| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09532892B2 |
Bariatric device and method for weight loss
A bariatric device for use in inducing weight loss, comprising a cardiac element, a pyloric element, and a connecting element between the two other elements, wherein the connecting element provides structure between the cardiac and pyloric elements, keeping them largely in place and at least intermittently touching and applying pressure to the stomach's cardiac, adjacent fundic and pyloric regions, respectively, which produces a satiety signal to the user, giving the recipient a feeling of fullness and reducing his or her hunger feelings. |
| US09532891B2 |
Strain management in stent delivery system
A delivery system for a medical implant and a method of delivering the medical implant. The delivery system includes an inner catheter and an outer catheter. The inner catheter includes a wire coil disposed between an inner tube and an outer tube, the wire coil having gaps between turns of the coil at a proximal and a distal region thereof. The outer catheter is disposed about the inner catheter. The system includes a flow path for liquid from a proximal end to a distal end thereof, the flow path including a radially extending portion through the gaps. The method includes inserting the delivery system into a body lumen, injecting visualizing fluid into the proximal end of the system, the visualizing fluid moving through the flow path and exiting the distal end of the system, and retracting the outer catheter to release the medical implant. |
| US09532888B2 |
Stents with radiopaque markers
Various embodiments of stents with radiopaque markers disposed within depots in the stent, are described herein. |
| US09532884B2 |
Laterally deflectable implant
A laterally deflectable asymmetric implant for implanting into a body may comprise a deflectable piece having distal and proximal ends and assuming a straightened insertion state. The backbone may abut or interconnect with said deflectable piece at the distal end of the deflectable piece. In a fully deflected state the implant may define an asymmetric shape, e.g. a D-shaped loop, defining an at least partially enclosed volume. The deflectable piece may comprise a sequence of segments interconnected at effective hinges. Longitudinal pressure applied to the proximal end of the deflectable piece (or applied to the backbone in an opposite direction) may cause relative longitudinal movement between the backbone and the proximal end of the deflectable piece and may generate outward horizontal movement of the deflectable piece away from the backbone. In one embodiment, the implant is implanted using lateral access into an anterior zone of a vertebra and deployed posteriorly. |
| US09532880B2 |
Method of implanting a reverse shoulder orthopaedic implant having an elliptical glenosphere component
A reverse shoulder orthopaedic implant includes a glenosphere component having a lateral bearing surface configured to articulate with a humeral cup of a humeral prosthesis. A metaglene component includes a platform configured to receive glenosphere component. |
| US09532877B2 |
Robotic device and method of using a parallel mechanism
A parallel kinematically redundant device includes a base body portion and a movable portion. The movable portion includes first, second, and third joints. A first actuator is coupled to the first joint of the movable portion and to the base body portion. A second actuator is coupled in parallel with the first actuator between the second joint of the movable portion and the base body portion. A linking member is rotationally coupled to the third joint of the movable portion to provide an output for the first and second actuators. A housing is coupled to the base body portion and fits onto a user. A prosthetic joint device includes a base portion and a movable portion. An actuator is rotationally coupled to the movable portion and base portion. A compliant element is coupled in parallel with the actuator between the movable portion and base portion. |
| US09532875B2 |
Combined space maintenance and bone regeneration system for the reconstruction of large osseous defects
Systems, methods and compositions useful for treatment of traumatic bone injuries are provided. In one embodiment, a bone reconstruction system comprising a space maintaining composition comprising porous polymethylmethacrylate; and an osseous generating construct comprising a polymethylmethacrylate chamber that comprises one or more osseous generating materials is provided. Associated compositions and methods are also provided. |
| US09532872B2 |
Systems and methods for delivering a medical implant
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for endovascularly delivering and releasing a prosthesis, e.g., an aortic prosthesis, within and/or across a patient's native heart valve, referred to hereinafter as replacing the patient's heart valve. In some embodiments the delivery system comprises a plurality of first actuatable element adapted to engage a plurality of second elements in a first configuration to capture the implant within the delivery system, and wherein the plurality of first actuatable element are adapted to engage the plurality of second elements in a second configuration and to release the implant from the delivery system. |
| US09532870B2 |
Prosthetic valve for replacing a mitral valve
Embodiments of a prosthetic heart valve comprise an annular main body, an atrial cap extending radially outwardly from the atrial end of the main body, and a plurality of ventricular anchors extending outwardly from the ventricular end of the main body. Each ventricular anchor can have a proximal end portion connected to the ventricular end, an intermediate portion extending away from the atrial end and then back toward the atrial so as to define a first bend, and a free distal end portion that extends from the intermediate portion. The distal end portion can comprise a first section, a second section, and a second bend between the first and second sections, the first section extending from the intermediate portion in a direction toward the atrial end and radially away from the main body. |
| US09532866B2 |
Acellular dermal graft
An acellular dermal graft is provided. The acellular dermal graft may be useful in minimizing side effects caused after transplantation since an environment favorable for formation of new blood vessels and proliferation of autologous tissues is provided by forming a multi-penetration structure in an acellular dermal tissue, removing a basement membrane layer and/or subjecting corners to slope cutting, and transplantation is stably performed within a short transplantation time due to improved extensibility and flexibility of tissues. The acellular dermal graft may be useful in reducing a time required to recover tissues after transplantation since the transplantation is stably performed due to improved grafting reaction with a host tissue by enhancing uptake of fibroblasts and promoting angiogenic activities. Also, the acellular dermal graft may be useful in maintaining smooth external appearance since hypodermic implantation is easily performed upon transplantation, and the skin at a graft site does not protrude after transplantation. |
| US09532864B2 |
Devices and methods for minimally invasive access into a joint
Devices and methods are disclosed for providing access to a central compartment of a hip joint. The devices can access the central compartment by distracting all or a portion of the labrum. The labrum can be distracted by advancing a device underneath the bottom edge of the labrum, and using the device to further distract the labrum. Some devices can move underneath the labrum to provide a gap for other devices to access the central compartment. |
| US09532859B2 |
Electronic register device for recording jaw movements
An electronic register device for recording movements of the lower jaw of a person relative to the upper jaw of the person, the device having a bite fork for recording a position of the upper jaw relative to reference points on the head of the person, wherein the bite fork is designed to receive a plastic compound for recording an impression of the dentition of the upper jaw. The register device further includes a lower-jaw attachment for recording movements of the lower jaw relative to the upper jaw. In addition, the register device has a reference body, wherein the register device is designed so that the reference body can be connected in a fixed position to the bite fork. The bite fork and the reference body connected thereto in a fixed position are designed in such a way that both the impression and also the reference body can be recorded by a scanning procedure. In this way, it is possible to establish a relationship between the scanned impression and the movement data recorded by the register device. By this means, it is possible to determine adjustment values for a virtual articulator without having to produce plaster models of the dentition of the upper jaw and lower jaw. In addition, the register device according to the invention allows three-dimensional data of an X-ray system to be superposed with the movement data of the register device. This facilitates the production of drill jigs in implantology. |
| US09532852B2 |
Heating apparatus for materials used in dental treatment
A heating apparatus (10) for heating materials used in dental treatment is provided. The heating apparatus (10) comprises a heating compartment (33) with a heating element (35) for heating air inside the heating compartment (33), at least one socket for receiving and holding at least a part of the materials used in dental treatment inside the heating compartment (33), and an airflow generator (32, 34) for generating an airflow in the heating compartment (33). |
| US09532850B2 |
Process and system for cleaning and maintaining and for operating a medical hand-held instrument
A process and also to a system for cleaning and maintaining a medical hand-held instrument, in particular a dental hand-held instrument, with an elongate grip sleeve in which elements are arranged which pertain to a drive arrangement and which are, in particular, rotatably supported, for example a shaft. For the purpose of cleaning and maintaining the hand-held instrument different media are conducted through it. In this connection a first medium, for example oil, is conducted merely through a power-transmission region surrounding the elements of the drive arrangement, whereas, on the other hand, a second medium, for example a cleaning agent, is conducted additionally also through at least one further cavity within the hand-held instrument. |
| US09532847B2 |
Medical device package
A package system for a medical device is disclosed. The package system may include a first part and a second part, where a holding platform can be incorporated into the first part of the package system and a collection tray can be incorporated into the second part of the package system. The first part may include leg portions. The leg portions of the first part can be folded and fitted into matching pockets of the second part, so that the first part of the package system can provided a relatively elevated and stable holding platform to hold the medical device. The package system can contain the medical device in the package system in a storage state, and hold the medical device with the holding platform in an application state. |
| US09532846B2 |
Medical light-source device
A medical light-source device for securing a long illumination time required for operations in the medical field, has an LED illumination section including an LED element; a holder to put the LED illumination section on a head of the operator; a battery power supply section that supplies power to the LED illumination section; a charger having an AC adaptor capable of being connected to a commercial power supply for charging the battery power supply section; and a battery holding belt to put the battery power supply section and the charger on the body of the operator. The battery holding belt has a switch section to switch on/off the LED illumination section and to adjust intensity of illumination of the LED element; and a control section to control a constant current, which is associated with the intensity of illumination, supplied to the LED illumination section. |
| US09532845B1 |
Methods for facilitating individualized kinematically aligned total knee replacements and devices thereof
Methods, non-transitory computer readable media, and individualized kinematic total knee replacement (TKR) analysis computing devices that obtain prosthesis data for a prosthesis. Anatomical and pathoanatomical data for a patient is determined. The anatomical data comprises at least a coronal mechanical lateral distal femoral angle and a posterior condylar axis that is specific to the patient. Bone and cartilage resection data is determined based on the prosthesis data, the anatomical data, and the pathoanatomical data. In one example, a recommended three-dimensional total knee replacement surgeon plan for the patient is output via a graphical interface. The recommended three-dimensional total knee replacement surgeon plan comprises the bone and cartilage resection data for facilitating implantation of the prosthesis in the patient. In another example, one or more femoral and tibial guides are formed based on the three-dimensional total knee replacement surgeon plan, wherein the femoral and tibial guides are specific to the patient. |
| US09532838B2 |
Methods and apparatus for surgical planning
Methods and apparatus for enhancing surgical planning provide enhanced planning of entry port placement and/or robot position for laparoscopic, robotic, and other minimally invasive surgery. Various embodiments may be used in robotic surgery systems to identify advantageous entry ports for multiple robotic surgical tools into a patient to access a surgical site. Generally, data such as imaging data is processed and used to create a model of a surgical site, which can then be used to select advantageous entry port sites for two or more surgical tools based on multiple criteria. Advantageous robot positioning may also be determined, based on the entry port locations and other factors. Validation and simulation may then be provided to ensure feasibility of the selected port placements and/or robot positions. Such methods, apparatus, and systems may also be used in non-surgical contexts, such as for robotic port placement in munitions diffusion or hazardous waste handling. |
| US09532831B2 |
Systems and methods for activating transducers
Transducer-based systems and methods may be configured to display a graphical representation of a transducer-based device, the graphical representation including graphical elements corresponding to transducers of the transducer-based device, and also including between graphical elements respectively associated with a set of the transducers and respectively associated with a region of space between the transducers of the transducer-based device. Selection of graphical elements and/or between graphical elements can cause activation of the set of transducers associated with the selected elements. Transducer activation characteristics, such as initiation time, activation duration, activation sequence, and energy delivery characteristics, can vary based on numerous factors. Visual characteristics of graphical elements and between graphical elements can change based on an activation-status of the corresponding transducers. Activation requests for a set of transducers can be denied if it is determined that a transducer in the set of transducers is unacceptable for activation. |
| US09532817B2 |
Intramedullary nail having self-retaining compression slot
An intramedullary nail has a scalloped compression slot so as to define a plurality of pockets and intersections between the pockets that are narrower than the pockets. Accordingly, a compression member can be inserted into a bone segment of a fractured bone and into the slot. The compression member can be wider than the intersections. A compression actuator can apply a force against the compression member that causes the compression member to translate across the intersections from pocket-to-pocket until the fracture has been approximated. Because the compression member is wider than the intersections, the compression slot retains the compression member and prevents distraction of the fracture. |
| US09532813B2 |
Anterior lumbar interbody graft inserter
An anterior lumbar interbody graft (ALIG) inserter includes prongs at the tip of the inserter which can optionally grasp, and thus insert, anterior and anterior-lateral grafts. |
| US09532812B2 |
Interspinous spacer
An implantable spacer for placement between adjacent spinous processes in a spinal motion segment is provided. The spacer includes a body defining a longitudinal passageway. A first arm and a second arm are connected to the body. Each arm has a pair of extensions and a saddle defining a receiving portion configured for seating a spinous process of a scoliotic spine or a spine with misaligned spinous processes. Each arm has a proximal caming surface and is capable of rotation with respect to the body. An actuator assembly is disposed inside the longitudinal passageway and connected to the body. When advanced, a threaded shaft of the actuator assembly contacts the caming surfaces of arms to rotate them from an undeployed configuration to a deployed configuration. In the deployed configuration, the distracted adjacent spinous processes are seated in the superior and inferior arms of the spacer. Variations adapted for scoliotic curves are provided. |
| US09532810B2 |
Polyaxial pedicle screw with increased angulation
A polyaxial bone anchor including a housing and a bone screw. A bottom surface of the housing includes an aperture that defines an angulation limit of the bone screw for each azimuthal angle around a longitudinal axis of the housing. The aperture is V-shaped, with the V-shape having converging side walls that define a low-angulation direction near their intersection and a high-angulation direction opposite the low-angulation direction. In some cases, the angulation limit of the bone screw is generally constant over a range of azimuthal angles centered around the high-angulation direction. The housing may be modular, including tabs on one component that are plastically deformed to engage a lip on another component. During assembly, a mandrel advances longitudinally along a bore in the housing, and forces the tabs radially outward toward the lip to a radially outward plastically deformed state. |
| US09532809B2 |
Polyaxial bone anchoring device
A polyaxial bone anchoring device includes a bone anchoring element having a shank and a head, a head receiving part having a first end, an open second end, and a hollow interior portion in communication with the open second end for receiving the head therein, the head receiving part being flexible for clamping the head, a locking ring configured to be mounted around the head receiving part and having a rod receiving portion, a cap configured to be connected to the head receiving part, and a locking element configured to extend from the cap to engage an inserted rod, wherein the head is pivotable in and the cap and the locking ring are rotatable relative to the head receiving part, and wherein when the locking element is tightened, an inserted rod and an angular position of the bone anchoring element are locked relative to the head receiving part. |
| US09532801B2 |
Seal anchor for use in surgical procedures
A surgical apparatus for positioning within a tissue tract accessing an underlying body cavity, includes a seal anchor member comprising a compressible material and being adapted to transition between a first expanded condition to facilitate securing of the seal anchor member within the tissue tract and in substantial sealed relation with tissue surfaces defining the tissue tract and a second compressed condition to facilitate at least partial insertion of the seal anchor member within the tissue tract. The seal anchor member defines a central longitudinal axis and has leading and trailing ends. At least one longitudinal object port extends between the leading and trailing ends and is adapted for reception of a surgical object whereby compressible material defining the at least one longitudinal object port is adapted to deform to establish a substantial sealed relation with the object. The seal anchor member includes at least two separable anchor segments dimensioned to be positioned in adjacent stacked relation to selectively alter the longitudinal length of the seal anchor member to accommodate tissue tracts of different lengths. |
| US09532800B2 |
Inside-out guide for hip replacement method
A tool and method for locating a proper position for a portal incision for hip arthroplasty, the tool being a tubular body having a first portion defining a first axis, a second portion defining a second axis non-parallel to the first axis, the second portion having a directional tool and a lead coaxially aligned, wherein when the tubular body is placed adjacent to an acetabulum with the directional tool aimed at the acetabulum and perpendicular to a plane of the face of the acetabulum, the lead points to location on the skin that would be the proper location for the portal incision. The lead may have a blunt tip, a cutting instrument, or an opening through which a flexible tool can be inserted to forge a path towards the proper location for the portal incision. |
| US09532797B2 |
Tissue-removing catheter including urging mechanism
A tissue-removing catheter includes an elongate catheter body. The catheter body has a jogged portion that applies an urge force against a body lumen wall and urges a portion of the catheter body toward a portion of the body lumen wall. A tissue-removing element removes tissue from the body lumen during the cutting operation. The tissue-removing element is located generally adjacent the portion of the catheter body that is urged toward the body lumen wall by the jogged portion. An urging mechanism selectively applies a compressive load to the catheter body to adjust the bending stiffness of the jogged portion and the urge force applied by the jogged portion. |
| US09532796B2 |
Devices and methods for cutting tissue
Various medical devices and methods for cutting, evacuating and/or performing work on tissue are provided. The devices and methods may utilize a reciprocating mechanism or motor powered by suction from a vacuum source. The medical devices and methods may be used on tissue in various regions of a patient's body and for treating various conditions, e.g., for performing a polypectomy. |
| US09532795B2 |
Button release handle
A handle for receiving an elongate medical device is provided. The handle includes a housing defining an elongate hollow interior portion, the hollow portion defining a first portion proximate the distal end and the aperture, a second portion. A core is slidably disposed within the interior portion and includes a ramp portion extending from an outer surface of the core at an oblique angle to the longitudinal axis, and two or more arms extending outwardly from a proximal end of the core and biased toward an extended configuration where a proximal end of each arm extends radially outside of an outer surface of the core, wherein the two or more arms combine to define the proximal opening. A button is movably disposed within the aperture substantially blocking communication with the hollow portion through the aperture, comprising an inclined surface that slidably engages the ramp surface. |
| US09532790B2 |
Disposable cartilage cutter
A medical cutting device for producing thin cartilage disks has a device body with a first holding device with a first working section having a first recess disposed on a top side of the device body such that the first recess is entirely or partially enclosed by a first delimiting ridge and, a connecting section that is directly, rigidly adjoined by the first working section and a cover with a counterpart section to the connecting section that is directly, rigidly adjoined by a first pressure section, which comprises a central, first pressure plate that is resiliently held in the first pressure section and, in an operating state for producing thin cartilage disks, is disposed opposite the first recess, which is entirely or partially enclosed by the first delimiting ridge. |
| US09532788B2 |
Systems and methods for determining the mechanical axis of a femur
A method positions a profile of a prosthetic component on the three-dimensional model of a limb. Patient-specific anatomical data of the limb is gathered. First and second anatomical landmarks are identified to determine a first spatial relationship. A third anatomical landmark is identified to determine a second spatial relationship with respect to the first spatial relationship. The profile of the prosthetic component is positioned in all but one degree of freedom. A fourth anatomical landmark is identified to position the profile of the prosthetic component in the one remaining degree of freedom. |
| US09532786B2 |
Compressive system for reducing edge bleeding in classical hysterotomy in cases of placenta praevia
The invention relates to a compressive system for reducing edge bleeding in classical hysterotomy in cases of placenta praevia, said system comprising: a compressive device formed by two compressive bars and bracketing members; and a clamp for applying the compressive device, said clamp comprising two handles, two jaws, a rotation nut, two protuberances and a threaded adjustment nut. The clamp allows the opening of the compressive bars. The device is applied to the edges of the hysterotomy and, subsequently, the clamp is withdrawn. |
| US09532781B2 |
Surgical tilt anvil assembly
An anvil and anvil delivery system is provided which includes a head assembly and a center rod defining a longitudinal axis. The head assembly defines a transverse axis and is pivotally secured to the rod and movable from an operative position wherein the transverse axis is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and a tilted position wherein the transverse axis defines an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis. A flexible tube is secured to the center rod which includes gradations along the length of the tube. The gradations are positioned to provide an indication of a length of the tube remaining in a patient during removal of the tube from the patient. An adapter is secured to one end of the flexible tube and to the center rod. The adapter is configured to secure the anvil assembly to the flexible tube. |
| US09532780B2 |
EEA anvil snap ring activator
A surgical fastening apparatus and associated method of use is disclosed. The surgical fastening apparatus includes a handle assembly, a central body portion extending from the handle assembly, and a distal head portion including an anvil head assembly. The anvil head assembly includes an anvil head defining an interior recess, an activator plate, a deformable member, and a securing member. The anvil center rod assembly defines a longitudinal axis and is pivotably connected to the anvil head assembly about a pivot axis. The anvil center rod assembly includes a configured to contact the anvil head assembly upon an actuation of the surgical fastening apparatus. Upon the actuation of the surgical fastening apparatus, the deformable member is configured to deform such that the activator plate is advanced distally into the interior recess to facilitate the anvil head pivoting about the pivot axis. |
| US09532772B2 |
Occlusion device and method for its manufacture
The present invention relates to an occlusion device (1) consisting of a braiding (2) of thin wires or threads (4) which is given a suitable form in a molding and heat treatment procedure. The occlusion device (1) has a proximal retention area (6) and a distal retention area (8), whereby the ends of the wires or threads (4) converge into a holder (5) in distal retention area (8). A cylindrical crosspiece (10) is furthermore disposed between the proximal and distal retention areas (6, 8). With the objective of providing an occlusion device which positions as flat as possible against the septum at the proximal side of a septal defect in the inserted state, the invention provides for the proximal retention area (6) of the braiding (2) to exhibit a completely closed proximal wall (112) disposed with a continuous surface at the proximal end of the occlusion device (1) which forms the proximal end (12) of said occlusion device (1). |
| US09532770B2 |
Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and image data generating method
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprises a driving unit, a nonlinear component extracting unit, a first image data generating unit, a second image data generating unit and a control unit. The driving unit drives an ultrasonic transducer to transmit an ultrasonic wave to a subject. The nonlinear component extracting unit extracts a nonlinear component corresponding to the ultrasonic wave from a reception signal received by the ultrasonic transducer. The first image data generating unit generates a first image data based on the nonlinear component. The second image data generating unit generates a second image data based on the reception signal. The control unit arbitrarily distributes a sound output for transmission in a definite period of time to a first ultrasonic transmission for generating the first image data and a second ultrasonic transmission for generating the second image data. |
| US09532759B2 |
X-ray CT apparatus, image processing apparatus, and image processing method
An X-ray CT apparatus includes an image generating unit, a discrimination unit, a monochromatic X-ray image generating unit, a combined-image generating unit and a display unit. The image generating unit generates a plurality of reference material images corresponding to respective ones of a plurality of reference materials on a basis of pre-reconstruction data of multi-energy obtained by scanning a subject. The discrimination unit discriminates each of a plurality of materials contained in an imaging region of the subject on a basis of the plurality of reference material images. The monochromatic X-ray image generating unit generates a monochromatic X-ray image at energy determined by each of the plurality of discriminated materials. The combined-image generating unit combines a plurality of monochromatic X-ray images corresponding to the plurality of materials and to generate a combined image. The display unit displays the combined image on a display device. |
| US09532757B2 |
C-arm system and C-arm spin acquisition trajectories for dynamic imaging and improved image quality and method of use
C-arm systems and method for making and using continuous C-arm spin acquisition trajectories for dynamic imaging and improved image quality are described. In such systems and methods, a C-arm gantry, coupled to a C-arm support assembly, is adapted to retain an x-ray source and an x-ray detector. The C-arm gantry is selectively rotatable relative to the C-arm support assembly about both a C-arm axis and a pivot-axis to displace the x-ray source and the x-ray detector along a continuous C-arm spin trajectory. The C-arm system is adapted for continuous three-dimensional acquisition of data along the continuous C-arm spin trajectory including a plurality of shorts arcs and a plurality of long arcs. The C-arm system is adapted for continuous three-dimensional acquisition of data along the continuous C-arm spin trajectory to provide continuous three-dimensional imaging of dynamic processes. |
| US09532750B2 |
Object identification in dual energy contrast-enhanced CT images
Contrast from dual energy CT images is removed without affecting other aspects of the image, including objects surrounded by contrast. Dual energy images are acquired during a study of a subject. First, a binary mask image (“Contrast localizer”) is produced to localize the contrast-enhanced areas and build sets of images with contrast-enhanced areas only (“Contrast images”) and complement images with contrast-enhanced areas removed (“Contrast complement images”) for both low and high x-ray beam energy image sets. Only the contrast images are used for dual energy contrast subtraction. Second binary mask image (“Subject localizer”) is produced to localize the objects under study. This mask image is used to reconstruct both low and high energy image sets with contrast selectively removed and subject present. |
| US09532744B2 |
Methodology for determining concentration of the types of melanin pigment in the skin
The present invention relates generally to a methodology of determining the concentration of the types of melanin, either eumelanin or pheomelanin, in the skin wherein the process for such determination is non-invasive and based on digital signal and image analysis of hyperspectral sensing and multi-spectral data. |
| US09532743B2 |
Apparatus for detecting tissue hardness of living body
An apparatus for detecting tissue hardness of a living body includes a housing, a cap, a bottom cover, a driving module, a buffering module, a spring pipeline, a push-rod and a detecting module, and the driving module includes a firing spring and a restoring spring, and the two springs have different rigidities so as to form a reciprocating structure of the firing mechanism. After the detecting module of a firing mechanism is triggered, the resilience of the restoring spring compresses the firing spring back to its firing length, so as to restore its position by a single driving point and allow users to complete the firing operation by one hand and simplify the operation of doctors to improve convenience and efficiency. |
| US09532742B2 |
Syringe with breakable plunger for arterial blood gas sample collection
A fluid collection assembly and method for use thereof is provided including a barrel with a plunger rod slidably inserted is disclosed. The assembly and method are particularly useful in the collection of arterial blood. The plunger rod includes a proximal portion, a distal portion with a stopper, and a breakable connector between the proximal and distal portions. In use, the assembly is primed with a liquid anticoagulant, the breakable connection is broken, and a fluid sample is collected with the arterial pressure causing the distal portion of the plunger rod to travel in a proximal direction along the barrel and contact an annular flange extending within the barrel. After collection, a tip cap can be applied to the assembly to prevent any spillage of the fluid sample during handling, storage, and transportation. |
| US09532736B2 |
Portable electronic device with a tinnitus relief application
A portable electronic device is to be operated by a user with tinnitus. The portable electronic device is used to determine a primary phase cancellation tone that corresponds to the user's primary tinnitus, and a secondary phase cancellation tone that corresponds to the user's secondary. The portable electronic device outputs the primary and secondary phase cancellation tones at an output device based on input from the user. |
| US09532731B2 |
Method and apparatus for measuring the concentration of a gas in exhaled air
There is provided an apparatus for monitoring the respiration of a subject, the apparatus comprising a sensor for measuring the concentration of a specified gas in air exhaled by the subject and a processor configured to provide an output indicating the concentration of the specified gas in a selected portion of the exhaled air, the selected portion of the exhaled air corresponding to air from a specific part of the respiratory system of the subject. |
| US09532729B2 |
Self-assembled magnetic arrays
A magnetic device includes a substrate and an array including a plurality of magnetic particles, in which a magnetic dipole moment direction of each magnetic particle in a majority of the magnetic particles in the array alternates with respect to a magnetic dipole direction of a directly adjacent magnetic particle or directly adjacent magnetic particles in the array. |
| US09532723B2 |
Mobile terminal and controlling method thereof
A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed, by which a function adaptive to a situation can be provided by detecting a blood flow rate in a wrist having a watch type mobile terminal worn thereon. The present invention includes a display, a band configured to be worn on a wrist of a user, a sensing unit configured to measure a blood flow rate in the wrist having the band worn thereon, and a controller controlling the display to display a running screen of a prescribed function if a variation of the measured blood flow rate is generated. |
| US09532719B2 |
Fluorescence endoscope apparatus
A fluorescence endoscope apparatus includes a light source that radiates excitation light and reference light onto an examination target; a fluorescence-image generating portion that generates a fluorescence image by capturing fluorescence generated at the examination target due to irradiation with the excitation light; a reference-image generating portion that generates a reference image by capturing return light that returns from the examination target due to irradiation with the reference light; a division-image generating portion that generates a division image by dividing the fluorescence image generated by the fluorescence-image generating portion by the reference image generated by the reference-image generating portion; and a corrected-image generating portion that generates a corrected image based on the division image and the fluorescence image, wherein the corrected-image generating portion generates a corrected image in which a region that has relatively high luminance and that the division image and the fluorescence image have in common is emphasized. |
| US09532715B2 |
Eye imaging in head worn computing
Aspects of the present invention relate to methods and systems for imaging, recognizing, and tracking of a user's eye that is wearing a HWC. Aspects further relate to the processing of images reflected from the user's eye and controlling displayed content in accordance therewith. Aspects further relate to determining health conditions of the user based on eye imaging technologies. |
| US09532714B2 |
Eye imaging in head worn computing
Aspects of the present invention relate to methods and systems for imaging, recognizing, and tracking of a user's eye that is wearing a HWC. Aspects further relate to the processing of images reflected from the user's eye and controlling displayed content in accordance therewith. Aspects further relate to determining health conditions of the user based on eye imaging technologies. |
| US09532710B2 |
Flexible, multimodal retina image recording system and measurement system
A fundus camera with an OCT measurement module, in which, after the focusing objective, a mirror switches the light to be detected either to the OCT measurement module or an image detector. This design also renders it possible to carry out a method for improved focusing in order to improve the recording quality of the individual modalities. Furthermore, the multimodal measuring instrument distinguishes itself by an operating concept according to the invention. Such combination instruments are advantageous in that, as a result of the reduction from two instruments to one, less space is required than in the case of two separate instruments. Furthermore, reseating of the patient is avoided if recordings or measurements of different modalities should be made for one and the same patient, as a result of which the procedures in the medical practices and clinics can be influenced positively. |
| US09532707B2 |
Lens frame unit and endoscope
A lens frame unit includes a lens frame body that houses an optical member, a heat transfer unit that covers at least part of the lens frame body, a heat-generating unit, a temperature measurement unit that measures temperature and a same single electrical wiring board on which the heat-generating unit and the temperature measurement unit are mounted. The heat-generating unit and the temperature measurement unit are arranged on the electrical wiring board so as to be separated from each other, and the electrical wiring board is disposed such that the heat-generating unit and the temperature measurement unit are in contact with the heat transfer unit. Thermal resistance between closest positions of the heat-generating unit and the temperature measurement unit is greater than thermal resistance between the heat-generating unit and the heat transfer unit, and between the temperature measurement unit and the heat transfer unit. |
| US09532703B2 |
Expandable support structure for delivery through a working channel
Methods, systems, and devices for providing treatment to a target site are described. The system may include a guide assembly, an expandable support device coupled with the distal end of the guide assembly, and an operative member disposed on the expandable support device. The expandable support device may be configured to transition between a collapsed and expanded configuration. The expandable support device may be supported by one or more flexible supports aligned in parallel with an axis about which the expandable support device collapses and/or multiple splines arranged in a pattern configured to promote transitioning of the expandable support device between an expanded and collapsed configuration. The guide assembly may be configured to provide torque to the expandable support device. The operative member can include multiple electrodes arranged in parallel to the axis about which the expandable support device collapses. |
| US09532701B2 |
Dishwasher with sprayer
A dishwasher includes a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber and a sprayer for spraying liquid to the treating chamber. The sprayer may include a liquid passage provided in the interior of the body, at least one upper outlet extending through the upper surface of the body and in fluid communication with the liquid passage, at least one lower outlet extending through the lower surface of the body and in fluid communication with the liquid passage, and a valve body moveable relative to the body to fluidly couple the at least one upper outlet and the at least one lower outlet to the liquid passage. |
| US09532696B2 |
Dishwasher with unitary wash module
An automatic dishwasher having a tub defining a treating chamber and a housing physically separate from the tub and defining a sump to receive liquid sprayed into the tub, the housing having an inlet fluidly connected to a liquid outlet of the tub and an outlet fluidly coupled to a sprayer located within the tub to define a recirculation path for the sprayed liquid. |
| US09532691B2 |
Vacuum cleaner with motor between separation stages
A vacuum cleaner that includes a first dirt-separation stage, a second dirt-separation stage, and a vacuum motor for moving air through the first dirt-separation stage and the second dirt-separation stage. The vacuum motor has a centrifugal impeller driven by an electric motor. The first dirt-separation stage is then located upstream of the impeller, the second dirt-separation stage is located downstream of the impeller, and the second dirt-separation stage has a plurality of cyclonic separators that are arranged around the vacuum motor. |
| US09532685B2 |
Systems and methods for transporting bio-waste
A remote-controlled vehicle for collecting and transporting bio-waste that is capable of compacting bio-waste, dumping the waste in a variety of ways, and that has a rechargeable battery, among other functions, is disclosed. A system for collecting the bio-waste material also is provided. The system includes a plurality of collection receptacles associated with a structure, each of the plurality of collection receptacles receiving the bio-waste material without the use of water as a carrier. A transport network extends from each of the plurality of collection receptacles to at least one storage receptacle located at the structure. A plurality of vehicles, or carts, is disposed within the transport network and collect the bio-waste material. |
| US09532683B2 |
Foaming soap dispenser
A foaming soap dispenser includes a housing having a discharge opening at the bottom, a receptacle in which a liquid soap reservoir can be replaceably inserted and a soap container beneath the reservoir. A peristaltic or squeezed-tube pump for the soap and a diaphragm pump for feeding foaming air to a foaming device disposed close to the discharge opening, can be driven separately electrically. |
| US09532682B1 |
Electrical food grinder with an electronically controlled movable rotor drive motor and method
A grinder (30) has a toolessly attached ingredient hopper assembly (50) overlying a toolessly attached fixed grinding burr (134) defining the top of a grind chamber (158) within which is received a mating rotary grinding burr (150) that is slidably mounted to a rotary drive motor (154) for adjustment relative to the fixed grinding burr (134). Adjustment is achieved automatically by control of a stepper motor (168) that pushes on the end of an elongate control shaft (393) passing through a hollow rotary drive axle (392) and carrying the rotary grinding burr (150) at an opposite end. In a similar embodiment (FIG. 23), the non-rotary burr (314) is adjusted by movement of a control shaft (393) contained within a hollow motor axle (392). In other embodiments (FIGS. 17-22), a movable axle (304) of a movable rotor motor (300) and attached to the rotary burr (312) is moved to make the adjustments. |
| US09532681B2 |
Continuously operating filtering apparatus
A deep fat fryer with continuous oil filtering and purging of sediments therefrom during uninterrupted fryer operation is provided. The filter includes a cylindrical hollow housing with a first end and a second end and a hollow cylindrical screen with a longitudinal axis and first and second ends. The screen is disposed coaxially within the hollow housing to define an annulus therebetween. A piston mounted within the screen and reciprocatingly movable along the longitudinal axis between the first and second ends of the screen. A pump, seal, and associate motor are provided to provide continuous oil flow through the filter and the remainder of the fryer. A heat exchanger is provided downstream of the pump to transfer heat from the fryer to the oil flowing through the heat exchanger. |
| US09532677B2 |
Pressure relief system for espresso maker
A brewing system for brewing a beverage is disclosed having an inlet for receiving fresh water for brewing, and a first solenoid for directing water to a water storage tank when a level in the water storage tank falls below a predetermined level. A pair of pumps direct water from the storage tank to a second solenoid. Two or more brew paths lead away from the second solenoid, each brew path including a heating element to heat the water flowing therethrough. The second prevents overpressurization in the brew paths by routing excess pressurized water from the respective brew path back through the second solenoid and out a drain line leading to a drain, where the path to the drain is not part of the brew path. |
| US09532676B1 |
Cheesecake pan system
A cheesecake pan system features a separate cheesecake pan bottom plate and a cylindrical cheesecake pan side wall having a spring-biased gap. A pan groove is located around a cheesecake pan side wall inner periphery and a cheesecake pan ridge is located around a bottom plate side wall outer periphery. The cheesecake pan bottom plate is adapted to snuggly fit in the cheesecake pan side wall. The system features a water base pan with a vapor hole centrally located in a raised bottom plate floor section. A water base pan ledge is located around a side wall inner periphery. The system features an elastomeric annular sealing ring designed to fit over a cheesecake pan lip. The cheesecake pan is placed on the water base pan. |
| US09532672B2 |
Adjustable storage system for clothing
A system for storing unfolded garments, such as shirts and sweaters, on multiple shelves. The shelves may be curved from side to side and raised in the middle. The shelves may be placed at intermittent variable points along a vertical support member which attaches to a wall or to a base. The multiple shelves attach to brackets which extend from the vertical support member at vertically spaced points along the length of the vertical support member. The system permits the shelves to slide out from the vertical support member for convenient access. |
| US09532671B2 |
Carafe
A carafe has a flask and a lid assembly. The flask has a vessel. The lid assembly has a plug lid with an outlet port, a limiting bracket with a guiding channel and at least one outlet, and a sealing ball mounted in the guiding channel. The limiting bracket is mounted in the outlet port of the plug lid and is connected to the plug lid. When an opening of the vessel faces upward, the sealing ball slides downward to seal the outlet port of the plug lid. When the vessel tilts and the opening of the vessel faces downward, the outlet port of the plug lid is open, so that liquid in the vessel can flow out of the vessel. A user does not have to press or turn the lid assembly. Therefore, it is convenient to pour liquid out of the vessel. |
| US09532667B2 |
Reusable bag carrier and dispenser
A device for holding and dispensing reusable bags includes a structural base, a first arm-bracing wing, a second arm-bracing wing, an elastic restraint, and a bag storing hanger. When in use, a plurality of reusable bags is initially hooked onto a hook portion of the bag storing hanger. The elastic restraint secures the plurality of reusable bags with the structural base such that the plurality of reusable bags is stored on a racking portion of the bag storing hanger. The first arm-bracing wing and the second arm-bracing wing rest on a grocery bag holder when the device is used to dispense the plurality of reusable bags. A handle extending from the structural base allows the user to carry the device conveniently. |
| US09532664B2 |
Showcase having shaped and glued wall made of a transparent material
A showcase is described. The showcase has at least a vertical side wall with an inner face and an outer face, and at least a horizontal upper wall, with a lower face and an upper face. The side and upper walls are both made of a transparent material and are fixedly fastened to one another at respective edges; the edges of the side and upper walls are shaped so as to comprise respective contact bands facing one another and glued to one another. The contact bands have two horizontal contact bands, one on the edge of the side wall, the other on the edge of the upper wall, and extending between an inner bound and an outer bound, wherein the outer bound is internal with respect to the outer face of the side wall. The upper wall rests horizontally on the side wall and the weight of the upper wall weighs directly on the side wall, without stressing the adhesive with which they are glued, ensuring the safety of the showcase; furthermore, the junction line between the walls is not visible on the side wall, since the outer bound of the contact bands does not reach the outer face of the side wall. |
| US09532663B2 |
Holding device
The present disclosure relates to a combination of a support device (1, 33) and a holding device (7), the support device comprising an attachment surface having rows (5) with elongated slot openings (3, 3′), and the holding device comprising an attachment part (9) and a carrier part (11). The attachment part is intended to be attached to the support device by being partly inserted into a first slot (3), such that the holding device can take up a load directed in the plane of attachment surface, and the carrier part (11) being capable of supporting an item to be stored. A stem part (13) interconnects the attachment part and the carrier part and the stem part includes a fin (15) that fits into a second slot (3′) which is located under said first slot (3). This provides a more reliable connection to the support device. A holding device suitable for this combination is also considered. |
| US09532662B2 |
Shelving system
The present invention relates to a shelf system or assembly, and a shelf module therefore. The shelf module defines a pair of substantially parallel, lengthwise extending edges and a pair of substantially parallel end edges, and comprises an array of lengthwise extending slats spaced apart across the width of the module, and an array of spaced apart ribs extending between these slats which are spaced apart along the length of the module, at least a pair of the slats having outwardly and oppositely directed partition retaining connection means at or toward an upper edge thereof, between which a portion of a partition can be secured. Each of an associated partition, display strip, shelf connector module and shelf end module are also disclosed, where each of these is for removable attachment to the shelf module. |
| US09532658B2 |
Product management display system
A product management display system for merchandising product on a shelf includes a divider secured to a support structure and a barrier that is moveable by rotation between a folded position and an upright position without a rotation biasing element. A product positioned in the system can contact the barrier when the product moves toward the forward end of the system and rotate the barrier from the folded position to the upright position. The system may include a rotational mounting structure to which the moveable barrier is connected. The rotational mounting structure may be removably connected to the forward end of the divider. The merchandise display system may be used in conjunction with a product tray which provides for product stored in the product tray to be slid from in the product tray into the product pocket of the merchandise display system. |
| US09532656B2 |
Floor brake assembly for an article of furniture
A floor brake assembly for an article of furniture includes a base adapted to be affixed to an article of furniture, a plunger having a brake pad at a plunger first end where the brake pad engages a floor and a second position where the brake pad is free of the floor, a pivot arm rotatably mounted to the base, a first activation arm pivotally mounted to the base, and a second activation arm pivotally mounted to the base. The pivot arm is rotated to a braking position and an unbraking position. |
| US09532653B2 |
Adjustable chairs and related methods
An adjustable chair includes an upper frame configured to carry a seat, and a lower frame pivotably coupled with the upper frame and configured to support the upper frame above a ground surface. The adjustable chair further includes an adjustment mechanism that is selectively movable between a plurality of positions for securing the upper frame relative to the lower frame in a corresponding plurality of orientations. A method of adjusting an adjustable chair including a first chair portion carrying a seat and a second chair portion includes providing the first chair portion and the seat in a first orientation relative to the second chair portion. The first chair portion is pivoted about a first pivot axis to provide the first chair portion and the seat in a second orientation relative to the second chair portion. |
| US09532652B2 |
Moon chair
A moon chair includes front supporting legs, rear supporting legs and a rest frame connected onto the front and rear supporting legs. The rest frame is of the shape of a circular ring obliquely erected when the rest frame is unfolded. The front and rear supporting legs are connected with the rest frame through first and second connecting seats, respectively. Each of the first or second connecting seats comprises an integral bent metal sheet. The two ends of the metal sheet are respectively provided with pin holes for arranging connecting pins in a penetrating manner. The metal sheets on the first or second connecting seats are respectively and movably connected with the front or rear supporting legs and the rest frame through the connecting pins. One end of the metal sheet on a first connecting seat is bent to a U-shape to cover the corresponding front supporting leg. |
| US09532650B2 |
Outrigger stabilizer
The present invention is a filing cabinet with an outrigger that increases a footprint of the file cabinet to prevent the file cabinet from tipping over. The outrigger is positioned in proximity to a bottom of the housing, the outrigger includes a bias element to move a cantilever structure from a retracted position to a deployed position when the file cabinet is tipped to a release angle. |
| US09532649B2 |
Spill containing refrigerator shelf assembly
The specification discloses a method for containing spills on shelving and the like, and the resulting support members made in accordance with the method, by providing the generally flat top surface of a support with a hydrophobic surface which is arranged in a spill containment pattern and which is generally in the plane of the top surface of the support. The majority of the top surface of the support consists of one or more spill containment areas which are of a non-hydrophobic nature and which are bounded by the hydrophobic surfaces, such that spills on the shelving collect in the non-hydrophobic spill containment area or areas and are prevented from spreading by the hydrophobic surfaces. |
| US09532646B2 |
Slidable keyboard support
A user input device support apparatus is provided for supporting right or left handed users of a computer keyboard and mouse. The user input support apparatus includes a base configured to couple to a mobile or fixed mounting system. The keyboard support further includes a tray configured for supporting a user input device, such as a computer keyboard. Further, the tray includes a lip, wherein the lip is configured to at least partially engage the base. Here, the tray is further configured to slide with respect to the base, thereby accommodating right or left-handed users of the keyboard and a mouse. |
| US09532644B2 |
Table
A table may be sized and configured to nest with an adjacent table to reduce a height of a plurality of stacked tables in a nested configuration. The table may include a table top with a round or circular configuration and the table top may have a receiving portion, a downwardly extending lip, a contact surface and an engaging portion. The contact surface may have a ring-shaped configuration and be sized and configured to contact an upper surface of a table top of an adjacent table when the table is nested with the adjacent table. The engaging portion may also have a ring-shaped configuration and may be sized and configured to be disposed in a receiving portion of a table top of the adjacent table when the table is nested with the adjacent table. |
| US09532643B2 |
Oral care implement
An oral care implement having a head that achieves an enhanced cleaning action during brushing. In one embodiment, the invention can be an oral care implement comprising: a handle; a head connected to the handle and comprising a base structure (130) having a front surface (131), a rear surface (132), an island protruding from the rear surface of the base structure, and a passageway extending through the base structure from the front surface of the base structure to a rear surface of the island; a resilient soft tissue cleanser (170) on the rear surface of the base structure, the resilient soft tissue cleanser comprising an aperture through which the island extends; a mass (180) of a first resilient material positioned within the passageway so that a first portion (181) of the mass protrudes from the front surface of the head and a second portion (182) of the mass protrudes from the island, the island isolating the resilient soft tissue cleanser from the mass; and a plurality of teeth cleaning elements (105). |
| US09532642B2 |
Hollow mascara brush
An applicator for applying a cosmetic to eyelashes, comprising a shaft section or at least a coupling section and an applicator section, the applicator section being configured as an internally hollow cage for accommodating the cosmetic, which is substantially or completely closed in the circumferential direction, characterized in that the cage, in the direction perpendicular to its longitudinal axis, has a triangular cross section and comprises on at least one of its circumferential tips a number of passages that communicate with the interior of the cage and into which the eyelashes insert themselves during application. |
| US09532639B2 |
Customizable carrier for a portable electronic device
A customizable carrying case (20) for a portable electronic device has a shell (22) and a strand (36). Shell (22) has a first attachment area (50) and a second attachment area (52) to which a first end (44) and a second end (46) of strand (36) is attached. First end (44) and second end (46) of strand (36) can be detached from first attachment area (50) and a second attachment area (52), permitting a user to interchange more than one strand (36) with shell (22), as a user desires. Static first attachment area (50) and a second attachment area (52) ensures that the portable electronic deviceremains facing a direction that user desires. |
| US09532637B2 |
Cosmetic composition carrier comprising urethane foam
A cosmetic includes a cosmetic composition of viscosity of 1,000-5,000 centipoise (cps) or 15,000-60,000 cps; and a urethane foam carrier, which is impregnated with the cosmetic composition. The urethane foam has a hardness of 50 to 100 when measured with an Asker hardness tester type F before impregnation and a number of pores per inch (ppi) of greater than or equal to 10 but less than 90 when the cosmetic composition has a viscosity of 1,000-5,000 centipoise (cps). The urethane foam has a hardness of greater than or equal to 1 but less than 50 when measured with an Asker hardness tester type F before impregnation and a number of pores per inch (ppi) of 90 to 200 when the cosmetic composition has a viscosity of 15,000-60,000 cps. |
| US09532635B2 |
Applying material extruding container
An applying material extruding container includes a leading tube and a pipe member inserted into the leading tube so as to be slidable in the axial line direction of the leading tube relative to the leading tube. In the initial state, the front end of the pipe member is located at a position displaced backward a predetermined distance from the front end of the leading tube, and the applying material is filled from in the pipe hole of the pipe member to in the tube hole of the leading tube. The inner surface of the region of the tube hole extends straight in the axial line direction. In the applying material extruding container, when the container main body and the control tube are relatively rotated in one/the other direction, by the screwing action of the first screw part, the pipe member is made to move forward/backward together with the applying material. |
| US09532634B2 |
Nail polish bottle
A nail polish bottle comprises a bottle body, a cap including a disc portion having a center hole and one or more air holes and including a discharge passage and one or more external-air introduction grooves in flow contact with the air holes. A pressure opening and closing valve is mounted to the disc portion such that a skirt portion of the valve may sit below the disc portion and a top of the valve may be above the disc portion. The skirt portion may press against the disc portion to close the air holes. When internal pressure in the bottle body opens the top of the valve, nail polish may flow through the discharge passage if the bottle is upside-down. When the internal pressure is released, the top of the valve may close and the skirt portion may move away from the disc to open the air holes. |
| US09532630B2 |
Bag with adjustable mouth and variable diameter cording
An apparatus for carrying objects includes a bag and at least one cord. The bag has a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion of the bag includes an adjustable mouth and a channel. The cord includes a first end portion coupled to the bottom portion of the bag, a second end portion coupled to the bottom portion of the bag, and a middle portion positioned between the first end portion and the second end portion. The middle portion of the cord includes a first length of cord which extends slidably through the channel and a second length of cord which is positioned outside of the channel. The second length of cord has a substantially larger diameter than the first length of cord. |
| US09532624B2 |
Article of footwear and related methods
An article of footwear includes an inner contact material operable to provide an interface between the article of footwear and portions of a wearer's foot. The inner contact material defines an inner foot opening through which a foot can be received. The inner contact material extends downwardly about the foot from the inner foot opening. An outer support material at least partially circumscribes portions of the inner contact material. The outer support material defines an outer foot opening through which a foot can be received. The outer support material extends downwardly about the foot from the outer foot opening. The inner foot opening is positioned higher around a periphery of the foot than is the outer foot opening so as to expose portions of the inner contact material above the outer support material. |
| US09532619B1 |
Hand-held facemasks
Designs and constructions for facemasks which, when properly used, can enable a small child's head hair to be washed by a parent without interference by the child while preventing liquid being applied to the head hair from washing across eyes, nose and mouth. The facemask has handgrips at either side which are grasped by the hands of the child while the child presses a seal against his/her forehead. The facial designs of the masks present artistic renderings of animals' faces, cartoon characters, etc. |
| US09532616B2 |
Foot loop
The disclosed technology relates to the ornamental and utilitarian features of a device configured to protect the Metatarsal-Phalanges Joints (MPJ) zone of the user's foot when wearing shoes such as dress shoes. The device defines a loop placed around the MPJ zone wherein such loop can be neutral or natural in color to minimize its impact on the style of the shoe or flashy or have its own design that can add “strappiness” or “laciness” or contrasting color. The loop forms a protective layer between the problem areas (e.g. side and top around the MPJ zone) of the foot and the shoe material. |
| US09532615B2 |
Insect-repelling leg garment
An insect-repelling leg garment primarily configured with a tubular member and a semi-conical section fabricated from fabric sheeting impregnated with an insect-repelling solution. The semi-conical section includes an elastic strap configured to engage a structural feature of an article of clothing. The tubular member includes a lower portion having a first circumferential passage for accommodating therewithin a drawstring equipped with a drawstring tie for closing and sealing an annular opening formed by a circular wall section and one's leg. An elastic circular band positioned at the lower portion simultaneously engages loops connected to the lower portion and encircles around one's foot such as to oppose the upward tensioning caused by the elastic strap, whereby the insect repellency inherently present within the fabric sheeting and the structural barriers inherently present within the leg garment collectively serve to protect the lower extremities of one's body against biting insects. |
| US09532613B2 |
Garment with integrated protective padding
A garment having a piece of clothing with a plurality of pad segments located proximate a backside of a wearer's body, including at least one joint region, for protecting the wearer by dissipating energy resulting from a sudden impact. The pad segments arranged with respect to the interior radius of the joint region such that an interstitial space located between each adjacent pad segment becomes narrower moving a protruding portion of each adjacent pad segment closer together, and in some instances such that the adjacent protruding portions touch one another, when the joint region moves from an extended position to a flexed position. The garment with energy dissipating pad segments may be used alone or in conjunction with pads that shield energy. |
| US09532609B2 |
Urination relief hatch for waterproof waders and foul weather gear
An improved fishing pant or hunting wader, exposure suit or foul weather pants/bib incorporates a novel waterproof connectable hatch to provide access for urination. The low profile and lightweight waterproof hatch is centered over the groin area and allows the wearer of a fishing wader, or similar foul weather gear pants, to be able to quickly open the hatch and urinate without removing the cumbersome garment. A hinged or connectable lid may swing upwards and downwards and features a hook-and-loop fastener, a magnetic, or mechanical fastener so that the lid is held up in place and out of the way. After urination, the lid may conveniently snap back into place against a seal or O-ring thereby forming a water tight seal. A middle line separates an aperture top half and bottom half, wherein the top half comprises a larger amount of surface area as compared to the bottom half. |
| US09532603B2 |
Aerosol generating device and system with improved airflow
An aerosol generating system includes an aerosol-forming article including an aerosol-forming substrate and a mouthpiece portion for allowing a user to draw air through the substrate; and an aerosol generating device, the device including a housing having proximal and distal ends and including at least one external surface and one internal surface, the internal surface defining an open ended cavity at the proximal end of the housing in which the substrate is received, the cavity having a longitudinal extent between its proximal and distal ends, a heater element within the cavity configured to heat the substrate received in the cavity, and an air inlet; the system including a first air flow channel extending from the air inlet to a distal end of the cavity, wherein the first channel extends between the heater and the external surface of the housing along at least a portion of the longitudinal extent of the cavity, and a second air flow channel extending from the distal end of the cavity to the mouthpiece portion. |
| US09532595B2 |
Smoking article
A smoking article, a smoking article assembly, a blank for forming a smoking article, and a method of manufacturing a smoking article. A smoking article comprising one or more rod articles, an inner layer extending around the rod articles, and an outer layer extending around the inner layer. The inner and outer layers are integrally formed. The outer layer comprises a selection portion configured to move over an underlying part of the inner layer to select a property of the smoking article. |
| US09532586B2 |
Reduced sodium composition
The present invention provides a reduced sodium composition comprising at least one potassium salt, at least one sodium salt, at least one emulsifier and at least one thickening agent. For example, the reduced sodium composition comprises at least: one potassium salt, at least one sodium salt, glycerol monostearate and maltodextrin as well as to its method of preparation. The reduced sodium composition is used for enhancing the flavor of food, as a food seasoning, food condiment and/or food additive and provides a healthier alternative to the consumer, in particular where reducing the sodium in the diet is beneficial for health. |
| US09532582B2 |
Device and method for machine processing of beheaded and at least substantially gutted fish, transported tail-first in transport direction T on a transport path
The invention relates to an apparatus, designed and adapted for machine processing of decapitated and at least substantially gutted fish, transported tail-first in transport direction T on a transport path, comprising a conveying means which conveys the fish along the transport path and a cutting device for removing the flesh from the flank bones of the bone structure of a fish after cutting free the ventral and dorsal spokes, wherein the cutting device comprises a pair of circular knives which can be driven so as to rotate about a point of rotation D and which are arranged on opposite sides of the transport path and are designed to be adjustable relative to the position of the fish and thus to the bone structure, which is characterized in that each circular knife is allocated a means that is designed and configured to hold down at least some of the flank bones during the removal process of the flesh from the bone structure. Furthermore, the invention relates to a corresponding method. |
| US09532580B2 |
Method and apparatus for processing poultry or a part thereof
The invention relates to a method for processing poultry or a part thereof in a processing line, including the step of detaching and/or collecting a cartilage of the poultry's keel bone, whereby during transport of the poultry's carcass in the processing line, a cut is made in the cartilage of the keel bone. The cut is made initially transverse to the transport direction of the poultry and towards the poultry's backbone. The cut develops from the transverse direction to eventually a direction opposed to the transport direction. |
| US09532572B2 |
Methods of use of seed-origin endophyte populations
This application relates to methods and materials for providing a benefit to a seed or seedling of an agricultural plant (e.g., an agricultural grass plant), or the agricultural plant derived from the seed or seedling. For example, this application provides purified bacterial populations that include novel seed-origin bacterial endophytes, and synthetic combinations of seeds and/or seedlings (e.g., cereal seeds and/or seedlings) with heterologous seed-derived bacterial endophytes. |
| US09532568B2 |
Product for mold prevention and treatment
A novel product for mold prevention and treatment is disclosed herein. The product comprises water, one or more anti-mold agents, one or more water-soluble fluoropolymers or other water-soluble polymers with similar properties, and one or more emulsifiers. In some embodiments, the product may further comprise one or more preservatives, one or more stabilizers, one or more binders, one or more fining agents, one or more firming agents, one or more thickeners, and/or one or more clarifying agents. The product may be non-toxic, biodegradable, effective for a long-period of time and against a wide variety of molds, and may also provide other features which render it safe for the environment as compared to other commonly used products in mold prevention and treatment. |
| US09532565B2 |
Waterfowl hunting decoy
A waterfowl hunting decoy device that can be configured for use on water or dry land. The waterfowl hunting decoy device has a buoyant body resembling a waterfowl and includes a keel on an underside surface thereof for stabilizing the decoy device while in water. The decoy device further includes a leg support having a base member resembling the underside of a waterfowl, wherein the base member can removably receive the body therein. Further, a foot member is tethered to the body and can be removably secured to the leg support in order to stabilize the decoy device on dry land. The foot member also serves as an anchor when the decoy device is used in the water. Thus, the present invention provides a decoy that can be configured to resemble a waterfowl standing on dry land or floating on water. |
| US09532564B1 |
Tamper-resistant rodent bait station
A pre-baited consumer bait station for rodents which is gnaw resistant and has other design features to make the bait station resistant to rodenticide access by children, dogs, other pets, domestic animals, and nontarget wildlife. An injection molded translucent cover is permanently locked to a base about the cover's edges and center by elastic actuated hooks which engage receptacles on the base. The cover forms a labyrinth joint with a peripheral wall of the base. Double walls on exterior portions of the peripheral wall strengthen the walls where they form part of a closely confining bait receptacle which surrounds a bait block on portions of all sides. Circuitous internal passageways limit access to the bait. An interior wall extends to support the cover center. |
| US09532563B2 |
Spraying apparatus with spray nozzle flow sensing and monitoring system
A liquid spray boom having a plurality of spray nozzles and a flow monitoring system for monitoring the liquid flow to each of the spray nozzles. The spray nozzles each have a respective flow metering passage through which liquid to the nozzle passes a magnetic turbine in the metering passage rotatable as an incident to and in relation to liquid directed through the flow metering passage for generating changing magnetic fields, a hall effect sensor associated with each magnetic turbine for sensing the changing magnetic fields, and a control module for receiving signals from the sensor for monitoring the liquid flow to each spray nozzle and providing an alert indication in the event that the flow fails to meet predetermined requirements. |
| US09532561B2 |
Device for killing insects with heat
A device for killing insects, such as bedbugs, with heat includes four side panels and two end panels. Each of the side panels is fixed to two adjacent side panels along complementary mitered edges provided with interlocking male protrusions and female indentations. The side panels are fixed to the end panels by portions of the side panels that mate with complementary channels provided by the end panels and locking mechanisms. The device further includes a mechanism located either inside or outside the device for providing heated air to the interior of the device and a mechanism for circulating the heated air inside the device for killing any insects that may be infesting items such as clothing and bedding placed inside the device. The interior of the device may be provided with mechanisms such as racks and hanger rods for supporting items placed inside the device. The interior of the device may be provided with mechanisms for directing the flow of hot air inside the device. |
| US09532559B1 |
Fishing rod holder
A fishing rod holder comprising a tee pipe having a long cylinder and a short cylinder, a snap clamp element, a rotatable connection and an effective length. The long cylinder has a length and inside diameter for holding a fishing rod handle. The short cylinder is at right angles from the long cylinder, with a threaded inside surface and a long axis. The snap clamp element is screwably attached to the short cylinder and has a head with a width and a curvature adapted to securely fit around a support member, a body with a length and an end threaded to affix to the short cylinder of the tee pipe. The rotatable connection comprises a release surface on a threaded end to permit stable rotation of the snap clamp of up to 90 degrees about the axis of the short cylinder. The effective length is from the long cylinder curvature. |
| US09532554B2 |
Method for inducing hepatocellular variation, and production method for chimeric non-human animal having humanized liver
The present invention provides (1) a method for producing a non-human animal having a humanized liver, comprising transplanting human hepatic stem cells and/or hepatic progenitor cells and/or immature hepatocytes to a liver-damaged non-human animal to induce the differentiation of the cells into hepatocytes, (2) a non-human animal having a humanized liver, produced by the method, (3) a method for examining the pharmacokinetics and/or hepatotoxicity of a test substance, comprising using the animal, (4) a method for producing human hepatocytes, comprising transplanting human hepatic stem cells and/or hepatic progenitor cells and/or immature hepatocytes to a liver-damaged non-human animal to induce the differentiation of the cells into hepatocytes, and (5) a method for examining the pharmacokinetics and/or hepatotoxicity of a test substance, comprising using human hepatocytes produced by the method. |
| US09532549B2 |
Devices and systems for limiting feed volume disposed into a plurality of tandem feed boot unloaders into a feed path(s), and related methods
Devices and systems for limiting feed volume dispensed into a plurality of tandem feed boot unloaders into one or more feed paths and related methods are disclosed. A core system is provided that are disposed in the feed path through each of the tandem feed boot unloaders in a center portion of an auger supported by a bearing assembly. Feed housings are configured to direct feed into the boot unloaders and into the auger. The feed is moved by the auger as a result of rotation of the auger about the bearing assembly. The core system provided herein limits and regulates the amount of feed that can enter each boot unloader by occupying space within a center portion of the auger that passes through each boot unloader, thus making it less likely that the auger will become clogged and be constrained from moving feed in the feed path. |
| US09532548B2 |
Animal travel system
An animal carrier for installation into an automotive seat is described. The animal carrier has a frame that is formed by the attachment of the bottom edge of a substantially vertical back panel to the back facing edge of a substantially horizontal floor panel, and the further attachment of a spine to both the top edge of the vertical back panel and the forward facing edge of the floor panel. The enclosure of the animal carrier can be formed by the attachment of two side panels, and optionally a front panel, to the frame. The animal carrier can be mounted onto an automotive seat by the passage of an installation belt though a belt path or channel formed through either the back or floor panel. |
| US09532546B1 |
Urine pad with automatically deployed three dimensional target
A urine pad has a foundation layer and a target structure. The foundation layer has a first horizontal fold line to divide the foundation layer into a first and second part, an impermeable backing, and an absorbent covering affixed to the impermeable backing. The target structure has an open length centered on and extending across the first horizontal fold line and first and second attachment points. The first attachment point is attached to the first part at a first anchor point essentially one half the open length from the first horizontal fold line and the second attachment point is attached to the second part at a second anchor point disposed essentially the open length away from the first anchor point. The target structure is configured to be placed in a storage position when the foundation layer is folded configuration in a functional position when the foundation layer is opened. |
| US09532544B2 |
Soybean variety 01050668
The invention relates to the soybean variety designated 01050668. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety 01050668. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety 01050668 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety 01050668 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods. |
| US09532542B2 |
Plants and seeds of hybrid corn variety CH102353
According to the invention, there is provided seed and plants of the hybrid corn variety designated CH102353. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of the variety CH102353, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety CH102353 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. The invention further relates to genetic complements of plants of variety CH102353. |
| US09532537B2 |
Plants and seeds of corn variety CV052504
According to the invention, there is provided seed and plants of the corn variety designated CV052504. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of the variety CV052504, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety CV052504 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. The invention further relates to corn seeds and plants produced by crossing plants of variety CV052504 with plants of another variety, such as another inbred line. The invention further relates to the inbred and hybrid genetic complements of plants of variety CV052504. |
| US09532534B2 |
Soybean cultivar SJ1210512
The present invention is in the field of soybean variety SJ1210512 breeding and development. The present invention particularly relates to the soybean variety SJ1210512 and its progeny, and methods of making SJ1210512. |
| US09532533B2 |
Soybean cultivar SJ1210678
The present invention is in the field of soybean variety SJ1210678 breeding and development. The present invention particularly relates to the soybean variety SJ1210678 and its progeny, and methods of making SJ1210678. |
| US09532527B2 |
Soybean cultivar AR1215506
The present invention is in the field of soybean variety AR1215506 breeding and development. The present invention particularly relates to the soybean variety AR1215506 and its progeny, and methods of making AR1215506. |
| US09532526B2 |
Soybean cultivar 44364071
A soybean cultivar designated 44364071 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar 44364071, to the plants of soybean cultivar 44364071, to the plant parts of soybean cultivar 44364071, and to methods for producing progeny of soybean cultivar 44364071. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. The invention also relates to soybean cultivars or breeding cultivars, and plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 44364071. The invention also relates to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines, or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 44364071, and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing cultivar 44364071 with another soybean cultivar. |
| US09532525B2 |
Soybean cultivar S130066
A soybean cultivar designated S130066 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar S130066, to the plants of soybean cultivar S130066, to the plant parts of soybean cultivar S130066, and to methods for producing progeny of soybean cultivar S130066. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. The invention also relates to soybean cultivars or breeding cultivars, and plant parts derived from soybean cultivar S130066. The invention also relates to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines, or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar S130066, and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing cultivar S130066 with another soybean cultivar. |
| US09532523B2 |
Edible bean line <11258> (vibrant)
An edible bean seed designated as <11258> or Vibrant, a sample of the edible bean deposited under accession no. PI 673082 is disclosed. Methods of using the edible bean seed designated as <11258> or Vibrant for breeding new varieties of bean seed are also disclosed, as well as seeds of the edible bean seed designated as <11258> or Vibrant. |
| US09532522B2 |
Pepper hybrid SV7685PP
The invention provides seed and plants of pepper hybrid SV7685PP and the parent lines thereof. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of pepper hybrid SV7685PP and the parent lines thereof, and to methods for producing a pepper plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another pepper plant, such as a plant of another genotype. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of such plants, including the fruit and gametes of such plants. |
| US09532518B2 |
Hydroponic growing system
A hydroponic growing system that comprises a plurality of parallel horizontal pipes, a vertical drain pipe, and a plurality of nutrient-delivering tubes. The horizontal pipes are adapted to support crops that receive nutrients from the nutrient-delivering tubes and grow in high density. The horizontal pipes have opposite first and second ends, as well as a plurality of openings along a length, and a plurality of pipe segments extending angularly from an outer surface. The vertical drain pipe has a plurality of angular pipe extensions along a length, which mate with one of the first and second ends of the horizontal pipes. The nutrient-delivering tubes have openings along a length and extend from the vertical drain pipe, branching through the pipe segments extending from the horizontal pipes. |
| US09532511B2 |
Line attachment mechanism and systems and methods for using the same
The present invention provides improved attachment devices fort support lines in plant growth support systems (e.g., trellis systems) and methods of using the same, and offers significant improvements efficiency with regard to assembling and disassembling the support systems for plant and crop growth. The attachment devices may be advantageously used for various vine and low-lying plants (e.g., grapes, tomatoes, etc.) that can be grown in a trellis system or other vertical growth support system. The anchoring devices may include a wire loop for slipping over an end post and a wire strainer bracket attached to the wire loop. |
| US09532510B2 |
Foldable-storable pole saw
A pole saw includes a long handle with end adapter, a blade-carrying component pivoted to the end adapter for movement between an extended use position and a handle-adjacent storage position, and a saw blade fixed to the blade-carrying component. The end adapter and holding component are cast aluminum for strength and light weight, and are pivoted together about an offset axis so that the blade and blade-carrying component are positioned adjacent the handle in a partially protected position when collapsed for storage. A folding lock mechanism includes an anchor that engages a saw-holding bolt on the blade-carrying component, and a wing nut that can be tightened to secure the sheath on the blade. |
| US09532507B2 |
Guide system for a plunger of a rectangular baler
A rectangular baler including a bale chamber; a plunger; a guide system including a guide assembly for aligning and supporting the plunger in a transverse direction; each guide assembly including a mounting piece with a guide element, a threaded shaft; wherein the mounting piece has a mounting surface which is fixed against a guide surface of a member; the mounting piece and the member having an elongated slot and a through-hole, respectively, or a through-hole and an elongated slot, respectively; the threaded shaft extending through the through-hole and the elongated slot and having an axis making an angle with respect to the guide surface which is smaller than 90 degrees. |
| US09532506B2 |
High rise crop lifter
A crop lifter apparatus has a base member attached to a selected guard finger of a cutting header. A front lifting finger extends forward and downward from the base member at a first angle downward from horizontal, and a rear lifting finger extends rearward and upward from the base member at second angle upward from horizontal, where the second angle is greater than the first angle. A front end of the front lifting finger is at a front vertical location that is a first distance below a top surface of the table, and a rear end of the rear lifting finger is at a rear vertical location that is a second distance above the top surface of the table, and the second distance is at least twice the first distance. |
| US09532505B2 |
Hood divider adjustment apparatus for an agricultural harvester
A row divider of an agricultural harvester is disclosed. The row divider includes a hood, a divider and an adjustment apparatus for adjusting the position of the divider and hood relative to each other. The adjustment apparatus includes a divider support extending from the hood for supporting the divider and an adjustment assembly. The adjustment assembly is connected to the divider support and extends through the hood to an outer region of the hood such that an operator can access and adjust the position of the divider from a region outside the hood and/or divider without the need for lifting the divider to an up position. |
| US09532503B2 |
Monofilament line holder for grass trimmers
A device for holding lines in a holder secured around an object such as a shaft of garden equipment. The device comprises a hollow body having an outer surface and an inner surface, two opposing end surfaces; a plurality of longitudinal bores passing through the body from the end surfaces, wherein each of the bores is configured to receive and hold an individual line; and at least one fastener to secure the body to an object. Each of the bores has a substantially straight axis so that the individual lines when inserted, remain securely retained, and are conveniently removed when needed. The device body may be further divided into two body segments with one or more flanges on each of the two body segments, and an aperture on each of the one or more flanges for receiving a fastener to securely lock the body to the object. |
| US09532499B2 |
System and method to monitor gaseous concentrations
A gas monitoring system on an agricultural implement such as a tractor or cultivator includes a nutrient applicator to inject chemicals or compounds into the soil. Although the soil generally covers over the chemicals or compounds, there still may be gases released into the atmosphere. The system includes a sensor that detects the gas phase of the chemicals or compounds. The system is also set up to generate an indication when a concentration of the gas passes a threshold. If the concentration of the gas in the atmosphere is too high, an alarm may sound or flash, or the release of the chemicals or compounds is reduced or ceased. |
| US09532498B2 |
Seeder with lockout clutch
A seed planting machine for dispensing seed. The seed planting machine includes a transmission with a lockout clutch having an actuator for shifting the lockout clutch between a first configuration and a second configuration. As such, the lockout clutch, in the first configuration, is operable to cause the seed planting machine to dispense seed in response to a roller mechanism of the seed planting machine rotating in a first direction and to not dispense seed in response to the roller mechanism rotating in a second direction. Furthermore, the lockout clutch, in the second configuration, is not operable to cause the seed planting machine to dispense seed in response to the roller mechanism rotating in either the first or second directions. |
| US09532496B2 |
Dynamic supplemental downforce control system for planter row units
A dynamic supplemental downforce control system for a planter row unit. The system includes closed-loop feedback circuit that cooperates with a downforce actuator to dynamically control fluid flow to the downforce actuator to maintain balance between the actual gauge wheel downforce and a desired gauge wheel downforce during planting operations. |
| US09538691B2 |
Power inverter for a vehicle
A power inverter includes a plurality of power modules stacked in an array. A plurality of coolant chambers are interleaved with the modules. Each of the chambers includes an inlet and an outlet interconnected by a coolant path configured to circulate coolant within the chamber. Fins project into the coolant path and are configured to alter shape based on a temperature of the coolant to alter a turbulence associated with the coolant. |
| US09538689B2 |
Data center cooling with critical device prioritization
A method and/or computer program product automatically adjusts room temperature in a data center room. A processor in a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system receives a throttle threshold temperature for each of multiple computing devices that are within a data center room, which is climate-controlled by the HVAC system. The processor in the HVAC system monitors a real-time temperature of at least one of the multiple computing devices. In response to the real-time temperature of said at least one of the multiple computing devices exceeding the throttle threshold temperature, an ambient air temperature in the data center room is decreased by adjusting a hardware thermostat in the HVAC system. |
| US09538679B1 |
Power transmission structure of power supply unit
A power transmission structure of a power supply unit includes a base plate. The base plate is provided with a plurality of spaced metallic plates. One end of each metallic plate is provided with a first connecting portion and the other end is provided with a second connecting portion to connect the components of the power supply unit respectively for power transmission. Thus, the present invention can take the place of conventional power cords, and the power transmission structure can be flattened to decrease the space occupied by the power transmission device, such that the required interior accommodation space of the power supply unit can be decreased effectively and the volume of the power supply unit can be reduced. |
| US09538672B2 |
Ferroelectric nanoshell devices
Disclosed herein are nanoscale devices comprising one or more ferroelectric nanoshells characterized as having an extreme curvature in at least one spatial dimension. Also disclosed are ferroelectric field effect transistors and metal ferroelectric metal capacitors comprising one or more ferroelectric nanoshells. Methods for controlling spontaneous ferroelectric polarization in nanoshell devices are also disclosed. |
| US09538659B2 |
Solder wettable flanges and devices and systems incorporating solder wettable flanges
An embodiment of a solder wettable flange includes a flange body formed from a conductive material. The flange body has a bottom surface, a top surface, sidewalls extending between the top surface and the bottom surface, and one or more depressions extending into the flange body from the bottom surface. Each depression is defined by a depression surface that may or may not be solder wettable. During solder attachment of the flange to a substrate, the depressions may function as reservoirs for excess solder. Embodiments also include devices and systems that include such solder wettable flanges, and methods for forming the solder wettable flanges, devices, and systems. |
| US09538657B2 |
Resonant sensor and an associated sensing method
A sensing system includes an inductor-capacitor-resistor (LCR) resonator sensor having a substrate, a plurality of first sensing elements mutually spaced apart and disposed on the substrate, and a sensing material film being disposed on a first sensing region of the corresponding first sensing element. |
| US09538655B2 |
Electronic assembly
An electronic assembly includes an electronic module, a rigid board, a first flexible board, a second flexible board and a conductive adhesive layer. The first flexible board extends from the electronic module and has a first connection end and a first pad arrangement at the first connection end. The first pad arrangement has a plurality of first pads. The second flexible board is connected to the rigid board and has a second connection end and a second pad arrangement at the second connection end. The second pad arrangement has a plurality of second pads. The first pads are structurally and electrically connected to the second pads through the conductive adhesive layer. |
| US09538653B2 |
Insulating substrates including through holes
It is provided an insulating substrate including through holes for conductors arranged in the insulating substrate. A thickness of the insulating substrate is 25 to 100 μm, and a diameter of the through hole is 20 to 100 μm. The insulating substrate includes a main body part and exposed regions exposed to the through holes and is composed an alumina sintered body. A relative density of the alumina sintered body is 99.5 percent or higher. The alumina sintered body has a purity of 99.9 percent or higher, and has an average grain size of 3 to 6 μm in said main body part. Alumina grains are plate-shaped in the exposed region and the plate-shaped alumina grains have an average length of 8 to 25 μm. |
| US09538651B2 |
Printed wiring board and method for manufacturing the same
A printed wiring board includes an insulating layer, a first conductor layer embedded into a first surface of the insulating layer and including connecting portions to connect an electronic component, a second conductor layer projecting from a second surface of the insulating layer, a solder resist layer covering the first conductor layer and having an opening structure exposing the connecting portions, a barrier metal layer formed on the connecting portions such that the barrier layer is projecting from the first surface of the insulating layer, and metal posts formed on the barrier layer such that the metal posts are positioned on the connecting portions, respectively. Each metal post has width which is greater than width of a respective connecting portion, and the barrier metal layer includes a metal material which is different from a metal material forming the metal posts and a metal material forming the first conductor layer. |
| US09538650B2 |
Wiring board having an opening with an angled surface
In a wiring substrate, formation of voids due to underfill filling failure is suppressed. A wiring substrate includes an insulating base layer, an insulating layer laminated on the base layer, and an electrically conductive connection terminal projecting from the insulating layer inside an opening. The insulating layer has a first surface with an opening, and a second surface located within the opening and being concave toward the base layer in relation to the first surface. The second surface extends from the first surface to the connection terminal inside the opening. On a cut surface which is a flat surface extending along a lamination direction in which the insulating layer is laminated on the base layer, an angle which is larger than 0° but smaller than 90° is formed between a normal line extending from an arbitrary point on the second surface toward the outside of the insulating layer and a parallel line extending from the arbitrary point toward the connection terminal in parallel to the first surface. |
| US09538647B2 |
Substrate structure and manufacturing method thereof
A substrate structure is provided. The substrate structure includes a substrate and a carrier. The substrate includes a first through hole, a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The first through hole penetrates the substrate for connecting the first surface and the second surface. The carrier includes a second through hole, a release layer, an insulating paste layer and a metal layer. The insulating paste layer is disposed between the release layer and the metal layer. The carrier is attached to the second surface with the release layer thereof. The second through hole corresponds to the first through hole and penetrates the carrier for exposing the first through hole. |
| US09538646B2 |
Thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film, and laminate and circuit board using same
To provide a thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film capable of suppressing change in relative dielectric constant before and after heating, and a laminated and a circuit board using the same. In this film, a change ratio of a dielectric constant (∈r2) of the film after heating to a dielectric constant (∈r1) of the film before the heating satisfies the following formula (I) where the film is heated for 1 hour at a temperature in a range from a temperature being 30° C. lower than a melting point of the film to a temperature being 10° C. higher than the melting point, |∈r2−∈r1|/∈r1×100≦5 (I) where ∈r1 denotes the relative dielectric constant before the heating, ∈r2 denotes the relative dielectric constant after the heating. These relative dielectric constants are measured at the same frequency in a range of 1 to 100 GHz. |
| US09538643B2 |
Composite structure and raft for gas turbine engine
A composite structure is provided. The structure is formed of rigid composite material in which non-metallic continuous fibers reinforce a polymer matrix. The continuous fibers are electrically conductive. The structure has electrodes electrically connected to the continuous fibers. The composite material contains one or more insulating barriers which electrically divide the structure so that a first portion of the material in electrical contact with one of the electrodes can be held at a different electrical potential to a second portion of the material in electrical contact with the other electrode. In use, an electrical unit can be provided to electrically bridge the first and second portions of the material such that electrical signals can be transmitted between the electrodes and the electrical unit via the continuous fibers. |
| US09538641B2 |
Elastic circuit
The present invention is an elastic electronic circuit adapted to provide three-dimensional elasticity. This is accomplished through a first pattern, a second pattern embedded within the first pattern, and a third pattern. The three-dimension elastic electronic circuit is adapted to conform to a flexible substrate, such as flexible plastic substrates and the like. The resulting three-dimensional elasticity enables the use of electronic circuits on such flexible substrates. |
| US09538639B2 |
Wired circuit board and producing method thereof
A wired circuit board includes a first insulating layer, a first conductive layer provided over the first insulating film and including a first wire, a second insulating layer provided over the first insulating layer so as to cover the first wire, and a second conductive layer provided over the second insulating layer and including a second wire. The second conductive layer includes a first terminal portion for electrically connecting the first wire to an outside, a second terminal portion for electrically connecting the second wire to an outside, and a connection portion electrically connecting the first terminal portion and the first wire. |
| US09538630B2 |
Harmonic cold plasma device and associated methods
A method for generating atmospheric pressure cold plasma inside a hand-held unit discharges cold plasma with simultaneously different rf wavelengths and their harmonics. The unit includes an rf tuning network that is powered by a low-voltage power supply connected to a series of high-voltage coils and capacitors. The rf energy signal is transferred to a primary containment chamber and dispersed through an electrode plate network of various sizes and thicknesses to create multiple frequencies. Helium gas is introduced into the first primary containment chamber, where electron separation is initiated. The energized gas flows into a secondary magnetic compression chamber, where a balanced frequency network grid with capacitance creates the final electron separation, which is inverted magnetically and exits through an orifice with a nozzle. The cold plasma thus generated has been shown to be capable of accelerating a healing process in flesh wounds on animal laboratory specimens. |
| US09538626B1 |
Lighting control system
A lighting control system comprises a smart device, at least one luminaire assembly, and a server. A user operates a client app installed on the smart device to communicatively with the server to further control the at least one luminaire assembly. The server comprises a database module, a brightness control module for implementing automatic brightness variations, a mode switching module for cooperating with at least sensor disposed in the at least one luminaire assembly to implement different ambient lighting controls, and a brightness compensation module for cooperating with a light sensor disposed on the smart device to implement ambient lighting control. |
| US09538622B1 |
Combined lighting device with an integrated dimming control system
A multi-scene, multi-zone lighting device includes a support structure supporting multiple lighting zones, an ensemble of the zones defining a lighting scene. A master dimming control built into the support structure has a power input line and multiple dimmers. The zones are coupled to the dimmer output lines to receive a controlled setting from the corresponding dimmer. A remote control device communicates with the master dimming control, and has a memory for storing settings for the multiple zones and a user interface for a user to select a stored setting for each zone or a scene composed of multiple zones. Settings can be prestored or programmed by the user. The master dimming control includes a controller responsive to receiving the set of settings to set the controlled setting of the corresponding dimmer for each zone in the selected scene to conform the zones to the settings in the selected scene. |
| US09538620B2 |
Lighting apparatus having communication module
Disclosed is a lighting apparatus. The lighting apparatus includes a lighting module to receive therein a lighting part that emits light to an outside and a power control part having a connector; and a communication module extending by passing through the lighting module and detachably coupled to the connector to transfer a control signal received through a wireless network to the power control part. |
| US09538619B2 |
Controllable light source
A controllable light source is provided that includes a load control circuit and an integrated lighting load. The controllable light source is configured to receive wirelessly communicated commands transmitted by a remote control device associated with the controllable light source, such as a rotary remote control device. The controllable light source may include an actuator for associating the controllable light source with the remote control device, such that the load control circuit is operable to adjust the intensity of the lighting load in response to wireless signals received from the remote control device. The controllable light source may support the actuator such that the actuator may be actuated when the controllable light source is installed in a fixture. |
| US09538617B2 |
Networked system of intelligent lighting devices with sharing of processing resources of the devices with other entities
A system of network-connected lighting devices also offers a distributed processing function that utilizes processor and/or memory resources if/when available in some or all of the lighting devices. In the examples, a resource manager receives a job for distributed processing using shared available resources. The resource manager identifies lighting devices having resources of the processors and/or the memories available for the distributed processing function. The resource manager distributes tasks and/or data of the received job through a communications network to identified lighting devices, for distributed processing. The resource manager also receives results of distributed processing for the received job, from the identified lighting devices through the communications network. The received results are processed to produce a composite result for a response to the received job. |
| US09538614B2 |
Apparatuses and methods to detect and provision for lighting interfaces
Methods and apparatuses relate to detection and provisioning for lighting interfaces. In one embodiment, a hardware apparatus includes a sensing module to detect a lighting interface from a plurality of lighting interfaces to power a light emitting element, and a dimming module to supply multiple power levels of the lighting interface to the light emitting element. In another embodiment, a hardware apparatus further includes a communication module to provide a signal from a network to the sensing module to detect the lighting interface. A lighting interface may be a digital lighting interface or an analog lighting interface. |
| US09538613B1 |
Light controller and method for controlling lights
A method of estimating the occurrence of midnight on a given day comprises the steps of determining the average night length (NLAVE) by averaging the night lengths (NL) between a night starting time (NST) as determined by a photosensor and a night ending time (NET) determined by a photosensor for each of a plurality of days, and estimating midnight to occur at the time that is one half of the average night length (NLAVE) after the night starting time (NST) for the given day. This estimate of midnight to control the operation of lights or other equipment without the need for clocks or constant power. |
| US09538612B1 |
Low power photocontrol for luminaire
Photocontrol apparatus that controls a luminaire or other load such that the luminaire is switched on during nighttime hours and off during the daytime. The photocontrol consumes only microwatts of power in either the ON or the OFF state, unlike traditional relay- or triac-based photocontrols. The photocontrol does not require a voltage generating photo sensor to generate power for the photocontrol. A solar cell, semiconductor photo diode or photo diode string, cadmium sulfide cell, semiconductor ambient light sensor, etc., may be used as the sensor element. The photocontrol switches power to the load at the zero-crossing of an AC input voltage, which reduces inrush current and the switching currents caused by traditional photocontrols which may switch at any point on the AC input voltage waveform. |
| US09538604B2 |
Current splitter for LED lighting system
Systems and methods for controlling a light emitting diode (LED) system having a plurality of LED arrays are provided. The lighting system can include a dimmable LED driver circuit configured to provide a driver output suitable for providing a driver current to the LED arrays. A current splitter circuit can be provided between the LED driver circuit and the plurality of LED arrays to control the ratio of current from the driver output provided to each of the plurality of LED arrays. The current splitter circuit can be configured to control the current ratio provided to the plurality of LED arrays independently of the driver output according to a current ratio control curve based at least in part on a variable reference signal provided at the current splitter circuit. |
| US09538603B2 |
Systems and methods for controlling color temperature
Controlling the color temperature of a composite light source including at least one discrete-spectrum light source is disclosed. For example, the color temperature of a composite light source including at least one discrete-spectrum light source may be determined and/or adjusted based on one or more of the ambient color temperature of a space, the actual temperature of the space, the relative brightness of the space, the occupancy of the space, a time clock, a demand response command (e.g., from an electrical utility), the absolute location of the composite light source, the location of the composite light source relative to other light sources, inputs from a camera or other external devices, the operation of appliances or other machines in the vicinity of the composite light source, media content being utilized in the vicinity of the composite light source, and/or other sensor inputs. |
| US09538598B2 |
Backlight adjustment circuit and electronic device
An backlight adjustment circuit (20), configured to adjust luminance of light emitted by one light-emitting diode (LED) string (11) of a LED module (10), the LED string (11) includes a plurality of LEDs (D) and a current control resistor (R). The backlight adjustment circuit (20) includes a light sensing circuit (21) for sensing the luminance of one corresponding LED string (11) and producing a corresponding light sensing signal value; a comparison unit (22) for comparing the light sensing signal value with a preset reference value, and producing a first signal when comparing the light sensing signal value is less than the preset reference value, else producing a second signal; and an adjustment unit (23) for decreasing the luminance of the LED string (11) when receiving the first signal and increasing the luminance of the LED string (11) when receiving the second signal. |
| US09538593B2 |
Method for multiplying current of LED light bar and associated driving circuit thereof
The present invention provides a method for multiplying current of an LED light bar, which includes (1) providing a constant current driving chip that includes driving modules each having first to three pins and resistors; (2) providing an LED light bar, a power source, and a PWM control source; (3) connecting an end of one resistor to the third pin of one driving module and an opposite end grounded, connecting the first pin of the driving module to the negative terminal of the light bar, connecting the second pin of the driving module to the PWM control source, and connecting the positive terminal of the light bar to the power source; (4) repeating step (3) as necessary to have multiple driving modules electrically connected to the light bar; (5) activating the power source and the PWM control source to allow the driving modules to simultaneous drive the light bar. |
| US09538590B2 |
Solid state lighting apparatuses, systems, and related methods
Solid state lighting apparatuses and related methods are described. In some aspects, a solid state lighting apparatus includes a substrate. The substrate includes a non-metallic body having a first surface and one or more electrical components supported on the first surface of the substrate. At least one electrical component is spaced from the non-metallic body by one or more non-metallic layers. The apparatus can also include an array of solid state light emitters supported by the first surface of the substrate and electrically coupled to the one or more electrical components thereof. The apparatus can further include a receiver supported by the first surface of the substrate, wherein the receiver is adapted to receive alternating current (AC) directly from an AC power source. Related systems and methods are also disclosed. |
| US09538589B2 |
Vehicle accessory control arrangement
An illustrative inventory of vehicle accessory control components includes a plurality of first circuit boards and a plurality of second circuit boards. The first circuit boards each have a substrate with a plurality of circuit elements supported on the substrate. The first circuit board substrates have an overall perimeter shape including an outer edge profile and a plurality of first deviations from the outer edge profile. The second circuit boards each have a substrate with a plurality of circuit elements supported on them. The second circuit board substrates have the overall perimeter shape including the same outer edge profile as the first circuit board substrates. The second circuit board substrates include a plurality of second deviations from the outer edge profile. At least one portion of the second deviations is different than the first deviations of the first circuit boards. |
| US09538581B2 |
Heating unit for warming fluid conduits
A heating unit for use in heating a fluid conduit is disclosed. The heating unit includes first and second pliable cover layers. A pliable electrical heating element is disposed between the first and second cover layers. The pliable electrical heating element includes a heat generating element for converting electrical energy to heat energy and a heat spreading element that is attached to the heat generating element. The heat spreading element comprises carbon that is thermally coupled to the heat generating element for distributing the heat energy. A thermal insulation layer is attached to a second side of the pliable electrical heating element and is positioned adjacent the first cover layer. Additionally, a receiving power connector is electrically connected to the heat generating element and is configured to couple to an electrical power source. The heating unit is sized to substantially cover the fluid conduit. |
| US09538580B2 |
Dual-SIM wireless communications device and method for mitigating receiver desense in dual-active operation
Aspects of the disclosure provide for an access terminal configured to enable communication with two or more wireless communications networks simultaneously. According to some aspects of the disclosure, an access terminal (e.g., dual-SIM access terminal) can be active simultaneously on both networks with reduced interference between transmission and reception. A number of different techniques for mitigating desense on a victim's Rx are illustrated in this disclosure with a GSM aggressor and an EV-DO victim as non-limiting examples. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described. |
| US09538579B2 |
Resource mapping for multi SIM multi active multi RAT scenarios using WLAN transceiver supporting partial WWAN transceiver capabilities
In a user equipment (UE) supporting multiple radio access technologies (RATs) and operating in an multiple-SIM multiple-active (MSMA) scenario, at least a portion of the wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver may be used opportunistically to support the operation of the wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver to support the multiple subscriber identity modules (SIMs). For example, when a first SIM is in an active mode and using the WWAN transceiver for transmit and/or receive operations, at least a portion of the WLAN transceiver may be used in addition to the WWAN transceiver to support the WWAN operation of a second (or third, etc.) SIM. The WLAN transceiver may be used for transmit, receive, or both for the second SIM, while the first SIM continues to use the resources of the WWAN transceiver. |
| US09538578B1 |
System, method and apparatus for system status identification in a wireless sensor network
A configured mode of operation of a wireless sensor network can be established through a dynamic remote configuration process. The plug-and-play universal sensor interface enables the monitoring capabilities of the wireless sensor network to scale seamlessly with the dynamic nature of changing sensor application objectives. A system status module enables a user to view the sensor service to confirm the current configuration of the wireless sensor network. |
| US09538572B2 |
Simultaneously maintaining Bluetooth and 802.11 connections to increase data throughput
A device for wirelessly communicating between one or more mobile communication devices over a wireless network. A primary mobile communication device is configured to establish one or more connections to one or more secondary mobile communication devices. The primary mobile communication device is further configured to establish a first connection and a second connection to at least one of the secondary mobile communication devices. The first connection is a Bluetooth (BT) connection and the second connection is a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) connection. The primary mobile device is also configured to establish a third connection to another secondary mobile communication device wherein the third connection is a WiFi connection. Additionally, the primary mobile communication device is configured to simultaneously maintain the BT connection and the WiFi connections during the bi-directional transmission of data between the primary mobile communication device and the secondary mobile communication devices. |
| US09538570B2 |
Mobile device with integrated duplex radio capabilities
Wireless-conferencing radios communicate directly with each other without a bases station using a multiple access protocol, such as Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA). Wireless-conferencing radios can be formed into groups and larger mesh networks. Some groups of wireless-conferencing radios use frequencies in a cellular band to communicate. |
| US09538568B2 |
Method for peer to peer group formation in direct communication system and device therefor
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and a method for peer to peer (P2P) group formation is disclosed. To this end, the method for P2P group formation may include transmitting, from a first wireless device to a second wireless device, a provision discovery request frame including connection capabilities of the first wireless device, and receiving, at the first wireless device, from the second wireless device, a provision discovery response frame including connection capabilities of the second wireless device. Here, the connection capabilities may include indicating at least one of: New in order to initiate a new group, Group Owner in order to become a group owner, and Client in order to become a client; and the first wireless device determines the group owner of a P2P group on the basis of the first connection capability and the second connection capability. |
| US09538563B2 |
System and methods for managing a user data path
Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a device that determines each of a default downlink forwarding address of a first interface of a user plane and a currently used downlink forwarding address of the first interface of the user plane. One of an uplink user data packet comprising an origination address of a second interface of the user plane, a downlink user data packet comprising a destination address of the second interface of the user plane or both are received, by way of the user plane. One of the default downlink forwarding address, the currently used downlink forwarding address or both can be modified based on the uplink origination address, the destination address or both. Modification of the default downlink forwarding address, the currently used downlink forwarding address or both results in a redirection of an associated packet flow within the user plane. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09538554B2 |
Random access method and random access channel structure in mobile communication system having large cell radius
A random access method in a mobile communication system, the random access method for supporting random access with a cell size of about 100 kilometers (km) or more and a power limited terminal, and a preamble structure thereof are provided. While a conventional long term evolution (LTE) random access preamble sequence is reused, a difference in a round-trip delay time between terminals in a large cell area may be compensated. Additionally, since higher power transmission is achieved per bandwidth, a higher link margin may be secured. Also, compatibility with resource scheduling of the conventional LTE may be maintained. Random access may be supported in a large cell, and a preamble structure of a satellite mobile communication may be implemented based on terrestrial LTE. |
| US09538551B2 |
Admission control for control channel
Network node (110) and method (600) in a network node (110), for admission control of an additional radio access bearer based on load of control channel elements on a control channel, assigned by a scheduler (700) comprised in the network node (110). The method (600) comprises assigning (601), by the scheduler (700), control channel elements on the control channel for already admitted radio access bearers. Further, a first and a second load of the control channel is computed (606, 607) based on the usage of assigned control channel elements subframes on which both downlink assignments and uplink grants are enabled, and on which downlink assignments are enabled, respectively. If any of the first or second loads exceeds a respective threshold value, the radio access bearer to be admitted is rejected (609A). |
| US09538550B2 |
Cooperative uplink reception suitable for non-ideal backhaul
A first cell determines that UE(s) should have HARQ cycle(s) skipped, where each of the UE(s) is to take part in a CoMP transmission. Skipping is to be performed to enable the first cell to receive information from second cell(s) over backhaul link(s) for the HARQ transmission(s). A first HARQ cycle is scheduled and participated in for the UE(s) in order to receive a transmission at the first cell from the UE(s). The HARQ cycle(s) is/are skipped for the UE(s) by sending, prior to decoding information from the uplink CoMP transmissions, an acknowledgement to the UE(s) and not scheduling the UE(s) for a PDCCH grant for the HARQ cycle(s). The skipping depends on one or more of: a backhaul latency, a load in the first cell, a type of UE, or a request to the second cell(s). Apparatus and program products are also disclosed. |
| US09538548B2 |
Communication control apparatus, terminal apparatus, and communication control method
Provided is a communication control apparatus including a communication unit configured to receive, from a base station of a first radio communication system, grant information that specifies a resource for secondary use within a frequency resource assigned to the first radio communication system operated with a frequency division duplex scheme, and a communication control unit configured to operate a second radio communication system with a time division duplex scheme on the resource for secondary use during a period that is associated with the grant information. |
| US09538546B2 |
Processing-time dependent control of data block transmission
A node (100; 300) of a mobile network is responsible for scheduling transmissions of data blocks between the mobile network and a terminal device (200, 200′). The node (100; 300) may for example be a base station (100) or a control node (300) of the mobile network. The node (100; 300) determines a processing time required by the terminal device (200; 200′) for processing signals for transmission of one of the data blocks. The processing time is determined from a plurality of supported processing times. On the basis of the determined processing time, the node (100; 300) schedules the transmission of the data block. The terminal device (200, 200′) may provide control data for determining the processing time to the node (100; 300). |
| US09538540B2 |
Smart congestion control for RRC connected mode in LTE systems
A UE establishes an RRC connection with a base station for an application in a mobile communication network. The UE acquires a barring indication that indicates whether scheduling request (SR) barring is applicable for the application. The UE then acquires prioritized barring parameters for SR barring if applicable. The prioritized barring parameters is associated with a priority of the application. Finally, the UE determines whether to send a scheduling request for an arrived packet based on the prioritized barring parameters. In one embodiment, the application is associated with a quality of service (QoS) class indicator (QCI), and the priority of the application is based on the QCI. The prioritized SR barring mechanism based on QCI can be applied for RRC Connected mode with finer granularity. |
| US09538537B1 |
Blind carrier synchronization method for OFDM wireless communication systems
Systems and methods are disclosed herein for blind frequency synchronization. In one embodiment, a method is disclosed, comprising: downconverting a received orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) signal to baseband; identifying, from the downconverted received signal, a series of OFDM symbols in the time domain; performing a fast Fourier transform (FFT) on a block of several time domain samples to turn the time domain OFDM symbols into frequency domain OFDM symbols, one sample per subcarrier in the received OFDM signal; computing a cross-correlation between in-phase and quadrature samples in each subcarrier and for each frequency domain OFDM symbol, wherein the cross-correlation may be computed as a sum of products of either squares or absolute values of the in-phase and quadrature samples; and summing the computed cross-correlation across the series of symbols and across all subcarriers to determine a frequency offset for the received OFDM signal. |
| US09538535B2 |
Cross-band rate adaption
A system and method are disclosed that may allow a STA to selectively change frequency bands from an operating band to a candidate band based on operating conditions. In response to determining that a channel condition is within a band switch region associated with a candidate band, the STA may select the candidate band and temporarily switch to it. The STA may select an initial modulation and coding scheme for the candidate band and probe the candidate band with data to determine an estimate of candidate band goodput. If the estimate of candidate band goodput is greater than the operating band goodput, the STA may switch to the candidate band. |
| US09538534B2 |
Communication control apparatus and communication control method for assigning resources for relay of data traffic
Provided is a communication control apparatus including a communication unit configured to receive, from a base station of a radio communication system, grant information that specifies a resource for relay within a frequency resource assigned to a radio communication system operated with a frequency division duplex scheme, the resource for relay being granted to be used for relay of traffic, and a relay control unit configured to relay the traffic with a time division duplex scheme on the resource for relay during a period that is associated with the grant information. |
| US09538533B2 |
Method and device for resource allocation
The embodiment of the present invention relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and particularly to a method and a device for resource allocation, which are used to solve the problem existing in the prior art that, when an inter-neighborhood interference coordination method is used to reduce interference, it often results in a low resource utilization rate in neighborhoods or a limitation on the transmission power, which wastes the hardware resources in a base station and increases power consumption. The method in the embodiment of the present invention comprises: at least two frequency sub-bands are determined in a carrier bandwidth, wherein the central frequencies of frequency sub-bands are different, and there is an overlapping area in the frequency domain between at least two frequency sub-bands from all frequency sub-bands; the determined frequency sub-bands are allocated to individual neighborhoods in a deployment area, and the frequency sub-band allocated to a neighborhood is used as the system bandwidth of that neighborhood. By using the method in the embodiment of the present invention, the inter-neighborhood interference in common uplink channels and common downlink channels is decreased effectively, and thus the limitation on transmission power in those neighborhoods is reduced, which increases the available signal transmission power in the neighborhoods to a certain extent and at the same time reduces the hardware costs of the base station and power consumption, without increasing the costs for network deployment. |
| US09538531B2 |
Systems and methods for activity coordination in multi-radio terminals
A wireless communication device is provided with a first radio module and a second radio module inside. The first radio module performs wireless transceiving according to a plurality of first traffic patterns which each indicates allocations of a plurality of first slots for a plurality of forthcoming transmitting or receiving operations, respectively. The second radio module determines an indicator indicating at least one of a plurality of second traffic patterns which each indicates allocations of a plurality of second slots for a plurality of forthcoming transmitting or receiving operations, respectively. Particularly, one or more allocations of the second slots are selectively determined according to the first traffic patterns. Also, the second radio module transmits the indicator to a peer communication device, so that the peer communication device performs transmitting or receiving operations according to the indicator. |
| US09538527B2 |
Method for determining transmission time interval, base station, and radio network controller
Embodiments of the present application provide a method for determining a transmission time interval, a base station, and a radio network controller. A base station receives uplink data sent from a user equipment in an idle state or a cell forward access channel state on an enhanced dedicated transmission channel. The base station determines a transmission time interval (TTI) used by the user equipment for sending the uplink data, and sends the uplink data and a transmission time interval indicator in an enhanced dedicated transmission channel data frame to a radio network controller. The radio network controller acquires the TTI, thereby ensuring that the radio network controller selects and configures an appropriate TTI for the user equipment when the user equipment transits from the Cell_FACH state to the Cell_DCH state. |
| US09538525B2 |
Robust unicast/broadcast/multicast communication protocol
Methods and apparatus for implementing a robust unicast/broadcast/multicast protocol are provided. In one aspect, a method of avoiding collision of intra-basic service set unicast, broadcast or multicast transmissions notifies stations in the basic service set of a reserved transmit opportunity for a unicast, broadcast or multicast transmission. Transmissions from at least one station in the basic service set are deferred until after the reserved unicast, broadcast or multicast transmit opportunity. |
| US09538521B2 |
Communication support for low capability devices
Methods and apparatuses for transmitting and receiving signaling, by a User Equipment (UE) with reduced processing capabilities, to conserve power are provided. A method for transmitting from a network a Physical Downlink Shared CHannel (PDSCH) to a first User Equipment (UE) from a first class of UEs or to a second UE from a second class of UEs, includes transmitting a PDSCH to the first UE using a first bandwidth unit; and transmitting a PDSCH to the second UE using a second bandwidth unit, wherein the second bandwidth unit is smaller than the first bandwidth unit. |
| US09538520B2 |
Data transmission method, network system and corresponding device
A data transmission method in an enhanced CELL_FACH state, a network system, and a corresponding device are provided. The method includes the following steps. A radio transceiver receives information indicating a capability category of a UE. The radio transceiver acquires the capability category of the UE according to the information indicating the capability category of the UE. The radio transceiver performs data transmission to or from the UE according to the capability category of the UE. Since the information indicating the capability category of the UE is sent to the radio transceiver during the enhanced CELL_FACH data transmission, the radio transceiver performs the data transmission based on the capability category of a target UE, instead of the lowest capability category of the UE, thereby increasing the data transmission rate in the enhanced CELL_FACH state. |
| US09538518B2 |
Method for detecting downlink control channel in wireless communication system and apparatus for same
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method for detecting a downlink control channel in a wireless communication system and to an apparatus for same. The method by which a terminal receives downlink control information in a wireless communication system, according to one example of the present invention, includes the steps of: receiving information elements, including information for setting a plurality of downlink subframe sets and information for representing a downlink control channel type for each of the plurality of downlink subframe sets, from a base station; determining the resource location to which the control is mapped in a specific downlink subframe set according to the type of the control channel; and monitoring a control channel corresponding to the control channel type at the resource location of the downlink subframe belonging to the specific downlink subframe set and receiving the downlink control information transmitted through the control channel. |
| US09538515B2 |
Downlink signaling for adaptation of an uplink-downlink configuration in TDD communication systems
An apparatus includes a User Equipment (UE) having a receiver and a decoder. The receiver is configured to receive, from an eNodeB (eNB), a signal indicating a configuration of a period to receive one or more Physical Downlink Control CHannels (PDCCHs) in respective one or more Transmission Time Intervals (TTIs). Each of the one or more PDCCHs conveys a same Downlink Control Information (DCI) format. The DCI format includes at least one field indicating a first Time Division Duplexing (TDD) UpLink-DownLink (UL-DL) configuration in a first cell for DL data receptions or UL data transmissions. A TDD UL-DL configuration includes ten TTIs each having a respective serial index from 0 to 9. The receiver is also configured to receive, from the eNB, at least one PDCCH of the one or more PDCCHs. The decoder is configured to decode the DCI format conveyed by the at least one PDCCH in a second cell. The period is a multiple of ten TTIs, and the one or more TTIs are in a last ten TTIs of the period. |
| US09538514B2 |
Method for receiving downlink signal and method for transmitting same, user equipment, and base station
Presented is a plan for utilizing resources not being used in a subframe consisting of relay transmission, and being thrown away thereafter. The present invention enables efficient utilization of the resources by reducing the waste of the resources in a wireless communication system supporting a relay. |
| US09538510B2 |
Uplink resource allocation for relay node based communication
A wireless communications system including a base station, a relay device, and a terminal device. The terminal device is operable to receive from the base station an allocation of uplink resources for transmitting uplink data to the relay device, and to transmit uplink data to the relay device using the uplink resources allocated to the terminal device. The relay device is operable to receive the transmitted uplink data from the terminal device on the allocated resources, to receive an allocation of uplink resources for relaying the received uplink data to the base station, and to transmit the received uplink data to the base station using the uplink resources allocated to the relay device. |
| US09538508B2 |
Sequence generation and transmission method based on time and frequency domain transmission unit
A method of transmitting, by a user equipment, control information in a communication system. The method according to one embodiment includes multiplying transmission information corresponding to the control information by a frequency direction sequence, of which length corresponds to a number of subcarriers in a resource block, to generate a first output signal; multiplying the first output signal by a time direction sequence, of which length corresponds to a number of symbols used for transmission of the control information in a transmission unit, to generate a second output signal; and transmitting the second output signal in the transmission unit. |
| US09538507B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting control channel signal in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing communication system
The present invention is a method in which a base station transmits a control channel signal in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system, wherein the method configures a physical resource block (PRB) from multiple resource elements (REs) for a control channel signal for scheduling, allocates at least one RE to a response channel signal, the at least one RE occupying the time domain the same as that of the RE used in a resource signal transmission in a data channel region of the PRB and occupying the frequency domain nearest to the RE used in the reference signal transmission, and transmits the control channel signal for scheduling and the response channel signal. |
| US09538506B2 |
Method to take mobile station preference for channel type into consideration when performing codec negotiation
Controlling establishment of a connection between an originating subscriber connected via an originating radio network to a communication network and a terminating subscriber connected via a terminating radio network to the communication network. The connection is established between originating payload node and terminating payload node employing a common coding scheme. Coding scheme negotiation comprises establishing, in originating control node (OCN), a list of supported coding schemes of originating subscriber, originating radio network and originating payload node. Determining, by the OCN, a radio channel property of the originating subscriber, oRCP, relaying the list and the radio channel property between the control nodes controlling the connection towards a terminating control node (TCN). Removing, by the control nodes, non-supported coding schemes from the list. Determining, by the TCN, common coding scheme(s) for the connection by selecting a remaining coding scheme considering the oRCP and a radio channel property of the terminating subscriber, tRCP. |
| US09538502B2 |
Methods and apparatus for managing control and data transmissions for low cost user equipments
Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods and apparatus for managing control and data transmissions for low cost UEs. In certain aspects, multiplexing of a control channel and data channel may be allowed in a Physical Resource Block (PRB) pair of a subframe. An indication may be provided to the UE regarding whether a portion of resources of the PRB pair not used to transmit the control channel is available for transmitting the data channel. In alternative aspects, control and data may be scheduled in different subframes, such that there is no need to multiplex them in a subframe or a PRB pair in a same subframe. |
| US09538501B2 |
Communication control method and user terminal
A UE 100 is a UE 100 included in a D2D group (a terminal group) including a plurality of UEs 100 (a UE 100-1 and a UE 100-2) in a mobile communication system that supports D2D communication that is direct inter-terminal communication performed within the D2D group. The UE 100 performs UE-initiated scheduling of deciding allocation radio resources that are radio resources used for the D2D communication from among target radio resources reserved in a serving cell in which the D2D group exists and a neighboring cell adjacent to the serving cell when the D2D group is detected to be in a high-speed moving state. |
| US09538500B2 |
Method for determining moving direction of terminal and correcting position thereof, and positioning apparatus using the method
Provided are a method for determining a moving direction of a terminal and correcting a position thereof, and a positioning apparatus using the same. Relative direction information is estimated based on N pieces of position information of the terminal, and distortion information is removed from the relative direction information to acquire relative direction information without direction integrity. Further, the relative direction information is transmitted into absolute direction information to acquire a moving path direction of the terminal. Next, the position information of the terminal is corrected based on the moving path direction of the terminal. |
| US09538499B2 |
Method and system for providing enhanced location based information for wireless handsets
Methods, devices and systems for generating enhanced location information on or about a mobile device. A mobile device may be configured to determine an initial location value, compute an initial location accuracy value, compare the initial location accuracy value to a threshold value, and establish a communications group with a plurality of transceivers in response to determining that the initial location accuracy value exceeds the threshold value. In response to establishing the communications group, the mobile device may receive location information from the transceivers, use the received location information to determine a trilateration position value, and compute a trilateration variance value. The mobile device may then determine a final location value based on a combination of the initial location value, initial location accuracy value, trilateration position value, and trilateration variance value, and use the final location value to provide an enhanced location based service. |
| US09538498B2 |
Method and system for providing enhanced location based information for wireless handsets using dead reckoning
Methods, devices and systems for generating enhanced location information on or about a mobile device may include improved dead reckoning solutions in which the mobile device performs location determination calculations with the aid of network components or global positioning systems (GPS). The network aided location information may be provided to the processor and utilized in measuring the accuracy of sensor based location calculations. The mobile device may utilize local sensors to obtain a set of combined sensor output location information, which may seed execution of dead reckoning To ensure that most accurate location information is provide to the enhanced location based service, the dead reckoning location information may be compared to a current best estimate. Results of the comparison may be passed to the enhanced location based service and the methods, systems, and devices may reiterate the location determination. |
| US09538494B2 |
Time distance of arrival based mobile device location detection with disturbance scrutiny
Techniques for locating a mobile device using a time distance of arrival (TDOA) method with disturbance scrutiny are provided. In an aspect, for respective combinations of three base station devices of a number of base station devices greater than or equal to three, intersections in hyperbolic curves, generated using a closed form function with input values based on differences of distances from the device to pairs of base station devices of the respective combinations of three base station devices, are determined. The intersection points are then tested for robustness against measurement errors associated with the input values and a subset of the intersection points that are associated with a degree of resistance to the measurement errors are selected to estimate a location of the device. |
| US09538490B2 |
Method of performing uplink synchronization in wireless communication system
A method of performing uplink synchronization in a wireless communication system includes transmitting a random access preamble which is randomly selected from a set of random access preambles, receiving a random access response, the random access response comprising a random access preamble identifier corresponding to the random access preamble and a time alignment value for uplink synchronization, starting a time alignment timer after applying the time alignment value, starting a contention resolution timer after receiving the random access response, wherein contention resolution is not successful when the contention resolution timer is expired, and stopping the time alignment timer when the contention resolution timer is expired. |
| US09538486B1 |
Dynamic power boosting based on contiguous and non-contiguous coverage
A method, system, and medium are provided for dynamically activating and deactivating power boosting operations in a mobile communications network. A determination of whether a power boosting operation is appropriate or not is made based on the network's coverage contiguity characteristics. Power boosting operations are activated when the network exhibits contiguous coverage and deactivated when the network's coverage is non-contiguous. |
| US09538485B2 |
Systems and methods for reporting pilot signal power information in a four branch MIMO system
A base station, comprising a first antenna for transmitting a first pilot signal; a second antenna for transmitting a second a pilot signal; a third antenna for transmitting a third pilot signal; and a fourth antenna for transmitting a fourth pilot signal. The base station is configured to transmit pilot signal power information for indicating power values to a user equipment, UE, receiving the pilot signal power information. The pilot signal power information comprises: a first power value corresponding to the first pilot signal, a second power value corresponding to the second pilot signal, a third power value corresponding to the third pilot signal, and a fourth power value providing information regarding at least two demodulation pilot signals. |
| US09538484B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling transmission power of device-to-device communication network
The present invention is to provide a method and device for controlling transmission power by taking comprehensive consideration not only of the effect received onto itself in each device-to-device (D2D) link of a D2D communication network but also of the effect exerted onto the neighboring links. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a processing method in a transmission terminal of a first link for controlling the transmission power of the transmission terminals of links in a D2D communication network, which includes terminals of at least the first link and terminals of a second link adjacent to the first link includes: measuring the strengths of first detection signals transmitted from reception terminals of the first link and the second link; and determining a first transmission power adjustment ratio for the transmission terminal of the first link so that a signal-to-interference ratio of the second link is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value on the basis of the measured strengths of the first detection signals. |
| US09538482B2 |
Methods of reverse link power control
Methods of reverse link power control are provided. A first example method includes first adjusting OFDMA transmission power based on first feedback signals during an OFDMA transmission and second adjusting OFDMA transmission power based on second feedback signals during periods between OFDMA transmissions. A second example method includes sending first power adjustment indicators based on measured OFDMA SINRs when receiving OFDMA transmissions from a mobile station and sending second power adjustment indicators based on estimated OFDMA SINRs when not receiving OFDMA transmissions from the mobile station. A third example method includes receiving a plurality of interference indicating signals from different base stations and determining whether to adjust a maximum transmit power threshold based on the plurality of interference indicating signals, the maximum transmit power threshold indicating the maximum permitted transmission power level below which transmissions are constrained. |
| US09538481B2 |
Uplink power control method, power control parameter configuration method and apparatus thereof
Disclosed are an uplink power control method, power control parameter configuration method and apparatus thereof. The uplink power control method comprises: a user equipment receives data in M downlink sub-frames of N downlink carriers and generates uplink control information, wherein the uplink control information of the M downlink sub-frames is transmitted in one uplink sub-frame; the user equipment determines ΔF_PUCCH(F) and h(n) for calculating the transmit power of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) according to whether the number of bits of the uplink control information is larger than a predefined threshold; ΔF_PUCCH(F) represents the power offset of different PUCCH formats relative to the PUCCH format 1a, h(n) represents the power offset corresponding to the number of transmission bits of the PUCCH; the user equipment calculates the PUCCH transmit power according to ΔF_PUCCH(F) and h(n), and sending the uplink control information on the PUCCH using the calculated transmit power. The present invention can improve the accuracy of power control, thus enhance the transmission performance of the uplink control information. |
| US09538478B2 |
Method and system for managing transmit power on a wireless communication network
The present disclosure sets forth multiple embodiments of the invention. Among those embodiments is a method for determining a maximum power reduction of an uplink signal. The uplink signal is transmitted on a carrier that has a range of frequencies. Frequencies outside of the carrier frequency range include adjacent channel regions. Resource blocks of the carrier that have been allocated for use by to transmit the uplink signal are identified. A power spectral density is determined based on the identified resource blocks. A metric that is based on a third order convolution of the power spectral density function is determined. A maximum power reduction for the adjacent channel regions is also determined based on the metric. |
| US09538469B2 |
Method and apparatus for enhancing the power efficiency of wireless communication devices
A method and system for enhancing the power efficiency of a first wireless device that includes an energy receiver. In one implementation, the method includes receiving a transmitted signal at the first wireless device, converting the transmitted signal into power through the energy receiver, and providing the power to the first wireless device. |
| US09538467B2 |
Telecommunications systems and methods
A wireless telecommunications system including a base station and a terminal device and employing a radio interface having a downlink radio frame structure including radio subframes including an arrangement of reference symbols for channel estimation. The base station is configured to determine a period of time for which certain terminal device specific data are not scheduled for transmission to the terminal device and to communicate this information to the terminal device through selective suppression of at least one reference symbol. Different reference symbol(s) may be suppressed to indicate different periods of time. The terminal device is configured to monitor the reference symbols transmitted by a base station to identify where reference symbols are suppressed, to determine a period of time for which the terminal device is not expected to receive certain types of data and enter a reduced activity mode for that period to conserve processing and power resources. |
| US09538465B2 |
Sensor node and gateway mutually communicating in wireless sensor network
A gateway and method thereof are provided to communicate with sensor nodes. The gateway includes a generator configured to generate, based on schedule information on a previous uplink interval, response data. The gateway also includes an allocator configured to allocate a subsequent uplink interval to the sensor nodes to generate schedule information on the subsequent uplink interval. The gateway includes a transmitter configured to transmit the response data and the schedule information on the subsequent uplink interval to the sensor nodes. |
| US09538464B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting management information in wireless local area network system
A method for transmitting load information in a wireless local area network. The method according to one embodiment includes generating, by an access point (AP), basic service set (BSS) load information, the BSS load information including a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) channel underutilization field; and transmitting, by the AP, the BSS load information. The MIMO channel underutilization field indicates a spatial stream underutilization that is defined as a percentage of time that the AP has one or more underutilized spatial domain resources for a given busy time of a wireless medium. The spatial stream underutilization is calculated based on a maximum number of spatial streams supported by the AP and a number of one or more utilized spatial streams transmitted by the AP. |
| US09538463B2 |
Apparatuses and methods for wireless fidelity (WiFi) network selection
A wireless communications device is provided with a storage unit and a processor. The storage unit is configured to store signal strengths and throughputs of a plurality of Access Points (APs) which the wireless communications device was previously or is currently connected to. The processor is configured to update the stored signal strength and throughput of the currently connected AP, and scan for available APs nearby in response to detecting a low-throughput condition of the currently connected AP. |
| US09538461B1 |
Circumventing wireless device spatial tracking based on wireless device identifiers
A facility for interacting with data networks using a permanent network identifier persistently stored within a computing system is described. In one example facility, in response to each opportunity to connect to a data network, the facility identifies information for the data network, and determines whether the determined identifying matches any of a set of approved data networks. In response to determining that it does, the facility establishes a connection with the first data network using the computing system's permanent network identifier, and conducts the established connection with the first data network using the computing system's permanent network identifier. In response to determining that it does not, the facility establishes a connection with the data network using a temporary network identifier that is different from the computing system's permanent network identifier, and conducts the established connection with the data network using the temporary network identifier. |
| US09538460B2 |
Steering connection requests for an access point to a best-serving access point
Network devices are steered to preferred access points using a probability function. A probe request for connection is received from a network device. The probe request can be from a network device attempting to use a wireless network (e.g., a IEEE 802.11-type network or other suitable type of network). A probability function that defines a likelihood of granting the network device a connection is used to determine whether to accept or deny the response. The probe response is then sent to the network device. |
| US09538454B2 |
Extended access barring and network sharing
It is provided an apparatus, including base station means adapted to provide a base station functionality for a first user equipment attached to a first network and a second user equipment attached to a second network different from the first network; access barring broadcasting means adapted to broadcast, via the base station means, a first EAB parameter including a first category indication for extended access barring related to the first network and a second category indication for extended access barring related to the second network. |
| US09538453B1 |
Determining a serving system for a mobile station in an area served by multiple serving systems
Methods and a corresponding system for conserving inter-MSC trunk capacity when multiple serving systems provide coverage at a particular geographic area. A first determination is made that when a first mobile station and a second mobile station are both at the particular geographic area, the first mobile station and the second mobile station engage in communications with each other. A second determination is made that the first mobile station and the second mobile station are both at the particular geographic area. And responsive to making at least the first and second determinations, the first mobile station is provisioned with preferred roaming list data that causes the first mobile station to be served by a given one of the multiple serving systems that also serves the second mobile station. |
| US09538449B1 |
Quality of service optimizer for mobile device
A method, system, and medium are provided for improving communication between a mobile device and a wireless network in embodiment of the invention. Based in part on expected locations for a mobile device and network availability, predictions can be made regarding the future quality of service available for the mobile device. This prediction can allow actions to be taken to mitigate any change in the quality of service. |
| US09538444B2 |
Access point, wireless communication terminal and server
Provided is an access point capable of handling a connection request exceeding the throughput while maintaining a communication state of a wireless communication terminal. The access point has a notification unit 212 for notifying the server 11 of a bandwidth deficit if, in response to a connection request including a required bandwidth received from a wireless communication terminal 31, the required bandwidth cannot be secured, and a request unit 211, based on information on a specific wireless communication terminal 32 capable of changing an access point transmitted from the server 11 in response to a notification by the notification unit 212, for requesting the specific wireless communication terminal 32 to change the wireless IF being used. |
| US09538443B2 |
User equipment short stay report
A second handover of a user equipment from a cell B to a cell C of a cellular communications network is successfully completed, wherein a successful completion of a first handover of the user equipment from a cell A of the cellular communications network to the cell B has immediately preceded the second handover. The second handover is determined as being a rapid handover at the cell B and/or the cell C based on a detection that the second handover of the user equipment has been initiated from the cell B to the cell C within a configurable period of time since the successful completion of the first handover, and the rapid handover is reported to the cell A. |
| US09538438B2 |
Method and apparatus for transferring bearing in layered network
A method and apparatus for transferring bearing in a layered network are disclosed in the embodiments of the present application, which relate to wireless communications field and are used to avoid failure when transferring bearing in user layer so as to improve communications quality of users. In the present application, after judging the need for transferring a Data Wireless Bearing DRB of a terminal to a Closed Subscriber Group CSG Local eNB, a Macro eNB determines whether to allow the terminal to access the CSG Local eNB and initiates a bearing transferring process to the CSG Local eNB if so. The CSG Local eNB accepts a bearing transferring request carrying CSG member status information of the terminal sent by the Macro eNB and implements accessing control for the separated bearing of the terminal according to the CSG member status information. Thus it can be seen said problems can be avoided. |
| US09538433B2 |
Method for determining target, network element, and system for determining target
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, a network element, and a system for determining a target RAT. The method includes: receiving, by an access network element, access control information of a UE that is sent by a mobility management network element, where the access control information includes an identity of a PLMN and a radio access technology RAT allowed and/or a RAT not allowed by the PLMN; and determining, by the access network element, a target RAT for the UE according to the access control information. |
| US09538425B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling a handover between utra R6 cells and R7 cells
A method and apparatus for controlling an optimization of handover procedures between universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA) release 6 (R6) cells and UTRA release 7 (R7) cells are disclosed. When a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) is moving between an R6 cell and an R7 cell, or between R7 cells, a handover is initiated from a source Node-B to a target Node-B. In the R7 cell, the enhanced medium access control (MAC) functionality including flexible radio link control (RLC) protocol data unit (PDU) size and high speed MAC (MAC-hs) segmentation and multiplexing of different priority queues are supported. After the handover, a MAC layer and/or an RLC layer are reconfigured or reset based on functionality supported by the target Node-B. |
| US09538422B2 |
Blind mobility load balancing between source and target cells
An example method is provided and includes monitoring a plurality of neighboring nodes to detect attempts to perform mobility load balancing by the neighboring nodes; detecting an attempt to perform mobility load balancing by at least one neighboring node; determining an identity of the at least one of the neighboring nodes; and setting an offset parameter for the identified neighboring node(s) to an optimal value. The monitoring may include monitoring a number of handover requests received within a predetermined time period. The detecting may include detecting that the number of handover requests received within the predetermined time period exceeds a predetermined number. The determining may include determining a source of each of the received handover requests, which may be accomplished by examining a user equipment history included in each of the received handover requests or by performing an iterative elimination process with respect to the neighboring nodes. |
| US09538421B1 |
Adaptive ROHC state transition
A method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable medium for wireless communication are provided. The apparatus may be a first device. The first device operates a ROHC compressor in a first state at a ROHC sublayer to compress a first packet to be transmitted to a second device. The first packet includes information for a ROHC decompressor to establish a ROHC context. The information enables the ROHC decompressor to decompress a second packet compressed by the ROHC compressor when operating in a second state. The first device determines, at a sublayer or a layer lower than the ROHC sublayer, whether the first packet has been successfully received at the second device. The first device continues operating the ROHC compressor in the first state in response to a determination that the first packet has not been successfully received at the second device. |
| US09538420B2 |
Efficient medium access control (MAC) header
A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) configured to operate in an IEEE 802.11 network may receive a MAC header with two or three address fields and a MAC frame version indicator. The MAC header may have at least one bit that indicates a presence of a third address field in the MAC header. The WTRU may determine a time interval for MAC frame transmissions by multiplying a duration value in a first message field by a multiplier value in a second message field. |
| US09538419B2 |
Method and apparatus relating to congestion control
A method and apparatus for enabling service aware congestion control of PS (Packet Switched) data to be performed in a communication network. In the communication network PS data is communicated between a core network of the communication network and one or more User Equipments, UE, via the communication network node. Each UE is associated to the core network by one or more PS connections, and each of the PS connections is applied by the UE for a respective PS data service. When performing the service aware congestion control, information related to a respective PS data service is obtained, and priority information is provided to a resource manager arranged in the communication network. The priority information is based on the information related to the respective PS data service for a plurality of the PS connections. The resource manager is then enabled to perform congestion control of the PS connections based on the priority information. By determining for which PS data services the PS connections are currently applied, and prioritize the PS connections accordingly, the communication network node may reallocate RAN communication resources to higher prioritized PS data services from less prioritized PS data services. Thereby, a more flexible and effective use of available RAN communication resources may be achieved. |
| US09538414B2 |
Transmission control method and node
Each of the nodes included in an ad-hoc network determines whether an identifier indicative of high-priority data is included in data received from another node. When the identifier is included in the received data, each of the nodes determines whether the subject node is a device that relays the received data to a destination. When determining that the subject node is a device that relays the received data to the destination, each of the nodes transmits the received data to the destination. When determining that the subject node is not a device that relays the received data to the destination, each of the nodes suppresses data transmission to the nodes included in the ad-hoc network. |
| US09538413B2 |
Coverage adjustment in E-UTRA networks
Embodiments of systems and techniques for coverage adjustment in evolved universal terrain radio access networks (E-UTRANs) are described. In some embodiments, a network management (NM) apparatus may receive data representative of first and second radio link failure (RLF) reports including information related to respective disconnections of first and second user equipment (UEs) from an E-UTRAN. The NM apparatus may identify a hole in a coverage area of the E-UTRAN based at least in part on the first and second RLF reports, and may perform an automated coverage and capacity optimization (CCO) action to reconfigure cell resources of the E-UTRAN based on the identified hole. Other embodiments may be described and claimed. |
| US09538409B2 |
Quality of user experience analysis
The techniques described herein involve analysis of communication data included in trace file(s) of device(s) involved in a communication. These trace file(s) may each include data associated with multiple layers of a communication protocol stack of a respective device or data associated with a single such layer. The techniques may further involve one or more of determination of performance metrics associated with data at a specific layer of a specific device, correlation of the data between layers of a device, or correlation of data across multiple device(s) involved in the communication. The performance metrics or correlated data may then be analyzed based on thresholds or models to determine whether the performance metrics or correlated data exhibits a degraded quality of user experience. Also or instead, graphic or textual representations of the performance metrics or correlated data may be generated. |
| US09538407B2 |
Method of transmitting and receiving control information in wireless communication system
A method of receiving control information in a wireless communication system includes receiving position information for searching at least one downlink control channel, a downlink control channel carrying control information of at least one user equipment, receiving multiplexed downlink control channel in which a plurality of downlink control channels are sequentially multiplexed and sequentially searching the downlink control channel on the multiplexed downlink control channel according to the position information. The number of detection attempts to detect its own control information can be reduced. |
| US09538406B2 |
Method for using terminal to detect small-scale cell in environment in which macrocell and small-scale cell coexist
The present disclosure provides a method for using a terminal to detect a small-scale cell at the edge of coverage of the small-scale cell in a wireless communication system in which a macrocell and the small-scale cell coexist. The present invention may include: a step of measuring a macrocell; a step of comparing a value related to the reference signal received quality (RSRQ) acquired according to the macrocell measurement with at least one critical value; a step of determining whether or not to carry out at least one interference removal function for receiving a signal from a small-scale cell in accordance with the determined results; and a step of detecting the signal from the small-scale cell when the interference removal function is actuated. |
| US09538404B2 |
Apparatus and methods for product acceptance testing on a wireless device
In an embodiment, a product acceptance test application is transmitted by an apparatus across a wireless network to a wireless communications device. The product acceptance test application is configured to be executed by the wireless communications device so as to simulate network communications corresponding to a network communications test scenario. The wireless communications device simulates the network communications using the product acceptance test application and generates product acceptance data which is sent to the apparatus. The apparatus receives the product acceptance data from the wireless communication device indicative of test result data that is based upon the simulated network communications. The apparatus determines a product acceptance decision based on the product acceptance data. |
| US09538398B2 |
Method, apparatus and system for establishing neighbor relation
The present invention is applicable to the field of communications, and provides a method, an apparatus and a system for establishing a neighbor relation. The method includes: receiving a discovery message sent by a long term evolution element management system LTE EMS for discovering an LTE to 3rd generation mobile communication 3G neighbor relation; obtaining, according to the discovery message, an LTE-3G neighbor relation policy corresponding to the LTE-to-3G neighbor relation among locally stored LTE-3G neighbor relation policies; and establishing a 3G-to-LTE neighbor relation if the policy allows a bidirectional neighbor relation. The technical solutions provided in the present invention have the advantage that a network terminal has few limitations. |
| US09538393B2 |
Mobile terminal test apparatus and mobile terminal test method
To provide a mobile terminal test apparatus and a mobile terminal test method capable of setting the setting items more easily and more accurately than in the related art and testing mobile terminals. A mobile terminal test apparatus 10 includes a registered item display screen control unit 32 that performs a display control operation of displaying a registered item display screen including registered items, a history display screen control unit 33 that performs a display control operation of displaying a history display screen for displaying the history of the setting items set in the past and test parameter values, and a setting item display processing unit 35 that performs at least one of a process related to the display order of the setting items and a process related to the deletion of the setting items. |
| US09538392B2 |
Antenna systems with common overhead for CDMA base stations
Systems and methods for use in CDMA antenna systems are provided in which signals each having a common overhead component are transmitted on a set of adjacent beams of a sector with a micro-timing offset between signals transmitted on adjacent pairs of beams which is large enough that destructive cancellation substantially does not occur between the pair of beams. |
| US09538388B2 |
Method and system for dynamic spectrum access
Methods and systems for dynamic spectrum access (DSA) in a wireless network are provided. A DSA-enabled device may sense spectrum use in a region and, based on the detected spectrum use, select one or more communication channels for use. The devices also may detect one or more other DSA-enabled devices with which they can form DSA networks. A DSA network may monitor spectrum use by cooperative and non-cooperative devices, to dynamically select one or more channels to use for communication while avoiding or reducing interference with other devices. |
| US09538387B2 |
Radio resource assignment coordination in superdense networks
A network controller as well as a method in a network controller for coordinating resource assignments to radio access points of a superdense, SDN, network is provided. The method comprises identifying a set of radio access points in the SDN network whose respective radio resource assignment is to be independently coordinated. The method also comprises obtaining interference information indicative of the extent to which radio transmissions to or from different radio access points in the set would interfere with one another absent radio resource assignment coordination. The method then forms subsets of the radio access points in the set based on this obtained interference information. The method also assigns different subsets of radio resources to the different subsets of the radio access points, and reports assignment information to the radio access points in the set, indicating the assignment of radio resources. |
| US09538380B2 |
Control system cooperating with a mobile device and a management server
A control system includes a control device, a controller, a plurality of user mobile devices, a manager mobile device, and a manager server. An initial first identification information of each user mobile device obtained by the manager mobile device is sent to the manager server, is authenticated, and is encoded. Every time a user mobile device is connected to the controller for opening the control device, a holder of the user mobile device is requested to input an instant first identification information. After decoding by a decoding key, the controller identifies whether the instant first identification information is identical to the authenticated initial first identification information. The identification result is used to decide whether the control device should be set to be an open state. |
| US09538379B2 |
Method for authentication between smart car and smart home and telematics service center therefor
A method for authentication between a smart car and a smart home includes: sending, by a telematics terminal of the smart car, a request for authentication of the telematics terminal to a telematics service center using a position of the smart car and a telephone number of the telematics terminal, wherein a car number of the smart car corresponds to the telephone number of the telematics terminal; checking, by a telematics service center, registration information about whether a smart home near the position of the smart car is registered in a smart home center; and authenticating, by the telematics terminal, the registration information received from the telematics service center through the telematics service center to the smart home center. |
| US09538377B2 |
Switching between restricted-access websites on mobile user devices
A system stores first information, provided by a first user input via a mobile operating system, which enables access to a first restricted access website. The system stores a first screenshot and first data associated with the first restricted access website in response to a first user request, via the mobile operating system, to switch to a second restricted access website. The system stores second information, provided by a second user input via the mobile operating system, which enables access to the second restricted access website. The system stores a second screenshot and second data associated with the second restricted access website in response to a second user input, via the mobile operating system, to switch to the first restricted access website. The system outputs the first screenshot supported by the first data. The system enables access to the first restricted access website based on the stored first information. |
| US09538376B2 |
Authenticating data communications
Methods and apparatuses for authenticating data communications are disclosed. In a method an intermediate node between a sender device and a receiver device obtains an authenticator associated with the sender device. The intermediate node authenticates the sender device such that the intermediate node acts as the receiver device towards the sender device. The intermediate node is then authenticated to the receiver device such that the intermediate node uses the authenticator associated with the sender device for the authentication to transparently intervene data communications from the sender device to the receiver device. |
| US09538373B2 |
Method and device for negotiating security capability when terminal moves
An MME negotiates security in case of idle state mobility for a UE from a first network to a LTE network. The UE sends its security capabilities including non-access stratum (NAS) security capabilities supported by the UE to the LTE network. The MME selects a NAS security algorithm, in accordance with the NAS security capabilities of the UE, and sends the selected NAS security algorithm to the UE, sharing the NAS security algorithm between the UE and the LTE network when the UE moves from the first network to the LTE network. The MME also derives, in accordance with the selected NAS security algorithm, a NAS protection key from an authentication vector-related key so as to security communication between the UE and the LTE network. |
| US09538372B2 |
Establishing communication between devices
When a first device receives an indication to establish a communication with a second device, a feature character string is generated. The first device is associated with a first public key and a first private key. The second device is associated with a second public key and a second private key. The second public key of the second device is obtained. The second public key is used to encrypt the feature character string. A first identification of the first device is at least partly based on the encrypted feature character string and is published. When the feature character string is obtained after decryption, the first public key of the first device is obtained. The second identification is an identification encrypted by the first public key. In response to a determination that the feature character string is obtained after decryption of the second identification, the communication between the first device and the second device is established. |
| US09538366B2 |
Systems and methods of remotely controlling mobile device settings and functionality
Systems and methods for a customer care system. An example diagnostics back-end system may be associated with a telecommunications provider. The diagnostics back-end system may perform diagnostic analyzes of information and settings associated with a mobile device, identify resolvable issues based on the diagnostic analyzes, determine execution eligibility of each of one or more solution actions associated with each resolvable issue and upon determination that execution of the one or more solution actions are eligible, cause display of a single graphical user interface button at a user interface device of a customer care agent terminal, wherein activation of the single graphical user interface button causes execution of associated solution actions performed on the mobile device. |
| US09538362B2 |
Servicing control units of motor vehicles via mobile radio
In a method for wireless exchange of device data between a control unit of a motor vehicle and a vehicle-external computing device, a mobile radio connection is established between a mobile radio module of the motor vehicle and a mobile radio cell of a radio station coupled with the computing device. The device data are transmitted via the mobile radio connection. The radio station provides a private mobile radio cell which is different from all mobile radio cells of public mobile radio networks able to reach the motor vehicle. To establish the mobile radio connection in the motor vehicle, the mobile radio module is reconfigured for registering with the private mobile radio cell by using a SIM card. |
| US09538361B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for registering a terminal in the IMS over a circuit-switched access domain
The invention provides a solution for registering a terminal having a packet-switched and circuit-switched functionality in a packet-switched service domain, such as the IMS over a circuit-switched access domain. In particular it is proposed to send a packet-switched registration message packed in a circuit-switched transport bearer (USSD) to a circuit node (HLR, MSC, dispatcher) which selects an adapter node (IA) being responsible for performing a registration in the packet-switched service domain on behalf of the user using the information provided with the packet-switched registration message and by deriving and adding additional information. |
| US09538352B2 |
Ancillary data support in session initiation protocol (SIP) messaging
A SIP ancillary data server provides host to auxiliary data for an emergency SIP session (call) uniquely referred to in a transported SIP header. In a manner similar to how location is represented in an emergency call, a SIP header is extended. The extended SIP Header contains one of two possible types of content elements: either (a) a content pointer element to a SIP Message body part (a “cid:”, or content identifier); or (b) an |
| US09538350B2 |
Urgency notification delivery channel
A method including, by one or more computing systems, receiving an indication of a communication from a first user to a second user, calculating an implicit urgency score of the communication, calculating a composite urgency score, determining an urgency of the communication and providing an indication of the urgency as determined for presentation to the second user. The implicit urgency score may be based at least in part on information accessible by the computing systems. The composite urgency score may be based at least in part on the implicit urgency score. The urgency of the communication may be based at least in part on the composite urgency score. |
| US09538349B2 |
System and method for managing access to a service for a communication device
A system, method and device for managing requests for services by a communication device in a communication network are provided. The method comprises: receiving a request for a service provided through the communication network; determining whether an account associated with the device has all features required to access the service; when the all features are not provided by the account displaying a first message on a display of the device indicating that access to the service is denied for the device, identifying alternative accounts for the network, displaying a second message on the display listing the alternative accounts and when a selection is provided of a selected account from the alternative accounts, sending a request to an account manager to update the account to the selected account for the device; and when the selected account is activated for the device providing access to the service. |
| US09538342B2 |
Systems and methods for prioritizing messages on a mobile device
A method, performed by a mobile communication device, may include receiving a message; extracting one or more features associated with the message; and determining a priority level for the message, based on the extracted one or more features, using a model that relates the extracted one or more features to an expected response time for the message. The method may further include determining a context associated with the user of the mobile communication device; modifying the priority level based on the determined context; and providing the message to a list of messages based on the modified priority level. Additionally, the user may be provided with a notification tone associated with the modified priority level. |
| US09538336B2 |
Performing data collection based on internal raw observables using a mobile data collection platform
An image that includes a point of interest is captured using an image capturing device that is part of the mobile data collection platform. Raw observables are obtained from a GNSS chipset that is internal to the mobile data collection platform. A position fix of the mobile data collection platform is determined based on the raw observables where the position fix defines a location of an antenna. A location of an entrance pupil is calculated as an offset of the location of the antenna. Orientation information comprising a tilt angle and an azimuth angle is determined. The position fix and the orientation information are associated with a three dimensional location that the mobile data collection platform is at when the image was captured. Scale information is captured. The image, the position fix, the scale information, and the orientation information are stored in hardware memory of the mobile data collection platform. |
| US09538333B2 |
System and method for gathering information about a subject in close proximity to a user
Techniques where a computer system is able to obtain information about a subject by communicating with a device that employs a limited range communication technology and is associated with the subject are described. |
| US09538330B2 |
System and method for selecting a Wi-Fi access point for position determination
Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for position determination are presented. In some embodiments, a method for position determination includes selecting at least one of a plurality of access points based on a measure of response time variability associated with the at least one access point. The method further includes sending, from a device, a communication to the selected at least one access point. The method also includes receiving, from the selected at least one access point, a response to the communication. The method additionally includes calculating a distance from the device to the selected at least one access point based on a round trip time associated with the response to the communication. |
| US09538328B1 |
Estimating whether or not a wireless terminal is in a geographic zone using pattern classification
A method and apparatus are disclosed for estimating whether or not a wireless terminal is in a geographic zone. The illustrative embodiment employs a pattern classifier that is trained on traits of electromagnetic signals at various locations. A computer-executable program is then generated based on the trained pattern classifier, and the program is installed and executed on a subscribed identity module of the terminal. |
| US09538325B2 |
Rotation based alignment of a group of wireless tags
A method for determining a location of a wireless tag, the method may include generating or receiving, by a tagged mobile device, an estimated location of another tag that communicates with the tagged mobile device; receiving or generating, by the tagged mobile device, multiple distance measurements that are obtained during different points of time; wherein the multiple distance measurements are obtained during a rotational movement of the tagged mobile device and represent distances between the tagged mobile device and the other tag; finding a certain angle of rotation of the mobile device that corresponds to a minimal distance measurement of the multiple distance measurements; and amending the estimated location of the other tag based upon the certain angle of rotation. |
| US09538324B2 |
System and method for providing a descriptor for a location to a recipient
A method for providing a descriptor of a location to a recipient includes receiving location data of the location from a user and using the location data to identify one or more regions near or including the location. Each region is associated with a descriptor. The recipient's interaction with each of the regions is indicated and it is provided for at least one region to be selected based on the recipient's interaction with the selected region. The descriptor associated with the selected region is provided to the recipient. |
| US09538323B2 |
Wearable apparatus and controlling method thereof
A wearable apparatus, which includes a positioning module, a local wireless communication module and a processor module, is disclosed. The processor module is adapted to send a request command through the local wireless communication module to the electronic apparatus for inquiring second positioning information generated by the electronic apparatus. In response to the processor module receives a valid request response comprising the second positioning information from the electronic apparatus, the processor module is further adapted to locate the wearable apparatus according to the second positioning information. In response to the processor module receives an invalid request response from the electronic apparatus, the processor module is further adapted to activate the positioning module to receive the first positioning information, and locate the wearable apparatus according to the first positioning information. |
| US09538318B2 |
Apparatus and method for playing music
Provided is an apparatus and method for playing music, which can play music by simply sharing the music with an external device. An apparatus for playing music includes a first portable terminal and a second portable terminal. The first portable terminal transmits FM channel information of an FM transmitter, which is set to broadcast in-play music thereof, and an FM radio application execution command through near field communication (NFC). The second portable terminal receives the FM channel information and the FM radio application execution command from the first portable terminal through the NFC, then executes the FM radio application based on the FM channel information to receive and play the music broadcasted from the first portable terminal. |
| US09538316B2 |
Smart monitor system and hand-held electronic device
A smart monitor system includes a hand-held electronic device and a monitor. The hand-held electronic device includes a panel, a control unit, a touch-sensing cover and a wireless communication unit. The touch-sensing cover has a cover and a touch-sensing structure. The cover is disposed on the side of the hand-held electronic device opposite the panel. Partial or total area of the touch-sensing structure is disposed on the cover. The touch-sensing structure is electrically connected to the control unit. The wireless communication unit has a wireless communication chip and an antenna. The wireless communication chip is electrically connected to the control unit, and the antenna is disposed on the touch-sensing cover. The smart monitor system can communicate with and controls the monitor through the hand-held electronic device for various application. |
| US09538315B2 |
Waveguide with ports for near field communication
A computing device comprises a head that can be docked to a base. The base includes a base transceiver to transmit (or receive) a signal via a first port of a waveguide. The waveguide also includes at least a second port and a third port. The head includes a head transceiver to transmit (or receive) the signal via the waveguide. When the head is in a first position relative to the base, the head transceiver may transmit (or receive) the signal via the second port. When the head is in a second position relative to the base, the head transceiver may receive transmit (or receive) the signal via the third port. |
| US09538311B2 |
Auto-provisioning for internet-of-things devices
A connectivity device includes a microcontroller, a network interface coupled to the microcontroller, and a non-transitory storage device coupled to the microcontroller. The non-transitory storage device includes a token usable for authentication and including executable code. The token includes a unique device identifier (UDID) that uniquely identifies the authentication device and a private key. The executable code is to cause the microcontroller to initiate a registration process with an internet-of-things (IoT) server to register the token with the IoT server. Token creation and activation procedures are also described. |
| US09538307B2 |
Audio signal reproduction device and audio signal reproduction method
An audio signal reproduction device generates, from an obtained audio signal, first reproduction signals for the first speaker group, sounds from which are localized at first virtual sound positions, and second reproduction signals for the second speaker group, sounds from which are localized at second virtual sound positions substantially the same as the first virtual sound positions. The audio signal reproduction device generates the first reproduction signals and the second reproduction signals so that at least phases or sound pressure values of a first sound and a second sound are different at a listening position, the first sound being indicated by the first reproduction signals, and localized at a first position among the first virtual sound positions, the second sound being indicated by the second reproduction signals, localized at a substantially same position as the first position, and substantially the same as the first sound. |
| US09538302B2 |
Detecting headphone earpiece location and orientation based on differential user ear temperature
Techniques for determining whether a speaker element, or “earpiece,” of an earphone or headphone set is located within, or proximate to, a right ear, a left ear, or neither ear of a user of the set may include receiving a first temperature value from a first temperature sensor, receiving a second temperature value from a second temperature sensor, and determining whether the speaker element is located within, or proximate to, the right ear, left ear, or neither ear, based on (e.g., a difference between) the first and second temperature values. The techniques may further include receiving a third temperature value from a third temperature sensor, such as an user ambient temperature sensor, or a user body temperature sensor, and further determining whether the speaker element is located within, or proximate to, the right ear, left ear, or neither ear, based on the third temperature value. |
| US09538301B2 |
Device comprising a plurality of audio sensors and a method of operating the same
There is provided a method of operating a device, the device comprising a plurality of audio sensors and being configured such that when a first audio sensor of the plurality of audio sensors is in contact with a user of the device, a second audio sensor of the plurality of audio sensors is in contact with the air, the method comprising obtaining respective audio signals representing the speech of a user from the plurality of audio sensors; and analyzing the respective audio signals to determine which, if any of the plurality of audio sensors is in contact with the user of the device. |
| US09538287B2 |
DC voltage error protection circuit
This document discusses among other things apparatus and methods for protecting circuit elements from harmful voltages. In an example, an apparatus can include an amplifier configured to receive an input signal and to provide an estimate of a first output signal, a peak detector to receive the estimate and to generate a comparison signal that is active when the amplified input signal exceeds a threshold value, and a timer configured to activate a second output signal if the comparison signal is active for at least a selected time period. The timer can include a first digital input and the selected time period can be set using a state of the first digital input. |
| US09538279B2 |
Headphone controlling system and portable electronic device employing same
A headphone controlling system is used in a portable electronic device to control a playing mode of a headphone connected to the portable electronic device. The headphone controlling system includes a processor, a storage module, a manual controlling module, a positioning module, and a switching module. The storage module stores map data, street traffic data, and automatic control information. The manual controlling module manually switches the playing mode; when it is determined that the portable electronic device is on a heavy traffic street, the positioning module transmits the automatic control information in the storage module to the processor to generate and transmit a control signal according to the automatic control information to the switching module, thereby automatically switching the playing mode. A portable electronic device employing the headphone controlling system is also provided. |
| US09538278B2 |
Deformable controller for electronic device
A deformable controller for an electronic device, such as a portable electronic device, is disclosed. A user can interact with the controller to cause it to “deform” and thereby provide user input to control the electronic device. The controller can be malleable and symmetrical, and user interaction with the controller can be provided with substantially arbitrary orientation. In one embodiment, the controller is an in-line controller with a cable that couples to the electronic device. In one particular implementation, the portable electronic device can be a portable media player and the controller can remotely control media playback functions for the portable media player. |
| US09538266B2 |
Circuit and method for optical bit interleaving in a passive optical network using multi-level signals
An optical line terminal transmitter front-end, an optical network terminal receiver front-end and a bit-interleaved passive optical network (BIPON). In one embodiment, the transmitter front-end includes: (1) a bit interleaver configured to group and interleave a plurality of user bit-streams to yield a combined single bit-stream, (2) an encoder coupled to the bit interleaver and configured to encode multiple bits of the single bit-stream into a multi-level code corresponding to a 2m-level multi-level signal and (3) a multi-level modulator coupled to the encoder and configured to modulate the multi-level code into the 2m-level multi-level signal. |
| US09538265B2 |
Lossless and low-delay optical burst switching using soft reservations and opportunistic transmission
Systems and methods for optical switching of time-varying traffic, including generating fixed-length bursts using one or more Optical Edge Nodes (OENs). The bursts are temporarily stored in electrical buffers located at the OENs, wherein the electrical buffers include one or more burst queues, and one burst queue is allocated for each of one or more destination OENs. The OENs are interconnected using one or more Optical Switching Nodes (OSNs). A control protocol is implemented to establish and remove soft reservations using at least one of the OENs and OSNs, optical channels are reserved for a duration long enough to transmit one or more data bursts, the duration being selected independently for each of the one or more burst queues, the control protocol gives precedence to avoiding disrupting of any existing soft reservations when reserving resources; and the soft reservations are capable of being reused until overridden. |
| US09538263B2 |
Sensor and sensor network and method for the operation thereof
A sensor for measuring at least one measurement variable, a sensor network which has several sensors and a method for operating the sensor network. The sensor initially has a measurement variable sensor which is used to convert the measurement variable into an electric signal. A transducer is used to convert the electric signal into measurement data. The sensor has a first communication interface for transferring the measurement data and other data in accordance with a first protocol and a second communication interface for transferring the measurement data and other data in accordance with a second protocol. The sensor also has a data exchange unit for exchanging data between the transducer, the first communication interface and the second communication interface. |
| US09538262B2 |
Systems, equipment and methods for automatically tracking cable connections and for identifying work area devices and related methods of operating communications networks
Methods for collecting information regarding a remote connector port that is connected to a patch panel connector port by a communications cable that has at least one data communications channel and a separate control channel are provided in which a first conductor of the separate control channel of the communications cable is biased to power an integrated circuit chip that is associated with the remote connector port. A first signal is transmitted over the separate control channel of the communications cable to the integrated circuit chip associated with the remote connector port. A second signal is received from the integrated circuit chip over the separate control channel of the communications cable in response to the first signal. The second signal includes information regarding the remote connector port. |
| US09538259B1 |
Messaging between set top box and head end systems
A system, apparatus, and method provide messaging, between a headend system and a set top box. A distributor determines and provides an assigned communication identifier and an assigned server host address, that correspond to one of one or more first servers, to each of one or more set top box clients. The first servers maintain a persistent connection with the set top box clients and provide messaging, presence, and routing features via the persistent connection. A gateway service provides a gateway for one or more headend servers to communicate with the set top box clients through the first servers. A server controller provides administrative graphical user interfaces for operators to monitor and control health checks, configuration changes, and collect statistics for the distributor, first servers, and the gateway service. |
| US09538254B2 |
Distributed playback architecture
Master element for a distributed playback architecture for a media data, having: a payload data source for providing payload data packets; a beacon packet creator for creating beacon packets useable for synchronizing a playback process of the payload data packets at, at least one, slave element in the distributed playback architecture; and a network interface for transmitting an interleaved packet stream to the at least one slave element, the interleaved packet stream having the payload data packets provided by the payload data source and the beacon packets created by the beacon packet creator. A corresponding slave element, the distributed playback architecture, a method, and a computer program product are also disclosed. |
| US09538249B2 |
Close fulfillment of content requests
Systems and methods are described for subscriber-driven resource shifting in an attempt to maximize delivery of desirable content to subscribers while minimizing the impact of that content delivery to network infrastructure resources. When a media plan subscriber requests access to media content, and the requested object is determined not to be “watch-nowable” (e.g., it would be undesirable to deliver the object in substantially real time to the subscriber given present communications resource availability) embodiments identify a number of content objects that are presently watch-nowable content objects with respect to the requesting subscriber. Of those watch-nowable content objects, various techniques are presented for determining a set of alternate content objects, including those most likely to provide the subscriber with a similar level of engagement. Embodiments present those alternate content objects to the requesting subscriber as alternatives to the requested content object in exchange for a discount. |
| US09538247B2 |
Method and system for image alteration
Methods and systems for image alteration. A video signal having multiple images is accessed, and images are altered to blur the video signal based on a subscriber alteration request. The alteration request is selectable among a partial blur, a full blur, and a restore image. The request includes instructions to selectably blur a partial portion of an image by stretching a first portion, without stretching a second portion. The alteration includes accessing an alternation setting selected from a cycle of alteration settings, a group of preprogrammed alteration settings and combinations thereof. The blurred video signal is provide for presentation by subscriber equipment. The video signal is restored in response to a restorative event detected within the blurred video signal. The detecting of the restorative event includes determining a location of a scene change in the blurred video signal. |
| US09538243B2 |
Data storage management and scheduling system
A data storage management and scheduling system schedules the recording, storing, and deleting of television and Web page program material on a client system storage medium. A schedule of time versus available storage space is generated that is optimal for the viewer's scheduled program recordings. The programs include television broadcast programs and Universal Resource Locators (URLs). A program is recorded if at all times between when the recording would be initiated and when it expires, sufficient space is available to hold it. All scheduling conflicts are resolved as early as possible. |
| US09538242B2 |
Method and user node for reception of a TV service
A method and a user node for enabling reception of a TV service. The user node operates in a first reception mode of receiving the TV service as signals broadcasted over the air and in a second reception mode of receiving the TV service as a media stream over an Internet Protocol Television, IPTV, link The user node monitors quality of the broadcasted signals when receiving the TV service in the first reception mode. The user node switches operation from the first reception mode to the second reception mode responsive to the monitored quality of the broadcasted signals being below a first threshold. Thereafter, the user node receives the TV service over the IPTV link in the second reception mode. The TV service can be properly received and played out with satisfying user experience irrespective of the broadcasted signals over the air not reaching the user node with sufficient quality. |
| US09538239B2 |
Decoder and method for decoding encoded input data containing a plurality of blocks or packets
A decoder which decodes input data to generate corresponding decoded output data is operable: (a) to process encoded input data to extract header information indicative of encoded data pertaining to blocks and/or packets included in the encoded input data, the header information including data indicative of transformations employed to encode and compress original block and/or packet data for inclusion as the encoded data pertaining to the blocks and/or packets; (b) to prepare a data field in a data storage arrangement for receiving decoded block and/or packet content; (c) to retrieve information describing the transformations and then applying an inverse of the transformations for decoding the encoded and compressed original block and/or packet data to generate corresponding decoded block and/or packet content for populating the data field; and (d) when the encoded input data has been at least partially decoded, to output data from the data field as the decoded output data. |
| US09538237B2 |
Multi-screen interaction method and system
A multi-screen interaction method is provided that includes sending, by a source device, device parameters of the source device to a target device that accesses a local area network where the source device is located, and receiving device parameters of the target device that are sent by the target device; sending, by the source device, media information of media content to the target device; requesting, by the target device, the media content from a network server according to the media information and the device parameters of the target device; sending, by the network server according to the device parameters of the target device, media content corresponding to the device parameters of the target device to the target device; and finding, by the target device, a play state of the media content that is being played by the source device, and playing the media content according to the play state. |
| US09538235B2 |
Streaming an interactive program guide used for media content and home automation
A device may be configured to store interactive program guide (IPG) data for generating an IPG. The IPG data may include information related to a media content service for providing media content and including information related to a home automation service for managing a home device. The device may receive input information from a media client device that causes display of the IPG. The input information may indicate an input related to the home device. The device may generate a part of the IPG related to the home automation service based on the input information and a part of the IPG data. The device may obtain home device information from a management server based on the input information. The device may provide the home device information and the part of the IPG to the media client device for display. |
| US09538230B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for providing multi-service via a signal convergence terminal
A convergence terminal, including a set top box unit, a home gateway unit, a main control board and an interconnection backplane, where the main control board establishes a communication connection with each of a multimedia device and an Internet access device, the main control board connects, in a communication manner, to each of the set top box unit and the home gateway unit through the interconnection backplane. In the present invention, an objective of implementing that a television service and an Internet access service are separately provided through a service terminal is achieved, thereby reducing the number of service terminals used by a user for enjoying different services, and also reducing frequent wiring operations of the user on connection wires for inward connection and outward connection. |
| US09538228B2 |
Methods, apparatus, and system for venue-cast
A communications method for broadcasting an event is provided. This includes generating a plurality of media streams at an event and providing a service to receive the media streams. From the service, an interface can be generated to select a subset of the media streams. Media streams can include audio, video, or other formats that are selected from alternative broadcasting channels provided at the event. |
| US09538219B2 |
Degree of interest estimating device and degree of interest estimating method
An interest degree estimating device, which estimates a degree of interest of a user in a video displayed on a screen, includes: an eye gaze detecting unit for detecting an eye gaze direction of the user; a saliency information obtaining unit for obtaining saliency information on a saliency area having salient attractiveness in the video; and a user response analyzing unit for calculating a correlation between the saliency area specified from the obtained saliency information and the detected eye gaze direction, and estimate the degree of interest of the user in the video, the degree of interest being higher as the calculated correlation is higher. |
| US09538215B2 |
Maintaining continuity in media streaming
A method and apparatus for transmitting frames, the method comprising: determining a maximal frame size, maximal frame size violation threshold larger than the maximal frame size, maximal bitrate and maximal transmission time; receiving a frame to be transmitted, the frame having a size; responsive to the size not exceeding the maximal frame size: transmitting the frame during a time period not exceeding the maximal transmission time; responsive to the size exceeding the maximal frame size but not exceeding the maximal frame size violation threshold: transmitting the frame at a bitrate substantially equal to the maximal bitrate; and transmitting at least one subsequent frame during a time period shorter than the maximal transmission time; and responsive to the size exceeding the maximal frame size violation threshold: transmitting the frame; and skipping one or more subsequent frames. |
| US09538213B2 |
Transmitting a prioritized audio stream along with multimedia content
A method includes retrieving multimedia content from a first content source. The multimedia content includes a video stream and a native audio stream. The method includes retrieving a prioritized audio stream from a second content source that is different than the first content source. The method includes synchronizing the multimedia content and the prioritized audio stream by introducing a delay in the prioritized audio stream to generate a synchronized audio stream. The method includes adding the synchronized audio stream to the video stream to form a composite stream. The method also includes initiating a transmission of the composite stream to a media playback device. |
| US09538211B2 |
Transmission apparatus, transmission method, reception apparatus, and reception method
To enable satisfactory decoding processing corresponding to a decoding capability on a reception side.Image data of pictures constituting moving image data are sorted into multiple hierarchies, image data of pictures of each of the sorted hierarchies are encoded, and video data including the encoded image data of the pictures of each of the hierarchies is generated. A container of a predetermined format including the video data is transmitted. The multiple hierarchies are divided into a predetermined number of hierarchy groups, the predetermined number being two or more, and identification information for identifying a hierarchy group to which encoded image data of each picture included in the video data belongs is inserted into a packet as a container of the video data. |
| US09538207B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing video storage
A system and method for managing video storage in a network including continuously receiving in real time, at a recording server, from an edge device having a local storage, a plurality of incoming packets pertaining to a video stream, determining that at least one packet of the video stream is missing, and retrieving from the edge device the missing packets stored in the local storage, while continuing receiving additional incoming packets pertaining to the video stream in real time. |
| US09538206B2 |
Methods and apparatus for controlling content distribution
Methods and apparatus for controlled distribution of program content are described where program content for certain regions may be selectively blocked. The described methods and apparatus allow content distribution to authorized regions while providing control to the content provider to effectively block program content delivery to regions not entitled to receive the program content. |
| US09538199B2 |
Data transmission across independent streams
Various systems and methods are provided for transmission of related data components across independent streams. In one embodiment, among others, a transmitting device may separate transmission data into related data components and transmit each related data component in an associated transport stream. Each related data component includes a synchronization tag associated with synchronization of the related data component within the transmission data. In another embodiment, a receiving device may receive related data components transmitted in separate transport streams and decode the related data components based at least in part upon a synchronization tag included in each related data component. In another embodiment, among others, a method for includes receiving data components transmitted on a plurality of transport streams, separating related data components from unrelated data components in the transport streams based at least in part upon a synchronization tag of each related data component; and decoding the related data components. |
| US09538196B2 |
Motion vector derivation method, moving picture coding method and moving picture decoding method
A motion vector derivation unit includes a comparison unit for comparing a parameter TR1 for a reference vector with a predetermined value to determine whether it exceeds the predetermined value or not; a switching unit for switching selection between the maximum value of a pre-stored parameter TR and the parameter TR1 according to the comparison result by the comparison unit; a multiplier parameter table (for multipliers); and a multiplier parameter table (for divisors) for associating the parameter TR1 with a value approximate to the inverse value (1/TR1) of this parameter TR1. |
| US09538192B2 |
Method and apparatus for hierarchical data unit-based video encoding and decoding comprising quantization parameter prediction
A method of decoding a video includes determining an initial value of a quantization parameter (QP) used to perform inverse quantization on coding units included in a slice segment, based on syntax obtained from a bitstream; determining a slice-level initial QP for predicting the QP used to perform inverse quantization on the coding units included in the slice segment, based on the initial value of the QP; and determining a predicted QP of a first quantization group of a parallel-decodable data unit included in the slice segment, based on the slice-level initial QP. |
| US09538191B2 |
Moving image coding apparatus, code amount control method, and storage medium
A moving image coding apparatus, a code amount control method, and a code amount control program enable appropriate code amount control to be performed in units shorter than frames. The moving image coding apparatus includes a coding unit, a quantization parameter determination unit, and a target code amount setting unit. The target code amount setting unit designates the number of macroblocks and sets a target code amount as a code amount to be allocated to the designated number of macroblocks. The quantization parameter determination unit calculates, for each macroblock, a quantization parameter to be used in quantization of a current macroblock based on a sum of absolute transformed differences SATD used in a motion estimate process. The moving image coding apparatus performs quantization using the calculated quantization parameter value. |
| US09538186B2 |
Decoding a picture based on a reference picture set on an electronic device
A method for decoding a picture on an electronic device is described. The method includes obtaining a bitstream. The method also includes obtaining a current picture. The method further includes obtaining a relative reference picture set (RPS) parameter. The method additionally includes initializing an index value. Furthermore, the method includes processing another RPS parameter based on the index value. The method also includes decoding the current picture. |
| US09538182B2 |
Apparatus and method for adaptive frame prediction for multiview video sequence coding
A process and apparatus for digital compression of multiview video, supplied by additional data of scene depth. The method of coding is offered, including: each frame of the multiview video sequence, encoded again, determined according to the predefined order of coding, is represented as a collection of non-overlapped blocks, such that at least one already encoded frame is detected, corresponding to the given view and designated as reference, the synthesized frames for encoded and reference frames, differing that for each non-overlapped block of pixels of the encoded frame designated as an encoded block the spatial-combined block in the synthesized frame is determined, corresponding to the encoded frame, designated as the virtual block, for which spatial position of the block of pixels is determined in the synthesized frame corresponding to a reference frame. |
| US09538181B2 |
Image encoding method and image decoding method
According to one embodiment, an image encoding method includes selecting a motion reference block from an already-encoded pixel block. The method includes selecting an available block including different motion information from the motion reference block, and selecting a selection block from the available block. The method includes generating a predicted image of the encoding target block using motion information of the selection block. The method includes encoding a prediction error between the predicted image and an original image. The method includes encoding selection information identifying the selection block by referring to a code table decided according to a number of the available block. |
| US09538175B2 |
Context derivation for context-adaptive, multi-level significance coding
A device for coding video data includes a video coder configured to code first significance information for transform coefficients associated with residual data, wherein the first significance information indicates if a first sub-block comprises at least one non-zero coefficient, wherein the first sub-block is a sub-block of an entire transform block; and, code second significance information, wherein the second significance information indicates if a second sub-block comprises at least one non-zero coefficient, wherein the second sub-block is a sub-block of the first sub-block, wherein coding the second significance information comprises performing an arithmetic coding operation on the second significance information, wherein a context for the arithmetic coding operation is determined based on one or more neighboring sub-blocks of a same size as the first sub-block. |
| US09538174B2 |
Method and apparatus for inverse scan of transform coefficients in HEVC
A method and apparatus for decoding two-level scanned transform coefficients corresponding to a transform unit (TU) are disclosed. The TU is divided into sub-blocks and the transform coefficients of the TU are scanned across the sub-blocks according to a first scan pattern, and each sub-block is scanned according to a second scan pattern. In one embodiment, the sub-blocks of the transform coefficients received from the variable length decoding are stored in an inverse scan buffer (or TC buffer) and the transform coefficients are retrieved from the inverse scan buffer row-by-row or column-by-column in a selected direction after a corresponding row or column of the transform coefficients is fully received. In a system incorporating an embodiment of the present invention, at least a leading row or a leading column of the transform coefficients is available in the selected direction before a last sub-block of the transform coefficients arrives. |
| US09538171B2 |
Techniques for streaming video quality analysis
Improved techniques for streaming video quality analysis are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may comprise a processor element, an identification component for execution by the processor element to determine frame identifications for each of a set of tagged video frames based on frame identifiers contained in the tagged video frames, each frame identifier comprising multiple markers, each marker comprising a macroblock pattern corresponding to a symbol according to a frame identification scheme, and an analysis component for execution by the processor element to determine one or more quality metrics by comparing the set of tagged video frames with a set of reference video frames based on the frame identifications. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US09538169B2 |
Quality test device for inspecting vehicular display module having thin-film transistors
A quality test device tests a display device having a plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs). The quality test device includes a color analyzer for determining a color of an image displayed by the display device, and a quality inspection module. The quality inspection module controls a display state of the display device and determines whether the TFTs are adequately disposed within the display device based on a performance threshold. The quality inspection module determines that the display device is defective when a performance data of the display device is outside of the performance threshold, and determines that the display device is normal when the performance data is within the performance threshold. |
| US09538168B2 |
Determination device and determination method
A determination device includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor executes a process including: loading a plurality of video image signals including stereo images between which a position of an object in the stereo images differs in accordance with a parallax; performing block matching processing on the stereo images to detect a motion vector on a block-by-block basis in one of the stereo images and to calculate similarity on a block-by-block basis; determining whether to display a three-dimensional screen based on the stereo images or a two-dimensional screen, based on the motion vector or the similarity, or a combination thereof; and adding a result of the determining to the stereo images and outputting the stereo images added with the result to a display device that displays the stereo images. |
| US09538167B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for shader-lamps based physical avatars of real and virtual people
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for shader lamps-based avatars of real and virtual people are disclosed. According to one method, shader lamps-based avatars of real and virtual objects are displayed on physical target objects. The method includes obtaining visual information of a source object and generating at least a first data set of pixels representing a texture image of the source object. At least one of a size, shape, position, and orientation of a 3D physical target object are determined. A set of coordinate data associated with various locations on the surface of the target object are also determined. The visual information is mapped to the physical target object. Mapping includes defining a relationship between the first and second sets of data, wherein each element of the first set is related to each element of the second set. The mapped visual information is displayed on the physical target object using a display module, such as one or more projectors located at various positions around the target object. |
| US09538166B2 |
Apparatus and method for measuring depth of the three-dimensional image
An apparatus for measuring a depth of a 3D image includes a display panel unit which produces a 3D image by displaying a left-eye and a right-eye image, a depth measurement unit which measures projecting distances or recessed distances of the 3D image and a real object, a parallax measurement unit which measures a distance between pupils of an experimenter based on the projecting distances or recessed distances of the 3D image and the real objects, and a depth value calculation unit which calculates an average value of the projecting distances or recessed distances of the real object with respect to a plurality of experimenters measured when a change in distance between pupils is the same as a change in distance between pupils measured by adjusting the projecting distance or recessed distance of the 3D image, and determines the calculated average value as a depth value of the 3D image. |
| US09538165B2 |
Image display apparatus
In one embodiment, an image display apparatus includes: a projecting portion which projects in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction a first beam having a disparity image component which forms an image having a disparity in the first direction; a first deflecting portion which deflects the first beam in the second direction in a first plane having an axis in the first direction and an axis in the second direction, and obtains a second beam; and a second deflecting portion which further deflects in the first plane the second beam in a same direction as the second direction in which the first deflecting portion deflects the first beam, obtains a third beam and projects the third beam. |
| US09538163B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program
There is provided an image processing apparatus including a first polarizing unit that has a first polarization region and a second polarization region to transmit different polarized light corresponding to different viewing point images, a second polarizing unit that includes a third polarization region to transmit only transmission light of the first polarization region, a fourth polarization region to transmit only transmission light of the second polarization region, and a total transmission region to transmit the total transmission light of the first polarization region and the second polarization region, an imaging element, and an image processing unit that executes signal processing with respect to an output signal of the imaging element. The image processing unit executes correction processing to generate a two-dimensional image and executes image conversion of the two-dimensional image to generate a left eye image and a right eye image for three-dimensional image display. |
| US09538162B2 |
Synthesis system of time-of-flight camera and stereo camera for reliable wide range depth acquisition and method therefor
Provided is a synthesis system of a time-of-flight (ToF) camera and a stereo camera for reliable wide range depth acquisition and a method therefor. The synthesis system may estimate an error per pixel of a depth image, may calculate a value of a maximum distance multiple per pixel of the depth image using the error per pixel of the depth image, a left color image, and a right color image, and may generate a reconstructed depth image by conducting phase unwrapping on the depth image using the value of the maximum distance multiple per pixel of the depth image. |
| US09538161B2 |
System and method for stereoscopic photography
A stereoscopic photography is provided, which includes a first image sensor, a second image sensor, a synchronization module, a combination module, a calibration module, and a stereo matching module. The first image sensor is utilized to capture a first image. The second image sensor is utilized to capture a second image. The calibration module is utilized to perform an image calibration and a horizontal rectification for the first image and the second image. The stereo matching module is utilized to calculate a distance difference between a reference pixel of the first image and a corresponding pixel of the second image. The stereo matching module compares costs of multiple pixels relative to the reference pixel in a pixel row of the second image in an interval manner. A method for performing stereoscopic photography and a stereo matching method are also provided. |
| US09538159B2 |
Apparatus and method for capturing color images and depth images
An apparatus and method for capturing a color image and a depth image are utilized as a source of obtaining a three-dimensional (3D) image. The apparatus for capturing the color image and the depth image may include a filtering unit to employ a frame having a polarity which includes an external frame to support a plurality of filters which filter at least one of a visible ray and an infrared (IR) ray from a ray input via a lens, a driving unit to move the filtering unit by pushing or pulling the external frame based on a polarity of an applied signal, and a control unit to control a voltage to be applied to the driving unit based on a distance between the filtering unit and the driving unit. |
| US09538158B1 |
Medical environment monitoring system
A system and a method are described for monitoring a medical care environment. In one or more implementations, a method includes identifying a first subset of pixels within a field of view of a camera as representing a bed. The method also includes identifying a second subset of pixels within the field of view of the camera as representing an object (e.g., a subject, such as a patient, medical personnel; bed; chair; patient tray; medical equipment; etc.) proximal to the bed. The method also includes determining an orientation of the object within the bed. |
| US09538155B2 |
Decoding and display of high dynamic range video
Novel methods and systems for decoding and displaying enhanced dynamic range (EDR) video signals are disclosed. To accommodate legacy digital media players with constrained computational resources, compositing and display management (DM) operations are moved from a digital media player to its attached EDR display. On a video receiver, base and enhancement video layers are decoded and multiplexed together with overlay graphics into an interleaved stream. The video and graphics signals are all converted to a common format which allows metadata to be embedded in the interleaved signal as part of the least significant bits in the chroma channels. On the display, the video and the graphics are de-interleaved. After compositing and display management operations guided by the received metadata, the received graphics data are blended with the output of the DM process and the final video output is displayed on the display's panel. |
| US09538149B2 |
On-line community network of sets
Method and system to provide users with access to authoritative sets of various collectable items and to permit users create and manage their own sets based on the respective authoritative sets are described. An authoritative set may be a collection of images representing collectable items. Access to an authoritative set may be provided via a web site that facilitates a community space where users can compare their collected sets to the authoritative set and determine what products may be missing for their user's set. |
| US09538146B2 |
Apparatus and method for automatically detecting an event in sensor data
An apparatus automatically detects an event occurring in sensor data. The apparatus has a recording device which is configured to receive the sensor data, a feature identification device which is configured to automatically identify a predetermined number of features of the sensor data in the recorded sensor data, an evaluation processing device which is configured to acquire from the predetermined number of features, for each of the features, an evaluation which relates to the event to be detected and which is based on a set of evaluation criteria, and a detection device which is configured to automatically acquire the event to be detected by the features identified by the feature identification device, based on the detected evaluations for the predetermined number of features. |
| US09538145B2 |
Image capture apparatus, method for setting mask image, and recording medium
A transmission apparatus that transmits an image to be distributed to a reception apparatus includes a holding unit configured to hold a plurality of settings that include resolution of a captured image and that are used for generating the image to be distributed, a reception unit configured to receive, from the reception apparatus, specification information for specifying one of the plurality of held settings in relation to superimposition of the mask image and superimposition information indicating a position at which the mask image is superimposed upon the image to be distributed generated in accordance with the one of the settings specified by the specification information, and a setting unit configured to set a position at which the mask image is superimposed upon the captured image on the basis of the specified one of the settings and the superimposition information received by the reception unit. |
| US09538144B2 |
Full speed lane sensing using multiple cameras
A system and method for providing lane sensing on a vehicle by detecting roadway lane-markers, where the system employs multiple cameras providing images around the vehicle. The method includes detecting left-side and right-side lane boundary lines in the camera images, and then determining whether the lane boundary lines in the images are aligned from one image frame to a next image frame and are aligned from image to image. If the boundary lines are not aligned, then calibration of one or more of the cameras is performed, and if the lines are aligned, then a model fitting process is used to specifically identify the location of the boundary lines on the roadway. |
| US09538143B2 |
Method and apparatus for interactive automated receptionist
Methods and apparatus for an interactive automated receptionist system according to various aspects of the present invention may operate in conjunction with a computer system configured to connect to a network. The computer system may control a user interface that responds an individual seeking assistance. The computer system may interactively prompt the individual to make a selection from a set of available assistance options. The computer system may receive a request from the individual to communicate with a party, and the computer system may accommodate the individual's selections, such as by establishing a communicative link between the individual and the selected party. |
| US09538142B2 |
Server-side support for seamless rewind and playback of video streaming
A system and method provide server side support for seamless, scalable rewind and playback of a video stream. A video stream is stored and indexed in a network storage place. A video stream can be indexed at frame level where each intra frame of the video stream has an index indicating the file offset and the time stamp of the intra frame in the video stream. A user request for rewinding of a video stream while the video stream is being broadcast is processed by extracting the rewinding time requirement from the user request. The extracted rewinding time value is used to calculate the requested file offset. The video stream starting at the requested time is retrieved and played back according to the user request. The system also provides server side support for seamless rewinding of a video stream and scalable system performance across multiple streaming data centers. |
| US09538141B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling presentation of content at a user terminal
The invention controls presentation of content at an end user terminal to allow an end user to consume any kind of content without specifying anything about how the content is delivered. A method includes creating a content schedule, determining content presentation control information using the content schedule, and using the content presentation control information to control the presentation of content on one or more end user terminals. The content schedule, which identifies a plurality of content items intended for the end user terminal, includes at least one content characteristic associated with each of the content items. The content presentation control information is adapted for controlling presentation of the content items at the end user terminal in a manner tending to render the content characteristics transparent to the end user. The content items may be distributed using different content distribution modes, which include at least one time-dependent distribution mode and at least one time-independent distribution mode. The content presentation control information controls the presentation of content at the end user terminal. |
| US09538140B2 |
Social television service
A method, a receiver, a computer program and a system for providing an interactive service in association with a motion picture service. The motion picture is displayed to the spectator via a receiver able to modify the motion picture displayed to the spectator and having a bi-directional network connection. The method, receiver, computer program and system are characterized in that a connection is formed that connects a plurality of participants to an interactive motion picture session, a selection of a target area in the motion picture is received, a selection of a graphical element to be associated with the target area is received, the target area is translated to a coordinate system shared by each participant in the interactive motion picture session and the graphical element is provided between the participants. |
| US09538139B2 |
Multi-stream video switching with selective optimized composite
A method of facilitating a multi-participant communication session with an efficient use of network bandwidth and processing resources is described. The processing resources are made available to the session participants via a switching fabric and composites of less active session participants can be used to minimize the bandwidth utilization between a media server and endpoints. |
| US09538135B2 |
Pairing devices in conference using ultrasonic beacon and subsequent content sharing
A videoconferencing system has a videoconferencing unit that use portable devices as peripherals for the system. The portable devices obtain near-end audio and send the audio to the videoconferencing unit via a wireless connection. In turn, the videoconferencing unit sends the near-end audio from the loudest portable device along with near-end video to the far-end. The portable devices can control the videoconferencing unit and can initially establish the videoconference by connecting with the far-end and then transferring operations to the videoconferencing unit. To deal with acoustic coupling between the unit's loudspeaker and the portable device's microphone, the unit uses an echo canceller that is compensated for differences in the clocks used in the A/D and D/A converters of the loudspeaker and microphone. |
| US09538131B2 |
Remote behavior navigation system and processing method thereof
There are provided a remote behavior navigation system and a method thereof, which allow an instructor at a remote location to perform guidance to a worker while watching a work video picture of the worker. Corresponding to a video picture from a worker-side camera at time t1, an instructor-side computer extracts a work instruction video picture from a video picture of an instructor-side camera at time t2. The instructor-side computer superimposes the work instruction video picture at the time t2 on the video picture from the worker-side camera at the time t1, and displays the superimposed video picture on an instructor-side monitor. A worker-side computer provides the work instruction video picture at the time t2 with a time difference correction, then superimposes the corrected work instruction video picture on a video picture from the worker-side camera at time t3, and displays the superimposed video picture on a worker-side monitor. |
| US09538130B1 |
Dynamic gaze correction for video conferencing
Systems and techniques to dynamically correct a gaze of participants in a video conference are described. A computing device participating in a video conference may determine that a frame of a video stream includes features of a face, extract a portion of the frame that includes a first pair of eyes, and determine that the first pair of eyes are looking in a non-forward direction. The computing device may retrieve, from a database, a stored portion that includes a second pair of eyes that are looking in a forward direction, and modify the frame by substituting the stored portion for the portion in the frame to create a modified frame. The computing device may send the modified frame to a videoconferencing server for distribution to other computing devices participating in the video conference. |
| US09538127B2 |
Remote customer assistance system having two-way audio and video interface
Disclosed is a system and method for providing two-way audio and video communications in a remote customer assistance environment. Upon initiation of an audio communications session using an audio server, separate video communications are established between the devices in a customer terminal and a remote attendant workstation. The dial plan of the audio server may used to add additional information to the incoming audio call request for use by the attendant workstation in initiating the video communications sessions. |
| US09538125B2 |
Display apparatus and driving method thereof
A display apparatus and a driving method thereof capable of assuring reliability in frame inversion driving and improving cinema video image quality are provided. To accomplish this, a display apparatus of the embodiment replaces at least one of a plurality of frame images obtained by doubling the frame rate, with a different image before display. Specifically, the display apparatus replaces at least one of the double-speed converted plural frame images with a high-frequency emphasized image and at least one with a low-frequency component image, and displays the frame images. Furthermore, the display apparatus replaces an image at the border between cinema images with a different image before displaying. |
| US09538124B2 |
Root evaluation
A method is provided for evaluating plant roots, comprising (i) growing a plant in a substantially transparent container charged with a particulate, non-transparent growing medium; and (ii) evaluating plant roots through the transparent container by digital imaging. An apparatus for evaluating plant roots in a high throughput manner is also provided. |
| US09538121B2 |
Camera control apparatus and camera control method
A camera control apparatus includes: an input section to which a plurality of cameras controlled by the apparatus are connected, each of the cameras including a first preset information storage section capable of storing up to n preset information on the state of the camera setting; a second preset information storage section capable of storing (n+1)-th to m-th preset information (n |
| US09538120B2 |
Method for improving offline content playback
In a method and system for offline content playback, a first plurality of portions of content streamed from a content sharing service for presentation by a media player is received. A request from a user to make the content available for offline playback is received, and in response to the request, a second plurality of portions of the content streamed from the content sharing service for presentation by the media player is stored. The first plurality of portions is requested and received from the content sharing service. The received first plurality of portions is stored, such that the first plurality of portions and the second plurality of portions are available for offline playback. |
| US09538115B2 |
Operation controlling apparatus
Operation controlling apparatus executing equipment operation controlling, including: an equipment management portion configured to manage control commands corresponding to plural number of control items; a video producing portion configured to produce videos corresponding to the plural number of control items; a video display portion configured to display video produced by the video producing portion laying on a control surface; a distance detector portion configured to detect distance from the video producing portion to the control surface; and a controller portion configured to control the video display portion, so that a size of the video to be displayed by the video display portion is within a size of the control surface, depending on the distance detected by the distance detector portion, and to make equipment of a control target execute the control command, which is managed by the equipment management portion, when execution of the control item is determined. |
| US09538113B2 |
Multiple gated pixel per readout
A system for providing an improved image of daytime and nighttime scene for a viewer within a vehicle is provided herein. The system includes: a pixel array sensor having a fully masked gate-off capability at a single pixel level, wherein the pixel array sensor is provided with an inherent anti-blooming capability at the single pixel level; wherein each pixel is gated by a corresponding transfer gate transistor having high transfer gate efficiency. The system further includes a gating unit configured to control the transfer gate transistors with pulsed or continuous wave modulated active and passive light sources, to yield a synchronized sensing signal from the sensor, wherein a single pulse is sufficient to cover the entire field of view of the sensor and the entire depth of field of the illuminated scene; and a processing unit configured to receive the synchronized sensing signal and process it. |
| US09538112B2 |
Solid-state image sensor and camera with charge-voltage converter
An image sensor including a photoelectric converter, a charge-voltage converter, a transfer transistor to transfer a charge from the photoelectric converter to the charge-voltage converter whereby potential of the charge-voltage converter changes to a first direction, an amplifier transistor to output a signal corresponding to potential of the charge-voltage converter to a column signal line, the amplifier transistor sequentially outputting, to the column signal line, noise level and light signal level, a capacitance between a control signal line and the charge-voltage converter, and a control unit to change a potential of the control signal line so that the potential of the charge-voltage converter changes to a second direction opposite to the first direction in a period in which the charge-voltage converter is in floating and which is prior to outputting the noise level. |
| US09538110B2 |
Driving method of imaging device and driving method of imaging system
A driving method of an imaging device, and a driving method of an imaging system set the number of unit cells based on signals output from a plurality of unit cells in a phase difference detection area within an imaging area to a number larger than the number of unit cells based on signals output from a plurality of unit cells in a range other than the phase difference detection area within the imaging area. |
| US09538109B2 |
Light propagation time camera
A time-of-flight camera includes a photosensor and a reference photosensor. Each of the photosensors have accumulation gates and each are configured as a photomixing detector (PMD). A readout device is connected to the accumulation gates of the photosensor and to the accumulation gates of the reference photosensor. The readout device is configured to read out an electric quantity that corresponds to a charge that is present at respective ones of the accumulation gates. An integration time of accumulating the charges is the same for the photosensor and for the reference photosensor and is dimensioned so as to prevent the reference photosensor from reaching saturation during operation of the time-of-flight camera. |
| US09538104B2 |
Imaging apparatus, imaging method, manufacturing apparatus, manufacturing method, and electronic apparatus
There is provided an imaging apparatus that includes a photoelectric conversion section, a retention section, and first and second gates. The photoelectric conversion section is configured to convert a received light into charge. The retention section is configured to retain the charge provided by the photoelectric conversion section. The first and second gates are provided between the photoelectric conversion section and the retention section, the first and second gates being turned ON for transferring the charge from the photoelectric conversion section to the retention section, and the second gate being turned OFF after the first gate is turned OFF. |
| US09538097B2 |
Image pickup apparatus including a plurality of image pickup units and method of controlling the same
An image pickup apparatus that performs control according to an azimuth detected during photographing, such that a user can enjoy excellent viewing of the synthesized image. A digital camera includes a main camera for obtaining a first image, and an in-camera for obtaining a second image when the first image is obtained. An azimuth sensor and a system controller generate first azimuth information by detecting a photographing direction of the main camera, and generate second azimuth information by detecting a photographing direction of the in-camera. The system controller records the first azimuth information in association with the first image, and the second azimuth information in association with the second image, in a recording medium. |
| US09538095B2 |
Imaging device for welding
A welding camera (1) is constructed with: a lens (11) for focusing incident light; an optical filter (12) that comprises a neutral density filter for reducing the amount of the incident light, an ultraviolet cut filter for cutting ultraviolet rays, and a green band-pass filter for transmitting green light; a CMOS imaging unit (13) that has a wide dynamic range function, and detects the light which has passed the optical filter (12); a video signal processing unit (14) that has an automatic gain control function and a digital signal processor, and outputs an image signal, which covers a range of a low-intensity dark part to high-intensity arc light, to a display unit on the basis of an electric signal that is input from the CMOS imaging unit (13). |
| US09538093B2 |
Forming high-dynamic-range (HDR) images using single-channel data
An image processing method and apparatus are provided. The image processing method includes collecting at least two exposure frames with different brightness in a same scene during different exposure time; combining, for each exposure frame, a raw data unit arranged repeatedly in the exposure frame to obtain first brightness data after the combining; acquiring a correction parameter of all exposure frames according to all first brightness data and performing weighting processing on all the exposure frames by using the correction parameter to obtain a high dynamic range (HDR) image of corrected raw data. The foregoing method can resolve a problem in the prior art that colors, brightness, and contrast of an image obtained from Raw data are severely distorted. |
| US09538090B2 |
Digital image capture under conditions of varying light intensity
An approach is provided to adjust a camera shutter lag. In the approach, data is collected that corresponds to an ambient light found in a physical environment with the ambient light being controlled using a pulse-width modulation (PWM). The pulse-width modulation corresponds to a PWM timing model. When an exposure request is received, the camera shutter lag is calculated using the PWM timing model. The calculated shutter lag is based on a future point in time at which the ambient light of the physical environment is predicted to be at a selected light output level, such as a power level selected by the user of a camera. When the calculated camera shutter lag has expired, a shutter of the camera is opened causing a camera lens to be exposed that results in a captured exposure. |
| US09538087B2 |
Image processing device with multiple image signal processors and image processing method
An image processing device includes first and second image signal processors (ISPs) independently capable of processing an image received from an image sensor. The first ISP processes a first image having a first resolution and the second ISP processes a second image having a different second resolution. |
| US09538083B2 |
Motion blur avoidance
Various embodiments provide a wearable camera that is configured to take a cluster of photographs and use image processing techniques to select a photograph with a lesser amount of blur than other photographs in the cluster. The wearable camera can include one or more of a gyroscope or accelerometer for ascertaining the camera's motion. Motion data associated with the camera's motion is utilized to ascertain when to take an automatic photograph. |
| US09538080B2 |
Digital photographing apparatus, methods of controlling the same, and computer-readable storage medium to increase success rates in panoramic photography
Digital photographing apparatus, methods of controlling the same, and computer-readable storage medium to increase success rates in panoramic photography are disclosed. A method of controlling a digital photographing apparatus is provided that includes initiating panoramic photography, and providing a capture guide when an image is captured during the panoramic photography. |
| US09538077B1 |
Surround camera to generate a parking video signal and a recorder video signal from a single sensor
An apparatus comprising a sensor and a processor. The sensor may be configured to capture a first video signal having a first field of view. The processor may be configured to generate a second video signal having a second field of view and a third video signal having a third field of view. The second video signal may generate the second field of view to include a first portion of the first video signal. The third video signal may generate the third field of view to include a second portion of the first video signal. The second portion may be processed to remove possible warping present on a bottom portion of the first video signal. The first and second portions may comprise an area less than the first field of view. |
| US09538074B2 |
Image processing apparatus, imaging apparatus, and image processing method
An image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention which performs blurring processing on captured image data based on distance information of a subject includes a dividing unit configured to divide the captured image data into a plurality of image data pieces corresponding to pieces of the distance information different from each other, a generating unit configured to generate a plurality of blurred image data pieces by performing blurring processing on the plurality of divided image data pieces including an occlusion region, and a synthesizing unit configured to synthesize the plurality of blurred image data pieces. |
| US09538071B2 |
Electronic apparatus having a photographing function and method of controlling the same
In an electronic apparatus having a photographing function and a method of controlling the same, a qualitative description and a quantitative setting link with each other flexibly so as to provide a mixed linkage guide so that the qualitative description and the quantitative setting may be reused, and a qualitative description and a quantitative setting which will be added later may link with each other freely. |
| US09538070B2 |
Image processing device, imaging device, image processing method and computer readable medium
A generation section generates a first display image based on an image signal output from an image pick-up device, and a second display image based on first and second image signals output from the image pick-up device. An identification section identifies an image region in the second display image generated by the generation section satisfying both a first condition and a second condition. The image region identified by the identification section is then displayed so as to be distinguishable from other regions in the second display image. The first condition indicates a condition of the magnitude of contrast being a first specific value or greater, and the second condition indicates a degree of matching between the first image and the second image being a second specific value or greater. |
| US09538066B2 |
Information processing method and electronic device
An information processing method and an electronic device are provided. The method includes: controlling a first lens of a first image acquisition unit to move from a first position in a first direction, and controlling a second lens of a second image acquisition unit to move from the first position in a second direction opposite to the first direction; obtaining at least one first focus value in a first focus area corresponding to the first image acquisition unit during said moving in the first direction, and obtaining at least one second focus value in a second focus area corresponding to the second image acquisition unit during said moving in the second direction; performing a first calculation on the at least one first focus value and the at least one second focus value to obtain a third focus value; and controlling the first and second image acquisition units to implement focusing based on the third focus value. |
| US09538063B2 |
Operation apparatus
Provided is an operation apparatus including a main body section including an operation section including a first operation section for performing a record operation of an image pickup device and a display section that displays an image transmitted from the image pickup device, and a fixation section that fixes the main body section to an attachment object. The first operation section and the display section are both located on a first face of the main body section. |
| US09538062B2 |
Camera management system
Systems and methods are provided for restricting and allowing the initiation of operations on an electronic device according to settings of management control functions on the electronic device. In certain instances, operations may be initiated after the electronic device determines, detects, or receives an authorized event. The initiation of operations on the electronic device may also be prevented after the electronic device determines, detects, or receives an unauthorized event. A user of an electronic device consistent with the invention may set settings that identify whether a remote electronic device or user of a remote electronic device may initiate a camera function. Preferred embodiments of the invention are implemented in part or entirely within the operating system of a smartphone, or a cellphone. |
| US09538059B2 |
Mobile terminal and control method thereof
A mobile terminal including a wireless communication unit configured to perform wireless communication; a main body having first and second cameras facing in different directions; a display unit configured to display an image captured by the first camera; and a controller configured to activate the second camera when an image compensation mode is set on the mobile terminal, compensate the image using an amount of light entering the first and second cameras, and display the compensated image on the display unit. |
| US09538049B2 |
Scheme for determining the locations and timing of advertisements and other insertions in media
A method for use with content includes analyzing a sequence of frames of the content, determining whether an area exists in a scene depicted by the sequence of frames where additional content such as advertising can be inserted without obstructing activity in the scene, for any such area, determining an amount of time that the area is available when the sequence of frames is being played, and for any such area, determining a size of the area. A storage medium storing a computer program for causing a processor based system to execute these steps and an apparatus for use with content are also disclosed. |
| US09538045B2 |
Printing apparatus, control method therefor, and computer-readable medium
A printing apparatus includes a reception unit configured to receive print data from an external apparatus, a storage unit configured to store the print data, an operation unit configured to receive an operation to be performed on the print data, a printing unit configured to print the print data when the received operation is print operation, a charging unit configured to start charging in response to the printing of the data when the printing apparatus is operating in charge mode, and a control unit configured to perform control in such a manner that the print data is deleted when the received operation is cancel operation. When the printing apparatus is operating in the charge mode, the control unit performs control in such a manner that the print data is not deleted even when the cancel operation is instructed, until print operation is received. |
| US09538042B2 |
Image processing device calibrating value related to halftone process for determining dot formation state
An image processing device includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores computer-readable instructions therein. The computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the image processing device to perform: acquiring a calibration value based on a plurality of test images that are printed on a recording medium, the calibration value indicating an amount of calibration; calibrating a target value by using the calibration value, the target value being used to determine a dot formation state of each pixel of an image in a halftone process; and generating print data by performing the halftone process on each pixel based on the calibrated target value. |
| US09538040B2 |
Active sensing for dynamic spectrum access
Various communication systems may benefit from physical layer watermarking. For example, active sensing for dynamic spectrum access may be performed using physical layer watermarking, such as watermarking based on channel effects and/or receiver distortion. A method may include, for example, obtaining an original signal to be transmitted to at least one receiver. The method may also include watermarking the original signal with at least one of authentication data or ancillary data to provide an enhanced signal. The watermarking can include a physical layer watermark. The physical layer watermark can be configured to emulate at least one a channel effect or a receiver distortion. The method can further include transmitting the enhanced signal to the at least one receiver. |
| US09538036B2 |
Scan area indication
Various embodiments and methods relating to a scan area indicator are disclosed. |
| US09538034B2 |
Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and recording medium that facilitate management of blank sheets for preventing leakage of confidential information
An image forming apparatus includes an image-log creation unit, a document blank sheet page skip scan function setting unit, a blank sheet page image registration setting unit, and a blank sheet page image image-log output setting unit. The image-log creation unit creates an image of an image-log from image attribute information and image data of a read document. The document blank sheet page skip scan function setting unit sets whether to use a skip scan function of a blank sheet page of a document. The blank sheet page image registration setting unit sets whether to register a blank sheet page image of the document. The blank sheet page image image-log output setting unit sets whether to output an image-log of the blank sheet page images. |
| US09538033B2 |
Image forming apparatus and image forming method
A sheet size determining portion determines, upon start of execution of a print job, whether or not a sheet size corresponding to raster image data to be printed in the print job matches a sheet size of a sheet conveyed in the print job. A size error detecting portion determines, in a case where the sheet size corresponding to the raster image data does not match the sheet size of the sheet, whether or not a print pixel to be printed exists in an excess region of the raster image data that is outside the sheet size of the sheet. A printing portion continues execution of the print job in a case where no print pixel exists in the excess region and stops the print job in a case where the print pixel exists in the excess region. |
| US09538026B2 |
Display apparatus, image processing apparatus, display method, and computer readable medium for controlling an operation of a display process
A display apparatus includes a display and an acceptance controller. The display displays on a display unit a list of processing images, each of which is an image representing a unit of processing. The acceptance controller restricts acceptance of an operation for a different processing image whose display position moves in accordance with an action of one processing image. |
| US09538025B2 |
Registration of two functions of device used with data processing apparatus
A data processing apparatus is configured to: receive a selection of one of a first function and a second function other than the first function; store, if one device is selected, the selected one device in correlation with the first and second functions; and control a device to execute one of the first and second functions when an instruction to execute one of the first and second functions is received. If no device is stored in correlation with the one of the first and second functions, the selected one device executes the one of the first function and the second function. If another device has been stored in correlation with the one of the first and second functions, one of candidate devices executes the one of the first and the second functions. The candidate devices include the selected one device. |
| US09538022B2 |
Method for applying cloud-based time-lapse imaging systems
The present invention provides a method for applying cloud-based time-lapse imaging systems. The method comprises a step for an camera device to receive a recording command, a step for the camera device to obtain a start time, an end time, and a time interval from the recording command, a step for the camera device to capture and upload still images to a cloud-based server at the time interval, a step for the cloud-based server to transfer the still images to a display device, and a step for the display device to present the still images as a time-lapse video. |
| US09538020B2 |
Work flow and finishing for print production of photograph images
Providing for workflow and finishing solutions for printing are disclosed herein. By way of example, disclosed workflow provides grouping and managing a stream(s) of digital images across a substrate width, for maximizing print productivity and profitability. Digital images are re-sized according to print instructions and oriented into a print stream. Multiple print streams can be organized onto the substrate width, to improve substrate packing. Moreover, disclosed finishing solutions provide for outputting streams of prints according to an output format, in conjunction with rendering the digital images in physical form. |
| US09538019B2 |
Proactive creation of photo products
A method for proactively creating a photobook includes identifying a group of images by a computer system and automatically creating a design for a photobook by the computer system without receiving a user's request for designing a photobook if the number of images in the group is determined to be within a predetermined range. Pages of the photobook incorporate a plurality of images in the group. The method further includes presenting the design of the photobook to a user for preview and receiving an order from the user for a physical manifestation of the photobook based on the design. |
| US09538018B2 |
MFP for scanning delivery address information and for receiving images from a server to be printed with the delivery address
A non-transitory storage medium stores instructions executable by an information processing server communicable with a device capable of executing a print processing and a scan processing. A delivery address and a second surface image are to be printed on first and second surfaces of a delivery object. First feature information indicates a feature of the second surface image. The information processing server reads delivery address information and the first feature information associated with each other, when scan information is newly received. The information processing server extracts sample image information when the read delivery address information is the same as the delivery address information contained in the newly-received scan information. The sample image information is for displaying a sample image corresponding to the second surface image having a feature indicated by the first feature information associated with the read delivery address information. |
| US09538016B2 |
Handling of reduced partial CDRs in an offline charging system
Systems and methods that handle partial Charging Data Records (CDRs) for a session. An offline charging system includes a cluster of Charging Gateway Functions (CGF). A first CGF of the cluster receives a first Fully Qualified Partial CDR (FQPC) for a session, and stores FQPC data based on the first FQPC in a centralized storage module that is accessible by each of the CGFs in the cluster. A second CGF of the cluster receives a Reduced Partial CDR (RPC) for the session responsive to a failure of the first CGF, retrieves the FQPC data from the centralized storage module, and generates a second FQPC for the session based on the RPC and the FQPC data retrieved from the centralized storage module. |
| US09538012B2 |
Computer telephony
Computer-telephony events are initiated by a user operating a computer terminal to control, through a computer-telephony controller, operation of a communications terminal. The computer-telephony controller receives from a first computer terminal a request for a first computer-telephony event; in which the request for the first computer-telephony event comprises a label value. The computer-telephony controller refers to a mapping between the label value and an identifier of a communications terminal; and initiates the requested first computer-telephony event controlling operation of the communications terminal. The computer-telephony controller then receives, from second computer terminal 2B, a request for the label value. The computer-telephony controller authenticates the label value request and provides to second computer terminal the requested label value. The computer-telephony controller then receives from second computer terminal a request for a second computer-telephony event, in which the request for the second computer-telephony event comprises the label value. The computer-telephony controller refers to the mapping; and initiates the requested second computer telephony event controlling operation of the communications terminal. |
| US09538011B1 |
Mobile microphone system portal app for meetings
An app for programmable personal mobile communications devices which is useful for people attending meetings, conferences, classrooms and the like is described. The app permits the device to operate as a microphone to address the audience through a local wireless network and the public address system and as an app for meeting functions, such as the queuing of speaker/questioners at the meeting, the handling of audience surveys and nondisclosure agreements, record-keeping at meetings and so forth. Furthermore, different aspects of the app allow a user to operate as a moderator/host of a meeting in one case or as an attendee/participant of the meeting in another. |
| US09538009B1 |
Accurate dispositioning of a telephone call by reconciliating cause codes with in-band audio information
A telephone call to a remote party may encounter a number of abnormal conditions, which prevents the call from being offered to the remote party's interface. These conditions may be indicated to the calling party using call progress information conveyed as out-of-band information, in the form of signaling elements and/or as in-band information, in the form of audio information. The audio information may include a special information tone and/or an intercept announcement. The call handler originating the outbound call may provide the audio information to a speech analytics component that analyzes the audio information. The analyzed audio information may be reconciled with the out-of-band information. Various rules can be applied to ascertain how to disposition the call in instances where the in-band and out-of-information are inconsistent. Once reconciled, accurate call disposition information can be recorded in the call record for that call. |
| US09538006B2 |
Emergency mobile notification handling
Systems and methods for handling emergency notification messages. In an example scenario, a call center identifies a text-based message sent from a mobile communication device, detects that the text-based message is an emergency notification message, determines the geographical location of the mobile communication device, and sends at least some of the information contained in the text-based message to one or more other communication devices in proximity to the geographical location of the mobile communication device. |
| US09538004B1 |
Applying user preferences, behavioral patterns and environmental factors to an automated customer support application
A method and apparatus of applying user profile information to a customized application are disclosed. One example method of operation may include receiving an inquiry message or call from a user device, identifying and authorizing the user from inquiry message information received from the inquiry message, retrieving a user profile comprising at least one user preference, applying the at least one user preference to a user call processing application, and transmitting menu options to the user device based on the applied at least user preference. |
| US09538000B1 |
Incoming call management in a communication environment with unified communication interfaces
A computer-implemented method for managing incoming calls comprises receiving, at an intermediate server communicatively coupled to a mobile phone associated with a first phone number corresponding to a first contact group and a second phone number corresponding to a second contact group, a request to receive an incoming call associated with a caller phone number. The intermediate server identifies a contact group associated with the request. The identified contact group comprises the first contact group in response to the received request corresponding to the first phone number, and the identified contact group comprises the second contact group in response to the received request corresponding to the second phone number. The intermediate server selects a notification based on the identified contact group. The intermediate server modifies the request to receive an incoming call to include the selected notification and routes the modified request to the mobile phone. |
| US09537998B2 |
Apparatus and method for displaying messages in a mobile terminal
A mobile terminal includes an apparatus for displaying messages. When a message is transmitted or received, whether the message has a relation with stored messages is determined. When it is determined that the message has a relation with at least one of the stored messages, the message is assigned the same tag as a tag of the at least one message. When a related message view command for one of the message and the at least one message occurs, contents of messages comprising the tag are displayed together. |
| US09537991B2 |
Method for establishing bluetooth connection and mobile terminal
A method for establishing a Bluetooth® connection, where the method includes: establishing data connections with at least two Bluetooth® devices; obtaining a voice connection instruction, where the voice connection instruction includes identification information of a target Bluetooth® device selected by a user from the Bluetooth® devices; and establishing a voice connection between the mobile terminal and the target Bluetooth® device according to the voice connection instruction; and a mobile terminal, a Bluetooth® device, and a system. A voice connection is established with a Bluetooth® device selected by a user, so as to improve an extent to which a Bluetooth® connection is established intelligently and a capability of interacting with the user. Therefore, the user can, according to needs, freely select a Bluetooth® device with which a connection is established, thereby improving convenience of the user in using the Bluetooth® device. |
| US09537990B2 |
Holder device for portable electronic apparatus, inner structure and vehicle including such a device
The holder device (3) according to the invention comprises: a lower surface (21); an upper part (25, 75); a rear surface (23); an electronic device (27), positioned near the rear surface (23). The holder device (3) comprises a mechanism (26) for adjusting the separation between the lower surface (21) and the upper part (25, 75) as a function of the size of the electronic apparatus (5). |
| US09537987B2 |
Transmission of data pertaining to use of speaker phone function and people present during telephonic communication
In one aspect, a first device includes a processor and a memory accessible to the processor. The memory bears instructions executable by the processor to determine at least one of whether the first device is facilitating a telephonic communication with a second device at least in part using a speaker phone feature, and that plural individuals are within a proximity to the first device during the telephonic communication. The instructions are also executable to transmit to the second device data pertaining to at least one of the use of the speaker phone feature and the existence of plural individuals. |
| US09537986B2 |
Dynamic contact sharing in a mesh network
A network device (100, 200, 330, 340, 540) comprising a memory (240), an interface (230) and a controller (210, 410) for use in a mesh network comprising at least one another network device (540c) wherein said memory (240) is configured for storing at least one contact (560) and said controller (210, 410) is configured to: receive a contact list (560) containing at least one contact from the another network device (540) and compare the at least one received contact with the at least one contact stored in the memory (240) and if there is no match, store the received at least one contact and forward said at least one received contact. |
| US09537985B2 |
Input and output hall structure for sound device in a portable terminal
An input/output hall structure for a sound device in a portable terminal includes a main hole and a plurality of sub-holes. The main hole is provided in a case frame forming the exterior of the portable terminal to be exposed to the exterior, and inputs/outputs sound. The plurality of sub-holes is branched from the main hole and communicates with the main hole. The sub-hole and a corresponding sound device communicate sound. The structure reduces the number of holes for inputting/outputting sound of a sound device and provides a more elegant appearance with improved function. A plurality of sound devices can input/output through the main hole and branched configuration of sub-holes. |
| US09537981B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting channel parameter information
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting channel parameter information. A method for transmitting a frame in consideration of a channel environment includes the steps of: receiving long training field (LTF) setting information from a station; creating a frame including an LTF, a plurality of divided data fields, and an additional LTF on the basis of the LTF setting information; and transmitting the frame, wherein the LTF positions are ahead of the plurality of divided data fields, the additional LTF positions are between or behind the plurality of divided data fields, and the LTF setting information can be created on the basis of the movement of the station. Therefore, channel estimation performance can be increased. |
| US09537979B2 |
Network adapter optical alert system
One embodiment provides a network adapter. The network adapter includes a network adapter controller, a medium access controller (MAC) and a physical layer (PHY) including at least one port. The network adapter further includes optical communication logic to at least one of receive and/or acquire a local alert and generate a local alert message related to the local alert, the local alert message including an alert identifier (ID) and a network adapter ID. The network adapter further includes a first light emitting diode (LED) to convert the local alert message to a corresponding optical local alert message and to transmit the optical local alert message to an optical communication path. |
| US09537977B2 |
Referencing change(s) in data utilizing a network resource locator
The subject disclosure relates to techniques for referencing a change in data utilizing a network resource locator. An interface component can receive one or more requests that are associated with a data set from a client, and send, based on the one or more requests, a network resource locator and at least one portion of the data set to the client. Further, a data service component can compute a parameter that is associated with a change of the data set, and include the parameter in the network resource locator. In other embodiments, the data service component can receive a request utilizing the network resource locator, determine the change of the data set based on the parameter, and send the change of the data set to the client. |
| US09537973B2 |
CDN load balancing in the cloud
CND load balancing in the cloud. Server resources are allocated at an edge data center of a content delivery network to properties that are being serviced by edge data center. Based on near real-time data, properties are sorted by trending traffic at the edge data center. Server resources are allocated for at least one property of the sorted properties at the edge data center. The server resources are allocated based on rules developed from long-term trends. The resource allocation includes calculating server needs for the property in a partition at the edge data center, and allocating the server needs for the property to available servers in the partition. |
| US09537971B2 |
Systems, devices and methods for distributed content pre-fetching in mobile communication networks
There are disclosed systems, devices, and methods for distributing pre-fetch data. A parent node obtains pre-fetch data comprising at least one of: i) data expected to be of interest to a particular user, pre-fetched by the parent node from at least one data source; and (ii) at least one identifier identifying data expected to be of interest to the particular user, for pre-fetching the identified data at a child node. The parent node selects first and second subsets of the pre-fetch data for transmission, respectively, to first and second child nodes, the selecting based on at least a predicted future location of the particular user and a respective geographic location of the first and second child nodes; and transmits the first and second subsets of the pre-fetch data, respectively, to the first and second child nodes. |
| US09537967B2 |
Method and system for HTTP-based stream delivery
A method of delivering a live stream is implemented within a content delivery network (CDN) and includes the high level functions of recording the stream using a recording tier, and playing the stream using a player tier. The step of recording the stream includes a set of sub-steps that begins when the stream is received at a CDN entry point in a source format. The stream is then converted into an intermediate format (IF), which is an internal format for delivering the stream within the CDN and comprises a stream manifest, a set of one or more fragment indexes (FI), and a set of IF fragments. The player process begins when a requesting client is associated with a CDN HTTP proxy. In response to receipt at the HTTP proxy of a request for the stream or a portion thereof, the HTTP proxy retrieves (either from the archive or the data store) the stream manifest and at least one fragment index. Using the fragment index, the IF fragments are retrieved to the HTTP proxy, converted to a target format, and then served in response to the client request. The source format may be the same or different from the target format. Preferably, all fragments are accessed, cached and served by the HTTP proxy via HTTP. In another embodiment, a method of delivering a stream on-demand (VOD) uses a translation tier (in lieu of the recording tier) to manage the creation and/or handling of the IF components. |
| US09537958B2 |
Methods and systems for enabling features provided by a first presentation layer protocol in a session implemented according to a second presentation layer protocol
A method for enabling a feature provided by a first presentation layer protocol, within a session established according to a second presentation layer protocol includes intercepting, by a hooking component executing on a first machine, a request, by an operating system executing on the first machine, for an indication whether the first machine established a session with a second machine according to a first presentation layer protocol. The method includes determining that the first machine established a session according to a second presentation layer protocol. The method includes identifying a type of a function within the operating system that generated the request for the indication. The method includes indicating that the first machine established the session according to the first presentation layer protocol, responsive to the identification of the type. The method includes enabling functionality provided for use in sessions established according to the first presentation layer protocol. |
| US09537956B1 |
System for acquiring time-synchronized sensor data
A sensor synchronization system for a sensor apparatus. The system synchronizes a local clock signal with an external timing signal. For example, the external timing signal may correspond to a pulse per second (PPS) signal received from a global positioning system (GPS) receiver. The system further generates a plurality of sensor pulses that are each offset in phase relative to the local clock signal by a respective amount. The system then activates a plurality of sensors of the sensor apparatus based at least in part on the plurality of sensor pulses. |
| US09537955B1 |
Sending web content via asynchronous background processes
Sending web content via asynchronous background processes is described. A system receives, from a webserver, a request, from an end-user device, for web content. The system sends the web content from a content server to a customer storage server associated with the end-user device. The system sends the web content from the customer storage server to the end-user device via an asynchronous background process. |
| US09537950B2 |
System and method for the provision of content to a subscriber
System and method for providing content to a plurality of subscribers in a communications network. The method includes receiving event parameters associated with an event from a third party; receiving location information for each subscriber from the communications network; comparing the event parameters with the location information for each subscriber to identify one or more subscribers within the plurality of subscribers within a predetermined range of the event associated with the event parameters; profiling each of the one or more subscribers to produce a profile rating and/or profile score wherein the profile rating and/or profile score are indicative of the likelihood of a given subscriber to attend the event; sorting the one or more subscribers into a number of categories based on the profile rating and/or profile score; compiling content for each category of subscribers; and delivering the content to said one or more subscribers within range of the event. |
| US09537949B2 |
Computer system image clustering architecture and use
System and method for distributed computing. Each of multiple server computer systems may include one or more microservers, a network interface, and a network switch, coupled to the one or more microservers and the network interface, the network switch configured to switchably connect any of the microservers to a network via the network interface. Each microserver may be configurable to implement a respective server based on a computer image file, including a pre-execution environment (PXE) boot image. A management server computer may manage the server computer systems, including: providing or designating provision of computer image files to the server computer systems. Each server computer system may receive a computer image file from the management server computer or a designated computer image file store, implement a PXE boot image on a microserver accordingly, connect to one or more client computers over the network, and provide computer services to the client computers. |
| US09537935B2 |
Consumer PC in the cloud
A client device has a power system, an operating system, a single chip containing a memory, a memory controller, a central processing unit (CPU), and a peripherals interface, wherein the peripherals interface communicates with external ports over one or more communication buses; an I/O subsystem comprising a display controller, input controllers, a touch screen which includes a soft keyboard, network circuitry, HDMI display/audio, a BIO-reader sensor, a camera, ports, a CDROM drive, an optical sensor coupled to an optical sensor controller, a SATA disk; a disk RAID controller; a Bluetooth device; a Bluetooth controller; an antenna; RF circuitry connected to the antenna; a proximity sensor, an accelerometer coupled to one of the input controllers; and audio circuitry connected to a speaker and a microphone. The client device is used to gain access to a user-adaptable, user-configurable UI-server which is provisioned across a cloud computing environment. |
| US09537933B2 |
Server-client interaction and information management system
An information-sharing system includes a server in a wide-area network coupled to a data repository, software executing on the server, providing services for a first person, wherein the first person is enabled to create one or more personae stored in the data repository, at least one interactive window associated with individual ones of the personae and deployable to one or more electronic appliances, and one or more rule sets associated with individual ones of the personae, the rule sets defining and limiting server functions that may be initiated through individual ones of deployed interactive windows, the interactive windows and rule sets enabling the first person to control identity and contact information made available to users of deployed interactive windows. |
| US09537921B2 |
Mobile-to-mobile streaming of real-time content for presentation by an output device
A content providing device may receive an indication to stream real-time content. The real-time content may include content captured by the content providing device. The content providing device may identify a dynamic content address, associated with the content providing device, to be used by a content receiving device to access the real-time content. The dynamic content address may identify an address of the content providing device from which the real-time content is to be streamed. The content providing device may provide the dynamic content address. The content providing device may receive, from the content receiving device, a request to access the real-time content, via the dynamic content address, based on providing the dynamic content address. The content providing device may stream the real-time content to the content receiving device, using the dynamic content address, based on receiving the request. |
| US09537915B2 |
Replacing media item
An example implementation involves a playback device receiving, from a control device, data indicating an addition of a first media item to a queue that is playable by the playback device. This first media item is available to the first playback device at a first network location. The example implementation also involves determining that the first media item is unavailable to the playback device by determining that the control device has disconnected from the media playback system. Based on determining that the first media item is unavailable to the playback device, the playback device identifies a second media item that is equivalent to the first media item. This second media item is available to the playback device at a second network location that is different from the first network location and the playback device. The playback device replaces the first media item in the queue with the second media item. |
| US09537914B1 |
Vehicle domain multi-level parallel buffering and context-based streaming data pre-processing system
A vehicle domain multi-level parallel buffering and context-based streaming data pre-processing system includes a first data processing level and a second data processing level. The first data processing level includes a first-level buffer configured to buffer data provided from a plurality of raw data streams output from a plurality of vehicles. The second data processing level includes an electronic task-queue-dictionary (TQD) module and a plurality of second-level data processing buffers. The TQD module is configured to create a plurality of tasks in response to receiving a serial data stream output from the first-level buffer. The TQD module is further configured to assign each task to a corresponding second-level buffer, and separate the serial data stream into individual data values that are delivered to a specific second-level buffer based on the task so as to generate a multi-level parallel context-based buffering operation. |
| US09537913B2 |
Method and system for delivery of audio content for use on wireless mobile device
A music service application that can be run on a wireless mobile device enables audio data to be progressively downloaded from a remote server and also enables locally stored data to be played efficiently. Audio content that is relevant to a user is identified and downloaded to the user's mobile device, in some cases with minimal or no effort by the user. Continuous play features ensure that the user can experience an uninterrupted music experience, both in online and offline modes. Social features such as playlists and preferences of other users are leveraged, to provide users with popular music that is relevant to their interests. |
| US09537912B2 |
Communication traffic management
A computer-implemented method, computer program product, and computing system is provided for managing communication traffic relaying in a multiparty communication session. In an implementation, a method may include receiving a request from a first computing device to join a multiparty communication session. The method may also include associating the first computing device with a second computing device for the multiparty communication session, the second computing device participating in the multiparty communication session via a multipoint control unit. The method may further include relaying communication traffic for the multiparty communication session from the multipoint control unit to the first computing device by the second computing device. |
| US09537910B2 |
Communication and action approval system and method
A computer-based method for real-time communication authorization includes receiving, from a first communication device, a communication request, verifying, with a verification engine, a pre-approval status of the communication request, storing the communication request in an approval queue if the communication authorization the pre-approval status is set to false, issuing an alert to the authorization device, and receiving one or more authorization parameters from an authorization device. |
| US09537909B2 |
Social networking system capable of providing location-based notifications
A networked computer system provides various services for assisting users in locating, and establishing contact relationships with, other users. For example, in one embodiment, users can identify other users based on their affiliations with particular schools or other organizations. The system also provides a mechanism for a user to selectively establish contact relationships or connections with other users, and to grant permissions for such other users to view personal information of the user. The system may also be capable of detecting, and notifying a user of, an event in which the user and a contact of the user are in a common location. |
| US09537904B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for using policy knowledge of or obtained by a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) for needs based forwarding of bearer session traffic to network nodes
The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for using policy knowledge of or obtained by a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) for needs based forwarding of bearer session traffic to network nodes. One exemplary system includes a PCRF. The PCRF includes a policy engine for identifying, using policy knowledge or obtained by the PCRF, zero or more network nodes hosting applications needed for processing packets of a bearer session. The PCRF further includes an application routing configurator for providing instructions to configure at least one configurable network element to forward bearer session traffic to any of the network nodes determined to be needed for processing packets associated with the bearer session and to bypass any of the network nodes not determined to be needed for processing packets associated with the bearer session. |
| US09537902B2 |
Enabling devices without native broadcast capability to access and/or receive broadcast data in an efficient manner
Methods, devices and systems for delivering broadcast data to client devices that do not support receiving broadcast transmissions. In an embodiment, a gateway device may be configured to receive a manifest file and related data segments via a first type of network protocol, such as LTE broadcasts. The manifest file may include data defining network addresses for one or more network resources, and may be modified to include a network address of a proxy server for the network resources. The proxy server may be configured to accept requests for data segments from client devices conforming to a second type of network protocol different from the first protocol, such as unicast. In an embodiment, the gateway device may transmit broadcast data for storage in a cache or alternatively a separate storage location accessible to the proxy server. The proxy server may be included in the gateway device or client devices. |
| US09537899B2 |
Dynamic selection of security protocol
Techniques described herein enable a client to store information indicating whether various hosts (e.g., servers, web domains) support a preferred security protocol, such as a False Start-modified TLS or SSL protocol. The client may then use this information to dynamically determine whether to use the preferred protocol when connecting to a particular host. When the client attempts a handshake to establish a secure connection with a host for the first time, the client does so using the preferred protocol. If the handshake fails, the client locally stores domain or other identifying information for the host so that the client may employ a non-preferred protocol in subsequent connection attempts. Thus, a client may avoid performance degradation caused by attempting a preferred-protocol connection with a host that does not support the preferred protocol. Stored information may include a time stamp enable periodic checks for host capability updates. |
| US09537898B2 |
Shared security utility appliance for secure application and data processing
A method is disclosed that includes registering an application with a security information technology element (ITE), where the security ITE includes a secure computing device located within a protection envelope and configured to provide security services for one or more applications. The security ITE also provides a secure processing environment for hosting applications, and includes cryptographic services and hardware acceleration. A security manager within the security ITE is configured to erase data within the protection envelope upon detecting physical tampering. |
| US09537894B1 |
Ephemeral user account system
A non-transitory machine-readable medium embodying instructions that, when executed by a machine, allow the machine to perform a method are provided. In one aspect, a method includes receiving, at a computing device, user account credentials associated with an online user account. The method includes sending the user account credentials to a server. The method includes receiving, in response to sending the user account credentials to a server, a user profile associated with the user account. The method includes configuring an operating system session on the device based on the user profile. The method includes receiving an indication to terminate the operating system session. The method includes, erasing, upon termination of the operating system session, the received user profile and data stored locally on the computing device during the operating system session. Systems and methods are also provided. |
| US09537891B1 |
Policy enforcement based on dynamically attribute-based matched network objects
A policy that includes an address group is received. The policy is compiled into a set of one or more rules. The compiling is performed at least in part by determining members of the address group. The compiling can further include substituting one or more IP addresses of the members for the address group. At least one rule included in the set of rules is enforced. |
| US09537888B1 |
Proxy server-based malware detection
Disclosed are various embodiments for malware detection by way of proxy servers. In one embodiment, a proxy server application generates a browsing history for client devices based at least in part on proxied network resource requests received from the client devices. The proxy server application determines that at least one of the client devices is affected by malware. The proxy server application determines a source of the malware based at least in part on the browsing history or telemetry data received from the client devices. An action is implemented in response to determining the source of the malware. |
| US09537887B2 |
Method and system for network connection chain traceback using network flow data
Disclosed are provided a method and a system for network connection chain traceback by using network flow data in order to trace an attack source site for cyber hacking attacks that goes by way of various sites without addition of new equipment of a network or modification a standard protocol when the cyber hacking attack occurs in the Internet and an internal network. |
| US09537880B1 |
Anomalous network monitoring, user behavior detection and database system
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for network monitoring, user account compromise determination, and user behavior database system. The system monitors network actions of user accounts including user account access across multitudes of network accessible systems, determines user account transitions, and determines different types of high-risk user behavior indicative of compromise. Network actions can be obtained from generated information by the network accessible systems, and correlated across additional data sets including contextual ones. User interfaces are generated describing network actions of user accounts, and are configured for user interaction, which cause generation of updated user interfaces and access to electronic data sources to determine information relevant to the user interaction. |
| US09537874B2 |
System for providing behavior information notification service and method for providing behavior information notification service
The present invention has the aim of providing a method of an activity information notification service in which a server can receive activity information from a user of a target terminal, depending on his or her privacy setting, and then transmit the received activity information to a selected receiving user, and in which any receiving user can transmit a notification request to a target user in order to receive desired activity information. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method of an activity information notification service at a server, the method includes steps of receiving activity information from a target terminal; determining a receiving terminal to which the received activity information will be transmitted, depending on a privacy setting of the target terminal stored in a storage unit; and transmitting the activity information to the determined receiving terminal. |
| US09537869B2 |
Geographical restrictions for application usage on a mobile device
Apps are secured or security-wrapped either before they are downloaded onto a device, such as a smart phone or tablet device, or after they are downloaded but before they are allowed to access the device operating system and cause any potential damage to the device. The app is secured before it is allowed to access the operating system of the device, thereby preventing the app from malicious behavior. App object code is substituted with security program object code, thereby creating a security-wrapped app. The app is provisioned with a geo-fencing policy which prevents execution of an app outside a pre-defined geographical area. If the device is within the defined area, the app is allowed to execute. The geographical area, such as a building or company campus, is defined using longitude and latitude coordinates and a location accuracy value. Device location is obtained using location/GPS services on the device. |
| US09537864B2 |
Encryption system using web browsers and untrusted web servers
In one embodiment of the present invention, a first user—the creator—uses a web browser to encrypt some information. The web browser provides to the creator a URL which contains the key used for encryption, such as in the form of an anchor embedded within a URL. The web browser also provides a hash of the cryptographic key and the encrypted information to a web server. The creator transmits the URL to a second user—the viewer—who provides the URL to a web browser, thereby causing the web browser to navigate to a decryption web page maintained by the web server, but without transmitting the cryptographic key to the web server. The viewer's web browser hashes the cryptographic key and sends the hash to the web server, which uses the hash to identify and return the encrypted information to the viewer's web browser, which in turn uses the encryption key to decrypt the message and display the decrypted message to the viewer. |
| US09537863B2 |
Data driven role based security
Data driven role based security is provided. At login, the system queries for a data context in connection with access to computing objects of a computing system. When a request for access to computing objects is received by the computing system, one or more control expressions specified for the computing object being accessed are evaluated. The evaluation of the control expressions may reference the user context or the data context previously established, and returns a set of effective permissions. Access to the computing object is then granted if the set of permissions includes an appropriate permission for the request for access. |
| US09537862B2 |
Relayed network access control systems and methods
A computer system for authenticating and managing network traffic may comprise a network link providing a connection to a network, an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server configured to provide AAA management for the network link, an access controller configured to communicate with the AAA server and to control access to the network link, and a subnetwork of client devices connected to an intermediate relay node. The client devices may be configured to communicate with the access controller and the network link through the intermediate relay node. Also methods and processes by which an intermediate relay node and an access controller may operate in the network for authentication of client devices and routing of network traffic. |
| US09537861B2 |
Method of mutual verification between a client and a server
A method of mutual verification between a client and a server is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a request via a telecommunication link, the request comprising an address of the server; receiving a verification data; decrypting the verification data with a private key of the server; identifying an account identity (ID) of the client from the decrypted verification data; generating a first logon token; generating a logon message comprising the first logon token and a uniform resource locator (URL) of the server; encrypting the logon message with a public key of the client; transmitting the logon message via the telecommunication link; receiving a logon request comprising the account ID and a second logon token; and determining whether the second logon token matches the first logon token. |
| US09537858B2 |
Methods and apparatus to support globalplatform™ usage on an embedded UICC (eUICC)
Disclosed herein is a technique for managing one or more electronic Subscriber Identity Modules (eSIMs) on an embedded UICC (eUICC). In particular, the technique involves leveraging the GlobalPlatform™ Specification and/or other telecommunication standards to support the eSIMs on the eUICC. Each eUICC can include an Issuer Security Domain (ISD) owned by a device manufacturer and an eSIM manager that manages the plurality of eSIMs on the eUICC. Notably, binaries of one or more applications shared between different eSIMs can be standardized and stored in a manner that enables each eSIM to utilize the one or more applications (via the eSIM manager) without needing to individually store the binaries. Using this approach, the overall size and complexity of each eSIM can be reduced, which can increase the amount of available memory within the eUICC as well as the overall performance of the eUICC. |
| US09537854B2 |
Transmitting encoded digital certificate data to certificate authority using mobile device
Techniques are disclosed for managing a digital certificate enrollment process. A certificate assistant on a server is configured to encode certificate enrollment data in a barcode graphic, such as a quick response (QR) code. A mobile phone application can then scan the barcode graphic using a camera to recover and transmit the enrollment data to a certificate authority. Doing so allows a system administrator (or other user) to complete the certificate enrollment process in cases where the server is blocked from connecting to a certificate authority (CA) directly, e.g., because the server is behind a firewall blocking any outbound network connections from being initiated. |
| US09537850B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and storage medium
An information processing apparatus includes a storage unit capable of storing authentication information corresponding to a web service. Information is output in a web page corresponding to a first web service so as to cause a display unit to display, via a web browser, an indicator to receive an instruction to delete the authentication information stored in the storage unit. Upon receiving the instruction by the output indicator, deletion processing of authentication information corresponding to a second web service different from the first web service is executed in the storage unit. |
| US09537840B2 |
Information handling system secure RF wireless communication management with out-of-band encryption information handshake
A server information handling system baseboard management controller (BMC) includes an NFC transceiver that communicates NFC signals through an NFC antenna structure. The BMC selectively configures the NFC antenna structure to isolate portions of conductive material for use as an antenna in non-NFC communications, such as wireless local area network communications (WLAN) at 2.4 or 5 GHz or wireless personal area network (WPAN) communications at 2.4 or 60 GHz. In one embodiment, WLAN and WPAN communications are encrypted with a key provided through NFC or other types of wireless communication, such as visible, infrared or ultraviolet light signals. |
| US09537839B2 |
Secure short message service (SMS) communications
Embodiments provide secure messaging communications. In an embodiment, a method comprises receiving, by a service provider processor, an encrypted message and a key from a sender associated with a first client device that is remote from the service provider, wherein the first client device internally encrypts the message. The message also comprises verifying the received key based on at least a comparison with a pre-determined key. Once the received key is verified, the method also comprises processing one or more unique factors associated with the sender or the first client device, wherein the one or more unique factors are known by the service provider. The method further comprises decrypting the message and re-encrypting the message using a key of a receiver associated with a second client device; and sending the re-encrypted message to the receiver associated with the second client device, wherein the second client device decrypts the message. |
| US09537835B2 |
Secure mobile app connection bus
A secure mobile application connection bus is disclosed. First encryption information and an identifier associated with a data storage location on a mobile device are provided from a first application to a second application. Second encryption information associated with the second mobile application is retrieved from the data storage location. The second mobile application is configured to provide data to the data storage location. Data is transferred securely between the first mobile application and the second mobile application via the data storage location. |
| US09537833B2 |
Secure host communications
A trusted device includes a secure interface and a host interface, the secure interface being isolated from the host interface by an isolated environment. A user provides a communication to the trusted device via the secure interface. A processor of the isolated environment encrypts the communication and transmits the encrypted communication to a read file of the host interface. A host device connected to the trusted device via the host interface receives the encrypted communication. The host device transmits the encrypted communication to a second host device that is connected to a second trusted device via a second host interface. The second host device transmits the encrypted communication to a write file of the second host interface. A processor in an isolated environment of the second trusted device decrypts the communication and provides the decrypted communication to a second user via a secure interface of the second trusted device. |
| US09537832B2 |
Method, system and device for establishing link
A method and device for establishing link are provided. The method for establishing link is applied to an Ad-Hoc network includes: generating, by a first electrical device, a first part of a service set identifier according to a user's name and a network-card address; generating a second part of the service set identifier according to the first part of the service set identifier, a private key and a first algorithm; generating the service set identifier according to the first part of the service set identifier and the second part of the service set identifier; generating a link password according to the service set, the private key and a second algorithm; and establishing, by a second electrical device, a link with the first electrical device according to the service set identifier, the private key, the first algorithm and the second algorithm. |
| US09537829B2 |
Methods and apparatus to improve security of a virtual private mobile network
Methods and apparatus are disclosed to prevent consecutive attacks on a virtual private mobile network. An example method includes for each of a plurality of network elements, generating virtualized slices based on a virtualized slice count value for subgroups associated with the virtual private mobile network, and assigning non-consecutive ones of the virtualized slices to the subgroups associated with the virtual private mobile network based on demand for the virtualized slices by the respective ones of the subgroups. The example method also includes, in response to a request from a mobile device to access the virtual private mobile network for a first time, assigning the mobile device to one of the virtual slices of the plurality of network elements based on (i) the subgroup associated with the mobile device, and (ii) availability of the virtual slices. |
| US09537828B2 |
Secure mobile communication relay having firewall function
The secure mobile communication relay of the present invention may comprise: a baseband processing unit for the baseband modulation/demodulation of the mobile communication signal transmitted between a terminal and a mobile communication network base station so as to extract baseband data; a control unit for analyzing the baseband data and permitting or rejecting the relay of the baseband data based on the result of a determination of whether or not a set security policy has been violated; a storage unit for storing information for setting the security policy; and a firewall function unit for determining, based on the instructions of the control unit, whether or not the packet data included in the baseband data violates the security policy. |
| US09537826B2 |
Systems and methods for passing network traffic content
A method for transmitting content data includes receiving content data, and passing at least a portion of the content data based on a size of the received content data. A method for transmitting content data includes receiving content data, and passing at least a portion of the content data based on a prescribed rate. A method for transmitting content data includes receiving content data, and passing at least a portion of the content data before performing policy enforcement on the content data. |
| US09537824B2 |
Transparent provisioning of network access to an application
An apparatus and method for enhancing the infrastructure of a network such as the Internet is disclosed. A packet interceptor/processor apparatus is coupled with the network so as to be able to intercept and process packets flowing over the network. Further, the apparatus provides external connectivity to other devices that wish to intercept packets as well. The apparatus applies one or more rules to the intercepted packets which execute one or more functions on a dynamically specified portion of the packet and take one or more actions with the packets. The apparatus is capable of analyzing any portion of the packet including the header and payload. Actions include releasing the packet unmodified, deleting the packet, modifying the packet, logging/storing information about the packet or forwarding the packet to an external device for subsequent processing. Further, the rules may be dynamically modified by the external devices. |
| US09537821B2 |
Method for PCC support for scenarios with NAT in the GW
The invention relates to a method and system for network communication wherein a Policy and Charging Control Function (PCRF; 6) is aware of any Network Address Translator (NAT; 7) bindings of the user equipment (UE; 2). |
| US09537819B2 |
Facilitating the resolution of address conflicts in a networked media playback system
Examples are disclosed and described to facilitate resolution of Internet Protocol address conflicts. An example method includes listening, by a first playback device having a first IP address, to a specified server port, receiving, by the first playback device from a second playback device via the specified server port, a message, wherein the message identifies a second IP address, wherein the second IP address has been assigned to the second playback device, determining, by the first playback device, whether the first IP address is the same as the second IP address, and when the first IP address is the same as the second IP address, obtaining, by the first playback device, a new IP address, wherein the new IP address is different from the first IP address and the second IP address. |
| US09537816B2 |
API for representing a mailbox in a message system
The disclosed architecture is an application program interface (API) that includes a collection of class members defined in a single class for accessing mailboxes in messaging storage locations in an enterprise organization. Each mailbox in the organization has an identity that primarily encapsulates at least a mailbox server name, a unique mailbox database GUID (globally unique identifier), and a unique mailbox GUID. By encapsulating information associated with a mailbox into one class, database lookups can be optimized and a single source of mailbox information provided for both authentication and display purposes. Other information can also be encapsulated. |
| US09537814B2 |
Spam detection and prevention in a social networking system
A social networking system detects spam in comments posted by users of the social networking system. A spam prevention module of the social networking system retrieves content signals associated with a posted comment and analyzes the content signals to determine whether the posted comment contains spam content. The spam prevention module augments the content signal analysis by analyzing social signals of the posted comment. Based on the content signal analysis and the social signal analysis, the spam prevention module determines whether the posted comment is spam and takes remedial actions on detected spam, including blocking the comment and educating the user who posted the comment. |
| US09537807B2 |
Automatically transitioning a user from a call to action to an enrollment interface
Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product embodiments for automatically transitioning a user from a call to action (CTA) to an enrollment interface. An embodiment operates by receiving a request from a user's device to display web content. The requested web content is displayed along with a CTA. When the CTA is selected by the user, an e-mail client associated with the user's device automatically opens, generates an electronic message based on the selected CTA, and populates a recipient address and a code associated with the CTA within the electronic message. Upon its receipt, the electronic message is processed by enrolling the user in a campaign associated with the CTA based on the code and the user's e-mail address. An electronic message is generated and sent to the user's e-mail address that contains a first hyperlink to the campaign associated with the CTA and a second hyperlink to an associated privacy policy. |
| US09537806B2 |
System for delegating the prioritization of incoming communications to trusted users
A computer-implemented method for prioritizing an incoming communication directed to a recipient by an originator includes creating a privacy/trust relationship between a recipient and an originator in response to user input, and determining a disposition of an incoming communication by reference to the privacy/trust relationship. |
| US09537801B1 |
Distributed packet ordering system having separate worker and output processors
An Island-Based Network Flow Processor (IB-NFP) receives packets of many flows, and classifies each packet as belonging to one of a plurality of ordering contexts. As packets of an ordering context flow through the IB-NFP they are distributed to a set of Worker Processors (WPs). Each packet is processed by one WP, but multiple WPs are typically operating on packets of the ordering context at the same time. The ordering system handles releasing packets from the WPs to set of Output Processors (OP) in the correct order, even though WPs may complete their processing in an out-of-order fashion. One OP is responsible for generating “transmit commands” for packets of the ordering context. This OP generates a transmit command in the correct format as required by the particular egress destination circuit through which the packet will exit the IB-NFP. This architecture reduces code space, and facilitates good usage of processing resources. |
| US09537796B2 |
Method and apparatus for supporting a communication service
A wireless communication network and a mobile device may support Circuit Switched (CS) and Packet Switched (PS) services. Some types of communication services (e.g. voice, text, data, etc.) may be supported using a CS service or using a PS service. In some embodiments, the PS service is an IMS service using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to provide a “CS-like” communication service such as voice or text message. According to the disclosure, a mobile device may detect that it is process data for the PS service. For example, a SIP component that supports the PS service may become inoperable. In response, the mobile device attempts to support the communication service using the CS service. |
| US09537794B2 |
System and method for wireless communication in a backplane fabric architecture
A system and method of wirelessly communicating in a backplane mesh network is disclosed. A data message received from a first network device is handled at a first antenna system located in a first network device cabinet via a first network interface. The data message is wirelessly transmitted from a first millimeter wave antenna coupled to the first antenna system over a high speed backplane network to a second network device in a second device cabinet using emitted millimeter wave electromagnetic radiation. The data message is wirelessly received at a second millimeter wave antenna over the high speed backplane network using emitted millimeter wave electromagnetic radiation, wherein the received data message is handled by a second antenna system coupled to the second millimeter wave antenna. The received data message is sent, via a second network interface, from the second antenna system to the second network device. |
| US09537791B2 |
Management system for determining whether to provide service to device based on permissible communication data amount
A management apparatus manages a plurality of devices. The management apparatus includes a management part that manages, for each one of the devices, one of communication systems used for carrying out communication between the management apparatus and the one of the devices and a communication data amount between the management apparatus and the one of the devices; a setting part that sets a permissible communication amount for each one of the communication systems; and a determination part that determines whether to be able to provide a service to one of the devices based on a communication data amount required for providing the service to the one of the devices, the permissible communication amount of one of the communication systems used by the one of the devices and a total of the communication data amounts of respective ones of the devices each using the one of the communication systems. |
| US09537790B1 |
Breadth-first resource allocation system and methods
A computing environment adapted with a resource allocation policy, the resource allocation policy being configured to evenly distribute application instances to as many servers as possible. |
| US09537789B2 |
Resource allocating in a network
In one aspect, a method includes receiving, at a first node in a network, a resource reservation request from a second node in the network, determining, at the first node, if there is another node in the network that can be used to reach a destination and meet the resource reservation request and notifying the second node a result of the determining. |
| US09537788B2 |
Automatic determination of resource sizing
A system for providing automatic resource resizing is provided. The system may be configured to maintain a plurality of virtual machine instances. The system may be further configured to receive a request to execute a program code and allocate computing resources for executing the program code on one of the virtual machine instances. The amount of resources allocated for executing the program code may be specified by the request and adjusted as needed. |
| US09537787B2 |
Dynamically balancing resource requirements for clients with unpredictable loads
In one embodiment, by way of example only, a resource threshold limits the resource usage of each of the multiplicity of clients. The resource threshold of each of the multiplicity of clients increases over time and decreases when the resources deplete and a resource request of a client is rejected. A subset of clients is created from the multiplicity of clients having a resource usage greater than the resource usage of the rejected client. A dynamic average of a normalized number of resources is calculated from the subset of clients. The resource threshold of each client from the subset of clients is decreased based on the dynamic average of the subset of clients, and further acquisition of resources is restricted from each client from the subset of clients in order to bring the resource usage of each of the subset of clients under the resource threshold. |
| US09537784B2 |
Network-specific data downloading to a mobile device
A method, system, and/or computer program product downloads a blob of data onto a mobile device. A blob of data that is to be downloaded from a server to a mobile device via a particular network is identified. A first maximum chunk size for the first network for the particular network is identified, as is a timeout value for the mobile device when downloading a chunk of data. An optimal chunk size for chunking the blob of data is determined based on the timeout value of the mobile device and the maximum chunk size for the first network. The blob of data is partitioned into chunks of data based on the first optimal chunk size, and the chunks of data are transmitted from the server to the mobile device. |
| US09537779B2 |
System and method for real-time traffic delivery
Embodiments are provided herein for a system and methods for real-time video (or other real-time traffic) delivery, e.g., for cellular or wireless networks. The schemes herein address real-time video delivery by a joint design of the radio resource scheduler and the video encoder at the network side, and of the decoder at the users' terminals. The system design reduces frame loss and hence improves user quality of experience. In an embodiment, a radio node detects a frame of a real-time traffic flow. Upon determining that a transmission deadline corresponding to a rate for real-time traffic flow does not support a size of the frame, the transmission deadline is extended according to the size of the frame and a size of a next frame. The frame and the next frame are scheduled for forwarding within the extended transmission deadline. |
| US09537777B1 |
Adjusting input/output operation arrival times to represent a token bucket that enforces maximum rate and burst size limits
In-band, on the fly allocation of tokens to a token bucket that limits the rate at which input/output operations are performed on a storage resource according to a maximum rate limit, while also supporting a user-configurable burst size limit that allows for a temporary spike in the rate input/output operations are received for the storage resource. An input/output time parameter is adjusted in response to receipt of input/output operations, based on the arrival times of the input/output operations, the maximum rate limit, and the burst size limit, in order to automatically allocate and consume tokens for the token bucket without requiring a separate token allocation thread. |
| US09537774B2 |
Transmission apparatus and method for controlling transmission band
A transmission apparatus includes: a frame transmitter configured to receive an asynchronous first frame transmitted via a first transmission network and arrange the received first frame to a second frame to transmit the arranged second frame to a second transmission network; a congestion detector configured to detect congestion that has occurred in an asynchronous transmission apparatus that receives the first frame via the first transmission network; and a band controller configured to control a transmission band of a path so as to reduce the transmission band of a path on the second transmission network corresponding to a path on which the congestion has occurred. |
| US09537773B2 |
Ensuring predictable and quantifiable networking performance
The ensuring of predictable and quantifiable networking performance. Embodiments of the invention combine a congestion free network core with a hypervisor based (i.e., edge-based) throttling design to help insure quantitative and invariable subscription bandwidth rates. A lightweight shim layer in a hypervisor can adaptively throttle the rate of VM-to-VM traffic flow. A receiving hypervisor can detect congestion and communicate back to sending hypervisors that rates are to be regulated. In response, sending hypervisors can reduce transmission rate to mitigate congestion at the receiving hypervisor. In some embodiments, the principles are extended to any message processors communicating over a congestion free network. |
| US09537770B1 |
Per service egress link selection
Exemplary embodiments provide techniques for specifying, on a per-service basis, (1) the peering router to which a particular network packet should be directed, and (2) the egress port that the packet should use when it leaves the peering router. One embodiment encapsulates an original packet inside an encapsulating packet. The encapsulating packet may specify, as a destination, a desired peering router in order to route the packet to a specific peering router and may specify an egress port identifier identifying a desired egress port on which the packet should be sent out from the peering router. At the peering router, the encapsulated packet may be decapsulated and the desired egress port may be retrieved. Thus, general network routing information may be overridden in favor of selected service-specific routes, allowing faster routes can be chosen for more important traffic or services. |
| US09537767B2 |
Intra-platform networking
Technologies for communicating with local components of a computing device include intercepting a name resolution request from a host application, resolving a hostname included in the name resolution request to obtain a network address assigned to a target destination of the network packet, and transmitting the network address to the host application in response to the name resolution request. Such technologies may also include receiving the network packet from the host application destined for the network address, determining, whether the target destination of the network packet includes a local component of the computing device based on the network address, and transmitting the network packet to the local component of the computing device via a platform network in response to the network packet being destined for the local component of the computing device. |
| US09537765B2 |
Transport control server, transport control system, and transport control method
A passage channel is calculated by taking into account a plurality of requirements having different importance degrees. A channel calculation unit (202) of a transport control server (100) calculates a plurality of passage channel candidates with respect to a passage setting request wherein an active passage candidate and a standby passage candidate are paired in the passage channel candidate; and calculates the occurrence number of phenomena that violate a predetermined requirement relating an operation of the active passage and the standby passage, or a value of a network element for determining whether the requirement is violated, with respect to each passage channel candidate. A cost calculation unit (205) calculates the cost of a passage channel from the calculated number of occurrence, network element value, and a predetermined cost calculation coefficient corresponding to the requirement. A GUI control unit (display control unit) 201 displays identification information of the passage channel candidate, the number of occurrences or the network element value, and the cost, as a list on, for example, a management terminal. |
| US09537757B2 |
Adding link aggregation group to hitless protection in packet switched networks
A method is provided for traffic aggregation in a hitless protected packet switched network having source and destination nodes. The method includes enabling a working path and a protecting path between the source and destination nodes. The working path is non-overlapping with respect to the protecting path. The method includes generating, using a processor, internal marker packets at working and protecting input ports of the source nodes. Each market packet represents a respective marker time period. The method includes transmitting the marker packets to working and protecting output ports of the source nodes, by the working and protecting input ports of the source nodes. The method includes selectively aggregating, at each of the working and protecting output ports of the source nodes, hitless traffic sent from different working and protecting inputs ports of the source nodes to provide an aggregated flow there from, responsive to the marker packets. |
| US09537756B2 |
Method for synchronized BGP and VRRP failover of a network device in a network
A network device which communicates with peers using Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) advertises to one or more peers a first Multi-Exit Discriminator (MED) when all sessions are in ‘established’ state, and a second MED when one or more sessions are in a non-‘established’ state. The second MED is higher than the first MED and higher than the MED advertised by the backup network device, causing peers to prefer the backup device. If the device is also configured for Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), when the device advertises the first MED, virtual routers are transitioned to ‘master’ state, and when the device advertises the second MED, virtual routers are transitioned to ‘backup’ state. |
| US09537752B2 |
Encoding inter-domain shared service paths
Techniques are presented to enable the instantiation of a service chain that is comprised of service functions belonging to one or more administrative domains. A service chain consisting of one or more service functions in one administrative domain is made available to another administrative domain through an advertisement. This enables the building of inter-domain service chains without the need to share between the administrative domains details about the service chains and service functions in the respective administrative domains. |
| US09537747B2 |
Publish/subscribe overlay network control system
A system may include an overlay network linking a plurality of publishers, a plurality of subscribers, and a plurality of brokers. The overlay network may include a first computer network having a first network protocol carried by a second computer network having a second network protocol. The system may also include an agent carried by each of the publishers, the subscribers, and the brokers that adjust the network's topology based upon collected runtime data of condition of each link within the network and/or broker availability to any publisher and subscriber. |
| US09537741B2 |
Data path performance measurement using test messages in a software defined network
A method in a network controller of a control plane in a software defined network (SDN) coupled to a plurality of network elements (NEs) of a data plane in the SDN is described. The method includes at least sending a first control message to an ingress NE of the plurality of NEs to initiate a first test session; sending a second control message to an egress NE of the plurality of NEs to initiate a second test session; sending the test message to the ingress NE to cause the ingress NE to transmit the outgoing message from the ingress NE; receiving the first reply message from the ingress NE; receiving the second reply message from the egress NE; and calculating an indication of a delay between the ingress NE and the egress NE. |
| US09537740B2 |
Monitoring device usage
Estimating a level of concurrency is provided. An estimated level of concurrency of a device is determined. A first average response time, wherein the first average response time is an average of response times of a first set of operations of the device is determined. A second average response time is determined, wherein the second average response time is an average of response times of a second set of operations of the device, wherein each of the second set of operations is initiated under conditions of minimal interference of the device. A threshold based on the estimated level of concurrency is determined. The estimated level of concurrency is updated based, at least in part, on a ratio of the second average response time to the first average response time. |
| US09537739B1 |
HA split brain over network
A method implemented by a node in a high availability system having a master node and a replica node, the method including monitoring another node to determine whether or not the node is responding via a network connection, when the node is found to be not responding, changing into a periodic replication mode of operation, serving user requests while in the replication mode of operation, determining that the other node is now responding via the network connection, negotiating to merge changes resulting from serving the user requests with the other node, and reverting to an online replication mode of operation. |
| US09537737B2 |
Consolidated performance metric analysis
Performance metrics may be received from multiple data processing elements associated with a performance metric domain and a consolidated performance metric may be determined. Grouping the performance metrics into performance metric groups may be performed based on their respective associations with different aspects of the data processing elements. |
| US09537731B2 |
Management techniques for non-traditional network and information system topologies
Systems, software, and methods for managing traditional (i.e., TCP/IP-based), non-traditional, and traditional-non-traditional hybrid networks of connected electronic devices are described. In one example, network management policy and network management applications are downloaded automatically upon detection and identification of a new device, application or service on a network. In another example, information related to at least one aspect of the network is obtained by a network management device through connection to a non-TCP/IP network, or by way of a gateway device or application, at least one applicable management policy is identified, and the identified policy is used to manage at least one aspect of the network's operation. In another example, devices, applications or services presenting various behaviors under various scenarios are evaluated and placed under management. |
| US09537726B2 |
System and method for providing threshold-based access to compute resources
The invention relates to systems, methods and computer-readable media for controlling access to compute resources in a compute environment such as a cluster or a grid. The method of providing conditional access to a compute environment comprises associating a required service level threshold with a compute environment, associating a service level with a requestor, receiving a request for access to the compute environment from the requestor; and, if the service level of the requestor meets the specified service level threshold, then allowing access to the compute resources. The threshold-based access may be enforced by reservations, policies or some other method. |
| US09537721B2 |
Network notifications
A request is received from a device within a network for a resource on server outside of the network. The resource is subject to a policy of the network. An informational webpage is served to the device; the webpage includes an interface element. An indication of a selection of the interface element is received the resource is served to the device from a proxy server configured to apply the policy to the resource. |
| US09537718B2 |
Segment routing over label distribution protocol
An apparatus and method is disclosed for segment routing (SR) over label distribution protocol (LDP). In one embodiment, the method includes a node receiving a packet with an attached segment ID. In response, the node may attach a label to the packet. Thereafter, the node may forward the packet with the attached label and segment ID to another node via a label switched path (LSP). |
| US09537717B2 |
Policy enforcement point provisioning
Presented is an automated policy-provisioning method for a computing system having a service-oriented architecture. The system comprises at least one managed service and at least one policy enforcement point operable to enforce a runtime policy for the service. The method comprises: receiving in machine-readable form at least one semantic rule defining a condition imposed by a business policy; receiving machine-readable data describing a runtime policy enforcement capability of the at least one policy enforcement point; determining based on the at least one rule and the capability whether the at least one policy enforcement point can meet the condition; based on the determination, deriving a runtime policy suitable for enforcing the condition; and communicating the runtime policy to the at least one policy enforcement point. |
| US09537713B2 |
Method of setting PN on the basis of personal network usage information in heterogeneous network
The present invention relates to a method in which a personal network element (PNE) forming a PN requests a converged personal network service (CPNS) to set up a new personal network (PN) on the basis of PN usage information. The method is performed by the PNE and includes: transmitting, to a PN gateway (PN GW), a message requesting the generation of PN usage information on a currently set PN; and receiving a generation response message including the result of generating the PN usage information corresponding to the generation request message. The PN usage information is created by the CPNS server on the basis of the generation request message and is stored in a PN usage information list of the CPSN. The PN usage information includes a PN usage information index, a PN alias, an expiry, a PN identifier (ID), a PN GW ID, and a PNE ID. The method further includes: transmitting, to the PN GW, a message requesting the setting of a PN using PN usage information corresponding to a new PN, in order to set the new PN and not the currently set PN; and receiving, from the PN GW, a message responding to setting the PN including a response to the PN setting request message, wherein a PN inventory of the CPNS server may be updated by the CPNS on the basis of selected PN usage information. |
| US09537706B2 |
Apparatus, method and article to facilitate matching of clients in a networked environment
Information related to apparently successful matches between two entities is collected, and culled based on a later indication that the match failed. Matches between two entities may be generated based on comparative information with other entities who appear to share some characteristics or preferences. Matches may be based on actual actions, in contrast to expressed preferences. Actual actions may be taken into account in addition to expressed preferences. Generation of matches may take into account geographical and/or temporal proximity and/or likelihood of receiving a response, in addition to other attributes of an entity. Matching algorithms may be updated based on entity input. Potential matches may be presented to third party entities for evaluation. |
| US09537705B1 |
Global space reduction groups
A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for efficiently backing up information are disclosed. In an embodiment, this may comprise receiving information about a plurality of clients, grouping clients into client groups based on the information, transmitting data from a client group to an intermediate shared storage at a time convenient for the client group, transferring the data to a server, and storing the data in a server storage. |
| US09537702B2 |
Method and apparatus for identifying channel bandwidth and channel offset of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing signal
Methods, apparatuses and systems for identifying a channel bandwidth and channel offset of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal. The OFDM signal is received by a receiver apparatus that may be tuned to RF bandwidth of 20 MHz, 40 MHz or 80 MHz. The method utilized by the apparatus includes identifying the location of the primary channel and subsequently determining a sequence of equalized frequency domain sub-symbols of the signal field in the lower and the upper frequency band. Further, a cross-correlation between the sequence of equalized frequency domain sub-symbols is computed along with the computing energy of the sequence of equalized frequency domain sub-symbols. Finally, the cross-correlation and the computed energy are compared for identifying the channel offset and the channel bandwidth. |
| US09537699B2 |
Wireless device and method for low power and low data rate operation
Embodiments of a wireless device and method for transmitting a packet comprising one or more orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) transmission symbols are generally described herein. In some embodiments, the wireless device may be configured to map data to active tones and map zeroes to nulled tones of a set of OFDM tones to generate an OFDM symbol comprising both the active and the nulled tones. The number of active and nulled tones may be based on a nulling factor. The OFDM symbol may be down-clocked to generate an OFDM transmission symbol for transmission over a reduced transmission bandwidth. Accordingly, low power may be used for very low data rate transmissions, which may be suitable for sensor devices. |
| US09537697B2 |
Constrained optimization approach to compander design for OFDM PAPR reduction
In the method for constrained optimization for compander design for OFDM PAPR, wherein the improvement comprises the step of converting a Rayleigh amplitude distribution from which superior performing companders are derived, whereby a constrained optimization problem may be solved using Lagrange multipliers. |
| US09537696B2 |
Apparatus for transmitting broadcast signals, apparatus for receiving broadcast signals, method for transmitting broadcast signals and method for receiving broadcast signals
Disclosed herein is a method for sending a broadcast signal. The method includes formatting input streams into multiple data pipes (DPs). Formatting the input streams into the multiple DPs includes splitting the input streams into multiple data streams, deleting a null packet included in a data stream, and forming a baseband frame (BBF) by adding a header to the data stream. The baseband frame includes a deleted null packet (DNP) field indicative of the number of deleted null packets, and the DNP field comprises at least one of a first DNP or a second DNP. |
| US09537694B2 |
Signal coding and decoding methods and devices
In a signal coding method, bits for coding allocated to different bands of a frequency domain signal obtained from an input signal are adjusted to improve the coding quality. The total available bits for coding are first allocated to the bands of the frequency domain signal according to a predetermined allocation rule. The numbers of bits allocated to the respective bands of the frequency domain signal are then adjusted when a highest frequency of the frequency domain signal to which bits are allocated is greater than a predetermined value. The frequency domain signal is coded according to the adjusted bit allocation for the bands of the frequency domain signal. |
| US09537692B2 |
Automation device operable to convert between data byte streams and frequency modulated line signals
The invention relates to an automation device, in which a plurality of spatially distributed functional units communicate with one another by means of a common transmission protocol. The device has a microcontroller (110) which has at least one associated clock generator (120) and a memory unit (150) and which is connected at least to a data source (140), which is designed to output a data byte stream to be transmitted. A first program for conversion of a data byte stream to be transmitted to a sequence of sample values of an adequate frequency-modulated line signal, and a second program for identification of a frequency-modulated line signal and for its sequential conversion to a received data byte stream are stored in the memory unit (150), with these programs being associated with the microcontroller (110). The first and the second program can be run alternately. |
| US09537689B2 |
Method and apparatus for identifying co-channel interference
Methods and apparatuses identifying a co-channel interference signal in communications systems are disclosed. An exemplary method comprises generating an interference signal by subtracting a reconstructed desired signal from an at least partially demodulated composite signal, and generating synchronization statistics of interference signal using different scrambling codes. The interference signal is identified as the signal associated with the scrambling code that was used to generate an interference signal having a desired synchronization statistic. |
| US09537686B2 |
Systems and methods for increasing the effectiveness of digital pre-distortion in electronic communications
Various embodiments of communication systems and methods in which the communication system is operative to find, record, and use sets of pre-distortion parameters in conjunction with a pre-distortion procedure, in which each set of pre-distortion parameters is operative to specifically counter distortions produced in a power amplifier by a specific combination of level of input signal power and level of analog gain associated with a transmission path of the communication system. In some embodiments, there is a modulator, a transmission chain, a distortion analysis mechanism, and a pre-distortion mechanism, operative to analyze and modify signals so as to counter signal distortion. |
| US09537683B1 |
Method and apparatus for residual phase noise compensation
A method and apparatus for performing residual phase noise compensation is described. A coarse carrier compensation of a received modulated signal is performed to obtain a coarse carrier compensated signal and a trellis-based residual carrier recovery is performed to estimate a residual phase noise of the coarse carrier compensated signal. The coarse carrier compensated signal is compensated based on the estimated residual phase noise. |
| US09537670B2 |
Environment monitoring method and apparatus therefor
An environment monitoring method and an apparatus therefor are provided. The environment monitoring apparatus includes a charging unit configured to charge power necessary for monitoring environments, a sensing unit configured to receive the power from the charging unit and to sense peripheral environments through a plurality of different sensors which are selected according to a request of a user, a controller configured to control settings of the sensing unit according to the peripheral environments; a communication unit configured to transmit the sensed information of the sensing unit to a server so that the server shares the sensed information with a plurality of smart devices, and a display unit configured to display the sensed information to the user and to display a notification according to the sensed information to the user. |
| US09537669B2 |
Selective multicast
A method, system and computer readable medium for selective multicast processing. The method can include obtaining, using one or more processors, an association between a multicast data stream and a service identifier. The method can also include programming, using the one or more processors, a classification engine with a match that classifies a VLAN. The method can further include receiving, at the one or more processors, a data stream, and classifying, using the one or more processors, the data stream based on a mapping to a source virtual port. The method can also include deriving, using the one or more processors, a service identifier from the source virtual port. |
| US09537665B2 |
Method, apparatus, and system for enabling platform power states
To address the need for power management, the following facilitates maintaining power states in an efficient manner based at least in part on managing packets at different layers of an input/output interface that supports multiple layers. One specific example prevents a destructive event for link layer control logic because packets and information might have been lost or dropped due to a hang condition and/or a dropped packet. In yet another example of power management, this facilitates a low power platform state by preventing the loss of packets or data upon exiting a platform power state upon initiation of a link reset condition by preventing certain types of packets from reaching link layer controller logic. |
| US09537664B2 |
Network based remote power management system and method for selectively powering on a hardware subsystems and determining energy usage billing information of a gateway device based on determination of source of received input signal
A method and device are described including receiving an input signal at a device, determining a source of the received input signal and selectively powering on portions of the device responsive to the determination. |
| US09537663B2 |
Manipulation and restoration of authentication challenge parameters in network authentication procedures
A challenge manipulation and restoration capability is provided for use during network authentication. A mobile device (MD) and a subscriber server (SS) each have provisioned therein a binding key (B-KEY) that is associated with a subscriber identity of a network authentication module (NAM) of the MD. The SS obtains an authentication vector (AV) in response to a request from a Radio Access Network (RAN) when the MD attempts to attach to the RAN. The AV includes an original authentication challenge parameter (ACP). The SS encrypts the original ACP based on its B-KEY, and updates the AV by replacing the original ACP with the encrypted ACP. The MD receives the encrypted ACP, and decrypts the encrypted ACP based on its B-KEY to recover the original ACP. The MD provides the original ACP to the NAM for use in computing an authentication response for validation by the RAN. |
| US09537661B2 |
Password-less authentication service
A device may receive an authentication request generated based on a request to access a service. The authentication request may include a user identifier. The device may identify a mobile device associated with the user identifier. The device may authenticate the mobile device, and may generate an access notification based on authenticating the mobile device. The access notification may include information relating to the request to access the service. The device may provide the access notification to the mobile device, and may receive an access response from the mobile device. The access response may indicate whether to permit access to the service. The device may cause access to the service to be permitted when the access response indicates to permit access to the service, or may cause access to the service to be denied when the access response indicates to deny access to the service. |
| US09537660B2 |
Method of establishing public key cryptographic protocols against quantum computational attack
The present invention relates to information security and discloses a method of establishing public key cryptographic protocols against the quantum computational attack. The method includes the following steps: definition of an infinite non-abelian group G; choosing two private keys in G by two entities; a second entity computing y, and sending y to a first entity; the first entity computing x and z, and sending (x, z) to the second entity; the second entity computing w and v, and sending (w, v) to the first entity; the first entity computing u, and sending u to the second entity; and the first entity computing KA, and the second entity computing KB, thereby reaching a shared key K=KA=KB. The security guarantee of a public key cryptographic algorithm created by the present invention relies on unsolvability of a problem, and has an advantage of free of the quantum computational attack. |
| US09537655B2 |
Random number generating device, cipher processing device, storage device, and information processing system
A random number generating device includes an uncertain circuit which outputs uncertain data, and a cipher processing device. The cipher processing device encrypts input data using a cipher function of the cipher processing device, and generates a random number including higher uniformity than data outputted from said uncertain circuit using the cipher function of the cipher processing device and the data outputted from the uncertain circuit. |
| US09537654B2 |
Biometric validation method and biometric terminal
The present invention belongs to the field of Biometry. It discloses useful technology and equipment to make remote processes of fingerprint recognition and identity authentication, based on the processing and validation of biometric data that is captured in a recipient device, controlled by a center that acts like the network controller, linked as well to a process that verifies and ensures the required identity.The referred process enables the application, in a simple and economic way, of Remote Biometric Authentication processes to economic activities currently beyond this technology, in which the physical presence of the person that intends being identifying is usually required. The invention overcomes the referred limitation, and makes this technology applicable to capable of commercial processes, of authorization and validation of banking and compatible payments, and medical care, social security and social services, among others. |
| US09537653B2 |
Encryption key generating apparatus and computer program product
According to an embodiment, an encryption key generating apparatus includes a converting unit to convert input data using a physically unclonable function and outputs output data; a memory to store a plurality of pattern data, each of which is a partial data in the output data indicated by one of a plurality of index data; a generating unit to generates an encryption key on the basis of the plural of index data; and a comparing unit to compare the output data with the plural of pattern data to detect plural of locations in the output data at which partial data similar to the plural of pattern data is present. The generating unit reproduces, as the plural of index data, the plural of locations detected by the comparing unit and reproduces the encryption key on the basis of the plural of index data that have been reproduced. |
| US09537649B2 |
Method and device for generating synchronization signal in wireless access system supporting ultrahigh frequency band
The present invention relates to a method for newly defining a synchronization signal to be used in an ultrahigh frequency band and acquiring downlink synchronization by using the synchronization signal, and a device for supporting the same. A method by which an eNode B (eNB) transmits a synchronization signal for compensating for a carrier frequency offset in a wireless access system supporting an ultrahigh frequency band, according to one embodiment of the present invention, can comprise the steps of: generating a first repetitive synchronization signal having a first repetitive characteristic; generating a second repetitive synchronization signal having a second repetitive characteristic; and transmitting the first repetitive synchronization signal and the second repetitive synchronization signal in the same subframe. |
| US09537648B2 |
Data transmission over packet switched network
A method for transmitting measurement data includes receiving measurement data in a first communication module, time stamping the measurement data in the first module with a time tag, transmitting the measurement data to a second communication module via a packet switched data network, and outputting the transmitted measurement data after a predefined delay time ΔtD after the time stamping of the measurement data. |
| US09537643B2 |
Method and apparatus for monitoring and processing component carriers
A method and apparatus are described which perform bandwidth aggregation by simultaneously monitoring and processing a number of simultaneous, non-contiguous or contiguous component carriers in the downlink. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) can be configured by an evolved Node-B (eNodeB) to support additional component carriers. A pre-configured additional component carrier may be used. Various methods for activating and deactivating the additional component carrier are also described. |
| US09537641B2 |
Channel adaptation to compensate for interference from neighbor powerline communication networks
A first powerline communication device, associated with a first powerline communication network, determines a plurality of time intervals in a beacon period of the first powerline communication network based, at least in part, on variations in levels of interference from a second powerline communication network which shares a powerline communication medium with the first powerline communication network. The first powerline communication device determines at least one channel adaptation parameter for each of the plurality of time intervals in the beacon period to compensate for effects of the variations in the levels of interference from the second powerline communication network. The first powerline communication device applies the at least one channel adaptation parameter corresponding to one or more of the plurality of time intervals in the beacon period when transmitting data via the powerline communication medium. |
| US09537640B2 |
Transmission adaptation
The invention relates to an apparatus including: at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: obtain a channel quality indicator comprising a detector class indicator informing transmitter's capability to a high order modulation, and substitute the modulation, coding and rank scheme utilizing the high order modulation with a modulation, coding and rank scheme utilizing a lower order modulation and providing nearest similar performance, if the high order modulation is not supported by a receiver. |
| US09537637B2 |
Method for transmitting downlink signal at a relay node in a wireless communication system and apparatus therefor
A method for transmitting downlink signals at a source base station in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The method comprises transmitting a downlink signal to an end user and at least one relay; receiving a negative response signal from the end user; receiving a positive response signal and channel status information about a channel between the at least one relay and the end user, wherein the at least one relay overhears the negative response signal; and scheduling a specific relay having the best channel status of the at least one relay to re-transmitting the downlink signal to the end user. |
| US09537636B2 |
Method and device for allocating resources to carrier response information
A method and apparatus for allocating resources to carrier response information feedback are disclosed. Wherein, when Transmit Power Control (TPC) command in Downlink Control Information (DCI) for each secondary component carrier in carrier aggregation is different, Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources allocated to the response information feedback of the secondary component carriers are high-layer configuration PUCCH resources designated by TPC command in the DCI which triggers data services in the secondary component carriers. The present solution can not only effectively feedback response information, but also can effectively suppress occurrence of unnecessary downlink retransmission. |
| US09537632B2 |
Receiving apparatus, receiving method and integrated circuit
A radio communication apparatus is disclosed that enables the influence of the feedback information on the channel capacity to be kept to the minimum without reducing the transmission efficiency of information by transmission of pilot symbol. In the apparatus, a delay dispersion measuring section generates a delay profile using the received signal, and measures delay dispersion indicative of dispersion of delayed versions. A moving speed estimating section estimates moving speed of a mobile station apparatus that transmits a pilot symbol based on the variation in reception power of the pilot symbol. An other-cell interference measuring section measures other-cell interference caused by signals transmitted in cells except the cell to which the apparatus belongs. Corresponding to the delay dispersion, moving speed and other-cell interference, a pilot pattern information generating section selects a pilot pattern such that placement of pilot symbol is optimal in a frame, and generates the pilot pattern information. |
| US09537631B2 |
Method for setting reference signal in multi-cell based wireless communication system and apparatus therefor
Disclosed is a method for transmitting and receiving a signal, by a terminal, in a wireless communication system. More particularly, the method comprises the steps of receiving information about a plurality of reference signal resources from a base station; receiving information about one channel state information (CSI) process from the base station; and reporting CSI on the basis of the information about the one CSI process, wherein the information about the one CSI process comprises information indicative of at least one of the plurality of reference signal resources. |
| US09537630B2 |
Method for multiplexing of uplink control information
Communication systems, for example, wireless communication systems such as long term evolution (LTE) release 11 (Rel-11) may use methods for multiplexing of periodic channel state information reports. Such methods may support the support heavy reliance on channel state information signaling in uplink to provide improved downlink performance. A method can include multiplexing a plurality of channel state information reports into a same subframe. The plurality of channel state information reports can correspond to a user equipment. The method can further include prioritizing a set of channel state information reports including the plurality of channel state information reports. |
| US09537629B2 |
Control channel mapping method and apparatus
A control channel mapping method is provided, which includes: determining a search space corresponding to each object for a same aggregation level, where more than one object exist and are determined according to a component carrier; and mapping a control channel corresponding to the object into the determined search space. A detection method is further provided, which includes: determining an initial location of a search space corresponding to the object, where more than one search space exist for the same aggregation level, and the object is determined according to a component carrier, and determining a size of the search space corresponding to the object; and detecting a control channel in the determined search space. A User Equipment (UE) and a network equipment are also provided. Therefore, the collision of control channels is reduced, and an impact probability of control channels is reduced. |
| US09537627B2 |
Signal transmitting method and base station device
The present invention provides a signal transmitting method and a base station device. The signal transmitting method is applied to a base station device including a time domain exchanging module and a baseband processing unit, where the time domain exchanging module is connected to the baseband processing unit. The method includes: receiving, by the time domain exchanging module, a first time domain signal transmitted by a user equipment through a radio frequency channel of a serving cell of the user equipment, and receiving a second time domain signal transmitted by the user equipment through a radio frequency channel of a coordinating cell of the user equipment; and transmitting the first time domain signal and the second time domain signal to the baseband processing unit, which is corresponding to the serving cell of the user equipment. Through the present invention, CoMP data exchange can be implemented in an LTE-A system. |
| US09537622B2 |
User equipment, method, and system for determining, reporting, distributing resource for multiple carriers
A method, a user equipment (UE) and a communication system are provided. In the disclosure, a UE configured with multiple carriers determines whether a first, a second, and a third conditions are met, and then determines whether resources allocated for the UE on the carrier are sufficient or not accordingly. The first condition defines that the UE is transmitting as much scheduled data as allowed by a current service grant on the carrier. The second condition indicates that the UE has enough transmission power available to transmit data at higher data rate on the carrier. The third condition indicates total buffer data requires more than a preconfigured time period to be transmitted through the carrier together with at least one of other carriers among the multiple carriers. |
| US09537620B2 |
Method and device for allocating resource location with frequency hopping function
The disclosure provides a method and device for allocating a resource location with a frequency hopping function. The method includes: an uplink bandwidth of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication system is acquired; it is determined whether frequency hopping information needs to be allocated to uplink continuous frequency-domain resource location information in a multi-antenna port transmission mode, and when the frequency hopping information needs to be allocated, a length of a resource location and frequency hopping bit indicator and a length of frequency-domain resource location information are obtained according to the uplink bandwidth; a difference Value_D between the length of the resource location and frequency hopping bit indicator and the length of the frequency-domain resource location information is calculated; and frequency hopping information is allocated to the frequency-domain resource location information according to the difference Value_D. With the technical solution of the disclosure, allocation of frequency-domain resource location information with a frequency hopping function in a multi-port transmission mode can be supported. |
| US09537619B2 |
Processing method for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing signal and network device
The present invention is applicable to the communications field and provides a processing method for an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal and a network device. The processing method includes: obtaining an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing OFDM signal; multiplying, in a digital domain, the obtained OFDM signal by a simple harmonic wave whose frequency is fs to obtain a frequency shifted signal; and outputting and loading the frequency shifted signal by using a digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) to a driver and a modulator to send the frequency shifted OFDM signal. |
| US09537618B2 |
Systems and methods for differential pair in-pair skew determination and compensation
In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, an information handling system may include a processor, a first information handling resource communicatively coupled to the processor, and a second information handling resource communicatively coupled to the processor and the first information handling resource. The first information handling resource and the second information handling resource may be configured to, in concert determine an optimum delay between opposite polarity signals for differential signals communicated from the first information handling resource to the second information handling resource via a path comprising a differential pair and transmit data from the first information handling resource to the second information handling resource via the path by inserting a delay into one of the opposite polarity signals equal to the optimum delay. |
| US09537611B2 |
Method and apparatus for improving the performance of TCP and other network protocols in a communications network using proxy servers
A method and apparatus that improves the performance of a data network by segmenting the TCP path and implementing a proprietary protocol (DPR™) over a network. Bandwidth is reduced and reliability improved by using an erasure coded algorithm to generate a predicted number of redundant coded packets used to reconstruct lost data packets. Coded packets are generated at the transmission side and the coded packets together with the raw data packets successfully sent over the channel are used to reconstruct lost raw data packets. The DPR™ erasure coding to adjust for packet loss in real time protocol provides a multiplexed tunnel for a multiplicity of TCP sessions from a client to a cloud proxy. DPR™ implements congestion management, flow control, reliability, and link monitoring. Other network protocols (such as UDP) are supported with a reliability protocol based upon network coding that improves the transmission reliability. |
| US09537610B2 |
Time division duplex adaptive frame structure retransmission method, network and terminal side device
A technology of dynamically allocating uplink and downlink subframes in an LTE-advanced Time Division Duplex (TDD) communication system specifically relates to a TDD adaptive frame structure retransmission method, network and terminal side device. The method includes: in a TDD adaptive frame transmission process, for an uplink subframe, if a frame structure whose Round Trip Time (RTT) period of a Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) corresponding to the uplink subframe is 10 ms is found in seven already defined frame structures, transmitting PHICH data on a corresponding downlink subframe in the found frame structure, and receiving retransmitted data on the corresponding uplink subframe in the found frame structure. The technical solution of the present application ensures the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) compatibility with an uplink data channel of an R10UE. |
| US09537605B1 |
Ultra-wideband high-power solid-state transmitter for electronic warfare applications
An ultra-wideband high-power solid-state transmitter for electronic warfare applications which includes a plurality of wideband Gallium-Nitride (GaN) semiconductor monolithic-microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), a spatial power combiner to sum the aggregate contribution of the MMICs, a wide bandwidth small form factor driver amplifier module to supply the required gain in the transmitter, and a thermal management system. |
| US09537604B2 |
Transmit-reference methods in software defined radio platforms for communication in harsh propagation environments and systems thereof
A method for adaptive Radio Frequency (RF) jamming according to one embodiment includes dynamically monitoring a RF spectrum; detecting any undesired signals in real time from the RF spectrum; and sending a directional countermeasure signal to jam the undesired signals. A method for adaptive Radio Frequency (RF) communications according to another embodiment includes transmitting a data pulse in a RF spectrum; and transmitting a reference pulse separated by a predetermined period of time from the data pulse; wherein the data pulse is modulated with data, wherein the reference pulse is unmodulated. A method for adaptive Radio Frequency (RF) communications according to yet another embodiment includes receiving a data pulse in a RF spectrum; and receiving a reference pulse separated in time from the data pulse, wherein the data pulse is modulated with data, wherein the reference pulse is unmodulated; and demodulating the pulses. |
| US09537603B2 |
Channel establishment method and device
A channel establishment method and device are provided. The method includes: establishing a media channel between a first node and a second node; establishing a signal channel between a third node and a fourth node after the media channel is established, the signal channel passes a frequency slot matrix of one or more intermediate nodes between the third node and the fourth node and a traffic engineering link between any two nodes; and allocating frequency spectrum to the signal channel from available frequency spectrum of the traffic engineering link, wherein the frequency spectrum allocated includes multiple split 50 GHz frequency spectrums which bear one optical channel and each of which only includes single optical carrier. The solution addresses the problem of how to effectively plan and manage frequency spectrum for an introduced flexible grid technology, improves waveband spectrum efficiency and achieves the compatibility to 50 GHz transmission technology of existing DWDM systems. |
| US09537598B2 |
Architecture of open-flow based software-defined optical label swapping
A method of optical label swapping implemented by a switch used in a software defined network system that in one embodiment includes providing a 400-Gbit/s payload having a Nyquist shaped carrier in a 75-Ghz bandwidth spacing using a payload generator module controlling at least one first optical laser, and inserting a first optical label adjacent to the payload flow in a remainder of a 100-Ghz bandwidth with a label generator controlling at least one second optical laser. The label generator and the payload generator are controlled by a software defined network (SDN). A package of the payload and the first optical label is transmitted to a receiving node. The optical label can be swapped at the receiving node with a flex grid wavelength selective switch (WSS) controlled by the software defined network. |
| US09537595B2 |
Downlink power control for multiple downlink time slots in TDD communication systems
A method for downlink power control for use in a spread spectrum time division communication system having time slots for communication, implemented in a user equipment, includes receiving data in a command per coded composite transport channel (CCTrCH) transmitted over a plurality of time slots. An interference power for each time slot of the plurality of time slots is measured and a single power command for the entire CCTrCH is transmitted in response to a signal to interference ratio of the received CCTrCH and the measured interference power measurement for each time slot. A subsequent data is received in the CCTrCH communication having a transmission power level for each downlink communication time slot set individually in response to the interference power measurement for that time slot and the single power command for the entire CCTrCH. |
| US09537594B2 |
Radio telecommunications system and method of operating the same with polling
An apparatus or method for transmitting data blocks on a communications channel having a radio link between two stations including a user equipment comprises receiving first data blocks from the user equipment, and transmitting second data blocks to the user equipment. A polling interval is dynamically set for the transmission of polling messages to the user equipment after transmission of the second data blocks, the polling interval being set in accordance with at least one of: a size of one or more data blocks received by the apparatus from the user equipment, a size of one or more blocks transmitted from the apparatus to the user equipment, and a service to which the user equipment is subscribed. The apparatus may be used as a PCU in a cellular mobile telephone system. |
| US09537590B2 |
Synchronization of communication equipment
Apparatus and methods relating to synchronization of communication equipment are disclosed. Synchronization information received from a bonded communication link can be used to synchronize local and/or remote communication equipment, such as femtocell sites coupled to nodes in a ring network. This may involve isolating a frequency reference signal from a DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) communication link which is a constituent link of a bonded communication link, for example. In a ring network, received synchronization information could be used in synchronizing a locally connected installation of communication equipment, and passed for transmission in the ring network for synchronizing other communication equipment. Such dropping and passing of an analog frequency reference signal could be applied in networks having other topologies as well. At least some embodiments of the invention are applicable to optical links. One or more dedicated wavelengths of an optical link could be used to transfer a frequency reference signal, for example. Other functions, such as quality monitoring, quality reporting, and/or predictive traffic forwarding may be provided in some embodiments. |
| US09537588B2 |
Receiving an emergency alert message via a broadcast data channel
A mobile device may be configured with multiple receivers (e.g., a cellular receiver, a broadcast receiver such as FM, AM, DTV, a satellite receiver, a NWR receiver, etc.). Upon receipt of an emergency alert message via at least one of the receivers, the mobile device, via an application installed on the mobile device, may extract the emergency alert message from a data channel of the broadcast. The mobile device, via the application, may process the extracted emergency alert message to determine if the emergency alert message is to be rendered via the device. And, if the emergency alert message is to be rendered, the mobile device, via the application, may format the extracted emergency alert message to conform to a standard format (e.g., Commercial Mobile Alert System, CMAS, format). |
| US09537582B2 |
Galvanically-isolated data transmission device
A data transmission device includes a coder configured to code the data into a multifrequency signal. A first array of ultrasonic transducers with a vibrating membrane is disposed on a first surface of a wafer. The first array configured to convert the signal into a multifrequency acoustic signal propagating in the wafer. A second array of ultrasonic transducers is disposed on a second surface of the wafer. The second array includes at least two assemblies of vibrating membrane ultrasonic transducers having resonance frequencies equal to two different frequencies of the multifrequency signal. |
| US09537580B2 |
Optical receiver sensitivity system
A system includes a detector array having a plurality of level detectors to monitor an optical input signal. Each level detector of the detector array operates in a different operating range, and each operating range for each level detector has a different saturation level and a different cutoff level based on a power level of the optical input signal. A controller monitors the plurality of level detectors of the detector array to detect a present power level for the optical input signal by selecting the operating range that is associated with the level detector operating between its saturation level and its cutoff level. |
| US09537579B2 |
Analog phase noise compensation for coherent optical communication
The invention relates to a noise compensation system, configured for compensating phase noise in coherent optical communications, and to a method for compensating phase noise. The noise compensation system comprises a transmitter (1) comprising a pilot unit (5) configured for providing a pilot tone comprising a pilot spectrum, wherein the transmitter (1) is configured for transmitting an information signal comprising an information spectrum, a detecting unit (2) comprising a local oscillator lasing unit (7) configured for transmitting a local oscillator signal, wherein the detecting unit (2) is configured for combining the information signal with the local oscillator signal such that an input signal spectrum generated at an output of the detecting unit comprises an information about phase noise in the information spectrum, and a phase noise compensator (3) comprising a first branch, configured for filtering the pilot tone, and a second branch, configured for mixing the information signal with the filtered pilot tone, wherein after mixing an output signal spectrum is obtained at an output of the phase noise compensator (3) on the basis of the information about phase noise in the information spectrum such that the output signal spectrum corresponds to a phase noise compensated copy of the pilot spectrum. In this way, a noise compensation system is provided which is simple and cost-effective to realize and allows compensating phase noise in the analog domain without the need of knowledge about transmission parameters. |
| US09537574B2 |
Optical transmitting and receiving unit
An optical transmitting and receiving unit includes: an optical transmitting module having a light emitting element and having a metal case that stores the light emitting element; an optical connector having a ferrule for holding an optical fiber and having a flange portion provided at one end of the ferrule, the ferrule being inserted into a sleeve of the metal case to connect the optical connector with the optical transmitting module; and a tubular waterproof cap that has a bottom, with one end open and the other end closed, and caps the optical connector to seal an optical connecting portion between the optical connector and the optical transmitting module in a watertight manner. The metal case has step portions with different outside diameters. One of the step portions closest to the optical connecting portion contacts an inner surface of the waterproof cap along an entire circumference thereof. |
| US09537572B2 |
Hybrid data transport for a virtualized distributed antenna system
A system for data transport in a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) includes a plurality of remote Digital Access Units (DAUs) located at a Remote location. The plurality of remote DAUs are coupled to each other and operable to transport digital signals between the plurality of remote DAUs. The system also includes a plurality of central hubs. Each of the plurality of central hubs is in communication with one of the remote DAUs using an electrical communications path. The system further includes a plurality of transmit/receive cells. Each of the plurality of transmit/receive cells includes a plurality of remote hubs. Each of the remote hubs in one of the plurality of transmit/receive cells is in communication with one of the plurality of central hubs using an optical communications path. |
| US09537571B2 |
Dual-frequency optical source
A dual-frequency optical source comprises: (a) first and second pump laser sources arranged to generate optical pump power at respective first and second pump laser frequencies vpump1 and vpump2; and (b) a fiber optical resonator characterized by a Brillouin shift frequency vB and a free spectral range that is substantially equal to an integer submultiple of the Brillouin shift frequency. Each one of the first and second pump laser sources is frequency-locked to a corresponding resonant optical mode of the fiber optical resonator. First and second optical output signals of the dual-frequency optical reference source at respective first and second output frequencies v1=vpump1−vB and v2=vpump2−vB comprise stimulated Brillouin laser output generated by simultaneous optical pumping of the fiber optical resonator by the first and second pump laser sources, respectively. An output difference frequency v2−v1 is greater than about 300 GHz. |
| US09537570B2 |
Optical transceiving apparatus, optical transmitting method, and optical transmitting device
An optical transceiving apparatus includes an optical transmitting device performing polarization multiplexing on and transmitting as polarization multiplexed signal light, a first signal light of a predetermined polarization direction and a second signal light of a polarization direction different from the predetermined polarization direction; an optical receiving device receiving the signal light transmitted from the optical transmitting device through an optical transmission path; an acquiring unit acquiring information indicative of magnitude relation of intensity between the first signal light and the second signal light included in the signal light received by the optical receiving device; and a control unit controlling the magnitude relation of intensity between the first signal light and the second signal light included in the signal light output from the optical transmitting device, to be opposite to the magnitude relation indicated by the information acquired by the acquiring unit. |