| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09237686B2 |
Method and system for producing component mounting board
A wiring board on which an electronic component is to be mounted includes a resist having an opening exposing a joint face which is part of the surface of a wiring layer and to which a terminal of the electronic component is to be joined. In the placing step, the electronic component is placed on the wiring board such that the terminal covers the opening entirely and contacts the solder paste applied onto the joint face. Next, the solder paste applied onto the joint face is heated to melt solder and soften thermosetting resin. This allows the solder to gather in a first space within the opening closed with the wiring layer and the electronic component, while allowing the thermosetting resin to gather in a second space formed between a top side of the resist and a lateral side of the electronic component. |
| US09237682B2 |
Power module substrate with heat sink, and method for producing power module substrate with heat sink
This power module substrate with a heat sink includes a power module substrate having a circuit layer disposed on one surface of an insulating layer, and a heat sink bonded to the other surface of this power module substrate, wherein the bonding surface of the heat sink and the bonding surface of the power module substrate are each composed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, a bonding layer (50) having a Mg-containing compound (52) (excluding MgO) which contains Mg dispersed in an Al—Si eutectic composition is formed at the bonding interface between the heat sink and the power module substrate, and the thickness t of this bonding layer (50) is within a range from 5 μm to 80 μm. |
| US09237681B2 |
Modular data center
Described are methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, relating to an air module and control thereof. An air module can include a controller, an air intake module configured to receive first air from a first air source and to receive second air from a second air source, an evaporative cooling module in fluid communication with the air intake module, and a mechanical cooling module in fluid communication with the evaporative cooling module. The controller can be configured to cause the intake module to mix the first air and the second air to form intake air, and selectively cool the intake air to form supply air by at least one of causing the evaporative cooling module to selectively cool the intake air, and causing the mechanical cooling module to selectively cool the intake. |
| US09237680B2 |
Server room managing air conditioning system and air conditioning control method
In an embodiment, an air conditioning system for managing a server room, which has first and second spaces separated from each other, in which a server is installed between the first and second spaces, and supply air flowed into the first space is heated by heat generation of the server, and flows out as return air via the second space, includes: a cold air generation device; an air supply fan; a first differential pressure gauge; and a control device. The cold air generation device generates supply air satisfying a predetermined condition. The air supply fan flows the generated supply air into the first space. The first differential pressure gauge measures a differential pressure of a static pressure of the second space with respect to a static pressure of the first space. |
| US09237679B2 |
Electrical device
An electrical device includes a printed-circuit board which is fitted with heat-generating components, the printed-circuit board being disposed in a housing of the device, the housing having a housing part, particularly a cup-shaped housing part, and a cooling plate connected to the printed-circuit board being pressed by a wedge against the inner wall of the housing part, in particular, being pressed such that heat from at least one heat-generating component, especially a power module having power semiconductor switches, is able to be dissipated at a contact surface to the housing part. |
| US09237677B2 |
Cooling device, printed circuit board unit, and electronic device
A cooling device includes: a heat sink and a heat pipe that are connected with each other; a metal plate that is connected with the heat pipe; an elastic member that is provided in the metal plate; and a securing member that is attachable with a printed circuit board on which a heating part is mounted, is able to be secured to the elastic member to be elastically deformed such that the metal plate is pushed to the heating part, and is able to position the metal plate in a state where the securing member is not secured to the elastic member. |
| US09237674B2 |
Filter unit for a switchgear cabinet
The invention relates to a filter unit for a switchgear cabinet, comprising a filter housing having an air passage that can be covered by an air passage grating at least to some extent.To allow such a filter unit to be maintenanced easily, it provided according to the invention that the air passage grating is hinged indirectly or directly to the filter housing and can be adjusted between a closed position and an opened maintenance position. The filter housing has a retainer which positively blocks a catch of the air passage grating in the maintenance position. |
| US09237673B2 |
Holding mechanism for a display device
A holding mechanism of a display device includes a first arm, a second arm and a damper. The first arm and the second arm hold the display device in such a manner that the display device is capable of being displaced between a first disposition in which a lower edge portion of the display device is away from a placing face with a display screen facing to a front and a second disposition in which the lower edge portion is in contact with the placing face with the display screen facing more upward than in the first disposition. The damper applies, to the first arm, a force that buffers a force by which the display device is liable to displacement from the first disposition to the second disposition due to self-weight. |
| US09237672B2 |
System and method of providing computer resources
A data center system can include a mobile support structure; one or more enclosures for removable electronic equipment where the enclosures are housed by the support structure; a cooling system in fluid communication with the enclosures for cooling of the electronic equipment where the cooling system is housed by the support structure; and a power system operably connected to the electronic equipment and the cooling system for supplying power thereto where the power system comprises a generator housed by the support system. The mobile data center can be moved to remote locations, and the electronic equipment can be placed in communication with a network when at the remote location. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09237666B2 |
Folding electronic device with retracting locking mechanism
A folding electronic device includes a first main body having a first housing, an engagement unit, a second main body engaged with the first main body, and a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism includes a hook member, a hook driving member, a first reset driving member, and a latch member. The hook member is fixed to the first main body. The latch member is fixed to the second main body. The hook driving member drives the hook member to protrude from the first housing to latch with the latch member when the electronic device is folded. The reset driving member retracts the hook member into the first housing when the electronic device is unfolded. |
| US09237665B1 |
Electrical box
A electrical box including a top wall, a side wall connected to the top wall, a cavity formed by the top wall and the side wall, at least one mounting flange on the side wall having a mounting hole therein, at least one mounting fastener in communication with the at least one mounting flange, and wherein the mounting fastener is slidably engaged with the at least one mounting flange. |
| US09237662B2 |
Device housing package and electronic apparatus employing the same
A device housing package includes a base body (1) including, at its upper surface, a placement portion (1a) of a semiconductor device (9); a frame body (2) disposed on the base body (1) surrounding the placement portion (1a), including a notch (2b) formed by cutting a side wall thereof; an input-output terminal (3) attached to the notch (2b), including a wiring conductor layer (3a) electrically connected to the semiconductor device (9); and a sealing ring (5) disposed on an upper portion of the frame body (2). Moreover, side walls of the frame body (2) have, when seen in a plan view, an outer corner (2c) of adjacent side walls having a curved surface, the outer corner (2c) lying within a region overlapping the sealing ring (5) as seen in a plan view. |
| US09237660B2 |
3-D glass enclosures for electronic devices
A 3-D glass enclosure comprises a generally planar glass base member, an encircling glass side wall member connected to the base member, and a generally planar glass cover member connected to the side wall member to form a unitary glass enclosure, the base, sidewall and cover members being made by reforming softened glass sheet preforms and subjecting the reformed members to ion-exchange strengthening, thus providing strong transparent enclosures for electronic devices such as tablet computers, cellphones, media players and televisions. |
| US09237657B2 |
Wiring substrate, semiconductor device, and method for manufacturing thereof
The present invention provides a thin wiring pattern such as wiring formed by discharging a droplet. In the present invention, a porous (including microporous) substance is formed as a base film in forming pattern by using a droplet discharge method (also referred to as an ink-jetting method). One feature of a wiring substrate according to the present invention provides a porous film and a conductive layer thereon. One feature of a semiconductor device of the present invention provides a thin film transistor in which a gate electrode is formed by the conductive layer having the above-described structure. |
| US09237652B2 |
Flexible LED screen
A flexible LED screen includes a flexible printed circuit board having a front surface and a rear surface, a plurality of SMT-LEDs mounted on the front surface of the flexible printed circuit board, and a plurality of integrated circuits mounted on the rear surface of the flexible printed circuit board. |
| US09237648B2 |
Carrier-less silicon interposer
An interposer has conductive elements at a first side and terminals at a second side opposite therefrom, for connecting with a microelectronic element and a second component, respectively. The component includes a first element having a thermal expansion coefficient less than 10 ppm/° C., and an insulating second element, with a plurality of openings extending from the second side through the second element towards the first element. A conductive structure extending through the openings in the second element and through the first element electrically connects the terminals with the conductive elements. |
| US09237647B2 |
Package-on-package structure with through molding via
Disclosed herein is a device comprising a first package having a first side with a plurality of connectors disposed thereon and a second package mounted on the first package by the connectors. A molding compound is disposed on the first side of the first package and between the first package and the second package. A plurality of stress relief structures (SRSs) are disposed in the molding compound, the plurality of SRSs each comprising a cavity free of metal in the molding compound and spaced apart from each of the plurality of connectors. |
| US09237645B2 |
Flexible printed circuit integrated with conductive layer
A conductive-layer-integrated flexible printed circuit board includes: (A) an electromagnetic-shielding conductive layer; (B) an insulator film; and (C) a wiring-pattern-equipped film the electromagnetic-shielding conductive layer (A), the insulator film (B), and the wiring-pattern-equipped film (C) being laminated in this order, the insulator film (B) containing at least (a) a binder polymer and (b) spherical organic beads. |
| US09237644B2 |
Manufacturing of a heat sink by wave soldering
An electronic device is attached to a first surface of a board which includes vias. A heat sink precursor for the electronic device is attached to the second surface of the electronic board. The heat sink precursor includes a cavity facing the vias. A wave of solder paste is applied to the second surface. The solder paste penetrates into the cavity of the heat sink precursor and flows by capillary action through the vias to weld a thermal radiator and/or electronic contact of the electronic device to the vias. The solder paste further remains in the cavity to form a corresponding heat sink. |
| US09237643B2 |
Circuit board structure
A circuit board structure including a dielectric layer, a fine circuit pattern and a patterned conductive layer is provided, wherein the fine circuit pattern is embedded in a surface of the dielectric layer, and the patterned conductive layer is disposed on another surface of the dielectric layer and protrudes therefrom. |
| US09237636B1 |
Self-clamped resonant filament heating circuit
An electronic ballast is provided with a filament heating circuit having a Q factor clamped at a certain range of preheat frequency. An inverter circuit includes a pair of switches coupled between positive and negative terminals of a power supply, which oscillate at an operating frequency and generate an output voltage. A main resonant tank is coupled between an inverter output and the negative power supply terminal. A filament heating resonant tank includes a primary winding of a filament heating transformer coupled on a first end in series with the resonant capacitor, first and second capacitors coupled in series between the second end of the primary winding and the negative power supply terminal. A clamping circuit coupled to the second capacitor during a preheat mode of operation clamps an amplitude of the voltage across the primary winding to an amplitude of the input voltage from the power supply. |
| US09237633B2 |
Laser interlock system for medical and other applications
A laser interlock system and allows laser radiation to be generated when an inspector and a subject correctly wear safety glasses and during use of a photo-acoustic imaging apparatus, thereby protecting the eyes of the inspector and the subject and preventing unnecessary power consumption. The laser interlock system includes a sensing unit to sense whether or not contact between a user and safety glasses occurs, a light source unit to generate a laser, and a control unit that determines, based on an output value from the sensing unit, whether or not the user is wearing the safety glasses normally, and generates an interlock signal to turn on or off the light source unit for selective laser generation according to the determination. |
| US09237632B2 |
Illumination lighting apparatus and method of controlling illumination
Provided are an illumination lighting apparatus that provides various and intuitional light in response to a motion of a user, and an illumination controlling method. The illumination lighting apparatus may include a lamp unit including at least one light emitting part that is selectively turned on and off, a motion sensing unit including at least one motion sensor, transmitting a sensed signal when the at least one motion sensor senses a motion of a user, and enabling the lamp unit to provide a light corresponding to the sensed signal, and a control unit to receive the sensed signal from the motion sensing unit to adjust a light emitting type of the lamp unit in a plurality of modes, and the motion sensing unit may transmit, based on a mode of the control unit, different sensed signals to the control unit to change the light emitting type of the lamp unit. |
| US09237629B2 |
Organic EL display panel for reducing resistance of electrode lines
An organic EL display comprising a substrate having an EL region, an anode on the EL region of the substrate, a supplementary electrode coupled to a portion of the anode, an organic EL layer on the EL region, and a cathode on the organic EL layer. The supplementary electrode is located at the EL region. |
| US09237627B2 |
Light-emitting element driving device
Short circuit failures and open circuit failures of light-emitting elements used for the backlight in an LCD panel can be reliably and easily detected. The voltage at the node between each series-connected light-emitting element array and a drive circuit is detected as a monitored voltage. A maximum detector detects the highest and a minimum detector detects the lowest of these monitored voltages. Short circuit or open circuit failure of a light-emitting element is detected by comparing the voltage difference between the maximum detector output and the minimum detector output with a specific reference voltage. |
| US09237626B2 |
Dimming drive circuit of alternating current directly-driven LED module
Disclosed is an alternating current dimming drive circuit for an LED, comprising a rectification unit and N stages of LED direct current drive circuits. In the ith stage of LED direct current drive circuit, a first end of the ith voltage sampling unit and an input end of the ith LED light source module directly or indirectly receive the output voltage of the rectification unit; a voltage division end of the ith voltage sampling unit is connected to a second input end of the ith switch unit; and a first input end of the ith switch unit is connected to an output end of the ith LED light source module, and an output end of the ith switch unit, a second end of the ith voltage sampling unit and a second output end of the rectification unit are grounded. When the ith switch unit is switched on, the first to the ith LED light source modules emit light. When the ith switch unit is switched off, if i is less than N, the first to the (i+1)th LED light source modules emit light, and if i is equal to N, the first to the Nth LED light source modules stop emitting light. The present invention realizes an alternating current directly-driven LED light source module and will not flicker in the case of alternating current voltage fluctuation. |
| US09237620B1 |
Illumination device and temperature compensation method
An illumination device comprising a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a method for controlling the illumination device, so as to maintain a desired luminous flux and/or a desired color point of the device over variations in temperature and process, is provided herein. According to one embodiment, the method may include measuring a forward voltage developed across a first LED of the illumination device upon applying a first drive current to the first LED, determining a drive current needed to achieve a desired luminous flux from the first LED using the measured forward voltage, a table of stored calibration values correlating forward voltage and drive current to luminous flux at a plurality of different temperatures, and one or more interpolation techniques, and driving the first LED with the determined drive current to produce illumination having the desired luminous flux. The steps of measuring, determining and driving may be performed for each of the plurality of LEDs. |
| US09237619B2 |
Dimmable LED lighting circuits, controllers therefor and a method of controlling a dimmable LED lighting circuit
Controllers (360, 360′), lighting circuits and methods are disclosed, for a dimmable LED lighting circuit having a series arrangement of two types of LED, the controller comprising a control circuit (330), a bypass circuit (340) and optionally a further bypass circuit and being operable for controlling a current, the current (Idriver) being separable into first and second parts (IW, IB), and into further first and second parts, wherein the controller is configured to direct the (further) first part through the LED or LEDs of the second (first) type and direct the (further) second part through the (further) bypass circuit (respectively), and wherein the control circuit is configured to adjust the ratio between the first, or further first, part and the second, or further second respectively, part in dependence on a dimming level of the LED lighting circuit. |
| US09237618B2 |
LED lighting apparatus
Disclosed is an LED lighting apparatus capable of improving a power factor and temperature characteristics. The LED lighting apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a light source having a plurality of LED channels and performs a current regulating operation to allow a light source to emit light. The light source uses a current path provided by current regulating to emit light. |
| US09237617B1 |
LED driver with inherent current limiting and soft startup capability
An inductor-less LED driver circuit is provided with soft startup and inherent current limiting capabilities. A diode rectifier is coupled across an AC mains input, with the outputs for the rectifier coupled directly across an LED array. A bi-directional switching circuit and current limiting capacitor are coupled in series between a first mains input and a first rectifier input. A controller turns the bi-directional switching circuit on and off to enable or disable conduction of power from the AC power source, wherein the bi-directional switching circuit is turned on in association with a detected zero voltage state for AC input power, and the bi-directional switching circuit is turned off in association with a detected zero current state for AC input power. The controller further adjusts switch states for the bi-directional switching circuit in response to a dimming control signal corresponding to a desired lighting output level. |
| US09237616B2 |
Switching mode power supply apparatus
A switching mode power supply apparatus includes a main transformer converting DC voltage of a predetermined amplitude supplied from a voltage source into DC voltage of a different amplitude; an auxiliary transformer operated by receiving current flowing in a primary winding of the main transformer; a first semiconductor switching element turning on/off an LED array that is driven by receiving voltage from a secondary winding of the auxiliary transformer; and an auxiliary circuit disposed in an LED control circuit unit including the LED array and the first semiconductor switching element, wherein the auxiliary circuit distributes current flowing in the first semiconductor switching element so as to reduce heat generated in the first semiconductor switching element. |
| US09237615B2 |
Holding current circuit of LED driving apparatus and operating method thereof
An electromagnetic touch-control screen structure, comprising: a display panel; a touch-control plate over the display panel; an electromagnetic induction plate over the touch-control plate; and a cover lens attached on the electromagnetic induction plate. The electromagnetic touch-control screen of the disclosure, by deploying reasonable structure and manufacturing technique, stacks an electromagnetic induction plate with a touch-control plate, a cover lens and a display panel. Compared with existing manufacturing techniques, it can reduce one time of lamination operation, and dramatically decrease the thickness and weight of the electromagnetic structure, so that it can meet the need of lightness and thinness, for touch-control display equipments, like cellphone. |
| US09237613B1 |
Constant current control for an LED driver circuit using a microcontroller-based oscillator controlled by a differential error feedback signal from a proportional and integration control loop
A constant current driver circuit is operable to provide power to a light source. The driver circuit utilizes a microcontroller based oscillator to drive a current source tank circuit. The microcontroller based oscillator is controlled by a differential error feedback signal. The differential error feedback signal is produced by a proportional integral control loop. The proportional integral control loop is used to eliminate steady state error of the driver circuit. Dynamic frequency or duty cycle control of the current source tank circuit by the microcontroller is based on the integrated error signal between a reference current signal and a sensed output current of the current source tank circuit. |
| US09237609B2 |
LED backlight driving circuit, backlight module, and LCD device
A light emitting diode (LED) backlight driving circuit includes a rectifier module, a voltage reduction module coupled to the rectifier module, and an LED lightbar coupled to the voltage reduction module. A city voltage is inputted to the rectifier module, and a pulse-width modulation (PWM) controls the voltage reduction module. |
| US09237608B2 |
Pressure stepped microwave assisted digestion
An instrument and method for high pressure microwave assisted chemistry are disclosed. The method includes the steps of applying microwave radiation to a sample in a sealed vessel while measuring the temperature of the sample and measuring the pressure generated inside the vessel and until the measured pressure reaches a designated set point, opening the vessel to release gases until the pressure inside the vessel reaches a lower designated set point, closing the vessel, and repeating the steps of opening the vessel at designated pressure set points and closing the vessel at designated pressure set points to the sample until the sample reaction reaches a designated high temperature. The designated set points can controllably differ from one another as the reaction proceeds. Microwave energy can be applied continuously or intermittently during the opening and closing steps. The apparatus includes a microwave cavity, a microwave transparent pressure resistant reaction vessel in the cavity, a cap on the reaction vessel, a pressure sensor for measuring pressure in the vessel, a temperature sensor, and means for opening and closing the cap at predetermined pressure set points measured by the pressure sensor to release pressure from the vessel. |
| US09237606B2 |
Carbon nanotube sheet heater
The present invention relates to a sheet heater produced by gravure printing, in which a silver paste is printed in a zigzag pattern between biaxially oriented transparent PET or OPS films and a CNT ink having excellent heat generating properties is coated in a sheet shape on the film, thereby preventing disconnection or fire and enabling temperature elevation in a short period of time while consuming less power. |
| US09237605B2 |
Heat lamp
An electrical heat lamp for pig breeding includes a housing and an electrical heating source. The heating source is a U-shaped, infrared electromagnetic radiation heating element, and includes an electric member portion for connecting to an external electric energy source. The heat lamp includes a reflector arranged in the housing, the reflector being adapted to reflect the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the heating source, is adapted to fit the shape of the heating source, and has a U-shaped groove which in turn has a parabolic cross section. The heat lamp includes a sealing member sealing the space or electrical connection between the heating source and the electric member portion against water; optionally, one or two more sealing members are provided. |
| US09237602B2 |
Adaptive channel state feedback based on channel estimation characteristics and reporting requirements
Providing adaptive channel state feedback (CSF) reports in discontinuous reception (DRX) scenarios in a power-efficient manner. The described algorithm may be able to make adaptive decisions to carry over the CSF from previous DRX cycles based on a comparison between an offset at which CSF values are stable and an offset at which a CSF report is to be sent to a base station. If the CSF values are not stable by the time the CSF report is to be sent, a CSF report from a prior DRX cycle may be used. Alternatively, if the CSF value are stable by the time the CSF report is to be sent, a determination may be made to either generate a new CSF report or use a prior CSF report. The latter determination may be made based on various criteria, including channel conditions and DRX cycle length. |
| US09237600B2 |
Method and system for dynamically setting up and tearing down connections in mesh networks
Wireless mobile communication (WMC) devices located in near proximity of each other may be enabled to form a mesh (ad hoc wireless) network. WMC devices may form and/or tear down intra-mesh connection with other WMC devices in the same mesh network. WMC devices may utilize information related to other WMC devices in the mesh network in determining formation and tearing down of intra-mesh connections. This information may comprise relative speeds, locations, and directions of movement of the WMC devices forming/tearing intra-mesh connections. Other information including data bandwidth and/or power consumption may be utilized in such determination. This information may also comprise available services advertised by WMC devices in the mesh network. |
| US09237595B2 |
Diameter based communication session discovery and recovery
A Diameter based network that includes nodes and accommodates Diameter communication sessions between nodes establishes a first Diameter communication session between a first node and a second node, and at some point determines that the first Diameter communication session is lost. The first node generates a query using a second Diameter communication session that is a different session than the first Diameter communication session. The first node transmits the query to the second node, where the query includes a session type and key identifiers for the first Diameter communication session. The second node re-establishes the first Diameter communication session with the first node and transmits, in response to the query, an indication that the first Diameter communication session exists. |
| US09237592B1 |
Methods for establishing a direct connection between apparatuses and systems using the same
The invention introduces a method for establishing a direct connection, executed by a processing unit of a first electronic apparatus, which contains at least the following steps. A first location of the first electronic apparatus and an angle of the first electronic apparatus are obtained. Second locations are collected via a communications interface of the first electronic apparatus, where each second location is of a second electronic apparatus. It is determined which of the second electronic apparatuses the first electronic apparatus is aimed at, according to the first location, the second locations, and the angle of the first electronic apparatus. A direct connection is established with the determined second electronic apparatus via the first communications interface. |
| US09237580B2 |
Method and device for transmitting control information in wireless communication system
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and a device for reporting CSI in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: a step for configuring a plurality of serving cells; and a step for reporting the CSI of only one serving cell in a corresponding subframe, wherein the step for reporting the CSI of only one serving cell comprises: excluding reporting the CSI of a lower priority when CSI reports of the plurality of serving cells in the corresponding subframe collide; and excluding reporting the CSI of serving cells other than the serving cell having the smallest index when the CSI reports of different serving cells having the same priority in the corresponding subframe collide. |
| US09237576B2 |
Power control method, apparatus and system
The present invention discloses a power control method and apparatus. The power control method of the present invention includes: when a service runs in a first-standard communication system, determining a transmit power P1 of the first-standard communication system; determining that the transmit power P1 is higher than or equal to a threshold value P2 of power interference of the first-standard communication system to a second-standard communication system; use a power lower than P1 to send data on an interference frequency of the first-standard communication system. According to the power control method in the present invention, a signal transmit power of the interfering frequency of the first-standard communication system can be reduced when it is determined that the first-standard communication system will cause interference to the second-standard communication system, thereby reducing the interference of the first-standard communication system to the second-standard communication system. |
| US09237574B2 |
Spectrum control system, database, spectrum control method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium storing spectrum control program
A spectrum control system according to the present invention is a spectrum control system that evaluates whether or not to allow a second wireless communication system to perform secondary use on a frequency band that is allowed to be preferentially used by a first wireless communication system, and includes a request distinguish unit (102) that evaluates a possibility of the secondary use influencing the first wireless communication system and an evaluation unit (101) that evaluates whether or not to allow the secondary use of the frequency band, which has been evaluated that there is a possibility that the frequency band may influence the first wireless communication system using an evaluation criterion more specific than that of the request distinguish unit (102). |
| US09237572B2 |
Mitigation of interference between communication terminals in TD-LTE
A method for communication includes communicating between one or more first base stations (28A) and first wireless communication terminals (32A) using a first alternating pattern (56) of downlink time intervals and uplink time intervals. A time offset is selected between the first alternating pattern and a second alternating pattern (60), which is used by one or more second base stations (28B) for communicating with second wireless communication terminals (32B), so as to minimize impact of interference between the first and second wireless communication terminals. The first base stations are synchronized relative to the second base stations according to the selected time offset. |
| US09237570B2 |
Control and data channel radio resource configuration
A base station transmits on a first control channel first scheduling information for a control message. The base station transmits the control message configuring second radio resources of a second control channel. The second radio resources comprise resource blocks in a subset of subframes. The control message indicates the subset of subframes and a starting symbol of the second control channel and a data channel. The base station transmits second scheduling information on the second control channel. |
| US09237566B2 |
Method of transmitting and receiving ACK/NACK signal and apparatus thereof
Disclosed is a method for transmitting an ACK/NACK signal for an HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest) in a CA (Carrier Aggregation) system, the method including obtaining at least one transmission resource among first and second transmission resources; configuring a first table showing a relationship in which a combination of at least one of the first and second transmission resources and modulation symbols is mapped to an ACK/NACK signal, and transmitting modulation symbols corresponding to a transmission target ACK/NACK signal in the first table by using transmission resource corresponding to the transmission target ACK/NACK signal in the first table. |
| US09237556B2 |
Method of operating access point and wireless communication system using access point
Provided is a method of operating an access point and a wireless communication system using an access point. The method includes classifying the terminals according to the QoS type of a service required by each of the terminals, allocating any one antenna among the plurality of antennae to one terminal of a group of terminals having the highest order of priority according to the QoS type, among the classified groups of terminals, and selecting another antenna and terminal, which maximizes a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) calculated from channel information between the terminal and the antenna, among the terminals and antennae, except the allocated antenna and terminal, to allocate the antenna. |
| US09237553B2 |
Coexistence of priority broadcast and unicast in peer-to-peer networks
A method, a computer program product, and an apparatus are provided. In one configuration, the apparatus transmits a first broadcast signal including information indicating an intention to use a unicast resource for a broadcast. In addition, the apparatus transmits a second broadcast signal in the unicast resource. In another configuration, the apparatus, which is a first wireless device, receives a first broadcast signal from a second wireless device including information indicating an intention to use a unicast resource for a broadcast. In addition, the apparatus receives a first scheduling signal from the second wireless device in a scheduling resource. The first scheduling signal is for indicating a second intention to use the unicast resource for transmitting a second broadcast signal. Furthermore, the apparatus refrains from transmitting a second scheduling signal in the scheduling resource in response to the first scheduling signal. |
| US09237549B1 |
Dynamic management of page-response interval in a wireless communication system
A method and apparatus for managing page-response intervals. When a network entity receives a paging trigger signal, the entity determines a page-response interval to use for paging the mobile station, based on one or more factors such as (i) whether the communication is to be provided to the mobile station over the same air interface and/or same air interface protocol that will carry the paging to the mobile station and/or (ii) what network, interface, or other entity the trigger signal comes from and/or what network communication module receives the trigger signal. The network entity then uses the determined page-response interval when paging the mobile station, waiting that determined period of time after each page attempt before attempting to page again or before concluding that the paging effort failed. |
| US09237548B2 |
Predicting user availability from aggregated signal strength data
A system and method is provided for determining the availability of a mobile communications device on a network based on a prediction that the device will cross a pre-defined service boundary between two different coverage areas serviced by two different service providers. Specifically, when the device is predicted to cross the service boundary, or has crossed the boundary, a notification of a change in service is issued to at least one of the user of the device, a presence service, or another network operator. The notification may include a change in the presence status of the mobile communications device. |
| US09237546B1 |
Method and apparatus for determining a location of a network device in a wireless network
In a wireless network, a first access point includes a transmitter to transmit a first frame to a first device and a receiver to receive a second frame from the first device. The first and second frames are also received by second and third devices, which are separated from the first access point by predetermined distances. A timing module generates timing information including times of departure and arrival of the first and second frames at the first access point. At the first access point, a feedback module receives feedback information from the second and third devices including times of arrival of the first and second frames at the second and third devices, and a location determining module determines a location of the first device based on the timing and feedback information and predetermined locations of the first access point and the second and third devices in the wireless network. |
| US09237544B2 |
Methods and arrangements to communicate environmental information for localization
Embodiments may comprise logic to adaptively prepare and transmit environmental information based upon an estimated current location and, in some embodiments, context of a device and to adaptively cache the environmental information to reduce or optimize environmental information communicated from an information server to the device. Some embodiments comprise an information server to receive a request for environmental information comprising an estimated current location for the device. In many embodiments, the information server may determine a prior set of environmental information conveyed to the device and determine, in response to receiving the estimated current location, the current set of environmental information based upon the estimated current location. In many embodiments, the current set of environmental information may encompass environmental information near the estimated current location of the device but not to encompass environmental information that was included in a prior set of environmental information transmitted to the device. |
| US09237543B2 |
Wireless location using signal fingerprinting and other location estimators
A wireless location system is disclosed. Locations of mobile stations (MS) may be determined using one or more MS locating technologies based on, e.g.: computed offsets from terrestrial base stations; satellite transmissions; indoor antennas; low range base stations; and in particular, signal pattern recognition for associating wireless signal characteristics with distinct geographic locations. The system can: adapt and/or calibrate its performance with environmental and geographical changes; capture location signal data for enhancement of a self-maintaining database of predictive location signal data; evaluate MS locations using heuristics and constraints related to terrain, MS velocity and path extrapolation; and adjust MS locations adaptively and/or statistically for providing more reliable and accurate locations. The system can be configured for environments ranging from dense urban, urban, suburban, rural, mountain to low traffic or isolated roadways. The system is useful for 911 emergencies, tracking, routing (e.g., to desired products/services), people and animal location including applications for confinement to and exclusion from certain areas. |
| US09237542B2 |
Apparatus and method for supporting location update registration process in machine to machine communication system
An apparatus and method for supporting a location update registration process used for an idle mode operation of a Mobile Station (MS) in a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication are provided. The method includes determining whether a system global location update registration timer is applied to the MS, when it is determined that the global location update registration timer is not applied, determining a timer for updating a location when the MS operates in an idle mode, and transmitting a message including the timer to the MS. |
| US09237539B2 |
Method and apparatus for correcting reference time for distributed time synchronization
In a wireless communication system formed of a plurality of nodes, an arbitrary node receives messages broadcasted from neighbor nodes and calculates amounts of changes in receiving times that are differences between receiving times when the messages are currently received and receiving times when the messages are previously received with respect to the neighbor nodes. The node corrects reference time thereof based on the amounts of changes calculated with respect to the neighbor nodes. |
| US09237537B2 |
Random access process in a multicarrier base station and wireless device
A Base station transmits a control command for transmission of a random access preamble on a first cell if the base station determines radio resources of the first cell are required for transmission of a portion of data and that the first cell requires a different uplink timing from all currently activated cells of the wireless device. The base station transmits at least one control packet for providing transport format information and resource allocation information for transmission of a plurality of packets of the data to be transmitted on a first data channel of the first cell. |
| US09237533B2 |
Detecting uplink repeater capacity
Systems, methods, and articles are provided for detecting uplink repeater capacity within a wireless network. Algorithms are used to determine when an out of power error condition is present to help minimize service quality issues. |
| US09237532B2 |
E-UTRAN and handover
The present invention relates to a method, a base station and an interface for handover in a wireless communication network. Handover is initiated when the signal quality falls below a predetermined value. Random access serves as an uplink procedure to enable the UE to make handover from a first base station (eNodeB) to a suitable second base station (eNodeB). In the present invention, random access parameters are exchanged between second and first base station before said first base station signals said random access parameters to said user equipment. |
| US09237528B2 |
Method for transmitting power headroom report, and apparatus for same
Disclosed are a method for transmitting a power headroom report (PHR) and a terminal apparatus for same. The method for transmitting a PHR from a terminal in a network, which includes a base station and at least one cooperative node performing cooperative communication with the base station, includes a step of determining a sounding reference symbol (SRS) transmission power for transmitting SRSs in a specific serving cell, wherein the determined SRS transmission power is a value determined for the transmission of the SRSs to a plurality of nodes including a first node corresponding to the base station and the at least one cooperative node. |
| US09237527B2 |
Power control
Deciding a power control command for transmitting to a communication device, wherein the deciding takes into account a signal distortion characteristic of the communication device, and wherein the power control command is for use by communication device in determining a transmission power for the communication device. |
| US09237522B2 |
Active bandwidth indicator for power-saving UEs
The present invention relates to a terminal and a base station, and to a receiving and transmitting method to be performed at the terminal and the base station, respectively. In particular, the present invention relates to power consumption reduction by providing two operation bandwidths for a terminal, one being a cell-bandwidth, a bandwidth in which the cell may operate and the other one is a bandwidth, lower than the cell-bandwidth and called power-saving bandwidth. The terminal may perform the initial cell search including reception of the system information in the cell bandwidth and perform other reception/transmission/monitoring operation(s) in the power-saving bandwidth. Accordingly, a low-cost terminal implementation is enabled, which is particularly advantageous for the machine communication terminals. |
| US09237521B2 |
Method for transmitting and receiving physical layer convergence procedure protocol data unit in wireless local area network system supporting power save mode operation and apparatus for the same
A method of transmitting a data frame in a wireless local area network (WLAN) is provided. The method includes transmitting, by an access point (AP), a scheduling information element including information on a time period for data frame transmission to a first station (STA) and a second STA, wherein the scheduling information element includes an offset field indicating a start time point of the time period and transmitting, by the AP, the data frame to the first STA and the second STA by using a multi user-multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) transmission scheme after the start time point indicated by the offset field. |
| US09237515B2 |
Successive detection and cancellation for cell pilot detection
Techniques for performing cell detection with successive detection and cancellation (SDC) are described. For SDC, pilots from stronger cells may be canceled from a received signal at a user equipment (UE) so that weaker cells may be detected as a result of reduced interference from the stronger cells. In one design, a UE processes a received signal to detect for a cell and determines whether the detected cell is sufficiently strong. If the cell is sufficiently strong, then the UE cancels the interference due to the detected cell from the received signal and further processes an interference-canceled signal to detect for another cell. The UE may detect for cells in a set of cells in a sequential order, from the strongest cell to the weakest cell. The UE may terminate detection when a cell not sufficiently strong is detected or when all cells in the set are detected. |
| US09237514B2 |
System and method for filtering access points presented to a user and locking onto an access point
The present invention filters access points presented to a user and locks onto an access point. The present invention includes an access point filtering unit and an access point locking unit. The access point filtering unit determines the access points that are accessible by a client device and then filters them to present only the access points that are acceptable to under a security policy in force. The access point locking unit has a plurality of operating modes and can lock onto a user selected access point, a security policy prescribed access point, or the access point with the best signal profile. The present invention also includes several methods such as: a method for filtering access points for presentation to the user, a method for locking onto an access point selected by the user, a method for locking onto an access point with the best signal profile, and a method for locking onto an access point prescribed by a security policy for a given location. |
| US09237509B2 |
System and method for determining that a maximum number of IP sessions have been established
Systems and methods for determining that a maximum number of IP sessions have been established are provided. There are instances when the mobile device transmits a request to the wireless network. According to an aspect, in the event that the maximum number of IP sessions is already established for the mobile device, the wireless network transmits a response indicating that the request cannot be fulfilled. The mobile device determines based on the response that the maximum number of IP sessions is already established, which allows the mobile device to determine the maximum number of IP sessions that can be supported so that IP sessions can be managed accordingly. |
| US09237507B2 |
Radio communication system and communication control method
A radio communication system comprises: a radio base station, a terminal device, and a plurality of relay devices that relay radio communication between the radio base station and the terminal device. The plurality of relay devices create communication quality information in radio communication between the relay devices and the radio base station. The terminal device preferentially connects to the relay device having the best communication quality based on each of the communication quality information. |
| US09237506B2 |
Method for improving performance and reducing power consumption of a wireless network arrangement
A method of transmitting electronic signals for use with a wireless network arrangement comprising assimilating and storing data relating to successful communication routes within the network arrangement and the transmission and receiving of electronic signals between the minimum number of devices in wireless network arrangement to improve efficiency of data communication and to reduce the power consumption of the network. |
| US09237503B2 |
Method and apparatus for handoff between a wireless local area network (WLAN) and a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS)
Apparatus and method for providing an automatic handoff process of a dual-mode user equipment (UE) from either a wireless local area network (WLAN) to a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) or from a UMTS to a WLAN. Handoffs may be initiated by the UE, based upon user preference, signal quality, comparison of location coordinates of the UE and the system to be switched to or signal quality. The available channels of one system may be sent to the UE by the other system or the UE may monitor channels of the system to be switched to and lock on to one. The handoff may also be initiated by the UMTS, the selection being power-based. |
| US09237495B2 |
Methods and apparatus for performing handover between a long term evolution (LTE) network and another type of radio access network
A method for performing handover by wireless User Equipment (UE) is provided. The UE includes a Long Term Evolution-Mobile Extreme Convergence (LTE-MXC) application processor, a LTE processor and a Digital Signal Processor (DSP). The UE buffers a set of IP packets when a Radio Access Technology (RAT) indicator is less than a pre-defined threshold and sends the set of IP packets to the LTE processor and the DSP. The LTE processor transmits the set of IP packets to the LTE network and sends acknowledgement signals to the LTE-MXC application processor and the DSP. When the handover is complete, the LTE processor sends the transmission status of the set of IP packets to the DSP. The UE also includes multimode Radio Resource Control (RRC) and Non-Access Stratum (NAS) modules. |
| US09237491B2 |
Method and device for a relay node
A relay node for a radio access network, arranged to be a relay node between one or more User Equipments in a cell of the radio access network and a base station serving the cell. The relay node is arranged to identify itself as a relay node in the cell in the radio access network, and is also arranged to receive a non-support indication indicating that the base station serving the cell is unable to support a relay node. The relay node is arranged to, upon receiving said non-support indication, attempt to establish itself as a relay node in another cell. |
| US09237488B2 |
Apparatus and method for processing handover in a wireless communication system
An apparatus and method for processing handover in a wireless communication system are provided. The method includes selecting a cell for handover when a HandOver (HO) drop occurs, identifying if information for communicating with a serving BS is stored, transmitting a message ranging request signal to the serving BS, identifying provision or non-provision of a service from the serving BS comprised in a response signal to the message ranging request signal, and transmitting/receiving a signal with the serving BS. |
| US09237487B2 |
Communication control method and home base station
A home base station (HeNB) that supports LIPA (Local Internet Protocol Access) defined in the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) standards: transmits (step S103) information indicating that a user terminal has an LIPA connection in a handover request, to a target base station, by including the information in the handover request, when a handover procedure from the home base station to the target base station is started for the user terminal having the LIPA connection; and continues (steps S106, S107) the handover procedure without releasing the LIPA connection when the target base station permits the handover request. |
| US09237485B2 |
Deferred measurement control reading of system information block (SIB) messages
A method of wireless communication defers measurement control reading of a SIB. The method includes determining whether a user equipment (UE) has been redirected to a first radio access technology (RAT) from a second RAT. The method also includes selectively reading a system information block (SIB) based on whether the UE was redirected to the first RAT from a second RAT. |
| US09237484B2 |
Method, system and device for configuring radio access bearers in mobile networks with multi-RAB capability
Method and network entities for providing good performance for voice in multiRAB connection for services of a CS+PS call setup (31) without high throughput necessity but providing good throughput for the services needing it. A differentiation of the multiRAB configuration (bearer type, mobility parameters and channel switching timers), based on service detection, is performed either in the RAN either in the CN indicating eventually this detection to the RAN. If the detected service needs high bit rate/throughput (35), the RNC reconfigures the multiRAB configuration (37) so that a bearer type providing high throughput is allocated to said service and the RNC reassigns mobility and channel switching parameters to maximise this throughput and the radio resources. If the service does not require high throughput (34), the RNC configures a bearer type and parameters for mobility and channel switching as specified by the standards to provide good performance (36), low dropped call rate. |
| US09237483B2 |
Methods for managing resource utilization in a long term evolution communication system
Methods for managing resource utilization in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication system are described. In one method, an application server: receives signaling indicating resource utilization in the LTE system; determines, based on this signaling, a set of control parameters for a user equipment (UE) receiving service from the LTE system; and sends the set of control parameters to the UE, wherein the set of control parameters indicates behavior for the UE toward at least one of maintaining LTE system resources or modifying standard handover procedures. The signaling indicating resource utilization in the LTE system is sent from UE, the LTE system, or both. |
| US09237482B2 |
Method of transmitting real time traffic with reduced header in wireless network
In a mobile telecommunications network including a mobile User Equipment (UE) and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (PGW), a method is provided for controlling data packet header overhead for real time data packet traffic between the UE and the PGW. The method includes: modifying one or more data packets having an Internet Protocol (IP) header and a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) header to remove at least a portion of at least one of said IP and UDP headers prior to transporting said modified data packet between the UE and PGW; and reconstructing the removed header portions upon receipt of the modified data packet at one of the UE or PGW. |
| US09237481B2 |
Methods and arrangements for traffic indication map segmentation in wireless networks
Logic may implement a hierarchical data structure for traffic indication mapping (TIM) and segment the TIM into TIM segment bitmaps to facilitate transmissions for wireless communications devices. The traffic indication provides information as to whether a device associated with an access point (AP) has data buffered by the AP. Logic of the AP may inform devices about the range of devices represented by each of the TIM segments by including a block start and block range or a TIM segment index that can be associated with a range of blocks. Logic may provide at least one page bitmap to devices for the TIM segment bitmaps to provide an indication to the devices as to whether a particular block includes an indication that any client devices have data buffered by the access point. |
| US09237480B2 |
Accelerated content delivery
The invention relates to a content delivery entity (100) configured to deliver a first data traffic from a first Internet content provider (310) to a mobile user equipment (200) via an access network of a mobile communications network. The entity (100) comprises an interface (113) configured to detect the first data traffic that shall be treated with priority. An acceleration unit (120) is configured to accelerate the delivery of the first data traffic from the first Internet content provider to the content delivery entity, and a controller (110) is configured to forward the first data traffic from the first Internet content provider (310) to the mobile user equipment (200) in the access network in such a way that the first data traffic from the first Internet content provider (310) is routed to the mobile user equipment (200) in the access network with a priority different from that of a second data traffic that is delivered from a second Internet content provider (330, 390) through the access network. |
| US09237479B2 |
Method and device for data traffic distribution
The present invention provides a method and a device for data traffic distribution. The method includes: measuring, by a mobile wireless interconnection wifi device, signal strength of a wifi network; and switching, by the mobile wifi device, data traffic between a cellular wireless communication network and the wifi network according to the signal strength of the wifi network, where, when the data traffic is transmitted over the wifi network, the mobile wifi device, by means of time division multiplexing, serves as an access point AP and a station STA respectively to route the data traffic between STAs having an Internet access demand and APs capable of providing an Internet access service. The embodiments of the present invention can implement data distribution in the scenario of multiple WAN ports. |
| US09237475B2 |
Channel quality information and beam index reporting
A method and apparatus report or identify channel quality information. The method for reporting includes selecting one or more beams for channel quality reporting. The method also includes mapping, by the UE, indices of the one or more selected beams to one or more channel quality values. Additionally, the method includes sending channel quality information for the one or more selected beams according to the mapping. The method for identifying includes receiving an indication of indices of one or more beams selected for reporting. The method also includes receiving channel quality information for the one or more selected beams. The method further includes identifying a mapping of the indices of the one or more selected beams to one or more channel quality values. Additionally, the method includes identifying a channel quality value for each of the one or more selected beams according to the mapping. |
| US09237474B2 |
Network device trace correlation
The techniques described herein present opportunities for service providers and/or network providers to optimize the Quality of User Experience (QoE) for data services by determining, using a broader network-based approach, the root cause of problems causing a service degradation. To determine the root cause of the problems, the techniques may collect different trace files from multiple different nodes in the telecommunications network. Each trace file includes a log of trace identifiers for numerous different data packets that have been generated, received, transmitted, relayed, and/or routed via the node in the telecommunications network, and each trace file log entry may be associated with a timestamp. Once collected, the techniques may correlate the different trace files from the multiple different nodes to identify, using a broader network-based analysis, service optimization opportunities. |
| US09237473B2 |
Inter-frequency positioning measurements
A networks node generates an inter-frequency neighbor list of neighbor cells intended to be measured including neighbor cells satisfying an alignment condition and a sufficient measurement time. The alignment condition is satisfied when subframes of a first signal having a first frequency transmitted via a reference cell associated with the user equipment are synchronized with, have a known offset relative to or have a random offset smaller than one half of a sub frame relative to corresponding subframes of a second signal having a second frequency transmitted via a neighboring cells. The sufficient measurement time is determined by an overlap of measurement gaps and positioning subframes in the second signal. The user equipment performs the inter-frequency Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements during measurement gaps. |
| US09237470B2 |
Apparatus and method for receiving and transporting real time AMR meter data
An apparatus receiving and transporting real time resource usage data, including a plurality of narrowband receivers and a controller. The a plurality of narrowband receivers is deployed geographically within a grid, where each of the plurality of narrowband receivers is configured to receive transmissions from a least one of a plurality of automated meter reading (AMR) meters, and where each of the plurality of AMR meters transmits identical data on each of a plurality of frequency bands that are hopped according to a hopping sequence. The controller is coupled to the plurality of narrowband receivers, and is configured to control the plurality of narrowband receivers such that the each of the plurality of AMR meters is identified, and is configured to control the plurality of receivers such that corresponding data from the each of the AMR meters is received on at least one of the plurality of frequency bands. |
| US09237467B2 |
Adaptive pacing of media content delivery over a wireless network
A method includes monitoring, at a base station of a wireless network, channel quality information corresponding to a wireless channel used by the base station to stream media content to a communication device. The media content is streamed to the communication device at a particular effective transfer rate via data bursts. The method includes selecting, at the base station, a size of a data burst to send to the communication device and a download rate for the data burst. The size and the data rate are based on the channel quality information. The method also includes sending the data burst to the communication device at a first time from the base station. |
| US09237465B1 |
Systems, apparatus and methods for consumer testing of an NFC-enabled mobile device
Near-Field Communication (NFC) test systems, apparatus and processes enable consumers to thoroughly and easily test the NFC circuitry and short range communications software of their mobile devices. In an embodiment, a processor of a consumer's mobile device receives input to initialize an NFC test application and displays a prompt on a display screen for the consumer to position his or her mobile device to communicate with an NFC-enabled device. When the processor receives input indicating a correct communication position, a shared identity is exchanged with the NFC-enabled device and transmitted to a central server computer. Next, the processor receives a plurality of NFC test instructions, communicates in a transaction mode of operation and then in a terminal mode of operation with the NFC-enabled device, and transmits NFC test data to the central server computer. In some embodiments, the processor receives NFC test results from the central server computer and displays an indication of the NFC test results on a display screen. |
| US09237459B1 |
System and method for measuring characteristics of neighbor cells using a synthesized composite antenna pattern
A method includes receiving in a receiver transmissions from a serving cell that serves the receiver and from one or more neighbor cells. The transmissions are received via multiple receive antennas to produce multiple respective output signals. The multiple output signals are weighed with respective weights, and the weighted output signals are combined to produce a combined output signal. The weights are selected so as to form a composite antenna pattern having a first antenna gain in one or more first directions that point toward the neighbor cells, and a second antenna gain, lower than the first antenna gain, in a second direction that points toward the serving cell. Characteristics of the one or more neighbor cells are measured by processing the combined output signal in which the transmissions received from the serving cell are attenuated. |
| US09237458B2 |
Systems and methods for network MIMO
A multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) communication system comprising a master base station and a slave base station. The master base station has a plurality of transmit antennas and transmits a first set of data to a mobile station in a first transmission. The slave base station has a plurality of transmit antennas and transmits a second set of data to the mobile station in the first transmission. The master base station retransmits the second set of data to the mobile station during a first retransmission and the slave base station retransmits the first set of data to the mobile station during the first retransmission. |
| US09237455B2 |
Method for allocating wireless resources in a wireless access system, and apparatus therefor
The present invention relates to a method for allocating wireless resources in a wireless access system that supports an operation in an unlicensed band, as well as to an apparatus for the method. More particularly, a method for allocating wireless resources in a wireless access system that supports a television white space (TV WS) band comprises the steps of: allocating, to a terminal and from among TV WS bands, available frequency bands which are not used by a licensed device; if a receiving band of another device exists in a neighboring band of the available frequency bands, setting up a guard band in a portion of the band adjacent to the neighboring band from among the available frequency bands; allocating wireless resources to a terminal in a frequency band from among the available frequency bands, excluding the guard band; and receiving uplink data from the terminal through the wireless resources, wherein the guard band is determined using the allocation location of the wireless resources, the amount of wireless resources, and the transmission power of the terminal. |
| US09237454B2 |
Coexistent working mode establishment method, user equipment, base station and system
A method for solving the co-existence problem, a base station, user equipment, and system for performing the method. The method includes: pre-configuring the information for co-existence working mode by a base station of a first communication system for a user equipment, receiving, by the base station of the first communication system from the user equipment in the first communication system, a mode establishing request for indicating the co-existence problem experienced by the user equipment and providing the assistance information for co-existence working mode in which the user equipment performs a first communication with the base station and performs a second communication with an apparatus in a second communication system which is different from the first communication system. |
| US09237453B2 |
Spectrum channel sharing system
A spectrum channel sharing system may coordinate a shared usage of one or more spectrum channels between a first communication system and a second communication system. The first communication system may transmit a request to the second communication system to clear communication traffic associated with the second communication system from a spectrum channel. The first communication system may then initiate a communication session on the spectrum channel after the communication traffic associated with the second communication system has been at least partially cleared from the spectrum channel. |
| US09237449B2 |
Autocorrelation-based spectrum sensing for FM signals
A method and system for detection of available a white space channel in an area of licensed transmitters includes a detector which utilizes the autocorrelation analysis of a channel in an frequency modulated (FM) band. Calculation of the autocorrelation excludes an initial set of correlation delay values such that large values of autocorrelation are removed. The remaining autocorrelation based on higher correlation delay values exposes the sinusoidal nature of an FM transmitter operating in the selected channel. White space becomes available to a user if no transmitter is detected using the autocorrelation detection method. |
| US09237447B2 |
Device and method for managing access rights to a wireless network
A device and a method for managing access rights to a wireless network uses wireless connection devices advantageously based on a smart card, which enable the wireless connection to the network once connected to a terminal. These devices include devices for time and/or geographical management of access to the network and authentication device. These devices can be easily preprogrammed by the entity managing the service and then distributed to the users. |
| US09237445B1 |
Heterogeneous network control system
A heterogeneous network control system uses an application platform to connect a signal processor through a first signal telecommunication, and connect the signal processor to a signal converter through a second signal telecommunication, and connect the signal converter to a terminal through a third signal telecommunication. When signals are transmitted from the application platform to the terminal via a signal transmission path, the first signal is converted into a second signal by the signal processor, and the second signal is converted into a third signal by the signal converter. When signals are transmitted from the terminal to the application platform via the signal transmission path, the signal is converted in an opposite way. The first signal is a 3G, 4G, WiFi, powerline or Bluetooth signal, and the second signal is a WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, powerline, EnOcean or Zwave signal. The system provides a communication mode for a heterogeneous network. |
| US09237444B2 |
Trust discovery in a communications network
A method and apparatus to establish trust between two nodes in a communications network. A first node receives from a network node authentication data unique to the first node, which can be used to derive a compact representation of verification data for the first node. The first node also receives a certified compact representation of verification data of all nodes in the network. The first node derives trust information from the authentication data for the node, and sends to a second node a message that includes the trust information and part of the authentication data. The second node has its own copy of the certified compact representation of verification data of all nodes in the network, and verifies the authenticity of the message from the first node using the compact representation of verification data of all nodes in the network and the received trust information and authentication data. |
| US09237442B2 |
Method and system for positioning mobile station in handover procedure
A method for obtaining a secure key is provided. The method includes sending an Access Safety Management Entity Key (KASME) to a gateway after finishing authentication and security process by a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in a core network; and computing, by the gateway, a Next Hop (NH) according to the KASME. The method provides a method for ensuring a working of a secure key chain when a handover process is terminated at a Hybrid Evolved NodeB Gateway (HeNB GW). Thus, key information cannot be lost when the handover process is terminated at the HeNB GW, and an impact of the handover process on a core network is reduced, and the efficiency of a User Equipment (UE) handover is improved. |
| US09237436B2 |
Centralized communication management via a virtual operator for connecting subscriber calls to host networks
A communication system (SC) comprises i) a centralized platform (PC) that can be used by at least one virtual operator and that comprises at least equipment and services management means (EG1), subscriber/subscription data management means (EG2) and a call server (SA), responsible for jointly managing the control plane layer, and it) at least one distributed media gateway (PMi) connected to the centralized platform (PC) via a backbone network (RF)I and responsible for the interconnection between the centralized platform (PC) and a routing center (Ai), of a communication network (RMf) of an associated network operator, responsible for routing calls concerning communication terminals (UE) connected to its communication network (RMi) and managed by the centralized platform (PC) and for controlling a user plane layer of the environment of the system (SC). |
| US09237434B2 |
Network-assisted peer discovery with network coding
Techniques for performing network-assisted peer discovery with network coding are disclosed. For peer discovery with network coding, a device may generate a network-coded message based on a message assigned to the device and one or more messages received by the device from other devices. The device may transmit a proximity detection signal including the network-coded message. For network-assisted peer discovery with network coding, the device may register with a network for peer discovery and may be provided with at least one parameter to use for peer discovery with network coding. The devices may perform peer discovery with network coding in accordance with the peer discovery parameter(s) received from the network. The device may generate a network-coded message based on the at least one peer discovery parameter and may transmit the network-coded message to enable other devices to detect the device. |
| US09237433B1 |
Feature management of a communication device
A system and method for the real-time management of a device, and more particularly to the establishment and enforcement of policies or rules associated with the feature or functions that may be performed with the device, such as making and receiving calls, exchanging data, playing games and music, sending and receiving email, accessing web sites, and paying for goods and services. If a child or employee is using the device, there may be a need to regulate how that device can be used and to determine who will pay for what goods or services. In addition to providing all of the features associated with a device, service providers need to be able to establish and enforce rules (policies) regulating how and when that device can be used and who will pay for a good or service requested by the user of the device. |
| US09237432B2 |
System and method for emergency service using telematics
A method for emergency service using telematics includes: attempting to transmit an emergency service request message to a telematics center through mobile communication when a telematics terminal receives an emergency signal; confirming, by the telematics terminal, whether the telematics terminal processes the emergency service in attempting to transmit the emergency service request message; informing a vehicle terminal of the fact that the emergency service is not processed if it is confirmed that the telematics terminal does not process the emergency service; and receiving, by the vehicle terminal, the emergency service request message from the telematics terminal to process the emergency service through TV white space (TVWS) communication, thereby extending an emergency service coverage using the telematics. A system for emergency service using telematics involves communication between the telematics terminal, the telematics center, and the vehicle terminal, in order to process the emergency service request message through TVWS communication. |
| US09237430B2 |
Flash caller ID for roaming
The present invention relates to methods and apparati for presenting and displaying caller-identifying information to outbound roamers using means outside of the visited network's facility, or communications channels outside of the call path. |
| US09237423B1 |
Estimating the elevation of a wireless terminal based on temperature and atmospheric pressure
A method for estimating the elevation of an wireless terminal inside of a tall structure is described that compensates for differences in temperature and atmospheric pressure between the inside and outside of the structure. |
| US09237422B1 |
Wireless device detection system
A device for detecting wireless signals and locating the place of origin in a building is provided that includes a transmitter system using a cellular protocol; a plurality of antennae that receive wireless Radio Frequency (RF) signals, each antenna having a port; a receiving system connected to the antennae ports with a plurality of cables, converting the RF signal to voltage waveform; a processing system in communication with the receiving system, detecting the strength of the received signals and Time Difference of Arrival of the RF signals with respect to antennae and determining the location where the wireless signals are being emitted by using classification algorithms; and a human machine interface. |
| US09237421B2 |
Method and apparatus for reducing transmission of location information
Provided is a method and apparatus for reducing transmission of location information when tracking the geographic location of one or more mobile devices. A mobile device generates location information using GPS technology and provides the location information to a communication device on an ongoing basis. In a first embodiment, if the location information of the mobile device is not needed, then the communication device transmits a message indicating that the location information of the mobile device is not needed. Upon receiving the message, the mobile device stops providing location information to the communication device on the ongoing basis. This can reduce the amount of information that gets transferred over the air between users sharing their location information. |
| US09237420B2 |
Mobile device and geographic information system background and summary of the related art
The present invention provides a system and mobile device for providing geographic information to a user. The system includes a mobile device that is wirelessly connected to a geographic database. The mobile device includes a plurality of sensors for determining a first location and a first direction. A controller is adapted to provide information requested based on local queries and distal queries. In addition, the controller can respond to thematic queries of each variety, wherein the database search is limited to objects, entities or features that fit within a selected theme. Finally, the controller is adapted to select and order query results based upon two-and three-dimensional query windows. |
| US09237415B2 |
Method and system for estimating range of mobile device to wireless installation
A method of and system for estimating the range of a mobile device to a wireless installation is disclosed. A method of estimating the position of a mobile device includes receiving signals transmitted by fixed-position wireless communication stations in range of a mobile device. One of the wireless communication stations from which signals are received by the mobile device is designated as a serving station and location information is retrieved for said serving station and at least one other neighboring station from which signals are received. For each of the at least one other neighboring stations, a corresponding distance between the serving station and said neighboring station is determined based on the location information. A position of the mobile device is estimated based on the location information for the serving station and said neighboring stations and further based on the distances between the serving station and said neighboring stations. |
| US09237409B2 |
Communication device, control method, program, and front end
The present technology relates to a communication device, a control method, and a program which enable reliable selection of a desired target.A CLF transmits a polling command received from a NFC reader for selecting a candidate of a final target to targets, selects the candidate of the final target, by setting a P2P application as a target having the highest priority in the selection of the candidate of the final target, selects the final target based on a command other than the polling command received from the NFC reader, and controls to lower the priority of the P2P application, in a case where the P2P application is selected as the candidate of the final target and the P2P application is not selected as the final target. The present technology can be applied to a communication device supporting an NFC standard, for example. |
| US09237406B2 |
Speaker impedance measurement
An integrated circuit for processing audio and voice signals in a telephone is disclosed. The integrated circuit comprises an audio output port having a first and a second output terminal for connection to a first and a second input terminal, respectively, of a speaker. The integrated circuit further comprises an audio input port having a first and a second input terminal for connection to a first and a second output terminal of an audio input source. The integrated circuit also comprises at least one audio output path and one audio input path. Moreover, the integrated circuit comprises a test impedance, such as a resistor, (RT) for measuring an electrical impedance of the speaker. |
| US09237404B2 |
Dipole antenna for a hearing aid
A hearing aid includes: a hearing aid housing; a microphone coupled to the hearing aid housing for reception of sound and conversion of the received sound into a corresponding first audio signal; a signal processor in the hearing aid housing for processing the first audio signal into a second audio signal compensating a hearing loss of a user of the hearing aid; a wireless communication unit connected to the signal processor for wireless data communication; and an attachment member connectable to the hearing aid housing; wherein the wireless communication unit is coupled with an antenna having a first pole element and a second pole element for emission and reception of an electromagnetic field; and wherein at least a part of the first pole element extends in the attachment member, and the second pole element extends in the hearing aid housing. |
| US09237403B2 |
Method of adjusting a binaural hearing system, binaural hearing system, hearing device and remote control
The present invention is related to the adjusting of a binaural hearing system and devices being operable according to said method. The hearing system comprises two hearing devices (10, 20), each comprising a signal processing unit (12, 22) for processing an audio input signal according to at least one hearing program (P) to provide an output signal being forwarded to an output transducer (13, 23) of the respective hearing device (10, 20). The method comprises the steps of: determining device information (ACCorr(P)ipsi, ACCorr(P)contra) being related to the hearing devices (10, 20) and to at least one hearing device specific adjustment having been applied earlier to the at least one hearing program (P); calculating synchronization data (learnt_pref(P)) according to a function that depends on the device information (ACCorr(P)ipsi, ACCorr(P)contra); and; synchronizing the hearing devices (10, 20) by taking into account the synchronization data (learnt_pref(P)). |
| US09237400B2 |
Concealment of intermittent mono reception of FM stereo radio receivers
The present invention relates to audio signal processing. In particular, it relates to a method and system for reliably concealing intermittent mono reception of FM stereo radio receivers. The system comprises a parametric stereo parameter estimation stage configured to determine a first parametric stereo parameter based on a first frame of the received two-channel audio signal. The system further comprises a concealment detection stage configured to determine an energy of a side signal within the first signal frame; determine a number of following successive signal frames during which the energy of the side signal drops from a value above the high threshold to a value below a low threshold; determine that the two-channel audio signal following the first signal frame is a forced mono signal if the number of successive signal frames is below a frame threshold; and determine the parametric stereo parameter based on the first parametric stereo parameter. |
| US09237397B2 |
Tunable earphone
A tunable earphone is provided. By moving a tuning rod inserted into a hollow shell with a varied depth to drive a tuning plate thus changing the distance between a speaker and the tuning plate, the air in the hollow shell can resonate for different volumes and different path lengths, thereby adjusting a frequency response characteristic of the whole earphone. |
| US09237394B2 |
Canal type earphone with pressure equilibrium means
Disclosed herein is a canal type earphone with a pressure equilibrium means, capable of eliminating a pressure difference between a user's external auditory meatus and an outside during wearing of the canal type earphone. A pressure equilibrium means includes a side air passage through which air within a tube or air within a speaker unit in the canal type earphone is discharged to a side surface of a gasket or a side surface of the speaker unit, and a rear air passage through which air in the side surface of the speaker unit is discharged to the rear of the speaker unit. |
| US09237393B2 |
Headset with accelerometers to determine direction and movements of user head and method
An audio headset system for a mobile phone or other audio player includes a pair of earpieces, each including a speaker in a housing and configured to provide audio output, the housing configured for positioning with respect to a user's ear to direct audio output to the ear; and a pair of accelerometers configured to provide acceleration information representative of acceleration of the respective earpieces, wherein together the acceleration information provided from both accelerometers is representative of angular motion in a horizontal plane of the head of a user. The angular motion may be used as inputs to carry out functions of the mobile phone, e.g., to provide sound adjustments for three dimensional stereophonic sound, to provide navigation information to a user, to play games, and so on. A method of determining rotation and/or direction of a user's head wearing a headset including an ear piece with an accelerometer at each ear, includes processing acceleration information from both accelerometers to determine angular motion of the user's head in a generally horizontal plane. |
| US09237392B2 |
Earhole-wearable sound collection device, signal processing device, and sound collection method
The present technique relates to an earhole-wearable sound collection device, a signal processing device, and a sound collection method for realizing sound collection at a high S/N ratio, with noise influence being reduced not by a noise reduction process.In the earhole-wearable sound collection device, a microphone that collects emitted speech voice is provided in a space that is substantially sealed off from outside and connects to an ear canal of the wearer (the speaker). With the microphone being located in the space sealed off from outside, emitted speech voice that propagates through the ear canal of the wearer is collected. In a sound collection signal obtained through the ear canal, the emitted speech voice component is dominant over the noise component particularly at low frequencies. Therefore, the S/N ratio of an emitted speech voice collection signal can be improved by extracting the low-frequency component of the sound collection signal with the use of a LPF, for example. Alternatively, an equalizing process for reducing muffled sound that is generated when sound is collected through the ear canal is performed on the sound collection signal. As a result, higher sound quality can be achieved. |
| US09237383B2 |
Peer to peer streaming of DVR buffered program data
Various embodiments are directed to streaming DVR devices that can communicate over an Internet Protocol (IP) network with other streaming enabled DVR devices. Implementing a peer-to-peer type connection, one streaming enabled DVR device may be able to stream buffered video data to another streaming enable DVR device. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US09237381B2 |
Methods and apparatus for local channel insertion in an all-digital content distribution network
Methods and apparatus for inserting local content of interest in an all digital content delivery network. In one embodiment, the content delivery network comprises a cable television or satellite network, and an RF channel thereof is separated or isolated from an incoming multiplex of all-digital content transmission. The separated RF channel is demodulated to provide a multiplexed transport stream, and packets corresponding to one or more programs from the transport stream are replaced with packets obtained from local compression and encoding of analog programming such as e.g., personal, educational and government (PEG) programming. The inserted programming may also contain closed captioning and emergency data alerts. The resulting encoded transport stream is then re-inserted into the multiplex, modulated, and put back onto the RF channel. In an alternate embodiment, space is reserved within the downstream multiplex so as to avoid having to remove an existing program stream. |
| US09237380B2 |
System and method for displaying multimedia events scheduling information
Systems and methods for displaying program guide information are disclosed. In some implementations, a method includes, at a computing device having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, responsive to a user-supplied search query, formatting for display program guide data on a first grid. The first grid includes (i) a first axis representing units of time and (ii) a second axis. The program guide data comprises information representing a first set of time-bounded events. The method also includes formatting a second grid for concurrent display with the first grid. The second grid includes information identifying a second set of time-bounded events. The first set of time-bounded events is a subset of the second set of time-bounded events. |
| US09237379B2 |
Methods and apparatus to count people in images
Methods, articles of manufacture, and apparatus to count people in an image are disclosed. An example method includes estimating, based on a location of a face of a person in a first image frame, a portion of the image that corresponds to a body region of the person; and using image data corresponding to the portion to determine whether the person is present in a second image frame in which the face of the person is undetected. |
| US09237374B2 |
Content broadcast device, content broadcast method, content reception device, content reception method, program, and content broadcast system
A content broadcast device for broadcasting a content, using a broadcast wave, the content broadcast device including a first supply section configured to supply service information to a content reception device through a predetermined network in response to a request from the content reception device, the service information including at least a broadcast schedule of metadata and location information that indicates where the metadata is located in the broadcast wave, and a broadcast section configured to broadcast, using the broadcast wave, the metadata, which includes at least a broadcast schedule of the content and location information that indicates where the content is located in the broadcast wave, in accordance with the broadcast schedule of the metadata, included in the service information, and broadcast, using the broadcast wave, the content in accordance with the broadcast schedule of the content, included in the metadata. |
| US09237373B2 |
Modular broadcast receiver system and method
The construction of a receiving apparatus for receiving a broadcast from a plurality of broadcasting providers is simplified. In a receiving apparatus for receiving a broadcast from a plurality of broadcasting providers, of the function blocks which constitute the receiving apparatus, a block used in common irrespective of the broadcasting provider is formed as a common block, and a block different from one broadcasting provider to another is formed as an independent block. These blocks are connected to each other through an IEEE1394 interface, and the common block is shared among the plurality of blocks which are not used in common, so that a receiving process is performed. |
| US09237370B2 |
Unified electronic program guide
A device may receive a request for an electronic program guide from a user device and determine a location of the user device. The device may determine, based on the determining that the user device is located in a first location, a group of different types of networks available to the user device and may provide, based on the determined group of different types of networks available to the user device, the electronic program guide for display. The electronic program guide may include a network identifier for each of one or more available channels associated with each of the determined group of different types of networks, and a content identifier associated with a respective one of the one or more available channels associated with each of the determined group of different types of networks. |
| US09237362B2 |
Method and apparatus for multi-experience translation of media content with sensor sharing
A method and apparatus incorporates teachings of the present disclosure and may include, for example, a method including detecting at least one of a plurality of sensor data sources for remotely capturing sensory data from a physical environment of the source device, receiving from the at least one of the plurality of sensor data sources sensory information representing the sensory data from the physical environment of the source device, identifying a plurality of characteristics of the physical environment of the source device from the received sensory information, sending to a second device media content and the sensory information representing the plurality of characteristics of the physical environment of the source device. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09237360B2 |
Electronic device and control method thereof
An electronic device and control method thereof are provided. The control method includes: initially connecting the electronic device to a data source device; determining whether the connected data source device is registered with the electronic device; registering the data source device in response to determining that the connected data source device is not registered with the electronic device; storing setting information related to at least one of video and audio corresponding to the registered data source device; again connecting the electronic device to the data source device; receiving at least one of second video and second audio from the data source device; and outputting at least one of the second video and the second audio based on the stored setting information. |
| US09237358B2 |
Context reduction for context adaptive binary arithmetic coding
A reduction in the number of binarizations and/or contexts used in context adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) for video coding is proposed. In particular, this disclosure proposes techniques that may lower the number contexts used in CABAC by up to 56. |
| US09237354B2 |
Video coding apparatus, video coding method and video coding program, and video decoding apparatus, video decoding method and video decoding program
A motion vector detector detects a motion vector from a first reference image for a coding target block. A multiple reference image composition unit creates a composite reference block that a first reference block extracted from the first reference image using the motion vector has been composited with a predetermined region of at least one of other reference images. Setting the composite reference block as a prediction block, an entropy encoder encodes a prediction difference block that the prediction block has been subtracted from the coding target block. |
| US09237352B2 |
Methods and systems for encoding pictures associated with video data
Several methods and systems for encoding pictures associated with video data are disclosed. In an embodiment, a method includes determining by a processing module, whether a picture is to be encoded based on at least one of a skip assessment associated with the picture and an encoding status of a pre-selected number of pictures preceding the picture in an encoding sequence. The method further includes encoding by the processing module, a plurality of rows of video data associated with the picture upon determining that the picture is to be encoded, wherein the plurality of rows are encoded based on a pre-selected maximum encoded picture size. |
| US09237351B2 |
Encoding/decoding apparatus and method for parallel correction of in-loop pixels based on measured complexity, using video parameter
An encoding/decoding apparatus and method for parallel correction of in-loop pixels based on complexity using a video parameter may include a complexity measuring unit to measure a complexity of an in-loop pixel correction process, using video codec parameter information, in a video codec, and a core allocating unit to evenly distribute jobs associated with the in-loop pixel correction process, using the measured complexity. |
| US09237350B2 |
Image processing system with random access capable integral image compression and method of operation thereof
A system and method of operation of an image processing system includes: an imaging device for receiving a source image; a mode module for receiving a random access block of an integral image formed by summing a portion of the source image, and for calculating a chosen mode and a quantization number from the random access block; a quantization module for forming a quantized block by shifting the random access block based on the chosen mode; a predictor module for calculating a predictor block based on the quantized block; and a fixed length coding module for calculating a residual block by subtracting the predictor block from the quantized block, for calculating a fixed length coding residual based on the chosen mode and the residual block, and for forming an image bitstream having the quantization number and the fixed length coding residual. |
| US09237343B2 |
Perceptually coding images and videos
Blocks in pixel images are template matched to select candidate blocks and weights according to a structural similarity and a perceptual distortion of the blocks. The perceptual distortion is a function of a just-noticeable-distortion (JND). A filter outputs a prediction residual between the block and the candidate blocks. The prediction residual is transformed and quantized to produce a quantized prediction residual using the JND. The matching and quantizing is optimized jointly using the perceptual distortion. Then, the quantized prediction residual and the weights are entropy encoded into a bit-stream for later decoding. |
| US09237342B2 |
Video image encoding device, video image encoding method, video image decoding device, and video image decoding method
A method includes determining a group to which each of a plurality of blocks belongs, the plurality of blocks being obtained by dividing each picture included in video image data; adding, to an output stream, group information expressing the group to which each of the plurality of blocks belongs; calculating an output time for each of the groups; determining output delay for each of the groups; adding, to the output stream, an output delay time from a decode time of each of the groups; controlling an encode amount so that data used for outputting all of the blocks included in one of the groups arrives at a decoding buffer of a decoding device and decoding is completed by an output time expressed by the output delay time; and performing encoding based on the encode amount that has been controlled. |
| US09237340B2 |
Camera pose estimation
A method of camera pose estimation is provided that includes capturing a model image of a scene at a canonical camera pose, generating an image library from warped images of the model image and the model image, wherein each warped image is a transformation of the model image at a different pre-determined camera pose, capturing an image of the scene as a user moves the camera, reporting the current camera pose as a camera pose of the image when the image is acceptable, conditionally adding the first image to the image library when the first image is acceptable, and re-initializing the current camera pose to a camera pose selected from the image library when the first image is not acceptable. |
| US09237338B1 |
Apparatus for image display with multi-focal length progressive lens or multiple discrete lenses each having different fixed focal lengths or a variable focal length
One or more display elements of an apparatus provide light representative of distant objects and near objects and at least one optical element of the apparatus is responsive to the light representative of the near objects, for providing video images of the near objects at one or more near focal lengths, and is responsive to the light representative of distant objects, for providing video images of the distant objects at one or more far focal length and positioned for viewing at an elevation above the video images of the near objects. |
| US09237334B2 |
Method and device for controlling subtitle applied to display apparatus
A method for controlling subtitles applied to a display apparatus is provided. The method is capable of dynamically adjusting a subtitle of an original image. The original image includes a right-eye frame and a left-eye frame. The right-eye frame includes right-eye subtitle information, and the left-eye frame includes left-eye subtitle information. The method includes the steps of: determining an adjusted subtitle display mode; determining a shift distance of the right-eye subtitle information and the left-eye subtitle information; and adjusting the shift distance according to the adjusted subtitle display mode or a given 3D depth, such that an adjusted subtitle presented by the right-eye frame and the left-eye frame shows an adjusted subtitle 3D depth. The adjusted subtitle display mode includes a static display mode and a dynamic 3D display mode. |
| US09237329B1 |
Systems and methods for capturing data of an object
Systems and methods for capturing data of an object are provided. In an example system, a suspension component for suspending an object so that the object is stationary in space is provided. A plurality of image capture devices are configured to capture a plurality of images of the object simultaneously while the object is suspended. The plurality of image capture devices are each positioned at a different location so as to capture a plurality of different views of the object. The system is also configured to generate a three-dimensional (3D) view of the object based on the plurality of images and the plurality of different views. |
| US09237322B2 |
Systems and methods for performing selective video rendering
Various embodiments are disclosed for facilitating selective rendering during video editing. In accordance with one embodiment, a method of editing video comprises obtaining a video editing project, the video editing project including at least one video clip and timing information corresponding to the at least one video clip. The method further comprises obtaining a reference file generated according to the video editing project and obtaining, from a user, a modification for at least one segment in the video editing project. Based on the modification, each of the at least one segment is identified as a modified segment or an unmodified segment. Based on the identification of at least one modified segment, at least one corresponding segment is extracted from the reference file. The method further comprises applying the modification to the extracted at least one corresponding segment from the reference file, rendering only the extracted at least one corresponding segment, and combining the at least one rendered segment with a remaining portion of the reference file to generate an output file. |
| US09237320B2 |
Method and device for generating a calibrated projection
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for generating a calibrated projection, wherein the method for example includes providing a projection surface (1) for the projection of at least one image (2), wherein the projection surface (1) includes a calibrating structure (5) following its spatial extension, which has a first side (51) and a second side (52), which extends parallel to the first side (51), and a constant height as measured in direction of the first or the second side (51, 52), generating an image (5′) of the calibrating structure (5) in an image plane by means of a camera (4), reconstructing the spatial extension of the projection surface (1) in the region of the calibrating structure (5), and generating a projection calibrated with respect to the calibrating structure by using the spatial extension of the projection surface reconstructed according to the providing projection surface step. |
| US09237315B2 |
Intrusion detection with directional sensing
A method and system of intrusion detection, which includes displaying sensing device output data as an image of a field of view of a sensing device. Through interaction with a GUI: a user input defines an image detection area in relation to the image of the field of view, the image detection area being correlated to a detection area to be monitored for intrusion detection. A user input defining a detection vector in the image detection area is received, specifying a predetermined minimum displacement and displacement direction in the field of view. A graphical representation of the vector may be displayed on the image detection area. A target object is detected and tracked through the detection area and it is determined whether the progressive displacement of the target object has a component exceeding the minimum displacement in the direction of the vector. |
| US09237314B2 |
Surveillance system capable of saving power
A surveillance system includes a video capturing device and a power controller. The video capturing device includes an auto focusing module, an auto exposure module, and an auto white balance module. The video capturing device captures a number of images in a first time interval and also captures a number of images in a second time interval next to the first time interval. The power controller includes an object detecting module and a switching module. The object detecting module detects whether there is a moving object in the images captured in the first time interval. The switching module switches off the auto focusing module, the auto exposure module, and the auto white balance module in the second time interval when the objecting detecting module detects that there is no moving object. |
| US09237313B2 |
Transverse vertical profile display for aeronautical routes
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for presenting terrain along a route on an aircraft display. A display is presented of a top view, a side view, and a transverse vertical profile view of terrain data along the route on the aircraft display. A plurality of graphical indicators of distance along the route is overlaid such that a graphical indicator in the plurality of graphical indicators in the top view corresponds to a same distance to a second graphical indicator in the side view and a third graphical indicator in the transverse vertical profile view. |
| US09237309B2 |
Conditional access system and smartcard for use in conditional access system
Embodiments of the invention include a conditional access system comprising a terminal and a smartcard, wherein the terminal comprises a user interface for interaction with an end-user, comprising an output for displaying first user interaction data and an input for generating second user interaction data in response to the first user interaction data; and a descrambler configured for descrambling scrambled content, and wherein the smartcard is configured for generating the first user interaction data and allowing, in dependence of the second user interaction data received from the user interface, the descrambler to descramble the scrambled content. |
| US09237307B1 |
System and method for dynamically selecting networked cameras in a video conference
Systems and methods are provided for dynamically selecting one or more networked cameras for providing real-time camera feeds to a video conference. The systems and methods may include identifying one or more networked cameras associated with an area of a conference participant. A server may analyze real-time camera feeds from the identified cameras, and select a video feed having a view of the participant. The server may provide the selected feed to the video conference via a conference bridge, and continue monitoring camera feeds of cameras associated with the participant's area for another camera feed having a better view of the participant. Networked cameras may include fixed and mobile cameras owned and operated by individuals that are not associated with the participant, but who have registered their cameras with the server for use in video conferences. |
| US09237304B2 |
Multi-channel sharing apparatus and multi-channel sharing method
A multi-channel sharing apparatus and a multi-channel sharing method are disclosed. The multi-channel sharing apparatus comprises a companion chip and an application processor. The companion chip comprises a first compression circuit, a second compression circuit and a transmission circuit. The application processor comprises a receiving circuit and a network module. The first compression circuit generates a first bit stream and a second bit stream according to the first channel data. The second compression circuit generates a third bit stream and a fourth bit stream according to the second channel data. The transmission circuit transmits the first, second, third and fourth bit streams. The receiving circuit receives the first, second, third and fourth bit streams. The network module outputs the first network package according to the second bit stream, and outputs the second network package according to the fourth bit stream. |
| US09237300B2 |
Personal video recorder functionality for placeshifting systems
PVR functionality is enabled on a media player of a placeshifting system, which allows a user to record media programs from locations that are physically remote from a source of the media programs. The media player may receive program schedule information and present the program schedule information to the user. Based on user input, the media player identifies a media program and associated schedule information. When the media program is scheduled to play, the placeshifting device directs a media recording device to receive the media program and to store the program. The placeshifting device may digitize, transcode, and/or transrate the media program, if necessary, and transmit the media program to the remote device for playback. |
| US09237299B2 |
Display apparatus
Discussed is a display apparatus which facilitates to minimize a thickness by innovatively removing a case and some portions of a set cover, which have been regarded as indispensible structures for the display apparatus, and simultaneously facilitates to realize a good sense of beauty in the display apparatus by a novel design, wherein the display apparatus comprises a set cover which has a space prepared by a sidewall; a display panel which includes lower and upper substrates bonded to each other; and a guide frame which supports the display panel, and seals a gap between a sidewall of the set cover and a lateral side of the display panel, wherein the guide frame is provided in the set cover. |
| US09237298B2 |
Digital broadcast receiving device and station selection method
A digital broadcast receiving device (100) includes: a same broadcast station determination unit (109) that determines that a broadcast station broadcasting programs with the same broadcast times as the broadcast times of programs broadcast by a selected broadcast station in a predetermined interval in program schedules included in broadcast station information stored in a broadcast station information storage unit (108) is the same broadcast station as the selected broadcast station, generates same broadcast station information associating the selected broadcast station with the broadcast station determined to be the same broadcast station, and stores the same broadcast station information in the broadcast station information storage unit (108); and a station selection control unit (107) that, when reception deterioration is detected, controls the broadcast receiving unit (112) so as to switch the broadcast station selection over to a same broadcast station as determined by the same broadcast station determination unit (109) or to a broadcast station indicated by the same broadcast station information stored in the broadcast station information storage unit (108). |
| US09237288B2 |
Signal modulating interface for a solid state electronic device
A signal modulating interface for a solid state electronic device includes an input arranged to receive a control signal from a driver arranged to control the solid state electronic device, and a signalling module connected to the input wherein the signalling module is arranged to generate a modulated control signal by eliminating unwanted triggering signal portions capable of false triggering the solid state electronic device from the control signal for transmission to the solid state electronic device. |
| US09237286B2 |
Image sensor and method for power efficient readout of sub-picture
An image sensor (1) comprising: an array (2) of pixels logically organized in rows and columns, the outputs of the pixels being connected to column lines (COLx) connectable to an array of buffers (3) via a routing block (10), the buffers being connected to an array of A/D convertors (4), the routing block (10) having a group of switches (6, 7) for reading sub-picture data, whereby the values of at least two rows of the sub-picture are distributed over the analog-to-digital-convertors before digitizing them in parallel. The entire sub-picture (21) may be digitized in one step. The routing block (10) may comprise an analog bus (9). The image sensor (1) further comprises a control circuit (8) for controlling the routing block (10) for routing pixel values on the column lines (COL) to a subset of the buffer array, the control circuit being adapted for supporting sub-pictures (21) with programmable positions and/or sizes. |
| US09237285B2 |
Solid-state image pickup device and camera system
A solid-state image pickup device including a pixel section arranged with multiple pixel circuits in matrix having functions for converting an optical signal to an electrical signal and for accumulating the electrical signal depending on an exposure time, and a pixel driving section capable of driving through a control line to reset, accumulate, transfer, and output signal electric charge of the pixel section. The pixel section may have a pixel shared structure arranged with one selection control line, one reset control line, and multiple transfer control lines, including a readout-pixel section and an unread-pixel section in its entirety. The pixel driving section includes a pixel control section where an unread-pixel is normally fixed in a reset state. When reading a readout-pixel in a shared relationship, if its address is selected or a selection signal becomes active, the unread-pixel reset-state is cancelled to turn into an unread state. |
| US09237284B2 |
Systems and methods for processing infrared images
Various techniques are provided to process infrared images. In one implementation, a method of processing infrared image data includes receiving infrared image data associated with a scene. The infrared image data comprises a plurality of pixels arranged in a plurality of rows and columns. The method also includes selecting one of the columns. The method also includes, for each pixel of the selected column, comparing the pixel to a corresponding plurality of neighborhood pixels. The method also includes, for each comparison, adjusting a first counter if the pixel of the selected column has a value greater than the compared neighborhood pixel. The method also includes, for each comparison, adjusting a second counter if the pixel of the selected column has a value less than the compared neighborhood pixel. The method also includes selectively updating a column correction term associated with the selected column based on the first and second counters. |
| US09237283B2 |
Solid-state image pickup device
In a manufacturing method of a solid-state image pickup device according to an embodiment, a transfer gate electrode is formed in a predetermined position on an upper surface of a first conductive semiconductor area, through a gate insulating film. A second conductive charge storage area is formed in an area adjacent to the transfer gate electrode in the first conductive semiconductor area. A sidewall is formed on a side surface of the transfer gate electrode. An insulating film is formed to extend from a circumference surface of the sidewall on a side of the charge storage area to a position partially covering the upper part of the charge storage area. A first conductive charge storage layer is formed in the charge storage area by implanting first conductive impurities from above, into the charge storage area which is partially covered with the insulating film. |
| US09237282B2 |
Solid-state imaging device and camera module including AD converting units for respective pixels
According to one embodiment, a solid-state imaging device includes a pixel array and AD converting unit. In the AD converting unit, a plurality of AD converts are arranged in a horizontal direction. The pixel is configured by a small pixel group. The small pixel group is formed of a plurality of small pixels. The plurality of small pixels read out the signal charges. The small pixel group includes two or more small pixels having different optical sensitivities. The solid-state imaging device includes N AD converting units. N is the number of small pixel groups which are arranged in a vertical direction at every small pixel. N is an integer of 2 or higher. |
| US09237281B2 |
Image sensor comprising plural pixels including a microlens and plural photoelectric conversion portions and image pickup apparatus comprising same
The image sensor 107 includes plural pixels each including a microlens and plural photoelectric conversion portions separated from one another with a separating zone thereamong and photoelectrically converting light fluxes passing through the microlens. The microlens includes a separating zone side lens portion overlapping the separating zone in an optical axis direction of the microlens. When the photoelectric conversion portions photoelectrically convert the light fluxes passing through mutually different areas of an exit pupil of an image capturing optical system, the separating zone side lens portion provides no power or a negative power for a light flux entering the separating zone side lens portion in the light fluxes entering the microlens. |
| US09237273B2 |
Imaging apparatus and methods for generating a guide display showing a photographing technique for approximating a composition of a subject image to that of a sample image
An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit, a sample acquisition unit, a photographing state determination unit, a guide display generation unit and a display unit. The imaging unit acquires a subject image which is an image of a subject. The sample acquisition unit acquires a sample image. The photographing state determination unit calculates position and posture information indicative of an inclination relative to a horizontal plane and a height of the imaging unit. The guide display generation unit creates a guide display showing a method for photographing for approximating a composition of the subject image to a composition of the sample image based on the position and posture information. The display unit displays the guide display. |
| US09237272B2 |
Imaging apparatus and method for displaying captured image with different colors associated with distances
An imaging apparatus which is effective to make it easier to manually adjust a focus is provided. An imaging apparatus has: a display unit; an image capturing unit configured to capture a subject image which is formed on an imaging plane and to output image data; a distance information obtaining unit configured to obtain distance information of a single subject or each of a plurality of subjects in the image data; and a display controller configured to display an image on the display unit. The display controller is configured to associate a plurality of different colors respectively with a plurality of areas partitioned according to distances from the imaging apparatus, determine based on the distance information to which one of the plurality of areas each subject corresponds, and display on the display unit each captured subject with the color associated with the area corresponding to the each captured subject. |
| US09237268B2 |
Information processing system, information processing apparatus and method
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus by which image data can be downloaded simply. A video camera 11 receives thumbnail images corresponding to one or more images included in an album from a video camera image station 41 and displays the thumbnail images on an LCD unit. If one or more images to be downloaded are selected, then the video camera 11 acquires image information of the selected image or images from a video camera image station 41, analyzes the image information and discriminates it one by one image whether or not the selected image data are downloadable. Every time one image is discriminated to be downloadable, the video camera 11 accesses a corresponding URL designated for each image, downloads the image from the URL and records the image onto a recording medium. The video camera 11 successively downloads the selected images in this manner. |
| US09237267B2 |
Imaging systems, moving bodies, and imaging control methods for remote monitoring of a moving target
To provide a new framework that can flexibly take images of a moving target in remote monitoring without the need to arrange a plurality of network cameras, an autonomously movable moving body is used to take an image of a photographic target in accordance with a request from a user terminal, and the photographic image is provided to the user terminal. The moving body includes: a position estimating unit that acquires, from a wireless tag reader, a radio field intensity of wireless communication with a wireless tag held by the photographic target to estimate a position of the photographic target based on the acquired radio field intensity; a movement control unit that controls the movement of the moving body so that the moving body moves to the estimated position as a destination; and an imaging unit that takes an image of the photographic target when the moving body is located near the destination, associates the photographic image with a wireless tag ID designated by the request, and transmits the photographic image to an apparatus outside the moving body. |
| US09237265B2 |
Interchangeable lens
According to an aspect of the present invention, the camera body can switch the present version, which is an original version, to specifications of an older version. Thus, even if the present versions of the camera body and the interchangeable lens doe not have compatibility, if an old version has compatibility, a minimum operation can be ensured by the specifications of the old version without updating the firmware, although the functions may have possibility of being restricted. |
| US09237259B2 |
Summating temporally-matched frames in 3D-based video denoising
In one system embodiment, an overlapped block processing module configured to provide three-dimensional (3D) denoising of plural frames corresponding to a raw video sequence; and a frame alignment module configured to represent the raw video sequence with motion compensated frames corresponding to the raw video sequence, the motion compensated frames consisting of the plural frames and fewer in quantity than the quantity of frames of the raw video sequence, the plural frames based on prior temporally matched frames corresponding to the raw video sequence. |
| US09237257B1 |
Circuits for and methods of generating a digital image
A circuit for generating a digital image is described. The circuit comprises an image capture circuit; an edge mapping circuit coupled to the image capture circuit, the edge mapping circuit generating a mapping of edges in the image; and an edge enhancement circuit coupled to the edge mapping circuit. The edge enhancement circuit modifies aberrations in the image which are associated with an edge based upon a coefficient of a plurality of directional coefficients associated with an edge. A method of generating a digital image is also described. |
| US09237254B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method for forming a high-quality image by controlling superimposition of dots to be printed in multi-pass printing
This invention generates a high-quality image by controlling the superimposition relationship between dots to be printed in multi-pass printing by a printhead including a plurality of printing elements. When a yellow dot is printed after printing a cyan dot in one scan in multi-pass printing, image data serving as a processing target is generated as follows. In cyan and yellow halftone image data for each scan, halftone image data having dots at a common pixel are set to correspond to a scan in which yellow dot data precedes cyan dot data. A yellow dot is printed as a layer lower than a cyan dot. |
| US09237253B2 |
System and method for producing color shifting or gloss effect and recording medium with color shifting or gloss effect
An ultraviolet image pattern and a gloss effect pattern are created on a recording medium having florescence properties and being a first color by electronically creating a first electronic pattern ink, the first electronic pattern ink including a second color, holes, and a first pattern, the holes representing areas in the first electronic pattern ink wherein the second color is absent; electronically creating a second electronic pattern ink, the second electronic pattern ink including the second color, holes, and the first pattern, the holes of the second electronic pattern ink representing areas in the second electronic pattern ink filled with a third color, the third color being equal to the first color; electronically creating an electronic image region having a background and a foreground; electronically painting, using the first electronic pattern ink, the background of the electronic image region; electronically painting, using the second electronic pattern ink, the foreground of the electronic image region; and rendering, using marking materials, the electronic image region on a recording medium such that only the florescence properties of the recording medium are only visible through the holes when viewing the recording medium using ultraviolet illumination and such that the electronic image region is visible when a relative angle between an observer's viewing angle and an angle of illuminating the recording medium by an illumination source is a first angle, the electronic image region not having the predetermined portion of the holes painted with the third color being not visible when the relative angle between the observer's viewing angle and the angle of illuminating the recording medium by the illumination source is a second angle, the second angle being not equal to the first angle. |
| US09237252B2 |
Signal intensity matching of image sensors
Disclosed is a method of processing signals from a large-format scanner comprising a first and a second image sensor that provide respective image signals recorded at respective areas of a scanned medium, where a portion of the respective areas is recorded also by the other of the respective image sensors, whereby image data from overlapping and non-overlapping areas are present in the respective signals; the method comprising: determining a first and a second level of intensity from image signals from the first and the second image sensor at the overlapping area, respectively; determining a compensation value by processing the first level of intensity and the second level of intensity to determine a discrepancy between the level of intensities; applying compensation values to image data from overlapping and non-overlapping areas to provide compensated image data to compensate for a discrepancy between levels of intensity from the first and the second image sensor. |
| US09237250B1 |
Image processing apparatus with symmetric processors
A multifunction image processing apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a communications module, a scan subsystem, a print subsystem, and a digital signal processor (DSP) block. The communications module is used to communicate with a host computer to send and receive image data files. The scan subsystem is used to scan images. The print subsystem is used to print images. The DSP block includes at least two digital signal processors. The digital signal processors can be programmed to symmetrically multiprocess portions of an image data file to process it more quickly. Alternatively, digital signal processors can be programmed to simultaneously process the image data for the scan subsystem and image data for the print subsystem. |
| US09237249B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, image processing method, and recording medium
An image processing apparatus includes a watermark adding section for adding a watermark for copy control to an image, where the watermark includes a dot pattern which becomes visible when copy, and a pattern adding section for adding a predetermined pattern to an appropriate position of an image, wherein the watermark adding section includes a watermark generating section for generating a watermark for copy control, where the watermark includes a dot pattern which becomes invisible when copy, a determining section for determining whether or not the pattern adding section adds the predetermined pattern to the image, when the generated watermark is added to the image, and a region setting section for setting a region where the predetermined pattern is to be appeared at a different portion where the dot pattern is added, when the determining section determines that the predetermined pattern is to be added to the image. |
| US09237248B2 |
Image reading device with regulating members maintaining internal cable separation during open and closed position
An image reading device is movable between a first position and a second position spaced farther apart from an image forming device than the first position, and a regulating member configured to regulate respective positions of two cables maintains, when the image reading device is at the first position, the two cables, respectively, in a bent state in a direction away from each other. |
| US09237247B2 |
Communication device, method for controlling the same, and non-transitory computer readable medium storing program for the same
There is provided a communication device including: a touch screen display configured to detect an indicated position and to display a plurality of kinds of object; a controller configured to control the touch screen display to define at least one first area in the touch screen display, control the touch screen display to display a first object in the first area, execute a setting process of communication based on the indicated position in a case that the indicated position detected by the touch screen display is located in the first area; and control the touch screen display to display a second object, which is in relation to data obtained depending on execution or completion of the setting process of communication, in the first area, instead of the first object, in a case that execution of the setting process of communication is completed. |
| US09237246B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing system, image processing method, and computer-readable storage medium
An image processing apparatus includes a first display unit that displays a video input on an operation and display unit, a second display unit that displays an input image that is superimposed on the video input displayed on the operation and display unit, and a captured image recording unit that records a captured image of the video input and the input image that are displayed on the operation and display unit. The second display unit erases the input image that is recorded when the captured image recording unit records the captured image of the input image. |
| US09237240B2 |
Communications management and gateway bypassing system
A method and a system for detecting presence of an application layer gateway (ALG) in a network path between an analog telephone adapter and a communications service provider (CSP), and transmitting a media message by bypassing the (ALG) are provided. A communication management application (CMA) detects, processes, and augments the media message sent by a first user device to a second user device. A message relay server (MRS) processes and manages the media message. The CMA receives the media message from the first user device and detects the presence of the ALG using a message echo server. The CMA scrambles the media message and transmits the scrambled media message to the MRS via a network. The ALG is bypassed due to non-recognition of the scrambled media message. The MRS unscrambles the scrambled media message and transmits the unscrambled media message to the CSP for forwarding to the second user device. |
| US09237238B2 |
Speech-selective audio mixing for conference
A conference apparatus reduces or eliminates noise in audio for endpoints in a conference. Endpoints in the conference are designated as a primary talker and as secondary talkers. Audio for the endpoints is processed with speech detectors to characterize the audio as speech or not and to determine energy levels of the audio. As the audio is written to buffers and then read from the buffers, decisions for the gain settings of faders for read audio of the endpoints being combined in the speech selective mix. In addition, the conference apparatus can mitigate the effects of a possible speech collision that may occur during the conference between endpoints. |
| US09237235B2 |
Call queuing for location-aware mobile devices
A mobile device can be assigned to an extension configured as a Queue Agent (“QA”) in a call-queuing enabled virtual private branch exchange (vPBX). This and other mobile or fixed devices can be interconnected to form a virtual call center. Each extension can be assigned various rules, which specify how the incoming calls are answered at the extension and how calls in the call queue are selected for answering by the QA. As part of the rules, the vPBX system forwards calls from a call queue to the QA based on QA's availability status. If a location-aware mobile device is associated with the QA, the vPBX system can determine the QA's availability status based on a geographic location of the mobile device. A most geographically proximate agent can be selected for answering the call. |
| US09237232B1 |
Recording infrastructure having biometrics engine and analytics service
Systems and methods for analyzing digital recordings of the human voice in order to find characteristics unique to an individual. A biometrics engine may use an analytics service in a contact center to supply audio streams based on configured rules and providers for biometric detection. The analytics service may provide call audio data and attributes to connected engines based on a provider-set of selection rules. The connected providers send call audio data and attributes through the analytics service. The engines are notified when a new call is available for processing and can then retrieve chunks of audio data and call attributes by polling an analytics service interface. A mathematical model of the human vocal tract in the call audio data is created and/or matched against existing models. The result is analogous to a fingerprint, i.e., a pattern unique to an individual to within some level of probability. |
| US09237231B2 |
Providing a predictive response feature for messaging applications by analyzing the text of a message using text recognition logic
The present disclosure provides various systems and methods for providing enhanced messaging features. An exemplary method for providing a predictive response messaging feature includes receiving a message from a first device (108) at a second device (110) and analyzing the message to determine at least one response option based upon the content of the message. After determining at least one response option, the at least one response option can be presented on a display (202) of the second device (110). A called party can make a selection of one of the at least one response options and the selection can be received on the second device (110). The selection can trigger the creation of a response message based upon the selected response option and the response message can be sent to the first device (108). Other methods and systems are described. |
| US09237227B2 |
Communications devices, associated apparatus and methods
An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: identify a preferential use setting of a communications device, the preferential use setting being associated with a remote contact, or with a use pattern of the communications device, and being configured to provide a supplementary communication function during communications; and automatically activate the identified preferential use setting of the communications device when the communications device is used to communicate with the associated remote contact, or to communicate in accordance with the associated use pattern of the communications device. |
| US09237225B2 |
Apparatus with dynamic audio signal pre-conditioning and methods therefor
An apparatus includes an echo canceller having an audio signal input and an audio signal output and dynamic pre-conditioning logic. The dynamic pre-conditioning logic is operatively coupled to the echo canceller audio signal output as a feedback signal and has a dynamic pre-conditioning logic output operatively coupled to the echo canceller audio signal input. The dynamic pre-conditioning logic is also operative to receive an audio signal input from at least one microphone. The dynamic pre-conditioning logic is operative to analyze the feedback signal to obtain at least one characteristic, and pre-condition the audio signal input, based on the at least one characteristic of the feedback signal, and provide a pre-conditioned audio signal at the echo canceller audio signal input. The echo canceller audio signal output is then provided to a noise suppressor for the send path of a full duplex communication channel. |
| US09237224B2 |
Text interface device and method in voice communication
A computerized communication device has a display screen, a mechanism for a user to select words or phrases displayed on the display screen, and software executing from a non-transitory physical medium, the software providing a function for providing audio signal output in a connected voice-telephone call from the text words or phrases selected by a user. |
| US09237221B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing communications
A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a communication device having a controller to detect a selection of an image from a graphical user interface, identify an entry in a contact book responsive to the detected selection of the image, and retrieve one or more communication identifiers associated with the party from the entry of the contact book for initiating a communication session. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09237216B2 |
Techniques for wirelessly docking to a device
Examples are disclosed for a mobile device to wirelessly dock to a device. In some examples, a mobile device may receive an indication to identify a device for wirelessly docking. The mobile device may gather identification for possible devices to wirelessly dock. A ranging technique may be implemented using a given frequency band to identify a device within a shortest distance from the mobile device from among the possible devices. The device having the shortest distance may be selected and a wireless dock may then be established. Other examples are described and claimed. |
| US09237212B2 |
Locking device for sliding/swing type mobile terminal
A locking device for a sliding/swing type mobile terminal is provided. The terminal includes a body housing and a sliding housing which slides on the body housing and swinging to open and close. The locking device includes a sliding member connected to the sliding housing while enabling the sliding housing to slide, a swing member which assembles the sliding member while enabling the sliding member to swing, and a locking unit which includes the sliding member and the swing member, the locking unit which prevents the sliding housing from swinging while sliding and from sliding while swinging in a state before sliding. |
| US09237207B2 |
Device, system and method for providing distributed online services
A device, system, and method is provided for running mobile applications, including a server for running applications and a client installed in a mobile device. The client may connect to the server via a network. The client may display content, receive user input, and send user input to the server. The server may use the client to receive user input and to display content for running applications for the mobile device. |
| US09237204B1 |
Web redirection for caching
This specification generally relates to using redirect messages to implement caching. One example method includes receiving from a client a first request for a network resource, the first request including an original location of the network resource; determining that a response to the first request is to be cached; sending a redirect response to the client including a cache location for the network resource; receiving a second request for the network resource from the client, the second request including the cache location; in response to receiving the second request for the network resource from the client: determining that the network resource has not been previously cached; retrieving the network resource from the original location; caching the retrieved network resource in a location associated with the cache location for the network resource; and sending the retrieved network resource to the client. |
| US09237201B2 |
Managing notifications pushed to user devices
In one embodiment, a first computing device determines a communication to be pushed to a second computing device associated with a user. The first computing device determines whether one or more conditions are satisfied for refraining from pushing the communication to the second computing device. The one or more conditions are based at least in part on the relevance of the communication to the user and one or more activities of the user. If the one or more conditions are satisfied, then the first computing device refrains from sending the communication to the second computing device. If the one or more conditions are not satisfied, then the first computing device sends information to push the communication to the second computing device. |
| US09237197B2 |
Method and apparatus of using separate reverse channel for user input in mobile device display replication
A method of controlling media content between a portable device and a head control unit. A first link is initiated for transmitting control signals between a control client and a control server. A second link is initiated for transmitting media content between a data server and a data client. The first link has a lower traffic volume capacity than the second link and a shorter latency for the control signals than for the media content signal over the second link. The control client generates control signals identifying a user's request and transmits the control signals to the control server using the first link. The control server provides instructions to the data server for executing the user request. The retrieved media data is transmitted from the data server to the data client using the second link. The media data is output to the user over the media output device. |
| US09237195B2 |
Virtual storage appliance gateway
Methods and apparatuses for operating a storage system are provided. In one example, a storage system includes a storage server and a virtual storage appliance (VSA) implemented in a virtual machine. The storage server provides access to a first shared namespace of data. The VSA is operatively connected to the storage server system over a network connection and provides access to a second shared namespace of data over the network connection. The second shared namespace is defined by a policy and includes a subset of the first shared namespace. The VSA also replicates data of a third shared namespace of data at the VSA making the third shared namespace available at the VSA when the network connection is unavailable. The third namespace is defined by the policy and includes a subset of the second shared namespace. |
| US09237194B2 |
Load balancer and firewall self-provisioning system
A method and system may receive a request to configure a computing resource, such as a load balancer or firewall based on configuration information received from a user via a web portal. The configuration information may be stored and a subsequent request to commit the stored configuration information may be received. One or more jobs may be queued in a jobs database based on the request to commit the configuration information. The one or more jobs may be dequeued by a workflow engine and executed to configure the computing resource. |
| US09237189B2 |
Zero-click sharing of application context across devices
A first client device performs a handoff operation to a second client device by transmitting application information, associated with a first application, to the second client device when the first client device is positioned within a predefined proximity of the second client device. The first application has a first client device user interface state when the handoff operation is performed. Further, the first client device, in response to receiving from another client device application information associated with a second application executed by the other first client device, executes a third application corresponding to the second application with a user interface state corresponding to a user interface state of the other client device. |
| US09237183B2 |
Updating a domain based on device configuration within the domain and remote of the domain
A system for maintaining a domain in a premises, wherein the domain is coupled with a remote server, is disclosed. The system includes an instruction receiver; a secure connection establisher for establishing a secure connection between the local and remote server; a data exchange module for exchanging device configuration information between the local and the remote server; and an updating module for updating an application and device configuration information. The instruction receiver receives a set of instructions relating to managing the domain, wherein the set of instructions comprises a complete set of instructions associated with said managing a configuration of the domain such that the domain functions according to the complete set of instructions without any further communication necessary between the remote server with the local server until a change in the domain occurs, wherein the change requires an update to the remote server and components coupled therewith. |
| US09237176B2 |
Method and device for transmitting audio and video for playback
A system that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, selecting a first multimedia stream including a first video stream and selecting a second audio stream associated with common subject matter. A timing offset is determined according to a time difference between a first input coincident with a visual aspect of an event observable in playback of the first video stream and a second input coincident with an audible aspect of the event observable in playback of the second audio stream. One of the first input, the second input, or the first and second inputs comprises performing an action during playback of the first video stream and the second audio stream at a multimedia center. The first video stream and the second audio stream are synchronized in in real-time according to the timing offset. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09237174B2 |
System and method to keep continuity of media flows for a collaborative session without constant controller(s) involvement
A system of managing collaborative session control when controller is lost or changes to passive-control mode in a data communication network comprising of a control-capable terminal device that can generate and send user preferences on successive controller selection and control policy, a master server device that can make control transfer decisions or take over control upon events, a normal terminal device that can process and response to master server queries on control capacity and its willingness to take over control. These apparatus are connected to each other inside one collaborative session, regardless of their subscriptions. A method of control management of the collaborative session without constant enrollment of controller comprises the steps of sending different types of preferences to master server device; making control transfer or handover decision; and interacting with affected terminals. |
| US09237164B2 |
Systems and methods for capturing, replaying, or analyzing time-series data
Provided is an intrusion detection system configured to detect anomalies indicative of a zero-day attack by statistically analyzing substantially all traffic on a network in real-time. The intrusion detection system, in some aspects, includes a network interface; one or more processors communicatively coupled to the network interface; system memory communicatively coupled to the processors. The system memory, in some aspects, stores instructions that when executed by the processors cause the processors to perform steps including: buffering network data from the network interface in the system memory; retrieving the network data buffered in the system memory; applying each of a plurality of statistical or machine-learning intrusion-detection models to the retrieved network data; aggregating intrusion-likelihood scores from each of the intrusion-detection models in an aggregate score, and upon the aggregate score exceeding a threshold, outputting an alert. |
| US09237163B2 |
Managing infectious forwarded messages
Systems and methods for managing forwarded infectious messages are provided. Managing electronic message comprises receiving a message, forwarding the message, determining that the forwarded message is infectious after the message has been forwarded and preventing the infectious forwarded message from spreading. |
| US09237158B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing network security using role-based access control
A method and apparatus for providing network security using role-based access control is disclosed. A network device implementing such a method can include, for example, an access control list. Such an access control list includes an access control list entry, which, in turn, includes a user group field. Alternatively, a network device implementing such a method can include, for example, a forwarding table that includes a plurality of forwarding table entries. In such a case, at least one of the forwarding table entries includes a user group field. |
| US09237155B1 |
Distributed policy enforcement with optimizing policy transformations
User-specified policies may be efficiently implemented and enforced with a distributed set of policy enforcement components. User-specified policies may be transformed into a normal form. Sets of normal form policies may be optimized. The optimized policies may be indexed and/or divided and provided to the distributed set of policy enforcement components. The distributed policy enforcement may have a sandbox mode and/or verification mode enabling policy configuration verification. With appropriate authorization, substitute data may be used in verification mode to evaluate requests with respect to policies. Evaluation results, relevant policies, and decision data utilized during request evaluation may be collected, filtered and reported at a variety of levels of detail. Originating user-specified policies may be tracked during the policy normalization process to enable reference to user-specified policies in verification mode reports. |
| US09237153B2 |
Method for automatically configuration at least one endpoint
A method for automatically configuring at least one mobile device associated with a user, via a client software application stored on said mobile device using a token generated by a provisioning server and a hashed username with a publicly available redirect server. |
| US09237152B2 |
Systems and methods for secure and efficient enrollment into a federation which utilizes a biometric repository
A method includes receiving data related to an individual, the data comprising a plurality of elements of personally-identifying information (PII). The method further includes building, via the plurality of elements of the PII, a compositional key for the individual. In addition, the method includes storing the compositional key and a biometric print for the individual as a biometric record in a biometric repository. The method also includes, via the compositional key, providing a plurality of federated entity (FE) computer systems with access to the biometric repository. |
| US09237143B1 |
User authentication avoiding exposure of information about enumerable system resources
Authentication employs a classification that monitors content of authentication requests and results and assigns and records risk values identifying low-risk sources making normal authentication requests and high-risk sources making abnormal authentication requests indicative of fraud activity. Then for low-risk sources, a normal authentication process is employed having differential success/fail behavior exposing information about an enumerable system resource, such as a user account. Example differential behavior includes (a) granting access when a request identifies a valid user account, and (b) otherwise denying access, enabling an attacker to learn whether a guessed value identifies an existing account. For high-risk sources, a false authentication process is employed having non-differential success/fail response behavior that does not expose the information, such as consistent presentation of a service denial message irrespective of whether the request identifies a valid existing user account, preventing an enumeration attack. |
| US09237140B1 |
Acceptance of policies for cross-company online sessions
A user associated with a first organization is authenticated, via a meeting server, for participation in an online session hosted by a second organization. It is determined, via the meeting server, that the first organization requires the user to accept a first policy. It is also determined, via the meeting server, that the second organization requires the user to accept a second policy. The first policy and the second policy are presented to the user for acceptance. |
| US09237137B2 |
Key generation device, key generation program, secret search system, and key distribution method
A public parameter PK is key information used in a secret search system having: a transmission device generating and sending an encryption tag which is an encrypted keyword; a server receiving and storing the encryption tag and conducting a secret search in response to a request for the secret search; and a reception device generating a trapdoor which corresponds to a digital signature of the keyword and as well data requesting the secret search, sending the trapdoor to the server, and receiving a search result. The public parameter PK includes a true public parameter PP and a protection key PK′. The transmission device and the reception device require both the true public parameter PP and the protection key PK′; however, the server does not require the protection key PK′. The key generation device generates separately the true public parameter PP and the protection key PK′ included in the public parameter PK. |
| US09237134B2 |
Communicating in a peer-to-peer computer environment
Communicating in a peer-to-peer computer environment. A request is received from a user device at a peer provider node computer system, wherein the request is signed by a private key. Provided a public key verifies the private key, providing potential peers to the user device from the peer provider node computer system such that the user device is enabled to utilize the peer-to-peer computer environment for a communication according to user requirements. |
| US09237133B2 |
Detecting matched cloud infrastructure connections for secure off-channel secret generation
Technology is described for two parties, by leveraging previously established secure connections with third parties, to obtain a shared secret for generating a secure connection with each other in a way that reduces vulnerability to man-in-the-middle attacks. In some examples, the technology can include generating a session identifier; coordinating use of the session identifier by the two parties; finding an available secure communication channel to a third party; transmitting the session identifier to the third party via the available secure communication channel; receiving, via the available secure communication channel, a third party identifier and a session identifier-specific secret; sharing information about the received third party identifier; determining that the received third party identifier matches a third party identifier received by the second party; and using the session identifier-specific secret received with the matching third party identifier to generate a cryptographic key to secure communication between the two parties. |
| US09237130B2 |
Hierarchical rule development and binding for web application server firewall
At least one of an HTTP request message and an HTTP response message is intercepted. A corresponding HTTP message model includes a plurality of message model sections. A representation of the at least one of an HTTP request message and an HTTP response message is parsed into message sections in accordance with the message model sections of the HTTP message model. A plurality of security rules are bounds to the message model sections. The plurality of security rules each specify at least one action to be taken in response to a given condition, which is based, at least in part, on a corresponding given one of the message sections. The at least one of an HTTP request message and an HTTP response message is processed in accordance with the plurality of security rules. Techniques for developing rules for a web application server firewall are also provided. |
| US09237126B2 |
One-way bus bridge
A one-way bus bridge pair that transfers secure data in one direction, the bus bridge pair including a transmitting bus bridge, a receiving bus bridge, and a link. The link can connect the transmitting bus bridge and receiving bus bridge. The transmitting bus bridge may be arranged not to receive any data from the receiving bus bridge, and the receiving bus bridge may be arranged not to send any data to the transmitting bus bridge. |
| US09237119B1 |
File-attendant messaging
In response to detecting data file creation/revision in a first computing device, one or more other computing devices in which the data file creation/revision is to be synchronized are identified and a user of the first computing device is prompted to specify a message to be communicated to the one or more other computing devices in association with the data file creation/revision. The message specified by the user of the first computing device is received and communicated to the one or more other computing devices together with information that enables the data file creation/revision to be synchronized within the one or more other computing devices. |
| US09237118B2 |
Transmitting a packet from a distributed trunk switch
A method of transmitting an upstream communication packet from a distributed trunk (DT) switch is described. The method comprises receiving a packet from a device connected to a DT port of the DT switch; and transmitting the received packet via a non-DT port of the DT switch if the DT switch is the owner of the device and transmitting the received packet via a DT interconnect (DTI) port of the DT switch if the DT switch is not the owner of the device. |
| US09237117B2 |
Network of switches and payload of telecommunications satellite comprising a network of switches
A network of switches includes N input accesses and M output accesses, with each of the switches including four ports and with the network input and output accesses being connection switch ports. The network includes at least one stage of switches, with each stage including: a pair of switch lines whose ports are not used as network input or output accesses, referred to as “interconnection switches”, a line being a set of interconnection switches connected to one another; and at least two transverse arms linking interconnection switches of different lines, a transverse arm consisting of elements that are separate from those of the other transverse arms, a transverse arm including at least two links and a switch, referred to as “transverse switch” with the connection switches being transverse switches. At least two transverse switches from different transverse arms of each stage are connection switches of the network. |
| US09237114B2 |
Managing resources in resource cache components
A system, method, and computer readable medium for managing resources maintained in resource cache components are provided. A network storage provider storing one or more resources on behalf of a content provider obtains client computing device requests for content. The network storage provider provides resources that are received and maintained on resource cache components. The network storage provider either processes requests or provides notifications to the resource cache components to facilitate the management of resources that need to be updated or are otherwise treated as invalid. |
| US09237106B2 |
Systems and methods of QoS for single stream ICA
The present solution provides quality of service (QoS) for a stream of protocol data units via a single transport layer connection. A device receives via a single transport layer connection a plurality of packets carrying a plurality of protocol data units. Each protocol data unit identifies a priority. The device may include a filter for determining an average priority for a predetermined window of protocol data units and an engine for assigning the average priority as a connection priority of the single transport layer connection. The device transmits via the single transport layer connection the packets carrying those protocol data units within the predetermined window of protocol data units while the connection priority of the single transport layer connection is assigned the average priority for the predetermined window of protocol data units. |
| US09237103B2 |
Congestion alleviation in network systems
In one embodiment, a method is provided for alleviating congestion in a network system. In this method, the receipt of data packets destined for a destination apparatus is detected. Flow control signals are also received with each flow control signal corresponding to a data packet. Various time periods are tracked with each time period being between the detection of the receipt of a data packet and the receipt of tracked corresponding flow control signal. An average of the time periods is calculated and this average is compared to a threshold. One or more data packets are dropped in reference to the comparison. |
| US09237096B2 |
Network relay apparatus
The network relay apparatus is provided. The network relay apparatus includes: a main controller; a relay processor; and, a network interface unit configured to include: a plurality of line interfaces to which physical lines are respectively connected and send and receive a packet to and from outside of the network relay apparatus; a data storage configured to store circuit data; a programmable logic device by with a logic circuit having a predetermined function is realized; a configuration circuit configured to direct the programmable logic device to configure the logic circuit using the circuit data; and a state controller provided in a circuit structure other than the programmable logic device to control state of each of the plurality of line interfaces to one of an active state which allows data transmission and reception and a standby state which prohibits data transmission and reception. |
| US09237092B2 |
Method, apparatus, and system for updating ring network topology information
A method for updating ring network topology information includes: receiving a topology discovery packet from an originating node, where the topology discovery packet at least carries identifiers of nodes traversed by the topology discovery packet when the packet is transferred from the originating node to a current node; and updating ring network topology information of the current node according to the identifiers of the nodes carried in the topology discovery packet. The apparatus includes a receiving module and an updating module. The system includes an originating node and a receiving node. |
| US09237090B2 |
Network routing systems and methods for validation of paths subsequent to validation failure
A method, a network, and a node include computing a path by a source node; sending a message to nodes in the path with associated validation criteria; locally checking the validation criteria at each of the nodes in the path; if the validation criteria is satisfied at the node, forwarding the message to the next node in the path; else there is a validation criteria failure at the node, appending feedback data to the message, converting the message to a validation message, and forwarding the validation message to the next node in the path; and at a destination node, if there are no validation criteria failures, then establishing the connection; else issuing a release message to the source node with all the feedback such that the source node can compute a new path exclusive of nodes where the validation criteria fails. |
| US09237088B2 |
IMS call routing using tel-URIs
The present invention proposes a specific handling of tel URIs in an IMS terminating network so as to enable routing of calls using telephone numbers (and not SIP URIs with embedded telephone numbers) as identifiers of the target users of those calls. Specifically, the present invention introduces a conversion module which is located within the IMS terminating network and is capable of converting SIP URIs with embedded telephone numbers into equivalent tel URIs which are then used by a terminating I-CSCF and S-CSCF to query the SLF and/or HSS so that they can route the calls to the target users. |
| US09237083B2 |
Main electronic device for communicating within a network and method for operating a main electronic device for communicating within the network
The present invention relates to a main electronic device for communicating within a network comprising an interface for enabling communication within the network and a controller for sending polling messages via the network to logical addresses via said interface in order to request information from at least one further electronic device. The present invention further relates to a method for operating a main electronic device for communicating within a network. |
| US09237082B2 |
Packet descriptor trace indicators
Techniques are provided to trace packet descriptors. A received packet may be identified. A packet descriptor associated with the received packet may be created. A trace indicator in the packet descriptor may be set. The presence of a packet descriptor with the trace indicator set may be logged by a detector. |
| US09237080B2 |
System, method and computer program product for monitoring data activity utilizing a shared data store
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for monitoring data activity utilizing a shared data store. These mechanisms and methods for monitoring data activity utilizing a shared data store can enable enhanced data monitoring, more efficient data storage, improved system resource utilization, etc. |
| US09237079B2 |
Increasing performance of a streaming application by running experimental permutations
A streams manager monitors performance of a streaming application, and when the performance needs to be improved, the streams manager automatically requests virtual machines from a cloud manager. In response, the cloud manager provisions one or more virtual machines in a cloud. The streams manager builds a permutation of a flow graph for the streaming application using the virtual machine(s), runs the permutation in parallel with the corresponding portion of the flow graph, and compares the performance of the original portion of the flow graph to the performance of the permutation. When the performance of the permutation exceeds the performance of the original part of the flow graph, the streams manager modifies the flow graph so the permutation replaces the original part of the flow graph. In this manner a streaming application can dynamically evolve to increase its performance as needed. |
| US09237075B2 |
Route convergence monitoring and diagnostics
In one embodiment, a method includes assigning an identifier to a route computation at a network device, grouping route updates for the route computation, marking at least one route update for each group of route updates with the identifier, tracking flow of marked route updates at a plurality of routing components within the network device, and storing tracking data at the network device for use in convergence monitoring. An apparatus and logic are also disclosed herein. |
| US09237072B2 |
Partitioning a network into multiple switching domains
To partition a distributed fabric system, at least one system port is allocated to each switching domain of multiple non-overlapping switching domains in a distributed fabric system. Multiple different look-up tables are produced, wherein each look-up table corresponds to a different switching domain of the multiple non-overlapping switching domains in the distributed fabric system. Each system port is associated with the look-up table of the multiple look-up tables that corresponds to the switching domain to which that system port is allocated. The look-up table associated with each system port has at least one table entry for each other system port allocated to the same switching domain as that system port. |
| US09237069B2 |
Method and system for scalable switching architecture
A switching fabric, within a network switching device, may comprise a plurality of dedicated interface modules to enable the switching fabric to interface with a plurality of switching support subsystems. The switching support subsystems may comprise a memory subsystem, a content address memory (CAM) subsystem, a packet processing subsystem, and a physical layer (PHY) subsystem. The switching fabric may be operable to determine capacity and/or capability of each of the plurality of switching support subsystems; and to configure each of the plurality of dedicated interface modules based on the determined capacity and/or capability of a corresponding switching support subsystem. The switching fabric also comprises an inter-switch interface module to enable coupling the network switching device to a plurality of other network switching devices, to form a multi-device switching mesh that enable sharing of resources and/or aggregation of switching capabilities of the network switching devices. |
| US09237068B2 |
System and method for distributing heuristics to network intermediary devices
A policy distribution server provides, on a subscription basis, policy updates to effect desired behaviors of network intermediary devices. The policy updates may specify caching policies, and may in some instances, include instructions for data collection by the network intermediary devices. Data collected in accordance with such instructions may be used to inform future policy updates distributed to the network intermediary devices. |
| US09237066B2 |
Packet switch modules for computer networks with efficient management of databases used in forwarding of network traffic
In a packet switch with databases (250, 404) used for packet forwarding, the database pieces are identified by version identifiers (410V) which are used by the packet switch's modules (LCx, RPM0, RPM1) in exchanging information on the databases and requesting updates to the databases. For example, if a primary management module fails and the management is transferred to a secondary management module, the secondary management module requests forwarding modules (e.g. line cards) to identify the database pieces stored on the forwarding modules, and to update the databases as needed. Use of version identifiers reduces the amount of data that has to be transferred in connection with such requests. |
| US09237057B1 |
Reassignment of a virtual connection from a busiest virtual connection or locality domain to a least busy virtual connection or locality domain
A method and system for load balancing for virtual connections over a fiber channel network, the virtual connections using SCSI. The method including finding a one-way reassignment of a virtual connection (VC) from busiest VCE or locality domain to least busy VCE or locality domain placing the busiest VCE or locality domain and least busy VCE or locality domain in a target load range without reversing a load order, and executing the reassignment by a server fiber channel adapter. |
| US09237052B2 |
Radio base station and communication control method
A radio base station 1 used in a radio communication system in which an SC-FDMA scheme is adopted for an uplink and an OFDMA scheme is adopted for a downlink, comprises: a receiver 140 configured to perform reception processing on a radio signal in the SC-FDMA scheme or the OFDMA scheme; an OFDM demodulator 150 configured to convert a received signal obtained by the receiver 140 from a time domain to a frequency domain and perform a primary demodulation of the resultant signal; a frame processor 170 configured to convert a data symbol obtained by the OFDM demodulator from a frequency domain to a time domain and perform a secondary demodulation of the resultant symbol; and a measurement unit 210 configured to measure a signal which is a signal after conversion to the frequency domain by the OFDM demodulator 150 and is the signal before conversion to the time domain by the frame processor 170. |
| US09237050B2 |
High peak to average power ratio (PAPR) mitigation in high speed data networks using symbol mapping adjustment
Embodiments provide techniques for high peak to average power ratio (PAPR) event mitigation in high speed data networks, such as cable networks, for example. Embodiments are applicable to multi-carrier and single-carrier modulation systems. Embodiments operate by predicting or detecting the occurrence of a peaking event at the transmitter, and then mitigating potential effects of the peaking event at the transmitter, including application of alternative constellation symbol mappings. |
| US09237045B2 |
System and method for internal AC coupling with active DC restore and adjustable high-pass filter for a PAM 2/4 receiver
A receiver termination circuit includes an internal AC coupling capacitor and an adjustable resistor forming an adjustable high-pass filter (HPF) at a receiver side of a transmission medium, and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) coupled to the adjustable HPF, the DAC configured to provide a signal having a low-pass filter response to the adjustable HPF to provide a DC restore function. |
| US09237044B1 |
Methods for joint optimization of link equalization
One embodiment relates to a computer-implemented method that selects one of at least three procedures to determine equalization settings jointly for a transmitter and a receiver. A first process may be used if the end-of-channel signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is greater than an SNR threshold and the equalization capability of the transmitter is greater than the equalization capability of the receiver. A second process may be used if the end-of-channel SNR is greater than the SNR threshold and the equalization capability of the transmitter is less than the equalization capability of the receiver. A third process may be used if the end-of-channel SNR is less than the SNR threshold. Other embodiments and features are also disclosed. |
| US09237029B2 |
Directed route load/store packets for distributed switch initialization
Techniques for transmitting a packet from a source switch module to a destination switch module. Embodiments retrieve path information specifying a route to the destination switch module. A packet is created that includes (i) at least a portion of the path information and (ii) a set of load/store operations to be executed by the destination switch module. Embodiments then transmit the packet to a first switch module using a first port, the first port specified in the retrieved path information. The first switch module is configured to transmit the packet based on the at least a portion of the path information in the packet, and the destination switch module is configured, upon receiving the packet, to copy the set of load/store operations into an execution buffer to be automatically executed. |
| US09237028B1 |
Method and apparatus for generating a tethering alert based on a threshold similarity between incoming data and outgoing data
Disclosed herein are a method and a corresponding apparatus that provides a tethering alert if the apparatus is tethering data. In one example, a method for providing a tethering alert by an apparatus having a first network communication interface and a second network communication interface is disclosed. The method includes i) receiving incoming data via one of the first network communication interface and the second network communication interface, ii) sending outgoing data via the other of the first network communication interface and the second network communication interface, iii) making a determination that there is a threshold similarity between the incoming data and the outgoing data, and iv) responsive to making the determination, the apparatus providing a tethering alert indicating that the apparatus is tethering data. |
| US09237027B2 |
Destination address control to limit unauthorized communications
Systems and methods for protecting a network including preventing data traffic from exiting the network unless a domain name request has been performed by a device attempting to transmit the data traffic. In an embodiment, a device within the protected network attempting to send data outside the protected network requests an address for a destination outside the protected network from a domain name server (DNS). In response, the DNS provides an address of the destination to the device and a gateway. In response to receiving the address, the gateway temporarily allows access to the address. In an embodiment, a DNS is coupled to a protected network and the gateway, the DNS provides an external address to a device in response to a request; and a mapping to the gateway; the gateway, coupled to a protected network and an external network, allows traffic according to the mapping. |
| US09237019B2 |
Resource locators with keys
Requests are pre-generated to include a cryptographic key to be used in fulfilling the requests. The requests may be encoded in uniform resource locators and may include authentication information to enable a service provider to whom the requests are submitted to determine whether the requests are authorized. The requests may be passed to various entities who can then submit the requests to the service provider. The service provider, upon receipt of a request, can verify the authentication information and fulfill the request using a cryptographic key encoded in the request. |
| US09237018B2 |
Multisystem biometric token
An apparatus and a method for generating a unique user identification code for a user of a biometric security system are presented. No biometric information is stored either within the security system or on a device, and the method enables a unique user identification code to be generated to allow multi-system identification of the same user.The method includes receiving a public key from the system, obtaining a characteristic from the user, generating a biometric value from the characteristic, creating the identification code by combining and encrypting the generated biometric value and the system supplied public key, and transmitting the identification code to the system for authentication. |
| US09237016B2 |
System and method for wiping encrypted data on a device having file-level content protection
Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for erasing user data stored in a file system. The method includes destroying all key bags containing encryption keys on a device having a file system encrypted on a per file and per class basis, erasing and rebuilding at least part of the file system associated with user data, and creating a new default key bag containing encryption keys. Also disclosed herein is a method of erasing user data stored in a remote file system encrypted on a per file and per class basis. The method includes transmitting obliteration instructions to a remote device, which cause the remote device to destroy all key bags containing encryption keys on the remote device, erase and rebuild at least part of the file system associated with user data, and create on the remote device a new default key bag containing encryption keys. |
| US09237015B2 |
Compact and efficient communication security through combining anti-replay with encryption
A method of providing anti-replay protection, authentication, and encryption with minimal data overhead is provided. A sender uses an arbitrary-length pseudorandom permutation to encrypt messages that include plaintext and successively increasing sequence numbers, to produce ciphertext messages. The sender transmits the ciphertext messages. A receiver receives the ciphertext messages and, for each received ciphertext message, performs the following operations. The receiver decrypts the given ciphertext message to recover plaintext and a candidate sequence number from the message. The receiver determines if the candidate sequence number is in any one of multiple acceptable sequence number windows having respective sequence number ranges that are based on at least one of a highest sequence number previously accepted and a last sequence number that was previously rejected, as established based on processing of previously received ciphertext messages. |
| US09237013B2 |
Encrypted data management device, encrypted data management method, and encrypted data management program
An invalidation scheme of a secret key is implemented, which is usable for a functional encryption scheme. In a cryptographic processing system 10 employing an encryption scheme with which if attribute information and key information set in encrypted data do not correspond to attribute information and key information set in a secret key, the encrypted data cannot be decrypted using the secret key, an encrypted data management device 200 is provided, which carries out a relay between a user terminal 100 carrying out encryption and decryption of data and an encrypted data storage device 300 storing encrypted data. The encrypted data management device 200 determines whether or not a user whose secret key is invalid is included in users having attribute information set in the encrypted data acquired from the encrypted data storage device 300, and sets a different value as key information in the encrypted data based on the determination result. Then, the encrypted data management device 200 sends the encrypted data in which the key information is set to the user terminal 100. |
| US09237006B2 |
Table-connected tokenization
A tokenization system tokenizes sensitive data to prevent unauthorized entities from accessing the sensitive data. The tokenization system accesses sensitive data, and retrieves an initialization vector (IV) from an IV table using a first portion of the sensitive data. A second portion of the sensitive data is modified using the accessed initialization vector. A token table is selected from a set of token tables using a third portion of the sensitive data. The modified second portion of data is used to query the selected token table, and a token associated with the value of the modified second portion of data is accessed. The second portion of the sensitive data is replaced with the accessed token to form tokenized data. |
| US09237005B2 |
Clock data recovery circuit module and method for generating data recovery clock
A clock data recovery circuit module including a clock recovery circuit, a frequency comparison circuit and a signal detecting circuit is provided. The clock recovery circuit is configured to output a data recovery stream and a data recovery clock based on an input signal and a clock signal. The frequency comparison circuit is coupled to the clock recovery circuit. The frequency comparison circuit is configured to compare a frequency difference between the data recovery clock and the clock signal to adjust the frequency of the clock signal based on a comparison result. The signal detecting circuit is coupled to the frequency comparison circuit. The signal detecting circuit is configured to receive and detect the input signal, and the signal detecting circuit determines whether to enable the frequency comparison circuit according to the detection result. Furthermore, a method for generating a data recovery clock is also provided. |
| US09237003B1 |
Digital bit insertion for clock recovery
In general, techniques are described that insert one or more bits into a digital bit stream to maintain an overall transition density in the digital bit stream. Maintaining the overall transition density facilitates the generation of a recovered clock by a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit of a receiver. For example, when a data transition ratio for a portion of the digital bit stream is less than a desired data transition ratio, the techniques insert additional bits to increase the overall transition density of the digital bit stream. |
| US09237002B2 |
Null-gating signal detection
One embodiment includes a circuit system. The system includes a power detector configured to convert an AC signal to a DC signal corresponding to a power amplitude associated with the AC signal. The AC signal can include a periodic signal power null. The system also includes a null-gating circuit comprising a logic switch that is activated to enable sampling of an amplitude of the DC signal and that is deactivated during the periodic signal power null. The system also includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to convert the sampled DC signal to a digital signal. The system further includes a processor configured to process the digital signal. |
| US09236997B2 |
Wireless transceiver with circulator-based quadrature duplexer and methods for use therewith
A wireless transceiver includes a transmit path configured to generate a radio frequency (RF) transmit signal for transmission via an antenna. A receive path is configured to receive an RF receive signal via the antenna. A circulator-based quadrature duplexer includes an in-phase circulator and a quadrature-phase circulator configured to couple the transmit signal from the transmit path to the antenna while generating a residual transmit signal on the receive path, and to couple the receive signal from the antenna to the receive path. The circulator-based quadrature duplexer promotes cancellation of the residual transmit signal on the receive path. |
| US09236996B2 |
Wireless full-duplex system and method using sideband test signals
A full-duplex transceiver is provided with componentry and methods for cancellation of nonlinear self-interference signals. The transceiver is capable of receiving an incoming radio-frequency signal that includes both a desired radio-frequency signal component and a self-interference component caused by the transceiver's own radio-frequency transmission. The transceiver demodulates the incoming radio-frequency signal to generate a first demodulated signal. The transceiver combines an analog corrective signal with the first demodulated signal to generate a second demodulated signal with reduced self-interference. The transceiver processes the first and second demodulated signals to determine a desired incoming baseband signal and to determine nonlinear components of the self-interference signal, such as nonlinearities introduced by the transceiver's power amplifier. |
| US09236994B2 |
Communication apparatus and retransmission control method
Provided are a communication apparatus and a method for receiving a response signal transmitted from a terminal configured with one or more downlink component carriers. The communication apparatus includes a transmitting section and a receiving section. The transmitting section is configured to transmit, to the terminal, downlink assignment information indicating one or more resources for downlink data, each of the one or more resources being assigned to one of the one or more downlink component carrier(s), and configured to transmit the downlink data to the terminal. The receiving section is configured to receive one or more response signals for the downlink data, which are transmitted from the terminal. The terminal makes the phase points of the response signals different in accordance with a number of downlink data which has been successively received. |
| US09236989B2 |
Method for transmitting a sounding reference signal in a wireless communication system, and apparatus for same
A method for receiving an aperiodic sounding reference signal (SRS) from a user equipment (UE) at a base station in a time division duplex (TDD) communication system. The method according to one embodiment includes transmitting downlink control information (DCI) including a request of the aperiodic SRS to the UE. The downlink control information includes information for receiving downlink data using multiple antennas from the base station by the user equipment. The method according to the embodiment further includes receiving the aperiodic SRS from the UE in response to the request. |
| US09236987B2 |
Method of resource block (RB) bundling
A method of sizing bundled resource blocks (RBs) having at least one user equipment (UE)-specific demodulation reference signal in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the method includes: receiving configuration information related to at least one UE-specific demodulation reference signal; receiving a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) from a network, wherein the plurality of resource blocks comprises the at least one UE-specific demodulation reference signal, at least one cell-specific demodulation reference signal or data, wherein a number of the plurality of RBs is dependent on a size of a system bandwidth, the size of the system bandwidth corresponding to one of four size ranges; and processing at least one of the received plurality of RBs by bundling the plurality of RBs into RB bundles, wherein the size of each RB bundle is based on the one of the four size ranges. |
| US09236985B2 |
Method and apparatus for control and data multiplexing in a MIMO communication system
Systems and methodologies are described herein that facilitate control and data multiplexing for uplink (UL) multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) communication within a wireless communication system. As described herein, a device conducting uplink MIMO communication in a wireless communication system can multiplex control signaling and data across one or more of a plurality of layers (e.g., corresponding to spatial layers, codewords, etc.) associated with an uplink transmission. Techniques are described herein for selecting layers of a transmission on which to schedule control signaling and selecting offsets to apply to the control signaling scheduled on selected layers. Further, techniques are described herein for leveraging a multi-layer transmission to increase the efficiency of acknowledgement communication. In addition, techniques are described for selecting a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to apply to control signaling that is combined with data in an uplink multi-layer transmission. |
| US09236983B2 |
Removing interference in non-orthogonal radio access
A mobile station is classified into one of plural classes based on the reception quality from a base station. The allocations of resource blocks are executed at the base station so that a resource block used for the transmission of a data signal component for a mobile station in a class is not commonly used as a resource block for the transmission of a data signal component for another mobile station belonging to the same class but is commonly used as a resource block used for the transmission of a data signal component for a mobile station belonging to another class. A mobile station, based on the allocation of resource blocks, demodulates a data signal component corresponding to the mobile station after cancelling a data signal component corresponding to a low-quality mobile station. |
| US09236976B2 |
Multi stage code generator and decoder for communication systems
A method of encoding data for transmission from a source to a destination over a communications channel is provided. A plurality of redundant symbols are generated from an ordered set of input symbols to be transmitted. A plurality of output symbols are generated from a combined set of symbols including the input symbols and the redundant symbols, wherein the number of possible output symbols is much larger than the number of symbols in the combined set of symbols, wherein at least one output symbol is generated from more than one symbol in the combined set of symbols and from less than all of the symbols in the combined set of symbols, and such that the ordered set of input symbols can be regenerated to a desired degree of accuracy from any predetermined number, N, of the output symbols. |
| US09236973B2 |
Linear dispersion polarization-time codes and equalization in polarization multiplexed coherent optical system
A method of optical communication comprising encoding four modulated symbols to generate four encoded symbols in two orthogonal polarizations and transmitting the four encoded symbols in two successive time slots. An optical communication apparatus comprising a processor configured to receive two sequences of digital symbols in a plurality of time slots, wherein the two sequences correspond to two components of two orthogonal polarizations, wherein one digital symbol per polarization is received in each of the plurality of time slots, divide each of the two sequences into a plurality of groups using a modulo operation of time, wherein each group comprises two digital symbols received in two consecutive time slots, and adaptively equalize the four digital symbols of the two consecutive time slots using a 4×4 matrix to generate four modulated symbols, wherein the 4×4 matrix comprises 16 tap-vectors. |
| US09236972B2 |
Optical impairment aware path computation architecture in PCE based network
An apparatus comprising at least one processor configured to implement a method comprising receiving a path computation request comprising at least one path computation constraint, and determining whether there is a path through an optical network that satisfies the path computation constraints. Also disclosed is an apparatus configured to process a data structure comprising a flags field comprising at least one flag having one of an active state or an inactive state, wherein each flag is representative of an optical quality constraint. |
| US09236967B1 |
Methods of packet-based synchronization in non-stationary network environments
Methods of packet-based synchronization in non-stationary network environments can include accumulating timestamps transmitted in packets between master and slave devices that are separated from each other by a packet network. Operations are also performed to determine whether first timestamps accumulated in a first direction across the packet network demonstrate that a first packet delay variation (PDV) sequence observed from the first timestamps is stationary. Thereafter, estimates of at least one of frequency skew and phase offset between the master and slave clocks are acquired using a first algorithm, from the first timestamps accumulated in the first direction. These operations of determining further include determining whether second timestamps accumulated in a second direction demonstrate that a second packet delay variation (PDV) sequence observed from the second timestamps is stationary. |
| US09236965B2 |
Television interaction information and related iconography
A method may include receiving identification information associated with each of one or more users. Interactions may be received from the one or more users relating to content displayed on a television device. Interaction information associated with the interactions may be captured, wherein the interaction information includes at least interaction type information, interaction status information, interaction origin information, and user identification information. The captured interaction information may be stored. A request to display at least some of the captured interaction information may be received. At least some of the captured information may be retrieved and displayed responsive to the request. |
| US09236964B2 |
Providing an emergency alert service via a mobile broadcasting
A device providing an emergency alert service via a mobile broadcasting, includes a data group formatter to generate a data group containing a part of a signaling data and a RS frame portion, and a broadcasting signal generating unit to generate a mobile broadcasting signal containing the data group. The FIC, included in the data group, is transmitted in a form of a plurality of FIC segments. The FIC segment header includes a wake-up identifier field indicating whether a mobile broadcasting receiver performs a wake-up function to automatically turn on a power and to provide the emergency alert message. |
| US09236963B2 |
Broadcast media streaming with customized playlist insertion method and system
A method, system and server for customizing a broadcast media stream for delivery to a client associated with a user via a communication network. The broadcast media stream comprises a plurality of content segments, such as hosted segments, which are separated by a plurality of musical, informational or generic segments. During streaming the plurality of musical, informational or generic segments are modified based on one or more user preferences such that there content matches more closely the preferred content of the user. |
| US09236959B2 |
Method and system for testing isotropic sensitivity of a terminal
Disclosed are a method and system for testing the isotropic sensitivity of a terminal, comprising: testing the received signal strength of a terminal at every theta/phi angle and antenna polarization direction, and generating a received signal strength pattern and a table of the correspondence between base station power and the received signal strength of the terminal; finding the best theta/phi angle and antenna polarization direction and testing the corresponding effective isotropic sensitivity; calculating the effective isotropic sensitivity at other theta/phi angles and polarization directions and integrating these to obtain the isotropic sensitivity of the terminal. The present invention thereby effectively reduces testing time and improves testing efficiency. |
| US09236952B2 |
Detecting and correcting cycle slips to minimize system penalty
An optical receiver receives an optical signal with a phase error and pilot symbols, and converts the optical signal into an electrical signal. The optical receiver identifies, based on the pilot symbols, a cycle slip due to the phase error and associated with a transition time. The optical receiver determines, based on the pilot symbols, a direction and a center of the cycle slip, and generates a rotation value based on the direction and the center. The optical receiver applies the rotation value to minimize the phase error in the electrical signal except for phase error associated with the transition time and to generate a modified electrical signal. The optical receiver generates an erase signal based on the transition time and the center of the cycle slip, and uses the erase signal to minimize an effect of the phase error associated with the transition time of the cycle slip. |
| US09236950B2 |
Method and device for determining a presence of a locking signal in a signal received by an optical receiver device
A method for determining a presence of a locking signal in a signal received by an optical receiver device, the optical receiver device configured to be used in an optical communications network, the locking signal being a signal exchanged by optical communication devices of the optical communications network in a phase preceding setting up communications between the optical communication devices. The presence of the locking signal is determined by obtaining a direct current component or a component at twice a frequency at which the locking signal is supposed to be modulated, and by obtaining a contribution of the communication signal, if any, on the component. |
| US09236949B1 |
Laser transceiver with improved bit error rate
An optical transceiver generally includes an injection locked (IL) laser configured to generate a transmit (Tx) optical signal for transmission over an optical network and a laser driver circuit configured to modulate the IL laser based on a Tx data signal. The Tx data signal may be provided to the optical transceiver for transmission over the optical network. The Tx data signal may include a crossing point level associated with a transition between a first signal level and a second signal level. The optical transceiver may also include a crossing point control circuit configured to apply distortion to the Tx data signal, the distortion to increase the crossing point level. |
| US09236946B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing data rate conversion and phase alignment
A gearbox IC is incorporated into an optical communications system to enable an optical link that incorporates the system to achieve data rates that are at least double that which are currently achievable in optical links. The gearbox IC is compatible with ASIC designs currently used in optical fiber links. The gearbox IC enables the data rate of the optical fiber link to be dramatically increased without requiring a redesign of the ASIC that is currently used in the optical fiber link. The gearbox IC performs data rate conversion and phase alignment for bit streams being transferred via the gearbox IC between the ASIC and an optical transceiver module of the optical communications system. |
| US09236945B2 |
Thermally shielded multi-channel transmitter optical subassembly and optical transceiver module including same
A thermally shielded multi-channel transmitter optical subassembly (TOSA) may be used in a multi-channel optical transceiver. The multi-channel TOSA generally includes an array of lasers optically coupled to an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) to combine multiple optical signals at different channel wavelengths. A plurality of laser array thermal shields are thermally coupled to a temperature control device, such as a thermoelectric cooler (TEC), and thermally shield the respective lasers in the laser array in separate thermally shielded compartments. Each of the lasers may also be individually thermally controlled to provide a desired wavelength, for example, using a heater and/or cooler located in each thermally shielded compartment. The optical transceiver may be used in a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical system, for example, in an optical line terminal (OLT) in a WDM passive optical network (PON). |
| US09236941B2 |
System for implementing a radio over fiber transmission in a passive optical network
A system for implementing a radio over fiber (RoF) transmission in a passive optical network (PON), said passive optical network comprising a trunk line, a remote node, and a plurality of leaf nodes connected to said remote node, wherein one of said plurality of leaf nodes comprises a baseband processing unit for performing a baseband processing on a signal received via said trunk line to perform the transformation to radio over fiber by generating a radio over fiber signal and to forward the resulting radio over fiber signal to said remote node, wherein said remote node is adapted to forward the radio over fiber signal received from said leaf node to the other leaf nodes of said passive optical network. |
| US09236938B2 |
Resource allocation for co-existing networks
The present invention relates to methods and arrangements for improving the capabilities of an evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network, in particular for cases when more than one radio access network applying a time-division duplex transmission mode need to co-exist on a same carrier. The invention addresses further problems concerning an efficient allocation of uplink resources and resource allocation in a handover situation. The present invention assigns an attribute in form of a distinguishing value to the time slots used for the uplink and downlink transmission on said carrier such as to avoid scheduling of transmissions via a first radio access network in downlink or uplink time slots assigned to the second radio access network and to avoid scheduling of transmissions via the second radio access network in uplink time slots assigned for transmissions in the first radio access network. |
| US09236937B2 |
Radio base station and communication control method including downlink radio resource allocation
An eNB 100-1 that performs radio communication by using the adaptive array control in the TD-LTE system: receives SRS utilized in the adaptive array control from a plurality of UEs 200; and performs an assignment for each subject downlink RBG, out of a plurality of downlink RBGs. The eNB assigns the subject downlink RBG to a UE 200 that transmitted a specific SRS that is SRS having the highest match rate in a frequency band with the subject downlink RBG, out of a plurality of SRSs received recently before the subject downlink RBG. |
| US09236935B2 |
System and method for data transmission
The present application relates to a system and method for data transmission. The system includes a transmitter for transmitting user data over a transmission link in a format in which the user data is adapted to suit the properties of the transmission link. On the transmit side, an input data stream in a tunnelled format containing the user data to be transmitted is received, and a breakout device is operative to extract the user data from the input data stream and to output the extracted user data to the transmitter, which transmits the user data in the adapted format. On the receive side, a capture device receives the transmitted user data and re-formats the received user data into an output data stream in the tunnelled format, such that the output data stream from the capture device resembles the input data stream to the breakout device. |
| US09236934B1 |
Satellite system architecture for coverage areas of disparate demand
Disclosed is a satellite communication system that allocates bandwidth to maximize the capacity of the communication system while providing service to geographical areas having different demands. A smaller portion of the frequency spectrum can be allocated for subscriber beams that supply service to low demand areas. A larger portion of the frequency spectrum can be provided to subscriber beams that provide access to high demand areas. Allocation of bandwidth can be determined by the amount of demand in low demand areas versus the amount of demand in high demand areas. High demand gateways are physically located in low demand subscriber beams, while low demand gateways are physically located in high demand subscriber beams, which prevents interference. |
| US09236933B2 |
Apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving data using multi-path in wireless communication system of distributed MAC
Provided is an apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving data using multiple paths in a wireless communication system using a distributed Media Access Control (MAC). More particularly, provided is an apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving data that may select a path with a better channel status from multiple paths that include a direct path using a Line of Sight (LOS) and a relay path passing through a relay apparatus, in a wireless communication system that may transmit data via the LOS using a distributed MAC and a directional antenna. |
| US09236927B2 |
Transmission apparatus and method for transmission of data in a multi-carrier broadcast system
A transmission apparatus and method, respectively, mapping payload data of mapping input data streams onto a mapping output data stream having a channel bandwidth for transmission in a multi-carrier broadcast system. To enable selection of robustness for transmission of data, the apparatus includes a frame forming mechanism mapping data blocks of at least two mapping input data streams onto frames of the mapping output data stream covering the channel bandwidth, each frame including a payload portion, the payload portion including plural data symbols and being segmented into data segments each covering a bandwidth portion of the channel bandwidth. The frame forming mechanism is configured to map the data blocks of the at least two mapping input data streams onto data symbols of the payload portion and includes a MIMO mode selector selecting a MIMO mode of the data blocks per data segment and/or per mapping input data stream. |
| US09236926B2 |
Method for transmitting and receiving a signal to protect against erroneous feedback information
A method for providing precoding weights for data symbols of data control subframes includes generating a downlink frame having control subframes which individually correspond to one of a plurality of downlink data subframes, and inserting weight information into each of the control subframes, such that the weight information is to be applied to data symbols present in the corresponding one of the data subframes. The method further includes transmitting the control subframes and the inserted weight information to a receiving device. |
| US09236924B2 |
Methods and arrangements in a wireless communication system
Method and arrangement in a user equipment for adjusting signals transmitted in uplink to a network node based on a feedback value received from the network node. The method includes transmitting a signal, to be received by the network node. A feedback signal is received from the network node, providing feedback on the transmitted signal. A value of a time delay of the received feedback signal is obtained. Signals transmitted in the uplink are adjusted according to the received feedback signal to compensate for the obtained time delay value of the received feedback signal. Related methods and arrangements in a network node are presented. |
| US09236923B2 |
Signal generation method and signal generation device
A transmission method simultaneously transmitting a first modulated signal and a second modulated signal at a common frequency performs precoding on both signals using a fixed precoding matrix and regularly changes the phase of at least one of the signals, thereby improving received data signal quality for a reception device. |
| US09236922B2 |
Method of communicating between base station and terminal based on interference alignment in multi-cell multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) interference channel and method and apparatus of communication using interference alignment and block successive interference pre-cancellation in multi-user multiple-input multiple-output interference channel
A communication method of a base station and a terminal based on interference alignment in a multi-cell multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) interference channel and a method and apparatus of communication using interference alignment and block successive interference pre-cancellation in a multi-user MIMO interference channel. The base station may determine a precoding matrix to maximize a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) and a signal to leakage and noise ratio (SLNR) in the interference channel, and a terminal communicating with the base station may determine a decoding matrix to align interference. The transmitter including a multicell interference channel may calculate a rotation matrix for interference alignment, identify effective symbol vectors using the rotation matrix, and generate a transmit signal of a target transmitter to pre-cancel interference corresponding to a transmit signal of a neighboring transmitter. |
| US09236920B2 |
Usage of multiflow and multiple input multiple output in cellular communication systems
For each base station of K base stations of a cellular communications network a maximum number of wanted data streams per carrier is decided that is to be scheduled to a terminal accessing the cellular communications network. The terminal has NR receive antennas and K is an integer equal to or greater than two. Information regarding the decision is signaled to at least one of the K base stations. |
| US09236919B2 |
MIMO wireless communication method and system
The present invention discloses a MIMO wireless communication method functioning through a main wireless communication device and comprising: acquiring a transmission opportunity; issuing an distributed MIMO initiation frame including a transmission duration, a number Ns1 of transmission spatial stream(s), and a number Nr1 of reception spatial streams which an intended receiver is operable to process; receiving an initial portion which an attendant wireless communication device sends in response to the distributed MIMO initiation frame, or issuing the initial portion after reaching a time limit; and transmitting a distributed MIMO packet to the intended receiver while the attendant wireless communication device is allowed to transmit another distributed MIMO packet to the intended receiver or another intended receiver concurrently, wherein the sum of the number Ns1 and a number Ns2 of transmission spatial stream(s) of the attendant wireless communication device is equal to or less than the number Nr1. |
| US09236915B2 |
Detecting peaks in a received signal in a near field communications (NFC) device
A near field communications (NFC) device is disclosed that detects an envelope of a radio frequency (RF) signal. The NFC device includes a peak detector that determines the envelope of the RF signal. The peak detector compares a first differential signal voltage to a second differential signal voltage. The peak detector delays a rising edge of a first differential signal and provides the first differential signal voltage to the peak detector output when the first differential signal voltage is greater than the second differential signal voltage. The peak detector delays a falling edge of a second differential signal and provides the second differential signal voltage to the peak detector output when the second differential signal voltage is greater than the first differential signal voltage. |
| US09236909B2 |
Zero standby power for powerline communication devices
An embodiment is an integrated System on Chip (SoC) including a communication interface configured to implement a communication protocol including functional blocks that are energized or de-energized individually so that a minimum power consumption is used to receive and detect a signal, and a receiver identification (ID) detection function configured to determine whether the signal is intended for the device in which the SoC resides. The SoC further includes a power management function configured to control which functions in the SoC and/or device in which the SoC resides are energized or de-energized depending on the results of the receiver ID detection function, and a power source capable of energizing a minimum number of the functional blocks required to receive and detect a signal, wherein the power source can be used in a low power state and switched over to a main power supply when the SoC is energized. |
| US09236897B2 |
Software configurable distributed antenna system and method for bandwidth compression and transport of signals in noncontiguous frequency blocks
A method for transporting communications signals includes receiving an analog IF signal at a first unit. The analog IF signal includes a first carrier having a first frequency and a first bandwidth and a second carrier having a second frequency different from the first frequency and a second bandwidth. The analog IF signal is converted to a digitally sampled IF signal having the first carrier located in a first Nyquist zone, the second carrier located in a second Nyquist zone, an image of the first carrier located in a third Nyquist zone, and an image of the second carrier located in the third Nyquist zone. The image of the first carrier and the image of the second carrier is transmitted from the first unit to a second unit, where the image of the first carrier and the image of the second carrier is then converted to the analog IF signal. |
| US09236895B1 |
Phase filter for radio frequency (RF) signals
In a Radio Frequency (RF) filter, a first conductive link has a first length corresponding to a first (N) number of wavelengths of a primary RF frequency. A second conductive link has a second length corresponding to both a second (M) number of wavelengths of the primary RF frequency and an out-out-phase (X) number of wavelengths of a secondary RF frequency. An input interface receives an input RF signal and transfers a first component of the input signal over the first link and transfers a second component of the input RF signal over the second link. An output interface combines the first component from the first link with the second component from the second link to transfer an output RF signal. The energy at the primary frequency constructively combines in-phase, but the energy at the secondary frequency destructively combines out-of-phase. |
| US09236892B2 |
Combination of steering antennas, CPL antenna(s), and one or more receive logarithmic detector amplifiers for SISO and MIMO applications
Logarithmic Detector Amplifiers (LDAs), multiple antennas, active antennas, and multiple active antennas and receivers are provided in a variety of configurations that are synchronized to reduce or eliminate interference so at to provide, a greater range and bandwidth between wireless routers and their clients in WLAN and WAN environments. |
| US09236891B2 |
Radio communication transmitter apparatus and method
A radio communication transmitter apparatus 20 is operable to transmit multiple radio frequency bands in a telecommunication system. The apparatus comprises a plurality of digital transmitter chains 211 to 21N, wherein each digital transmitter chain is coupled to receive a digital representation 271 to 27N of a respective base band signal for processing by a respective digital transmitter chain. Each digital transmitter chain 211 to 21N comprises a digital transmitter 251 to 25N that is adapted to convert a respective digital base band signal directly into a digital representation of a radio frequency signal 231 to 23N. A digital combining unit 25 is coupled to receive the output of each digital transmitter chain 211 to 21N, and adapted to combine the digital representation of a radio frequency signal 231 to 23N received from each digital transmitter chain 211 to 21N into a digital representation of a radio frequency signal 26 comprising multiple radio frequency bands. A digital to analogue converter 27 is coupled to receive the digital representation of a radio frequency signal 26 comprising multiple radio frequency bands, and adapted to convert the digital representation of a radio frequency signal 26 into an analogue radio frequency signal 28 comprising multiple radio frequency bands. |
| US09236887B2 |
File download and streaming system
A method of encoding data operates on an ordered set of input symbols and includes generating redundant symbols from the input symbols, and includes generating output symbols from a combined set of symbols including the input symbols and the redundant symbols, wherein the number of possible output symbols is much larger than the number of the combined set of symbols, wherein at least one output symbol is generated from more than one symbol in the combined set of symbols and from less than all of the symbols in the combined set of symbols. The redundant symbols are generated from an ordered set of input symbols in a deterministic process such that a first set of static symbols calculated using a first input symbol has a low common membership with a second set of static symbols calculated using a second input symbol distinct from the first input symbol. |
| US09236884B2 |
Interprocessor communications systems and methods
A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for communication within a wireless terminal. The method can be implemented using dedicated logic and managed and controlled by state machines and/or sequencers. Data received or provided in a memory of a first integrated circuit of a terminal is encoded and transmitted in a data packet to a second integrated circuit. A header identifying the data type and providing a destination is included in the data packet. The destination may be identified as a memory address memory of the second integrated circuit that is mapped to a corresponding memory address of the first integrated circuit at which the data is received. In an aspect, the apparatus receives a header, detects an error in the received header, determines a failure to identify a packet boundary when the error is detected, and performs a search operation to identify the packet boundary. |
| US09236883B2 |
Holevo capacity achieving joint detection receiver
A computer device may receive a codebook, and generate a unitary transformation operator for the codebook. Furthermore, the computer device may decompose the unitary transformation operator into representations of two or more devices, and cause a generating of a layout of a photonic circuit that includes the two or more devices. |
| US09236870B2 |
Integrated circuits and methods for dynamic frequency scaling
In an integrated circuit, a first delay locked loop circuit is configured to adjust a phase of a first clock signal input to a first clock input terminal, and to at least one of transmit and receive information based on the phase-adjusted first clock signal. A second delay locked loop circuit is configured to adjust a phase of a second clock signal input to a second clock input terminal, and to at least one of transmit and receive information based on the phase-adjusted second clock signal. A path selection circuit is configured to select, in response to a select signal, one of a first signal path through the first delay locked loop circuit and a second signal path through the second delay locked loop circuit as a signal path for at least one of transmitting and receiving the information. |
| US09236866B2 |
Circuit for driving gate of power MOS transistor
A circuit for driving a gate of a power MOS transistor includes an adaptive pull-up unit and an adaptive pull-down unit. The adaptive pull-up unit is connected between a first power source voltage and the gate of the power MOS transistor. The adaptive pull-up unit maximizes pull-up current driving ability. The adaptive pull-down unit is connected between a second power source voltage and the gate of the power MOS transistor. The adaptive pull-down unit maximizes pull-down current driving ability. |
| US09236862B2 |
Capacitive touch panel device
A multi-layer body for providing a touch panel functionality has a plurality of areas of surface which have a different size defined by corresponding electrically conductive elements; in particular, larger areas of surface are arranged more in a central area of the entirety of the area of surface and smaller areas of surface are arranged more further toward an edge of the body. |
| US09236853B2 |
Digital duty cycle correction
A digital duty-cycle correction circuit may include an adjustment unit that may be configured to adjust a duty cycle of an oscillating signal based on an adjust signal to generate an adjusted oscillating signal and a sampling unit that may be configured to sample the adjusted oscillating signal. The circuit may also include a counting unit that may be configured to generate an indication of a number of samples of the adjusted oscillating signal that are at the low and high level and to adjust the indication using a selectable duty cycle modify signal based on a desired duty cycle of the adjusting oscillating signal. The circuit may also include a comparing and filtering unit that may be configured to generate the adjust signal based on a comparison of the indication with a comparison count. The indication may be adjustable such that the oscillating signal's duty cycle is adjustable. |
| US09236849B2 |
High coupling, low loss PBAW device and associated method
In embodiments, a piezoelectric acoustic wave (PBAW) device may include a substrate and a resonator comprising a plurality of electrodes coupled with the surface of the substrate. A dielectric overcoat may be disposed over the substrate and the resonator. In embodiments, and electrode in the resonator electrode may have a width that is based at least in part on a period of the resonator. By selecting the width of the electrode based at least in part on the period of the resonator, a spurious-mode of the passband of the PBAW device may be suppressed. |
| US09236847B2 |
Common mode filter
A common mode filter is disclosed. The common mode filter in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: a magnetic substrate; a dielectric layer laminated on the magnetic substrate; an external electrode formed on the dielectric layer in such a way that one surface thereof is exposed to an outside; a conductive pattern formed on a surface of the dielectric layer so as to be located on a same plane as the external electrode and having one end thereof connected with the external electrode; an insulator film formed on a surface of the conductive pattern; and a magnetic layer formed on the insulator film so as to cover an upper surface and a lateral surface of the conductive pattern. |
| US09236846B2 |
Tunable bandpass filter device and method
An embodiment radio frequency MicroElectroMechanical (RF-MEMS) tunable bandpass filter includes one or more tunable resonators, each of which includes an electrically reconfigurable capacitor bank, a tuning screw, and a resonating structure. In an embodiment, the capacitor bank includes fixed value capacitors and switches to vary the capacitance of the resonator. In an embodiment, the capacitor bank includes variable capacitors and direct current (DC) bias circuits to vary the capacitance of the resonator. The filter may be incorporated into a time division duplexing (TDD) base station or other wireless communications device. |
| US09236843B2 |
Sound system with individual playback zones
The invention relates to a sound system in a vehicle. The sound system comprises a first audio signal source providing a first audio signal and a second audio signal source providing a second audio signal. The sound system further comprises loudness determination unit is configured for determining a loudness of the first audio signal based on a psycho-acoustic model of a human hearing and a type information unit configured for establishing type information of the second audio signal. The sound system further comprises a control unit configured for individually selecting, for each of at least two playback zones, a mixing mode depending on the type of the second audio signal, wherein the mixing modes relate to a relation between signal output gains of the first and second audio signals. The control unit is further configured for individually mixing for playback, in each of the at least two playback zones, the first audio signal and the second audio signal based on the selected mixing mode and the determined loudness. The sound system further comprises a plurality of loudspeakers addressing individually the at least two playback zones. |
| US09236838B2 |
Power amplification device
An object of the present invention is to provide a power amplification device having high power efficiency for an input signal even in a power region in a large back-off.A power amplification device of the present invention includes a delta-sigma modulator which performs a multilevel delta sigma modulation on amplitude signals of input signals, a plurality of power amplifiers which amplify carrier signals, an encoder which generates a first control signal that controls ON/OFF of the outputs from said plurality of power amplifiers in accordance with the output from said delta-sigma modulator, and a combiner which combines at least two power output from said plurality of power amplifiers in accordance with said first control signal. |
| US09236834B2 |
Integrated circuit comprising fractional clock multiplication circuitry
Circuitry capable of performing fractional clock multiplication by using an injection-locked oscillator is described. Some embodiments described herein perform fractional clock multiplication by periodically changing the injection location, from a set of injection locations, where the injection signal is injected and/or by periodically changing a phase, from a set of phases, of the injection signal that is injected into the ILO. |
| US09236832B2 |
Interconnecting strips for building integrable photovoltaic modules
Provided are novel interconnecting strips for electrically connecting building integrable photovoltaic (BIPV) modules in a photovoltaic array. An interconnecting strip can be provided between a building structure and the BIPV modules, with electrical connections established by lowering the modules onto the strip previously positioned on the structure. The strip can includes two or more terminal groups aligned with different rows of BIPV modules. Each terminal group includes two or more connector terminals for connecting to the modules in that row. The interconnecting strip also includes leads extending between terminal groups and connecting connector terminals of different groups. In certain embodiments, terminal groups are offset with respect to adjacent groups to align with BIPV modules that are similarly offset to provide a moisture barrier. The interconnecting strip may be reconfigured in the field to provide different electrical connection schemes among BIPV modules. |
| US09236830B2 |
Electrical machine
An electrical machine includes a stator including a plurality of electrical phases and a rotor having a plurality of magnets. Each electrical phase includes at least one coil and power electronics. There are means to detect an electrical short circuit in a faulted coil and means to supply an electrical current to the faulted coil when an electrical short circuit is detected in the faulted coil. The means to supply the electrical current to the faulted coil includes one or more un-faulted electrical phases of the electrical machine. The un-faulted electrical phases of the electrical machine are arranged to supply the electrical current to the electrical phase containing the faulted coil. The power electronics of the un-faulted electrical phases are arranged to supply the electrical current from the un-faulted electrical phase to the power electronics of the electrical phase having the faulted coil. This overcomes a problem of a fault in the DC or AC busbar of the electrical machine. |
| US09236829B2 |
Motor driving circuit and electronic apparatus using the same
A motor driving circuit for driving a motor, includes: a detecting circuit configured to detect a detection signal indicative of a current state of the motor; a command value generating unit configured to generate a command value indicative of a target state of the motor; an error amplifier configured to generate an error signal by amplifying an error between the detection signal and the command value; a pulse width modulator configured to generate a pulse signal; and an output circuit. The command value generating unit is configured to provide a variation to the command value. |
| US09236828B1 |
Methods and power conversion system control apparatus to control IGBT junction temperature at low speed
Methods, apparatus and computer readable mediums are presented for controlling a multiphase inverter in which third harmonic injection pulse width modulation (THIPWM) is used for generating inverter switching control signals at or above a non-zero threshold inverter output frequency, and high frequency injection discontinuous pulse width modulation (HFIDPWM) is used for inverter output frequencies below the threshold, where the threshold frequency corresponds to a threshold period less than or equal to the thermal impedance time constant of the inverter switching devices, and the injected high frequency component for HFIDPWM corresponds to a common mode period less than the thermal impedance time constant to mitigate thermal stress on the inverter switches and low speed inverter output derating. |
| US09236825B2 |
Vehicle control device and control method
If a running range is selected, a current conduction mode of a motor is set to a low speed mode in which a current is conducted through a first and second windings, when a rotation speed of the motor is less than a threshold value, and is set to a high speed mode in which a current is conducted through only the first winding, when the rotation speed is equal to or greater than the threshold value. If a neutral range is selected, control of the inverter is stopped, and, a regeneration suppression control is executed to switch the current conduction mode to the high speed mode, not only in a higher-side speed range where the rotation speed is equal to or greater than the threshold value, but also in at least a part of a lower-side speed range where the rotation speed is less than the threshold value. |
| US09236820B2 |
System for reducing torque ripple in an electric motor
A motor control system is provided. The motor control system includes a motor, a position sensor, a current sensor, and a control module. The motor has a rotor and a stator. The motor generates an output torque based on a phase current applied to the motor. The output torque generated by the motor creates a torque ripple that is within a predefined range. The position sensor monitors the motor to determine a rotor position. The current sensor monitors the motor to determine the phase current. The control module is in communication with the motor, the position sensor, and the current sensor. The control module includes a lookup table that stores values of phase current commands. The control module determines a phase current command from the lookup table based on the rotor position and the phase current. |
| US09236818B2 |
Drive device and drive method for brushless motor
The invention relates to a drive device and a drive method for a brushless motor. In a drive method in which a switching timing of energization patterns is detected by comparing a pulse induced voltage of a non-energized phase with a voltage threshold, when the pulse induced voltage does not reach the voltage threshold, the pulse induced voltage at an angle of switching the energization patterns is measured. Discrimination between a demagnetization failure and a lock failure is performed based on whether the measured pulse induced voltage satisfies a predetermined condition or not. When it is the demagnetization failure, motor control continues after changing the voltage threshold. When it is the lock failure, the motor control stops. |
| US09236814B2 |
Parallel inverter device and method for control thereof
Inverters connected in parallel each include a power converter that carries out a direct current to alternating current conversion and supplies voltage to a motor, and a control unit, where one of the inverters is a master inverter and the control unit computes a voltage command value for the power converter in the one inverter, while the other inverter is a slave inverter and the power converter in the slave inverter is driven by the voltage command value, a transmission means transmits the voltage command value, and the control unit of the master inverter includes a delay device that delays the voltage command value by a transmission time needed when transmitting a computed voltage command value to the slave inverter, and provides the voltage command value delayed by the delay device to the power converter of the master inverter. |
| US09236812B2 |
Universal AC to DC converter
A universal AC to DC converter may be configured to convert alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC), such as for use in aerospace applications. The disclosure relates to a single universal power electronic converter capable of converting an AC input voltage, such as a line to neutral input voltage of either 115 Vrms or 230 Vrms nominal to 28 V DC. |
| US09236808B1 |
Parallel resonant converter circuit with current-equalization function
A parallel resonant converter circuit with current-equalization function includes a power input terminal, a power output terminal, an output capacitor, first and second resonant converters and a third transformer. The first resonant converter is electrically coupled between the power input terminal and the output capacitor/power output terminal. The first resonant converter includes a first transformer. The second resonant converter is electrically coupled between the power input terminal and the output capacitor. The first resonant converter and the second resonant converter are coupled in parallel. The second resonant converter includes a second transformer. The third transformer includes a first coil winding set and a second coil winding set. The first coil winding set is electrically coupled between the power input terminal and the first transformer in series. The second coil winding set is electrically coupled between the power input terminal and the second transformer in series. |
| US09236806B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling programmable power converter with low standby power loss
Method and apparatus for controlling a programmable power converter are provided. The method and apparatus generate a first power source and a second power source. The voltage level of the second power source is lower than the voltage level of the first power source. The first power source and the second power source provide a power supply for a control circuit. The control circuit will use the first power source as its power supply when the first power source is low. The control circuit will use the second power source as its power supply for saving the power when the first power source is high. |
| US09236804B2 |
Regulated controller with self-adjusting output set-point control
A power conversion system includes a power converter that converts an input voltage into a DC output voltage. Additionally, the power conversion system also includes a controller that provides a self-adjusting set-point control scheme for the power converter. A method of power conversion system operation is also provided. |
| US09236792B2 |
Voltage regulator
A voltage regulator permits reduced current consumption by promptly and timely stopping the operation of an inrush current protection circuit immediately after the voltage regulator is started up. The voltage regulator has an output voltage detection circuit, which issues a detection signal to actuate the inrush current protection circuit when a low voltage at an output terminal is detected at the time of starting up the voltage regulator. When it is detected that the voltage at the output terminal has reached a predetermined level, the operation of the inrush current protection circuit is stopped and a power path of the output voltage detection circuit is cut off. |
| US09236791B2 |
Systems and methods for distributing power in a vehicle
Various systems and method for distributing electrical power are provided. In one embodiment, a system includes a first inverter coupled to an electrical bus, a second inverter coupled to the electrical bus, a filter including a first inductor and a second inductor, and a transfer switch circuit coupled between the first inverter and the second inverter and a load. The transfer switch circuit is configured to transfer power from the first inverter through the first inductor to the load and transfer power from the second inverter through the second inductor to the load in a first mode of operation. The transfer switch circuit is further configured to transfer power from the first inverter through the first inductor and through the second inductor to the load in a second mode of operation. |
| US09236789B1 |
Programmable snubber circuit
The present disclosure includes programmable snubber circuits and methods. In one embodiment, a circuit is configured between first and second power supply terminals. A programmable snubber circuit may be configured between the first and second power supplies to reduce ringing on the power supplies. In one embodiment, the circuit is a switching regulator and the power supply terminals are internal power supply terminals. The snubber circuit may be programmed to reduce ringing caused by switching currents through parasitic inductances in a package. |
| US09236787B2 |
Motive power transmission device
A motive power transmission device capable of suppressing deformation of matching surfaces of cases is provided. A motive power transmission device is used as a transmission for a hybrid vehicle containing a first rotating electric machine and a second rotating electric machine as two rotating electric machines. The first rotating electric machine and the second rotating electric machine each serving as a motor/generator are housed in independent first case and second case, and the both are coupled to constitute the transmission for a hybrid vehicle. A first stator and a second stator are fastened and fixed to the first case and the second case on sides opposite to a first matching surface and a second matching surface. |
| US09236785B2 |
Regulator of vehicle AC generator
A regulator of a vehicle AC generator is formed of an IC regulator of a mold package type and a regulator holder having an IC regulator mount portion. A press-fit fitting structure (140A, 230A, 140C, or 230D) is provided between an attachment plane of the IC regulator mount portion (110A) and an attachment plane of the IC regulator (200A) or between an inner wall surface of the IC regulator mount portion and an outer wall surface of the IC regulator. |
| US09236784B2 |
Flux-switching electric machine
A flux-switching electric machine includes a rotor having a rotor core that is configured to rotate about a central longitudinal axis. The rotor core has a circumference that includes an approximately constant radius of curvature along an arc length of the rotor core. The rotor core includes magnetic and non-magnetic segments that are arranged in an alternating pattern of magnetic segments and non-magnetic segments along the arc length of the rotor core. The flux-switching electric machine also includes a stator having a stator core that extends a length along the central longitudinal axis. The stator core includes a stator base and stator teeth that extend radially from the stator base relative to the central longitudinal axis. The stator includes a direct current (DC) field coil wound around at least one corresponding stator tooth. The stator includes an alternating current (AC) armature coil wound around at least one corresponding stator tooth. The DC field coil overlaps the AC armature coil along an arc length of the stator core. |
| US09236783B2 |
Electrical machine
The invention relates to an electric machine, comprising a rotor (8; 50; 76) and a stator (9; 29; 77), wherein the rotor (8; 50; 76) and/or the stator (9; 29; 77) comprise at least one laminated core (2; 11; 32; 72) having a substantially rectangular cross-section, wherein the laminated core (2; 11; 32; 72) comprises a sheet metal strip (1), wherein the sheet metal strip (1) is wound in a coil shape. |
| US09236781B2 |
Planetary gear assembly
A modified planetary gear box and arrangement of the gear box with a drive motor permits electrical, optical or other types of cabling or wiring to be passed through the planetary gear box along its axis of rotation. The planetary gear box drives or rotates a reel of coiled tubing. Electrical, hydraulic, optical and other types of line for lowering into a well bore through the coiled tubing is passed through a passageway through the center of the planetary gear box, into one end of a hub of the reel, and then into the coiled tubing, which is injected into the wellbore. The other end of the hub of the reel is able to be connected to a swivel joint that can be connected to a pump for pumping fluid into the coiled tubing. |
| US09236780B2 |
Rotary actuator with lined bearing holder
An inner ring of a bearing is affixed to an end of the rotor spindle and is immovable relative to the rotor spindle in the axial direction. An outer ring of the bearing is located radially outside of the inner ring via a roller body. An outer ring affixed portion is integrally affixed to the outer ring and is immovable relative to the outer ring in the axial direction. An inner ring receiving portion is located between the inner ring and a bottom portion of a housing and is in contact with the inner ring. |
| US09236779B2 |
Rotation maintaining device
A rotatable output shaft, a rotatable rotary plate member coupled with the output shaft, rotary weight members supported by the rotary plate member, a guide member fixed in motionless condition having a partially arc shape at a side where the rotary weight members rise, and rotation engagement members pivotally supported by the rotary place member are provided. Each of the rotary weight members includes a circular plate section, and a weight section fixed to the circular plate section to bias a position of the center of gravity of each rotary weight member from the axis of the circular plate section. Each of the rotary weight members is adapted to rotate in one direction when an outer circumference side surface of the circular plate section is driven by the outer circumference side surface of each rotation engagement member. |
| US09236775B2 |
Rotary electric machine
A rotary electric machine includes a stator and a rotor located in a rotatable manner relative to the stator via a gap. The stator includes a multi-phase stator winding that is held in a plurality of slots formed in the stator. The rotor includes at least one magnet section embedded therein so as to face the slots. The magnet section includes a plurality of axially laminated magnets with a skew angle which is an angle of a positional difference between the magnets. This skew angle θs is set so as to satisfy θs=kα/2 where α is a slot pitch which is an angle between the slots, and k is a coefficient set based on: an arc ratio θa being an angle covering an area in which magnetic flux radially flows from the magnetic section; and a slot factor S being a ratio of the slots relative to the magnet section. |
| US09236772B2 |
Power supplier and receiver and mobile device
An arrangement place for a device such as a rectifier and a power storage device is easily secured. At the time of power supply using a resonance phenomenon, a power-receiving device generates a magnetic field space having a lower magnetic field strength than other parts at or around the inner side of the power-receiving module, and this magnetic field space is used as the arrangement place of an electronic component. The power-receiving module includes a power-receiving resonance coil which is resonated with a power-supplying module and a power-receiving coil which partly overlaps the power-receiving resonance coil in a coil diameter direction and receives and supplies power from and to the power-receiving resonance coil. |
| US09236771B2 |
Method and apparatus for adaptive tuning of wireless power transfer
Exemplary embodiments are directed to wireless power transfer. A transmit antenna generates an electromagnetic field at a resonant frequency of to create a coupling-mode region within a near field of the transmit antenna. A receive antenna receives the resonant frequency when it is within the coupling-mode region and resonates substantially near the resonant frequency. One, or both, of the transmit and receive antennas are tunable antennas that can be adaptively tuned. The adaptive tuning is accomplished by detecting a mismatch at the tunable antenna and generating a mismatch signal responsive to a voltage standing wave ratio at the tunable antenna. A resonance characteristic of the tunable antenna can be modified by adjusting a capacitance of a variable capacitor network connected to the tunable antenna. |
| US09236768B2 |
Systems, methods, and devices for control of parallel uninterruptible power supplies
Systems, methods, and devices for controlling parallel uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) are provided. One example of a parallel UPS system may include several UPS modules to supply power to a load and at least one controller. At least some of the UPS modules may include a bypass feed path that can be switched on or off via a static switch module (SSM). The controller may adaptively control which of the bypass feed paths are switched on and off based on the load and respective capacity ratings of the UPS modules. The controller may also determine when an SSM of one of the bypass feed paths is likely to have failed. |
| US09236760B2 |
Charging device for electromotive vehicle
An AC-DC converter converts an alternating-current voltage, supplied from an external power supply, to a direct-current voltage higher than a peak voltage of the alternating-current voltage, and outputs the direct-current voltage to a first power supply line. In a normal control mode, a DC-DC converter steps down a voltage of the power supply line through on/off control over a switching element to charge a main battery. On the other hand, in an upper arm ON control mode, the DC-DC converter charge the main battery while the switching element is kept in an on state. On the basis of a state of external charging, a control device applies the upper arm ON control mode when a condition that upper arm ON control is applicable is satisfied, and applies the normal control mode when the condition is not satisfied. |
| US09236758B2 |
System and method to align a source resonator and a capture resonator for wireless electrical power transfer
A system and a method to provide alignment between a source resonator and a capture resonator. The system and method may be used to align a vehicle having a capture resonator to the source resonator of a wireless inductive battery charging system for an electric vehicle. The system includes a display device, a sensor to determine a location of the source resonator relative to the capture resonator, and a controller in communication with the source resonator, the capture resonator, the sensor, and the display device. The controller is programmed to determine a relative distance and a relative direction between the source resonator and the capture resonator, determine a transfer efficiency of electrical power between the source resonator and the capture resonator. The display device is configured to indicate the relative distance and the relative direction between the source resonator and the capture resonator and indicate the transfer efficiency. |
| US09236757B2 |
Wireless power transfer adaptation triggers
Adaptive multi-pathway wireless charging is described. In one aspect, embodiments enable one or more wireless charging pathways to be established concurrently in a wireless charging environment. The wireless charging pathways use same or different frequencies, powers, wireless power transfer (WPT) standards, and WPT configurations. Embodiments for adaptively configuring wireless charging based on detected events or changes in WPT characteristics are also provided. |
| US09236753B2 |
Power source device and method of controlling assembled battery
A power source device includes an assembled battery having a plurality of secondary battery cells connected in series, and a plurality of discharge circuits connected in parallel with the secondary battery cells, respectively. A charge control circuit performs constant current charging to the assembled battery, and when voltages of one or a plurality of the secondary battery cells out of the plurality of secondary battery cells have reached a prescribed first voltage, drives the discharge circuits connected to the secondary battery cells whose voltage have reached the first voltage to discharge, and performs constant voltage charging to the relevant assemble battery. |
| US09236747B2 |
Electronic device
Provided is an electronic device capable of supplying desired electric power to a load so as to operate the load even in a case where charged power is minute and a voltage increase rate of a capacitor, which increases by charge, is low. The electronic device includes: a power source which has supply power less than consumption power of the load; a capacitor to be charged with the supply power; and a charge/discharge control circuit which controls charging of the capacitor and consumption of charged power of the capacitor by the load, and the charge/discharge control circuit includes: a first node to which the supply power of the power source is supplied; and a circuit which charges the capacitor with the supply power from the first node. |
| US09236745B2 |
Vehicle control device and vehicle control method
A control for a vehicle including a battery, an auxiliary load, an electric power controller controlling electric power exchanged between the battery and the auxiliary load and a charger charging the battery using a power supply outside the vehicle includes: during vehicle drive control, controlling the electric power controller so that an SOC falls within a predetermined range; when the power supply is connected to the vehicle, controlling the electric power controller and the charger so as to carry out extended charging in which a variation in the SOC during the external charging is larger than a width of the predetermined range that is a control range from a control lower limit value to a control upper limit value during drive control; and calculating the full charge capacity by multiplying a ratio of a maximum value of the SOC to a variation in the SOC during the extended charging by an accumulated value of current flowing into the battery during the extended charging. |
| US09236744B2 |
Power distribution system for an aircraft
A power distribution system which may be provided in an aircraft for example is described, the power distribution system comprising: a power distribution bus and a plurality of localized voltage converters each supplied by the power distribution bus. By providing a plurality of localized voltage converters, the power distribution system may use fewer, or just a single power distribution bus at a particular voltage and convert to the desired voltage at or near to each of a plurality of pieces of electrical equipment being supplied. |
| US09236743B2 |
Apparatus and method for voltage and current balancing in generation of output power in power generation systems
An apparatus for voltage balancing parallel arranged direct current (DC) voltage source strings in a power generation system includes a string voltage balancing circuit having reverse blocking switches to control a current flow and an output voltage of the DC voltage source strings. Capacitors are connected to a corresponding reverse blocking switch and in series with a corresponding one of the plurality of DC voltage source strings to construct a voltage difference for a corresponding one of the plurality DC voltage source strings. The string voltage balancing circuit adjusts an output voltage of the DC voltage source strings by controlling a current flowing in the plurality of DC voltage source strings to adjust a voltage constructed across corresponding ones of the capacitors to balance the output voltage for the DC voltage source strings to be substantially the same output voltage. Current balancing using differential power processing is also provided. |
| US09236738B2 |
Control system for use with one or more building power circuits
Disclosed is a control system for use with one or more building power circuits, the control system including a control device delimited by a control device housing, the control device being configured to receive power from the building power circuits and provide power to at least one power output, and a receiver configured to receive radio frequency signals, the receiver being disposed remote of the control device housing and configured for removable wired connection with the control device. |
| US09236735B2 |
Distributed battery management system and method for distributed battery management
Disclosed is a distributed battery management system of managing a plurality of battery modules, including: slave controllers have a daisy chain structure in which the slave controllers are connected from a bottom-level slave controller up to a top-level slave controller in series, sequentially transfer control information received from the outside from the top-level slave controller up to the bottom-level slave controller, sense information on the battery modules in response to the transferred control information, sequentially transfer the sensed sensing information from the bottom-level slave controller up to the top-level slave controller, and transmit the sensing information transferred to the top-level slave controller to the outside; and a master controller which transmits the control information to the top-level slave controller among the slave controllers and manages the battery modules by using the sensing information received from the top-level slave controller. |
| US09236730B2 |
Integrated circuit with protection function
An integrated circuit generating a driving signal to a load according to an input voltage and including an impedance switching unit, a first protection unit, a first detection unit and a control unit is disclosed. The impedance switching unit takes the input voltage as the driving signal according to a control signal. The first protection unit generates a first detection signal when a current passing through the impedance switching unit is higher than a predetermined current. The first detection unit detects a voltage of the impedance switching unit to generate a detection result. The control unit controls the control signal according to the first detection signal. |
| US09236729B2 |
Anti-arcing circuit
Anti-arcing circuits are described herein that are configured to prevent or substantially mitigate arcing when a power adapter is connected/disconnected from a client device. The anti-arcing circuit restricts power supplied when a connection of a connector of a power adapter to the adapter interface is not fully established. The anti-arcing circuit is further configured to detect when a connection is made and remove the restriction to supply power for operations of the client device. In one approach, the anti-arcing circuit includes two different paths and components associated with a detection mode and operational mode respectively. In the detection mode, power supply is suppressed and a current pulse may be sent to determine if a connection is established. If current is detected, a switch is made to operational mode and power for normal device operations is supplied. |
| US09236728B2 |
Power switching arrangement
A circuit protection system for a power panel is disclosed. The circuit protection system includes a transistor connected in a channel of a power panel, the transistor connected between return connections of a load and a return path, and the power panel including a plurality of channels connected to the load. The circuit protection system also includes control circuitry electrically connected in parallel with the transistor, the control circuitry configured to selectively activate the transistor to allow current to pass through the transistor based on an observed voltage across the transistor. |
| US09236716B2 |
Spark plug
An ignition plug having a center electrode, a grounding electrode, an insulator, and a metal shell. The center electrode is held by the insulator, and the insulator is held by metal shell. A cavity is formed between the grounding electrode and the center electrode. The grounding electrode is joined to the inner wall surface of the metal shell via a melting portion. In the melting portion, in a predetermined cutting surface MS including a melting deepest point DP and a central axis CX, a percentage ratio MDD of a melting depth MD of the melting portion with respect to a thickness of the grounding electrode is 5% or more, and an area Sm of a portion included in an outer circumferential side of the metal shell is 10% or more of the entire area S. |
| US09236708B2 |
Mode-locked optically pumped semiconductor laser
A laser includes an optically pumped semiconductor OPS gain-structure. The apparatus has a laser-resonator which includes a mode-locking device for causing the laser to deliver mode-locked pulses. The resonator has a total length selected such that the mode-locked pulses are delivered at a pulse repetition frequency less than 150 MHz. An optical arrangement within the resonator provides that radiation circulating in the resonator makes a plurality of incidences on the OPS gain-structure with a time less than the excited-state lifetime of the gain-structure between successive incidences. |
| US09236707B1 |
System and method for generating light pulses based on direct current modulation of a seed laser diode
A system and method generate laser pulses. Using the modulation signal from a pulse generation module, a seed laser diode generates seed light pulses in response to direct drive current modulation. The seed light pulses have a pulse duration longer than a target pulse duration and a spectral chirp. A compression module has dispersion characteristics over a broad spectral range. The pulse generation module is configured to adapt the modulation signal to tailor the spectral chirp of the seed light pulses in view of the dispersion characteristics of the compression module, such that propagation of the seed light pulses through the compression module compresses the seed pulses into output light pulses having the target pulse duration. |
| US09236696B2 |
Coaxial connector
The coaxial connector includes a tube-shaped outer conductor and an inner conductor provided inside the outer conductor in a plan view. The outer conductor includes an engaging portion recessed towards the inner conductor, a first portion positioned closer to one end of the outer conductor relative to the engaging portion, and a second portion positioned closer to the other end of the outer conductor relative to the engaging portion. The outer peripheral surface of the engaging portion is positioned closer to the inner conductor than to the outer peripheral surface of the first portion and the outer peripheral surface of the second portion, and the inner peripheral surface of the engaging portion is closer to the inner conductor than to either the inner peripheral surface of the first portion or the inner peripheral surface of the second portion. |
| US09236695B2 |
Coaxial connector
In a coaxial connector, a body part includes an upper surface, a bottom surface, a side surface, and a hole provided in the upper surface so that a substantially rodlike probe is to be inserted therein from an upper side. A fixed terminal is fixed to the body part. A movable terminal includes a lead portion disposed on the side surface, a fixed portion bent relative to the lead portion to extend in a horizontal direction and fixed to the body part, and a leaf spring portion bent relative to the lead portion to extend in the horizontal direction and contacting the fixed terminal from a lower side. The leaf spring portion is separated from the fixed terminal when pressed down by the probe. |
| US09236686B2 |
Electrical connector assembly having anti-displacement socket ribs
A connector device includes a connector and a slider to be inserted into the connector. A connector housing of the connector has a rib configured to come into contact with a position corresponding to a depression between contacts of a flat circuit body before a top end of the flat circuit body reaches a position of a top end of a terminal and guide the top end of the flat circuit body to a position higher than the top end of the terminal in a process of inserting an insertion guide portion. |
| US09236683B2 |
High bandwidth jack with RJ45 backwards compatibility
The present invention generally relates to network connectors, and more particularly, to apparatuses, systems, and methods associated with network jacks having compatibility with more than one plug and corresponding plugs. In one embodiment, the present invention is a jack having multiple printed circuit boards, wherein each circuit board is used for connection to a particular style of a plug. In one embodiment, the jack according to the present invention is compatible with an RJ45 plug. |
| US09236682B2 |
Cylindrical electric connector with biased contact
An electric connector includes a terminal body defining an interior space. An electric contact is located within the internal space. The electric contact includes a base contact ring that is biased into engagement with the terminal body and an outer ring that is biased into engagement with the terminal body. A contact arm extends from the base contact ring to the outer ring. |
| US09236681B2 |
Card connector
A card connector for being assembled in an electrical device includes an insulating housing defining a receiving cavity and a sliding groove, a shielding shell covering on the insulating housing and covering up the receiving cavity to form a receiving slot between the shielding shell and the insulating housing, an ejection mechanism slidably assembled in the sliding groove of the insulating housing, a supporting unit inserted in the receiving slot, and a water-proof mechanism including pushing parts and water-proof parts. The electrical device includes a cover covered in front of the card connector. The pushing parts pass rearward through the cover to be respectively fixed with front ends of the supporting unit and the ejection mechanism. The water-proof parts are respectively worn around the pushing parts and press against the cover. |
| US09236674B2 |
Interface card assembly for use in a bus extension system
An interface card assembly of a bus extension system for coupling a solid state drive to a host bus adaptor of a host computer includes a printed circuit board having an edge connector with a plurality of pins and a plurality of first conducting traces. The interface card also includes a plurality of first serially aligned plated holes disposed along a first center-line having a first end and a second and being disposed perpendicularly to the edge connector and a slot. The slot is milled in the printed circuit board so that the slot is parallel and adjacent to the first center-line and extends beyond the first and second ends thereby leaving each of the first plated holes in a semi-circular shape. |
| US09236668B2 |
Low profile cable connector
A cable connector for connecting a cable having an inner conductor includes an insulating housing having an assembling portion and a mating portion protruding from one side of the assembling portion, the mating portion including a mating cavity, the assembling portion including a receiving room communicating with the mating cavity; a contact having a connecting portion received in the receiving room for connecting the inner conductor of the cable and a contacting portion extending into the mating cavity; and a shell having a back portion assembled upon the assembling portion of the insulating housing. The insulating housing includes an elastic arm extending into the receiving room and located beside the connecting portion of the contact. The back portion of the shell includes a pushing portion pushing the elastic arm to press the connecting portion of the contact. |
| US09236666B2 |
Structure of connection between coaxial cable and shield terminal, and method of connection therebetween
A structure of connection between a coaxial cable and a shield terminal includes the coaxial cable configured to have at least one core wire part made of a conductor, an insulating coating part with which said core wire part is coated, a braided shield with which an outer peripheral surface of said insulating coating part is covered, and an insulating tube with which an outer peripheral surface of said braided shield is covered, the shield terminal that has a cylindrical press bond part pressed and is bonded to the outer peripheral surface of the braided shield, and a ring-shaped crimp member that is pressed and bonded to an outer peripheral surface of the insulating tube. |
| US09236664B2 |
Antenna
An antenna which reduces the number of end faces and perpendicular corners, and suffers from little deterioration of performance even if used for high frequency transmission/reception, in particular a microstrip patch antenna which is comprised of a dielectric substrate on the bottom surface of which a conductive ground plate is formed and on the top surface of which a patch antenna part formed by a conductor and a feeder circuit connected to the same are provided, wherein the feeder circuit is connected to the antenna part while offset by exactly a predetermined distance to either end side from a center of one side of said antennas part to which said feeder circuit is to be connected so that a transmission loss of the antenna becomes a predetermined value or less. The predetermined distance can be made 20 to 70% of the longitudinal side of the patch antenna part. |
| US09236663B2 |
Electronic device having adaptive filter circuitry for blocking interference between wireless transceivers
An electronic device may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry and antenna structures. The radio-frequency transceiver circuitry may transmit signals for the antenna structures that pass through electrical components such as switches. Harmonics of the transmitted signals may be generated as the signals pass through the electrical components. To reduce interference that might otherwise adversely affect sensitive receiver circuitry in the electronic device, adjustable filter circuitry may be interposed between the electrical components and the antenna structures. Control signals may adjust the adjustable circuitry in real time during operation of an electronic device to ensure that transmitted signals can pass through the adjustable filter circuitry while blocking the harmonic signals. |
| US09236662B2 |
Terminal including a plurality of antennas
A terminal for performing at least one of wired and wireless communication is provided. The terminal includes a first antenna configured to recognize a handwriting through a change of an electromagnetic field and a second antenna for a short range wireless communication, wherein the first antenna and the second antenna are formed on a same Flexible Printed Circuit Board (FPCB). |
| US09236660B2 |
Electromagnetic attenuating object and method of electromagnetic attenuation
Electromagnetic attenuation of an object is accomplished by attaching a boot to a surface of an operational part of the object. The boot includes a thermoplastic material, such as in a thermoplastic layer, and an electromagnetic attenuation material, such as in an electromagnetic attenuation layer that overlies at least part of the thermoplastic layer. The attaching is accomplished by placing the boot onto the operational part, and then heat shrinking the boot to attach the boot to the operational part. The electromagnetic attenuation layer may have gaps in it prior to the heat shrinking, gaps that are closed during the heat shrinking, to the greater contraction of the thermoplastic layer. The boot and method may be used to advantageously provide electromagnetic attenuation without a need for spraying processes. The method may be used to retrofit and/or repair an object, without needed to remove it from the field. |
| US09236659B2 |
Electronic device with hybrid inverted-F slot antenna
An electronic device may be provided with a housing. The housing may have a periphery that is surrounded by peripheral conductive structures such as a segmented peripheral metal member. A segment of the peripheral metal member may be separated from a ground by a slot. An antenna feed may have a positive antenna terminal coupled to the peripheral metal member and a ground terminal coupled to the ground and may feed both an inverted-F antenna structure that is formed from the peripheral metal member and the ground and a slot antenna structure that is formed from the slot. Control circuitry may tune the antenna by controlling adjustable components that are coupled to the peripheral metal member. The adjustable components may include adjustable inductors and adjustable capacitors. |
| US09236655B2 |
Antenna assembly and method of making same
An antenna having a base film carrying at least one antenna structure and one electronic device with a contact region of the at least one antenna structure being provided on a tab formed from the base film and contacted with a contact region of the electronic device is made by first providing the electronic device inside a housing. Then the tab is inserted into the housing. Finally the housing is adhesively adhered in place on the base. |
| US09236652B2 |
Broadband array antenna enhancement with spatially engineered dielectrics
An antenna array system includes an antenna and a radome. The radome is disposed such that electromagnetic radiation transmitted with respect to the antenna passes through the radome. The radome includes a dielectric layer, first dielectric inclusions distributed in the dielectric layer in a first pattern and second dielectric inclusions spacially and dimensionally varied from the first dielectric inclusions and distributed in the dielectric layer in a second pattern, which is different from the first pattern. |
| US09236645B2 |
Serpentine delay line structure
A serpentine delay line structure for reducing the common-mode noise is provided to a substrate having a layout layer, a first dielectric layer, a second dielectric layer, and a grounding layer. The serpentine delay line structure includes a first serpentine delay line pair, a second serpentine delay line pair, a third serpentine delay line pair, a first transition serpentine delay line pair, and a second transition serpentine delay line pair. The first serpentine delay line pair and the second serpentine delay line pair on the layout layer are electrically connected to the first transition serpentine delay line pair on the first dielectric layer through corresponding vertical vias. The second serpentine delay line pair and the third serpentine delay line pair on the layout layer are electrically connected to the second transition serpentine delay line pair on the first dielectric layer through corresponding vertical vias. |
| US09236643B2 |
Aluminum-based metal-air batteries
Provided in one embodiment is an electrochemical cell, comprising: (i) a plurality of electrodes, comprising a fuel electrode that comprises aluminum and an air electrode that absorbs gaseous oxygen, the electrodes being operable in a discharge mode wherein the aluminum is oxidized at the fuel electrode and oxygen is reduced at the air electrode, and (ii) an ionically conductive medium, comprising an organic solvent; wherein during non-use of the cell, the organic solvent promotes formation of a protective interface between the aluminum of the fuel electrode and the ionically conductive medium, and wherein at an onset of the discharge mode, at least some of the protective interface is removed from the aluminum to thereafter permit oxidation of the aluminum during the discharge mode. |
| US09236640B2 |
Gas battery comprising carbon dioxide gas as a positive electrode active material and method of use of gas battery
In an F-type electrochemical cell 20, in a casing 21, a positive electrode 23 in which carbon dioxide gas is used as a positive electrode active material and a negative electrode 25 are placed so as to face each other with a separator 27 therebetween, and an electrolyte solution 28 is injected between the positive electrode 23 and the negative electrode 25. A tank 30 storing carbon dioxide gas is connected to the positive electrode 23, and carbon dioxide gas is supplied to the positive electrode 23 through a holding member 29. By supplying carbon dioxide gas to the positive electrode in such a manner, the cell can be operated as a battery. Furthermore, when used a primary battery, carbon dioxide can be immobilized in the battery, which is desirable. |
| US09236639B2 |
Thermoelectric methods to control temperature of batteries
A method of controlling a temperature of a battery is disclosed. The method includes providing a thermoelectric device in thermally-conductive contact with the battery, measuring an actual temperature of the battery, comparing the actual temperature of the battery to a reference temperature for the battery, heating the battery by operation of the thermoelectric device when the actual temperature is less than the reference temperature and cooling the battery by operation of the thermoelectric device when the actual temperature exceeds the reference temperature. |
| US09236638B2 |
Charging/discharging system for solar light power generator in smart grid environment with real-time pricing, duplex convertor of charging/discharging system, and charging/discharging method for solar light power generator
Provided are a charging and discharging system for a solar light power generator in a smart grid environment, a method of operating the same, and a duplex converter for charging and discharging electricity into/from a battery. The system includes: an electricity price monitoring part which collects electricity price information from an electric grid; an electricity charge amount monitoring part which collects electricity charge amount information of a battery; a charge and discharge determination part which determines whether electricity supplied from the electric grid is to be charged into the battery or whether electricity stored in the battery via the electric grid or the solar light power generator is to be discharged to the electric grid, based on the price information and the charge amount information; and a charging and discharging part including the battery, so that electricity is charged into or discharged from the battery based on the determination. |
| US09236636B2 |
Non-aqueous electrolyte solution for secondary batteries, and lithium ion secondary battery
A non-aqueous electrolyte solution for secondary batteries, comprising a lithium salt (total number of moles of lithium atoms: NLi) and a liquid composition, wherein the liquid composition comprises a specific fluorinated solvent (α) and a cyclic carboxylic acid ester compound (total number of moles: NA), and may contain a specific compound (β) (total number of moles: NB), the content of the fluorinated solvent (α) is from 40 to 80 mass %, NA/NLi is from 1.5 to 7.0, and (NA+NB)/NLi is from 3 to 7.0; and, a lithium ion secondary battery employing such a non-aqueous electrolyte solution for secondary batteries. |
| US09236632B2 |
Electrochemical device and method for manufacturing electrochemical device
An electrochemical device includes a wound laminated body with first and second electrodes, first and second separators, an electrolytic solution; and an outer package that houses the wound body and the electrolytic solution. The electrochemical device satisfies, at an outer end of the laminated body in a winding direction: the first and second separators protrude more outward in the winding direction than the second electrode; the first electrode protrudes more outward in the winding direction than the first and second separators; and an outer end of the first separator in the winding direction inclines toward a winding center and comes into contact with an upper surface of the second separator beyond the second electrode and an outer end of the first electrode in the winding direction inclines toward the winding center and comes into contact with the second separator and with the peripherally inner first electrode beyond the second electrode. |
| US09236629B2 |
Cable-type secondary battery
The present invention relates to a cable-type secondary battery comprising an inner electrode comprising at least two anodes arranged in parallel, the anode extending longitudinally and having a horizontal cross section of a predetermined shape, the anode having an electrolyte layer thereon serving as an ion channel; an outer electrode comprising a cathode including a cathode active material layer surrounding the inner electrode; and a protection coating surrounding the outer electrode. The cable-type secondary battery has free shape adaptation due to its linearity and flexibility. A plurality of inner electrodes within a tubular outer electrode lead to an increased contact area therebetween and consequently a high battery rate. It is easy to control the capacity balance between the inner and outer electrodes by adjusting the number of inner electrodes. A short circuit is prevented due to the electrolyte layer formed on the inner electrode. |
| US09236628B2 |
Fuel cell system
A group of fuel gas system devices are provided at a first end plate of a fuel cell system through a block member. A cover member is provided at the first end plate to cover the group of the fuel gas system devices. Support rod members are provided at the first end plate. The support rod members protrude outward in a stacking direction to support the cover member at the front ends of the support rod members. |
| US09236616B2 |
Fuel cell electrode structure containing platinum alloy black layer, platinum alloy carbon support layer and substrate layer and fuel cell using the same
An electrode structure of a fuel cell for power generation comprises an anodic structure, a cathodic structure, and an ionic exchange membrane disposed between the anodic and cathodic structures. The anodic and cathodic structures respectively are formed by multi-layer structures, to reduce the fuel crossover from the anodic structure to the cathodic structure, to reduce the catalysts applied amount, and to increase an output electrical energy of the fuel cell. The multi-layer structure of the anodic structure comprises a thin platinum alloy black layer, a Pt alloy layer disposed on the carbon material, and a substrate. |
| US09236614B2 |
Metal supported solid oxide fuel cell
A process for forming a metal supported solid oxide fuel cell, the process comprising the steps of: a) applying a green anode layer including nickel oxide, copper oxide and a rare earth-doped ceria to a metal substrate; b) firing the green anode layer to form a composite including oxides of nickel, copper, and a rare earth-doped ceria; c) providing an electrolyte; and d) providing a cathode. Metal supported solid oxide fuel cells comprising an anode a cathode and an electrolyte, wherein the anode includes nickel, copper and a rare earth-doped ceria, fuel cell stacks and uses of these fuel cells. |
| US09236613B2 |
Cyclic compound, its metal complex and modified metal complex
A compound represented by formula (1): wherein Y1 to Y4 each independently represent any one of the following groups: in which Rα represents a hydrogen atom or a monovalent hydrocarbon group; P1 to P4 each independently represents a group of atoms necessary for forming a heterocyclic ring together with each Y1 to Y4 and the two carbon atoms adjacent to Y1 to Y4, respectively; P5 and P6 each independently represents a group of atoms necessary for forming a cyclic skeleton together with the carbon atom to which Z1 bonds or Z2 bonds; P1 and P2, P2 and P6, P6 and P4, P4 and P3, P3 and P5, and P5 and P1 may further combine with each other to form a ring; Q1 and Q2 each independently represents a connecting group or a direct binding; and Z1 and Z2 each independently represent any one of the following groups; —NRβ2, —ORβ, —SRβ, —PRβ2 in which Rβ represents a hydrogen atom or a monovalent hydrocarbon group, and when plural Rβs are present, these plural Rβs may be the same or different from each other. |
| US09236610B2 |
Cathode active material for lithium secondary battery
Disclosed is a lithium secondary battery, which is low in capacity loss after overdischarge, having excellent capacity restorability after overdischarge and shows an effect of preventing a battery from swelling at a high temperature. |
| US09236607B2 |
Method for making lithium ion battery cathode
A method for making a lithium ion battery cathode is provided. A carbon nanotube source including a plurality of carbon nanotubes is made. A cathode active material including a plurality of cathode active material particles and a solvent is provided. The carbon nanotube source and the cathode active material are added into the solvent, and the solvent with the carbon nanotube source and the cathode active material is shaken using ultrasonic waves. The carbon nanotube source and the cathode active material are then separated from the solvent to obtain a lithium ion battery cathode. |
| US09236604B2 |
Negative electrode and lithium ion secondary battery
A negative electrode includes a negative electrode active material layer containing a negative electrode active material mainly containing silicon and silicon oxide. In the negative electrode, the ratio of the film thickness of the negative electrode active material layer to the particle size distribution D99 is in the range of 1.2 to 2.0, the value of the D99 is in the range of 7 to 27 μm, and the negative electrode active material layer has a density ranging from 1.2 to 1.6 g/cm3. |
| US09236601B2 |
Plate-like particle of cathode active material for lithium secondary battery, cathode of the lithium secondary battery and lithium secondary battery
To provide a lithium secondary battery which has high capacity while maintaining excellent charge-discharge characteristic, and to provide a cathode of the lithium secondary battery and a plate-like particle for cathode active material to be contained in the cathode. The plate-like particle of cathode active material for a lithium secondary battery of the present invention has a layered rock salt structure, a thickness of 5 μm or more and less than 30 μm, 2 or less of [003]/[104] which is a ratio of intensity of X-ray diffraction by the (003) plane to intensity of X-ray diffraction by the (104) plane, a mean pore size of 0.1 to 5 μm, and a voidage of 3% or more and less than 15%. |
| US09236598B2 |
Coated electrodes
A porous ceramic electrode with metallic coating and a high quantity of iron particles/iron alloys is applied to the top side of the wet (not dried) ceramic electrode, which forms first layer of a bonding process for metallic bonding to ceramics. Iron particles are added to a wet porous ceramic electrode and then attracted to one side of the electrode with a magnetic field; by turning a magnet on and drawing doped iron particles to the bottom side of the ceramic electrode. The iron particles are doped with a bonding agent to improve bonding the ceramic electrode to a second layer of metals. The second layer of metallic coating is a material that improves efficiently of the electrode on products such as fuel cell electrodes, hydrogen generator electrodes and batteries. The second coating may be applied using the atomic layer deposition method or vapor deposition. |
| US09236590B2 |
Electric storage module and electric storage device
An electric storage module includes: a cooling plate with a predetermined thickness between a front surface and a rear surface, with the front surface and the rear surface functioning as cooling surfaces by a coolant flowing in the cooling plate; a first battery row made up with a plurality of battery cells, to be cooled by the cooling plate, arrayed along a predetermined direction, with one end surfaces of the battery cells being coupled with the front surface of the cooling plate so as to achieve thermal conduction; and a second battery row made up with a plurality of battery cells, to be cooled by the cooling plate, arrayed along a predetermined direction, with one end surfaces of the battery cells being coupled with the rear surface of the cooling plate so as to achieve thermal conduction. |
| US09236589B2 |
Battery module including opening/closing member to control opening state of inlet of housing
A battery module and a vehicle including a battery module. A battery module includes: a housing including an inlet to pass air from an outside of the housing into an interior of the housing; at least one rechargeable battery housed in the interior of the housing; and an opening/closing member configured to control an opening state of the inlet according to a pressure of the air acting against the opening/closing member from the outside of the housing. |
| US09236587B2 |
Battery module and battery pack employed with the same
Disclosed is a battery module having a plurality of battery cells, the battery module including a cell module stack having a structure in which a plurality of cell modules having the battery cells mounted in cartridges is vertically stacked, a lower end plate supporting a lower end of the cell module stack, and an upper end plate fixing an uppermost cartridge of the cell module stack disposed on the lower end plate, wherein the cartridges and the upper and lower end plates are provided with through holes formed such that the through holes communicate with one another, a fixing member is inserted through the through holes and coupled to the upper and lower end plates, and the fixing member and the through holes are configured to have a horizontal sectional structure to restrain rotation of the fixing member when rotational force for fastening is applied to the fixing member. |
| US09236586B2 |
Battery pack
A battery pack including a bare cell including an electrode assembly, and a battery case including a body portion accommodating the electrode assembly, and a sealing portion extending from the body portion; and a bonding member bonding the sealing portion to the body portion, the bonding member having a slit formed therein. |
| US09236584B2 |
Nonaqueous electrolyte battery including package member having blackbody material layer
A nonaqueous electrolyte battery is provided which includes a battery element, and a package member for packaging the battery element, and in the nonaqueous electrolyte battery, the package member includes a layer which contains a blackbody material capable of using blackbody radiation and which has an emissivity of 0.6 or more. |
| US09236581B2 |
Display unit, method of manufacturing display unit, and electronic apparatus
A display unit includes a plurality of first electrodes provided to respective pixels; an insulating layer having an opening facing each of the first electrodes and having an overhang at an edge of the opening; a charge injection-transport layer being cut or having higher resistance at the overhang of the insulating layer to exhibit one or both of a charge injection property and a charge transport property; an organic layer including one light-emitting layer or a plurality of light-emitting layers common to all of the pixels; and a second electrode formed on an entire surface of the organic layer, the first electrodes, the insulating layer, the charge injection-transport layer, the organic layer, and the second electrode being disposed in this order from a substrate side. |
| US09236580B2 |
Organic electronic device for lighting
There is provided an organic electronic device including an anode, a hole transport layer, an emissive layer, an electron transport layer, and a cathode. The emissive layer includes at least one first electroluminescent material and the electron transport layer includes at least one electron transport material and at least one second electroluminescent material. The second electroluminescent material has a concentration that is greater adjacent the emissive layer. The device has white light emission. |
| US09236579B2 |
Coating system and method for manufacturing light-emitting device
Provided is a coating system allowing on-demand preparation and coating of an ink. The coating system (10) includes an ingredient ink supply portion (20), a first pipe (90a), a stirring tank (50) including an ink stirring mechanism (52), a supply regulator portion (30) regulating the respective amounts of ingredient inks supplied to the stirring tank, a controller portion (70) connected to the supply regulator portion through an electric telecommunication line (80), determining a mixing ratio of the ingredient inks, and controlling operation of the supply regulator portion based on the mixing ratio, and a coating device (100) including an ink transport portion (120) connected to the stirring tank and including an ink discharge portion (130). |
| US09236577B2 |
Dual-mode display device and method of manufacturing same
Provided are a dual-mode display device and a method of manufacturing the same. The device includes a lower substrate, an upper substrate facing the lower substrate, a thin-film transistor portion between the upper substrate and the lower substrate, a first anode on one side of the thin-film transistor portion, a first cathode between the first anode and the upper substrate, an organic light-emitting layer between the first cathode and the first anode, a second anode on the other side of the thin-film transistor portion, a second cathode between the second anode and the upper substrate, or the second anode and the lower substrate, and a optical switching layer between the second cathode and the second anode. |
| US09236576B2 |
Photoelectric element, process for producing photoelectric element, and photosensitizer
A photoelectric element 1 includes a first electrode, an electron transport layer supporting a photosensitizer, a hole transport layer, and a second electrode, and these components are stacked in the above order. The electron transport layer is formed of an organic compound produced by electrolytic polymerization of a precursor having, within one molecule thereof, two or more moieties each having a structure represented by the following structural formula (1). The photoelectric element 1 includes a gel layer composed of the organic compound and an electrolyte solution infiltrated into the organic compound. (in structural formula (1), M is a cyano group, a fluoro group, a chloro group, or a bromo group, and A− is a counter-anion) |
| US09236573B2 |
Organic semiconductor compound, method for preparing same, and organic semiconductor device employing same
Provided are an organic semiconductor compound, a method for preparing same, a polymer compound having the organic semiconductor compound of the present invention as a monomer, and an organic semiconductor device containing the polymer compound. Said organic semiconductor compound has side chains in the chemical structure thereof, and is highly soluble in a solvent, and therefore the organic semiconductor compound can be effectively used in solution-based processes. The organic semiconductor device containing the polymer compound according to the present invention yields high manufacturing efficiency. |
| US09236571B2 |
Polymer materials for organic electroluminescent devices
The present invention relates to polymeric materials which have electron-transporting, hole-transporting and/or emitting units in the side chains. The present invention furthermore relates to processes for the preparation of these polymers, to the use of these polymers in electroluminescent devices and to electroluminescent devices comprising these polymers. |
| US09236566B2 |
Memory cells and methods of forming memory cells
Some embodiments include methods of forming memory cells. Programmable material may be formed directly adjacent another material. A dopant implant may be utilized to improve adherence of the programmable material to the other material by inducing bonding of the programmable material to the other material, and/or by scattering the programmable material and the other material across an interface between them. The memory cells may include first electrode material, first ovonic material, second electrode material, second ovonic material and third electrode material. The various electrode materials and ovonic materials may join to one another at boundary bands having ovonic materials embedded in electrode materials and vice versa; and having damage-producing implant species embedded therein. Some embodiments include ovonic material joining dielectric material along a boundary band, with the boundary band having ovonic material embedded in dielectric material and vice versa. |
| US09236563B2 |
Magnetic memory device and method of manufacturing the magnetic memory device
According to one embodiment, a magnetic memory device includes a magnetoresistance effect element having a structure in which a first magnetic layer, a nonmagnetic layer, a second magnetic layer, and a third magnetic layer are stacked, wherein the third magnetic layer comprises a first region and a plurality of second regions, and each of the second regions is surrounded by the first region, has conductivity, and has a greater magnetic property than the first region. |
| US09236558B1 |
Hybridized oxide capping layer for perpendicular magnetic anisotropy
A hybrid oxide capping layer (HOCL) is disclosed and used in a magnetic tunnel junction to enhance thermal stability and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in an adjoining reference layer. The HOCL has an interface oxide layer adjoining the reference layer and one or more transition metal oxide layers wherein each of the metal layers selected to form a transition metal oxide has an absolute value of free energy of oxide formation less than that of the metal used to make the interface oxide layer. One or more of the HOCL layers is under oxidized. Oxygen from one or more transition metal oxide layers preferably migrates into the interface oxide layer during an anneal to further oxidize the interface oxide. As a result, a less strenuous oxidation step is required to initially oxidize the lower HOCL layer and minimizes oxidative damage to the reference layer. |
| US09236555B2 |
Piezoelectric based MEMS structure
In one embodiment, a method of deforming a MEMS structure includes providing a base layer, providing a first piezoelectric slab operably connected to a surface of the base layer, determining a desired deformation of the base layer, applying a first potential to a first electrode operably connected to the first piezoelectric slab, applying a second potential to a second electrode operably connected to the first piezoelectric slab, and deforming the base layer with the first piezoelectric slab using the applied first potential and the applied second potential based upon the determined desired deformation. |
| US09236553B2 |
Solar thermoelectric cell
A photoelectric cell includes at least one photoelectric conversion module. The at least one photoelectric conversion module includes a first photoelectric conversion element and a second photoelectric conversion element. The first photoelectric conversion element includes a first absorbing part and a first non-absorbing part. An angle between the first absorbing part and the first non-absorbing part is less than 90 degrees. The second photoelectric conversion element includes a second non-absorbing part and a second absorbing part electrically connected with the second absorbing part. An angle between the second absorbing part and the second non-absorbing part is less than 90 degrees. The first absorbing part is electrically connected with the second absorbing part. |
| US09236547B2 |
Two part flexible light emitting semiconductor device
Provided is a light emitting semiconductor device comprising a flexible dielectric layer, a conductive layer on at least one side of the dielectric layer, at least one cavity or via in the dielectric substrate, and a light emitting semiconductor supported by the cavity or via. Also provided is a support article comprising a flexible dielectric layer, a conductive layer on at least one side and at least one cavity or via in the dielectric substrate. Further provided is a flexible light emitting semiconductor device system comprising the above-described light emitting semiconductor device attached to the above-described support article. |
| US09236544B2 |
Light emitting device
A light emitting structure including a first conductive semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a second conductive semiconductor layer. A first electrode is electrically coupled to the first conductive semiconductor layer. A current blocking layer is provided adjacent to the light emitting structure, and includes a top surface disposed in the first conductive semiconductor layer by passing through the active layer. A first metal layer is provided over the current blocking layer and contacts the first conductive semiconductor layer, and a reflective electrode is electrically coupled to the second conductive semiconductor layer. |
| US09236533B2 |
Light emitting diode and method for manufacturing same
Disclosed are a light-emitting diode and a method for manufacturing the same. A light-emitting diode according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a first conductive clad layer; a light-scattering pattern configured, in the first conductive clad layer, having a refractive index different from that of the first conductive clad layer; an active layer located under the first conductive clad layer; a second conductive clad layer located under the active layer; a first electrode configured to be electrically connected to the first conductive clad layer; and a second electrode configured to be electrically connected to the second conductive clad layer. The light-scattering pattern can improve light extraction efficiency. |
| US09236531B2 |
Light emitting device and lighting system
Disclosed are a light emitting device, a method of fabricating a light emitting device, a light emitting device package, and a lighting system. The light emitting device includes a first conductive semiconductor layer (112), an InxGa1-xN layer (where, 0 |
| US09236524B2 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor light emitting device
The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device, comprising: forming a finger electrode in electrical communication with a second semiconductor layer; forming, on the finger electrode, a non-conductive reflective layer made up of a multi-layer dielectric film, for reflecting light from the active layer towards a first semiconductor layer on the side of a growth substrate, with the non-conductive reflective layer including a bottom layer formed by chemical vapor deposition and at least two layers formed by physical vapor deposition; and forming an electrical connection, passing through the non-conductive reflective film and being connected the finger electrode. |
| US09236523B2 |
Method and apparatus for forming a transparent conductive oxide using hydrogen
A method and apparatus for forming a crystalline cadmium stannate layer of a photovoltaic device by heating an amorphous layer in the presence of hydrogen gas. |
| US09236520B2 |
Proximity sensor systems and methods of operating same
Techniques for using photo detectors as tunable proximity sensors for detection of target objects and ascertaining their distance from the proximity sensors are disclosed. In one embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a proximity sensor system including a photo detector having a first doped region, a gate, a second doped region and a light absorbing region, a control circuitry for generating a plurality of control signals to be applied to the photo detector, and a signal detector to detect an output signal from the photo detector. |
| US09236519B2 |
Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode with high signal-to-noise ratio, and corresponding manufacturing process
An embodiment of a geiger-mode avalanche photodiode includes: a body of semiconductor material, having a first surface and a second surface; a cathode region of a first type of conductivity, which extends within the body; and an anode region of a second type of conductivity, which extends within the cathode region and faces the first surface, the anode and cathode regions defining a junction. The anode region includes at least two subregions, which extend at a distance apart within the cathode region starting from the first surface, and delimit at least one gap housing a portion of the cathode region, the maximum width of the gap and the levels of doping of the two subregions and of the cathode region being such that, by biasing the junction at a breakdown voltage, a first depleted region occupies completely the portion of the cathode region within the gap. |
| US09236518B2 |
Sensor and method for fabricating the same
A sensor and its fabrication method are provided, the sensor includes: a base substrate, a group of gate lines and a group of data lines arranged as crossing each other, and a plurality of sensing elements arranged in an array and defined by the group of gate lines and the group of data lines, each sensing element including a TFT device and a photodiode sensing device, wherein a channel region of the TFT device is inverted and the source and drain electrodes are positioned between the active layer and the gate electrode. The sensor reduces the number of mask as well as the production cost and simplifies the production process, thereby significantly improves the production capacity and the defect-free rate. |
| US09236514B1 |
Solar panel riser assembly and weight balanced solar panel array using same
A solar module riser assembly that is configured to allow a solar module attached thereto to fall-to-flat when not being forced into an angular position is provided. A riser assembly includes a riser support and a tube support attached to the riser support. A torque tube may extend across a plurality of riser assemblies and be retained by tube supports attached to each of the riser assemblies. A torque tube support is configured to rotate about the riser support and thereby position a solar module coupled thereto at an optimum angular orientation for solar exposure and track the sun. A first riser and second riser may be configured on opposing sides of a central drive device and lever arms attached to link bars drive tube supports when the link bar is moved. The first and second riser may be configured to create equal and opposite force on the link bar. |
| US09236503B2 |
Solar cell
A connection part for connecting an interconnector is separated from a region having a photoelectric conversion layer formed thereon to improve a strength of the connection pad, thereby provide a solar cell suppressing cracks, breaks, and the like. A solar cell includes a photoelectric conversion layer, an electrode pad formed on the photoelectric conversion layer, an interconnector connected to the electrode pad, a metal thin film formed under the photoelectric conversion layer, a relay terminal being spaced apart from the photoelectric conversion layer and the metal thin film and connected to the metal thin film by connection conductor, and a connection pad formed on the relay terminal. |
| US09236500B2 |
Schottky barrier diode and method for manufacturing schottky barrier diode
A Schottky barrier diode and a method of manufacturing the Schottky barrier diode are provided. The diode includes an n− type epitaxial layer disposed on a first surface of an n+ type silicon carbide substrate and having an upper surface, a lower surface, and an inclined surface that connects the upper surface and the lower surface. A p region is disposed on the inclined surface of the n− type epitaxial layer and a Schottky electrode is disposed on the upper surface of the n− type epitaxial layer and the p region. In addition, an ohmic electrode is disposed on a second surface of the n+ type silicon carbide substrate. |
| US09236499B2 |
Junction field-effect transistor with raised source and drain regions formed by selective epitaxy
Junction field-effect transistors and design structures for a junction field-effect transistor. A source and a drain of the junction field-effect transistor are comprised of a semiconductor material grown by selective epitaxy and in direct contact with a top surface of a semiconductor layer. A gate is formed that is aligned with a channel laterally disposed in the semiconductor layer between the source and the drain. The source, the drain, and the semiconductor layer are each comprised of a second semiconductor material having an opposite conductivity type from a first semiconductor material comprising the gate. |
| US09236496B2 |
Thin film transistor and display device
The invention provides a thin film transistor that can reduce an off-current flowing in end-parts in a channel width direction of a channel layer and a manufacturing method therefor. |
| US09236486B2 |
Offset independently operable VTFT electrodes
A multiple vertical transistor device includes a polymeric material post on a substrate. An inorganic material cap extends beyond first and second edge of the post to define first and second reentrant profiles. First and second portions of a conformal conductive gate layer define first and second gates in the first and second reentrant profiles, respectively. A conformal electrically insulating layer maintains the first and second reentrant profiles and is in contact with the first and second gates. First and second portions of a semiconductor layer, maintaining the first and second reentrant profiles, are in contact with the conformal electrically insulating layer that is in contact with the first and second gates, respectively. The first and second portions of the semiconductor layer are electrically independent from each other. First and second electrodes are associated with the first gate. Third and fourth electrodes are associated with the second gate. |
| US09236485B2 |
Thin film transistor substrate and liquid crystal display device using the same
A thin film transistor substrate with an adhesive strength between a semiconductor layer and a source electrode, and between a semiconductor layer and a drain electrode; and an LCD device using the thin film transistor substrate. The thin film transistor substrate includes a substrate, a gate electrode on the substrate, a gate insulating film on the gate electrode, an active layer on the gate insulating film, an ohmic contact layer on the active layer, a barrier layer on the ohmic contact layer. The barrier layer is formed of a material layer containing Ge. A source electrode and a drain electrode are on the barrier layer. The source and drain electrodes are provided at a predetermined interval from each other. |
| US09236478B2 |
Method for manufacturing a fin MOS transistor
A method for manufacturing a fin MOS transistor from an SOI-type structure including a semiconductor layer on a silicon oxide layer coating a semiconductor support, this method including the steps of: a) forming, from the surface of the semiconductor layer, at least one trench delimiting at least one fin in the semiconductor layer and extending all the way to the surface of the semiconductor support; b) etching the sides of a portion of the silicon oxide layer located under the fin to form at least one recess under the fin; and c) filling the recess with a material selectively etchable over silicon oxide. |
| US09236475B2 |
Semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating the same
A method of fabricating one or more semiconductor devices includes forming a trench in a semiconductor substrate, performing a cycling process to remove contaminants from the trench, and forming an epitaxial layer on the trench. The cycling process includes sequentially supplying a first reaction gas containing germane, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen and a second reaction gas containing hydrogen chloride and hydrogen onto the semiconductor substrate. |
| US09236474B2 |
Method to form strained channel in thin box SOI structures by elastic strain relaxation of the substrate
Methods and structures for forming strained-channel FETs are described. A strain-inducing layer may be formed under stress in a silicon-on-insulator substrate below the insulator. Stress-relief cuts may be formed in the strain-inducing layer to relieve stress in the strain-inducing layer. The relief of stress can impart strain to an adjacent semiconductor layer. Strained-channel, fully-depleted SOI FETs and strained-channel finFETs may be formed from the adjacent semiconductor layer. The amount and type of strain may be controlled by etch depths and geometries of the stress-relief cuts and choice of materials for the strain-inducing layer. |
| US09236473B2 |
Field effect transistor devices
A memcapacitor device includes a pair of opposing conductive electrodes. A semiconductive material including mobile dopants within a dielectric and a mobile dopant barrier dielectric material are received between the pair of opposing conductive electrodes. The semiconductive material and the barrier dielectric material are of different composition relative one another which is at least characterized by at least one different atomic element. One of the semiconductive material and the barrier dielectric material is closer to one of the pair of electrodes than is the other of the semiconductive material and the barrier dielectric material. The other of the semiconductive material and the barrier dielectric material is closer to the other of the pair of electrodes than is the one of the semiconductive material and the barrier dielectric material. Other implementations are disclosed, including field effect transistors, memory arrays, and methods. |
| US09236471B2 |
Semiconductor structure and method for manufacturing the same
A semiconductor structure comprises a substrate having a first conductive type; a deep well having a second conductive type formed in the substrate; a first well having the first conductive type and a second well having the second conductive type both formed in the deep well and the second well spaced apart from the first well; a gate electrode formed on the substrate and disposed between the first and second wells; an isolation extending down from the surface of the substrate and disposed between the gate electrode and the second well; a conductive plug including a first portion and a second portion electrically connected to each other, and the first portion electrically connected to the gate electrode, and the second portion penetrating into the isolation. The bottom surface of the second portion of the conductive plug is covered by the isolation. |
| US09236470B2 |
Semiconductor power device and method of fabricating the same
A semiconductor power device and a method of fabricating the same are provided. The semiconductor power device involving: a first conductivity type semiconductor substrate; an epitaxial layer formed on the semiconductor substrate; a second conductivity type well formed in the semiconductor substrate and the epitaxial layer; a drain region formed in the well; an oxide layer that insulates a gate region from the drain region; a first conductivity type buried layer formed in the well; a second conductivity type drift region surrounding the buried layer; and a second conductivity type TOP region formed between the buried layer and the oxide layer. |
| US09236469B2 |
High-voltage LDMOS integrated device
The invention discloses a high-voltage LDMOS integrated device, which is interdigitally structured in a plan view and which including: a first area corresponding to a source fingertip area, wherein a first sectional structure of the first area particularly includes: a first drain; and a first longitudinal voltage-withstanding buffer layer located below the first drain and consisted of a first deep N-well and a first low-voltage N-well, wherein the first low-voltage N-well is located in the first deep-N well, and the first deep-N well is located in a P-type substrate; and a second area non-overlapping with the first area, wherein a second sectional structure of the second area particularly includes: a second drain; and a second longitudinal voltage-withstanding buffer layer located below the second drain and consisted of a second deep N-well and a second low-voltage N-well. |
| US09236468B2 |
Semiconductor transistor device and method for manufacturing same
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a drift layer. The device includes a base layer. The device includes a source layer selectively provided on a surface of the base layer. The device includes a gate electrode provided via a gate insulating film in a trench penetrating the source layer and the base layer to reach the drift layer. The device includes a field plate electrode provided under the gate electrode in the trench. The device includes a drain electrode electrically connected to the drift layer. The device includes a source electrode. The field plate electrode is electrically connected to the source electrode. An impurity concentration of a first conductivity type contained in the base layer is lower than an impurity concentration of the first conductivity type contained in the drift layer. And the impurity concentration of the first conductivity type contained in the drift layer is not less than 1×1016 (atoms/cm3). |
| US09236466B1 |
Analog circuits having improved insulated gate transistors, and methods therefor
A circuit can include at least one pair of deeply depleted channel (DDC) transistors having sources commonly coupled to a same current path; and a bias circuit configured to provide bias currents to the drains of the DDC transistors; wherein each DDC transistor includes a source and drain doped to a first conductivity type, a substantially undoped channel region, and a highly doped screening region of the first conductivity type formed below the channel region. |
| US09236463B2 |
Compressive strained III-V complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device
A semiconductor device including a first lattice dimension III-V semiconductor layer present on a semiconductor substrate, and a second lattice dimension III-V semiconductor layer that present on the first lattice dimension III-V semiconductor layer, wherein the second lattice dimension III-V semiconductor layer has a greater lattice dimension than the first lattice dimension III-V semiconductor layer, and the second lattice dimension III-V semiconductor layer has a compressive strain present therein. A gate structure is present on a channel portion of the second lattice dimension III-V semiconductor layer, wherein the channel portion of second lattice dimension III-V semiconductor layer has the compressive strain. A source region and a drain region are present on opposing sides of the channel portion of the second lattice dimension III-V semiconductor layer. |
| US09236457B2 |
Method for manufacturing a TFT array substrate comprising a zinc oxide semiconductor layer and an ohmic contact layer
A method for manufacturing thin film transistor array substrate is disclosed. The method includes sequentially depositing a semiconductor layer and an ohmic contact layer on the base substrate formed with a gate insulator and patterning the semiconductor layer and the ohmic contact layer, wherein the material of the semiconductor layer is zinc oxide, and the material of the ohmic contact layer is GaxZn1-xO, where 0 |
| US09236456B2 |
Method for manufacturing semiconductor device
To provide a method by which a semiconductor device including a thin film transistor with excellent electric characteristics and high reliability is manufactured with a small number of steps. After a channel protective layer is formed over an oxide semiconductor film containing In, Ga, and Zn, a film having n-type conductivity and a conductive film are formed, and a resist mask is formed over the conductive film. The conductive film, the film having n-type conductivity, and the oxide semiconductor film containing In, Ga, and Zn are etched using the channel protective layer and gate insulating films as etching stoppers with the resist mask, so that source and drain electrode layers, a buffer layer, and a semiconductor layer are formed. |
| US09236448B2 |
Method for achieving very small feature size in semiconductor device by undertaking silicide sidewall growth and etching
In the present method of fabricating a semiconductor device, initially, a semiconductor substrate is provided. An oxide layer is provided on and in contact with the substrate, and a polysilicon layer is provided on and in contact with the oxide layer. A layer of photoresist is provided on the polysilicon layer, and the photoresist is patterned to provide a photoresist body, which is used as a mask to etch away polysilicon and oxide, forming a polysilicon element thereunder. The photoresist body is then removed. A nickel layer is provided on the resulting structure, and a reaction step is undertaken to provide that nickel diffuses into the exposed top and side portions of the polysilicon body, forming nickel silicide. After the reaction step, the remaining nickel is removed, and a chemical-mechanical polishing step is undertaken to remove nickel silicide so that a pair of nickel silicide bodies remain, separated by polysilicon. Using the nickel silicide bodies as masks, the polysilicon and oxide thereunder are etched away. |
| US09236438B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a substrate and a plurality of transistors arranged on the substrate in an array. The transistor includes a first electrode, a plurality of second electrodes, and a gate electrode. The second electrodes are arranged around the first electrode. The gate electrode is located between the first electrode and the second electrodes. The first electrode is a polygon. The gate electrode is around the first electrode, and an edge of the gate electrode facing the first electrode has a shape corresponding to that of the first electrode. The first electrode and the edge of the gate electrode facing the first electrode are regular polygons, and have the same center. |
| US09236436B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate having a main surface having an element formation region, a guard ring, a guard ring electrode, a channel stopper region, a channel stopper electrode, and a field plate disposed over and insulated from the semiconductor substrate. The field plate includes a first portion located between the main surface of the semiconductor substrate and the guard ring electrode, and a second portion located between the main surface of the semiconductor substrate and the channel stopper electrode. The first portion has a portion overlapping with the guard ring electrode when viewed in a plan view. The second portion has a portion overlapping with the channel stopper electrode when viewed in the plan view. In this way, a semiconductor device allowing for stabilized breakdown voltage can be obtained. |
| US09236431B2 |
Semiconductor device and termination region structure thereof
A termination region structure of a semiconductor device is provided, which includes: a semiconductor layer; a plurality of trenches, formed on a surface of the semiconductor layer; a connecting trench, formed on the surface of the semiconductor layer, for connecting two adjacent trenches in the plurality of trenches; a first insulating layer, formed on surfaces of the plurality of trenches, the connecting trench, and the semiconductor layer; a conductive material, formed in the plurality of trenches and the connecting trench; a second insulating layer, covering part of a surface of the first insulating layer and part of a surface of the conductive material; and a metal layer, covering part of a surface of the second insulating layer. |
| US09236430B2 |
Porous insulation film, and a semiconductor device including such porous insulation film
The deposition rate of a porous insulation film is increased, and the film strength of the porous insulation film is improved. Two or more organic siloxane raw materials each having a cyclic SiO structure as a main skeleton thereof, and having mutually different structures, are vaporized, and transported with a carrier gas to a reactor (chamber), and an oxidant gas including an oxygen atom is added thereto. Thus, a porous insulation film is formed by a plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method or a plasma polymerization method in the reactor (chamber). In the step, the ratio of the flow rate of the added oxidant gas to the flow rate of the carrier gas is more than 0 and 0.08 or less. |
| US09236428B2 |
Semiconductor element, method for manufacturing the semiconductor element, and semiconductor device including the semiconductor element
A structure including an oxide semiconductor layer which is provided over an insulating surface and includes a channel formation region and a pair of low-resistance regions between which the channel formation region is positioned, a gate insulating film covering a top surface and a side surface of the oxide semiconductor layer, a gate electrode covering a top surface and a side surface of the channel formation region with the gate insulating film positioned therebetween, and electrodes electrically connected to the low-resistance regions is employed. The electrodes are electrically connected to at least side surfaces of the low-resistance regions, so that contact resistance with the source electrode and the drain electrode is reduced. |
| US09236427B2 |
Multi-material structures and capacitor-containing semiconductor constructions
Some embodiments include a method of forming a capacitor. An opening is formed through a silicon-containing mass to a base, and sidewalls of the opening are lined with protective material. A first capacitor electrode is formed within the opening and has sidewalls along the protective material. At least some of the silicon-containing mass is removed with an etch. The protective material protects the first capacitor electrode from being removed by the etch. A second capacitor electrode is formed along the sidewalls of the first capacitor electrode, and is spaced from the first capacitor electrode by capacitor dielectric. Some embodiments include multi-material structures having one or more of aluminum nitride, molybdenum nitride, niobium nitride, niobium oxide, silicon dioxide, tantalum nitride and tantalum oxide. Some embodiments include semiconductor constructions. |
| US09236426B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same
Disclosed is a semiconductor device having a substrate including first and second regions. First interlayer insulation layers and conductive patterns alternately are stacked on a first region of the substrate. A second interlayer insulation layer covers the first interlayer insulation layers and the conductive patterns. A resistor is formed in the second interlayer insulation layer in the second region of the substrate. |
| US09236422B2 |
Display panel and production method for same
Provided is a display panel having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix of rows and columns. Each of the pixels is composed of a plurality of first sub-pixels emitting light of different colors. Each of the first sub-pixels is composed of a plurality of second sub-pixels emitting light of the same color. Each of the second sub-pixels includes: a first electrode; a second electrode above the first electrode; and a light-emitting layer between the first electrode and the second electrode. |
| US09236416B2 |
High density nonvolatile memory
A memory cell with a substrate; a first transistor comprising a first gate width and a terminal; resistive memory elements above the transistor, each element comprising an element width, a first and second end; parallel conductive lines above the first memory elements and coupled to the first elements at their first ends; a second plurality of resistive memory elements disposed above the conductive lines, each element comprising the width, the first end, and the second end and coupled to the conductive lines at their first ends; a second transistor disposed above the second plurality of resistive memory elements and comprising a gate width and a terminal, the first memory elements is jointly coupled to the terminal of the first transistor at their second ends; the second memory elements is jointly coupled to the terminal of the second transistor at their second ends; and the gate width is larger than the element width. |
| US09236415B2 |
Diode matrix device with enhanced stability
The invention relates to a device comprising a substrate supporting a matrix of diodes organized in rows and columns, and a peripheral substrate contact is arranged on at least one side of the matrix, characterized in that the substrate comprises one or several buried conducting lines having no direct electrical connection with the peripheral substrate contact and being positioned between at least two adjacent columns of diodes and between at least two adjacent rows of diodes. |
| US09236414B2 |
Light-emitting device
A light-emitting device includes a substrate, and a plurality of light-emitting elements that are mounted on the substrate and each include an LED chip and a phosphor layer on a surface thereof. A maximum deviation in a value of a chromaticity coordinate x of light emitted from the plurality of light-emitting elements is not less than 0.0125. |
| US09236413B2 |
Manufacturing method of solid-state imaging apparatus
A color filter 5 is formed above a semiconductor substrate SB, in an area above a predetermined light receiving portion among a plurality of light receiving portions 1. A sacrificial layer 8 is formed on upper and side of the first color filter 5. Color filters 6 and 7 are formed above the semiconductor substrate SB, in areas above other light receiving portions adjacent to the predetermined light receiving portion, to expose at least part of the upper surface area of the first color filter 5 on the sacrificial layer 8. The sacrificial layer 8 is etched to remove the upper and side areas of the color filter 5 on the sacrificial layer 8 to form hollow portions 9 between the color filter 5 and the color filter 6 and between the color filter 5 and the color filter 7. |
| US09236412B2 |
Semiconductor device, manufacturing method thereof, solid-state imaging device, and electronic apparatus
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes bonding a first semiconductor wafer including a first substrate and a first insulating layer formed to contact one surface of the first substrate, and a second semiconductor wafer including a second substrate and a second insulating layer, forming a third insulating layer, performing etching so that the second insulating layer remains on a second wiring layer, forming a first connection hole, forming an insulating film on the first connection hole, performing etching of the second insulating layer and the insulating film, forming a second connection hole, and forming a first via formed in inner portions of the connection holes and connected to the second wiring layer, wherein a diameter of the first connection hole formed on the other surface of the first substrate is greater than a diameter of the first connection hole formed on the third insulating layer. |
| US09236407B2 |
Image sensor
An image sensor arranged inside and on top of a semiconductor substrate, having a plurality of pixels, each including: a photosensitive area, a read area, and a storage area extending between the photosensitive area and the read area; at least one first insulated vertical electrode extending in the substrate between the photosensitive area and the storage area; and at least one second insulated vertical electrode extending in the substrate between the storage area and the read area. |
| US09236403B2 |
Display apparatus having low reflection polymer layer
A display apparatus includes a first insulating substrate including a front surface that provides an image and a rear surface opposite to the front surface, a low reflection layer provided on the rear surface, a gate wiring part provided on the low reflection layer, a data wiring part provided on the rear surface, the data wiring part that is insulated from the gate wiring part; and a pixel which is connected to the data wiring part and displays the image, where the low reflection layer includes a polymer resin having a black color. |
| US09236401B2 |
Display apparatus and method of manufacturing the same
A display apparatus includes: a substrate defining transistor and wiring areas; a thin film transistor in the transistor area and including a gate electrode, an active layer, and source and drain electrodes; an etch prevention layer in the transistor area, absent in the wiring area and covering the active layer, and first and second contact holes defined in the etch prevention layer and through which the active layer is electrically coupled to the source and drain electrodes; a first wiring layer in the wiring area; a first insulating layer which covers the gate electrode and the first wiring layer, and a third contact hole defined in the first insulating layer in the wiring area and exposing the first wiring layer; and a second wiring layer on the first insulating layer and in the wiring area, and electrically coupled to the first wiring layer via the third contact hole. |
| US09236399B1 |
Liquid crystal display device and manufacturing method thereof
A liquid crystal display device includes a gate electrode; a gate insulating layer on the gate electrode; an active layer on the gate insulating layer corresponding to the gate electrode; source and drain electrodes on the active layer; a first passivation layer on the source and drain electrodes; a common electrode on the first passivation layer; a second passivation layer on the common electrode, covering the common electrode, and having a separate region from the first passivation layer at a thickness of the common electrode; a pixel electrode on the second passivation layer and connected to the drain electrode through a drain contact hole; and a common line at a same layer as the pixel electrode and connected to the common electrode. |
| US09236397B2 |
FinFET device containing a composite spacer structure
A composite spacer structure is formed on vertical sidewalls of a gate structure that is formed straddling a semiconductor fin. In one embodiment, the composite spacer structure includes an inner low-k dielectric material portion and an outer nitride material portion. |
| US09236392B1 |
Multiheight electrically conductive via contacts for a multilevel interconnect structure
Contact openings extending to sacrificial layers located at different depths can be formed by sequentially exposing a greater number of openings in a mask layer by iterative alternation of trimming of a slimming layer over the mask layer and an anisotropic etch that recesses pre-existing contact openings by one level. In one embodiment, pairs of an electrically conductive via contact and electrically conductive electrodes can be simultaneously formed as integrated line and via structures. In another embodiment, encapsulated unfilled cavities can be formed in the contact openings by non-conformal deposition of a material layer, electrically conductive electrodes can be formed by replacement of portions of the sacrificial layers, and the electrically conductive via contacts can be subsequently formed on the electrically conductive electrodes. Electrically conductive via contacts extending to electrically conductive electrodes located at different level can be provided with self-aligned insulating liner. |
| US09236386B2 |
Semiconductor device with buried bit line and method for fabricating the same
A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes etching a semiconductor substrate to form bulb-type trenches that define a plurality of active regions in the semiconductor substrate; forming a supporter in each of the bulb-type trenches; dividing each active region, of the plurality of active regions, into a pair of body lines by forming a trench through each active region; and forming a bit line in each body line of the pair of body lines. |
| US09236385B2 |
Semiconductor device
An object is to provide a memory device including a memory element that can be operated without problems by a thin film transistor with a low off-state current. Provided is a memory device in which a memory element including at least one thin film transistor that includes an oxide semiconductor layer is arranged as a matrix. The thin film transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer has a high field effect mobility and low off-state current, and thus can be operated favorably without problems. In addition, the power consumption can be reduced. Such a memory device is particularly effective in the case where the thin film transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer is provided in a pixel of a display device because the memory device and the pixel can be formed over one substrate. |
| US09236384B2 |
Semiconductor memory device and method for accessing the same
A semiconductor memory device and a method for accessing the same are disclosed. The semiconductor memory device comprises a memory transistor, a first control transistor and a second control transistor, wherein a source electrode and a gate electrode of the first control transistor are coupled to a first bit line and a first word line respectively, a drain electrode and a gate electrode of the second control transistor are coupled to a second word line and a second bit line respectively, a gate electrode of the memory transistor is coupled to a drain electrode of the first control transistor, a drain electrode of the memory transistor is coupled to a source electrode of the second control transistor, and a source electrode of the memory transistor is coupled to ground, and wherein the memory transistor exhibits a gate electrode-controlled memory characteristic. The semiconductor memory device increases integration level and decreases refresh frequency. |
| US09236383B2 |
Method and apparatus for fabricating a memory device with a dielectric etch stop layer
The present technique relates to a method and apparatus to provide a dielectric etch stop layer that prevents shorts for a buried digit layer as an interconnect. In a memory device, such as DRAM or SRAM, various layers are deposited to form structures, such as PMOS gates, NMOS gates, memory cells, P+ active areas, and N+ active areas. These structures are fabricated through the use of multiple masking processes, which may cause shorts when a buried digit layer is deposited if the masking processes are misaligned. Accordingly, a dielectric etch stop layer, such as aluminum oxide Al2O3 or silicon carbide SiC, may be utilized in the array to prevent shorts between the wordlines, active areas, and the buried digit layer when the contacts are misaligned. |
| US09236380B2 |
Semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) device and related methods for making same using non-oxidizing thermal treatment
A method for making a semiconductor device may include forming, on a first semiconductor layer of a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, a second semiconductor layer comprising a second semiconductor material different than a first semiconductor material of the first semiconductor layer. The method may further include performing a thermal treatment in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to diffuse the second semiconductor material into the first semiconductor layer, and removing the second semiconductor layer. |
| US09236377B2 |
Semiconductor device and display device
A semiconductor device including a circuit which does not easily deteriorate is provided. The semiconductor device includes a first transistor, a second transistor, a first switch, a second switch, and a third switch. A first terminal of the first transistor is connected to a first wiring. A second terminal of the first transistor is connected to a second wiring. A gate and a first terminal of the second transistor are connected to the first wiring. A second terminal of the second transistor is connected to a gate of the first transistor. The first switch is connected between the second wiring and a third wiring. The second switch is connected between the second wiring and the third wiring. The third switch is connected between the gate of the first transistor and the third wiring. |
| US09236376B2 |
Power semiconductor device with oscillation prevention
There are disclosed herein various implementations of composite semiconductor devices with active oscillation control. In one exemplary implementation, a normally OFF composite semiconductor device comprises a normally ON III-nitride power transistor and a low voltage (LV) device cascoded with the normally ON III-nitride power transistor to form the normally OFF composite semiconductor device. The LV device may be configured to include one or both of a reduced output resistance due to, for example, a modified body implant and a reduced transconductance due to, for example, a modified oxide thickness to cause a gain of the composite semiconductor device to be less than approximately 10,000. |
| US09236374B2 |
Fin contacted electrostatic discharge (ESD) devices with improved heat distribution
Fin contacted electrostatic discharge (ESD) devices with improved heat distribution and methods of manufacture are disclosed. The method includes forming a plurality of fins on a substrate which is aligned with at least one well region in the substrate. The method further includes forming at least one electrostatic discharge (ESD) device spanning two or more of the plurality of fins. The forming of the ESD device includes forming an epitaxial material spanning the two or more of the plurality of fins and forming one or more contacts on the epitaxial material. |
| US09236372B2 |
Combined output buffer and ESD diode device
An integrated circuit ESD protection circuit (270) is formed with a combination device consisting of a gated diode (271) and an output buffer MOSFET (272) where the body tie fingers of a first conductivity type (307) are formed in the substrate (301, 302) and isolated from the drain regions of a second conductivity type (310) using a plurality of diode poly fingers (231, 232) which are interleaved with a plurality of poly gate fingers (204, 205) forming the output buffer MOSFET (272). |
| US09236368B2 |
Semiconductor device including embedded controller die and method of making same
A semiconductor device includes a substrate (102) with a cavity (112) formed therein for receiving a semiconductor die. In examples, the semiconductor die is a controller die (114). The controller die (114) may be electrically connected to the substrate (102) with electrical traces (120) which may be formed for example by printing. After the controller die (114) is electrically connected to the substrate (102), one or more memory die (150) may be affixed to the substrate (102), over the cavity (112) and controller die (114). |
| US09236363B2 |
Wedge bond foot jumper connections
A semiconductor device includes a substrate, first and second bond pad structures supported by the substrate and spaced from one another by a gap, and a wire bond foot jumper extending across the gap and bonded to the first and second bond pad structures. |
| US09236360B2 |
IC chip package and chip-on-glass structure using the same
An IC chip package and a chip-on-glass structure using the same are provided. The IC chip package includes an IC chip having a circuit surface, and plural copper (Cu) bumps formed on the circuit surface. Moreover, a non-conductive film (NCF) could be formed on the circuit surface to cover the Cu bumps. The chip-on-glass structure includes a glass substrate, plural electrodes such as aluminum (Al) electrodes formed on the glass substrate, and a conductive film formed on the electrodes. The conductive film contains a number of conductive particles. When the IC chip package is coupled to the glass substrate, the Cu bumps can be coupled to the corresponding electrodes via conductive particles. |
| US09236354B2 |
Integrated circuit package with thermal neutron shielding
A semiconductor package with thermal neutron shielding is disclosed. The semiconductor package includes a substrate and an integrated circuit die disposed on the substrate. The semiconductor package also has a thermal neutron shield including a shielding material. The shielding material includes boron-10 and is configured to inhibit a portion of thermal neutrons that encounter the thermal neutron shield from passing through the thermal neutron shield. |
| US09236353B2 |
Integrated circuit having improved radiation immunity
An integrated circuit having improved radiation immunity is described. The integrated circuit comprises a substrate; a P-well formed on the substrate and having N-type transistors of a memory cell; and an N-well formed on the substrate and having P-type transistors of the memory cell; wherein the N-well has minimal dimensions for accommodating the P-type transistors. |
| US09236350B2 |
Packaging DRAM and SOC in an IC package
An integrated circuit package including a first substrate, a first die, a second die, a second substrate, and a system on chip. The first substrate includes a first portion including first connections, a second portion including no connections, a third portion including second connections, a first opening between the first portion and the second portion, and a second opening between the second portion and the third portion. The first die is arranged on the first substrate. The first die includes third connections to connect to the first connections via the first opening. The second die is arranged adjacent to the first die on the first substrate. The second die includes fourth connections to connect to the second connections via the second opening. The second substrate is connected to the first substrate. The system on chip is arranged on the second substrate between the first substrate and the second substrate. |
| US09236348B2 |
Ultrathin buried die module and method of manufacturing thereof
A method of forming a buried die module includes providing an initial laminate flex layer and forming a die opening through the initial laminate flex layer. A first uncut laminate flex layer is secured to the first surface of the initial laminate flex layer by way of an adhesive material and a die is positioned within the die opening of the initial laminate flex layer and onto the adhesive material. A second uncut laminate flex layer is secured to the second surface of the initial laminate flex layer by way of an adhesive material and the adhesive materials are then cured. Vias and metal interconnects are formed in and on the first and second uncut laminate flex layers, with each of the metal interconnects extending through a respective via and being directly metalized to a metal interconnect on the initial laminate flex layer or a die pad on the die. |
| US09236344B2 |
Thin beam deposited fuse
A back-end-of-line thin ion beam deposited fuse (204) is deposited without etching to connect first and second last metal interconnect structures (110, 120) formed with last metal layers (LM) in a planar multi-layer interconnect stack to programmably connect separate first and second circuit connected to the first and second last metal interconnect structures. |
| US09236338B2 |
Built-up substrate, method for manufacturing same, and semiconductor integrated circuit package
A method for manufacturing a build-up substrate, the build-up substrate comprising an insulating layer and a wiring pattern layer stacked over a circuit substrate, said method comprising the steps of: (i) applying a photoactive metal oxide precursor material to one or both sides of the circuit substrate with a wiring pattern, and drying the applied photoactive metal oxide precursor material to form an insulating film; (ii) forming an opening for a via hole in the insulating film by exposure and development of the insulating film; (iii) applying a heat treatment to the insulating film to convert the insulating film into a metal oxide film, thereby forming a build-up insulating layer of the metal oxide film; and (iv) plating the build-up insulating layer to form via holes in the openings, forming a metal layer on the build-up insulating layer, and etching the metal layer to form a build-up wiring pattern; and (v) repeating the steps from (i) to (iv) at least one time. |
| US09236334B2 |
Wiring substrate and method for manufacturing wiring substrates
A wiring substrate includes a wiring layer, an outermost insulating layer laminated to the wiring layer, and a pad electrically connected to the wiring layer and exposed from a surface of the outermost insulating layer. The pad consists essentially of a first metal layer and a second metal layer. The first metal layer includes a first surface, which is exposed from the surface of the outermost insulating layer, and a second surface, which is located opposite to the first surface. The second metal layer includes is formed between the second surface of the first metal layer and the wiring layer. The first metal layer is formed from a metal selected from gold or silver or from an alloy including at least one of gold and silver. The second metal layer is formed from palladium or a palladium alloy. |
| US09236332B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of forming vertically offset bond on trace interconnect structure on leadframe
A semiconductor device has a vertically offset BOT interconnect structure. The vertical offset is achieved with a leadframe having a plurality of lead fingers around a die paddle. A first conductive layer is formed over the lead fingers. A second conductive layer is formed over the lead fingers. Each second conductive layer is positioned adjacent to the first conductive layer and each first conductive layer is positioned adjacent to the second conductive layer. The second conductive layer has a height greater than a height of the first conductive layer. The first and second conductive layers can have a side-by-side arrangement or staggered arrangement. Bumps are formed over the first and second conductive layers. Bond wires are electrically connected to the bumps. A semiconductor die is mounted over the die paddle of the leadframe and electrically connected to the bond wires and BOT interconnect structure. |
| US09236330B2 |
Power module
A power module according to the present invention includes a semiconductor device; a base part formed from an electrically conductive material on which the semiconductor device is mounted; a signal lead part formed from the same material as the base part, the signal lead part being electrically connected to the semiconductor device; and a thin plate lead part formed from the same material as the base part such that it is formed seamlessly from the base part and it is thinner than the base part, the thin plate lead part extending on the same side as the signal lead part with respect to the base part, wherein the thin plate lead part is electrically connected to a predetermined terminal of the semiconductor device via the base part such that it forms a potential detecting terminal for detecting a potential of the predetermined terminal of the semiconductor device. |
| US09236329B2 |
Semiconductor memory card
A semiconductor memory card includes a lead frame having external connection terminals, a controller chip mounted on the lead frame and a memory chip mounted on the lead frame. The lead frame, the controller chip, and the memory chip are sealed with a sealing resin layer that has a surface at which the external connection terminals are exposed and a recess surrounding the external connection terminals. |
| US09236324B2 |
Electric power semiconductor device and method for producing same
An electric power semiconductor device includes a power module and a heat dissipating member connected to the power module through a heat-conductive insulating resin sheet in which a mold resin part included in the power module has a protruding part in its peripheral part to prevent the heat-conductive insulating resin sheet from expanding in a planar direction. The heat-conductive insulating resin sheet is slightly thicker than the protruding part and has a resin exuding part exuded from a small gap between the protruding part and the heat dissipating member while the power module and the heat dissipating member are heated and pressurized to be bonded. |
| US09236323B2 |
Integrated heat spreader for multi-chip packages
An integrated heat spreader comprising a heat spreader frame that has a plurality of openings formed therethrough and a plurality of thermally conductive structures secured within the heat spreader frame openings. The thermally conductive structures can be formed to have various thicknesses which compensate for varying heights between at least two microelectronic devices in a multi-chip package. The thermally conductive structures can be secured in the heat spreader frame by sizing the openings and the thermally conductive structures such that the thermally conductive structures can be secured within the openings without requiring welding or adhesives. |
| US09236320B2 |
Chip package
A chip package is provided. The chip package includes a semiconductor chip, an isolation layer, a redistributing metal layer, and at least a bonding pad. The semiconductor chip includes at least one conducting disposed on a surface of the semiconductor chip. The isolation layer is disposed on the surface of the semiconductor chip, wherein the isolation layer has at least one first opening to expose the first conducting pad. The redistributing metal layer is disposed on the isolation layer and has at least a redistributing metal line corresponding to the conducting pad, the redistributing metal line is connected to the first conducting pad through the first opening. The bonding pad is disposed on the isolation layer and one side of the semiconductor chip, wherein the redistributing metal line extends to the bonding pad to electrically connect the conducting pad to the bonding pad. |
| US09236317B2 |
Semiconductor device
The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor element, a main lead and a resin package. The semiconductor element includes an obverse surface and a reverse surface spaced apart from each other in a thickness direction. The main lead supports the semiconductor element via the reverse surface of the semiconductor element. The resin package covers the entirety of the semiconductor element. The resin package covers the main lead in such a manner that a part of the main lead is exposed from the resin package. The semiconductor element includes a part that does not overlap the main lead as viewed in the thickness direction. |
| US09236314B2 |
High-K/metal gate stack using capping layer methods, IC and related transistors
Methods, IC and related transistors using capping layer with high-k/metal gate stacks are disclosed. In one embodiment, the IC includes a first type transistor having a gate electrode including a first metal, a second metal and a first dielectric layer, the first dielectric layer including oxygen; a second type transistor separated from the first type transistor by an isolation region, the second type transistor having a gate electrode including the second metal having a work function appropriate for the second type transistor and the first dielectric layer; and wherein the gate electrode of the first type transistor includes a rare earth metal between the first metal and the second metal and the gate electrode of the second type transistor includes a second dielectric layer made of an oxide of the rare earth metal. |
| US09236310B2 |
Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device
In an n-channel HK/MG transistor including: a gate insulating film made of a first high dielectric film containing La and Hf; and a gate electrode which is formed of a stacked film of a metal film and a polycrystalline Si film and which is formed in an active region in a main surface of a semiconductor substrate and surrounded by an element separation portion formed of an insulating film containing oxygen atoms, a second high dielectric film which contains Hf but whose La content is smaller than a La content of the first high dielectric film is formed below the gate electrode which rides on the element separation portion, instead of the first high dielectric film. |
| US09236308B1 |
Methods of fabricating fin structures of uniform height
Methods of fabricating fin structures having exposed upper fin portions with a uniform exposure height are disclosed herein. The fabrication methods include providing a substrate with plurality of fins and a dielectric material disposed between and over the plurality of fins, planarizing the dielectric material and the plurality of fins, and uniformly recessing the dielectric material to a pre-selected depth below upper surfaces of the plurality of fins to expose upper fin portions. The exposed upper fin portions, as a result of uniformly recessing the dielectric material, have a uniform exposure height above the recessed dielectric material. A protective film may be provided over the recessed dielectric material and exposed upper fin portions to preserve the uniform exposure height of the upper fin portions. The uniform exposure height of the exposed upper fin portions facilitates subsequent formation of one or more circuit structures above the substrate. |
| US09236305B2 |
Wafer dicing with etch chamber shield ring for film frame wafer applications
Laser and plasma etch wafer dicing where a mask is formed covering ICs formed on the wafer, as well as any bumps providing an interface to the ICs. The semiconductor wafer is coupled to a film frame by an adhesive film. The mask is patterned by laser scribing to provide a patterned mask with gaps. The laser scribing exposes regions of the semiconductor wafer, below thin film layers from which the ICs are formed. The semiconductor wafer is plasma etched through the gaps in the patterned mask while the film frame is maintained at an acceptably low temperature with a chamber shield ring configured to sit beyond the wafer edge and cover the frame. The shield ring may be raised and lowered, for example, on lifter pins to facilitate transfer of the wafer on frame. |
| US09236304B2 |
Semiconductor light emitting device and method of manufacturing the same
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device includes forming a plurality of semiconductor light emitting devices on a substrate, the semiconductor light emitting devices having at least one electrode pad formed on upper surfaces thereof; forming a conductive bump by forming a bump core on the electrode pad of each of the semiconductor light emitting devices and forming a reflective bump layer enclosing the bump core; forming a resin encapsulating part containing a phosphor on the plurality of semiconductor light emitting devices to encompass the conductive bump; polishing the resin encapsulating part to expose the bump core of the conductive bump to an upper surface of the resin encapsulating part; and forming individual semiconductor light emitting devices by cutting the resin encapsulating part between the semiconductor light emitting devices. |
| US09236300B2 |
Contact plugs in SRAM cells and the method of forming the same
A method includes forming a dielectric layer over a portion of an SRAM cell. The SRAM cell includes a first pull-up transistor and a second pull-up transistor, a first pull-down transistor and a second pull-down transistor forming cross-latched inverters with the first pull-up transistor and the second pull-up transistor, and a first pass-gate transistor and a second pass-gate transistor connected to drains of the first pull-up transistor and the first pull-down transistor and drains of the second pull-up transistor and the second pull-down transistor, respectively. A first mask layer is formed over the dielectric layer and patterned. A second mask layer is formed over the dielectric layer and patterned. The dielectric layer is etched using the first mask layer and the second mask layer in combination as an etching mask, wherein a contact opening is formed in the dielectric layer. A contact plug is formed in the contact opening. |
| US09236292B2 |
Selective area deposition of metal films by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD)
Selective area deposition of metal films by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is described. In an example, a method of fabricating a metallization structure for an integrated circuit involves forming an exposed surface above a substrate, the exposed surface including regions of exposed dielectric material and regions of exposed metal. The method also involves forming, using a selective metal deposition process, a metal layer on the regions of exposed metal without forming the metal layer on the regions of exposed dielectric material. |
| US09236290B2 |
Method for producing a semiconductor device
A method for producing a semiconductor device having a sidewall insulation includes providing a semiconductor body having a first side and a second side lying opposite the first side. At least one first trench is at least partly filled with insulation material proceeding from the first side in the direction toward the second side into the semiconductor body. The at least one first trench is produced between a first semiconductor body region for a first semiconductor device and a second semiconductor body region for a second semiconductor device. An isolating trench extends from the first side of the semiconductor body in the direction toward the second side of the semiconductor body between the first and second semiconductor body regions in such a way that at least part of the insulation material of the first trench adjoins at least a sidewall of the isolating trench. The second side of the semiconductor body is partly removed as far as the isolating trench. |
| US09236286B2 |
Micro electro mechanical systems sensor module package and method of manufacturing the same
Disclosed herein is a MEMS sensor module package. The MEMS sensor module package according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes: a printed circuit board (PCB); an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) stacked on the PCB, one side of the ASIC being wire-bonded to the PCB; a MEMS sensor stacked on the ASIC; and a molding encapsulating the MEMS sensor and the ASIC with a resin. Accordingly, the electrical connection distance between a MEMS sensor and an ASIC is shortened so that electrical characteristic may be improved. Further, a sensor module package may be implemented in an ASIC size, so that size reduction may be achieved to meet the requirements of mobile devices. |
| US09236285B2 |
Movable range adjusting mechanism for workpiece conveying device
The present invention enables adjustment of a motion range of a workpiece conveying mechanism by a simple configuration. Provided is a workpiece conveying device including a simple motion range adjusting mechanism for conveying workpieces of different sizes. According to one embodiment of the invention, the workpiece conveying device for conveying workpieces includes a workpiece holding mechanism configured to operate to hold and release the workpiece. The workpiece conveying device also includes an actuator equipped with a movable member directly or indirectly connected to the workpiece holding mechanism to drive the workpiece holding mechanism. The workpiece conveying device further includes a stopper device having a male member and a female member, and these male member and female member are configured to engage with each other in at least two different arrangements, thereby defining at least two predefined discontinuous holding positions of the workpiece holding mechanism connected to the movable member. |
| US09236283B2 |
Chamber apparatus and heating method
A chamber apparatus including a chamber which accommodates a substrate having a coating film formed thereon; a first heating part which is accommodated in the chamber and disposed on a first face side of the substrate; a second heating part which is accommodated in the chamber and disposed on a second face side of the substrate opposite to the first face; and a pressure control part which is capable of pressurizing and depressurizing inside of the chamber in a heated state. |
| US09236282B2 |
Arrangement, system, and method for processing multilayer bodies
The invention relates to a multilayer body arrangement, which comprises at least two multilayer bodies each having at least one surface to be processed as well as at least one device for positioning the multilayer bodies, wherein the device is configured such that the respective surfaces to be processed are opposite each other and thus form a quasi-closed processing space disposed between the surfaces, in which the processing occurs. It further relates to a system for processing multilayer bodies with such a multilayer body arrangement, as well as a method for processing multilayer bodies, wherein the multilayer bodies are disposed such that the respective surfaces to be processed are opposite each other and thus form a quasi-closed processing space disposed between the surfaces, in which the processing occurs. |
| US09236279B2 |
Method of dielectric film treatment
A method and system for cleaning a surface of a substrate after an etching operation includes determining a plurality of process parameters associated with the surface of the substrate. A plurality of application chemistries are identified based on the process parameters. The plurality of application chemistries includes a first application chemistry as an emulsion having a first immiscible liquid combined with a second immiscible liquid and solid particles distributed within the first immiscible liquid. The plurality of application chemistries including the first application chemistry are applied to the surface of the substrate such that the combined chemistries enhance the cleaning process by substantially removing the particulate and polymer residue contaminants from the surface of the substrate while preserving the characteristics of the features and of the low-k dielectric material through which the features are formed. |
| US09236278B2 |
Integrated circuit packaging system with a substrate embedded dummy-die paddle and method of manufacture thereof
A method of manufacture of an integrated circuit packaging system includes: providing a dummy-die paddle having a first inactive side facing up, a second inactive side facing down; forming an insulator in a single continuous structure around and in direct contact with the first inactive side; and mounting an integrated circuit over the dummy-die paddle and the insulator, the integrated circuit and the dummy-die paddle having the same coefficient of thermal expansion as the dummy-die paddle. |
| US09236275B2 |
MEMS acoustic transducer and method for fabricating the same
A MEMS acoustic transducer is provided, which includes a substrate, a MEMS chip, and a housing. The substrate has a first opening area and a lower electrode layer disposed over a surface of the substrate, wherein the first opening area includes at least one hole allowing acoustic pressure to enter the MEMS acoustic transducer. The MEMS chip is disposed over the surface of the substrate, including a second opening area and an upper electrode layer partially sealing the second opening area, wherein the upper electrode layer and the lower electrode layer, which are parallel to each other and have a gap therebetween, form an induction capacitor. The housing is disposed over the MEMS chip or the surface of the substrate creating a cavity with the MEMS chip or the substrate. In addition, a method for fabricating the above MEMS acoustic transducer is also provided. |
| US09236268B2 |
Manufacturing method of semiconductor device and lithography template
In the manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to the present embodiment, a resist is supplied on a base material. A template including a first template region having a device pattern and a second template region being adjacent to the device pattern and having supporting column patterns is pressed against the resist on the base material. The resist is cured, thereby transferring the device pattern to the resist on a first material region of the base material corresponding to the first template region and at the same time transferring the supporting column patterns to the resist on a second material region of the base material corresponding to the second template region to form supporting columns. The supporting columns are contacted with the first template region when the device pattern is transferred to a resist supplied to the second material region. |
| US09236267B2 |
Cut-mask patterning process for fin-like field effect transistor (FinFET) device
A method for patterning a plurality of features in a non-rectangular pattern, such as on an integrated circuit device, includes providing a substrate including a surface with a plurality of elongated protrusions, the elongated protrusions extending in a first direction. A first layer is formed above the surface and above the plurality of elongated protrusions, and patterned with an end cutting mask. The end cutting mask includes two nearly-adjacent patterns with a sub-resolution feature positioned and configured such that when the resulting pattern on the first layer includes the two nearly adjacent patterns and a connection there between. The method further includes cutting ends of the elongated protrusions using the pattern on the first layer. |
| US09236258B2 |
Methods of forming gate structures for semiconductor devices using a replacement gate technique and the resulting devices
One method disclosed herein includes forming a sacrificial gate structure comprised of upper and lower sacrificial gate electrodes, performing at least one etching process to define a patterned upper sacrificial gate electrode comprised of a plurality of trenches that expose a portion of a surface of the lower sacrificial gate electrode and performing another etching process through the patterned upper sacrificial gate electrode to remove the lower sacrificial gate electrode and a sacrificial gate insulation layer and thereby define a first portion of a replacement gate cavity that is at least partially positioned under the patterned upper sacrificial gate electrode. |
| US09236257B2 |
Techniques to mitigate straggle damage to sensitive structures
A method for processing a substrate includes providing a set of patterned structures separated by a first gap on the substrate and directing first implanting ions to the substrate at a first ion energy, where the first implanting ions are effective to impact the substrate in regions defined by the first gap. The method also includes directing depositing ions to the substrate where the second ions are effective to deposit material on at least a portion of the set of patterned structures to form expanded patterned structures, where the expanded patterned structures are characterized by a second gap smaller than the first gap. The method further includes directing second implanting ions to the substrate at a second ion energy, where the second implanting ions effective to impact the substrate in regions defined by the second gap, the second ion energy comprising a higher ion energy than the first ion energy. |
| US09236256B2 |
Use of surfactants having at least three short-chain perfluorinated groups RF for manufacturing integrated circuits having patterns with line-space dimensions below 50 NM
The use of surfactants A, the 1% by weight aqueous solutions of which exhibit a static surface tension <25 mN/m, the said surfactants A containing at least three short-chain perfluorinated groups Rf selected from the group consisting of trifluoromethyl, pentafluoroethyl, 1-heptafluoropropyl, 2-heptafluoropropyl, heptafluoroisopropyl, and pentafluorosulfanyl; for manufacturing integrated circuits comprising patterns having line-space dimensions below 50 nm and aspect ratios >3; and a photolithographic process making use of the surfactants A in immersion photoresist layers, photoresist layers exposed to actinic radiation, developer solutions for the exposed photoresist layers and/or in chemical rinse solutions for developed patterned photoresists comprising patterns having line-space dimensions below 50 nm and aspect ratios >3. By way of the surfactants A, pattern collapse is prevented, line edge roughness is reduced, watermark defects are prevented and removed and defects are reduced by removing particles. |
| US09236255B2 |
Methods for forming three dimensional NAND structures atop a substrate
In some embodiments, a method of forming a three dimensional NAND structure atop a substrate may include providing to a process chamber a substrate having alternating nitride layers and oxide layers or alternating polycrystalline silicon layers and oxide layers formed atop the substrate and a photoresist layer formed atop the alternating layers; etching the photoresist layer to expose at least a portion of the alternating nitride layers and oxide layers or alternating polycrystalline silicon layers and oxide layers; providing a process gas comprising sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), and oxygen (O2) to the process chamber; providing an RF power of about 4 kW to about 6 kW to an RF coil to ignite the process gas to form a plasma; and etching through a desired number of the alternating layers to form a feature of a NAND structure. |
| US09236253B2 |
Strained structure of a semiconductor device
A semiconductor device comprises a substrate comprising a major surface; a p-type Field Effect Transistor (pFET) comprising: a P-gate stack over the major surface, a P-strained region in the substrate adjacent to one side of the P-gate stack, wherein a lattice constant of the P-strained region is different from a lattice constant of the substrate, wherein the P-strained region has a first top surface higher than the major surface; and a P-silicide region on the P-strained region; and an n-type Field Effect Transistor (nFET) comprising: an N-gate stack over the major surface, an N-strained region in the substrate adjacent to one side of the N-gate stack, wherein a lattice constant of the N-strained region is different from a lattice constant of the substrate, wherein the N-strained region has a second top surface lower than the major surface and a N-silicide region on the N-strained region. |
| US09236252B2 |
Metal chloride gas generator, hydride vapor phase epitaxy growth apparatus, and nitride semiconductor template
A metal chloride gas generator includes: a tube reactor including a receiving section for receiving a metal on an upstream side, and a growing section in which a growth substrate is placed on a downstream side; a gas inlet pipe arranged to extend from an upstream end with a gas inlet via the receiving section to the growing section, for introducing a gas from the upstream end to supply the gas to the receiving section, and supplying a metal chloride gas produced by a reaction between the gas and the metal in the receiving section to the growing section; and a heat shield plate placed in the reactor to thermally shield the upstream end from the growing section. The gas inlet pipe is bent between the upstream end and the heat shield plate. |
| US09236246B2 |
Substrate processing apparatus and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device
The temperature of a substrate is elevated rapidly while improving the temperature uniformity of the substrate.The substrate is loaded into a process chamber, the loaded substrate is supported on a first substrate support unit, a gas is supplied to the process chamber, the temperature of the substrate supported on the first substrate support unit is elevated in a state of increasing the pressure in the process chamber to higher than the pressure during loading of the substrate or in a state of increasing the pressure in the process chamber to higher than the pressure during processing for the surface of the substrate, the substrate supported on the first substrate support unit is transferred to the second substrate support unit and supported thereon after lapse of a predetermined time, and the surface of substrate is processed while heating the substrate supported on the second substrate support unit. |
| US09236244B2 |
Sequential precursor dosing in an ALD multi-station/batch reactor
Disclosed herein are methods of depositing layers of material on multiple semiconductor substrates at multiple processing stations within one or more reaction chambers. The methods may include dosing a first substrate with film precursor at a first processing station and dosing a second substrate with film precursor at a second processing station with precursor flowing from a common source, wherein the timing of said dosing is staggered such that the first substrate is dosed during a first dosing phase during which the second substrate is not substantially dosed, and the second substrate is dosed during a second dosing phase during which the first substrate is not substantially dosed. Also disclosed herein are apparatuses having a plurality of processing stations contained within one or more reaction chambers and a controller with machine-readable instructions for staggering the dosing of first and second substrates at first and second processing stations. |
| US09236241B2 |
Wafer, a method for processing a wafer, and a method for processing a carrier
According to various embodiments, a method for processing a wafer may include: forming at least one hollow chamber and a support structure within the wafer, the at least one hollow chamber defining a cap region of the carrier located above the at least one hollow chamber and a bottom region of the carrier located below the at least one hollow chamber and an edge region surrounding the cap region of the carrier, wherein a surface area of the cap region is greater than a surface area of the edge region, and wherein the cap region is connected to the bottom region by the support structure; removing the cap region in one piece from the bottom region and the edge region. |
| US09236238B2 |
Electrodeless lamps with coaxial type resonators/waveguides and grounded coupling elements
The present invention is directed to devices and methods for generating light with plasma lamps. More particularly, the present invention provides plasma lamps driven by a radio-frequency source without the use of electrodes inside the bulb and related methods. In a specific embodiment, a coaxial type coupling module is used to drive an electrodeless bulb. Merely by way of example, such plasma lamps can be applied to applications such as stadiums, security, parking lots, military and defense, street lighting, large and small buildings, vehicle headlamps, aircraft landing, bridges, warehouses, UV water treatment, agriculture, architectural lighting, stage lighting, medical illumination, microscopes, projectors and displays, any combination of these, and the like. |
| US09236232B2 |
Multi-bore capillary for mass spectrometer
A mass spectrometer system an ion source configured to produce ions and a non-metallic capillary configured to receive at least a portion of the ions from the ion source. The capillary includes an elongated body and multiple bores traversing the elongated body in a longitudinal direction. The bores transport the received ions through the capillary toward a mass analyzer of the mass spectrometer system for detection. |
| US09236231B2 |
Modulation of instrument resolution dependant upon the complexity of a previous scan
Systems and methods are used to analyze a sample using variable detection scan resolutions. A tandem mass spectrometer is instructed to perform at least two scans of a sample with different detection scan resolutions using a processor. The tandem mass spectrometer includes a mass analyzer that allows variable detection scan resolutions. The selection of the different detection scan resolutions can be based on one or more properties of sample compounds. The properties may include a sample compound molecular weight distribution that is calculated from a molecular weight distribution of expected compounds or is determined from a list of molecular weights for one or more known compounds. The tandem mass spectrometer can also be instructed to perform an analysis of the sample before instructing the tandem mass spectrometer to perform the at least two scans of the sample. |
| US09236230B2 |
Plasma processing apparatus and gas supply method therefor
It is possible to prevent processing gases from being mixed when alternately supplying the processing gases while alternately switching the processing gases and to suppressed a transient phenomenon more efficiently as compared to conventional cases. When supplying at least two kinds of processing gases (e.g., a C4F6 gas and a C4F8 gas) into a processing chamber while alternately switching the at least two kinds of processing gases during a plasma process on a wafer, the supply of each processing gas can be alternately turned on and off by alternately setting an instruction flow rate of a mass flow controller to be a predetermined flow rate and a zero flow rate while a downstream opening/closing valve provided at a downstream side of the mass flow controller is open. |
| US09236224B2 |
Drawing apparatus and method of manufacturing article
A drawing apparatus includes: plural charged particle optical systems arrayed at a pitch in a first direction, each configured to irradiate a substrate with charged particle beams; a stage configured to hold the substrate and be moved relative to the charged particle optical systems in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction; and a controller configured to determine charged particle beams for the drawing with respect to each charged particle optical system so as to satisfy a relation given by SW=Pc/α=Ps/(β where Ps is an array pitch of shot regions in the first direction, SW is a width, in the first direction, of each drawing region by each charged particle optical system, Pc be an array pitch of drawing regions in the first direction, and α and β are natural numbers. |
| US09236215B2 |
System for fast ions generation and a method thereof
The present invention discloses a system and method for generating a beam of fast ions. The system comprising: a target substrate having a patterned surface, a pattern comprising nanoscale pattern features oriented substantially uniformly along a common axis; and; a beam unit adapted for receiving a high power coherent electromagnetic radiation beam and providing an electromagnetic radiation beam having a main pulse and a pre-pulse and focusing it onto said patterned surface of the target substrate to cause interaction between said radiation beam and said substrate enabling creation of fast ions. |
| US09236214B2 |
Electron tube
A magnetron has an anode body (1) and including a ceramic sleeve (7). In higher power generators, stray radiation is emitted from this sleeve in addition to the main power launched from the antenna into the waveguide (2), and RF absorbing material is provided. Such absorbers, however, tend to be frequency-selective, and can overheat. According to the invention, a non-metallic jacket (13) containing a dielectric liquid such as water surrounds the sleeve. This provides absorption over a broad band of frequencies, and it is easy to make the jacket have a sufficiently high thermal capacity, for example, by arranging a flow of liquid through it. |
| US09236211B2 |
Electrode for dielectric barrier discharge treatment of a substrate
An electrode for dielectric barrier discharge treatment of a substrate includes a tubular housing that is made of electrically insulating material and has a bottom wall facing the substrate, two side walls extending away from the substrate, and a top wall connecting the distal ends of the side walls. The electrode further includes an electrically conductive electrode member disposed inside the housing and having a plate that engages an internal surface of the bottom wall of the housing. The electrode has two wings formed in one piece with the plate and engaging internal surfaces of the side walls of the housing. |
| US09236210B2 |
Electrical switch
An electrical switch is disclosed and includes a tensioning lever which, in the switched-on state of the switch, assumes a tensioning lever position tensioned by spring tension, and a locking device which can lock the tensioning lever into the tensioned tensioning lever position. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the locking device includes a rocker lever, which is attached rotatably to the tensioning lever around a rotary bearing, and a pawl, pivotable around a pivot point, which rests in the locked state on the rocker lever and in this way prevents the pivoting of the tensioning lever and—after an unlocking of the locking device—pivots away from the rocker lever and, in doing so, turns or can at least turn the rocker lever. |
| US09236207B2 |
Composite bi-stable device
A deformable bi-stable device includes an elastically deformable member having at least two stable configurations and capable of being deformed from a first stable configuration to a second stable configuration, the element passing through an unstable configuration as it is deformed from the first stable configuration to the second stable configuration, and a shape memory polymer layer on or in the elastically deformable member. A method of using this device includes heating the shape memory polymer to a temperature sufficient to reduce the modulus of the shape memory polymer, deforming the deformable member to move from one of the first and second stable configurations to another of the first and second stable configurations, and cooling the device to a temperature sufficient to increase the modulus of the shape memory polymer. |
| US09236206B1 |
Thin keyboard command trigger structure
A thin keyboard command trigger structure includes a circuit board and a frame. The frame is stacked over the circuit board and formed an outer frame, a plurality of inner frames and a plurality of keycaps in an integrated manner. The outer frame has a plurality of holding zones. Each keycap is held in one of the holding zones. The outer frame and the keycap are bridged by one inner frame. Each inner frame has at least two first connecting portions connected to the outer frame and at least two second connecting portions connected to the keycap. Each first connecting portion and each second connecting portion are bridged by a support portion which has a bend spot and can generate deformation when the keycap is moved to the trigger portion. The support portion at the second connecting portion is at an elevation higher than the first connecting portion. |
| US09236192B2 |
Moisture resistant solid electrolytic capacitor assembly
A capacitor assembly that contains a solid electrolytic capacitor element positioned within a multi-layered casing is provided. The casing contains an encapsulant layer that overlies the capacitor element and a moisture barrier layer that overlies the encapsulant layer. Through careful control of the materials employed in the casing, the present inventor has discovered that the resulting capacitor assembly can be mechanically stable while also exhibiting electrical properties in the presence of high humidity levels (e.g., relative humidity of 85%). For example, the encapsulant layer may be formed from a thermoset resin (e.g., epoxy) that is capable of providing the capacitor element with mechanical stability. The moisture barrier layer may likewise be formed from a hydrophobic material. |
| US09236189B2 |
Direct current capacitor module
A direct current (DC) link capacitor module includes a printed circuit board (PCB) formed by sequentially disposing a first electrode substrate, an insulation substrate, a second electrode substrate, a third electrode substrate; a plurality of DC link capacitors connected in parallel to each of the first electrode substrate and the second electrode substrate; a plurality of first Y-capacitors connected in series to each of the first electrode substrate and the third electrode substrate, and connected in parallel to the DC link capacitors; and a plurality of second Y-capacitors connected in series to each of the first electrode substrate and the third electrode substrate, and connected in parallel to the first Y-capacitors, thereby achieving a miniaturization and facilitating a fabrication by connecting the plurality of DC link capacitors using the PCB. |
| US09236187B2 |
Multilayer ceramic capacitor
A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a ceramic main body including an inner layer portion including third ceramic layers and a plurality of inner electrodes arranged at interfaces between the third ceramic layers, and first and second outer layer portions respectively including first and second ceramic layers, the first and second ceramic layers being arranged vertically so as to sandwich the inner layer portion. The third ceramic layers and the first and second outer layer portions contain a perovskite-type compound represented by ABO3 where A contains one or more of Ba, Sr, and Ca, B contains one or more of Ti, Zr, and Hf, and O represents oxygen) as a main component. Where a rare-earth element concentration (CR) in the third ceramic layers is compared to a rare-earth element concentration (Cr) in outermost layer portions including at least outermost surfaces of the first and second outer layer portions, CR>Cr (inclusive of Cr=0). |
| US09236184B2 |
Monolithic ceramic electronic component and method for manufacturing the same
In a method for manufacturing a monolithic ceramic electronic component, when an inner conductor is formed by printing an electrically conductive paste, a smear may be generated in an opening of the inner conductor at a side of the opening near to a position from which printing is started in a printing direction. The smear may cause an unwanted contact between the inner conductor and a via conductor, which is a conductor extending through the opening and having a potential different from that of the inner conductor, so as to cause a short-circuit. The inner conductor is printed such that the center of each via conductor is deviated from the center of the opening in the direction in which the electrically conductive paste is printed. With this structure, even if the smear is generated in the opening, the probability of a short-circuit is minimized. |
| US09236182B2 |
Common mode filter
A common mode filter is disclosed. The common mode filter provided by the present invention includes: a magnetic substrate; a coil layer formed on the magnetic substrate and including a coil pattern; an external electrode formed on the coil layer so as to be electrically connected with the coil pattern; a ground electrode formed on the coil layer and configured to discharge static electricity brought in to the external electrode; a post formed on each of the external electrode and the ground electrode; and an electrostatic discharge member formed between the external electrode and the ground electrode so as to cover a side surface of the post and configured to discharge static electricity brought in to the external electrode to the ground electrode. |
| US09236178B2 |
Coil component and manufacturing method thereof
Disclosed herein are a coil component and a manufacturing method thereof. The coil component includes: an electrode body including coil electrodes disposed therein, the coil electrodes having an insulating film deposited on a surface thereof; and external terminals formed at both side portions of the electrode body and connected to the coil electrodes, wherein the electrode body is made of an insulating material with which magnetic powders are mixed, in order to improve impedance characteristics. |
| US09236176B2 |
Septum magnet
A device for generating a magnetic field includes at least one electric coil having electric conductors that are arranged along a circular arc within a first angular range and that deviate from the circular arc within a second angular range. At least one magnetic yoke is arranged along a part of the first angular range. |