| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09123577B2 |
Air gap isolation in non-volatile memory using sacrificial films
Electrical isolation in non-volatile memory is provided by air gaps formed using sacrificial films of differing etch rates. A high etch rate material is formed in an isolation trench. Flowable chemical vapor deposition processes are used to form high etch rate films, and curing is performed to increase their etch rate. A low etch material is formed over the high etch rate material and provides a controlled etch back between charge storage regions in a row direction. A discrete low etch rate layer can be formed or the high etch rate material can be oxidized to form an upper region with a lower etch rate. A controlled etch back enables formation of a wrap-around dielectric and control gate structure in the row direction with minimized variability in the dimensions of the structures. At least a portion of the high etch rate material is removed to form air gaps for isolation. |
| US09123571B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device, includes a first substrate having a main surface and a rear surface opposing to the main surface, a first circuit including a plurality of transistors formed over the main surface, a first insulating film formed over the main surface to cover the first circuit, a first inductor formed in the first insulating film over the main surface, the first inductor being electrically connected to the first circuit; and a bonding pad formed over the main surface, the bonding pad being located at a first area, the first inductor being located at a second area, the first area being different from the second area in a plan view, and a second substrate having a main surface, a rear surface opposing to the main surface and a second inductor formed over the main surface. |
| US09123570B2 |
Integration scheme for changing crystal orientation in hybrid orientation technology (HOT) using direct silicon bonded (DSB) substrates
Optimizing carrier mobilities in MOS transistors in CMOS ICs requires forming (100)-oriented silicon regions for NMOS and (110) regions for PMOS. Methods such as amorphization and templated recrystallization (ATR) have disadvantages for fabrication of deep submicron CMOS. This invention is a method of forming an integrated circuit (IC) which has (100) and (110)-oriented regions. The method forms a directly bonded silicon (DSB) layer of (110)-oriented silicon on a (100)-oriented substrate. The DSB layer is removed in the NMOS regions and a (100)-oriented silicon layer is formed by selective epitaxial growth (SEG), using the substrate as the seed layer. NMOS transistors are formed on the SEG layer, while PMOS transistors are formed on the DSB layer. An integrated circuit formed with the inventive method is also disclosed. |
| US09123569B1 |
Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor structure with III-V and silicon germanium transistors on insulator
Embodiments for the present invention provide a CMOS structure and methods for fabrication. In an embodiment of the present invention, a CMOS structure comprises a NFET, formed on a wafer, having a gate stack and a channel. A PFET having a gate stack and a channel is also formed on the wafer. The channel of the PFET and the channel of the NFET include semiconductor material formed on III-V semiconductor material, such that the III-V semiconductor material acts like a buried oxide because of a valence band offset between the semiconductor material and the III-V material. There is a height difference between a terminal of the NFET and a terminal of the PFET. In addition, the gate stack NFET is the same height as the gate stack PFET. |
| US09123568B2 |
Encapsulation of closely spaced gate electrode structures
A semiconductor device includes a plurality of NMOS transistor elements, each including a first gate electrode structure above a first active region, at least two of the plurality of first gate electrode structures including a first encapsulating stack having a first dielectric cap layer and a first sidewall spacer stack. The semiconductor device also includes a plurality of PMOS transistor elements, each including a second gate electrode structure above a second active region, wherein at least two of the plurality of second gate electrode structures include a second encapsulating stack having a second dielectric cap layer and a second sidewall spacer stack. Additionally, the first and second sidewall spacer stacks each include at least three dielectric material layers, wherein each of the three dielectric material layers of the first and second sidewall spacer stacks include the same dielectric material. |
| US09123567B2 |
CMOS implementation of germanium and III-V nanowires and nanoribbons in gate-all-around architecture
Architectures and techniques for co-integration of heterogeneous materials, such as group III-V semiconductor materials and group IV semiconductors (e.g., Ge) on a same substrate (e.g. silicon). In embodiments, multi-layer heterogeneous semiconductor material stacks having alternating nanowire and sacrificial layers are employed to release nanowires and permit formation of a coaxial gate structure that completely surrounds a channel region of the nanowire transistor. In embodiments, individual PMOS and NMOS channel semiconductor materials are co-integrated with a starting substrate having a blanket layers of alternating Ge/III-V layers. In embodiments, vertical integration of a plurality of stacked nanowires within an individual PMOS and individual NMOS device enable significant drive current for a given layout area. |
| US09123560B2 |
Light emitting device having improved color rendition
A light emitting device includes a first light emitting diode chip comprising a red wavelength, a second light emitting diode chip comprising a different red wavelength from the wavelength of the first light emitting diode chip, and a plurality of third light emitting diode chips disposed around the first and second light emitting diode chips. The light emitting device emits light in a wavelength region similar to that of solar light, thereby improving color rendition. |
| US09123559B2 |
Method for producing a semiconductor component
Methods for producing a semiconductor component that includes a transistor having a cell structure with a number of transistor cells monolithically integrated in a semiconductor body and electrically connected in parallel. In an example method, first trenches extending from the top side into the semiconductor body are produced, as are second trenches that each extend from the top side deeper into the semiconductor body than each of the first trenches. A first dielectric abutting on a first portion of the semiconductor body is produced at a surface of each of the first trenches. Also produced is a second dielectric at a surface of each of the second trenches. In each of the first trenches, a gate electrode is produced, after which a second portion of the semiconductor body is electrically insulated from the first portion of the semiconductor body by removing a bottom layer of the semiconductor body. |
| US09123558B2 |
Bipolar junction transistor
In accordance with one embodiment, the present invention provides a bipolar junction transistor including an emitter region; a base region; a first isolation between the emitter region and the base region; a gate on the first isolation region and overlapping at least a portion of a periphery of the emitter region; a collector region; and a second isolation between the base region and the collector region. |
| US09123557B2 |
Fast recovery rectifier
The present disclosure provides a rectifier. The rectifier includes a N-type epitaxial layer, a plurality of P-type diffusion regions and a plurality of N-type diffusion regions. The P-type diffusion regions are disposed in the N-type epitaxial layer, and the N-type diffusion regions are respectively disposed in the P-type diffusion regions. Wherein, the P-type diffusion regions are electronically coupled to the N-type diffusion regions. |
| US09123556B2 |
Decoupling capacitor and method of making same
A semiconductor substrate has at least two active regions, each having at least one active device that includes a gate electrode layer, and a shallow trench isolation (STI) region between the active regions. A decoupling capacitor comprises first and second dummy conductive patterns formed in the same gate electrode layer over the STI region. The first and second dummy conductive regions are unconnected to any of the at least one active device. The first dummy conductive pattern is connected to a source of a first potential. The second dummy conductive pattern is connected to a source of a second potential. A dielectric material is provided between the first and second dummy conductive patterns. |
| US09123555B2 |
Co-support for XFD packaging
A microelectronic package has a dielectric element with first and second parallel apertures. A first microelectronic element has contacts overlying the first aperture, and a second microelectronic element has contacts overlying the second aperture. The second microelectronic element can overlie a rear face of the first microelectronic element and the same surface of the dielectric element as the first microelectronic element. First terminals on a second surface of the dielectric element between said first and second apertures can be configured to carry all data signals for read and write access to memory locations within the first and second microelectronic elements. |
| US09123554B2 |
Semiconductor device
This invention is to improve noise immunity to the power supply and ground of a wiring board and a second semiconductor chip in an interior of a semiconductor device. A first semiconductor chip is mounted over a wiring board, and a second semiconductor chip is mounted in a central part located over the first semiconductor chip. Bottom surface electrodes of power and ground systems in the second semiconductor chip are led to their corresponding external coupling electrodes formed in the central part of the wiring board though chip through vias formed in the central part of the first semiconductor chip. The power and ground system bottom surface electrodes, the through vias and the external coupling electrodes are respectively arranged discretely from each other between the power and ground systems. |
| US09123552B2 |
Apparatuses enabling concurrent communication between an interface die and a plurality of dice stacks, interleaved conductive paths in stacked devices, and methods for forming and operating the same
Various embodiments include apparatuses, stacked devices and methods of forming dice stacks on an interface die. In one such apparatus, a dice stack includes at least a first die and a second die, and conductive paths coupling the first die and the second die to the common control die. In some embodiments, the conductive paths may be arranged to connect with circuitry on alternating dice of the stack. In other embodiments, a plurality of dice stacks may be arranged on a single interface die, and some or all of the dice may have interleaving conductive paths. |
| US09123550B2 |
Semiconductor devices using air spaces to separate conductive structures and methods of manufacturing the same
A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a conductive pattern (e.g., a contact plug) on an active region of the substrate and having respective first and second sidewalls on opposite first and second sides of the conductive pattern, and first and second conductive lines (e.g., bit lines) on the substrate on respective ones of the first and second sides of conductive pattern and separated from the respective first and second sidewalls by asymmetric first and second air spaces. |
| US09123545B2 |
Semiconductor device with single-event latch-up prevention circuitry
A semiconductor device includes a parasitic silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) and a first transistor. The parasitic SCR includes a parasitic pnp bipolar junction transistor (BJT) and a parasitic npn BJT. The first transistor is coupled between a first power supply node and an emitter of the parasitic pnp BJT. The first transistor includes a first terminal coupled to the first power supply node, a second terminal coupled to the emitter of the parasitic pnp BJT, and a control terminal. The first transistor is not positioned between a base of the pnp BJT and the first power supply node. The first transistor limits current conducted by the parasitic pnp BJT following a single-event latch-up (SEL) event. |
| US09123544B2 |
Semiconductor device and method
An electrical device includes a semiconductor chip. The semiconductor chip includes a routing line. An insulating layer is arranged over the semiconductor chip. A solder deposit is arranged over the insulating layer. A via extends through an opening of the insulating layer to electrically connect the routing line to the solder deposit. A front edge line portion of the via facing the routing line is substantially straight, has a concave curvature or has a convex curvature of a diameter greater than a maximum lateral dimension of the via. |
| US09123543B1 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
A semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same are provided. The semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor die including a bond pad, a redistribution layer, and a solder ball. The redistribution layer is formed by sequentially plating copper and nickel, sequentially plating nickel and copper, or sequentially plating copper, nickel, and copper. The redistribution layer includes a nickel layer in order to prevent a crack from occurring in a copper layer. Further, a projection is formed in an area of the redistribution layer or a dielectric layer to which the solder ball is welded and corresponds, so that an area of the redistribution layer to which the solder ball is welded increases, thereby increasing bonding power between the solder ball and the redistribution layer. |
| US09123542B2 |
Plasma etching method
A plasma etching method forms a tapered recess portion in a wide-gap semiconductor substrate. The method includes forming on the substrate K an etching film having an etching speed higher than that of the substrate K, and forming a mask M having an opening on the high-speed etching film. The substrate K with the etching film and the mask is then placed on a platen and heated to a temperature equal to or higher than 200 ° C., a plasma is generated from an etching gas supplied into a processing chamber, and a bias potential is applied to the platen to etch substrate. |
| US09123540B2 |
Apparatus for high speed signal processing interface
Signal IO protection devices referenced to a single supply are provided herein. In certain implementations, a protection device includes a first silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) and a first diode for providing protection between a signal node and a power supply network, such as a power low supply network or a power high supply network. The SCR and diode structures are integrated in a common circuit layout, such that certain wells and active regions are shared between structures. In other implementations, a protection device includes first and second SCRs for providing protection between the signal node and the power low supply network or between the signal node and the power high supply network, and the SCR structures are integrated in a common circuit layout. The protection devices are suitable for single cell data conversion interface protection to a single supply in sub 3V operation. |
| US09123531B2 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device, semiconductor device and substrate processing apparatus
An oxide film capable of suppressing reflection of a lens is formed under a low temperature. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a metal-containing oxide film on a substrate by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times, the cycle comprising: (a) supplying a metal-containing source to the substrate; (b) supplying an oxidizing source to the substrate; and (c) supplying a catalyst to the substrate. |
| US09123530B2 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device, substrate processing method and substrate processing apparatus
Provided are: forming an oxycarbonitride film, an oxycarbide film or an oxide film on a substrate by alternately performing a specific number of times: forming a first layer containing the specific element, nitrogen and carbon, on the substrate, by alternately performing a specific number of times, supplying a first source containing the specific element and a halogen-group to the substrate in a processing chamber, and supplying a second source containing the specific element and an amino-group to the substrate in the processing chamber; and forming a second layer by oxidizing the first layer by supplying an oxygen-containing gas, and an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrogen-containing gas to the substrate in the processing chamber. |
| US09123529B2 |
Method for reprocessing semiconductor substrate, method for manufacturing reprocessed semiconductor substrate, and method for manufacturing SOI substrate
A method suitable to reprocess a semiconductor substrate is provided. A semiconductor substrate in which a projection including a damaged semiconductor region and an insulating layer is provided in a peripheral portion of the semiconductor substrate is subjected to etching treatment for removing the insulating layer and to etching treatment for removing the damaged semiconductor region selectively with a non-damaged semiconductor region left using a mixed solution including nitric acid, a substance dissolving a semiconductor material included in the semiconductor substrate and oxidized by the nitric acid, a substance controlling a speed of oxidation of the semiconductor material and a speed of dissolution of the oxidized semiconductor material, and nitrous acid, in which the concentration of the nitrous acid is higher than or equal to 10 mg/l and lower than or equal to 1000 mg/l. Through these steps, the semiconductor substrate is reprocessed. |
| US09123522B2 |
Broadband ion beam analyzer
A broadband ion beam analyzer, used for isolating required ions from a broadband ion beam, comprises an upper magnetic pole (1), a lower magnetic pole (2), an upper excitation coil (3), a lower excitation coil (4), an analysis grating (7), and a magnetic yoke (5 and 6). The upper magnetic pole (1) and the lower magnetic pole (2) are both provided with a camber-shaped incident-end boundary (101) and a camber-shaped emergence side boundary (102). The camber radii (Rb) of the incident-end boundary (101) and of the emergence-end boundary (102) are equal to the deflection radius (R) of the required ions in the magnetic field. The required ions in the broadband ion beam are allowed to focus ideally at the mid-section of the magnetic field, to acquire an ideal focal spot having a size that equals to zero. This allows for acquisition of the optimal resolution by selecting an appropriate width for a minimal analysis gap (701), thus implementing complete isolation of the required ions from other ions in the broadband ion beam. |
| US09123511B2 |
Process kit for RF physical vapor deposition
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to a process kit for a semiconductor processing chamber, and a semiconductor processing chamber having a kit. More specifically, embodiments described herein relate to a process kit including a cover ring, a shield, and an isolator for use in a physical deposition chamber. The components of the process kit work alone and in combination to significantly reduce particle generation and stray plasmas. In comparison with existing multiple part shields, which provide an extended RF return path contributing to RF harmonics causing stray plasma outside the process cavity, the components of the process kit reduce the RF return path thus providing improved plasma containment in the interior processing region. |
| US09123505B1 |
Apparatus and methods for implementing predicted systematic error correction in location specific processing
A method of modifying an upper layer of a workpiece using a gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) is described. The method includes collecting parametric data relating to an upper layer of a workpiece, and determining a predicted systematic error response for applying a GCIB to the upper layer to alter an initial profile of a measured attribute by using the parametric data. Additionally, the method includes identifying a target profile of the measured attribute, directing the GCIB toward the upper layer of the workpiece, and spatially modulating an applied property of the GCIB, based at least in part on the predicted systematic error response and the parametric data, as a function of position on the upper layer of the workpiece to achieve the target profile of the measured attribute. |
| US09123497B2 |
Color filter substrate for display device integrated with touch screen and method for fabricating the same
A color filter substrate for a display device includes a first protection layer on a plurality of touch sensing electrodes and touch driving electrode arrays; a bridge on the first protection layer and connecting the plurality of touch sensing electrodes; a second protection layer on the bridge; a black matrix on the second protection layer; a color filter layer on the black matrix, wherein the plurality of touch sensing electrodes include a first mesh pattern formed by crossing of first metal lines, the plurality of touch driving electrode arrays include a plurality of second mesh patterns formed by crossing of second metal lines, wherein the black matrix is formed at regions corresponding to the first and second metal lines, and wherein a line width of the black matrix is equal to or greater than each of the metal lines forming the first and second mesh patterns. |
| US09123495B2 |
Auxiliary trip device for tripping a circuit breaker
An auxiliary trip unit for a circuit breaker comprises: a drive part with a movable blade, a latch fitted pivoting around a swivelling axis and designed to secure the blade in a neutral position, against a flexible bias force, until movement of the latch takes place to a released position, a nose of the latch salient in a direction passing through the swivelling axis so as to comprise a salient end where positive latching of the blade on the latch takes place in the neutral position. The latch collaborates with the blade to receive a thrust force acting in the direction of resetting of the latch to its latching position. |
| US09123494B2 |
Electromagnetic relay
An electromagnetic relay including an electromagnet block having a rod-shaped iron core, a coil wound around the rod-shaped iron core, and a spool interposed between the coil and iron core. A yoke having one end section extends to a section at a side of a magnet pole section of the iron core. An end section of the yoke is arranged so that the magnet pole section has a gap on a base side. A moving iron is pivotably supported by an elastic support of a hinge spring. The electromagnet block is magnetized wherein a section drawn in the moving iron is drawn to the magnet pole section and pivoted to drive a contact switching unit. The hinge spring includes an elastic contacting portion extending toward an opposite side to the elastic support. The moving iron is integrated with a card member that comes in contact with the elastic contacting portion. |
| US09123493B2 |
Microelectromechanical switches for steering of RF signals
A switch includes a shuttle having an elongated length resiliently supported at opposing ends thereof and configured to move along a motion axis in response to an applied voltage. A shuttle switch portion includes a plurality of shuttle contact fingers extending transversely from opposing sides of the shuttle. A common contact at a common terminal side of the shuttle includes a plurality of contact fingers respectively interdigitated with the shuttle contact fingers. First and second terminal contacts are adjacent a switched terminal side of the shuttle, and include first terminal contact fingers and second terminal contact fingers respectively interdigitated with shuttle contact fingers. The shuttle switch portion is configured to selectively connect the common contact to the first terminal contact or the second terminal contact. |
| US09123487B2 |
Mechanical inertial igniter with high-height drop safety feature for thermal batteries and the like
A method for initiating a thermal battery including: releasing an engagement between an element and a striker mass upon an acceleration time and magnitude greater than a first threshold; and moving at least one member into a path of the element to prevent the element from releasing the striker mass only where the acceleration time and magnitude is greater than a second threshold, the second threshold being greater than the first threshold. |
| US09123486B2 |
Tactile feedback apparatus
A tactile feedback apparatus is disclosed. The tactile feedback apparatus includes at least one tactile feedback unit. The feedback tactile sense unit includes at least one feedback electrode, a dielectric layer and at least one reference electrode. A common reference potential is formed by a user's finger and the tactile feedback apparatus using the reference electrode. An electric filed is generated on the user's finger by the dielectric layer and the feedback electrode to provide a tactile feedback. Besides, the tactile feedback apparatus also provides a touch sensing function. |
| US09123484B2 |
Half-automatic switch
A half-automatic switch is operated in concert with a movement detecting sensor, and is also manually driven to supply power to an electric apparatus. The driving of the half-automatic switch is stopped when it is manually turned off or a signal from the movement detecting sensor is not provided. When the driving of the half-automatic switch is stopped, it is again manually driven irrespective of whether the signal from the movement detecting sensor is provided. |
| US09123481B2 |
Mounting of splitter plates in the switch pole of a circuit breaker
An embodiment of the invention relates to a switch pole of a circuit breaker having two pole shells between which are disposed, in the assembled state, at least one switching contact, current-carrying elements and an arc quenching device having an arc runner plate and at least one splitter plate delimiting an arc chute, wherein at least one slot for accommodating the splitter and/or arc runner plate is provided between the pole shells. In at least one embodiment, there is provided inside between the pole shells a functional component having a least one slot spaced apart from the pole shells which is used to accommodate the at least one splitter and/or arc runner plate. |
| US09123478B2 |
Power tool switching device
A power tool switching device, in particular for portable power tools, includes at least one switching unit having at least one movably mounted control element configured to actuate a mechanical, electrical and/or electronic switching element. The power tool switching device further includes at least one guide unit, which, upon an actuation of the control element along a direction of main extent of the control element, is configured to convert a movement of the control element along the direction of main extent at least into a movement of the control element running transversely in relation to the direction of main extent. |
| US09123477B2 |
Ultracapacitors employing phase change materials
Implementations and techniques for employing phase change materials in ultracapacitor devices or systems are generally disclosed. |
| US09123474B2 |
Multilayered ceramic capacitor and mounting board therefor
There is provided a multilayer ceramic capacitor including a ceramic body, first to third capacitor parts, first and second internal connection conductors, and first to fourth external electrodes, wherein the first capacitor part is connected in series with the second internal connection conductor, and the second capacitor part is connected in series with the first internal connection conductor. |
| US09123473B2 |
Structural capacitor, connector and communication apparatus using the connector
The present disclosure discloses a structural capacitor, a connector comprising the structural capacitor and a communication apparatus using the connector. The structural capacitor comprises a rod and a holder. The rod comprises a first section and a second section connected with the first section, and the holder comprises a through hole. The first section and the second section are fitted into the through hole to accomplish the connection between the first section and the second section in an axial direction. The connector of the present disclosure features a simple structure, a convenient manufacturing process and a low cost. The communication apparatus of the present disclosure has advantages such as a simple manufacturing process, parameters that can be easily guaranteed, a low processing cost and a stable product performance. |
| US09123472B2 |
High capacity multilayer ceramic capacitor and method of manufacturing the same
There is disclosed a multilayer ceramic capacitor and a method of manufacturing the same. The multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a multilayer body having a first side and a second side opposite to each other and having a third side and a fourth side connecting the first side to the second side, a plurality of inner electrodes formed in the multilayer body and having distal edges exposed to the first side or the second side, first and second side members formed on the first and second sides to cover the distal edges of the plurality of inner electrodes, and outer electrodes formed on the third side and the fourth side to be electrically connected to the inner electrodes. An angle between a virtual line connecting the distal edges of the plurality of inner electrodes and the first side member or the second side member is less than 90° (π/2). |
| US09123467B2 |
Switch wear leveling
An apparatus for switch wear leveling includes a switching module that controls switching for two or more pairs of switches in a switching power converter. The switching module controls switches based on a duty cycle control technique and closes and opens each switch in a switching sequence. The pairs of switches connect to a positive and negative terminal of a DC voltage source. For a first switching sequence a first switch of a pair of switches has a higher switching power loss than a second switch of the pair of switches. The apparatus includes a switch rotation module that changes the switching sequence of the two or more pairs of switches from the first switching sequence to a second switching sequence. The second switch of a pair of switches has a higher switching power loss than the first switch of the pair of switches during the second switching sequence. |
| US09123463B2 |
Magnetic tunnel junction device
The output voltage of an MRAM is increased by means of an Fe(001)/MgO(001)/Fe(001) MTJ device, which is formed by microfabrication of a sample prepared as follows: A single-crystalline MgO (001) substrate is prepared. An epitaxial Fe(001) lower electrode (a first electrode) is grown on a MgO(001) seed layer at room temperature, followed by annealing under ultrahigh vacuum. A MgO(001) barrier layer is epitaxially formed on the Fe(001) lower electrode (the first electrode) at room temperature, using a MgO electron-beam evaporation. A Fe(001) upper electrode (a second electrode) is then formed on the MgO(001) barrier layer at room temperature. This is successively followed by the deposition of a Co layer on the Fe(001) upper electrode (the second electrode). The Co layer is provided so as to increase the coercive force of the upper electrode in order to realize an antiparallel magnetization alignment. |
| US09123462B2 |
Magneto-rheological fluid and clutch using the same
A magneto-rheological fluid includes: a magnetic particle mixture; and a dispersion medium in which the magnetic particle mixture is dispersed. The magnetic particle mixture includes first magnetic particles and second magnetic particles. The first magnetic particles have an average particle size greater than or equal to 1 μm and less than or equal to 50 μm. The second magnetic particles have an average particle size greater than or equal to 20 nm and less than or equal to 200 nm, and have surfaces provided with a surface modified layer. A proportion of the second magnetic particles in the magnetic particle mixture is greater than or equal to 2 wt % and less than or equal to 10 wt %. |
| US09123457B2 |
Differential transmission cable and method of manufacturing the same
A differential transmission cable includes at least one pair of inner conductors arranged in parallel and extending parallel to each other, and a foamed insulating material formed on the inner conductors by a collective extrusion coating and molding of a resin material by using a chemical foaming method and have a variation of foaming degree of not more than 1%. The variation of foaming degree is defined as a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value among foaming degrees (%) of the foamed insulating material at 20 positions at intervals of 50 cm in a longitudinal direction in an arbitrary part of 10 m cut out from the differential transmission cable. |
| US09123453B2 |
Cable gland
The invention relates to a cable gland (10) for a cable (20), comprising an outer shield (26), a cable sleeve (21) enclosing the outer shield (26) and an anti-kink grommet (22) which is injection molded externally onto the cable sleeve (21) and has stop means for the cable gland (10). Simple and reliable contact is achieved in that the cable gland (10) a) has a substantially hollow cylindrical electrically conductive cable gland body (11) which is pushed from one side as far as the stop means over the anti-kink grommet (22) and projects over the anti-kink grommet (22) with the end opposite the stop means, b) has a union nut (12) which can be screwed on the cable gland body (11) and is pushed from the other side as far as the stop means over the anti-kink grommet (22), and c) has an electrically conductive substantially hollow cylindrical contact ring (14) which can be pushed over the cable (20) in a contacting manner into the projecting end of the cable gland body (11) and is designed for receiving and fastening the outer shielding (26) of the cable (20) with contact. |
| US09123447B2 |
Memory, memory system including the same and method for operating memory
A memory may include a plurality of word lines to which one or more memory cells are connected, and a control unit suitable for activating and precharging a first word line that is selected based on an address of a high-activated word line during a target refresh operation while sequentially activating and precharging the plurality of word lines in a refresh operation, wherein the control unit is suitable for writing a test data to one or more first memory cells connected to the first word line during the target refresh operation in a test mode, wherein the high-activated word line is a word line activated over a reference number or a reference frequency, among the plurality of word lines. |
| US09123444B2 |
Method of testing coherency of data storage in multi-processor shared memory system
A method of testing the coherency of data storage in a memory shared by multiple processor cores through core interconnects in a device under test (DUT) includes running test patterns including data transactions between the processor cores and the shared memory, and comparing the results of the data transactions with expected results. The test patterns include false sharing operations and irritator operations causing memory thrashing. |
| US09123443B2 |
Memory device, memory management device, and memory management method
Disclosed is a memory device which receives a check command and check information from a Central Processing Unit (CPU), reads data written in a predetermined area of a memory based on the check information in response to the check command, and checks a data pattern of the data read based on the check information. |
| US09123441B1 |
Backward compatible dynamic random access memory device and method of testing therefor
A method for testing a memory device. The method can include coupling the memory device to a test apparatus and determining whether each of the memory cells in the memory device is within a first specification range. Each of the cells that fall outside of the first range can be identified. Each of the cells that meet the second specification range can be tested. The method can include selecting a tile associated with a highest number of cells that fall outside of the second range. A resource can then be used to repair each of the cells that fall outside of the second range for a tile associated with a fewer number of cells that fall outside of the second range such that a first number of tiles meets the first range and a second number of tiles meets the second range such that the first number the second number. |
| US09123437B1 |
Scaleable look-up table based memory
An integrated circuit having a logic element that includes an array of storage elements convertibly functioning as either a configuration random access memory (CRAM) or a static random access memory (SRAM) is provided. The logic element includes first and second pairs of data paths having dedicated multiplexers. In one embodiment, the first and second pairs of data paths are multiplexed into bit lines of a row of the array. The logic element also includes a data path control block generating control signals for each of the dedicated multiplexers. The control signals determine whether the storage elements function as a CRAM or a SRAM. A method for selectively configuring a memory array between a CRAM mode and SRAM mode are provided. |
| US09123427B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit for low and high voltage operations
A semiconductor integrated circuit comprising a first circuit area for a low voltage operation and a second circuit area for a high voltage operation. The circuit areas comprise two vertically stacked backend patterned metal layers that are separated by an inter-metallic dielectric (IMD). The two metal layers and the IMD form a combination that is operable at the low voltage. The first circuit area uses a first portion of the combination for operating at the low voltage and the second circuit area uses a second portion of the combination for routing at the high voltage, the two metal layers in the second portion being interconnected through the IMD by via hole, for withstanding the high voltage. The first portion may comprise an array of magnetic random access memory (MRAM) devices and the second circuit area may comprise a display drive circuit. |
| US09123424B2 |
Optimizing pass voltage and initial program voltage based on performance of non-volatile memory
A programming techniques adaptively sets a pass voltage and an initial program voltage based on a programming speed of a set of memory cells. In one pass of a multi-pass programming operation, a programming speed-indicating program voltage is obtained. For example, this can be a final program voltage or a program voltage at another programming milestone. A pass voltage is determined for another programming pass of the multi-pass programming operation, by providing an adjustment to a reference pass voltage. An initial program voltage is determined for the another programming pass based on an offset from the programming speed-indicating program voltage. The initial program voltage is further adjusted to counteract an effect of the adjustment to a reference pass voltage. The adjustment to the initial program voltage is opposite in polarity and smaller in magnitude than the adjustment to the reference pass voltage. |
| US09123417B1 |
Content addressable memory with base-three numeral system
A CAM cell is disclosed that can be selectively configured to store either base-2 data words or base-3 data words. When configured to store base-3 data words, the quaternary CAM cell compares 3 comparand bits representative of a base-3 comparand value with the base-3 data value stored in the CAM cell. Storing base-3 data words in such CAM cells increases the data storage density of associated CAM arrays. |
| US09123414B2 |
Memory systems and memory programming methods
Memory systems and memory programming methods are described. According to one aspect, a memory system includes program circuitry configured to provide a program signal to a memory cell to program the memory cell from a first memory state to a second memory state, detection circuitry configured to detect the memory cell changing from the first memory state to the second memory state during the provision of the program signal to the memory cell to program the memory cell, and wherein the program circuitry is configured to alter the program signal as a result of the detection and to provide the altered program signal to the memory cell to continue to program the memory cell from the first memory state to the second memory state. |
| US09123410B2 |
Memory controller for reducing capacitive coupling in a cross-point memory
The present disclosure relates to a memory controller. The memory controller may include a memory controller module configured to identify a target word line in response to a memory access request, the target word line included in a cross-point memory, the memory controller module further configured to perform a memory access operation on a memory cell of the cross-point memory, the memory cell coupled between the target word line and a bit line; and a word line control module configured to float at least one adjacent word line adjacent the target word line, the floating comprising decoupling the at least one adjacent word line from at least one of a first voltage source or a second voltage source. In some embodiments, the floating reduces an effective capacitance associated with the target word line during the memory access operation. |
| US09123407B2 |
Devices and methods for deciding data read start
A data read start decision device includes: a storing circuit configured to store code key data; a read check circuit configured to output a read start signal in response to code key data read from the storing circuit, and a controller configured to start reading environment setting data from the storing circuit in response to the read start signal. The read check circuit is configured to at least one of: receive the read start signal from the controller and transfer the read start signal to the controller in response to the read code key data; and generate the read start signal based on the read code key data and output the read start signal to the controller. |
| US09123404B2 |
Self clocking for data extraction
A self clocking data extraction method is shown that is tolerant of timing jitter, data skew and the presence of multiple edges per data bit. The data is sampled when the following criterion are met: There is at least one edge across any track (the clock assures this criteria is met), followed by no edges in any track for a defined period of time (T), and all edge activity must occur in a period of time less than T (to keep from detecting false samples). This method enables the handling of trace data signals with poor electrical characteristics that can not be recorded by methods known in the prior art. |
| US09123401B2 |
Non-volatile memory array and method of using same for fractional word programming
A non-volatile memory device that includes N planes of non-volatile memory cells (where N is an integer greater than 1). Each plane of non-volatile memory cells includes a plurality of memory cells configured in rows and columns. Each of the N planes includes gate lines that extend across the rows of the memory cells therein but do not extend to others of the N planes of non-volatile memory cells. A controller is configured to divide each of a plurality of words of data into N fractional-words, and program each of the N fractional-words of each word of data into a different one of the N planes of non-volatile memory cells. The controller uses a programming current and a program time period for the programming, and can be configured to vary the programming current by a factor and inversely vary the program time period by the factor. |
| US09123396B2 |
Semiconductor apparatus
A semiconductor device may include first conductive patterns coupled to a common source and selection lines of a memory block formed at a substrate, second conductive patterns configured to form a bit line coupled to the memory block, and third conductive patterns configured to transmit a block selection signal to couple local lines of the memory block to global lines. The first to third conductive patterns are arranged in different layers over the memory block. |
| US09123395B2 |
Stack bank type semiconductor memory apparatus capable of improving alignment margin
A semiconductor memory apparatus is capable of improving the alignment margin for a bank and sufficiently ensuring a space for forming a global input/output line. The semiconductor memory apparatus includes a stack bank structure having at least two sub-banks continuously stacked without disconnection of data signal lines, and a control block arranged at one side of the stack bank structure to simultaneously control column-related signals of the sub-banks. |
| US09123394B2 |
Memory system and method using stacked memory device dice
A method and apparatus for organizing memory for a computer system including a plurality of memory devices, connected to a logic device, particularly a memory system having a plurality of stacked memory dice connected to a logic die, with the logic device having capability to analyze and compensate for differing delays to the stacked devices stacking multiple dice divided into partitions serviced by multiple buses connected to a logic die, to increase throughput between the devices and logic device allowing large scale integration of memory with self-healing capability. |
| US09123392B1 |
Non-volatile 3D memory with cell-selectable word line decoding
A three-dimensional array of memory elements is formed across multiple layers of planes positioned at different distances above a semiconductor substrate. The memory elements are each accessible by a word line in a plane and a local bit line. The three-dimensional array includes a two-dimensional array of pillar lines through the multiple layers of planes. The pillar lines are of a first type that act as local bit lines and a second type that provide access to the word lines by having respective memory elements preset to a permanently low resistance state for connecting second-type pillar lines for exclusive access to respective word lines. An array of metal lines on the substrate is switchably connected to the vertical bit lines to provide access to the local bit lines and the word lines. |
| US09123390B2 |
Method and apparatus of changing device identification codes of a memory integrated circuit device
In the disclosed technology, the device identification code of a memory integrated circuit is changeable. In some cases, multiple device identification codes are stored on the memory integrated circuit, and multiple device identification code selection data are stored on the memory integrated circuit. A device identification code register can store a selected device identification code. |
| US09123389B1 |
Memory device, method of refreshing the same, and system including the same
A method of refreshing a memory device includes counting the number of accesses to each of a plurality of memory blocks, comparing the counted numbers of accesses resulting from the counting with a first reference count, and performing an additional refresh operation on a corresponding memory block according to a comparison result. |
| US09123385B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, program, and surveillance system
An electronic apparatus includes a thumbnail preparation unit configured to retrieve thumbnail images, each thumbnail image representing a scene of a different time of one or more moving images, a first thumbnail line display unit configured to time sequentially display a first plurality of thumbnail images corresponding to at least a part of one of the moving images as a first thumbnail line, a second thumbnail line display unit configured to display a second plurality of thumbnail images corresponding to a marked part of the moving images as a second thumbnail line, and a thumbnail shifting unit configured to shift a selection of a thumbnail along the second thumbnail line and update the first thumbnail line to display at least one thumbnail image of a temporally adjacent part of the marked part of the moving image corresponding to the newly selected thumbnail in response to a user instruction. |
| US09123383B1 |
Zero phase start estimation in readback signals
A data storage system identifies analog-to-digital conversion samples with amplitude below a certain threshold. Remaining samples are grouped according to phase into one or more quadrants. A multi-coordinate with overlapping quadrants is used to further differentiate sample points. The system then computes an average phase for zero phase start estimation. |
| US09123382B1 |
Non-volatile caching for sequence of data
Operation of a Data Storage Device (DSD) including a Non-Volatile Semiconductor Memory (NVSM) and at least one disk. A size value is determined corresponding to a sequence of data to be read from or stored in the DSD. If the size value is less than a threshold value, the sequence of data is stored in the NVSM. If the size value is greater than the threshold value, a first portion of the sequence of data is stored in the NVSM and at least a remaining portion of the sequence of data is stored on the at least one disk. The threshold value is based on at least a preparation time for accessing data from the at least one disk and a throughput value of the NVSM for storing data in or retrieving data from the NVSM. |
| US09123377B1 |
Apparatus and method for allowing passage of a leader through a tape drive tape path
A tape drive for use with a tape may comprise a head for performing read and/or write operations on the tape, a drive leader that is cooperable with the tape for moving the tape through the tape drive, and a retraction mechanism for retracting the tape, the drive leader and/or a cartridge leader attached to the tape away from the head to allow at least a portion of the drive leader to pass by the head without contacting the head. The retraction mechanism may include a movable pin that is engageable with the tape, the cartridge leader and/or the drive leader, the pin being movable from a first position proximate the head to a second position disposed further away from the head than the first position. |
| US09123376B2 |
Line-shaped material conveyance mechanism, line-shaped material conveyance method, and tape conveyance mechanism
A line-shaped material conveyance mechanism includes first and second support members, a guide groove, a first rotary arm, and a second rotary arm. One end of the first rotary arm is pivotally supported near the guide groove by a first rotary shaft. The other end of the first rotary arm connects one end of the second rotary arm in a state that can be rotated. A third support member is disposed on the other end of the second rotary arm. The third support member is guided and moves along the guide groove by rotating the first rotary arm around the first rotary shaft. |
| US09123369B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining position of multiple drive heads
Determining the radial position of a first read head of a storage device includes reading servo data from a storage media platter surface using the first read head, deriving from that servo data a first positron error signal representing a first estimate of the radial position of the first read head, reading the servo data from the storage media platter surface using a different read head, deriving from that servo data a second position error signal representing an estimate of the radial position of the different read head, and combining the first estimate of the radial position of the first read head and the estimate of the radial position of the different read head to obtain a revised estimate of the radial position of the first read head. The combining could include taking account of a known positional offset between the first read head and the different read head. |
| US09123367B1 |
Swage mount having a mixture of a conductive material and a coating material and method of manufacturing the swage mount
A swage mount is manufactured for attaching a head suspension assembly to a head actuator arm for a hard disk drive. A conductive material is deposited on a predetermined part of the swage mount. A coating material is deposited on the swage mount including the predetermined part. Heat is applied to the swage mount, forming a mixture of the conductive material and the coating material. The mixture is conductive and supports a reliable connection between the swage mount and other disk drive components. Furthermore, the mixture enhances cleanliness by reducing particles shed from the swage mount. The conductive material is preferably gold, and the coating material is preferably nickel-based. |
| US09123364B1 |
Base plate with relief ring for suspension assembly with modified deformation characteristics
A base plate system including a base plate with first and second opposite surfaces, a boss tower extending from the first surface of the base plate and having an outer surface, a swaging hole extending through a height of the boss tower and a height of the base plate, and a relief channel recessed in the first surface of the base plate and extending around at least a portion of the outer surface of the boss tower, wherein the relief channel comprises a shape that is different from a shape of the outer surface of the boss tower. |
| US09123361B1 |
Reader with at least two-spin detectors
A later spin valve multi-reader includes at least two spin detectors, a spin injector and a spin diffusion medium. The spin diffusion medium bridges the spin detectors and the spin injector. Each of the spin detectors detects a unique spin accumulation signal. |
| US09123356B2 |
Detecting track information from overlapping signals read from a data storage medium
Detecting track information involves receiving first and second overlapping track signals from first and second read elements that read first and second tracks from a data storage medium. Information of the first and second tracks is estimated using the respective first and second track signals. An improved information estimate of the first track is obtained using the first track signal and the estimated information of the second track, and an improved information estimate of the second track is obtained using the second track signal and the estimated information of the first track. First and second track data are decoded using the respective improved information estimates of the first and second tracks. |
| US09123352B2 |
Ambient noise compensation system robust to high excitation noise
A speech enhancement system controls the gain of an excitation signal to prevent uncontrolled gain adjustments. The system includes a first device that converts sound waves into operational signals. An ambient noise estimator is linked to the first device and an echo canceller. The ambient noise estimator estimates how loud a background noise would be near the first device before or after an echo cancellation. The system then compares the ambient noise estimate to a current ambient noise estimate near the first device to control a gain of an excitation signal. |
| US09123351B2 |
Speech segment determination device, and storage medium
A speech segment determination device includes a frame division portion, a power spectrum calculation portion, a power spectrum operation portion, a spectral entropy calculation portion and a determination portion. The frame division portion divides an input signal in units of frames. The power spectrum calculation portion calculates, using an analysis length, a power spectrum of the input signal for each of the frames that have been divided. The power spectrum operation portion adds a value of the calculated power spectrum to a value of power spectrum in each of frequency bins. The spectral entropy calculation portion calculates spectral entropy using the power spectrum whose value has been increased. The determination portion determines, based on a value of the spectral entropy, whether the input signal is a signal in a speech segment. |
| US09123347B2 |
Apparatus and method for eliminating noise
Provided are an apparatus and method for eliminating noise. The method includes: detecting a speech section from a noise speech signal including a noise signal; separating the speech section into a consonant section and a vowel section on the basis of a VOP at the speech section; calculating a transfer function of a filter for eliminating the noise signal to allow the degree of noise elimination to be different in the consonant section and the vowel section; and eliminating the noise signal from the noise speech signal on the basis of the transfer function. |
| US09123345B2 |
Voice interface systems and methods
A voice-controlled system is described that can be accessed by a mobile computing device. A user can communicate requests using natural language utterances. A microphone can collect the utterances and provide them to the mobile computing device. The mobile computing device can transmit the human utterance to a voice interface system. The voice interface system can utilize user preferences when executing the request to provide a personalized user experience. Computer-implemented methods are also described herein. |
| US09123343B2 |
Method, and a device for converting speech by replacing inarticulate portions of the speech before the conversion
An arrangement for converting speech into text comprises a mobile device (202) and a server entity (208) configured to perform the conversion and additional optional processes in co-operation. The user of the mobile device (202) may locally edit the speech signal prior to or between the execution of the actual speech recognition tasks, by replacing an inarticulate portion of the speech signal with a new version being recording of the portion. Task sharing details can be negotiated dynamically based on a number of parameters. |
| US09123341B2 |
System and method for multi-modal input synchronization and disambiguation
Embodiments of a dialog system that utilizes a multi-modal input interface for recognizing user input in human-machine interaction (HMI) systems are described. Embodiments include a component that receives user input from a plurality of different user input mechanisms (multi-modal input) and performs certain synchronization and disambiguation processes. The multi-modal input components synchronizes and integrates the information obtained from different modalities, disambiguates the input, and recovers from any errors that might be produced with respect to any of the user inputs. Such a system effectively addresses any ambiguity associated with the user input and corrects for errors in the human-machine interaction. |
| US09123332B1 |
Method and apparatus of providing semi-automated classifier adaptation for natural language processing
Example embodiments of the present invention may include a method that provides transcribing spoken utterances occurring during a call and assigning each of the spoken utterances with a corresponding set of first classifications. The method may also include determining a confidence rating associated with each of the spoken utterances and the assigned set of first classifications, and performing at least one of reclassifying the spoken utterances with new classifications based on at least one additional classification operation, and adding the assigned first classifications and the corresponding plurality of spoken utterances to a training data set. |
| US09123331B1 |
Training an automatic speech recognition system using compressed word frequencies
Respective word frequencies may be determined from a corpus of utterance-to-text-string mappings that contain associations between audio utterances and a respective text string transcription of each audio utterance. Respective compressed word frequencies may be obtained based on the respective word frequencies such that the distribution of the respective compressed word frequencies has a lower variance than the distribution of the respective word frequencies. Sample utterance-to-text-string mappings may be selected from the corpus of utterance-to-text-string mappings based on the compressed word frequencies. An automatic speech recognition (ASR) system may be trained with the sample utterance-to-text-string mappings. |
| US09123330B1 |
Large-scale speaker identification
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for receiving audio data encoding ambient sounds, identifying media content that matches the audio data, and a timestamp corresponding to a particular portion of the identified media content, identifying a speaker associated with the particular portion of the identified media content corresponding to the timestamp, and providing information identifying the speaker associated with the particular portion of the identified media content for output. |
| US09123327B2 |
Voice recognition apparatus for recognizing a command portion and a data portion of a voice input
A voice recognition apparatus includes a command recognizer and a data recognizer. The command recognizer recognizes a command portion of a voice input and outputs a command based on a voice recognition result of the voice input. The data recognizer recognizes a data portion of a voice inputs and outputs a data based on a voice recognition result of the voice input. The data recognizer further includes a plurality of data-category recognizers respectively using a data-category dictionary for recognizing the data portion of the voice input and outputting a data result. A voice recognition result selection unit of the voice recognition apparatus selects one of the data results from the data-category recognizers based on the command recognized by the command recognizer. |
| US09123324B2 |
Non-linear post-processing control in stereo acoustic echo cancellation
Methods, systems, and apparatus are provided for multiple-input multiple-output acoustic echo cancellation. A multiple-input multiple-output acoustic echo canceller (MIMO AEC) is provided as a high quality echo canceller for voice and/or audio communication over a network (e.g., packet switched network). The MIMO AEC is an extension of, as well as an application/usage of a single-input single-output acoustic echo canceller (“mono AEC”). The MIMO AEC is an extension of the mono AEC in that the code/theory underlying the mono AEC is adjusted for use with multiple channels. The manner in which AEC is applied (e.g., on each microphone signal using separate mono-AECs) is an application of mono-AECs. |
| US09123322B2 |
Howling suppression device, hearing aid, howling suppression method, and integrated circuit
A howling suppression device includes a subtractor which subtracts a pseudo feedback signal from an input signal; an adaptive filter which produces a pseudo feedback signal for a next input signal; and a coefficient update control unit which controls an update rate of a filter coefficient of the adaptive filter and includes: a level calculation unit which calculates a signal level of the input signal; a signal-rising-edge detection unit which detects a rising-edge point; a reverberation section detection unit which detects a reverberation section; and an update rate control unit which sets the update rate to a first rate in the reverberation section and to a second rate in other sections. The adaptive filter updates the filter coefficient at the update rate set by the update rate control unit. |
| US09123321B2 |
Sequenced adaptation of anti-noise generator response and secondary path response in an adaptive noise canceling system
A personal audio device, such as a wireless telephone, includes an adaptive noise canceling (ANC) circuit that adaptively generates an anti-noise signal from a reference microphone signal and injects the anti-noise signal into the speaker or other transducer output to cause cancellation of ambient audio sounds. An error microphone is also provided proximate to the speaker to provide an error signal indicative of the effectiveness of the noise cancellation. A secondary path estimating adaptive filter is used to estimate the electro-acoustical path from the noise canceling circuit through the transducer so that source audio can be removed from the error signal. Adaptation of adaptive filters is sequenced so that update of their coefficients does not cause instability or error in the update. A level of the source audio with respect to the ambient audio can be determined to determine whether the system may generate erroneous anti-noise and/or become unstable. |
| US09123318B2 |
Object based musical composition performance apparatus and program
In a musical performance apparatus, a time line management processing part displays one or more of time lines on a display unit according to an operation of an operating unit, each time line being an image representing a period for a sequence of one or more of sounds that repeat in a piece of music. An object management processing part displays one or more of objects on the display unit according to an operation of the operating unit, each object being a symbol corresponding to and representing a sound to be generated. A musical performance processing part determines belongingness of each object to the one or more of the time lines displayed on the display unit, and repeats control of generating sounds corresponding to the objects in parallel and independently for each time line at the period corresponding to each time line, such that each sound is generated at a sound generation timing determined according to a position of the corresponding object in a longitudinal direction of the time line to which the corresponding object belongs. |
| US09123312B2 |
Tuning mechanisms
The improved tuning mechanisms include a novel string clamp comprising a lever based clamping element oblique to the string path that utilizes an enlarged radiused underside to provide a variable clamping point to address various diameters of strings which can be integrated into either a fine-tuner or Macro-tuner arrangements; further, there, is, in addition to an improved Global-tuner, a fixed dimension multi-tier insert plate for a tremolo base plate, provided in differing sizes, to support bridge elements in a radii that matches various fingerboard radii, and improvements directed towards integrated riser posts for bearing arrangements on the pivot axis of a fulcrum tremolo provide a slotted axel recess and a separate threaded outer sleeve-like portion to allow alignment to the tremolo's bearing axis regardless of the position of riser post within body for adjustably mounting the fulcrum tremolo to the instrument, which, in the preferred embodiment, all work cooperatively together. |
| US09123310B2 |
Liquid crystal display device for improving the characteristics of gate drive voltage
An LCD device according to an embodiment includes a liquid crystal display panel in which n gate lines are formed; a timing controller to generate first to sixth clock signals; a first gate driver to apply a high gate voltage to one ends of the (2k−1)th gate lines in response to the first, third and fifth clock signals; a second gate driver to apply the high gate voltage to one ends of the (2k)th gate lines in response to the second, fourth and sixth clock signals; left discharge circuits each to apply a low gate voltage to the other end of the (2k−1)th gate line according to a voltage level on (2k+1)th gate line; and right discharge circuits each to apply the low gate voltage to the other end of the (2k)th gate line according to the voltage level on (2k+2)th gate line. |
| US09123309B2 |
Display device using boosting-on and boosting-off gate driving voltages
A display device, including a signal controlling unit, a data driving unit, a gate driving voltage generating unit, a gate driving unit, and a display panel. The display panel displays an image during a frame period including a blank period and a display period. The gate driving voltage generating unit receives a control signal and an analog driving voltage. The gate driving voltage generating unit generates boosting-on and boosting-off gate driving voltages based on the analog driving voltage. The gate driving voltage generating unit outputs the boosting-on gate driving voltage during a part of the frame period and the boosting-off gate driving voltage during a remaining of the frame period. |
| US09123308B2 |
Display memory, driver circuit, display, and portable information device
A display memory able to reduce power consumption, able to generate graphics at a high speed, and not needing memory mapping, a driver circuit, a display using the driver circuit, and a portable information apparatus, wherein a CPU read circuit is connected to one bit line of a display memory 7, a display read circuit is connected to the other bit line, a write circuit is connected to both bit lines, the CPU read circuit and write circuit are assigned to the access from the CPU, the display read circuit is assigned to the display screen display, and further the access from the CPU and the reading to the display screen are assigned to different two level periods of a clock signal of the memory and independently controlled. Further, a drive power supply of the display memory is divided and a drive power supply voltage is supplied to the display memory for every memory cell or for every plurality of memory cells. |
| US09123294B2 |
Organic light emitting diode display device
This disclosure relates to a display device that compensates for a threshold voltage of a driving TFT, a voltage drop of a supply voltage source, and a mobility of the driving TFT. The display device can include a plurality of pixels. At least one pixel can include components such as a first capacitor, a second capacitor, a data transistor, a control transistor, an emission transistor, an initialization transistor, a driving transistor and a light emitting diode (LED) among other components. |
| US09123290B1 |
Adjustable display device
A display device capable of being adjusted between flat and curved comprising: a display panel; a back cover system including: at least two angle block modules, one in each half of the back cover system, the angle block modules, wherein moving the angle block modules changes a curvature of the display panel; a driving system to move the angle block modules. A driving system includes a motor; a gear connected to the motor; block units arranged in a row in the angle block module and positioned at a rear of the display panel; a shaft bearing connecting a first block unit to a second block unit. A flatness controlling unit comprises an angle block module having a flatness controlling groove; a wire guided by the flatness controlling groove; and a tension adjusting part including a portion of the wire and a spring connected to the portion of the wire. |
| US09123288B2 |
Display devices for providing driving currents irrelevant to threshold voltages of driving transistors and driving voltages of light-emitting diodes
A display device includes pixel units. Each pixel unit includes a driving transistor, a switch transistor, a reset transistor, a light-emitting element, and a control unit. The driving transistor has a control terminal, a first terminal coupled to a first operation voltage source and a second terminal. The reset transistor is coupled to the control terminal of the driving transistor. The light-emitting element is coupled to the switch transistor in series between the second terminal of the driving transistor and a second operation voltage source. The control unit stores a threshold voltage of the driving transistor and a driving voltage of the light-emitting element according to a voltage level of the second terminal of the driving transistor. The control unit changes a voltage level of the control terminal of the driving transistor according to the stored threshold voltage, the stored driving voltage, and a corresponding data signal. |
| US09123287B2 |
System for displaying images
A system for displaying images employing a pixel structure. The pixel structure includes a first sub-pixel, a second sub-pixel, a third sub-pixel, and a filling layer. Particularly, each sub-pixel includes a color filter layer, and an electroluminescent element corresponding to the color filter layer. The transmittances of the color filter layers of the first sub-pixel, the second sub-pixel, and third sub-pixel, for a radiance level used for curing the filling layer, are determined according to the following equation: transmittance of the color filter layer of the first sub-pixel>transmittance of the color filter layer of the second sub-pixel>transmittance of the color filter layer of the third sub-pixel. Further, the distance between the first and second sub-pixels is greater than that between the first and third sub-pixels. |
| US09123286B2 |
Power generator having a power selector and organic light emitting display device using the same
A power generator includes a booster that boosts an input voltage supplied from a power supply unit and that supplies a boosted input voltage to an output terminal, a selector that selects one of the input voltage and a voltage at the output terminal as a selected voltage and supplies the selected voltage as an output voltage, a reference voltage generator that generates a reference voltage based on the output voltage, a comparator that compares a feedback voltage supplied from the booster and the reference voltage with each other, and a controller that controls the booster to output a chosen voltage from the output terminal according to a comparison result of the comparator. |
| US09123285B2 |
Transparent display device and transparency adjustment method thereof
A transparent display device and a transparency adjustment method thereof are provided. The transparent display device includes a transparent display unit, a sensing module and a processing unit. The sensing module detects at least one of conditions of the environmental background of the transparent display device and a user's input. The processing unit determines if it is necessary to adjust the transparent degree of a transparent image displayed by the transparent display unit or not according to a sensing result detected by the sensing module. |
| US09123283B2 |
Shift register, gate driving circuit and display apparatus
The present disclosure relates to a shift register, a gate driving circuit and a display apparatus, wherein the shift register outputs an output signal of each stage in a forward direction according to a forward scanning signal and outputs the output signal of each stage in a reverse direction according to a reverse scanning signal, each stage of the shift register includes a forward scanning switch module, a reverse scanning switch module, a pull-up driving module; a pull-up module; a pull-down driving module; a first pull-down module; and a second pull-down module. A bi-directional scanning can be achieved by using the forward scanning switch module and the reverse scanning switch module to control to input different signals to different modules. |
| US09123282B2 |
Display
A display is disclosed. The display comprises a panel, a data driver and a scan driver. The panel comprises pixels, data lines and scan lines. The data lines transmit data signals to the pixels, and the scan lines transmit scan signals to the pixels. The data driver provides the data signals, and the scan driver provides the scan signals. The scan driver comprises a shift register circuit. The shift register circuit comprises an i+1th stage carry shift register, an ith stage carry shift register and a jth stage buffer shift register. The ith stage carry shift register generates an i+1th start signal to start the i+1th stage carry shift register, so that the i+1th stage carry shift register generates an i+2th start signal. The i+1th start signal starts the jth stage buffer shift register to generate a jth output signal. |
| US09123279B2 |
Flexible display and method for controlling the flexible display
A flexible display and a controlling method thereof are provided. The flexible display includes a plurality of pressure sensors, a display unit and a processing unit, wherein the processing unit is connected to the pressure sensors and the display unit. The processing unit obtains pressure values from each of the pressure sensors within a time unit and generates a pressure area and a pressure variance according to the pressure values from each of the pressure sensors. The processing unit further determines a display mode of the display unit according to the pressure area and the pressure variance. Therefore, the flexible display is capable of providing several kinds of display mode only based on the equipped pressure sensors. |
| US09123278B2 |
Performing inline chroma downsampling with reduced power consumption
Methods and graphics processing pipelines for performing inline chroma downsampling of pixel data. The graphics processing pipeline includes a chroma downsampling unit for performing buffer-free downsampling of chroma pixel components. A vertical column of chroma pixel components is received in each clock cycle by the chroma downsampling unit, and downsampled chroma pixel components are generated on every clock cycle or every other clock cycle. Vertical, horizontal, and vertical and horizontal downsampling can be performed without buffers by the chroma downsampling unit. A programmable configuration register in the chroma downsampling unit determines the type of downsampling that is implemented. |
| US09123276B2 |
Display substrate and method of measuring pattern dimensions of display substrate
A display panel includes a plurality of pixel areas and at least one inspection area. An incident light is irradiated onto an inspection pattern disposed in the inspection area and a reflection light reflected by the inspection pattern is detected. An optical critical dimension of the inspection pattern is calculated from the reflection light, and a dimension of a pixel pattern disposed in each pixel area is calculated from the optical critical dimension of the inspection pattern. Accordingly, the dimension of the pixel pattern may be indirectly measured from the inspection pattern. |
| US09123275B2 |
Method for displaying error rates of data channels of display
A method for displaying error rates of data channels of a display is provided. A timing controller of the display repeatedly transmits a test signal with a specific format to a first and a second source drivers of the display via a first and a second data channels of the display. During testing, a first number and a second number of times of the first source driver and the second source driver determining that the received test signal does not have the specific format are counted respectively. The first and the second source drivers control displaying of a first area and a second area of a panel of the display respectively according to the counted first and second numbers of times. Accordingly, the error rates of the data channels are presented on the panel of the display in a way that the error rates could be recognized more easily. |
| US09123272B1 |
Realistic image lighting and shading
An electronic device can utilize one or more sensors and/or imaging elements to determine the relative position of at least one light source relative to the device. In various embodiments, occlusions can be used to cause shadows to be cast on certain sensors. By determining the relative position of each occlusion relative to the sensor, the device can determine an approximate direction of the light source. Utilizing the relative position of a light source, the electronic device can properly light or shade a graphical object to be rendered by the device or otherwise process image information captured by the device. |
| US09123269B2 |
System for displaying message on a cord
A system for creating and displaying an advertising message on an cord or string. In the preferred embodiment, the system includes a two piece construction made up of an internal gripping sleeve that attaches to the cord or string and a fixture that includes a bore for receiving the sleeve. The bore includes a foam internal surface that permits the fixture to forcibly slid over the internal sleeve but also has a tendency to attach itself to the sleeve when not moved by the user. The external surface of the fixture includes a displayed message. |
| US09123265B2 |
Planer light source device with fixing portion and display device using the same
A planar light source device includes: a point light source that emits light; a circuit board that has a mounting portion, on which the point light source mounted, and a fixing portion, on which a connector supplying electric power to the point light source is mounted; and a frame that holds the circuit board with the point light source, wherein the circuit board has a protruding portion that protrudes from an end portion of the fixing portion, and wherein the fixing portion of the circuit board is fixed at an inner portion of the frame, and wherein the protruding portion of the circuit board is fixed at an outer portion of the frame, which is opposite to the inner portion of the fixing portion. |
| US09123264B2 |
Sign holder device
A sign holder in the form of individual parts which, upon assembly, provides for the support and display of signage in a plurality of orientations. The sign holder includes a base configured to receive and support a first end to the stem, the stem having a first end and second end, the first end configured to be releasably retained by the base and the second end configured to retain a sign frame. The sign frame, in turn, is configured to be releasably retained by the second end of the stem and have a left side and a right side and a gap between its sides. The gap is provided with tabs for positioning the stem on the sign frame to retain the stem in a predetermined location. |
| US09123260B2 |
Receiver operating characteristic-based training
A presentation component (118) presents information from one or more data source(s) (102) to an assessor for assessment. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyzer 120 uses an ROC analysis technique to evaluate the performance of the assessor. A feedback component (126) provides feedback as to the assessor's performance. A data manipulator (114) facilitates manipulation of the presented data. |
| US09123259B2 |
Discovering functional groups of an area
Disclosed herein are techniques and systems for discovering functional groups in an area, such as an urban area. A process includes segmenting a map of the area into sections, and inferring, for each section, a distribution of functions according to a topic model framework which considers mobility patters of users and points of interest (POIs) in the section. The topic model framework regards the section as a document, each function as a topic, the mobility patterns as words, and a POI feature vector for the section as metadata. The process may further include clustering the sections based at least in part on a similarity of the distribution of functions between each of the sections to obtain functional groups, estimating a functionality intensity for each of the functional groups, and annotating each of the functional groups. |
| US09123257B2 |
Device for facilitating detection of hygienic hand washing
A door mountable device for facilitating detection of hygienic hand washing. A dye dispenser is mounted on a door handle in a manner such that a soap washable dye is deposited on hands that contact the handle upon entry into a restroom facility. The resulting dye stain area is removed by thorough hand washing. Any stain remaining upon exiting the restroom is an indicator that hands have not been hygienically washed. |
| US09123254B2 |
Method and system for managing surveys
A method, a system, and a computer program product for creating and conducting a survey are disclosed. While creating the survey, one or more answer formats corresponding to each of the one or more questions are defined. Then, answering mediums corresponding to each of the one or more answer formats are defined. The survey is then created based on at least one of the questions, the answer formats, and the answering mediums. The survey is then available to the associated users. While conducting the survey, the system receives answers for the questions in the survey through the answering mediums in their associated answer format, and compiles a survey report. |
| US09123250B2 |
Systems and methods for reporting real-time handling characteristics
A vehicle may include a monitoring unit configured to determine a time-varying handling characteristic of the vehicle. The time-varying handling characteristic may include a characteristic of vehicle performance in executing maneuvers, a status of a vehicle component (e.g., tires, brakes, drivetrain, etc.), and/or the like. The time-varying handling characteristic may be transmitted to one or more nearby vehicles to improve the ability of manual operators and/or automatic-driving software of the nearby vehicles to predict the performance of the vehicle in executing maneuvers, to be aware of a failure (or likely failure) of a vehicle component, and/or the like. Record of the transmission of the time-varying handling characteristic and/or of any acknowledgements of receipt of the time-varying handling characteristic by the nearby vehicles may be logged to a persistent storage device. |
| US09123238B1 |
Method to enable small vehicles to trip a traffic light inductive loop sensor
A method to allow vehicles of low metallic mass to trip an inductive loop detector at a traffic light by first matching the loop detector's running frequency, then, while monitoring, raising the frequency of the loop detector through normal transformer action with a transducer that is in close proximity to the loop detector, until the frequency of the transmissions from the transducer and that of the loop detector just start to diverge. This is the point at which maximal influence is achieved over the loop detector's running frequency commensurate with the transformer couple that exists between transducer and loop detector. Since the initially encountered (uninfluenced) frequency of the loop detector is measured, and the degree of increase subsequently induced is known in real time, a display can be provided for the user showing not only that a loop has been detected, but also the degree of influence achieved. |
| US09123237B2 |
Controlling a remote electronic device in a control state
An electronic device for controlling a remote electronic device is described. The electronic device includes a processor and instructions stored in memory that is in electronic communication with the processor. The electronic device enters a control state that is not a power off state and is not a power on state. The electronic device also generates a control message for a remote electronic device while in the control state. The electronic device further transmits the control message for controlling the remote electronic device while in the control state. |
| US09123231B1 |
Methods and systems related to remote power loss detection
Remote power loss detection. At least some of the example embodiments are methods including: tracking location of an asset by an onboard device mechanically coupled to the asset, the onboard device electrically coupled to a source of power of the asset, and the onboard device receiving power from the asset; charging a supercapacitor coupled to the onboard device; and then detecting a complete loss of power provided to the onboard device, and the detecting by the onboard device; and after the complete loss of power sending a message by wireless transmission, the sending based on power derived from the supercapacitor, and the message including an indication of a last known voltage provide by the asset prior to the complete loss of power, and the sending by the onboard device after the complete loss of power. |
| US09123224B2 |
Mobile perimeter access security system
A mobile security system is provided having a container configured to be moved to a plurality of locations. A walkway extends transversely through the container and provides access to an exit gate when the mobile security system is positioned adjacent an exit gate. The mobile security system includes a RFID detection system for detecting and identifying RFID tags that move through the walkway. If a RFID tag associated with a jobsite item is identified, an alarm system and/or camera devices within the container are actuated. The electronic components of the mobile security system are stored in a primary cabinet in the container so as to be inaccessible from the walkway. The container is configured to prevent damage to the electronic components caused by movement, vibration, or harsh environmental conditions. |
| US09123214B2 |
Commodity sales data processing device
A commodity sales data processing device that processes sales data relating to a commodity includes a memorizing part (such as a RAM 3) that memorizes commodity data including unit mass information of a commodity, an imaging part that images a commodity, a quantity specifying part that specifies the number of commodities based on the picture data taken by the imaging part, a measuring part that measures the mass of the commodity, a number calculating part that calculates the number of commodities based on the mass of the commodity measured by the measuring part and the commodity data memorized in the memorizing part, a judging part that judges whether or not the number of commodities specified by the quantity specifying part and the number of commodities calculated by the number calculating part match, and an informing part that informs the result of judgment by the judging part. |
| US09123213B2 |
Portable terminal for acquiring product data
A portable terminal for the acquisition of product data, for example in a point of sale or in a collection, distribution and/or storage point, includes a coded information reader, a user interface, and an interface for the logical connection with an external control station. Advantageously, the terminal also includes an interface for the wireless connection with cellular devices and/or telephones and/or PDAs and at least one internal management unit for the activation of the interface. The interface allows establishing a wireless connection with a single pre-identified cellular device and/or telephone and/or PDA, i.e., recognized following a recognition procedure. The terminal is then configured as a peripheral device of the pre-identified cellular device. |
| US09123212B2 |
Gaming machine including a feature gamble
A gaming machine has a display and a game controller arranged to control images of symbols displayed on the display. The game controller is arranged to play a game wherein at least one random event is caused to be displayed on the display and, if a predefined winning event occurs, the machine awards a prize. A game has a feature having non-monetary characteristics which can be won, the non-monetary characteristics being able to be gambled. The gaming machine includes a selector by which a player is able to gamble at least one of the non-monetary characteristics of the feature. |
| US09123211B2 |
Wager selections for wagering games truncated by prior wage level
A gaming system includes one or more input devices, one or more display devices, one or more processors, and one or more memory devices storing instructions. When executed by the one or more processors, the instructions cause the gaming system to receive, via at least one of the input devices, an input indicative of a wager selected from at least one wager amount being a function of a previous wager associated with an immediately preceding wagering game. The instructions cause the gaming system to display a wagering game on the one or more displays, the wagering game being in an advantageous state relative to the immediately preceding wagering game. The instructions further cause the gaming system to display an outcome of the wagering game on the one or more displays, at least a portion of the outcome being enhanced by an outcome of the immediately preceding wagering game. |
| US09123209B2 |
Symbol collection during reel spin
A method for conducting a wagering game via a gaming terminal includes receiving, via an input device, a wager to play the wagering game. An array of symbol positions arranged in a plurality of columns is displayed, on one or more display devices. At least a portion of a plurality of symbols is visually moved with respect to the array of symbol positions on the one or more display devices. One or more of the plurality of the symbols are special symbols. In response to one or more of the special symbols being visually moved on the one or more display devices, the visually moved special symbols are caused to be visually collected in a symbol collection area adjacent to the array of symbol positions on the one or more display devices. |
| US09123208B2 |
Method and apparatus for settlement of processor based tournament competition
A method of providing or receiving value from or to a participant value in a game tournament wherein a plurality of participants play a casino-style game, includes calculating an expected value for the position of each participant in the tournament, the expected value based upon the number of wagering units held by the participant at the point in time, the number of wagering units held by each other participant in the tournament at the point in time and a payout table for the tournament. |
| US09123206B2 |
Game library manager for a gaming machine
Systems and methods for managing a gaming machine having one or more games and game configurations are disclosed. One aspect of the systems and methods includes providing a game framework including a game library manager that manages creation, update and deletion of multiple wagering games on a gaming machine. |
| US09123203B2 |
Enhanced video gaming machine
The present invention provides a closed-loop system that allows the operator of video gaming machines or other systems to define promotional events for the particular machines or systems, monitor the activity of the particular machines or systems, and grant awards. More specifically, the promotional events may include scheduling information, winning criteria and awards. During the period of time that the promotional event is active, the activity of the machine or system is monitored to determine if the winning criteria has been satisfied. If the winning criteria are satisfied, information pertaining to event is recorded. The present invention is applicable to a variety of embodiments including video poker machines, black jack machines or other gaming and gambling machines, as well as other systems that include a display mechanism and an activity that can be monitored. |
| US09123202B2 |
Systems and methods for managing money from multiple players
Various embodiments that may generally relate to one or more games at one or more venues. Gaming at a venue may qualify a player for a bonus game. A pool from which awards are paid for winning the bonus game may be funded through gaming activity that is not at the one or more venues. |
| US09123197B1 |
Gaming system and method of operation
A system for conducting gaming includes at least one gaming machine communicating with an award server. Optionally, the gaming machine communicates with the award server via a network server. A game is conducted at the gaming machine. A determination is made whether to issue an award from the award server. In an optional embodiment, the determination is random; in another optional embodiment, the determination is based on the outcome of the game. The award is issued from the award server, at least in part, based on data communicated between the gaming machine and the award server. |
| US09123193B2 |
Device for receiving notes of value and method for determining the stock of a drum storage on the basis of a motor position
The invention relates to a method for determining the stock of notes of value of a drum storage (22). For at least a part of the notes of value, the current motor position is determined after winding up the note of value and stored such that it is unambiguously assigned to the respective note of value. For determining the stock of the drum storage (22), the current motor position is determined and compared with the stored motor positions. Dependent on the result of this comparison, the stock is determined. Further, the invention relates to a device (10, 22, 30) for receiving notes of value, which comprises a drum storage (22), a memory element and a control unit (26), the control unit (26) implementing the above-described method steps. |
| US09123192B2 |
Method and device for processing banknotes
A bank note processing apparatus processes bank notes by first singling the bank notes, then transporting the singled bank notes through a sensor device and on to several output units. Before delivering the bank notes to the output units, the bank notes are checked by evaluating data as well as determining and storing serial numbers of the bank notes, wherein the bank notes are delivered to the output units depending on the result of the checking. Further, in determining the serial numbers of the bank notes, a unique serial number is established for each bank note. |
| US09123190B2 |
Method for authenticating an object
A method for authenticating an object that includes providing a label (12) with invisible indicia (14) printed with optically active material on a reflective substrate; providing a device that has a digital camera (18) having a light source (20), an image sensor (22), a first polarizing filter (24) having a first orientation, and a second polarizing filter (26) having a second orientation; illuminating the label with the light from the light source through the first polarizing filter; forming an image with the image sensor using reflected light from the label wherein the reflected light passes through the second polarizing filter prior to reaching the sensor; wherein the second polarizing filter makes the invisible indicia visible; and authenticating the object. |
| US09123189B2 |
System and method for point-of-use instruction
In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, systems and methods for transferring data over a network include communicating with a user via a portable communication device over the network, receiving a request for at least one instruction sequence related to a particular repair task of a machine from the user via the portable communication device over the network, processing the request from the user by accessing and retrieving the at least one instruction sequence from a database component, and transferring the at least one instruction sequence from the database component to the portable communication device. |
| US09123188B2 |
Acceleration sensor fault detection apparatus
Provided is an acceleration detection apparatus installed in a vehicle and including a plurality of acceleration sensors having different characteristics, a function to input diagnosis signals in order to diagnose the outputs of the acceleration sensors and diagnose the fault detection functions while the vehicle stops, and a function to compare the outputs of the sensors in order to detect a fault while the vehicle runs. |
| US09123185B2 |
Passenger transporting system and method for obtaining tickets in such a system
A method for obtaining tickets for journeys in a passenger transportation system which comprises stations for entering and/or leaving transport means of the system for journeys between the stations, wherein at least one station of the system is assigned at least one contactlessly readable data carrier and/or at least one transport means of the system is assigned at least one contactlessly readable data carrier, wherein the contactlessly readable data carriers contain ticket information items, and one of the contactlessly readable data carriers is read by a mobile reader in at least one station and/or in at least one transport means, and the corresponding ticket information item or items is/are stored in the mobile reader. |
| US09123184B2 |
System and method for direct transfer of electronic parking meter data
A single space electronic parking meter mechanism for inserting into an outer parking meter housing is provided. The mechanism includes an inner housing, a payment receiving structure supported by the inner housing and an electronic display screen supported by the inner housing. The mechanism also includes a wireless communication subsystem supported by the inner housing configured to wirelessly communicate with a parking management system and an electronic meter control system controlling the electronic display and the wireless communications subsystem. The mechanism includes a memory device receiving port externally accessible through the inner housing and a read-write removable memory device physically accessible from outside of the inner housing and configured to be coupled to the memory device receiving port. The removable memory device including operation mode information that is read by the electronic meter control system to select an operation mode of the meter mechanism. |
| US09123183B1 |
Multi-layer digital elevation model
A multi-layer digital elevation model (DEM) structure is disclosed. A device may access a first structure that comprises a plurality of first elevation values and a plurality of location identifiers that may correspond to a geographic region. The first elevation values may be associated with a first layer in the geographic region and correspond to respective location identifiers. The device may access a second structure that identifies a second layer in the geographic region. Second elevation values that may correspond to at least some of the plurality of location identifiers may be determined. A multi-layer DEM structure may be generated that stores the first elevation values and the second elevation values in association with corresponding location identifiers. |
| US09123182B2 |
Animated preview of images
Computer program products, methods, systems, etc. for generating an animated preview of a number of images are disclosed. A selection of a group of images is received. A set of digital images from the group of images are identified as being representative of the group. At least some portion of the identified set of representative digital images from the group is then used to create an animated image. The animated image serves as a preview of the group of images, such that, when a user browses the images and sees the preview associated with a corresponding folder or directory, the user is able to quickly and easily associate the images in the group with a particular event and identify contents of the folder or directory. |
| US09123180B2 |
Method, system and computer-readable recording medium for displaying shadow of 3D virtual object
A method for displaying a shadow of a 3D virtual object, includes steps of: (a) acquiring information on a viewpoint of a user looking at a 3D virtual object displayed in a specific location in 3D space by a wall display device; (b) determining a location and a shape of a shadow of the 3D virtual object to be displayed by referring to information on the viewpoint of the user and the information on a shape of the 3D virtual object; and (c) allowing the shadow of the 3D virtual object to be displayed by at least one of the wall display device and a floor display device by referring to the determined location and the determined shape of the shadow of the 3D virtual object. Accordingly, the user is allowed to feel the accurate sense of depth or distance regarding the 3D virtual object. |
| US09123179B2 |
Surrounding image display system and surrounding image display method for vehicle
A surrounding image display system (1, 2) equipped for a vehicle includes a processing unit (10, 12) that is connected to a camera (20, 22) that captures an image around the vehicle. The processing unit (10, 12) processes the captured image from the camera (20, 22) to recognize an attention object, and generates a display image in which a frame border (70) that at least partially surrounds the recognized attention object is superimposed on the captured image. The frame border (70) includes a first frame border portion (72) drawn in a first color and a second frame border portion (74) drawn in a second color different from the first color. |
| US09123174B2 |
Method and apparatus for displaying a simulated application of at least one coating to a digital image
A computer implemented method that includes enabling, using a processor, a user to identify a first area of a digital image, wherein the first area will be colored with a first color. The method also includes segmenting, using the processor, the digital image into a first segment that represents the first area and a second segment that represents a second area of the digital image, wherein an original color of the second area will remain unchanged. The method further includes enabling, using the processor, the user to select the first color, wherein the first color corresponds a first coating color, and displaying, using the processor, the digital image with the first segment colored with the first color. |
| US09123167B2 |
Shader serialization and instance unrolling
A graphics engine with shader unit thread serializing and instance unrolling functionality that executes multi-threaded shader logic in a single hardware thread is described. Hardware accelerated tessellation functionality is implemented utilizing programmable pipeline stages that allow custom, runtime configuration of graphics hardware utilizing programs compiled from a high level shader language that are executed using one or more shader execution cores. In one embodiment, multiple shader unit program threads are serialized to run in one hardware thread to allow a greater number of instructions to be executed on the shader cores and preserve hardware threads for primitive processing by other shader units. |
| US09123163B2 |
Medical image display apparatus, method and program
A medical image display apparatus includes an image obtainment unit configured to obtain a first image and a second image of a subject generated based on volume data, a base line setting unit configured to set a base line in the first image obtained by the image obtainment unit, an image division unit configured to divide, based on the base line that has been set in the first image by the base line setting unit, the second image into two divided images, and a display control unit configured to display the two divided images, which have been divided by the image division unit, on the first image at a display device in such a manner that the two divided images are away from the base line by a predetermined distance. |
| US09123162B2 |
Integration cone tracing
A method is provided for integration cone tracing with particular application for feature films and other demanding content creation using scenes of high complexity requiring global illumination. Instead of using a conventional noise prone ray tracer, cones are intersected with a scene bounding hierarchy to determine intersecting scene geometry, and integration results are computed by directional sampling within the cones. As a result, the working data set may be reduced as the rendering may begin with a smaller set of cones as compared to the large number of rays required for acceptable filtering in a conventional ray tracer. Furthermore, by refining the cones during the rendering only on an as-needed basis according to an acceptable noise threshold and by sharing secondary cone bounces among primary cones, the processing workload and data set requirements may be kept to a reasonable level even for multiple global illumination passes. |
| US09123156B2 |
X-ray CT apparatus and image reconstruction method
In order to provide an X-ray CT apparatus and the like that reconstruct an image using an iterative approximation method which ensures stable convergence and can be executed at high speed, a computation device 5 of an X-ray CT apparatus 1 calculates matrices A, B, D, R, and R′ on the basis of the scanning conditions input through an input device 6 (step 1). Then, the computation device 5 calculates each element of a matrix I−α(SBTDA+βSR) (step 2). Then, the computation device 5 calculates the operator norm ∥I−α(SBTDA+βSR)∥ of the matrix I−α(SBTDA+βSR) (step 3). Then, the computation device 5 determines a relaxation coefficient α such that a predetermined conditional expression is satisfied (step 4). |
| US09123155B2 |
Apparatus and method for using augmented reality vision system in surgical procedures
A system and method for improving a surgeon's vision by overlaying augmented reality information onto a video image of the surgical site. A high definition video camera sends a video image in real time. Prior to the surgery, a pre-operative image is created from MRI, x-ray, ultrasound, or other method of diagnosis using imaging technology. The pre-operative image is stored within the computer. The computer processes the pre-operative image to decipher organs, anatomical geometries, vessels, tissue planes, orientation, and other structures. As the surgeon performs the surgery, the AR controller augments the real time video image with the processed pre-operative image and displays the augmented image on an interface to provide further guidance to the surgeon during the surgical procedure. |
| US09123153B2 |
Scalable multi-primitive system
Disclosed herein is a vertex core. The vertex core includes a reset scanner configured to remove reset indices and partial primitives in an input stream and resolve draw calls into sub-draw calls at reset index boundaries; and provide the resolved sub-draw calls to a plurality of downstream vertex grouper tessellators. |
| US09123149B2 |
Expert color system for color selection with color harmony and color emotion intelligence
An expert color selection system that assists the user in selecting color combinations is disclosed. The expert system suggests combinations of colors that are harmonious with each other. The user may tune the level of harmony in the combination. The user may also select a color emotion for the color combination and set the emotion threshold. The suggested color combination can be used as interior or exterior paints and for color merchandise. |
| US09123145B2 |
Temporal noise control for sketchy animation
Techniques are presented for controlling the amount of temporal noise in certain animation sequences. Sketchy animation sequences are received in an input in a digital form and used to create an altered version of the same animation with temporal coherence enforced down to the stroke level, resulting in a reduction of the perceived noise. The amount of reduction is variable and can be controlled via a single parameter to achieve a desired artistic effect. |
| US09123143B2 |
System and method for motion sickness minimization using integration of attended and unattended datastreams
A system for simultaneous visual data presentation is provided having a processor and memory with instructions for execution by the processor for: receiving attended data; receiving unattended data; and generating presentation data. The presentation is suitable for simultaneous presentation of the attended data and the unattended data in a manner in which the unattended data at least partially overlaps the attended data and the unattended data does not interfere with the attended data by replacing, erasing, or suppressing the attended data, and vice versa. The presented unattended data gives cues that the user can sense and provide information to the user while attending to the presented attended data, without attending to the presented unattended data. |
| US09123141B2 |
Ghost artifact detection and removal in HDR image processing using multi-level median threshold bitmaps
A ghost detection method for high-dynamic range (HDR) image creation using multi-level median threshold bitmapping. At each of multiple levels, median threshold bitmaps (MTBs) are generated for each original low-dynamic range image. At each level, the MTBs of the multiple original images are compared to generate a ghost map for each original image which indicates the locations of ghost pixels in the original image. For each original image, the ghost maps generated at the multiple levels are combined to generate a combined ghost map. The multiple combined ghost maps can then be used in creating the HDR image, for example, by discarding pixels in an original image that are indicated by the corresponding combined ghost map as being a ghost pixel. |
| US09123139B2 |
Ultrasonic image processing with directional interpolation in order to increase the resolution of an image
In an ultrasonic image processing apparatus, an original image in the form of a three-dimensional ultrasonic image is generated from volume data based on the volume rendering method. Directional interpolation processing is then applied to the original image. More specifically, a corresponding point corresponding to a noted pixel in the display image is first determined on the original image. Then, on the original image, a plurality of candidate directions extending through the corresponding point are set, and a dispersion value is computed for each of the candidate directions. Further, a normal direction with the maximum dispersion value is specified among the candidate directions, and a reference direction along the contour of a tissue is determined in the direction orthogonal to the specified normal line. Alternatively, the reference direction is determined as a direction with the minimum dispersion value among the plurality of candidate directions. Based on a plurality of pixel values existing in the reference directions, an interpolated pixel value of the noted pixel is computed. Contrast emphasis processing is further applied following the directional interpolation processing, as required. |
| US09123138B2 |
Adaptive patch-based image upscaling
Image upscaling techniques are described. These techniques may include use of iterative and adjustment upscaling techniques to upscale an input image. A variety of functionality may be incorporated as part of these techniques, examples of which include content-adaptive patch finding techniques that may be employed to give preference to an in-place patch to minimize structure distortion. In another example, content metric techniques may be employed to assign weights for combining patches. In a further example, algorithm parameters may be adapted with respect to algorithm iterations, which may be performed to increase efficiency of computing device resource utilization and speed of performance. For instance, algorithm parameters may be adapted to enforce a minimum and/or maximum number to iterations, cease iterations for image sizes over a threshold amount, set sampling step sizes for patches, employ techniques based on color channels (which may include independence and joint processing techniques), and so on. |
| US09123134B2 |
Method for tracking and forecasting marine ice bodies
A near-real-time tracking and integrated forecasting of marine ice bodies observable on satellite imagery. |
| US09123133B1 |
Method and apparatus for moving object detection based on cerebellar model articulation controller network
A method for moving object detection based on a Cerebellar Model Articulation Controller (CMAC) network includes the following steps. A time series of incoming frames of a fixed location delivered over a network is received. A CMAC network is constructed from the time series of incoming frames, where the CMAC network includes an input space, an association memory space, a weight memory space, and an output space. A current frame is received and divided into a plurality of current blocks. Each of the current blocks is classified as either a background block or a moving object block according to the CMAC network. Whether a target pixel of the moving object blocks is a moving object pixel or a background pixel is determined according to an output of the CMAC network in the output space. |
| US09123129B2 |
Multi-mode video event indexing
Multi-mode video event indexing includes determining a quality of object distinctiveness with respect to images from a video stream input. A high-quality analytic mode is selected from multiple modes and applied to video input images via a hardware device to determine object activity within the video input images if the determined level of detected quality of object distinctiveness meets a threshold level of quality, else a low-quality analytic mode is selected and applied to the video input images via a hardware device to determine object activity within the video input images, wherein the low-quality analytic mode is different from the high-quality analytic mode. |
| US09123128B2 |
Graphics processing unit employing a standard processing unit and a method of constructing a graphics processing unit
Employing a general processing unit as a programmable function unit of a graphics pipeline and a method of manufacturing a graphics processing unit are disclosed. In one embodiment, the graphics pipeline includes: (1) accelerators, (2) an input output interface coupled to each of the accelerators and (3) a general processing unit coupled to the input output interface and configured as a programmable function unit of the graphics pipeline, the general processing unit configured to issue vector instructions via the input output interface to vector data paths for the programmable function unit. |
| US09123127B2 |
Contrast enhancement spiking neuron network sensory processing apparatus and methods
Apparatus and methods for contrast enhancement and feature identification. In one implementation, an image processing apparatus utilizes latency coding and a spiking neuron network to encode image brightness into spike latency. The spike latency is compared to a saliency window in order to detect early responding neurons. Salient features of the image are associated with the early responding neurons. A inhibitory neuron receives salient feature indication and provides inhibitory signal to the other neurons within an area of influence of the inhibitory neuron. The inhibition signal reduces probability of responses by the other neurons to stimulus that is proximate to the feature thereby increasing contrast within the encoded data. The contrast enhancement may facilitate feature identification within the image. Feature detection may be used for example for image compression, background removal and content distribution. |
| US09123125B2 |
Image processing method and associated apparatus
An image processing method includes: receiving a plurality of images, the images being captured under different view points; and performing image alignment for the plurality of images by warping the plurality of images, where the plurality of images are warped according to a set of parameters, and the set of parameters are obtained by finding a solution constrained to predetermined ranges of physical camera parameters. In particular, the step of performing the image alignment further includes: automatically performing the image alignment to reproduce a three-dimensional (3D) visual effect, where the plurality of images is captured by utilizing a camera module, and the camera module is not calibrated with regard to the view points. For example, the 3D visual effect can be a multi-angle view (MAV) visual effect. In another example, the 3D visual effect can be a 3D panorama visual effect. An associated apparatus is also provided. |
| US09123118B2 |
System and methods for measuring depth using an array camera employing a bayer filter
Systems in accordance with embodiments of the invention can perform parallax detection and correction in images captured using array cameras. Due to the different viewpoints of the cameras, parallax results in variations in the position of objects within the captured images of the scene. Methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention provide an accurate account of the pixel disparity due to parallax between the different cameras in the array, so that appropriate scene-dependent geometric shifts can be applied to the pixels of the captured images when performing super-resolution processing. In a number of embodiments, generating depth estimates considers the similarity of pixels in multiple spectral channels. In certain embodiments, generating depth estimates involves generating a confidence map indicating the reliability of depth estimates. |
| US09123117B2 |
Systems and methods for generating depth maps and corresponding confidence maps indicating depth estimation reliability
Systems in accordance with embodiments of the invention can perform parallax detection and correction in images captured using array cameras. Due to the different viewpoints of the cameras, parallax results in variations in the position of objects within the captured images of the scene. Methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention provide an accurate account of the pixel disparity due to parallax between the different cameras in the array, so that appropriate scene-dependent geometric shifts can be applied to the pixels of the captured images when performing super-resolution processing. In a number of embodiments, generating depth estimates considers the similarity of pixels in multiple spectral channels. In certain embodiments, generating depth estimates involves generating a confidence map indicating the reliability of depth estimates. |
| US09123116B2 |
Multiview face capture using polarized spherical gradient illumination
A multiview face capture system may acquire detailed facial geometry with high resolution diffuse and specular photometric information from multiple viewpoints. A lighting system may illuminate a face with polarized light from multiple directions. The light may be polarized substantially parallel to a reference axis during a parallel polarization mode of operation and substantially perpendicular to the reference axis during a perpendicular polarization mode of operation. Multiple cameras may each capture an image of the face along a materially different optical axis and have a linear polarizer configured to polarize light traveling along its optical axis in a direction that is substantially parallel to the reference axis. A controller may cause each of the cameras to capture an image of the face while the lighting system is in the parallel polarization mode of operation and again while the lighting system is in the perpendicular polarization mode of operation. |
| US09123110B2 |
Vehicle attitude angle calculating device, and lane departure warning system using same
A vehicle attitude angle calculating device finds a yaw angle of a vehicle with reference to a lane stably without using information on a road vanishing point even in the state where a vehicle pitch angle varies. The vehicle attitude angle calculating device includes: a dividing line detection unit that detects a dividing line from image information received from a vehicle-mounted imaging device, the image information being a captured image of an outside of a vehicle; a distance calculation unit that calculates a distance between the dividing line and the optical axis of the vehicle-mounted imaging device every predetermined processing period; and a vehicle angle calculation unit that calculates a dividing line angle based on the calculated distance between the dividing line and the optical axis of the vehicle-mounted imaging device and a vehicle proceeding distance where the vehicle proceeds during a predetermined processing period. |
| US09123105B2 |
Image processing device, image processing method, image capturing device, computer program, and recording medium
An image processing device (21) is provided with: a noise suppression processor (23) for creating a noise-reduced image (NRs) by executing spatial filtering on a plurality of pixels, which fall within a reference range that includes a pixel of interest, in an input image (Is); and a distortion correction processor (24) for correcting distortion by local stretching or shrinking by a magnification factor (R) corresponding to the local amount of distortion in the noise-reduced image (NRs). The reference range is dynamically changed in accordance with the magnification factor (R). Control is performed so that the reference range becomes narrower as the magnification factor (R) increases. |
| US09123104B2 |
Apparatus and methods for reducing common-mode noise in an imaging system
Apparatus and methods reduce common-mode error. An integrated circuit includes a plurality of signal channels, a first proxy channel, and a subtraction block. The signal channels are configured to receive a plurality of input signals and to generate a plurality of output signals, and each of the signal channels has a substantially similar circuit topology. The first proxy channel has a substantially similar circuit topology as the plurality of signal channels, and includes an output that can vary in relation to a common-mode error of the signal channels. The subtraction block is configured to generate a plurality of modified output signals by using the output of the first proxy channel to reduce the common-mode error of the plurality of output signal channels. |
| US09123100B2 |
Method and system for processing multiple series of biological images obtained from a patient
A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-readable program code stored thereon which, when interpreted by a computing apparatus, causes the computing apparatus to implement an image processing tool for processing a plurality of biological images arranged in a plurality of image series wherein certain biological images across different image series have a predefined correspondence with one another. The computer-readable program code comprises computer-readable program code for causing the computing apparatus to: be attentive to receipt of an indication of a selected biological image from the plurality of biological images and belonging to a first one of the image series; be attentive to receipt of an indication of a segmentation mask created based on the selected biological image; apply the segmentation mask to a second biological image from the plurality of biological images, the second biological image belonging to a second one of the image series that is different from the first one of the image series, the second biological image having a predefined correspondence with the selected biological image; and display the second biological image after application of the segmentation mask. |
| US09123099B2 |
Systems with workstations and circuits for generating images of global injury
Physician interactive workstations with global voxel distribution visualization may also include one or more of a 3-D color scale image of a population of voxel in target regions, organs or systems. The workstation may be configured to evaluate intensity or other measures of voxels of patient images associated with tissue for early detection of a global injury. |
| US09123097B2 |
System and method for automatic generation of initial radiation treatment plans
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions executable by a processor. The set of instructions is operable to receive a current patient medical image of a current patient, compare the current patient medical image to a plurality of previous patient medical images, each of the previous patient medical images corresponding to a previous patient, select one of the previous patients based on a geometric similarity between the previous patient medical image of the selected one of the previous patients and the current patient medical image, and determine an initial radiation treatment plan based on a radiation treatment plan of the selected one of the previous patients. |
| US09123095B2 |
Method for increasing the robustness of computer-aided diagnosis to image processing uncertainties
A classifier (20) is trained by a feature matrix (18, 18′) made up of feature vectors (F11, . . . , Fkm). The feature vectors are generated by operating on each of a plurality (k) of training image data sets with each of a plurality (m) of image processing algorithms (121, . . . , 12m) to generate processed and segmented images. Features of the segmented regions are extracted (14) to generate the feature vectors. In this manner, the classifier is trained with data generated with a variety of image processing algorithms. |
| US09123093B1 |
Vision inspection programming method and apparatus
A method and programming system for specifying vision inspection tools for a vision inspection system, the programming system comprising a workstation including a processor programmed to provide a first interface including a first view of a vision inspection system as the inspection system is being specified, the first interface usable to select vision inspection tools to be used in the vision inspection system from a first tool subset and a second interface including a second view of the vision inspection system as the inspection system is being specified, the second interface usable to specify vision inspection tools to be used with the vision inspection system from a second tool subset, the second interface also usable to specify script expressions that cannot be specified using the first interface, wherein, a developer can switch from the second interface to the first interface to observe the second view and the first view of the vision inspection system, respectively, during the inspection system specifying process. |
| US09123091B2 |
Basis vector spectral image compression
Computer implemented methods for compressing 3D hyperspectral image data having a plurality of spatial pixels associated with a hyperspectral image, and a number of spectral dimensions associated with each spatial pixel, include receiving, using a processor, the 3D hyperspectral image data, a set of basis vectors associated therewith, and either a maximum error amount or a maximum data size. The methods also include partitioning the 3D hyperspectral image data into a plurality of 2D images, each associated with one of the number of spectral dimensions, and an associated one of the set of basis vectors. The methods additionally include ranking the set of basis vectors if not already ranked. The methods may further include iteratively applying lossy compression to the 2D images, in an order determined by the ranking. Other embodiments and features are also disclosed. |
| US09123090B2 |
Image data compression device, image data decompression device, display device, image processing system, image data compression method, and image data decompression method
A compression and decompression module provided in a display device includes: a comparison unit that, when first image data and second image data in which a gradation value of each of a plurality of pixels is expressed in m bits are input, compares gradation values of corresponding pixels of the input first and second image data; a compression unit that compresses the second image data and that, when values of predetermined n bits (where n≦m) of the gradation values match each other in a comparison result of the comparison unit, generates compressed data including identification data indicating that the values of the n bits match each other; and a control unit that performs control to output data, which indicates the gradation value of the corresponding pixel of the first image data, and the compressed data generated by the compression unit so as to correspond to each other. |
| US09123088B2 |
Partial tile rendering
In accordance with some embodiments, partial rendering of non-changing or slowly changing frame tiles allows the graphics processing unit to spend less time processing non-changing or slowly changing portions of each frame, saving power and creating more room for performance in some embodiments. |
| US09123087B2 |
Systems and methods for segmenting an image
A method on a computing device for categorizing one or more blocks of an image is disclosed. The method includes computing a membership value of each of the one or more blocks for each of one or more categories based on a set of parameters associated with each of the one or more blocks. The one or more categories comprise at least an image category. Each of the one or more blocks is categorized in the one or more categories based on the membership value. A category of at least one block is modified to the image category based on a reference signal and the membership value such that the number of blocks categorized under the image category increases. |
| US09123085B2 |
Optimizing the performance of an image editing system in a client-server environment
Various embodiments of a method and system for an image editing system are disclosed. A client-side image editor may receive a copy of an image from a network-based server. The image may have previously been uploaded to the network-based server for storage purposes. The client-side image editor transforms the image, or proxy image, according to one or more image transformation operations. The client-side image editor maintains an edit list, including an ordered list of transformation operations performed on the image. In response to a “Save” operation, the client-side image editor sends the edit list to the network-based server. The altered image is not be sent. The network-based server receives the edit list and may apply the transformations to the original image. Since the edit list is very small relative to the altered image, sending the edit list to the network-based client reduces the time required for a “Save” operation. |
| US09123082B2 |
Providing resource consumption recommendations
The subject disclosure provides systems and methods for recommending optimal consumption of a variety of resources that may be consumed by a consumer. A recommendation provided by the system may be based upon resource-consumption statistics gathered by a plurality of sensors, consumer's resource-consumption behavior, consumer-defined criteria, resource availability, and a cost of consumption. The recommendation may include a recommendation on how the consumer may lower resource consumption costs. The recommendation may further include optimal consumption considering consumption trends of a plurality of consumers living in a geographical proximity. The recommendation may include optimal usage of a consumer's vehicle such that the vehicle may consume the least amount of energy. The recommendation may further include offer(s) of credit/incentives by resource providers to consumers in exchange for less consumption of resource, alternative consumption of resources, and any combination thereof. |
| US09123081B2 |
Portable device for simultaneously providing text or image data to a plurality of different social media sites based on a topic associated with a downloaded media file
A social media interaction application tool and related methods include a communication component, a dialog component, at least one social media link component, a tile display component, and an interaction component, wherein the social media interaction tool is stored on and executed from a portable media storage device, a hand held device, tablet computer, laptop computer, desk top computer or a combination thereof. In some contemplated embodiments, social media interaction application tools are embedded on or included in a media file or collection of media files that are stored or located on a portable media storage device, a hand held device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desk top computer, a network server, an internet server, the cloud or a combination thereof. |
| US09123080B2 |
Content access control in social network
A method includes concurrently displaying a content item area and access control list information corresponding to an access control list of distribution entities; receiving, from a user of a client system, input in the content item area, the input including a content item; presenting to the client system user an affordance that enables the client system user to update the access control list to produce an updated access control list including one or more distribution entities, at least one distribution entity of the one or more distribution entities corresponding to one or more recipient entities; and transmitting the content item and access control list to a server system for storing the content item in conjunction with the access control list. The server system enables access to the content item to one or more recipient entities in accordance with the access control list. |
| US09123079B2 |
Sponsored stories unit creation from organic activity stream
Methods, apparatuses and systems directed to sponsored story generation from an organic activity stream in a social networking site. A user wishing to promote an entry from an organic activity stream may, using a sponsor user interface, specify the types of stories to promote to a portion of the home page displayed to a member of a social network. |
| US09123074B2 |
Dynamic promotional layout management and distribution rules
Systems, methods and computer readable products are provided for enabling dynamic loading of one or more digital image branding functions associated with one or more distribution rules. A distribution rule is used to target a group of end users that are selected from a dataset mapping a plurality of end-users according to one or more distribution rules. Instructions are forwarded to present an indication the digital image branding function to each member of the end users group. |
| US09123069B1 |
Moving transaction details forward in buying process
Online transactions are streamlined by moving pertinent transaction information forward in the buying process, so that a customer has the information when actually making a buying decision. In some implementations, a process may include generating a queue of items from previous purchase requests by a user, and presenting the queue of items on a page associated with an item available for purchase, such as an item detail page or search results page. Along with the queue, a fully landed cost of the items in the queue, may be presented on the page. |
| US09123065B2 |
Digital wallet broadcasting
A service provider generates a customer key and a merchant key for facilitating efficient provision of assistance, by the merchant, with the customer's shopping and payment, via customer-merchant key coupling. When a customer approaches or enters a merchant's store the customer has signed up with, the user device carried by the customer wirelessly broadcasts a signal for the customer key unique to the merchant key. When the merchant server picks up the signal, the service provider communicates to the merchant server information in the user's profile including identifiers, shopping preferences, or the shopping history of the customer, subject to any user-created restrictions contained in the profile so that a sales clerk of the store may approach the customer to give recommendations, suggestions, or other assistance with shopping, based on the information. |
| US09123064B2 |
Online transactions using an embedded storefront widget
A method and system of using widgets embedded in web pages as virtual storefronts is disclosed. A user of a social networking site may create a merchant account with a transaction service provider. The user embeds a storefront widget provided by the transaction service provider in the user's profile page on the social networking site and the user can use the storefront widget to input information about products that the user is selling. Other users of the social networking site view the user's profile page and the storefront widget will display the products that the user is selling. The other users may interact with the storefront widget to purchase the products that the user is selling. |
| US09123062B1 |
Ad sponsored interface pack
A method comprises detecting presence information of one or more IDs stored on a mobile communication device, wherein the IDs are stored in a non-transitory memory on the mobile communication device, wherein a first ID of the one or more IDs is active on the mobile communication device; and wherein the IDs comprise an auto-installation routine and at least one of an application, a media file, and a widget. The method also comprises providing a content from a sponsor of the first ID to the mobile communication device, wherein the content is activated in association with a call on the mobile communication device. |
| US09123061B2 |
System and method for personalized dynamic web content based on photographic data
There is provided a system and method for providing personalized dynamic online content based on photographic data. There is provided a method comprising receiving photographic data of a user, determining user preferences by analyzing the photographic data, generating personalized dynamic online content using the user preferences and a profile associated with the user, and providing the personalized dynamic online content for output on a display of the user. In particular, the photographic data may be analyzed to identify creative properties, such as favored brands and characters. Through the immediate user preference feedback provided by the photographic content, a higher degree of optimal targeted content can be provided to the user without requiring conventional burdensome procedures such as manually completed user surveys or lengthy periods of behavioral monitoring. |
| US09123060B2 |
System and method for providing short message targeted advertisements over a wireless communications network
A method and system for providing targeted advertisement information to consumers over a wireless communications network are provided. In one embodiment, local advertisers register to advertise on wireless communications devices that are in close proximity to the advertiser. As a consumer enters a cell site that is near the location of the advertiser, the wireless network delivers a message to the wireless device specified by the local advertiser. An acknowledgement signal is then received by the network, and the local advertiser's account is charged for transmission of the advertisement. In a further embodiment, each of the messages is associated with one or more demographic codes, and a demographic code is selected to describe an advertisement preference of a user of a wireless communications device. Messages to be transmitted to particular wireless communications devices are selected based upon both the location information and the demographic codes associated with the messages. |
| US09123052B2 |
Marketing model determination system
A system includes a variable determination module determining a variable operable to be used for the final model and also determining a modification to the at least one variable. An assumption determination module determines an assumption operable to be used for the final model. The assumption includes a transformation for the variable describing how the variable impacts the marketing objective or how the variable impacts another variable operable to be used in the final model. The assumption module also determines a modification to the assumption. A model generator generates a candidate model using the variable and the assumption, and generates a new candidate model using the modified assumption, the new variable or the modification to the variable. The candidate model or the new candidate model is operable to be selected as the final model based on at least one of a statistical measure and an indication of relevance for the variable in the candidate model and the new candidate model. |
| US09123051B2 |
Method and system of converting a generic tool and customer service system into a specific tool and specific customer service system
Provided is a method for converting a generic system into a specifically-branded system after the sale of an item. The method alleviates a supplier's inventory burdens by allowing the supplier to inventory generic items, rather than items specifically branded for a particular retailer. The items may be branded with the selling retailer's logo or indicia after the sale of the item. Furthermore, the item may be associated with a customer service system, which may also be branded with the selling retailer's logo after the sale of the item. The conversion of the item and customer service system from a generic item and system into a specifically-branded item and system may foster the relationship between the supplier and retailer and entice the retailer to maintain the relationship with the supplier. |
| US09123048B2 |
Systems and methods for receiving and sponsoring media content
A method and system of sponsoring a media item is disclosed herein. A media item is received from a submitter. The media item is published for consumer access. Requests for the media item are received from media consumers. A number of consumer requests for the media item is counted. A determination is made as to whether the number of consumer requests for the media item is higher than a predetermined threshold of popularity. If the number of consumer requests for the media item is determined to be higher than the predetermined threshold of popularity, the media item is sponsored on a webcast station. |
| US09123047B2 |
System for providing document services using a coupon with a coupon scanning device
A system and method for providing access to and gaining access to document services using a printed coupon. The printed coupon contains one or more machine-readable symbols describing the document services to which a holder of the coupon is entitled. The document services include faxing, printing, copying, email, electronic file access, scan to email, scan to file and document services. |
| US09123046B1 |
Identifying terms
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, are described for identifying target terms, e.g., spam terms within a collection of documents. In one aspect, methods can include identifying spam terms by calculating a blacklist term frequency-inverse document frequency (BTF-IDF) score for multiple terms, and by selecting, as the spam terms, the terms that have scores above or below a threshold score. The multiple terms may be derived from documents that are associated with accounts that have been designated as spam accounts. |
| US09123039B2 |
System and method of a passphrase account identifier for use in a network environment
A system and method for facilitating a financial transaction over a network including use of a passphrase account identifier is described herein. In one embodiment, a system for facilitating a financial transaction over a network comprises a communication interface; and a payment provider system configured to receive via the communication interface a passphrase account identifier from a merchant system, match the passphrase account identifier to a corresponding funding instrument number of a corresponding funding instrument, communicate the corresponding funding instrument number to an issuer system, receive from the issuer system a notification indication of one of acceptance of the funding instrument or decline of the funding instrument, and communicate back to the merchant system the notification indication. |
| US09123032B2 |
System for determining presence of and authorizing a quorum to transact business over a network
A system for determining presence of and authorizing a quorum to transact business over a network includes a first set of machine-readable instructions resident on a digital medium accessible to a computing machine, the instructions causing the machine to monitor a network for active presence of individual ones of communications devices associated with members of an authorized team of individuals from which the quorum may be determined, a second set of machine-readable instructions resident on the medium for causing the computing machine to make a confirmation of the quorum against a set of rules, and to authorize one or more of the individual communications devices making up the quorum to perform one or more tasks based on quorum consensus, and a user configuration, scheduling, and notification application resident on the digital medium for enabling a user to configure, schedule, and notify team members of a pending quorum event. |
| US09123030B2 |
Indication of off-screen calendar objects
Calendar application objects that do no not appear on the screen because of space constraints or other reasons may be associated with an edge of the time period displayed on the screen closest to a virtual location of each respective object in the calendar application. A user selectable indicator may then be displayed for one or more of the edges to indicate the presence of additional objects in the calendar application that are not currently displayed on the screen of the device, but would be displayed if the user were to scroll the displayed time period in the direction of the displayed time period edge associated with a respective indicator. The indicator may include additional data about the objects associated with the edge that do not appear within the time period shown on the screen. |
| US09123012B2 |
Method and system for defining packaging components using lifecycle analysis
Methods and systems for defining packaging components are provided. An exemplary embodiment provides an expert system (508) for defining packaging components. The expert system includes a processor (512) and a memory (514). The memory (514) includes code (510) configured to direct the processor (512) to obtain a product definition, obtain lifecycle parameters, and access a database (518, 522, or 524) to identify packaging components that match the lifecycle parameters and product definition. |
| US09123006B2 |
Techniques for parallel business intelligence evaluation and management
Techniques for parallel business intelligence and management are provided. Data is collected from a variety of disparate sources and from a variety of disparate network locations. The data is then filtered and normalized. Next, relationships between elements in the data are established and correlations are created between the elements. The elements are then tagged and integrated with other data of a distributed knowledge store to create customized business intelligence reports and customized data visualizations. |
| US09123004B2 |
Predicting an effect of events on assets
A method, computer program product and computer system for predicting that an event identified in an event topic map meta-model will have an effect on at least one asset identified in an asset topic map meta-model. In an exemplary embodiment, a computer receives a query input from a user. The computer obtains an input of an event from the query input. The computer identifies at least one asset mapped to the event in an asset to event topic map meta-model that maps assets in the asset topic map meta-model to events in the event topic map meta-model. In identifying the at least one asset, the computer determines that the at least one asset has greater than a threshold probability of being affected by the event. |
| US09122998B2 |
Catalog-based software license reconciliation
A software reconciliation engine utilizes a software rule-based catalog to produce accurate license reconciliation across a wide range of software configurations. A software offering may comprise software installables and corresponding constraints. Installed software and active hardware is discovered by a scanner, stored in an installed software database and active hardware database respectively and is mapped against entitled software offerings to determine whether the installed software is entitled to be installed on the hardware. The installed software has a base product attribute, a used-in-count attribute and a parent-child attribute that are used by the reconciliation engine to compare against the constraints to determine entitlement and report compliance. |
| US09122994B2 |
Apparatus and methods for temporally proximate object recognition
Object recognition apparatus and methods useful for extracting information from an input signal. In one embodiment, the input signal is representative of an element of an image, and the extracted information is encoded into patterns of pulses. The patterns of pulses are directed via transmission channels to a plurality of detector nodes configured to generate an output pulse upon detecting an object of interest. Upon detecting a particular object, a given detector node elevates its sensitivity to that particular object when processing subsequent inputs. In one implementation, one or more of the detector nodes are also configured to prevent adjacent detector nodes from generating detection signals in response to the same object representation. The object recognition apparatus modulates properties of the transmission channels by promoting contributions from channels carrying information used in object recognition. |
| US09122991B2 |
Systems and methods for prediction of trips
A system is disclosed. The system includes a processing subsystem that receives component data signals corresponding to a plurality of parameters of a device, wherein the processing subsystem generates one or more sets of state category component data by allocating the component data signals into respective one or more sets of state category component data, determines a plurality of first dynamic thresholds and a plurality of second dynamic thresholds corresponding to at least one of the one or more sets of state category component data based upon a respective set of state category component data in the one or more sets of state category component data and a respective parameter in the plurality of parameters, and determines an impending trip of the device utilizing the plurality of first dynamic thresholds and the plurality of second dynamic thresholds. |
| US09122986B2 |
Techniques for utilizing and adapting a prediction model
A computer-implemented technique of providing relevant search results to a user of a website at a query time. The technique can include receiving, at a computing device having one or more processors, a query from the user, the query corresponding to a description of potential search results desired by the user. The technique can further include retrieving a user history corresponding to previous user interactions with the website and determining a context of the user corresponding to an interaction of the user with the website at the query time. The relevant search results can be determined based on the query, the user history, and the context of the user and a prediction model, and be provided to the user via updating of a webpage presented to the user. The technique can further include adapting the prediction model based on a prediction event and set of corresponding prediction event features. |
| US09122982B2 |
Device and method for destination prediction
A device for constructing a hierarchical destination prediction mode includes an extracting unit configured to receive a user's historical location data and extract input data and output data from the user's historical location data. The input data includes a leaving location and associated time for the user and the output data includes an arriving location for the user. A determining unit is configured to determine the user's possible activities of each location and their original probabilities based on the input data and the output data, and to adjust the original activity probabilities based on the user's arriving patterns and leaving patterns. A prediction model obtaining unit is configured to obtain the hierarchical destination prediction model based on the input data and the adjusted probabilities. A high layer of the hierarchical destination prediction model represents activities and their transitions, and a low layer of the model represents locations of the activities. |
| US09122979B2 |
Image processing apparatus to perform photo-to-painting conversion processing
An image processing apparatus includes a storage to store an original image, a processor to change a tone of a reduced image of the original image, a display to display a tone-changed reduced image, a connection determination unit to determine whether the image processing apparatus is connected to a network, a transmitter to transmit the original image to the server via the network together with data indicating a tone when the image processing apparatus is connected to the network, a controller to cause the processor to change the tone of the original image when the image processing apparatus is not connected to the network, and a receiver to receive the original image whose tone is changed by the server when the image processing apparatus is connected to the network. |
| US09122974B2 |
Print control apparatus for causing a printing apparatus to execute printing by controlling the printing apparatus, method of controlling the same, and storage medium
According to a print control apparatus and a method of controlling the same of the present invention, when the printing apparatus is in a power saving state, when an instruction for registering in the printing apparatus sheet information stored in a storage unit in association with a sheet feeder of the printing apparatus is received, the sheet information is registered in a list, and when the printing apparatus returns from the power saving state, control is performed so that sheet information registered in the list is transmitted to the printing apparatus. |
| US09122972B2 |
Card holder device
A card storage device for storing payment cards, such as credit and debit cards or other media in an orderly fashion. The device may be used at a food and/or drink establishment. The device securely stores a number of cards for a number of patrons who wish to open a tab at a bar, pub, restaurant, or other service environment. |
| US09122969B2 |
Dual transponder radio frequency identification
Embodiments are discussed herein related to radio frequency identification (“RFID”) and, more particularly, to systems, methods, apparatuses, computer readable media products and other means for integrating two transponders into a tag, where each transponder functions independent from and does not couple with the other transponder. In some embodiments, one of the transponders can be a near field RFID transponder and the other a far field transponder. The near field RFID transponder can be used to, among other things, authenticate the far field RFID transponder. In some embodiments, the far field RFID transponder can be encoded to transmit generic information, while the near field RFID transmits more detailed or user-specific information. Additionally, in some embodiments, the near field and far field RFID transponders can operate in accordance with the same wireless protocol and include their own circuitry and antenna. |
| US09122968B2 |
Information carrying card comprising a cross-linked polymer composition, and method of making the same
The disclosure provides a cross-linkable polymer composition, a core layer for an information carrying card comprising such cross-linked composition, resulting information carrying card, and methods of making the same. A crosslinkable polymer composition comprises a curable base polymer resin in a liquid or paste form, and a particulate thermoplastic filler. The base polymer resin is selected from the group consisting of urethane acrylate, silicone acrylate, epoxy acrylate, urethane, acrylate, silicone and epoxy. The particulate thermoplastic filler may be polyolefin, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a copolymer of vinyl chloride and at least another monomer, or a polyester such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a compound or blend thereof. |
| US09122966B2 |
Communication device
A communication device is provided and includes a first major surface including a display and a mixed array. The mixed array includes at least two different types of array units and occupies an area coinciding with, in plan view as viewed perpendicular to the major surface, at least substantially the entire major surface. The mixed array includes at least one emitting or transmission element and at least one input or receiving element positioned in a pixel stack. |
| US09122963B2 |
Tamper-proof quality management barcode indicators
A tamper-proof barcoded quality indicator operative to provide a machine-readable indication of exceedance of time and temperature thresholds following actuation thereof, including a first barcode including a first colorable area and being machine-readable before exceedance of the time and temperature thresholds, a second barcode including a second colorable area and not being machine-readable before exceedance of the time and temperature thresholds, a coloring agent located at a first location on the indicator, a coloring agent pathway operative to allow the coloring agent to move, at a rate which is at least partially a function of time, from the first location to the first and second colorable areas simultaneously for simultaneous coloring thereof upon exceedance of the time and temperature thresholds, thereby causing the first barcode to become unreadable and at the same time causing the second barcode to become machine-readable, and a tamper-proof actuator element operative to actuate the indicator. |
| US09122962B2 |
Color evaluation system, method and storage medium for evaluating color reproducibility and measure patches having identification and color space characteristics
Print data are generated so as to include an evaluation patch group, which has at least one evaluation color patch, the color of which was determined depending on the type of input color space characteristics used in a color conversion process on content data representing print content, and an identification color patch having a color inherent to the type of input color space characteristics. The type of input color space characteristics is identified based on a colorimetric value of the identification color patch on a print. Judgment conditions for color reproducibility are acquired depending on the type of input color space characteristics. |
| US09122955B2 |
Method and system of classifying medical images
A method of generating a category model for classifying medical images. The method comprises providing a plurality of medical images each categorized as one of a plurality of categorized groups, generating an index of a plurality of visual words according to a distribution of a plurality of local descriptors in each the image, modeling a category model mapping a relation between each visual word and at least one of the categorized groups according to the index, and outputting the category model for facilitating the categorization of an image based on local descriptors thereof. |
| US09122953B2 |
Methods and systems for character segmentation in automated license plate recognition applications
Methods and systems for character segmentation in an automatic license plate recognition application. One or more images of a license plate are acquired. Then, a pixel-level importance may be calculated with respect to the image(s) of the license plate based on information within the image, such as gradient information and raw grayscale information. A seam selection can be then applied with respect to the pixel-level importance map and the image(s) by enforcing constraints based on known characteristics of license plates in order to provide for character segmentation with respect to the image(s) of the license plate. |
| US09122952B2 |
Methods and apparatus for one-dimensional signal extraction
Methods and apparatus are disclosed for extracting a one-dimensional digital signal from a two-dimensional digital image along a projection line. In some embodiments a repeating sequence of pixel weight templates, and a sequence of relative positions, are selected in response to the orientation of a projection line and used to compute a sequence of weighted sums. The sequence can be selected to achieve desirable properties, for example photometric accuracy, geometric accuracy, resolution, and/or noise reduction. In some embodiments registers and multiply-accumulators are arranged and controlled so as to compute the 1D signal. |
| US09122951B2 |
Teachable object contour mapping for biology image region partition
A teachable object contour mapping method for region partition receives an object boundary and a teaching image. An object contour mapping recipe creation is performed using the object boundary and the teaching image to generate object contour mapping recipe output. An object contour mapping is applied to an application image using the object contour mapping recipe and the application image to generate object contour map output. An object region partition using the object contour map to generate object region partition output. An updateable object contour mapping method receives a contour mapping recipe and a validation image. An object contour mapping is performed using the object contour mapping recipe and the validation image to generate validation contour map output. An object region partition receives a region mask to generate validation object region partition output. A boundary correction is performed using the validation object region partition to generate corrected object boundary output. An update contour mapping is performed using the corrected object boundary, the validation image and the contour mapping recipe to generate updated contour mapping recipe output. |
| US09122948B1 |
System and method for evaluating the perception system of an autonomous vehicle
A method and apparatus are provided for optimizing one or more object detection parameters used by an autonomous vehicle to detect objects in images. The autonomous vehicle may capture the images using one or more sensors. The autonomous vehicle may then determine object labels and their corresponding object label parameters for the detected objects. The captured images and the object label parameters may be communicated to an object identification server. The object identification server may request that one or more reviewers identify objects in the captured images. The object identification server may then compare the identification of objects by reviewers with the identification of objects by the autonomous vehicle. Depending on the results of the comparison, the object identification server may recommend or perform the optimization of one or more of the object detection parameters. |
| US09122941B2 |
Protective case for a portable computing device
A protective case for a portable computing device may include a rigid component comprising an upper surface and a cavity therein for receiving a portable computing device. The protective case may also include a cover having a surface area that is larger than the area of the upper surface that is open to the cavity. At least a central area of the cover may be transparent. The cover may be positioned over the cavity, and may also be positioned over part of the upper surface of the rigid component. The protective case may also include a pliable component molded around at least a portion of the rigid component and over a portion of the cover that is in contact with the upper surface of the rigid component, thereby forming a waterproof seal between the cover and the upper surface of the rigid component. |
| US09122940B2 |
Barcode scanner
An assembly to deliver packaging film, having a barcode, to a packaging machine (10). Associated with the packaging machine (10) is a splicing machine (17) that joins film from rolls (14, 15) for delivery to the machine (10). A barcode scanner (19) extends transversely of the film, with the scanner (19) including a plurality of cameras (29). Once a barcode is detected, as an example ten images will be decoded and if six “readings” give the same result, then it can be assumed that the barcode has been correctly decoded. |
| US09122939B2 |
System and method for reading optical codes on reflective surfaces while minimizing flicker perception of pulsed illumination
Methods and systems are disclosed for improved operation of readers of optical codes presented on electronic display screens or other highly reflective surfaces. Certain configurations include controlling image exposure and illumination pulse timing so as to avoid or minimize the perception of flicker of the pulsed illumination by a user or bystander while implementing methods for reading optical codes presented on electronic display screens or other highly reflective surfaces. |
| US09122936B2 |
Detecting device, detection method, and computer program product
According to an embodiment, a detecting device includes a projecting unit, a calculator, and a detector. The projecting unit is configured to obtain a first projection position by projecting a capturing position of a captured image on a road surface, obtain a second projection position by projecting a spatial position in the captured image on the road surface, and obtain a third projection position by projecting an error position on the road surface. The calculator is configured to calculate an existence probability of an object on a line passing through the first and second projection positions so that an existence probability of the object between the second and third projection positions on the straight line is greater than between the first and third projection positions on the straight line. The detector is configured to detect a boundary between the road surface and the object by using the existence probability. |
| US09122929B2 |
Method of identifying a tracked object for use in processing hyperspectral data
The invention relates a method of identifying a tracked object that has a known database of hyperspectral and spatial information. The method associates an identifier with the tracked object; selects a parameter associated with the hyperspectral or spatial information of the tracked object; detects a deviation in the selected parameter; compares the deviation with the database; and if the deviation exceeds a predetermined threshold, assigns a new identifier to the tracked object, and if the deviation does not exceed the predetermined threshold, continues tracking the tracked object. |
| US09122926B2 |
Iris recognition using localized Zernike moments
A system receives an iris image and segments the iris region. The segmented iris region is mapped to a unit disk and partitioned into local iris regions (or sectors) as a function of the radius and angle The system calculates localized Zernike moments for a plurality of regions of the unit disk. The localized Zernike moment includes a projection of the local iris region into a space of Zernike polynomial orthogonal basis functions. The system generates an iris feature set from the localized Zernike moments for each partitioned region, excluding the regions which are comprised by occlusion. The iris features are weighted based on the conditions of blur, gaze and occlusion of the iris region. A probe iris image is then matched to a plurality of iris images in a database based on the distance of its feature set to the corresponding plurality of iris feature sets. |
| US09122925B2 |
Systems and methods for capturing artifact free images
The present disclosure is directed towards methods and systems for capturing artifact-free biometric images of an eye. The eye may be in motion and in the presence of partially-reflective eyewear. The method may include acquiring, by a first sensor, a first image of an eye while the eye is illuminated by a first illuminator. The first image may include a region of interest. The first sensor may be disposed at a fixed displacement from the first illuminator and a second sensor. The second sensor may acquire, within a predetermined period of time from the acquisition of the first image, a second image of the eye. The second image may include the region of interest. An image processor may determine if at least one of the first and second images include artifacts arising from one or both of the first illuminator and eyewear, within the region of interest. |
| US09122924B2 |
Object identification
Methods, devices, and systems for object identification are described herein. One or more method embodiments include converting data associated with an object on a geographical image or map into a number of primitives, fitting the number of primitives to a geometrical shape, and identifying the object based, at least in part, on the geometrical shape to which the number of primitives is fitted. |
| US09122923B2 |
Image generation apparatus and control method
An image generation apparatus stores a plurality of selection condition rows including a plurality of selection conditions used for selecting an image from a plurality of material images, selects at least one material image from the plurality of material images as a first material image, obtains a feature quantity of the first material image, selects a selection condition row which is stored in the storage unit and includes a selection condition including the obtained feature quantity, selects a second material image from the plurality of material images based on a selection condition row which has been selected, and generates an image based on the first and the second material images which have been selected and the selection condition row which has been selected. |
| US09122921B2 |
Method for detecting a document boundary
A method for detecting a document boundary in a captured digital image depicting a hardcopy document on a background. Each color channel of the captured digital image is analyzed to determine a corresponding busyness metric representing a complexity level of the image data. The color channel having a lowest busyness level is selected and analyzed to detect a document boundary of the depicted hardcopy document. The detected document boundary can be used to perform a perspective correction process to determine a corrected digital image where the depicted document has a substantially rectangular boundary. |
| US09122918B2 |
Systems and methods for specifying and formulating customized topical agents
Systems and methods for determining a customized cosmetic formulation. In one method, a user is guided to capture an image of a skin region with known lighting and color characteristics, and the image is processed to provide calibrated skin color information. A customized cosmetic formulation is automatically determined for the user based on the calibrated skin color information. In another method, a user is interactively guided through capture of one or more skin region images using a device having an image sensor. The skin region images are processed to provide calibrated skin color information, which is compared to a ground truth data set to identify a set of closest known values in the ground truth data set. A customized cosmetic formulation is automatically determined for the user based on the comparison. |
| US09122913B2 |
Method for logging a user in to a mobile device
A method is provided for logging a first user in to a mobile device being in a locked mode. The method comprising: storing a password associated with the first user and information that relates to a facial image of that first user; when the mobile device is in a locked mode: receiving a password inserted by a user; comparing the received password with the stored password and determining whether they match; if a match is found, prompting an image capturing device to capture an image; retrieving information that relates to a facial image from the captured image and comparing that information with the stored information; if the retrieved information matches the stored information, unlocking the mobile device. |
| US09122912B1 |
Sharing photos in a social network system
Embodiments generally relate to sharing photos in a social network system. In one embodiment, a method includes obtaining a plurality of photos associated with a target user in a social network system, and detecting a face of one or more persons in the plurality of photos. The method also includes computing significance values for the faces, where each significance value indicates a degree of significance between the target user and each person represented by each face. The method also includes generating a significance ranking of the significance values, and determining a group of photos for the target user based on the significance ranking. |
| US09122910B2 |
Method, apparatus, and system for friend recommendations
A method is for friend recommendation which includes obtaining a first picture sent by a user, and determining one or more users associated with the first picture based on attribute information of the first picture. The method also includes, when it is determined that a total number of the users associated with the first picture is two or more, detecting whether a first user and a second user from the one or more users associated with the first picture are friends. Further, the method includes, when it is detected that the first user and the second user are not friends, sending friend recommendation information to one of the first user and the second user, wherein the friend recommendation information contains information of the other of the first user and the second. It is more likely that the friend recommendation information is of real interest of the users receiving the information. |
| US09122905B2 |
System and method for quality assurance in pathology
Systems and methods for analyzing digital slide images. In an embodiment, a digital slide image is acquired from a specimen on a slide. Then, until it is determined that a quality of the digital slide image is sufficient, the quality of the digital slide image is determined and the digital slide image is reacquired. Once it is determined that the quality of the digital slide image is sufficient, the digital slide image and a measure of the quality of the digital slide image is provided to one or more recipients. |
| US09122898B2 |
Systems and methods for processing documents of unknown or unspecified format
A computer implemented method for extracting meaningful text from a document of unknown or unspecified format. In a particular embodiment, the method includes reading the document, thereby to extract raw encoded text, analysing the raw encoded text, thereby to identify one or more text chunks, and for a given chunk, performing compression identification analysis to determine whether compression is likely. The method can further include performing a decompression process, performing an encoding identification process thereby to identify a likely character encoding protocol, and converting the chunk using the identified likely character encoding protocol, thereby to output the chunk as readable text. |
| US09122897B2 |
Method for the detection and classification of microcalcification clusters in digital mammograms
A method for the detection and classification of microcalcification clusters in digital mammograms which comprises the following steps: obtaining one or more digital mammograms; pre-processing the one or more digital mammograms by eliminating the noise from each one or more digital mammograms; detecting the points that are potential microcalcifications represented by their centroids, in the one or more pre-processed digital mammograms; identifying each mass center of potential microcalcifications as a microcalcification or non-microcalcification; identifying microcalcification clusters, using an algorithm for locating microcalcification cluster; and classifying each cluster into the classes benign or malignant. |
| US09122895B2 |
Authorization for transient storage devices with multiple authentication silos
In a transient storage device (TSD) with multiple authentication silos, a host computing device connected to the TSD is configured by the TSD to discover and act upon various types of authentication information in the silos. One or more logical combinations of authentication silos are switched to the authenticated state to grant access to an associated storage area. A particular ordering of authentication silos may be required to achieve a valid combination of authenticated silos. Ordering may be suggested by configuration information in the TSD. Ordering may also be based upon whether or not user input is required for authenticating a given authentication silo, the environment of use of the TSD, or a hierarchy from most trusted to least trusted authentication silo. With this information, the host proceeds with the most efficient authentication sequence leading to a grant of access to the storage area. |
| US09122893B1 |
Trusted platform module switching
A computer system comprises a Trusted Platform Module System (TPMS). The TPMS comprises a first Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and a second TPM, which comports with a different TPM specification than that followed by the first TPM. A physical presence input device receives a local physical change signal that proves a local physical presence of a user at the computer system. A toggle input device, which requires the local physical change signal, causes the state being output from the GPIO pin on the first TPM to switch from a first state to a second state. This change of state causes a TPM switch to selectively decouple the first TPM from a central processing unit and to couple the second TPM to the central processing unit. |
| US09122888B2 |
System and method to create resilient site master-key for automated access
A system encrypts a private key with a master key and includes a storage device for storing a protected private key at a site location, a processor that determines a plurality of derivatives by selecting an order of site characteristics from a plurality of disjoint sets of site characteristics unique to a software installation or site location, wherein the processor applies a hash algorithm to each site characteristic. The system further includes a buffer storage device for storing an order of random selections of the site characteristics for the derivatives. The system encrypts the master key with the derivatives and additionally stores the encrypted form of the master key in a storage device. |
| US09122887B2 |
User interface for secure virtual document management system
A user interface for a virtual file management system that provides user access to managed content on mobile devices. The system comprises storage domains storing the managed content distributively using file systems, and a data infrastructure that organizes the managed content into a virtual file system. The data infrastructure includes a component that maintains policies defining controls for permissible operations on the managed content, the permissible operations including the file system primitives. A client application including a user interface is hosted on the mobile devices and is coupled to the data infrastructure and the storage domains and includes an enforcement component that retrieves and enforces the policies by applying the controls on the mobile devices. |
| US09122886B2 |
Track changes permissions
Various features and processes related to document collaboration are disclosed. In some implementations, animations are presented when updating a local document display to reflect changes made to the document at a remote device. In some implementations, a user can selectively highlight changes made by collaborators in a document. In some implementations, a user can select an identifier associated with another user to display a portion of a document that includes the other user's cursor location. In some implementations, text in document chat sessions can be automatically converted into hyperlinks which, when selected, cause a document editor to perform an operation. |
| US09122885B1 |
Creating distinct user spaces through user identifiers
A method of, and a processing system for, creating distinct user spaces. In a platform originally intended to be a single user platform, for each of a plurality of users, a first application used by the user can be assigned a user identifier (UID) unique to the user and the first application. The first UID can be associated with user data exclusively associated with the user and the first application to create a multi-user platform. |
| US09122874B2 |
Method and system for detecting restricted content associated with retrieved content
In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for detecting restricted content associated with retrieved content. The method and system may include receiving a client request for content, saving contextual information from the client request, presenting retrieved content in response to the client request, and presenting the contextual information from the client request, and retrieved content, to a scanning facility. The scanning facility may utilize the contextual information from the client request to aid in the detection of restricted content associated with retrieved content. |
| US09122865B2 |
System and method to establish and use credentials for a common lightweight identity through digital certificates
A system and method for authentication of a user using “lightweight” identities. The system and method provides for establishment of user credentials for a particular electronic mail address by an identity server through the recordation of a mail token and private token after receiving a request for credentials from the user. The identity server sends a private token to the user and sends a verification message to the user containing a specific link to the identity server for verification of the user along with the mail token, and then can verify the user by confirming that a mail token and private token recorded by the identity server match a mail token and a private token received from the user. After the verification process is successful, the identity server issues credentials that consist of a certificate either with or without a private key to the user which serves as an authenticated, unique, lightweight identity that a user can assume to access various services. |
| US09122863B2 |
Configuring identity federation configuration
A method and apparatus for configuring identity federation configuration. The method includes: acquiring a set of identity federation configuration properties of a first computing system and a set of identity federation configuration properties of a second computing system; identifying one or more pairs of associated properties in the first and the second sets, where the pairs of associated properties include one property from each set of identity federation configuration; displaying, properties that need to be configured manually from the each sets of identity federation configuration properties, where the properties that need to be configured manually do not include the property in any pair of associated properties for which the value can be derived from the value of another property in the pair; automatically assigning a property that can be derived from the value of another property; and providing each computing systems with each set of identity federation properties. |
| US09122862B2 |
Password input method using visual object
A method and apparatus is provided for switching from a regular desktop screen to a password input screen for a user to input a password. An apparatus may comprise a first screen display as the password input screen, a second screen display as the regular desktop screen, and a switching system. The switching system may be configured to switch a screen item position between the first screen display and the second screen display. The switching system may receive a user selection of a sequence of screen items as a password input and may switch operation of the apparatus between the first screen display to the second screen display. |
| US09122857B1 |
Authenticating a user in an authentication system
There is disclosed method and system for authenticating user in authentication system comprising verifier and authentication device configured such that verifier and device comprise secret. A first voice sample of user recorded in verifier. Authentication information is generated in device. The device configured such that information generated is dynamic information based on secret. The information generated in device presented to user. An input signal received in verifier comprising a second voice sample of user and response by user to information. The input signal received in verifier in response to user responding to information by voicing response to information. The first and second samples compared in verifier. The information generated by device and response by user to information compared in verifier. An authentication result generated in verifier based on comparison of first and second samples and comparison of information and response. The result used for authenticating user. |
| US09122847B2 |
Mobile device peripherals management system and multi-data stream technology (MdS)
A device and system for management of and access to externally connected peripheral devices by mobile devices. User and/or application data on a mobile device is sent to externally connected peripheral devices. External peripheral devices includes, but are not limited to, printers, scanners, displays, audio interfaces, speakers, network adapters, storage drives, hard drives, and the like. An end user mobile device application interface is installed as an application on a mobile device. Data may be sent directly to a peripheral device, or to a peripherals aggregation device, which may be active or passive. |
| US09122844B2 |
Proxy device for managing digital rights
A system and method relate to a platform for distributing digital contents (digital content) to various client devices. A digital rights management platform allows a content provider to forward digital contents that is automatically ingested and processed in accordance with various requirements associated with providing the digital contents to the client devices. Information regarding the ingested digital contents may be provided to a coordinator device that uses this information to form a digital rights locker associated with the digital contents. A client device accesses the digital rights locker to obtain a rights token, or a proof of purchase, that is used to obtain rights data for accessing the digital contents. |
| US09122840B2 |
Performing collective operations in a distributed processing system
Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for performing collective operations on a hybrid distributed processing system that includes a plurality of compute nodes and a plurality of tasks, each task is assigned a unique rank, and each compute node is coupled for data communications by at least two different networking topologies. At least one of the two networking topologies is a tiered tree topology having a root task and at least two child tasks and the at least two child tasks are peers of one another in the same tier. Embodiments include for each task, sending at least a portion of data corresponding to the task to all child tasks of the task through the tree topology; and sending at least a portion of the data corresponding to the task to all peers of the task at the same tier in the tree topology through the second topology. |
| US09122837B1 |
Validating integrated circuit simulation results
A technique validates results from a circuit simulation estimation program. The technique determines whether the estimated results satisfy Kirchhoff's current law (KCL), Kirchhoff's voltage laws (KVL), and power conservation for the original circuit. A reporting tool shows the validation results and may be customized by the user. The tool can show in the original circuitry where the estimated results may be inaccurate. |
| US09122836B2 |
Recognition of template patterns with mask information
Apparatus includes a machine readable storage medium for storing a template library having at least one template. The template is to include a first layout representation of at least one pattern to be formed by multi-patterning a single layer of an IC. The pattern has a plurality of portions to be formed using a plurality of respectively different photomasks. The first layout representation includes data identifying on which photomask each portion is to be located. An electronic design automation (EDA) tool includes a processor configured to receive a hardware description language representation of at least a part of a circuit and generate a second layout representation of the part of the circuit having a plurality of polygons. The EDA tool has a matching module that identifies and outputs an indication of whether one or more of the plurality of portions matches a subset of the plurality of polygons. |
| US09122835B2 |
Method for generating layout of photomask
A method for generating a layout pattern of integrated circuit (IC) is provided. First, feature patterns are provided to a computer system and dummy pad patterns are generated in a space among the feature patterns. The layout pattern is then split into first feature patterns and second feature patterns. The dimensions of the first feature patterns are less than the dimensions of the second feature patterns. Afterwards, the dummy pad patterns are combined with the second features pattern to form a combined pattern. Then, mandrel patterns are generated in a space between the first feature patterns and the geometric patterns are generated according to the positions of the first feature patterns. Finally, the combined pattern, the mandrel patterns, and the geometric patterns are respectively outputted to form a first, a second, and a third photomasks. |
| US09122833B2 |
Method of designing fin field effect transistor (FinFET)-based circuit and system for implementing the same
A method of designing a fin field effect transistor (FinFET)-based circuit includes designing, using a processor, a first circuit schematic design based on a performance specification, the first circuit schematic design is free of artificial elements, wherein the artificial elements are used to simulate electrical performance of the FinFET-based circuit. The method further includes modifying, using the processor, at least one device within the first circuit schematic design to form a second circuit schematic design taking the artificial elements into consideration. The method further includes performing a pre-layout simulation using the second circuit schematic and taking the artificial elements into consideration. The method further includes generating a layout, wherein the layout does not take the artificial elements into consideration, and performing a post-layout simulation, wherein the post-layout simulation does not take the artificial elements into consideration. |
| US09122831B2 |
LSI designing apparatus, LSI designing method, and program
An apparatus and method that improve design efficiency when designing an LSI. A selector module generating section inputs IP connection information describing input/output flows of signals between IPs included in an LSI to be designed, analyzes the inputted IP connection information, and generates a selector module of a selector that matches the input/output flows of signals between IPs described in the IP connection information. A macro module generating section generates a macro module in which relationships between the selector and function blocks are indicated, using the selector module generated by the selector module generating section. |
| US09122830B2 |
Wide pin for improved circuit routing
Embodiments described herein provide approaches for improved circuit routing using a wide-edge pin. Specifically, provided is an integrated circuit (IC) device comprising a standard cell having a first metal layer (M1) pin coupled to a second metal layer (M2) wire at a via. The M1 pin has a width greater than a width of the via sufficient to satisfy an enclosure rule for the via, while the M1 pin extends vertically past the via a distance substantially equal to or greater than zero. This layout increases the number of available pin access points within the standard cell and thus improves routing efficiency and chip size. |
| US09122826B1 |
Method and apparatus for performing compilation using multiple design flows
A method for designing a system on a target device includes merging a netlist for a first partition of the system generated from a bottom-up design flow with a netlist for a second partition of the system from a top-down design flow to form a combined netlist, and performing fitting on the combined netlist. |
| US09122824B2 |
System-on-chip design structure and method
Aspects may include a method of designing a system-on-chip. The method may include receiving multiple processing modules, each representing in software one of multiple processing units of a system-on-chip. The method may further include modeling communications from one or more of the multiple processing modules as accesses to memory. The method may further include generating a coherent memory module associated with the multiple processing modules based on modeling the communications from the one or more of the multiple processing modules as accesses to memory. The coherent memory module may represent in software a coherent memory associated with the multiple processing units. |
| US09122823B2 |
Stacked multiple-input delay gates
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, program product, and a logic circuit structure for correcting early-mode timing violations in a digital circuit design. A portion of a digital circuit design is identified having an early-mode timing violation. A logic circuit is identified within the identified portion of a digital circuit design having the early-mode timing violation. At least one input of the identified logic circuit is identified as having the early-mode timing violation. At least one transistor is added to the identified logic circuit, wherein the input of the added at least one transistor is coupled to the identified at least one input of the identified logic circuit, and wherein the addition of the at least one transistor delays the signal received at the identified at least one input to eliminate the early-mode timing violation. |
| US09122820B2 |
Subwavelength grating coupler
A method, system or device for configuring an optical coupling device including obtaining characteristics of an optical signal and ambient conditions for storage in memory, utilizing a processor for identifying an optimum effective subwavelength area refractive index and a grating period for the input signal and ambient characteristics stored in memory, and utilizing the processor for identifying a preferred filling factor for a transverse polarization. |
| US09122817B2 |
Collaborative CAx apparatus and method
A method for collaborative editing an electronic model of a CAx object may include providing access to an electronic model that is spatially decomposed into a plurality of editing regions, enabling a user to make changes to an editable feature corresponding to a particular editing region and blocking the user from making changes to an editable feature corresponding to an editing region assigned to another user. A corresponding apparatus may comprise one or more software modules and associated hardware that are configured to execute the described method. |
| US09122814B2 |
Vehicle computing module
A vehicle computing system includes a vehicle computing module mounted on a main system board. The module includes a computing module circuit board with computing components mounted thereon including a central processing unit and a main memory. An edge connector connects the computing module circuit board to an edge connector socket on the main system board. A plurality of computing function interfaces are connected to the edge connector, and include a configuration interface connected to the central processing unit and, via the edge connector, to a controller on the main system board. The controller configures the central processing unit for operation in the vehicle computing system by enabling specification of the computing function interfaces during a vehicle computing module configuration. The computing function interfaces are configured during the vehicle computing module configuration to process data received by the vehicle computing module via the computing function interfaces. |
| US09122813B2 |
USB host determination of whether a USB device provides power via a USB coupling
System and method for a USB host to determine whether or not a USB device provides power via a USB coupling between the USB host and the USB device. At a first time, it may be determined that the USB device is coupled to the USB host via a USB coupling and does not provide power. Power may be provided to the USB device via the USB coupling. At a second time it may be determined that the USB device does provide power via the USB coupling. Power may no longer be provided to the USB device via the USB coupling after it is determined that the USB device does provide power via the USB coupling. A battery of the USB host may be charged using power provided by the USB device via the USB coupling based on determining that the USB device does provide power via the USB coupling. |
| US09122812B2 |
Semiconductor device with vias on a bridge connecting two buses
A semiconductor device comprises conductive buses and conductive bridges. A respective conductive bridge is conductively coupled to at least two portions of at least one of the conductive buses. At least N plus one (N+1) vias are coupled between every one of the conductive bridges and a respective feature in an integrated circuit when: (1) a width of the respective conductive bridge is less than a width of each of the at least two portions of the at least one of the conductive buses to which the respective conductive bridge is coupled, and (2) a distance along the respective conductive bridge and at least one of the vias is less than a critical distance. N is a number of conductive couplings between the respective one of the conductive bridges and the at least one of the conductive buses. |
| US09122811B2 |
Flexibly integrating endpoint logic into varied platforms
In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to an integrated endpoint having a virtual port coupled between an upstream fabric and an integrated device fabric that includes a multi-function logic to handle various functions for one or more intellectual property (IP) blocks coupled to the integrated device fabric. The integrated device fabric has a primary channel to communicate data and command information between the IP block and the upstream fabric and a sideband channel to communicate sideband information between the IP block and the multi-function logic. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US09122808B2 |
Network interface to a video device
an illustrative video apparatus comprises a decoder that decodes video information in a native format, an emulation controller coupled to the decoder, and a network controller coupled to the emulation controller and capable of coupling to an external network. The video apparatus also includes a storage holding an instruction sequence executable on the emulation controller. The instruction sequence comprises a code for receiving network information from the external network and converting the network information to the native format for transfer to the decoder. |
| US09122806B2 |
SATA data appliance for providing SATA hosts with access to a configurable number of SATA drives residing in a SAS topology
A method and apparatus for providing a SATA host with access to multiple SATA drives is disclosed. The apparatus may include: an emulated port multiplier for presenting at least one logical drive to the SATA host; a mapping module for maintaining a mapping between the at least one logical drive and a plurality of physical SATA drives, wherein the plurality of physical SATA drives reside in a SAS topology; and a SATA/STP bridge for providing an interface between the SATA host and the SAS topology, the SATA/STP bridge configured to function as a SATA target to communicate with the SATA host and to function as a STP initiator to communicate with the plurality of physical SATA drives in the SAS topology. |
| US09122791B2 |
Identifying a storage location for a storage address requested during debugging
A method for identifying a storage location for a requested storage address. The method includes receiving a request to view data at a storage address and determining the requested storage address corresponding to a plurality of storage locations. The method includes determining whether the requested storage address identifies memory related to a dump file being analyzed by a dump formatter. Then, in response to determining the requested storage address identifies memory related to the dump file being analyzed by the dump formatter, the method includes identifying one of the plurality of storage locations. The method includes directing the request to the identified storage location. |
| US09122789B1 |
System and method for testing applications with a load tester and testing translator
According to one embodiment, the invention comprise a Translation Tool, that translates messages in a client/server system into a form compatible with a Load Testing Tool, which are used to create a script for the Load Testing Tool. The Load Testing Tool utilizes the script created with the messages converted by the Translation Tool to generate emulated messages to test and evaluate the performance of the client/server system. The Translation Tool (possibly the same as the first translator) translates the messages generated by the Load Testing Tool into a form compatible by the client/server system. |
| US09122788B2 |
Appliance network for a networked appliance with a network binder accessory
An appliance network has a network binder accessory to establish a private network among nodes that might be on different networks, using “one-click”. |
| US09122777B2 |
Method for determining coronary artery disease risk
Markers and methods useful for assessing coronary artery disease in a subject are provided, along with kits for measuring their expression. Also provided are predictive models, based on the markers, as well as computer systems, and software embodiments of the models for scoring and optionally classifying samples. |
| US09122774B2 |
Medical image system
Disclosed is a medical image system including a medical image management apparatus including a storage unit, a plurality of client terminals and an image generation apparatus. The medical image management apparatus be on standby for import of a medical image when an image import instruction is received from each of the plurality of client terminals, and the medical image management apparatus includes a control unit which stores the medical image in the storage unit and thereafter cancels the standby for image import. In a case where the image import instruction from another client terminal is received, the control unit cancels the standby for image import that is based on the image import instruction from one client terminal when a predetermined condition is fulfilled. |
| US09122773B2 |
Medical information display apparatus and operation method and program
A predetermined period is selected on timeline, and electronic medical record information about examination and treatment received by a predetermined person to be examined during the selected period is retrieved. All of examined regions recorded in the electronic medical record information are extracted therefrom. Further, external view image representing an external view of the person to be examined is displayed, and marks representing the examined regions are superimposed at the positions of the examined regions in the external view image. |
| US09122772B2 |
Method for analyzing message archives and corresponding computer program
A method for analyzing a large number of messages, wherein the number of messages is reduced based on pattern recognition and pattern simplification, rules for the pattern recognition and pattern simplification are based on a regular grammatical structure, and patterns are sought in the remaining messages, or directly, i.e., without previous simplification. Syntactic pattern recognition is used for each type of pattern search, and a finite machine is derivable using the regular grammatical structure underlying each pattern recognition by transforming the mapping rules into transfer function, such that structural connections between the messages can be displayed graphically. |
| US09122771B2 |
Graph similarity calculation system, method and program
A computer implemented method and system for calculating a degree of similarity between two graphs whose nodes are respectively given discrete labels include providing, for each of the two graphs, label values respectively to a given node and nodes adjacent thereto so that different ones of the discrete labels correspond to different ones of the label values. The nodes are sequentially tracing for each of the two graphs, and, during the tracing of the nodes, a new label value is calculated through a hash calculation using a label value of a currently visited node and also using label values of nodes adjacent to the currently visited node to update the label value to the currently visited node. The degree of similarity between the two graphs is calculated on the basis of the number of the label values having been given to nodes of the two graphs and agreeing between the two graphs. |
| US09122764B2 |
Methods and apparatus to access process data stored on a server
Example methods and apparatus to access process data stored on a server are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes receiving a request to access process data via a web browser, identifying a server that stores at least a portion of the process data, wherein the server is associated with an interoperability data packing format, accessing the server to receive the process data, converting the process data from a format associated with the interoperability data packing format to a web browsing format, and embedding at least a first portion of the converted process data into at least one data field for display via the web browser. |
| US09122761B2 |
Business entity searching and automatic dialing for smartphones
Business entity search results are provided for smartphones for automatic dialing. Search results are provided based on partial business entity name and location information. Search results are trimmed to only include name, address, and phone number. A smartphone is adapted to display search results concisely allowing the user to quickly identify and call the desired business entity. |
| US09122759B2 |
Systems and methods for online social matchmaking
A computer-based system for presenting interpersonal relationship recommendation that utilizes peer based opinions about a potential match to influence the recommendation, and that presents the peer based opinions along with the recommendation. |
| US09122755B2 |
Instantaneous incremental search user interface
An incremental search user interface is implemented to reduce search requests from a client system to a server system. In one aspect, a result list is cached in a memory of the client system, where the result list corresponds to a search request from the client system to the server system. In another aspect, a check is repeatedly performed, in a predetermined time interval, to determine whether an input keystroke is received. Upon confirming the receiving of an input keystroke, based on a partial query and the cached result list, determine whether a search request to the server is unnecessary. |
| US09122754B2 |
Intelligent video summaries in information access
In a method for displaying video data within result presentations in information access or search systems, compressed thumbnails are computed for videos in a result page and applied to the result page. An end user is enabled to select a video in the result page and activate streaming of a video summary within the context of the associated result page. |
| US09122753B2 |
Method and apparatus for retrieving a song by hummed query
An electronic apparatus and method for retrieving a song, and a storage medium. The electronic apparatus includes: a storage unit which stores a plurality of songs; a user input unit which receives a hummed query which is inputted for retrieving a song; and a song retrieving unit which retrieves a song based on the hummed query from among the plurality of stored songs when the hummed query is received. The song retrieving unit extracts a pitch and a duration of the hummed query, converts each of the extracted pitch and duration into multi-level symbols, calculates a string edit distance between the hummed query and one of the plurality of songs based on the symbols, and determines a similarity between the hummed query and a song based on edit operations which are performed within the calculated string edit distance. |
| US09122752B2 |
Personalizing content based on mood
In order to increase the efficacy of a mood-based playlisting system, a mood sensor such as a camera may be used to provide mood information to the mood model. When the mood sensor includes a camera, a camera may be used to capture an image of the user. The image is analyzed to determine a mood for the user so that content may be selected responsive to the mood of the user. |
| US09122750B2 |
Classifying objects
Embodiments of a classification pipeline disclosed herein have the ability to both collect data as it occurs and dynamically redact it, allowing ongoing statistics to be gathered and maintained while simultaneously constraining the total amount of storage capacity that must be dedicated to such a purpose. Various types of information can be extracted from or obtained on the object through the classification pipeline. In one embodiment, the classification pipeline comprises a plurality of layers implemented as a set of services available to network clients through a Web interface or an Applications Programming Interface (API). Each client can subscribe to one or more layers of the classification pipeline at their leisure and tailor their classification pipeline configuration through the interface. The classification pipeline can be configured to collaborate with other software to provide a consistent snapshot of the state of a network environment based on data collected at the time. |
| US09122748B2 |
Matching documents against monitors
Techniques and tools are described for matching documents against monitors. An index can be generated from a plurality of monitors, where the index represents the query logic of the plurality of monitors. The index can be searched using the documents as search queries. The searching can comprise matching the documents against the monitors using the query logic represented in the index. An index can be distributed to a plurality of computing devices to be searched at the plurality of computing devices, where each computing device searches a subset of a plurality of documents against the full index. Searching at the plurality of computing devices can be performed in parallel, and results can be aggregated at a central location. |
| US09122745B2 |
Interactive acquisition of remote services
A natural language specification of at least one high level information technology services requirement is obtained from a user, via a conversational interface; the same is parsed into first pre-defined semi-structured data, using a conversation parser. Based on the first pre-defined semi-structured data, a subset of candidate information technology services is identified, with a dialog engine, from a plurality of candidate information technology services provided by a plurality of vendors, the dialog engine is used to formulate a response including second pre-defined semi-structured data. The response is reverse-parsed into a natural language response, using the conversation parser. The natural language response includes a question for the user to assist in further refining the subset of candidate information technology services; the natural language response is presented to the user via the conversational interface. |
| US09122744B2 |
System and method for providing distributed intelligent assistance
A system and a method for a service engine providing distributed intelligent assistance to a user are described herein. The method comprising steps of receiving and displaying a user inquiry from the user, the user inquiry having a linguistic pattern including a verb; generating and displaying a follow up question based on the user inquiry; receiving and displaying a follow up answer from the user; and generating and displaying a response based on the user inquiry and the follow up answer. |
| US09122742B2 |
Generating deportment and comportment cohorts
A computer implemented method, system, and/or computer program product generates deportment and comportment cohorts. Digital sensor data comprises event metadata describes a set of events associated with an individual. Descriptive data about the individual is retrieved by data mining a combination of online sources and off-line sources. A set of conduct analysis models is selected based on event metadata and available description data. The event metadata and the description data are analyzed in the set of conduct analysis models to form a deportment and comportment cohort, where the deportment and comportment cohort comprises attributes identifying a demeanor and manner of the individual. |
| US09122735B2 |
Method and apparatus for modifying a transition to an altered power state of an electronic device based on accelerometer output
A method and apparatus are disclosed for modifying a transition to an altered power state of an electronic device based on accelerometer output. The apparatus includes an electronic device having a display and an accelerometer. The apparatus also includes a determination module, and a modification module. The determination module determines an in-use condition of the electronic device based on accelerometer output for the electronic device. The modification module modifies a transition to an altered power state of the electronic device in response to the determination module determining the in-use condition. |
| US09122730B2 |
Free-text search for integrating management of applications
An integration mechanism for managing computing components may be provided. It may comprise collecting management information about the computing components using a data collection component, storing objects of the collected management information in a full-text search-index data-structure, generating for each collected object a displayable result snippet, searching the full-text search-index data-structure for matching objects based on a received parameter, retrieving all matching objects of the full-text search-index data-structure related to the search, and displaying the matching objects in form of the related result snippets, wherein the integration mechanism is independent from the computing components it is collecting management information from. |
| US09122726B2 |
Tuple routing in a streaming application
A system and method for modifying the processing within a streaming application are disclosed. The method may determine one or more parameters for a tuple at a first stream operator. The one or more parameters may represent a processing history of the tuple at the first stream operator. The method may associate the one or more parameters with the tuple metadata. A second stream operator may modify the processing of the tuple if the parameter falls outside a threshold. |
| US09122724B2 |
Combined join
Computer-implemented systems and associated operating methods perform a combined join. A computer-implemented system comprises a processor that performs query processing in a relational database by receiving inputs of a variety of cases and sizes, and performing a combined database join of two of the received inputs using an index in memory formed from records of the first input and probed with records from the second input by optimizing the index for increased-speed searching using fast parent-to-child navigation. The variety of cases comprise combinations of unsorted, sorted, and indexed inputs, and the variety of sizes comprise input sizes from smaller than the available memory to input sizes substantially larger than available memory. |
| US09122721B2 |
Enriching database query responses using data from external data sources
The subject disclosure is directed towards enriching database query responses using data from external data sources. When processing a database query seeking enriched data from an external data source, a request is communicated to the external data source based on the database query. An enriched database query response is generated based on data provided by the external data source. The enriched database query response may be combined with data returned via an internal database query operation, and/or inserted into a local database table. |
| US09122720B2 |
Enriching database query responses using data from external data sources
The subject disclosure is directed towards enriching database query responses using data from external data sources. When processing a database query seeking enriched data from an external data source, a request is communicated to the external data source based on the database query. An enriched database query response is generated based on data provided by the external data source. The enriched database query response may be combined with data returned via an internal database query operation, and/or inserted into a local database table. |
| US09122716B1 |
Database upgrade management
A system can include an upgrade system manager. The upgrade system manager can be configured to communicate with an upgrade database that employs a given schema. The system can also include a legacy system manager configured to communicate with a legacy database that employs a different schema, wherein the legacy database contains a subset of the data stored at the upgrade database. The legacy database can be configured to provide a forward migration trigger to the upgrade system manager in response to detecting an update to the legacy database. The upgrade system manager can further be configured to determine whether data received from an application configured to produce data for the upgrade database is to be provided to the legacy database. |
| US09122711B1 |
Simplified system backup protection and recovery
A system, method, and medium for automatically identifying, protecting, and recovering the critical services and components of a server. A backup application detects a request to perform a backup operation. In response, the backup application performs a discovery process to identify the critical services and components of a server. The backup application includes a user interface to display the critical services and components to an administrator. The critical services and components are then backed up to a backup storage device. The collection of critical services and components can then be recovered to a target server when a recovery operation is needed. |
| US09122710B1 |
Discovery of new business openings using web content analysis
In general, embodiments of the present invention provide systems, methods and computer readable media for identifying a new business based on programmatically analyzing content received from online sources and, as a result, discovering one or more references to the business. In embodiments, the system stores historical data representing previously identified new businesses and then uses attributes of those businesses in search queries to receive related content. Additionally or alternatively, the system stores data representing online sources that historically provided content containing references to new businesses and then continues to access those sources for additional content. In embodiments, the system performs content analysis on structured and/or unstructured content. In some embodiments, analysis of content received from a particular online source includes a source-specific algorithm that takes a source-specific representation of the content as input and produces a result indicating the likelihood that the content includes a new business reference. |
| US09122709B2 |
Management of media files
Apparatus, systems, and methods provide a mechanism to enhance the management of mobile devices for users of the mobile devices. Various embodiments include apparatus and methods to manage media content for a mobile device with respect identification, in a management system, of the media content of the mobile device. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed. |
| US09122708B2 |
Crowdsourced search and locate platform
A crowdsourced search and locate platform, comprising an application server and a crowdrank server. The application server: receives connections from crowdsourcing participants; navigates a first crowdsourcing participant to a specific geospatial location; sends an image corresponding to the geospatial location to the first crowdsourcing participant; receives tagging data from the first crowdsourcing participant, the tagging data corresponding to a plurality of objects and locations identified by the first crowdsourcing participant. The crowdrank server: retrieves a plurality of tags made by participating users computes agreement and disagreement values for each of the plurality of retrieved tags; performs an expectation-maximization or expectation-minimization process iteratively until a configured maximum number of iterations is performed or until an indicia of rate of change between iterations falls below a configured threshold; and provides resulting output values corresponding to geolocations of objects of a plurality of types to an administrative user. |
| US09122706B1 |
Systems and methods for image-feature-based recognition
Methods and systems are described herein that allow a user to capture a single image snapshot from video, print, or the world around him or her, and obtain additional information relating to the media itself or items of interest displayed in the snapshot. A fingerprint of the snapshot is used as a query and transmitted to the server. Image Feature-Based Recognition, as described herein, uses a feature index to identify a smaller set of candidate matches from a larger database of images based on the fingerprint. Novel methods and systems using a distance metric and a radical hash table design exploit probabilistic effects and allow distinct image features to be preferred over redundant ones, allowing only the more distinctive data points to remain resident within the index, yielding a lean index that can be quickly used in the identification process. |
| US09122705B1 |
Scoring hash functions
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for scoring hash functions. In one aspect, a method includes computing one or more first performance indicators for an objective function computed on each of one or more sets of input data elements using a set of hash functions. A first overall performance indicator is computed using each of the computed performance indicators. The candidate hash function is added to the set of hash functions to generate a second set of hash functions. Second performance indicators are computed for the objective function computed on each of the sets of input data elements using the second set of hash functions. A second overall performance indicator is computed using each of the computed second performance indicators, and a score is computed for the candidate hash function using the first overall performance indicator and the second overall performance indicator. |
| US09122704B2 |
Mobile location aware search engine and method of providing content for same
A method includes identifying a geographic position of a wireless device. Data input by a user while the user is located at the geographic position of the wireless device is received. The data is associated with a landmark at the geographic position. The data is provided to a database based on the geographic position. A wireless device includes a transmitter configured to transmit a geographic position of the wireless device to a database. A receiver is configured to receive data input by a user of the wireless device while the user is located at the geographic position of the wireless device. The data is associated with a landmark at the geographic position of the wireless device. The receiver is configured to automatically receive information associated with the landmark from the database. |
| US09122700B2 |
Parallel log structured file system collective buffering to achieve a compact representation of scientific and/or dimensional data
Collective buffering and data pattern solutions are provided for storage, retrieval, and/or analysis of data in a collective parallel processing environment. For example, a method can be provided for data storage in a collective parallel processing environment. The method comprises receiving data to be written for a plurality of collective processes within a collective parallel processing environment, extracting a data pattern for the data to be written for the plurality of collective processes, generating a representation describing the data pattern, and saving the data and the representation. |
| US09122695B2 |
Extending cluster allocations in an extensible file system
An extensible file system format for portable storage media is provided. The extensible file system format includes the specification of primary and secondary directory entry types that may be custom defined. The primary and secondary directory entry types can be further classified as critical and benign directory entries. The directory entry types can define whether a cluster chain corresponding to a file can be contiguously allocated. |
| US09122694B1 |
Systems and methods for highly scalable system log analysis, deduplication and management
Systems and methods for parsing raw log data into structured log data, and removing duplicate entries, storing the deduplicated log data into binary format, and managing system events. The subject matter can increase speed of log data analysis and storage, reduce data storage for log data, and manage easily system events. |
| US09122693B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining contextually relevant geographical locations
An approach is provided for determining and utilizing geographical locations contextually relevant to a user. A contextually relevant location platform determines location-based data associated with a user and/or user device. The contextually relevant location platform determines stationary points based, at least in part, on the location-based data. The contextually relevant location platform determines context data associated with the stationary points. The contextually relevant location platform determines at least one location anchor based, at least in part, on the stationary points and the associated context data, wherein the at least one location anchor represents a bounded geographical area of contextual relevance to the user. |
| US09122691B2 |
System and method for remote file search integrated with network installable file system
A remote file system application program interface (API) for a remote file system installable file system (IFS) and operating system file system. The remote file system API enables a file content searching program that performs a search on a mapped remote drive to pass the file system path to search and the search criteria regular expression pattern to the remote system for searching and the results are returned to the client system in an IO stream. Such an application program interface is useful in the area of network file systems, network mapped drives, and file content searching programs such as a global regular expression processor (grep). |
| US09122689B1 |
Recovering performance of a file system post-migration
An improved technique involves providing a pair of inode numbers in a directory entry for a file in a directory of a target file system. Along these lines, the target file system writes a first inode number and a second inode number to the directory entry for the file. While the client has not yet remounted its file system, that client may continue to use the file handle provided for the original file system. The data storage system continues to refer to a mapping table that cross-references initial inode numbers to target ones, at some cost in performance. Nevertheless, the client has an option to remount the file system at a time that is convenient to the client, so that the client may obtain a new handle. The client may subsequently use the new file handle to access the file. |
| US09122688B1 |
Naming scheme for different computer systems
Storing a data storage object in a first data storage system that uses object IDs with a first object ID format includes determining if the data storage object was created on a second, different, data storage system having a second object ID format different from the first object ID format or created using an emulator of the different data storage system, using a lookup table to translate between the first object ID format and the second object ID format in response to the data storage object having been created on the different data storage system, and directly converting the object ID to a new object ID having the second object ID format without using external data. Directly converting may include converting at least a portion of the content of the data storage object into at least a portion of the object ID. |
| US09122685B2 |
Operating cloud computing and cloud computing information system
A method for cloud computing comprising collecting cloud computing node status information from a cloud computing node connected to the cloud computing network; collecting cloud computing service status information indicative of an attribute of a cloud computing service executed in the node; collecting environmental data sets from computing systems connected to a network connected to the cloud, each environmental data set corresponding to attribute values of the computing systems; building a group of computing systems; storing the node and cloud service status information, the environmental data sets, and the identical attribute value of each computing system in a database; and responsive to a request for characteristic data from one of the computing systems, selecting the respective characteristic data out of the status information and the environmental data sets in the database and sending the characteristic data over the cloud computing network and the network to the requesting computing system. |
| US09122684B2 |
Media content discovery and character organization techniques
Techniques for recommending media are described. A character preference function comprising a plurality of preference coefficients is accessed. A first character model comprises a first set of attribute values for the plurality of attributes of a first character. The first and second characters are associated with a first and second salience value, respectively. A second character model comprises a second set of attribute values for the plurality of attributes of a second character of the plurality of characters. A first character rating is calculated using the plurality of preference coefficients and the first set of attribute values. A second character rating of the second character is calculated using the plurality of preference coefficients with the second set of attribute values. A media rating is calculated based on the first and second salience values and the first and second character ratings. A media is recommended based on the media rating. |
| US09122682B2 |
Technique for processing data in a network
A technique for processing data in a network is disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the technique may be realized as a method for processing data in a network having a plurality of network stations. The method comprises receiving a first representation of data at a first of the plurality of network stations, processing the first representation so as to generate a second representation of the data, and transmitting the second representation from the first network station to a second of the plurality of network stations for storage therein, wherein the second representation is stored at an address within the second network station. The method also comprises receiving the address at the first network station, and transmitting the address from the first network station to a third of the plurality of network stations for storage therein. |
| US09122678B2 |
Method and system for recommending enterprise collaboration data
The suggestions of objects in a real-time collaboration tool can be accomplished by first forming a first vector representing an object utilized in the real-time collaboration tool. The vector can then be compared to a plurality of vectors representing a plurality of objects stored in a database to locate one or more vectors similar to the first vector. One or more of the plurality of objects stored in the database can be recommended to a user of the real-time collaboration tool based on the comparing. |
| US09122677B2 |
System and method for product identification
A system and method for identifying an object includes a plurality of object sensors, each object sensor configured and arranged to determine at least one parameter describing objects as they are relatively moved with respect to a sensing volume and having a known position and attitude with respect to the sensing volume. A location sensor is configured and arranged to produce position information relating to the relative movement. Outputs from the object and location sensors are passed to a processor and the parameters are associated with respective ones of the objects on the basis of the position information and on the basis of the known positions and attitudes of the sensors. For each object having associated parameters, the processor compares the parameters to known item parameters to assign item identification to the object. |
| US09122672B2 |
In-letter word prediction for virtual keyboard
A method including receiving an input of a character from a virtual keyboard rendered on a display, generating a set of characters that includes the character, and displaying the generated set of characters at a location associated with a key of the virtual keyboard of the display which corresponds to a subsequent candidate input character. An electronic device including a display having a virtual keyboard rendered thereupon and a processor, the processor being configured to perform the method. Also disclosed is a keyboard, including a plurality of keys, each key corresponding to one or more different characters of a plurality of characters, wherein in response to receiving an input of a character, the keyboard is configured to perform the method. |
| US09122671B2 |
System and method for grammar based test planning
The present disclosure generally relates to the testing of a system that includes software or hardware components. In some embodiments, a testing framework generates a set of test cases for a system under test using a grammar. Each test case may perform an action, such as provide an input to the system under test, and result in an output from the system under test. The inputs and outputs are then compared to the expected results to determine whether the system under test is performing correctly. Prior to generating the set of test cases from the grammar, the testing framework processes the grammar to identify attributes of the test cases to be derived from the grammar and facilitates the modification of the grammar. |
| US09122670B2 |
Method for determining articular bone deformity resection using motion patterns
The invention relates to a method for real-time determination an optimal corrected surface of a first bone and/or a second bone forming together an articulation, the first and/or second bones presenting an overgrowth deformation, said corrected surface providing a greater range of motion of the articulation, the method comprising the following steps: i) constructing from acquired images of the articulation 3D voxel models of the first bone and the second bone; ii) for each of first and second bone voxel models, constructing a coordinate system defined by a center and three axes; iii) applying a motion pattern on the coordinate system of the second bone with respect to the coordinate system of the first bone, a motion pattern being a set of contiguous positions of the first or second bone coordinate systems with respect to the other bone coordinate system, the contiguous positions defining a movement of one bone with respect to the other, wherein said motion pattern is initially loaded from a data base of predefined motion patterns; iv) determining a resection volume from said motion pattern as being the union of interpenetration volumes of the first or second bone voxel model with the other bone voxel model for each position of the motion pattern; v) determining the optimal corrected surface by virtually removing said resection volume from the first and/or the second bone voxel model. |
| US09122665B2 |
Rich formatting for a data label associated with a data point
Rich formatting may be provided for rich data labels. A rich data label may be created for at least one data point associated with a visualization. The data label may be formatted and displayed on the visualization. The rich data label may be bind to a particular data point rather than adhering to conventional index-based anchor logic where a data label is bound to the index of a data point. Accordingly, in response to determining that the location of the data point has changed in the visualization, the location of the rich data label is automatically adjusted to remain attached to its original data point. |
| US09122661B2 |
Method, system and computer program product for providing digital content
A method performed by a computer system. The method includes storing a first version of a mass-produced printed paper, the first version having a first digital format. The method also includes replacing first content in the first version with second content, and translating the first version into a second version, the second version having a second digital format. The second version is displayable on a display device as a likeness of the paper. |
| US09122658B2 |
Webpage display system leveraging OSGi
A method, system, and/or computer program product generate and present a webpage on a user interface. A request for an initial page view of an initial page is transmitted from a client computer to a server-side layout manager in a server that is OSGi enabled. The client computer receives a copy of the initial page view, a client-side rendering engine, and a client-side layout manager from the server. The client-side layout manager parses out client-side controllers from the client-side layout manager to determine which views are to be pre-fetched before generating a requested webpage. The client-side layout manager invokes the client-side rendering engine to pre-fetch and cache selected views of particular webpages. The client-side layout manager then invokes the client-side rendering engine to build and render the requested webpage from the initial page view and one or more of the cached views. |
| US09122657B2 |
Webpage display system leveraging OSGI
A method, system, and/or computer program product generate and present a webpage on a user interface. A request for an initial page view of an initial page is transmitted from a client computer to a server-side layout manager in a server that is OSGi enabled. The client computer receives a copy of the initial page view, a client-side rendering engine, and a client-side layout manager from the server. The client-side layout manager parses out client-side controllers from the client-side layout manager to determine which views are to be pre-fetched before generating a requested webpage. The client-side layout manager invokes the client-side rendering engine to pre-fetch and cache selected views of particular webpages. The client-side layout manager then invokes the client-side rendering engine to build and render the requested webpage from the initial page view and one or more of the cached views. |
| US09122655B2 |
Pre-translation testing of bi-directional language display
A method for testing the display of bi-directional language script prior to translation in an application under test can include using unidirectional glyphs with shaping indicators to simulate right-to-left characters. The using step can include reversing an ordering of a first set of unidirectional text characters in an input string and mapping the unidirectional text characters to right-to-left code points in a bi-directional language code page to produce a pseudo-translated string. Multiple unidirectional language glyphs can be loaded where each corresponds to a same one of the right-to-left character code points as had been used to produce the pseudo-translation. The pseudo-translation and the glyphs can be combined to simulate right-to-left character rendering in the application under test such the resultant output is visually similar to the input string. Finally, the glyphs can include character shaping indicia such that a resultant output allows for the detection of shaping errors. |
| US09122653B2 |
Migrating virtual machines across sites
A method for managing data swapping in a migration of virtual memory data in a virtual machine, where the data swapping is from a first host associated with a first storage device to a second host associated with a second storage device, is provided in another embodiment. The method includes receiving a migration instruction indicating the virtual machine to be migrated, and instructing the first host to copy data of the virtual machine to a sub-logical unit in the first storage device, the sub-logical unit having a mirror logical unit in the second storage device. A notification is sent, the notification being usable to instruct the second host to read data from the mirror logical unit. |
| US09122646B2 |
Graphics processing systems
In a tile-based graphics processing system having plural rendering processors, the set of tiles 31 to be processed to generate an output frame 30 for display is partitioned among the different rendering processors by defining respective tile traversal paths 32, 33, 34, 35 for each rendering processor that start at a tile initially allocated to the processor and that, at least for the initial tiles along the path, traverse to spatially adjacent tiles in the output, and that will traverse every tile to be rendered if followed to their end. The next tile for a given rendering processor to process is then selected as being the next tile along its defined path, unless the next tile in the path has already been processed (or is already being processed) by another rendering processor, in which case the next tile to be allocated to the rendering processor is selected to be a free tile further on in the tile traversal path for that processor. |
| US09122643B2 |
Event trigger based data backup services
Methods and systems of initiating a backup process of data stored on a computer are described. One method calls for the data to be backed up to be identified. A backup event trigger is defined, and the computer is monitored for the occurrence of the backup event trigger. If the trigger occurs, a balancing heuristic is applied, to determine whether to initiate the backup process. |
| US09122642B2 |
Hybrid data backup in a networked computing environment
Embodiments of the present invention provide a hybrid (e.g., local and remote) approach for data backup in a networked computing environment (e.g., a cloud computing environment). In a typical embodiment, a set of storage configuration parameters corresponding to a set of data to be backed up is received and stored in a computer data structure. The set of storage configuration parameters can comprise at least one of the following: a recovery time objective (RTO), a recovery point objective (RPO), and a desired type of protection for the set of data. Regardless, the set of data is compared to previously stored data to identify at least one of the following: portions of the set of data that have commonality with the previously stored data; and portions of the set of data that are unique to the set of data (i.e., not in common with any of the previously stored data). The above-described process is referred to herein as “de-duplication”. A storage solution is then determined based on the set of storage configuration parameters. In general, the storage solution identifies at least one local storage resource and at least one remote storage resource (e.g., a cloud storage resource) for backing up the portions of the set of data that are unique to the set of data. Once the storage solution has been determined, the unique portions of the set of data will be stored in accordance therewith. |
| US09122641B1 |
On-premise data deduplication for cloud environments
A first computer system calculates a first value as a function of a data block. A second computer system compares the calculated first value with each of a plurality of values in a plurality of entries, respectively. The plurality of entries include a plurality of storage location pointers, respectively, that correspond to a plurality of data blocks, respectively, that were transmitted to a storage system before the first computer system calculated the first value. If the first value compares equally to a value contained in one of the plurality of entries, a storage location pointer of the one entry is transmitted to the storage system, wherein the storage location pointer corresponds to a copy of the data block that was sent to the storage system before the first computer system calculated the first value. If the calculated first value does not compare equally with any value contained in the plurality of entries, the first computer system transmits the data block to the storage system. |
| US09122639B2 |
Detection and deduplication of backup sets exhibiting poor locality
Described are computer-based methods and apparatuses, including computer program products, for detection and deduplication of backup sets exhibiting poor locality. A first set of summaries of a first data set are determined, each summary of the first set of summaries being indicative of a data pattern in the first data set. A second set of summaries of a second data set are determined, each summary of the second set of summaries being indicative of a data pattern in the second data set. A set of comparison metrics are calculated, each comparison metric being based on a first subset of summaries from the first set of summaries and a second subset of summaries from the second set of summaries. A locality metric is calculated based on the set of comparison metrics indicative of whether the first data set and second data set exhibit poor locality. |
| US09122638B2 |
Block level incremental backup
A system and method include creating a full backup copy of selected data from a storage device. A series of incremental backups are created over time following the creation of the full backup copy. The oldest incremental backup is merged into the full backup at a desired time. |
| US09122636B2 |
Hard power fail architecture
The various implementations described herein include systems, methods and/or devices used to enable power sequencing and data hardening in a storage device. In one aspect, the method includes determining whether a power supply voltage provided to the storage device is higher than an over-voltage threshold. The method further includes, in accordance with a determination that the power supply voltage is higher than the over-voltage threshold, performing a power fail operation, the power fail operation including: (1) signaling a power fail condition to a plurality of controllers on the storage device, (2) transferring data held in volatile memory to non-volatile memory, and (3) removing power from the plurality of controllers on the storage device. |
| US09122629B2 |
Elastic cache with single parity
The invention provides an elastic or flexible SSD cache utilizing a hybrid RAID protocol combining RAID-0 protocol for read data and RAID-5 single parity protocol for write data in the same cache array. Read data may be stored in window sized allocations using RAID-0 protocol to avoid allocating an entire RAID stripe for read cache data. In the same SSD volume, dirty write data is stored in row allocations using RAID-5 protocol to provide single parity for the dirty write data. Read data is typically stored a window from the physical device having the largest number of available windows. Write data is stored in a row including the next available window in each arm, which decouples the window structure of the rows from the stripe configuration of the physical memory devices. |
| US09122624B2 |
Synchronizing a translation lookaside buffer with an extended paging table
A processor including logic to execute an instruction to synchronize a mapping from a physical address of a guest of a virtualization based system (guest physical address) to a physical address of the host of the virtualization based system (host physical address), and stored in a translation lookaside buffer (TLB), with a corresponding mapping stored in an extended paging table (EPT) of the virtualization based system. |
| US09122621B2 |
Configurable intelligent I/O expander system
A method and apparatus in a vehicular telemetry system for an intelligent I/O expander. The intelligent I/O expander may be configured in an active mode or a passive mode. A vehicular telemetry hardware system may be configured in a passive serial control mode or an active serial control mode. The intelligent I/O expander capable of adding additional device to the vehicular telemetry system. |
| US09122620B2 |
Storage system with reduced hash key memory
A system and method are disclosed for storing data in a hash table. The method includes receiving data, determining a location identifier for the data wherein the location identifier identifies a location in the hash table for storing the data and the location identifier is derived from the data, compressing the data by extracting the location identifier; and storing the compressed data in the identified location of the hash table. |
| US09122618B2 |
Systems, apparatus and methods for quantifying and identifying diversion of electrical energy
Systems, apparatus and methods for quantifying and identifying diversion of electrical energy are provided. Bypass diversion factors for consumer nodes in an inventory zone are determined by finding a solution to a system of load balance equations having slack variables representing aggregate tap loads for the inventory zone and in which consumer load profile data is scaled by the bypass diversion factors, which solution minimizes an objective function whose value is positively related to the sum of the slack variables representing the aggregate tap loads. |
| US09122615B1 |
Data cache egress for a data storage system
Data cache egress of a data storage device (DSD) in a data storage system including a system controller. A size of a reserved space in a memory of the system controller is determined for storing a data cache image for a data cache of the DSD. A loss of power is detected in the data storage system and the data cache image is transferred from the DSD to the system controller. The data cache image is stored in the reserved space in the memory of the system controller. |
| US09122613B2 |
Prefetching of data and instructions in a data processing apparatus
A data processing apparatus includes a processor and a hierarchical data storage system, including a memory and a cache, for storing the data and the instructions in storage locations identified by physical addresses. The apparatus includes address translation circuitry for mapping the virtual addresses to the physical addresses and load store circuitry receiving access requests from the processor. The store circuitry accesses the translation circuitry to identify physical addresses that correspond to virtual addresses of the received data access requests, and to access the corresponding physical addresses in the hierarchical data storage system. Preload circuitry receives preload requests from the processor indicating virtual addresses storage locations that are to be preloaded. Prefetch circuitry monitors at least some of the accesses performed by the load store circuitry and predicts addresses to be accessed subsequently, and transmits the predicted addresses to the preload circuitry as preload requests. |
| US09122611B2 |
Method for giving read commands and reading data, and controller and storage system using the same
A method for giving a read command to a flash memory chip to read data to be accessed by a host system is provided. The method includes receiving a host read command; determining whether the received host read command follows a last host read command; if yes, giving a cache read command to read data from the flash memory chip; and if no, giving a general read command and the cache read command to read data from the flash memory chip. Accordingly, the method can effectively reduce time needed for executing the host read commands by using the cache read command to combine the host read commands which access continuous physical addresses and pre-read data stored in a next physical address. |
| US09122609B2 |
Caching method and system for video coding
A method of caching reference data in a reference data cache is provided that includes receiving an address of a reference data block in the reference data cache, wherein the address includes an x coordinate and a y coordinate of the reference data block in a reference block of pixels and a reference block identifier specifying which of a plurality of reference blocks of pixels includes the reference data block, computing an index of a set of cache lines in the reference data cache using bits from the x coordinate and bits from the y coordinate, using the index and a tag comprising the reference block identifier to determine whether the reference data block is in the set of cache lines, and retrieving the reference data block from reference data storage when the reference data block is not in the set of cache lines. |
| US09122608B2 |
Frequency determination across an interface of a data processing system
One or more systems, devices, methods, and/or processes described can determine a maximum cache command rate of a processor unit. For example, an interface of the processor unit is configured to be coupled to an interconnect of a multiprocessor system and is configured such that a first portion of the interface provides a signal to a second portion of the interface, where the first portion of the interface operates utilizing a known frequency and the second portion of the interface operates utilizing a cache frequency of the processor unit; the second portion of the interface circulates the signal; the first portion of the interface receives the signal from the second portion of the interface; the first portion of the interface determines a cache command rate based on the known frequency, the frequency of the cache, and the signal; and the interface provides information indicating the cache command rate to the interconnect. |
| US09122600B2 |
Systems and methods for remote monitoring in a computer network
Systems and methods for providing automated problem reporting in elements used in conjunction with computer networks are disclosed. The system comprises a plurality of elements that perform data migration operations and a reporting manager or monitor agent which monitors the elements and data migration operations. Upon detection of hardware or software problems, the reporting manager or monitor agent automatically communicates with elements affected by the problem to gather selected hardware, software, and configuration information, analyzes the information to determine causes of the problem, and issues a problem report containing at least a portion of the selected information. The problem report is communicated to a remote monitor that does not possess access privileges to the elements, allowing automated, remote monitoring of the elements without compromising security of the computer network or elements. |
| US09122597B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method and medium storing program
Disclosed is an information processing device provided with: a plurality of processing units each having a TLB (Translation Lookaside Buffer); a means for acquiring a designation of a processing unit, from among the plurality of processing units, where TLB information is to be collected, and for acquiring a designation of the timing at which the TLB information is to be collected; and a means for collecting the TLB information from the designated processing unit at the designated timing. |
| US09122588B1 |
Managing asymmetric memory system as a cache device
Some implementations provide a method for managing data in a storage system that includes a persistent storage device and a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) cache device. The method includes: accessing a direct mapping between a logical address associated with data stored on the persistent storage device and a physical address on the NVRAM cache device; receiving, from a host computing device coupled to the storage system, a request to access a particular unit of data stored on the persistent storage device; using the direct mapping as a basis between the logical address associated with the data stored on the persistent storage device and the physical address on the NVRAM cache device to determine whether the particular unit of data being requested is present on the NVRAM cache device. |
| US09122586B2 |
Physical-to-logical address map to speed up a recycle operation in a solid state drive
A method for increasing performance of a recycle operation in a solid state drive, comprising the steps of (A) creating an empty physical-to-logical address map in a memory having a plurality of entry locations, (B) filling one of the plurality of entry locations with a physical page address associated with each data write operation to a block, where the block has a plurality of pages, (C) writing the physical-to-logical address map to a last of the plurality of pages during a write to a second to last page of the block and (D) initiating a recycle operation of the block by reading the address map to determine whether the pages contain valid data. |
| US09122585B2 |
Method for managing data in storage device and memory system employing such a method
A method for managing data in a storage device includes: receiving a logical page from a host and calculating an actual time stamp of the logical page; finding a block of the storage device in which the logical page is stored and detecting a time stamp of the block and a page offset of the logical page stored in the block; calculating an approximate time stamp of the logical page stored in the block using the time stamp of the block and the page offset; and determining that the logical page is in a first state if the difference between the actual time stamp and the approximate time stamp is smaller than a threshold value, and determining that the logical page is in a second state different from the first state if the difference between the actual time stamp and the approximate time stamp is larger than the threshold value. |
| US09122581B2 |
Data versioning in solid state memory
Embodiments are directed to maintaining versions of data within a solid state memory. One or more embodiments create at least one data structure associated with at least one logical page of a solid state memory. The logical page is associated with at least one physical page in a data block of the solid state memory. A first set of information associated with the logical page is stored in the data structure. A second set of information associated with the physical page is stored in the data structure. The second set of information includes at least versioning information identifying which version of the logical page is represented by a dataset is stored within the physical page. |
| US09122580B2 |
Flash memory system and managing and collecting methods for flash memory with invalid page messages thereof
A flash memory system and managing and collecting methods for flash memory with invalid page messages thereof are described. When the valid data pages of the flash memory are changed to invalid data pages, a recording area is used to record the message of the invalid data pages to effectively collect the occupied space of the invalid data pages in the flash memory. Further, while garbage collecting step is performed, a block is rapidly selected according to the message of the recording area and the valid data pages in the selected block are correctly identified, copied and removed. |
| US09122578B2 |
Solid state memory with reduced number of partially filled pages
The invention concerns a solid state memory, comprising multiple logical units. The solid state memory contains an internal buffer for temporarily storing the incoming data steam before the incoming data are programmed to at least one page. The internal buffer keeps data that are not yet programmed in case a switch from one logical unit to another is performed. A method for operating such a device is presented. |
| US09122573B2 |
Using extended asynchronous data mover indirect data address words
An abstraction for storage class memory is provided that hides the details of the implementation of storage class memory from a program, and provides a standard channel programming interface for performing certain actions, such as controlling movement of data between main storage and storage class memory or managing storage class memory. |
| US09122571B2 |
Apparatus and method for managing data access count
An apparatus counts, for each piece of data, an access count indicating a number of times of access to the each piece of data for every unit time so as to store a management information element including the access count and identification information identifying the each piece of data. The apparatus deletes, from the plurality of management information elements stored in a memory, a management information element that includes the access count having a value minimum among the plurality of management information elements, when a number of the plurality of management information elements reaches a predetermined number. The apparatus determines whether there is a piece of data that satisfies a condition related to rapid increase of access, based on the access counts included in the plurality of management information elements. |
| US09122567B2 |
User interface system and method
A system and method for controlling an electric-vehicle is provided. The system and method calculates a likelihood of arriving at a destination based on vehicle data and a current route. The likelihood is compared to least a first threshold and a second threshold. A first action is implemented when the likelihood is less than the first threshold and greater than the second threshold. A second action being different from the first action is implemented when the likelihood is less than the second threshold. |
| US09122565B2 |
Memory controller and memory control method
Provided is a memory controller that manages memory access requests between the processor and the memory. In response to the memory controller receiving two or more memory access requests for the same area of memory, the memory controller is configured to stall the memory controller and sequentially process the memory access requests. |
| US09122558B2 |
Software updates using delta patching
Methods, apparatuses, and systems for software updates using delta patching are described. A first image representative of a first software stack and a second image representative of a second software stack may be combined into a compound image by a first computer. The first computer may compare the compound image and the first image to determine a difference between the compound image and the first image. The first computer may generate a file representative of the difference between the compound image and the first image, and data representative of the file representative of the difference between the compound image and the first image may be recorded to a computer-readable storage medium. |
| US09122555B2 |
Information processing system, information processing apparatus, storage medium having stored therein information processing program, method of executing application, and storage medium stored therein data of application
An exemplary portable storage medium stores therein a program of an application. An exemplary information processing apparatus can execute the application. The storage medium stores a first data which is a program or data forming a part of the application and second data which is a program or data forming a part of the same application formed by the first data. The information processing apparatus reads the second data from the storage medium and installs the second data in the information processing apparatus. Further, the information processing apparatus starts and executes the application based on the first data stored in the storage medium and the installed second data. |
| US09122551B2 |
Methods and systems for generating read-only operating systems
Methods and systems for use in generating read-only production operating systems including at least one application for use with a target workstation are disclosed. One example method includes providing a baseline operating system based on a hardware profile of the target workstation, executing an installation script for a target application, adding at least one resource to the baseline operating system based on an error message indicating at least one resource called by the installation script is not found, and writing, at a computing device, a production operating system to a read-only media. The production operating includes the baseline operating system and the at least one resource. |
| US09122549B2 |
Method and system for emulation of instructions and hardware using background guest mode processing
A method includes receiving, from a requesting guest environment, a device call requesting access to a device; sending the device call to an emulating guest environment, the emulating guest environment emulating the device; receiving, from the emulating guest environment, a result of the device call; and sending the result of the device call to the requesting guest environment. |
| US09122548B2 |
Clipboard for processing received data content
An embodiment of the invention directed to a method is associated with data content, comprising discrete data portions including first data and second data portions separated from each other in the data content. A copy operation is implemented on data portions so that at least some of the data portions are each copied to a buffer, which include the first and second data portions. A paste operation is carried out to present each of the copied data portions as an input for an output data selection task. Prespecified criteria is used in the output data selection task to select a number of the copied data portions to be selected data for a given purpose, the selected number of copied data portions being less than data portions presented by the paste operation, and the selected copied data portions including the first and second data portions. |
| US09122547B1 |
Embedding a guest module within an embedder module
Systems and methods embedding a guest module within an embedder module are disclosed. According to some aspects, an embedder module is executed at a computer. A request to access a guest module is received via the embedder module. The request comprises a tag in a programming language. The tag identifies the guest module. An event is provided, using information associated with the tag, to an executing instance of the guest module responsive to the request to access the guest module. Processing of the event at the executing instance of the guest module is signaled. |
| US09122533B2 |
System and method for reducing cloud IP address utilization using a distributor registry
System and method for providing cloud computing services are described. In one embodiment, the system comprises a cloud computing environment comprising resources for supporting cloud workloads, each cloud workload having associated therewith an internal cloud address; and a routing system disposed between external workloads of an external computing environment and the cloud workloads, the routing system for directing traffic from an external cloud address to the internal cloud addresses of the cloud workloads. The routing system comprises a virtual router configured to function as a network address translator (“NAT”); a distributor connected between the virtual router and the cloud workloads; and a distributor registry accessible by the distributor for maintaining information comprising at least one of port mappings, cloud address mappings, and cloud workload configuration information. |
| US09122532B2 |
Method and apparatus for executing code in a distributed storage platform
An approach is provided for creating a framework for executing code in nodes of a distributed storage platform. An in-node code framework receives at least one job for execution over a distributed computing platform. The in-node code framework determines at least one distributed storage platform containing at least a portion of the data for executing the at least one job. The in-node then processes and/or facilitates a processing of the at least one job to determine code for executing at one or more storage nodes of the at least one distributed storage platform, wherein the code supports the at least one job. |
| US09122530B2 |
Management apparatus and management method
A highly reliable management apparatus and management method capable of allocating a resource that satisfies a user's request is suggested.A management apparatus and management method for managing a plurality of computer resources and allocating a requested computer resource to a user in response to a resource request for allocation of the computer resource, wherein the resource request contains a performance requirement and function requirement for the computer resource for which allocation is requested; performance information about performance of each computer resource and function information about a function of each computer resource are obtained; the plurality of computer resources are searched for candidates for the computer resource to be allocated to the user, based on the obtained performance information and function information about each computer resource and the performance requirement and function requirement requested in the resource request; the computer resource to be allocated to the user is decided from among the candidates detected by the search; and the decided computer resource is allocated to the user. |
| US09122529B2 |
Dynamic job processing based on estimated completion time and specified tolerance time
The invention provides a system and method for managing clusters of parallel processors for use by groups and individuals requiring supercomputer level computational power. A Beowulf cluster provides supercomputer level processing power. Unlike a traditional Beowulf cluster; however, cluster size in not singular or static. As jobs are received from users/customers, a Resource Management System (RMS) dynamically configures and reconfigures the available nodes in the system into clusters of the appropriate sizes to process the jobs. Depending on the overall size of the system, many users may have simultaneous access to supercomputer level computational processing. Users are preferably billed based on the time for completion with faster times demanding higher fees. |
| US09122526B2 |
Dynamic program evaluation for system adaptation
A method and apparatus to maintain a plurality of executables for a task in a device are described. Each executable may be capable of performing the task in response to a change in an operating environment of the device. Each executable may be executed to perform a test run of the task. Each execution can consume an amount of power under the changed operating environment in the device. One of the executables may be selected to perform the task in the future based on the amounts of power consumed for the test runs of the task. The selected one executable may require no more power than each of remaining ones of the executables. |
| US09122522B2 |
Software mechanisms for managing task scheduling on an accelerated processing device (APD)
Embodiments describe herein provide a method of for managing task scheduling on a accelerated processing device. The method includes executing a first task within the accelerated processing device (APD), monitoring for an interruption of the execution of the first task, and switching to a second task when an interruption is detected. |
| US09122520B2 |
Generic wait service: pausing a BPEL process
A generic wait service for facilitating the pausing of service-oriented applications. In one set of embodiments, the generic wait service receives, from a paused instance of an application, an initiation message comprising a set of key attributes and an exit criterion. The key attributes uniquely identify the paused instance, and the exit criterion identifies a condition that should be satisfied before the paused instance is allowed to proceed. The generic wait service then receives, from one or more event producers, notification messages comprising status information (e.g., statuses of business events) and information correlating the notification messages to particular instances. If a notification message is determined to be correlated to the paused instance, the generic wait service evaluates the exit criterion based on the status information included in the message. If the exit criterion is satisfied, the paused instance is notified of the status information and is allowed to proceed. |
| US09122519B1 |
Governor for elimination of repetitive requests
A browser invokes a program from a server. The server responds with a web page and ancillary logic. The browser displays the web page and loads the logic into memory. The ancillary logic includes a command set, a status indicator for each command type, and a set of command type governors. When a command is initiated at the browser, the appropriate governor observes the status, and deletes the command if the status is “not complete” or passes the command for transmission to the server if the status is “completed.” This prevents the transmission of repeated or redundant commands to the server. |
| US09122516B2 |
Information processing system, image forming apparatus, control method, and recording medium for management of a job consisting of multiple tasks
A flow service server group manages a job consisting of multiple tasks generated according to a user request, and a task server acquires a task included in the aforementioned managed job if a processing standby status exists, and carries out specific task processing. The task server notifies the flow service server group at a fixed interval that task processing is in progress. The flow service server group then issues a command to the task server that has not completed task processing within a prescribed time to suspend the task processing, and issues a command to a task server capable of task processing that is identical to the task processing to alternatively execute the task processing. |
| US09122514B2 |
Administering message acknowledgements in a parallel computer
Administering message acknowledgements in a parallel computer that includes compute nodes, with each compute node including a processor and a messaging accelerator, includes: storing in a list, by a processor of a compute node, a message descriptor describing a message and an acknowledgement request descriptor describing a request for an acknowledgement of receipt of the message; processing, by a messaging accelerator of the compute node, the list, including transmitting, to a target compute node, the message described by the message descriptor and transmitting, to the target compute node, the request described by the acknowledgement request descriptor; receiving, by the messaging accelerator from the target compute node, an acknowledgement of receipt of the message, including notifying the processor of receipt of the acknowledgement; and removing, by the processor from the list, the message descriptor and the acknowledgment request descriptor. |
| US09122513B2 |
Method and apparatus for efficient execution of concurrent processes on a multithreaded message passing system
A graph analytics appliance can be employed to extract data from a graph database in an efficient manner. The graph analytics appliance includes a router, a worklist scheduler, a processing unit, and an input/output unit. The router receives an abstraction program including a plurality of parallel algorithms for a query request from an abstraction program compiler residing on computational node or the graph analytics appliance. The worklist scheduler generates a prioritized plurality of parallel threads for executing the query request from the plurality of parallel algorithms. The processing unit executes multiple threads selected from the prioritized plurality of parallel threads. The input/output unit communicates with a graph database. |
| US09122512B2 |
Real time measurement of I/O interrupt delay times by hypervisor for hot spot analysis
A method includes determining a reference I/O service time of an I/O operation on a server and measuring, with a processor of the server running a hypervisor configured to manage a plurality of logical partitions (LPARs), each LPAR running one of a plurality of instances of an operating system (O/S), an actual I/O service time of the I/O operation. The method also includes determining, by the processor, a delay time of virtualization on the server based on the reference I/O service time and the actual I/O service time. |
| US09122510B2 |
Querying and managing computing resources in a networked computing environment
An approach for querying and managing/manipulating network computing resources (e.g., cloud computing resources) is provided. Typically, an interpreter component may be implemented so that a language describing such computing resources may be interpreted. The interpreter component may include other components such as a request processor, a provisioning queue, an execution engine, a results store, and response marshaller/handler that collaborate to manage the computing resources. Such computing resources may, for example, include virtual machine instances, virtual machine images, storage volumes, network resources, files, software bundles, etc. |
| US09122509B2 |
Co-location of virtual machines with nested virtualization
Co-locating a virtual machine with nested virtualization, in one aspect, may comprise receiving a list of one or more virtual machine instances to co-locate with associated configuration information. A parent virtual machine instance may be identified to host the one or more virtual machine instances. Virtual machine images associated with the one or more virtual machine instances may be consolidated. A composite parent virtual machine image may be created based on the consolidated virtual machine images and the parent virtual machine instance. The parent virtual machine instance may be configured to accommodate for capacity requirement of the one or more child virtual machine instances. The parent virtual machine instance may be started on a processor via the composite parent virtual machine image. The one or more virtual machine instances may be started within the parent virtual machine instance as one or more child virtual machine instances. |
| US09122507B2 |
VM migration based on matching the root bridge of the virtual network of the origination host and the destination host
A method is provided in one example embodiment that includes detecting a migration of a virtual machine from an origination host to a destination host and comparing a first root bridge to a second root bridge to verify data link layer continuity of the virtual network on the destination host. The virtual machine is connected to a virtual network, the first root bridge is associated with the virtual network on the origination host and the second root bridge is associated with the virtual network on the destination host. The method may further include blocking the migration if the first root bridge and the second root bridge are not the same. |
| US09122506B2 |
Virtualization apparatus and method for controlling access to hardware device by I/O request
A virtualization apparatus and a method for controlling the same. In a method for controlling a virtualization apparatus including a plurality of domains, a sub domain transmits an input/output (IO) request for a hardware device to a main domain, and the main domain controls whether or not the IO request accesses the hardware device according to a resource needed to perform the IO request. |
| US09122503B1 |
Systems and methods for adaptive throttling of input/output requests in a virtual environment
A computer-implemented method for adaptive throttling of input/output requests in a virtual environment may include (1) monitoring input/output requests sent from a virtual machine to a storage system, (2) determining a latency of one or more of the monitored input/output requests, (3) determining that the latency exceeds a threshold, and (4) reducing, in response to determining that the latency exceeds the threshold, a rate at which an application on the virtual machine sends input/output requests to the storage system. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. |
| US09122495B2 |
Relative addressing usage for CPU performance
The embodiments provide a computing device for incorporating data into code such that the data is relative to the code and, thereby, available for relative addressing. The computing device may include a code generator configured to receive source code from a source code database, and generate executable object code from the source code. The executable object code may include at least one instruction referencing data having an absolute address from a data source. Also, the computing device may include a data incorporator configured to transfer the data from the data source into the executable object code, where the transferred data is relative to the at least one instruction. Further, the computing device may include a relative addresser configured to adjust the at least one instruction to include a relative address for the transferred data including converting the absolute address to the relative address. |
| US09122494B2 |
Method and apparatus for code size reduction
A method for code size reduction, which comprises determining basic blocks in an IR module; grouping the basic blocks having duplicate code into groups; providing weighting values corresponding to different instructions of the module, wherein the weighting values are determined based on a plurality of intermediate representation program codes; determining a weighted size of the module, wherein the weighted size of the module is determined by summing weighted sizes of the basic blocks of the module, and the weighted size of each basic block is determined by summing products of numbers of different instructions of the basic blocks and the corresponding weighting values; removing duplicates in one group to obtain a module having one processed group; determining a weighted size of the module having one processed group; and comparing the weighted size of the module to the weighted size of the module having one processed group. |
| US09122488B2 |
Identification and translation of program code executable by a graphical processing unit (GPU)
A device receives program code, and receives size/type information associated with inputs to the program code. The device determines, prior to execution of the program code and based on the input size/type information, a portion of the program code that is executable by a graphical processing unit (GPU), and determines, prior to execution of the program code and based on the input size/type information, a portion of the program code that is executable by a central processing unit (CPU). The device compiles the GPU-executable portion of the program code to create a compiled GPU-executable portion of the program code, and compiles the CPU-executable portion of the program code to create a compiled CPU-executable portion of the program code. The device provides, to the GPU for execution, the compiled GPU-executable portion of the program code, and provides, to the CPU for execution, the compiled CPU-executable portion of the program code. |
| US09122486B2 |
Bimodal branch predictor encoded in a branch instruction
Each branch instruction having branch prediction support has branch prediction bits in architecture specified bit positions in the branch instruction. An instruction cache supports modifying the branch instructions with updated branch prediction bits that are dynamically determined when the branch instruction executes. |
| US09122484B2 |
Method and apparatus for mashing up web applications
Disclosed are a method, apparatus, and computer program, product for mashing up web applications. The method includes: obtaining at least two document object models (DOM) corresponding to at least two web applications respectively; merging nodes of the at least two document object models to obtain a new document object model; connecting, on the new document object model, the nodes belonging respectively to the at least two document object models; and obtaining a new web application from the new document object model after connection. |
| US09122482B2 |
Image processing apparatus, control method therefor and storage medium
A second control unit in an image processing apparatus receives a packet transmitted from an external apparatus, copies and stores the received packet, analyzes the header of the received packet, deletes the analyzed header, and, when transitioning the image processing apparatus from a second power mode to a first power mode based on the result of analysis in the case where the image processing apparatus is in the second power mode, transitions the image processing apparatus from the second power mode to the first power mode, and transfers to the first control unit the received packet that was stored and does not transfer to the first control unit the received packet from which the header was deleted. |
| US09122481B2 |
System and method for standby power reduction in a serial communication system
In a serial communication system having a device including a receiver detection module, this specification is directed to systems and methods for selectively reducing the power consumed by the receiver detection module, preferably when the device is operating in a low power mode. In some embodiments, a signal detection module is configured to receive a control signal from the transmitter of a device at the other end of the communications link to control the operation of the receiver detection module. The control signal may be in-band or may be transmitted on a sideband of the serial link. |
| US09122469B2 |
Expansion card and motherboard for supporting the expansion card
A motherboard assembly includes a motherboard and an expansion card. The motherboard includes an expansion slot with a first idle pin connected to a standby power through a resistor. The expansion card includes an edge connector having a second idle pin and first to fifth electronic switches. When the first electronic switch receives a high level signal through the first and second idle pins, the first and fourth electronic switches are turned on. The second, third, and fifth electronic switches are turned off. The second system power outputs a standby voltage through the standby voltage output terminal. When the first electronic switch receives a low level signal, the first and fourth electronic switches are turned off. The second, third, and fifth electronic switches are turned on. The standby power outputs a standby voltage through the standby voltage output terminal. |
| US09122466B1 |
Power system reconfiguration with automatic transfer switch
Reconfiguring a power system for an electrical load includes establishing a secondary feed to an electrical load that is receiving power from a primary power source. A set of secondary feed lines is coupled between a donor power source and a power input to the electrical load such that the set of secondary feed lines is configured to supply power from the donor power source to the electrical load. An automatic transfer switch is coupled in parallel with the set of secondary feed lines. The electrical load is transferred by the automatic transfer switch from the donor power source to the primary power source for the reconfiguration. |
| US09122464B2 |
Method, apparatus, and system for energy efficiency and energy conservation including energy efficient processor thermal throttling using deep power down mode
Embodiments of the invention relate to energy efficient and conserving thermal throttling of electronic device processors using a zero voltage processor state. For example, a processor die may include a power control unit (PCU), and an execution unit having power gates and a thermal sensor. The PCU is attached to the thermal sensor to determine if a temperature of the execution unit has increased to greater than an upper threshold, such as while the execution unit is processing data in an active processor power state. The PCU is also attached to the power gates so that upon such detection, it can change the active processor power state to a zero processor power state to reduce the temperature of the execution unit. When the sensor detects that the temperature has decreased to less than a lower threshold, the PCU can change the processor power state back to the active state. |
| US09122463B2 |
Server and heat dissipation system thereof
A server includes a chassis, processing units and an airflow generating device. The processing units are disposed inside the chassis for heat dissipation of the processing units. Each processing unit includes a motherboard, an electric heat source, a heat dissipation fin set and a stopping air bag. The electric heat source is disposed on the motherboard, the heat dissipation fin set is attached to the electric heat source and the stopping air bag including an air inlet opening is located at space between the heat dissipation fin set and one of the processing units which is adjacent to the stopping air bag. When the airflow generating devices are operated, air is blown into the stopping air bag through the air inlet opening so that the stopping air bag is inflated to occupy the space to stop an airflow from flowing through the space. |
| US09122458B2 |
Removable cage and electronic apparatus
An electronic apparatus includes an apparatus casing and a removable cage. The removable cage includes a cage body, a carry handle, and a locking mechanism disposed on the cage body. The carry handle includes a pivotally-connecting part, pivotally connected to the cage body, a handle body, and a pushing part. The handle body and the pushing part are oppositely connected to the pivotally-connecting part. The locking mechanism includes a latching part and an unlocking part. The latching part can be engaged into a lock slot of the pivotally-connecting part so that the carry handle is fixed relative to the cage body for carrying the cage body. The unlocking part can be driven to disengage the latching part from the lock slot. By the lever rule, the carry handle can move the cage body into the apparatus casing further or move the cage body reversely to depart from the apparatus casing. |
| US09122453B2 |
Methods and systems for processing crowdsourced tasks
The disclosed embodiments illustrate methods and systems for processing one or more crowdsourced tasks. The method comprises converting an audio input received from a crowdworker to one or more phrases by one or more processors in at least one computing device. The audio input is at least a response to a crowdsourced task. A mode of the audio input is selected based on one or more parameters associated with the crowdworker. Thereafter, the one or more phrases are presented on a display of the at least one computing device by the one or more processors. Finally, one of the one or more phrases is selected by the crowdworker as a correct response to the crowdsourced task. |
| US09122449B2 |
Modular gang box docking system for computing devices
A modular docking system for being installed adjacent to an at least one additional electrical component within a gang box. In at least one embodiment, the system provides a docking plate engagable with the gang box and configured for removably receiving an at least one mobile computing device. The docking plate provides an at least one elongate mounting aperture for allowing a screw to pass therethrough and be engaged with an at least one free mounting tab of the gang box while also allowing the docking plate to be selectively offset relative to the gang box. A cover plate is engagable with a front surface of the docking plate. An at least one component adapter is engagable with one of a pair of opposing component tabs of the electrical component for increasing a height of the electrical component so as to substantially approximate a height of the docking plate. |
| US09122446B2 |
Antenna structures in electronic devices with hinged enclosures
Electronic devices may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry and antenna structures. The antenna structures may include antenna resonating elements, parasitic antenna resonating elements, and antenna ground structures. The antenna structures may include metal traces that are wrapped around an elongated plastic carrier. The plastic carrier may have metal traces that are coupled to a metal bracket using solder that protrudes through a hole in the metal bracket. A printed circuit board may be mounted between the metal bracket and a metal housing. The metal housing may have a protruding ridge portion that is gripped between prongs on the metal bracket. A cover may cover the metal traces on the elongated plastic carrier. The antenna structures may be mounted between hinge structures that couple upper and lower housing structures. The antenna structures may be configured to operate with comparable performance when the upper and lower housing structures are open and closed. |
| US09122445B2 |
Display device, electronic apparatus and display control method with a thumbnail dispay
A display apparatus includes: a display device that displays a plurality of images in a first row, an operation of an application program being assigned to each of the images; a rearrangement device that rearranges the plurality of images, when a portion of the first row is specified, such that the specified portion is at an opened facing page section; an execution device that executes the operation of the application program corresponding to an image located at the opened facing page section when the opened facing page section is specified; and a display control device that controls the display device, when the operation is executed by the execution device, to perform a display according to the operation executed. |
| US09122441B2 |
Opening applications in unified desktop
Embodiments provide for a handheld device with a unified desktop for integrating the functionality of the handheld device with a larger computer system. When connected to a peripheral display and/or a display of the larger computer system, the handheld device provides a unified desktop displayed across the screen(s) of the handheld device and the peripheral display. The unified desktop unifies the functionality provided by the larger computer system and the handheld functionality, e.g., communication applications (e.g., phone, SMS, MMS). A user can seamlessly interact with applications, e.g., open, move, close, receive notifications, on the unified desktop whether the applications are displayed on the screens of the handheld device, or the peripheral display of the larger computer system. |
| US09122437B2 |
Information processing apparatus, method, and medium for managing status information about an image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a job history control unit and a status control unit. If the job history control unit is transmitting a job history when the status control unit transmits status information to a management server, the status control unit transmits status information including prohibition against entering a power saving mode. If the job history control unit is not transmitting a job history, the status control unit transmits status information including permission to enter the power saving mode to the management server. |
| US09122436B2 |
Virtual printer interface node
A virtual printer interface node enables a non-cloud-ready printer to communicate with a cloud-based service, residing on an internet. The virtual printer interface node includes a housing; a communication interface to provide communication directly to the network router; and a microcontroller operatively connected to the communication interface. The microcontroller converts commands, received through the communication interface, from the cloud-based service, residing on the internet, to native protocols of the non-cloud-ready networked printer and communicates the converted native protocols to the non-cloud-ready networked printer. |
| US09122435B2 |
Printing apparatus, print control system, and method for controlling print control system
A host computer transmits a plurality of print data pieces to which an identical password is added to a printing apparatus. The printing apparatus includes a unit configured to receive and store one of the transmitted plurality of print data pieces, an operation unit configured to accept input of a password from a user, an image formation unit configured to perform, when the password input from the user and the password added to the stored print data match each other, image formation based on the print data to which the identical password to the input password is added, and a control unit configured to cause, when it receives the remaining one of the transmitted plurality of print data pieces after the image formation has been performed, the image formation unit to perform the image formation based on the remaining print data without making the user input the password again. |
| US09122433B2 |
Click-to-print system, apparatus and method
Systems, apparatuses and methods are provided for simplifying print job submission by a user in a network environment. A print job in a print job stream from a terminal apparatus is detected and intercepted, and it is determined whether the intercepted print job is to be processed in a job-specific selection mode or a silent mode. In the job-specific selection mode, a printer selection user interface is provided on the terminal apparatus to permit the user to select a specific printer amongst the plural printers, and the intercepted print job is then transmitted to the specific printer. In the silent mode, the user-submitted print job is transmitted to a previously-specified direct printer. |
| US09122424B1 |
FIFO buffer clean-up
Systems and methods are disclosed for managing data entry buffers in a data storage device. A memory of the data storage device includes one or more data input ports. The device further includes a controller configured to receive a data entry over one of the data input ports and store the data entry in a first data structure (e.g., a FIFO data structure). The data entry is stored in the first data structure among other data entries received over various data input ports. The controller stores a data entry corresponding to the data entry stored in the first data structure in a second data structure. Entries in the second data structure include a valid bit field and one or more condition fields. The controller indicates, using a valid bit field of the second data structure data entry, that the corresponding data entry stored in the first data structure is valid. |
| US09122419B2 |
Data storage unit with internal storage area network switch module and redundant data storage system including such data storage unit
The invention discloses a data storage unit and a redundant data storage system including such data storage unit. The data storage unit of the invention includes an internal storage area network (SAN) switch module, a storage server module and a storage device. The internal SAN switch module includes a first external transmission interface and a first internal transmission interface. The storage server module includes a second external transmission interface and a second internal transmission interface. The storage server module is respectively connected to the storage device and the first internal transmission interface through the second internal transmission interface. The internal SAN switch module is connected to the storage device through the first internal transmission interface. |
| US09122418B2 |
Method of controlling the capacity of a virtual storage system, and a virtual storage system
A method of controlling the capacity of a virtual storage system provided on a physical storage system, the method including: providing a control program on the physical storage system; coupling additional virtual storage to the virtual storage system on the physical storage system; providing control data on the additional virtual storage; with the control program, reading the control data and configuring the virtual storage system accordingly. A corresponding virtual storage system is also provided. |
| US09122416B2 |
Mainframe storage apparatus that utilizes thin provisioning
Each actual page inside a pool is configured from a plurality of actual tracks, and each virtual page inside a virtual volume is configured from a plurality of virtual tracks. A storage control apparatus of a mainframe system has management information that includes information denoting a track in which there exists a user record, which is a record including user data (the data used by a host apparatus of a mainframe system). Based on the management information, a controller identifies an actual page that is configured only from tracks that do not comprise the user record, and cancels the allocation of the identified actual page to the virtual page. |
| US09122413B2 |
Implementing hardware auto device operations initiator
A method and controller for implementing hardware auto device op initiator in a data storage system, and a design structure on which a subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes an inline hardware engine receiving host commands, and assessing a received command for starting without firmware involvement. The inline hardware engine builds one or more chains of hardware command blocks to perform the received command and starts executing the chain or chains for the received command. |
| US09122412B1 |
System and method for producing tree perspectives of storage systems
System and method for producing tree perspectives of a plurality of storage systems using storage system descriptors and a set of search rules. The system and method herein provide an easy way to locate and identify specific storage systems. The storage system descriptors comprise external storage system metadata (referred to herein as “external metadata”) and/or internal storage system attributes (referred to herein as “internal attributes”) that describe the storage systems. The set of search rules comprises one or more metadata search rules and/or one or more attribute search rules. The set of search rules may be applied to the external metadata and/or internal attributes to determine a set of one or more matching storage systems. A tree perspective may be produced that represents the set of matching storage systems. The tree perspective may display the hierarchal organization of the set of matching storage systems through a hierarchical tree structure. |
| US09122408B2 |
Mirror copies of solid state drives using portions of hard disk drives
Mechanisms for storing data to a storage system comprising a set of one or more solid state storage devices and a set of non-solid state storage devices are provided. A request to write data to the storage system is received and the data is written to the set of one or more solid state storage devices in response to receiving the request. Moreover, a mirror copy of the data is written to the set of non-solid state storage devices in response to receiving the request. Thus, the non-solid state storage devices serve as a mirror backup copy of the data stored to the solid state storage devices. |
| US09122407B2 |
Deduplication device and deduplication method
A deduplicate device includes: a first through N-th (N≧3) bloom filters; a counting unit that performs a process of judging whether information indicating that a duplicate data of a storing-target data exists in a storage device is registered in each bloom filter sequentially until an unregistered bloom filter in which the information is not registered is found or that the information is registered in the N-th bloom filter is found, and registers, when the unregistered bloom filter is found, the information indicating that the duplicate data exists into the unregistered bloom filter; and a deduplicating unit that stores the storing-target data in the storage device when the counting unit finds the unregistered bloom filter, and stores index information relating the duplicate data in the storage device with the storing-target data when the counting unit finds that the information is registered in the N-th bloom filter. |
| US09122402B2 |
Increasing efficiency of block-level processes using data relocation awareness
A mechanism is provided for increasing the efficiency of block-level processes. Responsive to detecting an I/O write to a storage volume, a determination is made as to whether the I/O write matches one or more suspicious I/O reads in a plurality of suspicious I/O reads previously recorded in a memory. Responsive to the I/O write matching one or more suspicious I/O reads in the plurality of suspicious I/O reads, an identification is made that there is a data relocation associated with the sector associated with the I/O write. A data relocation application is informed of the data relocation of the sector associated with the one or more suspicious I/O reads associated with the sector indicated by the I/O write. Each sector associated with the one or more suspicious I/O reads is then released in a file system for reuse. |
| US09122400B2 |
Managing data set volume table of contents
For managing a data set volume table of contents, a management module creates a data set volume table of contents (DSVTOC) for a data set residing on a volume. The DSVTOC resides in a virtual storage access method (VSAM) system and includes a DSVTOC index, DSVTOC cluster data, and DSVTOC data for the data set. A copy module maintains a copy of the DSVTOC on the volume. |
| US09122396B2 |
Application quick launch extension
A system (and/or a method) are disclosed to launch an application directly from a menu on a screen of a handheld computing device. In one embodiment, the handheld computing device is configured to receive an event signal corresponding to executing an application assigned to the switch when actuated for a first time period. When the switch is maintained actuated for a second predetermined period of time, the system is configured to transmit an identifier corresponding to the switch to a preferences manager. The system retrieves a plurality of application identifiers from a database of the preferences manager, where each application identifier linking an executable for a corresponding application. The system displays the menu on the screen of the mobile computing device. The menu includes a plurality of application identifiers that are being selectable for execution of a different application. |
| US09122395B2 |
Method of capturing system input by relative finger positioning
A reader is utilized to detect motion of a user's fingers when a user mimics a typing motion. The system can be used to define various key press states for particular finger positions and then monitor the motion of fingers to detect when a key state is entered. The system can then provide the detected key state as input to a system expecting the data input. |
| US09122391B2 |
System and method of virtual interaction
A system for virtual interaction, comprising two or more portable electronic devices, is provided. Each device comprises, in turn, coordinate referencing means operable to define a coordinate system common to the portable electronic devices with respect to a physically defined reference position, position estimation means operable to detect a the physical position of its respective portable electronic device with respect to the reference position, virtual environment generation means operable to generate a virtual environment, and communication means operable to transmit positional data using the common coordinate system from that portable electronic device to another portable electronic device. The virtual environment is shared in common between the portable electronic devices. The virtual environment uses the common co-ordinate system within which each portable electronic device defines a position for itself responsive to its physical position with respect to the reference position. |
| US09122390B2 |
Method, application and/or service to collect more fine-grained or extra event data from a user sensor device
An apparatus with a method, and or application, and or service to collect more fine rained or extra event data, that may not be accessible directly by the underlying architecture. This is been done by adding a virtual overlay over selected portion of the screen and detecting events inside or outside of his own context. |
| US09122387B1 |
User configured optimizer
An adaptable graphical user interface is provided. The interface may include a setup region to display a group of available solvers to a user and to display parameters for at least one of the group of solvers to the user. The interface may include an options region to display a first group of active options to a user without requiring a user input for the first group of active options, where the first group of active options is determined based on a selected one of the group of solvers. The options region may further display a second group of active options to the user when another one of the solvers is selected by the user, where the second group of active options differs from the first group of active options. |
| US09122384B1 |
System and method for maintaining dynamic visual cue for associated circuitry of schematic object
A method and system are provided for maintaining dynamic visual cues/graphic indicia for associated circuitry of a schematic object. The dynamic visual cues or graphic indicia indicate a number of states of the parent circuit object and its associated circuitry. The visibility, placement status, and other attributes of the parent or associated circuitry may be quickly discerned by inspection of the visual indicia. Navigation, including manipulations of one or both of the parent and associated circuitry are available through actuation of the visual cue or a selectable button proximately disposed thereto. |
| US09122382B2 |
Method for selecting target at touch point on touch screen of mobile device
A method for selecting a user's desired target from among a plurality of targets, at a touch point on a touch screen of a mobile device is provided. The method includes displaying a web page; checking a touch input at a touch point is received on the touch screen, a number of hyperlinks overlapped with the touch point in the displayed web page; enlarging, if at least two hyperlinks are overlapped with the touch point, defining a target area around the touch point, the target area, and displaying the enlarged target area; and selecting and visually emphasizing, if only a single one of the hyperlinks in the enlarged target area is overlapped with the touch point, the single hyperlink among the hyperlinks. |
| US09122379B2 |
Portable wireless terminal, wireless communication method and content reference system
A portable wireless terminal 110 includes a terminal display section 214, a terminal memory 212 that stores upload information for specifying the content uploaded to an arbitrary external server, a terminal information display section 242 that displays the information of the content specified by the upload information on the terminal display unit, a terminal deletion receiving section 244 that receives one or more pieces of content to be deleted from the displayed information of the content, and a content deletion section 246 that deletes the content to be deleted which is received by the terminal deletion receiving section, from an external server 150. |
| US09122375B2 |
Method for displaying content items on an electronic device
Content items can be viewed on an electronic device based upon a property defined for each of the content items, allowing the user to navigate through the content list and view or select content items. When navigating portions of the list where a selection has been made where no content items are associated with the properties, the result may be the presentation of no data. In order to re-orient users, the selection is modified to display at least one content item. |
| US09122374B2 |
Expandable and collapsible arrays of documents
An embodiment provides a product comprising a machine-readable medium and machine-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform a method comprising providing a first array of information elements adapted to be expanded into at least one other array of information elements on a display. Another embodiment provides a method of displaying information elements on a display of a computer system with arrays of information elements, the method comprising displaying a first array of information elements, expanding the first array of information elements into at least one other array of information elements, wherein the first array of information elements and the at least one other array of information elements have a commonality. A system and a graphical user interface providing same are equally provided herein. |
| US09122373B1 |
Visual display of room information
Information of interest is graphically displayed in a manner which conveys the information to in a form which aids in comprehension of the information. Specifically, the information is preferably conveyed on the unit level through the use of the unit's floor plan in a graphical seating chart type format. A graphical icon is used to represent each room in the unit. Components of the icon indicate key considerations for every room. Additional information may also be displayed by clicking on a component of the icon. |
| US09122372B2 |
Event flow user interface
A user interface for a computer that can display one or more virtual or digital files that allow a user to sort through and select a particular virtual or digital file to interact with, or a digital object associated with that virtual or digital file. The user interface described herein allows a user to view and browse rapidly through a sequence of images representing one or more virtual or digital files by displaying in the user interface a combination of two images simultaneously, side-by-side, while continuously maintaining the specified sequence. |
| US09122369B2 |
Mobile device and method for updating display screen with online widget
A mobile device has embedded online widgets and executes a method for updating a display screen with the widgets. In the method, the mobile device receives widget update data from widget servers and then enables a flag bit of a specific one of divided regions in a widget integrated buffer. Each divided region is allocated for each widget server, and the specific divided region corresponds to the widget server that transmits the widget update data. The mobile device stores the received widget update data in the specific divided region and then determines whether a predefined display update interval arrives. If the display update interval arrives, the mobile device outputs the display screen to which the widget update data stored in the specific divided region is applied. |
| US09122368B2 |
Analysis of images located within three-dimensional environments
Images are analyzed within a 3D environment that is generated based on spatial relationships of the images and that allows users to experience the images in the 3D environment. Image analysis may include ranking images based on user viewing information, such as the number of users who have viewed an image and how long an image was viewed. Image analysis may further include analyzing the spatial density of images within a 3D environment to determine points of user interest. |
| US09122366B2 |
Residue indicators
A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to: receive a user input at a remote computer communicably coupled to a host computer over a network; and display one or more residue indicators on a screen of the remote computer indicating receipt of the user input by the remote computer. The one or more residue indicators are displayed for a period of time approximately equal to a system latency time. The computer-executable instructions are further configured to cause the computer to receive output data from the host computer based on the user input; and display the output data on the screen of the remote computer. |
| US09122365B2 |
Method and system for operating application of a touch device with touch-based input interface
A method and system is disclosed that allows a user to easily and intuitively operate applications that require contact information, in a touch device, via a tray item associated with the contact information. The method for operating applications includes: displaying a contact tray comprised of a number of tray items based on contact information, on an execution screen; receiving an interaction to use a tray item in the contact tray; configuring an execution screen for an application based on contact information of the tray item; and operating the application based on the configured execution screen. |
| US09122361B2 |
Touch panel testing using mutual capacitor measurements
A capacitive touch panel is tested for the presence or absence of short and open circuits in drive and sense lines without the use of a tool that touches the surface of the panel. During a first stage of testing, drive lines of the touch panel are sequentially driven while the remaining drive lines are floated. Sense lines are read to indicate whether a driven drive line is shorted to an adjacent drive line, an open circuit, or coupled to a sense line that is an open circuit. During a second stage of testing, drive lines are driven while alternate sense lines are floated or enabled. The signals on the enabled sense lines are acquired to indicate whether the enabled sense lines are shorted to adjacent sense lines. This second stage can be repeated, switching the roles of the sense lines, to determine the locations of short and/or open circuits. |
| US09122360B2 |
Surface capacitive touch panel and electronic device
The invention provides a surface capacitive touch panel and an electronic device, said surface capacitive touch panel comprising: a resistive film, on which an electrode setting area divided into at least two layers is set; and a plurality of conductive electrodes, set in said electrode setting area; said plurality of conductive electrodes including at least one set of electrodes; wherein, said set of electrodes includes: a first strip electrode; a second strip electrode, in parallel with said first strip electrode, but in a different layer; a third strip electrode, in parallel with said first strip electrode, but in a different layer; said second strip electrode and said third strip electrode being located on the same side of said first strip electrode; a fourth strip electrode, both ends of which are connected with said first strip electrode and said second strip electrode, respectively; and a fifth strip electrode, both ends of which are connected with said first strip electrode and said third strip electrode, respectively. The invention enhances the linear degree of the electrical field applied to the resistive film, thereby enhancing the positioning accuracy. |
| US09122359B2 |
Display unit with touch detection function, and electronic device
A display unit with a touch detection function includes: a plurality of touch detection electrodes arranged side by side to extend in a direction, each of the touch detection electrodes being formed in a predetermined electrode pattern including electrode portion and opening portion and outputting a detection signal, based on a variation in capacitance due to an external proximity object; and a plurality of display elements formed in a layer different from a layer of the touch detection electrodes, a predetermined number of the display elements being arranged within a width dimension of a region corresponding to each of the touch detection electrodes. The predetermined electrode pattern corresponds to a layout pattern of the display elements. |
| US09122358B2 |
Touch panel for determining real coordinates of the multiple touch points and method thereof
A touch panel for determining real coordinates of multiple touch points is provided. The touch panel for determining real coordinates of multiple touch points comprises a sensing path layer having a plurality of first paths and a plurality of second paths for detecting the raw coordinates of said multiple touch points, and an Eliminating Path Layer having a plurality of third paths for eliminating ghost coordinates of said multiple touch points from said raw coordinates to output said real coordinates of said multiple touch points. The method of determining real coordinates of multiple touch points on the touch panel is also provided. |
| US09122355B2 |
Indication member, optical position detection device, and display system with input function
A detectable indication member for an optical position detection device includes a round bar shaped shaft and a spherical body provided at the distal end of the shaft. The outer peripheral surface of the spherical body and the outer peripheral surface of an end portion of the shaft portion connected to the spherical body form a retroreflective portion. A portion of the shaft adjacent the base end of the end portion absorbs infrared light. |
| US09122351B2 |
Apparatus for detecting proximity of object near a touchscreen
An exemplary apparatus comprises a housing attachable to a touchscreen-equipped computing device wherein one or more image sensors in the housing obtain images of an object in the vicinity of the touchscreen and a processor analyzes the images to compute the position of the object relative to the touchscreen and communicates to the computing device attribute data pertaining to the imaged object. Exemplary methods are also described. |
| US09122350B2 |
Optical touch apparatus capable of detecting displacement with two light beams and optical touch method thereof
An optical touch apparatus includes a first light source, a second light source, a light guide device, a light reflecting device and an image sensing module. The first light source emits first light beam which travels within the light guide device and is reflective by an object close to or in contact with a surface of the light guide device to become a first image light beam. The first image light beam is reflected by a light reflecting device. The image sensing module receives the first image light beam. The second light source emits a second light beam, wherein when the optical touch apparatus moves on a working surface, the second light beam is reflective by the working surface to form a second image light beam which is received by the same image sensing module. |
| US09122345B2 |
Method of determining touch gesture and touch control system
A method of determining a touch gesture is utilized for a touch control system. The method includes detecting at least one first touch point on a touch surface corresponding to the touch gesture at a first time point to generate a first detecting result; detecting at least one second touch point on the touch surface corresponding to the touch gesture at a second time point to generate a second detecting result; obtaining a moving vector and a distributing variation corresponding to the touch gesture according to a relationship of the first detecting result and the second detecting result; and determining the touch gesture on the touch surface according to the moving vector and the distributing variation. |
| US09122341B2 |
Resolving merged touch contacts
A method for resolving merged contacts detected by a multi-touch sensor includes resolving a first touch contact to a first centroid(N) for a frame(N) and resolving a second touch contact, distinct from the first touch contact, to a second centroid(N) for the frame(N). Responsive to the first touch contact and the second touch contact merging into a merged touch contact in a frame(N+1), the merged touch contact is resolved to a first centroid(N+1) and a second centroid(N+1). |
| US09122332B2 |
Automatic detection for touch through glove
Aspects of the subject technology relate to a device including a touch-screen configured to detect user engagement with a surface of the touch-screen and output one or more signals corresponding with the user touch engagement. In certain aspects, the device further includes a touch sense controller coupled to the touch-screen, wherein the touch sense controller is configured to receive the one or more signals corresponding with the user engagement and to determine a mode of user engagement with the surface of the touch-screen based on the one or more signals. A method and touch sense controller are also provided. |
| US09122331B2 |
Frame with sensing function and touch control method
A frame with a sensing function includes a frame structure, a sensor and a processing unit. The processing unit is electrically connected to the sensor. The frame structure is configured for hanging on a display unit. The sensor senses a touched position set of the display unit for position setting. The processing unit includes a parameter calculating module and a parameter providing module. The parameter calculating module calculates a position transformation parameter between the hanged frame structure and the display unit according to the touched position set. The parameter providing module provides the position transformation parameter, such that a display content displayed on the display unit is controlled according to at least one touched position for operation sensed by the sensor and the position transformation parameter. |
| US09122328B2 |
Detecting and handling unintentional touching of a touch screen
A processor-implemented method, system, and/or computer program product detects and handles an unintentional touching of a touch screen in order to prevent unintentional inputs to the touch screen. An unintentional touching of touch screen, as determined by one or more predefined events, causes a predetermined region of the touch screen to be disabled. |
| US09122327B2 |
Method for syncing different touching systems
A method for syncing different touching systems uses a computer, which is electrically connected with a first input device and a second input device respectively and in which an input of the first input device is controlled by the second input device, to make the first input device and the second device synchronous. The method includes defining at least one correction point on the first input device; receiving time tags of signal inputs at the correction points of the first input device and the second input device respectively; calculating time differences for each time tag at each correction point with respect to other correction points; averaging all time differences for all correction points to determine a deviation value; and delaying a signal transmission of the second input device according to the deviation value. |
| US09122324B2 |
Thin film transistor display panel and manufacturing method thereof
A thin film transistor display panel capable of minimizing a bezel and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The thin film transistor display panel includes: a substrate; a plurality of gate lines and data lines that cross each other on the substrate; a thin film transistor connected to the gate line and the data line; a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor; and a plurality of gate voltage supply lines arranged in a parallel direction with the data lines and connected to the plurality of gate lines, respectively, in which one pixel area is defined by two adjacent gate lines and two adjacent data lines, two pixel electrodes are formed in one pixel area, and the gate voltage supply lines pass between the two pixel electrodes formed in the same pixel area. |
| US09122323B2 |
Sensor control
An apparatus includes sensors configured to sense optical information, assignment circuitry configured to assign a dominant status to one of the sensors and a nondominant status to another one of the sensors and control circuitry configured to output one or more commands based on sensed optical information and status. Various other apparatuses, systems, methods, etc., are also disclosed. |
| US09122320B1 |
Methods and apparatus for user selectable digital mirror
In one embodiment of the invention, a digital mirror is disclosed including an enclosure; a display device mounted in the enclosure to display images at a front side of the enclosure; an image capture device mounted in the enclosure adjacent the display device to reduce parallax error; lights mounted in the enclosure adjacent the display device; and a light diffuser mounted to the enclosure around the display device over the one or more lights. The one or more lights provide lighting in front of the display device and the image capture device captures images in the field of view in the front. The light diffuser diffuses and softens the light emitted by the one or more lights. Alternatively, the image capture device may be mounted on an articulated arm that may be used to capture and display various angles in the filed of view of the digital mirror. |
| US09122318B2 |
Methods of and systems for reducing keyboard data entry errors
Method of and system for reducing data entry errors that ascertains a subset of keys that can be selected by a user based upon the respective likelihood that each key follows a previously selected key within a predetermined language, corpus, or subset thereof, and controls the display of the keys within an input device so that the keys within the ascertained subset are displayed in a visually distinguishable manner from the keys that not within the ascertained subset. In a touch screen device, the keys that are displayed are part of the soft keys displayed on the screen. In a system that includes an actual physical keyboard, the appearance of select keys of the keyboard can be modified in various manners, including the use of an LCD display or other controllable lighting mechanism disposed within the keyboard. Multiple additional techniques for reducing data entry also are disclosed. |
| US09122315B2 |
Expandable keyboard
A keyboard includes a housing, a frame surrounding the housing, and a plurality of keys arranged in a plurality of columns and a plurality of rows. The keyboard is movable between a closed configuration and an expanded configuration, and the keys are accessible in both the closed and expanded configurations. |
| US09122311B2 |
Visual feedback for tactile and non-tactile user interfaces
A method, including presenting, by a computer, a scrollable list of interactive items on a display driven by the computer, and receiving an input from a user of the computer. The list is scrolled at a speed indicated by the input, and the list is zoomed in response to the speed of the scrolling. |
| US09122308B2 |
Tactile feedback apparatus, system, and method of operating tactile feedback apparatus
A tactile feedback apparatus, system, and a method of operating the tactile feedback apparatus may detect a finger of a user touching a disk unit, determine a height at which the disk unit is supported, based on a signal generated by a sensor, and support a lower portion of the disk unit by controlling N driving units to be set at the determined height, thereby providing power sensed by the sensor to the finger of the user touching the disk unit. |
| US09122306B2 |
Customizable and reconfigurable virtual instrument panel
The invention provides an instrument control panel that is easily customized and reconfigured, and yet provides the familiar tactile sensation of physical knobs, sliders, and buttons. The instrument control panel comprises one or more interface components that are removably coupled to an interface display wherein the interface components communicate with one or more control components disposed behind the interface display. The present invention lends itself particularly well to an instrument panel. |
| US09122304B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing function of portable terminal using color sensor
A method for providing a function of a portable terminal is provided. The method includes activating a color sensor upon execution of an application, displaying a color recognized by the color sensor on screen data corresponding to the executed application, and controlling a function based on a color recognized by the executed application. |
| US09122301B2 |
Steering and brake arrangements
A tractor steering and braking arrangement has a substantially vertically extending structural support column 11 for connection at a lower end 12 to a floor 13 of a tractor cab and carrying means 18 to support a steering wheel 15 at its upper end. At least one hydraulic master cylinder 29, 30 for operation of brakes of the tractor is supported within the column 11. The master cylinder 29, 30 includes an operating rod 27, 28 and an associated piston which is moved substantially vertically by an associated brake operating pedal 19, 20. The pedal is positioned at one side of the structural support column 11 and supported for pivoting from the column. Where separate left and right brakes are used, separate left and right master cylinders are mounted vertically within the support column 11. Both pedals are also mounted for pivoting from the column at a position 21 inside the column. |
| US09122299B2 |
Disconnect lever and method of manufacture
A lever for use with a plug housing and a method of manufacturing. The method includes molding the housing and lever in one mold, with the housing and lever being separate parts. Extracting the housing and lever from the mold and moving a mating end of the lever into position relative to a mounting portion of the housing. The lever may include a first member having a first handle and a second member having a second handle which are mated together to form the lever. Additionally, the lever may have portions which are movably, hingedly or pivotably connected to a handle at a connection regions which are formed to provide a weakened area about which lever arms can move, rotate or pivot relative to the handle. |
| US09122297B2 |
Master controller
The master controller includes a main handle, a handle drum, a reverse handle, a lock collar, a first lock cam having an outer peripheral surface that locks the reverse handle at a neutral position when an operation key is at a locked position, a second lock cam that rotates integrally with the reverse handle, and has an outer peripheral surface that locks the reverse handle and the main handle at a neutral position when the operation key is at a locked position, and that locks the reverse handle at a forward position or a reverse position and unlocks the main handle when the reverse handle is operated to the forward position or the reverse position, and a rod holding unit that holds a rod movably between the lock collar and the second lock cam. |
| US09122293B2 |
Method and apparatus for LDO and distributed LDO transient response accelerator
A transient response accelerated (TRA) low dropout (LDO) regulator has an error amplifier having a feedback input, and a reference input configured to receive a reference voltage, and an output that controls a pass gate. The pass gate output voltage is applied to the feedback input. A transient response accelerator (TRA) circuit detects a rapid voltage drop on the pass gate output and, in response, applies a pulse control that rapidly lowers the resistance of the pass gate. |
| US09122292B2 |
LDO/HDO architecture using supplementary current source to improve effective system bandwidth
An LDO/HDO circuit adds a supplementary current source to supply the output node. The current boosting section includes a digital comparator with a first input connected to the LDO's feedback loop and a second input connected to a reference level. The comparator then generates a digital output used to control the supplementary current source. This approach also can be used in a far-side implementation, where the local supply level for the load is boosted by the current source based a comparison of this local level and the output of the LDO. Miller capacitive compensation is also considered. Current in shunted to ground from a node in the Miller loop, where the level is controlled by the output of a digital comparator base on a comparison of the circuit's output voltage and a reference level. |
| US09122289B2 |
Circuit to control the effect of dielectric absorption in dynamic voltage scaling low dropout regulator
A circuit and method provides compensation for disturbance of an output voltage caused by dielectric absorption of a load capacitor of a low dropout voltage regulator after a modification of the output voltage level of the low dropout voltage regulator. A dielectric absorption current compensation circuit generates a profile current that is applied to an output of the low dropout voltage regulator and in parallel with the load capacitor to compensate for the dielectric absorption current. The dielectric absorption current compensation circuit has a programmable profile current generator that generates the profile current. A switchable current mirror transfers a mirror profile compensation current to the load capacitor to compensate for the dielectric absorption current. In some embodiments, the profile current is a continuous profile dielectric absorption compensation current and in other embodiments, the profile current is a digital profile dielectric absorption compensation current. |
| US09122288B1 |
Low power USB 2.0 subsystem
USB physical interface subsystems are provided that include a protection circuit including a power supply interface and a plurality of pin interfaces, a pin identifier circuit in communication with the protection circuit for detecting a device coupling to a pin connected to one pin interface of the plurality of pin interfaces, a USB physical interface, and a dual power supply regulator configured to receive power via the power supply interface, to continuously supply a first voltage to the protection circuit, and to provide a second voltage and a third voltage to the pin identifier circuit and the USB physical interface, the second voltage and the third voltage being switched outputs. |
| US09122282B2 |
Multi-stage back pressure regulators and associated devices, systems, and methods
Multi-stage back pressure regulators are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a multi-stage back pressure regulator includes a first stage and a second stage downstream from the first stage. The first stage includes a gas-charged regulator device arranged to receive a fluid at an inlet, and the second stage includes a spring-loaded regulator device having an outlet in fluid communication with the inlet. The gas-charged regulator and the spring-loaded regulator are configured to control inlet pressure to the back pressure regulator and maximum differential pressures across the first and second stages. |
| US09122281B1 |
Simplified method and device for sensing water level in a reservoir
A simplified method and device for sensing water level is disclosed. In particular applications the invention may be used for activating a fill valve or other control circuitry in order to maintain an average level in a reservoir or provide notification of a low fluid level. By incorporating a standard rectifier circuit as a biasing network for a solid-state circuit control driver on one side of a probe network, the level of the water may be determined when contact is made with the probes. AC current drawn across metallic probes provides a DC bias at the output of the rectifier that may be incorporated into various control circuits. |
| US09122280B2 |
Control systems and methods for controlling a dry feed system to convey a solid fuel
A control system for controlling a dry feed system to convey a solid fuel includes multiple sensors, a pressurizing gas controller, at least one assistant gas controller and multiple gas valves. The sensors generate multiple measurement signals signifying characteristics of the dry feed system. The pressuring gas controller calculates a feed tank pressure bias or/and a pressuring gas flow bias based on a solid flow rate and generates a first control signal based on the pressure bias or/and the pressurizing gas flow bias. The assistant gas controller calculates an assistant gas bias based on a solid loading ratio and generates a second control signal based on the assistant gas bias. The gas valves are driven by the first or/and second control signals to regulate the solid fuel. A control method is also described. |
| US09122278B2 |
Vehicle navigation
A method and apparatus for establishing a route for an autonomous vehicle, the method including: determining localization information for the vehicle with respect to a first frame of reference that is fixed with respect to a current state of the vehicle; determining localization information for the vehicle with respect to a second frame of reference that is fixed with respect to an entity (e.g. Earth), the vehicle being moveable with respect to the entity; establishing a route for the vehicle with respect to the second frame using the localization information for the vehicle with respect to the second frame; transforming the route from the second frame to the first frame; and determining a route for the vehicle with respect to the first frame using the localization information for the vehicle with respect to the first frame and the transformed route. |
| US09122277B2 |
Flow regulator
Disclosed is a flow regulator, especially for insertion into a jet regulator in an outlet fixture, comprising an insertion member that is penetrated by at least one flow duct in an axial direction as well as a throttle element which forms a control gap along with the insertion member in order to allow a fluid to penetrate into the at least one flow duct. The aim of the invention is to create a flow regulator which allows for significantly greater durability during use while offering maximum ease of operation when fluid is discharged. Said aim is achieved by a flow regulator in which the throttle element is embodied as a dimensionally stable throttle cap that is supported in relation to the insertion member via an elastic spring element. |
| US09122274B2 |
Test system for determining a frequency response of a virtual power plant
Disclosed is a test system for determining a frequency response of a virtual power plant connected to a utility grid and including a plurality of distinct power plants. The test system includes a test sequence module for providing a frequency test sequence. The frequency test sequence includes a set of frequency test values; and an injection unit for injecting values of the frequency test sequence simultaneously to nodes of the virtual power plant. A node of the virtual power plant includes any of: a power production unit of a power plant, a power storage unit of a power plant, a plant controller of a power plant. Further described are a virtual power plant and a method of testing a frequency response of a virtual power plant. |
| US09122273B2 |
Failure cause diagnosis system and method
The invention is related to a system and a method to determine whether a target equipment deviates from a normal state. If it is determined that the target equipment to be diagnosed deviates from the normal state, the degree of deviation of each parameter from the normal state as the reference is calculated as an abnormal contribution ratio. A failure cause is estimated from a similarity ratio between the calculated abnormal contribution ratio and the abnormal contribution ratio of each of the failure causes collected in the past and including failure phenomena and failure parts. |
| US09122272B2 |
Redundantable robot assembly for workpiece transfer
A redundantable robotic mechanism is disclosed for improving reliability of transport equipment. The redundantable robot assembly typically comprises independent robots with separate controls, motors, linkage arms, or power, thus providing the capability of operation even if parts of the assembly are not operational or when parts of the assembly are removed for repair. The redundantable robot assembly can be also designed to allow in-situ servicing, e.g. servicing one robot when the other is running. The disclosed redundantable robot assembly provides virtual uninterrupted process flow, and thus greatly increases the yield for the manufacturing facility. |
| US09122271B2 |
Method for collision-free transfer of a plant from an substantially off mode to an operating mode
A method for collision-free transfer of a production plant from an substantially off mode to an operating mode, wherein the production plant operating state information of connected process sections required for collision-free startup of the plant is derived at least partially from simulation data of a real-time simulation tool that simulates the production plant operation parallel to the actual operation of the production plant in real-time. |
| US09122270B2 |
Hybrid adaptively sampled distance fields
A computer program product for processing a model of an object according to a set of instructions includes a non-transitory computer-readable memory storing a model of an object represented by a hybrid adaptively sampled distance field (ADF), wherein the model includes a hierarchy of cells, wherein at least one cell includes a set of distance functions forming at least part of a boundary of the object and a set of distance samples of at least some of the distance functions, such that a processor executing the set of instructions processes the model of the object. |
| US09122261B2 |
Apparatus and method for real-time sequential quadratic programming in industrial process control systems
A method includes identifying a nonlinear model used by an optimizer to perform optimization operations associated with an industrial process to be controlled. The method also includes generating a Hessian matrix associated with the nonlinear model. The method further includes providing the Hessian matrix to an advanced process controller that uses the Hessian matrix to perform both process control and optimization operations. The Hessian matrix can approximate a nonlinear objective function. The method can also include providing one or more approximated nonlinear constraints, a solution of a quadratic sub-problem that approximates the nonlinear model, or a combination of multiple solutions of the quadratic sub-problem to the advanced process controller. The Hessian matrix can be updated and provided to the advanced process controller during each of multiple iterations. During each iteration, the industrial process can be adjusted to move an operating point of the industrial process towards an optimal ending position. |
| US09122260B2 |
Integrated controls design optimization
A control system (207) for optimizing a chemical looping process of a power plant includes an optimizer (420), an income algorithm (230) and a cost algorithm (225) and a chemical looping process models. The process models are used to predict the process outputs from process input variables. Some of the process in puts and output variables are related to the income of the plant; and some others are related to the cost of the plant operations. The income algorithm (230) provides an income input to the optimizer (420) based on a plurality of input parameters (215) of the power plant. The cost algorithm (225) provides a cost input to the optimizer (420) based on a plurality of output parameters (220) of the power plant. The optimizer (420) determines an optimized operating parameter solution based on at least one of the income input and the cost input, and supplies the optimized operating parameter solution to the power plant. |
| US09122258B2 |
Motor control device
A motor control device includes an operation determination unit that determines whether a motor is in an operating state or in a stopped state based on an operation command signal or an operation signal and an amplitude estimation unit that, based on a determination result of the operation determination unit, sequentially estimates a vibration amplitude value from a control state quantity of a feedback control unit or a current control unit separately for a case where the motor is operated and a case where the motor is stopped and outputs the vibration amplitude value. A function of outputting an amplitude of a high-frequency vibration that occurs in a mechanical device including a control system as information useful for estimating an occurrence factor of the vibration is provided. |
| US09122253B2 |
Systems and methods for dynamic risk derivation
A system may include a dynamic risk calculation engine (DRCE) system. The DRCE includes a model library configured to model a system, wherein the model library comprises a plurality of subsystem models, and each of the plurality of subsystem models is configured to derive a reliability measure. The DRCE further includes a fault tolerance input and a maintenance policy input. The DRCE additionally includes a run-time risk calculation engine configured to use a user-defined set of the plurality of subsystem models, the fault tolerance input, and the maintenance policy input, to derive a system risk for an apparatus. |
| US09122244B2 |
Holography devices, three-dimensional image display apparatuses including the same, and methods of processing holography images
A holography device may include a light reaction layer configured to react with light to form and remove a diffraction grating, and a metal thin film on the light reaction layer. When first light is incident on the metal thin film while the grating is formed in the light reaction layer, surface plasmon formed on the metal thin film may be diffracted so as to output a holography image. A method of processing a holography image may include recording the image on a holography device by irradiating first light to a light reaction layer to form a diffraction grating, outputting the image by irradiating second light to a metal thin film on the light reaction layer to diffract surface plasmon formed on the metal thin film, and deleting the image from the holography device by irradiating third light to the light reaction layer to remove the grating. |
| US09122242B2 |
Cartridge drive shaft gear
Image recording devices, such as electrophotographic devices, laser printers, copiers, and fax machines, often have a cartridge that utilizes a drive gear to transmit rotational force from the printer to the print cartridge. Also, it is desirable to remanufacture print cartridge both to reduce waste and to save resources. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide a drive gear mechanism that is easily replaced or reused when a print cartridge is remanufactured. |
| US09122241B2 |
Process cartridge capable of accurately positioning developer carrying member and photosensitive drum
A process cartridge includes a developing cartridge, drum cartridge, and end member. The developing cartridge and drum cartridge include first and second driving force receiving units, respectively. The second receiving unit is disposed on the same side on which the first receiving unit in an axis direction of photosensitive drum. A developing frame is movable within a prescribed distance in the axis direction relative to a photosensitive drum frame. The photosensitive drum is movable in the axis direction relative to the drum frame within a predetermined distance. The end member includes a drum contact surface, developing frame contact surface, and external member contact surface. When the first and second receiving units are in a predetermined state, a photosensitive drum contacts to the drum contact surface, the developing frame contacts to the developing frame contact surface, the external member contact surface contacts to an external member. |
| US09122238B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus may include exposure members, a drum supporting member, guide members configured to support the drum supporting member, a main body circuit board and a relay board. The drum supporting member may include a pair of side walls spaced apart from each other and configured to support photoconductor drums and the exposure members therebetween. Additionally or alternatively, the guide members may be configured to support the drum supporting member while allowing movement of the drum supporting member through an opening formed in the main body. The relay board and the main body circuit board may be connected by a cable and the relay board and the plurality of exposure members may be connected by one or more other cables. In some arrangements, the relay board may be fixed to a first side wall of the pair of side walls of the drum supporting member. |
| US09122236B2 |
Photosensitive drum cartridge provided with positioning shaft
A photosensitive drum cartridge is configured to accommodate therein a developing cartridge having a developing roller and includes: a photosensitive drum; a drum frame; and a shaft. The photosensitive drum has an axis extending in an axial direction. The drum frame accommodates the photosensitive drum therein. The drum frame has a mounting portion configured to accommodate the developing cartridge therein. The shaft extends in the axial direction and includes a first abutment portion configured to be abutted on the developing cartridge when the developing cartridge is mounted in the mounting portion. The drum frame is formed with an exposure opening exposing the first abutment portion of the shaft. |
| US09122234B2 |
Recording medium conveying mechanism and image forming apparatus having the same
A recording medium conveying mechanism includes a conveying guide, a guide member, and a rotating mechanism. The conveying guide conveys recording paper to a nip zone between a mountable/demountable intermediate transfer unit and a secondary transfer roller. The guide member acting as a part of the conveying guide is rotated by the rotating mechanism so that a tip thereof is disposed up to a position just adjacent to the nip zone when the intermediate transfer unit is mounted in the apparatus main body. When the intermediate transfer unit is mounted/demounted in/from the apparatus main body, the guide member is rotated up to a position at which the tip thereof does not exceed an arrangement position of the intermediate transfer belt portion in a conveying direction of the recording paper, in a movement direction of the intermediate transfer unit during the mounting/demounting. |
| US09122231B2 |
Image forming apparatus
A photosensitive-drum supporting member has a pair of side walls confronting both ends of each photosensitive drum. The photosensitive-drum supporting member supports the photosensitive drums between the side walls. The photosensitive-drum supporting member moves between: a stowed position at which the photosensitive-drum supporting member is stowed within an apparatus main body; and a moved position at which the photosensitive-drum supporting member is moved from the stowed position to outside the apparatus main body through an opening. Exposing members are provided at the photosensitive-drum supporting member such that the exposing members move between: an exposing position at which each exposing member is adjacent to a corresponding photosensitive drum; and a retracted position at which each exposing member is separated from the corresponding photosensitive drum and is engaged by an engaging part. The exposing members are accommodated within the photosensitive-drum supporting member both at the exposing position and at the retracted position. |
| US09122230B2 |
Grounding structure
Provided is a grounding structure including a grounding member that is grounded, an electrical conduction member that includes a protection section which is placed to protect a protection object, and an elastic portion which is connected to the protection section and is elastically deformed, the electrical conduction member being conductible, and a holding section that is formed in the grounding member and that holds the elastic portion in the grounding member by using an elastic force of the elastic portion, wherein the holding section and the elastic portion contact with each other on both sides of a direction in which the elastic force of the elastic portion acts. |
| US09122228B2 |
Image forming device having holder positioning arrangement
An image forming apparatus includes a main frame and a holder. The holder holds a plurality of photosensitive drums arrayed in a predetermined direction. The holder includes a pair of side plates each positioned at each axial end portion of each photosensitive drum, and each having an upstream end portion in the accommodating direction, and a pair of protruding portions each protruding outward in the axial direction from the upstream end portion of each side plate. The main frame includes a pair of positioning portions and a pair of support portions. The pair of positioning portions is configured to be in contact with each protruding portion from below and on a downstream side of the protruding portion in the accommodating direction. The pair of support portions is positioned downstream of the pair of positioning portions in the accommodating direction and configured to support the pair of side plates. |
| US09122226B2 |
Image forming apparatus having a window open-closing shutter
An image forming apparatus includes a main body of the image forming apparatus; at least one image forming unit disposed in the main body; a light scanning unit that is disposed in the main body and scans light to form an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive medium of the at least one image forming unit; a window open-closing shutter that is disposed to slidably move on a surface of the light scanning unit from which light emits, and moves between an open position where a light moving path is opened and a blocking position where the light moving path is blocked; a shutter operating lever that is disposed in the main body, and activates the window open-closing shutter to be positioned at either of the open position and the blocking position; and a pressure member that is disposed in the main body and presses the shutter operating lever. |
| US09122215B2 |
Image forming apparatus
In an image forming apparatus, a controller includes a memory stores control parameters for use in adjustment to be made in at least one of a print density and a color alignment in accordance with a surrounding condition, a print-mode execution module executes a print-mode process of causing the image forming unit to perform image formation, and an adjustive test-mode execution module executes an adjustive test-mode process of causing the image forming unit to perform a test print, thereby determining a control parameter. The print-mode execution module retrieves a relevant control parameter corresponding to a current surrounding condition from the memory, if available, while it causes the adjustive test-mode execution module to execute the adjustive test-mode process, thereby determining a relevant control parameter if the relevant control parameter is not stored in the memory. The retrieved or determined relevant control parameter is applied to the image formation. |
| US09122213B2 |
Fuser for preventing excessive increased temperature in paper non-passing region
A fuser includes an endless heat generating part including a conductive layer, an induced current generating part to heat the conductive layer by electromagnetic induction, and a magnetic shunt metal member that is located at a side opposite to the induced current generating part across the heat generating part, forms a first gap between the magnetic shunt metal member and the heat generating part in a first paper passing region of the heat generating part, and forms a second gap, which is different from the first gap in size, between the magnetic shunt metal member and the heat generating part in a second paper passing region different from the first paper passing region. |
| US09122204B2 |
Developing device, process cartridge, image forming apparatus, and image forming method
A developing device includes a developing roller including a base and a surface layer formed on the base, the surface layer including a polyurethane resin having a fluorine group and a polyfunctional isocyanurate structure, a toner storage chamber being partially in contact with the developing roller and to support the developing roller, and a sealing member provided at opposed ends of an end portion of the toner storage chamber in a rotating axis direction of the developing roller, and to seal in toner moving to the end portion of the toner storage chamber, the sealing member before use having a coefficient of static friction in a range of from 0.08 to 0.19. |
| US09122201B2 |
Method and apparatus for reducing residual toner in a rotating container
An approach is provided for reducing an amount of residual toner remaining in a rotating container. The approach involves rotating a rotatable vessel configured to contain a toner. The rotatable vessel includes a body section having a substantially round cross-section, a first end at one axial end of the body section, a second end axially distal the first end, and helical features on an internal surface of the body section configured to transport the toner in an axial direction between the first end and the second end as the vessel is rotated. The approach also involves causing, at least in part, at least a portion of the toner to be agitated by an insert configured to tumble and rotate within an inside portion of the rotatable vessel as the rotatable vessel rotates. |
| US09122200B2 |
Image forming apparatus having a replaceable member determination unit
An image forming apparatus includes a replaceable member, a first determination unit, and a second determination unit. The replaceable member is removable from the image forming apparatus in an open state of a door and has a storage portion storing given information. The first determination unit determines whether or not a response from the storage portion exists. The second determination unit determines the image forming apparatus is in the open state or a removed state where the replaceable member is removed from the image forming apparatus when the first determination unit determines the response is not exist in given number of times. |
| US09122198B2 |
Developing unit
There is provided a developing unit, including: a body defining a developing chamber and a developer accommodating chamber, and a developer delivery member. The body includes a sliding portion, a restoring portion and a colliding portion at the developer accommodating chamber. The developer delivery member includes an elastic member configured to be made a sliding contact with the sliding portion while being curved elastically, configured to be restored elastically at the restoring portion, and configured to collide with the colliding portion. The developer delivery member is configured so that, the elastic member which has been elastically restored at the restoring portion is collided with the colliding portion to generate an air flow and to deliver the developer in the developer accommodating chamber toward the connection port. |
| US09122195B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member where an electrostatic latent image is formed, a developing device developing the electrostatic latent image at a developing position facing the image bearing member, the developing device including a developer bearing member which rotates while bearing developer containing toner and which supplies the image bearing member with the toner, and a regulating member regulating a layer thickness of the developer born by the developer bearing member. In addition, a vibrating member vibrates the regulating member when the vibrating member is driven, and a control unit performs a mode of vibrating the regulating member while rotating the developer bearing member during a non-image forming period and of transferring from the developer bearing member to the image bearing member the toner passing through the regulating member during vibration of the regulating member. |
| US09122189B2 |
Scan unit for an imaging device and methods of using same
An imaging device scan unit, including an oscillator oscillating in a predetermined oscillation pattern; a light source generating a light beam for deflection by the oscillator and including a forward sweep portion when the oscillator moves in a first direction of the oscillation pattern and a reverse sweep portion when the oscillator moves in a second direction different from the first direction thereof; and components defining at least two optical paths for the light beam, the forward sweep portion of the light beam passes through a first optical path and the reverse sweep portion of the light beam passes through a second optical path, the second optical path reverses a sweep direction of the reverse sweep portion of the light beam such that the forward sweep portion and the reverse sweep portion of the light beam are in the substantially same direction when exiting the scan unit. |
| US09122185B2 |
Image forming apparatus determining transfer parameter using color measurement result, image forming method, and non-transitory computer readable medium
An image forming apparatus includes a measuring unit, an adjustment image forming unit, a density value calculating unit, and a transfer parameter determining unit. The measuring unit measures colors of an image formed on a recording medium. The adjustment image forming unit forms an adjustment image including a combination color which is produced by superimposing colorants of two or more component colors. The density value calculating unit calculates, in accordance with a measurement result obtained by measuring the combination color included in the adjustment image by the measuring unit, a density value of a component color of a colorant that is formed in an uppermost layer on the recording medium among the two or more component colors. The transfer parameter determining unit determines a value of a transfer parameter in accordance with the calculated density value, the transfer parameter defining an operation condition used for performing transfer. |
| US09122182B2 |
Charge control agent and toner for electrostatic image development containing same
Provided is a charge control agent comprising a phenol multimeric mixture of a plurality of phenol multimers of the formula (1). A is a 4-chlorophenol ring-containing group of the formula (2) or the formula (3), R1-R4 are hydrogen atoms or alkyl groups, m is an integer of 0-2, and x is an integer of 16-28, when A is represented by the formula (2), and a number in the range indicated by (14−2m)/(m+2) to (26−2m)/(m+2), when A is represented by the formula (3): |
| US09122181B2 |
Toner for developing an electrostatic charge image and toner cartridge containing the toner
A toner for developing an electrostatic charge image, including toner particles obtained by dissolving or dispersing a binder resin and an additive in an organic solvent to prepare an oil phase component, and dispersing and granulating the oil phase component in an aqueous medium containing an inorganic dispersant dispersed therein, wherein the binder resin is a polyester resin obtained from an alcohol component, a carboxylic acid component, and a long-chain alkyl group represented by formula (1), the long chain alkyl group being present in a mole percent ranging from 6.5 to 7.5 mol % based on total number of moles of the alcohol component, the carboxylic acid component, and the long-chain alkyl group, and the polyester resin having an acid value of from 4.9 to 7.0 mgKOH/g: |
| US09122178B2 |
Object inspection systems and methods
Methods and systems for inspection of an object include the use of spectroscopic techniques for the detection of unwanted particles on an object's surface, based on the different responses of the unwanted particles as compared with the object to be inspected due to their different materials. Time resolved spectroscopy and/or energy resolved spectroscopy of secondary photon emission from the surface of the object can be used to obtain Raman and photoluminescence spectra. The objects to be inspected can for example be a patterning device as used in a lithographic process, for example a reticle, in which case the presence of metal, metal oxide or organic particles can be detected, for example. The methods and apparatus are highly sensitive, for example, being able to detect small particles (sub 100 nm, particularly sub 50 nm) on the patterned side of an EUV reticle. |
| US09122173B2 |
Positioning system, lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
A positioning system to position a table within a base frame of a lithographic apparatus, the positioning system including first and second actuators and a controller. The first actuator exerting an actuation force on the table. The first actuator being connected to a balance mass constructed and arranged to absorb a reaction force of the first actuator. The controller and second actuator constructed and arranged to exert a compensation force and/or torque to compensate a torque caused by the actuation force exerted by the first actuator on the balance mass. |
| US09122172B2 |
Reflection shadow mask alignment using coded apertures
In a shadow mask-substrate alignment method, a light source, a beam splitter, a first substrate including a first grate, a second substrate including a second grate, and a light receiver are positioned relative to each other to define a light path that includes light output by the light source being reflected a first time by the beam splitter. The light reflected the first time passes through the first or second grate and is at least partially reflected a second time by the second or first grate back through the first or the second grate, respectively. The light reflected the second time passes at least partially through the beam splitter for receipt by the light receiver. The orientation of the first substrate, the second substrate or both is adjusted to position the first grate, the second grate, or both until a predetermined amount is received by the light receiver. |
| US09122171B2 |
Exposure apparatus
Exposure apparatus includes photomasks on which a mask pattern having the same shape as that of an exposure pattern exposed onto a surface of a TFT substrate held on a stage is formed, lens assemblies in which unit lens groups in each of which a plurality of convex lenses are arranged in a normal direction to the photomasks so that same-size erect images of mask patterns formed on the photomasks can be formed on the surface of the TFT substrate are arranged in a plane parallel with the photomasks and the surface of the TFT substrate held on the stage, and moving device that moves the lens assemblies in a plane parallel with the masks and the surface of TFT substrate held on the stage. |
| US09122170B2 |
Transmission optical system, illumination optical system, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method
According to one embodiment, a transmission optical system which guides light in a nearly parallel beam state emitted from an optical outlet port of a light source, to an optical inlet port of an exposure apparatus body and which injects the light in the nearly parallel beam state into the optical inlet port is provided with a condensing optical system which keeps the optical outlet port and the optical inlet port in an optical Fourier transform relation, and an angle distribution providing element which is arranged in an optical path between the optical outlet port and the condensing optical system and which provides an emergent beam with an angle distribution in a range larger than a range of an angle distribution of an incident beam. |
| US09122166B2 |
Extreme ultraviolet lithography process and mask
An extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) process is disclosed. The process comprises receiving a mask. The mask includes a low thermal expansion material (LTEM) substrate, a reflective multilayer (ML) over one surface of the LTEM substrate, a first region having a phase-shifting layer over the reflective ML, and a second region having no phase-shifting layer over the reflective ML. The EUVL process also comprises exposing the mask by a nearly on-axis illumination with partial coherence less than 0.3 to produce diffracted light and non-diffracted light, removing at least a portion of the non-diffracted light, and collecting and directing the diffracted light and the not removed non-diffracted light by a projection optics box (POB) to expose a target. |
| US09122165B2 |
Method of manufacturing graphene, carbon nanotubes, fullerene, graphite or a combination thereof having a position specifically regulated resistance
Provided are a method of manufacturing graphene, carbon nanotubes, fullerene, graphite, or a combination thereof having a regulated resistance, and a material manufactured using the method. |
| US09122164B2 |
Lithography material and lithography process
An immersion lithography resist material comprising a matrix polymer having a first polarity and an additive having a second polarity that is substantially greater than the first polarity. The additive may have a molecular weight that is less than about 1000 Dalton. The immersion lithography resist material may have a contact angle that is substantially greater than the contact angle of the matrix polymer. |
| US09122162B2 |
Exposure apparatus, method of forming patterned layer, method of forming patterned photoresist layer, active device array substrate and patterned layer
An exposure apparatus is provided and adapted for exposing a photoresist layer on a layer to form a plurality of strip exposed patterns. The exposure apparatus includes a light source, a lens group and a mask. The lens group is disposed between the photoresist layer and the light source and includes a plurality of strip lens parallel to each other, wherein an overlapping region between any two neighboring strip lens is defined as a lens connecting region, and the other regions excluding the lens connecting regions are defined as lens regions. The mask is disposed between the photoresist layer and the lens group and includes a plurality of shielding patterns, wherein an outline of the shielding patterns corresponds to the strip exposed patterns, each shielding pattern has a strip opening, and an extension direction of the strip openings is substantially parallel to an extension direction of the shielding patterns. |
| US09122161B2 |
Electroless plating method using bleaching
A conductive pattern can be formed a reactive polymer comprising pendant tertiary alkyl ester groups, (b) a compound that provides an acid upon exposure to radiation, (c) a crosslinking agent that is capable of reacting in the presence of the acid, and (d) optionally, a photosensitizer. The polymeric layer is patternwise exposed to provide non-exposed regions and exposed regions comprising a polymer comprising carboxylic acid groups. Both the non-exposed regions and the exposed regions of the polymeric layer are contacted with a reducing agent, bleached to remove surface amounts of the reducing agent in both non-exposed and exposed regions of the polymeric layer, and contacted with electroless seed metal ions to oxidize the reducing agent and to form corresponding electroless seed metal nuclei in the exposed regions. The corresponding electroless seed metal nuclei are then electrolessly plated with a conductive metal. |
| US09122151B2 |
Resist composition, resist film therefrom and method of forming negative pattern using the composition
A resist composition includes a resin (A) containing any of repeating units (a) of general formulae (I-a) and (I-b) below and any of repeating units (b) of general formula (II) below but containing substantially no repeating unit in which an alcoholic hydroxyl group is introduced, and any of compounds (B) of general formulae (III-a) and (III-b) below. |
| US09122142B2 |
Display apparatus for an operating room
A display apparatus for displaying medical information in a medical treatment facility includes an image surface to depict information, such that the image surface is configured so that it can be converted by reshaping from an operating condition into a resting condition and vice versa. |
| US09122139B2 |
Projection image displaying device with openings around its projection lens and mirror
In a projection image displaying device which projects imaging light emitted from a projection lens by being reflected by a projection mirror, an air inlet for sucking external air is provided at the position of a sealing mechanism of the projection mirror. Air blown off through openings provided around the projection lens is sucked into a case through this air inlet. When a cooling operation of cooling components within the case is to be performed by sealing the projection mirror, a sucking operation through the air inlet is stopped. This prevents dust in the external air from adhering to a reflective surface of the projection mirror regardless of the installation state of the projection image displaying device. |
| US09122137B2 |
Housing for projection display device and projection display device including housing for projection display device
The shield includes: a first dust-proof wall that is shiftable integrally with the projection lens, and has width a1 projecting from the projection lens to an A side; and a second dust-proof wall that is slidable within a range regulated by the regulator, and has length b1 on the A side. When the second dust-proof wall has length c2 shiftable to a B side, the projection lens and the second dust-proof wall form a space having length d1 on the A side, and the projection lens and the frame form a space having length e1 on the A side, a1≧d1, b1≧e1−d1, and b1+d1−e1≧c2 are satisfied. |
| US09122133B2 |
Camera mount for sports board
A camera system is configured to detachably couple to a camera mount, which in turn can be attached to an apparatus such as a sports board. The camera mount includes a top mount portion and a bottom screw portion. The top mount portion includes a buckle component that can detachably couple to a camera system, and includes blade components having cutting edges that can cut through a sports board. The blade components surround a screw hole component, and when the blade components have pierced a surface of the sports board and cut through the board, an opening to the screw hole component is accessible from the underside of the board surface. The bottom screw portion includes a screw thread that can be inserted and screwed into the screw hole component, thus securing the camera mount to the sports board. |
| US09122131B2 |
Microscope observation tube smart-phone adaptor
The present invention generally relates to methods and devices for mounting an image capture device to an optical viewing instrument such as a microscope, telescope, or binocular. More specifically, some embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus for mounting a smart phone to an observation tube of microscope. The optical viewing instrument may have an observation tube and an ocular attached thereto. The adapter may include an observation tube ring mount configured to be installed on the observation tube. An observation tube mount may be configured to engage with the installed ring mount. An image capture device holder may be configured to couple with the observation tube mount and configured to receive an image capture device. The image capture device may be a common device such as a smart phone. Optionally, a window may be included in the observation tube mount to facilitate viewing of ocular indicia. |
| US09122130B1 |
Cable traversing camera carrying device
A cable traversing camera carrying device is provided having a manifold and a camera carriage coupled to the manifold. The manifold includes a first side plate and a second side plate. The manifold also includes two idler pulleys coupled between the first and second side plates located at opposing sides of the manifold and adjacent the top side of manifold. The manifold further includes a drive pulley coupled between the first and second side plates operatively engaged by a remotely activated and controlled motor. The drive pulley is located in a middle portion of the manifold below a line defined between axes of the two idler pulleys. The two idler pulleys and the drive pulley are adjustable to adjust the tension in a cable operatively extending through and engaging the idler pulleys and the drive pulley. |
| US09122129B2 |
Image pickup apparatus, driving control method thereof, and computer-readable recording medium
An image pickup apparatus includes an image pickup unit to photograph a subject by using a photographing device, a control unit to determine an operation mode of the image pickup apparatus, and, when the operation mode of the image pickup apparatus is a manual focusing mode, the control unit selects a focus detecting method to be applied among a plurality of focus detecting methods according to a focus operation of a user, a determination unit to determine a focus state for the subject by using the selected focus detecting method, and a user interface unit to indicate the determined focus state. |
| US09122127B2 |
Lens hood and imaging apparatus
A lens hood which is integrated with a lens cover is provided. The lens hood is attached in front of an imaging lens, and is configured to prevent undesired light incident on the imaging lens. The lens hood includes a lens cover having an upper door and a lower door, and a hood body. The hood body supports the upper door and the lower door so as to rotate the upper door and the lower door in opposite directions to each other about an axis orthogonal to an optical axis of the imaging lens, and has a storage space that stores the upper door and the lower door. |
| US09122126B2 |
Focusing lens assembly and camera having the same
A focusing lens assembly for a camera includes a shaft member disposed in parallel with an optical axis of the camera, a lens mounting member through which the shaft member penetrates and on which a focusing lens is mounted, a focusing lens driving motor configured to allow the lens mounting member to slide according to the shaft member, and a rotating unit configured to rotate the lens mounting member in a first direction in which the focusing lens is deviated from the optical axis or in a second direction in which the focusing lens is arranged on the optical axis according to an ON/OFF operation of the camera power. |
| US09122125B2 |
Image-capturing apparatus and method of controlling the same
An exposure control value is calculated based on a first photometric value calculated based on first image data read out from an image sensor and a second photometric value calculated based on second image data read out from the image sensor, and wherein the first image data is obtained without or with adding pixel signals and the second image data is obtained by adding a number of pixel signals larger than pixel the number of signals added to obtain the first image data. |
| US09122121B2 |
Recording medium and image recording set
A recording medium includes a first substrate, a second substrate, and an image recording layer with insulating properties provided between the first substrate and the second substrate, the image recording layer containing cells each encapsulating at least one of electrophoretic particles or magnetophoretic particles, a dispersion medium, and at least two kinds of thermoreversible gelling agents. |