| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09105938B2 |
Application of force in electrochemical cells
The present invention relates to the application of a force to enhance the performance of an electrochemical cell. The force may comprise, in some instances, an anisotropic force with a component normal to an active surface of the anode of the electrochemical cell. In the embodiments described herein, electrochemical cells (e.g., rechargeable batteries) may undergo a charge/discharge cycle involving deposition of metal (e.g., lithium metal) on a surface of the anode upon charging and reaction of the metal on the anode surface, wherein the metal diffuses from the anode surface, upon discharging. The uniformity with which the metal is deposited on the anode may affect cell performance. For example, when lithium metal is redeposited on an anode, it may, in some cases, deposit unevenly forming a rough surface. The roughened surface may increase the amount of lithium metal available for undesired chemical reactions which may result in decreased cycling lifetime and/or poor cell performance. The application of force to the electrochemical cell has been found, in accordance with the invention, to reduce such behavior and to improve the cycling lifetime and/or performance of the cell. |
| US09105935B2 |
Method for making fuel cell membrane electrode assembly
A method for making fuel cell membrane electrode assembly is provided. In the method, a porous template having a number of holes and a proton exchange membrane is provided. A number of tube carriers having electron conductibility are formed. Each tube carrier is formed in one hole of the porous template. A number of catalyst particles are uniformly adsorbed on inner walls of the tube carriers. Proton conductor is filled in the tube carriers having catalyst particles adsorbing thereon. The proton exchange membrane is sandwiched between the two porous templates to form a laminated structure. The laminated structure is hot pressed. The porous templates are removed from the hot pressed laminated structure. |
| US09105934B2 |
Platinum adlayered ruthenium nanoparticles, method for preparing, and uses thereof
A superior, industrially scalable one-pot ethylene glycol-based wet chemistry method to prepare platinum-adlayered ruthenium nanoparticles has been developed that offers an exquisite control of the platinum packing density of the adlayers and effectively prevents sintering of the nanoparticles during the deposition process. The wet chemistry based method for the controlled deposition of submonolayer platinum is advantageous in terms of processing and maximizing the use of platinum and can, in principle, be scaled up straightforwardly to an industrial level. The reactivity of the Pt(31)-Ru sample was about 150% higher than that of the industrial benchmark PtRu (1:1) alloy sample but with 3.5 times less platinum loading. Using the Pt(31)-Ru nanoparticles would lower the electrode material cost compared to using the industrial benchmark alloy nanoparticles for direct methanol fuel cell applications. |
| US09105932B2 |
Lithium ion battery
A lithium ion battery includes at least one battery cell. The battery cell includes a cathode electrode, an anode electrode, and a separator. The separator is sandwiched between the cathode electrode and the anode electrode. At least one of the cathode electrode and the anode electrode includes a current collector. The current collector is a carbon nanotube layer consisting of a plurality of carbon nanotubes. |
| US09105931B2 |
Positive electrode plate for use in lithium ion secondary battery, lithium ion secondary battery, vehicle, device with battery mounted thereon, and method for producing positive electrode plate for lithium ion secondary battery
A positive electrode plate for a lithium ion secondary battery is made of aluminum and includes a positive current collecting foil made of aluminum, in which at least a main surface portion constituting a main surface is porous, a positive active material layer formed on the main surface portion of the positive current collecting foil, and a coating layer, having electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance, formed between the positive current collecting foil and the positive active material layer to directly coat the main surface of the positive current collecting foil. |
| US09105928B2 |
Positive active material for rechargeable lithium battery, method of preparing same, and rechargeable lithium battery including same
A positive active material for a rechargeable lithium battery may include a solid solution represented by Chemical Formula 1. xLi2MnO3.(1−x)LiMO2 [Chemical Formula 1] In Chemical Formula 1, 0.1≦x≦0.6, and M and may be a metal composite compound represented by Chemical Formula 2. MnaCobNic. [Chemical Formula 2] In Chemical Formula 2, 0.3≦a≦0.5, 0.05≦b≦0.3, 0.3≦c≦0.55, and a+b+c=1. |
| US09105924B2 |
Positive active material for lithium secondary battery, precursor of positive active material, electrode for lithium secondary battery and lithium secondary battery
Provided is a positive active material for a lithium secondary battery includes a lithium transition metal composite oxide having an α-NaFeO2-type crystal structure and represented by the composition formula of Li1+αMe1−αO2 (Me is a transition metal including Co, Ni and Mn and α>0). The positive active material contains Na in an amount of 900 ppm or more and 16000 ppm or less, or K in an amount of 1200 ppm or more and 18000 ppm or less. |
| US09105922B2 |
Negative active material, and negative electrode and lithium battery each including the negative active material
A negative active material and a lithium battery are provided. The negative active material includes a composite core, and a coating layer formed on at least part of the composite core. The composite core includes a carbonaceous base and a metal/metalloid nanostructure disposed on the carbonaceous base. The coating layer includes a metal oxide coating layer and an amorphous carbonaceous coating layer. |
| US09105919B2 |
Chemical synthesis route for lithium ion battery applications
An exemplary embodiment of a synthesis method includes the following acts or steps: providing LiMn2O4 material as a precursor; leaching Mn from the LiMn2O4 material using an acid to form a synthesized solution; adding carbonaceous material to the synthesized solution; adding phosphoric acid to the synthesized solution with carbonaceous material to form MnPO4 composite material; and adding Li containing compound to the MnPO4 composite material to form LiMnPO4 composite material. |
| US09105914B2 |
Battery pack including electrode tabs with load absorbing parts
Disclosed herein is a battery pack including: a plurality of cylindrical battery cells arranged in at least two rows and a plurality of layers; and a partition member for partitioning the battery cells; wherein the partition member includes a partition plate and support plates; the battery cells in the state of being partitioned by the support plates have terminals on one side being fixed substantially in parallel to the partition plate by an electrode tab or tabs, and have terminals on the other side in at least one layer being fixed substantially in parallel to the partition plate by an electrode tab or tabs; and the support plates for clamping the battery cell of which the terminal on the other side is fixed by the electrode tab are formed respectively with projected pieces. |
| US09105913B2 |
Device and method for performing a biologically catalyzed electrochemical reaction
A device includes a first electrode compartment, the anode compartment, and a second electrode compartment, the cathode compartment, with a quantity of an anode fluid including an electrochemically oxidizable substrate and optional further compounds in the anode compartment, a quantity of a cathode fluid including an electrochemically reducible substrate and optional further compounds in the cathode compartment, and further an anode at least partially in contact with the anode fluid in the anode compartment and a cathode at least partially in contact with the cathode fluid in the cathode compartment. In at least one embodiment, the anode and cathode are electrically connected and on the surface of the anode and the cathode a catalyst is present for respective catalysis of the electrochemical conversion of the electrochemically oxidizable substrate via an electrochemical oxidation reaction and for catalysis of the electrochemical conversion of the electrochemically reducible substrate via an electrochemical reduction reaction, the catalyst including electrochemically active micro-organisms on at least one of the anode or cathode. |
| US09105912B2 |
Boltless battery cell connection
A battery pack includes a plurality of battery cells each having positive and negative cell terminals and a carrier mounted over and spanning across the plurality of battery cells. The carrier has trays with openings therethrough exposing the positive and negative cell terminals. A plurality of buss bars are received in corresponding trays. The buss bars each have a positive plate laser welded to the positive cell terminal of a corresponding battery cell through the corresponding opening and a negative plate laser welded to the negative cell terminal of a different battery cell through the corresponding opening. The buss bars may be bimetal buss bars. |
| US09105911B2 |
Battery module
A battery module includes a plurality of battery units, each including an electrode assembly and an electrode terminal electrically connected to the electrode assembly; a bus bar connecting the electrode terminal of a first battery unit of the plurality of battery units and the electrode terminal of a second battery unit of the plurality of battery units; and a position arrangement unit configured to maintain a position of the bus bar relative to the electrode terminals of the first and second battery units. |
| US09105908B2 |
Components for battery cells with inorganic constituents of low thermal conductivity
A lithium-ion battery cell is provided that includes at least one inorganic, multi-functional constituent that has a low thermal conductivity and is suitable for reducing or restricting thermal anomalies at least locally. |
| US09105905B2 |
Anode material having a uniform metal-semiconductor alloy layer
The present invention relates to methods for producing anode materials for use in nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries. In the present invention, a metal-semiconductor alloy layer is formed on an anode material by contacting a portion of the anode material with a solution containing metals ions and a dissolution component. When the anode material is contacted with the solution, the dissolution component dissolves a part of the semiconductor material in the anode material and deposit the metal on the anode material. After deposition, the anode material and metal are annealed to form a uniform metal-semiconductor alloy layer. The anode material of the present invention can be in a monolithic form or a particle form. When the anode material is in a particle form, the particulate anode material can be further shaped and sintered to agglomerate the particulate anode material. |
| US09105904B2 |
Composite anode active material, anode and lithium battery including the same, and method of preparing composite anode active material
In an aspect, a composite anode active material including particles, wherein the particles include: a first carbonaceous material that is substantially crystalline and includes at least one carbon nano-sheet; a non-carbonaceous material capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium; and a second carbonaceous material that binds the first carbonaceous material and the non-carbonaceous material, wherein the particles have pores having a size of 50 nm or more is disclosed. |
| US09105900B2 |
Battery pack, electricity accumulation system, electronic instrument, electric vehicle, and electric power system
Provided is a battery pack including: an exterior case formed with one or more hole sections; a battery cell in which a positive electrode terminal section is formed on one end surface thereof and a negative electrode terminal section is formed on the other end surface thereof; a battery holder having a plurality of battery cell receiving sections receiving the battery cell; and a metal plate joined to the battery holder and formed with a terminal contact section. |
| US09105897B2 |
Cylindrical AAA alkaline dry battery
The invention relates to a cylindrical AAA alkaline dry battery including: a positive terminal protruding from one end face of the alkaline dry battery; a negative terminal protruding from the other end face; and an external label covering the alkaline dry battery. The diameter Dp (mm) and protruding height Hp (mm) of the positive terminal and the diameter Dn (mm) and protruding height Hn (mm) of the negative terminal satisfy the relation (1): 2.5≦Dn−Dp≦4.1 (1), and the relation (2): 0.8≦Hp−Hn≦1.1 (2). This permits easy and reliable identification of the polarities of the terminals, making it possible to provide a cylindrical AAA alkaline dry battery which is unlikely to be installed reversely. |
| US09105893B2 |
Electrically powered vehicle having a fuel cell comprising a sodium chlorate decomposition reactor for supplying the cell with oxygen
An electrically powered vehicle includes a fuel cell with a decomposition reactor for decomposing sodium chlorate (NaClO3). Reaction products produced by the decomposition reactor include oxygen and sodium chloride (NaCl). Gaseous hydrogen is stored onboard the vehicle, such as in a hydrogen tank at a low pressure, using metal hydrides. The hydrogen from the hydrogen tank and the oxygen produced by the decomposition reactor are consumed by the fuel cell in order to produce electricity. The vehicle further includes a storage tank for storing the NaCl produced by decomposition of the NaClO3. |
| US09105892B2 |
Adaptive method for conversion of external power request to current setpoint to a fuel cell system based on stack performance
A system and method for converting a fuel cell stack power request signal to a stack current set-point that considers stack performance parameters. The method includes obtaining a power-current relationship curve of the fuel cell stack to provide stack parameters including exchange current density and mass transfer coefficient. The method then calculates a slope for the stack using the parameters from the power-current relationship curve estimation that includes calculating a cell voltage at two predetermined stack current densities. The method then calculates a change in current in response to the power request signal, the stack voltage, the stack current and the calculated slope, and uses the change in current to update the current set-point for the stack. |
| US09105890B2 |
Cylindrical type secondary battery with upper and lower battery assemblies and fabrication method thereof
A secondary battery having an upper battery assembly including an upper can housing a cap unit having an electrode terminal adapted to electrically connect to an external device and a gasket inserted between the cap unit and one end portion of the upper can for sealing and insulating the cap unit and the upper can. The secondary battery also has a lower battery assembly including a lower can housing an electrode assembly, the electrode assembly having a first electrode, a second electrode, and a separator interposed between the first electrode for preventing a short circuit between the two electrodes. A first electrode tap connects the first electrode to the cap unit and a second electrode tap connects the second electrode to the lower can. |
| US09105889B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining humidity states of individual cells in a fuel cell, method and apparatus for controlling humidity states of individual cells in a fuel cell, and a fuel cell system
In order to cause a plurality of cells in a fuel cell to be recovered to a desired humidity state, it is configured to determine that the cells present a mixture of dry and overly humid states in the case where a predetermined condition is satisfied, and in the case where it is determined that the cells present the mixture, humidifying control is carried out to cause all the cells to attain the overly humid state, and thereafter, drying control is carried out to dry all the cells, to thereby cause the plurality of cells to be recovered to a predetermined humidity state. |
| US09105885B2 |
Apparatus for conditioning temperature of a fluid stream
A system and method for conditioning the temperature of at least one fluid stream that is passed through a fuel cell stack is provided. The system comprises a system module, at least one inlet and a conditioning device. The system module is operable to humidify the fluid stream to a reach a predetermined humidity level that corresponds to a predetermined temperature. The one inlet of the fuel cell stack receives the fluid stream at a first temperature that is different from the predetermined temperature. The fuel cell stack includes at least one outlet operable to present coolant having a temperature that is different from the first temperature of the fluid stream. The conditioning device is operable to receive the fluid stream and the coolant and present the fluid stream to the coolant to change the first temperature of the fluid stream to be equal to the predetermined temperature. |
| US09105884B2 |
Method of controlling thickness of form-in-place sealing for PEM fuel cell stacks
A sealed assembly is made using sealant including a deformable spacer to control thickness without adversely impacting elasticity and sealing force. Deformable spacers (e.g., elastomer, polyolefin, etc.) are mixed with an elastomeric precursor material and dispensed onto an assembly component, such as a fuel cell bipolar plate, and the remaining component(s) are assembled by pressing against the deformable spacer to ensure a defined seal thickness. The precursor is cured to form a seal that is further compressed to provide an effective sealing force. The deformable spacers control the thickness of a sealed area and allow use of form-in-place sealing processes. |
| US09105882B2 |
Energy storage cell
An energy storage cell has a cell body with an areal expansion in an extension plane, with four side faces bounding a circumference of the area of extent and having each two of the side faces parallel to one another. A conductor electrode and a second electrode are disposed on one of the side faces symmetrically in the direction of the circumference of the extension plane relative to a center of the corresponding side face. A line from a contact point between an inward facing edge of the electrodes to a center point of the extension plane encloses an angle λ of 10°<λ<36° with the corresponding side face. The center of the side face and/or a contact point of an outward facing edge of the electrodes forms an angle β about the center point of the extension plane of 8°<β<45° with the corresponding side face with said center. |
| US09105881B2 |
Energy storage element
A non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery including: a container; an electrode assembly housed in the container; an electrode terminal provided at the container; and a current collector which electrically connects the electrode terminal and the electrode assembly, wherein the container includes a wall having (i) an outer surface with a protrusion part formed to be protrude outward and (ii) an inner surface with a recess part formed corresponding in position to the protrusion part when the protrusion parts is formed, and the current collector includes a base part connected to the electrode terminal in the recess part and an arm part which extends from the base part in the direction opposite to the protrusion direction of the protrusion part, and is connected to the electrode assembly. |
| US09105878B2 |
Organic light-emitting diode manufacturing method, organic light-emitting diode, image display device, illumination device, and substrate
A method of manufacturing an organic light-emitting diode including preparing, by a dry etching method using a particle single layer film as an etching mask, a substrate provided with an uneven structure in which a plurality of unevenness is arranged in two dimensions on the surface of the substrate, and stacking, on the uneven structure, at least an anode conductive layer, an EL layer including a light-emitting layer containing an organic light-emitting material, and a cathode conductive layer containing a metal layer, such that the uneven structure is reproduced on the surface of the metal layer on the side of the EL layer, wherein the particle single layer film is formed using a mixture of a plurality of particles having different particle sizes, and an uneven structure is provided which satisfies particular requirements. |
| US09105875B2 |
Organic light-emitting display apparatus
An organic light-emitting display apparatus including a substrate; an insulating layer disposed on the substrate; a first pixel electrode disposed on the insulating layer and including a reflecting layer; a pixel defining layer disposed around one end of the first pixel electrode and extending away from the first pixel electrode; a first intermediate layer disposed on the first pixel electrode and including an organic emission layer; an opposite electrode disposed on the first intermediate layer and the pixel defining layer and including a reflecting layer; and a first refractive layer disposed between the insulating layer and the pixel defining layer and having a refractivity greater than that of the insulating layer and the pixel defining layer. A first end of the first refractive layer is disposed to contact the first intermediate layer, and a second end of the refractive layer is disposed to face a portion of the opposite electrode. |
| US09105874B2 |
Light-emitting components and method for producing a light-emitting component
A light-emitting component may include: a first electrode; an organic electroluminescent layer structure on or over the first electrode; a second translucent electrode on or over the organic electroluminescent layer structure; and a mirror layer structure on or over the second electrode, wherein the mirror layer structure has a lateral thermal conductance of at least 1*10−3 W/K. |
| US09105872B2 |
Display device and method of manufacturing the same
A display device includes a display substrate, an encapsulation substrate facing the display substrate, a filling material between the display substrate and the encapsulation substrate, the filling material including a norbornene-based resin, and a sealing material joining the display substrate with the encapsulation substrate. |
| US09105870B2 |
Organic light-emitting apparatus and method of manufacturing the same
An organic light-emitting apparatus and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. |
| US09105868B2 |
Organic EL element including a hole injection layer with a proportion of sulphur atoms relative to metal atoms
An organic EL element has an anode and a cathode a light-emitting layer including an organic material provided between the anode and the cathode, a hole injection layer provided between the anode and the light-emitting layer, and a electron injection layer provided between the light-emitting layer and the cathode 7. The hole injection layer and the electron injection layer include metal atoms and sulphur atoms. The sulphur concentration in the hole injection layer and the electron injection layer is no less than 96 ppm and no more than 439 ppm in terms of numerical ratio of sulphur atoms to metal atoms in the hole injection layer. |
| US09105866B2 |
Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display
An organic light emitting-diode (OLED) display is disclosed. In one aspect, the OLED includes a first substrate, a first electrode provided on the first substrate, a pixel defining layer provided on the first electrode and including a first opening exposing at least a portion of the first electrode, and an organic emission layer provided on the first electrode corresponding to the first opening. The OLED display also includes a second electrode provided on the pixel defining layer and the organic emission layer, a second substrate provided on the second electrode, and a first auxiliary electrode provided below the second substrate facing the second electrode and welded to a portion of the second electrode corresponding to the pixel defining layer. |
| US09105865B2 |
Organic light emitting display apparatus, method of manufacturing the same, and mask used in the method
A method of manufacturing an organic light emitting display apparatus is provided. A plurality of first electrodes is formed on a substrate. An intermediate layer including an emission layer is formed on the plurality of first electrodes. A deposition mold including a plurality of auxiliary patterning lines is formed by performing a deposition process twice using a mask. The mask includes a plurality of aperture sets, each of the plurality of aperture sets corresponding to part of each of the plurality of auxiliary patterning lines. A plurality of second electrodes is formed on the intermediate layer by depositing a conductive material into the deposition mold. |
| US09105864B2 |
Organic light-emitting display device and method of manufacturing the same
An organic light-emitting display device may include a plurality of scan lines, a plurality of data lines, and a plurality of pixels located at an intersection region of the scan line and the data line, wherein the organic light-emitting display device includes a thin film transistor including a gate electrode on a different layer than a scan line, an active layer on the gate electrode, and source and drain electrodes that are in contact with source and drain regions of the active layer, and a capacitor including a first capacitor electrode on the same layer as the scan line, a second capacitor electrode on the gate electrode, and a third electrode on the same layer as the source and drain electrodes. |
| US09105863B2 |
Organic light emitting diode, method for producing an organic light emitting diode and module comprising at least two organic light emitting diodes
An organic light emitting diode includes a substrate and an organic layer sequence, which generates electromagnetic radiation during operation. The organic layer sequence is arranged in a central region of the substrate A metallization is arranged in an edge region of the substrate and is designed for making electrical contact with the organic layer sequence. A separately produced metallic contact structure is cohesively and electrically conductively connected to the metallization by a joining process based on ultrasonic technology. |
| US09105858B2 |
Organic electroluminescent device and display apparatus
An organic electroluminescent device includes an anode; a cathode; an organic layer including a light-emitting layer and disposed between the anode and the cathode; and an electron transport layer constituting the organic layer, disposed between the cathode and the light-emitting layer, and having a stacked structure including a layer containing a benzimidazole derivative and a layer containing a dibenzimidazole derivative represented by general formula (1): wherein Y1 to Y8 each represent a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 60 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted pyridyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted quinolyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic cyclic group, and Y7 and Y8 may form a ring through a linking group. |
| US09105856B2 |
Organic luminescent materials, coating solution using same for organic
It is an object of the present invention to provide an organic light-emitting device which can emit white light by easily controlling dopant concentrations. The organic light-emitting device has a first electrode (112) and second electrode (111) which hold a light-emitting layer (113) in-between, wherein the light-emitting layer contains a host material (104), red-light-emitting dopant (105), green-light-emitting dopant (106) and blue-light-emitting dopant (107), the red-light-emitting dopant containing a first functional group for transferring the dopant toward the first electrode and the green-light-emitting dopant containing a second functional group for transferring the dopant toward the second electrode. |
| US09105854B2 |
Transferable transparent conductive oxide
A method for fabricating a photovoltaic device includes forming an adhesion layer on a substrate, forming a material layer on the adhesion layer and applying release tape to the material layer. The substrate is removed at a weakest interface between the adhesion layer and the substrate by mechanically pulling the release tape to form a transfer substrate including the adhesion layer, the material layer and the release tape. The transfer substrate is transferred to a target substrate to contact the adhesion layer to the target substrate. The transfer substrate includes a material sensitive to formation processes of the transfer substrate such that exposure to the formation processes of the transfer substrate is avoided by the target substrate. |
| US09105851B2 |
Composite material of hole-blocking polymer and electron-injection/electron-transport conjugated polymer grafted with crown ether into which metal ion is intercalated, and uses thereof in OLED and organic solar cell
An water/alcohol soluble electron-injection/hole-blocking composite layer contains a conjugated polymer grafted with a side chain crown ether and with pseudo-metallic state of metal-ion stabilized by the crown ether (to reduce electron-injection barrier and facilitate electron transport), and a polymer with hole-blocking function. This composite layer is able to improve the performance of an organic light emitting diode with oxygen- and moisture-stable cathode (such as Al and Au), and the performance of an organic solar cell. |
| US09105850B2 |
Photo-patterned carbon electronics
A system is provided for the manufacture of carbon based electrical components including, an ultraviolet light source; a substrate receiving unit whereby a substrate bearing a first layer of carbon based semiconductor is received and disposed beneath the ultraviolet light source; a mask disposed between the ultraviolet light source and the carbon based semiconductor layer; a doping agent precursor source; and environmental chemical controls, configured such that light from the ultraviolet light source irradiates a doping agent precursor and the first carbon layer. |
| US09105846B2 |
Method of manufacturing a boundary acoustic wave device
A manufacturing method for a boundary acoustic wave device is provided which includes, an IDT electrode, a first dielectric layer, and a second dielectric layer on a piezoelectric substrate. The first dielectric layer is made of a deposited film. A thickness of the IDT electrode is about 10% or more of λ. A difference between a height of the first dielectric layer, measured from an upper surface of the piezoelectric substrate, above a center of an electrode finger of the IDT electrode and a height of the first dielectric layer, measured from the upper surface of the piezoelectric substrate, above a center of a gap between adjacent electrode fingers, i.e., a magnitude of unevenness in an upper surface of the first dielectric layer, is about 5% or less of λ. |
| US09105841B2 |
Forming magnetic microelectromechanical inductive components
A micro-electromechanical device and method of manufacture are disclosed. A sacrificial layer is formed on a silicon substrate. A metal layer is formed on a top surface of the sacrificial layer. Soft magnetic material is electrolessly deposited on the metal layer to manufacture the micro-electromechanical device. The sacrificial layer is removed to produce a metal beam separated from the silicon substrate by a space. |
| US09105838B2 |
Nonvolatile variable resistive device
According to one embodiment, a first electrode includes a metal element. A second electrode includes a semiconductor element. A third electrode includes a metal element. A first variable resistive layer is arranged between the first electrode and the second electrode and is capable of reversibly changing a resistance by filament formation and dissolution of the metal element of the first electrode. A second variable resistive layer is arranged between the second electrode and the third electrode and is capable of reversibly changing a resistance by filament formation and dissolution of the metal element of the third electrode. |
| US09105828B2 |
Method for manufacturing semiconductor light emitting device
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor light emitting device includes a semiconductor layer including a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, and a light emitting layer; a p-side electrode provided on the second surface of the semiconductor layer in a region including the light emitting layer; an n-side electrode provided on the second surface of the semiconductor layer in a region not including the light emitting layer; an insulating film being more flexible than the semiconductor layer, the insulating film provided on the second surface and a side surface of the semiconductor layer, and the insulating film having a first opening reaching the p-side electrode and a second opening reaching the n-side electrode; a p-side interconnection layer provided on the insulating film and connected to the p-side electrode; and an n-side interconnection layer provided on the insulating film and connected to the n-side electrode. |
| US09105826B2 |
Frame structure for light emitting diodes
The invention relates to a frame structure for light emitting diodes comprises plastic stand having a containing room with a conical opening and at least two metal frames being not connected, relatively arranged in the containing room of the plastic stand and one of the metal frames having a concave chip bearing stand for bearing light emitting diodes wherein the conical opening of the plastic stand is greater than the concave chip bearing stand and the concave chip bearing stand has a bottom edge revealed at a bottom of the plastic stand; the area of the concave chip bearing stand is greater than 40% of the area of the conical opening of the plastic stand to increase the cooling area of the metal frames for the light-emitting diodes with the different wattage sharing the same specification frame structure to reduce the cost of metal frames molding. |
| US09105824B2 |
High reflective board or substrate for LEDs
Light emitting devices and methods are disclosed that provide improved light output. The devices have an LED mounted to a substrate, board or submount characterized by improved reflectivity, which reduces the absorption of LED light. This increases the amount of light that can emit from the LED device. The LED devices also exhibit improved emission characteristics by having a reflective coating on the submount that is substantially non-yellowing. One embodiment of a light emitting device according to the present invention comprises a submount having a circuit layer. A reflective coating is included between at least some of the elements of the circuit layer. A light emitting diode mounted to the circuit layer, the reflective coating being reflective to the light emitted by the light emitting diode. In some embodiments, the reflective coating comprises a carrier with scattering particles having a different index of refraction than said carrier material. |
| US09105822B2 |
Material for a molded resin for use in a semiconductor light-emitting device
The present invention provides a material for a molded resin as a material for a semiconductor light-emitting device that can yield a highly durable (light resistance and heat resistance) molded resin and can also improve the LED output through an excellent reflectivity. The present invention also provides an easily moldable material for a molded resin for a semiconductor light-emitting device. The material for a molded resin for a semiconductor light-emitting device is a resin composition, comprising (A) a polyorganosiloxane, (B) a white pigment, and (C) a curing catalyst, wherein the white pigment (B) has the following characteristics (a) and (b): (a) an aspect ratio 1.2 or more and 4.0 or less, and (b) a primary particle diameter 0.1 μm or more and 2.0 μm or less. |
| US09105819B2 |
Method for making an electronic apparatus having an encapsulating layer within and outside of a molded frame overlying a connection arrangement on a circuit board
In an electronic apparatus comprising a circuit board supporting semiconductor components and traces or conductors for supplying electrical energy to the semiconductor components, and a connection arrangement by which the conductors are connected to a power supply cable, the circuit board being covered by an electrically insulating encapsulating layer, a molded frame part is mounted on the circuit board so as to cover the connection arrangement, the molded frame part having a circumferential edge structure which extends on one end into the encapsulating layer and at the other end projects above the encapsulating layer so as to create an interior space which, when the encapsulating layer is at least partially cured, is filled with additional encapsulating compound to form, after curing, a relatively thick protective layer over the wire or cable and conductor connecting area. |
| US09105808B2 |
Thermoelectric device
A thermoelectric system includes a pair of substrates, a plurality of semiconductor elements, and first, second, and third terminals. The semiconductor elements are positioned between the opposing faces of the substrates, and the semiconductor elements include at least two groups of dissimilar semiconductor elements. The semiconductor elements are electrically coupled in series by conductor elements arranged so the two groups of dissimilar semiconductor elements are connected in an alternating pattern. The first, second and third terminals are connected to the conductor elements with the third terminal positioned between the first and second terminals. The electrically coupled semiconductor elements include first nodes and second nodes. The first and second nodes emit or absorb heat according to electric current flowing through the semiconductor elements, and impedance of the thermoelectric system is controlled by switching the switch. |
| US09105806B2 |
Polarization direction of optical devices using selected spatial configurations
A GaN based light emitting diode device which emits polarized light or light of various degrees of polarization for use in the creation of optical devices. The die are cut to different shapes, or contain some indicia that are used to represent the configuration of the weak dipole plane and the strong dipole plane. This allows for the more efficient manufacturing of such light emitting diode based optical devices. |
| US09105805B2 |
Enhancing efficiency in solar cells by adjusting deposition power
Methods for forming a photovoltaic device include adjusting a deposition power for depositing a buffer layer including germanium on a transparent electrode. The deposition power is configured to improve device efficiency. A p-type layer is formed on the buffer layer. An intrinsic layer and an n-type layer are formed over the p-type layer. |
| US09105803B2 |
Polycrystalline-type solar cell panel and process for production thereof
Disclosed is a polycrystalline-type silicon solar cell which can be produced at low cost by forming a polycrystalline silicon film having a PN junction in a simple manner. Specifically, an amorphous silicon film produced by sputtering using a dopant-containing silicon target is polycrystallized with plasma, and a PN junction is formed in the amorphous silicon film, thereby producing a polycrystalline silicon film having a PN junction. The polycrystalline silicon film having a PN junction is used as a silicon substrate for a polycrystalline-type silicon solar cell. Also disclosed is a technique for producing a dopant-containing silicon target from a silicon ingot. |
| US09105801B2 |
Method for fabricating Cu—In—Ga—Se film solar cell
A method for fabricating a Cu—In—Ga—Se film solar cell is provided. The method comprises: a) fabricating a molybdenum back electrode on a substrate; b) fabricating a Cu—In—Ga—Se absorbing layer on the back electrode by fractional sputtering in a plurality of sputter chambers; c) performing an annealing; d) fabricating an In2Se3 or ZnS buffer layer on the Cu—In—Ga—Se absorbing layer; e) fabricating an intrinsic zinc oxide high impedance layer on the In2Se3 or ZnS buffer layer; f) fabricating an indium tin oxide film low impedance layer on the intrinsic zinc oxide high impedance layer; g) fabricating an aluminum electrode on the indium tin oxide film low impedance layer. |
| US09105799B2 |
Apparatus and method for producing solar cells using light treatment
An light apparatus used in forming a solar cell includes a housing separate from other processing in a deposition processing system, a transport mechanism for carrying a solar cell into the housing after deposition of a front contact layer in the deposition processing system, and one or more light source elements arranged to apply light on the solar cell after deposition of the front contact layer. A method of making a solar cell includes forming a back contact layer on a glass substrate, forming an absorber layer on the back contact layer, forming a buffer layer on the absorber layer, and forming a front contact layer above the buffer layer, the glass substrate, back contact layer, absorber layer, buffer layer, and front contact layer forming a first module. The method includes applying a light source to the first module after forming the front contact layer separate from other processing. |
| US09105794B2 |
Oxide superconductor thin film, superconducting fault current limiter, and method for manufacturing oxide superconductor thin film
An oxide superconducting thin film includes a substrate having a single crystal structure, the main face of the substrate and a crystal face of the single crystal structure having an angle therebetween; an intermediate layer formed on the main face of the substrate and having an axis oriented in a direction perpendicular to the crystal face; and a superconducting layer formed on the intermediate layer and containing, as a main component, an oxide superconductor having a c-axis oriented in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the intermediate layer. A superconducting fault current limiter and a method of manufacturing an oxide superconducting thin film are also provided. |
| US09105792B2 |
Patterned layer design for group III nitride layer growth
A method of fabricating a device using a layer with a patterned surface for improving the growth of semiconductor layers, such as group III nitride-based semiconductor layers with a high concentration of aluminum, is provided. The patterned surface can include a substantially flat top surface and a plurality of stress reducing regions, such as openings. The substantially flat top surface can have a root mean square roughness less than approximately 0.5 nanometers, and the stress reducing regions can have a characteristic size between approximately 0.1 microns and approximately five microns and a depth of at least 0.2 microns. A layer of group-III nitride material can be grown on the first layer and have a thickness at least twice the characteristic size of the stress reducing regions. |
| US09105791B1 |
Tunable plasmonic crystal
A tunable plasmonic crystal comprises several periods in a two-dimensional electron or hole gas plasmonic medium that is both extremely subwavelength (˜λ/100) and tunable through the application of voltages to metal electrodes. Tuning of the plasmonic crystal band edges can be realized in materials such as semiconductors and graphene to actively control the plasmonic crystal dispersion in the terahertz and infrared spectral regions. The tunable plasmonic crystal provides a useful degree of freedom for applications in slow light devices, voltage-tunable waveguides, filters, ultra-sensitive direct and heterodyne THz detectors, and THz oscillators. |
| US09105790B2 |
Detector for plastic optical fiber networks
An apparatus comprises a substrate having a type of conductivity, an intrinsic region above the substrate, and a metal layer on a portion of the surface of the intrinsic region. The intrinsic region has a surface. The metal layer may have a thickness that is configured to allow a plurality of photons to pass through the metal layer into the intrinsic region and form a rectifying contact with the intrinsic region. |
| US09105788B2 |
Silicon photoelectric multiplier
A cell for a silicon-based photoelectric multiplier may comprise a first layer of a first conductivity type and a second layer of a second conductivity type formed on the first layer. The first layer and the second layer may form a first p-n junction. The cell may be processed by an ion implantation act wherein parameters of the ion implantation are selected such that due to an implantation-induced damage of the crystal lattice, an absorption length of infrared light of a wavelength in a range of ˜800 nm to 1000 nm is decreased. |
| US09105783B2 |
Holographic solar concentrator
A solar concentrator receives sunlight for generating solar power with the concentrator including holographic optical element (HOE) separators for separating sunlight into separated bands, including HOE concentrators for concentrating the separated bands into concentrated bands, including HOE reflectors for reflecting the concentrated bands as reflected bands onto a multiple junction photovoltaic solar cell for generating the solar power with reduced aberrations of the bands for improved conversion of the solar light into the generator solar power, all of which can be constructed in an integrated structure using spacers, waveguides, and a substrate, where the HOEs use chirp Bragg gratings for reducing optical aberrations of the separated, concentrated, and reflected optical bands, with the option of multiple HOE separators for receiving sunlight from various angles of incidence. |
| US09105781B2 |
Thermocouple and method of production
A method for the low-cost production of sheet-like thermocouples comprises the following steps: —providing an electrically and thermally conductive substrate having at least one clearance, which subdivides the substrate into substrate regions, —fitting thermolegs onto the substrate, wherein each thermoleg is connected to a region of the substrate on a hot side and on a cold side, —applying an encapsulation, so that at least each thermoleg is enclosed and the encapsulation enters into a material bond with the regions of the substrate, —separating parts of the substrate in such a way as to prevent a flow of electric current between the regions of the substrate through the at least one clearance. The invention also relates to a substrate that is suitable for carrying out the method and to a thermocouple that can be produced by the method. |
| US09105780B2 |
Method of fabricating graphene quantum dots and high quality graphene quantum dots using the method
A simple and easy method for fabricating graphene quantum dots with uniformed size and high quality of emission property comprises steps of, mixing graphite powders with metallic hydrate salts, forming an intercalation compound of graphite wherein metal ions are inserted by heating the mixed solution, and removing the metal ions from the intercalation compound of graphite. The graphene quantum dots is applicable to the development of electronic products in next generation such as display devices, recording devices, various sensors and nanocomputers and is applicable to biological and medicinal field as well. |
| US09105779B2 |
Method of fabricating a flexible photovoltaic film cell with an iron diffusion barrier layer
A method of fabricating a flexible photovoltaic film cell with an iron diffusion barrier layer. The method includes: providing a foil substrate including iron; forming an iron diffusion barrier layer on the foil substrate, where the iron diffusion barrier layer prevents the iron from diffusing; forming an electrode layer on the iron diffusion barrier layer; and forming at least one light absorber layer on the electrode layer. A flexible photovoltaic film cell is also provided, which cell includes: a foil substrate including iron; an iron diffusion barrier layer formed on the foil substrate to prevent the iron from diffusing; an electrode layer formed on the iron diffusion barrier layer; and at least one light absorber layer formed on the electrode layer. |
| US09105770B2 |
Shallow junction photovoltaic devices
A method for fabricating a photovoltaic device includes forming a first contact on a crystalline substrate, by epitaxially growing a first doped layer having a doping concentration of 1019 cm−3 or greater, a dislocation density of 105 cm−2 or smaller, a hydrogen content of 0.1 atomic percent or smaller, and a thickness configured to reduce Auger recombination in the epitaxially grown doped layer. A first passivation layer is formed on the first doped layer. A second contact is formed on the crystalline substrate on a side opposite the first contact by epitaxially growing a second doped layer having a doping concentration of 1019 cm−3 or greater, a dislocation density of 105 cm−2 or smaller, a hydrogen content of 0.1 atomic percent or smaller and a thickness configured to reduce Auger recombination in the second epitaxially grown doped layer. A second passivation layer is formed on the second doped layer. |
| US09105769B2 |
Shallow junction photovoltaic devices
A method for fabricating a photovoltaic device includes forming a first contact on a crystalline substrate, by epitaxially growing a first doped layer having a doping concentration of 1019 cm−3 or greater, a dislocation density of 105 cm−2 or smaller, a hydrogen content of 0.1 atomic percent or smaller, and a thickness configured to reduce Auger recombination in the epitaxially grown doped layer. A first passivation layer is formed on the first doped layer. A second contact is formed on the crystalline substrate on a side opposite the first contact by epitaxially growing a second doped layer having a doping concentration of 1019 cm−3 or greater, a dislocation density of 105 cm−2 or smaller, a hydrogen content of 0.1 atomic percent or smaller and a thickness configured to reduce Auger recombination in the second epitaxially grown doped layer. A second passivation layer is formed on the second doped layer. |
| US09105767B2 |
Negatively charged layer to reduce image memory effect
An image sensor pixel includes a photodiode region having a first polarity doping type disposed in a semiconductor layer. A pinning surface layer having a second polarity doping type is disposed over the photodiode region in the semiconductor layer. A first polarity charge layer is disposed proximate to the pinning surface layer over the photodiode region. A contact etch stop layer is disposed over the photodiode region proximate to the first polarity charge layer. The first polarity charge layer is disposed between the pinning surface layer and the contact etch stop layer such that first polarity charge layer cancels out charge having a second polarity that is induced in the contact etch stop layer. The first polarity charge layer is disposed between a first one of a plurality of passivation layers and a second one of the plurality of passivation layers disposed over the photodiode region. |
| US09105762B2 |
Semiconductor light emitting device and manufacturing method thereof
A semiconductor light emitting device includes: a light emission structure in which a first conductive semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductive semiconductor layer are sequentially stacked; a first electrode formed on the first conductive semiconductor layer; an insulating layer formed on the second conductive semiconductor layer and made of a transparent material; a reflection unit formed on the insulating layer and reflecting light emitted from the active layer; a second electrode formed on the reflection unit; and a transparent electrode formed on the second conductive semiconductor layer, the transparent electrode being in contact with the insulating layer and the second electrode. |
| US09105761B2 |
Light emitting diode and method for manufacturing the same
A light emitting device is provided, including a substrate and a light emitting structure on the substrate, comprising a first semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer on the first semiconductor layer, and an active layer between the first and second semiconductor layers. The substrate has at least one side surface extending outwardly. The at least one side surface includes a first portion, a transition portion connected to the first portion, and a second portion connected to the transition portion, the first portion provides a first obtuse inclination angle with reference to the bottom surface of the substrate and the transition portion provides a second obtuse inclination angle with reference to the bottom surface of the substrate, the second obtuse inclination angle is larger than the first obtuse inclination angle. The second portion includes a vertical side surface with reference to the bottom surface of the substrate. |
| US09105758B2 |
Semiconductor device including a capacitor
A semiconductor device is disclosed, which reduces the depth of a metal contact so that an etching margin is increased in forming a contact hole. In addition, the semiconductor device and the method for forming the same increase a contact area between a plate electrode and a metal contact so that a power source can be more easily provided to the plate electrode. Thus, a sensing noise is reduced and a process margin is improved, resulting in improvement of device operation characteristics. |
| US09105757B2 |
Junction barrier Schottky diode and manufacturing method thereof
The present invention discloses a junction barrier Schottky (JBS) diode and a manufacturing method thereof. The JBS diode includes: an N-type gallium nitride (GaN) substrate; an aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) barrier layer, which is formed on the N-type GaN substrate; a P-type gallium nitride (GaN) layer, which is formed on or above the N-type GaN substrate; an anode conductive layer, which is formed at least partially on the AlGaN barrier layer, wherein a Schottky contact is formed between part of the anode conductive layer and the AlGaN barrier layer; and a cathode conductive layer, which is formed on the N-type GaN substrate, wherein an ohmic contact is formed between the cathode conductive layer and the N-type GaN substrate, and the cathode conductive layer is not directly connected to the anode conductive layer. |
| US09105754B2 |
Adhesive film, method of manufacturing semiconductor device, and semiconductor device
Provided is an adhesive film that enables manufacturing of a high quality semiconductor device with good yield ratio, and related methods of manufacturing a semiconductor device, and semiconductor devices. Provided is an adhesive film for embedding a first semiconductor element fixed to an adherend and fixing a second semiconductor element that is different from the first semiconductor element to the adherend, wherein the adhesive film has a thickness T that is larger than a thickness T1 of the first semiconductor element, and the adherend and the first semiconductor element are connected by wire bonding and a difference between the thickness T and the thickness T1 is 40 μm or more and 260 μm or less, or the adherend and the first semiconductor element are connected by flip-chip bonding and a difference between the thickness T and the thickness T1 is 10 μm or more and 200 μm or less. |
| US09105752B2 |
High temperature transducer using SOI, silicon carbide or gallium nitride electronics
There is disclosed a high temperature pressure sensing system which includes a SOI, silicon carbide, or gallium nitride Wheatstone bridge including piezoresistors. The bridge provides an output which is applied to an analog to digital converter also fabricated using SOI, silicon carbide, or gallium nitride materials. The output of the analog to digital converter is applied to microprocessor, which microprocessor processes the data or output of the bridge to produce a digital output indicative of bridge value. The microprocessor also receives an output from another analog to digital converter indicative of the temperature of the bridge as monitored by a span resistor coupled to the bridge. The microprocessor has a separate memory coupled thereto which is also fabricated from SOI, silicon carbide, or gallium nitride materials and which memory stores various data indicative of the microprocessor also enabling the microprocessor test and system test to be performed. |
| US09105750B1 |
Semiconductor device having a through-substrate via
Semiconductor devices are described that have a through-substrate via formed therein. In one or more implementations, the semiconductor devices include a top wafer and a bottom wafer bonded together with a patterned adhesive material. The top wafer and the bottom wafer include one or more integrated circuits formed therein. The integrated circuits are connected to one or more conductive layers deployed over the surfaces of the top and bottom wafers. A via is formed through the top wafer and the patterned adhesive material so that an electrical interconnection can be formed between the integrated circuits formed in the top wafer and the integrated circuits formed in the bottom wafer. The via includes a conductive material that furnishes the electrical interconnection between the top and bottom wafers. |
| US09105747B2 |
Tunable stressed polycrystalline silicon on dielectrics in an integrated circuit
A method of forming an integrated circuit device is disclosed. A polycrystalline silicon layer is formed in direct contact with a dielectric material so that the dielectric material induces a stress in the polycrystalline silicon layer as the polycrystalline silicon layer is formed. A MOS transistor that includes a gate including the polycrystalline silicon is then completed. |
| US09105745B2 |
Fabrication of low threshold voltage and inversion oxide thickness scaling for a high-k metal gate p-type MOSFET
A method of forming a semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure has a semiconductor substrate and an nFET and a pFET disposed upon the substrate. The pFET has a semiconductor SiGe channel region formed upon or within a surface of the semiconductor substrate and a gate dielectric having an oxide layer overlying the channel region and a high-k dielectric layer overlying the oxide layer. A gate electrode overlies the gate dielectric and has a lower metal layer abutting the high-k layer, a scavenging metal layer abutting the lower metal layer, and an upper metal layer abutting the scavenging metal layer. The metal layer scavenges oxygen from the substrate (nFET) and SiGe (pFET) interface with the oxide layer resulting in an effective reduction in Tinv and Vt of the pFET, while scaling Tinv and maintaining Vt for the nFET, resulting in the Vt of the pFET becoming closer to the Vt of a similarly constructed nFET with scaled Tinv values. |
| US09105743B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing semiconductor device
The semiconductor device includes a first transistor including a first impurity layer containing boron or phosphorus, a first epitaxial layer formed above the first impurity layer, a first gate electrode formed above the first epitaxial layer with a first gate insulating film formed therebetween and first source/drain regions, and a second transistor including a second impurity layer containing boron and carbon, or arsenic or antimony, a second epitaxial layer formed above the second impurity layer, a second gate electrode formed above the second epitaxial layer with a second gate insulating film thinner than the first gate insulating film formed therebetween, and second source/drain regions. |
| US09105739B2 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
A semiconductor device with a nonvolatile memory is provided which has improved electric performance. A memory gate electrode is formed over a semiconductor substrate via an insulating film. The insulating film is an insulating film having a charge storage portion therein, and includes a first silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film over the first silicon oxide film, and a second silicon oxide film over the silicon nitride film. Metal elements exist between the silicon nitride film and the second silicon oxide film, or in the silicon nitride film at a surface density of 1×1013 to 2×1014 atoms/cm2. |
| US09105738B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same
A semiconductor device includes a multilayered interelectrode insulating film formed between a charge storage layer and a control electrode layer. The interelectrode insulating film is formed in a first region above an upper surface portion of the element isolation insulating film, a second region along a sidewall portion of the charge storage layer, and a third region above an upper surface portion of the charge storage layer. The interelectrode insulating film includes a stack of first silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film, and a second silicon oxide film. The silicon nitride film is relatively thicker in the third region compared to the first region and compared to at least a portion of the second region. |
| US09105737B2 |
Semiconductor constructions
Some embodiments include methods of forming vertical memory strings. A trench is formed to extend through a stack of alternating electrically conductive levels and electrically insulative levels. An electrically insulative panel is formed within the trench. Some sections of the panel are removed to form openings. Each opening has a first pair of opposing sides along the stack, and has a second pair of opposing sides along remaining sections of the panel. Cavities are formed to extend into the electrically conductive levels along the first pair of opposing sides of the openings. Charge blocking material and charge-storage material is formed within the cavities. Channel material is formed within the openings and is spaced from the charge-storage material by gate dielectric material. Some embodiments include semiconductor constructions, and some embodiments include methods of forming vertically-stacked structures. |
| US09105733B2 |
Thin film transistor array substrate and manufacturing method thereof
A thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The TFT array substrate may include a gate line disposed on a substrate and including a gate line and a gate electrode, an oxide semiconductor layer pattern disposed on the gate electrode, a data line disposed on the oxide semiconductor layer pattern and including a source electrode and a drain electrode of a thin film transistor (TFT) together with the gate electrode, and a data line extending in a direction intersecting the gate line, and etch stop patterns disposed at an area where the TFT is formed between the source/drain electrodes and the oxide semiconductor layer pattern and at an area where the gate line and the data line overlap each other between the gate line and the data line. |
| US09105728B2 |
Multi-gate thin-film transistor
This disclosure provides implementations of multi-gate transistors, structures, devices, apparatus, systems, and related processes. In one aspect, a device includes a thin-film semiconducting layer arranged over a substrate. A drain and source are coupled to the semiconducting layer. The device also includes first, second and third gates all arranged adjacent the semiconducting layer and configured to receive first, second, and third control signals, respectively. Dielectric layers insulate the gates from the semiconducting layer and from one another. In a first mode, the first, second, and third gates are configured such that charge is stored in a potential well in a region of the semiconducting layer adjacent the second gate. In a second mode, the first, second and third gate electrodes are configured such that the stored charge is transferred through the region of the semiconducting layer adjacent the third gate electrode and through the source to a load. |
| US09105726B2 |
Transistor and method of fabricating the same
Provided is a transistor. The transistor includes: a substrate; a semiconductor layer provided on the substrate and having one side vertical to the substrate and the other side facing the one side; a first electrode extending along the substrate and contacting the one side of the semiconductor layer; a second electrode extending along the substrate and contacting the other side of the semiconductor layer; a conductive wire disposed on the first electrode and spaced from the second electrode; a gate electrode provided on the semiconductor layer; and a gate insulating layer disposed between the semiconductor layer and the gate electrode, wherein the semiconductor layer, the first electrode, and the second electrode have a coplanar. |
| US09105723B2 |
Multi-height FinFETs with coplanar topography
A semiconductor structure is provided that has semiconductor fins having variable heights without any undue topography. The semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor substrate having a first semiconductor surface and a second semiconductor surface, wherein the first semiconductor surface is vertically offset and located above the second semiconductor surface. An oxide region is located directly on the first semiconductor surface and/or the second semiconductor surface. A first set of first semiconductor fins having a first height is located above the first semiconductor surface of the semiconductor substrate. A second set of second semiconductor fins having a second height is located above the second semiconductor surface, wherein the second height is different than the first height and wherein each first semiconductor fin and each second semiconductor fin have topmost surfaces which are coplanar with each other. |
| US09105721B2 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
A high voltage/power semiconductor device using a low voltage logic well is provided. The semiconductor device includes a substrate, a first well region formed by being doped in a first location on a surface of the substrate, a second well region formed by being doped with impurity different from the first well region's in a second location on a surface of the substrate, an overlapping region between the first well region and the second well region where the first well region and the second well region substantially coexist, a gate insulating layer formed on the surface of the first and the second well regions and the surface of the overlapping region, a gate electrode formed on the gate insulating layer, a source region formed on an upper portion of the first well region, and a drain region formed on an upper portion of the second well region. The semiconductor device may also include a separating unit, which is formed in the second well region on the drain side and may be formed as a shallow trench isolation (STI) region having a lower depth than the second well region. |
| US09105720B2 |
Semiconductor device having metal gate and manufacturing method thereof
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having metal gate includes following steps. A substrate having at least a first semiconductor device formed thereon is provided. The first semiconductor device includes a first gate trench formed therein. Next, an n-typed work function metal layer is formed in the first gate trench. After forming the n-typed work function metal layer, a nitridation process is performed to form a first protecting layer on the n-typed work function metal layer. After forming the first protecting layer, an oxidation process is performed to the first protecting layer to form a second protecting layer on the n-typed work function metal layer. Then, a gap filling metal layer is formed to fill up the first gate trench. |
| US09105719B2 |
Multigate metal oxide semiconductor devices and fabrication methods
A semiconductor device includes a first well and a second well implanted in a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor device further includes a gate structure above the first and second wells between a raised source structure and a raised drain structure. The raised source structure above is in contact with the first well and connected with the gate structure through a first semiconductor fin structure. The raised drain structure above and in contact with the second well and connected with a second semiconductor fin structure. The second semiconductor fin structure includes at least a gap and a lightly doped portion. |
| US09105718B2 |
Butted SOI junction isolation structures and devices and method of fabrication
A structure, a FET, a method of making the structure and of making the FET. The structure including: a silicon layer on a buried oxide (BOX) layer of a silicon-on-insulator substrate; a trench in the silicon layer extending from a top surface of the silicon layer into the silicon layer, the trench not extending to the BOX layer, a doped region in the silicon layer between and abutting the BOX layer and a bottom of the trench, the first doped region doped to a first dopant concentration; a first epitaxial layer, doped to a second dopant concentration, in a bottom of the trench; a second epitaxial layer, doped to a third dopant concentration, on the first epitaxial layer in the trench; and wherein the third dopant concentration is greater than the first and second dopant concentrations and the first dopant concentration is greater than the second dopant concentration. |
| US09105717B2 |
Manufacturing a semiconductor device using electrochemical etching, semiconductor device and super junction semiconductor device
A trench is formed in a semiconductor substrate between mesas of a first conductivity type. The trench extends from a process surface down to a bottom plane. A semiconductor layer of a second, complementary conductivity type is formed on sidewalls of the trench. At least in the mesas a vertical impurity concentration profile vertical to the process surface is non-constant between the process surface and the bottom plane. A portion of the semiconductor layer in the trench is removed by electrochemical etching. Thereafter, the thickness of the recessed semiconductor layer images the vertical impurity concentration profile in the mesa. |
| US09105715B2 |
Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same
In a cell region of a first major surface of a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, a first well of a second conductivity type is in an upper surface. A diffusion region of a first conductivity type is in the upper surface in the first well. A first gate insulating film is on the first well, and a first gate electrode on the first gate insulating film. A second well of a second conductivity type is in the upper surface of the first major surface on a peripheral portion of the cell region. A second gate insulating film is on the second well, and a thick field oxide film is on the peripheral side than the second gate insulating film. A second gate electrode is sequentially on the second gate insulating film and the field oxide film and electrically connected to the first gate electrode. A first electrode is connected to the first, second well and the diffusion region. A second electrode is connected on a second major surface of the semiconductor substrate. A gate wiring is on the field oxide film, going around a periphery of the cell region, and electrically connected to the second gate electrode. The gate wiring is a silicide of a constituting substance of the second gate electrode. |
| US09105714B2 |
Stabilization structure including sacrificial release layer and staging bollards
A method and structure for stabilizing an array of micro devices is disclosed. The array of micro devices is within an array of staging cavities on a carrier substrate. Each micro device is laterally retained between a plurality of staging bollards of a corresponding staging cavity. |
| US09105713B2 |
Semiconductor device with metal-filled groove in polysilicon gate electrode
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, a body region of a first conductivity type in the substrate, a source region of a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type adjacent the body region, and a trench extending into the substrate adjacent the source and body regions. The trench contains a polysilicon gate electrode insulated from the substrate. The device further includes a dielectric layer on the substrate, a gate metallization on the dielectric layer and covering part of the substrate and a source metallization on the dielectric layer and electrically connected to the source region. The source metallization is spaced apart from the gate metallization and covers a different part of the substrate than the gate metallization. A metal-filled groove in the polysilicon gate electrode is electrically connected to the gate metallization, and extends along a length of the trench underneath at least part of the source metallization. |
| US09105712B1 |
Double RESURF LDMOS with separately patterned P+ and N+ buried layers formed by shared mask
A double-RESURF LDMOS fabrication method utilizes a shared mask to form separately patterned N+ buried layer (NBL) and P+ buried layer (PBL) regions. The mask includes two opening types (e.g., large and small), and the P-type and N-type implant materials are separately directed onto the mask at different implant angles, such that the N-type implant passes through both opening types to form a first pattered implant region in both a first region and a surrounding second region, and such that the P-type implant material passes only through the larger openings and forms a second pattered implant region only in the first substrate portion. An optional epitaxial layer is deposited over the substrate and annealed to form the separately patterned PBL and NBL in the epitaxial layer, where a portion of the PBL diffuses above the NBL and forms a P-surf region below the LDMOS's N-drift region. |
| US09105708B2 |
Wafer processing method
A wafer processing method divides a wafer along a plurality of crossing streets formed on the front side of the wafer to thereby partition a plurality of regions where a plurality of devices are respectively formed. The method includes a division groove forming step of cutting the back side of the wafer along each street by using a cutting blade to thereby form a division groove along each street with a predetermined thickness left between the bottom of the division groove and the front side of the wafer, a wafer supporting step of attaching the back side of the wafer to a dicing tape supported by an annular frame, and a wafer dividing step of applying an external force to the wafer attached to the dicing tape to thereby divide the wafer into the individual devices along the streets where the division grooves are respectively formed. |
| US09105707B2 |
ZRAM heterochannel memory
Approaches for zero capacitance memory cells are provided. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure includes forming a channel region by doping a first material with a first type of impurity. The method includes forming source/drain regions by doping a second material with a second type of impurity different than the first type of impurity, wherein the second material has a smaller bandgap than the first material. The method includes forming lightly doped regions between the channel region and the source/drain regions, wherein the lightly doped regions include the second material. The method includes forming a gate over the channel region, wherein the second material extends under edges of the gate. |
| US09105706B2 |
Semiconductor device fabrication method capable of scribing chips with high yield
A semiconductor device fabrication method includes preparing a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of chip areas formed with semiconductor elements and a scribe area having a dicing area in said scribe area for separating said plurality of chip areas, wherein in said scribe area a groove forming area is defined to surround each chip area at a position outside of the dicing area, disposing a multilayer wiring structure including dummy wirings above said semiconductor wafer, said multilayer wiring structure having interlayer insulating films and wiring layers alternately formed, forming a cover layer including a passivation layer, said cover layer covering said multilayer wiring structure, and forming a groove in each said groove forming area, said groove surrounding each of said plurality of chip areas and extending from a surface of said semiconductor wafer and at least through said passivation layer. |
| US09105703B2 |
Programmable III-nitride transistor with aluminum-doped gate
Disclosed is a III-nitride heterojunction device that includes a conduction channel having a two dimensional electron gas formed at an interface between a first III-nitride material and a second III-nitride material. A modification including a contact insulator, for example, a gate insulator formed under a gate contact, is disposed over the conduction channel, wherein the contact insulator includes aluminum to alter formation of the two dimensional electron gas at the interface. The contact insulator can include AlSiN, or can be SiN doped with aluminum. The modification results in programming the threshold voltage of the III-nitride heterojunction device to, for example, make the device an enhancement mode device. The modification can further include a recess, an ion implanted region, a diffused region, an oxidation region, and/or a nitridation region. In one embodiment, the first III-nitride material comprises GaN and the second III-nitride material comprises AlGaN. |
| US09105700B2 |
Method for forming self-aligned contacts/vias with high corner selectivity
A method of etching self-aligned contact/via features in a low-k dielectric layer disposed below a hardmask, which is disposed below a planarization layer. At least one cycle is provided, where each cycle comprises thinning the planarization layer, forming a deposition layer on the hardmask and planarization layer; and etching the low-k dielectric layer masked by the deposition layer. |
| US09105699B2 |
Method of forming interconnection lines
The invention concerns a method comprising: forming a plurality of parallel lines (502, 504, 506) of a sacrificial material over a layer of conductive material (510) of an integrated circuit, said parallel lines being separated by trenches, at least one of said lines being interrupted along its length by an opening (516) dividing it into first and second line portions (504A, 504B) separated by a space (S); forming spacers (522, 524, 526, 528, 530) in said trenches on lateral sides of said line portions and filling at least a bottom part of said opening between the line portions; removing the sacrificial material by etching; and forming interconnection lines (302, 304A, 304B, 306A, 306B, 308, 310) of said conductive material based on a pattern defined by said spacers. |
| US09105695B2 |
Cobalt selectivity improvement in selective cobalt process sequence
Embodiments of the invention provide processes to selectively form a cobalt layer on a copper surface over exposed dielectric surfaces. Embodiments described herein control selectivity of deposition by preventing damage to the dielectric surface, repairing damage to the dielectric surface, such as damage which can occur during the cobalt deposition process, and controlling deposition parameters for the cobalt layer. |
| US09105693B2 |
Microelectronic structure including air gap
A microelectronic structure and a method for fabricating the microelectronic structure provide a plurality of voids interposed between a plurality of conductor layers. The plurality of voids is also located between a liner layer and an inter-level dielectric layer. The voids provide for enhanced electrical performance of the microelectronic structure. |
| US09105687B1 |
Method for reducing defects in shallow trench isolation
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a trench that includes a needle defect, depositing a high density plasma oxide over the trench including the needle defect, removing the part of the high density oxide and the liner oxide over the needle defect by applying an oxide etch, and after the step of applying the oxide etch, etching back the needle defect by applying a polysilicon etch. |
| US09105680B2 |
Insulated gate bipolar transistor
An IGBT has layers between emitter and collector sides. The layers include a collector layer on the collector side, a drift layer, a base layer of a second conductivity type, a first source region arranged on the base layer towards the emitter side, a trench gate electrode arranged lateral to the base layer and extending deeper into the drift layer than the base layer, a well arranged lateral to the base layer and extending deeper into the drift layer than the base layer, an enhancement layer surrounding the base layer so as to completely separate the base layer from the drift layer and the well, an electrically conducting layer covering the well and separated from the well by a second electrically insulating layer, and a third insulating layer having a recess on top of the electrically conducting layer such that the electrically conducting layer electrically contacts a emitter electrode. |
| US09105678B2 |
Semiconductor devices with recessed base electrode
High frequency performance of (e.g., silicon) bipolar devices is improved by reducing the extrinsic base resistance Rbx. An emitter, an intrinsic base, and a collector are formed in a semiconductor body. An emitter contact has a region that overlaps a portion of an extrinsic base contact. A sidewall is formed in the extrinsic base contact proximate a lateral edge of the overlap region of the emitter contact. The sidewall is amorphized during or after formation so that when the emitter contact and the extrinsic base contact are, e.g., silicided, some of the metal atoms forming the silicide penetrate into the sidewall so that part of the highly conductive silicided extrinsic base contact extends under the edge of the overlap region of the emitter contact closer to the intrinsic base, thereby reducing Rbx. Smaller Rbx provides transistors with higher fMAX. |
| US09105676B2 |
Method of removing damaged epoxy from electrostatic chuck
A method of removing an epoxy band from an electrostatic chuck includes securing the electrostatic chuck in a servicing fixture, applying a thermal source to the epoxy band to breakdown a plurality of adhesive bonds securing the epoxy band to the electrostatic chuck, forming a hole in the epoxy band and pulling the epoxy band from the electrostatic chuck. A system for removing an epoxy band from an electrostatic chuck is also described. |
| US09105674B2 |
Stepped elastic positioning structure for a semiconductor carrier
A stepped elastic positioning structure for a semiconductor carrier includes a plurality of transversely and longitudinally arranged walls and a plurality of recesses defined by the walls. On the walls of the semiconductor carrier is formed a plurality of L-shaped stop blocks, each of the stop blocks has an elastically deformable free end which is capable of elastically restricting the semiconductor in the recess, and improving the easiness for putting in or taking out the semiconductor. The end of each of the stop blocks is a stepped structure, plus the elastic deformability of the stop blocks, which makes the recess capable of holding different sized semiconductors. |
| US09105669B2 |
MOS transistor on the basis of quantum interferance effect
A new type of Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) transistor that works on the basis of the Quantum Interference Depression (QID) effect is disclosed. QID occurs inside an n-type semiconductor source-drain electrode of special geometry. Due to QID the Fermi level of said semiconductor increases locally inside the source drain electrode, thereby creating a localized potential energy barrier in the path of electrons moving from source to drain regions. The height of the barrier depends on the degree of QID. QID is in turn regulated by the gate voltage via the charge depletion and hence change in effective dimensions of the special geometry of the semiconductor electrode. A gate voltage modulated potential energy barrier and is thus formed whereby current in said MOS transistor is controlled. |
| US09105668B2 |
Method for manufacturing semiconductor device
An object is to manufacture a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor film, which has stable electric characteristics and high reliability. A crystalline oxide semiconductor film is formed, without performing a plurality of steps, as follows: by utilizing a difference in atomic weight of plural kinds of atoms included in an oxide semiconductor target, zinc with low atomic weight is preferentially deposited on an oxide insulating film to form a seed crystal including zinc; and tin, indium, or the like with high atomic weight is deposited on the seed crystal while causing crystal growth. Further, a crystalline oxide semiconductor film is formed by causing crystal growth using a seed crystal with a hexagonal crystal structure including zinc as a nucleus, whereby a single crystal oxide semiconductor film or a substantially single crystal oxide semiconductor film is formed. |
| US09105664B2 |
Method for enhancing channel strain
An apparatus includes a substrate having a strained channel region, a dielectric layer over the channel region, first and second conductive layers over the dielectric layer having a characteristic with a first value, and a strain-inducing conductive layer between the conductive layers having the characteristic with a second value different from the first value. A different aspect involves an apparatus that includes a substrate, first and second projections extending from the substrate, the first projection having a tensile-strained first channel region and the second projection having a compression-strained second channel region, and first and second gate structures engaging the first and second projections, respectively. The first gate structure includes a dielectric layer, first and second conductive layers over the dielectric layer, and a strain-inducing conductive layer between the conductive layers. The second gate structure includes a high-k dielectric layer adjacent the second channel region, and a metal layer. |
| US09105660B2 |
Fin-FET and method of forming the same
A method of forming a Fin-FET is provided. A substrate is provided, then a mask layer is formed thereabove. A first trench is formed in the substrate and the mask layer. A semiconductor layer is formed in the first trench. Next, the mask layer is removed such that the semi-conductive layer becomes a fin structure embedded in the substrate and protruded above the substrate. Finally, a gate layer is formed on the fin structure. |
| US09105659B2 |
Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same
An embodiment is to include a staggered (top gate structure) thin film transistor in which an oxide semiconductor film containing In, Ga, and Zn is used as a semiconductor layer and a buffer layer is provided between the semiconductor layer and a source and drain electrode layers. The buffer layer having higher carrier concentration than the semiconductor layer is provided intentionally between the source and drain electrode layers and the semiconductor layer, whereby an ohmic contact is formed. |
| US09105650B2 |
Lateral bipolar transistor and CMOS hybrid technology
A method of forming a lateral bipolar transistor includes forming a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate having a bottom substrate layer, a buried oxide layer (BOX) on top of the substrate layer, and a silicon on insulator (SOI) layer on top of the BOX layer, forming a dummy gate and spacer on top of the silicon on insulator layer, doping the SOI layer with positive or negative ions, depositing an inter layer dielectric (ILD), using chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) to planarize the ILD, removing the dummy gate creating a gate trench which reveals the base of the dummy gate, doping the dummy gate base, depositing a layer of polysilicon on top of the SOI layer and into the gate trench, etching the layer of polysilicon so that it only covers the dummy gate base, and applying a self-aligned silicide process. |
| US09105649B2 |
Semiconductor component and corresponding production method
A semiconductor component includes a substrate, a molded package, and a semiconductor chip. The semiconductor chip is suspended on the molding compound above the substrate in the molded package in such a way that a cavity mechanically decouples the semiconductor chip from the substrate. The cavity extends along an underside facing the substrate. |
| US09105644B2 |
Apparatus and method for forming alignment features for back side processing of a wafer
A method for forming an alignment feature for back side wafer processing in a wafer fabrication process involves forming a trench into but not entirely through a wafer from a top side of the wafer; forming a contrasting material on surfaces of the trench; and grinding a bottom side of the wafer to expose the trench using the handling wafer to handle the wafer during such grinding, wherein the contrasting material lining the exposed trench provides an alignment reference for precise alignment of the wafer for back side processing the wafer. |
| US09105636B2 |
Semiconductor constructions and methods of forming electrically conductive contacts
Some embodiments include methods of forming electrically conductive contacts. An opening is formed through an insulative material to a conductive structure. A conductive plug is formed within a bottom region of the opening. A spacer is formed to line a lateral periphery of an upper region of the opening, and to leave an inner portion of an upper surface of the plug exposed. A conductive material is formed against the inner portion of the upper surface of the plug. Some embodiments include semiconductor constructions having a conductive plug within an insulative stack and against a copper-containing material. A spacer is over an outer portion of an upper surface of the plug and not directly above an inner portion of the upper surface. A conductive material is over the inner portion of the upper surface of the plug and against an inner lateral surface of the spacer. |
| US09105629B2 |
Selective area heating for 3D chip stack
A method of forming a 3D package including joining an interposer to a laminate chip carrier with the solid state diffusion of a first plurality of solder bumps by applying a first selective non-uniform heat, a first selective non-uniform cooling, and first uniform pressure, joining a top chip to the interposer with the solid state diffusion of a second plurality of solder bumps by applying a second selective non-uniform heat and second uniform pressure, heating the 3D package and the first and second pluralities of solder bumps to a temperature greater than the reflow temperature of the first and second pluralities of solder bumps, where the second plurality of solder bumps achieves the reflow temperature before the first plurality of solder bumps, where a temperature of the first and second selective non-uniform heat is less than the reflow temperature of the first and second pluralities of solder bumps, respectively. |
| US09105628B1 |
Through substrate via (TSuV) structures and method of making the same
Through substrate via (TSuV) structures and method of making the same are disclosed herein. In embodiments, TSuV structures are metal filled selectively to avoid forming significant metal overburden on non-via surfaces of the substrate. In certain embodiments, post-fill metal removal/planarization operations are eliminated for reduced process complexity and manufacturing cost. In embodiments, selective metal fill entails selective electroless or electrolytic deposition. Both front side and back side selective deposition methods are described along with features of through substrate via structures made with such methods. |
| US09105621B2 |
Method for bonding of group III-nitride device-on-silicon and devices obtained thereof
A method for flip chip bonding a GaN device formed on a silicon substrate is described. The method includes providing a silicon substrate having a GaN device thereon, the GaN device comprising at least one gallium-nitride layer near the silicon substrate and remote from the silicon substrate a dielectric layer comprising at least one via configured to electrically contact the at least one gallium-nitride layer, forming a stiffener layer over the GaN device leaving the at least one via exposed, flip chip bonding the GaN device to a submount, wherein the stiffener layer physically contacts the submount and the submount is electrically connected to the at least gallium-nitride layer through the via, and completely removing the silicon substrate exposing the GaN device. Preferably, the material of the stiffener layer comprises silicon, such as silicon, silicon-germanium, or silicon-carbide. |
| US09105619B2 |
Semiconductor package with conductive heat spreader
A semiconductor package that includes a semiconductor die and a heat spreader thermally coupled to the semiconductor and disposed at least partially within the molded housing of the package. |
| US09105614B2 |
Local interconnects compatible with replacement gate structures
After forming replacement gate structures that are embedded in a planarized dielectric layer on a semiconductor substrate, a contact-level dielectric layer is deposited over a planar surface of the planarized dielectric layer and the replacement gate structures. Substrate contact via holes are formed through the contact-level dielectric layer and the planarized dielectric layer, and metal semiconductor alloy portions are formed on exposed semiconductor materials. Gate contact via holes are subsequently formed through the contact-level dielectric layer. The substrate contact via holes and the gate contact via holes are simultaneously filled with a conductive material to form substrate contact structures and gate contact structures. The substrate contact structures and gate contact structures can be employed to provide local interconnect structures that provide electrical connections between two components that are laterally spaced on the semiconductor substrate. |
| US09105611B2 |
Power module package
Disclosed herein is a power module package including: a substrate having a ceramic layer formed in one surface thereof; a circuit pattern formed on the ceramic layer; a first lead frame having one side contacting the circuit pattern and the other side protruding toward the outside; and a first semiconductor chip mounted on one side of the first lead frame. |
| US09105604B2 |
HBT cascode cell
A cascode gain stage apparatus includes a common-emitter connected transistor having a first base metal contact, first emitter metal contact, a first collector metal contact and a u-shaped first collector interface metal; and a common-base connected transistor having a second emitter metal contact, a second base metal contact, and a second collector metal contact, the second emitter metal contact in communication with the first collector metal contact through a transistor interconnect metallic strap, the second emitter metal contact disposed between the first collector metal contact and the second base metal contact. With this configuration, the first collector metal contact and second emitter metal contact are connected by the transistor interconnect metallic strap without high-aspect ratio traces to reduce crossover coupling. |
| US09105602B2 |
Embedded three-dimensional capacitor
An embedded capacitor is provided that includes a substrate having a dielectric-filled window. A metal-insulator-metal structure lines a plurality of vias extending through the dielectric-filled window and covers at least partially opposing sides of the dielectric-filled window. |
| US09105600B2 |
Sheet structure, method of manufacturing sheet structure, and electronic device
A sheet structure has: a bundle structure including a plurality of linear structures made of carbon which are oriented in a predetermined direction; a covering layer covering the plurality of linear structures made of carbon; and a filling layer provided between the plurality of linear structures made of carbon covered with the covering layer. The thickness of the covering layer is not uniform in a direction crossing the predetermined direction. |
| US09105599B2 |
Semiconductor devices that include a die bonded to a substrate with a gold interface layer
Embodiments of a semiconductor device include a primary portion of a substrate, a die, and a die attach layer between the die and the primary portion of the substrate. The die attach layer includes a gold interface layer that includes gold and a plurality of first precipitates in the gold. Each of the first precipitates includes a combination of nickel, cobalt, palladium, gold, and silicon. |
| US09105593B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling breakage by static electricity
A display device includes a first insulation layer on a substrate, gate wires on the first insulation layer, the gate wires extending in a first direction, a second insulation layer on the gate wires, data wires on the second insulation layer, the data wires extending in a second direction crossing the first direction, pixels at intersection regions of gate wires and data wires, respectively, the pixels being connected to respective gate wires and data wires, and data leading diodes having an island form and connected to the data wires, the data leading diodes being configured to induce breakage of the first insulation layer when external static electricity passes through the data wires. |
| US09105592B2 |
Organic electronic light emitting device and method of fabricating the same
An organic electronic light emitting device includes a substrate; a first gate electrode formed on a top surface of the substrate; a first insulating layer formed on the top surface of the substrate and covering the first gate electrode; an organic layer formed on a top surface of the first insulating layer and comprising at least two organic layers with different conductivity type; a second insulating layer formed on a top surface of the organic layer; a second gate electrode formed on a top surface of the second insulating layer; and a source electrode and a drain electrode formed between the first and second insulating layers, and the source and drain electrodes located on both sides of the organic layer respectively. |
| US09105586B2 |
Etching of silicon oxide film
An etching method includes preparing a target object such that a first oxide film made of silicon oxide containing at least one of B and P is formed on a substrate, a second oxide film made of silicon oxide containing neither of B and P is formed on the first oxide film, and a contact portion is present below an interface between the first oxide film and the second oxide film. The etching method further includes etching the second oxide film and the first oxide film, thereby forming a hole reaching the contact portion, and etching the first oxide film by a dry process using a gas containing HF, thereby expanding a portion of the hole adjacent to an upper side of the contact portion and inside the first oxide film. |
| US09105585B2 |
Etching method
An etching method can selectively etch a second region formed of silicon oxide in a target object with respect to a first region formed of silicon in the target object. The etching method includes (a) processing the target object with plasma of a first processing gas containing fluorocarbon and fluorohydrocarbon by generating the plasma of the first processing gas with a microwave, and (b) after the processing of the target object with the plasma of the first processing gas, processing the target object with plasma of a second processing gas containing fluorocarbon by generating the plasma of the second processing gas with the microwave. |
| US09105584B2 |
Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device
According to one embodiment, a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a first line pattern comprising a first film above an underlying layer, depositing a second film on a sidewall and a top surface of the first line pattern of the first film, etching the second film to eliminate the second film on the top surface of the first line pattern of the first film and leave the second film on the sidewall of the first line pattern of the first film, and removing the first line pattern to form a second line pattern of the second film above the underlying layer. The depositing the second film, etching the second film, and removing the first line pattern are sequentially performed within the same plasma processing device. |
| US09105579B2 |
GaN power device with solderable back metal
A method for fabricating a vertical gallium nitride (GaN) power device can include providing a GaN substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface, forming a device layer coupled to the top surface of the GaN substrate, and forming a metal contact on a top surface of the vertical GaN power device. The method can further include forming a backside metal by forming an adhesion layer coupled to the bottom surface of the GaN substrate, forming a diffusion barrier coupled to the adhesion layer, and forming a protection layer coupled to the diffusion barrier. The vertical GaN power device can be configured to conduct electricity between the metal contact and the backside metal. |
| US09105575B2 |
Method for fabricating a semiconductor device
A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes: forming first lines having a hydrophobic surface extending parallel to each other in a direction between first insulation layers having a hydrophilic surface; self-aligning hydrophilic particles over the first insulation layers to expose portions of the first lines at predetermined intervals; forming a plurality of variable resistance elements over the exposed portions of the first lines; and removing the particles. |
| US09105574B2 |
Electronic device comprising a semiconductor memory unit
Devices and methods based on disclosed technology include, among others, an electronic device capable of improving a signal transfer characteristic and a method for fabricating the same. Specifically, an electronic device in one implementation includes a plurality of buried gates formed in a substrate, open parts formed in the substrate on both sides of the buried gate, isolation layers each formed between a sidewall of the open part and a sidewall of the buried gate, source/drain regions formed in the substrate under the respective open parts, and contact plugs buried in the respective open parts. |
| US09105571B2 |
Interface engineering to optimize metal-III-V contacts
Techniques for fabricating self-aligned contacts in III-V FET devices are provided. In one aspect, a method for fabricating a self-aligned contact to III-V materials includes the following steps. At least one metal is deposited on a surface of the III-V material. The at least one metal is reacted with an upper portion of the III-V material to form a metal-III-V alloy layer which is the self-aligned contact. An etch is used to remove any unreacted portions of the at least one metal. At least one impurity is implanted into the metal-III-V alloy layer. The at least one impurity implanted into the metal-III-V alloy layer is diffused to an interface between the metal-III-V alloy layer and the III-V material thereunder to reduce a contact resistance of the self-aligned contact. |
| US09105570B2 |
Methods for introducing carbon to a semiconductor structure
An embodiment is a method comprising diffusing carbon through a surface of a substrate, implanting carbon through the surface of the substrate, and annealing the substrate after the diffusing the carbon and implanting the carbon through the surface of the substrate. The substrate comprises a first gate, a gate spacer, an etch stop layer, and an inter-layer dielectric. The first gate is over a semiconductor substrate. The gate spacer is along a sidewall of the first gate. The etch stop layer is on a surface of the gate spacer and over a surface of the semiconductor substrate. The inter-layer dielectric is over the etch stop layer. The surface of the substrate comprises a surface of the inter-layer dielectric. |
| US09105569B2 |
Method of etching MTJ using CO process chemistries
A method for fabricating a magnetic film structure is provided. The method comprises forming a magnetic structure on a bottom electrode layer, the magnetic structure comprising at least one pinned bottom magnetic film layer having a fixed magnetic orientation; at least one top magnetic film layer whose magnetic orientation can be manipulated by a current; and a tunneling layer between the bottom magnetic film layer and the top magnetic film layer; forming a metallic hard mask atop the magnetic structure; patterning and etching the metallic hard mask to define exposed areas of the magnetic structure; selectively etching the exposed areas of the magnetic structure by a chemical etch process based on a CO etch chemistry to form discrete magnetic bits. |
| US09105568B2 |
Semiconductor device with integrated magnetic element provided with a barrier structure against metal contamination, and manufacturing
A semiconductor device including: a semiconductor body having a first side and a second side opposite to one another; a first barrier element, which extends over the first side of the semiconductor body and is made of a first material configured to act as barrier against metal ions, for example chosen from among titanium, tantalum, titanium alloys or compounds, tantalum alloy; a magnetic element, which extends over the first barrier layer and is made of a second material having magnetic properties, for example a ferromagnetic material; a second barrier element, which extends over the magnetic layer and is made of a third material configured to act as barrier against metal ions, for example chosen from among titanium, tantalum, titanium alloys or compounds, tantalum alloys or compounds. The first and second barrier elements form a top encapsulating structure and a bottom encapsulating structure for the magnetic element. |
| US09105566B2 |
Monolithic integrated composite group III-V and group IV device
According to one disclosed embodiment, a method for fabricating a monolithic integrated composite device comprises forming a group III-V semiconductor body over a group IV semiconductor substrate, forming a trench in the group III-V semiconductor body, and forming a group IV semiconductor body in the trench. The method also comprises fabricating at least one group IV semiconductor device in the group IV semiconductor body, and fabricating at least one group III-V semiconductor device in the group III-V semiconductor body. In one embodiment, the method further comprises planarizing an upper surface of the III-V semiconductor body and an upper surface of the group IV semiconductor body to render those respective upper surfaces substantially co-planar. In one embodiment, the method further comprises fabricating at least one passive device in a defective region of said group IV semiconductor body adjacent to a sidewall of the trench. |
| US09105565B2 |
Nitride semiconductor device
According to one embodiment, a nitride semiconductor device includes semiconductor stacked layers provided on a substrate and including a nitride semiconductor; a source electrode and a drain electrode provided on the layers and being in contact with the layers; and a gate electrode provided on the layers and provided between the source electrode and the drain electrode. The layers have a first barrier layer, a second barrier layer, and a carrier running layer interposed between the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer. The second barrier layer and the carrier running layer are removed in a region in which the source electrode on the layers is provided. A part of the source electrode is in contact with the first barrier layer. And another part of the source electrode other than the part of the source electrode is in contact with the second barrier layer. |
| US09105562B2 |
Integrated circuit package and packaging methods
An integrated circuit packaging method includes fabricating a package module from successive build-up layers which define circuit interconnections, forming a cavity on a top-side of the package module, attaching a metalized back-side of a chip onto a metallic layer, the chip having a front-side with at least one forward contact, disposing the chip in the cavity such that at least one forward contact is electrically connected to at least one of the circuit interconnections of the package module, and coupling the metallic layer that is attached to the chip onto the top-side of the package module. |
| US09105560B2 |
Devices and systems for power conversion circuits
Devices and systems comprising driver circuits are disclosed for MOSFET driven, normally-on gallium nitride (GaN) power transistors. Preferably, a low power, high speed CMOS driver circuit with an integrated low voltage, lateral MOSFET driver is series coupled, in a hybrid cascode arrangement to a high voltage GaN HEMT, for improved control of noise and voltage transients. Co-packaging of a GaN transistor die and a CMOS driver die using island topology contacts, through substrate vias, and a flip-chip, stacked configuration provides interconnections with low inductance and resistance, and provides effective thermal management. Co-packaging of a CMOS input interface circuit with the CMOS driver and GaN transistor allows for a compact, integrated CMOS driver with enhanced functionality including shut-down and start-up conditioning for safer operation, particularly for high voltage and high current switching. Preferred embodiments also provide isolated, self-powered, high speed driver devices, with reduced input losses. |
| US09105558B2 |
Silicon carbide semiconductor device and manufacturing method of the same
A silicon carbide semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate made of silicon carbide single crystal and having a principal surface and a backside; and an ohmic electrode contacting one of the principal surface and the backside of the semiconductor substrate in an ohmic manner. A boundary between the ohmic electrode and the one of the principal surface and the backside of the semiconductor substrate is terminated with an element, which has a Pauling electronegativity larger than silicon and a binding energy with silicon larger than a binding energy of Si—H. |
| US09105552B2 |
Package on package devices and methods of packaging semiconductor dies
Package on package (PoP) devices and methods of packaging semiconductor dies are disclosed. A PoP device includes a first packaged die and a second packaged die coupled to the first packaged die. Metal stud bumps are disposed between the first packaged die and the second packaged die. The metal stud bumps include a bump region and a tail region coupled to the bump region. The metal stud bumps are embedded in solder joints. |
| US09105550B2 |
Next generation imaging methods and systems
Novel imaging arrangements are detailed. One comprises an optical array sensor with plural photo-electron generating regions dispersed at two or more layers in the structure. Two of these photo-electron generating regions are vertically separated by at least 10 microns—making the sensor useful for sensing objects at focal distances ranging from less than ten inches, out to infinity. The photosites may be spectrally selective. One such arrangement includes a top CMOS sensor array that passes 25% or more of the visible incident light into the structure. A second CMOS sensor array can be provided at a bottom of the structure, for receiving light that was not transduced to photo-electrons elsewhere in the sensor. Another arrangement involves movement of a camera sensor, in a repetitive tracking/pop-back motion, to reduce motion blur in individual frames of a video sequence. A great number of other arrangements are also detailed. |
| US09105549B2 |
Semiconductor sensor structures with reduced dislocation defect densities
Non-silicon based semiconductor devices are integrated into silicon fabrication processes by using aspect-ratio-trapping materials. Non-silicon light-sensing devices in a least a portion of a crystalline material can output electrons generated by light absorption therein. Exemplary light-sensing devices can have relatively large micron dimensions. As an exemplary application, complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor photodetectors are formed on a silicon substrate by incorporating an aspect-ratio-trapping technique. |
| US09105545B2 |
Imaging device to capture images of subjects in plurality of directions
An imaging device includes a silicon substrate having a photoelectric conversion element therein, and a wiring layer on a front-surface side of the silicon substrate. The photoelectric conversion element performs photoelectric conversion on light which enters the photoelectric conversion element from the front-surface side through the wiring layer, and performs photoelectric conversion on light which enters the photoelectric conversion element from a back-surface side of the silicon substrate without going through the wiring layer. |
| US09105543B2 |
Solid-state image pickup device, method for manufacturing the same, and electronic apparatus
A solid-state image pickup device is provided. The first pixel isolation member includes impurity ions implanted in a first region of the semiconductor substrate so that at least two pixels are disposed between portions of the first region when viewed from a surface of the substrate. A second isolation member includes a trench having an electrocondcutive material disposed therein. The trench is formed in a second region of the substrate different from the first pixel isolation member so that the at least two pixels are disposed between portions of the second region when viewed from the surface of the semiconductor substrate. |
| US09105540B2 |
Solid-state imaging device having main waveguide with first and second sub waveguides
Provided is a solid-state imaging device capable of ranging with high precision even when the pixel size is small. The solid-state imaging device includes: an optical waveguide having multiple regions with different refractive indices; and a photoelectric conversion unit for converting light guided through the optical waveguide into an electrical signal. The optical waveguide includes a main waveguide located on a light incident side, and a first sub waveguide and a second sub waveguide connected to the main waveguide and located on the photoelectric conversion unit side. The main waveguide guides light which enters from a first direction and light which enters from a second direction. The first sub waveguide and the second sub waveguide guide light which has entered from the first direction and has passed through the main waveguide and light which has entered from the second direction and has passed through the main waveguide, respectively. |
| US09105539B2 |
Solid-state imaging device and manufacturing method of the same, and electronic apparatus
The present disclosure relates to a solid-state imaging device and a manufacturing method of the same, and an electronic apparatus, capable of more reliably suppressing occurrence of color mixing.A trench is formed between PDs so as to be opened to a light receiving surface side of a semiconductor substrate on which a plurality of the PDs, each of which receives light to generate charges, are formed, an insulating film is embedded in the trench and the insulating film is laminated on a back surface side of the semiconductor substrate. Then, a light shielding portion is formed so as to be laminated on the insulating film and to have a convex shape protruding to the semiconductor substrate at a location corresponding to the trench. The present technology can be applied to a back surface irradiation type CMOS solid-state imaging device. |
| US09105538B2 |
Dynamically configurable photovoltaic cell array
Embodiments of the present invention relate to photovoltaic cells. Specifically, the present invention relates to photovoltaic (PV) cells configurable for energy conversion and imaging. In a typical embodiment, each photovoltaic cell (PV) in the photovoltaic array is divided into a pixel-based array. Each photovoltaic cell is coupled to a set of switches and the photovoltaic cell is dynamically configured for energy conversion or imaging based on the settings of at least one of the switches. |
| US09105537B2 |
Multi-junction photodiode in application of molecular detection and discrimination, and method for fabricating the same
A multi-junction photodiode for molecular detection and discrimination and fabrication methods thereof. The multi junction photodiode includes a substrate having first conductive type dopants, an epitaxial layer having the first conductive type dopants, a deep well having second conductive type dopants, a first well having the first conductive type dopants, a second well having the second conductive type dopants, a third well having the first conductive type dopants, and a first doped region having the second conductive type dopants. The epitaxial layer is disposed on the substrate. The deep well is disposed in the epitaxial layer. The first well having three sides connected to the epitaxial layer is disposed in the deep well. The second well is disposed in the first well. The third well having three sides connected to the epitaxial layer is disposed in the second well. The first doped region is disposed in the third well. |
| US09105530B2 |
Conductive contacts having varying widths and method of manufacturing same
A bump structure includes a contact element formed on a substrate and a passivation layer overlying the substrate. The passivation layer includes a passivation opening exposing the contact element. The bump structure also includes a polyimide layer overlying the passivation layer and an under bump metallurgy (UBM) feature electrically coupled to the contact element. The polyimide layer has a polyimide opening exposing the contact element, and the under bump metallurgy feature has a UBM width. The bump structure further includes a copper pillar on the under bump metallurgy feature. A distal end of the copper pillar width, and the UBM width is greater than the pillar width. |
| US09105523B2 |
Semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same
A reduction in contaminating impurities in a TFT, and a TFT which is reliable, is obtained in a semiconductor device which uses the TFT. By removing contaminating impurities residing in a film interface of the TFT using a solution containing fluorine, a reliable TFT can be obtained. |
| US09105520B2 |
Pulse output circuit, shift register and display device
A pulse is inputted to TFTs 101 and 104 so that the TFTs would turn ON and then potential of a node α rises. When the potential of the node α reaches (VDD−VthN), the node α became in a floating state. Accordingly, a TFT 105 then turns ON, and potential of an output node rises as a clock signal reaches the level H. On the other hand, potential of a gate electrode of the TFT 105 further rises due to an operation of capacitance 107 as the potential of the output node rises, so that the potential of the output node would be higher than (VDD+VthN). Thus, the potential of the output node rises to VDD without voltage drop caused by a threshold of the TFT 105. |
| US09105517B2 |
Wafer to wafer alignment by LED/LSD devices
A method for wafer alignment includes forming a first alignment circuit within a first semiconductor wafer; the first alignment circuit is configured to emit an optical signal. Next, the first alignment circuit is activated upon receiving a first activation signal from a wafer bonding tool then the optical signal is sent to a second alignment circuit in a second semiconductor wafer in overlapping relation to the first semiconductor wafer. The second alignment circuit transmits a second activation signal to the wafer bonding tool and consequently the wafer bonding tool initiates an alignment technique between the first and second semiconductor wafers. The alignment technique uses the first and second alignment circuits for optical alignment. |
| US09105515B2 |
3D non-volatile memory device, memory system including the same, and method of manufacturing the same
A three-dimensional 3D nonvolatile memory device includes vertical channel layers protruding from a substrate; interlayer insulating layers and conductive layer patterns alternately deposited along the vertical channel layers; a barrier metal pattern surrounding each of the conductive layer patterns; a charge blocking layer interposed between the vertical channel layers and the barrier metal patterns; and a diffusion barrier layer interposed between the barrier metal patterns and the charge blocking layer. |
| US09105511B2 |
Semiconductor device comprising oxide semiconductor
An object is to provide a semiconductor device with a novel structure. The semiconductor device includes a first wiring; a second wiring; a third wiring; a fourth wiring; a first transistor having a first gate electrode, a first source electrode, and a first drain electrode; and a second transistor having a second gate electrode, a second source electrode, and a second drain electrode. The first transistor is provided in a substrate including a semiconductor material. The second transistor includes an oxide semiconductor layer. |
| US09105507B2 |
Methods of forming a FinFET semiconductor device with undoped fins
A FinFET device includes a plurality of fin structures positioned in and above a semiconducting substrate, wherein each of the fin structures includes a first portion of the semiconducting substrate, an undoped layer of semiconducting material positioned above the first portion of the semiconducting substrate, and a dopant-containing layer of semiconducting material positioned between the first portion of the semiconducting substrate and the undoped semiconducting material, wherein the dopant material is adapted to retard diffusion of one of boron and phosphorous. A gate electrode is positioned around at least the undoped layer of semiconducting material of each of the plurality of fin structures, wherein a height level of a bottom surface of the gate electrode is positioned approximately level with or lower than a height level of a bottom of the undoped layer of semiconducting material of each of the plurality of fin structures. |
| US09105505B2 |
Memory cell having a recessed gate and manufacturing method thereof
A memory cell with a recessed gate includes a semiconductor substrate, a shallow trench isolation, an active region, a gate electrode, a halogen-doped dielectric layer and at least a capacitor. The shallow trench isolation is disposed in the semiconductor substrate in order to define the active region. A source region and a drain region are respectively disposed on each end of the active region along a first direction. A gate trench is formed in the semiconductor substrate between the source region and the drain region, wherein the gate trench includes a sidewall portion and a curved-bottom surface. The curved-bottom surface has a convex profile when viewed from a cross-sectional view taken along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The gate electrode is disposed in the gate trench and the halogen-doped dielectric layer is disposed between the gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate. |
| US09105500B2 |
Non-hermetic sealed multi-chip module package
A multi-chip module (MCM) package is provided and includes a substrate and a hat assembly. The substrate includes a surface on which chips of the MCM are re-workable. The hat assembly is configured to be non-hermetically sealed to the substrate. The hat assembly and the substrate are configured for tension-type disassembly in a dimension oriented substantially normally with respect to a plane of the substrate surface. |
| US09105499B1 |
Complementary field effect transistors using gallium polar and nitrogen polar III-nitride material
A device with complementary non-inverted N-channel and inverted P-channel field effect transistors comprising a layer grown epitaxially on a substrate, a barrier layer, a two-dimensional electron gas in the first III-Nitride epitaxial layer, a second III-Nitride material layer, and a two-dimensional hole gas in the second III-Nitride epitaxial layer. A device with complementary inverted N-channel and non-inverted P-channel field effect transistors comprising a nitrogen-polar III-Nitride layer grown epitaxially, a barrier material layer, a two-dimensional hole gas, and a two-dimensional electron gas in the second III-Nitride epitaxial layer. A method of making complementary inverted P-channel and non-inverted N-channel III-Nitride field effect transistors. A method of making a complementary non-inverted P-channel field effect transistor and inverted N-channel III-Nitride field effect transistor on a substrate. |
| US09105498B2 |
Gate strain induced work function engineering
A stack of a gate dielectric layer and a workfunction material layer are deposited over a plurality of semiconductor material portions, which can be a plurality of semiconductor fins or a plurality of active regions in a semiconductor substrate. A first gate conductor material applying a first stress is formed on a first portion of the workfunction material layer located on a first semiconductor material portion, and a second gate conductor material applying a second stress is formed on a second portion of the workfunction material layer located on a second semiconductor material portion. The first and second stresses are different in at least one of polarity and magnitude, thereby inducing different strains in the first and second portions of the workfunction material layer. The different strains cause the workfunction shift differently in the first and second portions of the workfunction material layer, thereby providing devices having multiple different workfunctions. |
| US09105497B2 |
Methods of forming gate structures for transistor devices for CMOS applications
One method for forming replacement gate structures for NMOS and PMOS transistors includes performing an etching process to remove a sacrificial gate structure for the NMOS and PMOS transistors to thereby define NMOS and PMOS gate cavities, depositing a gate insulation layer in the gate cavities, depositing a first metal layer on the gate insulation layer in the gate cavities, performing at least one process operation to form (1) an NMOS metal silicide material above the first metal layer within the NMOS gate cavity, the NMOS metal silicide material having a first amount of atomic silicon, and (2) a PMOS metal silicide material above the first metal layer within the PMOS gate cavity, the PMOS metal silicide material having a second amount of atomic silicon, and wherein the first and second amounts of atomic silicon are different, and forming gate cap layers within the NMOS and PMOS gate cavities. |
| US09105495B2 |
Semiconductor device and related fabrication methods
Semiconductor device structures and related fabrication methods are provided. An exemplary semiconductor device structure (100) includes a trench gate structure (114), a lateral gate structure (118), a body region (124) having a first conductivity type, a drain region (125) and first and second source regions (128, 130) having a second conductivity type. The first and second source regions (128, 130) are formed within the body region (124). The drain region (125) is adjacent to the body region (124) and the first source region (128) is adjacent to the trench gate structure (114), wherein a first portion of the body region (124) disposed between the first source region (128) and the drain region (125) is adjacent to the trench gate structure (114). A second portion of the body region (124) is disposed between the second source region (130) and the drain region (125), and the lateral gate structure (118) is disposed overlying the second portion of the body region (124). |
| US09105494B2 |
Termination trench for power MOSFET applications
Aspects of the present disclosure describe a termination structure for a power MOSFET device. A termination trench may be formed into a semiconductor material and may encircle an active area of the MOSFET. The termination trench may comprise a first and second portion of conductive material. The first and second portions of conductive material are electrically isolated from each other. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. |
| US09105493B2 |
High voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor device and layout pattern thereof
A layout pattern of a high voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor device includes a first doped region having a first conductivity type, a second doped region having the first conductivity type, and an non-continuous doped region formed in between the first doped region and the second doped region. The non-continuous doped region further includes a plurality of third doped regions, a plurality of gaps, and a plurality of fourth doped regions. The gaps and the third doped regions s are alternately arranged, and the fourth doped regions are formed in the gaps. The third doped regions include a second conductivity type complementary to the first conductivity type, and the fourth doped regions include the first conductivity type. |
| US09105482B2 |
Nanowire PIN tunnel field effect devices
A nanowire tunnel device includes a nanowire suspended above a semiconductor substrate by a first pad region and a second pad region, the nanowire having a channel portion surrounded by a gate structure disposed circumferentially around the nanowire, an n-type doped region including a first portion of the nanowire adjacent to the channel portion, and a p-type doped region including a second portion of the nanowire adjacent to the channel portion. |
| US09105481B2 |
Semiconductor structure
A semiconductor structure is provided. The semiconductor structure includes a substrate, at least a first N-type germanium (Ge) structure and at least a first P-type Ge structure. The first N-type Ge structure is formed on the substrate and has two end parts and at least a first central part bonded between the two end parts thereof. The first central part is floated over the substrate, and a side surface of the first central part is a {111} Ge crystallographic surface. The first P-type Ge structure is formed on the substrate and has two end parts and at least a second central part bonded between the two end parts thereof. The side surface of the second central part is a {110} Ge crystallographic surface. |
| US09105479B2 |
Integrated circuit including an environmental sensor
An integrated circuit and a method of making the same. The integrated circuit includes a semiconductor substrate including at least one environmental sensor. The integrated circuit also includes a cap layer located on a major surface of the substrate. The integrated circuit further includes at least one elongate channel for allowing access of said sensor to an environment surrounding the integrated circuit. |
| US09105478B2 |
Devices and methods of forming fins at tight fin pitches
Devices and methods for forming semiconductor devices with fins at tight fin pitches are provided. One method includes, for instance: obtaining an intermediate semiconductor device; growing an epi layer over the substrate; forming a doped layer below the epi layer; depositing a first oxide layer on the epi layer; applying a dielectric material on the first oxide layer; and depositing a lithography stack on the dielectric material. One intermediate semiconductor device includes, for instance: a substrate with at least one n-well region and at least one p-well region; a doped layer over the substrate; an epi layer over the doped layer; a first oxide layer over the epi layer; a dielectric layer over the first oxide layer; and a lithography stack over the dielectric layer. |
| US09105473B2 |
Field effect transistor, display element, image display device, and system
A disclosed field effect transistor includes a gate electrode to which a gate voltage is applied, a source electrode and a drain electrode for acquiring a current in response to the gate voltage, an active layer provided adjacent to the source electrode and the drain electrode, the active layer being formed of an n-type oxide semiconductor, and a gate insulator layer provided between the gate electrode and the active layer. In the field effect transistor, the n-type oxide semiconductor is formed of an n-type doped compound having a chemical composition of a crystal phase obtained by introducing at least one of a trivalent cation, a tetravalent cation, a pentavalent cation and a hexavalent cation. |
| US09105471B2 |
Rare earth oxy-nitride buffered III-N on silicon
Rare earth oxy-nitride buffered III-N on silicon includes a silicon substrate with a rare earth oxide (REO) structure, including several REO layers, is deposited on the silicon substrate. A layer of single crystal rare earth oxy-nitride is deposited on the REO structure. The REO structure is stress engineered to approximately crystal lattice match the layer of rare earth oxy-nitride so as to provide a predetermined amount of stress in the layer of rare earth oxy-nitride. A III oxy-nitride structure, including several layers of single crystal rare earth oxy-nitride, is deposited on the layer of rare earth oxy-nitride. A layer of single crystal III-N nitride is deposited on the III oxy-nitride structure. The III oxy-nitride structure is chemically engineered to approximately crystal lattice match the layer of III-N nitride and to transfer the predetermined amount of stress in the layer of rare earth oxy-nitride to the layer of III-N nitride. |
| US09105466B2 |
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit includes a first standard cell over a substrate, a power rail, and a first connection plug. The first standard cell includes an active area, at least one gate electrode overlapping the active area of the first standard cell, and at least one metallic line structure overlapping the active area of the first standard cell. The at least one metallic line structure is substantially parallel to the gate electrode. The power rail is substantially orthogonal to the at least one metallic line structure of the first standard cell. The power rail overlaps the at least one metallic line structure of the first standard cell, and the power rail has a flat edge extending through the first standard cell. The first connection plug is at a region where the power rail overlaps the at least one metallic line structure of the first standard cell. |
| US09105461B2 |
Flash lamp with gas fill for suppressing self-starting
A flash lamp with a gas fill for suppressing self-starting includes an elongate discharge tube having two electrodes arranged in the discharge tube at opposite ends of the discharge tube. A starting electrode for applying a starting voltage is arranged outside the discharge tube, and the discharge tube has a length of at least 1000 mm and is filled with a gas fill. In order to suppress undesired self-starting, the discharge tube is filled with a gas mixture which contains at least one inert gas and at least one gas suppressing self-starting. |
| US09105458B2 |
System and methods for ionizing compounds using matrix-assistance for mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry
An ionization method for use with mass spectrometry or ion mobility spectrometry is a small molecule compound(s) as a matrix into which is incorporated analyte. The matrix has attributes of sublimation or evaporation when placed in vacuum at or near room temperature and produces both positive and negative charges. Placing the sample into a region of sub-atmospheric pressure, the region being in fluid communication with the vacuum of the mass spectrometer or ion mobility spectrometer, produces gas-phase ions of the analyte for mass-to-charge or drift-time analysis without use of a laser, high voltage, particle bombardment, or a heated ion transfer region. This matrix and vacuum assisted ionization process can operate from atmosphere or vacuum and produces ions from large (e.g. proteins) and small molecules (e.g. drugs) with charge states similar to those observed in electrospray ionization. |
| US09105454B2 |
Plasma-based electron capture dissociation (ECD) apparatus and related systems and methods
An electron capture dissociation (ECD) apparatus includes a plasma source for generating plasma. Analyte ions are exposed to the plasma in an ECD interaction region, either inside or outside the plasma source. The apparatus may include one or more devices for refining the plasma in preparation for interaction with the analyte ions. Refining may entail removing unwanted species from the plasma, such as photons, metastable particles, neutral particles, and/or high-energy electrons unsuitable for ECD, and/or controlling a density of low-energy electrons in the plasma. |
| US09105453B2 |
Mass spectrometer and mass spectrometry
A portable mass spectrometer that is carried to a sampling site to conduct analysis incorporates measures against erroneous operation. To prevent erroneous operation, when a measurement sample cannot be accurately analyzed because of contamination in the measurement sample, a criterion for aborting the sample measurement is provided and mass spectrometer control maintenance is performed. When urine is measured, the mass spectrometer detects the substances contained in the urine and automatically determines whether the sample is urine. The mass spectrometer then automatically selects an analysis condition specific to urine samples to make a measurement. Also with respect to sweat and saliva, the mass spectrometer similarly selects a specific analysis condition. The mass spectrometer automatically determines whether a sample, which is an internal standard sample contained in a sample case, is being measured on a measurement-by-measurement basis and automatically displays any error, interrupts the measurement, or carries out other processing. |
| US09105449B2 |
Distributed power arrangements for localizing power delivery
A distributed power arrangement to provide local power delivery in a plasma processing system during substrate processing is provided. The distributed power arrangement includes a set of direct current (DC) power supply units. The distributed power arrangement also includes a plurality of power generators, which is configured to receive power from the set of DC power supply units. Each power generator of the plurality of power generators is coupled to a set of electrical elements, thereby enabling the each power generator of the plurality of power generators to control the local power delivery. |
| US09105448B2 |
Electron beam diagnostic system using computed tomography and an annular sensor
A system for analyzing an electron beam including a circular electron beam diagnostic sensor adapted to receive the electron beam, the circular electron beam diagnostic sensor having a central axis; an annular sensor structure operatively connected to the circular electron beam diagnostic sensor, wherein the sensor structure receives the electron beam; a system for sweeping the electron beam radially outward from the central axis of the circular electron beam diagnostic sensor to the annular sensor structure wherein the electron beam is intercepted by the annular sensor structure; and a device for measuring the electron beam that is intercepted by the annular sensor structure. |
| US09105447B2 |
Wide dynamic range ion energy bias control; fast ion energy switching; ion energy control and a pulsed bias supply; and a virtual front panel
This disclosure describes systems, methods, and apparatus for operating a plasma processing chamber. In particular, a periodic voltage function combined with an ion current compensation can be provided as a bias to a substrate support as a modified periodic voltage function. This in turn effects a DC bias on the surface of the substrate that controls an ion energy of ions incident on a surface of the substrate. A peak-to-peak voltage of the periodic voltage function can control the ion energy, while the ion current compensation can control a width of an ion energy distribution function of the ions. Measuring the modified periodic voltage function can provide a means to calculate an ion current in the plasma and a sheath capacitance of the plasma sheath. The ion energy distribution function can be tailored and multiple ion energy peaks can be generated, both via control of the modified periodic voltage function. |
| US09105441B2 |
Mobile X-ray image capturing apparatus
A mobile X-ray capturing apparatus includes an X-ray tube for irradiating an object with X ray, an arm for holding the X-ray tube, and a support pillar for holding the arm so as to facilitate arrangement of units. Further, the mobile X-ray capturing apparatus includes an arm energizing unit provided with an electrode incorporated in the arm for supplying power or a signal necessary for the X-ray tube, and a support pillar energizing unit provided with an electrode incorporated in the support pillar for supplying the power or the signal to the arm. |
| US09105440B2 |
Apparatus of plural charged particle beams with multi-axis magnetic lens
An apparatus of plural charged particle beams with multi-axis magnetic lens is provided to perform multi-functions of observing a specimen surface, such as high-throughput inspection and high-resolution review of interested features thereof and charge-up control for enhancing image contrast and image resolution. In the apparatus, two or more sub-columns are formed and each of the sub-columns performs one of the multi-functions. Basically the sub-columns take normal illumination to get high image resolutions, but one or more may take oblique illuminations to get high image contrasts. |
| US09105438B2 |
Imaging and processing for plasma ion source
Applicants have found that energetic neutral particles created by a charged exchange interaction between high energy ions and neutral gas molecules reach the sample in a ion beam system using a plasma source. The energetic neutral create secondary electrons away from the beam impact point. Methods to solve the problem include differentially pumped chambers below the plasma source to reduce the opportunity for the ions to interact with gas. |
| US09105437B2 |
Field emission X-ray tube and method of focusing electron beam using the same
Provided is a field emission X-ray tube. The field emission X-ray tube includes a cathode electrode provided on one end of a vacuum container, including a field emission emitter; a gate electrode provided inside the vacuum container to be adjacent to the cathode electrode, including a first opening; a focusing electrode electrically connected to the gate electrode and provided on one surface of the gate electrode to be farther from the cathode electrode than the gate electrode while including a second opening with a greater width than that of the first opening; and an anode electrode provided inside the vacuum container on another end thereof in a direction where the vacuum container is extended. A height of the focusing electrode is identical to the width of the second opening, and wherein the width of the first opening is ⅓ or less of the second opening. |
| US09105434B2 |
High current, high energy beam focusing element
Methods and systems for electron emission are disclosed. An example system can comprise a cup-rod-needle assembly that can collect a source of electrons and allow internal space charge build-up and generation of an internal self-electric field build-up. The system can provide self-emission at a predetermined location of the needle in the system. An example system can comprise a cup-rod-needle assembly, an annular dielectric insulator as a plug, a source of electrons to provide electrons into a cup, and a beam drift tube. |
| US09105428B2 |
Method of extinguishing an electric arc in a low or high voltage switchgear by pulse discharge
The present invention relates to a method of extinguishing an electric arc, which occurs in low or high voltage switchgears, by pulse discharge. The electric arc is cut like a “fuse” by connecting a condenser (201) to both ends of the electric arc at the moment when it occurs and discharging the condenser (201) through the electric arc. The condenser is charged using a resistor (202) and a diode (203), and its discharge is adjusted by some auxiliary contacts. |
| US09105425B2 |
Electronic apparatus
According to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus includes a housing, a switch, a button member and a supporting portion. The housing has an opening. The button member includes an operating portion, a rocker shaft and an acting portion. The operating portion is exposed through the opening. The shaft is coupled to the operating portion and pivotable. The acting portion is coupled to the shaft, configured to face the switch and to pivot about the shaft, thereby pressing the switch. The supporting portion is configured to support the button member, the supporting portion being configured to be elastically deformed by part of the button member and to return the button member. |
| US09105408B2 |
Dielectric resin composition for film capacitor and film capacitor
A resin composition constituting dielectric resin films of a film capacitor includes a first atom group including at least one functional group selected from among a methylene group, an aromatic ring and an ether group and having a relatively small molar polarizability, and a second atom group including at least one functional group selected from among a hydroxyl group, an amino group and a carbonyl group and having a relatively large molar polarizability. The resin composition satisfies the condition that a value calculated from the formula (sum of absorption band intensities of first atom group)/(sum of absorption band intensities of second atom group) is 1.0 or more. Herein, as absorption band intensities of the functional groups, peak intensities detected in specific wavenumber ranges are employed. |
| US09105407B2 |
Multi-layer ceramic capacitor and method of manufacturing the same
A multi-layer ceramic capacitor is constituted by ceramic dielectric layers alternately laminated with conductive layers, wherein the ceramic dielectric layers are sintered in such a way that core-shell grains having a core-shell structure are mixed with uniform solid-solution grains resulting from uniform progression of the solid solution process. Such multi-layer ceramic capacitor is characterized in that the area ratio of the core-shell grains to all sintered grains constituting the ceramic dielectric layer is 5 to 15% and that the average grain size of all sintered grains including the core-shell grains and uniform solid-solution grains is 0.3 to 0.5 μm. |
| US09105405B2 |
Ceramic electronic component with metal terminals
A ceramic electronic component with metal terminals comprising a chip component formed with terminal electrodes at both ends, and a pair of metal terminals comprising a flat plate portion having a flat plate portion facing face provided so that it faces an end face of said chip component and connected to said terminal electrodes via a joining portion , and a mounting portion connected to one end portion of said flat plate portion and extending approximately perpendicular to said flat plate portion, wherein said mounting portion has a mounting portion bottom face forming an angle of approximately 270 degrees with respect to said flat plate portion, and a mounting portion upper face forming an angle of approximately 90 degrees with respect to said flat plate portion, and a solder adhering prevention area having lower wettability than said mounting portion bottom face is formed. |
| US09105403B2 |
High-throughput solution processing of large scale graphene and device applications
A method of producing carbon macro-molecular structures includes dissolving a graphitic material in a solvent to provide a suspension of carbon-based macro-molecular structures in the solvent, and obtaining a plurality of the carbon macro-molecular structures from the suspension. The plurality of carbon macro-molecular structures obtained from the suspension each consists essentially of carbon. A material according to some embodiments of the current invention is produced according to the method of producing carbon macro-molecular structures. An electrical, electronic or electro-optic device includes material produced according to the methods of the current invention. A composite material according to some embodiments of the current invention has carbon macro-molecular structures produced according to methods of producing carbon macro-molecular structures according to some embodiments of the current invention. A hydrogen storage device according to some embodiments of the current invention has carbon macro-molecular structures produced according to methods of producing carbon macro-molecular structures according to some embodiments of the current invention. An electrode according to some embodiments of the current invention has carbon macro-molecular structures produced according to methods of producing carbon macro-molecular structures according to some embodiments of the current invention. |
| US09105397B2 |
Capacitor embedded between busbars, electric power device and electric power conversion device
The present invention provides an inter-bus-bar built-in capacitor capable of reducing the size of a capacitor used in an inverter or the like or downsizing the capacitor, and provides power equipment as well as a power converting apparatus. The inter-bus-bar built-in capacitor is provided between a pair of opposing bus bars and includes a high-dielectric-constant material which has a relative dielectric constant of at least 50 when a voltage of 1,000 V is applied at a temperature of 25° C. Thus, it is possible to provide the inter-bus-bar built-in capacitor capable of reducing the size of a capacitor used in an inverter or the like or downsizing the capacitor and provide the power equipment as well as the power converting apparatus. |
| US09105392B2 |
Structure of transformer's lead frame
An improved structure of transformer's lead frame includes at least a lead frame module consisting of a lead frame main body and a lead frame cover, the lead frame main body has a through hole furnished at the center thereof; a bobbin formed at the side of the circumference of the through hole, and a pair of oppositely configured and reversely salient extension parts furnished at sides of the circumference of the through hole, each of the extension parts is combined to the mid-section of the wire connecting seats that have a plurality of wire connecting posts, a plurality of clip indentations are furnished at intervals and at the mid-section of the edge of the two sides of the corresponding extension parts and at the positions covered by the width of the corresponding extension parts. |
| US09105388B2 |
Inductor and manufacturing method therefor
An inductor that has the following: an inductor core comprising a plurality of core members arranged in a ring with gaps therebetween; primary insert-molded resin parts comprising a thermoplastic resin covering the outside surface of the inductor core, excluding the surfaces of the core members that face each other; coils disposed around the aforementioned gaps and the primary insert-molded resin parts on the inductor core; and secondary insert-molded resin parts comprising a thermoplastic resin insert-molded around the coils to affix said coils to the inductor core. This allows high-cycle manufacturing of inductors without a thermosetting-resin potting step in a vacuum furnace or a heat curing treatment in a heating furnace. |
| US09105387B2 |
Retainer and noise current absorber
A retainer includes a pair of housings having opening surfaces; a connecting portion connecting outer peripheral surfaces of the pair of housings. The retainer is configured to be at a closed state with the opening surfaces of the pair of housing put together and to be at an open state with the opening surfaces of the pair housings separated. Parts of wall surfaces, constituting the housings, are structured as flexible walls capable of deforming, and the connecting portion is connected to the flexible walls. |
| US09105384B2 |
Apparatus and method for printing maxels
Magnetic structure production may relate, by way of example but not limitation, to methods, systems, etc. for producing magnetic structures by printing magnetic pixels (aka maxels) into a magnetizable material. Disclosed herein is production of magnetic structures having, for example: maxels of varying shapes, maxels with different positioning, individual maxels with different properties, maxel patterns having different magnetic field characteristics, combinations thereof, and so forth. In certain example implementations disclosed herein, a second maxel may be printed such that it partially overwrites a first maxel to produce a magnetic structure having overlapping maxels. In certain example implementations disclosed herein, a magnetic printer may include a print head comprising multiple parts and having various properties. In certain example implementations disclosed herein, various techniques for using a magnetic printer may be employed to produce different magnetic structures. Furthermore, description of additional magnet-related technology and example implementations thereof is included herein. |
| US09105383B2 |
Ferrite particle and production method thereof
A ferrite powder according to the present invention includes a laminar structure exhibiting a state where W-type ferrite phases are laminated in an easy direction of magnetization, the W-type ferrite phases including a compound expressed by AM2Fe16O27, where A, M, Fe, and O represent a first metal element (Sr, Ba, Ca, Pb, etc), a second metal element (Fe, Zn, Cu, Co, Mn, Ni, etc), iron, and oxygen, respectively. This ferrite particle is obtained through: a shape forming step that shapes a mixed powder in a magnetic field to obtain a compact, the mixed powder including for example an M-type ferrite particle including a compound expressed by AFe12O19 and a spinel-type ferrite particle (S-type ferrite particle) including a compound expressed by MFe2O4; a calcination step that calcines the compact to obtain a calcined substance; and a milling step that mills the calcined substance. |
| US09105381B2 |
High frequency inductor structure having increased inductance density and quality factor
Disclosed is an inductor structure. The inductor structure includes a base material, a plurality of bottom spiral conductors disposed on the base material, and at least one top spiral conductor disposed on the at least one bottom spiral conductor, and dielectric material separating the bottom, middle and top spiral conductors. A current path for high frequency operation is disclosed. Also disclosed is a method for determining the number of turns in the at least one top spiral conductor and the at least one bottom spiral conductor. |
| US09105378B2 |
Graphene transparent electrode and method for manufacturing the same
Disclosed herein are a method for manufacturing a graphene transparent electrode and a graphene transparent electrode manufactured by the method. The method includes: providing a graphene oxide solution: forming a metal thin film on a glass substrate; coating the graphene oxide solution on the metal thin film, followed by drying; primarily reducing the thus obtained graphene oxide by using a reducing agent, to obtain reduced graphene oxide; secondarily reducing the reduced graphene oxide by heat treatment under the inert atmosphere, to form a reduced layer; compressing a transparent film on the reduced layer; and etching the metal film by an etching solution. The method enables a graphene transparent electrode having economical feasibility and excellent electric conductivity to be manufactured. |
| US09105377B2 |
System and method for enhanced auto-negotiation for NGBASE-T
A system and method for enhanced auto-negotiation for NGBASE-T. Link partners can be configured to exchange advanced NGBASE-T configuration information such as type, profile, capability and mode information of the PHY in one or more next page messages. Determined cabling parameters that are reflective of communication channel characteristics can be used in the auto-negotiation selection of a configuration for NGBASE-T operation. |
| US09105375B2 |
Cable assembly and method of manufacturing the same
Outer-conductor-exposed portions are positioned in respective second body portions of a cable holder, and solder is supplied into solder pools provided in the respective second body portions, whereby outer conductors and ground contacts are connected to each other. Hence, even if the solder is in a molten state, a heated soldering bit does not touch the outer conductors. Therefore, the occurrence of any deformation or melting of insulators is suppressed. Furthermore, since there is no need to caulk any shield connection terminals in such a manner as to conform to the shapes of the outer conductors as in the known art, there is no chance of the insulators undergoing elastic deformation. Hence, the insulators are protected from any factors for thermal deformation and elastic deformation, and electric characteristics of differential signal transmission cables for individual finished products are thus stabilized. Consequently, the reliability of the cable assembly is improved. |
| US09105374B2 |
Flame retardant polymer composition comprising an ethylene copolymer with maleic anhydride units as coupling agent
The present invention relates to a flame retardant polymer composition comprising (A) an ethylene copolymer comprising alkyl acrylate comonomer units, (B) uncoated aluminum hydroxide as inorganic filler, and (C) an ethylene copolymer comprising maleic anhydride units in an amount of 0.6 to 5 wt. %, an article comprising such a composition, the use of such a composition for producing a layer in a wire or cable and the use of an ethylene copolymer comprising maleic anhydride units for producing a wire or cable fulfilling the requirements of class D of the FIPEC test according to prEN 50399:2007./. |
| US09105372B2 |
Aqueous suspensions of calcium carbonate-comprising materials with low deposit built up
The present invention concerns an anti-deposit additive and a deposit and/or corrosion reducing aqueous slurry containing a calcium carbonate containing material. In particular, the present invention is directed to the use of at least one anionically charged comb polymer as an anti-deposit agent in an aqueous slurry comprising a calcium carbonate containing material. |
| US09105367B2 |
Dual elliptical reflector with a co-located foci for curing optical fibers
A device for UV curing a coating or printed ink on a workpiece such as an optical fiber comprises dual elliptical reflectors arranged to have a co-located focus. The workpiece is centered at the co-located focus such that the dual elliptical reflectors are disposed on opposing sides of the workpiece. Two separate light sources are positioned at a second focus of each elliptical reflector, wherein light irradiated from the light sources is substantially concentrated onto the surface of the workpiece at the co-located focus. |
| US09105365B2 |
Method for controlling temperature of a portion of a radioactive waste storage system and for implementing the same
A system and method for storing radioactive waste, such as spent nuclear fuel, in one embodiment, the invention is a method of controlling temperature of a portion of a storage system comprising a container loaded with radioactive waste and a ventilated module in which the container is positioned, the ventilated module configured so that heat generated by the radioactive waste causes a natural convective flow of air through, a ventilation passageway of the ventilated module, the method comprising; throttling the natural convective flow of the air through the ventilated module to alter a heat rejection rate of the storage system to compensate for a decreasing heat generation rate of the radioactive waste to maintain the portion of the storage system within a predetermined temperature range. |
| US09105360B2 |
Forming a characterization parameter of a resistive memory element
An incremental signal is defined that includes at least one of a duration and a peak voltage that is less than a respective minimum programming time or minimum programming voltage step of a resistive memory element. A characterization procedure is repeatedly performed that at least involves: applying a signal to the memory element, the signal being incremented by the incremental signal during each subsequent application; measuring a first resistance of the memory element in response to the signal; and c) measuring a second resistance of the memory element after a time period has elapsed from the measurement of the first resistance with no programming signal applied. In response to the first and second resistance measurements of the characterization procedure, a characterization parameter of the memory element is formed. |
| US09105357B2 |
Semiconductor memory device and defective judging method thereof
A semiconductor memory device is provided with a plurality of memory cells connected to a plurality of word lines, a word-line leakage detector configured to detect a leakage current generated on at least one of the plurality of word lines, and a controller configured, when a leakage current is detected by the word-line leakage detector, to determine that a block including a memory cell connected to a word line through which the leakage current is flowing is defective. The word-line leakage detector has a detection voltage generator configured to generate a detection voltage in accordance with the leakage current, a comparator configured to generate a flag signal having output logic that is inverted depending on whether the detection voltage exceeds a predetermined threshold voltage, and an adjuster configured to adjust a current amount by diverting part of the leakage current in accordance with an ambient temperature. |
| US09105355B2 |
Memory cell array operated with multiple operation voltage
A memory cell array includes a bit line, a complementary bit line, a first operation voltage supply circuit, a second operation voltage supply circuit, a first memory cell and a second memory cell. The first operation voltage supply circuit is electrically coupled to the bit line and the complementary bit line and used for supplying a first operation voltage. The second operation voltage supply circuit is electrically coupled to the bit line and the complementary bit line and used for supplying a second operation voltage. The first memory cell is electrically coupled to the bit line and the complementary bit line and used for receiving the first operation voltage. The second memory cell is electrically coupled to the bit line and the complementary bit line and used for receiving the second operation voltage. The first and second memory cells are located in a same column in the memory cell array. |
| US09105348B2 |
Electronic device with a power supply circuit for controlling the operations of a non-volatile memory and a volatile memory therein
An electronic device according to the present technique includes a non-volatile memory in which a program is stored, a volatile memory in which the program read from the non-volatile memory is stored, a controller part for controlling operations of the non-volatile memory and the volatile memory, and a power supply controller for controlling power to the controller part and the volatile memory. The controller part includes a power supply part and a signal fixing part. The power supply part is separated from another power supply line, and power for an interface signal of the volatile memory is supplied from the power supply part thereto. A voltage is supplied from the power supply part to the signal fixing part, and the signal fixing part fixes an output logic of the signal supplied to the volatile memory according to the signal from the power supply controller. |
| US09105346B2 |
Semiconductor device and method for operating the same
A semiconductor device comprises a memory cell array comprising memory cells coupled to word lines and bit lines, a voltage generator suitable for generating a drive voltage to be applied to a selected word line, and a control logic suitable for detecting the number of pulses of a program voltage received from the memory cell array in a program operation, storing bias information corresponding to the detected number of pulses in a register, and controlling a level of the program voltage for a subsequent program operation based on the bias information. |
| US09105344B2 |
Shut-off mechanism in an integrated circuit device
Described herein are technologies related to self-disabling feature of a integrated circuit device to avoid unauthorized access to stored data information. |
| US09105343B2 |
Multi-level cells and method for using the same
The present invention is directed to a method for reading and writing an STT-MRAM multi-level cell (MLC), which includes a plurality of memory elements coupled in series. The method detects the resistance states of individual memory elements in an MLC by sequentially writing at least one of the plurality of memory element to the low resistance state in order of ascending write current threshold. If a written element switches the resistance state thereof after the write step, then the written element was in the high resistance state prior to the write step. Otherwise, the written element was in the low resistance state prior to the write step. The switching of the resistance state can be ascertained by comparing the resistance or voltage values of the plurality of memory elements before and after writing each of the plurality of memory elements in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention. |
| US09105339B2 |
Methods of driving a memory
Methods of driving a memory include erasing a plurality of memory cells of a memory device, testing whether the memory cells have been erased, and programming the memory cells without erasing the memory cells again if more than a predetermined percentage of the memory cells, but less than all of the memory cells, were successfully erased. |
| US09105338B2 |
OTP memory
The present invention provides an OTP memory having higher confidentiality. A memory cell has a memory transistor forming a current path between first and second nodes, a selection transistor forming a current path between third and fourth nodes, the third node being coupled to the gate of the memory transistor via a line, and a capacitor coupled to the first node. By applying high voltage which does not break but deteriorates a gate oxide film and increases gate leak current to a memory transistor, data is written. Data can be read by the presence/absence of leak of charges accumulated in the capacitor. Since the position of deterioration in the gate oxide film cannot be discriminated by a physical analysis, confidentiality is high. |
| US09105333B1 |
On-chip copying of data between NAND flash memory and ReRAM of a memory die
A data storage device includes a memory die, where the memory die includes a NAND flash memory and a resistive random access memory (ReRAM). The memory die also includes an interface coupled to the ReRAM and the NAND flash memory. The interface is configured to support on-chip copying of data between the NAND flash memory and the ReRAM. |
| US09105327B2 |
Memory controller using a data strobe signal and method of calibrating data strobe signal in a memory controller
A memory controller and a method of calibrating the memory controller are provided. Input circuitry in the memory controller receives a differential pair of data strobe signals from a memory and generates a logical data strobe signal in dependence on a voltage difference between the differential pair of data strobe signals. Hysteresis circuitry, when active, increases by a predetermined offset a threshold voltage difference at which the input circuitry changes a logical state of the logical data strobe signal. Gate signal generation circuitry generates a data strobe gating signal, wherein the memory controller interprets the logical data strobe signal as valid when the data strobe gating signal is asserted. The memory controller performs a training process to determine a timing offset for the data strobe gating signal with respect to said logical data strobe signal, wherein the training process provides a first phase in which the hysteresis circuitry is active and a second phase in which the hysteresis circuitry is inactive. |
| US09105326B2 |
Memory device and method for writing therefor
A method of writing a memory cell includes, during a write cycle, causing a voltage level at a power terminal of the memory cell to change from a supply voltage level toward a first voltage level. The voltage level at the power terminal of the memory cell is maintained at the first voltage level for a first predetermined duration. The voltage level at the power terminal of the memory cell is maintained at a second voltage level for a second predetermined duration, where the second voltage level is between the first voltage level and the supply voltage level. During the write cycle, the voltage level at the power terminal of the memory cell is caused to change from the first voltage level toward the supply voltage level. |
| US09105324B2 |
Channel skewing
Methods and systems for channel skewing are described. One or more methods for channel skewing includes providing a number of groups of data signals to a memory component, each of the number of groups corresponding to a respective channel, and adjusting a phase of a group of data signals corresponding to at least one of the number of channels such that the group of data signals are skewed with respect to a group of data signals corresponding to at least one of the other respective channels. |
| US09105322B2 |
Solid state drive
Provided is a solid state drive suitable for an increase in capacity. The solid state drive includes a flash memory, and a capacitor electrically connected to the flash memory. The capacitor is composed of an electric double layer capacitor including an electrolyte solution containing propylene carbonate. |
| US09105320B2 |
Memory devices and methods of operating the same
The present disclosure includes memory devices and methods of operating the same. One such device includes an array of groups of memory cells, a group selector configured to select a particular group of memory cells from within the array, and a cell selector configured to select a particular memory cell from within the selected particular group of memory cells. |
| US09105318B2 |
Memory device and method operable to provide multi-port functionality thereof
A memory device operable to provide multi-port functionality, which may comprise a single-port memory having a first operating frequency that is at least twice of a second operation frequency of a multi-port memory, a read synchronization module that synchronizes a set of read signals from the second operation frequency to the first operating frequency, a write synchronization module that synchronizes a set of write signals from the second operation frequency to the first operating frequency, a read/write signal selector that integrates a set of synchronized read signals and a set of synchronized write signals into a set of input control signals of the single-port memory, and a read out data synchronization module configured to synchronize a set of read out data from the single-port memory with the second operation frequency of the multi-port memory. |
| US09105317B2 |
Memory system capable of calibrating output voltage level of semiconductor memory device and method of calibrating output voltage level of semiconductor memory device
Provided are a semiconductor memory device and a memory system including the same, which may calibrate a level of an output voltage in consideration of channel environment and a mismatch in on-die termination (ODT) resistance of a memory controller. The memory system includes a memory controller and a semiconductor memory device. The semiconductor memory device is configured to generate a reference voltage based on driving information of the memory controller, and calibrate an output voltage level based on a reference voltage when the semiconductor memory device is electrically connected to the memory controller. |
| US09105310B2 |
System and method of programming a memory cell
A method includes creating a breakdown condition at a semiconductor transistor structure that includes an overlap region and a channel region. The breakdown condition is created by causing a first voltage difference between a gate of the semiconductor transistor structure and the overlap region to exceed a breakdown voltage of the semiconductor transistor structure while maintaining a second voltage difference between the gate and the channel region at less than the breakdown voltage. |
| US09105306B2 |
Identifying objects in images using object identity probabilities based on interframe distances
The invention makes it possible to determine whether or not objects appearing in various temporal positions in an input video are identical to each other. Identity between a plurality of objects detected from an input video is determined by using an object identity probability determined based on an interframe distance, the interframe distance being a distance between frames from which the respective objects are detected. |
| US09105305B2 |
Dynamic higher-level redundancy mode management with independent silicon elements
A Solid-State Disk (SSD) controller enables dynamic higher-level redundancy mode management with independent silicon elements to provide graceful degradation as non-volatile (e.g. flash) memory elements fail during operation of an SSD implemented by the controller. Higher-level error correction provides correction of lower-level uncorrectable errors. If a failure of one of the non-volatile memory elements is detected, then the higher-level error correction is dynamically transitioned from operating in a current mode to operating in a new mode. The transition includes one or more of reducing free space available on the SSD, rearranging data storage of the SSD, recovering/storing failed user data (if possible), and determining/storing revised higher-level error correction information. Operation then continues in the new mode. If another failure of the non-volatile memory elements is detected, then another transition is made to another new mode. |
| US09105304B2 |
Margining decoding utilizing soft-inputs
Determining a parameter associated with whether a portion of a storage device is defective is disclosed. Determining comprises: obtaining known data associated with the portion; reading back from the portion to produce a read-back waveform; decoding the read-back waveform, including producing statistical information; and determining a parameter associated with whether the portion is defective based at least in part on the statistical information. |
| US09105303B2 |
Variable bit aspect ratios in magnetic media
An apparatus comprises a write transducer, an energy source, and a controller. The write transducer is configured to write data to a magnetic recording medium, and the energy source is configured to heat the magnetic recording medium while it is being written to by the write transducer. The controller is coupled to the write transducer and configured to adjust at least an operating power of the energy source to selectably cause bits having variable bit aspect ratios to be written to the magnetic media. |
| US09105293B2 |
Glass substrate for a magnetic disk, magnetic disk and method of manufacturing a magnetic disk
A glass substrate for a magnetic disk, wherein, in regions with respect to two places arbitrarily selected on a surface of the glass substrate on its central portion side relative to its outer peripheral end, a surface shape with a shape wavelength in a band of 60 to 500 μm is extracted from surface shapes in each of the regions and, assuming that a root mean square roughness Rq of the surface shape is given as a microwaviness Rq, the difference between the microwavinesses Rq of the regions is 0.02 nm or less or the difference between standard deviations of the microwavinesses Rq of the regions is 0.04 nm or less. |
| US09105292B2 |
Magnetic recording medium and method of manufacturing same
A magnetic recording medium and related method of manufacturing a magnetic recording medium that has a protective layer for the magnetic recording medium and that exhibits excellent corrosion resistance in the protective layer. The magnetic recording medium includes on a nonmagnetic substrate a magnetic layer and a protective layer formed on the magnetic layer. The protective layer is formed of a lower layer in contact with the magnetic layer and an upper layer formed on the lower layer. The material used in the lower layer is a metal having a standard electrode potential of −0.8 to 0.3 V. |
| US09105288B1 |
Formed electrical contact pad for use in a dual stage actuated suspension
A flexible electrical circuit such as for use in a hard disk drive dual stage actuated (DSA) suspension has a dimple or other raised feature such as a jog formed in an electrical contact pad. The dimple raises up at least part of the contact pad in height so as to reduce the distance that an electrical bridging component or material such conductive epoxy, solder paste, or jet dispensed solder must traverse in order to complete an electrical connection from the contact pad to an adjacent piezoelectric microactuator or other electrical component for which the electrical circuit carries an electrical signal or electrical power. The reduced distance improves the cleanliness and reliability of the electrical and physical bond, and can allow for electrical connection types that would otherwise be impractical. |
| US09105286B2 |
Method using epitaxial transfer to integrate HAMR photonic integrated circuit (PIC) into recording head wafer
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method for forming a HAMR device having a photonic integrated circuit that includes an optical detector, an optical emitter, and an optical element distinct from the optical detector and the optical emitter, where the elements of the photonic integrated circuit are aligned with a near field transducer. The method includes forming one or more layers on a substrate, bonding the layers to a partially fabricated recording head, removing the substrate using epitaxial lift-off, and forming the optical elements on the partially fabricated recording head. |
| US09105284B2 |
Magnetic media having graphene wear protection layers
An optical or magnetic storage medium is disclosed that includes a disc having layers of graphene on one or both sides of the disc to provide wear protection against scratches and mechanical abrasion. |
| US09105271B2 |
Complex-transform channel coding with extended-band frequency coding
An audio encoder receives multi-channel audio data comprising a group of plural source channels and performs channel extension coding, which comprises encoding a combined channel for the group and determining plural parameters for representing individual source channels of the group as modified versions of the encoded combined channel. The encoder also performs frequency extension coding. The frequency extension coding can comprise, for example, partitioning frequency bands in the multi-channel audio data into a baseband group and an extended band group, and coding audio coefficients in the extended band group based on audio coefficients in the baseband group. The encoder also can perform other kinds of transforms. An audio decoder performs corresponding decoding and/or additional processing tasks, such as a forward complex transform. |
| US09105268B2 |
Method and apparatus for predicting intent in IVR using natural language queries
An IVR system is disclosed in which customer experience is enhanced by improving the accuracy and intent prediction capabilities of an interactive voice response system. Customers are allowed to make a natural language queries to specify their intent, while the accuracy of traditional IVR systems is maintained by using key features in language along with the customer's past transactions, CRM attributes, and customer segment attributes to identify customer intent. |
| US09105267B2 |
Speech recognition apparatus
A speech recognition apparatus includes a first recognition dictionary, a speech input unit, a speech recognition unit, a speech transmission unit, a recognition result receipt unit, and a control unit. The speech recognition unit recognizes a speech based on a first recognition dictionary, and outputs a first recognition result. A server recognizes the speech based on a second recognition dictionary, and outputs a second recognition result. The control unit determines a likelihood level of a selected candidate obtained based on the first recognition result, and accordingly controls an output unit to output at least one of the first recognition result and the second recognition result. When the likelihood level of the selected candidate is equal to or higher than a threshold level, the control unit controls the output unit to output the first recognition result irrespective of whether the second recognition result is received from the server. |
| US09105265B2 |
Stereo coding method and apparatus
A stereo coding method includes transforming a stereo left channel signal and a stereo right channel signal in a time domain to a frequency domain to form a left channel signal and a right channel signal in the frequency domain; down-mixing the left channel signal and the right channel signal in the frequency domain to generate a monophonic down-mix signal, and transmitting bits obtained after quantization coding is performed on the down-mix signal; extracting spatial parameters of the left channel signal and the right channel signal in the frequency domain; estimating a group delay and a group phase between stereo left and right channels by using the left channel signal and the right channel signal in the frequency domain; and performing quantization coding on the group delay, the group phase and the spatial parameters, so as to obtain a high-quality stereo coding performance at a low bit rate. |
| US09105259B2 |
Music information display control method and music information display control apparatus
A music information display control apparatus includes one or more processors configured to display, on a display device, a musical note sequence image in which a musical note iconic image of each musical note is disposed in a musical score area where a time axis is set. The display controller disposes an operation iconic image which accepts an instruction from a user in a vicinity of the musical note iconic image, and changes a display length or a display position of the musical note iconic image in a direction of the time axis according to an instruction to move the operation iconic image. |
| US09105255B2 |
Discriminative capacitive touch panel
A mutual capacitance touch sensor includes a substrate, and an array of electrode elements formed on the substrate. Each electrode element includes at least one of a first electrode group having at least two drive electrodes and at least one sense electrode, or a second electrode group having at least two sense electrodes and at least one drive electrode. The respective electrodes of the first or second group are arranged to form multiple capacitances over different coupling distances. A controller is operatively coupled to the array of electrode elements, the controller configured to assign an input object as a conductive object when measurements of the multiple capacitances decrease as the input object approaches the touch sensor, and assign the input object as non-conductive object when measurements of at least one of the multiple capacitances increase as the input object approaches the touch sensor. |
| US09105254B2 |
Liquid crystal display device that suppresses deterioration of image quality
A data line driving section (6) outputs a video signal voltage for each pixel to a data line (DL) for each predetermined period in order. In outputting a video signal voltage for a pixel, the data line driving section (6) outputs a gradation signal voltage having a voltage corresponding to a gradation value of the pixel as the video signal voltage during a second part of the predetermined period, and outputs a correction gradation signal voltage different from the gradation signal voltage as the video signal voltage during a first part of the predetermined period. A control section (4) changes a relationship between the correction gradation signal voltage and the gradation signal voltage based on a combination of the gradation value of the pixel and a gradation value of a pixel preceding the pixel. |
| US09105248B2 |
Array substrate, display device and method for driving pixels within each pixel region of the array substrate
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an array substrate comprising a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of data lines, and pixel regions each of which is defined by intersecting one gate line and two neighboring data lines among the plurality of gate lines and the plurality of data lines wherein two thin film transistors (TFTs) are formed at the intersections between the gate line and the two neighboring data lines in each pixel region, a first pixel electrode and a second pixel electrode are alternately arranged in each pixel region. A first thin film transistor of the two thin film transistors is coupled to the first pixel electrode, a second thin film transistor of the two thin film transistors is coupled to the second pixel electrode. The two neighboring data lines participating in defining a pixel region comprise a first data line coupling to the first thin film transistor and a second data line coupling to the second thin film transistor. Voltages having the same absolute value and opposite polarities are applied to the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode respectively via the first thin film transistor and the second thin film transistor. |
| US09105247B2 |
Display device, display device driving method and source driving circuit
A display device includes multiple first data lines, multiple second data lines, multiple pixel columns, at least a first charge sharing switch circuit and at least a second charge sharing switch circuit. The second data lines are alternately arranged with the first data lines. Each of the pixel columns includes multiple first pixels and multiple second pixels. The first pixels of each of the pixel columns are coupled to one of the first data lines, and the second pixels of each of the pixel columns are coupled to one of the second data lines. The first charge sharing switch circuit each is electrically coupled to at least a part of the first data lines. The second charge sharing switch circuit each is electrically coupled to at least a part of the second data lines. A display device driving method and a source driving circuit also are provided. |
| US09105246B2 |
Computer display driving system
An image display system includes an LCD (liquid crystal display) or other display driven by alternating current and driven in an inverted manner by a predetermined driving method on a pixel basis, and an LCD driving device for generating a Frame Rate Control (FRC) pattern which is the same as the pattern utilized by the predetermined driving method. The display is thereby driven so as to allow the display to make an expression in gradations higher (for example, 256 gradations) than gradations (for example, 64 gradations) natively supported by the display. |
| US09105245B2 |
Spliced liquid crystal display (SLCD), method for checking the SLCD, and LCD device
A spiked liquid crystal display (SLCD) includes a plurality of LCD devices. Each LCD device includes an LCD panel, and a drive circuit controlling a display of the LCD panel. The drive circuit includes an adjusting equipment storing a display parameter, and the display parameters of the adjusting equipments of at least two LCD devices of the plurality of LCD devices are different. |
| US09105235B2 |
Methods of driving active display device
A method of driving an active display device. The method including recovering a threshold voltage of a switching transistor connected to a pixel. The recovering including applying a negative bias voltage to the switching transistor prior to charging each pixel during a charging period. The negative bias voltage is applied to a drain of the switching transistor. |
| US09105229B2 |
Display apparatus having luminance reduction controller
A display apparatus comprises: a display unit in which each pixel is formed from a self-luminous element, and a controller that reduces a luminance of a pixel which has not changed for a predetermined period of time or more. |
| US09105228B2 |
Organic light emitting diode display device for improving display quality and method for driving organic light emitting diode display panel
An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device and a method for driving an OLED display panel are provided. The method includes the following steps. In a reset period, a plurality of scanning signals received by a plurality of pixels of the OLED display panel is simultaneously enabled, and a plurality of data-voltages received by the pixels are set to a reference-voltage. In a threshold voltage cancelling period, a system-high-voltage received by the pixels and the scanning signals are simultaneously enabled, and the data-voltages are set to the reference-voltage. In a scanning period, the scanning signals are sequentially enabled, and the data-voltages are set according to the corresponded displaying data within a plurality of displaying data. |
| US09105227B2 |
Electro-optical device and electronic apparatus
A plurality of pixels are arranged at each intersection of a plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines, and respectively includes a liquid crystal element displaying grayscales according to a grayscale potential of each signal line during the selection of each scanning line. To two pixels which are adjacent to each other in an extending direction of a signal line and correspond to two scanning lines selected by a scanning line driving circuit in each selection period, a signal line driving circuit supplies a grayscale potential according to a grayscale computed as the weighted average of grayscales designated by display data supplied to a display control circuit for each of the two pixels. |
| US09105226B2 |
Spatio-temporal error diffusion for imaging devices
A method for reducing bit-depth of image data for an imaging device includes receiving an image frame for display to the imaging device. The method additionally includes applying temporal error diffusion for the image frame to produce a plurality of image subframes, wherein temporal errors generated in one subframe of the image frame are passed to a next subframe of the image frame for temporal error diffusion. The method also includes applying spatial error diffusion to remaining temporal errors from the temporal error diffusion of the image frame. |
| US09105225B2 |
Display device with modulated gate-on gate-off voltages and driving method thereof
A display panel includes a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of pixels disposed thereon, a gate driver which applies a gate signal to the gate lines, and a controller which controls the gate driver, where the controller includes a signal controller which generates a scanning start signal and a gate clock signal comprising a plurality of pulses, where the scanning start signal instructs to start a scanning of the gate signal, and a driving voltage modulator which generates a modulated gate-on voltage and a modulated gate-off voltage based on a basic gate-on voltage and a basic gate-off voltage, where the driving voltage modulator adds an overshoot voltage corresponding to a rising edge of a pulse of the gate clock signal to the basic gate-on voltage or adds an undershoot voltage corresponding to a falling edge of the pulse of the gate clock signal to the basic gate-off voltage. |
| US09105223B2 |
Display device and display method
Provided is a display device and a display method for the display device with which a three-dimensional stereoscopic image with reduced crosstalk and a two-dimensional planar image with high brightness can be displayed. In a display device that is capable of displaying an stereoscopic image by displaying an image for the right eye and an image for the left eye, pixel lines for the right eye for displaying the image for the right eye and pixel lines for the right eye for displaying the image for the left eye are alternately arranged in the vertical direction with black pixel lines for displaying a black image therebetween. |
| US09105221B2 |
Multimedia interaction system and related computer program product capable of blocking multimedia interaction commands that against interactive rules
A multimedia interaction system is disclosed, including: a plurality of member electronic devices; a plurality of displays respectively arranged on the member electronic devices; a forwarding electronic device configured as a command transmission intermedium between the member electronic devices; and a location detection circuit configured to operably detect respective member electronic device's spatial position and orientation dynamically and to transmit detection results to at least one of the member electronic devices. When an user instructs a source electronic device of the member electronic devices to transmit a target image object toward a target direct, the forwarding electronic device transmits a target command corresponding to the target image object to a candidate electronic device of the member electronic devices to perform corresponding multimedia interaction operations only if a relative position between the candidate electronic and the target direct satisfies a predetermined condition. |
| US09105218B2 |
Display device capable of controlling external light and method for controlling external light
A display device capable of controlling an external light and a control method are provided. Image display of the display device and the external light are synchronously controlled through a synchronization signal generated by a control module in the display device. The control module generates a first and a second light source control signal during first cycles and second cycles of the synchronization signal. The first and the second light source control signal are used to control the external light to operate at a first operation state and at a second operation state respectively. Through the techniques of controlling the external light by the display device, i.e. turning off or reducing illumination intensity of the external light every other specific period, both influence of the external light on contrast ratio and light reflection from the display device are reduced. Power of the external light is also saved. |
| US09105215B2 |
Image signal supply apparatus, image display apparatus, and control method of image signal supply apparatus
An image signal supply apparatus which is connected to an image display apparatus including an input source switching unit and outputs an image signal as an input source to the image display apparatus, includes: a communication unit carrying out communication with the image display apparatus; and a switching instruction output unit outputting an instruction signal instructing to switch the input source to the image display apparatus via the communication unit. |
| US09105212B2 |
Method for gradually adjusting screen brightness when switching operating system
A method for gradually adjusting screen brightness when switching an operating system is provided. The method is used for gradually adjusting the brightness of a screen of an electronic device by a controller thereof when the electronic device is switched from to first operating system to a second operating system. First, an operating system switching signal is received. Then, a first brightness value of the first operating system is obtained. The screen brightness is gradually adjusted from the first brightness value to a predetermined second brightness value. Afterwards, the first operating system is switched to the second operating system, and the screen brightness is further adjusted from the second brightness value back to the first brightness value. Accordingly, a user can sense the switching of the operating system more intuitively and has enough time to get used to the change of the screen brightness and the displayed frame. |
| US09105209B2 |
Display device
In a liquid crystal display device, a data signal generation unit generates a data signal for controlling the orientation of liquid crystal. A plurality of transistors supply the data signal output from a source IC unit to a plurality of data signal lines of a liquid crystal display panel in a time sharing manner. A gate signal line controls each of the plurality of transistors. A fluctuation suppression unit is connected to the gate signal line that controls any one of the plurality of transistors, and suppresses, in accordance with a gate signal of the connected gate signal line, a voltage fluctuation in the data signal which occurs when another transistor changes from the ON state to the OFF state. |
| US09105199B2 |
Device for simulating an alternator, method of controlling such a device and simulation system comprising such a device
A device (10) for simulating an alternator is connected to an alternator control circuit (20) and supplies a voltage on an electrical network (30). This device comprises: a circuit for receiving an excitation current (Iexc) generated by the control circuit (20); a switch (15) able to apply voltage to the network (30) and controlled on the basis of the excitation current (Iexc). A method of controlling such a device and a simulation system comprising such a device also are described. |
| US09105198B2 |
Visual and tactile display
The present invention relates to a device, system and apparatus for a visual and tactile display and in particular, to a tactile and visual display device system capable of displaying both alphanumeric and Braille characters in a manner suitable for individuals that are visually impaired, blind or having normal range vision. |
| US09105191B2 |
Group monitoring and collision avoidance system and method which is mounted on a vehicle
A group or solo monitoring system and method for collision avoidance that uses a transceiver circuitry mounted on a vehicle. The circuitry can include a microprocessor, a memory having stored therein non-transitory instructions for programming the microprocessor, a visual indicator, an audio indicator, a user interface including a display screen and navigation buttons, an RF transceiver with antenna, and a power supply. Non-transitory instructions stored in memory configure and control the microprocessor to enable a user to enter data into the memory via the user interface via the display screen and navigation buttons. A vehicle group can be formed and a proximity perimeter created about the group. Visual and audio alerts are issued to avoid a collision in the event that a non-group vehicle has been detected as having penetrated the proximity perimeter and is closing in on at least one vehicle of the group. |
| US09105188B2 |
Controlling vehicular traffic on a one-way roadway
A method controls vehicular traffic on a one-way roadway. A hardware sensor detects vehicular traffic on a roadway. A hardware traffic control device determines whether the vehicular traffic on the roadway has been moving exclusively in a first direction during a preceding period of time, such that the roadway is a one-way roadway on which current vehicular traffic is authorized to travel only in the first direction. The hardware sensor detects an errant vehicle that is traveling on the one-way roadway in a second direction that is opposite the first direction. In response to determining that the errant vehicle is traveling in the second direction on the one-way roadway, a warning signal is transmitted to vehicles, other than the errant vehicle, on the one-way roadway. |
| US09105187B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing information about the source of a sound via an audio device
A method and apparatus for providing information about the source of a sound via an audio device is described. An ambient sound is detected (200) and specific sounds are identified in the detected ambient sound (202). Information about the source of the identified specific sounds is determined (204). An operational control characteristic of a generated audio stream rendered by an audio device is changed (206) and information about the source is provided to the audio device upon detection of said identified specific sounds (208). |
| US09105185B2 |
Managing traffic flow
A method for tracking and routing traffic to avoid congestion via a plurality of user devices including providing a traffic reservation user interface for receiving a plurality of path selections from the plurality of user devices; responsive to predicting a traffic congestion from the plurality of user devices taking into account real-time and predicted conditions, presenting a first set of users with a first set of route selection recommendations via the user interface; and responsive to receiving a plurality of actual routing selections from the first set of users from the user interface, adjusting the traffic prediction, and presenting a second set of users with a second set of route selection recommendations via the user interface to reduce expected traffic congestion. |
| US09105184B2 |
Systems and methods for real-time data communications and messaging with operators of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS)
A system and method are provided to support safe integration of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs) into the National Airspace Structure in the United States. Substantially real-time data communication provides interested parties with an ability to communicate directly with an operator of the sUAS during system operations. Individual interactive user interfaces are used to implement two way text-like messaging directly with the sUAS control console to enhance safety and reduce conflicts with operations of the sUAS. When an instance arises in which an air traffic controller needs to advise an sUAS operator regarding an unauthorized sUAS mission or a requirement to keep an sUAS clear of a specific block of airspace or specific geographic location due to an immediate, emergent and/or unforeseen event, a means is provided by which to more effectively and more quickly communicate directly with the sUAS operator. |
| US09105180B2 |
Touch-sensitive wireless device and on screen display for remotely controlling a system
A touch-sensitive wireless device, such as a wireless telephone or wireless multimedia player, in conjunction with an interactive on screen display, effectively remotely controls a programmable multimedia controller or other system. User gestures, button presses or other touches to or movements of the touch-sensitive wireless device are effectively converted to information that is wirelessly transmitted to the programmable multimedia controller. Once received by the programmable multimedia controller, such information is processed and effectively translated so as to control the operation of the controller. |
| US09105179B2 |
Communication method in a home-automation installation
The communication method applies to a home-automation installation comprising at least one sending element, a self-powered receiving element and an element for substituting for the receiving element. The method is such that, when the receiving element is in a sleep mode, the substitution element receives and records information sent by the sending element for the attention of the receiving element and such that, when the receiving element is no longer in sleep mode, the substitution element sends the information for the attention of the receiving element. |
| US09105176B2 |
Search device, electronic system and operation method
This disclosure provides a search device, a person loss prevention system and an operation method. The person loss prevention system comprises an electronic device and the search device. The search device includes a receiver and a transmitter electrically connected with the electronic device. The person loss prevention system instructs the transmitter to transmit a predetermined signal to the receiver by the operation method. After the receiver receives the predetermined signal, the receiver sends a feedback signal to the electronic device. The electronic device adjusts a waveform of a sound signal according to the feedback signal and transmits the sound signal to the search device. The search device plays the sound signal through a speaker unit. Thereby, the user of the electronic device immediately determines the position, the distance and the direction of the receiver. |
| US09105171B2 |
Critical parameter monitoring system for improving the safety of personnel operating in hazardous areas
A critical parameter monitoring system for improving the safety of personnel working in a remotely located hazardous location possibly containing combustible materials include an oxygen and a temperature sensor carried by the personnel. The sensors are connected to a centrally located processor which displays the oxygen level and temperature present at the sensors and issues a warning when the measured parameters exceed preset levels. The monitoring system may be a part of a breathing apparatus which supplies air and voice communications from the centralized location to personnel working in a vessel purged with an inert gas. The measured oxygen level may also be used to conserve the quantity of inert gas used in the purging process while preserving the safety of the workers. |
| US09105169B2 |
Alarm system for passageways
An improved alarm system for monitoring movement through a passageway defined by opposing sidewalls comprises a lower passage indicator disposed toward the lower ends of the sidewalls, an upper passage indicator disposed toward the upper ends of the sidewalls and a control mechanism configured to sound an alarm if one of the passage indicators indicates passage through the passageway and the other passage indicator does not. In a preferred embodiment, the alarm system is configured as a pool alarm and each passage indicator comprises an emitter/receiver that emits an infrared beam toward an opposing reflector to provide a lower beam and an upper beam. If only the lower beam is interrupted, indicating a child passing through the passageway, the control mechanism will generate an alarm signal. If both beams are interrupted, indicating an adult passing through the passageway, the control mechanism will not generate the alarm signal. |
| US09105168B2 |
Method and apparatus for securing related products
This invention relates to a tether device for use in a retail environment in conjunction with a cable lock security device. The cable lock device includes a cable having a free end which extends outwardly away therefrom after the cable lock is secured onto an article of goods. The tether is configured to receive the free end inside a lock channel alternatively lock and unlock this free end with the tether. The tether is intended to be secured onto a separable portion of an article of goods, while the cable lock is intended to be secured onto another separable portion. Thus, in locking the cable lock and the tether together, the two separable portions of the article of goods are thereby rendered generally inseparable. |
| US09105166B1 |
Adjustable anti-theft bracket for displaying electronic gadgets
An anti-theft bracket for interactively displaying electronic gadgets. An electronic sensor is attached to the back of the gadget. An annular base surmounts the sensor. A circumferential channel is disposed on a lateral surface of the annular base. At least one arm is slidingly received within the circumferential channel, whereby the arm can move radially about the annular base. A clamp is in sliding communication with the arm forming an arm-clamp assembly. The overall length of the assembly is adjustable by sliding the clamp along the arm. A clamping member is attached to the clamp. A corner of the gadget is received within the space between the clamping member and the clamp, thereby securing the gadget within anti-theft device. The distance between the clamping member and the clamp may be adjustable to accommodate the thickness of the gadget. |
| US09105164B2 |
Remote control having indicia and a locator bump
A remote control includes a plurality of actuators and plurality of similarly-shaped icons for indicating the function of actuators. At least one of the actuators includes a locator bump that is positioned inside the icon on the actuator and extends above the surface of the actuator to provide tactile feedback to assist a user's finger in locating the actuator (for example, to turn on a lighting load when the control device is being operated in the dark space). The icon that has the locator bump inside of it is bigger than the second icon, such that the icons appear to be the same size to the human eye. In addition, the line weight of the first icon may be smaller than the line weight of the second icon, and there may be a gap between the first icon and the locator bump. For example, the first and second icons may be triangularly shaped or circularly shaped. |
| US09105162B2 |
Electronic gaming device with scrape away feature
Examples disclosed herein relate to systems and methods, which may receive wagers. The systems and methods may include scrape away functionality. The system, device, and/or method may include a plurality of reels with one or more paylines formed on at least a portion of the plurality of reels. The system, device, and/or method may include a memory which may include a plurality of scrape away structures. The system, device, and/or method may include a processor which may generate one or more areas where each area may cover one or more symbols. Further, the processor may remove the one or more areas to reveal one or more covered symbols based on a selected tool and a selected area. |
| US09105161B2 |
Gaming system, gaming device, and method for providing a poker game with a bonus gaming session having re-draw option
A gaming system provides a bonus gaming session that is activated during a play of a five-card draw poker base game when a predetermined plurality of the first set of five cards dealt meets a predetermined criteria, for example at least four of the five cards dealt and held by the player share a common suit. When activated, the gaming system repeats plays of the game in the bonus gaming session until a winning draw poker outcome has been generated. In the bonus gaming session, the card that is not co-suited with the plurality of the held first set of cards is discarded and randomly replaced until a winning five-card hand is generated, upon which the gaming device provides an award. The gaming system provides a correspondingly larger award for a winning flush hand for each additional re-drawn fifth card required to achieve a winning five-card flush hand. |
| US09105159B2 |
Multi-player bingo game with multiple cards per player
The invention is directed to methods and gaming units for conducting a multi-player wagering game in which at least one of the players may win the occurrence of the wagering game by matching a game-winning pattern of game indicia on one or more game arrays having unique combinations of game indicia based on matching the game indicia on the game arrays to game indicia randomly selected for the occurrence of the wagering game. Each player matching a game-winning pattern may receive game-winning award, and may receive a game-winning award for each game array on which a game-winning pattern is matched. The method and gaming unit may further include an alternate outcome display wherein an outcome of a second wagering game may be displayed that corresponds to the outcome for the player on the one or more game arrays for the occurrence of the multi-player wagering game. |
| US09105158B2 |
Electronic video poker games
A video poker machine configured to allow a player to play a card game includes at least one display device, at least one input device, and at least one computer configured to display at least a first hand and a second hand of at least five cards all face up, each hand including the same five cards. A player is provided an option to play a hand by selecting none, one or more than one of the face up cards from the first hand and the second hand and any additional hands as cards to be held. Each of the cards not selected to be held are discarded from each hand and replaced with a face up card. The player is provided a pre-established amount based on the amount of a wager made on the hand if the resulting cards of the hand comprise a predetermined poker hand ranking. |
| US09105157B2 |
Gaming system and method of gaming
A gaming machine is provided that provides games in which a plurality of symbols are selected from a group of symbols and displayed on a display and, if a winning combination occurs, the gaming machine awards an award. The gaming machine comprises a user interface in communication with a game controller. The game controller is configured to provide a first game in which an event counter is maintained by the game controller and modified by the game controller each time a counter event occurs, and to provide a second game in which the game controller modifies the group of symbols to include a number of specific symbols. The number of specific symbols is dependent on the value of the event counter. |
| US09105155B1 |
Promotional gaming events and awards
Wagering games include promotional events and promotional awards, such as the award of free or reduced cost goods and services. Promotional awards may be reward by the receipt of property logo symbols during game play. Promotional awards rewarded at one casino may be redeemable only at a second casino. Promotional awards may be rewarded based upon game play metrics of identified or anonymous players. |
| US09105151B2 |
Multigame selection
A gaming system comprises a gaming server, a plurality of gaming machines, and a communications system connecting each of the plurality of gaming machines to the gaming server. The gaming machines each have a display, player controls, a player tracking device, and a game processor which displays sequential game images of a game being played. Each game processor plays a game initiated by the player, where the game is one of a plurality of games available on the gaming machine and selectable by the player. Each gaming machine includes game selection means which displays a selection of games available on the machine for the player to play. The games offered for selection are ordered according to a ranking determined as a function of the player's past history of playing games and a history of games played by other players. |
| US09105149B2 |
Reel for gaming machine and gaming machine including the same
A cylindrical reel for a slot machine, which includes a plurality of symbols having different patterns is provided. A reel according to an embodiment includes: a reel frame configured to receive rotational force from a rotational axis of a motor; a reel stripe disposed on an entire circumference of the reel frame and having a front surface including a group of the symbols thereon; a symbol piece including: a first surface having a flange shape; and a second surface protruding from the first surface and including one of the plurality of symbols thereon, wherein the reel stripe has at a least one opening exposing the second surface of the symbol piece, and the first surface of the symbol piece is attached to a rear surface of the reel stripe. |
| US09105148B2 |
System gaming
A method of operating a gaming system is disclosed. The method includes: enabling, using one or more processors, play of a first game on a gaming machine; enabling, using one or more processors, play of a second game on a user interface that is operatively coupled to the gaming machine, wherein the gaming system enables a player to choose which bonus game to play out of a plurality of bonus games independent of player ranking and bonus level, wherein each of the plurality of bonus games may be initiated on demand, wherein once the player chooses the bonus game to play on demand, the chosen bonus game is presented to the player via the player tracking user interface; and enabling, using one or more processors, wherein the gaming system enables a player to activate the second game displayed on the user interface. |
| US09105147B2 |
Gaming system having large display and plural gaming machines
The gaming system of the present invention comprises: a plurality of gaming machines; a control device; a single pedestal having an installation surface for installing the gaming machines, and having a hollow space communicated with external air; a supporting member provided such that a first end thereof is supported by the pedestal and the second end thereof is oriented upwardly; a common image display being supported by the second end side of the supporting member, and communication cables for communication between the plurality of gaming machines and the control device. |
| US09105144B2 |
Multiple-sided vending machine
A vending machine has a housing with a first side and a second side opposite the first side. A first dispensing slot is located at the first side of the housing, and a second dispensing slot is located at the second side of the housing. A central product storage stores product to be dispensed from the vending machine. A product delivery system selectively delivers product from said product storage to the first dispensing slot and said second dispensing slot. |
| US09105140B2 |
Coin hopper
Coins in a storing chamber are stirred and dropped into through holes by the rotation of a sorting board, become a surface contact state on a coin holding plate, and are held in coin holding space. The coin in the coin holding space is rotated together with the rotation of the sorting board. At a specified phase, the coin is pushed out to a circumferential-direction passage, which is continued to the coin holding space and extending in the circumferential direction of the sorting board, by a pusher, which moves to the coin holding space. The coin is pushed against a coin receiver, which is arranged to be adjacent to the sorting board, by a pusher constituting an end part of the circumferential-direction passage. In this state, pushing is switched to that by a rotating pushing piece, and the coin is finally fed out by the pushing piece. |
| US09105139B2 |
System and method for reporting election results
A system for reporting election results from a plurality of ballot tabulation devices to a central server is provided. Each ballot tabulation device is operable to generate a machine-readable code that encodes the election results for the ballot tabulation device and present the machine-readable code by either displaying the machine-readable code on a display screen or printing the machine-readable code on a printable medium. The system also includes a plurality of reading devices each of which is used to read the machine-readable code presented by the ballot tabulation device and transmit the election results for the ballot tabulation device to the central server. |
| US09105138B2 |
Vehicle behavior data storage control system and electronic control unit
A vehicle behavior data storage control system including a storage control device and an ECU is disclosed. Upon determining occurrence of an unexpected behavior, the storage control device stores an unexpected behavior data in a memory and transmits the unexpected behavior data. The ECU determines whether or not the unexpected behavior data matches an estimated behavior data indicative of a behavior estimated to occur due to control processing of the ECU. When both data match each other, the ECU transmits the matching information. The storage control device, upon receipt of the matching information, deletes or permits overwriting the unexpected behavior data stored in the memory. |
| US09105136B2 |
Display controller, display control method and computer-readable medium
To improve the visibility of a sequence of a plurality of images corresponding to a sequence of a plurality of pieces of information. According to the contents of a scroll operation, a display controller (1) displays to move each of a sequence of a plurality of card images (81 to 87) along a first direction and displays to move back and forth along a second direction. Furthermore, the display controller (1) determines a superimposing order for displaying each of a sequence of a plurality of the card images (81 to 87) according to a displacement of a display position of each of the sequence of the plurality of card images (81 to 87) in the second direction, and displays on a display unit (17) each of the sequence of a plurality of card images to be superimposed in accordance with the order. |
| US09105120B2 |
Display system of electronic manual
A display system of electronic manual which allows easy identification of wirings. The display system of electronic manual is provided with a storage device in which stored is an electronic manual provided with a wiring diagram described in a vector image description language and constituted so as to allow reading by a browser program. In response to user's selection of a component on the wiring diagram displayed on a display, a wiring display system highlights the selected component. In response to user's operation of selecting the highlight, the wiring display system highlights wirings extending from the selected component. Moreover, while the wiring is highlighted, in response to user's operation of selecting gray display, the wiring display system switches the elements other than the selected component and the wirings extending from the component on the wiring diagram displayed on the display to be displayed in weak gray. |
| US09105119B2 |
Anonymization of facial expressions
A method facilitates training of an automatic facial expression recognition system through distributed anonymization of facial images, thereby allowing people to submit their own facial images without divulging their identities. Original facial images are accessed and perturbed to generate synthesized facial images. Personal identities contained in the original facial images are no longer discernable from the synthesized facial images. At the same time, each synthesized facial image preserves at least part of the emotional expression contained in the corresponding original facial image. |
| US09105118B2 |
Galaxy views for visualizing large numbers of nodes
A system and method for illustrating data. An example method includes organizing the data into objects; assigning a transparency value to each object; and graphically depicting the data by distributing nodes representing the objects in a region of a visualization in accordance with a distribution method or function. Each node is displayed as partially transparent in accordance with the transparency value. In a more specific embodiment, the visualization includes a galaxy visualization with nodes that are randomly or pseudo randomly distributed about a center point or region of the visualization. |
| US09105115B2 |
Display systems and methods for displaying enhanced vision and synthetic images
A vehicle display system displays enhanced vision (EV) and captured images, for example synthetic vision (SV) images, to an operator of a vehicle. The display system includes an EV vision system for generating EV images, an SV database containing information regarding terrain and objects of interest for a travel path of a vehicle, an SV system for generating SV images based on travel of the vehicle and information from the SV database, a processor for filtering the EV images and merging the filtered EV image with the SV image, and a display for displaying the merged SV and filtered EV images. |
| US09105110B2 |
Method of simulating an imaging effect on a digital image using a computing device
A method of digitally simulating an imaging effect on a base digital image being displayed by a computing device, which is representative of a print or document including the image effect, is provided. In one aspect, the imaging effect is displayed in association with the base digital image as a function of the position of the display of the computing device relative to a first or normalized position of the display. In another aspect, the imaging effect is displayed in association with the base digital image as a function of the position of an object being captured by a camera of the computing device. In both instances, the imaging effect becomes more visible as the display of the device moves further from its first position, or the object captured by the camera moves from its original position. |
| US09105109B2 |
Method for superpixel life cycle management
A method and an apparatus for life cycle management for superpixels associated to frames of a sequence of frames are described. An area occupied by a superpixel in a frame of the sequence of frames is monitored. In case the area of the superpixel becomes smaller than a specified first value, the superpixel is terminated in the later frame. In case the area of the superpixel becomes larger than a specified second value, the superpixel is split in the later frame. |
| US09105101B2 |
Image tracking device and image tracking method thereof
An image tracking device and an image tracking method thereof are provided. The image tracking device includes an image capture interface, a storage means, and a processor means. The storage means has a multi-dimensional storage space for storing a plurality of first images, each dimension of the multi-dimensional storage space being corresponding to a feature-related variance of a multi-dimensional variance. The processor means is configured to execute the following operations: marking a second image in the picture frame; calculating a multi-dimensional variance between the second image and each of the first images separately; determining whether the second image contains the object according to the multi-dimensional variance calculated; and if the second image is determined as one containing the object, storing the second image as one of the first images, in a specific subspace of the multi-dimensional storage space according to the multi-dimensional variance calculated. |
| US09105100B2 |
Motion estimation device and motion estimation method
A motion estimation method includes grouping row blocks of a first frame into a first plurality of banks and grouping row blocks of a second frame into a corresponding second plurality of banks, respectively; calculating the normalized cross correlation (NCC) or the sum of absolute difference (SAD) between the banks of the first frame and the banks of the second frame; detecting the local maxima from the NCC or the local minima from the SAD; estimating a first relative displacement between corresponding reference row blocks of the first frame and of the second frame; calculating motion coefficients using first relative displacements; and estimating second relative displacements using the motion coefficients. |
| US09105096B2 |
Scribble segmentation method and apparatus
An apparatus and method of segmenting an image using scribble segmentation is provided. An image is segmented by constraining the membership value of a subset of image elements, solving a weighted biharmonic equation subject to the constrained membership values wherein the weights are determined from similarities between image elements, and determining the final segmentation based on the membership value of each image element. An image may also be segmented by constraining a membership value of a subset of image elements, determining the unknown membership values given the constraints by solving a linear equation system using a multigrid technique, and updating a coarser level of the multigrid hierarchy to account for additional constraints using patch matrices. |
| US09105094B2 |
Image layers navigation
In embodiments of image layers navigation, a canvas interface displays image segments of an image in different layers of the image. An image layers application is implemented to receive a position input of a canvas viewer control that encompasses one or more of the image segments of the image, and then determine the layers of the image that correspond to the image segments encompassed by the canvas viewer control. The position input of the canvas viewer control is effective to select the layers of the image that correspond to the one or more image segments encompassed by the canvas viewer control. Thumbnail images are then displayed that each represent one of the layers encompassed by the canvas viewer control, where each of the layers represented by a thumbnail image are displayed to include the image segments associated with a respective layer of the image. |
| US09105085B2 |
Methods and apparatus for aligning sets of medical imaging data
In a method and apparatus for aligning two sets of medical imaging data, first and second sets of image data are obtained respectively, using first and second different medical imaging modalities, of an anatomical feature of a subject. For each set, an axis of the anatomical feature and a landmark point for the anatomical feature is determined, and the first and second sets are aligned by comparing the respective axes and landmark points. |
| US09105084B2 |
Hazard detection for asset management
An approach that detects locations of hazardous conditions within an infrastructure is provided. This approach uses satellite imagery, GIS data, automatic image processing, and predictive modeling to determine the location of the hazards automatically, thus optimizing infrastructure management. Specifically, a hazard detection tool provides this capability. The hazard detection tool comprises a detection component configured to: receive visual media containing asset location data about a set of physical assets, and hazard location data about potential hazards within a vicinity of each of the set of physical assets. The detection component further receives graphical information system (GIS) data containing asset location data about each of the set of physical assets. The hazard detection tool further comprises an analysis component configured to: analyze the visual media to determine if a hazardous condition exists for each of the set of physical assets; and apply the GIS data to the visual media to determine a location of hazardous conditions within the infrastructure. |
| US09105082B2 |
Filtering apparatus and method for high precision restoration of depth image
A high speed filtering apparatus and a method for high precision restoration of a depth image are provided. The high speed filtering apparatus for high precision restoration of the depth image may include a block setting unit to set a first block including a target pixel, and to set a second block with respect to a central pixel distributed around the target pixel based on a size of the first block, a weight determining unit to determine a pixel weight with respect to each pixel in the second block, and to determine a block weight with respect to the second block by applying the pixel weight, and a processor to filter the target pixel based on the block weight, thereby accurately filtering the target pixel. |
| US09105080B2 |
Method and a system for calibrating an image capture device
A system (1) for calibrating an image capture device (2) mounted on a motor vehicle for offset from an ideal position and an ideal angular orientation while the vehicle is moving comprises selecting an image (12) in a captured image frame (10) of a stationary object relative to the motor vehicle, which is capable of being tracked through a plurality of successively captured image frames (14a,14d), predicting the locations at which the target image (12b) should appear in the respective successively captured image frames (14a,14d), comparing the actual location of the target image (12a) in the respective successively captured image frames (14a,14d) with the respective predicted locations (12b) and determining calibration values for the camera (2) from the results of the comparison, in the event that the actual (12a) and predicted locations (12b) of the target image in the respective image frames (14a,14d) do not coincide. |
| US09105076B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program
The present technology relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program capable of improving the image quality of decoded images of images from multiple viewpoints. A warping unit 461 warps a picture of an image of a viewpoint #1 between the image of the viewpoint #1 and an image of a viewpoint #2 different of the viewpoint #1 to generate a picture of a warped image obtained by converting the picture of the image of the viewpoint #1 into an image obtainable in the viewpoint #2. A disparity prediction unit 463 acquires, from header information, a reference index indicating a reference picture that is referred to generate a predicted image of an object block to be decoded of a picture of the image of the viewpoint #2, and selects the reference picture from among reference picture candidates including at least the picture of the warped image based on the reference index. The present technology is applicable, for example, to coding and decoding of images from multiple viewpoints. |
| US09105072B2 |
Method and apparatus for automated multi-user multi-duration access to emergency medical records
This invention is designed to offer ready access to an athlete's contact and health information for emergency responders at sporting events while providing improved security constraints to preserve the confidentiality of the athlete's information. The system offers new flexibility in the types of data fields that are collected, the duration of data availability, as well as to whom the data access privileges are granted. |
| US09105069B2 |
User characteristics-based sponsored company postings
A system may include a network interface, a user interface, and a recommendation engine. The user interface may be configured to receive a company characteristic of a company profile of a company posted to the social network and a company bid from an entity related to company to the social network. The recommendation engine may be configured to determine an aggregate company score for the user based on a relevance of the company characteristic to a user characteristic and the company bid. The network interface may be configured to transmit a message related to the company to the user based, at least in part, on the aggregate company score. |
| US09105065B2 |
Systems and methods for providing a benefit product with periodic guaranteed income
A computer implemented method and system that implements a benefit product that provides a guaranteed income amount for a participant, the benefit product generates the guaranteed income amount by participating in a plurality of guaranteed income products (GI products). The system may comprise: (1) an income aggregator portion; (2) a savings recordkeeper portion that maintains an investment account associated with the benefit product, the investment account into which the payments to the benefit product pass; and (3) at least one income recordkeeper portion, each income recordkeeper portion administering one or more GI products, each income recordkeeper portion: determining, based on an attributable allocation to a particular GI product, a guaranteed income associated with such particular GI product, each guaranteed income being an amount, attributable to the particular GI product, that is payable to a participant. The income aggregator performs allocation processing, the allocation processing being performed based on funds transfer data, the funds transfer data including (1) first funds transfer data that reflects activity of the investment account and benefit product associated therewith, and (2) second funds transfer data that reflects activity of a respective GI product. |
| US09105062B2 |
Transaction effects
A method comprising creating and storing, in computer memory, a financial graph having nodes and edges, wherein the nodes include first nodes representing assets and second nodes representing any one or more of accounts in which one or more of the assets are held, individuals who own one or more of the assets, or legal entities who own one or more of the assets; obtaining, from an asset custodian data source, asset transaction data associated with one or more of the assets represented by the first nodes of the financial graph; transforming the asset transaction data into one or more stored transaction objects, wherein each transaction object is associated with a plurality of transaction effect objects; wherein each of the plurality of transaction effect objects is associated with a particular edge in the financial graph and represents one of a credit to an account type associated with the particular edge and a debit from an account type associated with the particular edge. |
| US09105061B2 |
Online marketplace for real estate transactions
Under an embodiment of the invention, a web site system maintains a real estate web page. The web page has an aerial image map of a geographic region that can be navigated by a user. The web site system facilitates online collaboration for real estate transactions. When the user registers, the system creates a user account for real estate information. Real estate agents and/or other real estate service providers selected by the user are granted shared access to the user's account by the web site system. |
| US09105060B2 |
System and method for collecting and accessing product information in a database
A database system is disclosed. The database system includes a matching module configured to query a database for users which have data matching an interest of another user and to selectively grant to one or more of the users access to data of the other user based at least in part on a result of the query and on an access control list. |
| US09105059B2 |
Electronic commerce system utilizing custom merchant calculations
A customer interacts with merchants to identify items to purchase, and the merchants provide virtual shopping carts identifying the items to a broker. The cart requests that the broker utilize custom merchant calculations for the transaction, such as for determining shipping costs. The customer interacts with the broker to identify customer information, such as a shipping address, and to purchase the items. The broker sends the customer information to the merchant and requests that the merchant perform the custom calculations. If the merchant provides a valid response to the request, the broker uses the merchant calculations to calculate the total price for the transaction. If the merchant provides an invalid response, the broker utilizes backup calculations specified in the cart to calculate the price. |
| US09105058B2 |
Receipt data processing device and method for processing receipt data
According to one embodiment, a receipt data processing device includes a data generating section, an output section, and a converting section. The data generating section is configured to generate receipt data of a first data format including information about an item purchased by a customer. The output section is configured to output the receipt data to at least one of a printing device and an external device that is different from the printing device. The converting section is configured to convert a data format of the receipt data from the first data format to a second data format that is different from the first data format when the receipt data is output to the external device. |
| US09105055B2 |
Method and system for automated online allocation of donations
In one example, we describe methods and systems for automated online merchant charity donations. In one embodiment, a donation agent interacting with a merchant website can offer an online user an option to allocate at least a portion of a payment for or price of a purchase, associated with a transaction made by the user via the merchant website, to be donated by a merchant corresponding to the merchant website on behalf of the user to a charity of the user's choosing. If the online user exercises the option, the donation agent can calculate an amount of the donation to be made and store the calculated donation amount in a database. The donation agent can disburse the calculated donation amount to the charity selected by the customer. The method also works for the off-line model. The system and method include authentication and the way the charity funding is distributed, with respect to multiple preference lists and forbidden lists. |
| US09105052B2 |
Advertisement based on application-created social content
In one embodiment, a social-networking system accesses a social graph, identifies a first set of concept nodes associated with an application, connected to friends of a user, selects a second set of concept nodes from the first set of concept nodes based on edges connected to the concept nodes, and generates an advertisement for the application, where the advertisement includes information representing the concept nodes in the second set of concept nodes. |
| US09105051B2 |
Car location
Methods and systems for a complete vehicle ecosystem are provided. Specifically, systems that when taken alone, or together, provide an individual or group of individuals with an intuitive and comfortable vehicular environment. The present disclosure builds on integrating existing technology with new devices, methods, and systems to provide a complete vehicle ecosystem. |
| US09105045B1 |
System, method, and computer program product for altering an experience of a user, based on information associated with a party to a communication associated with the user
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for altering an experience of a user, based on information associated with a party to a communication associated with the user. In use, a communication associated with a user is identified. Additionally, at least one other party to the communication is identified. Further, information associated with the at least one other party is collected. Further still, an experience of the user is altered, based on the information. |
| US09105040B2 |
System and method for publishing advertising on distributed media delivery systems
A system for publishing advertising media on a plurality of media delivery systems, each configured to render media and gather environmental data while rendering the media. The system includes a front-end system in communication with the plurality of media delivery systems. The front-end system is configured to permit an advertiser to select at least one of the plurality of media delivery systems on which to render advertising media and is further configured to accept advertising media uploaded by the advertiser. The system further includes a back-end system in communication with the front-end system and the plurality of media delivery systems. The back-end system is configured to upload the advertising media to the selected media delivery systems for rendering and is further configured to upload the environmental data from the plurality of media delivery systems. |
| US09105028B2 |
Monitoring clickstream behavior of viewers of online advertisements and search results
An aspect of the present invention relates to tracking and analyzing a computer user's behavior after viewing a particular search result or a particular advertisement to assess the impact of having viewed the search result or advertisement. |
| US09105022B1 |
Methods and systems for providing a best price guarantee
A financial institution can provide a best price guarantee to debit or credit card account holders. By providing a consolidated system including automatic price monitoring of purchased products and automatic claim form generation upon identifying a lower price, the consumer is relieved of the burden typically associated with conventional price matching. An exemplary method comprises receiving, by a server, purchase information from a financial customer, wherein the purchase information comprises a purchase price and purchased product description and wherein the customer has a credit or debit card issued by the financial institution; storing, by the server, the purchase information in a first database; locating, by the server, from a second database, stored product information corresponding to the received purchased product description, wherein the stored product information comprises a lowest price datum; comparing, by the server, the lowest price datum to the purchase price; and, if the lowest price datum is less than the purchase price, generating a claim form for the financial customer. |
| US09105021B2 |
Systems, methods, and computer program products for using proxy accounts
An electronic device including an input/output interface operable to receive an input from a user and communicate an output to the user, a transceiver operable to electronically communicate with a computer network, a computer processor operable to execute instructions, and a memory storage operable to store the instructions, the memory storage further comprising a program module that is operable to: receive credentials for a proxy payment account, where the proxy payment account is linked to a primary payment account and not linked directly to a method of payment underlying the primary payment account, and make payment at a Point of Sale (POS) using the received credentials. |
| US09105020B2 |
Transaction device and processing system
According to some embodiments, a transaction processing system for evaluating transactions between a customer and a merchant comprises a transaction tracker, an account selection engine, and a performance module. The transaction tracker is operable to identify a transaction executed by a customer using a transaction device, the transaction device being operable to execute a transaction with a point of sale receiver associated with the merchant by providing an account number for a first account of the plurality of accounts. The account selection engine is operable to receive information identifying at least one characteristic of the transaction and select a recommended account based on the at least one characteristic. The performance module is operable to compare the first account with the recommended account to determine whether the customer would have received a financial benefit by executing the transaction using the recommended account instead of the first account. |
| US09105015B2 |
Scheduling events for multiple invitees
Scheduling events with multiple invitees includes: identifying a plurality of invitees for an event in a calendar system having at least one processor; searching an availability associated with each of the invitees to determine a number of periods of availability in the calendar system, at least some of the invitees being available during each period of availability; creating a separate instance of the event in the calendar system for each identified period of availability; and for each invitee available during at least one of the periods of availability, assigning the invitee to one said instance of the event for which that invitee is available with the calendar system. |
| US09105011B2 |
Prepopulating application forms using real-time video analysis of identified objects
Embodiments of the invention are directed to methods and apparatuses for populating documents based on identification of objects in an augmented reality environment. The method includes capturing a video stream using a mobile computing device; determining, using a computing device processor, the object; identifying a document associated with the object; populating at least a portion of the document; and submitting the document. The method may also include presenting indicators associated with the user, the identified document, or a financial transaction associated with the document. The method may also include providing recommendations or suggestions to the user related to alternative offers associated with the document. Systems and computer program products for populating forms using video analysis of identified objects are also provided. |
| US09105010B2 |
Effective sharing of content with a group of users
Techniques for sharing user interactions are disclosed. A user can effectively share content with a group of users in as little as one action by using a sharing control associated with the content. The sharing control can be implemented using links or voice activated commands. Other users can specify interest in user particular events and be automatically alerted to the occurrence of the events. The shared content may include many types of content such as news, alerts, messages, tables and/or charts. The sharing control can be displayed as a part of a web page, or in a display of a local application that is not a browser. The local application can be installed on a wireless PDA. |
| US09105009B2 |
Email-based automated recovery action in a hosted environment
Email-based recovery actions may be provided. A request from a user to perform an action may be received. If the user is determined not to have permission to perform the action, a message may be sent to a second user to approve the requested action. If the second user approves the requested action, the requested action may be performed. |
| US09105007B2 |
Collaborative hierarchical document development and review system
A computer software product for allowing simultaneous multi-level collaboration, including in real time between an author and a group of reviewers invited by the author to comment on a document stored in a computer file. The computer software enables each reviewer to view the document and make changes thereto which are stored in a secondary data file without modifying the contents of the original document. The author receives and views the secondary data files from the reviewers and selectively incorporates the changes into the document. Each reviewer may invite an unlimited number of sub-reviewers to review the document, the comments of each sub-reviewer similarly being stored in a secondary data file wherein only the author may edit the document directly. |
| US09104999B2 |
Outage schedule management apparatus and method in EMS
An outage schedule management apparatus and a method are provided, wherein a topology change is executed in response to an outage schedule set up by a user input, and a validity determination is executed to system operation standard to approve an outage. |
| US09104996B2 |
Task management for changes to shared artifacts
A method of task management for shared artifacts can include detecting a change tag associated with a software artifact and determining, via a processor, each software artifact that is dependent upon the software artifact. A task associated with each dependent software artifact can be generated. Each task can specify a need for a modification to the associated software artifact. A responsible party for each dependent software artifact can be determined. Each task can be automatically assigned to the responsible party for the software artifact associated with the task. |
| US09104995B1 |
Subject and audience oriented instant collaborative development
Techniques to facilitate software development are disclosed. In various embodiments, an indication is received that a software development project event has occurred. One or more rules are applied to determine one of more of a notification to be sent in response to the event, a recipient to receive the notification, and a communication channel to be used to send the communication. The notification is generated and sent to the recipient via the communication channel. |
| US09104993B2 |
Asset management via virtual tunnels
An asset management system is presented. The management system includes monitoring devices able to provide asset data across firewalls without requiring reconfiguration of the firewalls. The asset data pass through a forwarding service that instantiates a virtual tunnel comprising a communication channel between the monitoring devices and remote asset management engines. The asset management engines can also be located behind firewalls. As the management engines aggregate asset data, the engines can present one or more alerts via a management interface. |
| US09104990B2 |
Article vending machine and method for exchanging an inoperable article for an operable article
An article vending machine in a network of article vending machines capable of exchanging an inoperable rental article received from a user for an operable replacement article. The article dispensing machine checks customer identification information against one or more customer rental criteria to determine if the customer is eligible to exchange an inoperable article for an operable one. The article vending machine searches for an identical replacement article within an inventory of the machine itself and within inventories of the networked article vending machines. Alternatively, the article vending machine may provide a refund for the inoperable article. |
| US09104989B2 |
Priority and cost based deadlock victim selection via static wait-for graph
Systems and methods that enable resolving deadlock cycles by victim selection based on cost and/or priority of strongly connected components in a static wait-for graph. As such, victims can be selected by iteratively estimating total deadlock resolution cost (based on cost of strongly connected components) for remaining deadlock participants, selecting the participant with the least estimated total cost as the next victim, and reducing the wait-for graph after removing the victim vertex. The victim selection algorithm can be a cost-based greedy algorithm, wherein during each victim selection iteration, a single optimal victim is selected based on estimated remaining cost. |
| US09104985B2 |
Processing system using metadata for administering a business transaction
Administering a business transaction, including: receiving a request for a business transaction, the request containing data to be processed by the business transaction and metadata describing the data and the request; creating, in dependence upon classification rules, the data to be processed by the business transaction, and the metadata describing the data and the request, a business object representing the business transaction; selecting, in dependence upon workflow selection rules and attributes of the business object, one or more workflows to process the data to be processed by the business transaction; processing the data to be processed by the business transaction with the workflows, thereby creating a resultant business object and resultant data; and routing, in dependence upon content routing rules and the attributes of the resultant business object, the resultant data to a destination. |
| US09104982B2 |
Prevention of invalid selections based on machine learning of user-specific latency
The specification relates to a client device utilizing an unintentional-selection module that disambiguates selection events for temporally proximate content. The client device records time stamps indicating a time a dynamic list is first presented and instances when the dynamic list is updated. An input selection indicating that a suggested search query has been chosen from the dynamic list of search suggestions is received and a time stamp for the input selection is recorded. A determination is made to see if the input selection is an unintentional selection. The input selection is determined as the unintentional selection when a difference between a time stamp for presenting a most recent dynamic list update and the time stamp of the input selection satisfies a user-specific threshold. The user-specific threshold is calculated with a machine learning system using user-specific latency times as training data. |
| US09104975B2 |
Memristor apparatus
A memristor apparatus comprising a plurality of meta-stable switching elements. |
| US09104973B2 |
Elementary network description for neuromorphic systems with plurality of doublets wherein doublet events rules are executed in parallel
A simple format is disclosed and referred to as Elementary Network Description (END). The format can fully describe a large-scale neuronal model and embodiments of software or hardware engines to simulate such a model efficiently. The architecture of such neuromorphic engines is optimal for high-performance parallel processing of spiking networks with spike-timing dependent plasticity. Neuronal network and methods for operating neuronal networks comprise a plurality of units, where each unit has a memory and a plurality of doublets, each doublet being connected to a pair of the plurality of units. Execution of unit update rules for the plurality of units is order-independent and execution of doublet event rules for the plurality of doublets is order-independent. |
| US09104972B1 |
Classifying documents using multiple classifiers
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for classifying resources using scores from multiple classifiers. In general, one aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods that include the actions of receiving identifying a collection of documents to classify; receiving a plurality of classifiers for scoring a document with respect to a specified property; for each document in the collection, applying each of the plurality of classifiers, each classifier generating a score associated with a likelihood that the document has the specified property, combining the scores from each classifier including applying a multiple classifier model that uses monotonic regression to combine the plurality of classifiers, and classifying the document as having the specified property based on the combined score. |
| US09104971B1 |
Automated end-to-end sales process of storage appliances of storage systems using predictive modeling
Techniques for generating end-to-end sales leads based on storage capacity forecast using predictive modeling are described herein. According to one embodiment, diagnostic data is received from a data collector that periodically collects the diagnostic data from a storage system having one or more storage units to store data objects. A capacity forecaster coupled to the data collector forecasts a full capacity date using predictive modeling based on the diagnostic data, where the full capacity date estimates a date in which the one or more storage units reach a full storage capacity. A context generator coupled to the capacity forecaster generates a context having information identifying the one or more storage units of the storage system and an operator operating the storage system, wherein the context is used to communicate with the operator for acquiring an additional storage unit to increase storage capacity prior to the full capacity date. |
| US09104968B2 |
Identifying categorized misplacement
The present disclosure provides methods and devices for identifying category misplacement. In one embodiment, an example device obtains a word frequency of each respective word in a product title under a current category, calculates an overall word frequency of the product title under the current category based on the word frequency of each respective word under the current category, and compares the overall word frequency of the product title with a threshold of the current category to determine an existence of category misplacement. The techniques can accurately identify category misplacement and reduce the probability of missing identifying category misplacement. The techniques also require less system resources and improve calculation efficiency. |
| US09104964B1 |
Data estimation of historical data that identifies fine grained time period data and coarse grained time period data and applies correlated slopes to time periods
A method is provided for estimating past data by identifying a high frequency data set for a defined time period. A pattern is calculated for the high frequency data set and then the pattern is applied to a low frequency data set in a past time period to estimate a high frequency query point. |
| US09104962B2 |
Distributed network architecture for introducing dynamic content into a synthetic environment
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to computer-based simulations and synthetic environment generation, and more particularly, to a system, a computer-readable medium, a method and an apparatus for generating synthetic environments in a distributed architecture to, among other things, introduce dynamic content. |
| US09104954B2 |
Radiofrequency transponder device with optimized passive resonant circuit
The invention relates to a radiofrequency device comprising a passive antenna tuned or intended to be tuned in frequency with at least one transponder, said transponder comprising an integrated circuit chip linked to an antenna interface defining an electromagnetic coupling surface periphery, said passive antenna comprising a main loop formed of turns comprising at least one portion of surface (B) inside the loop, at least one recess of the main loop, oriented from the interior to the exterior of the main loop, said portion of surface (B) being located in said recess so as to effect an electromagnetic coupling with a transponder circuit; the device is distinguished in that it comprises two recesses receiving or intended to receive a transponder each. |
| US09104953B2 |
RFID tag antenna with compensation structure, RFID tag and RFID system
The invention claims a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag antenna with a compensation structure, an RFID tag and an RFID system. The RFID tag antenna comprises: a dielectric substrate (3); a conductor grounding part (2) which is arranged in the way of covering the whole surface of one main surface of the dielectric substrate (3); a conductor radiation part (4) which is arranged in the way of covering the whole surface of the other main surface of the dielectric substrate (3); a feeding part (5) which is arranged on one end face in the length direction of the dielectric substrate (3) and provided with a first feed line (51) and a second feed line (52), wherein the first feed line (51) and the second feed line (52) are respectively electrically connected with the conductor grounding part (2) and the conductor radiation part (4); and a conductor compensation part (7) which is arranged on at least one of the two side faces in parallel with the length direction of the dielectric substrate (3), wherein the conductor grounding part (2) and the conductor radiation part (4) are electrically connected through the conductor compensation part (7). |
| US09104952B2 |
Electromagnetic radiation decoupler
An electromagnetic radiation decoupler for decoupling radiation in the wavelength range λmin to λmax. The decoupler has a first conductor layer in contact with a dielectric layer which comprises at least one area of absence and the thickness of the decoupler is less than λmin/4n, where n is the refractive index of the dielectric. The dielectric layer may be sandwiched between two conductor layers, one of which has the structure described above. The invention is also directed to methods of using and various articles comprising such a decoupler. |
| US09104948B2 |
System and a method for nano imprinting
A method for creating a highly accurate nanostructure is provided, the method includes: (i) creating a highly accurate nanostructure prototype, wherein the highly accurate nanostructure prototype, when illuminated with a predefined illumination, provides a unique optical pattern; (ii) creating at least one highly accurate nanostructure mold from the highly accurate nanostructure prototype, wherein each highly accurate nanostructure mold enables a creation of a highly accurate nanostructure that is substantially similar to the highly accurate nano structure prototype and which, when illuminated with the predefined illumination, provides the unique optical pattern; and (iii) molding the highly accurate nano structure using the highly accurate nano structure mold, wherein the highly accurate nanostructure, when illuminated with the predefined illumination, provides the unique optical pattern. |
| US09104947B2 |
Image forming apparatus
According to the present invention, an image forming apparatus which performs a printing job and an erasing job is provided. Included is a control unit which, in a case of performing the other job after any one of the printing job and the erasing job, controls a transporting unit of the sheet so that the sheet for the other job is transported to a predetermined standby position from a sheet feeding unit while the one job is performed. |
| US09104945B2 |
Method and apparatus for specific image detection
Detecting a specific image applicable at a website includes detecting an existence of a frame of the specific image. The specific image applicable at the website is obtained. An edge characteristic value of each pixel of the image is calculated. A pixel whose edge characteristic value is a local maximum value is found along a slope direction of each pixel. When the edge characteristic value of the found pixel is larger than a preset characteristic value threshold, a preset color is used to fill the pixel. The specific image is scanned. An amount of pixels whose color is the preset color at each scanning line of the specific image is counted. When the amount of such pixels at a scanning line is larger than a preset number threshold, a line where the scanning line locates is determined as an edge line of the frame. |
| US09104942B2 |
Perceptual bias level estimation for hand-drawn sketches in sketch-photo matching
This invention, which relates to retrieving an object from a video or a photo where the object matches a hand-drawn sketch, discloses a method for automatically estimating a perceptual bias level with respect to a feature of the sketch. The method allows estimation based on the sketch alone without involving an extra database. In one embodiment, the method comprises using an expectation-maximization tensor voting (EMTV) method to analyze a statistical distribution of the feature. The statistical distribution is analyzed by forming an objective function having the statistical distribution's information parameterized by the perceptual bias level, and then maximizing the objective function according to a set of iterative update rules. In another embodiment, the method for automatically estimating a perceptual bias level is incorporated into a method for retrieving one or more objects from an image or video database where the one or more objects match a hand-drawn sketch. |
| US09104939B2 |
Emergency rescue vehicle video based violation enforcement method and system
Disclosed are methods and systems for monitoring and reporting road violations of vehicles sharing roads with responding emergency vehicles. According to an exemplary method video is captured from a forward and/or rear facing camera mounted to an emergency vehicle, and the video is processed to identify any vehicles in violation within a prescribed distance from the emergency vehicle. A license plate id of a vehicle determined to be in violation is identified and communicated to the appropriate authorities. |
| US09104938B2 |
Registration of separations
Separations or images relating to film or other fields may be registered using a variety of features, such as, for example: (1) correcting one or more film distortions; (2) automatically determining a transformation to reduce a film distortion; (3) applying multiple criteria of merit to a set of features to determine a set of features to use in determining a transformation; (4) determining transformations for areas in an image or a separation in a radial order; (5) comparing areas in images or separations by weighting feature pixels differently than non-feature pixels; (6) determining distortion values for transformations by applying a partial distortion measure and/or using a spiral search configuration; (7) determining transformations by using different sets of features to determine corresponding transformation parameters in an iterative manner; and (8) applying a feathering technique to neighboring areas within an image or separation. |
| US09104935B1 |
Mark reader configured to prioritize images
Systems and methods for use with a mark reader that reduce the trigger-to-decode response time by prioritizing images to be decoded based on the likelihood of a successful decode are provided. A reader attempts to decode a priority image(s) first to avoid attempting to decode images that are less likely than other images to be successfully decoded. Images are rated based on feature attributes, and then prioritized for decoding. Image feature attributes are correlated with parameter groups, and the parameter groups are prioritized for use in subsequent image acquisitions. |
| US09104933B2 |
Covert bar code pattern design and decoding
Devices, methods, and systems for covert bar code pattern design and decoding are described herein. One covert bar code includes detector code and decoder code. The detector code includes a combination of responsive absorptive material and responsive reflective material, and the decoder code includes a combination of responsive absorptive material and responsive reflective material. |
| US09104928B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating a synchronization signal in a scanning system
A scanning system includes a synchronizing arrangement including a light guide and a photosensor. The light guide directs a light beam to a photosensor, wherein light is deflected by one or more moving elements in the scanning system into a scanning region. The light guide has a light entry region, a reflecting region for reflecting light entering the light entry region and one or more light exit faces, so that light entering the light guide through the light entry region is at least partly reflected in the reflecting region and exits through one of the exit faces. The shape and the properties of the light guide are such that for two pencils of light rays, a first pencil of light rays is spaced from the second pencil and is non-overlapping with said second pencil of light rays. |
| US09104924B2 |
Temperature tracking device and method using same
A device for monitoring conditions within an environment in which an item is disposed includes a environment monitoring tag operably disposed adjacent an article to sense environment surrounding said article and store environmental data sensed, wherein said tag is equipped with software and hardware to communicate said data using Near Field Communication and a hand held communication device equipped with software and hardware to communicate using Near Field Communication to receive environmental data sensed by said tag and analyze said data. |
| US09104923B1 |
Encapsulating commands for RFID tags and RFID readers
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags may receive one or more encapsulated commands within the payload of an encapsulating command from an RFID reader. An encapsulated command includes at least a command code and an instruction. A tag may store the encapsulated command(s) or the instruction portion of the encapsulated command(s) for later execution. A sequence of encapsulated commands may be contained within one encapsulating command or spread across multiple encapsulating commands. The sequence of encapsulated commands, or the sequence of instructions associated with the encapsulated commands, may form a program. The tag may execute the instructions or program upon receipt, upon a trigger event, serially or in parallel, and/or may modify the instructions or program by adjusting parameters. The tag may later be told by a reader to execute the instructions or program via another command which, in some cases, may be sent prior to tag singulation. |
| US09104919B2 |
Multi-cue object association
Multiple discrete objects within a scene image captured by a single camera track are distinguished as un-labeled from a background model within a first frame of a video data input. Object position, object appearance and/or object size attributes are determined for each of the blobs, and costs determined to assign to existing blobs of existing object tracks as a function of the determined attributes. The un-labeled object blob that has a lowest cost of association with any of the existing object tracks is labeled with the label of that track having the lowest cost, said track is removed from consideration for labeling remaining un-labeled object blobs, and the process iteratively repeated until each of the track labels have been used to label one of the un-labeled blobs. |
| US09104918B2 |
Method and system for detecting sea-surface oil
A behavioral recognition system may include both a computer vision engine and a machine learning engine configured to observe and learn patterns of behavior in video data. Certain embodiments may be configured to detect and evaluate the presence of sea-surface oil on the water surrounding an offshore oil platform. The computer vision engine may be configured to segment image data into detected patches or blobs of surface oil (foreground) present in the field of view of an infrared camera (or cameras). A machine learning engine may evaluate the detected patches of surface oil to learn to distinguish between sea-surface oil incident to the operation of an offshore platform and the appearance of surface oil that should be investigated by platform personnel. |
| US09104917B2 |
Metering information collection
A computing device configured to gather utility metering information. In embodiments, the computing device may comprise a transceiver and an image processing module. The image processing module may be coupled to the transceiver and configured to receive an image utilizing the transceiver. The image may include one or more utility meters. The image processing module may be further configured to extract metering information from the one or more utility meters of the image and transmit this metering information to a utility provider associated with the utility meter Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed. |
| US09104906B2 |
Image analysis for determining characteristics of animals
Systems and methods are disclosed for predicting one or more characteristics of a animal by applying computational methods to image(s) of the animal to generate one or more metrics indicative of the characteristics. Embodiments determine predictors of characteristics by creating a sample library of animals of a particular type, determining facial descriptor measurements for each animal, determining relationships between facial descriptor measurements and additional library data, and selecting predictors from these relationships. Other embodiments predict characteristics of animals not in the library and, optionally, categorize animals for particular discipline, training, management, care, etc. based on the characteristics. Other embodiments predict characteristics and determine strategies for group(s) of animals using predicted characteristics of individual animals. Embodiments are broadly applicable to domesticated animals including dogs, cats, cattle, oxen, llamas, sheep, goats, camels, geese, horses, chickens, turkeys, and pigs. Other embodiments predict certain characteristics of humans, including certain cognitive or developmental disorders. |
| US09104905B2 |
Automatic analysis of individual preferences for attractiveness
A method facilitates selection of candidate matches for an individual from a database of potential applicants. A filter is calculated for the individual by processing images of people in conjunction with the individual's preferences with respect to those images. Feature sets are calculated for the potential applicants by processing images of the potential applicants. The filter is then applied to the feature sets to select candidate matches for the individual. |
| US09104901B2 |
Electronic device including interleaved biometric spoof detection data acquisition and related methods
An electronic device may include an array of finger sensing pixels and data acquisition circuitry coupled to the array. The data acquisition circuitry may be capable of acquiring finger biometric data from each sub-array of the array, and acquiring spoof detection data from at least one of the sub-arrays in an interleaved fashion with the finger biometric data. |
| US09104897B2 |
Transceiver locking assembly
A transceiver locking assembly includes at least one processor device, a network device, in a network environment, in communication with the least one processor device, a transceiver in communication with the network device; a transceiver port, coupled to the network device, defining a first slot opening in at least one of a variety of positions of the transceiver port and configured for selectively receiving the transceiver, and a dynamically controlled locking mechanism coupled to the transceiver port. The dynamically controlled locking mechanism is selectively positioned into the first slot opening to lock the transceiver into the network device or selectively removed away from the first slot opening to unlock the transceiver from the network device. |
| US09104895B2 |
Method for accessing a portable data storage medium with auxiliary module and portable data storage medium
The invention describes a method for accessing a portable storage data carrier (10) having a controller (12) for managing a standardized storage element (14) and having an additional module (16), wherein a data block is transferred to the storage data carrier (10) in a first transmission protocol. The data block comprises routing information and application data, whereby the routing information contains an identifier which can be detected by the controller (12). Furthermore, it is determined whether a data block received on the storage data carrier (10) contains routing information. The data block is relayed to a storage area (18) of the storage element (14), said storage area being hidden to a terminal (50), when the data block comprises routing information and the routing information comprises, besides the identifier contained therein, at least one further, predetermined parameter indicating the access to the hidden storage area (18). |
| US09104893B2 |
Rule based access for removable storage
Various techniques and solutions are described for rule-based access to removable storage devices. For example, a request can be received to perform a file system operation using a removable storage device that is formatted with a file system that does not support access controls. A rules-based check of the received request can be performed by a service by checking the request against a plurality of rules. Based on results of the rules-based check, the request can be allowed or denied. |
| US09104891B2 |
Recovering from unexpected flash drive removal
Techniques for recovering from unexpected removal of (or other unexpected power loss) a flash memory device from a computer system. An interpolated device driver notes whenever the flash memory device is unexpectedly removed, or otherwise unexpectedly powers off or enters a locked state. If the flash memory device is reinserted, the interpolated device driver reinitializes the flash memory device, and satisfies any flash memory device security protocol, so the flash memory device and the computer system can be restored to their status just before unexpected removal. The interpolated device driver caches requests to the flash memory device, and when status is restored to just before removal, replays those requests to the flash memory device, so the flash memory device responds to those requests as if it had ever been removed. The computer system does not notice any break in service by the flash memory device due to removal and reinsertion. |
| US09104889B1 |
Encryption on computing device
A first component of a cryptographic key is received from a user via a user interface of a user computing device. A second component of the cryptographic key is received via a short-range communication interface that communicatively couples the user computing device to a physically separate storage device. The cryptographic key is generated based at least on the first component and the second component. The cryptographic key is then used to encrypt and/or decrypt data. |
| US09104888B2 |
Secure data storage
Methods and systems for obscuring the location of critical system files are provided. In particular, the locations of files stored within a file system are selected by applying various inputs to a hash algorithm. For system files, the inputs applied to the hash algorithm can include a user name and password. For data files, the information provided to the hash algorithm can include the file name. In addition to providing random file locations, a file system in accordance with embodiments of the present invention can homogenize other information, including file names, sizes and creation dates. |
| US09104884B2 |
Implementing role based security in an enterprise content management system
A method of implementing role based security in an enterprise content management system is provided and may include creating a role object; creating a role adapter object that is communicatively coupled to the created role object; creating a security adapter object that is communicatively coupled to the created role adapter object; and associating the security adapter object to a content class. |
| US09104879B1 |
System and method for detecting security exposures of VOIP devices
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for detecting security exposures of Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) devices. One of the methods includes obtaining data identifying a source Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with a communication device that has been provisioned with configuration files for VOIP services; determining that a VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over an untrusted network at the source IP address; and determining that the communication device associated with the source IP address has a security exposure based at least in part on determining that the VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over the untrusted network at the source IP address. |
| US09104876B1 |
Virtual file-based tamper resistant repository
A technique adds virtual file anchoring functionality to a platform by mounting a virtual file system (“system”) to store an anchor file. Binary code to create and run the system is embedded into a trusted application's binary code. Thus, whenever the trusted application executes, the embedded code ensures the system is validated and started or restarted as required. To interrogate the existence of the anchor, it can be read like any other file. To modify the status of the anchor, the name of the associated file is decorated such that instead of modifying the file, foo, the trusted application modifies a pseudo-file, foo#decoration. The decoration varies for each modification operation. To generate the decoration, the algorithm takes as input a time component, e.g. in the form of the last accessed time field of the parent directory where the secure file anchors files reside, and the name of the anchor. |
| US09104874B2 |
Method for detecting the hijacking of computer resources
An exemplary technique is provided for detecting a hijacking of computer resources, located in an internal network implementing security criteria and confidentiality criteria specific to the internal network, connected to an external network with no security criteria and confidentiality criteria, through a connection managed by a service provider. The technique includes storing, at the internal network, a connection parameter implemented by the computer resources to communicate with the external network; processing, at the internal network, the stored connection parameter based on an irreversible function to generate a unique code that corresponds to the stored connection parameter but which does not allow the identification of the stored connection parameter from the corresponding generated unique code; and sending, at the internal network, the generated unique code to a server located on the external network so that the server can analyze an activity of the computer resources from the unique code and detect any hijacking of the computer resources. |
| US09104872B2 |
Memory whitelisting
An enhanced whitelisting module associated within a system whitelists unknown files for execution on the system. The whitelisting module may oversee the computation of a hash of a file loaded into the memory and comparison of the hash to hashes within a hash table generated from clean files located on a clean system. The whitelisting module may communicate to a device internal and/or external to the system to retrieve the hash table of clean files. In certain embodiments, a rolling hash (or other piecewise hash) may be used to determine the location and/or extent of the differences between a modified file and a clean file. |
| US09104870B1 |
Detecting malware
An example of candidate malware is data that potentially includes one or more malicious elements. Candidate malware is received. The received candidate malware is analyzed using a virtual machine. A determination is made that the candidate malware has attempted to perform an anti-virtual machine action. Output that indicates that the candidate malware is malicious is generated. |
| US09104867B1 |
Malicious content analysis using simulated user interaction without user involvement
Techniques for detecting malicious content using simulated user interactions are described herein. In one embodiment, a monitoring module monitors activities of a malicious content suspect executed within a sandboxed operating environment. In response to detection of a predetermined event triggered by the malicious content suspect requesting a user action on a graphical user interface (GUI) presented by the malicious content suspect, simulating, a user interaction module simulates a user interaction with the GUI without user intervention. An analysis module analyzes activities of the malicious content suspect in response to the simulated user interaction to determine whether the malicious content suspect should be declared as malicious. |
| US09104863B2 |
Method and apparatus to harden a software execution in random access memory
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a system, apparatus and methods for preserving the integrity of a code to prevent it from being modified, maliciously or inadvertently, while it is in execution in the RAM of a computer platform. This method also may be referred to as code hardening. Code to be hardened in example embodiments of the present invention may be referred to as protected code. Example embodiments of the present invention are able to externally detect unauthorized stoppage of the hypervisor by employing (1) a launch-time metric of the protected code; (2) a run-time metric of the protected code; and (3) a liveliness indicator of the protected code. |
| US09104860B2 |
Systems, methods and media for managing process image hijacks
Disclosed is a method of checking the authenticity of an executable process including at least one section. The method includes, when an initial thread of the executable process is created in a suspended state, mapping from storage a copy of the executable process into a spare memory area, where it will not be executed. The method also includes comparing a header of a first section of the executable process with a header of a first section of the copy. The method further includes terminating the executable process when the header of the first section of the executable process and the header of the first section of the copy are not identical. |
| US09104857B2 |
Gesture-based authentication without retained credentialing gestures
This document describes techniques and apparatuses enabling gesture-based authentication without retained credentialing gestures. The techniques are capable of determining an identifier for a credentialing gesture where the identifier can be reproduced on receiving a similar authentication gesture at a later time. The identifier for the credentialing gesture can be encrypted, sent to a secure authentication entity, and then, when an authentication gesture is received, an identifier for the authentication gesture can also be determined, encrypted, and sent to the secure authentication entity. If the secure authentication entity determines that the encrypted identifiers match, the user is authenticated. |
| US09104853B2 |
Supporting proximity based security code transfer from mobile/tablet application to access device
Techniques are disclosed for authenticating users to a computing application. A mobile or tablet device is used to generate a security code. Near field communication (NFC) hardware on the mobile device is used to transfer the security code from the mobile device to a computer. To transfer the one-time value, a user simply taps an NFC enabled mobile device on an NFC enabled computing device (e.g. a laptop running a web browser used to access a web service). In one embodiment, doing so triggers a connection between the two devices and an application running on the mobile device transfers the security code to an NFC receiver application running on the computer. The receiving computer may be configured to auto-fill the received security code in the appropriate form field of the application authentication interface. |
| US09104851B2 |
Methods and systems for enabling, tracking, and correlating anonymous user activity
Methods are disclosed for identity key management in networked application execution. In one embodiment, an identifier request is transmitted from a client system to a server system, in which an identity key value in the identifier request is blank. Upon detecting the blank identity key value at the server system, the server system operates to generate a new identity key value and an identifier for the new identity key value. The new identity key value and the identifier for the new identity key value are transmitted from the server system to the client system. The new identity key value is stored in a local store of the client system. The local store of the client system is secured by a passcode and persists data through power cycling of the client system. The identifier is used to track execution of a networked application in an anonymous execution mode. |
| US09104850B1 |
Differentiated access for mobile device
Mobile devices and methods are disclosed for providing privacy and confidentiality of information through the provision of multiple profiles that control access to the information, and operation of the mobile device in accordance with a profile chosen by entry of an associated access code. |
| US09104847B2 |
Method for generating an identifier
The invention relates to a method for generating an identifier for identifying a pair, wherein the pair comprises a cryptographic device (100) and a computer system (1, 2, . . . , i, . . . I), wherein the cryptographic device has a first secret key (102), wherein a second secret key (118.i) is associated with the computer system, wherein a blocking system (120) for accessing the second secret key of the computer system is provided, wherein the blocking system has a third secret key (126), and wherein the following steps are carried out for generating the identifier: Generating a second public key (116.i) from the second secret key and a third public key (128) associated with the third secret key by means of the blocking system, Transmitting the second public key (116.i) to the computer system (i), and Generating the identifier from the first secret key and the second public key, using the cryptographic device. |
| US09104843B2 |
Providing content items from alternate sources
Systems and methods for providing content items to users. A computer system may provide to a first user an indication of a plurality of available content items. The computer system may receive from the first user an indication of a first content item selected from the plurality of content items. The computer system may determine whether a content provider service associated with the computer system is authorized to stream the first content item to the first user. When the content provider service is not authorized to stream the first content item to the first user, the computer system may identify an alternate source for the first content item. The computer system may initiate playback of the first content item to the first user from the alternate source. |
| US09104840B1 |
Trusted security zone watermark
Embodiments relate generally to methods and systems for creating and using a watermark for verification of operation in a trusted security zone of a mobile device. The watermark may be created or chosen by a user and may be unique to the user. The watermark may be stored in a trusted security zone of the mobile device and may not be accessible from any other area of the mobile device. The watermark may comprise one or more of an image, an audio file, a video, a shape, a signature, a word, a phrase, or a number. The watermark may be verified by a user before operation of a secure application executed in the trusted security zone of the mobile device, and the watermark may also be present throughout the use of a secure application. |
| US09104838B2 |
Client token storage for cross-site request forgery protection
Systems and methods can secure against cross-site request forgery using client-side token storage. A client browser can initiate an action associated with a first web service and generate a token. The token may be stored in client-side storage at the computing device. An indicator of the action may also be stored within the client-side storage. A return link, associated with a passed copy of the token, may be generated. The client may perform the redirect and return to the first web service according to the return link. The passed copy of the token can be extracted from the return link. The indicator of the action and the stored token may be loaded from the client storage. The passed copy of the token and the stored token may be compared. The action according to the indicator of the action may be performed in response to the comparison matching. |
| US09104832B1 |
Identifying and mitigating electromigration failures in signal nets of an integrated circuit chip design
A method of characterizing an electromigration (EM) parameter for use in an integrated circuit (IC) chip design including, inputting a layout of a wire layer and identifying a signal gate-circuit including electrically parallel paths, connected to an output of the signal gate from the layout. Based on widths for each of the paths, determining a maximum possible current for each of the paths, and calculating an average current for each of the paths. Identifying a path that is most limited in its current carrying capacity by possible EM failure mechanisms, and storing in a design library, a possible maximum current output to the identified limiting path, as the EM parameter. |
| US09104831B2 |
Semiconductor overlay production system and method
Disclosed herein is a system and method for producing semiconductor devices using overlays, the method comprising associating one or more patterned overlays with respective ones of reserved regions in a layer template, receiving a layer design based on the layer template, identifying the reserved regions in the layer design, generating a production layer design based on the layer design, the production layer design describing at least one production overlay in one of the reserved regions, and fabricating one or more devices based on the production layer design. |
| US09104822B2 |
Signal transmission method for USB interface and apparatus thereof
A signal transmission method for a USB interface and an apparatus thereof are provided. The method includes: receiving a first USB signal sent from a sending terminal, processing the first USB signal into a USB-like signal, and transmitting the USB-like signal via a networking cable; receiving the USB-like signal, processing the USB-like signal into a second USB signal, and sending the second USB signal to a receiving terminal. According to the embodiments of the present invention, the first USB signal is processed into a USB-like signal which is similar to the USB signal, the USB-like signal is transmitted via a networking cable, and the USB-like signal is processed into a second USB signal. The transmission process does not require converting the USB signal into a networking-cable signal which is to be transmitted via a networking cable, thereby avoiding conversion between protocols, and simplifying the entire transmission process. |
| US09104820B2 |
Semiconductor device and data processing system selectively operating as one of a big endian or little endian system
The present invention is to provide a semiconductor device that can correctly switch endians on the outside even if the endian of a parallel interface is not recognized on the outside. The semiconductor device includes a switching circuit and a first register. The switching circuit switches between whether a parallel interface with the outside is to be used as a big endian or a little endian. A first register holds control data of the switching circuit. The switching circuit regards the parallel interface as the little endian when first predetermined control information, that is unchanged in the values of specific bit positions even if its high-order and low-order bit positions are transposed, is supplied to the first register, and regards the parallel interface as the big endian when second predetermined control information, that is unchanged in the values of specific bit positions even if its high-order and low-order bit positions are transposed, is supplied to the first register. Whatever the endian setting status, the control information can be correctly inputted without being influenced by the endian setting status. |
| US09104818B2 |
Accelerator management device, accelerator management method, and input-output device
An accelerator management device includes an accelerator link DB that stores an accelerator identifier in association with an application identifier. The accelerator management device includes the accelerator mounting information DB that stores the accelerator identifier of an accelerator mounted in a slot in association with each slot identifier used to identify each slot of an expansion I/O box. The accelerator management device specifies an accelerator identifier corresponding to an application by referring to the accelerator link DB when an execution request of an application is received from a host. The accelerator management device specifies a slot identifier corresponding to the specified accelerator identifier by referring to the accelerator mounting information DB. The accelerator management device assigns the slot that is identified through the slot identifier which is specified by the second specifying unit to the host. |
| US09104817B2 |
Explicit control message signaling
A method for explicit control message signaling includes sending a single ended 1 signal on a pair of data lines, wherein the pair of data lines includes a first data line and a second data line. A voltage of the first data line is driven to a logic 1, while pulsing the voltage of the second data line between a logic 1 and a logic 0, wherein the pulses represent a control message. |
| US09104816B2 |
Memory card having plurality of interface ports, memory card system, and data communication method for the memory card
A memory card is disclosed including first and second host interfaces facilitating the communication of data between the memory card and a host using, respectively, first and second protocols, wherein the first protocol defines low-speed operations and the second protocol defines high-speed operations for the memory card. The second host interface is only enabled in response to an indication by the host device of a high-speed memory card operation. |
| US09104815B1 |
Ranking runs of test scenarios based on unessential executed test steps
System, method, and non-transitory medium for ranking similar runs of test scenarios based on unessential test steps in the runs. Runs of test scenarios run by users on software systems that belong to different organizations are clustered to clusters of similar runs. Analysis of a certain selected cluster identifies occurrences of potentially unessential test steps in the similar runs belonging to the cluster. By counting, for each potentially unessential test step, the number of different users that ran a test scenario that includes the potentially unessential test step, it is possible to label certain test steps as verified unessential test steps. A potentially unessential test step may be labeled a verified unessential test step when its corresponding number of different users is below a predetermined threshold. A ranking module utilizes the number of occurrences of verified unessential test steps in runs in order to rank the runs. |
| US09104812B2 |
Injection of data into a software application
One embodiment is a method for injecting data into a software application. The method displays a plurality of different controls of a software application and receives a single selection of data stored in a data source. In response to this selection, the method injects the data from the data source into the plurality of different controls of the software application. |
| US09104809B2 |
Facilitating automated validation of a web application
In one embodiment, a method includes accessing one or more document object model (DOM) representations of one or more pages of a Web application that comprises one or more instances of a web-application artifact. For each of one or more of the instances, the method also includes identifying a first set of one or more DOM elements in one of the DOM representations of one of the pages that collectively correspond to the instance. The method additionally includes identifying a second set of one or more particular values of one or more particular attributes of one or more particular ones of the DOM elements in the first sets. The second set may then be mapped to the web-application artifact to provide a DOM definition of the web-application artifact. |
| US09104807B2 |
Testing systems and methods for a resource constrained device
Systems and methods for providing symbolic information about fields, methods, and/or classes for a target device. A system and method may be used where the runtime processing is split between a host system and a target system. At the target device a test program uses a symbol not defined on the target device. A query is sent from the target device to a symbolic information source. The symbolic information source then provides the target device with information about the undefined symbol. The target device uses the information from the symbolic information source to complete the test program. |
| US09104804B2 |
Method and system for invoking just-in-time debugger
A method and system for invoking Just-In-Time debugger is described, which can provide more efficient JIT debugging for complex code mixed applications. A method for invoking a Just-In-Time (JIT) debugger according to one embodiment includes checking a code type of a code address where a JIT debugging request is triggered from a process of a code-mixed application in response to the JIT debugging request from the process; acquiring corresponding JIT debugging information for different code types of the code-mixed application; and invoking a JIT debugger corresponding to the code type in response to the checked code type of the code address in the process and the acquired corresponding JIT debugging information. |
| US09104798B2 |
Enabling remote debugging of virtual machines running in a cloud environment
Enabling remote debugging of virtual machines, in one aspect, may comprise attaching a debug virtual machine to a target virtual machine deployed in a virtualized environment. Interactions and/or access to the target virtual machine may be performed via the attached debug virtual machine. The debug virtual machine may be created and attached to the target virtual machine in response to receiving a request to debug the target machine, for example, from a remote user of the target virtual machine. |
| US09104797B1 |
Efficient cloud-based annotation of crash reports
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a system for efficiently annotating numerous crash reports originating from multiple instances of an application. Prior to deploying a version of the application, a service receives a file that stores debugging information associated with the version. Next, the service parses the debugging information from the file. The service then converts the debugging information into an object representation in memory and stores the object representation in a database. Next, in response to an instance of the version crashing on a client device, the service receives a crash report from the client device. Then, for each item in the crash report, the service determines whether that item needs to be annotated and, if so, annotates the item. |
| US09104795B2 |
Integrating compiler warnings into a debug session
Integrating compiler warnings into a debug session including: receiving, by a debugger for a debug session of a debuggee from a compiler, compiled source code for execution and compiler warning data describing one or more compiler warnings generated at compile time of the debuggee, each compiler warning resulting from a source code variable statement in the debuggee source code; receiving, by the debugger, a request to evaluate a variable; determining, from the compiler warning data, whether evaluating the variable is dependent upon a source code variable statement resulting in a compiler warning; and, if evaluating the variable is dependent upon a source code variable statement resulting in a compiler warning, returning, by the debugger responsive to the request along with a result of the evaluation, a compiler warning indicator. |
| US09104793B2 |
Method and system of adapting communication links to link conditions on a platform
A method and system to adapt communication links statically and/or dynamically to their individual link conditions on a platform. The communicatively coupled devices have logic to adapt one or more settings of a respective one or more communication links with another device based at least in part on a respective metric of received data patterns from the respective one or more communication links. The communicatively coupled devices in the platform have a back channel to allow feedback or information to be sent from one receiving device to a transmitting device in one embodiment of the invention. |
| US09104790B2 |
Arranging data handling in a computer-implemented system in accordance with reliability ratings based on reverse predictive failure analysis in response to changes
Re-arranging data handling in a computer-implemented system that comprises a plurality of existing physical entities. At least one reliability rating is assigned to each of various existing physical entities of the computer-implemented system; and in response to change. Reverse predictive failure analysis uses the assigned reliability ratings to determine cumulative reliability rating(s) for at least one arrangement of the system. Data handling is re-arranged with respect to at least a portion of the existing computer-implemented system to provide a designated cumulative reliability rating. |
| US09104786B2 |
Iterative refinement of cohorts using visual exploration and data analytics
Methods and apparatus are provided for iterative refinement of cohorts using visual exploration and data analytics. A cohort comprised of multiple data objects is defined by obtaining an initial cohort seeding; visualizing the initial cohort using a selected view to present a current cohort; reducing the current cohort using one or more visual filters; visualizing the current cohort using a selected view; expanding the current cohort using one or more selected analytics; and determining whether the current cohort should be further modified using one or more of additional reductions and additional expansions. Cohorts can be passed between views and analytics via drag-and-drop interactions as an analysis unfolds. |
| US09104784B2 |
Detecting multi-column composite key column sets
An aspect includes a computer-implemented method for detecting one or more multi-column composite key column sets. The method includes accessing a plurality of first columns, each first column representing a parameter, each first column including a set of distinct parameter values of its respective parameter, each distinct parameter value being stored in association with one or more object identifiers. Two or more of the first columns are selected for use as a current candidate column set, the current candidate column set including at least a first and a second candidate column, the current candidate column set being of a current cardinality. The method also includes determining, by comparing object-identifiers, whether for the current candidate column set at least one tuple of parameter values exists with parameter values respectively stored in association with two or more shared ones of the object identifiers to identify a multi-column composite key column set. |
| US09104783B2 |
Association of information entities along a time line
The invention relates to the field of man-machine interfacing. In particular, it relates to a user interface allowing a unified approach for organizing and navigating data on a computing device, such as a work station, a desktop computer, a tablet PC, a laptop computer and/or a mobile device. A user interface method executed on a processor for displaying, on a screen, indicia for a set of entities along a time line represented by a linear indicia is described, wherein an entity of the set of entities is associated with a time instant on the time line. The method comprises the steps of: displaying on the screen a first indicia for a first entity associated with a first set of entities; displaying on the screen a second indicia for a second entity associated with a second set of entities; determining the distance on the screen between the first indicia and a set operation area associated with a set operation; determining the distance on the screen between the second indicia and the set operation area; determining a third set of entities based on the determined distances and based on the set operation performed on the first and second set of entities; and displaying on the screen indicia for the third set of entities along the time line at time instants associated with the third set of entities. |
| US09104782B2 |
System and method for searching real estate listings using imagery
A system and method for searching real estate uses non-traditional techniques. A selection of suggestive imagery may be rated by a user in order to indicate that user's subjective tastes. The suggestive images may relate to particular keywords which also may be related to real estate listings. This way, properties which appeal to a user's tastes may be identified and sorted accordingly. |
| US09104774B2 |
Consistent web application presentation
A request for a web page is received from a client device at a web server. At least a source web application and a target web application relating to the requested web page is identified. An output from the source web application and an output from the target web application are requested. A source style of the source web application is requested. The source style is combined with the output of the source web application and the output of the target web application into the requested web page. The requested web page is sent to the client device. |
| US09104773B2 |
Finding and consuming web subscriptions in a web browser
A content syndication platform, such as a web content syndication platform, manages, organizes and makes available for consumption content that is acquired from the Internet. In at least some embodiments, the platform can acquire and organize web content, and make such content available for consumption by many different types of applications. These applications may or may not necessarily understand the particular syndication format. An application program interface (API) exposes an object model which allows applications and users to easily accomplish many different tasks such as creating, reading, updating, deleting feeds and the like. Further, in at least some embodiments, a user can subscribe to a particular web feed, be provided with a user interface that contains distinct indicia to identify new feeds, and can efficiently consume or read RSS feeds using both an RSS reader and a web browser. |
| US09104771B2 |
Providing relevant product reviews to the user to aid in purchasing decision
A method, system and computer program product for providing relevant product reviews to a user. A user's session on a website is monitored to gather information related to reviewing and writing product reviews as well as to buying and browsing habits. The actions performed by the user in connection with the monitored user session are populated in a database. Once populating the database is completed, the personality report of the user, which includes personality traits, is generated using the populated database. Also, a list of reviewers that are favored by the user is generated. By using the personality traits of the user to match reviews of interest as well as providing reviews from those reviewers favored by the user, the user can have more confidence in the usefulness or relevance of these reviews. |
| US09104767B2 |
Identifying web pages that are likely to guide browsing viewers to improve conversion rate
A method and system for extracting from a web log for a given entity information comprising web page events. The information gain in the sequence of navigating from a given web page to a subsequent web page is computed for at least some of the web page events. The information gain is used to determine a set of web pages from which users can decide to navigate to a first web page or a second web page, wherein navigating to the first web page is more likely to lead to a conversion than navigating to the second web page. A list of at least a subset of the set of web pages is transmitted to the entity, which can use the list to determine web pages at which the entity can place advertising material to motivate a user to navigate to the first web page. The computing may be performed by MapReduce processing. |
| US09104766B2 |
Implicit or explicit subscriptions and automatic user preference profiling in collaboration systems
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with event processing are described. In one embodiment, a method includes detecting an event. The example method may also include analyzing the event to extract information about the user and processing a subsequent event in accordance with the extracted information about the user. |
| US09104765B2 |
Automatic webpage characterization and search results annotation
A system and method for automatically analyzing and characterizing Internet search results and annotating a search results page according to specific characteristics of each webpage located at a URL corresponding to a search result. Such characteristics include the composition of each search results webpage as well as which search term elements are present in a webpage located at a URL corresponding to a search result out of those search term elements that were submitted to a search engine to produce the search results webpage. Further, search results are annotated to indicate which search term elements are present in a descendent webpage of a webpage located at a URL corresponding to a search result. Search results may also be optionally filtered according to specific characteristics of a webpage located at a search results URL such that certain categories of webpage are excluded from being referenced in the displayed search results. |
| US09104762B1 |
Universal database management
Database messages, such as queries, may be managed to process data based at least in part on performance characteristics. For example, a database query associated with a first database format may be received. The first database format may be one of a plurality of database formats. A second database format may be determined based at least in part on a performance characteristic of the second database format being above a threshold. The second database format may be determined as a result of the received database query. Additionally, the second database format may also be one of the plurality of different database formats. Data communicated by the received database query may be processed according to the second database format. |
| US09104759B1 |
Identifying stem variants of search query terms
The subject matter of this specification can be implemented in, among other things, a computer-implemented method for identifying and storing stem variants of search query terms. The method includes receiving a first query and a user selection of a first search result from the first query. The method further includes receiving a second query and a user selection of a second search result from the second query. The method further includes determining that the first search result and the second search result have the same category. The method further includes identifying a first term in the first query and a second term in the second query as stem variants of one another by determining that the first term is within a threshold edit distance of the second term. The method further includes storing the first term and the second term in a stem-variant repository. |
| US09104755B2 |
Ontology enhancement method and system
An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides an ontology enhancement method. Firstly, at least an input information request is received. Then, based on an ontology, each input information request is expanded to produce at least an expanded information request of each corresponding input information request. Based on a searching model, according to each expanded information request, a file collection is searched to obtain searching results of each corresponding expanded information request. Then, according to each searching result, a plurality of candidate knowledge concepts of each corresponding searching result are extracted. Next, the candidate knowledge concepts of each searching result are selectively added into the ontology. |
| US09104753B2 |
Identifying an incident-addressing step
Relationships among incident-addressing steps, applications, and incidents are determined, based on information relating to the applications and the incidents. For addressing a given incident that occurred with respect to a particular application, at least one incident-addressing step is identified using the determined relationships. |
| US09104747B2 |
System and method for signature-based unsupervised clustering of data elements
A method and system for signature-based unsupervised clustering of data elements. The method comprises receiving a plurality of clusters; generating a triangular matrix respective of the clusters; generating a signature for each of the clusters; generating a match score between each of two different clusters; storing the match score in a cell of the triangular matrix corresponding to the two clusters; determining whether any of the match scores is above a predefined threshold value; clustering every two clusters that are determined to have a score above a predetermined threshold; and repeating the generation of a triangular matrix respective of the clusters until a single cluster is reached. The system comprises an interface; a processor; a memory for storing at least one cluster; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the system to perform the steps of the method. |
| US09104746B1 |
Identifying contrarian terms based on website content
A system and method for identifying contrarian terms is disclosed. The system and method includes identifying a plurality of websites describing a product or service, analyzing content in the plurality of websites, the content relating to the described product or service, identifying contrarian terms based on the website content using a processing circuit, wherein the contrarian terms comprise descriptions of a product or service, associating the identified contrarian terms with a category, within which the product or service has been categorized in at least one of the plurality of websites, and storing the contrarian terms and the associated category in a memory. |
| US09104745B1 |
Distributed log collector and report generation
A distributed log collector and report generation architecture is disclosed. In some embodiments, a received query to generate a log report is forwarded to each of a plurality of log collector clusters, and responses to the query received from each of at least a subset of the plurality of log collector clusters are aggregated to generate the log report. |
| US09104742B1 |
Method and system for optimized parallel queuing
A method and system for sharing and synchronizing content between a content repository and file sharing service. An application server includes a connector engine and a connector agent. The connector engine with is configured with a plurality of threads and queues designed to listen for changes at either the file sharing service or the repository, to process those changes in parallel, and to coordinate synchronization of uploads to the file sharing service and downloads to the content repository. |
| US09104735B2 |
Scalable search system using human searchers
A system allowing a query to be submitted to a server that locates a human searcher to perform a search. The searcher performs a search including using conventional tools, browser, and provides results to the user. A searcher who produces result(s) accepted by the user is rewarded and the results can be used when a similar query is submitted by another user. The searcher is located by comparing keywords of the query to keywords for which the searcher has registered and a high ranking searcher may be chosen by the system based on various factor(s). While the search is performed, information including videos, games, advertisements, etc., may be provided to the user based on keywords of the query and selection by the searcher. The reward for the searchers can be based on revenue from advertisements. |
| US09104733B2 |
Web search ranking
A computer-implemented method and system for Web search ranking are provided herein. The method includes generating a number of training samples from clickthrough data, wherein the training samples include positive query-document pairs and negative query-document pairs. The method also includes discriminatively training a translation model based on the training samples and ranking a number of documents for a Web search based on the translation model. |
| US09104732B2 |
Internet presence scoring
For scoring Internet presence, a search module retrieves a plurality of search results for a search phrase from a specified data source. A scoring module calculates an Internet score as a function of a sentiment value for each of the plurality of search results. |
| US09104729B2 |
Querying spatial events in a vehicle network, and optimized querier
A method of querying spatial events in a vehicle network includes receiving, by a processing device, a query condition of a user; in response to reception of the query condition of the user, determining context information of a position where the user locates; and according to the query condition of the user and the context information of the position where the user locates, querying an index table recording correspondence between terminal nodes of roads in a road map and spatial events to obtain spatial events meeting the query condition of the user. |
| US09104728B2 |
Query language to traverse a path in a graph
A query language used to traverse a path in a graph-based model is provided. The system comprises a parsing module to parse a query comprising query phrases. The respective query phrases composed of an object-type identifier and a filter where the object-type identifier corresponds to respective repositories and the filter is used to identify at least a portion of the objects associated with the object-type in the respective repositories. A planning module identifies the respective repositories corresponding to the object-type identifier within each of the one or more query phrases and generates an execution plan describing data to be retrieved according to the respective repositories and results of a preceding query phrase within the query. A translation module translates the respective query phrases into respective translated queries that are readable by the respective repositories and including the filter. An execution module implements the execution plan using the translated queries. |
| US09104726B2 |
Columnar databases
A method of searching for sets of data in a very large columnar database is described. The method comprises carrying out a first query by querying the very large columnar database for a first desired set of data, the database having a range of possible data storage locations; creating a compressed columnar representation of the locations within the very large columnar database of members of the first desired set of data; wherein the compressed columnar representation comprises a plurality of representations covering the entire range of the very large database, wherein each representation provides a descriptor describing a distribution of the desired data results within the sub-range of the entire range; storing the compressed columnar representation in a data cache; and applying a logical operation on first desired set of data stored within the very large columnar database by using the compressed columnar representation stored in the data cache in preference to data stored within the very large columnar database. |
| US09104725B2 |
Automatic tuning of database queries
A database query is modified to improve performance by identifying portions of database tables that are likely to be reused and modifying the database query accordingly. According to certain embodiments, the degree of selectivity with which a table is accessed is used to identify tables that are likely to be reused in subsequent database operations. |
| US09104724B2 |
Dynamic bridging of application and data servers
Described herein is a technology to facilitate dynamic bridging of an application server and a data server. In accordance with one aspect, a query script based on source code of an application is generated at the application server. The query script may include at least one placeholder that represents a dynamic term in the source code of the application. The query script may be processed by replacing the placeholder with a static term generated based on one or more values received during execution of the application. The query script is then executed to manage data at a data server. |
| US09104723B2 |
Information delivery using queries and changeable database containing queries, advisory information, and flow logic
A data storage system may contain a changeable database that includes: advisory information that includes the content of at least one advisory statement for addressing an issue with equipment; query information that includes the content of at least one query delivered to the equipment; and flow logic information indicating a sequence for the delivery of the advisory statements and the queries based on the equipment's responses to the queries. An information delivery engine may deliver the queries and the advisory statements to the equipment in a sequence based on the equipment's answers to the queries and the flow logic information. This system may be adapted to troubleshoot equipment, such as an optical network terminal. |
| US09104722B2 |
Search information providing apparatus and search information providing method
An information searching apparatus according to an embodiment includes a receiving unit that receives a search request including a search keyword from a user terminal; an acquiring unit that acquires advertisement information corresponding to a specific search keyword from an advertisement information storage unit when the search keyword included in the search request is the specific search keyword; a generating unit that generates a search result page for displaying a search result and a background image based on the advertisement information acquired by the acquiring unit; and a transmitting unit that transmits the search result page generated by the generating unit to the user terminal of a request source. |
| US09104718B1 |
Systems, methods, and devices for measuring similarity of and generating recommendations for unique items
The disclosure herein provides methods, systems, and devices for measuring similarity of and generating recommendations for unique items. A recommendation system for generating recommendations of alternative unique items comprises an items information database, a penalty computation engine, a recommendation compilation engine, and one or more computers, wherein the penalty computation engine comprises a customizations filter, a condition filter, and a dissimilarity penalty calculator. |
| US09104715B2 |
Shared data collections
A data sharing mechanism may allow programs to share access to data collections. The mechanisms that implement the sharing may allow programs written in any language to read and write a shared collection. The mechanisms may make the shared nature of the collection relatively transparent to the program and to the programmer, by allowing a program to operate on the data more or less as if it were purely local data. The sharing of collections may be managed by a shared object runtime on each machine on which a collection is used, and by a shared object server. The shared object server maintains the true state of the collection, and deterministically resolves collections when programs operate on the same collection without knowledge of each other's operations. The mechanisms by which collections are shared may be implemented so as to be agnostic as to the kind of data in the collection. |
| US09104714B2 |
Incremental optimistic locking of data distributed on multiple nodes to avoid transaction deadlock
A transaction originator node identifies multiple data elements distributed at multiple enlisted nodes to lock for a transaction managed by the transaction originator node. The transaction originator node determines which of the enlisted nodes is a first enlisted node in a lock order for the transaction and sends an update request to the first enlisted node in the lock order to lock a data element residing at the first enlisted node. The transaction originator node sends update requests to remaining enlisted nodes in the lock order to cache the update requests until the remaining enlisted nodes receive a message to perform a lock. |
| US09104713B2 |
Managing a temporal key property in a database management system
Embodiments provide an approach for efficiently searching a temporal key index as well as enforcing key distinctiveness property in a database table corresponding to the index. For example, by addressing time range overlaps in an index having a sort order for temporal keys, a database management tool of a server system may efficiently process client requests while enforcing a temporal key property in the database table. |
| US09104705B2 |
Image display method, image display apparatus, image recording apparatus, and image pickup apparatus
Data elements are extracted from data elements stored in a storage medium in accordance with two conditions and grouped into first and second groups. The data elements in the first group and those in the second group are displayed in regions distinguished from each other on a screen. In response to user manipulation, the screen is switched to a screen that allows searching data elements in the first or second group displayed in a region corresponding to the manipulation. In searching many diverse data elements stored in a data storage, the user can select a group from groups of data elements extracted by different conditions and search the data elements in the selected group. Accordingly, the user can search data elements more readily even when many diverse data elements are stored in the storage medium. |
| US09104702B2 |
Positioning system
An object of the present invention is to provide a positioning system which makes it possible to perform positioning processing in a positioning target mobile object with a smaller calculation amount.A scenery image database according to an aspect of the present invention is characterized by comprising a plurality of scenery image data and image acquisition locations at which the scenery image data have been acquired are correlated with each other and stored, wherein each of the plurality of scenery image data include a feature amount of a feature point corresponding to a thing other than a thing of which a location or a shape is unlikely to be kept as it is on the real world during a period larger than or equal to a predetermined period. |
| US09104700B1 |
Method and system for searching for information on a network in response to an image query sent by a user from a mobile communications device
Present invention relates to a method and system for automatic searching for information on a network in response to an image query sent by a user. The image query includes an image that is captured by using a mobile communications device with a camera. The image is processed to detect the text present in it. The detected text is then recognized using an OCR. Subsequently, the text is searched for matches in the corresponding domain database, selected from the various domain databases present in the network. Thereafter, selected matches and additional related information is sent to the user. |
| US09104698B2 |
Method and system for storing multiple geo-tagged media files and rendering the same
A method and apparatus for organizing a geographically tagged media file, the method obtaining geographical information for the media file; identifying a subfolder for the media file; and placing the media file in the identified subfolder. Also, a method and apparatus for utilizing an album of geographically tagged media files within a media application, the method allowing a third party application access to the geographically tagged media files; and upon selection of the third party application within the media application, launching the third party application populated with the album of geographically tagged media files. |
| US09104695B1 |
Geotagging structured data
A mapping system comprising processes for creating and displaying structured geotagged data using interactive digital geographic imagery is disclosed. In one embodiment, a mapping system comprises processes and logic for creating a geo tag for structured data. A user creates a geo tag for a property of an object by selecting a geographic location on an interactive digital map and selecting the property of the object from a dialog presented to the user in response to selecting the geographic location. In this way, the user can more quickly and easily create structured geotagged data than can be accomplished using typical approaches requiring the user to manually enter geographic coordinates to associate a geographic location with structured data. |
| US09104694B2 |
Method of searching in a collection of data items
A method of searching in a collection of data items stored in association with data representative of locations includes obtaining data representative of co-ordinates defining a location. Data representative of a direction are obtained. A system (22,28) for searching in the collection is caused to use the data representative of the direction and the co-ordinates to identify data items stored in association with data representative of locations within a spatial range determined by at least the direction and the co-ordinates. |
| US09104692B2 |
Recording backup information for backed-up data items in a data item list
Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for recording backup information for backed-up data items in a data item list. In response to a backup operation of a data set, information is obtained of backed-up data items in the backup operation. Data item entries are maintained for the backed-up data items in a data item list of the backup information for the data set. A determination is made of the backed-up data items corresponding to the data item entries in the data item list. Status lists are added for the entries in the data item list including backed-up status flags having backup information on the backup operations for the backed-up data items corresponding to the data item entries in the data item list. |
| US09104691B2 |
Securing data in a dispersed storage network using an encoding equation
A method begins by dividing a data segment into data segment portions. The method continues by encoding the data segment portions to produce a plurality of sets of encoded data segment portions. A data segment portion is encoded by, first, selecting an encoding equation and an encoding constant(s). The encoding continues by setting a first variable to the data segment portion. The encoding continues by setting a second variable to one of a set of pillar numbers. The encoding continues by executing the encoding equation using the encoding constant, the first variable, and the second variable to produce one of the plurality of sets of encoded data segment portions. The method continues by arranging the plurality of sets of encoded data segment portions into a plurality of encoded data slices. The method continues by sending the plurality of encoded data slices to distributed storage units of a distributed storage network. |
| US09104690B2 |
Transactional memory
Subject matter disclosed herein relates to techniques to perform transactions using a memory device. |
| US09104689B2 |
Method for synchronizing documents for disconnected operation
Described is a method for synchronizing a client with a server. A document score is calculated for each document in a server database. The document score indicates the importance of the respective document to the client. Documents are transferred from the server to the client if their document scores exceed a threshold value. The calculation of the document score can be determined from time the document was created, the number of times the document has been read, the time the document was last accessed, the author of the document and one or more terms in the document. Relationships between the document and other documents on the server database can also affect the document score. |
| US09104688B2 |
Systems and methods for transformation of logical data objects for storage
Systems and methods for compressing a raw logical data object (201) for storage in a storage device operable with at least one storage protocol, creating, reading, writing, optimizatic in and restoring thereof. Compressing the raw logical data object (201) comprises creating in the storage device a compressed logical data object (203) comprising a header (204) and one or more allocated compressed sections with predefined size (205-1-205-2); compressing one or more sequentially obtained chunks of raw data (202-1-202-6) corresponding to the raw logical data object (201) thus giving rise to the compressed data chunks (207-1-207-6); and sequentially accommodating the processed data chunks into: said compressed sections (205-1-205-2) in accordance with an order said chunks received, wherein said compressed sections serve as atomic elements of compression/decompression operations during input/output transactions on the logical data object. |
| US09104676B2 |
Hash algorithm-based data storage method and system
A hash algorithm-based data storage method and apparatus are disclosed, including: pre-configuring L number of backend storage modules and a mapping relationship between identifiers of the backend storage modules and a modulo L operation; calculating a key value of data to be stored using a hash algorithm; performing a modulo L operation on the obtained key value and, using the mapping relationship between identifiers of the backend storage modules and the modulo L operation, outputting the key value in the modulo L operation and the corresponding data to a backend storage module with a corresponding backend storage module identifier; determining a preconfigured hash table in the backend storage module does not contain data to be stored, and storing the data to be stored and the corresponding key value. By using the present invention, requirements on storage devices can be lowered and the storage efficiency can be improved. |
| US09104675B1 |
Inode to pathname support with a hard link database
For enabling a fast reverse lookup of parent directories storing records of hard links to a specified regular file, a file system manager maintains a hard link database (HLDB) storing information for addressing hard links to the regular files having multiple hard links. The HLDB contains a corresponding HLDB file for each regular file having multiple hard links. In a preferred implementation, the inode of each regular file stores the addressing information for one hard link to the regular file, a corresponding HLDB file stores the addressing information for other hard links to the regular file, each HLDB file is a directory accessed by invoking file system manager directory access routines, and the HLDB has a directory tree providing a multi-level hash index for searching the HLDB given the inode number of a regular file. |
| US09104674B1 |
System, method and computer program product for time sharing access control to data
A system, a method, and computer program product is disclosed for time sharing access control to data in a database system and executing a plurality of database processes to avoid contention of the database processes. A data table having a plurality of data groups or partitions is defined via a database management system, and is stored in a computer memory. A plurality of database process/time segments pairs are defined by pairing each of a plurality of database processes with each of a plurality of time segments. The defined pairs are stored in a computer memory. Each of the pairs is associated with at least one of a plurality of data groups or partitions of the data table, and the associations are stored in a computer memory. A request is received by the database management system that one of the database processes be given to access the data table. A time segment for the database process is determined via a computer processor. A database process/time segment pair for the database process is determined by using the determined time segment of the database process. The data group or partition of the data table with which the database process/time segment pair has been associated is determined via a computer processor. Access is allowed to data group or partition of the data table that was determined to be associated with the database process/time segment pair. |
| US09104669B1 |
Audio/video advertising network
Owners of editorial video and/or audio content that is delivered over the Internet or other networks can enroll in an advertising affiliate network. Video and/or audio advertisements, or other marketing messages, are then delivered into the video and/or audio content when the content is accessed by a user. Bypassing of the advertising content may be prevented. |
| US09104668B2 |
Migrating artifacts between service-oriented architecture repositories
A method of migrating artifacts between service-oriented architecture repositories is provided herein. The method includes receiving a request to export an artifact from a first repository. The artifact comprises metadata associated with a service-oriented architecture. Additionally, the method includes retrieving data from one or more aggregated relationships of the artifact. The method also includes packaging the retrieved data into a data store comprising the selected data. |
| US09104660B2 |
Attribution using semantic analysis
A method, system, and computer program product for semantic attribution of a request. Source data statements for the request are received. A selection of a domain for the received source data statements is received. The received source data statements are semantically analyzed, which includes matching elements in the received source data statements to respective one or more entries in an ontology associated with the selected domain. The ontology includes items and relationships that define the selected domain. Each element in the received source data statements is a word or a phrase. The one or more entries are assigned to the matched elements, respectively, to annotate each matched element with a respective annotation consisting of the respective one or more entries. The annotated elements are saved with the respective annotations. |
| US09104655B2 |
Systems and methods for performing contextual classification using supervised and unsupervised training
Computerized systems and methods are disclosed for performing contextual classification of objects using supervised and unsupervised training. In accordance with one implementation, content reviewers may review training objects and submit supervised training data for preprocessing and analysis. The supervised training data may be preprocessed to identify key terms and phrases, such as by stemming, tokenization, or n-gram analysis, and form vectorized objects. The vectorized objects may be used to train one or more models for subsequent classification of objects. In certain implementations, preprocessing or training, among other steps, may be performed in parallel over multiple machines to improve efficiency. The disclosed systems and methods may be used in a wide variety of applications, such as article classification and content moderation. |
| US09104653B2 |
Method, apparatus, and computer storage medium for automatically adding tags to document
A method and apparatus for automatically adding a tag to a document are provided. The method comprises: determining a plurality of candidate tag words corresponding to the document; determining a corpus comprising a plurality of texts; selecting commonly-used words from the corpus as characteristic words; determining, for each of the characteristic words and each of the candidate tag words, a probability for co-occurrence of the candidate tag word with the characteristic word; abstracting characteristic words from the document, and calculating a weight for each of the abstracted characteristic words; and calculating, in the corpus, a weighted probability for co-occurrence of each of the candidate tag words with all of the characteristic words abstracted from the document; selecting the candidate tag word with a high weighted co-occurrence probability as a tag word to be added to the document. |
| US09104649B2 |
Information processing apparatus and program
An information processing apparatus is configured to generate second document data described in a markup language and represents at least a sentence, from first document data described in the markup language and represents a sentence and a plurality of images. The information processing apparatus includes a list screen creating unit configured to create a list screen that includes the plurality of images which can be represented and allows a user to select each of the plurality of images and is configured to display the list screen on a display unit; and a document data creating unit configured to use the first document data to create the second document data in which at least one of the plurality of images included in the list screen is not represented, in response to an instruction input from the user through the list screen. |
| US09104648B2 |
Patent claims analysis system and method
A system and method for facilitating patent grant and patent application claims examination; including the functions of automated importing of patent claims, automated parsing of the claims into their hierarchy, and compression/expansion of the parsed claims to/from the independent claim level. |
| US09104644B2 |
Operating method of software fault-tolerant handling system
An exemplary embodiment provides an operating method of a software fault-tolerant handling system, and more particularly, to an operating method of a fault-tolerant handling system in which a fault recovery is easy in a fault-tolerant technology of copying with various faults which can occur in a computing device. |
| US09104643B2 |
OpenFlow controller master-slave initialization protocol
A method for network controller initialization that includes identifying a controller connected to a network as a primary controller that manages switches in the network. One or more other controllers connected to the network are identified as secondary controllers. A failover priority table is created. The failover table indicates an order that the one or more other controllers will replace the controller as the primary controller in the event that the controller enters a failure mode. The failover priority table is broadcast to the switches in the network. |
| US09104633B2 |
Hardware for performing arithmetic operations
Hardware for performing sequences of arithmetic operations. The hardware comprises a scheduler operable to generate a schedule of instructions from a bitmap denoting whether an entry in a matrix is zero or not. An arithmetic circuit is provided which is configured to perform arithmetic operations on the matrix in accordance with the schedule. |
| US09104630B1 |
Online account reset, rollback, and backup
Online account reset, rollback, and backup are described, including receiving from a user, by one or more computing devices, a request to alter an online account associated with the user; identifying, based on the request, at least a portion of data associated with the user and the online account, the at least the portion of data identified as being within a time window defined by the user; and in response to the request, modifying, using the one or more computing devices, the at least the portion of data within the time window. |
| US09104629B2 |
Autonomic reclamation processing on sequential storage media
Various embodiments for autonomic reclamation of data stored on at least one sequential storage media are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, active data stored on the at least one sequential storage media is identified. The active data is read out from a reclamation memory. The active data is stored in a sequential order by starting at a beginning block address of the at least one sequential storage media. |
| US09104627B2 |
Reusing snapshots in a network data management protocol backup operation
Mechanisms, in a data processing system, are provided for performing a data management operation. These mechanisms identify one or more defined groups of data elements that are a target of the data management operation. One or more previously generated snapshot files associated with the one or more defined groups are identified and a determination is made as to whether at least one previously generated snapshot file of the one or more previously generated snapshot files associated with the one or more defined groups is able to be reused when performing the data management operation. The data management operation is performed based on the determination of whether at least one previously generated snapshot file of the one or more previously generated snapshot files associated with the one or more defined groups is able to be reused when performing the data management operation. |
| US09104624B2 |
Systems, methods, and computer program products for instant recovery of image level backups
Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for instant recovery of a virtual machine (VM) from a compressed image level backup without fully extracting the image level backup file's contents to production storage. The method receives restore parameters and initializes a virtual storage. The method attaches the virtual storage to a hypervisor configured to launch a recovered VM. The method stores virtual disk data changes inflicted by a running operating system (OS), applications, and users in a changes storage. The method provides the ability to migrate the actual VM disk state (taking into account changed disk data blocks accumulated in changes storage) so as to prevent data loss resulting from the VM running during the recovery and accessing virtual storage, to production storage without downtime. In embodiments, the method displays receives restore parameters in an interactive interface and delivers the recovery results via an automated message, such as an email message. |
| US09104622B2 |
Retrieval and recovery of data chunks from alternate data stores in a deduplicating system
For recovery of data chunks from alternate data stores, a method detects a damaged copy of a first data chunk of a deduplicated data object within a first storage pool of plurality of storage pools storing data chunks. The method further locates an undamaged copy of the first data chunk in an alternate storage pool within the plurality of storage pools from a system-wide deduplication index that indexes each data chunk in each storage pool. In addition, the method creating a new object holding the undamaged copy in the first storage pool, the new object linked to the damaged copy through the system-wide deduplication index. |
| US09104621B1 |
Systems and methods for restoring a file
Systems and methods for restoring files and metadata records associated with files are provided herein. Some of the methods include identifying a version of the file, evaluating one or more reverse incremental delta increments, and restoring an arbitrary version of the file based on an arbitrary time reference by assembling the arbitrary version of the file based on the one or more reverse incremental delta increments. |
| US09104620B2 |
Backup method and information processing apparatus
The disclosure includes a backup method executed by a computer, and the backup method includes: determining whether or not a previous backup processing was automatically executed; and upon determining that the previous backup processing was automatically executed, merging a previous backup data generated by the previous backup processing into a current backup data. |
| US09104616B1 |
System and method for maintaining consistent points in file systems
According to one embodiment, in response to a request to write a prime segment of a file system of a storage system, one or more of the storage units are identified based on a prime segment write-map (PSWM). The PSWM includes storage unit identifiers (IDs) identifying the storage units to which a new prime segment should be written. The prime segment is then written in the one or more storage units identified from the PSWM, without writing the prime segment to a remainder of the storage units. The first prime segment is one of a plurality of prime segments collectively representing a prime. The prime contains metadata representing a consistent point of data stored in the file system, including a reference to a root of the file system. The first prime segment can be utilized to restore the file system back to a state represented by the consistent point. |
| US09104609B2 |
Information processing apparatus, system time synchronization method and computer readable medium
The time in the chipset of backup resources is synchronized easily at the system time.An information processing apparatus including: an operational chipset which includes a first Real Time Clock (RTC); a backup chipset which includes a second RTC: a third RTC which times system time; a difference time calculation unit which calculates a difference time between a system time periodically notified of from the first RTC of the operational chipset and the system time which the third RTC times; a holding unit which holds the difference time; a calculation unit which calculates a temporary system time which is set to the second RTC of the backup chipset to which a chipset switching operated, based on the system time of the third RTC and the difference time at the time of the chipset switching; and a configuration unit which sets the temporary system time to the second RTC of the backup chipset. |
| US09104607B2 |
Simulation engine for use in disaster recovery virtualization
An approach is provided for determining disaster recovery capacity. A simulation hypervisor receives streaming metric data, which represents the current production workload of a primary site, from the primary site. The metric data is combined with production data of the backup site by the simulation hypervisor to simulate a recovery event. Using data from the simulating, disaster recovery planning can be performed. |
| US09104606B2 |
Temporal standby list
In one embodiment, a memory management system temporarily maintains a memory page at an artificially high priority level 210. The memory management system may assign an initial priority level 212 to a memory page in a page priority list 202. The memory management system may change the memory page to a target priority level 214 in the page priority list 202 after a protection period 238 has expired. |
| US09104605B1 |
System and method of selectively caching information based on the interarrival time of requests for the same information
A system and method is provided wherein, in one aspect, a currently-requested item of information is stored in a cache based on whether it has been previously requested and, if so, the time of the previous request. If the item has not been previously requested, it may not be stored in the cache. If the subject item has been previously requested, it may or may not be cached based on a comparison of durations, namely (1) the duration of time between the current request and the previous request for the subject item and (2) for each other item in the cache, the duration of time between the current request and the previous request for the other item. If the duration associated with the subject item is less than the duration of another item in the cache, the subject item may be stored in the cache. |
| US09104604B2 |
Preventing unrecoverable errors during a disk regeneration in a disk array
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and system for reducing a probability of generating an unrecoverable error on a disk array during a disk rebuild. In a step, an exemplary embodiment identifies a disk to be replaced in the disk array, the disk array including a spare disk. In another step, an exemplary embodiment locates a region in the disk array that incurs a high number of reads and writes during a period prior to replacing the disk in the disk array. In another step, an exemplary embodiment scrubs data in a region in the disk array that has incurred a high number of accesses. In another step, an exemplary embodiment replaces the disk identified to be replaced with the spare disk in the disk array. In another step, an exemplary embodiment rebuilds data on the replaced disk on the spare disk in the disk array. |
| US09104603B2 |
Method of exact repair of pairs of failed storage nodes in a distributed data storage system and corresponding device
The invention proposes a method and corresponding device for exact repair of pairs of failed storage nodes interconnected in a distributed data storage system, which method and device are particularly efficient with respect to reliability while keeping the use of resources of the distributed storage network low. |
| US09104598B2 |
Systems and methods for medium error reporting and handling in storage devices
Systems and methods are provided that may be used to identify and report multiple information units (e.g., logical blocks) having medium errors within a given composite information structure (e.g., physical block) of a storage device (e.g., such as a hard drive) whenever any single information unit having an error within the same composite information structure is accessed. |
| US09104597B2 |
Destaging cache data using a distributed freezer
Methods, apparatus and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that enable digital information devices having respective storage devices and memories to distributedly store, for a logical volume, data and first and second parity values across corresponding regions of the storage devices. Freezers having a one-to-one correspondence with the storage devices are distributedly stored in the memories. Upon detecting, in a cache, updated data for one or more first regions on the storage devices, existing data from the one or more first regions, and additional data for parity calculations are retrieved from one or more corresponding second regions on the storage devices, and first and the second parity values are calculated using the updated data, the existing data and the additional data. The updated data and the calculated first and second parity values are stored to the freezers, and then destaged from the freezers to the storage devices. |
| US09104594B2 |
Operational efficiency of virtual TLBs
Various mechanisms are disclosed for improving the operational efficiency of a virtual translation look-aside buffer (TLB) in a virtual machine environment. For example, one mechanism fills in entries in a shadow page table (SPT) and additionally, speculatively fills in other entries in the SPT based on various heuristics. Another mechanism allows virtual TLBs (translation look-aside buffers) to cache partial walks in a guest page table tree. Still another mechanism allows for dynamic resizing of the virtual TLB to optimize for run-time characteristics of active workloads. Still another mechanism allows virtual machine monitors (VMMs) to support legacy and enlightened modes of virtual TLB operation. Finally, another mechanism allows the VMM to remove only the stale entries in SPTs when linking or switching address spaces. All these mechanisms, together or in part, increase the operational efficiency of the virtual TLB. |
| US09104591B2 |
Data recovery on cluster failures and ECC enhancements with code word interleaving
Techniques are presented for dealing with errors that arise from cluster fails, where a number of memory cells in the same area fail. An ECC code word can tolerate a given total amount of error while still being able to still be decoded, so that if error due to clusters can be identified and removed or lessened, it may be possible to still decode the word not otherwise decodable. After identifying possible error bit cluster locations, one or more bits in the cluster locations are flipped to see if the data content of the code word can be extracted. For embodiments using LDPC ECC code, uncertainty can be added for the bits of a suspected cluster location. To reduce the effects of cluster failures, code words can be interleaved within a page and the difference code words can have differing levels of ECC capability. |
| US09104590B2 |
Storage system including multiple storage apparatuses and pool virtualization method
A plurality of storage apparatuses including a first and second storage apparatus, wherein said first storage apparatus is configured to have a first virtual volume composed of a plurality of virtual segments, at least said second storage apparatus is configured to have a pool composed of a plurality of real pages, each storage apparatuses is configured to manage a virtual pool comprising one or more pools including at least said pool, said virtual pool is composed of a plurality of virtual pages, each virtual page corresponding to any real page, and said first storage apparatus is configured to receive a write command that specifies an address belonging to an unallocated virtual segment, allocate a free virtual page to said unallocated virtual segment, and write data to the real page corresponding to the allocated virtual page, even when said first storage apparatus does not have a pool composed of real pages. |
| US09104584B2 |
Apparatus and method for performing a complex number operation using a single instruction multiple data (SIMD) architecture
Provided are an apparatus and method for performing a complex number operation using a Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) architecture. A SIMD operation apparatus may perform, in parallel, a real part operation and an imaginary part operation of a plurality of complex numbers. The real part operation and the imaginary part operation may be performed sequentially, or in parallel. |
| US09104583B2 |
On demand allocation of cache buffer slots
Dynamic allocation of cache buffer slots includes receiving a request to perform an operation that requires a storage buffer slot, the storage buffer slot residing in a level of storage. The dynamic allocation of cache buffer slots also includes determining availability of the storage buffer slot for the cache index as specified by the request. Upon determining the storage buffer slot is not available, the dynamic allocation of cache buffer slots includes evicting data stored in the storage buffer slot, and reserving the storage buffer slot for data associated with the request. |
| US09104578B2 |
Defining address ranges used to cache speculative read data
A host read request affects a request address range of a main storage. A speculative address range proximate to the request address range is defined. Speculative data stored in the speculative address range is not requested via the host read request. A criterion is determined that is indicative of future read requests of associated with the speculative data. The speculative data is copied from the main storage to at least one of a non-volatile cache and a volatile cache together with data of the host read request in response to the criterion meeting a threshold. The non-volatile cache and the volatile cache mirror respective portions of the main storage. |
| US09104577B2 |
Optimizing memory bandwidth consumption using data splitting with software caching
A computer processor collects information for a dominant data access loop and reference code patterns based on data reference pattern analysis, and for pointer aliasing and data shape based on pointer escape analysis. The computer processor selects a candidate array for data splitting wherein the candidate array is referenced by a dominant data access loop. The computer processor determines a data splitting mode by which to split the data of the candidate array, based on the reference code patterns, the pointer aliasing, and the data shape information, and splits the data into two or more split arrays. The computer processor creates a software cache that includes a portion of the data of the two or more split arrays in a transposed format, and maintains the portion of the transposed data within the software cache and consults the software cache during an access of the split arrays. |
| US09104574B2 |
System and method for software application remediation
Disclosed is a method and system for software remediation. A data storage device may store one or more sets of related software application image blocks, wherein a set of image blocks is associated with a software application and is generated by parsing components of the software application, such that said image blocks include at least a partial image of a file associated with the application, and at least one of: (1) registry keys and values associated with the application, and (2) operating system objects associated with the application. A communication module may exchange characterization data relating to image blocks with a client computer. A customized check module may be provided for providing the client computer with a set of one or more customized checks, and designate an image block as anomalous based on the result of a check. A remediation module may be provided for repairing the anomalous image block. |
| US09104573B1 |
Providing relevant diagnostic information using ontology rules
Embodiments of methods, systems, and storage medium associated with providing diagnostic information are disclosed herein. In one instance, the method may include applying a pattern to a log line included in a log file accessible by the computing device, to determine whether there is a match between the log line and the pattern. The pattern may be one of a plurality of patterns included in a collection of previously accumulated diagnostic information including one or more relationship descriptions between the pattern and other ones of the plurality of patterns. The method may further include generating and storing one or more additional relationship descriptions in response to determination of a match for the pattern. The additional relationship descriptions may indicate connections between the matched pattern and at least some other patterns included in the diagnostic information. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed. |
| US09104572B1 |
Automated root cause analysis
Various aspects of the performance of computing resources, such as storage volumes, are measured and used to train a probability model. The probability model is used in a query engine that is able to respond receive queries about a computing resource's state. The queries may specify a state of the computing resource and provide a set of measurements of the computing resource's performance. The query engine may use the probability model, which may be in the form of a contingency table, to provide information that indicates one or more most likely causes of the state. |
| US09104567B2 |
Memory-leak identification
A memory-leak source in a data structure can be identified by counting insertions into the data structure and deletions from the data structure for locations in the execution path of a computer program. These insertion and deletion values can be used to identify at least one location as a memory-leak source that corresponds to an imbalance between insertions and deletions during the execution of the computer program. |
| US09104563B2 |
Self-tuning statistical resource leak detection
Self-tuned detection of memory leaks or other resource leaks is described. Sample size and sample rate are set manually or computationally selected. Self-tuning leak detection code uses one or more self-tuning mechanisms to exclude outlier sample points, to perform a second order linear regression, and/or to identify a derivative of a sequence of linear regression slopes. Statistical analysis computationally proactively determines what trend is present: upward, steady, or downward. Analysis may compare a linear regression slope to a threshold at which the slope realizes an upward trend, possibly only after crossing the threshold a specified number of times. Regression calculation may be optimized by setting an origin to the median of the time values and setting a scale to their constant time interval. A watchdog may use self-tuned detection to monitor processes, for efficiently recycling processes to prevent problems caused by resource loss. |
| US09104561B2 |
Failure mode identification and reporting
When a software component is starting (305), such as but not limited to a task or a subtask, the component pushes (310) its identification (ID) onto a stack. The component then executes (315) its other instructions. If the component completes its instructions so that it can terminate normally (320), then it pops (325) the stack, which removes its ID from the stack. If the component fails, such as by not being able to complete its instructions, then it will not be able to pop the stack so its ID will remain in the stack. Another software process can then read the IDs in the stack to identify (330) which components have failed and can automatically take a specified action (335), such as by sending an email message to, sending a text message to, or calling by telephone, a person or persons responsible for that software component. |
| US09104559B2 |
Preventing out-of-space errors for legacy option ROM in a computing system
Preventing out-of-space errors for legacy option ROM in a computing system, including: iteratively for each option ROM in the computing system: loading, into an option ROM memory, the option ROM; executing, from the option ROM memory, the option ROM; and removing, from the option ROM memory, the option ROM. |
| US09104556B2 |
Update block programming order
Certain MLC blocks that tend to be reclaimed before they are full may be programmed according to a programming scheme that programs lower pages first and programs upper pages later. This results in more lower page programming than upper page programming on average. Lower page programming is generally significantly faster than upper page programming so that more lower page programming (and less upper programming) reduces average programming time. |
| US09104555B2 |
Memory system controller
The present disclosure includes methods and devices for a memory system controller. In one or more embodiments, a memory system controller includes a host interface communicatively coupled to a system controller. The system controller has a number of memory interfaces, and is configured for controlling a plurality of intelligent storage nodes communicatively coupled to the number of memory interfaces. The system controller includes logic configured to map between physical and logical memory addresses, and logic configured to manage wear level across the plurality of intelligent storage nodes. |
| US09104549B2 |
Data storage device and method for flash block management
A data storage device is coupled to a host and includes a flash memory and a controller. The flash memory comprises a spare block pool and a data block pool, wherein the spare block pool comprises a plurality of spare blocks, and the data block pool comprises a plurality of data blocks, wherein a spare block count indicates a total number of the spare blocks. The controller receives target data from the host, writes the target data to a current data block, determines whether a current programming page is the first page of the current data block, determines whether the spare block count is less than a spare block count threshold when the current programming page is the first page, and sets data move information for a data merge process when the spare block count is less than the spare block count threshold. |
| US09104546B2 |
Method for performing block management using dynamic threshold, and associated memory device and controller thereof
A method for performing block management is provided. The method is applied to a controller of a Flash memory, where the Flash memory includes a plurality of blocks. The method includes: adjusting a dynamic threshold according to at least one condition; and comparing a valid/invalid page count of a specific block of the plurality of blocks with the dynamic threshold to determine whether to erase the specific block. An associated memory device and a controller thereof are also provided, where the memory device includes the Flash memory and the controller. In particular, the controller includes a read only memory (ROM) arranged to store a program code, and further includes a microprocessor arranged to execute the program code to control access to the Flash memory and manage the plurality of blocks, where under control of the microprocessor, the controller operates according to the method. |
| US09104545B2 |
Thick and thin data volume management
Methods, apparatus and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that include configuring one or more storage devices as a plurality of physical storage units, each of the physical storage units having a storage granularity, and configuring, on the one or more storage devices, a thin provisioned storage pool having a physical number of the physical storage units and a logical number of logical storage units, the physical number being less than the logical number. Upon receiving a request to create a thick data volume having a requested number of the physical storage units, an available number of the physical storage units that are available in the thin provisioned pool can be identified. Upon determining that the requested number is less than the available number, the requested number of the physical storage units can be allocated, from the thin provisioned storage pool, to the thick data volume. |
| US09104543B1 |
Determining locations of network failures
Generally described, systems and methods are provided for detecting locations of failures of network paths. The system collects information from a plurality of nodes and links in a network, aggregates the collected performance information across paths in the network, processes the aggregated performance information for detecting failures on the paths, and determines at least one location for network failures. In some aspects, processing the aggregated information may include determining the performance information on each of the nodes and links in the network. The performance information on each of the nodes and links may be determined by application of a stochastic gradient descent (SGD) technique. |
| US09104539B2 |
Memory system in which extended function can easily be set
According to one embodiment, a memory system, such as a SDIO card, includes a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, a control section, a memory, an extended function section, and an extension register. The extended function section is controlled by the control section. A first command reads data from the extension register in units of given data lengths. A second command writes data to the extension register in units of given data lengths. A extension register includes a first area, and second area different from the first area, information configured to specify a type of the extended function and controllable driver, and address information indicating a place to which the extended function is assigned, the place being on the extension register, are recorded in the first area, and the second area includes the extended function. |
| US09104528B2 |
Controlling the release of private information using static flow analysis
A privacy control system is described herein for controlling dissemination of private information by a program. The privacy control system operates by performing static analysis to determine at least one flow within the program of private information, from a source to a sink. The static analysis is particularly configured to identify two types of flow, including: (a) an unvetted flow of untampered private information from the source to the sink; and (b) a flow of tampered private information from the source to the sink, whether vetted or unvetted. The privacy control system then prompts the user to provide a privacy control decision regarding the flow. The privacy control decision governs whether actual data or anonymized data is provided to the sink, or whether the program is terminated. A runtime system then runs the program in accordance with the privacy control decision. |
| US09104522B2 |
Data rewrite system for vehicle, in-vehicle apparatus and rewrite apparatus
A data rewrite system including an in-vehicle apparatus and a rewrite apparatus is disclosed. The in-vehicle apparatus stores multiple operation data units in multiple storage areas and outputs version information of the operation data units and information about the storage areas to the rewrite apparatus. The rewrite apparatus selects a target storage area, which is a target for data update, from the storage areas of the in-vehicle apparatus by comparing the versions information, of the operation data units with version information of update data units. The rewrite apparatus updates the selected target storage area with the update data unit that corresponds to the operation data unit in the target storage area. |
| US09104520B2 |
Method and apparatus for upgrading application
The present invention provides a method for upgrading an application, and the method includes: obtaining a patch package corresponding to a current installation package of an application; removing a customized information portion from the current installation package and obtaining a data portion of the current installation package; generating a data portion of a new installation package according to the patch package and the data portion of the current installation package; obtaining the new installation package by adding the customized information portion to the data portion and the new installation package; installing the new installation package. |
| US09104518B2 |
Wireless communication terminal and method for securely running industry software
A method for securely running industry software. Industry software and data are stored in an internal storage medium of a wireless communication terminal. A user interface (UI) of the wireless communication terminal includes a UI-customized Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) instruction processing module, and the wireless communication terminal includes a customized SCSI instruction processing module in the wireless communication terminal. The UI sends a customized SCSI instruction from the UI-customized SCSI instruction processing module to interact with the customized SCSI processing module in the wireless communication terminal, so as to load the industry software and the data into a memory of a Personal Computer (PC) to run the industry software and the data in the memory of the PC. After the data are updated, the UI sends a customized SCSI instruction to write updated software or the updated data back into the storage medium of the wireless communication terminal. |
| US09104515B2 |
Floating-point error detection and correction
An embodiment includes a method for detecting a potential floating-point error in an addition or a subtraction instruction included in an operation. The method may include identifying a first operand and a second operand. The first operand and the second operand may be configured to be manipulated during execution of the instruction. The method may include copying a first exponent of the first operand to a first comparison register. The method may also include copying a second exponent of the second operand to a second comparison register. The method may further include comparing the first exponent in the first comparison register to the second exponent in the second comparison register. Based on the comparison, a determination may be made whether the instruction includes a potential floating-point error when executing the instruction using the first operand and the second operand formatted according to a first precision. |
| US09104509B2 |
Providing by one program to another program access to a warning track facility
A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup. |
| US09104508B2 |
Providing by one program to another program access to a warning track facility
A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup. |
| US09104505B2 |
Acceleration prediction in hybrid systems
Predicting acceleration in a hybrid system may comprise determining a number of cross system calls in a first host-accelerator computer architecture running a workload. Host machine overhead and accelerator overhead in the first host-accelerator computer architecture associated with each of the cross system calls may be determined. Communication delay associated with each of the cross system calls in the first host-accelerator computer architecture running a workload may be determined. An application response time may be predicted for a candidate application to be run in a second host-accelerator computer architecture, based at least on the determined host machine overhead, the accelerator overhead, and the communication delay associated with each of the cross system calls in the first host-accelerator computer architecture running a workload. |
| US09104500B1 |
Lock-free job scheduler for multi-processor systems
A scalable job scheduler for a multi-thread, multi-processor system synchronizes and schedules jobs for execution by using lists and jobs counters for the numbers of active jobs. It minimizes synchronization overhead by using atomic operations for incrementing and decrementing the counters. The scheduler assigns jobs for execution, and can awake up an available thread to pick up work. A parent job spawns child jobs and maintains a job counter. Spawned jobs are added to the list for execution and the counter of waiting jobs is incremented. When execution of a job begins, the parent's counter of outstanding child jobs is decremented. A parent job is suspended until its counter of uncompleted spawned child jobs reaches zero. As a job is completed, the scheduler decrements the counter of active jobs, and assigns the next job in the queue to an available thread. |
| US09104497B2 |
Method and system for work load balancing
Method, system, and programs for balancing work load in a distributed system. A plurality of resource units in the distributed system are ranked based a plurality of multi-dimensional load metrics determined from each of the plurality of resource units. The plurality of resource units are divided into a plurality of resource unit groups based on the ranking of the plurality of resource units. At least one pair of resource unit groups is formed. Each of the at least one pair of resource unit groups is assigned with a probability of load balancing action. For each pair of resource unit groups, a load balancing action is determined based on the assigned probability of load balancing action. |