最新美国发明专利第2015-11-03期 - 专利汇|PatentHub专利检索|专利查询网|发明专利查询分析

Document	Document Title
US09178077B2	Semiconductor constructions Some embodiments include a semiconductor construction having a stack containing alternating levels of control gate material and intervening dielectric material. A channel material panel extends through the stack and along a first direction. The panel divides the stack into a first section on a first side of the panel and a second section on a second side of the panel. Memory cell stacks are between the channel material panel and the control gate material. The memory cell stacks include cell dielectric material shaped as containers having open ends pointing toward the channel material panel, and include charge-storage material within the containers. Some embodiments include methods of forming semiconductor constructions.
US09178076B2	Thin-film transistor A thin film transistor (1) includes a source electrode (50), a drain electrode (60), a gate electrode (20), a gate insulating film (30), and a channel layer (40) that is formed of an oxide semiconductor, the channel layer (40) having an average carrier concentration of 1×1016/cm3 to 5×1019/cm3, and including a high carrier concentration region (42) that is situated on the side of the gate insulating film (30) and has a carrier concentration higher than the average carrier concentration, and the channel layer (40) having a substantially homogenous composition.
US09178075B2	Thin-film semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same A thin-film semiconductor device includes a gate electrode formed above a substrate; a gate insulating film formed to cover the gate electrode; a semiconductor layer formed above the gate insulating film and having a channel region; a channel protective layer formed above the semiconductor layer and containing an organic material which includes silicon, oxygen, and carbon; an interfacial layer which is formed in contact with the channel protective layer between the semiconductor layer and the channel protective layer, and which includes carbon as a major component, the carbon originating from the organic material; and a source electrode and a drain electrode which are electrically connected to the semiconductor layer.
US09178071B2	Method for manufacturing semiconductor device Provided is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device with fewer masks and in a simple process. A gate electrode is formed. A gate insulating film, a semiconductor film, an impurity semiconductor film, and a conductive film are stacked in this order, covering the gate electrode. A source electrode and a drain electrode are formed by processing the conductive film. A source region, a drain region, and a semiconductor layer, an upper part of a portion of which does not overlap with the source region and the drain region is removed, are formed by processing the upper part of the semiconductor film, while the impurity semiconductor film is divided. A passivation film over the gate insulating film, the semiconductor layer, the source region, the drain region, the source electrode, and the drain electrode are formed. An etching mask is formed over the passivation film. At least the passivation film and the semiconductor layer are processed to have an island shape while an opening reaching the source electrode or the drain electrode is formed, with the use of the etching mask. The etching mask is removed. A pixel electrode is formed over the gate insulating film and the passivation film.
US09178065B2	Systems and methods for fabricating semiconductor devices at different levels Systems and methods are provided for fabricating semiconductor device structures on a substrate. For example, a substrate including a first region and a second region is provided. One or more first semiconductor device structures are formed on the first region. One or more semiconductor fins are formed on the second region. One or more second semiconductor device structures are formed on the semiconductor fins. A top surface of the semiconductor fins is higher than a top surface of the first semiconductor device structures.
US09178064B2	Method for manufacturing fin semiconductor device using dual masking layers According to one embodiment, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, includes preparing a structure body. In the structure body, a fin extending in a first direction is formed on an upper surface of a semiconductor substrate, a lower-side mask member is provided on the fin, and an upper-side mask member that is wider than the fin and the lower-side mask member is provided on the lower-side mask member. The method includes implanting an impurity into the semiconductor substrate with the upper-side mask member and the lower-side mask member as a mask, removing the upper-side mask member, forming a gate insulator film on a side surface of the fin, forming a conductive film that covers the fin and the lower-side mask member, forming a mask for gate having a pattern extending in a second direction, and removing selectively the conductive film to form a gate electrode.
US09178061B2	Method for fabricating MOSFET on silicon-on-insulator with internal body contact A method is provided for fabricating a semiconductor device. According to the method, a semiconductor layer is formed over a semiconductor-on-insulator substrate, and a gate is formed on the semiconductor layer. Source and drain extension regions and a deep drain region are formed in the semiconductor layer. A deep source region is formed in the semiconductor layer. A drain metal-semiconductor alloy contact is located on the upper portion of the deep drain region and abutting the drain extension region. A source metal-semiconductor alloy contact abuts the source extension region. The deep source region is located below and contacts a first portion of the source metal-semiconductor alloy contact. The deep source region is not located below and does not contact a second portion of the source metal-semiconductor alloy contact. The second portion of the source metal-semiconductor alloy contact is an internal body contact that directly contacts the semiconductor layer.
US09178057B2	Lateral double diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same A lateral double diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate; an epitaxial semiconductor layer disposed over the semiconductor substrate; a gate structure disposed over the epitaxial semiconductor layer; a first doped region disposed in the epitaxial semiconductor layer at a first side of the gate structure; a second doped region disposed in the epitaxial semiconductor layer at a second side of the gate structure; a third doped region disposed in the first doped region; a fourth doped region disposed in the second doped region; a trench formed in the third doped region, the first doped region and the epitaxial semiconductor layer under the first doped region; a conductive contact formed in the trench; and a fifth doped region disposed in the epitaxial semiconductor layer under the trench.
US09178053B2	Transistor device with improved source/drain junction architecture and methods of making such a device One illustrative device disclosed herein includes a plurality of source/drain regions positioned in an active region on opposite sides of a gate structure, each of the source/drain regions having a lateral width in a gate length direction of the transistor and a plurality of halo regions, wherein each of the halo regions is positioned under a portion, but not all, of the lateral width of one of the plurality of source/drain regions. A method disclosed herein includes forming a plurality of halo implant regions in an active region, wherein an outer edge of each of the halo implant regions is laterally spaced apart from an adjacent inner edge of an isolation region.
US09178050B2	Load-short-circuit-tolerant semiconductor device having trench gates In a semiconductor device, a trench gate has a bottom portion in a drift layer and a communication portion extending from a surface of a base layer to communicate with the bottom portion. A distance between adjacent bottom portions is smaller than a distance between adjacent communication portions in a x-direction. A region between adjacent trench gates is divided in a y-direction into an effective region as an electron injection source and an ineffective region which does not serve as the electron injection source. An interval L1 (>0) of the ineffective region in the y-direction, a length D1 of the communication portion in the z-direction, and a length D2 of the bottom portion in the z-direction satisfy L1≦2(D1+D2). The z-direction is orthogonal to a x-y plane defined by the x-direction and the y-direction which are orthogonal to each other.
US09178043B2	Non-planar transistors with replacement fins and methods of forming the same A method includes forming a first semiconductor fin, and oxidizing surface portions of the first semiconductor fin to form a first oxide layer. The first oxide layer includes a top portion overlapping the first semiconductor fin and sidewall portions on sidewalls of the first semiconductor fin. The top portion of the first oxide layer is then removed, wherein the sidewall portions of the first oxide layer remains after the removing. The top portion of the first semiconductor fin is removed to form a recess between the sidewall portions of the first oxide layer. An epitaxy is performed to grow a semiconductor region in the recess.
US09178042B2	Crystalline thin-film transistor A method for forming a thin film transistor includes joining a crystalline substrate to an insulating substrate. A doped layer is deposited on the crystalline substrate, and the doped layer is patterned to form source and drain regions. The crystalline substrate is patterned to form an active area such that a conductive channel is formed in the crystalline substrate between the source and drain regions. A gate stack is formed between the source and drain regions, and contacts are formed to the source and drain regions and the gate stack through a passivation layer.
US09178040B2	Innovative approach of 4F2 driver formation for high-density RRAM and MRAM Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a vertical MOSFET selection transistor that is configured to suppress leakage voltage in the memory cell without limiting the size of the memory cell. The memory selection transistor has a semiconductor body with first and second trenches that define a raised semiconductor structure having a source region, a channel region, and a drain region. A gate structure has a first gate electrode in the first trench, which extends vertically along a first side of the raised semiconductor structure, and a second gate electrode in the second trench, which extends vertically along an opposite, second side of the raised semiconductor structure. The first and second gate electrodes collectively control the flow of current between the source and drain region in the raised semiconductor structure. An electrical contact couples the drain region to a data storage element configured to store data.
US09178034B2	Fabrication method of semiconductor device and fabrication method of dynamic threshold transistor A method includes: etching a silicon substrate except for a silicon substrate portion on which a channel region is to be formed to form first and second trenches respectively at a first side and a second side of the silicon substrate portion; filling the first and second trenches by epitaxially growing a semiconductor layer having etching selectivity against silicon and further a silicon layer; removing the semiconductor layer selectivity by a selective etching process to form voids underneath the silicon layer respectively at the first side and the second side of the substrate portion; burying the voids at least partially with a buried insulation film; forming a gate insulation film and a gate electrode on the silicon substrate portion; and forming a source region in the silicon layer at the first side of the silicon substrate portion and a drain region at the second side of the silicon substrate portion.
US09178029B2	Forming a VTFT gate using printing A method of forming a gate layer of a thin film transistor includes providing a substrate including a gate structure having a reentrant profile. A conformal conductive inorganic thin film is deposited over the gate structure. A polymeric resist is printed that wicks along the reentrant profile of the gate structure. The conformal conductive inorganic thin film is etched in areas not protected by the polymeric resist to form a patterned conductive gate layer located in the reentrant profile of the gate structure.
US09178024B2	Thin film transistor display panel and manufacturing method thereof A method for manufacturing a thin film transistor array panel includes forming a gate line and a gate electrode protruding from the gate line on a substrate; forming a gate insulating layer on the gate line and the gate electrode; depositing sequentially a semiconductor material and a metal material on the gate insulating layer; performing a first etching operation on the semiconductor material and the metal material using a first mask to form a semiconductor layer and a metal layer, the metal layer including a data line, a source electrode, and a drain electrode, in which the drain electrode protrudes from the data line, and the source electrode and the drain electrode having an integral shape; and performing a second etching operation on the metal layer using a second mask to divide the source electrode and the drain electrode.
US09178023B2	Two terminal switching device having bipolar switching property, method of fabricating the same, and resistive memory cross-point array having the same Provided are a two-terminal switching device having a bidirectional switching property, and a resistive memory cross-point array including the same. The two-terminal switching device includes a first electrode. A first tunneling barrier layer is disposed on the first electrode. An oxide semiconductor layer is disposed on the first tunneling barrier layer. A second tunneling barrier layer is disposed on the oxide semiconductor layer. A second electrode is disposed on the second tunneling barrier layer.
US09178019B2	Fin isolation in multi-gate field effect transistors A method for fabricating a field effect transistor (FET) device includes forming a plurality of semiconductor fins on a substrate, removing a semiconductor fin of the plurality of semiconductor fins from a portion of the substrate, forming an isolation fin that includes a dielectric material on the substrate on the portion of the substrate, and forming a gate stack over the plurality of semiconductor fins and the isolation fin.
US09178014B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, and a field plate portion formed on a front surface of a non-cell region. The non-cell region includes a plurality of FLR layers. The FLR layers extend in a first direction along a circumference of the cell region. The field plate portion includes: an insulating film; a plurality of first conducting layers each disposed along a corresponding FLR layer; and a plurality of second conducting layers. The second conducting layers are disposed on part of their corresponding FLR layers in an intermittent manner along the corresponding FLR layers. Each of the second conducting layers includes a front surface portion, a first contact portion, and a second contact portion. Any of the first contact portions and the second contact portions are not provided at positions adjacent to the first contact portion and the second contact portion in the second direction.
US09178010B2	Adsorption site blocking method for co-doping ALD films A method for doping a dielectric material by pulsing a first dopant precursor, purging the non-adsorbed precursor, pulsing a second precursor, purging the non-adsorbed precursor, and pulsing a oxidant to form an intermixed layer of two (or more) metal oxide dielectric dopant materials. The method may also be used to form a blocking layer between a bulk dielectric layer and a second electrode layer. The method improves the control of the composition and the control of the uniformity of the dopants throughout the thickness of the doped dielectric material.
US09178009B2	Methods of forming a capacitor and contact structures Methods of forming a capacitor and contact structures are provided. The methods include, for instance, providing a layer of conductive material above a conductive structure and above a lower electrode of a capacitor; etching the layer of conductive material to define a conductive material hard mask and an upper electrode of the capacitor, the conductive material hard mask being disposed at least partially above the conductive structure; and forming a first conductive contact structure and a second conductive contact structure, the first conductive contact structure extending through an opening in the conductive material hard mask and conductively contacting the conductive structure, and the second conductive contact structure conductively contacting one of the lower electrode of the capacitor, or the upper electrode of the capacitor.
US09178008B2	Metal-insulator-metal capacitor with current leakage protection Methods and apparatus are disclosed for manufacturing metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors. The MIM capacitors may comprise an electrode, which may be a top or bottom electrode, which has a bottle neck. The MIM capacitors may comprise an electrode, which may be a top or bottom electrode, in contact with a sidewall of a via. The sidewall contact or the bottle neck of the electrode may burn out to form a high impedance path when the leakage current exceeds a specification, while the sidewall contact or the bottle neck of the electrode has no impact for normal MIM operations. The MIM capacitors may be used as decoupling capacitors.
US09178007B1	High breakdown voltage metal-insulator-metal capacitor A high breakdown voltage metal-insulator-metal capacitor for compound semiconductor integrated circuit comprises a substrate, an isolation layer, a first metal layer, a dielectric layer, an adhesion layer and a second metal layer. The dielectric layer is formed by alternately stacking plural HfO2 layers and plural SiO2 layers. The thickness of each layer of the plural HfO2 layers is between 30 Å to 100 Å so as to reduce the leakage current, enhance the breakdown voltage and increase the capacitance density of each layer of the plural HfO2 layers. And the total thickness of the dielectric layer is thicker than 500 Å such that the breakdown voltage of the capacitor is higher than 50 V.
US09178000B1	Resistive random access memory cells having shared electrodes with transistor devices Provided are resistive random access memory (ReRAM) cells having extended conductive layers operable as electrodes of other devices, and methods of fabricating such cells and other devices. A conductive layer of a ReRAM cell extends beyond the cell boundary defined by the variable resistance layer. The extended portion may be used a source or drain region of a FET that may control an electrical current through the cell or other devices. The extended conductive layer may be also operable as electrode of another resistive-switching cell or a different device. The extended conductive layer may be formed from doped silicon. The variable resistance layer of the ReRAM cell may be positioned on the same level as a gate dielectric layer of the FET. The variable resistance layer and the gate dielectric layer may have the same thickness and share common materials, though they may be differently doped.
US09177999B2	Non-volatile memory device and production method thereof A vertical chain memory includes two-layer select transistors having first select transistors which are vertical transistors arranged in a matrix, and second select transistors which are vertical transistors formed on the respective first select transistors, and a plurality of memory cells connected in series on the two-layer select transistors. With this configuration, the adjacent select transistors are prevented from being selected by respective shared gates, the plurality of two-layer select transistors can be selected, independently, and a storage capacity of a non-volatile storage device is prevented from being reduced.
US09177998B2	Method of forming an asymmetric MIMCAP or a Schottky device as a selector element for a cross-bar memory array MIMCAP devices are provided that can be suitable for memory device applications, such as current selector devices for cross point memory array. The MIMCAP devices can have lower thermal budget as compared to Schottky diodes and controllable lower barrier height and lower series resistance as compared to MIMCAP tunneling diodes. The MIMCAP diode can include a low defect dielectric layer, a high defect dielectric layer, sandwiched between two electrodes having different work function values.
US09177996B2	Method for forming ReRAM chips operating at low operating temperatures Forming a resistive memory structure at a temperature well above the operating temperature can reduce the forming voltage and create a defect distribution with higher stability and lower programming voltages. The forming temperature can be up to 200 C above the operating temperature. The memory chip can include an embedded heater in the chip package, allowing for a chip forming process after packaging.
US09177995B2	Vertical interconnect structure, memory device and associated production method The present invention relates to a method for producing a vertical interconnect structure, a memory device and an associated production method, in which case, after the formation of a contact region in a carrier substrate a catalyst is produced on the contact region and a free-standing electrically conductive nanoelement is subsequently formed between the catalyst and the contact region and embedded in a dielectric layer.
US09177993B2	Light emitting part, print head, and image forming apparatus Cathodes of a first group of plural transfer thyristors are connected with a first transfer signal line, and also connected with a first reception terminal through a first current limiting resistance. A first transfer signal is transmitted to the first reception terminal. Cathodes of a second group of the plural transfer thyristors are connected with a second transfer signal line, and also connected with a second reception terminal through a second current limiting resistance. A second transfer signal is transmitted to the second reception terminal. The plural transfer thyristors each have an anode, a cathode, a first gate, and a second gate. A three-terminal switch element and a resistance are connected between a second gate of a former transfer thyristor and a first gate of a later transfer thyristor, the former and later transfer thyristors being closely arranged upstream and downstream transfer thyristors among the plural transfer thyristors.
US09177988B2	Systems and methods for creating full-color image in low light Full-color images of low-light scenes are generated by the systems and methods described herein using only two light channels. An array of photosensitive pixels includes two sets of pixels, the first sensitive only to light associated with a first light channel, the second only to light associated with a second light channel. Thus the first set of pixels generate a first set of electrical signals in response to incident light within the first light channel, and the second set of pixels generate a second set of electrical signals in response to incident light within the second light channel. An image processor receives the first and second sets of electrical signals and generates a full-color image of the scene by processing only signals generated by the first and second sets of pixels.
US09177985B2	Array of nanowires in a single cavity with anti-reflective coating on substrate An embodiment relates to image sensor comprising one or more nanowires on a substrate of a cavity, the nanowire being configured to transmit a first portion of an electromagnetic radiation beam incident on the sensor, and the substrate that absorbs a second portion of the electromagnetic radiation beam incident on the sensor, wherein the first portion is substantially different from the second portion. The substrate could have a anti-reflective material. The ratio of a diameter of the cavity to a diameter of the nanowire could be at less than about 10.
US09177983B2	Image sensor with optical filters having alternating polarization for 3D imaging An image sensor for three-dimensional (“3D”) imaging includes a first, a second, and a third pixel unit, where the second pixel unit is disposed between the first and third pixel units. Optical filters included in the pixel units are disposed on a light incident side of the image sensor to filter polarization-encoded light having a first polarization and a second polarization to photosensing regions of the pixel units. The first pixel unit includes a first optical filter having the first polarization, the second pixel unit includes a second optical filter having the second polarization, and the third pixel unit includes a third optical filter having the first polarization.
US09177980B2	Solid-state imaging device and electronic instrument Disclosed herein is a solid-state imaging device including, a first semiconductor region of the first conduction type, a photoelectric conversion part having a second semiconductor region of the second conduction type formed in the region separated by the isolation dielectric region of the first semiconductor region, pixel transistors formed in the first semiconductor region, a floating diffusion region of the second conduction type which is formed in the region separated by the isolation dielectric region of the first semiconductor region, and an electrode formed on the first semiconductor region existing between the floating diffusion region and the isolation dielectric region and is given a prescribed bias voltage.
US09177979B2	Solid-state image pickup device having reference voltage supply line on a first substrate and power supply lines to supply voltages to the reference voltage supply line on a second substrate A solid-state image pickup device includes a pixel region including photoelectric conversion units, FDs, and transfer transistors, reset transistors, amplifier transistors, and a reference voltage supply line used to supply reference voltages to the photoelectric conversion units. In the device, the pixel region and the reference voltage supply line are disposed on a first semiconductor substrate, and at least the reset transistors or the amplifier transistors are disposed on a second semiconductor substrate. Furthermore, power supply lines used to supply voltages to the reference voltage supply line are disposed on the second semiconductor substrate. The device further includes second electric connection units which electrically connect the reference voltage supply line to the power supply line. The first electric connection units are disposed in the pixel region whereas the second electric connection units are disposed outside the pixel region.
US09177978B2	Semiconductor device To solve a problem in that an antenna or a circuit including a thin film transistor is damaged due to discharge of electric charge accumulated in an insulator (a problem of electrostatic discharge), a semiconductor device includes a first insulator, a circuit including a thin film transistor provided over the first insulator, an antenna which is provided over the circuit and is electrically connected to the circuit, and a second insulator provided over the antenna, a first conductive film provided between the first insulator and the circuit, and a second conductive film provided between the second insulator and the antenna.
US09177977B2	Display device and manufacturing method thereof According to one embodiment, a display device includes a first substrate including a first insulative substrate, an outer peripheral wiring formed above the first insulative substrate, an insulation film disposed on the outer peripheral wiring, a pixel electrode formed on the insulation film in an active area for displaying an image, and a first bank formed in a line shape on the insulation film in a peripheral area surrounding the active area, a second substrate including at least a second insulative substrate, and a sealant which is provided in a manner to envelop the first bank, and which attaches the first substrate and the second substrate.
US09177975B2	Organic light emitting diode display having a spacer on pixel electrode An organic light emitting diode display includes a first transistor on a substrate, a first electrode connected to the first transistor, and a pixel definition layer on the first electrode. The pixel definition layer has an opening exposing the first electrode. A spacer is formed at the opening. An organic emission layer is on the exposed first electrode, and a second electrode on the organic emission layer.
US09177974B2	Active matrix substrate and liquid crystal display panel including the same, and method for manufacturing active matrix substrate with gate insulating film not provided where auxiliary capacitor is provided An active matrix substrate includes a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix, a plurality of capacitor lines (11b) extending in one of directions in which the pixels are aligned and in parallel to each other, a plurality of TFTs (5), one for each of the pixels, a protective film (16a) covering the TFTs (5), a plurality of pixel electrodes (18a) arranged in a matrix on the protective film (16a) and connected to the respective corresponding TFTs (5), and a plurality of auxiliary capacitors (6), one for each of the pixels. Each of the auxiliary capacitors (6) includes the corresponding capacitor line (11b), the corresponding pixel electrode (18a), and the protective film (16a) between the corresponding capacitor line (11b) and the corresponding pixel electrode (18a).
US09177973B2	Flexible display device and manufacturing method thereof A flexible display device includes: a flexible substrate having a lower substrate including a prominence pattern, a barrier layer pattern on the prominence pattern, and a planarization film; a gate line on the flexible substrate; a data line crossing the gate line with having a gate insulation film therebetween to define a pixel region; a thin film transistor formed at an intersection of the gate line and the data line; and a passivation layer on the flexible substrate including the thin film transistor. With this configuration, the flexible substrate and the flexible display device can be enhanced by preventing property deterioration of the elements due to bending stresses.
US09177968B1	Schottky clamped radio frequency switch Various methods and devices that involve radio frequency (RF) switches with clamped bodies are provided. An exemplary RF switch with a clamped body comprises a channel that separates a source and a drain. The RF switch also comprises a clamp region that spans the channel, extends into the source and drain, and has a lower dopant concentration than both the source and drain. The RF switch also comprises a pair of matching silicide regions formed on either side of the channel and in contact with the clamp region. The clamp region forms a pair of Schottky diode barriers with the pair of matching silicide regions. The RF switch can operate in a plurality of operating modes. The pair of Schottky diode barriers provide a constant sink for accumulated charge in the clamped body that is independent of the operating mode in which the RF switch is operating.
US09177966B1	Three dimensional NAND devices with air gap or low-k core A monolithic three dimensional NAND string device includes a semiconductor channel, at least one end portion of the semiconductor channel extending substantially perpendicular to a major surface of a substrate, a plurality of control gate electrodes extending substantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate in different device levels, a blocking dielectric located in contact with the plurality of control gate electrodes, at least one charge storage region located in contact with the blocking dielectric, and a tunnel dielectric located between the at least one charge storage region and the semiconductor channel. The semiconductor channel is a hollow body surrounding a middle region and at least one of an air gap or a low-k insulating material having a dielectric constant of less than 3.9 is located in the middle region.
US09177961B2	Wafer with intrinsic semiconductor layer The present disclosure relates to a method for the manufacture of a wafer by providing a doped layer on a semiconductor substrate; providing a first semiconductor layer on the doped layer; providing a buried oxide layer on the first semiconductor layer; and providing a second semiconductor layer on the buried oxide layer to form a wafer having a buried oxide layer and a doped layer beneath the buried oxide layer. The disclosure also relates to the wafer that is produced by the new method.
US09177955B2	Isolation region gap fill method An isolation region gap fill method comprises depositing a first dielectric material over a semiconductor device through a flowable deposition process or other gap fill deposition processes, wherein the semiconductor device includes a first FinFET comprising a plurality of first fins and a second FinFET comprising a plurality of second fins. The method further comprises removing the first dielectric material between the first FinFET and the second FinFET to form an inter-device gap, depositing a second dielectric material into the inter-device gap and applying an annealing process to the semiconductor device.
US09177953B2	Circular semiconductor device with electrostatic discharge (ESD) device and functional device One or more semiconductor devices with an electrostatic discharge (ESD) device and a functional device in a circular arrangement are provided herein. The semiconductor device comprises a first circular sector, a second circular sector, and at least two disconnect regions disposed between the first circular sector and the second circular sector. The first circular sector comprises at least one ESD device. The second circular sector comprises at least one functional device. A single semiconductor device having a circular arrangement or configuration thus has an ESD device and a functional device.
US09177952B2	ESD protection with asymmetrical bipolar-based device An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device includes a semiconductor substrate comprising a buried insulator layer and a semiconductor layer over the buried insulator layer having a first conductivity type, and first and second bipolar transistor devices disposed in the semiconductor layer, laterally spaced from one another, and sharing a common collector region having a second conductivity type. The first and second bipolar transistor devices are configured in an asymmetrical arrangement in which the second bipolar transistor device includes a buried doped layer having the second conductivity type and extending along the buried insulator layer from the common collector region across a device area of the second bipolar transistor device.
US09177951B2	Three-dimensional electrostatic discharge semiconductor device Three-dimensional electrostatic discharge (ESD) semiconductor devices are fabricated together with three-dimensional non-ESD semiconductor devices. For example, an ESD diode and FinFET are fabricated on the same bulk semiconductor substrate. A spacer merger technique is used in the ESD portion of a substrate to create double-width fins on which the ESD devices can be made larger to handle more current.
US09177950B2	Protective structure and method for producing a protective structure Described herein is a protective structure. The protective structure includes a semiconductor substrate, a first diode disposed at least one of in or on the semiconductor substrate and a diode arrangement disposed at least one of in or on the semiconductor substrate. The diode arrangement includes a stack of a second diode and a transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diode connected in series with the second diode. The diode arrangement is in parallel with the first diode.
US09177940B2	Fault-tolerant unit and method for through-silicon via A fault-tolerant unit and a fault-tolerant method for through-silicon via (TSV) are provided. The fault-tolerant unit includes TSV structures TSV1˜TSVn, nodes N11˜N1n, nodes N21˜N2n and a switching module. The TSV structure TSVi is connected between the node N1i of the first chip and the node N2i of the second chip, wherein 1≦i≦n. The switching module is connected between the nodes N21˜N2n of the second chip and a test path of the second chip. In normal operation state, the switching module disconnects the test path and the nodes N21˜N2n when the TSV structures TSV1˜TSVn are valid. The switching module connects the node N2i to at least another one of the nodes N21˜N2n when the TSV structure TSVi is faulty in the normal operation state. In test status, the switching module connects the test path to the nodes N21˜N2n.
US09177938B2	Method for manufacturing semiconductor apparatus A semiconductor apparatus includes: a semiconductor device including a first electrode; a substrate including a second electrode and a recess; and a heat-dissipating adhesive material to set the semiconductor device in the recess so as to arrange the first electrode close to the second electrode, wherein the first electrode is coupled to the second electrode and the heat-dissipating adhesive material covers a bottom surface and at least part of a side surface of the semiconductor device.
US09177937B2	Reaction absorber and semiconductor assembling system The present invention aims to provide a lightened reaction absorber or to provide a semiconductor assembling system with further shorter processing time and high productivity or high quality using the lightened reaction absorber. The present invention is based upon a reaction absorber provided with a counter mechanism equipped with a load unit moved in a predetermined direction by a first ball screw, a second ball screw that generates reactive force in a reverse direction to the predetermined direction and a driving unit having a driving motor that drives the first ball screw and the second ball screw, and has a characteristic of including a reaction absorbing unit with one end side equipped with a nut connected to the second ball screw and the other end side fixed to a unit base movable relatively to the counter mechanism.
US09177935B2	Semiconductor device connected by anisotropic conductive film having a reliability adhesive strength A semiconductor device connected by an anisotropic conductive film, the anisotropic conductive film including a binder resin; a first radical polymerization material having one or two (meth)acrylate reactive groups in a structure thereof and a second radical polymerization material having at least three (meth)acrylate reactive groups in a structure thereof; and conductive particles, the anisotropic conductive film having a moisture permeability of 170 g/m2/24 hr or less and a moisture absorbency of 2% or less.
US09177933B2	Three-dimensional high surface area electrodes Three dimensional high surface electrodes are described. The electrodes are fabricated by methods including the steps: designing the pillars; selecting a material for the formation of the pillars; patterning the material; transferring the pattern to form the pillars; insulating the pillars and providing a metal layer for increased conductivity. Alternative methods for fabrication of the electrodes and fabrication of the electrodes using CMOS are also described.
US09177927B2	Method of forming a memory device A front-end method of fabricating nickel plated caps over copper bond pads used in a memory device. The method provides protection of the bond pads from an oxidizing atmosphere without exposing sensitive structures in the memory device to the copper during fabrication.
US09177921B2	Manufacturing method of semiconductor device A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device with a treated member, includes: subjecting an adhesive support having a substrate and an adhesive layer capable of increasing or decreasing in adhesiveness upon irradiation with an actinic ray, radiation or heat to irradiation of the adhesive layer with an actinic ray, radiation or heat, adhering a first surface of a to-be-treated member to the adhesive layer of the adhesive support, applying a mechanical or chemical treatment to a second surface different from the first surface of the to-be-treated member to obtain a treated member, and detaching a first surface of the treated member from the adhesive layer of the adhesive support, wherein the irradiation of the adhesive layer with an actinic ray, radiation or heat is conducted so that adhesiveness decreases toward an outer surface from an inner surface on the substrate side of the adhesive layer.
US09177917B2	Semiconductor constructions Some embodiments include methods for depositing copper-containing material utilizing physical vapor deposition of the copper-containing material while keeping a temperature of the deposited copper-containing material at greater than 100° C. Some embodiments include methods in which openings are lined with a metal-containing composition, copper-containing material is physical vapor deposited over the metal-containing composition while a temperature of the copper-containing material is no greater than about 0° C., and the copper-containing material is then annealed while the copper-containing material is at a temperature in a range of from about 180° C. to about 250° C. Some embodiments include methods in which openings are lined with a composition containing metal and nitrogen, and the lined openings are at least partially filled with copper-containing material. Some embodiments include semiconductor constructions having a metal nitride liner along sidewall peripheries of an opening, and having copper-containing material within the opening and directly against the metal nitride liner.
US09177914B2	Metal pad structure over TSV to reduce shorting of upper metal layer Various embodiments of mechanisms for forming a slotted metal pad over a TSV in substrate are provided. The dielectric structures in the slotted metal pad reduce dishing effect during planarization of the slotted metal pad. As a result, the risk of having metal stringers in upper metal level(s) caused by the dishing effect is greatly reduced.
US09177907B1	High performance deposited die attach A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit device includes providing a substrate; forming at least one cavity in the substrate; positioning a die within the at least one cavity of the substrate; and depositing a die attach material around the die within the at least one cavity to mechanically bond the die to the substrate.
US09177906B1	Semiconductor package including an extended bandwidth A semiconductor package may include first and second semiconductor chips stacked one upon the other, and each including, over a bottom surface thereof, first normal pads electrically coupled with first input/output circuits and first dummy pads located over the bottom surface of the first semiconductor chip. The semiconductor package may include first through electrodes passed through the first semiconductor chip, and electrically coupled to the first dummy pads of the first semiconductor chip and the first normal pads of the second semiconductor chip. The semiconductor package may include a substrate configured to support the bottom surface of the first semiconductor chip, and including first coupling pads electrically coupled with the first normal pads and the first dummy pads of the first semiconductor chip, respectively.
US09177901B2	Semiconductor device and method of stacking die on leadframe electrically connected by conductive pillars A semiconductor device has a first semiconductor die mounted to a first contact pad on a leadframe or substrate with bumps. A conductive pillar is formed over a second semiconductor die. The second die is mounted over the first die by electrically connecting the conductive pillar to a second contact pad on the substrate with bumps. The second die is larger than the first die. An encapsulant is deposited over the first and second die. Alternatively, the conductive pillars are formed over the substrate around the first die. A heat sink is formed over the second die, and a thermal interface material is formed between the first and second die. An underfill material is deposited under the first semiconductor die. A shielding layer is formed between the first and second die. An interconnect structure can be formed over the second contact pad of the substrate.
US09177899B2	Semiconductor package and method for fabricating base for semiconductor package The invention provides a semiconductor package and a method for fabricating a base for a semiconductor package. The semiconductor package includes a conductive trace embedded in a base. A semiconductor device is mounted on the conductive trace via a conductive structure.
US09177898B2	Integrated circuit package system with locking terminal An integrated circuit package system includes: forming a first locking terminal having a first terminal recess with a top portion of the first terminal recess narrower than a bottom portion of the first terminal recess; connecting an integrated circuit and the first locking terminal; and forming a package encapsulation over the integrated circuit and in the first locking terminal.
US09177888B2	Electrically isolated power semiconductor package with optimized layout A packaged power semiconductor device is provided with voltage isolation between a metal backside and terminals of the device. The packaged power semiconductor device is arranged in an encapsulant defining a hole for receiving a structure for physically coupling the device to an object. A direct-bonded copper (“DBC”) substrate is used to provide electrical isolation and improved thermal transfer from the device to a heatsink. At least one power semiconductor die is mounted to a first metal layer of the DBC substrate. The first metal layer spreads heat generated by the semiconductor die. In one embodiment, the packaged power semiconductor device conforms to a TO-247 outline and is capable of receiving a screw for physically coupling the device to a heatsink.
US09177887B2	Semiconductor test device and method for fabricating the same Semiconductor test devices and methods for fabricating the same may be provided. The semiconductor test device may include a first thermal test flip chip cell including a first heater and a first sensor, and a test substrate formed under the first thermal test flip chip cell. The first thermal test flip chip cell may include a plurality of first bumps arranged on a bottom surface of the first thermal test flip chip cell and be configured to be electrically connected to the first heater and the first sensor. The test substrate may include a first ball array arranged on a bottom surface of the test substrate in a first direction and be configured to be electrically connected to the plurality of first bumps, which are electrically connected to the first heater and the first sensor.
US09177882B2	Semiconductor integrated circuit device, electronic apparatus, and display apparatus A semiconductor integrated circuit device includes a COF substrate; a semiconductor integrated circuit mounted on the COF substrate and having a first voltage circuit portion operating at a first voltage range and a second voltage circuit portion operating at a second voltage range higher than the first voltage range, the circuit portions being formed on a single chip; and a resin layer for sealing the COF substrate and the semiconductor integrated circuit.
US09177879B2	Sensor module A sensor module. One embodiment provides a cap whose perimeter defines a rim. A first semiconductor chip is attached to the cap. The first semiconductor chip includes first connection elements. The rim and the first connection elements define a common plane.
US09177876B2	Optical absorbers Optical absorbers and methods are disclosed. The methods comprise depositing a plurality of precursor layers comprising one or more of Cu, Ga, and In on a substrate, and heating the layers in a chalcogenizing atmosphere. The plurality of precursor layers can be one or more sets of layers comprising at least two layers, wherein each layer in each set of layers comprises one or more of Cu, Ga, and In exhibiting a single phase. The layers can be deposited using two or three targets selected from Ag and In containing less than 21% In by weight, Cu and Ga where the Cu and Ga target comprises less than 45% Ga by weight, Cu(In,Ga), wherein the Cu(In,Ga) target has an atomic ratio of Cu to (In+Ga) greater than 2 and an atomic ratio of Ga to (Ga+In) greater than 0.5, elemental In, elemental Cu, and In2Se3 and In2S3.
US09177874B2	Method of forming a semiconductor device employing an optical planarization layer A method for the manufacture of a semiconductor device is provided, including the steps of providing a semiconductor substrate including a first area separated from a second area by a first isolation region, wherein the second area includes an intermediate transistor comprising a gate electrode, forming an oxide layer over the first and second areas, forming an optical planarization layer (OPL) over the oxide layer, forming a mask layer over the OPL in the first area without covering the OPL in the second area, and etching the OPL with the mask layer being present to expose the oxide layer over the gate electrode of the transistor.
US09177873B2	Systems and methods for fabricating semiconductor device structures Methods and systems are provided for fabricating and measuring physical features of a semiconductor device structure. An exemplary method of fabricating a semiconductor device structure involves obtaining raw measurement data for a wafer of semiconductor material from a metrology tool and adjusting a measurement model utilized by a metrology tool based at least in part on the raw measurement data and a value for a design parameter. The wafer has that value for the design parameter and an attribute of the semiconductor device structure fabricated thereon, wherein the measurement model is utilized by the metrology tool to convert the raw measurement data to a measurement value for the attribute.
US09177871B2	Balancing asymmetric spacers An issue arises when manufacturing semiconductor circuits including PFETs with an SiGe alloy embedded in their source/drain regions and NFETs without any embedded SiGe alloy. In this case, the thickness of the NFET spacers is considerably greater than that of the PFET spacers. In order to alleviate this asymmetry in spacer thickness, a manufacturing flow is proposed wherein a spacer-reducing etching process is introduced before the salicidation. The etching process is performed directly after the ion implantation performed in order to form deep regions of source/drain regions of the NFETs. Thus, the spacer-reducing etching process may be performed in the presence of the same mask used during the NFET deep implantations. The spacer-reducing etching process results in thinning of the NFET spacer structures, thus alleviating the spacer thickness imbalance between NFETs and PFETs.
US09177866B2	Power semiconductor device and method therefor A power transistor includes a plurality of transistor cells. Each transistor cell has a first electrode coupled to a first electrode interconnection region overlying a first major surface, a control electrode coupled to a control electrode interconnection region overlying the first major surface, and a second electrode coupled to a second electrode interconnection region overlying a second major surface. Each transistor cell has an approximately constant doping concentration in the channel region. A dielectric platform is used as an edge termination of an epitaxial layer to maintain substantially planar equipotential lines therein. The power transistor finds particular utility in radio frequency applications operating at a frequency greater than 500 megahertz and dissipating more than 5 watts of power. The semiconductor die and package are designed so that the power transistor can efficiently operate under such severe conditions.
US09177865B2	Method for fabricating semiconductor device having multiple threshold voltages Provided are methods for fabricating a semiconductor device. A gate dielectric layer is formed on a substrate including first through third regions. A first functional layer is formed on only the first region of the first through third regions. A second functional layer is formed on only the first and second regions of the first through third regions. A threshold voltage adjustment layer is formed on the first through third regions. The threshold voltage adjustment layer includes a work function adjustment material. The work function adjustment material is diffused into the gate dielectric layer by performing a heat treatment process with respect to the substrate.
US09177864B2	Method of coating water soluble mask for laser scribing and plasma etch Methods of using a hybrid mask composed of a first water soluble film layer and a second water-soluble layer for wafer dicing using laser scribing and plasma etch described. In an example, a method of dicing a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits involves forming a hybrid mask above the semiconductor wafer. The hybrid mask is composed of a first water-soluble layer disposed on the integrated circuits, and a second water-soluble layer disposed on the first water-soluble layer. The method also involves patterning the hybrid mask with a laser scribing process to provide a patterned hybrid mask with gaps, exposing regions of the semiconductor wafer between the integrated circuits. The method also involves etching the semiconductor wafer through the gaps in the patterned hybrid mask to singulate the integrated circuits.
US09177861B1	Hybrid wafer dicing approach using laser scribing process based on an elliptical laser beam profile or a spatio-temporal controlled laser beam profile Methods of dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits, are described. In an example, a method of dicing a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits involves forming a mask above the semiconductor wafer, the mask composed of a layer covering and protecting the integrated circuits. The mask is then patterned with an elliptical or a spatio-temporal controlled laser beam profile laser scribing process to provide a patterned mask with gaps, exposing regions of the semiconductor wafer between the integrated circuits. The semiconductor wafer is then plasma etched through the gaps in the patterned mask to singulate the integrated circuits.
US09177857B2	Semiconductor device with high reliability and manufacturing method thereof A semiconductor device is provided, which includes a substrate, an insulator film formed over the substrate, and plural metal wirings with different widths containing copper as a main component and an impurity which is different from copper. The plural metal wirings includes a first metal wiring having a concentration profile where the concentration of the impurity metal increases from the center part of the stacking direction to the surface and the second metal wiring having a concentration profile where the concentration of the impurity metal decreases from the bottom surface of the stacking direction to the surface. Moreover, the width of the second metal wiring may be larger than the width of the first metal wiring.
US09177854B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor device using sidewall films for pitch multiplication in forming interconnects According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes interconnects extending from a element formation area to the drawing area, and connected with semiconductor elements in the element formation area and connected with contacts in the drawing area. The interconnects are formed based on a pattern of a (n+1)th second sidewall film matching a pattern of a nth (where n is an integer of 1 or more) first sidewall film on a lateral surface of a sacrificial layer. A first dimension matching an interconnect width of the interconnects and an interconnects interval in the element formation area is (k1/2n)×(λ/NA) or less when an exposure wavelength of an exposure device is λ, a numerical aperture of a lens of the exposure device is NA and a process parameter is k1. A second dimension matching an interconnect interval in the drawing area is greater than the first dimension.
US09177853B1	Barrier layer stack for bit line air gap formation Air gaps are formed between conductive metal lines that have an inner barrier layer and an outer barrier layer. An etch step to remove sacrificial material is performed under a first set of process conditions producing a byproduct that suppresses further etching. A byproduct removal step performed under a second set of process conditions removes the byproduct.
US09177850B2	Substrate carrying mechanism, substrate processing apparatus, and semiconductor device manufacturing method The present invention provides a substrate carrying mechanism, a substrate processing apparatus, and a semiconductor device manufacturing method that, when carrying a substrate, suppress the generation of scratches and particles caused by substrate deformation, suppress a decrease in substrate holding force due to substrate deformation, and realizes stable high-speed carriage. Namely, the substrate carrying mechanism, the substrate processing apparatus, and the semiconductor device manufacturing method of the present invention include: a plate-like body that becomes a support base body of a substrate that is a carrying subject; and substrate support portions in which plural convex portions disposed on a surface of the plate-like body are placed on a circumference of a circle that is smaller than the diameter of the substrate.
US09177847B2	Ceramic member and member for semiconductor manufacturing equipment A member 20 for semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes a base portion 22 and a ceramic member 30 formed on the base portion 22. The ceramic member 30 of the present invention includes a ceramic base 32 containing at least one of magnesium oxide, a magnesium oxide solid solution in which a predetermined component is dissolved in magnesium oxide, and zirconium oxide; and an electrode 34 which is arranged on part of the ceramic base 32 and which contains a ruthenium-aluminum alloy as an electrode component. The ceramic member 30 is a plate-like member and has a structure in which the electrode 34 is embedded therein. The electrode 34 is connected to a feeding member 26 inserted from the underside of the ceramic member 30. Electric power is supplied from the feeding member 26.
US09177846B2	Placing bed structure, treating apparatus using the structure, and method for using the apparatus Provided is a holding stage structure which holds a substrate and disposed in a process chamber that is vacuum-evacuatable and allows a predetermined process to be performed on the substrate therein. The holding stage structure includes: a holding stage body on which the substrate is placed; an elevation pin mechanism lowering the substrate on the holding stage body or raising the substrate from the holding stage body; and a stepped portion formed on the holding stage body so that a peripheral portion of a rear surface of the substrate placed on the holding stage body is exposed to a processing gas supplied into the process chamber.
US09177845B2	Method and apparatus for thermally processing plastic discs, in particular mould wafers A method and apparatus for thermally processing mold wafers The method comprises: clamping a mold wafer at a first temperature on a first clamping device, the first temperature being below the hardening temperature of the plastic of the mold wafer; heating the mold wafer to a second temperature, which is higher than the first temperature and is above the hardening temperature; ending the clamping on the first clamping device and transporting the mold wafer heated to the second temperature to a second clamping device substantially contactlessly; clamping the heated mold wafer on the second clamping device; cooling the mold wafer down to a third temperature, which is lower than the second temperature and is below the hardening temperature; and ending the clamping on the second clamping device.
US09177839B2	Cover part, process gas diffusing and supplying unit, and substrate processing apparatus A processing gas diffusing and supplying unit includes a supporting portion having an opening, a plate including gas supply holes, an internal space, between the supporting portion and the plate, communicating with the opening, and a cover part installed within the internal space and connected to the opening. The cover part includes a shielding portion which is disposed within the internal space and has a surface facing the opening, a side wall which holds the shielding portion, and a through hole formed at the side wall and communicating with the opening and the internal space. At least a portion of the gas supply holes is located right below the cover part and a height of the internal space is equal to or greater than 8 mm.
US09177837B2	Fabrication method of semiconductor package having electrical connecting structures A semiconductor package having electrical connecting structures includes: a conductive layer having a die pad and traces surrounding the die pad; a chip; bonding wires; an encapsulant with a plurality of cavities having a depth greater than the thickness of the die pad and traces for embedding the die pad and the traces therein, and the cavities exposing the die pad and the traces; a solder mask layer formed in the cavities and having a plurality of openings for exposing the trace ends and a portion of the die pad; and solder balls formed in the openings and electrically connected to the trace ends. Engaging the solder mask layer with the encapsulant enhances adhesion strength of the solder mask layer so as to prolong the moisture permeation path and enhance package reliability.
US09177835B1	Underfill dispensing with controlled fillet profile A method includes placing an underfill-shaping cover on a package component of a package, with a device die of the package extending into an opening of the underfill-shaping cover. An underfill is dispensed into the opening of the underfill-shaping cover. The underfill fills a gap between the device die and the package component through capillary. The method further includes, with the underfill-shaping cover on the package component, curing the underfill. After the curing the underfill, the underfill-shaping cover is removed from the package.
US09177833B2	Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same Conventional surface roughening plating technology cannot always improve the adhesion between a leadframe and a plating film and it depends on the material used for surface roughening plating. Conventional surface roughening technology by etching can only be used for leadframes made of limited materials. Improved adhesion cannot therefore be achieved between a metal member such as leadframe and a sealing resin. A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to one embodiment is to carry out resin sealing using a metal member such as leadframe which has been subjected to alloying treatment of a base material and Zn plated on the surface thereof.
US09177831B2	Die assembly on thin dielectric sheet A die assembly formed on a thin dielectric sheet is described. In one example, a first and a second die have interconnect areas. A dielectric sheet, such as glass, silicon, or oxidized metal is applied over the interconnect areas of dies. Conductive vias are formed in the dielectric sheet to connect with pads of the interconnect areas. A build-up layer includes routing to connect pads of the first die interconnect area to pads of the second die interconnect area through the conductive vias and a cover is applied over the dies, the dielectric sheet, and the build-up layer.
US09177829B2	Semiconductor component having a passivation layer and production method A semiconductor component and a method for producing a semiconductor component are described. The semiconductor component includes a semiconductor body including an inner zone and an edge zone, and a passivation layer, which is arranged at least on a surface of the semiconductor body adjoining the edge zone. The passivation layer includes a semiconductor oxide and that includes a defect region having crystal defects that serve as getter centers for contaminations.
US09177828B2	External gettering method and device Disclosed embodiments include external gettering provided by electronic packaging. An external gettering element for a semiconductor substrate, which may be incorporated as part of an electronic packaging for the structure, is disclosed. Semiconductor structures and stacked semiconductor structures including an external gettering element are also disclosed. An encapsulation mold compound providing external gettering is also disclosed. Methods of fabricating such devices are also disclosed.
US09177826B2	Methods of forming metal nitride materials Disclosed herein are various methods of forming metal nitride layers on various types of semiconductor devices. In one example, the method includes forming a layer of insulating material above a semiconducting substrate, performing a physical vapor deposition process to form a metal nitride layer above the layer of insulating material, wherein the metal nitride layer has an intrinsic as-deposited stress level, and performing at least one process operation on the metal nitride layer to reduce a magnitude of the intrinsic as-deposited stress level in the metal nitride layer.
US09177825B2	Pattern forming method According to one embodiment, a pattern forming method includes forming, on an underlying region, a neutral film having an affinity for first and second polymers, forming a first pinning part having an affinity for the first polymer by irradiating a first region of the neutral film with an energy beam, forming, on the neutral film including the first pinning part, a block copolymer film containing the first and second polymers, and performing a predetermined treatment for the block copolymer film to perform a microphase separation.
US09177824B2	Photoresist treatment method by low bombardment plasma Methods for reducing the line width roughness on a photoresist pattern are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of processing a patterned photoresist layer disposed atop a substrate includes flowing a process gas into a processing volume of a process chamber having the substrate disposed therein; forming a plasma within the process chamber from the process gas, wherein the plasma has a ion energy of about 1 eV to about 10 eV; and etching the patterned photoresist layer with species from the plasma to at least one of smooth a line width roughness of a sidewall of the patterned photoresist layer or remove debris.
US09177821B2	Method of fabricating electronic circuit Provided is a method of fabricating an electronic circuit. The method includes preparing a substrate, forming a polymer film on the substrate, patterning the polymer film to form a polymer pattern, and forming an electronic device on the polymer pattern.
US09177818B2	Pattern formation method and block copolymer According to one embodiment, a pattern formation method includes: forming a block copolymer layer containing a polystyrene derivative and an acrylic having 6 or more carbon atoms on a side chain in an opening of a resist layer provided on an underlayer and having the opening; forming a first layer containing the polystyrene derivative and a second layer containing the acrylic in the opening by phase-separating the block copolymer layer; and removing the second layer.
US09177816B2	Deposit removal method One embodiment of the deposit removal method includes: preparing a substrate having a pattern on which a deposit is deposited, the pattern being formed by etching; exposing the substrate to a first atmosphere containing hydrogen fluoride gas; exposing the substrate to oxygen plasma while heating after the step of exposing the substrate to the first atmosphere; and exposing the substrate to a second atmosphere containing hydrogen fluoride gas to remove the deposit on the substrate after the step of exposing the substrate to the oxygen plasma.
US09177814B2	Suspended superconducting qubits A qubit system includes a substrate layer, a qubit circuit suspended above the substrate layer and fine structure disposed between the qubit circuit and the substrate layer.
US09177812B2	Method of manufacturing low resistivity contacts on n-type germanium Disclosed are methods for manufacturing semiconductor devices and the devices thus obtained. In one embodiment, the method comprises obtaining a semiconductor substrate comprising a germanium region doped with n-type dopants at a first doping level and forming an interfacial silicon layer overlying the germanium region, where the interfacial silicon layer is doped with n-type dopants at a second doping level and has a thickness higher than a critical thickness of silicon on germanium, such that the interfacial layer is at least partially relaxed. The method further includes forming over the interfacial silicon layer a layer of material having an electrical resistivity smaller than 1×10−2 Ωcm, thereby forming an electrical contact between the germanium region and the layer of material, wherein the electrical contact has a specific contact resistivity below 10−4 Ωcm2.
US09177811B2	Method for manufacturing semiconductor device The invention relates to a method for forming a uniform silicide film using a crystalline semiconductor film in which orientation of crystal planes is controlled, and a method for manufacturing a thin film transistor with less variation in electric characteristics, which is formed over an insulating substrate using the silicide film. A semiconductor film over which a cap film is formed is irradiated with a laser to be crystallized under the predetermined condition, so that a crystalline semiconductor film including large grain crystals in which orientation of crystal planes is controlled in one direction is formed. The crystalline semiconductor film is used for silicide, whereby a uniform silicide film can be formed.
US09177810B2	Dual silicide regions and method for forming the same A method for forming dual silicide regions includes forming semiconductor regions having a first thickness and a second thickness different from the first thickness and forming a dielectric layer over the semiconductor regions. Holes are opened up in the dielectric layer down to a first depth corresponding with the first or second thickness leaving a thickness of the dielectric layer over the other of the first or second thickness. A first silicide is formed at the first depth in the holes using a first deposited material. The holes are extended through the thickness of the dielectric layer to reach a second depth. A second silicide is formed at the second depth in the holes using a different material than the first deposited material.
US09177798B1	Method for yield improvement of TMBS devices A method for yield improvement of trench MOS barrier Schottky (TMBS) devices includes: forming a plurality of trenches in a substrate; forming a gate dielectric layer over a surface of the substrate and inner surfaces of the trenches; forming gates in the trenches; forming a first barrier dielectric layer, a second barrier dielectric layer and an intermediate dielectric layer over the trenches; etching the intermediate dielectric layer with the second barrier dielectric layer serving as an etch stop layer to form a window for forming contact holes; etching a portion of the second barrier dielectric layer within the window using the first barrier dielectric layer as an etch stop layer; and etching in the window to remove a portion of the first barrier dielectric layer overlying the gates and a portion of the gate dielectric layer overlying the substrate.
US09177796B2	Optically tuned hardmask for multi-patterning applications The embodiments herein provides methods for forming a PVD silicon oxide or silicon rich oxide, or PVD SiN or silicon rich SiN, or SiC or silicon rich SiC, or combination of the preceding including a variation which includes controlled doping of hydrogen into the compounds heretofore referred to as SiOxNyCz:Hw, where w, x, y, and z can vary in concentration from 0% to 100%, is produced as a hardmask with optical properties that are substantially matched to the photo-resists at the exposure wavelength. Thus making the hardmask optically planarized with respect to the photo-resist. This allows for multiple sequences of litho and etches in the hardmask while the photo-resist maintains essentially no optical topography or reflectivity variations.
US09177795B2	Methods of forming nanostructures including metal oxides A method of forming nanostructures may include forming a block copolymer composition within a trench in a material on a substrate, wherein the block copolymer composition may comprise a block copolymer material and an activatable catalyst having a higher affinity for a first block of the block copolymer material compared to a second block of the block copolymer material; self-assembling the block copolymer composition into first domains comprising the first block and the activatable catalyst, and second domains comprising the second block; generating catalyst from the activatable catalyst in at least one portion of the first domains to produce a structure comprising catalyst-containing domains and the second domains, the catalyst-containing domains comprising the first block and the catalyst; and reacting a metal oxide precursor with the catalyst in the catalyst-containing domains to produce a metal oxide-containing structure comprising the first block and metal oxide.
US09177792B2	Reverse tone STI formation and epitaxial growth of semiconductor between STI regions A method includes forming a hard mask over a substrate, patterning the hard mask to form a first plurality of trenches, and filling a dielectric material into the first plurality of trenches to form a plurality of dielectric regions. The hard mask is removed from between the plurality of dielectric regions, wherein a second plurality of trenches is left by the removed hard mask. An epitaxy step is performed to grow a semiconductor material in the second plurality of trenches.
US09177791B2	Systems and methods for forming semiconductor devices Embodiments provided herein describe systems and methods for forming semiconductor devices. A semiconductor substrate is provided. The semiconductor substrate is exposed to bromine radicals, hydrogen radicals, or a combination thereof. An oxide layer is formed above the semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate is held within a controlled atmosphere at least from the completion of the exposing of the semiconductor substrate to bromine radicals, hydrogen radicals, or a combination thereof and the beginning of the forming of the oxide layer.
US09177789B2	Semiconductor process A semiconductor process of the present invention is described as follows. A substrate is provided, and a material layer is deposited on the substrate using an organic precursor as a reactant gas. A plasma treatment is conducted immediately after depositing the material layer, wherein plasma is continuously supplied during depositing the material layer and the plasma treatment. A pump-down step is conducted.
US09177788B2	Plasma reactor with conductive member in reaction chamber for shielding substrate from undesirable irradiation Placing a conductive member between a plasma chamber in a remote plasma reactor and a substrate to shield the substrate from irradiation of undesirable electromagnetic radiation, ions or electrons. The conductive member blocks the electromagnetic radiation, neutralizes ions and absorbs the electrons. Radicals generated in the plasma chambers flows to the substrate despite the placement of the conductive member. In this way, the substrate is exposed to the radicals whereas damages to the substrate due to electromagnetic radiations, ions or electrons are reduced or removed.
US09177784B2	Semiconductor device dielectric interface layer Embodiments related to methods for forming a film stack on a substrate are provided. One example method comprises exposing the substrate to an activated oxygen species and converting an exposed surface of the substrate into a continuous monolayer of a first dielectric material. The example method also includes forming a second dielectric material on the continuous monolayer of the first dielectric material without exposing the substrate to an air break.
US09177780B2	Directional SiO2 etch using plasma pre-treatment and high-temperature etchant deposition Methods for processing a substrate are described herein. Methods can include positioning a substrate with an exposed surface comprising a silicon oxide layer in a processing chamber, biasing the substrate, treating the substrate to roughen a portion of the silicon oxide layer, heating the substrate to a first temperature, exposing the exposed surface of the substrate to a plasma comprising ammonium fluoride to form one or more volatile products while maintaining the first temperature, and heating the substrate to a second temperature, which is higher than the first temperature, to sublimate the volatile products.
US09177773B2	Systems and methods extending the laserspray ionization mass spectrometry concept from atmospheric pressure to vacuum Disclosed herein are systems and methods that allow analysis of macromolecular structures using laserspray ionization at intermediate pressure or high vacuum using commercially available mass spectrometers with or without modification and with the application of heat. The systems and methods produce multiply-charged ions for improved analysis in mass spectrometry.
US09177769B2	Interdigitated electrode configuration for ion filter An ion filter (10) for use in ion mobility spectrometry is described, together with a method for manufacturing the filter. The filter (10) is manufactured by removing portions from a monolithic structure to form a pair of electrodes which remain mechanically connected. The connecting portion (22) provides sufficient electrical impedance between the electrodes to effectively electrically separate the electrodes. The connecting portion may be doped or chemically modified to obtain a desired impedance, or this may be obtained through appropriate selection of physical dimensions.
US09177767B2	Apparatus for elemental analysis of particles by mass spectrometry A mass spectrometer has a particle introduction system and a vaporizer, atomizer, and ionizer configured to produce ions from elements associated with the particle. An ion mass-to-charge ratio analyzer is configured to separate ions according to their mass-to-charge ratio. A detector is positioned to detect at least some of the separated ions. A digital processor is configured to: (a) acquire data from the detector including at least first data in a primary detection group defined to comprise one or more mass-to-charge ratio channels of the mass spectrometer; (b) determine whether or not ions detected during at least one sampling cycle meet at least one selection criterion indicating a presence of a particle in the mass spectrometer; and (c) determine whether or not to use data in a secondary detection group based on whether or not the at least one selection criterion is met.
US09177765B2	Method for automated checking and adjustment of mass spectrometer calibration A method for automatically checking and adjusting a calibration of a mass spectrometer having a first quadrupole (Q1), a fragmentation cell and a mass analyzer comprises: introducing a sample having at least one known chemical entity; decreasing a kinetic energy so as to prevent fragmentation of ions in the fragmentation cell; optionally applying a drag field to the fragmentation cell; ionizing the at least one known chemical entity sample to generate a set of ions; performing a mass scan of the set of ions using Q1; transmitting the scanned ions through Q1 to and through the fragmentation cell; detecting the scanned and transmitted ions by a detector of the mass analyzer; and comparing the results with expected results. Embodiments may include automatic recalibration or notification of possible errors, need for further data processing or an analysis of system performance.
US09177762B2	System, method and apparatus of a wedge-shaped parallel plate plasma reactor for substrate processing A plasma process chamber includes a top electrode, a bottom electrode disposed opposite the top electrode, the bottom electrode capable of supporting a substrate. The plasma process chamber also includes a plasma containment structure defining a plasma containment region, the plasma containment region being less than an entire surface of the substrate. The plasma containment structure rotates relative to the substrate and wherein the plasma containment region includes a center point of the substrate throughout the rotation of the plasma containment structure relative to the substrate. The plasma containment structure includes multiple gaps. A vacuum source is coupled to the gaps in the plasma containment structure. A method of processing a substrate is also described.
US09177761B2	Plasma CVD apparatus, method for forming microcrystalline semiconductor film and method for manufacturing semiconductor device A structure of a plasma CVD apparatus for forming a dense semiconductor film is provided. Further, a technique for forming a dense crystalline semiconductor film (e.g., a microcrystalline semiconductor film) without a cavity between crystal grains is provided. An electrode supplied with electric power for generating plasma is included in a reaction chamber of the plasma CVD apparatus. This electrode has a common plane on a surface opposite to a substrate, and the common plane is provided with depressed openings. Gas supply ports are provided on the bottom of the depressed openings or on the common plane of the electrode. The depressed openings are provided in isolation from one another.
US09177758B2	Charged particle beam apparatus The present invention provides a dual-beam apparatus which employs the dark-field e-beam inspection method to inspect small particles on a surface of a sample such as wafer and mask with high throughput. The dual beam apparatus comprises two single-beam dark-field units placed in a same vacuum chamber and in two different orientations. The two single-beam dark-field units can perform the particle inspection separately or almost simultaneously by means of the alternately-scanning way. The invention also proposes a triple-beam apparatus for both inspecting and reviewing particles on a sample surface within the same vacuum chamber. The triple-beam apparatus comprises one foregoing dual-beam apparatus performing the particle inspection and one high-resolution SEM performing the particle review.
US09177755B2	Multi-target X-ray tube with stationary electron beam position A transmission x-ray tube comprising an end window hermetically sealed to a flexible coupling. The flexible coupling can allow the window to shift or tilt in one direction or another direction to allow an electron beam to impinge upon one region of the window or another region of the window.A method of utilizing different regions of an x-ray tube target by tilting an x-ray tube window at an acute angle with respect to an electron beam axis to cause an electron beam to impinge on a selected region of the window and tilting the window in a different direction to allow the electron beam to impinge on a different selected region of the window.
US09177752B2	Device for sterilizing containers by way of charge carriers A device for sterilizing containers may include a treatment head having an outlet window for the passing of charge carriers therethrough, a charge carrier generation source for generating charge carriers, an acceleration device disposed above the outlet window, and a cooling device for cooling the outlet window. The acceleration device accelerates the charge carriers in the direction of the outlet window. The cooling device includes a feed opening for a gaseous medium. The feed opening is disposed beneath the outlet window and directs the gaseous medium at least partially from below to the outlet window.
US09177749B2	Magnetron cathodes A magnetron cathode comprises electron emissive material included in a cathode body and a support structure for supporting the cathode body. The support structure has a longitudinal axis and includes a first part having a first cylinder integrally formed with a first end hat and a second part having a second cylinder integrally formed with a second end hat. The first cylinder and the second cylinder have an overlapping region in the longitudinal axial direction and are joined together. The cathode body is located around the first cylinder of the first part of the support structure and is joined to the first cylinder by a brazed joint. The outer surface of the first cylinder is grooved at the brazed joint.
US09177747B2	Flash lamp, a corresponding method of manufacture and apparatus for the same A flash lamp is disclosed including an insulative envelope containing a gas and housing a pair of arcing electrodes and characterized by an instance of isolated conductive material being formed at a predetermined location on the inside of the envelope adjacent an electrode. Further disclosed is a corresponding method of manufacturing a flash lamp and apparatus for the same.
US09177746B2	Electrostatic discharging structure and method of manufacturing the same Disclosed herein are an electrostatic discharging structure including single-wall carbon nano tubes disposed between electrodes at a predetermined interval to precisely control discharge starting voltage generating a discharge phenomenon between electrodes, and a method of manufacturing an electrostatic discharging structure.
US09177744B2	Switching relay having contact ripping device The invention relates to a switching relay (1), particularly for a starting device for starting an internal combustion engine, having a contact device (5), a relay coil (2), an armature (3), and an actuating rod (4), wherein the actuating rod (4) is displaced by the armature (3) when current is applied to the relay coil (2) and the contact device (5) is actuated by the actuating rod (4), and having a contact ripping device by means of which the armature (3) and the actuating rod (4) are coupled to each other. In order to simplify assembly and disassembly, the contact ripping device is implemented having a latching device in the armature (3).
US09177743B2	Electromagnetic switching device Disclosed is an electromagnetic switching device. The electromagnetic switching device includes a case defining an outer appearance; a fixed contact point assembly received in the case and including a fixed contact point; a coil terminal assembly detachably coupled to one side of the fixed contact point assembly and including a coil; and a shaft assembly detachably inserted into the coil terminal assembly, wherein the shaft assembly includes a shaft movable in the coil terminal assembly.
US09177741B2	Fail-open mechanism for motorized switch A fail-safe motorized switching system includes: (a) a motorized loadbreak switch system, the motorized loadbreak switch system adapted for opening and closing contacts between a high voltage power source and a load; (b) an energy storage device connected to the motorized loadbreak switch system; and (c) a controller connected to the energy storage device, the controller programmed with control logic to ensure that the motorized loadbreak switch system opens the contacts between the high voltage power source and the load once the power source is removed.
US09177740B2	Gas-insulated high-voltage switch for interruption of large currents A gas-insulated high-voltage switch for the interruption of large currents includes a housing, a contact arrangement which is arranged in the housing and has two switching pieces which can be moved relative to one another along an axis. Each switching piece has a rated current contact and an arcing contact. The switch includes a drive which acts on a first of the two switching pieces. The switch includes a device configured to detect and indicate the contact wear of the two arcing contacts caused by the action of the arc. The device has an indicator arranged outside the housing. In the switch, the remaining life which is determined by the contact wear of the arcing contacts is detected and indicated by a simple mechanical mechanism. The device has a transmission mechanism which is fed through the housing in a gas-tight manner and a drive member coupled to the operating element.
US09177737B2	Tuning capacitance to enhance FET stack voltage withstand An RF switch to controllably withstand an applied RF voltage Vsw, or a method of fabricating such a switch, which includes a string of series-connected constituent FETs with a node of the string between each pair of adjacent FETs. The method includes controlling capacitances between different nodes of the string to effectively tune the string capacitively, which will reduce the variance in the RF switch voltage distributed across each constituent FET, thereby enhancing switch breakdown voltage. Capacitances are controlled, for example, by disposing capacitive features between nodes of the string, and/or by varying design parameters of different constituent FETs. For each node, a sum of products of each significant capacitor by a proportion of Vsw appearing across it may be controlled to approximately zero.
US09177733B2	Touchsurface assemblies with linkages A key assembly in accordance with embodiments of the invention comprises a base, a keycap, a biasing mechanism, a first linkage, and a second linkage. The keycap is spaced from the base along a press direction and configured to move between an unpressed position and a pressed position relative to the base. The unpressed and pressed positions are separated by a first amount in the press direction and a second amount in a lateral direction orthogonal to the press direction. The first amount is at least as much as the second amount and no larger than twice the second amount. The biasing mechanism is configured to bias the keycap away from the base. The first and second linkages are rotatably coupled to the base and the keycap.
US09177729B2	Separator and method for manufacturing separator The present invention provides a separator and a method for manufacturing the separator. The separator includes a first nanofiber layer (20) which has a lattice shape when viewed from a plan view, a second nanofiber layer (30) which is provided on a first surface of the first nanofiber layer (20) and is thinner than the first nanofiber layer, and a third nanofiber layer (40) which is provided on a second surface of the first nanofiber layer and is thinner than the first nanofiber layer. The thickness of the first nanofiber layer ranges from 7 μm to 30 μm. The thickness of each of the second and third nanofiber layers ranges from 1 μm to 5 μm. The present invention can provide a separator which has high insulation, high dendrite resistance, high ion conductivity and high mechanical strength.
US09177728B2	Solid electrolytic capacitor, and method of manufacturing the same Provided is a method of manufacturing a solid electrolytic capacitor that suppresses spreading up of a solution. The method includes forming a porous sintered body made of a valve metal and having an anode wire sticking out therefrom; forming an insulating layer made of a fluorine resin, so as to surround the anode wire; and forming a dielectric layer on the porous sintered body; forming a solid electrolyte layer on the dielectric layer, after forming the insulating layer. The process of forming the insulating layer includes melting granular particles made of a fluorine resin.
US09177727B2	Metallized film capacitor A metallized film capacitor includes first and second winding cores disposed along a center axis, and a capacitor element wound about the center axis around the first and the second winding cores. The second winding core is apart from the first winding core. The first and second winding cores have a thermal conductivity larger than that of the dielectric film of the capacitor element. Length Ld of the capacitor element in a direction of the center axis, length L1 of the first winding core inside the capacitor element in the direction of the center axis, and length L2 of the second winding core inside the capacitor element in the direction of the center axis satisfy the relations of L1>L2, L1+L2
US09177726B2	Multilayer ceramic capacitor With a multilayer ceramic capacitor whose average grain size of the dielectric grains present at the outermost layer position P1 in the laminate is given by D1, average grain size of the dielectric grains present at the center position P2 in the laminate is given by D2, and average grain size of the dielectric grains present at the 25%-penetrated position P3 which is a position penetrated into the laminate by 25% is given by D3, growth of the dielectric grains occurring as a result of sintering is partially suppressed in such a way that the relationships of average grain sizes D1, D2, and D3 satisfy the conditions of 1.5×D1
US09177721B2	Electrochemical devices and methods of fabrication The described invention provides a packaged electrochemical device comprising an electrochemical battery, further comprising at least one electrochemical cell stack and a barrier packaging material. The present invention further provides a method of fabricating the packaged electrochemical device. The present invention further provides a flexible multifunctional liquid-based thermogalvanic cell that converts and stores electricity derived from low grade temperature differentials that exist in ubiquitous scenarios.
US09177720B2	Method of producing a coil component A coil component includes a core formed by a magnetic material, a coil embedded in the core, a part of a terminal portion of the coil protruded from a side surface of the core, and a tabular terminal, a part thereof protruded from the side surface of the core and partly connected with the protruded part of the terminal portion of the coil. The protruded part of the terminal portion of the coil and the protruded part of the tabular terminal are respectively bent toward the bottom surface side of the core along the side surface of the core, and the protruded and bent part o the terminal portion of the coil is arranged between the protruded and bent part of the tabular terminal and the core.
US09177707B2	Superconducting magnet and method for adjusting the same A superconducting magnet includes a pair of superconducting coils, two heat shields surrounding the pair of superconducting coils, respectively, two vacuum chambers accommodating the two heat shields, respectively, and facing each other with a predetermined space sandwiched therebetween, a magnetic shield covering at least a portion of the two vacuum chambers, and two position adjustment mechanisms supporting the two vacuum chambers, respectively, in a position-adjustable manner. The two position adjustment mechanisms change distribution of a static magnetic field formed in the predetermined space by the pair of superconducting coils, by adjusting relative positional relation between the two vacuum chambers.
US09177705B2	Sintered rare earth magnet, method of producing the same, and rotating machine A sintered rare earth magnet rotating machine and method improve temperature properties and strength having an excellent corrosion resistance. The sintered rare earth magnet includes at least a main phase composed of R2T14B (R represents at least one rare earth element of Nd, Pr or both and T represents at least one transition metal element including Fe or Fe and Co) compound and a grain boundary phase containing a higher proportion of R than the main phase, wherein the main phase includes a heavy rare earth element (one of Dy, Tb or both), at least part of main phase grains of the main phase included in the sintered rare earth magnet includes at least the following regions, low, high and intermediate concentration regions. These regions exist in order of low, high, and intermediate concentration regions, from low concentration region towards the grain boundary phase in the main phase grains.
US09177704B2	Potentiometer The present invention is directed to a potentiometer having enhanced reliability and durability, capable of being unlimitedly used in a high-temperature environment inside a flying object (air vehicle). Said potentiometer comprises: a consecutive type potentiometer having a structure that a resistor is formed of a material having an excellent stability in a high-temperature environment, and having an excellent surface hardness so as to have a high resistance to damages; and a discrete type potentiometer having a structure that a resistor is protected by a passivation layer, and through holes are formed at the passivation layer for electrical connection with the outside, and the through holes are filled with a conductive material.
US09177703B2	Electric component assembly An electric component arrangement is described, comprising a semiconductor component (1) mounted on a varistor body (2). The varistor body is contact-connected to the semiconductor component for the protection thereof against electrostatic discharges and contains a composite material having as matrix a varistor ceramic and as filler a highly thermally conductive material being different from the varistor ceramic.
US09177700B2	Precursor for a Nb3Sn superconductor wire, method for manufacturing the same, Nb3Sn superconductor wire, and superconducting magnet system A precursor for a Nb3Sn superconductor wire to be manufactured by the internal diffusion method, includes a plurality of Nb-based single core wires, each of which includes a Nb-based core coated with a Cu-based coating including a Cu-based matrix, a plurality of Sn-based single core wires, each of which includes a Sn-based core coated with a Cu-based coating including a Cu-based matrix; and a cylindrical diffusion barrier including Ta or Nb, in which the plurality of Nb-based single core wires and the plurality of Sn-based single core wires are regularly disposed, wherein the plurality of Nb-based single core wires include Nb-based single core wires having a Cu/Nb ratio of 0.4 or more, wherein the Cu/Nb ratio is a cross sectional area ratio of the Cu-based coating to the Nb-based core.
US09177699B2	Method for producing a superconducting wire, in particular using lead-free solder A method for producing a superconducting wire (10), wherein an internal wire (1), which contains superconducting filaments (4), is provided with a normally conducting stabilizing structure (9), is characterized in that, in a continuous or quasi-continuous process, one or more sheath elements (2; 2a, 2b) are shaped and/or placed around the internal wire (9), so that the entire circumference of the internal wire (1) is enclosed by one or more sheath elements (2; 2a, 2b), and all seams (6; 6a, 6b; 16; 16a, 16b) of sheath element ends (5a-5d; 15a-15d) facing each other are soldered and/or welded. A method for producing a superconducting wire is thereby provided, which restricts the cross section of the superconducting wire to a lesser extent and which permits the use of lead-free solder.
US09177698B2	Arrangement for electrically conductively connecting two superconductive conductors An arrangement for electrically conductively connecting two superconductive strip-shaped electrical conductors (1, 2) having at least approximately the same width, where the two conductors (1, 2) rest against each other with their end faces against each other in a connecting point (V). A strip (6) of superconductive material is soldered to the two conductors (1, 2), where the strip extends beyond both conductors so as to cover the connecting point (V). A strip (6) is used which has, only in the area of the connecting point (V) between the two conductors (1, 2), at least approximately the same width as the conductors, and where the strip narrows on both sides of the connecting point (V) and facing away from the connecting point (V).
US09177696B2	Flat cable A flat cable includes a base material including a signal conductor extending in a first direction, a first ground conductor, and a second ground conductor. The second ground conductor includes elongated conductors extending in the first direction, and bridge conductors that connect the elongated conductors at predetermined spacings along the first direction. The second ground conductor is connected with via-hole conductors at predetermined positions in two mutually opposite directions along the first direction with respect to each of the bridge conductors. Countercurrents generated from a plurality of countercurrent generation points do not flow to the first ground conductor via a common via-hole but flow to the first ground conductor individually via separate via-hole conductors.
US09177693B2	Highly integrated data bus automatic fire extinguishing system A wiring harness for a fire extinguishing system including a connector that has a pair of power leads and a pair of command leads. At least one zone identification element is in communication with the connector and is configured to provide a zone location assignment to the connector.
US09177692B2	Polyamide resin composition and molded article comprising the same A polyamide resin composition comprising defined amounts of flake graphite, carbon fibers, and polyhydric alcohol. A polyamide resin composition comprising a polyamide resin and, as a property imparting component, at least one member selected from the group consisting of a metal oxide, a nitrogen compound, and a silicon compound, wherein a defined amount of the dicarboxylic acid units of the polyamide resin are oxalic acid. A polyamide resin composition comprising a polyamide resin and a defined amount of metal oxide particles, wherein the metal oxide particles contain those having a particle size of 70 μm or more in an amount of 10 to 50% by mass and those having a particle size of 20 μm or less in an amount of 1 to 50% by mass, based on the total mass of the metal oxide particles.
US09177691B2	Polarizable nanoparticles and electrorheological fluid comprising same An electrorheological fluid comprises a nanoparticle composition comprising a nanoparticle, uncoated or coated with a polymeric or metallic coating and covalently bonded to or coated on a surface of a polymeric or inorganic particle; and a dielectric fluid having a dielectric constant lower than that of the nanoparticle composition. A nanoparticle composition also comprises a carbon-based nanoparticle, covalently bonded to or coated on a surface of a conjugated polymer particle or inorganic particle, wherein the nanoparticle composition is a dielectric material.
US09177689B2	High density and high voltage stable cathode materials for secondary batteries Disclosed is a cathode active material and a method to produce the same at low cost. The cathode powder comprises modified LiCoO2, and possibly a second phase which is LiM′O2 where M′ is Mn, Ni, Co with a stoichiometric ratio Ni:Mn≧1. The modified LiCoO2 is Ni and Mn bearing and has regions of low and high manganese content, where regions with high manganese content are located in islands on the surface. The cathode material has high cycling stability, a very high rate performance and good high temperature storage properties.
US09177688B2	Carbon nanotube-graphene hybrid transparent conductor and field effect transistor A nanotube-graphene hybrid film and method for forming a cleaned nanotube-graphene hybrid film. The method includes depositing nanotube film over a substrate to produce a layer of nanotube film, removing impurities from a surface of the layer of nanotube film not contacting the substrate to produce a cleaned layer of nanotube film, depositing a layer of graphene over the cleaned layer of nanotube film to produce a nanotube-graphene hybrid film, and removing impurities from a surface of the nanotube-graphene hybrid film to produce a cleaned nanotube-graphene hybrid film, wherein the hybrid film has improved electrical performance. Another method includes depositing nanotube film over a metal foil to produce a layer of nanotube film, placing the metal foil with as-deposited nanotube film in a chemical vapor deposition furnace to grow graphene on the nanotube film to form a nanotube-graphene hybrid film, and transferring the nanotube-graphene hybrid film over a substrate.
US09177684B2	Light irradiation apparatus and printing apparatus A light irradiation apparatus of the embodiment is a light irradiation apparatus that emits light including an ultraviolet ray to a target relatively moving in one direction, including a light irradiation device in which a light emitting element is disposed on one main surface of a base; and a light irradiation chamber in whose internal space the target moves with a light-irradiated surface up from an entrance to an exit thereof in the one direction, the light irradiation device being disposed in an upper section of the internal space.
US09177679B2	Accelerator-based method of producing isotopes The invention provides a method using accelerators to produce radio-isotopes in high quantities. The method comprises: supplying a “core” of low-enrichment fissile material arranged in a spherical array of LEU combined with water moderator. The array is surrounded by substrates which serve as multipliers and moderators as well as neutron shielding substrates. A flux of neutrons enters the low-enrichment fissile material and causes fissions therein for a time sufficient to generate desired quantities of isotopes from the fissile material. The radio-isotopes are extracted from said fissile material by chemical processing or other means.
US09177678B2	Method of processing steam generator tubes of nuclear power plant An improved method of inspecting the tubes of a steam generator of a nuclear reactor involves collecting historic data regarding the tube sheet transition regions of each tube for use during a subsequent analysis to create a new simpler signal from which historic artifacts have been removed.
US09177676B2	Nuclear reactor power monitor Provide a nuclear reactor power monitoring technology for enhancing the monitoring accuracy and reliability in nuclear thermal hydraulic stability.A power monitor 30 includes a first calculation unit 42,52 configured to calculate a first stability index based on time series data indicating power oscillation in nuclear instrumentation signals outputted from a plurality of nuclear instrumentation detectors 31; a first determination unit 44,53 configured to compare the first stability index and a first reference value and determine whether nuclear thermal hydraulic stability of the reactor core is stable or deteriorated; a second calculation unit 46,54 configured to calculate a second stability index of the reactor core based on the time series data when the deteriorated state is determined in the first determination unit 44,53; and a second determination unit 47,55 configured to compare the second stability index and a second reference value and determine whether to perform suppressing operation of the power oscillation.
US09177673B2	Selection of data for redundancy calculation by likely error rate Layers in a multi-layer memory array are categorized according to likely error rates as predicted from their memory hole diameters. Data to be stored along a word line in a high risk layer is subject to a redundancy operation (e.g. XOR) with data to be stored along a word line in a low risk layer so that the risk of both being bad is low.
US09177663B2	Dynamic regulation of memory array source line To maintain stability of memory array operations, a current source supplies a common source line of a memory. The magnitude of the regulation current from the source is dynamically determined based on the amount of current from the array itself through use of a feedback control signal provided by a current comparator circuit. The current comparison circuit can use either a digital or an analog implementation.
US09177661B2	Semiconductor memory device According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device reads data in units of page. The device includes: a memory cell array; a plurality of latch circuits; and an arithmetic operation circuit. The memory cell array holds data multiplexed in at least three pages. The latch circuits read and hold the multiplexed data at a startup. The arithmetic operation circuit performs operations by use of the multiplexed data.
US09177660B2	Method of operating memory device A method of operating a memory device includes changing a first read voltage, which determines a first voltage state or a second voltage state, to a voltage within a first range and determining the voltage as a first select read voltage, and changing a second read voltage, which is used to determine whether the data stored in the memory cells is a third different voltage state or a fourth different voltage state, to a voltage within a second different range and determining the voltage as a second select read voltage. The first voltage state overlaps the second voltage. The third voltage state overlaps the fourth voltage state. A difference between a voltage at an intersection of the third and fourth voltage states and the second read voltage is greater than a difference between a voltage at an intersection of the first and second voltage states and the first read voltage.
US09177657B2	Semiconductor device having non-volatile memory with data erase scheme In a nonvolatile memory device (4) provided in a semiconductor device, when data is erased based on a band-to-band tunneling scheme, supply of a boosted voltage to a memory cell (MC) to be erased is ended when a condition that an output voltage (VUCP) of a charge pump circuit (52) has recovered to a predetermined reference voltage is satisfied and additionally a condition that a predetermined reference time has elapsed since start of supply of the boosted voltage (VUCP) to the memory cell (MC) to be erased is satisfied.
US09177656B2	Data writing method, memory storage device and memory controlling circuit unit The writing method includes: grouping logical erasing units into a first region and an second region; determining if a first logical erasing unit which a host system intends to write belongs to the first region or the second region; if the first logical erasing unit belongs to the first region, writing data to a spare physical programming unit, wherein the physical erasing unit to which the spare physical programming belongs further stores data belonging to another logical erasing unit; if the first logical erasing unit belongs to the second region, writing data to a physical erasing unit in which all the valid data belong to the first logical erasing unit. Accordingly, a speed of sequential writing is guaranteed to be greater than a target value.
US09177653B2	Method and system for programming non-volatile memory cells based on programming of proximate memory cells A multi-level non-volatile memory device programs cells in each row in a manner that takes into account the coupling from the programming of cells that are proximate the row to be programmed. In one example of the invention, after the row has been programmed, the proximate cells are verified by read, comparison, and, if necessary, reprogramming operations to compensate for charge added to proximate memory cells resulting from programming the row. In another example of the invention, a row of memory cells is programmed with charge levels that take into account the charge that will be added to the memory cells when proximate memory cells are subsequently programmed.
US09177645B2	10T NVSRAM cell and cell operations A 10T NVSRAM cell is provided with a bottom HV NMOS Select transistor in each 3T FString removed from traditional 12T NVSRAM cell. A Recall operation by reading a stored ΔVt state of flash transistors into each SRAM cell uses a charge-sensing scheme rather than the current-sensing scheme, with all other key operations unchanged. The Recall operation works under any ramping rate of SRAM's power line voltage and Flash gate signal which can be set higher than only Vt0 or both Vt0 and Vt1. Alternatively, the Store operation can use a current charging scheme from a Fpower line to the paired Q and QB nodes of each SRAM cell through a paired Flash Voltage Follower that stored ΔVtp≧1.0V. The Recall operation in this alternative embodiment is to use a 7-step approach with the FN-channel erase, FN-channel program and FN-edge program schemes, including 2-step SRAM amplification.
US09177641B2	Memory device According to one embodiment, a memory device includes a memory cell, a sense amplifier, and a resistor. The sense amplifier includes a first input and a second input, outputs a signal in accordance with a difference between the first and second inputs, and is selectively coupled at a second input to the memory cell. The resistor is in a first path between the first input of the sense amplifier and a ground node.
US09177638B2	Methods and devices for avoiding lower page corruption in data storage devices A data storage device may comprise a plurality of Multi-Level Cell (MLC) non-volatile memory devices comprising a plurality of lower pages and a corresponding plurality of higher-order pages. A controller may be configured to write data to and read data from the plurality of lower pages and the corresponding plurality of higher-order pages. A buffer may be coupled to the controller, which may be configured to accumulate data to be written to the MLC non-volatile memory devices, allocate space in the buffer and write the accumulated data to the allocated space. At least a portion of the accumulated data may be written in a lower page of the MLC non-volatile memory devices and the space in the buffer that stores data written to the lower page may be de-allocated when all higher-order pages corresponding to the lower page have been written in the MLC non-volatile memory devices.
US09177637B1	Wide voltage range high performance sense amplifier A dual rail SRAM array includes a plurality of columns of memory cells each coupled between two bit lines. A sense amplifier is coupled between each pair of bit lines. Capacitors are positioned between the sense amplifier outputs and the bit lines, thereby separating the sense amplifier from the bit lines. The memory cells are powered with an array supply voltage. The sense amplifier is powered with a peripheral supply voltage. During a read operation of the memory array, the bit lines are precharged to the array supply voltage. The sense amplifier is precharged to the peripheral supply voltage or to an intermediate voltage.
US09177633B2	Bit line write assist for static random access memory architectures SRAM devices are disclosed that utilize write assist circuits to improve the logical transitions of bit lines. In one embodiment, an SRAM device includes a pair of complimentary bit lines traversing a memory cell array for writing data to memory cells. The bit lines have a first end and a second end. A pair of complimentary write drivers is proximate to the first end of the bit lines that writes to the bit lines. A write assist circuit is proximate to the second end of the bit lines that receives a pre-charge signal to assist the write drivers in transitioning the bit lines from a logical zero state to a logical one state. The write assist circuit also receives a boost signal to assist the write drivers in transitioning the bit lines from a logical one state to a logical zero state.
US09177632B2	Method and apparatus for calibrating write timing in a memory system A system that calibrates timing relationships between signals involved in performing write operations is described. This system includes a memory controller which is coupled to a set of memory chips, wherein each memory chip includes a phase detector configured to calibrate a phase relationship between a data-strobe signal and a clock signal received at the memory chip from the memory controller during a write operation. Furthermore, the memory controller is configured to perform one or more write-read-validate operations to calibrate a clock-cycle relationship between the data-strobe signal and the clock signal, wherein the write-read-validate operations involve varying a delay on the data-strobe signal relative to the clock signal by a multiple of a clock period.
US09177628B2	Semiconductor device with low voltage programming/erasing operations An array configuration capable of supplying a necessary and sufficient current in a small area is achieved and a reference cell configuration suitable to temperature characteristics of a TMR element is achieved. In a memory using inversion of spin transfer switching, a plurality of program drivers are arranged separately along one global bit line, and one sense amplifier is provided to one global bit line. A reference cell to which “1” and “0” are programmed is shared by two arrays and a sense amplifier.
US09177625B2	Semiconductor chip, semiconductor integrated circuit including the semiconductor chip, semiconductor system including the semiconductor integrated circuit and method of driving the semiconductor system A semiconductor system including a semiconductor integrated circuit or a semiconductor chip, and a method of driving the semiconductor system are described. The semiconductor integrated circuit includes a plurality of semiconductor chips, at least one first chip through via suitable for penetrating through the plurality of semiconductor chips and interfacing a source ID code between the plurality of semiconductor chips, a plurality of second chip through vias suitable for penetrating through the plurality of semiconductor chips and interfacing a plurality of chip selection signals between the plurality of semiconductor chips, wherein the semiconductor chip uses one of chip selection signals as an internal chip selection signal in response to a chip ID code by selecting one of a unique ID code for the semiconductor chip and an alternative ID code for a preset semiconductor chip when the semiconductor chip fails.
US09177622B2	Supply independent delayer Electronic apparatus, systems, and methods can include a delayer having an inverter chain, where each inverter of the chain can be operatively regulated using current generators to control variation of the delay time of the delayer. In various embodiments, current generators can be arranged to provide reference voltages to each inverter stage of an inverter chain. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
US09177619B2	Semiconductor device having hierarchical bit line structure A semiconductor device is disclosed which comprises first and second local bit lines coupled to a plurality of memory cells arranged in first and second areas, respectively, a differential type local sense amplifier amplifying a voltage difference between the first and second local bit lines, a global bit line arranged in an extending direction of the first and second local bit lines, and first and second switches controlling electrical connections between the first and second local bit lines and the global bit line, respectively.
US09177618B2	Semiconductor memory apparatus A semiconductor memory apparatus includes a bank; a temperature sensor configured to generate a temperature voltage of which voltage level is changed according to a temperature variation of the bank; and a timing control block configured to control a timing of a signal to be inputted to the bank, according to the voltage level of the temperature voltage.
US09177617B2	Methods circuits apparatuses and systems for providing current to a non-volatile memory array and non-volatile memory devices produced accordingly Disclosed are methods, circuits, apparatuses and systems for providing power to a dynamic load such as a non-volatile memory array. According to embodiments, a voltage source may be adapted to generate and output a supply current at substantially a target voltage through a regulating transistor whose channel is in series between an output terminal of said charge pump and an input terminal of said NVM array. A discharge circuit branch coupled to an output terminal of the regulating transistor may be adapted to drain away current from the regulating transistor output terminal when a voltage at the regulating transistor output terminal exceeds a first defined threshold voltage. A bulk regulating circuit branch coupled to a bulk of the regulating transistor may be adapted to reduce a bulk-voltage of the regulating transistor when a voltage at the regulating transistor output terminal exceeds a defined threshold voltage.
US09177613B2	Semiconductor device Provided is a semiconductor device including gate structures provided on a substrate, a separation insulating layer interposed between the gate structures, and a plurality of cell pillars connected to the substrate through each gate structure. Each gate structure may include horizontal electrodes vertically stacked on the substrate, and an interval between adjacent ones of the cell pillars is non-uniform.
US09177612B2	Smart bridge for memory core An apparatus includes a semiconductor device that includes a multi-ported three-dimensional (3D) memory. The multi-ported 3D memory includes multiple memory cells arranged in multiple physical levels above a substrate. The multi-ported 3D memory includes circuitry associated with operation of the multiple memory cells.
US09177611B2	Smart bridge for memory core An apparatus includes a first semiconductor device including a three-dimensional (3D) memory. The 3D memory includes multiple memory cells arranged in multiple physical levels above a substrate. The 3D memory further includes circuitry associated with operation of the multiple memory cells. The apparatus includes a second semiconductor device coupled to the first semiconductor device. The second semiconductor device includes a charge pump, and the 3D memory does not include a charge pump.
US09177610B2	Smart bridge for memory core An apparatus includes a semiconductor device including a three-dimensional (3D) memory. The 3D memory includes multiple memory cells arranged in multiple physical levels above a substrate. The 3D memory includes circuitry associated with operation of the multiple memory cells and includes a differential signaling interface.
US09177609B2	Smart bridge for memory core An apparatus includes a first memory die including a first memory core, a second memory die including a second memory core, and a periphery die coupled to the first memory die and to the second memory die. The periphery die includes periphery circuitry corresponding to the first memory core and periphery circuitry corresponding to the second memory core. The periphery die is responsive to a memory controller and configured to initiate a first memory operation at the first memory core and a second memory operation at the second memory core.
US09177606B2	Multi-program playback status display Various arrangements are described that may cause a recording of a television channel to be stored. The recording of the television channel may include a plurality of television programs. A graphical playback status element may be displayed via a display device. The graphical playback status element may indicate a start point for each television program of the plurality of television programs within the recording of the television channel.
US09177605B2	Recording of multiple television channels A first user interface may be presented comprising a single selection option that enables recording of multiple television channels. A first user input, in response to the first user interface may be received enabling the option for recording of the multiple television channels. Data indicating a time period during which a television channel of the multiple television channels is to be recorded may be received from a television service provider. A record timer for the television channel of the multiple television channels may be set based on the user input enabling recording of multiple television channels and the data indicating the time period. The television channel of the multiple television channels may be recorded based on the record timer.
US09177604B2	Media content for a mobile media device Various embodiments enable a user of a mobile media device to select one or more channels to load onto the device. Each channel comprises a collection of media content files, such as video content, audio content, and so on. Each collection of media content files can be associated with a particular genre (or genres) of media content. A channel can be managed such that its collection of media content can be rearranged, augmented, and/or otherwise edited to produce a refreshed version of the channel. A user's interaction with content within a channel can be monitored to produce behavior data about the user. The behavior data can be used to customize the playback of a particular channel to reflect user preferences. The behavior data can also be used to produce channels that are custom tuned for the user and can be used to produce a customized version of a mobile media device.
US09177597B2	Disk storage apparatus and method for managing storage area According to one embodiment, a disk storage apparatus includes a disk having a storage area, a storage device storing management information, and a controller. The storage area includes a plurality of areas. The management information includes information indicative of a use priority or rank of each of the areas. The information indicative of the use priority or rank is set based on a quality index relating to a read operation or a write operation. The controller selects an area which is high in the use priority or rank and is usable, by referring to the management information, and executes the write operation on the selected area.
US09177595B2	Magnetic disk drive device, magnetic disk assembly and methods of forming the same A magnetic disk drive device for rotary driving a magnetic disk may be provided. The magnetic disk drive device may include a drive motor for rotary driving the magnetic disk. The drive motor may include a motor hub which has motor hub support portion with a screw-type motor hub engaging portion, and a motor hub support surface for supporting the magnetic disk. The magnetic disk drive device may also include a clamp disk including a clamp disk support portion with a screw-type clamp disk engaging portion complementary to the motor hub engaging portion, and a clamp disk support surface for supporting the magnetic disk.
US09177594B2	Metal alloys for the reflective or the semi-reflective layer of an optical storage medium A silver-based magnesium alloy thin film is provided for the semi-reflective coating layer of optical discs. This alloy has moderate to high reflectivity and reasonable corrosion resistance in the ambient environment.
US09177593B2	Image archive disc Method and apparatus for storing archive images to a substrate, such as a rotatable optical disc. In some embodiments, the substrate stores a plurality of archived images in a human detectable form on a surface of the substrate and further stores control data associated with the archived images to facilitate optical recovery of said human detectable images from the surface.
US09177591B2	Focus controlling method and optical disk drive using the focus controlling method An apparatus and method control a disk drive servo, and more particularly, an apparatus and method control a servo when moving between layers of a disk in a multi-layered disk drive. A focus controlling method, as an example of the servo controlling method, includes the operations of performing aberration correction according to a change of a recording layer of a disk from a currently accessed recording layer to a recording layer desired to be accessed, and changing the value of a parameter set that determines characteristics of signals for use in servo control of an optical disk drive, according to an aberration correction amount that is used during the aberration correction.
US09177589B2	Magnetic recording medium and a method of manufacturing the same A magnetic recording medium having magnetic dots that can achieve high density recording is disclosed. The magnetic recording medium comprises at least an underlayer, a magnetic recording layer, and a protective layer sequentially laminated on a nonmagnetic substrate. The underlayer is composed of ruthenium or an alloy of mainly ruthenium and has an undulating structure formed with ridge lines in a predetermined pitch on the surface of the underlayer. The magnetic recording layer contains at least ferromagnetic crystal grains and a nonmagnetic component. Magnetic dots composed of crystal grains with a grain size not smaller than 4 nm in the magnetic recording layer are aligned on a surface of the underlayer along the ridge line, and each of the magnetic dots s separated by the nonmagnetic component from each other. A simple manufacturing method for this medium also is disclosed.
US09177588B2	Recessed IRMN reader process The embodiments of the present invention relate to a method for forming a magnetic read head with pinned layers extending to the ABS of the read head and magnetically coupled with an antiferromagnetic layer that is recessed in relation to the ABS of the read head. Portions of the antiferromagnetic layer and a magnetic layer that are extending to the ABS are removed, exposing a shield. A shielding material is formed on the exposed shield and a seed layer is formed on the shield and on or over a portion of the remaining antiferromagnetic layer. A pinned layer structure is formed on the seed layer and the magnetic layer.
US09177580B1	Tape drive with head assembly having dual offset devices A recording head assembly that includes two side-by-side and separately actuated heads. To increase tape capacity while controlling tape mis-registration, write elements are provided in two subsets with a first subset provided on a first of the two heads and a second subset provided on the second of the two heads. The two subsets are offset a distance along the direction of travel for a tape (or horizontal offset) while the two subsets of write elements are also offset along the longitudinal axes of the heads (or bumps on the heads) such that a first subset acts as the upper half of the write element set and a second subset acts as the lower half of the write element set. The subsets of write elements simultaneously writes data, and a similar arrangement can be provided for two subsets of read elements that are aligned with the write elements.
US09177576B2	Giant magneto resistive sensor and method for making same A disk drive includes a disk including a magnetizable layer of material, and a transducer. The transducer has a read element that includes a first shield layer, a pinned layer, a metallic spacer, an AP (anti-parallel) free layer, and a second shield layer. The pinned layer has a surface area which is greater than the area of the AP free layer. The read element also includes an anti-ferromagnetic layer for substantially fixing the magnetic orientation of a plurality of domains in the pinned layer. The ferromagnetic layer is adjacent the pinned layer. The pinned layer, and the anti-ferromagnetic layer both have surface areas which are greater than the area associated with the AP free layer. The anti-ferromagnetic layer, in one embodiment, has a pinning strength in the range of 0.5 erg/cm2 to 1.5 erg/cm2.
US09177572B2	Thermally-assisted magnetic recording method The thermally-assisted magnetic recording method is a method to perform information recording on a magnetic recording medium by a thermally-assisted magnetic recording head having a magnetic pole and a heating element, and the method includes: performing annealing treatment of the heating element through applying first energy to the heating element and heating the heating element; and performing information recording to a predetermined recording region of the magnetic recording medium after the annealing treatment. The information recording is performed through rotating the magnetic recording medium as well as floating the thermally-assisted magnetic recording head above the magnetic recording medium, and applying second energy to the heating element to heat a predetermined recording region of the magnetic recording medium as well as applying a write magnetic field from the magnetic pole to the predetermined recording region.
US09177565B2	Optimized architecture for streaming audio applications Methods and systems for processing data disclosed herein includes, in a transceiver chip comprising at least one on-chip processor, compressing, by the at least one on-chip processor, audio information received by the transceiver chip. The compressing utilizes an on-chip audio codec implemented within said at least one on-chip processor. The at least one on-chip processor determined, within said transceiver chip, a frame size of at least one audio frame comprising the compressed audio information.
US09177561B2	Systems and methods for reconstructing an audio signal from transformed audio information A system and method may be configured to reconstruct an audio signal from transformed audio information. The audio signal may be resynthesized based on individual harmonics and corresponding pitches determined from the transformed audio information. Noise may be subtracted from the transformed audio information by interpolating across peak points and across trough points of harmonic pitch paths through the transformed audio information, and subtracting values associated with the trough point interpolations from values associated with the peak point interpolations. Noise between harmonics of the sound may be suppressed in the transformed audio information by centering functions at individual harmonics in the transformed audio information, the functions serving to suppress noise between the harmonics.
US09177557B2	Singular value decomposition for improved voice recognition in presence of multi-talker background noise A system and method for providing speech recognition functionality offers improved accuracy and robustness in noisy environments having multiple speakers. The described technique includes receiving speech energy and converting the received speech energy to a digitized form. The digitized speech energy is decomposed into features that are then projected into a feature space having multiple speaker subspaces. The projected features fall either into one of the multiple speaker subspaces or outside of all speaker subspaces. A speech recognition operation is performed on a selected one of the multiple speaker subspaces to resolve the utterance to a command or data.
US09177555B2	System and method for audible text center subsystem A system, method, and computer-readable storage device for sending a spoken message as a text message. The method includes receiving from a subscriber a spoken message and spoken disambiguating information indicating how to deliver the spoken message to a recipient. The method further includes converting the spoken message to text and communicating the text to the recipient address. The method can also include determining a recipient address for the recipient based on spoken disambiguating information.
US09177546B2	Cloud based adaptive learning for distributed sensors A low power sound recognition sensor is configured to receive an analog signal that may contain a signature sound. Sound parameter information is extracted from the analog signal and compared to a sound parameter reference stored locally with the sound recognition sensor to detect when the signature sound is received in the analog signal. A trigger signal is generated when a signature sound is detected. A portion of the extracted sound parameter information is sent to a remote training location for adaptive training when a signature sound detection error occurs. An updated sound parameter reference from the remote training location is received in response to the adaptive training.
US09177542B2	Motor vehicle adaptive feed-forward noise reduction A system, device and method that is configured to operate an active noise reduction system for a motor vehicle, where there is an adaptive feed-forward noise reduction system input sine wave at a frequency to be cancelled, and where the adaptive feed-forward noise reduction system includes an adaptive filter that outputs noise reduction signals that are used to drive one or more transducers with their outputs directed to reduce engine noise, and further includes an input transducer with an output signal that is a source of a control signal for the adaptive filter. The output signal of the input transducer is filtered before it reaches the adaptive filter so as to reduce the level of the output signal of the input transducer at one or more frequencies that are close to the frequency of the input sine wave.
US09177538B2	Channel-mapped MIDI learn mode Embodiments of the invention include systems and methods for inferential generation of virtual sequencer controls in a MIDI sequencer to automate functionality of physical or virtual controls of MIDI instruments. MIDI source data from a song or a live feed is analyzed to determine a sequence of MIDI control commands from which a set of virtual sequencer controls can be automatically inferred without manual generation or configuration of the virtual control. The virtual sequencer controls are generated to automate a corresponding MIDI instrument control. Some embodiments provide functionality, including generation and handling of clone controls, use of virtual sequencer controls as slave and/or translation controls, and handling of after-click control information through a virtual synthesizers and the like.
US09177533B2	Virtual surface compaction Virtual surface update and composition techniques are described. These techniques support the use of initialization and batching of updates, use of updates and lookaside lists, use of gutters, blending and BLT operations, use of surface optimization techniques such as push down as well as enumeration and clumping, mesh usage, and use of occlusion management techniques.
US09177528B2	Screen inspection device, screen inspection method, and program A combination selecting unit (20) creates a plurality of element combinations of which each is a combination of two display elements, and selects element combinations in which a distance between two display elements is a threshold value or less. A combination classifying unit (30) selects element combinations, in which any one of color difference, saturation difference, brightness difference, and both brightness and saturation of a color combination of two display elements exceed respective predetermined threshold values, from the element combinations. Then, the combination classifying unit (30) calculates an appearance ratio for each color combination. The appearance ratio is a ratio of the number of the element combinations belonging to the color combination to the total number of the element combinations created by the combination selecting unit (20). A screen determination unit (40) determines that the screen data in which the sum of the appearance ratios exceeds a threshold value has an undesirable color combination which makes the user feel fatigue or discomfort.
US09177525B2	Image display system A method of configuring an image for data storage on a storage device in an overlapping-tiled format and a method of displaying a desired image selected for viewing on a display are disclosed. The method of configuring an image for data storage includes formatting an image to include a plurality of image tiles, each image tile in the plurality of image tiles having at least a portion that is substantially identical to at least a portion of an adjacent image tile in the plurality of image tiles. The method further includes converting data of the image from data in a first color space into data in a second color space so as to reduce a size of the data of the image, and storing the image data in the second color space.
US09177515B2	Liquid crystal display and 3D imaging apparatus and operating methods thereof Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), 3D imaging apparatus and operating methods thereof are disclosed. The operating method for the disclosed LCD includes the steps of: driving a pixel array of the LCD to display a frame of data by a first frame scan and a second frame scan; and, controlling a backlight module of the LCD in accordance with the first frame scan and the second frame scan. In the first frame scan, the scan lines of pixel array are driven in groups, wherein, in each group, all rows corresponding thereto are driven by identical data. The rows which have not been driven by correct data in the first frame scan are driven again and corrected in the second frame scan.
US09177514B2	Image display apparatus and image display method An image display apparatus operates in field sequence mode which effectively reduces the generation of color break. A color break strength calculating unit determines a color break strength that indicates the noticeability of the generation of the color break. A light-source signal generating unit controls each light source so that as the color break strength of a color mixed component having the highest color break strength is higher, the color mixed component is contained more in light output from a light-source unit during the extension subframe period. If there is present a first pixel region as an area including one or more pixel formation regions where an image containing the component of interest is displayed, the color break strength of the component of interest increases more as a magnitude of the component of interest is larger in the first pixel region.
US09177513B2	Electroluminescent display where each pixel can emit light of any EIA color index A display system, having an emissive body, varying light emitted from the surface in a way that each area becomes a pixel. The emissive body can be a FIPEL type device. Light can be both color varied and also color temperature controlled. The light color is changed by changing a frequency used to drive the body. Multiplexers can be used to reduce the number of generators needed.
US09177510B2	Driving method for irradiating colors of a liquid crystal display device In the first range of a screen, an image signal is input to a plurality of pixels arranged in the first region, and next an image signal is input to a plurality of pixels arranged in the second region that is adjacent to one side of the first region, and light of the first color is delivered every time the input of the image signal is finished. Further, in the second range, an image signal is input to a plurality of pixels arranged in a fourth region; next, an image signal is input to a plurality of pixels arranged in a third region adjacent to the other side of the fourth region, and light of a second color is delivered every time the input of the image signal is finished.
US09177506B2	Display apparatus, driving method thereof, and electronic system A display apparatus includes: a pixel array section including a row of scanning lines, a column of signal lines, and pixels in a matrix, each of the pixels disposed at an intersection of both of the lines; and a drive section. The drive section performs line progressive scanning on the pixels. The pixel includes a light emitting device, a sampling transistor, a driving transistor, a switching transistor, and a holding capacitor. The sampling transistor samples a video signal in the holding capacitor, the driving transistor changes the device to a luminous state, the switching transistor becomes ON in advance of the sampling of the video signal to change the light emitting device to a non-luminous state, and the sampling transistor takes in the OFF voltage from the signal line to the driving transistor, thereby preventing a penetration current from flowing from the power source toward the fixed potential.
US09177499B2	Method and system for prediction of gamma characteristics for a display A method and system for gamma adjustment for average power level dependency displays includes applying gamma controlled functions over a range of values at a plurality of average power levels (APLs) for a display. The gamma controlled functions include coefficients for reconstruction of the gamma controlled functions. Upon a change to an APL, interpolation is performed between the coefficients to predict a new gamma controlled function for the new APL.
US09177497B2	Method for testing LCD panel A method for testing an LCD panel is proposed. The method includes: dividing a scanning period into a first sub-period and a second sub-period; in the first sub-period, inputting a first scanning signal to a first set of scan lines, inputting a first testing signal to a first set of data lines, and inputting a second testing signal to a second set of data lines; and in the second sub-period, inputting a second scanning signal to a second set of scan lines, inputting a first scanning signal to a first set of scan lines, inputting a second testing signal to a first set of data lines, and inputting a first testing signal to a second set of data lines. By using the procedure, the present invention uses the testing method in the cell process to test the image blur phenomenon. This can improve the testing ability and raise the yield.
US09177496B2	Matrix addressed display system The present invention relates to the monitoring and correction of display errors in a matrix addressed display system. The display system comprises a graphics system, a display module and a display fault handling system including a memory. The display module has a matrix addressed electro-optical array of display elements, the display elements being arranged in rows and columns and having corresponding row and column circuit lines. The graphics system generates display data and sends this to the display module in order to activate using row and column circuit lines each of the display elements and thereby display visual information to a user of the system based on the display data. The display fault handling system is used to monitor over a period of time at least one electrical parameter of a plurality these circuit lines and determine whether or not a display error has occurred.
US09177490B2	Foldable display A display may include a body having a first peripheral edge, a second peripheral edge, a third peripheral edge, and a fourth peripheral edge, the body may further include a first fold line defining a first panel and a second panel, a second fold line defining a first flap, a third fold line defining a second flap, a first notch disposed along the first or the second peripheral edge between the first fold line and the second fold line, and a second notch disposed along the first or the second peripheral edge between the first fold line and the third fold line, wherein, when folded, the third peripheral edge is aligned within the first notch and the fourth peripheral edge is aligned within the second notch to define an angle between the first panel and the second panel.
US09177488B2	Method, system and program product for securing data written to a storage device coupled to a computer system A method, system and program product for securing data written to a storage device coupled to a computer system. The method includes providing a detachable data security key device for controlling access to data written to a storage within a computer system and attaching the security key device to the computer system for enabling access to the data written to the storage. Further, the method includes detaching the security key device from the computer system for disabling access to the data written to the storage, wherein removal of the security key device from the computer system renders the data written to the storage unreadable. In an embodiment, the security key device includes an encryption key module coupled to the security key device for encrypting the data written to the storage and includes a decryption key module coupled to the security key device for decrypting the data written to the storage.
US09177484B2	Apparatus and method of supporting communication and performance among a group of musicians An electronic music display and methods of using the same are disclosed. In one embodiment, the electronic music display comprises a display configured to display one or more pages of a music file, a first indicator imposed on a page of the music file to guide a user to issue a user command to display a next page, a receiver configured to receive the user command to display the next page wirelessly from a remote controller, and a controller configured to display the next page in response to the user command received is within a predetermined duration.
US09177480B2	Schedule management system and method for managing air traffic A system and method to improve efficiency in aircraft maneuvers meant to accommodate time-related constraints in air traffic. Information related to flight performance and atmospheric conditions is gathered onboard an aircraft, then transmitted to an air traffic control center. In the event of a delay or any other event which necessitates an alteration in an aircraft trajectory, the data is sent to a decision support tool to compute and provide alternative trajectories, preferably including operator-preferred trajectories, within air traffic constraints. Air traffic controllers can then offer an alternative trajectory to an aircraft that is more efficient, cost effective, and/or preferable to the aircraft operator.
US09177473B2	Vehicle arrival prediction using multiple data sources including passenger bus arrival prediction A system, method and computer program product for estimating a vehicle arrival time. The system receives information representing prior travel times of vehicles between pre-determined vehicle stops along a vehicle route. The system receives real-time data representing a current journey. The current journey refers to a movement of a vehicle currently traveling along the route. The system calculates a regular trend representing the current journey based on the received prior travel times information and the received real-time data. The system computes a deviation from the regular trend in the current journey. The system determines a future traffic status in subsequent vehicle stops in the current journey. The system estimates, for the vehicle, each arrival time of each subsequent vehicle stop based on the calculated regular trend, the computed deviation and the determined future traffic status.
US09177461B2	Portable fluid level alarm system A portable solar-powered fluid level alarm system which uses a fluid level sensor electrically connected to electronic controls in a control box. The control box is mounted on an elongated member extending from a base which holds the system upright. The electronic controls within the control box operate up to four different alarms, including an audio alarm, a visual alarm, a remote notification signal via a global positioning system (“GPS”), and a remote notification signal via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The alarm system is also a keyed system so that once an alarm sounds only authorized personnel may deactivate it.
US09177458B1	Condition responsive indication assembly and method A communications assembly includes a central processing unit and a plurality of portable communication assemblies. The central processing unit transmits central signals and for receiving remote communications from the portable communications assemblies. The portable communications assemblies are operatively connected to the central processing unit transmit the remote communications and receive the central communications. A communications hub is operatively connected between the central processing unit and each of the portable communications assemblies to control independent communication between the central processing unit and the portable communications assemblies. The central processing unit includes an incident identification module for receiving the remote communications and for identifying a portion of the remote communications from a portion of the portable communications assemblies as indicating a situation requiring a communication to be sent to the portion of the portable communications assemblies. The portion may include one or more than one portable communications assembly.
US09177451B2	Mobile device as point of transaction for in-store purchases Systems, methods and computer programs provide for implementing a mobile communication device, such as a smart telephone or the like, as a point of transaction for in-store purchases, such that all a customer needs to do is capture the coded indicia of products they desire (i.e., scan the products) with their mobile communication device as they shop and the purchase transaction will subsequently occur based on either the customer (in possession of the mobile communication device) being physically located in a designated area of the store or the lapse of a predetermined period of time from when the coded indicia was captured.
US09177450B2	Media handler protection The present invention provides a method of preventing unauthorized access into a media item dispenser module. The present invention also provides a media item dispenser module comprising a dispensing slot for presenting at least one media item to a user, and a moveable member moveable between a distal position and a proximal position respectively distal and proximal to the dispensing slot, wherein the moveable member prevents unauthorized access into the media item dispenser module via the dispensing slot when in the proximal position.
US09177446B2	Gaming system A gaming system includes a control unit. A plurality of gaming machines are linked to the control unit. An identifier is associated with one of each player and each gaming machine, the identifier providing an indication to the control unit whether or not the player wishes to participate in a cooperative gaming environment. The control unit monitors operation of the gaming machines in the cooperative gaming environment and, each time any one of a number of predetermined elements of the cooperative gaming environment changes, generating a milestone and using the milestone so that no one player in the cooperative gaming environment benefits at the expense of the other players participating in the cooperative gaming environment.
US09177445B2	Tournament gaming systems and administration server Various embodiments are directed to gaming systems, gaming devices, and methods for presenting tournament games. According to one embodiment, a tournament gaming system, includes a plurality of gaming machines connected to a network, a tournament administration server, a tournament session server, a session service, and a session database. The tournament session server uses message stream classes and acts as a link between the tournament administration server and the gaming machines. Additionally, the tournament session server registers with the tournament administration server, wherein upon successful registration, the tournament administration server sends tournament messages to gaming machines via the tournament session server. The session service includes transport libraries. Preferably, the transport libraries use pre-configured socket ports for communication, and the session service registers with the libraries to send and receive messages to gaming machines. Typically, the session database is operable for data storage.
US09177444B2	Gaming system, gaming device and method providing tiered progressive bonusing system The gaming system and method disclosed herein provides a plurality of players with an opportunity to win a plurality of progressive awards maintained by the gaming system. The gaming system accumulates a quantity of progressive event points for each player playing at one of the gaming machines in the gaming system. In one embodiment, the gaming system uses an accumulated quantity of progressive event points for a designated player to determine which one or more of the progressive awards the designated player wins. In another embodiment, the gaming system uses an accumulated quantity of progressive event points to determine the designated player's probability of winning one or more of the progressive awards. Accordingly, the gaming system provides a point-based system in which either a progressive award to win or a probability of winning a progressive award is determined based on the quantities of progressive event points accumulated by the players.
US09177443B2	Multi-player bingo game with progressive jackpots Methods and gaming units for conducting a wagering game and an associated progressive jackpot in a gaming network having a plurality of operatively coupled gaming units are described. A progressive jackpot award amount may be determined in part based on the amount of the player's wager for the occurrence of the wagering game in relation to a maximum wager amount that may be made on one of the gaming units in the gaming network. The progressive jackpot pool may include a main pool and a reserve pool. Portions of players' wagers being added to the progressive jackpot pool may be apportioned between the main pool and the reserve pool based on calculation performed at the gaming network, with the apportionment being at least partially determined by the amount in the main pool.
US09177437B2	Localized remote gaming A gaming machine, such as a video slot or video poker machine, may be configured to provide both in-person and remote play. A command from a remote client device is provided to the gaming machine to initiate a round of gameplay. A result of the gameplay is communicated back to the client device.
US09177432B2	Apparatus for checking banknotes An apparatus for checking bank notes in a bank note processing machine includes at least one sensor. The sensor is arranged to determine the information characterizing the bank notes to be checked and is connected to a bending resistant carrier via a first adhesive layer. The bending resistant carrier is further connected to a component of the apparatus for checking bank notes and/or directly with the bank note processing machine via a second, permanently elastic adhesive layer.
US09177428B2	Predictive diagnostic method There is provided a method of predicting defects likely to occur in a vehicle over a predetermined period. The method includes receiving vehicle characteristic data regarding a vehicle under consideration, and comparing the received vehicle characteristic data with a defect database. The defect database includes information related to defects that have occurred in different vehicles and the mileage at which such defects occurred. The method additionally includes identifying defects that occurred in vehicles corresponding to use vehicle under consideration, and the mileage at which such defects occurred. Detects which fail to satisfy minimum count requirements are then filtered out, and the defects are then sorted in order of the highest defect count.
US09177427B1	Vehicle driver feedback device The disclosure relates generally to an in-vehicle feedback system, and more particularly, to an in-vehicle device with a display or graphical interface that collects driving data and provides feedback based on the driving data. The system may comprise an in-vehicle device that includes a graphical user interface and a processor and a data collection device wirelessly connected to the in-vehicle device. The in-vehicle device may be configured to receive vehicle telematics data from the data collection device and the processor may process the telematics data in real time and cause the telematics data to be displayed on the graphical user interface. The graphical user interface may include a speed display and an acceleration display.
US09177426B2	Apparatus for tracking and recording vital signs and task-related information of a vehicle to identify operating patterns An apparatus is provided for diagnosing the state of health of a vehicle and for providing the operator of the vehicle with a substantially real-time indication of the efficiency of the vehicle in performing an assigned task with respect to a predetermined goal. A processor on-board the vehicle monitors sensors that provide information regarding the state of health of the vehicle and the amount of work the vehicle has done. In response to anomalies in the data from the sensors, the processor records information that describes events leading up to the occurrence of the anomaly for later analysis that can be used to diagnose the cause of the anomaly. The sensors are also used to prompt the operator of the vehicle to operate the vehicle at optimum efficiency.
US09177419B2	Advection of UV texture maps in fluid flows A simulation application models a surface of a fluid in motion. The simulation application selects a mesh point from a plurality of mesh points that is associated with the surface of the fluid. The simulation application retrieves a first texture element from a set of uv texture maps, and attaches a first displacement value to the mesh point based on the first texture element. The simulation application advects the first displacement value over a first duration represented by a first quantity of image frames such that the first displacement value remains attached to the mesh point as the plurality of mesh points moves in response to a motion of the fluid.
US09177416B2	Space skipping for multi-dimensional image rendering Space skipping for multi-dimensional image rendering is described. In an embodiment a ray-casting engine is used to form a two dimensional image from an at least three dimensional image volume by computing rays extending from a camera location, through the two dimensional image and into the volume. For example, a space skipping logic is used to clip the rays such that computationally expensive aspects of ray-casting only need to be performed along the clipped rays. For example a volume pyramid is formed by repeatedly reducing the resolution of the volume data. In an example, each ray is intersected with the lowest resolution volume of the pyramid and clipped using data from that volume. In examples, the clipping is then repeated at higher resolutions in order to clip the ray closely to non-transparent voxels in the volume and optimize the task of rendering the image.
US09177415B2	Methods of and apparatus for encoding and decoding data When encoding an array of texture data elements to be used in a graphics processing system, the array of texture data elements is divided into a plurality of non-rectangular sub-sets of texture data elements, and each non-rectangular sub-set of texture data elements that the texture has been divided into is then encoded to generate an encoded texture data block representing that non-rectangular sub-set of the texture data elements, to thereby provide a set of encoded texture data blocks representing the texture.
US09177414B2	Apparatus and method for rendering point cloud using voxel grid A method for rendering point cloud using a voxel grid, includes generating bounding box including all the point cloud and dividing the generated bounding box into voxels to make the voxel grid; and allocating at least one texture plane to each of the voxels of the voxel grid. Further, the method includes orthogonally projecting points within the voxel to the allocated texture planes to generate texture images; and rendering each voxel of the voxel grid by selecting one of the texture planes within the voxel by using central position of the voxel and the 3D camera position and rendering using the texture images corresponding to the selected texture plane.
US09177412B2	Techniques for multiple pass rendering Techniques for multiple pass rendering include receiving vertex data for one or more objects to be enhanced. Parameters in a display list may be determined using the vertex data. Multiple pixel rendering passes may be run using the parameters in the display list. An enhanced depiction of the one or more objects may be rendered based on the multiple pixel rendering passes. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09177409B2	Animating a virtual object within a virtual world A method of animating a virtual object within a virtual world, wherein the virtual object comprises a plurality of object parts, wherein for a first object part there is one or more associated second object parts, the method comprising: at an animation update step: specifying a target frame in the virtual world; and applying control to the first object part, wherein the control is arranged such that the application of the control in isolation to the first object part would cause a movement of the first object part in the virtual world that reduces a difference between a control frame and the target frame, the control frame being a frame at a specified position and orientation in the virtual world relative to the first object part, wherein applying control to the first object part comprises moving the one or more second object parts within the virtual world to compensate for the movement of the first object part in the virtual world caused by applying the control to the first object part.
US09177406B2	Image mosaicing utilizing motion of scene content between successive images It is provided a method implemented by an electronic device for image mosaicing. The method comprises providing a mosaic and an image, wherein the mosaic and the image each represent at least part of a scene. The method also comprises estimating a motion of blocks of the image, wherein the motion of a given block of a given image represents how the scene content of the given block has moved during a time interval before taking the given image. The method then comprises integrating part of the image to the mosaic according to the estimation. Such a method improves the way of performing image mosaicing.
US09177403B2	Methods and apparatus for overlaying electronic marking information on facilities map information and/or other image information displayed on a marking device A marking device for a marking operation to mark a presence or an absence of one or more underground facilities is configured to access and display facilities map information, and/or other image information, as a visual aid to facilitate the marking operation. In various aspects, methods and apparatus relate to: selection of a “base” facilities map, or information from a database of facilities map data, relating to a given work site/dig area; selection of a pan and/or zoom (resolution) for displaying facilities map information; updating displayed facilities map information while a marking device is used during a marking operation (e.g. changing pan, zoom and/or orientation); overlaying on the displayed facilities map information marking information and/or landmark information relating to the marking operation; and storing locally on the marking device, and/or transmitting from the marking device, facilities map information and/or overlaid marking/landmark information (e.g., for further processing, analysis and/or subsequent display).
US09177402B2	Display wall layout optimization The present invention provides a system, method, and apparatus for optimally determining, for a layout of windows on a display wall of a display system, the quality of display content to display in each window without exceeding system resources. The display system receives display content from at least one source, at least one of the at least one source providing display content at multiple qualities. Displaying display content uses system resources, and displaying high quality display content uses more system resources than displaying low quality display content. A received layout defines an arrangement of windows on the display wall, each window directed to displaying display content from one source. An objective function defines the quality of display content displayed in each window. The objective function is optimized to determine an optimized layout that does not exceed system resources.
US09177398B2	Method and device for supporting fault diagnosis of an industrial installation For supporting fault diagnosis of an industrial installation having a plurality of installation components connected via a pipeline system, provision is made for assigning each installation component to one of a plurality of abstract component types, where a weighted directed component graph is in turn assigned to each component type. A piping and instrumentation flow diagram of the industrial installation is processed component by component proceeding from a start point along a pipeline system. Here, in the case of each installation component, the component graph of the installation component assigned according to the component type is accessed. The individual component graphs are joined together to form a system of weighted directed overall graphs of the industrial installation, the nodes of which are each assigned to a plurality of individual installation components.
US09177397B2	Imaging apparatus The invention relates to an imaging apparatus (31) for imaging an object. A reconstruction unit (12) determines component projection data values, which correspond to, for example, a base material of the object, and reconstructs an image of the object based on the determined component projection data values. A component projection data value, which corresponds to a ray, is determined as a combination of weighted base functions, which depend on energy projection data values of the same ray and the orientation of the same ray. This allows considering a possible dependency of the corresponding decomposition on the orientation of the ray, thereby allowing the imaging apparatus to improve the quality of decomposing the provided energy projection data values into the component projection data values and thus of a finally reconstructed image of the object, which is reconstructed based on the component projection data values.
US09177396B2	Image processing apparatus and image processing method An image processing apparatus uses an edge component of an input image in which a little low-frequency component of a dark part is retained as a luminance signal, synthesizes a large blurring component generated from the input image as a color component, and realizes a taste of natural watercolor paintings in which gradation is not inverted from a bright part to the dark part when a color is placed on a rough line drawing in watercolor-like processing.
US09177394B2	Image processing device A method for processing an electronic document (ED) using a page rendering device (PRD), including: identifying, within the ED, a slide including an animation sequence of a plurality of objects; generating, based on the slide, a first frame lacking the animation sequence and including a first object of the plurality of objects; generating, based on the slide, a second frame lacking the animation sequence and including a second object of the plurality of objects; and placing, by the PRD and during a rendering the ED, the first frame on a first page.
US09177390B2	Optical flow measurement divide Systems and methods may provide for identifying a plurality of areas in an image frame, and using fixed functionality logic to determine phase information for the image frame on an area-by-area basis. Additionally, a programmable processor can be used to identify motion associated with the image frame based at least in part on the phase information.
US09177382B2	Image processing apparatus for forming synthetic image and image processing method for forming synthetic image To provide a solution by which adjustment of the depth display of the image can be easily carried out by the user at will in a technique for forming a 3-D image from plural images, from the plural feed images, one feed image is extracted as the reference feed image, with an object recognition process being carried out to extract the object region having the prescribed characteristic features. The reference feed image IL is displayed on the display unit 108 together with the markers MK indicating the object regions, and the user selects one object region. A region that is similar in image content with the selected region is detected from each other feed image, with the images being shifted so that the regions overlap each other.
US09177380B2	3D video camera using plural lenses and sensors having different resolutions and/or qualities A 3D video camera is provided. The 3D video camera includes a first camera lens for providing a first sensing signal, a second camera lens for providing a second sensing signal, and an image processing unit for receiving the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal to generate a first eye image and a first comparison image to accordingly generate 3D depth information.
US09177376B2	Method for determining the distribution of an imaging agent The present invention relates to a method for determining the distribution of an imaging agent in a volume. The method comprises the acquisition of at least one three-dimensional functional image of the volume; the segmentation of the volume into one or more compartments; the representation of the three-dimensional imaging agent activity from the functional image by the product of a scaling factor and a non-affine transformation of a template imaging agent activity; the calculation of a projected imaging agent activity from the thus represented imaging agent activity on a planar surface; the acquisition of a planar image of the imaging agent activity in the volume; the registration of the projected imaging agent activity with the planar image; the comparison of the acquired planar image with the calculated projected imaging agent activity; and the modification of the representation of the three-dimensional imaging agent activity.
US09177375B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program In one example embodiment, an information processing apparatus, for an observed image associated with an observation target object (e.g., a section of biological tissue), associates and stores position information and observation magnification information. In this embodiment, the information processing apparatus causes a display device to: (i) display an image associated with the observation target object; (ii) indicate the first positional information of the first observed image; and (iii) indicate the first observation magnification information of the first observed image.
US09177373B2	Sample point-based, blob-like, closed-surface delineation approach A method, system, computer program product, and computer readable media for a semi-automated surface extraction approach to delineating an object of interest (OOI) from 3-D medical image data sets. This approach is imaging modality independent and results in enhanced displays of blob-like anatomies, including internal organs (e.g., cardiac chambers, liver) or disease processes (e.g., tumor masses). In an embodiment of the method: (I) the user provides multiple representative points located on the surface of the OOI using a Multi-Planar Reconstruction (MPR) tool; (2) those Cartesian points are translated into polar coordinates (each 3-D point is represented via two angles and a height), which uniquely define the surface points for a radial object, (3) a Radial-Basis Function (RBF) interpolator, with a Thin Plate Spline (TPS) radial function, finds the height function for the polar domain, and (4) polar domain representation of the OOI surface is converted back to Cartesian coordinates.
US09177364B2	Film grain simulation method based on pre-computed transform coefficients Film grain simulation within a receiver occurs by first obtaining at least one block of pre-computed transformed coefficients. The block of pre-computed transformed coefficients undergoes filtering responsive to a frequency range that characterizes a desired pattern of the film grain. In practice, the frequency range lies within a set of cut frequencies fHL, fVL, fHH and fVH of a filter in two dimensions that characterizes a desired film grain pattern. Thereafter, the filtered set of coefficients undergoes an inverse transform to yield the film grain pattern.
US09177359B2	Information processor, cloud platform, information processing method, and computer program product thereof According to one embodiment, an information processor divides input image data for a plurality of information processors so as to perform a super resolution process as a distributed processing. The super resolution process generates a high resolution image based on a plurality of low resolution input images. The information processor includes a division point determining unit, a division processor, and a combination processor. The division point determining unit determines a division point for an input image of a sequence of image frames. The division processor divides, for each of the information processors, the input image at the division point, and allocates each divided input image to each corresponding one of the information processors.
US09177350B1	Systems and methods for facilitating video fingerprinting using local descriptors Systems and methods for facilitating video fingerprinting are provided. In one embodiment, a system can include: a memory, a microprocessor, a communication component that receives a video, and a video fingerprinting component that fingerprints the video with a subfingerprint (SFP). The video fingerprinting component can employ an SFP component stored in the memory and that comprises: a feature extraction component that determines local descriptors for at least one frame of a video; and a quantization component that quantizes the local descriptors to generate first frame information including a set of values for the at least one frame. The SFP component can also include: an accumulation component that accumulates first frame information over a snippet of the video; and an SFP generation component that computes the SFP associated with the snippet. The SFP can be computed based on a hash based on the accumulated first frame information over the snippet.
US09177349B2	Method and system for rating patents and other intangible assets A statistical patent rating method and system is provided for independently assessing the relative breadth (“B”), defensibility (“D”) and commercial relevance (“R”) of individual patent assets and other intangible intellectual property assets. The invention provides new and valuable information that can be used by patent valuation experts, investment advisors, economists and others to help guide future patent investment decisions, licensing programs, patent appraisals, tax valuations, transfer pricing, economic forecasting and planning, and even mediation and/or settlement of patent litigation lawsuits. In one embodiment the invention provides a statistically-based patent rating method and system whereby relative ratings or rankings are generated using a database of patent information by identifying and comparing various characteristics of each individual patent to a statistically determined distribution of the same characteristics within a given patent population. For example, a first population of patents having a known relatively high intrinsic value or quality (e.g. successfully litigated patents) is compared to a second population of patents having a known relatively low intrinsic value or quality (e.g. unsuccessfully litigated patents). Based on a statistical comparison of the two populations, certain characteristics are identified as being more prevalent or more pronounced in one population group or the other to a statistically significant degree. Multiple such statistical comparisons are used to construct and optimize a computer model or computer algorithm that can then be used to predict and/or provide statistically-accurate probabilities of a desired value or quality being present or a future event occurring, given the identified characteristics of an individual patent or group of patents.
US09177348B2	Network system A component in a network system includes an energy consumption component capable of communicating with a home area network and capable of consuming an energy generated from an energy generation unit of a utility area network, and the energy consumption component including at least one control unit to drive the energy consumption component; and a communication module to allow communication between the energy consumption component and an external component constituting the utility area network or the home area network, wherein the communication module is disposed on a path through which a power is supplied to the at least one control unit.
US09177347B2	Group recommendations based on answered questions in a social networking system Based on information associated with users, a social networking system recommends one or more groups for a target user to join or to create. Characteristics of the target user, characteristics of users connected to the target user, characteristics of candidate groups in the social networking system may be used to identify groups for recommendation. The social networking system may provide questions to the target user and recommend a group to the target user based on received answers to the questions. For example, the answers to the provided question identify one or more characteristics of the target user, which are used to select a group for recommendation. Additionally, the social networking system may recommend additional users for the target user to add or invite to a group based on characteristics of the target user, the additional users, and/or the group.
US09177346B2	Facilitating interaction among users of a social network In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a first user action relating to a first topic from a first user, identifying the first topic based on the first user action, identifying one or more second posts that relate to the first topic, and transmitting to the first user one or more of the second posts or information associated with the second posts in a structured document for display to the first user, the structured document further comprising one or more interactive elements that enable the first user to interact with the one or more second posts or to respective second users that declared the second posts.
US09177345B1	One-to-many electronic signature process Aspects of the invention include methods and systems for electronically signing a plurality of documents, such as an insurance application, a loan application, a set of mortgage papers, a bank application, or the like. A customer, or multiple customers, electronically submits the signature once and the customer's one signature is applied to all of the areas where the customer signature is required. The electronic signature may include initials and/or a graphical representation of the customer's handwritten signature. Aspects of the invention include an apparatus comprising a display, a memory, and a processor coupled to the memory and programmed with computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform a method for electronically signing a plurality of documents.
US09177344B1	Trend data clustering In various embodiments, systems, methods, and techniques are disclosed for generating a collection of clusters of related data from a seed. Seeds may be generated based on seed generation strategies or rules. Clusters may be generated by, for example, retrieving a seed, adding the seed to a first cluster, retrieving a clustering strategy or rules, and adding related data and/or data entities to the cluster based on the clustering strategy. Various cluster scores may be generated based on attributes of data in a given cluster. Further, cluster metascores may be generated based on various cluster scores associated with a cluster. Clusters may be ranked based on cluster metascores. Various embodiments may enable an analyst to discover various insights related to data clusters, and may be applicable to various tasks including, for example, tax fraud detection, beaconing malware detection, malware user-agent detection, and/or activity trend detection, among various others.
US09177343B2	Conservation dependencies Given a set of data for which a conservation law is an appropriate characterization, “hold” and/or “fail” tableaux are provided for the underlying conservation law, thereby providing a conservation dependency whereby portions of the data for which the law approximately holds or fails can be discovered and summarized in a semantically meaningful way.
US09177342B2	Method and apparatus for generating an order for purchase A method and apparatus for use by a buyer for a store includes a software application computer that is provided to the buyer at a buyer show. The application displays product features and pricing information and receives product order information from the buyer. The application displays information regarding sales of the products by the store. After completing an order, the application submits the order, and prints or transmits confirmation copies. The buyer leaves the computer at the show prior to departing. A virtual shopping cart is displayed on the computer into which goods are placed prior to submittal of the order. Multiple shopping carts can be opened by the user with differing shipping priorities and different shipping destinations for each cart. Multiple shopping carts can be used while the user is browsing an on-line catalog of products to be ordered.
US09177340B2	One-stop shopping system and method A system and method are disclosed for one-stop shopping for health-care services and related needs. The one-stop shopping system and method provide objective information for the system enrollee to assess and decide on health-care insurance and services. The system and method provide this objective information in a way that is easily accessible by system enrollees in an economical and rapid manner.
US09177332B1	Managing media library merchandising promotions A method and/or system for managing media library merchandising promotions may include determining one or more current promotions from a plurality of promotions. A universal score may be assigned to each of the one or more current promotions, wherein the universal score is updated dynamically based on interactions with the one or more current promotions by one or more users. A personal score for each of the one or more current promotions may be assigned for a particular user, wherein the personal score is updated dynamically based on interactions with the one or more current promotions by the particular user. Personalized digital content promotions may be determined for the particular user from the current promotions based on the personal score and/or the universal score. The personalized promotions may be presented to the particular user.
US09177330B2	Information mapping approaches Methods, systems and applications for updating, enhancing, organizing, and utilizing geographic maps, for locating points of interest and places of businesses, or POI's. Embodiments provide a method for collecting geo-coordinate data on POIs by eliciting participation of the business owners or designated employees to identify the specific locations of POI's on a map; a map program which synchronizes to a centralized database where POI and other more frequently changing and time-dependent map information is downloaded to individual users; a map program, where in addition to the standard contact information, “qualitative” information and website links are included in an POI information box to aid in pre-qualifying a POI before selection and in booking a reservation; a method for locating markers on an Internet-based search engine map; and an improved contact management system that allows locations of contacts to be viewed on a map while minimizing address geocoding.
US09177325B2	Network of tags Systems and methods are disclosed for communicating product or service information to a potential purchaser. A product or item describing a service are scanned to obtain both a product or service code and an advertisement promotion code provided by a vendor/retailer or manufacturer of the product or service using a smartphone of a first user. A barcode is generated on the smartphone by combining the product or service code and the advertisement promotion code with information from the smartphone associated with the product or service and with an advertiser code that uniquely identifies the first user. The barcode is communicated to a communication device of a second user that is the potential purchaser of the product or service. When the communication device is presented to a point of sale (POS) terminal, the terminal scans the barcode, decodes the barcode, and compensates the first user according to the advertisement promotion code.
US09177323B2	Systems and methods for determining and utilizing customer energy profiles for load control for individual structures, devices, and aggregation of same A system and method for creating and making use of customer profiles, including energy consumption patterns. Devices within a service point, using the active load director, may be subject to control events, often based on customer preferences. These control events cause the service point to use less power. Data associated with these control events, as well as related environment data, are used to create an energy consumption profile for each service point. This can be used by the utility to determine which service points are the best targets for energy consumption. In addition, an intelligent load rotation algorithm determines how to prevent the same service points from being picked first each time the utility wants to conserve power.
US09177322B2	System and/or method for linking network content The present invention provides a system (10) for linking network content (12n) over a communications network (14n). The system (10) including: at least one memory or storage unit (20n) operable to store and/or maintain a plurality of linked-content facilities (30n), each of the linked-content facilities (30n) being independently associated with a network location that contains network content (12n); at least one processor operable to execute software that generates, maintains and/or controls access to the linked-content facilities (30n) for a plurality of users (24n); and, at least one input/output device (22n) operable to provide an interface for the users (24n) to operate the software in order to retrieve and/or view the linked-content facilities (30n) for selected network locations from the memory or storage unit (20n), via the communications network (14n). Wherein the linked-content facilities (30n) stored and/or maintained on the memory or storage unit (20n) include system generated link content (32n,32An), and/or user generated link content (32n,32An) received from at least one user (24n), regarding network content (12n) related to the respective network locations. The present invention also provides associated methods (100) for linking network content (12n) for use with the system (10) of the invention.
US09177321B2	Method and a system for analysing traffic on a website by means of path analysis A method and a system for analyzing traffic on a website are disclosed, the website being arranged on a server. The method comprises the steps of allowing a plurality of visitors to visit the website; for each visit, registering a sequence of pages viewed by the visitor and/or actions performed by the visitor during the visit; for each visit, monitoring navigations and/or actions performed by the visitor during the visit while accumulating value points in accordance with content viewed by the visitor and actions performed by the visitor, and in accordance with predefined value point settings associated with content of the website, thereby obtaining an accumulated value point score for the visit; and defining a set of visits from the plurality of visits. Path patterns are built based on the visits of the set of visits, where the registered sequences form the path patterns, the path patterns including one or more full path patterns, each full path pattern corresponding to a complete registered sequence of at least one visit, and for each full path pattern, a total path value is calculated being the sum of accumulated value point scores for all visits with registered sequences forming said full path pattern.Correlated information regarding the paths followed by the visitors and the value generated by the visitors during their visits is thereby obtained. This can be used for investigating which paths generate value for the website owner, and which do not. The website may then be adjusted to encourage value generating behavior.
US09177319B1	Ontology based customer support techniques Methods and systems for providing customer support in response to support communication are disclosed. Such communications may be structured or unstructured, and unstructured communications may be subject to further processing. A determination is made at least as to one or more relevant support classes, as well as to whether further support action(s) should be initiated. When determined that at least a further support action should be initiated, aspects of the support action may be determined and initiated.
US09177316B2	Mobile monetary transactions and banking for rural populations Authenticating users for mobile transactions conducted over mobile phones. In general, the present invention makes it possible to securely authenticate a rural user (using the unique user ID from the uWallet, the client certificate in the mobile phone of the rural user and PIN code/password provided by the rural user) and then permit mobile banking transactions over the mobile phone. Both participating individuals employ their individual mobile phones and secure USB/Bluetooth based mobile banking devices (the uWallet) to authenticate themselves and conduct monetary transactions (funds transfer, mobile payments, etc.).
US09177315B2	Establishing direct, secure transaction channels between a device and a plurality of service providers Methods and systems are provided for supporting electronic transactions, including transactions that are provided with per-user, per-device and per-domain security across domains of multiple service providers.
US09177312B1	System and method for providing contactless payment with a near field communications attachment A system and method in accordance with exemplary embodiments may include an attachment with a near field communication antenna, a secure element, a plug capable of connecting the attachment to an audio jack on a mobile device. Further, a system and method in accordance with exemplary embodiments may include receiving a payment initiation instruction from a customer, using a near field communication antenna, sending payment information to a point of sale device, using one or more computer processors, encoding data related to the payment as audio data, and transmitting the data related to the payment through an audio jack.
US09177311B2	Authentication of financial transactions via wireless communication link Examples include autonomously authenticating a financial transaction, on behalf of the user, without interacting with the user, via wireless communication link. In various embodiments, the user's cellular phone may be configured to process a message that provides at least partial service context and autonomously authenticate the financial transaction.
US09177308B2	Readable indicia for fuel purchase Embodiments of the invention are directed to purchasing fuel for a vehicle from a fuel station. An exemplary apparatus is configured to: receive pre-configured information associated with an information-providing source associated with at least one of the fuel station or a fuel pump at the fuel station; determine identification information associated with the fuel pump that will be used for fueling the vehicle; and transmit a purchase authorization request to an external server based on the identification information and the pre-configured information.
US09177306B2	Kiosks for storing, charging and exchanging batteries usable in electric vehicles and servers and applications for locating kiosks and accessing batteries Electric vehicles that use replaceable and exchangeable batteries, applications for communicating with a service that provides access to kiosks of batteries, and methods and systems for finding charged batteries, reserving batteries, and paying for use of the batteries, are disclosed. One example is a system for managing access to and exchange of batteries for use by electric vehicles. The electric vehicles have receptacle slots for receiving batteries for powering an electric motor of the electric vehicle. The system includes a kiosk having a plurality of receptacle slots for holding a plurality of batteries, and at least one of the plurality of receptacle slots is accessible to enable access of a battery from the kiosk. each receptacle slot having a connection disposed therein that connects to a power source. Each of the plurality of batteries have a form factor that is dimensioned to at least partially fit within ones of the receptacle slots and to be hand-inserted and hand-removed to and from the plurality of receptacle slots of the kiosk and the electric vehicle. The system includes a computer integrated in the kiosk and configured for communication with a server over a network. The computer configured to monitor status of each of the plurality of receptacle slots and enable delivery of power to each of the batteries present in one or more of the receptacle slots. The computer is further configured to process status data regarding at least an inventory of batteries present in the receptacle slots, or a charge level of the batteries present in the receptacle slots, or a number of available batteries having a charged state when in the kiosk. Mobile applications are useable to finding kiosks and obtaining batteries for exchange.
US09177301B2	Notification to users of events A method and system for notifying users of events. Scheduled user activity of a user is monitored, based on user notification information in a storage location. The user notification information pertains to a scheduled event. In response to a detection, from the monitoring, of a change in the user activity, it is ascertained that the change necessitates notifying the user of the scheduled event due to the change impacting whether the user can participate in the scheduled event. The change in the scheduled user activity is independent of the scheduled event. Then the user is notified of the scheduled event. The user notification information in the storage location is modified, based on the detected change in the user activity, in response to receipt of an instruction from the user to change the user notification information in the storage location.
US09177292B2	Cautious auto-entry for messaging systems Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to auto-entry of addresses in an electronic message and provide a novel and non-obvious method, system and computer program product for cautious auto-entry for messaging systems. In one embodiment of the invention, a cautious auto-completion method can be provided. The method include auto-completing a messaging address provided in a messaging client; computing a similar name set (SNS) value for the auto-completed messaging address; and, posting a warning if the SNS value exceeds an SNS threshold. As used herein, an SNS includes a list of similar messaging addresses having similarities likely to result in an unintended auto-completed messaging address in a messaging system.
US09177291B2	Chaining connection requests In one embodiment, a social networking system, in response to receiving an action request from a user, expands the portion of a social networking web site with which the user interacted to initiate the action request, and populates the expanded portion with object suggestions of the same type as the target object of the action request. In particular embodiments, the object suggestions are based at least in part on the characteristics of the target object of the action request. Such embodiments capitalize on the transitory mood of the user and facilitate and promote the chaining of subsequent action requests.
US09177284B2	Instant conversation in a thread of an online discussion forum Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to discussion forum management and provide a method, system and computer program product for instant conversations in a thread within a discussion forum. In an embodiment of the invention, a method for instant conversations in a thread within a discussion forum can be provided. The method can include providing a discussion forum and initiating a thread in the discussion forum and measuring a temporal proximity of postings between two or more users in the thread. In response to determining a close temporal proximity, an instant messaging session can be launched between the two or more users and entries in the instant messaging session can be inserted as responses to the thread in the discussion forum.
US09177274B2	Queue with segments for task management A method that includes configuring a queue into a plurality of segments, wherein each segment is associated with a depth factor which defines number of entries of task elements capable of being added in each segment, and wherein each segment is associated with a requirement factor; generating a plurality of task elements, each task element having an importance factor; and if a value of an importance factor of a task element is at least equal to a value of a requirement factor of a segment with an available entry to add the task element, then adding the task element in the entry of the segment.
US09177272B2	Method and system of obtaining diagnostic data from a device at a remote location A system and method of obtaining diagnostic data from a device at a remote location in one embodiment includes establishing a communications link between a service location and a customer location remote from the service location, transmitting first diagnostic data from a device at the customer location over the communications link, receiving the first diagnostic data at the service location, generating an action request at the service location in response to the received first diagnostic data, transmitting the action request to the customer location, receiving the action request at the customer location, authorizing the received action request, obtaining second diagnostic data associated with the action request from the device, and transmitting the second diagnostic data to the service location.
US09177271B2	Heterogeneous information technology (IT) infrastructure management orchestration In certain embodiments, a method includes accessing one or more parameters based on an IT service request received from an upper-layer IT interface, the parameters formatted according to an upper-layer IT interface construct. Appropriate IT domains are determined, according to at least a portion of the parameters, from a number of IT domains for implementing IT infrastructure for fulfilling the request, the domains each associated with one or more vendor-specific solutions for providing IT infrastructure of a type associated with the domain. Using a common semantic interrelational data model that includes mappings of constructs for upper-layer IT interfaces to constructs for IT domains, at least a portion of the parameters are translated from the upper-layer IT interface construct into constructs suitable for use by the determined appropriate domains. One or more parameterized instructions operable to cause appropriate vendor-specific implementations of the determined appropriate domains to implement appropriate infrastructure for fulfilling the request are communicated.
US09177270B2	Engineering review information system A disciplinal engineering review computer information system and method by defining a database of disciplinal engineering review process entities for an enterprise engineering program, opening a computer supported engineering item based upon the defined disciplinal engineering review process entities, managing a review of the opened engineering item according to the defined disciplinal engineering review process entities, and closing the opened engineering item according to the opened engineering item review.
US09177268B2	Booking method and system There is disclosed herein a method and system for communicating over a telecommunications network between a service provider and one or more users, wherein the service provider can have access to multiple distinct addresses in the telecommunications network and each user is identified by an address, more specifically where a first message can be sent over at least a portion of the telecommunications network to a user's address and based on a response from the user determining the message to which the response is a reply to.
US09177262B2	Method of automated discovery of new topics The present disclosure relates to a method for performing automated discovery of new topics from unlimited documents related to any subject domain, employing a multi-component extension of Latent Dirichlet Allocation (MC-LDA) topic models, to discover related topics in a corpus. The resulting data may contain millions of term vectors from any subject domain identifying the most distinguished co-occurring topics that users may be interested in, for periodically building new topic ID models using new content, which may be employed to compare one by one with existing model to measure the significance of changes, using term vectors differences with no correlation with a Periodic New Model, for periodic updates of automated discovery of new topics, which may be used to build a new topic ID model in-memory database to allow query-time linking on massive data-set for automated discovery of new topics.
US09177261B2	User interface and workflow for performing machine learning A computing device receives a training data set that includes a plurality of positive examples of sensitive data and a plurality of negative examples of sensitive data. The computing device analyzes the training data set using machine learning to generate a machine learning-based detection (MLD) profile that can be used to classify new data as sensitive data or as non-sensitive data. The computing device computes a quality metric for the MLD profile.
US09177257B2	Non-transitory article of manufacture and system for providing a prompt to user for real-time cognitive assistance A system and an article of manufacture for providing a prompt for real-time cognitive assistance include analyzing input from at least one environmental sensor to identify context information pertaining to a user situation, identifying a likely subsequent cognitive task of the user in the user situation based on the context information and use of a learned model, determining an action with respect to information to be suggested to the user via a corresponding prompt, wherein the determining is based on the likely subsequent cognitive task, the context information and information learned from at least to one previous user situation, computing a confidence value to represent a level of certainty in the action, and providing the prompt to the user if the action has a confidence value greater than a threshold value corresponding to the action.
US09177254B2	Event detection through text analysis using trained event template models A system and method for detecting events based on input data from a plurality of sources. The system may receive input from a plurality of sources containing information about possible events. A method for event detection involves pre-processing and normalizing a data input from a plurality of sources, extracting and disambiguating events and entities, associate event and entities, correlate events and entities associated from a data input to results from a different data sources to determine if an event has occurred, and store the detected events in a data storage.
US09177244B2	Transponder Proposed is a transponder for receiving a wireless electromagnetic interrogation signal and for transmitting a wireless electromagnetic response signal with a first coil acting as an antenna for generating a first wired electrical receive signal from the interrogation signal, and with at least one further coil acting as an antenna for generating a further wired electrical receive signal from the interrogation signal, wherein an axis of the first coil and an axis of the further coil are aligned differently in the space, wherein in each case one full-wave rectifier for rectifying the respective receive signal is assigned to the coils, wherein a summing element for summing up the rectified receive signals generated by the full-wave rectifiers is provided in order to generate in this manner a pulsating sum signal, the frequency of which corresponds to twice the frequency of the interrogation signal.
US09177240B2	Communication device A communication device includes a radiator defining a duplex antenna of a first communication system whose carrier frequency is in a first frequency band and a second communication system whose carrier frequency is in a second frequency band overlapping the first frequency band, an antenna for the second communication system, a second communication system power feeding unit which is connected to the radiator and the antenna for the second communication system, and a first communication system power feeding unit which is connected to the radiator, wherein the first communication system power feeding unit includes a circuit configured to position a communication peak frequency whose communicable distance in the first communication system is maximum, outside the second frequency band.
US09177238B2	Techniques for generating customized two-dimensional barcodes A computer-implemented technique can receive, at a computing device, a uniform resource locator (URL) for a web page and a plurality of images. A number of pixels corresponding to a desired resolution for encoding the images determined and the images are converted to modified images having the desired resolution. The technique can then generate an animated two-dimensional barcode using a plurality of two-dimensional barcodes generated for the plurality of images, respectively. A specific two-dimensional barcode can be generated by: generating first data representative of the modified image and appending the first data to either an end of the URL to obtain a first modified URL or after a terminator bit of the two-dimensional barcode. The two-dimensional barcode can then be generated using the first and second data and third data representative of an error correction code (ECC) and that is based on the first data and the second data.
US09177236B2	Image forming apparatus and method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and image forming system An image forming apparatus that performs printing processing using first identification information for identifying, in a first system in a particular organization that performs first authentication, a user in the first authentication, including an obtaining unit that obtains print data from a logical printer in a second system that is a cloud service system that performs second authentication, wherein information for identifying a user in the second system is second identification information, and the print data includes the second identification information; a reference unit that refers to relationship information between the first and second identification information when the obtained print data includes the second identification information; and a controller that controls printing processing of the obtained print data obtained using the first identification information. Identification information of the user, which is temporarily issued in the first system, is used as the first identification information.
US09177235B2	Image forming apparatus and power supply control method An image forming apparatus includes a power supply control unit that performs control of switching a power supply source to an auxiliary power supply that stores therein power from a main power supply when the main power supply is off, and control of switching the power supply source to the main power supply when the main power supply is on; a detection unit that detects whether the power supply source is the main power supply or the auxiliary power supply; and a mode control unit that performs control of switching between a normal mode and a power-saving mode in which power consumption is smaller than in the normal mode. The mode control unit performs control of setting a switching time to switch from the normal mode to the power-saving mode to a shorter time when the power supply source is the auxiliary power supply.
US09177231B2	Image recording apparatus, image recording method, and storage medium In a predetermined mask pattern, recording permitted pixels are disposed such that the average of the numbers of the recording permitted pixels in a unit in a first area is smaller than the number of the recording permitted pixels in a unit in a second area that is located toward an end side as compared to the first area in a direction corresponding to an array direction of nozzles.
US09177229B2	Kalman filter approach to augment object tracking Techniques for tracking one or more objects at each position in an interval in a video input with the use of a Kalman filter, including obtaining a first location estimate of an object with an object detector, obtaining a second location estimate and a movement estimate of the object with an object tracker, determining a final estimate of a position and/or a velocity of the object with the Kalman filter.
US09177228B1	Method and system for fusion of fast surprise and motion-based saliency for finding objects of interest in dynamic scenes Described is a system for object detection from dynamic visual imagery. Dynamic visual input obtained from a stationary sensor is processed by a surprise-based module. The surprise-based module detects a stationary object in a scene to generate surprise scores. The dynamic visual input is also processed by a motion-based saliency module which detects foreground in the scene to generate motion scores. The surprise scores and motion scores are fused into a single score, and the single score is used to determine the presence of an object of interest.
US09177224B1	Object recognition and tracking Various embodiments utilize geometric hashing to automatically recognize and track and an object. For example, a user can capture an image of a product, or other object, and a point detection algorithm can identify particular features of the product and designate feature points of the product within the captured image. Hash values are then determined for each feature point by determining a basis for the image and determining the location of each feature point relative to that basis. A hash table including the identified hash values is then created and compared to hash values for either a stored product when performing object recognition or from a reference image when performing object tracking.
US09177222B2	Edge measurement video tool and interface including automatic parameter set alternatives A user interface for setting parameters for an edge location video tool is provided. In one implementation, the user interface includes a multi-dimensional parameter space representation with edge zones that allows a user to adjust a single parameter combination indicator in a zone in order to adjust multiple edge detection parameters for detecting a corresponding edge. The edge zones indicate the edge features that are detectable when the parameter combination indicator is placed within the edge zones. In another implementation, representations of multiple edge features that are detectable by different possible combinations of the edge detection parameters are automatically provided in one or more windows. When a user selects one of the edge feature representation, the corresponding combination of edge detection parameters is set as the parameters for the edge location video tool.
US09177218B2	System and method, and computer program product for detecting an edge in scan data A system, method, and computer program product are provided for detecting an edge in scan data. In use, RGB scan data is analyzed for determining an approximate location of a background in the scan data representing a background adjacent a document having a similar color as the background. Additionally, a threshold is set for at least one of R, G and B, where the threshold is based in part on RGB values of the background and a predefined color threshold. Further, an intensity threshold is set. Further still, the scan data is analyzed using the thresholds for generating distribution points. Also, a first edge of the document is detected based on a location of a contour in the distribution points. In addition, the scan data and information about the detected edge are output.
US09177216B2	Image processing device and medium storing image processing program An information interchange unit, a storage unit, and a display controller are configured such that, after a image selection unit selects a first image and a second image, the information interchange unit interchanges, automatically, first image information of the first image with second image information of the second image, or interchanges, automatically, first position information of the first image with second position information of the second image, the storage unit stores and correlates the first image information and the second position information, and stores and correlates the second image information and the first position information, and the display controller controls, automatically, a display to display the one image based on the first image information and the second position information, and the another image based on the second image information and the first position information.
US09177215B2	Sparse representation for dynamic sensor networks A method, an apparatus and an article of manufacture for evaluating data from a network of sensors. The method includes analyzing data received from at least one sensor using exemplar-based sparse representation processing to create a sparse representation of the data, determining at least one discrete sparse characteristic of an event in the data received from the at least one sensor based on the sparse representation of the data, and evaluating the at least one discrete sparse characteristic of an event in the data to perform at least one task associated with the representation of the event in the data.
US09177205B2	Image attribute discrimination apparatus, attribute discrimination support apparatus, image attribute discrimination method, attribute discrimination support apparatus controlling method, and control program An attribute of image data can accurately be discriminated. An image attribute discrimination apparatus includes a heterogeneous region extracting unit that specifies a heterogeneous region from image data. The heterogeneous region includes a heterogeneous matter whose attribute is different from that of a content originally produced by the image data. An image attribute discrimination apparatus further includes a scene discrimination unit that discriminates the attribute of the image data based on a feature quantity extracted from a pixel group except each pixel in the heterogeneous region in each pixel of the image data.
US09177191B2	Fingerprint sensing assemblies and methods of making A fingerprint sensing module includes a sensor substrate having a sensing side and a circuit side, an image sensor including conductive traces on the circuit side of the sensor substrate, and a sensor circuit including at least one integrated circuit mounted on the circuit side of the sensor substrate and electrically connected to the image sensor. The sensor substrate may be a flexible substrate. The module may include a velocity sensor on the sensor substrate or on a separate substrate. The module may further include a rigid substrate, and the sensor substrate may be affixed to the rigid substrate.
US09177190B1	Fingerprint sensor module A fingerprint sensor module includes a lens, a filter, a first reflector, an image capturing module for capturing a first fingerprint image and a second fingerprint image, and at least one first light source for providing the needed light source at the time of the image capturing module capturing the fingerprint image. A top surface and a bottom surface of the lens are planes. The lens defines at least one first area and a second area. The filter is disposed under the lens. The filter is corresponding to the first area of the lens for reflecting the first fingerprint image corresponding to the first area. The first reflector is disposed under the lens. The first reflector is corresponding to the second area of the lens for reflecting the second fingerprint image corresponding to the second area.
US09177189B2	System and method for data transfer through animated barcodes A system and method are provided for transferring data to a mobile device through animated barcodes. The mobile device scans, with a barcode reader, at least a first barcode and then scans at least a second barcode, whereby the barcodes are shown on a display. The display is in an open-loop relationship with the mobile device. The mobile device decodes the at least first and second barcodes to extract a first data portion and an associated first sequence identification, and a second data portion and an associated second sequence identification. The mobile device combines the first and second data portions according to the associated sequence identifications.
US09177180B2	RF tag reader and RF tag information acquisition method There is provided an RF tag reader including an omission-in-reading determining section which determines that an RF tag belonging to a predetermined group might be unread when tag information is not acquired from an RF tag, which belongs to the group and whose tag information is not acquired yet, within a predetermined time after tag information corresponding to any one of a plurality of RF tags grouped as the predetermined group is acquired.
US09177178B2	Radio frequency identification control device, system and method The disclosure provides a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) control device, system and method. The RFID control device includes a base station controller (40). The base station controller (40) includes a base service module (402), a peripheral service module (401) and a control logic module (403), wherein the base service module (402) controls a base service device (50) and reports a control result information; the peripheral service module (401) controls a peripheral equipment (80) and reports a control result information; and the control logic module (403) receives the control result information reported by the base service module (402) and the peripheral service module (401), controls the base service device (50) through the base service module (402) and controls the peripheral equipment (80) through the peripheral service module (401) according to a control logic rule. When a use scene is changed, only the control logic rule of the control logic module (403) needs to be overwritten.
US09177175B2	Data repository and method for promoting network storage of data A method for storing data items in a data repository that allows a client storing a data item to lose the ability to either retrieve the stored data item or enable its retrieval, while preserving controlled access to the stored data item indefinitely. The client storing the data item encrypts it using an encryption key that it creates, which may be derived from the content of the data item. The encryption key is also stored in the data repository in an encrypted form, with its encryption making use of a public key. The method allows storage space to be shared for identical data items encrypted and stored by independent clients of the data repository.
US09177168B2	Method of modifying access control for web services using query languages Embodiments of the claimed subject matter provide a method of controlling access to resources in a social graph. One embodiment of the method includes receiving information for configuring a query in response to a service being invoked. The service is configured to use the query to request access to resources associated with a node in a portion of a social graph associated with a first user. The method also includes associating the query with the node. The query operates on the resources associated with the node and returns information indicating whether a request to access the resources is granted or denied depending on a current state of the social graph.
US09177167B2	Automation framework An information technology management system for use in enterprise data management including a metadata supply subsystem which receives metadata from a network, an access permissions management subsystem for managing access permissions to data elements in the network and an access permissions management operation implementation subsystem which automatically governs the operation of the access permissions management subsystem, the access permissions management operation implementation subsystem having at least one of first, second, third and fourth modes of operation. The first mode of operation includes operating the access permissions management subsystem, the second mode of operation includes simulating the operation of the access permissions management subsystem, the third mode of operation included providing a report of proposed changes in access permissions and the fourth mode of operation includes providing an actionable report of multiple steps in implementation of proposed changes in access permissions to data elements for approval.
US09177166B2	System and method for authentication A multi-functional device is attached to a secure network and includes a control circuit. The control circuit receives indications as to whether a user is authenticated to use the multi-functional device and in response, generates and sends a control signal to the multi-functional device. As long as the multi-functional device continues to receive the control signal, the multi-functional device remains in an operational mode to allow the authenticated user to access the multi-functional device functions. If the multi-functional device ceases to receive the control signal, the multi-functional device deactivates itself.
US09177165B2	System and method for a secure environment that authenticates secure data handling to the user A system and method is introduced for combining a secure device with a non secure user machine for using and sharing secure data seamlessly through the non secure user machine. The secure device runs in a separate, “parallel world” to the user machine so that the user machine cannot access secure data while it is being used. Even if the user machine is already compromised, the secure data and its usage remain protected from the likes of key logging and screen captures. The secure device authenticates secure data handling to the user so that the user is able to differentiate between a secure and a non secure data usage, as well as identify false imitations of the secure environment.
US09177164B2	System and method for a parallel world of security for non secure environments A system and method is introduced for combining a secure device with a non secure user machine for using and sharing secure data seamlessly through the non secure user machine. The secure device runs in a separate, “parallel world” to the user machine so that the user machine cannot access secure data while it is being used. Even if the user machine is already compromised, the secure data and its usage remain protected from the likes of key logging and screen captures. The secure device authenticates secure data handling to the user so that the user is able to differentiate between a secure and a non secure data usage, as well as identify false imitations of the secure environment.
US09177156B1	Computer system for distributed discovery of vulnerabilities in applications In one aspect, the disclosure provides: A method comprising: inviting a distributed plurality of researchers to participate in one or more computer vulnerability research projects directed to identifying computer vulnerabilities of one or more networks and/or computers that are owned or operated by a third party; assessing reputation and skills of one or more of the researchers, and accepting a subset of the researchers who have a positive reputation and sufficient skills to perform the investigations of the computer vulnerabilities; assigning a particular computer vulnerability research project, relating to a particular system under test, to a particular researcher from among the subset of the researchers; using a computer that is logically interposed between the particular researcher and the particular system under test, monitoring communications between the particular researcher and the particular system under test, wherein the communications relate to attempting to identify a candidate security vulnerability of the particular system under test, and creating assessment data that assesses the particular system under test based upon the networked data communications that are monitored; validating a report of the candidate security vulnerability of the particular system under test that is received from the particular researcher; determining and providing an award to the particular researcher in response to successfully validating the report of the candidate security vulnerability of the particular system under test that is received from the particular researcher.
US09177153B1	Verifying integrity and guaranteeing execution of code on untrusted computer platform A method, system, and apparatus for verifying integrity and execution state of an untrusted computer. In one embodiment, the method includes placing a verification function in memory on the untrusted computer; invoking the verification function from a trusted computer; determining a checksum value over memory containing both the verification function and the execution state of a processor and hardware on the untrusted computer; sending the checksum value to the trusted computer; determining at the trusted computer whether the checksum value is correct; and determining at the trusted computer whether the checksum value is received within an expected time period.
US09177152B2	Firmware authentication and deciphering for secure TV receiver A method for authenticating and deciphering an encrypted program file for execution by a secure element includes receiving the program file and a digital certificate that is associated with the program file from an external device. The method stores the program file and the associated certificate in a secure random access memory disposed in the secure element and hashes the program file to obtain a hash. The method authenticates the program file by comparing the obtained hash with a checksum that is stored in the certificate. Additionally, the method writes runtime configuration information stored in the certificate to corresponding configuration registers disposed in the secure element. The method further generates an encryption key using a seed value stored in the certificate and a unique identifier disposed in the secure element and deciphers the program file using the generated encryption key.
US09177150B1	Detecting setting tampering A computer implemented method includes generating a first cryptographic hash based on at least one setting associated with a browser at a first time, storing the first cryptographic hash as a first bit string, generating a second cryptographic hash as a second bit string, wherein the second cryptographic hash is based on the at least one setting associated with the browser at a second time, determining that a setting associated with the browser has changed and that the setting change was made outside of the browser based on a comparison of the first and second bit strings, and if the setting change was made outside of the browser, setting the setting to a default value.
US09177149B2	Method of detecting malware in an operating system kernel The present invention relates to means for detecting malware. The method is realized on a computer with an operating system (OS) installed thereon, and comprises a step in which a point of interrupt is established when a system call is made by a user application requesting the transfer of control via an address in the kernel of the loaded OS. Next, the data structure of the loaded OS is checked. As this check is carried out, the address of the command in the random-access memory of the computer, by means of which command control will be transferred during the system call, is determined and the addresses of the commands to be executed during the system call are checked to see if they belong to the normal range of addresses of the OS kernel and OS kernel modules in the random-access memory. The presence of malware is then detected in the event that a command address does not belong to the normal range of addresses. The proposed method includes a dynamic check of the execution of the OS kernel code in order to detect the illegal interception and alteration of the code in the kernel and in the kernel modules (drivers) that are to be loaded. The proposed method enables the detection of both known and previously unregistered malware in an OS kernel and in OS kernel modules that are to be loaded.
US09177147B2	Protection against return oriented programming attacks In one embodiment, a processor includes at least one execution unit. The processor also includes a Return Oriented Programming (ROP) logic coupled to the at least one execution unit. The ROP logic may validate a return pointer stored on a call stack based on a secret ROP value. The secret ROP value may only be accessible by the operating system.
US09177146B1	Layout scanner for application classification A database of known graphical user interface layouts is generated using samples of known executable files. An executable file having an unknown function is obtained; it is executed within a safe environment and its graphical user interface is identified. Layout analysis enumerates all of the windows within the interface and extracts the position values of each window and the dimension values of each window to form a set of layout information. If the layout database contains this layout information set then it is determined that the layout information is of the same type of software corresponding to the type of software contained within the database (or of the type of software to which the layout information is matched within the database). A match may occur if all the windows match, if only some percentage of the windows match, or if the windows do not match exactly but the dimensions of the corresponding window in the database are within a certain percentage.
US09177145B2	Modified file tracking on virtual machines In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for tracking modified files on a virtual machine including the steps of identifying an altered disk sector, associating the altered disk sector with code that is operated in a virtual machine, and causing a malicious code scan to be performed on the code.
US09177143B2	Progressive static security analysis A disclosed method includes determining modifications have been made to a program and deriving data flow seeds that are affected by the modifications. The method includes selecting one of the data flow seeds that are affected by the modifications or data flow seeds that are not affected by the modifications but that are part of flows that are affected by the modifications and performing a security analysis on the program. The security analysis includes tracking flows emanating from the selected data flow seeds to sinks terminating the flows. The method includes outputting results of the security analysis. The results comprise one or more indications of security status for one or more of the flows emanating from the selected data flow seeds. At least the deriving, selecting, and performing are performed using a static analysis of the program. Apparatus and program products are also disclosed.
US09177139B2	Control system cyber security Devices, methods, and systems for control system cybersecurity are described herein. One method includes receiving a plurality of measurements from each of a number of sensing and actuating devices of a control system, determining a suspected portion of the received measurements, monitoring the suspected portion of the received measurements over a particular time period, and determining whether the suspected portion of the received measurements is associated with a cyber attack.
US09177134B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and non-transitory computer readable medium An information processing apparatus includes following components. An authentication processing unit authenticates a user. A display displays information. An accessing unit accesses an external service. An authenticated-access-information acquiring unit acquires authenticated access information associated with user information for identifying an authenticated user. An unauthenticated-access-information acquiring unit acquires unauthenticated access information having been input by an unauthenticated user when accessing the external service. A controller performs control, when an authenticated user attempts to access the external service, so that the authenticated-access-information acquiring unit acquires authenticated access information associated with user information of the user and the accessing unit accesses the external service by using the acquired authenticated access information, and, when a user attempts to access the external service without being authenticated, so that the unauthenticated-access-information acquiring unit acquires the unauthenticated access information and the display displays the acquired unauthenticated access information.
US09177130B2	Facial feature detection An example method includes capturing, by a camera of a computing device, an image including at least a face of a user, calculating a face template of the face of the user in the image, and analyzing the face template to determine whether the face includes at least one of a removable facial feature that decreases a level of distinctiveness between two faces and a non-removable facial feature that decreases a level of distinctiveness between two faces. When the face includes the removable facial feature, the method further includes outputting a notification for the user to remove the removable facial feature. When the face includes the non-removable facial feature, the method further includes adjusting a first similarity score threshold to a second similarity score threshold.
US09177127B1	Confounder generation in knowledge-based authentication for an enterprise An improved technique generates confounders for KBA questions from personal information management (PIM) data created from within an organization. An enterprise KBA (eKBA) server collects PIM data such as email data for a particular member of the organization. For email data, the eKBA server extracts facts from the headers of emails and generates queries having a corresponding correct answer from a first subset of the facts. Moreover, the eKBA server extracts a set of confounders from a second subset of the facts. The eKBA server then forms a multiple-choice KBA question from the query, the corresponding correct answer, and selected confounders.
US09177125B2	Protection from unfamiliar login locations In one embodiment, a user authentication server may use geo-location tracking to determine whether to present an enhanced identity challenge. A communication interface 180 may receive a user login attempt by a user and a current location of the user login attempt. A data storage 150 may store a user location profile of the user. A processor 120 may execute a comparison of the current location to the user location profile. The communication interface 180 may present the user with an enhanced identity challenge before allowing user access based on the comparison.
US09177124B2	Flexible authentication framework A flexible and extensible architecture allows for secure searching across an enterprise. Such an architecture can provide a simple Internet-like search experience to users searching secure content inside (and outside) the enterprise. The architecture allows for the crawling and searching of a variety of sources across an enterprise, regardless of whether any of these sources conform to a conventional user role model. The architecture further allows for security attributes to be submitted at query time, for example, in order to provide real-time secure access to enterprise resources. The user query also can be transformed to provide for dynamic querying that provides for a more current result list than can be obtained for static queries.
US09177120B2	Method and application for a reactive defense against illegal distribution of multimedia content in file sharing networks A system for external monitoring of networked digital file sharing to track predetermined data content, the system comprising: at least one surveillance element for deployment over said network, said surveillance elements comprising: surveillance functionality for searching said digital file sharing and identification functionality associated with said search functionality for identification of said predetermined data content, therewith to determine whether a given file sharing system is distributing said predetermined data content.
US09177118B2	License management method and content processing system A content distribution system includes a content distribution server and a portable game terminal. The content distribution server retains a first license for comprehensively permitting the use of multiple digital contents and issues to the portable game terminal a second license for individually permitting the use of a digital content selected by a user from among the multiple digital contents. The portable game terminal retains the second license and permits the use of the selected digital content if it is within the license period of the second license at the time.
US09177117B2	Secure module and information processing apparatus A secure module includes a generating unit that executes generation processing of generating a scanning program that causes scan processing, which generates unique code for a program under test, to be executed at a connected device and further executes update processing of randomly updating contents of the scanning program; a storage device storing therein the unique code for the program under test; and an authenticating unit that if the scanning program is executed by the connected device and executed with respect to the program under test stored at a designated storage area in the connected device, authenticates validity of the program under test stored at the designated storage area, based on the unique code stored in the storage device and execution results of the scanning program executed at the connected device.
US09177116B2	Protection of digital data content Various embodiments include an apparatus, system, and method to control the distribution and usage of copyrighted digital content. The processing of a data file received over a communications network such as the Internet occurs both in a host digital appliance, such as a personal computer, notebook computer, audio player, video player, and the like, and in a very small digital rights management (DRM) module that is removably connected with the host. The processing makes it extremely difficult for the content of the data file to be obtained by an unauthorized person and/or utilized with an unauthorized DRM module.
US09177114B2	Method and apparatus for determining the proximity of a client device The present invention discloses an apparatus and method for a method for determining proximity of a device (e.g., a client device). In one example, a key management request is acquired from the device. A measurement request is then transmitted to the device. Afterwards, a measurement reply is received from the device. In response, a determination is made as to whether a measurement parameter associated with the transmitting and the receiving exceeds a predetermined threshold. If the predetermined threshold is not exceeded (i.e., the device is proximate to an associated local network), then a reply to the original key management request is transmitted to the device. Notably, the reply to the key management request is required for the device to establish a secure session with a server from which digital content can be acquired.
US09177113B2	Methods and systems for automated network scanning in dynamic virtualized environments Systems and methods for managing jobs to be scanned based on existence of processing nodes are described. One of the methods includes obtaining identification information regarding operation of a first set of the processing nodes from an inventory and creating a job for scanning the processing nodes of the first set for security vulnerability. The job includes the identification information. The method further includes verifying the inventory to determine the first identifying information of the first set of processing nodes for removal from the job and loading the job having second identifying information for a second set of processing nodes that remain after the verifying operation.
US09177111B1	Systems and methods for protecting software A software protection system comprises a memory system and a microprocessing system. The memory system is configured to store a software program comprised of a plurality of program instructions that, when executed, have a program order. The microprocessing system is coupled to the memory system and is configured to, when executing the software program, determine a next program instruction of the plurality of program instructions in the program order based on an order identifier, fetch the next program instruction from the memory system, determine if the next program instruction requires decrypting, decrypt the next program instruction responsive to determining that the next program instruction requires decrypting, and execute the next program instruction.
US09177110B1	Automated report generation Provided herein are various systems and methods for improved report interaction and generation. A computing system receives selection of an exam for display on a display device, either from a user or as automatically determined by a computing device. The computing system may then determine an exam characteristic associated with the exam, such as an exam type. A data structure storing associations between exam characteristics and respective report packages, each of the report packages comprising a parent report and one or more child reports, may be accessed in order to select a report package associated with the determined exam characteristic. The child reports of the selected report package, which are configured to receive input from a user of the computing system that is usable in automatically generating content of the parent report of the selected report package, may be selectively displayed on the one or more displays.
US09177109B2	Healthcare facility ventilation management A method for health care facility ventilation management is described. The method includes accessing ventilator data generated by a ventilator for a patient and providing patient information of the patient for the ventilator. The patient information is configured for contextualizing the ventilator data. The method also includes providing protocols and rules for the ventilator.
US09177108B2	Multiple infusion channel data graphical user interface Data is received that characterizes infusions administered to a patient among each of a plurality of infusion channels. Thereafter, a plurality of infusion events and respective event times are identified based on the received data. A temporal view of the infusion events can then be displayed in a graphical user interface and/or the temporal view of the infusion events can form part of a report. The temporal view segregates each channel into a separate swim lane with each swim lane visualizing infusion events for the corresponding channel at the respective event times. Related apparatus, systems, techniques and articles are also described.
US09177106B2	System and method for data collection and management Collecting, validating, managing, and sharing data, for example healthcare and patient data, may include using a networked portable device. A forms-based system and process (referred to in some embodiments as DirectForms™) may allow clinical staff to efficiently collect and validate data on portable devices. In accordance with an embodiment, the system combines a portable computing device, validation of data, network connectivity, and an opportunity for shared effort among users via industry-standard (for example HL7 compliant) or customized interfaces. A server-based utility may route forms and HL7-compliant data transaction exports. Interfaces may provide for merging data into appropriate patient records. Some systems may be used in an ambulatory care setting. Various aspects may provide for improved clinical assessment, effective patient management, cost savings, and the ability to provide a more efficient billing process.
US09177104B2	Discriminatively weighted multi-scale local binary patterns Apparatus and methods associated with detecting prostate cancer (CaP) in a magnetic resonance (MR) image of a prostate of a CaP patient are described. One example apparatus includes logics that acquire an image of a prostate, learn a weighted vector, detect salient features in the image of the prostate, and generate a heatmap that facilitates detecting CaP. An image acquisition logic acquires a T2 weighted MR image of a prostate. A learning logic learns a weighted vector based on a set of positive LBP descriptors and a set of negative LBP descriptors extracted from the image at multiple scales. A salient feature detection logic detects salient features in the image based on the weighted vector and a pixel-by-pixel weighted Hamming matching of the image. A prediction logic generates a statistical probability heatmap based on the weighted vector and the weighted Hamming matching of the image.
US09177101B2	Method and systems for processing polymeric sequence data and related information Methods and systems for organizing, representing and processing polymeric sequence information, including biopolymeric sequence information such as DNA sequence information and related information are disclosed herein. Polymeric sequence and associated information may be represented using a plurality of data units, each of which includes one or more headers and a payload containing a representation of a segment of the polymeric sequence. Each header may include or be linked to a portion of the associated information.
US09177097B2	Aircraft wiring layout verification system A method and apparatus for verifying routing of a number of signal lines in an aircraft. A number of pathways through a volume is identified in the aircraft for a desired routing of the number of signal lines using a preferred systems layout for the aircraft. A determination is made as to whether a designed routing of the number of signal lines in a design of the aircraft is within the number of pathways through the volume for the desired routing of the number of signal lines. The number of signal lines is identified as having the desired routing in response to a determination that the designed routing is within the number of pathways through the volume.
US09177094B2	Automatic mapping method for a distribution network based on logical layout The invention provides an automatic mapping method for a distribution network based on logical layout. The method includes: (1) pretreating a model of the distribution network model by analyzing it, and partitioning and striping the distribution network model to generate a plurality of partial models; (2) analyzing an automatic mapping algorithm to be utilized by comparing a distribution network graph obtained by the algorithm with the distribution network model; (3) achieving automatic layout of the partial models or the whole distribution network model on the basis of analysis of the automatic mapping algorithm to be utilized; and (4) analyzing and treating the automatic layout to achieve the generation of the distribution network graph with a desired practical effect.
US09177091B2	Row formation during datapath placement in circuit design Implementations of the present disclosure involve methods and systems for component placement in a datapath block of a microelectronic circuit design. In particular, implementations provide for collecting groups of common components in the datapath block that form a row or partial row. A preliminary layout of the datapath block is performed with the component set rows and any other components of the datapath block design. Common components are then collected into groups or sets to form additional rows within the datapath layout, with at least some consideration to the wire lengths between components in the rows. By collecting common components into rows with consideration to the wire lengths between interconnected components, the timing performance of the datapath block may be improved.
US09177084B2	Generating an analytical energy model Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a system, for generating an analytical energy model from a conceptual representation or a mass form model. In one aspect, actions include receiving a conceptual representation of a building including one or more user-defined floor levels and multiple surfaces defining volumetric space, and, responsive to a request to generate an analytical energy model, automatically generating the analytical energy model by: deriving geometric information from the conceptual representation; defining one or more mass volumes; algorithmically assigning one or more surface types to mass volume surfaces; defining one or more thermal mass zones based on the mass volumes and a corresponding number of user-defined floor levels; deriving thermal properties of the one or more thermal mass zones; and combining the defined one or more thermal mass zones, the derived thermal properties, and predefined analytical energy model parameters to generate the analytical energy model.
US09177074B2	System and method for confirming authorship of documents A system, computer-readable storage medium storing at least one program, and a computer-implemented method for confirming authorship of documents is presented. A document hosted on a website of a domain is accessed, where the document includes an authorship identifier asserting authorship of the document by an entity. Authorship of the document by the entity is conditionally confirmed when a profile for the entity is associated with the authorship identifier and when the profile for the entity indicates that the entity has confirmed that the authorship identifier is included in documents authored by the entity that are hosted on the first website of the first domain. Responsive to confirming authorship of the document by the entity, application of a confirmed authorship process to the document is permitted. Responsive to failing to confirm authorship of the document by the entity, application of the confirmed authorship process to the document is barred.
US09177073B2	Identifying implicit services links using service usage information Embodiments of the invention include a computer-implemented process for identifying implicit services links, using service usage information, in service registries and repositories. Service registry and repository receives service access information for a service to form received information, creates a services access context object in real time from all received information or a selected subset of received information to form a created services access context object, and stores the created services access context object in a data structure to form a stored services access context object. The computer-implemented process further analyzes a set of stored services access context objects in real time to form a set of results, wherein the results are within a predefined certainty and sends the result to a requester. The set of results comprises a set of implicit soft links determined by usage information in the services access context objects, wherein the implicit soft links are implicit services links.
US09177072B2	Social cache Various embodiments relating to a social cache replacement policy are described. The techniques of the present invention disclosed utilize social network properties to guide a cache replacement policy executed by a social networking platform system. In one embodiment, a method is provided for determining a queue location to cache a data item based on a popularity score computed from social network properties. In one embodiment, a method is provided for computing the popularity score by incorporating a user's social network properties and the user's friends' social network properties. In embodiments, the popularity score may be computed using a plurality of social network properties, which may include social network properties associated with (i) the user, (ii) the consumer(s), and/or (iii) the data item(s). In embodiments, a plurality of popularity scores are maintained in a user-score database, where the plurality of popularity scores are periodically updated using historical data.
US09177071B2	Dynamically loadable contact center bookmarks in co-browsing environments Methods and systems of co-browsing may provide for establishing a co-browsing session for a local peer device, generating a navigation window associated with the co-browsing session, and loading a set of bookmarks into the navigation window. The bookmarks may also be dynamically updated based on the browsing sequence as well as shared between participants in the co-browsing session.
US09177068B2	Systems and methods to facilitate search of business entities Systems and methods are provided to facilitate search of listings of businesses according to opening date or age of the businesses at their current business locations. For example, a user may submit a search request for listings of new businesses (e.g., the businesses having the “Grand Opening” status) at a location specified by the user.
US09177067B2	Systems and methods for enhancing user data derived from digital communications A computer-implemented method for enhancing user data derived from digital communications includes (1) detecting a transaction request from a first computing device in response to an issue-specific invitation, (2) generating a first dataset based on the transaction request, the first dataset including an issue-specific data element corresponding to the issue-specific invitation, (3) associating the first dataset with a user of the first computing device, (4) identifying a second dataset associated with the user, and (5) appending the second dataset to the first dataset to generate an appended dataset. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09177062B2	Sorting social profile search results based on computing personal similarity scores The present technology includes systems and methods for searching for social profiles based on user search queries and sorting search results based on determining and matching personal similarities. In some implementations, the systems and methods retrieve a plurality of search results that either partially or fully match a search query by a user of an online community for a particular social profile. The systems and methods determine a plurality of personal similarity factors relating to the search results and compare them to the profile of the user requesting the search based on predetermined criteria and assign varying weights to the personal similarity factors. The weights are aggregated and total scores for the search results are computed. The systems and methods sort the search results based on the total scores to identify and separate results of greater interest to the user from those that of less interest.
US09177057B2	Re-ranking search results based on lexical and ontological concepts Search result re-ranking is provided by employing a concept graph from a metabase. When a search query is received, a query context of the search query is analyzed to identify dominant concepts for the search query. The dominant concepts are expanded by identifying the dominant concepts within a concept graph and identifying additional concepts having a strong relationship with the dominant concepts within the concept graph. A set of search results for the search query is analyzed to determine strength of relationship of each search result to the expanded concepts. The search results are re-ranked based on the strength of relationship of each search result to the expanded concepts and the strength of relationship of each expanded concept to the dominant concepts.
US09177051B2	Method and system for personal information extraction and modeling with fully generalized extraction contexts Systems and methods for modeling information from a set of documents are disclosed. A tool allows a user to model concepts of interest and extract information from a set of documents in an editable format. The extracted information includes a list of instances of a document from the set of documents that contains the selected concept. The user may modify the extracted information to create subsets of information, add new concepts to the model, and share the model with others.
US09177050B2	Systems, methods, and interfaces for extending legal search results The present invention makes legal research more efficient by selecting clusters in response to the behavior of a user (e.g., a legal professional such as a paralegal, lawyer, or judge). The clusters, which are formed prior to the user accessing a legal document (and thus, providing user behavior to a system), are identified to the based upon a set of metadata associated with the legal document. At least two clusters are identified and a signal associated therewith is transmitted to the user. Each cluster is associated with a unique legal topic. Further, each cluster may comprise primary and/or secondary authority.
US09177047B2	System, method and computer program product for information sorting and retrieval using a language-modeling kernal function Various embodiments provide a system, method, and computer program product for sorting and/or selectively retrieving a plurality of documents in response to a user query. More particularly, embodiments are provided that convert each document into a corresponding document language model and convert the user query into a corresponding query language model. The language models are used to define a vector space having dimensions corresponding to terms in the documents and in the user query. The language models are mapped in the vector space. Each of the documents is then ranked, wherein the ranking is based at least in part on a position of the mapped language models in the vector space, so as to determine a relative relevance of each of the plurality of documents to the user query.
US09177042B2	Determining quality of tier assignments Technologies pertaining to computing a tiering policy that defines how digital items are desirable stored across a plurality of different storage tiers are described herein. A data repository that comprises data that is indicative of historic user interaction with a search engine is accessed. Subsequently, a tiering policy for digital items that are retrievable by way of the search engine is computed based at least in part upon the data that is indicative of the historic user interaction with the search engine. Retrieval times for digital items in the data storage tiers differ across the data storage tiers.
US09177041B2	Automated stratification of graph display A method and apparatus for generating a graphical depiction of related data are provided. Non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to identify a graph wherein a node represents a stored object having one or more application-specific attributes associated with a primary application, wherein the primary application includes other than a presentation of nodes in a graph drawing, and wherein edges represent stored relationships between said objects, which include a relevancy to the primary application. The computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to receive a selection formula wherein the selection formula is based on the one or more application-specific attributes of the objects, and wherein the formula classifies the objects based on at least one of predetermined and selectable values of the attributes; and depict a visual representation of the graph.
US09177040B2	Information processing device for vehicle and database An electronic control unit (ECU) and a database (DB) of a travel assist device specify and store a deceleration end point of a vehicle on the basis of information relating to an absolute position independent from a structure on the ground. Further, the ECU and the DB of the travel assist device stores a deceleration end area which is an area within a predetermined range from the deceleration end point.
US09177033B2	Systems and methods for composite persistence units In an EclipseLink environment, persistence units are associated with a single data source. However, in accordance with an embodiment, a user can define multiple persistence units, each with a different set of entity types (i.e., classes) stored in multiple data sources, and expose them through a single composite persistence unit which combines the entities from across the multiple data sources through a single persistence context. A plurality of different types of data sources can be used, including Java Transaction API (JTA) and non-JTA data sources as well as EclipseLink's native JDBC connection pools. Each member persistence unit continues mapping its classes to its own data source. Therefore, a composite persistence unit allows one to map different entities to different data sources. Composite persistence units can be created at runtime.
US09177030B2	Systems and methods for providing search results A method includes generating search results in response to a user query, where at least one of the search results includes a group of links. The group of links may represent links to web pages within a same web site and may be identified based on at least one factor associated with the links. The method may also include providing the search results to the user.
US09177029B1	Determining activity importance to a user Configurations of an activity assistant processing system are disclosed that provides users with dynamically-selected activities that are intelligently tailored to a user. The subject technology accesses an index of activities. A score is then determined for each particular activity in the index of activities. The score is based on plurality of signals associated with user-specific parameters and global parameters to determine the quantitative importance of a particular activity. The subject technology identifies a subset of activities within the index of activities using the activity assistant processing system in which the subset includes at least one activity with a corresponding score that is greater than or equal to a decision threshold for the at least one activity. At least a portion of the subset of activities is then ranked based on the quantitative importance of the particular activity using the activity assistant processing system.
US09177027B2	Database management system and method A database management system has a query interface for receiving a query and a query executor for executing the received query. The query executor dynamically generates a task, and executes a plurality of tasks in parallel. In execution of each task, each time data is required to be read from a database, the query executor generates a task for acquiring the data, and in execution of the generated task, issues a data read request for reading the data from the database, to thereby shorten a time taken to execute each task.
US09177026B2	Leapfrog tree-join A method for joining records from database tables is proposed. Join attributes are ordered into a sequence S0, and a scope C is initialized to empty. Tables including a join attribute A that is first in S0 are identified. A new sequence S′ omits A from S0. Iteration through each identified table proceeds in join attribute A order. The iteration utilizes a tree index structure for each identified table where the index key includes all join attributes in the identified table in S0 order. For each matched value v of the join attribute located during the iterating, a new scope Cv is created by appending “A=v” to the scope C. If S′ is empty, a tuple corresponding to the scope Cv is output. Otherwise, S0 is set to S′ and for each scope Cv, C is set to Cv and the steps beginning with the identifying step are recursively invoked.
US09177023B2	Evaluation of database query plan robustness landmarks using operator maps or query maps Computer-implemented systems and associated operating methods create and use an operator map to identify and evaluate database query plan robustness landmarks. The computer-implemented system comprises logic that creates a map evaluating performance of an implementation of a database engine operator during execution under actual operating conditions. The logic measures and maps performance for a selected range of runtime conditions including resource availability and data characteristics.
US09177021B2	Relational query planning for non-relational data sources A query plan for executing a query within a relational database system including at least one non-relational data source is generated by analyzing expressions that reference a non-relational data source within a query for the database system via an interface for that non-relational data source, determining for each analyzed expression at least one of the database system and interface capable of processing that analyzed expression for executing the query, providing an indicator for each of the analyzed expressions that indicates at least one of the database system and interface determined to process that analyzed expression, and generating the query plan for execution of the query, via the database system, based on the indicators for the expressions of the query.
US09177020B2	Gathering index statistics using sampling An approach is provided in which a sample point system allocates sample point identifiers to a root node included an index tree that includes multiple leaf nodes. The sample point system distributes the sample point identifiers to the root node's child nodes, and recursively traverses through the index tree's hierarchical index levels and distributes the sample point identifiers from the child nodes to a subset of the index tree's leaf nodes. In turn, the sample point system collects sample data from the subset of the plurality of leaf nodes corresponding to the distributed sample point identifiers.
US09177014B2	Method of automatically verifying document content A news and/or search engine system predicts events and stories based on existing events, stories, etc., extracted from a knowledge domain. These predictions can be used for a number of different purposes, including locating new content and actual event outcomes.
US09177013B2	System and method for citation processing, presentation and transport and for validating references The present invention comprises a system and method for automatically processing one or more citations contained within a document while the document is presented by a document rendering application. The method of the present invention comprises scanning the document to identify an unformatted citation and parsing the unformatted citation to determine one or more citation terms. One or more citation libraries are queried to find citations comprising the one or more citation terms. A citation falling within the scope of the query is selected and inserted into the document. The present invention may further provide enhanced workflow solutions for authors and publishers in preparing documents in structured format for facilitating efficient and accurate validation of references cited or included in papers and other submissions for publication or for review. An author prepares a document containing a set of cited references using a formatting structure. A system includes a processor to process the document to extract embedded metadata associated with the set of cited references. The processor executes code associated with a reference validation software module and automatically recognizes the formatting structure and the embedded metadata. The processor automatically extracts the embedded metadata and compares the extracted metadata against an authority database to determine the validity of the set of cited references.
US09177008B1	Positioned updates in a distributed shared-nothing data store Updatable cursors for positioned updates are provided in a distributed shared-nothing data store by associating with each row of data in a result set hidden metadata that identifies the segments and the locations on such segments of such row. When an update is issued to data under a cursor, the associated metadata is transparently inserted into the update statement before it is dispatched to the segments to insure that the correct data is accurately updated. For cached query statements, generic metadata identifiers are used for building and caching, and the actual metadata identifiers are folded into the statement in place of the generic identifiers before dispatch.
US09177002B2	Report acceleration using intermediate results in a distributed indexer system for searching events A method and system for managing searches of a data set that is partitioned based on a plurality of events. A structure of a search query may be analyzed to determine if logical computational actions performed on the data set is reducible. Data in each partition is analyzed to determine if at least a portion of the data in the partition is reducible. In response to a subsequent or reoccurring search request, intermediate summaries of reducible data and reducible search computations may be aggregated for each partition. Next, a search result may be generated based on at least one of the aggregated intermediate summaries, the aggregated reducible search computations, and a query of adhoc non-reducible data arranged in at least one of the plurality of partitions for the data set.
US09176994B2	Content analytics system configured to support multiple tenants Techniques are disclosed for a software as a service (SaaS) provider to host a content analytics tool used to evaluate data collections for multiple customers (referred to as tenants) using one dedicated and expandable computing infrastructure, without requiring that the service provider obtain, install, license, and manage a separate copy of the content analytics tools for each tenant. Customers are provided access to resources dedicated to their enterprise, but do not have access, or even awareness, of data collections or analytics resources hosted for other customers. That is, embodiments presented herein allow a provider to host content analytics tools used by customers to evaluate their enterprise data in a secure and timely manner.
US09176991B2	Storing photographic metadata for scene reproduction In an approach for collecting and storing photographic metadata, a computer receives a file containing an image. The computer receives photographic metadata from one or more photographic devices. The one or more photographic devices include at least one or more illumination devices. The one or more photographic devices are utilized to create the image. The received photographic metadata includes at least specifications of the one or more photographic devices. The computer stores the received photographic metadata in association with the received file.
US09176988B2	Image relevance model Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for identifying images relevant to a query are disclosed. An image search subsystem selects images to reference in image search results that are responsive to a query based on an image relevance model that is trained for the query. An independent image relevance model is trained for each unique query that is identified by the image search subsystem. The image relevance models can be applied to images to order image search results obtained for the query. Each relevance model is trained based on content feature values of images that are identified as being relevant to the query (e.g., frequently selected from the image search results) and images that are identified as being relevant to another unique query. The trained model is applied to the content feature values of all known images to generate an image relevance score that can be used to order search results for the query.
US09176986B2	Generating a combination of a visual query and matching canonical document A server system receives a visual query from a client system distinct from the server system, performs optical character recognition (OCR) on the visual query to produce text recognition data representing textual characters, including a plurality of textual characters in a contiguous region of the visual query, and scores each textual character in the plurality of textual characters. The server system identifies, in accordance with the scoring, one or more high quality textual strings, each comprising a plurality of high quality textual characters from among the plurality of textual characters in the contiguous region of the visual query; retrieves a canonical document having the one or more high quality textual strings; generates a combination of the visual query and at least a portion of the canonical document; and sends the combination to the client system.
US09176983B2	Method and system for cross-referencing and deduplicating objects in multiple map building blocks A system and method for providing a digital map database wherein multiple instances of geocoded objects pertaining to points of interest (POI) and/or three-dimensional (3D) objects contained within one or more building blocks are compared to find undesirable duplicate geocoded objects. Cross-referencing information is stored and preference information about which geocoded object or object property/attribute should be used is assessed to determine priority for selection or presentation on the display screen of a navigation device or other suitable computing device. Cross-references can be pre-calculated at compile time or calculated on-the-fly by the navigation application at run time and may be persistently stored in dedicated data structures. When duplicate geocoded objects are found, only the most accurate information or a super set of (attribute) information is used by applications or presented to a user thereby preventing confusion.
US09176969B2	Integrating and extracting topics from content of heterogeneous sources Examples relate to integrating and extracting topics from content of heterogeneous sources. Observed words are identified in documents, which are received from the heterogeneous sources. Next, document metadata and source metadata are obtained from the heterogeneous sources. The document metadata is used to calculate word topic probabilities for the observed words, and the source metadata is used to calculate source topic probabilities for the observed words. A latent topic is then determined for one of the documents based on the observed words, the word topic probabilities, and the source topic probabilities.
US09176965B2	Associating search terms with a downloaded file An apparatus for associated search terms with a downloaded file includes a storage device storing machine-readable code and a processor executing the machine-readable code. The machine-readable code includes a reference module that references one or more search terms for a file selected for download. The file is retrieved by a search engine searching with the one or more search terms. The machine-readable code includes an embedding module that embeds the one or more search terms into data associated with a file copy. The file copy includes a copy of the file for saving on a storage device.
US09176963B2	Managing counters in a distributed file system One embodiment is a method that divides a cluster file system into multiple segments with each segment including one or more local counters. The method then checks for inconsistencies and corrects discovered inconsistencies in each of the local counters while the file system remains online and available for use.
US09176961B2	System and method for generating homogeneous metadata from pre-existing metadata A method according to one embodiment includes determining the presence of pre-existing metadata associated with at least one local media content file. The method of this embodiment may also include determining at least one data field contained within the pre-existing metadata and generating a homogeneous metadata file for the at least one local media content file by mapping data contained within the at least one data field of the pre-existing metadata into at least one defined data field of the homogeneous metadata file.
US09176957B2	Selective fact checking method and system A fact checking system is able to verify the correctness of information and/or characterize information by comparing the information with one or more sources. The fact checking system automatically monitors, processes, fact checks information and indicates a status of the information. The fact checking system is able to operate selectively, for example, only fact checking information after detecting a trigger.
US09176956B2	Apparatus and method for providing search screen The present embodiment provides an apparatus for providing a search screen comprising: a data communication unit that performs a data communication with a storage medium in which at least one data is stored; a control unit that analyzes types of data for the at least one data provided through the data communication unit and sorts the provided at least one data based on the analyzed types of data; and a search screen generation unit that generates a search screen for the at least one data sorted based on the types of data, wherein the search screen generation unit generates virtual folders corresponding to the types of data and disposes the data corresponding thereto in the virtual folders for generated each type of data.
US09176954B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and non-transitory computer readable medium for presenting associated information upon selection of information An information processing apparatus includes a presenting unit, an information extracting unit, a characteristics extracting unit, and a limiting unit. The presenting unit presents information. The information extracting unit extracts, in a case where the information presented by the presenting unit is selected, information associated with the selected information from a storing unit that stores plural pieces of information and association between the plural pieces of information. The characteristics extracting unit extracts characteristics relating to the plural pieces of information and the association between the plural pieces of information. The limiting unit limits, in a case where the presenting unit presents the information extracted by the information extracting unit and the number of pieces of information to be presented is greater than or equal to or greater than a predetermined number, information to be presented on the basis of the characteristics extracted by the characteristics extracting unit.
US09176953B2	Method and system of web-based document service A method and system for web-based document service are provided. The method in the cloud side may include: receiving the data backed up automatically, retrieving the visual appearance of the backed up data and saving the retrieved visual appearance into a universal data and storing the universal data in cloud side, converting the universal data into a format supported browser.
US09176951B2	Mechanism and system for representing and processing activity models This invention (KBM), extends the concept called color, of my previous invention KB (ref-1), to cover process oriented concepts, and linguistic notions. Colors of KBM are now capable of depicting a very wide variety of scenarios of information, biological, and mechanical systems. KBM provides a novel framework (called DSC) for operational modeling, which can be used to compose larger process structures from small process structures. KBM also provides a novel framework for model checking, and for planning a workflow. Thus, KBM may be used to build and execute complex workflows.
US09176948B2	Client/server-based statistical phrase distribution display and associated text entry technique A computer-implemented technique for client/server-based statistical phrase distribution display and text entry includes transmitting a portion of an input entered by a user from a client device to a server having a language model. The input includes a text word or a speech input. The technique further includes receiving responses generated by the language model based on the portion of the input, where each of the responses includes words likely to follow the input, and displaying a tree structure that includes the responses arranged into a plurality of levels. Words in a first portion of each of the responses are included in a first level and are shown on the display. Words in a second portion of each of the responses are included in a second level and subsequent levels and are not shown on the display.
US09176945B1	Extracting data from messages for multiple accounts Provided are computer implemented methods and systems for extracting data. According to a method, a message associated with one of several accounts is received. The message is processed to detect one or more key words. A template related to the one or more key words is determined. The template is associates one or more portions of the message with one or more tags. Based on the determining, the data from the message is extracted using the template.
US09176944B1	Selectively processing user input In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products. A computing system receives text that represents content input by a user. A computing system determines a randomness level for a portion of the text. A computing system determines whether the randomness level for the portion of text exceeds a threshold level. A computing system, responsive to determining that the randomness level does not exceed the threshold level, provides the portion of text for processing by a text processing system.
US09176943B2	Comment presentation in electronic documents Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to present a comment object in an electronic document, receive an indication that the comment object is selected, determine content in the electronic document that corresponds with the selected comment object, and apply a mask to obscure portions of the content that do not correspond to the comment object. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
US09176941B2	Text inputting method, apparatus and system based on a cache-based language model and a universal language model A text inputting method includes: obtaining a user identifier, finding a user language module corresponding to the user identifier according to the user identifier; obtaining a user input, generating a candidate sentence list according to the user input; obtaining a universal language model, calculating an on-screen probability of each candidate sentence in the candidate sentence list according to the user language model and the universal language model; sorting candidate sentences in the candidate sentence list according to their on-screen probabilities; and outputting the sorted candidate sentence list. The method increases a text inputting accuracy ratio and an inputting speed. In addition, a text inputting system and an apparatus are also provided.
US09176940B2	System and method for text editor text alignment control A method for an electronic device having an input device and a display, including, displaying a block of text within a text editing application, displaying, in proximity of the block of text, an alignment control interface after a precondition is met, detecting a dragging motion associated with the alignment control interface, modifying an alignment of the block of text based, at least in part, on the detected dragging motion, detecting an end of the dragging motion, and, displaying, in a predetermined position associated with the alignment of the block of text, the alignment control interface. An electronic device including a display, an input device, a memory, and a processor, the processor being configured to execute the method.
US09176935B2	Image forming apparatus capable of displaying print preview on screen An image forming apparatus includes: an image data generation unit configured to write at least one of image data for print output and image data for confirmation display based on intermediate data on an object included in print data and store the image data in a buffer; an intermediate data generation unit configured to generate the intermediate data based on comparing a resolution or gradation of a target object with an output resolution or output gradation that is defined based on a size of the buffer, adjusting a resolution to either the resolution of the target object or the output resolution and adjusting gradation to either the gradation of the target object or the output gradation; a printing unit configured to print using the image data for print output; and a display unit configured to display a print preview.
US09176929B2	Multi-granularity parallel FFT computation device A multi-granularity parallel FFT computation device including three memories, a butterfly computation device, a state control unit, a data reversing network and a first selector. The three memories are each a multi-granularity parallel memory, and store butterfly group data and twiddle factors corresponding to the butterfly group data. The butterfly computation device perform computations of a butterfly group based on the butterfly group data outputted from the first selector and the corresponding twiddle factors outputted from one of the memories, and write a computation result back to the other two memories. The device can read butterfly group data and corresponding twiddle factors in parallel from the multi-granularity parallel memories with a specific R/W granularity. No memory conflict will occur in the read operation, and no additional process is required for sorting the read/written data.
US09176926B2	Monitoring of an aircraft engine for anticipating maintenance operations A method monitoring an aircraft engine, including: collecting time history measurements on a first set of measurements on endogenic variables and a second set of measurements on exogenic variables; standardizing measurements related to the endogenic variables considering the exogenic variables to form an entry point corresponding to a condition of a current engine in a multi-dimensional space, for each acquisition; projecting each multi-dimensional space entry point onto an image point on a previously constructed map, forming a sequence of image points on the map reflecting a distribution of the multi-dimensional space entry points, the image points forming a current trajectory representing a change to conditions of the current engine; comparing an end of the current trajectory with previously recorded portions of aircraft engine trajectories kept in a database; and analyzing statistical variations of the trajectories to anticipate maintenance operations on the current engine.
US09176925B2	Non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing game program, and information processing device A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a game program, the game program causing a computer to execute a process, including: an event occurrence process to cause occurrence of an event for allowing a player to obtain an item; an occurrence count acquisition process to acquire the number of times the event has occurred; a number determination process to determine the number of other players different from the player based on the number of times the event has occurred; and a consecutive event occurrence process to cause an event for allowing players to obtain an item to occur in a consecutive manner after the event for allowing the player to obtain the item, the number of the players being the determined number or less.
US09176923B2	Electronic guidance for restoring a predetermined cabling configuration In one embodiment, a computer system has a plurality of chassis interconnected by cables. Each cable initially connects a unique port pair consisting of a port of one chassis and a port of another chassis. The disconnection of cables is monitored, including electronically recording a disconnection sequence in which the port pairs are disconnected by removing each cable from at least one port of the respective port pair. Visual guidance is provided for re-cabling the computer system by sequentially identifying the port pairs in a reversal of the disconnection sequence, wherein identifying each port pair includes illuminating visual indicators associated with the ports of each port pair with a matching illumination pattern.
US09176922B2	Content management system for integrated display substrates A system is provided that includes a content management system, a controller, and an electronic display. The electronic display is integrated into an object, such as the packaging of a consumer product. The content management system sends instructions to the controller for determining content to display. The instructions depend in part on status information obtained by the controller from an external source. At least one instruction pertains to extended periods when the controller is unable to communicate with the content management system.
US09176919B2	Process controller having multi-channel serial communications link A process controller includes a central processing unit (CPU) and a multi-channel serial communication interface including a plurality of serial communication engines in parallel to one another coupled to the CPU. The multi-channel serial communication interface provides a plurality of independent serial communication channels between the CPU and a plurality of IO modules. The plurality of independent communication channels enable the CPU to simultaneously receive signals at any time from any combination of the plurality of IO modules.
US09176918B2	Inter-component communication using an interface including master and slave communication Component apparatuses with inter-component communication capabilities, and system having such component apparatuses are disclosed herein. In embodiments, such a component may include a number of control pins including a clock pin, a number of data pins, and a logic unit. The logic unit may be configured to receive a clock signal from another component through the clock pin, to provide an alert signal to the other component through a selected one of the control and data pins to initiate a transaction with the other component, to receive in response to the alert signal from the other component through the data pins a status request to determine nature of the transaction, and to provide in response to the status request to the other component through the data pins a status to indicate the nature of the transaction. The provision of the alert signal, the receipt of the status request and the provision of the status may be in reference to the clock signal. Other embodiments may be disclosed or claimed.
US09176917B2	SAS latency based routing Techniques for operating a serial attached SCSI (SAS) expander that includes a latency table comprising entries of outbound PHYS with latency values associated with connections between inbound PHYs and outbound PHYs. A storage management module to, in response to receipt of a command from an initiator device associated with an inbound PHY to route data to a target device associated with an outbound PHY, select from the latency table a random outbound PHY from among a plurality of outbound PHYs, wherein the random selection is based on weighted average of latency values of the outbound PHY entries of the latency table.
US09176911B2	Explicit flow control for implicit memory registration Methods, apparatus and systems for facilitating explicit flow control for RDMA transfers using implicit memory registration. To setup an RDMA data transfer, a source RNIC sends a request to allocate a destination buffer at a destination RNIC using implicit memory registration. Under implicit memory registration, the page or pages to be registered are not explicitly identified by the source RNIC, and may correspond to pages that are paged out to virtual memory. As a result, registration of such pages result in page faults, leading to a page fault delay before registration and pinning of the pages is completed. In response to detection of a page fault, the destination RNIC returns an acknowledgment indicating that a page fault delay is occurring. In response to receiving the acknowledgment, the source RNIC temporarily stops sending packets, and does not retransmit packets for which ACKs are not received prior to retransmission timeout expiration.
US09176907B2	Semiconductor device and data processing system A high-speed, low-cost data processing system capable of ensuring expandability of memory capacity and having excellent usability while keeping constant latency is provided. The data processing system is configured to include a data processing device, a volatile memory, and a non-volatile memory. As the data processing device, the volatile memory, and the non-volatile memory are connected in series and the number of connection signals are reduced, the speed is increased while keeping expandability of memory capacity. The data processing device measures latency and performs a latency correcting operation to keep the latency constant. When data in the non-volatile memory is transferred to the volatile memory, error correction is performed to improve reliability. The data processing system formed of these plurality of chips is configured as a data processing system module in which the chips are disposed so as to be multilayered each other and are connected by a ball grid array (BGA) or a technology of wiring these chips.
US09176903B2	Memory access during memory calibration A multi-rank memory system in which calibration operations are performed between a memory controller and one rank of memory while data is transferred between the controller and other ranks of memory. A memory controller performs a calibration operation that calibrates parameters pertaining to transmission of data via a first data bus between the memory controller and a memory device in a first rank of memory. While the controller performs the calibration operation, the controller also transfers data with a memory device in a second rank of memory via a second data bus.
US09176900B2	Flexible hinge and removable attachment Flexible hinge and removable attachment techniques are described. In one or more implementations, a flexible hinge is configured to communicatively and physically couple an input device to a computing device and may implement functionality such as a support layer and minimum bend radius. The input device may also include functionality to promote a secure physical connection between the input device and the computing device. One example of this includes use of one or more protrusions that are configured to be removed from respective cavities of the computing device along a particular axis but mechanically bind along other axes. Other techniques include use of a laminate structure to form a connection portion of the input device.
US09176898B2	Software stack building using logically protected region of computer-readable medium Methods, apparatuses, and systems for software stack building using a logically protected region of a computer-readable medium are described. An image of a software stack may be stored in a computer-readable medium. A computer, coupled to the computer-readable medium, may build an executable software stack on the same computer-readable medium from the image. The image may be stored in a logically-protected region of the computer-readable medium. After the storing and prior to the building, data stored on the computer-readable medium outside of the logically-protected region may be erased.
US09176892B2	Performing staging or destaging based on the number of waiting discard scans A controller receives a request to perform staging or destaging operations with respect to an area of a cache. A determination is made as to whether more than a threshold number of discard scans are waiting to be performed. The controller avoids satisfying the request to perform the staging or the destaging operations or a read hit with respect to the area of the cache, in response to determining that more than the threshold number of discard scans are waiting to be performed.
US09176891B2	Processor, processing system, data sharing processing method, and integrated circuit for data sharing processing A processing device processes data with use of one or more data blocks shared with a plurality of external processing devices. The device includes a processor, and a shared data storage unit that stores, respectively in one or more storage areas thereof, one or more data blocks to be shared with one or more external processing devices. An output unit outputs, when the processor makes an access request to write data in a part of one of the data blocks, a block identifier identifying the one of the data blocks, and the data pertaining to the access request. An input unit judges whether to share external data outputted from one of the external processing devices, based on a block identifier outputted from the one of the external processing devices, and only when judging affirmatively, causes the shared data storage unit to store the external data.
US09176888B2	Application-managed translation cache Mechanisms are provided, in a data processing system, for accessing a memory location in a physical memory of the data processing system. With these mechanisms, a request is received from an application to access a memory location specified by an effective address in an application address space. A translation is performed, at a user level of execution, of the effective address to a real address table index (RATI) value corresponding to the effective address. At a hardware level of execution, a lookup operation is performed that looks-up the RATI value in a real address table data structure maintained by trusted system level hardware of the data processing system, to identify a real address for accessing physical memory. A memory location in physical memory is thereafter accessed based on the identified real address.
US09176883B2	Storage of data reference blocks and deltas in different storage devices A data storage architecture is composed of an array of a flash memory solid state disk and a hard disk drive or any nonvolatile random access storage that are intelligently coupled by an intelligent processing unit such as a multi-core graphic processing unit. The solid state disk stores seldom-changed and mostly read reference data blocks while the hard disk drive stores compressed deltas between currently accessed I/O blocks and their corresponding reference blocks in the solid state disk so that random writes are not performed on the solid state disk during online I/O operations. The solid state disk and hard disk drive are controlled by the intelligent processing unit, which carries out high speed computations including similarity detection and delta compression/decompression. The architecture exploits the fast read performance of solid state disks and the high speed computation of graphic processing units to replace mechanical operations on hard disk drives while avoiding slow and wearing solid state drive writes.
US09176880B2	Cache memory system for tile based rendering and caching method thereof A cache memory system and a caching method for a tile-based rendering may be provided. Each of cache lines in the cache memory system may include delayed-replacement information. The delayed-replacement information may indicate whether texture data referred to at a position of an edge of a tile is included in a cache line. When a cache line corresponding to an access-requested address is absent in the cache memory system, the cache memory system may select and remove a cache line to be removed from an associative cache unit, based on delayed-replacement information.
US09176878B2	Filtering pre-fetch requests to reduce pre-fetching overhead The disclosed embodiments provide a system that filters pre-fetch requests to reduce pre-fetching overhead. During operation, the system executes an instruction that involves a memory reference that is directed to a cache line in a cache. Upon determining that the memory reference will miss in the cache, the system determines whether the instruction frequently leads to cache misses. If so, the system issues a pre-fetch request for one or more additional cache lines. Otherwise, no pre-fetch request is sent. Filtering pre-fetch requests based on instructions' likelihood to miss reduces pre-fetching overhead while preserving the performance benefits of pre-fetching.
US09176869B2	Memory use for garbage collected computer environments A method, processing system, and computer readable storage medium, reduce heap memory used by an application, where unused memory in the heap memory is reclaimed by a garbage collector. A processor periodically monitors the application's memory usage including maximum heap memory size, committed heap memory size, in use heap memory size, and a garbage collection activity level. The processor, based on determining that the monitored garbage collection activity level is below a threshold, releases unused heap memory from the application by reducing the maximum heap memory size.
US09176867B2	Hybrid DRAM-SSD memory system for a distributed database node In one exemplary aspect, a method includes building a data index from a set of data from a client application in a distributed database system. The data index is optimized for operation in a DRAM data-storage device, and wherein the data index is built to use a set of fix-sized blocks that fit a DRAM device block size. The data index is maintained in the DRAM data-storage device. An SSD data-storage device is used to persistently store the data referenced by the data index in the DRAM data-storage device, and wherein the data and the metadata are stored in the SSD data-storage device in a log-based format.
US09176864B2	Non-volatile memory and method having block management with hot/cold data sorting A non-volatile memory organized into flash erasable blocks sorts units of data according to a temperature assigned to each unit of data, where a higher temperature indicates a higher probability that the unit of data will suffer subsequent rewrites due to garbage collection operations. The units of data either come from a host write or from a relocation operation. The data are sorted either for storing into different storage portions, such as SLC and MLC, or into different operating streams, depending on their temperatures. This allows data of similar temperature to be dealt with in a manner appropriate for its temperature in order to minimize rewrites. Examples of a unit of data include a logical group and a block.
US09176859B2	Systems and methods for improving the performance of non-volatile memory operations Disclosed herein are systems and methods that recognize and recapture potentially unused processing time in typical page program and block erase operations in non-volatile memory (NVM) devices. In one embodiment, a characterization module within a controller executes a characterization procedure by performing page program and block erase operations on one or more NVM devices in an array and storing execution time data of the operations in a calibration table. The procedure may be executed at start-up and/or periodically so that the time values are reflective of the actual physical condition of the individual NVM devices. A task manager uses the stored time values to estimate the time needed for completing certain memory operations in its task table. Based on the estimated time for completion, the task manager assigns tasks to be executed during page program and/or block erase cycles, so that otherwise unused processing time can be utilized.
US09176858B2	Storage system configured to selectively utilize data compression based on real pool usage rates The present invention relates to executing data compression based on the used capacities of real pools. The present storage subsystem stores a definition information regarding conditions of starting data compression and ending data compression defined via usage rates of a real pool as physical area, wherein if the usage rate of the real pool satisfies the condition for starting compression, the compression processing is started, and if the usage rate satisfies the condition for ending compression, the compression processing is ended.
US09176855B2	Thick and thin data volume management Methods, apparatus and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that include configuring one or more storage devices as a plurality of physical storage units, each of the physical storage units having a storage granularity, and configuring, on the one or more storage devices, a thin provisioned storage pool having a physical number of the physical storage units and a logical number of logical storage units, the physical number being less than the logical number. Upon receiving a request to create a thick data volume having a requested number of the physical storage units, an available number of the physical storage units that are available in the thin provisioned pool can be identified. Upon determining that the requested number is less than the available number, the requested number of the physical storage units can be allocated, from the thin provisioned storage pool, to the thick data volume.
US09176852B2	Role-oriented testbed environments for use in test automation In managing testing on a testbed environment a test automator executes an operation specified in a test script to be performed on a testbed environment, wherein the operation refers to a particular role identifier identifying one of a plurality of roles hosted within the testbed environment by at least one host in the testbed environment, wherein the operation does not refer to any of the at least one host. The test automator performs the operation on a particular host of the at least one host of the testbed environment using at least one value from a host description file for calling the particular host assigned to the particular role identifier in a configuration file.
US09176851B2	Utilizing intelligent automated scripts to test software applications Embodiments of the invention provide for utilizing an intelligent automated script to test software applications. According to one embodiment, testing a software application can comprise executing a test script for testing a plurality of versions of the software application. For example, executing the test script can comprise instantiating a first instance of the test script for testing the first version of the software application. The first version of the software application can be initiated and a temporary map of the first version of the software application can be built by the test script. The first version of the software application can be tested based on the temporary map. In some cases, a second instance of the test script can be instantiated for testing a second version of the software application. In such cases, the first and second versions of the application may be tested in parallel.
US09176850B2	Automated parallel software code impact analysis A server device is configured to receive a request to identify a manner in which changed code propagates within an application; generate a group of blocks that correspond to code associated with a parent function corresponding to the application and which includes the changed code; perform an intra-procedural analysis on the group of blocks to identify a block that is affected by the changed code included within an epicenter block; perform an inter-procedural analysis on functions associated with the block, where, when performing the inter-procedural analysis, the server device is to generate another group of blocks associated with the functions, and identify another block that is affected by the changed code included within the epicenter block; and present, for display, information associated with the block or the other block that enables the application to be tested based on the block or the other block.
US09176846B1	Validating correctness of expression evaluation within a debugger A method for validating correctness of expression evaluation within a debugger. The method includes determining a statement of interest comprising an expression recognized by a debugger program within one or more source program files of a debuggable program and generating a debug command file for the statement of interest. The method includes inserting a set of debug commands, comprising a first path for a baseline run and a second path for a test run for the statement of interest, into the debug command file, then causing the execution of the baseline run and test run. Results from the baseline run and results from the test run are compared to determine if the results from the baseline run are equivalent to the results from the test run.
US09176845B2	Use of compiler-introduced identifiers to improve debug information pertaining to user variables A method and system for improving debug information pertaining to user variables using a compiler. The method may include identifying a statement to be removed from its current position in an internal representation of a program by a compiler as part of the compiler optimization, replacing the statement to be removed with a debug annotation, adding references to the debug annotation in subsequent debug expressions referring to the removed statement, and emitting debug location information for a user variable using the debug annotation.
US09176844B2	System and method to classify automated code inspection services defect output for defect analysis A method is implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions. The programming instructions are operable to receive a tool error output determined by a code inspection tool and select at least one defect classification mapping profile based on the code inspection tool. Additionally, the programming instructions are operable to map the tool error output to one or more output classifications using the selected at least one defect classification mapping profile and generate at least one report based on the one or more output classifications.
US09176842B2	Control flow analysis utilizing function dominator trees A method for control flow analysis according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: acquiring an original function call tree of a program, wherein nodes of the original function call tree represent functions and a parent/child relation between the nodes represents a calling relation; generating a corresponding function dominator tree from the calling relation, wherein nodes of the function dominator tree represent the functions and a parent/child relation between the nodes represents a dominator relation, wherein a first function dominates a second function if all the invocations to the second function are originated by the first function; and simplifying the original function call tree according to the function dominator tree so as to obtain a simplified function call tree. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the function call tree for control flow analysis can be simplified.
US09176840B2	Tool for analyzing and resolving errors in a process server A method for analyzing and resolving problems in a process server is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, such a method may include receiving a log file associated with an application running on the process server. The application may be made up of higher-level service component artifacts, and lower-level implementation artifacts used to implement the higher-level service component artifacts. The method may further include identifying error messages in the log file and determining which implementation artifacts are associated with the error messages. The method may further include mapping the implementation artifacts to service component artifacts associated with the implementation artifacts. The error messages may then be displayed along with their relationship to the service component artifacts. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also disclosed and claimed herein.
US09176835B2	Network, storage appliance, and method for externalizing an external I/O link between a server and a storage controller integrated within the storage appliance chassis A network storage appliance is disclosed. The storage appliance includes a port combiner that provides data communication between at least first, second, and third I/O ports; a storage controller that controls storage devices and includes the first I/O port; a server having the second I/O port; and an I/O connector for networking the third I/O port to the port combiner. A single chassis encloses the port combiner, storage controller, and server, and the I/O connector is affixed on the storage appliance. The third I/O port is external to the chassis and is not enclosed therein. In various embodiments, the port combiner comprises a FiberChannel hub comprising a series of loop resiliency circuits, or a FiberChannel, Ethernet, or Infiniband switch. In one embodiment, the port combiner, I/O ports, and server are all comprised in a single blade module for plugging into a backplane of the chassis.
US09176832B2	Providing a backup network topology without service disruption In one embodiment, a primary root node may detect one or more neighboring root nodes based on information received from a first-hop node and may select a backup root node among the neighboring root nodes. Once selected, the backup root node may send the primary root node a networking identification and a corresponding group mesh key which the primary root node may forward to the first-hop nodes to cause the first-hop nodes to migrate to the backup root node when connectivity to the primary root node fails. In addition, the first-hop root nodes may migrate back to the primary root node when connectivity to the primary root node is restored.
US09176830B2	Method for determining software error in virtualization based integrated control system A method for determining software errors in a virtualization-based integrated control system detects software errors for each partition (software of a vehicle controller) and recovers automatically. Thus, system reliability, which is an advantage of virtualization techniques, can be further enhanced, thereby providing an operator with stability, and software errors can be easily addressed by writing error information.
US09176826B1	Portable data archiving device Techniques for archiving data, including methods, systems, and apparatus, including machine-readable media storing executable instructions. In some implementations, an apparatus includes a touch screen, one or more processors, a battery, non-volatile data storage device, and machine-readable media including executable instructions for performing data archiving operations. In some implementations, communication with a source device is established. A device driver may be transmitted from the apparatus to the source device and installed on the source device. The device driver may be configured to generate an identifier for the source device. A particular logical data storage area may be assigned based on the received identifier. A user interface may be displayed on the touch screen to receive user input requesting data from the source device. The data from the source device may be received by the apparatus and stored the particular storage area assigned to the source device.
US09176825B2	Granular application data lifecycle sourcing from a single backup A system or method for granular application data lifecycle sourcing from a single backup is disclosed. In one embodiment of the method, a computer system periodically creates a primary backup copy of data stored on a storage system in order to create a plurality of primary backup copies. The computer system also periodically creates a secondary backup copy of data stored on the storage system in order to create a first plurality of secondary backup copies, wherein each of the secondary backup copies of the first plurality is created in part by copying data from a respective one of the primary backup copies. The periodicity of creating the primary backup copies, however, is distinct from the periodicity of creating the secondary backup copies of the first plurality.
US09176822B2	Adjusting dispersed storage error encoding parameters A method begins by a processing module receiving a large data file for storage in a dispersed storage network (DSN) and determining initial dispersed storage error encoding parameters. The method continues with the processing module encoding, during a first time interval of receiving the large data file, first data segments of the large data file using the initial dispersed storage error encoding parameters to produce a first plurality of sets of encoded data slices. The method continues with the processing module writing the first plurality of sets of encoded data slices to the DSN and monitoring processing of the writing to produce first write processing performance information. When the first write processing performance information compares unfavorably to a desired write performance range, the method continues with the processing module adjusting, for a second time interval, the initial dispersed storage error encoding parameters to produce adjusted dispersed storage error encoding parameters.
US09176821B2	Watchpoint support system for functional simulator A functional simulator with watchpoint support includes a CPU having a first-level DMI cache, a watchpoint manager having a second-level DMI cache, an interconnect module, and a memory controller. The simulator is operated by a front-end tool. Watchpoints corresponding to a predetermined memory addresses are set by the front-end tool and stored as a watchpoint address list in the watchpoint manager. When a memory access request is received by the first-level DMI cache, after a failure to complete the memory access request, the CPU transmits the request to the watchpoint manager. The watchpoint manager searches for a memory address associated with the memory access request in the watchpoint address list. If a match is found, the watchpoint manager generates a watchpoint hit signal and notifies the front-end tool.
US09176816B2	Memory system configured to control data transfer A memory system includes a controlling unit that configured to control data transfer between the first and the second memory. The controlling unit executes copy processing for, after reading out data stored in a first page of the second memory to the first memory, writing the data in a second page of the second memory, determines, when executing the copy processing, whether the error correction processing for the data read out from the first page is successful, stores, when the error correction processing is successful, corrected data in the first memory and writes the corrected data in the second page, and reads out, when the error correction processing is unsuccessful, the data from the first page to the first memory and writes the data not subjected to the error correction processing in the second page.
US09176815B2	Flash channel with selective decoder likelihood dampening An apparatus for reading a flash memory includes a read controller operable to read the flash memory to yield read patterns, a likelihood generator operable to map the read patterns to likelihood values, a decoder operable to decode the likelihood values, a data state storage operable to retrieve the likelihood values for which decoding failed, and a selective dampening controller operable to select at least one dampening candidate from among the likelihood values for which decoding failed, to dampen the likelihood values of the at least one dampening candidate to yield dampened likelihood values, and to provide the dampened likelihood values to the decoder for decoding.
US09176812B1	Systems and methods for storing data in page stripes of a flash drive Apparatus and methods provide relatively low uncorrectable bit error rates, low write amplification, long life, fast and efficient retrieval, and efficient storage density such that a solid-state drive (SSD) can be implemented using relatively inexpensive MLC Flash for an enterprise storage application. Data is stored in page stripes. The page stripes can have varying amounts of payload capacity based on selected error correction code strength. Allocation blocks can be divided into journaling cells, correspond to minimum units of data for which a journaling engine or flash translation layer has a logical-to-physical mapping.
US09176810B2	Bit error reduction through varied data positioning Devices, apparatuses, systems, and methods are disclosed for bit error reduction through varied data positioning. A write request module is configured to receive data for storage in an array of solid-state storage elements. The solid-state storage elements are accessible in parallel. A write module is configured to store the data in parallel to the array of solid-state storage elements with varied data positions for the data relative to different solid-state storage elements of the array. A read module is configured to read the data in parallel from the array of solid-state storage elements.
US09176806B2	Computer and memory inspection method In a memory inspection in a computer installing a x86 CPU, system software related to low-frequent processing is prevented from going down, and the suppression of performance degradation and the avoidance of a reduction in memory capacity by the memory inspection is realized. The computer having a processor, a memory, and an I/O device. The memory stores a system software realizing a system control unit, and an inspection program realizing an inspection unit. The processor has a memory fault notifying unit notifying the system control unit of a fault address. The system control unit includes an adjustment unit that determines whether the inspection program needs to be executed, or not, based on the type of event occurring, plural event processing units processing the event by using different storage areas of the memory, a fault recording unit recording the memory fault, and an event processing unit selector.
US09176804B2	Memory dump optimization in a system Reducing memory dump data size by: (i) receiving a memory dump data including a set of stack(s), including at least a first stack which includes a current stack portion; (ii) removing from the memory dump data a first removed data portion that comes from a portion of the first stack to yield an optimized memory dump data; (iii) determining respective ranking values for a plurality of ranked data portions from the set of stacks; and (iv) selecting a ranked data portion from the current stack portion of the first stack to be a first removed data portion based, at least in part, upon the ranking values.
US09176798B2	Computer-readable recording medium, failure prediction device and applicability determination method A failure prediction device generates a failure predictor pattern in accordance with previous cases of failure that has occurred in a first system, the failure predictor pattern being used to detect a predictor of failure in the first system configuration. When a system configuration is changed from the first system configuration to a second system configuration, the failure prediction device calculates the difference information that indicates the difference between the system configurations by using the number of changes that is the accumulated number of times that a change of the configuration item which is included in a system is executed. The failure prediction device determines, in accordance with the calculated difference information, whether the failure predictor pattern is applicable to the detection of a predictor of failure in the second system configuration.
US09176795B2	Graphics processing dispatch from user mode A method, system, and computer program product are disclosed for providing improved access to accelerated processing device compute resources to user mode applications. The functionality disclosed allows user mode applications to provide commands to an accelerated processing device without the need for kernel mode transitions in order to access a unified ring buffer. Instead, applications are each provided with their own buffers, which the accelerated processing device hardware can access to process commands. With full operating system support, user mode applications are able to utilize the accelerated processing device in much the same way as a CPU.
US09176792B2	Class-based mutex When different types of shared resources need mutex protection, the shared resources can be organized into classes. Each class of shared resources can have multiple types of resources. A mutex pool can store multiple mutex objects, each mutex object corresponding to a class of resources. The mutex object can be used to protect each shared resource in the corresponding class.
US09176791B2	Computer-readable recording medium, exclusion control apparatus, and exclusion control method A exclusion control method includes setting, for at least one or more operation information defining operations for an information processing apparatus and being included in a plurality of work flow information that indicate operation procedures, exclusive sections that indicate units of exclusion control performing an exclusive lock, calculating priorities of the exclusive sections using operation importance level information that indicate importance levels of the operations according to types of the operation information and operation urgency level information that indicate an urgency levels of the operations, when the operations are executed based on the operation information corresponding to the exclusive sections of the plurality of workflow information, and executing the exclusion control in the exclusive sections for a plurality of workflow based on the priorities, when a competitive regarding the exclusive lock occurs between the exclusive sections.
US09176787B2	Preserving, from resource management adjustment, portions of an overcommitted resource managed by a hypervisor Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for preserving, from resource management adjustment, portions of an overcommitted resource managed by a hypervisor are provided. Embodiments include identifying, by the hypervisor, a privileged guest from among a plurality of guests of the hypervisor; identifying, by the hypervisor, portions of the overcommitted resource that are allocated to the privileged guest; and preventing, by the hypervisor, resource management adjustment to the identified portions of the overcommitted resource that are allocated to the privileged guest.
US09176784B2	Load balancing A device may include a memory and logic. The logic may be configured to monitor a number of computer devices associated with a service, identify, based on the monitoring, whether any of the computer devices is experiencing a problem or is unavailable, and store, in the memory, information identifying each of the computer devices that is experiencing a problem or is unavailable. The logic may also be configured to receive a client request for the service, the client request being directed to a virtual Internet protocol (VIP) address associated with the device. The logic may be further configured to identify one of the computer devices to which the request is to be forwarded, and forward the request to the identified computer device.
US09176783B2	Idle transitions sampling with execution context A process generates a sample based on an event. The process identifies, with a dispatch monitor, a next dispatched monitored thread that is dispatched by a current processor. The process sets a processor affinity of the next dispatched monitored thread such that the next dispatched monitored thread runs only on the current processor without being able to migrate to a different processor. The process also retrieves, with a sampled thread that runs on the current processor, a next dispatched monitored thread call stack after the processor affinity of the next dispatched monitored thread has been set to the processor. The process restores the processor affinity of the next dispatched monitored thread after the next dispatched monitored thread call stack has been obtained.
US09176776B2	Apparatus, method, and computer-readable recording medium for processing data A data processing apparatus includes a first storage that stores information pertaining to an order in which multiple process flows are executed, the execution of the multiple process flows being started by input of data and terminated by output of the data in a format usable for a user, a reception part that receives input data with respect to one of the multiple process flows, an execution part that executes the one of the multiple process flows on the input data, and a second storage that stores information indicating the one of the multiple process flows executed by the execution part. The execution part identifies a predetermined process flow to be executed with respect to the input data by referring to the first and second storages. The predetermined process flow is a process flow to be performed earliest among the multiple process flows that are not yet executed.
US09176774B2	Workflow control of reservations and regular jobs using a flexible job scheduler A scheduler receives flexible reservation requests for scheduling in a computing environment comprising consumable resources. The flexible reservation request specifies a duration and a required resource. The consumable resources comprise machine resources and floating resources. The scheduler creates a flexible job for the flexible reservation request and places the flexible job in a prioritized job queue for scheduling, wherein the flexible job is prioritizes relative to at least one regular job in the prioritized job queue. The scheduler adds a reservation set to a waiting state for the flexible reservation request. The scheduler, responsive to detecting the flexible job positioned in the prioritized job queue for scheduling next and detecting a selection of consumable resources available to match the at least one required resource for the duration, transfers the selection of consumable resources to the reservation and sets the reservation to an active state.
US09176772B2	Suspending and resuming of sessions A session established for an application is suspended from an instance and later resumed on the server or a different server. When a session is suspended, its state is captured and persistently stored as a session image in a data repository, and the session is terminated. When the session is resumed, a new session is established on an instance, the session image of the session to resume is retrieved from the repository and restored to the newly established session. The suspension and resumption of a session may be initiated by an application, which may request the suspension and resumption of a session.
US09176771B2	Priority scheduling of threads for applications sharing peripheral devices A data processing method has a device control thread for each peripheral device capable of an independent operation, a CPU processing thread for each data processing that is performed by a CPU, a control thread equipped with a processing part for constructing an application. The control thread checks an output from the thread related with each processing part, performs with a higher priority from the processing part in which output data of the preprocessing part as a configuration of the application exists and that is near termination, and instructs execution of the each device control thread and the CPU processing thread, and data input/output. Each of device control thread and CPU processing thread processes the data according to the instructions, and sends a processing result and a notification to the control thread.
US09176769B2	Partitioned array objects in a distributed runtime Embodiments are directed to using object serialization to communicate references to shim objects and to managing memory on worker processes of a distributed software application. In one scenario, a computer system instantiates shim objects on one or more ranks of a distributed application. The shim objects are configured to store a reference to an instance of a native partitioned array, where the reference includes a unique identifier for the native partitioned array instance. The computer system then serializes the shim objects for communication of the stored references from the master rank of the distributed application to various other worker ranks of the distributed application. Then, upon serializing the shim objects, the computer system communicates the shim object's stored references to the other worker ranks of the distributed application.
US09176748B2	Creating presentations using digital media content Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for creating presentations using digital media content. In one aspect, input is received to position a first graphical element, such as a digital image, over a second graphical element to create a digital presentation. By analyzing a first feature associated with the first graphical element, it is determined that the first feature is incompatible with a second feature associated with the second graphical element. The second feature is dynamically and automatically modified to be compatible with the first feature, and the first graphical element is displayed over the second graphical element that is associated with the modified second feature, in response to the input.
US09176738B2	Method and apparatus for fast decoding and enhancing execution speed of an instruction Method and apparatus for fast decoding of microinstructions are disclosed. An integrated circuit is disclosed wherein microinstructions are queued for execution in an execution unit having multiple pipelines where each pipeline is configured to execute a set of supported microinstructions. The execution unit receives microinstruction data including an operation code (opcode) or a complex opcode. The execution unit executes the microinstruction multiple times wherein the microinstruction is executed at least once to get an address value and at least once to get a result of an operation. The execution unit processes complex opcodes by utilizing both a load/store support and a simple opcode support by splitting the complex opcode into load/store and simple opcode components and creating an internal source/destination between the two components.
US09176725B2	Automated upgrade for an operating system using a gateway server Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with automated upgrade of an operating system are described. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a request for an upgrade package in a gateway server from a remote device and determining a source location for the upgrade package. The example method may also include sending the request to the source location to cause the source location to provide the upgrade package to the remote device.
US09176722B1	Web management software configuration automation Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for installing web management software on an entity server by communicating requests to entity servers for the purpose of executing instruction on the entity servers. As an example, the system receives installation parameters comprising hardware, software, and network information associated with an entity server and based on these installation parameters, generates a list of commands to install web management software on an entity server, wherein each command is executable by the entity server for performing a function to install the web management software on the entity server. The system initiates a server communication session with the entity server, and for each command in the list of commands, communicates a request comprising the command to be executed by the entity server, wherein the requests are sent in a selected order and at selected times to install web management software on the entity server.
US09176721B2	Installing an application into a virtualized environment An electronic device has a plurality of virtualized environments. Selection of an application of an application store is received, and a virtualized environment is identified for installing the application selected from the application store.
US09176720B1	Installation of third-party web applications into a container Techniques are shown for installing third-party applications onto a network system in appropriate containers on the network system. The containers store data and content of the same internet media type or MIME-type as the third-party applications.
US09176716B2	Method and apparatus for exploiting data locality in dynamic task scheduling A method for scheduling tasks to processor cores of a parallel computing system may include the steps of processing a source code which comprises at least one parallel lambda function having a function body called by a task and having a capture list specifying the data structures accessed in the function body of said parallel lambda function and used to derive data location information; executing the task calling said function body on the processor core which is associated to a memory unit of the parallel computing system where the data of the data structures specified by said capture list is stored, wherein the memory unit is selected or localized based on the derived data location information.
US09176709B2	Shared integer, floating point, polynomial, and vector multiplier A multiplier for performing multiple types of multiplication including integer, floating point, vector, and polynomial multiplication. The multiplier includes a modified booth encoder within the multiplier and unified circuitry to perform the various types of multiplication. A carry save adder tree is modified to route sum outputs to one part of the tree and to route carry outputs to another part of the tree. The carry save adder tree is also organized into multiple carry save adder trees to perform vector multiplication.
US09176708B2	Primary data storage system with quality of service The invention is directed to a primary data storage system for use in a computer network in which a network allows user computers to transfer data to/from the primary data storage system. In one embodiment, the primary data storage system allows an administrator of the computer network to define two or more volumes on the primary data storage system and define quality of service goals for each volume. The primary data storage system operates so as allocate resources within the primary data storage system to the volumes based upon criticality and performance goals specified for each of the volumes.
US09176701B2	Seam minimization in a handheld dual display device A handheld communication device includes first and second screen assemblies, each including a screen having an active display area and housing having a rear surface, and a side surface extending between a periphery of the screen and the rear surface of the housing and a hinge connected to the first and second screen assemblies, whereby, when the hinge is in the fully opened position, the hinge is configured to enable a distance between the first and second active display areas to be no more than about 10 mm.
US09176698B2	Wireless communication apparatus There is provided a wireless communication apparatus which, when a connection request is received from a specific apparatus in a state where an upper limit number of connections are established by the wireless communication apparatus, selects a target apparatus to be disconnected from among a plurality of apparatuses which currently establish a wireless connection with the wireless communication apparatus, disconnects a wireless connection with the target apparatus, and establishes a wireless connection with the specific apparatus. When the plurality of apparatuses includes a first type apparatus which is inoperable according to a specific wireless communication system, and a second type apparatus which is operable according to the specific wireless communication system, the wireless communication apparatus selects an apparatus of a type as the target apparatus based on a disconnection priority determined in advance for the plurality of types of apparatuses.
US09176694B2	Printer with audible signal Methods and systems begin when a printing device receives a print job. The methods and systems identify a document type within the print job using a processor of the printing device. The methods and systems also determine if the document type requires an audible alarm using the processor. The methods and systems print the print job using a printing engine of the printing device. If the document type requires the audible alarm, the methods and systems produce an audible alarm using a speaker of the printing device after the printing is complete.
US09176693B2	Electronic device that automatically registers alternative user operation An electronic device includes a log management unit and an assist function managing unit. The log management unit stores job logs containing, in relation to jobs, set content and execution result, and at least one of: required time, or printed sheet count and printed page count. The assist function managing unit: (a) extracts failed-job job logs in which the execution results indicate failure from the log management unit; (b) extracts successful-job job logs, corresponding to the failed-job job logs, in which, for jobs on a document executed immediately after a failed job on the document, the execution results indicate normal termination; and (c) registers, as operation assist functions, alternative user operations in terms of setting operations for successful jobs corresponding to the failed jobs that meet predetermined conditions in terms of the at least one of: required time, or printed sheet count and printed page count.
US09176691B2	Output control device and output control method An output control device includes an output instruction unit configured to give an instruction for outputting a single output information item, to an application requesting output of the single output information item as plural output information items having the same identification information based on an output instruction, and to subsequently give an instruction to output end information indicating an end of the single output information item; a storage control unit configured to store the output information items output from the application in a save area upon changing the identification information of the output information items into different identification information items; a determination unit configured to determine whether the instruction to output the end information has been given; and a combining unit configured to combine the output information items stored in the save area, when the determination unit determines that the instruction to output the end information has been given.
US09176689B2	Image forming apparatus performing short-range wireless communication An image forming apparatus includes: a near field communication unit that makes a short-range wireless communication with a portable information processing device including a display unit; a recognition unit that recognizes a portable information processing device within a communicable range through communication via the near field communication unit; a job setting unit that transmits data for displaying a job setting screen on the display unit of the recognized portable information processing device, via the near field communication unit; and a job control unit that executes a job in response to a start instruction of the job, wherein the job setting unit receives a job setting, made by using the job setting screen, via the near field communication unit after the recognition to receive the job setting from the portable information processing device, and the job control unit receives a start instruction for the job whose job setting is received.
US09176682B2	Job performing control system, job performing system and job performing control method A job performing control system that includes at least an apparatus and controls a job performing apparatus that performs a job, includes a job storing unit that stores a job input in the job performing control system with attribute data of the job, the attribute data being set based on an inputting method of the job; a rule storing unit that stores a predetermined rule that determines a method of performing the job in the job performing apparatus; a determining unit that determines whether the attribute data of the job satisfies the predetermined rule; and a performing control unit that controls the job performing apparatus to perform the job determined to satisfy the predetermined rule by the determining unit by the method of performing the job determined from the predetermined rule.
US09176681B1	Managing provisioning of storage in storage systems A method is used in managing provisioning of storage in storage systems. Whether a logical object requires a slice for recovering the logical object is determined. Based on the determination, storage for the slice is provisioned. The slice is provided to the logical object.
US09176678B2	Common contiguous memory region optimized virtual machine migration within a workgroup Embodiments of the invention relate to scanning, by a first processor in a work group, a memory associated with the first processor for data. The first processor updates a first data structure to include at least a portion of the data based on the scanning. The first processor transmits a representation of the first data structure to one or more peer processors of the first processor included in the work group using a dedicated link. The first processor receives a representation of a second data structure associated with at least one of the one or more peer processors of the first processor. The first processor updates the first data structure based on the received representation of the second data structure.
US09176672B2	Input/output (I/O) command aggregation Systems and techniques relating to input/output (I/O) command aggregation include, according to at least one implementation, a method including receiving a first command from a device driver through interface hardware for accessing a storage device; identifying the received command as an aggregation command having a tag corresponding to consolidated command information; communicating a transfer ready notification to the device driver; receiving the consolidated command information from the device driver, wherein the consolidated command information includes memory addresses and data transfer counts for a defined quantity of aggregated I/O commands or for aggregated I/O commands that are received within a defined period of time; storing the consolidated command information in memory; receiving a second command including the tag corresponding to the consolidated command information; and processing the second command with respect to the storage device based on the memory addresses and the data transfer counts in the consolidated command information.
US09176670B2	System architecture based on asymmetric raid storage Embodiments of the present invention provide a semiconductor storage device (SSD) system based on asymmetric RAID storage. Specifically, embodiments of this invention provide a set of (at least one) of RAID controllers coupled to a host computer. A set of storage drives is coupled to each asymmetric RAID controller. The RAID method and configuration of each storage device are dynamically adapted based on user policy parameters and storage performance characteristics.
US09176667B2	Method and apparatus for virtual keypad control A method is provided including detecting that a first key in a virtual keypad is pressed, the first key being associated with a first symbol, determining, by an electronic device, whether a predetermined input is received after the first key is pressed, reconfiguring the virtual keypad, without displaying the first symbol, when the predetermined input is received; and displaying the first symbol when the predetermined input is not received.
US09176659B2	Method and apparatus for inputting characters in a mobile communication terminal A method and apparatus which efficiently inputs characters through a touch screen in a mobile communication terminal is provided. The method, for inputting characters through a touch screen in a mobile communication terminal, includes displaying a virtual keyboard including a plurality of keyboard keys on the touch screen in response to a character input request, inputting an input signal through the touch screen; and inputting a corresponding character, if the input signal is a click signal. If the input signal is a drag signal, the virtual keyboard is moved. Therefore, the character input method and apparatus display a virtual keyboard that is greater than the touch screen and thus reduce the user character input errors.
US09176656B1	Graphical input display having a segmented scrollbar and escape hatch to facilitate navigating large bodies of content A system for navigating large bodies of content is provided. The system includes an interface component configured to generate a user interface for navigating a body of content on a display device, the interface comprising a display area, a scrollbar comprising a plurality of segments, a scroll box and an exit command widget attached to the scroll box. Each of the plurality of segments are associated with respective portions of the body of content and the scroll box is configured to move over the plurality of segments to navigate through the body content and cause a respective portion of the body of the content to be displayed in the display area when the scroll box is positioned over a segment associated with the respective portion, and wherein the scroll box is configured to move to the exit command widget directly from a segment to focus on the exit command widget.
US09176649B2	Method and apparatus of remote management of computer system using voice and gesture based input Method, application, and medium of remote management of a computer system using voice and gesture based input are disclosed. An application module is executed on a processor of a computing device. The application module (a) displays a first user interface on the computing device, the interface allowing a user to enter a first input which includes at least one of a voice input and a gesture input, (b) receives input data which include at least one of audio input data and multitouch input data from the computing device representing the first input, (c) determines, based on the input data, a first command from a plurality of commands targeted to a baseboard management controller (BMC) managing a computer system, (d) constructs a first message including the determined command, and (e) sends the first message to the BMC over a network.
US09176648B1	Authoring a virtualized data center Described are methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products for authoring a virtual representation of a data center. An identity of a first IT component is determined. First position data indicating a position of the first IT component in the data center is received. The associated identity of the first IT component and the first position data is stored as a first part of the virtual representation of the data center. An identity of the second IT component is determined. Relative position data indicating a position of the second IT component relative to the first position data is received. Second position data indicating a position of the second IT component in the data center is determined. The associated identity of the second IT component and the second position data is stored as a second part of the virtual representation of the data center.
US09176645B1	Manipulating collections of items in a user interface Disclosed are various embodiments for handling large collections of items in a user interface. A collection of items in a data store associated with a request for a content page is identified. A content page is generated that includes a number of items in the content page, where the number of items in the content page can be less than a total number of items in the collection. The content page also includes a select-all element. The content page is also configured to initiate a subsequent request to with an argument corresponding to activation of the select-all element as well as potentially an exclusion list corresponding to deselected items.
US09176637B2	Display control based on bendable interface containing electronic device conformation sequence status A system includes, but is not limited to: one and one or more display control modules configured to direct controlling display of one or more portions of the bendable interface containing electronic device regarding display of second information in response to the information associated with the one or more changes in one or more sequences of two or more conformations of the one or more portions of the one or more regions of the bendable interface containing electronic device. In addition to the foregoing, other related system/system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.
US09176636B1	Low power capacitive sensor button A capacitance sensing module includes a timer circuit configured to generate a repetitive trigger signal, a low power oscillator block configured to generate a clock signal having a higher frequency than the repetitive trigger signal, a sensing block coupled with the timer circuit and the oscillator block and configured to, in response to the repetitive trigger signal, detect a presence of a conductive object at a capacitive sensor button by applying an excitation signal based on the clock signal to the capacitive sensor button, and a wake logic block coupled with the sensing block and configured to transition a processing unit from a low power consumption state to a high power consumption state in response to the sensing block detecting the presence of the conductive object at the capacitive sensor button.
US09176628B2	Display with an optical sensor A display system can include a panel 110 and a three dimensional optical sensor. The three dimensional optical sensor 115 can be to determine depth of an object located in the field of view of the three dimensional optical sensor. A transparent layer 105 can be in front of the panel and the three dimensional optical sensor.
US09176625B2	Information input device, information input method, information input-output device, storage medium, and electronic unit An information input device includes an input panel and one or more circuits. The one or more circuits are configured to determine first, second and third representations of possible proximity of an object to an input panel from first, second and third input frames, respectively. The second input frame is generated after the first input frame, and the third input frame is generated after the second input frame. The one or more circuits are configured to determine whether proximity of the object to the input panel is detected for the second input frame, based on the third representation, if the first and second representations are not similar.
US09176619B2	Input device A connection portion extends from an operation substrate, and a retaining groove of an elastic body is retained in a retaining hole of the connection portion. When a shaft portion of a retaining member is inserted into a through hole of the elastic body and screwed into an internally-threaded hole of a panel, an upper elastic portion of the elastic body is interposed between the connection portion and a support portion of the panel, and a lower elastic portion of the elastic body is interposed between the connection portion and an facing member. When an operation surface of the operation substrate is pressed, the connection portion rotates in a direction and the upper elastic portion and the lower elastic portion of the elastic body are compressed, whereby an appropriate operation reaction force and an elastic return force can be exerted.
US09176618B2	Display system for displaying augmented reality image and control method for the same The display system displays, at a first position on the transparent flexible display unit, a first augmented reality object corresponding to a first real object forming a first angle relative to the camera unit, and displays, at a second position on the transparent flexible display unit, a second augmented reality object corresponding to a second real object forming a second angle relative to the camera unit, wherein, upon detecting bending of the transparent flexible display unit, the processor displays the first augmented reality object at a third position spaced a first distance apart from the first position, and displays the second augmented reality object at a fourth position spaced a second distance apart from the second position, wherein, when the first angle is greater than the second angle, the first distance is set to be greater than the second distance.
US09176615B2	Method and apparatus for activating a function of an electronic device A method and apparatus for activating a function of the electronic device is disclosed herewith. The method includes detecting a first input by a motion sensor. Further, the method activates a touch sensor of the electronic device in response to detecting the first input. The method then detects a second input by the motion sensor within a predetermined time period from the first input. Next, the method determines, in response to detecting the second input, whether contact has occurred at the touch sensor and activates a function of the electronic device in response to determining that contact has occurred at the touch sensor when the second input is detected.
US09176611B2	Touch screen panel including a plurality of relay patterns and an auxiliary pattern A touch screen panel having first sensing electrodes including a plurality of first sensing cells arranged on a substrate and a first coupling unit that electrically couples adjacent ones of the first sensing cells, and having second sensing electrodes including a plurality of second sensing cells arranged on the substrate and a second coupling unit that electrically couples adjacent ones of the second sensing cells. The second coupling unit includes a plurality of relay patterns and the relay patterns are positioned in the first sensing electrodes.
US09176609B2	Apparatus and method for conveying information displayed on a touch screen device An apparatus and method for conveying information displayed on a touch screen are disclosed. For example, the apparatus includes an overlay having an array of pockets, a plurality of valves, wherein each pocket of the array of pockets is coupled to at least one of the plurality of valves via a respective channel, a pump coupled to the plurality of valves for providing a fluid to one or more pockets of the array of pockets and a controller in communication with the pump and each one of the plurality of valves to control an operation of the pump and each one of the plurality of valves for activating the one or more pockets of the array of pockets to correspond to information on a touch screen of the touch screen device.
US09176601B2	Information processing device, computer-readable storage medium, and projecting system An information processing device includes a storage unit configured to store a predetermined motion of a user who uses an operating device and an attribute of the predetermined motion per role of the user in association with each other; an image capturing unit configured to capture an image of a predetermined area including a projection area on which a projecting device projects an image; an identification unit configured to identify the attribute associated with the predetermined motion corresponding to a motion of light emitted to the predetermined area from the operating device based on the motion of light and an operation signal, referring to the storage unit; a synthetic image generation unit configured to generate a synthetic image by reflecting the attribute of the predetermined motion in the image projected; and a history record unit configured to generate history data including the synthetic image, the role, the attribute.
US09176600B2	Programmable analog keys for a control device A control devices includes a key having a top surface configured to be pressed by a user, and a resistance device coupled to the key and configured to provide a resistance force to the key that opposes a user force applied to the top surface. A force sensor is coupled to the resistance device and is configured to detect the user force applied to top surface. A control circuit is coupled to the resistance device and is configured to change the resistance force of the resistance device according to a force profile.
US09176595B2	Speed adjustable USB keyboard A speed adjustable USB keyboard is provided. The keyboard comprises a plurality of keys, wherein each of the keys generates a press signal when being pressed and a release signal when being released; and a control module, coupled between the keys and a computer, for simulating a part of the press signal as the release signal to respond to polling signals from the computer according to the setting of at least one of a repeat delay and a repeat rate of the keys.
US09176590B2	Systems and methods for hand gesture control of an electronic device Systems and methods of generating device commands based upon hand gesture commands are disclosed. An exemplary embodiment generates image information from a series of captured images, generates commands based upon hand gestures made by a user that emulate device commands generated by a remote control device, identifies a hand gesture made by the user from the received image information, determines a hand gesture command based upon the identified hand gesture, compares the determined hand gesture command with the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands to identify a corresponding matching hand gesture command from the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands, generates an emulated remote control device command based upon the identified matching hand gesture command, and controls the media device based upon the generated emulated remote control device command.
US09176587B2	Tactile sense presentation device and tactile sense presentation method A tactile sense presentation device including: a tactile-sense presentation unit having a first working electrode group of a plurality of first working electrodes arranged along a first direction; and a control unit operable to apply a first tactile sense signal having a first waveform to each of the first working electrodes. The control unit applies the first tactile sense signal, in which a phase difference corresponding to a distance between adjacent first working electrodes is applied to the first waveform, to each of the plurality of first working electrodes so as to cause the first waveform to travel along the first direction at a predetermined speed.
US09176584B2	Method, apparatus, and article for force feedback based on tension control and tracking through cables A haptic device for human/computer interface includes a user interface tool coupled via cables to first, second, third, and fourth cable control units, each positioned at a vertex of a tetrahedron. Each of the cable control units includes a spool and an encoder configured to provide a signal corresponding to rotation of the respective spool. The cables are wound onto the spool of a respective one of the cable control units. The encoders provide signals corresponding to rotation of the respective spools to track the length of each cable. As the cables wind onto the spools, variations in spool diameter are compensated for. The absolute length of each cable is determined during initialization by retracting each cable In turn to a zero length position. A sensor array coupled to the tool detects rotation around one or more axes.
US09176583B2	Method for haptic feedback control The invention relates to a method for haptic feedback control that comprises a control device for transmitting a haptic feedback to the finger of a user in a movement area of said finger, characterized in that said control method comprises a first step (101) of determining the direction of an elementary movement of said finger and decomposing the elementary movement into components along said first and second driving directions (D1, D2), and a second step (102) of independently driving said first actuator (7a) and second actuator (7b) based on the components of the elementary movement (dU) in order to drive said plate (3) in translation so that the result of the vibratory effect generated by said actuators (7a, 7b) can be felt by said finger in a direction (dR) substantially perpendicular to and coplanar with the direction of said elementary movement (dU).
US09176581B2	System and method for inferring user intent based on eye movement during observation of a display screen A device, method, and system for inferring user intent to perform an action on a computing device includes monitoring the eye movement patterns of a user and determining the action to be performed based on the eye movement patterns. Signals relating to the eye movement of the user while observing a display screen of the computing device are processed to produce at least one eye movement feature. One or more classifiers are generated based on a training set of data of the eye movement feature over a time interval in which the user observes the display screen with an intent to activate the action. Thereafter, an eye-movement-pattern of the user may be analyzed, and features may be extracted, as the user is observing the display screen. The intended action is automatically activated if the user intent is inferred using the one or more of the classifiers.
US09176580B2	Surgical mechanism control system A surgical mechanism control system comprising: a beam emitter unit configured to emit only a single beam and adapted to be attached to a surgeon; a first pair of discrete beam detectors each adapted to detect an incident beam emitted by the beam emitter unit and output a corresponding control signal when in incident beam is detected; and a control unit configured to receive one or more control signals output by the beam detectors and control a surgical mechanism in accordance with the one or more control signals.
US09176579B2	Visual indication of user interests in a computer-generated virtual environment Users create profiles containing their interests, professional qualifications, and/or personal information. When users encounter each other in the virtual environment, the information contained in the personal profiles is used to provide visual indications of the profile information so that other users know some modicum of information about the user associated with the Avatar. The user associated with the personal profile may control what information is provided publicly and what information is provided privately. Information in other users' profiles may be filtered to enable relevant information to be presented to the user. Filtering may be explicit and based on user-defined criteria. Filtering may be inherent as well and implemented to select visual indications based on similarities between the user's profile information and the other users' profile information. Inherent matching of attributes may be exact, based on pre-defined similarities or groups, or based on learned similarities between types of attributes, or based on previous interactions of the user with other users in the virtual environment.
US09176578B2	Control apparatus, control method, program, input signal receiving apparatus, operation input apparatus, and input system for performing processing with input units on different surfaces There is provided a control apparatus including an input signal receiving unit that receives a first input signal generated in accordance with an operation on a first operation receiving unit provided on a first surface of an operation input apparatus and a second input signal generated in accordance with an operation on a second operation receiving unit provided on a second surface, which is different from the first surface, of the operation input apparatus, an opposing information acquisition unit that acquires opposing information indicating which surface of the first surface and the second surface is opposed to an operator of the operation input apparatus, and a processing controller that changes one of first processing corresponding to the first input signal and second processing corresponding to the second input signal based on the acquired opposing information.
US09176576B2	Input device An input device for triggering a function of an electronic device comprises a humidity sensor (12), and a control unit (11). The control unit (11) analyzes a humidity signal (RH) supplied by the humidity sensor (12) and provides a trigger signal (C) subject to the analysis of the humidity signal (RH) for triggering the function of the electronic device (3). In such way, the function of the electronic device can simply be controlled by blowing at the input device (1).
US09176573B2	Cumulative movement animations Cumulative movement animation techniques are described. In one or more implementations, an output a first animation is initiated that involves a display of movement in a user interface of a computing device. An input is received by the computing device during the output of the first animation, the input configured to cause a second display of movement in the user interface. Responsive to the receipt of the input, a remaining portion of the movement of the first animation is output along with the movement of the second animation by the computing device.
US09176572B2	System and method for controlling central processing unit power with guaranteed transient deadlines Methods, systems and devices that include a dynamic clock and voltage scaling (DCVS) solution configured to compute and enforce performance guarantees for a group of processors to ensure that the processors does not remain in a busy state (e.g., due to transient workloads) for a combined period that is more than a predetermined amount of time above that which is required for one of the processors to complete its pre-computed steady state workload. The DCVS may adjust the frequency and/or voltage of one or more of the processors based on a variable delay to ensure that the multiprocessor system only falls behind its steady state workload by, at most, a predefined maximum amount of work, irrespective of the operating frequency or voltage of the processors.
US09176569B2	Apparatus and method for dynamically adjusting frequency of central processing unit The embodiment of the application provides an apparatus and a method for dynamically adjusting a frequency of central processing unit CPU. The apparatus is used for a computer system which executes a CPU bound application and a memory bound application, and comprises: a ratio acquiring unit for acquiring the ratio of memory access instruction as executing an application task set; a frequency calculating unit connected with the ratio acquiring unit for calculating an adjusted new frequency of CPU in inverse proportional to the ratio of memory access instruction acquired by the ratio acquiring unit; and a frequency adjusting unit connected with the frequency calculating unit for adjusting the frequency of CPU to the new frequency of CPU. With the apparatus and method for adjusting the frequency of CPU according to the embodiment of the invention, the frequency of CPU can be decreased in consideration of the ratio of memory access instruction so as to reduce the power consumption of the computer system.
US09176565B2	Controlling operating frequency of a core domain based on operating condition of a non-core domain of a multi-domain processor In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for determining that a non-core domain of a multi-domain processor is not operating at a frequency requested by the non-core domain, sending a request from the non-core domain to a power controller to reduce a frequency of a core domain of the multi-domain processor, and responsive to the request, reducing the core domain frequency. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09176564B2	Systems and methods for thermal control of a storage enclosure In accordance with these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, a controller for thermal control of an enclosure comprising one or more storage resources may be configured to receive an indication of a physical quantity indicative of a power delivered from at least one power supply module to information handling resources of the enclosure. The controller may also be configured to, based on the physical quantity indicative of the power delivered from the at least one power supply module, determine a desired rate of the flow of air from at least one air mover configured to cool one or more storage resources received by the enclosure by delivering a flow of air within the storage enclosure and cause the at least one air mover to deliver the flow of air in accordance with the desired rate.
US09176563B2	Leakage variation aware power management for multicore processors A system and method are provided to improve power efficiency of processor cores, such as processor cores in a multicore processor. A break-even time of a processor core may be determined that affects which power saving mode a processor core should enter when an expected idle of the processor core is identified. The break-even time of the processor core may be determined during run-time to help determine an applicable power saving mode that improves power efficiency of the processor core.
US09176556B2	Serial bus voltage compensation A serial bus network includes a voltage regulator, a plurality of power switches, and a voltage monitor. The voltage regulator provides power to a plurality of serial buses. Each of the serial buses provides power from the voltage regulator to a device coupled to the serial bus. Each of the power switches switches power from the voltage regulator to one of the serial buses, and includes an input terminal coupled to a voltage regulator output, and an output terminal coupled to one of the serial buses. The voltage monitor is coupled to the voltage regulator and to the output terminal of each of the power switches. The voltage monitor compares bus voltages at the output terminals of the power switches, identifies a lowest of the bus voltages, and adjusts the voltage regulator output voltage such that the identified lowest of the bus voltages is within a predetermined operational voltage range.
US09176555B2	Power over ethernet power harvester Devices and methods for a communication device having at least one power supply unit coupled to a power connector for providing an operating power for operation of network modules of the communication device and a PoE power for the ports connected to Power over Ethernet (PoE) devices. The PoE power includes a consumable power to power up at least one PoE devices and a leftover power. Further, a PoE power harvester adapter is coupled to a power connector to convert the leftover PoE power into additional operating power for operating additional network modules.
US09176553B2	Semiconductor device employing DVFS function Disclosed herein is a device that includes: a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cells, the memory cell array operates on a first internal voltage; a peripheral circuit accessing selected one or ones of the memory cells, the peripheral circuit operates on a second internal voltage; a first internal voltage generation circuit that supplies the first internal voltage to the memory cell array; and a second internal voltage generation circuit that supplies the second internal voltage to the peripheral circuit. The second internal voltage generation circuit sets the second internal voltage to a first voltage value in a first mode, and to a second voltage value that is different from the first voltage value in a second mode. The first internal voltage generation circuit sets the first internal voltage to a third voltage value in both the first and second modes.
US09176549B2	Heat dissipating case Example embodiments disclosed herein relate to a case having a base unit and a display unit. The base unit includes an emitting surface. The display unit includes a dissipating member. A hinge connects the base unit and the display unit, the hinge connected below at least part of the heat emitting surface or first vent and the heat dissipating member or second vent. The emitting surface and the dissipating member are to overlap or align when the display unit is in a closed position.
US09176545B2	Locking apparatus for panels of computer device A locking apparatus is configured to lock a first panel and a second panel to a computer device. The locking apparatus includes a lock rotatable between a first position and a second position, a mounting panel, a driving lever pivotably attached on the mounting panel, a blocking member attached to the mounting panel, and a latch member. When moved to the first position, the rotatable post rotates the driving lever, the driving lever pushes the latch member to unlatch from the second panel, and the rotatable post is disengaged from the blocking member to unlock the first panel. When moved to the second position, the rotatable post is blocked by the blocking member for locking the first panel, the driving lever is rotated to its original position, and the latch member latches the second panel.
US09176542B2	Accelerometer-based touchscreen user interface A CE device for, e.g., displaying the time can incorporate an accelerometer to provide various features and enhancements. For example, tilting of the housing as sensed by the accelerometer may be used for controlling a volume output by an audio display, and/or for controlling a position of a screen cursor relative to underlying presentation on a visual display, and/or for controlling motion of a virtual object presented on the visual display; and/or for rotating a presentation on the visual display to always be oriented up and/or for determining that a person has tapped the housing based on signals from the accelerometer and in response thereto presenting an image of a rotatable object on the display.
US09176539B2	Key input using an active pixel camera In an example embodiment, an active pixel sensor on a user device is utilized to capture graphical user interface navigation related movements by a user. Areas of low luminance can be identified and movements or alterations in the areas of low luminance can be translated into navigation commands fed to an application running on the user device.
US09176531B1	Apparatus for providing utility receptacles and cables at a selected location on a workstation An apparatus for providing utility receptacles and HDMI cables at a location on a work surface has a bottom panel member and a wall structure attached to the bottom panel member. The wall structure defines an interior region. An interior panel is positioned within the interior region and attached to the wall structure to form upper and lower compartments. An electrical power device is positioned within the interior region and attached to the wall structure. The electrical power device has an electrical power receptacle and device charging ports. A HDMI signal switcher is in the lower compartment and has HDMI input and output connectors. The apparatus includes a plurality of HDMI cables. Each HDMI cable extends from a corresponding opening in the interior panel and has a first HDMI connector connected to a corresponding HDMI input connector and a second HDMI connector for connection to an HDMI signal source device.

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