| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09485887B1 |
Data center with streamlined power and cooling
A data center includes two or more rack computing systems, a free cooling system, and an electrical power system. The free air cooling system includes air moving devices external to the rack computing systems. The electrical power system includes switchgear and one or more power panels. The switchgear receives power from a utility power feed. The power panels receive power from the switchgear. The power panels supply electrical power to the computing devices. |
| US09485885B2 |
Stabilizing rack systems for seismic loads
A system for performing computing operations includes a rack that rests on a floor and a stabilization device coupled on the top of the rack. The stabilization device includes a mounting portion coupled to the rack, a ballast member, and one or more spring devices coupled between the ballast member and the mounting portion. The ballast member reduces displacement of the rack from seismic loads transmitted from the floor to the rack to mitigate effects of the seismic loads on the rack. |
| US09485878B2 |
Substrate structure having electronic components and method of manufacturing substrate structure having electronic components
The present invention relates to a substrate structure having electronic components and a method of manufacturing a substrate structure having electronic components and can reduce signal loss and internal resistance and improve process efficiency by bringing a first terminal of a first electronic component and a second terminal of a second electronic component in direct contact with each other or in direct contact with each other by solder to minimize a path between the electronic components. |
| US09485876B2 |
Methods of manufacturing printed circuit boards with stacked micro vias
A method of manufacturing at least a portion of a printed circuit board. The method includes: applying a lamination adhesive on a first plural-layer substrate that includes a plurality of circuit layers with at least one first metal pad on a first side of the first plural-layer substrate; applying a protective film on the lamination adhesive; forming at least one via into the lamination adhesive to expose the at least one metal pad on the first side of the first plural-layer substrate; filling at least one conductive paste into the at least one via formed in the lamination adhesive; removing the protective film to expose the lamination adhesive on the first plural-layer substrate; and attaching the first plural-layer substrate with a second plural-layer substrate that includes a plurality of circuit layers with at least one second metal pad on a second side of the second plural-layer substrate. |
| US09485873B2 |
Depositing bulk or micro-scale electrodes
Thicker electrodes are provided on microelectronic device using thermo-compression bonding. A thin-film electrical conducting layer forms electrical conduits and bulk depositing provides an electrode layer on the thin-film electrical conducting layer. An insulating polymer layer encapsulates the electrically thin-film electrical conducting layer and the electrode layer. Some of the insulating layer is removed to expose the electrode layer. |
| US09485872B2 |
Gas-blowing-hole array structure and soldering apparatus
In a gas-blowing-hole array structure, which enables gas to be blown to the whole surface of the conveyed member such as a printed circuit board, a semiconductor wafer or the like almost concentrically and allows the whole surface of conveyed member to be very uniformly heated or cooled, a nozzle pattern P2 of blowing nozzles 2 is arranged to be line symmetry with a nozzle pattern P1 of the blowing nozzles 2 in upper and lower divided sections of one side of the nozzle cover 3 relative to a center portion thereof that is orthogonal to a conveying direction, as shown in FIG. 1. In order for the arrangement patterns diagonally arranged in the nozzle cover 3 to become identical, the nozzle pattern P1 is arranged to be line symmetry with the nozzle pattern P2 of the blowing nozzles 2 in upper and lower divided sections of the other side of the nozzle cover 3. |
| US09485871B2 |
Method of making a light-emitting-diode lamp tube
An automatic production method of making a light-emitting-diode lamp tube is disclosed. The method includes providing a circuit board in a shape of a long strip, printing a bonding layer, mounting electronic inserts, heating up the circuit board, assembling a heat dissipation seat, assembling a translucent cover and assembling an end cap, thereby accomplishing the lamp tube. By the abovementioned steps, the light-emitting-diode lamp tube can be produced automatically, the manufacturing process can be simplified to reduce the labor cost, and the yield factor can be improved considerably. |
| US09485855B2 |
Substrate reinforcing structure
A substrate reinforcing structure for preventing and suppressing deformation or the like of a substrate with a fixed electric component socket.A first reinforcing plate in, for example, a frame shape is attached to a back surface of a wiring board. Further, a second reinforcing plate in, for example, a flat shape is provided on a back side of the first reinforcing plate. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a first insulating sheet is further provided between the wiring board and the first reinforcing plate, and a spacer is provided on the second reinforcing plate and abutted to a part of the wiring board where contact pins do not protrude. A second insulating sheet is further provided on the second reinforcing plate. |
| US09485850B2 |
Circuit device and method of manufacturing the same
A circuit device includes a heat detection component including lead terminals and a heat detection element, a heat-generating electronic component including lead terminals, and a substrate including a wiring pattern, holes, and lands, the heat detection component and the heat-generating electronic component being electrically connected to the substrate through the lead terminals thereof, wherein the lead terminals of the heat detection component are bent into a U-shaped or substantially U-shaped configuration such that the bent lead terminals are partly contacted with the heat-generating electronic component, and the heat-generating electronic component is sandwiched between portions of the lead terminals and the heat detection element of the heat detection component. |
| US09485849B1 |
RF particle accelerator structure with fundamental power couplers for ampere class beam current
A radio frequency particle accelerator structure and particle acceleration method are disclosed. Radio frequency electromagnetic energy is emitted from a fundamental power coupler coupled between a first electromagnetic resonant cavity sequentially coupled a second electromagnetic resonant cavity. The radio frequency electromagnetic energy is resonated in the first electromagnetic resonant cavity and the second electromagnetic resonant cavity. |
| US09485847B1 |
Method of aligning a laser-based radiation source
A method for temporally and spatially aligning a laser-based x-ray source and maintaining alignment is disclosed. A pump laser beam, which interacts with a plasma source to create an electron beam, is aligned with the electron beam. A scattering laser beam is overlapped with the pump laser beam at an intersection point. The pump laser beam and scattering laser beam alignments are monitored and adjusted to maintain optimal alignment during operation of the laser-based x-ray source. |
| US09485846B2 |
Method and system for inspecting an EUV mask
A structure for grounding an extreme ultraviolet mask (EUV mask) is provided to discharge the EUV mask during the inspection by an electron beam inspection tool. The structure for grounding an EUV mask includes at least one grounding pin to contact conductive areas on the EUV mask, wherein the EUV mask may have further conductive layer on sidewalls or/and back side. The inspection quality of the EUV mask is enhanced by using the electron beam inspection system because the accumulated charging on the EUV mask is grounded. The reflective surface of the EUV mask on a continuously moving stage is scanned by using the electron beam simultaneously. The moving direction of the stage is perpendicular to the scanning direction of the electron beam. |
| US09485843B2 |
Lighting control apparatus
Disclosed is a lighting control apparatus. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a lighting system control be easily configured, maintained, and repaired since additional light and block control of the lighting can be provided with ease by wireless control of the lighting through wireless communication. In addition, the present invention can control individual lamps by storing a control signal corresponding to an address for each lamp in a gateway according to a predetermined scenario. |
| US09485839B2 |
Pressure activated illumination apparatuses
A pressure activated illumination apparatus is provided. In some embodiments, a pressure activated illumination apparatus may comprise a pressure mat which includes a pressure switch configured to detect weight placed on the pressure mat; an illumination housing which comprises a light emitting element and is movable relative to the pressure mat; and a user control input configured to modulate the illumination of the light emitting element. The pressure mat may be in electrical communication with the illumination housing, and a light emitting element of the illumination housing may be configured to illuminate upon receiving an electrical communication from the pressure mat. |
| US09485836B2 |
Controlling apparatus for dimming level of light and controlling method of the same
Disclosed is a controlling apparatus for a dimming level of a light disposed on a ceiling surface, including: a sampling unit sampling an illumination value of a ceiling area depending on a change in a dimming level of the light; a communication unit receiving an illumination value of a floor area at a minimum dimming level of the light and an illumination value of the floor area at a maximum dimming level of the light; an estimation unit estimating an illumination value of the floor area at a current dimming level of the light based on an algorithm defined by using the illumination value of the floor area and the illumination value of the ceiling area at the minimum dimming level of the light, the illumination value of the floor area and the illumination value of the ceiling area at the maximum dimming level of the light, and the illumination value of the ceiling area at the current dimming level of the light; and a control unit controlling the dimming level of the light so that the estimated illumination value of the floor area and a target illumination value coincide with each other. |
| US09485833B2 |
Method and apparatus for increasing dimming range of solid state lighting fixtures
A system for controlling a level of light output by a solid state lighting load controlled by a dimmer includes a phase angle detector and a power converter. The phase angle detector is configured to detect a phase angle of the dimmer based on a rectified voltage from the dimmer and to determine a power control signal based on comparison of the detected phase angle with a predetermined first threshold. The power converter is configured to provide an output voltage to the solid state lighting load, the power converter operating in an open loop mode based on the rectified voltage from the dimmer when the detected phase angle is greater than the first threshold, and operating in a closed loop mode based on the rectified voltage from the dimmer and the determined power control signal from the detection circuit when the detected phase angle is less than the first threshold. |
| US09485832B2 |
Display panel, display device, and electronic unit
A display panel including: a panel section including a display region where a plurality of pixels are arranged, and a gap region provided in a gap between the pixels; and a barrier section including a plurality of transmissive regions in a two-dimensional arrangement, and a light-blocking region to be around each of the transmissive regions. The transmissive regions are each configured to make entirely visible any one of the pixels therethrough when a viewer views the panel section not from a front but from a first or second direction via the barrier section, the pixels are each configured by a plurality of sub-pixels varying in type, and the sub-pixels in each of the pixels are arranged not in stripes but differently. |
| US09485830B2 |
LED lighting apparatus
When an LED lighting apparatus which is a lighter load than an incandescent lamp or halogen lamp is connected to a dimmer, a malfunction may occur. The invention prevents the occurrence of such malfunction without defeating the purpose of low power consumption of the LED lighting apparatus. More specifically, the LED lighting apparatus includes a rectifier circuit, a light-emitting circuit connected to the rectifier circuit and containing a single or a plurality of LEDs in which current begins to flow when an output voltage of the rectifier circuit exceeds a threshold voltage, and a bypass circuit having a bypass path for making the current flow to the rectifier circuit without passing through the light-emitting circuit, and a detecting unit for detecting the current flowing through the light-emitting circuit, and wherein when the current detected by the detecting unit exceeds a predetermined value, the bypass circuit shuts off the current flowing through the bypass path. |
| US09485828B2 |
LED lamp comprising a safety module for safe operation on various ballasts
The current invention relates to a LED lamp (10) comprising at least one LED light source (103), at least one driver (101) for powering the LED light source (103), at least one input rectifier with a plurality of diodes for converting an AC current from mains into a DC current, providing electrical power to the driver (101), the LED lamp (10) further comprising a safety module comprising one first and one second modules (F1, F2) for protection against overcurrent and overheating of the EM ballast, the first module (F1) being put in series with the driver (101) and designed to interrupt current in case the driver fails when the LED lamp (10) is directly connected to the mains, and the second module (F2) being designed to interrupt current when at least one of the diodes of the input rectifier fails when the lamp is connected to the mains via an EM ballast. |
| US09485817B2 |
Control circuit of light emitting element
A control circuit of a light-emitting element comprises a rectifying unit which full-wave rectifies an alternating current power supply, a clock generator which generates and outputs a clock signal (CLK), a first comparator which compares a comparison voltage (CS) corresponding to a current flowing to the light-emitting element and a reference voltage (REF), and a switching element which is set to an ON state in synchronization with the clock signal (CLK) and which is set to an OFF state when the comparison voltage (CS) becomes greater than the reference voltage (REF) at the first comparator, to switch the current flowing to the light-emitting element. In this structure, a period of the clock signal (CLK) generated in the clock generator is varied, to reduce or inhibit noise. |
| US09485814B2 |
Systems and methods for a hysteresis based driver using a LED as a voltage reference
The present disclosure is directed to a hysteresis based driver that incorporates the forward voltage of the LEDs being driven into the design of the driver itself. Instead of providing a typical fixed voltage reference, the forward voltage of one or more LEDS driven by the driver is used as a voltage reference. As the input voltage varies during operation of the one or more LEDs, the current varies as well. This current change is larger than it would be without the LEDs and only resistors. This variable current measurement may be used as input into a hysteresis circuit that controls the switch that turns on and off the one or more LEDs. As such, the driver may not incorporate or use a typical fixed voltage reference such as one provided by a zener diode. |
| US09485811B1 |
Spray bottle warming system
A spray bottle warming system warms the liquid contents held within a spray bottle used in a hair cutting or styling salon. The device uses a housing that has a bottom and a base plate such that one or more heating coils are located either underneath or passing through the base plate. A sidewall of the housing forms an annular lip with an opening therebetween with the spray bottle resting on the base plate and secured by the annular lip and heated via the heating coils. The device is capable of sensing the weight of the spray bottle, either absolutely, or relative to an initial starting weight, so that the output of the heating coils is controlled by the weight sensed, the less weigh sensed, and thus the less contents within the bottle, the less heat output from the heating coils. |
| US09485804B1 |
High-speed WAN to wireless LAN gateway
A gateway interconnecting a high speed Wide Area Network (WAN) and a lower speed Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is provided. The high speed WAN is preferably connected to the gateway via a Fiber-to-the Home (FTTH) connection and associated FTTH modem. In general, the gateway includes an adaptable cross-layer offload engine operating to manage bandwidth between the high speed WAN and the lower speed WLAN. As data enters the gateway from the WAN at the high speed data rate of the WAN, the offload engine stores the data in a non-secure data cache. A rule check engine performs a stateless or stateful inspection of the data in the non-secure data cache. Thereafter, the data is moved from the non-secure data cache to a secure data cache and thereafter transmitted to an appropriate user device in the WLAN at the lower data rate of the WLAN. |
| US09485803B2 |
Radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) chip(s) for providing distributed antenna system functionalities, and related components, systems, and methods
Radio-frequency (RF) integrated circuit (RFIC) chip(s) allow for the integration of multiple electronic circuits on a chip to provide distributed antenna system functionalities. RFIC chips are employed in central unit and remote unit components, reducing component cost and size, increasing performance and reliability, while reducing power consumption. The components are also easier to manufacture. The RFIC chip(s) can be employed in distributed antenna systems and components that support RF communications services and/or digital data services. |
| US09485802B2 |
Encoded information reading terminal with user-configurable multi-protocol wireless communication interface
An apparatus may include a microprocessor and a wireless communication interface configured to perform at least one of receiving a first radio signal or transmitting a second radio signal. The microprocessor may be configured to execute at least one of a base-band encoder software program or a base-band decoder software program. The apparatus may be further configured to execute a wireless communication protocol selector software program that may be configured to optimize a value of a user-defined criterion in order to dynamically select at least one of a wireless communication network, a wireless communication protocol, and a parameter of a wireless communication protocol. |
| US09485801B1 |
Mobile communication device connected to home digital network
An electronic device in a home digital living network alliance (DLNA) network. The device comprises a memory, a processor, and a client application stored in the memory, when executed by the processor, communicatively couples to an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server, wherein communication between the client application and the IMS server is initiated by the client application, and forwards at least one of content or available service information from the home DLNA network to a mobile communication device via the IMS server. The application further polls the IMS server, and receives at least one of content or available service information from the mobile communication device via the IMS server, whereby issues with firewall, dynamic internet protocol address, and network address translation (NAT) in communicatively coupling the mobile communication device and the home DLNA network are limited. |
| US09485799B2 |
Method to connect a mobile node to a network
The invention relates to a method for connecting a mobile node (1) comprising a plurality of network connection interfaces (11a, 11b) to at least one network (3) using the mobile internet protocol with the following steps for the respective interfaces (11a, 11b): —the mobile node (1) retrieves a local IP address (CoAa, CoAb) and at least one DNS server (5, 5a, 5b) address using DHCP on the interface (11a, 11b), —the mobile node (1) stores in a list the at least one returned DNS server (5, 5a, 5b) address, —the mobile node (1) queries the at least one DNS server (5, 5a, 5b) which has its address stored in the list for home agent service and receives either a “service not supported” failure notification or the address of at least one home agent (9a, 9b) reachable on the interface (11a, 11b),—the mobile node (1) stores in the list the results of the query, either “service not available” or the home agent (9a, 9b) addresses returned for the respective DNS Servers (5, 5a, 5b) inquired, —the mobile node (1) obtains a home address (Ho Aa, Ho Ab) on the interface, _13 the mobile node (1) attempts to perform a binding update for care-of-address (Co Aa, Co Ab) and home address (HoAa, HoAb) towards the at least one home agent (9a, 9b) address stored in the previous list and updates its stored list accordingly with respective binding success or binding failure notifications, in case of success, the mobile node (1) records on the list a fully qualified domain name associated to the interface (11a, 11b). The invention also relates to the associated mobile node and DHCP unit. |
| US09485798B2 |
Mobile communication system, base station, user terminal, and processor
A mobile communication system which supports D2D communication that is direct inter-terminal radio communication, comprises: a user terminal that transmits and receives discovery signals for a discovery process of a communication target terminal of the D2D communication; and a base station that transmits discovery resource information indicating radio resources to be used for transmitting and receiving the discovery signals. The user terminal transmits and receives the discovery signals when the discovery resource information is received from the base station, by using the radio resource indicated by the received discovery resource information. |
| US09485795B2 |
Proximity-based coupling service
Systems and methods may provide for implementing a proximity-based coupling service. In one example, the method may include detecting, utilizing a first communication protocol, the presence of a second device by a first device, initiating a wireless network utilizing a second communication protocol, wherein the first device is to serve as a software-enabled access point (SoftAP), and configuring the second device to join the wireless network utilizing the second communication protocol. |
| US09485794B2 |
Methods and apparatus for using device to device communications to support IMS based services
A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided in connection with using D2D communications to support at least a portion of IMS based services. In one example, a first UE is equipped to perform communications with a second UE using an IMS session in which data traffic and signaling traffic are supported through a network, determine that the second UE is within a first proximity threshold of the first UE, establish a D2D communication link with the second UE, and transfer support of the data traffic to the D2D communication link while maintaining the support of the signaling traffic through the network. In an aspect, the first proximity threshold may be a distance, a signaling strength or a signaling quality between the first and second UEs between which D2D communications are supported. |
| US09485790B2 |
Apparatus and method for seamless commissioning of wireless devices
An apparatus is provided for commissioning a target device onto a wireless local area network (WLAN). The apparatus includes a smart wireless device. The smart wireless device has commissioning logic and a transducer. The commissioning logic is configured to format and direct transmission of one or more WLAN configuration packets that convey WLAN configuration data. The transducer is coupled to the commissioning logic, and is configured to transmit the one or more WLAN configuration packets over the transmission path to the target device, wherein the transducer is an existing component of the smart wireless device. |
| US09485789B2 |
Connection setup with an access selection of a terminal
A method for requesting a connection setup of a connection between a terminal (302) and a node (304) of a radio access network (300) is described. The radio access network (300) supports a first access and a second access of the terminal (302) to the radio access network (300) for the connection. The method is executed by the terminal (302). The method comprises determining (314) whether to at least partially accept a network defined condition of the radio access network (300) associated with the first access, selecting (316), from the first access and the second access, the first access based on a result of the step (314) of determining, and requesting (320a, b), from the node (304), the selected first access for the connection. The method may enable an improved management of a quality of service by the radio access network in association with a connection between a terminal and the radio access network. |
| US09485779B2 |
Method for resource management in a TDD cellular communication network and resource management system
A method for resource management in a cellular communication network, wherein said network includes at least one base station per cell for a plurality of cells that operates in TDD (Time Division Duplex) transmission mode, each base station having a respective coverage area is characterized in that said base stations are operated such that spatial zones exist—overlap areas—in which the coverage areas of at least two of said base stations overlap, wherein UEs within an overlap area utilize UL and/or DL resources from those of the respective base stations that best match their particular traffic demands in the UL and/or in the DL. Furthermore, a corresponding resource management system for use in a cellular communication network is disclosed. |
| US09485778B2 |
WiFi real-time streaming and bluetooth coexistence
A system and method for peer-to-peer communications is disclosed. A first wireless device receives a message from a second wireless device identifying communication requirements of a point-to-point communication involving the second wireless device. The first wireless device determines whether the second wireless device's communication requirements can be satisfied based on communication resources already committed for other communications. When the communication requirements of the second wireless device can be satisfied, the first wireless device generates a time sharing schedule to be used by the first and second wireless devices based on the already-committed communication requirements and the second device's communication requirements. The time sharing schedule may include a first portion for broadcast communication among a group of devices to which the first and second wireless devices belong, and a second portion for the point-to-point communications of the second wireless devices. |
| US09485777B2 |
Systems and methods for scheduling wireless communications
This disclosure provides coexistence strategies for a combined wireless communications device using multiple wireless protocols, such as WLAN and LTE. One or more periods having increased interference potential during an upcoming communication event of one wireless protocol may be identified and the transmission duration of another wireless protocol may be dynamically adjusted to reduce interference. In one aspect, a first period of potential interference during an upcoming LTE transmission may be predicted based on allocated LTE transmission power. The duration of the transmission may be adjusted so that a response to the transmission does not arrive during the first period. In another aspect, a second period of potential interference during an upcoming LTE reception may be predicted based on an estimated quality of LTE reception. The duration of the transmission may be adjusted so that the transmission does not being during the second period. |
| US09485775B2 |
Radio communication system, radio base station and radio communication method
The present invention is designed to execute adequate signaling even when individual user terminals perform communication to support separate types of communication, in MIMO transmission to use antennas having varying antenna configurations depending on the type of communication. A radio base station (200) has an antenna that has varying antenna configurations between at least two types of communication and that can transmit signals to all areas which the radio base station covers, in an antenna configuration to support at least one communication type 1, allocates radio resources to a downlink signal including capacities of a user terminal and a signal type to match a communication type, multiplexes a plurality of reference signals to be used in each communication type on the same resource block, generates precoding weights which allow the antenna to form a number of beams to match the communication type, and multiplies a downlink signal to supply to the antenna by the generated precoding weights. |
| US09485773B2 |
Synchronous TDM-based communication in dominant interference scenarios
Techniques for supporting communication in a heterogeneous network are described. In an aspect, communication in a dominant interference scenario may be supported by reserving subframes for a weaker base station observing high interference from a strong interfering base station. In another aspect, interference due to a first reference signal from a first station (e.g., a base station) may be mitigated by canceling the interference at a second station (e.g., a UE) or by selecting different resources for sending a second reference signal by the second station (e.g., another base station) to avoid collision with the first reference signal. In yet another aspect, a relay may transmit in an MBSFN mode in subframes that it listens to a macro base station and in a regular mode in subframes that it transmits to UEs. In yet another aspect, a station may transmit more TDM control symbols than a dominant interferer. |
| US09485772B2 |
Techniques for peer-to-peer network sharing
Techniques for peer-to-peer network sharing are described. In one embodiment, an apparatus may comprise a sharing control component and a local proxy component. The sharing control component may be operative to transmit an offer from the first mobile device to a second mobile device for the second mobile device to act as a proxy for the first mobile device for the performance of network services in return for a transfer of sharing credit from a first account to a second account with a sharing authority, the first account associated with the first mobile device, the second account associated with the second mobile device, and receive an offer acceptance from the second mobile device. The local proxy component may be operative to receive configuration information and configure the first mobile device to use the second mobile device as a network proxy using the configuration information. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US09485771B2 |
Random access using predictive mobility
Methods, systems, and devices are described for predicting a current random access transmission power detectable by a base station based on historical transmission power information. In one aspect, a mobile device may access a historical transmission power associated with a current state of the mobile device, with the historical transmission power based on mobility patterns of the mobile device. Based at least in part on the accessed historical transmission power, the mobile device may predict a current random access transmission power of the mobile device, where the predicted current random access transmission power is configured to elicit a random access response from a base station. In one aspect, the techniques described herein may reduce a number of power ramp steps taken by the mobile device during a random access procedure, reduce interference from the mobile device during the random access procedure, or both based on the predicted current random access transmission power. |
| US09485769B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining operating channel in wireless communication system
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system and, more specifically, to a method and an apparatus for determining an operating channel. The method for determining the operating channel of a station (STA) in a TV whitespace (TVWS) wireless LAN system, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises the steps of: receiving information on an index which indicates an operating class including channel start frequency, channel spacing, and channel set parameters; and determining a main frequency of the operating channel on the basis of the parameters indicated by the index of the operating class. The main frequency of the operating channel can be determined on the basis of a correction value which is set differently according to the configuration of a basic channel unit of the operating channel. |
| US09485765B2 |
Method and device for transmitting and receiving data by using multiple carriers in mobile communication system
To solve the above-mentioned problem, the method for transmitting and receiving a signal by user equipment (UE) through one or more cells, according to one embodiment of the present specification, comprises the steps of: receiving, from a base station, a first message indicating whether one or more cells usable by the UE are enabled; determining which cells to enable or disable on the basis of the first message; and enabling or disabling the selected cells. According to the embodiment of the present specification, by aggregating carriers amongst different base stations, a possibility for the UE to transmit and receive high-speed data through carrier aggregation can increase. |
| US09485764B2 |
Method and apparatus for encoding transport block
A method for encoding a transport block in a wireless communication system, and a wireless apparatus therefore are discussed. The method according to one embodiment includes determining, at a transmitting device, a size of the transport block based on a size of an allocated resource, a number of layers, and modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for the transport block, wherein the size of the transport block is determined from among a plurality of predetermined sizes, wherein the plurality of the predetermined sizes include 305976 bits, 324336 bits, and 391656 bits when the transport block is mapped to four-layer spatial multiplexing and when 256 Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is used for the transport block; and attaching at the transmitting device, a first cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code to the transport block to configure a first CRC-attached transport block. |
| US09485761B2 |
Method and apparatus for sending data and control information in a wireless communication system
Techniques for sending control information in a communication system are described. In an aspect, control information may be sent in a first frequency location (e.g., a first set of subcarriers) if data is not being sent and in a second frequency location (e.g., a second set of subcarriers) if data is being sent. In another aspect, control information may be processed in accordance with a first processing scheme if data is not being sent and with a second processing scheme if data is being sent. In one design of the first scheme, a CAZAC sequence may be modulated with each modulation symbol for control information to obtain a corresponding modulated CAZAC sequence, which may be sent on the first set of subcarriers. In one design of the second scheme, modulation symbols for control information may be combined with modulation symbols for data, transformed to frequency domain, and mapped to the second set of subcarriers. |
| US09485759B2 |
Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission method and apparatus
Embodiments of the present invention disclose an uplink MIMO transmission method, including: sending, by a UE, first data to a base station (NodeB) in a first process in an HARQ_RTT, and receiving an acknowledgement character related to the first data and returned by the NodeB; and determining, by the UE according to the acknowledgement character and a rank value to be used for next transmission, data transmission of the first process in a next HARQ_RTT. The present invention further provides a corresponding user equipment and base station. Implementing the method and apparatus provided by the present invention can enable a UE to correctly perform HARQ transmission using MIMO, thereby effectively ensuring performance of MIMO. |
| US09485749B2 |
Idle state interference mitigation in wireless communication network
A method in a mobile station for ranking cells in order to perform reselection from a serving cell to a second cell is disclosed. The method includes detecting a second cell that the mobile station is not allowed to access, determining resources used for transmission of a signal of the second cell, and applying a reselection bias if the resources used for transmission of the signal of the second cell do not substantially overlap resources used for transmission of a signal of the serving cell. |
| US09485745B2 |
Indoor location using a packet synchronized receiver array
Location of one or more devices in a monitored environment based at least in part on data communications between a device and a communication array disposed relative to the monitored environment. The communication array may include a plurality of nodes, at least two of which may be in operative communication with a mobile device. The plurality of nodes may be synchronized to a common time base with communications over a packet-switched communication network (e.g., employing IP communications or the like). In turn, communications between nodes of known location and a device may be used to determine ranging values at least in part based on characteristics (e.g., time of flight) of the communication. As such, a location may be determined by, for example, multilateration of a plurality of ranging values. |
| US09485744B2 |
Communication network nodes and methods performed therein
Determining a time synchronization inaccuracy value between a first node and a second node. A PTP packet is received including Node IDs representing respective transport nodes along a first path, and from the second node Node IDs are obtained representing respective transport nodes along a second path. Furthermore, a first common node of the first path and the second path is determined. The time synchronization inaccuracy value between the first node and the second node is calculated. By including Node IDs in received PTP packets before forwarding them to a node, the node is enabled to determine a first common node. Thereby, the node may calculate relative time inaccuracy values with respect to the other access network nodes, which may be used to decrease inaccuracy time synchronization for co-ordination functions. |
| US09485743B2 |
Method and apparatus for utilizing a second receiver to establish time and frequency
Apparatus and methods for synchronizing a network element (e.g. access points, femtocells, etc.) to a master network (such as a cellular network) to provide accurate frequency and/or time references for their internal systems. In one embodiment, the network element utilizes a dedicated receiver (or transceiver) to receive timing information from the master network. The implementation of the dedicated receiver is advantageous for cost and simplicity reasons. Furthermore, the timing or frequency information, as received from the master network, is used to correct the network element's internal timing. In addition, the network element's internal timing can operate in open-loop mode, if no master network can be found, thereby allowing for the device to continue providing service to network users. Additionally, a dedicated receiver can also receive information (e.g. location, SID, NID, SSID, etc.) local to the network element, such information may be useful or required for seamless operation within the master network. |
| US09485741B2 |
Energy saving management method for base station, apparatus and system
An energy saving (ES) management method for a base station includes: An integration reference point manager (IRPManager) initiates an ES enable/disable procedure or an ES activation/resumption procedure to an integration reference point agent (IRPAgent), where the ES enable/disable procedure is used to allow or prohibit an ES operation on the base station or a cell, and the ES activation/resumption procedure is used to cause the base station or the cell to go into or go out of an ES state. The technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present invention enable operators to perform unified management on an ES procedure for a base station at a base station level or a cell level. |
| US09485736B2 |
Task management across low-power wireless communications
Technologies related to task management across low-power wireless communications are generally described. In some examples, proximal devices in range of low-power wireless communications may cooperate to allow one or more of the proximal devices to suspend task operations, while one or more of the proximal devices manage the task operations. The task operations may be associated with an energy consumption that exceeds an energy consumption associated with the low-power wireless communications, allowing the proximal devices that suspend task operations to reduce their overall energy consumption. |
| US09485735B2 |
Apparatus and method for reducing power consumption in portable terminal
An apparatus and method for reducing power consumption of a portable terminal are provided. More particularly, an apparatus and method for reducing power consumption generated in an idle state in order to solve a power consumption problem in a portable terminal are provided. The apparatus includes a stale determination unit which is configured independently from an application processor for controlling applications and which wakes up when entering an idle mode to allow the application processor to sleep, and thereafter determines a state of the portable terminal, and if it is determined that the portable terminal escapes from the idle mode, allows the application processor to wake up. |
| US09485734B2 |
Wireless communication system method for synchronizing Bluetooth devices based on received beacon signals
The disclosure generally relates to a method and apparatus for Low-Energy Bluetooth (BLE) synchronization. In one embodiment, the disclosure enables BLE devices enabled with both BLE and IEEE 802.11 radios to synchronization using a non-BLE beacon signal. The beacon signal and available shared information between corresponding BLE devices are used to synchronize the BLE devices. In an exemplary method, the first BLE device receives a beacon signal having a reference timestamp and determines a first time-offset as a function of the reference timestamp. The first BLE device then selects an event time window as a function of the first time-offset and conducts a BLE event (advertising or scanning) during the event time window. The second BLE device also uses the beacon signal and the shared information to complement the first device's event by one of advertising or scanning. |
| US09485732B2 |
Dynamic adjustment of keep-alive messages for efficient battery usage in a mobile network
A method for IP [=Internet Protocol] communication between a mobile terminal and its correspondent node in a mobile radio network. The method comprises establishing an IP connection between the mobile terminal and its correspondent node. After detecting a period of inactivity in the IP connection, keep-alive messages are sent via the IP connection at predetermined intervals, which are varied. The method comprises monitoring the lengths of several periods of inactivity at which the mobile radio network disconnects the IP connection. Based on the monitored lengths of periods of inactivity, a maximum interval (TINT) between keep-alive messages is determined such that the maximum interval meets a predetermined criterion of statistical confidence, and the interval between keep-alive messages is set to the maximum interval (TINT). |
| US09485731B2 |
Method and device for accessing channel in wireless LAN system
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for performing a channel access by a station (STA) in a wireless communication system comprises the steps of: transmitting a first frame for a channel access request to an access point (AP); and receiving a second frame, which is a response to the channel access request, from the AP, wherein the first frame includes information indicating whether or not uplink data of the STA is present. |
| US09485730B2 |
Connection control method and electronic device therefor
A method and an apparatus for controlling communication connection in an electronic device are provided. The method includes detecting at least one peripheral, detecting at least one preference device among the at least one detected peripheral, and inactivating a communication module when at least one preference device is not detected among the at least one detected peripheral. |
| US09485727B2 |
Method and apparatus for fast TCH to idle transition
Techniques for determining if it is safe for a mobile device to transition directly from a traffic session to a paging mode and for avoiding network re-synchronization procedures in stationary M2M devices are disclosed. It may be safe for direct transition if before-call and in-call network parameters correspond. If safe, the mobile device may transition from the traffic session directly to the paging mode to begin immediately monitoring the paging channel. In stationary M2M devices, paging information is stored before the traffic session and, once the traffic session is complete, the M2M device may be configured to receive paging messaging based on the stored paging information. The M2M device may also store system access information and confirm the validity of the information before returning to the sleep state. The stationary M2M device avoids network re-synchronization procedures. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described. |
| US09485726B2 |
Method and apparatus for activating sleep mode of terminal
Provided are a method and apparatus for dormant mode operation in a user equipment. During dormant mode, data transmission between the user equipment and network is suspended. For dormant mode operation, the user equipment determines whether to enter dormant mode, and sends, upon determining to enter dormant mode, a dormant mode entry message containing dormant mode time information to the network. |
| US09485723B2 |
Method and apparatus for reducing cell site power consumption in a wireless network
A method, computer-readable storage device, and an apparatus for reducing power consumption in a wireless network are disclosed. For example, the method performs an analysis of a usage pattern for a cell site, determines whether a threshold is reached for reducing the power consumption based on the analysis of the usage pattern, and reduces the power consumption when the threshold is reached for reducing the power consumption. |
| US09485717B2 |
Measurement request and response for reception quality based notified cell identification
A mobile communication system including a base station which sets a plurality of cells and a mobile station is provided. In the mobile communication system, the base station notifies the mobile station in communication through a first cell among the plurality of cells, of the identification information of at least one cell among the plurality of cells, which can be used for communication with the mobile station and instructs the mobile station to measure a reception state of radio signals. The mobile station detects, in response to the instruction from the base station, a cell for transmitting radio signals which the mobile station is able to receive, and when identification information of the detected cell matches any of the identification information of the at least one cell, the mobile station notifies the base station of the identification information of the detected cell. |
| US09485716B2 |
Method and apparatus for low-power scanning in WLAN system
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more specifically, disclosed are a method and an apparatus for low-power scanning in a WLAN system. A method for a station (STA) scanning in the wireless communication system, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises the steps of: transmitting a null data packet (NDP) probe request frame; and receiving from an access point (AP) a probe reply frame as a replay to the NDP probe request frame, wherein the NDP probe request frame can include a compressed service set ID (SSID). |
| US09485713B2 |
Circuit, method, and related apparatus for avoiding channel interference
A circuit for avoiding channel interference, including a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) chip and at least one first single-pole multi-throw switch, where a movable end of the first single-pole multi-throw switch is connected to a signal transmit pin of the Wi-Fi chip; one non-movable end of the first single-pole multi-throw switch is connected to a first signal transmit tributary while another is connected to a second signal transmit tributary; and when the Wi-Fi chip determines that a first channel and a second channel interfere with each other, the movable end of the first single-pole multi-throw switch is controlled to connect to the second non-movable end of the first single-pole multi-throw switch, where the first channel is a wireless local area network channel, and the second channel is different from the wireless local area network channel. |
| US09485712B1 |
Data bandwidth optimization
Systems and methods for data bandwidth optimization are disclosed. A server receives, from a computing device, a request to begin a network data session. Responsive to receiving the request, the server allows the computing device to access network data at a full speed for a grace time period. Upon expiration of the grace time period, the server allows the computing device to access network data at a reduced speed for a monitoring time period. During the monitoring time period, the server monitors the computing device to determine whether the computing device is accessing network data in bursts or streaming data. Based on whether the computing device is accessing network data in bursts or streaming data, the server either allows the computing device to access network data at the full speed for a waiver time period or allows the computing device to access network data at the reduced speed until completion. |
| US09485703B2 |
Method for configuring wireless local area network in wireless metropolitan area network and wireless communication system supporting the same
A method for configuring a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) within a Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) and a wireless communication system supporting the same are provided. A dual-mode terminal is used as a relay for relaying between the WMAN and the WLAN and the relay divides a total service period into a WMAN period and a WLAN period. For the WMAN period, the relay accesses the WMAN and implements a WMAN service and for the WLAN period, it accesses the WLAN and implements a WLAN service. |
| US09485701B2 |
Balancing paging load and tracking area updates
A method for assigning a tracking area (TA) is disclosed. A mobility state of a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) is determined and the TA is assigned based on the determined mobility state. Also disclosed is a method for accessing a closed subscriber group (CSG) TA. A CSG TA identifier is received at a WTRU and is stored. A CSG TA broadcast is received and the broadcast CSG TA is accessed if an identifier of the broadcast CSG TA matches the stored CSG TA identifier. Also disclosed is a method for changing a mobility state of a WTRU. A current mobility state of the WTRU is determined and a predetermined metric of the WTRU is examined. The predetermined metric is evaluated to determine if the metric has crossed a threshold and the mobility state is changed based on the evaluated metric. |
| US09485688B1 |
Method and apparatus for controlling error and identifying bursts in a data compression system
The method and apparatus of the present invention provides for the compression and decompression of data bursts wherein the propagation of synchronization errors is limited to a desired number of signal samples and the start of a burst boundary is identified. In accordance with the present invention, a method and apparatus are provided for compressing data in a communication system by receiving data bursts comprising a plurality of uncompressed data packets at a compressor of the communication system, generating a start of burst parameter and a packet size parameter for each of the uncompressed data packets and compressing the data packets. At the decompressor, the compressed data packets are received and when a synchronization error occurs, the packet size parameter is used to limit the propagation of the error to a desired number of samples and to restore the data burst utilizing the start of burst parameter. |
| US09485684B2 |
Generalization of quality class indices in a wireless network
A PCEF (400) for a cellular system, arranged (405, 410) to receive data packets from at least one other node via a certain Radio Access Technology, RAT, the PCEF (400) also being arranged to communicate with a PCRF via a PCC interface. The PCEF (400) is further arranged (425, 430) to set up Service Data flows, SDFs, which SDFs are defined for the PCEF (400) by the PCRF over the PCC interface and which comprise filters for received data packets. Said filters define a Quality Class Index, a QCI, for each received data packet, and the PCEF (400) is arranged (415, 420) to interpret QCIs for received data packets up to and including a predefined value in a first predefined manner for all RATs, and to interpret (415, 420) QCIs over said predefined value in a second predefined manner. |
| US09485682B2 |
Mobile terminal testing apparatus and interference state simulating method for use in the same
A mobile terminal testing apparatus that is capable of simulating a state where an electric wave to multiple mobile communication terminals causes interference. The mobile terminal testing apparatus includes: a scenario processing unit that controls each unit of an apparatus in order to perform each procedure for testing according to a test scenario; a cell initialization processing unit that initializes a cell that is subject to interference and an interfering cell that interferes with the cell that is subject to the interference, with a parameter for the cell that is subject to the interference, and a parameter for the interfering cell; and a cell combination processing unit that adjusts output levels of a signal of the cell that is subject to the interference and a signal of the interfering cell and performs combination in order to simulate an interference state. |
| US09485676B2 |
Wireless communication device and method for searching for bypass route in wireless network
A wireless communication device comprising: a storage configured to store identification information identifying a particular adjacent device from among the plurality of wireless communication devices that is adjacent to the wireless communication device and that transmits, to the wireless communication device, data addressed to a final destination device; a generator configured to generate search data that includes information indicating a search of a route to the final destination device; a transmitter configured to broadcast the search data to adjacent devices; and a decision unit configured to determine that a bypass route from the particular adjacent device to the final destination device is not present when data that includes information indicating that the search data does not reach the final destination device is received from all particular adjacent devices for which identification information is stored in the storage. |
| US09485673B2 |
Method and apparatus for coordinating information request messages over an ad-hoc mesh network
An approach is provided for coordinating information request messages over an ad-hoc mesh network. A module receives at least one request to transmit one or more information request messages over an ad-hoc mesh network. The module determines context information associated with at least a portion of the ad-hoc mesh network, one or more nodes within the at least a portion of the ad-hoc mesh network, or a combination thereof. The module then determines to transmit the one or more information request messages over the ad-hoc mesh network based, at least in part, on the context information. |
| US09485666B2 |
Available channel information sharing system and available channel information sharing method
Disclosed are an available channel information sharing system and an available channel information sharing method, and an available channel information sharing system and an available channel information sharing method based on positional information and area information. The available channel information sharing system sharing available channel information for each unit region includes: a server; a white band device placed in the unit region; and a white band sensing device creating positional information and transmitting the created positional information to the server, receiving unit region information corresponding to the positional information from the server, and transmitting first available channel information based on channel information of a sensed broadcasting signal to the white band device. |
| US09485661B2 |
Method and apparatus for separable channel state feedback in a wireless communication system
Systems and methodologies are described herein that facilitate the generation and use of separable, hierarchical channel state feedback in a wireless communication system. As described herein, in the event that multiple network nodes cooperate to conduct downlink transmissions to a network user, channel state feedback as reported by the network user can be separated into intra-node feedback relating to per-node channel conditions and inter-node feedback relating to relative phase and/or amplitude between channels corresponding to respective nodes. Further, a network user can select to report intra-node feedback and/or inter-node feedback based on network instructions, a cooperation strategy to be utilized by respective network nodes, or the like. As additionally described herein, respective codebooks on which inter-node and intra-node channel feedback is based can be configured to convey information relating to a partial channel description and/or to vary based on resource units (e.g., sub-bands, resource blocks, etc.) utilized for downlink communication. |
| US09485660B2 |
Systems and methods to detect and characterize fake cell towers
Systems and methods to detect and characterize fake cell towers in a network operator's network include receiving live data comprising any of crowd-sourced data and tower data; performing live data analysis on the live data and reference data; and detecting the fake cell towers based on the live data analysis. Optionally, spectrum data captured at cell towers by a baseband processor coupled to backhaul equipment can be used as additional input. |
| US09485659B2 |
Method and apparatus for monitoring network device
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and an apparatus for monitoring a network device, and relate to the field of information network technologies. The method in the present invention includes acquiring basic service set identifiers (BSSIDs) of wireless network devices in a network system managed by a network management system and determining BSSIDs of unauthorized wireless network devices in the acquired BSSIDs of the wireless network devices in the network system by using a fingerprint database of authorized wireless network devices. The method also includes acquiring a media access control (MAC) forwarding table corresponding to a network port used by a user and determining an unauthorized wireless network device connected to the network port according to the BSSIDs of the unauthorized wireless network devices and a MAC address. |
| US09485657B2 |
Electronic apparatus and control method thereof
An electronic apparatus and a control method thereof are disclosed. The electronic apparatus according includes: a first communicator configured to communicate with an authentication terminal device; a second communicator configured to communicate with a new terminal device that is not registered with an access point (AP); a storage configured to store authentication information for accessing the AP; and a controller configured to control the second communicator to transmit the authentication information that is stored in the storage to the new terminal device in response to receiving terminal information of the new terminal device from the authentication terminal device through the first communicator. |
| US09485652B2 |
Method and system for managing mobility of mobile station in a mobile communication system using mobile IP
A method and system for managing mobility of an MS in a mobile communication system using Mobile IP are provided. It is determined whether to generate an authentication key for mutual authentication between the MS and an HA after access authentication with an AG. The authentication key is generated, if it is determined to generate the authentication key after the access authentication. An information request message is transmitted to the AG. A reply message including information allocated by an AAA server is received from the AG. A binding update message for registering mobility binding of the MS is transmitted to the HA. |
| US09485643B2 |
Method and systems for secure message transmission
Methods and systems for secure message transmission from a computing device of a sender to at least one recipient, the method comprising iteratively selecting a group until the sender indicates conclusion of the group to provide a selected group, selecting at least one recipient from each selected group to provide at least one selected recipient, composing a message to provide a composed message, selecting at least one device for each selected recipient to provide at least one selected device, wherein the composed message is to be dispatched to the at least one selected device, and indicating an alert notification on each of the at least one selected devices of the recipient, wherein the alert notification indicates dispatch of the composed message to the selected device. |
| US09485639B2 |
Method and device for adjusting and processing ringtone
A method and device for adjusting and processing ringtone is Provided, the method comprising: when a user equipment (UE) plays a ringtone, acquiring environmental audio data, the environmental audio data comprises the ringtone data played by the UE and the external environment noise data of the UE; analyzing the characteristic parameter of the ringtone played by the UE according to the acquired audio data; and adjusting the ringtone played by the UE according to the characteristic parameter. The disclosure solves the problem in the related art of how to automatically and accurately adjust the ringtone of a UE on the basis of different environments, thus achieving the effect of accurately adjusting the ringtone of the UE on the basis of different environments. |
| US09485636B2 |
Method and system for off-net message communications
Methods and apparatus for routing off-net Short Message Service (SMS) messages between a first service provider network and a terminating service provider network are provided herein. In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a first SMS message including a first identifier associated with a first subscriber of the first service provider network stored in a source address field directed to a second identifier, determining that the second identifier is associated with a second subscriber of the terminating service provider network, associating the first identifier with a local reply identifier in a mapping database, replacing the first identifier in the source address field with the local reply identifier, and routing the first SMS message including the local reply identifier stored in the source address field to the second identifier. |
| US09485630B2 |
Methods and devices for enabling reception of a specific service for terminals in idle mode
The present invention relates to methods and devices for enabling reception of a specific service for terminals idle mode. More particularly, the present invention relates to such methods and devices enabling mobility for terminals in idle mode so as to receive an MBMS service. In case a terminal is interested in the MBMS service, it applies different reselection rule than normal reselection rule i.e., when the terminal is not interested in the MBMS service. For instance, the terminal manipulates the priority indications received from an eNB and considers MBMS layer the highest priority in case the terminal is interested in MBMS service. If the terminal thus manipulates the priority due to the (intended) MBMS reception, the terminal starts an MBMS timer, which is received as a permission parameter from the eNB. |
| US09485628B2 |
User-location-in-building estimating apparatus and method thereof
An intrabuilding location estimating apparatus and a method thereof are provided. The method includes operations of measuring a user's location by using a global positioning system (GPS) or a wireless communication-based location obtaining device in the mobile terminal, obtaining interfloor movement information of the user that is detected via a sensor in the mobile terminal, and determining a floor on which the user is located, via map information and the interfloor movement information of the user. |
| US09485624B2 |
Transmission of location and directional information associated with mobile communication devices
A method and arrangement for providing location information of a called mobile communication device to a calling party are implemented through a mobile device locator platform disposed in the communication network. A mobile device subscriber to the location service initiates a process where the location of his mobile device is updated on a regular basis and the location information stored in a database on the platform. When a call is placed to his subscribed device, the location information is transmitted to the calling party prior to setting up the call to the called device, allowing the calling party to determine whether or not to proceed with the call, as well as eliminating the need to ask the common question “where are you?” when placing a call to a mobile device. |
| US09485617B2 |
Dynamic location-based mapping system and method
A system for providing a geographic location based information having a server which comprises a transceiver which is operated to receive a request for the geographic location based information of the plurality of people and a processor to locate, to determine a count, to represent the count as a pair of counters in a plurality of blocks and update the count at each counter. A user interface is configured to display the plurality of blocks with the pair of counters. The cloud server dynamically stores/updates user settings and interests of all network devices, stores advertisers static locations and updates ads based off users inputs and populates stored information on universal map shared by all users and also receives request to filter user's map by a Label and determines all users in viewing window of map that have that Label saved in their profiles and then sends results to the user. |
| US09485614B2 |
Method and arrangement for positioning in wireless communication systems
A method of improved positioning of a user equipment in a wireless communication network comprises receiving a positioning measurement from a user equipment in the wireless communication network and retrieving bandwidth reduction information. Further, the method includes detecting a deviation in the received position measurement based on the retrieved bandwidth reduction information, managing the received position measurement based on the detected deviation, and determining a position of the user equipment based at least on the managed received position measurement to provide improved positioning for the user equipment. |
| US09485608B2 |
Communication device
A communication device may monitor an establishment of a first type of communication link between a communication device and an external device while the communication device is in a first state in which a P2P mode of an NFC standard is active and a first mode of the NFC standard is active. The communication device may send first data to the external device by using the first type of communication link. The first data may include a command for causing the external device to execute an activation of a particular application. The communication device may change the state of the communication device from the first state to a second state in which the P2P mode is active, and perform the two-way communication with the external device that operates the particular application by using a second type of communication link. |
| US09485602B2 |
Techniques for using software application-related metadata in near field communication transmissions
A computer-implemented method includes determining, at a first mobile device associated with a first user, whether a second mobile device is within range for near field communication (NFC). When in range, the method includes receiving, at the first mobile device, first data and second data from the second mobile device via an NFC transmission, the first data being based on input from a second user associated with the second mobile device, the second data being metadata indicating a software application configured to process the first data. When the first mobile device does not have the software application indicated by the second data, the method includes retrieving, at the first mobile device, the software application via a network. The method also includes providing, at the first mobile device, the first data to the first user via the software application. |
| US09485600B2 |
Audio system, audio signal processing device and method, and program
An audio system including a first speaker and a second speaker that are arranged in front of a predetermined listening position to be substantially bilaterally symmetrical with respect to the listening position; a third speaker and a fourth speaker that are arranged in front of the predetermined listening position to be substantially bilaterally symmetrical with respect to the listening position; a first attenuator that attenuates components that are equal to or less than a predetermined first frequency of an input audio signal; and an output controller that outputs sounds that are based on the input audio signal from the first speaker and the second speaker and outputs sounds that are based on the first audio signal in which components that are equal to or less than the first frequency of the input audio signal from the third speaker and the fourth speaker. |
| US09485593B2 |
Acoustic device
This acoustic device can suppress a loss in sense of volume and sense of comfort. The acoustic device includes a vibration unit (10) including a piezoelectric element (101) that flexes and a panel (102) that vibrates by being bent directly by the piezoelectric element (101). The panel (102) includes a concavity (104), and the concavity (104) is contacted to a user's ear, causing the user to hear sound. |
| US09485591B2 |
Managing a hearing assistance device via low energy digital communications
Disclosed herein, among other things, are systems and methods for programming and modifying hearing assistance devices via low energy digital communications. One aspect of the present subject matter includes a method of using a hearing assistance device. The method includes providing characteristics and descriptors of the hearing assistance device compatible with a low energy digital communication protocol, the characteristics and descriptors accessible to an external communication device. According to various embodiments, the method also includes accepting individual read/write cycles from an external communication device configured to use the low energy digital communication protocol to read and update the characteristics and descriptors using an abstraction layer. The hearing assistance device is configured to compensate for a wearer's hearing loss based on the updated characteristics and descriptors, in various embodiments. |
| US09485587B1 |
Speaker device assembly with recoil vibration attenuating counter balance
In one embodiment, a speaker device assembly includes a first voice coil assembly moveable along an axis of a magnetic field of a magnetic core responsive to an induced current to facilitate pressure variations in a medium, and cause recoil vibration on a speaker device assembly structure. The speaker device assembly further includes a second voice coil assembly having a counter balance mass that accounts for at least a mass of the first voice coil assembly, and moveable along the axis of the magnetic field in a direction opposite the first voice coil assembly to attenuate the recoil vibration on the speaker device assembly structure, when the first voice coil assembly moves along the axis of the magnetic field. |
| US09485585B2 |
Shock resistant coil and receiver
A motor includes an armature, a coil, and a magnetic support structure. The motor also includes at least one magnet that defines a space. The coil forms a tunnel. The space is defined by the at least one magnet being aligned with the tunnel formed by the coil. Portions of the armature extend through the space and the tunnel. An opening at an end of the coil is shaped so as to restrict movement of the armature. |
| US09485583B2 |
Vibration unit for acoustic module
A vibration unit includes an encircling frame defining a vibration cavity therewithin, a vibration member disposed in the vibration cavity, and a suspension including an elastic diaphragm having a periodical wave-shape extended between the vibration member and the encircling frame to support the vibration member within the vibration cavity. The wave-shape diaphragm provides a 3-dimensional connection between the vibration member and the encircling frame to self-generate a repelling force to against a lateral movement of the vibration member so as to ensure the vibration member to be reciprocatingly moved in a linear direction. |
| US09485582B2 |
Speaker
An edge has an inner circumferential portion connected to an outer circumferential portion of a diaphragm, and is made of an annular elastic deformation member. A frame is connected to an outer circumferential portion of the edge, and supports the diaphragm through the edge. A magnetic circuit displaces the diaphragm in a first direction that is a sound emission direction and in a second direction that is an opposite direction to the sound emission direction, and vibrates the diaphragm. In a region between the inner circumferential portion and outer circumferential portion of the edge, the edge includes a rib, which is protruded in the second direction, and limits a stroke of the diaphragm in the second direction. |
| US09485581B2 |
Method of manufacturing speaker with diaphragm arrangement
A manufacturing method of a diaphragm arrangement for a speaker includes the steps of mold injecting polypropylene material as a raw material to form a middle foaming layer, and sandwiching the middle foaming layer between first and second layers to form a flat speaker diaphragm. The flat speaker diaphragm is arranged to mount at an opening of a supporting frame of a speaker for receiving a vibration force generated from an electromagnetic provider in the supporting frame. |
| US09485576B2 |
Control of a loudspeaker output
A loudspeaker drive circuit comprises an input for receiving an audio signal and a signal processor for processing the audio signal before application to the loudspeaker. The signal processor processes the audio signal to derive a loudspeaker drive signal which results in the loudspeaker membrane reaching its maximum displacement in both directions of diaphragm displacement. |
| US09485565B2 |
Sound generating apparatus and electronic apparatus including the same
A sound generating apparatus is provided for expanding a mid-range of a slit-firing type speaker system. The sound generating apparatus includes a vibrator, a body part which encloses the vibrator, a path through which the generated sound is transmitted, and a slit formed in a length direction of the body part connected to an end portion of the path and configured to emit the sound. |
| US09485564B2 |
System of sound reproduction with audio headsets provided with sound processors, components of such a system and associated method
The system comprises audio headsets able to apply audio processing operations in response to presets that are common to all the headsets, smart terminals provided with audio flow generation means, and communication means to transmit to the headsets an audio flow and presets to be applied to this flow. A preset server memorises the presets associated with works. Certain terminals can generate presets and transmit them to the server, whereas other terminals collect these presets to apply them to the corresponding works at the time of reproducing these latter. |
| US09485555B1 |
Burst-mode receiver
Provided is a burst-mode receiver configured to receive an optical signal having a preamble and a data payload, the burst-mode receiver including a first bias resistor coupled between a first voltage supply and a photosensor, a first capacitor coupled between the photosensor and an amplifier, a first common-mode resistor configured to supply a voltage of a common-mode voltage supply to the amplifier, a first bypass switch configured to couple the first capacitor to the common-mode voltage supply while bypassing the first common-mode resistor, and a first data switch configured to couple the first capacitor to the amplifier, and to couple the first capacitor to the common-mode voltage supply through the first common-mode resistor. |
| US09485552B1 |
Optical switch fabric with bias control
Methods and systems for bias control in an optical switch fabric include monitoring optical power at outputs of a plurality of switch elements in an N×N switch fabric that has N inputs, N outputs, and M≧2 stages. A bias control of a first of the plurality of switch elements is adjusted. It is determined whether the optical power at the outputs of the first switch element after bias control adjustment conform more closely to a predetermined criterion relative to the monitored optical power at the outputs of the first switch element prior to adjustment. The adjusting and determining steps are repeated for each of the remainder of the plurality of switch elements. |
| US09485546B2 |
Signaling video samples for trick mode video representations
This disclosure describes techniques relevant to HTTP streaming of media data. According to these techniques, a server device may signal a byte range for at least one intra-decodable (I-frame) of a video fragment. According to the techniques of this disclosure, a client device may communicate a request to a server device to retrieve the at least one I-frame based on the signaled byte range, and use the retrieved I-frame to provide a high speed version of a video presentation that includes the at least one I-frame. A high speed version of a video presentation may be a trick mode of the video presentation, such as a fast forward or fast rewind version of the video presentation. |
| US09485540B2 |
System and method for multi-device video image display and modification
Methods and systems for allowing multiple devices to display and annotate (or modify) a video image are described, where a content renderer device displays a video image that is also displayed (or viewed) by one or more content viewer devices, which can both display and annotate (or modify) the same video image at the same time, and the content renderer selectively determines whether or not a GUI menu is displayed on its display screen. Annotation commands (e.g., screen touch data) on the viewer devices are captured, packaged and sent to the content renderer, which creates a combined modified video image having the annotations from the viewer devices, displays it to the renderer display and sends it to the viewer devices for display thereon. Also, the viewer device may selectively display video content from multiple other peer devices as a composite video image, may annotate (or modify) each displayed video content independently, and may send a screen video image, or a portion thereof, to any other peer device. Any peer device may operate as a content renderer or content viewer, or both, at any given time, and peer devices may be running different operating systems. |
| US09485535B2 |
Notification of interactivity event asset delivery sources in a mobile broadcast communication system
Systems, apparatus and methods provide an automatic capability for generating interactivity event applications for execution on receiver devices within a broadcast network based upon interactivity event application data, information and sequence logic. Interactivity event content providers may provide to a broadcast network interactivity event application data, event metadata information and sequence logic a broadcast network. Interactivity resources for interactivity sequences associated with one or more real-time channels are broadcast over the broadcast network such that the resources share a file data flow, or such that they can be carried on separate file data flows. File data flow identifiers and overhead flow identifiers are indicated in the Service SI. Interactivity signaling messages for interactivity sequences associated with one or more real times channels are broadcast on auxiliary flows. |
| US09485534B2 |
Methods and apparatus to detect user attentiveness to handheld computing devices
Methods and apparatus to detect user attentiveness to handheld computing devices are disclosed. An example handheld computing device includes a detector to detect an orientation of the handheld computing and a distance between the handheld computing device and a user; an index associating a plurality of spatial combinations with respective levels of user attentiveness to a presentation on the handheld computing device; and a comparator to compare the orientation and the distance between the handheld computing device and the user to the spatial combinations to identify a level of attentiveness of the user. |
| US09485533B2 |
Systems and methods for assembling and extracting command and control data
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for assembling and extracting command and control data. In embodiments of the present disclosure, the command and control data is segmented and inserted into multiple packet headers. The header packets are identified by flags such as “First portion,” “Middle portion,” “Last portion,” or “Null Byte.” When a receiver extracts the command and control data from the headers, it tracks the flags associated with the headers. The command and control data is saved to buffer in association with its associated flag. The receiver uses the flags to determine when all command and control data headers have been received. The command and control data is then reconstructed and used to decrypt audio visual content. |
| US09485532B2 |
System and method for speculative tuning
A method implemented on a multi-tuner receiver system coupled to a plurality of multimedia nodes is disclosed, comprising: monitoring user input on the multi-tuner receiver system; identifying a first channel which the user is likely to select based on the user input; and speculatively tuning to the first channel using a first tuner prior to the user selecting the first channel. |
| US09485531B2 |
Methods and apparatus for client aggregation of television programming in a networked personal video recording system
A networked personal video recording (“PVR”) system couples a plurality of clients to one or more PVR media servers over a network. One or more PVR media servers include television tuners to tune television signals. A storage medium buffers the television signals to implement PVR functionality. For example, the PVR media server records television programs for clients. Clients are assigned to television tuners, and the clients display television programs received at the assigned tuner. The network transfers the buffered television signals to the clients. |
| US09485530B2 |
Water dispensing and display apparatus
An apparatus for dispensing liquid, such as water, with the dispensing of the liquid associated with a media presentation, for example, a video presentation, viewable on a monitor of the apparatus by consumers proximate to the apparatus, including the consumer to whom the water is being dispensed, is disclosed. The media presentation begins upon the dispensing of the water, and continues until it is stopped or completes (ends). |
| US09485527B2 |
Hybrid resource management system and method
A method of optimizing the delivery of content over a content delivery network to client devices in accordance with optimization rules is provided. Requests for allocation and release of content delivery resources over a content delivery network are monitored, and the processing capabilities of client devices receiving content over the content delivery network are determined. Network resources are re-allocated based on optimization rules and the processing capabilities, and the client devices are directed to use re-allocated resources for reception of content. Apparatus and client devices for performing the method are also disclosed. |
| US09485526B2 |
Multi-stream shared communication channels
By way of a non-limiting example, a server resource receives portions of a non-adaptive bit rate data stream. The server resource also receives portions of an adaptive bit rate data stream. The server resource interleaves the portions of the adaptive bit rate data stream and the portions of the non-adaptive bit rate data stream onto the multi-stream data channel. Thereafter, the server resource initiates transmission of the multi-stream data channel (which includes the adaptive bit rate data stream and the non-adaptive bit rate data stream) over a network such as a backbone or core network to a downstream resource such as a distribution resource. The distribution resource, in turn, transmits the adaptive bit rate data stream and the non-adaptive bit rate data stream to a group of multiple subscribers that have shared access to communication link in a cable network environment. |
| US09485525B1 |
Systems and methods for using closed captions for television viewership measurement
To provide audience measurement services without requiring broadcasters to install additional watermarking equipment, a small video capture device may receive a video signal viewed by an audience member, the signal including embedded closed captioning data, and may decode and transmit the closed captioning data to an audience measurement server. The measurement server may receive the data and compare the received data to a database of closed captioning text to identify matches. The database may be populated via one or more additional capture devices receiving local or national broadcast signals, or with data separately provided by broadcasters. When a match is found, the measurement server may determine that the audience member is watching a program having the corresponding closed captioning. Dynamically generated confidence scores may allow for reliable identification of audience members of content, even with very short closed captioning data lengths. |
| US09485524B2 |
Method, system, and apparatus for receiving contents through multiple channels
An apparatus for receiving contents through multiple channels includes a content manager configured to receive, from multiple content providing servers through the multiple channels, multiple packet data related to appropriate contents which is suitable for a user device, and transmit the appropriate contents to the user device by using the received multiple packet data and a transmission rate manager configured to set each of reference transmission rate ranges of each of the multiple content providing servers, wherein the content manager is further configured to receive the multiple packet data from the multiple content providing servers based on the reference transmission rate ranges set by the transmission rate manager. |
| US09485522B2 |
Method of applying edge offset
Provided is a method of post-processing a reconstructed image. The method according to an embodiment includes determining a boundary strength for each 4-sample edge which is a prediction edge or a transform edge and lies on 8×8 sample grid, determining whether deblocking filtering is applied on the 4-sample edge or not using the boundary strength and a boundary quantization parameter, filtering the 4-sample edge if the deblocking filtering is applied on the 4-sample edge, and applying an edge offset if a sample adaptive offset (SAO) type indicates an edge offset. |
| US09485513B2 |
Encoding device, decoding device, and program
In the present invention, at least two component signals that represent luminance and a color difference in an original signal having a predetermined image format are encoded/decoded. This encoding device (10) is equipped with: a local decoding section (17-1, 17-2, 18-1, 18-2, 23-1, 23-2) that generates a locally decoded signal of a second component signal; a luminance-color difference prediction unit (4) that generates a parameter for normalizing the second component signal by comparing the original signal of a first component signal not yet encoded with the locally decoded signal of the second component signal in order to generate a luminance-color difference prediction signal; a prediction signal generation unit (22-1) that generates a prediction signal for an intra-screen prediction or a prediction signal for an inter-screen prediction regarding the first component signal; a synthesis unit (2) that performs a weighted addition of the prediction signal and the luminance-color difference prediction signal in order to generate a corrected prediction signal for the first component signal; and an encoding section (13-1, 14-1, 15-1, 16-1) that generates and encodes a difference signal between the corrected prediction signal and the original signal of the first component signal. |
| US09485502B2 |
Chroma quantization parameter extension
The quantization parameters (QP) for Chroma are extended up to and more preferably to the same range as Luma QP (e.g., 0 to 51). Previous, values of Chroma QP only extended up to 39. Techniques are provided for determining extended Chroma QP values (e.g., for Cr and Cb) based on the Luma QP and picture level chroma offsets. In one preferred embodiment, slice level offsets are added making the method particularly well-suited for slice level parallel processing. The extension of Chroma QP enhances functionality, flexibility and friendliness of the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard for various applications. |
| US09485500B2 |
Visualizing specified safety-critical information in a vehicle
A method is provided for visualizing specified safety-critical information in a vehicle. First display data are (AD_1) are determined, which are representative of a first image (B1) to be visualized, which provides the specified safety-critical information in a specified first signalization form, the first display data (AD_1) being determined free of specified safety regulations. The first display data (AD_1) are sent to a display unit (DISP) of the vehicle and test data (DD) are read out, which are representative of an image visualized on the display unit (DISP). The test data (DD) are checked and, if the test data (DD) are representative of a faulty provision of the specified safety-critical information, second display data (AD_2) are sent to the display unit (DISP), which are representative of a second image (B2) to the visualized, which provides the specified safety critical information in a specified second signalization form, which differs from the first signalization form. The second display data (AD_2) are determined while complying with the specified safety regulations. |
| US09485499B2 |
System and method for processing multicamera array images
A system for calibrating multi-camera array images, comprising an array of at least four acquisition devices, configured to acquire images; at least one reference acquisition device configured to acquire at least one reference image at least partially overlapping at least four of the images; and a processor configured to extract tie points between the at least four of the images and the at least one reference image and utilize the tie points for calibrating the at least four of the images in respect of the at least one reference image. |
| US09485497B2 |
Systems and methods for converting two-dimensional images into three-dimensional images
Systems and methods for converting a two-dimensional image or sequence of images into a three-dimensional image or sequence of images are presented. In embodiments, the disclosed techniques employ a suite of interactive image processing tools that allow a user to apply image pixel repositioning depth contouring effects and algorithms to efficiently create high-quality three-dimensional images. |
| US09485496B2 |
Systems and methods for measuring depth using images captured by a camera array including cameras surrounding a central camera
A camera array, an imaging device and/or a method for capturing image that employ a plurality of imagers fabricated on a substrate is provided. Each imager includes a plurality of pixels. The plurality of imagers include a first imager having a first imaging characteristics and a second imager having a second imaging characteristics. The images generated by the plurality of imagers are processed to obtain an enhanced image compared to images captured by the imagers. Each imager may be associated with an optical element fabricated using a wafer level optics (WLO) technology. |
| US09485495B2 |
Autofocus for stereo images
Present embodiments contemplate systems, apparatus, and methods to determine an appropriate focal depth for a sensor based upon a pair of stereoscopic images. Particularly, certain of the embodiments contemplate determining keypoints for each image, identifying correlations between the keypoints, and deriving object distances from the correlations. These distances may then be used to select a proper focal depth for one or more sensors. |
| US09485491B2 |
Optical system
An optical system includes at least one optical apparatus. The optical apparatus includes a first light source, a second light source, and a dynamic switch. The first light source is configured for providing a first light beam. The second light source is configured for providing a second light beam. The dynamic switch includes a plurality of mirrors arranged in an array manner. Each of the mirrors has a first tilt angle and a second tilt angle. The first light beam and the second light beam impinge on the dynamic switch from different directions. The dynamic switch reflects the first light beam to a desired position when the mirrors are at the first tilt angles, and reflects the second light beam to the desired position when the mirrors are at the second tilt angles. |
| US09485484B2 |
Storage medium storing information processing program, information processing device, information processing system, and panoramic video display method
An example information processing device displays a partial area of a panoramic video on a display device. The information processing device obtains range information with which it is possible to identify a display range of the panoramic video to be displayed and/or to identify a position within the display range. The obtained range information is information regarding a display range determined based on an input made on a predetermined input device while the panoramic video is played. Where the panoramic video is output using the display device, the information processing device outputs the panoramic video while changing output content thereof in accordance with the obtained range information. |
| US09485481B2 |
Laser module having a duochromatic laser diode for a portable image projector
A laser module is described for an image projection system, which has a duochromatic laser diode designed to generate a first beam bundle having laser light of a first wavelength and laser light of a second wavelength; a first collimating optics system designed to collimate the first beam bundle; at least one first monochromatic laser diode designed to generate a second beam bundle having laser light of a third wavelength; a second collimating optics system designed to collimate the second beam bundle; and a first optical combination device developed to combine the first and second beam bundles in order to form an output beam bundle of the laser module. |
| US09485478B2 |
Communication and monitoring system
An audio-video communication system comprises a wireless exterior module located proximate an entrance, a computerized controller running a software application, and a remote peripheral device. The wireless exterior module includes a proximity sensor for detecting a person at the entrance, a video camera for recording an image of the person at the entrance, a microphone for recording the person at the entrance, a speaker for playing audio to the person at the entrance, a transmitter for communicating sounds and images of the person at the entrance, and a receiver for receiving communications at the wireless exterior module. The computerized controller is disposed in wireless electronic communication with the wireless exterior module via the transmitter and the receiver of the wireless exterior module. The remote peripheral device is configured to electronically communicate with the computerized controller for viewing an image from the video camera communicated from the wireless exterior module. |
| US09485469B2 |
Methods and apparatus to provide content on demand in content broadcast systems
Methods and apparatus to provide content on demand in content broadcast systems are disclosed. An example method comprises receiving a first portion of a program via broadcast signal and receiving a second portion of the program via an Internet protocol (IP) based signal. The example method may further comprise combining the first and the second portions and at least one of store the combined first and second portions in a file or playback the combined first and second portions. |
| US09485467B2 |
Information processing system and information processing devices
The time in the host device and the time in the client device are synchronized. The host device and the client device download content data from a content distribution server using progressive downloading. The host device controls playback processes in the host device and the client device so as to be synchronized, in accordance with a download status in the host device and the client device. |
| US09485463B2 |
Video switch
A video switch system providing a collaborative environment for one or more users to share information. In the current embodiment, the video switch system enables users to quickly connect to the system, present information, have a video conference, or have a multi-user wireless video session, or a combination thereof, in a collaborative manner. |
| US09485462B2 |
Method of collecting and employing information about parties to a televideo conference
Improvements in a method for creating an intelligent routing and criteria-based matching system, so that people may be matched for conferencing to each other by pre-determined matching of their characteristics and their requirements. The invention makes it possible to connect individuals who may or may not have been known to each other previously, and who may be routed to each other based on being good fits to collaborate in the stated business or social setting or other reason for dealing with another person in a video conference meeting. The invention makes it possible for suppliers of services over the video conference medium to be connected to individuals who want these services. The system takes into account the business rules and preferences of all individuals involved, so that intelligent business service collaboration may take place between parties based on pre-set criteria. |
| US09485457B2 |
Image processing apparatus and method of controlling the same
This invention enables, for example, reduction of motion blur in a hold-type display device and reduce flicker in an impulse-type display device by a simple process. For this purpose, an LPF filters a frame of input image data (A[i]) to generate low-frequency image data (L). A subtractor and an adder generate high-frequency image data (SH). Another adder adds the low-frequency image data (L) from a delay circuit to subsequent low-frequency image data. A divider halves the sum to generate low-frequency averaged image data (SL). A switch alternately outputs the high-frequency image data (SH) and the low-frequency image data (SL) every time a frame of image data is input. As a result, the apparatus of this invention can generate output image data having a frame rate twice that of the input image data. |
| US09485456B2 |
Frame-rate conversion in a distributed computing system
Described herein are, among other things, distributed processing methods and systems for frame rate conversion. In an embodiment, a transcoding management machine manages a distributed transcoding process, creating a plurality of video segments and assigning the video segments across a set of distributed transcoding resources for frame rate conversion. The management machine typically sends a given segment to a given transcoding resource along with instructions to convert the frame rate to a specified output frame rate. In addition, the management machine can send certain transcoding assistance information that preferably facilitates the frame rate change process and helps the transcoding resource to create a more accurate output segment. Hence, in some embodiments, each transcoding resource can perform its transcode job independently, but with reference to the input segment it is responsible for transcoding and the assistance information provided by the management machine. |
| US09485454B1 |
Display device and method for processing video signal
A display device, configured to receive a video signal including a plurality of frames having an odd field and an even field, including a processor and a display module. The processor performs the following steps: respectively determining whether the odd fields and the even fields of each current frame and its previous frame are similar; generating a first pattern, a second pattern, a third pattern, or a fourth pattern corresponding to the current frame according to a determining result; accumulating the first patterns, the second patterns, the third patterns, and the fourth patterns in a first cycle; determining whether the video signal is a video converted from film according to the accumulations; generating output frames according to the pattern of each current frame when the video signal is the video converted from film. The display module displays the output frames by progressive scanning. |
| US09485445B2 |
Imaging apparatus and method of driving the same
An imaging apparatus and a method of driving the same that can generate a digital data of a high resolution pixel signal are provided. The imaging apparatus includes: a pixel (10-1) for generating a signal by photoelectric conversion; a comparing circuit (30-1) for comparing a signal based on the pixel with a time-dependent reference signal; a counter circuit (40-1) performing a counting operating until an inversion of a magnitude relation between the signal based on the pixel and the time-dependent reference signal; and a selecting circuit (30-2) for setting a time-dependent change rate of the reference signal, according to a signal level of the signal based on the pixel. |
| US09485444B2 |
Photoelectric conversion device having connection sections connecting different numbers of output nodes
A photoelectric conversion device has pixels arranged in two dimensions. The pixels have a photoelectric conversion unit and a signal reading out unit that reads out a signal generated in the photoelectric conversion unit. The photoelectric conversion device includes first and second pixel groups, and first and second connection sections. Each of the first and second pixel groups has pixels arranged in a predetermined direction. The first connection section electrically connects output nodes of the pixels included in the first pixel group to one another. The second connection section electrically connects output nodes of the pixels included in the second pixel group to one another. The number of output nodes which are electrically connected to one another by the first connection section is different from the number of output nodes which are electrically connected to one another by the second connection section. |
| US09485442B1 |
Image sensors for robust on chip phase detection, and associated system and methods
An image sensor for on-chip phase detection includes a pixel array for capturing an image of a scene, wherein the pixel array has a plurality of horizontal phase-detection rows, each including phase-detection pixels for detecting horizontal change in the scene, and a plurality of vertical phase-detection columns, each including phase-detection pixels for detecting vertical change in the scene, and wherein each of the horizontal phase-detection rows intersects each of the vertical phase-detection columns. A phase-detection method includes generating a pair of horizontal line profiles using one of a plurality of phase-detection rows; generating a pair of vertical line profiles using one of a plurality of phase-detection columns intersecting with the one of a plurality of phase-detection rows; and determining phase shift associated with at least one arbitrarily oriented edge in a scene, based upon the pair of horizontal line profiles and the pair of vertical line profiles. |
| US09485441B2 |
Image sensor and camera apparatus having the same
Disclosed are an image sensor and a camera apparatus having the same. The image sensor includes first to fourth color pixel patterns. Each of the first and fourth color pixel patterns includes a plurality of color pixels, and each of the second and third color pixel patterns includes one of a red pixel and a blue pixel. The camera apparatus not only reproduces 3D image data, but also realize high resolution. |
| US09485437B2 |
Digital photographing apparatus and method of controlling the same
A digital photographing apparatus includes: an imaging device that generates an image signal by capturing image light; a storage unit that stores a template including a background area and a composite area that indicates at least a part of an image according to the image signal; an image changing unit that changes orientations of the template and the image; an image composing unit that composes the image and the template of which orientations are changed; and a display unit that displays the composed image, wherein the image changing unit determines orientations to be changed of the template and the image according to a rotation amount of the imaging device with respect to an optical axis of the image light and an orientation in which an imaging surface of the imaging device faces. Accordingly, a user may naturally perform a self-photography function using a template. |
| US09485434B2 |
Image capturing apparatus, control method, and program thereof
An image capturing apparatus includes an image capturing unit which captures an image of an object and outputs an image, a switching unit which switches modes between a first mode in which the image capturing unit outputs a first image and then outputs a second image having an exposure value different from the first image, and a second mode in which the image capturing unit continuously outputs an image not used for compositing, an exposure control unit which controls an exposure value for capturing an image of an object, following change in object luminance, when a parameter related to change in object luminance exceeds a predetermined range in which an exposure value for capturing an image of the object is not controlled to follow the change in object luminance, and a setting unit which sets the predetermined range. |
| US09485422B2 |
Image capture accelerator
An image capture accelerator performs accelerated processing of image data. In one embodiment, the image capture accelerator includes accelerator circuitry including a pre-processing engine and a compression engine. The pre-processing engine is configured to perform accelerated processing on received image data, and the compression engine is configured to compress processed image data received from the pre-processing engine. In one embodiment, the image capture accelerator further includes a demultiplexer configured to receive image data captured by an image sensor array implemented within, for example, an image sensor chip. The demultiplexer may output the received image data to an image signal processor when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in a standard capture mode, and may output the received image data to the accelerator circuitry when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in an accelerated capture mode. |
| US09485421B2 |
Method and apparatus for operating camera function in portable terminal
A method and an apparatus for operating a camera function in a portable terminal are provided. State information representing at least one of a direction and a rotation state of the portable terminal is obtained, and at least one of a sequence of reading an image from a camera sensor and an appropriate user interface is determined depending on the state information. Thus, the camera function is performed depending on the determined sequence or user interface. |
| US09485418B2 |
Camera system transmission in bandwidth constrained environments
An image capture accelerator performs accelerated processing of image data. In one embodiment, the image capture accelerator includes accelerator circuitry including a pre-processing engine and a compression engine. The pre-processing engine is configured to perform accelerated processing on received image data, and the compression engine is configured to compress processed image data received from the pre-processing engine. In one embodiment, the image capture accelerator further includes a demultiplexer configured to receive image data captured by an image sensor array implemented within, for example, an image sensor chip. The demultiplexer may output the received image data to an image signal processor when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in a standard capture mode, and may output the received image data to the accelerator circuitry when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in an accelerated capture mode. |
| US09485417B2 |
Image sensor alignment in a multi-camera system accelerator architecture
An image capture accelerator performs accelerated processing of image data. In one embodiment, the image capture accelerator includes accelerator circuitry including a pre-processing engine and a compression engine. The pre-processing engine is configured to perform accelerated processing on received image data, and the compression engine is configured to compress processed image data received from the pre-processing engine. In one embodiment, the image capture accelerator further includes a demultiplexer configured to receive image data captured by an image sensor array implemented within, for example, an image sensor chip. The demultiplexer may output the received image data to an image signal processor when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in a standard capture mode, and may output the received image data to the accelerator circuitry when the image data is captured by the image sensor array in an accelerated capture mode. |
| US09485413B2 |
Imaging device, display device, control method, and method for controlling area change
An imaging device includes an imaging unit that receives light coming from a subject and thus generates electronic image data; a display unit that displays an image corresponding to the image data; an angle-of-view setting unit that an angle of view to be changed for the image displayed by the display unit according to a first signal input from the outside; and a control unit that starts control of change to a predetermined angle of view set by the angle-of-view setting unit according to a second signal different from the first signal. |
| US09485411B2 |
Display control apparatus and method for controlling display control apparatus
Processing for pressing a shortcut key to close a menu and processing for pressing the same shortcut key to enter a specific menu are made compatible. A specific menu among hierarchical menus including a plurality of menus for making a setting or an operation instruction about a display control apparatus is assigned to a specific operation unit. If the specific operation unit is operated when the specific menu is displayed, display of the menu is cleared. If the specific operation unit is operated when a menu different from the specific menu and a menu one level above the specific menu is displayed, the specific menu is displayed. |
| US09485405B2 |
Focus control device, endoscope device, and focus control method
A focus control device in an endoscope system, implements an autofocus operation in an appropriate state by setting a focus mode of an imaging optical system. The focus control device includes a focus control section that controls a focus of an imaging optical system that includes at least a zoom lens that adjusts an optical magnification, and sets a focus mode of the imaging optical system, and an image acquisition section that acquires an image through the imaging optical system, the focus mode including a fixed focus mode and an autofocus (AF) mode, and the focus control section switching the focus mode between the fixed focus mode and the AF mode corresponding to whether the zoom lens is positioned on a wide-angle side or a telescopic side relative to a reference point that is situated between a wide-angle end and a telescopic end. |
| US09485398B2 |
Continuous illumination of backlit display and of subject for image capture
A device to capture an image includes a camera oriented to capture a first image of a subject and a display oriented to display a second image that is viewable by the subject. A backlight is coupled to the display to provide light that passes through the display toward the subject. An image processor is coupled to the camera and the backlight to adjust an amount of light provided by the backlight responsive to a quality of the first image. The light provided by the backlight may illuminate the subject and thereby improve the quality of the first image. The image processor may further adjust the amount of light provided by the backlight responsive to an ambient light level sensed by an ambient light sensor. The image processor may further adjust the second image to adjust an amount of light that passes through the display. |
| US09485397B2 |
Camera, and method of manufacturing a plurality of cameras
In accordance with the invention, a camera or optical module for a camera is provided, the camera or optical module comprising: —a first substrate with a plurality of first optical devices, —a second substrate with a plurality of second optical devices, —and a spacer between the first substrate and the second substrate, the spacer having a first and a second attachment surface, the first substrate attached to the first attachment surface and the second spacer attached to the second attachment surface, —the spacer having a through hole from the first attachment surface to the second attachment surface so that there is an interior space between the first substrate and the second substrate, the interior space being hermetically closed off, —the first optical devices and the second optical devices being mutually arranged so that light impinging, from an object side, on a first optical device is directed to an assigned second optical device through the interior space, —the camera further comprising a screen device in the interior space, the screen device comprising one screening wall or at a plurality of screening walls, the screening wall(s) blocking off light portions from a first device from getting to a second device other than the assigned second device. |
| US09485396B2 |
Camera module for optical image stabilization
An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) mounted with an image sensor, a housing disposed at coupled to an upper surface of the PCB, a holder module spaced from a bottom surface of the housing at a predetermined distance, wound with a first coil at a periphery and including thereinside at least one or more lenses, a connecting portion disposed at coupled to an upper surface of the holder module and including a conductive pattern, a plate member coupled to a bottom surface of the holder module, and a plurality of wire springs connected at one end to the connecting portion and connected at the other distal end to the plate member. |
| US09485395B2 |
Compound dome camera assembly
In one aspect, the invention provides an imaging system adapted to simultaneously receive light from wide and narrow fields of view, with the wide filed image data collected by an array of fixed position cameras, and the narrow field data collected by a panable, tiltable zoom camera at higher resolution than the fixed array in a selected orientation, and a compound viewing cover that includes two separated pieces interlocked with one another. |
| US09485391B2 |
Method, apparatus and program for restoring and correcting surface reflectance with color image processing
Spectral power distribution of an illumination is restored using color information in a region of the specific object in an input image and a pre-specified representative surface reflectance of the specific object. The surface reflectance in the region of the specific object is restored from the color information and the spectral power distribution of the illumination. The surface reflectance is corrected using three or more pre-specified reference surface reflectances of the specific object. The color in the region of the specific object is calculated from the spectral power distribution of the illumination and the corrected surface reflectance. |
| US09485387B2 |
Icon arrangement drawing creation system
An arrangement drawing creation system includes: a portable apparatus carried by an arrangement drawing creator; and a server. The portable apparatus includes: a first communication processing portion communicates with the server and a target apparatus; an acquisition processing portion acquires a device ID from the target apparatus; a generation processing portion generates a device icon; a display processing portion displays the generated device icon and a layout drawing; an operation input processing portion accepts an instruction of moving a position of the device icon; and a registration processing portion registers the changed position of the device icon in the server. The server includes: a second communication processing portion communicates with the portable apparatus; and a storage portion stores the layout drawing and the arrangement drawing. |
| US09485382B2 |
Light guide, illuminating device, and image reading apparatus
A light guide having: a splitting section dividing light derived from a light source into at least two beams of light; and at least two light guiding sections causing the light from the splitting section to propagate in a predetermined length direction, the light guiding sections being arranged side by side in a predetermined width direction with the splitting section disposed therebetween, wherein the light guiding section includes: a reflective section reflecting the light, the reflective section being provided along the length direction; and an emission surface emitting the light reflected by the reflective section as a linear beam of light, the emission surface being positioned opposite to the reflective section, and a cross section of the splitting section perpendicular to the length direction decreases in dimensions both in the width direction and a height direction. |
| US09485381B1 |
Scanner interface and protocol
An example of an apparatus for transferring data over a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) includes a scan bar for scanning an image, an analog front end (AFE) module in communication with the scan bar for receiving a plurality of video images of the image that is scanned by the scan bar, a translation logic module in communication with the AFE module to convert the plurality of video images into a scanlink frame using a MIPI communication protocol, wherein the scanlink frame comprises a frame start packet, a scanlink header packet, the plurality of video images and a frame end packet, a MIPI input interface in communication with the translation logic module to receive the scanlink frame and a processor in communication with the MIPI input interface to process the scanlink frame to generate a scanned image file using the scanlink frame. |
| US09485379B2 |
Image forming apparatus including auxiliary storage part limited in the number of times rewriting, image forming method, and recording medium
Provided is an image forming apparatus that speeds up starting. The image forming apparatus is provided with a main storage part and an auxiliary storage part. A boot loader that is stored in the auxiliary storage part is expanded to the main storage part. The boot loader that has been expanded is executed to generate a defective area table for the auxiliary storage part. When a kernel of an OS that is stored in the auxiliary storage part is expanded, the kernel is caused to be referred the defective area table that has been generated. When the kernel is executed, the defective area table is not generated. Thereby, the defective area table generated by the boot loader can be used by the OS, which allows the boot time to be shortened. |
| US09485372B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording sheet, an image formation control unit that controls an operation of the image forming unit, a visible image forming unit that forms a visible image in air, a display control unit that controls an operation of the visible image forming unit, to cause the visible image forming unit to form a visible image representing a display screen containing a preview of an image to be formed, and a reception unit that receives an operation of a user performed in the air on the display screen formed as visible image by the visible image forming unit. The display control unit eliminates, when the reception unit receives a predetermined operation of the user, an image in an area designated by the predetermined operation of the user from the preview of the image to be formed. |
| US09485369B2 |
Display device, electronic device and image processing apparatus including the display device, and method of displaying information
On a touch-panel display of an image forming apparatus, a function selecting area and a preview area are displayed next to each other. On the function selecting area, a function setting menu is displayed in one display mode among an icon mode in which only a group of icons are displayed, a regular mode in which a group of icons and a group of texts are displayed, and an express mode in which a group of icons, a group of texts and a group of function setting buttons are displayed. In the icon mode, detailed preview information is displayed on a large preview area, and in the express mode, detailed function selecting information is displayed on a large function selecting area. |
| US09485367B2 |
Connecting image forming devices based on a communication session count
An image forming device includes a selection unit and an acquisition unit. The selection unit selects a bridge device from among multiple other connected image forming devices. The acquisition unit causes the bridge device to access another image forming device other than the bridge device, causes the bridge device to acquire information related to image data being stored in the other image forming device other than the bridge device, and acquires, from the bridge device, image data respectively being stored in the other image forming device other than the bridge device and in the bridge device. |
| US09485351B2 |
Mobile terminal device and control method for mobile terminal device
A mobile terminal device is provided with a call control module configured to switch an output destination of receiving sound in a phone call, between a first sound output module provided in the mobile terminal device, and a second sound output module wirelessly connected to the mobile terminal device. The call control module sets the output destination to the first sound output module for starting the phone call, when a first touch operation is performed with respect to a first object included in an incoming call screen displayed on a display surface, and sets the output destination to the second sound output module for starting the phone call, when a second touch operation different from the first touch operation is performed with respect to the first object. |
| US09485349B2 |
Communication terminal, communication method, computer readable recording medium having communication program recorded, and network system
A communication terminal includes: a display, an input device for accepting a first operation instruction; a communication device for connection with a server and another terminal; and a control unit for receiving first contents from the server via the communication device according to the first operation instruction, determining whether connection with another terminal is established or not, transmitting the first contents to another terminal via the communication device when a determination is made that connection with another terminal is established, and causing the display to show the first contents. |
| US09485343B2 |
System and method to sort messages exchanged in a wireless personal area network according to relative orientations and positions of sending and receiving devices
Apparatus and methods are described herein for sorting messages sent and received, for example in a wireless Personal Area Network (PAN), according to whether the receiving device is within a radially defined region of space. The space may be defined by one or more parameters set by the sending device. A wireless PAN may define the range of peer-to-peer transmission and reception of radio waves between at least two wireless devices. Location and orientation information may be transmitted by a communication device and combined with user and/or software defined boundary limits to filter short range wireless messages. |
| US09485342B2 |
Wireless device system-architecture
According to the presently disclosed subject matter there is provided a wireless device system-architecture and a wireless device including a plurality of functional layers each of the functional layers comprising one or more respective layer elements where the plurality of functional layers being operatively connected and ordered as a cascade of functional layers for data-transfer from one layer to its one or more adjacent functional layers. The architecture further includes one or more matrix-switches, each matrix-switch operatively connected between each two functional layers in the cascade of functional layers. A matrix-switch controller is operable to determine at least two processing routes for data-transfer from at least one layer element in one functional layer, to at least one layer element in a second functional layer, wherein each of the at least two processing routes is associated with a different application processor layer element and wherein data is being transmitted via the at least two processing routes, in the same direction, substantially at the same time. |
| US09485341B2 |
Terminal device and method for controlling the same
A terminal device and a method for controlling the same are disclosed herein. The terminal device includes a communication unit configured to perform communication with an external target, a rollable display unit configured to be stored in the housing and to be exposed from the housing, a sub display unit configured to be positioned on a portion of the housing, a grip unit configured to be positioned on a lower portion of the housing and to detect whether or not a contact is being made, a sensor unit configured to detect a movement of the terminal device, an input unit configured to receive commands from an external source, and a controller, wherein the controller may be configured to set up a first mode, in case the rollable display unit is exposed from the housing, wherein at least one key of the input unit is mapped to a key configured to perform a function respective to the first mode, and to set up a second mode, in case the rollable display unit is stored in the housing, and in case a contact state detected by the grip unit matches with a predetermined contact state, wherein at least one key of the input unit is mapped to a key configured to perform a function respective to the second mode. |
| US09485333B2 |
Method and apparatus for network streaming
A method of data streaming in a streaming system (200) that comprises a processor (202) and a controller (204) operably coupled to a streaming peripheral (214) via a shared interconnect (206) is described. The method comprises at the controller, receiving at least one descriptor that points to at least one header data element in memory and at least one payload buffer element in the streaming peripheral (214); reading the at least one descriptor (211) by the controller (204); fetching by the controller the at least one header data element from memory and the at least one payload element from the payload buffer (212) in the streaming peripheral (214) referred to by the descriptor (211). |
| US09485326B1 |
Scalable multi-client scheduling
A method includes receiving a plurality of requests, determining a plurality of first bank identifiers specifying respective physical memory banks, and selecting, based at least on the first bank identifiers, a first set of requests to be processed according to a scheduling hierarchy. Selecting the first set of requests includes prohibiting any two requests from being associated with a same first bank identifier. The method also includes processing, during a single processing cycle, ones of the first set of requests at respective nodes within a single level of the scheduling hierarchy. The method also includes, responsively at least to processing ones of the first set of requests at respective nodes within the single level of the scheduling hierarchy, selecting a queue, and, responsively at least to selecting the queue, causing one or more packets corresponding to a traffic class associated with the queue to be sent to an egress port. |
| US09485320B1 |
Monitoring and controlling perception of an online profile of a user
One embodiment provides a system for monitoring and controlling an online profile of a user. In response to receiving a data request from the user to access a first web site, the system forwards the data request and desired persona scores to an intelligence service system, receives a list of other web sites from the intelligence service system, and counteracts the user's access to the first web site by spawning multiple threads in accordance with the list received. The multiple threads spawned are transparent to the user. Further, the system alters an original data post submission from the user based on a desired translation option, maps the altered data post submission to a first key, and posts the altered data post submission to a target web site. The original data post submission is viewable only by the user and other users with the first key. |
| US09485316B2 |
Method and apparatus for passively monitoring online video viewing and viewer behavior
Various user behaviors are passively monitored and recorded when a user/viewer interacts with a network video player, e.g. a web video player, while watching an online video clip. For one embodiment, a data collection agent (DCA) is loaded to the player and/or to a web page that displays the video clip. The DCA passively collects detailed viewing and behavior information without requiring any specific input or actions on the part of the user. Indications of user preferences are inferred by user actions leading up to viewing the video, while viewing the video, and just after and still related to viewing the video. The DCA periodically sends this information to a central server where it is stored in a central database and where it is used to determine preference similarities among different users. Recorded user preference information may also be used to rate a video itself. |
| US09485307B1 |
Broadcasting network identifiers that are based on media items
Disclosed are various embodiments for generating a network identifier that is based on a media item. A network identifier system processes a media item. The network identifier system generates a network identifier that is based on the media item. The network identifier system broadcasts the network identifier that was generated. |
| US09485299B2 |
Progressive download gateway
Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a gateway for delivering scalable media files from a web server to a client in a manner that allows dynamic thinning. The gateway includes a control module for receiving a request for a scalable media file, forwarding the request to a web server, receiving the scalable media file from the web server using a first protocol, transmitting a redirect message to the client, and receiving a streaming request from the client in response; a packet processor for packetizing the scalable media file to produce raw scalable media packets; an encapsulation module for encapsulating the raw scalable media packets using a second protocol to produce encapsulated scalable media packets; and an output module for streaming the encapsulated scalable media packets to the client in response to the streaming request. The gateway may also include a module for thinning the raw scalable media packets prior to encapsulation. |
| US09485295B2 |
Transmitting apparatus, receiving apparatus, and signal processing method thereof
A transmitting apparatus, a receiving apparatus and methods of controlling these apparatuses are provided. The transmitting apparatus includes: a baseband packet generator configured to, based on an input stream including a first type stream and a second type stream, generate a baseband packet including a header and payload data corresponding to the first type stream; a frame generator configured to generate a frame including the baseband packet; a signal processor configured to perform signal-processing on the generated frame; and a transmitter configured to transmit the signal-processed frame, wherein the header includes a type of the payload data in the baseband packet and the number of the first type stream packets in the baseband packet. |
| US09485293B2 |
Dynamic chunk manipulation for streaming mixed media: application programming interface
Timestamps for streams of media that transition from one media source to another (such as from live content to on-demand content, and vice versa) can be rewritten by a server to help ensure error-free streaming by the client. Embodiments can coordinate the creation of a client manifest with the dynamic creation of a requested segment of media (i.e., “chunk”) to determine how to rewrite timestamps of requested chunks such that they are continuous through the transition. |
| US09485290B1 |
Method and system for controlling local display and remote virtual desktop from a mobile device
A computer-implemented method for transmitting and controlling images of a remotely executed application, the method including connecting a mobile computing device to a remote server; connecting a desktop computing device to the remote server and to the mobile computing device; starting an application on the remote server, wherein the application generates graphical objects controllable by commands from the mobile computing device; encoding each graphical object into a video stream; transferring the video stream to the mobile computing device and to the desktop computing device; generating the commands on mobile computing device; sending the commands to the remote server; detecting if the video stream contains results of execution of the commands; displaying the graphical objects on the local computing device; and generating an image of a substitute graphic object image if the video stream does not contain the results. |
| US09485286B1 |
Sharing media items with pass phrases
A sharing service receives a request to store a media item stored on an electronic book reader device for sharing with one or more other content rendering devices. In response, the sharing service associates a pass phrase with the request. The sharing service then provides the media item to those devices (e.g., eBook reader devices) that provide the pass phrase to the sharing service within a predetermined amount of time. |
| US09485284B2 |
Customizing participant information in an online conference
Various embodiments of systems, methods, and computer programs are disclosed for customizing participant information in an online conference. One embodiment is a method for customizing display of participant information in an online conference. The method comprises: a conferencing system establishing an online conference with a plurality of client devices via a communication network, each client device associated with a participant in the online conference; the conferencing system presenting a conference user interface to the client devices, the conference user interface displaying an interactive participant object identifying each of the participants; and during the online conference, one of the participants customizing presentation of at least one of the interactive participant objects via the conference user interface. |
| US09485283B2 |
Method and apparatus for enabling communications between users
A method and device are provided for creating and utilizing a database which enables ascribing a plurality of communication addresses to each of a plurality of users' entries comprised therein, and wherein each of the plurality of communication addresses is associated with a different communication application, allowing a user who wishes to communicate with another user while applying a certain communication application, to communicate with that other user who uses a different communication application. |
| US09485280B2 |
Proposal system access policy enforcement
Described herein are techniques and mechanisms for access policy creation and enforcement. According to various embodiments, a message may be received via a communications interface. The message may include a request to perform an action within a proposal system. The proposal system may be operable to create a request for proposals based on user input. The request for proposals may describe a business need associated with a business entity. The proposal system may be further operable to process a plurality of proposal documents received in response to the request for proposals. The request may be associated with a user account. A determination may be made as to whether the requested action complies with an access policy. The requested action may be performed when it is determined that the requested action complies with the access policy. |
| US09485274B2 |
Traffic segmentation in prevention of DDOS attacks
Systems, methods, and computer storage media for traffic segmentation in prevention of DDoS attacks are provided. Data associated with one or more users of a particular service or network is collected. Properties associated with the data are identified. In embodiments, the properties are shared with one or more related services. One or more requests are received for the service or related services. The legitimacy of the one or more requests is predicted. |
| US09485273B2 |
System and method to diffuse denial-of-service attacks using virtual machines
A system for diffusing denial-of-service attacks by using virtual machines is disclosed. In particular, the system may receive, from a measurement probe, a network transaction measurement associated with a first node in a network. Based on the network transaction measurement, the system may determine if the network transaction measurement satisfies a threshold measurement value. If the network transaction measurement satisfies the threshold measurement value, the system may determine that an attack is occurring at the first node in the network. The system may then identify one or more nodes that have capacity for handling traffic intended for the first node. Once the one or more nodes are identified, the system may launch virtual machines at the one or more nodes to handle legitimate traffic intended for the first node. |
| US09485266B2 |
Security measures based on signal strengths of radio frequency signals
Electromagnetic (EM)/radio frequency (RF) emissions may be detected and corresponding EM personas may be created. One or more EM personas may be associated with a super persona corresponding to a particular entity. EM personas, super personas, and/or supplemental identifying information can be used to enforce security protocols. |
| US09485264B2 |
Coordinated detection and differentiation of denial of service attacks
According to one embodiment, an analyzer module (AM) within a same protected network and on-premise with a web application server (WAS) detects and distinguishes between types of Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. The AM tracks whether test HTTP messages, which include test HTTP request messages that a signal generation module (SGM) is configured to transmit to the WAS and test HTTP response messages that the WAS is expected to transmit in response to the test HTTP request messages, are timely received. The AM is aware of a timeliness that the SGM is expected to transmit the test HTTP request messages and that the WAS is expected to transmit the test response HTTP messages. The AM detects an occurrence of a DoS attack and identifies the type of the DoS attack based upon the result of the tracking indicating that a number of the test HTTP messages have not been timely received. |
| US09485262B1 |
Detecting past intrusions and attacks based on historical network traffic information
A device may receive information that identifies an attack signature for detecting an intrusion. The device may determine a device configuration that is vulnerable to the intrusion, may determine an endpoint device associated with the device configuration, and may determine a time period during which the endpoint device was associated with the device configuration. The device may determine an endpoint identifier associated with the endpoint device during the time period, and may identify network traffic information associated with the endpoint identifier during the time period. The device may apply the attack signature to the network traffic information, and may determine whether the endpoint device was subjected to the intrusion during the time period based on applying the attack signature to the network traffic information. The device may selectively perform an action based on determining whether the endpoint device was subjected to the intrusion. |
| US09485261B2 |
Web security protection method, device and system
A method, device and system for network security protection comprise: according to a received scan task, a network security device performs a security bug scan of the scan task appointed web site, and when a scan result is obtained, transmits the scan result to a network application firewall, so that the network application firewall can configure a individuality security strategy for the web site according to the received scan result. The problem that it can not he implemented complete individuality security configuration of the web site can be solved in this way. |
| US09485259B1 |
System and architecture for electronic permissions and security policies for resources in a data system
An electronic permissions and security system are disclosed which may be used to determine permissions and policies for resources in a complex multi-dimensional data system. Analysis of resource data hierarchies and/or accessor data hierarchies using the permissions computing systems and methods discussed herein may provide efficient and flexible permissions analysis, determination, and management. The electronic permissions system may include for example, a permissions analysis module or component configured to access, traverse and/or analyze a resource hierarchy and/or an accessor hierarchy to determine permissions with respect to a resource. Permissions may be defined according to various policies which may include specific actions allowed or disallowed for the policy. Specific actions within a policy may also be organized hierarchically such that one particular grant of one permission may imply granting of another permission. |
| US09485258B2 |
Mediation system and method for restricted access item distribution
Mediation systems and methods for restricted access item distribution are disclosed. In an embodiment, a method for facilitating payment from a user device for a restricted access item hosted by a host system is disclosed. In another embodiment, a system for facilitating payment from a user device to for a restricted access item hosted by a host system is disclosed. In another embodiment, a method for providing a mediated marketplace service is disclosed. |
| US09485257B2 |
Atomically updating ternary content addressable memory-based access control lists
Embodiments described herein provide techniques for atomically updating a ternary content addressable memory (TCAM)-based access control list (ACL). According to one embodiment, a current version bit of the ACL is determined. The current version bit indicates that a rule in the ACL is active is the version flag in the rule matches the current version bit. Through these techniques, a first set of rules can be modified to create a second set of rules (e.g., by insertions, deletions, and replacements, etc.). |
| US09485256B1 |
Secure assertion attribute for a federated log in
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, computer program product, and system for authenticating a user. The application server receives a user log in request and determines if a unique identification accompanies the received user log in request. The application server uses the unique identification to authenticate the identity of the user. The application server determines if the unique identification has been previously received by searching a first database to see if the unique identification was already stored in the first database. If the unique identification is not in the first database then the application server stores the unique identification and grants the user access to the one or more applications hosted on the application server. |
| US09485255B1 |
Authentication using remote device locking
A method includes (a) receiving, by the authentication server device, an authentication request from a requesting device in the name of a particular user, the requesting device being a mobile computer seeking access to the protected resource in the name of the particular user, (b) in response to receiving the authentication request, verifying that the requesting device is an enrolled device, the enrolled device being a mobile computer previously assigned to the particular user, (c) in response to verifying that the requesting device is equivalent to the enrolled device, remotely locking, by the authentication server device, the enrolled device, (d) receiving confirmation, by the authentication server device, that the enrolled device has been unlocked within a timeout period, and (e) in response to the authentication server device receiving confirmation that the enrolled device has been unlocked within the timeout period, providing the requesting device with access to the protected resource. |
| US09485249B2 |
User authentication in a mobile telecommunications system
A computer, such as a Windows-based PC (10), has associated with it a Subscriber Identity Module (or SIM) (12), such as of the type used in a GSM cellular telephone system. The SIM (12) can be authenticated by the telephone network (16), in the same way as for authenticating SIMs of telephone handset users in the network, and can in this way authenticate the user of the PC (10) or the PC (10) itself. Such authentication can, for example, permit use of the PC (10) in relation to a particular application (22) which is released to the PC (10) after the authentication is satisfactorily completed. The application may be released to the PC (10) by a third party after and in response to the satisfactory completion of the authentication process. A charge for the session can be debited to the user by the telecommunications network and then passed on to the third party. |
| US09485247B2 |
On-board vehicle communication system and method
An on-board vehicle communication system and method employ a storage device, a communication device and a controller. The storage device is configured to store a plurality of security certificates. The communication device is configured to receive external information that is external to a host vehicle equipped with the on-board vehicle communication system. The controller is configured to determine whether to begin a security certificate replenishment process to attempt to receive additional security certificates from at least one source that is external of the host vehicle based on the received external information, upon an amount of security certificates stored in the storage device decreasing below a first prescribed threshold. |
| US09485243B2 |
Securing a wireless mesh network via a chain of trust
A master beacon device emits a data packet that is received and retransmitted by servant beacon devices in a wireless mesh network that enables the beacon devices to detect the received signal strength indicator (“RSSI”) of beacon devices in proximity. Each servant beacon device transmits survey data packets comprising the RSSIs and hardware identifiers of proximate beacon devices to the master beacon device, which constructs a first virtual map of the mesh network. At a later time, each servant beacon device transmits authentication data packets, which are retransmitted, each retransmitting beacon inserting an RSSI and hardware identifier of the beacon device from which the authentication data packet was received, until they reach the master beacon device, which constructs a second virtual map of the mesh network. The master beacon device compares the first virtual map to the second virtual map to determine if the network is secure. |
| US09485239B2 |
Implementing single sign-on across a heterogeneous collection of client/server and web-based applications
Leveraging an established authenticated session in obtaining authentication to a client application includes receiving a request for access to a client application requiring authentication of a requestor and determining whether there exist characteristics of leverageable authentications corresponding to established sessions having an authenticated state at a time of the determination. When the determination reveals characteristics of at least one leverageable authentication corresponding to an established session, and attempt is made to obtain access for the requestor to the client application based on the at least one leverageable authentication, and the requestor is provided with a notification related to the 1 attempt to obtain access for the requestor to the client application. |
| US09485236B2 |
System and method for verified social network profile
A method for verifying the on-line identity of a subscribed user and securely displaying an indicia in connection with that user's on-line content, wherein the indicia includes an aspect corresponding to the verification level assigned to the subject user's profile. |
| US09485235B2 |
Systems and methods for inter-network service selection
Systems, methods, and devices for inter-network service selection are described herein. Through the use of one or more of device identifiers and device classes, information including a randomization metric can be transmitted to networked devices indicating which devices and/or device classes are permitted or denied to access a given network service. Equipment seeking access may alter the selection based on this information. Equipment providing access may enforce access request based on this information. As an example, selection between eHRPD and LTE may be load balanced based on device class or identifiers. |
| US09485231B1 |
Securing internet of things communications across multiple vendors
A secure connection between a user mobile device and a “Internet-of-Things” network-connected device (e.g., a home appliance or a vehicle) may be provided using an internet gateway residing in the public internet and a local gateway residing in a private network behind a firewall. The user device may receive an input through a software application and may generate an electronic instruction based on the input. The user device may then encrypt the electronic instruction and send the encrypted electronic instruction to the internet gateway over a secure connection (e.g., SSH, TLS). The internet gateway then sends the encrypted electronic instruction to the local gateway, which decrypts the encrypted electronic instruction, interprets it, and generates and transmits a device instruction to communicate with the network-connected device, either directly or through an intermediary device such as a third-party bridge or hub. Only the user device and local gateway have encryption/decryption keys. |
| US09485228B2 |
Selectively performing man in the middle decryption
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for selectively performing man in the middle decryption. One of the methods includes receiving a first request to access a first resource hosted by a server outside the network, determining whether requests from the client device to access the first resource outside the network should be redirected to a second resource hosted by a proxy within the network, providing a redirect response to the client device, the redirect response including the second universal resource identifier, establishing a first encrypted connected between the client device and the proxy hosting the second resource, and a second encrypted connection between the proxy hosting the second domain and the server hosting the first resource, and decrypting and inspecting the encrypted communication traffic passing between the client device and the server hosting the first resource. |
| US09485227B2 |
Code domain isolation
A method for achieving code domain isolation. A first set of data is received in a first domain format. The first set of data is changed to a second domain format. The first set of data in the second domain format is captured. The first set of data in the second domain format is changed to a third domain format. The first set of data in the third domain format is prepared for receipt by a user computer system. |
| US09485224B2 |
Information delivery system with advertising mechanism and method of operation thereof
An information delivery system includes: a control unit configured to: generate an anonymous identity for concealing client information of an anonymous client from a provider, generate a comparison result for determining whether a client encryption data of the anonymous identity matches with a provider encryption data of the provider, obtain a provider notification based on the comparison result of a match for displaying on a device, and a user interface, coupled to the control unit, configured to display the provider notification. |
| US09485223B2 |
System and method for controlling features on a device
Trust between entities participating in an upgrade or enablement/disablement process is established and, to facilitate this remotely and securely, a highly tamper resistant point of trust in the system that is being produced is used. This point of trust enables a more efficient distribution system to be used. Through either a provisioning process or at later stages, i.e. subsequent to installation, manufacture, assembly, sale, etc.; the point of trust embodied as a feature controller on the device or system being modified is given a feature set (or updated feature set) that, when validated, is used to enable or disable entire features or to activate portions of the feature. |
| US09485222B2 |
Data stream traffic control
Techniques related to data stream traffic control are disclosed herein. A bit equivalent entropy of an anonymized data stream is computed. Traffic of the data stream is controlled based on the value of the bit equivalent entropy. |
| US09485220B2 |
Virtual desktop accelerator with support for dynamic proxy thread management
In particular embodiments, a method includes determining a data flow rate of the active connections at a proxy, comparing the data flow rate to a first pre-determined threshold value, and, when the data flow rate exceeds the first pre-determined threshold value, creating one or more new processing threads associated with the proxy. |
| US09485219B1 |
VPN for containers and virtual machines in local area networks
A method, system and computer program product for a VPN for containers and VMs implemented on different network node. A number of network hardware nodes have containers and VMs running on them. The containers and VMs are aggregated into VPNs assembled across the hardware nodes. Each hardware node has a network edge programmable switch configured to route packets to containers and VMs only inside a particular VPN. The switch detects a number of the VPN inside the packet header, replaces this number by a standard broadcast header number and multi-casts the packet to the containers and the VMs inside the VPN. |
| US09485216B1 |
Multi-layered application classification and decoding
An intrusion detection system is described that is capable of applying a plurality of stacked (layered) application-layer decoders to extract encapsulated application-layer data from a tunneled packet flow produced by multiple applications operating at the application layer, or layer seven (L7), of a network stack. In this was, the IDS is capable of performing application identification and decoding even when one or more software applications utilize other software applications as for data transport to produce packet flow from a network device. The protocol decoders may be dynamically swapped, reused and stacked (layered) when applied to a given packet or packet flow. |
| US09485215B2 |
Multiple inspection avoidance (MIA) using a protection scope
A multiple inspection avoidance (MIA) technique is implemented in a virtualized environment. Preferably, the technique is implemented in a packet processing unit (PPU) and takes advantage of a protection scope determined in an automated manner. The protection scope may be MAC-based. The MIA technique ensures that the same packet is not inspected more than once by a same packet processing unit (PPU), and that the same packet is not inspected more than once by different PPUs. According to this disclosure, when a PPU implementing MIA receives a packet, it uses the protection scope to determine whether it needs to process the packet. Preferably, the determination of whether to process the packet depends on the source and destination addresses in the packet, whether those addresses are being protected by the PPU that receives the packet, the direction of the packet flow, and optionally one or more packet processing rules. |
| US09485213B2 |
Cross registrar compliance and communication mechanism
What is described is a system and method providing an improved customer experience for the registrant. The registrant is able to use a single interface and a single set of user inputs to bring about changes for multiple domain names. The single interaction with the single interface works out just as well and just as conveniently regardless of whether a single registrar happens to be handling all of the domain names, or whether each domain name is handled by a different registrar. |
| US09485212B1 |
Message management method
A method for managing computer based messaging involves monitoring messages transmitted within a messaging system over time; identifying related messages; and automatically analyzing the related messages using natural language analytics. The analyzing is based upon: subject of, sentiment within, and context of, each of the related messages, and frequency of transmittals of the related messages. The analyzing involves assigning at least: a first value based upon sentiment, a second value based upon content, and a third value based upon frequency, and calculating a score for the related messages as a function of the first value, second value and third value, comparing the score to a pre-specified threshold value; and when the score exceeds the pre-specified threshold value, automatically generating and issuing at least one of: (i) a summary of the related messages, (ii) a timing based notification message, or (iii) a content-based notification regarding a score inflection point. |
| US09485208B2 |
Managing notification messages
Methods and apparatuses that generate a subtopic identifier identifying a client application within a client device are described. The client application may be associated with a server application hosted in one or more application servers. Notification services may be registered with the application servers from the client application to forward identifiers associated with the client application to the server application to enable the server application to push notification messages to the client device selectively for the client application. When receiving a notification message from the application server, the notification message may be examined to forward the notification message directly to the client application without invoking other applications in the client device if the notification message carries a subtopic identifier of the client application. |
| US09485206B2 |
Devices and methods for improving web safety and deterrence of cyberbullying
Devices, systems, and methods for allowing parents to view and track smart phone activities of their children can include one or more child software modules. The module can be installed on each child's smart phone. The module can access and extract data from or about more than one of the smart phone's other software applications, including at least two of the following: a texting application, a social media application, an image application that facilitates transmission or reception of images, and a web browser application. The module can further send the extracted data to an analysis server. The module can also monitor location data. Moreover, the system can include an analysis server that can identify potentially harmful language, images, and websites. Further, the system can include a parent portal. The parent portal can receive results from the analysis server. |
| US09485205B2 |
User initiated rule-based restrictions on messaging applications
A method, system and computer program product are disclosed for user initiated rule based restrictions on sending messages from a sender to a receiver in a communications network. The receiver establishes a set of rules for the sender that allows the sender a limited number of defined messages events with the receiver. The defined message events may be messages or message sessions. When the sender attempts to send a message to the receiver, it is determined whether a message session currently exists between the sender and the receiver. If a current session exists, the rules set by the receiver are used to determine if the message is allowed to be sent to the receiver. If a session does not currently exist, the rules are used to determine whether a new session is allowed. If a new message session is allowed, a new session is established, and the message is sent to the receiver during the new session. |
| US09485203B2 |
Method and system for attaching scanned documents to email replies via a mobile communications device
A method and system for attaching a scan to an email reply utilizing a mobile communications device and any standard email client. A scan-to-email attachment module can be configured in association with the mobile communications device. A contact address can be added to a list of email contacts available via the mobile communications device. The contact address can be added by the user to a reply-to email as an additional address utilizing the mobile communications device so that a scan document can be sent as an attachment to an email address listed in the reply-to email. A server monitoring the contact address can be polled by the scan-to-email attachment module and a scan request initiated with respect to a scanner. An email client on the mobile communications device sends the scan document as an attachment to an email address listed in the reply-to email composed by the user. A fresh email can also be composed and the contact address can be added so that the email containing the scan document can be sent to the recipients. |
| US09485201B1 |
System, method, and computer program for partially authorizing a multi-target communication request
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for partially authorizing a multi-target communication request. In use, a plurality of targets associated with a multi-target communication request are determined. Further, the multi-target communication request is automatically authorized, wherein the multi-target communication request includes a request to send at least one communication to each of the plurality of targets. Additionally, it is determined whether the multi-target communication request has been successfully authorized for each of the plurality of targets. Responsive to determining that the multi-target communication request has not been successfully authorized for at least one of the plurality of targets, the multi-target communication request is rolled back for only the at least one target. |
| US09485196B1 |
Internal packet steering within a wireless access gateway
In general, techniques are described for steering data traffic for a subscriber session from a network interface of a wireless access gateway to an anchoring one of a plurality of forwarding units of the wireless access gateway using a layer 2 (L2) address of the data traffic. For example, a wireless access gateway for a wireless local area network (WLAN) access network is described as having a decentralized data plane that includes multiple forwarding units for implementing subscriber sessions. Each forwarding unit may present a network interface for sending and receiving network packets and includes packet processing capabilities to enable subscriber data packet processing to perform the functionality of the wireless access gateway. The techniques enable steering data traffic for a given subscriber session to a particular one of the forwarding units of the wireless access gateway using an L2 address of the data traffic. |
| US09485194B2 |
Virtual link aggregation of network traffic in an aggregation switch
Access switches in a switching system may use virtual aggregated links. When a link between an aggregation switch and an access switch fails, the link failure may be reflected in the virtual aggregated link and data traffic to another access switch may be switched away from the failed switch. A forwarding table in the access switch stores a number of entries that each define a correspondence between destination addresses and an output identifier for the switch. At least a first output identifier includes an aggregated link that represents a first set of possible output links. At least a second output identifier includes a virtual aggregated link, associated with a second network switch that represents a second set of possible output links. Destination addresses in the forwarding table for the virtual aggregated link correspond to network devices connected to the second network switch. |
| US09485193B2 |
Method and apparatus for allocating network medium data resources
A method of allocating network medium data resources is disclosed. The method is performed at an apparatus having one or more processors and memory for storing programs to be executed by the one or more processors. The method includes selecting, from a set of virtual requests, a virtual request including a requested resource usage time range consisting of multiple unit time periods. The method includes identifying a set of requests conflicting with the selected virtual request, where the set of conflicting requests includes one virtual request and one actual request. The method includes calculating, based on the set of conflicting requests, a maximum allocatable resource volume for each unit time period within the requested resource usage time range. The method further includes determining, based on the maximum allocatable resource volumes and the selected virtual request, an allocatable resource volume for each unit time period within the requested resource usage time. |
| US09485188B2 |
Virtual switching based flow control
Flow control of data packets in a network may be enabled to at least one side of a virtual switching interface to provide a lossless environment. In some embodiments, wherever two buffer queues are in communication with at least one buffer queue being connected to a virtual switching interface, flow control may be used to determine if a threshold has been exceeded in one of the buffer queues. When exceeded, the transmission of data packets may cease to one of the buffer queues to prevent packet dropping and loss of data. |
| US09485187B2 |
Intelligent software-defined networking based service paths
An example method embodiment for networking includes managing, by a network controller, network services for one or more network devices connected to the network controller. Managing network services includes receiving a packet in a traffic flow from a network device. The network device is one of the one or more network devices connected to the network controller. Managing network services further includes determining applicable services for the packet, transmitting the packet to a service provider in accordance with the applicable services for the packet, receiving, from the service provider, service results corresponding to the packet, and creating a forwarding entry providing instructions for handling the traffic flow in a service path table at the network device in accordance with the service results corresponding to the packet. |
| US09485183B2 |
System and method for efectuating packet distribution among servers in a network
A packet distribution scheme for forwarding incoming packets to servers in a network. Depending on a hash value of the incoming flow's identification parameters, a hash flow table or database is queried to determine the server to which the packet is to be forwarded. If multiple flows have the same hash index and are associated with different servers, a secondary flow table or database is queried for determining the server. In an example implementation, only the secondary flow table is configured to store fully qualified flow identification parameters whereas the hash flow table is operative to store reduced or compressed state information. |
| US09485182B2 |
Method for improved load balancing in communication systems
Various methods are provided to address the need for improved load balancing. In a one method, a packet loss is determined (101) for traffic sent between a first network node and a second network node. The determined packet loss is then used to determine (103) whether to perform load balancing. In another method, a first network node receives a request from a neighboring network node for a current loading status of the first network node. The first network node sends to the neighboring network node an indication of a backhaul loading level of the first network node. |
| US09485178B2 |
Packet coalescing
In general, in one aspect, the disclosures describes a method that includes receiving multiple ingress Internet Protocol packets, each of the multiple ingress Internet Protocol packets having an Internet Protocol header and a Transmission Control Protocol segment having a Transmission Control Protocol header and a Transmission Control Protocol payload, where the multiple packets belonging to a same Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol flow. The method also includes preparing an Internet Protocol packet having a single Internet Protocol header and a single Transmission Control Protocol segment having a single Transmission Control Protocol header and a single payload formed by a combination of the Transmission Control Protocol segment payloads of the multiple Internet Protocol packets. The method further includes generating a signal that causes receive processing of the Internet Protocol packet. |
| US09485176B2 |
Global IP-based service-oriented network architecture
Data is transferred. A data packet associated with an application flow is received. A Pseudowire label is determined based at least in part on an application header associated with the data packet. The data packet is encapsulated with the Pseudowire label. The data packet is transferred over a Pseudowire using the Pseudowire label. |
| US09485173B2 |
Optimization to expand IS-IS leaf nodes during LFA computation
A method and system implemented by a network device, where the network device is in a network having a plurality of nodes. The method computes a loop free alternative (LFA) next hop as a backup for a primary path next hop for intermediate system-intermediate system (IS-IS). The method improves LFA computation efficiency by minimizing expansion of prefixes. The method includes expanding all prefixes of the next LFA shortest path first (SPF) destination node and inheriting a next candidate next hop as a current LFA next hop where the next candidate next hop provides link or node protection and better protection than the current LFA next hop. |
| US09485171B2 |
Optimizing fault synchronization in a bidirectional data network
Methods and apparatus for optimizing fault synchronization in a bidirectional data network are provided. In an example, a downstream endpoint of the data network receives a first Alarm Indication Signal (AIS). The first AIS indicates a first FLI of an upstream interface having an interface fault. The downstream endpoint transmits, to an upstream endpoint of the data network, a second AIS including a Remote Defect Indication (RDI) and a second FLI identifying the downstream endpoint. An upstream endpoint of the data network receives the second AIS and determines that the AIS is an AIS-RDI (AIS-RDI) from the presence of the second FLI. The presence of the AIS-RDI triggers the upstream endpoint to initiate tunnel failure synchronization with the downstream endpoint. |
| US09485169B2 |
Systems and methods for adaptive routing
Systems and methods for performing routing are described. For each of a plurality of messages transmitted over a primary route, a message transmission indication is received by an application. The application further receives, for at least one of the messages, a conversion indication that is based on the transmitted message. The quality of the primary route is determined based on a subset or all of the transmission indications and a subset or all of the conversion indications. Based on this determination, an alternate route is selected to replace the primary route. |
| US09485161B2 |
Systems and methods for setting up end-to-end traffic engineered ethernet line services
A method, a switch, and a network includes receiving a request for an Ethernet service at a Maintenance End Point (MEP) in a network, wherein the Ethernet service has a destination of a Remote MEP (RMEP), and wherein the request includes bandwidth amounts for the request; utilizing Link Trace messaging to the RMEP to detect an active path to the RMEP; and utilizing Loop Back messaging to the RMEP to reserve bandwidth based on the bandwidth amounts on the active path. |
| US09485144B2 |
Network traffic optimization
A method of optimizing network traffic includes, in part, measuring amounts of traffic exchange between each of a multitude of hosts disposed in the network, identifying a network domain to which each of the multitude of hosts is connected, calculating a net increase or decrease in inter-domain traffic associated with moving each of the multitude of hosts among the network domains in order to generate a list, and ranking the list of moves by net saving in the inter-domain traffic. The highest ranked move may be automatically applied so as to change the network domain to which the host associated with the highest ranked move is connected. The hosts may be virtual machines. Optionally, a change in the inter-domain traffic as a result of moving a first host in accordance with the list occurs only if one or more conditions are met. |
| US09485141B1 |
Constrained route distribution for multiple virtual private network services
In general, techniques are described for ensuring the distribution of Virtual Private Network (VPN) routes in a service provider network configured with multiple VPN services. In some examples, a network device receives configuration data that defines a VPN service associated with a route target. The network device, responsive to receiving the configuration data, sends a request for routes that match a type of the VPN service to a routing protocol speaker. The network device receives routes that match the type of the VPN service and are associated with the route target, installs the routes that match the type of the VPN service and are associated with the route target to the routing information base. The network device forwards traffic for the VPN service in accordance with the installed routes. |
| US09485135B1 |
Node-protection and path attribute collection with remote loop free alternates
An example method includes selecting, by a network device, a remote LFA next hop as an alternate next hop for forwarding network traffic from the network device to a destination, wherein the selected remote LFA next hop provides node protection to a primary next hop node on the shortest path from the network device to the destination. The method includes, for each candidate remote LFA next hop, performing a forward shortest path first (SPF) computation having the respective candidate remote LFA next hop as a root to compute a path segment between the respective candidate remote LFA next hop and the destination, wherein each of the candidate remote LFA next hops is the egress of a respective potential repair tunnel between the network device and candidate remote LFA next hop, and selecting the remote LFA next hop based at least in part on the computed path segments. |
| US09485133B2 |
Platform independent management controller
DCMI functionality is extended to platforms of a datacenter by integrating a management controller in each of plural platforms and interfacing the management controllers with a management server through a network. End users interface with platforms of the datacenter using DCMI protocol communications. The management server supports communication with management controllers by receiving DCMI messages and translating the DCMI messages to a text-based protocol for communications with the management controllers. In one embodiment, the management controllers push sensor information for their associated platforms to a sensor cache of the management server so that the management sensor references the cache to respond to DCMI requests for sensor information. |
| US09485132B2 |
Automated SAN network topological diagram and point-to-point cabling creation for customers environments
A method of presenting a network architecture includes identifying two or more network devices for interconnection analysis, collecting information describing communications paths between two or more network devices, and converting the collected information into a markup language format. The method further includes generating, from the markup language format, a listing of the network devices and a listing of connections between the network devices. The method also includes instantiating, based on the listing of the network devices, one or more images depicting each of the two or more network devices. The method further includes instantiating, based on the listing of connections, one or more images depicting connections between the two or more network devices. |
| US09485129B1 |
Multi-standard peak canceling circuitry
Integrated circuits with wireless communications circuitry having peak cancelation circuitry operable to perform crest factor reduction is provided. The peak cancelation circuitry may receive at least first and second carrier waveforms and may include at least a first canceling pulse generator (CPG), a second CPG, a first peak detector for performing peak detection on the first waveform, a second peak detector for performing peak detection on the second waveform, a third peak detector for performing peak detection on a combined waveform of the first and second waveforms, and a pulse allocator that receives clipping information from the three peak detectors and that controls the amount of peak cancelation that is being performed by the two CPGs. The allocator may determine whether the combined waveform contains any peaks. In response to determining that the combined waveform does not contain any peaks, the CPGs may be configured in bypass mode. |
| US09485128B2 |
System and method for scrambling using a bit scrambler and a phase scrambler
A system and method that demodulates the phase characteristic of a carrier signal are described. The scrambling of the phase characteristic of each carrier signal includes associating a value with each carrier signal and computing a phase shift for each carrier signal based on the value associated with that carrier signal. The value is determined independently of any input bit value carried by that carrier signal. The phase shift computed for each carrier signal is combined with the phase characteristic of that carrier signal so as to substantially scramble the phase characteristic of the carrier signals. Bits of an input signal are modulated onto the carrier signals having the substantially scrambled phase characteristic to produce a transmission signal with a reduced PAR. |
| US09485122B1 |
Data rate programming using source degenerated CTLE
The present invention is directed to data communication systems and methods. In various embodiments, the present invention provides a CML device that changes output frequency response by varying resistance values of its load resistance and source resistance. A bias control voltage is used to adjust the tail current of the CML device, and the tail current adjusts the output gain of the CML device. There are other embodiments as well. |
| US09485121B2 |
Digital baud rate clock recovery of heavily ISI-induced signals
System and method for digitally equalizing a data channel having wide channel impulse response for clock recovery of heavily ISI-induced received signals operating at one sample per symbol, according to which the received signal is pre-processed to provide a received signal with modified constellation, which is pre-processed for the decision process of signal with Inter-Symbol Interference by introducing controlled ISI to the received signal. The decision process is performed, based on a higher order vocabulary according to the introduced controlled ISI. |
| US09485110B2 |
Apparatus for alerting an emergency via broadcast signal transmission/reception and method for alerting an emergency via broadcast signal transmission/reception
A method and an apparatus for transmitting broadcast signals thereof are disclosed. The method for transmitting broadcast signals includes encoding PLP data; building at least one signal frame by mapping the encoded PLP data; and modulating data in the built signal frame by OFDM method and transmitting a broadcast signal having the modulated data, wherein the signal frame includes a preamble having a preamble symbol and a guard interval, wherein the guard interval is generated by using a sequence and the preamble symbol. |
| US09485103B2 |
Bridge circuit for Ethernet powered device
A network powered device includes field effect transistors connected as bridge circuit. The bridge circuit includes control circuitry to enable the FETs based on completion of a powered device detection sequence performed by power sourcing equipment coupled to the device via an Ethernet link. |
| US09485102B2 |
Techniques for user-validated close-range mutual authentication
A close-range mutual authentication system is described. A method may comprise receiving encoded connection information at a close-range input device of a client mode electronic device from a server mode electronic device; decoding the encoded connection information into one or more connection elements; establishing a communication connection with the server mode electronic device utilizing the connection elements; receiving authentication information at the client mode electronic device via the communication connection; authenticating the server mode electronic device to the client mode electronic device utilizing the authentication information; and generating one or more authentication elements responsive to authentication of the server mode electronic device for presentation via a close-range output device of the client mode electronic device, the one or more authentication elements configured to confirm authentication of the client mode electronic device to the server mode electronic device. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US09485100B2 |
Trust management systems and methods
The present invention provides systems and methods for making efficient trust management decisions. A trust management engine is provided that processes requests for system resources, authorizations or certificates, and the identity of one or more root authorities that are ultimately responsible for granting or denying the requests. To determine whether a request should be granted, the trust management engine identifies a set principals from whom authorization may flow, and interprets each of the certificates as a function of the state of one or more of the principals. The processing logic iteratively evaluates the functions represented by the certificates, updates the states of the principals, and repeats this process until a reliable determination can be made as to whether the request should be granted or denied. The certificates may be evaluated until the state of the root authority indicates that the request should be granted, or until further evaluation of the certificates is ineffective in changing the state of the principals. |
| US09485099B2 |
Apparatus, systems and methods for agile enablement of secure communications for cloud based applications
Embodiments disclosed facilitate secure communication for cloud-based and/or distributed computing applications. In some embodiments, a method may comprise: instantiating a first Virtual Machine (VM) on a cloud infrastructure, wherein the at least one first VM is dynamically configured with a private key and a wildcard security certificate comprising a public key corresponding to the private key, and registering, with a domain name server, a domain name derived from an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the first VM and a Common Name associated with the wildcard security certificate. |
| US09485098B1 |
System and method of user authentication using digital signatures
The present disclosure pertains to data security, and more specifically, to a method and system of user authentication using an electronic digital signature of the user. An exemplary method includes obtaining biometric data of the user, calculating a biometric key based on the biometric data, identifying encrypted confidential information of the user in an electronic database and decrypting the identified confidential information of the user using the calculated biometric key. Furthermore, the method includes calculating a cryptographic key using a first portion of the decrypted confidential information of the user; generating an electronic digital signature of the user based on the cryptographic key; verifying the electronic digital signature using a second portion of the decrypted confidential information; and authenticating the user to access the data if the electronic digital signature is verified. |
| US09485093B2 |
Push button configuration pairing
Systems, methods, and devices for pairing devices in a wired network are provided. One method includes receiving configuration request signals at multiple devices. The method further includes exchanging public keys between two devices, generating a shared key using the public keys, determining a protected channel key using the shared key, and establishing a protected channel between the devices using the protected channel key. The method further includes transferring privacy credentials from one device to the other using the protected channel and using the privacy credentials to pair another device to the network. |
| US09485092B2 |
Electronic authentication systems
A transaction device for establishing a shared secret with a point of interaction (POI) over a communications network to enable encrypted communications between the transaction device and the point of interaction, the device comprising: an input arranged to receive communications from the point of interaction; a processor arranged to generate a first communication according to a Diffie-Hellman protocol; an output arranged to send the first communication to the point of interaction; wherein the processor is arranged to apply a randomly generated blinding factor, r, when generating the first communication and wherein, in response to receiving a second communication from the point of interaction at the input, the second communication having been generated according to the Diffie-Hellman protocol, the processor is arranged to apply the randomly generated blinding factor and generate a shared secret according to the Diffie-Hellman protocol in dependence on data contained within the second communication. |
| US09485091B2 |
Dual-party session key derivation
Embodiments relate to negotiating a session key to secure a user session executed in a host computer. An electronic hardware security module (HSM) located in the host computer generates a first session key. A smart card generates a second session key that matches the first session key. An encrypted copy of the second session key is communicated to an electronic host application module installed in the host computer. The electronic host application module decrypts the encrypted session key to obtain a copy of the session key such that the first and second session keys possessed by the smart card, the host application module and the HSM match one another. |
| US09485087B2 |
Method and circuit for cryptographic operation
A method of performing a cryptographic operation including: receiving a plurality of binary input values; splitting the binary input values into a plurality of non-binary digits of base r, where r is an integer greater than 2 and not equal to a power of 2; and performing, by a cryptographic block on each of the plurality of non-binary digits, a different modulo r operation to generate at least one output digit) of base r. |
| US09485084B2 |
Linearity of phase interpolators by combining current coding and size coding
A phase interpolator, including: a first portion including a first plurality of branches and a plurality of tail current sources, each branch including a differential pair of transistors, source terminals of the differential pair of transistors connect to form a source node, wherein each tail current source couples to one of the source nodes, and wherein the differential pair of transistors and the corresponding tail current source are configured in a current coding scheme; a second portion including a second plurality of branches and a fixed current source coupled to the second plurality of branches, each branch of the second plurality of branches including a second plurality of differential pairs of transistors and a plurality of switches configured in a size coding scheme; wherein the first portion and the second portion are coupled to each other and to a pair of load resistors. |
| US09485080B1 |
Multiphase clock data recovery circuit calibration
Methods, apparatus, and systems for clock calibration are disclosed. A method for clock data recovery circuit calibration includes configuring a first clock recovery circuit to provide a clock signal that has a first frequency and that includes a single pulse for each symbol transmitted on a 3-wire, 3-phase interface, and calibrating the first clock recovery circuit by incrementally increasing a delay period provided by a delay element of the first clock recovery circuit until the clock signal provided by the first clock recovery circuit has a frequency that is less than the first frequency and, when the first clock recovery circuit has a frequency that is less than the first frequency, incrementally decreasing the delay period provided by the delay element of the first clock recovery circuit until the clock signal provided by the first clock recovery circuit has a frequency that matches the first frequency. |
| US09485076B2 |
Dynamic polarization modulation and control
A method for sending a data from an electromagnetic radiator by polarization modulation of an electromagnetic wave includes radiating from the radiator first and second electromagnetic waves including first and second polarizations respectively, the first polarization being different than the second polarization. The first and second electromagnetic waves form a third electromagnetic wave having a third polarization different from the first or second polarization. The method includes modulating the third polarization responsive to the data by modulating one or more parts of the third electromagnetic wave. The data is sent in the third polarization. A system for sending a data includes an oscillator adapted to generate an oscillating signal, and a phase shifter coupled to the oscillator and adapted to generate a first phase-shifted oscillating signal having a first phase. The phase shifter is adapted to vary the phase difference across a predefined range in response to the data. |
| US09485074B1 |
Method and apparatus for scheduling asynchronous transmissions
The present invention provides a method of scheduling asynchronous transmissions for a plurality of subscriber units. The method includes receiving information associated with a plurality of subscriber units that have uplink data to transmit, the information including uplink timing offset information associated with each of the subscriber units. Two or more subscriber units are then selected from a set of subscriber units having a timing offset differential, that is below a predetermined threshold, where the timing offset differential is the difference between the timing offset of a first subscriber unit and the timing offset of a second subscriber unit further selectively offset by a multiple of the transmission segment size, which minimizes the difference. The transmission segments, which are available for the uplink of data, are then allocated between the selected two or more subscriber units, which limits the number of transmission segments that have at least one of an overlap or a gap, and the amount of any overlap or gap, in order to minimize wasted scheduling opportunities. |
| US09485067B2 |
Pilot arrangement method in mobile radio communication system and transmitter/receiver adopting same
A mobile communication system in which a working frequency band is divided into a plurality of predetermined frequency bands, and time division multiplexing is performed, the mobile communication system includes a base station to insert a known pilot symbol into the plurality of predetermined frequency bands at a predetermined reference interval, and to insert to arrange the known pilot symbol into at least one of the plurality of predetermined bands at a smaller interval than the predetermined reference interval, wherein a frequency band in which the known pilot symbol is inserted at a smaller interval than the predetermined reference interval is to be set cyclically in time; and a mobile terminal to receive the known pilot symbol transmitted from the base station. |
| US09485063B2 |
Pre-coding in multi-user MIMO
In a multi-user communication system, a pre-coder in a transmitter comprises a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) spreader configured to spread reference-signal symbols with Fourier coefficients to generate DFT-spread reference symbols. An OFDM modulator, such as an inverse-DFT, modulates the DFT-spread reference symbols onto OFDM subcarriers to produce a pre-coded OFDM transmission signal. |
| US09485062B2 |
Systems and methods for configuring redundant transmissions in a wireless network
A method for configuring communication in a wireless communication system includes obtaining, at a first network node, information indicating a plurality of candidate subframes for downlink transmissions to a wireless communication device in a first cell served by the first network node. Each candidate subframe satisfies a candidate condition that relates to transmissions in a second cell during that subframe. The method also includes determining, based on the obtained information, a number of copies of an uplink transmission a wireless communication device should transmit in consecutive uplink subframes so that a downlink transmission related to the uplink transmission will occur during one of the candidate subframes. Additionally, the method includes configuring the wireless communication device to transmit the determined number of copies of the uplink transmission in consecutive subframes. |
| US09485058B2 |
PAM data communication with reflection cancellation
The present invention is directed to data communication systems and methods. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention provide a communication system that removes reflection signals. A digital data stream is processed through both tentative path and the main path. The tentative path uses a first DFE device and a reflection cancellation circuit to generate a correction signal for removing reflection signal from the digital data stream. A second DFE device removes ISI and other noises from the corrected digital data stream. There are other embodiments as well. |
| US09485056B2 |
Optical transceiver and data mapping method using thereof
Disclosed is an optical transceiver. The optical transceiver includes a decoder for decoding an 8B10B line-coded signal; a data mapper for separating the decoded signal into block units and securing extra memory capacity by mapping a data code and a block information code onto each of the separated blocks; and an FEC encoding unit for creating a Forward Error Correction (FEC) data and mapping the FEC data onto the extra memory capacity. |
| US09485053B2 |
Long-distance RapidIO packet delivery
The present invention provides a RapidIO device that includes a switch fabric and a port coupled to the switch fabric. The port is configured to establish a LP-Serial link with RapidIO endpoints, add packet headers having the same acknowledgement identifier to a plurality of contiguous packets and generate a link cyclical redundancy check value for the plurality of contiguous packets having the same acknowledgement identifier, the link cyclical redundancy check code computed to include the value of an acknowledgement identifier header. The port is configured to sequentially output the plurality of packets having the same acknowledgement identifier on the LP-Serial link. In addition, methods are disclosed for formatting bit streams in a RapidIO based communication system and communicating RapidIO packets. |
| US09485051B2 |
Facilitation of security employing a femto cell access point
One or more femto cell access points (FAPs) are employed to facilitate provisioning of security. A signal indicative of an intrusion in an area associated with an FAP can be received, and, based on receiving the signal, an identifier associated with a device in a detection range of the FAP can be determined. One or more frequencies in the detection range of the femto cell access point can be jammed, an attachment attempt emitted from the device in response to jamming the frequencies can be detected, and a telephone number of the device can be identified based, at least, on detecting the attachment attempt from the device. Warnings can also be sent to the device and/or tracking of the device can be performed. |
| US09485049B2 |
Adjusting carrier spacing in a channel
An optical system may include optical transmitters to provide respective optical signals. Each of the respective optical signals may provide one or more carriers in an optical channel. The optical channel may include multiple carriers associated with the respective optical signals. First and second carriers, of the multiple carriers, may have a particular carrier space width. The particular carrier space width may include a frequency error associated with one or more optical signals of the respective optical signals. The optical system may include a control system to determine the frequency error and cause one or more of the optical transmitters to adjust the particular carrier space width based on the adjusted frequency error. |
| US09485046B1 |
Optical spot array pitch compressor
An apparatus comprises a passive wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) demultiplexer (DeMUX) or a passive WDM multiplexer (MUX), an active photo diode (PD) array or an active laser diode (LD) array, and a compressing device disposed between the passive WDM DeMUX or the passive WDM MUX and the active PD array or the active LD array. The compressing device changes the optical spot pitch of the passive WDM DeMUX or the passive WDM MUX to match the pitch of the active PD array or the active LD array. The compressing device may be a single optical wedge, a first and a second optical wedges, a plurality of optical wedges, or a grating. A compression ratio can be adjusted by changing the incident angle of the incident beam to the compressing device. |
| US09485043B1 |
Quadrature modulation apparatus for AM stereo transmitters
A modulation system for AM stereo transmission wherein in a combination of amplitude modulation and phase modulation allows a pair of unique audio channel signals to be modulated onto an AM carrier. When a monophonic audio signal is provided, there is no phase modulation present. However, when a first audio signal (e.g., a “right” channel) differs from a second audio signal (e.g., a “left” audio channel), phase modulation occurs simultaneously with amplitude modulation. The modulation system accepts non-matrixed audio signals and produces quadrature modulation compatible with the industry standard C-QUAM system. |
| US09485042B2 |
Transmitting and receiving apparatus and method for separating multiple broadcast signals in terrestrial cloud broadcast system
A transmitting and receiving apparatus and method for separating multiple broadcast signals from each other in a terrestrial cloud broadcast system are provided. A terrestrial cloud broadcast signal transmitting apparatus may include a plurality of transmitters for transmitting a plurality of terrestrial cloud broadcast signals, wherein each of the plurality of transmitters includes, an encoder encoding input data to generate a code word and a scrambler scrambling the generated code word using a scramble sequence uniquely allocated for each transmitter so that the plurality of terrestrial cloud broadcast signals are distinguished from each other. |
| US09485040B2 |
Method for testing sensitivity of a data packet signal transceiver
A method for using a test data packet signal to test a data packet signal transceiver device under test (DUT) having an operating characteristic defined by a data packet error rate (PER) as a function of data packet signal power (PWR). The test data packet signal power is varied and a test PER is computed as a function of DUT response data packets and test data packets until a measured test PER or a computed test PER extrapolated from measured PERs is equal to a predetermined PER less than and greater than maximum and minimum PERs, respectively. |
| US09485038B2 |
System and method for enabling automated testing of wireless data packet signal transceivers
A system and method for enabling automated testing of wireless data packet signal transceiver devices under test (DUTs). One or more DUTs are enclosed inside respective chambers within a shielded enclosure providing electromagnetic shielding for its interior region. Each DUT is powered by an internal power source and its radio frequency (RF) signal port is connected to an external RF signal interface at an outer wall of the shielded enclosure. An anchor at an outer wall of the shielded enclosure enables mechanical engagement with and physical displacement of the shielded enclosure, thereby allowing DUTs to be manipulated using pick and place automation devices for engagement with and connection to automated test equipment. Such test equipment can be assembled into vertically stacked RF signal test stations with which shielded DUT enclosures are engaged by physically mating their respective power and RF signal ports using the pick and place automation device. |
| US09485030B2 |
Optical signal modulation
A 2n-QAM (e.g. 16-QAM) optical modulator comprising cascaded I-Q modulators. The first I-Q modulator applies 2n-2 (e.g. 4) QAM to an optical signal, having a constellation diagram with the 2n-2 (e.g., 4) constellation points located in quadrant I. The second I-Q modulator subsequently applies a quaternary phase-shift keying (QPSK) modulation scheme to the optical signal, thereby rotating the constellation points of the 2n-2-QAM modulation scheme to quadrants II, III and IV, to produce a 2n-QAM modulation constellation diagram. The rotation causes the 2n-QAM modulator to inherently apply four quadrant differential encoding to the optical signal. A method of 2n-QAM optical modulation is also provided and optical signal transmission apparatus comprising the 2n-QAM optical modulator. |
| US09485027B2 |
Dynamic memory allocation in an optical transceiver
Methods, algorithms, architectures, circuits, and/or systems for dynamically allocating memory for storing parametric data in optical transceivers are disclosed. The optical transceiver can include an optical receiver configured to receive optical data; an optical transmitter configured to transmit optical data; a microprocessor configured to access data for each of a plurality of parameters that are related to operation of at least one of the optical receiver and the optical transmitter; one or more memories configured to store the data at a plurality of locations that are dynamically allocated by the microprocessor; and an interface configured to receive a request for data for one or more of the parameters from a host and provide the data in response to the request. In the present disclosure, the host is unaware of the locations at which the parametric data are stored. |
| US09485015B2 |
Optical layer status exchange over OSC-OAM method for ROADM networks
A method for receiving, by circuitry of an optical node adapted for wavelength multiplexing and wavelength switching, a signal over OSC comprising overhead information indicative of status of at least one of an optical layer in an OTN; wherein the signal utilizes OC-N frame format comprising a first STS frame, a second STS frame, and a third STS frame, the STS frames having a format wherein the information is assigned to a number of bits designated for OAM information, wherein the bits are assigned to bytes within a transport overhead portion of the STS frame format within the OC-N frame format; terminating, by circuitry of the optical node, the signal at the optical node; and notifying, by circuitry of the optical node, software of the status of the optical layer in the OTN. |
| US09485014B2 |
Transmission apparatus, transmission system, and failure detection method
A transmission apparatus includes a plurality of output units and a detector. The plurality of output units is configured to couple to a plurality of transmission paths, respectively, branched from one transmission path. The plurality of output units includes at least one first output unit configured to transmit signal light selectively to one of the branched transmission paths, and at least one second output unit configured to transmit test light with a wavelength different from a wavelength of the signal light to another of the branched transmission paths. The detector is configured to decide a failure in the branched transmission paths, based on a result of detection of a reflected light of the test light received through at least one of the branched transmission paths. |
| US09485008B2 |
Intra cell interference mitigation in a wireless network employing relay nodes
A method and relay node (RN) in a wireless communications network for controlling downlink transmissions to User Equipments (UEs) being served by the RN. An RN transceiver circuit requests each UE to measure and report a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and a UE total downlink interference. An RN receiver circuit receives and forwards the reported RSRP and UE total downlink interference for each UE. An RN processing and control circuit measures an RN total downlink interference; determines which UEs are closely located to the RN based on the reported RSRP of each UE; creates a UE-list with UEs determined to be closely located to the RN and which experience UE total downlink interference similar to the measured RN total downlink interference; determines whether the measured RN total downlink interference exceeds an RN interference threshold; and if so, controls the downlink transmissions to the UEs in the created UE-list. |
| US09485006B2 |
Relay communication system
A relay communications system is described in which a base station is able to dynamically vary or semi-statically vary the number of resource blocks used to carry relay control data within a transmitted sub-frame. Default resource blocks are used to include a first part of the control data and if additional control data is provided, then the first part of the control data identifies that there is additional control data and provides information to allow the additional data to be located within the sub-frame. |
| US09485002B2 |
Equalizing method in a receiver node of a wireless communication system
The present invention relates to an equalizing method in a receiver node of a cellular wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving at least one radio signal comprising a plurality of resource elements; obtaining interference information associated with the plurality of resource elements; extracting resource elements from the plurality of resource elements carrying data into a first set based on the interference information; dividing the resource elements in the first set into one or more sub-sets each comprising T number of resource elements; filtering the resource elements in said one or more sub-sets by applying a balanced whitening and energy focusing filter W so as to obtain filtered resource elements y; and equalizing the filtered resource elements y. The invention also relates to a receive device, a computer program, and a computer program product. |
| US09484998B2 |
Antenna allocation apparatus and method for cellular mobile communication system
Methods and apparatuses are provided for communicating with a terminal of a base station in a mobile communication system. Configuration information on a plurality of antenna ports of reference signals (RSs) which comprise first type antenna ports and second type antenna ports, is transmitted. Status information for at least one antenna port of an RS among the plurality of antenna ports of the RSs, is received. At least one indicator indicating at least one selected antenna port of an RS is transmitted based on the status information. The terminal is communicated with using the at least one selected antenna port of the RS. The first type antenna ports are for a centralized antenna and the second type antenna ports are for a distributed antenna. |
| US09484995B2 |
Method, system, and device for transmitting coding instruction information and for determining pre-coding matrix
The present application relates to the technical field of radio communications, and relates specifically to a method, system, and device for transmitting coding instruction information and for determining a pre-coding matrix, for use in solving the problem that direct application of current codebooks to a three-dimensional beamforming/pre-coding technology causes performance degradation. The method of embodiments of the present application comprises: a user equipment determines and transmits first pre-coding instruction information, second pre-coding instruction information, and third pre-coding instruction information, where the first pre-coding instruction information, the second pre-coding instruction information, and the third pre-coding instruction information correspond to a pre-coding matrix, a first component pre-coding matrix is a block diagonal matrix, a third component pre-coding matrix is constituted by a weighted column selection vector, and, with the exception of a P-number of nonzero elements, the remainder of the weighted column selection vector is all zeros. Employment of the solution of the embodiments of the present application increases the performance of the three-dimensional beamforming/pre-coding technology. |
| US09484994B2 |
Adaptive mode-switching spatial modulation for MIMO wireless communication system
Techniques are generally described related to tag refinement strategy. One example method for communicating between a first wireless system having a plurality of first antennas and a second wireless system having a plurality of second antennas may be presented. The method may include receiving configuration information associated with the plurality of first antennas and a plurality of modulation schemes which the first wireless system is configured to support; determining a plurality of configurations based on the configuration information, wherein each of the plurality of configurations defines a corresponding subset of first antennas selected from the plurality of first antennas and a corresponding modulation scheme selected from the plurality of modulation schemes; and selecting a first configuration from the plurality of configurations, wherein when operating under the first configuration, the first wireless system is configured to achieve one or more performance criteria. |
| US09484989B2 |
System and method for autonomous combining
A user agent capable of carrying out autonomous combining. The user agent can be implemented as a processor configured to promote receiving a first signal from an access node and a second signal from a relay node. The processor may be further configured to combine the first and second signals. |
| US09484988B2 |
Power supply device, power receiving device, charging system, and obstacle detection method
Provided are a power supply device, a power receiving device, a charging system, and an obstacle detection method that obtain a sufficient obstacle detection sensitivity even when an obstacle is small. A modulation unit (202) performs amplitude modulation or phase modulation on a test data sequence output from a test data sequence storage unit (201). A power control unit (203) generates, according to an instruction from a determination unit (204), a power control signal for increasing the power level of the test data sequence every time when the test data sequence is transmitted. The determination unit (204) determines whether there is an obstacle between the power receiving device and the power supply device based on whether the test data sequence output from the test data sequence storage unit (201) coincides with the test data sequence output from a power-transmitting-side receiving circuit (124). |
| US09484987B2 |
Information processing apparatus, system, and information processing method
An information processing apparatus includes a first communication unit, a second communication unit, and a communication-apparatus-side controller. The first communication unit performs wireless communication with plural terminal apparatuses, the number of which is less than or equal to a predetermined maximum number of connections. The second communication unit performs wireless communication with a connection-requesting terminal apparatus that newly attempts to perform wireless communication with the first communication unit. The communication-apparatus-side controller switches the wireless communication via the second communication unit to wireless communication via the first communication unit, the wireless communication via the first communication unit being performed using a dedicated line prepared in advance. |
| US09484973B1 |
Voltage equalization for stacked FETs in RF switches
A switch branch that improves voltage uniformity across a series stack of an n-number of transistors is disclosed. A first one of the n-number of transistors is coupled to an input terminal, and an nth one of the n-number of transistors is coupled to an output terminal, where n is a positive integer greater than one. Predetermined parasitic capacitances associated with each of the n-number of transistors are adjustable with respect to capacitance value by predetermined amounts by dimensioning and arranging at least one metal layer element in proximity to the series stack of the n-number of transistors. Capacitance values for the predetermined parasitic capacitances are selected such that a voltage across the series stack of the n-number of transistors is uniformly distributed. In this way, the n-number of transistors can be reduced without risking a transistor breakdown within the series stack of the n-number of transistors. |
| US09484969B2 |
Delta-pi signal acquisition
Values representative of modulation signal components are extracted from a modulated signal. The modulated signal contains a modulation signal. A periodic time segment sequence is defined having at least four ordered time segments. Multiple sets of signal values are acquired from the modulated signal. For each signal value, a difference in the modulated signal during each of two of the ordered time segments is acquired, as the signal value. The two ordered time segments differ in their order within the sequence by half of the number of ordered time segments in the sequence. Each set is acquired over multiple repetitions of the periodic time segment sequence. Each set is acquired during different ordered time segments than each other set. Each signal value is representative of a modulation signal component. |
| US09484967B1 |
Method for duty cycle distortion detection through decision feedback equalizer taps
An embodiment includes a receiver circuit, a feedback circuit and a control circuit. The receiver circuit is configured to receive each data bit of a plurality of data bits. The feedback circuit is configured to measure a first interference level generated by a first data bit of a first subset of the plurality of data bits on a second data bit of the plurality of data bits to generate one of a first plurality of feedback values. The feedback circuit is also configured to measure a second interference level generated by a third data bit of a second subset of the plurality of data bits on a fourth data bit of the plurality of data bits to generate one of a second plurality of feedback values. The control circuit is configured to determine a duty cycle dependent upon a comparison of the first plurality to the second plurality. |
| US09484955B2 |
Semiconductor memory apparatus and training method using the same
A semiconductor memory apparatus may include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) circuit block electrically coupled with a first pad, and configured to generate internal CRC information from data received from the first pad. The semiconductor memory apparatus may also include a comparison unit configured to compare external CRC information received from outside the semiconductor memory apparatus with the internal CRC information, and generate a read training result signal. |
| US09484954B1 |
Methods and apparatus to parallelize data decompression
Methods and apparatus to parallelize data decompression are disclosed. A method selects the initial starting positions in a compressed data bitstream. A first one of the initial starting positions is adjusted to determine a first adjusted starting position by decoding the bitstream starting at a training position in the bitstream. The decoding includes traversing the bitstream from the training position as though first data located at the training position is a valid token. The first decoded data generated by decoding a first segment of the bitstream starting from the first adjusted starting position is output. The first decoded data is merged with second decoded data generated by decoding a second segment of the bitstream. The decoding of the second segment starting from a second position in the bitstream is performed in parallel with the decoding of the first segment. The second segment precedes the first segment in the bitstream. |
| US09484950B1 |
Hardware efficient digital signal processing for on-the-fly delta sigma bit stream linear operator and compressor circuits
Methods and apparatuses embodied in delta sigma domain digital signal processing circuits that perform linear operation of delta sigma modulated bit stream, including adding, coefficient multiplication, and compressing. The digital processing circuits perform on-the-fly processing to generate a continuous output delta sigma bit-stream based on the continuous input delta-sigma modulated bit-streams and the input binary coefficients. The on-the-fly bit-stream processing circuit is realized via digital delta sigma modulators with input coefficient multiplexers, feedback multiplexers, and toggling multiplexers. |
| US09484949B1 |
Variable run length encoding of a bit stream
An apparatus and method for encoding data are disclosed that may allow for variable run length encoding of data to be transmitted. An ordered stream of data bits is received from a logic circuit, and N sequential data bits of the stream are selected, where N is a positive integer. Of the N sequential data bits, M sequential data bits are selected, wherein M is a positive integer less than N. The M sequential data bits are then encoded to generate a code word that includes P data bits, wherein P is a positive integer greater than M and less than N. The code word is then concatenated with a subset of the N sequential data bits that excludes the M sequential data bits to form a transmission word. A transmit unit then sends the data bits of the transmission word in a serial fashion. |
| US09484948B2 |
Clock generation circuit
The present technique relates to a clock generation circuit including a phase difference comparison circuit configured to compare a phase of each of an input clock signal and a feedback signal, and provides a phase difference signal indicating a phase difference between the input clock signal and the feedback signal, a filter circuit configured to suppress a high frequency component in the phase difference signal, an output circuit configured to modulate the phase difference signal in such a manner as to decrease a noise component of a low frequency band and increase a noise component of a high frequency band, and generate and output an output clock signal from the modulated phase difference signal and a reference clock signal, and a frequency dividing circuit configured to divide a frequency of the output clock signal, at a predetermined frequency dividing ratio, and feed it back to the phase comparison circuit. |
| US09484944B2 |
Current counting analog-to-digital converter for load current sensing including dynamically biased comparator
In one embodiment, a circuit comprises first and second capacitors configured to receive a sense current in first and second modes, respectively. A comparator is coupled to the first capacitor to compare a voltage of the first capacitor to a reference voltage and generate a count signal in response to the voltage of the first capacitor reaching the reference voltage in the first mode. The comparator is coupled to the second capacitor to compare a voltage of the second capacitor to the reference voltage and generate the count signal in response to the voltage of the second capacitor reaching the reference voltage in the second mode. A reset circuit discharges the first capacitor in the second mode and the second capacitor in the first mode in response to the count signal. A counter increments a count of a number of occurrences of the count signal. |
| US09484938B2 |
Apparatus, system and method for controlling temperature and power supply voltage drift in a digital phase locked loop
Described herein are apparatus, system, and method for controlling temperature drift and/or voltage supply drift in a digital phase locked loop (DPLL). The apparatus comprises a DPLL including a digital filter to generate a fine code for controlling a frequency of an output signal of a digital controlled oscillator (DCO) of the DPLL; a logic unit to monitor the fine code and to generate a compensation signal based on the fine code; and a voltage adjustment unit to update a power supply level to the DCO based on the compensation signal, wherein the updated power supply level to cause the digital filter to generate the fine code near the middle of an entire range of the fine code across various temperatures, and wherein the digital filter to generate the fine code near the middle of the entire range across power supply drift. |
| US09484937B2 |
Time-to-digital converter using a configurable multiplier
A fractional error correction circuit includes a time-to-digital converter (TDC) configured to detect a phase difference between a reference clock signal and a variable clock signal, and a configurable multiplier coupled with the TDC. The configurable multiplier has a selectable bit size, the selectable bit size being based on a minimum number of bits needed to obtain a reciprocal of a period of the variable clock signal. The TDC is configured to output a fractional error correction value based on the detected phase difference and the reciprocal of the period. |
| US09484934B1 |
Delay lock loop
A delay lock loop is provided. A delay unit includes a delay factor and delays a first clock signal to generate a second clock signal according to the delay factor. An elimination unit delays a third clock signal to generate a fourth clock signal. A phase detection unit is coupled to the delay unit and the elimination unit and generates an indication signal according to a phase difference between the second and fourth clock signals. A control unit is coupled to the phase detection unit and the delay unit. The control unit controls the delay unit according to the indication signal to adjust the delay factor. When the delay factor is equal to an initial value, an initial time difference occurs between the first and second clock signals. A time difference between the third and fourth clock signals is equal to the initial time difference. |
| US09484933B2 |
Device for generating frequency-stable signals with switchable injection-locked oscillator
A device for generating at least one frequency-stable periodical signal, including: a generator configured to generate at least one first periodical signal with frequency spectrum that includes at least two lines at different frequencies fa and fb; a first switchable injection-locked oscillator configured to receive at an input the first periodical signal and to be locked, in a first state, to the frequency fa, and in a second state, to the frequency fb, as a function of a value of at least one control signal applied at the input of the first switchable injection-locked oscillator. |
| US09484931B2 |
Delay locked loop circuit and operation method thereof
A delay locked loop (DLL) circuit may include: an input clock control unit suitable for transmitting first and second internal clocks generated based on an external clock, and controlling transmission of the second internal clock based on a clock control signal which is activated during a predetermined period; a clock delay unit suitable for generating a first delay locked clock by delaying the first internal clock by a delay time required for locking, and generating a second delay locked clock by delaying the second internal clock based on the clock control signal; and an output clock control unit suitable for outputting the first delay locked clock and the second delay locked clock during a period in which the clock control signal is activated. |
| US09484930B2 |
Initializing components of an integrated circuit
Methods, systems, and computer program products for initializing one or more components of a system, the system comprising an integrated circuit that comprises at least one processor, are disclosed. A method includes initializing at least one component of the system, determining a temperature of the integrated circuit using a temperature sensing device embedded on the integrated circuit, comparing the determined temperature to a predetermined suitable temperature operating range of at least one additional component to yield a comparison result, and initializing the at least one additional component based on the comparison result. The at least one additional component may be initialized on the condition that the determined temperature of the integrated circuit is within the predetermined suitable temperature operating range of the at least one additional component. |
| US09484924B2 |
Negative capacitance logic device, clock generator including the same and method of operating clock generator
A negative capacitance logic device includes a first field effect transistor (FET) and a second FET. The first FET is coupled between a power supply voltage and an output node, and the first FET includes a ferroelectric having a negative capacitance. The second FET is coupled between the output node and a ground voltage, and the second FET includes a ferroelectric having a negative capacitance. The negative capacitance logic differentiates an input voltage applied to an input node to provide an output voltage at the output node. |
| US09484922B2 |
Voltage level shifter module
A voltage level shifter module comprising at least one input arranged to receive an input signal, and at least one cascode transistor arranged to receive at a gate thereof at least one reference voltage signal. The voltage level shifter module further comprises at least one reference voltage control component arranged to detect logical state transitions within the input signal from at least a first logical state to a second logical state, and cause the reference voltage signal applied to the gate of the at least one cascode transistor to be pulled down to a reduced voltage upon detection of a logical state transition within the input signal from at least a first logical state to a second logical state. |
| US09484921B2 |
LVDS input circuit with comparators, or gate, and multiplexer
First and second devices may simultaneously communicate bidirectionally with each other using only a single pair of LVDS signal paths. Each device includes an input circuit and a differential output driver connected to the single pair of LVDS signal paths. An input to the input circuit is also connected to the input of the driver. The input circuit may also receive an offset voltage. In response to its inputs, the input circuit in each device can use comparators, gates and a multiplexer to determine the logic state being transmitted over the pair of LVDS signal paths from the other device. This advantageously reduces the number of required interconnects between the first and second devices by one half. |
| US09484917B2 |
Digital clamp for state retention
Described is an apparatus which comprises: a clamp coupled between a first power supply and a second power supply; and a circuit to operate with the second power supply, wherein the clamp is operable to adjust the second power supply when the apparatus enters a low power mode. |
| US09484916B1 |
Adaptive on-chip termination circuitry
An integrated circuit with on-chip termination (OCT) circuitry is provided. In particular, the integrated circuit may include an input-output (IO) buffer, an OCT circuit coupled between the IO buffer and a physical IO interface, and adaptive external OCT calibration circuitry for impedance matching the IO buffer to a transmission line that is coupled to the IO buffer. The adaptive external OCT calibration circuitry may include a waveform measurement circuit for selectively sampling a waveform at the IO interface, and a waveform analyzer and control circuit for analyzing the sampled waveform and adjusting the OCT circuit until the impedance provided by the OCT circuit matches with the external impedance of the transmission line. A switch that is interposed between the OCT circuit and the measurement module may be enabled during calibration and disabled during normal device operation. |
| US09484905B1 |
Voltage sampling switch and method therefor
A voltage switch for handling negative voltages includes an input terminal coupled to a voltage that is greater than a voltage rating of oxide in the voltage switch, a top capacitor plate pre-charge module including three cascoded p-channel transistors coupled between a supply voltage and a top plate of a capacitor, a bottom capacitor plate pre-charge module including two cascoded n-channel transistors coupled between a bottom plate of the capacitor and ground, and an output voltage module including an output terminal and four cascoded n-channel transistors with control electrodes of a first and fourth of the cascoded n-channel transistors coupled to a boost node. Control electrodes of a second and third of the cascoded n-channel transistors coupled to the top plate of the capacitor. A voltage switch for positive voltages is also disclosed. |
| US09484900B2 |
Digital-to-phase converter
Systems and methods for converting digital signals into clock phases are disclosed. An example digital-to-phase converter circuit receives a complementary in-phase and quadrature clock signals and produces four clock outputs at a phase controlled by a digital phase control input. The digital-to-phase converter uses first and second pre-driver modules to buffer the -phase and quadrature clock signals and produce corresponding buffered clock signals having controlled slew rates. Mixer modules produce the clock outputs by forming weighted combinations of the buffered clock signals. The weighting is determined based on the phase control input. The controlled slew rates of the buffered clock signals allow digital mixer module to provide accurate phase control. The digital-to-phase converter may also include an output buffer that compensates for nonlinearities in the relationship between the phases of the clock outputs and the phase control input. |
| US09484899B2 |
Debounce circuit with dynamic time base adjustment for a digital system
A debounce circuit eliminates noise, glitches, or transient signal variations resulting from mechanical bounce occurring at a change of state of analog signals and provides a dynamic debounce period alteration and time base variation without loss of the current debounce state. The debounce circuit has a physical counter that is configured for being adjusted within a virtual counter such that the noise, glitches, or transient signal variations resulting from mechanical bounce occurring at an initiation of a change of state of an analog input signal from a source device are filtered by delaying a change of output state of the debounce circuit. The debounce circuit includes a strobe generator that produces a strobe signal that is a submultiple of a master clock that is determined by the location of the physical counter within the virtual counter that is used to increment the physical counter within the virtual counter. |
| US09484897B2 |
Level shifter
Systems, methods, and apparatus for use in biasing and driving high voltage semiconductor devices using only low voltage transistors are described. The apparatus and method are adapted to control multiple high voltage semiconductor devices to enable high voltage power control, such as power amplifiers, power management and conversion and other applications wherein a first voltage is large compared to the maximum voltage handling of the low voltage control transistors. A DC/DC power conversion implementation from high input voltage to low output voltage using a novel level shifter which uses only low voltage transistors is also provided. Also presented is a level shifter in which floating nodes and high voltage capacitive coupling and control enable the high voltage control with low voltage transistors. |
| US09484896B2 |
Resonant frequency divider design methodology for dynamic frequency scaling
A dynamic rotary traveling wave oscillator circuit includes plurality of multi-output spot-advancing blocks (MOSABs) forming a main-loop and a plurality of multi-input spot-advancing blocks (MISABs) forming a sub-loop. Depending on a desired division ratio, a connection connects blocks on the MOSABs and MISABs to create the desired division ratio. |
| US09484895B2 |
Self-adjusting duty cycle tuner
A duty cycle tuner measures high and low periods of a signal, calculates an actual duty cycle, generates duty control signals based on the actual duty cycle and a desired duty cycle, and adjusts the duty cycle responsive to the duty control signals. The high and low periods are measured using high-speed counters to provide a high count for the high period and a low count for the low period. The actual duty cycle value is then computed from the high and low counts, and compared to the desired duty cycle value to generate increment and decrement signals which may be positive or zero, to increase, decrease or maintain the actual duty cycle. In this manner, even if the high and low counts are subject to variations due to process, temperature or power supply voltage, their ratio is independent of such variations, so the tuner is immune to those effects. |
| US09484894B2 |
Self-adjusting duty cycle tuner
A duty cycle tuner measures high and low periods of a signal, calculates an actual duty cycle, generates duty control signals based on the actual duty cycle and a desired duty cycle, and adjusts the duty cycle responsive to the duty control signals. The high and low periods are measured using high-speed counters to provide a high count for the high period and a low count for the low period. The actual duty cycle value is then computed from the high and low counts, and compared to the desired duty cycle value to generate increment and decrement signals which may be positive or zero, to increase, decrease or maintain the actual duty cycle. In this manner, even if the high and low counts are subject to variations due to process, temperature or power supply voltage, their ratio is independent of such variations, so the tuner is immune to those effects. |
| US09484893B1 |
Clock generation circuit with fast-startup standby mode
A clock generation circuit operates in a STANDBY mode as well as conventional OFF and ON modes. In STANDBY mode, a small pre-bias current is applied to amplifiers in the clock generation circuit, which bias voltages on internal nodes to very near their operating voltage values. This reduces transient perturbations on signals as the clock generation circuit is returned to ON mode. The smaller transients settle faster, and allow the clock generation circuit to achieve very fast startup times from STANDBY to ON. The very fast startup times allow the clock generation circuit to be placed in STANDBY mode more often, such as when a system must monitor and rapidly respond to activity on an external bus or interface (such as an RF modem). |
| US09484892B1 |
Integrated circuit adaptive voltage scaling with de-aging
An integrated circuit compensates for circuit aging by measuring the aging with an aging sensor and controlling a supply voltage based on the measured aging. The operating environment for the aging sensor can be set to reduce impacts of non-aging effects on the measured aging. For example, the operating environment can use a temperature inversion voltage. An initial aging measurement value which is the difference between an initial aged measurement and an initial unaged measurement can be stored on the integrated circuit. A core power reduction controller can use the measured aging and the stored initial aging measurement value to update a performance-sensor target value and then perform adaptive voltage scaling using the using the updated performance-sensor target value. |
| US09484887B2 |
Acoustic wave band reject filter
A method and system for an acoustic wave band reject filter are disclosed. According to one aspect, an acoustic wave band reject filter includes a substrate and a plurality of acoustic wave band reject filter blocks. The substrate includes bonding pads formed on the substrate. Each one of the plurality of acoustic wave band reject filter blocks is fixed on a separate die. Each separate die has solder balls on a side of the die facing the substrate. The solder balls are positioned to electrically connect the bonding pads formed on the substrate to positions on each of the die. |
| US09484885B2 |
Method of manufacturing elastic wave device
A method for manufacturing an elastic wave device includes a step of preparing a supporting substrate, a step of forming a high-acoustic-velocity film on the supporting substrate and in which an acoustic velocity of a bulk wave propagating therein is higher than an acoustic velocity of an elastic wave propagating in a piezoelectric film, a step of forming a low-acoustic-velocity film on the high-acoustic-velocity film and in which an acoustic velocity of a bulk wave propagating therein is lower than an acoustic velocity of a bulk wave propagating in the piezoelectric film, a step of forming the piezoelectric film on the low-acoustic-velocity film, and a step of forming an IDT electrode on a surface of the piezoelectric film. |
| US09484884B2 |
Planar structure of a mechanical resonator decoupled by bending oscillation and expansion/compression vibrations
Mechanical resonators for making timepieces have the drawback of not being simultaneously efficient, compact, and inexpensive. The invention is a planar structure of a mechanical resonator (100) that is suitable for reducing bulkiness and manufacturing cost and comprises a bar (R) vibrating in longitudinal expansion/compression resonance and two beams, (12) each vibrating simultaneously in longitudinal expansion/compression and it bending oscillation in the plane of the structure and connected to the bar by a connection element (11) on the median plane (π) of the bar, thereby enabling the effects of the transverse deformations of the bar, due to the Poisson ratio of the material, to not be transmitted to the attachment pads (PF) of the resonator. Thus, the quality factor of the resonator can be very high. |
| US09484878B2 |
Equalization of frequency-dependent gain
Systems, devices, and methods for determining and establishing frequency-dependent gain compensation in wide bandwidth communication systems are disclosed. Variable frequency-dependent gain compensation circuits, or variable equalizers, have settings that configure them to establish discrete frequency-dependent gain compensation. The frequency-dependent gain compensation can include various types and levels of gain slope and/or ripple. The settings of the variable equalizers can be set by control signals established a control circuit in response to signals from an external computer. The variable equalizers are coupled to other circuits or devices and the frequency-dependent gain of the combined circuit are measured. The settings of the variable equalizer are then changed to establish an optimal frequency-dependent gain profile or frequency-dependent gain that is closest to a predetermined frequency-dependent target gain profile. The settings can then be saved in a memory or register. |
| US09484873B2 |
Differential amplifier circuit
Aspects of the invention include a differential amplifier circuit with a differential amplifier operated with a first power supply voltage applied thereto to amplify a differential voltage between paired input voltages, an inverting amplifier operated with a second power supply voltage applied thereto to carry out inverting amplification of the output of the differential amplifier and output the amplified output to the outside, and a voltage step-up circuit producing the first power supply voltage higher than the second power supply voltage from the second power supply voltage and applying the produced first power supply voltage to the differential amplifier. This satisfies at one time the requirement for producing the high power supply voltage necessary for the differential amplifier and the requirement for securing the power supply current necessary for the inverting amplifier on the basis of the externally supplied second power supply voltage. |
| US09484869B2 |
Tube amplifier systems and related methods
An amplifier stage module circuit has a tube connected with an anode section, a grid section, a cathode section, and an attenuator section. The amplifier stage module circuit is configurable to provide any one of a plurality of selectable voices, each voice provided by a corresponding combination of selectively combinable voice components of the sections. |
| US09484867B2 |
Wideband low-power amplifier
An amplifier is provided that includes a differential pair of transistors configured to steer a tail current responsive to a differential input voltage. The amplifier also includes a transconductor that tranconducts high-frequency changes in the differential output voltage into a differential bias current conducted through the differential pair of transistors. |
| US09484866B2 |
Doherty power amplifying circuit and power amplifier
A Doherty power amplifying circuit includes at least two asymmetrical two-branch power devices. Each of the asymmetrical two-branch power devices includes two power amplifiers. In the at least two asymmetrical two-branch power devices, one power amplifier included in each asymmetrical two-branch power device separately forms a peak power amplifier of the Doherty power amplifying circuit, and the other power amplifiers included in all the asymmetrical two-branch power devices jointly form a main power amplifier of the Doherty power amplifying circuit. |
| US09484864B2 |
Doherty amplifier
A Doherty amplifier (300) is provided, it comprises: a main amplifier (301) and a peak amplifier (302); a first microstrip (303) with λ/4 electric length connected between the main amplifier and the peak amplifier; a second microstrip (304) with λ/4 electric length connected between a junction of outputs of the peak amplifier and the main amplifier, and an output terminal (306); at least a tuner (305) for adjusting radius of VSWR circle of the main amplifier and connected, in series with the first microstrip (303), between the main amplifier (301) and the peak amplifier (302) based on input signal power. The hack-off power level efficiency is increased by enlarge the VSWR radius with the new Doherty structure. |
| US09484859B2 |
Modulation circuit and operating method thereof
A modulation circuit includes a phase locked loop (PLL) circuit, a scalar circuit and a sigma-delta modulator. The PLL circuit is for generating an output oscillating signal in response to a reference signal, a first control signal and a second control signal. The scalar circuit is for generating the first control signal in response to modulating data to control frequency deviation of the output oscillating signal, wherein the first control signal is in a digital form. The sigma-delta modulator is for generating the second control signal according to the modulating data to modulate a divider value of a frequency divider of the PLL circuit. |
| US09484857B2 |
Semiconductor circuit device, electronic device, electronic apparatus, and moving object
A semiconductor circuit device includes: a semiconductor substrate; and a first circuit block including an analog circuit as a component, a second circuit block including a digital circuit as a component, a connection pad, and a connection wire electrically connecting the connection pad with the first circuit block, all of which are arranged on the semiconductor substrate. The connection wire is provided so as not to overlap the second circuit block in a plan view. |
| US09484854B2 |
Apparatus and method for providing oscillator signals
An apparatus for providing oscillator signals includes an oscillator circuit configured to generate a first oscillator signal with a first oscillator signal frequency for a frequency conversion of a first signal to be converted and to generate a second oscillator signal with a second oscillator signal frequency for a frequency conversion of a second signal to be converted. The oscillator circuit is configured to enable the generation of the first oscillator signal with the first oscillator signal frequency and the second oscillator signal with the second oscillator signal frequency based on at least two different possible oscillator circuit configurations. The control circuit is configured to select, based on the first oscillator signal frequency and the second oscillator signal frequency, one of the possible oscillator circuit configurations of the oscillator circuit for generating the first oscillator signal and the second oscillator signal. |
| US09484852B2 |
High power low voltage electrified powertrain
An electrified powertrain includes an electric motor having four or more coils corresponding to four or more AC phases and configured to generate drive torque to propel an electrified vehicle. The electrified powertrain also includes a low voltage electrical system comprising independent battery modules each configured to output a separate low DC voltage, and a power inverter module (PIM) configured to receive each of the separate low DC voltages from the battery modules, generate a separate low AC voltage for each AC phase using all of or fewer than all of the separate low DC voltages, and output the separate low AC voltages to the coils of the electric motor to drive the electric motor to generate the drive torque to propel the electrified vehicle, wherein none of the separate low DC voltages are electrically isolated and none of the separate AC voltages are considered high voltage. |
| US09484848B2 |
Motor controller
The motor controller includes: a current detection section that detects a current between a battery and an inverter circuit generating a voltage applied to a coil of a motor; an overload determination value output section that outputs an overload determination value used to determine whether or not the motor is overloaded; an overload determination section that compares a current value detected by the current detection section against the overload determination value, and that determines the motor to be overloaded in a case in which the current value detected by the current detection section is the overload determination value or greater; and a forced 500 rpm instruction section that controls the motor rotation speed to 500 rpm, this being a specific speed, in a case in which the overload determination section has determined the motor to be overloaded. |
| US09484847B2 |
Method of controlling a permanent magnet motor and corresponding system
A method for controlling a motor propulsion unit including a motor including a permanent magnet rotor and a stator, the method including regulating currents of the stator so that they attain their setpoints by virtue of control signals, the currents to be regulated and the control signals being expressed in a rotating reference frame including a plurality of axes. The regulating includes for each of the axes of the plurality of axes applying, to the current to be regulated on the respective axis, a linear operator differing as a function of a value of the current to be regulated with respect to its setpoint, the result of the application of the linear operator being a control signal on the respective axis. |
| US09484845B2 |
Motor control device, motor control method, and computer-readable storage medium
A motor control device includes a detecting unit configured to detect rotation of a motor to be controlled and output a rotation detection value related to the rotation; a drive control unit configured to perform drive control to rotate the motor at a control target value increasing with time based on the rotation detection value; and an abnormality detection unit configured to perform an abnormality detection process for detecting an abnormality in the drive control based on the rotation detection value and a predetermined threshold. The drive control unit performs control to stop rotation of the motor when the abnormality is detected. |
| US09484844B1 |
Circuit and method for reducing inrush current of phase converter motor
A method and circuit for starting a three-phase motor in a manner that reduces inrush current normally associated with starting an AC motor. The method uses the circuit to start the three phase motor gradually with three phase alternating current having relatively low frequency and gradually increasing the frequency up to or above the motor operating frequency over a period of time and then switching in a single phase alternating current supply to power the three phase motor. |
| US09484840B2 |
Hybrid zero-voltage switching (ZVS) control for power inverters
A power inverter combination includes a half-bridge power inverter including first and second semiconductor power switches receiving input power having an intermediate node therebetween providing an inductor current through an inductor. A controller includes input comparison circuitry receiving the inductor current having outputs coupled to first inputs of pulse width modulation (PWM) generation circuitry, and a predictive control block having an output coupled to second inputs of the PWM generation circuitry. The predictive control block is coupled to receive a measure of Vin and an output voltage at a grid connection point. A memory stores a current control algorithm configured for resetting a PWM period for a switching signal applied to control nodes of the first and second power switch whenever the inductor current reaches a predetermined upper limit or a predetermined lower limit. |
| US09484839B2 |
Power converter, power generating system, apparatus for controlling power converter, and method for controlling power converter
A power converter according to one embodiment includes a controller that switches between a boosting operation in a boost circuit and a pulse-width modulation operation in a single-phase inverter. The controller modifies an output from a voltage detection filter based on a delay compensating value for compensating a detection delay introduced by the voltage detection filter, when switching is performed the boosting operation in the boost circuit to the PWM operation in the single-phase inverter. |
| US09484838B2 |
Inverter and power supplying method thereof and application using the same
An inverter and a power supply method thereof and an application thereof are provided. The inverter includes a DC-DC conversion circuit, an inverting circuit and an auxiliary power circuit. The DC-DC conversion circuit converts a DC input voltage into a DC bus voltage. The inverting circuit is configured to convert the DC bus voltage into an AC output voltage. The auxiliary power circuit is enabled in response to the DC input voltage, and the auxiliary power circuit generates a first auxiliary power for enabling the DC-DC conversion circuit after being enabled. The DC-DC conversion circuit is enabled in response to the first auxiliary power, and the DC-DC conversion circuit generates a second auxiliary power for enabling the inverting circuit after being enabled, such that the inverting circuit is enabled in response to the second auxiliary power and generates the AC output voltage. |
| US09484836B2 |
Inverter that converts DC power into AC power
An inverter converts a direct-current (DC) power supplied from different DC power supplies into an alternate-current (AC) power formed by a quasi sinusoidal wave and then outputs the thus converted AC power. A first absolute-value setting switch to a fourth absolute-value setting switch are switched to generate absolute values of AC power by using a combination of a power-supply voltage supplied from each DC power supply and a voltage generated from a voltage supplied from each DC power supply. A first polarity setting switch to a fourth polarity setting switch are switched to generate the polarities of AC power. A control unit controls the switching of the first absolute-value setting switch and the like and the first polarity setting switch and the like. The control unit switches the first polarity switching switch and the like with timing at which the polarity of quasi sinusoidal wave changes. |
| US09484833B2 |
System and method for controlling PCS voltage and frequency
The present invention discloses a system and a method for controlling PCS voltage and frequency, wherein the system comprises a reference voltage converter, a phase-locked loop, a grid-side voltage converter, a voltage transformer, a first proportional integral controller, a second proportional integral controller, a coordinate converter and a SVPWM generator; a reference voltage converter is connected to an output terminal of a the phase-locked loop, and the output terminal of the phase-locked loop is further connected to a grid-side voltage converter; the grid-side voltage converter is connected to a high-voltage side of an isolating transformer of the electric grid via the voltage transformer; two output terminals of the grid-side voltage converter are respectively connected to the coordinate converter via two proportional integral controllers; an output terminal of the coordinate converter is connected to the SVPWM generator; an output terminal of the SVPWM generator is connected to a power switch of the electric grid. A PWM control signal for controlling the power switch of the electric grid is generated by the reference voltage converter, the phase-locked loop, the grid-side voltage converter, the voltage transformer, the two proportional integral controllers, the coordinate converter and the SVPWM generator. The system and method for controlling PCS voltage and frequency according to the invention have the advantages that the PCS can realize voltage and frequency buildup in an off-grid state and can stably output an expected voltage and frequency. |
| US09484829B2 |
Power conversion device including noise suppression capacitor
A power conversion device including a power conversion portion that switches direct current voltage supplied by a positive line and negative line of a direct current power supply with a semiconductor switching element, and outputs converted voltage, is such that a plurality of interline capacitors are connected in parallel between the positive line and negative line, the capacitance of the plurality of interline capacitors is of a value that becomes smaller the nearer to the power conversion portion the position in which the interline capacitor is connected, and the capacitance of the interline capacitor with the smallest value of capacitance is set to a value greater than that of the capacitance between main electrodes when a direct current voltage is applied to the switching element used in the power conversion portion. |
| US09484827B2 |
Power supply with output rectifier
A power converter for converting power from a first voltage level at an input terminal to a second voltage level across first and second output terminals, the power converter including a first inductor having one end connected to the input terminal and another end connected to a point with a switched voltage level, a first switch element with a first terminal connected to the point and a second terminal connected to ground and a second switch element connected in series with a capacitor through a first terminal, and a second terminal of the second switch element being connected to the point and the capacitor being terminated to ground, the first switch element being operated with a first duty cycle (D), and wherein the second switch element being operated with a second duty cycle (1-D), wherein the first and second switch elements are operated such that their conducting periods are complementary, wherein the switched voltage level at the point includes a first pulse generated when the first switch element conducts and a second pulse generated when the second switch element conducts. |
| US09484824B2 |
Method and apparatus for digital control of a switching regulator
An on/off controller device includes a control circuit to generate a control signal to switch a power switch between an on state and an off state to transfer energy from a primary side to a secondary side of a switched mode power supply. A comparator is coupled to generate an enable signal that enables and disables the switching of the power switch by the control circuit. The comparator compares a feedback signal with a variable threshold and switches the enable signal between enabling and disabling the switching of the power switch. The variable threshold is modulated to increase a fundamental frequency of the switching of the power switch by the control circuit. The variable threshold is modulated with a fixed amplitude pulse that is combined with a second threshold to modulate the variable threshold between a first higher value and a second lower value. |
| US09484823B2 |
Power supply apparatus with extending hold up time function
A power supply apparatus with extending a hold up time function includes a transformer, a winding switching unit and a detection unit. The transformer includes a primary side winding and a secondary side winding. A turn number of the secondary side winding and a turn number of the primary side winding have a relationship of a turn ratio. When the detection unit detects that an input voltage of the primary side winding is less than an input predetermined voltage, the winding switching unit is configured to increase the turn ratio, so that an output voltage of the secondary side winding is recovered to an output predetermined voltage. |
| US09484820B2 |
DC/DC converter, electronic apparatus having the same and DC/DC conversion method thereof
A multi-output DC/DC converter, which may be included in an electronic apparatus, performs sync switching control using a simplified configuration. The DC/DC converter may include a first switching unit which alternately switches input DC power and converts the DC power into AC power, a converter which converts the AC power and outputs first power and second power, a first output unit which receives the first power and outputs an output voltage, a second output unit which includes a second switching unit, and receives and switches the second power through the second switching unit and outputs an output voltage, and a controller which detects a voltage applied to a winding wire of the first output unit, generates a sync signal by using the detected voltage, compares the sync signal with a predetermined reference and controls the second switching unit to synchronize the second switching unit with the first switching unit. |
| US09484817B2 |
DC/DC converter
In a DC/DC converter, each channel operates under digital control using nonlinear control. The time interval between the time of turning ON of the switching element 1 and the time of turning ON of each of other switching elements j (j=2, 3, . . . , N) is measured. If the measured interval is within a specified range, operation is continued without changing the ON time of the switching element j used last time. Meanwhile, if the measured interval is out of the range, the ON time of the switching element j is increased or decreased within a predetermined range to be shifted from a basic frequency. Thus, the interval between the time of turning ON of the switching element 1 and the time of turning ON of the switching element j is brought back to the specified range. |
| US09484816B2 |
Controllable on-time reduction for switching voltage regulators operating in pulse frequency modulation mode
A switching voltage regulator includes a power stage for delivering output current to a load through an inductor. The power stage has a high-side transistor and a low-side transistor. The switching voltage regulator also includes a controller for setting the power stage in a PFM (pulse frequency modulation) switching mode if the output current decreases below a first threshold. Each period of the PFM switching mode includes an on-time during which the high-side transistor is on and the low-side transistor is off, an off-time during which the low-side transistor is on and the high-side transistor is off and a HiZ-time during which the high-side transistor and the low-side transistor are both off. The controller varies the on-time of the PFM switching mode responsive to a change in the output current. |
| US09484815B2 |
Energy-based control of a switching regulator
A system and method are provided for controlling a switching voltage regulator circuit. An energy difference between a stored energy of a switching voltage regulator and a target energy is determined. A control variable of the switching voltage regulator is computed based on the energy difference and the control variable is applied to a current control mechanism of the switching voltage regulator. In one embodiment, the control variable is pulse width of a control signal. |
| US09484811B2 |
Integrated circuit comprising voltage modulation circuitry and method threfor
An integrated circuit comprising voltage modulation circuitry arranged to convert an input voltage level at an input node to an output voltage level at an output node. The voltage modulation circuitry comprises a switching element arranged to connect the input node to the output node when in an ON condition, and switching control module operably coupled to the switching element and arranged to control the connection of the input node to the output node by the switching element in accordance with a switching frequency. The voltage modulation circuitry further comprises frequency control module operably coupled to the switching control module and arranged to receive an indication of the input voltage level at the input node, and to configure the switching frequency based at least partly on the input voltage level indication. |
| US09484807B2 |
High efficiency switched capacitor voltage regulator
A high efficiency switched capacitor voltage regulator circuit and a method of efficiently generating an enhanced voltage from an input voltage supply. An input voltage Vin from a main power source is the base voltage to be pumped to an enhanced voltage. Auxiliary voltage sources V1 and V2 are from sources (or grounds) available in the system. During phase 1 of a clock signal, a pump capacitor is charged to ΔV=V2−V1. During phase 2 of the clock signal, the pump capacitor is connected in series between Vin and an output capacitor, resulting in the sum voltage V=Vin+ΔV being generated across the output capacitor. |
| US09484805B2 |
Dual mode power supply controller with current regulation
A power conversion circuit includes a voltage boost circuit including a boost inductor configured to generate an output voltage in response to an input voltage, and a boost controller configured to control operation of the voltage boost circuit. The boost controller is configured to control operation of the voltage boost circuit in response to a level of current in the boost inductor. |
| US09484804B2 |
Battery charging system and method
A battery charging system includes a PFC converter which converts an alternating current input voltage which is input from a power supply to a direct current output voltage, a DC-DC converter which changes an output voltage of the PFC converter, a battery which is charged by the DC-DC converter, and a controller which calculates power conversion efficiency based on the input current and the input voltage, a charged voltage of the battery, and a charging current for the battery, and updates the output voltage of the PFC converter according to the power conversion efficiency. A battery charging method includes steps of: calculating power conversion efficiency using the input current and the input voltage from the power supply, and the charging current and the charged voltage of the battery; and updating the output voltage of the PFC converter according to the calculated power conversion efficiency. |
| US09484803B2 |
Method for regulating an output voltage
A method for regulating an output voltage of a converter is provided in which a switching frequency of a switching device is limited in response to a signal that is representative of a magnitude of a current from an input of the converter and to a sense signal generated in response to an input voltage signal. |
| US09484802B2 |
Soft-off control circuit, power converter and associated control method
A power converter having a soft-off control circuit and a variable reference signal generation module and associated method for controlling the power converter. The variable reference signal generation module is configured to provide a variable reference signal to the power converter. The soft-off control circuit is configured to determine whether an input voltage of the power converter exceeds an over-voltage threshold, and to control the variable reference signal to increase once the input voltage reaches the over-voltage threshold and to decrease when the input voltage is lower than the over-voltage threshold. The power converter can regulate an output voltage to increase with the increase of the variable reference signal and to decrease with the decrease of the variable reference signal so that during a soft-off procedure the input voltage may not exceed the over-voltage threshold, enabling the power converter to be safely shut off. |
| US09484797B2 |
RF switching converter with ripple correction
This disclosure relates generally to radio frequency (RF) switching converters and RF amplification devices that use RF switching converters. In one embodiment, an RF switching converter includes a switching circuit operable to receive a power source voltage, a switching controller configured to switch the switching circuit so that the switching circuit generates a pulsed output voltage from the power source voltage, and an RF filter configured to convert the pulsed output voltage into a supply voltage, wherein the RF filter includes a decoupling capacitor configured to receive the supply voltage. The switching controller is configured to generate a ripple correction current that is injected into the decoupling capacitor such that the decoupling capacitor filters the ripple correction current. The decoupling capacitor outputs the ripple correction current such that the ripple correction current reduces a ripple variation in a supply current level of a supply current resulting from the supply voltage. |
| US09484794B2 |
Hybrid induction motor with self aligning permanent magnet inner rotor
A hybrid induction motor includes an inductive rotor and an independently rotating permanent magnet rotor. The inductive rotor is a squirrel cage type rotor for induction motor operation at startup. The permanent magnet rotor is axially displaced and variably coupled to the inductive rotor (or to a motor load) through a clutch and is allowed to rotate independently of the inductive rotor at startup. The independently rotating permanent magnet rotor quickly reaches synchronous RPM at startup. As the inductive rotor approaches or reaches synchronous RPM, the coupling between the inductive rotor and the permanent magnet rotor increases until the two rotors are coupled the synchronous RPM and the motor transitions to efficient synchronous operation. |
| US09484792B2 |
Rotor and method for manufacturing the rotor
A rotor has a rotor core arranged to radially face a stator. The rotor core has an accommodation hole extending axially from an axial end face of the rotor core. A magnet is received in the accommodation hole. A recess, which is dented in a direction separating from the magnet, is formed in an end surface of the accommodation hole. The recess has an opening facing the magnet. A pair of open distal portions are arranged at opposite sides of the opening and pressed against the magnet. |
| US09484791B2 |
Remote rotor parameter sensor for electric drives
A rotor parameter sensor is used for electric drives. A rotor of an electric engine or motor is monitored by a sensor sensing one or more physical observables or operation parameters. Furthermore, a method and system is used for monitoring an electric engine or motor for use in electric or hybrid vehicles. |
| US09484790B2 |
Rotor for electric rotating machine and method of manufacturing the same
A rotor for an electric rotating machine includes a hollow cylindrical rotor core and a plurality of magnets. The rotor core has a plurality of magnet-receiving holes formed therein. Each of the magnet-receiving holes has a plurality of wall surfaces including a radially innermost wall surface which is positioned radially innermost among the plurality of wall surfaces. Each of the magnets is received in a corresponding one of the magnet-receiving holes of the rotor core. Further, each of the magnets is arranged in the corresponding magnet-receiving hole so that among the thermal resistances between the magnet and the plurality of wall surfaces of the corresponding magnet-receiving hole, the thermal resistance between the magnet and the radially innermost wall surface of the corresponding magnet-receiving hole is lowest. |
| US09484788B2 |
Rotary-electric-machine temperature estimation system for vehicle
Provided is a rotary-electric-machine temperature estimation system for a vehicle. The temperature estimation system includes a rotary electric machine, a cooler, a temperature sensor, and a controller. The rotary electric machine is fixed to a vehicle body of the vehicle and provided in the vehicle. The rotary electric machine includes a stator coil. The cooler has an injection outlet for injecting refrigerant, and cools off the stator coil by the refrigerant thus injected from the injection outlet. The temperature sensor measures a temperature of the stator coil. The controller estimates an actual temperature of the stator coil by use of the measured temperature and a preset temperature correction value. The controller changes the temperature correction value according to a change in a posture of the vehicle body. |
| US09484787B2 |
Voltage regulator device for rotary electric machine, bearing for rotary electric machine and rotary electric machine comprising such bearing
A voltage regulator device provided in a bearing of a rotary electric machine of a motor vehicle. The regulator device comprises a support and at least one electronic component configured to participate in the control of the electric machine. The support comprises a first part on which the at least one electronic component is mounted. The first part having an edge equipped with a brush holder provided with at least one brush-holder receptacle configured to accommodate a brush for making an electrical connection with a rotor of the electric machine. The device is configured to allow air to flow through the first part of the support, in contact with the brush holder. The device includes at least one air circulation slot provided through the support between the first part and the brush-holder. The support covers an air opening in the bearing. |
| US09484784B2 |
Electric motor systems and methods
Electric motor systems and methods may provide highly efficient operation. The electric motor systems and methods discussed herein provide an oil filled motor that is low speed and utilizes permanent magnets. The electric motor may utilize a large number of poles and fractional slot design. Further, in some embodiments, the electric motor systems and methods may be suitable for use downhole. |
| US09484783B2 |
Outer rotor type motor
Provided is an outer rotor type motor capable of reducing workload for wiring and connecting coil leads without reducing a coil space factor while keeping the motor small. Coil leads extracted from same-phase coils of respective stator units pass between pole teeth of the stator units, and are respectively connected to inter-phase connection terminals at one end and then connected in series with each other, the stator units comprises a plurality of individual same-phase stator units which are stacked together, and the inter-phase connection terminals are protruded from a main terminal body. A drive signal input terminal and external input terminals, to which the other ends of coil leads extracted from the respective phase coils are respectively connected, and a drive signal input terminal and an external input terminal, to which the other ends of coil leads extracted from the respective phase coils are respectively connected, are respectively connected and wired inside the main terminal body. |
| US09484781B2 |
Core formed from powder and motor for vehicle using the same
A core formed from powder, such as a stator core for use in a motor for a vehicle, wherein the core is formed from metallic powder and includes an outer part disposed at an inside of the motor, an inner part disposed at an inside of the motor, and a winding part which connects the outer part and the inner part and on which a wire is wound, and to a motor for a vehicle using the same. The winding part is formed to have rounded corners and a height lower than the height of the inner part, and a connection part is obliquely formed between the winding part and the inner part so that the winding part and the inner part are naturally connected. |
| US09484772B2 |
Wireless power mechanisms for lab-on-a-chip devices
Methods, devices and systems are provided for wirelessly powering and controlling a lab-on-a-chip device. Direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) signals can be produced at the lab-on-a-chip device in a wireless manner. In some configurations, integrated RF components and optoelectronic components of the lab-on-a-chip device are used to collaboratively produce the DC and AC signals. In other configurations only optoelectronic components on the lab-on-a-chip system can produce the DC and/or AC signals in response to incident light. By modulating the incident light, AC signals of various frequencies and waveforms can be generated. The DC and AC signals can be used by additional integrated electronic circuits and by a microfluidic chip lactated on the lab-on-a-chip device to control the behavior of the bioparticles in the microfluidic device. |
| US09484766B2 |
Wireless power transmitter tuning
This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatus for tuning a wireless power transmitter. In one aspect a device configured to wirelessly provide power to a load is provided. The device includes a signal driver configured to provide power along a power path. The device further includes a first tuning circuit along the power path, configured to tune reactance at the signal driver, introducing undesired harmonic content. The device further includes a second tuning circuit along the power path, configured to tune reactance at the signal driver and to generate complementary harmonic content, at least partly canceling the harmonic generated at the first tuning circuit. |
| US09484762B2 |
Device and method for balancing battery cells
A device and method for balancing cells of a battery of an electric automobile, the device including: a primary winding arranged in series with a primary switch; and, for each cell, a circuit including, in series, a secondary winding that forms a transformer together with the primary winding, a secondary switch, a coil, and a diode mounted in parallel with the coil and the cell; and a controller controlling the primary switch and each secondary switch. |
| US09484757B2 |
Charging and discharging system
A charging/discharging system includes a charging/discharging power unit for applying power to a battery cell, a chamber, a jig unit for holding the battery cell mounted in the chamber, an air conditioning unit for adjusting temperature and humidity in the chamber, and an interface unit for controlling the charging/discharging power unit, and for controlling the air conditioning unit, wherein the charging/discharging power unit, the chamber, the air conditioning unit, and the interface unit are combined as an integrated structure. |
| US09484754B2 |
Balancing series-connected electrical energy units
An apparatus and methods to fabricate the apparatus for balancing a string of N series-connected electrical energy units (such as battery cells or modules) comprising: a transformer with a magnetic core and N windings; N switch circuits; N driver circuits, each driver circuit operable to turn ON/OFF a respective switch circuit in a charging or discharging or idling configuration; and a controller circuit. In a novel way, the controller circuit selects each electrical energy unit for charging or discharging or idling, and controls simultaneously coupling all selected-for-discharging electrical energy unit(s) to respective winding(s) in discharging configuration(s) for a first period of time to simultaneously energize the respective winding(s); then immediately or after a short delay, the controller circuit controls simultaneously coupling all selected-for-charging electrical energy unit(s) to respective winding(s) in charging configuration(s) for a second period of time to be charged with respective induced current(s). |
| US09484753B2 |
Method for balancing the charge and discharge level of a battery by switching its blocks of cells
A device balancing overall levels of electrical charge in plural blocks of cells in a battery. The blocks can be connected in a circuit during a charging phase of the cells accumulating charge, and during a discharging phase of the cells giving back charge. The device includes one series switch and one parallel switch. The series switch can, when closed and the parallel switch is open, connect a block to the circuit, in series with the other blocks, so that the block is connected during the charging and discharging phases. The parallel switch can, when closed and the series switch is open, disconnect the block from the circuit, so that the block is disconnected if discharging disconnection conditions are met during the discharging phase or if charging disconnection conditions are met during the charging phase. The block includes a mechanism locally balancing charge levels of its cells when disconnected. |
| US09484751B2 |
Wireless power for portable articles
A wireless electrical power system provides access to high voltage and/or low voltage electrical power at portable articles that are positionable at different locations within a work area, and substantially without the use of exposed cabling. The power system includes a portable article that is positionable at two or more locations within a work area. The work area is defined by a plurality of surfaces, at least one of which incorporates a wireless electrical power transmitter. The portable article incorporates a wireless electrical power receiver that is configured to receive electrical power from the wireless power transmitter when the wireless power receiver is sufficiently close to the wireless power transmitter. The portable article further includes an electrical power outlet that provides users in the work area with access to the electrical power. |
| US09484742B2 |
Power supply system for mounting to a rail
Power supply system for mounting to a rail has an AC/DC converter for converting high voltage AC power to low voltage DC power a controller for controlling the power supply system, an AC/DC converter and controller module for mounting to the rail and for connection to the AC/DC converter and controller respectively, and a battery connection and LVBD contactor module for mounting to the rail and for connection to a first battery, wherein the battery connection and LVBD contactor module on a first side is connected to the AC/DC converter and controller module by a first connection interface and where the battery connection and LVBD contactor module on a second side, opposite of the first side, has a first connector of a second connection interface. |
| US09484739B2 |
Overvoltage protection device and method
A protection device is provided that exhibits a turn on time of order of one nanosecond or less. Such a device provides enhanced protection for integrated circuits against electrostatic discharge events. This in turn reduces the risk of device failure in use. The protection device can include a bipolar transistor structure connected between a node to be protected and a discharge path. |
| US09484738B2 |
Operating a substation automation system
A method and system are provided for operation of substations in which protection, control and measurement devices (e.g., Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs)) exchange operational data over a data network, for example, according to IEC standard 61850. During maintenance, commissioning and fault situations, when one or several IEDs are inoperable, the data that these IEDs would have produced is substituted to ensure availability of the substation. To this effect, a dedicated substitute device is permanently installed that can take the role of any IED, and that is automatically configured out of a standard configuration description (SCD) file that describes the SA system. |
| US09484736B2 |
Method for determining flooded state and electronic device thereof
Provided is an operating method of an electronic device including a first processor, a humidity sensor, a second processor controlling the humidity sensor, and a battery, wherein the second processor and the battery are waterproofed. The method may include: detecting a power supply event from the battery; supplying a power from the battery to the second processor controlling the humidity sensor and not supplying the power to the first processor; determining, by the second processor, a humidity of the electronic device by using the humidity sensor; and when the humidity of the electronic device is greater than a first reference humidity, cutting off power supply from the battery and when the humidity of the electronic device is less than the first reference humidity, supplying the power to the first processor. |
| US09484729B2 |
Electrical equipment including a conductor mounting between two casing portions
An insulating support (20) for insulating an electrical conductor contained in aligned casing portions (34, 35), is held in a housing (39) defined by the flanges (36, 37) for joining the casing portions (34, 35) together, the flanges presenting contact faces (38) around the periphery (24) of the support (20). A single sealing gasket (41) is sufficient to prevent the atmosphere in the casing leaking to the outside, and that simplifies assembly of the electrical equipment, while at the same time protecting the support (20) from the outside. For application to medium- and high-voltage electrical equipment. |
| US09484727B1 |
Cable manager
A retention device for cables includes a plurality of channels configured to receive a plurality of cables having connector ends. The retention device includes a plurality of openings extending from the plurality of channels to an outer edge of the retention device such that the plurality of cables can be inserted into the plurality of channels. The retention device includes means for removably attaching the retention device to another retention device. The retention device is fabricated to be semi-rigid. |
| US09484726B2 |
Fluid-tight line feedthrough
A fluid-tight line feedthrough for introducing an electric conductor into a high-pressure chamber includes a housing and an electric conductor that passes through the housing. A ceramic insulator is positioned between the housing and the electric conductor. The ceramic insulator is divided into a first insulator segment facing the electric conductor and a second insulator segment facing the housing, thereby forming a conical separating plane. A fitting made of an electrically conductive material is positioned between the two segments, the fitting being connected to the two segments and to the housing. |
| US09484724B2 |
Cable protection device and system
A cover is provided for protecting cables. The cover includes a first cover member and a second cover member. The second cover member is configured to mate with the first cover member to define conduits that enclose and permit passage therethrough of one or more cables. Plural covers are couplable to form an articulating cover system operable to enclose a selected length of cable(s). The covers may be employed to protect hoses, pipes, ducts and the like. |
| US09484718B2 |
Spark plug
A spark plug includes an insulator having an axial hole, a center electrode inserted into a forward portion of the axial hole, a terminal electrode inserted into a rear portion of the axial hole, and an interelectrode insert which contains glass and electrically conductive carbon and is disposed in the axial hole between the center electrode and the terminal electrode. The interelectrode insert has a resistance of 1.0 kΩ to 3.0 kΩ, and the interelectrode insert has a carbon content of 1.5% by mass to 4.0% by mass at a forward portion located forward of a center point between the rear end of the center electrode and the forward end of the terminal electrode. Furthermore, the forward portion is lower in resistance than a rear portion of the interelectrode insert located rearward of the center point. |
| US09484717B2 |
High energy ignition spark igniter
The disclosure pertains to ignition systems and more particularly to spark igniters for burners and burner pilots. The spark igniter provided, is configured such that an electric field concentration between two electrodes increases while keeping output voltage unchanged. |
| US09484712B2 |
Combined Gain-SOA chip
A combined Gain-SOA (Semiconductor Optical Amplifier) Chip is provided for forming a hybrid laser by a combination with an external reflector, the Gain-SOA Chip comprising a gain section and an SOA section, wherein an optical grating is arranged between the gain section and the SOA section. |
| US09484711B2 |
Semiconductor laser apparatus and manufacturing method thereof
A semiconductor laser apparatus includes a silicon-on-insulator assembly and an edge-emitting semiconductor laser assembly integrated on the silicon-on-insulator assembly. The silicon-on-insulator assembly includes an optical waveguide at the top which is bonded to the edge-emitting semiconductor laser assembly and configured to couple a laser light emitted from the edge-emitting semiconductor laser assembly, and the optical waveguide includes a core portion located in the middle of the optical waveguide; and at least one vertical rib configured on two sides of the core portion respectively, with a width narrower than that of the core portion. The apparatus obtains a single mode laser operation and has low propagation loss and high mechanical bond strength. |
| US09484710B2 |
Semiconductor laser device
A semiconductor laser device includes: semiconductor laser arrays; collimating members; a condenser lens provided, in common, for collimated light beam arrays outputted from the respective collimating members, and including a light incident surface on which a light incident row pattern including light incident regions is formed through entering of the collimated light beam arrays; and an optical fiber. A condenser lens incident optical path length of at least one of the semiconductor laser arrays is different from that of any other one of the semiconductor laser arrays. A collimated light beam array derived from one of the semiconductor laser arrays that corresponds to the largest condenser lens incident optical path length is directed to a predetermined light incident region in the light incident surface. The predetermined light incident region is other than the outermost light incident region in the light incident row pattern. |
| US09484708B2 |
Dual wavelength laser module with constant output intensity
A laser module includes a light source device having a first amplifier that outputs first output light, and a second amplifier that outputs second output light, a first drive circuit that supplies the first amplifier with a first drive current, a second drive circuit that supplies the second amplifier with a second drive current. A dither signal is superimposed on one of two drive currents to respectively grasp the characteristics of the two amplifiers. |
| US09484707B2 |
Spatially stable high brightness fiber
Optical fibers that provide stable output beam sizes have core refractive indices that decrease non-monotonically from a core center to a core/cladding interface. A maximum refractive index of the core is situated at a radius of between about ½ and ¾ of the core radius so that a core center has a depressed refractive index. Such fibers are included in diode pumped solid state lasers to deliver pump laser power to a laser medium. |
| US09484705B2 |
Optically end-pumped slab amplifier comprising pump modules arranged in a distributed manner
An optically end-pumped amplifier with a plate-shaped optical gain medium has a plurality of pump laser units for optically pumping the gain medium through at least one of the narrow side surfaces thereof. The pump laser units are designed such that the pump laser radiation, upon passing through the gain medium, has an elongated beam cross section having a short axis and a long axis running parallel to the main surfaces of the gain medium and propagates freely through the gain medium with respect to the short axis. They are arranged such that in each case the principal axes of the beam bundles of the pump laser units impinge on one of the pumped side surfaces in a plane perpendicular to the short axis at an angle to one another, wherein the beam cross sections of the beam bundles are superimposed on one another. |
| US09484693B1 |
Cord organizing assembly
A cord organizing assembly includes a housing that may be coupled to a support surface. The housing has a well therein such that the well may have a plurality of cords positioned within the well. A pair of retainers is provided and each of the retainers is coupled the housing. Each of the retainers is positioned within the well such that each of the retainers may retain the cords within the well. A power supply is coupled to the housing such that the power supply may have each of the cords is electrically coupled to the power supply thereby facilitating the power supply to provide electrical power to each of the cords. |
| US09484692B2 |
High outlet density power distribution
Systems and apparatuses are provided in which outlets are coupled to a power distribution unit (PDU) or PDU module in various configurations. The outlets may be coupled to a recessed surface within a PDU housing. The outlets may be coupled to a printed circuit board that is at least partially disposed within the PDU housing. The outlets may extend away from the recessed surface or printed circuit board towards or beyond a front face of the PDU housing. |
| US09484690B2 |
Modular electrical connector
The present invention relates to a modular electrical connector, and the modular electrical connector can be divided into three modules including: housing, connecting modules, and RJ45 receiving modules, wherein the housing is used for disposed on a circuit board of an external host case, and the connecting modules and the RJ45 receiving modules are assembled and disposed in the housing so as to electrically connected with the circuit board; according to the modular design of the present invention, the RJ45 receiving modules are able to be individually disassembled from the connecting modules and the connector, thus, user does not have to disassembles whole connector during the RJ45 connector's repairing or replacing process. |
| US09484686B2 |
Electric connecting module for a motor vehicle
An electric connecting module (12) for an electric component (10) of a motor vehicle (40) has a connecting section (22) with at least two electrical contacts (36). A connecting housing (24) has a connecting opening that can be connected to the connecting section (22). The connecting housing (24) has at least one cable opening (18) that opens laterally on the connecting housing (24) in relation to the connecting opening for routing electric connecting lines (14) through the connecting opening (18) and to connect them to the contacts (36). The connecting housing (24) can be connected to the connecting section (22) in different rotational positions to route the connecting lines (14) in different directions in relation to the electric component (10). |
| US09484680B2 |
Radio frequency interference shield
An apparatus is described herein. The apparatus includes a receptacle to receive a plug to couple a peripheral device to a computing device. The apparatus includes a ground contact of a printed circuit board of the computing device. The apparatus includes a shield communicatively coupled to the ground contact, wherein the shield is to reduce radio frequency interference (RFI) from an interface between the plug and the receptacle. |
| US09484677B2 |
Electrical connector having improved grounding member
An electrical receptacle connector includes a terminal module assembly and a grounding collar thereon. The terminal module assembly includes the front mating tongue, the rear body, and the step structure therebetween, and the corresponding contacts. The contacts are secured to the body with contacting sections exposed upon the mating tongue. The grounding collar includes the grounding regions located on two opposite upper and lower surfaces of the step structure. The front edge area of the grounding region adjacent to the front edge area, forms a notch so as to leave a space to allow the spring finger of the corresponding interior grounding plate of the plug connector to first slide upon the step structure and successively contact the grounding region of the grounding collar of the receptacle connector. |
| US09484673B1 |
Signal terminal of vertical bilayer electrical connector
A signal terminal of a vertical bilayer electrical connector provided forwardly with a plugging surface having thereon an upper plugging hole and a lower plugging hole and provided downwardly with an electrical connection surface includes a conductive body having at least a bump and/or at least a dent at two ends, wherein the at least a bump is parallel to a plane perpendicular to the plugging surface and the at least a dent is parallel to a plane perpendicular to the plugging surface; a resilient electrical contact segment connected to an end of the conductive body and disposed in the upper or lower plugging hole; and an electrical connection segment connected to another end of the conductive body and mounted on the electrical connection surface to thereby electrically connect with a circuit board. Therefore, the signal terminal is effective in adjusting an impedance, reducing loss, and eliminating delay skew. |
| US09484671B2 |
Electrical connector and conductive terminal assembly thereof
A conductive terminal assembly of an electrical connector is disclosed having a terminal aligning plate and four pairs of differential signal terminals. The terminal aligning plate made of a dielectric material. The four pairs of differential signal terminals are arranged in two columns in an array on the terminal aligning plate. Each terminal has a terminating end, a contacting end, and a terminal body. The terminal body extends between the terminating end and the contacting end. The terminal bodies of two first terminals in the same column, which are longitudinally adjacent to each other and have opposite polarities, are offset transversely. |
| US09484669B2 |
Locking electrical connector
An electrical connector (10) of elongate shape includes a main body (11) having a first end region (18) which includes one or more electrical contacts in use for contact with a complementary connector component and a second end region (24) opposite the first end region and from which depends a protective guide (12) through which a flexible conductor may extend, the main body of the connector including a locking mechanism (20) whereby, in use, the connector (10) may be selectively releasably secured to a complementary connector component, and the connector (10) including a release control (14) operable to act on the locking mechanism and allow release of the connector from the complementary connector component, wherein the release control (14) is operable at a position further from the first end (18) of the connector than the second end (24) as considered in the direction of the length of the connector. |
| US09484662B2 |
Electrical connector with improved terminal module
A receptacle connector for mating with the plug connector, includes a terminal unit, a metallic shield and a mating cavity surrounded by the metallic shield. The terminal unit includes a terminal module having a first insulator with a plurality of first contacts embedded therein via a first stage insert-molding process, a second insulator with a plurality of second contacts embedded therein via the similar first stage insert-molding process. The first insulator includes a first front insulator and a first rear insulator spaced from each other while linked together by the corresponding first contacts; the second insulator includes a second front insulator and a second rear insulator spaced from each other while linked together by the corresponding second contacts. |
| US09484656B2 |
Electrical connector
An electrical connector includes a fixed housing to be fixed to a board; a movable housing arranged to be movable relative to the fixed housing; and a plurality of terminals disposed between the fixed housing and the movable housing. The terminal includes a connecting portion held with the fixed housing; a first curved portion connected to the connecting portion; a terminal portion held with the movable housing; a second curved portion connected to the terminal portion; and a inclined portion connected between the first curved portion and the second curved portion so that the first curved portion is curved in a direction opposite to a direction that the second curved portion is curved. The inclined portion is inclined so that an angle between the inclined portion and the first curved portion or the second curved portion becomes an acute angle. |
| US09484654B2 |
Electrical connector with improved contacts
An electrical connector comprises an insulative housing with a plurality of ports, a plurality of contacts received in the insulative housing, a rear seat assembled to a rear side of the insulative housing and a metal shell covering the insulative housing. The insulative housing has a plurality of slots recessed from a rear surface thereof for retaining the contacts. The contact has a linking portion positioned in the rear sear and a mating portion bent from the linking portion and exposed in the port. The mating portions of the contacts in a same port are located in different heights, and at least one of the mating potions is inclined, so as to provide an inclined force to an inserted mating connector thereby reducing a pressing force to the inserted plug during engaging. |
| US09484653B1 |
Power socket terminal
A power socket terminal is provided, comprising a base plate, a pair of asymmetric elastic arms and a receiving space defined by the base plate and the pair of the elastic arm. First contact portions of the pair of the elastic arms are located at the same level, and second contact portions thereof are staggered in a vertical direction. Some second contact portions are higher than the first contact portions, and other second contact portions are lower than the first contact portions. Using this design, when the plug is inserted into and mated with the power socket terminal of the present invention, the plug will be subjected to balance forces and be kept in a correct insertion state for forming a normal power circuit. Therefore, the power socket terminal of the present invention has the characteristics of high security, good electric property and reliable connection. |
| US09484651B2 |
Pane having an electrical connection element
A pane having a connection element, having; a substrate having an electrically conductive structure on at least a subregion of the substrate, the electrical connection element on at least a subregion of the electrically conductive structure, and a lead-free soldering compound which connects the electrical connection element to the electrically conductive structure in at least a subregion, wherein the lead-free soldering compound contains 58 to 62% by weight indium, 35 to 38% by weight tin, 1 to 3.5% by weight silver and 0.5 to 2% by weight copper. |
| US09484650B2 |
Self-adjusting coaxial contact
A self-adjusting mated pair connector having a conductive flexible wire and a retaining ring to facilitate electrical connections through the mated pair connector. A receptacle assembly rigidly and electrically connects a portion of the receptacle assembly to a receptacle PCB. A plug assembly rigidly and electrically connects a portion of the plug assembly to a plug PCB. During mating of the receptacle assembly and the plug assembly, the flexible wire and retaining ring allow for floating or movement of a portion of the receptacle assembly and/or plug assembly without stressing or damaging the rigid electrical connections with the receptacle PCB and the plug PCB or the connector interfaces. Electrical conductivity can be maintained without needing to angle the entire receptacle assembly and/or plug assembly during misalignment in the mating process. Impedance matching and low inductance of the mated pair connector may allow for desired electrical performance. |
| US09484644B2 |
Terminal structure
Provided are a male terminal main body (15) of a male terminal (11), an uneven portion (17) formed, on an outer peripheral surface of the male terminal main body (15), of a plurality of ridges (19) and a plurality of grooves (21), a tubular female terminal main body (23) of the female terminal (13), and a spring contact (37) housed in the female terminal main body (23) in such a manner that a plurality of leaf spring pieces (39) provided corresponding to the ridges (19) are moved from positions facing the grooves (21) to positions facing the ridges (19) by a relative movement of the male terminal main body (15) and are in elastic contact with the ridges (19). |
| US09484642B2 |
Terminal, a wire connecting structure and a method of manufacturing the terminal
A terminal includes a connector portion, a tubular crimp portion that crimps/joins with a wire, and a transition portion joining the two portions. The tubular crimp portion is composed of a metal member including a base material of copper or copper alloy with 0.20-1.40 mm thickness and a coating layer of tin, tin alloy, nickel, nickel alloy, silver or silver alloy with 0.2-3.0 μm thickness formed on the base material. The tubular crimp portion has a weld portion formed by butt-welding and having, in its cross-section perpendicular to a terminal longitudinal direction, a phase existing therein of tin, tin alloy, nickel, nickel alloy, silver or silver alloy greater than 0.01 μm2. The tubular crimp portion is a closed tubular body with one end opposite to a wire-insertion-opening being closed. |
| US09484639B1 |
Openable wire-mounting connector
An openable wire-mounting connector includes a body. A bottom of the body forms a welding face. A front of the body forms a wire entrance. Two sides of a rear of the body bend oppositely to form elastic clips which allow an insertion of a conducting wire and hold the wire in place. A top edge of each elastic clip forms a funnel-shaped mouth which opens upwards. A top end of the rear of the base bends firstly to form a curved limiting part and then bends upwards to form an elastic button. The curved limiting part presses down on the conducting wire to prevent the wire from escaping. The elastic button is located above the funnel-shaped mouth. The elastic clips can be opened by pressing the elastic button which activates the funnel-shaped mouth. |
| US09484633B2 |
Loop antenna having a parasitically coupled element
An antenna, a portable electronic device incorporating an antenna and a method of operation are provided to enable both wide and multiple frequency band response. The antenna may include a feeding arm and a parasitic element. The feeding arm may include a conductive loop antenna and a conductive excitation arm portion. The loop antenna portion may extend from a first end that is configured to be grounded to a second end that is configured to be driven by radio frequency circuitry. The excitation arm may be coupled at a first end to the loop antenna portion and extend outwardly therefrom to an open end. The parasitic element may extend from a first end is configured to be grounded to a second end that is open. The parasitic element may extend along opposite sides of the excitation arm portion so as to be coupled thereto. |
| US09484629B2 |
Multi-use antenna
Multi-use antenna techniques are described. In one or more implementations, a device includes a single fixed radiating structure, a first branch coupled to the single fixed radiating structure to tune to a first frequency range to support a first wireless signal technique, and a second branch coupled to the single fixed radiating structure to tune to a second frequency range to support a second wireless signal technique, the second frequency range being different than the first frequency range. |
| US09484628B2 |
Multiband frequency antenna
Disclosed is an antenna capable of operating at more than one frequency band. The antenna comprises a first main helix antenna element and a second parasitic helix antenna element electromagnetically coupled to integrate a single radiofrequency connection structure operating in dual frequency bands. Furthermore, the antenna is configured to structurally combine a plurality of helix antenna elements to operate at multiple frequency bands having only one radiofrequency connector. |
| US09484610B2 |
Processes for forming waveguides using LTCC substrates
Processes for forming waveguides (200) using multiple co-planar layers of LTCC substrates (212, 212a, 212b) are described. Registration holes (222) on the substrates help align layering of the substrates. Arrays of circuit patterns are printed on each substrate, with each circuit being made up of conductor pattern (213) and/or via holes (224). Cavity alignment holes (226) formed around a periphery of each circuit allow alignment marks to be printed on the substrates for vision inspection. Similarly, circuit orientation holes (227) associated with each circuit allow orientation marks to be printed on the substrates to identify orientation of circuits in each finally formed waveguide. Substrate orientation holes (225) allow marks to be printed on one side of each substrate for alignment during screen printing. These in-process vision inspections and quality assurance tests allow product quality and process yields to improve. |
| US09484607B2 |
Battery module
A battery module includes a first battery cell, a first barrier, and a second barrier, the first battery cell being between the first barrier and the second barrier, wherein a first opening is in flow communication with a first space defined between a first side of the first battery cell and a first side portion formed by at least one of the first and second barriers, the first space being in flow communication with a second space defined between a second side of the first battery cell and a second side portion formed by at least one of the first and second barriers. |
| US09484604B2 |
Battery module system
A battery module system includes at least one cell and a battery module processor. The battery module processor may be configured to receive at least one cell signal associated with the at least one cell, wherein the at least one cell signal includes at least one of a temperature signal, a voltage signal, or a current signal. The battery module processor may be also configured to determine a status of the at least one cell based on the at least one cell signal. The battery module system may be configured to removably connect to a master/module interface, and to deliver power from the at least one cell to the master/module interface. The battery module system may be also configured to communicate, from the battery module processor, the status of the at least one cell to the master/module interface. |
| US09484602B1 |
Light tower having a battery housing
Conventional internal combustion engine technology has been around for decades and historically has been the primary power source for virtually all industrial equipment. It relies on carbon-based fuels, is loud, polluting, and the machines it powers are expensive to operate and maintain. A self-contained, rechargeable battery system is provided that possesses superior power than comparable diesel and gas engines. The rechargeable battery power system generates zero emissions, is virtually maintenance free, is quiet, and recharges overnight via a standard electrical outlet. The rechargeable battery power system can be installed in new and used construction equipment (light towers, excavators, generators) and may be used wherever a source of power is required, for example, in vans and boats, and in supplemental power systems including smart grid applications. It can be safely used indoors, in neighborhoods and other locations sensitive to the side effects of internal combustion engines. |
| US09484590B2 |
Fuel cell header wedge
A fuel cell system may include a fuel cell stack having a header and active area in fluid communication with the header. The fuel cell system may also include a wedge disposed within the header and configured to alter the cross-sectional area of the header along the length of the stack such that, during operation of the stack, a flow velocity of gas through the active area is generally constant. |
| US09484586B2 |
Driving control method and system of fuel cell system
A driving control method and system of a fuel cell system are provided. The method includes monitoring an exterior temperature. In addition, the method includes increasing hydrogen pressure at an anode side of a fuel cell stack when the exterior temperature is less than a preset exterior temperature during the monitoring. |
| US09484585B2 |
Non-aqueous organic electrolytic solution for lithium primary battery, and lithium primary battery
There is provided non-aqueous organic electrolytic solution for a lithium primary battery which can be stored for long period at elevated temperatures or at the end stage of discharge. Non-aqueous organic electrolytic solution 20 for lithium primary battery 1 having a cathode active material which is manganese dioxide and an anode active material which is either of lithium or lithium alloy includes a base electrolytic solution that is composed of organic solvent and supporting electrolyte and to which either one of hydroxyphthalimide or hydroxyphthalimide derivative is added as an additive. An amount of the additive which is added to the base electrolytic solution is 0.1 wt % or more and 5.0 wt % or less. It is more preferable that the amount of the additive which is added to the base electrolytic solution is 0.1 wt % or more and 1.0 wt % or less. |
| US09484580B2 |
Platinum monolayer for fuel cell
An example fuel cell electrode forming method includes covering at least a portion of a copper monolayer with a liquid platinum and replacing the copper monolayer to form a platinum monolayer from the liquid platinum. |
| US09484578B2 |
Method for the synthesis of metal cyanometallates
Methods are presented for synthesizing metal cyanometallate (MCM). A first method provides a first solution of AXM2Y(CN)Z, to which a second solution including M1 is dropwise added. As a result, a precipitate is formed of ANM1PM2Q(CN)R.FH2O, where N is in the range of 1 to 4. A second method for synthesizing MCM provides a first solution of M2C(CN)B, which is dropwise added to a second solution including M1. As a result, a precipitate is formed of M1[M2S(CN)G]1/T. DH2O, where S/T is greater than or equal to 0.8. Low vacancy MCM materials are also presented. |
| US09484574B2 |
Hydrothermal process for the production of LiFePO4 powder
The present invention relates to a process for the production of LiFePO4 powder, comprising the steps: a) providing an aqueous solution of an organic surfactant; b) providing an aqueous solution of an iron (II) salt and mixing said aqueous iron (II) salt solution with an aqueous solution of a phosphate, to provide a mixed iron (II) salt/phosphate solution having a stoichiometric ratio of Fe2+:phosphate of about 1:1; c) adding the mixed iron (II) salt/phosphate solution to the surfactant solution under constant stirring; d) providing an aqueous solution comprising a lithium salt, adding said aqueous solution comprising a lithium salt to said mixed iron (II) salt/phosphate solution to provide a mixture having a stoichiometric ratio of Fe2+:phosphate:lithium salt of about 1:1:3 and stirring the resulting mixture; e) heating the resulting mixture at 80-200° C.; f) washing the resulting precipitate to remove excess surfactant, filtering and drying the precipitate; and g) heat treating the dried precipitate in an inert atmosphere by firing at 550-850° C. for at least 2 hours, wherein a co-solvent is added during or after any one of steps (a) to (d). |
| US09484572B2 |
Electrode active material for all solid state secondary battery and all solid state secondary battery
An electrode active material for an all solid state secondary battery, which is able to have the controlled orientation of a crystal face at the interface between an electrode layer and an electrolyte layer in order to enhance the battery performance, and an all solid state secondary battery including the electrode active material. The electrode active material includes a carbon material having an intensity ratio (P002/P100) of 600 or less between the X-ray diffraction peak intensity P002 in the (002) plane and the X-ray diffraction peak intensity P100 in the (100) plane, which are obtained when a surface of a compact prepared by compression molding of a powder of the carbon material at a pressure of 110 MPa is irradiated with X-ray. The all solid state secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a solid electrolyte, and the negative electrode contains the electrode active material. |
| US09484568B2 |
Method of manufacturing layered structure constituting all-solid-state battery, apparatus for manufacturing the same, and all-solid-state battery provided with layered structure
The present invention provides a method of manufacturing and an apparatus for manufacturing a layered structure comprising a solid electrolyte layer, a positive electrode active material layer, and a negative electrode active material layer, which together constitute an all-solid-state battery. The layered structure has concavities and convexities formed on the surface and is manufactured by the method comprising the steps of: forming a green sheet S111, where the green sheet for a solid electrolyte layer 11 is formed; forming concavities and convexities S112, where the green sheet for a solid electrolyte layer 11 and the sheet member 50 that is made from material that is caused to disappear when heated, and that has concavities and convexities, are formed in one piece, and the concavities and convexities are formed on the surface of the green sheet for a solid electrolyte layer 11; heating S113, where the sheet member 50 is caused to disappear by heating the green sheet for a solid electrolyte layer 11 and the sheet member 50 that are formed in one piece, and where the green sheet for a solid electrolyte layer 11 is sintered. |
| US09484563B2 |
Battery pack
A battery pack includes a sealed case and a battery cell accommodated in the sealed case. The sealed case includes a case body, which has an opening, and a lid member, which is fixed to the case body by a plurality of bolts and closes the opening. When distances between adjacent ones of the bolts are compared, the distance between a specific adjacent pair of the bolts is greater than that between any other adjacent pair of the remaining bolts. |
| US09484557B2 |
Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display and method of manufacturing the same
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display and method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. In one aspect, the OLED display includes a substrate which includes non-emission regions and emission regions, a first electrode which is formed on each of the emission regions of the substrate, an organic light-emitting layer which is formed on the first electrode, a second electrode which is formed on the organic light-emitting layer and the substrate and a passivation layer which is formed on the second electrode. The passivation layer includes a first passivation layer which substantially overlaps the organic light-emitting layer and a second passivation layer which does not overlap the organic light-emitting layer, wherein the refractive index of the first passivation layer is higher than the refractive index of the second passivation layer. |
| US09484556B2 |
Method of repairing organic light-emitting display apparatus
A method of repairing an organic light-emitting display apparatus, the organic light-emitting display apparatus including a substrate, an organic light-emitting device formed on the substrate, a thin film transistor (TFT) formed on the substrate, an organic insulating layer formed on the TFT, and a conductive pattern formed on the organic insulating layer, the conductive pattern including a shorted part between two conductive elements in the conductive pattern, the method including: removing the short by using a focused ion beam (FIB). |
| US09484553B2 |
Organic light-emitting diode device and manufacturing method thereof
The embodiment of the present invention relates to an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) device, which comprises a pixel define layer (PDL) and a light-emitting structure. Metal nanoparticles are doped in the PDL. The OLED device improves the luminous efficiency. The embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for manufacturing the OLED device. |
| US09484552B2 |
Manufacturing method of flexible device substrate
A flexible device substrate includes a flexible substrate, a device layer, and a waterproof layer. The flexible substrate has a top surface and a bottom surface disposed opposite to each other. The device layer is disposed on the top surface of the flexible substrate. The waterproof layer is disposed on the bottom surface of the flexible substrate. |
| US09484547B2 |
Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display and method of manufacturing the same
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display is disclosed. In one aspect, the OLED display includes a lower substrate including a display area and a non-display area surrounding the display area, wherein a plurality of pixels are formed in the display area. The OLED display also includes an embedded circuit formed in the configured to apply a plurality of signals to the pixels, and an initialization wiring formed in the non-display area and configured to apply an initialization voltage to each of the pixels. The initialization circuit is formed in a layer so as to at least partially overlap with the area of the embedded circuit. |
| US09484543B2 |
Fabrication of anchored carbon nanotube array devices for integrated light collection and energy conversion
A method of fabricating optical energy collection and conversion devices using carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and a method of anchoring CNT's into thin polymeric layers is disclosed. The basic method comprises an initial act of surrounding a plurality of substantially aligned nanostructures within at least one fluid layer of substantially uniform thickness such that a first end of the plurality of nanostructures protrudes from the fluid layer. Next, the fluid layer is altered to form an anchoring layer, thereby fastening the nanostructures within the primary anchoring layer with the first ends of the nanostructures protruding from a first surface of the primary anchoring layer. Finally, a portion of the anchoring layer is selectively removed such that a second end of the nanostructures is exposed and protrudes from the anchoring layer. The resulting product is an optically absorbent composite material having aligned nanostructures protruding from both sides of an anchoring layer. |
| US09484540B2 |
Oxygen-containing fused ring derivative and organic electroluminescence device comprising the same
An oxygen-containing fused ring derivative represented by the following formula (1) wherein Ar1 is an m-valent fused ring group in which four or more rings including one or more rings selected from a furan ring and a pyran ring are fused and HAr is any of the nitrogen-containing heterocyclic group represented by the following formulas (2) to (5): |
| US09484539B2 |
Polycyclic compound and organic electronic device comprising the same
An exemplary embodiment of the present application provides a new compound and an organic electronic device using the same. The organic electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application shows excellent characteristics in terms of efficiency, driving voltage, and service life. |
| US09484538B2 |
Manufacturing method of organic semiconductor film, organic semiconductor film, thin film transistor, active matrix device, electro-optical device, and electronic device
A manufacturing method of an organic semiconductor film according to the invention includes applying a liquid composition in which an organic semiconductor material is dissolved or dispersed in a first solvent onto a base material in a predetermined pattern, applying a second solvent in which solubility of the organic semiconductor material is lower than that in the first solvent onto a region of the base material having the liquid composition applied thereto, and removing the second solvent. |
| US09484536B2 |
Memory cells, memory arrays, and methods of forming memory cells and arrays
Some embodiments include methods of forming memory cells. Heater structures are formed over an array of electrical nodes, and phase change material is formed across the heater structures. The phase change material is patterned into a plurality of confined structures, with the confined structures being in one-to-one correspondence with the heater structures and being spaced from one another by one or more insulative materials that entirely laterally surround each of the confined structures. Some embodiments include memory arrays having heater structures over an array of electrical nodes. Confined phase change material structures are over the heater structures and in one-to-one correspondence with the heater structures. The confined phase change material structures are spaced from one another by one or more insulative materials that entirely laterally surround each of the confined phase change material structures. |
| US09484530B2 |
Integrated circuit structures with spin torque transfer magnetic random access memory having increased memory cell density and methods for fabricating the same
STT-MRAM integrated circuit and method for fabricating the same are disclosed. An integrated circuit includes a word line layer, a bit line layer, and an MRAM stack in contact with the bit line metal layer. The integrated circuit further includes a first doped silicon layer in contact with the MRAM stack, the first doped silicon layer including conductivity-determining ions of a first type, and a second doped silicon layer in contact with the first doped silicon layer and further in contact with the word line layer, the second doped silicon layer including conductivity-determining ions of a second type that is opposite the first type. Still further, the integrated circuit includes a third doped silicon layer in contact with the second doped silicon layer and a source line layer in electrical contact with the third doped silicon layer. |
| US09484529B2 |
Magnetic memory device
A magnetic memory device is provided. The magnetic memory device includes a first vertical magnetic layer and a second vertical magnetic layer on a substrate, a tunnel barrier layer between the first vertical magnetic layer and the second vertical magnetic layer, and an exchange-coupling layer between a first sub-layer of the first vertical magnetic layer and a second sub-layer of the first vertical magnetic layer. |
| US09484527B2 |
Nanometer magnetic multilayer film for temperature sensor and manufacturing method therefor
A magnetic multilayer film for a temperature sensor is disclosed. The magnetic multilayer film comprises: a bottom magnetic composite layer provided on a substrate, the bottom magnetic composite layer having a direct pinning structure, an indirect pinning structure, a synthetic ferromagnetic structure, or a synthetic anti-ferromagnetic structure; a spacer layer provided on the bottom magnetic composite layer; and a top magnetic composite layer provided on the spacer layer, the top magnetic composite layer having the direct pinning structure, the indirect pinning structure, the synthetic ferromagnetic structure, or the synthetic anti-ferromagnetic structure, wherein a ferromagnetic layer of the bottom magnetic composite layer closest to the spacer layer has a magnetic moment anti-parallel with that of a ferromagnetic layer of the top magnetic composite layer closest to the spacer layer. |
| US09484526B2 |
Magnetic memory device and method for forming the same
Provided are a magnetic memory device and a method of forming the same. The magnetic memory device includes a magnetic tunnel junction pattern located on a substrate and including magnetic patterns and a tunnel barrier pattern located between the magnetic patterns, and a first crystallinity conserving pattern located on the magnetic tunnel junction pattern and having a higher crystallization temperature than the magnetic patterns. The first crystallinity conserving pattern is amorphous. |
| US09484525B2 |
Hall effect device
Embodiments of the present invention provide a Hall effect device that includes a Hall effect region of a first semiconductive type, at least three contacts and a lateral conductive structure. The Hall effect region is formed in or on top of a substrate, wherein the substrate includes an isolation arrangement to isolate the Hall effect region in a lateral direction and in a depth direction from the substrate or other electronic devices in the substrate. The at least three contacts are arranged at a top of the Hall effect region to supply the Hall effect device with electric energy and to provide a Hall effect signal indicative of the magnetic field, wherein the Hall effect signal is generated in a portion of the Hall effect region defined by the at least three contacts. The lateral conductive structure is located between the Hall effect region and the isolation arrangement. |
| US09484521B2 |
Vibration generating apparatus
There is provided a vibration generating apparatus including: a bracket having a circular plate shape; a vibration member having a lower edge portion of a central portion fixed to the bracket and having a closed curved line shape; a piezoelectric element fixed to a lower surface of the vibration member among inner surfaces of the vibration member and deformed when power is applied thereto; and a mass body fixed to the inner surfaces of the vibration member and disposed to face the piezoelectric element. |
| US09484519B2 |
Piezoelectric/electrostrictive element
A piezoelectric/electrostrictive element has a piezoelectric body, a first electrode, a second electrode and a glass layer. The piezoelectric body is formed in a thin film-shape. The piezoelectric body has a first main surface and a second main surface. The first electrode is disposed on the first main surface of the piezoelectric body. The first electrode has an electrode side surface configured to be connected with the first main surface. The second electrode is disposed on the second main surface of the piezoelectric body. The glass layer is continuously formed on the first main surface and the electrode side surface. The glass layer containing glass as a principal constituent. The glass layer is isolated from the side surface of the piezoelectric body. |
| US09484504B2 |
Micro LED with wavelength conversion layer
A light emitting device and method of manufacture are described. In an embodiment, the light emitting device includes a micro LED device bonded to a bottom electrode, a top electrode in electrical contact with the micro LED device, and a wavelength conversion layer around the micro LED device. The wavelength conversion layer includes phosphor particles. Exemplary phosphor particles include quantum dots that exhibit luminescence due to their size, or particles that exhibit luminescence due to their composition. |
| US09484503B2 |
Light emitting device
A light emitting device includes a first lead, a second lead, an insulating member, a diffusing agent-containing portion, a wavelength conversion portion and a lens portion. The insulating member is configured to fix the first lead and the second lead. A thickness of the insulating member is equal to the thickness of the first and second leads. A groove or a recessed portion is provided to retain the wavelength conversion portion in a specific region formed in the first lead. A second groove portion or recessed portion is formed in a first lead inner side of the groove portion or the recessed portion, which is filled with the diffusing agent-containing portion. |
| US09484498B2 |
Light emitting structure having electrodes forming a concave surface and manufacturing method thereof
A light-emitting structure comprises a semiconductor light-emitting element which includes a first connection point and a second connection point. The light-emitting structure further includes a first electrode electrically connected to the first connection point, and a second electrode electrically connected the second connection point. The first electrode and the second electrode can form a concave on which the semiconductor light-emitting element is located. |
| US09484494B2 |
Semiconductor light emitting device having a plurality of semiconductor layers having P-type dopant
Provided are a semiconductor light emitting device. The semiconductor light emitting device comprises a first semiconductor layer; a second semiconductor layer disposed on the first semiconductor layer; an active layer disposed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer; a third semiconductor layer disposed on the second semiconductor layer; and a fourth semiconductor layer disposed on the third semiconductor layer. The second semiconductor layer is formed of an InAlGaN semiconductor layer, the third semiconductor layer is formed of an AlGaN semiconductor layer, and the fourth semiconductor layer is formed of a GaN semiconductor layer. |
| US09484487B2 |
Method for fabricating thin photovoltaic cells
A method for fabricating thin crystalline photovoltaic cells is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes: forming a weakening layer in a surface portion of a semiconductor substrate; epitaxially growing a stack of semiconductor layers on the substrate for forming an active layer of the photovoltaic cell, the stack having a first thermal coefficient of expansion; providing on the stack patterned contact layer for forming electrical contacts of the photovoltaic cell, the patterned contact layer having a second thermal coefficient of expansion different from the first thermal coefficient of expansion. The process of providing a patterned contact layer simultaneously induces a tensile stress in the weakening layer, resulting in a lift-off from the substrate of a structure including the stack of semiconductor layers and the patterned contact layer. |
| US09484484B2 |
Shingled solar cell module
A high efficiency configuration for a solar cell module comprises solar cells arranged in a shingled manner to form super cells, which may be arranged to efficiently use the area of the solar module, reduce series resistance, and increase module efficiency. |
| US09484483B2 |
Device and method for restoring silicon-based solar cells using an ultrasound transducer
The restoration device of least one silicon-based photovoltaic solar cell includes a support of the cell, a heat source configured to heat the photovoltaic solar cell, and unit for generating charge carriers in the cell. To better accelerate the restoration kinetics of the solar cell, the device includes an ultrasonic transducer designed to generate ultrasonic waves propagating in the photovoltaic solar cell. |
| US09484482B2 |
Efficient optical (light) coupling
A light coupling structure is provided that includes a diffractive grating coupler, a total internal reflection (TIR) mirror, and a polymer waveguide. The TIR mirror is formed within the polymer waveguide to direct light signals between the diffractive grating coupler and the polymer waveguide. |
| US09484480B2 |
High performance, high bandgap, lattice-mismatched, GaInP solar cells
High performance, high bandgap, lattice-mismatched, photovoltaic cells (10), both transparent and non-transparent to sub-bandgap light, are provided as devices for use alone or in combination with other cells in split spectrum apparatus or other applications. |
| US09484474B1 |
Ultrananocrystalline diamond contacts for electronic devices
A method of forming electrical contacts on a diamond substrate comprises producing a plasma ball using a microwave plasma source in the presence of a mixture of gases. The mixture of gases include a source of a p-type or an n-type dopant. The plasma ball is disposed at a first distance from the diamond substrate. The diamond substrate is maintained at a first temperature. The plasma ball is maintained at the first distance from the diamond substrate for a first time, and a UNCD film, which is doped with at least one of a p-type dopant and an n-type dopant, is disposed on the diamond substrate. The doped UNCD film is patterned to define UNCD electrical contacts on the diamond substrate. |
| US09484463B2 |
Fabrication process for mitigating external resistance of a multigate device
A method for fabricating a multigate device includes forming a fin on a substrate of the multigate device, the fin being formed of a semiconductor material, growing a first conformal epitaxial layer directly on the fin and substrate, wherein the first conformal epitaxial layer is highly doped, growing a second conformal epitaxial layer directly on the first conformal epitaxial layer, wherein the second conformal epitaxial layer is highly doped, selectively removing a portion of second epitaxial layer to expose a portion of the first conformal epitaxial layer, selectively removing a portion of the first conformal epitaxial layer to expose a portion of the fin and thereby form a trench, and forming a gate within the trench. |
| US09484460B2 |
Semiconductor device having gate dielectric surrounding at least some of channel region and gate electrode surrounding at least some of gate dielectric
A semiconductor device includes a first type region including a first conductivity type and a second type region including a second conductivity type. The semiconductor device includes a channel region extending between the first type region and the second type region. The semiconductor device includes a gate electrode surrounding at least some of the channel region. A first gate edge of the gate electrode is separated a first distance from a first type region edge of the first type region and a second gate edge of the gate electrode is separated a second distance from a second type region edge of the second type region. The first distance is less than the second distance. |
| US09484448B2 |
Semiconductor gas sensor and method for producing the same
A technique capable of realizing a semiconductor gas sensor having a high rising response speed is provided. A gate insulating film (e.g., a SiO2 film) is formed on a Si layer, and a modified TiOx (a TiOx nanocrystal) film is formed on the gate insulating film. Further, on the modified TiOx film, a Pt film is formed. This Pt film is composed of a plurality of Pt crystal grains, and in a crystal grain boundary gap existing among the plurality of Pt crystal grains, Ti and oxygen (O) are present, and particularly, a TiOx nanocrystal is formed on a surface in the vicinity of a grain boundary triple point as the center. |
| US09484446B2 |
Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same
A semiconductor device includes: a nitride semiconductor layer; a first silicon nitride film that is formed on the nitride semiconductor layer, has a first opening whose inner wall is a forward tapered shape; a second silicon nitride film that is formed on the first silicon nitride film, and has a second opening whose inner wall is an inverse tapered shape; and a gate electrode formed so as to cover the whole surface of the nitride semiconductor layer exposed on the inside of the first opening; wherein a side wall of the gate electrode separates from the first silicon nitride film and the second silicon nitride film via a cavity. |
| US09484444B2 |
Semiconductor device with a resistance element in a trench
A semiconductor device has a semiconductor substrate, an insulating film, a semiconductor element and a resistance element. The semiconductor substrate has a first trench. The insulating film covers an inner surface of the first trench. The semiconductor element has an electrode. The resistance element is electrically connected to the electrode to form a resistance to a current flowing through the electrode, and is arranged in the first trench with the insulating film therebetween. Thereby, the semiconductor device can have a resistance element that has a small footprint and can pass a large current with high reliability. |
| US09484443B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer opposing to a bottom surface and a side surface of a gate electrode. An insulation film is provided between the bottom surface of the gate electrode and the semiconductor layer and between the side surface of the gate electrode and the semiconductor layer. A first conduction-type drain layer is provided in the semiconductor layer on a side of an end part of one of the bottom surface and the side surface of the gate electrode. A second conduction-type source layer is provided in the semiconductor layer opposing to the other one of the bottom surface and the side surface of the gate electrode. A second conduction-type extension layer is provided in the semiconductor layer opposing to a corner part between the side surface and the bottom surface of the gate electrode and has a lower impurity concentration than that of the source layer. |
| US09484441B2 |
Method for fabricating transistor having hard-mask layer
A method for fabricating a transistor including the following steps is provided. First, a gate electrode is formed on a substrate, and a gate insulating layer is formed on the substrate in sequence, wherein the gate insulating layer covers the substrate and the gate electrode. Next, a patterned channel layer and a hard-mask layer are formed on the gate insulating layer, wherein the patterned channel layer and the hard-mask layer are located above the gate electrode, and the hard-mask layer is disposed on the patterned channel layer. Afterwards, a source and a drain are formed on the gate insulating layer by a wet etchant. The part of the hard-mask layer that is not covered by the source and the drain is removed by the wet etchant until the patterned channel layer is exposed, so as to form a plurality of patterned hard-mask layers. |
| US09484439B1 |
III-V fin on insulator
A method of forming a semiconductor structure in which a III-V compound semiconductor channel fin portion is formed on a dielectric material is provided. The method includes forming a III-V material stack on a surface of a bulk semiconductor substrate. Patterning of the III-V material stack is then employed to provide a pre-fin structure that is located between, and in contact with, pre-pad structures. The pre-pad structures are used as an anchoring agent when a III-V compound semiconductor channel layer portion of the III-V material stack and of the pre-fin structure is suspended by removing a topmost III-V compound semiconductor buffer layer portion of the material stack from the pre-fin structure. A dielectric material is then formed within the gap provided by the suspending step and thereafter a fin cut process is employed. |
| US09484435B2 |
MOS transistor with varying channel width
One embodiment of the invention relates to a semiconductor device formed over a semiconductor body. In this device, source and drain regions are formed in the body about lateral edges of a gate electrode and are separated from one another by a gate length. A channel region, which is configured to allow charged carriers to selectively flow between the source and drain regions during operation of the device, has differing widths under the gate electrode. These widths are generally perpendicular to the gate length. Other devices, methods, and systems are also disclosed. |
| US09484429B2 |
High electron mobility transistor (HEMT) capable of absorbing a stored hole more efficiently and method for manufacturing the same
A semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer, a third semiconductor layer, a first electrode, a second electrode, a control electrode, and a third electrode. The second semiconductor layer is provided on the first semiconductor layer and has a band gap narrower than that of the first semiconductor layer. The second semiconductor layer includes a first portion and a second portion which is provided together with the first portion and contains an activated acceptor. The third semiconductor layer is provided on the first portion and has a band gap wider than or equal to the band gap of the second semiconductor layer. The first and the second electrodes are provided on the third semiconductor layer. The control electrode is provided between the first electrode and the second electrode. The third electrode is provided on the second portion. |
| US09484425B2 |
Biased reactive refractory metal nitride capped contact of group III-V semiconductor device
According to one disclosed embodiment, an electrical contact for use on a semiconductor device comprises an electrode stack including a plurality of metal layers and a capping layer formed over the plurality of metal layers. The capping layer comprises a refractory metal nitride. In one embodiment, a method for fabricating an electrical contact for use on a semiconductor device comprises forming an electrode stack including a plurality of metal layers over the semiconductor device, and depositing a refractory metal nitride capping layer of the electrode stack over the plurality of metal layers. The method may further comprise annealing the electrode stack at a temperature of less than approximately 875° C. In some embodiments, the method may additionally include forming one of a Schottky metal layer and a gate insulator layer between the electrode stack and the semiconductor device. |
| US09484414B2 |
Semiconductor device
A MOSFET includes a silicon carbide substrate including a main surface having an off angle with respect to a {0001} plane and a source electrode formed in contact with the main surface. A base surface is exposed at at least a part of a contact interface of the silicon carbide substrate with the source electrode. With such a construction, the MOSFET achieves suppressed variation in threshold voltage. |
| US09484413B2 |
Methods of forming buried junction devices in silicon carbide using ion implant channeling and silicon carbide devices including buried junctions
A semiconductor device structure according to some embodiments includes a silicon carbide substrate having a first conductivity type, a silicon carbide drift layer having the first conductivity type on the silicon carbide substrate and having an upper surface opposite the silicon carbide substrate, and a buried junction structure in the silicon carbide drift layer. The buried junction structure has a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type and has a junction depth that is greater than about one micron. |
| US09484412B1 |
Strained silicon—germanium integrated circuit with inversion capacitance enhancement and method to fabricate same
A structure includes a substrate; a plurality of pFET fins disposed over the substrate; and a plurality of nFET fins disposed over the substrate. In the structure each of the plurality of pFET fins is composed of s-Si1-xGex, where x has a value in a range of about 0.4-0.6; each of the plurality of nFET fins is composed of one of s-Si or a Group III-V material; and each of the plurality of pFET fins and the plurality of nFET fins includes a thin (e.g., <1 nm) multilayer structure containing a plurality s-Ge monolayers disposed on a surface thereof, a gate dielectric disposed over the multilayer structure, and a gate conductor disposed over the gate dielectric. The presence of the multilayer structure containing the plurality s-Ge monolayers enhances Tinv scaling by effectively increasing a Ge percentage of the s-Si1-xGex pFETs. Methods to fabricate the structure are also disclosed. |
| US09484409B2 |
Semiconductor devices including channel dopant layer
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate including a well dopant layer having a first conductivity type, a gate electrode on the well dopant layer, a channel dopant layer in the well dopant layer and spaced apart from a top surface of the semiconductor substrate, a channel region between the gate electrode and the channel dopant layer, and source/drain regions in the well dopant layer at both sides of the gate electrode. The channel dopant layer and the channel region have the first conductivity type. The source/drain regions have a second conductivity type. A concentration of dopants having the first conductivity type in the channel dopant layer is higher than a concentration of dopants having the first conductivity type in the channel region. The semiconductor device may be used in a sense amplifier of a memory device. |
| US09484404B2 |
Electronic device of vertical MOS type with termination trenches having variable depth
An electronic device is integrated on a chip of semiconductor material having a main surface and a substrate region with a first type of conductivity. The electronic device has a vertical MOS transistor, formed in an active area having a body region with a second conductivity type. A set of one or more cells each one having a source region of the first conductivity, a gate region of electrically conductive material in a gate trench extending from the main surface in the body region and in the substrate region, and an insulating gate layer, and a termination structure with a plurality of termination rings surrounding at least part of the active area on the main surface, each termination ring having a floating element of electrically insulating material in the termination trench extending from the main surface in the chip and at least one bottom region of said semiconductor material of the second conductivity type extending from at least one deepest portion of a surface of the termination trench in the chip; the termination trenches have a depth from the main surface decreasing moving away from the active area. |
| US09484402B2 |
Fabricating shallow-trench isolation semiconductor devices to reduce or eliminate oxygen diffusion
A method is disclosed for forming a semiconductor device. A first opening is formed for an STI on a semiconductor substrate and a first process is performed to deposit first oxide into the first opening. A second opening is formed to remove a portion of the first oxide from the first opening and second process(es) is/are performed to deposit second oxide into the second opening and over a remaining portion of the first oxide. A portion of the semiconductor device is formed over a portion of a surface of the second oxide. A semiconductor device includes an STI including a first oxide formed in a lower portion of a trench of the STI and a second oxide formed in an upper portion of the trench and above the first oxide. The semiconductor device includes a portion of the semiconductor device formed over a portion of the second oxide. |
| US09484400B2 |
Method of forming a super junction semiconductor device having stripe-shaped regions of the opposite conductivity types
A super junction semiconductor device is formed by forming at least a portion of a drift layer on a doped layer of a first conductivity type, implanting first dopants of a first conductivity type and second dopants of a second conductivity type into the drift layer using one or more implant masks with openings to form stripe-shaped first implant regions of the first conductivity type and stripe-shaped second implant regions of the second conductivity type in alternating order, and performing a heat treatment for controlling a diffusion of dopants from the implant regions to form stripe-shaped first regions of the first conductivity type and stripe-shaped second regions of the second conductivity type. |
| US09484399B2 |
Charge compensation device and manufacturing therefor
A charge-compensation semiconductor device includes a semiconductor body having a first surface, a lateral edge delimiting the semiconductor body in a horizontal direction substantially parallel to the first surface, an active area, and a peripheral area arranged between the active area and the lateral edge. A source metallization is arranged on the first surface. A drain metallization is arranged opposite to the source metallization. The semiconductor body further includes a drift region in Ohmic contact with the drain metallization, and a plurality of compensation regions forming respective pn-junctions with the drift region, which are arranged in the active area and in the peripheral area, and are in Ohmic contact with the source metallization via respective body regions arranged in the active area and having a higher doping concentration than the compensation regions. In a horizontal cross-section substantially parallel to the first surface the compensation regions are at least in a respective portion shaped as a strip oriented in a direction which is tilted with respect to the lateral edge by a tilt angle. |
| US09484397B2 |
Component-embedded substrate
A component-embedded substrate having a multilayer substrate formed by laminating a plurality of thermoplastic sheets in a predetermined direction, an internal component provided in the multilayer substrate, and a surface-mount component mounted on a surface of the multilayer substrate using bumps. The surface-mount component, when viewed in a plan view in the predetermined direction, is positioned so as to cross an outline of the internal component, with the bumps on the surface-mount component located 50 μm or more from the outline of the internal component. |
| US09484391B2 |
OLED with chamfered emission layer
An organic light emitting diode display includes a first electrode, a pixel defining layer positioned on the first electrode and including a first opening having a first polygonal shape opening the first electrode, and a first organic emission layer positioned on the pixel defining layer through the first electrode corresponding to the first opening and including a first chamfer adjacent to a corner of the first opening. |
| US09484390B2 |
Method for fabricating semiconductor apparatus
A method for fabricating a semiconductor apparatus includes forming a diffusion barrier film on a semiconductor substrate, forming a first film on a semiconductor substrate including a common source region, forming a second film on the first film, forming a conductive film on the second film, patterning the conductive film and the second film, to form an active pattern, and patterning the first film and the semiconductor substrate using the active pattern as a mask, to form a pillar; and forming a gate electrode on an outer circumference of the pillar. |
| US09484388B2 |
Light-emitting device, method for designing light-emitting device, method for driving light-emitting device, illumination method, and method for manufacturing light-emitting device
A light-emitting device that can implement a natural, vivid, highly visible and comfortable appearance of colors and appearance of objects as if the objects are seen outdoors is provided. The light-emitting device can change the appearance of colors of the illuminated objects so as to satisfy the requirements for various illuminations. Furthermore, the appearance of colors of the light-emitting device which currently exists or is in use, and which includes a semiconductor light-emitting device of which appearance of colors is not very good, is improved. A method for driving the light-emitting device, an illumination method by the device, and a method for manufacturing the light-emitting device are also provided. These features are achieved by the light-emitting device that incorporates light-emitting elements and satisfies predetermined requirements, in which φSSL(λ) emitted from the light-emitting device satisfies a predetermined condition. |
| US09484377B2 |
CMOS image sensor including infrared pixels having improved spectral properties, and method of manufacturing same
The present invention relates to a CMOS image sensor including an infrared pixel with enhanced spectral characteristics in which a stepped portion is formed between color filters of RGB pixels and a filter of an infrared pixel, and a manufacturing method thereof. A stepped portion is formed between color filters and an infrared filter according to respective pixels and the thicknesses of the filters are arbitrarily adjusted regardless of the characteristics of material in the formation of the color filters and the infrared filter, so that crosstalk characteristics are improved. |
| US09484375B2 |
Image sensor with 3D stack structure
Disclosed is an image sensor with a 3D stack structure, in which pixels of a top plate are realized as image pixels and pixels of a bottom plate are realized as pixels for realizing a phase difference AF, so that the phase difference AF is realized without loss of resolution. In the image sensor with a 3D stack structure, a problem of the reduction of resolution, which is a disadvantage of an existing imaging surface phase difference AF device, is solved, so that a fast phase difference AF is realized while maintaining high resolution without a separate phase difference AF module. |
| US09484374B2 |
Image sensor and method for fabricating the same
An image sensor includes a substrate including a pixel array region and a logic region where a surface of the pixel array region is higher than a surface of the logic region, and a light shielding pattern formed over the substrate of the logic region and having a surface on substantially the same plane as a surface of the substrate. |
| US09484372B2 |
Substrate for embedding imaging device and method for manufacturing same, and imaging apparatus
A substrate for embedding an imaging device includes: a core layer; a first multilayered wiring layer that is formed onto the core layer, the core layer and the first multilayered wiring layer having a cavity penetrating therethrough; a second multilayered wiring layer that is formed onto the core layer on a side opposite to the first multilayered wiring layer and that includes a conductive pattern formed at a position facing the cavity; a resin portion that is arranged inside the cavity and includes a bottom surface supported by the second multilayered wiring layer, a side face supported by the core layer, and a curved surface formed on a side opposite to the bottom surface; and an imaging device adhered along the curved surface inside the cavity. |
| US09484370B2 |
Isolated global shutter pixel storage structure
A pixel cell includes a photodiode disposed in a semiconductor material to accumulate image charge in response to incident light directed to the photodiode. A global shutter gate transistor disposed in the semiconductor material and is coupled to the photodiode to selectively deplete the image charge from the photodiode. A storage transistor is disposed in the semiconductor material to store the image charge. An optical isolation structure is disposed in the semiconductor material proximate to the storage transistor to isolate a sidewall of the storage transistor from stray light and stray charge in the semiconductor material outside of the storage transistor. The optical isolation structure is filled with tungsten. |
| US09484369B2 |
Solid-state imaging device, method of manufacturing the same, and imaging apparatus
A solid-state imaging device includes a photoelectric conversion section which is disposed on a semiconductor substrate and which photoelectrically converts incident light into signal charges, a pixel transistor section which is disposed on the semiconductor substrate and which converts signal charges read out from the photoelectric conversion section into a voltage, and an element isolation region which is disposed on the semiconductor substrate and which isolates the photoelectric conversion section from an active region in which the pixel transistor section is disposed. The pixel transistor section includes a plurality of transistors. Among the plurality of transistors, in at least one transistor in which the gate width direction of its gate electrode is oriented toward the photoelectric conversion section, at least a photoelectric conversion section side portion of the gate electrode is disposed within and on the active region with a gate insulating film therebetween. |
| US09484368B2 |
Solid-state imaging device, method for manufacturing solid-state imaging device, method for manufacturing solid-state imaging element, and semiconductor device
A solid-state imaging device includes a semiconductor substrate configured to include a solid-state imaging element that is provided with a photoelectric conversion region, and a scribe line region that is provided along a periphery of the solid-state imaging element, a wiring layer that is formed to be layered on the semiconductor substrate, a support substrate that is formed to be layered on the wiring layer, and a groove that is provided between a blade region in the scribe line region and the solid-state imaging element, in the semiconductor substrate and penetrates through the semiconductor substrate. |
| US09484364B2 |
Array substrate and method for manufacturing the same, display device
An array substrate and a display device are presented. The array substrate includes: a base substrate and a plurality of thin film transistor units located on the base substrate, wherein, the thin film transistor unit includes: a first gate electrode located on the base substrate, a gate insulating layer located on the first gate electrode, a drain electrode disposed in the same layer as the first gate electrode, an active layer located on the drain electrode, a source electrode located on the active layer, a first transparent conductive layer is provided between the base substrate and the first gate electrode and the drain electrode that are disposed in the same layer, and the gate insulating layer is also disposed between the first gate electrode plus the first transparent conductive layer beneath it and the drain electrode plus the first transparent conductive layer beneath it. |
| US09484362B2 |
Display substrate and method of manufacturing a display substrate
A display substrate includes an active pattern, a gate electrode, a first insulation layer and a pixel electrode. The active pattern is disposed on a base substrate. The active pattern includes a metal oxide semiconductor. The gate electrode overlaps the active pattern. The first insulation layer covers the gate electrode and the active pattern, and a contact hole is defined in the first insulation layer. The pixel electrode is electrically connected to the active pattern via the contact hole penetrating the first insulation layer. A first angle defined by a bottom surface of the first insulation layer and a sidewall of the first insulation layer exposed by the contact hole is between about 30° and about 50°. |
| US09484360B2 |
Method for manufacturing oxide thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate
The present disclosure provides a method for manufacturing an oxide thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate. Specifically the step of forming the thin film transistors may include: forming a pattern of an oxide semiconductor layer on the substrate with photoresist is reserved on the channel regions in the pattern of the oxide semiconductor layer; and forming a source-drain metal layer on the pattern of the oxide semiconductor layer, forming patterns that include source electrodes and drain electrodes by an etching process, and removing the photoresist reserved on the channel regions in the pattern of the oxide semiconductor layer. |
| US09484358B2 |
Ultrahigh density vertical NAND memory device and method of making thereof
Monolithic, three dimensional NAND strings include a semiconductor channel, at least one end portion of the semiconductor channel extending substantially perpendicular to a major surface of a substrate, a plurality of control gate electrodes having a strip shape extending substantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate, the blocking dielectric comprising a plurality of blocking dielectric segments, a plurality of discrete charge storage segments, and a tunnel dielectric located between each one of the plurality of the discrete charge storage segments and the semiconductor channel. |
| US09484357B2 |
Selective blocking dielectric formation in a three-dimensional memory structure
A plurality of blocking dielectric portions can be formed between a memory stack structure and an alternating stack of first material layers and second material layers by selective deposition of a dielectric material layer. The plurality of blocking dielectric portions can be formed after removal of the second material layers selective to the first material layers by depositing a dielectric material on surfaces of the memory stack structure while avoiding deposition on surfaces of the first material layers. A deposition inhibitor material layer or a deposition promoter material layer can be optionally employed. Alternatively, the plurality of blocking dielectric portions can be formed on surfaces of the second material layers while avoiding deposition on surfaces of the first material layers after formation of the memory opening and prior to formation of the memory stack structure. The plurality of blocking dielectric portions are vertically spaced annular structures. |
| US09484354B2 |
Semiconductor device including different orientations of memory cell array and peripheral circuit transistors
A memory device includes a memory cell on a first region of a substrate. An active region is in a second region neighboring the first region of the substrate, and an extension direction of the active region has an acute angle with the <110> direction of the substrate. A transistor serving as a peripheral circuit is on the second region of the substrate. In the memory device, defects or failures due to a crystal defects or a dislocation of the substrate may decrease. |
| US09484352B2 |
Method for forming a split-gate flash memory cell device with a low power logic device
An embedded flash memory device is provided. A gate stack includes a control gate arranged over a floating gate. An erase gate is arranged adjacent to a first side of the gate stack. A word line is arranged adjacent to a second side of the gate stack that is opposite the first side. The word line includes a word line ledge exhibiting a reduced height relative to a top surface of the word line and on an opposite side of the word line as the gate stack. A polysilicon logic gate has a top surface approximately even with the word line ledge. An ILD layer is arranged over the gate stack, the erase gate, the polysilicon logic gate, and the word lines. A contact extends through the ILD layer. A method of manufacturing the embedded flash memory device is also provided. |
| US09484351B2 |
Split gate memory device and method of fabricating the same
The present disclosure relates to a split gate memory device which requires less number of processing steps than traditional baseline processes and methods of making the same. Word gate/select gate (SG) pairs are formed around a sacrificial spacer. The resulting SG structure has a distinguishable non-planar top surface. The spacer layer that covers the select gate also follows the shape of the SG top surface. A dielectric disposed above the inter-gate dielectric layer and arranged between the neighboring sidewalls of the each memory gate and select gate provides isolation between them. |
| US09484349B1 |
Static random access memory
A static random access memory (SRAM) including at least a SRAM cell is provided. A gate layout of the SRAM cell includes first to fourth strip doped regions, a recessed gate line and first and second gate lines. The first to fourth strip doped regions are disposed in the substrate in order and separated from each other. The recessed gate line intersects the first to fourth strip doped regions. The first to fourth strip doped regions are disconnected at intersections with the recessed gate line. The first gate line intersects the first and the second strip doped regions. The first and the second strip doped regions are disconnected at intersections with the first gate line. The second gate line intersects the third the fourth strip doped regions. The third and the fourth strip dopeds region are disconnected at intersections with the second gate line. |
| US09484344B2 |
Semiconductor apparatus
A semiconductor apparatus includes a reservoir capacitor, and the reservoir capacitor includes a plurality of MOS capacitors serially coupled to one another. The plurality of MOS capacitors are arranged in one well. |
| US09484342B2 |
Semiconductor apparatus
A semiconductor apparatus includes a substrate; a nitride semiconductor layer formed on the substrate; a transistor formed on the nitride semiconductor layer, and including a source electrode, a gate electrode, and a drain electrode disposed in this order; and a diode formed on the nitride semiconductor layer, and including an anode electrode and a cathode electrode disposed in this order. The semiconductor apparatus has a transistor/diode pair in which the source electrode, the gate electrode, the drain electrode, the anode electrode, and the cathode electrode are sequentially disposed in this order, and the drain electrode of the transistor and the anode electrode of the diode are connected by a drain/anode common electrode wiring and serve as a common electrode. |
| US09484337B2 |
Circuit protection device
A circuit protection device is provided and includes a first insulation layer, a second insulation layer, a thermal fuse, a diode, a first exterior electrode pad, a second exterior electrode pad, and a third exterior electrode pad. The second insulation layer is positioned above a top surface of the first insulation layer. The thermal fuse is packaged in the first insulation layer and having a first electrode end and a second electrode end positioned opposite to the first electrode end. The diode is packaged in the second insulation layer and having a first electrode surface and a second electrode surface positioned opposite to the first electrode surface. The first exterior electrode pad is positioned on a bottom surface of the first insulation layer and electrically connected to the first electrode surface and the first electrode end. The second exterior electrode pad is positioned on the bottom surface and electrically connected to the second electrode end, while the third exterior electrode pad is positioned on the bottom surface and electrically connected to the second electrode surface. |
| US09484332B2 |
Micro solar cell powered micro LED display
Micro LEDs may be placed on a substrate in regularly spaced rows with an empty row between at least two successive rows of micro LED. A micro solar cell may then be placed in the empty row. |
| US09484325B2 |
Interconnections for a substrate associated with a backside reveal
An apparatus relating generally to a substrate is disclosed. In this apparatus, a post extends from the substrate. The post includes a conductor member. An upper portion of the post extends above an upper surface of the substrate. An exterior surface of the post associated with the upper portion is in contact with a dielectric layer. The dielectric layer is disposed on the upper surface of the substrate and adjacent to the post to provide a dielectric collar for the post. An exterior surface of the dielectric collar is in contact with a conductor layer. The conductor layer is disposed adjacent to the dielectric collar to provide a metal collar for the post, where a top surface of each of the conductor member, the dielectric collar and the metal collar have formed thereon a bond structure for interconnection of the metal collar and the conductor member. |
| US09484323B2 |
Method of manufacturing a semiconductor package and wire bonding apparatus for performing the same
In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor package, a first semiconductor chip is adhered to a package substrate. An end portion of a wire is bonded to a first bonding pad of the first semiconductor chip by using a capillary. An operating voltage of the first semiconductor chip is applied to the first bonding pad through the wire to detect a leakage current. A second end portion of the wire is bonded to the first connection pad by using the capillary, according to a result of the detection. |
| US09484317B2 |
Scheme for connector site spacing and resulting structures
A system and method for preventing cracks in a passivation layer is provided. In an embodiment a contact pad has a first diameter and an opening through the passivation layer has a second diameter, wherein the first diameter is greater than the second diameter by a first distance of about 10 μm. In another embodiment, an underbump metallization is formed through the opening, and the underbump metallization has a third diameter that is greater than the first diameter by a second distance of about 5 μm. In yet another embodiment, a sum of the first distance and the second distance is greater than about 15 μm. In another embodiment the underbump metallization has a first dimension that is less than a dimension of the contact pad and a second dimension that is greater than a dimension of the contact pad. |
| US09484309B2 |
Light emitting device and method for manufacturing light emitting device
A light emitting device (10) includes light emitting elements (12), conductor wirings (14), and alignment marks (18) formed on a substrate (11). The alignment marks (18) and the conductor wirings (14) are formed by printing. |
| US09484305B2 |
Offset contacts for reduced off capacitance in transistor switches
Systems, apparatuses and methods for reduced OFF capacitance in switching devices are disclosed. A semiconductor die may include a semiconductor substrate, first and second elongated doped regions, said first region serving as a source of a first transistor, said second region serving as a drain of the first transistor and a source of a second transistor. The semiconductor die further includes a plurality of elongated gate structures including a first gate structure disposed between the first and second regions and serving as a gate of the first transistor. The semiconductor die further includes a first set of evenly-spaced electrical contact pads disposed on the first region, and a second set of evenly-spaced electrical contact pads disposed on the second region, the second set of contact pads being offset with respect to the first set of contact pads in a longitudinal direction of the first and second regions. |
| US09484303B2 |
Stress tuning for reducing wafer warpage
An integrated circuit structure includes a substrate, a plurality of low-k dielectric layers over the substrate, a first dielectric layer over the plurality of low-k dielectric layers, and a metal line in the first dielectric layer. A stress tuning dielectric layer is over the first dielectric layer, wherein the stress tuning dielectric layer includes a first opening and a second opening. The metal line extends into the first opening. The second opening has a bottom substantially level with a top surface of the first dielectric layer. A second dielectric layer is over the first dielectric layer. |
| US09484302B2 |
Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture thereof
Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture thereof are disclosed. In one embodiment, a semiconductor device comprises a workpiece including a conductive feature disposed in a first insulating material and a second insulating material disposed over the first insulating material, the second insulating material having an opening over the conductive feature. A graphene-based conductive layer is disposed over an exposed top surface of the conductive feature within the opening in the second insulating material. A carbon-based adhesive layer is disposed over sidewalls of the opening in the second insulating material. A carbon nano-tube (CNT) is disposed within the patterned second insulating material over the graphene-based conductive layer and the carbon-based adhesive layer. |
| US09484298B1 |
Non-volatile memory device
A non-volatile memory device includes a first electrode layer extending in a first direction and a first channel body extending through the first electrode layer in a second direction. The first electrode layer has, on a side surface, a first projecting portion expanding in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction, and having a rounding shape in a tip of the first projecting portion. |
| US09484292B2 |
Semiconductor package and method of forming the same
A semiconductor package includes a first package substrate, a first semiconductor chip disposed on the first package substrate, the semiconductor chip including first through hole vias, and a chip package disposed on the first semiconductor chip, the chip package including a second package substrate and a second semiconductor chip disposed on the second package substrate, wherein a first conductive terminal is disposed on a first surface of the semiconductor chip and a second conductive terminal is disposed on a first surface of the second package substrate, the first conductive terminal disposed on the second conductive terminal. |
| US09484289B2 |
Semiconductor device with heat spreader
A semiconductor device includes a package body, a semiconductor die embedded in the package body and a heat spreader attached to a top surface of the package body and spaced from semiconductor die. The heat spreader may be formed of solder that is melted within a recess in the top surface of the package body. |
| US09484283B2 |
Modular jet impingement cooling apparatuses with exchangeable jet plates
Modular cooling apparatuses are disclosed. In one embodiment, a cooling apparatus includes an inlet manifold, a jet plate manifold, a plurality of jet plates, a vapor manifold, and a target layer. The inlet manifold includes a fluid distribution chamber, and a plurality of fluid distribution channels symmetrically located within the fluid distribution chamber. The jet plate manifold is coupled to the inlet manifold such that the plurality of jet plate openings is vertically aligned with respect to the plurality of fluid distribution channels. The plurality of jet plates is removably disposed in the jet plate manifold. The vapor manifold has a plurality of walls that define a vapor manifold opening and at least one outlet channel through at least one of the walls. The target layer is coupled to the vapor manifold such that the jet orifice surface of each jet plate is positioned above the target layer. |
| US09484280B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing a semiconductor device
A semiconductor device is provided, wherein the semiconductor device comprises a carrier, wherein the carrier comprises a first portion configured to hold a semiconductor chip; and a second portion configured for mounting the semiconductor device to a support, the second portion further comprising a first feature configured to be connected to the support; and at least one second feature configured to facilitate transfer of heat away from the first portion, wherein the at least one second feature increases a surface area of the second portion. |
| US09484278B2 |
Semiconductor package and method for producing the same
A semiconductor package includes a housing having a bottom surface and an upper surface and a solder pad arranged in the bottom surface of the housing. The solder pad includes a solderable through hole. The housing includes an opening extending from the through hole to the upper surface of the housing. |
| US09484276B2 |
Semiconductor mounting device and method for manufacturing semiconductor mounting device
A semiconductor mounting device including a first substrate having insulation layers, conductor layers formed on the insulation layers, and via conductors connecting the conductor layers, a second substrate having insulation layers and conductor layers formed on the insulation layers of the second substrate, first bumps connecting the first substrate and the second substrate and formed on an outermost conductor layer of the first substrate formed on an outermost insulation layer of the first substrate, and second bumps positioned to mount a semiconductor element to the second substrate and formed on an outermost conductor layer of the second substrate formed on an outermost insulation layer of the second substrate. The second substrate has a thickness which is greater than a thickness of the first substrate. |
| US09484274B2 |
Methods for reducing semiconductor substrate strain variation
Embodiments of the disclosure provide methods and system for correcting lithographic film stress/strain variations on a semiconductor substrate using laser energy treatment process. In one embodiment, a method for correcting film stress/strain variations on a substrate includes performing a measurement process in a metrology tool on a substrate to obtain a substrate distortion or an overlay error map, determining dose of laser energy in a computing system to correct film stress/strain variations or substrate distortion based on the overlay error map, and providing a laser energy treatment recipe to a laser energy apparatus based on the dose of laser energy determined to correct substrate distortion or film stress/strain variations. |
| US09484263B1 |
Method of removing a hard mask on a gate
A method of removing a hard mask on a gate includes forming a first gate structure and a second gate structure. The first gate structure includes a first gate, a first hard mask disposed on the first gate and a first spacer surrounding the first gate and the first hard mask, wherein the second gate structure includes a second gate, a second hard mask disposed on the second gate and a second spacer surrounding the second gate and the second hard mask. Later, the first spacer surrounding the first hard mask and the second spacer surrounding the second hard mask are removed. After that, a dielectric layer is formed to cover the first hard mask and the second hard mask. Finally, the second dielectric layer, the first mask layer and the second mask layer are removed. |
| US09484262B2 |
Stressed channel bulk fin field effect transistor
Effective transfer of stress to a channel of a fin field effect transistor is provided by forming stress-generating active semiconductor regions that function as a source region and a drain region on a top surface of a single crystalline semiconductor layer. A dielectric material layer is formed on a top surface of the semiconductor layer between semiconductor fins. A gate structure is formed across the semiconductor fins, and the dielectric material layer is patterned employing the gate structure as an etch mask. A gate spacer is formed around the gate stack, and physically exposed portions of the semiconductor fins are removed by an etch. Stress-generating active semiconductor regions are formed by selective epitaxy from physically exposed top surfaces of the semiconductor layer, and apply stress to remaining portions of the semiconductor fins that include channels. |
| US09484258B1 |
Method for producing self-aligned vias
A method for producing self-aligned vias (SAV) is provided. Embodiments include forming a ILOS layer over a dielectric layer; forming pairs of spacers over the ILOS layer, each pair of spacers having a first filler formed between adjacent spacers, and a second filler formed between each pair of spacers; forming and patterning a first OPL to expose one second filler, spacers on opposite sides of the one second filler, and a portion of the first filler adjacent each of the exposed spacers; removing the one second filler to form a SAV, and SAV etching into the ILOS layer; forming a second OPL over the first OPL and in the SAV to form a SAV plug; removing OPL layers and etching into the ILOS layer down to the dielectric layer; forming a third OPL layer in spaces between the TEOS layer; and removing the SAV plug. |
| US09484257B2 |
Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture thereof
Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture thereof are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming an insulating material layer over a workpiece, patterning an upper portion of the insulating material layer with a conductive line pattern, and forming a stop layer comprising a metal oxide or a metal nitride over the patterned insulating material layer. A masking material is formed over the stop layer, and the masking material is patterned with a via pattern. The via pattern of the masking material is transferred to a lower portion of the insulating material layer. |
| US09484254B2 |
Size-filtered multimetal structures
A size-filtered metal interconnect structure allows formation of metal structures having different compositions. Trenches having different widths are formed in a dielectric material layer. A blocking material layer is conformally deposited to completely fill trenches having a width less than a threshold width. An isotropic etch is performed to remove the blocking material layer in wide trenches, i.e., trenches having a width greater than the threshold width, while narrow trenches, i.e., trenches having a width less than the threshold width, remain plugged with remaining portions of the blocking material layer. The wide trenches are filled and planarized with a first metal to form first metal structures having a width greater than the critical width. The remaining portions of the blocking material layer are removed to form cavities, which are filled with a second metal to form second metal structures having a width less than the critical width. |
| US09484253B2 |
Signal line fabrication method, array substrate fabrication method, array substrate and display device
Embodiments of the disclosure provide a signal line fabrication method, an array substrate fabrication method, an array substrate and a display device. The signal line fabrication method includes: sequentially forming a material layer for forming the signal line, a material layer for forming a first barrier layer and a material layer for forming a second barrier layer; forming the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer by a patterning process; and forming the signal line by a patterning process. |
| US09484250B2 |
Air gap contact formation for reducing parasitic capacitance
A functional gate structure is located on a surface of a semiconductor material portion and including a U-shaped gate dielectric portion and a gate conductor portion. A source region is located on one side of the functional gate structure, and a drain region is located on another side of the functional gate structure. The source region and drain region both have a topmost surface that is above a topmost surface of the semiconductor material portion and another surface that touches a portion of the U-shaped gate dielectric. A contact structure is located on the topmost surface of the source region and/or the drain region. A middle-of-the-line air gap contact is located between the contact structure and the functional gate structure and above at least one of the source region and the drain region. The middle-of-the-line air gap contact is sealed by a portion of a conformal dielectric material. |
| US09484247B2 |
Semiconductor device having stable structure and method of manufacturing the same
The semiconductor device includes a stacked structure including conductive layers and insulating layers alternately stacked; semiconductor patterns configured to pass through the stacked structure; and contact plugs electrically coupled to the conductive layers, respectively, wherein each of the conductive layers includes a first region which has a first thickness, and a second region electrically coupled to the first region and a second thickness greater than the first thickness, and a second region of a lower conductive layer located under a second region of an upper conductive layer. |
| US09484241B2 |
Device for holding multiple semiconductor devices during thermocompression bonding and method of bonding
Disclosed is a device for holding a plurality of semiconductor devices during thermocompression bonding, comprising: a body; a plurality of support surfaces at a first side of the body, each support surface being configured for holding at least one semiconductor device during thermocompression bonding; and a plurality of internal conduits within the body, each internal conduit extending from an opening of a respective one of the support surfaces at the first side of the body to an opening at a second side of the body. In particular, the openings at the second side of the body are configured to be connected to separate pneumatic paths to be in fluid communication therewith, each pneumatic path having an independently controlled pneumatic suction force so that the openings of the support surfaces at the first side of the body are operative to selectively hold the one or more semiconductor devices against the support surfaces at the first side of the body or to release the same therefrom. An apparatus for holding semiconductor devices during thermocompression bonding, and a method of bonding a plurality of semiconductor devices to a substrate via thermocompression bonding are also disclosed. |
| US09484239B2 |
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. |
| US09484237B2 |
Mass transfer system
Micro pick up arrays for transferring micro devices from a carrier substrate are disclosed. In an embodiment, a micro pick up array includes a compliant contact for delivering an operating voltage from a voltage source to an array of electrostatic transfer heads. In an embodiment, the compliant contact is moveable relative to a base substrate of the micro pick up array. |
| US09484235B2 |
Substrate processing apparatus, substrate transfer method and storage medium
In a substrate processing apparatus 1 which performs a process on a substrate W, each of multiple processing modules 2 includes at least a first processing member 21 and a second processing member 22, and substrate transfer devices 15 and 17 transfer substrates W into the multiple processing modules 2. Further, a controller 3 configured to control the substrate processing apparatus 1 stores member operating possibility information on whether it is possible to use the first processing member 21 and the second processing member 22 provided in each of the multiple processing modules 2, and the controller 3 creates, based on the member operating possibility information and process recipe information on processes to be performed on the substrates W, a transfer schedule in which the substrate transfer devices 15 and 17 transfer the substrates W into the multiple processing modules 2 in parallel. |
| US09484234B2 |
Processing station for planar substrates and method for processing planar substrates
A processing station for two-dimensional substrates including at least two processing units and at least two conveyor lines for substrates arranged in parallel to another, wherein both the processing units are placed between the two conveyor lines, and an arrangement for moving the substrates from the conveyor lines to the processing units and back is provided. The arrangement includes four linear conveyor units each having at least one substrate support, wherein a first linear conveyor unit leads from the second conveyor line to the first processing unit, a second linear conveyor unit leads from the first conveyor line to the first processing unit, a third linear conveyor unit leads from the first conveyor line to the second processing unit, and a fourth linear conveyor unit leads from the second conveyor line to the second processing unit. |
| US09484233B2 |
Carousel reactor for multi-station, sequential processing systems
A reactor for processing a plurality of substrates includes P processing station assemblies arranged symmetrically around an axis, where P is an integer greater than one. A pedestal carousel assembly includes P pedestal assemblies arranged symmetrically around the axis, each of the P pedestal assemblies including a pedestal. A rotational actuator rotates the pedestal carousel assembly relative to the axis to selectively index the P pedestal assemblies with the P processing station assemblies. Each of the P processing station assemblies processes substrates arranged on corresponding ones of the P pedestal assemblies at the same time. |
| US09484232B2 |
Zone temperature control structure
A zone temperature control structure which has two or more zone of which surface temperatures are controlled to different temperatures, respectively. The structure can maintain a temperature difference by suppressing heat conduction in a direction in which the zones are arrayed, and prevent formation of a hot spot by ensuring smooth heat conduction for heat input in a direction intersecting the direction in which the zones are arrayed. A heat-conducting anisotropic material layer is disposed between the two or more zones. The heat-conducting anisotropic material layer is configured such that heat conductivity is lower in the direction in which the two or more zones are arrayed than in the direction intersecting the direction in which the two or more zones are arrayed. |