| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09331116B2 |
Back side illuminated single photon avalanche diode imaging sensor with high short wavelength detection efficiency
A single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) includes an n doped epitaxial layer disposed in a first semiconductor layer. A p doped epitaxial layer is above the n doped epitaxial layer on a back side of the first semiconductor layer. A multiplication junction is defined at an interface between the n doped epitaxial layer and the p doped epitaxial layer. A multiplication junction is reversed biased above a breakdown voltage such that a photon received through the back side of the first semiconductor layer triggers an avalanche multiplication process in the multiplication junction. A p− doped guard ring region is implanted in the n doped epitaxial layer surrounding the multiplication junction. |
| US09331114B2 |
Image pickup device and method of manufacturing the same
To prevent deterioration in the sensitivity of a pixel part caused by variation in the distance between a waveguide and a photo diode and by decay of light due to suppression of reflection of entering light. In a pixel region, there is formed a waveguide which penetrates through a fourth interlayer insulating film or the like and reaches a sidewall insulating film. The sidewall insulating film is configured to have a stacked structure of a silicon oxide film and a silicon nitride film. The waveguide is formed so as to penetrate through even the silicon nitride film of the sidewall insulating film and to reach the silicon oxide film of the sidewall insulating film, or so as to reach the silicon nitride film of the sidewall. |
| US09331112B2 |
Semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor layer
A solid-state image sensor which holds a potential for a long time and includes a thin film transistor with stable electrical characteristics is provided. When the off-state current of a thin film transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer is set to 1×10−13 A or less and the thin film transistor is used as a reset transistor and a transfer transistor of the solid-state image sensor, the potential of the signal charge storage portion is kept constant, so that a dynamic range can be improved. When a silicon semiconductor which can be used for a complementary metal oxide semiconductor is used for a peripheral circuit, a high-speed semiconductor device with low power consumption can be manufactured. |
| US09331111B2 |
Method of refresh operation for flat panel radiation imager
To provide a method of refresh operation for a flat panel radiation imager that makes it possible to carry out a refresh operation in such a way that electric charge that is accumulated in pixels by photoelectric conversion is efficiently released with low power consumption and during a short period of time. Control signals of the refresh operation are turned into a plurality of successive pulses at regular intervals; and timing is adjusted in a way that adjacent switching elements disposed on the same signal line are not turned ON at the same timing. |
| US09331109B2 |
Device for monitoring liquid crystal display and method for manufacturing liquid crystal display
A device for monitoring a liquid crystal display includes: a substrate including a display region and a non-display region disposed at an edge of the display region. The display region includes: a thin film transistor disposed on the substrate, a pixel electrode disposed on the substrate and connected to the thin film transistor, a first sacrificial layer disposed on the pixel electrode, and a roof layer disposed on the sacrificial layer. The non-display region includes: a second sacrificial layer disposed on the substrate, and the roof layer disposed on the second sacrificial layer. The first sacrificial layer has a first longitudinal dimension and a first cross-sectional area, and the second sacrificial layer has a second longitudinal dimension and a second cross-sectional area. The first cross-sectional area is the same as the second cross-sectional area. The second longitudinal dimension is greater than the first longitudinal dimension. |
| US09331108B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device having a high aperture ratio and including a capacitor capable of increasing the charge capacity is provided. A semiconductor device includes a transistor over a substrate, a first light-transmitting conductive film over the substrate, an oxide insulating film covering the transistor and having an opening over the first light-transmitting conductive film, a nitride insulating film over the oxide insulating film and in contact with the first light-transmitting conductive film in the opening, a second light-transmitting conductive film connected to the transistor and having a depressed portion in the opening, and an organic resin film with which the depressed portion of the second light-transmitting conductive film is filled. |
| US09331107B2 |
Pixel structure
A fabrication method of a pixel structure includes the following steps. A first metal layer is patterned to form a source electrode and a drain electrode. A semiconductor material layer is patterned to form a channel layer and a pixel pattern. A first insulation layer is formed to cover the channel layer, the source electrode, the drain electrode and the pixel pattern. A gate electrode is formed on the first insulation layer located above the channel layer. A second insulation layer is formed to cover the gate electrode and the first insulation layer. A pixel opening is formed in the first insulation layer and the second insulation layer to expose a partial region of the pixel pattern. The partial region of the pixel pattern exposed by the pixel opening is modified so as to form a pixel electrode electrically connected to the drain electrode. |
| US09331104B2 |
Array substrate for display device
Discussed is an array substrate for a display device, that may include a plurality of cell portions each including a display area and a non-display area except the display area, the display area having a plurality of pixels, first and second cell portions each including the plurality of cell portions, and a shorting bar surrounding the first cell portion and the second portion and disposed therebetween, wherein the display area includes pixel electrodes respectively formed in the plurality of pixels and a common electrode formed on the pixel electrodes, the common electrode being formed throughout entire the display area. |
| US09331100B2 |
Display device
A transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer can have stable electrical characteristics. In addition, a highly reliable display device including the transistor is provided. The display device includes a multi-layer film including an oxide layer and an oxide semiconductor layer; a gate insulating film in contact with the multi-layer film; and a gate electrode overlapping with the multi-layer film with the gate insulating film provided therebetween. The oxide semiconductor layer contains indium, and is in contact with the oxide layer. The oxide layer contains indium, and has a larger energy gap than the oxide semiconductor layer. |
| US09331099B2 |
Substrate for electro-optical apparatus, electro-optical apparatus, and electronic equipment with improved light efficiency and contrast
An element substrate is provided with a substrate; a pixel electrode; a light shielding layer which is disposed between the substrate and the pixel electrode and has an opening in an area overlapping with the pixel electrode; a TFT that is disposed between the light shielding layer and the pixel electrode has a channel area which is disposed in an area overlapping with the light shielding layer; a light shielding layer that is disposed between the TFT and the pixel electrode and has an opening in an area overlapping with the pixel electrode; a micro lens that is disposed between the substrate and the light shielding layer and disposed in an area overlapping with the pixel electrode; and a micro lens that is disposed between the light shielding layer and the pixel electrode and disposed in an area overlapping with the pixel electrode. |
| US09331096B2 |
Method and system for hybrid integration of optical communication systems
Methods and systems for hybrid integration of optical communication systems are disclosed and may include receiving continuous wave (CW) optical signals in a silicon photonics die (SPD) from an optical source external to the SPD. The received CW optical signals may be processed based on electrical signals received from an electronics die bonded to the SPD via metal interconnects. Modulated optical signals may be received in the SPD from optical fibers coupled to the SPD. Electrical signals may be generated in the SPD based on the received modulated optical signals and communicated to the electronics die via the metal interconnects. The CW optical signals may be received from an optical source assembly coupled to the SPD and/or from one or more optical fibers coupled to the SPD. The received CW optical signals may be processed utilizing one or more optical modulators, which may comprise Mach-Zehnder interferometer modulators. |
| US09331088B2 |
Transistor device with gate bottom isolation and method of making thereof
An embodiment relates to a transistor device including a pillar of semiconductor material extending vertically from a bottom portion in contact with an electrically conductive contact line, where the electrically conductive contact line extends laterally past the pillar in a horizontal direction, a gate insulating liner layer on a lateral side of the pillar, a gate electrode on the gate insulating layer extending along the lateral side of the pillar, and a region of electrically insulating semiconductor oxide material filling a space between a bottom portion of the gate electrode and a top portion of the electrically conductive contact line. |
| US09331085B2 |
Non-volatile memory with improved sensing window
A semiconductor device may include: a substrate. First and second gate electrode patterns are disposed on first and second fin type active patterns. The first and second fin type active patterns include a first channel region disposed between a first impurity region and a second impurity region. The second gate electrode pattern crosses a first gate-separating region included in the second fin type active region. The first gate-separating region includes a trench and an embedded insulator filling at least a portion of the trench. |
| US09331084B2 |
Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device and adjusting threshold voltages in the same
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes forming a fin structure on a semiconductor substrate and forming a well region in the semiconductor substrate by ion implantation so as to form transistors. The transistors include a pull-up transistor, a transfer gate transistor, and a pull-down transistor of a SRAM cell. The ion implantation is used to adjust threshold voltages of the transistors. Standard threshold voltage (SVt) ion implantation conditions are used to adjust a threshold voltage of the pull-up transistor and a threshold voltage of the transfer gate transistor, and low threshold voltage (LVt) ion implantation conditions are used to adjust a threshold voltage of the pull-down transistor. |
| US09331083B2 |
Techniques for providing a semiconductor memory device
Techniques for providing a semiconductor memory device are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as an apparatus including a first region and a second region. The apparatus may also include a body region disposed between the first region and the second region and capacitively coupled to a plurality of word lines, wherein each of the plurality of word lines is capacitively coupled to different portions of the body region. |
| US09331081B2 |
Semiconductor structure and manufacturing method thereof
The present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure. The method includes forming a first mask on a substrate; defining a first doped region through an opening of the first mask; forming a second mask on the first mask and filling in the opening of the first mask with the second mask; defining a second doped region through an opening of the second mask; and stripping the first mask and the second mask from the substrate. The present disclosure provides a semiconductor structure, including a substrate having a top surface; a first doped region having a first surface; and a second doped region having a second surface. The first surface and the second surface are coplanar with the top surface of the substrate. Either of the doped regions has a monotonically decreasing doping profile from the top surface of the substrate to a bottom of the doped region. |
| US09331074B1 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
A semiconductor device includes first and second Fin FET transistors and a separation plug made of an insulating material and disposed between the first and second Fin FET transistors. The first Fin FET transistor includes a first fin structure extending in a first direction, a first gate dielectric formed over the first fin structure and a first gate electrode formed over the first gate dielectric and extending a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The second Fin FET transistor includes a second fin structure, a second gate dielectric formed over the second fin structure and a second gate electrode formed over the first gate dielectric and extending the second direction. In a cross section along the second direction and across the first gate electrode, the second gate electrode and the separation plug, the separation plug has a tapered shape having a top size smaller than a bottom size. |
| US09331071B2 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
Provided is an in-wiring-layer active element (component) which allows for electrical isolation between a gate electrode and a channel in a top gate structure. A semiconductor device includes a first wiring layer, a second wiring layer, and a semiconductor element. The first wiring layer has a first interlayer insulating layer, and a first wire embedded in the first interlayer insulating layer. The second wiring layer has a second interlayer insulating layer, and second wires embedded in the second interlayer insulating layer. The semiconductor element is provided at least in the second wiring layer. The semiconductor element includes a semiconductor layer provided in the second wiring layer, a gate insulating film provided in contact with the semiconductor layer, a gate electrode provided on the opposite side of the semiconductor layer via the first gate insulating film, and a first side wall film provided over a side surface of the semiconductor layer. |
| US09331069B2 |
Resistor memory bit-cell and circuitry and method of making the same
A resistive memory cell control unit, integrated circuit, and method are described herein. The resistive memory cell control unit includes a switching transistor and a resistive memory cell. The switching transistor includes a gate disposed on a first surface of a semiconductor substrate, a source, and a drain each disposed in the semiconductor substrate, a gate terminal disposed on the first surface and connected to the gate, a source terminal disposed on the first surface and connected to the source, and a drain terminal connected to the drain and disposed on a second surface opposite the first surface. The resistive memory cell is disposed on the second surface and has a first end connected to the drain terminal. The structure provides a small area and simple manufacturing process for a resistive memory cell integrated circuit. |
| US09331065B2 |
Semiconductor diode and method of manufacture
A diode (200) is disclosed having improved efficiency, smaller form factor, and reduced reverse biased leakage current. Schottky diodes (212) are formed on the sidewalls (210) of a mesa region (206). The mesa region (206) is a cathode of the Schottky diode (212). The current path through the mesa region (206) has a lateral and a vertical current path. The diode (200) further comprises a MOS structure (214), p-type regions (220), MOS structures (230), and p-type regions (232). MOS structure (214) with the p-type regions (220) pinch-off the lateral current path under reverse bias conditions. P-type regions (220), MOS structures (230), and p-type regions (232) each pinch-off the vertical current path under reverse bias conditions. MOS structure (214) and MOS structures (230) reduce resistance of the lateral and vertical current path under forward bias conditions. The mesa region (206) can have a uniform or non-uniform doping concentration. |
| US09331064B2 |
Fin diode structure
A fin diode structure includes a doped well formed in a substrate, a plurality of fins of first conductivity type and a plurality of fins of second conductivity type protruding from the doped well isolated from ins of first conductivity type by STIs, at least one doped region of first conductivity type in the substrate between the fins of first conductivity type, the STIs and the doped well and connecting with the fins of first conductivity type, and at least one doped region of second conductivity type in the substrate between the fins of second conductivity type, the STIs and the doped well and connecting with the fins of second conductivity type. The doping concentration of the fins of first conductivity type is greater than that of the doped region of first conductivity type whose doping concentration is greater than that of the doped well of first conductivity type. |
| US09331062B1 |
Integrated circuits with backside power delivery
Integrated circuits with backside power delivery capabilities are provided. An integrated circuit may include a substrate having front and back surfaces, a first interconnect stack formed on the front surface, and a second interconnect stack formed on the back surface. Routing structures that carry data signals, control signals, and other user signals may be formed only in the first interconnect stack. A large majority of routing structures that carry power supply signals may be formed in the second interconnect stack. Decoupling capacitor circuitry such as deep trench capacitors may be formed in the back surface of the substrate. The integrated circuit may be mounted on a package substrate. The first interconnect stack may be coupled to the package substrate via wire bond pads, whereas the second interconnect stack may be coupled to the package substrate via an array of solder bumps. |
| US09331059B2 |
Chip, chip package and die
In various embodiments, a chip for a chip package is provided. The chip may include a substrate and an integrated circuit over the substrate. The integrated circuit may include a test circuit, for example a built-in self-test circuit, and an operation circuit, the test circuit including one or more first driver stages each having a first driver performance and the operation circuit including one or more second driver stages each having a second driver performance which is different from the first driver performance, first contacts electrically coupled with the first driver stages, and second contacts electrically coupled with the second driver stages, wherein the test circuit and the first contacts are configured to provide a test mode for testing the integrated circuit and wherein the operation circuit and the second contacts are configured to provide an operating mode of the integrated circuit being different from the test mode. |
| US09331056B2 |
White LED assembly with LED string and intermediate node substrate terminals
A white LED assembly includes a string of series-connected blue LED dice mounted on a substrate. The substrate has a plurality of substrate terminals. A first of the substrate terminals is coupled to be a part of first end node of the string. A second of the substrate terminals is coupled to be a part of an intermediate node of the string. A third of the substrate terminals is coupled to be a part of a second end node of the string. Other substrate terminals may be provided and coupled to be parts of corresponding other intermediate nodes of the string. A single contiguous amount of phosphor covers all the LED dice, but does not cover any of the substrate terminals. In one example, the amount of phosphor contacts the substrate and has a circular periphery. All the LEDs are mounted to the substrate within the circular periphery. |
| US09331054B2 |
Semiconductor package assembly with decoupling capacitor
A semiconductor package assembly includes a first semiconductor package. The first semiconductor package includes a first body having a first device-attach surface and a first bump-attach surface opposite to the first device-attach surface. A second semiconductor package is bonded to the first device-attach surface of the first semiconductor package. The second package includes a second body having a second device-attach surface and a second bump-attach surface opposite to the second device-attach surface. A dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device is mounted on the second device-attach surface. A decoupling capacitor is mounted on the second device-attach surface. Conductive structures are disposed on the second bump-attach surface of the second package, connecting to the first bump-attach surface of the first body of the first semiconductor package. |
| US09331053B2 |
Stacked semiconductor chip device with phase change material
Various stacked semiconductor chip arrangements and methods of manufacturing the same are disclosed. In one aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes a first semiconductor chip, a second semiconductor chip mounted on the first semiconductor chip, and a first portion of a phase change material positioned in a first pocket associated with the first semiconductor chip or the second semiconductor chip to store heat generated by one or both of the first and second semiconductor chips. |
| US09331052B2 |
Pad configurations for an electronic package assembly
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an electronic package assembly comprising a solder mask layer, the solder mask layer having at least one opening, and a plurality of pads coupled to the solder mask layer, wherein at least one pad of the plurality of pads includes (i) a first side, (ii) a second side, the first side being disposed opposite to the second side, (iii) a terminal portion and (iv) an extended portion, wherein the first side at the terminal portion is configured to receive a package interconnect structure through the at least one opening in the solder mask layer, the package interconnect structure to route electrical signals between a die and another electronic device that is external to the electronic package assembly, and wherein the second side at the extended portion is configured to receive one or more electrical connections from the die. |
| US09331047B2 |
Mounting method and mounting structure for semiconductor package component
A semiconductor package component (3) is mounted on a substrate (1) in such a manner that an electrode (2) of the substrate (1) and an electrode of the semiconductor package component (3) are brought into contact with each other through a joining material (4). A reinforcing adhesive (5c) is applied between the substrate (1) and the outer surface of the semiconductor package component (3). Then, reflow is performed to melt the joining metal (4) with the reinforcing adhesive (5c) uncured. After the reinforcing adhesive (5c) is cured, the joining metal (4) is solidified. |
| US09331046B2 |
Integrated circuit package with voltage distributor
An integrated circuit package includes a semiconductor die attached to a package support. The die has a plurality of peripheral bond pads along a periphery of the die and a first bond pad on an interior portion of the die wherein the first bond pad is a power supply bond pad. A conductive distributor is over the die and within a perimeter of the die and has a first opening. The plurality of bond pads are located between the perimeter of the die and a perimeter of the conductive distributor. The first bond pad is in the first opening. A first bond wire is connected between the first bond pad and the conductive distributor. A second bond wire is connected between a first peripheral bond pad of the plurality of peripheral bond pads and the conductive distributor. |
| US09331044B2 |
Semiconductor device connected by anisotropic conductive film
A semiconductor device connected by an anisotropic conductive film including a first insulation layer, a conductive layer, and a second insulation layer one above another, wherein the conductive layer has an expansion length of 20% or less in a width direction thereof, and the second insulation layer has an expansion length of 50% or more in a width direction thereof, the expansion length is calculated according to Equation 1, below, after glass substrates are placed on upper and lower sides of the anisotropic conductive film respectively, followed by compression at 110° C. to 200° C. for 3 to 7 seconds under a load of 1 MPa to 7 MPa per unit area of a sample, Increased ratio of expansion length (%)=[(length of corresponding layer in width direction after compression−length of corresponding layer in width direction before compression)/length of corresponding layer in width direction before compression]×100. [Equation 1] |
| US09331042B2 |
Semiconductor device manufacturing method and semiconductor device
A plurality of protruding electrodes of a semiconductor chip are in contact with a plurality of electrodes formed on a semiconductor substrate, via a plurality of solder sections. In this state, the solder sections are melted so as to form a plurality of solder bonding sections joined to the protruding electrodes of the semiconductor chip and the electrodes of the semiconductor substrate. Moreover, a distance between a part of the semiconductor chip and the semiconductor substrate is larger than a distance between the other part of the semiconductor chip and the semiconductor substrate, extending at least some of the solder bonding sections. Thus, the solder bonding sections vary in height. Holes are then formed at least in a solder bonding section having a maximum height out of the solder bonding sections. After that, the solder bonding sections are solidified. |
| US09331041B2 |
Semiconductor device and semiconductor device manufacturing method
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor chip, and a terminal connected with the semiconductor chip. The terminal has a first surface and a second surface spaced from each other in a thickness direction. The semiconductor device also includes a sealing resin covering the semiconductor chip and the terminal. The sealing resin is so configured that the first surface of the terminal is exposed from the sealing resin. The terminal is formed with an opening to be filled with the sealing resin. |
| US09331038B2 |
Semiconductor interconnect structure
A conductive interconnect structure includes a contact pad; a conductive body connected to the contact pad at a first end; and a conductive layer positioned on a second end of the conductive body. The conductive body has a longitudinal direction perpendicular to a surface of the contact pad. The conductive body has an average grain size (a) on a cross sectional plane (Plane A) whose normal is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the conductive body. The conductive layer has an average grain size (b) on Plane A. The conductive body and the conductive layer are composed of same material, and the average grain size (a) is greater than the average grain size (b). |
| US09331037B2 |
Preventing misshaped solder balls
“Thick line dies” that, during manufacture, avoid locating an upstanding edge of a photoresist layer (for example, the edge of a dry film photoresist layer) on top of a “discontinuity.” In this way solder does not flow into the mechanical interface between the photoresist layer and the layer under the photoresist layer in the vicinity of an upstanding edge of the photoresist layer. |
| US09331036B2 |
Semiconductor device
In a semiconductor device, a conductor pattern is disposed in a position overlapped by a semiconductor chip in a thickness direction over the mounting surface (lower surface) of a wiring board. A solder resist film (insulating layer) covering the lower surface of the wiring board has apertures formed such that multiple portions of the conductor pattern are exposed. The conductor pattern has conductor apertures. The outlines of the apertures and the conductor apertures overlap with each other, in a plan view, respectively. |
| US09331035B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same
A semiconductor device is provided with: a semiconductor substrate; an insulation film formed above the semiconductor substrate; a pad formed on the insulation film, the pad including a trace; a first passivation film formed on the insulation film, located adjacent the pad, and separated from the pad; and a second passivation film formed on the first passivation film and the pad, the second passivation film covering the trace, and the second passivation film including an opening which exposes a part of the pad. |
| US09331033B1 |
Method for forming stacked metal contact in electrical communication with aluminum wiring in semiconductor wafer of integrated circuit
A method for forming a stacked metal contact in electrical communication with aluminum wiring in a semiconductor wafer of an integrated circuit is disclosed. The method includes the steps of: forming at least one passivation layer on a surface of the semiconductor wafer of the integrated circuit, where an aluminum wiring is embedded; forming a patterned terminal via opening through the passivation layer to expose the aluminum wiring; removing a portion of the aluminum wiring from the patterned terminal via opening by chemical etching and forming a thin zinc film on an etched surface at the same time; forming a nickel film stacked on the zinc film; and; and forming a metal stack in the patterned terminal via opening and/or at least a portion of the passivation layer by chemical plating or metal plating. |
| US09331032B2 |
Hybrid bonding and apparatus for performing the same
A method includes performing a hybrid bonding to bond a first package component to a second package component, so that a bonded pair is formed. In the bonded pair, first metal pads in the first package component are bonded to second metal pads in the second package component, and a first surface dielectric layer at a surface of the first package component is bonded to a second surface dielectric layer at a surface of the second package component. After the hybrid bonding, a thermal compressive annealing is performed on the bonded pair. |
| US09331029B2 |
Microelectronic packages having mold-embedded traces and methods for the production thereof
Methods for fabricating microelectronic packages, such as Fan-Out Wafer Level Packages, and microelectronic packages are provided. In one embodiment, the method includes placing a first semiconductor die on a temporary substrate, forming an electrically-conducive trace in contact with at least one of the first semiconductor die and the temporary substrate, and encapsulating the first semiconductor die and the electrically-conductive trace within a molded panel. The temporary substrate is removed to reveal a frontside of the molded panel through which the electrically-conducive trace is at least partially exposed. At least one redistribution layer is formed over the frontside of the molded panel, the at least one redistribution layer comprises an interconnect line in ohmic contact with the electrically-conducive trace. |
| US09331026B1 |
Methods and apparatus for fabricating capacitor structures with a terminal shield
A capacitor structure having a complete terminal shield is provided. The capacitor structure may include a first conductive segment with a first set of conductive fingers and a second segment structure with a second set of conductive fingers. The second set of conductive fingers may be spatially interleaved with the first set of conductive fingers in the first conductive structure. The first conductive segment may receive a first voltage, whereas the second conductive segment may receive a second voltage that is different than the first voltage. The capacitor structure further includes a conductive shielding structure that is connected to the first conductive segment. The conductive shielding structure may laterally surround the second conductive segment from at least three sides. An additional conductive shielding structure that connects to the first and second conductive segments is formed directly above the first and second conductive segments. |
| US09331025B2 |
Die edge sealing structures and related fabrication methods
Die structures for electronic devices and related fabrication methods are provided. An exemplary die structure includes a diced portion of a semiconductor substrate that includes a device region having one or more semiconductor devices fabricated thereon and an edge sealing structure within the semiconductor substrate that circumscribes the device region. In one or more embodiments, the edge sealing structure includes a conductive material that contacts a handle layer of semiconductor material, a crackstop structure is formed overlying the sealing structure, wherein the crackstop structure and the edge sealing structure provide an electrical connection between the handle layer and an active layer of semiconductor material that overlies a buried layer of dielectric material on the handle layer. |
| US09331024B2 |
IC wafer having electromagnetic shielding effects and method for making the same
An IC wafer and the method of making the IC wafer, the IC wafer includes an integrated circuit layer having a plurality of solder pads and an insulated layer arranged thereon, a plurality of through holes cut through the insulated layer corresponding to the solder pads respectively for the implantation of a package layer, and an electromagnetic shielding layer formed on the top surface of the insulated layer and electrically isolated from the solder pads of the integrated circuit layer for electromagnetic shielding. Thus, the integrated circuit does not require any further shielding mask, simplifying the fabrication. Further, the design of the through holes facilitates further packaging process. |
| US09331023B1 |
Device packaging
Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a semiconductive device, including a semiconductive substrate. A conductive pad is on the semiconductive substrate. A passivation layer covers the conductive pad and overlies the semiconductive substrate. A first protective layer overlies the passivation layer. The first protective layer includes an opening exposing a portion of the passivation layer, and the opening includes at least two lines in contact with each other. A post passivation interconnect (PPI) layer overlies the first protective layer. A conductor forms on the PPI layer. |
| US09331020B2 |
Electronic interconnects and devices with topological surface states and methods for fabricating same
An interconnect is disclosed with enhanced immunity of electrical conductivity to defects. The interconnect includes a material with charge carriers having topological surface states. Also disclosed is a method for fabricating such interconnects. Also disclosed is an integrated circuit including such interconnects. Also disclosed is a gated electronic device including a material with charge carriers having topological surface states. |
| US09331011B2 |
Electronic component built-in substrate and method of manufacturing the same
An electronic component built-in substrate, includes, a substrate having an opening portion, a first wiring layer formed in the substrate, an electronic component arranged in the opening portion, a first insulating layer formed on one face of the substrate and sealing the electronic component, a second insulating layer formed on other face of the substrate, a second wiring layer formed on the first insulating layer, and a third wiring layer formed on the second insulating layer. The first insulating layer is formed of an inner insulating layer covering the one face of the substrate and filling an inside of the opening portion, and an outer insulating layer formed on the inner insulating layer. |
| US09331010B2 |
System support for electronic components and method for production thereof
A chip (2, 3) is arranged above a top side of a flexible support (1) and mechanically decoupled from the support. Electrical connections (8, 11) of the chip are embodied using a planar connection technique. The chip can be separated from the support by an air gap or a base layer (7) composed of a soft or compressible material. |
| US09331009B2 |
Chip electronic component and method of manufacturing the same
A chip electronic component may be capable of improving connectivity between internal coils formed on upper and lower surfaces of an insulating substrate and preventing loss of inductance due to the areas of via pads by decreasing sizes of the outermost via electrodes and decreasing sizes of the via pad. |
| US09331008B2 |
Semiconductor device
The semiconductor device of the present invention includes a semiconductor substrate provided with semiconductor elements, a lower layer wiring pattern which includes first wiring and second wiring, the first wiring and the second wiring disposed separately so as to be flush with each other, and the first wiring and the second wiring being fixed at a mutually different potential, an uppermost interlayer film disposed on the lower layer wiring pattern, a titanium nitride layer disposed on the uppermost interlayer film so as to cover the first wiring and the second wiring, and the titanium nitride having the thickness of 800 Å or more, and a pad metal disposed on the titanium nitride layer. |
| US09331005B2 |
Power semiconductor package with multi-section conductive carrier
In one implementation, a power semiconductor package includes a non-contiguous, multi-section conductive carrier. A control transistor with a control transistor terminal is coupled to a first section of the multi-section conductive carrier, while a sync transistor with a sync transistor terminal is coupled to a second section of the multi-section conductive carrier. The first and second sections of the multi-section conductive carrier sink heat generated by the control and sync transistors. The first and second sections of the multi-section conductive carrier are electrically connected only through a mounting surface attached to the power semiconductor package. Another implementation of the power semiconductor package includes a driver IC coupled to a third section of the multi-section conductive carrier. A method for fabricating the power semiconductor package is also disclosed. The power semiconductor package according to the present disclosure results in effective thermal protection, current carrying capability, and a relatively small size. |
| US09331004B2 |
Magnetically coupled galvanically isolated communication using lead frame
An integrated circuit package includes an encapsulation and a lead frame. A portion of the lead frame is disposed within the encapsulation. The lead frame includes a first conductor forming a first conductive loop. A second conductor is galvanically isolated from the first conductor. The second conductor forms a second conductive loop proximate to and magnetically coupled to the first conductive loop to provide a magnetic communication link between the first and second conductors. A signal that is transmitted from a transmit circuit coupled to the first conductor is coupled to be received through the magnetic communication link by a receive circuit coupled to the second conductor. |
| US09331000B2 |
Heat management in electronics packaging
An electronics packaging system includes an insulator that electrically insulates a heat sink from electrical leads. An interface between the insulator and the heat sink includes a stress reliever constructed such that a stiffness of the interface is greater than the stiffness of the interface without the stress reliever. |
| US09330997B1 |
Heat spreading structures for integrated circuits
A heat spreader structure includes a planar portion and a slanted portion. The slanted portion extends at an angle from an edge of the planar portion. The first slanted portion includes a first slot. A second heat spreader structure includes a planar member, a first edge member and a second edge member. The first edge member extends only perpendicularly from a first edge of the planar member whereas the second edge member extends from the second edge of the planar member and has a slanted surface with respect to that of the planar member. In addition to that, the first and second heat spreader structure may be formed using different manufacturing methods. |
| US09330996B2 |
Semiconductor module system, semiconductor module arrangement and method for mounting a semiconductor module on a heat sink
A semiconductor module system has a semiconductor module and a protective cover. The semiconductor module has a bottom side with a heat dissipation surface and a top side opposite the bottom side, the top side being separated from the bottom side in a vertical direction. The protective cover can be mounted irreleasably on the semiconductor module in such a way that, in a mounted state, the top side is exposed and the protective cover covers the heat dissipation surface. By virtue of the protective cover, a thermal interface material applied onto the heat dissipation surface can be protected. |
| US09330993B2 |
Methods of promoting adhesion between underfill and conductive bumps and structures formed thereby
Methods of forming a microelectronic packaging structure and associated structures formed thereby are described. Those methods and structures may include modifying an underfill material with one of a thiol adhesion promoter, an azole coupling agent, surface modified filler, and peroxide based cross-linking polymer chemistries to greatly enhance adhesion in package structures utilizing the embodiments herein. |
| US09330989B2 |
System and method for chemical-mechanical planarization of a metal layer
A method for forming a field-effect transistor with a raised drain structure is disclosed. The method includes depositing a low-k inter-metal layer over a semiconductor substrate, depositing a porogen-containing low-k layer over the low-k inter-metal layer, and etching a space for the via through the low-k inter-metal layer and the porogen-containing low-k layer. The method further includes depositing a metal layer, a portion of the metal layer filling the space for the via, another portion of the metal layer being over the porogen-containing low-layer, removing the portion of the metal layer over the porogen-containing layer by a CMP process, and curing the porogen-containing low-k layer to form a cured low-k layer. |
| US09330981B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same
Provided are a semiconductor device including a high voltage transistor and a low voltage transistor and a method of manufacturing the same. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate including a high voltage region and a low voltage region; a high voltage transistor formed in the high voltage region and including a first active region, a first source/drain region, a first gate insulating layer, and a first gate electrode; and a low voltage transistor formed in the low voltage region and including a second active region, a second source/drain region, a second gate insulating layer, and a second gate electrode. The second source/drain region has a smaller thickness than a thickness of the first source/drain region. |
| US09330979B2 |
LDMOS transistor having elevated field oxide bumps and method of making same
A low Rdson LDMOS transistor having a shallow field oxide region that separates a gate electrode of the transistor from a drain diffusion region of the transistor. The shallow field oxide region is formed separate from the field isolation regions (e.g., STI regions) used to isolate circuit elements on the substrate. Fabrication of the shallow field oxide region is controlled such that this region extends below the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate to a depth that is much shallower than the depth of field isolation regions. For example, the shallow field oxide region may extend below the upper surface of the substrate by only Angstroms or less. As a result, the current path through the resulting LDMOS transistor is substantially unimpeded by the shallow field oxide region, resulting in a low on-resistance. |
| US09330977B1 |
Hybrid wafer dicing approach using a galvo scanner and linear stage hybrid motion laser scribing process and plasma etch process
Methods of dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits, are described. In an example, a method of dicing a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits involves forming a mask above the semiconductor wafer, the mask composed of a layer covering and protecting the plurality of integrated circuits. The mask is then patterned with a galvo scanner and linear stage hybrid motion laser scribing process to provide a patterned mask with gaps, exposing regions of the semiconductor wafer between the plurality of integrated circuits. The semiconductor wafer is then plasma etched through the gaps in the patterned mask to singulate the plurality of integrated circuits. |
| US09330973B2 |
Workpiece processing method
Disclosed is a method of processing a workpiece so as to form an opening that extends from an oxide region to a base layer through a portion between the raised regions. The method includes: (1) a step of forming an opening in the oxide region to expose a second section between the raised regions; and (2) a step of etching a residue made of silicon oxide and existing within the opening and a second section. In the second step, a denatured region is formed by exposing the workpiece to plasma of a mixed gas including a hydrogen-containing gas and NF3 gas to denature the residue and the second section, and the denatured region is removed. |
| US09330970B2 |
Structure and method for high performance interconnect
The present disclosure provides an integrated circuit structure. The integrated circuit structure includes a substrate having an IC device formed therein; a first dielectric material layer disposed on the substrate and having a first trench formed therein; and a first composite interconnect feature disposed in the first trench and electrically coupled with the IC device. The first composite interconnect feature includes a first barrier layer disposed on sidewalls of the first trench; a first metal layer disposed on the first barrier layer; and a first graphene layer disposed on the metal layer. |
| US09330966B2 |
Methods of forming semiconductor devices
Methods of forming a semiconductor device are provided. The methods may include forming a second insulation pattern on a first insulation pattern. The first insulation pattern may cover a plurality of conductive structures, and may include a hole therein. The second insulation pattern may include a trench therein that is connected with the hole. The methods may also include forming a spacer on sidewalls of the hole and the trench. The methods may further include forming a wiring structure in the hole and the trench. |
| US09330964B2 |
Semiconductor structures and fabrication methods for improving undercut between porous film and hardmask film
A method is provided for fabricating a semiconductor structure. The method includes providing a substrate; and forming a to-be-etched layer made of porous low dielectric constant material on one surface of the semiconductor substrate. The method also includes forming a first hard mask layer made of nitrogen-doped silicon oxycarbide (SiOC(N)) on the to-be-etched layer; and etching the first hard mask layer to have patterns corresponding to positions of subsequently formed openings. Further, the method includes forming the plurality of openings without substantial undercut between the to-be-etched layer and the first hard mask layer in the to-be-etched layer using the first hard mask layer as an etching mask; and forming a conductive structure in each of the openings. |
| US09330963B2 |
Conformal low temperature hermetic dielectric diffusion barriers
Conformal hermetic dielectric films suitable as dielectric diffusion barriers over 3D topography. In embodiments, the dielectric diffusion barrier includes a dielectric layer, such as a metal oxide, which can be deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques with a conformality and density greater than can be achieved in a conventional silicon dioxide-based film deposited by a PECVD process for a thinner contiguous hermetic diffusion barrier. In further embodiments, the diffusion barrier is a multi-layered film including a high-k dielectric layer and a low-k or intermediate-k dielectric layer (e.g., a bi-layer) to reduce the dielectric constant of the diffusion barrier. In other embodiments a silicate of a high-k dielectric layer (e.g., a metal silicate) is formed to lower the k-value of the diffusion barrier by adjusting the silicon content of the silicate while maintaining high film conformality and density. |
| US09330962B2 |
Non-lithographic hole pattern formation
A metal layer is deposited over a material layer. The metal layer includes an elemental metal that can be converted into a dielectric metal-containing compound by plasma oxidation or nitridation. A hard mask portion is formed over the metal layer. A plasma impermeable spacer is formed on at least one first sidewall of the hard mask portion, while at least one second sidewall of the hard mask portion is physically exposed. Plasma oxidation or nitridation is performed to convert physically exposed surfaces of the metal layer into the dielectric metal-containing compound. A sequence of a surface pull back of the hard mask portion, cavity etching, another surface pull back, and conversion of top surfaces into the dielectric metal-containing compound are repeated to form a hole pattern having a spacing that is not limited by lithographic minimum dimensions. |
| US09330961B2 |
Stacked protection devices and related fabrication methods
Protection device structures and related fabrication methods and devices are provided. An exemplary device includes a first interface, a second interface, a first protection circuitry arrangement coupled to the first interface, and a second protection circuitry arrangement coupled between the first protection circuitry arrangement and the second interface. The second protection circuitry arrangement includes a first transistor and a diode coupled to the first transistor, wherein the first transistor and the diode are configured electrically in series between the first protection circuitry arrangement and the second interface. |
| US09330956B1 |
Method for manufacturing semiconductor device
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device is provided and comprises steps as follows. A Si substrate is provided. The Si substrate includes a first region and a second region. A sacrificial oxide layer is formed on the substrate with respect to the first region. A sacrificial nitride layer is conformally formed on the sacrificial oxide layer and on the substrate with respect to the second region. A photoresist layer is coated over the sacrificial nitride layer. A shallow trench isolation (STI) mask is provided. The STI mask has at least one first STI pattern and at least one second STI pattern to be transferred to the Si substrate to form at least one first trench and at least one second trench in the substrate. A STI oxide layer is deposited. A chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) process is performed until the sacrificial oxide layer is removed. |
| US09330951B2 |
Robot and adaptive placement system and method
An apparatus including at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: determine locations of at least two substrates on respective end effectors of the apparatus while the substrates are being moved by the end effectors in substantial unison towards respective target locations for the substrates; and while the end effectors are being moved towards the respective target locations, and based upon the determined locations of the substrates, adjust a position of at least a first one of the end effectors on the apparatus relative to a second one of the end effectors, where the position of the first end effector is adjusted relative to the second end effector while the apparatus is moving the substrates in substantial unison towards the respective target locations and prior to reaching the target locations. |
| US09330950B2 |
Substrate processing apparatus
A substrate processing apparatus includes a processing unit performing a predetermined processing on a substrate; a transfer chamber; and a substrate accommodation unit including a substrate accommodation chamber communicating with the transfer chamber via a transfer opening, a gate provided at the transfer opening to separate the substrate accommodation chamber from the transfer chamber, and a gas supply unit supplying a gas into the substrate accommodation chamber. The substrate accommodation chamber accommodates therein substrates that have been processed by the processing unit, and the gas supply unit provides a gas flow suppressing an atmosphere of the transfer chamber from being introduced into the substrate accommodation chamber, thereby preventing undesired reaction between moisture in the atmosphere of the transfer chamber and deposits adhered on the processed substrates accommodated in the substrate accommodation chamber. |
| US09330948B2 |
Heater unit, fan filter unit, and substrate processing apparatus
A heater unit according to an embodiment includes: a flat heater including a linear heating element arranged in a planar pattern; a first mesh body formed in a mesh pattern using a material with high heat conductivity and placed at least on one side of the flat heater facing the flat heater; and a second mesh body formed in a mesh pattern using a material with lower heat conductivity than that of the first mesh body and placed to face a surface of the first mesh body opposite to the surface of the first mesh body facing the flat heater. |
| US09330947B2 |
Methods for forming package-on-package structures having buffer dams
Package-on-Package (PoP) structures and methods of forming the same are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method of forming a PoP structure may include: placing a device die having a plurality of metal posts over a release layer, wherein the release layer is over a first carrier; forming a plurality of through-assembly vias (TAVs) over the release layer; forming a dam member between the device die and the plurality of TAVs; molding the device die, the dam member, and the plurality of TAVs in a molding compound; and grinding the molding compound to expose ends of the plurality of metal posts and ends of the plurality of TAVs, wherein a top surface of the molding compound is substantially level with the exposed ends of the plurality of metal posts and exposed ends of the plurality of TAVs. |
| US09330937B2 |
Etching of semiconductor structures that include titanium-based layers
Two-step process sequences uniformly etch both tungsten-based and titanium-based structures on a substrate. A sequence of wet etches using peroxide and heated nitric acid uniformly recesses a metal stack that includes W, TiN, and TiAl. W, TiN and TiC are uniformly recessed by a peroxide etch at ˜25 C followed by an acid solution with a very small amount of added peroxide at ˜60 C. TiC is etched without etching trench oxides or other metals in a work-function metal stack by either (1) highly-dilute of ultra-dilute HF at 25-35 C, (2) dilute HCl at 25-60 C, (3) dilute NH4OH at 25-60 C, or (4) solution (2) or (3) with small amounts of peroxide. Other metals in the stack may then be plasma-etched without being blocked by TiC residues. |
| US09330936B2 |
Method for depositing metal layers on germanium-containing films using metal chloride precursors
A method is provided for forming a semiconductor device. According to one embodiment, the method includes providing a substrate having a Ge-containing film thereon, identifying a first plasma processing recipe that uses a metal chloride precursor to deposit a first metal layer on the Ge-containing film at a higher rate than the Ge-containing film is etched by the metal chloride precursor, identifying a second plasma processing recipe that uses the metal chloride precursor to etch the Ge-containing film at a higher rate than a second metal layer is deposited on the Ge-containing film by the metal chloride precursor, performing the first plasma processing recipe to deposit the first metal layer on the Ge-containing film, and performing the second plasma processing recipe to deposit the second metal layer on the first metal layer, and where the second metal layer is deposited at a higher rate than the first metal layer. |
| US09330935B2 |
Plasma etching method and plasma etching apparatus
Disclosed is a plasma etching method which suppresses the narrowing of the line-width of the line formed by etching and maintain the height of a remaining photoresist. The plasma etching method includes a modification process and an etching process. The modification process modifies a photoresist having a predetermined pattern by plasma of HBr/Ar gas while applying a negative DC voltage to an upper electrode containing silicon disposed to face a target object in which an organic film and the photoresist are sequentially laminated. The etching process etches the organic film by plasma of a processing gas which contains a CF-based gas and a CHF-based gas. |
| US09330933B2 |
Method and apparatus for planarizing a polymer layer
A method for planarizing a polymer layer is provided which includes providing a substrate having the polymer layer formed thereon, providing a structure having a substantially flat surface, pressing the flat surface of the structure to a top surface of the polymer layer such that the top surface of the polymer layer substantially conforms to the flat surface of the structure, and separating the flat surface of the structure from the top surface of the polymer material layer. |
| US09330930B2 |
Plasma etching method and semiconductor device manufacturing method
A plasma etching method for etching a substrate includes an adjustment step adjusting a concentration distribution of active species contained in plasma. The adjustment step adjusts a supply rate of an etching gas according to whether a supply region on a substrate to which the etching gas is supplied corresponds to a region where an effect of diffusion of the supplied etching gas is greater than an effect of flow of the supplied etching gas or a region where the effect of flow of the supplied etching gas is greater than the effect of diffusion of the supplied etching gas. |
| US09330926B2 |
Fabrication of a silicon structure and deep silicon etch with profile control
A method of etching features into a silicon layer with a steady-state gas flow is provided. An etch gas comprising an oxygen containing gas and a fluorine containing gas is provided. A plasma is provided from the etch gas. Then, the flow of the etch gas is stopped. |
| US09330925B2 |
Thin-film transistor, manufacturing method thereof, and electronic apparatus using thin-film transistor
A thin-film transistor includes a substrate, a gate electrode over the substrate, an insulating layer over the gate electrode, and a semiconductor layer over the insulating layer. The semiconductor layer includes a channel region, a source region, and a drain region. A source electrode is over the source region, and a drain electrode is over the drain region. The source electrode and the drain electrode each comprise Ni and a metal other than Ni. The channel region, the source region, and the drain region comprise at least one of a polycrystalline silicon that is formed by crystallizing an amorphous silicon layer by thermally diffusing the Ni in the source electrode and the drain electrode into the semiconductor layer and a microcrystalline silicon that is formed by crystallizing an amorphous silicon layer by thermally diffusing the Ni in the source electrode and the drain electrode into the semiconductor layer. |
| US09330922B2 |
Self-aligned stack gate structure for use in a non-volatile memory array and a method of forming such structure
A stack gate structure for a non-volatile memory array has a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of substantially parallel spaced apart active regions, with each active region having an axis in a first direction. A first insulating material is between each stack gate structure in the second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each stack gate structure has a second insulating material over the active region, a charge holding gate over the second insulating material, a third insulating material over the charge holding gate, and a first portion of a control gate over the third insulating material. A second portion of the control gate is over the first portion of the control gate and over the first insulating material adjacent thereto and extending in the second direction. A fourth insulating material is over the second portion of the control gate. |
| US09330920B1 |
Method for fabricating semiconductor device
A method for fabricating semiconductor device is disclosed. The method includes the steps of: providing a substrate having a first region and a second region defined thereon; forming a gate structure on the first region, in which the gate structure comprises a first hard mask and a second hard mask thereon; forming a first mask layer on the first region and the second region; removing part of the first mask layer; removing the second hard mask; forming a second mask layer on the first region and the second region; removing part of the second mask layer; and removing the first hard mask. |
| US09330916B2 |
Method of manufacturing silicon carbide semiconductor device
A silicon carbide substrate having a first main surface and a second main surface opposite to the first main surface is prepared. A surface electrode is formed in contact with the first main surface of the silicon carbide substrate. An adhesive tape is adhered to the surface electrode so as to cover the surface electrode. The silicon carbide substrate is heated at a first pressure lower than atmospheric pressure, with the adhesive tape being adhered to the surface electrode. After the silicon carbide substrate is heated, the second main surface of the silicon carbide substrate is ground. After the second main surface is ground, the second main surface of the silicon carbide substrate is processed at a second pressure lower than atmospheric pressure, with the adhesive tape being adhered to the surface electrode. |
| US09330914B2 |
Methods of forming line patterns in substrates
A method including forming a line pattern in a substrate includes using a plurality of longitudinally spaced projecting features formed along respective guide lines as a template in forming a plurality of directed self-assembled (DSA) lines that individually comprise at least one of (a): the spaced projecting features and DSA material longitudinally there-between, and (b): are laterally between and laterally spaced from immediately adjacent of the guide lines. Substrate material elevationally inward of and laterally between the DSA lines may be processed using the DSA lines as a mask. |
| US09330913B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same
A semiconductor device includes first, second, and third conductive lines, each with a respective line portion formed over a substrate and extending in a first direction and with a respective branch portion extending from an end of the respective line portion in a direction different from the first direction. The branch portion of a middle conductive line is disposed between and shorter than the respective branch portions of the outer conductive lines such that contact pads may be formed integral with such branch portions of the conductive lines. |
| US09330912B2 |
Lithographic apparatus, fluid combining unit and device manufacturing method
A system for tuning the refractive index of immersion liquid in an immersion lithographic apparatus is disclosed. Two or more immersion liquids of different refractive index are mixed together in order to achieve a desired refractive index. Further, the fluids may be conditioned and treated to maintain optical characteristics. |
| US09330909B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device in which an increase in oxygen vacancies in an oxide semiconductor layer can be suppressed is provided. A semiconductor device with favorable electrical characteristics is provided. A highly reliable semiconductor device is provided. A semiconductor device includes an oxide semiconductor layer in a channel formation region, and by the use of an oxide insulating film below and in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer and a gate insulating film over and in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer, oxygen of the oxide insulating film or the gate insulating film is supplied to the oxide semiconductor layer. Further, a conductive nitride is used for a metal film of a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer, whereby diffusion of oxygen to the metal film is suppressed. |
| US09330908B2 |
Semiconductor structure with aspect ratio trapping capabilities
A semiconductor structure includes a first semiconductor region. The first semiconductor region includes a first semiconductor layer composed of a group IV semiconductor material having a top surface and a back surface. The first semiconductor layer has an opening in the top surface to at least a depth greater than an aspect ratio trapping (ART) distance. The first semiconductor region also has a second semiconductor layer composed of a group III/V semiconductor compound deposited within the opening and on the top surface of the first semiconductor layer. The second semiconductor layer forms an ART region from the bottom of the opening to the ART distance. |
| US09330904B2 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device and substrate processing apparatus
Provided are a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device and a substrate processing apparatus. The method includes: forming a first layer including a first element on a substrate by supplying a gas containing the first element; forming a second layer including first and second elements by supplying a gas containing the second element to modify the first layer; and forming a thin film having a predetermined thickness by setting the forming of the first layer and the forming of the second layer to one cycle and repeating the cycle at least once. Pressure, or pressure and a gas supply time in one process of the forming of the first layer and the forming of the second layer are controlled to be higher or longer, or lower or shorter than pressure, or pressure and a time in the one process when the thin film having a stoichiometric composition is formed. |
| US09330898B2 |
Separation system, separation method, program and computer storage medium
The present invention is used for separating a superposed substrate in which a processing target substrate and a supporting substrate are joined together with an adhesive into the processing target substrate and the supporting substrate, and includes: a separation processing station performing predetermined processing on the processing target substrate, the supporting substrate, and the superposed substrate; a transfer-in/out station transferring the substrates into/from the separation processing station; and a transfer unit transferring the substrates between the separation processing station and the transfer-in/out station, wherein the separation processing station includes: a separation unit separating the superposed substrate into the processing target substrate and the supporting substrate; a first cleaning unit cleaning the processing target substrate separated in the separation unit; and a second cleaning unit cleaning the supporting substrate separated in the separation unit. |
| US09330890B2 |
Electrode arrangement for a dielectrically limited gas discharge
The invention relates to a flexible flat electrode arrangement for a dielectrically limited gas discharge, comprising a central region (3), an edge region, and a flat electrode (14) which conducts a high-voltage potential and which is embedded in a flat dielectric that forms an upper face (10) and a contact face (6). The invention allows the active surface of the electrode arrangement to be matched to the size of a surface to be treated in that the flat dielectric is in the form of a flat strip (1) wound into a spiral at least in the edge region, and the electrode (14) is formed by at least one electric conductor which runs in the longitudinal direction of the wound strip (1) and which leads into an end surface (13) of the strip (1). |
| US09330884B1 |
Dome detection for charged particle beam device
According to an embodiment, a method of operating a charged particle beam device is provided. The charged particle beam device includes a beam separation unit, a first optical component distanced from the beam separation unit and a second optical component distanced from the beam separation unit and distanced from the first optical component. The method includes generating a primary charged particle beam. The method further includes generating a first electric field and a first magnetic field in the beam separation unit. The method further includes guiding the primary charged particle beam through the beam separation unit in which the first electric field and the first magnetic field are generated, wherein a travel direction of the primary charged particle beam leaving the beam separation unit is aligned with a first target axis under the influence of the first electric field and the first magnetic field. The method further includes generating a secondary charged particle beam by impingement of the primary charged particle beam onto a sample. The method further includes separating the secondary charged particle beam from the primary charged particle beam in the beam separation unit, wherein the secondary charged particle beam is deflected under the influence of the first electric field and the first magnetic field to travel from the beam separation unit to the first optical component. The method further includes generating a second electric field and a second magnetic field in the beam separation unit. The method further includes guiding the primary charged particle beam through the beam separation unit in which the second electric field and the second magnetic field are generated, wherein the travel direction of the primary charged particle beam leaving the beam separation unit is aligned with the first target axis under the influence of the second electric field and the second magnetic field. The method further includes separating the secondary charged particle beam from the primary charged particle beam in the beam separation unit, wherein the secondary charged particle beam is deflected under the influence of the second electric field and the second magnetic field to travel from the beam separation unit to the second optical component. |
| US09330883B2 |
Charged particle beam device
Provided is a charged particle beam device with high sensitivity, capable of detecting charged particles emitted from a sample at high resolution. An absorption current detector arranged to contact with the sample makes an absorption current generated in the sample by an irradiated charged particle beam flow through the detector, thereby to detect the current. The charged particle beam scans the sample and the charged particle beam device acquires an absorption current image. In case the absorption current detector is arranged separated from the sample, the absorption current detector detects the incident charged particle beam as a signal current dependent on an angle θ formed in a direction from the irradiation position on the sample toward the absorption current detector relative to at least one of the normal line direction of the front surface of the sample and the incident direction of the charged particle beam. |
| US09330880B2 |
Ion implantation device
An ion implantation device equipped with a vacuum chamber (11), an electrode roll (13) on a portion of the outer circumferential part of which a film (2) is wound, a voltage application means (21) that applies a voltage to the electrode roll, and a gas introduction means (31) that introduces a gas into the vacuum chamber, wherein a voltage is applied to the electrode roll by means of the voltage application means and a gas is introduced by means of the gas introduction means, and an ion implantation process is performed on the surface of the film. In addition, electrode members (42) are provided opposing the surface of the electrode roll on which the film is wound. |
| US09330878B2 |
Electromechanical x-ray generator
An electro-mechanical x-ray generator configured to obtain high-energy operation with favorable energy-weight scaling. The electro-mechanical x-ray generator may include a pair of capacitor plates. The capacitor plates may be charged to a predefined voltage and may be separated to generate higher voltages on the order of hundreds of kV in the AK gap. The high voltage may be generated in a vacuum tube. |
| US09330874B2 |
Solder bump sealing method and device
A method for forming a cavity in a microfabricated structure, includes the sealing of that cavity with a low temperature solder. The method may include forming a sacrificial layer over a substrate, forming a flexible membrane over the sacrificial layer, forming a release hole through a flexible membrane to the sacrificial layer, introducing an etchant through the release hole to remove the sacrificial layer, and then sealing that release hole with a low temperature solder. |
| US09330869B2 |
Vacuum valve
A coil electrode has a ring section provided on a plane perpendicular to the axis line of fixed-side and movable-side electrode rods on which the coil electrodes are mounted and concentrically with the axis line, a plurality of arm sections extended outward from the outer circumference of the ring section, circular-arc-shaped coil sections that are formed in such a way as to be bent in the circumferential direction from the respective front ends of the arm sections, and slits that separate the coil sections; the arm section of the coil electrode and the arm section of the coil electrode are arranged in the same direction so as to be superimposed on each other when viewed along the axis direction of the fixe-side electrode rod and the movable-side electrode rod. |
| US09330867B2 |
Vacuum switching apparatus, and electrode extension assembly and associated assembly method therefor
An electrode extension assembly is for a vacuum switching apparatus, such as a vacuum interrupter, including a vacuum envelope and separable contact assemblies. Each contact assembly includes a contact disposed in the interior of the vacuum envelope, and an electrode stem extending outwardly from the contact to the exterior of the vacuum envelope. The electrode extension assembly includes a number of extension members each being be joined to the electrode stem of a corresponding one of the contact assemblies on the exterior of the vacuum envelope by a welded joint formed by electron beam welding or plasma welding. |
| US09330863B2 |
Apparatus for and method of reducing rotary knob noise
The aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for and method of reducing rotary knob produced by a plurality of detents. In particular, a rotary retainer within a rotary knob assembly. The rotary retainer has a generally cylindrical body and an angular flange protruding outwardly from and around the generally cylindrical body and a plurality of detents disposed on the angular flange. The angular flange is made of a first material capable of sustaining a torque exceeding a first predetermined threshold and wherein the plurality of detents are made from a second material different from the first material, the second material being capable of sustaining a torque exceeding a second predetermined threshold, and the first material and the second material are configured to dampen noise generated by the plurality of detents when the rotary knob is operated. |
| US09330859B2 |
Rotor for an electric switch
A rotor is disclosed for an electric switch. In an embodiment, the rotor includes a rotor housing and a rotatably mounted contact link, which has two movable contacts. In an embodiment, by rotation of the rotor, the two movable contacts are configured to interact with two stationary contacts of an electric switch so as to close or open a circuit. Further, the rotatably mounted contact link is mounted movably in the rotor housing in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the contact link in its closing position. |
| US09330857B2 |
Switch and switch operator assembly with safety mechanism
A safety switch may be mountable proximate to the floor and may include a switch that may be actuated by vertical movement of a generally horizontally-extending switch operator plate as by pivoting about a horizontal axis at one side thereof. The safety switch may further include a blocking arm pivotable about a horizontal axis, the axis being perpendicular to the pivotal axis of the switch operator plate, wherein the blocking arm is normally biased into a vertical blocking position to prevent vertical movement of the switch operator plate. The switch may be actuated by the switch operator plate by pivoting the blocking arm into a vertical orientation and then moving the switch operator plate vertically into actuating contact with the switch. |
| US09330856B2 |
Methods of manufacture for micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)
A method of forming at least one Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) includes forming a beam structure and an electrode on an insulator layer, remote from the beam structure. The method further includes forming at least one sacrificial layer over the beam structure, and remote from the electrode. The method further includes forming a lid structure over the at least one sacrificial layer and the electrode. The method further includes providing simultaneously a vent hole through the lid structure to expose the sacrificial layer and to form a partial via over the electrode. The method further includes venting the sacrificial layer to form a cavity. The method further includes sealing the vent hole with material. The method further includes forming a final via in the lid structure to the electrode, through the partial via. |
| US09330855B2 |
Aqueous-based electric double-layer capacitor
An electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) and method for manufacturing thereof. The ELDC includes at least one capacitor cell with two parallel current collectors, two opposite polarity electrodes, a separator, and a rigid dielectric frame. Each electrode is disposed on a respective current collector and impregnated with aqueous electrolyte. The frame is disposed along the perimeter on the surface of a current collector and enclosing the electrodes. The two electrodes of an individual cell are configured asymmetrically, such as being composed of different materials, having different weights, and/or having different thicknesses. The electrode material may include: activated carbon, a transitional metal oxide, a conductive polymer, and/or graphene. |
| US09330854B2 |
Dye-sensitized solar cell and process of manufacturing same, dye-sensitized solar cell module and process of manufacturing same
A method for producing a dye-sensitized solar cell includes: preparing a first electrode comprising a transparent substrate and a transparent conductive film, and a second electrode comprising a metal substrate that is formed of a metal capable of forming a passivation film; forming an oxide semiconductor layer on the first electrode; supporting a photosensitized dye on the oxide semiconductor layer; disposing an electrolyte on the oxide semiconductor layer; facing the first electrode and the second electrode, and sealing the electrolyte by a sealing section; and fixing a connection member formed of a metal having lower resistance than the metal substrate, onto the surface of the metal substrate, with the surface being on the opposite side of the first electrode, in which method in fixing the connection member, the connection member is bonded to the metal substrate by resistance welding, and thereby the connection member is fixed onto the metal substrate. |
| US09330853B2 |
Photoelectric conversion element
A photoelectric conversion element includes an optically transparent support, a porous semiconductor layer containing fine semiconductor particles and a photosensitizer, a conductive layer, and a counter electrode provided in that order, each of the porous semiconductor layer and the conductive layer contains a carrier-transport material. The porous semiconductor layer includes at least two layers each containing fine semiconductor particles having different particle sizes. The fine semiconductor particles contained in a layer of the layers located closest to the counter electrode, the layers constituting the porous semiconductor layer, have an average particle size of 380 nm or less. |
| US09330846B2 |
Capacitor structure of capacitive touch panel
A capacitor structure of capacitive touch panel including a first electrode layer, a first material layer, a second material layer and a second electrode layer is provided. The first material layer is disposed on the first electrode layer, and the material of the first material layer is selected from one of a semiconductor material and an insulating material. The second material layer is disposed on the first material layer, and the material of the second material layer is selected from another one of the semiconductor material and the insulating material. The second electrode layer is disposed on the second material layer. |
| US09330845B2 |
Dielectric composition and multi-layered ceramic capacitor
A dielectric composition may include a first dielectric powder; and a second dielectric powder having an average grain size smaller than that of the first dielectric powder and included in the dielectric composition in an amount of 0.01 to 1.5 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the first dielectric powder, and a multilayer ceramic capacitor formed using the same. A multilayer ceramic capacitor may include: a ceramic body including dielectric layers; first and second internal electrodes disposed in the ceramic body to face each other with the respective dielectric layers interposed therebetween; and first and second external electrodes electrically connected to the first and second internal electrodes, respectively. The dielectric layers are formed of a dielectric composition including a first dielectric powder and a second dielectric powder having an average grain size smaller than that of the first dielectric powder and included in the dielectric composition in an amount of 0.01 to 1.5 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the first dielectric powder. |
| US09330843B2 |
Multilayer ceramic electronic component including a pair of side outer electrodes and a center electrode
A multilayer ceramic electronic component includes a multilayer ceramic element, a center outer electrode at a center portion of a surface of the multilayer ceramic element, side outer electrodes interposing the center outer electrode therebetween, first inner electrodes inside the multilayer ceramic element and electrically connected to the outer electrode via center extending portions, and second inner electrodes electrically connected to the side outer electrodes via first and second-side extending portions. Exposed ends of the first-side extending portions of the second inner electrodes near a center layer of the multilayer ceramic element are spaced from an end surface of the multilayer ceramic element by a distance C. Exposed ends of the first-side extending portions of the second inner electrodes disposed near an outermost layer of the multilayer portion are spaced from the end surface of the multilayer ceramic element by a distance D greater than the distance C. |
| US09330842B2 |
Monolithic ceramic electronic component
In a monolithic ceramic electronic component, given that an interval between outer-layer dummy conductors adjacent to each other in an outer layer portion is d1, and that an interval between first and second inner electrodes adjacent to each other in an inner layer portion is d2, 1.7d2≦d1 is satisfied. By reducing a density of the outer-layer dummy conductors in the outer layer portion on that condition, pressing of the inner electrodes through the outer-layer dummy conductors is relieved in a pressing step before firing. As a result, a distance between the inner electrodes can be prevented from being locally shortened. It is hence possible to effectively reduce and prevent degradation of reliability of the monolithic ceramic electronic component, e.g., a reduction of BDV. |
| US09330838B2 |
Coil unit
A coil unit in which impact resistance is ensured and that has a magnetic body for heating prevention. The coil unit (the power receiving coil unit) includes a winding wire (the winding wire portion) and a magnetic body, wherein in the magnetic body, a plurality of individual pieces with two principle surfaces opposing in a thickness direction are disposed in rows and columns in a direction substantially orthogonal to the thickness direction, and the two principle surfaces are in a polygonal shape and all interior angles forming a polygon are obtuse angles (except for a right angle). |
| US09330836B2 |
Self-resonant apparatus for wireless power transmission system
Provided is a self-resonant apparatus in relation to electric and radio technologies, and more particularly, to a wireless power transmission system, the self-resonant apparatus including ring resonators. Here, the ring resonators may be represented by a combination having metamaterial features, the combination may include split-ring resonators (SRRs) connected in parallel to capacitors, a front surface and a rear surface of each of the SRRs may be connected to be twisted in an alternating pattern, and each SRR may be executed as a metal strip mounted on a dielectric layer and connected to a neighboring SRR by a series capacitor. |
| US09330830B2 |
Structure and method for a transformer with magnetic features
The present disclosure provides a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a first inductor formed on a first substrate; a second inductor formed on a second substrate and conductively coupled with the first inductor as a transformer; and a plurality of micro-bump features configured between the first and second substrates. The plurality of micro-bump features include a magnetic material having a relative permeability substantially greater than one and are configured to enhance coupling between the first and second inductors. |
| US09330829B2 |
Rolled-up transformer structure for a radiofrequency integrated circuit (RFIC)
A rolled-up transformer structure comprises a multilayer sheet having a rolled configuration comprising multiple turns about a longitudinal axis. The multilayer sheet comprises more than one conductive pattern layer on a strain-relieved layer, including a first conductive film and a second conductive film separated from the first conductive film in a thickness direction. The first conductive film comprises an even number of primary conductive strips, where each primary conductive strip has a length extending in the rolling direction, and the second conductive film comprises an even number of secondary conductive strips, where each secondary conductive strip has a length extending in the rolling direction. In the rolled configuration, turns of the primary conductive strips and turns of the secondary conductive strips wrap around the longitudinal axis. The primary conductive strips serve as a primary winding and the secondary conductive strips serve as a secondary winding of the rolled-up transformer structure. |
| US09330828B2 |
Subsea transformer
A subsea transformer that includes a transformer and a transformer tank adapted to accommodate the transformer is provided. The transformer tank has an opening that is sized so as to enable insertion of the transformer into the transformer tank through the opening. A closing plate is adapted to close the opening of the transformer tank. At least one component having a double barrier against ingress of an ambient medium surrounding the subsea transformer when installed subsea is mounted to the closing plate. |
| US09330816B2 |
Umbilical
An umbilical for use in the offshore production of hydrocarbons comprising an assembly of functional elements wherein at least one of the functional elements comprises an electrical cable, and wherein said electrical cable is enclosed within a tube, said tube being adapted to apply a radial compressive force on the cable whereby the tube is capable of supporting the weight of the electrical cable in an axial direction. |
| US09330814B2 |
Insulated electric wire
According to one embodiment, an insulated electric wire is disclosed. The insulated electric wire includes a conductor and an insulating film formed on the conductor, the insulating film including a first layer of a first polyamideimide containing an adhesion improver, a second layer of a second polyamideimide obtained by reacting an isocyanate component containing 10 to 70 mol % in total of 2,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and dimer acid diisocyanate react with an acid component formed on the first layer, and a third layer of a polyimide formed on the second layer. |
| US09330811B2 |
Transparent electrode and method for manufacturing the same
There is provided a transparent electrode comprising a supporting substrate, a first transparent electrically-conductive film provided on the supporting substrate, a transparent insulating film provided on the first transparent electrically-conductive film, and a second transparent electrically-conductive film provided on the transparent insulating film. In the transparent electrode of the present invention, all of the first transparent electrically-conductive film, the second transparent electrically-conductive film and the transparent insulating film provided therebetween comprise a metal compound, and the first transparent electrically-conductive film and the second transparent electrically-conductive film have a crystalline structure, whereas the transparent insulating film has an amorphous structure. |
| US09330810B2 |
Synthetic ester-based dielectric fluid compositions for enhanced thermal management
A dielectric fluid composition for electrical apparatus comprises a functionalized methyl-12-carboxy methyl stearate having desirable properties including a pour point less than −30° C. and a fire point greater than 250° C. It may be prepared by a process wherein methyl-12-hydroxy methyl stearate is transesterified by reaction with a C3-C20 alcohol to form the hydroxy methyl ester, followed by reaction with a linear or branched C4-C20 carboxylic acid selected from free acid chlorides, fatty acids, carboxylic acid anhydrides, and combinations thereof. The second step serves to end-cap the hydroxyl groups, thereby producing the functionalized methyl-12-carboxy methyl stearate compound that exhibits improved thermoxidative stability and low temperature flowability, as well as increased fire point. |
| US09330805B2 |
Lithium silicate-based compound, positive electrode active material for lithium ion secondary battery, and lithium ion secondary battery using the same
Provided is a novel lithium silicate-based material useful as a positive electrode material for lithium ion secondary battery.The lithium silicate-based compound is represented by Li1.5FeSiO4.25. The lithium silicate-based compound is a compound including: lithium (Li); iron (Fe); silicon (Si); and oxygen (O), and expressed by a composition formula, Li1+2δFeSiO4+δ−c (−0.25≦δ≦0.25, 0≦c≦0.5). The lithium silicate-based compound, of which iron (Fe) is trivalent, exerts a remarkable chemical stability as compared to Li2FeSiO4. |
| US09330802B2 |
Band-shaped chopper for a particle beam
A chopper for a particle beam comprises at least one control element, which is divided into at least two regions A and B, wherein region B is less transparent to the particle beam than region A, and at least one drive source for moving the control element through the particle beam in such a way that the beam impinges on regions A and B in a chronologically alternating manner. The control element has a band-shaped design and is non-positively seated against the outer circumference of at least one element that can be caused to rotate by the drive source. It was found that the chopper can have a significantly more space-saving design when the control element is designed as a band-shaped element than as a wheel-shaped or ring-shaped chopper according to the known art. In particular, the drive source, which is bulky compared to the control element, can be disposed spatially separated from the beam path, while the band itself transmits the force of the drive source. |
| US09330800B2 |
Dry phase reactor for generating medical isotopes
An apparatus for generating medical isotopes provides for the irradiation of dry-phase, granular uranium compounds which are then dissolved in a solvent for separation of the medical isotope from the irradiated compound. Once the medical isotope is removed, the dissolved compound may be reconstituted in dry granular form for repeated irradiation. |
| US09330798B2 |
Systems and methods for processing irradiation targets through a nuclear reactor
Apparatuses and methods produce radioisotopes in instrumentation tubes of operating commercial nuclear reactors. Irradiation targets may be inserted and removed from instrumentation tubes during operation and converted to radioisotopes otherwise unavailable during operation of commercial nuclear reactors. Example apparatuses may continuously insert, remove, and store irradiation targets to be converted to useable radioisotopes or other desired materials at several different origin and termination points accessible outside an access barrier such as a containment building, drywell wall, or other access restriction preventing access to instrumentation tubes during operation of the nuclear plant. |
| US09330794B1 |
DRAM-based anti-fuse cells
Apparatuses and methods for programming and reading from anti-fuse cells are disclosed herein. For example, a semiconductor device may include a plurality of word lines, a plurality of bit lines, a cell plate, a plurality of cells, and a control circuit. Each of the plurality of cells includes a switch and a capacitor coupled in series between an associated one of the plurality of bit lines and the cell plate, and the switch is controlled by an associated one of the plurality of word lines. The control circuit is configured to provide the cell plate with a first voltage and further configured to change the cell plate from the first voltage to a second voltage before one of the plurality of word lines is activated. |
| US09330793B2 |
Memory device
A memory device includes a first memory block, a second memory block, a reception circuit configured to receiving a repair address and compression information, and a nonvolatile memory circuit including a first region for repairing the first memory block and a second region for repairing the second memory block, and configured to program the repair address in both the first region and the second region when the compression information represents high compression and program the repair address in either the first region or the second region when the compression information represents low compression. |
| US09330790B2 |
Temperature tracking to manage threshold voltages in a memory
Method and apparatus for managing data in a memory, such as a flash memory array. In accordance with various embodiments, a first data access operation is conducted on a memory cell and a first temperature associated with the memory cell and associated with the first data access operation is measured. A second temperature associated with the memory cell is measured. At least one operational parameter is adjusted responsive to the first and second temperatures associated with the memory cell. A second data access operation is conducted on the memory cell using the adjusted operational parameter. |
| US09330786B2 |
Semiconductor device, test method thereof, and system
A semiconductor device includes a plurality of chips comprising a plurality of I/O terminals connected in common via through electrodes. Each of the chips includes an I/O compression circuit operable to output a compression result obtained by compression of data of a plurality of internal data buses to a first I/O terminal of the plurality of I/O terminals. Each of the chips also includes a test control circuit having a register group that sets the number of the first I/O terminal. Setting information that assigns different first I/O terminals to different chips is set in the register group. Each of the chips inputs or outputs data with use of the number of the I/O terminal that is different from those in other chips. Thus, the I/O compression circuits can concurrently perform an I/O compression test in parallel in the plurality of chips without a bus fight. |
| US09330785B1 |
Read operation based aging sensor for static random access memory (SRAM)
In a static random access memory (SRAM), such as an SRAM cache in a processor or system-on-a-chip (SoC) device, an aging sensor is provided for testing degradation of SRAM cells comprising p-channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistors. The minimum power supply voltage VDDMIN for the SRAM may be dynamically scaled up as the SRAM ages by performing read tests with and without the wordline overdrive voltage VWLOD. |
| US09330783B1 |
Identifying word-line-to-substrate and word-line-to-word-line short-circuit events in a memory block
An apparatus includes a memory and a memory controller. The memory includes a memory block that includes memory cells connected by word lines. The memory controller is configured to store data in the memory cells, and to identify a suspected short-circuit event in the memory block by recognizing a deviation of a performance characteristic of at least a given word line in the memory block relative to the performance characteristic of remaining word lines in the memory block. |
| US09330782B2 |
Shift register and display device having the same
A shift register 10 is configured such that m unit circuits 11 each including a shift unit 12 and three buffer units 13r, 13g, and 13b are in a multi-stage cascade connection and that 3m signals in total including three signals from each stage are outputted. The m shift units 12 perform a shift operation, and a first signal Y is outputted from each stage. When a clock signal CK is at a high level, the first signal Y rises higher than a normal high level due to bootstrapping. The buffer unit 13r controls an output signal YR to be at a high level based on the buffer control signal CR and the first signal Y. A buffer control circuit 7 controls buffer control signals CR, CG, and CB to be at a high level for a time period shorter than a half cycle of the clock signal. With this, a shift register with a reduced circuit amount and low power consumption is provided. |
| US09330774B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array, a voltage generation circuit that generates a voltage applied to the memory cell array, the voltage generation circuit including a plurality of boosting circuits connected in series between an input terminal and an output terminal, and a switching circuit configured to short-circuit one or more of the boosting circuits to the input terminal, and a control circuit that controls a conduction state of the switching circuit to vary the number of boosting circuits that are driven to generate the voltage applied to the memory cell array. |
| US09330773B2 |
Semiconductor memory apparatus and method for reading data from the same
A semiconductor memory device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first cell string and a second cell string coupled to a first word line group and a second word line group, respectively. An operating method of the semiconductor memory device may include forming a channel in the second cell string by applying a pass voltage to the second word line group, reflecting data of a selected memory cell coupled to a selected word line of the first word line group, among memory cells of the first cell string, on the channel of the second cell string through the bit line, and determining the data of the selected memory cell by sensing a quantity of electric charge of the second cell string through the bit line. |
| US09330769B2 |
Nonvolatile memory devices, operating methods thereof and memory systems including the same
Nonvolatile memory device, operating methods thereof, and memory systems including the same. In the operating method, a ground select line of a first string connected to a bit line may be floated. An erase prohibition voltage may be applied to a ground select line of a second string connected to the bit line. An erase operation voltage may be applied to the first and second strings. |
| US09330767B1 |
Flash memory module and method for programming a page of flash memory cells
A flash memory module and a method for programming a page of flash memory cells, the method includes: receiving a cycle count indication indicative of a number of program cycles of the page of memory cells; setting a value of a programming parameter of a programming operation based on the cycle count indication; and programming at least one flash memory cell of the page of flash memory cells by performing the programming operation. |
| US09330766B1 |
Semiconductor device and operating method thereof
A semiconductor device according to an embodiment may include cell strings including a plurality of memory cells coupled between bit lines and a source line and coupled to word lines, a peripheral circuit suitable for programming selected memory cells coupled to a selected word line among the word lines by applying a program voltage to the selected word line, and applying one or more pass voltages to unselected word lines, and a control circuit suitable for controlling the peripheral circuit to temporarily float the unselected word lines while the selected memory cells are programmed. |
| US09330765B2 |
Non-volatile memory device having configurable page size
A flash memory device having at least one bank, where the each bank has an independently configurable page size. Each bank includes at least two memory planes having corresponding page buffers, where any number and combination of the memory planes are selectively accessed at the same time in response to configuration data and address data. The configuration data can be loaded into the memory device upon power up for a static page configuration of the bank, or the configuration data can be received with each command to allow for dynamic page configuration of the bank. By selectively adjusting a page size the memory bank, the block size is correspondingly adjusted. |
| US09330758B1 |
Semiconductor memory device
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a series connection including first to Nth (N being an integer greater than or equal to 2) two-terminal-type resistance change memory elements connected in series with one another, and having first to (N+1)th terminals from one end thereof to the other end thereof, a first, second, third, and fourth bit lines, first transistors connected between the first bit line and odd-numbered terminals of the series connection, one or more second transistors connected between the second bit line and one or more even-numbered terminals of the series connection, a third transistor connected between the third bit line and the first terminal of the series connection, and a fourth transistor connected between the fourth bit line and the (N+1)th terminal of the series connection. |
| US09330746B2 |
Resistive memory array
A circuit that includes a current source module, a current sink module and a memory bank is disclosed. Each of the current source module, the current sink module and the memory bank is connected to the first bit/source line and the second bit/source line. The memory bank is bounded by the current source module and the current sink module. When the current source module and the current sink module receive a triggering pulse from the first bit/source line and a select signal with a first state, the current source module is activated to generate an operating current to the first bit/source line that transmits through a conducted memory cell of the memory bank and the current sink module is activated to drain the operating current from the second bit/source line. |
| US09330745B2 |
Magnetic memory devices including magnetic memory cells having opposite magnetization directions
A magnetic memory device includes first and second magnetic memory cells coupled to first and second bit lines, respectively. The first and second magnetic memory cells respectively include a pinned magnetic layer, a free magnetic layer, and a tunnel insulating layer therebetween. Respective stacking orders of the pinned magnetic layer, the tunnel insulating layer, and the free magnetic layer are different in the first and second magnetic memory cells. The magnetic memory device further includes at least one transistor that is configured to couple the first and second magnetic memory cells to a common source line. Related methods of operation are also discussed. |
| US09330738B2 |
Data storage using analog coding
In an embodiment, a memory system is provided. The memory system can include one or more memory elements, a quantity associated with each of the one or more memory elements can take a value in a continuous range of values; an encoder configured to determine a value for a quantity of a first memory element of the one or more memory elements based on data to be stored; and a memory controller configured to control the first memory element such that the quantity of the first memory element is set to the determined value. |
| US09330736B2 |
Processor memory optimization via page access counting
To utilize the most efficient memory available to a mobile processor, page access counters may be used to record utilization associated with multiple different memory types. In one embodiment, an operating system routine may analyze the page access counters to determine low utilization pages and high utilization pages to dynamically assign between the multiple different memory types, which may include a more efficient memory type having greater capacity, greater throughput, lower latency, or lower power consumption than a less efficient memory type. As such, in response to detecting a high utilization page in the less efficient memory or a low utilization page in the more efficient memory, contents associated therewith may be copied to the more efficient memory and the less efficient memory, respectively, and virtual-to-physical address mappings may be changed to reflect the reassignment. |
| US09330733B1 |
Power-aware RAM processing
Logical memories and other logic functions specified in designs are mapped to power-optimized implementations using physical memories and other device resources. A logical memory may be automatically mapped to numerous potential physical implementations. Power consumption is estimated for each potential physical implementation to select the physical implementation providing the best performance with respect to power consumption and any other design constraints. Potential physical implementations can suppress clock transitions via clock enable inputs when embedded memory is not accessed. Read-enable and write-enable signals can be converted to functionally equivalent clock enable signals. Clock enable signals can be created to deactivate unused memory access ports and to deactivate embedded memory blocks during don't-care conditions. Potential physical implementations can slice logical memory into two or more embedded memory blocks to minimize power consumption. |
| US09330732B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a first bit line extending in a first direction, a first source line including a first portion that extends in the first direction, a second portion that extends in the first direction, and a third portion that connects one end of the first portion and one end of the second portion, a first memory cell having one terminal electrically connected to the first bit line and the other terminal electrically connected to the first portion of the first source line, a first sense amplifier arranged on the other end side of the first portion and the second portion of the first source line, and a first current sink arranged on a side of the first sense amplifier with respect to the first bit line and the first source line. |
| US09330725B2 |
System and method for using stainless steel as a data archiving medium
An apparatus, method, and computer readable medium for writing data on a highly indestructible material is disclosed. A laser may write data on a first side of a highly indestructible material. The data may then be marked as non-rewriteable. The data may also be written on a second side of the highly indestructible material, with the second side being opposite the first side. The highly indestructible material may comprise a stainless steel storage medium. |
| US09330723B2 |
Movie advertising playback systems and methods
An ad in a movie can be a static ad having a position in the movie that cannot be moved, or a dynamic ad having a position in the movie that can be changed. When a viewer of the movie wishes to skip a portion of the movie containing the ad, the playback system determines whether the ad is static or dynamic. If the ad is static, then only the portion of the movie preceding the static ad can be skipped, that is, the ad is unskippable; this technique is referred to as “bounceback” since the end of the skip bounces back to the start of the static ad. If the ad is dynamic, then the ad is moved to after the end of the skip; this technique is referred to as “slipad” since the ad slips to later in the movie. When a movie has multiple ads, some can be static and some can be dynamic. |
| US09330711B2 |
Bearing device
In order to prevent leaking of lubricant, the bearing device includes a rolling bearing having an outer ring and an inner ring, a shaft fixed to the inner ring, and a sleeve fixed to the outer ring. A flange part is formed on at least one end part of the shaft. The flange part includes a disk part extending from the shaft toward an outside in a radial direction and a cylindrical part extending from the disk part along an axial direction. The cylindrical part is disposed at an outside of the outer ring, and a labyrinth gap which bends at two places is formed by gaps. |
| US09330709B2 |
Tape library string request management
Systems and methods that dynamically distribute status, cartridge movement and other types of requests and communications from a library manager to one or more libraries of a library string based on target or subject libraries in the requests. Upon receiving and/or generating a request, the library manager determines whether active connections (e.g., control paths) are available from the library manager substantially directly to the subject libraries and then distributes the requests over such active connections when available. When such active connections are unavailable, the library manager may distribute such requests over active connections to non-subject libraries which may forward such requests to the subject libraries via an inter-library communication interconnect. |
| US09330707B2 |
Recording apparatus, server apparatus, recording method, program and storage medium
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and information processing apparatuses. The medium stores instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method including automatically reading first management data from a first recording medium. The first management data identifies tracks of source data recorded on the first recording medium. One of the tracks of source data is automatically identified based on the first management data and second management data, which identifies files of ripped data recorded on a second recording medium. The one of the tracks of source data is absent from the second recording medium. The one of the tracks of source data is automatically transferred to the second recording medium and becomes one of the files of ripped data. The method further includes automatically displaying transferring status of the one of the tracks of source data by a symbolic figure. |
| US09330706B1 |
Write once read forever archival data storage
This invention teaches a methodology and an optical apparatus that provides long-term, archival storage using a chemically stable, high-resolution, photosensitive emulsion, such as silver halide, for the long-term, archival storage and retrieval of data, images and text. Multiple state data substantially increasing data density is stored as vertical diffraction gratings in the archival photosensitive emulsion. The data can be read out in parallel, substantially increasing retrieval speeds beyond that of current optical and magnetic techniques. |
| US09330699B1 |
Piezoelectric actuator with wrap-around electrode on inactive constraining layer
A piezoelectric actuator such as for a hard disk drive or other application has a restraining layer on its side that is opposite the side on which the PZT is mounted. The restraining layer is a stiff material. The restraining layer reduces bending of the PZT as mounted and hence increases effective stroke length, or reverses the sign of the bending which increases the effective stroke length of the PZT even further. For simplicity of construction and assembly to the suspension, the PZT actuator may be a multi-layer PZT with the top layer being unpoled or otherwise inactive PZT material, and having a wrap-around electrode so that the actuator can be mechanically and electrically bonded to the suspension or other environment using a single adhesive dispense and cure step. |
| US09330697B2 |
Constrained dimple pad damper for disk drive head suspension
A disk drive head suspension including a load beam, a flexure on the load beam, and a load point dimple extending from the load beam toward the flexure. A constrained damper is located on the flexure and is engaged by the load point dimple. The constrained damper includes a layer of viscoelastic material on the flexure, and a metal constraining layer on the viscoelastic material. The flexure can be a co-located dual stage actuated flexure that includes a motor, and the constrained damper can be located on the motor. |
| US09330696B1 |
DSA suspension having PZT with overhanging constraint layer and electrical connection thereto
A PZT microactuator such as for a hard disk drive has a restraining layer bonded on its side that is opposite the side on which the PZT is mounted. The restraining layer comprises a stiff and resilient material such as stainless steel. The restraining layer can cover most or all of the top of the PZT, with an electrical connection being made to the PZT where it is not covered by the restraining layer. The restraining layer reduces bending of the PZT as mounted and hence increases effective stroke length, or reverses the sign of the bending which increases the effective stroke length of the PZT even further. The restraining layer may extend beyond the edge of the PZT to define an overhang, with the electrical connection being made by bonding to the underside of the overhang thus reducing and controlling the height of the assembly. |
| US09330690B2 |
Method of forming a TAMR writer with a concave leading shield for enhanced field magnitude
A method of forming a TAMR (Thermal Assisted Magnetic Recording) write head that uses the energy of optical-laser excited plasmons to locally heat a magnetic recording medium and reduce its coercivity and magnetic anisotropy. The magnetic field of the write head is enhanced by the formation of a leading shield that is formed in a concave geometrical shape and partially surrounds the waveguide portion of the head within the concavity, which allows the distal end of the waveguide to extend to the ABS plane of the write head. This arrangement reduces the gap between the shield and the magnetic pole and does not interfere with the ability of the waveguide to efficiently transfer its optical energy to the plasmon generator and, ultimately, to the surface of the magnetic recording medium. |
| US09330689B1 |
Write driver DC resistance calibration
An apparatus, according to one embodiment, includes: a controller having: a first circuit having a reference resistance, a second circuit having an adjustable resistance, and logic integrated with and/or executable by the controller, the logic being configured to cause the controller to perform the following process: apply a voltage to the first and second circuits, compare output voltages of the first and second circuits, alter the resistance of the second circuit until the output voltage of the first circuit is less than or equal to the output voltage of the second circuit, extract setting information in response to determining that the first voltage of the first circuit is less than or equal to the second voltage of the second circuit, and apply the extracted setting information to a component of a write driver circuit for setting a resistance value of the component. |
| US09330688B1 |
Procedure that achieves a target areal density for a heat-assisted recording medium
A recording head writes data to a recording medium for one or more iterations. Each iteration involves adjusting a linear data density, a track pitch, and a laser power. From the iterations, a selected linear data density, a selected track pitch, and a selected laser power are determined that together achieve a target areal density and are used to write user data to the recording medium during operation of a hard disk drive. |
| US09330683B2 |
Apparatus and method for discriminating speech of acoustic signal with exclusion of disturbance sound, and non-transitory computer readable medium
According to one embodiment, an apparatus for discriminating speech/non-speech of a first acoustic signal includes a weight assignment unit, a feature extraction unit, and a speech/non-speech discrimination unit. The weight assignment unit is configured to assign a weight to each frequency band, based on a frequency spectrum of the first acoustic signal including a user's speech and a frequency spectrum of a second acoustic signal including a disturbance sound. The feature extraction unit is configured to extract a feature from the frequency spectrum of the first acoustic signal, based on the weight of each frequency band. The speech/non-speech discrimination unit is configured to discriminate speech/non-speech of the first acoustic signal, based on the feature. |
| US09330682B2 |
Apparatus and method for discriminating speech, and computer readable medium
According to one embodiment, an apparatus for discriminating speech/non-speech of a first acoustic signal includes a weight assignment unit, a feature extraction unit, and a speech/non-speech discrimination unit. The first acoustic signal includes a user's speech and a reproduced sound. The reproduced sound is a system sound having a plurality of channels reproduced from a plurality of speakers. The weight assignment unit is configured to assign a weight to each frequency band based on the system sound. The feature extraction unit is configured to extract a feature from a second acoustic signal based on the weight of each frequency band. The second acoustic signal is the first acoustic signal in which the reproduced sound is suppressed. The speech/non-speech discrimination unit is configured to discriminate speech/non-speech of the first acoustic signal based on the feature. |
| US09330678B2 |
Voice control device, voice control method, and portable terminal device
A voice control device includes a calculation section configured to calculate a response time representing a time difference between a voice in a received signal and a voice in a sending signal; a hearing estimate section configured to estimate hearing of a user based on the calculated response time; and a voice control section configured to control the received signal by a compensation quantity responsive to the estimated hearing. |
| US09330675B2 |
Method and apparatus for wind noise detection and suppression using multiple microphones
Unlike sound based pressure waves that go everywhere, air turbulence caused by wind is usually a fairly local event. Therefore, in a system that utilizes two or more spatially separated microphones to pick up sound signals (e.g., speech), wind noise picked up by one of the microphones often will not be picked up (or at least not to the same extent) by the other microphone(s). Embodiments of methods and apparatuses that utilize this tact and others to effectively detect and suppress wind noise using multiple microphones that are spatially separated are described. |
| US09330674B2 |
System and method for improving sound quality of voice signal in voice communication
Disclosed are a voice communication system and a voice communication method which set a subtraction weight for each of a plurality of frequency subbands split based on a particular frequency response characteristic set to the system, calculate a gain function for each frequency subband according to the particular frequency response characteristic based on the subtraction weight for each of the frequency subbands, and improve sound quality of a voice signal by reflecting the calculated gain function. |
| US09330666B2 |
Gesture-based messaging method, system, and device
This disclosure is generally directed to a method on a gesture-based messaging device (“messaging device”). According to various implementations, the messaging device detects a user's gesture (e.g., arm gesture, hand gesture, or finger gesture) using, for example, Electromyography or EMG. The messaging device may be implemented as a wearable device, such as a ring, wristband (e.g., a wristwatch), or pair of glasses (e.g., Google Glass™). The messaging device attempts to authenticate the user. If the messaging device authenticates the user and recognizes the gesture as indicating that a social media message is to be dictated, then the messaging device enters a social media mode, during which it listens for and receives an input of a spoken message from the user, converts the spoken message to a text message, and transmits the text message to a social media entity (e.g., Twitter®, Facebook®, or Tumblr®). |
| US09330664B2 |
Controller for voice-controlled device and associated method
A controller for a voice-controlled device is provided. The controller includes a setting module and a recognition module. The setting module generates a threshold according to an environmental parameter. The recognition module compares a confident score of speech recognition with the threshold to accordingly execute voice control. |
| US09330659B2 |
Facilitating development of a spoken natural language interface
A development system is described for facilitating the development of a spoken natural language (SNL) interface. The development system receives seed templates from a developer, each of which provides a command phrasing that can be used to invoke a function, when spoken by an end user. The development system then uses one or more development resources, such as a crowdsourcing system and a paraphrasing system, to provide additional templates. This yields an extended set of templates. A generation system then generates one or more models based on the extended set of templates. A user device may install the model(s) for use in interpreting commands spoken by an end user. When the user device recognizes a command, it may automatically invoke a function associated with that command. Overall, the development system provides an easy-to-use tool for producing an SNL interface. |
| US09330653B2 |
Noise reduction apparatus and audio reproduction apparatus
A noise reduction apparatus includes: a speaker with a speaker unit held by holding means to make it possible to mix sounds emitted from front and rear of a vibration plate of the speaker; a microphone provided in an area where the sounds emitted from the front and rear of the vibration plate of the speaker are mixed and cancelled; and means for supplying a noise reduction audio signal obtained by phase-inverting an audio signal collected by the microphone to the speaker. |
| US09330648B2 |
Electronic keyboard musical instrument
An electronic keyboard musical instrument includes a storage device, a musical tone generation unit, a resonating sound generation unit, and an adding unit. The musical tone generation unit reads out corresponding musical tone waveform data from the storage device according to key depression information to generate a musical tone waveform signal and a first register resonating sound waveform signal. The resonating sound generation unit receives the musical tone waveform signal to cause the resonating sound generation circuit to generate a second register resonating sound waveform signal according to damper pedal operator manipulation information and the key depression information, and outputs the second register resonating sound waveform signal. The adding unit is configured to add the musical tone waveform signal and the resonating sound waveform signal from the musical tone generation unit and the resonating sound generation unit respectively, and outputting a resulting signal. |
| US09330647B1 |
Digital audio services to augment broadcast radio
A broadcast radio architecture includes an internet-enabled radio and a remote audio services system. The internet-enabled radio receives broadcast audio content and plays through a speaker, the audio content that is received. The internet-enabled radio receives a user command to replay, from the beginning, a song that is currently being played. In response to the user command, the internet-enabled radio transmits over a network to the audio services system, a snippet of the song that is currently being played. Using the snippet of the song, the audio services system identifies a song from which the snippet was likely recorded and transmits a data stream that includes the song, in its entirety, back to the internet-enabled radio. To provide additional value, the audio services system may also identify and transmit to the internet-enabled radio, additional content that is deemed likely of interest to users interested in the identified song. |
| US09330646B2 |
Support stand
A stand moveable between an open configuration and a closed configuration. A plurality of legs is rotatably coupled to a connector and are rotatable between a closed position, in which each the plurality of legs is substantially parallel, and an open configuration. When the stand is in a closed configuration the plurality of legs are in the closed position and received in a cavity, and the connector is removably secured to the body. When the stand is in an open configuration, the plurality of legs are in the open position and the connector is removably secured to the body such that the plurality of legs are outside of the cavity and such that the body is positioned to receive and support at least a portion of a guitar. |
| US09330645B2 |
Multi-legged stand with stabilizers
Described is a multi-legged instrument stand that is specifically designed to increase stability and resistance to tipping. The stand can be used with any suitable instrument, such as guitars (via a guitar hanger), microphones, etc. The stand includes a base with a body pole. A leg connector is slidably attached with the body pole, with three legs and two stabilizers being pivotally connected with the leg connector. Thus, the legs and stabilizers can collapse for storage or rotate outward to allow the stand to be positioned upon a ground surface with increased stability. |
| US09330644B2 |
Percussion instrument
A pitched percussion idiophone instrument comprising first and second support members (12, 14) which interconnected, a plurality of hollow tubes (20), the tubes being parallel and having a pair of apertures (26, 28) towards each end (22, 24), first and second strings (34, 36) extending through the apertures (26, 28), pins (30) located on each of the first and second support members (12, 14) intermediate the hollow tubes (20) such that the strings (34, 36) are supported by pins (30), the arrangement being such that the hollow tubes (20) are suspended above said support members (12, 14) by the first and second strings (34, 36). |
| US09330643B2 |
Hi-hat for electronic cymbal assembly
The present invention includes an electronic cymbal assembly including a hi-hat clutch for mounting a hi-hat to a hi-hat stand post; a top cymbal; a self dampening trigger system attached to the underside of the top cymbal; a bottom cymbal; an input jack box mounted to the underside of the bottom cymbal; and a hi-hat cymbal mounting post. The cymbal assembly may be mounted using a magnetic ring configuration or a threaded pole configuration. |
| US09330640B2 |
Stringed instrument playing assistance implement
A stringed instrument playing assistance implement which can be altered and mounted on a finger, can be adjusted and make a perfect fit of a location, an angle, and a size for any sort of player's finger for preventing slippage or falling off said finger. The stringed instrument playing assistance implement can be altered and used for a variety of string picking techniques. The stringed instrument playing assistance implement is employed when playing a stringed instrument by picking the strings thereof and includes a wire-shaped member, which can be altered and mounted on a finger and which is capable of retaining a shape. |
| US09330631B2 |
Display apparatus
A controller for a display panel includes a detector, a timing controller, and a voltage generator. The detector detects a predetermined pattern in an image signal. The timing controller generates a control signal based on detection of the pattern. The voltage generator changes at least one driving voltage for a display panel from a first level to a second level based on the control signal. The predetermined pattern may correspond to at least one region having a predetermined arrangement of at least first and second gray scale values of pixels in an image corresponding to the image signal. |
| US09330626B2 |
Driving circuit and display panel
Provided are a driving circuit and a display panel, the driving circuit comprises a voltage dividing module, a comparing module and a switching module, wherein the voltage dividing module has a first terminal connected to a first terminal of the switching module, a second terminal connected to a first terminal of the comparing module, and a third terminal serving as a grounding terminal; a second terminal of the comparing module is connected to a first voltage input terminal, third, fourth and fifth terminals of the comparing module are connected to three control terminals of the switching module respectively; the first terminal of the switching module is connected to a voltage output terminal, a second terminal of the switching module is connected to the first voltage input terminal, and third and fourth terminals of the switching module are connected to second and third voltage input terminal, respectively. |
| US09330625B2 |
Maintenance circuit for display panel
A maintenance circuit for a display panel, the display panel being divided by a plurality of source driver integrated circuits into a plurality of partitions(X1-X8) corresponding thereto, wherein each of source driver integrated circuits controls one partition, each four of adjacent partitions form a group of partitions, each of the maintenance circuit units comprises: a first maintenance line(RP1, RP3) and a second maintenance line(RP2, RP4) each provided with a half-turn shape surrounding around a group of partitions corresponding thereto; a first operational amplifier(OP1, OP3) and a second operational amplifier(OP2, OP4), the inverting input terminal of each of which is connected to an output terminal thereof and is connected to a corresponding maintenance line; and a plurality of resistors(R1-R8, L1-L8) selectively connected in accordance with two partitions of the group of the partitions to be maintained, so as to respectively import the two partitions to non-inverting input terminals of the two operational amplifiers via signals outputted from a corresponding source driver integrated circuits, and to feed the signals outputted from the two operational amplifiers back to the corresponding partitions. |
| US09330618B2 |
Driving circuit for display device and method of driving the same
A driving circuit for a display device, for reducing power consumption of a data driver, and a method of driving the driving circuit are disclosed. The driving circuit includes a data driver for maintaining buffers of the data driver in an on state every preset specific frame period and maintaining the buffers in an off state every remaining period except for specific frame periods in a refresh mode for processing image data of one image for the specific frame periods only. |
| US09330617B2 |
Method of driving a display panel and display apparatus for performing the same
There is provided a method of driving a display panel. In the method, it is determined whether a driving mode is a two-dimensional image mode or a three-dimensional image mode. A first gate driving control signal and a second gate driving control signal are generated by converting an input control signal inputted in accordance with the driving mode. A first gate signal is outputted to an odd-numbered gate line connected to a first sub-pixel within a unit pixel of the display panel based on the first gate driving control signal. A second gate signal is outputted to an even-numbered gate line connected to a second sub-pixel within the unit pixel of the display panel based on the second gate driving control signal. |
| US09330614B2 |
Method of processing image data for display on a display device, which comprising a multi-primary image display panel
A method of processing image data for display on a display device having a multi-primary image display panel (2) comprises receiving image data constituting an image for display on the image display panel. In a first mode, signal voltages to be applied to sub-pixels of the image display panel are determined from the received image data and from a secondary data value for the pixel thereby to generate luminance variations perceivable at a first viewing position (5) but substantially not perceivable at a second viewing position (3). This provides a private display mode, since the luminance variations perceivable at the first viewing position (5) obscure the image from an observer at the first viewing position, while an observer at the second viewing position (3) is able to perceive the image since the luminance variations are not perceivable (or are substantially not perceivable) at the second viewing position In a second mode, signal voltages to be applied to sub-pixels of the image display panel may be determined just from the received image data thereby to generate an image perceivable at the first viewing position (5) and at the second viewing position (3). This provides a public or wide-view display mode. |
| US09330610B2 |
Liquid crystal display device including a backlight unit employing a light source and method for driving the same
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device in which the light sources of a backlight unit are independently driven as a plurality of separate regions, and to a drive method for the same. In situations where there is a substantial variation in the brightness (luminance) of regions being displayed on the liquid crystal display device, the present invention can improve the visibility of boundaries due to differences in luminance in images displayed within the regions of the backlight unit emitting light at different levels of luminance as a result. |
| US09330606B2 |
Electronic device with display brightness control
Automatic display brightness adjustments may be made by an electronic device based on ambient light sensor data. Proximity sensor data from a light-based proximity sensor, from nearby capacitive sensor electrodes in a touch screen, or from other proximity sensing components may be used to determine whether the ambient light sensor is being shadowed by a hand or other external object. Ambient light sensor data associated with blocked sensor conditions can be suppressed. A transient event filter may be used to remove spikes from ambient light sensor data. A display brightness baseline may be adaptively adjusted. Short changes in ambient light level may result in corresponding momentary adjustments to display brightness. Longer changes in ambient light level may be associated with persistent changes in the display brightness baseline. |
| US09330601B2 |
Display device and method for driving the same
A method of driving a display device includes: applying a first voltage at the first transistor to turn on the first transistor; maintaining the first voltage at the first transistor; applying a second voltage lower than the first voltage at the first transistor; wherein the applying of the first voltage comprises switching the fourth transistor according to the second scan signal to couple the gate electrode of the first transistor to the third power source, and switching the fifth transistor according to the light emission control signal to couple the first electrode of the first transistor to the first power source, and the applying of the second voltage comprises switching the second transistor according to the first scan signal to couple the first electrode of the first transistor to the data line, and switching the third transistor according to the first scan signal to diode-couple the first transistor. |
| US09330599B2 |
Organic light emitting display capable of compensating for noise output from a power source supply unit
Provided is an organic light emitting display including a display panel, a data driver supplying a data signal to the display panel, a timing controller controlling the data driver, a power source supply unit converting an external voltage and outputting a high potential voltage and a low potential voltage through a first power source line and a second power source line, a measurement unit measuring a current or a voltage flowing through the first power source line and the second power source line and outputting a measured value, and a compensation coefficient calculator matching the measured value and a reference value stored in the compensation coefficient calculator to a driving signal and comparing the measured value and the reference value to judge a degree of noise and calculating a compensation coefficient. |
| US09330595B2 |
Organic light emitting display device and driving method thereof
An organic light emitting display device is configured to compensate for deterioration of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) included in the device. The organic light emitting display device includes: a plurality of pixels; a timing controller for generating a comparison signal to determine a deterioration degree of an OLED included in each of the pixels; a sensing unit for sensing a deterioration information of the OLED; a supply time controller coupled between data lines and a data driver; a compensation unit for controlling the supply time controller so that a supply time of a data signal varies to correspond to the deterioration information and the comparison signal; and a switching unit coupled to the data lines, the sensing unit, and the supply time controller. The switching unit is configured to selectively couple the data lines to the sensing unit or the supply time controller. |
| US09330589B2 |
Systems for facilitating virtual presence
A virtual presence system includes a display having a structural matrix configured to arrange a plurality of spaced pixel elements. A plurality of spaced pixel elements collectively form an active visual area wherein an image is displayable. At least one image capture device is disposed within the active visual area for capturing an image. |
| US09330585B2 |
Device for displaying a video image on a building
The element, in particular for a building, comprises two panes facing each other and forming double glazing; and an electronic circuit including diodes and suitable for displaying at least a portion of a video image by means of the diodes, the circuit extending between the two panes, facing a visible zone of the panes.The element may be used to form a video display device on a building facade. |
| US09330583B2 |
Field retrofit kit for converting a static billboard into a dynamic electronic billboard, and methods of retrofitting and using same
An electronic billboard generally includes a plurality of hand mountable structural frames mounted to the poster panels of an existing in field non electronic static billboard; the hand mountable structural frames being laid out in an array; and where individual ones of the hand mountable structural frames are configured in a further array of structural bay members adapted to receive therein display modules with dual LED display panels; a plurality of preformed power and data harnesses electrically and mechanically coupled between individual ones of the bays and a universal power and data distribution system coupled to the harnesses for providing data and direct current low voltage to the display modules to facilitate the conversion of the distributed data display information into visible radiant energy which is displayed by the electronic billboard. |
| US09330580B2 |
Assay wick with analyte fluid sufficiency indicator
A wick for use in determining sufficiency of an amount of analyte fluid provided to an analyte test section of an assay device is provided. The wick comprises a primary wick portion attached or attachable to the analyte test section so as to be in fluid communication therewith. The primary wick portion has a receiving surface adapted for receiving the analyte fluid and is configured to draw the analyte fluid from a first area to a second area of the primary wick portion. The assay wick further comprises an indicator portion having a contrasting visual characteristic. The indicator surface is covered by at least a portion of the primary wick portion, which comprises a wicking material that becomes more light transmissive when wetted by the analyte fluid. The contrasting visual characteristic is viewable through the at least a portion of the primary wick portion only when the at least a portion of the primary wick portion is suffused by the analyte fluid. |
| US09330577B2 |
Individual gunnery trainer with sensing platform
A system and method are that includes a frame and a weapon mount on the frame that receives a weapon mock-up. The system also includes a substantially non-rotatable sensing platform, coupled to the frame, on which a single trainee stands, where rotational pressure applied to the platform by the trainee generates a virtual orientation signal. The system also includes a head-mounted display worn by the trainee that receives a display signal representative of a virtual environment to be simulated to the trainee; and a controller in electrical communication with the sensing platform and the display, wherein the controller receives the virtual orientation signal and generates the display signal in response such that rotational pressure applied to the platform by the trainee results in rotation of the virtual environment displayed to the trainee. A method for the simulation of a single weapon system in a transportable enclosure is also presented. |
| US09330575B2 |
Tablet-based welding simulator
Embodiments of the present invention pertain to a computer program product and processor based computing system that provides processing means for executing coded instructions and input means for interacting with said processing means to create a virtual welding environment. The system establishes an objective to change a functional or operational state of a virtual article, and directs the end user to perform at least one virtual welding operation for changing its functional state. The system trains new users and inexperienced welders on the fundamental aspects of welding and other technical aspects. |
| US09330573B2 |
Automated decision aid tool for prompting a pilot to request a flight level change
Provided are methods and systems for the automatic calculation and presentation of data on a display device alerting a pilot that a change in flight plan is desirable, possible and administratively compliant under air traffic control protocol. The methods and systems may automatically request the flight clearance over a data link or the pilot may override the data link. |
| US09330571B2 |
Modifying behavior of autonomous vehicle based on predicted behavior of other vehicles
A vehicle configured to operate in an autonomous mode could determine a current state of the vehicle and the current state of the environment of the vehicle. The environment of the vehicle includes at least one other vehicle. A predicted behavior of the at least one other vehicle could be determined based on the current state of the vehicle and the current state of the environment of the vehicle. A confidence level could also be determined based on the predicted behavior, the current state of the vehicle, and the current state of the environment of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the confidence level may be related to the likelihood of the at least one other vehicle to perform the predicted behavior. The vehicle in the autonomous mode could be controlled based on the predicted behavior, the confidence level, and the current state of the vehicle and its environment. |
| US09330569B2 |
Sensor module for ground and system providing a pluraty of these
The invention relates to a sensor module 1 for embedding in street A, comprising an outer housing (casing, box) 2 fitted with a lid 3 in the housing of which there is at least one sensor 4 of presence or arrival/departure of vehicles, characterized by the fact that it is comprised of a second box 6 arranged inside the first housing 2 and attached to the lid 3 and inside which is the sensor 4, so as to obtain a module made of two parts, one that remains in the ground and one that is easily removed, removing it at the same time or the sensors with associated electronics. The invention also relates to a system using a plurality of sensor modules as this, in communication with each other. |
| US09330564B2 |
Method and system for using intersecting electronic horizons
A method and system for using data associated with a first vehicle and a given road segment defined for a road network and using data associated with a second vehicle and the given road segment to determine a multi-vehicle probability value that indicates a probability that the first vehicle and the second vehicle will arrive at a common position of the given road segment simultaneously. The multi-vehicle probability value can be compared to a threshold probability value to determine whether the first vehicle and/or the second vehicle should take a responsive measure to avoid those vehicles arriving at the common position of the given road segment simultaneously. The data associated the first vehicle and the data associated with the second vehicle can each include a respective electronic horizon for that vehicle, and time parameters and probability values associated with those vehicles being on the given road segment. |
| US09330562B2 |
Local wireless network remote control of ancillary railway implements
Systems and methods for local wireless network remote control of ancillary railway implements are described herein. In one implementation, a portable computing module uses a wireless module to control an ancillary railway implement. In one implementation, the portable computing module connects through ancillary railway implement to control one or more nodes, where the nodes are additional ancillary railway implements. |
| US09330561B2 |
Remote communication systems and methods for communicating with a building gateway control to control building systems and elements
A wearable monitoring device, worn by a user, has one or more sensors which acquire at least one of a user's activities, behaviors and habit information, an antenna and a unique user ID. The monitoring device includes a wireless user interface with a one or more input selection elements, which are accessible by the user to control at least a portion of one or more controllable devices housed in a building. One or more controllable systems or devices are at the building. At least a first portion of the one or more controllable systems or devices have an interface with a receiver in communication with the monitoring device that enables the monitoring device to communicate with the receiver. |
| US09330559B1 |
System and method for alarm extension
An alarm extension system that takes an interior alarm condition and extends it to the exterior of a structure. In various embodiments, the present invention is a system and method that links to an existing alarm (smoke detector, burglar alarm, etc.) and activates a flashing mode in one or more exterior lights or an exterior siren. Thus, during an alarm condition within the house or other structure, a neighbor or anyone passing by can become aware of the alarm condition. This method of signaling thus alerts many in the surrounding area of a situation within the building that may require emergency assistance. |
| US09330556B2 |
Pneumatic pressure switch
A pneumatic pressure detector comprises a first electrical terminal, a second electrical terminal and a deformable diaphragm configured to deform between first, second and third positions. When the diaphragm is in its first position, the first and second terminals are open. When the diaphragm is in its second position, the first terminal is open and the second terminal is closed. When the diaphragm is in its third position, the first and second terminals are both closed. The pneumatic pressure detector may be connected to a sensor tube. |
| US09330554B2 |
Maritime alarm and rescue system and method for controlling said system
Particularly applicable to life jackets and suits, it makes it possible to provide a location and maximum safety of shipwrecked people who have fallen overboard, providing, in the event of a man overboard (MOB) situation, a fast and effective solution, as the alert system continues in its attempt to communicate until a vessel responds with a signal of acknowledgement. The alert system fundamentally stands out due to the location and communication achieved by the DSC calling device and the AIS identification device. For its part, the control process stands out as it allows performing a repetition of search in the localization of the vessels in the immediate vicinity of the own vessel (vessel that the crew member comes from), so that if said own ship does not respond to the emergency call of the shipwrecked person, it communicates with other adjacent vessels. |
| US09330553B2 |
Entertainment and security monitoring apparatus
An entertainment and monitoring apparatus for use in monitoring the safety of an infant includes a housing having opposed ends, the housing having an arcuate configuration between opposed ends. The ends define openings in communication with an interior area. First and second extension members are movable through respective ends between retracted configurations substantially inside the housing and extended configurations substantially outside of and extending away from the openings. First and second guard members are coupled to distal ends of respective extension members, the guard members having free ends displaced from one another at respective retracted configurations and adjacent one another at respective extended configurations. A proximity sensor is positioned on the first guard member and configured to detect movement between respective free ends of first and second guard members. A first speaker is electrically connected to the proximity sensor and actuated when movement is detected. |
| US09330551B2 |
Apparatus of monitoring electrical fire for power distribution pannels
An early electrical fire sensing system for a high voltage panel, a low voltage panel, a motor control panel, a distribution board, or a power distribution panel comprises the first laser that emits the frequency beam absorbed by benzyl alcohol gas and the first detecting device which detects the first beam intensity; the second laser which emits the frequency beam absorbed by BHT gas and the second detecting device which detects the second laser beam intensity; and a main control unit which consists of a microprocessor. The main control unit gives a fire alarm event when the first laser beam intensity of the first detecting device is decreased more than a reference value, while a fire emergent alarm event when the second laser beam intensity of the second detecting device is decreased more than a reference value. |
| US09330544B2 |
System and method for simulated physical interactions with haptic effects
A system of the present disclosure may include a sensor configured to detect user interaction with a touch surface and transmit a sensor signal associated with the user interaction; a processor in communication with the sensor, the processor configured to: determine a position of the user interaction based on the sensor signal, determine a feature associated with the position of the user interaction, control a device associated with the feature, modify a display signal based in part on the user interaction, select a haptic effect to generate based at least in part on user interaction and the position, the haptic effect selected to simulate the feature, and transmit a haptic signal to generate the haptic effect, and a haptic output device in communication with the processor and coupled to the touch surface, the haptic output device configured to receive a haptic signal and output a haptic effect. |
| US09330543B2 |
Managing serviceability modes
A computer-implemented method, carried out by one or more processors, for managing serviceability modes in a data center. In an embodiment, the method comprises the steps of receiving a serviceability mode selection for a component in a data center, wherein the serviceability mode correlates to information presented by one or more components in the data center; assigning a scheme for one or more LEDs on the component based, at least in part, on the received serviceability mode selection; and determining to activate the one or more LEDs on the component based at least on the assigned scheme. |
| US09330542B1 |
Configurable colored indicator on computing device
A computing device includes a memory storing executable instructions, a processor configured to execute the instructions, a programmable display screen configured to display text-based information, and a multi-color indicator. The multi-color indicator is located on a surface of the computing device and includes a plurality of segments, each segment configured to display at least four different colors, where colors displayed by segments of the multi-color indicator are programmable, through execution of the instructions by the processor, to display non-text-based information. |
| US09330539B2 |
Gaming system and method for providing a matching game
A gaming system selects and displays one of a plurality of symbol blocks in each of a plurality of block positions, wherein each of the selected blocks includes at least one partial symbol. Each partial symbol has at least one complementary partial symbol which, when arranged in a designated spatial relationship with one another, form a complete matching symbol. If any of the partial symbols on the selected blocks create a complete matching symbol, the gaming system provides at least one award to the player. Each matching block which includes any portion of a complete matching symbol is then removed, creating an empty block position. The gaming system then fills the empty block position by either shifting a displayed block into the empty block position or by selecting a new block. The gaming system repeats this process until no complete matching symbols are formed. |
| US09330533B2 |
Anti-cheating system
An anti-cheating system includes a real world controller constructed to provide a randomly generated payout of real world credits for a wager of an amount of real world credits; an entertainment software controller constructed to provide outcomes upon a player's skillful execution of an entertainment game; a game world controller connecting the real world controller to the entertainment software controller using a communication link, the game world controller constructed to: manage the entertainment software controller and communicate gameplay gambling event occurrences to the real world controller; analyze player performance information to determine whether cheating is occurring by evaluating whether the player's current gameplay performance is beyond a statistical limit of randomness inherent in the hybrid game by comparing the player's current gameplay performance with historical gameplay using an outlier test; and communicate a command to penalize the player during play of the hybrid game. |
| US09330527B2 |
Systems, methods and devices for playing wagering games with randomized clumping of symbols
Gaming devices, gaming systems, methods of conducting a wagering game, and computer programs for initiating a wagering game are presented herein. A gaming system is presented that includes a wager input device, a display, and a controller. The wager input device receives wagers from players to play the wagering game. The display displays outcomes of the wagering game. Prior to displaying the outcome of the wagering game, the controller determines whether to add at least one symbol clump to at least one of a plurality of reels. A symbol clump comprises one or more identical symbols occupying two or more symbol positions located immediately adjacent one another on one reel. In response to a determination to add at least one symbol clump, the controller instructs the display to visually indicate the addition of the symbol clump to the reel, and to display the outcome of the wagering game. |
| US09330526B2 |
Gaming machine
A gaming machine according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a display panel configured to display images of a game, the display panel including a screen facing downward; a partial mirror disposed under the display panel and inclined with respect to the screen to partially reflect the images from the display panel into a forward direction; a background member disposed rear to the partial mirror such that an image of the background member passes through the partial mirror into the forward direction to overlap the images from the display panel; and a controller configured to execute the game and to control the display panel. |
| US09330522B2 |
Gaming system and a method of gaming
A gaming system is disclosed which comprises a symbol selector arranged to select a plurality of symbols for display at a corresponding plurality of display positions, an outcome evaluator arranged to determine whether the selected symbols correspond to a winning symbol combination by evaluating symbols disposed in defined win lines, and a prize allocator arranged to allocate a prize to a player when a winning symbol combination exists in a defined win line. At least one display position is of different size to at least one other display position and the defined win lines are dependent on the respective sizes of and locations of the display positions. A corresponding method is also disclosed. |
| US09330521B2 |
Amusement device for secondary games
Various embodiments of amusement devices and methods for various games are described. In some embodiments, a secondary player may engage in a game started by a first player. Various additional methods and apparatus are described. |
| US09330519B2 |
Automatic dispensing machine
The present invention relates to an automatic dispensing machine having an elevator for transporting the products from the tray area to the collection box, which increases the capacity of the products that can be dispensed, in addition to increasing the machine's capacity due to the fact that it can store a larger number of products for being subsequently dispensed, due to the fact that the elevator comprises a rotatable upper lid which allows the rotating shaft of the product collection door to be disposed at a greater height than the upper lid of the elevator, thereby increasing the capacity of the elevator and that of the products that can be dispensed, as well as the number of tray rows. |
| US09330518B2 |
Automatic teller machine and method to align media thereof
An automatic teller machine (ATM) including a medium receiving portion to receive a paper medium, a medium transfer portion to transfer the paper medium received through the medium receiving portion to a cassette as a storage space, and a medium alignment portion disposed on a transfer path of the medium transfer portion to align the paper medium. The medium alignment portion includes a drum-type alignment body including a transfer path connected to the transfer path of the medium transfer portion so that the paper medium passes through the transfer path in a rotating manner, and including an alignment reference surface to align the paper medium; driving rollers disposed in the alignment body to drive the paper medium forward along the transfer path; and inclined rollers disposed outside of the alignment body corresponding to the driving rollers, and selectively inclined from a transfer direction of the paper medium. |
| US09330517B2 |
Coin identification system and method using image processing
A coin identification system and method is disclosed for determining the identity of a source coin by way of image processing. The system comprises a source coin image capture means, an image processing means, and an output that relays information to the user or sorts the coin according to its match results. The processing means compares at least one image of the source coin to a plurality of reference coin images, whereby the image of the source coin is manipulated and overlaid onto the reference coin images to determine if a match is available with a given probability. An embodiment of the system employs a coin collection and sorting device. Another embodiment contemplates a handheld electronic device that captures and processes the source coin. Both embodiments may connect to a remote server housing the reference coin information or store the information locally. |
| US09330513B2 |
Resource management based on biometric data
The techniques and systems disclosed herein pertain to preventing unauthorized access to computing resources by unauthorized persons by deploying biometric security. To implement biometric security, the computing device, possibly by the OS, may obtain samples of one or more biometric factors unique to the owner. The computing device may construct pattern-matching templates corresponding to the biometric samples, which may be stored for later use when a protected resource is requested. Computing resources may be selected for protection by a biometric security mechanism by an authorized user or by other techniques or default settings. Before allowing certain restricted actions, the OS may request that the user provide one of the previously registered biometric samples. If the biometric sample matches the user's stored pattern-matching template, the OS may grant access to the computing resource, otherwise, the OS may deny access to the computing resource. |
| US09330512B2 |
Method for managing information
A method for managing information obtains, through a first communication circuit, a locker identifier and a user identifier from a locker into which a user card has been inserted, obtaining, through a second communication circuit, a machine identifier and a key identifier from a machine that has read the key identifier, and outputting, using a first database that associates the locker identifier and the key identifier with each other and the obtained locker identifier and user identifier, the user identifier corresponding to the key identifier to the machine to set the user identifier to the machine. |
| US09330511B2 |
Apparatus and methods for identity verification
An identity verification device comprises a cellular telecommunications modem and a fingerprint scanner coupled to the modem, the verification device being configured for storing first fingerprint data in an enrollment process and being operable, in response to the modem receiving a verification command via a cellular telecommunications network, to perform a verification process in which the fingerprint scanner scans a fingerprint to obtain second fingerprint data, the first and second fingerprint data are compared with each other, and in the event of a match between the first and second fingerprint data, the modem transmits a response signal to a predetermined destination via the telecommunications network. The device may be used in a networked telecommunications system in which the electronic transactions may be initiated by smart cards and other devices. |
| US09330505B2 |
Automatic search based on detected user interest in vehicle
A method of automatically performing a search based on user interest detected in a vehicle is provided. A user interest of a user in a vehicle is detected by examining sensor information from one or more sensors in the vehicle. A search is automatically performed for items relevant to the user interest. A user interface in the vehicle is then caused to display the items relevant to the user interest. |
| US09330503B2 |
Presaging and surfacing interactivity within data visualizations
The use of visual cues associated with rendered visual items to cue a user on whether a rendered visual item has interactive capability and/or what type of interaction is possible with that visual item. The visual items may be rendered in a data driven way with each constructed using a corresponding parameterized view component. The parameter(s) are populated by data, perhaps by model variables obtained from an analytical model. The parameters then drive logic associated with the view component to thereby construct a visual item which may then be rendered. The rendering engine then renders the visual item with the visual cue. The user may then interact with the rendered visual item. Such interaction might cause some external action to occur, might change which visual items are displayed, and/or might change a value of the input parameters of one or more view components used to generate displayed visual items. |
| US09330492B2 |
Prediction method, generation method and storage medium
A prediction method generates a fragment number map having a predetermined number of pixels and a mipmap of the fragment number map, and for a pixel of one layer in the mipmap, derives an estimated number of fragments included on average on one light path in a case where ray-bundles for a light transport computation are defined for a corresponding region in a 3D scene corresponding to the pixel, and outputs, as a predicted number of ray-bundle light paths for the computation storable in a predetermined memory region for a pixel of one layer, a value obtained by dividing the size of the memory region by this value. The method derives an estimated number of fragments by adding a compensation value corresponding to a layer of the pixels in the number of fragments which is a pixel value of one pixel. |
| US09330491B2 |
Context constrained novel view interpolation
Aspects of the present invention include systems and methods for generating a novel view interpolation. In embodiments, feature correspondences and geometrical contexts are used to find additional correspondences based on the assumption of the local linear transformation. The accuracy and the number of correspondence matches may be improved by iterative refinement. Having obtained a set of correspondences, a novel view image can be generated. |
| US09330489B2 |
Mobile apparatus displaying a 3D image comprising a plurality of layers and display method thereof
A mobile apparatus is provided including a display unit which displays layers in different depth degrees from each other and displays a plurality of layers which are arranged in a depth direction of a screen in 3D images, including a sensing unit to sense movement of the mobile apparatus, and a control unit which controls a plurality of layers according to movement direction and movement distance, when movement of the mobile apparatus moving toward a depth direction of a screen is sensed. |
| US09330488B2 |
Three-dimensional display of specifications in a scalable feed forward network
Technologies are described herein for generating a three-dimensional display. Some technologies are adapted to retrieve a model defining a feed-forward network related to a development process. The technologies generate a first three-dimensional shape representing each internal product according to the model. The technologies also generate a second three-dimensional shape representing each dependency of each internal product corresponding to each first three-dimensional shape. The technologies further generate a third three-dimensional shape representing each component of each dependency corresponding to each second three-dimensional shape. |
| US09330486B1 |
Optimizations of three-dimensional (3D) geometry
A computer can identify discrete objects within a 3D geometry in a vector-based format. The computer can compare a spatial property of each of the discrete objects against an established spatial range. From the comparing, the computer can determining that a set of the discrete objects have a spatial property within the spatial range. The computer can omit the discrete objects from the 3D geometry as a group to create an altered 3D geometry. The computer can submit the altered 3D geometry to a render engine for display. The number of polygons in the altered 3D geometry is less than the number of polygon faces in the 3D geometry. |
| US09330485B2 |
Volume rendering of medical images
Certain embodiments provide a photo-realistic rendering apparatus and method. An illumination model is used that includes placing a synthetic or virtual light source adjacent a region of tissue of interest in order to visualize the thickness of the tissue by modeling how light from the virtual light source interacts with the tissue of interest, through effects including absorption and scattering, as light emitted from the light source travels through the tissue of interest to a view point of view plane. It is simulated how some light is absorbed making tissue regions that are thicker darker (since more of the light is absorbed and the intensity reduces) and more red (since tissue tends to absorb blue and green wavelengths more strongly than red wavelengths and this chromatic effect is incorporated in the illumination model). A 2D image can thus be provided in which the color and intensity of light propagating through the tissue provides visual feedback on the tissue thickness. |
| US09330484B2 |
Plane panorama location correction in three-dimensional mapping
Correction of the locations of panoramas and associated physical locations in a region are disclosed. The task of correcting the locations of the panoramas is divided into XY location correction followed by Z location correction. The panorama set is filtered to remove extraneous planes. In XY-plane correction, neighboring panoramas are identified using a neighbor graph, and the locations of sets of neighboring planes are constrained to be within a specified distance of one another, and a system of linear equations is constructed to represent the locations of the panoramas. A weighted absolute sum of the constraints is minimized across the entire system using a convex quadratic program solver to derive new locations for the planes. The location of ground planes is similarly corrected using a minimization of errors technique. |
| US09330483B2 |
Avatar facial expression techniques
A method and apparatus for capturing and representing 3D wireframe, color and shading of facial expressions are provided, wherein the method includes the following steps: storing a plurality of feature data sequences, each of the feature data sequences corresponding to one of the plurality of facial expressions; and retrieving one of the feature data sequences based on user facial feature data; and mapping the retrieved feature data sequence to an avatar face. The method may advantageously provide improvements in execution speed and communications bandwidth. |
| US09330482B2 |
Display apparatus and display method for capturing hand-drawn images
A control unit detects first coordinates, second coordinates, and third coordinates in this order, and renders a line based on a writing pressure at the time of detecting the second coordinates, on a writing pressure at the time of detecting the third coordinates, and on the direction of a line segment connecting between the first coordinates and the second coordinates. |
| US09330476B2 |
Generating a modified image with additional content provided for a region thereof
An image is displayed in a computer system. The image includes contents having a feature visible therein. The contents have a region thereof defined to be provided with additional content in generating a modified image. An input is received comprising a semantic mark to be placed on the image. The semantic mark indicates an inside-region part inside the region and an outside-region part outside the region. The additional content for the region is determined using a patch-based optimization algorithm applied to the image. The patch-based optimization algorithm (i) identifies the additional content for the inside-region part based on the outside-region part and not on an area of the image that the semantic mark does not indicate, and (ii) identifies the additional content for a remainder of the region without being restricted to the outside-region part. The modified image having the additional content in the region is stored. |
| US09330473B2 |
Image processing apparatus, and non-transitory computer readable medium
Provided is an image processing apparatus including a color conversion unit that performs color conversion to convert an original image to a luminance image and to a chromaticity image, an illumination image generation unit that generates an illumination image having an illumination component of the luminance image as a pixel value from the luminance image, a reflectance image generation unit that generates a reflectance image having a stabilized reflectance component of the luminance image as a pixel value, a luminance reproduction image generation unit that enhances the reflectance component of the luminance image to generate a luminance reproduction image reproduced with being improved visibility of the luminance image, and an inverse color conversion unit that performs conversion inverse to the color conversion performed by the color conversion unit on the luminance reproduction image and the chromaticity image. |
| US09330471B2 |
Camera aided motion direction and speed estimation
Methods and devices for camera aided motion direction and speed estimation are disclosed. The method of determining position characteristics of a mobile device comprises capturing a plurality of images that represent views from the mobile device, adjusting perspectives of the plurality of images based at least in part on an orientation of the mobile device, determining a misalignment angle with respect to a direction of motion of the mobile device using the plurality of images, and storing the misalignment angle and the direction of motion in a storage device. |
| US09330470B2 |
Method and system for modeling subjects from a depth map
A method for modeling and tracking a subject using image depth data includes locating the subject's trunk in the image depth data and creating a three-dimensional (3D) model of the subject's trunk. Further, the method includes locating the subject's head in the image depth data and creating a 3D model of the subject's head. The 3D models of the subject's head and trunk can be exploited by removing pixels from the image depth data corresponding to the trunk and the head of the subject, and the remaining image depth data can then be used to locate and track an extremity of the subject. |
| US09330463B2 |
Method of calibrating a camera and a system therefor
A system and method for calibrating a camera includes an energy source and a camera to be calibrated, with at least one of the energy source and the camera being mounted on a mechanical actuator so that it is movable relative to the other. A processor is connected to the energy source, the mechanical actuator and the camera and is programmed to control the mechanical actuator to move at least one of the energy source and the camera relative to the other through a plurality of discrete points on a calibration target pattern. The processor further, at each of the discrete points, controls the camera to take a digital image and perform a lens distortion characterization on each image. A focal length of the camera is determined including any lens connected to the camera and an extrinsic camera position for each image is then determined. |
| US09330461B2 |
Image-based method for measuring elasticity of biological tissues and system thereof
The present disclosure proposes an image-based method for measuring elasticity of biological tissues including following steps: obtaining N successive grayscale images of a testing biological tissue, where N is a positive integer; obtaining regions of interest (ROI) of the grayscale images; dividing the regions of interest into a grid of small sections; calculating relative displacement vector of each interrogation window using texture matching method; and calculating elastic modulus of each interrogation window according to the relative displacement vectors. The present disclosure also proposes an image-based system for measuring elasticity of biological tissues. The present disclosure applies to various resolutions of grayscale images obtaining in ultrasound imaging, optical imaging, photoacoustic imaging, CT imaging, magnetic resonance imaging ect. The system can be integrated into a traditional clinical imaging system as an image post-processing software module to characterize tissue elasticity. Because it's no need to update the traditional clinical imaging system hardware, updating cost is low. It's easy to be accepted by hospital and is convenient to popularize. |
| US09330459B2 |
Thermometer having a digital infrared sensor on a circuit board that is separate from a microprocessor
A non-touch thermometer that includes a first circuit board that has a microprocessor, a battery operably coupled to the microprocessor and a single button operably coupled to the microprocessor, the non-touch thermometer also includes a camera operably coupled to the microprocessor that provides at least two images to the microprocessor, the non-touch thermometer also includes a second circuit board that has a digital infrared sensor operably coupled to the microprocessor with no analog-to-digital converter operably coupled between the digital infrared sensor and the microprocessor, the digital infrared sensor having only digital readout ports, the digital infrared sensor having no analog sensor readout ports, the microprocessor is operable to receive from the digital readout ports a digital signal that is representative of an infrared signal detected by the digital infrared sensor and the microprocessor is operable to determine a temperature from the digital signal that is representative of the infrared signal. |
| US09330458B2 |
Methods and systems for estimating scatter
Techniques described herein generally relate to estimating scatter. In one embodiment, one example method for estimating scatter associated with a target object may include generating a set of original projections associated with the target object, generating a set of reference scatter data associated with the target object at one or more selected projection angles, generating a first set of estimated scatter data associated with the target object also at the one or more selected projection angles, adjusting first values for one or more kernel parameters of one or more kernels that reduce a difference between the set of reference scatter data and the first set of estimated scatter data, interpolating the adjusted first values for remaining projections out of the set of original projections to generate second values for the one or more kernel parameters, and generating a second set of estimated scatter data associated with the target object. |
| US09330457B2 |
Device, method, and program for analyzing a magnetic resonance image using phase difference distribution
An image analysis device for analyzing a magnetic resonance image obtained from a living body includes a phase difference distribution creating unit configured to create a phase difference distribution of a magnetic resonance image obtained from a predetermined area of the living body, a fitting unit configured to fit the phase difference distribution created by the phase difference distribution creating unit with a plurality of function groups, and a verifying unit configured to verify normality of the living body included in the predetermined area, based on the magnetic susceptibility of the tissue included in the predetermined area determined on the basis of the parameters of the plurality of function groups fit to the phase difference distribution by the fitting unit. |
| US09330453B2 |
Apparatus and method for determining a skin inflammation value
The invention relates to an apparatus and to a method for determining a skin inflammation value. The apparatus comprises an optoelectronic measuring device, preferably a 3D scanner, for recording a three-dimensional image of an inflammation region on human or animal skin, wherein area-related, spatial, and color values of the three-dimensional image can be detected by the optoelectronic measuring device, a computing unit for calculating the skin inflammation value from the area-related, spatial, and color values detected by the measuring device, and a display unit for displaying the calculated skin inflammation value. |
| US09330450B2 |
Method and apparatus for detecting repetitive pattern in image
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of detecting a repetitive pattern. The method includes: clustering a plurality of pixels that form an input image according to color and obtaining one or more color layers composed of pixels included in each cluster; selecting one or more effective layers from the color layers, wherein each of the effective layers includes a predetermined number or more of pixel components, each composed of a plurality of pixels and having a predetermined shape or a predetermined size of area; selecting a unit pattern repeatedly disposed at different locations in each effective layer from the pixel components included in each effective layer; calculating distances between the unit patterns in each effective layer; and calculating a repetition cycle of the unit pattern of the input image based on the calculated distances in each effective layer. |
| US09330449B2 |
System and method for ground based inspection of wind turbine blades
A ground based wind turbine blade inspection system and method consists of a thermal imaging camera configured to detect propagating defects by acquiring thermal imaging data from a wind turbine blade when it is substantially at thermal equilibrium with respect to surrounding air and analyzing the thermal imaging data with a processor to identify thermal effects associated with latent defects caused by internal friction due to cyclic gravitational stresses and wind loads during normal turbine operation. The system permits latent defects to be identified using a ground-based in situ inspection before they become visually apparent, which allows repairs to be made economically while the blade is in place. |
| US09330448B2 |
Adaptive feature recognition tool
The present invention provides an adaptive feature recognition tool that can be used to determine the location and/or count discrete features on an object being manufactured in a relatively quick time fashion. The tool can include an elongated rigid member that has a first end with a generally planar surface, the generally planar surface having a plurality of contrast targets thereon. The elongated rigid member can also have a second end for placement at a desired location, for example placement on a plurality of features whose number and/or location(s) on the object is desired. In addition, an exposure device that is operable to expose specific subsets of the plurality of contrast targets to a line-of-sight digital imaging device can be included. |
| US09330435B2 |
Bare earth finding and feature extraction for 3D point clouds
Generally discussed herein are systems and apparatuses that relate to systems and methods for analysis of 3D light radar (LiDAR) point clouds. The disclosure also includes techniques of bare earth and feature extraction. According to an example, bare earth and feature extraction can include estimation of a ground layer, generation of an inverse Above Ground Layer (AGL), identification of paths, roads, and cleared areas, identification and removal of buildings, and identification of a Human Activity Layer (HAL). This combination of features may provide for a much higher probability of detection of human activity. |
| US09330434B1 |
Art-directable retargeting for streaming video
Techniques are provided for content-aware video retargeting. An interactive framework combines key frame-based constraint editing with numerous automatic algorithms for video analysis. This combination gives content producers a high level of control of the retargeting process. One component of the framework is a non-uniform, pixel-accurate warp to the target resolution that considers automatic as well as interactively-defined features. Automatic features comprise video saliency, edge preservation at the pixel resolution, and scene cut detection to enforce bilateral temporal coherence. Additional high level constraints can be added by the producer to achieve a consistent scene composition across arbitrary output formats. Advantageously, embodiments of the invention provide a better visual result for retargeted video when compared to using conventional techniques. |
| US09330431B2 |
System and method for synchronizing, merging, and utilizing multiple data sets for augmented reality application
Systems and methods for synchronizing, merging, and utilizing multiple data sets for augmented reality application are disclosed. In one example, an electronic system receives and processes live recorded video information, GPS information, map data information, and points of interest information to produce a data set comprising merged graphical and/or audio information and non-graphical and non-audio information metadata that are referenced to the same clock and timestamp information. This data set can be stored in a cloud network storage. By retaining numerical and textual values of non-graphical and non-audio information (e.g. camera viewing angle information, GPS coordinates, accelerometer values, and compass coordinates) as metadata that are referenced to the same clock and timestamp information within the data set, an augmented reality application that replays information or augments information in real time can dynamically select or change how the data set is presented in augmented reality based on dynamically-changeable user preferences. |
| US09330430B2 |
Fast queries in a multithreaded queue of a graphics system
According to one aspect of the invention, a query request is received from a client application at a multithreaded graphics framework. The multithreaded graphics framework including a first thread configured to place graphics commands from the client application into a command queue and a second thread configured to dispatch the graphics commands from the command queue to a graphics processing unit (GPU) for execution. In response to the query request, the first thread is configured to store query information of the query request in a query block of memory that is separated from the command queue and notifying the second thread. In response to the notification, the second thread is configured to issue a query command to the GPU based on the query information retrieved from the query block, prior to dispatching remaining graphics commands pending in the command queue. |
| US09330427B2 |
Smartphone-based methods and systems
Arrangements involving portable devices (e.g., smartphones and tablet computers) are disclosed. One arrangement enables a content creator to select software with which that creator's content should be rendered—assuring continuity between artistic intention and delivery. Another utilizes a device camera to identify nearby subjects, and take actions based thereon. Others rely on near field chip (RFID) identification of objects, or on identification of audio streams (e.g., music, voice). Some technologies concern improvements to the user interfaces associated with such devices. Others involve use of these devices in connection with shopping, text entry, sign language interpretation, and vision-based discovery. Still other improvements are architectural in nature, e.g., relating to evidence-based state machines, and blackboard systems. Yet other technologies concern use of linked data in portable devices—some of which exploit GPU capabilities. Still other technologies concern computational photography. A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed. |
| US09330425B2 |
Power profile management
A power profile management method and system. The method includes retrieving by a computer processor input data associated with a user of power consumption devices at a specified location. The computer processor retrieves power consumption data comprising power consumption levels for the power consumption devices. The computer processor generates and transmits a mobile usage portfolio associated said user and the power consumption devices. The computer processor generates a load usage prediction report associated with the user and the power consumption devices. The load usage prediction report is generated based on the mobile usage portfolio and said power consumption data. The computer processor transmits the load usage prediction report to a power provider utility for analysis. |
| US09330424B2 |
Power management analysis and modeling for distributed computer systems
A system and method for performing a hypothetical power management analysis on a distributed computer system uses chronologically consecutive snapshots of the distributed computer system. The snapshots are used to extract demands of clients running in the distributed computer system for a resource for different time intervals, which are then stitched together to produce a workload trace. The snapshots and the workload trace are used to construct modeling scenarios for the distributed computer system. The modeling scenarios are used to perform analyzes to simulate the operation of the distributed computer system during which the power management module is enabled to compute potential power savings. |
| US09330413B2 |
Checkout and/or ordering systems and methods
Methods and apparatus are disclosed provide various enhancements and/or improvements to the conventional shopping process used by brick-and-mortar stores. In some embodiments, a customer may use a mobile computing device, such as a smart phone, to select and pay for items in a brick-and-mortar store. Such shopping process may permit the customer to purchase numerous items without the using of shopping basket or a wheeled shopping cart. The shopping process may further permit the customer to pay for items and leave the store with such items without waiting in a checkout line. |
| US09330412B2 |
Mining product recommendation from query reformulations
In various example embodiments, systems and methods to mine product recommendations from query reformulation is provided. In example embodiments, a search query is mapped to a particular product. Transition data for the particular product is accessed. The transition data includes values reflecting a number of search transitions between the particular product and other products in session sets of previous queries. One or more recommendations based on the transition data is determined and provided to the user. |
| US09330411B2 |
High-performance graph analytics engine making recommendations using a finite state machine/FSM, bitmasks, and graphs with edges representing purchases, and vertices representing customers and products
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for generating a product recommendation. During operation, the system receives graph data indicating vertices and edges of the graph. The vertices represent customers and products and the edges represent purchases. The system then receives a query of the graph to determine a product recommendation. Next, the system generates a finite-state machine (FSM) based on the query, executes the query, and determines whether a current state of the FSM is a traversal state. In response to the current state being a traversal state, the system generates a traversal FSM. The system then searches the traversal FSM for a nearest future traversal state, generates a bitmask for the future traversal state, and utilizes the generated bitmask when executing the future traversal state to generate the product recommendation. |
| US09330409B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and information processing program
It is made possible that a user easily find a part which the user wants to see from contents of information of an item for sale purchased by the user. An information processing apparatus determines whether or not a user who requests contents including information of an item for sale has purchased the item for sale. Further, the information processing apparatus identifies a part that has been seen in the contents on the basis of a history indicating at least a displayed part of the contents after purchase of the item for sale. Then, the information processing apparatus causes the contents to be displayed in a state in which the identified part is seen more preferentially when it is determined that the user has purchased the item for sale than when it is determined that the user has not purchased the item for sale. |
| US09330407B2 |
Specification and display of product customization options
In an embodiment, a method includes receiving one or more attribute location inputs. Each attribute location input identifies a location within a product image depicting a customizable product. The method includes receiving an attribute definition for each of the one or more attribute location inputs. The method also includes storing customization information that associates the locations specified in the location inputs with attribute definition information included in the respective attribute definition. In another embodiment, a method includes causing the display of a product image depicting a customizable product. One or more locations within the product image are each associated with a respective customizable attribute. The method includes causing the display of an attribute image representing a particular customizable attribute associated with the particular location in association with a particular location of the one or more locations within the product selection image. |
| US09330403B2 |
Delivery control apparatus, information delivery system, and information delivery method
A delivery control apparatus is connected to an electronic apparatus. The delivery control apparatus includes: an acquiring unit that acquires electronic apparatus information concerning the electronic apparatus from the electronic apparatus; a selecting unit that selects delivery information corresponding to the electronic apparatus information out of one or more pieces of delivery information; and a delivery processing unit that executes at least one of processing of delivering the selected delivery information to the electronic apparatus and processing of storing access information to the selected delivery information. |
| US09330401B2 |
Validation of mobile advertising from derived information
A system and method of validating an advertisement presented to an advertisement recipient via a mobile communication device includes presenting an advertisement for a product or service to a recipient via a mobile communication device, monitoring the geospatial location of the mobile communication device relative to some predetermined criteria, and inferring information about the reaction of the advertisement recipient to the advertisement on the basis of the monitored geospatial location information. |
| US09330400B2 |
Systems and methods for injecting content
Aspects of the present disclosure include systems and methods for injecting content into a webpage at or local to a network access gateway. For example, in an embodiment, a network access gateway is provided for accessing the internet. A user logs onto the internet through the network access gateway and request a webpage. The gateway requests the webpage from the webpage provider. Before the gateway delivers the webpage to the user, the gateway, or a content injection engine local to the gateway, injects content, such as, for example, advertisements or other useful information, into the webpage and then sends the altered webpage to the user. |
| US09330399B2 |
Digital punch card for mobile device
A method for verifying a location of a user of a mobile device is disclosed. The method involves: receiving an indicia of a location of the mobile device based on an at-location element proximate to the mobile device; receiving a global positioning system (GPS) position associated with the mobile device; determining whether at least one security condition is satisfied based on the indicia of the location and the GPS position; and causing a next action to occur when the at least one security condition is satisfied, or not causing the next action to occur when the at least one security condition is not satisfied. |
| US09330398B2 |
Internet protocol multi-media system value voucher distribution with network storage and redemption
A system and method may comprise providing, via a computing device, a connection link to an end user device having a network connectivity access network element; extracting, via an advertisement server, an offer of a value voucher unique to the end user from a database connected to the advertisement server and presenting, through the end user device, an offer of the value voucher to the end user; receiving, via the computing device, from the end user an acceptance of the value voucher; and storing the value voucher in a coupon database in an Internet accessible coupon storage locker unique to the end user. |
| US09330396B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing information collection using template-based user tasks
An approach is provided for providing information collection using template-based user tasks. The collection platform processes and/or facilitates a processing of partial information for insertion into one or more task templates to cause, at least in part, creation of one or more user tasks to verify, to extend, or a combination thereof the partial information according to one or more system requirements for information. Next, the collection platform causes, at least in part, a distribution of the one or more user tasks based, at least in part, on the one or more system requirements, history information relating to participation of one or more users, or a combination thereof. |
| US09330391B1 |
Temporary membership in online communities
Embodiments of the present invention relate to dynamic determination of membership duration based on ongoing interactions with online communities. In one embodiment of the present invention, a method of and computer program product for providing temporary membership in online communities are provided. A membership record is created corresponding to a user of an online community. An initial expiration date is assigned to the membership record. At least one activity of the user in the online community is detected. A revised expiration date is assigned to the membership record based on the at least one activity of the user. |
| US09330390B2 |
Securing a driver license service electronic transaction via a three-dimensional electronic transaction authentication protocol
Methods and systems are provided for supporting electronic transactions, including transactions that are provided with per-user, per-device and per-domain security across domains of multiple service providers. |
| US09330387B2 |
Alternative payment method for online transactions using interactive voice response
A method for performing payments in remote transactions between a buyer and a vendor is provided. The method includes receiving buyer information from a vendor's network outlet when the buyer indicates a desire to purchase a selection at a later time through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) center; providing a token to the buyer; receiving information about the token from the buyer through the IVR center; verifying the information about the token; transferring funds from a buyer account to a vendor account. Also provided is a system for processing payments in remote transactions including an IVR center to: receive a request for token from a buyer to purchase products from a vendor, and to receive information about the product; provide the token to the buyer; access a database, the database including information from vendor's and buyer's accounts; transfer funds from buyer's account to vendor's account upon buyer confirmation. |
| US09330386B2 |
Device, system and method for reducing an interaction time for a contactless transaction
A method comprising, at a reader, performing at least one transaction-based risk management process prior to energizing a contactless interface, initiating communication with a card utilized for a contactless transaction, receiving information associated with the card, terminating communication with the card, and authorizing the contactless transaction. |
| US09330384B2 |
In-store card activation
A user having an account with a payment provider is able to go to a store or merchant location and pick an unregistered payment card associated with the payment provider. The card may have a magnetic strip encoded with a number unique to the card and a machine readable code, such as a QR/barcode, embossed thereon. The card may or may not have a corresponding number embossed or printed on the card. Once a card is selected, the user may open an application on the user's mobile smart phone or other device to scan or otherwise capture the number associated with the card. The user may scan the QR/barcode, take a picture of the number, speak the number into the device, or even manually enter the number into the user's device. The user, either before or after the number capture, also authenticates with the payment provider, such as by entering login credentials, which may include a password/PIN and a user identifier if needed. The user may then confirm a request to associate or link the scanned card with the user's payment provider account. Once done, the card is now activated and linked to the user account so that the user can immediately use the card for purchases. |
| US09330382B2 |
Method to facilitate an in-store audit after issuance of an electronic receipt
Techniques for allowing a store security associate to complete a purchase audit for a customer leaving a brick and mortar store are disclosed. The techniques include preparing an electronic receipt for completed purchase transaction and transmitting a copy of the electronic receipt to a store audit electronic device at the brick and mortar store. The techniques also include receiving customer information into the store audit electronic device to identify the copy of the electronic receipt associated with a customer, displaying the copy of the electronic receipt on the store audit electronic device, and reviewing the copy of the electronic receipt on the store audit electronic device to verify that the customer has purchased items which are in the customer's possession as the customer exits the store. |
| US09330379B2 |
Providing notifications of messages for consumption
Embodiments of apparatus, packages, computer-implemented methods, systems, devices, and computer-readable media (transitory and non-transitory) are described herein for providing a notification of a message to a recipient for consumption using a computing device. In various embodiments, provision of the notification may be in a timing or manner that is based on a characteristic of the message, an operational context of the system, and/or empirical data about preferred timing or manner of notification of at least another message to the same or different recipient. In various embodiments, the at least another message may share the same characteristic, or may have a related characteristic. |
| US09330378B2 |
Management and synchronization of related electronic communications
Embodiments of the present invention provide a system, method, and program product for managing and synchronizing electronic communications having one or more common topics. A computer system detects a first electronic communication involving a first user and a first set of users. The computer system analyzes the first electronic communication to identify a topic and determines whether the identified topic matches a topic of a second electronic communication involving the first user and a second set of users. Responsive to the identified topic of the first electronic communication matching a topic of the second electronic communication, the computer system provides to the first user an option to initiate an electronic communication involving the first user and the first and second sets of users. |
| US09330377B2 |
System and method of updating related documents
The present disclosure is directed to updating related documents. In some implementations, a method includes receiving a notification of an intention to update to a predecessor document in a business process prior to receiving a specific update to the predecessor document. In response to at least the potential-update notification, a successor document in the business process is identified. The successor document depends on information identified by the predecessor document. Release of the successor document is substantially prevented in connection with the notification of the intent to update to the predecessor document. |
| US09330372B2 |
Generating an improved development infrastructure
Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product embodiments for generating an optimal development infrastructure. An embodiment operates by decomposing a development process into one or more functional requirements, mapping each functional requirement of the decomposed development process to the one or more corresponding functional capabilities, and selecting one or more services operable to implement each mapped functional capability, wherein each service comprises one or more functional capabilities. |
| US09330371B2 |
Method of processing documents relating to shipped articles
In the method of processing documents relating to shipped articles, automatic means execute the following steps: performing character recognition in at least one document made available by a carrier of the articles; obtaining at least one article reference made up of characters; obtaining at least one character string associated with the reference and distinct therefrom; calculating respective match percentages between the string and templates in a database; determining whether at least one of the percentages satisfies at least one predetermined condition; and when the condition is satisfied, associating the article reference with a template of the database relating to said percentage, and executing an action concerning the article reference by means of the associated template. |
| US09330362B2 |
Tuning hyper-parameters of a computer-executable learning algorithm
Technologies pertaining to tuning a hyper-parameter configuration of a learning algorithm are described. The learning algorithm learns parameters of a predictive model based upon the hyper-parameter configuration. Candidate hyper-parameter configurations are identified, and statistical hypothesis tests are undertaken over respective pairs of candidate hyper-parameter configurations to identify, for each pair of candidate hyper-parameter configurations, which of the two configurations is associated with better predictive performance. The technologies described herein take into consideration the stochastic nature of training data, validation data, and evaluation functions. |
| US09330355B2 |
Computed synapses for neuromorphic systems
Methods and apparatus are provided for determining synapses in an artificial nervous system based on connectivity patterns. One example method generally includes determining, for an artificial neuron, an event has occurred; based on the event, determining one or more synapses with other artificial neurons based on a connectivity pattern associated with the artificial neuron; and applying a spike from the artificial neuron to the other artificial neurons based on the determined synapses. In this manner, the connectivity patterns (or parameters for determining such patterns) for particular neuron types, rather than the connectivity itself, may be stored. Using the stored information, synapses may be computed on the fly, thereby reducing memory consumption and increasing memory bandwidth. This also saves time during artificial nervous system updates. |
| US09330353B2 |
Antenna module
An antenna module includes a base including two opposing mounting surfaces, an antenna coil provided on or in the base so as to define an opening, the antenna coil having a shape that is symmetrical or substantially symmetrical with respect to a reference plane, and an IC chip and a plurality of electronic components mounted on one of the mounting surfaces and electrically coupled to the antenna coil, the IC chip and the electronic components being arranged inside the opening when viewed in plan from a normal direction of the mounting surface. At least two of the plurality of electronic components are arranged so as to be symmetrical or substantially symmetrical to each other with respect to the reference plane when viewed in plan from the normal direction. |
| US09330352B2 |
Durable RFID tag
Plastic asset identification tags are described. The tags define an attachment feature by which the tag is attached to the asset. The tag also defines a cavity or slot in which an RFID transceiver is placed. Epoxy fills the remainder of the slot or cavity. The RFID transceiver is programmed to respond to interrogation by transmitting a unique identifier that is associated with the object to which the tag is attached. Additional information about the object may also be responsively transmitted, and in some embodiments that additional information is also written on the outside of the tag. Other tags seal the RFID transceiver within a pocket of flexible fabric-supported PVC. |
| US09330351B2 |
Image forming apparatus with recursive memory configured for selectively storing print error logs
An image-forming apparatus to process a job includes volatile memory, non-volatile memory, a judging unit, a calculating unit, a defining unit, and a controller. The volatile memory stores a generated error log using a memory area. The non-volatile memory stores information for identifying an overwrite restricted error. The judging unit judges whether a generated error is a particular error. The calculating unit calculates remaining memory which is changed by a subsequent error log being written secured, with a position where a particular error log is written in the volatile memory as a reference, where the error is the particular error. The defining unit defines an acquisition level of an error log in a stepwise manner based on the calculated remaining memory. The controller outputs an error log to an apparatus according to the defined acquisition level being a particular level at which an error log has to be output. |
| US09330350B2 |
Image erasing apparatus
An image erasing apparatus includes an erasing unit, a reading unit, and a control unit. The erasing unit erases an image formed in a recording medium. The reading unit reads control information included in the image. The control unit determines whether or not to erase the image using the erasing unit on the basis of date information included in the control information. |
| US09330347B2 |
Method for creating dot arrangements or threshold matrices, an image processing apparatus, and a storage medium
An image that is robust against position shift and that has improved graininess is formed. In the embodiments, a halftone processor creates a first dot arrangement and a second dot arrangement from related weighting functions and weighting maps (S1508, S1509), evaluates the image quality when the first dot arrangement and the second dot arrangement are overlapped and combined (S1511, S1512), updates the weightings for only pixels where a dot is arranged in case where the evaluation results in the evaluating step are not within a specified range (S1513), obtains a first dot arrangement and a second dot arrangement that were recreated based on the updated weightings (S1508, S1509), and repeats steps S1508 to S1514 until it is determined that the change in image quality due to position shift when the recreated first and second dot arrangements are overlapped and combined is within a specified range. |
| US09330342B2 |
On-bed monitoring system for range of motion exercises with a pressure sensitive bed sheet
A system includes a pressure sensitive material that provides an indication of applied pressure for multiple locations on the material, and an analysis device in communication with the pressure sensitive material. The analysis device receives the indication of applied pressure, determines, for each of multiple measurement periods, a pressure image from the indication of applied pressure such that a sequence of pressure images is determined, and constructs a manifold representing the sequence of pressure images. |
| US09330329B2 |
Systems, methods, and devices for image matching and object recognition in images using minimal feature points
An image matching technique locates feature points in a template image such as a logo and then does the same in a test image. Feature points of a template image are determined under various transformations and used to determine a set of composite feature points for each template image. The composite feature points are used to determine if the template image is present in a test image. A covering set for a template image is used to optimize processing of test images. |
| US09330328B2 |
Image capture and identification system and process
A digital image of the object is captured and the object is recognized from plurality of objects in a database. An information address corresponding to the object is then used to access information and initiate communication pertinent to the object. |
| US09330325B2 |
Apparatus and method for reducing noise in fingerprint images
An apparatus for processing a fingerprint image, the apparatus includes a noise information estimation unit configured to estimate information for a noise removal from at least two or more images recognized for a first section before a point of time when a fingerprint contact is initiated. The apparatus includes a fingerprint image acquiring unit configured to correct at least one image recognized for a predetermined time period after the completion of the fingerprint contact using the estimated information to acquire the fingerprint image. |
| US09330320B2 |
Object detection apparatus, object detection method, object detection program and device control system for moveable apparatus
An object detection apparatus mountable to a moveable apparatus for detecting an object existing outside the moveable apparatus by capturing a plurality of images using a plurality of imaging devices mounted to the moveable apparatus and generating a disparity image from the captured images includes a map generator to generate a map indicating a frequency profile of disparity values correlating a horizontal direction distance of the object with respect to a movement direction of the moveable apparatus, and a distance to the object in the movement direction of the moveable apparatus based on the disparity image, an isolated area detection unit to detect an isolated area based on the frequency profile, an isolated area divider to divide the isolated area into two or more isolated areas based on the frequency profile in the isolated area, and an object detector to detect an object based on the divided isolated area. |
| US09330317B2 |
Systems and methods for multi-pass adaptive people counting
People are counted in a segment of video with a video processing system that is configured with a first set of parameters. This produces a first output. Based on this first output, a second set of parameters is chosen. People are then counted in the segment of video using the second set of parameters. This produces a second output. People are counted with a video played forward. People are counted with a video played backwards. The results of these two counts are reconciled to produce a more accurate people count. |
| US09330316B2 |
Sensor location and logical mapping system
A system to locate and map a data collection device includes at least one image. The image may be included with a subsystem or a component monitored by the system. A data collection device, such as a smart sensor, is configured to detect a stimulus and to capture the at least one image. The smart sensor is further configured to output an image signal indicating the at least one image. A main control module is in electrical communication with the at least one smart sensor. The main control module is configured to determine the image based on the image signal, and compare the at least one image to a stored image. The main control module is further configured to authenticate the at least one image in response to the at least one image matching the stored image. |
| US09330314B2 |
Attribute-based alert ranking for alert adjudication
Alerts to object behaviors are prioritized for adjudication as a function of relative values of abandonment, foregroundness and staticness attributes. The attributes are determined from feature data extracted from video frame image data. The abandonment attribute indicates a level of likelihood of abandonment of an object. The foregroundness attribute quantifies a level of separation of foreground image data of the object from a background model of the image scene. The staticness attribute quantifies a level of stability of dimensions of a bounding box of the object over time. Alerts are also prioritized according to an importance or relevance value that is learned and generated from the relative abandonment, foregroundness and staticness attribute strengths. |
| US09330313B2 |
Glass type mobile terminal
A glass type mobile terminal including a transparent screen; a frame configured to secure the transparent screen in front of a user's eyes wearing the glass type mobile terminal; a camera mounted to the frame and configured to photograph an image in front of the user's eyes; a memory; an image recognition unit configured to extract information from the image photographed by the camera; and a controller configured to compare the extracted information with related information stored in the memory, and display the related information to the transparent screen on the transparent screen along with the captured image. |
| US09330312B2 |
Multispectral detection of personal attributes for video surveillance
Techniques, systems, and articles of manufacture for multispectral detection of attributes for video surveillance. A method includes generating one or more training sets of one or more multispectral images, generating a group of one or more multispectral box features, using the one or more training sets to select one or more of the one or more multispectral box features to generate a multispectral attribute detector, and using the multispectral attribute detector to identify a location of an attribute in video surveillance, wherein using the multispectral attribute detector comprises, for one or more locations on each spectral band level of the multispectral image, applying the multispectral attribute detector and producing an output indicating attribute detection or an output indicating no attribute detection, and wherein the attribute corresponds to the multispectral attribute detector. |
| US09330309B2 |
Correcting writing data generated by an electronic writing device
In embodiments of correcting writing data generated by an electronic writing device, an electronic writing device includes a positional sensor configured to sense movement of the electronic writing device when the device is used to write on a writing surface, and to generate writing data corresponding to the movement of the electronic writing device. The device also includes a correction component that is configured to correct each sample of writing data using rotation data generated by a gyroscope. To do so, the correction component calculates an offset angle of the electronic writing device relative to a reference axis of the positional sensor based at least in part on the rotation data generated by the gyroscope. The correction component then determines a correction angle based on the offset angle, and adjusts the sample of writing data by applying the correction angle to the sample of the writing data. |
| US09330308B2 |
Apparatus method and computer-readable medium that detects different regions of user's hand for recognizing gesture for carrying out operation of vehicle
An apparatus for recognizing a user's gesture for carrying out an operation of a vehicle may include: an image generator that generates an object image by photographing a user's hand; a feature point candidate detector that generates a hand image including a hand region by eliminating a background of the object image; a palm detector that detects a palm region by performing a morphology operation on the hand region; a finger detector that detects a finger region by eliminating the palm region from the hand region; a feature point detector that detects the finger valleys located within the palm region and the fingertips located within the finger region as feature points; and a gesture recognizer that recognizes a number of unfolded fingers based on the hand model, and recognizes the user's gesture by selecting a category that corresponds to the number of unfolded fingers among a plurality of categories. |
| US09330303B2 |
Controlling use of parking spaces using a smart sensor network
Tracking use of a destination location is disclosed. A unique identifier of a first vehicle based on a sensor located within the first vehicle is received. Next, based on a first location of the first vehicle received based on a sensor located within the first vehicle, it is determined that the first vehicle is occupying the destination location at a second time. Next, based on a second location of the first vehicle received based on the sensor located within the first vehicle, it is determined that the first vehicle has left the destination location at a third time. Finally, it is indicated that the first vehicle began use of the destination location at the second time and that the first vehicle completed use of the destination location at the third time. |
| US09330300B1 |
Systems and methods of analyzing images
Apparatuses, systems, and methods in which pixel data associated with grid sections of a gridded image can be used to analyze an attractiveness of a person represented in the image are provided. The information obtained from the analysis can be used to provide a recommendation, for example, to improve the attractiveness, and/or modify the image such that the modified image corresponds to an improved attractiveness. |
| US09330299B2 |
Fundus image acquiring apparatus and control method therefor
Provided is a fundus image acquiring apparatus in which eyeball tracking can be performed by template matching even if sufficient luminance of a characteristic image of blood vessels or the like is not secured in a case where eye movement is detected accurately from a fundus image. The fundus image acquiring apparatus includes a fundus imaging unit for obtaining a fundus image, an extraction unit for extracting a characteristic image from an initial fundus image taken by the fundus image acquiring apparatus, an evaluation unit for evaluating luminance information of a characteristic point obtained through the extraction, and a setting unit for setting a frame rate for imaging by the fundus image acquiring apparatus. The frame rate is determined based on a result of the evaluation by the evaluation unit. |
| US09330298B2 |
Face impression analyzing method, aesthetic counseling method, and face image generating method
The face impression analyzing device (100) includes a facial form acquiring unit (10), a face component analyzing unit (50), a face impression determining unit (60), and a storage unit (70). The facial form acquiring unit (10) acquires facial form information representing a form of a face surface of a subject. The storage unit (70) stores one or more feature values obtained by applying multivariate analysis to target population face information representing three-dimensional forms of facial surfaces of a target population formed by a plurality of persons, and tendency information indicating an impression tendency of a facial shape associated with each of the one or more feature values. The face component analyzing unit (50) calculates an amount of revelation of each of the one or more feature values of the face of the subject on the basis of the facial form information of the subject, and the feature value extracted from the target population face information. The face impression determining unit (60) refers to the storage unit (70), and acquires the impression tendency of the face of the subject or the degree of the impression tendency on the basis of the feature value of the face of the subject and the amount of revelation of the feature value. |
| US09330296B2 |
Recognizing entity interactions in visual media
An entity interaction recognition system algorithmically recognizes a variety of different types of entity interactions that may be captured in two-dimensional images. In some embodiments, the system estimates the three-dimensional spatial configuration or arrangement of entities depicted in the image. In some embodiments, the system applies a proxemics-based analysis to determine an interaction type. In some embodiments, the system infers, from a characteristic of an entity detected in an image, an area or entity of interest in the image. |
| US09330295B2 |
Spatial sequencing/gene expression camera
Methods, articles and systems that provide imagewise mapping or display of gene expression of a biosample, by contacting the biosample, such as a tissue slice or metacommunity, to a detector which captures material from the biosample and processes the captured material. In one embodiment the detector has an array of one or more capture sites at defined positions on the detector, each site carrying an immobilized capture oligonucleotide and a site-indexing oligonucleotide. The array captures mRNA from the biosample contacted thereto, and the captured mRNA is processed to form a sequenceable amount of amplified captured material which includes the site-indexing oligonucleotide, so that when sequenced, detection of the site-indexing oligonucleotide indicates the original capture location on the array, thereby mapping the sequenced material to its capture location and imaging display of gene expression distribution in the original biosample. In some embodiments the site-encoding sequence is integrated with the capture oligonucleotide. In other embodiments, the detector is a modified sequencing flow cell, which is opened to allow the biospecimen to be contacted to a capture surface; processing is performed while the material remains on the capture surface and locations of the resulting sequences correspond to the location of origin of the templates of the biomolecules in the sample. The spatially resolved sequencing, gene expression camera and technology in various embodiments are applied to genome sequences and DNA fragments present in the biosample, for example to study or diagnose developmental, disease, and tumor conditions. |
| US09330291B2 |
Method and device for parsing images
According to an example, a method for parsing an image may be provided. An image on a device may be processed by the device. Key characteristics of the image may be obtained by the device. The image may be parsed by the device with a two-dimension decoding mode. Content information of the image may be obtained by the device. |
| US09330289B2 |
Communication apparatus and computer program product
Disclosed is a communication apparatus comprising: a communication section which performs communication in an ASK modulation format with an RFID tag; and a control section which sets a modulation degree of the ASK modulation of the communication section to a large degree when polling of the RFID tag is performed by the communication section and which sets the modulation degree to a small degree when response information is received from the RFID tag through the communication section. |
| US09330288B2 |
Creation and management of RFID device versions
The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or method that creates, manages, or maintains multiple device versions in a network of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices. The system can include components that detect whether a device has joined the network and based at least in part on such indication creates a device profile the first time that the device is detected, establishes a version trail containing configuration settings specific to the detected device, and thereafter builds and maintains the version trail when the device joins and/or leaves the network. |
| US09330286B2 |
Test automation for automated fare management systems
A test robot may receive a test scenario for testing a fare management system. The test robot may program a fare card to store card information based on the test scenario. The test robot may provide an instruction to an actuator component to cause the actuator component to move the fare card within communicative proximity of a card reader device. The fare card, when moved within communicative proximity of the card reader device, may cause the card reader device to read the stored card information from the fare card and to provide updated card information, based on the stored card information, for storage by the fare card. The test robot may read the updated card information from the fare card. The test robot may provide test result information, based on the updated card information, to a test management device. |
| US09330285B2 |
Device management system and device management method
A device management system includes a device management apparatus and a device managed by the device management apparatus. The device management apparatus includes a positional-information acquiring module configured to acquire positional information on a location of the device; a device-setting information acquiring module configured to acquire device setting information indicative of device setting corresponding to the location indicated in the acquired positional information; and a transmitter configured to transmit the acquired device setting information. The device includes a device control module configured to perform control based on the device setting indicated in the device setting information transmitted from the device management apparatus. |
| US09330282B2 |
Instruction cards for storage devices
A card can be communicationally coupled to a storage device. The card can then cause the storage device to perform stand-alone tasks without a computing device. The card can invoke instructions already present in the firmware of the storage device or the card can first copy instructions to the firmware and then invoke them. The card can cause the storage device to perform actions, such as a secure erase, and the storage device can remain inaccessible until such actions are performed, even if power is interrupted. The card can also receive information from the storage devices and then use that information with a new storage device to, for example, enable the new storage device to take the place of, and reconstruct the data of, the old storage device in a storage array directly from other storage devices in the array and without burdening a computing device or array controller. |
| US09330280B2 |
Identity management, authorization and entitlement framework
A system and method are provided for identity management of applications on computing devices. A set of applications is registered at an identity management system. Each application allows a different level of access permission to the application based on a user role associated with a user accessing the application. A set of user profiles associated with users are received. Each user profile includes a login credential for allowing access to the applications and a user role for defining a user level of access permission to the applications. An access request to access an application is received at the identity management system and responsive to the access request, a user associated with the access request is authenticated. Upon successful authentication, the user role associated with the authenticated user is determined and the user is allowed to access functions of the application corresponding to the determined user role. |
| US09330277B2 |
Privacy manager for restricting correlation of meta-content having protected information based on privacy rules
A method intercepts correlation instructions related to a plurality of meta-content elements associated with a primary content. The primary content or the meta-content elements may have associated privacy rules. At least one meta-content element of the group is selected as having privacy protected information specified in the privacy rules. A set of meta-content items, of meta-content element, are determined that are subject to a correlation restriction based on evaluation of the privacy rules with respect to each meta-content item contained in the meta-content element, and the privacy rules for the set of meta-content items are enforced. The privacy rule enforcement may involve preventing execution of the correlation instructions, excluding the selected at least one meta-content element from a correlation based on the correlation instructions, excluding the set of meta-content items from a correlation based on the correlation instructions, or restricting access to a correlation result based on the correlation instructions. |
| US09330264B1 |
Statistical analytic method for the determination of the risk posed by file based content
A system and method for calculating a risk assessment for an electronic file is described. A database of checks, organized into categories, can be used to scan electronic files. The categories of checks can include weights assigned to them. An analyzer can analyze electronic files using the checks. Issues identified by the analyzer can be weighted using the weights to determine a risk assessment for the electronic file. |
| US09330263B2 |
Method and apparatus for automating the building of threat models for the public cloud
A method and system for automating threat model generation for an application includes identifying components of an application, receiving security information that identifies whether security measures were implemented within the application to secure the application against security threats, determining whether the security measures sufficiently address security risks associated with the security threats, and providing a threat model that includes a report that identifies components of the application that have been sufficiently (or insufficiently) secured from the security threats, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, determining whether the security measures sufficiently address the security risks can include transmitting first queries, receiving responses to the first queries, and transmitting subsequent queries based at least in part on the responses to the first queries. |
| US09330260B1 |
Detecting auto-start malware by checking its aggressive load point behaviors
Program behaviors concerning load points are monitored, and a specific program attempting to actively maintain a previously set value of a specific load point is detected. In response, the specific program is adjudicated to be malware, and one or more actions are performed to protect the computer. The monitored behavior can be write operations targeting load points. In this scenario, the behavior indicating that a program is malware can comprise performing a requisite number of write operations to a load point within a requisite time period. The monitored behavior can also be altering load point values, and monitoring the results. The altering of load points can comprise removing values specifying programs to run, and/or changing names of programs. Detecting that a specific altered load point value has been automatically reset within a requisite time period to run the specific program upon start-up indicates that the program is malware. |
| US09330259B2 |
Malware discovery method and system
A process for identifying potentially harmful malware, comprises the steps of: a) identifying an executable that is about to run; b) providing a monitoring agent that monitors all threads that are descendent of a thread initiated by the process of said executable; and c) configuring said monitoring agent to conclude that a high probability of malware presence exists, if one of said descendent threads reaches a target process in which suspicious patches are created. |
| US09330258B1 |
Systems and methods for identifying uniform resource locators that link to potentially malicious resources
A computer-implemented method for identifying URLs that link to potentially malicious resources may include (1) compiling a set of URLs that link to at least one potentially malicious resource, (2) identifying a common pattern of characters included in the set of URLs that link to the potentially malicious resource, (3) deriving a regular expression capable of being used to identify additional URLs that link to one or more potentially malicious resources based at least in part on the common pattern of characters, and then (4) identifying at least one additional URL that links to at least one potentially malicious resource by (i) applying the regular expression to the additional URL and then (ii) determining that the additional URL links to the potentially malicious resource based at least in part on applying the regular expression to the additional URL. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. |
| US09330257B2 |
Adaptive observation of behavioral features on a mobile device
Methods, devices and systems for detecting suspicious or performance-degrading mobile device behaviors intelligently, dynamically, and/or adaptively determine computing device behaviors that are to be observed, the number of behaviors that are to be observed, and the level of detail or granularity at which the mobile device behaviors are to be observed. The various aspects efficiently identify suspicious or performance-degrading mobile device behaviors without requiring an excessive amount of processing, memory, or energy resources. |
| US09330253B2 |
Apparatus and method for processing application package in portable terminal
An apparatus and method for improving the security of an application package from a user abnormally acquiring a system supreme authority in a portable terminal are provided. The apparatus includes an application manager for, at application package generation, collecting data for package generation, performing a compiling process for the collected data, encrypting an execution file of the application package among the compiled data, and packaging the compiled data comprising the encrypted execution file. |
| US09330252B2 |
Password check by decomposing password
A proposed password is decomposed into basic components to determine and score transitions between the basic components and create a password score that measures the strength of the proposed password based on rules, such as concatenation, insertion, and replacement. The proposed password is scored against all known words, such as when a user is first asked to create a password for an account or access. The proposed password can also be scored against one or more previous passwords for the user, such as when the user is asked to change the user's previous password, to determine similarity between the two passwords. |
| US09330247B2 |
Apparatus and method for managing multiple user accounts on a memory card
A memory card having a memory resident on the memory card and having stored thereon multiple isolated user accounts each having an associated user account data, and a firmware stored in memory, the firmware including coded instructions, which when executed, selectively manages each isolated user account so that an account access data for a predetermined isolated user account is accessed from the associated user account data when the firmware determines a predetermined condition is satisfied. |
| US09330245B2 |
Cloud-based data backup and sync with secure local storage of access keys
Methods and systems are provided for secure online data access. In one embodiment, three levels of security are provided where user master passwords are not required at a server. A user device may register with a storage service and receive a user device key that is stored on the device and at the service. The user device key may be used to authenticate the user device with the storage service. As data in the storage service is encrypted with a master password, the data may be protected from disclosure. As a user master key or derivative thereof is not used in authentication, the data may be protected from a disclosure or breach of the authentication credentials. Encryption and decryption may thus be performed on the user device with a user master key that may not be disclosed externally from the user device. |
| US09330241B2 |
Applying digital rights management to multi-media file playback
A method begins with a processing module of a centralized digital video storage (DVS) system that supports a plurality of subscriber units, receiving a request for playback of a stored multi-media file from a subscriber unit. The method continues with the processing module determining whether the stored multi-media file is a subscription based file or a publically available file. When the stored multi-media file is the subscription based file, the method continues with the processing module accessing digital rights management data regarding subscription based multi-media files to determine the subscriber unit's digital rights to the stored multi-media file. When the subscriber unit's digital rights include playback of the multi-media file, the method continues with the processing module sending a unique copy of the stored multi-media file to the subscriber unit in accordance with a unique slice retrieval pattern of the subscriber unit. |
| US09330239B2 |
Cloud-based initiation of customized exercise routine
Disclosed herein are techniques and systems for recognizing a user via a networked fitness system and initiating a customized exercise routine for the recognized user. The process includes receiving, at the networked fitness system, identification data associated with the user, and transmitting the identification data over a network to one or more remotely located servers. The networked fitness system may receive a user identification (ID) from the remotely located server(s) at least partly in response to the transmitted identification data, and receive a confirmation from the user that the user ID corresponds to the user. At least partly in response to the confirmation, the networked fitness system may automatically download a customized exercise routine associated with the user from the remotely located server(s) and initiate the customized exercise routine by the networked fitness system. |
| US09330238B2 |
Performance intensity zones
Performance intensity zones are disclosed. An apparatus comprises one or more processors, and one or more memories storing instructions, that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to: obtain performance intensity data measured from a user with at least one measurement sensor during a first activity and/or a second activity; and classify the performance intensity data in relation to a plurality of predetermined performance intensity zones, wherein each performance intensity zone is predetermined by a first numerical range for the first activity, and a second numerical range for the second activity, wherein the first activity and the second activity are different types of sports or different types of physical activities. |
| US09330237B2 |
Pattern recognition and filtering in a therapy management system
A method of diabetes analysis includes receiving a plurality of glucose level readings for a user. A common event occurrence in at least two of the glucose level readings is determined. The at least two glucose level readings from the common event occurrence onwards in time for a time period is analyzed. A glucose level pattern formed by the at least two glucose level readings having a similar shape is determined. At least one anomalous glucose level reading having the similar shape and not conforming to the glucose level pattern is analyzed. The at least one anomalous glucose level reading is adapted to the pattern to form an adapted glucose level pattern. An insulin dosage for the time period beginning at the common event occurrence is calculated based on the adapted glucose level pattern. |
| US09330235B2 |
System and method for providing access to electronically stored medical information
A method and system for storing medical information of an individual with a service provider and providing access to that medical information to medical providers remotely. An individual's medical information may be accessed by medical providers after being authenticated by the service provider and used to pre-register or register the individual so the individual receives faster medical treatment. Access to the medical information is monitored to prevent unauthorized access and to store time and location when medical information is accessed by a medical provider. The medical information may be accessed by a mobile software application that allows the medical provider to scan a machine-readable medium linked to the individual's medical information stored by the service provider. |
| US09330229B2 |
Optical proximity correction verification system and verification method thereof
The optical proximity correction verification method includes loading a layout data to be verified to a processor, loading a reference layout data to the processor. The processor performs a first stage Boolean operation on the layout data to be verified to generate a first verified data. The processor performs a layout versus layout verification on the first verified data by using a user-defined verification tool of optical proximity correction data in a database to generate second verified data according to the reference layout data. The processor performs a second stage Boolean operation on the second verified data to generate a third verified data if the layout versus layout verification is successfully performed. The processor performs a Boolean check on the third verified data to generate fourth verified data using the reference layout data. |
| US09330228B2 |
Generating guiding patterns for directed self-assembly
Aspects of the disclosed technology relate to techniques of generating guiding patterns for via-type feature groups. A guiding pattern is constructed based on seeding positions for a via-type feature group. The initial seeding positions are derived from targeted locations of via-type features in the via-type feature group. A potential energy function is then determined for the guiding pattern. Based on the potential energy function, simulated locations of the via-type features are computed. The seeding positions are compared with the targeted locations and may be adjusted based on differences between the simulated locations and the targeted locations. The above operations may be repeated until one of one or more termination conditions are met. |
| US09330227B1 |
Testbench builder, system, device and method including a dispatcher
A testbench for testing a device under test (DUT), wherein the testbench has a verification environment including a reference model, a scoreboard and a customized agent for each interface that the DUT needs to receive input from and/or transmit output on. The testbench system is able to be generated by a testbench builder that automatically creates a scoreboard, a reference model, a dispatcher and generic agents including generic drivers, loopback ports, sequencers and/or generic monitors for each interface and then automatically customize the generic agents based on their corresponding interface such that the agents meet the requirements of the interface for the DUT. |
| US09330225B2 |
Photomask error correction
Design errors generated employing a mask rule check (MRC) program are indexed and examined one by one by an automated computer program connected to a false error pattern database that contains previously known waivered patterns, a real error pattern database that contains previously known pairs of an error-containing pattern and a corresponding error-free pattern, and optionally a mask house rule database. A waiver is applied to each design error for which a matching pattern is found in the false error pattern database. Each design error for which a match is found in the real error pattern database is modified to substitute an error-free pattern for an error-containing pattern therein. The output of the automated program includes a list of design errors for which no solution is found by the automated program. |
| US09330224B2 |
Method and apparatus for dummy cell placement management
A method for manipulating a circuit design includes receiving multiple dummy cell modification parameters, selecting, by a computer processor and based on the dummy cell modification parameters, a dummy cell insertion region on a circuit design, and generating, in the dummy cell insertion region, multiple dummy cells. The method further includes selecting a first dummy cell from the dummy cells, determining, by the computer processor and based on a location of the first dummy cell, an illegal overlap with the first dummy cell, and removing, by the computer processor and from the dummy cells, the first dummy cell. The method further includes inserting, by the computer processor, on the circuit design, and after removing the first dummy cell, the dummy cells to obtain a modified circuit design, and presenting the modified circuit design. |
| US09330218B1 |
Integrated circuits having input-output circuits with dedicated memory controller circuitry
An integrated circuit such as a programmable integrated circuit may include input-output circuits each having respective memory controller circuitry. The memory controller circuitry of the input-output circuits may be electrically coupled via a backbone path and configured to collectively form a memory controller. Each memory controller circuitry may include a protocol control circuit and input-output lanes. Memory access requests from on-chip circuitry may be provided to only a selected input-output circuit. The protocol control circuit of the selected input-output circuit may receive the memory access requests and generate memory control signals and local control signals from the memory access requests. The memory control signals may be provided to external memory. The local control signals may be provided to input-output circuits over the backbone path and synchronize the input-output circuits in conveying data between the integrated circuit and the external memory. |
| US09330216B2 |
Integrated circuit design synthesis using slack diagrams
An updated integrated circuit (IC) design is generated by applying a histogram-based algorithm to an invalid, current IC design. The histogram-based algorithm includes worst negative slack (WNS) optimization followed by total negative slack (TNS) optimization. WNS optimization uses the slack histogram for the current IC design to generate an invalid, but improved, intermediate IC design. TNS optimization uses the slack histogram of the intermediate IC design to generate the updated IC design. |
| US09330211B2 |
Simulation system for implementing computing device models in a multi-simulation environment
An embodiment of a simulation tool includes a path determiner and a simulator. The path determiner is configured to identify a first communication path between first and second devices of a system, and the simulator is configured to simulate a routing of a first item from one of the first and second devices to the other of the first and second devices via the identified path. The path determiner may also be configured to identify the communication path before the simulator simulates the routing of the item, or to identify the communication path while the simulator is inactive. |
| US09330205B2 |
Computer-implemented method for digitally designing a dental restoration and a computer-readable medium
Computer-implemented method for digitally designing a dental restoration for a rest tooth, wherein the rest tooth is described by data of the rest tooth and wherein a tooth template is described by data of the tooth template, by means of an Laplacian surface deformation to deform the tooth template towards the surface of the rest tooth, wherein the method uses, for the Laplacian surface deformation, an angle weighting function depending on: the angle between the normal direction of a target on the surface of the rest tooth or the normal direction of a handle on the tooth template; and the direction of a line connecting the target and the handle; wherein the angle weighting function is used to weight the handle for deforming the tooth template towards the rest tooth. Further, the invention is related to a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which when executed by a processor, are adapted to perform the method steps of the inventive computer-implemented method. |
| US09330199B2 |
Striping of directed graphs and nodes with improved functionality
Embodiments are disclosed for striping a directed graph, e.g., a social graph, so as to efficiently perform an operation to each node in the directed graph. At least some of the embodiments can select first and second sets of nodes from the directed graph to form first and second stripes. The first and second sets of nodes are selected, for example, based on available computing resources. First and second intermediate results can be generated by performing the operation to each node of the first and the second stripes, respectively. The operation iteratively performs a superstep. The first and the second intermediate results are combined to form a collective result as an output of the superstep. |
| US09330198B1 |
Mapping stored client data to requested data using metadata
Disclosed are various embodiments that employ metadata to map stored client data to form fields and other data consumers. Data items are requested by a data consumer, such as a form. Metadata is obtained that includes a mapping of stored data items to the requested data items, and the mapping is associated with an identification of the data consumer. The requested data items are provided to the data consumer based at least in part on the mapping and the stored data items. |
| US09330195B1 |
Inducing command inputs from property sequences
A method identifies pairs of first and second command inputs from respective user device sessions for which the first and second operation data are indicative of a first operation failure and a second operation success. The first operation data indicate a first operation performed on data from a first resource property in response to the first command input, and the second operation data indicate a second operation performed on data from a second resource property in response to the second command input. They system determines, from the identified pairs of first and second command inputs, command inputs for which a parsing rule that is associated with the second operation is to be generated. |
| US09330193B1 |
Method and system for displaying components identified by GUID
This disclosure relates to a method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for backing up data. In some embodiments, this includes obtaining a root component, wherein the root component is associated with a first GUID, a first display name, and a first type, obtaining components associated with the root component, identifying qualifying components from the components, storing the qualifying components in a structure, at each invocation of a procedure processing each of the qualifying components, obtaining subcomponents associated with a qualifying component, identifying qualifying subcomponents from the subcomponents, storing the qualifying subcomponents in the structure, and determining whether the subcomponents have been processed, and if the subcomponents have not been processed, recursively invoking the procedure. |
| US09330192B1 |
Method for rendering content using a card based JSON wrap package
A variety of data structures, components, runtime viewers and methods are described for defining, delivering and rendering wrapped packages of cards in a manner that is particularly well suited, but not limited to, display on mobile devices. Each card may selectively include media content, and a palette of application functionality and/or supporting e-commerce related services. The cards of the wrap packages are ideally threaded together into one or more linear sequences, and authored to convey a book-like narrative that unfolds as the cards are sequentially browsed. In addition, the wrap packages are portable objects that are readily distributed, similar to other electronic messages, through e-mail, messaging, social-media, or via a variety of other electronic communication platforms. As a result, wrap packages are consumable, sharable and savable objects. |
| US09330188B1 |
Shared browsing sessions
The generation and management of shared session information between the client computing device and the network computing provider are provided. The shared session information can correspond to a specification of a set of network resources accessed by the client computing device and the preservation of browse session information associated with the previous access of the set of network resources. The shared session information is utilized by one or more client computing devices to access and recreate a browse session corresponding to the set of network resources. |
| US09330187B2 |
Persuasive portlets
A new or existing portlet queries the category attribute of other portlets on a portal page. The new or existing portlet may take a position adjacent to other portlets having the same category attribute. The new or existing portlet may adjust its size or one or more of the other portlets may adjust their size so that the portlets are aligned with one another. |
| US09330185B2 |
POI related information processing system and method, and apparatus for supporting the same
Provided are a point of interest (POI) related information processing system and method and an apparatus for supporting the same. The POI related information processing system includes at least one POI related information providing device that provides POI related information including specific business name information and at least a part of address information, and a POI related information processing device that creates a query based on business name information of at least one piece of specific POI information and at least a part of address information thereof, collects the POI related information associated with corresponding POI information based on a corresponding query from the at least one POI related information providing device, collects a predefined certain amount of the POI related information by performing at least one filtering in accordance with a predefined rule, and then stores and operates the collected information in conjunction with the POI information. |
| US09330180B2 |
Mobile terminal and method of controlling the same
A mobile terminal and method of controlling the same are disclosed, by which a terminal user is enabled to input specific commands to the mobile terminal with minimum effort in a manner of configuring a display screen with consideration of enhanced user's convenience. The present invention includes a display unit, a wireless communication unit for an internet access, a user input unit for receiving an input from a user, and a control unit controlling both a text input box and an indicator indicating one selected from the group consisting of at least two functions of the text input box to be displayed on a standby image of the display unit. |
| US09330176B2 |
Task-oriented search engine output
A task-oriented search tool searches for one or more tasks related to a search term submitted via a computer-user interface. The task-oriented search tool displays search results that include a task related to the search term and a task-solving tool for performing the task related to the search term. |
| US09330173B2 |
Situational application creation based on observed user behavior
A system and method of creating a situational application provides for identifying content from a plurality of sources, where the content is associated with a user's interaction with the plurality of sources. Data associated with the identified content is gathered, and a situational application is generated based on the gathered data. |
| US09330172B2 |
Audio/video archiving system and method
A method of archiving audio/video content is presented. In the method, a plurality of audio/video content streams is received. Each of the received audio/video content streams is indexed according to time. Each of the indexed audio/video content streams is transferred to a data storage system for storage. A request for a portion of one of the stored audio/video content streams associated with a time period is received. The requested portion of the one of the stored audio/video content streams is retrieved from the data storage system. The requested portion of the one of the stored audio/video content streams is transferred. |
| US09330160B2 |
Software application complexity analysis
An apparatus of one embodiment analyzes application complexity based on complexity factors. The apparatus includes a memory and a processor. The memory stores raw values associated with a software application, each raw value associated with a respective complexity factor, which is associated with a respective scoring metric. The memory also stores scoring metrics, which indicate how preliminary scores are calculated. The memory also stores preliminary scores associated with the software application. The processor determines the raw values by determining a respective raw complexity value for each of the complexity factors. The processor also calculates the preliminary scores by calculating a respective preliminary score for each of the complexity factors. The respective preliminary score for each complexity factor is calculated by applying the respective scoring metric to the respective raw value. The processor also calculates a total score based at least on the plurality of preliminary scores. |
| US09330159B2 |
Techniques for finding a column with column partitioning
Techniques for finding a column with column partitioning are provided. Metadata for a container row is expanded to include information for searching ranges of partitioned column values. The metadata identifies offsets to specific ranges and specific columns within a specific range. The offsets also identify where compressed data for a desired column resides. Thereby, permitting partitioned columns having compressed data to be located without being decompressed and decompressed on demand as needed. |
| US09330155B1 |
Unified management of sync and async replication for block and file objects
A technique for managing synchronous replication and asynchronous replication of both block-based objects and file-based objects employs a common replication session manager configured from a common GUI application. The replication session manager can access different settings for different data objects (e.g., LUNs, file systems, block-based vVOLs (virtual volumes), file-based vVOLs, VMDKs, etc.), with replication settings maintained on a per-data-object basis. The replication session manager can also orchestrate synchronous and/or asynchronous replication sessions, failover, and/or recovery, for any given data object in accordance with the particular data-object-specific settings established for that object. |
| US09330154B2 |
Multicast database replication
Systems, methods and computer program products for multicast database replication are described herein. An embodiment includes creating a replication group for replication of data. One or more replicate (or target) databases are subscribed to the replication group and the replication group may include one or more subscribed replicate databases. The replication group is associated with a replication group address. Embodiments send (or publish) data that is to be replicated to the replication group multicast address causing automatic replication of the data to the subscribed replicate databases. In this way, by sending data to be replicated once to a replication group address, the data is automatically replicated to several subscribed replicate databases and a replication server need not establish distinct point-to-point connections with each replicate database. |
| US09330152B2 |
Grid loader process
A datagrid loading system contains a device including a processor and a memory with a management application installed thereon. The instructions of the management application when executed by the processor cause the processor to accumulate data from a first database, the data configured to be and include an identifier that is particular to the first database, and distribute the data into buckets by an integrated heuristic of the management application, the integrated heuristic and the buckets configured according to database characteristics particular to a second database that is different from the first database, the integrated heuristic further configured to distribute the data based on the identifier. |
| US09330149B2 |
Techniques for query and DML over relational tables using spreadsheet applications
In one embodiment, a database server receives a request from a spreadsheet application to open a file with spreadsheet data. The spreadsheet data is stored in one or more relational tables in one or more relational databases that are managed by the database server. In response to the request, the database server generates the file, where generating the file comprises retrieving the spreadsheet data from an XML view that is defined by an XQuery query. When executed, the XQuery query returns the spreadsheet data in an XML spreadsheet format that is understood by the spreadsheet application. The database server provides the generated file with the spreadsheet data directly to the spreadsheet application, where the spreadsheet data as retrieved from the XML view is formatted according to the XML spreadsheet format. |
| US09330145B2 |
Systems and methods for context-aware message tagging
Disclosed are systems, apparatus, and methods for context-aware messaging. In various implementations, a conversation between two or more users may be hosted by a communications tool, where the conversation generates text included in a conversation thread. Context attributes may be extracted from the generated text. The context attributes may describe interactions and data objects associated with one or more entities. One or more scores may be assigned to the extracted context attributes based on the contents of the conversation thread. The scores may provide a rank for each of the extracted context attributes. A presentation of a user interface of a communication tool may be modified based on the one or more scored context attributes. |
| US09330142B2 |
Biometric matching engine
The present disclosure concerns a method of identifying a biometric record of an individual in a database (108), the database comprising at least first and second sets of records, each set comprising at least one record, the method comprising: receiving by a processing device (102) at least first and second input biometric samples of said individual; performing on the records of said first set a first matching process comprising a first filtering operation followed by a second filtering operation, and performing on the records of said second set a second matching process comprising said second filtering operation followed by said first filtering operation, wherein said first filtering operation comprises comparing said first input biometric sample to a first reference biometric sample of each record, and said second filtering operation comprises comparing said second input biometric sample to a second reference biometric sample of each record; and identifying a biometric record of said individual based on results of the first and second matching processes. |
| US09330141B2 |
Federated query engine for federation of data queries across structure and unstructured data
The subject technology provides querying structured and unstructured data across disparate incompatible systems with a single language and connection point. Cost based optimizations are provided for executing the query. In some configurations, logical plans for executing a query are generated. For each of the logical plans, the subject technology generates a set of physical plans for executing the query on data systems, determines an execution cost for each physical plan from the physical plans, and selects a respective physical plan with a lowest determined execution cost among the determined execution cost for each physical plan. A physical plan is then selected for execution with a lowest execution cost among the selected respective physical plans of each of the logical plans. Data from an operation from the query may then be persisted and then used for generating a new set of logical and physical plans for executing a remaining set of operations from the query. |
| US09330135B2 |
Method, apparatus and computer readable recording medium for a search using extension keywords
Disclosed herein are a method, an apparatus, and a computer readable recording medium for a search using extension keyword. According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for a search using extension keyword, the method including mapping search keywords transmitted from a user terminal to at least one concept keyword, extending the concept keyword to plurality of concept keywords having association with each other so that a concept keyword extension data-set is generated, and generating extension keywords corresponding to the concept keyword extension data-set. |
| US09330134B2 |
User identity mapping system and method of use
An identity mapping system includes an identity mapping database and a master user table (MUT) communicatively coupled with the identity mapping database. The MUT includes a record having at least one record data field, a unique user identification (ID) field and at least one user data field. The at least one user data field contains data from a software application. |
| US09330131B2 |
Conflict markup tolerant input stream
A device receives a conflicted file, with a structured data format, that includes a conflict marker that does not comply with the structured data format. The conflict marker identifies first edited information and second edited information included in the conflicted file. The first edited information and the second edited information comply with the structured data format, and include information that has been modified in different versions of a shared file to create the conflicted file. The device detects that the conflicted file includes the conflict marker, and identifies, based on the detected conflict marker, the first edited information and the second edited information. The device determines that at least one of the first edited information or the second edited information is to be provided to the application for processing, and provides, based on the determining, the first edited information or the second edited information to the application for processing. |
| US09330127B2 |
Methods and systems for automatic selection of classification and regression trees
The present invention provides a method and system for automatically identifying and selecting preferred classification and regression trees. The invention is used to identify a specific decision tree or group of trees that are consistent across train and test samples in node-specific details that are often important to decision makers. Specifically, for a tree to be identified as preferred by this system, the train and test samples must both agree on key measures for every terminal node of the tree. In addition to this node-by-node criterion, an additional tree selection method may be imposed. Accordingly, the train and test samples rank order the nodes on a relevant measure in the same way. Both consistency criteria may be applied in a fuzzy manner in which agreement must be close but need not be exact. |
| US09330120B2 |
Visual data importer
Techniques for visual data import into an object model are described. A graphical user interface concurrently displays a first icon that represents a first object type and a second icon that represents a second object type. Input defining object-to-data mappings between properties of the object types and structured data of one or more data sources is received. Further input defining a relationship type for relationships between the first object type and the second object type is also received. In response to the second input, a graphical representation of the relationship type is displayed, visually linking the first icon to the second icon. Based at least on the object-to-data mappings, the definition of the relationship type, and the structured data, an object model is created, comprising first objects of the first object type, second objects of the second object type, and relationships between the first objects and the second objects. |
| US09330119B2 |
Knowledge intensive data management system for business process and case management
Data can be categorized into facts, information, hypothesis, and directives. Activities that generate certain categories of data based on other categories of data through the application of knowledge which can be categorized into classifications, assessments, resolutions, and enactments. Activities can be driven by a Classification-Assessment-Resolution-Enactment (CARE) control engine. The CARE control and these categorizations can be used to enhance a multitude of systems, for example diagnostic system, such as through historical record keeping, machine learning, and automation. Such a diagnostic system can include a system that forecasts computing system failures based on the application of knowledge to system vital signs such as thread or stack segment intensity and memory heap usage. These vital signs are facts that can be classified to produce information such as memory leaks, convoy effects, or other problems. Classification can involve the automatic generation of classes, states, observations, predictions, norms, objectives, and the processing of sample intervals having irregular durations. |
| US09330118B2 |
Exiting windowing early for stream computing
Two or more tuples to be processed by a processing element operating on one or more computer processors may be received by the processing element. The processing element may have a windowing operator performing a windowing operation to determine a first value at the conclusion of a windowing condition. It may be determined from one or more tuples received within the windowing condition whether a condition to end the windowing operation before the windowing condition concludes is met. In addition, the windowing operation may be ended before the windowing condition concludes when the condition to end the windowing operation is met. |
| US09330110B2 |
Image search system and method for personalized photo applications using semantic networks
A system and method for searching a finite collection of images using at least one semantic network. Upon receipt of a query from a user that includes a theme and one or more initial keywords, a set of keywords based on the theme and including the initial keywords is generated from one or more semantic networks corresponding to the theme and/or initial keywords. When the finite collection of images includes suitable metadata, a result set is generated of images corresponding to the expanded set of keywords. When the finite collection includes images lacking in metadata, a remote third-party image collection is searched with the set of keywords to obtain a result set that is used to train visual classifiers as to visual concepts associated with the keywords. The classifiers are used to classify the images in the finite collection lacking metadata and the search of the finite collection is performed with the set of keywords to generate a result set. |
| US09330108B2 |
Multi-site heat map management
A first server system identifies a first storage area of the first server system, the first storage area being associated with a first heat value and storing at least a portion of a file. The first server system determines an identifier corresponding to the portion of the file. The first server system associates the portion of the file with the first heat value. The first server system sends the identifier corresponding to the portion of the file and the associated heat value to a second server system, wherein the second server system includes a duplicate copy of the portion of the file. |
| US09330106B2 |
Selective synchronization of remotely stored content
Described herein are methods and systems for selectively synchronizing locally stored data with data stored in a cloud storage repository. A client application can synchronize a portion of the locally or remotely stored content by choosing to synchronize data that is frequently used, data that is marked as priority data or data that was modified or otherwise accessed during a predetermined period of time. Other selective synchronization optimizations include predictively synchronizing data or content associated with frequently use or priority data and synchronizing data according to a priority score. |
| US09330104B2 |
Indexing and searching heterogenous data entities
A method of performing a search of heterogeneous data based on an input query includes: generating an index including at least two hash tables, where each hash table corresponds to a different data domain of the heterogeneous data and includes hash code sets, where at least one of the hash code sets is mapped to a hash code set of another one of the tables. The method further includes performing a hash on the input query to generate a hash code, by referring to the index, determining a first hash code set that the generated hash code belongs to, and determining a second hash code set that the determined first hash code set is mapped to, and providing at least one result based on the determined second hash code set. |
| US09330089B2 |
Method and apparatus for a multi I/O modality language independent user-interaction platform
Automated user-machine interaction is gaining attraction in many applications and services. However, implementing and offering smart automated user-machine interaction services still present technical challenges. According to at least one example embodiment, a dialogue manager is configured to handle multiple dialogue applications independent of the language, the input modalities, or output modalities used. The dialogue manager employs generic semantic representation of user-input data. At a step of a dialogue, the dialogue manager determines whether the user-input data is indicative of a new request or a refinement request based on the generic semantic representation and at least one of a maintained state of the dialogue, general knowledge data representing one or more concepts, and data representing history of the dialogue. The dialogue manager then responds to determined user-request with multi-facet output data to a client dialogue application indicating action(s) to be performed. |
| US09330087B2 |
Word breaker from cross-lingual phrase table
Automatically creating word breakers which segment words into morphemes is described, for example, to improve information retrieval, machine translation or speech systems. In embodiments a cross-lingual phrase table, comprising source language (such as Turkish) phrases and potential translations in a target language (such as English) with associated probabilities, is available. In various examples, blocks of source language phrases from the phrase table are created which have similar target language translations. In various examples, inference using the target language translations in a block enables stem and affix combinations to be found for source language words without the need for input from human-judges or prior knowledge of source language linguistic rules or a source language lexicon. |
| US09330086B2 |
Method and apparatus for identifying a language used in a document and performing OCR recognition based on the language identified
A method and apparatus for identifying a language used in a document based on a number of strokes per character is provided herein. Once identified, character recognition may take place based on the language identified. In one embodiment, a character recognition engine is utilized for character recognition, wherein the character recognition engine is specifically tailored to the identified language. |
| US09330085B2 |
Assisting users to generate desired meme in document
A method, system and computer program product for assisting users to generate the desired meme in a document. A document is scanned to identify parts of speech, numerical text or numbers and images (collectively the “terms”) that provide positive/negative memes. A score for each of these terms is assigned. A score may then be assigned to each designated primary object (e.g., individual, company) discussed in the document using the scores assigned to the identified terms. Options may then be provided to modify the document to provide the type of meme (e.g., positive or negative meme) desired by the author to be associated with the particular designated primary object. Upon receiving a selection of one or more of these options, the document is modified accordingly to generate the desired meme in the document. |
| US09330084B1 |
Automatically generating question-answer pairs during content ingestion by a question answering computing system
During ingestion of non-natural language text content into a knowledge base, a question answering computing system (QA system) converts the content into natural language text. The QA system identifies natural language sentences in the content and converts the sentences into well-formed simple sentences by resolving grammatical ambiguities in the sentences. The QA system then generates question-answer pairs (QA pairs) from the well-formed simple sentence and stores the QA pairs in a persistent store. |
| US09330083B2 |
Creating customized user dictionary
In one embodiment, collecting a plurality of words from texts submitted by one or more users; for each of a plurality of communication categories, determining a usage frequency of each of one or more of the words within the communication category based on the texts; and constructing one or more customized dictionaries that each comprise a different blending of selected words. |
| US09330082B2 |
User experience with customized user dictionary
In one embodiment, constructing one or more customized dictionaries for a particular user, each of the customized dictionaries comprising a different blending of one or more frequently used words collected from texts submitted by one or more users; and in response to the user inputting text to an electronic device, selecting one of the customized dictionaries and utilizing it to aid the particular user in inputting text. |
| US09330081B2 |
Computer system and method for generating client-side software demonstrations
A system for demonstrating a server-provided software application using a standalone computing device. The computing device creates a first demonstration page based on a page template. The first demonstration page represents a user interface that is provided by a software application executed by a remote computing device. The first demonstration page is provided to a user. A selection of a navigation element within the first demonstration page is received from the user. In response to the selection of the navigation element, the computing device creates a second demonstration page and provides the second demonstration page to the user. |
| US09330079B1 |
Systems and methods for blocking data management for distributed content delivery for interactive documents
Systems and methods for prioritizing content generation in a distributed content system are described herein. In one aspect, content parameters are defined and prioritized according to various characteristics of the content. Type and subject matter of the content may influence content parameter definition and prioritization. Additionally, the position and size of the content within an interactive display may impact the priority assigned to the content parameters. As the content parameters are processed, an analysis tool may determine blocking data which inhibits or delays presentation or processing. Accordingly, the system may request the blocking data from other devices in the system in order to continue generating content. |
| US09330071B1 |
Tag merging
Tag merging enables a hosting entity such as a website to determine one or more tags that are logically-related to a particular tag and to present these tags to users to enable the users to vote whether to merge a logically-related tag with the particular tag. The hosting entity may determine these logically-related tags in multiple ways. For instance, the hosting entity may analyze keyword-to-keyword similarity data, item-overlap data, or may employ stemming logic. When the entity presents these tags to a user, the user may vote to merge the particular tag with one or more of the presented logically-related tags. When merged, items associated with the selected logically-related tag may become associated with the particular tag, or vice versa. Additionally, the selected tag may be removed from the items previously associated with the selected tag, or vice versa. |
| US09330070B2 |
Detection and reconstruction of east asian layout features in a fixed format document
Detection of East Asian layout features and reconstruction of East Asian layout features is provided. Vertically written text in the fixed format document is detected and rotated for layout analysis. After layout analysis, the rotated text is rotated back and restructured in a flow format document. When a plurality of characters is written horizontally in a vertical line of text, vertically overlapping text runs are detected, designated as horizontal-in-vertical text, and are restructured as horizontal-in-vertical text in a flow format document. Lines of text are analyzed for attributes of a ruby line and are designated as ruby text, associated with corresponding text in a ruby base line, and restructured as ruby text in a flow format document. Text in a fixed format document is analyzed for detection of a particular East Asian language so that a font for the language is designated in a flow format document. |
| US09330068B2 |
Method for conversion of website content
A system and method for converting website content is presented. Design elements in a graphical representation of a web page are identified. The design elements are ordered according to a position of each of the design elements with respect to a top of the graphical representation of the web page. One or more of the ordered design elements are grouped into one or more groups of design elements, and the design elements are stacked by rearranging each group of design elements into a single column. The single column of the groups of design elements are rendered into a converted web page for display on a device. In one implementation, the device is a mobile device. |
| US09330061B2 |
Determination of steering angle for a motor vehicle
Method and control device for determining a steering angle of a motor vehicle, wherein a theoretical steering angle is calculated by a vehicle model and a measured steering angle is determined with a steering angle sensor, and the difference between the measured and theoretical steering angles is determined, wherein at least one data record including a number of successive measured values is acquired, and a correction constant for the measured steering angle is determined from the mean value of the differences between the theoretical steering angle and the measured steering angle. According to the invention, a confidence level, which changes incrementally between successive data records, is calculated by travel conditions present during the acquisition of the data record and/or an analysis of the data record. |
| US09330059B2 |
Identifying logical planes formed of compute nodes of a subcommunicator in a parallel computer
In a parallel computer, a plurality of logical planes formed of compute nodes of a subcommunicator may be identified by: for each compute node of the subcommunicator and for a number of dimensions beginning with a first dimension: establishing, by a plane building node, in a positive direction of the first dimension, all logical planes that include the plane building node and compute nodes of the subcommunicator in a positive direction of a second dimension, where the second dimension is orthogonal to the first dimension; and establishing, by the plane building node, in a negative direction of the first dimension, all logical planes that include the plane building node and compute nodes of the subcommunicator in the positive direction of the second dimension. |
| US09330058B2 |
Apparatus, method, system and executable module for configuration and operation of adaptive integrated circuitry having fixed, application specific computational elements
The present invention concerns configuration of a new category of integrated circuitry for adaptive computing. The various embodiments provide an executable information module for an adaptive computing engine (ACE) integrated circuit and may include configuration information, operand data, and may also include routing and power control information. The ACE IC comprises a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements coupled to an interconnection network. The plurality of heterogeneous computational elements include corresponding computational elements having fixed and differing architectures, such as fixed architectures for different functions such as memory, addition, multiplication, complex multiplication, subtraction, configuration, reconfiguration, control, input, output, and field programmability. In response to configuration information, the interconnection network is operative to configure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a plurality of different functional modes. |
| US09330057B2 |
Reconfigurable processor and mini-core of reconfigurable processor
A reconfigurable processor includes a plurality of mini-cores and an external network to which the mini-cores are connected. Each of the mini-cores includes a first function unit including a first group of operation elements, a second function unit including a second group of operation elements that is different from the first group of operation elements, and an internal network to which the first function unit and the second function unit are connected. |
| US09330049B2 |
Method and apparatuses for monitoring system bus
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatuses for monitoring a system bus. The method includes: performing, by a monitoring apparatus, real-time monitoring on a corresponding system bus, and when detecting that a command is transmitted through the system bus, obtaining command information; determining, according to the command information, whether a command transmission exception occurs in the system bus; if no command transmission exception occurs in the system bus, when detecting that data corresponding to the command is transmitted through the system bus, determining, according to the data and the amount of the data, whether a command exception occurs in the system bus; and when detecting that a response message corresponding to the command is transmitted through the system bus, obtaining a command wait time of the command, and determining, according to the command wait time, whether a timeout exception occurs in the system bus. |
| US09330047B2 |
Wireless docking service with direct connection to peripherals
In one example, a method includes receiving, from a user application and with a wireless docking service of a wireless docking communications stack executing on a computing device, a request to discover one or more peripheral functions within wireless communication range of the computing device. The method also includes, responsive to receiving the request, discovering, with the wireless docking service, the one or more peripheral functions without communicating with a wireless docking center. The method further includes consolidating the peripheral functions into a docking session for the user application. The method also includes, responsive to receiving the request, sending a docking session identifier and one or more respective references corresponding to the one or more peripheral functions to the user application. |
| US09330044B2 |
High-speed data transmission interface circuit and design method of the same
A high-speed data transmission interface circuit used in a network switch device is provided. The high-speed data transmission interface circuit comprises a main circuit hoard, a connector and a daughter circuit board. The main circuit board comprises a transmission port interface module and a first wire. The transmission port interface module comprises a reduced pin extended attachment unit interface (RXAUI). The first wire connects the connector and the main circuit board. The daughter circuit board comprises a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) module and a second wire. The HDMI module is connected to an external network device through a HDMI signal wire. The second wire connects the connector and the HDMI module. The transmission port interface module communicates with the external network device through the connector and the daughter board. |
| US09330043B2 |
Multi-rate, multi-port, gigabit SERDES transceiver
A multi-port SERDES transceiver includes multiple parallel ports and serial ports, and includes the flexibility to connect any one of the parallel ports to another parallel port or to a serial port, or both. Furthermore, the multi-port transceiver chip can connect any one of serial ports to another serial port or to one of the parallel ports. The substrate layout of the multi-port SERDES transceiver chip is configured so that the parallel ports and the serial ports are on the outer perimeter of the substrate. A logic core is at the center of the substrate, where the logic core operates the serial and parallel data ports, and the bus that connects the data ports. The bus can be described as a “ring” structure (or donut “structure”) around the logic core, and is configured between the logic core and the data ports. |
| US09330042B2 |
Determining extended capability of a channel path
A computer program product includes a tangible storage storing instructions for performing a method. The method includes: sending a request from a processing unit in a host computer system to a channel subsystem to provide a channel path description for a channel path, the channel subsystem including a channel configured to be coupled to a control unit via the channel path and configured to control information transfer between the channel subsystem and the I/O device; and receiving channel path capability information by the processing unit, the capability information specified by a channel path description block including channel path identification and description information, the channel path description block specifying whether the channel path supports a Fiber Channel protocol for commanding an I/O operation, the channel path description block specifying whether the channel path supports an extension to the Fiber Channel protocol based on the channel path supporting the Fiber Channel protocol. |
| US09330037B2 |
Dynamically resizing direct memory access (DMA) windows
A dynamic DMA window mechanism can resize DMA windows dynamically by increasing one DMA window at the expense of reducing a neighboring DMA window. The dynamic DMA window mechanism can decide to dynamically resize DMA windows based on a request from a system administrator, based on a request by an operating system device driver for an I/O adapter, or based on a performance monitor determining such a resizing would benefit system performance. Once one DMA window has been increased by allocating a portion of a donor DMA window, device drivers for the I/O devices corresponding to the two windows are updated to reflect the new DMA window sizes. |
| US09330034B2 |
Levelization of memory interface for communicating with multiple memory devices
In a memory system in which a system clock signal is forwarded from the memory controller to multiple memory devices, the phase of the system clock signal forwarded to the slower memory device is advanced relative to the system clock signal forwarded to the faster memory device by a phase corresponding to the skew on the data links corresponding to the memory devices. This causes the state machine of the slower memory device to change states and advance earlier than the state machine in the faster memory device, and as a result, the data read from both the slower memory device and the faster memory device are unskewed on the data links between the memory controller and the memory devices. |
| US09330033B2 |
System, method, and computer program product for inserting a gap in information sent from a drive to a host device
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for inserting a gap in information sent from a drive to a host device. In operation, one or more commands are received at a drive from a host device. Additionally, information is queued to send to the host device. Furthermore, a gap is inserted in the information to send to the host device such that the host device is capable of sending additional commands to the drive. |
| US09330029B1 |
Multiple connector IO board for receiving multiple I/O stream
An apparatus and system for processing I/O from a data storage chassis, the apparatus and system comprising a first I/O printed circuit board (PCB) including I/O wafers; wherein the I/O wafers of the first I/O PCB are enabled to receive I/O from the data storage chassis; a second I/O PCB including I/O wafers; wherein the I/O wafers of the second I/O PCB are enabled to receive I/O from the data storage chassis; wherein the I/O wafers of the first I/O PCB is constructed and configured to receive the I/O wafers of the second I/O PCB. |
| US09330028B2 |
Instruction and logic for a binary translation mechanism for control-flow security
A processor includes a front end, an execution pipeline, and a binary translator. The front end includes logic to receive an instruction and to dispatch the instruction to a binary translator. The binary translator includes logic to determine whether the instruction includes a control-flow instruction, identify a source address of the instruction, identify a target address of the instruction, determine whether the target address is a known destination based upon the source address, and determine whether to route the instruction to the execution pipeline based upon the determination whether the target address is a known destination based upon the source address. The target address includes an address to which execution would indirectly branch upon execution of the instruction. |
| US09330008B2 |
Information processing device for detecting sequential accesses and prefetching
An information processing device detects a sequential access for reading first data by sequentially accessing consecutive areas or inconsecutive areas within a specified range of a first storage unit when the sequential access consecutively occurs by a specified number, calculates, based on a size of the first data, a size of second data read by a prefetch for prereading the data stored consecutively in the first storage unit and for storing the read data in a second storage unit, and performs the prefetch based on the calculated size of the second data. |
| US09330006B2 |
System and method for managing correspondence between a cache memory and a main memory
A system for managing correspondence between a cache memory, subdivided into a plurality of cache areas, and a main memory, subdivided into a plurality of memory areas, includes: a mechanism allocating, to each area of the main memory, at least one area of the cache memory; a mechanism temporarily assigning, to any data row stored in one of the areas of the main memory, a cache row included only in one cache area allocated to the main memory area wherein the data row is stored; and a mechanism generating and updating settings of the allocation by activating the allocation mechanism, the temporary assigning mechanism configured to determine a cache row to be assigned to a data row based on the allocation settings. |
| US09330000B2 |
Allocation enforcement in a multi-tenant cache mechanism
Cache optimization. Cache access rates for tenants sharing the same cache are monitored to determine an expected cache usage. Factors related to cache efficiency or performance dictate occupancy constraints. A request to increase cache space allocated to a first tenant is received. If there is a second cache tenant for which reducing its cache size by the requested amount will not violate the occupancy constraints for the second cache tenant, its cache is decreased by the requested amount and allocated to satisfy the request. Otherwise, the first cache size is increased by allocating the amount of data storage space to the first cache tenant without deallocating the same amount of data storage space allocated to another cache tenant from among the plurality of cache tenants. |
| US09329999B2 |
Storage system improving read performance by controlling data caching
In an exemplary storage system, a processor assigns an unused process to a read request designating an area of a logical volume. The processor determines whether the data designated by the read request is in a cache memory, based on a first identifier for identifying the area designated by the read request. When the designated data is not in the cache memory and a part of physical volumes providing the logical volume is a first kind of physical volume, the processor stores the first identifier associated with an identifier for identifying an area allocated in the cache memory. When the designated data is not in the cache memory and a part of the physical volumes is a second kind of physical volume, the processor stores a second identifier for identifying the process assigned to the read request associated with an identifier for identifying an area allocated in the cache memory. |
| US09329996B2 |
Branch circuit monitor with paging register
The quantity of data stored in a branch circuit monitor and accessible by a data processing network is increased by logically dividing the monitor's memory into a plurality of registers each comprising a plurality of pages and addressing a page containing the desired data with an address corresponding to the identity of a page number stored in a page register and the identity of the register. |
| US09329994B2 |
Memory system
According to one embodiment, a memory system includes a first memory, a second memory, a third memory, and a memory controller. The first memory includes a plurality of blocks. The second memory stores a first table having a plurality of first correspondences between a logical address and a physical address. The third memory has a higher processing speed than the second memory and stores a second table having second correspondences which are parts of the first correspondences. The memory controller determines whether data in a written block is first data to be copied, using the first table, not the second table. The memory controller copies the first data from the written block to a writable block to copy all data in a first state in the second block to the writable block. The memory controller sets all data in the written block to a second state. |
| US09329991B2 |
Translation layer partitioned between host and controller
A method for using a partitioned flash transition layer is disclosed. Step (A) receives, at an apparatus from a host, a write command having first write data. Step (B) generates second write data by compressing the first write data in the apparatus. The second write data generally has a variable size. Step (C) stores the second write data at a physical location in a nonvolatile memory. The physical location is a next unwritten location. Step (D) returns, from the apparatus to the host in response to the write command, an indication of the physical location. |
| US09329990B2 |
Host controlled enablement of automatic background operations in a memory device
A host that is coupled to a memory device is configured to read a status register of the memory device to determine if the memory device supports host controlled enablement of automatic background operations. The memory device responds to the host regarding whether the memory device supports host controlled enablement of automatic background operations. The host can enable the automatic background operations if the memory device supports this feature. The host can then set a time period in the memory device that is indicative of when the memory device can automatically perform the background operations. |
| US09329988B2 |
Parallel dynamic memory allocation using a nested hierarchical heap
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for dynamically allocating memory using a nested hierarchical heap. A lock-free mechanism is used to access to a hierarchical heap data structure for allocating and deallocating memory from the heap. The heap is organized as a series of levels of fixed-size blocks, where all blocks at given level are the same size. At each lower level of the hierarchy, a collection of N blocks in the lower level equals the size of a single block at the level above. When a thread requests an allocation, one or more blocks at only one level are allocated to the thread. When threads are finished using an allocation, each thread deallocates the respective allocated blocks. When all of the blocks for a level have been deallocated, defragmentation is performed at that level. |
| US09329985B1 |
Using emulation to disassociate verification from stimulus in functional test
Techniques for using emulation to disassociate verification from stimulus in functional test are described. In one approach, a computer stores first data representing an initial state of an application and second data representing the same initial state of a model application, wherein the model application models expected behavior of the application. The computer selects actions for the application to perform and causes both the application and the model application to perform the actions. The computer updates the first and second data to represent the state of both the application and the model application after performing the actions. The computer then compares the first and second data to determine whether both refer to the same state. In response to a determination that the first data and the second data do not refer to the same state, the computer stores data indicating a test failure. |
| US09329984B2 |
Methods and systems for monitoring and logging software and hardware failures
Methods and systems monitor and log software and hardware failures (i.e. errors) over a communication network. In one embodiment, the method includes detecting an event caused by an error, and generating a log of the event in response to the detection. The method further includes generating a first message prompting if a user consents to allowing a third party provider track the error and transmitting the log to the third party provider over the communication network if the user consents to allowing the third party provider track the error. The method yet further includes generating a second message prompting if the user wants to provide additional information relating to the error. The method still further includes providing a user interface including an error reporting portal to the user if the user wants to provide additional information and transmitting the portal to the third party provider. |
| US09329983B2 |
Computer program testing
To centrally manage execution of tests of software in an event oriented manner, a test execution engine reads a first test case from a test case component, where the test case represents tasks that have to be run to test a first procedure of a software program under evaluation. Further, the test execution engine identifies a participant node configured for sending events to an event queue and obtains events from the event queue. With those obtained events, the test execution engine evaluates whether the first procedure of the software program executed successfully and indicates whether the first procedure executed properly. The participant node has a node agent transmits events about the procedure and the first test case to the event queue. |
| US09329973B2 |
Method and apparatus for automated testing software
A system for discovering, or at least providing information that might assist in discovering, compromised computers involved in a malicious distributed program. The system is based around a test computer which is deliberately infected by a component of the malicious distributed program. Traffic sent by that test computer when under control of that component is recorded. More sophisticated malicious programs alter the system files or system programs on the computer which they infect—this creates a problem in that automation of the discovery process is difficult to achieve. Embodiments described here overcome this problem by running through a list of malicious program components, and in between executing (58) each one, refreshing (52, 64) the environment (system files and system programs) in which the malicious program component runs. Such techniques could be used by network operators or groups of network operators in discovering and thereafter disabling harmful distributed programs which run on computers connected to the network they operate. |
| US09329972B2 |
Implementing client based throttled error logging in a computing device
A method, system and computer program product are provided for implementing client based throttled error logging in a computer system. A log governor, controlled by a client of a log manager, prevents the flooding of the logs, identifies how many repetitive logs have been suppressed, and is tailored such that log suppression requirements are enabled to be specified for each individual log. A space required for the log governor features or log governing information is allocated in the client. |
| US09329967B2 |
Methods and systems for aiding the analysis of a signal
Method and related systems are described for navigating through information related to the status of one or more layers of a signal, such as a serial or parallel bus. Information may be displayed by selecting fields within a visual depicted on an oscilloscope or similar measuring instrument. By selecting particular fields, and indicators, different aspects of a layer may be analyzed without the need to have extensive knowledge of the operation of the measuring instrument. |
| US09329965B2 |
Extracting log files from storage devices
A storage system to communicate with a plurality of storage devices. The storage system includes a processor to execute system software that includes machine readable instructions configured to add system-level information regarding the storage system to log files stored in a reserved area of the storage device, extract the log file from each of the storage devices automatically at a predetermined interval, and transmit the log files from the storage system for analysis. |
| US09329961B2 |
Testing development using real-time traffic
Testing a test component is disclosed. A real-time input communication that has been forked from an input communication intended for a deployed component is received at the test component. At least a portion of the received real-time input communication is processed. A result of the processing is used to at least in part determine a test result of the test component. |
| US09329960B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for utilizing abstracted user-defined data to conduct network protocol testing
Methods, systems and computer readable media for utilizing abstracted user-defined data to conduct network protocol testing are disclosed. According to one aspect, the subject matter described herein comprises a method that includes receiving, by a test system abstraction (TSA) module from a device under test (DUT), a packet containing a command that is associated with a native protocol and converting the command included in the received packet into a TSA protocol command. The method further includes processing the TSA protocol command at a TSA engine module that is provisioned with at least one instruction sequence enabling the TSA engine module to emulate a network test device and generating, by the TSA engine module, a TSA protocol command response in accordance with protocol behavior specified by the at least one instruction sequence. |
| US09329959B2 |
Device and method for performing regression testing on bios boot information
A basic input/output system (BIOS) storage unit stores therein a BIOS. An operating system (OS) storage unit stores therein a plurality of OSs. A boot control unit sequentially starts the OSs stored in the OS storage unit. When each of the OSs booted by the boot control unit starts up, a boot information acquisition unit acquires boot information transferred between the OS and the BIOS. A regression analysis processing unit compares the boot information acquired by the boot information acquisition unit with expected values which are predetermined values for the boot information to determine whether the boot information coincides with the expected values. |
| US09329958B2 |
Efficient incremental checkpointing of virtual devices
A virtualization platform provides fault tolerance for a primary virtual machine by continuously transmitting checkpoint information of the primary virtual machine to a collector process, such as a backup virtual machine. The virtualization platform includes virtual devices configured to keep track of state changes, for example, by using state flags or saving copies of prior state data. The virtualization platform generates incremental checkpoints by querying the virtual devices, which return state data based on whether the virtual devices have changed state since a prior checkpoint operation. |
| US09329957B2 |
Method for managing storage system using flash memory, and computer
To facilitate the management of a storage system that uses a flash memory as a storage area. A controller of the storage system provided with a flash memory chip manages a surplus capacity value of the flash memory chip, and transmits a value based on the surplus capacity value to a management server, on the basis of at least one of a definition of a parity group, a definition of an internal LU, and a definition of a logical unit. The management server displays a state of the storage system by using the received value based on the surplus capacity value. |
| US09329953B2 |
Reducing application downtime during failover
Reducing application downtime during failover including identifying a critical line in the startup of an application, the critical line comprising the point in the startup of the application in which the application begins to use dependent resources; checkpointing the application at the critical line of startup; identifying a failure in the application; and restarting the application from the checkpointed application at the critical line. |
| US09329949B2 |
Comprehensive error management capabilities for disaster recovery operations
Techniques are described for providing error management capabilities for disaster recovery operations. In an embodiment, first user input is received that identifies a first error mode to assign to a particular step of a disaster recovery plan that includes a set of steps for performing a disaster recovery operation. In response to receiving the first user input, the particular step is associated with the first error mode. In response to determining that an error occurred while processing the particular step of the disaster recovery plan, the error mode that is associated with the particular step is determined. Error handling is performed for the particular step based, at least in part, on the error mode that is associated with the particular step of the disaster recovery plan. |
| US09329948B2 |
Measuring cell damage for wear leveling in a non-volatile memory
An NVM controller measures cell damage for wear leveling in an NVM, thus improving performance, reliability, lifetime, and/or cost of a storage sub-system, such as an SSD. In a first aspect, the controller determines that an error reading a page of NVM was caused by cell damage and/or cell leakage. The controller reprograms and immediately reads back the page, detecting that the error was caused by cell damage if an error is detected during the immediate read. In a second aspect, the cell damage is tracked by updating cell damage counters for pages and/or blocks of NVM. In a third aspect, wear leveling is performed based at least in part upon measured cell damage for pages and/or blocks of NVM. |
| US09329944B2 |
Storage system, storage apparatus, and data restoration method
In a storage system a first control device can restore in a restoration destination storage device a second set of data stored in a second storage device on the basis of a first set of data stored in a first storage device. A third storage device stores progress information indicative of the progress of restoration performed by a first control device. A second control device restores a portion of the second set of data which is not yet restored on the basis of the progress information stored in the third storage device at the time of detecting that the first control device has stopped. |
| US09329943B2 |
Methods and systems for instant restore of system volume
Techniques are disclosed for restoring a system volume on a computing system without requiring the system volume to be fully restored prior to being used or requiring the use of a dedicated recovery environment (e.g., the WinPE or BartPE environments). Instead, the computing system is booted directly from the restore image or by redirecting I/O interrupts to the restore image. That is, when user initiates a restore process, the system boots from the backup itself. Once booted, a background process can complete the restore process. |
| US09329939B2 |
Two-way raid controller for a semiconductor storage device
Provided is a two-way RAID controlled storage device of a serial attached small computer system interface/serial advanced technology attachment (SAS/SATA) type, which provides data storage/reading services through a PCI-Express interface. The RAID controller typically includes a plurality of disk mounts coupled disk connect controller, which itself is coupled to a set (e.g., at least one) of PCI-Express SSD memory disk units. In a typical embodiment, the plurality of PCI-Express SSD memory disk units comprising a plurality of volatile semiconductor memories. The RAID controller further comprises a plurality of disk monitoring units coupled to the plurality of disk mounts for monitoring the plurality of PCI-Express memory disk units; a plurality of disk plug and play controllers coupled to the plurality of disk monitoring units. A plurality of high-speed host interfaces are coupled to: the plurality of disk mounts, the plurality of disk monitoring units, and to a plurality of disk controllers. Further coupled to the plurality of disk controllers is a two-way RAID controller, which is also coupled to the disk connect controller and to a host connect controller. The host connect controller is further coupled to a plurality of host interfaces, which themselves are coupled to the plurality of disk controllers. |
| US09329937B1 |
High availability architecture
A system for executing tasks in a computing resource environment is disclosed. Variations of a system may include two or more scheduler partitions associated with respective schedulers, scheduler state information, and respective plurality of computing resources. Variations of a system may include a task distributor that distributes tasks to the scheduler partitions. In some variations, one scheduler is configured such that, responsive to the scheduler partition receiving a task from the distributor, that scheduler allocates a computing resource for execution of that task and updates its scheduler state information accordingly. In some variations, the task distributor is configured such that, if one scheduler is in a failed or corrupted state, the task distributor stops distributing tasks to that scheduler partition and prevents that scheduler state information from propagation to, or access by, other scheduler partitions. |
| US09329933B2 |
Imminent read failure detection based upon changes in error voltage windows for NVM cells
Methods and systems are disclosed for imminent read failure detection based upon changes in error voltage windows for non-volatile memory (NVM) cells. In certain embodiments, data stored within an array of NVM cells is checked at a first time using a diagnostic mode and high/low read voltage sweeps to determine a first error voltage window where high/low uncorrectable errors are detected. Stored data is then checked at a second time using the diagnostic mode and high/low read voltage sweeps to determine a second error voltage window where high/low uncorrectable errors are detected. The difference between the error voltage windows are then compared against a voltage difference threshold value to determine whether or not to indicate an imminent read failure condition. An address sequencer, error correction code (ECC) logic, and a bias generator can be used to implement the imminent failure detection. |
| US09329931B2 |
Solid state drive emergency pre-boot application providing expanded data recovery function
An apparatus includes a non-volatile memory and a controller. The non-volatile memory includes a user area and a non-user area. The user area is generally enabled to store and retrieve data in a logical block address space of a host. The non-user area stores a failure-specific recovery routine. The controller may be communicatively coupled to the non-volatile memory. The controller is generally enabled, when operationally coupled to the host, (i) to respond to host commands to read and to write data into the user area of the non-volatile memory and (ii) upon detection of a predefined failure of a controller boot process, to respond to host read requests by returning the failure-specific recovery routine stored in the non-user area of the non-volatile memory. |
| US09329929B2 |
Soft maximum likelihood sequence estimation in digital communication
A digital communication receiver generates soft decision values at the output of a maximum likelihood sequence estimator module. The values are fed into a following forward error correction module that uses the soft-decision input signal to improve error correction performance. The disclosed techniques can be used for receiving optical signals in an optical communication network. |
| US09329910B2 |
Distributed power delivery
Systems and methods are disclosed for distributed power delivery. In certain embodiments, an apparatus may comprise a device configured to control power to one or more power-consuming components via managing power usage among the one or more power-consuming components based on a priority of a task associated with the one or more power-consuming components. In certain embodiments, a device may comprise a processor configured to: receive a request to allow a component to expend an amount of power, determine if the request can be satisfied with an unallocated power budget managed by the processor, the unallocated power budget being an unallocated portion of a total power budget managed by the first processor, and allow the component to expend the amount of power when the request can be satisfied with the unallocated power budget. |
| US09329907B1 |
Automated exploitation of virtual machine resource modifications
At least one application in a distributed computing environment is deployed. At least one resource of a virtual machine is provided to the at least one application in the distributed computing environment. The at least one resource of the virtual machine provided is recorded in metadata and the at least one application receives the metadata and using the metadata the at least one application determines how much of the at least one resource of the virtual machine to utilize. A change to the at least one resource of the virtual machine is determined. Responsive to determining the change to the at least one resource of the virtual machine, the metadata is modified. The at least one application uses the modified metadata to determine how much of the changed at least one resource of the virtual machine to use. |
| US09329902B2 |
Information processing method of controlling variation in a number of processes, storage medium, and information processing device
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a process, the process includes starting N (two or more) processes from a first program; and controlling variation in the number of processes for which a second program is deployed, depending on a load on the processes for which the second program is deployed, within a range of the N processes by deploying the second program to a storage area corresponding to one process of the N processes and undeploying the second program deployed to the storage area. |
| US09329901B2 |
Resource health based scheduling of workload tasks
A computer-implemented method for allocating threads includes: receiving a registration of a workload, the registration including a workload classification and a workload priority; monitoring statuses of a plurality of resources; identifying, by a computing device, a thread of a resource from the plurality of resources, the thread being programmed to execute a task associated with the workload; evaluating, by the computing device, the workload classification and the workload priority of the workload with workload classifications and workload priorities of other workloads requesting the thread; and allocating the thread to one of the workloads based on evaluation of the workload classification and the workload priority. |
| US09329900B2 |
Hetergeneous processor apparatus and method
A heterogeneous processor architecture is described. For example, a processor according to one embodiment of the invention comprises: a first set of one or more physical processor cores having first processing characteristics; a second set of one or more physical processor cores having second processing characteristics different from the first processing characteristics; virtual-to-physical (V-P) mapping logic to expose a plurality of virtual processors to software, the plurality of virtual processors to appear to the software as a plurality of homogeneous processor cores, the software to allocate threads to the virtual processors as if the virtual processors were homogeneous processor cores; wherein the V-P mapping logic is to map each virtual processor to a physical processor within the first set of physical processor cores or the second set of physical processor cores such that a thread allocated to a first virtual processor by software is executed by a physical processor mapped to the first virtual processor from the first set or the second set of physical processors. |
| US09329899B2 |
Parallel execution of parsed query based on a concurrency level corresponding to an average number of available worker threads
Systems and method for a task scheduler with dynamic adjustment of concurrency levels and task granularity are disclosed for improved execution of highly concurrent analytical and transactional systems. The task scheduler can avoid both over commitment and underutilization of computing resources by monitoring and controlling the number of active worker threads. The number of active worker threads can be adapted to avoid underutilization of computing resources by giving the OS control of additional worker threads processing blocked application tasks. The task scheduler can dynamically determine a number of parallel operations for a particular task based on the number of available threads. The number of available worker threads can be determined based on the average availability of worker threads in the recent history of the application. Based on the number of available worker threads, the partitionable operation can be partitioned into a number of sub operations and executed in parallel. |
| US09329896B2 |
Data reuse tracking and memory allocation management
Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems receive a first request for a storage address at a first access time. Entries are added to first and second data structures. Each entry includes the storage address and the first access time. The first data structure is sorted in an order of storage addresses. The second data structure is sorted in an order of access times. A second request for the storage address is received at a second access time. The first access time is determined by looking up the entry in first data structure using the storage address received in the second request. The entry in the second data structure is looked up using the determined first access time. A number of entries in second data structure that were subsequent to the second entry is determined. A hit count for a reuse distance corresponding to the determined number of entries is incremented. |
| US09329895B2 |
Reader-writer lock
A method and system for implementing a reader-writer lock having a write lock requested by a thread is disclosed. The reader-writer lock is structured to have counters and a flag. The counters use an atomic process to count read locks held or outstanding read lock requests. The flag identifies a counter and is configured to distinguish between counters. A read lock is prepared, acquired, and released. The atomic process is used and the flag or flagged counter is polled. A write lock is prepared, acquired, and released. |
| US09329893B2 |
Method for resuming an APD wavefront in which a subset of elements have faulted
A method resumes an accelerated processing device (APD) wavefront in which a subset of elements have faulted. A restore command for a job including a wavefront is received. A list of context states for the wavefront is read from a memory associated with a APD. An empty shell wavefront is created for restoring the list of context states. A portion of not acknowledged data is masked over a portion of acknowledged data within the restored wavefronts. |
| US09329886B2 |
Virtual machine morphing for heterogeneous migration environments
Virtual machines may migrate between heterogeneous sets of implementation resources in a manner that allows the virtual machines to efficiently and effectively adapt to new implementation resources. Furthermore, virtual machines may change types during migration without terminating the virtual machines. Migration templates may be established to manage migration of sets of virtual machines between sets of implementation resources and/or virtual machine types. Migration templates may be established based at least in part on information provided by migration agents added to the virtual machines under consideration for migration. The migration agents may detect and augment relevant virtual machine capabilities, as well as trigger reconfiguration of virtual machine components in accordance with migration templates. |
| US09329884B2 |
Managing generated trace data for a virtual machine
A processing device with tracing functionality for a virtual machine is described. The processing device includes a tracing register to store a value indicative of whether tracing is enabled or disabled, a tracing module to generate trace data while tracing is enabled, and an internal buffer to store the trace data. When tracing is disabled, the processing device removes the trace data from the buffer. Mechanisms are described to ensure that the trace data is not corrupted during this process, despite the presence of page faults that may result from trace output writes. |
| US09329880B2 |
Counter for fast interrupt register access in hypervisors
Methods, systems and computer program products for fast interrupt register access in hypervisors are provided. A computer-implemented method may include maintaining a counter associated with a register to track set interrupt vectors in a virtual machine, updating the counter in response to an interrupt event in the virtual machine, and examining the counter to determine when an interrupt vector is set. |
| US09329878B2 |
Apparatus and method for providing virtual API for mashup service
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for providing a virtual API for a web-application mashup service. The apparatus for providing a virtual API includes: a screen data obtaining unit configured to obtain a website screen by accessing a website based on website access information or obtain an application program execution result screen by executing an application program based on application program execution information; and a virtual API processing unit configured to capture an interested area from the website screen related to a virtual API called by a client or from the application program execution result screen and provide the captured predetermined area of interest to the client. |
| US09329877B2 |
Static verification of parallel program code
A symbolic encoding of predicated execution for static verification, based on a plurality of data parallel program instructions, is obtained. A result of static verification of one or more attributes associated with the plurality of data parallel program instructions is obtained, based on the symbolic encoding. |
| US09329876B2 |
Resource aware programming
The described implementations relate to resource aware programming. In one case a program is obtained that is configured to perform a task in accordance with one or more quantitative metrics. An approximate version can be generated from the program. The approximate version is configured to perform the task in a manner that satisfies the one or more quantitative metrics while using fewer computer resources than the program. |
| US09329873B2 |
Method and device, terminal and computer readable medium for accelerating startup of operating system
Described are an operating system startup acceleration method and device, a terminal and a computer readable medium. The method comprises: acquiring prefetch information corresponding to at least one process to be accelerated in a procedure of operating system startup, wherein the prefetch information comprises a file path, a shift value and a length value of a data block required by the process to be accelerated; and reading a corresponding data block into a system cache according to the acquired prefetch information, and completing a startup procedure of the process to be accelerated using the data block in the system cache. |
| US09329872B2 |
Method and apparatus for the definition and generation of configurable, high performance low-power embedded microprocessor cores
A system and method for configuring a microprocessor core may allow a microprocessor core to be configurable. Configuration may be dynamic or automatic using an application program. Microprocessor memory, decoding units, arithmetic logic units, register banks, storage, register bypass units, and a user interface may be configured. The configuration may also be used to optimize an instruction set to run on the microprocessor core. |
| US09329871B2 |
Video decoding system supporting multiple standards
System and method for decoding digital video data. The decoding system employs hardware accelerators that assist a core processor in performing selected decoding tasks. The hardware accelerators are configurable to support a plurality of existing and future encoding/decoding formats. The accelerators are configurable to support substantially any existing or future encoding/decoding formats that fall into the general class of DCT-based, entropy decoded, block-motion-compensated compression algorithms. The hardware accelerators illustratively comprise a programmable entropy decoder, an inverse quantization module, a inverse discrete cosine transform module, a pixel filter, a motion compensation module and a de-blocking filter. The hardware accelerators function in a decoding pipeline wherein at any given stage in the pipeline, while a given function is being performed on a given macroblock, the next macroblock in the data stream is being worked on by the previous function in the pipeline. |
| US09329870B2 |
Extensible execution unit interface architecture with multiple decode logic and multiple execution units
A method and circuit arrangement tightly couple together decode logic associated with multiple types of execution units and having varying priorities to enable instructions that are decoded as valid instructions for multiple types of execution units to be forwarded to a highest priority type of execution unit among the multiple types of execution units. Among other benefits, when an auxiliary execution unit is coupled to a general purpose processing core with the decode logic for the auxiliary execution unit tightly coupled with the decode logic for the general purpose processing core, the auxiliary execution unit may be used to effectively overlay new functionality for an existing instruction that is normally executed by the general purpose processing core, e.g., to patch a design flaw in the general purpose processing core or to provide improved performance for specialized applications. |
| US09329869B2 |
Prefix computer instruction for compatibily extending instruction functionality
A prefix instruction is executed and passes operands to a net instruction without storing the operands in an architected resource such that the execution of the next instruction uses the operands provided by the prefix instruction to perform an operation, the operands may be prefix instruction immediate field or a target register of the prefix instruction execution. |
| US09329865B2 |
Context control and parameter passing within microcode based instruction routines
A processor includes a microcode storage to store a first microcode subroutine and a microcode caller of the first microcode subroutine. The processor further includes a first microcode alias storage comprising a first plurality of microcode alias locations and a second microcode alias storage comprising a second plurality of microcode alias locations. The processor further includes a first logic, coupled to the first microcode alias storage and to the second microcode alias storage, wherein the first logic is configured to select a first one of a) the first microcode alias storage for storage of a parameter location in one of the first plurality of microcode alias locations or b) the second microcode alias storage for storage of the parameter location in one of the second plurality of microcode alias locations. |
| US09329862B2 |
SIMD sign operation
Method, apparatus, and program means for nonlinear filtering and deblocking applications utilizing SIMD sign and absolute value operations. The method of one embodiment comprises receiving first data for a first block and second data for a second block. The first data and said second data are comprised of a plurality of rows and columns of pixel data. A block boundary between the first block and the second block is characterized. A correction factor for a deblocking algorithm is calculated with a first instruction for a sign operation that multiplies and with a second instruction for an absolute value operation. Data for pixels located along said block boundary between the first and second block are corrected. |
| US09329852B2 |
Risk mitigation for installation wizards
A mechanism is provided in a data processing system for installing a software product in a data processing system using a debug mode of an installation wizard. The mechanism separates an installation wizard for installing a software product in a data processing system into a plurality of installation code portions. Each of the plurality of installation code portions corresponds to a state. The mechanism associates each of the plurality of installation code portions with a display panel. The mechanism initializes execution of the installation wizard. For a given installation code portion within the plurality of code portions, the mechanism presents a display panel associated with the given installation code portion to a user, receives user input associated with the given installation code portion, and proceeds to the next installation code portion. The mechanism then completes the installation wizard to install the software product in the data processing system. |
| US09329851B2 |
Browser-based discovery and application switching
Various embodiments enable a web browser to promote the availability of an installable application that is associated with a website to which the web browser has been navigated. The web browser is configured to discover the availability of these applications and, responsively, provide a user experience through which the user can acquire and install such applications, as well as switch to applications that have previously been installed. Thus, through the various embodiments, a user is relieved of the burden of having to navigate to a particular application store and periodically search for applications associated with sites to which they browse. |
| US09329848B2 |
Mechanism for facilitating dynamic and efficient fusion of computing instructions in software programs
A mechanism is described for facilitating dynamic and efficient fusion of computing instructions according to one embodiment. A method of embodiments, as described herein, includes monitoring a software program for a program region having fusion candidate instructions for a fusion operation at a computing system; evaluating whether the macro operation of the candidate instructions is valuable to the software program; and performing the fusion operation if it is evaluated to be valuable. |
| US09329846B1 |
Cooperative program code transformation
Cooperative program code transformation includes receiving a transformation hint request, obtaining a suitable transformation hint, and providing the suitable transformation hint such that it is used to transform at least a portion of the program code and generate optimized code. |
| US09329839B2 |
Multi-view form design
Methods, computer systems and computer readable media for receiving designing and displaying device and platform-specific forms are provided. In embodiments, base forms are utilized and modified to create custom forms that are platform and device specific, without breaking the parent-child relationship between the base form and the custom form for any non-modified characteristics of the base form. Custom forms enhance the performance and appearance. In embodiments, interrogators are executed at runtime to specify a set of instructions that will be executed, further enhancing the performance and appearance associated with the form and the particular device displaying the form. In various embodiments of the present invention, user interfaces provide the designer visual representations of the forms as they appear on selected platforms and/or devices. |
| US09329838B2 |
User-friendly data binding, such as drag-and-drop data binding in a workflow application
A software facility allows for easy binding of a data component to a feature of a software component. Prior to the binding, a graphical indication of the software component and a graphical indication of the feature of the software component are displayed. In addition, an indication of an element of the data component is displayed in a display area approximately adjacent to the displayed software component. The software facility receives a user input command to bind the data component to the feature of the software component. The user input command may include dragging the indication of an element of the data component from the data component display area to the feature of the software component and subsequently dropping it on the feature. As a result, the software facility automatically generates script or code that provides executable instructions to bind the feature of the software component to the data component. |
| US09329837B2 |
Generating a proposal for selection of services from cloud service providers based on an application architecture description and priority parameters
A method includes performing operations as follows on a processor: receiving an architecture description for a software application that identifies a plurality of generic services, receiving a requirement description for the software application that comprises respective values for a plurality of priority parameters for the software application, and generating a proposal that, for each of the plurality of generic services, identifies a specific cloud service for the respective generic service based on the requirement description. |
| US09329833B2 |
Visual audio quality cues and context awareness in a virtual collaboration session
Systems and methods for providing visual audio quality cues and context awareness in a virtual collaboration session. In some embodiments, a method may include receiving a plurality of audio signals, each audio signal captured from one of a plurality of a participants of a virtual collaboration session; determining, for each of the plurality of participants, a voice quality of the participant's audio signal; and providing a visual cue of the voice quality of each participant's audio signal to at least one of the plurality of participants. |
| US09329828B2 |
Information processing apparatus for displaying adjacent partial images out of a plurality of partial images that constitute one image on display units of a plurality of adjacent information processing apparatuses
An information processing apparatus displays, in cooperation with a display unit of another apparatus adjacent to the information processing apparatus, adjacent partial images out of a plurality of partial images that constitute one image. The information processing apparatus includes a detection unit configured to detect information about movement of the information processing apparatus, an identification unit configured to identify a site of the information processing apparatus that adjoins the another apparatus based on the information about movement which has been detected by the detection unit, and a display control unit to cause a display unit of the information processing apparatus to display a partial image that is identified based on the site identified by the identification unit out of the plurality of partial images that constitute the one image. |
| US09329827B2 |
Cropping of images for display on variably sized display devices
Cropping source images for display on user devices. A source image is cropped and/or resized to correspond to dimensions of a display screen of a device by selecting an area of interest of the source image which will not be lost in the process of resizing the image. Coordinate points are positioned within the image to correspond to dimensions of the display screen on which the image will be displayed and the image is then cropped at the boundaries defined by the coordinate points which include a crop height and a crop width. If needed, the image is then scaled down proportionally to resize the image to a size that corresponds to the dimensions of the display screen of the device. |
| US09329826B2 |
Data flow to a printing device
A method of increasing data flow to a printing device includes, with a first raster image processor, converting a document into a first bitmap having a first dot density and representing a black color plane of the document; with a second raster image processor, converting the document into a second bitmap at a second dot density that is a relatively lower dot density than that of the first bitmap, the second bitmap representing other color planes of the document; and transmitting data of the first and second bitmaps to a printing device for printing to a print medium. |
| US09329823B2 |
Repository-based print services
An approach is provided for a service provider to identify documents to include in a client's repository and for the client to print the documents from the client's repository. In an embodiment, a computing device receives authentication information identifying a first user, receives first user information identifying a second user, receives information indicating selection of a one or more particular documents, from a set of one or more documents, and sends document information that at least identifies the one or more particular documents to a repository associated with the second user. A printing device receives second user information identifying the second user, and, in response to receiving the second user information, retrieves the one or more particular documents from the repository based, at least in part, on the second user information. The printing device processes at least one document of the one or more particular documents for printing. |
| US09329821B2 |
Printing apparatus, method of controlling printing apparatus, and storage medium for displaying print job processing time
A printing apparatus includes a storing unit configured to store a job, a printing unit configured to print the job, an acquiring unit configured to acquire a preparation time for the printing unit to become a print-ready state, a determining unit configured to determine a print time for the printing unit to process the job, a specifying unit configured to specify a time for processing the job stored in the storing unit based on the preparation time acquired by the acquiring unit and the print time determined by the determining unit, and a displaying unit configured to display a job execution schedule indicating the job processing time specified by the specifying unit. |
| US09329819B2 |
Constraint evaluation and re-evaluation for managing print jobs
An improved method implemented in a print job management apparatus for processing print jobs in a multiple-printer print shop environment is described. When an operator manually assigns a print job to a printer, the job ticket settings of print job are compared with capabilities of the printer to detect any constraints (i.e. incompatibilities). Messages including textual descriptions of the detected constraints are displayed in a UI, and job ticket settings that caused each constraint are displayed adjacent the corresponding message. The job ticket settings display allows the operator to change values of the job ticket settings and then re-evaluate the job assignment to detect any further constraints. The display and input steps are performed using a single UI. The changed job ticket settings are kept in a temporary version of the job ticket, and the original job ticket is updated with the changed values when the job is finally printed. |
| US09329816B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing remote devices and accessing remote device information
A method, apparatus, system, and computer program product are disclosed to manage access to device information. The system may include a plurality of devices configured to provide device information to a device management server. The system may also include a remote server including the device management server. The device management server may be configured to receive the device information, to determine a receiver for the device information based on one or more permission settings for the plurality of devices, to provide the device information to the determined receiver, and to provide a device management interface, the device management interface includes an interface for modifying the permission settings for one or more particular devices associated with a user account accessing the device management interface. |
| US09329815B2 |
Method and system for message delivery using a secure device and simple output without the use of a personal computer
Communication systems and methods for enhancing communications between users featuring a central service which formats messages into a printer-friendly format. The format of the delivered message is based on preference settings established by the recipient or an authorized agent of the recipient. The messages are delivered to a device, such as a printer. Messages can be sent to the service in any format and can include text, photographs, URLs, and/or a variety of file types. The messages are then parsed by the service and formatted for delivery to the device. |
| US09329814B2 |
Portable terminal apparatus, image processing apparatus registration method for the portable terminal apparatus, and recording medium
A portable terminal apparatus includes: a two-dimensional code obtaining portion that obtains a two-dimensional code indicating address information; an address information judgment portion that analyzes the two-dimensional code and judges whether or not the two-dimensional code includes an IP address; an access portion that accesses an image processing apparatus residing at the IP address upon the two-dimensional code being judged as including the IP address; an MIB information obtaining portion that obtains MIB information from the image processing apparatus; and a registration portion that judges on the basis of the MIB information whether or not the image processing apparatus can be operated from the portable terminal apparatus by an application being activated, the application being installed on the portable terminal apparatus, and registers information for use of the image processing apparatus upon the image processing apparatus being judged as being able to be operated from the portable terminal apparatus. |
| US09329803B1 |
File system over thinly provisioned volume file in mapped mode
A data storage system includes storage devices and a processing subsystem executing software forming a lower-deck file system and an upper-deck file system. The lower-deck file system presents a volume file from which storage is provided to the upper-deck file system, and units of storage of the storage devices are allocable to the upper-deck file system but are not reserved to it. The volume file is thinly provisioned, and additional units of storage are added dynamically to increase its allocated size in response to demand from the upper-deck file system. The lower-deck file system operates in a mapped mode in which a block address in the lower-deck file system is obtained by a generally arbitrary mapping (e.g., an Inode/IB tree) of a block address in the volume file. |
| US09329802B2 |
Fail safe refresh of data stored in NAND memory device
Methods, systems and devices provide for refreshing a data image stored on a NAND memory device. Aspects include sequentially copying each of a series of static data partitions into a scrub portion that does not store data image partitions identified in the partition table. The sequential copying begins with a last static data partition and proceeds sequentially to a first static data partition when the scrub portion occupies higher order addresses than the last address of the last static data partition. Alternatively, the sequential copying begins with the first static data partition and proceeds sequentially to the last static data partition when the scrub portion occupies addresses that are lower than the first address of the first static data partition. The partition table may be updated as each static data partition is stored to the scrub portion. Such operations enable fail-safe scrubbing and refreshing of data in a NAND device. |
| US09329801B1 |
Adjustment of volume synchronization
Embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for adjusting synchronization rates of volumes. Volumes and their copies (i.e., mirrored volumes) provide physical or virtual storage on a data storage medium. Depending on the function (i.e., the purpose) of mirrored volumes, a certain synchronization rate is recommended. Embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for an automatic dynamic adjustment of individual synchronization rates by adapting to changes in system workloads in order to avoid degradation of user-driven input/output (IO) and to efficiently achieve nearly 100% synchronization for all mirrored volumes. |
| US09329797B2 |
Method and system for adjusting block erase or program parameters based on a predicted erase life
A method and system are disclosed for improved block erase cycle life prediction and block management in a non-volatile memory. The method includes the storage device tracking information relating to a first erase cycle count at which the block erase time exceeded a predetermined threshold relative to a first erase cycle at which this occurred in other blocks. Blocks having a later relative erase cycle at which the erase time threshold is exceeded are assumed to have a greater erase cycle life than those that need to exceed the erase time threshold at an earlier erase cycle. This information is used to adjust wear leveling in the form of free block selection, garbage collection block selection and other block management processes. Alternatively or in combination, the predicted erase cycle life information is used to adjust program and/or erase parameters such as erase voltage and time. |
| US09329793B2 |
Storage system with load balancing mechanism and method of operation thereof
A method (1000) of operation of a storage system includes: partitioning a first virtual disk volume by allocating a first portion, a first low performance storage capacity, and a first reserved capacity; establishing, based on a user policy register, a partition bias for the first virtual disk volume; and adjusting a capacity of the first portion and the first low performance storage capacity based on usage statistics, the partition bias, and limiting the capacity adjustment by a dynamic partitioning module. |
| US09329789B1 |
Methods and apparatus for efficiently operating on a storage device
Systems and methods for efficiently operating on a storage device are provided. In some embodiments, systems and methods for operating on a storage device having a data portion and a log portion with a plurality of regions are provided. A write command is received with a storage device controller. The write command may include an address portion and a data portion. A current position in the log is identified that corresponds to a first of the plurality of regions to which data has been written last. Data stored in a second of the plurality of regions is selectively transferred to the data portion of the storage device based on validity and frequency of use of the data. The data and address portions included in the write command are stored to the log portion based on the current position. |
| US09329788B2 |
Computer system and method for allocating and recovering virtual volumes
In a storage system, a real page is allocated from a pool to a write destination virtual page in a virtual volume. The real page includes multiple real regions. The storage system moves all valid data stored in two or more move-source real pages respectively allocated to two or more virtual pages, to move-destination real pages the number of which is less than the number of move-source real pages in units of real regions. Each piece of valid data can be used by any one of the access sources. The storage system writes the predetermined data to all move-source real regions in each of move-source real pages, so that each of the move-source real pages is set as a recovery target real page which is a real page storing only the predetermined data, and performs real capacity recovery for making each recovery target real page into an unallocated state. |
| US09329787B2 |
Adapting to predicted changes in host transmission rates
In one embodiment, a method is provided for adapting a host transfer rate between a host and a tape drive to a medium transfer rate between the tape drive and a tape. A data compression rate of untransferred data in a buffer of a tape drive is measured. A change in a future host transfer rate is predicated based on the measured compression rate. A host transfer rate between a host and the tape drive is adapted to a medium transfer rate between the tape drive and a tape, based on the predicted change. |
| US09329786B2 |
Optimized transfer and storage of highly denormalized data in an in-memory data grid
A method for transferring and storing a data set associated with an in-memory data grid (IMDG) is provided. The method may include identifying at least two data object instances associated with the data set based on a determined relationship between the at least two data object instances. The method may also include performing a field relation analysis on the identified at least two data object instances and recording the field relation analysis. The method may include receiving a request for a data object associated with the data set. The method may include determining if an optimization can be performed on the data object. The method may include omitting a field value associated with the data object based on the determined optimization. The method may include inflating the omitted field value into the data set associated with the data object request and returning the data set with the inflated field value. |
| US09329783B2 |
Data processing system and data processing method
Embodiments of the present invention provide a data processing system and a data processing method. An MMIO address of a data request is obtained, where data stored in a PCIe storage device can be directly obtained from the MMIO address, and according to the MMIO address, a network adapter can directly read the data from the PCIe storage device of the data processing system, and transmit the data to a second data processing system, or directly write the data received from the second data processing system into the PCIe storage device. Therefore, the processing system can implement transmitting data directly from the PCIe storage device to the network adapter without using memory. During data transmission between the two data processing systems, a usage ratio of a resource, such as memory and a CPU, is reduced, and efficiency of data transmission is improved. |
| US09329782B2 |
Microcontroller with integrated interface enabling reading data randomly from serial flash memory
A microcontroller includes a microprocessor, a serial flash memory interface, and input/output (I/O) terminals for coupling the serial flash memory interface to external serial flash memory. The microprocessor is operable to generate instruction frames that trigger respective commands to read data from specified addresses in the external serial flash memory. The serial flash memory interface receives and processes the instruction frames, obtains the data contained in the specified addresses in the external serial flash memory regardless of whether the specified addresses are sequential or non-sequential, and provides the data for use by the microprocessor. |
| US09329781B2 |
Disk array apparatus
A disk array apparatus using an SAS can transfer data without lowering a transfer efficiency of data even if rates of a plurality of physical links connected to a controller and storage device are different. A plurality of HDDs are connected to a controller through an expander. Data are transferred from the controller to the expander and then to HDD. In this connection, the controller and the expander transfers a set of transfer data in a plurality of the HDD-side physical links. The controller-side physical link integrates the transfer data, and multiplexes them to transfer. A plurality of HDDs-side physical links separates the transfer data to transfer in parallel. |
| US09329780B2 |
Combining virtual mapping metadata and physical space mapping metadata
For combining virtual mapping metadata and physical space mapping metadata in a storage system by a processor device in a computing environment, data and metadata are maintained into separate virtual streams. The separate virtual streams include a metadata stream for the metadata and a data stream for the data. Information of a mapping of logical data to a location on the data stream and a current state of unused spaces in the data stream is linearly distributed within the metadata stream. |
| US09329777B2 |
Method and system for providing background contents of virtual key input device
A method for providing a background image to a virtual key input device for display on an information communication terminal thereof supporting a touch user interface (TUI). The method includes receiving, via the information communication terminal, a selection of settings by a user for a virtual key input unit, generating the virtual key input unit using the selected settings, the virtual key input unit being transparent, receiving, via the information communication terminal, a selection of background contents by the user for the virtual key input unit, and generating a background skin based on the selected background contents, and combining the transparent virtual key input unit and the background skin. |
| US09329776B2 |
Display control device, method and computer program product
A graphical user interface apparatus, method and computer program product cooperate to control a display. An item is displayed at a periphery of a display and a detector detects when an object is proximate to the item. When detected the display displays a relation item. Then, when the object is detected as moving to be proximate to the relation item, a controller changes a displayed form of the relation item in response to detecting when the object is moved. |
| US09329775B2 |
Figure drawing apparatus, figure drawing method and recording medium on which figure drawing programs are recorded
When a user touches positions on a touch panel display unit which correspond to a plurality of characteristic points of a user's desired figure, the user moves the touched positions in accordance with a shape of the figure and leaves his or her touches from the touched positions and touches an additional touch position, characteristic conditions of different figures (a circle, parallel lines, an equilateral triangle, a triangle, a square, a rectangle, a quadrangle, a straight line, a concentric circle, an ellipse, etc.) are determined in accordance with the touched positions, a locus of the movement of the touched positions and the additional touch position and a type of the figure and a drawing-position thereof are determined. |
| US09329773B2 |
Scalable gesture-based device control
A method for providing control signals may include, but is not limited to: detecting a first user input associated with at least one graphical user interface element; transmitting one or more control signals associated with the at least one graphical user interface element in response to the first user input; detecting a second user input associated with a grouping of two or more graphical user interface elements; and transmitting one or more control signals associated with the grouping of two or more graphical user interface elements in response to the second user input. |
| US09329764B2 |
Overscroll visual effects
Methods for providing visual feedback when an end area of content is reached are provided. In one aspect, a method includes receiving an input in a first direction to at least one of scroll, rotate, or scale a portion of content provided for display, and determining whether an edge of the content in the first direction is reached in response to the input. The method also includes applying a stretch effect to the displayed portion of content when the determination indicates an edge of the content in the first direction is reached. Systems and machine-readable media are also provided. |
| US09329762B1 |
Methods and systems for reversing editing operations in media-rich projects
Methods and systems of reversing edit operations of a media-rich project are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises, offering to a user an editing action on a pre-edited view of a media-rich project, in which the editing action after being performed on the pre-edited view displays a first-edited view of the project; saving, in response to the user switching to a second view, the first-edited view as a last-edited view; and reversing, in response to a user reverse action, the editing action of the last-edited view by initiating a reverse function, in which the reverse function comprises two steps, in which a first step causes the editor to exit from the second view and to land on the last-edited view, and a second step causes the last-edited view to revert to the pre-edited view. |
| US09329760B2 |
Information processing apparatus, control method thereof, and program
An information processing apparatus capable of displaying information about a plurality of content data pieces recorded in a recording medium by a display unit includes a first display control unit configured to control the display unit such that information about content data is displayed in an arrangement based on attribute information of the content data, and a second display control unit configured to control the display unit such that information about content data is displayed in an arrangement based on other attribute information, wherein the second display control unit controls the display unit to display information indicating existence of the content data of which information is displayed by the first display control unit and information indicating existence of content data of which information is not displayed by the first control unit in a distinguishable manner. |
| US09329758B2 |
Multiple sensory channel approach for translating human emotions in a computing environment
Sensory inputs of a user can be received by a computing device. At least one of the sensory inputs can include a physiological input providing a physiological measurement from a body of the user. Each sensory input can be processed in a unique one of a set of standards-defined sensory channels, each corresponding to a specific emotion dimension. Processing the sensory inputs can transform the physiological measurement into an emotion dimension value. The emotion dimension values from each of the sensory channels can be aggregated to generate at least one emotion datum value, which is a standards-defined value for an emotional characteristic of the user. Historical data for a user can be optionally collected and used by a learning and calibration component to improve the accuracy of the generated emotion datum values for a specific individual. A programmatic action driven by the emotion datum value can be performed. |
| US09329757B1 |
Concurrent channels of communication
The present disclosure provides systems, methods, and machine-readable media for concurrent communication. One method includes displaying an interactive application on a first device of a user during a break in an entertainment segment displayed on a second device, sending a request for interaction from the user through the interactive application, pausing the interactive application when the break in the entertainment segment is over, and notifying the user when an additional break begins so the user can commence interacting with the interactive application. |
| US09329752B2 |
Method and device for displaying detailed map information
A method displaying information is performed at a map display device. The method includes displaying the map on a graphical user interface of the device, the displayed map including a plurality of building icons each representing a respective building; detecting a pointing input at a respective position in the displayed map; identifying a first building icon associated with the respective position in the displayed map; selectively obtaining a respective type of detailed information on the respective building represented by the first building icon for display on the map; and displaying a transparent layer over the displayed map, the transparent layer displaying the selected type of detailed information. The selectively obtaining is in accordance with a respective distance between a current location of the device and a respective location associated with the respective building represented by the first building icon. |
| US09329751B2 |
Method and a system to generate a user interface for analytical models
Embodiments relate to a method to dynamically generate a user interface for computing a prediction on analytical models. The analytical models received from a computing device are parsed by a processor of a server to extract a plurality of analytical metadata and the extracted plurality of analytical metadata is stored in a set of metadata tables. Analytical relationship information from the one or more analytical models is extracted for scoring using the stored plurality of analytical metadata and is stored in a set of relationship tables created by the processor. The user interface is generated using the stored plurality of analytical metadata and displayed on computing device for receiving one or more inputs for each of the data entry fields from a user. The prediction is computed by applying the stored analytical relationship information on the received one or more inputs and displaying the computed prediction on the user interface. |
| US09329750B2 |
Three-dimensional tilt and pan navigation using a single gesture
Systems and methods for providing tilt and pan navigation within a three-dimensional environment in response to a single gesture are provided. An exemplary computer-implemented method includes receiving, by one or more computing devices, data describing a drag performed by a user. The computer-implemented method includes, in response to the drag, incrementally adjusting, by the one or more computing devices, a tilt angle of a virtual camera until the tilt angle equals one of a maximum tilt angle or a minimum tilt angle, and panning, by the one or more computing devices, the virtual camera with respect to a rendering of a three-dimensional model. An exemplary system includes a client device and a server in operative communication over a network. |
| US09329739B2 |
Touch sensing system and method of controlling power consumption thereof, and display device using the same
A touch sensing system and a method of controlling power consumption thereof, and a display device using the same are disclosed. The touch sensing system includes a plurality of sensing units, which sample a voltage received from a touch screen and accumulate the sampled voltage, and a plurality of analog-to-digital converters converting an output of the sensing units into digital data. The sensing units and the analog-to-digital converters are divided into a plurality of groups in an idle state. Each of the plurality of groups includes at least two sensing units and one analog-to-digital converter. At least one sensing unit included in at least one group is powered down in the idle state. An analog-to-digital converter is powered on during the group it belongs to is powered on. |
| US09329738B2 |
Determination and reduction of parasitic capacitance variation due to display noise
Embodiments described herein generally take the form of methods and systems for identifying and/or reducing a parasitic capacitance variation in a capacitive integrated touch-sensing module that may arise from proximity to a nearby electronic display. |
| US09329736B2 |
Capacitive touch panel input device that measures internal resistances for compensation
An input device includes a selection circuit to which a plurality of electrodes disposed in a capacitive touch panel are connected, a line connected to the selection circuit and having a same internal resistance as that between the plurality of electrodes and the selection circuit, an A/D conversion part connected to the selection circuit so as to measure a voltage of the electrodes or a measurement value when the line is connected thereto, wherein the electrodes and the line are each connected selectively to the A/D conversion part by the selection circuit, and a control part configured to control the selection circuit so as to allow the A/D conversion part to measure a voltage of one of the electrodes and the measurement value, and to calculate an electrostatic capacitance of one of the electrodes based on the voltage of one of the electrodes and the measurement value. |
| US09329734B2 |
Weight pressure process method and system of self capacitive touch screen
The present invention relates to touch screen technology, and provide a weight pressure process method and system of the self capacitive touch screen. In the weight pressure process method and system of the self capacitive touch screen provided by the invention, a threshold relationship is used to modify the existing touch threshold, the threshold relationship uses the touch threshold and the minor change of the changes of two channels adjacent to the channel corresponding to the maximum value as variables, if the maximum value is not greater than the value of the threshold relationship, identify the point causing the current change as a fake point and filter out the fake point. In the method, the change of the self capacitor caused by the deformation due to pressure, so the actual touch point can be identified more accurately, a touch application can be performed correctly, and the user experience is improved greatly. |
| US09329732B2 |
Device and method for detecting touch screen
A driving signal is simultaneously provided to all first conductive strips arranged in parallel in a first direction in a touch screen, and mutual capacitive signals are detected from all second conductive strips arranged in parallel in a second direction. The mutual capacitive signals can be used for determining whether an external conductive object coupled to the ground is touching or approaching the touch screen or not even if water or other conductive object not coupled to ground is on the touch screen. |
| US09329728B2 |
User interfaces
A first electronic device is operated in the presence of a second electronic device. Both are configured to transmit acoustic signals, the first being configured to transmit signals with a first characteristic. The first device determines the presence of the second device and thereafter transmits acoustic signals having a second, signal characteristic, different from the first characteristic, and giving a reduced interference between signals transmitted from the first and second devices respectively than the first signal characteristic. Acoustic signals comprising reflections of the transmitted signals from an object are received at the first device, and are used to characterise the motion of the object and thereby control a function of the first device. |
| US09329727B2 |
Object detection in optical sensor systems
Object detection techniques for use in conjunction with optical sensors is described. In one or more implementations, a plurality of inputs are received, each of the inputs being received from a respective one of a plurality of optical sensors. Each of the plurality of inputs are classified using machine learning as to whether the inputs are indicative of detection of an object by a respective said optical sensor. |
| US09329726B2 |
System and method for capturing editable handwriting on a display
Systems, methods, and apparatus for a touch sensitive display device providing editable handwriting capture are described. A display device with a detachable front panel is capable of interactive touch sensing and editable handwriting capture. An ultraviolet or near ultraviolet light source and camera can be configured to capture images of textual input made on the detachable front panel of the device with a pen having water soluble fluorescent ink that is transparent or nontransparent such that the notes are visible under ultraviolet or near ultraviolet light and transparent when little or no ultraviolet or near ultraviolet light is present. The detachable front panel may be removed from the display device for cleaning and ease of use. |
| US09329724B2 |
Signal processing circuit for touch screen and method for controlling the same
The present disclosure relates to a signal processing circuit for a touch screen, which is capable of processing a sensing signal outputted from a touch screen panel, and a method for controlling the same. When pulses containing noise exist in the sensing signal, the signal processing circuit compensates for an integral signal in response to the pulses containing noise. |
| US09329722B2 |
Capacitive touch system and method with auto-calibration
The present invention is directed to a capacitive touch system and method with auto-calibration. A driving signal generator provides driving signals to first electrodes, thereby resulting in induced signals on second electrodes. An induced signal receiver receives and processes the induced signals. The induced signals associated with at least some no-touch points are measured and pre-stored in an initial value generator, which, at the beginning of a measuring period, generates initial induced signals of the second electrodes according to the pre-stored induced signals for initializing the induced signal generator. |
| US09329719B2 |
Hybrid force sensitive touch devices
A hybrid touch-screen display that integrates force-based touch-screen technology with any one from among a group of projective capacitive, surface capacitive, resistive, digital resistive, SAW, IR, APR, DST, optical and electromagnetic touch-screen technologies to provide an ability to compensate for non-perfect force transfer. An alternate implementation is also disclosed that employs a single force sensor for relative force measurement in a system in which force is traditionally not measured, here a water dispenser unit. This allows compensation for varying static loads, run-time calibration, and filtering of extraneous loads through firmware. |
| US09329715B2 |
Method and apparatus for differentiating touch screen users based on touch event analysis
Some embodiments of the present invention include a method of differentiating touch screen users based on characterization of features derived from the touch event acoustics and mechanical impact and includes detecting a touch event on a touch sensitive surface, generating a vibro-acoustic waveform signal using at least one sensor detecting such touch event, converting the waveform signal into at least a domain signal, extracting distinguishing features from said domain signal, and classifying said features to associate the features of the domain signal with a particular user. |
| US09329714B2 |
Input device, input assistance method, and program
The present invention includes a display section displaying data in a screen, a touch panel detecting proximity of a finger, a proximity coordinate extracting section extracting proximity coordinates of the finger in the proximity, a pointer coordinate calculating section calculating, when proximity of a plurality of fingers is simultaneously detected, a position Pc2 in the screen corresponding to a middle point Pc of positions of the plurality of fingers as pointer coordinates, a display controlling section causing visual information PT to be displayed in the position corresponding to the pointer coordinates in the screen, and an event detecting section detecting an event for executing prescribed processing when a distance between the plurality of fingers has become equal to or smaller than a prescribed distance. |
| US09329712B2 |
Electronic device having changeable touch receiving region
An electronic device (1) prevents unintended operations when a contact position shifts, by having a display unit (20) that displays an object, a contact detection unit (10) that detects contact by a contacting body, a pressure detection unit (30) that detects pressure on the detection unit (10), and a control unit (60) that performs processing associated with the object displayed on the display unit (20) in accordance with a contact position of the contacting body in a region of the detection unit (10) corresponding to an receiving region of the object and with data based on pressure on the detection unit (10) acquired from the pressure detection unit (30), such that when the contact position of the contacting body changes as the data based on pressure increases, the control unit (60) changes the receiving region of the object in a direction of change of the contact position. |
| US09329708B2 |
Display system with electrostatic and radio links
Systems and methods for transmitting information in interactive display systems are provided. In one example, an interactive display system comprises an interactive display including an electrode matrix having row and column electrodes, the row electrodes being sequentially driven, a display-side radio transceiver, and an input device including an electrode tip and an input device-side radio transceiver. The interactive display is configured to transmit a channel identifier in an electrostatic link formed between the electrode matrix of the display and the electrode tip of the input device, and the input device is configured to detect a position signal indicating a nearest row electrode in the electrode matrix adjacent which the electrode tip is positioned, and to transmit data indicating the nearest row electrode to the interactive display via a radio link between the input device side transceiver and the display side transceiver on a channel identified by the channel identifier. |
| US09329707B2 |
Input device
An input device is provided. The input device includes an operation element, an optical finger navigation module, a press sensing circuit and a control unit. The optical finger navigation module senses a moving operation of the finger on the operation element so as to generate a motion signal, and the press sensing circuit is disposed under the optical finger navigation module and generates a press signal in response to a pressing operation of the finger. The control unit is electrically connected with the optical finger navigation module and the press sensing circuit, so as to generate a first control command in response to the motion signal and generate a second control command in response to the press sensing signal. |
| US09329706B2 |
Display device with touch panel, event switching control method, and computer-readable storage medium
A display device includes a touch panel; a coordinate detecting unit configured to detect coordinates on a display surface of the touch panel; a special pen detecting unit configured to detect that a special pen comes into physical contact with the display surface; a timer unit configured to measure time having elapsed from when the coordinate detecting unit detects the coordinates; and an event issuing unit configured to issue a first event when the special pen detecting unit detects the special pen coming into contact with the display surface, and issue a second event when the time having elapsed measured by the timer unit exceeds a predetermined time Δt while the special pen detecting unit is not detecting the special pen coming into contact with the display surface. |
| US09329703B2 |
Intelligent stylus
An intelligent stylus is disclosed. The stylus can provide a stylus condition in addition to a touch input. The stylus architecture can include multiple sensors to sense information indicative of the stylus condition, a microcontroller to determine the stylus condition based on the sensed information, and a transmitter to transmit the determined condition to a corresponding touch sensitive device so as to cause some action based on the condition. |
| US09329696B2 |
Optimized digital operational encoding and input method of world character information and information processing system thereof
Optimized digital operational encoding and input method of world character information and information processing system thereof are directed to digital operational encoding of the world character information with ten numerals 0-9 unifiedly by means of the encoding method operated with addition and subtraction by areas and positions. The method and device takes these number codes as the index codes of retrieving the literatures of world characters and the computer input codes of world characters, so as to build up a complete set of method and systems capable of using world character to design the operating system, computer language, chip instruction, wireless interface protocol, and wireless internet protocol, used widely for computer, communications, network system, and the sorting and retrieving system of world character codes. |
| US09329695B2 |
Wearable terminal and method for controlling the same
A wearable terminal includes voice data generation unit a voice data generation unit configured to generate audio data, a sensing unit configured to sense a motion of a user's upper limb in a first axis direction perpendicular to a plane defined by a vertically downward oriented direction of the upper limb and a direction of movement of the user, and to generate motion data concerning the motion, a determination unit configured to determine, based on the motion data, whether or not the user is going to perform remote control of a home electric appliance, and a data processing unit configured to process the audio data. The data processing unit includes a transmission data generation unit configured to generate transmission data corresponding to the audio data if the determination unit determines that the user is going to perform the remote control, and a transmission unit configured to transmit the transmission data to a network. |
| US09329693B2 |
Display device and method of setting group information
Disclosed are a display device and a method of setting group information by displaying additional information to be added to base information via first and second gesture inputs. The display device includes a display unit configured to display visual information, a sensor unit configured to detect an input signal and transmit a detected result to a processor, and the processor configured to control the display unit and the sensor unit. The processor is configured to display base information, detect a first gesture input to the displayed base information, determine an interval of additional information based on a position of the detected first gesture input, detect a second gesture input, determine the number of additional information based on a position of the detected second gesture input, and display at least one additional information according to the determined interval and the determined number of the additional information. |
| US09329692B2 |
Actionable content displayed on a touch screen
Some implementations may present a media file that includes video on a touchscreen display. A user gesture performed on the touchscreen display may be detected. The user gesture may include one of a tap gesture, a swipe gesture, or a tap and hold and drag while holding gesture. Text selected by the user gesture may be determined. One or more follow-up actions may be performed automatically based at least partly on the text selected by the user gesture. |
| US09329691B2 |
Operation input apparatus and method using distinct determination and control areas
A motion input is appropriately identified. A display is disposed in front of an operator, and a motion, performed by the operator within ranges set in predetermined right and left positions between the operator and the display, is identified. In certain circumstances, the shape of a finger of the operator may be handled as an object of an operational determination. |
| US09329679B1 |
Projection system with multi-surface projection screen
A projection and camera system projects content onto a passive, multi-surface projection screen. When a first surface of the screen is oriented to receive the projected images, the system detects this first surface and projects content associated with that surface of the screen. When a second surface is oriented to receive the projected images, the system detects this change from the first surface to the second surface and projects different content associated with the second surface. In this manner, to switch between different content or different applications, the user merely needs to turn the screen over. |
| US09329676B2 |
Control method and electronic device
The present invention discloses a control method and an electronic device, which are capable of solving the technical problem in the prior art that it is not rapid enough when controlling a voice recognition engine to enter an operating state. The control method is applied in an electronic device which comprises a voice recognition engine and comprises or is connected to a microphone, wherein the method comprises: acquiring first airflow information collected by the microphone; determining whether the first airflow information satisfies a first preset condition; and controlling the voice recognition engine to enter a second state when the first airflow information satisfies the first preset condition. |
| US09329674B2 |
Display device with integrated touch screen
A display device with integrated touch screen is provided. The display device may include a panel, a display driver IC, and a touch IC. The panel may include a plurality of driving electrodes and sensing electrodes. The display driver IC may apply a driving pulse to the driving electrodes and receive a plurality of sensing signals from the sensing electrodes when the panel operates in a touch driving mode, and, when the panel operates in a display driving mode, the display driver IC may apply a common voltage to the driving electrodes and sensing electrodes. The touch IC may generate the driving pulse and apply the driving pulse to the display driver IC, and may receive the sensing signals from the display driver IC to determine whether there is a touch. The touch IC may include a sensing unit sensing whether there is a touch. |
| US09329673B2 |
Information processing device, information processing method, and recording medium
An inputter inputs a captured image of a hand captured by a camera. An acquirer acquires information indicating the distance between the camera and the hand. A storer stores reference data for specifying a hand gesture and a command corresponding to the gesture, for each distance between the camera and the hand. A selector selects, from among the reference data stored in the storer, reference data corresponding to the distance indicated by the information acquired by the acquirer. A specifier refers to the reference data selected by the selector, specifies a hand gesture in the captured image input by the inputter, and specifies a command corresponding to the specified gesture. |