最新美国发明专利第2016-10-25期 - 专利汇|PatentHub专利检索|专利查询网|发明专利查询分析

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US09478681B2	Fabrication of optical elements and modules incorporating the same Fabricating a wafer-scale spacer/optics structure includes replicating optical replication elements and spacer replication sections directly onto an optics wafer (or other wafer) using a single replication tool. The replicated optical elements and spacer elements can be composed of the same or different materials.
US09478680B2	Solar cell and method for manufacturing the same, and solar cell module A solar cell can include a substrate of a first conductive type; an emitter layer of a second conductive type opposite the first conductive type, and positioned on the substrate; a plurality of finger electrodes formed in a first direction, each finger electrode being electrically connected to the emitter layer; a plurality of first collector regions; a plurality of first electrodes positioned in a plurality of first collector regions and extending in the first direction from the plurality of finger electrodes; a plurality of second electrodes positioned in the plurality of first collector regions and formed in a perpendicular direction crossing the first direction; a plurality of third electrodes positioned in the plurality of first collector regions, connecting two neighboring first electrodes of the plurality of first electrodes and formed in the perpendicular direction; and a plurality of deletions positioned in the plurality of first collector regions. Furthermore, one of the plurality of second electrodes is positioned between a pair of the plurality of first electrodes.
US09478678B2	Front sheet of solar cell, method of manufacturing the same and photovoltaic module comprising the same A front sheet of solar cell, a method of manufacturing the same and a photovoltaic module are provided. The front sheet of solar cell can effectively block infrared rays (IRs) by forming an IR blocking layer including a cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) material on a substrate. Thus, an increase in temperature of a cell can be suppressed so that the power generation efficiency of the cell can be improved. Also, the multi-layered sheet can be configured so that a UV blocking layer including a fluorine-based polymer and a wavelength conversion material can be formed on the IR blocking layer. Thus, wavelengths of a UV region can be converted into wavelengths of a VR region so that the power generation efficiency of the cell can be improved, and discoloration and deformation caused by UVs can be prevented so that the weather resistance can be improved.
US09478675B2	Method and apparatus for localizing and quenching an arc The disclosure relates to a method for localizing and quenching an arc in a PV generator of a PV system, wherein the PV generator includes at least two PV subgenerators. An arc quenching circuit is associated with each PV subgenerator. The method includes detecting an arc in the PV generator. Then, a probability value is determined for each of the PV subgenerators, wherein the probability value is correlated with a probability that the arc is located in the corresponding PV subgenerator. A sequence for activating the arc quenching circuits is then determined that is dependent on the determined probability values. Then, the arc quenching circuits are activated successively in the order of the determined sequence.
US09478674B2	Method of manufacturing a circuit board by punching A method of manufacturing a circuit board includes: forming a plurality of metal electrodes so as to be separated from each other on a holding sheet by cutting a metal foil held on the holding sheet to remove a portion of the metal foil; forming adhesive layers on surfaces of the plurality of metal electrodes; adhering the adhesive layers to a base material by closely contacting the adhesive layers with the base material; and transcribing the adhesive layers and the plurality of metal electrodes onto the base material by detaching the holding sheet from the plurality of metal electrodes.
US09478669B2	Thin film transistor and display array substrate using same A thin film transistor includes a gate electrode, a gate insulating layer, a channel layer, an etching stop layer, two contact holes, a source, and a drain. The gate insulating layer covers the gate electrode. The channel layer is arranged on the gate insulating layer corresponding to the gate electrode. The etching stop layer covers the channel layer and includes an organic stop layer and a hard mask layer, the hard mask layer is located on a surface of the organic stop layer opposite to the channel layer to enhance a hardness of the organic stop layer. The two contact holes pass through the etching stop layer. The source connects to the channel via one contact hole, and the drain connects to the channel via the other contact hole.
US09478666B2	Thin film transistor, method for manufacturing the same, and display device comprising the same A thin film transistor, a method of manufacturing the thin film transistor, and a display device including the thin film transistor are provided. The thin film transistor comprises an oxide semiconductor layer, a gate electrode, a source electrode and a drain electrode formed on a substrate in a coplanar configuration. A first conductive member is in direct contact with the oxide semiconductor layer and in direct contact with the source electrode. A second conductive member is in direct contact with the oxide semiconductor layer and in direct contact with the drain electrode. The first conductive member and the second conductive member are arranged to decrease resistance between a channel region of the oxide semiconductor layer and the source and drain electrodes.
US09478665B2	Thin film transistor, method of manufacturing the same, display substrate and display apparatus A thin film transistor is disclosed in the present invention. The thin film transistor comprises: a substrate, an active layer, a first etching barrier layer, a second etching barrier layer, a source and a drain, wherein: the active layer is disposed over the substrate; the first etching barrier layer is disposed over the active layer; the second etching barrier layer is disposed over the first etching barrier layer; the source and the drain are disposed over the second etching barrier layer, and are connected to each other through the active layer by means of via holes formed in the first etching barrier layer and the second etching barrier layer by etching; and a length of the first etching barrier layer at a channel position is less than a length of the second etching barrier layer. A method of manufacturing the thin film transistor, an array substrate and a display apparatus are also disclosed in the present invention. A length of a channel of the thin film transistor according to the present invention is less than the length of the channel of the conventional thin film transistor. Thereby, size and energy consumption of the thin film transistor are reduced, an aperture ratio of a liquid crystal panel is increased, and a turn-on current of the thin film transistor is increased, so that whole performance of the thin film transistor is further improved.
US09478664B2	Semiconductor device A change in electrical characteristics is suppressed and reliability in a semiconductor device using a transistor including an oxide semiconductor is improved. The semiconductor device includes an oxide semiconductor film over an insulating surface, an antioxidant film over the insulating surface and the oxide semiconductor film, a pair of electrodes in contact with the antioxidant film, a gate insulating film over the pair of electrodes, and a gate electrode which is over the gate insulating film and overlaps with the oxide semiconductor film. In the antioxidant film, a width of a region overlapping with the pair of electrodes is longer than a width of a region not overlapping with the pair of electrodes.
US09478655B2	Semiconductor device having a lower diode region arranged below a trench A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor body and at least one device cell integrated in the semiconductor body. Each device cell includes: a drift region, a source region, and a body region arranged between the source and drift regions; a diode region and a pn junction between the diode and drift regions; a trench having a first sidewall, a second sidewall opposite the first sidewall, and a bottom, the body region adjoining the first sidewall, the diode region adjoining the second sidewall, and the pn junction adjoining the bottom; a gate electrode in the trench and dielectrically insulated from the body, diode and drift regions by a gate dielectric. The diode region has a lower diode region arranged below the trench bottom, and the lower diode region has a maximum of a doping concentration distant to the trench bottom. A corresponding method of manufacturing the device also is provided.
US09478654B2	Method for manufacturing semiconductor device with tensile stress A semiconductor device, and a method for manufacturing the same, comprises a source/drain region formed using a solid phase epitaxy (SPE) process to provide partially isolated source/drain transistors. Amorphous semiconductor material at the source/drain region is crystallized and then shrunk through annealing, to apply tensile stress in the channel direction.
US09478652B1	Monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) structure having composite etch stop layer and method for forming such structure A method for forming a semiconductor structure having a transistor device with a control electrode for controlling a flow of carriers between a first electrode and a second electrode. A passivation layer is deposited over the first electrode, the second electrode and the control electrode. An etch stop layer is deposited on the passivation layer over the control electrode. The etch stop layer includes the etch stop layer comprising: a first etch stop layer on the passivation layer, a buffer layer on the first etch stop layer, and a second etch stop layer on the buffer layer. A dielectric layer is formed over the etch stop layer. A window is etched through a selected region in the dielectric layer over the control electrode, to expose a portion of the etch stop layer disposed over the control electrode. A metal layer is formed on a portion of the etch stop layer and the dielectric layer is also formed on the metal layer. A second metal layer is deposited on the portion of the dielectric layer formed on the first mentioned metal layer.
US09478651B2	Breakdown voltage multiplying integration scheme A circuit includes a first field effect transistor having a gate, a first drain-source terminal, and a second drain-source terminal; and a second field effect transistor having a gate, a first drain-source terminal, and a second drain-source terminal. The second field effect transistor and the first field effect transistor are of the same type, i.e., both re-channel transistors or both p-channel transistors. The second drain-source terminal of the first field effect transistor is coupled to the first drain-source terminal of the second field effect transistor; and the gate of the second field effect transistor is coupled to the first drain-source terminal of the second field effect transistor. The resulting three-terminal device can be substituted for a single field effect transistor that would otherwise suffer breakdown under proposed operating conditions.
US09478648B2	Semiconductor device A shield electrode is formed above a floating p region in a semiconductor layer and connected to a gate electrode in a trench. The shield electrode is composed of a material having an electrical resistivity lower than that of the gate electrode.
US09478647B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device is configured such that the distance between the trench gate in the IGBT and the trench gate in the diode is reduced or a p-well layer is provided between the trench gate in the IGBT and the trench gate in the diode.
US09478644B1	Semiconductor device The invention provides a semiconductor device, including a buried oxide layer disposed on a substrate. A semiconductor layer having a first conduction type is disposed on the buried oxide layer. A first well region having the first conduction type is disposed in the semiconductor layer. A second well and a third well having a second conduction type are disposed to opposite sides of the first well region. The second well and the third well are separated from the first well region. A first anode doped region is disposed in the second well. A second anode doped region and a third anode doped region having the first conduction type are disposed in the second well. The second anode doped region is positioned directly on the third anode doped region. A first cathode doped region is coupled to the third well.
US09478642B2	Semiconductor junction formation A semiconductor structure, such as a FinFET, etc., includes a bi-portioned junction. The bi-portioned junction includes a doped outer portion and a doped inner portion. The dopant concentration of the outer portion is less than the dopant concentration of the inner portion. An electrical connection is formed by diffusion of the dopants within outer portion into a channel region and diffusion of the dopants within the outer portion into the inner region. A low contact resistance is achieved by a contact electrically contacting the relatively higher doped inner portion while device shorting is limited by the relatively lower doped outer portion.
US09478640B2	LDMOS device with step-like drift region and fabrication method thereof An LDMOS device is disclosed. The LDMOS device includes: a substrate having a first type of conductivity; a drift region having a second type of conductivity and a doped region having the first type of conductivity both formed in the substrate; a drain region having the second type of conductivity and being formed in the drift region, the drain region being located at an end of the drift region farther from the doped region; and a buried layer having the first type of conductivity and being formed in the drift region, the buried layer being in close proximity to the drain region and having a step-like bottom surface, and wherein a depth of the buried layer decreases progressively in a direction from the drain region to the doped region. A method of fabricating LDMOS device is also disclosed.
US09478637B2	Scaling EOT by eliminating interfacial layers from high-K/metal gates of MOS devices An integrated circuit structure includes a semiconductor substrate, and a phonon-screening layer over the semiconductor substrate. Substantially no silicon oxide interfacial layer exists between the semiconductor substrate and the phonon-screening layer. A high-K dielectric layer is located over the phonon-screening layer. A metal gate layer is located over the high-K dielectric layer.
US09478630B2	Fully isolated LIGBT and methods for forming the same A device includes a dielectric layer, and a heavily doped semiconductor layer over the dielectric layer. The heavily doped semiconductor layer is of a first conductivity type. A semiconductor region is over the heavily doped semiconductor layer, wherein the semiconductor region is of a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type. A Lateral Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (LIGBT) is disposed at a surface of the semiconductor region.
US09478629B2	Conductivity modulation in a silicon carbide bipolar junction transistor In one general aspect, a silicon carbide bipolar junction transistor (BJT) can include a collector region, a base region on the collector region, and an emitter region on the base region. The silicon carbide BJT can include a base contact electrically contacting the base region where the base region having an active part interfacing the emitter region. The silicon carbide BJT can also include an intermediate region of semiconductor material having at least a part extending from the active part of the base region to the base contact where the intermediate region having a doping level higher than a doping level of the active part of the base region.
US09478619B2	Diamond semiconductor device and method for manufacturing same The present invention provides a diamond semiconductor device which includes: a diamond substrate; a diamond step section disposed over substrate surface of the diamond substrate having a {001} crystal face to rise substantially perpendicularly to substrate surface; an n-type phosphorus-doped diamond region; and a diamond insulation region. In the diamond step section, a first step section having a {110} crystal face over a side surface is integrated with a second step section having a {100} crystal face over a side surface. The phosphorus-doped diamond region is formed by crystal growth started from base angle of the step shape of the first step section over the side surface of the first step section and substrate surface of the diamond substrate as growth base planes. The diamond insulation region is formed by crystal growth over the side surface of the second step section and substrate surface of the diamond substrate as growth base planes.
US09478617B2	Method for forming semiconductor device structure Methods for forming a semiconductor device structure are provided. The method includes providing a substrate and forming an isolation structure in the substrate. The method also includes forming a gate stack structure on the substrate and etching a portion of the substrate to form a recess in the substrate, and the recess is adjacent to the gate stack structure. The method includes forming a stressor layer in the recess, and a portion of the stressor layer is grown along the (311) and (111) crystal orientations.
US09478616B2	Semiconductor device having high performance channel Semiconductor devices having a high performance channel and method of fabrication thereof are disclosed. Preferably, the semiconductor devices are Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) devices, and even more preferably the semiconductor devices are Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOS devices. In one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a SiC substrate of a first conductivity type, a first well of a second conductivity type, a second well of the second conductivity type, and a surface diffused channel of the second conductivity type formed at the surface of semiconductor device between the first and second wells. A depth and doping concentration of the surface diffused channel are controlled to provide increased carrier mobility for the semiconductor device as compared to the same semiconductor device without the surface diffused channel region when in the on-state while retaining a turn-on, or threshold, voltage that provides normally-off behavior.
US09478613B2	Semiconductor system for a current sensor in a power semiconductor A semiconductor system for a current sensor in a power semiconductor includes: on a substrate, a multiple arrangement of transistor cells having an insulated gate electrode, whose emitter terminals are connected in a first region via a first conductive layer to at least one output terminal and whose emitter terminals are connected in a second region via a second conductive layer to at least one sensor terminal, which is situated outside of a first cell region boundary, which encloses the transistor cells of the first region and the second region, a trench structure belonging to the first cell region boundary being developed between the transistor cells of the second region and the sensor terminal.
US09478610B2	Transformation of nanostructure arrays A method and apparatus for transforming vertically-aligned nanostructures into densified, horizontally-aligned arrays. A contact element such as a roller is used to topple an array of carbon nanotubes or other nanostructures by drawing or rolling the contact element across the surface of the substrate such that the vertically-aligned nanostructures are forced into at least partial horizontal-alignment while being densified to give the transformed array enhanced properties. The contact element engages the nanostructures at a location below their upper distal end to topple and densify the array without disrupting the relative alignment of the individual nanostructures in the array. Transfer printing of the nanostructures is also provided.
US09478606B2	SiC transient voltage suppressor A high power, high current Unidirectional Transient Voltage Suppressor, formed on SiC starting material is disclosed. The device is structured to avalanche uniformly across the entire central part (active area) such that very high currents can flow while the device is reversely biased. Forcing the device to avalanche uniformly across designated areas is achieved in different ways but consistently in concept, by creating high electric fields where the device is supposed to avalanche (namely the active area) and by relaxing the electric field across the edge of the structure (namely in the termination), which in all embodiments meets the conditions for an increased reliability under harsh environments.
US09478602B2	Method of forming an embedded metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising a capacitor structure is provided, including the steps of forming a first metallization layer comprising a first dielectric layer and a first conductive layer functioning as a lower electrode for the capacitor structure over a semiconductor substrate, forming a barrier layer functioning as a capacitor insulator for the capacitor structure on the first metallization layer, forming a metal layer on the barrier layer and etching the metal layer to form an upper electrode of the capacitor structure.
US09478601B2	Semiconductor device In a semiconductor device, plate-shaped upper electrodes are formed on a lower electrode with a dielectric film interposed therebetween. The lower electrode, the dielectric film, and the upper electrodes constitute MIM capacitors. One of the upper electrodes and another upper electrode that are adjacent to each other are arranged at an equal distance, without the guard ring being interposed therebetween. The upper electrodes positioned on the outermost periphery and the guard ring positioned outside those upper electrodes are arranged at a distance equal to the distance from each other.
US09478597B2	Semiconductor device A display device includes a pixel portion in which a pixel is arranged in a matrix, the pixel including an inverted staggered thin film transistor having a combination of at least two kinds of oxide semiconductor layers with different amounts of oxygen and having a channel protective layer over a semiconductor layer to be a channel formation region overlapping a gate electrode layer and a pixel electrode layer electrically connected to the inverted staggered thin film transistor. In the periphery of the pixel portion in this display device, a pad portion including a conductive layer made of the same material as the pixel electrode layer is provided. In addition, the conductive layer is electrically connected to a common electrode layer formed on a counter substrate.
US09478595B2	Double-sided display OLED array substrate, its manufacturing method, and display device The present disclosure provides a double-sided display OLED array substrate, its manufacturing method, and a display device. The double-sided display OLED array substrate includes a first base substrate, a second base substrate, a first OLED and a second OLED arranged between the first base substrate and the second base substrate, and a first TFT and a second TFT sharing an identical gate electrode and arranged between the first OLED and the second OLED, the first TFT being configured to drive the first OLED, and the second TFT being configured to drive the second OLED. According to the present disclosure, it is able to reduce a thickness of the double-sided display OLED array substrate, thereby to reduce the production cost thereof.
US09478592B2	Thin film transistor array substrate An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device, and a method for manufacturing the OLED display device are discussed. The OLED display device according to one embodiment includes a substrate; a first bank pattern formed on the substrate and in an emission region and a non-emission region; a second bank pattern formed on the first bank pattern; an organic emission layer formed on the substrate in the emission region; and a planarization film formed on the substrate to include an opening under the first and second bank patterns in the non-emission region. The second bank pattern is on the first bank pattern in the non-emission region, and the first bank pattern is in the opening of the planarization film in the non-emission region.
US09478589B2	Electronic apparatus having an oxygen ion pump The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus which contains an electronically active material and an oxygen ion pump for removing oxygen from the apparatus. Furthermore, the present invention also relates to the use of an oxygen ion pump for removing oxygen from an electronic apparatus.
US09478583B2	Wearable display having an array of LEDs on a conformable silicon substrate A conformable electronic device and methods for forming such devices are described. Embodiments of a conformable electronic device may include a silicon substrate having a thickness of 50 μm or less. An array of LEDs that are electrically coupled to a controller chip may be formed on a surface of the silicon substrate. In an embodiment, a top passivation layer is formed over the array of LEDs, the one or more controller chips, and the top surface of the silicon substrate. An embodiment also includes a bottom passivation layer formed on a bottom surface of the silicon substrate.
US09478581B2	Grids in backside illumination image sensor chips and methods for forming the same A device includes a semiconductor substrate having a front side and a backside, a photo-sensitive device disposed on the front side of the semiconductor substrate, and a first and a second grid line parallel to each other. The first and the second grid lines are on the backside of, and overlying, the semiconductor substrate. The device further includes an adhesion layer, a metal oxide layer over the adhesion layer, and a high-refractive index layer over the metal layer. The adhesion layer, the metal oxide layer, and the high-refractive index layer are substantially conformal, and extend on top surfaces and sidewalls of the first and the second grid lines.
US09478565B2	Array substrate and method for fabricating the same, and display panel The embodiments of the present invention provide an array substrate, a method for fabricating the array substrate and a display panel. The array substrate comprises a first region and a second region adjoining the first region, a plurality of signal lines are provided in the first region, and a plurality of lead wires connected with the plurality of signal lines are provided in the second region, the array substrate comprises at least one conductive member, each conductive member is connected in parallel with one lead wire, and an overall resistance of the conductive member and the lead wire connected in parallel with the conductive member is smaller than a resistance of the lead wire connected in parallel with the conductive member.
US09478557B1	Process for 3D NAND memory with socketed floating gate cells A 3D NAND memory has vertical NAND strings across multiple memory layers above a substrate, with each memory cell of a NAND string residing in a different memory layer. Word lines in each memory layer each has a series of socket components aligned to embed respective floating gates of a group memory cells. This structure allows reduction in cell dimension as well as reducing floating-gate perturbations between neighboring cells. The memory is fabricated by using odd and even subarrays of vertical shafts on a multi-layer slab to create at different times odd and even socket components that overlap to form continuous word lines with socket components. In particular, with only three masks, the even memory cells are fabricated to have their word line socket component enlarged to overlap with those of the odd memory cells in order to form continuous word lines in the row direction.
US09478556B2	Semiconductor memory device A semiconductor device according to an embodiment includes two semiconductor pillars, a connection member connected between the two semiconductor pillars, and a contact connected to the connection member. There is not a conductive member disposed between the two semiconductor pillars.
US09478553B2	SRAM cell connection structure A Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) cell includes a first pull-up transistor and a second pull-up transistor, and a first pull-down transistor and a second pull-down transistor forming cross-latched inverters with the first pull-up transistor and the second pull-up transistor. A conductive feature includes a first leg having a first longitudinal direction, wherein the first leg interconnects a drain of the first pull-up transistor and a drain of the first pull-down transistor. The conductive feature further includes a second leg having a second extending direction. The first longitudinal direction and the second extending direction are un-perpendicular and un-parallel to each other. The second leg interconnects the drain of the first pull-up transistor and a gate of the second pull-up transistor.
US09478552B2	Static random access memory and manufacturing method thereof A static random access memory and the manufacturing method thereof are provided. By forming the specific gate structure(s) to be concave gate structure(s) and by adjusting the ratio of the effective channel width for these gate structures, the performance of the static random access memory is enhanced.
US09478551B2	Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacturing the same A semiconductor device includes a channel layer over an active region, first and second field regions adjacent the active region, and a gate structure over the channel layer and portions of the first and second field regions. The first and second field regions include grooves adjacent respective sidewalls of the channel layer, and bottom surfaces of the grooves are below a bottom surface of the channel layer.
US09478549B2	FinFET with dielectric isolation by silicon-on-nothing and method of fabrication An improved finFET and method of fabrication using a silicon-on-nothing process flow is disclosed. Nitride spacers protect the fin sides during formation of cavities underneath the fins for the silicon-on-nothing (SON) process. A flowable oxide fills the cavities to form an insulating dielectric layer under the fins.
US09478546B2	LC module layout arrangement for contact opening etch windows A lay-out arrangement for LC modules in 3D semiconductor memories is described that avoids large step height. The arrangement creates insulating/conducting layer pairs with adjacent pairs differing in height by no more than the thickness of two insulating/conducting layer pairs.
US09478542B1	Multi-gate device with planar channel A semiconductor device includes a substrate having a well region implanted with a first dopant by a first well implantation and a non-doped section blocked from the first well implantation. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor fin formed on the substrate, in which the semiconductor fin has a channel stop region and a channel region above the channel stop region. The channel stop region has a portion of the non-doped section and a portion of the well region. The semiconductor fin has a planar channel formed at an interface between the non-doped section and the channel region for additional current flow between source and drain regions of the semiconductor fin. The semiconductor device includes an isolation layer disposed adjacent to and in contact with the well region and the channel stop region. The semiconductor device also includes a gate structure disposed on the isolation layer and around the channel region.
US09478537B2	High-gain wide bandgap darlington transistors and related methods of fabrication A packaged power electronic device includes a wide bandgap bipolar driver transistor having a base, a collector, and an emitter terminal, and a wide bandgap bipolar output transistor having a base, a collector, and an emitter terminal. The collector terminal of the output transistor is coupled to the collector terminal of the driver transistor, and the base terminal of the output transistor is coupled to the emitter terminal of the driver transistor to provide a Darlington pair. An area of the output transistor is at least 3 times greater than an area of the driver transistor in plan view. For example, an area ratio of the output transistor to the driver transistor may be between about 3:1 to about 5:1. Related devices and methods of fabrication are also discussed.
US09478536B2	Semiconductor device including fin capacitors A semiconductor device with fin capacitors is disclosed. The device includes a substrate including a first region and a second region; first and second active fins at the first and second regions, respectively, of the substrate; a device isolation layer in a first trench between the first active fins; first and second gate electrodes that cross the first and second active fins, respectively; a first dielectric layer between the first active fins and the first gate electrode to extend along the first gate electrode, and a second dielectric layer between the second active fins and the second gate electrode to extend along the second gate electrode. The first dielectric layer is spaced apart from a bottom surface of the first trench by the device isolation layer between the bottom surface of the first trench and the first dielectric layer. The second dielectric layer is in direct contact with a bottom surface of a second trench between the second active fins.
US09478533B2	Method and apparatus for forming an integrated circuit with a metalized resistor in a standard cell configuration An integrated circuit includes a layer of a semiconductor device including a standard cell configuration having a fixed gate electrode pitch between gate electrode lines and a resistor formed of metal between the fixed gate electrode pitch of the standard cell configuration. In one embodiment, the integrated circuit can be charged device model (CDM) electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit for a cross domain standard cell having the resistor formed of metal. A method of manufacturing integrated circuits includes forming a plurality of gate electrode lines separated by a gate electrode pitch to form a core standard cell device, applying at least a first layer of metal within the gate electrode pitch to form a portion of a resistor, and applying at least a second layer of metal to couple to the first layer of metal to form another portion of the resistor.
US09478529B2	Electrostatic discharge protection system An integrated circuit includes a plurality of I/O cells, each including a portion of the first power bus, a portion of the second power bus, and an I/O pad coupled between the portions of the first and second power buses. A first set of the plurality of I/O cells is arranged along a die edge of the integrated circuit. A second set of the plurality of I/O cells is arranged along the die edge between the first set and the die edge. For each I/O cell in the first set, the portion of the first power bus is physically connected to the portion of the first power bus of an abutting I/O cell of the second set at a boundary between the I/O cell of the first set and the abutting I/O cell of the second set. The integrated circuit includes an ESD clamp and a trigger circuit.
US09478518B2	Method for permanent connection of two metal surfaces A process for the production of a permanent, electrically conductive connection between a first metal surface of a first substrate and a second metal surface of a second substrate, wherein a permanent, electrically conductive connection is produced, at least primarily, by substitution diffusion between metal ions and/or metal atoms of the two metal surfaces.
US09478516B2	Methods of operating bonding machines for bonding semiconductor elements, and bonding machines A method of operating a bonding machine for bonding semiconductor elements is provided. The method includes the steps of: (a) measuring a time based z-axis height measurement characteristic of a bond head assembly during a model bonding process; (b) determining a z-axis adjustment profile for a subsequent bonding process based on the measured time based z-axis height measurement characteristic; and (c) adjusting a z-axis position of the bond head assembly with a z-axis motion system during the subsequent bonding process using the z-axis adjustment profile.
US09478514B2	Pre-package and methods of manufacturing semiconductor package and electronic device using the same Methods of fabricating semiconductor packages are provided. One of the methods includes forming a protection layer including metal on a first surface of a substrate to cover a semiconductor device disposed on the first surface of the substrate, attaching a support substrate to the protection layer by using an adhesive member, processing a second surface of the substrate opposite to the protection layer to remove a part of the substrate, and detaching the support substrate from the substrate.
US09478512B2	Semiconductor packaging structure having stacked seed layers A semiconductor packaging structure includes a chip, a metal barrier layer, a dielectric layer and two metal seed layers. The chip has a top surface, connection pads on the top surface, and a passivation layer on the top surface and partly covering the connection pads. The metal barrier layer is disposed on each of the connection pads; the dielectric layer is disposed on the passivation layer and the metal barrier layer, and has through holes to expose the metal barrier layer. The first of the metal seed layers is disposed on the dielectric layer and the exposed metal barrier layer, while the second metal seed layer is disposed on the first metal seed layer. Therefore, the metal barrier layer can effectively prevent damage to the connection pads of the chip during the manufacturing process.
US09478507B2	Integrated circuit assembly with faraday cage An integrated circuit assembly is formed with an insulating layer, a semiconductor layer, an active device, first, second, and third electrically conductive interconnect layers, and a plurality of electrically conductive vias. The insulating layer has a first surface and a second surface. The second surface is below the first surface. A substrate layer has been removed from the second surface. The semiconductor layer has a first surface and a second surface. The first surface of the semiconductor layer contacts the first surface of the insulating layer. The active device is formed in a region of the semiconductor layer. The first electrically conductive interconnect layer forms an electrically conductive ring. The second electrically conductive interconnect layer forms a first electrically conductive plate above the electrically conductive ring and the region of the semiconductor layer. The third electrically conductive interconnect layer forms a second electrically conductive plate below the electrically conductive ring and the region of the semiconductor layer. The plurality of electrically conductive vias electrically couple the electrically conductive ring to the first electrically conductive plate and to the second electrically conductive plate. The electrically conductive ring, the first electrically conductive plate, the second electrically conductive plate, and the plurality of electrically conductive vias form a Faraday cage around the active device.
US09478497B2	Single spacer process for multiplying pitch by a factor greater than two and related intermediate IC structures Single spacer processes for multiplying pitch by a factor greater than two are provided. In one embodiment, n, where n≧2, tiers of stacked mandrels are formed over a substrate, each of the n tiers comprising a plurality of mandrels substantially parallel to one another. Mandrels at tier n are over and parallel to mandrels at tier n−1, and the distance between adjoining mandrels at tier n is greater than the distance between adjoining mandrels at tier n−1. Spacers are simultaneously formed on sidewalls of the mandrels. Exposed portions of the mandrels are etched away and a pattern of lines defined by the spacers is transferred to the substrate.
US09478493B2	Semiconductor device and a method increasing a resistance value of an electric fuse A semiconductor device having an electric fuse structure which receives an electric current to permit the electric fuse to be cut without damaging portions around the fuse. The electric fuse can be electrically connected between an electronic circuit and a redundant circuit as a spare of the electronic circuit. After these circuits are sealed with a resin, the fuse can be cut by receiving the electric current from the outside. The electric fuse is formed in a fine layer, and is made of a main wiring and a barrier film. The linear expansion coefficient of each of the main wiring and the barrier film is larger than that of each of the insulator layers. The melting point of each of the main wiring and the barrier film is lower than that of each of the insulator layers.
US09478492B2	Integrated circuit having slot via and method of forming the same An integrated circuit includes a first conductive line on a first metal level of the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit further includes a second conductive line on a second metal level of the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit further includes a slot via electrically connecting the first conductive line with the second conductive line. The slot via overlaps with the first conductive line and the second conductive line. The slot via extends beyond a periphery of at least one of the first conductive line or the second conductive line.
US09478489B2	Semiconductor dies with reduced area consumption The width of scribe lines may be reduced in semiconductor devices by applying a process technique in which trenches may be formed first from the rear side on the basis of a required width of the corresponding trenches, while subsequently it may be cut into the substrate from the front side on the basis of a reduced thickness of the corresponding saw blades, thereby also enabling a reduction of the scribe line width. Furthermore, contamination of the front side, i.e., of the metallization system, may be reduced, for instance, by performing an optional intermediate cleaning process.
US09478485B2	Semiconductor device and method of stacking semiconductor die on a fan-out WLCSP A semiconductor device has a first semiconductor die. A first interconnect structure, such as a conductive pillar including a bump formed over the conductive pillar, and second interconnect structure are formed in a peripheral region of the first semiconductor die. A second semiconductor die is disposed over the first semiconductor die between the first interconnect structure and the second interconnect structure. A height of the second semiconductor die is less than a height of the first interconnect structure. A footprint of the second semiconductor die is smaller than a central region of the first semiconductor die. An encapsulant is deposited over the first semiconductor die and second semiconductor die. Alternatively, the second semiconductor die is disposed over a semiconductor package including a plurality of interconnect structures. External connectivity from the single side fo-WLCSP is performed without the use of conductive vias to provide a high throughput and device reliability.
US09478484B2	Semiconductor packages and methods of formation thereof In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes a lead frame having a die paddle and a lead. A chip is disposed over the die paddle of the lead frame. The semiconductor device further includes a clip, which is disposed over the chip. The clip couples a pad on the chip to the lead of the lead frame. The clip also includes a heat sink.
US09478482B2	Offset integrated circuit packaging interconnects One embodiment of the present invention sets forth an integrated circuit package including a substrate, an integrated circuit die, and a plurality of solder bump structures. The substrate includes a first plurality of interconnects disposed on a first surface of the substrate. The integrated circuit die includes a second plurality of interconnects disposed on a first surface of the integrated circuit die. The plurality of solder bump structures couple the first plurality of interconnects to the second plurality of interconnects. The first plurality of interconnects are configured to be substantially aligned with the second plurality of interconnects when the integrated circuit package is at a first temperature within a range of about 0° C. to about −100° C. The first plurality of interconnects are configured to be offset from the second plurality of interconnects when the integrated circuit package is at a temperature above the first temperature.
US09478479B2	Thermal management system and method A thermal management system is provided. The thermal management system includes at least one heat sink including one or more respective fins, wherein the one or more fins include one or more respective cavities. The thermal management system also includes a synthetic jet stack including at least one synthetic jet mounted within each of the respective cavities employing at least one engaging structure to provide a rigid positioning of the synthetic jet stack within the fins, wherein the synthetic jet includes at least one orifice through which a fluid is ejected.
US09478477B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor element having a semiconductor chip and connection terminals, a cooling fin to which the semiconductor element is fixed, and an external cooling body having a passage for cooling medium, the cooling fin being fixed to the external cooling body. The semiconductor element has a protruding cooling block that is inserted and fixed to the cooling fin, which in turn is fixed to the external cooling body such that the cooling fin is in contact with the cooling medium.
US09478474B2	Methods and apparatus for forming package-on-packages Methods and apparatus are disclosed for a package or a package-on-package (PoP) device. An IC package or a PoP device may comprise an electrical path connecting a die and a decoupling capacitor, wherein the electrical path may have a width in a range from about 8 um to about 44 um and a length in a range from about 10 um to about 650 um. The decoupling capacitor and the die may be contained in a same package, or at different packages within a PoP device, connected by contact pads, redistribution layers (RDLs), and connectors.
US09478472B2	Substrate components for packaging IC chips and electronic device packages of the same Substrate components for packaging IC chips and electronic device packages are disclosed. A substrate component for packaging IC chips comprises: a glass core base with at least one conductive through via connecting a combination of metallization and dielectric structures on both an upper surface and a lower surface of the glass core base; and, tapered edges created at a peripheral region of the glass core base; wherein dielectric layers are disposed over the tapered edges at the peripheral region of the glass core base. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the dielectric layers have a substantial planar upper surface, a lower surface conformably interfaced with the tapered edges at peripheral region of the glass core base, and a steep cutting face with the tapered edges of the glass core base. Alternatively, the tapered edges at peripheral region of the glass core base are not covered by the dielectric layers, and an encapsulated material sealing the tapered edges at peripheral region of the glass core base.
US09478468B1	Dual metal contact scheme for CMOS devices A semiconductor structure includes non-metal semiconductor alloy containing contact structures for an n-type field effect transistor (nFET) and a metal semiconductor alloy containing contact structures for a p-type field effect transistor (pFET). Notably, each non-metal semiconductor alloy containing contact structure includes a titanium liner that directly contacts a topmost surface of a source/drain region of the nFET, while each metal semiconductor alloy containing contact structure includes a Ni—Pt semiconductor alloy contact that directly contacts a surface of a source/drain region of the pFET.
US09478464B2	Method for manufacturing through-hole silicon via A method for manufacturing a through-hole silicon via (TSV) employs the conventional trench insulation process to readily manufacture a through-hole silicon via (TSV) with achievement of an effective electrical insulation between the through-hole silicon via (TSV) and the silicon.
US09478463B2	Device and method for improving RF performance A semiconductor device and method of fabricating the semiconductor device are provided. The semiconductor device includes a first substrate including a front-end device containing a transistor, a radio frequency (RF) device and a first interconnect structure, and a second substrate containing a cavity disposed at a location corresponding to a location of the RF device. The first substrate and the second substrate are bonded together such that the first surface of the first substrate is facing the cavity in the second substrate, and the cavity is over the RF device. Because of the cavity, the distance between the second substrate and the RF device is relatively large so that the second substrate has less impact on the performance of the RF device, thereby improving the performance of the semiconductor device.
US09478456B2	Semiconductor device with composite drift region A device includes a semiconductor substrate, a channel region in the semiconductor substrate having a first conductivity type, and a composite drift region in the semiconductor substrate, having a second conductivity type. The composite drift region includes a first drift region and a second drift region spaced from the channel region by the first drift region. The device further includes a drain region in the semiconductor substrate, spaced from the channel region by the composite drain region, and having the second conductivity type. The first drift region has a dopant concentration profile with a first concentration level where adjacent the channel region and a second concentration level where adjacent the second drift region, the first concentration level being higher than the second concentration level. In some embodiments, the first and second drift regions are stacked vertically, with the first drift region being shallower than the second drift region.
US09478453B2	Sacrificial carrier dicing of semiconductor wafers Mechanisms are provided for sacrificial carrier dicing of semiconductor wafers. A bottom layer of a semiconductor wafer is bonded to a top layer of a sacrificial carrier. The semiconductor wafer is diced into a set of chips, such that the dicing cuts through the semiconductor wafer and into the sacrificial carrier and such that the sacrificial carrier dresses a diamond blade of a saw so as to expose one or more new, sharp layers of diamonds on the diamond blade.
US09478449B2	Floating substrate monitoring and control device, and method for the same Disclosed is a process tunnel (102) through which substrates (140) may be transported in a floating condition between two gas bearings (124, 134). To monitor the transport of the substrates through the process tunnel, the upper and lower walls (120, 130) of the tunnel are fitted with at least one substrate detection sensor (S1, . . . , S6) at a respective substrate detection sensor location, said substrate detection sensor being configured to generate a reference signal reflecting a presence of a substrate between said first and second walls near and/or at said substrate detection sensor location. Also provided is a monitoring and control unit (160) that is operably connected to the at least one substrate detection sensor (S1, . . . , S6), and that is configured to record said reference signal as a function of time and to process said reference signal.
US09478443B2	Semiconductor package and method of forming the same According to an exemplary embodiment, a semiconductor package is provided. The semiconductor package includes: a chip having a plurality of joint pads; a component having a plurality of metal caps on one side and having a grinded surface on the other side, wherein the metal caps are in contact with the joint pads of the chip.
US09478442B2	Reduced-noise reference voltage platform for a voltage converter device An electronic system, a reduced-noise reference voltage platform for a voltage converter device, and a method of manufacture of a reduced-noise reference voltage platform for a voltage converter device are disclosed. For example, the reduced-noise reference voltage (e.g., ground) platform includes a first conductor unit, a second conductor unit, and an insulator unit interposed between a first surface of the first conductor unit and a first surface of the second conductor unit. The reduced-noise reference voltage platform also includes a phase terminal connected to the first conductor unit, and a reference voltage (e.g., ground) terminal connected to the second conductor unit, wherein a second surface of the second conductor unit forms a platform coupled to the reference voltage (e.g., ground).
US09478436B1	Methods for forming patterns in honeycomb array A method for forming patterns includes forming ellipse pillars on an underlying layer. The ellipse pillar has an elongated feature and includes nose sides and long sides connecting the nose sides, and the four ellipse pillars form a diamond array around a separation space. A guide lattice attached to sides of the ellipse pillars is formed to open first windows in the separation space. Second windows are formed in the guide lattice by selectively removing the ellipse pillars. A block copolymer layer is formed to fill the first and second windows. The block copolymer layer is phase-separated to form a first domain and a first matrix in the first window and to form a plurality of second domains and second matrix in the second window. The first and second domains are selectively removed to form first openings and second openings.
US09478434B2	Chlorine-based hardmask removal A method of removing titanium nitride hardmask is described. The hardmask resides above a low-k dielectric layer prior to removal and the low-k dielectric layer retains a relatively low net dielectric constant after the removal process. The low-k dielectric layer may be part of a dual damascene structure having copper at the bottom of the vias. A non-porous carbon layer is deposited prior to the titanium nitride hardmask removal to protect the low-k dielectric layer and the copper. The titanium nitride hardmask is removed with a gas-phase etch using plasma effluents formed in a remote plasma from a chlorine-containing precursor. Plasma effluents within the remote plasma are flowed into a substrate processing region where the plasma effluents react with the titanium nitride.
US09478432B2	Silicon oxide selective removal A method of etching exposed silicon oxide on patterned heterogeneous structures is described and includes a gas phase etch using plasma effluents formed in a remote plasma. The remote plasma excites a fluorine-containing precursor in combination with an oxygen-containing precursor. Plasma effluents within the remote plasma are flowed into a substrate processing region where the plasma effluents combine with water vapor or an alcohol. The combination react with the patterned heterogeneous structures to remove an exposed silicon oxide portion faster than a second exposed portion. The inclusion of the oxygen-containing precursor may suppress the second exposed portion etch rate and result in unprecedented silicon oxide etch selectivity.
US09478430B2	Method of semiconductor integrated circuit fabrication A method of fabricating a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) is disclosed. The method includes providing a substrate. A first dielectric layer is deposited on the substrate. A patterned photoresist layer is formed on the first dielectric layer. The patterned photoresist layer is trimmed. The first dielectric layer is etched through the trimmed patterned photoresist layer to form a dielectric feature. A sacrificing energy decomposable layer (SEDL) is deposited on the dielectric feature and etched to form a SEDL spacer on sides of the dielectric feature. A second dielectric layer is deposited on the SEDL spacer and etched to form a dielectric spacer. The SEDL spacer is decomposed to form a trench.
US09478424B2	Method for fabricating an improved GAN-based semiconductor layer The invention relates to a post-activation method of dopants in a doped and activated GaN-base semiconductor layer, including the following successive steps: providing said doped and activated substrate, eliminating a part of the semiconductor material layer.
US09478423B2	Method of vapor-diffusing impurities A method of vapor-diffusing impurities into a diffusion region of a target substrate to be processed using a dummy substrate is provided. The method includes loading the target substrate and the dummy substrate in a substrate loading jig, accommodating the substrate loading jig loaded with the target substrate and the dummy substrate in a processing chamber of a processing apparatus, and vapor-diffusing impurities into the diffusion region of the target substrate in the processing chamber having the accommodated substrate loading jig. The vapor-diffused impurities are boron, an outer surface of the dummy substrate includes a material having properties not allowing boron adsorption.
US09478422B2	Methods for fabricating refined graphite-based structures and devices made therefrom Graphite-based devices with a reduced characteristic dimension and methods for forming such devices are provided. One or more thin films are deposited onto a substrate and undesired portions of the deposited thin film or thin films are removed to produce processed elements with reduced characteristic dimensions. Graphene layers are generated on selected processed elements or exposed portions of the substrate after removal of the processed elements. Multiple sets of graphene layers can be generated, each with a different physical characteristic, thereby producing a graphite-based device with multiple functionalities in the same device.
US09478421B2	Optically tuned hardmask for multi-patterning applications The embodiments herein provides methods for forming a PVD silicon oxide or silicon rich oxide, or PVD SiN or silicon rich SiN, or SiC or silicon rich SiC, or combination of the preceding including a variation which includes controlled doping of hydrogen into the compounds heretofore referred to as SiOxNyCz:Hw, where w, x, y, and z can vary in concentration from 0% to 100%, is produced as a hardmask with optical properties that are substantially matched to the photo-resists at the exposure wavelength. Thus making the hardmask optically planarized with respect to the photo-resist. This allows for multiple sequences of litho and etches in the hardmask while the photo-resist maintains essentially no optical topography or reflectivity variations.
US09478418B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor element A method of manufacturing a semiconductor element includes a first step of epitaxially growing an AlN layer on a substrate, a second step of forming a buffer layer on the AlN layer by epitaxially growing AlxGayInzN where x, y, and z satisfy x+y+z=1 and y is not zero without adding Fe, a third step of forming a resistance layer on the buffer layer by epitaxially growing AlxGayInzN where x, y, and z satisfy x+y+z=1 and y is not zero while adding Fe, a step of epitaxially growing a channel layer on the resistance layer, a step of epitaxially growing an electron supply layer above the channel layer, and a step of forming an electrode above the electron supply layer.
US09478417B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor device for forming film including at least two different elements Provided is a technique of forming a film on a substrate by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times. The cycle includes: forming a first layer by supplying a gas containing a first element to the substrate, wherein the first layer is a discontinuous layer, a continuous layer, or a layer in which at least one of the discontinuous layer or the continuous layer is overlapped; forming a second layer including the first layer and a discontinuous layer including a second element stacked on the first layer; and forming a third layer by supplying a gas containing a third element to the substrate to modify the second layer under a condition where a modifying reaction of the second layer by the gas containing the third element is not saturated.
US09478415B2	Method for forming film having low resistance and shallow junction depth A method for forming on a substrate a doped silicon oxide film with a cap film, includes: forming an arsenosilicate glass (ASG) film as an arsenic (As)-doped silicon oxide film on a substrate; continuously treating a surface of the ASG film with a treating gas constituted by Si, N, and H without excitation; and continuously forming a silicon nitride (SiN) film as a cap film on the treated surface of the ASG film.
US09478413B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor device, substrate processing method, substrate processing apparatus, and recording medium A thin film that has a predetermined composition and containing predetermined elements is formed on a substrate by performing a cycle of steps a predetermined number of times, said cycle comprising: a step wherein a first layer containing the predetermined elements, nitrogen and carbon is formed on the substrate by alternately performing, a predetermined number of times, a process of supplying a first source gas containing a predetermined element and a halogen group to the substrate and a process of supplying a second source gas containing a predetermined element and an amino group to the substrate; a step wherein a second layer is formed by modifying the first layer by supplying an amine-based source gas to the substrate; and a step wherein a third layer is formed by modifying the second layer by supplying a reaction gas that is different from the source gases to the substrate.
US09478410B2	Method of forming nitride film with plasma Disclosed is a method of forming a nitride film on a substrate to be processed (“processing target substrate”) in a processing container. The method includes an adsorption step of supplying a precursor gas including a silicon-containing gas into the processing container, and adsorbing a molecule of the precursor gas onto a surface of the processing target substrate, and a reaction step of supplying a reaction gas including a nitrogen- and hydrogen-containing gas while supplying microwaves from an antenna to generate plasma of the reaction gas just above the processing target substrate, and performing a plasma processing, by the generated plasma, on a surface of the substrate to be processed on which the molecule of the precursor gas has been adsorbed.
US09478409B2	Method for coating a workpiece In various embodiments, a method for coating a workpiece is provided. The method may include drying a workpiece, the workpiece being coated with at least one oxide layer as an uppermost layer; depositing a dielectric layer over the uppermost layer of the dried workpiece; wherein the workpiece is continuously subject to a pressure which is lower than atmospheric pressure during the drying process and during the depositing process.
US09478403B2	Method and apparatus for a porous electrospray emitter An ionic liquid ion source can include a microfabricated body including a base and a tip. The body can be formed of a porous material compatible with at least one of an ionic liquid or room-temperature molten salt. The body can have a pore size gradient that decreases from the base of the body to the tip of the body, such that the at least one of an ionic liquid or room-temperature molten salt is capable of being transported through capillarity from the base to the tip.
US09478395B1	Alignment and registration targets for multiple-column charged particle beam lithography and inspection The present application discloses methods, systems and devices for using charged particle beam tools to pattern and inspect a substrate. The inventors have discovered that it is highly advantageous to use patterns generated using the Hadamard transform as alignment and registration marks (Hadamard targets) for multiple-column charged particle beam lithography and inspection tools. Further, superior substrate alignment and layer-to-layer pattern registration accuracy can be achieved using Hadamard targets patterned in edge-proximal portions of the substrate that are typically stripped bare of resist prior to lithography, in addition to Hadamard targets patterned in inner substrate portions. High-order Hadamard targets can also be patterned and imaged to obtain superior column performance metrics for applications such as super-rapid beam calibration DOE, column matching, and column performance tracking. Superior alignment and registration, and column parameter optimization, allow significant yield gains.
US09478390B2	Integrated light optics and gas delivery in a charged particle lens A method and apparatus for directing light or gas or both to a specimen positioned within about 2 mm from the lower end of a charged particle beam column. The charged particle beam column assembly includes a platform defining a specimen holding position and has a set of electrostatic lenses each including a set of electrodes. The assembly includes a final electrostatic lens that includes a final electrode that is closest to the specimen holding position. This final electrode defines at least one internal passageway having a terminus that is proximal to and directed toward the specimen holding position.
US09478389B2	Scanning electron microscope The present invention provides a composite charged particle beam device which is provided with two or more charged particle beam columns and enables high-resolution observation while a sample is placed at the position of a cross point. The present invention has the following configuration. A composite charged particle beam device is provided with a plurality of charged particle beam columns (101a, 102a), and is characterized in that a sample (103) is disposed at the position of an intersection point (171) where the optical axes of the plurality of columns intersect, a component (408a, 408b) that forms the tip of an objective lens of the charged particle beam column (102a) is detachable, and by replacing the component (408a, 408b), the distance between the intersection point (171) and the tip of the charge particle beam column can be changed.
US09478386B2	Integrated gas discharge tube and preparation method therefor Provided is an integrated gas discharge tube. In the integrated gas discharge tube, the structure of the gas discharge tube is regulated into an upper cover and an insulative base, and the internal side surface and the external side surface of the bottom surface of the insulative base are respectively subject to electrode integration, so that the discharge effect of the gas discharge tube is effectively increased and the preparation process and the preparation flow of a multi-terminal-to-ground gas discharge tube are greatly simplified so as to greatly simplify the preparation process and to realize batch production and high integration of the gas discharge tube. Also provided is a preparation method for an integrated gas discharge tube.
US09478384B2	Electrode for producing a plasma, plasma chamber having said electrode, and method for analyzing or processing a layer or the plasma in situ A RF electrode for generating, plasma in a plasma chamber comprising an optical feedthrough. A plasma chamber comprising an RF electrode and a counter-electrode with a substrate support for holding a substrate, wherein a high-frequency alternating field for generating the plasma can be formed between the RF electrode and the counter-electrode. The chamber comprising an RF electrode with an optical feedthrough. A method, for in situ analysis or in situ processing of a layer or plasma in a plasma chamber, wherein the layer is disposed on counter-electrode and an RF electrode is disposed on the side lacing the layer. Selection of an RF electrode having an optical feedthrough, and at least one step in which electromagnetic radiation is supplied through the optical feedthrough for purposes of analysis or processing of the layer or the plasma, and by at least one other step in which the scattered or emitted or reflected radiation is supplied to an analysis unit.
US09478382B1	Circuit interrupting safety device A circuit interrupting safety device (CISD) interrupts the flow of current through a pair of lines extending between a source of power and a load. The CISD includes a column reset assembly functioning as a circuit breaker and latching device, a relay circuit including a solenoid, and a fault detecting circuit packaged in a circuit assembly.
US09478380B2	Circuit breaker shock absorber apparatus, assemblies, and methods of operation Embodiments disclose a circuit breaker shock absorber apparatus configured to absorb impact due to blow-off of one or more circuit breaker contact arms. The circuit breaker shock absorber apparatus has a base directly or indirectly coupled to a circuit breaker housing and an absorber body comprising a damping material having a tangent delta at 10% strain and 10 Hz and at room temperature of greater than about 0.45, and a durometer of less than about 60 per ASTM D2240 Type A. Circuit breaker shock absorber assemblies and methods of operating the breaker shock absorber assemblies are provided, as are other aspects.
US09478379B2	Polarized electromagnetic relay A polarized electromagnetic relay including an electromagnet; a pair of magnetic pole pieces driven by the electromagnet; a permanent magnet attached to the magnetic pole pieces; a contact section including a first fixed contact member with a normally open fixed contact, a first movable contact member with a normally open movable contact, a second fixed contact member with a normally closed fixed contact, and a second movable contact member with a normally closed movable contact; and a transmission member to which the magnetic pole pieces is attached. In accordance with a rectilinear movement of the magnetic pole pieces in parallel to a coil center axis, the transmission member rectilinearly moves in parallel to the center axis and thereby causes the normally open and closed movable contacts to perform an opening or closing operation in a mutually interlocked manner.
US09478377B2	Current interruption device and electricity storage device using the same A current interruption device is provided with a first conducting member that is fixed to a casing, a second conducting member that is disposed at a position opposed to the first conducting member, a first deforming member, and a second deforming member. The first deforming member makes contact with the second conducting member when pressure in the casing is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and is configured not to make contact with the second conducting member when the pressure in the casing exceeds the predetermined value. The second deforming member is provided with a projection in a shape projecting toward a center portion of the second conducting member. A restricting structure that restricts a movement of the first deforming member is provided on the first conducting member. A restricting structure that restricts a movement of the second deforming member is provided on the second conducting member.
US09478371B2	Electrical switch, as for controlling a flashlight An electrical switch and a flashlight employing the switch may comprise a base having three electrical conductors thereon and an electrically conductive flexible dome adjacent the base. The flexible dome has plural longer legs extending from its dome and in electrical contact with a first conductor, has a shorter leg extending from its dome and overlying a second conductor, and has its dome overlying a third conductor. A spring may extend from the base of the switch. A pushbutton may be moved to apply sufficient force to cause the shorter leg to contact the second conductor and the dome to contact the third conductor. A spring may be between the pushbutton and the flexible dome to couple force to the flexible dome.
US09478364B2	Carbon-based electrodes containing molecular sieve Carbon-based electrodes such as for incorporation into ultracapacitors or other high power density energy storage devices, include activated carbon, carbon black, binder and at least one molecular sieve material. The molecular sieve component can adsorb and trap water, which can facilitate the use of the device at higher voltage, such as greater than 3V. The molecular sieve material may be incorporated into the carbon-based electrodes or formed as a layer over a carbon-based electrode surface.
US09478363B2	Flexible electrical devices and methods Flexible electrical devices are provided that include a coated inner carbon nanotube electrode that has an exterior surface, an outer carbon nanotube electrode disposed on the exterior surface of the coated inner carbon nanotube electrode, and an overlap region in which the coated inner carbon nanotube electrode and the outer carbon nanotube electrode overlap one another, in which the device has a fiber-like geometry and first and second electrode ends. Methods are provided for fabricating an electrical component that includes a flexible electrical component having a fiber-like geometry and includes carbon nanotube electrodes.
US09478361B2	Self-assembled organic monolayer hybrid materials and methods thereof Self-assembled monolayer hybrid materials having a modified carboxylic acid deposited from the gas-phase onto a metal oxide substrate, methods of using targeted α-carbon modified carboxylic acids to rapidly deposit activated organic molecules into a self-assembled monolayer on metal oxide substrates, and the self-assembled monolayer hybrid materials capable of being used in various industries, such as optoelectronics and separation science.
US09478357B2	Multilayer ceramic electronic component A multilayer ceramic electronic component that has a multilayer portion having an outer layer portion adjacent region including an area in contact with an outer layer portion that forms a thermal-shock absorbing portion that includes curved ceramic layers and inner electrode layers smoothly varying in thickness from point to point. A region to an inside of the thermal-shock absorbing portion forms a normal multilayer portion that includes ceramic layers with less curvature than the ceramic layers in the thermal-shock absorbing portion and inner electrode layers with less variation in thickness from point to point in a direction along a principal surface of the outer layer portion than the inner electrode layers in the thermal-shock absorbing portion.
US09478356B2	Coated barium titanate particulate and production method for same Provided is a surface-coated barium titanate particulate for us in multilayer ceramic capacitors and for which the grain growth during high-temperature firing has been suppressed. Also provided is a production method for same. Barium titanate particulate obtained by means of a hydrothermal reaction, wherein the coated barium titanate particulate has an average particle diameter of at least 10 nm but less than 1000 nm, a Ba/Ti ratio of 0.80-1.20 inclusive, a c/a ratio of 1.001-1.010 inclusive, and a coating layer comprising at least one kind of metal compound selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Ba, Mn and rare earth elements is included on the surface thereof. The coated barium titanate particulate according to the present invention is produced by means of a method including: (1) a step for obtaining barium titanate particulate by mixing an aqueous solution containing barium hydroxide and an aqueous solution containing titanium hydroxide at a Ba/Ti ratio of 0.80-1.20 inclusive, and subjecting same to a hydrothermal reaction at a temperature of 200-450° C. inclusive, a pressure of 2.0-50 MPa inclusive, and for a reaction time of 0.1 minutes-1 hour inclusive; (2) a step for uniformly dispersing the barium titanate particulate in an aqueous solution; and (3) a step for coating the metal compound on the surface of the barium titanate particulate.
US09478355B2	Method of manufacturing a CPP device with a plurality of metal oxide templates in a confining current path (CCP) spacer A method is described for forming a confining current path (CCP) spacer in a CPP-GMR sensor. A first Cu spacer, an amorphous metal/alloy layer such as Hf, a second Cu spacer, and an oxidizable layer such as Al, Mg, or AlCu are sequentially deposited on a ferromagnetic layer. A pre-ion treatment (PIT) and ion assisted oxidation (IAO) transform the amorphous layer into a first metal oxide template and the oxidizable layer into a second metal oxide template both having Cu metal paths therein. A third Cu layer is deposited on the second metal oxide template. The amorphous layer promotes smoothness and smaller grain size in the oxidizable layer to minimize variations in the metal paths and thereby improves dR/R, R, and dR uniformity by 50% or more.
US09478354B2	Inductor manufacturing method An inductor manufacturing method includes a first step of press bonding a Cu foil onto a non-magnetic resin sheet, a second step of forming a conductor pattern by performing etching on the Cu foil, a third step of press bonding another non-magnetic resin sheet onto the conductor pattern, and a via conductor formation step of forming a via conductor that penetrates through the other resin sheet and leads to the conductor pattern. The method further includes a step of forming a body in which resin having magnetism is provided outside of a coil, by press bonding magnetic-powder-containing resin sheets onto a multilayer body, obtained by a manufacturing method including the first to third steps and the via conductor formation step, and then thermally curing the magnetic-powder-containing resin sheets.
US09478352B2	Electronic apparatus, method, and storage medium An electronic apparatus includes a first power receiving unit that wirelessly receives power from a power supply apparatus, and a control unit that supplies, to the power supply apparatus, data for controlling supply of power from the power supply apparatus according to a mode of the electronic apparatus.
US09478348B2	Vertical spiral inductor Methods and apparatuses, wherein the method forms a first plurality of vias in a substrate, further comprising forming the first plurality of vias to be substantially the same height. The method forms a plurality of conductive traces external to the substrate and couples the plurality of conductive traces to the first plurality of vias: wherein the plurality of conductive traces and the first plurality of vias comprise a plurality of conductive turns and wherein the plurality of conductive turns are in a spiral configuration substantially within a first plane.
US09478341B2	Solenoid assembly for friction clutch A solenoid assembly having a solenoid core, coil and flux plate. The flux plate has inner and outer ring members connected by connecting members. A stop member with a ledge is used to selectively prevent an armature member from coming into contact with the flux plate.
US09478338B2	Actuator driver circuit A circuit for driving an actuator including a closing coil and an opening coil, the circuit including a first electrical switch, a second electrical switch, a third electrical switch, a first diode, a second diode, a third diode, and a capacitor electrically connected to a second terminal of the third electrical switch. The circuit is structured such that controlling the state of the first, second, and third transistors causes current flowing through the circuit to flow through one of the closing coil and the opening coil and to not flow through the other of the closing coil and the opening coil.
US09478333B2	Process and apparatus for forming magnetic structures on a substrate The invention relates to a process of and apparatus for forming a magnetic structure on a substrate and a magnetic structure formed by such a process and apparatus. The magnetic structure comprises a matrix in which magnetic particles are embedded. The apparatus for forming the magnetic structure on the substrate comprises a source of matrix deposits the matrix material onto the substrate to form the matrix, and comprises a source of magnetic particles which deposit the magnetic particles onto the matrix as the matrix forms to embed the magnetic particles in the matrix. Each magnetic particle comprises a core covered with a layer of metal, at least one of the matrix material and the core is of ferromagnetic material and the core and the layer of metal are of different materials.
US09478332B2	Method for producing R-T-B sintered magnet A method for producing a sintered R-T-B based magnet includes providing a sintered R-T-B based magnet body, of which the rare-earth-element mole fraction falls within the range of 31 mass % to 37 mass %; providing an RH diffusion source including a heavy rare-earth element RH (which is at least one of Dy and Tb) and 30 mass % to 80 mass % of Fe; loading the sintered magnet body and the RH diffusion source into a processing chamber so that the magnet body and the diffusion source are movable relative to each other and readily brought close to, or in contact with, each other; and performing an RH diffusion process by conducting a heat treatment on the sintered magnet body and the RH diffusion source at a process temperature of 700° C. to 1000° C. while moving the sintered magnet body and the RH diffusion source either continuously or discontinuously.
US09478331B2	Hexagonal strontium ferrite magnetic powder and method of manufacturing the same, and magnetic recording medium and method of manufacturing the same An aspect of the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing hexagonal strontium ferrite magnetic powder, which comprises melting a starting material mixture which has a composition, as a composition converted into an oxide, lying within a region enclosed by the following four points: (a) SrO=48.0 mol %, Fe2O3=17.2 mol %, B2O3=34.8 mol %; (b) SrO=55.9 mol %, Fe2O3=17.7 mol %, B2O3=26.4 mol %; (c) SrO=41.7 mol %, Fe2O3=40.9 mol %, B2O3=17.4 mol %; (d) SrO=36.7 mol %, Fe2O3=40.1 mol %, B2O3=23.2 mol %; in a ternary diagram with SrO, Fe2O3, which may include an Fe substitution element, and B2O3 as apexes, to provide a melt, and quenching the melt to obtain a solidified product; and heat treating the solidified product to precipitate hexagonal strontium ferrite magnetic particles within the solidified product.
US09478327B2	Durable fine wire electrical conductor suitable for extreme environment applications Durable fine wire electrical conductors are robust, durable, small in profile, and light weight, yet capable of operating under extreme environmental conditions. Formed of a glass, silica, sapphire or crystalline quartz fiber core with a metal coating and one or more polymer layers, a unipolar electrical conductor can have an outer diameter as small as about 300 microns or even smaller. The metal buffer coating may be deposited directly on the glass/silica fiber, or upon an intermediate layer between the glass/silica fiber and metal, consisting of carbon and/or polymer. The resulting metallized glass/silica fibers are extremely durable, can be bent through small radii and will not fatigue even from millions of iterations of flexing. Bipolar electrical conductors can include several insulated metallized glass/silica fibers residing side by side, or can be coaxial with two or more insulated metal conductive paths. An outer protective sheath of a flexible polymer material can be included.
US09478326B2	Electroconductive microparticles, anisotropic electroconductive material, and electroconductive connection structure The present invention aims to provide electroconductive microparticles which are less likely to cause disconnection due to breakage of connection interfaces between electrodes and the electroconductive microparticles even under application of an impact by dropping or the like and are less likely to be fatigued even after repetitive heating and cooling, and an anisotropic electroconductive material and an electroconductive connection structure each produced using the electroconductive microparticles. The present invention relates to electroconductive microparticles each including at least an electroconductive metal layer, a barrier layer, a copper layer, and a solder layer containing tin that are laminated in said order on a surface of a core particle made of a resin or metal, the copper layer and the solder layer being in contact with each other directly, the copper layer directly in contact with the solder layer containing copper at a ratio of 0.5 to 5% by weight relative to tin contained in the solder layer.
US09478323B2	Cu—Si—Co-based copper alloy for electronic materials and method for producing the same A Cu—Si—Co-based alloy having an enhanced spring limit is provided. The copper alloy comprises 0.5-2.5 mass % of Co, 0.1-0.7 mass % of Si, the balance Cu and inevitable impurities, wherein, from a result obtained from measurement of an X ray diffraction pole figure, using a rolled surface as a reference plane, a peak height at β angle of 90° among diffraction peaks in {111} Cu plane with respect to {200} Cu plane by β scanning at α=35° is at least 2.5 times that of a standard copper powder.
US09478319B2	Method of operating a power generator based on noble metal induced oxidation of a heat transfer surface A method of operating a power generator is provided. The method includes determining an amount of oxides on a heat transfer surface of the power generator as a function of a concentration of a noble metal substance in the oxides; and altering operation of the power generator when the amount of oxides on the heat transfer surface reaches a predetermined value. A method of operating a nuclear reactor is also provided.
US09478315B2	Bit error rate mapping in a memory system A memory system or flash memory device may include identify a bit error rate (BER) mapping for the memory. The BER mapping may be used for identifying erroneous bits, managing them, and using them for the system maintenance and system recovery. A complete BER map may be stored in main memory while a cached version of the BER map may be stored in random access memory (RAM). The cached version may identify only the top and bottom bits rather than the complete map. The cached BER map may be updated based on future reads and future programming may rely on the cached BER map for selecting blocks to program.
US09478311B2	Shift register units, gate driver circuits and display devices The present disclosure provides a bi-directional scanning gate driver and its shift register unit. The shift register unit comprises a shift trigger signal/reset signal input terminal (1), a reset signal/shift trigger signal input terminal (2), the first clock terminal (6) and an output terminal (8). The shift trigger signal/reset signal input terminal (1) and the reset signal/shift trigger signal input terminal (2) are coupled to one of the shift trigger signal and the reset signal. When it is switched between the forward shift and the reverse shift, the signals coupled to the shift trigger signal/reset signal input terminal (1) and the reset signal/shift trigger signal input terminal (2) are exchanged. The first clock terminal (6) is coupled to a clock signal for providing a driving level to the output terminal (8). The circuit of such a shift register unit is constituted of at least four transistors and one capacitor. The structure of the circuit of the present disclosure is simple and may solve the technical problem of coupling noise voltage generated by the clock signal.
US09478306B2	Circuit and system of using junction diode as program selector for one-time programmable devices with heat sink Junction diodes fabricated in standard CMOS logic processes can be used as program selectors with at least one heat sink or heater to assist programming for One-Time Programmable (OTP) devices, such as electrical fuse, contact/via fuse, contact/via anti-fuse, or gate-oxide breakdown anti-fuse, etc. The heat sink can be at least one thin oxide area, extended OTP element area, or other conductors coupled to the OTP element to assist programming. A heater can be at least one high resistance area such as an unsilicided polysilicon, unsilicided active region, contact, via, or combined in serial, or interconnect to generate heat to assist programming. The OTP device has at least one OTP element coupled to at least one diode in a memory cell. The diode can be constructed by P+ and N+ active regions in a CMOS N well, or on an isolated active region as the P and N terminals of the diode. The isolation between P+ and the N+ active regions of the diode in a cell or between cells can be provided by dummy MOS gate, SBL, or STI/LOCOS isolations. The OTP element can be polysilicon, silicided polysilicon, silicide, polymetal, metal, metal alloy, local interconnect, metal-0, thermally isolated active region, CMOS gate, or combination thereof.
US09478303B1	System and method for measuring data retention in a non-volatile memory A non-volatile memory system may include a mechanism for analyzing and measuring/predicting data loss without reading data in memory cells of the non-volatile memory. The system may include a data management module that utilizes charge loss measurements of a reference charge device that is independent of the memory cells that are configured to store data. The measured charge loss may be correlated with a predetermined data loss profile for the non-volatile memory that corresponds with charge loss on the reference charge device. The method may include charging the reference charge device when the non-volatile memory system is being powered down and making the charge loss measurement, and estimating data loss, when the non-volatile memory system is later powered up. The non-volatile memory cells may be refreshed when the estimated data loss is above a predetermined threshold.
US09478301B1	Semiconductor memory device A semiconductor memory device according to an embodiment includes a control circuit, during data write to a memory cell, sequentially executing: an erasing stage in which a threshold value of the memory cell is transitioned into an erase distribution; a preliminary programming stage in which the threshold value is transitioned into a temporal distribution corresponding to write data; and a main programming stage in which the threshold value is transitioned into a program distribution corresponding to the write data, and the control circuit executing a main reading stage, during the data read to a first memory cell, which includes a main reading step of adjusting a read pass voltage to be applied to a neighboring word line based on a magnitude of a threshold value of the neighboring memory cell, and reading whether the first memory cell is an erase level.
US09478300B2	Operation method of nonvolatile memory system An operation method of a nonvolatile memory system in accordance with example embodiments of inventive concepts includes detecting an on-cell count of the memory cells using a sampling start voltage, comparing the detected on-cell count with a reference value, setting a plurality of sampling voltages based on the comparison result, performing a sampling operation with respect to the memory cells using the sampling voltages, and detecting an optimum read voltage for distinguishing any one program state among the program states based on a result of the sampling operation.
US09478299B2	Memory device and read method of memory device In a method of reading a memory device, difference information is generated based on a distance difference between a position of a read word-line and a position of a boundary word-line. The read word-line corresponds to a read address. The boundary word-line corresponds to a last programmed word-line in a memory block included in a memory cell array. A read word-line voltage and an adjacent word-line voltage are determined based on the difference information. The read word-line voltage is applied to the read word-line. The adjacent word-line voltage is applied to an adjacent word-line that is adjacent to the read word-line. A read data corresponding to the read address is outputted based on the read word-line voltage and the adjacent word-line voltage. The read method of the memory device according to example embodiments may be capable of increasing the performance by controlling the voltages applied to the adjacent word-line and the read word-line according to the difference information determined based on the read word-line and the boundary word-line.
US09478297B2	Multiple-time programmable memory A multiple-time programmable (MTP) structure is provided that can operate using a power supply with a supply voltage of 1.5 V to 5.5 V. When the supply voltage is above a first voltage, a first circuit is configured to induce a second constant voltage at a drain of a second transistor, and to induce the second constant voltage on a terminal in a third circuit. In some embodiments, the third circuit provides a third constant voltage on a gate of a third transistor. When the supply voltage is below the first voltage, a fifth circuit is configured to induce a fourth constant voltage on a terminal in the third circuit. The fourth constant voltage is substantially equal to the second constant voltage.
US09478289B1	Semiconductor memory device and operating method thereof A semiconductor memory device includes a column address generation circuit suitable for generating contents addressable memory (CAM) column addresses for duplicated CAM data, a column selection circuit suitable for allocating columns to the duplicated CAM data according to the CAM column addresses, and a plurality of page buffer units, each unit being coupled to a corresponding memory group through the allocated columns, and suitable for storing the duplicated CAM data in the memory groups through the allocated columns. The allocated columns are of arranged sequentially within each memory group in a circular order, and a part of the CAM column addresses represent columns which are physically apart by a predetermined number of columns within a memory group.
US09478288B1	Method for programming memory device and associated memory device A method for programming a memory device comprises the following steps: performing an interleaving programming, including: programming a first memory cell during a first time interval and correspondingly verifying the first memory cell during a second time interval; programming a second memory cell during a third time interval and correspondingly verifying the second memory cell during a fourth time interval between the first and second time intervals; and inserting at least one dummy cycle between the first and second time intervals to ensure that a resistance change per unit of time of the first memory cell is less than a threshold.
US09478285B2	Cross-point memory device including multi-level cells and operating method thereof A method of operating a cross-point memory device, having an array of multilevel cells, includes performing a first reading operation with respect to the multilevel cells through a plurality of sensing operations to determine a first state and performing a second reading operation with respect to the multilevel cells through a plurality of sensing operations to determine a second state. A difference between a level of a first voltage used in a first sensing operation and a level of a second voltage used in a second sensing operation in the first reading operation is different from a difference between a level of a third voltage used in a first sensing operation and a level of a fourth voltage used in a second sensing operation in the second reading operation.
US09478283B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor storage device having improved reading and writing speed characteristics A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes: a memory cell (MC0) including a cell transistor (TC0) and a variable resistance element (RR0); a memory cell (MC1) including a cell transistor (TC1) and a variable resistance element (RR1); a word line (WL0) connected to the cell transistor (TC0); a word line (WL1) connected to the cell transistor (TC1); a data line (SL0) connecting the cell transistor (TC0) and the variable resistance element (RR1) to each other; and a data line (BL0) connecting the variable resistance element (RR0) and the cell transistor (TC1) to each other.
US09478280B2	Programmed data verification for a semiconductor memory device A semiconductor memory device is configured to perform a first verification operation by setting an initial voltage level of a verification voltage to a first voltage level and boosting the verification voltage during a first period. The semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array that stores program data, a sensor generating sensing data, and a condition determination unit comparing the program data and the sensing data. A control logic unit includes a verification operation controller configured to selectively perform, based on a result of comparison of the program data and the sensing data, a first verification control operation for controlling a second verification operation by setting the initial voltage level to a second voltage level and boosting the verification voltage during a second period, and a second verification control operation for controlling the second verification operation by setting the initial voltage level to the first voltage level and boosting the verification voltage during the first period.
US09478279B2	High capacity low cost multi-state magnetic memory The present invention is directed to a multi-state current-switching magnetic memory element configured to store a state by current flowing therethrough to switch the state including two or more magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs) coupled in parallel between a top electrode and a bottom electrode. Each MTJ includes a free layer with a switchable magnetic orientation perpendicular to a layer plane thereof, a fixed layer with a fixed magnetic orientation perpendicular to a layer plane thereof, and a barrier layer interposed between the free layer and the fixed layer. The magnetic memory element is operable to store more than one bit of information.
US09478278B1	Read-write contention circuitry Various implementations described herein are directed to an integrated circuit for read-write contention. The integrated circuit may include a memory circuit having multiple ports configured to receive data signals corresponding to each port. The integrated circuit may include a contention override circuit providing a contention override signal for each port based on detecting a read-write contention between the ports. The integrated circuit may include a write circuit having multiple passgates for each port including write passgates and contention passgates for each port. The write passgates may be input with data signals from corresponding ports. The contention passgates may be input with data signals from opposing ports based on opposing contention override signals.
US09478270B2	Data paths using a first signal to capture data and a second signal to output data and methods for providing data Data paths, memories, and methods for providing data from memory are disclosed. An example read data path includes a delay path, and a clocked data register. The data path has a data propagation delay and is configured to receive data and propagate the data therethrough. The delay path is configured to receive a clock signal and provide a delayed clock signal having a delay relative to the clock signal that models the data propagation delay. The clocked data register is configured to clock in data responsive at least in part to the delayed clock signal. The clocked data register is further configured to clock out data responsive at least in part to the clock signal.
US09478269B2	Tracking mechanisms A memory macro includes a plurality of segments corresponding to a plurality of tracking circuits. Each segment of the plurality of segments thereby corresponds to one tracking circuit of the plurality of tracking circuits. In response to a read operation of a memory cell of a segment, a tracking circuit corresponding to the segment is configured to generate an edge of a tracking signal based on which a first edge of a cell signal associated with the memory cell is generated.
US09478268B2	Distributed clock synchronization A memory controller is provided that drives data and a corresponding first data strobe to a plurality of endpoints. Each endpoint is configured to register the received data from the memory controller responsive to the first data strobe and then to re-register the received data responsive to a second data strobe. A clock synchronization circuit functions to keep the received first data strobe at one of the endpoints sufficiently synchronous with the second data strobe.
US09478264B2	Integrated circuits and semiconductor systems including the same A integrated circuit may include an input buffer suitable for buffering a strobe signal in response to a buffer enablement signal to generate an internal strobe signal, an internal clock generator suitable for receiving the internal strobe signal to generate internal clock signals including different phases. The integrated circuit may include a strobe signal driver suitable for driving the strobe signal in response to a drive control signal. The drive control signal may be enabled prior to the buffer enablement signal being enabled.
US09478262B2	Semiconductor device including input/output circuit Disclosed here is an apparatus that comprises a data terminal, a data output circuit including a plurality of output buffers coupled in common to the data terminal, and an impedance control circuit coupled to the data output circuit, wherein the impedance control circuit is configured to generate first impedance code and second impedance code different from the first impedance code and to apply a selected one of the first impedance code and the second impedance code to at least one of the output buffers.
US09478244B2	Method and material for protecting magnetic information storage media A method of protecting a magnetic information storage medium is described. The method includes fabricating a film over a surface of the magnetic information storage medium. The film includes an amorphous, uniform, homogeneous solid solution of carbon, hydrogen, silicon, and oxygen. A magnetic storage medium with such a protective film is described.
US09478241B1	Thermally-assisted magnetic recording head having inclined main magnetic pole and core A thermally-assisted magnetic recording head includes a main pole, a waveguide, and a plasmon generator. The waveguide includes a core and a cladding. The main pole and the core are located on the same side in the direction of travel of a recording medium relative to the plasmon generator. The main pole has a first end face located in the medium facing surface, and a second end face opposite to the first end face. The core has a front end face opposed to the second end face of the main pole. The cladding includes an interposition section interposed between the front end face of the core and the second end face of the main pole. The front end face of the core and the second end face of the main pole are inclined with respect to the medium facing surface.
US09478237B2	Work piece contact pad with centering feature A data storage device may be tested during or after manufacture by a testing device that may have at least a work piece with at least one contact pad concurrently contacting bottom and sidewall surfaces of a probe tip with a centering feature of the at least one contact pad.
US09478232B2	Signal processing apparatus, signal processing method and computer program product for separating acoustic signals According to an embodiment, a signal processing apparatus includes an ambient sound estimating unit, a representative component estimating unit, a voice estimating unit, and a filter generating unit. The ambient sound estimating unit is configured to estimate, from the feature, an ambient sound component that is non-stationary among ambient sound components having a feature. The representative component estimating unit is configured to estimate a representative component representing ambient sound components estimated from one or more features for a time period, based on a largest value among the ambient sound components within the time period. The voice estimating unit is configured to estimate, from the feature, a voice component having the feature. The filter generating unit is configured to generate a filter for extracting a voice component and an ambient sound component from the feature, based on the voice component and the representative component.
US09478230B2	Speech processing apparatus, method, and program of reducing reverberation of speech signals A speech processing apparatus that collects sound signals. With each of the collected sound signals, the apparatus may estimate a direction of a sound source, and select an extension filter that is applied to each sound signal. The extension filter may correspond to the estimated sound source of each of the sound signals. In addition, each of the sound signals may be corrected using the extension filter, and a reverberation reduction of the corrected sound signals and the collected sound signals may be performed.
US09478225B2	Systems, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media for three-dimensional audio coding using basis function coefficients Systems, methods, and apparatus for a unified approach to encoding different types of audio inputs are described.
US09478221B2	Enhanced audio frame loss concealment A method is provided for concealing a lost audio frame of a received audio signal by performing a sinusoidal analysis of a part of a previously received or reconstructed audio signal. The sinusoidal analysis involves identifying frequencies of sinusoidal components of the audio signal, and applying a sinusoidal model on a segment of the previously received or reconstructed audio signal. The segment is used as a prototype frame in order to create a substitution frame for a lost audio frame. The method includes creating the substitution frame for the lost audio frame by time-evolving sinusoidal components of the prototype frame, up to the time instance of the lost audio frame, in response to the corresponding identified frequencies. The method further includes performing at least one of an enhanced frequency estimation and an adaptation of the creating of the substitution frame in response to the tonality of the audio signal.
US09478220B2	Frame error concealment method and apparatus and error concealment scheme construction method and apparatus Provided are a frame error concealment method and apparatus and an error concealment scheme construction method and apparatus. The frame error concealment method includes generating a new signal by synthesizing a plurality of previous signals that are similar to a signal of an error frame and reconstructing the signal of the error frame using the generated signal.
US09478215B2	Vehicle-based message control using cellular IP Architecture for playing back personal text-based messages such as email and voicemail over a vehicle-based media system. The user can use a cell phone that registers over a cellular network to an IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) to obtain an associated IP address. The personal messages are then converted into audio signals using a remote text-to-voice (TTV) converter and transmitted to the phone based on the IP address. The phone then transmits the audio signals to the vehicle media system for playback using an unlicensed wireless technology (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.). Other alternative embodiments include transmitting converted message directly to the media system, via a satellite channel, converting the messages via a TTV converter on the cell phone, and streaming the converted messages to the phone and/or the media system for playback.
US09478214B2	Device and method for generating noise for a motor vehicle The invention relates to a device and method for generating noise for a motor vehicle, having at least one sensing unit (101), which is designed to measure at least one operating signal (11) of the motor vehicle and to forward a basic signal (12) on the basis thereof to a tuning unit (102), wherein the tuning unit (102) is designed to convert the basic signal (12) by means of filtering and acoustic shaping to form a noise signal (13) and to forward the noise signal (13) to an amplifier unit (103), wherein the amplifier unit (103) is designed to amplify the noise signal (13) and to forward an amplified noise signal (14) to a converter unit (104), and wherein the converter unit (104) is designed to convert the amplified noise signal (14) into corresponding acoustic signals in order to generate noise.
US09478212B1	Systems and methods for use of adaptive secondary path estimate to control equalization in an audio device In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, an adjustable equalization filter may have a response that generates an equalized source audio signal from a source audio signal to account for effects of changes in an electro-acoustical path of the source audio signal to a transducer. An equalizer coefficient control block may adapt the response of the adjustable equalization filter in response to changes in a response of a secondary path estimate filter for modeling the electro-acoustical path of a source audio signal through the transducer, wherein a response of the secondary path estimate filter is adapted in conformity with an error microphone signal indicative of the acoustic output of the transducer.
US09478207B1	Reversing configuration control for string instruments A reversing configuration control for string instruments connects to a pair of pickup coils located on a string instrument for selectively electrically configuring and blending the outputs of the pickup coils. The reversing configuration control includes a pair of potentiometers mechanically coupled for concurrent mechanical travel of the respective displaceable contacts thereof. The pair of potentiometers are operatively coupled to the pair of pickup coils and a pair of output terminals to vary the electrical configuration of the pair of pickup coils between (a) the pair of pickup coils being coupled with like polarity in one of series or parallel with respect to the output terminals, or (b) effectively coupling only one of the pair of pickup coils to the output terminals, or (c) the pair of pickup coils being coupled with opposing polarity in one of series or parallel with respect to the output terminals.
US09478200B2	Mapping estimation apparatus A mapping estimation apparatus includes a mapping adjuster. The mapping adjuster estimates mappings which correlate a plurality of subset data items with respective parts of universal set data including union of the plurality of subset data items based on the plurality of subset data items and the universal set data. The mapping adjuster estimates a mode of selecting a plurality of codomain data items from the universal set data and modes of mappings applied to the plurality of subset data items so as to have a maximum probability that data items obtained by selecting a plurality of codomain data items of which a subset of union is the universal set data from the universal set data and applying the mappings to the plurality of subset data items as domains will be respectively the plurality of codomain data items.
US09478199B1	Stringed instrument hemispherical pull string tensioner The present invention relates to a axial movement tuner that pulls an instrument string in any direction within hemispherical space where the string exits the tuner. The tuner is an adjusting thumbscrew that has a through borehole for string passage and a low friction bearing recessed within the thumbscrew knob, where instrument strings are installed by simply passing them through the thumbscrew bearing, on through the hole in the thumbscrew, and out through a horn shaped opening. Ball end string movement is stopped when the ball reaches the small diameter bearing hole. Tuning is accomplished by turning the thumbscrew causing axial movement of the string end ball while the bearing limits string rotation, and this axial movement of the string within the tuner is redirected by a smooth horn shaped opening to any direction within a hemispherical space defined by the tuner string exit opening.
US09478198B1	Recessed concave fingerboard A musical instrument having a plurality of strings is provided, the strings extending along a longitudinal dimension. The instrument includes a concave fingerboard extending along the longitudinal dimension and spaced from the plurality of strings to define the action, wherein a portion of the concave fingerboard is below an adjacent surface of a body of the musical instrument.
US09478187B2	Pulse generation circuit and semiconductor device Two gate drivers each comprising a shift register and a demultiplexer including single conductivity type transistors are provided on left and right sides of a pixel portion. Gate lines are alternately connected to the left-side and right-side gate drivers in every M rows. The shift register includes k first unit circuits connected in cascade. The demultiplexer includes k second unit circuits to each of which a signal is input from the first unit circuit and to each of which M gate lines are connected. The second unit circuit selects one or more wirings which output an input signal from the first unit circuit among M gate lines, and outputs the signal from the first unit circuit to the selected wiring(s). Since gate signals can be output from an output of a one-stage shift register to the M gate lines, the width of the shift register can be narrowed.
US09478185B2	Electro-optical display device and display method thereof A method of reducing power consumption of an electro-optical display device which can display a still image with the use of analog signals. A circuit in which low leakage current flows between a source and a drain of a selection transistor when the selection transistor is off; the source of the selection transistor is connected to a gate of a first driving transistor, a gate of a second driving transistor, and one electrode of a display element; and a source of the second driving transistor is connected to the other electrode of the display element is provided in each pixel. A gate and the drain of the selection transistor are connected to a scan line and a signal line, respectively. A drain of the first driving transistor is connected to a first power supply line. A drain of the second driving transistor is connected to a second power supply line.
US09478181B2	Display apparatus A display apparatus includes a display panel including a display area in which gate lines and data lines are disposed to display an image and a peripheral area which is disposed around the display area and includes fan-out lines having different lengths, and a driving part configured to output driving signals having different levels to channels respectively connected to the fan-out lines according to the different lengths of the fan-out lines.
US09478177B2	Display device configured to perform pseudo interlace scanning image display based on progressive image signal, driving method thereof, and display driving circuit A display control circuit of a liquid crystal display device generates a double-speed progressive image signal by changing an input image signal based on interlaced scanning into a progressive scanning mode, and also by doubling the frame frequency. With the double-speed progressive image signal, a pixel value equivalent to an odd-numbered scanning line in an odd-numbered frame remains unchanged, a pixel value equivalent to an even-numbered scanning line is replaced with a black pixel value, a pixel value equivalent to an even-numbered scanning line in an even-numbered frame remains unchanged, and a pixel value equivalent to an odd-numbered scanning line is replaced with a black pixel value. An image that the double-speed interlace image signal represents is displayed on a liquid crystal panel.
US09478173B2	Adaptive color correction for display with backlight modulation The techniques of this disclosure are applicable to backlight display devices. For such devices, the backlight may have different backlight intensity settings in order to promote power conservation. The techniques of this disclosure may apply different adjustments to the display, depending on the backlight intensity setting. In one example, different color correction matrices may be applied for different backlight settings in order to achieve desirable adjustments in the device at the different backlight settings. The adjustments described herein may address chrominance shifts due to different backlight settings as well as cross-talk between color channels. The techniques may also be applicable to organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays that have different luminance settings, and some described techniques may be applicable to displays that have static or fixed luminance output.
US09478169B2	Pixel, display device having the same, and thin film transistor (TFT) substrate for display device A pixel, a display device having the same, and a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate for the display device are disclosed. In one aspect, the pixel includes an emitter configured to emit light based at least in part on a driving current. The pixel also includes a driving transistor including an active layer, a first electrode electrically connected to a first end portion of the active layer, a second electrode electrically connected to a second end portion of the active layer, a first gate electrode configured to receive a data voltage from a data driver so as to form a channel in the active layer, and a second gate electrode configured to receive a bias voltage from a voltage source, wherein the channel is configured to adjust the driving current.
US09478162B2	Display device having safety functions A display device having safety functions may include: a display panel having unit pixel regions formed by intersecting a plurality of data lines with a plurality of gate lines; a first driving channel including a first data driving unit connected to one sides of the data lines and a first gate driving unit connected to one sides of the gate lines; and a second driving channel including a second data driving unit connected to the other sides of the data lines and a second gate driving unit connected to the other sides of the gate lines; wherein the display panel is driven by one of the first driving channel and the second driving channel.
US09478160B2	Display panel and display method thereof, and display device The present invention provides a display panel and a display method thereof, and a display device. The display panel comprises a plurality of circulation units, wherein each circulation unit is composed of one sub-pixel array or is composed of a plurality of sub-pixel arrays aligned in a row or column direction, and each sub-pixel array is composed of six sub-pixels arranged in two rows and three columns, wherein the six sub-pixels of each sub-pixel array include three color sub-pixels and three compensation sub-pixels, the three color sub-pixels include one red sub-pixel, one green sub-pixel and one blue sub-pixel, the three compensation sub-pixels are different from one another in color, and the sub-pixels with the same color are not adjacent to each other in the row direction and the column direction.
US09478158B2	Display apparatus with transmissive and reflective subpixels A display apparatus including a display section including an array of pixels in a two-dimensional matrix, wherein each of the pixels of the display section includes a pair of a subpixel displaying a first primary color, and a subpixel displaying a second primary color being different from the first primary color.
US09478153B1	Illuminated cylindrical animation device An animation device for producing animation of interlaced coded images with inner and outer sleeves retained for concentric rotation, a plurality of coded images retained by one sleeve, and a plurality of spaced shutter elements and interposed viewing elements retained by the other sleeve. The inner and outer sleeves are retained by a base structure with one sleeve rotatable in relation to the base structure and the other sleeve fixed against rotation relative to the base structure. A light source can be disposed within the inner sleeve, and a motor can rotate a platform that retains the rotatable sleeve. The fixed sleeve can be encased and fixed in position by a frusto-conical sleeve forming a fixation member. The inner and outer sleeves can be precisely formed by alignment of registration apertures on a peg board with registration pegs.
US09478140B2	System and method for displaying traffic and associated alerts on a three-dimensional airport moving map display A flight deck display system and method comprises a first source of host aircraft feature data and a second source of traffic data. A processor is coupled to the first and second sources and is configured to (a) receive host aircraft data; (2) receive traffic data; (3) filter traffic based on a predetermined set of separation criteria to identify vital traffic; (4) generate symbology graphically representative of vital traffic; (5) generate symbology graphically representative of the host aircraft; and (6) display the host aircraft and the vital traffic on an AMM display.
US09478139B2	Driving safety system and barrier screening method thereof A driving safety system mounted in a vehicle includes an image acquisition module and a distance detection module connected to a vehicle-mounted computer and respectively acquiring at least one piece of barrier information and at least one frame of image information. The vehicle-mounted computer analyzes the barrier information and the image information, constantly receives barrier information in the course of driving, and performs a screen and analysis algorithm to screen out noise from the surrounding environment and a comparison analysis algorithm to eliminate noise reflected from objects on the ground, to accurately acquire front target information. Accordingly, the driving safety system can correctly determine barriers in the front when the vehicle is moving to achieve the goal of enhancing driving safety.
US09478138B2	Method and on-board unit for warning in case of wrong-way travel A method is disclosed for warning in case of wrong-way travel of a vehicle on a directional carriageway by means of an on-board unit carried by the vehicle, said on-board unit determining its position and direction of movement in a satellite-assisted manner, comparing the latter with a target direction of movement stored in a digital road map for this position and outputting a warning message when detecting a wrong-way travel, comprising: for a temporary change in course of a section of the directional carriageway, providing a radio beacon arranged upstream to said section and having a local radio coverage range; when the on-board unit enters the radio coverage range of the radio beacon, receiving a message sent by the radio beacon concerning the change in course in a transceiver of the on-board unit; and detecting the wrong-way travel depending on the received message.
US09478137B1	Detecting and communicating lane splitting maneuver A vehicle system includes a lane detector programmed to output a boundary signal representing a location of a lane boundary relative to a host vehicle. A processing device is programmed to determine, from the boundary signal, whether the host vehicle is performing a lane splitting maneuver. If so, the processing device is programmed to transmit a lane splitting signal.
US09478134B2	Method of determining an attribute of a parking structure A method of determining an attribute of a parking structure includes monitoring vehicle status data (VSD) obtained by a first on-board processor operatively associated with a vehicle telematics unit. The first processor executes computer readable code encoded on a first non-transitory computer readable medium. The method includes recording, in a vehicle memory operatively associated with the first processor, the VSD based on an output of a vehicle on-board sensor. The method further includes communicating the recorded VSD to a data aggregator of a remote parking information system (RPIS) for storage as aggregated data in a computer memory associated with the RPIS. The method determines, via the data aggregator, whether the vehicle is in the parking structure based on the communicated recorded VSD. The method further includes determining the attribute via the RPIS based on the VSD stored in the computer memory, and storing the attribute in the computer memory.
US09478131B2	Prioritization of traffic signal preemption requests received from multiple sources over different communication mediums Approaches for prioritizing multiple candidates for preemption of a traffic signal phase at an intersection are disclosed. Light signals transmitted from light-signaling vehicles approaching an intersection encode priority codes using a first set of values. Radio signals from radio-signaling vehicles approaching the intersection encode priority codes using a second set of values. A set of preemption candidates is determined from the light and radio signals, as well as from network-based requests, and a respective relative priority of each preemption candidate based on the priority code of each preemption candidate is determined. A request output for preemption of the traffic signal phase for a preemption candidate having a highest priority.
US09478130B2	Systems and methods for traffic guidance nodes and traffic navigating entities A system includes one or more traffic guidance nodes (TGNs) and one or more mobile traffic navigating entities (TNEs). The traffic guidance nodes transmit updated information about the local traffic to the one or more mobile traffic navigating entities when the one or more mobile traffic navigating entities are within a range of the one or more traffic guidance nodes.
US09478117B2	System and method for finding an object at distance A system and method for finding an object at distance, the system having a parent device (1) and at least one child device (2, 3, 4) that is attachable to or integratable into the object, wherein the parent device (1) and the child device (2, 3, 4) are adapted to communicate over a distance. In order to provide a better adaptability, in particular with respect to a selection of objects that shall be kept track of and combined with an improved object detectability, the invention suggests that the child device (2, 3, 4) has an identity memory (11) storing at least one identity code and the parent device (1) has an identity reader (10) for reading the identity code from the child device (2, 3, 4), an object memory (9) for storing the identity code, an object learner (5) configured with logic (7) to store the identity code in the object memory (9), and an object finder (6) configured with logic (8) to send a search signal to the child device (2, 3, 4) based on the identity code.
US09478112B1	Video monitoring and alarm verification technology Video monitoring and alarm verification technology, in which a first connection is established between a first device and a camera located in a monitored property associated with a user of the first device and image data captured by the camera is received over the first connection and at the first device. A determination is made to establish a second connection with a second device that enables sharing of the received image data with the second device and, in response to the determination, the second connection is established between the first device and the second device. The received image data is shared with the second device over the second connection and the second device is restricted from directly accessing image data captured by the camera located in the monitored property.
US09478110B2	Programmable security system and method for protecting merchandise A programmable security system and method for protecting an item of merchandise includes a programming station, a programmable key and a security system. The programming station generates a security code and communicates the security code to a memory of the programmable key. The programmable key initially communicates the security code to a memory of the security device and subsequently operates the security device upon a matching of the security code in the memory of the security device with the security code in the memory of the programmable key. The programmable key may also transfer power via electrical contacts or inductive transfer from an internal battery to the security device to operate a lock mechanism. The security code may be communicated by wireless infrared (IR) systems, electrical contacts or inductive transfer. A timer inactivates the programmable key and/or the security device after a predetermine period of time. A counter inactivates the programmable key after a predetermined maximum number of activations.
US09478109B2	Virtual sensor in a virtual environment A system for generating haptic effects includes a virtual environment having environmental properties, virtual objects, and object property information. A programmatic virtual sensor is placed on a virtual object in the virtual environment. A rendering engine for the virtual environment renders the virtual environment. A module for the virtual sensor receives virtual sensor data including position and time for the sensor and calculates sensor output data including acceleration data and object interaction data for the virtual sensor. A haptic track generator generates a haptic track based on the sensor output data.
US09478106B2	Multiple gaming choice in Keno by players A method and apparatus for playing a casino wagering game using a processor to determine random event outcomes by: the processor recognizing selection of individual player selections of individual sub-outcomes collectively forming a total player selection set; the processor providing a total selection outcome of a final set of symbols randomly selected by the processor from a total symbol set of individual outcomes; the individual total player selection set totaling fewer symbols than the total symbol set of individual outcomes; a player input system enabling player wagers to be selected from among multiple total selection outcomes to be selected by the processor from among multiple available sets of total selection outcomes; the processor providing differing paytables dependent upon numbers of symbols provided by the processor with respect to each total selection outcome provided by the processor from among the multiple available sets of total outcome selections.
US09478104B2	Systems and methods for distributed gaming voucher control A system that includes a first input/output (I/O) device configured to generate a code based at least in part on a unique machine identifier of the first I/O device, and a second I/O device communicatively coupled to the first I/O device via a network. The second I/O device is configured to read the code from a tangible medium, parse the code to determine the machine identifier, transmit a validation request directly to the first I/O device via the network, and receive a response message directly from the first I/O device, wherein the response message indicates a number of credits available to a user at the second I/O device.
US09478103B2	Gambling hybrid gaming system with a fixed shooter Systems and methods for a gambling hybrid game that provides a fixed shooter game as an entertainment game are disclosed. In a fixed shooter game, a shooter controlled by a player is on a fixed plane and the player shoots at game targets by moving the shooter along at least one axis within the fixed plane. The entertainment system engine in a gambling hybrid game provides the fixed shooter game and determines interactions between the shooter and targets in the game. A game world engine of the gambling hybrid game determines when a gambling event in a gambling game is to be provided based upon the interactions in the fixed shooter game. The game world engine then requests that a real world engine of the game world engine resolve the gambling event in the gambling game. The real world engine then resolves the gambling event and associated wagers.
US09478100B2	Localized remote gaming A gaming machine, such as a video slot or video poker machine located in a casino or other gaming environment, may be configured to provide simultaneous play by both an in-person player and one or more remote players. Session identifiers may be assigned to the gaming machine that correspond to the game session of the in-person player and the game session of any remote players.
US09478098B2	In-game advertising feature for casino foot traffic An in-game advertising system that provides benefits to gamers, game publishers and casinos by offering in-game awards as part of the electronic game plot that the gamer is playing on the gamer's mobile device.
US09478096B2	Autonomous agent hybrid system Systems in accordance with embodiments of the invention operate an autonomous agent hybrid system including a real world controller constructed to provide a randomly generated payout of credits; an entertainment software controller constructed to execute an entertainment game providing outcomes based upon an autonomous agent action; and a game world controller coupled to the entertainment software controller and the real world controller via a network, and constructed to trigger the credit wager, wherein the game world controller utilizes an agency module that: configures an autonomous agent player profile which determines the autonomous agent action; detects the autonomous agent action taken by the autonomous agent where the autonomous agent action is a direct utilization by the autonomous agent of the enabling element within the entertainment game, wherein the autonomous agent action is taken by the autonomous agent without the player's supervision; and communicates, to the real world controller, an agent wager.
US09478092B2	Plant selling device and control method thereof The present invention discloses a plant selling device and a control method thereof, by which a ripe plant to be sold can be moved from a plant growth room to a sales room according to the information in a purchase order after the purchase order is generated. According to the technical solution of the present invention, plant factory technology can be combined effectively with automatic plant selling so that plants are sold automatically after ripening, thus providing a more convenient mode of production and sale.
US09478084B1	System and method for cloud controlled common access entry point locking system A cloud-based common access entry point locking control system and method for centrally controlling access to common access entry points from a plurality of mobile devices via a network comprising a cloud based management system, a mobile guest and host application, and a premise-based lock control system.
US09478083B2	Electronic key lockout control in lockbox system An electronic lockbox system includes a wireless portable transponder that communicates with an electronic lockbox using a low power radio link. The portable transponder includes: a wide area network radio to communicate to a central clearinghouse computer, a motion sensor to activate its wide area network radio, and a connector to communicate with a secure memory device. The electronic lockbox sends a hail message that is intercepted by the portable transponder; the hail message includes identification information. The portable transponder responds with a message that includes a time sensitive encryption key; the lockbox authenticates this response message using its own time sensitive encryption key. If an electronic key is used to access the lockbox, the improved system effectively disables the electronic key during a showing, so that the electronic key cannot be used to access another lockbox until the correct dwelling key has been placed back into the lockbox.
US09478081B2	Currency keeper An electronic safe which incorporates consumer programmable buttons, along with an on-board central processing unit.
US09478079B2	Device for monitoring a sensor of a vehicle A method is provided for monitoring at least one sensor of a vehicle, which has means for wireless communication, wherein measured values of the at least one sensor are compared to measured values of at least one comparison vehicle with the aid of the means for wireless communication.
US09478076B2	Systems and methods for executing custom fleet vehicle management scripts System and methods are disclosed for gathering vehicle data from a vehicle engine computer installed in an engine of a vehicle and a plurality of sensors disposed about the vehicle and providing functionality for a third-party to install and then execute custom scripts within a telematics application to change default functionalities of the telematics application when processing the vehicle data.
US09478073B2	Friendly maintenance and recall notifications Disclosed herein are devices, systems, and methods for providing friendly maintenance and recall notifications. Drivers can have personalized online driver profiles that indicate preferences for one or more notification classes, each notification class having a consistent theme or style. When a maintenance or recall condition arises, the driver can be presented with a notification that is both specific to the particular maintenance condition and associated with the notification class for which the driver has indicated a preference. Maintenance conditions can be detected by one or more sensors. Notifications for recall conditions can be sent from a remote server and received at the vehicle. A plurality of notifications related to a particular condition can be stored in a notification database, and the driver can be presented with a random notification, consistent with the driver's preferences, from the plurality of available notifications.
US09478069B2	Compression format conversion for texture data A conversion between two texture compression formats comprises calculations performed at index-level for reducing handling of values with color bit-length and an amount of calculations with color values. Format conversion can thus be performed in real time upon displaying an image using the compressed texture data, without significant slowing down of a display rate of the images. It may be implemented in particular for conversion from DXT1—to ETC1 compression format, and a non-flipped or flipped orientation of an ETC1—compressed texture data block can thus be determined from said texture data block as initially compressed in DXT1 format.
US09478066B2	Consistent vertex snapping for variable resolution rendering A system, method, and computer program product are provided for adjusting vertex positions. One or more viewport dimensions are received and a snap spacing is determined based on the one or more viewport dimensions. The vertex positions are adjusted to a grid according to the snap spacing. The precision of the vertex adjustment may increase as at least one dimension of the viewport decreases. The precision of the vertex adjustment may decrease as at least one dimension of the viewport increases.
US09478064B2	Automatic control of avatar perspective view in a graphical user interface Systems (100) and methods (800) for visually rendering a multi-dimensional model of a portion of a system (100) having mechanical joints (228-238). The methods comprise: determining a first current physical joint configuration of a first mechanical joint and a second current physical joint configuration of a second mechanical joint; determining at least one first viewing direction (d234) along a rotational axis or perpendicular to a linear extension axis (a234) of the first mechanical joint (234) having the first current physical joint configuration and at least one second viewing direction (d236) along a rotational axis or perpendicular to a linear extension axis (a236) of the second mechanical joint (236) having the second current physical joint configuration; computing an avatar view perspective direction (σ234-236) based on the first and second viewing directions; and dynamically adjusting a perspective view of a visually rendered multi-dimensional model of the system using the avatar view perspective direction.
US09478063B2	Methods for object recognition and related arrangements Methods and arrangements involving portable user devices such smartphones and wearable electronic devices are disclosed, as well as other devices and sensors distributed within an ambient environment. Some arrangements enable a user to perform an object recognition process in a computationally- and time-efficient manner. Other arrangements enable users and other entities to, either individually or cooperatively, register or enroll physical objects into one or more object registries on which an object recognition process can be performed. Still other arrangements enable users and other entities to, either individually or cooperatively, associate registered or enrolled objects with one or more items of metadata. A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed.
US09478062B2	Memory allocation in distributed memories for multiprocessing In some aspects, finer grained parallelism is achieved by segmenting programmatic workloads into smaller discretized portions, where a first element can be indicative both of a configuration or program to be executed, and a first data set to be used in such execution, while a second element can be indicative of a second data element or group. The discretized portions can cause program execute on distributed processors. Approaches to selecting processors, and allocating local memory associated with those processors are disclosed. In one example, discretized portions that share a program have an anti-affinity to cause dispersion, for initial execution assignment. Flags, such as programmer and compiler generated flags can be used in determining such allocations. Workloads can be grouped according to compatibility of memory usage requirements.
US09478060B2	Techniques to provide depth-based typeface in digital documents An apparatus may include a processor circuit and a three-dimensional (3-D) typeface module that is operative on the processor circuit to provide a choice of one or more 3-D typefaces in a graphical user interface displayed on a digital display. The 3-D typeface component may be operable to determine that a selection of the 3-D typeface selection has been received and to apply the 3-D typeface to a selected set of characters in a digital document that includes editable text.
US09478056B2	Image cache for replacing portions of images Implementations relate to an image cache used for replacing portions of images. In some implementations, a method includes examining a received image and detecting a subject depicted in a subject portion of the received image. The method determines a likelihood that the subject portion will be used as a replacement to be inserted in place of one or more corresponding subject portions in future images examined at a later time. The subject portion, or a reference thereto, is stored in an image cache in response to the determined likelihood being greater than a predetermined threshold. The image cache is available to be searched for the subject portion and other portions of images to replace corresponding portions of future images.
US09478054B1	Image overlay compositing Implementations generally relate to image overlay compositing. In some implementations, a method includes receiving a first image and a second image. The method further includes determining one or more attributes of each of the first image and the second image, where the one or more attributes includes one or more image types. The method further includes determining one or more compositing techniques combine the first image and the second image based on one or more of the attributes.
US09478051B2	Method for accelerating magnetic resonance imaging using varying k-space sampling density and phase-constrained reconstruction A method is presented for accelerating magnetic resonance imaging. In 3D MRI, the k-space in the phase encoding plane is divided into two symmetric parts and three asymmetric parts. Different sampling densities are applied in different parts. Images are reconstructed by iteratively minimizing a cost function when random sampling is applied in each part. A phase constraint term is added into the cost function to improve the quality of the reconstruction by exploiting the conjugate symmetry of k-space.
US09478046B2	Image processing circuit and image processing method An image processing device includes a hue changer and a color gamut converter. The hue changer changes a hue of input image data from a first hue to a second hue by combining a phase with a hue of a primary color when the input image data is at or adjacent the primary color, the phase being based on a hue angle phase difference between a first color gamut and a second color gamut narrower than the first color gamut. The color gamut converter preserves a hue about image data from the hue changer and converts a color gamut from the first color gamut to the second color gamut.
US09478040B2	Method and apparatus for segmenting object in image A method and apparatus are provided for segmenting an object in an image. The method includes obtaining a first image including the object; receiving an input signal including information about a predetermined position in the first image; selecting at least one pixel included in the first image, based on the position information; generating a second image by dividing the first image into several areas, using the selected at least one pixel; and segmenting the object in the first image by using the first image and the second image.
US09478037B2	Techniques for efficient stereo block matching for gesture recognition Techniques to provide efficient stereo block matching may include receiving an object from a scene. Pixels in the scene may be identified based on the object. Stereo block matching may be performed for only the identified pixels in order to generate a depth map. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09478036B2	Method, apparatus and computer program product for disparity estimation of plenoptic images In an example embodiment, a method, apparatus and computer program product are provided. The method includes facilitating receipt of a plenoptic image associated with a scene, the plenoptic image including plenoptic micro-images and being captured by a focused plenoptic camera. The method includes generating plenoptic vectors for the plenoptic micro-images of the plenoptic image, where an individual plenoptic vector is generated for an individual plenoptic micro-image. The method includes assigning disparities for the plenoptic micro-images of the plenoptic image. A disparity for a plenoptic micro-image is assigned by accessing a plurality of subspaces associated with a set of pre-determined disparities, projecting a plenoptic vector for the plenoptic micro-image in the plurality of subspaces, calculating a plurality of residual errors based on projections of the plenoptic vector in the plurality of subspaces, and determining the disparity for the plenoptic micro-image based on a comparison of the plurality of residual errors.
US09478035B2	2D/3D localization and pose estimation of harness cables using a configurable structure representation for robot operations A robot is made to recognize and manipulate different types of cable harnesses in an assembly line. This is achieved by using a stereo camera system to define a 3D cloud of a given cable harness. Pose information of specific parts of the cable harness are determined from the 3D point cloud, and the cable harness is then re-presented as a collection of primitive geometric shapes of known dimensions, whose positions and orientations follow the spatial position of the represented cable harness. The robot can then manipulate the cable harness by using the simplified representation as a reference.
US09478027B2	Method for evaluating an examination A method is disclosed for evaluating an examination of an examination object using a medical imaging device by way of an evaluation unit. The method includes reading in an examination data set of the examination object; assigning a reference data set to the read-in examination data set, the reference data set comprising at least one reference region; selecting at least one reference region; assigning at least one examination region of the examination data set to the at least one reference region; and marking the at least one examination region in at least one image of the examination data set. In an advantageous embodiment, the marking of the at least one examination region includes a marking tolerance and a segmentation of the at least one examination region on at least one image of the examination data set, and the segmentation depends on the medical imaging device.
US09478026B2	Systems and methods for determining white matter fiber tractography One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a system that can determine a kurtosis diffusion orientation distribution function (dODF) that can, for example, be used with diffusional kurtosis imaging fiber tractography (DKI-FT). The system can include a non-transitory memory storing computer-executable instructions and a processor that executes the computer-executable instructions to perform the following operations. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) data can be received. Based on the dMRI data, a diffusion tensor (DT) and a diffusional kurtosis tensor (DKT) can be determined. A kurtosis dODF can be determined for the dMRI data based on the DT and the DKT. The kurtosis dODF extends a Gaussian approximation of the DT to include non-Gaussian corrections of the DKT.
US09478024B2	Perfusion imaging Described herein is an approach for analyzing perfusion characteristics of heterogeneous tissues in 4D data set (i.e., a time series of contrast enhanced 3D volumes) in which spatially entangled tissue components are separated into individual tissue components and perfusion maps for the individual tissue components are generated and visually presented. In one instance, the approach includes obtaining the 4D data set in electronic format, generating a different time activity curve point for each of the different tissue components for each voxel being evaluated for each time frame being evaluated, and generating a signal indicative of a different parameter map for each of the different tissue components based at least on the time activity curves. Optionally, relations between parameters of the different components are determined and presented in relation maps.
US09478021B2	Image display device, image display system, and image display method An image display device comprises a first control part, a first storage, and a display part. The first storage holds rendering elements, each of which includes a combination of rendering target information and rendering setting information, and a priority order assigned to each rendering element. The rendering target information includes data identification information which designates three-dimensional data of a rendering target and mask information which designates a rendering target area. The rendering setting information includes information which designates a two-dimensional image rendering method and rendering parameter. The first control part determines, based on the rendering setting information and the mask information, whether executing priority processing is necessary. If it is determined that it is necessary to execute the priority processing, either the mask information or the rendering parameter is modified, and a two-dimensional image is rendered based on the rendering elements whereupon the priority processing is executed.
US09478016B2	Image restoration method and image processing apparatus using the same The invention discloses an image restoration method and an imager processing apparatus using the same. The method includes the following steps: receiving a haze image comprising a plurality of pixels; detecting whether a color cast phenomenon occurs on the haze image; if yes, calculating a plurality of Laplacian distribution values respectively corresponding to the color channels; determining a maximum distribution value and a minimum distribution value among the Laplacian distribution values, and generating a self-adaptive parameter by comparing the maximum distribution value and the minimum distribution value; adjusting the transmission map by the self-adaptive parameter so as to generate a adjusted transmission map; calculating a plurality of color parameters respectively corresponding to the color channels according to the Laplacian distribution values; and restoring the haze image by using the color parameters and the adjusted transmission map so as to obtain a restored image.
US09478013B2	System and method for registering an image sequence A system (100) for registering an image sequence includes an input (120) for obtaining the image sequence (200) which includes a plurality of images (201 -205) arranged sequentially within an image range. A transformation processor (140) establishes transformations between pairs of consecutive images in the image sequence (200) to obtain a plurality of transformations (211-214). An alignment processor (160) based on the plurality of transformations (211-214), establishes a reference image (203) from the plurality of images (201-205) based on a transformation metric and aligns the image sequence (200) to the reference image (203) to obtain a registered image sequence (230). The transformation metric quantifies a degree of transformation required for aligning the image sequence (200) to the reference image (203).
US09478012B2	Display apparatus, source device and display system A display apparatus includes an orientation detecting portion, a receiving portion and an image processing portion. The orientation detecting portion detects an orientation of an upper part or a lower part of a display screen of a display portion. The receiving portion receives an image signal transmitted from a source device and state information (information showing an orientation of an upper part or a lower part of the transmission image indicated by the image signal and presence/absence of black band parts). The image processing portion applies, to the transmission image, rotation processing such that the orientation of the upper part or the lower part of the display screen coincides with the orientation of the upper part or the lower part of the transmission image, scaling processing, and/or black-band processing for adding or removing black band parts, according to a detection result of the orientation detecting portion and the state information.
US09478007B2	Stable video super-resolution by edge strength optimization A method includes determining, by a hardware processor and based on an image frame, a first edge strength distribution on a horizontal edge map and a second edge strength distribution on a vertical edge map. The first and second edge strength distributions are redistributed to narrow at least one of the first and second edge strength distributions. Non-texture regions of pixels are determined based on a data correlation map of the image frame. Edge strength magnitudes for the pixels of the non-texture regions of the horizontal edge map and the vertical edge map are determined. A high resolution frame is generated by adjusting intensity of respective pixels of the non-texture region of the horizontal edge map and the vertical edge map, the adjusting being based on neighboring pixels edge strength magnitudes.
US09478004B2	Method and system for analog/digital image simplification and stylization A computer program product includes instructions for a processor to perform a method of improving image structure and coherence, and/or for simplification/stylization. The method includes inputting the image, by: scanning the image; image capture using a camera; and/or image creation using a computer. Multi-channel images are converted into a single-channel grayscale image, which is separated into a first image component—the high spatial frequencies, and a second component image—the low spatial frequencies. The first and second component images are each formed by filtering to remove frequencies outside of respective upper and lower threshold frequencies. A gain multiplier is applied to the filtered first and second component images to control detail amplification. The first and second component images are each blurred at the respective upper and lower threshold frequencies. An improved stylized composite image results by subtracting the gain multiplied first component image from the gain multiplied second component image.
US09478003B2	Display driver sorting display data for output to a display panel A display driver that receives display line data of plural display lines to perform drive control on a display panel includes a line memory for storing display line data which is supplied from the outside. The display driver includes a logic circuit that controls write and read-out of the display line data in and from the line memory, and sorts pixel data of the display line data using read out data from the line memory, to generate display drive data. Drive circuits drive the display panel in units of display lines based on the drive data which is output from the logic circuit. The drive circuits are separately arranged on both sides of the logic circuit and the line memory which are interposed therebetween. The storage capacity of the line memory corresponds to the number of lines smaller than the number of display lines of a display frame.
US09478001B2	Scalable high performance 3D graphics A high-speed ring topology. In one embodiment, two base chip types are required: a “drawing” chip, LoopDraw, and an “interface” chip, LoopInterface. Each of these chips have a set of pins that supports an identical high speed point to point unidirectional input and output ring interconnect interface: the LoopLink. The LoopDraw chip uses additional pins to connect to several standard memories that form a high bandwidth local memory sub-system. The LoopInterface chip uses additional pins to support a high speed host computer host interface, at least one video output interface, and possibly also additional non-local interconnects to other LoopInterface chip(s).
US09477994B2	Global relationship model and a relationship search method for internet social networks The present application provides a peer-to-peer networking method and system for integrating heterogeneous social networks. The method applied in a server device includes the following steps: First, the server device connects with a plurality of peer nodes; each of the peer node defines a user end and accessing at least one social network. Then, the server device according to a social relationship of the social networks links to the corresponding peer nodes for integrating a peer-to-peer social network (P2P-iSN) which configures a plurality of social paths among the peer nodes from the different social networks.
US09477987B2	Methods and apparatus related to producing a household economic forecast In one general aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium can be configured to store instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform a process. The process can include receiving, at a first economic conversion block, a first set of parameter values associated with a user identifier, and receiving, at a second economic conversion block, a second set of parameter values associated with the user identifier. The first economic conversion block and the second economic conversion block can be included in a library of conversion blocks. The first economic conversion block and the second economic conversion block can be selected from a library of economic conversion blocks and defining an economic unit.
US09477986B2	Efficient detection and analysis of variances A method of detecting variances in a plurality of accounts from different organizations within an Enterprise Financial Accounting system includes receiving a selection of a first account with an account type; receiving a selection of a first time interval and a second time interval; determining a first amount that is associated with the first account during the first time interval; determining a second amount that is associated with the first account during the second time interval; receiving a selection of a comparison operator that relates the first amount to the second amount; receiving a selection of a threshold; determining a comparison value by comparing the first amount to the second amount according to the comparison operator; determining that the comparison value violates the threshold according to the comparison operator; and displaying a first indication in a portal comprised of the first amount, the second amount, and the comparison value.
US09477983B2	Mechanisms for ordering transportation vehicles A graphical user interface (GUI) of an application is provided to a user. A user input indicating a request for a demonstration of an online transportation ordering process is received via the GUI. In response to the user input, the demonstration is presented to the user using the GUI. The demonstration includes obtaining the geographic location of the user, displaying the geographic location of the user on a map, and displaying a simulated movement of a transportation entity toward the geographic location of the user on the map. An additional GUI of the application may also be provided to the user. The additional GUI includes a map that indicates the location of the user and one or more transportation entities in the vicinity of the user. The application may accept user input selecting one of the transportation entities and the application may transmit a request for transportation to a server.
US09477980B2	Interactive cubicle and method for determining a body shape A cubicle for trying on one or more items of clothing and a method for determining a body shape are described. A cubicle includes a display of an avatar with one or more items of clothing, and an interaction unit for a user to modify the items of clothing. The method includes gathering the spatial coordinates of a plurality of points on the surface of the dressed person and body parameters that at least partly define the body shape to be determined.
US09477975B2	System and method for a media intelligence platform A multi-tenant media processing platform system and method. At least a first media analysis service of a plurality of media analysis services is activated for at least a portion of an active communication session of an entity in the platform system. The first activated media analysis service performs a first media analysis on media of the active communication session that is collected by the platform system. The first activated media analysis service performs the first media analysis on the collected media while the communication session is active to generate a first media analysis result. During the active communication session, at least one media analysis result is applied.
US09477969B2	Automatic feed creation for non-feed enabled information objects Information regarding a mobile user's context including but not limited to current mobile activity, social relations and associations history, and past mobile, search and browsing history is identified and converted to metadata. Metadata is also applied to content sources delivering content to a search engine or personalized content engine. The metadata is used in part to determine the relative display of content objects delivered to the mobile user as search results or a personalized aggregated information resource, e.g., home page. The user may select information, from one or more entities or search results or as presented to the user in other contexts, to be automatically delivered to the user's home page as a content feed including multiple content objects or content feeds associated with an entity. Information regarding mobile user activity is compiled and used to permit publishers and advertisers to identify target candidates to receive advertisements or marketing materials.
US09477968B2	Collecting information regarding consumer click-through traffic A method and system for providing the centralized collection of click-through traffic information. The method includes receiving a DNS query for a domain name at a third party auditing service from a requesting computing resource. The domain name is configured to include click-through information as a subdomain, and wherein a URL associated with the domain name provides content. The click-through information is parsed from the domain name without establishing a connection between said third party auditing server and any web server providing the content. An IP address for the web server associated with the domain name is sent to the requesting computing resource.
US09477965B2	Apparatus and method for identifying insertion zones in video material and for inserting additional material into the insertion zones An apparatus and method for automatic detection of insertion zones within pre-recorded video material are provided. The apparatus includes a video analysis unit configured to automatically determine at least one candidate insertion zone within the pre-recorded video material suitable for receiving additional material to be inserted and configured to generate zone meta data defining attributes of the insertion zone, and an insertion module configured to receive additional material for insertion and arranged to generate an output representative of the pre-recorded video material with the additional material placed on an insertion zone such that the additional material adopts the image attributes of the insertion zone as the pre-recorded video material is played. The automatic determination of at least one insertion zone is based on one or more of feature shape, size, duration, movement, color.
US09477957B2	Systems and methods for transferring value to payment accounts Systems and methods are provided for transferring value from a voucher to a payment account associated with a consumer. One exemplary method includes receiving, at a computing device, a load request to transfer value from a voucher to a payment account associated with a consumer. The load request includes a selection, at the computing device, of a provider associated with the voucher, from multiple different available voucher providers. A transaction request is then communicated, by the computing device, to transfer the value from the voucher to the payment account. The transaction request includes an identification number for the voucher and an account number for the payment account. When a transfer authorization is received at the computing device in response to the transaction request, a confirmation is generated, by the computing device, indicating that the value from the voucher has been transferred to the payment account.
US09477955B2	Automatic learning in a merchandise checkout system with visual recognition A merchandise checkout system for ringing up merchandise in a grocery or other retail facility is disclosed. The merchandise checkout system includes visual sensors for acquiring images of an object to be rung up at checkout; a database configured to retain a visual model and UPC code of known items; and a processor configured to maintain and update the database with information about new merchandise presented for checkout. The visual model preferably includes at least one image of each item of merchandise in the retail store as well as geometric point features extracted from images of the merchandise. The processor in the exemplary embodiment is configured to: (a) compare the image of the object acquired at checkout to the visual model of the items in the database; (b) recognize the object based on the overall appearance of the packaging; (c) automatically ring up the price of the object at the POS; and (d) automatically add the acquired image to the database if the image of the object is new, i.e., it does not match the visual model of any of the items recorded in the database, thereby enabling the checkout system to dynamically and automatically build up its database of visual models.
US09477954B2	Method for delivering music content to a smart phone A method of distributing media content using mobile communication devices including providing media access cards which promote selected media content to users of such devices whereby a user may access a web server associated with the media access cards and download application software enabling access to selected media content via a mobile device, the media access cards including a machine readable identification number code that identifies media content associated with the card whereby the application software facilitates reading and transmitting the code to a web server via the mobile device, receiving the identification number with the web server and using the identification number to locate a table value in a database wherein a plurality of media access cards identification numbers are associated with a media content table value, using the table value to identify media codes associated with the selected content server which transmits media to the mobile device.
US09477952B2	User alerts for monitored transactions at automatic teller machines An improved method, apparatus, and computer implemented instructions for processing a check in an automatic teller machine in a data processing system. A check is received from a user at the automatic teller machine. The check is scanned to generate an image. A transaction is performed involving the check. The image is transmitted to a mobile device associated with the user, wherein the image is in a format for use with a financial program.
US09477944B2	Asynchronous serialization for aggregating process results In one embodiment, a system includes logic adapted for receiving a first request to change a state of a first group of catalogs, determining which of a plurality of catalogs belong in the first group, adding a change request for each of the first group of catalogs to a queue for processing, causing processing of each change request in the queue to change the state of each of the first group of catalogs according to the first request, creating a first group result indicating successful or failed state change upon a catalog in the first group of catalogs finishing processing, passing the first group result to an adjacent catalog in the first group of catalogs, removing each catalog that has finished processing from the first group of catalogs, and outputting the group result when there are no adjacent catalogs available to pass the group result.
US09477943B2	Multi-modality communication Disclosed herein are example embodiments for multi-modality communications. By way of example but not limitation, a local user may interact with a local communication device via a local communication modality for a given communication, and a remote user may interact with a remote communication device via a remote communication modality for the given communication.
US09477935B2	Timeline based visual dashboard for construction An embodiment of the invention includes a computer implemented method for monitoring construction. The method may include receiving information about a construction project. The received information may include information about construction milestones and schedule information about the construction milestones. The information may include graphical data related to the construction milestones and the schedule information. Information about the location of a computing device may be received. Based on the location information and the information about the construction project, a graphical display user-interface may be prepared. In an embodiment of the invention, the display may include a visual representation of expected progress of the project. The display may include information about expected activity related to the project for a period of time. Embodiments include receiving an indication from a user that the representation of the expected progress differs from actual progress of the project and determining revised information about the construction project.
US09477932B2	System and method for providing visualization of a parameter on multiple branches of a distribution network A method of displaying a representation of a power distribution network and a representation of a parameter of the power distribution network on a display device includes displaying the representation of a power distribution network on the display device as an expandable tree structure in a first region, the expandable tree structure having branches that can be expanded and collapsed; displaying the representation of the parameter on the display device during a time period that the representation of the power distribution network is displayed; and collapsing or expanding a portion of the representation of the parameter when a branch is expanded or collapsed.
US09477931B2	System for predicting thickness of battery and method for predicting thickness of battery A system for predicting the thickness of a battery is disclosed. In one aspect, the battery thickness predicting system includes a learning data input unit for receiving data on a previously manufactured battery. The thickness predicting system further includes an object data input unit for receiving data on a battery whose thickness is to be predicted. The system further comprises a mechanical learning unit connected to the learning data input unit to obtain a predicting function based on learning factors input to the learning data input unit and to provide weight values to the learning factors, respectively. The system further includes a thickness predicting unit connected to the object data input unit and the mechanical learning unit and using the weight values provided by the mechanical learning unit in order to predict the thickness of the battery whose thickness is to be predicted.
US09477928B2	System and method for comparing software frameworks In one embodiment, a method may include symbolically executing application code on a first framework. The method may also include creating a first model based on the symbolic execution of the first framework. The method may additionally include symbolically executing the application code on a second framework. The method may further include creating a second model based on the symbolic execution of the first framework. The method may also include determining one or more parameters associated with the first framework based on the first model. The method may additionally include determining one or more parameters associated with the second framework based on the second model. The method may also include selecting one of the first framework and the second framework as a desired framework for execution of the application code based on a comparison of the one or more parameters associated with the first framework and the one or more parameters associated with the second framework.
US09477927B2	Automatic test generation for decision table based rules Systems and methods are disclosed for testing decision table-based rules. In an embodiment, a memory device may store instructions that cause a processor to perform a method comprising receiving one or more constraints for a set of data attributes, generating a structured data set of the data attributes having values based on the one or more constraints, and providing the structured data set to a decision table-based rule set.
US09477925B2	Deep neural networks training for speech and pattern recognition The use of a pipelined algorithm that performs parallelized computations to train deep neural networks (DNNs) for performing data analysis may reduce training time. The DNNs may be one of context-independent DNNs or context-dependent DNNs. The training may include partitioning training data into sample batches of a specific batch size. The partitioning may be performed based on rates of data transfers between processors that execute the pipelined algorithm, considerations of accuracy and convergence, and the execution speed of each processor. Other techniques for training may include grouping layers of the DNNs for processing on a single processor, distributing a layer of the DNNs to multiple processors for processing, or modifying an execution order of steps in the pipelined algorithm.
US09477923B2	RF tag An RF tag has an inlay with an IC chip and an antenna, a planar auxiliary antenna laminated on the inlay in an insulating state, a dielectric constant regulation plate which becomes a base on which the inlay including the auxiliary antenna laminated thereon is mounted, and functions as a dielectric constant regulation layer for the mounted inlay, and a case which receives the dielectric constant regulation plate in a state where the inlay including the auxiliary antenna laminated thereon is mounted. The dielectric constant regulation plate is formed into a shape which allows the dielectric constant regulation plate to be attachably/detachably and non-movably engaged in the case and which allows the dielectric constant regulation plate to have a predetermined dielectric constant which regulates communication characteristics of the inlay including the auxiliary antenna laminated thereon.
US09477918B2	Poker chips and methods of reading the same A casino chip according to one embodiment includes an RFID circuit on or within a substrate; and an antenna coupled to the RFID circuit; wherein the casino chip is configured such that a signal associated with the casino chip is capable of being read by at least one RF reader. An RFID system according to one embodiment includes at least one RF reader; and a plurality of casino chips. Each of the plurality of casino chips includes an RFID circuit on or within a substrate; and an antenna coupled to the RFID circuit. Each of the plurality of casino chips are configured such that a signal associated with each of the casino chips is capable of being read by the at least one RF reader.
US09477916B2	Barcode device A barcode device including a barcode scanner to scan barcode labels and provide raw barcode data signals, a processor to receive and process the raw barcode data signals to provide processed barcode data signals and compare at least two of the processed barcode data signals, an indicator to notify a user of barcode data information based on the receipt of barcode data and comparison performed by the processor, and a housing to contain the barcode scanner, the processor, and the indicator, the housing comprising a first end, an opposing second end, and a body extending between the first end and the second end, the housing configured to couple to a back of a glove.
US09477912B2	Printing apparatus, information processing apparatus and method for controlling the information processing apparatus, and storage medium A printing apparatus 100 performs print processing for a PDF file received via a communication unit 105. The printing apparatus 100 includes a CPU 101 and a HDD 104 storing the PDF file. The CPU 101 controls the HDD 104, secures a storage area corresponding to a maximum size of the PDF file that can be processed by the printing apparatus 100 each time reception of the PDF file is started, and sequentially stores PDF files received for each secured storage area. The CPU 101 updates a size of the secured storage area from the maximum size of the PDF file that can be processed by the printing apparatus 100 to an actual size of the PDF file having been received completely. The CPU 101 performs control so that the PDF files stored in the HDD 104 are processed in an order of reception start.
US09477910B2	Image editing apparatus, image editing method, and non-transitory storage medium An imposing apparatus searches for a layout of objects whose profile shapes (profile lines) do not overlap each other with respect to each of cells that make up an imposition area. The imposing apparatus then adjusts an interval between the objects that have been laid out according to the search result, by a unit smaller than the unit length of the cells, thereby bringing the profile lines of adjacent ones of the objects into partial agreement with each other.
US09477908B2	Multi-level framework for object detection The disclosure provides an approach for detecting objects in images. An object detection application receives a set of training images with object annotations. Given these training images, the object detection application generates semantic labeling for object detections, where the labeling includes lower-level subcategories and higher-level visual composites. In one embodiment, the object detection application identifies subcategories using an exemplar support vector machine (SVM) based clustering approach. Identified subcategories are used to initialize mixture components in mixture models which the object detection application trains in a latent SVM framework, thereby learning a number of subcategory classifiers that produce, for any given image, a set of candidate windows and associated subcategory labels. In addition, the object detection application learns a structured model for object detection that captures interactions among object subcategories and identifies discriminative visual composites, using subcategory labels and spatial relationships between subcategory labels to reason about object interactions.
US09477896B1	Apparatus and system for imaging currency bills and financial documents and method for using the same Currency bills are received, transported, and imaged to produce image data from which a visually readable image of each currency bill can be reproduced. Each of the currency bills includes a denomination, a serial number, and a set of secondary identifiers. One of the currency bills is determined to be a suspect bill. The suspect bill serial number is attempted to be extracted from the image data associated with the suspect bill. In response to failing to extract a complete serial number of the suspect bill, a serial number field in a suspect report is populated with a serial number snippet image.
US09477895B2	Method and system for detecting events in an acoustic signal subject to cyclo-stationary noise A method detects events in an accoustic signal subject to cyclostationary background noise by first segmenting the signal into cycles. Features with a fixed dimension are derived from the cycles, such that the timing of the features is relative to a cycle time. The features are normalized using an estimate of the cyclostationary background noise. Then, after the normalizing, a classifier is applied to the features to detect the events.
US09477893B2	Positioning system and method for positioning a vehicle A positioning system for a vehicle includes a camera, a processor unit and a data storage device. A length relating to a feature of the vehicle is stored in the data storage device. The vehicle is positioned for an inductive charging process in that the vehicle is recorded by a camera and a feature of the vehicle is detected. The position relating to a feature is calculated.
US09477891B2	Surveillance system and method based on accumulated feature of object Disclosed is a surveillance system and method based on accumulated features of objects. The surveillance system ensures and accumulatively stores a plurality of data about feature information corresponding to an object picked up by a plurality of cameras and easily identifies the same object in an image taken by another camera having a surveillance area different from those of the plurality of cameras on the basis of the data, thereby allowing for continuous tracing.
US09477888B1	Providing computer-based instructions without displays Computer-based instructions for performing a task may be provided to workers using system components that display such instructions in a convenient manner and location that permit the workers to perform the task without diverting their attention from their workstations. Such instructions may be projected onto all or a portion of a surface of the workstation, or onto a lens or other optical element of a wearable computer device, thereby enabling the worker to maintain his or her focus on the task at hand, rather than having to look away at a mounted computer monitor or printed text in order to receive the instructions.
US09477885B2	Image processing apparatus, image processing method and image processing program An image processing apparatus according to one embodiment includes a first extraction unit, a second extraction unit, and a specifying unit. The first extraction unit performs stroke width transform on an image and thereby extracts a SWT region from the image. The second extraction unit performs clustering based on pixel values on the image and thereby extracts a single-color region from the image. The specifying unit specifies a pixel group included in a candidate text region based at least on the single-color region when a ratio of the number of pixels in an overlap part between the SWT region and the single-color region to the number of pixels in the single-color region is equal to or more than a first reference value, or more than the first reference value.
US09477884B2	Methods and systems for signal processing An object (e.g., a driver's license) is tested for authenticity using imagery captured by a consumer device (e.g., a mobile phone camera). Corresponding data is sent from the consumer device to a remote system, which has secret knowledge about features indicating object authenticity. The phone, or the remote system, discerns the pose of the object relative to the camera from the captured imagery. The remote system tests the received data for the authentication features, and issues an output signal indicating whether the object is authentic. This testing involves modeling the image data that would be captured by the consumer device from an authentic object—based on the object's discerned pose (and optionally based on information about the camera optics), and then comparing this modeled data with the data sent from the consumer device. A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed.
US09477877B2	Asset security management system Systems and methods for monitoring assets at a premises on a utility grid. Face print information is extracted from image data received. The face print information comprises an amount of data less than the amount of data comprising the image data of the face. Asset management information from an asset management system is also received. Multiple image data may be received and vector information is determined that corresponds to the trajectory of movement of a face. A security alert is generated by correlating the asset management information with the face print information and/or the vector information and transmitting in real time the security alert to a monitoring center. A security alert may also be generated from image data reflecting abnormal running conditions of a device. Security alerts would be of a size and format necessary for transmission on any existing network, including a narrow band network.
US09477876B2	Person recognition apparatus and method thereof According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes input unit, detecting unit, extraction unit, storage, selection unit, determination unit, output unit, and setting unit. The selection unit selects operation or setting modes. In operation mode, it is determined whether captured person is preregistered person. In setting mode, threshold for the determination is set. The determination unit determines, as registered person and when operation mode is selected, person with degree of similarity between extracted facial feature information and stored facial feature information of greater than or equal to threshold. The setting unit sets, when setting mode is selected, threshold based on first and second degrees of similarity. First degree of similarity is degree of similarity between facial feature information of the registered person and the stored facial feature information. Second degree of similarity is degree of similarity between facial feature information of person other than registered person and stored facial feature information.
US09477875B2	Cell monitoring device, cell monitoring method and program thereof A cell monitoring device includes an outline detecting section that detects edge pixels from a cell image in a captured image of cells arranged in a single layer and generates an edge image including the detected edge pixels; a pigmented region detecting section that detects pixels of a pigmented region of the cell image in the captured image, and generates a pigmented region image including the detected pixels of the pigmented region; and an image merging section that, in a merged image obtained by overlaying the edge image and the pigmented region image together, detects a cell image region and a background image region in the captured image based on the pixel intensity variance and thus detects the cell image region in the captured image.
US09477870B2	Finger biometric sensing device including drive signal nulling circuitry and related methods A finger biometric sensing device may include drive circuitry capable of generating a drive signal and an array of finger biometric sensing pixel electrodes cooperating with the drive circuitry and capable of generating a detected signal based upon placement of a finger adjacent the array of finger biometric sensing pixel electrodes. The detected signal may include a relatively large drive signal component and a relatively small sense signal component superimposed thereon. The finger biometric sensing device may also include a gain stage coupled to the array of finger biometric sensing pixel electrodes, and drive signal nulling circuitry coupled to the gain stage capable of reducing the relatively large drive signal component from the detected signal.
US09477868B1	Adaptive fingerprint-based navigation A fingerprint-based navigation method using a finger navigation system comprising fingerprint sensing circuitry and navigation control circuitry. The method comprises the steps of: acquiring a series of navigation sequences of fingerprint images, and for each navigation sequence in the series of navigation sequences: determining an estimated momentary finger movement based on the navigation sequence of fingerprint images; determining at least one fingerprint image parameter value indicative of a fingerprint image status based on at least one fingerprint image in the navigation sequence of fingerprint images; and evaluating the fingerprint image status. The method further comprises the steps of determining a fingerprint sensing circuitry setting based on the evaluation; and providing the fingerprint sensing circuitry setting to the fingerprint sensing circuitry only during a time period between acquisition of a final fingerprint image in one navigation sequence and acquisition of a first fingerprint image in another, directly succeeding, navigation sequence.
US09477864B2	Systems and methods for scanning a user environment and evaluating data of interest According to various embodiments, a mobile device continuously and/or automatically scans a user environment for tags containing non-human-readable data. The mobile device may continuously and/or automatically scan the environment for tags without being specifically directed at a particular tag. The mobile device may be adapted to scan for audio tags, radio frequency tags, and/or image tags. The mobile device may be configured to scan for and identify tags within the user environment that satisfy a user preference. The mobile device may perform an action in response to identifying a tag that satisfies a user preference. The mobile device may be configured to scan for a wide variety of tags, including tags in the form of quick response codes, steganographic content, audio watermarks, audio outside of a human audible range, radio frequency identification tags, long wavelength identification tags, near field communication tags, and/or a Memory Spot device.
US09477859B2	Device for aiding the location in real time of a self-powered mobile element A device aimed for locating in real time self-powered mobile elements by electromagnetic radiation, includes elements (505, 520) for receiving a radioelectric signal including at least one item of synchronization information, these elements being configured to receive energy from a received radioelectric signal, elements (515) for emitting an electromagnetic signal, the electromagnetic signal being emitted in response to an activation signal, and control elements (510) connected to the receiving elements and to the elements for emitting an electromagnetic signal, the control elements being electrically powered by the elements for receiving a radioelectric signal and being configured to generate an activation signal in response to synchronization information.
US09477857B2	Surface acoustic wave tag-based coherence multiplexing A surface acoustic wave (SAW)-based coherence multiplexing system includes SAW tags each including a SAW transducer, a first SAW reflector positioned a first distance from the SAW transducer and a second SAW reflector positioned a second distance from the SAW transducer. A transceiver including a wireless transmitter has a signal source providing a source signal and circuitry for transmitting interrogation pulses including a first and a second interrogation pulse toward the SAW tags, and a wireless receiver for receiving and processing response signals from the SAW tags. The receiver receives scrambled signals including a convolution of the wideband interrogation pulses with response signals from the SAW tags and includes a computing device which implements an algorithm that correlates the interrogation pulses or the source signal before transmitting against the scrambled signals to generate tag responses for each of the SAW tags.
US09477854B2	System and method for detecting barcode printing errors Barcode verifiers automate the verification process by capturing an image of the printed barcode and analyzing the image according to an industry specification. Industry specifications (e.g., ISO/IEC 15416,15415) identify common printing errors and prescribe test methods for detecting and quantifying these errors. Typically, these tests sample a barcode along one or more scan lines. Print errors that are parallel to these scan lines may be missed by the test. The present invention embraces a system and method to detect unprinted lines in barcodes resulting from a printer malfunction and produce a printer malfunction report with information regarding the quantity, position, and magnitude of these print errors.
US09477849B2	Systems, apparatus, methods and computer-readable storage media for facilitating management of social media information for communication devices Systems, apparatus, methods and computer-readable storage media facilitating management of social media (SM) information are provided. In some embodiments, a method can include: executing a batch linking application; and batch linking one or more social network (SN) contacts to one or more contacts stored on or accessible by the communication device, wherein the batch linking comprises obtaining the one or more SN contacts at the communication device, wherein the one or more SN contacts are selected for the batch linking based, at least, on a correspondence to the one or more contacts, and wherein the batch linking is performed by the communication device.
US09477846B2	Signature device and signature method A signature device including a storage unit configured to store moving image data, and a processor configured to extract original metadata from moving image data for the image data of each of a plurality of images forming the moving image data, the original metadata including location data of the image data and identification data of the moving image data, to encode the image data of each of the images into still image data in accordance with an image format, to write the still image data into a first area, to write the original metadata extracted by the extractor into a second area, the first area and the second area being included in a storage area of a still image data file in which the still image data is filed, and to generate summary data for the still image data file.
US09477845B2	Secure application debugging A method, system, and/or computer program product enables secure debugging of a software application. A first computer receives a secure software application from a second computer. Access to data used by the secure software application is protected by a security object, which allows a processor to access the data used by the secure software application without permitting data to exit unprotected from the processor. The first computer receives from the second computer an encrypted secure sidecar debugging application that is designed to debug the secure software application. In response to detecting an error in execution of the secure software application within the first computer, the first computer transmits the secure software application and the secure sidecar debugging application to the second computer, such that the second computer is enabled to decrypt the secure sidecar debugging application and to debug the secure software application.
US09477843B2	Inhibiting access to sensitive vehicle diagnostic data A vehicle system and method of secure communication between a vehicle and an external device communicating with the vehicle in a diagnostics mode. The method includes the steps of: receiving a first diagnostic request at an electronic control unit (ECU) from the external device; determining an increased risk of security breach at the ECU based on the [nature of the] first request; and when it is determined that the increased risk exists, providing a misinformative response.
US09477841B2	Network node security using short range communication Systems (100) and methods for network node security configuration. The methods involve: performing operations by a mobile communication device (104) to obtain a unique identifier from a network node (108) to be installed at a customer facility (102) via a first short range communication link (110); communicating a signal comprising the unique identifier from the mobile communication device to a remote server (118) via a first long range communication link (112); verifying by the remote server that a correct type of network node is being installed at a first location within the customer facility according to a respective work order; and communicating security information, useful for configuring security functions of the network node, from the remote server to the network node via the mobile communication device, without presenting the security information to a user of the mobile communication device or storing the security information in the mobile communication device.
US09477840B1	Preserving privacy related to networked media consumption activities Preserving privacy related to networked media consumption activity. Source privacy zones are defined and associated with privacy standards. Privacy standards include frequency criteria governing the storage of datasets including information associated with networked media consumption activity collected from the source privacy zone. Transaction requests including a networking protocol address are received over a network from a client device at a target location by a networked privacy system. The source privacy zone associated with the client device is identified. Using the networking protocol address to access characteristics having characteristic value(s), a dataset can be created including associating the networked media consumption activity with the characteristic and characteristic value(s). The dataset is pre-processed to comply with the privacy standards. The networking protocol address is discarded. The pre-processed dataset can be stored in a filtered database on a physical storage device at a storage location coupled to the networked privacy system.
US09477837B1	Configuring a sandbox environment for malware testing A device may receive a file to be analyzed in a sandbox environment, and may determine configuration information for configuring the sandbox environment. The configuration information may be determined based on at least one of: file information associated with the file to be analyzed, or client device information associated with a client device for which the file is intended. The device may configure the sandbox environment using the configuration information. The configuration information may identify a system configuration for the sandbox environment. The device may analyze the file in the sandbox environment based on configuring the sandbox environment using the configuration information.
US09477835B2	Event model for correlating system component states A computing device described herein is configured to receive a notification of an event associated with a plurality of system components. In response, the computing device determines a state for the system components based on a state for one of those system components specified in an event model. That specified state in the event model reflects a previous occurrence of another event.
US09477833B2	Systems and methods for updating possession factor credentials The disclosed computer-implemented method for updating possession factor credentials may include (1) detecting a request from a user of a service to designate a new object to be used by the service as a possession factor credential in place of a previously designated object, (2) prior to allowing the user to designate the new object, authenticating the user by proofing the identity of the user to verify that an alleged identity of the user is the actual identity of the user and verifying that the proofed identity of the user had possession of the previously designated object, and (3) in response to verifying that the proofed identity of the user had possession of the previously designated object, designating the new object as the possession factor credential. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09477824B2	Cloud control system and method for LAN-based controlled apparatus A cloud control system for LAN-based controlled apparatus and method for the same is disclosed. The cloud control system includes a cloud server and a LAN sub-system. The LAN sub-system includes a LAN communication apparatus, a LAN server host, a controlled apparatus that is controlled by the LAN server host, and a an electronic device that may connect to the cloud server and the LAN server host. After logging in to the cloud server through the LAN communication apparatus of the LAN sub-system, the electronic device may acquire the a path linking to the controlled apparatus and may connect to and operate the controlled apparatus by selecting the apparatus linking path. Through the design on the cloud server that controls the controlled apparatus of each of the LAN sub-systems for the permission of linking and operation, the procedure of installation and configuration of the controlled apparatus may be simplified and the time of search for the controlled apparatus may be shorten, and further the security of the controlled apparatuses and their data transmission may be increased.
US09477823B1	Systems and methods for performing security authentication based on responses to observed stimuli A method performed by an authentication processor for authenticating an unknown user claiming to be a legitimate user. The method includes comparing a legitimate user response metric to an unknown user response metric and one of preventing access to the computer system and decreasing a level of access to the computer system when the unknown user response metric differs from the legitimate user response metric by more than a predefined degree of acceptable variation. The legitimate user response metric represents observed changes in micro-behaviors of the legitimate user in response to viewing a plurality of prime images. The unknown user response metric represents observed changes in micro-behaviors of the unknown user in response to viewing the plurality of prime images.
US09477820B2	Systems and methods for using unique device identifiers to enhance security A method for detection and use of device identifiers to enhance the security of data transfers between electronic devices. A first electronic device can transmit access data to a second electronic device. The access data can be associated with a first access code that can be generated based at least in part on data representing a device identifier of the first electronic device. A device identifier can uniquely identify the first electronic device from a plurality of electronic devices. Transferring the access data can involve transforming the first access code into a second access code that can include data representing a device identifier associated with the second electronic device. Transforming the first access code into the second access code can facilitate access to a resource associated with the access data for a second user, but not for a first user.
US09477819B2	Authorising use of a computer program A method of authorizing use of a computer program only able to be used when an authorized message is received from an authorizing system includes providing an authorization system, making a request to use a computer program, signalling the request to the authorization system, the authorization system recording the use of the computer program and providing the authorization message to the computer program upon receipt of the authorization message the computer program may be used.
US09477817B2	Medication adherence system for recording contents of medication packages vended from a plurality of vending machines in an electronic record that stores records for a plurality of patients associated with respective vending machines A medication adherence system is provided for recording contents of medication packages vended from a plurality of vending machines in electronic records, such as an electronic medication administration record (eMAR), that store records for a plurality of patients who are associated with respective vending machines. A vending event causes the electronic record to be populated.
US09477816B2	Pharmaceutical tray filling system and method A system for facilitating the manual filling of a pharmaceutical tray is provided. The system includes an electronic display device configured to display information adjacent the wells of the pharmaceutical tray. The system includes a controller configured to control the electronic display device to display information representative of a first type of pharmaceutical adjacent to a first well to direct manual placement of the first type of pharmaceutical into the first well and to control the electronic display device to selectively display information representative of a second type of pharmaceutical adjacent to a second well to direct manual placement of the second type of pharmaceutical into the second well.
US09477815B2	Prescription dispensing system A prescription dispensing system having a dispensing station for holding an inventory of prescription medications, a secure internet connection to the dispensing station for access by a potential prescription medication recipient, by healthcare personnel in a physician office and by pharmacy personnel at the pharmacy distribution center in a remote location, at least two webcams for visual and auditory communication between the location of the dispensing station and the pharmacy personnel via the internet to allow identification of the correct medication, identification and communication with the correct potential prescription medication recipient, and visual validation and recording of all documentation from the physician's office or potential prescription medication recipient, and a biometric reader disposed at the dispensing station for identifying a potential prescription medication recipient. The system may include various enhancements to allow accurate dispensing of the proper medication and direct secure internet communication between the pharmacist and the authorized recipient of the medication.
US09477812B2	Random body movement cancellation for non-contact vital sign detection A method and system for cancelling body movement effect for non-contact vital sign detection is described. The method begins with sending on a first electromagnetic wave transceiver a first electromagnetic signal with a first frequency to a first side of a body, such as a person or animal. Simultaneously using a second electromagnetic wave transceiver a second electromagnetic signal is sent with a second frequency to a second side of a body, wherein the first frequency and the second frequency are different frequencies. A first reflected electromagnetic signal reflected back in response to the first electromagnetic wave on the first transceiver is received and a first baseband complex signal is extracted. Likewise a second reflected electromagnetic signal reflected back in response to the second electromagnetic wave on the second transceiver is received and a second baseband complex signal is extracted. The first baseband complex signal is mathematically combined with the second baseband complex signal to cancel out a Doppler frequency drift therebetween to yield a periodic Doppler phase effect.
US09477810B2	Uniquely identifiable drug dosage form units The present invention provides products, systems, and methods for the unique identification of individual drug dosage form units. The invention includes: random integrated optical identification marking of an individual drug unit; a lack of direct surface-to-surface contact between a marking instrument and the drug unit, i.e., deposition of a mark; drug unit image data based on the identification mark; a secondary product identifier associated with the individual drug unit; and comparing the marked drug unit to drug unit image data.
US09477809B2	Systems and methods for workflow processing Systems and methods for processing a workflow are disclosed. Certain embodiments allow prescreened data to be inserted into a workflow. A user's interpretation of prescreened data can be compared with previously obtained characteristics, enabling the user's interpretive output to be monitored and improved. The disclosed systems and methods have applications including, but not limited to, training, performance analysis, process improvement, and data analysis and data mining in workflows.
US09477806B2	System-level analysis with transactions from protocol probes This application discloses a computing system to provide test stimulus to an electronic device modeled in a verification environment by the computing system. The computing system can identify transactions performed by the electronic device in the verification environment based, at least in part, on messages exchanged over an interconnect in the electronic device in response to the test stimulus. The computing system can output the transactions from the verification environment and bundle a plurality of the transactions based, at least in part, on messaging relationships defined by a communication protocol for the interconnect. The computing system can utilize the bundles of transactions to determine whether the electronic device functions in accordance with the communication protocol.
US09477805B2	Logical equivalency check with dynamic mode change This application discloses a system implementing tools and mechanisms to determine whether a portion of combinational logic in a first circuit design is equivalent to a portion of combinational logic in a second circuit design. When the portions of the combinational logic in the first circuit design and the second circuit design are not equivalent, the tools and mechanisms can sequentially expand the portions of the combinational logic in the first circuit design and the second circuit design, and determine whether the expanded portion of the combinational logic in the first circuit design is equivalent the expanded portion of the combinational logic in the second circuit design.
US09477804B2	Integrated circuit design method An IC design method includes: receiving a first layout including a first pattern; receiving a second layout including a second pattern, the first pattern separated from the second pattern when overlapping the first layout and the second layout; providing a cut pattern between the first pattern and the second pattern and overlapping the first pattern when overlapping the first layout, the second layout and the cut pattern; and providing a jog extending from the cut pattern to further overlap the first pattern with a length when a spacing between the second pattern and an edge of the cut pattern overlapping the first pattern is lower than a predetermined value, in which a ratio of the length of the jog to the spacing between the second pattern and the edge of the cut pattern overlapping the first pattern is in a range of 1/5 to 1/1.
US09477802B1	Isolating differences between revisions of a circuit design An executable circuit design is used to generate waveforms, from which behaviors of the circuit are captured. The behaviors and various combinations thereof can then be saved in a database, along with descriptions and other metadata about them, thereby generating a behavioral index of the circuit design code. Behavioral indexing of circuit designs allows a user to maintain an indexed behavior database, track changes in behaviors as the circuit design's executable description evolves, and figure out how the executable description can be reused in different projects. When applied to digital design development, it facilities the current design and verification effort, as well as design reuse down the line.
US09477800B1	System, method, and computer program product for automatically selecting a constraint solver algorithm in a design verification environment The present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for electronic design verification. Embodiments may include providing, using one or more processors, an electronic design verification environment having a plurality of randomize calls associated therewith. Embodiments can also include selecting one of the plurality of randomize calls for analysis at a constraint solver engine and iteratively analyzing the selected randomize call using a plurality of constraint solver algorithms. Embodiments can also include automatically determining a most effective constraint solver algorithm for the selected randomize call.
US09477791B2	Method for designing containers A method comprises steps of: providing an initial package design, providing an initial package-handling element design, modeling the interaction of the package and the package-handling element, and altering one of the package design or the package-handling element design according to the results of the model. Wherein the initial package-handling element design comprises at least one item selected from the group consisting of: a motion transfer component comprising a combination of discrete geometrically defined elements, package guide rails, package guide rail supports, vacuum conveying components, and combinations thereof. And wherein the interaction reflects the package interaction with the discrete elements of a multi-element motion transfer component or the package guide rails having a flexibility greater than zero, or package guide rail supports having a finite stiffness, or a combination thereof.
US09477790B2	Automated MEP design Embodiments of the present invention include a method for automatically designing MEP for a building. The method may include receiving information about the building including a first structural model of the building, and retrieving design specifications from a database, including information about local building codes, physical laws and building design rules. Information about available MEP components may be retrieved from a component library. The information about the building and the design specifications may be analyzed to determine additional elements for the first structural model of the building. A second structural model of the building including the additional elements may then be prepared.
US09477789B2	Road design optimization A method, apparatus, system, article of manufacture, and computer readable storage medium provide the ability to optimize a design for a vertical road profile. A ground surface profile is obtained. From the ground surface profile, an initial set of points of vertical intersection (PVIs) are obtained. An optimized earthwork cost for the PVIs is determined. The PVIs and curve configurations are then modified to reduce the earth work cost.
US09477786B2	System for metadata management Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for metadata management. One of the methods includes receiving user input selecting a first node. The method includes receiving a first data lineage of a first object, the first object having a type, the first data lineage describing relationships between the first object and one or more datasets or transforms. The method includes receiving user input selecting a second node. The method includes receiving a second data lineage of a second object, the second object having the same type as the first object. The method includes performing a comparison of the first node and the first data lineage to the second node and the second data lineage. The method includes generating a report based on the comparison.
US09477784B1	System for organizing and fast searching of massive amounts of data A system to collect and store in a special data structure arranged for rapid searching massive amounts of data. Performance metric data is one example. The performance metric data is recorded in time-series measurements, converted into unicode, and arranged into a special data structure having one directory for every day which stores all the metric data collected that day. The data structure at the server where analysis is done has a subdirectory for every resource type. Each subdirectory contains text files of performance metric data values measured for attributes in a group of attributes to which said text file is dedicated. Each attribute has its own section and the performance metric data values are recorded in time series as unicode hex numbers as a comma delimited list. Analysis of the performance metric data is done using regular expressions.
US09477778B2	XML query optimization with order analysis of XML schema Techniques for determining whether an XML query may be written are provided. In one scenario, an XML query includes an expandable path, which is a path expression that includes a wildcard character (*) or a descendant axis (//). An XML schema is used to generate multiple expanded paths (each of which is a simple path expression) from the expandable path. The XML schema is used to compare each expanded path to another expanded path and to determine whether the nodes identified by the respective expanded paths are guaranteed to occur in a particular order in XML documents that conform to the XML schema. In another scenario, an XML query includes an order operator that takes two paths as input. Similarly, an XML schema is used to compare the two paths and to determine whether the nodes identified by the two paths are guaranteed to occur in a particular order in XML documents that conform to the XML schema.
US09477777B2	Method for analyzing and categorizing semi-structured data A computer system interconnected to a community of users having a data processor input module programmed to receive communications from said users including one or more inputs regarding food recipes and store said inputs in accessible memory. A data processor determining module programmed to access stored data and to apply a data interpretative algorithm to said data to unify and organize disparate data inputs into a cohesive database relating to recipes. Also, a search entry module connected to the recipe database to permit access to the database to support a search algorithm applied to the database.
US09477774B2	Key resource prefetching using front-end optimization (FEO) configuration Front-end optimization (FEO) configuration information is leveraged to identify “key” resources required to load other pages on a site, and to automatically cause key resources to be prefetched to a server, and to the browser. In this approach, an FEO analyzer uses knowledge of configured optimization templates to determine the key resources required to load pages for each template. The key resources for pages belonging to other optimization templates are then selectively prefetched by other pages. In a preferred approach, the FEO analyzer provides an edge server cache process a list of key resources and instructions to prefetch the key resources, as well as instructions to rewrite the HTML of the page to include instructions for the browser to prefetech the key resources. On the client, key resources are prefetched if missing from a cache on the browser. Key resources preferably are stored in the browser's HTML5 local storage cache.
US09477773B2	Automated selection of images for web pages In various embodiments, a method, a system, and a computer-readable medium are disclosed for creating a pool of images available for display, such as in one or more web pages. In one embodiment, a method is disclosed that includes selecting images for a markup language document by determining a pre-determined number, N, of images to display in the markup language document, encoding an instruction in the markup language document to be executed by one or more hardware-based processors to select N images for insertion into the markup language document, retrieving the N images from a group of images, and placing the N retrieved images in the markup language document. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
US09477771B2	Commerce oriented uniform resource locater (URL) shortener A uniform resource locator (URL) shortener relies on client-side support to embed links to websites into, for example, text messages, emails, tweets, or other forms of microblogging, and that provides additional capabilities. A method may include: recognizing a token indicator; recognizing a token in conjunction with the token indicator; selecting a template corresponding to the token indicator; and executing a process enabled according to the token and the template. Executing an enabled process may include one or more of: generating a URL; generating a URL that is itself a server-based URL shortener, in which the token indicator is substituted for the server-based URL shortener hostname to reduce the character count from that of the server-based URL shortener; displaying information from a destination website of the URL generated from the token and the template; or generating a URL according to a distinctive visual characteristic of the token indicator.
US09477767B1	Demotion of already observed search query completions Methods, systems, and apparatus are described that include receiving a sequence of one or more characters representing a first partial query entered into a search field on a computing device. A first list of query completions for the first partial query is provided for display on the computing device. One or more additional characters are then entered into the search field, where the sequence of characters and the additional characters cumulatively represent a second partial query. A second list of query completions are then obtained for the second partial query, and one or more query completions appearing in the first and the second lists are identified. Demotion scores for the identified query completions are then calculated which are used to demote the identified query completions to a lesser position within the second list, thereby forming a refined second list for display on the computing device.
US09477765B2	Search method, system and device Provided is a search method, system and device. The search method includes obtaining a keyword, a relationship chain classification and a user account that are inputted by a user; obtaining a user account list that corresponds to the obtained user account and belongs to the obtained relationship chain classification; and searching for information corresponding to the obtained keyword from information posted by each user account in the user account list to obtain a search result, and displaying the search result. By the search method, system and device, the practicability and reliability of information may be improved.
US09477762B2	Search controls using sliders and lightboxes Code is injected into a web page loaded by an Internet browsing application. A search control to accept Internet search input is presented within an Internet browsing application. The search control visually covers at least a portion of a content display area of the Internet browsing application. A slider search control may be presented by automatically sliding the slider search control into the content display area. The presentation of a lightbox search control may include shading, darkening, dimming, blurring, or opaquing the content display area outside of the lightbox search control. The presentation of the search control may occur in response to a period of user inactivity, an amount of page scrolling, or a percentage of page scrolling. The search control receives input corresponding to a search query, a tracking code is combined with the received input, and the combination is communicated to a search engine.
US09477761B2	Search method, search apparatus and search engine system Techniques for performing searches using models generated from data mining. These techniques may include receiving a query including a search string. If a portion of the search string matches with a category of relationship data, the portion of the search string may be replaced with a label of the category to generate a modified query. Based on the modified query and models generated from mining historical search data, intent of the query may be determined, and searches may be then performed.
US09477758B1	Automatic identification of related entities In one aspect, the present disclosure can be embodied in a method that includes identifying a collection of entities from one or more data sources, calculating a score for subsets of entities from the collection based on one or more seed entities associated with the collection, identifying one or more entities from each of the subsets based on the calculated score, assigning the calculated score to the identified one or more entities from the respective subset, and ranking the one or more entities based on the assigned score, so as to identify entities in the collection that are related to the one or more seed entities.
US09477755B2	Question-related identification of relevant social communities Methods, products, apparatus, and systems may identify one or more relevant social communities for one or more questions. Additionally, a user-question affinity value between a user and a question may be determined. In addition, a user-community affinity value between the user and each of a plurality of candidate social communities may be determined. Moreover, a question-community affinity value between the question and each of the plurality of candidate social communities may be determined based on the user-question affinity value and the user-community affinity value. The question-community affinity value determination may involve calculating a running average using the user-question affinity value and the user-community affinity value. The question-community affinity value may identify the one or more relevant social communities from the plurality of candidate social communities.
US09477754B2	One click full-screen video system and method The present invention provides a method and system for playing full-screen video on a user computer. The method includes displaying in the user interface at the user computer a web page containing at least one link to electronic video file, selecting the link to request the video file, downloading the video file to user computer in response to the request, detecting by the user computer receipt of the video file, opening in the user interface to window of the video player in full-screen mode in response to the detecting, and reading the video file by the player to play the video in the window. A feature of the present invention is that the video player may not have its preferences preset by the user to open in any particular mode. The mode in which the video player opens will be determined by the downloaded video file.
US09477751B2	System and method for displaying relationships between concepts to provide classification suggestions via injection A system and method for displaying relationships between concepts to provide classification suggestions via injection is provided. A reference set of concepts each associated with a classification code is designated. Clusters of uncoded concepts are designated. One or more of the uncoded concepts from at least one cluster are compared to the reference set. At least one of the concepts in the reference set that is similar to the one or more uncoded concepts is identified. The similar concepts are injected into the at least one cluster. Relationships between the uncoded concepts and the similar concepts in the at least one cluster are visually depicted as suggestions for classifying the uncoded concepts.
US09477746B2	System and method for television search assistant A television guide search query is received from a user. A plurality of suggested search terms are selected. Each of the plurality of suggested search terms is assigned to, and is ranked within, one of a plurality of categories A number of suggested search terms to be returned to the user, nc, is determined for each of the plurality of categories, nc being equal to a ratio of the number of suggested search terms in the respective category to a total number of suggested search terms multiplied by a total number of displayed search terms. A result set is created by adding, for each of the plurality of categories, the top ranked nc suggested search terms to the result set. The result set is transmitted to the user. A selection of a search term is received from the user and is used to conduct a television guide search.
US09477745B2	Predictive cluster analytics optimization Cluster analysis of data points in a data set can be optimized by identification of a preferred cluster analysis method. This identification can be based on indexing the data using a Hilbert curve and determining whether the data points are predominantly in spherical or non-spherical clusters. Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture are described.
US09477742B2	Update control device, update control program, and update control method An update control device includes an acquiring unit, a classifying unit, and an update processing unit. The acquiring unit acquires component information that indicates a component in multiple devices. The classifying unit calculates the similarity of the component information related to the multiple devices acquired by the acquiring unit and classifies, on the basis of the calculated similarity, the multiple devices into one or multiple device groups. The update processing unit performs a process for updating systems of the devices that are classified into the same device group by the classifying unit.
US09477738B2	Initialization protocol for a peer-to-peer replication environment Techniques for initializing a connection in a peer-to-peer database replication environment. A message is received from an initiator node, indicating that the initiator node will begin replicating changes made to a particular data entity. One or more replicated changes relating to the database entity are received from the initiator node. If an updated instance of the data entity does not currently exist on a target node then one or more load operations are performed to create the updated instance. The stored replicated changes may then be processed against the updated instance of the database entity.
US09477736B2	Apparatus and method for active and passive data gathering using stochastic model in control network There is provided an apparatus and method for active and passive data gathering using a stochastic model in a control network. An active and passive synchronizer performs a first gathering operation in which a data request frame is transmitted via the control network and data on the local devices is gathered and a second gathering operation in which data on the local devices is gathered by reading a communication frame among the local devices, and determines a first gathering operation schedule for each data stored in a cache unit based on an expected delay time estimated using a stochastic model for the second gathering operation process when the first gathering operation is not performed on each data that is gathered through the first gathering operation and the second gathering operation and is stored in the cache unit and waiting is performed until the data is updated through the second gathering operation.
US09477735B2	Cloud computing-based data sharing system and method Aspects of the present disclosure relate to cloud computing-based data sharing system and method, the system including a plurality of industrial device management units configured to transmit a recent shared data to a cloud server by periodically communicating with the cloud server, to receive a recent shared data of other industrial device management units received from the cloud server and to synchronize the shared data by updating the recent shared data to its own shared data, and a cloud server configured to compare a received shared data with a pre-stored shared data, in a case a shared data is received form an industrial device management unit among the plurality of industrial device management units through a communication network, to update its shared data as a result of the comparison, and to transmit a notification message including the updated shared data to other industrial device management unit through the communication network.
US09477734B2	Data synch notification using a notification gateway One or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed for facilitating synchronizing of data between one or more servers and a mobile device. The mobile device can establish which servers comprise data that is to be synchronized, and inform the servers that a push notification gateway should be used to send notifications of a data state change. A connection can be opened between the mobile device and the push notification gateway so that when a data state change is detected by a server the server can send the notification to the gateway, which can forward it to the mobile device. The mobile device may then choose to initiate a data synchronization with the server. In this manner, an open connection is merely maintained between the mobile device and the gateway, as opposed to multiple resource intensive connections between the mobile device and multiple servers.
US09477732B2	Filtering for data visualization techniques Systems and methods in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention provide for representing data values of a data set as a plurality of graphical elements in a data visualization, where each data value is associated with a plurality of data dimensions. A first data visualization may be generated based on a first configuration of the dataset. The first data visualization and a first user interface are displayed on a data visualization display page. The first user interface includes the plurality of graphical elements in the first data visualization. A selection of a element of the plurality of graphical elements is received through the first user interface. Moreover, the data values based on the received selection are filtered. A second data visualization representing the data set excluding the filtered data values is displayed.
US09477730B2	Web services runtime for dataset transformation Various aspects for providing a runtime for dataset transformation are disclosed. In one aspect, data consumption requests are received. The requested data is retrieved from a web service in an arbitrary form, and subsequently transformed into a standardized result from the arbitrary form. In another aspect, a user interface is displayed to a content provider, and an input identifying a transform function selected by the content provider is received via the user interface. A transform assembly is then generated based on the input, which facilitates retrieving data from a web service in an arbitrary form, and transforming the data into a standardized result by calling the selected transform function. In yet another aspect, third party code is associated with a transform assembly. An execution of the third party code is then managed such that at least one aspect of the transform assembly is operated according to the execution.
US09477728B2	Handling of errors in data transferred from a source application to a target application of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system An aspect of the present disclosure provides for handling of errors in data transferred from a source system to a target system. In an embodiment, the data is first transferred (from a source system) to a staging table as staging data. A user is enabled to configure rules to identify a respective portion of interest in the staging data, an error condition to be checked in the respective portion, and an action to be performed upon detection of the error in the respective portion. Accordingly, the staging data stored in the staging table is examined according to the rules to identify a first error associated with a first portion of the staging data, and an action associated with the combination of first portion and the first error is performed, as specified in the rules.
US09477722B1	Sliding window view constructs in relational database query language This disclosure relates to populating a sliding window view comprising one or more rows associated with one or more view intervals. In some implementations of this disclosure, the sliding window view can store the history of previous view results and each row in the sliding window view can correspond to a fixed interval of time. In some implementations, the sliding window view can store a constant number of view results by purging existing view results within the sliding window view. The sliding window view can provide a user with a convenient and efficient means for displaying data summary tables corresponding to a period of time.
US09477719B2	Search using business intelligence dimensions A search system receives business intelligence dimensions and at least one text search term. The system generates and displays key performance indicators based on the business intelligence dimensions, and generates and displays search results based on the text search term. The search results are restricted by facets, and the facets are derived from the business intelligence dimensions.
US09477713B2	Selecting and ordering groups of titles Techniques for selecting and ordering groups of titles to present as recommendations. In one embodiment, for example, a method performed by one or more computing devices of an online services comprises selecting, for each of a plurality of row positions, a group of titles to fill the row position based at least in part on a relevance score computed for the group of titles. The relevance score is based at least in part on a personalized ranking for a particular user of titles in the groups in titles selected to fill the row positions. The groups of titles selected to fill to the row positions are presented as recommendations to the particular user as a sequence of rows in which each row in the sequence corresponds to one of the selected groups of titles.
US09477709B2	Query response using media consumption history Methods, systems, and apparatus for receiving a natural language query of a user, and environmental data, identifying a media item based on the environmental data, determining an entity type based on the natural language query, selecting an entity associated with the media item that matches the entity type, selecting, from a media consumption database that identifies media items that have been indicated as consumed by the user, one or more media items that have been indicated as consumed by the user and that are associated with the selected entity, and providing a response to the query based on selecting the one or more media items that have been indicated as consumed by the user and that are associated with the selected entity.
US09477708B2	System for multi-store analytics execution environments with storage constraints Systems and methods are disclosed for managing a multi-store execution environment by applying opportunistic materialized views to improve workload performance and executing a plan on multiple database engines to increase query processing speed by leveraging unique capabilities of each engine by enabling stages of a query to execute on multiple engines, and by moving materialized views across engines.
US09477702B1	Apparatus and method for accessing materialized and non-materialized values in a shared nothing system A computer readable storage medium includes executable instructions to define an interface to a multi-dimensional cube divided into partitions distributed across nodes supporting a shared nothing multi-dimensional distributed database. The interface includes a metadata module characterizing access paths to data within the multi-dimensional cube and an access path module to convert a data request into an access path protocol to retrieve data from the multi-dimensional cube to satisfy the data request.
US09477699B2	Static row identifier space partitioning for concurrent data insertion in delta memory store The current subject matter describes static partitioning and sub-partitioning of a row identifier space associated with a table in a delta memory store of a database so as to allow data to be concurrently inserted into rows identified by the corresponding sub-partitions. A server system associated with the database can receive data to be inserted into a database. The server system can select a sub-fragment of a row identifier space identifying identifiers of rows stored in the database for the table. The sub-fragment can be selected based on a preference specified by an insert operation used for insertion of the data into the columnar database and on availability of the sub-fragment. The server system can insert the data in rows identified by the selected sub-fragment while other data is being concurrently inserted in rows identified by other one or more sub-fragments of the row identifier space.
US09477698B2	System and method for inferring reporting relationships from a contact database A system and method for inferring reporting relationships from contact records. Contact records from a single company are identified, and each record is ranked based on the title. A probabilistic analysis is used to compare the number of contacts on the current level with the number of contacts on a lower level, and make a guess as to reporting relationships between contacts on the different levels. If a confidence score of a guessed reporting relationship is high enough, the reporting relationship is accepted, and contact records updated.
US09477696B2	Serializing resource utilization using hardware built-in functions A method includes identifying a first value of a lock word corresponding to a data structure, by a process in a plurality of processes that each have access to the data structure. The method also includes copying the data structure to a corresponding shadow record. The method additionally includes modifying the shadow record with a desired update for the data structure, and atomically updating the data structure and the lock word, by the process, using a hardware built-in function. The updating includes identifying a second value of the lock word and determining whether the first value of the lock word and the second value of the lock word are equivalent. The method additionally includes, in response to determining that the first value of the lock word and the second value of the lock word are equivalent, replacing the data structure with the shadow record and incrementing the lock word.
US09477694B2	Guaranteeing anonymity of linked data graphs A system and computer program product for transforming a Linked Data graph into a corresponding anonymous Linked Data graph, in which semantics is preserved and links can be followed to expand the anonymous graph up to r times without breaching anonymity (i.e., anonymity under r-dereferenceability). Anonymizing a Linked Data graph under r-dereferenceability provides privacy guarantees of k-anonymity or l-diversity variants, while taking into account and preserving the rich semantics of the graph.
US09477692B2	Systems and methods for applying an analytical model to performance analysis Aspects of the present disclosure describe systems and methods for providing active session history data to users for use in database performance analysis. In various aspects, active session history data obtained from monitoring a database and/or database system over a period of time may be segmented into multiple dimensions. The segmented data may be subsequently provide and/or displayed on one or more interfaces, such as a graphical user interface, to users. The interface may visualize the dimensional ASH data in a variety of ways, such as through icons, graphs, charts, histograms, temporal delineations, treemaps, etc.
US09477691B1	Multi-latency data management A data management system comprises a multi-latency logical data store and an associated controller. The multi-latency logical data store comprises a first data store having a first data latency and a second data store having a second data latency substantially different than the first data latency. The controller is configured to manage the multi-latency logical data store utilizing multi-latency data sets each of which provides at least one multi-latency link between at least a portion of a data set from the first data store and at least a portion of a data set from the second data store. By way of example, the first data store may comprise a low-latency data store and the second data store may comprise an analytic data store having a substantially higher data latency than the low-latency data store. The data management system is implemented using one or more processing devices of a processing platform.
US09477689B2	Embedding digital content within a digital photograph during capture of the digital photograph A wireless communication device comprises position determining system, a digital imaging system and a photograph customization system coupled to the position locating system and the digital imaging system. The position determining system is configured to provide information indicating a current position of the wireless communication device. The digital imaging system is configured to create digitally rendered images of visual content acquired thereby. The visual content is displayed on an image viewing structure of the digital imaging device while being acquired. The photograph customization system is configured to use the current location of the digital imaging device for providing one or more embeddable content images and to display information from at least one of the one or more embeddable content images on an image viewing structure of the digital imaging device while the visual content being acquired by the digital imaging system is being displayed on the image viewing structure.
US09477683B2	Techniques for enabling coarse-grained volume snapshots for virtual machine backup and restore A technique of backing up a workload in a virtual environment includes identifying one or more files that are associated with the workload. One or more source volumes that include the one or more files are identified. A respective target volume is provisioned for each of the one or more source volumes identified. Only dirty blocks are copied (in a snapshot mode that prevents an update to the one or more source volumes during the snapshot mode) from each of the one or more source volumes to its respective target volume. The one or more dirty blocks are then copied from each target volume to a backup medium.
US09477679B2	Programmatically choosing preferred storage parameters for files in large-scale distributed storage systems Methods to determine and automatically recommend or adjust configuration parameters for storing files in large-scale distributed storage systems are disclosed. These methods may receive file metadata and trace data that allows the system to identify file access patterns. Additionally, the methods may receive information about distributed storage systems in a datacenter. This information can be used to choose storage parameters on a per-file basis for storing files.
US09477676B2	Data compression apparatus, data compression method, and non-transitory computer readable medium A data compression apparatus includes a lossless compression unit performing lossless compression of each data unit of original data to be compressed to output compressed data; a measuring unit measuring a data amount of the compressed data; and a generating unit generating and outputting compression result management data indicating a result of the compression of each data unit of the original data. The generating unit records data indicating a range of the original data of the data unit if the data amount of the compressed data is larger than or equal to the data amount of the data unit before completion of the lossless compression. The generating unit records data indicating a range of the compressed data of the data unit if the data amount of the compressed data is smaller than the data amount of the data unit upon completion of the lossless compression of the data unit.
US09477674B2	Merging and splitting of media composition files During the production of a time-based media project, it is often desirable for editors to work with media files or reels of a given size, both in terms of the temporal duration of media represented in each file and the number of tracks in a file. During the course of editing, files may become longer, or incorporate additional tracks, making them cumbersome to handle. A super-file view that displays multiple files simultaneously provides a framework for an editor to rebalance files during the course of media production. A graphical user interface permits users to adjust the content of the various files, including moving tracks among multiple files that comprise a given reel, as well as media between files belonging to different reels.
US09477672B2	Implicit profile for use with recommendation engine and/or question router Methods and systems for creating an implicit profile for use by a recommendation engine or a question router is provided. User behavior on at least one of one or more electronic devices and an electronic communications network is tracked. User-related information relating to the user behavior is analyzed to extract or derive key words therefrom. The key words are stored in a profiles database as the implicit profile and used by the recommendation engine or question router to characterize user interests, expertise, and skills when matching a request from a querying user to a potential user or group of users having the relevant background to respond to the request.
US09477671B2	System and method for implementing effective date constraints in a role hierarchy A system providing a method for implementing effective date constraints in a role hierarchy is described. In one embodiment, for example, the method comprises the steps of: storing data that represents a first effective date constraint on a role of a role hierarchy, the first effective date constraint having a start date and an end date; storing data in a database that represents a second effective date constraint on a grant of the role to a grantee, the second effective date constraint having a start date and an end date; storing data in a database that represents a third effective date constraint on the grantee, the third effective date constraint having a start date and an end date; and computing a net effective date constraint for the role by computing the intersection of the first effective date constraint, the second effective date constraint, and the third effective date constraint.
US09477662B2	Computer-assisted abstraction for reporting of quality measures Methods and systems are disclosed for tracking quality measures in abstracted documents. Embodiments include, determining, based on the abstracted content, a quality measure category, obtaining a quality measure definition corresponding to a quality measure included in the determined quality measure category, determining, based on keywords corresponding to the criterion, whether a portion of the abstracted content satisfies a criterion, recording, in association with the criterion, a reference to the portion of the abstracted content that satisfies the criterion; and selectively generating, a report including the query corresponding to the criterion, a query response, and the portion of the abstracted content satisfying the criterion.
US09477659B2	Techniques for performing language detection and translation for multi-language content feeds A technique for translating a portion of a website includes receiving a language set of a user indicating a primary language of the user is received. A content feed to be displayed to the user is received and parsed to identify a text portion of a user generated content. The original language of the text portion is determined and compared with the one or more languages in the language set. When the original language of the text portion does not match the languages in the language set: (i) the text portion, the original language, and the primary language are provided to a translation engine, (ii) a translated version of the text portion is received from the translation engine, (iii) the translated version of the text portion is inserted into the content feed to obtain a modified content feed, and (iv) the modified content feed is displayed to the user.
US09477652B2	Machine learning dialect identification Technology is disclosed for creating and tuning classifiers for language dialects and for generating dialect-specific language modules. A computing device can receive an initial training data set as a current training data set. The selection process for the initial training data set can be achieved by receiving one or more initial content items, establishing dialect parameters of each of the initial content items, and sorting each of the initial content items into one or more dialect groups based on the established dialect parameters. The computing device can generate, based on the initial training data set, a dialect classifier configured to detect language dialects of content items to be classified. The computing device can augment the current training data set with additional training data by applying the dialect classifier to candidate content items. The computing device can then update the dialect classifier based on the augmented current training data set.
US09477650B2	Underlying grid structure and animation of tables Embodiments are provided that include the use of an underlying grid structure as part of managing table operations and/or animation visualizations, but are not so limited. A method of an embodiment uses an underlying grid structure as part of an animation control reference or guide to provide table visualizations for display, including using one or more table borders and aspects of a reference grid column or row as part of controlling table features. A system of one embodiment includes a table manager to manage table actions and a grid manager to manage an underlying grid structure based in part on associated table actions and/or animations. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
US09477647B2	Verifying content of resources in markup language documents by inclusion of a hash attribute-value pair in references to the content A method and system for verifying resource content. A first characteristic of the content of a resource stored at a second computer is computed. The second computer is coupled to the first computer via a communication infrastructure. A markup element including the computed first characteristic is created in a markup language document. The resource is retrieved from the second computer according to a resource indicator that references the resource. A second characteristic of the content of the retrieved resource is generated by computing a hash of the content of the retrieved resource according to a particular hash algorithm. The second characteristic is ascertained to be identical to the first characteristic. The resource indicator and the first characteristic are included in the markup element. The created markup element includes a first attribute-value pair and a second attribute-value pair within distinct non-overlapping portions of the markup element.
US09477641B2	Continuous air monitors The invention provides for a continuous air monitor for detecting Alpha emitting radionuclides. The monitor measures and records the energy of each detected Alpha count in one of a plurality of channels and compensates for counts due to the presence of Radon. It does this by carrying out a channel by channel statistical test comparing the measured count in each channel to the expected count due to radon daughter products, and determining if any deviation from the expected count is statistically significant.
US09477639B2	Safe driving monitoring system A method and system for detecting unsafe or suspect activities such as distracted driving associates distracted driving events to the road type, vehicle speed and vehicle acceleration (positive, negative and lateral) at the time of the distracted driving event, and identifies severe distracted driving events from a large population of minor events using a statistical distribution such as a Cauchy distribution equation. The system employs a smartphone application (App) coupled with a central server that computes driver safety scores which relate time of day, road type, vehicle speed, vehicle acceleration (positive, negative and lateral) and distracted driving using the Cauchy distribution equation. The server renders summary and detail reports of driving scores and distracted driving events to concerned parties including insurance companies, fleet managers, vehicle owners and the parents/guardians of teenaged drivers.
US09477637B1	Integrating content-item corrections Techniques for enhancing content being rendered on an electronic device are described herein. In some instances, the techniques include monitoring interactions between a user and a content item that the user consumes on an electronic device. The content items may include electronic books, songs, videos, documents, or the like. In response to detecting an interaction between the user and the content item, the techniques may publish an event indicative of the interaction to an application platform that hosts one or more applications. The applications may be designed to enhance the content that the user consumes in one or more specified ways.
US09477636B2	Memory having internal processors and data communication methods in memory Memory having internal processors, and methods of data communication within such a memory are provided. In one embodiment, an internal processor may concurrently access one or more banks on a memory array on a memory device via one or more buffers. The internal processor may be coupled to a buffer capable of accessing more than one bank, or coupled to more than one buffer that may each access a bank, such that data may be retrieved from and stored in different banks concurrently. Further, the memory device may be configured for communication between one or more internal processors through couplings between memory components, such as buffers coupled to each of the internal processors. Therefore, a multi-operation instruction may be performed by different internal processors, and data (such as intermediate results) from one internal processor may be transferred to another internal processor of the memory, enabling parallel execution of an instruction(s).
US09477635B1	Generating an identifier for a device using application information A computer-implemented method for generating an identifier for a device includes identifying one or more applications from a plurality of applications installed on a device; generating an identifier for the device based on the one or more identified applications; and providing the generated identifier as identification for the device. Another computer-implemented method for identifying a device includes: receiving information that indicates one or more applications of a plurality of applications installed on a device; and identifying the device using the received information.
US09477634B2	I2C address translation Embodiments of the present invention relate to systems, devices and methods for translating I2C addresses. In accordance with an embodiment, a method for translating an I2C address includes receiving an original I2C address from a first I2C compatible device via an I2C-bus to which the first I2C compatible device is connected. The method also includes translating the original I2C address to a translated I2C address, and outputting the translated I2C address to a second I2C compatible device via a secondary side of the I2C-bus to which the slave device is connected. The original I2C address can be translated to the translated I2C address by subtracting an offset value from (or adding an offset value to) the original I2C address to produce the translated I2C address. Such an offset value can be specified using pin strapping, or by storing the offset value in a register or non-volatile memory that is programmable via the—I2C bus. Alternatively, a look-up-table, that is programmable via the I2C-bus, can be used to perform the I2C address translation.
US09477633B2	Stacking connector for military applications An electrical connector assembly adapted for military use comprising a high-density maintenance connector which supports high bandwidth video export and low level maintenance functions, a lower density I/O connector, the stacking feature allows multiple branches in a distribution center, custom to each user, and the programmability allows for identical cables/stacking connectors to be used in different configurations.
US09477613B2	Position-based replacement policy for address synonym management in shared caches A computer-implemented method includes receiving a request to access a cache entry in a shared cache. The request references a synonym for the cache entry. A cache directory of the shared cache includes, for each cache entry of the shared cache, a first-ranked synonym slot for storing a most recently used synonym for the cache entry and a second-ranked synonym slot for storing a second most recently used synonym for the cache entry. The method includes, based on receiving the request, writing contents of the first-ranked synonym slot for the cache entry to the second-ranked synonym slot for the cache entry, and writing the synonym referenced in the request to the first-ranked synonym slot for the cache entry.
US09477610B2	Address range priority mechanism Method and apparatus to efficiently manage data in caches. Data in caches may be managed based on priorities assigned to the data. Data may be requested by a process using a virtual address of the data. The requested data may be assigned a priority by a component in a computer system called an address range priority assigner (ARP). The ARP may assign a particular priority to the requested data if the virtual address of the requested data is within a particular range of virtual addresses. The particular priority assigned may be high priority and the particular range of virtual addresses may be smaller than a cache's capacity.
US09477609B2	Enhanced transactional cache with bulk operation Described herein is a technology for providing enhanced transactional caching. In accordance with one aspect, a transactional cache associated with a database is configured. Execution of a write operation on the database is delayed until a flush is determined to be necessary. The write operation is delayed by writing to the transactional cache. The flush is invoked by writing inserted or updated records in the transactional cache to the database via a bulk operation.
US09477607B2	Adaptive record caching for solid state disks A storage controller receives a request that corresponds to an access of a track. A determination is made as to whether the track corresponds to data stored in a solid state disk. Record staging to a cache from the solid state disk is performed, in response to determining that the track corresponds to data stored in the solid state disk, wherein each track is comprised of a plurality of records.
US09477604B2	Caching of look-up rules based on flow heuristics to enable high speed look-up In one embodiment, a computer program product includes a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code including computer readable program code configured to initialize an internal look-up table cache provided internally to a switching processor, the internal look-up table cache being configured to store a plurality of look-up entries and being organized into at least three segments: a persistent flows entries segment, a non-persistent flows entries segment, and an access control list (ACL) segment. Each look-up entry relates to a traffic flow which has been or is anticipated to be received by a switching processor configured to access the internal look-up table cache. The computer readable program code is also configured to manage the internal look-up table cache to store entries relating to a particular segment type into a corresponding segment of the internal look-up table cache.
US09477603B2	System and method for partitioning of memory units into non-conflicting sets A system and method of operation exploit the limited associativity of a single cache set to force observable cache evictions and discover conflicts. Loads are issued to input memory addresses, one at a time, until a cache eviction is detected. After observing a cache eviction on a load from an address, that address is added to a data structure representing the current conflict set. The cache is then flushed, and loads are issued to all addresses in the current conflict set, so that all known conflicting addresses are accessed first, ensuring that the next cache miss will occur on a different conflicting address. The process is repeated, issuing loads from all input memory addresses, incrementally finding conflicting addresses, one by one. Memory addresses that conflict in the cache belong to the same partition, whereas memory addresses belonging to different partitions do not conflict.
US09477602B2	Cache refill control A method and a device are disclosed for a cache memory refill control.
US09477600B2	Apparatus and method for shared cache control including cache lines selectively operable in inclusive or non-inclusive mode A data processing system 2 includes a cache hierarchy having a plurality of local cache memories and a shared cache memory 18. State data 30, 32 stored within the shared cache memory 18 on a per cache line basis is used to control whether or not that cache line of data is stored and managed in accordance with non-inclusive operation or inclusive operation of the cache memory system. Snoop transactions are filtered on the basis of data indicating whether or not a cache line of data is unique or non-unique. A switch from non-inclusive operation to inclusive operation may be performed in dependence upon the transaction type of a received transaction requesting a cache line of data.
US09477598B2	System and method for implementing cache consistent regional clusters When multiple regional data clusters are used to store data in a system, maintaining cache consistency across different regions is important for providing a desirable user experience. In one embodiment, there is a master data cluster where all data writes are performed, and the writes are replicated to each of the slave data clusters in the other regions. Appended to the replication statements are invalidations for cache values for the keys whose values have been changed in the master data cluster. An apparatus in the master data cluster logs replication statements sent to the slave databases. When a slave database fails, the apparatus extracts the invalidations intended for the failed database and publishes the invalidations to a subscriber in the region of the failed database. The subscriber sends the invalidations to the local caches to cause stale data for those keys to be deleted from the caches.
US09477595B2	Managing the write performance of an asymmetric memory system Some implementations include a method of managing a hosted non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) based storage subsystem that includes NVRAM devices. The method includes: receiving, at a device driver on the host computing device, write requests each requesting to write a respective unit of data to the NVRAM-based storage subsystem; categorizing the write requests into subgroups of write requests, where write requests within respective subgroups are mutually exclusive; ascertaining a load condition of each of several of the NVRAM devices of the NVRAM-based storage subsystem; identifying a target location on at least one NVRAM device to service a particular subgroup of write requests according to the ascertained load conditions of the NVRAM devices of the NVRAM-based storage subsystem; and servicing the particular subgroup of write requests by writing the corresponding units of data to the identified target location on the at least one NVRAM device of the NVRAM-based storage subsystem.
US09477593B2	Semiconductor device and operating method thereof A semiconductor device remaps the relationship between logical addresses and physical addresses of a semiconductor memory device at each first interval. The semiconductor device may include a wear leveling controller configured to select a first physical address of the semiconductor memory device to remap a logical address corresponding to the first physical address of the semiconductor memory device to a second physical address of the semiconductor memory device, and to adjust the first interval.
US09477590B2	Weave sequence counter for non-volatile memory systems Systems and methods are disclosed for providing a weave sequence counter (“WSC”) for non-volatile memory (“NVM”) systems. The WSC can identify the sequence in which each page of the NVM is programmed. The “weave” aspect can refer to the fact that multiple blocks can be open for programming at once, thus allowing the pages of these blocks to be programmed in a “woven” manner. Systems and methods are also disclosed for providing a host weave sequence counter (“HWSC”). Each time new data is initially programmed to the NVM, this data can be associated with a particular HWSC. The HWSC associated with the data may not change, even when the data is moved to a new page (e.g., for wear leveling purposes and the like). The WSC and HWSC may aid in, for example, performing rollback, building logical-to-physical mappings, determining static-versus-dynamic page statuses, and performing maintenance operations (e.g., wear leveling).
US09477589B2	Storage device that performs a de-duplication operation, and method of operating the same A storage device is provided which includes a nonvolatile memory device configured to store a plurality of reference data, a memory configured to store a hash manage table used to manage a plurality of reference hash keys of each of the plurality of reference data, a hash key generator configured to generate a plurality of hash keys based on write requested data, and a memory controller configured to compare the plurality of hash keys and reference hash keys of each reference data to determine whether to store the write requested data in the nonvolatile memory device. The memory controller selects one of the plurality of reference data according to a similarity between the plurality of hash keys and the plurality of reference hash keys of each reference data and stores the write requested data and the selected reference data in the nonvolatile memory device to refer to each other.
US09477588B2	Method and apparatus for allocating memory for immutable data on a computing device A system that allocates memory for immutable data on a computing device. The system allocates a memory region on the computing device to store immutable data for an executing application. This memory region is smaller than the immutable data for the application. When the system subsequently receives a request to access a block of immutable data for the application, the system allocates space in this memory region for the block, and proceeds to load the block into the memory region. If at a later time the space occupied by this first block is needed for another block, the system unloads and discards the first block. If a subsequent operation needs to use information in the first block, the system regenerates the block by transforming raw data associated with the block into a form that can be directly accessed by the application, and then reloads the block into the memory region.
US09477580B2	System and method for determining test coverage A computer-implemented method, computer program product, and system is provided for determining test coverage. In an implementation, a method may include identifying at least one change in source code. The method may also include instrumenting object code of at least one class file associated with a source file of the source code associated with the identified at least one change. The method may further include testing the instrumented object code with at least one test case. The method may further include generating a coverage report associated with the instrumented object code, wherein the coverage report includes a proportion of the at least one change in the source code covered by the at least one test case.
US09477577B2	Method and apparatus for enabling an executed control flow path through computer program code to be determined A method of enabling an executed control flow path through computer program code to be determined. The method comprising modelling cumulative instruction counts for control flow paths through the computer program code, and inserting at least one probe within the computer program code to enable a cumulative instruction count value for at least one control flow path of the computer program code to be accessed.
US09477572B2	Performing predictive modeling of virtual machine relationships An exemplary method may include collecting performance data of present operating conditions of network components operating in an enterprise network, extracting ontological component data of the network components from the collected performance data, comparing the collected performance data with predefined service tier threshold parameters, and determining if the ontological component data represents operational relationships between the network components, and establishing direct and indirect relationships between the network components based on the determined operational relationships and establishing a business application service group based on the ontological component data.
US09477562B1	Apparatus and method for minimizing exclusive-OR (XOR) computation time A line of data is read from a line of memory. Intended data is specified by a random location and a random size within the line of memory. The line of data is moved into temporary storage. The line of data and a zero are multiplexed using a control signal to output a line of adjusted data which is automatically aligned to an initial point in an XOR buffer. A starting index of the intended data within the line of adjusted data corresponds to the initial point within an XOR buffer. An XOR operation is performed on the line of adjusted data and a line of data read from the XOR buffer to obtain a modified line of XOR data. The modified line of XOR data is written back to the XOR buffer at the same buffer locations as the line of data read from the XOR buffer.
US09477561B2	Gateway for the survivability of an enterprise network using SIP In one embodiment, the gateway includes a trunk interface module (TI) for coupling the gateway to a trunk of the public network (PSTN), a media Server module (MS) coupled to an enterprise network, a transcoder module (TC), a call control module (CC), and a proxy module (PRO). The proxy module is configured to forward each SIP message received by the gateway, according to the IP address contained in a SIP Request-URI in this message. The SIP message is either sent to the Call Control module (CC) if this IP address is the address of the gateway, or to the data compression module (DC) if the IP address is the address of the main SIP Server (MSS). The proxy module is configured to add, in the latter case, its own IP address in Path header on each Register method; and, for each other SIP method sent to the main SIP Server (MSS), suppress its own IP address in the Route header. The gateway includes a management and configuration module (MC) configured to receive and store a rescue call number to be used for establishing the backup link (BL).
US09477560B2	Methods of creating a voting stop point on a distributed network A highly efficient and effective method for deciding, in the context of a distributed computer network, how many computers will participate in an initial vote if multiple computers are started in the same general time frame.
US09477559B2	Control device, control method and recording medium storing program thereof A control device according to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, which is included in a sub-system of a plurality of sub-systems included in a fault tolerant system, includes: a packet reception unit that receives data from a processor unit included in the plurality of sub systems each including: the processor unit; an input-output unit; and a signal transmission path, the control device being connected between the processor unit and the input-output unit; and a first transmission unit that transmits error detection data being generated from the data of accessing from the processor unit to the input-output unit in an own sub-system to an companion sub-system when the processor unit is in the lockstep synchronous state, and transmits the data of accessing from a processor unit to the input-output unit in the own sub-system to the companion sub-system when the processor is in a lockstep asynchronous state.
US09477551B1	Method and system for data migration between high performance computing architectures and file system using distributed parity group information structures with non-deterministic data addressing The present invention is directed to data migration, and particularly, Parity Group migration, between high performance data generating entities and data storage structure in which distributed NVM arrays are used as a single intermediate logical storage which requires a global registry/addressing capability that facilitates the storage and retrieval of the locality information (metadata) for any given fragment of unstructured data and where Parity Group Identifier and Parity Group Information (PGI) descriptors for the Parity Groups' members tracking, are created and distributed in the intermediate distributed NVM arrays as a part of the non-deterministic data addressing system to ensure coherency and fault tolerance for the data and the metadata. The PGI descriptors act as collection points for state describing the residency and replay status of members of the Parity Groups.
US09477550B2	ECC bypass using low latency CE correction with retry select signal A memory controller is equipped with multiple error correction circuits for different complexity levels of errors, but requested data is initially sent to a requesting unit (e.g., processor) via a bypass path which provides the lowest memory latency. The requesting unit performs error detection and, if an error is found, sends a retry select signal to the memory controller. The retry select signal provides an indication of which error correction unit should be used to provide complete correction of the error but add the minimum latency necessary. On the retry transmission, the controller uses the particular error correction unit indicated by the retry select signal. The memory controller can also have a persistent error detection circuit which identifies an address as being defective when an error is repeatedly indicated by multiple retry select signals, and the control logic can automatically transmits the requested data using the appropriate error correction unit.
US09477541B2	Determining faulty nodes via label propagation within a wireless sensor network Fault detection within wireless sensor networks can be determined by label propagation training within a wireless network system based on normal and faulty node conditions. The training information is then used to propagate node information to neighboring data vectors, which generates an indication of faulty nodes or an indication of a normal transmission path.
US09477538B2	Method and system for the support of application specific policies for conventional operating systems The approaches described herein provide support for application specific policies for conventional operating systems. In an embodiment, a kernel module representing a kernel subsystem is executed within an operating system's kernel. The kernel subsystem may be configured to respond to particular requests with one or more default actions. Additionally, the kernel subsystem may define a number of sub-modules which represent application specific policies that deviate from the default actions. Each sub-module may define one or more sets of conditions which indicate when the sub-module is applicable to a request and one or more sets of corresponding actions to take when the conditions are met. When an application sends a request to the kernel subsystem, the kernel subsystem determines whether the request meets the conditions of a particular sub-module. If the particular sub-module's conditions are met, the kernel subsystem performs the corresponding actions of the particular sub-module.
US09477536B2	System and method for providing a messaging application program interface A system and method for providing a message bus component or version thereof (referred to herein as an implementation), and a messaging application program interface, for use in an enterprise data center, middleware machine system, or similar environment that includes a plurality of processor nodes together with a high-performance communication fabric (or communication mechanism) such as InfiniBand. In accordance with an embodiment, the messaging application program interface enables features such as asynchronous messaging, low latency, and high data throughput, and supports the use of in-memory data grid, application server, and other middleware components.
US09477535B2	Connection pool for accessing a backend processing system Example systems and methods of providing a connection with a backend processing system are presented. In one example, a request for a connection between the backend processing system and a user of an application is received. One of a plurality of connections with the backend processing system is selected. Each of the plurality of connections is bound with a corresponding generic user session in the backend processing system. In response to the request, the selected connection is unbound from a generic user session and bound with a user session corresponding to the user of the application. Access to the selected connection is provided to the user of the application.
US09477534B2	Inter-extension messaging According to one general aspect, a computer-implemented method may include implementing, in a web browser executing on a computing device, a first extension process. The first extension process may be functionally isolated from a second extension process that is implemented in the web browser. The method may also include presenting, by the first extension process, a public messaging interface. The method may further include receiving, by the first extension process via the public messaging interface, a messaging request from the second extension process, the messaging request including a unique extension ID of the second extension process. The method may also include determining, by the public messaging interface, whether to accept or reject the messaging request based on the first unique extension ID.
US09477532B1	Graph-data partitioning for workload-balanced distributed computation with cost estimation functions Techniques herein perform workload-balanced graph partitioning. Each graph partition is distributed to a respective computer. Each computer applies a workload-estimation function to its partition to calculate a numeric workload-value that indicates how much computation the partition needs. Each computer sends its numeric workload-value to a master computer. The master compares the highest and lowest numeric workload-values. If the difference exceeds a threshold, the master detects how much work should overloaded-computers offload to under-utilized computers. To each overloaded-computer, the master sends a directive with a balancing numeric workload-value that indicates how much computation to offload and an identifier of an under-utilized computer to receive the offload. Based on this directive and the workload-estimation function, an overloaded-computer selects a portion of its partition that corresponds to the balancing numeric workload-value, removes that portion from its partition, and transfers the portion to the under-utilized computer, which adds the portion to its partition.
US09477524B2	Partitioning processes across clusters by process type to optimize use of cluster specific configurations A system and method for virtualization and cloud security are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a system comprises a first multi-core processing cluster and a second multi-core processing cluster in communication with a network interface card and software instructions. When the software instructions are executed by the second multi-core processing cluster they cause the second multi-core processing cluster to receive a request for a service, create a new or invoke an existing virtual machine to service the request, and return a desired result indicative of successful completion of the service to the first multi-core processing cluster.
US09477521B2	Method and system for scheduling repetitive tasks in O(1) Systems and methods are disclosed for scheduling a plurality of tasks for execution on one or more processors. An example method includes obtaining a counter value of a counter. The method also includes for each work queue of a plurality of work queues, identifying an execution period of the respective work queue and comparing a counter value to an execution period of the respective work queue. Each work queue includes a set of tasks and is defined by an execution period at which to run the respective set of queued tasks. The method further includes selecting, based on the comparing, a subset of the plurality of work queues. The method also includes scheduling a set of tasks of slower frequency queued in a selected work queue for execution on one or more processors before a set of tasks queued in a non-selected work queue. The work items may be scheduled in O(1) because the design inherently prioritizes the tasks based on the urgency of their completion, and may do so by resetting a work queue pointer.
US09477520B2	Registering and accessing virtual systems for use in a managed system Techniques are disclosed for controlling and managing virtual machines and other such virtual systems. VM execution approval is based on compliance with policies controlling various aspects of VM. The techniques can be employed to benefit all virtual environments, such as virtual machines, virtual appliances, and virtual applications. For ease of discussion herein, assume that a virtual machine (VM) represents each of these environments. In one particular embodiment, a systems management partition (SMP) is created inside the VM to provide a persistent and resilient storage for management information (e.g., logical and physical VM metadata). The SMP can also be used as a staging area for installing additional content or agentry on the VM when the VM is executed. Remote storage of management information can also be used. The VM management information can then be made available for pre-execution processing, including policy-based compliance testing.
US09477518B1	Method to automatically redirect SRB routines to a zIIP eligible enclave A method to redirect SRB routines from otherwise non-zIIP eligible processes on an IBM z/OS series mainframe to a zIIP eligible enclave is disclosed. This redirection is achieved by intercepting otherwise blocked operations and allowing them to complete processing without errors imposed by the zIIP processor configuration. After appropriately intercepting and redirecting these blocked operations more processing may be performed on the more financially cost effective zIIP processor by users of mainframe computing environments.
US09477513B2	Batch scheduling There is provided a method to schedule execution of a plurality of batch jobs by a computer system. The method includes: reading one or more constraints that constrain the execution of the plurality of batch jobs by the computer system and a current load on the computer system; grouping the plurality of batch jobs into at least one run frequency that includes at least one batch job; setting the at least one run frequency to a first run frequency; computing a load generated by each batch job in the first run frequency on the computer system based on each batch job's start time; and determining an optimized start time for each batch job in the first run frequency that meets the one or more constraints and that distributes each batch job's load on the computer system using each batch job's computed load and the current load.
US09477512B2	Task-based modeling for parallel data integration System, method, and computer program product to perform an operation for task-based modeling for parallel data integration, by determining, for a data flow, a set of processing units, each of the set of processing units defining one or more data processing operations to process the data flow, generating a set of tasks to represent the set of processing units, each task in the set of tasks comprising one or more of the data processing operations of the set of processing units, optimizing the set of tasks based on a set of characteristics of the data flow, and generating a composite execution plan based on the optimized set of tasks to process the data flow in a distributed computing environment.
US09477511B2	Task-based modeling for parallel data integration System, method, and computer program product to perform an operation for task-based modeling for parallel data integration, by determining, for a data flow, a set of processing units, each of the set of processing units defining one or more data processing operations to process the data flow, generating a set of tasks to represent the set of processing units, each task in the set of tasks comprising one or more of the data processing operations of the set of processing units, optimizing the set of tasks based on a set of characteristics of the data flow, and generating a composite execution plan based on the optimized set of tasks to process the data flow in a distributed computing environment.
US09477509B2	Protection against interrupts in virtual machine functions A system, methods, and apparatus for protection against interrupts in virtual machine functions are disclosed. A system includes memory, one or more physical processors, a virtual machine executing on the one or more physical processors, and a hypervisor executing on the one or more physical processors. The hypervisor determines a first location in the memory, corresponding to a physical address of the virtual machine function, and loads into memory at a second location in the memory outside the first location in the memory. The hypervisor initializes abort code at the second location in the memory. Prior to an execution of an instruction that loads an interrupt data structure on the virtual machine, a trap to the hypervisor is activated. The hypervisor then modifies a page table corresponding to the interrupt data structure to point to the initialized abort code.
US09477508B1	Storage device sharing among virtual machines Disclosed herein are various systems and methods for sharing a storage device with multiple virtual machines are disclosed. One such method involves creating a pseudo-identity for a storage device and assigning a portion of an address space of the storage device to a virtual machine using the pseudo-identity. The storage device is coupled to a computing device and the pseudo-identity is created by a hypervisor associated with the computing device. The pseudo-identity facilitates access to the storage device by the virtual machine associated with the hypervisor and also facilitates presentation of one or more physical characteristics of the storage device to the virtual machine. The method also assigns a portion of an address space of the storage device to the virtual machine using the pseudo-identity.
US09477505B2	Method for reducing the overhead associated with a virtual machine exit when handling instructions related to descriptor tables A computerized method for efficient handling of a privileged instruction executed by a virtual machine (VM). The method comprises identifying when the privileged instruction causes a VM executed on a computing hardware to perform a VM exit; replacing a first virtual-to-physical address mapping to a second virtual-to-physical address mapping respective of a virtual pointer associated with the privileged instruction; and invalidating at least a cache entry in a cache memory allocated to the VM, thereby causing a new translation for the virtual pointer to the second virtual-to-physical address, wherein the second virtual-to-physical address provides a pointer to a physical address in a physical memory in the computing hardware allocated to the VM.
US09477504B2	Maintenance of offline virtual machines based on a maintenance register A solution is proposed for maintaining virtual machines being available in a data-processing system. A mechanism determines a list of software components installed on each virtual machine, retrieves a set of maintenance policies for each software component, each maintenance policy being indicative of a patch to be applied to the corresponding software component. The mechanism determines a set of old virtual machines having at least one old software component thereof requiring the application of at least a new one of the corresponding patches according to a comparison among the maintenance policies and a maintenance register indicative of a current state of the software components of the virtual machines. The mechanism applies the corresponding at least one new patch to each old software component of each old virtual machine and updates the maintenance register according to the application of said at least one new patch to each old software component of each old virtual machine.
US09477498B2	Information processing device, library loading method, and computer readable medium Provided is an information processing device and others in which a plurality of applications are capable of appropriately using a plurality of libraries requested to be loaded with an identical name and including different contents. The information processing device includes an identifier generation unit which generates identifier information used for identifying contents of a library file, generates load request association information representing a relationship between the identifier information and request target information; a load request interpretation unit which obtains identifier information about the library file including a target of a load request; and a load unit which loads at least a part corresponding to the target of the load request from the library file indicated by the obtained identifier information when the load unit determines that the part corresponding to the target of the load request is not loaded.
US09477496B2	Method and apparatus for loading classes and re-organizing class archives A method and apparatus for loading classes to virtual machines and a method and apparatus for reorganizing class archives. The method for loading a class to a virtual machine includes organizing a class archive before class loading such that the organized class archive includes a class contraction portion and loading only the class contraction portion of the class archive to the virtual machine at the moment of class loading. By first loading the class contraction portion from the organized class archive to the virtual machine at the moment of loading, the present invention curtails code redundancy, shortens loading time and reduces occupied memory resources.
US09477495B2	Conservative class preloading for real time Java execution A computer implemented method, a computer program product and a data processing system for executing an application written in a dynamic language are provided. An execution point of the application is loaded. A list of classes associated with the execution point is generated. The loading of each class in the list of classes is simulated. New execution points and new classes accessible from each execution point within each class in the list of classes are identified by recursively parsing instructions associated with each execution point. The list is modified to include the identified new execution points and new classes. Responsive to a determination that new execution points and new classes have been identified, the steps of identifying new execution points and new classes and modifying the list is repeated. The list is saved.
US09477491B2	Independent synchronization of virtual desktop image layers Methods and systems for n-way cloning and synchronization of a user desktop image are provided. Example embodiments provide a Cloning and Synchronization System (“CSS”) which binds a server stored CVD object representing the user's desktop image to one or more endpoint devices. Each endpoint device receives a clone of the CVD object that comprises one or more layers of the server CVD depending upon the suitability of the endpoint device hardware and operating system to the server stored desktop. The cloned CVDs in the endpoint devices are then kept synchronized by synchronization operations. In one embodiment, the CSS allows only one endpoint device to act as a master device and push up changes to the server CVD. These changes are then pushed down to the other devices using different synchronization methods dependent upon the layer.
US09477485B2	Optimizing computer hardware usage in a computing system that includes a plurality of populated central processing unit (‘CPU’) sockets Optimizing computer hardware usage in a computing system that includes a plurality of populated central processing unit (‘CPU’) sockets, including: determining, by a socket configuration module, a number of CPUs to be utilized during operation of the computing system; determining, by the socket configuration module, performance characteristics associated with each available CPU, the performance characteristics associated with each available CPU including information describing computing devices such as memory devices, input/output (‘I/O) devices, and other downstream devices that are coupled to one or more of the available CPUs; and selecting, by the socket configuration module in dependence upon the performance characteristics associated with each available CPU and a predetermined performance policy, a target CPU to utilize as a boot CPU.
US09477480B2	System and processor for implementing interruptible batches of instructions A system, method, and computer program product are provided for scheduling interruptible hatches of instructions for execution by one or more functional units of a processor. The method includes the steps of receiving a batch of instructions that includes a plurality of instructions and dispatching at least one instruction from the batch of instructions to one or more functional units for execution. The method further includes the step of receiving an interrupt request that causes an interrupt routine to be dispatched to the one or more functional units prior to all instructions in the batch of instructions being dispatched to the one or more functional units. When the interrupt request is received, the method further includes the step of storing batch-level resources in a memory to resume execution of the batch of instructions once the interrupt routine has finished execution.
US09477478B2	Multi level indirect predictor using confidence counter and program counter address filter scheme The disclosure relates to predicting simple and polymorphic branch instructions. An embodiment of the disclosure detects that a program instruction is a branch instruction, determines whether a program counter for the branch instruction is stored in a program counter filter, and, if the program counter is stored in the program counter filter, prevents the program counter from being stored in a first level predictor.
US09477476B2	Fusing immediate value, write-based instructions in instruction processing circuits, and related processor systems, methods, and computer-readable media Fusing immediate value, write-based instructions in instruction processing circuits, and related processor systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed. In one embodiment, a first instruction indicating an operation writing an immediate value to a register is detected by an instruction processing circuit. The circuit also detects at least one subsequent instruction indicating an operation that overwrites at least one first portion of the register while maintaining a value of a second portion of the register. The at least one subsequent instruction is converted (or replaced) with a fused instruction(s), which indicates an operation writing the at least one first portion and the second portion of the register. In this manner, conversion of multiple instructions for generating a constant into the fused instruction(s) removes the potential for a read-after-write hazard and associated consequences caused by dependencies between certain instructions, while reducing a number of clock cycles required to process the instructions.
US09477470B2	System and method for compiling machine-executable code generated from a sequentially ordered plurality of processor instructions A method and system are provided for deriving a resultant software program from an originating software program having overlapping branches, wherein the resultant software project has either no overlapping branches or fewer overlapping branches than the originating software program. A preferred embodiment of the invented method generates a resultant software program that has no overlapping branches. The resultant software is more easily converted into programming reconfigurable logic than the originating software program. Separate and individually applicable aspects of the invented method are used to eliminate all four possible states of two overlapping branches, i.e., forward branch overlapping forward branch, back branch overlapping back branch, and each of the two possible and distinguishable states of forward branch and back branch overlap. One or more elements of each aspect of the invention may be performed by one or more computers or processors, or by means of a computer or a communications network.
US09477466B2	Information processing apparatus and instruction offloading method In general, according to one embodiment, an information processing apparatus includes an issuer and a communicator. The issuer issues an offload instruction corresponding to a first process executed in company with a first identifier capable of uniquely specifying a resource of a first arithmetic operation device. The communicator transmits the offload instruction to a second arithmetic operation device and receives a result of execution of the offload instruction from the second arithmetic operation device. In the second arithmetic operation device, the first identifier contained in the offload instruction is converted into a second identifier capable of uniquely specifying a resource of the second arithmetic operation device, and processing specified by the offload instruction is executed.
US09477462B2	System and method for software product versioning packaging, distribution, and patching A system and method for software product versioning, packaging, distribution, and patching. The system provides for convergence of registry models, adding critical information to a home registry and simplifying processing algorithms in the install framework. In accordance with an embodiment, a product alias element is added to a Product Provisioning model, referencing one or more products. This provides a loose coupling between the external market-oriented product name and version, and the internal product names and versions. The internal product names and versions are captured in the registry and used for all code-based decisions during installation and other provisioning related activities. In accordance with an embodiment, a Feature Model is also added to the Product Provisioning model, and modules are grouped under features.
US09477459B2	Method and device arrangement for managing the use profile of a terminal device A server, terminal device, and a non-transitory data storage medium for supporting wireless terminal devices of a cellular network for implementing program updates are described. The server includes a memory, a processor which receives instructions from the memory for execution, programs utilized in the wireless terminal devices, a receiver, and a transmitter. The receiver is configured to receive a message from a wireless terminal device requesting installation of a program to the wireless terminal device. The installation is caused by a change of an activated use profile of the wireless terminal device to another use profile, when the wireless terminal device is in an operating state with power on. The activated use profile and the another use profile include dissimilar lists of programs required in certain use situations of a user. The transmitter is configured to send the program to the wireless terminal device as an over-the-air message.
US09477456B2	Method for installing and simultaneously updating operating system software A method for installing operating system software on a machine computer for controlling machines includes transmitting further operating system software, in addition to old operating system software already running on the machine computer, while the machine is operating. The method also includes installing the further operating system software on the machine computer while the machine is operating, transferring user data from the old operating system software to the further operating system software while the machine is operating, and switching off the machine computer and choosing between starting the old operating system software and starting the newly installed further operating system software when switching on the machine again.
US09477454B2	Automated software deployment Particular deployment logic is selected that describes a plurality of steps in a type of software deployment. Release data is identified that defines a selection of a set of software artifacts to be deployed in a particular deployment. Further, environmental data is selected that describes configuration of a target system for the particular deployment. First associations are determined, using data processing apparatus, between steps in the plurality of steps and software artifacts in the set of software artifacts. Second associations are determined between steps in the plurality of steps and configuration information of the target system used in the respective steps. The artifacts are automatically deployed on the target system, using one or more data processing apparatus, based on the first and second associations.
US09477453B1	Technologies for shadow stack manipulation for binary translation systems Technologies for shadow stack management include a computing device that, when executing a translated call routine in a translated binary, pushes a native return address on to a native stack of the computing device, adds a constant offset to a stack pointer of the computing device, executes a native call instruction to a translated call target, and, after executing the native call instruction, subtracts the constant offset from the stack pointer. Executing the native call instruction pushes a translated return address onto a shadow stack of the computing device. The computing device may map two or more virtual memory pages of the shadow stack onto a single physical memory page. The computing device may execute a translated return routine that pops the native return address from the native stack, adds the constant offset to the stack pointer, and executes a native return instruction. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09477451B1	Generating dynamic measurement metadata for efficient compilation and optimization on a target device Techniques are described for improving compilation and optimization of application code based on generated metadata based on one or more dynamic measurements of the application code. In one example, a method comprises generating metadata based on one or more dynamic measurements of a code portion. The method further comprises associating the metadata with one or more selected segments of the code portion. The method further comprises deploying the one or more selected segments of the code portion with the associated metadata to a target unit for compilation and optimization.
US09477450B2	Manual refinement of specialized classes in runtime environments While a runtime specializer may always be able to generate an automated specialized version of a generic class, in some cases an alternate form of user control over specialization may allow the use of automated specialization while also adding (or overriding) specialization-specific method implementations. In general, the set of members of a generic class may not change when the class is specialized. In other words, the same members may exist in the auto-specialized version as in the generic version. However, manual refinement of specialized classes may allow a developer to hand specialize a particular (possibly a better) representation and/or implementation of one or more methods of the specialized class.
US09477445B1	Implicit software dependency analysis Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for generated aggregated dependencies between software elements in a code base. One of the methods includes receiving a request to generate implicit dependencies introduced by remote procedure calls in a project. A registration of a remote procedure call is identified, wherein the registration of the remote procedure call specifies a target function and a name for the remote procedure call. An invocation of the remote procedure call using the name for the remote procedure call is identified, wherein the invocation occurs in a source software element of the project. A definition of the target function of the remote procedure call is identified, wherein the target function is defined in a target software element of the project. A new dependency is generated, the new dependency being a dependency from the source software element to the target software element.
US09477441B2	Double rounded combined floating-point multiply and add Methods, apparatus, instructions and logic are disclosed providing double rounded combined floating-point multiply and add functionality as scalar or vector SIMD instructions or as fused micro-operations. Embodiments include detecting floating-point (FP) multiplication operations and subsequent FP operations specifying as source operands results of the FP multiplications. The FP multiplications and the subsequent FP operations are encoded as combined FP operations including rounding of the results of FP multiplication followed by the subsequent FP operations. The encoding of said combined FP operations may be stored and executed as part of an executable thread portion using fused-multiply-add hardware that includes overflow detection for the product of FP multipliers, first and second FP adders to add third operand addend mantissas and the products of the FP multipliers with different rounding inputs based on overflow, or no overflow, in the products of the FP multiplier. Final results are selected respectively using overflow detection.
US09477440B2	Capacitive proximity sensor configuration including a speaker grille An example embodiment includes a playback device that includes a capacitive proximity sensor; one or more speakers; a conductive speaker grille; and a control system that decouples a grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor from the conductive speaker grille while the one or more speakers are rendering audio and couples the grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to the conductive speaker grille while the one or more speakers are not rendering audio.
US09477429B2	Block storage gateway module, method for providing access to block storage, mediator system and mediating method for storage, cloud storage system, and content delivery apparatus Disclosed herein is a block storage gateway module comprising a receiver unit and an access unit. The receiver unit intercepts an operating system call indicating a local access to a storage volume in order to generate a proximal access command. The access unit proximally accesses a storage array based on the said command. The storage array corresponds to the storage volume; the proximal access corresponds to the local access. Also disclosed herein is a mediator system for storage, the system comprising a load balancer device and one or more storage resource devices. Each storage resource device comprises an aforementioned module and a daemon module. The load balancer device receives a remote access request, selects one storage resource device, and sends an address of the selected storage resource device in a grant message.
US09477427B2	Storage tiering based on virtual machine operations and virtual volume type To optimize front-end operations performed on virtual machines, a storage tiering module preemptively guides the placement of virtual volumes in storage tiers within a storage system. Upon detecting a front-end operation request, the storage tiering module identifies a storage requirement, such as an expected provisioning activity level during the front-end operation. Based on the identified storage requirement, the storage tiering module selects an appropriate storage tier. Subsequently, in preparation for the front-end operation, the storage tiering module places the virtual volume at the selected storage tier. Because the storage tiering module places the virtual volume in a tier that reflects the resource consumption expected during the front-end operation, the storage system does not incur the performance degradation that often precedes tier movement in conventional, reactive approaches to storage tiering.
US09477425B1	Managing object deletion A method is used in managing object deletion. Updated information about a system is repeatedly polled for. An information set is received identifying an object to be deleted from a system management model that is descriptive of the system. An iterative process is applied to determine other objects in the system management model that are unidentified in the information set and that are affected by deletion of the object. The object is deleted.
US09477424B1	Methods and systems for using an intelligent storage adapter for replication in a clustered environment Methods and systems for synchronous replication of data are provided. A master intelligent storage adapter operating within a cluster having a slave intelligent storage adapter receives a plurality of write requests; generates a first input/output (I/O) request for storing the data for the plurality of write requests at a first storage device; and generates a second I/O request for a replication module executed by a computing device for synchronously storing the data at a second storage device. The computing device initiates a synchronous replication operation to replicate the data for the plurality of write requests at the second storage device.
US09477416B2	Device and method of controlling disk cache by identifying cached data using metadata Provided are a device and method of controlling a dish cache, wherein a time of seeking a disk cache may be shortened and a hit rate of a disk cache may be increased. The device includes a main memory including a buffer cache, a flash memory including a flash cache, and a controller controlling the buffer cache and the flash cache, wherein the buffer cache and the flash cache are enabled to cache a data block stored in a disk, and the controller identifies a position where the data block is cached using metadata.
US09477406B2	Locating data in non-volatile memory Systems and methods presented herein provide for locating data in non-volatile memory by decoupling a mapping unit size from restrictions such as the maximum size of a reducible unit to provide efficient mapping of larger mapping units. In one embodiment, a method comprises mapping a logical page address in a logical block address space to a read unit address and a number of read units in the non-volatile memory. The method also comprises mapping data of the logical page address to a plurality of variable-sized pieces of data spread across the number of read units starting at the read unit address in the non-volatile memory.
US09477403B2	Drawing on a touchscreen A touchscreen device may be configured to facilitate drawing lines, circles, and shapes through use of a guide device placed on the touchscreen. The touchscreen device may detect the position and orientation of the guide device, for example, by determining an axis of the guide device based on a set of locations at which the guide device triggered contact signals on the touchscreen. Based on the detected position and orientation of the guide device on its touchscreen, the touchscreen device may display one or more lines or shapes on the touchscreen. If a user traces a portion of such a displayed line or shape, the touchscreen device may display the traced portion. A button on the guide device may be configured to cause the touchscreen device to sequentially display available lines and shapes. The user may also configure the button to display one or more user-generated shapes.
US09477396B2	Device and method for providing a user interface A device and method for providing a user interface using information are provided. The device includes a display unit, a sensor and a controller. The display unit displays at least one graphic user interface (GUI). The sensor generates a sensor signal according to a user's finger touch input. The controller receives the sensor signal from the sensor, identifies a touch area and an adjacent area based on the received sensor signal, generates touch finger shape-based information according to the identified touch area and the identified adjacent area, and controls the display unit to display the GUI according to the generated finger shape-based information.
US09477393B2	Device, method, and graphical user interface for displaying application status information An electronic device with a display concurrently displays a device status region, and an application user interface that includes a content region and an application input field. While concurrently displaying the device status region and the application user interface, the device receives first input in the application input field. In response, the device concurrently displays respective content in the content region in accordance with the first input, and first text that corresponds to the first input in the application input field. While concurrently displaying the respective content and the first text, the device detects a second input that corresponds to a request to scroll the respective content in a first direction. In response, the device scrolls the respective content in the first direction, ceases to display the application input field, and displays, adjacent to the device status region, the first text.
US09477390B2	Device and method for resizing user interface content Heuristics for resizing displayed objects within an electronic document are disclosed. The heuristics include resizing displayed objects to predefined ratios, resizing displayed objects by predefined increments, relating resizing of displayed objects to a global reference grid, and resizing a plurality of displayed objects aligned to an axis.
US09477388B2	Image processing device, image processing method and program There is provided an image processing device including a map screen generation portion that, based on image pickup position information indicating a plurality of image pickup positions of moving images picked up, generates a map screen including a map on which a trajectory line indicating a movement trajectory of the image pickup position is drawn, a display control portion that causes a display portion to display the map screen, and a position detecting portion that detects a position on a display screen of the display portion which a user specifies using an operating body, wherein the position detecting portion detects a point on the trajectory line specified by the operating body, and, based on the image pickup position information, the display control portion causes a thumbnail image of the moving image picked up at an image pickup position corresponding to the detected point to be displayed on the map screen.
US09477382B2	Multi-page content selection technique A multi-page content selection mode is provided for devices and systems having display capability. The content may be any type (e.g., text, images, files, etc). In some cases, the user can engage the mode with a combination of gestures and touch points on a touch screen. The combination may include, for example, one or more initial touch points at a desired starting location of target content, followed by a dragging gesture moving from that location to a desired end location of that content. Content between the starting and end locations is selected. Input devices other than touch screens can be used to engage the selection process. During a multi-page selection process, content of a second page can be previewed in a preview area on a first displayed page. In some such cases, content from the second page scrolls into the preview area and displaces content from the first displayed page.
US09477378B2	Method and apparatus for providing a user interface A method and apparatus for providing a user interface, at a device, is provided. The method includes displaying a first user interface associated with a specific user; receiving a selection of the first user interface; and displaying a communication function list for connecting with the specific user.
US09477375B1	Techniques for insertion of content into chat communication A computer-implemented technique can include providing, at a computing device including one or more processors, a chat application user interface for display. The chat application user interface can be associated with a real-time chat communication between a user of the computing device and another user of another computing device via a chat application. The technique can also include determining that the user of the computing device is interacting with a non-chat application other than the chat application. Additionally, the technique can include determining shareable content of the non-chat application and modifying the chat application user interface to include a selectable indicator of the shareable content. The technique can also include receiving a selection of the selectable indicator by the user, and in response to receiving the selection, transmitting the shareable content of the non-chat application to the other user of the other computing device via the chat application.
US09477373B1	Simultaneous zoom in windows on a touch sensitive device Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to a technique for generating simultaneous zoom in windows on a touch sensitive device. A first portion of the user content is zooming into by touching the display screen in a proximity of the first portion using the touch input device while retaining an original zoom size of a first remaining portion of the user content. A second portion of the user content from the first remaining portion is zoomed into by touching the display screen in a proximity of the second portion using the touch input device while retaining a zoomed in first portion and an original zoom size of a second remaining portion of the of the first remaining portion, the original zoom size of the first and the second remaining portions being the same.
US09477372B2	Cable reader snippets and postboard Various systems and methods are provided that allow reviewers to quickly save, identify, retrieve, and share communications. For example, systems and methods described herein may allow a reviewer to store at least a portion of a communication, called a snippet, in a postboard. For example, a reviewer can highlight a portion of the content of a communication. Once the portion is highlighted, the reviewer can select a snippet command, which stores the highlighted portion in the postboard. Each snippet stored in a postboard includes at least a portion of the content that was highlighted and a link to the communication from which the snippet originates.
US09477371B2	Meeting roster awareness Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for providing meeting roster awareness for participants in a conference. An example system configured to practice this method can first identify participants in a conference, and retrieve, from a source external to the conference, information describing relationships between the participants. Then the system can compute, based on the information, a relationship graph assigning a relationship strength for at least two of the participants. The system provides an indication of the relationship strength to one of the participants, such as providing an indication of relationships of which other participants are not aware. Sources external to the conference can include a social network, a communication history, an organizational chart, a directory, or group membership, for example.
US09477370B2	Method and terminal for displaying a plurality of pages, method and terminal for displaying a plurality of applications being executed on terminal, and method of executing a plurality of applications A method of displaying a plurality of pages on a screen of a terminal is provided. The method includes detecting a user's gesture that requests movement of the plurality of pages, identifying a movement mode relating to the movement of the plurality of pages, and moving and displaying a first page displayed on the screen and a second page connected to the first page displayed on the screen according to the identified movement mode, wherein the movement mode is one of a discrete mode and a continuous mode.
US09477365B2	Touch display device having auxiliary capacitor A touch display device having auxiliary capacitor, including: at least one touch operation area, each having two opposing substrates, between which are a first electrode, a first conductive line coupled with the first electrode, a second electrode, a second conductive line coupled with the second electrode, and a display layer neighboring both the first electrode and the second electrode; a display driver unit for outputting at least one display driving voltage; a touch detection unit having at least one touch signal sensing port; at least one auxiliary capacitor, each coupled with one of the at least one touch operation area; and at least one switch element; wherein, each of the at least one display driving voltage is coupled to one of the at least one touch operation area via one of the at least one switch element.
US09477364B2	Device having multi-layered touch sensitive surface A touchscreen display device may include a capacitive sensor disposed adjacent to a top surface of the display device, and a resistive sensor disposed below the capacitive sensor. A backlight may selectively illuminate a pattern on an inner side of the top surface of the display device, so that the pattern is visible from outside the display device when the backlight is activated, and is not visible when the back light is not activated.
US09477357B2	Touch input system and method for detecting touch using the same A touch input system and a touch detection method using the same are disclosed. With the disclosed touch input system, the size and manufacturing costs of the stylus are reduced while finger touch and touch of stylus without a battery are distinguished and detected. The touch input system includes a sensor panel including a plurality of first channels and a plurality of second channels, crossing each other, a stylus including one or a plurality of primary coils connected in series to each other, a resonance capacitor connected in parallel to the primary coil, and a conductive tip connected to the primary coil, a ground connected to the stylus, an antenna loop formed outside an edge of the sensor panel, and a touch controller connected to the first channel, the second channel, and the antenna loop.
US09477355B2	Touch panel and display Provided are a touch panel and a display, the touch panel, including: a substrate; a connection part formed on the substrate; an insulating part formed on the connection part; a first electrode part electrically connected to the connection part; and a second electrode part insulated with the connection part.
US09477352B2	Making display device with pixel-aligned micro-wire electrode A method of making a display device includes providing a first substrate having an array of pixels located in correspondence thereto, the pixels separated by inter-pixel gaps in at least one dimension. A first electrode having a length and width is formed and located over the first substrate and extends across at least a portion of the array of pixels, the first electrode including a plurality of electrically connected micro-wires formed in a first micro-pattern. The method further includes locating the gap micro-wires of the first micro-pattern between the pixels in the inter-pixel gaps so that the gap micro-wires substantially extend continuously along the first electrode length.
US09477347B1	Touch screen and touch display device The present invention provides a touch screen and a touch display device. The touch screen comprises a plurality of common electrodes, a plurality of driving electrodes and a plurality of sensing electrodes, the common electrodes and the driving electrodes are alternately provided in the same layer, the common electrodes, the driving electrodes and the sensing electrodes are insulated from each other, wherein the sensing electrodes are correspondingly provided in an orthographic projection direction of the common electrodes, each of the sensing electrodes includes a plurality of electrode strips, distribution densities of the electrode strips in edge regions adjacent to the driving electrodes are larger than that in a center region far away from the driving electrodes. The touch screen can reduce the shunt capacitances of the sensing electrodes, increases the touch changes of the touch screen, thus the signal-noise ratio and the performance of the touch screen are remarkably improved.
US09477346B2	Display for mobile device with abrasion resistant siloxane coating An abrasion resistant coating is applied to a display of a mobile device. In an embodiment, the coating includes a first layer including siloxane; a second layer including siloxane, wherein the second layer has opposing sides and a hardness greater than the first layer; and a third layer including an amorphous carbon selected from a diamond-like carbon and a diamond-like nano-composite. The first layer and third layer are positioned on opposing sides of the second layer. The third layer has a hardness greater than the second layer.
US09477345B2	Display device, and device and method for driving the same A display device and a device and method for driving the same are provided. The display device minimizes leakage of a stage in a standby state to hold a voltage of a Q node of the stage during touch operation.
US09477344B2	Panel A panel including a substrate, a plurality of wirings and a protection stacked layer is provided. The substrate has a device area, a bonding area and a wiring area connected between the device area and the bonding area. The wirings extend from the device area to the bonding area through the wiring area. The protection stacked layer extends from a side of the wiring area adjacent to the device area towards a side of the bonding area and is located on the wirings.
US09477342B2	Multi-touch force sensing touch-screen devices and methods Described are methods and devices including a touch sensor layer configured to receive touch input and a force sensor layer stacked with the touch sensor layer, the force sensor layer includes an array of force sensors configured to receive force input. The force sensor array includes individual force sensors. Specific sensors of the disclosed force sensor array are associated with specific locations of the touch screen to add information that can be used to decipher which key is actually being pressed and may avoid falsing. Both a touch signal and a force signal are utilized to determine the validity of a user touch input. In one embodiment each force sensor may operate independently of the others. Particular embodiments are described that utilize a coarse grid to determine valid touch inputs and that make a determination of a centroid location based on a plurality of force sensors to determine valid touch inputs.
US09477333B2	Multi-touch manipulation of application objects The manipulation system described herein provides a common platform and application-programming interface (API) for applications to communicate with various multi-touch hardware devices, and facilitates the interpretation of multi-touch input as one or more manipulations. Manipulations map more directly to user intentions than do individual touch inputs and add support for basic transformation of objects using multiple touch contacts. An application can use manipulations to support rotating, resizing, and translating multiple objects at the same time. The manipulation system outputs two-dimensional (2D) affine transforms that contain rotation, scale, and translation information. Thus, using the manipulation system the application author can focus more on building touch-capable applications and let the manipulation system handle the underlying transformations and communication with the multi-touch hardware.
US09477331B2	Touch detection at bezel edge This relates to a method of extrapolating proximity information to generate a border column or row of touch nodes (also known as touch pixels) and then fitting an ellipse to the contact patch including the extrapolated border touch nodes. Additionally, a contact can be identified as a thumb based on both its major axis and its distance to an edge of the touch sensing surface.
US09477330B2	Stylus tilt tracking with a digitizer A method for detecting orientation of a stylus with respect to a digitizer sensing surface includes detecting a signal emitted by a stylus at a plurality of coordinates on a digitizer sensing surface, determining coordinate of a writing tip of the stylus, defining at least one feature characterizing an asymmetrical spread of the stylus signal on the digitizer sensing surface with respect to the writing tip coordinate, and characterizing an orientation of the stylus responsive to the characterization of the asymmetrical spread.
US09477329B1	Vehicle interior control system having knobs with plurality of display representations System for controlling the interior of a vehicle including a center button for selecting a mode, an inner knob for selecting a function, and an outer knob for adjusting that function. The system may include an outer display for graphically displaying different options for adjusting the selected function. The system may also include a processor which may generate instructions to effectuate the function adjustment upon the user actuating the knobs and/or the center button. A display on the center button may display modes, and an inner display located behind the inner knob may display functions.
US09477328B2	Fully clickable trackpad According to one general aspect, an apparatus includes a trackpad that includes a cover member having a top surface and a switch coupled to the cover member. At least two spring members are coupled to the trackpad and are each disposed at a non-zero distance from each other and are each configured to collectively bias the trackpad in a first position in which the top surface of the cover member is in a first plane. The trackpad is movable to a second position in which the top surface of the cover member is in a second plane substantially parallel to the first plane when an input force is exerted on the top surface of the cover member. The switch is configured to trigger an electrical signal within a computer when the trackpad is moved to its second position.
US09477326B2	Method of determining object position and system thereof The present invention provides a method for determining an object position, including the following steps: determining the intensities of a plurality of pixels; determining that a portion of pixels in the plurality of pixels belong to an object image corresponding to an object; and determining coordinate data of the object based on a number of pixels in each row or column of the portion of the plurality of pixels belonging to the object image and the coordinates of pixels in the portion of the plurality of pixels belonging to the object image. The present invention also provides a pointing system.
US09477325B2	Device and method for identifying a laser pointer A device is provided for identifying at least one laser pointer, including a laser projector having a scanning mirror device by which a projection surface is able to be scanned periodically; a modulation device for a laser beam of the at least one laser pointer; and a detection device, situated within the laser projector, for detecting the modulated laser beam of the at least one laser pointer.
US09477319B1	Camera based sensor for motion detection The amount of power and processing needed to process gesture input for a computing device can be reduced by utilizing a separate gesture sensor. The gesture sensor can have a form factor similar to that of conventional cameras to reduce costs by being able to utilize readily available low cost parts, but can have a lower resolution and adjustable virtual shutter such that fast motions can be captured and/or recognized by the device. In some devices, a subset of the pixels of the gesture sensor can be used as a motion detector, enabling the gesture sensor to run in a low power state unless there is likely gesture input to process. Further, at least some of the processing and circuitry can be included with the gesture sensor such that various functionality can be performed without accessing a central processor or system bus, thus further reducing power consumption.
US09477318B2	Surface determination via bone conduction Concepts and technologies are disclosed herein for surface determination via bone conduction. According to one aspect, a user device can identify a surface via bone conduction. The user device can identify one or more controllable devices to control using the surface. The user device can detect a user interaction, such as a gesture, performed by a user on the surface. The user device can provide an instruction to the controllable device(s) to cause the controllable device(s) to perform one or more operations in response to the user interaction with the surface.
US09477315B2	Information query by pointing Navigating through objects or items in a display device using a first input device to detect pointing of a user's finger to an object or item and using a second input device to receive the user's indication on the selection of the object or the item. An image of the hand is captured by the first input device and is processed to determine a location on the display device corresponding to the location of the fingertip of the pointing finger. The object or the item corresponding to the location of the fingertip is selected after the second input device receives predetermined user input from the second input device.
US09477310B2	Free fingers typing technology The present invention provides the Free Fingers Typing Technology by fingers tapping on a surface, a technology that allows the user to type, point/select (on the display of a computer or computer-based-device) or play music with bare fingers without keyboard, without display pointing/selecting device and even without computer. The invention provides at least: one methodology to execute the finger movements, one convention to code the finger movements, two techniques to recognize the finger movements, a family of apparatus to optically monitor and recognize finger movements as well as the specifications of a plurality of related computer programs all used with the objective of interpreting finger-surface taps and converting them into computer characters, keyboard key strokes, functions of display-pointing/selecting device, music notes etc. . . . The invention provides means for free fingers typing, pointing/selecting and music playing suitable for all devices requiring a keyboard such as computers, personal digital assistants, cellular phones, gaming devices, musical instruments or other keyboard or display pointing/selecting based devices.
US09477306B1	Mutamorphic haptic substrate Substrates for components such as a display, touch sensor, multifunction stackup, and so forth may incorporate one or more haptic actuators configured to generate haptic output. These actuators may be formed from a portion of a body of the substrate, or separate pieces bonded or otherwise affixed to the substrate. Audible output resulting from activation of the actuators may be minimized by coupling the actuators such that they produce a physical displacement of the body of the substrate within, rather than orthogonal to, the plane of the body of the substrate.
US09477304B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program An information processing apparatus includes an image analysis unit that executes a process for analyzing an image captured by a camera, a speech analysis unit that executes a process for analyzing speech input from a microphone, and a data processing unit that receives a result of the analysis conducted by the image analysis unit and a result of the analysis conducted by the speech analysis unit and that executes output control of help information for a user. The data processing unit calculates a degree of difficulty of the user on the basis of at least either the result of the image analysis or the result of the speech analysis and, if the degree of difficulty that has been calculated is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value, executes a process for outputting help information to the user.
US09477302B2	System and method for programing devices within world space volumes Aspects of the present disclosure relate to controlling the functions of various devices based on spatial relationships. In one example, a system may include a depth and visual camera and a computer (networked or local) for processing data from the camera. The computer may be connected (wired or wirelessly) to any number of devices that can be controlled by the system. A user may use a mobile device to define a volume of space relative to the camera. The volume of space may then be associated with a controlled device as well as one or more control commands. When the volume of space is subsequently occupied, the one or more control commands may be used to control the controlled device. In this regard, a user may switch a device on or off, increase volume or speed, etc. simply by occupying the volume of space.
US09477301B2	Operation support device and assembly method thereof An operation support device having a surgical instrument unit and a surgical instrument unit support section, includes: an intermediate member connected to the surgical instrument support section and configured to hold the surgical instrument unit; a shielding member having a hole portion engaged with the intermediate member; and a driving force supply unit installed at the surgical instrument support section. A first space and a second space are formed by an assembly constituted by the shielding member and the intermediate member engaged with the hole portion as a boundary. The intermediate member is connected to the surgical instrument support section at a side of the first space, and holds the surgical instrument unit at a side of the second space. The driving force supply unit and the surgical instrument support section are disposed in the first space.
US09477299B2	Systems and methods for facilitating device control, device protection, and power savings Systems, methods, and apparatus to facilitate wireless device monitoring and control are provided. A first device controller may be adapted to be disposed within a power connector, in series with conductors of the power connector. The power connector may be adapted to provide power from a power source to a device. The first device controller may include two terminals to electrically couple the first device controller with the conductors of the power connector. The first device controller may further include a power component to power the first device controller. The first device controller may be configured to monitor one or more conditions of the device, control one or more functions of the device, and wirelessly communicate with a system controller that is remote from the power connector and the device. The power connector may correspond to a power plug and/or a terminal block.
US09477296B2	Apparatus and method for controlling power of electronic device having multi-core A method of controlling on/off of a core based on a used amount of an operating core and the number of tasks in an electronic device having a multi-core, and an apparatus thereof, includes confirming a load of an operating core and the number of executable tasks at a predetermined period, determining whether the load of the operating core and the number of executable tasks meet a defined on/off condition of the multi-core, and controlling on/off of the multi-core when the load of the operating core and the number of executable tasks meet the defined on/off condition of the multi-core.
US09477286B2	Energy allocation to groups of virtual machines An embodiment of a system for managing energy identifies a plurality of groups of virtual machines in a computer system and allocates the energy in the computer system for a next time interval to a plurality of groups of virtual machines based on an energy budget and a policy selected from a set of policies in conjunction with a minimum energy, a group priority and a virtual machine priority.
US09477279B1	Data storage system with active power management and method for monitoring and dynamical control of power sharing between devices in data storage system A data storage system is implemented with an active power monitoring and control performed by a control node elected among a number of nodes. A real-time power monitoring information is supplied to the control node from, a power monitoring logic residing at each device in the system. The devices in the data storage system are pre-allocated with respective individual power budgets which are below the maximum power usage thereof. The power budgets of all the equipment cumulatively constitute a power budget assigned to the group of equipment. The control node controls dynamically and in real time power sharing between the plurality devices so that the devices with required power usage below the pre-allocated power budget can share their extra power credits with devices which are in need for extra power for performing its operation. The control node provides sharing of the power among the equipment in the data storage system with a goal of avoiding exceeding of the cumulative power budget assigned for the entire system or the cluster of the equipment.
US09477277B2	Varying power load conditions on systems under test An apparatus includes a system test module that initiates a system power test for a computer system. The computer system includes one or more power supplies that provide power to system components. The system power test includes determining power system characteristics under various loading conditions. The apparatus includes a configure module that configures a system component during the system power test. The system component uses a higher amount of power after being configured than in a previous un-configured condition. The apparatus includes a de-configure module that de-configures the system component during the system power test. The system component uses a lower amount of power after being de-configured than in a previous configured condition. The apparatus includes a diagnostic module that measures power system performance of the computer system during varying loading conditions caused by configuring and de-configuring one or more system components by the configure module and the de-configure module.
US09477276B2	System and method for switch management A system and method for switch management includes a switch including a plurality of switch modules, and a status display panel. The plurality of switch modules includes one or more power supply modules for providing power to the switch, one or more cooling modules for cooling the switch, and one or more switching modules. The switch is configured to detect the plurality of switch modules, interrogate the detected switch modules, hierarchically organize status information based on information associated with the interrogated switch modules, and display the organized status information on the status display panel. The status information is displayed on the status display panel using an interactive status display system. In some examples, the switch further includes a plurality of status indicators, and the switch is further configured to temporarily activate the status indicators in response to active use of the status display system.
US09477274B2	Cooling fan suspension vibration filter An information handling system cooling fan has a vibration filter that tunes out predetermined fan vibration frequencies to reduce fan vibration transfer from the cooling fan to an information handling system chassis in a targeted frequency range. For example, a leaf spring and damper are biased between the cooling fan and a fan bay support so that stiffness of the spring attenuates selected vibration frequency ranges of the cooling fan bay subsystem, such as frequency ranges where the vibrations have the greatest amplitude or frequency ranges where the vibrations tend to damage other components of the information handling system. In one embodiment, a vibration source generates out-of-phase vibrations that cancel cooling fan vibrations to further reduce overall system vibration output.
US09477270B2	Electronic device An electronic device is provided, comprising: a first case having a first accommodating space, where a first surface of the first case has a first opening for the first accommodating space; and an interface part having a bottom surface with a same shape as the first opening, where the bottom surface is a cross section with a greatest area of the interface part. M I/O interfaces are disposed inside the interface part, and connecting ports of the M I/O interfaces are exposed on a first surface of the interface part which is not the bottom surface, M is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and the M I/O interfaces are connected to a circuit board located inside the first case.
US09477265B2	Image display device An image display device includes a display to output an image, a first support plate disposed at a rear surface of the display for support, a second support plate spaced apart from a rear surface of the first support plate, and having electronic devices mounted thereon, and at least one hinge unit to connect the first support plate and the second support plate to each other by a hinge such that the second support plate resists transformation during transformation of the first support plate.
US09477257B1	Methods and apparatus for limiting a number of current changes while clock gating to manage power consumption of processor modules A dispatch module implemented in at least one of a memory or a processing device is operatively coupled to multiple processing modules, each having a first clock configuration and a second clock configuration. The dispatch module, at a first time, changes a first processing module included in the multiple processing modules from a first clock configuration to a second clock configuration. The dispatch module prohibits, at a second time within a predetermined time period and after the first time, a second processing module included in the multiple processing modules from changing from the first clock configuration to the second clock configuration if an indicator associated with a number of changes of the multiple processing modules between a first clock configuration and a second clock configuration within the predetermined time period and prior to the second time satisfies a criterion.
US09477256B2	Electronic circuit with a sleep mode and a bypass connection for conveying a slow clock signal The present invention concerns an electronic circuit comprising a control signal processing circuit with a control signal input and a control signal output circuit, the processing circuit being arranged to process a control signal applied to the control signal input, and to operate in at least one of a first power mode and a second power mode, the second power mode having a lower power consumption than the first power mode. The electronic circuit further comprises a control signal processing circuit bypass means for providing, when the processing circuit is in the second power mode, a bypass connection for conveying the control signal from the control signal input to the control signal output circuit, thereby bypassing the processing circuit.
US09477254B2	Shift error safeguard for a transmission in a motor-vehicle A shift safety device for a manual transmission having a gear shift shaft that rotates to select shift gates and moves to shift gears. The device has a blocking element which, during selector motion towards a shift gate, is driven by the gear shift shaft, against a spring, from a starting position into a blocked position, in which the device blocks further selector motion of the gearshift shaft, and which, during subsequent shifting motion of the gearshift shaft, is released and returned back to the starting position, by the spring, thereby permitting further selector motion. A driver arm, disposed on the gear shift shaft, moves the blocking element tangential to the arc traversed during selector motion by the driver arm between the starting and blocking positions. The blocking element moves in the linear track traversed during shifting of the driver arm and is pretensioned toward the starting and center positions.
US09477253B2	Steering system for a marine vessel A steering system for a marine vessel comprises a helm, a control head, and a joystick. The helm and control head may respectively provide user inputted steering commands and user inputted shift and throttle commands on a first CAN network. The joystick and the control head may respectively provide user inputted steering commands and user inputted shift and throttle commands on a second CAN network. The helm may provide user inputted steering commands on the first CAN network. The control head may provide user inputted shift and throttle commands on the second CAN network. The joystick may provide user inputted steering commands and user inputted shift and throttle commands on either the first CAN network or the second CAN network.
US09477251B2	Reference voltage circuit A reference voltage circuit including a constant voltage circuit and a resistance voltage divider circuit. The constant voltage circuit includes a Zener diode, and a bias current circuit connected in series with the Zener diode and causing a constant current to flow into the Zener diode. The resistance voltage divider circuit is connected in parallel with the Zener diode, and includes first and second resistors connected in series. The first resistor is connected to a cathode side of the Zener diode, and is formed of a low temperature coefficient resistor body that is temperature-independent. The second resistor is connected to an anode side of the Zener diode, and is formed of a resistor body having temperature characteristics that are the reverse of output temperature characteristics of the Zener diode.
US09477248B2	Direct-current power supply utilizing system and direct-current microgrid network utilizing same A direct-current power supply utilizing system includes: at least one direct-current power supply that produces a direct-current output; an alternating-current commercial power supply; a direct-current converter that converts the alternating-current commercial power supply into direct-current power; and a direct-current load device that receives supply of direct-current power from both at least one direct-current power supply and the commercial power supply which has been converted into direct-current power, where a back-flow prevention diode is individually connected between the at least one direct-current power supply and the direct-current load device and between the direct-current converter and the direct-current load device, and a power supply priority supply device that preferentially supplies power to the direct-current load device from the side of the direct-current power supply is connected.
US09477246B2	Low dropout voltage regulator circuits In an embodiment, a voltage regulator is disclosed. The voltage regulator circuit includes a switch, a first feedback circuit and a second feedback circuit. The switch is configured to receive an input signal at a first terminal and an error signal at a second terminal and configured to generate an output signal at a third terminal. The first feedback circuit includes a first transistor and a second transistor configured to control the error signal at the second terminal of the switch in response to a difference between the output signal and a reference signal. The second feedback circuit is configured to sense the error signal and generate a tail current at the second node and the fourth node to maintain substantially equal currents in the first transistor and the second transistor, respectively, thereby causing a voltage of the output signal as substantially equal to a voltage of the reference signal.
US09477241B2	HVAC controller with proximity based message latency control Message latency between an HVAC controller located within a building and a remote server may be reduced in response to a determination that a user is in proximity to the HVAC controller, and message latency may be increased when a user is not expected to be proximity to the HVAC controller. This may reduce the overall power consumption of an HVAC controller while still maintaining a good user experience. This can be particularly important for HVAC controllers that are powered by a local energy storage device, such as a battery.
US09477239B2	HVAC controller with wireless network based occupancy detection and control An HVAC controller that can detect if a user's mobile wireless device is currently connected to and recognized by a building's wireless local area network is disclosed. Depending on whether or not the user's mobile wireless device is currently connected to and recognized by the building's wireless local area network, the HVAC controller basis its control on unoccupied or occupied settings.
US09477236B2	Vehicle system and method for providing anticipatory line pressure for transmission engagements A method according to an exemplary aspect of the present discourse includes, among other things, controlling a vehicle by pressurizing a transmission pump in response to an anticipated shift change trigger. The anticipated shift change trigger may include touching a shift device of the vehicle, or detecting that a vehicle occupant is in proximity to the shift device of the vehicle.
US09477234B2	Valve A valve includes: a first chamber; a second chamber adjacent to the first chamber, and having a fuel discharge opening from which the fuel is discharged; an opening/closing hole configured to communicate the first chamber with the second chamber; an opening/closing member configured to open and close the opening/closing hole; a first contact spring having one end contacting an end of the opening/closing member at a side of the first chamber; a first control knob mounted to another end of the first contact spring; a diaphragm mounted to an end of the opening/closing member at a side of the second chamber; a second contact spring having one end connected to the diaphragm; and a second control knob coupled to another end of the second contact spring.
US09477233B2	Microfluidic system with a plurality of sequential T-junctions for performing reactions in microdroplets A microfluidic system with a plurality of sequential T-junctions for performing reactions in a plurality of droplets (plugs) of micro- to femtoliter volumes is disclosed. The microfluidic system is configured such that the plurality of plugs are flowing through a loading component, with the loading component splitting the plurality of plugs at each of the plurality of downstream T-junctions and each inlet of the plurality of detachable holding components is configured to be operably coupled with at least one of outlets of the plurality of downstream T-junctions so that the holding components received a plurality of split plugs in the immiscible carrier fluid from the loading component.
US09477229B1	Unmanned aerial vehicle control method and unmanned aerial vehicle using same A control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is provided. The UAV includes an accelerometer, a gyroscope, at least one drive unit and at least one rotor. The method includes: detecting current motion data from the accelerometer, wherein the motion data includes displacement of the UAV; determining whether the UAV is thrown up based on the motion data; detecting current ascending velocity of the UAV; determining whether the current ascending velocity of the UAV is substantially equal to zero; detecting current pitch angle and current angular velocity from the gyroscope if the current ascending velocity of the UAV is substantially equal to zero; calculating drive data based on the current pitch angle and current angular velocity; and enabling the at least one drive unit to drive at least one rotor to rotate so as to cause the UAV to hover evenly.
US09477227B2	Driver assistance system and method for operating a driver assistance system A driver assistance system and a method for operating a driver assistance system are disclosed. The driver assistance system includes an actuation device configured for automatically actuating a brake unit, a drive unit or a steering unit. An input device enters a user request for a driving maneuver executable by the driver assistance. A releasing device selectively releases an operation of the driver assistance system based on whether a release for the driver assistance system to be operated by the passenger of the motor vehicle is effected by the driver of the motor vehicle by means of the releasing device.
US09477223B2	Condition monitoring system and method Embodiments of a condition monitoring system and method provide an interface with visual aids that facilitate diagnosis of problems on an asset (e.g., a turbine, motor, pump, etc.). In one embodiment, the visual aids display fault data that corresponds to a fault condition such as bearing failure and/or shaft misalignment. The fault data is collected by sensors on the asset and processed by the condition monitoring system for use with the interface. In one example, the interface can include one or more icons, which represent fault conditions for the asset, and which an end user may select to display the visual aids on the interface. Selection amongst the different icons will change the visuals aid, the fault data, and other aspects of the interface to enable diagnosis and promote effective maintenance of the asset.
US09477222B2	Maintenance information device, condition sensor for use therein and method which can be carried out therewith for arriving at a decision whether or not to perform servicing or maintenance A maintenance information device and method for performing condition-based maintenance by monitoring of the condition of a technical system using a sensor. In order to permit the use of relatively simple sensors with relatively simple evaluation logics, the method and device perform decision making processes on the basis of hyperordinal signals from imperfect hyperordinal condition sensors.
US09477221B1	Hybrid architecture and method for absolute position to quadrature synthesis for motion detection and control A motor-based position system includes one or more motors having a rotor. The system further includes a motor controller. The motor controller is communicatively coupled to each of the motors. The system further includes one or more encoders configured to detect an absolute position of each motor and one or more devices configured to collect inertial data. The system further includes a processing device coupled to the motor controller, one or more encoders and one or more devices. The processing device is configured to receive signals indicative of motors' absolute position from the encoders and configured to convert the received encoder signals into a format understood by the motor controller. The processing device is further configured to send the converted signals to the motor controller with low latency and configured to combine the received encoder signals with the inertial data to generate more accurate positional information.
US09477220B2	Conveyor jam detection system and method A conveyor jam detection system and method includes a distance detector located on one side of a conveyor oriented to detect the distance from the detector to parcels on the conveyor. A controller is responsive to the distance detector and is configured to compare distance measurements, to reset a jam count if different distance measurements over time are greater than a threshold, to increment the jam count if different distance measurements over time are less than the threshold, and output a jam condition signal if the jam count exceeds a set limit.
US09477216B2	Numerical control device including display part for displaying information for evaluation of machining process A numerical control device according to the present invention includes a display part for displaying a program coordinate and a command coordinate such that they can be compared with each other. The display part may be adapted to further display an actual coordinate. The display part may also be adapted to further display a program trajectory, a command trajectory and an actual trajectory, which are obtained from a machining program and the program coordinate, the command coordinate and the actual coordinate, respectively.
US09477212B2	Safety switching device for the failsafe shutdown of an electrical load A safety switching device for the failsafe shutdown of an electrical load has at least one input circuit for receiving an input signal from a signaling device which signals a safety-related state, an evaluation and control unit for evaluating the input signal, and at least one output circuit for outputting an output signal. The safety switching device further has at least one switching element for interrupting a current supply path to the load in dependence on the input signal. The input circuit and the output circuit are joined at a device connector so that the device connector can selectively be used as an input for receiving the input signal or as an output for outputting the output signal. The input circuit has a test switch which is coupled to the evaluation and control unit which is designed for selectively suppressing the input signal using the test switch.
US09477211B2	Apparatus for controlling the operation of a machine, locking insert for such an apparatus, and associated method of operation An apparatus (1) for controlling the operation of a machine (3) includes a device for monitoring the status of a safety device (2), in particular a safety switch for monitoring the closed status of a safety gate or similar of the safety device (2). When the safety device (2) is in the closed state, the apparatus (1) can provide an enabling signal for operation of the machine (3) and has a detection device (10) for detecting a locking insert (14). The insert can be effectively connected to the detection device (10), is portable, and can be removed from the detection device (10) without the use of a tool. When the safety device (2) is in the closed state, the apparatus (1) will provide the enabling signal only if the locking insert (14) is effectively connected to the detection device (10).
US09477201B2	Cartridge, mounting method for coupling member, and disassembling method for coupling member A cartridge is detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The cartridge includes coupling member that is provided for receiving a rotational force for rotating a developing roller, with a cylindrical member movably supporting one end portion of the coupling member inside of the cylindrical member, and a cylindrical member side force receiving portion being provided inside the cylindrical member for receiving the rotational force received by the coupling member. The cartridge further includes a first regulating portion for preventing one end portion of the coupling member from disengaging in an axial direction of the cylindrical member; and a second regulating portion for regulating deformation of the first regulating portion in a state in which one end portion of the coupling member is mounted to an inside of the cylindrical member with deformation of the first regulating portion.
US09477189B1	Belt fixing device having moisture absorbing member and image forming apparatus According to one embodiment, a fixing device includes a cylinder-shaped rotatable fixing belt and a pressurizing rotating member which is arranged so as to face the fixing belt along an axial direction, and transports a recording medium by rotating along with the fixing belt. In addition, arranged in the fixing belt, a pressurizing member which presses the fixing belt from an inner peripheral portion toward the pressurizing rotating member side, and a support member which supports the pressurizing member, and arranged a moisture absorbing layer which absorbs moisture in air and discharges the absorbed moisture according to a temperature rise between the support member and the pressurizing member.
US09477187B2	Temperature-measuring device that measures temperature of sheet, and image-forming apparatus using the same An image-forming apparatus contains a control portion, a thermopile sensor, a temperature sensor, a fan, a heater, a guide plate temperature detection sensor, an external air temperature detection sensor, a fixing temperature detection sensor and the color sensor. The control portion calculates estimated sheet temperature of the conveying sheet using information such as guide plate temperature, external air temperature, fixing temperature and paper weight. The control portion controls the fan or the heater to drive so that sensor temperature of the thermopile sensor approaches the estimated sheet temperature of the sheet. The control portion controls the thermopile sensor to carry out a measurement of the temperature of the sheet when the sensor temperature falls within a set range in relation to the estimated sheet temperature.
US09477186B2	Image processing device and image processing method An image processing device has a first supplying portion that supplies a sheet on which an image is fixed previously. A removing portion removes the image formed on the sheet. A first storing portion stores the sheet from which the image is removed by the removing portion. The first supplying portion and the first storing portion are integrally formed as a unit capable of detaching from the main body of the image processing device.
US09477185B2	Heater control unit and image forming apparatus Provided is a heater controlling unit that includes: a power factor correction circuit configured to convert a first alternating-current voltage supplied from a power supply into a direct-current voltage; an inverter configured to generate a second alternating-current voltage from the direct-current voltage converted by the power factor correction circuit; and a heater to which the second alternating-current voltage generated by the inverter is applied.
US09477184B2	Image forming apparatus controlling temperature of fixing portion in image formation mode and in standby modes An image forming apparatus comprising sheet cassettes accommodating different kinds of sheets, respectively; an image forming station for forming images on the sheets fed from the accommodating portions in response to image formation instructions; a heater for heating the images on the sheets; an acquiring portion for acquiring information corresponding to kinds of the sheets; a controller configured to control a target temperature when the heater heats the image on the sheet, on the basis of the information; a selector for selecting one of modes including a first mode in which the target temperatures are set for the kinds of the sheets, respectively and a second mode in which the target temperatures are set commonly to the kinds of the sheets, wherein the controller sets the target temperature of the heater in a stand-by state, at a common temperature, when the selector selects the second mode.
US09477182B2	Fixing device of an image forming apparatus that utilizes edge detections for heat shield positional determinations A fixing device includes: a fixing member; an opposing member that provides a fixing nip with the fixing member; a heating unit that heats the fixing member; a heating area changing member that moves to change a heating area of the fixing member heated by the heating unit; and a position detection sensor that detects a position of the heating area changing member. The fixing device controls a stop position of the heating area changing member based on detection by the position detection sensor. The single position detection sensor detects the position of the heating area changing member both when the heating area changing member is moving from a preset reference position to an arbitrary position and when the heating area changing member is moving back from an arbitrary position to the reference position.
US09477181B2	Image forming apparatus and transfer power supply controlling method An image forming apparatus including an image carrier, a transfer member, an application circuit and a controller configured to acquire a transfer resistance value, the transfer resistance value being a value of electric resistance between the image carrier and the transfer member, determine whether the acquired transfer resistance value is less than or equal to a reference resistance value, and control the application circuit, in response to determining that the acquired transfer resistance value is less than or equal to the reference resistance value, to perform a current control process to cause a value of a transfer current passing through the transfer member becomes a target current value.
US09477175B2	Toner level sensing for a replaceable unit of an image forming device A method for programming memory of a replaceable unit of an electrophotographic image forming device according to one example embodiment includes determining an amount of toner in a reservoir of the replaceable unit. The amount of toner determined is converted to an estimate of an amount of rotation of a shaft that will be sensed before the reservoir of the replaceable unit runs out of usable toner. The estimate of the amount of rotation of the shaft that will be sensed before the reservoir of the replaceable unit runs out of usable toner is stored in the memory of the replaceable unit.
US09477171B2	Image forming apparatus that controls charging bias applied to charger An image forming apparatus includes a controller configured to apply a charging bias to a charger during image formation on a photoconductive body, an absolute value of the charging bias being a first absolute value. The controller applies a development bias to a development roller during the image formation, places the development roller in a development position during the image formation, after the image formation, reduces the absolute value of the charging bias to a second absolute value less than the first absolute value, after reducing the absolute value of the charging bias, separates the development roller away from the photoconductive body and places the development roller in a non-development position, and after placing the development roller in the non-development position, stops applying the development bias to the development roller.
US09477168B1	Polymer-encapsulated carbon black: process for its preparation and use thereof A process for preparing a polymer-encapsulated carbon black material is described. The process comprises: (a) preparing a mixture of an ionic monomer, a stabilizer and carbon black in water; (b) adding an initiator; (c) adjusting the temperature to a temperature above room temperature; and (d) adding at least one other monomer and a charge control agent to obtain the material. The process is performed under continuous stirring. The polymer-encapsulated carbon black material is surfactant-free and is used in the production of toners.
US09477164B2	Electrophotographic photosensitive member, method for producing the same, electrophotographic apparatus, and process cartridge A surface layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive member contains a cured product of a composition containing a hole transporting substance having an acryloyloxy group and/or a methacryloyloxy group and a siloxane-modified acrylic compound.
US09477159B2	Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method In an embodiment, a lithographic projection apparatus has an off-axis image field and a concave refractive lens as the final element of the projection system. The concave lens can be cut-away in parts not used optically to prevent bubbles from being trapped under the lens.
US09477156B2	Reflecting optical member, optical system, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method An exit-side fly-eye mirror is provided with a first mirror block having a mirror element as one of a plurality of mirror elements, and a second mirror block having a mirror element as one of the plurality of mirror elements. The first mirror block has a connecting part that protrudes from an area other than the mirror surface of the mirror element, the connecting part providing a connection to the second mirror block. With the connecting part of the first mirror block, a plurality of mirror elements that includes the mirror element of the second mirror block is positioned relative to the mirror element of the first mirror block.
US09477151B2	Alicyclic ester compound, and (meth)acrylic copolymer and photosensitive resin composition containing same The present invention provides, as a chemically amplified resist, a well-balanced resist or compound which results in improved sensitivity, resolution and line edge roughness (LER) without impairing the fundamental physical properties required as a resist (e.g., pattern shape, dry etching resistance, heat resistance). A mixture of cycloaliphatic ester compounds represented by general formulae (1) to (3), and a process for preparation thereof, as well as a (meth)acrylic copolymer comprising the cycloaliphatic ester compounds of general formulae (1) to (3) and a photosensitive resin composition thereof are provided.
US09477149B2	Photoresist composition, compound, and production method thereof A photoresist composition containing (A) a polymer having a structural unit (I) that includes an acid-labile group, and (I) a compound represented by the following formula (1). In the following formula (1), R1, R2, R3 and R represent a hydrogen atom or a monovalent organic group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms. X represents a single bond, an oxygen atom or —NRa—. Ra represents a hydrogen atom, a hydroxy group or a monovalent organic group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, and optionally taken together represents a ring structure by binding with R each other. A− represents —SO3− or —CO2−. M+ represents a monovalent onium cation.
US09477148B1	Polymer, method for preparing the same, and a photosensitive resin composition thereof A polymer, a method for preparing the same, and a photosensitive resin composition thereof are provided. The polymer has a structure represented by Formula (I): wherein R1 is —OH, or —COOH; A1 is each A2 is independently each A3 is independently Z is —O—, —S—, —C(CH3)2-, —C(CF3)2-, m is a positive integer that is greater than 1; n is a positive integer that is greater than 1; i is a positive integer between 1 and 3; and, j is a positive integer between 1 and 20; and, the repeat units are arranged in a random fashion.
US09477145B2	Light source device having laser light emitting elements adhesively fixed to a light source element holder, projector, and light source device fabrication method A light source device has a laser light emitting element including a cylinder portion, a flange portion and lead wire terminals, a collimator lens, a collimator lens holder including a collimator lens mounting depressed portion and a hole portion communicating with the depressed portion and accommodating the cylinder portion, and a light source element holder holding the laser light emitting element and including a lead wire outlet hole portion accommodating the lead wire terminals and penetrating from a front surface to a rear surface, and a front surface of the flange portion is fastened by the perimeter of a rear end of the hole portion to press the laser light emitting element against the front surface of the light source element holder to thereby fix the laser light emitting element to the light source element holder, an adhesion fixing member being filled in the lead wire outlet hole portion.
US09477144B2	Self-photographing mount device A self-photographing mount device for holding a camera equipped user device at a distance from a user, comprising: a mounting structure having at least two corner mounting elements for mounting a camera equipped user device in parallel to a mounting plane; an extendable shaft having a handle at a proximal end thereof; and a hinge mounted on one of the at least two corner mounting elements to allow pivotal rotation of the extendable shaft from a folded position to an open position; when in the folded position, the extendable shaft is adjacent to the mounting plane and parallel to a diagonal of a back panel of the camera equipped user device; and when in the open position, the extendible shaft forms a wide angle with the mounting plane.
US09477140B2	Imaging device, camera system and image processing method An imaging device includes an optical information acquiring section that acquires optical information of a photographing optical system to form an image in the imaging element, an optical function calculating section that calculates an optical function to determine the correction function based on the optical information, a pixel function calculating section that calculates a pixel function to determine the correction function based on the pixel outputs of pixels positioned around focus detecting pixels, and a correction function selecting section (2172d) that selects the correction function to correct the pixel output to be output from the focus detecting pixels corresponding to current frame, based on the optical function, the pixel function and the optical information.
US09477134B2	Hybrid integration using folded Mach-Zehnder modulator array block An apparatus comprising a modulation block comprising a plurality of modulators, wherein each of the plurality of modulators comprises an optical input port and an optical output port, and wherein all of the optical input ports and all of the optical output ports are positioned on one face of the modulation block. Another apparatus comprising a modulation block comprising one or more Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs), wherein each MZM is coupled to an optical input port, an optical output port, and at least one electrical trace, wherein all of the optical input ports and all of the optical output ports are positioned on a first side of the modulation block, and wherein all of the electrical traces are positioned on a second side of the modulation block, and a planar lightwave circuit (PLC) coupled to the modulation block via an optical interface.
US09477133B2	Displaying medium and displaying apparatus A display device may include a display portion to maintain a display state in accordance with a voltage applied thereto; and a plurality of light transmission regions adjacent to the display portion at positions corresponding to a plurality of light sources arranged over the display portion.
US09477132B2	Method for forming microcapsules for electrophoresis display An embodiment of the invention provides a method for forming microcapsules for electrophoresis display by forming microcapsules through a complex coacervation reaction between a sulfonated styrene maleic anhydride copolymer and gelatin, wherein a mass ratio of the sulfonated styrene maleic anhydride copolymer to the gelatin is 1:10˜10:1. The method of the embodiment of the invention not only can obtain microcapsules with good sealability and stability, but also can obtain microcapsules having evenly distributed particle sizes and low cost.
US09477131B2	Driving thin film switchable optical devices Controllers and control methods apply a drive voltage to bus bars of a thin film optically switchable device. The applied drive voltage is provided at a level that drives a transition over the entire surface of the optically switchable device but does not damage or degrade the device. This applied voltage produces an effective voltage at all locations on the face of the device that is within a bracketed range. The upper bound of this range is associated with a voltage safely below the level at which the device may experience damage or degradation impacting its performance in the short term or the long term. At the lower boundary of this range is an effective voltage at which the transition between optical states of the device occurs relatively rapidly. The level of voltage applied between the bus bars is significantly greater than the maximum value of the effective voltage within the bracketed range.
US09477127B2	Thin film transistor substrate, manufacture method thereof and liquid crystal display The present invention provides a manufacture method of a thin film transistor substrate: forming a first metal layer, a first chemical vapor deposition layer, a second metal layer and a second chemical vapor deposition layer on a substrate; forming photoresistor on the second chemical vapor deposition layer; implementing exposure and development to the photoresistor; implementing via etching to a via area where the photoresistor on the second chemical vapor deposition layer is removed; implementing photoresistor ashing to remove the photoresistor in the area of the common capacitor; etching the silicon nitride layer; forming a pixel electrode layer. The present invention is capable of promoting video quality and saving the backlight power consumption.
US09477126B2	Liquid crystal display According to one embodiment, a liquid crystal display includes an array substrate provided with pixel electrodes including a first pixel electrode and a second pixel electrode aligning in a first direction, a first gate line placed on one side of the pixel electrodes in a second direction, a second gate line placed on the other side of the pixel electrodes, a source line extending along the second direction, a first pixel switch for switching connection of the source line with the first pixel electrode by a gate signal provided through the first gate line, and a second pixel switch for switching connection of the source line with the second pixel electrode by another gate signal provided through the second gate line, an counter-substrate provided with an common electrode, and a liquid crystal layer held between the substrates.
US09477120B2	Liquid crystal display device To provide an IPS mode liquid crystal display device suitable for a segment display type that is easy to dispose each electrode and lead wirings on the same surface. The liquid crystal display device comprises first lead wirings each connected to one of the first electrodes, second lead wirings each connected to one of the second electrodes, a terminal part exposed on one edge of the first substrate without overlapping the second substrate, first external extraction electrode terminals, a detour wiring provided to the terminal part that connects several second lead wirings of the plurality of second lead wirings to each other, with each of first external extraction electrode terminals electrically insulated, second external extraction electrode terminals where each is connected to the second lead wirings connected to the detour wirings or the second lead wirings not connected to the detour wirings of the second lead wirings.
US09477119B2	Array substrate and liquid crystal display device The array substrate according to the present disclosure may include gate lines, data lines, pixel units defined by the gate lines and the data lines, and an alignment film formed above the pixel units. The gate lines may extend in a horizontal direction, and a rubbing direction of the alignment film may be angled relative to a longitudinal direction at a first non-zero angle β.
US09477115B2	Backlight module and method for detecting electrostatic damage thereof A backlight module is disclosed. The backlight module comprises a circuit board, at least one light source disposed on the circuit board, and a positive probe-point and a negative probe-point, both provided on the circuit board. The positive and negative probe-points are electrically connected to the light source, and the positive probe-point and the negative probe-point are electrically connected with a current dividing element so that the light source is connected in parallel with the current dividing element. The positive probe-point and the negative probe-point are also collectively configured to detect an electrostatic damage of the backlight module.
US09477109B2	Method of manufacturing a display panel having a desired shape A method of manufacturing a display panel is provided. The method includes preparing a mother panel, disposing a wheel unit on the mother panel, and cutting the mother panel along a plurality of cutting lines using the wheel unit. The mother panel includes a boundary of the mother panel and a plurality of unit panels within the boundary. Each of the plurality of unit panels includes a first substrate, a second substrate facing the first substrate, a display area, and a sealant. The sealant is disposed between the first and second substrates to couple the first and second substrates. The wheel unit applies different pressures to the first and second substrates to cut the first and second substrates when the mother panel is cut.
US09477106B2	Array substrate of LCD display and a manufacturing method thereof The present invention provides an array substrate of LCD display and a manufacturing method thereof, the array substrate comprises a transparent substrate, gate lines and data lines which are disposed on the transparent substrate, wherein the array substrate further comprises: a transparent conducting bar and a gate short-circuit bar which are disposed on the transparent substrate, said transparent conducting bar is disposed below said gate short-circuit bar, said gate short-circuit bar and said data lines are arranged in a same layer. The present invention can avoid the problem of burning the gate short-circuit bar due to the occurrence of static discharge, the electrical defects in the array substrate can be normally detected and repaired in the array test process, thus the qualified product rate of the array substrate of LCD display is improved.
US09477104B2	Source driver with reduced number of latch devices A source driver with reduced number of latch devices includes a master latch device and at least one slave latch device. The master latch device has a first transmission gate, a first inverter, a second inverter, a first enable gate, and a second enable gate. The output of the second inverter is connected to the input of the first inverter. The at least one slave latch device has a second transmission gate, a third inverter, and a fourth inverter. When the first enable gate and the second enable gate receive a latch enable signal and a complementary latch enable signal respectively, the master latch device and the at least one slave latch device are concurrently driven to latch data.

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