最新美国发明专利第2016-02-02期 - 专利汇|PatentHub专利检索|专利查询网|发明专利查询分析

Document	Document Title
US09252732B2	Acoustic wave device and method for manufacturing the same An acoustic wave device includes: a piezoelectric substrate; a dielectric layer formed on the piezoelectric substrate; and first and second comb-tooth electrodes formed on the dielectric layer, the dielectric layer having a first thickness between the first comb-tooth electrodes and the piezoelectric substrate and a second thickness between the second comb-tooth electrodes and the piezoelectric substrate, the first and second thicknesses being different from each other.
US09252729B2	Amplifier circuit and method of amplifying a signal in an amplifier circuit An amplifier circuit, comprising: an input, for receiving an input signal to be amplified; a power amplifier, for amplifying the input signal; a switched power supply, having a switching frequency, for providing at least one supply voltage to the power amplifier; and a dither block, for dithering the switching frequency of the switched power supply. The dither block is controlled based on the input signal. Another aspect of the invention involves using first and second switches, each having different capacitances and resistances, and using the first or second switch depending on the input signal or volume signal. Another aspect of the invention involves controlling a bias signal provided to one or more components in the signal path based on the input signal or volume signal.
US09252726B2	Dual path operational amplifier An operational amplifier has two paths, a high frequency path and a low frequency path. In addition, it has three main sections of stages. A stage converts input voltage to an amplified output voltage, a stage converting an input voltage in to an output current and a final stage where the outputs of the two previous sections are supplied as inputs. Among them, the final stage acts as a voltage follower to a signal applied to its plus (+) input and as a transimpedance amplifier for a signal applied to its minus input (−). In this configuration, a path for low frequencies and a path for high frequencies are created in a single operational amplifier.
US09252725B2	Feed-forward circuit to prevent phase inversion An amplifier includes a bootstrap circuit for improving a linearity of the amplifier and a feed-forward circuit for modifying a voltage of the bootstrap circuit in response to a change in an input signal. Modifying the voltage using the feed-forward circuit prevents a phase-inversion condition of the amplifier.
US09252723B2	Distributed quality factor adjustment A system includes a differential circuit, multiple cross-coupled transconductance circuits. In some implementations, the differential circuit may include an inductor coil in a balun or transformer. The cross-coupled transconductance circuits may act to reduce the internal resistance of the differential circuit to increase the quality factor of the differential circuit. The cross-coupled transconductance circuit may be connected at differential points along the differential circuit and be engaged and disengaged to linearize the quality factor of the differential circuit.
US09252719B2	Transmitter with predistorter A power amplifier circuit includes an amplifier MOSFET and a predistorter MOSFET. The predistorter MOSFET source and drain are connected together, and the predistorter MOSFET is connected between the gate of the amplifier MOSFET and a second bias voltage signal. This biasing of the predistorter MOSFET causes it to provide a nonlinear capacitance at the gate of the amplifier MOSFET. The combined non-linear capacitances of the amplifier MOSFET and predistorter MOSFET provide predistortion that promotes cancellation of the distortion or nonlinearity contributed by the amplifier MOSFET alone.
US09252718B2	Low complexity digital predistortion for concurrent multi-band transmitters Systems and methods are disclosed for digital predistortion for a concurrent multi-band transmitter using a single adaptor and a same set of predistortion coefficients for separate digital predistorters for each band. In one embodiment, the single adaptor is configured to adaptively configure a set of predistortion coefficients based on a memory polynomial digital baseband model of the digital predistorters having a same set of predistortion coefficients for each of the digital predistorters. By using the same set of predistortion coefficients for the separate digital predistorters for each band, a complexity of the digital predistortion is substantially reduced.
US09252710B2	Free layer with out-of-plane anisotropy for magnetic device applications Synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) and synthetic ferrimagnetic (SyF) free layer structures are disclosed that reduce Ho (for a SAF free layer), increase perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), and provide higher thermal stability up to at least 400° C. The SAF and SyF structures have a FL1/DL1/spacer/DL2/FL2 configuration wherein FL1 and FL2 are free layers with PMA, the coupling layer induces antiferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic coupling between FL1 and FL2 depending on thickness, and DL1 and DL2 are dusting layers that enhance the coupling between FL1 and FL2. The SAF free layer may be used with a SAF reference layer in STT-MRAM memory elements or in spintronic devices including a spin transfer oscillator. Furthermore, a dual SAF structure is described that may provide further advantages in terms of Ho, PMA, and thermal stability.
US09252709B2	Apparatuses and methods for providing oscillation signals Apparatuses and methods are disclosed for oscillators that are substantially insensitive to supply voltage variations. In one such example apparatus, a capacitance circuit is configured to be charged and discharged. Charging and discharging circuits are coupled to the capacitance circuit and configured to charge and discharge, respectively, the capacitance circuit by charging and discharging currents responsive to charge and discharge signals. A control circuit is coupled to the charging circuit and the discharging circuit, and is configured to provide the charge and discharge signals responsive to a voltage of the capacitance circuit, and is further configured to provide an oscillation signal responsive to the voltage of the capacitance circuit. The charging current, the discharging current, or both the charging and discharging currents are proportional to a difference between a first reference voltage and a second reference voltage.
US09252706B2	Saw device, saw oscillator, and electronic apparatus A SAW device includes a SAW chip formed of a piezoelectric substrate and an IDT formed thereon, a base substrate that supports the SAW chip, and a fixing member that fixes the SAW chip to the base substrate. The SAW chip that forms a cantilever is supported by the base substrate via the fixing member in a position where the IDT does not overlap with the fixing member in a plan view of the SAW chip. The length W of the SAW chip in a y-axis direction and the length D of the fixing member in the y-axis direction satisfy 1
US09252703B2	Method of diagnosing the failure of a photovoltaic generator Method of diagnosis for a photovoltaic generator characterized in that it implements a step of observing the evolution of its voltage when it passes from a short-circuit mode of operation to an open-circuit mode or vice versa.
US09252700B2	Motor controller A motor controller that controls energization of a motor in which a plurality of coils U1 to W2 that applies torque to a rotor is arranged in a circular pattern includes: a rotation speed detection sensor that detects a rotation speed of the motor; and an energization control unit that controls energization of the plurality of coils U1 to W2 using the detected rotation speed. The energization control unit sequentially energizes the plurality of coils U1 to W2 in all energization patterns if the detected rotation speed is outside of predetermined conditions and sequentially energizes the plurality of coils U1 to W2 in remaining energization patterns (for example, U→V phase, V→W phase, V→U phase, W→U phase, and W→V phase) excluding a partial energization pattern (for example, U→W phase) of all energization patterns if the detected rotation speed is within the predetermined conditions.
US09252695B2	Brushless permanent magnet generator plus auxiliary voltage source constant potential exciter An alternating current power generation system including an alternating current generator comprising an exciter, a brushless permanent magnet generator voltage source configured to generate a first voltage at a first frequency, a second voltage source configured to generate a second voltage at a second frequency, and a coil. Further, the brushless permanent magnet generator voltage source provides the first voltage as a supplemental voltage supply combined with the second voltage source at the coil to generate a constant exciter field received by the exciter of the alternating current generator.
US09252690B2	Generating a coil switching signal for a brushless DC motor Some embodiments provide a system that generates a coil switching signal for a brushless DC motor. During operation, the system determines a magnetic field of the brushless DC motor at a first time and a magnetic field of the brushless DC motor at a second time. Then, the coil switching signal is generated based on a relationship between the magnetic field determined at the first time and a first predetermined threshold, and the magnetic field determined at the second time and a second predetermined threshold.
US09252687B2	Power generation unit, secondary cell, and electronic apparatus A power generation unit includes a deforming member adapted to repeatedly deform a piezoelectric element, a pair of electrodes provided to the piezoelectric element, an inductor disposed between the pair of electrodes, and constituting a resonant circuit together with a capacitive component of the piezoelectric element, a first switch connected in series to the inductor, a member adapted to detect a timing at which a deformation direction of the deforming member is switched, a full bridge rectifier adapted to rectify a current output from the pair of electrodes, a capacitor connected to the full bridge rectifier, and adapted to store a current supplied from the full bridge rectifier, a second switch connected between either one of the pair of electrodes and the capacitor, and a control circuit adapted to operate the first switch and the second switch.
US09252682B2	Grid-connected inverter apparatus and control method therefor A grid-connected inverter apparatus includes: an inverter 50 for converting a DC output based on power generated from a power generation equipment 100 into an AC; a DC voltage measuring unit 40 for measuring a DC voltage on a DC input side of the inverter 50; a grid interconnection switch 70 having two independent relay switches 71, 72 each corresponding to phases of a grid power system 110 to which the inverter 50 is connected; and a control unit 90 for controlling the two relay switches 71, 72, such that the control unit 90, after opening the two relay switches 71, 72, changes the relay switch 71 such that the opening control is changes to closing control and, based on a change in the DC voltage measured by the DC voltage measuring unit 40 before and after the changing control, determines whether the relay switch 72 is faulty.
US09252676B2	Adaptive active clamp of flyback power converter with high efficiency for heavy load and light load A control circuit of a flyback power converter according to the present invention comprises a low-side transistor, an active-clamper, a high-side drive circuit, and a controller. The low-side transistor is coupled to switch a transformer. The active-clamper is coupled in parallel with the transformer. The high-side drive circuit is coupled to drive the active-clamper. The controller generates a switching signal and an active-clamp signal. The switching signal is coupled to drive the low-side transistor. The switching signal is generated in accordance with a feedback signal for regulating an output of the flyback power converter. The active-clamp signal is coupled to control the high-side drive circuit and the active-clamper. The active-clamp signal is generated in response to a demagnetizing time of the transformer. The pulse number of the active-clamp signal is less than the pulse number of the switching signal in a light load condition.
US09252673B2	Controller A controller (606) for a switched mode power supply (100), comprising: a first terminal (620) for receiving a controller input voltage (Vcc); a second terminal for coupling to ground (654); a selectably engagable load (656); a load selector (658) configured to: engage the selectably engagable load between the first and second terminals in order to draw a selectably engagable load current (lextra), and disengage the selectably engagable load from the first and second terminals in accordance with a comparison between a disengagement threshold and the controller input voltage or an input current at the first terminal.
US09252671B2	Power supply with voltage output responsive to load demand A method for a power adapter to selectively provide a first and a second output voltage may comprise coupling a rectified and filtered transformer input signal to a primary winding of a transformer. The secondary winding thereof may comprise a first tap associated with the first output voltage and a second tap associated with the second output voltage, the first and second taps being configured to be selectively coupled to and uncoupled from an output of the power adapter. The output current drawn at the output of the power adapter may then be sensed. When the sensed output current is determined to have exceeded a predetermined threshold, the output of the power adapter may be switched from the first to the second tap by uncoupling the first tap from the output of the power adapter and coupling the second tap to the output of the power adapter.
US09252670B2	Multilevel converter A power converter is presented. The power converter includes at least one leg operatively coupled between a first bus and a second bus and includes a first string including a plurality of non-controllable semiconductor switches, a first node, a second node, and a third node, where the first node is coupled to a third bus, one or more second strings, where each of the one or more second strings includes at least one fully controllable semiconductor switch, and where one of the second strings is coupled between the first node and the third bus and another second string is coupled between the second node and the third node, and one or more third strings, where each of the one or more third strings includes at least one energy storage device and is coupled to the first string, the one or more second strings, or a combination thereof.
US09252669B2	AC/DC converter, and AC power adapter and electronic apparatus using the same The present invention provides an Alternating Current/Direct Current (AC/DC) converter employing measures not only against residual voltage but also to reduce power consumption. The AC/DC converter receives an Alternating Current (AC) voltage through a concentric plug and converts the AC voltage into a Direct Current (DC) voltage. A discharge path is disposed on a path from a discharge terminal to a ground terminal. A detection circuit compares a wave detection voltage with a predetermined threshold voltage, and enables the discharge path to be turned on when the wave detection voltage is continuously lower than the threshold voltage for a predetermined detection time.
US09252666B2	Charging device A charging device is configured with a power supply device and a DC-DC converter that have constant current voltage drooping type overcurrent protection characteristics and that are connected in series. A constant current value in a voltage drooping state of the DC-DC converter is lower than a constant current value in a voltage drooping state of the power supply device. The DC-DC converter is shifted to an operation state to supply a charging current of the constant current value to a charging target when a voltage value of a direct current voltage that is output from the power supply device reaches a maximum output voltage value or an approximate value thereof. Therefore, the charging target can be charged to a higher voltage even though a charging voltage of the charging target is low.
US09252661B2	Methods and devices for power supply control Exemplary embodiments are directed to a power controller. A method may include comparing a summation voltage comprising a sum of an amplified error voltage and a reference voltage with an estimated voltage to generate a comparator output signal. The method may also include generating a gate drive signal from the comparator output signal and filtering a signal coupled to a power stage to generate the estimated voltage.
US09252655B2	Phase shift circuit and power factor correction circuit including the same A phase shift circuit may include a ramp generation unit charging or discharging a capacitor connected to a switch device to generate a ramp signal, a reference signal generation unit generating a predetermined reference signal from the ramp signal, and a comparison unit comparing the ramp signal with the reference signal to generate a clock signal, wherein at least one of the reference signal generation unit and the comparison unit changes a negative or positive value of offset components included in the reference signal or the ramp signal within every operating period of the switch device.
US09252654B1	Bridgeless power factor improvement converter A bridgeless power factor improvement converter is configured with input terminals for an AC voltage, output terminals from for a DC output voltage, diodes, first through fourth switches, and coils. A control circuit selectively switches the first through fourth switches according to the AC voltage, a first dead time period (the third switch OFF/the fourth switch ON) in which the first and second switches are in a dead time including a zero-cross point from a positive period to a negative period, and a second dead time period (the third switch ON/the fourth switch OFF) in which the first and second switches are in the dead time including the zero-cross point from the negative period to the positive period. The control circuit maintains the third and fourth switches in the OFF state during a period other than the first and second dead periods.
US09252653B2	Power factor correction converter and control method thereof A power factor correction converter and a control method are disclosed. A power factor correction converter includes a power conversion module, a capacitor, a third switch unit, and a fourth switch capacitor. The power conversion module includes a first switch, a second switch, a first switch unit, a second switch unit, and an inductor. The first switch is coupled to a first input terminal. The second switch is coupled to a second input terminal. The first switch is coupled between an output terminal and the first switch. The second switch is coupled between the output terminal and the second switch. The inductor is coupled between the first and the second switch unit. The capacitor is coupled to the output terminal. The third switch unit is coupled between the second input terminal and the capacitor. The fourth switch unit is coupled between the first input terminal and the capacitor.
US09252651B2	High voltage driver using medium voltage devices A voltage drive circuit is constructed by stacking NMOS and PMOS transistors to provide high voltage levels with an output voltage swing greater than the breakdown voltage of the individual transistors used to build the voltage drive circuit. The voltage drive circuit may include a series stack of capacitors connected between gates of the stacked PMOS and NMOS transistors. The capacitive loading causes the gate signals to change more synchronously. Errors in timing for these gate signals, which would otherwise result in damage from exceeding the breakdown voltage across a pair of terminals of one of the NMOS and PMOS transistors, are mollified.
US09252648B2	Power generator and power generating system A power generator 100 of the present invention is configured to be used in a state that the power generator 100 is fixedly attached to a vibrating body formed of a magnetic material. The power generator 100 includes a main unit 1 having a power generating unit 10 configured to generate electric power by utilizing vibration and a base 23 having one surface on which the power generating unit 10 is supported and another surface 230 opposed to the one surface; and at least one permanent magnet 911 disposed on the side of the other surface 230 of the base 23 in a state that the permanent magnet 911 can be displaced or deformed in a thickness direction of the base 23. When the main unit 1 is fixedly attached to the vibrating body through an attachment 9 including the permanent magnet 911, the main unit 1 is configured to generate the electric power by utilizing vibration of the vibrating body.
US09252645B2	Dc electrical machines A dc electrical machine with a large number of phases. The machine includes a rotor and a stator assembly. The rotor has Np rotating field poles. The stator has Ns winding slots, where Ns/Np is a non-integer ratio. A stator winding includes a plurality of coils received in the winding slots and defines a plurality of stator phases. A power electronic switching assembly includes first and second dc load terminals that can be connected to external equipment and a plurality of switching modules. Each switching module includes power electronic devices and is connected to a respective stator coil. A first proportion of the switching modules are connected together in series between the first and second dc load terminals and a second proportion of the switching modules are connected together in series between the first and second dc load terminals to define two parallel dc circuits.
US09252643B2	System and method for monitoring the status of one or more components of an electrical machine A monitoring apparatus configured for monitoring a carbon brush of a brush holder assembly of an electrical machine. The monitoring apparatus may include a flexible sensor and a signal processing circuit for processing a signal received from the flexible sensor. The flexible sensor may have an electrical resistance that varies based on a radius of curvature of the flexible sensor, wherein the radius of curvature of the flexible sensor may be associated with a deflection of a spring providing a force to engage the carbon brush with a rotating component of the electrical machine. The signal processing circuit may be coupled to the sensor and may be configured to determine a measure of a wear state of the carbon brush using information about the variable resistance of the flexible sensor.
US09252634B2	Synchronous motor The synchronous motor includes a rotor including a rotor core constituted of segment poles disposed in a ring and a stator including a stator core disposed radially outward or inward of the rotor with a gap therebetween and a multiple-phase stator winding wound on the stator core. Each of the segment poles has a magnetic salient pole characteristic. The rotor is rotated in synchronization with a rotating magnetic field generated when the multiple-phase stator winding is applied with a multiple-phase AC voltage. The lamination thickness as an axial length of the stator core is shorter than the lamination thickness as an axial length of the rotor core.
US09252633B2	System and method for accelerated assessment of operational uncertainties in electrical power distribution systems A system for accelerated assessment of operational uncertainties in an electrical power distribution system includes a plurality of utility assets, and a distribution analysis (“DA”) system. DA system includes a preparation module configured to identify a first network model and a reduced network model for the electrical power distribution system. DA system also includes an input module configured to identify a plurality of scenarios, and a reduced-model-analysis module configured to analyze the reduced network model using the plurality of scenarios, generating a first set of results, and to select a subset of scenarios based on the first set of results. DA system further includes a full-model-analysis module configured to analyze the first network model using the subset of scenarios, generating a second set of results. DA system also includes a command module configured to dispatch configuration commands to utility assets based on the second set of results.
US09252632B2	Emergency lighting system An emergency lighting system is configured to activate a plurality of emergency lights in response to a determination of an emergency condition, wherein the determination of the emergency condition includes determining if the system is not receiving power from a power source and/or determining if an amount of ambient light proximate the system is below a predetermined threshold. Moreover, the emergency lighting system is configured to reduce an amount of power provided from a battery to the one or more emergency lights when an emergency condition is determined in order to maximize a battery life of the system.
US09252630B2	Battery charge control apparatus A battery charge control apparatus for a vehicle, where the vehicle is provided with a prime mover driven by using fuel stored in the vehicle, power generation means for converting energy generated by the prime mover using the fuel into electrical energy, and a secondary battery that stores the electrical energy generated by the power generation means. The apparatus includes temperature detection means for detecting a temperature of the battery, and battery-charge limiting means for limiting storing of the electrical energy generated by the power generation means into the battery when the temperature of the battery detected by the temperature detection means is low. This leads to enhancement of fuel usage efficiency of the engine.
US09252629B2	Variable wireless power transmission Exemplary embodiments are directed to variable power wireless power transmission. A method may include conveying wireless power to a device at a first power level during a time period. The method may further include conveying wireless power to one or more other devices at a second, different power level during another time period.
US09252624B2	Battery control device and battery system An object of the invention is to provide a battery control apparatus capable of accurately obtaining permissible charging or discharging power in keeping with variation of the internal resistance of a battery. The battery control apparatus of this invention includes an internal resistance table in which the internal resistance value of single cells corresponding to the temperature and state of charge thereof are described in association with each of charging or discharging duration time of the single cells. The battery control apparatus calculates a permissible charging current or a permissible discharging current by using the internal resistance value described in the internal resistance table and controls the charging or discharging of the single cells in accordance with the current value thus obtained.
US09252623B2	Protection apparatus for secondary battery A battery pack includes a secondary battery; and a protection device including: a measurement unit coupled to the secondary battery and configured to measure a temperature and a voltage of the secondary battery; a temperature estimation unit coupled to the measurement unit and configured to estimate a future temperature of the secondary battery; and a charging/discharging unit coupled to the secondary battery and configured to adjust a current or an input voltage applied to the secondary battery based on the future temperature and the voltage of the secondary battery.
US09252619B2	Method for the resistive cell equalization of battery cells of a battery, a battery which is controlled in accordance with the method, and a motor vehicle A method for the resistive charge equalization of battery cells of a battery, includes, in a first step, ascertaining the state of charge of the battery cells ascertained and correlating the battery cells of which the state of charge exceeds a predefined value with a first mask, which permits charge equalization only for a predefined portion of all the battery cells, wherein, then, charge equalization is performed. In a second step, the state of charge of the battery cells is optionally ascertained again and the battery cells of which the state of charge exceeds a predefined value are correlated with a second mask, which differs from the first mask, and wherein, then, charge equalization is performed. As a result, the heat generated during charge equalization is distributed in space and time such that no local overheating of or damage to components occurs and no overtemperature disconnection of the battery occurs.
US09252617B2	Battery cycling and management An aspect provides a method, including: setting a battery pack, in an information handling device having two or more battery packs, as a priority battery pack; discharging the priority battery pack and maintaining one or more other battery packs in an idle state; ascertaining if the priority battery pack satisfies one or more conditions; and in response to the priority battery pack satisfying the one or more conditions, setting one of the one or more other battery packs to be the priority battery pack and maintaining the remaining battery packs in an idle state; wherein the priority battery pack is prioritized in terms of charging. Other aspects are described and claimed.
US09252615B2	Automatic mobile device detector Devices, methods and systems disclosed herein relate to a universal charger which provides a power supply for the charging of OMTP devices and non-OMTP devices based on whether an OMTP mobile communication device or a non-OMTP mobile communication device is connected. A power charging apparatus is provided for charging a mobile communication device. The power charging apparatus includes a connector for connecting to a charging port of the mobile communication device, and a controller coupled to the connector, the controller configured to determine whether the mobile communication device connected to the connector is a non-OMTP mobile communication device or an OMTP mobile communication device, the controller further configured to charge a non-OMTP mobile communication device when a non-OMTP mobile communication device is connected to the connector, and further configured to charge an OMTP mobile communication device when an OMTP mobile communication device is connected to the connector.
US09252614B2	Vehicle comprising battery A vehicle including a battery, a plug receiving portion for receiving a plug for supply an electric power to be charged in the battery or a plug for receiving an electric power discharged from the battery, a lid for closing the plug receiving portion and a light for illuminating the plug receiving portion. In the vehicle, when the state of the vehicle becomes a running mode indicating a state that the running of the vehicle is permitted, the light is turned off.
US09252612B2	Personal mobile charging device An improved personal mobile charging device for providing back up electrical charging or standby power for personal electronic devices comprising an elongate rectangular body having a top, a bottom, two elongate sides and two short sides typically made of leather and having thin flexible lengths of material representing an outside surface (2) and an inside surface (4) creating a space for the permanent placement of at least one battery (8) protected by a circuit (12) with integrated plug (14) that regulates over and under charging and discharge of power to connected personal electronic device wherein the embodiment can be perceived as ones primary fashion belt or strap.
US09252607B2	Communication terminal, charge control program and charge control method A communication terminal having a secondary battery and configured to control charge of the secondary battery, a charge control program, and a charge control method of the communication terminal are provided. The communication terminal includes a first detection unit configured to detect a temperature, a second detection unit configured to detect a transmission power of an electric wave, a charge unit configured to perform intermittent charge to the secondary battery, and a change unit configured to change a duty ratio of the intermittent charge by the charge unit based on the temperature detected by the first detection unit and the transmission power detected by the second detection unit.
US09252606B1	Devices for adaptive fast-charging of mobile devices The present invention discloses devices, for adaptive fast-charging of mobile devices, including: a charge-delivering device for providing electrical power to a charge-receiving device; and at least one electrical-contact pin for enabling electrical current to be transmitted at an amperage greater than about 5 A to the charge-receiving device. Preferably, the charge-receiving device is selected from the group consisting of: an integral power-source component of a mobile device and a slave battery. Preferably, at least one electrical-contact pin is further configured to transmit the electrical current at an amperage selected from the group consisting of: greater than about 10 A, greater than about 20 A, greater than about 30 A, and greater than about 60 A. Preferably, at least one electrical-contact pin is spring-loaded. Preferably, at least one electrical-contact pin includes protection circuitry for protecting against thermal overloads and short circuits. Preferably, the device charger further includes: a receiving-area holder for properly engaging the charge-receiving device.
US09252599B2	Method for controlling energy management system A method for controlling an energy management system, which includes a PV module for generating power and a battery for storing power and which is connected to a grid as an external power supplier and a power load as a power consumer, is provided to enable efficient energy management of the energy management system.
US09252598B2	Data plant—a raw material powered data generator A “data plant” accepts power-generation-capable raw materials and outputs processed data. The processed data can be delivered to consumers more efficiently than other forms of power transfer, including power transfer through electricity, steam, physical motion, and the like. Consequently, data plants can be located where power-generation-capable raw materials can be obtained inexpensively, for free, or where power-generation-capable raw materials are waste products for which the operator of the data plants can be compensated for processing. Self-powered data plants need not even be continuously fed with power-generation-capable raw materials and, if such data plants receive and output data via wireless communications, the self-powered data plants can require no physical connection or attachment at all. For example, a single piece of silicon comprising a silicon solar cell that generates electrical power and silicon circuitry that consumes it to perform data processing can be a silicon self-powered data plant.
US09252597B2	Electric power management apparatus, system and method According to one embodiment, an electric power management apparatus is for controlling electric power of at least one home appliance using at least one rechargeable battery. The apparatus includes an analysis unit, a first generating unit, and a second generating unit. The analysis unit analyzes a charge residue of the rechargeable battery. The first generating unit generates a control schedule used to control the electric power of the home appliance in accordance with the charge residue. The second generating unit generates a charge/discharge schedule used to control charge and discharge of the rechargeable battery in accordance with the charge residue.
US09252593B2	Three dimensional integrated circuit electrostatic discharge protection and prevention test interface The present disclosure provides a system and method for providing electrostatic discharge protection. A probe card assembly is provided which is electrically connected to a plurality of input/output channels. The probe card assembly can be contacted with a secondary assembly having an interposer electrically connected to one or more wafers each wafer having a device under test. Voltage can be forced on ones of the plural input/output channels of the probe card assembly to slowly dissipate charges resident on the wafer to thereby provide electrostatic discharge protection. A socket assembly adaptable to accept a 3DIC package is also provided, the assembly having a loadboard assembly electrically connected to a plurality of input/output channels. Once the 3DIC package is placed within the socket assembly, voltage is forced on ones of the input/output channels to slowly dissipate charges resident on the 3DIC package to thereby provide electrostatic discharge protection.
US09252591B2	Vehicle power controlling apparatus The present invention relates to a vehicle power controlling apparatus, and more particularly, to a vehicle power controlling apparatus for interrupting a dark current from an ECU power front stage of a motor driven power steering (MDPS) system.The vehicle power controlling apparatus includes: a power control signal receiving block configured to receive a power control signal (for example, a vehicle ignition signal IGN_ENA); a dark current preventing block configured to prevent a power voltage Vbat from flowing before the power control signal from a next stage of the power control signal receiving block; a relay block that is relayed on or off when the power voltage is turned on or off to supply a current to the motor from the power voltage; a relay shortening block configured to shorten the relay-on time by rapidly increasing the voltage before the relay is turned on of the relay block, between the dark current preventing block and the relay block; and a relay recognizing block configured to recognize the relay on or the relay off by reducing the voltage after a relay on signal or relay off signal which is applied to the relay block.
US09252590B2	Electric automobile, in-wheel motor drive device, and motor control method An electric vehicle is proposed which can achieve early detection of abnormal short-circuit of motor coils, thus avoiding various driving problems. The electric vehicle includes a motor unit configured to drive a wheel. The motor unit includes a synchronous motor with three-phase motor coils. The three-phase motor coils include a first motor coil, a second motor coil and a third motor coil of different phases. One end of the first motor coil, one end of the second motor coil and one end of the third motor coil are connected with each other at a neutral point in a star connection. The electric vehicle also includes an abnormal short-circuit monitor configured to detect an abnormal short-circuit of the motor coils, and also includes an abnormalities-responsive disconnection unit configured to electrically disconnect the motor coils from the neutral point.
US09252588B2	Service voltage load protection in an electric utility meter An arrangement for controllably disconnecting a utility power service from a load includes a utility meter housing, a switch and a processing circuit. The utility meter housing includes metrology circuitry configured to generate metering information regarding electrical power provided to the load. The switch is configured to controllably interrupt a connection between the utility power service and the load. The switch has an open state and a closed state. The processing circuit is configured to determine whether a line voltage varies from an expected value by more than a predetermined amount over a predetermined amount of time. The processing circuit is further configured to cause a change in state of the switch based on the determination.
US09252578B2	Cable connector and electrical box assembly A cable connector is provided for coupling to and mounted within the internal cavity of an electrical box for securing an electrical cable passing through an opening in the electrical box. The cable connector includes a body having a first end positioned next to or adjacent the cable opening in the electrical box and a second end spaced from the first end and the cable opening. At least one and typically two retaining members are spring biased from the first end of the body and extend into a cable passage of the body toward the second end. A front wall is provided at the second end of the body with an opening for receiving the wires and forming a stop member to prevent the armor sheathing from passing through the front wall.
US09252575B2	High-voltage conduction path and wiring harness A high-voltage conduction path includes one conductor of a positive electrode conductor and a negative electrode conductor, a first insulator on the outside of the one conductor, the other conductor of the positive electrode conductor and the negative electrode conductor, the other conductor on the outside of the first insulator, and a second insulator on the outside of the other conductor. The other conductor is made of a metal wire material and formed into a cylindrical shape by spirally winding the metal wire material, and portions of the metal wire material positioned to be adjacent to each other contact with each other at side end faces opposed to each other.
US09252566B2	Method of manufacturing light emitting element A method of manufacturing a light emitting element includes, sequentially, (a) forming a mask layer for selective growth; (b) forming a layered structure body by layering a first compound semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a second compound semiconductor layer; (c) forming, on the second surface of the second compound semiconductor layer, a second electrode and a second light reflecting layer formed from a multilayer film; (d) fixing the second light reflecting layer to a support substrate; (e) removing the substrate for manufacturing a light emitting element, and exposing the first surface of the first compound semiconductor layer and the mask layer; and (f) forming a first light reflecting layer formed from a multilayer film and a first electrode on the first surface of the first compound semiconductor layer.
US09252562B2	Surface emitting semiconductor laser, surface emitting semiconductor laser array, surface emitting semiconductor laser device, optical transmission device, information processing apparatus, and method of producing surface emitting semiconductor laser A surface emitting semiconductor laser includes a substrate, a first conductivity-type first semiconductor multilayer reflector, an active layer, a semiconductor layer, a second conductivity-type second semiconductor multilayer reflector that includes a current confinement layer, and a heat dissipating metal member. At least the first semiconductor multilayer reflector, the active layer, the semiconductor layer, and the second semiconductor multilayer reflector are stacked in this order on the substrate. A columnar structure having a top portion, a side surface, and a bottom portion is formed from the second semiconductor multilayer reflector to the semiconductor layer. The heat dissipating metal member is connected to the semiconductor layer exposed at the bottom portion of the columnar structure.
US09252558B2	Optical amplifier There is provided an optical amplifier, which includes: an optical amplification medium; a pump light generator configured to generate pump light with a power corresponding to a set control value and supply the generated pump light to the optical amplification medium; a first controller including a level control circuit configured to generate the control value such that an output power of the optical amplification medium approaches a target power, and a limiter configured to limit a range of the control value in variable; and a latch circuit configured to set a specific control value to the pump light generator during a period in which the first controller is in a stop state.
US09252550B2	Electrode terminal connector producing method A method is for producing an electrode terminal connector for electrically connecting together a positive terminal and a negative terminal of mutually dissimilar metals. The method includes pressing a first plate of a similar metal to the positive terminal to form a mounting hole in the first plate, pressing a second plate of a similar metal to the negative terminal to form a metallic member which is larger in diameter than the mounting hole, and inserting the metallic member into the mounting hole by press fitting to join the first plate and the metallic member together. The method further includes providing the metallic member with an intervening layer of metal having an ionization tendency between an ionization tendency of metal constituting the first plate and an ionization tendency of metal constituting the second plate, and the first plate and the metallic member are joined together via the intervening layer.
US09252545B2	Electrical connector having electrical contacts configured to reduce wear caused by wiping Electrical connector including a contact array of electrical contacts. Each of the electrical contacts has an elongated body that extends along a central axis and an exterior surface that includes a wipe track. The wipe track extends along the central axis and is configured to engage a flexible contact finger of the mating connector. Each of the elongated bodies includes a forward segment, a mating segment, and a ramp portion that extends between and joins the forward and mating segments. An elevation of the wipe track along the mating segment is greater than an elevation of the wipe track along the forward segment. An elevation of the wipe track along the ramp portion increases as the wipe track extends from the forward segment to the mating segment such that the ramp portion deflects the contact finger from a first deflected condition to a greater second deflected condition.
US09252544B2	Plugging and unplugging module case A plugging and unplugging module case includes a body and a positioning element. The body has a plugging and unplugging opening. The positioning element has a positioning elastic body and a second engaging unit. The positioning element is disposed outside the body. The second engaging unit is a second engaging post for engaging with the first engaging hole. The body is of lower hardness than the positioning element. Hence, the positioning element quickly engages with the body, whereas the positioning elastic body is quickly positioned at a positioning hole so as to enhance the efficiency of the assembly of the plugging and unplugging module.
US09252542B2	Electrical connector with shielding plate thereof An electrical connector includes a metallic shell defining a mating cavity opening forwards, a terminal module assembly received in the metallic shell, and a shielding plate being located between an upper surface and a lower surface of the terminal module assembly. The terminal module assembly defines a front region exposed in the mating cavity to function as a mating tongue. The terminal module assembly defines an insulator associated with a plurality of contacts with corresponding contacting sections exposed upon opposite upper and lower faces of the mating tongue, the contacts are categorized with differential pairs and grounding contacts. The shielding plate defines a main plate and grounding fingers split from the main plate to directly touch with corresponding grounding contacts. The shielding plate is embedded with the terminal module assembly and the grounding fingers of the shielding plate are fixed with the insulator of the terminal assembly.
US09252541B2	Connector A connector 10 which comprises a plurality of signal contacts 11, each of which is provided with two aligned first connecting parts 12a at one end and two aligned second connecting parts 12b at the other end and which form balanced transmission lines, further comprises a first holding member 13 which holds the first connecting parts 12a of the plurality of signal contacts 11 and a second holding member 14 which holds the second connecting parts 12b, intermediate parts of the plurality of signal contacts 11 between the first holding member 13 and the second holding member 14 being exposed to the air.
US09252540B2	Electrical plug connector having an upstream contact terminal In an electrical plug connector having multiple metal contacts situated in parallel to each other for electrically contacting metal contact pins of a mating plug, a separate contact terminal is situated upstream from at least one of the contacts according to the invention, which electrically conductively contacts the at least one contact and is designed for being penetrated by a contact pin.
US09252538B2	Receptacle assembly having a light indicator Receptacle assembly including a receptacle housing having a front end, a back end, and an elongated module cavity that extends between the front and back ends. The receptacle assembly also includes a communication connector that is positioned to mate with a pluggable module when the pluggable module is inserted into the module cavity. The receptacle assembly also includes a light source that is positioned proximate to the port opening and supported by the receptacle housing. The light source generates light signals that are viewable at the front end. The receptacle assembly also includes a flexible cable coupled to the light source. The light source generates the light signals based on electrical current received through the flexible cable.
US09252537B2	Retaining an electrical cable to a power strip A rotating retention fixture for preventing the undesired removal of an electrical cable from a power strip includes a pronged clip, a first bracket, a second bracket each rotatable about a central axis and a fastener that restricts rotation between the first rotatable bracket and the second rotatable bracket. In order to prevent the undesired removal of the electrical cable from the power strip, the electrical cable may be inserted into the pronged clip, the rotating retention fixture may be positioned such that a bottom surface of the pronged clip is adjacent to the electrical cable, a first bracket and a second bracket of the rotating retention fixture may be rotated about the central axis to contact opposing sides of the power strip, respectively, and the fastener may be engaged to prevent rotation between the first bracket and the second bracket to retain the electrical cable to the power strip.
US09252534B2	Swing mount for terminal blocks A swing mount 110 for a terminal block includes a hinge 122 mounted on a wall 105 of an electrical enclosure 100, located near an opening 115 in the wall, for passing a movable plug connector 112 from inside the enclosure to connect to a terminal block 114 outside the enclosure. A lever 124 is carried by the hinge, for moving the moveable connector. A guide 130 for directing movement of the movable connector is mounted on the wall near the opening. A connector support 126 is mounted on the lever, supporting the movable connector, the support including a pin 138 that slideably engages a longitudinal slot 140 in the lever to move the support toward or away from the terminal block when the lever is actuated. The support includes a guide rail 134 that slides through slot 136 in the guide to align the movable connector with the opening.
US09252530B2	Electrical connector having shielding member An electrical connector includes a port (102, 103) for insertion of a mating connector along an insertion direction, a mating module (50) having a set of contacts (540, 542) received in the port, a transferring module (53) located behind the mating module and having a number of conductive components mounted thereon, and a shielding component (51, 52) disposed between the set of contacts and the transferring module. The shielding component is located between the set of contacts and the transferring module. The shielding component is simple and easily assembled to the transferring module.
US09252529B2	Connector for flat cable A connector for a flat cable is provided that prevents damage to a conductor when a terminal is forcedly pressed to a flat cable. The connector for a flat cable includes a retainer that is coupled to flat cable while a portion of the flat cable covers an upper side of a plate-shaped body of the retainer. In addition, a housing is coupled to enclose the body of the retainer and the portion of the flat cable coupled to the body and has a plurality of exposure depressions for exposing exposed conductors at a portion of the flat cable coupled to opposite surfaces of the body to the exterior to connect the conductors to terminals. A position fixing unit is configured to fix a position of the flat cable coupled between the housing and the retainer.
US09252522B2	Locking mechanism for molded resin component A second wall (34) has an opening (48). When an engagement projection (64) has climbed the inclined surface (43a) of a lock projection (43) and is going to reach the top of the lock projection, the opening allows a pressing projection (65) to be slide contacted with its edge (48a) while pressing the edge, thereby giving a lock arm a pressing force opposite to the deflecting direction thereof.
US09252520B1	Stacked spring terminals A multi-wire electrical connector system is provided for electrical equipment, such as circuit breaker, contactor or electrical switches. The connector system includes a plurality of stacked spring-loaded connector modules, and a single actuator to simultaneously operate all of the stacked connector modules to an open position or a closed position. Each connector module includes a housing, an isolated terminal and a spring. The terminal has a fixed conductive member. The housing is movable relative to the fixed conductive member between the open and closed positions. In the open position, an electrical wire can be inserted into or removed from a housing of each connector module. In the closed position, an electrical wire is clamped against a respective terminal in each connector module.
US09252518B2	Electric connection structure of electronic component An electric connection structure of an electronic component includes: an electric conductor that has a connection pin formed of an electric conductive metal and in which a contact is formed in an end portion opposite to the connection pin; an electronic component that has a metal terminal for inputting and outputting an electric signal, on a bottom surface which opposes the electric conductor; and a housing that has a holding portion for holding the electric conductor and a fixing portion for fixing the electronic component, wherein the electronic component is brought into contact with the housing, and is fixed by the fixing portion so that the contact is elastically deformed and the metal terminal and the contact are electrically connected to each other.
US09252516B2	Connector A connector includes a housing having an insertion section into which a connection end of a sheet-shaped connection target is inserted, and a plurality of contacts held by the housing so as to extend in an insertion direction of the connection target and be aligned along a direction across the insertion direction of the connection target, wherein each contact to be mounted by soldering on the top surface of the mounting board on a side of insertion of the connection target has at its end on the side of insertion of the connection target a surface of flat shape to be mounted on the top surface of the mounting board, and a sloping surface which is inclined at a predetermined angle of less than 90 degrees with respect to the surface to be mounted for guiding the connection end of the connection target to the insertion section.
US09252515B2	Thin connector A thin connector includes a first connector portion having arrayed first contacts with first contact portions and a second connector portion having arrayed second contacts with second contact portions, each first contact including a first movable portion displaceable in the direction in which the first contacts are arrayed and a second movable portion connected to the first movable portion and displaceable in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the first contacts are arrayed, the first contact portion being disposed in the second movable portion, the first connector portion and the second connector portion being fitted with each other by sliding relatively in the direction in which the first contacts and the second contacts are arrayed.
US09252513B2	Socket and electronic component mounting structure A socket includes a plurality of coupling members that each include a first end portion and a second end portion, the coupling members being made of electrically conductive material, wherein a terminal of an electronic component and a terminal of a board are electrically coupled with the first end portion and the second end portion, respectively, so to electrically connect the terminal of the electronic component and the terminal of the board, a holding member that holds the plurality of coupling members in such a manner that the plurality of coupling members are not in contact with each other, the holding member being made form an electrical insulating material, and a sheet member that is in contact with the electronic component and the board in parts between the plurality of coupling members, the sheet member being made from a material which is electrical insulating and thermal diffusive.
US09252510B2	Soldering structure for mounting connector on flexible circuit board Disclosed is a soldering structure for mounting at least one connector on a flexible circuit board. The connector includes SMD pins and solder-dipping pins. The flexible circuit board has a connector mounting section having a component surface on which SMD soldering zones and solder-dipping pin holes are formed. A reinforcement plate is coupled to a reinforcement bonding surface of the flexible circuit board. The reinforcement plate has through holes corresponding to the solder-dipping pin holes of the flexible circuit board. The SMD pins of the connector are respectively soldered to the SMD soldering zones of the flexible circuit board, and the solder-dipping pins of the connector are respectively inserted through the solder-dipping pin holes of the flexible circuit board and the through holes of the reinforcement plate to the soldering surface of the reinforcement plate to be soldered with a solder material.
US09252505B2	Terminal connector, electric wire with terminal connector, and method of connecting terminal connector and electric wire An object is to obtain a stable electric connection resistance under a mild crimping condition. The present invention is a terminal connector 12 that includes a crimp portion 30 to be crimped to an electric wire. The crimp portion 30 includes a base material, an aluminum layer or an aluminum alloy layer a surface on the base material, and a hard layer on a surface of the aluminum layer or the aluminum alloy layer. The hard layer is harder than the base material. The present invention may be an electric wire with a terminal connector 10 that includes the above terminal connector 12 and a covered electric wire 40 that includes a core wire 42 made of aluminum or aluminum alloy. The crimp portion 30 of the terminal connector 12 is crimped to the core wire 42.
US09252504B1	Electrical wire connector An electrical wire connector for use in splicing first and second conductors includes a wire housing having a first receptacle defining a first interior cavity and a first open end selectively allowing access to the first interior cavity and a second receptacle defining a second interior cavity and a second open end selectively allowing access to the second interior cavity, the first and second receptacles being operatively coupled to one another and the first and second open ends being opposite one another. First and second wire capturing mechanisms are situated in corresponding first and second openings defined by first and second receptacles, respectively, each wire capturing mechanism being configured to restrict movement of a respective conductor once inserted therethrough. Each receptacle includes a threaded member constructed of conductive material, the threaded members being conductively coupled together such that conductors inserted into respective receptacles are conductively connected.
US09252503B2	Grounding device having a grounding plate and an insulated connecting wire An electrical grounding device can have a grounding plate and an insulated connecting wire. Having an insulated connecting wire reduces or prevents corrosion of the connecting wire by the surrounding underground soil. A grounding assembly is also provided and can have such a grounding device. The grounding assembly can include additional grounding devices which can also have an insulated connecting wire. A method of measuring resistance to ground of a grounding device of a grounding assembly having a multiple grounding devices and one or more bonding wires routed through a conduit is also disclosed. Having all but one of the connecting wires and bonding wires insulated or insulating all the connecting wires of the grounding devices of the grounding assembly allows measurement of resistance to ground by electrically disconnecting all but the connecting wire of the grounding device to be tested, contacting one terminal of an ohm meter to the connecting wire of the grounding device to be tested and contacting the other terminal of the ohm meter to the earth or ground, and reading the ohm meter.
US09252502B2	Inverted F-antennas at a wireless communication node The disclosure relates to a node in a wireless communication arrangement, the node comprising an antenna arrangement that comprises a first and second inverted F antenna. The inverted F antennas comprise a corresponding first and second feed connection, first and second ground connection and a corresponding first and second radiating element mainly extending from the respective ground connection along a corresponding first and second longitudinal extension. The inverted F antennas are arranged on, or in, a plane. Furthermore, the first and second radiating elements are extending in opposite directions along their respective longitudinal extensions from the respective ground connections, the first longitudinal extension and the second longitudinal extension being mutually parallel. The closest distance between the first radiating element and the second radiating element exceeds 0,4*λ0, where λ0 is the wavelength for the centre frequency of the frequency band for which the inverted F antennas are intended.
US09252499B2	Antenna unit An antenna unit is provided. The antenna unit includes a first substrate, a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer, a first planar conductive ring and a feed conductor. The first substrate includes a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first surface is opposite to the second surface. The first conductive layer is disposed on the first surface. The second conductive layer is disposed on the second surface, wherein a main opening surrounded by a plurality of first conductive vias electrically connecting the first and the second conductive surface is formed on the second conductive layer, and the main opening defines a radiation cavity and center frequency. The first planar conductive ring surrounds the radiation cavity. The feed conductor feeds a wireless signal to the antenna unit. Both the first planar conductive ring and the feed conductor are placed between the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer.
US09252494B2	Frequency-variable antenna circuit, antenna device constituting it, and wireless communications apparatus comprising it An antenna device comprising an antenna element disposed on a mounting board separate from a main circuit board, a coupling means disposed on the mounting board such that it is electromagnetically coupled to the antenna element, and a frequency-adjusting means disposed on the mounting board such that it is connected to the coupling means, the antenna element comprising first and second strip-shaped antenna elements integrally connected for sharing a feeding point, the second antenna element being shorter than the first antenna element; the coupling means being formed on a dielectric chip attached to the mounting board, and having a coupling electrode electromagnetically coupled to part of the first antenna element. The frequency-adjusting means comprises a parallel resonance circuit comprising a variable capacitance circuit and a first inductance element, and a second inductance element series-connected to the parallel resonance circuit.
US09252493B2	Wire capacitor, in particular for a radio frequency circuit, and device comprising said wire capacitor The invention relates to a radio frequency device including an antenna connected to a capacitor. Said capacitor includes first and second conductive plates that are opposite each other and separated by an insulator. At least one of said first and second plates is formed of a plurality of wire capacitor portions. Said radio frequency device is different in that the antenna and at least one capacitor plate are formed with wire portions placed on a substrate in a guided manner.
US09252492B2	Antenna tuning via multi-feed transceiver architecture The disclosed invention relates to an antenna configuration that is configured to tune the frequency of transmission without using filters. The antenna configuration comprises a tunable multi-feed antenna configured to wirelessly transmit electromagnetic radiation. A signal generator is configured to generate a plurality of signals that collectively correspond to a signal to be transmitted. The plurality of signals have a phase shift or amplitude difference therebetween. The plurality of signals are provided to a plurality of antenna feeds connected to different spatial locations of the tunable multi-feed antenna. The values of the phase shift and/or amplitude difference define an antenna reflection coefficient that controls the frequency characteristics that the tunable multi-feed antenna operates at, such that by varying the phase shift and or amplitude difference, the frequency characteristics can be selectively adjusted.
US09252490B2	Multi-band antenna and electronic device provided with the same A multi-band antenna includes a ground plane, and a radiating unit including an L-shaped first radiating arm, a U-shaped second radiating arm, a feed-in arm and a coupling arm. The first and second radiating arms are connected to the ground plane, and have respective free end portions that are spaced apart from and overlap the ground plane, that face each other, and that define an opening in spatial communication with an inner space defined by the first and second radiating arms and the ground plane. The feed-in arm is disposed in the inner space between the first radiating arm and the ground plane, is connected to the ground plane, and overlaps the opening. The coupling arm is connected to the connecting segment, and overlaps the free end portions.
US09252489B2	Circuit board and circuit module A circuit board and a circuit module more accurately provide impedance matching between an antenna coil and an electronic component electrically connected to the antenna coil, and include a board body including board portions and a plurality of laminated insulating material layers made of a flexible material. An antenna coil includes coil conductors provided in the board portion. Wiring conductors are provided in the board portion and electrically connected to the antenna coil. The board portion has a structure that is less likely to deform than the board portion. An integrated circuit electrically connected to the wiring conductors is mounted on the board portion.
US09252488B2	Antenna apparatus and communication apparatus The present invention provides an antenna apparatus which can realize favorable communication properties while achieving downsizing of a casing of an electronic device when incorporated in an electronic device. An antenna module (1a) which is incorporated in a mobile phone (130) and which is enabled to perform communication by receiving a magnetic field transmitted from a reader/writer (120) comprises an antenna coil (11a) which is wound in a clearance (132) between an end portion (133b) of a metallic plate (133a) opposing the reader/writer (120) within a casing (131) of the mobile phone (130) and an inner peripheral wall (131a) of the casing (131) so as not to surround an outer peripheral portion of the metallic plate (133a) and which is inductively coupled with the reader/writer (120).
US09252487B2	Circular polarized compound loop antenna Embodiments provide single-sided and multi-layered circular polarized, self-contained, compound loop antennas (circular polarized CPL). Embodiments of the CPL antennas produce circular polarized signals by using two electric field radiators physically oriented orthogonal to each other, and by ensuring that the two electric field radiators are positioned such that an electrical delay between the two electric field radiators results in the two electric field radiators emitting their respective electric fields out of phase. Ensuring the proper electrical delay between the two electric field radiators also maintains high efficiency of the antenna and it improves the axial ratio of the antenna.
US09252486B2	Dual-band series-aligned complementary double-V antenna, method of manufacture and kits therefor A planar monopole antenna for dual-band Wi-Fi application is disclosed. The antenna has a ground copper and a radiation copper. The radiation copper is adhered to a substrate and has an arrowhead-shaped pattern connected to a long-wide pattern. The arrowhead and long-wide patterns are aligned along the longitudinal direction of the antenna. The ground copper is adhered to the substrate and has a rectangularly-shaped pattern with an opening at one end thereof for the reception of the base of the long-wide pattern of the radiation copper in the longitudinal direction. Reception of the radiation copper into the opening of the ground copper forms an U-shaped separation that is approximately 0.6 mm wide. The antenna has a gross span of approximately 45 mm and a width of approximately 7 mm.
US09252481B2	Adjustable antenna structures for adjusting antenna performance in electronic devices Adjustable antenna structures may be used to compensate for manufacturing variations in electronic device antennas. An electronic device antenna may have an antenna feed and conductive structures such as portions of a peripheral conductive electronic device housing member and other conductive antenna structures. The adjustable antenna structures may have a movable dielectric support. Multiple conductive paths may be formed on the dielectric support. The movable dielectric support may be installed within an electronic device housing so that a selected one of the multiple conductive paths is coupled into use to convey antenna signals. Coupling the selected path into use adjusts the position of an antenna feed terminal for the antenna feed and compensates for manufacturing variations in the conductive antenna structures that could potentially lead to undesired variations in antenna performance.
US09252479B2	Antenna mast A cellular communications antenna mast assembly (300) comprising a first component (332) having a longitudinal axis and a first profile oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, a second component (330) arranged to engage the first profile so as to engage the first mast component and second mast component to constrain relative rotation thereof about the longitudinal axis, and to provide a datum transfer between the mast components, having only one orientation in which they can be engaged.
US09252475B2	Adaptor for connecting a microstrip line to a waveguide using a conductive patch and a stub hole An adaptor for connecting a microstrip line and a waveguide is disclosed that includes a microstrip line part and a waveguide part. The microstrip line part includes a microstrip port pattern and a patch pattern on an upper portion of a substrate, where the patch pattern is joined to an end portion of the microstrip port pattern. The waveguide part includes a waveguide hole, for transferring a signal provided from the patch pattern; a channel hole, which is formed in an area for joining with the microstrip line part, is formed along a first direction orthogonal to a direction of the waveguide hole in correspondence to the microstrip port pattern, and is connected with the waveguide hole; and a stub hole, which is connected with the waveguide hole and is formed in an area for joining with the microstrip line part along a second direction opposite to the first direction.
US09252474B2	Coupling arrangement A coupling arrangement for the transfer of a microwave signal includes a motherboard having a first substrate with a first microstrip conductor, and a module having a second substrate with a second microstrip conductor. The module is attached to the motherboard such that the motherboard conductor by means of a connection is in electrical contact with the module conductor, whereby the microwave signal may be transferred between the motherboard conductor and the module conductor. The connection includes the motherboard conductor connected to a substrate integrated waveguide on the motherboard, which substrate integrated waveguide is connected to the module conductor via a slot coupling.
US09252472B1	Low reflectance high power RF load A load for traveling microwave energy has an absorptive volume defined by cylindrical body enclosed by a first end cap and a second end cap. The first end cap has an aperture for the passage of an input waveguide with a rotating part that is coupled to a reflective mirror. The inner surfaces of the absorptive volume consist of a resistive material or are coated with a coating which absorbs a fraction of incident RF energy, and the remainder of the RF energy reflects. The angle of the reflector and end caps is selected such that reflected RF energy dissipates an increasing percentage of the remaining RF energy at each reflection, and the reflected RF energy which returns to the rotating mirror is directed to the back surface of the rotating reflector, and is not coupled to the input waveguide. Additionally, the reflector may have a surface which generates a more uniform power distribution function axially and laterally, to increase the power handling capability of the RF load. The input waveguide may be corrugated for HE11 mode input energy.
US09252464B2	Method for balancing states of charge of a battery having a plurality of battery cells as well as a corresponding battery management system and a battery A method for balancing states of charge of battery cells of a battery includes determining the individual cell capacities of the cells. A k-th cell having the smallest cell capacity, the individual states of charge, the depth of discharge, a target depth of discharge, and a target state of charge are determined. The deviation of the state of charge of a cell from the target state of charge (ΔSOCtarget,n) and the minimum deviation of the state of charge of a cell from the target state of charge (ΔSOCmin) are determined. At least one of the cells, to which ΔSOCtarget,n−ΔSOCmin>X applies, where X≧0, is discharged. If ΔSOCtarget,n−ΔSOCmin≦X applies to all cells, the method ends. If this condition does not apply to all cells, the individual states of charge are determined again and the method is repeated.
US09252463B2	Battery charging system having multiple charging modes The present application provides a charging system having a charger and a battery. The charging system provides a quick-charging mode and a normal-charging mode. The quick-charging mode may be activated to charge the battery if certain conditions are met and the charging system may also have an indicating device for indicating when the quick-charging mode is finished. More specifically, the charger of the present application provides selective charging modes and provides an ultra-quick charging solution which may be controlled by the changes in the temperature of the battery and which can increase the charging power to quickly provide enough energy to finish a work task.
US09252461B2	Hybrid energy storage devices having sodium Sodium energy storage devices employing aspects of both ZEBRA batteries and traditional Na—S batteries can perform better than either battery alone. The hybrid energy storage devices described herein can include a sodium anode, a molten sodium salt catholyte, and a positive electrode that has active species containing sulfur. Additional active species can include a transition metal source and NaCl. As a product of the energy discharge process, Na2Sx forms in which x is less than three.
US09252458B2	Carboranyl magnesium electrolyte for magnesium battery An electrochemical device is provided having a carboranyl magnesium electrolyte. Specifically the disclosure relates to an electrochemical device having a magnesium anode, a cathode, and a current collector made of non-noble metal, and a carboranyl magnesium electrolyte. In contact with the electrolyte, the non-noble metal cathode current collector has unusually high oxidative stability>3.0V vs. a magnesium reference. Processes for making the electrochemical device are additionally provided.
US09252457B2	Non-aqueous liquid electrolyte and non-aqueous liquid electrolyte secondary battery A non-aqueous liquid electrolyte suitable for use in a non-aqueous liquid electrolyte secondary battery comprising a negative electrode and a positive electrode, capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium ions, and the non-aqueous liquid electrolyte, the negative electrode containing a negative-electrode active material having at least one kind of atom selected from the group consisting of Si atom, Sn atom and Pb atom, wherein the non-aqueous liquid electrolyte comprises a carbonate having at least either an unsaturated bond or a halogen atom.
US09252454B2	Secondary battery of excellent productivity and safety Disclosed is a secondary battery having a structure in which a jelly-roll having a cathode/separator/anode structure is mounted in a cylindrical battery case, wherein a plate-shaped insulator mounted on the top of the jelly-roll includes a woven fabric or a knit fabric made of fibers.
US09252450B2	Fuel cell stack A fuel cell stack includes a first separator. The first separator includes a sandwiching section for sandwiching an electrolyte electrode assembly, a fuel gas supply section in which a fuel gas supply passage is formed, and a first load absorbing mechanism. The first load absorbing mechanism includes coupling members and seal members. The coupling members couple fuel gas supply sections of a pair of the first separators together, and have spring property. The seal members seal the fuel gas supply section.
US09252449B2	SOFC stack with temperature adapted compression force means A fuel cell stack includes a stack body formed by stacking a plurality of solid oxide fuel cells in a stacking direction. The fuel cell stack includes wall plate members and fuel cell support members. The wall plate members are provided in the stacking direction of the stack body around the sides of the stack body. Each of the fuel cell support members includes a composite layer made of composite material of alumina fiber and vermiculite. The fuel cell support members are interposed between the wall plate members and the sides of the stack body, and apply a load to the sides of the stack body in directions of a separator surface.
US09252439B2	System and method for activating fuel cells A system for activating a fuel cell includes a flow meter for measuring the amount of water discharged from an outlet of the air electrode and an outlet of the fuel electrode; a pressure sensor for measuring the pressure at the respective outlets; and a back pressure regulator receiving flow values measured by the flow meters and pressure values measured by the pressure sensors, which are fed back from a controller, and regulating a pressure difference (ΔP=PCathode−PAnode) to be a value greater than 0. With the system, the activation time of a fuel cell and the amount of hydrogen used for the activation can be reduced, thus improving the productivity and manufacturing cost.
US09252438B2	Fuel cell system comprising a water separator A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell with an anode chamber and a cathode chamber. The fuel cell system also includes a recirculation device that recirculates anode exhaust gas to the anode input, which includes a discharge line for discharging liquid and/or gas from the region of the recirculation device, and an air conveying device for supplying the cathode chamber with a supply air flow. A water separator, which is connected to the discharge line and through which at least a portion of the supply air flow passes, is situated between the air conveying device and the cathode chamber in the area of the supply air flow.
US09252424B2	Composite anode active material, method of preparing composite anode active material, and anode and lithium battery including composite anode active material A composite anode active material includes matrix particles including lithium titanate; and at least one nanoparticle dispersed in the matrix particles. The at least one nanoparticle includes at least one selected from the group a metal capable of forming alloys with lithium and a non-transition metal oxide.
US09252418B2	Battery for a vehicle and method of operating such a battery A battery for a vehicle has a plurality of battery cells forming a cell stack. During the operation of the battery, electrical energy can be drawn from the cell stack or supplied to the cell stack via at least one cable. At least one monitoring device, in particular an optocoupler, is used to monitor a resistance that is present on at least one detachable junction of the at least one cable to an additional component of the battery, wherein the monitoring device is connected in a parallel branch to the junction. By monitoring the resistance at the junctions, local overheating of the battery can be prevented.
US09252414B2	Electrical connecting member for secondary battery Disclosed herein is a connection member for secondary batteries to achieve the electrical connection in a battery pack including two or more cylindrical secondary batteries in a physical contact manner, the connection member including an outer circumferential contact part contacting an electrode terminal of a lower battery cell along the outer circumferential region of the electrode terminal of the lower battery cell, such that the outer circumferential contact part can be electrically connected to the electrode terminal of the lower battery cell in a surface contact manner and a central contact part contacting an electrode terminal of an upper battery cell or the central region of a sidewall of the battery pack for providing an elastic contact force to the entire connection member mounted between the electrode terminals of the respective battery cells or between the electrode terminals of the battery cells and the sidewall of the battery pack.
US09252413B2	Lithium secondary battery The present invention relates to a lithium secondary battery. More specifically, according to embodiments of the present invention the lithium battery, which includes a cathode, an anode, and a separate membrane inserted between the cathode and the anode, is characterized in that the separator membrane is a polyolefin porous membrane which has an aramid coating layer; and the cathode includes a lithium metal oxide cathode active material which has an olivine-type iron phosphate lithium coating layer, or the anode includes a carbon anode active material which has a spinel-type lithium titanium oxide coating layer. The lithium secondary battery in accordance with embodiments of the present invention has excellent basic electric performance and improved stability.
US09252412B2	Multilayer porous film, separator for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, and nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery Provided is a multilayer porous film that has extremely high powder fall-off resistance and superior electrolyte solution adsorptivity and heat resistance and exhibits superior properties when used as a battery separator without decreasing the high air permeability of a porous film. The multilayer porous film includes a polyolefin-based resin porous film and a coating layer containing a filler and a resin binder on at least one surface of the polyolefin-based resin porous film. The amount of particles with particle sizes of less than 0.2 μm (D0.2) in the filler is 1% or more, and the specific surface area of the filler is 5 m2/g or more and less than 10 m2/g. The multilayer porous film satisfies a particular condition.
US09252409B2	Middle or large-sized battery pack of novel air cooling structure A middle- or large-sized battery pack having two or more hexahedral battery modules, each including a plurality of chargeable and dischargeable plate-shaped unit cells, mounted in a pack case, wherein the battery pack removes heat generated during the charge and discharge of the unit cells using an air cooling method, the unit cells of each of the battery modules are vertically stacked such that the number of the unit cells corresponds to a height of a battery pack installation space defined in a vehicle while neighboring unit cells are spaced apart from each other such that a coolant channel is defined between the respective unit cells, the pack case is formed in a shape corresponding to the battery pack installation space in the vehicle, and a coolant for removing heat from the unit cells is introduced through at least one side of the pack case.
US09252408B2	Heater module wire connection structure for battery pack The heater module wire connection structure for a battery pack includes a battery pack (11), and first and second heater modules (22L, 23L) which warm the inside of the battery pack and have lead wires (44L, 45L) connected thereto. Further, the heater module wire connection structure includes a power supply cable (42) to which the lead wires of the first and second heater modules are crimped and connected, and a temperature sensor (43C) which is placed inside of the battery pack and detects the temperature of the first heater module (23L). The lead wire (45L) of the first heater module, the temperature of which is detectable by the temperature sensor, and the lead wire (44L) of the second heater module (22L), the temperature of which is not detectable by the temperature sensor, are simultaneously crimped and connected to the same position on the power supply cable.
US09252404B2	Rechargeable battery pack A rechargeable battery pack includes a rechargeable battery cell, and a pair of cell holders receiving respective sides of the rechargeable battery cell in a length direction, the pair of cell holders being combinable with each other. Each of the cell holders includes a base that supports the rechargeable battery cell, a combination protrusion and a combination groove symmetrically disposed on an outer side of the base, a protrusion protruding from the base in the length direction so as to be combinable in the length direction, and a recess portion being concave in the base in the length direction such that the recess portion of one of the pair of cell holders is combinable with the protrusion of the other of the pair of cell holders.
US09252403B2	Rechargeable battery A rechargeable battery may include an electrode assembly that performs a charge and discharge action, a case in which the electrode assembly is inserted, a cap plate coupled to an opening of the case, and an electrode terminal in a terminal hole of the cap plate. The electrode terminal may include a plate terminal outside the cap plate and corresponding to the terminal hole, the plate terminal including a through-hole, a first groove, and a second groove, and a rivet terminal, the rivet terminal passing through the terminal hole, being inserted in the through-hole, and being riveted to the plate terminal at an upper end of the rivet terminal. The first groove may extend from the through-hole at an upper end side of the rivet terminal, and the second groove may extend from the first groove to an outer side of the plate terminal.
US09252391B2	Hybrid layers for use in coatings on electronic devices or other articles A method for protecting an electronic device comprising an organic device body. The method involves the use of a hybrid layer deposited by chemical vapor deposition. The hybrid layer comprises a mixture of a polymeric material and a non-polymeric material, wherein the weight ratio of polymeric to non-polymeric material is in the range of 95:5 to 5:95, and wherein the polymeric material and the non-polymeric material are created from the same source of precursor material. Also disclosed are techniques for impeding the lateral diffusion of environmental contaminants.
US09252385B2	Organic light emitting device An organic light emitting device includes a base substrate defining an active area and a pad area that surrounds the active area, an organic light emitting layer formed on the active area, a first protective layer formed to cover the active area, where the organic light emitting layer is formed, and the pad area, a second protective layer formed to cover the first protective layer, and a dam formed between the first protective layer and the second protective layer, wherein the dam is located at a boundary between the active area and the pad area and includes a groove that is positioned separate from an outer portion of the active area.
US09252383B2	Cathode coating Electroluminescent devices are disclosed comprising a transparent anode; a layer of a hole transporting material; a layer of an electroluminescent material; a layer of an electron transporting material; a layer of a substituted lithium quinolate; and a metal cathode. The electroluminescent device may be an organic light-emitting diode having a cathode, an electron injection layer in contact with the cathode and an electron transport layer in contact with the electron injection layer and comprising aluminum, zirconium or hafnium quinolate or a mixture thereof or a mixture of any of them with a quinolate of a metal of group 1, 2, 3, 13 or 14 of the periodic table. Such devices may be made by the steps of forming a substituted lithium quinolate having one or more substituents and depositing the substituted lithium quinolate on a cathode of the device to provide an electron injection layer.
US09252381B2	Organic electronic device and method for producing the same There is provided an organic electronic device that can exhibit a long lifetime while having a facilitated production process. An organic electronic device and a method for producing it, wherein the organic electronic device comprises two or more electrodes facing each other on a substrate, and an organic functional layer that includes at least a hole injecting layer and/or a hole transporting layer situated between two electrodes, wherein the hole injecting layer and/or hole transporting layer is formed as a thin-film from a fluid material that comprises anionic metal oxide clusters that include at least one metal element selected from among elements of Group 5, Group 6 or Groups 8-10 of the Periodic Table, the metal oxide clusters being polyoxometalates, dissolved or uniformly dispersed or mixed in an aqueous solvent.
US09252377B2	Inorganic hosts in OLEDs A novel electronic device is reported containing a host comprising an inorganic material with a band gap of less than 4 eV. The use of an inorganic material is advantageous due to its desirable physical properties, including increased stability and charge mobility.
US09252375B2	Method of fabricating a light emitting diode display with integrated defect detection test A display panel and method of manufacture are described. In an embodiment, a display substrate includes a pixel area and a non-pixel area. An array of subpixels and corresponding array of bottom electrodes are in the pixel area. An array of micro LED devices are bonded to the array of bottom electrodes. One or more top electrode layers are formed in electrical contact with the array of micro LED devices. In one embodiment a redundant pair of micro LED devices are bonded to the array of bottom electrodes. In one embodiment, the array of micro LED devices are imaged to detect irregularities.
US09252374B2	Method for manufacturing high-efficiency inorganic-organic hybrid solar cell Provided is a method for manufacturing a solar cell including: a) forming an electron transport layer on a first electrode; b) forming a light absorber by applying a light absorber solution as a solution for forming a light absorber containing an organic-metal halide having a perovskite structure, the light absorber solution containing an organic halide and a metal halide dissolved therein so as to have a non-stoichiometric ratio based on the organic-metal halide; c) forming a hole conduction layer by applying and drying a hole transport solution in which an organic hole transport material is dissolved; and d) forming a second electrode, which is a counter electrode of the first electrode, on the hole conduction layer.
US09252371B1	Organic photoelectronic device and image sensor and electronic device An organic photoelectronic device includes a first electrode and a second electrode facing each other, and an active layer between the first electrode and the second electrode and including a first compound represented by Chemical Formula 1 or 2, and a ratio between a FWHM of a light absorption curve depending on a wavelength of the first compound in a solution state and in a thin film state satisfies the following Relationship Equation 1: FWHM2/FWHM1<2.5. In the Relationship Equation 1, FWHM1 is a FWHM of the light absorption curve depending on a wavelength in a solution state, and FWHM2 is a FWHM of the light absorption curve depending on a wavelength in a thin film state.
US09252367B2	Graphene derivatives, transparent conductive films, organic electroluminescent devices, methods of preparing the graphene derivatives and methods of preparing anode layers of the devices The present invention belongs to the technical field of transparent conductive films and provides a graphene derivative, a transparent conductive film and an organic electroluminescent (EL) device. Methods are also provided for preparation of the graphene derivative and for preparation of an anode of the organic EL device. The graphene derivative exhibits a lower evaporation temperature and a higher work function. The graphene derivative is represented by formula (I): wherein A represents a graphene substrate, n represents the number of the group connected to adjacent two carbon atoms of a carbon ring of the graphene substrate; each X independently represents an electron-withdrawing group; and each R independently represents any one of —R1, —R2, —O—R1, —O—R2, —R1—C6H5, —R2—C6H5, and —R3, wherein each R1 is independently an n-alkyl group having no less than 5 carbon atoms, each R2 is independently a substituted n-alkyl group having no less than 5 carbon atoms in its main chain and having an alkyl substituent, the C6H5 represents a phenyl group which is connected to the end of R1 or R2, and R3 is an aryl group.
US09252362B2	Method for making three dimensional memory array architecture using phase change and ovonic switching materials Three dimension memory arrays and methods of forming the same are provided. An example three dimension memory array can include a stack comprising a plurality of first conductive lines separated from one another by at least an insulation material, and at least one conductive extension arranged to extend substantially perpendicular to the plurality of first conductive lines, such that the at least one conductive extension intersects a portion of at least one of the plurality of first conductive lines. Storage element material is formed around the at least one conductive extension. Cell select material is formed around the at least one conductive extension.
US09252360B2	ALD processing techniques for forming non-volatile resistive switching memories ALD processing techniques for forming non-volatile resistive-switching memories are described. In one embodiment, a method includes forming a first electrode on a substrate, maintaining a pedestal temperature for an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process of less than 100° Celsius, forming at least one metal oxide layer over the first electrode, wherein the forming the at least one metal oxide layer is performed using the ALD process using a purge duration of less than 20 seconds, and forming a second electrode over the at least one metal oxide layer.
US09252359B2	Resistive switching devices having a switching layer and an intermediate electrode layer and methods of formation thereof In one embodiment of the present invention, a resistive switching device includes a first electrode disposed over a substrate and coupled to a first potential node, a switching layer disposed over the first electrode, a conductive amorphous layer disposed over the switching layer, and a second electrode disposed on the conductive amorphous layer and coupled to a second potential node.
US09252358B2	Semiconductor memory device and method of manufacturing the same First, a trench penetrating first conductive layers and interlayer insulating layers is formed. Next, a column-shaped conductive layer is formed to fill the trench via a side wall layer. Then, after formation of the side wall layer, by migration of oxygen atoms between the side wall layer and the first conductive layers or migration of oxygen atoms between the side wall layer and the interlayer insulating layers, a proportion of oxygen atoms in the side wall layer adjacent to the interlayer insulating layers is made larger than a proportion of oxygen atoms in the side wall layer adjacent to the first conductive layers, whereby the side wall layer adjacent to the first conductive layers is caused to function as the variable resistance element.
US09252354B2	Vertical hall device with highly conductive opposite face node for electrically connecting first and second hall effect regions Vertical Hall device with highly conductive node for electrically connecting first and second Hall effect regions. A vertical Hall device comprises a first Hall effect region and a different second Hall effect region, both in a common semiconductor body. The first and second Hall effect regions have a main face and an opposite face, respectively. A highly conductive opposite face node is in ohmic contact to the opposite face of the first Hall effect region and the opposite face of the second Hall effect region in the semiconductor body. The vertical Hall device also comprises a first pair of contacts in or at the main face of the first Hall effect region and a second pair of contacts in or at the main face of the second Hall effect region. A convex circumscribing contour of the second pair of contacts is disjoint from a convex circumscribing contour of the first pair of contacts. Alternative embodiments comprise a pair of contacts and an opposite face node contact.
US09252352B2	Ultrasonic transducer device, head unit, probe, and ultrasonic imaging apparatus An ultrasonic transducer device includes an ultrasonic transducer element array, a first signal terminal and a second signal terminal. The ultrasonic transducer element array has a 1st element group to a kth element group (where k is a natural number such that k≧2). The first signal terminal is connected with a control section configured to perform at least one of receiving and transmitting of signals. The second signal terminal is connected with the first signal terminal via the ultrasonic transducer element array. Each of the 1st element group to the kth element group includes a plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements electrically connected in parallel. The 1st element group to the kth element group are electrically connected in series between the first signal terminal and the second signal terminal.
US09252346B2	Semiconductor device having electrode interconnections within a conductive adhesive A semiconductor device includes an electrode including a plurality of pillars, a semiconductor element configured to be electrically-connected with the electrode, a substrate having electrode patterns, and a conductive adhesive layer located between the substrate and the electrode, the conductive adhesive layer including conductive substances configured to electrically-connect the pillars and the electrode patterns to each other, and including a body which encloses the conductive substances.
US09252345B2	Light emitting device and lighting system A light emitting device includes a conductive support member, a first conductive layer disposed on the conductive support member, a second conductive layer disposed on the first conductive layer, a light emitting structure including a first semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer, and an active layer disposed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer, and an insulation layer disposed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer. The first conductive layer includes a first expansion part penetrating through the second conductive layer, the second semiconductor layer and the active layer, and includes a second expansion part extending from the first expansion part and being disposed in the first semiconductor layer. The insulation layer is disposed on the lateral surface of the first expansion part, and wherein the lateral surface of the second expansion part contacts with the first semiconductor layer.
US09252343B2	LED package An LED package includes a package substrate, a first LED chip mounted on the package substrate, a first phosphor layer disposed on the first LED chip, a reflective layer configured to surround sides of the first LED chip and the first phosphor layer; and a mask disposed on the reflective layer and including a first opening portion which exposes a surface of the first phosphor layer.
US09252342B2	LED module with improved light output An LED module includes a printed circuit board (PCB) or a surface mounted device (SMD) carrier, an LED chip mounted directly or indirectly on the PCB or SMD carrier, an optical element arranged on top of the LED chip, and a white reflective layer covering a surface of the PCB or SMD carrier on which the optical element is arranged and/or partially covering the optical element.
US09252341B2	Optoelectronic chip-on-board module A method is provided for coating an optoelectronic chip-on-board module, including a flat substrate populated with one or more optoelectronic components, having a transparent, UV-resistant, and temperature-resistant coating made of one or more silicones. A corresponding optoelectronic chip-on-board module and a system having multiple optoelectronic chip-on-board modules are also provided. The method includes the following steps: a) preheating the substrate to be coated to a first temperature; b) applying on the preheated substrate a dam that encloses a surface area or partial area of the substrate to be coated, the dam being made of a first, heat-curable, highly reactive silicone that cures at the first temperature; c) filling the surface area or partial area of the substrate enclosed by the dam with a liquid second silicone; and d) curing the second silicone.
US09252332B1	Light emitting diode structure and light emitting diode module A light emitting diode structure includes a first contact electrode, a first insulating layer, a second contact electrode, a second insulating layer, a first barrier layer, a second barrier layer, a first illuminant epitaxial structure, and a second illuminant epitaxial structure. The first contact electrode includes a first protruding portion. The first insulating layer covers the first contact electrode and exposes a top of the first protruding portion. The second contact electrode is located on the first insulating layer and includes a second protruding portion. The second insulating layer covers the second contact electrode and exposes a top of the second protruding portion. The first barrier layer is located on the second insulating layer and is electrically connected to the second contact electrode. The second barrier layer is located on the second insulating layer.
US09252330B2	Semiconductor light emitting element A semiconductor light-emitting element according to the present invention includes: an n-type nitride semiconductor layer 21; a p-type nitride semiconductor layer 23; an active layer region 22 which includes an m plane nitride semiconductor layer and which is interposed between the n-type nitride semiconductor layer and the p-type nitride semiconductor layer; an n-type electrode 30 which is electrically connected to the n-type nitride semiconductor layer; a p-type electrode 40 which is electrically connected to the p-type nitride semiconductor layer; a light-emitting face, through which polarized light that has been produced in the active layer region is extracted out of this element; and a striped structure 50 which is provided for the light-emitting face and which has a plurality of projections that run substantially parallel to the a-axis direction of the m plane nitride semiconductor layer.
US09252328B2	Three-dimensional gallium nitride (GaN) pillar structure light emitting diode (LED) A method is provided for fabricating a light emitting diode (LED) using three-dimensional gallium nitride (GaN) pillar structures with planar surfaces. The method forms a plurality of GaN pillar structures, each with an n-doped GaN (n-GaN) pillar and planar sidewalls perpendicular to the c-plane, formed in either an m-plane or a-plane family. A multiple quantum well (MQW) layer is formed overlying the n-GaN pillar sidewalls, and a layer of p-doped GaN (p-GaN) is formed overlying the MQW layer. The plurality of GaN pillar structures are deposited on a first substrate, with the n-doped GaN pillar sidewalls aligned parallel to a top surface of the first substrate. A first end of each GaN pillar structure is connected to a first metal layer. The second end of each GaN pillar structure is etched to expose the n-GaN pillar second end and connected to a second metal layer.
US09252325B2	Method for producing group III nitride semiconductor light-emitting device The present invention provides a method for producing a Group III nitride semiconductor light-emitting device wherein in the formation of a light-emitting layer by forming a well layer, a capping layer and a barrier layer, the well layer having superior flatness and crystallinity is formed while suppressing the occurrence of damage to the well layer. In formation of the light-emitting layer, pits are provided in the light-emitting layer so that a pit diameter D falls within a range of 120 nm to 250 nm. The light-emitting layer formation step comprises the steps of forming the barrier layer, forming the well layer, and forming the capping layer. The growth temperature of the barrier layer is higher by any temperature in a range of 65° C. to 135° C. than that of the well layer.
US09252323B2	Method for manufacturing nitride semiconductor element A first nitride semiconductor layer laminating step includes a first step and a second step. In the first step, an entire upper surface of the sapphire substrate is coated with a first nitride semiconductor layer, while supplying oxygen. In the second step, crystals of the first nitride semiconductor layer are grown by supplying oxygen at a smaller flow rate than that of oxygen supplied in the first step, or without supplying the oxygen.
US09252321B2	Opto-mechanical alignment Technologies are generally described for manufacturing an optical device by attaching a light-emitting element to an optical element through a resin. In various examples, a method is described, where a substrate is provided to have a through-hole at a position in the substrate where an optical element is to be mounted. A resin in liquid state may be injected into the through-hole in the substrate. Further, an optical element having a light-emitting portion may be mounted on the substrate such that a center of the tight-emitting portion is self-aligned with a center of the through-hole due to a surface tension of the resin in liquid state. The resin may be cured such that the optical element is fixed to the substrate.
US09252320B2	Thin film structures and devices with integrated light and heat blocking layers for laser patterning Selective removal of specified layers of thin film structures and devices, such as solar cells, electrochromics, and thin film batteries, by laser direct patterning is achieved by including heat and light blocking layers in the device/structure stack immediately adjacent to the specified layers which are to be removed by laser ablation. The light blocking layer is a layer of metal that absorbs or reflects a portion of the laser energy penetrating through the dielectric/semiconductor layers and the heat blocking layer is a conductive layer with thermal diffusivity low enough to reduce heat flow into underlying metal layer(s), such that the temperature of the underlying metal layer(s) does not reach the melting temperature, Tm, or in some embodiments does not reach (Tm)/3, of the underlying metal layer(s) during laser direct patterning.
US09252319B2	Solar cell emitter region fabrication using silicon nano-particles Methods of fabricating solar cell emitter regions using silicon nano-particles and the resulting solar cells are described. In an example, a method of fabricating an emitter region of a solar cell includes forming a region of doped silicon nano-particles above a dielectric layer disposed above a surface of a substrate of the solar cell. A layer of silicon is formed on the region of doped silicon nano-particles. At least a portion of the layer of silicon is mixed with at least a portion of the region of doped silicon nano-particles to form a doped polycrystalline silicon layer disposed on the dielectric layer.
US09252317B2	Multi-pixel avalanche transistor Semiconductor avalanche photo transistors and methods of manufacturing the same, operable for internal amplification of a photo signal and for use in detection of weak light signals, gamma rays and nuclear particles. The multi-pixel avalanche photo transistor devices can comprise a semiconductor layer, a plurality of semiconductor areas (pixels) forming a p-n-junction with the semiconductor layer, a common conductive grid separated from the semiconductor layer by a dielectric layer and individual micro-resistors connected to said semiconductor areas with the common conductive grid. Systems and methods described can be operable to decrease optical crosstalk at high signal amplification and the special capacity of the multi-pixel avalanche photo transistor, as well as improve speed of its photo response.
US09252312B2	Solar cell module and manufacturing method therefor The present invention provides a solar cell module which keeps backing film from being scratched and prevents the occurrence of scratches. The solar cell module (10) of the present invention is provided with a surface protecting member (12), backing film (13), a plurality of solar cells (11) arranged between the surface protecting member (12) and the backing film (13) and electrically connected by means of wiring members (16), a filler material (14) for sealing the solar cells (11) between the surface protecting member (12) and the backing film (13), and transition wiring (20) electrically connected with the wiring members (16). Here, at least the end portion of transition wiring (20) positioned in a corner portion of the solar cell module is arranged so as to be positioned closer to the surface protecting member (12) than other portions of the transition wiring (20).
US09252305B2	Photovoltaic device, manufacturing method thereof, and photovoltaic module A photovoltaic device includes a silicon substrate of a first conduction type that includes an impurity diffusion layer on one surface side; a light-receiving-surface side electrode that includes a plurality of grid electrodes electrically connected to the impurity diffusion layer; and a back-surface side electrode formed on the other surface side of the silicon substrate wherein the impurity diffusion layer includes a first impurity diffusion layer and a second impurity diffusion layer, and wherein the first impurity diffusion layer is formed so that a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the grid electrodes is a longitudinal direction thereof, and so that an area ratio of the first impurity diffusion layer to a band region is equal to or lower than 50%.
US09252284B2	Display substrate and method of manufacturing a display substrate A display substrate and a method for manufacturing a display substrate are disclosed. In the method, a gate electrode is formed on a base substrate. An active pattern is formed using an oxide semiconductor. The active pattern partially overlaps the gate electrode. A first insulation layer pattern and a second insulation layer pattern are sequentially formed on the active pattern. The first insulation layer pattern and the second insulation layer pattern overlap the gate electrode. A third insulation layer is formed to cover the active pattern, the first insulation layer pattern and the second insulation layer pattern. Either the first insulation layer pattern or the second insulation layer pattern includes aluminum oxide. Forming the first insulation layer pattern and the second insulation layer pattern includes performing a backside exposure process using the gate electrode as an exposure mask.
US09252283B2	Semiconductor device comprising oxide semiconductor film A semiconductor device in which deterioration of electrical characteristics which becomes more noticeable as the transistor is miniaturized can be suppressed is provided. The semiconductor device includes an oxide semiconductor stack in which a first oxide semiconductor layer, a second oxide semiconductor layer, and a third oxide semiconductor layer are stacked in this order from the substrate side over a substrate; a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer which are in contact with the oxide semiconductor stack; a gate insulating film over the oxide semiconductor stack, the source electrode layer, and the drain electrode layer; and a gate electrode layer over the gate insulating film. The first oxide semiconductor layer includes a first region. The gate insulating film includes a second region. When the thickness of the first region is TS1 and the thickness of the second region is TG1, TS1≧TG1.
US09252282B2	Thin film transistor array substrate and liquid crystal display device The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device that can achieve a sufficiently-high-speed response and has a sufficiently excellent transmittance and a thin film transistor array substrate preferably used in the liquid crystal display device. The thin film transistor array substrate according to the present invention is a thin film transistor array substrate that includes, as electrodes, one pair of comb electrodes and a sheet electrode, and at least one electrode selected from the group consisting of the pair of comb electrodes and the sheet electrode being electrically connected along a pixel line.
US09252280B2	MOSFET and method for manufacturing the same The present disclosure discloses a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and a method for manufacturing the same. The MOSFET includes: a silicon on insulator (SOI) wafer which comprises a semiconductor substrate, a buried insulating layer, and a semiconductor layer, the buried insulating layer being on the semiconductor substrate, and the semiconductor layer being on the buried insulating layer; a gate stack on the semiconductor layer; a source region and a drain region, which are in the semiconductor layer and on opposite sides of the gate stack; and a channel region, which is in the semiconductor layer and sandwiched by the source region and the drain region, wherein the MOSFET further comprises a back gate, the back gate being located in the semiconductor substrate and having a first doped region in a lower portion of the back gate and a second doped region in an upper portion of the back gate.
US09252278B2	Array substrate, display device and manufacturing method thereof A manufacturing method of an arrayed substrate is disclosed, in which ion-doping is performed by using photoresist as a barrier layer instead of using a gate electrode, which process can reduces the short channel effect that is caused by diffusion of doped ions toward a channel region, and meanwhile decrease the coupling capacitance between the gate electrode and the source-drain electrodes, thereby improving the performance of the prepared TFT.
US09252277B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device in one embodiment includes a semiconductor substrate, a fin disposed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate, an insulator including a gate insulator disposed on a side surface of the fin, and a gate electrode disposed on the insulator that is disposed on side surfaces of the fin and an upper surface of the fin. The device further includes a plurality of epitaxial stripe shaped layers disposed horizontally on the side surface of the fin at different heights, and an interlayer dielectric disposed on the semiconductor substrate to cover the fin and applying a stress to the fin and the epitaxial layers. Any two adjacent epitaxial layers along the fin height direction determine a gap and the gaps between adjacent layers increase or decrease with increasing distance from the substrate.
US09252272B2	FinFET semiconductor device having local buried oxide There is set forth herein in one embodiment a FinFET semiconductor device having a fin extending from a bulk silicon substrate, wherein there is formed wrapped around a portion of the fin a gate, and wherein proximate a channel area of the fin aligned to the gate there is formed a local buried oxide region aligned to the gate. In one embodiment, the local buried oxide region is formed below a channel area of the fin.
US09252269B2	Tunnel effect transistor A tunnel effect transistor includes a channel made of an intrinsic semiconductor material; source and drain extension regions on either side of the channel, the source extension region being made of a semiconductor material doped according to a first type of doping P or N and the drain extension region being made of a semiconductor material doped according to a second type of doping opposite to said first type of doping; source and drain conductive regions respectively in contact with the source and drain extension regions; a gate structure including a gate dielectric layer in contact with the channel and a gate area arranged such that the gate dielectric layer is arranged between the gate area and the channel; and an area doped according to the first type of doping inserted between the channel and the drain extension region.
US09252268B2	Array substrate for display device The present invention provides a display device and a dual gate type thin film transistor (TFT) structure for an electronic device. According to an embodiment, the dual gate TFT structure includes a first gate electrode formed on a substrate; a semiconductor layer formed on the first gate electrode; an insulating layer formed on the semiconductor layer, and including first, second and third contact holes therein; drain and source electrodes in contact with the semiconductor layer respectively through the first and second contact holes; a passivation layer formed on the drain electrode and the source electrode, and including a fourth contact hole therein; a planarization layer formed on the passivation layer, and including a fifth contact hole therein; and a second gate electrode formed on the planarization layer, and in electrical contact with the first gate electrode through the third, fourth and fifth contact holes.
US09252267B2	Method of forming stacked trench contacts and structures formed thereby Methods and associated structures of forming a microelectronic device are described. Those methods may include forming a structure comprising a first contact metal disposed on a source/drain contact of a substrate, and a second contact metal disposed on a top surface of the first contact metal, wherein the second contact metal is disposed within an IID disposed on a top surface of a metal gate disposed on the substrate.
US09252266B2	Wide band gap semiconductor device and method for producing the same A wide band gap semiconductor device is disclosed. A first trench in a gate electrode part and second trench in a source electrode part (Schottky diode) are disposed close to each other, and the second trench is deeper than the first trench. A metal electrode is formed in the second trench to form a Schottky junction on a surface of an n-type drift layer in the bottom of the second trench. Further, a p+-type region is provided in part of the built-in Schottky diode part being in contact with the surface of the n-type drift layer, preferably in the bottom of the second trench. The result is a small wide band gap semiconductor device which is low in on-resistance and loss. Electric field concentration applied on a gate insulating film is relaxed to suppress lowering of withstand voltage and increase avalanche breakdown tolerance at turning-off time.
US09252265B2	Shielded gate trench MOS with improved source pickup layout A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes forming a plurality of trenches using a first mask. The trenches include source pickup trenches located in outside a termination area and between two adjacent active areas. First and second conductive regions separated by an intermediate dielectric region are formed using a second mask. A first electrical contact to the first conductive region and a second electrical contact to the second conductive region are formed using a third mask and forming a source metal region. Contacts to a gate metal region are formed using a fourth mask. A semiconductor device includes a source pickup contact located outside a termination region and outside an active region of the device.
US09252263B1	Multiple semiconductor device trenches per cell pitch A semiconductor device includes a plurality of field plate trenches formed in a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of gate trenches formed in the semiconductor substrate and spaced apart from the field plate trenches, and a plurality of device cells having a cell pitch defined by a distance from one side of a field plate trench to the same side of an adjacent field plate trench. Each device cell includes a first doped region of a first conductivity type and a second doped region of a second conductivity type adjacent the first doped region in a part of the semiconductor substrate disposed between the adjacent field plate trenches that define the cell pitch. At least some of the device cells have more than one gate trench per cell pitch.
US09252261B2	Semiconductor device and manufacturing method of the same An anode region 106 is formed on a bottom portion of a trench 105 in which a gate electrode 108 is formed or in a drift region 102 immediately under the trench 105. A contact hole 110 is formed in the trench 105 at a depth reaching the anode region 106. A source electrode 112 is embedded in the contact hole 110 while interposing an inner wall insulating film 111 therebetween. The anode region 106 and the source electrode 112 are electrically connected to each other in a state of being insulated from the gate electrode 108 by the inner wall insulating film 111.
US09252260B2	Semiconductor device, and a method of improving breakdown voltage of a semiconductor device A semiconductor device having a first layer adjoining a semiconductor layer, and further comprising at least one field modification structure positioned such that, in use, a potential at the field modification structure causes an E-field vector at a region of an interface between the semiconductor and the first layer to be modified.
US09252258B2	CMOS compatible method for manufacturing a HEMT device and the HEMT device thereof A method for manufacturing a III-nitride HEMT having a gate electrode and source and drain ohmic contacts is provided, comprising providing a substrate; forming a stack of III-nitride layers on the substrate; forming a first passivation layer comprising silicon nitride overlying and in contact with an upper layer of the stack of III-nitride layers, wherein the first passivation layer is deposited in-situ with the stack of III-nitride layers; forming a dielectric layer overlying and in contact with the first passivation layer; forming a second passivation layer comprising silicon nitride overlying and in contact with the dielectric layer wherein the second passivation layer is deposited at a temperature higher than 450° C. by LPCVD or MOCVD or any equivalent technique; and thereafter forming the source and drain ohmic contacts and the gate electrode.
US09252256B2	III-nitride semiconductor device with reduced electric field A conductive field plate is formed between the drain electrode and gate of each cell of a III-Nitride semiconductor and is connected to the source electrode to reduce the electric field between the gate and the drain. The electrodes may be supported on N+ III-Nitride pad layers and the gate may be a Schottky gate or an insulated gate.
US09252255B2	High electron mobility transistor and method of manufacturing the same Provided are a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) and a method of manufacturing the HEMT. The HEMT includes: a channel layer comprising a first semiconductor material; a channel supply layer comprising a second semiconductor material and generating two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the channel layer; a source electrode and a drain electrode separated from each other in the channel supply layer; at least one depletion forming unit that is formed on the channel supply layer and forms a depletion region in the 2DEG; at least one gate electrode that is formed on the at least one depletion forming unit; at least one bridge that connects the at least one depletion forming unit and the source electrode; and a contact portion that extends from the at least one bridge under the source electrode.
US09252246B2	Integrated split gate non-volatile memory cell and logic device A method of making a semiconductor structure includes forming a select gate and a charge storage layer in an NVM region. A control gate is formed by depositing a conformal layer followed by an etch back. A patterned etch results in leaving a portion of the charge storage layer over the select gate and under the control gate and to remove the charge storage layer from the logic region. A logic gate structure formed in a logic region has a metal work function surrounded by an insulating layer.
US09252245B1	Spacer-last replacement metal gate flow and device A methodology for spacer-last replacement metal gate (RMG) flow that exhibits reduced variability, and the resulting device are disclosed. Embodiments may include forming a dummy gate stack comprising a dummy nitride portion on a dummy oxide portion on a substrate, forming source/drain regions in the substrate at opposite sides of the dummy gate stack, depositing an insulating material over the source/drain regions, coplanar with the dummy gate stack, and replacing the dummy gate stack with a metal gate stack and spacers.
US09252242B2	Semiconductor structure with deep trench thermal conduction Diodes and resistors for integrated circuits are provided. Deep trenches (DTs) are integrated into the diodes and resistors for the purposes of thermal conduction. The deep trenches facilitate conduction of heat from a semiconductor-on-insulator substrate to a bulk substrate. Semiconductor fins may be formed to align with the deep trenches.
US09252240B2	Manufacturing method for semiconductor device with discrete field oxide structure A manufacturing method for a semiconductor device with a discrete field oxide structure is provided, the method includes: growing a first PAD oxide layer on the surface of a wafer; forming a first silicon nitride layer (302) on the first PAD oxide layer through deposition; defining a field region by photolithography and etching same to remove the first silicon nitride layer (302) located on the field region; performing an ion implantation process to the field region; performing field region oxidation to grow a field oxide layer (304); peeling off the first silicon nitride layer (302); wet-dipping the wafer to remove the first PAD oxide layer and a part of field oxide layer (304); growing a second PAD oxide layer on the surface of the wafer, and forming a second silicon nitride layer (312) on the second PAD oxide layer through deposition; defining a drift region by photolithography and etching same to remove the second silicon nitride layer (312) on the drift region; performing an ion implantation process to the drift region; and performing drift region oxidation to grow a drift region oxide layer (314). The above-mentioned method peels off the silicon nitride layer (302) after the growth of the field oxide layer (304) is finished, at this time, the length of a bird beak of field-oxide (304) can be optimized by adjusting a wet-dipping amount to solve the problem that the bird beak of field-oxide (304) is too long.
US09252238B1	Semiconductor structures with coplanar recessed gate layers and fabrication methods Semiconductor structures and fabrication methods are provided which includes, for instance, providing a gate structure over a semiconductor substrate, the gate structure including multiple conformal gate layers and a gate material disposed within the multiple conformal gate layers; recessing a portion of the multiple conformal gate layers below an upper surface of the gate structure, where upper surfaces of recessed, multiple conformal gate layers are coplanar; and removing a portion of the gate material to facilitate an upper surface of a remaining portion of the gate material to be coplanar with an upper surface of the recessed, multiple conformal gate layers.
US09252234B2	Partially-blocked well implant to improve diode ideality with SiGe anode A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device is disclosed. A p-type substrate is doped to form an N-well in a selected portion of a p-type substrate adjacent an anode region of the substrate. A p-type doped region is formed in the anode region of the p-type substrate. The p-type doped region and the N-well form a p-n junction.
US09252233B2	Air-gap offset spacer in FinFET structure The present disclosure relates to a method of forming a FinFET device having sidewalls spacers comprising an air gap that provides for a low dielectric constant, and an associated apparatus. In some embodiments, the method is performed by forming a fin of semiconductor material on a semiconductor substrate. A gate structure, having a gate dielectric layer and an overlying gate material layer, is formed at a position overlying the fin of semiconductor material. Sidewall spacers are formed at positions abutting opposing sides of the gate structure. Respective sidewall spacers have a first layer of insulating material abutting the gate structure and a second layer of insulating material separated from the first layer of insulating material by an air gap. By forming the FinFET device to have sidewall spacers with air gaps, the parasitic capacitance of the FinFET device and a corresponding RC time delay are decreased.
US09252229B2	Inversion thickness reduction in high-k gate stacks formed by replacement gate processes A method of forming a transistor device includes forming an interfacial layer on a semiconductor substrate, corresponding to a region between formed doped source and drain regions in the substrate; forming a high dielectric constant (high-k) layer on the interfacial layer, the high-k layer having a dielectric constant greater than about 7.5; forming a doped metal layer on the high-k layer; performing a thermal process so as to cause the doped metal layer to scavenge oxygen atoms diffused from the interfacial layer such that a final thickness of the interfacial layer is less than about 5 angstroms (Å); and forming a metal gate material over the high-k dielectric layer.
US09252224B2	Self-aligned insulated film for high-k metal gate device An integrated circuit includes a semiconductor substrate, a gate dielectric over the substrate, a metal gate structure over the semiconductor substrate and the gate dielectric, a dielectric film on the metal gate structure, the dielectric film comprising oxynitride combined with metal from the metal gate, and an interlayer dielectric (ILD) on either side of the metal gate structure.
US09252223B2	Semiconductor device having a buried gate A semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed, in which a buried gate region is formed, a nitride film spacer is formed at sidewalls of the buried gate region, and the spacer is etched in an active region in such a manner that the spacer remains in a device isolation region. Thus, if a void occurs in the device isolation region, the spacer can prevent a short-circuit from occurring between the device isolation region and its neighboring gates.
US09252222B2	Transistor and method of fabricating the same Provided is a transistor. The transistor includes: a substrate; a semiconductor layer provided on the substrate and having one side vertical to the substrate and the other side facing the one side; a first electrode extending along the substrate and contacting the one side of the semiconductor layer; a second electrode extending along the substrate and contacting the other side of the semiconductor layer; a conductive wire disposed on the first electrode and spaced from the second electrode; a gate electrode provided on the semiconductor layer; and a gate insulating layer disposed between the semiconductor layer and the gate electrode, wherein the semiconductor layer, the first electrode, and the second electrode have a coplanar.
US09252221B2	Formation of gate sidewall structure A semiconductor device having a gate stack on a substrate is disclosed. The gate stack may include a mask layer disposed over a first gate conductor layer. The first gate conductor layer may be laterally etched beneath the mask layer to create an overhanging portion of the mask layer. A sidewall dielectric can be formed on the sidewall of the first gate conductor layer beneath the overhanging portion of the mask layer. A sidewall structure layer can be formed adjacent to the sidewall dielectric and beneath the overhanging portion of the mask layer. The mask layer can be removed. The first gate conductor layer can be used to form a memory gate and the sidewall structure layer can be used to form a select gate.
US09252220B2	Nitride semiconductor device and fabricating method thereof A nitride semiconductor power device includes an AlGaN multilayer, which has changeable Al composition along a depositing direction, and SixNy layer, so as to minimize an increase in a leakage current and a decrease in a breakdown voltage, which are caused while fabricating a heterojunction type HFET device. A semiconductor device includes a buffer layer, an AlGaN multilayer formed on the buffer layer, a GaN channel layer formed on the AlGaN multilayer, and an AlGaN barrier layer formed on the AlGaN multilayer, wherein aluminum (Al) composition of the AlGaN multilayer changes along a direction that the AlGaN multilayer is deposited.
US09252218B2	Silicon carbide semiconductor element and fabrication method thereof An Ni2Si layer and a TiC layer formed by sintering after deposition of a thin layer including Ni and a thin layer including Ti on a silicon carbide substrate have a structure in which the TiC layer is precipitated on a surface of the Ni2Si layer. A multilayer thin film including a Ti layer as a first thin film and an Ni layer as a second thin film is formed on the TiC layer surface in the structure. A TiC-derived C composition ratio is set to 15% or more at an interface between the TiC layer and the Ti layer of the multilayer thin film. As a result, a silicon carbide semiconductor element can be provided without occurrence of peeling after wafer dicing and subsequent picking up by a dicing tape.
US09252217B2	Semiconductor arrangement and formation thereof A semiconductor arrangement and method of formation are provided. The semiconductor arrangement includes a semiconductor column having a first portion comprising a first material, a second portion comprising a second material, and a third portion comprising a third material, where the second material is different than the first material and the third material. The first portion, the second portion, and the third portion have substantially equal widths. A first abrupt interface exists between a top surface of the first portion and a bottom surface of the second portion, and a second abrupt interface exists between a top surface of the second portion and a bottom surface of the third portion, in an embodiment. In an embodiment, the column forms part of a transistor where the first portions functions as a source or drain, the second portion functions as a channel, and the third portion functions as a drain or source.
US09252206B2	Unit for liquid phase epitaxial growth of monocrystalline silicon carbide, and method for liquid phase epitaxial growth of monocrystalline silicon carbide The cost of liquid phase epitaxial growth of a monocrystalline silicon carbide is reduced. A feed material 11 is such that when a surface layer thereof containing a polycrystalline silicon carbide with a 3C crystal polymorph is subjected to X-ray diffraction, a diffraction peak corresponding to a (111) crystal plane and a diffraction peak other than the diffraction peak corresponding to the (111) crystal plane are observed as diffraction peaks corresponding to the polycrystalline silicon carbide with a 3C crystal polymorph. A seed material 12 is such that when a surface layer thereof containing a polycrystalline silicon carbide with a 3C crystal polymorph is subjected to X-ray diffraction, a first-order diffraction peak corresponding to a (111) crystal plane is observed as a diffraction peak corresponding to the polycrystalline silicon carbide with a 3C crystal polymorph but no other first-order diffraction peak having a diffraction intensity of 10% or more of the diffraction intensity of the first-order diffraction peak corresponding to the (111) crystal plane is observed.
US09252204B2	Metal insulator metal (MIM) capacitor structure A MIM capacitor includes a dielectric cap that enhances performance and reduces damage to MIM insulators during manufacture. A cavity is formed in an insulative substrate, such as a back end of line dielectric layer, and a first metal layer and an insulator layer are conformally deposited. A second metal layer may be deposited conformally and/or to fill a remaining portion of the cavity. The dielectric cap may be an extra layer of insulative material deposited at ends of the insulator at an opening of the cavity and may also be formed as part of the insulator layer.
US09252201B2	Method of forming back-end-of-line planar resistor A stack of an interconnect-level dielectric material layer and a disposable dielectric material layer is patterned so that at least one recessed region is formed through the disposable dielectric material layer and in an upper portion of the interconnect-level dielectric material layer. A dielectric liner layer and a metallic liner layer is formed in the at least one recessed region. At least one photoresist is applied to fill the at least one recessed region and lithographically patterned to form via cavities and/or line cavities in the interconnect-level dielectric material layer. After removing the at least one photoresist, the at least one recessed region, the via cavities, and/or the line cavities are filled with at least one metallic material, which is subsequently planarized to form at least one planar resistor having a top surface that is coplanar with top surfaces of metal lines or metal vias.
US09252200B2	Semiconductor device In a first semiconductor chip, a first multilayer interconnect layer is formed on a first substrate, and a first inductor is formed in the first multilayer interconnect layer. In a second semiconductor chip, a second multilayer interconnect layer is formed on a second substrate. A second inductor is formed in the second multilayer interconnect layer. The first semiconductor chip and the second semiconductor chip overlap each other in a direction in which the first multilayer interconnect layer and the second multilayer interconnect layer face each other. In addition, the first inductor and the second inductor overlap each other when seen in a plan view. At least one end of a first insulating film does not overlap the end of a facing region, in a Y direction.
US09252196B2	Organic light-emitting diode, organic light-emitting display device including the same, and method of controlling dual emission of organic light-emitting diode An organic light-emitting diode, an organic light-emitting display device including the same, and a method of controlling dual emission of the organic light-emitting diode. The organic light-emitting diode includes: a first electrode and a second electrode facing each other; a common electrode interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode; a first organic layer interposed between the first electrode and the common electrode; and a second organic layer that is interposed between the second electrode and the common electrode and is reverse-symmetric to the first organic layer with respect to the common electrode.
US09252195B2	Display device A display device is disclosed. In one aspect, the display device includes a first substrate including a display area and a non-display area surrounding the display area and a display unit formed over the first substrate in the display area and configured to display an image. The display device also includes a plurality of first reinforcing members formed over the first substrate in the non-display area, wherein the first reinforcing members are spaced apart from each other. The display device further includes a second substrate formed over the first substrate with the display unit interposed therebetween, and a sealant formed in the non-display area and substantially sealing the first and second substrates, wherein the sealant is interposed between the display area and the plurality of first reinforcing members.
US09252194B2	Display device having a reflection of light reducing multilayer An EC region (second region) of an organic EL display device (1) has an optical interference layer which is a multilayer of (i) an edge cover (7) made from an acrylic resin having a lower refractive index, (ii) an organic layer (8), and (iii) a second electrode (9) which is a thin and semi-transparent film. Therefore, the organic EL display device (1) can suppress a deterioration in contrast without narrowing a display region, and can have a high reliability.
US09252192B2	Methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices including a cross point cell array A method of fabricating a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes an intermediate pattern structure on a substrate. The intermediate pattern structure includes a pair of first conductive lines extending in a first direction, a pair of first conductive connectors connecting end portions the pair of first conductive lines to each other, a pair of second conductive lines intersecting the pair of first conductive lines, and a pair of second conductive connectors connecting end portions of the pair of second conductive lines to each other. The first and second conductive connectors are selectively removed using a cut mask pattern to separate the pair of first conductive lines from each other and to separate the pair of second conductive lines from each other.
US09252189B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor memory element, nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, and method for manufacturing nonvolatile semiconductor memory device A nonvolatile semiconductor memory element includes: a variable resistance element including a first electrode, a variable resistance layer, and a second electrode, and having a resistance value which changes according to a polarity of an electric pulse applied between the first electrode and the second electrode; and a current steering element which is electrically connected to the variable resistance element, allows a current to flow bidirectionally, and has a nonlinear current-voltage characteristic. The current steering element (i) has a structure in which a first current steering element electrode, a first current steering layer, and a second current steering element electrode are stacked in this order, and (ii) includes a second current steering layer which covers side surfaces of the first current steering element electrode, the first current steering layer, and the second current steering element electrode.
US09252188B2	Methods of forming memory cells Some embodiments include methods of forming memory cells. A series of rails is formed to include bottom electrode contact material. Sacrificial material is patterned into a series of lines that cross the series of rails. A pattern of the series of lines is transferred into the bottom electrode contact material. At least a portion of the sacrificial material is subsequently replaced with top electrode material. Some embodiments include memory arrays that contain a second series of electrically conductive lines crossing a first series of electrically conductive lines. Memory cells are at locations where the electrically conductive lines of the second series overlap the electrically conductive lines of the first series. First and second memory cell materials are within the memory cell locations. The first memory cell material is configured as planar sheets and the second memory cell material is configured as upwardly-opening containers.
US09252184B2	Solid-state imaging apparatus and method for driving the same A solid-state imaging apparatus includes a pixel array in which pixels are arranged in a matrix. Each pixel includes a photoelectric conversion element, a transfer transistor, an amplifier transistor, and a reset transistor. The pixel array an effective pixel part in which light enters the photoelectric conversion element and which is configured to output a video signal, an optical black pixel part in which the photoelectric conversion element is shielded from light and which is configured to output a reference signal, and a dummy pixel part. Of pixels connected to the same signal output line, effective pixels of the effective pixel part are configured such that a first potential is supplied from the reset transistor to a floating diffusion part, and clipping pixels of the dummy pixel part are configured such that a second potential is supplied from the reset transistor to the floating diffusion part.
US09252182B2	Infrared multiplier for photo-conducting sensors Photo-conducting infrared sensors are provided including a substrate (e.g., silicon) with one or more trenches formed on a first surface. An infrared-reflective film can be deposited directly or indirectly onto and conforming in shape with the first surface of the substrate. A lead chalcogenide film can be deposited directly or indirectly over the top of the infrared-reflective film and conforming in shape with the first surface of the substrate. Accordingly, the infrared-reflective film is directly or indirectly sandwiched between the substrate and the lead chalcogenide film.
US09252178B2	Pixel of a multi-stacked CMOS image sensor and method of manufacturing the same Provided is a pixel of a multi-stacked complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor and a method of manufacturing the image sensor including a light-receiving unit that may include first through third photodiode layers that are sequentially stacked, an integrated circuit (IC) that is formed below the light-receiving unit, electrode layers that are formed on and below each of the first through third photodiode layers, and a contact plug that connects the electrode layer formed below each of the first through third photodiode layers with a transistor of the IC.
US09252176B2	Ambient infrared detection in solid state sensors A solid state imaging device includes an array of active pixels and an infrared cut filter formed over the sensor. Optionally, a slot in the infrared cut filter allows infrared illumination to reach the sensor to be detected by pixels covered by a visually opaque filter and surrounded by pixels of special types that limit charge leakage and enable high dynamic range sensing of infrared illumination. A ratio of average infrared signal to average brightness indicates an amount of infrared illumination reaching the imaging device.
US09252175B2	Method for assembly of spectroscopic filter arrays using biomolecules Spectroscopic filter arrays and methods for making spectroscopic filter arrays are provided. The arrays are formed using a dispersion of filter particles having selected moieties attached to the surface of the particles and a microarray having complementary moieties formed in an array on a substrate, such that each filter particle is attached to a selected region of the microarray. The moiety on the substrate may be RNA or DNA or other molecule. The substrate may be a surface of a photodetector array, a transparent plate that may be placed in registration with the photodetector or a stamp used to transfer the filter array to a photodetector array.
US09252172B2	Semiconductor device and method of forming EWLB semiconductor package with vertical interconnect structure and cavity region A semiconductor device has a substrate containing a transparent or translucent material. A spacer is mounted to the substrate. A first semiconductor die has an active region and first conductive vias electrically connected to the active region. The active region can include a sensor responsive to light received through the substrate. The first die is mounted to the spacer with the active region positioned over an opening in the spacer and oriented toward the substrate. An encapsulant is deposited over the first die and substrate. An interconnect structure is formed over the encapsulant and first die. The interconnect structure is electrically connected through the first conductive vias to the active region. A second semiconductor die having second conductive vias can be mounted to the first die with the first conductive vias electrically connected to the second conductive vias.
US09252169B2	Solid-state imaging device and imaging system A solid-state imaging device includes: a first semiconductor substrate including a photoelectric conversion element; and a second semiconductor substrate including at least a part of a peripheral circuit arranged in a main face of the second semiconductor substrate, the peripheral circuit generating a signal based on the charge of the photoelectric conversion element, a main face of the first semiconductor substrate and the main face of the second semiconductor substrate being opposed to each other with sandwiching a wiring structure therebetween; a pad to be connected to an external terminal; and a protection circuit electrically connected to the pad and to the peripheral circuit, wherein the protection circuit is arranged in the main face of the second semiconductor substrate.
US09252168B2	Photoelectric conversion device A photoelectric conversion device according to one or more embodiments includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion units. A readout portion is configured to output current signals to an output line. Each of the current signals is based on an amount of charges generated by a corresponding one of the photoelectric conversion units. The readout portion includes a plurality of transistors including at least a plurality of first input transistors and a plurality of second input transistors. Each of the first input transistors and a corresponding one of the second input transistor form a differential pair. Of the plurality of the transistors, any transistors repeatedly arranged correspondingly to every one or more of the photoelectric conversion units have the same conductivity type.
US09252164B2	Display device and method for manufacturing the same Discussed is a display device. The display device includes a thin film transistor, a first protective layer, a second protective layer, a pixel electrode, a connection line, a third protective layer, and a common electrode.
US09252161B2	Thin film transistor array substrate and manufacturing method thereof, and liquid crystal display device and manufacturing method thereof Source wires having a semiconductor film thereunder are formed wide within a range that does not overlap pixel electrodes formed later. Thereafter, a resist pattern for use in patterning the pixel electrodes is formed so as to overlap edge portions of the source wires, and etching using the resist pattern as a mask is performed, whereby the pixel electrodes are formed, and in addition, the edge portions of the source wires are removed, whereby a structure in which the semiconductor film has a portion projecting beyond the source wires on both sides is formed.
US09252158B2	Thin film transistor array panel and method of manufacturing the same A thin film transistor array panel includes a first insulating substrate, a gate electrode positioned on the first insulating substrate, a gate insulating layer positioned on the gate electrode, a semiconductor layer positioned on the gate insulating layer, and a source electrode and a drain electrode positioned on the semiconductor layer and spaced apart from each other, in which the semiconductor layer includes three or more amorphous silicon layers having different bandgap energies from one another in order to reduce a leakage current and improve performance of a liquid crystal display.
US09252155B2	Memory device and method for manufacturing the same A semiconductor structure and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The semiconductor structure includes a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer and a dielectric layer between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer. A width of the second electrode layer becomes larger in a direction away from the dielectric layer.
US09252146B2	Work function adjustment by carbon implant in semiconductor devices including gate structure A device including a p-type semiconductor device and an n-type semiconductor device on a semiconductor substrate. The n-type semiconductor device includes a gate structure having a high-k gate dielectric. A carbon dopant in a concentration ranging from 1×1016 atoms/cm3 to 1×1021 atoms/cm3 is present at an interface between the high-k gate dielectric of the gate structure for the n-type semiconductor device and the semiconductor substrate. Methods of forming the aforementioned device are also disclosed.
US09252145B2	Independent gate vertical FinFET structure A semiconductor device includes a substrate extending in a first direction to define a substrate length and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction to define a substrate width. A first semiconductor fin is formed on an upper surface of the substrate. The first semiconductor fin extends along the second direction at a first distance to define a first fin width. A first gate channel is formed between a first source/drain junction formed in the substrate and a second source/drain junction formed in the first semiconductor fin. A first gate stack is formed on sidewalls of the first gate channel. A first spacer is interposed between the first gate stack and the first source/drain junction.
US09252144B2	Field effect transistor and a device element formed on the same substrate An n− type diffusion region surrounds a high side well region and is electrically isolated from a low side region. In the n− diffusion region formed are a first p type diffusion region and the second p type diffusion region separated with each other. The first p type diffusion region composes a double RESURF structure in an nch MOSFET in the level shift-up circuit, and in a high voltage junction terminating structure. The second p type diffusion region composes a double RESURF structure of a pch MOSFET of a level shift-down circuit. The impurity concentration of the n− type diffusion region is in the range of 1.3×1012/cm2 to 2.8×1012/cm2. The impurity concentration of the first p type diffusion region and the impurity concentration of the second p type diffusion region are in the range of 1.1×1012/cm2 to 1.4×1012/cm2.
US09252143B2	Radio frequency and microwave devices and methods of use Radio frequency and microwave devices and methods of use are provided herein. According to some embodiments, the present technology may comprise an ohmic layer for use in a field effect transistor that includes a plurality of strips disposed on a substrate, the plurality of strips comprising alternating source strips and drain strips, with adjacent strips being spaced apart from one another to form a series of channels, a gate finger segment disposed in each of the series of channels, and a plurality of gate finger pads disposed in an alternating pattern around a periphery of the plurality of strips such that each gate finger segment is associated with two gate finger pads.
US09252137B2	Semiconductor substrate and semiconductor chip A semiconductor substrate capable of detecting operating current of a MOSFET and diode current in a miniaturized MOSFET such as a trench-gate type MOSFET is provided. A semiconductor substrate includes a main current region and a current sensing region in which current smaller than main current flowing in the main current region flows. The main current region has a source electrode disposed on a main surface, the source electrode being in contact with a p-type semiconductor region (body) and an n+-type semiconductor region (source), and the current sensing region has a MOSFET current detecting electrode and a diode current detecting electrode on a main surface, the MOSFET current detecting electrode being in contact with the p-type semiconductor region (body) and the n+-type semiconductor region (source), the diode current detecting electrode being in contact with the p-type semiconductor region (body).
US09252129B2	Semiconductor apparatus A semiconductor apparatus includes: a slave chip including a signal transfer unit configured to determine whether or not to transfer an input signal in response to a chip select signal; a master chip including a replica circuit unit having the same configuration as the signal transfer unit and a signal output unit configured to receive an output signal of the signal transfer unit and an output signal of the replica circuit unit and generate an output signal in response to the control signal; a first through-chip via vertically formed through the slave chip, and having one end connected to the master chip to receive the input signal and the other end connected to the signal transfer unit; and a second through-chip via vertically formed through the slave chip, and having one end connected to the signal transfer unit and the other end connected to the signal output unit.
US09252124B2	Circuit module having a substrate, semiconductor chip, and molding material formed by dicing A circuit module including: a wiring substrate having a shape elongated in one direction; a semiconductor chip mounted on the wiring substrate; and a molding material that molds the semiconductor chip, wherein end faces of the molding material that extend along a lengthwise direction of the wiring substrate and intersect with a lateral direction of the wiring substrate are formed by dicing performed along end faces of a partial region of the wiring substrate.
US09252123B2	Multi-chip package and method of manufacturing the same A multi-chip package may include a first semiconductor chip, a second semiconductor chip, a first stud bump, a first nail head bonding bump, a second stud bump, and a first conductive wire. The first semiconductor chip may have a first bonding pad. The second semiconductor chip may be stacked on the first semiconductor chip so the first bonding pad remains exposed. The second semiconductor chip may have a second bonding pad. The first stud bump may be formed on the first bonding pad. The first nail head bonding bump may be formed on the first stud bump, with one end of a first conductive wire formed between the two. The second stud bump may be formed on the second bonding pad, with another end of the first conductive wire formed between the two. An electrical connection test may be performed on each of the wire bonding processes.
US09252122B2	Package-on-package assembly with wire bond vias A structure includes a substrate having a first region and a second region, the substrate also having a first surface and a second surface. Electrically conductive elements are exposed at the first surface within the second region. Wire bonds have bases bonded to respective ones of the conductive elements and ends remote from the substrate and remote from the bases. At least one of the wire bonds has a shape such that the wire bond defines an axis between the free end and the base thereof and such that the wire bond defines a plane. A bent portion of the at least one wire bond extends away from the axis within the plane. A dielectric encapsulation layer covers portions of the wire bonds such that unencapsulated portions, including the ends, of the wire bonds are defined by portions of the wire bonds that are uncovered by the encapsulation layer.
US09252119B1	Ball grid array including redistribution layer, packaged integrated circuit including the same, and methods of making and using the same Method, algorithms, architectures, packages, circuits, and/or approaches for relatively low cost packaged integrated circuits (e.g., ball grid array or BGA packages) are disclosed. For example, a packaged integrated circuit can include a first chip, the first chip including a plurality of bond pads; a plurality of bond pad connectors in electrical communication with the plurality of bond pads; a substrate having a plurality of layers, at least one of the plurality of layers being configured to electrically connect the plurality of bond pad connectors and a plurality of external package connections; and a redistribution layer on the first chip, wherein the redistribution layer is configured to electrically connect at least one of the plurality of bond pad connectors and at least one of the plurality of bond pads on the first chip.
US09252115B1	Method for forming semiconductor layout Apparatuses and methods for an improved semiconductor layout are described herein. Embodiments of the present invention provide a microelectronic device including a microelectronic die and one or more redistribution paths formed thereon for electrically interconnecting at least one bond pad with an exposed portion of the redistribution path. The redistribution paths, bond pads, and exposed portions may be configured to result in the device having a width narrowed by at least the width of the bond pads due to their absence on at least one edge.
US09252113B2	No-exposed-pad ball grid array (BGA) packaging structures and method for manufacturing the same A no-exposed-pad ball grid array (BGA) packaging structure includes a metal substrate, a first die coupled to a top surface of the metal substrate, and a plurality of outer leads formed on the metal substrate and extending to the proximity of the die. A metal layer that contains a plurality of inner leads corresponding to the plurality of outer leads and extending to the proximity of the die is formed on the metal substrate by a multi-layer electrical plating process such that a lead pitch of the plurality of inner leads is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the die and the plurality of inner leads are connected by metal wires, and a plurality of solder balls is attached to a back surface of the plurality of outer leads and a die pad. The die, the plurality of inner leads, and the metal wires are sealed with a molding compound.
US09252108B2	Semiconductor device having magnetic shield layer surrounding MRAM chip According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a MRAM chip including a semiconductor substrate and a memory cell array area includes magnetoresistive elements which are provided on the semiconductor substrate, and a magnetic shield layer surrounding the memory cell array area in a circumferential direction of the MRAM chip, and having a closed magnetic path.
US09252104B2	Complementary back end of line (BEOL) capacitor A complementary back end of line (BEOL) capacitor (CBC) structure includes a metal oxide metal (MOM) capacitor structure. The MOM capacitor structure is coupled to a first upper interconnect layer of an interconnect stack of an integrated circuit (IC) device. The MOM capacitor structure includes a lower interconnect layer of the interconnect stack. The CBC structure also includes a second upper interconnect layer of the interconnect stack coupled to the MOM capacitor structure. The CBC structure also includes a metal insulator metal (MIM) capacitor layer between the first upper interconnect layer and the second upper interconnect layer. In addition, CBC structure also includes a MIM capacitor structure coupled to the MOM capacitor structure. The MIM capacitor structure includes a first capacitor plate having a portion of the first upper interconnect layer, and a second capacitor plate having a portion of the MIM capacitor layer(s).
US09252102B2	Semiconductor structure and method for manufacturing the same A semiconductor structure and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. The semiconductor structure comprises a conductive layer, a via, and a barrier layer disposed between the conductive layer and the via. The barrier layer is stuffed with oxygen.
US09252092B2	Semiconductor device and method of forming through mold hole with alignment and dimension control A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor die and an encapsulant formed over a first surface of the semiconductor die and around the semiconductor die. A first insulating layer is formed over a second surface of the semiconductor die opposite the first surface. A plurality of conductive vias is formed through the first insulating layer. A conductive pad is formed over the encapsulant. An interconnect structure is formed over the semiconductor die and encapsulant. A first opening is formed in the encapsulant to expose the conductive vias. The conductive vias form a conductive via array. The conductive via array is inspected through the first opening to measure a dimension of the first opening and determine a position of the first opening. The semiconductor device is adjusted based on a position of the conductive via array. A conductive material is formed in the first opening over the conductive via array.
US09252089B2	Universal lead frame for flat no-leads packages A universal lead frame for semiconductor packages includes a solid lead frame sheet comprising an electrically conductive material and a plurality of columns etched into the lead frame sheet and distributed with a predetermined lead pitch so that the universal lead frame has a solid first main side opposite the columns and a patterned second main side opposite the first main side. A method of manufacturing the universal lead frame includes providing a solid lead frame sheet of an electrically conductive material and etching a plurality of columns into the lead frame sheet so that the columns are distributed with a predetermined lead pitch and the universal lead frame has a solid first main side opposite the columns and a patterned second main side opposite the first main side. A method of manufacturing molded semiconductor packages using the universal lead frame is also provided.
US09252086B2	Connector and resin-sealed semiconductor device A connector for electrically connecting a chip electrode of a semiconductor element to a lead constituting an external leading terminal of the chip electrode, includes a first connecting part having an interface joined to the chip electrode; a second connecting part having an interface joined to a base end part of the lead; and a plate-shape coupling part for connecting the first connecting part and the second connecting part to each other, and having a step formed on the interface of the first connecting part in a direction away from the chip electrode by a half blanking process.
US09252080B1	Dielectric cover for a through silicon via An approach to creating a semiconductor structure for a dielectric layer over a void area includes determining a location of a void area of the topographical semiconductor feature. A second dielectric layer is deposited on a first dielectric layer and a top surface of a topographical semiconductor feature. The second dielectric layer is patterned to one or more portions, wherein at least one portion of the patterned second dielectric layer is over the location of the void area of the topographical semiconductor feature. A first metal layer is deposited over the second dielectric layer, at least one portion of the first dielectric layer, and a portion of the top surface of the topographical semiconductor feature. A chemical mechanical polish of the first metal layer is performed, wherein the chemical mechanical polish reaches the top surface of at least one of the one or more portions of the second dielectric layer.
US09252077B2	Package vias for radio frequency antenna connections Via are described for radio frequency antenna connections related to a package. In one example, a package has a package substrate, a die attached to the package substrate, and a conductive via from the package substrate to an external surface of the package to make a radio frequency connection between the antenna and the package substrate.
US09252076B2	3D packages and methods for forming the same Embodiments of the present disclosure include a semiconductor device, a package and methods of forming a semiconductor device and a package. An embodiment is a semiconductor device including a molding material over a first substrate with a first opening having a first width in the molding material. The semiconductor device further includes a second opening having a second width in the molding material with the second width being greater than the first width. A first connector is in the first opening and a second connector is in the second opening.
US09252075B2	Semiconductor device and method of forming a conductive via-in-via structure A semiconductor device is made from a semiconductor wafer containing semiconductor die separated by a peripheral region. A conductive via-in-via structure is formed in the peripheral region or through an active region of the device to provide additional tensile strength. The conductive via-in-via structure includes an inner conductive via and outer conductive via separated by insulating material. A middle conductive via can be formed between the inner and outer conductive vias. The inner conductive via has a first cross-sectional area adjacent to a first surface of the semiconductor device and a second cross-sectional area adjacent to a second surface of the semiconductor device. The outer conductive via has a first cross-sectional area adjacent to the first surface of the semiconductor device and a second cross-sectional area adjacent to the second surface of the semiconductor device. The first cross-sectional area is different from the second cross-sectional area.
US09252074B2	Heat dissipating device A heat dissipating device includes a semiconductor packaging structure having a stator set and a semiconductor element provided therein, a fan wheel set pivotally connected to the semiconductor packaging structure, and a guiding structure having a guiding channel. The guiding structure receives the semiconductor packaging structure and the fan wheel set. The fan wheel set includes a plurality of blades located above the surface of the semiconductor packaging structure. The stator set and the semiconductor element controls the first blades. The blades extend beyond side surfaces the semiconductor packaging structure and have their sizes increased, such that the airflow volume can be increased without changing the size of the semiconductor packaging structure.
US09252073B2	Heat sink and heat sink fan Each fin of a heat sink includes a main fin connected to a core and extending radially outwards, and a pair of branch fins extending radially outwards from a branch point at a radially outer end of the main fin. Among a plurality of fins, in each of three fins which are adjacent in the circumferential direction, a width of an end portion of the main fin viewed along the center axis expands radially outwards at an angle which is larger than an expanding angle of the pair of branch fins. A difference between a distance from the center axis to the branch point in the center one of the fins and a distance from the center axis to the branch point in each of the other two fins is equal to or larger than a width of a root of the main fin in the center radiating fin.
US09252070B2	Three-dimensional mounting semiconductor device and method of manufacturing three-dimensional mounting semiconductor device A three-dimensional mounting semiconductor device includes a layer structure including a plurality of first substrates with a trench-shaped concavity formed in and a plurality of second substrates with semiconductor elements formed in, which are alternately stacked, wherein an unevenness defined by a size difference between the first substrate and the second substrate is formed on a side surface, and a first through-hole are defined by an inside surface of the trench-shaped concavity and a surface of the second substrate, and a third substrate jointed to the side surface of the layer structure and having an unevenness formed on a surface jointed to the layer structure which are engaged with the unevenness formed on the side surface of the layer structure.
US09252069B2	High power module cooling system A cooling apparatus includes a direct-bonded copper (“DBC”) substrate, the DBC substrate having a plurality of micro-structure tabs formed on a fluid impingement side of the DBC substrate, and a jet head in complementary opposition to the fluid impingement side. The jet head has a first plurality of micro-jets facing the fluid impingement side, each of the first plurality of micro-jets having a nozzle, and a second plurality of micro-jets facing the fluid impingement side so the jet head is configured to deliver a fluid to the plurality of micro-structure tabs through the first and second plurality of micro-jets.
US09252055B2	Wafer dicing press and method and semiconductor wafer dicing system including the same In a wafer dicing press for reducing time and cost for wafer dicing and for evenly applying a dicing pressure to a whole wafer, a wafer dicing press includes a support unit supporting a first side of a wafer; and a pressurization device applying a pressure, by dispersing the pressure, to a second side of the wafer so that a laser-scribed layer of the wafer operates as a division starting point. Accordingly, the wafer dicing press reduces laser radiation and pressure-application times for dividing a wafer into semiconductor devices. This increased efficiency is achieved without increasing the likelihood of damaging the wafer.
US09252052B2	Dual shallow trench isolation liner for preventing electrical shorts A shallow trench is formed to extend into a handle substrate of a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) layer. A dielectric liner stack of a dielectric metal oxide layer and a silicon nitride layer is formed in the shallow trench, followed by deposition of a shallow trench isolation fill portion. The dielectric liner stack is removed from above a top surface of a top semiconductor portion, followed by removal of a silicon nitride pad layer and an upper vertical portion of the dielectric metal oxide layer. A divot laterally surrounding a stack of a top semiconductor portion and a buried insulator portion is filled with a silicon nitride portion. Gate structures and source/drain structures are subsequently formed. The silicon nitride portion or the dielectric metal oxide layer functions as a stopping layer during formation of source/drain contact via holes, thereby preventing electrical shorts between source/drain contact via structures and the handle substrate.
US09252047B2	Interconnect arrangement with stress-reducing structure and method of fabricating the same Embodiments of a semiconductor device structure and a method of fabricating the same are provided. The semiconductor device structure includes a substrate and a first layer formed over the substrate. The semiconductor device structure further includes a stress-reducing structure formed in the first layer, and a portion of the first layer is surrounded by the stress-reducing structure. The semiconductor device structure further includes a conductive feature formed in the portion of the first layer surrounded by the stress-reducing structure.
US09252046B2	Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same A semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The semiconductor device includes adjacent storage node contact plugs having different heights, and lower-electrode bowing profiles having different heights, such that a spatial margin between the lower electrodes is assured and a bridge fail is prevented, resulting in improved device operation characteristics. The semiconductor device includes a first storage node contact plug and a second storage node contact plug formed over a semiconductor substrate, wherein the second storage node contact plug is arranged at a height different from that of the first storage node contact plug, and a lower electrode formed over the first storage node contact plug and the second storage node contact plug.
US09252044B2	Shallow trench isolation for end fin variation control A method of fabricating a fin field effect transistor (FinFET) device and the device are described. The method includes forming a deep STI region adjacent to a first side of an end fin among a plurality of fins and lining the deep STI region, including the first side of the end fin, with a passivation layer. The method also includes depositing an STI oxide into the deep STI region, the passivation layer separating the STI oxide and the first side of the end fin, etching back the passivation layer separating the STI oxide and the first side of the end fin to a specified depth to create a gap, and depositing gate material, the gate material covering the gap.
US09252043B2	Film deposition method A film deposition method is provided. A first metal compound film is deposited by performing a first cycle of exposing a substrate to a first source gas containing a first metal, and of exposing the substrate to a reaction gas reactive with the first source gas. Next, the first source gas is adsorbed on the first metal compound film by exposing the substrate having the first metal compound film deposited thereon to the first source gas. Then, a second metal compound film is deposited on the substrate by performing a second cycle of exposing the substrate having the first source gas adsorbed thereon to a second source gas containing a second metal, and of exposing the substrate to the reaction gas reactive with the second source gas.
US09252039B2	Electrostatic chuck apparatus An electrostatic chuck apparatus includes a pedestal part including a side surface, an electrostatic chuck including a side surface and provided on the pedestal part, an adhesive part including a side surface and provided between the pedestal part and the electrostatic chuck, the adhesive part containing a resin adhesive agent that adheres the pedestal part and the electrostatic chuck together, a recess part provided in a portion of the side surface of the pedestal part and a portion of the side surface of the electrostatic chuck, the recess part being provided in an area that includes a side surface of the adhesive part, the recess part being provided along an outer periphery of the pedestal part, an outer periphery of the adhesive part, and an outer periphery of the electrostatic chuck, and a focus ring engaged with the recess part and covering the side surface of the adhesive part.
US09252038B2	Drive device and conveyance device To provide a drive device rigid enough to endure a stress due to a reaction during driving of an arm unit, and to provide a conveyance device including the same.A drive device includes a frame and an actuator installed in the frame. The frame is formed by integral molding by casting. The frame includes a connecting portion connectable to a division wall of a conveyance chamber, a bottom plate portion serving as an opposed portion provided to be opposed to the connecting portion, and a plurality of coupling portions that couple the connecting portion and the bottom plate portion to each other. The actuator includes three coaxial shafts (two rotating shafts and single turning shaft), three motors, and a transmission mechanism that transmits a rotational driving force by the three motors to the three shafts. The frame is formed by the integral molding, and hence it is possible to realize a drive device having a high rigidity.
US09252036B2	Substrate transfer system, substrate processing system, and substrate transfer robot A substrate transfer system includes a substrate transfer robot disposed in a robot installment area defined between a first apparatus and a second apparatus. The first apparatus includes a first cassette, a second cassette and a first wall. The second apparatus includes a second wall. The substrate transfer robot transfers a substrate from each of the first cassette and the second cassette to the second apparatus. The substrate transfer robot includes a hand and an arm. The arm includes a first arm rotatable about a center of rotation. The first cassette is closer to the center of rotation than the second cassette. The arm moves with being partially disposed beyond the second wall in plan view and the arm moves without being disposed beyond the second wall in plan view when taking out the substrate from the first cassette.
US09252035B2	Substrate transfer system, substrate processing system, and substrate transfer robot A substrate transfer system includes a substrate transfer robot disposed in a robot installment area defined between a first apparatus and a second apparatus. The first apparatus includes cassettes. The cassettes are each configured to accommodate at least one substrate. The second apparatus includes a second wall opposite to a first wall. The substrate transfer robot transfers the at least one substrate from each of the cassettes to the second apparatus. The substrate transfer robot includes a base stationary, a hand, and arms. A first arm includes a first end and a second end. The first end is rotatably coupled to the base. A second arm includes a third end and a fourth end. The third end is rotatably coupled to the second end. The second end of the first arm moves beyond the second wall when the substrate transfer robot takes out the substrate from the first apparatus.
US09252033B2	Installation device and electronic apparatus An automatic installation device for automatic procuring and fixing an object to a product is mounted on a base. The automatic installation device comprises an elevating mechanism, a loading mechanism for procuring the object, and a flexing mechanism connected between the elevating mechanism and the loading mechanism. The flexing mechanism is capable of driving the loading mechanism moving between the object and the product for aligning the object with the product in a first orientation. The elevating mechanism is capable of driving the loading mechanism to move in a second orientation perpendicular to the first orientation to drive the loading mechanism moving adjacent to the product and fixing the object to the product.
US09252026B2	Buried trench isolation in integrated circuits A system and method for providing electrical isolation between closely spaced devices in a high density integrated circuit (IC) are disclosed herein. An integrated circuit (IC) comprising a substrate, a first device, a second device, and a buried trench in the substrate and a method of fabricating the same are also discussed. The buried trench is positioned between first and second devices and may be filled with dielectric material. Alternatively, the buried trench contains air. A method of using Hydrogen annealing to create the buried trench is disclosed.
US09252024B2	Deposition chambers with UV treatment and methods of use Described are apparatus and methods for processing semiconductor wafers so that a film can be deposited on the wafer and the film can be UV treated without the need to move the wafer to a separate location for treatment. The apparatus and methods include a window which is isolated from the reactive gases by a flow of an inert gas.
US09252023B2	Etching method and apparatus An etching method comprises etching an oxide layer with a first dc bias of a plasma chamber, removing a photoresist layer with a second dc bias of the plasma chamber and etching through a liner film with a third dc bias of the plasma chamber. In order to reduce the copper deposition on the wall of the plasma chamber, the third dc bias is set to be less than the first and second dc bias.
US09252021B2	Method for patterning a plurality of features for Fin-like field-effect transistor (FinFET) devices Methods for patterning fins for fin-like field-effect transistor (FinFET) devices are disclosed. An exemplary method includes providing a semiconductor substrate, forming a plurality of elongated protrusions on the semiconductor substrate, the elongated protrusions extending in a first direction, and forming a mask covering a first portion of the elongated protrusions, the mask being formed of a first material having a first etch rate. The method also includes forming a spacer surrounding the mask, the spacer being formed of a second material with an etch rate lower than the etch rate of the first material, the mask and the spacer together covering a second portion of the elongated protrusions larger than the first portion of the elongated protrusions. Further, the method includes removing a remaining portion of the plurality of elongated protrusions not covered by the mask and spacer.
US09252018B2	High-k/metal gate transistor with L-shaped gate encapsulation layer A transistor is provided that includes a silicon layer with a source region and a drain region, a gate stack disposed on the silicon layer between the source region and the drain region, an L shaped gate encapsulation layer disposed on sidewalls of the gate stack, and a spacer disposed above the horizontal portion of the gate encapsulation layer and adjacent to the vertical portion of the gate encapsulation layer. The gate stack has a first layer of high dielectric constant material, a second layer comprising a metal or metal alloy, and a third layer comprising silicon or polysilicon. The gate encapsulation layer has a vertical portion covering the sidewalls of the first, second, and third layers of the gate stack and a horizontal portion covering a portion of the silicon layer that is adjacent to the gate stack.
US09252017B2	Stacked nanowire A method of fabricating stacked nanowire for a transistor gate and a stacked nanowire device are described. The method includes etching a fin as a vertical structure from a substrate and forming two or more pairs of spacers at vertically separated positions of the fin. The method also includes oxidizing to form the nanowires at the vertically separated positions of the fin.
US09252009B2	Liquid processing apparatus A liquid processing apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a substrate holding unit configured to horizontally hold a substrate; a rotation driving unit configured to rotate the substrate holding unit about a vertical axis; a processing liquid supply unit configured to supply a processing liquid to the substrate while the substrate is being rotated; an upper guide ring and a lower guide ring which are configured to be rotated together with the substrate holding unit, to surround the substrate, to be arranged vertically to overlap each other with a gap therebetween, and to guide the processing liquid scattered from the substrate; and a rotating cup configured to be rotated together with the substrate holding unit, and to receive and downwardly guide the guided processing liquid.
US09252008B2	Epitaxial formation mechanisms of source and drain regions The embodiments of mechanisms for monitoring thermal budget of an etch process of a cyclic deposition/etch (CDE) process to form an epitaxially grown silicon-containing material are descried to enable and to improve process control of the material formation. The monitoring is achieved by measuring the temperature of each processed wafer as a function of process time to calculate the accumulated thermal budget (ATB) of the wafer and to compare the ATB with a reference ATB (or optimal accumulated thermal budget, OATB) to see if the processed wafer is within an acceptable range (or tolerance). The results are used to determine whether to pass the processed wafer or to reject the processed wafer.
US09252007B2	Light source device, method for manufacturing the same and filament A filament using a high melting point metal compound such as tantalum carbide is provided. As the filament, a filament comprising a tungsten base material, a tantalum layer coating the tungsten base material, and a tantalum carbide layer coating the tantalum layer is used. The tantalum layer and the tantalum carbide layer may be replaced with a hafnium layer and a hafnium carbide layer, respectively, or may be formed of a combination of tantalum and hafnium.
US09252005B2	Miniature charged particle trap with elongated trapping region for mass spectrometry A miniature electrode apparatus is disclosed for trapping charged particles, the apparatus including, along a longitudinal direction: a first end cap electrode; a central electrode having an aperture; and a second end cap electrode. The aperture is elongated in the lateral plane and extends through the central electrode along the longitudinal direction and the central electrode surrounds the aperture in a lateral plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction to define a transverse cavity for trapping charged particles.
US09252002B2	Two piece shutter disk assembly for a substrate process chamber Shutter disk assemblies for use in process chambers to protect a substrate support disposed below the shutter disk assembly from undesired material deposition are provided herein. In some embodiments, a shutter disk assembly for use in a process chamber to protect a substrate support disposed below the shutter disk assembly may include an upper disk member having a top surface and a bottom surface; and a lower carrier member having at least a portion of the lower carrier member disposed below a portion of the upper disk member to support the upper disk member and to create a protective overlap region that prevents exposure of the substrate support upon deformation of the upper disk member.
US09252000B2	Microwave waveguide apparatus, plasma processing apparatus and plasma processing method A microwave waveguide apparatus for generating plasma includes a waveguide which has first and second ends and propagates microwave from input end such that the microwave propagates from the first end to the second end, a circulator device having a first port, a second port coupled to the first end, and a third port coupled to the second end, the circulator device being structured such that the microwave is received at the first port, propagates from the second port to the first end, is received at the third port from the second end and is returned toward the input end, and a matching device which is interposed between the input end and the circulator device and reflects part of the microwave received at the third port and returned toward the input end to the first port. The waveguide has a slot-hole extending along the microwave propagation direction in the waveguide.
US09251997B2	Method for processing and/or for observing an object, and particle beam device for carrying out the method A method is provided for processing and/or observing an object using at least one particle beam that is scanned over the object. A scan region on the object is determined, the scan region having scan lines, and the particle beam is moved in a first scanning direction along one of the scan lines. The first scanning direction is changed to a second scanning direction at a change-of-direction time. Changing from the first scanning direction to the second scanning direction comprises setting of a point of rotation in that scan line of the scan region in which the particle beam is situated at the change-of-direction time, with an axis of rotation extending through the point of rotation. The first scanning direction is changed into the second scanning direction by rotating the scan region about the axis of rotation, with the point of rotation being selected dependent on the direction of rotation.
US09251994B2	X-ray tube assembly and X-ray computerized tomography scanner According to one embodiment, an X-ray tube assembly includes a housing, an X-ray tube, a coolant to which at least a part of heat generated by the X-ray tube is transferred, a circulation channel through which the coolant is circulated, a circulation pump, a radiator, an air filter and a fan unit. The air filter is formed of a three-dimensional nonwoven fabric that is formed of irregularly tangled resin fibers and provides a three-dimensional structure having a spatial volume ratio of not less than 93%. The air filter permits air to pass therethrough to eliminate dust from the air.
US09251984B2	Hybrid radio frequency component Methods and systems may provide for a hybrid RF MEMS component design including an electrostatic actuation and a piezoelectric actuation. In one example, the method may include applying a first voltage to generate a first piezoelectric force to reduce a first gap between a cantilever and an actuation electrode, and applying a second voltage to generate an electrostatic force to create contact between the cantilever and a transmission electrode.
US09251981B2	Arrangement comprising a circuit breaker unit A circuit breaker unit has first and second arcing contact pieces. A breaker gap is formed between the two arcing contact pieces. A switching gas channel leads to the breaker gap and guides the switching gas to a switching gas outlet opening of the circuit breaker unit. The switching gas channel is formed with first and second pipe sections that overlap each other at least in sections and have discharge openings in their cover surfaces. Continuous discharge openings in the first and in the second pipe sections are axially offset in relation to each other.
US09251980B2	Apparatus for interrupting current In one aspect, an apparatus, such as an electrical system, is provided. The electrical system can include a pair of conductors across which an arc is sporadically supported, the arc including load current from a load circuit. The electrical system can also include an energy source that is separate from the load circuit and configured to selectively charge an electrode assembly. The conductors and electrode assembly can be configured such that the arc, when present, will be lengthened or constricted due to the charge on the electrode assembly.
US09251977B2	Electronic apparatus An electronic apparatus of the present invention includes an operating portion formed by a non-conductive material, a rotating plate configured to rotate in accordance with a rotational operation of the operating portion, a substrate including a first sensing electrode whose capacitance changes by a touch operation to the operating portion and a plurality of second sensing electrodes whose potential changes by a rotation of the rotating plate on a surface different from a surface on which the first sensing electrode is disposed, and a detector configured to detect the capacitance of the first sensing electrode and the rotational operation of the operating portion based on an output from the plurality of second sensing electrodes. A protruding portion that protrudes toward the first sensing electrode is formed on the operating portion, and the protruding portion is formed on a lightening portion on a back side of the operating portion.
US09251976B2	Force-sense imparting type multidirectional input device A force-sense imparting type multidirectional input device includes a base body including a receiving space, a slider movably disposed in the receiving space, an operating member integrated with the slider, a first driving member that includes a first engaging portion rotationally driven along the movement of the slider, a second driving member that includes a second engaging portion rotationally driven along the movement of the slider and a force-sense imparting unit that imparts a sense of force to an operator through the operating member. The slider is slidingly moved along the first virtual axis and swings about the first virtual axis in a direction orthogonal to the first virtual axis, the first engaging portion of the first driving member is rotationally driven with the sliding movement of the slider, and the second engaging portion of the second driving member is rotationally driven with the swing of the slider.
US09251963B2	Dye sensitized solar cell and method for manufacture A method for producing a Dye-Sensitized Solar cell (DSC) comprising a substrate, a working electrode, a back contact for extracting photo-generated electrons, an electrolyte, and a counter electrode where the back contact and/or the counter electrode is formed by a porous conductive powder layer, PCPL. The PCPL is prepared by the following steps: a. powder preparation; b. powder ink preparation; c. powder ink deposition; d. powder layer heating; e. powder layer compaction; and f. powder layer after treatment.
US09251961B2	Methods for producing electrolytic capacitors having a polymeric intermediate layer, capacitors produced thereby and uses thereof The invention relates to a method for producing electrolytic capacitors with low equivalent series resistance and low residual current, consisting of a solid electrolyte and an intermediate layer and an outer layer comprising conductive polymers, to electrolytic capacitors produced using this method and also to the use of electrolytic capacitors of this type.
US09251959B2	Multilayer ceramic condenser and method of manufacturing the same A multilayer ceramic condenser includes a multilayer main body, a first outer electrode, a second outer electrode, a first side part and a second side part. The multilayer main body has a first side, a second side, a third side and a fourth side. The multilayer main body includes a plurality of inner electrodes and a dielectric layer between the inner electrodes. The dielectric layer is formed by a first ceramic dielectric powder. The first side part and the second side part are formed on the second side and the fourth side of the multilayer main body, and formed by a second ceramic dielectric powder having a smaller particle diameter than the first ceramic dielectric powder. A mean grain size of the first side part or the second side part is similar to or smaller than that of the dielectric layer of the multilayer main body.
US09251958B2	Monolithic ceramic electronic component When a monolithic ceramic electronic component is viewed from either one of end surfaces thereof, an outer electrode includes a solder-repellent portion and a solder-receivable portion. The solder-repellent portion covers the central portion of an end surface of a ceramic laminate body. The solder-receivable portion includes portions disposed on two opposing sides of the solder-repellent portion. When the monolithic ceramic electronic component is mounted on the circuit board, solder does not adhere to a portion around the central portion of the end surface. Thus, expansion and contraction that occur as a result of application of an AC voltage are not significantly transmitted to the circuit board. Consequently, vibrations of the circuit board are reduced.
US09251953B2	Method of manufacturing a common mode filter A method of manufacturing common mode filter having heterogeneous laminates, the method includes steps of providing a nonmagnetic insulating substrate; forming a magnetic layer; forming a first lead; forming a first insulating layer; forming a first through hole; forming a first coil; forming a second insulating layer; forming a second coil; forming a third insulating layer; forming a second through hole; forming a second lead; forming a fourth insulating layer; and depositing a first magnetic material.
US09251949B2	Magnetic element A magnetic element is provided, including a magnetic core set, a bobbin, at least a wire, and an insulating base. The bobbin has a channel and a plurality of conductive pins, wherein the channel penetrates through the bobbin, and the magnetic core set is coupled with the channel. The wire is wound around the bobbin and connected to the conductive pins. The insulating base is connected to a bottom surface of the magnetic core set after the wire is wound around the bobbin and connected to the conductive pins, wherein the insulating base includes a plurality of protrusions adjacent to the conductive pins, respectively.
US09251945B2	Planar core with high magnetic volume utilization A structure is disclosed, comprising: a first magnetic core portion comprising: a first plurality of leg posts that are to be surrounded by a first set of windings; and a first plurality of center portions that are not to be surrounded by windings; and a second magnetic core portion comprising: a second plurality of leg posts that are to be surrounded by a second set of windings; and a second plurality of center portions that are not to be surrounded by the second set of windings, wherein the first set of center portions and the second set of center portions are configured to provide a plurality of physically separate magnetic flux paths.
US09251938B2	Soft magnetic phase nanoparticles preparations and associated methods thereof A method of synthesizing magnetic nanoparticles comprising soft magnetic phases is provided, wherein the method comprises degassing a first mixture at a temperature in a range from about 80° C. to 130° C. The first mixture comprises a solvent, a compound comprising iron, cobalt, or combinations thereof dissolved in the solvent, and an organic component comprising a fatty acid or an amine. Degassing the first mixture is followed by adding a capping ligand to the first mixture under inert atmosphere to form a second mixture; adding a reducing agent to the second mixture at a temperature in a processing temperature range from about 250° C. to about 350° C. to form a third mixture; and incubating the third mixture at a temperature within the processing temperature range to form nanoparticles comprising a soft magnetic phase.
US09251934B2	Method for manufacturing a plurality of nanowires A method for manufacturing a plurality of nanowires, the method including: providing a carrier comprising an exposed surface of a material to be processed and applying a plasma treatment on the exposed surface of the material to be processed to thereby form a plurality of nanowires from the material to be processed during the plasma treatment.
US09251932B2	Terminal connecting part of superconducting cable A terminal connecting part has: a low temperature container filled with a cooling medium; a conductor current lead which has one end immersed in the cooling medium and the other end led to a normal temperature part; and a conductor movable connecting terminal which electrically connects a superconductive conductor layer and the conductor current lead of a superconducting cable. The superconductive conductor layer of the superconducting cable stripped stepwise from a front end is connected to the conductor current lead through the conductor movable connecting terminal. The cable core of the superconducting cable is movable in a longitudinal direction and is rotatable in a circumferential direction while maintaining electrical connection between the superconductive conductor layer and the conductor current lead. The cable core is horizontally supported in the low temperature container.
US09251929B2	Non-halogen flame-retardant insulated wire A non-halogen flame-retardant insulated wire includes a conductor and an insulating coating layer including an inner layer and an outer layer. The inner layer includes a composition in which 50 to 95 parts by weight of a polyethylene with a density of 0.930 g/cm3 or more and 5 to 50 parts by weight of an ethylene copolymer are mixed. The outer layer has a composition including a base polymer in which 60 to 95 parts by weight of an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer containing 60% by weight or more of vinyl acetate and 5 to 40 parts by weight of a maleic acid-modified ethylene-α-olefin copolymer are mixed, and including 80 to 200 parts by weight of a metal hydroxide. The outer layer resin composition is crosslinked.
US09251928B2	Flexible cable A flexible cable has a conductor formed by twisting a plurality of annealed copper wires and a plurality of alloy wires, an assembled conductor formed by twisting a plurality of the conductors, an insulated wire core formed by covering the assembled conductor with an insulator, a cable core portion formed by twisting a plurality of the insulated wire cores, and a sheath covering the outside of a single or a plurality of the cable core portions.
US09251912B2	Semiconductor memory device and method of wafer burn-in test for the same A semiconductor memory device comprising a memory cell array with a plurality of word lines, first and second dummy word lines, and a dummy word line driver suitable for separately driving the first and second dummy word lines for a wafer burn-in test where the word lines are driven by group.
US09251909B1	Background threshold voltage shifting using base and delta threshold voltage shift values in flash memory In one embodiment, a method for managing threshold voltage shifts in Flash memory includes determining, by a processor after writing data to a Flash memory block, base threshold voltage shift (TVSBASE) value(s) configured to track permanent changes in underlying threshold voltage distributions due to cycling of the Flash memory block, determining, after the writing of data to the Flash memory block, delta threshold voltage shift (TVSΔ) value(s) configured to track temporary changes, with respect to changes in the underlying threshold voltage distributions due to retention and/or read disturb errors, calculating an overall threshold voltage shift (TVS) value for the data written to the Flash memory block, the overall TVS value being a function of the TVSBASE and TVSΔ value(s) to be used when writing data to the Flash memory block, and applying the overall TVS value to a read operation of the data stored to the Flash memory block.
US09251906B1	Data strobe signal generation for flash memory A method and circuit for generating a shifted strobe signal for sampling data read from a memory device includes generating an instantiation of a shifted strobe signal by applying both a coarse adjustment delay value and a fine adjustment delay value to a clock. Data read from a predetermined, programmed memory location or locations of the memory device is sampled using the shifted strobe signal. At least one of the applying steps is repeated and the read data is sampled again using the current instantiation of the shifted strobe signal. The process is repeated until the current instantiation of the shifted strobe signal is aligned with a valid data window of the memory device. The method can be used in both single data rate and double data rate applications.
US09251896B2	Variable resistance nonvolatile memory device and method for writing into the same In a method for writing into a variable resistance nonvolatile memory device according to one aspect of the present disclosure, a verify write operation of newly applying a voltage pulse for changing a resistance state is performed on a variable resistance element which does not satisfy a determination condition for verifying that the resistance state has been changed despite application of a voltage pulse for changing the resistance state, and the determination condition in the verify write operation is relaxed when an average number of times of verify write operation, having already been performed on all or part of a plurality of variable resistance elements that are targets for write operation, exceeds a predetermined number of times.
US09251889B2	Area-efficient, high-speed, dynamic-circuit-based sensing scheme for dual-rail SRAM memories In one embodiment, a self-timed, dual-rail SRAM includes a self-timing circuit having a logic gate that is powered by voltage VDD and configured to receive a fire-sense-amplifier timing signal and to produce a VDD-domain sense-amplifier-enable signal SOELV. The self-timing circuit includes an inverting level-shifter having complementary N-type and P-type transistors connected in series between voltage VDDA and ground. The N-type transistor's gate is connected to signal SOELV, and both transistors' drain terminals are connected together to produce output signal SOEHVB. The inverting level-shifter also includes two series-connected P-type transistors connected (i) between supply voltage VDDA and the output and (ii) in parallel with the first P-type (pull-up) transistor. An inverter is connected between the output node and the control terminal of one of the series transistors, and the other series-transistor's gate is connected to signal SOELV. Thus, the series transistors provide a rapid latching and latch-breaking function.
US09251886B2	Semiconductor storage device A semiconductor storage device 1 according to an aspect includes a first memory area 11—1 and a second memory area 11—2. Memory cells MC_m_n and bit lines BL1, BL2_, . . . , BLm— are disposed in a boundary area 18 between the first and second memory areas 11—1 and 11—2. The memory cells MC_m_n disposed in the boundary area 18 includes memory cells into which no data is written, and a line 56 is formed in a place that overlaps memory cells disposed in the boundary area 18 when the boundary area 18 is viewed from the top. As a result, it is possible to increase the integration density of a memory cell array and provide a line in the memory cell array.
US09251884B2	Non-volatile, piezoelectronic memory based on piezoresistive strain produced by piezoelectric remanence A nonvolatile memory storage device includes a ferroelectric (FE) material coupled with a piezoresistive (PR) material through an inherent piezoelectric response of the FE material, wherein an electrical resistance of the PR material is dependent on a compressive stress applied thereto, the compressive stress caused by a remanent strain of the FE material resulting from a polarization of the FE material, such that a polarized state of the FE material results in a first resistance value of the PR material, and a depolarized state of the FE material results in a second resistance value of the PR material.
US09251883B2	Single phase GSHE-MTJ non-volatile flip-flop Systems and methods are directed to a single-phase non-volatile flip-flop (NVFF), which includes a master stage formed from a dual giant spin Hall effect (GSHE)-magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) structure, the dual GSHE-MTJ structure comprising a first GSHE-MTJ and a second GSHE-MTJ coupled between a first combined terminal and a second combined terminal, and a slave stage formed from a first inverter coupled to a second inverter. During a single clock cycle of a clock, a first data value is read out from the slave stage when a clock is in a high state and a second data value is written into the master stage, when the clock is in a low state. The first and second inverters are cross coupled in a latch configuration to hold the first data value as an output, when the clock is in the low state.
US09251879B2	Perpendicular magnetic random access memory (MRAM) device with reference cell and method for using same A method of initializing a magnetic random access memory (MRAM) element that is configured to store a state when electric current flows therethrough is disclosed. The MRAM element includes a first magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) for storing a data bit and a second MTJ for storing a reference bit. Each MTJ further includes a magnetic reference layer (RL) having a magnetization with a direction that is perpendicular to the film plane, and a magnetic pinned layer (PL) having a magnetization with a direction that is perpendicular to the film plane. The direction of magnetization of the RL and the PL are anti-parallel relative to each other in the first MTJ. The direction of magnetization of the FL, the RL and the PL are parallel relative to each other in the second MTJ for storing reference bit.
US09251875B1	Register file circuit and method for improving the minimum operating supply voltage A register file circuit according to some examples of the disclosure may include a memory cell, a header transistor circuit, and a driver circuit. The header transistor circuit may include one or more PFET headers in series with the PFETs of the memory cell with the gate of the PFET header for the row being written being controlled with a pulse write signal from the driver circuit. In some examples of the disclosure, the header transistor circuit may include an NFET pull-down inserted between a virtual-vdd and ground to discharge the virtual-vdd node reducing the contention during a write operation and a clamping NFET in parallel with the PFET header to clamp the virtual-vdd node to slightly below the threshold voltage of the pull-up PFET in the memory cell to ensure the pull-up PFET is barely off and prevent the virtual-vdd node from discharging all the way to ground.
US09251872B2	Electronic device and control method for electronic device The disclosure provides an electronic device and a control method for the electronic device. The electronic device comprises: a memory unit, a metal pad, and a control unit. The metal pad is coupled to the memory unit, and utilized for receiving a first signal and a second signal. The control unit is coupled to the metal pad, and utilized for generating a control signal during a specific time period to control the first signal and the second signal received by the metal pad, to pull up a level of the first signal and to pull down a level of the second signal during the specific time period, so as to make the first signal and the second signal have a voltage difference. The disclosure can eliminate a glitch and avoid problems caused by inputting the glitch.
US09251868B2	Multilayered semiconductor device An object of the invention is to make effective use of the structure of a multilayered semiconductor device that uses penetration electrodes in such a manner that the layered chips obtain stable internal power supply voltages with no increase in current consumption or in the area of the layered chips. Internal power supply generation circuits furnished in each of the layered core chips have their outputs commonly coupled via electrodes penetrating the layered core chips. This allows electrical charges to be shared among the core chips, optimizes internal power consumption of the multilayered semiconductor device as a whole, and inhibits fluctuations in the internal power supply voltages.
US09251867B2	Voltage generators having reduced or eliminated cross current Embodiments described include voltage generators having reduced or eliminated cross current. Dynamic adjustment of a low or high threshold voltage used in a voltage generator is described. Use of a folded cascade amplifier in a voltage generator is also described.
US09251865B2	Selective coupling of voltage feeds for body bias voltage in an integrated circuit device An integrated circuit device having a body bias voltage mechanism. The integrated circuit comprises a resistive structure disposed therein for selectively coupling either an external body bias voltage or a power supply voltage to biasing wells. A first pad for coupling with a first externally disposed pin can optionally be provided. The first pad is for receiving an externally applied body bias voltage. Circuitry for producing a body bias voltage can be coupled to the first pad for coupling a body bias voltage to a plurality of biasing wells disposed on the integrated circuit device. If an externally applied body bias voltage is not provided, the resistive structure automatically couples a power supply voltage to the biasing wells. The power supply voltage may be obtained internally to the integrated circuit.
US09251859B2	Drive vibration prevention system A drive vibration prevention system includes a fan and a drive. The drive includes a vibration detection device and a vibration notification pin. A management engine is coupled to the drive and the fan. The management engine is operable to determine whether the vibration notification pin is being asserted in response to the vibration detection device detecting a vibration that exceeds a predetermined threshold. In response to determining that the vibration notification pin is being asserted, the management engine retrieves vibration data from the drive. The management engine then modifies a fan speed of the fan using the vibration data. Drives may be grouped into drive groups that output a single vibration notification signal to the management engine, and in response to the assertion of a vibration notification pin in the drive group, the management engine retrieves vibration data from each of the drives in that drive group.
US09251856B1	Read failover method and apparatus for a data storage system A reader failover system and method are described for a data storage system. At least two reader systems, including a first reader element and a second reader element, situated on the same head, are employed to read a magnetic storage medium. In an aspect, the head is a two-dimensional magnetic recording (TDMR) head. Control circuitry detects when the first reader system provides less than a predetermined performance or fails, and thereafter causes the second reader system, but not the first reader system, to read the magnetic storage medium. In an aspect, a buffer stores a first reader element signal until the control circuitry detects whether or not the first reader element provides less than a predetermined performance or fails. In an aspect, when a reader element fails, data recovery is performed, and all of, or a majority of, the media continues to be readable, improving the data storage system robustness.
US09251855B2	Efficient media processing Some embodiments provide a media-editing application. The application includes several image processing destinations for performing operations on video images. The application includes a scheduling engine for scheduling disk read, decode, and graphics processing operations to perform on images to prepare the images for the several destinations. The scheduling engine includes a first set of instructions for scheduling images based on a speed at which a particular one of the several destinations processes the images when none of the destinations require images in real-time. The scheduling engine includes a second set of instructions for scheduling images based on a real-time clock when at least one of the several destinations requires images in real-time.
US09251854B2	Facial detection, recognition and bookmarking in videos Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for facial bookmarking in videos. In one aspect, methods include receiving a digital video comprising video data, processing the video data to detect features indicative of a human face in the digital video, determining, from the video data, a first frame, in which the features indicative of the human face are detected in the digital video, determining first timestamp data corresponding to the first frame, determining, from the video data, a second frame, in which the features indicative of the human face are detected in the digital video, determining second timestamp data corresponding to the second frame, generating an identifier corresponding to the human face, generating a data set including the identifier, the first timestamp data and the second timestamp data, and appending the data set to the video data to provide annotated video data.
US09251853B2	Method, medium, and system generating video abstract information A method, medium, and system generating a video abstract with high processing speeds, may include a detecting of an event candidate section from video data, based on audio information, a detecting of shot change information from the detected event candidate section, a detecting of final event sections from the detected event candidate section, based on the detected shot change information and visual information, and a generating of video abstract information by merging the extracted final event sections.
US09251849B2	Multimedia processing apparatus, method, and non-transitory tangible computer readable medium thereof A multimedia processing apparatus, method, and non-transitory tangible computer readable medium thereof are provided. The multimedia processing apparatus of the present invention includes an interface and a processing unit. The interface receives an audio stream continuously, wherein the audio stream is defined with a time line. The processing unit performs the following operations every a predetermined time interval: (a) deciding a first portion of the audio stream with reference to a time instant of the time line, (b) calculating an energy of the first portion of the audio stream, and (c) calculating a difference between the energy and a previous energy. The processing unit decides a plurality of second portions of the audio stream and decides a beat point for each of the second portions by selecting the time instant that corresponds to the maximum difference within the second portion.
US09251847B2	Damping structure for tape head system A tape head system. The tape head system includes: a head for reading from and/or writing to magnetic tape; a support; and at least one leaf spring assembly supporting the head moveably relative to the support so as to allow the head to follow a motion of the tape, the at least one leaf spring assembly including at least one leaf spring and at least one damping element configured for damping a motion of the head relative to the support.
US09251841B1	Disc drive including a tray support mechanism and disc drive modules incorporating the same Technology is provided for a disc drive for use in a disc drive module having two or more opposed disc drives. The disc drive comprises a disc drive housing and a disc tray movable in and out of the disc drive housing between an open position and a closed position. A support tab is pivotably coupled to the disc tray and pivotable between an extended position and a stowed position. The support tab is biased toward the extended position and is mateable with an opposing disc drive when the disc tray is in the open position. A bumper is positioned in the disc drive housing to abut the support tab and rotate the support tab toward the stowed position when the disc tray is moved from the open position to the closed position.
US09251839B1	Data storage device with overvoltage protection A data storage device coupled to a host power supply is disclosed and includes a spindle motor and Voice Coil Motor (VCM) circuitry, a power device coupled to the host power supply via a first host supply line and coupled to the spindle motor and VCM circuitry, wherein the power device comprises a first voltage rail, a first isolation circuit, and control circuitry, wherein the power device receives a first supply voltage on the first voltage rail via the first host supply line and provides the first supply voltage to the spindle motor and VCM circuitry via the first isolation circuit, and wherein the control circuitry is operable to monitor the first voltage rail for an overvoltage event and, when the overvoltage event is detected, control the first isolation circuit to disconnect the spindle motor and VCM circuitry from the first voltage rail.
US09251833B2	Hexagonal ferrite magnetic particle and method of manufacturing the same, and magnetic recording medium An aspect of the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a hexagonal ferrite magnetic particle comprising melting an Al-containing starting material mixture to prepare a melt and quenching the melt to obtain an amorphous material; subjecting the amorphous material to heat treatment to cause a hexagonal ferrite magnetic particle to precipitate in a product obtained by the heat treatment; collecting a hexagonal ferrite magnetic particle by subjecting the product to treatment with an acid and washing, wherein the hexagonal ferrite magnetic particle collected has a particle size ranging from 15 to 30 nm, comprises 0.6 to 8.0 weight percent of Al, based on Al2O3 conversion, relative to a total weight of the particle, and Al adheres to a surface of the hexagonal ferrite magnetic particle.
US09251831B2	Recording medium and method of forming the same In various embodiments, a recording medium may be provided. The recording medium may include a servo layer. The recording medium may further include a data recording layer. The recording medium may additionally include a crystal-like soft underlayer (SUL). The data recording layer and the servo layer may be on a same side of the crystal-like soft underlayer.
US09251830B1	Waveguide cladding layer with transparent heat sink for heat-assisted magnetic recording device An apparatus comprises a slider of a magnetic recording head having an air bearing surface (ABS), a write pole terminating at or near the ABS, and a near-field transducer (NFT) adjacent the write pole. A light delivery arrangement extends through the slider and terminates at the ABS. The light delivery arrangement is configured to communicate light through the slider and to the NFT. A transparent heat sink layer abuts a terminal end portion of the light delivery arrangement and terminates at the ABS. The heat sink layer has a thermal conductivity greater than that of the light delivery arrangement.
US09251828B2	Servo control In a method for operating a tape storage system, while a tape is being moved in a tape drive across a tape head for one or more of reading and writing user data from/to a data track of the tape, a read element of the tape head, which read element is assigned to the data track, is moved transverse to a moving direction of the tape for a distance of more than a width of the data track. A transverse position of one or more of the following elements is subject to a signal supplied by the read element during its transverse move: The read element; another read element assigned to the data track; and a write element assigned to the data track.
US09251826B1	Utilizing stored write environment conditions for read error recovery Described herein are embodiments for utilizing stored write environment conditions for read error recovery. A tape drive measures read environment conditions as a result of receiving a read command to read data from a portion of tape and compares the read environment conditions to the write environment conditions stored for that portion of tape. If the read environment conditions are not within the predetermined range of the write environment conditions, then the handling of the tape is altered to improve read element placement on the tape by accounting for expansion and contraction of the tape based on the stored write environment conditions. The handling of the tape is altered by at least one of increasing or decreasing the tension of the tape, offsetting the tape head up or down laterally with respect to the tape, and slowing down the movement of tape across the tape head.
US09251817B1	Microactuator grounding through oversized via in a disk drive suspension flexure circuit A PZT grounding connection to the stainless steel substrate of a suspension flexure includes an oversized void or via in the insulating layer of the flexure, copper being plated onto the stainless steel within the void with an intermediate layer of nickel therebetween, and conductive adhesive electrically and mechanically bonding the copper within the void to the PZT. The connection provides a high quality, low resistance ground path from the PZT to the stainless steel substrate without plating gold onto the stainless steel.
US09251813B1	Method of making a magnetic recording head A magnetic recording head comprises a write pole including a throat region with a leading edge, a trailing edge opposite the leading edge, and first and second side edges opposite one another. The magnetic recording head further comprises a first side wall gap layer disposed alongside the first side edge of the throat region, and a second side wall gap layer disposed alongside the second side edge of the throat region. Each of the first and second side wall gap layers has a first width at the leading edge of the throat region smaller than a second width at the trailing edge of the throat region.
US09251811B1	Symbol timing recovery scheme for parallel recording channel systems A method for symbol timing recovery is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a plurality of timing-error estimates for a plurality of read channels, where each of the timing-error estimates corresponds to one of the read channels. The method further comprises calculating a common phase based on the plurality of timing-error estimates, and calculating a skew of a transducer array based on the plurality of timing-error estimates. Finally, the method comprises calculating a different total phase estimate for each read channel based on the calculated common phase and the calculated skew of the transducer array.
US09251810B2	Methods and systems for utilizing sensor resistance for detecting damage to magnetoresistive sensors Methods and systems for detecting a damaged magnetoresistive sensor are disclosed. In one embodiment, resistances of a plurality of sensors are measured at at least a first bias current level. Further, it is determined whether one of the sensors has a resistance that is at least a predetermined amount higher or lower than the resistances of the other sensors. Moreover, output indicates that the one of the sensors has a resistance that is at least a predetermined amount higher than the resistances of the other sensors.
US09251808B2	Apparatus and method for clustering speakers, and a non-transitory computer readable medium thereof According to one embodiment, a speaker clustering apparatus includes a clustering unit, an extraction unit, and an error detection unit. The clustering unit is configured to extract acoustic features for speakers from an acoustic signal, and to cluster utterances included in the acoustic signal into the speakers by using the acoustic features. The extraction unit is configured to acquire character strings representing contents of the utterances, and to extract linguistic features of the speakers by using the character strings. The error detection unit is configured to decide that, when one of the character strings does not fit with a linguistic feature of a speaker into which an utterance of the one is clustered, the utterance is erroneously clustered by the clustering unit.
US09251804B2	Speech recognition Technologies are generally described for a speech recognition scheme. In some examples, a method performed under control of a speech recognition system may include receiving, from a first device, first data including a first signal captured by the first device, first location information of the first device, and first time information corresponding to the captured first signal; cancelling first noise from the captured first signal based at least in part on the first location information and the first time information, and estimating a first voice signal of a first user of the first device, wherein the first noise is associated with a second voice signal of a second user of a second device located adjacent to the first device; and translating the first voice signal into a first command for the first device.
US09251799B2	Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding audio signal using adaptive sinusoidal coding A method and an apparatus for encoding and decoding audio signals using adaptive sinusoidal coding are provided. The audio signal encoding method includes the steps of dividing a synthesized audio signal into a plurality of sub-bands, calculating the energy of each sub-band, selecting a predetermined number of sub-bands having a relatively large amount of energy from the sub-bands, and performing sinusoidal coding with regard to the selected sub-bands. Application of sinusoidal coding based on consideration of the amount of energy of each sub-band of the synthesized signal improves the quality of the synthesized signal more efficiently.
US09251795B2	Adaptive audio codec selection during a communication session A method for adaptive audio codec selection during a communication session is disclosed. The method can include negotiating a set of audio codecs for use during the communication session. The method can further include defining multiple audio tiers. Each audio tier can be associated with a network condition and can define an audio codec from the set of audio codecs for use in the associated network condition. The method can also include using a first audio codec during the wireless communication session. The method can additionally include determining a changed network condition selecting a second audio codec by determining the audio tier corresponding to the changed network condition. The method can further include, in response to the changed network condition, switching from the first audio codec to a second audio codec that is defined by an audio tier having an associated network condition corresponding to the changed network condition.
US09251794B2	Signal processing apparatus, signal processing method, program, electronic device, signal processing system and signal processing method thereof Provided is a signal processing apparatus including a first periodicity detecting section detecting periodicity information of an acoustic signal included in a first content, as first periodicity information, a second periodicity detecting section detecting the periodicity information of an acoustic signal included in a second content, as second periodicity information, a similarity calculating section calculating a similarity between the first periodicity information detected by the first periodicity detecting section and the second periodicity information detected by the second periodicity detecting section, and a synchronization information generating section generating synchronization information used at a time of synchronizing the first content and the second content, based on the similarity calculated by the similarity calculating section.
US09251792B2	Multi-sample conversational voice verification A system and method of verifying the identity of an authorized user in an authorized user group through a voice user interface for enabling secure access to one or more services via a mobile device includes receiving first voice information from a speaker through the voice user interface of the mobile device, calculating a confidence score based on a comparison of the first voice information with a stored voice model associated with the authorized user and specific to the authorized user, interpreting the first voice information as a specific service request, identifying a minimum confidence score for initiating the specific service request, determining whether or not the confidence score exceeds the minimum confidence score, and initiating the specific service request if the confidence score exceeds the minimum confidence score.
US09251790B2	Apparatus and method for inserting material into transcripts A system and method for placing and displaying advertising into a document including transcribing text in real-time in a recording device; communicating the transcribed text to a computer configured to embed an advertisement into the transcribed text; receiving a request from a user to access the transcribed text with the embedded advertisement; and communicating the transcribed text with the embedded advertisement to a user's peripheral device.
US09251784B2	Regularized feature space discrimination adaptation A method and apparatus are provided for training a transformation matrix of a feature vector for an acoustic model. The method includes training the transformation matrix of the feature vector. The transformation matrix maximizes an objective function having a regularization term. The method further includes transforming the feature vector using the transformation matrix of the feature vector, and updating the acoustic model stored in a memory device using the transformed feature vector.
US09251779B2	Noise reduction apparatus A noise reduction apparatus includes a noise reduction amount calculator. The noise reduction amount calculator includes a difference calculator that obtains a difference between a level of the noise detected by a first noise detecting microphone and a level of the noise detected by a second noise detecting microphone when control sound is not output, a storage unit that stores the difference, an estimated noise value calculator that estimates a noise level that is to be detected by the second noise detecting microphone when the control sound is output, based on the level of the noise detected by the first noise detecting microphone when the control sound is output and the difference, and a reduction amount calculator that calculates a noise reduction amount on the noise reduction target position, based on the estimated noise value and the level of the noise detected by the second noise detecting microphone when the control sound is output.
US09251778B2	Metal foil with microcracks, method of manufacturing the same, and sound-absorbing structure having the same A method of manufacturing a metal foil with microcracks includes placing a metal foil between a first material sheet and a second material sheet and then rolling them to form a plurality of microcracks in the metal foil. The microcracks are penetrating, and a sidewall of each of the microcracks is an irregular rough surface. Two ends of each of the microcracks are acute angles. A sound-absorbing structure includes at least one metal foil and a base plate kept at a distance from the metal foil, wherein at least one resonant cavity air layer is formed between the metal foil and the base plate by the distance, and the metal foil has microcracks.
US09251772B2	Instrument case Methods, systems, and apparatus for the protection and transportation of musical instruments can include cases constructed of a semi-rigid and lightweight material to enable convenient transportation of the instrument and instrumental accessories, such as in internal and compartmentalized storage areas. Extendable/collapsible legs can enable the case to be placed in a standing position and to enable instruments to be retrieved and/or inserted while the case is in the standing position. The lid may be foldable over the front of the case or removed entirely from the case.
US09251771B1	Clamping seat of elbow joint of music instrument stand Disclosed is a clamping seat for mounting to a music instrument stand, including a stand bar and an elbow joint coupled to the stand bar. The elbow joint has two ends each forming a clamping seat that is coupled to a support bar to complete elbow jointing of a music instrument. The elbow joint includes an elongate body having a middle section that is sloped at an angle and two ends on which the clamping seats are formed in such a way as to be parallel to each other so as to form a clamping arrangement having two ends at different planes. The clamping seat is centrally recessed to form a spherical trough of which upper and lower edge portions forming V-shaped trough-edge openings opposing each other to cooperate with a retention plate opposite thereto to achieve clamping for both a spherical member and a straight member.
US09251767B1	Balanced stringed-instrument pinky slide A stringed-instrument slide (100) which is a truncated conical shell with the narrower end at the top (110) and with a roughly semi-circular cut-away (150) along the base (130), so a substantial portion of the mass is below the level of the finger-palm joint. The mass of the slide (100) is predominantly born by the region of contact of the slide (100) with the palm (98) rather than along the pinky (99) so the slide (100) has the sensation of being “balanced” and relatively “weightless” on the pinky (99) and the pressure applied by the pinky (90) corresponds closely to the actual pressure of the slide (100) on the strings, and the forces and torques required to move the slide (100) onto and off of the strings is reduced, thereby facilitating play, particularly rapid and/or nuanced play.
US09251766B2	Composing stereo 3D windowed content A technique for generating content for a stereo 3D display buffer having both stereo 3D graphic objects and non-stereo 3D graphic objects that may be utilized to render stereo 3D content onto one or more windows of a display. The technique incorporates content from stereo 3D application frame buffers into a composition tree that represents the graphic objects in each window displayed on a computing device. At each refresh cycle, the composition tree is traversed to generate content for a stereo 3D display buffer that is then used to draw one or more windows onto a display.
US09251765B2	Image processing device, image processing method, and program for generating composite image An image processing device includes a composite processing unit that generates a composite image for display by including a through image generated based on a captured image signal obtained by performing photoelectric conversion for light incident from a subject in an image for a compositing process and composites a captured image of a recording time point in the image for a compositing process in accordance with a compositing arrangement state of the through image in the composite image for display, and a display control unit that performs display control for the composite image for display.
US09251764B2	Information processing device and information processing method for processing and displaying multi-picture format images A display format identification unit identifies a display format defined in a plurality of items of image data associated with each other. A message communication unit communicates a message corresponding to the identified display format when an image generation unit generates a display image in a display format different from the identified display format. A communication storage unit stores a record indicating that the message communication unit communicates a message. If the communication storage unit stores the record indicating that the message was communicated, the message communication unit does not communicate a message again.
US09251763B2	System and method for image collage editing A system and method for a system and method for implementing an image collage editing software tool implemented in a networked computing environment. Collage is a feature area within an online image editing service that allows users to create a composite image from multiple images. This composite image, generally known as a ‘collage’, can be created with a variety of predefined designs/patterns, as well as user specified number of columns and/or user specified number of rows. Users are allowed a wide array of flexibility on the design of their collage, as a result of the unique user-interface design of the collage feature. The collage area is an in-browser, web-based solution for creating any composite image from multiple images.
US09251757B2	Driving circuit for driving a display apparatus based on display data and a control signal, and a liquid crystal display apparatus which uses the driving circuit A driving circuit according to the present invention for driving a display apparatus based on display data and a control signal includes: a delay circuit for delaying the input control signal; and a data load section for loading the input display data to the display apparatus at a timing generated by the delayed control signal, where the delay circuit delays the control signal in such a manner that load timing at which the display data is loaded to the display apparatus varies according to fixed timing determined by a constant cycle.
US09251755B2	Gate driver and liquid crystal display including the same A gate driver includes a gate integrated circuit (“IC”) chip which receives at least two scanning start signals and at least four clock control signals, and outputs a plurality of gate-on voltages, where at least two clock control signals of the at least four clock control signals are generated based on one scanning start signal of the at least two scanning start signals, timings of the at least two scanning start signals are independent of each other, and timings of the at least two clock control signals based on the one scanning start signal are independent of each other.
US09251752B2	Gamma compensation method and display device using the same A gamma compensation method and a display device using the same are disclosed. The gamma compensation method includes: sensing a level of external illuminance; determining whether the sensed level of external illuminance is equal to or lower than a predetermined illuminance, wherein when the sensed level is equal to or lower than the predetermined illuminance, the luminance of the display device is reduced to an optimum luminance; and modulating gray levels of input data of the display device based on a first gamma curve when the sensed level of external illuminance is equal to or lower than the predetermined illuminance, and modulating based on a second gamma curve when the sensed level of external illuminance is greater than the predetermined illuminance, wherein the first gamma curve includes a concave curve set in a low gray level area and a convex curve set in a high gray level area, and the concave curve and the convex curve are connected via an inflection point.
US09251750B2	LCD module and manufacturing method thereof A liquid crystal display (LCD) module is disclosed, which comprises: a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate and a color filter (CF) substrate disposed opposite to each other, and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the TFT substrate and the CF substrate. The TFT substrate comprises a plurality of wires including at least a first group of wires and a second group of wires, and the second group of wires comprises at least two wires. The CF substrate comprises first curing test units and second curing test units insulated from each other. The first curing test units are electrically connected with the first group of wires, and the second curing test units are electrically connected with all the wires of the second group of wires. A manufacturing method of an LCD module is further disclosed. The LCD module and the manufacturing method thereof of the present disclosure can avoid occurrence of arcing in the TFT substrate during the CVD process, thereby improving the product yield and reducing the manufacturing cost.
US09251748B2	Method for driving liquid crystal display device The liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate provided with a terminal portion, a switching transistor, a driver circuit portion, and a pixel circuit portion including a pixel transistor and a plurality of pixels, a second substrate provided with a common electrode electrically connected to the terminal portion through the switching transistor, and liquid crystal between a pixel electrode and the common electrode. In a period during which a still image is switched to a moving image, the following steps are sequentially performed: a first step of supplying the common potential to the common electrode; a second step of supplying a power supply voltage to the driver circuit portion; a third step of supplying a clock signal to the driver circuit portion; and a fourth step of supplying a start pulse signal to the driver circuit portion.
US09251747B2	Display device and electronic apparatus According to an aspect, a display device includes: a plurality of pixels aligned in row and column directions, each of the pixels including a drive element; a plurality of scan lines each coupled with the drive elements included in the pixels aligned in the row direction to transmit thereto a scan signal for selecting the pixels row by row; a plurality of signal lines each coupled with the drive elements included in the pixels aligned in the column direction to write display data; and a display control unit. The display control unit alternately repeats a display period and a stop period. In a latter term of the stop period, display control unit provides the display data written in the respective pixels in a row that has been selected during the display period immediately before the stop period, to the signal lines corresponding to the respective pixels.
US09251744B2	Display device, related control method, and related controller A display device may include a data driver, a data line, a display panel that includes a first sub-pixel and a second sub-pixel both connected to the data line and respectively positioned in a first region and a second region of the display panel, and a timing controller that may receive first-type image signals and second-type image signals. The first-type image signals may correspond to a first gray-scale and may correspond to the first region. The second-type image signals may correspond to a second gray-scale and may correspond to the second region. The timing controller may use the first gray-scale to generate a compensated gray-scale if a difference between the first gray-scale and the second gray-scale is greater than a reference value. The data driver may generate a gray-scale voltage according to the compensated gray-scale and may provide the gray-scale voltage through the data line to the first sub-pixel.
US09251741B2	Liquid crystal display device and driving method A display device comprising a display area in which a plurality of pixels, a plurality of gate signal lines, and a plurality of source signal lines are arranged in a matrix; a scan line driver circuit having a function of controlling a timing of selecting any one of the plurality of gate signal lines; and a signal line driver circuit having a function of controlling, in a period during which the scan line driver circuit selects any one of the plurality of gate signal lines, a timing of outputting a first signal to all the plurality of source signal lines and then outputting a second signal to any one of the plurality of source signal lines. Each of the plurality of pixels includes a transistor and a display element being sandwiched between a pixel electrode and a common electrode and having memory properties.
US09251736B2	Multiple voltage level driving for electrophoretic displays This application is directed to driving methods for electrophoretic displays. The driving methods comprise applying different voltages selected from multiple voltage levels, to pixel electrodes and optionally also to the common electrodes. In one embodiment, the different voltages are selected from a group consisting of 0V, at least two levels of positive voltage and at least two levels of negative voltage. The driving method is also suitable for a color display device.
US09251733B2	Display panel, display device, and electronic unit A display panel including: a panel section including a display region where a plurality of pixels are arranged, and a gap region provided in a gap between the pixels; and a barrier section including a plurality of transmissive regions in a two-dimensional arrangement, and a light-blocking region to be around each of the transmissive regions. The transmissive regions are each configured to make entirely visible any one of the pixels therethrough when a viewer views the panel section not from a front but from a first or second direction via the barrier section, the pixels are each configured by a plurality of sub-pixels varying in type, and the sub-pixels in each of the pixels are arranged not in stripes but differently.
US09251729B2	Display system and method thereof A method of displaying images includes detecting frequency of ambient light, updating frequency of a display device according to the frequency of the ambient light, and adjusting shutter frequencies of a pair of shutter glasses according to the frequency of the ambient light when the display device is in a 3D display mode. In this way, flickers caused by inconsistency between the frequency of the ambient light and the frequencies of the display device and the shutters of the shutter glasses can be avoided.
US09251726B2	Unitary form for mailing a mailpiece via a special service and method of using same A form for mailing a mailpiece using a special service has a sheet and a label removably attached to the sheet. The label has information related to the delivery of the article by the special service on the front side. The back side of the label attaches to the article. An electronic return receipt information section and a special services designation section including information indicative of the special service are located on the label. The mailpiece is prepared for delivery by the special service by printing information on the form necessary to comply with the special service delivery requirements. The information has data concerning electronic return receipt of the mailpiece and a machine-readable code section with machine-readable information associated with the mailpiece. The form is removed from the sheet and attached to the mailpiece.
US09251723B2	Systems and methods of multidimensional encrypted data transfer Example embodiments of the systems and methods of multidimensional encrypted data transfer disclosed herein also introduce novel and unobvious methods to store and access information. In example embodiments of the systems and methods of multidimensional encrypted data transfer disclosed herein, a multidimensional data structure is developed. For example, at least one additional dimension is added to a 2D data structure. Data may be encoded within multiple facets. Example embodiments of the multidimensional encoding include non-limiting examples of stacking or providing images or tiles in a very short period of time and moving a 3-dimensional object in space. In one example application, a number of distinct 2D data structures are presented over a time period in a .gif file.
US09251721B2	Interactive mixed reality system and uses thereof An interactive mixed reality simulator is provided that includes a virtual 3D model of internal or hidden features of an object; a physical model or object being interacted with; and a tracked instrument used to interact with the physical object. The tracked instrument can be used to simulate or visualize interactions with internal features of the physical object represented by the physical model. In certain embodiments, one or more of the internal features can be present in the physical model. In another embodiment, some internal features do not have a physical presence within the physical model.
US09251720B2	Trunk skeleton of human body dummy A trunk skeleton of a human body dummy includes a spine portion, the spine portion including a plurality of vertebra portions made of metal-based materials or synthetic resin-based materials, a plurality of intervertebral buffer portions disposed between the vertebra portions, the intervertebral buffer portions being made of synthetic resin-based materials, and a bone-coupling portion coupling the vertebra portions in a displaceable manner, the bone-coupling portion including a metal-based rod-shaped member; and a thorax portion, the thorax portion including a plurality of costa portions having first ends coupled to the respective vertebra portions of the spine portion, thus forming respective pairs for the vertebra portions, the costa portions being made of synthetic resin-based materials, and a sternum body coupled to second ends of the costa portions, the sternum body being made of a synthetic resin-based material.
US09251719B2	Performance monitoring systems and methods We have disclosed systems and methods for monitoring an individual's performance during a physical activity. The portable performance monitoring devices may include a satellite positioning system receiver adapted to obtain position data during the physical activity, an accelerometer module adapted to obtain acceleration data during the physical activity, and a processor adapted to determine performance information for the individual based on the position data and the acceleration data. The portable performance monitoring devices may be worn or carried by an individual during a physical activity.
US09251713B1	System and process for assessing a user and for assisting a user in rehabilitation There is disclosed a system and process for diagnosing or determining a condition of a user. In particular the system and process can be used to provide a series of questions based upon personalized information of the user. This personalized information can be uploaded to a database. A series of questions can be automatically generated or a user can be assisted in creating a series of questions for a patient based upon this uploaded media. In addition, the system and process can use this personalized media to treat the patient and to assist the patient in their daily tasks.
US09251711B2	Method and device for the filtering of alerts originating from a collision detection system of an aircraft A method and a device for the filtering of alerts originating from a collision detection system of an aircraft makes it possible, by proposing a novel condition for alert disabling, to avoid an abnormal drop of an aircraft in the case of a CFIT (controlled flight into terrain) by authorizing the output of the alert when this novel condition is not complied with. This novel condition relies on a method for thresholding the angle of approach of the aircraft (FPA for flight path angle) as a function of the altitude of the aircraft with respect to the runway and of the angle of approach specified for each runway and which is recovered via the terrain database.
US09251707B2	Highly accurate system for wrong-way driving detection and deterrence The present invention is a highly accurate detector system for detecting and responding to wrong-way driving incidents. An optimum configuration and combination of sensors gather data corresponding to predetermined vehicle movement test parameters; a set number of parameter deviations from pre-determined thresholds will initiate various sensor signals. The sensor signals may be transmitted to the computer processor, which may in turn produce a range of system outputs. In various embodiments, system outputs may include but are not limited to outputs activating other system components, outputs initiating data storage and analysis, and outputs interfacing and communicating with other systems.
US09251702B2	Remote control of a plurality of devices A system and method are described for controlling a plurality of devices (150) by a remote control apparatus (105). The remote control apparatus (105) transmits a same sequence of commands individually to each of the plurality of devices (150) to execute a relative increase or decrease of a parameter thereof with a certain value. There is two-way communication between the remote control apparatus (105) and the devices (150). The devices (150) acknowledge the correct reception of a command by transmitting an acknowledgement message to the remote control apparatus (105). The remote control apparatus (105) repeats the transmission of a command to a device (150) in case of not receiving an acknowledgement message from the device (150). In this way, it is guaranteed that all controlled devices (150) receive the same commands and the controlled parameters thereof are kept in synchronization.
US09251701B2	Control device with passive reflector A control device includes a housing. The control device also includes a wireless communicator interior the housing. The wireless communicator wirelessly sends commands for controlling an electronic device, such as a game console. The control device also includes a reflector positioned to reflect light directed at the housing.
US09251699B2	Wireless sensor system, method and apparatus with switch and outlet control In some embodiments an apparatus includes a wireless sensor configured to be operatively coupled to a network gateway device that is configured to receive one of a first data packet or a second packet from the wireless sensor. The wireless sensor is configured to send the first data packet at a first time on a first frequency, the first data packet including a payload associated with a value of a measurement that was measured by the wireless sensor. The wireless sensor is configured to send the second data packet at a second time on a second frequency, the second data packet includes a payload associated with the value.
US09251698B2	Forest sensor deployment and monitoring system A method and apparatus for managing a location. Soil sensor units are deployed in the location in a forest from a group of aerial vehicles. Information is generated about a number of soil conditions in the location in the forest using the soil sensor units in the location. The information is transmitted from the soil sensor units to a remote location for analysis.
US09251697B2	Means for pairing a hermetically sealed wireless device A refrigerated container system is described that includes a wireless personal area network (WPAN) including a plurality of wireless sensor nodes and a coordinator node through which the sensors provide sensor data to a controller for the refrigerated container system. The wireless sensors and the coordinator incorporate a variety of features that ensure efficient utilization of battery life by preventing unintended pairing of sensors with other WPANs and excessive sensor signal processing arising from door chatter. Finally, pairing is performed without pressing a button on the wireless door sensor. Instead, the sensor's magnetic reed switch is enlisted to detect swiping of a magnet by a user to enter a pairing mode.
US09251689B2	Status monitoring, storage and reporting for optical transceivers by tracking operating parameter variations Methods, architectures, circuits, and/or systems for tracking variations in the operating parameters of an optical or optoelectronic device are disclosed, as well as use of such variation data to monitor or control device functions and/or generate warnings and/or status flags. A method of tracking a variation in one or more operating parameters in an optical or optoelectronic device may include (i) monitoring one or more operating parameters of the device over time to determine values for each of the operating parameters, (ii) calculating the variation in each of the operating parameters as a function of time, (iii) comparing the variation to one or more predetermined thresholds, each threshold corresponding to an operational warning or alarm, and (iv) generating the operational warning or alarm when the variation exceeds the corresponding threshold.
US09251687B2	Global positioning system equipped hazard detector and a system for providing hazard alerts thereby The present invention relates to detectors of hazardous environmental conditions (e.g., smoke, gas, motion). Specifically, the invention relates to a hazard detector configured to transmit and/or receive information related to hazardous environmental conditions based at least in part on the location of the hazard detector as identified through one or more location based service means (e.g., global positioning systems (GPS), cellular triangulation, Internet IP geolocation).
US09251686B1	Personal safety tracking using an apparatus comprising multiple sensors A system and method for facilitating personal safety tracking via an apparatus with multiple sensors are disclosed. The sensors may include a water sensor, an accelerometer, a water pressure sensor, an ambient temperature sensor, and/or any other sensors. The apparatus may be configured to generate various alerts in response to signals generated by the sensors. For example, the apparatus may generate a drowning alert when a submersion signal is generated and a drowning acceleration signature is detected in the same period. As another example, an abduction alert may be generated when an abduction acceleration signature and an out-of-boundary situation is detected for the apparatus. The alerts generated by the apparatus may be transmitted to a server or a client device associated with the apparatus for further processing, which may include generating a notification for presentation on the client device in response to an alert being received from the apparatus.
US09251683B2	Flame detector using a light guide for optical sensing A multi-sensor fire detector includes first and second flame sensors which are coupled to an external environment by a rigid, tapered, optical coupling element. An external end of the coupling element has a cured hemispherical shape with a viewing angle approaching one hundred eighty degrees. Processing and control circuits coupled to the sensors make a determination as to the presence of a fire condition.
US09251682B2	System and method for fire preventing in electrical installations A system for fire prevention in electrical installations having one or more temperature sensors arranged in or close to positions in the electrical installation that are to be monitored. One or more electromagnetic signal transmitters are connected to the temperature sensors, one or more electromagnetic signal readers are adapted to communicate with and receive signals from the signal transmitters, and a processing unit is connected to the signal reader for processing the signals and providing an indication signal.
US09251680B2	Pulse transmission synchronization Interference in an electronic article surveillance (EAS) system is reduced by transmitting warning pulse at a predetermined time following the EAS marker exciter pulse. The predetermined time and duration of the warning pulse are chosen so that the warning pulse acts upon a noise interference avoidance process in a second non-cooperative EAS unit. More particularly, the warning electromagnetic pulse causes a timing change in a second synchronized electromagnetic exciter pulse produced by the second EAS unit when the second synchronized electromagnetic exciter pulse is concurrent with the first receive interval. This timing change causes the second EAS unit to no longer interfere with the first EAS unit.
US09251679B2	Method and a system for monitoring the handling of an object A method, a system and a device for monitoring the handling of an object. The method includes the steps of attaching a device to said object, sensing variations of light radiation transmitted between said device and a first external unit arranged outside the proximity of said object, sensing variations of radio waves transmitted between said device and a second external unit arranged outside the proximity of said object, determining handling events of said object on the basis of a combination of said variations of light radiation and said variations of radio waves, and signaling information from said device relating to said handling events.
US09251678B1	Security system A security system includes a structure having a structural surface. The structure is sized to contain an asset therein and configured to provide a forceful breaching delay. The structure has an opening formed therein to permit predetermined access to the asset contained within the structure. The structure includes intrusion detection features within or associated with the structure that are activated in response to at least a partial breach of the structure.
US09251677B1	Powered entrance barrier alarm device and system using same A powered entrance barrier door alarm device and system is configured to alert someone of an unauthorized breach of a powered entrance barrier, such as a garage door, whereby the powered entrance barrier is opened without the use of the powered entrance barrier opener. The powered entrance barrier alarm system includes a powered entrance barrier position sensor, and a detector circuit coupled with a powered entrance barrier opener power supply. The detector circuit measures an electrical power parameter to a powered entrance barrier opener. A detector module having a controller monitors the inputs from the detector circuit and the powered entrance barrier positioning sensor to determine if an alarm should be initiated. A detector module may have an electrical plug and an electrical outlet for a powered entrance barrier opener.
US09251675B2	Multiple LED omni-directional visual alarm device A visual alarm indicating output device includes a plurality of light sources arranged in a circular pattern about a centerline. Each of the sources is oriented so that respective light output is directed to a common, cylindrical Fresnel lens. The lens is symmetrical about the centerline. The sources are pulsed from a common current supply.
US09251670B2	Wagering game including multiple arrays of reel symbols A gaming system displays a first array of symbols and a second array of symbols for a wagering game. The second array of symbols includes at least one second-array reel. The at least one second-array reel includes a predetermined sequence of symbols. The at least one second-array reel rotates the predetermined sequence of symbols to determine at least partially the second array of symbols. The second array is divided into at least two sub-arrays, the at least one second-array reel extending into the at least two sub-arrays. A controller selects at least one symbol from the first array and copies the at least one selected symbol into one or more positions in each of the at least two sub-arrays. The at least two sub-arrays is displayed with combinations of symbols including the at least one selected symbol. The controller evaluates the combinations to determine an outcome to the wagering game.
US09251668B2	Wagering game with multiple overlying reel strips for triggering events or outcomes A method is provided for enabling a portal game on a wagering game device, the method including the acts of using a processor operatively associated with the wagering game device to conduct a wagering game on the wagering game device in accord with a first math model and using a portal game controller, which may be the processor operatively associated with the wagering game device or a separate controller operatively associated with both the portal game and the wagering game device, to overlay a portal game over the wagering game, the portal game having a second math model that is mathematically independent from the first math model of the wagering game.
US09251667B2	Game machine having a plurality of ways for a user to obtain payouts based on the appearance of any and all symbols within an active symbol matrix (WYSIWYG) A gaming device and method for playing a gaming device which provide awards for any and all symbols appearing within selected portions of a symbol matrix (“What You See Is What You Get” or “WYSIWYG”).
US09251665B2	Gaming system and method for providing automatic wild card assignment in video poker games A video poker game including a wild card feature is provided. For a play of the video poker game, a predetermined number of cards are randomly dealt from a players standard deck of 52 cards to form an initial player hand. If the player made a side bet, at least one up to the predetermined number of cards are simultaneously dealt from a separate deck to form a house hand. Any cards in the initial player hand that match any cards in the house hand are automatically changed into a wild card. The player chooses which cards to hold and which cards to discard from the initial player hand. Replacement cards for the discarded cards are dealt from the remainder of cards in the players deck to form a final player hand. The final player hand is evaluated according to a predetermined paytable and any awards are provided.
US09251662B2	Method and system for varying take-out on pari-mutuel wagers In a method of pari-mutuel wagering, one or more primary bettors place wagers having an applicable base take-out rate, and thus yielding a base pari-mutuel payout for winning wagers. One or more secondary bettors may place wagers having an applicable modified take-out rate (preferably lower than the base take-out rate), thus yielding a higher payout for winning wagers than the base payout. In one embodiment, primary bettors may place wagers through a host, such as a track. Secondary bettors may place wagers through a non-host distributor, such as an off-track betting location (OTB). Secondary bettors may apply take-out points to lower the base take-out rate to a new modified take-out rate which is applicable to their wager.
US09251659B2	Integrating other players wins into a wagering game Systems and methods provide a wagering game in which previous wins from other games of other players or the current player are integrated into the wagering game and provided as a potential payout in the wagering game.
US09251655B2	Gaming device having a selectively accessible bonus scheme A gaming device having a bonus scheme, wherein the player may choose when to play a bonus scheme, so long as the player is qualified to do so. The method of qualifying the player to enter the bonus round connects or links the base game operation of the gaming device with the bonus scheme. The reels of the base game contain symbols which alone or in combination with other symbols yield one or more bonus awards to a player. The bonus awards are escrowed and displayed a bonus award escrow display. Once the player obtains a single bonus award, the player becomes eligible or qualified to play the bonus round and the player may choose to do so at any time. The player can accumulate bonus awards and use multiple bonus awards at one time.
US09251653B2	Gaming system and method displaying one or more additional symbols of a group of designated symbols when less than all of the designated symbols of the group are displayed In various embodiments, the gaming system is configured to operate a slot game including a plurality of reels, one of which includes a plurality of designated symbols adjacent to one another on the reel forming a group of designated symbols. For a play of the game, if at least a first quantity of the designated symbols of the group of designated symbols but less than a second greater quantity of the designated symbols of the group of designated symbols is displayed, the gaming system displays one or more other designated symbols of the group of designated symbols in addition to the displayed designated symbols of the group of designated symbols such that the second greater quantity of the designated symbols is displayed. The gaming system determines and provides any awards based on the displayed symbols including any displayed designated symbols of the second greater quantity of the designated symbols.
US09251652B2	Password entry system The present invention relates to gaming apparatus (100) and methods (300) applicable to gaming apparatuses and systems. In particular a password entry method (300) and system (600) for authenticating a player's identity is disclosed in which a user's password can be defined using a set of elements (402) including a plurality of images (404) such as symbols or pictures.
US09251651B2	Systems and methods for tracking of non-wagering account associated with gaming environment Systems and methods are disclosed for associating a player identifier with a stored value account. The stored value account can holds funds that are accessible through the player's use of a stored value payment vehicle. Information associated with transactions using the stored value payment vehicle can be used for player relationship purposes.
US09251648B2	Messaging to and from wagering game machines A method includes receiving, at a host gaming server, notifications of account logins from a number of wagering game machines from at least one wagering game establishment. The method includes receiving, at the host gaming server, messages from multiple messaging sources that comprise at least one of a social networking website, a microblogging website, and at least some of the number of wagering game machines, wherein the messages comprise messages related to activity at the at least one wagering game establishment that include game play at the number of wagering game machines and messages related to activity external to the at least one wagering game establishment. The method includes aggregating, by the host gaming server, the messages from the multiple messaging sources. The method includes filtering, by the host gaming server, the messages for each of the account logins to create filtered messages.
US09251641B2	Drug dispensing box and cartridge having mutually coupled structure Provided is a drug dispensing box and cartridge having a mutually coupled structure. The cartridge disposed on each of floors of a drug dispensing apparatus and connected to each of a plurality of drug dispensing boxes includes a cartridge housing comprising a lower housing supporting the drug dispensing box and a rear housing restricting entry of the drug dispensing box by a predetermined distance, a rail disposed along an entry path of the drug dispensing box on the lower housing; and a first data transmitting/receiving terminal connected to the drug dispensing box to transmit/receive data. A rail for guiding the drug dispensing box when the drug dispensing box and the cartridge are connected to each other may be provided to connect the drug dispensing box to the cartridge at a regular position.
US09251640B2	Horizontal lid dispenser A disk-shaped object dispenser includes a trough disposed in a substantially horizontal orientation for holding disk-shaped objects face to face. A guide is disposed at one end of the objects and movably engaged to the trough to urge the objects toward a dispending end. The guide is urged by a biasing device. A dispensing blade is disposed at an end of the trough and is movable transversely to a direction of the trough. The dispensing blade holds the disk-shaped objects in place when in a rest position and separates a forwardmost one of the objects when moved while retaining in place a remainder of the objects. A separator is operatively coupled with the dispensing blade and having a device to rotate fingers on lateral ends thereof. The fingers engage a bottom of the object separated by the blade to urge the separated object away from the dispensing blade.
US09251639B2	Product selection system and method for vending machine A product selection system for a vending machine is provided which is immune to human misbehavior or uncertainty. The system includes a main controller and a plurality of product selection panels connected to the main controller. Each product selection panel includes a plurality of keys, each of which is associated with a type of product stored in the vending machine. When a product selection panel detects a first key-down event, the main controller broadcasts a suspending command to the product selection panels so each product selection panel suspends the detection of any further key-down event in response to receiving the suspending command, until after a product-dispensing routine has been completed or the expiry of a predetermined period of time. A product selection method for a vending machine is also provided.
US09251638B2	Bracket supporting apparatus A bracket supporting apparatus includes a side plate, two fixing brackets, a first mounting bracket defining a first through hole, and a second mounting bracket defining a second through hole. Each of the two fixing brackets includes a connection portion defining a fixing hole. Two supporting portions extend from two sides of the connection portion. A mounting portion extends from one side of each of the two supporting portions. The two supporting portions of each of the two fixing brackets are substantially parallel to the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket. The mounting portions are fixed to the side plate. A first fastener passes through each of the first through holes, the second through holes, and the fixing holes to fix the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket to each of the two fixing brackets.
US09251637B2	Method and apparatus for using at least a portion of a one-time password as a dynamic card verification value Method and apparatus for using at least a portion of a one-time password as a dynamic card verification value (CVV) are disclosed. A credit/debit card is able to generate a dynamic card verification value (CVV). Such a card may also include an indication that the dynamic CVV is to be used as a security code for purchasing or other transactions. A card-based financial transaction can be authorized in accordance with the use of a dynamic CVV by receiving a transaction authorization request for a specific credit/debit card, wherein the transaction authorization request includes a dynamic CVV. The dynamic CVV can be compared to at least a portion of a one-time password generated for the specific credit/debit card, and a transaction authorization can be sent to the merchant or vendor when the dynamic CVV matches all or a portion of the one-time password.
US09251634B1	Authentication method and system The present invention provides a method and apparatus for the production and labeling of objects in a manner suitable for the prevention and detection of counterfeiting. Thus, the system incorporates a variety of features that make unauthorized reproduction difficult. In addition, the present invention provides a system and method for providing a dynamically reconfigurable watermark, and the use of the watermark to encode a stochastically variable property of the carrier medium for self-authentication purposes.
US09251633B2	Monitoring access to a location Devices, methods, and systems for monitoring access to a location are described herein. One or more method embodiments include determining data associated with an access event associated with a location, determining whether the access event is an anomalous access event using the data associated with the access event and a statistical model of data associated with a number of non-anomalous access events associated with the location, and assessing, if the access event is determined to be an anomalous access event, the anomalous access event. In various embodiments, assessing the anomalous access event includes at least one of determining an anomaly type associated with the anomalous access event, determining an anomaly classification confidence associated with the anomalous access event, determining an anomaly severity associated with the anomalous access event, and determining a reliability associated with the statistical model.
US09251631B2	Vehicle communications A method and apparatus 10 for interacting remotely with a vehicle 12 comprising data transfer means 22 for wirelessly communicating messages between a mobile communications device 18 operable by a user and a vehicle databus 24 located within the vehicle 12. Optionally, the data transfer means 22 is arranged to wirelessly communicate with the mobile communications device 18 via a web server 14, a web portal or other internet-connected host system. The data transfer means 22 may be arranged to wirelessly communicate with the web portal via a GSM or other cellular communications network 13. After the vehicle engine has stopped, communication of messages may continue on an intermittent basis, or may be suspended after a predetermined time has elapsed or when the vehicle battery voltage reaches a predetermined threshold. High priority messages may be communicated at any time after the vehicle engine has stopped.
US09251629B2	Determining a time gap variance for use in monitoring for disconnect of a telematics device Examples of a telematics device are configured to connect to an on-board diagnostics port of a vehicle and collect telematics data related to the vehicle. The telematics device examples perform processes to determine whether a time value received by an external source is accurate with respect to a variance value. Based on the determination, a clock time value may be either modified based the accurate time value received from the external source or left unmodified. In addition, an example provides a time gap determination that accounts for time between a reconnection of the telematics device to a vehicle diagnostics port and receipt of an external time value.
US09251628B2	Method and apparatus for an OnBoard diagnostic interface tool An apparatus includes a processor and a plurality of on-board diagnostic (OBD) interfaces, in communication with the processor. The exemplary apparatus also includes a configurable housing, adapted to flexibly present an orientation of an OBD interface. The apparatus further includes persistent and non-persistent memory, in communication with the processor and a non-OBD I/O interface, in communication with the processor. The processor is configured to detect external device communication through a first OBD interface and function as a pass-through to a second OBD interface.
US09251624B2	Point cloud position data processing device, point cloud position data processing system, point cloud position data processing method, and point cloud position data processing program The device includes a unit obtaining an object's point cloud position data, a unit obtaining the object's image data, a unit in which co-relationship between point cloud position data obtained in the point cloud position data obtaining unit through a primary viewpoint or image data obtained in the image data obtaining unit through the primary viewpoint and image data obtained in the image data obtaining unit through a secondary (different from the primary) viewpoint are identified, a unit forming a three-dimensional model by the data obtained in the point cloud position data obtaining unit, and a unit controlling displaying of the model formed in the model forming unit on a displaying device. The model forming unit forms a three-dimensional model having direction seen from the secondary viewpoint, depending on the co-relationship identified in the co-relationship identifying unit. Operators see the model seen from the secondary viewpoint as an image.
US09251623B2	Glancing angle exclusion The glancing angle exclusion technique described herein selectively limits projective texturing near depth map discontinuities. A depth discontinuity is defined by a jump between a near-depth surface and a far-depth surface. The claimed technique can limit projective texturing on near and far surfaces to a different degree—for example, the technique can limit far-depth projective texturing within a certain distance to a depth discontinuity but not near-depth projective texturing.
US09251619B2	Image synthesis device An image processing device, including an analyzer calculating cutting data and difference data from image data, a selector receiving data from a working node, the data including cutting data, cost data, and position data, an assembler receiving data from working nodes and from a predecessor node and calculating updated node data as a function of the cost data, a driver configured to call the analyzer with image data of an input image, call the selector with an input node and with the cutting data calculated by the analyzer, call the assembler with the successor nodes determined by the selector as working nodes and with the input node as a predecessor node, and repeatedly call the selector and the assembler using one of the updated nodes as a working node for the selector, until a condition relating to the cutting data and the position data of an updated node is satisfied.
US09251618B2	Skin and flesh simulation using finite elements, biphasic materials, and rest state retargeting The movement of skin on an animated target, such as a character or other object, is simulated via a simulation software application. The software application creates a finite element model (FEM) comprising a plurality of finite elements based on an animated target. The software application attaches a first constraint force to a node associated with a first finite element in the plurality of finite elements. The software application attaches a second constraint force to the node. The software application detects a movement of the first finite element that results in a corresponding movement of the node. The software application determines a new position for the node based on the movement of at least one of the first finite element, the first constraint force, and the second constraint force.
US09251611B2	Method and apparatus for medical image display, and user interface screen generating method A cardiac ultrasound image display to analyze a heart wall motion, and a method and apparatus for displaying a cardiac ultrasound image. A method of displaying a medical image includes obtaining a characteristic value for each of one or more segments included in an object, generating an image of the object indicating the segment of which the characteristic value is a predetermined value, and displaying the image.
US09251610B2	Location info-graphics visualizations A computerized visualization method for illustrating multi-dimensional data, comprising: receiving a plurality of location data points, each location data point having a plurality of measured features; choosing at least one location dimension from received said plurality of dimensions; grouping said plurality of location data points into a plurality of location groups according to chosen said at least one location dimension; plotting, by a processor, said plurality of location groups as a plurality of flower charts, each said plurality of flower charts, having a plurality of pie sectors, illustrates remaining said plurality of measured features subsequent to said choosing at least one location dimension; and positioning each said plurality of flower charts, in a visual representation, according to chosen said plurality of location dimensions.
US09251609B1	Timelined spider diagrams Various embodiments illustrated and described herein include at least one of systems, methods, and computer program product to manage data having multiple groups that vary over time. Some embodiments use a spider diagram, in conjunction with a timeline, to allow a user to visualize the data. Such embodiments can include controls that allow a user to indicate a time along the timeline for which data should be plotted on the spider diagram. Some embodiments provide controls that allow a user to select a time range for which characteristics of data should be plotted on the spider diagram such as minimum, maximum and average for each data group over the time interval. Some embodiments visually indicate values that fall within certain criteria, such as a marginal criteria or an unacceptable criteria.
US09251605B2	Residual activity correction at reconstruction In a method for correcting for residual activity due to an earlier tracer in a later PET or SPECT scan image at reconstruction, thereby generating a residual-corrected later image the residual activity is estimated by detecting the time of an introduction of a tracer for the later PET or SPECT scan; and separating the residual activity from the true counts during iterative reconstruction of the PET or SPECT scan image.
US09251604B2	Apparatus and method for generating tomography image A method of generating a tomography image includes performing a depth scan on one spot on a surface of a subject using modulated light received from a spatial light modulator, obtaining depth scan data for each of a plurality of patterns of the spatial light modulator by repeating the depth scan on the spot for each of the plurality of patterns, forming a matrix R representing a vector space based on a correlation of signal values of the depth scan data for each of the plurality of patterns, performing a matrix decomposition on the matrix R, dividing the vector space into a noise subspace and a signal subspace based on a matrix obtained by the matrix decomposition, constructing a vector space based on either one or both of components of the signal subspace and components of the noise subspace, and generating a tomography image based on the reconstructed vector space.
US09251602B2	Pixel interpolation apparatus, imaging apparatus, pixel interpolation processing method, integrated circuit, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit, a signal processing unit, and a pixel interpolation processing unit. The apparatus calculates a correlation degree for pairs in two orthogonal directions for an image signal obtained by the imaging unit including a single-chip image sensor having a four-color filter, such as a WRGB color filter, using pixel data in an area around a target pixel, using the correlation degree as a determination criterion in the interpolation. When a color component pixel with an identical color of a color component pixel subjected to pixel interpolation is not located in the direction having the high correlation, the pixel interpolation apparatus changes ratio in a direction orthogonal to the direction having the high correlation by using a pixel value resulting from color space conversion in the direction orthogonal to the direction having the high correlation, and performs pixel interpolation based on the change ratio.
US09251600B2	Method and apparatus for determining an alpha value A method for determining an alpha value for a candidate pixel of an image in an alpha matting process and an apparatus configured to perform the method are described. A selecting unit selects two or more pairs of foreground pixels and background pixels. A calculating unit calculates for each pair of foreground pixel and background pixel an associated alpha value based on a color of the foreground pixel and a color of the background pixel, as well as a probability function based on the associated alpha value. The probability function is modeled by assuming two or more characteristics of the pixels as statistically independent. A determining unit determines the pair of foreground pixel and background pixel with the highest value of the probability function. A setting unit then sets the alpha value for the candidate pixel to the associated alpha value of the determined pair of foreground pixel and background pixel.
US09251598B2	Vision-based multi-camera factory monitoring with dynamic integrity scoring A human monitoring system includes a plurality of cameras and a visual processor. The plurality of cameras are disposed about a workspace area, where each camera is configured to capture a video feed that includes a plurality of image frames, and the plurality of image frames are time-synchronized between the respective cameras. The visual processor is configured to receive the plurality of image frames from the plurality of vision-based imaging devices and determine an integrity score for each respective image frame. The processor may then isolate a foreground section from two or more of the views, determine a principle body axis for each respective foreground section, and determine a location point according to a weighted least squares function amongst the various principle body axes.
US09251597B2	Method and apparatus for detecting a pupil A method for detecting a pupil in an image of an eye, comprises analyzing the image, exploiting an expected shape of the pupil, to identify portions of the image that are candidate portions of the pupil. A first region of the image, which corresponds to a lower part of the pupil, is analyzed in preference to a second region of the image, which corresponds to an upper part of the pupil, so as to reduce or avoid errors arising from artifacts that tend to be present in said second region of the image. A computer or processor program and an apparatus for performing the method are also disclosed.
US09251596B2	Method and apparatus for processing medical images The present invention provides, among other things, methods of processing medical images for producing images with labeled anatomical features, including obtaining images containing labeled anatomical features, obtaining unlabelled images, comparing and selecting unlabelled images that most closely resemble labeled images, and propagating label data from labeled images to unlabelled images, thereby labeling corresponding anatomical features on unlabelled images. The present invention also provides systems for performing such methods.
US09251589B2	Depth measurement apparatus, image pickup apparatus, and depth measurement program A depth measurement apparatus calculates depth information on a subject in an image by using a plurality of images having different blurs taken under different imaging parameters, and includes a region segmentation unit that segments at least one of the images into regions based on an image feature amount, wherein in each of the regions pixels are presumed to be substantially equal in depth to the subject, and a depth calculation unit that calculates a depth for each region resulting from the segmentation by the region segmentation unit and serving as a processing target region for depth calculation, and sets the calculated depth as the depth of the processing target region.
US09251587B2	Motion estimation utilizing range detection-enhanced visual odometry A motion determination system is disclosed. The system may receive a first and a second camera image from a camera, the first camera image received earlier than the second camera image. The system may identify corresponding features in the first and second camera images. The system may receive range data comprising at least one of a first and a second range data from a range detection unit, corresponding to the first and second camera images, respectively. The system may determine first positions and the second positions of the corresponding features using the first camera image and the second camera image. The first positions or the second positions may be determined by also using the range data. The system may determine a change in position of the machine based on differences between the first and second positions, and a VO-based velocity of the machine based on the determined change in position.
US09251586B2	Optical overhead wire measurement A method (20) is described for optically measuring the three-dimensional location of one or more wires W, in a group of wires W1-Wn, such a overhead power cables in an electric rail system. A first step (22) comprises obtaining stereoscopic image data for each of the wires W from the first and second spaced apart stereoscopic camera pairs 10a and 10b which lie in the common plane P1. At step (24), image data from the first and second stereoscopic camera pairs 10a and 10b is processed to identify each of the wires W in the region of interest (12). At step (26), a determination is made of the location in 3D space of selected identified wires W using image data from one of the cameras C1 or C2; and, C3 or C4 in each of the first and second camera pairs 10a and 10b.
US09251581B1	Methods for promoting semiconductor manufacturing yield and classifying defects during fabricating a semiconductor device, and computer readable mediums encoded with a computer program implementing the same A method for promoting semiconductor manufacturing yield comprising the following steps and a computer readable medium encoded with a computer program implementing the method is provided. First, a processed layer is inspected to generate an inspected image with defects thereon. Next, the inspected image is aligned to an original design layout information of the processed layer. In addition, the defects are classified according to geometric features of the original design layout information of the processed layer and at least previous one layer and/or at least next one layer.
US09251580B2	Methods and systems for automated selection of regions of an image for secondary finishing and generation of mask image of same Automated systems, methods and tools that automatically extract and select portions of an image to automatically generate a premium finish mask specific to the image which require little or no human intervention are presented. Graphical user interface tools allowing a user to provide an image and to indicate regions of the image for application of premium finish are also presented.
US09251577B2	Information providing method and information providing device The present invention provides a method for providing information and an apparatus for providing information with which information can be secretly displayed, and further, a display technique with a lot of sense of fun can attract keen interest from people around a display such as digital signage.A method for providing information using an apparatus for providing information that displays information using a light array includes: switching and displaying an information array and a concealment array in a display cycle in which a person cannot sense an information display array of the information array using the apparatus for providing information. The information array includes the information display array concerning information to be provided, and the concealment array is generated so that the information display array becomes invisible when the concealment array overlaps with the information array. The information to be transmitted can be secretly included in a normally displayed array (such as an image or a panel) for display. Since appropriately and intermittently blocking light entering a person's eye is only required, the person can acquire the information to be transmitted without a special instrument.
US09251569B2	Removing noise from an image via efficient patch distance computations Systems and methods herein provide for reduced computations in image processing and a more efficient way of computing distances between patches in patch-based image denoising. One method is operable within a processing system to remove noise from a digital image by generating a plurality of lookup tables of pixel values based on a plurality of comparisons of the digital image to offsets of the digital image, generating integral images from the lookup tables, and computing distances between patches of pixels in the digital image from the integral images. The method also includes computing weights for the patches of pixels in the digital image based on the computed distances and applying the weights to pixels in the digital image on a patch-by-patch basis to restore values of the pixels.
US09251568B1	Pseudo-skeleton based image enhancement for document image reproduction In a document image enhancement method, text character strokes are enhanced in a way such that areas closer to the center (skeleton) of each stroke are enhanced (e.g. made darker) by greater amounts than areas farther away from the center. Each text or line region of the input image is first binarized to generate a binary image containing connected components corresponding to character strokes and lines. Multiple levels of pseudo-skeletons are computed for each connected component, for example by using successive thinning. Multiple pseudo-skeleton difference areas, i.e. differences between successive levels of pseudo-skeletons, are generated. Pixels located in different pseudo-skeleton difference areas are enhanced by different amounts, by applying different inverse-degradation functions. Graphical regions of the input image may be treated with edge enhancement.
US09251566B1	Method and system for high-resolution transforms of frequency-space and inverse frequency-space data A method and system for high-resolution and parallelizable data processing, reconstruction, and deconstruction, uses arbitrary frequency-space (FS) or inverse frequency-space (IFS, such as image, audio, or video space) sample points in N dimensions. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a subset of optionally pre-processed and/or pre-conditioned N-dimensional FS data (or IFS data) is acquired (102) by a processing device (360), the data is optionally transformed (115) by “region scaling factors”, and the data is optionally reduced (116) in numerical significant digits. A “horizontal key” of data elements is calculated (120) on a processor (361), preferably in parallel, for each of an arbitrary set of x-coordinates in IFS (or FS). IFS “color” data (or FS data) are calculated (130) on a processor (361), preferably in parallel, at the x-coordinates corresponding to the horizontal keys. The IFS coordinates (or the FS coordinates) are arbitrary, and the reconstruction's calculated IFS data (or the deconstruction's calculated FS data) are optionally rotated or transposed (141) (such as for display purposes), and are thus formed (150) in a memory (363) or on an output device (365). The method can be applied to other subsets, such as in the N-dimensional case.
US09251561B2	Apparatus and method for displaying panoramic images When there is a shooting location of another panoramic image in a shooting direction of a panoramic image to be displayed, a marker setting unit associates a marker, indicating the presence of the another panoramic image in the shooting direction, with the panoramic image to be displayed. A mapping processing unit maps the panoramic image to be displayed, which has been associated with markers for the other panoramic images, into a three-dimensional (3D) panoramic space as textures. A 3D image generator generates a 3D panoramic image when the 3D panoramic space is viewed in a specified line of sight, with the shooting location of the panoramic image to be displayed being set as a viewpoint position. An interface receives an instruction from a user concerning the displayed 3D panoramic image.
US09251560B2	Medical image diagnosis apparatus and phase determination method using medical image diagnosis apparatus In order to provide a medical image diagnosis apparatus and a phase determination method using a medical image diagnosis apparatus that can determine an appropriate movement phase when obtaining a tomographic image corresponding to a specific movement phase, there are provided a storage unit that stores material distribution information, which is acquired from an object including a target organ that moves periodically, and movement information, which is measured together with the material distribution information, an image reconstruction unit that reconstructs a plurality of tomographic images of different movement phases using the material distribution information and the movement information, a superimposed image creation unit that creates a superimposed image by superimposing the plurality of tomographic images, a specific position calculation unit that calculates a specific position of the target organ based on the superimposed image, and a specific phase determination unit that determines a specific phase of the target organ based on the specific position.
US09251554B2	Block-based signal processing Signal flows for data-processing applications may be implemented so as to enable each processing node in the flow when it contains a sufficient amount of input data at its input buffer. In various embodiments, such signal flows can be graphically defined in a GUI tool which, thereafter, auto-generates suitable code for implementing the signal flow.
US09251553B2	Dual control of a dynamically reconfigurable pipelined pre-processor A pipelined video pre-processor includes a plurality of configurable image-processing modules. The modules may be configured using direct processor control, DMA access, or both. A block-control list, accessible via DMA, facilitates configuration of the modules in a manner similar to direct processor control. Parameters in the modules may be updated on a frame-by-frame basis.
US09251550B2	Security devices incorporating colour shifting inks A security document or device is provided which includes at least one area formed from a transparent plastics material which is exposed on at least one side to form a window or half-window, and a first color shifting ink composition and a second color shifting ink composition which both include different color pigments and interference pigments but which both, at a first viewing angle, exhibit substantially the same color when the interference pigments are viewable, and at other angles exhibit different colors when viewing the color pigments.
US09251549B2	Watermark extractor enhancements based on payload ranking Methods, devices, systems and computer program products improve the detection of watermarks that are embedded in a host content by providing information indicative of a ranking of watermark payloads to watermark extractors. A watermark extractor device obtains information indicative of a ranking of a plurality of watermark payload values, where such information designates each watermark payload value within a first subset of the plurality of watermark payload values as having an associated rank value. Based at least in-part on the information indicative of the ranking, the watermark extractor device is configured to prioritize resource allocation for extraction of payload values that are designated as belonging to the first subset over payload values that are not designated as belonging to the first subset. The watermark extractor then extracts a payload value, designated as belonging to the first subset, from one or more watermarks embedded in the host content.
US09251546B2	System and method for evaluating operation of a vehicle with respect to a plurality of environmental factors A system installed with a vehicle for evaluating operation of the vehicle with respect to environmental factors includes: (a) operational sensors for sensing data relating to operational factors of the environmental factors; (b) an operational information store coupled with selected sensors for storing operational data received from the selected sensors relating to the operational factors; (c) an operational standards store for storing operational standards associated with operating the vehicle; (d) an operational standard compliance evaluation unit coupled with the information store and coupled with the standards store for effecting comparison of the operational data with the operational standards to ascertain an operational comparison result, and determining whether the vehicle complies with the standards based upon the comparison result; and (e) an operational report and store unit coupled with the compliance evaluation unit for receiving the operational determination and generating at least one report relating to the operational determination.
US09251545B2	Rights management for content aggregators An arbitrator receives a request to use a plurality of content in an aggregation. The arbitrator determines whether there exist proper rights to use the plurality of content in the aggregation. The requestor is communicated whether permission is granted. The determination may include negotiating for extending right of use by an arbitrator. This negotiation may communicate with content hosting service(s) or the content author(s). The determining step retrieves, stores, and maintains rights information to and from an information store which is accessible by the rights management system.
US09251542B2	Waferstart processes and systems for integrated circuit fabrication A waferstart process for integrated circuit fabrication includes entering order information from requested wafers into a computer through a data input interface of the computer. A container is provided including supplied wafers and having a machine-readable medium associated therewith. The machine-readable medium is encoded with wafer data pertaining to the supplied wafers. The wafer data is entered from the machine-readable medium associated with the container into the computer. The order information and the wafer data are compared within the computer to create a verified data set in the computer upon the computer determining that the supplied wafers in the container correspond to the requested wafers in the order information. The verified data set is stored in a storage medium within the computer. The supplied wafers are transferred from the container to a front opening unified pod after creating the verified data set.
US09251539B2	System and method for resolving transactions employing goal seeking attributes An automated system and method for the online settling of a transaction is provided. The system comprises a server comprising a rules based engine including rules established on behalf of a party to the transaction and genetic programming logic configured to employ the rules and determine a plurality of transaction settlement offer sets, each transaction settlement offer set based on a set of circumstances and comprising multiple simultaneously presentable and individually selectable offers, each offer configured to provide an appearance of settling the transaction. The genetic programming logic creates a description of a current transaction settlement offer set, analyzes behavior and characteristics of the current transaction settlement offer set, establishes a fitness of the current transaction settlement offer set, and modifies the current transaction settlement offer set to produce a new transaction settlement offer set. The new transaction settlement offer set is provided to the user.
US09251537B2	Customization of an e-commerce display for a social network platform A first computer identifies electronic commerce activity related to a first user. The first computer retrieves a first data, wherein the first data is coupled to the electronic commerce activity. The first computer analyzes the first data and generates a second data. The first computer generates an electronic commerce display for a social network platform using the second data, wherein the electronic commerce display includes at least one timeline of the electronic commerce activity of the first user.
US09251536B2	Systems and methods for generating location-based group recommendations Methods and systems for generating location-aware group recommendations are discussed. For example, a method can include operations for receiving a group recommendation request, accessing user profile data associated with members of the group, and generating a group recommendation. The group recommendation request can be received at a network-based system and include identification of a first and second user as well as information identifying a current location associated with the first and second users. Accessing the user profile information can include accessing user profile information for both the first and second users. The group recommendation can be generated based on the current location data and a combination of at least a portion of the user profile data from the first and second users.
US09251535B1	Offload of data transfer statistics from a mobile access gateway In general, techniques are described for offloading data transfer statistics from a mobile access gateway. The mobile access gateway comprises a forwarding unit. The forwarding unit comprises a packet forwarding engine (PFE). When the PFE receives a packet, the PFE updates a data transfer statistic based on a quantity of data in the packet. The data transfer statistic is initially stored in a memory of the PFE. The PFE is configured to push the data transfer statistic from the memory of the PFE to a memory of the forwarding unit.
US09251533B2	Theme based advertising Various embodiments of the present disclosure are related to leveraging mobility management techniques implemented in mobile networks to distribute advertisements to mobile devices. In certain embodiments of the present disclosure, advertisements can be transmitted on a broadcast control channel of a base station and in at least one embodiment the advertisements can be relevant to the area the base station services. Mobile devices that detect the broadcast control channel can store the advertisements. If for example, a user is interested in the service, e.g., a product or service, that is offered in the advertisement they can initiate a purchase procedure.
US09251525B2	Device for determining potential future interests to be introduced into profile(s) of user(s) of communication equipment(s) A device (D) is intended for determining potential interests of users (U1-U3) that are clients of at least one network operator, each user being associated to a profile defining at least his interests. This device (D) comprises i) a tracking means (TM) arranged for analyzing the profile of at least one user (U1) to determine new real interest(s) it contains and for storing an identifier representative of a determined new real interest of this user (U1) in correspondence with a first date at which it has been considered as a new real interest into his profile, and ii) a recommendation means (RM) arranged for analyzing the first dates of a user (U1) to determine a time ordered sequence of interests preceding a determined new real interest, and for comparing this determined user interest sequence to at least one other sequence of interests of at least one other user (U2) to predict at least one potential future interest for this user (U1), to be introduced into his profile.
US09251523B2	Method and system for automatically completed general recommended word and advertisement recommended word A system for autocompleting a general recommended word and an advertising recommended word, the system including: a first database configured to maintain an autocomplete general recommend word; a second database configured to maintain an autocomplete advertising recommended word; an autocomplete indexer component configured to index the autocomplete general recommended word and the autocomplete advertising recommended word; an autocomplete index database configured to classify and store the indexed autocomplete general recommended word and the autocomplete advertising recommended word; a web server configured to 1) receive an input query, and 2) transmit the input query to a predetermined query autocompletion server, and 3) receive the autocomplete general recommended word and the autocomplete advertising recommended word, and 4) display the autocomplete general recommended word and the autocomplete advertising recommended word; and the query autocompletion server is provided.
US09251521B2	Location-based alerting One embodiment of the present is a method of using location information to transmit alerting information to a communications device. Such a method comprises receiving location information regarding a communications device; selecting alerting information based on the location of the communications device; and transmitting to the communications device information pertaining to the alerting information. Other methods and systems are also provided.
US09251520B2	Distributing mobile advertisements A method of generating relevant promotional materials for transmission to a mobile device includes receiving a query from the mobile device, identifying a plurality of advertisements associated with an advertiser-directed delivery parameter that match parameters for the mobile device, and generating a response to the query comprising search results and the plurality of advertisements.
US09251518B2	Centralized and device-aware ticket-transfer system and methods User accounts can allow respective users to access any their respectively owned ticket. Each ticket in a group of tickets provides its owner the right to redeem the ticket to attend a particular event. A first user initially owns a ticket in the group. Ownership of the ticket is transferred from the first user to a second user, such that, subsequent to the transfer, the second user has the right to redeem the ticket but the first user does not. A code is generated for the ticket, the code being based on a characteristic of a device associated with the second user. The code is unique across codes in the group of tickets. Redeeming the ticket to attend the particular event includes analyzing the code. A history for the ticket can be stored, the history including an indication of the transfer occurrence.
US09251516B2	Systems and methods for electronic distribution of job listings Systems and methods are provided for electronically distributing job listings. In one implementation, a method is provided that includes receiving information for job listings from one or more employers, and associating one or more keyword tags with each job listing. The method also includes identifying a content web page for injecting at least one job listing; analyzing text of the identified content web page; and selecting a job listing for injection into the content web page, based on a comparison between the analyzed text and the one or more keyword tags.
US09251514B2	Systems and methods for identifying biometric information as trusted and authenticating persons using trusted biometric information Systems and methods of identifying biometric information as trusted and authenticating persons using trusted biometric information are provided. Biometric information can be identified as trusted by comparing it to other biometric information and/or based on the age of the biometric information and/or receiving correct answers to questions based on personal information. Once biometric information has been identified as trusted it can be used as part of an authentication process by receiving biometric information from a person to be authenticated and comparing the received biometric information with the trusted biometric information.
US09251510B2	Buyer routing arrangements and methods for disparate network systems Electronic transaction data sets are processed for a multitude of disparate transactions using a plurality of autonomous payment networks. A software-programmed computer circuit receives and processes electronic transaction data to identify a buyer using information provided in the transaction data, and uses the identification to access buyer profile information for selecting one of a plurality of networks. In this context, a buyer can be identified using one of a plurality of identification approaches (e.g., different account IDs), and such identification can be used for retrieving and using electronic profile data to select a payment network for the buyer, which may be completely independent from the identification. Payment data is accordingly configured so that the selected network can receive and process the data, such as by configuring the data into a network-specific format and/or communicating the data using network-specific protocols. The configured payment data is transmitted to the selected payment network, for use in effecting electronic payment for the transaction.
US09251507B2	Reducing email message size A method, system and computer program product for supporting email message size reduction. Example operations may include identifying a first email recipient that is to receive a full version of an email message (full email message), identifying a second email recipient representing a new class of email recipient that is to receive a summary version of the email message (summary email message), and performing an action to facilitate the full email message being sent to the first email recipient and the summary email message being automatically generated from the full email message and sent to the second email recipient. The foregoing operations may be performed in one way by an email client and in another way by an email server. The email client and the email server may share responsibility for reducing email message size. Alternatively, the email client (or another implementing entity) may act alone.
US09251505B2	Network contact management A contact management method and system is provided. The method includes presenting, by a computer processor via a dashboard of a graphical user interface, a user name icon associated with a user. The computer processor presents a list of names associated with users and receives a selection for a first contact name. A file sharing option between the user and a user associated with the first contact name is enabled. The computer processor receives a selection for a second contact name and in response presents an internal network contacts map comprising the user name icon connected to the first contact name via a first link and the user name icon connected to the second contact name via a second link. The first link comprises an attribute indicating the file sharing option and the second link comprises an attribute indicating that the file sharing option is not enabled.
US09251500B2	Searching topics by highest ranked page in a social networking system Equivalent concepts expressed across multiple domains are matched and associated with a metapage generated by a social networking system. User preferences expressed on multiple domains, represented as pages in a social networking system, may be organized by concept and shared with advertisers, third-party developers, and other users of the social networking system using the metapages generated for the concepts. Aggregated social information may be presented to users of the social networking system viewing a page associated with a metapage. Information presented on external websites may be used to link pages across multiple domains with a metapage generated on the social networking system. A best page may be determined for a concept embodied in multiple pages on the social networking system using a hierarchy of rules. A best page may also be determined for a user based on information about the user.
US09251498B2	Facilitating deployment of customizations of enterprise applications A management system facilitating deployment of customizations of an enterprise application, with the enterprise application containing software modules pre-installed on a set of servers. In an embodiment, the management system first receives a set of deployment units each containing data defining a manner of configuration affecting the operation of at least some of the software modules to attain the desired customizations, and an enterprise profile indicating the specific subset of deployment units to be deployed in each of the servers. Management system then orchestrates the configuration of the software modules installed on the set of servers according to the data specified in the set of deployment units and the enterprise profile.
US09251497B2	Dynamic binding of process patterns in a method architecture Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to method and process management, and provide a data processing system, method, and computer program product for dynamic binding of a capability pattern to multiple processes in a method architecture. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a data processing system configured for dynamic binding of process patterns can include a method management tool. The method management tool can include program code enabled both to compose a capability pattern comprised of at least one activity defined by a plurality of nested and descriptors for source method elements, and to bind an extension activity to the capability pattern in a process model without replicating the activity of the capability pattern in the process pattern.
US09251494B2	System and method for tracking customer personal information in a warehouse management system A system and method for a warehouse management system for tracking devices with customer private information. The system includes one or more testing devices for testing devices to determine whether the customer personal information is present. The system further includes a receiving system operable to receive devices for entry as inventory. The shipping system prevents the devices from being entered as inventory in response to the testing device determine CPI is present on one or more of the devices. The system further includes a shipping system operable to prevent the one or more devices from being shipped to a recipient in response to determining the CPI is present on the one or more devices.
US09251492B2	Customized-enterprise-software integration systems and methods A third-party provider may integrate services with a customized enterprise-software tenancy via a tenant service context determined using an uncustomized data model and a tenant-customized data model from the enterprise-software provider. A difference map is generated for the tenant-customized data model with respect to the uncustomized data model, and is used to determine a mapped integrated-service data model, which facilitates integrating services with those of the enterprise-software provider. The mapped integrated-service data model is merged with the tenant-customized data model to obtain the tenant service context for the tenant. When a user provides an instruction to interact with the multi-tenant enterprise-software provider, the tenant service context is used to determine an action based on an interpretation of the instruction, and the enterprise-software provider is commanded to perform the action.
US09251489B2	Node-pair process scope definition adaptation A previously-computed scope definition represented as at least one begin-end node pair is obtained. The at least one begin-end node pair is usable to identify all nodes and interconnection path links that are reachable in a traversal from a begin node to an end node of each of the at least one begin-end node pair of a selection of a connected directed graphical representation of a process model. A change to the process model relative to the previously-computed scope definition is identified. A type of tooling environment used to change the process model is determined. The tooling environment includes one of a fully-integrated tooling environment and a componentized tool chain tooling environment. The previously-computed scope definition is adapted into an updated process scope definition based upon the identified at least one change to the process model relative to the previously-computed scope definition and the determined type of tooling environment.
US09251487B2	System and method for computing and overwriting the appearance of project tasks and milestones A computer-implemented system that transforms one or more project plans to create a graphical project view. The appearance of the project view is determined by a default style, one or more style rules applied to each task or milestone in the chart, or both. Once the project view has been created, users may alter its appearance by changing the default style settings, modifying the data-driven style rules, or by manually changing the appearance of selected tasks and milestones to deviate from the default style or style rules. As project plans are updated, the project view may be refreshed to create a new snapshot, or to replace an existing snapshot. As data is refreshed, the system will preserve manual style changes, and will also reapply style rules, which may result in a change to the project view's appearance. Snapshots may have different appearances, based on rules and manual changes.
US09251485B2	Data abstraction layer for interfacing with reporting systems A data transformation system receives data from one or more external source systems and stores and transforms the data for providing to reporting systems. The data transformation system maintains multiple versions of data received from an external source system. The data transformation system can combine data from different versions of data and provide to the reporting system. As a result, external source systems that do not maintain data in a format appropriate for reporting systems and/or do not maintain sufficient historical data to generate different types of reports are able to generate these reports. The data transformation system can also enhance older versions of data stored in the system or exclude portions of data from reports. The data transformation system can purge older versions of data so that older data that is less frequently requested is maintained at a lower frequency than recent data.
US09251481B2	Distributed metering and monitoring system The distributed metering and monitoring service (DMMS) system provides a way to gather and maintain metrics data which remains distributed, until requested. The DMMS system uses messaging queues to scale the number of servers that may be monitored and metered to a hyperscale of greater than 10,000 servers. The DMMS system determines how many servers (nodes) to assign to a cluster, and uses a metric aggregator to collect and store metrics data for the nodes. The DMMS system creates message queues for the instances, injects instance identifiers into the cluster state data and metrics data, listens for request messages for metering information for instances, retrieves the metrics data for users identified by the instance identifiers stored locally at the nodes, and calculates the metering information for the instance.
US09251478B2	Processing information queries in a distributed information processing environment Methods, apparatus, and computer program products for handling or managing delayed answers to shopping requests directed to travel content provider platforms. A query processing server of a travel reservation system receives a multi-provider shopping request from an inquiring entity, such as a travel agency, and directs it to a content provider platform, such a platform of a rental car agency. If the content provider platform responds within a given time limit, the query processing server forwards the response to the inquiring entity and updates cache data based upon the response. If the content provider platform does not respond within the given time limit, the query processing server forwards a cache-based response to the inquiring entity. If the content provider platform responds after the given time limit has exceeded, the query processing server updates the cached data to reflect to the belated response from the content provider platform.
US09251477B2	Online registration and block tracking for travel wholesalers, agencies and hotels A system and method for providing reservation capabilities to a reservation or property management system via a plurality of Internet web sites. Each booking party is directed to a web site containing common content and content specific to the type of booking party, such as a travel agent, wholesaler, or traveler. The system ensures the complete and accurate collection of data regarding a customer and the customer's reservation request through the use of distributed software components and association with customer profiles. Each booking party may create or modify customer profile information to be associated with reservations. The product or service provider may establish and maintain its own set of commission rates, fee amounts and discount values for each type of booking party, thereby allowing the provider to control accuracy and completeness of reservations, as well as revenue flow to the booking parties.
US09251474B2	Reward based ranker array for question answer system Mechanisms are provided for configuring a ranker array of a question and answer (QA) system. An initial configuration of a ranker array of the QA system is generated which comprises a plurality of rankers with each ranker applying a statistical classification function to candidate answers generated by the QA system. A training question is input to the QA system to generate a training candidate answer set and the ranker array is applied to the training candidate answer set to generate, for each ranker in the ranker array, a ranked listing of candidate answers. For each ranker in the ranker array, a correctness of a corresponding ranked listing of candidate answers is determined and the ranker array is reconfigured based on results of the determined correctness of the corresponding ranked listing of candidate answers for each ranker in the ranker array.
US09251472B1	Method and system for monitoring a building A computerized method and system for monitoring a building, including: accepting data regarding building operation data, generating a statistical model based on the data, comparing current building performance to the statistical model, determining whether the current building performance is normal or abnormal, and displaying information indicating abnormal and/or normal operating conditions.
US09251469B2	Dynamic load balancing based on question difficulty Mechanisms are provided for performing load balancing of question processing in a Question and Answer (QA) system, implemented by the data processing system, having a plurality of QA system pipelines. The mechanisms receive an input question for processing by the QA system and determine a predicted question difficulty of the input question. The mechanisms select a QA system pipeline from the plurality of QA system pipelines based on the predicted question difficulty and route the input question to the selected QA system pipeline for processing. In addition, the mechanisms process the input question with the selected QA system pipeline to generate an answer for the input question.
US09251468B2	Inferring user profile attributes from social information User profile information for a user of a social networking system is inferred based on information about user profile of the user's connections in the social networking system. The inferred user profile attributes may include age, gender, education, affiliations, location, and the like. To infer a value of a user profile attribute, the system may determine an aggregate value based on the attributes of the user's connections. A confidence score may also be associated with the inferred attribute value. The set of connections analyzed to infer a user profile attribute may depend on the attribute, the types of connections, and the interactions between the user and the connections. The inferred attribute values may be used to update the user's profile and to determine information relevant to the user to be presented to the user (e.g., targeting advertisements to the user based on the user's inferred attributes).
US09251465B2	System and methods for interactive displays based on associations for machine-guided rule creation This disclosure provides a computer-program product, system, method and apparatus for accessing a representation of a category or item and accessing a set of multiple transactions. The transactions are processed to identify items found amongst the transactions, and the items are ordered based on an information-gain heuristic. A depth-first search for a group of best association rules is then conducted using a best-first heuristic and constraints that make the search efficient. The best rules found during the search can then be displayed to a user, along with accompanying statistics. The user can then select rules that appear to be most relevant, and further analytics can be applied to the selected rules to obtain further information about the information provided by these rules.
US09251463B2	Knowledge transfer in smart environments Activity templates are generated from one or more existing smart environments (e.g., source spaces) based on sensor data from the one or more existing smart environments that corresponds to known activities. A target activity template is then generated for a new smart environment, e.g., the target space. The source space activity templates are then mapped to the target activity templates to enable recognition of activities based on sensor data received from the target space.
US09251462B2	Emotion script generating, experiencing, and emotion interaction An emotion script generating apparatus, comprising means to receive emotion data, in which the emotion data is obtained according to measurable physiological parameters reflective of a user's emotions; and means to generate emotion script using the emotion data based on a predefined template. An emotion script experiencing apparatus, comprising means to receive emotion script, wherein the emotion script is generated using emotion data and is based on a predefined template, the emotion data capable of being obtained according to measurable physiological parameters reflective of a user's emotions; and means to affect a user by using emotion data extracted from the emotion script, so as to cause the user to experience the emotion script.
US09251459B2	RFID antenna and 2D barcode An apparatus has a surface that includes a two dimensional barcode and a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) antenna printed on the two dimensional barcode. The RFID antenna and the two dimensional barcode are formed from a conductive ink.
US09251458B2	Selective deposition of magnetic particles and using magnetic material as a carrier medium to deposit nanoparticles Selective deposition of magnetic material such as particles, and producing a pre-laminated stack of shielding layers for offsetting attenuation of RF caused by a metal face plate of a smart card (or tag) or a metallized layer near a passive transponder. Coated or uncoated magnetic particles of different sizes may be used to increase the packing density of the material after its deposition on a substrate. Magnetography-based techniques may be used to apply the particles, at high packing density, including different-sized particles to a substrate such as PVC. Magnetic particles may be used as a carrier medium to deposit other particles nanoparticles. A system for selective deposition is disclosed.
US09251456B2	RFID information medium and article to which the medium is attached An RFID information medium transmits and receives data to and from an external reader in a noncontact manner. The RFID information medium is provided with a main body section having an insulating member, either an antenna or an antenna member arranged on the main body section, and a conductor arranged on the main body section. The conductor has a conductive material layer. The conductive material layer partially overlaps the antenna or the antenna member in the thickness direction of the main body section.
US09251444B2	Image forming apparatus, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and print control method Provided are an image forming apparatus, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a control program, and a print control method. An image forming apparatus which can directly print printing data described in a page description language. The image forming apparatus includes a display section, a data receiving section, an analyzing section and a rasterizing section. The analyzing section is configured to analyze printing data to determine a file format of the printing data, and operate the display section to display a print setup screen thereon, where the print setup screen depends on the file format of the printing data. The analyzing section is further configured to define a layout of objects in each page to be printed and convert the printing data into descriptions of an intermediate language. The rasterizing section is configured to rasterize the descriptions of the intermediate language to create an image to be printed.
US09251437B2	System and method for generating training cases for image classification A system and method for generating training images. An existing training image is associated with a classification. The system includes an image processing module that performs color-space deformation on each pixel of the existing training image and then associates the classification to the color-space deformed training image. The technique may be applied to increase the size of a training set for training a neural network.
US09251426B2	Three-dimensional object detection device, three-dimensional object detection method A three-dimensional object detection device is provided with an image capturing device, a three-dimensional object detection unit, a rainfall state detection unit, a three-dimensional object assessment unit and a controller. The image capturing device captures an area rearward of a vehicle. The three-dimensional object detection unit detects a three-dimensional object rearward of the vehicle and calculating a traveling speed of the three-dimensional object, based on images obtained by the image capturing device. The rainfall state detection unit detects a state of rainfall including cases of rainfall or formation of a water film on a road surface due to rainfall. The three-dimensional object assessment unit accesses the three-dimensional object to be another vehicle when the traveling speed of the detected three-dimensional object lies within a preset setting range. The controller changes the traveling speed setting range to be narrower when the rainfall state detection unit has detected a rainfall state.
US09251422B2	Methods systems apparatuses circuits and associated computer executable code for video based subject characterization, categorization, identification and/or presence response Disclosed are methods, systems, apparatuses, circuits and associated computer executable code for providing video based subject characterization, categorization, identification and/or presence response. According to some embodiments, there is provided a system including a video acquisition module, a video analytics module to extract subject features and a subject presence response module adapted to generate a response to an identification of a specific subject or group of subjects.
US09251421B2	System and method for generating semantic annotations In accordance with one aspect of the present technique, a method is disclosed. The method includes receiving a new video from one or more sensors and generating a new content graph (CG) based on the new video. The method also includes comparing the new CG with a plurality of prior CGs. The method further includes identifying a first portion of the new CG matching a portion of a first prior CG and a second portion of the new CG matching a portion of the second prior CG. The method further includes analyzing a first set of semantic annotations (SAs) associated with the portion of the first prior CG and a second set of SAs associated with the portion of the second prior CG. The method further includes generating a sequence of SAs for the new video based on the analysis of the first and the second set of SAs.
US09251420B2	System for mapping and identification of plants using digital image processing and route generation The present invention relates to a system and method for mapping of plants. Homogenous and heterogeneous flora areas called clusters are identified in remote sensing images and routes to the plant clusters are generated. The plants are classified using morphological data from foliar images of plants present in the clusters.
US09251413B2	Methods for automatic structured extraction of data in OCR documents having tabular data Methods to select and extract tabular data among the optical character recognition returned strings to automatically process documents, including documents containing academic transcripts.
US09251410B1	People counting system and method A people counting system includes: a top-view, a first and a second side-view image-capturing device, capturing a top-view, a first and a second side-view image respectively; an image stitching module, stitching the top-view, the first and the second side-view image into an ultra wide-angle image; a ROI selecting module, selecting at least one recognition zone and a counting zone; a face recognition module, monitoring the recognition zone to determine a face location corresponding to a face through analyzing the recognition zone; a head recognition module, monitoring the counting zone to determine a head location corresponding to a head through analyzing the counting zone; an object tracking module, the head recognition module, generating a face track and a head track; and a people counting module, counting a first number of face tracks and a second number of head tracks passing through the counting zone and generating a counting result.
US09251407B2	Security system utilizing gesture recognition Systems and methods are provided for restricting access to an item of interest. A normalization component resamples an input trajectory to produce a resampled trajectory having a standard size. A reference point generator reduces the resampled trajectory to respective values for a set of reference points, each having at least two associated coordinates. The system further includes at least one authentication region. Each of the at least one authentication region represents at least one of the set of reference points. A verification component is configured to determine if the values for the set of reference points from a given input falls within the at least one authentication region. An access restriction mechanism restricts access to the item of interest unless a threshold number of values for the set of reference points from the input falls within their associated authentication regions.
US09251403B2	Method for finding and digitally evaluating illegal image material A method for finding and digitally evaluating illegal image material is provided, wherein a data memory is searched for image material. Image material that is found is classified as potentially illegal image material or as legal image material by means of a classification method on the basis of an image content that is presented. The image material graded as potentially illegal has the age of the persons shown determined, and potentially illegal image material which shows at least one person whose ascertained age is below a prescribed age is graded as illegal image material. Biometric features of the persons shown in the illegal image material are detected and are compared with at least one database which contains biometric features. In the illegal image material, at least one further feature which it contains is detected and is compared with at least one appropriate database.
US09251402B2	Association and prediction in facial recognition Some implementations provide techniques and arrangements to address intrapersonal variations encountered during facial recognition. For example, some implementations employ an identity data set having a plurality of images representing different intrapersonal settings. A predictive model may associate one or more input images with one or more images in the identity data set. Some implementations may use an appearance-prediction approach to compare two images by predicting an appearance of at least one of the images under an intrapersonal setting of the other image. Further, some implementations may utilize a likelihood-prediction approach for comparing images that generates a classifier for an input image based on an association of an input image with the identity data set.
US09251398B2	Method of matching, biometric matching apparatus, and computer program A method of matching fingerprints is disclosed. The method comprises, for a first minutia point, being assigned as a planet minutia point a) determining pairs including the planet minutia point and a satellite minutia point, respectively, such that a cluster is formed; b) comparing the clusters of the respective sets and excluding nonmatching satellites; c) counting links in the cluster formed by remaining pairs; and d) for remaining satellite minutia points, performing steps a) to c) with respective satellite minutia point assigned as planet minutia point to form a supercluster by iterating steps a) to d) and superadding the clusters; calculating a score of the supercluster based on the aggregate counted links; and comparing the score with a threshold. A biometric matching apparatus, a portable data carrier, a data processing unit comprising a matching apparatus and a computer program for implementing the invention are also disclosed.
US09251393B2	Barcode reading test tube holder Tube holders for use in a lab environment include an optical device to allow the observation of barcode information on a sample tube. The optical device can include a lens or camera. Tube holders can also include reflective surfaces or mechanical mechanisms to allow the tube to be rotated such that reading a barcode does not require a strict initial orientation of the tube when placed in the tube holder. Arrays of tubes can include optical guides to allow barcodes to be read by an external imaging device.
US09251387B2	Decodable indicia reading terminal with indicia analysis functionality A decodable indicia reading terminal can comprise a multiple pixel image sensor, an imaging lens configured to focus an image of decodable indicia on the image sensor, an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter configured to convert an analog signal read out of the image sensor into a digital signal, a communication interface, and a microprocessor configured to output decoded message data corresponding to the decodable indicia by processing the digital signal. The decodable indicia reading terminal can be configured, responsive to a triggering event, to transmit via the communication interface a decoding result and an indicia readability rating. The triggering event can be provided by a failure to detect decodable indicia, the indicia readability rating being less than a pre-defined threshold, exceeding a pre-defined time period to decode decodable indicia, a user interface action, and a command received via said communication interface.
US09251386B2	Transceiver locking assembly A transceiver locking assembly includes at least one processor device, a network device, in a network environment, in communication with the least one processor device, a transceiver in communication with the network device; a transceiver port, coupled to the network device, defining a first slot opening in at least one of a variety of positions of the transceiver port and configured for selectively receiving the transceiver, and a dynamically controlled locking mechanism coupled to the transceiver port. The dynamically controlled locking mechanism is selectively positioned into the first slot opening to lock the transceiver into the network device or selectively removed away from the first slot opening to unlock the transceiver from the network device.
US09251377B2	Instructions processors, methods, and systems to process secure hash algorithms A method of an aspect includes receiving an instruction. The instruction indicates a first source of a first packed data including state data elements ai, bi, ei, and fi for a current round (i) of a secure hash algorithm 2 (SHA2) hash algorithm. The instruction indicates a second source of a second packed data. The first packed data has a width in bits that is less than a combined width in bits of eight state data elements ai, bi, ci, di, ei, fi, gi, hi of the SHA2 hash algorithm. The method also includes storing a result in a destination indicated by the instruction in response to the instruction. The result includes updated state data elements ai+, bi+, ei+, and fi+ that have been updated from the corresponding state data elements ai, bi, ei, and fi by at least one round of the SHA2 hash algorithm.
US09251376B2	Method and system to warn the user in the event of potential confidential document security violations A method and system to warn the user in the event of potential confidential document security violations. The method includes using a computer, electronically embedding a digital marker in an electronic document to create a marked document; storing the document on a non-removable non-transitory computer readable medium of the computer; upon a request for transmission of the marked document from the computer or for copying the marked document to a removable non-transitory computer readable medium, determining that the marked document contains the digital marker and displaying a warning on a display unit of the computer of the request based on the marked document containing the digital marker; and allowing the transmission or the copying only upon approval of release of the marked document by a human user of the computer.
US09251375B1	Use case-specific entity identifiers Use case-specific entity identifiers are disclosed. Entity data associated with an actual entity identifier of an entity is generated. A use case-specific entity identifier is generated based at least in part on encrypting the actual entity identifier using reversible encryption. The entity data, in association with the use case-specific entity identifier, is sent to another service.
US09251372B1	Secure service for receiving sensitive information through nested iFrames Methods and systems for receiving sensitive information include receiving a request for entering sensitive information, the request received from a user interface rendered on a client device. The methods and systems rely upon nested iframes, each of which is hosted by a different server. An inner iframe is hosted by a server within a secure zone, such as a digital vault. A middle iframe is hosted within the secure zone and is invoked by an intermediate server. An outer iframe is hosted by a server that provides the user interface. The server that provides the user interface may be hosted by a cloud service provider, for example. Using the nested iframes and the network topology described in the present disclosure, users are able to exchange sensitive information with a server within the secure zone through a user interface provided outside the secure zone.
US09251371B2	Method and system for applying data retention policies in a computing platform Systems and methods for a multitenant computing platform. Original data is generated through operation of a computing platform system on behalf of an account of the computing platform system, and the original data is moderated according to a data retention policy set for the account. The moderated data is stored at the computing platform system. The computing platform system moderates the generated data by securing sensitive information of the generated data from access by the computing platform system, and providing operational information from the generated data. The operational information is accessible by the computing platform system during performance of system operations.
US09251366B2	Augmented reality based privacy and decryption A method, non-transitory computer readable medium and apparatus for decrypting a document are disclosed. For example, the method captures a tag on an encrypted document, transmits the tag to an application server of a communication network to request a per-document decryption key, receives the per-document decryption key if the tag is authenticated, and decrypts a portion of the encrypted document using a temporary decryption key contained in the tag, the tag decrypted with the per-document decryption key.
US09251365B2	Trusted storage systems and methods Systems and methods are disclosed for providing a trusted database system that leverages a small amount of trusted storage to secure a larger amount of untrusted storage. Data are encrypted and validated to prevent unauthorized modification or access. Encryption and hashing are integrated with a low-level data model in which data and meta-data are secured uniformly. Synergies between data validation and log-structured storage are exploited.
US09251360B2	Computerized method and system for managing secure mobile device content viewing in a networked secure collaborative exchange environment In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for securely viewing computer data content, such as documents, presentations, spreadsheets, emails, blog entries, texts, and the like, through a secure viewing facility, where the secure viewing facility utilizes a camera or other biometric sensor to monitor an authorized user's actions in the determination of whether the secure viewing facility will permit the computer data content to be viewed on the computer's display, and/or in the control of the viewing process itself.
US09251356B2	Module encryption/decryption program Even for encrypted programs, when all modules are decrypted all at once at the time of execution, it is possible to analyze codes stored within a storage area. Therefore, a program execution and decryption method that prevents easy analysis via reverse-engineering is required. In order to solve the aforementioned problem, this invention provides a program complex that allows execution of modules while modules are being decrypted upon execution, even if a program has been started. Thereby, modules cannot be easily analyzed and program tamper resistance can be improved.
US09251354B2	Secure access supersession on shared workstations Transitions between users at shared workstations that permit access to private health information or other secure data may be handled, without incurring unnecessary delays due to shut-down of all applications used by the departing user, by selectively hiding applications with sensitive information on a shared desktop while allowing temporary system access for the interrupting user.
US09251352B2	Quantitative analysis of information leakage vulnerabilities A method includes recording, during execution of a program and by a computing system, concrete values exhibited at source and sink statements in the program. The source statements read confidential information and the sink statements release the confidential information to an outside environment. The method includes determining, by the computing system, using at least the recorded concrete values and source-sink pairs whether information leakage meeting one or more quantitative criteria occurs by the program. Apparatus and program products are also disclosed.
US09251342B2	Evaluating detectability of information in authorization policies Techniques for evaluating detectablity of confidential information stored in authorization policies are described. In an example, an authorization policy has a confidential property. The confidential property is defined by whether application of a test probe to the authorization policy results in the grant of access to a resource. A processor automatically determines whether at least one witness policy can be generated that is observationally equivalent to the authorization policy from the perspective of a potential attacker, but the application of the test probe to the witness policy generates an access denial result. In the case that such a witness policy can be generated, an indication that the confidential property cannot be detected using the test probe is output. In the case that such a witness policy cannot be generated, an indication that the confidential property can be detected using the test probe is output.
US09251341B1	Defensive techniques to increase computer security Among other disclosed subject matter, a computer-implemented method includes executing a plurality of virtual machines on a physical machine, wherein a first virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines executes an encryption process. Execution of a hostile process that is configured to compromise the encryption process is detected, wherein the hostile process executes in a second virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines. Migrating at least the second virtual machine to a different second physical machine based on the detection of the execution of the hostile process.
US09251336B1	Secure versioning of software packages To provide a secure installation and execution software environment, locked version numbers are maintained. A locked version number associated with a software program may be stored. When a request is received to update the software program with an update package, a package number of the update package may be compared to the locked version number. The software program may be updated with the update package if the package number is at least as recent as the locked version number, and the updating of the software program with the update package may be restricted if the package number is earlier than the locked version number.
US09251328B2	User identification using multifaceted footprints A method for identifying an unknown user according to a plurality of facets of user activity in a plurality of contexts includes receiving a plurality of priors for the facets with respect to the contexts, receiving a plurality of footprints of known users, aggregating the footprints of the users to determine an ensemble prior, receiving a plurality of network traces relevant to an unknown user in a computer environment, matching the network traces against each of the footprints to determine a plurality of matches, aggregating the matches using the ensemble prior according to the facets and the contexts, and outputting a probable user identity for the unknown user.
US09251327B2	Method and system for providing behavioral bi-directional authentication An approach for authenticating parties engaged in a web-based transaction without compromising the integrity or anonymity of the parties is described. An authentication platform receives, from a first application associated with a first party, an authentication request that has been redirected in response to a transaction initiated with a second application associated with a second party. The authentication platform forwards knowledge based assessment information to the first application that is based on determined behavioral information for authenticating the second party to the first party. A valid response to the knowledge based assessment information by the first application provides authentication of the first party to the second party.
US09251322B2	Signal continuity assessment using embedded watermarks Methods, apparatus, and systems for signal continuity assessment using embedded watermarks are provided. The embedded watermarks are recovered from the content and one or more attributes associated with the recovered watermarks are identified. A continuity of the content can then be assessed in accordance with the one or more attributes. The continuity assessment may be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to a determined heartbeat of the recovered watermarks, a density, separation, location, or extent, of the recovered watermarks, as well as information associated with the watermarks, such as a stego key, channel bits, packet numbers, a fingerprint, or the like.
US09251318B2	System and method for the designation of items in a virtual universe The present invention enables items in a Virtual Universe to be tagged as available for pickup by one or more designated users. The present invention permits a designated user to be alerted that there is an item designated for that user/avatar and available for pick-up at a location in the Virtual Universe. A user may designate another user (or user's avatar), for example, a minor for whom the designating user has responsibility, as an “item” to be tracked. For privacy and other reasons, this and other features may be implemented on an opt-in basis.
US09251317B2	Network video messaging Embodiments related to network video messaging are disclosed. One disclosed embodiment provides a method that comprises receiving a video message from a client application of a source client; associating a navigation link with the video message; transmitting a notification message to the recipient client including the navigation link; receiving a retrieval request from the recipient client to access the video content via the navigation link; and transmitting the video content to the recipient client responsive to receiving the retrieval request by providing a persistent download of the video content from the storage server if the download condition indicates that a persistent download of the video content is permissible; and providing a transient download of the video content to the recipient client while prohibiting a persistent download of the video content if the download condition indicates that a persistent download of the video content is not permissible.
US09251316B2	Content sharing system, information communication apparatus, content sharing method, and communication method When a user who shares content is selected in a first information communication apparatus used by one of the users who share content, sharing space securement information for the selected user is generated and transmitted to the server. When sharing space connection information for accessing a sharing space, which is generated by the server based on the sharing space securement information, is received by the first information communication apparatus, the sharing space connection information transmitted to the second information communication apparatus used by the user who share the content.
US09251308B2	Simulation method, system, and program System and method for achieving reproducibility of a simulation operation while reasonably keeping an operation speed. A peripheral scheduler clears completion flags of all the peripheral emulators to thereby start parallel operations thereof. Then, based on processing break timing set for the individual peripheral emulators, the peripheral scheduler finds one of the peripheral emulators which is scheduled to reach a processing break at the earliest. The found peripheral emulator is referred to as a peripheral P. In a case where a time of the processing break of the peripheral P is T, the peripheral scheduler continues execution of processor emulators and plant simulators up until a time point of the time T. The peripheral scheduler waits for setting of a completion flag of the peripheral P. In response to the setting, the peripheral scheduler performs data synchronization among the peripheral P, the processor emulators, and the plant simulators.
US09251307B2	Circuit information processing device, circuit information processing system, database, non-transitory computer readable medium, and circuit design method A circuit information processing device includes an evaluating unit that evaluates complexity of placement and routing of each of multiple circuit configurations, the multiple circuit configurations each having a common portion common to the multiple circuit configurations and a non-common portion not common to the multiple circuit configurations, a selecting unit that selects, from among the multiple circuit configurations, a reference circuit configuration evaluated by the evaluating unit as satisfying a predetermined criterion, and a generating unit that causes first placement and routing information to be shared by circuit configurations other than the reference circuit configuration, and generates second placement and routing information for each of the circuit configurations other than the reference circuit configuration, the first placement and routing information being information for placing and routing the common portion of the reference circuit configuration, the second placement and routing information being information for placing and routing the non-common portion.
US09251306B2	Alignment net insertion for straightening the datapath in a force-directed placer An automated method for aligning a critical datapath in an integrated circuit design inserts an artificial alignment net in the netlist which interconnects all cells in the bit stack of the datapath. The cells are placed using a wirelength optimization which assigns weights to wire sections based on the alignment direction. The rate of change of the alignment weighting value can vary during different stages of global placement. The invention is particularly suited for a force-directed placer which uses a linear system solver to obtain a globally optimum solution for placement of the cells having some overlap among the cells, and thereafter spreads the cells to reduce the overlap. Pseudo nets are also inserted which interconnect a cell and an expected location of the cell after spreading for that iteration.
US09251302B2	System and method for planning a radiation therapy treatment A method for planning a radiation therapy treatment of a body represented by a volume of voxels determines a radiation dose matrix representing a spatial distribution of a radiation dose of beams of radiation irradiating the volume with homogeneous stopping power. The beams are collimated and are shifted copies of each other at each depth of the volume, and the spatial distribution is determined by calculating cumulative beam-axial doses in a single matrix-matrix multiplication and redistributing the cumulative beam-axial doses to all voxels in the volume using a convolution. Next, a set of correcting operations is applied to the radiation dose matrix to produce a cumulative voxel radiation dose of the volume. Each correcting operation is linear, independent from another correcting operation and has a transform.
US09251297B2	Semantic note taking system A semantic note taking system and method for collecting information, enriching the information, and/or binding the information to services is provided. User-created notes are enriched with labels, context traits, and relevant data to minimize friction in the note-taking process. In other words, the present invention is directed to collecting unscripted data, adding more meaning and use out of the data, and binding the data to services. Mutable and late-binding to services is also provided to allow private thoughts to be published to a myriad of different applications and services in a manner compatible with how thoughts are processed in the brain. User interfaces and semantic skins are also provided to derive meaning out of notes without requiring a great deal of user input. Linking physical objects to notes are also provided, such as through QR codes.
US09251289B2	Matching target strings to known strings One or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed for matching a target string to a known string. A target string is broken into one or more target terms, and the one or more target terms are matched to known terms in an index tree. The index tree comprises one or more known terms from a plurality of known strings, where the respective known terms in the index tree are associated with one or more known string IDs. A known term that is associated with a known string ID (in the index tree, and to which a target term is matched), is comprised in a known string, which corresponds to the known string ID. The target string can be matched to the known string using the known string's corresponding known string ID that is associated with a desired number of occurrences in the matching of the one or more target terms.
US09251287B2	Automatic detection of item lists within a web page Embodiments of the invention relate to detecting items lists. In one embodiment, a web browsing interaction history of a user associated with a given web page is analyzed. The web browsing interaction history indicates that the user interacted with at least one element of the web page. A document object model (DOM) of the given web page is constructed. A node within the DOM corresponding to the element in the web page is identified based on analyzing the web browsing interaction history. An ancestor node of the node that corresponds to an item list within the web page comprising the element is identified based on at least a distribution of child tags of the ancestor node.
US09251281B2	Web browsing using placemarks and contextual relationships in a data processing system A system and method for web browsing using placemarks and contextual relationships in a data processing system. A navigation placemark is provided within a web browser. The web browser comprises a first web page and a second web page. A piece of information is located at a specific location within each of the first and second web pages. A first individual placemark is added to the navigation placemark, and a second individual placemark is added to the navigation placemark. Web page content is extracted from the first web page and can be used to control information shown within the second web page. An interaction between the first individual placemark and the second individual placemark is specified. A trigger criteria for the first individual placemark and the second individual placemark is also specified. A first profile and a second profile are created. The first profile is run as a background process that can be driven by the second profile, and a user may switch between the first and second profiles. The web browser may further comprise a first browser window comprising the first web page and a second browser window comprising the second web page, and/or the web browser may further comprise a browser window comprising a first tab and a second tab, where the first tab comprises the first web page and the second tab comprises the second web page.
US09251280B1	Method for bookmark detection and correction for a client device A method is disclosed for receiving at a network gateway a message generated in response to a content request, wherein the content request was generated by a client device in response to invocation of an invalid bookmarked link on a browser. The gateway may then modify the message by inserting bookmark-update data that instructs the client device to update the bookmarked link. Finally, the gateway may send the modified message to the client device, whereby the client device may update the bookmarked link.
US09251278B2	Dynamic menus for multi-prefix interactive mobile searches The present invention includes systems and methods for retrieving information via a flexible and consistent targeted search model that employs interactive multi-prefix, multi-tier and dynamic menu information retrieval techniques that provide context-specific functionality tailored to particular information channels, as well as to records within or across such channels, and other known state information. Users are presented with a consistent search interface among multiple tiers across and within a large domain of information sources, and need not learn different or special search syntax. A thin-client server-controlled architecture enables users of resource-constrained mobile communications devices to locate targeted information more quickly by entering fewer keystrokes and performing fewer query iterations and web page refreshes, which in turn reduces required network bandwidth.
US09251275B2	Data clustering and user modeling for next-best-action decisions Embodiments herein provide data clustering and user modeling for next-best-action decisions. Specifically, a modeling tool is configured to: receive indicators within unstructured social data from a plurality of users; analyze the unstructured social data of each of the plurality of users to assign a set of feature vectors to each of the plurality of users, each feature vector corresponding to one or more personality characteristics of each of the plurality of users; and analyze the feature vectors to identify two or more users from the plurality of users sharing a set of similar feature vectors. The modeling tool is further configured to: group the two or more users from the plurality of users sharing the set of similar feature vectors to form a cluster; identify attributes of the cluster; and input the attributes of the cluster into a predictive model to determine an offer corresponding to the cluster.
US09251274B2	Grouping search results into a profile page Methods are disclosed for grouping search results into a profile page. A search engine accepts a user search string and generates a first set of results. In response to the first set of results, a query generator generates queries corresponding to a number of entities sharing a common name. The search engine executes the queries, returning responsive data sets. An entity resolver merges the data sets to ensure that each unique entity is represented by a single data set. A threshold may be defined such that results meeting a certain level of similarity are merged. A profile generator creates a profile page for each unique entity using biographical data contained in the respective datasets and generates a results page containing links to each unique profile. The results page is then sent to the user for display on a graphical user interface.
US09251265B2	Method and apparatus for collecting and disseminating information over a computer network The apparatus comprises at least one database for storing digital information associated with at least a first user and a second user, at least one links module for the first user and for the second user, at least one manipulations module and at least one display device for respectively displaying at least said linked digital information wherein said linked digital information associated with said first user is automatically updated on at least said display device of said second user when that information is manipulated, and wherein said linked digital information associated with said second user is automatically updated on at least said display device of said first user when that information is manipulated.
US09251259B2	Harmonizing webpage information A descriptive webpage about an entity is harmonized with other electronically published information about the entity. A descriptive webpage, which includes an entity profile about an entity, is located. Other electronically published information about the entity is retrieved. The descriptive webpage is harmonized with the other electronically published information by updating the entity profile with the other electronically published information about the entity.
US09251257B2	Deleting a file on reading of the file A digital file may be stored on a storage device and deleted upon reading of the file. In one example, at least a portion of the stored file may be read, such as by a processor. In response to the reading of the stored file, at least part of the at least a portion of the stored file that has been read may be deleted. In further examples, the at least part of the at least a portion of the stored file may be deleted progressively while the stored file is being read, after a triggering event, or after a delay in time. According to another example, a user may provide an indication representative of the at least part of the at least a portion of the stored file that is to be deleted after the at least a portion of the stored file is read.
US09251256B2	System and method for maintaining cue point data structure independent of recorded time-varying content A cue point data structure is maintained independent of a recorded time-varying content file. Embodiments of the present invention enable cue point data structures to be defined and then saved and independently recalled for application to any recorded time-varying content file. An authoring tool includes an interface to enable an author to, once having defined one or more cue points for a first recorded time-varying content file, save data structure(s) defining such one or more cue points independent of the first recorded time-varying content file. The authoring tool may further include an interface that enables an author to recall previously-saved cue point data structures. In this manner, the author may save and reuse cue point data structures. Further, a plurality of cue points may be saved together as a cue point scenario. Additionally, the data structure may be in a non-proprietary format, such as an extensible mark-up language (XML) format.
US09251255B2	Fast search in a music sharing environment A method, apparatus and system of method and system of directory sharing and management in a group communication environment is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of a fast-search server includes processing a character of a query of music data, referencing the character with a reverse index of a music database, determining that the character matches a data record of the music database using the reverse index and returning the data record of the music database prior to receiving all characters of the query of music data from a user. The reverse index may be created from a combination of letters appearing as a string in a data field of the music database. The method may include preforking the character of the query of music data along with other processes in the fast-search server to minimize concurrency issues and to minimize threading locks.
US09251254B2	Controlling the execution speed of a processor in an audio processing system This disclosure is directed to techniques for controlling the execution speed of a processor that executes audio processing algorithms. In some examples, the execution speed of the processor may be controlled based on one or more delay parameters that are obtained from querying one or more tasks that execute the audio processing algorithms. The delay parameters that are returned by the tasks in response to the queries may, in some examples, be dependent upon one or more algorithm-specific parameters that are used to configure the audio processing algorithms. The techniques of this disclosure may be used to reduce the amount of power consumed by a processor that is configured to execute one or more audio processing algorithms in an audio communication device, which may be particularly useful in audio communication devices where power resources are limited, such as, e.g., a mobile phone.
US09251250B2	Method and apparatus for processing text with variations in vocabulary usage Text is processed to construct a model of the text. The text has a shared vocabulary. The text is partitioned into sets and subsets of texts. The usage of the shared vocabulary in two or more sets is different, and the topics of two or more subsets are different. A probabilistic model is defined for the text. The probabilistic model considers each word in the text to be a token having a position and a word value, and the usage of the shared vocabulary, topics, subtopics, and word values for each token in the text are represented using distributions of random variables in the probabilistic model, wherein the random variables are discrete. Parameters are estimated for the model corresponding to the vocabulary usages, the word values, the topics, and the subtopics associated with the words.
US09251249B2	Entity summarization and comparison An entity summarization system is described herein that mines the Internet and other data source to provide answers to questions such as the relative sentiment of users towards various brands. The system uses a controlled vocabulary list describing a specific aspect of entities of interest. Given an entity name, the system scans the whole content corpus to collect statistics on the words that occur most frequently in the context of the entity name, taking into account proximity information, to produce a weighted list of vocabulary terms describing the entity. Two entities can be compared by normalizing and comparing their weighted term lists. In some embodiments, the system performs these procedures efficiently by leveraging an N-gram web model. Thus, the system provides an automated way to compare two entities to derive information about how users feel about the entities at any given time.
US09251247B2	Reporting including filling data gaps and handling uncategorized data A reporting system is described herein that allows a report author to declare data reporting structures that specify to a reporting application how to dynamically categorize data with changing or potentially unknown characteristics. The reporting system may extend RDL and the data grouping provided by Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services by adding new elements to the XML-based RDL schema. The reporting system allows the report author to specify for the system to fill gaps in the data, so that the report has a similar layout even as data changes from period to period. The reporting system also allows the report author to specify whether data that does not fit any predefined group bucket is displayed in a report. Thus, the reporting system allows unsophisticated database users to define reports that group data consistently regardless of missing values or other changes in the underlying data.
US09251245B2	Generating mappings between a plurality of taxonomies A method, a system and a computer program product create mappings between taxonomies in which documents are classified from a category of a taxonomy to one or more categories within a master taxonomy based on a statistical model and classification score values. The document classifications are analyzed to determine a mapping between the taxonomy category and a corresponding category of the master taxonomy, where the category is mapped to the corresponding category in the master taxonomy in response to sufficient classification score values for the documents.
US09251243B2	Computerized method for analyzing innovation interrelationships within and between large patent portfolios The method of the present invention provides a labor and time saving ability to determine interrelationships within patents determined by searching, via a computer system, through patent fields to see if one or more particular pieces of alphanumeric data are common to any of the patents in the database in which the field indicia are located. Such commonality is searchable in backward or forward direction, or both, from, for example, one patent of particular interest. The method allows for presentation of families of interrelated patents within minutes rather than hours, weeks or longer by utilizing computer based technology. Further, the methodology allows for determinations of interrelationships within desired degrees of separation by manipulation of the indicative data to be searched.
US09251240B2	System, method and computer program product for portal user data access in a multi-tenant on-demand database system In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for portal user data access in a multi-tenant on-demand database system. These mechanisms and methods for portal user data access in a multi-tenant on-demand database system can enable embodiments to provide portal-specific user accounts to the multi-tenant on-demand database system which have reduced configuration requirements than users directly accessing the multi-tenant on-demand database system. The ability of embodiments to provide portal-specific user accounts can reduce processing requirements of the database system.
US09251237B2	User-specific synthetic context object matching A processor-implemented method, system, and/or computer program product generates and utilizes a synthetic context-based object to locate a user-specific data store. A processor associates a non-contextual data object with a context object to define a synthetic context-based object. The synthetic context-based object is associated with at least one specific data store that contains data that is associated with data in the non-contextual data object and in the context object. The processor determines a subject-matter of interest for a specific user, and associates that determined subject-matter of interest to a specific synthetic context-based object. In response to receiving a request for data from a specific user, the request is directed to the specific synthetic context-based object that describes the subject-matter of interest for that specific user. This specific synthetic context-based object locates the appropriate data store in order to return the requested data to the specific user.
US09251234B1	Providing snapshots of virtual storage devices In general, one aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods that include receiving, at a computer system, a request to create a snapshot of a virtual storage device, wherein the virtual storage device virtually stores data at virtual addresses, the data being physically stored at a plurality of physical storage locations that are managed by an underlying storage system associated with virtual storage device. The methods can further include identifying, by the computer system, one or more regions of the virtual storage device that have been written to since a previous snapshot of the virtual storage device was created. The methods can additionally include generating a unique identifier for the requested snapshot; and creating the requested snapshot using the identified one more regions and the unique identifier.
US09251231B2	Merging an out of synchronization indicator and a change recording indicator in response to a failure in consistency group formation A first data structure stores indications of storage locations that need to be copied for forming a consistency group. A second data structure stores indications of new host writes subsequent to starting a point in time copy operation to form the consistency group. Read access is secured to a metadata storage area and a determination is made as to whether the second data structure indicates that there are any new host writes. In response to determining that the second data structure indicates that there are new host writes, write access is secured to the metadata storage area, the first data structure is updated with contents of the second data structure to determine which additional storage locations need to be copied for formation of a next consistency group, and the second data structure is updated to indicate that that the second data structure is in an initialized state.
US09251229B2	Method, system, and computer program product for simulating an online session A method and system for conducting an offline session simulating an online session between a client and server in a network environment. The client imports data and functional logic from the server prior to going offline. The imported functional logic is embedded into a format or document that is capable of being interpreted and performed by the local interface at the client that is used to interact with server during an online session. Whether offline or online, the user utilizes the same local interface at the client to transmit instructions to the functional logic in order to manipulate the data. In an offline session, such instructions cause the imported and embedded functional logic to execute, thereby manipulating the data that is imported at the client. Known synchronization methods may also be used In order to maintain consistency and coherency between the imported data at the client and the database at the server.

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