connecting to the at least one matrix phased array probe; ultrasonic phased array transmitting and receiving circuitry in electrical communication with the at least one input; a touch screen computer that further includes at least one data processor running software that includes at least one imaging algorithm for processing data received from the probe and generating color coded ultrasonic C-scan images of characterized welds; and at least one monitor for displaying the color coded ultrasonic C-scan images of the characterized welds in real time. |
| US09037417B2 |
Molecular flux rates through critical pathways measured by stable isotope labeling In Vivo, as biomarkers of drug action and disease activity
The methods described herein enable the evaluation of compounds on subjects to assess their therapeutic efficacy or toxic effects. The target of analysis is the underlying biochemical process or processes (i.e., metabolic process) thought to be involved in disease pathogenesis. Molecular flux rates within the one or more biochemical processes serve as biomarkers and are quantitated and compared with the molecular flux rates (i.e., biomarker) from control subjects (i.e., subjects not exposed to the compounds). Any change in the biomarker in the subject relative to the biomarker in the control subject provides information to evaluate therapeutic efficacy of an administered drug or a toxic effect and to develop the compound further if desired. In one aspect of the invention, stable isotope-labeled substrate molecules are administered to a subject and the label is incorporated into targeted molecules in a manner that reveals molecular flux rates through metabolic pathways of interest. |
| US09037416B2 |
Genotypic tumor progression classifier and predictor
Actively dividing tumors appear to progress to a life threatening condition more rapidly than slowly dividing tumors. Assessing actively dividing tumors currently involves a manual assessment of the number of mitotic cells in a histological slide prepared from the tumor and assessed by a trained pathologist. Disclosed is a method for using cumulative information from a series of expressed genes to determine tumor prognosis. This cumulative information can be used to categorize tumor samples into high mitotic states or low mitotic states using a mathematical algorithm and gene expression data derived from microarrays or quantitative-Polymerase Chain Reaction (Q-PCR) data. The specific mathematical description outlines how the algorithm assesses the most informative subset of genes from the full list of genes during the assessment of each sample. |
| US09037415B2 |
OBM resistivity image enhancement using principal component analysis with first moment estimation
Method and apparatus for estimating a resistivity property of an earth formation in a borehole with oil-based drilling fluid. The method may include estimating the resistivity property using a sensitivity of a real part of a measured impedance to a reactance of a gap between a resistivity sensor and a borehole wall. The real component and the quadrature component of resistivity measurements made by a two-terminal imaging tool in a borehole having an oil-based mud are affected by the tool standoff. It is shown that the sensitivity of the real part of the resistivity measurement to the reactance of the gap can be estimated from the time derivatives of the two components of the measurements. This makes possible a principal component analysis of the data to give an improved image of the formation resistivity. |
| US09037414B1 |
Methods and apparatus for electromagnetic signal polarimetry sensing
A system and method of identifying changes utilizing radio frequency polarization includes receiving a reflected and/or transmitted polarized radio frequency signal at a receiver, filtering, amplifying and conditioning the received signal, converting the received signal from an analog format to a digital format, processing the digital signal to elicit a polarization mode dispersion feature of the received signal, and comparing the polarization mode dispersion features to a known calibration to detect a change in a characteristic of the target object. |
| US09037409B2 |
Navigator database search methods
Methods and associated apparatus allow a vehicle navigator to more efficiently search for locations in a database. According to one such method, a map is divided into tiles, and locations are associated within each tile with the tile the user is in. When queried by a user for a location, the system checks the tile currently occupied by the user to determine if it contains any of the desired locations. The system then checks the tile(s) adjacent to the currently occupied tile to determine if it contains any of the desired locations. The system then checks the tile(s) adjacent to b) to determine if it contains any of the desired locations, and the process is repeated, as necessary, until all tiles adjacent to tiles that have been checked are themselves checked that are to determine if locations matching the query are present. The position of the location(s) can then be communicated to the user. Alternative methods and system-level aspects of the invention are also disclosed. |
| US09037399B2 |
Pluggable route-planning module
Among other things, one or more techniques and/or systems are provided for configuring a route-planning module using one or more configuration plug-ins. The route-planning module may be configured to create a driving route, an internet packet route, a social event route, and/or a variety of other routes. A graph used by the route-planning module to create a route may be modified by a graph configuration plug-in, which may add, remove, and/or modify nodes and/or edges within the graph. Attributes associated with edges and/or nodes within the graph may be added, removed, and/or modified by an attribute configuration plug-in. Costs associated with edges and/or turns from a first edge to a second edge at a node may be modified by a cost configuration plug-in. In this way, the route-planning module may be customized using one or more configuration plug-ins (e.g., to accommodate user preferences). |
| US09037395B2 |
Mobile device that operates differently in different regions
A system is disclosed comprising a mobile device including at least one application which may be run on the device. The system is configured to be able to determine the geographical location of the mobile device and includes an enforcement engine that is separate to and outside of the at least one application. The enforcement engine is configured to permit or restrict a function of said at least one application on the mobile device depending on the location the device is determined to be at. The system operates to control the functioning of the application based on how the local regulations allow the application to be operated. |
| US09037393B2 |
Object recognition system
Provided is an object recognition system including: a transmitting unit configured to include one or more light emitting unit to transmit laser light having different wavelengths to an object; a receiving unit configured to receive light reflected from the object to acquire information on the reflected light of a size, a speed, a number plate, a reflector, and material of the object; and a processing unit configured to store the feature information on objects of a vehicle, a two-wheeled vehicle, and a pedestrian and compare the information on the reflected light of the object received from the receiving unit with the feature information on the object to classify and recognize the objects into the vehicle, the two-wheeled vehicle, and the pedestrian. |
| US09037391B2 |
Unmanned aircraft with built-in collision warning system
An unmanned aircraft, unmanned aviation system and method for collision avoidance during the flight operation of an unmanned aircraft are provided. The unmanned aircraft includes a lift and propulsion system and a flight control system having a flight control unit, a navigation system and an actuator system. The flight control unit has an autopilot unit. The flight control unit calculates control commands using data from the navigation system and/or the autopilot unit, which can be conveyed to the actuator system for actuating the lift and propulsion system. A collision warning system is connected with the flight control system, the collision warning system detects a collision situation and makes collision avoidance data available. A connection between the collision warning system and the autopilot unit is provided, in order to initiate an obstacle avoidance maneuver by the autopilot unit with the help of the collision avoidance data. |
| US09037389B2 |
Vehicle apparatus and system for controlling platoon travel and method for selecting lead vehicle
A vehicle apparatus, a platoon travel control system and a method for selecting a lead vehicle using the vehicle apparatus and the platoon travel control system. Specifically, charges for platoon travel of surrounding vehicles is calculated based on input charge calculation conditions and the calculated charges are output by matching the conditions with images of surrounding vehicles. Additionally, a vehicle selected by the user is designated as a lead vehicle, thereby performing a platoon travel procedure. |
| US09037386B2 |
Sensor signal processing device
A sensor signal processing device includes an AD conversion section, a filter section, a timing signal generation section, and an arithmetic section. The timing signal generation section generates a signal synchronized with a crank angle of an engine based on a signal indicating the crank angle and generates a data acquisition timing signal by compensating the signal synchronized with the crank angle with a delay time of the filter. The arithmetic section acquires a plurality of sensor signals, which is transmitted from a sensor, converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the AD conversion section, and filtered by the filter section, in a term before and after receiving the data acquisition timing signal and generates a data synchronized with the data acquisition timing signal. |
| US09037383B2 |
Fuel injection amount control apparatus for internal combustion engine
A fuel injection amount control apparatus calculates as a proportional term a value obtained by multiplying by a proportional gain Kp a deviation DVoxslow between a downstream side target value Voxsref and an output value Voxs of a downstream side air-fuel ratio sensor disposed downstream of a catalyst. The control apparatus calculates a time integrated value SDVoxslow by integrating a value obtained by multiplying by a predetermined adjustment gain K the deviation DVoxslow, calculates a value that is commensurate with the time integrated value SDVoxslow as an integral term Ki×SDVoxslow, and obtains the integral term Ki×SDVoxslow as a sub-FB learned value KSFBg. The control apparatus sets the proportional gain Kp at a small value after the sub-FB learned value KSFBg is determined to have converged, and sets the adjustment gain K at a small value after the sub-FB learned value KSFBg is determined to have converged. |
| US09037378B1 |
Braking pressure threshold limiting method of brake traction control system
Disclosed is a braking pressure threshold setting method of a brake traction control system. The method includes steps of: determining whether a slip occurs in a driving wheel; initiating a BTCS control when the slip occurs in the driving wheel; determining whether instability occurs in a high-frictional driving wheel; cumulatively calculating a braking pressure applied to the low-frictional driving wheel; comparing the cumulatively calculated braking pressure value and a pre-set braking pressure threshold of the low-frictional driving wheel; and, when the cumulatively calculated braking pressure value exceeds the pre-set braking pressure threshold of the low-frictional driving wheel, setting the braking pressure applied to the low-frictional driving wheel when the slip occurs in the high-frictional driving wheel, as the threshold. Thus, it is possible to prevent the braking pressure exceeding the pre-set threshold from being applied to the low-frictional driving wheel when climbing a slope road formed with a split road surface such that a climbing performance can be improved. |
| US09037372B2 |
Output torque control system
An output torque control system includes a control unit which includes an acceleration mode detection unit and an output torque control unit. The acceleration mode detection unit selects a normal acceleration mode which includes output torque information indicating an increased amount of output torque of an electric motor as time elapses or a rapid acceleration mode which includes output torque information indicating the increased amount of output torque of the electric motor as time elapses more largely than in the normal acceleration mode based on a result of a detection by a depressing speed detection unit. The output torque control unit selects one of the output torque information which corresponds to the result of the detection by the acceleration mode detection unit to control the output torque produced by the electric motor based on the selected output torque information. |
| US09037370B2 |
Multi-plexing clutch logic control of a multi-mode transmission
A transmission includes an electro-hydraulic controller that includes redundancy in the hydraulic circuit that permits single fault failures to be compensated for by changing the flow path of hydraulic fluid to bypass the single fault failure. The redundancy results in the ability of the transmission to maintain full operation in all modes. |
| US09037366B2 |
System and method of controlling fail safe for hybrid vehicle
A system and method of controlling a fail-safe for a vehicle is provided. The method includes determining, by a controller, that remaining hydraulic pressure exists in the clutch when the clutch is not opened and a target value of oil pressure for opening the clutch is maintained for a predetermined time period. In addition, whether a vehicle is stopped is confirmed in response to determining that remaining hydraulic pressure exists in the engine clutch. The controller is further configured to transmit a signal to shift to the vehicle to a neutral (N) stage to a transmission controller and shift to the vehicle to the N-stage in response to determining that the vehicle is stopped. Then, the engine is driven by the controller in response to determining that the vehicle is shifted to the N-stage. |
| US09037362B2 |
Shift range switching apparatus of automatic transmission
Disclosed is a shift range switching apparatus of an automatic transmission which can improve the durability over the conventional shift range switching apparatus. An ECU is operative to rotate an actuator in a predetermined direction (Step S2) in the state of the automatic transmission switched to a predetermined shift range (Step S1), and thereafter the actuator is deenergized (Step S3). The reference position of the actuator corresponding to the predetermined shift range is detected (Step S5) in accordance with the fluctuation of the count value counted by an encoder when the actuator is deenergized (Step S4). |
| US09037361B2 |
Self adjusting shift cable alignment for a transmission range control module system
A transmission includes a controller that uses force feedback from a detent mechanism to determine appropriate actuator output for achieving a desired transmission range, which facilitates the implementation of “shift by wire” systems on pre-existing transmission designs. |
| US09037358B2 |
Wheel loader
An engine control device of the wheel loader includes a travelling state detecting unit for detecting a travelling state of the wheel loader, a mode switching determining unit, an acceleration speed detecting unit and a switching time controlling unit. The acceleration speed detecting unit detects the acceleration speed of the wheel loader when the mode switching determining unit determines that it is required to switch between the engine output modes from a low output mode to a high output mode based on a detection result of the travelling state detecting unit. The switching time control unit controls the switching time from start to end of mode switching to be: a first time when the acceleration speed detected by the acceleration speed detecting unit is either 0 or negative; and a second time greater than the first time when the detected acceleration speed is positive. |
| US09037350B2 |
Detection of and counter-measures for jackknife enabling conditions during trailer backup assist
A trailer backup control system includes a jackknife enabling condition detector and a jackknife counter-measures controller. The jackknife counter-measures controller alters a setting of at least one vehicle operating parameter for alleviating an adverse jackknife condition during backing of the trailer by the vehicle when the jackknife enabling condition detector determines that a jackknife enabling condition has been attained at a particular point in time during backing of the trailer by the vehicle, restricts a trailer backup steering input apparatus and issues a warning to the driver using the trailer backup steering input apparatus. |
| US09037348B2 |
Lane-keeping assistance method for a motor vehicle
A lane-keeping method and system for a motor vehicle determines a transverse deviation and an misalignment angle of the motor vehicle relative to a target lane centerline, calculates a reference track for the motor vehicle to follow to return to the centerline using the transverse deviation and the misalignment angle, determines a reference yaw rate using a curvature of the reference track and a longitudinal speed of the vehicle, and compares the reference yaw rate with an actual yaw rate of the vehicle to determine a control deviation. A steering input is then applied to a steering system of the motor vehicle to minimize the control deviation. |
| US09037347B2 |
Vehicle
Described herein are devices and methods for controlling inclination in a vehicle. In certain aspects, inclination of the vehicle can be controlled with an inclination control processing section that includes a first control value limiting processing section which calculates a moving amount of the centroid, calculates a maximum angular acceleration, and limits a variation of the control value for inclination control on the basis of the maximum angular acceleration. |
| US09037344B2 |
System and method for display of information using a vehicle-mount computer
A system and method display information using a vehicle-mount computer. The system includes: (i) a computer touch screen for inputting and displaying information; (ii) a motion detector for detecting vehicle motion; and (iii) a vehicle-mount computer in communication with the computer touch screen and the motion detector. The vehicle-mount computer includes a central processing unit and memory. The vehicle-mount computer's central processing unit is configured to store information associated with user-selected information from the computer touch screen. Further, the vehicle-mount computer's central processing unit is configured to receive vehicle-motion information from the motion detector. Moreover, the vehicle-mount computer's central processing unit is configured to control the display of a zoomed view of the user-selected information on the computer touch screen in response to the motion detector's detection of motion. |
| US09037340B2 |
System and method for modifying adaptive cruise control set points
A driver performance mapping system for a vehicle system is disclosed. The system may include a GPS receiver generating GPS data indicative of a current location of the vehicle. In addition, the system may also have a radar device generating current gap data indicative of a current gap distance from the vehicle to a lead vehicle. Further, the system may include an electronic controller configured to generate learned gap data based on the current gap data and stored gap data, and then assign the learned gap data with the GPS data. |
| US09037338B2 |
Driving system of unmanned vehicle and driving path generation method
Based on initial position information on an instructed fixed switch-back point and position information on a loading point, a relative positional relationship between the loading point and the switch-back point is generated. If the position of the loading point moves, then based on position information on the position-moved loading point, information on a direction of an unmanned vehicle at the loading point and information on a relative positional relationship, a new switch-back point is set at a position where the relative positional relationship can be maintained. When the initial position of the switch-back point is instructed, then on the basis of the initial position information on the switch-back point, a driving path leading to the loading point via the instructed switch-back point is generated and, when the position of the loading point moves, a driving path leading to the position-moved loading point via the new switch-back point is generated. |
| US09037333B2 |
Hybrid vehicle and control method therefor
A hybrid vehicle includes a controller that executes control such that a second motor is regeneratively driven within the range of input and output limits of a high-voltage battery that exchanges electric power with the second motor that outputs power for traveling without running an engine using a first motor when charging electric power is smaller than the input limit of the high-voltage battery and an EV traveling priority mode is set. The invention also relates to a control method for the hybrid vehicle. |
| US09037332B2 |
Vehicle having obstacle detection device
The invention provides a vehicle having an obstacle detection device capable of improving the control accuracy of a motor and preventing the influence of noise on a sensor. A vehicle includes motors 31 and 32 which are AC motors, an inverter 2 that drives the motors, an ultrasonic sonar 1 which is, for example, a detector for detecting an obstacle around the vehicle, a frequency determining device 6 which determines whether noise generated from the inverter 2 is likely to interfere with a detection frequency of the detector, and a sonar ECU 5 which changes the carrier frequency of the inverter 2 when it is determined that the noise is likely to interfere with the detection frequency. |
| US09037331B2 |
Two-wheeled inverted pendulum vehicle and control method therefor
A two-wheeled inverted pendulum vehicle includes: single-winding first and second motors respectively rotating one of two wheels; first and second control systems respectively supplying drive currents to the first and second motors; a sensor detecting a physical quantity that varies with a turn of the vehicle; a dynamic brake unit being able to switch between active and inactive states of dynamic brake being applied to the first motor; and a control unit, when the control unit has determined that the vehicle is turning about the second motor side on the basis of the physical quantity while supply of drive current from the first control system to the first motor is inhibited, activating dynamic brake in the dynamic brake unit. The first control system, when an abnormality has been detected in the first control system, inhibits supply of drive current from the first control system to the first motor. |
| US09037327B2 |
Distance to empty calculation method for electric vehicle
Disclosed is a Distance to Empty (DTE) calculation method for an electric vehicle, and more particularly, a DTE calculation method for an electric vehicle that provides a more accurate DTE calculation by estimating remaining available energy of an actual battery and using the estimated remaining available energy for calculation. The DTE calculation method includes obtaining a battery's initial available energy, calculating a battery's accumulative consumption energy consumed while driving a current accumulative driving distance, calculating a battery's remaining available energy from the initial available energy and the accumulative consumption energy, calculating a final fuel efficiency corresponding to driving the current accumulative driving distance, and calculating a DTE from the final fuel efficiency and the remaining available energy. |
| US09037326B2 |
Method for disconnecting an electrical machine on a running gear of a vehicle, in particular a hybrid motor vehicle
A method for disconnecting an electrical machine connected with the wheels of a vehicle's drive axle by means of a dog clutch having intermeshing couplers includes, upon receipt of a command to disengage, two successively activated steps. In the first step, a torque equal to a calibrated threshold of a target torque (d) is applied to the electrical machine so to effect a zero torque between the couplers. During this step, a dog clutch actuator is deactivated so to allow the dog clutch to disengage from the electrical machine as quickly as possible. Next, a torque having a value determined according to a slope whose value ranges from the calibrated threshold of the target torque (d) to zero is applied to the electrical machine. |
| US09037322B2 |
Steering system and method for train vehicle
A steering system, method, and computer-readable medium for controlling a steerable, self-propelled vehicle for travelling in an end-to-end series of steerable, self-propelled vehicles, the vehicle including a plurality of individually controllable propelling devices connected at a generally vertical pivot to an axle of the vehicle. The steering system includes: an angle sensor for detecting an inter-vehicle angular position between two of the vehicles and providing a corresponding signal indicative thereof; a distance sensor for detecting an inter-vehicle distance between two of the vehicles and providing a corresponding signal indicative thereof; and a controller system. The controller system is configured to: receive the signals from the angle sensor and the distance sensor, control a speed of each propelling device based on the inter-vehicle distance, and control an angle of each propelling device based on the inter-vehicle angular position. |
| US09037314B2 |
UAV power line position and load parameter estimation
A system and method for providing autonomous navigation for an Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) in the vicinity of power lines is presented. Autonomous navigation is achieved by measuring the magnitude and phase of the electromagnetic field at an unknown location within a space under excitation by a set of power cables of the power line with one or more orthogonal electromagnetic sensors formed on the UAV; modeling a set of expected complex electromagnetic strengths of the set of power cables at the currently estimated position and orientation of the UAV based on a model of the set of power cables; and estimating parameters related to a position and orientation of the UAV, and load parameters of each cable based on the residual error between the measured set of complex electromagnetic field values and the set of expected electromagnetic field values corresponding to a combined model of the set of power cables. |
| US09037313B2 |
Lid lock controller
A lid lock controller includes a lid lock unit operable in a lock state, which keeps the lid closed, and an unlock state, which allows for the lid to open. A detection unit detects an unlocking operation performed on the lid lock unit. A key check unit checks whether or not an electronic key is located in the vicinity of the vehicle through wireless communication between the vehicle and the electronic key when the unlock operation is detected. An unlocking unit switches the lid lock unit to the unlock state when the electronic key is located in the vicinity of the vehicle. The unlocking unit switches the lid lock unit to the unlock state even when the electronic key is not located in the vicinity of the vehicle as long as a further lid unlock condition is satisfied. |
| US09037311B2 |
Road surface slope estimating device
A road surface slope estimating device changes filter characteristics of a filter with respect to a detected vehicle body attitude value in accordance with an actual rate of change of road surface slope so as to enhance the filter characteristics when the rate of change of the road surface slope is low and to degrade the filter characteristics when the rate of change of the road surface slope is high. |
| US09037307B2 |
Supply-and-demand control apparatus, supply-and-demand control method, and supply-and-demand control system
The supply-and-demand control apparatus includes an obtaining unit that obtains power consumption and heat consumption; a forecast processing unit that obtains demand forecast data on each of electric power and an amount of heat using the power consumption and heat consumption, respectively; and a supply-and-demand planning unit that calculates a control parameter for controlling operations of an electricity storage system and a heat pump that supplies heat to a hot water storage tank, by substituting the calculated demand forecast data into a predetermined function. Additionally, a supply-and-demand control unit controls the operations using the control parameter, wherein the supply-and-demand planning unit calculates the control parameter such that electric power generated by a solar power system is distributed to the electricity storage system and the heat pump. |
| US09037306B2 |
Monitoring and optimizing an electrical grid state
Monitoring and optimizing a state of an electrical grid are provided. An approach for synchronizing state information associated with one or more electrical devices on an electrical grid, with time information is described. The approach further includes notifying one or more subscribing devices of the synchronized state information such that the one or more subscribing devices monitors and controls the one or more electrical devices based on the synchronized state information. |
| US09037305B2 |
Power outage verification
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for detecting a power outage. In one aspect, a status request requesting a status of a portion of a power distribution network is received, where the request includes a reference to a power meter that is located within the portion of the network. In response to the status request, a block of communications channels is selected, where the block includes a target communications channel over which a signal corresponding to the referenced power meter is received. In turn, an amplitude of the signal being received over the target communications channel is obtained. A determination is made whether the amplitude of the signal is less than an outage threshold and a status notification is provided that specifies the status of the portion of the power distribution network for which the status has been requested. |
| US09037303B2 |
HVAC controls or controllers including alphanumeric displays and push buttons
Exemplary embodiments are disclosed of a control for an HVAC system. The control has an alphanumeric display, a plurality of two position switches (e.g., push buttons, etc.), and a processor. The processor receives a current user input through at least one of the two position switches and determines a response to the current user input. The determining is performed using one or more previously received user inputs, if any, via one or more of the two position switches. The processor implements the determined response by displaying a message on the alphanumeric display and/or changing an operational parameter of the HVAC system. |
| US09037302B2 |
Model based system and method for estimating parameters and states in temperature controlled spaces
A method for estimating a heating/cooling load of a zone within a building may include determining a measured parameter from the zone, generating a reduced order thermodynamic model of the zone, generating an Extended Kalman Filter based on the thermodynamic model of the zone, and processing the measured parameter using the Extended Kalman Filter to estimate at least one unknown state of the zone, such as an estimated load. A similar method may be used to estimate a temperature in a cold room of a refrigeration system. |
| US09037300B2 |
Controller for a machine tool for executing tapping
A controller (10) for a machine tool (18) for tapping by a main shaft and a feed shaft, comprising an identifier unit (12) for identifying an index of the size of the tap, a temperature detector unit (19b) for detecting the temperature of a motor (19a) for the main shaft, an acceleration storage unit (21) for storing the acceleration of the main shaft corresponding to the index of the size of the tap, a rate storage unit (22) for storing the rate of varying the acceleration of the main shaft depending upon the temperature of the motor, and an acceleration calculation unit (16) for calculating a new acceleration of the main shaft by multiplying an acceleration determined from the index of the size of the tap and from the acceleration storage unit by a rate determined from the detected temperature and from the rate storage unit. |
| US09037299B2 |
Method for predefining an operating point of a drive machine of a drive system
A method for predefining an operating point of a drive machine of a drive system, including the drive machine and at least two loads which are driven by the drive machine is disclosed. The method includes the following steps: (i) identification of in each case one instantaneous load power demand of the at least two loads, (ii) determination of at least one partial request point of the drive machine for each identified load power demand in order to meet the respective load power demand, (iii) determination of at least one overall request point of the drive machine on the basis of the specific partial request points, (iv) determination of a cost variable of the drive machine for the at least one overall request point, and (v) selection of the operating point taking into account the cost variable and predefining of the operating point. |
| US09037291B2 |
Automated precision small object counting and dispensing system and method
An automated dispenser receives a canister of small objects secured atop the dispenser using a bar-code matched gate operated by a central controller. A hopper below the gate directs small quantities of objects into a charge block which urges them into a circular counter and atop a movable plate forming the bottom of the counter. The plate bears slots around its perimeter adjacent the cylindrical walls of the counter. The central controller operates a servo motor to rotate the plate in measured increments, urging a precise count of objects into a port through which they fall one at a time into a receptacle. Means on the cylinder walls orients objects so that only a single one at a time may fall into each slot, thereby preventing overfilling. An exit sensor counts the objects as they fall to verify quantity and guard against under-filling. |
| US09037288B2 |
Method of processing mailpieces with digital models of running mailpieces being generated on an interactive terminal
A method of processing mailpieces, in which they are fed in series into a sorting machine comprising a sorting conveyor and sorting outlets, an image of each mailpiece is formed in the machine, processing is applied to the image for automatically recognizing address information for the purpose of automatically directing the mailpiece towards a determined sorting outlet, a digital model of running mailpieces or a “run” is built in a database prior to feeding the mailpieces into the machine, the model being built on the basis of an image of a mailpiece, and being defined by data characterizing the graphical appearance of the mailpiece in the image formed from an interactive acquisition terminal located remote from the machine, and the run model is associated in said database with indications usable by the recognition processing, which indications are also input from said interactive acquisition terminal. |
| US09037287B1 |
System and method for optimizing a mail document sorting machine
A system and method for optimizing mail sorting equipment based upon various commingled data files and user selected options includes a sorter, an optimizing system, and a computer for optimizing the sort plan based upon the data files and user settings. |
| US09037286B2 |
Each pick
A warehousing system for storing and retrieving goods disposed in containers is provided. The system includes a multilevel storage array including an array of storage shelves for holding containers thereon, at least one substantially continuous lift for transporting containers to and from at least one level of the storage array, at least one transport vehicle located on the at least one level and configured to traverse a transport area transporting containers between the at least one continuous lift and container storage locations so that the at least one continuous lift communicates non-deterministically, via the transport vehicle, with storage locations of each of the storage shelves on the at least one level, an infeed transport system linked to the at least one continuous lift, and an order fulfillment station for generating order containers corresponding to customer orders where the order containers are entered onto the storage shelves of the storage array. |
| US09037284B2 |
Numerical control cutting machine
A cutting machine for cutting metal, comprising: an understructure, rails (8), a driving trolley (2), a driven trolley (3), a cross beam (1), a transverse driving device (4), a hoisting device (6), a tow chain (9), a rail cleaning device (11), a torch support (10) and a software control system. The rails (8) with a circular cross section are parallel mounted on the understructure, and the driving trolley (2) and the driven trolley (3) move synchronously on the rails (8). An automatic longitudinal adjusting device (7) is provided at the driving trolley (2) and at one end of the drawn cross beam (1), and the driven trolley (3) is rigidly connected to the other end of the cross beam (1). Longitudinal driving devices (5) are installed symmetrically at the lower parts of the driving trolley (2) and the driven trolley (3). The longitudinal driving devices (5) comprise rack and pinion and guiding mechanisms for adjusting the distance between the rack and the gear by elastically sliding. The cutting machine according to the invention has a compact structure and operates in a stable and reliable manner. |
| US09037282B2 |
Manufacturing control system
A method and apparatus comprising a tracking system and a controller in communication with the tracking system. The tracking system is configured to identify characteristics about a group of portable machines configured to perform a number of manufacturing operations on a workpiece. The controller is configured to control performance of the number of manufacturing operations on the workpiece using the characteristics about the group of portable machines identified using the tracking system. |
| US09037279B2 |
Clustering for prediction models in process control and for optimal dispatching
A first embodiment is a method for semiconductor process control comprising clustering processing tools of a processing stage into a tool cluster based on processing data and forming a prediction model for processing a semiconductor wafer based on the tool cluster. A second embodiment is a method for semiconductor process control comprising providing cluster routes between first stage tool clusters and second stage tool clusters, assigning a comparative optimization ranking to each cluster route, and scheduling processing of wafers. The comparative optimization ranking identifies comparatively which cluster routes provide for high wafer processing uniformity. Further, wafers that require high wafer processing uniformity are scheduled to be processed along one cluster route that has a high comparative optimization ranking that identifies the one cluster route to have a highest wafer processing uniformity, and wafers that do not require high wafer processing uniformity are scheduled to be processed along another cluster route. |
| US09037275B2 |
Playback speed control apparatus and playback speed control method
A playback speed control apparatus, which controls play-back speed according to rotation of an operation unit (15) that is rotatable, includes: a rotation speed detection unit (15c) that detects rotation speed of the operation unit; and a control (291) unit that controls the playback speed according to the rotation speed detected by the rotation speed detection unit, in which the control unit either increases or decreases the playback speed according to a recursive pattern of the rotation speed detected by the rotation speed detection unit. |
| US09037265B2 |
Retractable screw intracardiac lead for cardiac stimulation and/or defibrillation
A retractable screw-type stimulation or defibrillation intracardiac lead is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the lead comprises a flexible hollow sheath (12) having at its distal end a lead head (10) and a connector (66) at its proximal end. The connector comprises a pin (62) connected to a lead head electrode (18). The lead head comprises a tubular body (28), at least one electrode (18, 20) for stimulation or defibrillation, a moving element translationally and rotationally moving within the tubular body in a helical motion, an anchoring screw (24) axially moving with respect to the tubular body, and a deployment mechanism (22) to deploy the anchoring screw out of the tubular body (28). The lead is a co-radial type, and the moving element (26) secured to the anchoring screw is connected to the tubular body (28) by a helical guide (46) and a coupling finger (56) protruding between two successive turns of the helical guide (46) for transforming a rotary movement imparted to the lead body in a deployment or retraction movement of the moving element (26). The helical guide (46) is resiliently compressible, with a free end (52) with a flat area (54) facing a flange (38) in vis-à-vis, so as to pinch the coupling finger (56) and to perform the function of a clutch limiting the torque transmitted to the anchoring screw by the rotation of the lead body, even in case of continuation of this rotation. |
| US09037264B2 |
Catheter electrode assemblies and methods for construction therefor
A family of catheter electrode assemblies includes a flexible circuit having a plurality of electrical traces and a substrate; a ring electrode surrounding the flexible circuit and electrically coupled with at least one of the plurality of electrical traces; and an outer covering extending over at least a portion of the electrode. A non-contact electrode mapping catheter includes an outer tubing having a longitudinal axis, a deployment member, and a plurality of splines, at least one of the plurality of splines comprising a flexible circuit including a plurality of electrical traces and a substrate, a ring electrode surrounding the flexible circuit and electrically coupled with at least one of the plurality of electrical traces; and an outer covering extending over at least a portion of the ring electrode. A method of constructing the family of catheter electrode assemblies is also provided. |
| US09037263B2 |
System and method for implantable medical device lead shielding
An implantable medical device (IMD) can include a cardiac pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Various portions of the IMD, such as a device body, a lead body, or a lead tip, can be provided to reduce or dissipate a current and heat induced by various external environmental factors. According to various embodiments, features can be incorporated into the lead body, the lead tip, or the IMD body to reduce the creation of an induced current, or dissipate the induced Current and heat created due to an induced current in the lead. For example, an IMD can include at least one outer conductive member and a first electrode. The first electrode can be in electrical communication with the at least one outer conductive member. The first electrode can dissipate a current induced in the at least one outer conductive member via a first portion of the anatomical structure. |
| US09037261B2 |
Method for improving far-field activation in peripheral field nerve stimulation
A method of providing therapy to a patient having a disorder using an electrode located adjacent a peripheral target neural region. The method comprises conveying electrical stimulation energy from the electrode that stimulates a first set of nerve endings in the peripheral target neural region. The method further comprises increasing an activation threshold of a second set of nerve endings in the peripheral target neural region, thereby rendering the second set of nerve endings less excitable to the electrical stimulation energy. The first set of nerve endings are relatively far from the electrode and the second set of nerve endings are relatively near the electrode. |
| US09037259B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for remodeling tissue of or adjacent to a body passage
Medical devices and methods for making and using the same are disclosed. An example method may include a method for treating tissue near a body passageway using an apparatus including a catheter having a plurality of electrodes, a radio-frequency energy generator, and a controller coupling the energy generator to the plurality of electrodes and configured to selectively energize the electrodes. The method may include using the apparatus to subject the tissue near the body passageway to a plurality of energy treatment cycles. The treatment cycle may include determining desired voltages for at least a subset of the electrodes for maintaining a predetermined target temperature profile proximate the subset of electrodes, setting an output voltage of the energy generator to correspond to the desired voltage determined for one of the electrodes, and energizing at least some of the electrodes at the output voltage to deliver energy to the body passageway. |
| US09037256B2 |
Methods and system for targeted brain stimulation using electrical parameter maps
A system and method for selecting optimal stimulation parameter settings for a therapeutic neural stimulation for a current patient may include obtaining, by at least one processor, electrical parameter maps and corresponding score values of a patient population, and processing, by the at least one processor, the parameter maps and the score values to evaluate, based on a set of score criteria, parameter maps associated with potential stimulation parameter settings. |
| US09037247B2 |
Non-invasive treatment of bronchial constriction
Devices, systems and methods for treating bronchoconstriction associated with asthma, anaphylaxis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The treatment comprises transmitting impulses of energy non-invasively to selected nerve fibers that are responsible for smooth muscle dilation, such as the vagus nerve. |
| US09037246B2 |
Electrical stimulation treatment of bronchial constriction
Methods and devices for treating bronchial constriction related to asthma and anaphylaxis wherein the treatment includes providing an electrical impulse to a selected region of the vagus nerve and/or the lungs of a patient suffering from bronchial constriction. |
| US09037245B2 |
Endoscopic lead implantation method
A method of implanting electrically conductive leads in the gastrointestinal musculature for stimulation of target tissues involves an endoscopic approach through the esophagus. An endoscope is inserted into the esophagus of a patient. The mucosal surface of the anterior esophagus is punctured in the region encompassing the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). A tunnel is created through the submucosa and exits at the muscularis propria, adventitia, or serosal side of the stomach. The lead is navigated further to the anterior abdominal wall. A first end of the lead remains within the gastrointestinal musculature while a second end of the lead is positioned just outside the anterior abdominal wall. The first end of the lead comprises at least one electrode. An implantable pulse generator (IPG) is implanted and operably connected to the second end of the lead to provide electrical stimulation to target tissues. |
| US09037243B2 |
Low insertion force electrical connector for implantable medical devices
A low-insertion force electrical connector for implantable medical devices includes a housing with a pair of opposing sidewalls each with center openings oriented generally concentrically around a center axis. An inner coil is located in a recess with a coil axis generally co-linear with the center axis of the center openings. The inner coil includes an outer diameter less than a recess diameter, and an inner diameter greater than a center opening diameter. An outer coil is threaded onto the inner coil. The outer coil has an outer diameter less than the recess diameter, and an inner diameter less than the center opening diameter. The outer coil is radially expanded within the recess in response to engagement with contact rings on the implantable medical device, such that the outer diameter of the outer coil is at least equal to the recess diameter. |
| US09037239B2 |
Method and apparatus to perform electrode combination selection
A method and apparatus for selecting an electrode combination in a cardiac pacing device. In some instances, this may include: implanting a plurality of cardiac electrodes supported by one or more leads in a patient; receiving user-determined electrode combination selection criteria from a user; evaluating, for each electrode combination of a plurality of electrode combinations of a plurality of cardiac electrodes, which electrode combination best satisfies the user-determined electrode combination selection criteria; selecting the electrode combination that best satisfies the user-determined electrode combination selection criteria; and programming an implantable pacing circuit to deliver a cardiac pacing therapy to the patient's heart that uses the selected electrode combination. |
| US09037238B2 |
Method for efficient delivery of dual site pacing
An implantable device and associated method for delivering a multi-site pacing therapy includes electrodes for sensing cardiac signals and delivering cardiac pacing pulses to a first pacing site along a heart chamber and a therapy delivery module for delivering cardiac pacing pulses to a patient's heart via the electrodes. A sensing module measures an activation time at multiple pacing electrode sites along the heart chamber in response to delivering pacing pulses at the first pacing site. A controller is configured to identify a second pacing site from the plurality of pacing electrode sites in response to the activation times measured during pacing at the first site. |
| US09037235B2 |
Pacing catheter with expandable distal end
Cardioprotective pacing is applied to prevent and/or reduce cardiac injury associated with myocardial infarction (MI) and revascularization procedure. Pacing pulses are generated from a pacemaker and delivered through one or more pacing electrodes incorporated onto one or more percutaneous transluminal vascular intervention (PTVI) devices during the revascularization procedure. In one embodiment, a PTVI device includes an expandable distal end to provide a stable electrical contact between a pacing electrode and the vascular wall of a blood vessel when the distal end is placed in the blood vessel. |
| US09037233B2 |
Intermittent high-energy cardiac stimulation for therapeutic effect
A device and method for delivering high-energy electrical stimulation to the heart in order to improve cardiac function in heart failure patients. The high-energy stimulation mimics the effects of exercise and improves symptoms even in patients who are exercise intolerant. The high-energy stimulation may be delivered on an intermittent basis either as pacing pulses in accordance with a programmed pacing mode and with a higher pacing pulse energy than used for conventional pacing or as low energy shock pulses. |
| US09037232B2 |
System and method for detection enhancement programming
A system and method of enabling detection enhancements selected from a plurality of detection enhancements. In a system having a plurality of clinical rhythms, including a first clinical rhythm, where each of the detection enhancements is associated with the clinical rhythms, the first clinical rhythm is selected. The first clinical rhythm is associated with first and second detection enhancements. When the first clinical rhythm is selected, parameters of the first and second detection enhancements are set automatically. A determination is made as to whether changes are to be made to the parameters. If so, one or more of the parameters are modified under user control. |
| US09037229B2 |
Magnetic patch coupling
Apparatus is described for facilitating delivery of a substance through skin (70) of a subject. A skin preparation device (50), and a patch assembly (20) that comprises the substance and is magnetically couplable to the skin preparation device, are described. Other embodiments are also described. |
| US09037227B2 |
Use of impedance techniques in breast-mass detection
A device is described for measuring electrical characteristics of biological tissues with plurality of electrodes and a processor controlling the stimulation and measurement in order to detect the presence of abnormal tissue masses in the breast and determine probability of tumors containing malignant cancer cells being present in a breast. The device has the capability of providing the location of the abnormality, at least to the quadrant. The method for measuring electrical characteristics includes placing electrodes and applying a voltage waveform in conjunction with a current detector. A mathematical analysis method is then applied to the collected data, which computes spectrum of frequencies and correlates magnitudes and phases with given algebraic conditions to determine mass presence and type. |
| US09037224B1 |
Apparatus for treating a patient
A signal processing method and system combines multi-scale decomposition, such as wavelet, pre-processing together with a compression technique, such as an auto-associative artificial neural network, operating in the multi-scale decomposition domain for signal denoising and extraction. All compressions are performed in the decomposed domain. A reverse decomposition such as an inverse discrete wavelet transform is performed on the combined outputs from all the compression modules to recover a clean signal back in the time domain. A low-cost, non-drug, non-invasive, on-demand therapy braincap system and method are pharmaceutically non-intrusive to the body for the purpose of disease diagnosis, treatment therapy, and direct mind control of external devices and systems. It is based on recognizing abnormal brainwave signatures and intervenes at the earliest moment, using magnetic and/or electric stimulations to reset the brainwaves back to normality. The feedback system is self-regulatory and the treatment stops when the brainwaves return to normal. The braincap contains multiple sensing electrodes and microcoils; the microcoils are pairs of crossed microcoils or 3-axis triple crossed microcoils. |
| US09037223B2 |
Atrial fibrillation classification using power measurement
An atrial fibrillation classification system collects celectrocardiogram signals and converts them to a frequency, time, or phase domain representation for analysis. An evaluation stage extracts energy density profile over a range of frequencies, time intervals, or phases, which is then summed and normalized to form dispersion metrics. The system then analyzes the dispersion metrics, in their respective domains, to determine whether a patient is experiencing an arrhythmia and then to classify the type of arrhythmia being experienced. |
| US09037222B2 |
Differentiating decompensation detection based on co-morbidities in heart failure
This document discusses, among other things, a system comprising a sensor signal processor configured to receive a plurality of electrical sensor signals produced by a plurality of sensors and at least one sensor signal produced by an implantable sensor, a memory that includes information indicating a co-morbidity of a subject, a sensor signal selection circuit that selects a sensor signal to monitor from among the plurality of sensor signals, according to an indicated co-morbidity, a threshold adjustment circuit that adjusts a detection threshold of the selected sensor signal according to the indicated co-morbidity, and a decision circuit that applies the adjusted detection threshold to the selected sensor signal to determine whether an event associated with worsening heart failure (HF) occurred in the subject and outputs an indication of whether the event associated with worsening HF occurred to a user or process. |
| US09037217B1 |
Laser coagulation of an eye structure or a body surface from a remote location
An integral laser imaging and coagulation apparatus, and associated systems and methods that allow a physician (e.g., a surgeon) to perform laser surgical procedures on an eye structure or a body surface with an integral laser imaging and coagulation apparatus disposed at a first (i.e. local) location from a control system disposed at a second (i.e. remote) location, e.g., a physician's office. In some embodiments, communication between the integral laser imaging and coagulation apparatus and control system is achieved via the Internet®. |
| US09037215B2 |
Methods and apparatus for 3D route planning through hollow organs
Methods and apparatus assist in planning routes through hollow, branching organs in patients to optimize subsequent endoscopic procedures. Information is provided about the organ and a follow-on endoscopic procedure associated with the organ. The most appropriate navigable route or routes to a target region of interest (ROI) within the organ are then identified given anatomical, endoscopic-device, or procedure-specific constraints derived from the information provided. The method may include the step of modifying the viewing direction at each site along a route to give physically meaningful navigation directions or to reflect the requirements of a follow-on live endoscopic procedure. An existing route may further be extended, if necessary, to an ROI beyond the organ. The information provided may include anatomical constraints that define locations or organs to avoid; anatomical constraints that confine the route within specific geometric locations; or a metric for selecting the most appropriate route. For example, the metric may define the closest route to the ROI such that the route satisfies all applicable anatomical, device, and procedural constraints. |
| US09037207B2 |
Hemoglobin display and patient treatment
The present disclosure describes embodiments of a patient monitoring system and methods that include the measure and display of hemoglobin statistics. In an embodiment, total hemoglobin trending is displayed over a period of time. Statistics can include frequency domain analysis, which may be unique for each patient monitored. The total hemoglobin trending and/or statistics can further be used to help control the treatment of a patient, such as being used to control IV administration. |
| US09037205B2 |
Implantable optical glucose sensing
Apparatus is provided for detecting an analyte, configured to be implanted in a body of a subject. The apparatus includes an optical fiber having a distal portion and also a membrane permeable to the analyte. The membrane is coupled to the distal portion of the fiber and surrounding a sampling region at least in part, by being fitted over the distal portion of the fiber. Other embodiments are also described. |
| US09037203B2 |
Composite barrier-type Nb3AI superconducting multifilament wire material
A composite barrier-type Nb3Al superconducting multifilament wire material comprises Nb barrier filaments, Ta barrier filaments, Nb bulk dummy filaments, and a Nb or Ta covering. In the composite barrier-type Nb3Al superconducting multifilament wire material, the Nb barrier filaments and Ta barrier filaments are disposed in the wire material so that the Nb barrier filaments are concentrated in a filament region near a core formed from the Nb bulk dummy filaments and only the Ta barrier filaments are disposed or the Nb barrier filaments are dispersed in the Ta barrier filaments in an outer layer portion formed from a region outside the Nb barrier filaments, excluding the Nb or Ta covering. |
| US09037197B2 |
Mobile terminal, power transfer system and computer-readable storage medium
A mobile terminal may include a plurality of antennas to receive radio waves, a receiver circuit to receive power of the radio waves received by the plurality of antennas using a diversity technique, and a charging unit to charge a rechargeable battery coupled to the mobile terminal by the power of the radio waves received by the receiver circuit. |
| US09037196B1 |
Method, terminal and head unit for automatically providing application services using templates
The present invention relates to a method for automatically providing an application service by an interaction with a head unit at a terminal. The method includes steps of: (a) the terminal receiving a request for running of a specific application, if the specific application is selected by a user of the head unit from a list including information on one or more runnable applications, which are installed in the terminal, to be interacted with the head unit; and (b) the terminal running the specific application by interacting with a template application run by the head unit. |
| US09037194B2 |
Method of using a ranging system to determine the location of a node relative to a beacon
A method of using a ranging system for communicating between an end user node and controller to determine the location of the end user node relative to a beacon. The controller transmits an inquiry message to the end user node with a minimum received signal strength indicator (RSSI) message that includes a threshold for transmitting a reply message. When the measured RSSI of the inquiry message exceeds the RSSI threshold, the controller receives a reply message from the end user node, including the measured RSSI. |
| US09037192B2 |
Apparatus and method for recognizing external memory card in mobile terminal
An apparatus and method for recognizing an external memory in a mobile terminal are provided. The apparatus includes an external memory manager for recognizing as if an external memory was attached without a separate external memory by defining a built-in memory as a virtual external memory after a booting process. |
| US09037191B2 |
Cellular communication system for reducing the effects of radiation emitted from cellular phone antennas
A cellular communication system includes a cellphone interface unit that includes a transceiver for low power RF communication; a microphone; an earphone; a display; a keypad; a hub device that includes a transceiver for low power RF communication; an antenna for high power RF communication and circuitry and appropriate software components for establishing a communication channel between the hub and a base station. |
| US09037184B2 |
Wireless communication system, femtocell base station and transmission power control method
A wireless terminal transmits a result of measuring received power of a downlink wireless signal from a femtocell base station to a macrocell base station. The macrocell base station transmits an interference control request including identification information of the wireless terminal to a femtocell base station group of which received power of a downlink signal included in a measurement result transmitted from the wireless terminal is a predetermined value or more. The femtocell base station has an adjacent wireless terminal list in which identification information of a wireless terminal, which is capable of being connected to an adjacent femtocell base station but is not capable of being connected to the femtocell base station, is recorded, and downlink transmission power of the femtocell base station is reduced when the identification information included in the interference control request is included in this list. |
| US09037183B2 |
Controlling uplink transmission power using offset value based on antenna number or diversity scheme
Disclosed are a terminal device for controlling uplink transmission power and a method therefor. A receiving antenna receives uplink transmission mode change information from a base station. A processor determines a transmission power value to be used for the uplink transmission by means of an offset value corresponding to the uplink transmission mode change information. A transmitting antenna transmits an uplink signal with the determined transmission power value. |
| US09037181B2 |
Multi-tone wakeup mechanism for a wireless network
A method of operating a wireless network includes sending a pattern of wakeup tones. Each of the wakeup tones has a different frequency. A sleep mode is periodically awoken from to listen for the wakeup tones. The pattern of wakeup tones is received during the listening. It is decided whether to listen for at least one second tone. The deciding is dependent upon the received pattern of wakeup tones. |
| US09037180B2 |
Measurements and information gathering in a wireless network environment
Disclosed are methods, apparatus, computer readable media and other implementations, including a method for communicating network information. The method includes transmitting a request message from a mobile device to an access point, and receiving, at the mobile device, a reply message transmitted from the access point in response to receiving the request message, the reply message including data representative of a transmitted signal power level at the access point of the reply message. The method further includes determining, based on the received reply message including the data representative of the transmitted signal power level at the access point, a received signal power level at the mobile device of the reply message, and a round trip time from a first time instance when the request message was transmitted from the mobile device to a second time instance when the reply message was received at the mobile device. |
| US09037177B2 |
Timing adjustment method in a mobile communication system that performs an adjustment of uplink transmission timing by random access between a user equipment and a base station
A timing adjustment method in a mobile communication system that performs an adjustment of uplink transmission timing by random access between a user equipment and a base station, the timing adjustment method that includes performing transmission having transmission timing adjustment information in the user equipment; allocating a plurality of parameters related to a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource used for communications, between the user equipment and the base station; and if a timer controlling a term of uplink transmission timing adjustment information expires during uplink communications to the base station having the uplink transmission timing adjustment information in the user equipment, releasing only a part of the allocated plurality of parameters related to the PUCCH resource. |
| US09037167B2 |
Method and apparatus for state/mode transitioning
A method and apparatus for transitioning states or modes on a user equipment, the method having the steps of receiving, at a network element, a transition indication; checking a radio resource profile for the user equipment; and making a transitioning decision at the network element based on the received transition indication and the radio resource profile. |
| US09037164B2 |
Changing the orientation of a user based at least in part on transmit power
Implementations and techniques for changing the orientation of a user of a mobile communication device based at least in part on transmit power are generally discussed. The change in orientation of the user may reduce radiation absorbed by the user. |
| US09037162B2 |
Continuous data optimization of new access points in positioning systems
Methods and systems of continuously optimizing data in WiFi positioning systems. A location-based services system uses WiFi-enabled devices to monitor WiFi access points in a target area to indicate whether a WiFi access point is newly-observed. A WiFi-enabled device communicates with WiFi access points within range of the WiFi-enabled device so that observed WiFi access points identify themselves. A reference database is accessed to obtain information specifying a recorded location for each observed WiFi access point in the target area. Observed WiFi access points for which the reference database has no information specifying a corresponding recorded location are identified. The recorded location information for each of the observed WiFi access points is used to calculate the position of the WiFi-enabled device. The reference database is informed of the WiFi access points (for which there was no information in the database) and is provided the calculated position in conjunction therewith. |
| US09037158B2 |
Localized secure user plane location (SUPL) emergency session
Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for a Localized Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Emergency Session are presented. In some embodiments, a method for a localized Secure User Plane Location Emergency Session includes, receiving a Secure User Plane Location Initiation Message at a mobile device; determining whether an emergency indicator in the Secure User Plane Location Initiation Message is set to TRUE; determining a Mobile Country Code associated with the radio access network currently used by the mobile device; determining a requirement for an Emergency Secure User Plane Location Session in a jurisdiction associated with the Mobile Country Code; and establishing a Secure User Plane Location Session with a Secure User Plane Location Platform server. |
| US09037156B2 |
Real-time spherical correction of map data
A method of displaying a map on a wireless communications device, the method comprising obtaining map data for rendering the map to be displayed on the wireless communications device and determining a zoom level of the map. If the zoom level of the map exceeds a predetermined zoom level, corrected map data is generated by applying a fixed spherical correction factor to the map data. If the zoom level of the map does not exceed the predetermined zoom level, the corrected map data is generated by computing a spherical correction factor based on a latitude of the map. The method also includes rendering the corrected map data to display the map on a display of the wireless communications device. |
| US09037145B2 |
Method and apparatus for maintaining priority and quality of service across multi-user devices
A first mobile station operating on a first network according to a first network protocol receives a proxy request for access to a network resource, by from a second mobile station operating on a second network according to a second network protocol. The proxy request is received according to a third network protocol. The first mobile station determines a priority of the proxy request; accepts or denies the proxy request based on the determined priority of the proxy request; allocates resources to the proxy request, if the proxy request is accepted; and serves as a proxy mobile station for the second mobile station to access the network resource. |
| US09037144B2 |
Method and base station, user equipment and system for activating coexistence work mode
A method for activating coexistence work mode and a base station, user equipment and system using the method. The method for activating coexistence work mode includes: a user equipment in a first communication system transmits an activation mode request, which requests for entering the coexistence work mode, to the base station in the first communication system; in the coexistence work mode, using different transmission resource, the user equipment performs a first communication with the base station and performs a second communication with a device of a second communication system which is different from the first communication system, respectively; the user equipment activates the coexistence work mode based on configuration information of the coexistence work mode, wherein, the configuration information of the coexistence work mode is preset for the user equipment by the base station, and is conserved in the user equipment. |
| US09037143B2 |
Remote antenna clusters and related systems, components, and methods supporting digital data signal propagation between remote antenna units
Distributed antenna systems supporting digital data signal propagation between remote antenna clusters, and related distributed antenna systems, components and methods are disclosed. The distributed antenna systems facilitate distributing digital data signals to provide digital data services remotely to distributed remote antenna units. The digital data signals may be propagated between remote antenna units within a remote antenna cluster for digital data signals transmitted to wireless client devices in the distributed antenna system and for digital data signals received from wireless client devices in the distributed antenna system. Received digital data signals from wireless client devices can be propagated from remote antenna unit to remote antenna unit in a remote antenna cluster until the digital data signals reach a wired network device for communication over a network. The remote antenna units may be configured to support high-frequency digital data signal to support larger channel bandwidths and in turn higher data rate transfers. |
| US09037140B1 |
Wireless network synchronization of cells and client devices on a network
A system and method for wireless synchronization on a network are disclosed. In one embodiment, the wireless device includes a wireless transceiver and processing circuitry. The wireless transceiver wirelessly receives synchronization information including a superframe from a first wireless, reader device, and wirelessly transmits the synchronization information to a second wireless, reader device and a portable wireless device, and to wirelessly detect a presence of a portable wireless device. The processing circuitry communicates synchronization information to the second wireless, reader device and portable wireless device. The superframe is used to synchronize a wireless data exchange between the third wireless, reader device and the portable wireless device. |
| US09037136B2 |
Method and apparatus for recording events
A data collection method for collecting data describing at least one encounter of a mobile wireless device with at least one other wireless device, said method comprising: conducting a digital handshake between said mobile wireless device and said at least one other wireless device over a wireless link; and communicating a record of said encounter between said mobile wireless device and said other wireless device to a recording device. |
| US09037134B2 |
Mobile devices with femto cell functionality
Aspects describe communications environments in which femtocell capability is provided to devices within the communications network. A non-femto enabled device and/or a femto enabled device can communicate with a femto enabled device in the same geographical area for femto-enabled peer-to-peer communication. Two non-femto enabled devices can be provided femto functionality through utilization of a femto enabled device, which operates as a hub between the two devices. Other aspects relate to enhanced position determination, adaptive coverage enhancement, local mobile networks, open access femtocells without a backhaul, and local broadcast of media though utilization of femto enabled devices. |
| US09037133B2 |
Broadcast based proximity service to mobile device users
A message broadcast from a radio frequency transceiver of a cell of a mobile communication network is based on a profile of a proximity service offered to users of mobile devices within the cell coverage area. The message includes information about the proximity service for prompting the users to respond to receive further communication regarding the proximity service. A user operates a mobile device to respond indicating a request to receive further communication regarding the proximity service. In some examples, upon receiving the response, an application server coupled to the network transmits service content as part providing the proximity service to the user. In other examples, if the service profile and a user profile are compatible so as to allow the direct communication, the application server sends instructions to enable direct communication between the mobile device and a proximity service server of the proximity service provider. |
| US09037132B1 |
Method and apparatus for origination based on distance and duration
When a roaming wireless communication device seeks to originate a communication, the device may originate the communication in a roaming system because the device has not yet run a next scheduled scan for a more preferred, home, system. In the disclosed method, the device may evaluate a current distance from where the device was located when it successfully communicated to a home system and may further evaluate a current duration from that successful communication. If the distance is threshold short and perhaps further if the duration is threshold short, then the device may originate the communication in the home system without having detected the home system through a scheduled rescan. Further, to help expedite origination, the device may set its origination power at the power that it used for the last successful communication. |
| US09037131B2 |
Efficient generation of radio coverage map of access points in an indoor environment
A method for generating a radio coverage map. A two-dimensional radio coverage map located between a first physical level and a second physical level is generated. The access point is located above the second physical level. The two-dimensional radio coverage map is located at a distance from the access point and comprises a plurality of map points, where the map points have a predicted received signal strength value. A projection window is determined. A projected area on the two-dimensional radio coverage map is determined by computing a geometrical projection from the access point through the projection window onto the two-dimensional radio coverage map. A plurality of first points in a first area on the two-dimensional radio coverage map is identified. The first area is outside the projected area. The predicted received signal strength value of each of the first points is reduced by a value equal to the signal attenuation caused by the second physical level. |
| US09037124B1 |
Wireless device application interaction via external control detection
Wireless device application interaction via external control detection comprises identifying a first position of a wireless device and identifying a first change in the wireless device's position. The method may also provide calculating a first distance vector. The method may also perform comparing the first distance vector to a first threshold distance and calculating a second distance vector based on a distance between the second position and a third position and comparing the second distance vector to a second threshold distance, and changing a current operating state of the wireless device to a different operating state if the first distance vector exceeds the first minimum distance and the second distance vector does not exceed the first maximum distance. |
| US09037123B2 |
Detecting indoor and outdoor usage of a mobile device
Mobile devices may be subject to different operational constraints in different geographies or circumstances. For example, power levels may be limited for transmissions in certain countries. The geographic position of a mobile device may be identified and used for determining the applicable local regulations. The local regulations may allow for different operational constraints depending on whether a device is located indoors or outdoors. Accordingly, a determination of indoor/outdoor state may be used to maximize device performance while also complying with appropriate regulations/circumstances. |
| US09037121B2 |
Mobile device and control method of the same
Disclosed is a mobile device which voluntarily and easily forms a network under a ubiquitous environment to perform various services and a control method of the same, the mobile device is provided, which includes a communication unit which communicates with at least one counterpart mobile device; a signal processing unit which processes a signal transmitted and received through the communication unit; a display unit which displays an image based on the signal processed by the signal processing unit; a user input unit which receives input by a user; and a controller which controls the communication unit to transmit request signals and perform the community activity with at least one counterpart mobile device. |
| US09037115B2 |
Voicemail handling for convergence communication system
A method includes receiving, at a computing device, a call originally directed to a mobile device, and forwarding the call to at least one other device. The method further includes determining that the forwarded call is not answered by the at least one other device and forwarding two versions of the call to the mobile device, such that one of the two versions of the call is automatically directed toward a voicemail account associated with the mobile device. The other of the two versions of the call is then canceled. |
| US09037114B2 |
SMS message notification arrangement
A method for applying personalized rules to an incoming e-mail message includes receiving an e-mail message addressed to a user and forwarding a copy of the e-mail message to a mobile communication device associated with the user. One or more pre-defined rules associated with the user are applied to the e-mail message. At least one of the pre-defined rules is identified that the e-mail message satisfies. The identified rule specifies that a text message such as an SMS message be sent to the mobile communication device indicating that an e-mail message satisfying the pre-defined rule has been received. The text message includes a link that allows the user to directly access the e-mail with the mobile communication device's user interface. |
| US09037113B2 |
Systems and methods for detecting call provenance from call audio
Various embodiments of the invention are detection systems and methods for detecting call provenance based on call audio. An exemplary embodiment of the detection system can comprise a characterization unit, a labeling unit, and an identification unit. The characterization unit can extract various characteristics of networks through which a call traversed, based on call audio. The labeling unit can be trained on prior call data and can identify one or more codecs used to encode the call, based on the call audio. The identification unit can utilize the characteristics of traversed networks and the identified codecs, and based on this information, the identification unit can provide a provenance fingerprint for the call. Based on the call provenance fingerprint, the detection system can identify, verify, or provide forensic information about a call audio source. |
| US09037112B2 |
Method and system for secured remote provisioning of a universal integrated circuit card of a user equipment
The present invention provides a method and system for secured remote provisioning of a universal integrated circuit card of a user equipment. A system includes a user equipment for initiating a request for remote provisioning of an universal integrated circuit card (UICC) in the user equipment, where the request for remote provisioning includes a machine identifier (MID) associated with the user equipment and a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (ID) associated with an network operator. The system also includes at least one shared key management server for dynamically generating security keys and an operator shared key using the security keys, the MID. Moreover, the system includes an operator network for generating a subscription key using the operator shared key and an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), and provisioning the IMSI in a secured manner to the UICC of the user equipment using the security keys. |
| US09037110B2 |
System and method for authorizing and monetizing a telephone call
A system and method of authorizing and monetizing a telephone communication such as a voice call is disclosed. The calling party may be in a controlled environment such as a prison or hospital; the called party is using a mobile telephone device. The call is facilitated by a service provider such as a connect service provider. The call is monetized by a message service charge billed to an account associated with the mobile telephone device. The call is facilitated as a voice call if there is authorization both for a charge for message service to the mobile telephone device and for the call from the calling party. The system is implemented with a system may use a message service communication protocol for the message and billing charge. computer-based system in operation with the interactive voice response system. Revenue from monetization of the call may be shared between service providers. |
| US09037108B1 |
Emergency assistance for mobile communication device user
An automated emergency assistance computing system may be configured to receive and store registration information about a mobile communication device user that may need help in connection with an emergency, including information about the type of the emergency. The system may receive an emergency alert from a mobile communication device through a communication network which indicates that a user of the mobile communication device is experiencing an emergency, including information about the location of the emergency. An emergency help request may be issued for help relating to the emergency. The emergency help request may include information about the location of the emergency, about the type of the emergency, and about how to communicate with the automated emergency assistance computing system to obtain continuous real time information relating to the emergency. |
| US09037105B2 |
Dynamic gain assignment in analog baseband circuits
A system and method is provided for filtering and amplifying a signal where amplification can be distributed between stages of a filter and gain can be assigned throughout the filter to optimize system performance. Such a system can be implemented in the baseband section of RF receivers. VGAs can be implemented between filter stages, such as biquads, or VGAs can be incorporated in filter stages. Substantially linear VGAs comprising a parallel resistor array can be incorporated in the circuitry of the filter stages to reduce distortion. Gain can be assigned dynamically in the amplification stages to improve noise and/or linearity performance. For example, gain assignments can be implemented so that high power undesired signal components are filtered out before amplification to prevent component saturation, and low power signals are amplified before they are filtered to improve noise performance. |
| US09037104B2 |
Receiver that reconfigures between zero intermediate frequency and direct sampling based on channel conditions
A wireless device for receiving wireless signals based on channel conditions is described. The wireless device includes a direct sampling path used when operating in a direct sampling mode. The wireless device also includes a zero intermediate frequency path used when operating in a normal sampling mode. The wireless device further includes a first switch coupling a filter module input to an input of the direct sampling path and an input of the zero intermediate frequency path. The wireless device also includes a second coupling a filter module output to an output of the direct sampling path and an output of the zero intermediate frequency path. The first switch and the second switch are configured to switch between the direct sampling path and the zero intermediate frequency path based on a received signal power. |
| US09037102B1 |
Method and apparatus for envelope tracking
Aspects of the disclosure provide a circuit that includes a first circuit, a second circuit, and an adder. The first circuit is configured to generate a first signal by outputting and holding, at a first timing, a first stream in response to an input stream of data. The second circuit is configured to generate a second signal by outputting and holding, at a second timing, a second stream in response to the input stream of data. The adder is configured to add the first signal with the second signal to generate an up-sampled stream for the input stream of data and reduce a frequency component in the up-sampled stream generated by the up-sampling. |
| US09037100B1 |
Wireless transmitter
A wireless transmitter for resolving gain mismatch of TV band is disclosed. In one embodiment, a wireless transmitter comprises a two-stage 14-path harmonic-rejection mixer to manage harmonic rejection ratio in lower sub-bands, and a two-stage 6-path harmonic-rejection mixer to manage harmonic rejection ratio in upper sub-bands. The gain mismatch is resolved by selecting gain ratios of the first and the second stage of the two-stage 14-path harmonic-rejection mixer and the two-stage 6-path harmonic-rejection mixer. |
| US09037098B2 |
System and method for wrist band transmitter and system thereof
A light weight transmission device providing an identification signal is disclosed. In one aspect, the device comprises a gating device for controlling the transfer of information to the transmitter, a data retaining device, in communication with the gating device, receiving and storing the information for a known period of time, and a controller, in communication with the gating device, providing a signal to the gating device to enable transfer of the retained information to the transmitter at a known time and for a known period of time. |
| US09037092B2 |
Method, apparatus and computer program for determining whether a received signal comprises a first signal component
A method of determining at a receiver whether a received signal comprises a pure tone signal component. The method comprises: measuring a received signal over a measurement period; calculating, using maximum likelihood hypothesis testing, a likelihood ratio value for the measured signal and, determining, based on said likelihood ratio value, whether the measured signal comprises a pure tone signal component. The likelihood ratio value is a value indicative of the ratio of a likelihood LFSC that the measured signal comprises a pure tone signal component, and a likelihood LnoFSC that the measured signal does not comprise the pure tone signal component. |
| US09037087B2 |
Systems and methods for providing one or more functionalities to a wearable computing device with directional antenna
Computationally implemented methods and systems include receiving one or more signals through a directional antenna of a wearable computing device, the one or more signals having been transmitted by one or more electronic devices; determining that the one or more electronic devices are within a spatial pod surrounding the wearable computing device based, at least in part, on the one or more signals received by the wearable computing device; and obtaining at least access to one or more functionalities from the one or more electronic devices that were determined to be within the spatial pod of the wearable computing device. In addition to the foregoing, other aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text. |
| US09037085B2 |
Method for sharing data between devices
A method for data sharing between a first device and a second device is disclosed. The method includes steps of the first device detecting whether the second device is within a specific range; at least first one of the first device and the second device exchanging at least one spatial condition information through a communication channel if the second device is within the specific range; at least second one of the first device and the second device verifying whether the at least one spatial condition information matches a predefined condition; and the at least second one of the first device and the second device activating data sharing between the first device and the second device when the at least one spatial condition information matches the predefined condition. |
| US09037080B2 |
Contactless electronic device, process for manufacturing the device and contactless electronic tag
The device (10) includes a near-field communication antenna (12) delimiting a useful magnetic field receiving area (S), a microcircuit (14) connected to the antenna (12) and a magnetic shielding layer (16) arranged so as to extend at least partially under the area (S). It also includes a support (18) built into a microcircuit card body (20) including an open cavity (30) in one of its faces (F2) extending at least partially under the antenna area (S) and sized so as to completely accommodate the shielding layer (16). More specifically, the body (20) includes a detachable plate (22) within which are arranged the antenna (12) and the microcircuit (14) and within which the layer (16) extends at least partially. |
| US09037075B2 |
Relay station and communication control method
Provided is a relay station relaying wireless signals between a base station and a mobile station, the relay station including: a communication unit configured to relay the wireless signals; a determination unit configured to determine whether or not it is necessary to change a cell ID of the relay station in order to avoid a collision between a cell ID of the relay station and a cell ID of the base station due to a movement of the relay station; and a control unit configured to cause a cell ID of an access point of the mobile station belonging to the relay station to be changed from a first cell ID of the relay station to a second cell ID of the relay station when the determination unit determines that it is necessary to change the cell ID. |
| US09037072B2 |
Medium loader device and image formation apparatus
A medium loader device includes a first medium loader member configured to load a medium, a second medium loader member usable as an extension of the first medium loader member, and a support member configured to support the first medium loader member and the second medium loader member and to form a storage area capable of storing the second medium loader member between the support member and the first medium loader member. The support member includes a holder configured to hold the first medium loader member such that the first medium loader member moves relative to the support member when the second medium loader member is moved from a usage position where the second medium loader member is used as the extension of the first medium loader member to a storage position where the second medium loader member is stored in the storage area. |
| US09037069B2 |
Method for producing cleaning blade
In a method for producing a cleaning blade, a first composition obtained by causing a reaction of diphenylmethane diisocyanate and a first aliphatic polyester polyol which has a number-average molecular weight of 2000 to 3500 and is used in an amount of 20 to 40 mol % relative to the diphenylmethane diisocyanate and a second composition containing a urethane rubber-synthesizing catalyst and a second aliphatic polyester polyol which has a number-average molecular weight of 2000 to 3500 and is the same as or different from the first aliphatic polyester polyol are mixed so that a relationship between a number of moles (MNCO [mol]) of an NCO group in the first composition and a number of moles (MOH [mol]) of an OH group in the second composition satisfies 0.05≦MOH/MNCO≦0.20. |
| US09037068B2 |
Image forming apparatus and process cartridge including cleaning blade
An image forming apparatus includes an image holding member, a developing device which accommodates a toner which contains at least one type of external additive having an average particle size of 0.02 μm or greater, and toner particles having a surface with the external additive externally added thereto, and forms an image developed with the toner on a surface of the image holding member, a transfer device which transfers the developed image formed on the image holding member onto a recording medium, and a cleaning device which is provided with a cleaning blade constituted by a member in which at least a part which is brought into contact with the image holding member has a dynamic micro hardness of from 0.25 to 0.65, and brings the cleaning blade into contact with the surface of the image holding member after transfer of the developed image to perform cleaning. |
| US09037066B2 |
Image forming apparatus
Provided is an image forming apparatus including: an image bearing member on which a toner image is formed electrophotographically; and a lubricant applying section that applies a lubricant to a surface of the image bearing member. The lubricant applying section includes two columnar solid lubricants that contain a larger number of residual gas bubbles at one end than the other end thereof, and are produced by the same production method. The two solid lubricants are placed along an axial direction of the image bearing member such that the respective one and the other ends thereof are opposite to each other. |
| US09037061B2 |
Fixing apparatus
A fixing apparatus includes a back-up member contacting an inner surface of a cylindrical belt; a roller having an elastic layer and contacting an outer surface of the belt, the roller being cooperative with the back-up member to form a fixing nip between the belt and the roller. A sheet carrying a toner image is nipped and fed through the fixing nip, during which the unfixed toner image is heat-fixed thereon by the fixing nip. The back-up member includes a portion contactable with the inner surface and having such a configuration that the belt forms a first curved surface convex toward the roller in an upstream region in the fixing nip with respect to a moving direction of the belt and that the belt forms a second curved surface convex toward the back-up member in a downstream region in the fixing nip with respect to the moving direction. |
| US09037060B2 |
Fixing apparatus
With a fixing apparatus, a shape of a folded portion on the side of a pressure roller of a sliding contact sheet is folded along a shape of the pressure roller, thereby uniformizing a longitudinal pressure distribution and preventing an uneven-gloss image due to pressure reduction. |
| US09037059B2 |
Fixing device and image forming apparatus
A fixing device includes a heating rotating body driven by a motor, a pressing member, a biasing unit, a switching unit that receives rotational power of the motor in order to either separate the pressing member and the heating rotating body or to allow the biasing unit to press the pressing member and the heating rotating body together, a power transmission mechanism that transmits the rotational power of the motor to the switching unit over a first path or a second path, the first path having a larger reduction ratio, and a transmission control unit that establishes and cuts off transmission of rotational power of the motor to the switching unit by the power transmission mechanism and that includes a path selection unit that selects the first path during separation and the second path during pressing by the switching unit. |
| US09037058B2 |
Fixing device including nip member, backup member and biasing member for pressing nip member toward backup member
There is provided a fixing device configured to thermally fix a developer image onto a sheet, the fixing device including: a flexible tubular member; a nip member; a backup member; a first member: a second member: a biasing member; and a transmission member. The biasing member presses the nip member toward the backup member side through the first member and the second member by biasing both end portions of the first member in a width direction of the sheet toward the backup member. The transmission member is provided between the first member and the second member. The transmission member transmits a biasing force, which is applied from the biasing member to the first member, to a center portion of the second member in the width direction of the sheet. |
| US09037050B2 |
Developer container having a developer conveying member including an urging member
A developer container for an image forming apparatus includes a housing configured to store developer, a developer conveying member disposed inside the housing and configured to rotate to convey the developer stored in the housing. The developer conveying member includes a rotary shaft, a rotary base member and a sheet-like main body. The main body has a base end portion fixed to the rotary base member and a free end portion configured to be pressed into contact with an inner wall of the housing. The rotary base member includes an urging member configured to urge the main body from an upstream side toward a downstream side in a direction of rotation thereof. |
| US09037047B2 |
Printing systems utilizing inks with high solids content
A printing system utilizing inks with high solids content includes a mixing unit for receiving a high solids content ink and producing a concentrated ink and an interim tank for receiving the concentrated ink from the mixing unit. An ink tank receives the concentrated ink from the interim tank and produces printing ink. An liquid electro-photographic print engine receives the printing ink from the ink tank. A fluid return line is connected between the mixing unit and at least one of the interim tank and the ink tank, the mixing unit receiving fluid from at least one of the interim tank and the ink tank and mixing the fluid with the high solids content ink. A method for liquid electro photographic printing using high solid content ink is also provided. |
| US09037041B2 |
Image forming apparatus and transfer device having a rotatable door
A transfer assembly includes a support member having a side wall that extends in such a direction as to intersect a line extending from the rotation axis of a transfer roller and that has a hole through which a support shaft is inserted with some play being present. The hole has such a shape that, at the beginning of a period when a door is rotated from an open state to a closed state and a positioned portion is in contact with a positioning member, gaps are formed between the support shaft and a wall surface of the hole on both sides of the support shaft in a radial direction crossing an arc that is drawn from a center of the arc at the center line of rotation of the door and that passes through the support shaft. |
| US09037037B2 |
Pressing mechanism for a developing cartridge
An image forming apparatus includes a main body; a process unit configured to be attached to and removed from the main body, the process unit being configured to integrally hold a plurality of image carriers arranged in a first direction; a plurality of developing cartridges provided in corresponding association with the image carriers, the developing cartridges configured to be attached to and removed from the process unit, each of the developing cartridges including a corresponding developer carrier, each of the developing cartridges being configured to supply developer to a corresponding image carrier; and a pressing mechanism provided in the main body, the pressing mechanism configured to press the developing cartridges, when attached to the process unit, in a direction that the developer carriers contact the image carriers. |
| US09037036B2 |
Opening and closing mechanism and image-forming apparatus
An opening and closing mechanism has an apparatus body 2 and an opening and closing member 3 that opens and closes by rotating with respect to the apparatus body 2, and also has a rod-like metal shaft member 8 that is mounted in the apparatus body 2. The opening and closing member 3 is rotatably supported about the metal shaft member 8 through insertion of the opening and closing member 3 between a guiding surface 7a1 having a circular arc surface shape provided in the apparatus body 2, and a surface 8a of the metal shaft member 8. |
| US09037032B2 |
Developing cartridge
A developing cartridge includes: a housing including a developing chamber and a developer accommodating chamber; a developing roller including a developing roller shaft; a supply roller including a supply roller shaft; a developing electrode, which is provided on an outer side of one sidewall of the housing, which is electrically connected to the developing roller shaft, and which includes a developing protrusion protruding parallel to the developing roller shaft at a position different from the developing roller shaft; and a supply electrode, which is provided on the outer side of the one sidewall, which is electrically connected to the supply roller shaft, and which includes a supply protrusion protruding parallel to the supply roller shaft at a position different from the supply roller shaft. The developing protrusion and the supply protrusion are arranged in an arrangement direction of the developing chamber and the developer accommodating chamber. |
| US09037030B2 |
Power control system and power control method
A power control system includes an image forming apparatus, a power calculating unit, and a condition controller. The image forming apparatus operates using power, forms an image corresponding to image information in a first operation mode, and enters a second operation mode in which power consumption is smaller than the first operation mode when the image forming apparatus satisfies a specific transition condition. The power calculating unit calculates power supplied from a power supplying unit. The condition controller controls the specific transition condition for the image forming apparatus in accordance with the power calculated by the power calculating unit. |
| US09037026B2 |
Fusing device, image forming apparatus, and method of controlling fusing pressure in a fusing device
A fusing device has a heater, a fusing rotary member heated thereby, a pressing rotary member in contact with the fusing rotary member to form a fusing nip, an adjustment mechanism adjusting a fusing pressure to adjust the nip width of the fusing nip, a temperature sensing member, and a control portion. By the control portion, the fusing pressure is set at a first set value during fusing warm-up operation for raising temperature of the fusing rotary member, is set at a third set value when a first sheet of paper after completion of fusing warm-up operation passes through the fusing nip, and is changed to a second set value before sheets of paper for a preset number of pages pass through the fusing nip after completion of fusing warm-up operation. Of the set values, the third is greatest, the second is second greatest, and the first is smallest. |
| US09037024B2 |
Fusing device including nip regulating member having flat and arc-shaped surfaces and image forming apparatus including the fusing device
A fusing device includes a regulating member and a switching mechanism. The regulating member has a flat surface and an arc-shaped surface and regulates a nip formed by a belt and a roller. The switching mechanism switches the fusing device between a first mode and a second mode in which an unfused toner image is fused to a recording medium. The flat surface is provided along a direction in which the recording medium enters the nip. The arc-shaped surface is provided downstream of the flat surface in the recording medium entry direction, is contiguous to the flat surface, and is curved toward the roller. In the first mode, the nip is regulated by the flat surface and the arc-shaped surface. In the second mode, the nip is regulated by the flat surface of the flat and arc-shaped surfaces. |
| US09037021B2 |
Image forming apparatus including a cleaning-bias controller
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member that bears a toner image; a transfer member that faces the image bearing member, nips a recording medium together with the image bearing member, and allows the recording medium to pass therebetween; a transfer-bias applying unit that applies transfer bias voltage to generate an electric field between the transfer member and the image bearing member; a cleaning member that is disposed in contact with the transfer member and removes toner from the transfer member; a cleaning-bias applying unit that applies cleaning bias voltage between the cleaning member and the transfer member; a transfer-toner-amount estimating unit that estimates an amount of toner to be transferred from the image bearing member to the transfer member when the recording medium does not pass therebetween; and a cleaning-bias controller that controls the cleaning bias voltage in correspondence with the estimated amount of toner. |
| US09037020B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a toner carrying member for carrying a toner; an image carrying member on which a toner image is formed with the toner; and a plurality of divided electrode portions provided at a position in which the electrode portions oppose the toner carrying member via the image carrying member interposed therebetween. The electrode portions are supplied with a voltage on the basis of image information to move the toner between the toner carrying member and the image carrying member thereby to form the toner image. The electrode portions includes a first electrode portion for forming an image portion and a second electrode portion, adjacent to the first electrode portion, for forming a non-image portion. The image forming apparatus further includes a controller for variably controlling at least one of potential differences |Vp−Vt| and |Vt−V0| depending on the image information, where a potential of the toner carrying member is Vt, a potential of the first electrode portion is Vp and a potential of the second electrode portion is V0. |
| US09037018B1 |
Charge slope derivation control of toner concentration
A method of controlling toner concentration in an image forming device by determining a charge per unit mass of toner in a mixture of toner and carrier and adding toner to the mixture if the charge per unit mass of the toner is higher than a predetermined threshold. Other methods and devices are disclosed. |
| US09037017B2 |
Image forming apparatus capable of controlling density of image and control method therefor
An image forming apparatus which reduces downtime by starting image density detection without waiting for identification of the same position on a rotary member. A detection unit detects a surface condition of a rotary member on which a toner image on a photosensitive drum is transferred. An identifying unit matches first data detected by the detection unit on a reference point on the surface of the rotary member and second data detected by the detection unit after obtainment of the first data to identify the reference point. A control unit controls image density based on a detection result obtained by the detection unit on a base of the rotary member corresponding to a range where a measurement image is formed and an obtained detection result on the measurement image by referring to the reference point identified as a reference. |
| US09037015B2 |
Paper profile and reading systems
Methods, systems, computer readable media and other means for generating a profile for a particular type of media are provided. The profile represents a set of preferred printing parameters to be used to achieve a target print quality for a reference printing device. The profile may be used by other non-reference printing devices in order to optimize printing for that type of media. For each non-reference printing device, an offset may be established that represents the differences between the non-reference and the reference printing devices. A processor of the non-reference printing device may identify the type of media and the profile for that media and then adjust the printing parameters for the non-reference printing device based on the profile and the offset in order to optimize the print quality. The profile may also include a parameter that is based on a temperature coefficient associated with the type of printer. |
| US09037012B2 |
Image forming apparatus
A control portion controls a drive of rotation of an image carrier and registers a second index with a first index passing through a transfer position at real time at the time of image formation. Before starting the image formation, the toner image forming portion is controlled to adjust misalignment between the first index and the second index. Accordingly, the second index is formed at a position on the image carrier which is registered with the first index in advance, so that a large amount of control for compensating a large amount of phase misalignment is no longer necessary. |
| US09037007B2 |
Image forming apparatus and toner remaining amount control method
A dot-count calculation section counts the number of dots that are printed, and calculates an amount of toner consumed in a developing device (toner consumption amount). A toner supply amount calculation section calculates an amount of toner supplied to the developing device by the toner supply mechanism (toner supply amount). A cumulative toner supply amount holding section holds a cumulative toner supply amount. A correction toner supply amount calculation section calculates a used amount of the toner in the toner case (correction toner supply amount), based on the toner consumption amount and the toner supply amount. A cumulative toner supply amount updating section adds the correction toner supply amount and the cumulative toner supply amount, and stores a value resulting from the addition in the cumulative toner supply amount holding section, as a new cumulative toner supply amount. |
| US09037003B2 |
Signal transmission device
A signal transmission device drives a light-emitting element and outputs an optical signal depending on a data signal from an electronic device. The device includes an element driving portion which supplies a driving current to the light-emitting element, wherein the driving current is obtained by superimposing a modulation current on a bias current, the modulation current being dependent on the data signal indicating emitting information of the light-emitting element. A temperature compensation portion of the device controls the bias current and the modulation current depending on the temperature so that a temperature-current characteristic of the light-emitting element is reproduced based on the voltage which is dependent on the temperature and the voltage which is independent from the temperature, thereby performing current control depending on the temperature. |
| US09037002B2 |
Pre-emphasis control method and optical transmission system
A pre-emphasis control method includes calculating an average value of transmission characteristics based on transmission characteristics of a plurality of light beams received by a receiver, and determining that, among signals of the plurality of light beams, a wavelength with a deviation from the average value is a wavelength at which control is to be performed, determining that the wavelength at which control is to be performed and a wavelength adjacent thereto are a group of wavelengths at which control is to be performed, obtaining an average of transmission characteristics of the group of wavelengths at which control is to be performed, and based on a difference between averaged transmission characteristics and respective transmission characteristics of the group of wavelengths at which control is to be performed, changing a light intensity output from each transmitter that transmits a group of wavelengths at which control is to be performed. |
| US09037001B2 |
Method and apparatus of decoding low-rate visible light communication signals
Methods and apparatus related to the detection of low-rate visible light communication (VLC) signals and the recovery of information communicated by the VLC signals are described. Various methods and apparatus are well suited for embodiments in which a device, e.g., a smartphone, including a camera which uses a rolling shutter. The rolling shutter facilitates the collection of different time snapshots of a received low rate time varying VLC signal with different pixel rows in the image sensor of a frame corresponding to different time snapshots. In some embodiments, demodulation is used to recover and identify a single tone being communicated in a frame from among a plurality of possible alternative tones that may be communicated, each different tone corresponding to a different set of information bits. |
| US09036997B2 |
Method and system for WDM transmission with chromato-temporal encoding
A transmitter and a receiver for an optical telecommunication system of the WDM type are disclosed. In one aspect, the transmitter uses a chromato-temporal encoder which, with each block of symbols to be transmitted, associates a code matrix, where each element of the matrix corresponds to a wavelength and a use of the channel. The transmitter includes multiple modulators, where each modulator modulates a laser beam at a wavelength during a use of the channel by an element corresponding to the code matrix. The beams modulated in this manner are multiplexed in an optical fiber. Another embodiment using both a wavelength and a polarization encoding is also proposed. |
| US09036994B2 |
Method of optical interconnection of data-processing cores on a chip
The invention provides optical interconnects of data-processing cores of multicore chips by means of digital planar holographic microchips. The method comprises delivering “N” laser lights to “N” data-processing cores on the host chip, coding the obtained optical signals by modulating them with the core-generated data, and then delivering the modulated and coded optical signals to a holographic microchip formed on the same substrate of the host chip as the data-processing cores, splitting the modulated and coded optical signals into (N−1)N modulated optical copy signals, delivering the copy signals to all data-processing cores except the one that generates the copy signals, and decoding the data obtained from the output signals delivered to the processing cores by the receivers. The method is efficient in that it allows replacing electrical interconnects between the cores with optical interconnects and can be matched to current semiconductor production technology. |
| US09036992B2 |
LDPC-coded modulation for ultra-high-speed optical transport in the presence of phase noise
Methods and systems for decoding a signal include compensating for impairments in a received signal using at least carrier phase estimation, where residual phase error remains after compensation; calculating symbol log-likelihood ratios (LLRs) for symbols in the compensated signal using Monte Carlo integration; demapping the symbols in the compensated signal using the symbol LLRs and extrinsic information from signal decoding to produce one or more estimated codewords; and decoding each estimated codeword with a decoder that generates a decoded codeword and extrinsic information. |
| US09036989B2 |
Apparatus and method for rerouting multiple traffics
The disclosure discloses an apparatus and method for rerouting multiple traffics. The apparatus includes a path computation unit and a traffic path incorporation unit, the path computation unit forwards a received uniform route computation notification message including multiple pieces of failed traffic connection information to the traffic path incorporation unit, and also forwards a route inquiry request transmitted from the head node of the fault traffic to the traffic path incorporation unit; the traffic path incorporation unit analyzes and detects the failed traffic connection information according to traffic incorporating and route inquiry statistic algorithm, and uniformly obtains and records the recovery route information from the path computation unit; when receiving the route inquiry request forwarded by the path computation unit, the traffic path incorporation unit is further configured to search the record according to the route inquiry request, and return the found corresponding recovery route information to the head node which requests the recovery through the path computation unit. The disclosure uses a incorporating and uniform route inquiry method, the resource loss of the path computation unit is reduced, and the efficiency of link restoration is improved. |
| US09036987B2 |
Bearing arrangement inner race heater
A device for heating a bearing race mounted on a shaft including a quartz halogen lamp for heating the bearing race and a reflector for reflecting heat from the quartz halogen lamp towards the bearing race. |
| US09036986B2 |
Heater
A heater comprising a housing including an intake aperture and an output aperture. The heater includes a heat exchanger operatively disposed within the housing between the intake aperture and the output aperture. The heat exchanger includes a shell forming a cavity therein, wherein an interior surface of the shell is substantially black in the infrared domain. The heater includes an infrared emission module disposed within the cavity of the heat exchanger and substantially enclosed thereby such that emitted infrared light does not escape therefrom. The infrared emission module includes a first infrared emitter and a second infrared emitter. The heater includes a fan positioned to motivate air into the housing through the intake aperture, across the heat exchanger, and out of the output aperture. The heater also includes a power module functionally coupled to the infrared emission module and the fan and configured to provide operational power thereto. |
| US09036984B2 |
Information storage medium containing multi-path data, and storage apparatus and player thereof
A data recording and reproducing apparatus supporting multi-path recording reproduction, and an information storage medium on which multi-path data is recorded. The information storage medium includes at least one clip that is a recording unit containing presentation data for respective paths, wherein presentation data in a selected path is continuously reproduced without changing paths, and additional path information regarding a block of the path is recorded separately from the presentation data. Accordingly, it is possible to more effectively use a recording space and reduce the frequency of jumping to clips, thereby effectively reading the multi-path presentation data from the information storage medium. |
| US09036983B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, reproducing apparatus, reproducing method, program, and recording medium
An information processing apparatus includes a controller that sets type information, which represents that an application for executing a process using a dependent view video stream is an application for reproducing a 3-D image, in a clip information file which describes information on a transport stream including the dependent view video stream out of a base view video stream and the dependent view video stream obtained by encoding a plurality of video data according to the a predetermined video coding format. |
| US09036980B2 |
Methods for efficiently combining partial ABR recordings
Recording reconstruction from multiple overlapping recordings may be provided. New recorders may copy manifests from working recorders, as opposed to reconstructing from failed recorders, to construct manifests that refer to video fragments from different recorders. Origin servers may follow these reconstructed manifests to obtain any fragment in the recording, in any combination of recorder failure/take-over/restart, as long as there was at least one recorder functioning at all times. |
| US09036976B2 |
Method and apparatus for reproducing content
A method of displaying a message received from a server during reproducing content includes: receiving the message provided to a user terminal, from the server, during the reproducing the content stored in a storage medium; determining an operation mode of the user terminal related to a priority order of the message; and providing the message according to the determined operation mode of the user terminal. |
| US09036971B2 |
Laser based frequency standards and their applications
Frequency standards based on mode-locked fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers and fiber-based ultra-broad bandwidth light sources, and applications of the same. |
| US09036966B2 |
Monolithic beam-shaping optical systems and methods for an OCT probe
Monolithic beam-shaping optical systems and methods are disclosed for an optical coherence tomography (OCT) probe that includes a transparent cylindrical housing having asymmetric optical power. The system includes a transparent monolithic body having a folded optical axis and at least one alignment feature that supports the end of an optical fiber adjacent an angled planar end wall. The monolithic body also includes a total-internal reflection surface and a lens surface that define object and image planes. Light from the optical fiber end traverses the optical path, which includes the cylindrical housing residing between the lens surface and the image plane. Either the lens surface by itself or the lens surface and the reflective (eg, TIR) surface in combination are configured to substantially correct for the asymmetric optical power of the cylindrical housing, thereby forming a substantially rotationally symmetric image spot at the image plane. |
| US09036961B2 |
Communication media multi-switch system
Exemplary systems and methods for testing communication media and devices are disclosed herein. An exemplary system may include a transmitting media support and a receiving media support, each including a plurality of communication media. The system may further include a movement support configured to selectively translate the receiving media support relative to the transmitting media support between a transmission position and a free position. In the transmission position, a receiving media may be engaged with the transmitting media to receive an initiated signal from the transmitting media. In the free position, a first end face of the receiving media may be spaced apart from a second end face of the transmitting media, thereby preventing contact between the first and second end faces. The movement support may be further configured to align the at least one of the receiving media with the transmitting media. |
| US09036958B2 |
Optical component
In an optical component, a part of a waveguide type optical device is fixed to a convex portion of a mount. The optical component includes an optical device support base, a pressure member and a pressure support base. The optical device support base is interposed between the mount and the presser member enough to be slidable in a direction parallel to surfaces of the mount and the presser member. |
| US09036956B2 |
Method of fabricating a polymer waveguide
A method of fabricating a waveguide device is disclosed. The method includes providing a substrate having an elector-interconnection region and a waveguide region and forming a patterned dielectric layer and a patterned redistribution layer (RDL) over the substrate in the electro-interconnection region. The method also includes bonding the patterned RDL to a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) through a bonding stack. A reflecting-mirror trench is formed in the substrate in the waveguide region, and a reflecting layer is formed over a reflecting-mirror region inside the waveguide region. The method further includes forming and patterning a bottom cladding layer in a wave-tunnel region inside the waveguide region and forming and patterning a core layer and a top cladding layer in the waveguide region. |
| US09036953B2 |
Electro-optical modulator based on carrier depletion or carrier accumulation in semiconductors with advanced electrode configuration
An electro-optical modulator with two electrodes as part of a transmission line of a first phase modulator and two electrodes as part of a transmission line of a second phase modulator included in two arms of a Mach-Zehnder-interferometer. An electrical controller applies a first electrical high-frequency-modulated voltage signals between the first and second electrodes and applies a second electrical high-frequency-modulated signals between the fourth and third electrodes. The electrical controller applies signals such that voltages applied to the first and fourth electrodes have substantially a same high-frequency content, and voltages applied to the second and third electrodes have substantially the same high-frequency content. In such configuration, a constant voltage offset is produced by either the voltages applied to the first and fourth electrodes or, the second and third electrodes. Thereby, cross-talk between electrodes, electrical losses, device size and fabrication costs may be reduced. |
| US09036951B2 |
Silicon acousto-optic modulator structure and method
An electro-optic structure, which may comprise an acousto-optic modulator for use in an opto-acoustic oscillator, comprises a plurality of rigidly connected resonator core components located movably separated over a substrate and anchored to the substrate at an anchor point. An actuator electrode is located separated from a first one of the rigidly connected resonator core components and an optical waveguide is located separated from a second one of the rigidly connected resonator core components. Radio frequency and direct current actuation of the actuator electrode provides a mechanical vibration in the first rigidly connected resonator core component that is mechanically coupled to the second rigidly connected resonator core component which serves to optically modulate light transported through the wave guide. Reverse operation is also contemplated. Embodiments also contemplate a third rigidly connected resonator core component as a radiation pressure driven detector. Further contemplated are related fabrication and operation methods. |
| US09036949B2 |
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. |
| US09036945B2 |
Medical image handling system and method
A medical image handling system includes a monitor for displaying a medical image, an input device for inputting an image reading report corresponding to the medical image displayed on the monitor, and a processor. The processor judges the presence or absence of an image reading report corresponding to the medical image displayed on the monitor, and restricts a change of the medical image in a case where the image reading report is judged as being absent. |
| US09036944B2 |
Apparatus and method for encoding/decoding images for intra-prediction coding
A method of decoding an image includes the steps of restoring a residual value by performing inverse quantization and inverse transform on the residual value by entropy decoding a received bit stream, generating a prediction unit by performing intra prediction selectively using one of a plurality of prediction modes on a prediction unit split by conducting at least one of asymmetric partitioning and geometrical partitioning, and restoring an image by adding the residual value to the prediction unit. It may be possible to enhance encoding efficiency of high-resolution images having a resolution of HD or higher by performing intra prediction on the asymmetric partitioning and/or geometrical partitioning. |
| US09036940B1 |
Methods and systems for video noise reduction
Methods and apparatus for use in reducing noise in one or more video frames. An expected value corresponding to each area (e.g., pixel) of a plurality of areas within the video frame is determined. A surprise value associated with each area is calculated based at least in part on the expected value and an actual value corresponding to the area. The surprise value represents a divergence of the actual value from the expected value. The response of one or more noise filters is attenuated with respect to a first area of the plurality of areas based on the surprise value associated with the first area. |
| US09036939B2 |
Video acquisition with processing based on ancillary data
Systems and techniques for processing sequences of video images involve receiving, on a computer, data corresponding to a sequence of video images detected by an image sensor. The received data is processed using a graphics processor to adjust one or more visual characteristics of the video images corresponding to the received data. The received data can include video data defining pixel values and ancillary data relating to settings on the image sensor. The video data can be processed in accordance with ancillary data to adjust the visual characteristics, which can include filtering the images, blending images, and/or other processing operations. |
| US09036937B2 |
Fast repeated integral images
A repeated integral images method filters image data in only two passes, e.g., the first pass filters horizontal rows of pixels and a second pass filters vertical columns of pixels, or in a single pass. The filter performs at least one infinite impulse response (IIR) filter and at least one finite impulse response (FIR) filter on the image data. A plurality of IIR filters and FIR filters maybe performed to approximate a Gaussian filter. By minimizing the number of passes, the data flow between the processing unit and the storage unit is greatly reduced compared to conventional repeated integral images method thereby improving computation time. |
| US09036932B2 |
Method and apparatus for encoding/decoding image data
Several attempts have been tried to improve the performance of intra-prediction in video encoding and decoding, which are targeting at pixel level parallelization. A solution for implementing an improved intra-prediction method on a parallel processing platform uses estimated predictors instead of reconstructed exact predictors. This enables faster estimation of predictors, and allows an encoder to perform intra-prediction for all blocks of at least a portion of an image simultaneously. |
| US09036931B2 |
Systems and methods for decoding structured light field image files
Systems and methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention are configured to render images using light field image files containing an image synthesized from light field image data and metadata describing the image that includes a depth map. One embodiment of the invention includes a processor and memory containing a rendering application and a light field image file including an encoded image and metadata describing the encoded image, where the metadata comprises a depth map that specifies depths from the reference viewpoint for pixels in the encoded image. In addition, the rendering application configures the processor to: locate the encoded image within the light field image file; decode the encoded image; locate the metadata within the light field image file; and post process the decoded image by modifying the pixels based on the depths indicated within the depth map to create a rendered image. |
| US09036925B2 |
Robust feature matching for visual search
Techniques are disclosed for performing robust feature matching for visual search. An apparatus comprising an interface and a feature matching unit may implement these techniques. The interface receives a query feature descriptor. The feature matching unit then computes a distance between a query feature descriptor and reference feature descriptors and determines a first group of the computed distances and a second group of the computed distances in accordance with a clustering algorithm, where this second group of computed distances comprises two or more of the computed distances. The feature matching unit then determines whether the query feature descriptor matches one of the reference feature descriptors associated with a smallest one of the computed distances based on the determined first group and second group of the computed distances. |
| US09036924B2 |
Method for automatically classifying a two-or higher-dimensional image
Method for classifying a two- or higher dimensional image, where each pixel is associated with M property measures, includes identifying firstly a certain predetermined, variable geometric structure, the extension of which in at least two of the N dimensions in the dataset is determined in relation to a single element in the dataset and by at least one variable parameter, and secondly at least one geometric measure associated with the variable geometric structure, which geometric measure is arranged to measure a geometric property of a specific geometric structure in relation to other specific such geometric structures, and in that a main classification is conducted of the dataset, which main classification is based upon a comparative measure between the respective sets of associated geometric measures of two elements, calculated from a respective maximal geometric structure for each element. |
| US09036918B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method
Whether a processing target block belongs to a quiescence area is determined based on a motion vector of an adjacent block whose encoding mode is determined to not be the intra-encoding mode and a reference index indicating a reference image of the adjacent block, whereby a reference index indicating a reference image of the processing target block is determined. If all the encoding modes of the adjacent blocks are the intra-encoding mode, an index number assigned to an image temporally closest and in a field different from a field to which the processing target block belongs is selected. If the processing target block belongs to a quiescence area, an index number assigned to an image temporally closest and in a same field as the processing target block is selected. If the processing target block belongs to a moving area, an index number of a reference image temporally closest is selected. |
| US09036917B2 |
Image recognition based on patterns of local regions
An image is obtained. At least one local region is set in the image. Feature patterns are extracted from the local region, and, out of a plurality of bins corresponding to a plurality of patterns which can form the feature patterns, bins that have been determined in accordance with a type of the local region are set as histogram bins used in generating a histogram. A histogram is generated corresponding to the extracted feature patterns using the set histogram bins, and image recognition is performed using the generated histogram. |
| US09036916B2 |
Unique part identifiers
A method of providing a unique identifier for a manufactured part includes defining a boundary area on at least one surface of the manufactured part, recording surface properties within a portion of the boundary area, interpreting the recorded surface properties with a pattern recognition algorithm to create the unique identifier, and storing the unique identifier in a database. |
| US09036911B2 |
Method of extracting an object on a projected backdrop
A method of extracting from a picked-up image an object that is situated in the foreground of a projected backdrop. The method includes an extraction step comprising the steps of establishing a correspondence relationship between pixels of the projected backdrop and of the background of the picked-up image, and defining said object as the set of picked-up pixels that present a departure from said correspondence relationship. The method is applicable to video conferences, to remote teaching, and to television shows. |
| US09036907B2 |
Method and apparatus for extracting depth edges from images acquired of scenes by cameras with ring flashes forming hue circles
A set of images is acquired of a scene while illuminating the scene with a set of colors with different hues. The set of colors is generated by a set of light sources arranged in a substantial circular manner around a lens of a camera to form a hue circle, wherein each light source emits a different color. A shadow confidence map is generated from the set of images by using hues and saturations of pixels in the set of images. Then, depth edges are extracted from the shadow confidence map. |
| US09036905B2 |
Training classifiers for deblurring images
A classifier training system trains a classifier for evaluating image deblurring quality using a set of scored deblurred images. In some embodiments, the classifier training system trains the classifier based on a number of sub-images extracted from the scored deblurred images. An image deblurring system applies a number of different deblurring transformations to a given blurry reference image and uses the classifier trained by the classifier training system to evaluate deblurring quality, thereby finding a highest-quality deblurred image. In some embodiments, the classifier training system trains the classifier in the frequency domain, and the image deblurring system uses the classifier trained by the classifier training system to evaluate deblurring quality in the frequency domain. In some embodiments, the image deblurring system applies the different deblurring transformations iteratively. |
| US09036896B2 |
Inspection system and method for inspecting line width and/or positional errors of a pattern
A method and system for imaging an object to be inspected and obtaining an optical image; creating a reference image from design pattern data; preparing an inspection recipe including one or more templates and parameter settings necessary for the inspection; checking the pattern and the template against each other, and selecting the reference image which corresponds to the template; detecting first and second edges in the selected reference image in accordance with the parameter setting using determined coordinates as a reference; detecting first and second edges in the optical image, this optical image corresponds to the selected reference image; and determining an inspection value by acquiring the difference between the line width of the optical image and the reference image using the first edge and second edge of the reference image and the first edge and second edges of the optical image. |
| US09036895B2 |
Method of inspecting wafer
A method of inspecting a wafer includes performing a fabricating process on a wafer, irradiating broadband light on the wafer, such that the light is reflected from the wafer, generating a spectral cube by using the light reflected from the wafer, extracting a spectrum of a desired wafer inspection region from the spectral cube, and inspecting the desired wafer inspection region by analyzing the extracted spectrum. |
| US09036894B2 |
Dispensary embossed character container labeling
In a method and apparatus for identifying an embossed character, light of one color is directed in one direction across the embossed character to illuminate certain character parts and light of another color is directed in another direction across the embossed character to illuminate other character parts. Image data for the two colors are captured and are subjected to separate image processing to detect edges highlighted by the directed light. The processed images are combined and supplemented with OCR analysis before being compared with predicted characters. Based on the comparison, a determination is made as to the probable identity of the character. |
| US09036891B2 |
Intrinsic physical layer authentication of integrated circuits
A system and method of generating and comparing a fingerprint for an integrated circuit is provided. A sensor module captures electromagnetic emissions from the integrated circuit. A feature extraction module extracts discriminating features from the captured electromagnetic emissions. A classifier training module generates a plurality of authentication fingerprints of the integrated circuit from the extracted discriminating features creating a reference fingerprint template for the integrated circuit. The reference template for the integrated circuit is stored in a database. For authentication, the reference fingerprint template from the database is compared to the generated authentication fingerprint. |
| US09036889B2 |
Method and apparatus for stain separation using vector analysis
A computer-implemented method and apparatus for stain separation of a pathology image using stain vector analysis comprising converting an original image into an optical domain image, performing stain vector analysis on the optical domain image to obtain one or more stain vectors, deconvoluting the vectors adaptively to produce one or more separated stain images. |
| US09036888B2 |
Systems and methods for performing quality review scoring of biomarkers and image analysis methods for biological tissue
Exemplary embodiments include methods, systems, and devices for enabling users to provide quality scores for indicating the quality of image analysis methods performed on images of biological tissue. An exemplary user interface displays results of an image analysis method performed on an image of biological tissue in an overlaid manner on an image of biological tissue. The exemplary user interface enable a user to provide, directly on the user interface, one or more quality scores to indicate the user's assessment of the quality of the image analysis performed on the image. Exemplary embodiments store the quality scores provided by the user in association with the image analysis method and the image of biological tissue. |
| US09036886B2 |
System and method for correcting for metal artifacts using multi-energy computed tomography
A method is provided. The method includes acquiring a first dataset at a first energy spectrum and a second dataset at a second energy spectrum. The method also includes extracting a metal artifact correction signal using the first dataset and the second dataset or using a first reconstructed image and a second reconstructed image generated respectively from the first and the second datasets. The method further includes performing metal artifact correction on the first reconstructed image using the metal artifact correction signal to generate a first corrected image. |
| US09036885B2 |
Image reconstruction in computed tomography
A method of projection domain processing based on a local transform and shrinkage for use in reconstructing digital images from a set of projections, the method including providing a target image of a target object, providing projection data of the target object, producing filtered projection data by applying a sparsifying transform and a shrinkage function to the projection data, followed by an inverse of the sparsifying transform, producing a restored image by applying a reconstruction transform to the filtered projection data, comparing the restored image to the target image, and producing an optimized projection domain shrinkage function by adapting the shrinkage function to minimize differences between the restored image and the target image. Related apparatus and methods are also described. |
| US09036884B2 |
Image intensity correction for magnetic resonance imaging
A magnetic resonance system includes a magnetic resonance scanner having a multi-channel transmit coil or coil system and a magnetic resonance receive element; and a digital processor configured to perform an imaging process. The image process includes shimming the multi-channel transmit coil or coil system, acquiring a coil sensitivity map for the magnetic resonance receive element using the multi-channel transmit coil or coil system, acquiring a magnetic resonance image using the magnetic resonance receive element and the shimmed multi-channel transmit coil or coil system, and performing an intensity level correction on the acquired magnetic resonance image using the coil sensitivity map to generate a corrected magnetic resonance image. |
| US09036880B2 |
High-resolution three-dimensional medical imaging with dynamic real-time information
A computer-implemented method, a device, a system and a computer program are disclosed for three-dimensional displaying of medical body structures within the framework of a medical procedure, in particular cardiac surgery, wherein movement information is derived from a dynamic image of a body structure to be examined. In at least one embodiment, movement information is derived from vector analysis. After acquiring a static image of the respective body structure, vector analysis is applied to the static image to derive a modified static image with movement information of the body structure. The static image can then be displayed after it has moved. |
| US09036879B2 |
Multi-material decomposition using dual energy computed tomography
A method for obtaining multi-material decomposition images of an object is presented. The method includes acquiring an image pair from a dual energy computed tomography scan of the imaged object. The method then includes selecting a material basis for multi-material decomposition of the image pair. The method further includes applying a physicochemical model for the material basis. Also, the method includes performing multi-material decomposition using at least one constraint imposed by the physicochemical model. |
| US09036875B2 |
Traffic control apparatus, method thereof, and program therefor
There is provided a traffic control apparatus including: an image input unit configured to input an image including a face of a user; a face detecting unit configured to detect a face area of the user from the image; a generating unit configured to obtain a difference between a state of the detected face area and a state of a optimal face area, and generate presentation information for instructing the user to move his or her face to a position suitable for the face recognition when the difference is large; and a noticing unit having a plurality of keys arranged in a matrix pattern, and configured to illuminate, blink, or extinguish one or the plurality of keys for specifying the position that the face is to be moved to on the basis of the presentation information. |
| US09036874B2 |
Image processing and recording system preidentifying and prestoring images with predetermined features and method thereof
An image processing and recording system and an image processing and recording method thereof are provided. An image processing and recording system includes a recording module, an access module, and an identification module. The recording module stores an image which includes N image blocks, and the N image blocks compose M image tiles. The identification module performs an image recognition procedure to identify a predetermined feature of the N image blocks picked up by the access module and generates N identification results. Each result includes an address of the tile in the image corresponding to the Kth image block, a corresponding address of the Kth image block in the image tile and whether the Kth image block has the predetermined feature. Thus, the access module can pick up the image blocks having the predetermine feature to perform a next image recognition procedure. |
| US09036871B2 |
Mobility identity platform
The present disclosure is directed towards a compact, mobile apparatus for iris image acquisition, adapted to address effects of ocular dominance in the subject and to guide positioning of the subject's iris for the image acquisition. The apparatus may include a sensor for acquiring an iris image from a subject. A compact mirror may be oriented relative to a dominant eye of the subject, and sized to present an image of a single iris to the subject when the apparatus is positioned at a suitable distance for image acquisition. The mirror may assist the subject in positioning the iris for iris image acquisition. The mirror may be positioned between the sensor and the iris during iris image acquisition, and transmit a portion of light reflected off the iris to the sensor. |
| US09036870B2 |
Commodity recognition apparatus and commodity recognition method
A commodity recognition apparatus extracts the appearance feature amount of a commodity included in an image from the captured image, compares the appearance feature amount with the feature amount data of a recognition dictionary, and extracts the candidate of the commodity included in the image. When the selection input of the commodity is accepted from a plurality of commodity candidates, correction data are generated according to the feature amount data of the commodity of which the selection input is accepted and the appearance feature amount data, and the appearance feature amount of the commodity extracted by utilizing the correction data is corrected. |
| US09036864B2 |
Ball trajectory and bounce position detection
Disclosed in some examples is a method, system and medium relating to determining a ball trajectory and bounce position on a playing surface. An example method includes recording a first and a second sequence of ball images before and after a ball bounce on the playing surface; constructing a composite image of the trajectory of the ball from the first and second sequences; and determining a bounce position of the ball from the composite image. |
| US09036861B2 |
Method and system for remotely inspecting bridges and other structures
Spatially Integrated Small-Format Aerial Photography (SFAP) is one aspect of the present invention. It is a low-cost solution for bridge surface imaging and is proposed as a remote bridge inspection technique to supplement current bridge visual inspection. Providing top-down views, the airplanes flying at about 1000 feet can allow visualization of sub-inch (large) cracks and joint openings on bridge decks or highway pavements. On board Global Positioning System (GPS) is used to help geo-reference images collected and facilitate damage detection. Image analysis is performed to identify structural defects such as cracking. A deck condition rating technique based on large crack detection is used to quantify the condition of the existing bridge decks. |
| US09036860B2 |
Method for editing propagation of video and image content based on local feature structure preservation
The invention discloses a method for editing propagation of video and image content based on local feature structure preservation, comprising: mapping all pixels in the input original image and/or video key frames to a selected feature space; finding K nearest neighbor pixels for each pixel according to feature vectors' Euclidean distance in the selected feature space; using Locally Linear Embedding (LLE) dimension reduction to construct the locally linear relationship between each pixel and its K nearest neighbor pixels in the selected feature space; According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately perform such image or video processing as automatic color transformation, interactive color editing, gray image colorization, video cloning and image matting. |
| US09036857B2 |
Garnish double ring for speaker seal
An adaptive speaker panel is provided. The speaker panel can have a speaker opening and a pair of concentric sealing ribs proximate to the speaker opening, the pair of sealing ribs having a first sealing rib and a second sealing rib towards a center of the speaker opening from the first sealing rib. The first sealing rib is first sealing rib dimensioned to seal against a first speaker basket and the second sealing rib dimensioned to seal against a second speaker basket that is smaller than the first speaker basket. Also, the first sealing rib and the second sealing rib are operatively arranged such that without modification to the speaker panel the first speaker basket or the second speaker basket can be attached to and sealed against the panel. |
| US09036856B2 |
Sound reproduction device
Provided is a sound reproduction device including: a first loudspeaker having directionality utilizing a parametric effect; a second loudspeaker having directionality broader than that of the first loudspeaker; an orientation adjustment unit configured to change an orientation of the first loudspeaker; an information obtaining device configured to obtain positional information of a listener; and a drive controller electrically connected to the first loudspeaker, the second loudspeaker, the orientation adjustment unit, and the information obtaining device, and configured to control the orientation of the first loudspeaker based on the positional information of the listener. |
| US09036845B2 |
External input device for a hearing aid
A system includes: an external input device having a housing accommodating at least two telecoils having different orientations with respect to the housing, and an orientation sensor configured for sensing an orientation of the housing; and a selector configured for controlling connection of one of the at least two telecoils to an input of a hearing aid based on the sensed orientation. |
| US09036843B2 |
Enhanced spatialization system
A system enhances spatialization in an audio signal at a receiving location. The system applies a phase difference analysis to signals received from an array of spaced apart input devices that convert sound into electrical signals. The system derives spatial or directional information about the relative locations of the sound sources. The converted signals may be mixed using weights derived from the spatial information to generate a multichannel output signal that, when processed by a remote or local audio system, generates a representation of the relative locations of the sound sources at the originating location at the receiving location. |
| US09036841B2 |
Speaker system and method of operation therefor
A speaker system includes a first speaker (203) and a second speaker (205). A driving circuit receives an audio signal and has a first drive circuit (209) generating a first drive signal for the first speaker (203) in response to a first filtering of the audio signal with a first passband. A second drive circuit (211) generates a second drive signal for the second speaker (205) in response to a second filtering having a second passband which includes a frequency band below the first passband. A delay (213) delays the second drive signal relative to the first drive signal. The sound from the second speaker is directionally radiated with a directional radiation pattern having a notch towards the listening position (111). The system uses the precedence effect and non-direct low frequency audio radiation to ensure that directional cues are predominantly provided by the first speaker (203) which may be small and positioned remote from the second speaker (205). |
| US09036834B2 |
Audio signal processing apparatus
An audio signal processing apparatus performs audio signal process composed of a plurality of channels each having parameters used in the audio signal process. The audio signal processing apparatus has a plurality of channel strips, each channel strip being assigned with a channel and being provided with manipulators for adjusting values of the parameters of the assigned channel. There are provided a plurality of storing sections having different priorities relative to each other, each storing section being capable of storing a setting indicative of a channel set to a channel strip for assignment thereto. A changing section changes the settings stored in the storing sections. An assigning section is activated when the setting stored in one of the plurality of the storing sections is changed by the changing section, then refers to all of the storing sections that currently store the settings for a channel strip, and assigns a channel to the channel strip according to the setting stored in a storing section having the highest priority among the storing sections referred to by the assigning section. |
| US09036829B2 |
Adaptive notch filter with variable bandwidth, and method and apparatus for canceling howling by using the adaptive notch filter with variable bandwidth
A variable-bandwidth adaptive notch filter which cancels howling from an input signal with a bandwidth varying according to a howling frequency to generate an output signal. |
| US09036825B2 |
Audio signal correction and calibration for a room environment
Disclosed are an apparatus and method of processing an audio signal to optimize audio for a room environment. One example method of operation may include recording the audio signal generated within a particular room environment and processing the audio signal to create an original frequency response based on the audio signal. The method may also include identifying a target sub-region of the frequency response which has a predetermined area percentage of a total area under a curve generated by the frequency response, determining whether the target sub-region is a narrow energy region, creating a filter to adjust the frequency response, and applying the filter to the audio signal. |
| US09036824B2 |
Transducer impedance measurement for hearing aid
A hearing aid is disclosed, which, in a test mode, can determine the impedance of the transducer that stimulates the anatomy of the patient. Impedance may be determined by simultaneous determination of the current flowing through the transducer and the voltage across the transducer. In some cases, the output amplifier of the hearing aid includes two outputs, with one being a scaled and/or summed replica of the other. The amplifier is driven with a periodic signal with a particular frequency and a known peak voltage. The periodic signal may be sinusoidal. The primary output of the amplifier is electrically connected to the transducer, with a known voltage given by the peak input voltage and a known gain of the amplifier. The current from the secondary output of the amplifier is measured. In an example measurement scheme, the secondary output is sent through a rectifier and then through a low-pass filter. |
| US09036823B2 |
Method and apparatus for a binaural hearing assistance system using monaural audio signals
The present application provides method and apparatus for a binaural hearing assistance system using a monaural audio signal input. The system, in various examples, provides adjustable delay/phase adjustment and sound level adjustment. Different embodiments are provided for receiving the monaural signal and distributing it to a plurality of hearing assistance devices. Different relaying modes are provided. Special functions are supported, such as telecoil functions. The system also has examples that account for a head-related transfer function in providing advanced sound processing for the wearer. Other examples are provided that are described in the detailed description. |
| US09036822B1 |
Methods for managing user information and devices thereof
A method, non-transitory computer readable medium and application manager computing device comprises obtaining at least one cryptographic key from a request by a client computing device for a user session. User information corresponding to a user is encrypted or decrypted using the cryptographic key. The request is authenticated based on encryption or decryption of the user information. The cryptographic key is deleted after the completion or termination of the user session. |
| US09036820B2 |
System and methods for UICC-based secure communication
A system that incorporates the subject disclosure may include, for example, instructions which when executed cause a device processor to perform operations comprising sending a service request to a remote management server; receiving from the management server an authentication management function and an encryption key generator for execution by a secure element and an encryption engine for execution by a secure device processor, sending a request to establish a communication session with a remote device; and communicating with the remote device via a channel established using an application server. The secure element and the secure device processor authenticate each other using a mutual authentication keyset. The secure element, the secure device processor and the device processor each have a security level associated therewith; the security level associated with the secure device processor is intermediate between that of the secure element and that of the device processor. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09036818B2 |
Private key generation apparatus and method, and storage media storing programs for executing the methods
Disclosed herein are a private key generation apparatus and method, and storage media storing programs for executing the methods on a computer. The private key generation apparatus includes a root private key generation unit and a sub-private key generation unit. The root private key generation unit sets a root master key and predetermined parameters capable of generating private keys, and generates a first sub-master key set capable of generating a number of private keys equal to or smaller than a preset limited number. The sub-private key generation unit generates private keys with the root private key generation unit by receiving the first sub-master key set from the root private key generation unit, to generate a private key corresponding to a user ID using the first sub-master key set, and issues the private key to a user. |
| US09036817B1 |
Network communications using quantum key distribution
A method and apparatus for forming and distributing quantum encryption keys. A first quantum signal generated by a number generator in a communicator is transmitted through an aperture in the communicator to a receiving communicator. A second quantum signal is received through the aperture at the communicator from a transmitting communicator. The first quantum signal is isolated from the second quantum signal such that the first quantum signal is transmitted from the communicator in response to the first quantum signal passing through the aperture and such that the second quantum signal is received at a number detector in the communicator in response to the second quantum signal passing through the aperture. |
| US09036816B1 |
Frequency domain acoustic echo cancellation using filters and variable step-size updates
A acoustic echo canceller (AEC) system may be configured to perform echo cancellation in the frequency domain. Features are disclosed for determining an estimated echo in the frequency domain using adaptive filters. An adaptive filter corresponding to a frequency bin can comprise a plurality of filter taps. Additional features are disclosed for updating the adaptive filter. In addition, a frequency-bin dependent step size controller may be used to control a step size used in updating the adaptive filters. Features are disclosed for determining the frequency-bin dependent step size. |
| US09036810B1 |
System and method to provide a response to an inquiry
Disclosed are systems and methods to provide a response to an inquiry. The systems and methods provide techniques to receive an inquiry from a party, wherein the inquiry comprises a plurality of inquiry classifiers that are provided by the party, determine a party status, translate the plurality of inquiry classifiers and the party status into a skill set, route the inquiry to a primary representative based on the skill set, and provide a inquiry response to the party. |
| US09036808B2 |
Methods and systems for data transfer and campaign management
An online and offline communication processing and tracking using data processing and data/voice networks is described. A phone address from a phone address number pool is automatically assigned to a first entity. A call quality rating is determined and recorded. A call from a caller directed to the phone address is received at a call bridging system coupled to at least one network, wherein the call is associated with call signaling information. Based at least in part on the call quality associated with the caller call, the caller call is assigned to a first location in a call queue. An outbound call is generated from the call bridging system and the inbound and the outbound calls are bridged. One or more parameters of the bridged call are compared to the call quality rating. An indication is recorded regarding the successful bridging of the calls in association with an entity identifier. |
| US09036806B1 |
Predicting the class of future customer calls in a call center
A system and method for predicting the class of future customer calls to a call center. Saved call data is analyzed using a robust tokenizer of a computerized device. The tokenizer transforms a sequence of characters in a call summary field of the saved call data into a sequence of tokens. Tokenized call data is produced. Multiple maximum entropy (MaxEnt) models are created based on the tokenized call data, using the computerized device. The MaxEnt models produce a probability distribution of all classes for a next call to a call center. A conditional random field (CRF) classifier is trained with the MaxEnt models and information from the saved call data, using the computerized device. The CRF classifier uses chronologically ordered sequences of prior calls to the call center and predicts a class for a new call to the call center based on the saved call data. A call class prediction is produced for the new call received from a returning customer based on the CRF classifier and the MaxEnt model. |
| US09036805B2 |
Implementing a network of intelligent virtual service agents to provide personalized automated responses
An intelligent virtual service agent implemented on a computer platform with a processor and a memory is assigned a responsibility to automatically interact with different users via different mediums across a communication network when a predetermined characteristic of content provided by the users is identified. Content provided by a user is received over the communication network. The content provided by the user is analyzed to determine whether the content provided by the user possesses the predetermined characteristic. A determined is made, based on the analyzing, that the content possesses the predetermined characteristic. The intelligent virtual service agent is assigned to automatically interact with the user based on determining that the content possesses the predetermined characteristic. |
| US09036804B2 |
Extensible realtime delegation for calls, conferences and collaboration
Architecture for enabling identification of a call party's representative during calls on behalf of the call party. The call representative is delegated to initiate or answer an IP call on behalf of the call party. An IP-telephony component initiates or answers the IP call by the call representative on behalf of the call party. The IP-telephony component can be an IP telephone, or any other suitable IP calling interface. An identification component presents a representation notification identifying the call representative to a connected call party. The representation notification can be displayed on a caller ID display on an IP phone, or can be displayed on a user interface of the personal computing device, for example. The calls can be point-to-point IP calls with a single participant, or can be conference calls with multiple participants, and can be performed with one or more suitable protocols. |
| US09036802B2 |
System and method for avoiding hold times on a telephone call
A method and system including receiving a communication from a source, the communication including a request to connect to a destination, connecting, via a communication link, to the destination, detecting an event on the communication link to the destination, and connecting the source to the destination after detecting the event. |
| US09036801B2 |
Enhanced call return in a communications network
Methods for enabling enhanced call return in a communications network is disclosed. In some embodiments, the method includes receiving an incoming telephone call from a caller, wherein the incoming telephone call identifies a subscriber as a callee thereof; capturing caller-specific information for the caller, wherein the caller-specific information includes at least one of the name of the caller and the telephone number of the caller; and storing the caller-specific information into an intelligent peripheral (IP) within the network. Some embodiments of the methods include allowing the subscriber to access the caller-specific information stored in the IP. In some embodiments, the subscriber subscribes to an enhanced call return (ECR) feature as part of a service plan. The ECR feature allows the subscriber to access caller-specific information for a predetermined number of past callers and also to return calls from those past callers. |
| US09036800B2 |
Billing for calls and routing of billing information in an internet protocol multimedia subsystem
An exemplary method implemented in a telecommunication network generates a charging data record (CDR) for a subscriber that is supported by a visited network while away from the subscriber's home network. A request is transmitted from a first node in the visited network for profile information about the subscriber to be obtained from the home subscriber server (HSS) in the subscriber's home network. A reply is received at the first node in the visited network in response to the request where the reply includes at least a portion of the profile information about the subscriber stored in the HSS of the subscriber's home network. The first node stores the at least portion of the profile information received in the reply, and generates the CDR associated with the subscriber as supported in the visited network where the CDR includes subscriber data derived from the stored at least portion of the profile information. The CDR is transmitted by the first node to another node in the telephony network to be used to determine billing associated with services provided to the subscriber. |
| US09036797B2 |
Information provided to parent regarding a called for child protection
The present disclosure describes a system, method, and computer readable medium for providing information of a calling party to an alert party, wherein the calling party is in communication with the receiving party in a communications network. The method includes receiving a message from a calling party to a receiving party and performing a lookup of information relating to the calling party in a database, wherein the lookup is based on an identifier associated with the message, Thereafter, an alert is sent to the alert party if the calling party information is unavailable in a contact list of the receiving party. |
| US09036796B2 |
Generating action tuples in response to discerned leads
Methods and arrangements for analyzing and responding to communications data. Telecom data are input, as are social network data. The telecom data and social network data are analyzed, and action tuples representing opportunistic leads are generated based on the analyzed telecom data and social network data. |
| US09036793B2 |
Caller authentication system
A disclosed method of authenticating a telephone caller includes receiving an authentication request for the telephone caller that includes a voice recording of the caller and household information indicative of a household, creating a first voice pattern based on the voice recording of the caller, retrieving a second voice pattern using at least some of the household information, comparing the two voice patterns, and transmitting information indicative of the results of the comparison. The transmitted information may include information that the telephone caller is authenticated, is not authenticated, or that the comparison results were inconclusive. The method may include monitoring telephone calls with the household, and if it is determined that a voice on at least some of the telephone calls is associated with the household, creating the second voice pattern based on the voice, and associating the second voice pattern to the household. The method may further include disassociating the second voice pattern from the household if it is determined that a change of household has occurred. |
| US09036788B2 |
Radiation generating apparatus and radiation imaging apparatus
In a construction having a radiation tube in an envelope filled with an insulating liquid, a radiation generating apparatus which realizes a miniaturization of the apparatus, an improvement of a withstanding voltage between the envelope and the radiation tube, and a decrease in attenuation amount of the radiation and a radiation imaging apparatus using the radiation generating apparatus are provided. The radiation generating apparatus has an envelope 12 having a first window 27 for transmitting the radiation, a radiation tube 14 enclosed in the envelope 12 and having a second window 19 for transmitting the radiation at a position in opposition to the first window 27, and an insulating liquid 13 filled between the envelope 12 and the radiation tube 14. A solid-state insulating member 28 is placed between the first window 27 and its periphery and the second window 19 and its periphery. |
| US09036781B1 |
Amplified backscatter x-ray inspection system
A method and apparatus for inspecting an object. A radiation generation system is configured to emit radiation. A detector system is configured to detect backscatter formed in response to the radiation encountering the object. A redirection system is positioned relative to the detector system and is configured to redirect the backscatter to the detector system. |
| US09036780B2 |
Method for recording a four-dimensional angiography data record
A method for recording a four-dimensional angiography data record using an x-ray facility with a C-arm is proposed. Projection images are recorded from different projection directions at different time points of the cardiac cycle. A number of three-dimensional reconstruction image data records assigned respectively to a time segment of the cardiac cycle are reconstructed from the projection images and combined to form the four-dimensional angiography data record by temporal assignment in respect of the cardiac cycle. At least one recording parameter describing the temporal sequence is selected when recording the projection images as a function of cardiac stimulation performed to ensure a stable heart rate during recording so that the recording of the projection images takes place in such a manner that it is synchronized with the cardiac cycle. |
| US09036776B2 |
X-ray photography apparatus
An X-ray photography apparatus including: a turning arm that supports an X-ray generator and an X-ray detector while the X-ray generator and the X-ray detector are opposed to each other so that a head of a patient can be interposed therebetween; and a moving mechanism that turns the turning arm about a turning axis with respect to the head and moves the turning arm in a direction perpendicular to the turning axis with respect to the head. The X-ray photography apparatus further includes: an image processor that generates an X-ray image based on an electric signal output from the X-ray detector; and a photographic region designation receiving part that designates part of a row of teeth along a dental arch as a pseudo intraoral radiography region. The image processor generates plural tomographic images by applying convolution and filtered back projection to X-ray image data obtained by pseudo intraoral radiography. |
| US09036772B2 |
Mirror for the EUV wavelength range, projection objective for microlithography comprising such a mirror, and projection exposure apparatus for microlithography comprising such a projection objective
A mirror for the EUV wavelength range (1) having a layer arrangement (P) applied on a substrate (S), the layer arrangement having a periodic sequence of individual layers, where the periodic sequence has at least two individual layers—forming a period—composed respectively of silicon (Si) and ruthenium (Ru). Also disclosed are a projection objective for microlithography (2) including such a mirror, and a projection exposure apparatus for microlithography having such a projection objective (2). |
| US09036771B2 |
System and method for denoising medical images adaptive to local noise
A system and method is provided for estimating the local noise of CT images and denoising the images using a modified non-local means (NLM) algorithm that is adaptive to local variations of noise levels. A strategy for efficiently estimating the local noise of CT images is also described. |
| US09036770B2 |
System and method for saving time and dose in computed tomography
The present invention pertains to a system and method for X-ray imaging wherein a targeted fluence at the detector for projection images can be achieved at a plurality of projection angles around the imaging subject by control of exposure times implemented during image acquisition. Exposure time for a second projection image may be determined by the fluence in a first projection image, and in a third projection image by the fluence in a second projection image, where projection images are acquired within two degrees of one another. An acquisition parameter calculation can be configured to calculate acquisition parameters, such as said exposure times, to achieve the targeted fluence in projection images and can be coupled to a rotation controller that implements the acquisition parameters by controlling a relative angle between the imaging subject and X-ray image acquisition device. |
| US09036767B2 |
Driver circuit, display device, and electronic device
To suppress malfunctions in a shift register circuit. A shift register having a plurality of flip-flop circuits is provided. The flip-flop circuit includes a transistor 11, a transistor 12, a transistor 13, a transistor 14, and a transistor 15. When the transistor 13 or the transistor 14 is turned on in a non-selection period, the potential of a node A is set, so that the node A is prevented from entering into a floating state. |
| US09036766B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device which shifts a low-level signal is provided. In an example, a first transistor including a first terminal electrically connected to a first wiring and a second terminal electrically connected to a second wiring, a second transistor including a first terminal electrically connected to a third wiring and a second terminal electrically connected to the second wiring, a third transistor including a first terminal electrically connected to a fourth wiring and a second terminal electrically connected to a gate of the second transistor, a fourth transistor including a first terminal electrically connected to a fifth wiring, a second terminal electrically connected to a gate of the third transistor, and a gate electrically connected to a sixth wiring, and a first switch including a first terminal electrically connected to the third wiring and a second terminal electrically connected to a gate of the first transistor are included. |
| US09036765B2 |
Method and system for inertial confinement fusion reactions
Disclosed is a system for extracting energy from inertial confinement fusion reactions, which includes a central target chamber for receiving fusion target material. A plurality of energy drivers are arranged around the target chamber so as to supply energy to fusion target material in the chamber to initiate an inertial confinement fusion reaction of the material, releasing energy in the forms of fusion plasma and heat. A plurality of structures for extracting energy from the fusion reaction are provided, and comprise devices to extract high voltage DC energy from the fusion plasma, and means to extract thermal energy from the central target chamber. Power to the energy drivers may be supplied from high voltage DC energy extracted from the fusion reactions. The energy drivers may use an apodizing filter to impart a desired shape to the wavefront of the driving energy for causing the fusion reactions, to avoid hydrodynamic instabilities. |
| US09036759B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing synchronization between devices
A method performed by a device for performing synchronization between devices for a Device-to-Device (D2D) communication is provided. The method includes setting, according to a process of the device, the device to a group of devices for performing a dynamic switching; outputting a synchronization signal corresponding to the set group as a signal for setting synchronization in a physical layer; controlling, upon receiving another synchronization signal from another device, the outputting of the synchronization signal by applying a time offset according to a relation between the set group that includes the device and the group that includes the another device; and setting, if the synchronization signal and the another synchronization signal are converged, synchronization of the device based on a time point where the synchronization signal is output. |
| US09036754B2 |
Circuit for a radio system, use and method for operation
A circuit and method of operation for a circuit of a radio system in which a system time is divided into symbols, in which a system clock generator is activated in an operating mode, so that the system time is determined from an output clock signal of the system clock generator by counting, in which the system clock generator is deactivated in a sleep mode, in which an output clock signal of a sleep clock generator is blanked as a function of an output signal of a modulo divider in the sleep mode, and the system time is determined by counting, wherein an output frequency of the output clock signal of the sleep clock generator is a non-integer multiple of a symbol frequency, in which the modulo divider divides the output clock signal of the sleep clock generator by a division factor, and in which the division factor of the modulo divider is produced by changing between at least two integer divisor values. |
| US09036752B2 |
Low-delay filtering
A method of frequency-domain filtering is provided that includes a plurality of filters, the plurality of filters including at least one constrained filter(s) W=I, I and at least one unconstrained filter(s) W=1,K− The method includes cascading the W k=i,K unconstrained filter(s). A single constraint window C is applied to the cascaded W=i,K unconstrained filter(s). The W=1,I constrained filter(s) are cascaded with the constrained cascaded Wk=1,K unconstrained filter(s) to form a resulting filter Wll=C(W 1{circle around (x)} . . . {circle around (x)} W){circle around (x)} W . . . W. The frequency domain representation of the single constraint window C may be based, at least in part, on a time domain representation of a single constraint window C that has been circularly shifted such that the frequency domain representation of the constraint window matches a property of the frequency domain representation of the cascaded W=1,K unconstrained filters. |
| US09036750B2 |
Method and apparatus for receiver frequency error compensation
This disclosure presents a receiver apparatus (10) and corresponding method that advantageously use ISI-canceling combining weights, as are generated for ISI suppression in the receiver's data signal combining operations, to suppress the effects of ISI from determinations of receiver frequency error. Such suppression yields more accurate receiver frequency error determination and, correspondingly, improved receiver frequency error compensation. |
| US09036749B2 |
Systems and methods for frequency independent analog self-interference cancellation
A system and method for analog self-interference cancellation that includes receiving an RF transmit signal of a full-duplex radio; frequency downconverting the RF transmit signal to an IF transmit signal; transforming the IF transmit signal into an IF self-interference signal using an IF analog self-interference cancelling circuit; frequency upconverting the IF self-interference signal to an RF self-interference signal; and combining the RF self-interference signal with an RF receive signal of the full-duplex radio. |
| US09036748B2 |
Interference cancellation in variable codelength systems for multi-access communication
A receiver employs low-rate processing to synthesize the effect of high-rate interference in a received multi-rate signal. Each high-rate subchannel is analyzed on its low-rate descendents to produce symbol estimates for each low-rate symbol interval. The symbol estimates are applied to low-rate descendent subchannels, which are then combined to synthesize the effects of the high-rate interference. An interference canceller processes the synthesized interference with the received signal for producing an interference-cancelled signal. Alternatively, analogous steps may be applied at high-rate to analyze, synthesize, and cancel the effects of low-rate interference in a multi-rate signal. |
| US09036747B2 |
Wireless communication receiver with phase noise estimation and phase noise compensation performed after channel estimation, and related wireless communication receiving method and phase noise compensation apparatus
A wireless communication receiver includes a first signal processing block, a phase noise compensation apparatus, and a second signal processing block. The first signal processing block is arranged for generating a first processed output by processing a reception signal, wherein the first signal processing block includes a channel estimation unit arranged for performing channel estimation. The phase noise compensation apparatus is arranged for receiving the first processed output and generating a second processed output by performing phase noise compensation according to the received first processed output. The second signal processing block is arranged for receiving the second processed output and processing the received second processed output. |
| US09036745B2 |
Use of neural network based matched filter for fast response time in high-speed communications channels
A neural network is used within a receiver to discriminate a large set of input waveforms without using a very large set of conventional matched filters. The neural network is trained under actual line conditions as opposed to the requirement for ideal signals when using matched filters. The finite waveforms are based on digital modulation principles. A best match is made between a received waveform from the noisy channel and that of previously trained waveforms in order to extract data. Neural network based matched filter allows data be discriminated separately for each sub-carrier channel in the receiver. The neural network system allows fast processing and is suitable for high-speed data communications systems. |
| US09036743B1 |
System and method for performing maximum ratio combining on a plurality of received symbols
A system for performing maximum ratio combining on a plurality of symbols corresponding to a transmitted symbol. A plurality of antennas is configured to receive, via respective communication channels, respective ones of the plurality of symbols. An automatic gain control is configured to modify each of the plurality of symbols using a respective gain. The respective gains are different for each of the plurality of symbols. A channel estimator is configured to generate, for each of the respective communication channels, a channel estimate in accordance with a respective one of the plurality of symbols as modified using the respective gain. A demodulator is configured to generate, in accordance with the channel estimates and the plurality of symbols as modified using the respective gains, a maximum ratio combining output and demodulate the maximum ratio combining output to generate a demodulated plurality of symbols. |
| US09036740B2 |
Performing image rejection on bandpass signals
An image rejection (IR) circuit is configured to receive a complex signal from a radio frequency (RF) mixer, where the complex signal includes an in-phase signal portion and a quadrature signal portion. This IR circuit may include: an in-phase path to remove first mismatch information from the in-phase signal portion and associated with at least one in-phase multi-tap filter; a quadrature path to remove second mismatch information from the quadrature signal portion and associated with at least one quadrature multi-tap filter; and a correlation unit to independently update each of the multiple taps of the in-phase multi-tap filter and the quadrature multi-tap filter according to a priority scheme. |
| US09036737B2 |
Polar modulation
A modulator comprises a polar generation stage that generates an amplitude and phase component of a modulation signal, a differentiator stage that generates a differentiated phase component by differentiating the phase component; and an event detection stage that detects a high bandwidth event by detecting the amplitude component and/or the differentiated phase component meeting an event criterion. An inversion stage generates a modified amplitude component by inverting the amplitude component in response to detecting the high bandwidth event. A phase offset stage generates a modified differentiated phase component by, in response to detecting the high bandwidth event, adding to the differentiated phase component a phase offset having a magnitude of 180° and a sign opposite to a sign of the differentiated phase component. Amplitude and phase modulation stages employ the modified amplitude component and the modified differentiated phase component to respectively modulate the amplitude and frequency of a carrier signal. |
| US09036736B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling update of digital pre-distortion coefficient
A method and apparatus for controlling update of digital pre-distortion (DPD) coefficient is provided. The apparatus is applicable to a digital power control system, wherein the apparatus comprises: an update controlling unit configured to determine a group of fully-trained DPD coefficients among a plurality of DPD coefficients; and a DPD coefficient generating unit configured to update adaptively the group of fully-trained DPD coefficients according to the result of judgment of the update controlling unit. The DPD coefficients are allowed to be updated after being judged as being able to be fully trained according to power distribution information of DPD input signals, or according to address distribution information of an LUT, or according to average power of output of an HPA; otherwise, they may not be updated, thereby efficiently preventing DPD abnormality resulted from unfull training of coefficients in being updated. |
| US09036733B2 |
Method of reducing signal imbalance in wireless communication system
Multiplier coefficients are updated according to minimal power value of mixed signals in a wireless communication system. While using updated multiplier parameters, signal imbalance caused by a local oscillator or mismatch between analog elements of the wireless communication system can be reduced, so that the wireless communication system can be immune from noises. |
| US09036732B2 |
Modeling transmitter and/or transmit observation receiver frequency response and utilization thereof
Systems and methods for training, or calibrating, a model of a frequency response of a transmitter and/or a model of a frequency response of a transmit observation receiver coupled to an output of the transmitter are disclosed. In one embodiment, in order to train a model of the frequency response of the transmitter and/or a model of the frequency response of the transmit observation receiver, a nonlinear component is connected between an output of the transmitter and an input of the transmit observation receiver. A combined model for the frequency response of the transmitter, a nonlinear characteristic of the nonlinear component, and the frequency response of the transmit observation receiver is then trained. Preferably, once the combined model is trained, the nonlinear component is disconnected for normal operation of the transmitter and the transmit observation receiver. |
| US09036731B2 |
Apparatuses, systems, and methods for reducing spurious emissions resulting from carrier leakage
An exemplary apparatus includes a modulator configured to modulate a data signal onto a carrier signal to generate a modulated signal having a transmit frequency within a predefined frequency range adjacent to and within a boundary of an uplink frequency band, a filter configured to at least partially remove a carrier frequency component from the modulated signal to produce a filtered modulated signal, and an antenna configured to transmit the filtered modulated signal. |
| US09036725B1 |
Method for adjusting FFT window of OFDM system
Disclosed is a method for adjusting FFT window of OFDM system. The method is categorized two scenarios when the maximum delay length of the channel is shorter than the guard interval length and when the maximum delay length of the channel is longer than the guard interval length. In respective scenarios, the method comprises steps: Step A, multiplying the guard interval (A1) damaged due to the path fading channel delay by a weighted value (α); Step B, multiplying the guard interval (A2) not damaged due to the path fading channel delay by a weighted value (1-α); and Step C, Adding the guard intervals of Step A and Step B together (A3) to be inputted into FFT; minimizing the inter-symbol interference, the inter-channel interference and the noise. |
| US09036724B2 |
Data signal correction circuit, receiver, and data signal correction method
A data signal correction circuit includes a channel characteristic calculator unit configured to calculate a channel characteristic estimate value of a received data signal on the basis of a pilot signal, a path detector unit configured to determine a delay quantity of multipath propagation of the received data signal on the basis of the calculated channel characteristic estimate value, and an adaptive filter configured to receive the delay quantity and the channel characteristic estimate value as input items, adjust an input interval of the channel characteristic estimate value along a carrier frequency axis in accordance with the delay quantity, and perform adaptive equalization on the channel characteristic estimate value inputted to the adaptive filter at the adjusted input interval. |
| US09036723B2 |
Full-range pilot-assisted frequency offset estimation for OFDM communication systems
A training symbol with two identical halves as well as a pilot-tone at a center frequency is used for both timing synchronization and carrier frequency offset estimation. A timing synchronization is achieved by finding a peak of a cross-correlation function of the two halves in the first symbol. A fraction part of the frequency offset FO is then calculated from a phase difference between the two halves of the first training symbol. Then, the received signal is compensated for the fraction part of FO, and, an integer part of the FO is obtained by counting the shifted positions of the pilot-tone peak in the frequency domain. |
| US09036719B2 |
Secondary channel estimation
Some example embodiments may be directed towards improving a secondary system channel estimation by using a primary channel estimate. Specifically, some example embodiments may be directed towards a method in an user equipment, which may be comprised in a Radio Network, for estimating a primary and a secondary channel. The method may comprise receiving from at least one Base Station a combined wireless communication signal through at least a portion of the primary channel. The method may also comprise determining an estimation of the primary channel. The method may further comprise determining an estimation of the secondary channel. The method may further comprise determining at least one common sub-component between the estimations of the primary and secondary channels, and determining an updated estimation of the secondary channel based on the at least one common sub-component. |
| US09036712B1 |
Methods and/or apparatus for controlling zero-residual coding in predictive image/video coding
A method for coding video is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) receiving a video signal having a series of pictures, each of the pictures having a plurality of blocks, (B) analyzing the blocks to forecast if coding the blocks in a zero-residual coding mode would generate a plurality of artifacts, (C) disabling the zero-residual coding mode for the blocks forecasted to generate at least one of the artifacts and (D) enabling the zero-residual coding mode for the blocks forecasted to generate none of the artifacts. |
| US09036710B2 |
Unified transform coefficient encoding and decoding
Methods and devices for reconstructing coefficient levels from a bitstream of encoded video data for a coefficient group in a transform unit, using adaptive-threshold-based level coding. Threshold is set based upon level information from one or more previously-reconstructed coefficient groups in the transform unit. Threshold may be maximum number of level flags to decode for the coefficient group. Level information may include number of level flags decoded in previous coefficient groups. Previously-reconstructed coefficient groups may include coefficient group to the right and below the current coefficient group. |
| US09036705B2 |
Technique for bringing encoded data items into conformity with a scalable coding protocol
A technique for making media content in the form of encoded data items decodable by a decoder operating in accordance with a scalable coding protocol that defines two or more media layers is provided. A method implementation of this technique comprises the steps of generating one or more dummy data items that define a first media layer of the scalable coding protocol, and marking the encoded data items as belonging, to a second media layer of the scalable coding protocol. |
| US09036704B2 |
Image decoding method using intra prediction mode
An image decoding method is provided which includes reconstructing an intra prediction mode group indicator and a prediction mode index of a current block, constructing a first group using valid intra prediction modes of left and top blocks, and determining the intra prediction mode corresponding to the prediction mode index and the intra prediction mode group indicator. Therefore, by causing the first group to include modes having a high possibility of being equal to the prediction mode of the current block on the basis of the valid intra prediction modes of the left and top blocks of the current block and determining the intra prediction mode group indicator and the prediction mode index to be encoded using the first group, it is possible to reduce an amount of information of the intra prediction mode to be encoded. |
| US09036703B2 |
Method and apparatus for encoding video, and method and apparatus for decoding video
An apparatus of decoding image includes an entropy decoder which extracts information that indicates an intra prediction mode applied to a current block to be decoded, from a bitstream, a reference pixel determining unit which determines one of neighboring pixels adjacent to the current block and filtered neighboring pixels filtered from the neighboring pixels as reference pixels, based on at least one of a size of the current block and an intra prediction mode of the current block, and an intra prediction performing unit which performs intra prediction on the current block using the extracted information and the determined reference pixels. |
| US09036701B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing complexity balanced entropy coding
A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to enable the provision of efficient processing in the area of video coding and decoding by employing complexity balanced entropy coding in order to provide a high level of capability with respect to video coding and decoding in a cost effective manner. A method includes categorizing a plurality of syntax elements of video content into first and second categories based on a frequency of occurrence of the syntax elements in the video content. The method also entropy codes symbols that correspond to the first category of syntax elements and that have been subjected to a context update. Further, the method entropy codes symbols that correspond to the second category of syntax elements and that have bypassed context updating. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also provided. |
| US09036697B2 |
Image decoding method and image decoding apparatus
An image decoding method for decoding a bitstream including a coded signal resulting from coding tiles and slices into which an image is partitioned, the method including decoding the coded signal, wherein each of the slices is either a normal slice having, in a header, information used for an other slice or a dependent slice which is decoded using information included in a slice header of another slice, and when the normal slice starts from a position other than a beginning of a first tile, a second tile coded next to the first tile does not start from the dependent slice. |
| US09036695B2 |
Motion-compensated temporal filtering based on variable filter parameters
Systems and devices for, and methods of, motion-compensated temporal filtering based on variable filter parameters. A method embodiment includes (a) determining, by a processor having memory, a pixel-related residue image based on a set of differences between a current pixel intensity of a current frame and a corresponding pixel intensity of a previous frame, wherein the corresponding pixel intensity is augmented by a motion-compensated vector of the previous frame; (b) determining an intensity weight based on the determined pixel-related residue image and a temporal filtering parameter; and (c) filtering the pixel intensity of the current frame based on the determined intensity weight and the motion compensated vector of the previous frame. |
| US09036694B2 |
Adaptive QAM transmission scheme to improve performance on an AWGN channel
A cable transmitter supports a number of low density parity check (LDPC) coding rates, e.g., ¼, ⅓, ⅖, ½, ⅗, ⅔, ¾, ⅘, ⅚, 8/9 and 9/10; and supports a number of quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) schemes, e.g., 4-QAM, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, 1024-QAM or higher. For a selected modulation scheme, the cable transmitter selects between using a non-uniform symbol constellation or a uniform symbol constellation as a function of a selected coding rate. |
| US09036691B2 |
RF signal generating circuit, and transmitter
An RF signal generating circuit that generates, from a digital signal, an RF pulse signal to be radio-transmitted. It includes a polar converter generating an amplitude signal and a phase signal from the digital signal; a signal decomposer receiving the amplitude signal as an input signal, and generates two signals, a pulse width control signal and a residual signal; a delta sigma modulator subjecting the residual signal to delta-sigma modulation; a pulse width modulator subjecting the phase signal to pulse modulation in accordance with the pulse width control signal, and outputting a pulse phase signal; and a mixer that mixes a signal output from the delta sigma modulator and the pulse phase signal to output the RF pulse signal. The signal decomposer generates the pulse width control and residual signals if a product of a fundamental wave component of the pulse phase and residual signals equals the amplitude signal. |
| US09036685B2 |
Connecting interface unit and memory storage device
A connecting interface unit and a memory storage device without a crystal oscillator are provided and include following circuits. A phase detector detects a phase difference between a first reference signal and an input signal from a host system to generate a phase signal. A signal detecting circuit detects a signal character difference between the input signal and the first reference signal for a signal generating circuit to generate a second reference signal. A phase interpolator generates a clock signal according to the phase signal and the second reference signal. A sampling circuit generates an input data signal according to the clock signal. A transmitter circuit modulates an output data signal according to the clock signal or the second reference signal to generate an output signal, and transmits it to the host system. Accordingly, the connecting interface unit conforms to the specification of a transmission standard. |
| US09036674B2 |
Efficient third-order distributed feedback laser with enhanced beam pattern
A third-order distributed feedback laser has an active medium disposed on a substrate as a linear array of segments having a series of periodically spaced interstices therebetween and a first conductive layer disposed on a surface of the active medium on each of the segments and along a strip from each of the segments to a conductive electrical contact pad for application of current along a path including the active medium. Upon application of a current through the active medium, the active medium functions as an optical waveguide, and there is established an alternating electric field, at a THz frequency, both in the active medium and emerging from the interstices. Spacing of adjacent segments is approximately half of a wavelength of the THz frequency in free space or an odd integral multiple thereof, so that the linear array has a coherence length greater than the length of the linear array. |
| US09036673B2 |
Semiconductor laser
A semiconductor laser includes a semiconductor nanowire of a first conductivity type provided over a substrate, a light emitting layer provided around the semiconductor nanowire and insulated at an upper end and a lower end thereof, a cladding layer of a second conductivity type different from the first conductivity type, the cladding layer being provided at an outer periphery of the light emitting layer, a first electrode electrically coupled to an end portion of the semiconductor nanowire, a second electrode electrically coupled to an outer periphery of the cladding layer, a first reflection mirror provided at a one-end portion side of the semiconductor nanowire, and a second reflection mirror provided at the other end portion side of the semiconductor nanowire. |
| US09036671B2 |
Method for fabricating group-III nitride semiconductor laser device
A method for fabricating a group-III nitride semiconductor laser device stably supplies laser cavity mirrors having a low lasing threshold current through the use of a semi-polar plane. A blade 5g is forced down through a first region ER1 to keep the first region ER1 squeezed between a support member H2 and a movable member H1 together with a part of a protective sheet TF in contact with the first region ER1 while the tension generated in the area of the protective sheet TF in contact with the first region ER1 with the movable member H1 increases until the semi-polar principal surface SF at an end face EG1 of the first region ER1 tilts by a deflection angle THETA from the semi-polar principal surface SF of a second region ER2, and a force is thereby generated in the first region ER1 in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the blade 5g toward the first region ER1. For example, an angle ALPHA is within the range of 71 degrees to 79 degrees, and the deflection angle THETA is within the range of 11 to 19. |
| US09036669B2 |
Obtaining narrow line-width, full C-band tunability mirror for monolithic or hybrid integrated lasers
An apparatus comprising an optical medium, a power splitter coupled to the optical medium, a first delay line coupled to the power splitter such that the power splitter is positioned between the first delay line and the optical medium, a first comb reflector coupled to the first delay line such that the first delay line is positioned between the first comb reflector and the power splitter, and a second comb reflector coupled to the power splitter but not the first comb reflector and not the first delay line. A method comprising receiving an optical signal, splitting the optical signal into a first split optical signal and a second split optical signal, delaying the first split optical signal, tuning the delayed first split optical signal, tuning the second split optical signal, and delaying the tuned second split optical signal. |
| US09036667B2 |
High power single mode ytterbium fiber laser system with single mode neodymium fiber pump source
A high power fiber laser system emitting a substantially diffraction limited beam with a Gaussian intensity profile includes a single mode (“SM”) neodymium fiber pump source outputting a SM pump light; a seed laser operative to emit a SM signal light at a wavelength greater than that of the pump light; a SM DWM receiving and multiplexing the SM pump and signal lights. The disclosed system further includes a booster fiber amplifier which is configured with a frustoconically-shaped ytterbium (“Yb”) doped core receiving the pump and signal lights and configured with a small diameter input end which supports only a SM and a large diameter output end which is capable of supporting the SM and high order modes (:HOM”). The booster further has a cladding surrounding and coextending with the core, the core being configured for having intensity profiles of respective SMs of pump and signal lights overlap one another so that an overlap integral substantially equals to one (1) along an entire length of the core. The SM of the light signal extracts substantially the entire energy from the pump mode leaving the HOMs without amplification necessary to affect a quality of the diffraction limited beam of the system in a MW peak power range and hundreds of watt average power range. |
| US09036663B2 |
Method and system for space code transmit diversity of PUCCH
Aspects of the invention are directed to a transmit diversity method for use in a wireless terminal having a plurality of antennas and a wireless terminal configured to implement the method. The transmit diversity method includes using a different orthogonal sequence for each antenna, or group of antennas, for transmitting an uplink control channel from a wireless terminal to a base station. A first step of the method involves assigning at least one orthogonal sequence to one or more of the plurality of antennas, each of the plurality of antennas being assigned at least one orthogonal sequence. Once the orthogonal sequence is assigned, a further step involves scrambling a signal to be transmitted on the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) using the at least one orthogonal sequence for each antenna thereby producing a scrambled PUCCH for transmission by each antenna. The scrambled PUCCH can then be transmitted on the plurality of antennas. |
| US09036658B2 |
Apparatus and method for transmitting/receiving data in communication system
An apparatus for transmitting data in a communication system includes: a receiving unit configured to receive connection information of network systems to which a terminal connects; a packet generation unit configured to check the connection information, generate a data packet having a first structure when the terminal connects to a first system, and generate a data packet having a second structure when the terminal connects to a second system; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit the data packets to a receiver. The data packet having the first structure includes successive sequence frames, and the data packet having the second structure includes a main frame including the sequence frames, a redundancy frame obtained by delaying the sequence of the sequence frames, and an exclusive OR (XOR) frame of the main frame. |
| US09036656B1 |
Lightweight reliability protocol over fibre-channel to provide for load-balancing and resiliency
Techniques are provided for transmitting a plurality of Fiber-Channel packets in an FC network. A reliability protocol header comprising reliability attributes and FC attributes are prepended to the FC packets prior to their transmission for each packet in an exchange block comprising a plurality of FC packets. The FC packets are transmitted with the reliability protocol header across the FC network for delivery to a destination device. |
| US09036654B2 |
Packet sharing data transmission system and relay to lower latency
The system is for combining and transmitting data fragments for multiple customer ports sent over a first packet-switched computer network to a trunk network and redistributed over a second packet-switched computer network, each customer port having a preselected bandwidth designation. The system provides a First-In First-Out (FIFO) register to capture incoming data bits from each customer port in parallel and speeds equal to or greater than 1 Gbps, providing selectors connected to the FIFO outputs. Each selector is capable of mapping individual incoming data bits from different customer ports and combining them into the same trunk fragments. Each trunk fragment receives data bits from customer ports. by selector values for each customer. The filling sequence for each fragment is repeated until sufficient trunk fragments form a filled trunk frame. |
| US09036643B2 |
Multiple logical channels for use in network devices
A method for establishing a virtual channel between network devices is disclosed. In the case of a local network device establishing a virtual channel with a remote network device, a virtual channel request message is sent from the local network device to the remote network device. A virtual channel acknowledgement message and a remote capability list are received and a virtual channel resume message and a local capability list are sent. The virtual channel is then enabled. In the case of a remote network device establishing a virtual channel with a local network device, a virtual channel request message is received from a local network device by a remote network device. A virtual channel acknowledgement message and a remote capability list are sent and a virtual channel resume message and a local capability list are received. The virtual channel is then enabled. |
| US09036641B2 |
Provider backbone bridging—provider backbone transport internetworking
An Ethernet virtual switched sub-network (VSS) is implemented as a virtual hub and spoke architecture overlaid on hub and spoke connectivity built of a combination of Provider Backbone Transport (spokes) and a provider backbone bridged sub-network (hub). Multiple VSS instances are multiplexed over top of the PBT/PBB infrastructure. A loop free resilient Ethernet carrier network is provided by interconnecting Provider Edge nodes through access sub-networks to Provider Tandems to form Provider Backbone Transports spokes with a distributed switch architecture of the Provider Backbone Bridged hub sub-network. Provider Backbone transport protection groups may be formed from the Provider Edge to diversely homed Provider Tandems by defining working and protection trunks through the access sub-network. The Provider Backbone Transport trunks are Media Access Control (MAC) addressable by the associated Provider Edge address or by a unique address associated with the protection group in the Provider Backbone Bridged network domain. |
| US09036637B2 |
Message transmission in virtual private networks
The disclosure relates to a method for transmitting a message in a Hierarchical Layer 2 Virtual Private Network (H-L2VPN). A destination MAC address, to which a message is to be forwarded upon receiving the message, is determined by a first peer node of the network. The first peer node determines whether one or more equivalent pseudo wires (PWs) connected thereto form a path to the destination MAC address. When it is determined that more than one equivalent PW forms a path to the destination MAC address, an arbitrary equivalent PW is selected from the more than one equivalent PW by the first peer node. The first peer node sends the message, via the selected equivalent PW, to a second peer node of the network connected to the selected equivalent PW for forwarding to the destination MAC address. |
| US09036636B1 |
System and methods for managing network packet broadcasting
A network of switches that forwards network packets between end hosts may be controlled by a controller. The controller may maintain information that identifies subsets of the end hosts that are associated with respective broadcast domains. The controller may use network topology information to determine which of the switches are coupled in a forwarding tree formed from network paths between the end hosts of a broadcast domain. The controller may be used to configure the switches with an identifier that identifies which broadcast domain is associated with each subset of end hosts. The controller may configure switches of a given forwarding tree that are coupled to end hosts of an associated broadcast domain to modify broadcast network packets received from the end hosts with the identifier and to forward the modified broadcast network packets along the forwarding tree exclusively to end hosts of the associated broadcast domain. |
| US09036635B2 |
Method and apparatus for propagating public safety multicast and broadcast services among public safety personnel
Public safety user equipment (PS UE) that establishes a first wireless communication channel over a primary network to at least one multimedia multicast or broadcast service management entity and establishes one or more alternative wireless communication channels over one or more alternative networks (310). The public safety user equipment receives at least one multimedia multicast or broadcast service message over the first wireless communication channel (320), Then, the PS UE extracts data contained in the multimedia multicast or broadcast service message and storing the data in a local cache (330). The PS UE receives a cache request from the one or more user equipment over one or more alternative wireless communication channels (340) and then the PS UE transmits the stored data to the one or more PS user equipment (350). |
| US09036631B2 |
Identifying Gn/Gp mode at PCRF
A method, and machine readable storage medium is disclosed for a method performed by policy and charging rules function (PCRF) node (PCRN) in a packet switching network, for identifying a Gn/Gp mode of an adjacent network node, in which the adjacent network node which is connected directly to a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) node via a Gn/Gp interface, from an adjacent network node connected to a Serving Gateway (S-GW) via a S5/S8 interface, wherein the adjacent network node is a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) node or a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). The method comprises receiving at the PCRN from the adjacent network node, a Diameter Credit Control Request (CCR) message requesting a IP-CAN session; determining whether the request message includes a SGSN-Address and does not include an AN-GW-Address. |
| US09036630B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting data packet of multimedia service using media characteristics
A method of transmitting a data packet of a multimedia service is provided. The method includes generating a media characteristic corresponding to a single media content component or aggregated media characteristics corresponding to a plurality of multimedia content components, obtaining information used for generating the data packet from the generated media characteristics or aggregated media characteristics, and generating the data packet based on the obtained information used for generating the data packet and transmitting the generated data packet. |
| US09036624B2 |
Method of scheduling transmission in a communication network, corresponding communication node and computer program product
Data streams are transmitted from a node towards a receiver in a communication network in the form of data packets for playout via a reproduction buffer at the receiver. The data packets are arranged in a scheduling queue and dropped from the scheduling queue if their sojourn time in the queue exceeds a given drop deadline. The reproduction buffer is emulated at the node in order to determine respective playout values for the data packets which are indicative of expected playout instants for the data packets by the reproduction buffer at the receiver. The drop deadlines are assigned to the data packets as a function of the respective playout values determined via the reproduction buffer as emulated at the node. |
| US09036621B2 |
System for deploying voice over internet protocol services
A system for deploying Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services is provided. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a Call Session Control Function (CSCF) having a controller element to receive a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)message from an originating communication device requesting communications with a terminating communication device, and establish an Internet Protocol (IP) connection between the originating communication device and an advertisement media system to present at the originating communication device an advertisement message that replaces a ringback tone associated with the terminating communication device. Additional embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09036616B2 |
Synchronizing generation and transmission of keep-alive messages
Methods, systems, and devices are described for generating keep-alive messages for a plurality of persistent connections. The plurality of persistent connections associated with at least one application on a wireless device in a network hosting the plurality of persistent connections are identified. A timing schedule specific to the network to transmit keep-alive messages to refresh each persistent connection of the plurality of persistent connections is identified. A generation of the keep-alive messages for each persistent connection of the plurality of persistent connections is synchronized. The synchronized generation of the keep-alive messages occurs according to the identified timing schedule of the network. |
| US09036615B2 |
Wireless femtocell setup methods and apparatus
Methods and apparatus that enable a wireless femtocell to operate in its designated frequency so as to minimize interference between the wireless femtocell and neighboring base stations (and other femtocells or nomadic cells). In one exemplary embodiment, the femtocell cell comprises a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) femtocell which has the ability to scan the air interface in a manner similar to that associated with a UE in order to identify unallocated resources within the wireless network, and subsequently request access for the unallocated resources. Business methods useful in combination with the aforementioned methods and apparatus are also disclosed. |
| US09036611B2 |
Method and device for performing HARQ in a multiple antenna system
Disclosed are a method and a device for performing HARQ in a multiple antenna system. A terminal transmits uplink data via a plurality of antennas and through a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), and receives an ACK/NACK (Acknowledgement/Non-Acknowledgement) signal indicating whether or not the uplink data has been received, the signal being received via the plurality of antennas and through a PHICH (Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel) which corresponds to the PUSCH. A downlink resource to which the PHICH is mapped is determined on the basis of the index (IPRB—RAlowest—index) of the smallest Physical Resource Block (PRB) among the PRBs to which the PUSCH is mapped, uplink DMRS (Demodulation Reference Signal) cyclic shift parameters (nDMRS) and Orthogonal Code Cover (OCC) index. |
| US09036608B2 |
Adaptive transmission mode switching
A node (28) of a radio access network (20) communicates over a radio interface (32) with a wireless terminal (30). The node (28) comprises a transmitter (34) and a controller (40). The transmitter (34) selectively operates in plural multiple input multiple output (MIMO) modes for downlink transmission over the radio interface (32). The controller (40) uses both a terminal speed value and a throughput value to make a determination when to switch between the plural multiple input multiple output (MIMO) modes for communicating with the wireless terminal. The plural MIMO modes comprise a first mode and a second mode. In the first mode open loop MIMO operates with cyclical diversity delay. In the second mode open loop MIMO operates without cyclical diversity delay. Although operating in open loop MIMO, advantages such as those of closed loop MIMO are realized. |
| US09036605B2 |
Methods, media, and devices for moving a connection from one point of access to another point of access
Systems, methods, media, and devices for providing cooperation among digital processing devices in wireless networks are provided. In some embodiments, methods for moving a connection from one point of access to another point of access are provided, sending a request for information from a first mobile node to at least one other node, wherein the request for information contains first information identifying at least one point of access; receiving a response containing second information identifying at least one point of access from the at least one other node; and establishing a connection between the first mobile node and a point of access identified in the second information. In some embodiments, devices that can move a connection from one point of access to another point of access are provided. |
| US09036603B2 |
Network assistance for device-to-device discovery
Embodiments of system and method configurations for device discovery and connection establishment in connection with use of device-to-device (D2D) and proximity-based services are generally described herein. In some examples, an evolved packet core (EPC) of a 3GPP Long Term Evolution or 3GPP Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE/LTE-A) network is arranged to assist D2D identification and discovery procedures at user equipment (UEs) connected to the LTE/LTE-A network. Various identification and discovery procedures may be implemented in connection with proximity detection and the establishment of communication times for the establishment of the D2D communication link, between the UEs. Accordingly, the EPC of the LTE/LTE-A network may assist the establishment of a device-to-device communication link between UEs on a wireless network employing a distinct wireless protocol (for example, a direct wireless network connection via a wireless local area network (WLAN) or wireless personal area network (WPAN)). |
| US09036602B2 |
Method, device, and system for optimizing radio network
The present invention provides a method, a device, and a system for optimizing a radio network. The method provided in the present invention includes: recognizing a terminal that needs optimization processing; according to a degree of influencing a network handover performance indicator or network load performance indicator by each terminal that needs optimization processing, performing handover priority sorting on the terminal that needs optimization processing to obtain a sorted handover priority result; according to the sorted handover priority result, and based on a configuration rule that a smaller handover parameter value is configured for a terminal with a higher handover priority, configuring a handover parameter for the terminal that needs optimization processing; and sending the handover parameter to a corresponding terminal. |
| US09036601B2 |
Support for continuity of tunnel communications for mobile nodes having multiple care of addressing
The present invention solves communication disruption problems during the hand-off transition period by using a pre-handoff registration of a new foreign agent on behalf of the mobile node The pre-handoff registration message should: (1) identify itself as a pre-hand off registration message, (2) indicate direction of traffic for the pre-handoff registration time period, and (3) specify a lifetime or time period when the pre-handoff registration request will continue to be considered valid The local mobility anchor will accept traffic using the pre-handoff registration care-of address depending on the directionality indicator, but the communication traffic to or from the mobile node will not be disrupted during the transition period. Because the care-of address for the mobile node on the new foreign network can be used to direct communication traffic to or from the mobile node during this transition time period, no disruption of service will be encountered. |
| US09036596B2 |
Transmitting data in a mobile communication system
According to one embodiment, a method for retransmitting a protocol data unit (PDU) in a mobile communication system includes: segmenting a first PDU to form one or more second PDUs if the first PDU does not fit within a PDU size indicated by a lower layer; and transmitting the one or more second PDUs to a receiving side. Segmenting the first PDU includes: mapping only a data field of the first PDU to a data field of the one or more second PDUs; and setting a header of each of the one or more second PDUs. The header of each of the one or more second PDUs includes a field indicating a sequence number of the first PDU. |
| US09036592B2 |
User terminal, radio base station apparatus and radio communication method
The present invention adequately controls feedback control information in uplink transmission in a system band formed with a plurality of CCs. The present invention provides a data information demodulation section, which demodulates downlink shared channel signals of CCs from a radio base station apparatus, a retransmission check section, which checks retransmission and outputs a retransmission acknowledgement signal in response to the downlink shared channel signal of each of the plurality of CCs, a control information demodulation section, which demodulates downlink control information and detects the number of transport blocks, and a channel selection control section, which, with reference to a mapping table in which combinations of retransmission acknowledgement signals for the downlink shared channel signals of the plurality of CCs are defined using a plurality of radio resources and phase modulation bit information, determines radio resources to use to transmit the retransmission acknowledgement signals from a radio resource of an uplink control channel of a specific CC, and changes the content of the mapping table according to the number of transport blocks of the specific fundamental frequency block. |
| US09036590B2 |
Method and apparatus for sharing a single data channel for multiple signaling flows destined to multiple core networks
A method and apparatus for sharing a single data channel for multiple signaling flows destined to multiple core networks are disclosed. For example, the method receives a plurality of service requests from a plurality of corresponding service clients on a single mobile endpoint device, where each of the plurality of corresponding service clients is to be registered with a different corresponding Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network. The method establishes the single data channel to support a plurality of signaling flows associated with the plurality of service requests simultaneously, and routes each signaling message associated with the plurality of service requests to the corresponding IMS network. |
| US09036589B2 |
Transmitting data flows via particular connection points accessible via one or more access points
A first network device may receive an instruction to transmit a data flow and select a particular second network device based on a selection rule. The particular second network device providing may provide to an external network. The first network device may identify a path to the particular second network device. The particular path may include one or more third network devices that are different from the first network device. The first network device may provide the data flow to the particular second network device via the path to cause the particular second network device to transmit the data flow towards a destination device. |
| US09036587B2 |
Base station apparatus and transmission method
Disclosed is a base station in which the frequency usage efficiency can be improved when the communication bandwidths are asymmetric in the uplink line and the downlink line. A base station can communicate by using a plurality of downlink unit bands and a smaller number of uplink unit bands. A control unit allocates uplink resource allocation information and downlink resource allocation information to a PDCCH which is arranged in each of the plurality of downlink unit bands, and allocates a response signal to the uplink line data to a PHICH which is arranged in the same number of downlink unit bands from the plurality of downlink unit bands as there are uplink unit bands. A transmit RF unit transmits the resource allocation information or the response signal. |
| US09036586B2 |
Method of transmitting information about a pre-coding matrix of a terminal in a multiple node system
A method of transmitting, by a first terminal, information about a pre-coding matrix to a base station in a multiple node system comprises the steps: measuring a downlink channel of a first node through a reference signal for CSI (Channel-State Information) measurement of the first node; measuring a downlink channel of a second node through a reference signal for decoding transmitted by the second node; and transmitting, by the first terminal, information about a pre-coding matrix for the first terminal to the base station on the basis of the measured downlink channels of the first and second nodes. |
| US09036581B2 |
Predictive EUL scheduling based on service awareness
The present invention relates to a method and device for scheduling transmission of data of terminals in a cell. To this end, information is acquired indicating type of communication service for which a first terminal is to be scheduled. Then, the first terminal and at least a second terminal in the cell is scheduled for transmission of data on the basis of the acquired information indicating the type of communication service for which the first terminal is to be scheduled, the at least second terminal being scheduled for data transmission in time periods between data transmissions of the first terminal. |
| US09036577B2 |
Wireless communication apparatus and wireless communication method
To improve the channel estimation accuracy of “DL grant” that instructs data allocation of a downlink of R-PDCCH. A wireless communication apparatus according to an aspect of the invention includes a receiver that is configured to receive a control signal, and a blind decoder that is configured to perform a blind decoding of a plurality of adjacent physical, resource blocks (PRBs) in which the same preceding is used in a unit of an RB group (RBG) that is composed of the plurality of PRBs, and to detect a resource area to which a control signal for the wireless communication apparatus that is included in the control signal is allocated. |
| US09036575B2 |
Radio communication system, high-power base station, low-power base station, and communication control method
A radio communication system (1) includes a pico-cell base station (PeNB) which is located in the communication area of a macro-cell base station (MeNB) and the transmission power of which is lower than that of the macro-cell base station (MeNB). For radio resources that can be used as PDSCH, a resource division ratio that is a ratio between unusable PDSCH resources, which cannot be used by the macro-cell base station (MeNB), and usable PDSCH resources, which can be used by the macro-cell base station (MeNB), is decided, and a radio resource is allocated, out of the usable PDSCH resources defined in accordance with the decided resource division ratio, to a radio terminal that is to connect to the macro-cell base station (MeNB). The resource division ratio is decided based on the traffic load of each base station. |
| US09036571B2 |
Method and arrangement in a radio communications system for dynamic carrier mode switching
A method in a radio network node for dynamic carrier mode switching is provided. The radio network node is comprised in a radio communications system. The radio network node is configured to operate in a legacy mode and is further configured to operate in a non legacy mode. At least one carrier is operated so that it switches (602) from non legacy mode to legacy mode. When operating the carrier in the legacy mode, the radio network node signals (603) with a user equipment. The user equipment operates in legacy mode, but can not operate in non legacy mode. The radio network node then operates the at least one carrier so that it switches (604) from legacy mode back to non legacy mode. |
| US09036568B2 |
Method and arrangements for circuit switched services in communication networks
The present invention relates to methods and arrangements in mobile radio telecommunications for enabling access to Circuit Switched (CS) services for a user equipment (UE) that is connected to a LTE/SAE (Long Term Evolution/System Architecture Evolution) network. The UE's current position is stored in a LTE position format in the LTE network or in the SAE network. The invention provides steps and means for transforming the UE's position in LTE format to position information in CS format for the UE, steps and means for registering the UE in the CS network using said transformed position information, and steps and means for establishing access to CS services provided by said CS network. |
| US09036565B2 |
Radio frame control device, radio communication device, and radio frame control method
A radio frame control device comprises a controlling unit, a resource block allocation unit, and a resource block conversion unit. The controlling unit controls a downlink radio frame of an orthogonal frequency division multiple access scheme. The resource block allocation unit allocates resource blocks to a terminal station using any one of a plurality of resource block allocation methods respectively having different restrictions. The resource block conversion unit determines whether or not conversion is possible from allocation information of resource blocks allocated according to a first resource block allocation method into resource block allocation information by a second resource block allocation method. The resource block conversion unit converts the resource block allocation method for the resource block allocation information when the conversion is possible. |
| US09036563B2 |
Method for achieving frequency reuse in wireless communications systems
A method is provided for sharing a communications channel in a wireless communications system. A network coordinating device of the wireless network obtains a first path quality information of each of a first set of one or more communications paths between a first pair of communications devices. The coordinating device also obtains a second path quality information of each of a second set of communications paths between a second pair of communications devices. The coordinating device then determines one or more co-existing communications paths based on the first and the second path quality information in accordance with a predetermined rule. Finally, the coordinating device sends channel resource allocation information to the first pair and the second pair of communications devices to use corresponding co-existing communications paths such that the first pair and the second pair of communications devices communicate over the communications channel during a period of time concurrently. |
| US09036559B2 |
Wireless communication system, wireless transmitting apparatus, wireless receiving apparatus, wireless transmission method, and wireless reception method
A mobile station device that includes a receiving unit. The receiving unit of mobile station device receives using at least a first downlink component carrier and a second downlink component carrier which are aggregated, the receiving unit is configured to receive, a first physical downlink control channel for the mobile station device, on the first downlink component carrier, and a second physical downlink control channel for the mobile station device, on the second downlink component carrier, where both a first sequence including at least modulated symbols of the first physical downlink control channel and a second sequence including at least modulated symbols of the second physical downlink control channel are cyclically-shifted by a base station. |
| US09036557B2 |
Wireless communication device with both a wireless transceiver and a wireless paging receiver
A wireless communication device communicates using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless protocol and a different wireless protocol. The wireless device processes a first user input to direct a wireless transceiver to transmit and receive using the different wireless protocol and to direct a wireless paging receiver receive using the LTE wireless protocol. The transceiver then transmits and receives using the different wireless protocol, and the paging receiver receives pages using the LTE wireless protocol. The device processes a second user input to direct the transceiver to transmit and receive using the LTE wireless protocol, and the transceiver uses the LTE wireless protocol. In some examples, the device also processes the second user input to direct the paging receiver to receive other pages using the different wireless protocol, and the paging receiver receives the other pages using the different wireless protocol. |
| US09036556B2 |
Apparatus and method of reporting power headroom in wireless communication system
A method and apparatus of reporting a power headroom in a wireless communication system is provided. A user equipment transmits a first power headroom report to a base station and starts a virtual power backoff timer upon transmitting the first power headroom report. When a second power headroom report is triggered while the virtual power backoff timer is running, the user equipment transmits the second power headroom report. |
| US09036553B2 |
Power saving via variable listen intervals in a WLAN
A wireless client device is associated with an access point in an association having a value for a listen interval parameter. The wireless client device determines, according to predefined considerations, a different value for the listen interval parameter, and declares the different value for the listen interval parameter in a wireless transmission to the access point. The listen interval parameter specifies a number of beacon intervals that can pass from a time the wireless client device listens for a beacon frame from the access point before the wireless client device listens for a next beacon frame from the access point. |
| US09036551B2 |
Base station and method to acquire capability of mobile apparatus in mobile communication system
A base station includes a radio communication unit (82, 85) configured to wirelessly communicate with a mobile apparatus capable of communicating in both a first mobile communication system and a second mobile communication system and a network communication unit (83, 84) configured to communicate with a switching station in the first mobile communication system, and if a line setup instruction signal (Initial Context Setup Request) received at the network communication unit from the switching station is not due to initial access to the switching station by the mobile apparatus, the radio communication unit receives mobile apparatus capability information in the second mobile communication system (UE-UTRA-Capability) from the mobile apparatus after transmitting a line setup response signal (Initial Context Setup Response) to the switching station. |
| US09036549B2 |
Method and device for indicating whether terminal carrier aggregation has been activated in a cellular wireless communication system
A method and device deactivate carrier aggregation and execute single carrier operation in a terminal, in a wireless communication system in which broadband is achieved by means of carrier aggregation. More specifically, in a terminal which is running a plurality of carriers, unnecessary power consumption in the terminal is prevented and additional screening events are minimized by defining physical layer signaling so as to make the terminal rapidly convert to running a single carrier. |
| US09036547B2 |
Method and system for the improvement of routing in communications networks providing multimedia services over IMS networks
The present invention proposes a method and system which improves the assignment of resources in communication networks providing multimedia services, which allows offering different qualities of service to the users of an IMS network. To that end, a new node which controls signaling, routing and security for the operator according to the content of the session and the user is introduced in the method or system. |
| US09036546B2 |
System and method for device discovery for device-to-device communication in a cellular network
An embodiment of a system enables a user equipment to employ a buddy list to initiate a D2D discovery process. The user equipment constructs a buddy list including other user equipments with which the user equipment would desire to communicate employing a D2D communication link. The user equipment transmits the buddy list to a serving base station. The user equipment transmits a request to the serving base station that it desires to communicate over a D2D communication link with a second user equipment that is on the buddy list. The user equipment receives D2D link setup information from the serving base station for the communication link with the second user equipment. The user equipment transmits a beacon signal employing the D2D link setup information. |
| US09036544B2 |
Delay compensation during synchronization in a base station in a cellular communication network
The present disclosure relates to delay compensation during synchronization of uplink and downlink frames in a base station in a cellular communication network. In general, the base station includes a radio equipment and a radio equipment controller that together form at least part of the base station. In one embodiment, the radio equipment includes a first interface configured to receive data from the radio equipment controller and a second interface configured to send data to the radio equipment controller. During synchronization, the radio equipment receives, at the first interface of the radio equipment, a synchronization message from the radio equipment controller. The radio equipment then passes the synchronization message from the first interface of the radio equipment to the second interface of the radio equipment with a synthetic delay that is in addition to an in-equipment delay from the first interface to the second interface. |
| US09036541B2 |
Location-based IMS server selection
A user location is estimated based on an IP address assigned to the user's device/equipment during registration for multimedia application services that are provided over the IP multimedia subsystems (IMS) network. The latitude and longitude information of the user location is obtained based on the IP address assigned to the user device/equipment. Such information is used to determine an appropriate server(s) for establishing an IP multimedia service session. In some embodiments, a closely located IMS server(s) is selected for proxying, interrogating, providing or delivering IP multimedia services. In this manner, each user device/equipment communicates with IMS servers that are located close to the user and thus, the geographically distributed load among the IMS gateway servers can be achieved. |
| US09036538B2 |
Frequency hopping design for single carrier FDMA systems
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate frequency hopping in a single carrier FDMA wireless environment by dynamically altering user offsets with time to obtain interference diversity. A channel tree can be utilized with nodes that are assigned values. User devices can be assigned to such nodes, a path between an assigned node and a root node in the channel tree can be evaluated, and a table lookup can be performed to determine an identity of a subcarrier set to assign to the user device assigned to a given node, as well as a number of subcarriers to be assigned to the user device. Additionally, node values can be dynamically varied during a communication event to alter path values and thus alter subcarrier set assignments. |
| US09036537B2 |
Method for formatting data of a physical layer frame
Systems, devices, processors, and methods are described for the transmission and reception of broadband signals between a gateway and subscriber terminals via satellite. In one set of embodiments, a wireless signal is generated and transmitted including a series of frames including a physical layer header and payload. A sub-channel identifier may be included in the physical layer header to identify the sub-channel for the payload, and allow for various novel filtering techniques at the subscriber terminal. The frames may be generated to be of substantially equal duration. Novel subscriber terminal configurations are described to leverage this formatting. |
| US09036534B2 |
Method and apparatus for data packet relaying and data packet decoding
The present invention provides a technical scheme for forwarding data packets from one or more user terminals in a relay station, and a technical scheme for decoding the multiple data packets from the user terminals in a base station. The relay station performs network encoding on copies of multiple user terminal packets from one or more user terminals to obtain a network encoded data packet and sends the data packet to the base station. The base station receives copies of multiple user terminal packets from one or more user terminals, respectively, and a network encoded data packets from the relay station, and performs joint soft combining and decoding on them. |
| US09036532B2 |
Scheduling method for machine-to-machine communication
One embodiment of the present invention provides a scheduling method for machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. The method comprises the steps of: receiving a connection request message from each of a plurality of machines; grouping the plurality of machines into one or more groups; transmitting information on the group to which each machine belongs, to the machine; transmitting information on the machines belonging to each group, and control information including information on a time interval allocated to each group, to machines belonging to each group; and communicating with machines belonging to each group in a time interval allocated to each group. |
| US09036529B2 |
Efficient communication for devices of a home network
Systems and methods are provided for efficient communication through a fabric network of devices in a home environment or similar environment. For example, an electronic device may efficiently control communication to balance power and reliability concerns, may efficiently communicate messages to certain preferred networks by analyzing Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) packet headers that use an Extended Unique Local Address (EULA), may efficiently communicate software updates and status reports throughout a fabric network, and/or may easily and efficiently join a fabric network. |
| US09036522B2 |
Low power wireless communication apparatuses and method thereof
Provided are low-power wireless communication apparatuses and a method thereof. A hub may receive a beacon signal from a neighboring hub that is within a predetermined area from the hub, and control an operation of a node served by the hub based on information received from the neighboring hub. |
| US09036519B2 |
LTE wireless communication method for transceiving wireless device data
The present invention relates to an LTE wireless communication method for transceiving wireless device data. In one embodiment, this is accomplished by a plurality of base transceiver station (BTS) linked by a network over which the base transceiver stations communicate, wherein the network includes at least one leaf BTS and at least two hub BTS, and wherein hub BTS include a first hub BTS and a second hub BTS, checking periodically for control signal by all the BTS, wherein the control signals are periodically exchanged by all the BTS through wireless channel, transparently, down-linking user traffic towards a user equipment append to the leaf BTS from the first hub BTS to the leaf BTS in the first communication area using a first frequency band and up-linking the user traffic from the user equipment append to the leaf BTS using wireless channel between second hub BTS and leaf BTS. |
| US09036515B2 |
Multiplexing schemes for OFDMA
Methods and systems are provided for allocating resources including VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and Non-VoIP resources. In some embodiments, multiplexing schemes are provided for use with OFDMA (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access) systems, for example for use in transmitting VoIP traffic. In some embodiments, various HARQ (Hybrid Automatic request) techniques are provided for use with OFDMA systems. In various embodiments, there are provided methods and systems for dealing with issues such as Handling non-full rate vocoder frames, VoIP packet jitter handling, VoIP capacity increasing schemes, persistent and non-persistent assignment of resources in OFDMA systems. |
| US09036513B2 |
Method for communicating between customer device and server device
The method includes interacting between a first proximity transceiver which is associated to the customer device, and a second proximity transceiver; and generating thereby interaction information. The method further includes defining an TR069 Management protocol object called proximity-object and defining thereby at least one TR069 Management protocol parameter related to the interaction information, and furthermore interchanging between the server device and the customer device at least one name-value pair of the at least one parameter of the proximity-object by means of TR69 Management protocol messages. |
| US09036510B1 |
Method and system for setting up a conference with a mobile station via another mobile station
A method for a setting up a conference call with a mobile station and an intermediary mobile station, using the intermediary mobile station as a bridged-node. When a conference server receives a request to setup a conference call, the conference server initiates conference setup signaling with both mobile stations using a cellular link. The conference server uses the conference setup signaling to direct one mobile station to act as a bridged-node and the other mobile station to act as a bridged-leg. Responsive to the directives, the bridged-leg mobile station and the bridged-node mobile station establish a Wi-Fi link. The bridged-leg mobile station then uses the Wi-Fi link to bridge to an air traffic channel associated with the bridged-node mobile station. |
| US09036507B2 |
Discovery for fibre channel over ethernet devices
Techniques are provided for performing discovery in a Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) network. An FCF discovers other FCoE Forwarders (FCFs) connected to its network segment by transmitting a solicitation message to the multicast MAC address “All-FCF-MACS”. All FCFs receive packets with this multicast MAC address including the solicitation message that announces the presence of the FCF. Each FCF replies with a unicast advertisement message that provides the new FCF with a MAC address of the responding FCF. The FCF builds a list of the FCFs available on its network segment and may then establish a virtual link with one or more of the FCFs through an exchange link parameter (ELP) exchange. |
| US09036505B2 |
Media access control (MAC) for an active RFID system
A system of radio frequency communication between Readers and Tags having a scalable Media Access Control (MAC) protocol for an active RFID system employing multiple access. The system comprising at least one tag Reader and a plurality of Tags each having a unique tag ID and deployed in a region in which at least some of the Tags are in radio communication with the tag Reader. A multi-dimensional addressing scheme of the MAC protocol enables division of the plurality of Tags into a number of groups for different stages of MAC protocol processing, based on different portions of the tag ID. The MAC has an inherent flexibility in the sense that it allows readers to communicate with different versions of tags and also optimize communication parameters to reader's capabilities, without pre-configuration of the tags. Furthermore, the MAC supports means to achieve very high access reliability, such as relay between tags. |
| US09036495B2 |
Methods and devices for adjusting resource management procedures based on machine device capability information
Devices and methods for adjusting resource management procedures in a User Equipment (UE) machine device communicating with one or more nodes in a communication network. In one embodiment, a method includes determining, during a first time period, the number of handovers, N, for the UE from a serving node to a different node. The method further includes comparing the value, N, to a threshold, wherein if the value, N, is greater than the threshold, mobility pattern information for the UE includes an indication of high mobility, and if the value, N, is less than or equal to the threshold, the mobility pattern information includes an indication of low mobility. The method also includes transmitting machine device capability information, including the indicated mobility pattern information, to be used for determining an adjustment to a resource management procedure for the UE. |
| US09036493B2 |
Multilevel network monitoring system architecture
Network traffic information from multiple sources, at multiple time scales, and at multiple levels of detail are integrated so that users may more easily identify relevant network information. The network monitoring system stores and manipulates low-level and higher-level network traffic data separately to enable efficient data collection and storage. Packet traffic data is collected, stored, and analyzed at multiple locations. The network monitoring locations communicate summary and aggregate data to central modules, which combine this data to provide an end-to-end description of network traffic at coarser time scales. The network monitoring system enables users to zoom in on high-level, coarse time scale network performance data to one or more lower levels of network performance data at finer time scales. When high-level network performance data of interest is selected, corresponding low-level network performance data is retrieved from the appropriate distributed network monitoring locations to provide additional detailed information. |
| US09036489B2 |
Access point synchronization in Wi-Fi fire detection systems
Systems and methods of backup battery support for switches and access points in fire detection systems are provided. Methods can include identifying a communications time interval for a plurality of devices, detecting a power failure, identifying a start time for a next scheduled communications time interval for a respective one of the plurality of devices, placing a wireless access point in a low power mode, and, substantially immediately prior to the start time, removing the wireless access point from the low power mode. |
| US09036486B2 |
Integrated intermodulation detection sub-system for telecommunications systems
Certain aspects are directed to an intermodulation detection sub-system. The intermodulation detection sub-system includes a test signal generation module, at least one intermodulation detection device, and a controller. The test signal generation module is integrated into a unit of a telecommunications system. The test signal generation module is configured to provide a test signal to a remote antenna unit of the telecommunications system. The intermodulation detection device is integrated into the telecommunications system. The intermodulation detection device is configured to detect intermodulation products generated by mixing a first signal component and a second signal component of the test signal. The controller is integrated into the unit. The controller is configured to control the test signal generation module and the at least one intermodulation detection device. |
| US09036482B2 |
Bufferless nonblocking networks on chip
Network on Chips (NoC)s with a bufferless and nonblocking architecture are described. Core processors are communicatively coupled together on a substrate with a set of routing nodes based on nonblocking process. A network component routes data packets through the routing nodes and the core processors via communication links. A bufferless cross bar switch facilitates the communication of the data packets and/or path setup packets through the communication links among source processors and destination processors. The communication links include one or more channels, in which a channel comprises a data sub-channel, an acknowledgement sub-channel and a release sub-channel. |
| US09036479B2 |
Mechanism to enable buffer to buffer credit recovery using link reset protocol
A buffer to buffer credit recovery mechanism is disclosed in which the ports involved in the credit recovery operation are synchronized while credit recovery is being enabled and during a credit recovery operation when credit recovery parameters are being reset. Buffer to buffer credit recovery involves exchanging primitive control signals and parameters during the login sequence to enable credit recovery. Once credit is lost; there may be a need for resetting a link to reset the credit recovery counters and BB credits. Both of these processes require synchronization between the ports involved in the credit recovery mechanism. This synchronization is achieved by enabling credit recovery during the Link Reset protocol negotiation and ensuring that no frames or R_RDYs are exchanged during the procedure. |
| US09036475B2 |
Method and arrangement in a distributed radio base station
In a method for use in a distributed radio base station, comprising a plurality of radio equipment nodes and an associated radio equipment control node, configuring at least one of the radio equipment nodes with a initial signal path configuration, and monitoring a traffic demand of a respective cell of each of the plurality of radio equipment nodes. Subsequently, determining an alternative signal path configuration for the at least one radio equipment node based on at least the monitored demand, and dynamically switching from the initial signal path configuration to the determined alternative signal path configuration. Finally, exchanging data between the radio equipment control node and the at least one radio equipment node based on the determined alternative signal path configuration. |
| US09036467B1 |
Method for accelerating failover of VPN traffic in an MPLS provider network
Failover of VPN traffic between MPLS tunnels is accelerated by determining a main and a standby MPLS tunnel for each VPN and passing both the main and standby MPLS tunnel information to the forwarding plane of a network element configured to implement the VPN. In the event of failover of a main MPLS tunnel interface, the forwarding plane is instructed to use the standby MPLS tunnel instead of the main MPLS tunnel. Since the standby MPLS tunnel has already been determined, and information associated with the standby MPLS tunnel has already been provided to the forwarding plane, it is not necessary to recompute a new MPLS tunnel or reprogram the forwarding plane using the new MPLS tunnel information. By removing control plane operations and control plane-forwarding plane interaction from the handling of failovers, the failover recovery time may be accelerated, to thereby enable VPN connections to handle time sensitive traffic. |
| US09036466B2 |
Methods and apparatus for improving network communication using ethernet switching protection
A network layout between network elements and routers using network redundancy to improve reliability of network communication is disclosed. Upon detecting a link failure associated with a primary link between an access switch and a primary router by the access switch via a connectivity verification protocol, the access switch sends a message to the primary router indicating connection defect via the connectivity verification protocol such as IEEE 802.1ag standard. After enabling protection switching mechanism to activate a secondary link between the access switch and a backup router for network communication, routing data streams are routed between the access switch and the router via the secondary link. In one aspect, the protection switching mechanism is operated in accordance with G.8031 under International Telecommunication Union (“ITU”) standard. |
| US09036465B2 |
Hierarchical network with active redundant links
A hierarchical structure network of devices is formed. A group of devices may be grouped together to form a domain. A plurality of domains formed in a hierarchical structure forms a hierarchical network. Traffic flow topology may be updated only within the same domain that topology changes. In one embodiment, traffic flow topology is updated only in a parent domain and a child domain when the status of a link connecting the two domain changes. Thus, other domains within the network have no need to update the traffic flow topology and remain agnostic to the traffic flow updates. Thus, responsiveness of the network to topology changes is improved. Multiple links may each carry traffic if multiple links exist between nodes. As such, a network of robust redundant interconnections with active links is formed that react quickly to network topology changes and that uses the interconnection links in an efficient manner. |
| US09036464B2 |
Method and system for distributing network traffic among multiple direct hardware access datapaths
A system for distributing network traffic among direct hardware access datapaths, comprising: a processor; one or more activated PNICs; a host operating system; and a virtual machine (VM). Each activated PNIC sends and receives data packets over a network. Each activated PNIC is configured with a virtual function. The VM includes a VNIC and a virtual link aggregator configured to maintain a list identifying each activated PNIC. Virtual function mappings for the VM associate the VM with virtual functions for the activated PNICs. The virtual link aggregator selects the first activated PNIC for servicing a network connection and determines a virtual function for the first activated PNIC. The VNIC for the first activated PNIC uses the virtual function to directly transfer network traffic for the network connection between the VM and the first activated PNIC. |
| US09036461B2 |
LTE—advanced transmit diversity decoders
Various embodiments of a transmit diversity decoding techniques are provided. In one aspect, a method receives a first input that includes signals transmitted by M transmit antennas on C channels and received by N receive antennas, where M, N and C is each a positive integer greater than 1. The method also receives a second input that includes estimates of channel matrix elements. The method further generates an output that includes at least an estimate of a transmit signal transmitted by one of the M transmit antennas on one of the C channels based at least in part on the first and the second inputs. |
| US09036458B2 |
Method for signal transmission in wireless systems
A method is provided for forming a signal in a wireless communication system in which a plurality of terminals commonly use time and frequency resources for efficient code hopping. The method includes allocating the same frequency-axis sequence and different time-axis sequences to a plurality of terminals by using a resource index according to a first slot in the first slot; and allocating different frequency-axis sequences and different time-axis sequences to the plurality of terminals by using a resource index according to a second slot in the second slot. |
| US09036454B2 |
Handheld forestry device
A rugged hand-held mobile computing device for a forester to collect and use dendrometric data from trees and tree stands is claimed. The device includes a processor which operates in connection with a memory, a user interface, a GPS receiver, a sound sensor capable of emitting an ultra-sonic pulse and a computer readable code embodied on the memory. The device communicates with a transponder by way of the ultra-sonic pulse emitted by the sound sensor. The transponder also emits an ultra-sonic pulse back to device. The device calculates the distance traveled based on the knowledge of the speed of the pulses. The memory, which also includes basic mapping software, uses the data to update a map in real time with the location of the trees and other information collected. |
| US09036452B2 |
Systems and methods for seismic survey
The systems and methods described herein relate to systems and methods for synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) or radar including seismic surveying. The systems may include a first number of a plurality of acoustic transmitter elements mounted on one or more vehicles, and a second number of a plurality of acoustic receiver elements mounted on one or more vehicles. Each of the vehicles may include a processor having a synthetic aperture image of a portion of the underwater terrain. The synthetic aperture image may include acoustic data obtained from prior synthetic aperture sonar imaging of the underwater terrain. The plurality of vehicles are arranged to form a planar synthetic aperture sonar array having a third number of phase centers. The third number of phase centers is equal to the first number multiplied by the second number. The transmitters in such systems may be configured to generate orthogonal acoustic signals. |
| US09036449B2 |
Methods and systems for deploying seismic devices
Methods and systems for acoustically determining reservoir parameters of subterranean formations. A tool comprising at least one seismic source or seismic receiver mounted thereon; a conveyance configured for movement of the acoustic tool in a borehole traversing the subterranean formations; and a source retainer configured or designed for permanent deployment in the borehole to removably retain the acoustic tool in the borehole. The source retainer when deployed provides acoustic coupling with the borehole and removably retains the acoustic tool in the borehole so that, over multiple deployments, the acoustic tool is repeatedly deployed at the same predetermined location and orientation relative to the subterranean formation, and with the same acoustic coupling to the borehole. |
| US09036448B2 |
Semiconductor device
A device includes a first clock generation circuit that receives an external clock signal supplied to the device, delays the external clock signal to output a first clock signal synchronized with the external clock signal, and a circuit that generates a control signal to control output of data, based on second clock signals obtained by dividing an internal clock signal generated from the external clock signal, and third clock signals obtained by dividing the first clock signal. |
| US09036446B2 |
Global reset with replica for pulse latch pre-decoders
A global reset generation method for a pulse latch based pre-decoders in memories that comprises generating a pre-decoded memory address output for a pulse latch circuit, generating a reset signal to reset the pulse latch circuit, providing a combined signal of the pre-decoded memory address output and the reset signal, feeding the combined signal into a low voltage threshold device to manipulate resetting the pulse latch circuit, wherein generating a reset signal comprises generating a reset signal from a matched circuit that is configured to mimic the function of the latch circuit to be reset and wherein generating a reset signal comprises configuring the matched circuit to accommodate a worst case hold pulse delay to allow for resetting the pulse latch before a new clock cycle performs the resetting and having the matched circuit provide the reset signal and a pre-decoded memory address output in the same voltage domain. |
| US09036445B1 |
Semiconductor devices
The semiconductor device includes a power source signal generator and a redundancy signal generator. The power source signal generator generates a fuse power source signal driven to have a target level of an internal voltage signal. The fuse power source signal is generated to have a lower level than the target level of the internal voltage signal by a certain level during a period from a moment that a deep power-down mode starts till a moment that a level of the internal voltage signal reaches a predetermined level after termination of the deep power-down mode. The redundancy signal generator latches a fuse data in response to a fuse reset signal and a fuse set signal to generate a redundancy signal while the fuse power source signal is supplied. |
| US09036438B2 |
Non-volatile storage with temperature compensation based on neighbor state information
Data is programmed into and read from a set of target memory cells. When reading the data, temperature compensation is provided. The temperature compensation is based on temperature information and the state of one or more neighbor memory cells. In one embodiment, when data is read from set of target memory cells, the system senses the current temperature and determines the differences in temperature between the current temperature and the temperature at the time the data was programmed. If the difference in temperature is greater than a threshold, then the process of reading the data includes providing temperature compensation based on temperature information and neighbor state information. In one alternative, the decision to provide the temperature compensation can be triggered by conditions other than a temperature differential. |
| US09036437B2 |
Method and apparatus for testing memory utilizing a maximum width of a strobe signal and a data width of a data signal
A method and an apparatus for testing a memory are provided, and the method is adapted for an electronic apparatus to test the memory. In the method, a left edge and a right edge of a first waveform of a clock signal for testing the memory are scanned to obtain a maximum width between two cross points of the left edge and the right edge. A central reference voltage of a data signal outputted by the memory is obtained, and a data width between two cross points of the central reference voltage and a left edge and a right edge of a second waveform of the data signal is obtained. Whether a difference between the data width and the maximum width is greater than a threshold is determined; if the difference is greater than the threshold, the memory is determined to be damaged. |
| US09036430B2 |
FinFET-based boosting supply voltage circuit and method
A memory circuit includes a voltage boosting circuit for generating a voltage that exceeds a voltage supply of the voltage boosting circuit. The voltage boosting circuit includes a first transistor having a first polarity type and a second transistor having a second polarity type opposite the first transistor. The first transistor is a planar transistor, a source of the first transistor being connected with the voltage supply, and a gate of the first transistor receiving a control signal. The second transistor includes a gate formed in at least two planes. A source of the second transistor is connected with the voltage supply, a gate of the second transistor receives the control signal, and a drain of the second transistor is connected with a drain of the first transistor and forms an output of the voltage boosting circuit for generating a boosted supply voltage as a function of the control signal. |
| US09036426B2 |
Memory cell sensing using a boost voltage
The present disclosure includes devices, methods, and systems including memory cell sensing using a boost voltage. One or more embodiments include pre-charging and/or floating a data line associated with a selected memory cell, boosting the pre-charged and/or floating data line, and determining a state of the selected memory cell based on a sensed discharge of the data line after boosting the data line. |
| US09036425B2 |
Memory devices for reducing boosting charge leakage and systems including the same
A three-dimensional (3D) non-volatile memory includes a memory cell array and a merge driver configured to apply a merge voltage at the same level to a common source line and a bulk in the memory cell array. |
| US09036421B2 |
Strings of memory cells having string select gates, memory devices incorporating such strings, and methods of accessing and forming the same
Strings of memory cells having a string select gate configured to selectively couple ends of a string to a data line and a source line concurrently, memory devices incorporating such strings and methods for accessing and forming such strings are provided. For example, non-volatile memory devices are disclosed that utilize vertical structure NAND strings of serially-connected non-volatile memory cells. One such string including two or more serially-connected non-volatile memory cells where each end of the string shares a string select gate with the other end of the string is disclosed. |
| US09036418B2 |
Read voltage generation circuit, memory and memory system including the same
A read voltage generation circuit includes a register unit configured to store an initial read voltage code, a counter circuit configured to change a read voltage code in every read-retry operation, wherein an initial value of the read voltage code is the initial read voltage code; and a voltage generation circuit configured to generate a read voltage corresponding to a read voltage code produced by the counter circuit. |
| US09036417B2 |
On chip dynamic read level scan and error detection for nonvolatile storage
Techniques for efficiently programming non-volatile storage are disclosed. A second page of data may efficiently be programmed into memory cells that already store a first page. Data may be efficiently transferred from single bit cells to multi-bit cells. Memory cells are read using at least two different read levels. The results are compared to determine a count how many memory cells showed a different result between the two reads. If the count is less than a threshold, then data from the memory cells is stored into a set of data latches without attempting to correct for misreads. If the count is not less than the threshold, then data from the memory cells is stored into the set of data latches with attempting to correct for misreads. A programming operation may be performed based on the data stored in the set of data latches. |
| US09036414B2 |
Temporary locking of an electronic circuit to protect data contained in the electronic circuit
A method and a circuit for protecting at least one piece of information contained in an electronic circuit by disabling at least one function of the circuit in case of detection of a number of abnormal operations greater than a threshold, in which the disabling of the function is temporary, of a duration independent from whether the circuit is powered or not. |
| US09036410B2 |
Y-decoder and decoding method thereof
A Y-decoder includes a selection unit and a Y-MUX. The selection unit is coupled to the memory array for selecting the column lines. The Y-MUX is coupled to the selection unit for supplying a voltage to the selected column line. The Y-MUX includes a first switch, a second switch, a third switch and a fourth switch coupled in parallel. The first switch and the second switch are respectively for receiving a first shielding voltage and a second shielding voltage. The third switch and the fourth switch are respectively for receiving a first sensing voltage and a second sensing voltage. |
| US09036407B2 |
Voltage-controlled magnetic memory element with canted magnetization
A memory cell including information that is stored in the state of a magnetic bit (i.e. in a free layer, FL), where the FL magnetization has two stable states that may be canted (form an angle) with respect to the horizontal and vertical directions of the device is presented. The FL magnetization may be switched between the two canted states by the application of a voltage (i.e. electric field), which modifies the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the free layer. |
| US09036400B2 |
Method and structure of monolithically integrated IC and resistive memory using IC foundry-compatible processes
The present invention relates to integrating a resistive memory device on top of an IC substrate monolithically using IC-foundry compatible processes. A method for forming an integrated circuit includes receiving a semiconductor substrate having a CMOS IC device formed on a surface region, forming a dielectric layer overlying the CMOS IC device, forming first electrodes over the dielectric layer in a first direction, forming second electrodes over the first electrodes in along a second direction different from the first direction, and forming a two-terminal resistive memory cell at each intersection of the first electrodes and the second electrodes using foundry-compatible processes, including: forming a resistive switching material having a controllable resistance, disposing an interface material including p-doped polycrystalline silicon germanium—containing material between the resistive switching material and the first electrodes, and disposing an active metal material between the resistive switching material and the second electrodes. |
| US09036397B2 |
Resistive memory array and method for controlling operations of the same
A resistive memory and a method for controlling operations of the resistive memory are provided. The resistive memory has a first memory layer, a second memory layer and a medium layer. Each of the first memory layer and the second memory layer is used to store data. The medium layer is formed between the first memory layer and the second memory layer. The method comprises at least a step of measuring a resistance between the first memory layer and the second memory layer, and determining which one of a first state, a second state and a third state is a state of the resistive memory according to the measured resistance. A resistive memory array including an array of the above resistive memory units, word lines and bit lines is also described, wherein the word (bit) lines are coupled to the first (second) memory layers. |
| US09036387B2 |
Alternating-current/direct-current converter
An alternating-current/direct-current converter includes a rectifier, a reactor, a capacitor, and a switching rectifier. The rectifier is configured to rectify alternating-current voltage output from an alternating-current power source, thereby converting the alternating-current voltage into direct-current voltage, and to output the direct-current voltage. The capacitor includes terminals. The switching rectifier is coupled to the AC power source and switchable to output the direct-current voltage to the capacitor. |
| US09036386B2 |
Interleaved two-stage power factor correction system
Methods and systems are described for providing power factor correction for high-power loads using two interleaved power factor correction stages. Each power factor correction stage includes a controllable switch that is operated to control the phasing of each power factor correction stage. The phasing of output current from the second power factor correction stage is shifted 180 degree relative to the output current from the first power factor correction stage. |
| US09036385B2 |
Power supply, power management device applied to a power supply, and method for performing brown-out protection and overheat protection of a power management device
A power supply can provide brown-out protection and overheat protection. The power supply includes a rectifier, a transformer, and a power management device. The rectifier is used for receiving an alternating current voltage. The alternating current voltage has a voltage cycle. The transformer coupled to the rectifier has an inductor coupled to a switch for supplying an output voltage. The power management device is used for controlling the switch to make the inductor save power or release power. The power management device has a multi-functional pin coupled to the rectifier for receiving a detection voltage corresponding to a positive half cycle of the alternating current voltage. The multi-functional pin is also coupled to a thermistor for receiving an overheat protection signal. |
| US09036382B2 |
Method and apparatus for ripple and phase loss detection
Methods and apparatus are presented for detecting phase loss and/or excessive ripple in a power converter, in which bandpass filters are used to obtain harmonic voltage amplitudes associated with the power converter DC bus, and phase loss is detected if a ratio of the second harmonic to the sixth harmonic and/or a ratio of the fourth harmonic to the sixth harmonic exceed predetermined threshold values. |
| US09036378B2 |
Power conversion system with adjustable frequency
A power conversion system with adjustable frequency includes an electric transformer, a pulse width modulation driving controller, a switching transistor, a first and second voltage division resistors connected in series, an output diode and an output capacitor. The electric transformer receives the input power and generates the sensing current and induced current. The sensing current flows through the first and second voltage division resistors to generate the feedback signal. The induced current flows through the output diode and output capacitor to generate the output voltage to supply the load. The pulse width modulation driving controller determine whether the loading state of the load based on the feedback signal, and change the switching frequency according to the loading state and the input power, thereby increasing the whole efficiency of the power conversion system and achieving the aim of dynamically adjusting the optimal frequency. |
| US09036367B2 |
Mobile wireless communications device with RF shield and related methods
A mobile wireless communications device may include a housing, an antenna carried by the housing, and a circuit board carried by the housing. The mobile wireless communications device may also include a power amplifier carried by the circuit board, an antenna switch carried by the circuit board and configured to selectively couple the power amplifier to the antenna, a first radio frequency (RF) shield covering the power amplifier and the antenna switch, and a second RF shield within the first RF shield and covering the antenna switch. |
| US09036358B2 |
Terminal device and transparent substrate
A transparent substrate including a transmissive electrode area including a plurality of wiring line portions arranged side by side on a substrate formed of a transparent material, a width of each of the wiring line portions being set in accordance with a current to flow through the wiring line portion; and a non-transmissive electrode area disposed on the substrate, the non-transmissive electrode being connected to the wiring line portions of the transmissive electrode area. |
| US09036349B2 |
Cooling device
A cooling device for an electric energy supply (2) has at least one first heat-dissipating part (3). The power components (4) of the first heat-dissipating part are connected to the cooling device (1) in a thermally conductive manner. A fluid-conducting connection (5) conducts liquid coolant (6) from a pump (7) to a cooler (8) over the first heat-dissipating part (3). One shut-off unit (9′, 9) each is arranged in the fluid-conducting connection (5) at least between the first heat-dissipating part (3) and the cooler (8) and between the pump (7) and the first heat-dissipating part (3). To avoid an overpressure in at least one part (3, 14) to be cooled, at least one pressure-limiting valve (17, 28) is provided. The pressure-limiting valve is arranged in connection with the fluid conductor inside the part (3, 14) and/or, as part of a unit (15) for preloading the cooling liquid (6) in the fluid-conducting connection (5) and is connected to the part (3, 14) of the pressure side of a check valve (13) provided downstream of the part (3, 14). |
| US09036348B2 |
Heat dissipating module
A heat dissipating module includes a housing, a first fan and a second fan. The housing has a partition. The first fan is disposed at a side of the partition, and the second fan is disposed at the other side of the partition. The second fan has a plurality of wind deflectors, which are disposed higher than the partition. |
| US09036345B2 |
Electronic device and locking mechanism thereof
A locking mechanism, adapted for connecting a first member to a second member, is provided. The locking mechanism includes a wedging unit, a locking unit and a pushing element. The wedging unit is disposed on the first member, and includes a hook movable between a wedging position and a separation position. The locking unit is disposed on the second member, and includes a locking element disposed in the second member, wherein the locking element is movable between a locking position and a releasing position. When the pushing element is moved toward a first direction, the pushing element pushes the locking element from the locking position to the releasing position to release the hook, and when the pushing element is moved toward a second direction, the pushing element pushes the hook from the wedging position to the separation position to release the hook. |
| US09036344B2 |
Electronic device
An electronic device includes a motherboard, a plurality of heating modules arranged on the motherboard, a first electronic module arranged on a front side of the motherboard along a longitudinal direction, a second electronic module stacked above the first electronic module, a wind scooper and a fan module being located on a rear side of the motherboard along the transverse direction and facing the heating modules and the second electronic module. The wind scooper covers the heating modules, and has a partition board to form a lower-layer airflow passage and an upper-layer airflow passage. The wind scooper guides a first airflow from the fan module to flow through the heating modules along the lower-layer airflow passage, and guides a second airflow from the fan module to flow to the second electronic module through the upper-layer airflow passage, without flowing through the heating modules. |
| US09036341B2 |
Drive carrier
A chassis assembly and method for including a component carrier in an electronic device. The assembly may include a carrier for housing a component for integration into the system. The carrier includes a frame constructed to at least partially contain the electronic portions of the component. A handle is pivotally coupled to the frame. The handle may rotate between an engaging orientation and a securing orientation. A pinion portion is included on the handle. The pinion portion may engage with a corresponding rack formed in the chassis to control movement of the carrier with respect to the chassis. A securing mechanism is disposed on an end of the handle opposite the pinion portion. The securing mechanism may be implemented to secure the handle in a securing orientation wherein the end of the handle, generally opposite the pinion portion, is disposed adjacent the frame. A securing mechanism such as a latch may be included to prevent rotation of the handle with respect to the frame. |
| US09036340B1 |
Reversible folio for tablet computer with reversible connection for keyboard and reading configuration
A reversible folio for a tablet computer has a tablet shell with a cavity removably receiving the tablet computer. A keyboard is pivotally and removably coupled to the tablet shell. A channel is pivotally coupled to an edge of the keyboard. An interior of the channel removably receives the proximal edge of the tablet shell, and has a profile mating with a profile of the tablet shell. The channel and proximal edge have first and second symmetrical magnet arrays, respectively. The proximal edge of the tablet shell physically mates with the channel of the keyboard, and the second magnet array of the tablet shell magnetically mates with the first magnet array of the channel, in both a first orientation and an opposite second orientation. |
| US09036335B2 |
Lock mechanism and related electronic device
A lock mechanism includes a base, a constraining component, a recovering component, a bridging component and an actuating component. The constraining component contacts against a fix portion of an electronic component to constrain its movement. The recovering component includes a bar, a first inclined structure and a second inclined structure. The bar includes a first end and a second end. The first inclined structure is disposed on the first end to push the fix portion, and the second inclined structure is disposed on the second end. Two ends of the bridging component respectively connect to the constraining component and the actuating component. The actuating component movably pierces through a hole on the base to separate the constraining component from the fix portion via the bridging component, and the actuating component further pushes the second inclined structure, so as to drive the first inclined structure to outwardly move the fix portion. |
| US09036333B2 |
Electrolytic material formulation, electrolytic material polymer formed therefrom and use thereof
An electrolytic material formulation and a polymer polymerized therefrom are provided. The formulation includes: (a) a monomer of formula (I); and (b) a monomer of formula (II), wherein, A, X, B1, B2, R1 to R3, q and w are defined as recited in the specification, and the amount of monomer (b) is about 1 part by weight to about 800 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of monomer (a). The polymer is useful as an electrolytic material of a solid capacitor. |
| US09036332B2 |
Energy storage device, an inorganic gelled electrolyte and methods thereof
The present disclosure is related to hybrid capacitors specifically to PbO2/Activated Carbon hybrid ultracapacitors. The present disclosure is also related to hybrid capacitors specifically to PbO2/Activated Carbon hybrid ultracapacitors with an inorganic thixotropic-gelled-polymeric-electrolyte. The hybrid ultracapacitors of the present disclosure is simple to assemble, bereft of impurities and can be fast charged/discharged with high faradiac-efficiency. |
| US09036330B2 |
Multilayer chip capacitor and method of fabricating the same
A multilayer chip capacitor includes: a capacitor main body; a plurality of first and second inner electrodes; and m (m≧3) number of first and second outer electrodes. The plurality of first and second inner electrodes are connected with two outer electrodes positioned on both opposing surfaces and having the same polarity as that of the first and second inner electrodes, and classified into a plurality of groups depending on the locations of the outer electrodes connected to the first and second inner electrodes. At least one of two outer electrodes connected with inner electrodes of each group is different from an outer electrode connected with inner electrodes of a different group having the same polarity, and inner electrodes of one group are connected to outer electrodes connected with at least another one group so that all the inner electrodes belonging to the same polarity can be electrically connected. |
| US09036328B2 |
Multilayer ceramic electronic component
There is provided a multilayer ceramic electronic component including a lamination main body including a plurality of inner electrodes. When T1 represents a distance between vertically adjacent inner electrodes in a central portion of the lamination main body, and T2 represents a distance between vertically adjacent inner electrodes at an edges of the inner electrodes in a widthwise direction, a ratio (T2/T1) of T2 to T1 is 0.80 to 0.95. |
| US09036322B2 |
Apparatus for the absorption, conversion and detection of electromagnetic energy
An apparatus for the absorption, conversion and detection of electromagnetic energy without the need for an earth ground or atmosphere. This apparatus has three major parts: a collector stage, a conversion stage, and an emissive stage. The collection stage, an apparatus that can carry electromagnetic energy from the environment external to the apparatus, is connected electrically to the conversion stage, which comprises one or more layers of a material that can carry an electrical charge, disposed among two or more layers of a material that can carry an electrical charge, which layers are in turn connected electrically to components so as to trap the electromagnetic energy in an electromagnetic field and convert it into electrical energy. Finally, the electrical output of the conversion stage is electrically connected to an emissive stage: comprising an amplification circuit, transducing device or circuit capable of utilizing the energy. |
| US09036321B2 |
Transport and storage container for liquids
A transport and storage container for liquids, having an inner container, an outer casing and an underframe with a bottom for supporting the inner container, and electrically non-conductive support legs. At least one support leg has a shaped sheet metal part to dissipate an electrostatic charge from the inner container. The end of the shaped part closest to the inner container has a container contact section for conductive connection with the bottom or the outer casing, and a standing contact section for conductive connection with the standing surface. The contact conductor section of the shaped part extends inside a cavity in the support leg and the standing contact section has a ground contact surface and a stack contact surface. These contact surfaces are connected by an offset element in the standing contact section and the stack contact surface is arranged above the ground contact surface in a vertical direction. |
| US09036320B1 |
Mechanical latching relays and hybrid switches with latching relays for use in electrical automation
Method and apparatus for a mechanical latching of at least one pole of a relay selected from SPST, SPDT, DPDT, reversing DPDT, multi pole MPST and MPDT including the integration of one of a single and plurality of hybrid SPDT or DPDT switches with one of SPDT and DPDT mechanically latching relay using conductive structured contactors to connect the poles of the relay and the switch including PCB assembly, for operating electrical loads via the switch manual key and remotely by powering the relay coil by a power pulse, including a CPU program for providing any of the manual keys of each SPDT or DPDT connected in a traveler lines to the integrated switch-relay to switch on-off group of loads and all the loads of home automation network or grid via optical cable, RF, IR in line of sight and bus line. |
| US09036317B2 |
Antistatic device
To provide an antistatic device having a low capacitance, good discharge characteristics, and small variations in the discharge characteristics. In a so-called gap-type antistatic device in which a space between a pair of opposing electrodes is filled with an electrostatic protection material, a discharge inducing portion has protrusions protruding from interfaces between the opposing electrodes and the insulation substrates toward the insulation substrates and has a shape protruding on both sides of the insulation substrates. The relationship among the gap distance between the electrodes, the thicknesses of the opposing electrodes, and the protrusions of the discharge inducing portion is controlled under specific conditions. |
| US09036316B2 |
Vehicle safety device
A vehicle safety device installed in a hybrid electric vehicle or an electric vehicle is provided to be capable of interrupting a current supplied from a power supply to a load via a supply line. The vehicle safety device includes first interrupting mechanism adapted to set the supply line in an interrupted condition when a temperature of the load reaches a first set temperature and second interrupting mechanism adapted to set the supply line in the interrupted condition such that the supply line cannot be returned to an energized condition when the temperature of the load reaches a second set temperature that is higher than the first set temperature. |
| US09036315B2 |
High voltage electronic switches for controlling direct current arcs in high voltage direct current systems and methods of operating the same
High voltage direct current systems are provided including one or more outlets and an electronic current limiter circuit associated with the one or more outlets. The electronic current limiter circuit is configured to limit current inrush when a connector is plugged into and/or unplugged from the one or more outlets when a direct current bus associated with the one or more outlets is energized so as not to damage the connector; and/or isolate direct current faults and/or excess current draw in a load connected to the one or more outlets so as to protect the system from shutdown. |
| US09036312B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device for protecting loads from power surges includes a first resistor having a first end connected to a first supply terminal, a capacitor connected to a second end of the first resistor and a second supply terminal. There is a first transistor with a source connected to the first supply terminal and a gate connected to a point between the first resistor and the capacitor. A second resistor is connected between the drain of the first transistor and the second supply terminal, and a first diode is connected between the gate and the source of the first transistor. A second transistor has a drain connected to the first supply terminal, a source connected to the second supply terminal, and a gate connected to the drain of the first transistor. There is a second diode connected between the gate and the source of the second transistor. |
| US09036311B2 |
Motor drive circuit
A motor drive circuit comprising: a drive circuit configured to supply a drive current to a drive coil of a motor; a control circuit configured to control an operation of the drive circuit; a locking protection circuit configured to control an operation of the control circuit so that the drive circuit stops supplying the drive current to the drive coil, if a rotation signal, indicating rotation of the motor, is not generated during a predetermined time period although the drive circuit is supplying the drive current to the drive coil; and a prohibition circuit configured to prohibit the locking protection circuit from controlling the control circuit. |
| US09036308B2 |
Varyinig morphology in magnetic sensor sub-layers
Various embodiments may be generally directed to a magnetic sensor constructed with a decoupling layer that has a predetermined first morphology. A magnetic free layer can be deposited contactingly adjacent to the decoupling layer with the magnetic free layer configured to have at least a first sub-layer having a predetermined second morphology. |
| US09036303B2 |
Suspension with divided positive and negative write trace sections, and head gimbal assembly and disk drive unit with the same
A suspension includes a positive write trace and a negative write trace. The positive write trace is separated into at least two positive write trace sections located at two different layers respectively, and the negative write trace is separated into at least two negative write trace sections located at two different layers respectively. Each positive write trace section and each negative write trace section are alternately arranged along a longitudinal direction on two different layers, and the positive write trace sections at different layers are connected together via conductive crossovers, and the negative write trace sections are connected together via conductive crossovers. The present invention can obtain balanced propagation time in the stacked trace structure to reduce signal distortion, and obtain widened frequency bandwidth. |
| US09036299B2 |
Magnetic write head having a recessed high moment portion of the wrap-around shield
Approaches to improving hard disk drive far track interference problems include utilizing a wrap-around shield having recessed high magnetic moment layer(s). Embodiments include tapering the high-moment portion away from the air bearing surface (ABS) in the cross-track direction away from the write pole, thereby reducing exposure of high moment layers at the ABS to reduce the risk of unwanted track erasure away from the main pole. Embodiments include positioning the high magnetic moment layers in their entirety away from the ABS, such as with a laminate structure of high magnetic moment and low magnetic moment materials laid down in a direction away from the pole tip trailing edge. |
| US09036291B1 |
Systems and methods for asynchronous-frequency tracking of disk drive rotational vibration (RV) performance with position error signal (PES)
Systems and methods are provided that may be implemented to provide a mechanical indicator to correlate magnetic disk drive IOP performance with features of mechanical and/or acoustic vibrational frequencies that are generated and captured or sensed outside of the disk drive itself. In one example, disk drive PES data may be collected concurrently with the capture of mechanical and/or acoustic vibrational data at different and progressive locations of vibration source, vibration path and vibration receiver in a disk drive operating environment, e.g., such as for disk drives installed within a server and/or storage chassis enclosure. In such case, PES threshold may be utilized to correlate performance of Drive IOP or drive servo-mechanical performance as a function of measured characteristics of vibration source/s that impart vibration to a disk drive. |
| US09036287B2 |
Adaptive soft-output detector for magnetic tape read channels
In one embodiment, a method includes passing a signal through a noise whitening filter, passing the signal through a soft detector to calculate first soft information, passing the signal through the soft decoder to calculate second soft information based on the first soft information, and sending the second soft information to the soft detector, wherein the noise whitening filter is configured to process the signal according to the following transfer polynomial: W(D)=1−(p1D+ . . . p1Dλ), where p1 . . . pλ are noise whitening coefficients, D is delay corresponding to bit duration, and a transfer polynomial of the tape channel is F(D)=1+f1D+ . . . +fLDL, wherein L represents a memory length of the tape channel, and wherein λ represents a memory length of the noise whitening filter. Other methods, systems, and computer program products are described in more embodiments. |
| US09036285B2 |
Position detection encoder
A position detection encoder includes a scale and a detection head and has position detection circuits which are capable of outputting respective pieces of position information on Xf, Xs two tracks. The displacement detection encoder includes: a speed detection circuit which is provided in the detection head and detects a relative speed Xf, Xs relative to the scale; and a delay generation circuit which provides a time difference between two output request signals, the time difference being provided on the basis of a fine adjustment time tadj based on the relative speed Xf, Xs and the respective pieces of position information Xf, Xs on the two tracks, the output request signals St1, St2 urging the first and second position detection circuits to output the pieces of position information on Xf, Xs the two tracks. |
| US09036276B2 |
Optical imaging lens set and electronic device comprising the same
An optical imaging lens set from an object side toward an image side along an optical axis in order includes: a first lens element having an image-side surface with a convex portion in a vicinity of its circular periphery, a second lens element having an object-side surface with a convex portion in a vicinity of its optical axis, a third lens element having an object-side surface with a concave portion in a vicinity of its optical axis, a fourth lens element with positive refractive power, and a plastic fifth lens element having an image-side surface with a concave portion in a vicinity of its optical axis. |
| US09036274B2 |
Image capturing optical lens system
An image capturing optical lens system includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, a fourth lens element and a fifth lens element. The first lens element with positive refractive power has a convex object-side surface. The second lens element has refractive power. The third lens element with positive refractive power has a convex image-side surface. The fourth lens element with negative refractive power has a concave object-side surface and a convex image-side surface, wherein the surfaces of the fourth lens element are aspheric. The fifth lens element with negative refractive power has a convex object-side surface and a concave image-side surface, wherein the surfaces of the fifth lens element are aspheric, and the fifth lens element has at least one inflection point on the image-side surface thereof. |
| US09036273B2 |
Mobile device and optical imaging lens thereof
Present embodiments provide for a mobile device and an optical imaging lens thereof. The optical imaging lens comprises five lens elements positioned sequentially from an object side to an image side. Though controlling the convex or concave shape of the surfaces and/or the refracting power of the lens elements, the optical imaging lens shows better optical characteristics and the total length of the optical imaging lens is shortened. |
| US09036271B2 |
Lens device and method of manufacturing the same
A lens device and a method of manufacturing the same are provided, wherein the lens device includes a transparent substrate, a metal layer, a hydrophobic layer and an aspherical lens. The metal layer is formed on the transparent substrate, and the hydrophobic layer is formed on the metal layer. The metal layer has a first opening, such that an area of the transparent substrate corresponding to the first opening is not covered by the metal layer. The hydrophobic layer has a second opening connected to the first opening, and the second opening is larger than the first opening, such that a portion of the metal layer adjacent to a peripheral edge of the first opening is not covered by the hydrophobic layer. The aspherical lens is formed on the area of the transparent substrate and contacts the portion of the metal layer. |
| US09036270B2 |
Optical lens system
This invention provides an optical lens system comprising: a first lens element with negative refractive power having a convex object-side surface; a second lens element with negative refractive power having a concave object-side surface and a convex image-side surface; a third lens element with positive refractive power; a plastic fourth lens element with negative refractive power having a concave object-side surface and a convex image-side surface, with both the object-side and image-side surfaces thereof being aspheric, and having at least one inflection point positioned on at least one of the object-side and image-side surfaces thereof; wherein the number of lens elements with refractive power is limited to four. By such arrangement, especially by the first and the second lens elements with negative refractive power, the system has sufficient back focal length for arranging required optical elements, and thereby is suitable for various applications. |
| US09036266B2 |
Zoom lens for projection and projection-type display apparatus
A zoom lens for projection substantially consists of a first lens-group having negative refractive-power, and which is arranged on a most magnification-side, and which is fixed during magnification change, a second lens-group having negative refractive-power, and which is arranged on a reduction-side of the first lens-group, and which is fixed during magnification change, a last lens-group having positive refractive-power, and which is arranged on a most reduction-side, and which is fixed during magnification change, and three lens-groups arranged between the last lens-group and the second lens-group, and which move during magnification change. The zoom lens is configured to be telecentric on a reduction-side, and focusing is performed by moving only the second lens-group. The lens-groups that move during magnification change are substantially a third lens-group having positive refractive-power, a fourth lens-group having positive refractive-power and a fifth lens-group having positive refractive-power, which are arranged in this order form a magnification-side. |
| US09036264B2 |
Fluid-filled lenses and their ophthalmic applications
A fluid lens assembly including a front rigid lens, a semi-flexible membrane that is adapted to be expanded from a minimum inflation level to a maximum inflation level, and a fluid layer therebetween. The front lens of the fluid lens assembly is configured to have a negative optical power. In an embodiment, the fluid lens assembly may be configured to have an overall negative optical power when the membrane is expanded to the maximum inflation level. In an embodiment, the fluid lens assembly can be configured to have an overall negative optical power when the membrane is expanded between the minimum inflation level and the maximum inflation level. |
| US09036256B2 |
Display unit having a projection screen for a head-up display
The invention relates to a display unit having a projection screen for a head-up display. The projection screen is mechanically coupled to a main element, which is detachably connected to a carrier element and/or a mounting. |
| US09036250B2 |
Walk-off compensator with tilt function
Techniques and structure are disclosed for implementing a spatial walk-off compensation mechanism having an integral tilt function. In some embodiments, the mechanism may comprise a tilt-ball mount having an integrated walk-off compensation medium. In some embodiments, the mechanism may be configured to receive an output beam from a non-linear converter (e.g., optical parametric oscillator or OPO) implementing a non-linear medium comprising a bi-refringent material (e.g., zinc germanium phosphide, or ZnGeP2; cadmium silicon phosphide, or CdSiP2). In some embodiments, the walk-off compensation medium may comprise the same material and/or have the same cut as the non-linear medium. In some embodiments, the mechanism may be manually and/or mechanically adjusted/repositioned to reduce beam walk-off and/or to more precisely direct the beam. In some embodiments, the mechanism may be implemented in mid-infrared (MIR) applications. Numerous configurations and variations will be apparent in light of this disclosure. |
| US09036247B2 |
Systems and methods for providing temperature stability of acousto-optic beam deflectors and acousto-optic modulators during use
The invention provides a method of laser processing with a thermally stabilized acousto-optic beam deflector. The method includes the steps of: generating a sequence of RF pulses corresponding to a sequence of laser pulses having a laser pulse repetition rate, the RF pulses including transmitting RF pulses at transmitting RF frequencies and non-transmitting RF pulses at non-transmitting RF frequencies for causing the sequence of laser pulses to be deflected in respective transmitting and non-transmitting directions, each RF pulse comprising an RF frequency, an RF amplitude and a duration; controlling each RF pulse such that the sequence of RF pulses provides a modulated RF drive signal that is modulated to provide a balanced thermal loading on the acousto-optic deflector; applying the modulated RF drive signal to the acousto-optic deflector; and deflecting at least one laser pulse with the acousto-optic deflector using the modulated RF drive signal to irradiate a selected target position with a predetermined pulse energy. |
| US09036242B2 |
Electrochromic multi-layer devices with spatially coordinated switching
A multi-layer device comprising a first substrate and a first electrically conductive layer on a surface thereof, the first electrically conductive layer having a sheet resistance to the flow of electrical current through the first electrically conductive layer that varies as a function of position. |
| US09036240B2 |
Electronic paper display
The disclosure provides an electronic paper display. The electronic paper display includes an electronic paper panel. A light guide plate is disposed on the electronic paper panel. The light guide plate has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. A conductive pattern structural layer is disposed on the light guide plate. A light source is disposed on a side of the light guide plate. The first surface of the light guide plate is a patterned surface. A light generated by the light source is reflected or scattered to the electronic paper panel by the patterned surface. |
| US09036239B2 |
Massive electrooptical cell having a fine structure and based on materials with giant electrooptical coefficients, its method of fabrication
Electrooptical cell, including, on a substrate (1), a layer of ferroelectric massive material (4), with an electrode (2) forming an earth plane, provided between the substrate (1) and the ferroelectric layer (4), another electrode (5), narrow, mounted opposite the first above the ferroelectric layer and grooves (6) made in the ferroelectric layer, on either side of the upper electrode (5). |
| US09036236B2 |
Mirror module
The invention relates to a mirror module of a Fresnel Solar Collector System with a plurality of mirror elements pivotably mounted on a carrier plate and extending in parallel, which focus the sun light upon a receiver unit mounted above the mirror module in a raised position. The mirror elements are pivotably mounted on the carrier plate at least along longitudinal sections. |
| US09036232B2 |
Device for scanning an object, method for operating the device and scanning microscope
The invention relates to a device for scanning an object comprising a carrier body (10) and a first electromagnetic drive (2). The carrier body (10) is movably mounted in a plane and holds an optical element (12) that focuses an illuminating light beam (19) on a first object plane of the object that is parallel to the plane. The first electromagnetic drive (2) moves the carrier body (10) with the optical element (12) and a focus region (23) of the illuminating light beam (19) within the first object plane. |
| US09036230B1 |
Torsional electrostatic combdrive with increased stiffness
A torsional electrostatic combdrive with increased stiffness is disclosed. The torsional electrostatic combdrive includes a movable combteeth group, a stationary combteeth group, and a stationary link group. The stiffness of the torsional electrostatic combdrive is increased by coupling the stationary link group to the stationary combteeth group. Advantageously, the present invention promotes reduced gaps of engaging combteeth, increased snap-in voltage of combteeth, and reduced driving voltage of the combdrive. |
| US09036226B2 |
Reading device and image forming apparatus
A reading device includes an original glass plate, a scanner, a support portion, a towing portion, a guide portion, and an engagement portion. The towing portion is configured to tow and move the support portion in a predetermined direction. The guide portion is configured to guide a direction of movement of the support portion and the scanner caused by the towing of the towing portion. A center of mass of the scanner and the support portion is positioned at a midpoint between contact portions provided at both ends of the scanner and coming into contact with the original glass plate. The guide portion is disposed under the center of mass of the scanner and support portion. The towing portion is secured to the support portion or the engagement portion at a point on a vertical line passing through the center of mass of the scanner and support portion. |
| US09036225B2 |
Image reading apparatus
An image reading apparatus includes: a feeding portion which feeds an original one by one and passes the original through a reading position; a reading portion which reads an image of the original conveyed at the reading position; a transparent member which is disposed between the original conveyed at the reading position and the reading portion; a cleaning member including a brush which cleans the transparent member, and a shaft member which fixes the brush; and a controller which determines a home position of the cleaning member based on image information acquired from the reading portion when the cleaning member is rotated. |
| US09036223B2 |
Systems and methods for edge detection during an imaging operation
Systems and methods for edge detection during an imaging operation are disclosed. In an exemplary implementation, a method may include subdividing an imaging area into a plurality of border detection zones. The method may also include scanning the imaging area including media to be scanned to obtain optical data for each of the plurality of border detection zones. The method may also include identifying at least one edge of the media based on change in the optical data between directly adjacent border detection zones, where the change indicates detection of a moiré pattern. |
| US09036221B2 |
Sheet feeding apparatus
A sheet feeding apparatus includes a first tray, a frame member, and a feeder. The frame member includes a first wall portion facing in a width direction and a first tray portion disposed above the first tray and extending inward in the width direction from the first wall portion. The first tray has a first end on a side far from the feeder. The first tray portion of the frame member has a second end on the side far from the feeder and a third end on a side near the feeder. The second end is closer to the feeder than the first end. The first wall portion extends from the third end toward the first end. |
| US09036220B2 |
Contact image sensing device
A contact image sensing device includes a housing, a light emitting unit, a red lens array, a sensing unit, and a protecting component. The housing includes a top surface, a bottom surface, an accommodating groove, and a slot. The bottom surface is opposite to the top surface. The accommodating groove is formed on the top surface and concave toward to bottom surface. The slot penetrates the top surface and the bottom surface. The light-emitting unit is arrange within the accommodating groove. The rod lens array is arranged within the slot. The sensing unit is arranged below the housing. The protecting component includes a main body, a recess, and a lighting slot communicating with the recess, a top end of the rod lens array is assembled with the recess. The main body of the protecting member forms at least one containing recess. A combining component for combining the rod lens array and the protecting member is disposed within the containing recess. |
| US09036217B2 |
Image processing system, apparatus, method and computer readable medium for cropping a document with tabs among sides
Provided are an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a computer-readable medium storing a computer program and an image processing system cropping a document image from image data including a document region having a tab. The image processing apparatus includes a line determination unit for determining a line extending the boundary of the document region in the tab portion and a line extending the boundary of the document region in the non-tab portion, respectively, a selector for selecting, in accordance with the setting designating the outside or the inside of the document region, one line either in the outside or in the inside from the among lines determined by the line determination unit, and an image cropper for cropping an image of the document region with the selected line as a boundary line. |
| US09036216B2 |
Fax machine and method of performing handshaking process based on T.30 protocol
A method of performing handshaking between fax machines on the basis of T.30 protocol includes transmitting information on a first data rate selected to transmit a fax document to a receiving-side fax machine, transmitting a plurality of frames including bit strings predefined to test data transmission/reception at the first data rate prior to transmitting the fax document to the receiving-side fax machine, and receiving a message informing success or failure of the test. The transmitting of the frames includes determining a time duration of the transmitting the frames based on at least one of a TCF flag value and the first data rate. |
| US09036214B2 |
Dither matrix generating method, image processing device, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing program
Disclosed is a dither matrix generating method in which halftone dots are formed by growing corresponding dots. The dither matrix generating method includes a first generating step of generating first threshold values of a dither matrix, so that the dots are grown until a predetermined halftone dot area ratio is achieved, wherein, when the predetermined halftone dot area ratio is achieved, the halftone dots contact each other; and a second generating step of generating second threshold values of the dither matrix, so that the dots grow beyond the predetermined halftone dot area ratio. |
| US09036206B2 |
Color uniformity correction using a scanner
Techniques for correcting the color uniformity of a laser printer of a digital press or other device are provided. A process for correcting the color uniformity of a laser printer may include scanning a test page by an inline scanner of a digital press, determining scanner signal data from the test page, determining a scanner polynomial fitted to the scanner signal data, and determining a non-uniform coverage polynomial from the scanner polynomial. Additionally, techniques for verifying the linearity of a scanner are also provided. |
| US09036204B2 |
Image processing device, display device and image processing method
An image processing device includes a processing device that performs a color reduction processing of converting data of a-levels of gray indicative of an image to be displayed in a display area including a plurality of pixels arranged along a first direction and a second direction into data of b-levels of gray (b |
| US09036200B2 |
Job processing by dividing a job into sub-jobs for rendering and streaming
A job processing method includes dividing a job into sub-jobs. Each sub-job is rendered into a device ready format. A message is communicated to a device. The communicating is timed in accordance with a completion of the rendering of a first of the sub-jobs. Following a receipt of a response to the message from the device, the rendered first sub-job is streamed to the device followed by the remainder of the rendered sub jobs. |
| US09036196B2 |
Method for setting a processing condition in an image processing apparatus
A processing condition setting device for setting a processing condition in an image processing apparatus comprises a history storage section storing a plurality of previous setting details includes a combination of a plurality of setting conditions in correlation with processing objects, a first display section displaying processing objects stored in history storage section, a candidate selecting section selecting as a setting candidate setting details corresponding to processing object, which is selected from processing objects displayed by first display section, from plurality of previous setting details stored in history storage section, a second display section displaying setting candidates selected on basis of selected processing object by candidate selecting section, and a history updating section storing setting details of process, which is performed in a state where one setting candidate is selected from setting candidates displayed by second display section, in history storage section. |
| US09036194B2 |
Operation input apparatus, image forming system, and storage medium for operation input program
An operation input apparatus includes an imaging portion, an apparatus identifying portion, a recognizing portion, a display portion, and an operation input portion. The imaging portion is configured to be able to image an image forming apparatus installed in an installation location. The apparatus identifying portion identifies the image forming apparatus imaged by the imaging portion, based on specific identification information. The recognizing portion recognizes, by image recognition, the imaged image forming apparatus, according to the identification by the apparatus identifying portion. The display portion adds selection enabling information that enables a selection operation to the imaged image forming apparatus, based on the image recognition by the recognizing portion, and displays the image forming apparatus with the selection enabling information on a screen. The operation input portion receives an operation input to the image forming apparatus, according to a selection operation performed on the image forming apparatus on the screen. |
| US09036191B2 |
Printing system for job scheduling and indicating print job state
A printing system includes a first unit, a second unit, a third unit, and a display. The first unit stores start and end time of a printed job. The second unit stores start time of an in-progress print job and stores predicted end time calculated from attributes of the in-progress print job. The third unit stores predicted start and end time calculated from attributes of a ready-for-print job. The display indicates a mark representing current time, indicates a figure along a time axis on one side of the mark, representing an existence of the printed job from the start to end time, indicates a figure crossing the mark, representing an existence of the in-progress print job from the start to predicted end time, and indicates a figure on the other side of the mark, representing an existence of the ready-for-print job from the predicted start to end time. |
| US09036189B2 |
Image forming apparatus having a function of reducing power consumption based on a selected frequency of use
Provided is an image forming apparatus having a frequency-of-use measuring unit, a power cutoff period identifying unit, a document data processing unit, and a power management unit. The frequency-of-use measuring unit measures a frequency of use of a predetermined function. The power cutoff period identifying unit identifies a power cutoff period for turning off the power on the basis of the frequency of use. The document data processing unit prints document data accumulated in a document box prior to the power cutoff period. The power management unit turns off the power when the power cutoff period is reached. |
| US09036188B2 |
Data transmission device, data transfer server, and data transmission method
To make it possible for a user to easily send data, the invention is provided with: a candidate addressee display unit for receiving information relating to a candidate addressee from a data transfer server and displaying an addressee selection screen so that the candidate addressee can be selected; an addressee setting unit for notifying the data transfer server of a selection result from when the candidate addressee has been selected, and thereby setting the addressee; a data acquisition unit for acquiring data intended to be sent; and a transmission control unit for sending the data intended to be sent to the data transfer server and thereby causing the data intended to be sent to be transferred from the data transfer server to the addressee. |
| US09036182B2 |
Image processing apparatus that sends image data to external server, control method for image processing apparatus, and storage medium
An image processing apparatus that can store a plurality of operations and easily import a template prescribing operations of the image processing apparatus to change GUI definitions. Property information is set which is for setting accompanying information added to image data sent to a server, and has a name part and a value part in which a name and a value, respectively, of the accompanying information are defined. Whether or not information indicative of a second name and information indicative of a second value are included in the value part is determined. When the information indicative of the second name and the information indicative of the second value are included in the value part, the name defined in the name part is converted to the second name, and the value defined in the value part is converted to the second value. The second name and the second value are displayed. |
| US09036179B2 |
Management system, management method, and storage medium for managing customer information and network device information
A device management system totals print result information for each customer user. The device management system receives a request including customer information from a client terminal, and responds to the client with a redirect URL for causing the client to access an image forming apparatus installed in an environment corresponding to customer information included in the request in order for user authentication of the client terminal. When the image forming apparatus accessed by the client terminal has succeeded the user authentication, the print result information relating to the user is provided to the client terminal. |
| US09036173B2 |
Methods and systems to troubleshoot malfunctions in multifunction devices using a wireless handheld device
The present specification discloses systems and methods for enabling users to troubleshoot multifunction devices using handheld devices, such as mobile phones. In one embodiment, software executing on the handheld device receives data indicative of an error state in a multifunction device, causes the handheld device to obtain and display an image representative of an area of the multifunction device which would need to be serviced to address the error state, determines instructions for addressing the error state, and causes the handheld device to display the instructions in relation to the image representative of an area of the multifunction device. |
| US09036162B2 |
Image sensing and printing device
An image sensing and printing digital camera device includes a housing defining a slot for receiving a printed instruction card having printed thereon an array of dots representing a programming script, the housing further storing therein a roll of print media; an area image sensor for sensing an image and generating pixel data representing the image; a linear image sensor for scanning the array of dots on the card and converting the array of dots into a data signal; a microcontroller provided in the housing, the microcontroller for decoding the data signal into the programming script and applying the programming script on the pixel data; and a printing mechanism for printing the pixel data, having applied thereto the programming script, on the roll of print media. The microcontroller integrates on a single chip a VLIW processor, a printhead interface, and an output buffer effecting communication between the VLIW processor and the printhead interface. |
| US09036160B2 |
Device for recording biometric data
The invention refers to a device for recording biometric data, such as lines of finger or hand. A rest is provided on the device for the hand and finger, respectively, as well as an illuminating unit. According to the invention an illuminating unit and/or rest is provided that can traverse and be positioned. |
| US09036152B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining the absorption in a blank
A method for determining the absorption of a blank (2) for producing an optical element (3), including: radiating a heating light ray (8) through the blank (2) for the purpose of heating the blank (2), and determining the absorption in the blank (2) by measuring at least one property of a measurement light ray (10) influenced by the heating of the blank (2). In the method, either the heating light ray (8) and the measurement light ray (10) or the heating light ray and a further heating light ray are oriented to enter into the blank (2) through a first polished surface (2a) or a second polished surface (2b), situated opposite the first surface, and meet one another exclusively in the interior of the blank (2), preferably in a volume (12) used for the production of the optical element (3). An associated measuring apparatus (1), optical element (3), and optical arrangement are also disclosed. |
| US09036150B2 |
Scattered radiation fire detector and method for the automatic detection of a fire situation
A scattered radiation fire detector having radiation sources of different wavelengths and a scattered radiation sensor, which are arranged and formed so that their optical axes are directed at a common centre of a scattering volume. A sensor unit is furthermore formed to register forward scattering I1(λ1,fwd) of a first radiation source, forward scattering I2(λ2,fwd) of a second radiation source and backward scattering I3(λ1,bwd) of a further first radiation source, to calculate scattered radiation intensity quotients Q1=I1(λ1,fwd)/I2(λ2,fwd), Q2=I1(λ1,fwd)/I3(λ1,bwd) and Q3=I2(λ2,fwd)/I3(λ1,bwd) and to detect the existence of a fire situation using the scattered radiation intensity quotients. |
| US09036147B2 |
Spectrum measuring apparatus
Disclosed is a spectrum measuring apparatus for shortening such a measurement time period for an object being measured including two or more mutually different measurement portions as is required for the spectrum measurements of the lights from individual measurement portions. The spectrum measuring apparatus comprises a slit group having two or more slits, a spectroscope for separating the lights extracted by the slit group, for the individual slits, and a measuring unit for measuring the intensities of the individual components, which are separated by the spectroscope, for the slits. The individual slits extract such ones of the lights coming from an object being measured including two or more mutually different measurement portions, as come from the individual measurement portions. |
| US09036143B2 |
Inspection apparatus and inspection method
An inspection apparatus comprising, a Rochon prism configured to branch the light transmitted through a half-wave plate, a first sensor and a second sensor for acquiring an optical image of a pattern of the sample, the branched light being incident to the first sensor and the second sensor, a light quantity acquisition unit configured to acquire a light quantity ratio (1:A) of the second sensor to the first sensor using the optical image, and to obtain an angle θ of the half-wave plate such that the light quantity ratio becomes A:1, an angle controller configured to receive information on the angle θ from the light quantity acquisition unit to control an angle of the half-wave plate, a light source controller configured to control a light quantity of the light source such that each of the light quantity values becomes a target value. |
| US09036142B2 |
Surface features mapping
Provided herein is an apparatus, including a photon emitting means for emitting photons onto a surface of an article, a photon detecting means for detecting photons scattered from features in the surface of the article; and a mapping means for mapping the features in the surface of the article, wherein the apparatus is configured to process more than one article every 100 seconds. |
| US09036139B2 |
Optical characteristic measurement apparatus
An optical characteristic measurement apparatus acquires a measurement value pertaining to an image characteristic of an optical system to be tested on a plurality of evaluation planes, and measures an optical characteristic, comprising a measurement value correction unit correcting a measurement value pertaining to a width or a light intensity of one of a line spread distribution and a point spread distribution of a beam, on the evaluation planes, wherein: in case where the measurement value pertains to the width, the image plane is regarded as an evaluation reference plane, and the measurement value correction unit outputs a corrected value; in case where the measurement value pertains to the light intensity, the image plane is regarded as an evaluation reference plane, and the measurement value correction unit also outputs a corrected value; and the optical characteristic of the optical system to be tested is measured based on the corrected value. |
| US09036138B2 |
Method and system for detecting fiber fault in passive optical network
The disclosure provides a method and a system for detecting a fiber fault in a Passive Optical Network (PON). The system comprises an optical path detection device, a Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) coupler, a wavelength selection coupler, a branch fiber selector and a wavelength selection router. The detection system is attached to an original PON system, without influencing the operation of the original system while performing the detection. With the disclosure, the problem of being unable to determine whether there is a fault in a branch fiber due to the loss of an optical path detection reflection signal is solved, the branch fiber with a fault can be quickly located and fixed, thus the operational and maintenance costs of an operator are reduced. |
| US09036137B2 |
Optical light source with controlled launch conditions
A system, apparatus and method for providing controlled launch conditions to an optical light source comprises adjustable fiber bending/deforming apparatus to allow adjustment of the device such that multimode launch conditions can be accurately controlled. Both LED light source and OTDR/laser implementations are provided. |
| US09036136B2 |
Systems and methods for detecting tape on a document according to a predetermined sequence using line images
Systems and methods for detecting tape on a document are provided. In one embodiment, a method includes capturing a first image of a document. The first image is captured while at least a portion of the document is subjected to a first electromagnetic radiation. The method includes capturing a second image of the document. The second image is captured while at least a portion of the document is subjected to a second electromagnetic radiation. The method also includes comparing the first image to the second image to determine whether tape is adhered to the document. |
| US09036129B2 |
Projection exposure method, system and objective
A projection exposure method includes exposing an exposure area of a radiation sensitive substrate with at least one image of a pattern of a mask in a scanning operation. The scanning operation includes moving the mask relative to an effective object field of the projection objective and simultaneously moving the substrate relative to an effective image field of the projection objective in respective scanning directions. The projection exposure method also includes changing imaging properties of the projection objective actively during the scanning operation according to a given time profile to change dynamically at least one aberration of the projection objective between a beginning and an end of the scanning operation. |
| US09036123B2 |
Array substrate and liquid crystal display
The embodiments of the invention provide an array substrate and a liquid crystal display. The array substrate comprises a gate line and a data line intersecting with each other to define a pixel unit, a plate-like electrode in the pixel unit, an electrode with slits and a thin film transistor. An alignment film is provided on the array substrate. Within the pixel unit, an end of the electrode with slits away form a region of the TFT along the data line has an outer first side and an inner second side. The outer first side, the inner second side and a third side of the gate line of an adjacent pixel unit are perpendicular to a rubbing direction of the alignment film. |
| US09036122B2 |
Array substrate and display device having the same
An array substrate includes a lower substrate, a switching element and a pixel electrode. In the lower substrate, unit pixel areas are each divided into a plurality of domains. The switching element is disposed on the lower substrate and transmits a pixel signal. The pixel electrode is disposed on the unit pixel area and is electrically connected to the switching element. The pixel electrode includes a plurality of branch portions disposed thereon. A portion of the branch portions is longitudinally extended in a zigzag shape along different directions in correspondence with the domains. |
| US09036114B2 |
Polymer/liquid crystal composite and liquid crystal display device including the same
The occurrence of a defective orientation of a polymer/liquid crystal composite is suppressed. In addition, the occurrence of defective display of a liquid crystal display device including the polymer/liquid crystal composite is suppressed. In the polymer/liquid crystal composite exhibiting a blue phase, a plurality of domains are included and defective orientations easily occur at boundaries between the domains. Thus, by lowering orientation periodicities at boundaries between the domains, a defect-free orientation to high orientation periodicities at the boundary between adjacent domains can be obtained. Specifically, the polymer/liquid crystal composite exhibiting the blue phase includes the plurality of domains each of which has a size of 3 μm or less. |
| US09036110B2 |
Display apparatus and method of manufacturing the same
A display apparatus includes a display panel including a protective electrode and a ground pad that is applied with a ground voltage, a conductive member electrically connecting the ground pad and the protective electrode, a backlight unit providing light to the display panel, a bottom chassis accommodating the backlight unit, and at least one fixing member fixing a side portion of the display panel and a side portion of the bottom chassis to each other. The fixing member makes contact with the conductive member and the bottom chassis to electrically connect the conductive member and the bottom chassis. |
| US09036109B2 |
Electronic device with thermally matched light guide plate
Electronic device backlight structures may be used to provide backlight for a display. The backlight structures may include a light source such as an array of light-emitting diodes. Light from the light source may be coupled into an edge of a light guide plate. The light guide plate may distribute the light laterally across the display. The light guide plate and other display structures may be mounted in an electronic device housing such as a metal housing having metal housing walls. A gap may separate an edge of the light guide plate from the metal housing walls. Mismatch between the coefficients of thermal expansion of the housing and the light guide plate may be minimized to minimize the size of the gap. The light guide plate may be formed from a layer of glass with printed light-scattering structures or from polymer with a filler and molded or printed light-scattering structures. |
| US09036108B2 |
Illumination apparatus, liquid-crystal display apparatus, and electronic device
An illumination apparatus includes: a light-guiding plate; a plurality of light-emitting elements disposed along a side-end surface of the light-guiding plate that serves as a light-entry portion, each of the plurality of light-emitting elements has a light-emitting surface which faces toward the light entry portion; a light source substrate, disposed and separated with a space from the light entry portion of the light-guiding plate when viewed from above, that includes a mounting surface for the plurality of light-emitting elements, the mounting surface being orthogonal to the side-end surface serving as the light entry portion; and a step portion with which an end portion of the light source substrate located toward the light-guiding plate makes contact. |
| US09036107B2 |
Flat panel display device, stereoscopic display device, plasma display device
The present invention provides a flat panel display device, which includes a backlight system and a display panel, the backlight system including a light source, a light homogenization mechanism, and a back frame; the back frame carries the light source and the light homogenization mechanism, the light homogenization mechanism guiding light from the light source to a light incidence surface of the display panel; the back frame includes primary assembling pieces and secondary assembling pieces; the primary assembling pieces are of a number of at least two, the at least two primary assembling pieces being joined to form a main frame structure of the back frame; the secondary assembling pieces are arranged inside the back frame and joined to the back frame; some of the primary assembling pieces and the secondary assembling pieces are of first density and first strength and others are of second density and second strength; the first density is greater than the second density and the first strength is greater than the second strength. The present invention also provides a stereoscopic display device and a plasma display device. The back frame mold of the present invention is of a simple structure and can reduce the expenditure of the back frame mold, and can also save the material used for back frame so as to lower down the cost of flat panel display device. |
| US09036105B2 |
Liquid crystal display device and method of manufacturing the same
Disclosed is LCD device and a method of manufacturing the same, which increases a margin between the channel width and length (W/L) of a thin film transistor having a multi-gate structure, wherein the device comprises a substrate where a plurality of pixel regions are defined by a data line and a gate line; an active layer formed at each of a plurality of pixel regions of the substrate; a gate electrode comprising a plurality of multi-patterns overlapping with the active layer with an insulation layer therebetween; and a data electrode electrically connected to the active layer, wherein the multi-patterns are formed in straight by compensating pattern distortion of an edge portion of a gate pattern, and formed with the gate pattern which is designed to comprise a plurality of compensation patterns. |
| US09036104B2 |
Liquid crystal display device
A column for defining the interval between a TFT substrate and an opposed substrate is formed at a crossing point between a drain line and a scanning line. At the crossing point where the column is formed, the drain line is formed to have a wider width to prevent light leakage. Further, at the crossing point where the column is formed, the scanning line is formed to have a narrower width to prevent increase of capacitance between the drain line and the scanning line. The column is formed at a crossing point corresponding to a specific color, e.g., a blue pixel B, so that a difference in transmittance and in characteristic of thin film transistors due to formation of the column is initially compensated. |
| US09036099B2 |
Liquid crystal display device and electronic device including the same
Provided is a display device which can perform, with a simpler structure, switching between naked-eye 3D image display by a parallax barrier method and 2D image display without a decrease in resolution. In order to reduce manufacturing cost by reducing the number of polarizing plates, a light-shuttering portion including a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal which does not need a polarizing plate is used as a parallax barrier. Further, a light source portion serving as a backlight is formed using a light source including an EL element which forms a planar light source and does not need a diffusion plate. Furthermore, as the light source portion serving as the backlight, a plurality of EL elements are provided so that the plurality of EL elements are selectively controlled and thus selective light emission is performed. |
| US09036097B2 |
Optical device
Disclosed is an optical device which includes: an optical component configured to be electrically actuated such that a light transmission state is variable; a driver circuit for the optical component; a power source unit for driving the optical component; a rim for supporting the optical component; a temple having front and rear ends and connected at the front end to the rim; and an earpiece formed at the rear end of the temple. The power source unit includes a secondary battery, a power switch, a power switch control portion, and a use-status sensing portion for sensing the status of use by a user of the optical device. The power switch control portion performs control to turn off the power switch when the use-status sensing portion does not sense any use by the user of the optical device. |
| US09036095B2 |
Panel structure
A panel structure includes a glass layer, a plurality of first indium tin oxide (ITO) strips, a plurality of third indium tin oxide strips, a liquid crystal layer, a plurality of second indium tin oxide strips, and a plurality of fourth indium tin oxide strips. The panel structure operates in a grating mode during a first predetermined time. The first indium tin oxide strips receive a voltage, and the second indium tin oxide strips and the fourth indium tin oxide strips are grounded when the panel structure operates in the grating mode. The panel structure operates in a touch-sensing mode during a second predetermined time. The first indium tin oxide strips sequentially receive a driving voltage, and the fourth indium tin oxide strips detect a touch event when the panel structure operates in the touch-sensing mode. The grating mode and the touch-sensing mode of the panel structure are implemented alternately. |
| US09036093B2 |
Semiconductor device and signal processing method thereof
A semiconductor device includes a one-segment tuner I/F that is connected to a one-segment tuner, a tuner I/F that is connected to a digital terrestrial tuner, a decoder that selectively decodes a first broadcast signal supplied from the one-segment tuner I/F and a second broadcast signal supplied from the tuner I/F, a general purpose processor that is provided separately from the decoder and decodes the first broadcast signal, and a switch unit that, based on signal intensity of the second broadcast wave, switches the decoding by the decoder between the first broadcast signal and the second broadcast signal while the general purpose processor is decoding the first broadcast signal. The one-segment tuner I/F, the tuner I/F, the decoder, the general purpose processor, and the switch unit are integrated on one chip. |
| US09036089B2 |
Practical temporal consistency for video applications
A video sequence having a plurality of frames is received. A feature in a first frame from the plurality of frames and a first position of the feature in the first frame are detected. The position of the feature in a second frame from the plurality of frames is estimated to determine a second position. A displacement vector between the first position and the second position is also computed. A plurality of content characteristics is determined for the first frame and the second frame. The displacement vector is spatially diffused with a spatial filter over a frame from the plurality of frames to generate a spatially diffused displacement vector field. The spatial filter utilizes the plurality of content characteristics. A temporal filter temporally diffuses over a video volume the spatially diffused displacement vector field to generate a spatiotemporal vector field. The temporal filter utilizes the plurality of content characteristics. |
| US09036088B2 |
System and methods for increasing perceived signal strength based on persistence of perception
Perceived strength of signals conveying images or sound to the brain can be increased based on persistence of vision or persistence of hearing. For example, when the eye or ear perceives a signal it takes a finite time to process it and send it to the brain. During that time the eye or ear does not recognize input and is, in effect, “turned off”. These periods of “unused” input are utilized to increase the intensity of the signal that the brain perceives. An exemplary system includes a switch, configured to route a signal alternatively to two paths—one of which includes a delay circuit that delays that signal by an amount equal to the persistence of vision or persistence of hearing interval. The exemplary system also includes a combiner that combines output from the two paths, so as to provide the brain with a signal that it will perceive as being twice as intense as the original. |
| US09036086B2 |
Display device illumination
A method for displaying a main image includes: populating a plurality of image entries in a video frame based on the main image; selecting an image entry specifying a first color; determining a compensation entry of a plurality of compensation entries in the video frame associated with the image entry; selecting a second color based on the first color; setting the compensation entry to the second color; and outputting the video frame with the image entry and the compensation entry for display on a display device. |
| US09036083B1 |
Text detection in video
Techniques of detecting text in video are disclosed. In some embodiments, a portion of video content can be identified as having text. Text within the identified portion of the video content can be identified. A category for the identified text can be determined. In some embodiments, a determination is made as to whether the video content satisfies at least one predetermined condition, and the portion of video content is identified as having text in response to a determination that the video content satisfies the predetermined condition(s). In some embodiments, the predetermined condition(s) comprises at least one of a minimum level of clarity, a minimum level of contrast, and a minimum level of content stability across multiple frames. In some embodiments, additional information corresponding to the video content is determined based on the identified text and the determined category. |
| US09036080B2 |
Apparatus and method for acquiring information about light-field data
An apparatus to acquire information about light-field data includes: a beam splitter configured to split light, through a lens unit which is connected to the apparatus, from an object into a first light beam and a second light beam; an image sensor configured to detect the first light beam to form an image of the object; and a light-field sensor, including a lenslet array and a detecting unit to detect the second light beam through the lenslet array, configured to acquire information about the light-field data, the lenslet array including a plurality of lenslets, wherein a first position where the detecting unit is provided is conjugate to a second position of a pupil of the lens unit. |
| US09036078B1 |
Reducing light damage in shutterless imaging devices
A method of reducing light damage in a shutterless imaging device includes receiving a signal from a hardware device. The signal from the hardware devices is analyzed. In response to the analysis of the signal from the hardware device, a lens of the shutterless imaging device is adjusted. Adjusting the lens spreads out energy of far-field image light incident on an image sensor of the shutterless imaging device. |
| US09036074B2 |
Backside illumination image sensor, manufacturing method thereof and image-capturing device
An image sensor includes a first pixel that outputs a focus detection signal, and a second pixel that includes a semiconductor layer and a wiring layer. The semiconductor layer includes a first surface on which light enters, a second surface opposite from the first surface, and a photoelectric conversion unit that converts light to an electric charge and is disposed between the first surface and the second surface. The wiring layer is formed on a side of the second surface of the semiconductor layer and includes a signal output line through which the focus detection signal read out from the first pixel and an image-capturing signal generated according to the electric charge converted at the photoelectric conversion unit are output. |
| US09036073B2 |
Imaging apparatus and for controlling an automatic focus (AF) area and an enlargement area in a live view
An imaging apparatus enables the user to separately set an AF area and an enlargement area and, when the position of the AF area is changed, eliminates time and effort to change the position of the enlargement area. To achieve this, the imaging apparatus includes an AF area setting unit configured to set an AF area used for AF indicating an area out of the live view image of a subject imaged by an imaging unit, and a control unit configured to change a position of an enlargement area indicating an area to be enlarged in conjunction with a position of the AF area set by the AF area setting unit and configured, in response to an instruction to change the position of the enlargement area, to change the position of the enlargement area without changing the position of the AF area set by the AF area setting unit. |
| US09036071B2 |
Imaging apparatus
An imaging apparatus includes a shooting lens having a focus lens for adjusting a degree of focus on an imaging plane; an image sensor converting an optical image of a photographic subject to an electric image signal and outputting it; a confirmation image creator creating a focus state confirmation image in which a part, or a whole of an image expressed by the image signal is enlarged; a display displaying the focus state confirmation image; and a focus evaluation value calculator calculating a focus evaluation value based on the image signal; wherein when a state of an inclination of change in a focus evaluation value calculated at a plurality of positions of the focus lens while moving the focus lens is different from a state of an inclination of change in a focus evaluation value calculated immediately before, the focus state confirmation image is displayed on the display. |
| US09036070B2 |
Displaying of images with lighting on the basis of captured auxiliary images
For displaying a stored photographic image, an auxiliary image is captured, and light direction information is determined from the captured auxiliary image. On the basis of the determined light direction information, a lighted image is generated from the stored photographic image. The lighted image is then displayed. |