| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09621733B2 |
Method and system for a multitenancy telephone network
A method and system for operating a multitenancy telephony system including a call queue that stores call requests received from a plurality of users; an expandable and contractible telephony resource cluster that establishes call sessions for call requests; a analysis system that calculates capacity requirements of the system; a resource allocator that manages the scaling and operation of the telephony resource cluster; and a plurality of telephony network channels that are used as telephony communication channels for call sessions. |
| US09621728B2 |
System and method for prioritizing agent intervention into automated customer engagements
A system for prioritizing intervention of live agents into automated customer engagements in a communication system is disclosed. The system includes an intervention prioritization module configured to identify a live agent to intervene into an automated customer engagement in a communication system based on a confidence factor corresponding to the automated customer engagement and one or more live agent attributes corresponding to the live agent. The system further includes a live agent conference module configured to cause the identified live agent to intervene into the automated customer engagement. |
| US09621726B2 |
Computer-implemented system and method for detecting events for use in an automated call center environment
A computer-implemented system and method for detecting events for use in an automated call center environment are provided. A plurality of messages is monitored by a call center. Those messages sharing one or more keywords representative of one or more potential events are identified. The one or more potential events are detected based on the shared keywords. At least one of the potential events is identified as an event based on the number of messages that share the keywords representative of that potential event. Metadata regarding the event is extracted from the messages sharing the keywords representative of the event. A message regarding the event that includes the extracted metadata is generated. The generated message from the call center is provided to at least one user related to the event. |
| US09621723B2 |
System and method for prompt modification based on caller hang Ups in IVRs
In a method for use in Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, an IVR is configured such that voice prompts provided to a caller vary systematically and caller hang-up activity is attributed to the particular version of a prompt played to the caller. Voice prompt modifications are chosen based on how long the caller willingly listens to the voice prompt. A relatively short time listening to a prompt before hang-up, indicates dissatisfaction with that prompt. The system compares caller hang-up rates for each of the phrases in a prompt and chooses the optimum solution, which is the variant of the prompt with the longest caller listening time. Optionally, the system compares hang up rates to a threshold and contingent on that comparison chooses an alternative version of the prompt. |
| US09621721B2 |
Incoming call redirection
Systems and methods for redirecting incoming phone calls made to a user are disclosed. A system includes a call server configured to receive a phone call. A determination module determines whether to provide the user with an option to route the call to an alternate destination. The alternate destination can include a different user. A destination selection module selects the alternate destination to be provided to the user based on a predetermined criterion. A presentation module presents the alternate destination as an option to the user when the determination to provide the alternate destination option is affirmative. A user input module enables user selection of the alternate destination option. A routing module routes the phone call to the alternate destination when the user selects to redirect the phone call to the alternate destination. |
| US09621720B1 |
Providing data messaging support by intercepting and redirecting received short message service (SMS) messages
A message receiving, intercepting and processing method and corresponding application and device may provide receiving a message at a message processing server, the message being intended for a phone number associated with a customer service provider. The method may also include identifying a telephone number of the sender of the message, parsing at least one word from the message, retrieving user account information of the sender, and generating an automated response to the message that includes contextual information that is based on at least one of the user account information and the parsed at least one word from the message. |
| US09621718B2 |
Managing communication services for enabling a distributed user presence
Managing communication services for enabling a distributed user presence and maintaining context specific configuration across the distributed presence. This invention relates to enabling use of communication devices and more particularly to enabling use of multiple applications across multiple communication devices by a user. Embodiments disclosed herein enable coordination between multiple devices and applications of a user, and thus obtain a reliable, accurate control of the various context specific configuration parameters such as user availability, call direction and barring profiles, notifications, media in use, dynamic capabilities of devices and applications, schedule and so on, while providing the user with a seamless experience across the devices and applications. Embodiments disclosed herein enable future device specific systems to efficiently manage the varying communication forms and modes. |
| US09621715B2 |
Delivering a toll-free caller ID on toll-free calls
A computer device may include logic configured to receive a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) telephone call and identify the SIP telephone call as originating from a first toll-free telephone number and destined for a second toll-free telephone number. The computer device may further determine a screened telephone number associated with the first toll-free telephone number; generate a diversion header that includes the determined screened telephone number for the SIP telephone call, in response to identifying the SIP telephone call as originating from the first toll-free telephone number and destined for the second toll-free telephone number; and send the SIP telephone call to a local exchange carrier network associated with the second toll-free telephone number. |
| US09621714B2 |
System and method for electronic notification in institutional communication
Disclosed is a multi-mode communication notification system and method for improving communication between an inmate and a third party by enabling a third party to send a web-initiated contact request for a specific inmate and further allowing the inmate to check his/her contact requests or be automatically notified of contact requests. Additionally, the system electronically notifies the third party when the specific inmate has been notified of the contact request. Further, the system notifies the third party if they have missed a call from the specific inmate. |
| US09621712B2 |
Method for dealing with anomalous conditions in a reverse power network, and power injector for use in such a method
Method for dealing with an anomalous condition in a local network including a power injector, said method comprising connecting the power injector to a communication line extending between the local network and a remote device, said power injector being capable of injecting power on the communication line, for reverse powering a remote device located outside the local network, and for powering any local device that is regularly connected to the communication line; said communication line being used for exchanging data between the remote device and the local network; recognizing when a power consumption behavior of the power injector deviates from a characteristic power consumption behavior of said remote device and of any regularly connected local device; and controlling the power injector when a deviation is recognized. |
| US09621707B2 |
System and method for discouraging inappropriate use of a mobile device
A system and method for discouraging the in appropriate use of a mobile device including registering a mobile device with a monitoring application running on a system coupled with a network. A mobile device is linked with the monitoring application through the network. The operational status of the mobile device is monitored to detect if a change occurs in the operational status. A change in the operational status of the mobile device is reported to the monitoring program with time information and the status change is displayed in a graphical interface, and a notification message is sent to a system user. Beacons might also be implemented to advise a device user to disable a mobile device to be monitored. |
| US09621704B2 |
Method and system for file synchronization
A method and system for file synchronization may include sending, by a first device, a file synchronization request to a server; receiving, by the server, the file synchronization request from the first device; determining, according to first file synchronization information and at least one piece of second fine synchronization information, the latest state information of the file to be synchronized among the first state information and the at least one piece of second state information; sending the latest state information of the file to be synchronized to the first device; receiving, by the first device, the latest state information of the file to be synchronized sent by the server; and performing synchronization operations on the file according to the latest state information of the file to be synchronized. In such a way, the present invention can allow a file to be synchronously used between different devices. |
| US09621702B2 |
Control system cooperating with a mobile device
A control system includes a control device, a controller, a plurality of user mobile devices, and a manager mobile device. Initial first identification information picked up by each user mobile device is sent to the manager mobile device, 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. |
| US09621699B2 |
Mobile digital communication/computing device having a context sensitive audio system
A mobile client device, such as a wireless mobile or a palm sized personal digital assistant, is provided with at least a first and second audio resources and companion programming instructions/circuitry to generate various audio signals in a more context sensitive manner, while multi-media resources are being utilized. The instructions/circuitry cause the mobile client device to determine a first audio volume level at which the mobile client device is being utilized by a user for a first audio signal. Once the first audio volume level is determined, instructions/circuitry cause a second audio signal to be provided at a second audio volume level to the user. The second audio volume level being based at least in part on the first audio volume level initially. |
| US09621696B2 |
Casing and protective shell for mobile electronic device
The present invention relates to a casing and protective shell for a mobile electronic device. The casing includes an outer layer having a first side exposed to the outside, and a second side opposite to the first side; a flexible buffer layer having a first side connected to the second side of the outer layer, and a second side opposite to the first side of the buffer layer; and a layer for holding, which has a side connected to the second side of the buffer layer. |
| US09621694B2 |
Mobile wireless communications device with shunt component and related methods
A mobile wireless communications device may include a portable housing including at least one electrically conductive housing portion configured to function as an antenna. The mobile wireless communications device may also include a printed circuit board (PCB) carried by the portable housing, and wireless transceiver circuitry carried by the PCB and including at least one circuit element carried by the PCB. The mobile wireless communications device may also include at least one current shunt component coupled between the at least one electrically conductive housing portion and the at least one circuit element. |
| US09621692B2 |
Display apparatus and electronic apparatus including the same
A display apparatus includes a bezel in which a size of the bezel is reduced. The display apparatus includes a display panel in which both edges of the display panel are bent. A back supporting unit is disposed on the back of the display panel. The back supporting unit supports the center of the display panel. A side supporting unit is disposed on sides of the display panel. Both edges of the display panel are disposed between the back supporting unit and the side supporting unit. The display panel includes a display area and a peripheral area surrounding the display area. A portion of the display area is disposed between the back supporting unit and the side supporting unit. |
| US09621690B2 |
Cellphone with contoured surfaces
Disclosed is a housing for a portable handheld electronic device such as a cellphone. The device has a housing, having a left side and right side. At least one of the left side and right side is provided with integral surface features or surface structures to enhance gripping the cellphone, preferably along the entire length of the phone or within about the top half or one third of the phone. |
| US09621688B2 |
Custom error page enabled via networked computing service
An approach is provided for queuing clients when a web page is temporarily unavailable. The approach includes providing a computer infrastructure operable to: maintain a queue of clients requesting the web page; receive an indication of an availability number from a host of the web page; and release one or more of the clients from the queue equal to the availability number indicated by the host, based on the receiving the indication of the availability number. |
| US09621686B2 |
Identifying reset source and reason in a TCP session
A method for identifying reset source and reason in a TCP session is provided in the illustrative embodiments. A reset packet is prepared for the TCP session. An identifier associated with the target data processing system is added using a first header in the reset packet. The identifier associated with the target data processing system is unknown to a sender a data packet in the TCP session. The sender sends the data packet to another data processing system during the TCP session. A reason for resetting the TCP session is added using a second header in the reset packet. The TCP session is reset by sending the reset packet. |
| US09621683B2 |
Transcoding of communication with personal health devices
In embodiments, devices, computer-readable media, and methods for personal health device transcoding may be described. A transcoding module may serve as an interface between a manager device implementing an IEEE 11073-20601 (“IEEE 11073”) standard and a personal health device that does not implement the standard. The transcoding module may be configured to interact with one or more models of an IEEE 11073 stack implemented by the manager device. The transcoding device may be configured to redirect requests from the models and emulate responses from the personal health device such that the personal health device appears, to the manager device, to implement the IEEE 11073 standard. The transcoding module may perform the emulation asynchronously, through transcoding of communications with the personal health device, or may synchronously generate responses on behalf of the personal health device. Other embodiments may be described. |
| US09621681B2 |
Hierarchical temporal memory (HTM) system deployed as web service
A web-based hierarchical temporal memory (HTM) system in which one or more client devices communicate with a remote server via a communication network. The remote server includes at least a HTM server for implementing a hierarchical temporal memory (HTM). The client devices generate input data including patterns and sequences, and send the input data to the remote server for processing. The remote server (specifically, the HTM server) performs processing in order to determine the causes of the input data, and sends the results of this processing to the client devices. The client devices need not have processing and/or storage capability for running the HTM but may nevertheless take advantage of the HTM by submitting a request to the HTM server. |
| US09621680B2 |
Consistent data masking
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system masks data objects across a plurality of different data resources. The system comprises a processor configured to include a plurality of service providers to mask the data objects, wherein each service provider corresponds to a different type of data masking for the data objects. An interface provides access to the plurality of service providers from different data-consumers to mask the data objects according to the corresponding types of data masking, wherein resulting masked data maintains relational integrity across the different data resources. Embodiments of the present invention further include a method and computer program product for masking data objects across a plurality of different data resources in substantially the same manners described above. |
| US09621679B2 |
Operation task managing apparatus and method
A server including an input device receiving information, an output device generating output information, a memory, and a processor utilizing the memory.The processor executes a process including receiving the information of an operations task including tasks having device and human tasks, and an order of the tasks; determining an operating time of each of the tasks based on a time determination rule; generating process definitions having the determined operating time associated with a corresponding one of the tasks; extracting, based on the process definitions and an analysis rule, one of a dependence relationship between the tasks, a risk in the dependence relationship between the tasks, and a risk in each of the tasks; and generating the output information for visually outputting one of the dependence relationship between the tasks, the risk in the dependence relationship between the tasks, and the risk in the each of the tasks. |
| US09621674B2 |
Method and apparatus for associating online accounts
A method for associating online accounts includes: sending a device identification of a public device corresponding to a public online account that includes at least a first online account and second online account information corresponding to a second online account to a server, so that the server associates the second online account with the first online account in the public online account corresponding to the device identification, to obtain a public online account including the first online account and the second online account. |
| US09621669B2 |
Content delivery network with deep caching infrastructure
Embodiments herein include methods and systems for use in delivering resources to a client device over a local network. An exemplary system comprises a plurality of caching devices operable to cache resources on behalf of a plurality of content providers, and a local caching device communicatively situated between an access network and the client device, wherein the access network is communicably situated between the plurality of caching devices and the local caching device. The local caching device is operable to retrieve a requested resource from at least one of the plurality of caching devices, deliver the requested resource to the client device over the local network, and store the requested resource for future requests by other client devices. |
| US09621661B2 |
Notification system for occurrences of group events based on zone and location of mobile devices
An improved system and method for defining an event based upon an object location and a user-defined zone and managing the conveyance of object location event information among computing devices where object location events are defined in terms of a condition based upon a relationship between user-defined zone information and object location information. One or more location information sources are associated with an object to provide the object location information. One or more user-defined zones are defined on a map and one or more object location events are defined. The occurrence of an object location event produces object location event information that is conveyed to users based on user identification codes. Accessibility to object location information, zone information, and object location event information is based upon an object location information access code, a zone information access code, and an object location event information access code, respectively. |
| US09621655B2 |
Application and device to memorialize and share events geographically
A method and device of sharing an event or experience by capturing a geographic location of the and at least one detail of the experience or event in the form of data such as video, text, sound, or pictures, with an electronic device, storing the geographic location plus the data on a database accessible to a plurality of users. The application further alerts a user or a plurality of users of the details of the experience when the user is near the geographic location where the at least one detail of the experience was captured and guiding the user to the geographic location where the experience was captured. |
| US09621653B2 |
Method and apparatus for a network connected storage system
A Data Storage Device (DSD) includes a Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) for storing data, a network interface for communicating on a network, and a processor. According to one aspect, a command is received via the network interface for storing data in the NVM or retrieving data from the NVM. Based on a transport attribute of the command, it is determined whether to execute a file interface for accessing files stored in the NVM or an object interface for accessing data objects stored in the NVM. According to another aspect, computer-executable instructions are received from a device via the network interface and the computer-executable instructions are executed using an off-load interface. The computer-executable instructions cause the processor to transform data stored in the NVM or data received from the network and send the transformed data to another device on the network or store the transformed data in the NVM. |
| US09621652B2 |
Ranging scalable time stamp data synchronization
Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to time stamp based data synchronization and provide a method, system and computer program product for scalable, ranging time stamp based data synchronization. In an embodiment of the invention, a ranging time stamp synchronization method can include computing a time range for a specified time, and producing time stamp synchronization anchors using the time range for each of the anchors. Optionally, a drift value can be computed for the time range and the computing and producing steps can be repeated when the drift value exceeds a threshold. Finally, the anchors can be used to determine whether to update data items in a remote data source in the remote host computing platform with data items from a primary data source in the primary host computing platform. |
| US09621641B2 |
Predictive rendering of current content versions
Features are disclosed for determining which content item or items are likely to be requested by a particular user or device, or by a group of users or devices. The determined content items may be obtained independently of a request from the users or devices, and substantially current versions of the content items may be maintained at a server system, such as an intermediary system. Visual representations of the content items may be generated to reduce processing requirements at a user device. When the content items are determined to be likely to be requested by a particular user, a predicted time may also be determined, and the visual representations may be generated such that they are available at the predicted time. |
| US09621634B2 |
Dependency management with atomic decay
A processor records statistics regarding invocation of a second component of a distributed computing system by a first component of the distributed computing system. The processor determines a dependency between the first component and the second component based on the statistics and determines a dependency rating for the dependency based on the statistics. The processor migrates the first component from a first location to a second different location. Responsive to determining that the dependency rating for the dependency exceeds a dependency threshold, the processor migrates the second component to the second location. |
| US09621633B2 |
Flow director-based low latency networking
Generally, this disclosure relates to low latency networking. A system may include processor circuitry comprising at least one processor; memory circuitry configured to store an application, a receive queue and a networking stack comprising a network device driver; a network controller comprising a flow director, the network controller configured to couple the host device to at least one link partner and the flow director configured to store one or more selected received packets in the receive queue, the selecting based, at least in part, on a packet flow identifier; and a network device driver configured to identify the receive queue in response to a polling request comprising the packet flow identifier; poll the receive queue; and process each received packet stored in the receive queue. |
| US09621632B2 |
Scaling of stateful enterprise services
In one embodiment, a method of scaling stateful enterprise services is provided. In this method, a request for data from an enterprise application is received. A user identifier is identified from the request, and an instance of the enterprise application that is associated with the user identifier is identified. The request is then routed to the identified instance of the enterprise application. |
| US09621630B2 |
Distribution method, distribution apparatus, and terminal apparatus
A distribution method is disclosed. In a distribution method, a program to which a first signature is applied is divided. Control information including restore information pertinent to restoring the program and a second signature to secure divisional files of the program is attached to at least one of the divisional files. Each of the divisional files is sent via the Internet. |
| US09621624B2 |
Methods and apparatus for inserting content into conversations in on-line and digital environments
Content is inserted into conversations hosted on a takeoff site using creatives that provide lures and links to other material that users engaged in the conversation might find helpful and relevant. Such insertions are made in a contextually meaningful fashion through the use of a matching and decision process that determines best candidate creatives and an appropriate time and place for their insertion into the conversation. |
| US09621623B2 |
Client, server, management system, and method of the same
A client includes a registration unit that registers operation control information received from a server and corresponding to a service provided by the server, a calling unit that calls the service in order to cause the server to execute the service when a user selects the service corresponding to the operation control information registered by the user, and an execution unit that, when the user selects the service corresponding to the operation control information registered by the user, executes processing to be executed by the client indicated by the operation control information corresponding to the service, in calling of the service. |
| US09621621B2 |
System, apparatus and method for activity guidance and monitoring
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems, apparatus and methods for activity guidance and monitoring utilizing a scanning device associated with a system network. Embodiments further disclose activity guidance and monitoring of labor workflow. The system may include a scanning device with a network communication component facilitating communication with a server. The scanning device may scan identification codes associated with a user or an activity, and display activity information based upon the scanned codes. The server may include a database of information related to the users and activities as well as historical information, and the server may provide analysis of such information. A user interface may facilitate activity status updates to be input into the system. Reports may be created to reflect the status updates or an analysis of the information. |
| US09621620B2 |
Apparatus and method for providing content with a distributed architecture, and system for providing content with the said apparatus
The present invention provides content providing apparatus and method and a content providing system which maintains a compatibility with an IP network and deliver a content with a complete distributed architecture excluding the content synchronizing process and the request routing process which delivers the content. |
| US09621619B2 |
Enhanced notification for relevant communications
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, computer program product, and system for providing a severity of a notification for a communication. A computing device determines a topic and associated information of a current activity, operating on the computing device. The computing device receives a communication and determines the topic and associated information of the communication. The computing device determines a level of relevance between the topic and associated information of the received communication and the topic and associated information of the current activity. The computing device determines whether the level of relevance exceeds a predefined threshold, and in response to determining that the level of relevance exceeds the predefined threshold, the computing device provides a notification, wherein the severity of the notification for the communication is proportional to the level of relevance. |
| US09621613B1 |
Bitrate adaptation transitioning using key frames
A system of video stream transitioning includes an interface and a video stream transitioner. The interface is to receive an indication for changing from a current video stream to a target video stream. The video stream transitioner is to determine key frame information in the target video stream; determine a specific key frame to switch to; and provide a request for target video stream starting at the specific key frame. |
| US09621612B2 |
Methods and systems for distributed calculations of latency variation
Methods and systems for calculating latency variations in a distributed manner, including the steps of: calculating, by first and second switches, first and second local latency variations, of first and second streaming sessions, at first and second output ports of the first and second switches, respectively. Receiving, by the third switch, the first and second local latency variations; wherein a first and second paths of the first and second streaming sessions, respectively, are passing through a third output port of the third switch after passing through the first and second output ports, respectively. And calculating, by the third switch, a third local latency variation of the first streaming session at the third output port, based on the first and second local latency variations. |
| US09621609B2 |
System and method for content streaming with feature detection
A system and method for content streaming with feature detection, comprising determining a streaming format compatibility criteria of a remote web browser, determining a content selection from a list of one or more content selections, receiving at a content server a streaming request, streaming the content selection, the streaming including dividing a source content into a plurality of segment files, encrypting the plurality of segment files, sending a manifest file from the content server to the remote web browser, receiving requests at the content server for each of the plurality of segment files and a decryption key, sending from the content server each one of the requested plurality of segment files and the decryption key, and selecting the next content selection in the list until the last content selection is selected and streamed. |
| US09621607B2 |
Systems and languages for media policy decision and control and methods for use therewith
A system includes a policy repository configured to store a plurality of media-centric policies. A media policy decision point is configured to execute operational instructions in accordance with a media centric policy language to select at least one of the plurality of policies corresponding to one of the plurality of media sessions based on, for example, feedback extracted monitoring the plurality of media sessions. The media-centric policy language, in various embodiments, expresses at least one of: operator preferences, operator goals, or operator constraints, facilitates management of individual ones of the plurality of media sessions and/or facilitates management of aggregate media traffic over the plurality of media sessions. |
| US09621606B2 |
Real-time video detector
A request to retrieve data from a client device is intercepted by a video detector. The video detector determines if the request is for retrieving a video file. If the request is for a video file, and the video file is deemed to be transcoded to be displayed on the client device, the video detector forwards the request to a video optimizer along with encoding parameters. Encoding parameters are selected by the video detector based on properties of the client device, networks accessible by the client device, conditions of those networks, properties of the requested video and the type of video requested. The encoding parameters also include a file format type to which the requested video is to be transcoded. |
| US09621604B2 |
Statistical remultiplexing of ABR streams
Statistical remultiplexing of adaptive bit rate streams may be provided. First a video quality associated with a first representation of a content stream being delivered to a first client on a shared network may be determined. The content stream may be available in a plurality of representations, each representation comprising a plurality of chunks of varying sizes and a manifest having an indication of a quality level and a bit rate for the representation. Next, network conditions may be analyzed to determine whether a bit rate of the content stream being delivered to the first client device should be adjusted to adjust the video quality. Based on the determined video quality and the network conditions, it may then be communicated to the first client device to request a second representation of the content stream. |
| US09621603B2 |
Method for pairing a computer with a video conference device
A method includes generating a random identification token on a computer that identifies the computer; modulating the identification token to an audio signal on the computer; causing, with the computer, a speaker to emit the audio signal receiving, at video conference device, the audio signal with a microphone associated with the video conference device; demodulating the audio signal to the identification token in the video conference device; sending at least the identification token and a unique identifier of the video conference device to the computer; and establishing a communication session through a communication network, that both the computer and video conference device are communicatively connected to, from the computer to the video conference device enabling control of, and data transfer to, the video conference device from the computer. |
| US09621597B2 |
Systems and methods for digital forensic triage
In one embodiment, a method for forensic triage may include coupling, communicatively, a computer and a mobile device. The computer can be booted with machine readable instructions stored on the one or more mobile memory modules of the mobile device. A search data set can be received with one or more mobile processors of the mobile device. One or more processors of the computer, the one or more mobile processors, or both, can execute, automatically, the machine readable instructions stored on the one or more mobile memory modules of the mobile device to search one or memory modules of the computer in a read only mode for triage data that corresponds to the search data set. The triage data can be transmitted via one or more communication modules of the mobile device. |
| US09621594B2 |
Systems and methods for assessing the compliance of a computer across a network
The disclosed principles describe systems and methods for assessing the security posture of a target device, wherein the assessment is performed by a scanning computer in communication with the target device via a communication network. By employing a system or method in accordance with the disclosed principles, distinct advantages are achieved. Specifically, conducting such a remote scan allows for the scanner computer to perform a remote scan of the remote device without installing client software to the remote device. Thus, the disclosed principles reduce the need for internal IT resources to manage the deployment and updates of client software on the target device. Also, conducting a remote scan according to the disclosed principles allows for the remote scan to be performed even if the scanner computer and remote device run different operating systems. |
| US09621593B2 |
Managing execution of programs by multiple computing systems
Techniques are described for managing the execution of programs on multiple computing systems, such as on virtual machine nodes executing on the computing systems. A program execution service may in some situations provide the multiple computing systems and manage the program execution on behalf of multiple customers or other users, including to select appropriate computing systems to execute one or more instances of a program for a user, such as based in part on configuration information specified by the user. The described techniques may further include managing communications between multiple intercommunicating computing nodes in some situations. |
| US09621591B2 |
Service provisioning with improved authentication processing
A service provision apparatus and related method which provides a service for a user via a network includes a setting unit, a determination unit, and a decision unit. The setting unit sets an evaluation policy for evaluating reliability of at least one authentication apparatus performing authentication on the user. The determination unit determines whether the authentication made by the at least one authentication apparatus is to be relied on, on the basis of at least one evaluation result obtained by evaluating whether the at least one authentication apparatus is to be relied on, on the basis of the evaluation policy. The decision unit determines that the service is to be provided for the user in response to a determination that the authentication made by the at least one authentication apparatus is to be relied on and information that the user has been authenticated by the at least one authentication apparatus. |
| US09621587B2 |
Method of customizing a standardized IT policy
A system and method are described herein for standardizing an IT policy that is used to configure devices operating on a network. An IT policy can be generated that applies to a group of users or to one or more special users without having to define and store a new IT policy for each special user. This can be achieved by specifying global and per-user IT policy rules and merging these rules as needed to produce IT policy data. |
| US09621585B1 |
Applying functional classification to tune security policies and posture according to role and likely activity
Computer security threats are increasing in customization and complexity of attacks, expanding the burden on security companies in addressing the wide-array of threats. Functional classification is used here to determine the likely role a client and its user play to personalize computer security according to client/user role. A security module analyzes the client to identify data or applications present on the client or activities performed using the client. Based on this analysis, the security module predicts the role of the client or a user of the client. The module further dynamically generates a security policy that is personalized to and optimized for the client or the user based on the role predicted and on computer security threats expected to affect the client or user based on the role. The module then applies the security policy generated to provide personalized security. |
| US09621584B1 |
Standards compliance for computing data
Systems and methods are provided for configuring and monitoring computing resources of an entity for compliance with one or more standards. In one implementation, a server receives one or more identifiers of one or more standards and determines a plurality of configuration settings for the computing resources of the entity, based on the received one or more identifiers. The plurality of configuration settings comply with the one or more standards. The computing resources of the entity are configured according to the plurality of configuration settings. The server detects an event related to the computing resources. The detected event and the plurality of configuration settings are evaluated for compliance with the one or more standards. A determination is made whether the entity is compliant with the one or more standards, based on the evaluation, and an action is taken, based on the determination. |
| US09621583B2 |
Selectively protecting valid links to pages of a web site
In an embodiment, a method comprises intercepting, using a server computer, a first set of instructions that define a user interface and a plurality of links, wherein each link in the plurality of links is associated with a target page, and the plurality of links includes a first link; determining that the first link, which references a first target page, is protected; in response to determining the first link is protected: generating a first decoy link that corresponds to the first link, wherein the first decoy link includes data that references a first decoy page which includes false information; rendering a second set of instructions that defines the first decoy link, wherein the second set of instructions is configured to cause a first client computer to hide the first decoy link from the user interface; sending the second set of instructions to the first client computer. |
| US09621582B1 |
Generating pharming alerts with reduced false positives
A technique for informing an Internet site operator of potential pharming attacks includes generating pharming alerts based on mismatches between a set of expected IP addresses and IP addresses obtained from DNS servers on the Internet and filtering the generated alerts based on circumstances surrounding the generated pharming alerts. Filtering the alerts blocks less suspect pharming alerts while allowing more suspect ones to pass to the site operator, reducing the rate of false positives and better enabling the operator to focus on alerts that may present actual threats. |
| US09621581B2 |
IPV6/IPV4 resolution-less forwarding up to a destination
In one embodiment, a switch in a computer network intercepts a packet to a destination target, the packet having a solicited node multicast address of the target as a destination media access control (MAC) address of the packet. As such, the switch may determine whether the solicited node multicast address is a hit or miss within a switch hardware table of the switch, and in response to a hit, re-writes the destination MAC address with a known value of the destination target from the table, and unicasts the packet to the destination target. In one or more additional embodiments, in response to a miss, and in response to a single-switch architecture, the switch drops the packet, while in response to a miss, and in response to a multi-switch architecture, the switch may compute a repository switch for the solicited multicast destination, and unicasts the packet to the computed repository switch. |
| US09621580B2 |
Security aware email server
A security aware email server and a method of managing incoming email are described. The server includes a memory device configured to store rules, instructions, and user preferences. The processor makes a determination of whether a sender of an incoming email used a secure or unsecure sending network to send the email and determines an action to take with the email based on the determination and the user preferences. |
| US09621579B2 |
Systems and methods for protecting against unauthorized network intrusions
The disclosed computer-implemented method for protecting against unauthorized network intrusions may include (1) identifying a signal received by one or more antennas of a network from a transceiver of a device attempting to access the network, (2) detecting one or more signal strengths of the signal received by the antennas of the network in connection with the attempt to access the network, (3) determining, based at least in part on the signal strengths of the signal, that the attempt to access the network is potentially malicious, and then in response to determining that the attempt to access the network is potentially malicious, (4) initiating at least one security measure to address the potentially malicious attempt to access the network. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. |
| US09621574B2 |
Out of band end user notification systems and methods for security events related to non-browser mobile applications
A cloud based security method includes authenticating a mobile device through a cloud based security system; associating the mobile device with a user of the cloud based security system based on the authenticating; monitoring user requests from the mobile device by the cloud based security system; detecting security threats based on the monitoring; and sending an out of band end user notification to the mobile device responsive to detecting a security threat, wherein the out of band end user notification comprises information for the user related to the security threat. |
| US09621573B2 |
System and method for monitoring network traffic
Described is a method of assigning a network address to a trap, the network address being a dark address of a virtual private network. The network traffic destined for the network address is monitored and a classification of the network traffic is determined. After the classification, a predetermined response is executed based on the classification of the traffic. |
| US09621571B2 |
Apparatus and method for searching for similar malicious code based on malicious code feature information
An apparatus and method for searching for similar malicious code based on malicious code feature information. The apparatus includes a malicious code registration unit for registering input new malicious code as a new malicious code sample, and extracting and registering detailed information of the new malicious code sample, a malicious code analysis unit for analyzing the detailed information of the new malicious code sample, a malicious code DNA extraction unit for extracting malicious code DNA information including malicious code feature information, a malicious code DNA comparison unit for comparing the extracted malicious code DNA information with malicious code DNA information of prestored malicious code samples, and calculating similarities therebetween, and a similar malicious code search unit for calculating, based on the calculated similarities, all similarities between the new malicious code sample and prestored malicious code samples, and extracting a specific number of malicious code samples. |
| US09621565B2 |
Systems and methods for authenticating photographic image data
The present disclosure provides systems and methods for authenticating photographic data. In one embodiment, a method comprises providing an image authentication application for use on a client device, the application configured to control image capture and transmission; receiving an image data file from the application at the authentication server comprising a photographic image captured by the application and metadata associated therewith; applying a watermark to the photographic image to create a watermarked image; applying date and time information to the tagged image; applying location information to the tagged image; creating a web address associated with the image data file; uploading the photographic image, the tagged image, or both to the web address; and transmitting an authenticated image file to the client device, the authenticated image file comprising one or more of: the watermarked image, the photographic image, the date and time information, geographic information, and the web address. |
| US09621564B1 |
Method and system for message delivery security validation
A method, a system, and computer readable medium comprising instructions for message delivery security validation are provided. At least one authentication setting from an end user is received at a data collection system. A validation key is generated based on the at least one authentication setting. A message and the validation key are sent to a device of a recipient. The device of the recipient are automatically authenticated using the validation key. The message is delivered to the device of the recipient upon authentication. |
| US09621563B2 |
Geographical location authentication
The method includes identifying a computing device attempting to access content. The method further includes identifying a defined geographical boundary that is associated with the content, wherein the defined geographical boundary includes coordinates that define a geographical area that allows access to the content within the defined geographical boundary. The method further includes determining a geographical location of the computing device. The method further includes determining whether the geographical location of the computing device is within the identified defined geographical boundary. |
| US09621554B2 |
Method for propagating access policies
The present disclosure describes a network appliance and associated access policy protocol (APP) that communicates and obeys access policies within a network. The network appliance (APP node) propagates access policies to other APP nodes that can utilize the policies most effectively. When an access policy reaches the network boundary, intra network bandwidth is optimized. The access policies may be distributed and executed in the cloud—e.g. proxy firewall, proxy policy execution. |
| US09621552B2 |
Methods and systems for using deep-strings in computation and communication
Computer and communications systems and methods are provided in which a first computing system sends a second computing system a message and an associated deep-string and the second computing system applies a key of a cryptographic system or a one-way function to the deep-string to determine the deep-string's deep-string-depth. The second computing device then uses the determined deep-string-depth in determining subsequent behavior regarding the message. In some environments, a third computing device may generate and provide deep-strings of various deep-string-depths to the first computing device to ensure more favorable behavior of the second computing device. |
| US09621550B2 |
Method for providing a secure service
In a general aspect, a method can include: installing in a non-secure device a customized module for managing communications with a secure element, transmitting to the secure element first authentication data for authenticating the customized module, the customized module generating and transmitting to the secure element second authentication data for authenticating the customized module, if the secure element determines that the first and second authentication data are consistent with each other, establishing a secure communication link between the customized module and the secure element, by using the first or second authentication data, the non-secure device transmitting a command to the secure element, for an application installed in the secure element, and the secure element executing the command only if the command is sent via the secure communication link. |
| US09621547B2 |
Trust establishment between a trusted execution environment and peripheral devices
Technologies are provided in embodiments to establish trust between a trusted execution environment (TEE) and a peripheral device. Embodiments are configured to communicate with an attestation server to generate an encryption key, and to establish, using the encryption key, a secure connection with an authentication server to enable communication between the authentication server and the peripheral device. Embodiments are also configured to receive a pairwise master key if the peripheral device is authenticated and to receive a trusted communication from the peripheral device based, at least in part, on the pairwise master key. Embodiments may also be configured to identify a connection to the peripheral device before the peripheral device is authenticated to the authentication server, receive an identifier from the peripheral device, and establish a connection to an attestation server based on at least a portion of the identifier. |
| US09621541B1 |
Systems and methods for incremental loading of collaboratively generated presentations
Systems and methods for incrementally communicating a document to a client computer are disclosed herein. Time consistent views of the document are maintained throughout the incremental downloading through use of a cryptographically secured permissions token identifying a version of the document the user is permitted to access. |
| US09621539B2 |
Method and apparatus for securing the privacy of a computer network
A method and apparatus for secure access to a computer network and for safeguarding the confidentiality and privacy of data stored and distributed by the network is disclosed. The method and apparatus addresses both limiting access to the computer network to those who are authorized to have access as well as the privacy of the information stored in the network. |
| US09621537B2 |
Method and apparatus for enabling access to applications integrated with a visited network
An application server receives a request for service from a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) associated with a home network that includes a home subscriber server (HSS) and a bootstrapping server function (BSF) coupled via a Zh reference point. The application server authenticates the WTRU at least in part by (i) redirecting the WTRU to an identity provider co-located with a network application function (IDP/NAF) and coupled to the BSF via a Zn reference point and (ii) receiving an assertion from the WTRU that the IDP/NAF has authenticated the WTRU based on user security settings retrieved from the BSF by the IDP/NAF over the Zn reference point. After authenticating the WTRU, the application server (i) retrieves user-specific Sh-reference-point-type data from the HSS via the IDP/NAF over the Zn and Zh reference points and (ii) provides the service to the WTRU based on the retrieved user-specific Sh-reference-point-type data. |
| US09621535B2 |
Electronic key system and information registration system
An electronic key system includes a mobile device and a control device. Main identification information identifying the control device is registered in the control device as registrant identification information. When the mobile device receives a response request including the registrant identification information and response timing, the mobile device compares the registrant identification information and the response timing which included in the response request with registrant identification information and response timing registered in the mobile device. When a result of the comparing is a match, the mobile device transmits the mobile device code to the control device. The control device includes a registration unit that newly generates the main identification information with different content each time a registration command is inputted, and registers the newly generated main identification information in a storage device of the control device as registrant identification information. |
| US09621529B2 |
Information processing system, apparatus, and method
An information processing system, which includes one or more computers, includes a reception part configured to receive a request addressed to one of multiple destinations, a generation part configured to generate authority identification information for identifying operation authority to operate an apparatus in a case where provision of the operation authority is authorized based on a condition that differs depending on a combination of the destination of the request and a transmission source of the request, and a transmission part configured to transmit the authority identification information to the transmission source of the request. |
| US09621527B2 |
Method of loading data into a portable secure token
The invention is a method for loading data into a portable secure token comprising a plurality of security domains. A first security domain comprises a first administration agent and a second security domain comprises a second administration agent. A remote application server comprises a first data to be provided to the second administration agent. A syndication server, which is distinct from the remote application server, contains a list which comprises a reference to the first data. The list is sent in response to a polling request that is sent by the first administration agent. This list is comprised in a polling response which is sent by the syndication server. |
| US09621524B2 |
Cloud-based key management
Cloud storage of sensitive data is improved by ensuring that all cloud-based data is encrypted at all times, not only when the data is at rest (i.e., stored), but also while data is being processed or communicated. Cryptographic keys can advantageously be managed via cloud based resources without exposing sensitive data. Instead, a key management system maintains cryptographic functions on administrative hosts and endpoints outside of cloud-based resources so that any vulnerabilities of the cloud-based resources will expose only encrypted data, and keys and sensitive data will never be exposed in unencrypted form. Thus sensitive data is protected end-to-end among hosts and endpoints using, e.g., platform independent cryptographic functions and libraries within a web browser or the like, and the cloud functions simply as a storing and forwarding medium for secure data. |
| US09621520B2 |
Network service packet header security
A network service packet (NSP) header security method includes receiving an NSP on a communication interface, analyzing, by a processor, the NSP in order to identify a plurality of service functions and an associated service function path for the plurality of service functions, identifying, by the processor, which security function or functions may be performed by each of the plurality of service functions on an NSP header to he generated for the NSP, requesting, by the processor, at least one key for securing at least part of the NSP header, receiving the at least one key on the communication interface, generating, by the processor, the NSP header for the NSP, securing, by the processor, the NSP header based on the at least one key, and sending, on the communication interface, the NSP with the NSP header to one of the plurality of service functions. |
| US09621518B2 |
Method and apparatus for provisioning traversal using relays around network address translation (TURN) credential and servers
Various disclosed embodiments include methods and systems for provisioning traversal using relays around network address translation (TURN) credentials and servers for network address translation/firewall (NAT/FW) traversal via a Voice-over-Internet-protocol/Web Real-Time Communication (VoIP/WebRTC) signaling channel. The method comprises receiving, at a signaling gateway, a signaling message from a first electronic device (ED) when the first electronic device registers with the signaling gateway or sends other signaling messages for requesting a TURN credential. The signaling message comprises one or more signaling message parameters. The signaling message further comprises a request that the signaling gateway generate a TURN credential for the first electronic device, the TURN credential associated with the one or more signaling message parameters. The method comprises sending, from the signaling gateway, the TURN credential to the first electronic device. |
| US09621517B2 |
Selectively performing man in the middle decryption
A HTTP request addressed to a first resource on a second device outside the network is received from a first device within the network. The HTTP request is redirected to a third device within the network. A first encrypted connection is established between the first device and the third device, and a second encrypted connection between the third device and the second device. The third device retrieves the first resource from the second device. The first resource is modified to change pointers within the first resource to point to location in a domain associated with the third device within the network. The third device serves, to the first device, the second resource. |
| US09621515B2 |
Kernel-level security agent
A kernel-level security agent is described herein. The kernel-level security agent is configured to observe events, filter the observed events using configurable filters, route the filtered events to one or more event consumers, and utilize the one or more event consumers to take action based at least on one of the filtered events. In some implementations, the kernel-level security agent detects a first action associated with malicious code, gathers data about the malicious code, and in response to detecting subsequent action(s) of the malicious code, performs a preventative action. The kernel-level security agent may also deceive an adversary associated with malicious code. Further, the kernel-level security agent may utilize a model representing chains of execution activities and may take action based on those chains of execution activities. |
| US09621514B2 |
Overlay network with position independent insertion and tap points
Embodiments are directed to managing secure communication between a plurality of node computers over a network. If overlay networks for node computers are provided for communicating between the node computers, a mesh network may be configured. If a node computer that may be associated with the overlay networks sends a communication to other node computers also associated with the overlay networks, a gateway computer associated with the node computer may perform actions to process the communication. The gateway computer may select an overlay network based on the node computer. Target gateway computers associated with the other node computers may be determined based on the overlay network and the mesh network. Physical paths from the gateway computer to the target gateway computers may be determined. The gateway computer may send the communication to the target gateway computers over the physical paths and then to the other node computers. |
| US09621509B2 |
Systems and methods for achieving multiple tenancy using virtual media access control (VMAC) addresses
Systems and methods for segmenting network traffic using virtual media access control (vMAC) addresses are disclosed. An intermediary device establishes a plurality of traffic domains to segment network traffic. The device generates a plurality of vMAC addresses to assign to the traffic domains. Each of the vMAC addresses includes an identifier of a traffic domain corresponding to the traffic domain to which the vMAC address is assigned. The device receives, from a second device, an ARP request to determine a MAC address to transmit data packets. The device selects, from the plurality of virtual MAC addresses, the virtual MAC address to use as the MAC address in a response based on an IP address identified via the ARP request. The device transmits, to the second device, a response to the request identifying, as the MAC address, the selected vMAC address of a traffic domain. |
| US09621501B2 |
Message screening system utilizing supervisory screening and approval
A message screening system includes routing to a supervisory recipient an electronic message directed to an intended recipient. The supervisory recipient then is allowed to screen the electronic message by approving or rejecting the electronic message. The electronic message then is forwarded to the intended recipient if the electronic message is approved by the supervisory recipient. |
| US09621493B2 |
Providing supplemental information corresponding to a referenced individual
Providing supplemental contact information for an individual referenced in an electronic message typically includes receiving an electronic message, examining the electronic message, detecting an identifier for a referenced individual contained in the electronic message, and making supplemental contact information for the referenced individual available to a recipient of the electronic message. The supplemental contact information may include information that is in addition to information contained in the electronic message. The supplemental contact information may include at least one of an e-mail address, a screen name, a telephone number, a facsimile number, and a mailing address, each of which is associated with the referenced individual. |
| US09621491B2 |
Telecommunication and multimedia management method and apparatus
A telecommunication and multimedia management apparatus and method that supports voice and other media communications and that enables users to: (i) participate in multiple conversation modes, including live phone calls, conference calls, instant voice messaging or tactical communications; (ii) review the messages of conversations in either a live mode or a time-shifted mode and to seamlessly transition back and forth between the two modes; (iii) participate in multiple conversations either concurrently or simultaneously; (iv) archive the messages of conversations for later review or processing; and (v) persistently store media either created or received on the communication devices of users. The latter feature enables users to generate or review media when either disconnected from the network or network conditions are poor and to optimize the delivery of media over the network based on network conditions and the intention of the users participating in conversations. |
| US09621489B2 |
Selectively sending electronic messages via alternate delivery mechanisms
A method, system and computer program product for instant message communication in a wireless and non-wireless environment. A message is sent from a mobile unit device over a wireless communication network. The message includes a destination address, information associated with the mobile unit device's user, message content and message address. If, according to information previously stored for the mobile unit device's user at the instant message system, the destination address is associated with an instant message function, the associated instant message function is executed at the instant message system using the information contained in the message content, if required as determined by the associated instant message function. If, according to information previously stored for the mobile unit device's user at the instant message system, the destination address is associated with an instant message name, an instant message is created according to the message content and is sent to the user with the associated instant message name. For instant messages sent or received by a mobile unit device with known buddies, the instant message is optimized by tagging the instant message with a routing phone number that is unique to the mobile unit device and buddy combination, whose identity is stored both in the mobile unit device address book and in the instant message routing server. |
| US09621487B2 |
Method and apparatus for protection switching based on memory control in packet transport system
A protection switching method and apparatus based on a memory control in a packet transport system are provided. The protection switching method may perform hardware-based protection switching based on a type of path failures that occur. The protection switching method may perform protection switching for each of an Automatic Protection Switching (APS) frame or a Loss of Continuity (LoC)/Clear Loss of Continuity (CLoC) message received via an interface unit from a packet processor, a LoC/CLoC message received via a local bus interface from a host processor, an APS frame generation command input via the local bus interface from protection software (SW) of the host processor, and an APS frame generation command input via another interface unit from the protection SW. |
| US09621486B2 |
System and methods for assigning communication requests to range of transmission control protocol ports
A system is described that includes devices detecting and periodically transmitting data of events and conditions within an environment. The devices are communicatively coupled with applications running on processors of a remote server. The devices periodically request a connection with the applications, wherein the applications monitor a range of port numbers for receiving the devices' connection requests. The devices request connections at corresponding port numbers among the monitored range of port numbers. The applications accept the connection requests from the devices at the corresponding port numbers, wherein the devices transmit the data to the one or more applications during corresponding communication sessions. The applications evaluate attributes of the devices' connection requests and communication sessions and manage assignment of the devices to port numbers using information of the evaluating. |
| US09621483B2 |
Ethercat packet forwarding with distributed clocking
An EtherCAT packet forwarding system with distributed clocking is provided. The system comprises a master device and a plurality of slaves. The master comprises a processing port and a forward port for being respectively coupled to the at least two Ethernet ports of the master device in a redundant ring topology. The slaves comprise an internal clock indicating a current time, and a slave memory comprising a processing timestamp variable, a forwarding timestamp variable, a temporary timestamp variable and a copy-direct bit. |
| US09621479B2 |
Flexible and scalable enhanced transmission selection method for network fabrics
IEEE 802.1Q and Enhanced Transmission Selection provide only eight different traffic classes that may be used to control bandwidth in a particular physical connection (or link). Instead of relying only on these eight traffic classes to manage bandwidth, the embodiments discussed herein disclose using an Enhanced Transmission Selection scheduler that permits a network device to set the bandwidth for an individual virtual LAN. Allocating bandwidth in a port based on a virtual LAN ID permits a network device to allocate bandwidth to, e.g., millions of unique virtual LANs. Thus, this technique may increase the granular control of the network fabric and its performance. |
| US09621477B2 |
System and method of offloading browser computations
A method of operating a browser of a terminal apparatus is provided. The method of operating a browser of a terminal apparatus according to various exemplary embodiments includes: confirming a resource needed for a first computation for operating the browser in the terminal apparatus; requesting an external device perform the first computation when the resource does not exist or is insufficient; receiving from the external device data according to a result of the first computation; and displaying data on the browser using the received data. |
| US09621476B2 |
System and method for dynamic bandwidth adjustments for cellular interfaces in a network environment
A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include determining a predicted average throughput for each of one or more cellular interfaces and adjusting bandwidth for each of the one or more of the cellular interfaces based, at least in part, on the predicted average throughput determined for each of the one or more cellular interfaces. Another method can be provided, which may include determining a variance in path metrics for multiple cellular interfaces and updating a routing table for the cellular interfaces using the determined variance if there is a difference between the determined variance and a previous variance determined for the cellular interfaces. Another method can be provided, which may include monitoring watermark thresholds for a MAC buffer; generating an interrupt when a particular watermark threshold for the MAC buffer is reached; and adjusting enqueueing of uplink packets into the MAC buffer based on the interrupt. |
| US09621475B2 |
Internet-wide scheduling of transactions
A method and system for distributing content on a network through network-wide transactions is disclosed. The method and system monitors the network using triggered measurement of the performance of an element of the network, dynamically computing, based on the monitoring, the regions of the network with available performance capacity for the transaction to proceed at a given time, determining, based on the computing, a scheduled time for the transaction to proceed, and distributing the content according to a schedule related to the scheduled time. |
| US09621473B2 |
Method and system for sending data
Embodiments of systems and methods for data transfer disclosed herein. Specifically, embodiments may utilize a protocol module deployed on a computing device, where the protocol module may be configured to receive data from an application and send that data using a particular protocol. The protocol module may, for example, utilize a latency tolerant protocol such as the Mobile Transport Protocol (MTP). |
| US09621469B2 |
Apparatus and method for managing flow in server virtualization environment, and method for applying QOS
An apparatus and method for managing a flow in a server virtualization environment, and a method of applying a QoS policy, the method including a flow processing unit configured to analyze a flow generated by a virtual machine (VM) to extract flow information, determine whether the flow is a new flow by comparing the extracted flow information with preset flow information, and apply a corresponding Quality of Service (QoS) policy to the flow, and a QoS management unit configured to, in a case in which the flow is a new flow, generate a QoS policy for the analyzed flow based on the extracted flow information and prestored virtual machine information, and transmit the generated QoS policy to the flow processing unit. |
| US09621466B2 |
Storage area network multi-pathing
Provided are a method, computer program product and system for network multi-pathing. Paths to a storage system are through a first network type and a second network type. The first network type has a higher Input/Output (I/O) per second performance characteristic than the second network type. A length is determined from a received I/O request. The I/O request is sent on one of the paths to the storage system through the first network type in response to determining that the length of the I/O request is below a threshold length. The I/O request is sent on one of the paths to the storage system through the second network type in response to determining that the length of the I/O request is above the threshold length. |
| US09621464B2 |
Multicast spray over LAG
Use of a hash operation based on selected information in the packet to select one of a set of enable vectors. The selected enable vector is then effectively ANDed with the link expansion vector to select the actual links to be used. The enable vectors vary by selecting a different link in the LAG port for each enable vector. Thus the hash is used to vary the link of the LAG port used to transmit the packet for that multicast packet. |
| US09621460B2 |
Connecting multiple customer sites over a wide area network using an overlay network
A method and apparatus for connecting multiple customer sites over a wide area network (WAN) using an overlay network is described. In one embodiment of the invention, each one of multiple customer edge (CE) routers establishes a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) session with one or more BGP route reflectors and announces their private IP network prefixes and one or more transport IP addresses to reach that CE router. The BGP route reflector(s) reflect those IP network prefixes and the one or more transport IP addresses to reach that specific CE router to the other CE routers. The CE routers receive those reflected IP network prefixes and the corresponding transport IP address(es) to reach that CE router in which those IP network prefixes belong and register them in their corresponding routing/forwarding data structures. In this way, the CE routers learn how to reach each other. |
| US09621458B2 |
Internet routing over a service-oriented architecture bus
A non-gateway node transmits an internet route request to neighbor nodes and receives, from a gateway node, a response message including an address of the gateway node and a gateway indicator. The non-gateway node sets a gateway pointer equal to this address. A gateway node receives an internet route request from neighbor nodes and transmits, to the neighbor nodes, a response message including an address of the gateway node and a gateway indicator. A non-gateway node receives, from gateway nodes on the network, an announcement of internet connectivity that includes address of the gateway nodes. The non-gateway node adds these addresses to a list of potential gateways. When the non-gateway nodes receives packets for transmission to an internet destination, it selects a gateway address from the list, and transmits the packets to a destination gateway associated with the gateway address. |
| US09621457B2 |
System and method for implementing mesh network communications using a mesh network protocol
The following describes data structures, communication protocol formats and process flows for controlling and facilitating secure communications between the nodes of a mesh network, such as utility meters and gateway nodes comprising a utility network. The enabled processes include association, information exchange, route discovery and maintenance and the like for instituting and maintaining a secure mesh network. |
| US09621454B2 |
Spanning tree protocol with burst avoidance
An apparatus and method for controlling bridge protocol data unit bursts is disclosed. The invention in the preferred embodiment is a switching device with a port enabled with a link management protocol and a burst control state machine. The burst control state machine is adapted to receive BPDUs and, under certain conditions, delay responding with its own BPDU falsely advertising itself as the new root bridge. The delay is preferably long enough to enable another bridge to identity the true root bridge. The delay, e.g., a burst control delay, is preferably equal to or less than a Hello time timer value generally defined to be 2 seconds in a Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol standard, for example. |
| US09621452B2 |
Communication system and node
A node positioned in a protection path for a working path stores identification information available to identify a source node and an end node. The identification information is contained in a signaling message transmitted to the end node through the protection path from the source node in order to set a usage reservation of the protection path. The node notifies the failure detection to an address identified by the stored identification information in response to a failure detection of the protection path. |
| US09621451B2 |
Route selection method, node device and relay system
Node device calculates reception rate of frames of particular frame type transmitted from adjacent node device, calculates arrival rate of unicast frames on the basis of calculated reception rate and frame length, and calculates inverse number of calculated arrival rate as link cost. Node device obtains from adjacent node device route cost for each route from adjacent node device to each node device that is reachable final destination, calculates route cost of route from node device itself to each node device that is final destination reachable via adjacent node device by integrating calculated link cost and obtained route cost. Node device selects adjacent node device that is transmission destination of data frame on the basis of route cost of route from node device itself to node device that is final destination of data frame when data frame is transmitted. |
| US09621450B2 |
Method and device for controlling session keep-alive for application in mobile communication system
The present invention relates to a method for controlling a session keep-alive by a user equipment in a mobile communication system, comprising the steps of: setting request information of a session lifetime for a new application and transmitting the set request information to a network if the new application starts; and acquiring the session lifetime from the network and adjusting a message transmission period of the user equipment to keep-alive the session by using the session lifetime. |
| US09621449B2 |
Application-layer traffic optimization service map updates
Using the ALTO Service, networking applications can request through the ALTO protocol information about the underlying network topology from the ISP or Content Provider. The ALTO Service provides information such as preferences of network resources with the goal of modifying network resource consumption patterns while maintaining or improving application performance. This document describes, in one example, an ALTO server that implements enhancements to the ALTO service to enable initiating incremental updates of network and cost maps to ALTO clients upon receiving status information from a content delivery network (CDN) node. |
| US09621445B2 |
Utilizing known data for status signaling
System and method for utilizing transmission of known sequences to indicate qualities of operating points of first and second transceivers. One method includes the following steps: transmitting a first known sequence by a first transceiver upon identifying a quality degradation in its operating point; and replying with a second known sequence by a second transceiver upon receiving the first known sequence. The method further includes the steps of transmitting the second known sequence by the second transceiver upon identifying a quality degradation in its operating point, and replying with the first known sequence by the first transceiver. |
| US09621443B2 |
Heuristics for determining the layout of a procedurally generated user interface
Embodiments are directed to monitoring communication over a network using a network monitoring device (NMD). Measurement information may be generated based on network traffic that may be monitored by the NMD. Metrics associated with one or more characteristics of the monitored network traffic may be generated based on the measurement information. Layout information for a user-interface may be generated based on results of heuristics that use the measurement information. Generating the layout information may include, determining a layout template based on the results of the heuristics and the measurement information. Metric visualizations that may be associated with the metrics may be displayed in the user-interface based on the layout information. If measurements exceed defined threshold values, the layout information may be modified based on the changes to the measurement information. Accordingly, the layout of the user interface may be modified based on the modified layout information. |
| US09621433B2 |
Control method used in a remote control system
A control method used in a remote control system according to the present disclosure includes: a step of displaying candidates for a target apparatus to be controlled among apparatuses on a user interface region of a display unit of an information terminal; a step of obtaining, via a network, control indexes used to determine a display mode for the user interface region; a step of displaying, on the user interface region, one or more control menus in a display mode determined based on a selected target apparatus and the control indexes; a step of generating a control signal for causing the target apparatus to perform an operation according to control corresponding to a control menu, when the control menu is selected from the one or more displayed control menus; and a step of transmitting the control signal to the target apparatus via the network. |
| US09621431B1 |
Classification techniques to identify network entity types and determine network topologies
Classification techniques are employed in computer networks. For example, network activity is monitored in a computer network and the monitored network activity is used to discover an endpoint of unknown type. A first set of classification models is utilized to identify an endpoint type of the discovered endpoint based on the monitored network activity. In addition, communication patterns between different endpoints of known types are monitored in the computer network, and a second set of classification models is utilized to determine a logical topology of the computer network based on the monitored communication patterns. |
| US09621430B2 |
Support apparatus, design support method, and recording medium
A design support apparatus includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor executes a process including: accepting inputs of the number of nodes to be connected to a network, the number of networks to be connected to each node, and the number of nodes to be connected to a terminating device being a relay device to be connected to the nodes among relay devices relaying communication between nodes; calculating the number of terminating devices included in each network based on the numbers having been accepted; specifying nodes to be connected to each terminating device for each network such that each node is connected to any of the number of terminating devices calculated and that individually different combinations of nodes are connected to the terminating devices included in all the networks; and outputting connection information indicating that the nodes specified are connected to the terminating devices. |
| US09621427B1 |
Automatic placement of clients in a distributed computer system satisfying constraints
A cloud management server and method for performing automatic placement of clients in a distributed computer system uses a list of compatible clusters to select an affinity cluster to place the clients associated with an affinity constraint. As part of the placement method, a cluster that cannot satisfy any anti-affinity constraint associated with the clients and the affinity constrain is removed from the list of compatible clusters. After the affinity cluster has been selected, at least one cluster in the distributed computer system is also selected to place clients associated with an anti-affinity constraint. |
| US09621425B2 |
Method and system to allocate bandwidth for heterogeneous bandwidth request in cloud computing networks
A method implemented by a network service provider to provide a virtual network to tenants requiring bandwidth in a cloud computing environment, where the virtual network includes a first set of one or more virtual switches that manage a second set of one or more physical servers that host virtual machines (VMs). The method starts with receiving by one virtual switch a request for a first plurality of VMs, where at least one VM of the first plurality of VMs contains a bandwidth different from bandwidths of the rest of one or more VMs. The it is determined whether to accept the request for the first plurality of VMs by calculating a set of allocation ranges (ARs) associated to the virtual switch, wherein each AR of the set of ARs denotes at least one discontinuous VM allocation space within a virtual switch. Then VMs are allocated for the request. |
| US09621424B2 |
Providing a common interface for accessing and presenting component configuration settings
Embodiments are directed to accessing configuration settings for a variety of different hardware or software components and to providing a common interface for accessing and presenting component configuration settings. In one scenario, a computer system receives a request to access configuration settings for hardware and/or software components. The request specifies at least one namespace for the corresponding hardware or software component. The computer system accesses a directory to determine which configuration settings are available for the specified namespace, and further accesses configuration metadata to determine where the configuration settings for the hardware or software components are stored and how the configuration settings are to be accessed. Then, upon determining where the configuration settings are stored and how the configuration settings are to be accessed, the computer system accesses the configuration settings at the specified location in the manner specified in the configuration metadata. |
| US09621422B2 |
Device to device content upgrades
In embodiments of device to device content upgrades, a computing device includes a peer sharing manager that shares content and upgrades to content with peer devices. The computing device downloads content and upgrades from sources on the Internet, and shares the content and upgrades with peer devices that lack an Internet connection. A lowest supported version of the content can be shared from the computing device to one of the peer devices. The lowest supported version of the content determines capabilities of the peer device and establishes a peer-to-peer communication link with the computing device. The peer device reports the capability information to the computing device and, if the computing device determines that the peer device is capable of supporting an upgraded version of the content, the computing device communicates the upgraded version of the content to the peer device. |
| US09621420B2 |
Network device configuration management
Method and system are provided for network device configuration management. The method includes: receiving a set of user commands for configuration of a network device; retrieving a syntactic model of a network device configuration interface for a network device type and generating a modelled configuration of a current configuration of the network device; predicting the effect of the user command on the modelled configuration to generate a predicted modelled configuration; and applying rules for a user and/or network device type to determine if the command is permitted based on the predicted modelled configuration of the network device. Predicting the effect of the user command predicts in near real-time the effect on the network device configuration of a command that the user enters. |
| US09621416B2 |
Method for setting network information in communication device, communication system, and communication device
A first communication device communicates with a second communication device based on first setting information stored in a first storage unit of the first communication device. The first communication device transmits the first setting information to the second communication device. The second communication device stores the first setting information received from the first communication device in a second storage unit. The first communication device receives, after first hardware of the first communication device is replaced, the first setting information stored in the second storage unit from the second communication device. The first communication device stores, after the replacement, the first setting information received from the second communication device in the first storage unit of the first communication device after the replacement. |
| US09621415B1 |
Automated configuration collection and management using source control
A computer-implemented method for managing enterprise application configurations is described. Configuration information of an enterprise application deployed across multiple servers at a single point in time is collected. An application footprint of the configuration information is generated. The application footprint is stored in a source control format. |
| US09621410B2 |
Method of localizing a failure occurring along a transmission path
A method of localizing failures occurring along a transmission path is provided. A data signal is transmitted along the transmission path, which comprises a path segment. A first network node performs a tandem connection monitoring source function of a tandem connection. A second network node monitors the transmission along the path segment, by performing a tandem connection monitoring sink function. When the first network node detects a failure of the data signal, the first network node enters information indicating a data signal failure into the data signal's overhead field. When the second network node detects a failure by the tandem connection monitory sink function, the second network node enters information into the overhead field. When a third network node detects a failure of the data signal, the third network node uses the information in the overhead field to determine whether the failure occurred within or outside of the path segment. |
| US09621409B2 |
System and method for handling storage events in a distributed data grid
A system and method can handle storage events in a distributed data grid. The distributed data grid cluster includes a plurality of cluster nodes storing data partitions distributed throughout the cluster, each cluster node being responsible for a set of partitions. A service thread, executing on at least one of said cluster nodes in the distributed data grid, is responsible for handling one or more storage events. The service thread can use a worker thread to accomplish synchronous event handling without blocking the service thread. |
| US09621408B2 |
Gateway registry methods and systems
A gateway device for managing a set of two or more local management devices at a location. A system for networks at a plurality of locations. A method of operating a gateway device in a control network. A method for storing information to operate a gateway device in a control network. A method for storing information to operate a replacement gateway device in a control network. |
| US09621407B2 |
Apparatus and method for pattern hiding and traffic hopping
A secure communication mechanism is disclosed. The secure communication mechanism may utilize one or more secure communication capabilities to secure communications of various types of users in various types of networks. The secure communication capabilities may include one or more of a user pattern hiding capability (e.g., a user behavior pattern hiding capability, a user communication pattern hiding capability, a user browsing pattern hiding capability, or the like), a gateway hopping capability, or the like, as well as various combinations thereof. The users may include corporate users (e.g., for communications related to corporate matters or for communications related to personal matters), user associated with non-corporate entities, individuals not associated with a corporation or other type of entity (e.g., individual users, groups of users, or the like), or the like. |
| US09621405B2 |
Constant access gateway and de-duplicated data cache server
An Constant Access Gateway provides secure access for remote mobile computing users to centrally stored data without requiring a VPN connection or a direct connection to the LAN in which the data resides. A Cache Server works alone or in conjunction with the Constant Access Gateway to provide distributed access to the centrally stored data. The Cache Server performs local storage of de-duplicated versions of the centrally stored data, and may interact with the Constant Access Gateway to maintain cache coherency with the central data store. |
| US09621402B2 |
Load balanced and prioritized data connections
In embodiments of load balanced and prioritized data connections, a first connection is established to communicate first data from a first server to a second server over a public network, where the first data is communicated from a private network to a first device or subnet that is connected to the second server. A second connection is established to communicate second data from the first server to the second server over the public network, where the second data is communicated from the private network to a second device or subnet that is connected to the second server. The second server can distinguish the first data from the second data according to an authentication certificate field that identifies one of a first communication interface of the first connection or a second communication interface of the second connection. |
| US09621400B2 |
Systems and methods for transmitting content
Systems and methods for transmitting content are provided. In some aspects, a method includes receiving an indication of a plurality of input streams of content. Each input stream is associated with an input bit rate. The method includes determining a plurality of output bit rates at which to transmit the content to one or more client devices, comparing the plurality of input bit rates to the plurality of output bit rates, and generating, by a server, a plurality of output streams of the content based on the comparison. Each generated output stream is associated with a corresponding output bit rate and includes a transcoded input stream or a non-transcoded input stream. The plurality of output streams is generated such that a number of output streams comprising non-transcoded input streams is maximized. The method also includes transmitting the generated output streams to the one or more client devices. |
| US09621394B2 |
Method for determining at least one filter of a filter bank of a transmission or coding system, corresponding device and computer program
A method is provided for determining at least one filter of a filter bank in a transmission or coding system, on the basis of a prototype filter p. The method includes determining coefficients p[k] of the prototype filter p, of length L equal to N, from Δ angle parameters θi, for 0≦i≦Δ−1, expressed on the basis of a polynomial function ƒ(x), also referred to as a compact representation, such that: f ( x ) = π 4 + t ∑ k = 0 d - 1 β k T 2 k ( t ) ; t = 2 x - 1. |
| US09621392B2 |
Apparatus for transmitting broadcast signals, apparatus for receiving broadcast signals, method for transmitting broadcast signals and method for receiving broadcast signals
A method and an apparatus for receiving broadcast signals thereof are disclosed. The method for receiving broadcast signals, the method comprises receiving the broadcast signals, demodulating the received broadcast signals by an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex) scheme, parsing a signal frame from the demodulated broadcast signals, MIMO (Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output) decoding service data in the parsed signal frame, decoding signaling data in the parsed signal frame and decoding the MIMO decoded service data. |
| US09621386B2 |
Extracting carrier signals from modulated signals
Methods, systems, and apparatus for detecting a center frequency of an input signal, the input signal including a carrier signal modulated with a modulation signal. Detecting a frequency of a second signal. Determining a difference signal between the center frequency of the input signal and the frequency of the second signal. Modifying the frequency of the second signal based on the difference signal to provide the carrier signal. And, outputting the carrier signal. |
| US09621382B1 |
Channel diagnostics based on equalizer coefficients
A receiver applies a calibration method to compensate for skew between input channels. The receiver skew is estimated by observing the coefficients of an adaptive equalizer which adjusts the coefficients based on time-varying properties of the multi-channel input signal. The receiver skew is compensated by programming the phase of the sampling clocks for the different channels. Furthermore, during real-time operation of the receiver, channel diagnostics is performed to automatically estimate differential group delay and/or other channel characteristics based on the equalizer coefficients using a frequency averaging or polarization averaging approach. Framer information can furthermore be utilized to estimate differential group delay that is an integer multiple of the symbol rate. Additionally, a DSP reset may be performed when substantial signal degradation is detected based on the channel diagnostics information. |
| US09621381B2 |
Communication apparatus and method for high efficiency satellite service
Disclosed are a communication apparatus and a communication method capable of improving transmitting/receiving frequency efficiency of a satellite signal per bandwidth or spectral efficiency (S.E) per bandwidth by removing and improving a distortion or inter-symbol interference for applying a minimum-mean square error (MMSE) equalizer required to detect a frame synchronization and a modulation code rate in a satellite service for satellite broadcasting or communication under the variable coding and modulation (VCM) or adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) environment. |
| US09621374B2 |
System and method for a multi-tenant datacenter with layer 2 cloud interconnection
Provided is a system and method for a multi-tenant datacenter with layer 2 cloud interconnection. More specifically the multi-tenant datacenter includes a plurality of physical client systems in a first datacenter each physical client system having a set of physical infrastructure resources. A first cloud computing environment is also in the first datacenter, and coupled to the physical client systems by OSI Layer 2. The first cloud computing environment thereby virtually extending the physical infrastructure resources of each physical client system. An associated method of providing a multi-tenant datacenter with layer 2 cloud interconnection is also provided. |
| US09621372B2 |
Title-enabled networking
Methods and apparatus are provided for processing packets in a network. A received packet includes title materials which include one or more of a title object, a component of the title object, or a reference to the title object. The title object is a digital bearer instrument representing at least one right relating to processing of the packet in the network which may be redeemed by presentation of the title object to a title-enabled device or process operating in the network. Upon validation of the title object, the packet is processed in the network in accordance with the at least one right represented by the title object. |
| US09621367B2 |
Method and system for a high capacity cable network
A cable modem termination system (CMTS) may communicate with a plurality of cable modems using a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) subcarriers. The CMTS may determine a performance metric of each of the cable modems. For each of the OFDM subcarriers and each of the cable modems, the CMTS may select physical layer parameters to be used for communication with that cable modem on that OFDM subcarrier based on a performance metric of that cable modem. The parameters may be selected for each individual modem and/or each individual subcarrier, or may be selected for groups of modems and/or groups of subcarriers. The parameters may include, for example, one or more of: transmit power, receive sensitivity, timeslot duration, modulation type, modulation order, forward error correction (FEC) type, and FEC code rate. |
| US09621362B2 |
System and method for providing policy charging and rules function discovery in a network environment
A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include establishing a first binding for a first session for a UE, wherein the first binding includes, at least in part, PCEF connectivity information for a PCEF associated with a PGW hosting the first session for the UE, wherein the first binding is established by a first DRA in a first IP domain; receiving a request by second DRA in a second IP domain associated with establishing a second session for the UE; determining a PCRF serving the first session for the UE; and binding the second session for the UE with the first session for the UE. A method is provided in another example embodiment and may include exchanging PCEF connectivity information over a Dr interface between a plurality DRAs and maintaining PCEF connectivity information for one or more peer DRAs to which each DRA is connected. |
| US09621358B2 |
Method of conducting safety-critical communications
An exemplary method of communicating with a safety device includes obtaining a key from the safety device that is useable for only a single communication session with the safety device. A plurality of messages are sent to the safety device during the single communication session. Each of the plurality of messages includes the obtained key, an identifier of the source of the message, an identifier of the safety device, a sequence number indicating how many of the plurality of messages preceded the message during the communication session, a command for the safety device, and at least one cyclic redundancy code (CRC) based on content of the message. A next one of the plurality of messages is sent only after confirming that the safety device has accepted a most recently sent one of the plurality of messages. |
| US09621354B2 |
Reconstructable content objects
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for delivering a content piece over a network using a set of reconstructable objects. During operation, the system obtains a metadata file that includes a set of rules; generates the set of reconstructable objects for the content piece based on the set of rules included in the metadata file; cryptographically signs the set of reconstructable objects to obtain a set of signed reconstructable objects; and delivers, over the network, the set of signed reconstructable objects along with the metadata file to a recipient, thereby enabling the recipient to extract and store a copy of the content piece and then to reconstruct the set of signed reconstructable objects from the stored copy of the content piece and the metadata file. |
| US09621351B2 |
Image processing device and image data transmission method
An image processing device includes: a reading unit to read information stored in a detachable storage medium; a transmission unit to transmit image data outwardly; a determination unit to determine, in a case where the transmission unit transmits the image data, whether or not the information stored in the detachable storage medium is necessary; and a control unit to execute, in a case where the determination unit determines that the information stored in the detachable storage medium is necessary, control to maintain a state capable of reading the information stored in the detachable storage medium until the reading unit reads from the detachable storage medium the information necessary to transmit the image data. |
| US09621350B2 |
Personal authentication
A method and system of authenticating a person is disclosed. The authentication may include verifying authenticity of the person when interacting with a point of sale system or other authenticating requesting device according to whether biometric information collected proximate in time to the authentication request sufficiently correlates with biometric information previously collected from trust sources. |
| US09621346B2 |
Homomorphic evaluation including key switching, modulus switching, and dynamic noise management
A homomorphic evaluation of a function is performed on input ciphertext(s), which were encrypted using an encryption scheme that includes multiple integer moduli. Each ciphertext contains one or more elements of an m-th cyclotomic number field, where m is an integer. Each ciphertext which is defined relative to one of the moduli q, each element a(X) of the m-th cyclotomic number field is represented via a matrix, with each row i of the matrix corresponding to an integer factor pi of the modulus q and each column j corresponding to a polynomial factor Fj(X) of the m-th cyclotomic polynomial Φm(X) modulo q. Content of the matrix in row i and column j corresponds to the element a(X) modulo pi and Fj(X). Performing the homomorphic evaluation of the function further includes performing operation(s) using one or more matrices from one or more of the ciphertexts. |
| US09621344B2 |
Method and system for recovering a security credential
A system and method for recovering a security credential is provided. A security credential stored in the storage of a computing device is encrypted using a first encryption key generated by a server. A first decryption key for decrypting the security credential and a second encryption key for re-encrypting the security credential are received. The first decryption key and the second encryption key are generated by the server. The security credential is decrypted using the first decryption key. The security credential is communicated to a user of the computing device. The security credential is re-encrypted in the storage of the computing device using the second encryption key. |
| US09621341B2 |
Anonymous verifiable public key certificates
The anonymity of a user at a client computer may be preserved when authenticating with an on-line service or content provider through the use of an anonymous and verifiable (i.e., “blind”) certificate set that is created by a certificate authority from a fixed-size set of PKI key pairs. The certificate authority randomly selects a subset of PKI key pairs to generate the blind certificate set where each certificate in the set includes a respective public key from the PKI key pair subset. The certificate authority also sends the private keys from the PKI key pair subset to the user. During authentication, the client computer is configured to randomly select a subset of one or more certificates from the set to present to the provider. The provider will encrypt content using the public keys in the subset of certificates and the client will decrypt the content with the corresponding private keys. |
| US09621338B2 |
Radio communication device and frequency error measurement method
A radio communication device includes a transmission unit that performs a radio transmission process on a baseband signal in which transmission data is included and that transmits a signal in which the baseband signal is superimposed on a carrier wave; a feedback unit that feeds back the signal transmitted by the transmission unit; a detecting unit that detects a carrier wave component by removing a component corresponding to the baseband signal from a feedback signal that is fed back by the feedback unit; a counting unit that counts the pulses of the carrier wave component detected by the detecting unit; and a calculating unit that calculates a frequency error of the carrier wave by using a count value obtained by the counting unit. |
| US09621337B2 |
Adaptive I/O mismatch calibration
The present disclosure includes systems and techniques relating to calibrating I/Q mismatches in communication systems. In some implementations, a reference signal to be transmitted by a transmitter (Tx) is identified. A loopback signal corresponding to the reference signal is generated by passing the reference signal through the TX and a receiver (Rx). The loopback signal includes an additional signal that distinguishes an in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) mismatch caused by the Tx (Tx I/Q mismatch) from an I/Q mismatch caused by the Rx (RX I/Q mismatch). A set of Tx I/Q mismatch parameters and a set of Rx I/Q mismatch parameters are determined based on the reference signal and the loopback signal, using the additional signal. A Tx signal is calibrated based on the set of Tx I/Q mismatch parameters, while a Rx signal is calibrated based on the set of Rx I/Q mismatch parameters, independently from the calibrating the Tx signal. |
| US09621332B2 |
Clock and data recovery for pulse based multi-wire link
A method and an apparatus are provided. The apparatus may includes a clock recovery circuit having a plurality of input latches configured to assume a first state when a first pulse is received in one or more of a plurality of input signals, combinational logic configured to provide a second pulse response to the first pulse, a delay circuit configured to produce a third pulse on a receive clock that is delayed with respect to the second pulse, a plurality of output flip-flops configured to capture the first state when triggered by the third pulse. The first state may identify which of the plurality of input signals received input pulses. |
| US09621328B2 |
Communication control device, communication control method, program, terminal device, and communication control system
Provided is a communication control device that controls radio communication conducted by one or more terminal devices according to a time-division duplex (TDD) scheme, the communication control device including a configuration section that configures, for each frame that includes a plurality of subframes, a link direction configuration expressing a link direction per subframe, and a control section that signals the link direction configuration configured by the configuration section to each terminal device. The configuration section configures a first link direction configuration for a first terminal group, and configures a second link direction configuration for a second terminal group, and the control section signals the first link direction configuration to a terminal device belonging to the first terminal group on a first cycle, and signals the second link direction configuration to a terminal device belonging to the second terminal group on a second cycle that is shorter than the first cycle. |
| US09621322B2 |
NDP packet format for a communication protocol with multiple PHY modes
In a method for generating a null data packet (NDP) sounding packet for transmission via a communication channel, a signal field and one or more long training fields are generated. The signal field and the long training fields are modulated using a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. Symbol duration of each OFDM symbol of the plurality of OFDM symbols is at least 8 μs. The NDP sounding packet is generated to include the plurality of OFDM symbols. The NDP sounding packet omits a data payload portion. |
| US09621321B2 |
Base station, user equipment, and methods therein in a communications system
According to teachings herein, a base station of a wireless communication system obtains channel state information from a user equipment (UE), based on transmitting first and second offset values to the UE. The first offset value is for a first set of subframes of a first type and is based on first channel information, while the second offset value is for a second set of subframes of a second type and is based on second channel information. The base station obtains the channel state information from the UE, which is configured to receive the first and second offset values and to determine the channel state information based on reference signals for subframes of the first type and the first offset value and based on reference signals for subframes of the second type and the second offset value. |
| US09621313B2 |
Hardware and software methodologies for dynamic resource allocation in virtualized flexible-grid optical networks
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to systems and methods for allocating spectrum of a flexible-grid optical network to a plurality of virtual links. Given a set of optical channels of different line rates and channel widths, a user can reserve one of the optical channels as a long-term reservation. The user can later elect to downgrade its optical channel to a smaller optical channel with lower line rate and less spectrum, for example, when the user's traffic demands decrease. The user may return (e.g., sell or de-allocate) an amount of unused spectrum to the carrier, and the carrier creates and manages a resource pool to gather unused spectrum from users. When the user's traffic increases, the user may obtain (e.g., purchase) additional spectrum from the carrier's resource pool and/or upgrade the user's optical channel to an optical channel having a higher line rate. |
| US09621312B2 |
RF transceiver architecture for flexible configuration of RF resources
One embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless transceiver. The transceiver includes a plurality of receiving paths, a plurality of transmitting paths, a number of RF components, and a configurable multiplexer for coupling one or more RF components to the transmitting paths and the receiving paths. The multiplexer is configured in such a way as to allow a particular RF component to couple to a subset of the receiving paths and/or a subset of the transmitting paths, thereby enabling flexible provisioning of the RF components. |
| US09621311B2 |
Pilot transmission and reception for orthogonal frequency division multiple access
A wireless device transmits a frame by determining a plurality of Resource Units (RUs) of the frame, providing pilots in a first RU of the frame at a first set of positions, providing pilots in a second RU of the frame at a second set of positions, and transmitting the frame. The first set of positions is different from the second set of positions. A wireless device receives a frame including an RU including pilots and processes the pilots. When an RU for the data symbol includes an odd-numbered lowest subcarrier, the pilots are included at a first set of positions in the resource unit. When the RU includes an even-numbered lowest subcarrier, the pilots are included at a second set of positions in the resource unit. The second set of positions is different from the first set of positions. |
| US09621308B2 |
Interference measurements in enhanced inter-cell interference coordination capable wireless terminals
A wireless communication terminal is disclosed. The terminal includes a transceiver coupled to a processor configured to determine that a subset of a plurality of resource elements (REs) must be excluded from demodulation, the plurality of REs received in a signal from a first base station, to estimate a hypothetical block error rate (BLER) based on the signal received from the first base station by excluding the subset of the plurality of REs, and to estimate channel state information based on the hypothetical BLER. |
| US09621307B2 |
Method for transmitting a plurality of uplink messages and mobile radio communication terminal device
A method for transmitting a plurality of uplink messages may include transmitting a first uplink message to a sink device and monitoring a feedback channel for feedback information from the sink device during one or more default feedback reception periods associated with the first uplink message. The method may further include skipping monitoring of the feedback channel during the remaining default feedback reception periods associated with the first uplink message if a number of consecutive default feedback reception periods containing positive feedback information exceeds a threshold, updating the threshold based on a channel quality measure, transmitting a second uplink message, and monitoring or skipping monitoring of the feedback channel during default feedback reception periods associated with a second uplink message based on the updated threshold. |
| US09621304B2 |
Self-learning and self-correcting decoding of BMC encoded signal
A method of decoding a biphase mark coded (BMC) data stream. A BMC encoded signal (BMC signal) including a preamble and data payload is received at a receiver which includes a BMC decoder state machine (state machine). The preamble is processed using the state machine including measuring a total duration spanning at least three transitions to provide a ≧2 UI duration measure, a calculated 0.75 UI duration value (0.75 UI duration value) is generated from the ≧2 UI duration measure, and the 0.75 UI duration value is compared to a programmed UI range. Provided the 0.75 UI duration value is within the programmed UI range data, respective bits are extracted bit-by-bit from the data payload using the 0.75 UI duration value to obtain unencoded data. |
| US09621302B2 |
Apparatus and method for resource segmentation in wireless communication system
An apparatus and a method segment an allocated resource in data transmission in a wireless communication system. When a size of transmission data is large, the data information bit is distributed to one or more forward error correction (FEC) blocks with consideration of a size of the data information bit. A number of data tones is determined based on control information with respect to each of the one or more FEC blocks. The data information bit distributed to the one or more FEC blocks is mapped into a data tone with consideration of the number of data tones determined for each of the one or more FEC blocks. |
| US09621301B1 |
Systems and methods for determining a modulation and coding scheme for a small cell
Systems and methods are described for determining a modulation and coding scheme for a small cell. A small cell may receive a first signal level for a first signal received at a wireless device and a second signal level for a second signal received at the wireless device, wherein the received first signal is from the small cell and the received second signal is from a macro cell. The small cell may also receive a channel quality indicator from the wireless device that indicates a channel quality for communications between the wireless device and the small cell. A signal level metric may be calculated based on the first signal level, the second signal level, and the received channel quality indicator. A modulation and coding scheme for a transmission from the small call may be determined, wherein the transmission is associated with an almost blank subframe transmission from the macro cell. |
| US09621299B2 |
Coherent communication system, communication method, and transmission method
The estimation of an amount of chromatic dispersion using a training signal sequence is possible. A transmission method includes: a training signal sequence generation step of generating, as training signal sequences, a plurality of signal sequences having power concentrated in a plurality of frequency bands, the power concentrated at different frequency bands; a training signal sequence selection step of selecting at least one training signal sequence from among the plurality of training signal sequences generated in the training signal sequence generation step, a signal multiplexing step of generating a signal sequence obtained by time-division multiplexing the training signal sequence selected in the training signal sequence selection step with a transmission data sequence, and an electrical-to-optical conversion step of transmitting the signal sequence generated in the signal multiplexing step as an optical signal. |
| US09621298B2 |
Method of optical data transmission using polarization division multiplexing and QPSK
Proposed is a method of optical data transmission. The method comprises different steps. At least one stream of data bits is received. Sets of data bits are mapped onto successive logical states. The logical states correspond to respective sets of two initial QPSK symbols chosen according to a QPSK mapping and according to a set partitioning rule. The logical states are differentially encoded according to a differential encoding rule. For the differentially encoded logical states respective sets of two resulting QPSK symbols are derived according to the QPSK mapping and according to the set partitioning rule. The encoded sets of two QPSK symbols are transmitted using polarization division multiplexing. The differential encoding rule results in a differential encoding of one of the initial QPSK symbols but not the other of the initial QPSK symbols. |
| US09621293B2 |
Distribution of time-division multiplexed (TDM) management services in a distributed antenna system, and related components, systems, and methods
Distribution of management services in distributed antenna systems having a central unit and remote units configured to time-division multiplex (TDM) downlink and/or uplink management signals into time slots to form a TDM management frame signal. In this manner, collision will not occur between multiple management signals communicated over a common communications medium at the same time in the distributed antenna system. Collision detection and management mechanism can add design complexity, cost by requiring additional components, and require additional area on electronic boards. The TDM management frame signal may also be modulated at a carrier frequency before being combined with RF communications signals so that the combined signals are within a linear range of shared certain communications components to reduce cost and area. |
| US09621290B2 |
Apparatus and method of compensating for clock frequency and phase variations by processing packet delay values
An apparatus and method are described for compensating for frequency and phase variations of electronic components by processing packet delay values. In one embodiment, a packet delay determination module determines packet delay values based on time values associated with a first and a second electronic component. A packet delay selection module selects a subset of the packet delay values based on the maximum frequency drift of the first electronic component. A statistical parameter determination module evaluates a first and a second parameter based on portions of the subset of packet delay values. A validation module validates the parameters when each portion the subset of packet delay values includes a minimum of at least two packet delay values. An adjustment module compensates for at least one of a frequency variation and a phase variation of the first electronic component based on the parameters if the parameters are both validated. |
| US09621288B2 |
Method and apparatus for estimating the current signal-to-noise ratio
Apparatus for estimating a current SNR of a signal, including an SNR estimator and an offset compensator connected in series, the offset compensator outputting the current SNR; the SNR estimator including (i) a first squaring unit, a summer, a square root unit, a first mean unit, a first subtractor, a scaling unit, a divider, a second subtractor and a decibel (dB)-recalculator, all connected in series, wherein an output of the second squaring unit is also connected to the divider; (ii) a third squaring unit connected to the first summer, and a second mean unit connected to an output of the summer at its input and to the subtractor at its output; and (iii) a correction calculator connected to the square root unit and to the second subtractor; the first squaring unit inputting an I component of the signal; and the second squaring unit inputting a Q component of the signal. |
| US09621285B2 |
Power line communication modem, power line communication system and power line communication method
A power line communication modem is provided including a transmitter configured to transmit a power line signal on at least one carrier of a plurality of carriers via a power line to a further power line communication modem; and a processor configured to allocate transmit powers to individual carriers of the plurality of carriers, wherein the sum of the transmit powers of individual carriers located in the first frequency range is below or equal to a first predetermined power maximum value for the first frequency range. A corresponding power line communication system and a power line communication method are provided as well. |
| US09621284B2 |
Mobile communication system, communication control method, base station superposing an interference replica signal to a desired wave signal, and user terminal performing interference cancellation
A mobile communication system comprises: a user terminal that receives a desired wave signal from a serving cell while receiving an interference wave signal from a neighboring cell adjacent to the serving cell; and a base station that manages the serving cell. The base station comprises: a controller that generates an interference replica signal corresponding to the interference wave signal and superposes the interference replica signal on the desired wave signal; and a transmitter that transmits the desired wave signal superposed with the interference replica signal to the user terminal. The controller generates the interference replica signal such that the interference replica signal cancels the interference wave signal in a location of the user terminal. The interference replica signal acts as a disturbing signal, which disturbs demodulation of the desired wave signal, in a location other than the location of the user terminal. |
| US09621282B2 |
Acoustic information transfer
Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for acoustically transferring information between systems. In a particular embodiment, a method provides identifying information for acoustic transfer and determining an amount of time corresponding to the information. The method further provides acoustically transmitting a signal at a first time and, upon the amount of time elapsing since the first time, acoustically transmitting the signal at a second time. |
| US09621278B2 |
Frequency offset compensation apparatus and frequency offset compensation method
A frequency offset compensation apparatus includes: first FFT means for performing a discrete-time Fourier transform of an input signal; second FFT means for performing a discrete-time Fourier transform; and offset compensation means for changing an order of output data of the first FFT means according to a frequency offset compensation amount, and rearranging the output data, and then inputting the output data to the second FFT means. This makes possible a frequency offset compensation without needing a new complex multiplier or a new memory in optical communication. |
| US09621272B2 |
Optical transmission device and control method for the same
[Problem to be Solved]There is provided an optical transmission device in wavelength-division-multiplexing-based optical communications that has both of improved reliability because of provision of backup optical transceiving unit and power saving capability because of appropriate control.[Solution]An optical transmission device is configured with optical switch means 40, a plurality of optical transceiving means 41 and control means 42. The optical switch means 40 outputs an input optical signal to a given path. Each optical transceiving means 41 receives an optical signal from the optical switch means 40 and transmits an optical signal to the optical switch means 40. The control means 42 performs various kinds of control. The optical transceiving means 41 operates in three operation states: a normal mode in which the optical transceiving means transmits and receives optical signals, a first standby mode which is a standby state, and a second standby mode in which power consumption is smaller than power consumption in the first standby mode. The control means 42 includes means for causing the optical transceiving means in the first standby mode to transition to the normal mode and causes the optical transceiving means in the second standby mode to transition to the first standby mode or the normal mode. |
| US09621270B2 |
System and methods for fiber and wireless integration
Embodiments of the present invention pertain to optical wireless architecture and, in particular, to novel optical architecture to provide fiber-optic and wireless communication systems, links, and access networks. Certain embodiments of the invention pertain to a novel method and apparatus to provide 109.6 Gb/s capacity over spans of 80-km SMF and 2×2 MIMO. Conversion of PM-QAM modulated wireless mm-wave signal to an optical signal as well as 80-km fiber transmission of the converted optical signal is also realized. |
| US09621269B2 |
Optically driven active radiator
A multi-port radiator radiates electromagnetic signal in response to a beat frequency of a pair of optical signals. The radiator includes a multitude of optical paths each carrying an optical signal having first and second wavelengths. A multitude of frequency conversion elements convert the optical signals to electrical signals and deliver them to the radiator's multiple ports. The frequency of the electrical signals, and hence the frequency of the electromagnetic wave, is defined by the difference between the first and second wavelengths. The phases of the optical signals received by the frequency conversion elements are shifted with respect to one another. Optionally, the difference between the phases of the optical signals travelling through each pair of adjacent paths is 90°. The first and second wavelengths are generated by a pair of optical sources and are optionally modulated before being combined and delivered to the optical paths. |
| US09621258B2 |
Bi-directional communication for control of unmanned systems
Bi-directional personal communication systems and processes may be utilized to control unmanned systems. Such systems and processes may enable operator interface with unmanned systems as a replacement or a supplement to use of specialized hardware and rich, graphical interfaces. The bi-directional communication systems and methods also may be integrated as a subsystem within a ground control station. The system may include a personal communications device with a native interface for an operator to select command, control and/or communication (C3) messages to interact with the unmanned system, and a communication link operable to send the C3 messages selected by the operator to the unmanned system, wherein the unmanned system includes a receiver that receives the C3 messages over the communication link and an onboard computing device that processes and responds to the C3 messages received by the receiver. |
| US09621256B1 |
Power spectral density control using AIS and spreading in an aeronautical SATCOM terminal using a low profile antenna
Power spectral density in an aeronautical satellite communication system is controlled through the use of adaptive inroute selection and spreading. Once a communication session has been established between the aircraft and the satellite, environmental conditions and aircraft conditions are monitored to detect events capable of affecting transmit/receive properties during the communication session. A maximum allowable transmission output is determined based, at least in part, on governmental regulations and the conditions being monitored. One or more transmit parameters are adjusted in order to maintain transmission output power of the aircraft terminal below the maximum allowable transmission output power. |
| US09621254B2 |
Communications architectures via UAV
A communication system includes a transmitter segment at a source location inputting a plurality of input signals to be transmitted. The input signals are transformed to wavefront multiplexed signals (WFM signals), and the WFM signals are modulated into WFM waveforms. The WFM waveforms are transmitted through a segment of propagation to a receiver segment; wherein the segment of propagation includes a plurality of UAV based transmission channels among the WFM waveforms; wherein the WFM waveforms are transmitted over the transmission channels; wherein the receiver segment receives the WFM waveforms from the transmission channels. Demodulation is performed on the received WFM waveforms to convert the received WFM waveforms to received WFM signals individually. A wavefront de-multiplexing transform is performed on the received WFM signals to recover individual desired signals. |
| US09621249B2 |
Techniques for variable channel bandwidth support
Techniques for supporting variable channel bandwidths in a wireless communications network are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may comprise a processor circuit and a communications management module, and the communications management module may be operable by the processor circuit to determine a channel bandwidth for communication over a channel of a wireless network, transmit a beamforming initiation message comprising a channel bandwidth parameter indicating the determined channel bandwidth, receive a beamforming initiation confirmation message confirming the channel bandwidth parameter, perform a beamforming training sequence to determine one or more beamforming parameters, and transmit one or more messages over the channel according to the determined channel bandwidth and the one or more beamforming parameters. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US09621242B2 |
Downlink control signalling for indication of interfering layers
A method of communicating a plurality of transmission layers from at least one cell which is under the control of at least one base station to a user equipment. The plurality of transmission layers includes a data layer and an interference layer which are spatially multiplexed. The data layer includes user data for the user equipment and the interference layer interferes with the data layer. The method includes determining interference layer information relating to the interference layer, transmitting the data layer, the interference layer and a control channel message to user equipment. The control channel message includes a first information field and a second information field. |
| US09621241B2 |
Method for transmitting channel state information and apparatus therefor
A method for reporting, by a UE, a downlink channel state in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: receiving a vertical precoding matrix indicator (PMI) to be used to calculate the downlink channel state; calculating a value of the downlink channel state using the received vertical PMI; and reporting the calculated downlink channel state value to an eNB, wherein the received vertical PMI is used from a later subframe between a subframe in which the vertical PMI is received and a subframe preceding a subframe in which the calculated downlink channel state value is reported by the number of subframes necessary to calculate the downlink channel state value using the received vertical PMI. |
| US09621240B1 |
Beamforming using predefined spatial mapping matrices
In one or more aspects data packets are iteratively transmitted to a receiver using predefined spatial mapping matrices, channel estimates are received from the receiver responsive to iteratively transmitted data packets, and one of the predefined spatial mapping matrices is selected for transmitting additional data packets to the receiver based on the received channel estimates. |
| US09621236B2 |
System and method for distortion correction in MIMO and multiband transmitters
The present invention relates to a method for multiple-input multiple-output impairment pre-compensation comprising: receiving a multiple-input signal; generating a pre-distorted multiple-input signal from the received multiple-input signal; generating a multiple-output signal by feeding the pre-distorted multiple-input signal into a multiple-input and multiple-output transmitter; estimating impairments generated by the multiple-input and multiple-output transmitter; and adjusting the pre-distorted multiple-input signal to compensate for the estimated impairments. The present invention also relates to a pre-compensator for use with a multiple-input and multiple-output transmitter, comprising: a multiple-input for receiving a multiple-input signal; a matrix of pre-processing cells for generating a pre-distorted multiple-input signal from the received multiple-input signal; and a multiple-output for feeding the pre-distorted multiple-input signal to the multiple-input and multiple-output transmitter. The pre-processing cells are configured so as to estimate impairments generated by the multiple-input and multiple-output transmitter and adjust the pre-distorted multiple-input signal to compensate for the estimated impairments. |
| US09621234B2 |
Mobile communication system, base station, CoMP control apparatus and communication control method
A mobile communication system includes a first base station, a second base station connected with the first base station via an X2 interface, and a user terminal configured to receive data from both the first and second base stations using radio resources provided by both the first and second base stations. The first base station comprises a controller including at least one processor, the controller executing functions of plural layers. The plural layers include a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and a physical (PHY) layer. The controller is configured to receive user data addressed to the user terminal from a core network, convert the user data to PDCP data unit provided with a sequence number, in the PDCP layer, and transmit the PDCP data unit to the second base station from the PDCP layer. |
| US09621229B2 |
Systems for enabling chassis-coupled modular mobile electronic devices
A system for enabling a chassis-coupled modular mobile electronic device includes a chassis, a set of module couplers (coupled to the chassis) that removably and mechanically couple modules of the modular mobile electronic device to the chassis, a module communication network configured to enable data transfer between the modules through the module communication network when the modules are coupled to the chassis, and a module power network configured to enable power transfer between the modules when the modules are coupled to the chassis. |
| US09621227B2 |
Proximity boundary based communication using radio frequency (RF) communication standards
Technology is described for proximity based communications. A proximity boundary can be defined with dimensions defined by a communication range of one of a first Short Range Communication (SRC) device and a second SRC device. The first SRC device and the second SRC device can be configured to communicate using near field magnetic induction (NFMI). A proximity signal can be communicated in the proximity boundary between the first SRC device and the second SRC device. A security permission can be provided to enable selected data to be communicated from one or more of the first SRC device or the second SRC device in the proximity boundary when the proximity signal is detected between the first SRC device and the second SRC device. The selected data can be communicated from one or more of the first SRC device or the second SRC device using a radio frequency (RF) communication standard. |
| US09621224B2 |
Portable audio networking system
A portable audio networking system is provided that includes master devices and slave devices in communication over cables adapted to simultaneously transport a digital audio signal, DC power, and a data signal. Master devices are configured to receive a digital audio signal, distribute power, and transceive a data signal, and slave devices are configured to transmit the digital audio signal to master devices, receive the power from master devices, and transceive the data signal with master devices. Slave devices can include wireless audio receivers that receive an RF signal containing an audio signal from wireless audio transmitters. Master devices can include gateway interconnection devices that act as hubs and routers for the system. The reduction in the number of cables compared to traditional systems results in less weight for crew members to carry and easier setup of the system. Remote control of wireless audio transmitters is also enabled. |
| US09621220B2 |
Radio device and distortion cancelling method
A radio device includes: a processor that outputs a transmission signal containing a plurality of signals that are transmitted at different frequencies; an amplifier that amplifies the transmission signal output from the processor; and a transmitter/receiver that transmits by radio the transmission signal amplified by the amplifier and that receives by radio a signal having a frequency different from a frequency of the transmission signal. The processor generates a cancel signal based on the plurality of signals contained in the transmission signal, the cancel signal corresponding to an intermodulation distortion that occurs due to intermodulation among the plurality of signals, and the transmitter/receiver synthesizes the cancel signal generated by the processor with the transmission signal amplified by the amplifier. |
| US09621217B2 |
Electronic apparatus with display surface cover member
An electronic apparatus comprises a display unit and a first cover member that is located on a surface of the electronic apparatus and includes a layer made of sapphire. The first cover member has a first surface opposed to a display surface of the display unit and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The electronic apparatus includes an apparatus case to which the first cover member is mounted and accommodates the display unit. The second surface of the first cover member comprises an outline including first through sixth partial outlines. The electronic apparatus includes a second cover member and a fixing member that fixes said second cover member and said apparatus case to each other. |
| US09621216B1 |
Cover and electronic device having same
A cover configured to cover a base of an electronic device. The cover includes a plurality of sidewalls, a plurality of limiting portions and a plurality of bent portions. The limiting portions are arranged on the sidewalls and protruding inwardly to latch to the base. The bent portions are arranged on the sidewalls and extending outwardly to contact ground portions of the electronic device. An electronic device employing the cover is also provided. |
| US09621214B2 |
Protective shroud for handheld device
An apparatus for communicating with a handheld device (e.g., a cellular telephone) is provided herein. A protective shroud is configured to enclose the handheld device and protect it against incidents that commonly cause damage to handheld devices. Integral to the protective shroud is at least one of an input component configured to receive user input and a wireless transceiver configured to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from the handheld device. In one example, where both the input component and the wireless transceiver are integral to the protective shroud, signals related to received user input (e.g., where the shroud serves as a keypad) may be transmitted to the handheld device even if the protective shroud is removed from the handheld device. |
| US09621210B1 |
Communication device
A communication device includes a main circuit board, a cable, and an active antenna device. The cable is configured to deliver both a DC (Direct Current) control signal and an RF (Radio Frequency) signal. The active antenna device includes a comparator, a transmission path, a reception path, and an antenna element. The comparator recovers the DC control signal. The antenna element selects the transmission path or the reception path according to the recovered DC control signal, so as to transmit or receive the RF signal. |
| US09621208B1 |
Mitigation of multipath signal nulling
A communication system periodically changes the carrier wave frequency or phase such that a signal traveling a reflected path no longer destructively interferes with a signal traveling a direct line-of-sight path. The communication system negotiates a periodic frequency or phase shift with a receiver, and then shifts the frequency or phase according to the negotiated schedule to maintain continuous communication. |
| US09621205B2 |
Apparatus and method for frequency estimation ambiguity removal of a burst signal
A device and method for estimating a bias in a frequency estimate of a received signal. Circuitry generates a first signal including a number of sample-blocks, wherein the first signal is shifted in frequency from the received signal by a first frequency shift. Based on the first signal, a second signal and a third signal are generated, by shifting a frequency of each of the samples of the first generated signal by a second frequency shift and a third frequency shift, respectively. For each generated signal, a variance for each sample-block is computed. An average variance of the computed sample-block variances is further calculated and a bias of the received signal is determined as one of the first frequency shift, the second frequency shift, and the third frequency shift, corresponding to the generated signal having the smallest calculated average variance. |
| US09621199B2 |
Power combining power amplifier architectures and methods
Systems and methods are provided for implementing and using multiband transceivers. In a transmitter that comprises a plurality of transmit paths, a frequency spectrum that is used for transmission may be assigned to the plurality of transmit paths. Performance in each of the plurality of transmit paths may be monitored during transmission of signals, and based on the monitored performance, at least one of segmentation of the frequency spectrum and assignment of the segments to the plurality of transmit paths may be dynamically modified. Performance monitoring may be based on spectrum usage, peak to average power ratio (PAPR), and/or performance related criteria (e.g., threshold, timeout duration, etc.). Modifying operation of a transmit path may comprise disabling or enabling that transmit path. The frequency spectrum may be segmented such that each of the segments is uniformly sized, or such that at least one of the segments is sized differently. |
| US09621195B2 |
Frequency band switching radio front end
A full duplex microwave front end (300, 400, 500, 600, 800) for the communication system of an unmanned aerial vehicle such as a drone, comprising: —a transmitter module (310, 410, 510, 610, 710, 810) capable of selecting an antenna (311, 312, 411, 412, 511, 512, 611, 612, 711, 712), the most appropriate one at a given time, in order to emit and/or receive a signal, —a filter module (320, 420, 520, 620, 720, 820), capable of insulating the emission function from the reception function in order to emit the signal or insulating the reception function from the emission function in order to receive the signal, and —an amplifier module (340, 440, 540, 640, 740, 840), capable of amplifying the weak signal received in order to demodulate it, or capable of amplifying the power of the modulated signal intended to be emitted, characterized in that it comprises, —a switch module (330, 430, 530, 630, 730, 830) capable of switching the frequency bands B1 and B2 used for emitting and receiving the said signal respectively. |
| US09621192B2 |
Parallel bit interleaver
A bit interleaving method involves applying a bit permutation process to bits of a QC-LDPC codeword made up of N cyclic blocks each including Q bits, and dividing the codeword after the permutation process into a plurality of constellation words each including M bits, the codeword being divided into F×N′/M folding sections (N′ being a subset of N selected cyclic blocks and being a multiple of M/F), each of the constellation words being associated with one of the F×N′/M folding sections, and the bit permutation process being applied such that each of the constellation words includes F bits from each of M/F different cyclic blocks in a given folding section associated with a given constellation word. |
| US09621190B2 |
Low density parity check code for terrestrial cloud broadcast
Provided is an LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code for terrestrial cloud broadcast. A method of encoding input information based on an LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) includes receiving information and encoding the input information with an LDPC codeword using a parity check matrix, wherein the parity check matrix may have a structure obtained by combining a first parity check matrix for an LDPC code having a higher code rate than a reference value with a second parity check matrix for an LDPC code having a lower code rate than the reference value. |
| US09621189B2 |
Method and apparatus for identification and compensation for inversion of input bit stream in Ldpc decoding
Method of identification and compensation for inversion of the input bit stream when decoding LDPC codes includes obtaining a code word of the LDPC code from a demodulator output and writing the code word into a buffer memory, decoding the code word, calculating a syndrome for each iteration when decoding, making an analysis of converging the weight of the syndrome, generating an inversion feature for the input bit stream based on this analysis, continuing the decoding, if the inversion feature for the input bit stream does not give evidence of detecting inversion, resetting, if the inversion feature for the input bit stream shows inversion, the LDPC decoder and analysis parameters for the convergence of the weight of the syndrome, reading next code word from the buffer memory, and producing an inversion of this code word, and feeding the word to the decoder input to implement the next decoding operation. |
| US09621188B2 |
Soft and hard decision message-passing decoding
A decoder unit is configured to perform a decoding on encoded data. The decoder unit includes a data bus comprising a number N of data lines, a local memory configured to store messages for a message-passing decoding and communicate the messages across the data bus, a plurality of first decoder processing units, wherein each first decoder processing unit is configured to perform the message-passing decoding by communicating with the local memory using a number A of the data channels, and a plurality of second decoder processing units, where each second decoder processing unit is configured to perform the message-passing decoding by communicating with the local memory using a number B of the data lines. N is at least two, A and B are less than or equal to N, and A is different from B. |
| US09621187B2 |
Processing elementary check nodes of an iterative decoder
Embodiments of the present disclosure describe devices, apparatus, methods, computer-readable media and system configurations for processing elementary check nodes associated with an iterative decoder in a manner that conserves computing resources. In various embodiments, first and second sets of m tuples may be received, e.g., as input for the elementary check node. Each tuple may include a symbol and a probability that the symbol is correct, and the first and second sets of m tuples may be sorted by their respective probabilities. In various embodiments, less than all combinations of the first and second sets of m tuples may be computed for consideration as output of the elementary check node, and some computed combinations may be eliminated from consideration as output. In various embodiments, the elementary check node may output a set of m output tuples with the highest probabilities. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed. |
| US09621186B2 |
Dynamic data compression selection
Aspects of dynamic data compression selection are presented. In an example method, as uncompressed data chunks of a data stream are compressed, at least one performance factor affecting selection of one of multiple compression algorithms for the uncompressed data chunks of the data stream may be determined. Each of the multiple compression algorithms may facilitate a different expected compression ratio. One of the multiple compression algorithms may be selected separately for each uncompressed data chunk of the data stream based on the at least one performance factor. Each uncompressed data chunk may be compressed using the selected one of the multiple compression algorithms for the uncompressed data chunk. |
| US09621179B1 |
Metastability error reduction in asynchronous successive approximation analog to digital converter
Various aspects facilitate error reduction for an analog to digital converter (e.g., due to metastability). A digital to analog converter generates a scaled reference voltage based on a reference voltage. A comparator component performs a comparison between an input voltage and the scaled reference voltage based on a defined period of time to perform the comparison. |
| US09621177B1 |
Calibration of interpolating string digital-to-analog converters
Methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture (e.g., physical storage media) to calibrate interpolating string digital-to-analog converters are disclosed. Example methods disclosed herein to calibrate a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) include determining a first calibration codeword based on a first nonlinearity error value measured at an output of the DAC when a most-significant-bit (MSB) portion of an input codeword is applied to an input of the DAC. Such disclosed example methods also include determining a second calibration codeword based on a second measured nonlinearity error value measured at the output of the DAC when a least-significant-bit (LSB) portion of the input codeword is applied to the input of the DAC. Such disclosed example methods further include combining the first calibration codeword and the second calibration codeword to determine a third calibration codeword to be accessed by the DAC to calibrate the output of the DAC when the input codeword is applied to the DAC. |
| US09621175B2 |
Sampling/quantization converters
Provided are, among other things, systems, apparatuses, methods and techniques for converting a continuous-time, continuously variable signal into a sampled and quantized signal. One such apparatus includes an input line for accepting an input signal that is continuous in time and continuously variable, multiple processing branches coupled to the input line, and an adder coupled to outputs of the processing branches, with each of the processing branches including a bandpass noise-shaping circuit, a sampling/quantization circuit coupled to an output of the bandpass noise-shaping circuit, a digital bandpass filter coupled to an output of the sampling/quantization circuit, and a line coupling an output of the sampling/quantization converter circuit back into the bandpass noise-shaping circuit. A center frequency of the digital bandpass filter in each processing branch corresponds to a stopband region in a quantization noise transfer function for the bandpass noise-shaping circuit in the same processing branch. |
| US09621172B1 |
Phase-locked loop circuit and calibrating method thereof
A calibrating method of a phase-locked loop circuit is provided. Firstly, a bias voltage of the phase-locked loop circuit is adjusted, so that the voltage controlled oscillator generates the oscillation signal with an initial frequency. Then, a charging current is used as a driving current and sent to a loop filter. Consequently, a tuned voltage is increased, and the frequency detector issues a first real count number. Then, a discharging current is used as the driving current and sent to the loop filter. Consequently, the tuned voltage is decreased, and the frequency detector issues a second real count number. Then, a ratio of a real loop gain to an ideal loop gain is calculated according to the first real count number and the second real count number. Moreover, a digital filter is adjusted according to the ratio. |
| US09621166B1 |
Wide frequency/voltage-ratio buffer with adaptive power consumption
Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatus (e.g., a level shifter) for buffering an oscillating signal generated by an oscillator. One example apparatus generally includes an amplifier having a first amplification stage configured to amplify the oscillating signal generated by the oscillator and a second amplification stage configured to amplify an inverse of the oscillating signal generated by the oscillator; and a sensing circuit configured to adjust an operational bandwidth of the amplifier based on a frequency of the oscillating signal. |
| US09621165B2 |
Transmitting/receiving system
A transmitting/receiving system may include a transmitting circuit and a receiving circuit. The transmitting circuit may include: a pull-up element suitable for pull-up driving a first node in response to a signal; a pull-down element suitable for pull-down driving a second node in response to the signal; and a voltage tailor coupled between the first and second nodes, and transmitting a low-swing signal obtained by reducing the swing amplitude of the signal to a transmission line, and the receiving circuit may include: a reference voltage generator having a replica circuit of the receiving circuit and suitable for generating a reference voltage; and a differential amplifier suitable for differentially amplifying the reference voltage and the low-swing signal received through the transmission line. |
| US09621162B2 |
High side driver component and method therefor
A high side driver component for generating a drive signal at an output thereof for driving a high side switching device within a high voltage driver circuit. The high side driver component is arranged to operate in at least one reduced slew rate mode in which at least one drive stages is arranged to be in a non-drive state, and the high side driver component further comprises at least one discharge protection component arranged to, when the high side driver component is operating in the at least one reduced slew rate mode, receive an indication of the high voltage driver circuit being in an idle state, and cause the second switching device within the at least one drive stage in a non-drive state to be turned on, in response to the indication of the high voltage driver circuit being in an idle state. |
| US09621156B2 |
Analog switches and methods for controlling analog switches
An analog switch may be maintained reliably in an off state. The switch comprises: a P-type first transistor having a source, a drain and a gate, a N-type second transistor having a source, a drain and a gate, and a switch control circuit to drive the gates of the first and second transistors. The drain of the first transistor and the source of the second transistor are connected at a first node, and the source of the first transistor and the drain of the second transistor are connected at a second node. When the voltage at the first or second nodes falls outside of a supply voltage range of the switch control circuit, the switch control circuit is operable, in response to a signal to make the switch high impedance, by adjusting the gate voltages of the first transistor and the second transistor. |
| US09621155B2 |
Switching circuit and current compensating method therein
A switching circuit includes a normally-on switch, a normally-off switch, a current compensating unit and a current sharing unit. Each of the normally-on switch and the normally-off switch include a first terminal, a second terminal and a control terminal respectively. The first terminal of the normally-off switch is connected to the second terminal of the normally-on switch. The second terminal of the normally-off switch is connected to the control terminal of the normally-on switch. The current compensating unit is connected to the normally-on switch and configured to generate a compensating current when a leakage current of the normally-on switch is smaller than the leakage current of the normally-off switch. The current sharing unit is connected to the normally-off switch and configured to share the leakage current of the normally-on switch when the leakage current of the normally-on switch is larger than the leakage current of the normally-off switch. |
| US09621153B2 |
Gate control device, semiconductor device, and method for controlling semiconductor device
A semiconductor device according to an embodiments controls a gate voltage to be applied to a gate electrode of a junction field effect transistor including a source electrode, a drain electrode, and the gate electrode, the transistor having a first threshold voltage at which the transistor is turned on, and a second threshold at which conductivity modulation occurs in the transistor so as to make the gate voltage equal to or higher than the second threshold voltage when a forward current in a direction from the drain electrode toward the source electrode flows, and so as to make the time variation in gate voltage have a point from which the rate of the time variation starts decreasing at a voltage between the second threshold voltage and the first threshold voltage when the forward current to be shut down. |
| US09621152B2 |
Coupling inductor based hybrid millimeter-wave switch
A switch comprising a plurality of inductors and a plurality of shunt transistors is described. Each inductor can be electrically coupled between adjacent shunt transistors to form a distributed switch structure. At least two inductors in the plurality of inductors can be inductively coupled with each other. The plurality of inductors can correspond to portions of a coupling inductor, wherein the coupling inductor can have an irregular octagonal shape. |
| US09621146B2 |
Digital current equalization method and power supply module
A digital current equalization method includes: acquiring a current value from a counter preset value loading module in each synchronization period; generating a continuous variable frequency pulse according to the current value, and receiving a synchronization signal transmitted by a phase inverter connected to the PFM generator; transmitting, according to the synchronization signal, the continuous variable frequency pulse to the digital current equalization bus through an OC gate of a triode connected to the PFM generator; counting a frequency of the continuous variable frequency pulse on the digital current equalization bus, where an acquired frequency count value is used to represent a current magnitude of a power supply module, which currently outputs a greatest current, of the foregoing power supply module and a power supply module connected in parallel with the foregoing power supply module to accordingly adjust the output current of the foregoing power supply module. |
| US09621139B2 |
Single phase differential conversion circuit, balun, switch, and communication device
Provided with one or more first transistors of a first conductivity type each including a gate, a source, and a drain, the gate being connected to an input terminal, the source being configured to be connected to a first voltage source, the drain being connected to an output node, one or more second transistors of a second conductivity type each including a gate, a source, and a drain, the gate being connected to the input terminal, the source being configured to be connected to a second voltage source, the drain being connected to the output node, a first resistor that is inserted and connected between the input terminal and the output node, a first output terminal that is connected to the input terminal, and a second output terminal that is directly or indirectly connected to the output node. |
| US09621137B2 |
Amplitude normalization circuit, power supply and electronic apparatus
An amplitude normalization circuit includes: a peak detector that detects a peak value of a full-wave rectified voltage of an AC voltage; a triangular wave oscillator connected to the peak detector generates a triangular wave voltage having the peak value; a comparator connected to the triangular oscillator compares the triangular wave voltage with the full-wave rectified voltage and outputs a pulse width modulation signal; and a waveform converter connected to the comparator converts a waveform of the pulse width modulation signal and outputs an output voltage with constant amplitude. |
| US09621136B1 |
Data sampler circuit with equalization function and method for sampling data
A data sampler circuit comprises a transconductance amplifier, a latch circuit, a current-to-voltage converter, and a negative resistance circuit. The transconductance amplifier has an input and an output. The latch circuit is coupled to the output of the transconductance amplifier. The current-to-voltage converter has an input coupled to the output of the transconductance amplifier, and an output for providing a feedback signal to the latch circuit. The negative resistance circuit is coupled to the output of the transconductance amplifier and provides equalization during both a sampling mode and a data latching mode. In one embodiment, the negative resistance circuit comprises a pair of cross-coupled transistors. A gain of the negative resistance circuit can be adjusted based on a pulse width of an input signal. |
| US09621132B2 |
Antenna tuning apparatus for a multiport antenna array
An antenna tuning apparatus for a multiport antenna array used for sending and/or receiving electromagnetic waves for radio communication comprises: 4 antenna ports, 4 user ports, 10 adjustable impedance devices each presenting a negative reactance and having a terminal coupled to one of the antenna ports, 4 windings each having a first terminal coupled to one of the antenna ports and a second terminal coupled to one of the user ports, and 10 adjustable impedance devices each presenting a negative reactance and having a terminal coupled to one of the user ports. All adjustable impedance devices are adjustable by electrical means. Any small variation in the impedance matrix of the antenna array, caused by a change in operating frequency or a change in the medium surrounding the antennas, can be compensated with a new adjustment of the adjustable impedance devices. |
| US09621131B2 |
Systems and methods for an adjustable filter engine
Systems and methods are provided for an adjustable filter engine. In particular, an electronic system is provided that can include a focus module, memory, and control circuitry. In some embodiments, the focus module can include an adjustable filter engine and a motor. By using the adjustable filter engine to generate a filter with a large number of filter coefficients, the control circuitry can accommodate a variety of system characteristics. For example, by generating a set of cumulative coefficients and re-arranging the order of the cumulative coefficients, the control circuitry can reduce the bit-width requirements of the adjustable filter engine hardware. For instance, the control circuitry can reduce the number of multipliers required to perform a convolution between an updated filter and one or more input signals. In some embodiments, the updated filter can be generated to reduce oscillations of the motor movement due to a new position request. |
| US09621129B2 |
Flexible L-network antenna tuner circuit
An ‘L’ shaped dynamically configurable impedance matching circuit is presented herein. The circuit can include a series element and a shunt element. The shunt element in the L-shaped impedance matching circuit can be moved or modified based on the impedance of the circuit elements in electrical communication with each side of the impedance matching circuit. Thus, in some cases, the impedance matching circuit may be a flexible circuit that can be dynamically modified based on the environment or configuration of the wireless device that includes the impedance matching circuit. |
| US09621127B2 |
Elastic wave device with a bump defining a shield and manufacturing method thereof
In an elastic wave device, a first electrode structure and a second electrode structure are provided on a piezoelectric substrate, first and second elastic wave element portions are configured by the first electrode structure and the second electrode structure, respectively, and a first bump that is configured of a conductive material to provide shielding is provided on an electrode formation surface of the piezoelectric substrate between the first elastic wave element portion and the second elastic wave element portion. |
| US09621126B2 |
Bulk acoustic resonator device including temperature compensation structure comprising low acoustic impedance layer
An acoustic resonator device includes a temperature compensation structure disposed beneath the first electrode and above the substrate. |
| US09621122B2 |
Mobile terminal and controlling method thereof
A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed, which facilitates a terminal to be used in further consideration of user's convenience. The present invention includes a display unit configured to display an image signal of a video, an audio output unit configured to output an audio signal of the video, and a controller configured to separate the audio signal of the video into sound sources, and control a volume of at least one of the sound sources manually or automatically. |
| US09621114B2 |
Efficiency-optimised high-frequency power amplifier
An amplifier according to the principle of load modulation comprises a first push-pull transistor, a second push-pull transistor and a balanced hybrid coupler. The first push-pull transistor is configured as a main amplifier and generates a balanced main-amplifier signal. The second push-pull transistor is configured as an auxiliary amplifier and generates a balanced auxiliary-amplifier signal. Outputs of the first push-pull transistor and of the second push-pull transistor are connected to the balanced hybrid coupler in such a manner that the balanced hybrid coupler combines the main-amplifier signal and the auxiliary amplifier signal according to the principle of load modulation to form a balanced output signal. |
| US09621110B1 |
Capacitive cross-coupling and harmonic rejection
A power amplifier of the present invention comprises a first cascode including a MOSFET and a JFET and a first capacitor electrically connected between the source and the drain of the JFET. Two such power amplifiers in parallel form a differential power amplifier. In the differential amplifier a second capacitor can be electrically connected between the source and the drain of the second JFET. Another differential power amplifier comprises a first capacitor electrically connected between the gate of the first MOSFET and the source of the second MOSFET, and a second capacitor electrically connected between the gate of the second MOSFET and the source of the first MOSFET. Some of these differential power amplifiers also include capacitors electrically connected between the sources and the drains of the JFETs. |
| US09621107B2 |
Oscillation circuit, oscillator, electronic apparatus, and moving object
An oscillation circuit includes a circuit for oscillation and a signal adjustment circuit connected to the circuit for oscillation. An input voltage based on a direct-current voltage, a voltage value of which can be changed, is input to the circuit for oscillation and the signal adjustment circuit. The circuit for oscillation causes a vibration piece to oscillate and outputs a first oscillation signal. A frequency of the first oscillation signal is adjusted according to the voltage value output from the signal adjustment circuit. |
| US09621106B2 |
Oscillation circuit, oscillator, electronic apparatus and moving object
An oscillation circuit includes a circuit for oscillation that oscillates a resonator, an output circuit that has a signal, output from the circuit for oscillation, input thereto to thereby output an oscillation signal, a connection terminal to which power is applied, a first wiring that connects from the connection terminal to the output circuit, and a second wiring that is connected to the first wiring through a connection node provided on the first wiring and connects from the connection node to the circuit for oscillation. The circuit for oscillation, the output circuit, the connection terminal, the first wiring, and the second wiring are provided on a semiconductor substrate. The length of a wiring extending from the connection terminal of the first wiring to the connection node is shorter than the length of the second wiring. |
| US09621101B2 |
Electromagnetic compatibility filter
The variable speed drive system is arranged to receive input power at fixed input voltage magnitude and frequency and provide power at a variable voltage and variable frequency. The variable speed drive includes a converter connected to an AC source to convert the input voltage to a boosted DC voltage. A DC link connected to the converter filters the DC voltage from the converter stage. An inverter converts the DC link voltage into variable voltage and the variable frequency AC power. An electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) filter includes a series RC circuit from phase-to-ground circuit for each input phase of the converter. The RC circuit includes a resistor connected in series with a capacitor between the converter phase and ground. The EMC filter is connected to the line side of the converter. An inductor is connected between the input source and the EMC filter. |
| US09621100B2 |
Vehicular AC electric generator
To provide a vehicular AC electric generator provided with a highly reliable electric power conversion unit. A stator of a rotary electric machine is configured to have a plurality of sets of three-phase windings, an electric power conversion unit is configured to have a plurality of sets of three-phase bridge circuits corresponding to the plurality of sets of three-phase windings, each of the three-phase windings of the stator is connected to a DC power supply via the corresponding three-phase bridge circuits of the electric power conversion unit, the plurality of sets of three-phase bridge circuits are controlled to be at different switching timings from each other, and semiconductor switches constituting respective arms in the plurality of sets of three-phase bridge circuits are configured to be one-chip MOSFETs. |
| US09621098B2 |
Voltage control device and voltage control method
A voltage control device includes: a capacitor configured to supply power to a rotating electrical machine; an inverter connected to the rotating electrical machine; a transformer coupled booster including two voltage source inverters of which direct current terminals are connected in series to have additive polarity, and a transformer configured to couple alternate current terminals of the two voltage source inverters and having a predetermined leak inductance, wherein one of the two voltage source inverters is connected to the capacitor in parallel, and the transformer coupled booster outputs, to the inverter, a direct-current voltage which is a raised capacitor voltage of the capacitor; and a controller configured to generate and output an instruction value of the direct-current voltage at a time the rotating electrical machine is in a drive state and the output of the transformer coupled booster is less than a predetermined output. |
| US09621094B2 |
Method and apparatus for reducing radiated emissions in switching power converters
A filter for reducing radiated emissions in switching power converters such as a motor drive is disclosed. The switching power converter modulates a DC voltage input to generate a desired AC voltage output. Capacitors are connected in parallel between each output phase and a common connection, which may be a ground connection. The magnitude and layout of the capacitors are selected to minimize current conducted by the capacitors. The capacitors may be surface mount technology located proximate to the switching devices or the capacitors may be incorporated in the circuit board on which the switching devices are mounted. The filter may be applied to any of the switching elements in a motor drive, such as the inverter section, an active rectifier section, or a switched mode power supply. |
| US09621081B2 |
Motor- driven apparatus and method for driving the same
A motor-driven apparatus in one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a brushless motor; a full-wave rectifier circuit; a drive circuit; a controller; and a forcible stop unit. The forcible stop unit performs a forcible stop control to temporarily forcibly stop a switching operation of a plurality of switching elements during a stop period when a full-wave rectified voltage is smaller than an induced voltage generated by a plurality of coils, and the switching operation of the plurality of switching elements is to be stopped. |
| US09621078B2 |
Methods and systems for micro machines
A micro machine may be in or less than the micrometer domain. The micro machine may include a micro actuator and a micro shaft coupled to the micro actuator. The micro shaft is operable to be driven by the micro actuator. A tool is coupled to the micro shaft and is operable to perform work in response to at least motion of the micro shaft. |
| US09621077B2 |
Method for manufacturing energy harvester comprising piezoelectric polymer microstructure array
A method for manufacturing an energy harvester including a piezoelectric polymer microstructure array. The method includes: preparing a micro-column array of a piezoelectric polymer on a substrate; supplying a plate electrode as an upper electrode, allowing the substrate and the upper electrode to form a pair of plate electrodes; applying a DC voltage between the pair of the plate electrodes; heating the substrate to a temperature higher than a glass transition temperature of the piezoelectric polymer and performing rheological formation of the micro-column array with the DC voltage still being applied until the column array of the piezoelectric polymer reaches the upper electrode to form a mushroom-shaped structure array; and cooling and solidifying the piezoelectric polymer to obtain the piezoelectric energy harvester. |
| US09621076B2 |
Vibration type driving device
A vibration type driving device includes an electro-mechanical energy conversion element; a vibrator fixed to the electro-mechanical energy conversion element and configured to be vibrated by application of voltage to the electro-mechanical energy conversion element; a first driven member and a second driven member frictionally driven by press-contact with the vibrator and configured to transmit rotational forces by frictional driving to an output shaft; and at least one pressing portion configured to bring the first driven member and the second driven member into press contact with the vibrator, wherein the pressing portion, the first driven member, the second driven member, and the vibrator are arranged to allow an air flow generated by an airflow generation unit to flow through an air-ventilation path of the pressing portion, between the first driven member and the second driven member, and an air-ventilation path of the vibrator. |
| US09621075B2 |
Inertial drive actuator
The task of the present invention is to provide an inertial drive actuator having a small-size arrangement, without using a vibration substrate. The inertial drive actuator includes a coil, a movable body which is disposed in a direction in which, a magnetic flux of the coil is generated, and which is formed of a magnetic material having a surface facing the coil, and a displacement generator (piezoelectric element) which displaces the coil in a direction different from the direction in which the magnetic flux is generated. Moreover, the movable body is displaced relatively with respect to the displacement generator (piezoelectric element), along a direction of displacement of the displacement generator (piezoelectric element). |
| US09621071B2 |
High powered current generator for electromagnetic inspection of hydrocarbon pipelines
A high powered current generator for electromagnetic inspection of hydrocarbon pipelines from an AC stabilized with rectangular waveform and whose measurements and interpretation are used for evaluating the condition of the lining of the pipelines of five main modules: self-programmable regulated voltage power source module; power source reference decoupling module; H Bridge inverter module; feedback module, and control and processing module. The generator was specifically designed as part of the instrumentation of (TIEMS); which supplies an electric current in the pipeline to produce electromagnetic radiation along the hydrocarbon pipeline. This energy is detected by antennas for obtaining the location of the pipeline and the electric current flowing therein. The generator produces an alternating current at a frequency that can be set within the range of 0.1 Hz to 1 KHz. However, to simplify the job of the operating personnel, default values of 0.1, 0.2, 0.05, 1, 2, 4, 8, 98, 512 and 625 Hertz were established. The current value can also be programmed within the range of 0.1 A to 4.5 A. In order to facilitate the work of the operators, a set of fixed current values 0.100, 0.250, 0.500, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5 Amperes was established. |
| US09621070B2 |
Power supply with multiple converters and averaged feedforward control
A power supply includes power modules. Each of the power modules includes an input stage and an output stage. The input stage generates an intermediate voltage, and the output stage outputs a DC supply voltage according to the intermediate voltage. The input stages are controlled with at least one first common control signal having a common duty cycle, and the output stages are controlled with at least one second common control signal having a common duty cycle. |
| US09621068B2 |
Load driving circuit and method thereof
In one embodiment, a method of driving a load can include: monitoring an AC input to a rectifier circuit in real-time, where the rectifier circuit can include first and second rectifier circuits, and controlling first and second controllable switches based on a state of the AC input is in a first state. For example, a first state can include the AC input being in a positive half cycle and increasing, or the AC input being in the positive half cycle and decreasing while being at least as high as a predetermined threshold value. The AC input can be used to supply power to a load circuit and an output capacitor via the first rectifier circuit when the AC input is in the first state, where the first rectifier circuit can include a first diode and the second controllable switch. |
| US09621063B2 |
Reference current generation in bidirectional power converter
A power converter can be controlled to generate a target output power based on a reactive power reference and an active power reference. The control process may include monitoring a time-varying power signal (e.g., a power grid voltage signal from a power grid), and filtering the time-varying power signal to derive a filtered sine component of the time-varying power signal and a filtered cosine component of the time-varying power signal. A sine coefficient and cosine coefficient each based on at least the reactive power reference and the active power reference can be determined, and applied to the filtered sine component and filtered cosine component of the time-varying power signal, respectively. A target current reference of the power converter can then be set to include a sum of the current reference sine component and the current reference cosine component. |
| US09621060B2 |
Self-excited power conversion circuit for secondary side control output power
A self-excited power conversion circuit for secondary side control output power includes a comparator unit and a transistor installed directly in a secondary side output module, and the comparator unit is electrically coupled to at least one load, and the transistor is electrically coupled between to a conversion module of the circuit and the load. The comparator unit is provided for adjusting the duty cycle of the transistor after detecting the amount of energy outputted from the conversion module to the load from, so as to adjust the amount of energy actually received by the load to achieve a constant power effect. |
| US09621054B2 |
Power supply circuit, electronic processing apparatus, and power supply method
A power supply circuit includes: an environment detecting circuit which detects an installation environment; and a voltage control circuit which makes a report of a power supply capability by performing fluctuation control of an output voltage in response to detection information of the environment detecting circuit. |
| US09621049B2 |
Feedback device for a power supply
The present invention relates to a feedback device for a power supply, including a main feedback module, an auxiliary feedback module and a feedback control module. The main feedback module is adapted to sample a voltage on a main output branch of the power supply, and output a main feedback voltage to the feedback control module. The auxiliary feedback module is adapted to reduce the main feedback voltage when a voltage on an auxiliary output branch of the power supply drops. The feedback control module is adapted to control the power supply to increase its power output when the main feedback voltage decreases, so that the voltage on the auxiliary output branch is restored to normal. By using the power supply feedback device of the present invention, the circuit is simple, not only solving voltage sag problems, but also ensuring the power density and cost. |
| US09621046B2 |
Power converter for driving a switch based on current command and current flowing therein
In a power converter, a reference signal generator generates a reference signal with a predetermined period. A current detector detects a current flowing in the converter. When a value of the detected current is larger than a value of a predetermined current command, a reset signal generator generates a reset signal. A driving unit drives a switch. The switch is turned on, and subsequently is turned off: (i) in synchronization with the reference signal when the reset signal is not outputted before the reference signal is outputted; and (ii) in synchronization with the reset signal when the reset signal is outputted before the reference signal is outputted. However, the switch is turned off in synchronization with the reset signal during a predetermined time including a first predetermined time before an output timing of the reference signal and a second predetermined time after the output timing of the reference signal. |
| US09621040B2 |
PWM signal generator and switching power supply device having same
A PWM signal generator includes a delay circuit unit, which includes a plurality of delay elements connected in series, an output terminal of the delay element in a final stage among the plurality of delay elements and an input terminal of the delay element in an initial stage among the plurality of delay elements being connected to each other; a selector, which selects any one of output signals of the plurality of delay elements based on a digital value; a PWM signal output unit, which outputs a PWM signal based on the output signal selected by the selector; a delay-amount detector, which detects an amount of delay of a signal due to the delay circuit unit; and a digital value generator, which generates the digital value by correcting predetermined data based on the amount of delay detected by the delay-amount detector. |
| US09621038B2 |
Switch control circuit and converter using the same
A switch control circuit for controlling an average current flowing into a load through a current control switch that is series-coupled to an input power and the load includes a sensing unit configured to measure a current flowing into the load, a folder unit configured to fold a sensing signal related to the measured current based on a first reference voltage to generate first and second folder output signals based on an initialization voltage, the first and second folder output signals being symmetric to each other, a comparison unit configured to compare the generated first and second folder output signals and a control unit configured to control an operation of the current control switch according to a comparison result in the comparison unit. Such a switch control circuit integrates and compares a sensing signal and a reference signal to effectively perform an average current control. |
| US09621037B2 |
Voltage regulator with charge pump for generating second voltage source
A voltage regulator includes a switch coupled between an input voltage terminal and an energy storage element, a first output capacitor coupled to a first node defined between the switch and the energy storage element, the first capacitor being coupled to a first output voltage terminal, a charge pump circuit coupled to the first node and comprising a second output capacitor coupled between a second output voltage terminal and the first output voltage terminal, and a controller operable to selectively enable the switch to control voltages generated at the first and second output terminals. |
| US09621034B2 |
Frequency modulation based voltage controller configuration
A voltage converter can be switched among two or more modes to produce an output voltage tracking a reference voltage that can be of an intermediate level between discrete levels corresponding to the modes. One or more voltages generated from a power supply voltage, such as a battery voltage, can be compared with the reference voltage to determine whether to adjust the mode. The reference voltage can be independent of the power supply voltage. Further, the voltage converter may implement frequency modulation and a pulse skipping mode to improve the efficiency of switching operational states of the voltage converter. |
| US09621033B2 |
Charge pump circuit for providing multiplied voltage
A charge pump comprises one or more pump stages for providing a negative boosted output voltage. Each of the one or more pump stages comprises a P-channel transistor formed in an isolated P-well and an N-channel transistor coupled in series with the P-channel transistor. Forming the P-channel transistor in the isolated P-well essentially eliminates a raised threshold voltage due to body effect. |
| US09621032B2 |
Generation of voltages
Voltage generation circuits are useful in the generation of internal voltages for use in integrated circuits. Voltage generation circuits may include a stage capacitance and a voltage isolation device connected to the stage capacitance. The voltage isolation device may include a first current path between an input and an output of the voltage isolation device through a diode, and a second current path between the input and the output of the voltage isolation device through a gate. The gate is responsive to the contribution of a low-pass filter between the output of the voltage isolation device and the gate, and to the contribution of a high-pass filter between a clock signal node and the gate. |
| US09621017B2 |
Voice coil motor, coil block for voice coil motor, method of manufacturing the coil block, and voice coil motor having the coil block
A VCM (voice coil motor) is disclosed, the VCM comprising: a bobbin formed with a support unit protruded from a periphery of a body at a bottom portion of the body, and a recess unit partially removed at the support unit; and a coil block supported by the support unit and including a plurality of coil layers wound at a periphery of the bobbin, wherein first and second distal ends of the coil block pass through the recess unit. |
| US09621013B2 |
Rotating machine with magnetic bearing
A method of manufacturing an electrical machine includes selecting a desired threshold control current, selecting dimensions to modify stator teeth of a magnetic bearing based on the desired threshold control current, and modifying the stator teeth using the selected dimensions. A method of producing a rotating machine includes selecting an operating point of a magnetic bearing of the rotating machine, and shaping at least some stator teeth of the magnetic bearing to generate increased force at control currents above the control current at the selected operating point. |
| US09621011B2 |
Stator assembly
An electric machine, such as a generator, providing for the generation of electricity and includes a rotor generating a magnetic field and a stator having stator windings. The interaction of the magnetic field with the stator windings generates current in the windings. The generator may provide the generated current to a power output of the generator, where it may be further transmitted to an electrical load to power the load. |
| US09621007B2 |
Electric machine with closed circuit air cooling
An electric machine with a closed circuit air cooling provides using only passive elements to realize an efficient and compact heat transfer from inside the electric machine to an ambient heat sink. |
| US09621005B2 |
Rotor of rotating electrical machine
There is provided a rotor of a rotating electrical machine including a pair of field core bodies that are provided so as to enclose the field coil via the insulation bobbin around which the field coil is wound, in which a claw-shaped magnetic pole extending from an outer circumferential section of the field core body in an axial direction is provided on the field core body. The insulation bobbin has a plurality of flange sections extending from the base section of the claw-shaped magnetic pole along an inner surface of the claw-shaped magnetic pole of the field core body, and a plurality of thin portions are formed in the root section of the flange section at intervals in a circumferential direction. |
| US09620997B2 |
Flux-switching machine
The present invention relates to a flux-switching machine, including a stator having phase windings and field coils, wherein, in the machine, at least one field coil is arranged in a pair of notches separated by at least three teeth. |
| US09620994B2 |
Method and system of anti-islanding of a microgrid in a grid-connected microgrid system
A system for detecting islanding of a microgrid includes a number of power sources to output real power and controlled reactive power injection; a number of controllers each controlling one of the number of power sources; and an output from the microgrid powered by the number of power sources. A number of electrical switching apparatus electrically connect the output from the microgrid to a grid and electrically disconnect the output from the microgrid from the grid. A microgrid controller detects islanding of the microgrid with respect to the grid, and sends a number of commands to a number of the number of controllers in order to control reactive power injection by a number of the number of power sources. A communication channel is between the microgrid controller and the number of controllers. A number of microgrid loads are powered by the output from the microgrid. |
| US09620993B2 |
Auto-synchronous isolated inlet power converter
An auto-synchronous isolated inlet power converter is disclosed that can be daisy-chained with other power converters and/or an alternating current (AC) power source. The power converter automatically generates output AC power that is in parallel with external input AC power coming into the power converter when the power converter senses the external input AC power so that the power converter operates as a slave in this state. The power converter automatically generates output AC power when the power converter fails to detect the external input AC power coming into the power converter where the power converter operates as a master in this state. The power converter generates the output AC power without any reliance on the external input AC power generated by a utility grid and/or other AC power sources external to the power converter. |
| US09620992B2 |
Power safety circuit, integrated circuit device and safety critical system
A power safety circuit comprises a power sense terminal; an output terminal; an output driver unit connected to the output terminal; an input terminal connectable to receive a first power from a power source and arranged to supply the first power to the output driver unit; and a power detection unit arranged to detect a state of the input terminal and provide a power sense signal to the power sense terminal; wherein the power sense terminal is arranged to supply a second power to the output driver unit when the power sense signal indicates a level of the first power below a minimum level for driving the output terminal. An integrated circuit device comprises at least one power safety circuit. A safety critical system comprises at least one integrated circuit device with at least one power safety circuit. |
| US09620990B2 |
Electricity supply management device
An electricity supply management device includes a solar cell; a commercial Alternating Current (AC) power source; and a storage battery, in which the storage battery is charged by an electric power from the solar cell, and a power from at least one of the solar cell, the commercial AC power source and the storage battery is supplied to one or more load devices. A power consumption level by the load devices is controlled based on comparison result between a power generation amount by the solar cell and a power consumption amount by the load devices, and a charge level of the storage battery indicative of a ratio of charging to capacity of the storage battery. |
| US09620988B2 |
Power storage device and semiconductor device provided with the power storage device
An object is to provide a power storage device provided with a battery that is a power storage means, for safe and accurate supply of electric power in a short period of time for drive power supply voltage without checking remaining capacity of the battery or changing batteries with deterioration over time of the battery for drive power supply voltage. The power storage device is provided with a battery that is a power storage means as a power supply for supplying electric power and a counter circuit for counting charging time of the power storage means. An electromagnetic wave with electric field intensity, magnetic field intensity, and power flux density per unit time which are transmitted from a power feeder are controlled, and the power storage means is efficiently charged using the electromagnetic wave in a short period of time. |
| US09620987B2 |
System and method for a dynamically configurable power distribution control and management system
A dynamically configurable battery management system includes a controller system with a first processor connected to a first memory and a first wireless transceiver connected to a wireless packet network. A battery system with a second processor is connected to a second memory and a second wireless transceiver connected to the wireless packet network. One or more batteries are connected to the battery system, and the connected batteries include a battery pack. A sensor that is connected to the battery system generates a data stream that is stored in the second memory. The data stream allows for establishing a battery capability and status unique to each battery in the battery pack. The stored data stream is stored as a battery record with a universal unique identifier. |
| US09620986B2 |
Method and apparatus for wireless power transfer utilizing transmit coils driven by phase-shifted currents
An apparatus comprises a first driver circuit having a first output impedance while driving a plurality of couplers with a first current having a first phase to generate a wireless field. A second driver circuit drives the plurality of couplers with a second current having a second phase. A controller causes the second driver circuit to sequentially drive each of the plurality of couplers with the second current while causing the first driver circuit to simultaneously drive the other couplers with the first current. The controller identifies a subset of the plurality of couplers based on detecting a change from the first output impedance in response to each of the plurality of couplers being sequentially driven with the second current. The controller selectively energizes the subset of the plurality of couplers via one or both of the first and second driver circuits to wirelessly transfer the charging power. |
| US09620985B2 |
Multi-coil wireless charging
Techniques of forming a wireless power receiving unit are described herein. The techniques may include forming a first receiving coil of a device to be charged by inductive coupling to a first transmitting coil. The techniques may include forming a second receiving coil of a device to be charged by inductive coupling to a second transmitting coil. The second receiving coil is disposed at an angle to a plane of the first receiving coil, and the first receiving coil and the second receiving coil are formed to connected in parallel to a receiving circuit. |
| US09620983B2 |
Ultrasonic universal wireless charging
Methods and systems may provide for detecting a location of an adjacent ultrasonic receiver of a battery powered device relative to a charging surface of a contactless charger. The charging surface may include an ultrasonic array of transmitter sub arrays, wherein one or more of the transmitter sub arrays may be selectively activated based on the location to focus an ultrasonic beam on the adjacent ultrasonic receiver. In one example, a movement of the adjacent ultrasonic receiver may be detected and the focus of the ultrasonic beam is adjusted in response to the movement. |
| US09620981B2 |
Method and system for controlling charging of an energy storage device
The disclosure relates to a method for charging an energy storage device in a vehicle using a power supply, the method comprising: determining a first voltage output from the power supply; starting charging; determining a second voltage output from the power supply; determining a first voltage difference based on a difference between the second voltage and the first voltage; after a predetermined time, aborting charging; determining a third voltage output from the power supply; starting charging; determining a fourth voltage output from the power supply; determining a second voltage difference based on a difference between the fourth voltage and the third voltage; determining a deviation value based on a difference between the second difference and the first difference; and based on the deviation value, controlling a charging parameter. |
| US09620980B2 |
Charging system, charging control device and charging method
The present disclosure provides a charging system, charging method, and charging control device. The charging system comprises a charger configured to be coupled to an external power source with its one end; a plurality of secondary batteries configured to be coupled to the charger, respectively; and a control device configured to be coupled to the charger and the plurality of secondary batteries, to control the charger to perform a charging operation on the plurality of secondary battery. According to the present disclosure, the secondary batteries having harmonics with identical frequencies and opposite phases are connected in parallel for charging, to reduce or eliminate the harmonic distortion generated by high order harmonics, and effectively reduce the value of THD. |
| US09620979B2 |
Storage battery control apparatus, storage battery control method, and storage battery system
A storage battery control apparatus includes: a storage battery state detection unit which obtains a remaining SOC which is an SOC of a storage battery at the start of a supply and demand control period; an offset power value determination unit which determines an offset power value that is a power value indicating charge or discharge; an adjustment instruction value obtainment unit which obtains an adjustment instruction value indicating a state of charge and discharge of the storage battery; and a charge and discharge control unit which performs control of discharging power from the storage battery to the grid or charging power from the grid to the storage battery, the power having a magnitude of a first power value which is a power value obtained by adding the offset power value to the adjustment instruction power value indicated by the adjustment instruction value. |
| US09620976B2 |
Modular system having expandable form factor
A modular system of devices, in which a (master) device can be combined with one or more of other (slave) devices to transform to functional electronic devices having expanded functionalities and features in different form factors and/or platforms. The master device is docked to the slave device via a data/electrical interface, to transform the master device to the larger form factor of the slave device, with the master device maintaining control of the slave device, substantially based on the operating system installed in the master device, with access to the data, application programs, functionalities and features embodied in the master device. An intermediate removable physical interface adaptor (or docking adaptor) is provided to facilitate docking compatibility of the master device to the slave device. An enhanced charging and power management scheme is provided to optimize power management for the master device and the slave device. |
| US09620975B2 |
Methods and apparatus for battery characteristic conversion
A battery characteristic converter comprises an interface to a battery and to an electronic device to be powered with energy supplied by the battery. The interface to the battery and the interface to the electronic device are connected using a bidirectional voltage ratio converter. The bidirectional voltage ratio converter is controlled so that the characteristics at the interface to the electronic device are adapted to the electronic device, independently of the battery characteristics. Energy may flow to the electronic device to power the electronic device or from the electronic device to the battery to charge the battery, depending on a comparison of the characteristics at the interfaces. |
| US09620973B2 |
Portable electronic device, method, and computer-readable recording medium
An object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device, a method, and a computer-readable recording medium, all of which are capable of preventing the portable electronic device from being taken away by another person while charging. The smartphone includes: a touch-screen display; a power receiving unit that receives power from electromagnetic waves that are supplied from a battery charger; and a controller that restricts execution of predetermined functions in a case in which the portable electronic device is separated from the battery charger in a state where the battery charger is supplying electromagnetic waves to the power receiving unit, and enables the predetermined functions to be executed in a case in which an authentication operation is performed via the touch-screen display after restricting execution of the predetermined functions. |
| US09620972B2 |
Wireless charging device
A wireless charging device disclosed herein includes a housing having a wireless charging module mounted therein, an upper cover covering an upper surface of the housing, the upper cover having screw holes formed on one surface thereof, screws inserted into the screw holes to couple the housing and the upper cover to each other, magnets inserted into the screw holes to overlap the screws, and a pad disposed to cover the upper cover, the pad having a terminal mounting surface. |
| US09620966B2 |
Power receiving device, control method of power receiving device, and power feeding system
A power receiving device including: a power receiving coil configured to receive power when a power feeding device supplies the power via a magnetic field; an alternating-current power supply configured to apply an alternating voltage to the power receiving coil; and a foreign matter detecting section configured to generate an amount of change in impedance of the power receiving coil from a current induced in the power receiving coil to which the alternating voltage is applied and the alternating voltage, and detect foreign matter between the power receiving coil and the power feeding device on a basis of the amount of change. |
| US09620964B2 |
Power transmission system and method, power transmitting apparatus and power receiving apparatus
A power transmission system (1, 2) is provided with a power transmitting apparatus (11, 12, 13) having a power transmission coil (101) and a power receiving apparatus (21, 22) having a power reception coil (201) disposed at a distance from the power transmission coil, and transmits and receives electric power in a wireless manner between the power transmission coil and the power reception coil. The power transmission system is provided with: a foreign body detecting device (106, 206) configured to detect a foreign body positioned in surroundings of the power transmission coil and the power reception coil and detect a relative position of the detected foreign body to the power transmission coil or the power reception coil; and a power controlling device (104) configured to control the power transmitting apparatus to control the transmitted and received electric power according to the detected relative position. |
| US09620962B2 |
Power supply device and electric apparatus
A power supply device is connected to an external power supply and supplies electric power to a load. The power supply device includes a battery terminal that is used to connect a secondary battery, a superposition unit that superposes second electric power output from the secondary battery on first electric power supplied from the external power supply, and that outputs resultant electric power to the load; a power consumption amount retrieve unit that retrieves a power consumption amount of the load; and a controller that controls an amount of the second electric power to be output from the secondary battery, based on the power consumption amount. |
| US09620959B2 |
Enhanced grid reliability through predictive analysis and dynamic action for stable power distribution
A power grid stabilizing system may include a processor and a network interface executable by the processor to monitor for new event data from power consumption devices over a network. The new event data may include information such as device location, operating information, and sensor data. The system may include an estimation engine operable to analyze the new event data to determine power consumption behavior of a consumption device, and a predictor operable to anticipate an occurrence of a future event responsive to the analysis. The predictor may also predict the outcome of the future event based on analysis of the new event data in relation to past behavior data of the consumption device. The network interface may further communicate the anticipated future event and the predicted outcome to one or more of the other consumption devices. |
| US09620954B2 |
Semiconductor package having an over-temperature protection circuit utilizing multiple temperature threshold values
According to an exemplary implementation, a semiconductor package includes a multi-phase power inverter having power switches and situated on a leadframe of the semiconductor package. The semiconductor package further includes an over-temperature protection circuit configured to reduce current through the power switches based on multiple temperature threshold values of the power switches and a sensed temperature of the power switches. The over-temperature protection circuit can be configured to enter first and second modes based on the multiple temperature threshold values and the sensed temperature, where the second mode reduces current through the power switches to a greater extent than the first mode. |
| US09620951B2 |
Overcurrent protection device and method of operating a power switch
An overcurrent protection device comprises a maximum-allowed-current unit and a power switch. The maximum-allowed-current unit determines a maximum allowed current in real-time. The maximum allowed current is determined at least partially on an instantaneous level of a load voltage. The load voltage is a voltage across a load to be powered. The power switch is connectable with a switch input to a voltage supply and with a switch output to the load, for providing power to said load. The power switch has a conductive state and a nonconductive state, and is arranged to assume the nonconductive state in response to an indication that a current through the power switch is exceeding the maximum allowed current. A method of operating a power switch is also described. |
| US09620950B1 |
Overload detection for electrical wiring
A method includes sensing by multiple overload detection sensors connected to a power cord, a type of overload detection. The type of overload detection includes: thermal detection, voltage drop detection, and current reading detection. The method further includes powering the overload detection sensors from a same power supply as the electrical power cord by direct wiring or inductive coupling. An overload detection is triggered by one or more actionable events including: a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) trip, a visual signal, an audible alarm, radio frequency identification (RFID) communication signaling, a wired or wireless communication. |
| US09620948B2 |
Device for unwinding and winding up one or more lines
The invention relates to a device for unwinding and winding one or more lines for uninterrupted connection of each of the one or more lines between two connection points, it being possible to produce the uninterrupted connection between a fixed first connection point and a second connection point which is at a variable distance or in each case one of a plurality of second connection points which are at different distances. The device comprises a rotatable winding body for unwinding and winding the one or more lines, in that the line(s) is/are guided from the first fixed connection point in a first sub-portion from a stationary first position coaxial with the winding body to a second position opposite the first position and from said second position to a third position which is substantially in one plane with the first position but is rotatable with the winding body, the line(s) in the first sub-portion being guided helically at least in portions. The line(s) is/are then guided from the third position in a second sub-portion to the circumferential side of the winding body and optionally via a number of windings around the winding body to the second connection point. |
| US09620947B2 |
Antigalloping device
An antigalloping device can include first and second clamps, each having a respective jaw for clamping to respective first and second cables. A connecting assembly can be coupled between the first and second clamps. The connecting assembly can include an elongate insulator attached to a flexible tether. The flexible tether is capable of being bent and maneuvered during installation. At least one of the first and second clamps can be rotatably coupled to the connecting assembly. The elongate insulator and the flexible tether can straighten along a longitudinal axis. The at least one of the first and second clamps can be orientatable in a position transverse to the longitudinal axis for being rotatable between the position transverse to the longitudinal axis and a position inline with the longitudinal axis, under opposed tension exerted on the jaws of the first and second clamps, for twisting at least one of the first and second cables for reducing galloping. |
| US09620946B2 |
Electrical device cover with keyhole inserts
A base for an electrical outlet having a front surface and a back surface, at least one opening extending there through, the at least one opening having a size large enough to receive a socket face, at least one mounting screw aperture opening extending through the base, the mounting screw aperture having a first portion sized large enough to receive a mounting screw head, and at least a second portion extending into the first portion and through the base, the second portion sized large enough to allow a mounting screw shaft to extend through the base but small enough to disallow the mounting screw head from passing through the base, at least one keyhole cover removably secured within the first portion, and wherein the base is configured with the second portion of the mounting screw aperture accessible after the base is installed on the electrical outlet. |
| US09620945B2 |
Modular electrical wiring device system
The present invention is directed to an electrical wiring system having a frame assembly that includes a frame opening at a central portion thereof. The frame opening provides access to the interior of the device wall box. At least one electrical wiring device is configured to snap into the frame opening such that the interior of the device wall box is completely enclosed by the frame assembly and the at least one electrical wiring device such that access to wiring disposed within the device wall box is substantially prevented. The at least one electrical wiring device includes at least one user-interface. An aesthetic overlay may be coupled to the frame assembly. The aesthetic overlay includes an overlay opening configured to accommodate the at least one user-interface such that the at least one user-interface is accessible to a user. |
| US09620936B2 |
Ion/ozone wind generation device and method
An ion/ozone wind generation device includes a plurality of electrode pairs having a needle-shaped electrode and an opposite electrode, ions, ozone, and ion wind being generated using corona discharge by generating a potential difference between the respective electrode pairs. In this device, the opposite electrode in each of the electrode pairs is formed into a planar and annular or spiral shape, a main electrode pair as a pair of electrodes and a plurality of sub-electrode pairs as electrode pairs in which the opposite electrodes are regularly located adjacent or proximate to each other so as to surround the opposite electrode in the main electrode pair along an outer circumference of the opposite electrode in the main electrode pair are provided, and planar normal vectors in all the opposite electrodes are directed in substantially the same directions. |
| US09620933B1 |
High brightness, monolithic, multispectral semiconductor laser
A system and method for combining multiple emitters into a multi-wavelength ouput beam having a certain band and combining a plurality of these bands into a single output using non-free space combining modules. |
| US09620931B2 |
Optical device, optical transmission device, optical reception device, hybrid laser and optical transmission apparatus
An optical device includes a silicon waveguide core having a tapered portion having a sectional size that decreases toward a terminal end portion thereof, a dielectric waveguide core contiguous to the silicon waveguide core while covering at least the tapered portion, the dielectric waveguide core having a refractive index lower than that of the silicon waveguide core and configuring a single-mode waveguide, and a diffraction grating provided at the single-mode waveguide and configuring a distributed Bragg reflection mirror. |
| US09620930B2 |
Reflection based signal pre-emphasis
Systems, and apparatus for adding reflection based pre-emphasis to a laser driver. In one aspect, a device includes a load (e.g. a laser) having a load impedance, a first end of a transmission line connected to the load, and a reflective impedance element connected to a second end of the transmission line. The reflective impedance element has a given impedance value that differs from the transmission line's characteristic impedance, and the characteristic impedance differs from the load impedance. This mismatch causes reflections between the reflective impedance element and the load. The reflections between the reflective impedance element and the load combine with an incident signal at the load to create a target signal having a target spectral shape. |
| US09620929B2 |
Laser lighting device
The present invention discloses a laser lighting device, includes a laser device, used to emit lasers; a power supply, connecting to the laser device; a battery of lenses, locates at the same optical axis with the laser device; a regulating device, used to regulate exit angles of the lasers passing through the battery of lenses; a controlling device, connecting to the power supply and the laser device separately, used to receive and based on the users' control instructions to control the laser device emitting lasers at corresponding exit angles, and/or control the power supply outputting corresponding powers. The laser lighting device can regulate the laser exit angles through the regulating device, and receive and based on users' control instructions to control both laser brightnesses and laser exit angles. The present invention has the advantages of high efficiency and energy saving. |
| US09620923B2 |
Device for coupling pump light into a fiber and method for producing a device of this type
A device for laterally coupling pump light into a fiber. A fiber runs in a longitudinal direction, having an optically active medium to be pumped and a lateral wall running approximately in the longitudinal direction, and at least one light coupler, at least some part of which runs parallel to the fiber along the lateral wall. The light coupler is an optical waveguide which is optically coupled to the fiber such that pump light propagating in the optical waveguide can be coupled into the fiber via the lateral wall. The efficiency of the pump light coupling is improved by a plurality of windings of the fiber being located alternately with waveguides on a substrate. The pump light can be coupled into all waveguides simultaneously, for example by a prism. |
| US09620920B2 |
High pulse repetition rate gas discharge laser
A pulsed gas discharge laser operating at an output laser pulse repetition rate of greater than 4 kHz and a method of operating same is disclosed which may comprise a high voltage electrode having a longitudinal extent; a main insulator electrically insulating the high voltage electrode from a grounded gas discharge chamber; a preionizer longitudinally extending along at least a portion of the longitudinal extent of the high voltage electrode; a preionization shim integral with the electrode extending toward the preionizer. The preionizer may be formed integrally with the main insulator. The preionization shim may substantially cover the gap between the electrode and the preionizer. The apparatus and method may comprise an aerodynamic fairing attached to the high voltage electrode to present an aerodynamically smooth surface to the gas flow. |
| US09620919B2 |
Process for producing shield layer-cut electric wire
A simplified process for producing a shield layer-cut electric wire that does not damage an insulating layer and a core wire and when cutting a shield layer. |
| US09620905B2 |
Vehicular cable assembly
A vehicular cable assembly that is easy to install and allows high transmission rates. This vehicular cable assembly includes at least two unshielded conductive signal lines that are untwisted around each other in a connection region in which the unshielded conductive signal lines are adapted to be connected to an external element and twisted around each other in a region next to the connection region. This vehicular cable assembly also includes a shielding assembly having at least one canal-like receptacle shielding part extending at least along the entire connection region and within which the unshielded conductive signal lines are disposed. |
| US09620903B2 |
Grounding type elbow connector
A grounding type elbow connector includes an insulation plug having an electrically-conductive stud bolt, an insulation body, and an insulation rod that is detachably fitted into a through-hole of the insulation body. A grounding unit having a grounding rod and to which a grounding cable is connected is connected alone, or selectively coupled in a state a grounding inspection connection unit is connected, to the elbow connector after the insulation body is dissembled from the elbow connector. |
| US09620902B2 |
Connector fixing piece and connector module using connector fixing piece
A connector fixing piece comprises an engagement body, two cantilevers, a first buckle block, and a second buckle block. The engagement body is provided with a bottom surface. Two cantilevers project from the bottom surface of the engagement body to form a sleeve joint portion together. The first buckle block is located on the engagement body, and projects from the bottom surface of the engagement body. The second buckle block is located between the first buckle block and the two cantilevers, and projects from the bottom surface of the engagement body. By using the connector fixing piece of the present invention, the reliability of connector insertion connection can be improved. |
| US09620899B2 |
Connector including a plurality of connector terminals to contact an apparatus-terminal of a connection counterpart apparatus
A connector includes connector terminals having an elastically deformable contact portion which contacts an apparatus-terminal of a connection counterpart apparatus, a housing to which the connector terminals are assembled, a rotating member which is rotatable with respect to the housing by an external manipulation, and a movable member which moves the housing toward the connection counterpart apparatus via a motion direction converting mechanism which converts a rotation motion of the rotating member into a linear motion. The motion direction converting mechanism includes at least one projection in one of the housing and the movable member and at least one linear groove which meshes with the projection in the other one of the housing and the movable member, wherein the projection and the linear groove are inclined with respect to a moving direction of the housing. |
| US09620895B2 |
Latch to generate positive locking latch retention force to retain memory module
A socket is to receive a memory module usable in a computing system. A latch is to retain the memory module seated in the socket. The latch is to generate a positive locking latch retention force to prevent removal of the memory module while the latch is in a latched position. |
| US09620893B2 |
Thin film type magnetic connector module
Various disclosed embodiments generally relate to connector modules, and more particularly to magnetic connector modules. The connector module includes a board having a concave section formed at a first side, and the concave section has a base surface having formed thereon a plurality of first electrodes. A plurality of second electrodes are formed at a second side of the board opposite the first side and on a rear surface facing away from the base surface. A plurality of holes are formed through the concave section and have conductors formed therethrough to electrically connect the first electrodes and the second electrodes. The connector module additionally includes a magnet inserted into the concave section and an insulating layer interposed between the magnet and the first electrodes. |
| US09620891B2 |
Connector for preventing force transmission
A connector includes: a casing; a terminal which is connected to a mating terminal; a flexible conductor disposed inside the casing and on a side opposite to the mating terminal with respect to the terminal, and electrically connected to the terminal; a connecting member which is a conductor fixed to the casing, is disposed on a side opposite to the terminal with respect to the flexible conductor, and is electrically connected to the flexible conductor; and an electrical wire which is disposed on a side opposite to the terminal with respect to the connecting member, is electrically connected to the connecting member, and is drawn from the casing in a direction opposite to an insertion direction of the terminal toward the mating terminal. |
| US09620888B2 |
Self-cleaning filament connector
A debris exclusion and removal system for connectors which have a filament barrier configuration designed to clean connectors as they are mated together. |
| US09620887B2 |
Network device with reconfigurable power cord assembly
A network device and a method of use are configured for ease of installation and use. The network device has a housing on which is provided a plurality of ports. A power cord assembly has a body bearing a cord and a connector for mating with a power input. Depending on the orientation of the body relative to the housing, the connector can be connected to the power port in at least first and second positions in which the power cord extends in first and second directions that are offset from one another. The network device may be easily mounted to a base, which is attached to a mounting surface. The base allows the network device to be mounted horizontally, vertically, or at any desire angle, without the disadvantages of mounting a typical network device. |
| US09620885B2 |
Insulated test clip cover assembly
An insulator for a test clip is described. The insulator includes a first clip cover configured to removably attach to a top portion of a test clip. The test clip comprises a top portion and a bottom portion pivotally attached to the top portion along a pivot axis. The insulator also comprises a second clip cover configured to removably attach to the bottom portion of the test clip. Each of the first and the second clip cover comprises one or more retaining elements configured to secure the clip cover to its respective portion of the test clip. In some implementations, each of the first and the second clip cover comprises one or more cantilevered retaining segments configured to extend over a portion of the test clip in order to secure the first and the second clip covers to the test clip. |
| US09620882B2 |
Battery connector and conductive terminal thereof
A battery connector includes an insulated housing and conductive terminals. The insulated housing includes slots. The conductive terminals are disposed in the slots, respectively. Each conductive terminal includes an elastic connecting portion, a contacting portion, and a fixing portion. The elastic connecting portion includes elastic arms and connecting portions. Each elastic arm is obliquely extending leftwards and rightwards, separated from each other, and arranged sequentially. The connecting portions are formed at two sides of the elastic arms, where each elastic arm forms a rectangular structure by being enclosed from one end to the other end. The contacting portion extends beyond one side of the corresponding slot. The contacting portion includes a bent contacting portion extending from a front side of the elastic connecting portion and bent backwards. The fixing portion extends from a back side of the elastic connecting portion and extends beyond the other side of the corresponding slot. |
| US09620881B1 |
Electrical connector and drilling system
The present invention provides an electrical connector comprising a socket and a plug. A jack is set on the socket, and a socket pin is set in the jack. The plug is set with a plug pin that has a one-to-one correspondence with the socket pin. The plug has an insertion part that is in insertion fit with the jack, and the end part of the insertion part is set with a first groove that extends along its insertion direction. The plug pin has a one-to-one correspondence with the first groove, and has an exposed part that is exposed in the first groove. The electrical connector further comprises a first compression spring, which has a one-to-one correspondence with the first groove. The two ends of the first compression spring respectively abut against the inner wall of the two ends of the first groove. The first compression spring is detachably mounted on and contact the exposed part in the corresponding first groove. The socket pin contacts the corresponding first compression spring as the jack becomes in insertion fit with the insertion part of the plug. The invention further provides a drilling system. The solution of the present invention can solve the problem of the prior art that the operation is complex and the cost is high when the connection stability of the electrical connector is ensured by way of replacing pins. |
| US09620870B2 |
Adjustable roof mounting system
An adjustable mounting system for mounting solar panels on roofs is disclosed. The system allows a user to mount the solar panels either with or without rails. The mounting assemblies are adjustable to allow the user to mount a base plate in a chosen location (either on a roof joist or other structural member or not) and to adjust the mounting location for the panel in as many as three axis of adjustment from the location of the base plate. A system for mounting and grounding the panels at the same time is also disclosed. |
| US09620866B2 |
Methods and apparatus for fragmented phased array radar
Methods and apparatus for a phase array radar system having a fragmented array. In one embodiment, subarrays forming a generally rectangular shape are disposed on the surface of a truncated cone or a dome so that gaps are formed between adjacent segments of subarrays or between every adjacent subarrays. |
| US09620865B2 |
Antenna beam scan module, and communication apparatus using the same
Signals are maintained to be in phase at beam input ports of a Rotman lens antenna, and thus scanning at non-step antenna beam angles can be realized without increasing the number of input beams. The present invention provides an antenna beam scan module including: a Rotman lens that has plural beam ports and plural antenna ports; plural antenna elements; relative phase detectors that detect a relative phase difference between the signals input to the adjacent beam ports; phase shifters that offset the relative phase difference between the signals supplied to the adjacent beam ports on the basis of the relative phase difference detected by the relative phase detectors; and switches that select routes of the signals supplied to the beam ports through variable amplifiers, wherein the phase shifters are arranged on alternate routes through which the signals are supplied to the plural beam ports. |
| US09620863B2 |
Antenna device
A first radiating element and a second radiating element each have a first extending portion protruding from a region where a ground conductor is formed to a non-ground-conductor region, and a second extending portion extending parallel with a boundary of the ground-conductor region and the non-ground-conductor region. The first radiating element and the second radiating element are arranged such that an open end of the second extending portion of the first radiating element and an open end of a second extending portion of the second radiating element face each other. A parasitic element is formed on a side of the second radiating element distant from the region (where the ground conductor is formed. A parasitic element is formed along the first radiating element. With this configuration, an antenna device is realized which has gain in two frequency bands and has forward directivity. |
| US09620858B2 |
Compact electromagnetic-radiation antenna
A compact random media size antenna employing random magnetic and dielectrics nm to mm range size particles in polymer hosts is used to transfer E & M oscillations in 1 kHz to 900 Mhz range using a 1 cm to 1 meter length antenna. This is achieved by using small size particles and a random mean path length of E & M wavefront travel in and about a core tube of effective length matching Leff=L2/2ltr, equivalent to λ/2 for transmitting and receiving E & M radiation, where L is the physical size of the antenna, ltris the transport scattering random walk length between particles and λ is the frequency wavelength. |
| US09620855B2 |
Electromagnetic beam steering antenna
Described embodiments include an electromagnetic beam steering apparatus. The apparatus includes a first electromagnetic beam deflecting structure including a first artificially structured effective media having at least two first electronically-selectable tangential refractive index gradients. Each electronically-selectable tangential refractive index gradient of the at least two first electronically selectable tangential refractive index gradients deflecting an incident electromagnetic beam at a respective first deflection angle. The apparatus includes a second electromagnetic beam deflecting structure including a second artificially structured effective media having at least two second electronically-selectable tangential refractive index gradients. Each electronically-selectable tangential refractive index gradient of the at least two second electronically selectable tangential refractive index gradients deflecting an incident electromagnetic beam at a respective second deflection angle. |
| US09620854B2 |
Electronic high frequency device and manufacturing method
An electronic device includes a wiring board having one or more layers, an integrated circuit arranged on the wiring board, an antenna, and a signal path. The integrated circuit generates a high frequency signal and feeds it to the signal path. The signal path conveys the high frequency signal to the antenna. The antenna emits the high frequency signal into an environment of the electronic device. Alternatively or in addition, the antenna receives the high frequency signal from the environment and feeds it to the signal path. The signal path conveys the high frequency signal to the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit processes the high frequency signal. The signal path includes a wave guide that traverses one or more of the layers of the wiring board. |
| US09620852B2 |
Multi-band antenna
An antenna includes a grounding portion with a grounding feed point, a radiating plane and a coaxial cable. The grounding portion extends in a lengthwise direction defining two ends opposite to each other in the lengthwise direction. The radiating plane extends upwardly from a lengthwise edge of the grounding portion. The radiating plane includes a first arm extending from one end of the lengthwise edge and a second arm extending from the opposite end. The first arm defines a signal feed point and a first radiating portion while the second arm is defined as a second radiating portion. The coaxial cable includes a core linking to the signal feed point and a shielding layer linking to the grounding feed point. The second arm surrounds the first arm in the radiating plane. |
| US09620851B2 |
Wireless communication device and electronic device
A wireless communication device includes a first housing including a first opening part; a second housing including a second opening part facing the first opening part, the second housing being arranged to face the first housing; a first resonance device including a first resonator, the first resonance device being arranged inside the first housing such that the first resonator is facing outside from the first opening part; and a second resonance device including a second resonator, the second resonance device being arranged inside the second housing such that the second resonator is facing outside from the second opening part and is facing the first resonator. |
| US09620842B1 |
Compact two probe impedance tuner
An automated “double-decker” slide screw impedance tuner uses two tuning probes, independently movable inside two stacked circular slablines, which lie flat on the bench table. The eccentrically self-rotating disc probes are mounted at the end of rotating radial arm-carriages, the total mechanism operating in a planetary configuration. The radial arms are mounted one above and one below the whole structure. The rotation of the arms control the phase of Gamma and the self-rotation of the disc probes controls the amplitude. The length (footprint) of the tuner, compared with traditional “linear” tuners, is reduced by a factor of 5 to 9, depending of the minimum frequency of operation. |
| US09620840B2 |
High-frequency transmission line, antenna and electronic circuit board
A high-frequency transmission line in which the alternating-current resistance is low and that is hard to disconnect is provided. A high-frequency transmission line 2 is a high-frequency transmission line 2 to transmit an alternating-current electric signal, and contains metal and carbon nanotube, and the carbon nanotube is unevenly distributed at a central part 6 of a cross-section that is of the high-frequency transmission line 2 and that is perpendicular to a transmission direction of the alternating-current electric signal. |
| US09620836B2 |
Bandpass microwave filter tunable by a 90 degree rotation of a dielectric element between first and second positions
A frequency tunable microwave bandpass filter comprises a resonator, including: a cavity with conducting wall substantially cylindrical with axis Z having height H, and partially closed at both ends; and a dielectric element inside the cavity. The resonator resonates at two perpendicular polarizations having distributions of electromagnetic field in the cavity deduced from eachother by 90° rotation. The element rotates about an axis substantially perpendicular to axis Z, between a first and second position. The element comprises a first end wherein: in a first position the element is disposed substantially in a plane perpendicular to axis Z and the center of the first end is disposed at a height in the cavity corresponding substantially to an electric field minimum; and in a second position the element is substantially parallel to Z and the first end is disposed in a plane corresponding to an electric field maximum within +/−30%. |
| US09620835B2 |
Decoupling of split ring resonators in magnetic resonance tomography
An arrangement includes a plurality of split ring resonators on a planar substrate. Each split ring resonator of the plurality of split ring resonators includes two mutually parallel ring structures of a metal conductor element spaced apart by the substrate. The two mutually parallel rings structures are respectively separated by at least one gap. At least two split ring resonators of the plurality of split ring resonators are positionable relative to one another such that the separated ring structures may be reciprocally guided through a gap of the respective other ring structures and interlock. Overlap regions may be produced by common ring structure inner surfaces. |
| US09620834B2 |
Method for fabricating miniature structures or devices such as RF and microwave components
Multi-layer, multi-material fabrication methods include depositing at least one structural material and at least one sacrificial material during the formation of each of a plurality of layers wherein deposited materials for each layer are planarized to set a boundary level for the respective layer and wherein during formation of at least one layer at least three materials are deposited with a planarization operation occurring before deposition of the last material to set a planarization level above the layer boundary level and wherein a planarization occurs after deposition of the last material level above the layer boundary level and wherein a planarization occurs after deposition of the last material whereby the boundary level for the layer is set. Some formation processes use electrochemical fabrication techniques (e.g. including selective depositions, bulk depositions, etching operations and planarization operations) and post-deposition processes (e.g. selective etching operations and/or back filling operations). |
| US09620832B2 |
Oxygen plenum configurations of components in low cost planar rechargeable oxide-ion battery (ROB) cells and stacks
An ROB stack (10′) contains a plurality of stacked ROB cells (10) made from: thin metal bipolar housings (13) having air inlets and exits and horizontal channels for feeding air between the inlets (16) and exits (17), the channel having top ridges and also grooves (25) for containing active material (34); a porous air electrode (21/39) next to the air channels allowing air contact; a metal electrode (36); and an oxygen ion transfer membrane (37) acting as electrolyte; wherein the plurality of all the assemblies form vertical air inlet and outlet plenums. |
| US09620831B2 |
Cooling element and battery system
A cooling element to cool a component of a battery system, and a battery system having at least on cooling element. The cooling element includes a top cooling element part, a bottom cooling element part spatially under the top cooling element part, at least one cooling duct between the top cooling element part and the bottom cooling element part, and through which a cooling medium is to flow, and a Peltier element arranged resting against the bottom cooling element part so as to lie at least partially at the height of the at least one cooling duct. |
| US09620827B2 |
Thermal management system for a battery system
A battery system includes a plurality of electrochemical cells provided within a housing. The battery system also includes a thermal management system configured to provide at least one of heating or cooling to the electrochemical cells. The thermal management system includes a solid state coating having a first metal and a second metal different from the first metal. The solid state coating is configured to pass a current therethrough to create a temperature differential across a first surface of the solid state coating and a second surface of the solid state coating to provide the at least one of heating or cooling to the cells. |
| US09620822B2 |
Battery charging method to obtain a charging current using fuzzification and defuzzification
The present disclosure provides a method for charging a battery. The method receives a plurality of battery parameters during the period of the battery charging, and the plurality of battery parameters are turned into fuzzification and corresponded to fuzzy rules to map out a fuzzy output. Then the fuzzy output is turned into defuzzification to obtain the value of the charging current. Therefore, the present disclosure can change the charging current adaptively to enhance the charging effect. |
| US09620821B2 |
Rechargeable lithium battery
A rechargeable lithium battery includes an electrode assembly including a positive electrode, a first separator, a negative electrode, and a second separator that are sequentially stacked. The first separator includes a first substrate including a first side facing the positive electrode and a second side facing the negative electrode. The second separator includes a second substrate including a third side facing the negative electrode and a fourth side facing the positive electrode. At least one of the first side to the fourth side includes an organic layer including an organic material, and at least one of the second side or the third side includes an inorganic layer including an inorganic material. |
| US09620819B2 |
Non-aqueous electrolyte solution and lithium secondary battery comprising the same
Provided are a non-aqueous electrolyte solution including propylene carbonate (PC) and lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI), and a lithium secondary battery including the non-aqueous electrolyte solution. The lithium secondary battery including the non-aqueous electrolyte solution of the present invention may improve low-temperature output characteristics, high-temperature cycle characteristics, output characteristics after high-temperature storage, capacity characteristics, and swelling characteristics. |
| US09620817B2 |
Liquid electrolyte for lithium batteries, method for producing the same, and lithium battery comprising the liquid electrolyte for lithium batteries
The present invention is to provide: a liquid electrolyte for batteries, which has excellent stability to lithium metals; a method for producing the liquid electrolyte; and a lithium battery comprising the liquid electrolyte. Presented is a liquid electrolyte for lithium batteries, wherein the liquid electrolyte comprises a mesoionic compound represented by the following general formula (1): wherein R1 is an aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, and R2 is a group represented by any one of the following general formulae (2), (3) and (4): General Formula (2): —ClH2l—(OCH2)m—CnH2n+1; General Formula (3): —CxH2x—(CH2OCH2)y—CzH2z+1; and General Formula (4): —CpH2p—(C2H4OCH2)q—CrH2r+1. |
| US09620813B2 |
Lithium-ion conductive sulfide, solid electrolyte secondary battery and battery pack
According to one embodiment, a solid electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode containing an active material, a negative electrode containing an active material, and a solid electrolyte layer. The solid electrolyte layer includes a lithium-ion conductive sulfide containing at least one element selected from a group consisting of Al, Si, Fe, Ni, and Zr, the total content of the element in the lithium-ion conductive sulfide is 0.03% by mass or more and 0.3% by mass or less. |
| US09620806B2 |
Batteries including a flat plate design
A battery having flat, stacked, anode and cathode layers. The battery can be adapted to fit within an implantable medical device. |
| US09620804B2 |
Fuel cell and method for manufacturing the same, electronic apparatus, enzyme-immobilized electrode and method for manufacturing the same, water-repellent agent, and enzyme-immobilizing material
A fuel cell is provided having a structure in which a cathode and an anode face each other with an electrolyte layer therebetween. The cathode includes an electrode on which an oxygen reductase and the like are immobilized, and the electrode has pores therein, water repellency is imparted to at least part of the surface of the electrode. Water repellency is imparted by forming a water-repellent agent on the surface of the electrode. The water-repellent agent includes a water-repellent material such as carbon powder and an organic solvent such as methyl isobutyl ketone that causes phase separation with water. When the electrode has pores therein, there are provided a fuel cell that stably provides a high current value and a method for manufacturing the fuel cell. |
| US09620800B2 |
Cell voltage monitoring (CVM) pick-up assembly for a fuel cell stack
A cell voltage monitoring (CVM) pick-up assembly for a fuel cell stack includes a tab and a contact wire having two ends. A loop is located between the two ends to mount the wire on the tab to resiliently urge one end towards a fuel cell to provide electrical contact with it. Also disclosed is a fuel cell stack that includes a plurality of assemblies. |
| US09620798B2 |
Humidification device for fuel cell and fuel cell system comprising the same
Disclosed herein is a humidification device for a fuel cell. The humidification device for a fuel cell, which performs membrane humidification of exhaust gas exhausted from a cathode of a fuel cell and dried air supplied through an air compressor and supplies the humidified air to the cathode, includes: a main membrane module including several bundles of first hollow-fiber membranes disposed in the main membrane module and a sub-membrane module connected to the main membrane module and including several bundles of second hollow fiber membranes disposed in the sub-membrane module. |
| US09620797B2 |
Wet state control device for fuel cell
A wet state control device for fuel cell includes a priority control unit for preferentially controlling either one of a pressure and a flow rate of cathode gas when a wet state of a fuel cell is adjusted, a water temperature control unit for controlling a temperature of cooling water when the wet state of the fuel cell is not completely adjustable by a control of the priority control unit, and a complementary control unit for controlling the other of the pressure and the flow rate of the cathode gas to complement a response delay of the water temperature control unit. |
| US09620795B2 |
Heat recovery apparatus based on fuel cell and operating method thereof
Provided are a heat recovery apparatus based on a fuel cell and an operating method thereof. In the fuel cell-based heat recovery apparatus and the operating method thereof, hot water and steam may be generated by using heat generated while a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) operates to supply the generated hot water or steam to buildings, thereby reducing a rate of operation in cooling/heating equipment using electricity so as to reduce air-conditioning costs. |
| US09620794B2 |
Fuel cell system and method of operating the same
A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell to generate electric power; a casing accommodating at least the fuel cell, the casing including an air inlet and an exhaust outlet; a supply passage connected to the air inlet, to introduce external air into the casing; an exhaust passage connected to the exhaust outlet, to exchange heat with the supply passage and discharge at least air inside the casing; an air supply device to introduce the external air into the casing; a temperature detector to detect a temperature; and a controller configured to control at least the air supply device. If the temperature detected by the temperature detector after the controller has caused the air supply device to operate is lower than or equal to a first predetermined temperature, the controller reduces an amount of air supplied by the air supply device and causes the air supply device to continue operating. |
| US09620792B2 |
Thermal energy recycling fuel cell arrangement
An example fuel cell arrangement includes a fuel cell stack configured to receive a supply fluid and to provide an exhaust fluid that has more thermal energy than the supply fluid. The arrangement also includes an ejector and a heat exchanger. The ejector is configured to direct at least some of the exhaust fluid into the supply fluid. The heat exchanger is configured to increase thermal energy in the supply fluid using at least some of the exhaust fluid that was not directed into the supply fluid. |
| US09620790B2 |
Method for dismantling a battery cell using fluid jets
A method for recycling a plurality of battery cells, the method includes the steps of orienting a plurality of battery cells along a processing path having at least two fluid jets, moving the plurality of battery cells along the processing path proximate the at least two fluid jets, wherein the at least two fluid jets are positioned to cut first and second ends of each of the plurality of battery cells, and cutting the first and second ends of each of the plurality of battery cells with the at least two fluid jets to expose an interior volume of each of the plurality of battery cells. |
| US09620789B2 |
Battery pack of the stair-like structure
Disclosed herein is a battery pack including secondary batteries which can be charged and discharged. The battery pack is configured such that secondary batteries having different sizes are stacked to form a stair-like structure having a width and a height. |
| US09620782B2 |
Non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery
Wettability of positive and negative electrode active material layers is improved by having the ratio of the liquid absorption speed of an electrolyte to the positive and negative electrode active material layers in an appropriate range when an aqueous binder is used in the negative electrode active material layer. The non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery has a power generating element having a positive electrode active material layer on a surface of a positive electrode current collector, a negative electrode active material layer containing an aqueous binder on a surface of a negative electrode current collector, and a separator, and Tc/Ta is in the range of 0.6 to 1.3 when Tc is the soak-in time of the electrolyte liquid into the positive electrode active material layer and Ta is the soak-in time of the electrolyte liquid into the negative electrode active material layer. |
| US09620781B2 |
Electrode binder for secondary battery providing excellent adhesion strength and life characteristics
Disclosed is a binder for a secondary battery electrode including a copolymer of a hydrophilic monomer and a hydrophobic monomer, wherein, when a concentration of the copolymer is 5% in a solution based upon NMP as a solvent, a viscosity of the solution including the copolymer is 800 cP to 10000 cP. By using the binder, stability of an electrode is fundamentally improved from an electrode preparation process and, as such, a secondary battery having excellent lifespan characteristics is provided. |
| US09620780B2 |
Anode for secondary battery and lithium secondary battery including same
The present disclosure provides an anode for a secondary battery, including: an electrode current collector; a first coating layer formed on the electrode current collector and including an anode active material, a first nonaqueous binder and a conducting material; and a second coating layer formed on the first coating layer and including a second nonaqueous binder. Since the anode of the present disclosure can reduce volume change of the anode active material, a lithium secondary battery including same may have improved cycle characteristics. |
| US09620779B2 |
Method of producing electrically conductive polymer and cellulose nanocomposites
A method is provided for preparing electrically conductive polymer and cellulose nanocomposite particles and nanocomposite materials. Cellulose microparticles coated with a conductive polymer are added to an acid solution for initiating an acid hydrolysis reaction for a prescribed time interval to form conductive polymer coated cellulose nanoparticles. After quenching the acid hydrolysis reaction, the nanoparticles are separated to obtain a colloidal solution of conductive nanoparticles. The conductive nanoparticles may be subsequently formed into a solid nanocomposite material such as a conductive film. Transparent conductive films may be prepared by forming thin layers having a thickness on a micron or submicron scale. |
| US09620777B2 |
Positive electrode and lithium ion secondary battery using thereof
A lithium ion secondary battery with a high electrode density and an excellent rate discharge characteristic. The positive electrode includes a positive electrode active material of a compound represented by Lia(NixCoyAl1-x-y)O2 (0.95≦a≦1.05, 0.5≦x≦0.9, 0.05≦y≦0.2), and carbon adhered to the surface of the material, in the Raman spectrum using a laser of 532 nm, the positive electrode includes a peak PA (D band) at 1200˜1450 cm−1, a peak PB (G band) at 1450˜1700 cm−1 and a peak PC at 400˜600 cm−1, and when the intensities are normalized by regarding the maximum intensity as 1 and the minimum intensity as 0 in the wavenumber domain of 200˜1800 cm−1, Raman intensity of the minimum (V band) between the two peaks of said peak PA and said peak PB is 0.6 or less, and Raman intensity of said peak PC is 0.1 or more and 0.5 or less. |
| US09620776B2 |
Method for preparing lithium iron phosphate nanopowder coated with carbon
The present invention relates to a method for preparing a lithium iron phosphate nanopowder coated with carbon, including the steps of (a) preparing a mixture solution by adding a lithium precursor, an iron precursor and a phosphorus precursor in a reaction solvent, (b) putting the mixture solution into a reactor and reacting to prepare amorphous lithium iron phosphate nanoseed particle, and (c) heat treating the lithium iron phosphate nanoseed particle thus to prepare the lithium iron phosphate nanopowder coated with carbon on a portion or a whole of a surface of a particle, and a lithium iron phosphate nanopowder coated with carbon prepared by the above method. A lithium secondary battery including the lithium iron phosphate nanopowder coated with carbon thus prepared as a cathode active material has good capacity and stability. |
| US09620774B2 |
Method of manufacturing an electrode, corresponding electrode and battery comprising such an electrode
A method of manufacturing an electrode, including: a) depositing catalytic growth seeds on an electrically conducting support by aerosol spraying, b) growth of oriented carbon nanotubes on the basis of the deposition of the catalytic growth seeds, c) a deposition of sulphur on the oriented carbon nanotubes formed in b), and d) a deposition of a layer of carbon on the sulphur. An electrode, as well as to a battery including such an electrode, includes an electrically conducting support and oriented carbon nanotubes disposed on the surface of the electrically conducting support and covered at least partly by sulphur, the oriented carbon nanotubes exhibiting a length of greater than 20 μm, or greater than 50 μm. |
| US09620772B2 |
Positive electrode material containing a composite of sulfur and a porous conductive substance, and glass or glass ceramic particles for lithium ion batteries, and lithium ion battery
A lithium-ion battery cathode material includes a composite of sulfur and porous carbon, and glass particles and/or glass ceramic particles that satisfy a composition represented by the following formula (1), LiaMbPcSd (1) wherein M is B, Zn, Si, Cu, Ga, or Ge, and a to d are the compositional ratio of each element, and satisfy a:b:c:d=1 to 12:0 to 0.2:1:2 to 9. |
| US09620771B2 |
Cathode active material, cathode and lithium battery including cathode active material, and method of preparing the cathode active material
A cathode active material including a lithium metal oxide composite having a first domain and a second domain and represented by Formula 1: x[Li2-y(M1)1-z(M2)y+zO3]-(1−x)[LiMeO2] Formula 1 wherein 0 |
| US09620765B1 |
Battery disconnect device utilizing original single segment unmodified battery ground cable to connect/disconnect current flow at chassis connection site
The invention is an equipment or vehicle battery circuit cutoff device that mounts at the battery chassis ground mounting hole and accepts the original (in place) battery ground cable (single cable) to provide a secure electrical connection in the use configuration (HOT) and a simple quick, safe, and absolute change of state to the electrical cutoff configuration (CUT). The device employs a heavy compression spring that clamps the battery ground cable into the device when compression spring tension is released against the cable end and allows the quick release of the ground cable when a threaded stud knob or a lever assembly lifts the spring tension to allow the ground cable to be quickly removed. There is no internal switch in the device; the only switch being the presence (HOT) or absence (CUT) of the ground cable in the cutoff device insertion slot. Maximum current flow is supported with this design since the cable is locked against a heavy copper bar in the closed circuit state (HOT) so that the current flow is limited only by the capacity of the cable rather than the configuration of internal cutoff switch contacts. The cable clamping force in the closed circuit (HOT) position is constant and resistant to equipment vibration since the clamping force is derived from a high force (40 foot pounds or greater) compression spring rather than a bolt which may vibrate loose and/or may not have been adequately tightened by the equipment operator. |
| US09620764B2 |
Battery module cooling fins and footings system and method
The present disclosure includes a battery module having a housing with a wall that includes an aperture in the wall. The battery module also includes an electrochemical cell having a terminal end and a base end opposite the terminal end. The electrochemical cell is disposed within the housing such that the base end is positioned proximate to the aperture of the wall. Further, a heat sink of the battery module is engaged with the aperture and includes cooling fins extending outwardly from the heat sink a first distance from an external surface of the wall. The battery module also includes feet of the housing extending outwardly from the wall a second distance from the external surface of the wall. The second distance is greater than the first distance. |
| US09620763B1 |
Connector assembly with integrated sense and balance line protection for multi-cell batteries
A connector assembly (100,500) includes a plate (101,501) having a body (107,507) and one or more legs (108,109,110,508,509,510) extending distally from the body. The body can define an aperture (112,512). A flexible substrate (102,502) can electrically couple to the legs such that a portion (202,602) of the body extends distally from an edge (203,603) of the flexible substrate. A connector (103,503) is electrically coupled to the flexible substrate, with one or more circuit components (104,105,504,505) electrically coupled between the legs and the connector. The flexible substrate can define a perimeter (201,601) that is complementary in shape to an upper surface (122,522) of a busbar connector (106,506). |
| US09620752B2 |
Spill-resistant battery cover and vent cover
A vented battery cover with a vent cover is disclosed. The vent cover may be capable of attachment to the battery at a first position and a second position using one or more first snap features and one or more second snap features. The vent cover may also provide a fluid path from a fill tube hole in the battery cover to a vent wherein the path is a labyrinth. |
| US09620751B2 |
Dual sealing cap assembly and cylindrical secondary battery including the same
The present invention relates to a cap assembly and a battery including the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cap assembly for a cylindrical secondary battery, in which the support unit of a current interrupt device (CID) is seated in the inclined portion or the terraced portion of a gasket and thus the battery is dually sealed, thereby preventing the leakage of an electrolyte, and a cylindrical secondary battery including the cylindrical secondary battery. The cap assembly of the present invention is dually sealed for the leakage of an electrolyte. Accordingly, there is an advantage in that the safety of the battery can be greatly improved because the electrolyte is rarely leaked although the battery is shocked because of dropping. |
| US09620750B2 |
High-voltage storage device
The present invention refers to a high-voltage battery for power supply, particularly of an automotive vehicle, comprising: an energy storage module with a plurality of electrochemical storage cells and a wall accommodating the plurality of storage cells, each storage cell comprising at least two electric connection terminals, and an upper part for contacting and covering the connection terminals, said upper part overlapping the wall in a contactless manner, so that a gap remains relative to the storage cells. |
| US09620749B2 |
Electric storage apparatus
Provided is an electric storage apparatus including: an electric storage device; a circuit module; and an enclosure for housing the electric storage device, wherein: any one thereof includes an engaging portion; any one of the remaining ones includes an engaged portion; and the engaging portion and the engaged portion are engageable with and disengageable from each other. |
| US09620748B2 |
Rechargeable battery
A rechargeable battery includes an electrode assembly; a case accommodating the electrode assembly; a cap plate combined with the case and having first and second terminal openings passing through the case from an inside to an outside; first and second seal gaskets inserted into the first and second terminal openings, respectively, and having insertion openings; and first and second terminals inserted into the insertion openings of the first and second seal gaskets, respectively, and electrically connected with first and second current collecting members of the electrode assembly, respectively, wherein sidewalls of the first and second gasket seals, which are brought into contact with inner walls of the first and second terminal openings, are inclined with respect to center axes of the first and second terminal openings. |
| US09620745B2 |
Contoured battery
In an embodiment, an apparatus includes a battery shaped to be situated within a housing. The battery has a shape that substantially conforms to a shape of a cavity that is defined at least in part by a non-cylindrical curved portion of the housing. The battery includes a contoured conductive mesh formed by shaping a substantially planar conductive mesh to include at least one curved conductive mesh portion. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US09620743B2 |
Organic light-emitting display apparatus and method of manufacturing the same
Provided is an organic light-emitting display apparatus including a substrate; a first pixel electrode for first color emission, a second pixel electrode for second color emission, and a third pixel electrode for third color emission, the first pixel electrode, the second pixel electrode, and the third pixel electrode being spaced apart from each other on the substrate; a first color emission layer on the first pixel electrode, a second color emission layer on the second pixel electrode, and a third color emission layer on the third pixel electrode; an opposite electrode on the first color emission layer, the second color emission layer, and the third color emission layer; and a capping layer that includes a same material as the opposite electrode and is porous. |
| US09620741B2 |
Method of manufacturing a display device
A method for manufacturing a display device is provided including forming a light emitting element by stacking in sequence a pixel electrode, light emitting layer and common electrode above a substrate, and forming an organic material pattern including a plurality of protrusions by evaporating an organic material above the common electrode, wherein the evaporation is performed under a reduced pressure in at a substrate temperature that is equal to or less than a glass transition temperature of the organic material. |
| US09620737B2 |
Organic light emitting display apparatus
An organic light emitting display apparatus includes a substrate including a pixel region, a first electrode on the substrate, a second electrode on the first electrode, an organic light emission layer between the first and second electrodes to emit light, a plurality of layers on the second electrode, and a light compensation pattern on the second electrode and overlapping the pixel region, the light compensation pattern including a plurality of protrusion patterns having progressively decreasing widths as a distance from a center of the pixel region increases, and a plurality of grooves separating the protrusions in a direction parallel to the substrate from the center of the pixel region. |
| US09620736B2 |
Organic EL device and electronic apparatus
An organic EL device includes an element substrate above which an organic EL element is provided; a counter substrate arranged so as to face the element substrate; a sealing layer arranged between the organic EL element and the counter substrate, and having at least a first sealing layer made from an inorganic material, a planarized second sealing layer, and a third sealing layer formed from an inorganic material; and a filler arranged between the sealing layer and the counter substrate, in which the counter substrate is arranged in a region spaced by a predetermined gap from any end portion of the element substrate, the filler is arranged so as to protrude to the gap from between the element substrate and the counter substrate, and the end portion of the second sealing layer is covered by the filler. |
| US09620732B2 |
Method of forming a light-emitting device
A method of forming a light-emitting device comprises: forming patterned portions of precursor material over a substrate, the edges of the patterned portions defining sidewalls; performing a shaping control process on the patterned portions of precursor material to control the sidewall profile to reduce the angle the sidewalls of the precursor material make with the substrate to less than 15 degrees; selectively applying from solution a conductive coating onto the portions of shaped precursor material so as to form a plurality of first conducting contacts such that an upper surface of said conductive coating follows the sidewall profile of the precursor material; forming a light-emitting layer over the conductive contacts and substrate, and forming a plurality of second conducting contacts over the light-emitting layer. The precursor material may comprises an activator catalyst and the conductive coating comprises a metal selectively applied to the shaped precursor material by electroless plating. |
| US09620725B2 |
Polymer solar cell and method of forming the same
Provided is a polymer solar cell. The polymer solar cell includes a photoactive layer having a network-structured electron donor layer and a silica thin film layer surrounding the electron donor layer. By mixing of electron donor polymers, electron acceptor polymers, and block copolymers, the electron donor polymers form polymer grains through a self-assembly process. In addition, during a heat treatment process, silica precursors included in the block copolymers cross-link to each other to form the silica thin film. Electrons generated in the electron donor layer tunnel through the silica thin film, and holes are blocked by the silica thin film. Accordingly, electron-hole recombination in the electron acceptor layer is prevented. |
| US09620723B2 |
Organic semiconductor material and light-emitting element, light-emitting device, lighting system, and electronic device using the same
Disclosed is a novel organic semiconductor material which has a twisted quaterphenylene skeleton as a central unit and simultaneously possesses a skeleton having an electron-transporting property and a skeleton having a hole-transporting property at the terminals of the quaterphenylene skeleton. Specifically, the organic semiconductor material has a [1,1′:2′,1″:2″,1′″]quaterphenyl-4-4′″-diyl group, and one of the terminals of the [1,1′:2′,1″:2″,1′″]quaterphenyl-4-4′″-diyl group is bonded to a skeleton having an electron-transporting property such as a benzoxazole group or an oxadiazole group. A skeleton having a hole-transporting property such as diarylamino group is introduced at the other terminal. This structure allows the formation of a compound having a bipolar property, a high molecular weight, an excellent thermal stability, a large band gap, and high triplet excitation energy. |
| US09620722B2 |
Materials for organic electroluminescent devices
The present invention relates to compounds of the formula (1) and formula (2), which are suitable for use in electronic devices, in particular in organic electroluminescent devices. |
| US09620712B2 |
Concave word line and convex interlayer dielectric for protecting a read/write layer
An alternating stack of electrically conductive layers and electrically insulating layers is formed over global bit lines formed on a substrate. The alternating stack is patterned to form a line stack of electrically conductive lines and electrically insulating lines. Trench isolation structures are formed within each trench to define a plurality of memory openings laterally spaced from one another by the line stack in one direction and by trench isolation structures in another direction. The electrically conductive lines are laterally recessed relative to sidewall surfaces of the electrically insulating lines. A read/write memory material is deposited in recesses, and is anisotropically etched so that a top surface of a global bit line is physically exposed at a bottom of each memory opening. An electrically conductive bit line is formed within each memory opening to form a resistive random access memory device. |
| US09620708B2 |
Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy BCC multilayers
A magnetic material includes a cobalt layer between opposing iron layers. The iron layers include iron and are body-centered cubic (BCC), the cobalt layer comprises cobalt and is BCC or amorphous, and the magnetic material has a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). |
| US09620707B2 |
Magnetoresistive devices and methods for manufacturing magnetoresistive devices
A magnetoresistive device can include a first magnetic layer structure having a first length, a barrier layer disposed on the first magnetic layer structure, a second magnetic layer structure disposed on the barrier layer and having a second length that is less than the first length. |
| US09620703B2 |
Piezoelectric thin-film element, piezoelectric sensor and vibration generator
A piezoelectric thin-film element includes a substrate, a lower electrode layer formed on the substrate, a piezoelectric thin-film layer that is formed on the lower electrode layer and includes potassium sodium niobate having a perovskite structure represented by the composition formula of (K1-xNax)NbO3 (0.4≦x≦0.7), and an upper electrode layer formed on the piezoelectric thin-film layer. The piezoelectric thin-film layer is formed such that a value of (Ec−+Ec+)/2 is not less than 10.8 kV/cm and a value of (Pr−+Pr+)/2 is not more than −2.4 μC/cm2 where Ec− and Ec+ are intersection points of a polarization-electric field hysteresis loop and the x-axis indicating an electric field and Pr− and Pr+ are intersection points of the polarization-electric field hysteresis loop and the y-axis indicating polarization. |
| US09620702B2 |
Electronic component package, electronic component package sealing member and method for producing the electronic component package sealing member
The present invention relates to an electronic component package, an electronic component package sealing member, and a method for producing the electronic component package sealing member. A through hole 49 is formed in a base 4 so as to pass through between both main surfaces 42 and 43 of a base material of the base 4. An inner side surface 491 of the through hole 49 includes a curved surface 495 that expands outward in a width direction of the through hole 49. |
| US09620701B2 |
Pulse generator for energizing an ultrasonic transducer, a method of operating the pulse generator and a ultrasonic distance sensing system
The present application relates to a pulse generator for energizing an ultrasonic transducer, a method of operating thereof and an ultrasonic distance sensing system comprising the pulse generator. The pulse generator is arranged to generate an excitation pulse sequence comprising a first number of pulses; to generate a cancellation pulse sequence comprising at least a fractional pulse, wherein the cancellation pulse sequence has a phase shift of about 180° in relation to the excitation pulse sequence; and to output at an output of the generator the excitation pulse sequence and the cancellation pulse sequence forming an energizing pulse sequence to the ultrasonic transducer. |
| US09620697B2 |
Thermoelectric conversion material
The present invention provides a thermoelectric conversion material of which the structure is controlled to have nano-order microscopic pores and which has a low thermal conductivity and has an improved thermoelectric performance index. In the thermoelectric conversion material having a thermoelectric semiconductor layer formed on a block copolymer substrate that comprises a block copolymer having microscopic pores, wherein the block copolymer comprises a polymer unit (A) formed of a monomer capable of forming a homopolymer having a glass transition temperature of 50° C. or higher, and a polymer unit (B) formed of a conjugated dienic polymer. |
| US09620696B2 |
Thermoelectric conversion material and producing method thereof, and thermoelectric conversion element using the same
Compound semiconductors, expressed by the following formula: Bi1-xMxCuwOa-yQ1yTeb-zQ2z. Here, M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ba, Sr, Ca, Mg, Cs, K, Na, Cd, Hg, Sn, Pb, Eu, Sm, Mn, Ga, In, Tl, As and Sb; Q1 and Q2 are at least one element selected from the group consisting of S, Se, As and Sb; x, y, z, w, a, and b are 0≦x<1, 0 |
| US09620694B2 |
Optoelectronic component
An optoelectronic component includes a leadframe, a molded body connected to the leadframe, and an optoelectronic semiconductor chip arranged on the leadframe, wherein the leadframe includes an alignment opening, and wherein the molded body includes a recess via which the leadframe is exposed in the area of the alignment opening. |
| US09620693B2 |
Light emitting device and lighting system having the same
Disclosed are a light emitting device and a lighting system having the same. The light emitting device includes a body including first and second lateral side parts, third and fourth lateral side parts, and a cavity, a first lead frame extending in a direction of the first lateral side part of the body, a second lead frame extending in a direction of the second lateral side part of the body, a light emitting chip disposed on the first lead frame in the cavity, and a gap part between the first and second lead frames. The first lead frame includes a first recess part having a first depth, and a second recess part recessed at a second depth, and the first recess part and the second recess part have a step structure with a curved surface. |
| US09620688B2 |
Display device
A display device includes a micro-lens film which has a high fill-factor and a high luminance ratio and prevents generation of moiré. The display device includes a display panel configured to display an image, a plurality of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) configured to generate light to supply light to the display panel, a light guide panel configured to guide light to the display panel, and a micro-lens film including a base film that concentrates and diffuses light emitted from the light guide panel, a lens unit at an upper surface of the base film, and a back-coating film at a lower surface of the base film. The lens unit includes unit block groups randomly arranged at the upper surface of the base film, each unit block group containing randomly arranged fixed-shape lenses having different sizes, and micro-beads randomly formed on surfaces of the fixed-shape lenses. |
| US09620686B2 |
Display light sources with quantum dots
A display may be provided with light sources. The light sources may include light-emitting diodes. The light sources may have packages formed from package bodies to which the light-emitting diodes are mounted. Layers such as quantum dot layers, light-scattering layers, spacer layers, and diffusion barrier layers may be formed over the package bodies and light-emitting diodes. Quantum dots of different colors may be stacked on top of each other. A getter may be incorporated into one or more of the layers to getter oxygen and water. Quantum dots may be formed from semiconductor layers that are doped with n-type and p-type dopant to adjust the locations of their conduction and valance bands and thereby enhanced quantum dot performance. |
| US09620684B2 |
LED lighting apparatus and method for manufacturing the same
To provide an LED lighting apparatus and a method for manufacturing the same that can improve the bonding strength between an aluminum substrate and a printed wiring substrate. An LED lighting apparatus and a method for manufacturing the same, the LED lighting apparatus includes an aluminum substrate, a plurality of reflectivity-enhanced layers formed on the aluminum substrate, an LED device bonded on said plurality of reflectivity-enhanced layers, a printed wiring substrate bonded onto a region on the aluminum substrate other than a region where the plurality of reflectivity-enhanced layers are formed, a wire for connecting between the printed wiring substrate and the LED device, a frame member formed so as to surround said LED device, and a phosphor resin deposited over a region inside the frame member. |
| US09620682B2 |
Light emitting device
A light emitting device includes a light emitting structure having a plurality of light emitting regions including a first semiconductor layer, an active layer, a second semiconductor layer, a first electrode in one of the light emitting regions, a second electrode in another of the light emitting regions, and at least one connection electrode to sequentially connect the light emitting regions in series. The light emitting regions connected in series are divided into 1st to ith light emitting region groups. Areas of light emitting regions that belong to different groups are different. An area of a light emitting region which is more frequently used among the plurality of light emitting regions is larger than an area of a light emitting region which is less frequently used among the plurality of light emitting regions. |
| US09620679B2 |
Light-emitting device
A light-emitting device comprises a light-emitting semiconductor stack comprising a plurality of recesses and a mesa, each of the plurality of recesses comprising a bottom surface, and the mesa comprising an upper surface; a first electrode formed on the upper surface of the mesa; a plurality of second electrodes respectively formed on the bottom surface of the plurality of recesses; a first electrode pad formed on the light-emitting semiconductor stack and contacting with the first electrode; a second electrode pad formed on the light-emitting semiconductor stack and contacting with the plurality of second electrode; a first insulating layer comprising a plurality of passages to expose the plurality of second electrodes; and a second insulating layer comprising a plurality of spaces and formed on the first insulating layer, wherein the plurality of spaces is covered by the first electrode pad. |
| US09620668B2 |
Composition for manufacturing electrode of solar cell, method of manufacturing same electrode, and solar cell using electrode obtained by same method
A composition for manufacturing an electrode of a solar cell, comprising metal nanoparticles dispersed in a dispersive medium, wherein the metal nanoparticles contain silver nanoparticles of 75 weight % or more, the metal nanoparticles are chemically modified by a protective agent having a main chain of organic molecule comprising a carbon backbone of carbon number of 1 to 3, and the metal nanoparticles contains 70% or more in number-average of metal nanoparticles having a primary grain size within a range of 10 to 50 nm. |
| US09620666B2 |
Method for forming an impurity diffusion layer by applying a diffusing agent composition
A diffusing agent composition including a condensation product and an impurity diffusion component. The condensation product is a reaction product resulting from hydrolysis of an alkoxysilane. The impurity diffusion component is a monoester or diester of phosphoric acid, or a mixture thereof. |
| US09620663B2 |
Determining timing for cleaning electricity generating solar panels
A system for detecting an optimal timing for cleaning duty solar panels is provided herein. The system includes: a simulation sensor and a reference sensor which include photovoltaic cells identical to the photovoltaic cells of the duty solar panels, wherein the simulation sensor is configured to generate a simulation electrical signal which simulates electricity signal generated by the duty solar panels; and wherein the reference sensor is configured to generate a reference electrical signal which simulates electricity signal generated by the duty solar panels in a clean condition; and protection means configured to selectively expose the reference sensor for a specified period of time, wherein the system is configured to compare the simulation signal and the reference signal when the reference sensor is uncovered and provide an indication that the duty solar panels should be cleaned if a difference between the simulation and the reference signals exceeds a predefined level. |
| US09620660B2 |
Interconnect assembly
An interconnect assembly. The interconnect assembly includes a trace that includes a plurality of electrically conductive portions. The plurality of electrically conductive portions is configured both to collect current from a first solar cell and to interconnect electrically to a second solar cell. In addition, the plurality of electrically conductive portions is configured such that solar-cell efficiency is substantially undiminished in an event that any one of the plurality of electrically conductive portions is conductively impaired. |
| US09620657B2 |
Image sensor and electronic device including the same
An image sensor includes a semiconductor substrate integrated with at least one first photo-sensing device sensing light in a first wavelength region and at least one second photo-sensing device sensing light in a second wavelength region shorter than the first wavelength region, a photoelectric device including a pair of electrodes facing each other and a light absorption layer between the electrodes, the photoelectric device selectively absorbing light in a third wavelength region between the first wavelength region and the second wavelength region, and a nanostructural body between the semiconductor substrate and the photoelectric device, the nanostructural body including at least two parts having different optical paths. |
| US09620656B2 |
Semiconductor device having a transparent window for passing radiation
Method of encapsulating a semiconductor structure comprising providing a semiconductor structure comprising an opto-electric element located in a cavity formed between a substrate and a cap layer, the cap layer being made of a material transparent to light, and having a flat upper surface; forming at least one protrusion on the cap layer; bringing the at least one protrusion of the cap layer in contact with a tool having a flat surface region, and applying a opaque material to the semiconductor structure where it is not in contact with the tool; and removing the tool thereby providing an encapsulated optical semiconductor device having a transparent window integrally formed with the cap layer. |
| US09620652B2 |
TFT and manufacturing method thereof, array substrate
The present invention provides a TFT and a manufacturing method thereof, an array substrate and a display device. The TFT comprises a gate, an active layer located on the gate, an ohmic contact layer located on the active layer, and a first electrode and a second electrode located on the ohmic contact layer, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are partially overlapped with the active layer, the ohmic contact layer is located within a region where the first electrode and the second electrode are overlapped with the active layer; the active layer is partially overlapped with the gate, the active layer comprises at least one opening region partially overlapped with the gate; and the first electrode and/or the second electrode extends beyond the active layer through the at least one opening region. |
| US09620640B2 |
Body-contact metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor device
The invention provides a body-contact metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) device. The body-contact MOSFET device includes a substrate. An active region is disposed on the substrate. A gate strip is extended along a first direction disposed on a first portion of the active region. A source doped region and a drain doped region are disposed on a second portion and a third portion of the active region, adjacent to opposite sides of the gate strip. The opposite sides of the gate strip are extended along the first direction. A body-contact doped region is disposed on a fourth portion of the active region. The body-contact doped region is separated from the gate strip by a fifth portion of the active region. The fifth portion is not covered by any silicide features. |
| US09620639B2 |
Electronic device including a trench and a conductive structure therein
An electronic device can include a transistor structure, including a patterned semiconductor layer overlying a substrate and having a primary surface. The electronic device can further include first conductive structures within each of a first trench and a second trench, a gate electrode within the first trench and electrically insulated from the first conductive structure, a first insulating member disposed between the gate electrode and the first conductive structure within the first trench, and a second conductive structure within the second trench. The second conductive structure can be electrically connected to the first conductive structures and is electrically insulated from the gate electrode. The electronic device can further include a second insulating member disposed between the second conductive structure and the first conductive structure within the second trench. Processing sequences can be used that simplify formation of the features within the electronic device. |
| US09620636B2 |
Semiconductor device with field electrode structures in a cell area and termination structures in an edge area
A semiconductor device includes field electrode structures regularly arranged in lines in a cell area and forming a first portion of a regular pattern. Termination structures are formed in an inner edge area surrounding the cell area, wherein at least portions of the termination structures form a second portion of the regular pattern. Cell mesas separate neighboring ones of the field electrode structures from each other in the cell area and include first portions of a drift zone, wherein a voltage applied to a gate electrode controls a current flow through the cell mesas. At least one doped region forms a homojunction with the drift zone in the inner edge area. |
| US09620635B2 |
Apparatus and method for power MOS transistor
An apparatus comprises a buried layer over a substrate, an epitaxial layer over the buried layer, a first trench extending through the epitaxial layer and partially through the buried layer, a second trench extending through the epitaxial layer and partially through the buried layer, a dielectric layer in a bottom portion of the first trench, a first gate region in an upper portion of the first trench, a second gate region in the second trench, wherein the second gate region is electrically coupled to the first gate region, a drain region in the epitaxial layer and a source region on an opposite side of the first trench from the drain region. |
| US09620634B2 |
Field-effect transistor with two-dimensional channel realized with lateral heterostructures based on hybridized graphene
The invention is a field-effect transistor with a channel consisting of a thin sheet of one or more atomic layers of lateral heterostructures based on hybridized graphene. The role of lateral heterostructures is to modify the energy gap in the channel so as to enable the effective operation of the transistor in all bias regions. This solution solves the problem of the missing bandgap in single-layer and multi-layer graphene, which does not allow the fabrication of transistors that can be efficiently switched off. The possibility of fabricating lateral heterostructures, with patterns of domains with different energy dispersion relations, enables the realization of field-effect transistors with additional functionalities with respect to common transistors. |
| US09620632B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate, an upper electrode, a lower electrode and a gate electrode. In the semiconductor substrate, a body region, a pillar region, and a barrier region are formed. The pillar region has an n-type impurity, is formed on a lateral side of the body region, and extends along a depth from a top surface of the semiconductor substrate to a lower end of the body region. The barrier region has an n-type impurity and is formed on a lower side of the body region and the pillar region. The barrier region is formed on the lower side of the pillar region. An n-type impurity concentration distribution in a depth direction in the pillar region and the barrier region has a maximum value in the pillar region. The n-type impurity concentration distribution has a folding point on a side deeper than the maximum value. |
| US09620631B2 |
Power semiconductor device
A power semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type, a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type, a pair of conductive bodies, a third semiconductor layer of the second conductivity type, and a fourth semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type. The second semiconductor layer is provided on the first semiconductor layer on the first surface side. The pair of conductive bodies are provided via an insulating film in a pair of first trenches extending across the second semiconductor layer from a surface of the second semiconductor layer to the first semiconductor layer. The third semiconductor layer is selectively formed on the surface of the second semiconductor layer between the pair of conductive bodies and has a higher second conductivity type impurity concentration in a surface of the third semiconductor layer than the second semiconductor layer. |
| US09620630B2 |
Injection control in semiconductor power devices
Semiconductor power devices can be formed on substrate structure having a lightly doped semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type or a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type. A semiconductive first buffer layer of the first conductivity type formed above the substrate. A doping concentration of the first buffer layer is greater than a doping concentration of the substrate. A second buffer layer of the second conductivity type formed above the first buffer layer. An epitaxial layer of the second conductivity type formed above the second buffer layer. One or more heavily doped regions of the second conductivity type are formed through portions of the first buffer layer from the second buffer layer and into corresponding portions of the substrate. This abstract is provided with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. |
| US09620627B1 |
Field-effect transistors having black phosphorus channel and methods of making the same
A field-effect transistor (FET) includes a black phosphorus (BP) layer over a substrate. The BP layer includes channel, source, and drain regions. The FET further includes a passivation layer over and in direct contact with the BP layer. The passivation layer provides first and second openings over the source and drain regions respectively. The FET further includes source and drain contacts in direct contact with the source and drain regions through the first and second openings. The FET further includes a gate electrode over the channel region. In an embodiment, the passivation layer further includes a third opening over the channel region and the FET further includes a gate dielectric layer in direct contact with the channel region through the third opening. Methods of making the FET are also disclosed. |
| US09620625B2 |
Manufacturing a submicron structure using a liquid precursor
A method for manufacturing a submicron semiconductor structure on a substrate, including: forming at least one template layer over a support substrate; forming one or more template structures, including one or more recesses and/or mesas, in the template layer, the one or more template structures including one or more edges extending into or out of the top surface of the template layer; coating at least part of the one or more template structures with a liquid semiconductor precursor; and, annealing and/or exposing the liquid semiconductor precursor coated template structures to light, wherein during the annealing and/or light exposure a part of the liquid semiconductor precursor accumulates by capillary forces against at least part of the one or more edges, the annealing and/or light exposure transforming the accumulated liquid semiconductor precursor into a submicron semiconductor structure extending along at least part of the one or more edges. |
| US09620623B2 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
When a semiconductor device including a transistor in which a gate electrode layer, a gate insulating film, and an oxide semiconductor film are stacked and a source and drain electrode layers are provided in contact with the oxide semiconductor film is manufactured, after the formation of the gate electrode layer or the source and drain electrode layers by an etching step, a step of removing a residue remaining by the etching step and existing on a surface of the gate electrode layer or a surface of the oxide semiconductor film and in the vicinity of the surface is performed. The surface density of the residue on the surface of the oxide semiconductor film or the gate electrode layer can be 1×1013 atoms/cm2 or lower. |
| US09620621B2 |
Gate structure of field effect transistor with footing
In some embodiments, an field effect transistor structure includes a first semiconductor structure and a gate structure. The first semiconductor structure includes a channel region, and a source region and a drain region. The source region and the drain region are formed on opposite ends of the channel region, respectively. The gate structure includes a central region and footing regions. The central region is formed over the first semiconductor structure. The footing regions are formed on opposite sides of the central region and along where the central region is adjacent to the first semiconductor structure. |
| US09620619B2 |
Borderless contact structure
A borderless contact structure or partially borderless contact structure and methods of manufacture are disclosed. The method includes forming a gate structure and a space within the gate structure, defined by spacers. The method further includes blanket depositing a sealing material in the space, over the gate structure and on a semiconductor material. The method further includes removing the sealing material from over the gate structure and on the semiconductor material, leaving the sealing material within the space. The method further includes forming an interlevel dielectric material over the gate structure. The method further includes patterning the interlevel dielectric material to form an opening exposing the semiconductor material and a portion of the gate structure. The method further includes forming a contact in the opening formed in the interlevel dielectric material. |
| US09620617B2 |
Structure and method for reducing substrate parasitics in semiconductor on insulator technology
A structure having improved electrical signal isolation and linearity is disclosed. The structure includes a buried oxide (“BOX”) layer over a bulk semiconductor layer, a device layer over the buried oxide layer, a compensation implant region near an interface of the buried oxide layer and the bulk semiconductor layer, wherein the compensation implant region is configured to substantially eliminate a parasitic conduction layer near the buried oxide layer. The compensation implant region has a doping concentration of at least one order of magnitude higher than a doping concentration of the bulk semiconductor layer. The structure includes a deep trench extending through the device layer and the buried oxide layer, and a damaged implant region in the bulk semiconductor layer near the deep trench. The structure also includes at least one transistor in the device layer. |
| US09620613B2 |
Organic light emitting display devices and methods of manufacturing organic light emitting display devices
An organic light emitting display device includes a substrate, a first transistor disposed on the substrate in the opaque region, a second transistor disposed on the substrate in the opaque region, the second transistor being adjacent to the first transistor along a first direction, and a capacitor disposed on the substrate in the opaque region, the capacitor being adjacent to the first transistor along a second direction different from the first direction. Here, the capacitor may include a first capacitor electrode, a dielectric structure including silicon oxynitride and a second capacitor electrode. |
| US09620605B2 |
Semiconductor device structure and method
A multi-layered semiconductor device and method of manufacture are provided. In an embodiment a first semiconductor layer, a first insulator layer, a second semiconductor layer, a second insulator layer, and a third semiconductor layer are formed over a substrate. A first transistor comprises the first semiconductor layer, the first insulator layer, and the second semiconductor layer, and a second transistor comprises the second semiconductor layer, the second insulator layer, and the third semiconductor layer. |
| US09620602B2 |
Semiconductor device
The semiconductor device including: two fins having rectangular parallelepiped shapes arranged in parallel in X-direction; and a gate electrode arranged thereon via a gate insulating film and extending in Y-direction is configured as follows. First, a drain plug is provided over a drain region located on one side of the gate electrode and extending in Y-direction. Then, two source plugs are provided over a source region located on the other side of the gate electrode and extending in Y-direction. Also, the drain plug is arranged in a displaced manner so that its position in Y-direction may not overlap with the two source plugs. According to such a configuration, the gate-drain capacitance can be made smaller than the gate-source capacitance and a Miller effect-based circuit delay can be suppressed. Further, as compared with capacitance on the drain side, capacitance on the source side increases, thereby improving stability of circuit operation. |
| US09620600B2 |
Semiconductor device having termination region with laterally heterogeneous insulating films
A semiconductor device according to an embodiment includes a semiconductor substrate having a first surface and a second surface. The semiconductor substrate includes an element region and a termination region provided around the element region. The termination region has a first semiconductor region of a first conductivity type provided at the first surface of the semiconductor substrate and a second semiconductor region of a second conductivity type provided between the first semiconductor region and the second surface. The semiconductor device further includes a first insulating film provided on the first semiconductor region, a second insulating film provided on the first semiconductor region and having a portion interposed between the first insulating films, a first electrode provided on the first surface of the element region and electrically connected to the first semiconductor region, and a second electrode provided at the second surface of the semiconductor substrate. |
| US09620599B2 |
GaN-based semiconductor transistor
A semiconductor device according an embodiment includes a GaN layer, a GaN-based semiconductor layer provided on the GaN layer and having a wider band gap than the GaN layer, a source electrode electrically connected to the GaN-based semiconductor layer, a drain electrode electrically connected to the GaN-based semiconductor layer, a gate electrode provided in the GaN-based semiconductor layer between the source electrode and the drain electrode, and a gate insulating film provided at least between the GaN layer and the gate electrode, the gate insulating film including a first insulating film and a second insulating film, the first insulating film provided on the GaN layer, the first insulating film having a thickness equal to or greater than 0.2 nm and less than 2 nm, the first insulating film including nitrogen, the second insulating film provided between the first insulating film and the gate electrode, the second insulating film including oxygen. |
| US09620596B2 |
Method to fabricate micro and nano diamond devices
A method including forming a diamond material on the surface of a substrate; forming a first contact and a separate second contact; and patterning the diamond material to form a nanowire between the first contact and the second contact. An apparatus including a first contact and a separate second contact on a substrate; and a nanowire including a single crystalline or polycrystalline diamond material on the substrate and connected to each of the first contact and the second contact. |
| US09620588B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor chip formed with an SiC-IGBT including an SiC semiconductor layer, a first conductive-type collector region formed such that the collector region is exposed on a second surface of the SiC semiconductor layer, a second conductive-type base region formed such that the base region contacts the collector region, a first conductive-type channel region formed such that the channel region contacts the base region, a second conductive-type emitter region formed such that the emitter region contacts the channel region to define a portion of a first surface of the SiC semiconductor layer, a collector electrode connected to the collector region, and an emitter electrode connected to the emitter region. A MOSFET of the device is connected in parallel to the SiC-IGBT, and includes a second conductive-type source region electrically connected to the emitter electrode and a second conductive-type drain region electrically connected to the collector electrode. |
| US09620587B2 |
Three-dimensional electrostatic discharge semiconductor device
Three-dimensional electrostatic discharge (ESD) semiconductor devices are fabricated together with three-dimensional non-ESD semiconductor devices. For example, an ESD diode and FinFET are fabricated on the same bulk semiconductor substrate. A spacer merger technique is used in the ESD portion of a substrate to create double-width fins on which the ESD devices can be made larger to handle more current. |
| US09620582B2 |
Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors and forming methods
The present disclosure relates a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor. In some embodiments, the MIM capacitor has a capacitor bottom metal (CBM) electrode arranged over a semiconductor substrate. The MIM capacitor has a high-k dielectric disposed over the CBM electrode and a capacitor top metal (CTM) electrode arranged over the high-k dielectric layer. The MIM capacitor has a dummy structure that is disposed vertically over the high-k dielectric layer and laterally apart from the CTM electrode. The dummy structure includes a conductive body having a same material as the CTM electrode. |
| US09620580B2 |
Semiconductor structure
The invention provides a semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure includes a substrate. A first passivation layer is disposed on the substrate. A conductive pad is disposed on the first passivation layer. A second passivation layer is disposed on the first passivation layer. A passive device is disposed on the conductive pad, passing through the second passivation layer. An organic solderability preservative film covers the passive device. |
| US09620579B2 |
Organic light-emitting display apparatus and method of manufacturing the same
An organic light-emitting display apparatus includes a substrate; an active layer; a gate electrode, source and drain electrodes; a first insulating layer disposed between the active layer and the gate electrode; a second insulating layer disposed between the gate electrode and the source and drain electrodes; a third insulating layer disposed over the source and drain electrodes; conductive layers disposed over the third insulating layer and electrically connected to the source and drain electrodes through the third insulating layer; a first line disposed over the second insulating layer and formed of the same material as the source and drain electrodes; a second line overlapping the first line, disposed over the third insulating layer, and formed of the same material as the conductive layer; a fourth insulating layer disposed over the third insulating layer to cover the conductive layer; and an organic light-emitting diode disposed over the fourth insulating layer. |
| US09620576B2 |
Organic light-emitting display device
Embodiments may disclose an organic light-emitting display device including a first substrate including a pixel area emitting light in a first direction, and a transmittance area that is adjacent to the pixel area and transmits external light; a second substrate facing the first substrate and encapsulating a pixel on the first substrate; an optical pattern array on the first substrate or the second substrate to correspond to the transmittance area, the optical pattern array being configured to transmit or block external light depending on the transmittance area according to a coded pattern; and a sensor array corresponding to the optical pattern array, the sensor array being arranged in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction in which the light is emitted, the second array receiving the external light passing through the optical pattern array. |
| US09620575B2 |
Double-sided display and control method thereof
A double-sided display and a method for controlling the same are provided. The double-sided display includes a plurality of pixel units and a plurality of circuits. The pixel units are disposed on each of a front side and a back side of the double-sided display, and the pixel units on the front side are opposite to the pixel units on the back side in a one-to-one manner. A pixel unit on the front side and a pixel unit on the back side opposite to the pixel unit on the front side are controlled by an identical circuit. Each of the circuits includes a switching transistor. The switching transistor includes a first input terminal connected to a scan line, a second input terminal connected to a data line, and an output terminal connected to the opposite pixel units on the front side and the back side. |
| US09620567B2 |
OLED backboard, method of manufacturing the same, alignment system and alignment method thereof
The present disclosure relates to a technical field of OLED display and discloses an OLED backboard, a method of manufacturing the same, an alignment system and an alignment method thereof, which aims to solve a problem of low efficiency in forming an organic light-emitting material layer on the OLED backboard. The OLED backboard comprises: a transparent substrate; at least two functional layers disposed on the upper surface of the transparent substrate and stacked on each other; at least two via holes formed in predefined areas of the at least two functional layers and extending through at least the upper one of the at least two functional layers; and at least two alignment modules located in the at least two via holes respectively, wherein each of the at least two alignment modules comprises at least three first alignment structures arranged in a predefined trace, and a virtual alignment point is allowed to be determined based on the relative position among all the first alignment structures in each of the alignment modules. The efficiency of forming the organic light-emitting material layer on the OLED backboard is thus increased by using the above OLED backboard. |
| US09620566B2 |
Variable resistance memory device with shunt gate connected to corresponding gate
A variable resistance memory device includes a semiconductor substrate having a vertical transistor with a shunt gate that increases an area of a gate of the vertical transistor. |
| US09620565B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
A semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of memory cells arranged in rows and columns; a source line electrically connected to one terminal of each of the memory cells; a bit line electrically connected to the other terminal of each of the memory cells; a plurality of first word lines, each electrically connected to memory cells included in corresponding one of the rows; and a plurality of second word lines, each electrically connected to memory cells included in corresponding one of the columns. Each of the memory cells includes a first selection transistor including a current path having one end electrically connected to the source line; a second selection transistor including a current path having one end electrically connected to the other end of the current path of the first selection transistor; and a variable resistance element including a current path having one end electrically connected to the other end of the current path of the second selection transistor, and the other end electrically connected to the bit line. |
| US09620558B2 |
Solid-state image sensor
A solid-state image sensor includes: a pixel array that includes first pixels, each having first and second photoelectric conversion units, and second pixels, each having third and fourth photoelectric conversion units; first to fourth transfer gates via which a signal charge respectively generated in the first to fourth photoelectric conversion units is respectively transferred to first to fourth charge voltage conversion units. At least one of a gate width, a gate length and an installation position of at least one transfer gate among the first to fourth transfer gates is altered to achieve uniformity in voltage conversion efficiency at the first to fourth charge voltage conversion units. |
| US09620556B2 |
Method for forming image-sensor device
A method for forming an image-sensor device is provided. The method includes providing a first semiconductor substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The method includes forming a device layer over the first surface of the first semiconductor substrate. The method includes bonding the first semiconductor substrate to a second semiconductor substrate after the formation of the device layer. The second surface faces the second semiconductor substrate. The method includes forming a diffusion layer between the first semiconductor substrate and the second semiconductor substrate. The diffusion layer has a dopant concentration gradient that increases in a direction from the first semiconductor substrate toward the second semiconductor substrate. |
| US09620550B2 |
Backside illuminated image sensor structure
Backside illuminated image sensor structures are provided. The backside illuminated image sensor structure includes a device substrate having a frontside and a backside and pixels formed at the frontside of the substrate. The backside illuminated image sensor structure further includes a metal element formed in a dielectric layer over the backside of the substrate and a color filter layer formed over the dielectric layer. In addition, the metal element is configured to form a light blocking area in the device substrate and is made of copper. |
| US09620544B2 |
Image sensor device
An image sensor device includes a substrate having a pixel array region, isolation structures in the substrate separating pixel regions from one another in the pixel array region, a photo-sensing region in each of the pixel regions, and a reflective cavity structure in the substrate within each of the pixel region. The reflective cavity structure continuously extends from a bottom of the isolation structure to a deeper central portion of each of the pixel regions, thereby forming a dish-like profile. The reflective cavity structure has a reflective index smaller than that of the substrate. |
| US09620543B2 |
Solid-state imaging apparatus
A solid-state imaging apparatus includes: a solid-state imaging device photoelectrically converting light taken by a lens; and a light shielding member shielding part of light incident on the solid-state imaging device from the lens, wherein an angle made between an edge surface of the light shielding member and an optical axis direction of the lens is larger than an incident angle of light to be incident on an edge portion of the light shielding member. |
| US09620542B2 |
Curable resin composition, production method of image sensor chip using the same, and image sensor chip
There is provided a curable resin composition which is capable of being coated on a solid-state imaging device substrate and contains a dye having a maximum absorption wavelength in a wavelength range from 600 to 850 nm, a production method of image sensor chip comprising a step of coating the curable resin composition on a solid-state imaging device substrate to form a dye-containing layer, and a step of adhering a glass substrate having an infrared ray reflecting film onto the dye-containing layer, and an image sensor chip comprising a solid-state imaging device substrate and a dye-containing layer composed of the curable resin composition. |
| US09620541B2 |
Solid-state image pickup apparatus and electronic apparatus
Provided is a solid-state image pickup apparatus including a crosstalk suppression mechanism included in each pixel arranged in a pixel array, the crosstalk suppression mechanism of a part of the pixels differing from that of other pixels in an effective area of the pixel array. |
| US09620536B2 |
LTPS array substrate
An LTPS array substrate includes a plurality of LTPS thin-film transistors and a bottom transparent conductive layer, a protective layer, and a top transparent conductive layer. Each LTPS thin-film transistor includes a substrate, a patternized light shield layer, a buffering layer, a patternized poly-silicon layer, a gate insulation layer, a gate line, and a common electrode line, an insulation layer, a drain and a source, and a planarization layer that are formed to sequentially stack on each other. The light shield layer covers the scan line and the source/drain. A patternized third metal layer is between the bottom transparent conductive layer and the protective layer and includes a first zone and a second zone intersecting the first zone. The first zone shields the source line. A portion of the second zone overlaps a side portion of the light shield layer that is close to the source/drain electrode. |
| US09620530B2 |
Display device
A display device includes a substrate, a display region, a peripheral region, an insulating layer which is disposed on a gate signal line and a conductor, a conductive layer which is disposed on the insulating layer and crosses a plurality of gate signal lines and the conductor in the peripheral region, a first semiconductor film which is disposed between the insulating layer and the conductive layer, and a second semiconductor film which is disposed between the insulating layer and the conductive layer and which is separated from the first semiconductor film. The conductive layer is connected to the plurality of gate signal lines via a plurality of diodes, and the plurality of gate signal lines are arranged in the display region and the peripheral region. A length of the conductor differs from a length of the gate signal line in the display region and the peripheral region. |
| US09620522B1 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device
The present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a three dimensional memory device to suppress warpage of conductive patterns. The method may include providing a multilayered structure in which different material layers are alternately stacked over a substrate, etching partially the material layers to form a multi-step structure, each step being formed of at least one pair of the material layers, forming vertical support layers, each support layer being disposed on a top face of each step, removing partially the material layers to form recesses, filling the recesses with a conductive material to form gate lines, the gate line defining an upper portion of the step, and forming vertical contact plugs respectively on the upper portion of the step. |
| US09620515B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a semiconductor pillar extending in a first direction in a first region. The semiconductor memory device also includes a first electrode film provided on a side of the semiconductor pillar and extending in a second direction different from the first direction in the first region and in a second region adjacent to the first region in the second direction. The semiconductor memory device also includes a second electrode film provided between the semiconductor pillar and the first electrode film in the first region. Film thickness in the first direction of the first electrode film in the first region is smaller than film thickness in the first direction of the first electrode film in the second region. |
| US09620511B2 |
Vertical semiconductor device
A vertical semiconductor device includes a channel structure extending from a substrate in a first direction perpendicular to an upper surface of the substrate, and a ground selection line, word lines, and a string selection line sequentially formed on a side surface of the channel structure in the first direction to be separated from one another. The channel structure includes a protruding region formed in a side wall portion of the channel structure between the ground selection line and the upper surface of the substrate, the protruding region protruding in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the first direction. |
| US09620510B2 |
Stacked metal layers with different thicknesses
A semiconductor chip includes a plurality of stacked conductive layers. The plurality of stacked conductive layers includes a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer, and a third conductive layer. The first conductive layer is disposed on a first side of the second conductive layer. The third conductive layer is disposed on a second side of the second conductive layer. The third conductive layer is disposed on a side of the second conductive layer. The second conductive layer has a thickness which is thicker than those of the first conductive layer and the third conductive layer. |
| US09620507B2 |
Silicon-on-nothing transistor semiconductor structure with channel epitaxial silicon-germanium region
An improved transistor with channel epitaxial silicon and methods for fabrication thereof. In one aspect, a method for fabricating a transistor includes: forming a gate stack structure on an epitaxial silicon region, a width dimension of the epitaxial silicon region approximating a width dimension of the gate stack structure; encapsulating the epitaxial silicon region under the gate stack structure with sacrificial spacers formed on both sides of the gate stack structure and the epitaxial silicon region; forming a channel of the transistor having a width dimension that approximates that of the epitaxial silicon region and the gate stack structure, the epitaxial silicon region and the gate stack structure formed on the channel of the transistor; removing the sacrificial spacers; and growing a raised epitaxial source and drain from the silicon substrate, with portions of the raised epitaxial source and drain in contact with the epitaxial silicon region. |
| US09620506B2 |
Silicon-on-nothing transistor semiconductor structure with channel epitaxial silicon region
An improved transistor with channel epitaxial silicon. In one aspect, a method of fabrication includes: forming a gate stack structure on an epitaxial silicon region disposed on a substrate, a width dimension of the epitaxial silicon region approximating a width dimension of the gate stack structure; and growing a raised epitaxial source and drain from the substrate, the raised epitaxial source and drain in contact with the epitaxial silicon region and the gate stack structure. For a SRAM device, further: removing an epitaxial layer in contact with the silicon substrate and the raised source and drain and to which the epitaxial silicon region is coupled leaving a space above the silicon substrate and under the raised epitaxial source and drain; and filling the space with an insulating layer and isolating the raised epitaxial source and drain and a channel of the transistor from the silicon substrate. |
| US09620505B2 |
Semiconductor device with different fin sets
A semiconductor device which includes: a substrate; a first set of fins above the substrate of a first semiconductor material; a second set of fins above the substrate and of a second semiconductor material different than the first semiconductor material; and an isolation region positioned between the first and second sets of fins, the isolation region having a nitride layer. The isolation region may be an isolation pillar or an isolation trench. |
| US09620504B2 |
Semiconductor device having contact plug and method of forming the same
A semiconductor device includes merged contact plugs. A multi-fin active having N sub-fins is formed in a substrate. A contact plug is formed on the impurity areas. N is an integer between about eight (8) and about one thousand (1000). The N sub-fins include a first sub-fin formed in the outermost portion of the multi-fin active and a second sub-fin formed near the first sub-fin. A straight line perpendicular to a surface of the substrate and passes through a virtual bottom edge of the contact plug is disposed between the first sub-fin and the second sub-fin, or through the second sub-fin. The virtual bottom edge of the contact plug is defined at a cross point of a correlation line extending on a side surface of the contact plug and a horizontal line in contact with a lowermost end of the contact plug and parallel to the surface of the substrate. |
| US09620501B1 |
Enhancement-depletion mode circuit element with differential passivation
An enhancement-depletion circuit element includes a depletion-mode load transistor and an enhancement-mode drive transistor formed from the common elements of: a first patterned conductive layer including a load gate electrode and a drive gate electrode; a patterned inorganic dielectric stack including a load gate dielectric and a drive gate dielectric; a patterned inorganic semiconductor layer including a load semiconductor region and a drive semiconductor region; a second patterned conductive layer including a load source, a load drain, a drive source and a drive drain; and a patterned differential passivation structure having a patterned polymer dielectric layer and a patterned conformal inorganic dielectric layer. The depletion-mode load transistor has a load back-channel in contact with the patterned conformal inorganic dielectric layer. The enhancement-mode drive transistor has a drive back-channel in contact with the patterned polymer dielectric layer. |
| US09620487B2 |
Light emitting device reflective bank structure
Reflective bank structures for light emitting devices are described. The reflective bank structure may include a substrate, an insulating layer on the substrate, and an array of bank openings in the insulating layer with each bank opening including a bottom surface and sidewalls. A reflective layer spans sidewalls of each of the bank openings in the insulating layer. |
| US09620486B2 |
Light-emitting diode module
A light-emitting diode module for emitting white light includes a first light emitting diode chip for generating radiation in the blue spectral range having a first peak wavelength, a second light emitting diode chip for generating radiation in the blue spectral range having a second peak wavelength, a third light emitting diode chip for generating radiation in the red spectral range having a third peak wavelength, a first and a second phosphors disposed downstream of the first and the second light emitting diode chips, respectively. The first light emitting diode chip with the first phosphor generates a first mixed radiation and the second light emitting diode chip with the second phosphor generates a second mixed radiation. The first phosphor exhibits a first absorption maximum at a wavelength greater than the first peak wavelength. The second phosphor exhibits a second absorption maximum at a wavelength less than the second peak wavelength. |
| US09620483B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit including power TSVS
A semiconductor device including power TSVs for stably supplying a power source is described. A semiconductor device includes a chip power pad placed in a first region of a chip, power through silicon vias (TSVs) connected to the chip power pad and placed in the second region of each of the chips, and metal lines configured to couple the chip power pad and the power TSVs. |
| US09620477B2 |
Wire bonder and method of calibrating a wire bonder
Disclosed is a wire bonder comprising: a processor; a bond head coupled to the processor, the processor being configured to control motion of the bond head; a bonding tool mounted to the bond head, the bonding tool being drivable by the bond head to form an electrical interconnection between a semiconductor die and a substrate to which the semiconductor die is mounted using a bonding wire; and a measuring device coupled to the bond head, the measuring device being operable to measure a deformation of a bonding portion of the bonding wire as the bonding tool is driven by the bond head to connect the bonding wire to the semiconductor die via the bonding portion. Specifically, the processor is configured to derive at least one correlation between the measured deformation of the bonding portion and an operating parameter of the wire bonder; compare the at least one derived correlation against a predetermined correlation between the operating parameter of the wire bonder and a desired deformation of the bonding portion; and calibrate the operating parameter of the wire bonder based on the comparison between the at least one derived correlation and the predetermined correlation of the deformation of the bonding portion against the operating parameter of the wire bonder. A method of calibrating a wire bonder is also disclosed. |
| US09620476B2 |
Bonding head and die bonding apparatus having the same
A bonding head and a die bonding apparatus having the same are disclosed. The bonding head includes a body connected to a driving section for transferring the die, a plate heater mounted to a lower surface of the body and a collet mounted to a lower surface of the plate heater and configured to hold the die using a vacuum pressure. A cooling channel is formed at the lower surface of the body, and cooling passages are formed through the body and connected with the cooling channel to supply a cooling fluid into the cooling channel and to recover the cooling fluid from the cooling channel thereby cooling the plate heater. |
| US09620473B1 |
Quilt packaging system with interdigitated interconnecting nodules for inter-chip alignment
First and second integrated devices each have an optical component and a plurality of interconnect structures disposed one edge thereon. The first edge surface of the second integrated device is positioned contiguous to the first edge surface of the first integrated device. The interconnect structures disposed on the first integrated device are in physical contact with the interconnect structures disposed on the edge surface of the second integrated device so as to provide alignment for conveying at least one signal between the optical components on the first and second integrated devices. |
| US09620472B2 |
Method of manufacturing an electronic component
A method of manufacturing an electronic component includes applying solder paste to at least one electrically conductive portion of a package, applying a high-voltage depletion-mode transistor onto the solder paste, applying a low-voltage enhancement-mode transistor onto the solder paste, applying solder paste onto the high-voltage depletion-mode transistor, applying solder paste onto the low-voltage enhancement-mode transistor, applying an electrically conductive member onto the solder paste on the high-voltage depletion-mode transistor and onto the solder paste on the low-voltage enhancement-mode transistor to form an assembly, and heat treating the assembly to produce an electrical connection between the high-voltage depletion-mode transistor and the low-voltage enhancement-mode transistor via the electrically conductive member. |
| US09620471B2 |
Power semiconductor package with conductive clips
A power semiconductor package that includes a semiconductor die having at least two power electrodes and a conductive clip electrically and mechanically coupled to each power electrode. |
| US09620469B2 |
Mechanisms for forming post-passivation interconnect structure
Embodiments of mechanisms for forming a semiconductor device are provided. The semiconductor device includes a contact pad over a substrate. The semiconductor device also includes a passivation layer over the substrate and a first portion of the contact pad, and a second portion of the contact pad is exposed through an opening. The semiconductor device further includes a post-passivation interconnect layer over the passivation layer and coupled to the second portion of the contact pad. In addition, the semiconductor device includes a bump over the post-passivation interconnect layer and outside of the opening. The semiconductor device also includes a diffusion barrier layer physically insulating the bump from the post-passivation interconnect layer while electrically connecting the bump to the post-passivation interconnect layer. |
| US09620465B1 |
Dual-sided integrated fan-out package
A method for forming through vias comprises the steps of forming a dielectric layer over a package and forming an RDL over the dielectric layer, wherein forming the RDL includes the steps of forming a seed layer, forming a first patterned mask over the seed layer, and performing a first metal plating. The method further includes forming through vias on top of a first portion of the RDL, wherein forming the through vias includes forming a second patterned mask over the seed layer and the RDL, and performing a second metal plating. The method further includes attaching a chip to a second portion of the RDL, and encapsulating the chip and the through vias in an encapsulating material. |
| US09620464B2 |
Wireless communications package with integrated antennas and air cavity
Antenna package structures are provided to implement wireless communications packages. For example, an antenna package includes a package carrier and a package cover. The package carrier includes an antenna ground plane and an antenna feed line. The package cover includes a planar lid having a planar antenna element formed on a first surface of the planar lid. The package cover is bonded to a first surface of the package carrier with the first surface of the planar lid facing the first surface of the package carrier, and with the planar antenna element aligned to the antenna ground plane and the antenna feed line of the package carrier, wherein the first surface of the planar lid is disposed at a distance from the first surface of the package carrier to provide an air space between the planar antenna element and the package carrier. |
| US09620462B2 |
Integrated circuit package having surface-mount blocking elements
A first cavity-down ball grid array (BGA) package includes a substrate member and an array of bond balls. The array of bond balls includes a pair of parallel extending rows of outer mesh bond balls and a row of inner signal bond balls that is parallel to the pair of rows of outer mesh bond balls. A surface-mount blocking element is disposed between the row of inner signal bond balls and the pair of rows of outer mesh bond balls. The surface-mount blocking element is either a passive or an active component of the BGA package. In one example, the first cavity-down BGA package is surface-mounted to a second cavity-down BGA package to form a package-on-package (POP) security module. The surface-mount blocking element provides additional physical barrier against the probing of the inner signal bond balls. Sensitive data is therefore protected from unauthorized access. |
| US09620458B2 |
Photolithography alignment mark structures, semiconductor structures, and fabrication method thereof
A method is provided for fabricating a photolithography alignment mark structure. The method includes providing a substrate; thrilling a first grating, a second grating, a third grating and a fourth grating in the substrate; forming a photoresist layer on a surface of the substrate; obtaining a first alignment center along a first direction and a second alignment center along a second direction based on the first grating and the fourth grating, respectively; providing a mask plate having a fifth grating pattern and a sixth grating pattern; aligning the mask plate with the substrate by using the first alignment center as an alignment center along the first direction and the second alignment center as an alignment center along the second direction; reproducing the fifth grating pattern and the sixth grating pattern in the photoresist layer; and forming a fifth grating and a sixth grating on the substrate by removing a portion of photoresist layer. |
| US09620451B2 |
Semiconductor memory device with selectively located air gaps
A method includes: forming a first contact hole by etching a first inter-layer dielectric layer; forming a preliminary first conductive plug that fills the first contact hole; forming a bit line structure over the preliminary first conductive plug; forming a first conductive plug by etching the preliminary first conductive plug so that a gap is formed between a sidewall of the first contact hole and the first conductive plug; forming an insulating plug in the gap; forming a multi-layer spacer including a sacrificial spacer; forming a second conductive plug neighboring the bit line structures and the first conductive plugs with the multi-layer spacer and the insulating plug therebetween; and forming a line-type air gap within the multi-layer spacer by removing the sacrificial spacer. |
| US09620439B2 |
Low-profile footed power package
A power package includes a heat tab extending from a die pad exposed on the underside of the package, which facilitates the removal of heat from the die to the PCB or other surface on which the package is mounted. The heat tab has a bottom surface coplanar with the flat bottom surface of the die pad and bottom surface of a lead. The lead includes a horizontal foot segment, a vertical columnar segment, and a horizontal cantilever segment facing the die pad. The heat tab may also have a foot. A die containing a power device is mounted on a top surface of the die pad and may be electrically connected to the lead using a bonding wire or clip. The die may be mounted on the die pad with an electrically conductive material, and the package may also include a lead that extends from the die pad and is thus electrically tied to the bottom of the die. The result is a package with a minimal footprint that is suitable for the technique known as “wave soldering” that is used in relatively low-cost printed circuit board assembly factories. Methods of fabricating the package are disclosed. |
| US09620434B1 |
High temperature bonding processes incorporating metal particles and bonded substrates formed therefrom
A method of bonding a first substrate to a second substrate includes disposing a first high melting point metal layer onto a first substrate, disposing a first low melting point metal layer onto the first high melting point metal layer, disposing a second high melting point metal layer onto a second substrate, and disposing a second low melting point metal layer onto the second high melting point metal layer. The method further includes applying precursor metal particles onto the first and/or second low melting point metal layers, positioning the first and second low melting point metal layers such that the precursor metal particles contact both the first and second low melting point metal layers, and bonding the first substrate to the second substrate by heating the precursor metal particles and each metal layer to form an intermetallic alloy bonding layer between the first and second substrates. |
| US09620433B2 |
Packaged microelectronic elements having blind vias for heat dissipation
System and method for thermal management in a multi-chip packaged device. A microelectronic unit is disclosed, and includes a semiconductor element having atop surface and a bottom surface remote from the top surface. A semiconductor device including active elements is located adjacent to the top surface. Operation of the semiconductor device generates heat. Additionally, one or more first blind vias extend from the bottom surface and partially into a thickness of the semiconductor element. In that manner, the blind via does not contact or extend to the semiconductor device (defined as active regions of the semiconductor element, and moreover, is electrically isolated from the semiconductor device. A thermally conductive material fills the one or more first blind vias for heat dissipation. Specifically, heat generated by the semiconductor device thermally conducts from the semiconductor element, and is further distributed, transferred and/or dissipated through the one or more first blind vias to other connecting components. |
| US09620429B2 |
Semiconductor apparatus, stacked semiconductor apparatus, encapsulated stacked-semiconductor apparatus, and method for manufacturing the same
The present invention is a semiconductor apparatus including a semiconductor device, an on-semiconductor-device metal pad and a metal interconnect each electrically connected to the semiconductor device, a through electrode and a solder bump each electrically connected to the metal interconnect, a first photosensitive insulating layer formed on the semiconductor device, and a second photosensitive insulating layer formed on the first photosensitive insulating layer, in which the first and second photosensitive insulating layers are composed of a photo-curable resin composition containing a silicone polymer compound having an epoxy group-containing repeating unit shown by formula (1) and a phenolic hydroxyl group-containing repeating unit shown by formula (2), a photosensitive acid generator, a solvent, and crosslinking agents. There can be provided a semiconductor apparatus that can be easily placed on a circuit board and stacked by forming a fine electrode on the semiconductor device and providing a through electrode outside the semiconductor device. |
| US09620426B2 |
Method and system for providing process tool correctables using an optimized sampling scheme with smart interpolation
The present invention may include performing a first measurement on a wafer of a first lot of wafers via an omniscient sampling process, calculating a first set of process tool correctables utilizing one or more results of the measurement performed via an omniscient sampling process, randomly selecting a set of field sampling locations of the wafer of a first lot of wafers, calculating a second set of process tool correctables by applying an interpolation process to the randomly selected set of field sampling locations, wherein the interpolation process utilizes values from the first set of process tool correctables for the randomly selected set of field sampling locations in order to calculate correctables for fields of the wafer of the first lot not included in the set of randomly selected fields, and determining a sub-sampling scheme by comparing the first set of process tool correctables to the second set of correctables. |
| US09620425B1 |
Method of adjusting spacer thickness to provide variable threshold voltages in FinFETs
A method of adjusting work-function metal thickness includes providing a semiconductor structure having a substrate, the substrate including a first array of fins formed thereon. First spacers are formed having a first spacer thickness on sidewalls of fins of the first array. The thickness of the first spacers is adjusted to provide a second spacer thickness different from the first spacer thickness. First supports are formed between and adjacent the first spacers. The first spacers are removed to form first WF metal trenches defined by the fins of the first array and the first supports. A gate is formed extending laterally across the fins of the first array. First WF metal structures are disposed within the first WF metal trenches within the gate. |
| US09620423B2 |
Integrated circuit having chemically modified spacer surface
A method of fabricating an integrated circuit includes depositing a first dielectric material onto a semiconductor surface of a substrate having a gate stack thereon including a gate electrode on a gate dielectric. The first dielectric material is etched to form sidewall spacers on sidewalls of the gate stack. A top surface of the first dielectric material is chemically converted to a second dielectric material by adding at least one element to provide surface converted sidewall spacers. The second dielectric material is chemically bonded across a transition region to the first dielectric material. |
| US09620412B2 |
Method for modifying the crystalline structure of a copper element
A method for modifying crystalline structure of a copper element with a planar surface, including: a) producing a copper standard having large grains, wherein the standard includes a planar surface, b) reducing roughness of the planar surfaces to a roughness of less than 1 nm, c) cleaning the planar surfaces, d) bringing the two planar surfaces into contact, and e) annealing. |
| US09620407B2 |
3D material modification for advanced processing
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to precision material modification of three dimensional (3D) features or advanced processing techniques. Directional ion implantation methods are utilized to selectively modify desired regions of a material layer to improve etch characteristics of the modified material. For example, a modified region of a material layer may exhibit improved etch selectivity relative to an unmodified region of the material layer. Methods described herein are useful for manufacturing 3D hardmasks which may be advantageously utilized in various integration schemes, such as fin isolation and gate-all-around, among others. Multiple directional ion implantation processes may also be utilized to form dopant gradient profiles within a modified layer to further influence etching processes. |
| US09620406B2 |
Methods for fabricating semiconductor devices having fin-shaped patterns by selectively removing oxidized fin-shaped patterns
A method for fabricating a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes forming a first fin-shaped pattern including an upper part and a lower part on a substrate, forming a second fin-shaped pattern by removing a part of the upper part of the first fin-shaped pattern, forming a dummy gate electrode intersecting with the second fin-shaped pattern on the second fin-shaped pattern, and forming a third fin-shaped pattern by removing a part of an upper part of the second fin-shaped pattern after forming the dummy gate electrode, wherein a width of the upper part of the second fin-shaped pattern is smaller than a width of the upper part of the first fin-shaped pattern and is greater than a width of an upper portion of the third fin-shaped pattern. |
| US09620402B2 |
Alignment apparatus and substrate processing apparatus
An alignment apparatus for aligning a wafer includes a mounting unit, an imaging unit, an elevation unit, and a controlling unit. The control unit outputs a control signal for controlling the elevation unit such that a luminance variation between the outer side and the inner side of the wafer obtained by the imaging unit becomes the same as a luminance variation obtained when the imaging unit is focused, for estimating a warpage state of the wafer based on an amount of relative movement of the imaging unit and the mounting unit with respect to a relative height position of the imaging unit and the mounting unit obtained when the imaging unit is focused on a reference wafer having no warpage, and for detecting the alignment mark of the wafer by the imaging unit by rotating the mounting unit in a state where the imaging unit is focused. |
| US09620401B2 |
Pre-aligner apparatus
The apparatus includes a rotary mechanism for holding a semiconductor wafer and rotating the same, a detection mechanism for detecting a positioning cutout portion formed in the wafer, and a wafer transfer mechanism for lifting the wafer from a wafer mounting portion of the rotary mechanism or mounting the wafer on the same. The wafer transfer mechanism has a movable holding portion for holding the wafer at a position just above the wafer mounting portion and is constituted such that the movable holding portion moves up or down while avoiding the wafer held by the rotary mechanism. |
| US09620399B2 |
Load port
A load port is provided with a table and a plate. The table is arranged on a side of a front wall of an atmospheric transfer unit for transferring a piece of material under processing and is adapted to mount on it a container with the piece of material received in the same. The plate serves to isolate an interior of the atmospheric transfer unit from an exterior of the atmospheric transfer unit. The load port includes an exhaust duct arranged on a rear side of the plate and a fan arranged in a lower extremity of the exhaust duct. By the exhaust duct and the fan, an internal atmosphere of the atmospheric transfer unit can be exhausted into the atmosphere. |
| US09620398B2 |
Apparatus for handling a semiconductor component
An apparatus for handling or transferring a semiconductor component. The apparatus comprises a first structure and a second structure coupled thereto. The first structure and the second structure define a vacuum chamber therebetween. The second structure comprises at least one module coupled thereto. Each module comprises a passageway defined therethrough. Vacuum is applied through the passageway for facilitating pick up of the semiconductor component at a first position and for securing the semiconductor component to the module during displacement of the module from the first position to a second position. The apparatus comprises a plunger. Displacement of the plunger from a retracted position to an extended position impedes fluid communication between the passageway of the module and the chamber. Displacement of the plunger to the extended position further causes purging of air through the passageway of the module to thereby detach the semiconductor component from the module. A method for transferring the semiconductor component using the apparatus is also provided by the present invention. |
| US09620397B2 |
Automated material handling system for semiconductor manufacturing based on a combination of vertical carousels and overhead hoists
A highly efficient Automated Material Handling System (AMHS) that allows an overhead hoist transport vehicle to load and unload Work-In-Process (WIP) parts directly to/from one or more WIP storage units included in the system. The AMHS includes an overhead hoist transport subsystem and at least one vertical carousel stocker having a plurality of storage bins. The overhead hoist transport subsystem includes an overhead hoist transport vehicle traveling along a suspended track defining a predetermined route, which runs adjacent to the carousel stocker, thereby allowing the overhead hoist transport vehicle to access a WIP part directly from one of the storage bins. At least one of the storage bins includes a movable shelf operative to move laterally from a first position along the carousel path to a second position near the overhead hoist transport vehicle. |
| US09620394B2 |
Liquid treatment apparatus
In one embodiment, a cleaning member has an annular part and an opening positioned radially inside the annular part, and can be moved up and down between a first position and a second position relative to a cleaning nozzle. For cleaning of the back surface of the wafer, the cleaning member is placed at its first position that allows a cleaning liquid to reach the back surface of the substrate through the opening of the cleaning member. For cleaning of the cup structure, the cleaning member placed at its second position higher than the first position is being rotated, and a cleaning liquid discharged from the cleaning nozzle collides with an annular part of the cleaning member and is guided to the inner surface of a cup structure. |
| US09620391B2 |
Electronic component with a leadframe
The invention relates to an electronic component including a leadframe, composed of a platform, and possibly at least one electrical connecting piece, wherein at least one electronic member is located on the platform, and including a housing that encloses the electronic member and the platform, wherein at least one support region is provided to support the platform during the fabrication process for the housing, and wherein at least a section of the at least one support region projects from the housing. |
| US09620388B2 |
Integrated circuit package fabrication with die attach paddle having middle channels
A method of making an integrated circuit package. A leadframe having a die attach paddle surrounded by lead portions is formed. Middle channels underlying in said die attach paddle portion in a region thereof adapted to receive a first die are formed. |
| US09620379B2 |
Multi-layer mask including non-photodefinable laser energy absorbing layer for substrate dicing by laser and plasma etch
Methods of dicing substrates having a plurality of ICs. A method includes forming a multi-layered mask comprising a laser energy absorbing, non-photodefinable topcoat disposed over a water-soluble base layer disposed over the semiconductor substrate. Because the laser light absorbing material layer is non-photodefinable, material costs associated with conventional photo resist formulations may be avoided. The mask is direct-write patterned with a laser scribing process to provide a patterned mask with gaps. The patterning exposes regions of the substrate between the ICs. Absorption of the mask layer within the laser emission band (e.g., UV band and/or green band) promotes good scribe line quality. The substrate may then be plasma etched through the gaps in the patterned mask to singulate the IC with the mask protecting the ICs during the plasma etch. The soluble base layer of the mask may then be dissolved subsequent to singulation, facilitating removal of the layer. |
| US09620375B2 |
Production method
A production methods includes providing a substrate including a lattice plane that extends in a non-symmetrical manner and such that it is offset at an angle α from at least a first or second main surface region of the substrate, the first and second main surface regions extending parallel to each other; anisotropic etching, starting from the first main surface region, into the substrate so as to obtain an etching structure which includes, in a plane extending perpendicularly to the first main surface region, two different etching angles relative to the first main surface region; arranging a cover layer on the first main surface region, so that the cover layer lies against the etching structure in at least some sections; and removing, section-by-section, the material of the substrate starting from the second main surface region in the area of the deformed cover layer, so that the cover layer is exposed in at least one window region. |
| US09620373B1 |
Methods for fabricating semiconductor or micromachined devices with metal structures and methods for forming self-aligned deep cavity metal structures
Methods for fabricating semiconductor or micromachined devices with metal structures and methods for forming self-aligned deep cavity metal structures are provided. A method for fabricating a device with a metal structure includes patterning a mask with an opening perimeter bounding an opening over a substrate. The method includes performing an isotropic etch to etch a shallow portion of the substrate exposed by the opening and a shallow portion of the substrate underlying the opening perimeter of the mask. The method also includes performing an anisotropic etch to etch a deep portion of the substrate exposed by the mask opening and a deep portion of the substrate underlying the opening perimeter of the mask to form a cavity having a bottom surface. Further, the method includes depositing metal over the mask, into the mask opening and onto the bottom surface, wherein the metal on the bottom surface forms the metal structure. |
| US09620370B2 |
Method of forming Ti film
A method of forming a Ti film on a substrate disposed in a chamber by introducing a processing gas containing a TiCl4 gas as a Ti source and a H2 gas as a reducing gas and by generating plasma in the chamber, includes introducing an Ar gas as a plasma generation gas into the chamber, converting the Ar gas into plasma to generate Ar ions, and acting the Ar ions on the Ti film to promote desorption of Cl from the Ti film. |
| US09620368B2 |
Method for fabricating non-volatile memory with ONO stack
A method for fabricating semiconductor device is disclosed. A substrate having a first gate layer and a first dielectric layer thereon is provided. A shallow trench isolation (STI) is formed in the substrate and surrounds the first gate layer and the first dielectric layer. The first dielectric layer is removed. A first spacer is formed on the sidewall of the STI above the first gate layer. Using the first spacer as mask, part of the first gate layer and part of the substrate are removed for forming a first opening while defining a first gate structure and a second gate structure. |
| US09620367B2 |
Diffusion agent composition, method of forming impurity diffusion layer, and solar cell
A diffusion agent composition including an impurity-diffusing component (A); a binder resin (B) that thermally decomposes and disappears below a temperature at which the impurity-diffusing component (A) begins to thermally diffuse; SiO2 fine particles (C); and an organic solvent (D) that contains an organic solvent (D1) having a boiling point of at least 100° C. |
| US09620365B2 |
Method for patterning sub-50-nanometers structures
Sub-50-nm structures are formed using sequential top-down and bottom up lithographies in conjunction with selective etching. The preferred rendition of the method involves: (a) rough lithographic patterning, (b) size/shape selected nanostructure deposition, (c) resist reflow around the nanostructures, and (d) selective removal/etching of the nanostructure. |
| US09620362B2 |
Seed layer structure for growth of III-V materials on silicon
The present disclosure relates to a structure and method of forming a GaN film on a Si substrate that includes an additional or second high temperature (HT) AlN seed layer, introduced for reducing the tensile stress of GaN on a Si substrate. The second HT AlN seed layer is disposed over a first HT AlN seed layer, and has a low V/III ratio compared to the first HT AlN seed layer. The second HT AlN seed layer has better lattice matching between Si and GaN and this reduces the tensile stress on GaN. The additional HT AlN seed layer further acts as a capping layer and helps annihilate or terminate threading dislocations (TDs) originating from a LT AlN seed layer. The second HT AlN seed layer also helps prevent Si diffusion from the substrate to the GaN film. |
| US09620361B2 |
Apparatus for and method of crystallizing active layer of thin film transistor
An apparatus for crystallizing an active layer of a thin film transistor, the apparatus includes a first laser irradiating a first beam toward a substrate, an amorphous layer on the substrate being crystallizable into the active layer of the thin film transistor by the first beam, and a second laser irradiating a second beam toward the substrate to heat the active layer, the second beam having an asymmetric intensity profile in a scanning direction of the first and second beams. |
| US09620355B2 |
Wafer processing method
A wafer processing method includes a wafer holding step of holding a wafer having devices formed on the front side, a protective film forming step of forming a water-soluble protective film on the front side of the wafer, a laser beam applying step of applying a laser beam to the wafer along streets, a cleaning step of cleaning the wafer to then remove the protective film, and a foreign matter removing step of removing foreign matter from the wafer when a predetermined period of time has elapsed after cleaning. This period of time is set as a period of time until a phosphorus containing reaction product produced at a laser processed portion is evaporated to react with water in the air, thereby producing the foreign matter containing phosphorus on bumps formed on each device. |
| US09620353B2 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device including attaching, by a liquid treatment, a first liquid to a surface of a semiconductor substrate having a fine pattern formed therein; substituting the first liquid attached to the surface of the semiconductor substrate with a solution, the solution comprising a sublimate dissolved in a second liquid; vaporizing the second liquid and precipitating the sublimate to the surface of the semiconductor substrate to form a solid precipitate comprising the sublimate; and removing the precipitate by sublimation. For example, the sublimate may be a material having at least two carboxyl groups bonded to cyclohexane or a material formed of two carboxyl groups bonded to benzene with the bonding sites of the two carboxyl groups being adjacent to one another. |
| US09620350B2 |
Multireflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer
A method of reflecting ions in a multireflection time of flight mass spectrometer is disclosed. The method includes guiding ions toward an ion mirror having multiple electrodes, and applying a voltage to the ion mirror electrodes to create an electric field that causes the mean trajectory of the ions to intersect a plane of symmetry of the ion mirror and to exit the ion mirror, wherein the ion are spatially focussed by the mirror to a first location and temporally focused to a second location different from the first location. Apparatus for carrying out the method is also disclosed. |
| US09620349B2 |
ICR cell operating with a duplexer
An ICR cell (01) operates with a duplexer (08), which is an integral part of a transmission and receiving device (09) of an FT-ICR mass spectrometry device. The device transmits a transmitter (03) voltage to at least one electrode (11) of the ICR cell during an ion excitation phase and protects a preamplifier (04) from overvoltage. An ion received signal passes through a reception path (12) to the preamplifier during an ion detection phase. The duplexer has at least one active serial switch (07) with two switchable states, each with different series impedances, which is inserted in the reception path (12). As a result, a duplexer for an ICR cell of an FT-ICR mass spectrometry device is provided in which at least one electrode can be used for both ion excitation and for subsequent ion detection. |
| US09620342B2 |
Interlacing to improve sampling of data when ramping parameters
Systems and methods are provided for interlacing ramped mass spectrometer parameter values during data acquisition. Ions from a sample are acquired within a cycle time, Ct, using a mass spectrometer. Within each Ct, two or more scans of the acquired ions are performed using two or more ramped values for a parameter of the mass spectrometer. When it is determined that scans for a desired range of ramped parameter values cannot be performed within Ct, the desired range of ramped values is divided into at least two interlaced groups of ramped values. The mass spectrometer is instructed to perform scans for each of the interlaced groups within two or more cycle times. Spectra from the scans for each of the at least two interlaced groups are combined. The ramped parameter values of the combined spectra have the desired range and the desired effective step size. |
| US09620340B2 |
Charge removal from electrodes in unipolar sputtering system
This disclosure describes a non-dissipative snubber circuit configured to boost a voltage applied to a load after the load's impedance rises rapidly. The voltage boost can thereby cause more rapid current ramping after a decrease in power delivery to the load which results from the load impedance rise. In particular, the snubber can comprise a combination of a unidirectional switch, a voltage multiplier, and a current limiter. In some cases, these components can be a diode, voltage doubler, and an inductor, respectively. |
| US09620338B2 |
System, method, and program for predicting processing shape by plasma process
A system, a method, and a program for predicting a processing shape formed by a plasma process, including databases for apparatus condition, incident ion, incident radical, actual measurement, material property and surface reaction, as well as a trajectory calculation unit, and a surface shape calculation unit. The trajectory calculation unit calculates the trajectories of the respective ions incident on the surface of the substrate based on information and data obtained from the databases and from measurement data from an on-wafer monitoring sensor. Based on the calculation result by the trajectory calculation unit, the surface shape calculation unit calculates the change of the shape by referring to the data stored in the material property and surface reaction DB. |
| US09620333B2 |
Charged particle beam apparatus
A charged particle beam apparatus automatically prepares a sample piece from a sample and includes a charged particle beam irradiation optical system that irradiates a charged particle beam to a sample placed on a movable sample stage. A sample piece transferring unit holds and transfers a sample piece separated and extracted from the sample, and a holder support holds a sample piece holder to which the sample piece is transferred. A computer controls a position of an object based on a template prepared from an image of the object acquired by irradition with the charged particle beam and position information acquired from the image of the object. The sample piece transferring unit includes a needle that transfers the sample piece separated and extrated from the sample, and a needle actuting mechanism that actuates the needle. The computer controls the needle actuating mechanism so as to approach the needle to the sample piece using the template formed from an absorbed current image acquired by irradiating the needle with the charged particle beam. |
| US09620330B2 |
Mathematical image assembly in a scanning-type microscope
A method and apparatus for imaging a specimen using a scanning-type microscope, by irradiating a specimen with a beam of radiation using a scanning motion, and detecting a flux of radiation emanating from the specimen in response to the irradiation, in the first sampling session {S1} of a set {Sn}, gathering data from a first collection of sparsely distributed sampling points {P1} of set {Pn}. A mathematical registration correction is made to compensate for drift mismatches between different members of the set {Pn}, and an image of the specimen is assembled using the set {Pn} as input to an integrative mathematical reconstruction procedure. |
| US09620328B1 |
Electrostatic multipole device, electrostatic multipole arrangement, charged particle beam device, and method of operating an electrostatic multipole device
A multipole device for influencing a charged particle beam propagating along an optical axis is described. The multipole device includes: an electrostatic deflector with at least two deflector electrodes for deflecting the charged particle beam by a deflection angle, wherein the deflector electrodes extend over a first length along the optical axis; and an electrostatic corrector comprising at least four corrector electrodes to compensate for an aberration of the charged particle beam, wherein the corrector electrodes extend over a second length along the optical axis, which is shorter than the first length. A distance between a projection of the deflector electrodes on the optical axis and a projection of the corrector electrodes on the optical axis may be smaller than the first length so that, during operation of the multipole device, first fringe fields generated by the deflector electrodes and second fringe fields generated by the corrector electrodes may spatially overlap, wherein the electrostatic corrector may be configured to compensate for an aberration of the charged particle beam caused by the electrostatic deflector. |
| US09620322B2 |
Arc suppressor for fusible elements
An arc suppressor fixable to a fusible element to suppress electrical arcs and prevent the spread of electric arc “burn-back.” The arc suppressor includes first and second inner members comprised of pre-cured silicone rubber, and first and second outer members comprised of an arc suppressing material (e.g., melamine). The inner and outer members form a sandwich around a portion of the fusible element, wherein the first inner member is located adjacent to a first surface of the fusible element and the second inner member is located adjacent to an opposing second surface of the fusible element. The first outer member is located adjacent to the first inner member and the second outer member is located adjacent to the second inner member. Mechanical fasteners tightly engage together the first and second inner members, the fusible element, and the first and second outer members. |
| US09620321B2 |
Fuse for an electrical circuit and printed circuit board having a fuse
Described is a fuse for an electrical circuit, comprising two contact arms, each having at least one connecting pin for inserting into a hole of a printed circuit board, and a spring which connects the two contact arms in an electrically conductive manner. According to this disclosure, it is provided that the spring is fastened to at least one of the two contact arms by means of a fastening means that loses its strength at a trigger temperature of the fuse, wherein the fuse is formed in such a manner that by inserting the connecting pins into holes of a printed circuit board, the spring is loaded such that the spring lifts from the at least one contact arm by spring force as soon as the fastening means loses its strength due to overheating. Moreover, a printed circuit board comprising such a fuse is described. |
| US09620319B2 |
Coil actuator for a switching device and related switching device
An exemplary coil actuator for an associated switching device which can be actuated during its operation from an open position to a closed position to allow a current to flow therethrough and from the closed position to the open position to interrupt such flowing from flowing therethrough. The coil actuator includes a coil electromagnet arranged to move between a rest position and an actuating position, wherein movement from the rest position to the actuating position is suitable to cause the actuation of the switching device; and an electronic component arranged to count an operation time which is indicative of the duration of the actuation of the switching device. |
| US09620318B2 |
Reflowable circuit protection device
A circuit protection device includes a substrate with first and second electrodes connected to the circuit to be protected. The circuit protection device also includes a heater element. A sensing element facilitates an electrical connection between the first and second electrodes. A flux material is provided around the sensing element. In a preferred embodiment, the flux contains a first component that is a polar material and a second component that is a non-polar material. A spring element exerts a force on the sensing element. The sensing element resists the force applied by the spring element. Upon detection of an activation, or fault, condition, the sensing element loses resilience and no longer resists the force exerted by the spring element, resulting in the spring element severing the electrical connection between the first and second electrodes. The flux allows the spring element to sever the electrical connection without dragging the sensing element. |
| US09620316B2 |
Circuit-breaker pole part with a flexible conductor for connecting a movable electrical contact
The disclosure relates to a pole part of a circuit-breaker arrangement having an insulation housing for accommodating a vacuum interrupter containing a pair of corresponding electrical switching contacts, wherein a fixed upper electrical contact is connected to an upper electrical terminal molded or assembled in the insulation housing and a movable lower electrical contact is connected to the insulating housing by a support plate of the insulation housing via a flexible conductor that includes a first end for attaching the flexible conductor to the lower electrical terminal and a second end for attaching the flexible conductor to the movable lower electrical contact. The second end of the flexible conductor is provided with an inside thread which is screwed to an outside thread arranged on the distal end of the movable lower electrical contact. |
| US09620305B2 |
Meter socket adapter with integrated automatic transfer switch
A transfer switch and load controller that can be plugged into an existing utility meter socket and electrically positioned between the meter socket and a distribution panel to allow switching between utility power and standby power. The plug-in transfer switch functions to transfer the power supplied to a home between the utility power source and the generator power source upon loss of power from the utility power source. The transfer switch components are contained in an enclosed housing of a meter socket adapter that is mounted directly to the meter socket of a meter housing. The meter socket adapter is prewired to a standby generator such that the standby generator can be connected to a home power system by plugging the meter socket adapter into the meter socket. |
| US09620296B2 |
Low frequency converters having electrochemical capacitors
In one embodiment of the invention, a low frequency converter is described that includes a first electrochemical capacitor to charge to an input voltage and a second electrochemical capacitor that is coupled to the first electrochemical capacitor. The second electrochemical capacitor is associated with an output voltage of the low frequency converter. Each electrochemical capacitor may have a capacitance of at least one millifarad (mF) and a switching frequency that is less than one kilohertz. |
| US09620292B2 |
Direct-current capacitor module and laminated busbar structure thereof
A direct-current capacitor module is disclosed in this disclosure. The direct-current capacitor module includes a plurality of direct-current capacitors and a laminated busbar structure. The direct-current capacitors are grouped into a first portion and a second portion. The laminated busbar structure is electrically connected to capacitor binding posts of the direct-current capacitors. The laminated busbar structure has a positive terminal and a negative terminal. The laminated busbar structure includes a first busbar layer, a second busbar layer and an insulation layer. The first busbar layer includes a first sub-busbar layer, which is electrically connected between at least two direct-current capacitors of the first portion. The second busbar layer includes a second sub-busbar layer, which is electrically connected between at least two direct-current capacitors of the second portion. The insulation layer is disposed between the first busbar layer and the second busbar layer. |
| US09620290B2 |
Monolithic ceramic electronic component and method for manufacturing the same
A monolithic ceramic electronic component having outer electrodes that include an inorganic substance containing at least Si, a crystal phase C containing at least Si, Ti, and Ba at the interfaces to a ceramic layer in peripheral end portions of the outer electrodes. A value of the crystal phase area ratio indicating the relationship between the area of the crystal phase C and the area of a glass phase G, which are formed at the interface to the ceramic layer, in a region within 5 μm from the peripheral end portion of the outer electrode is within a range of 75% to 98%. |
| US09620279B2 |
Coil unit and contactless power supplying apparatus
In a power supplying side core around which a power supplying side resonant coil is wound that contactlessly supplies power to a power receiving side resonant coil, a pair of protrusion portions is provided that protrudes from central axis direction both sides of the power supplying side resonant coil toward the power receiving side resonant coil. Further, in a power receiving side core around which the power receiving side resonant coil is wound that contactlessly receives power from the power supplying side resonant coil, a pair of protrusion portions is provided that protrudes from central axis direction both sides of the power receiving side resonant coil toward the power supplying side resonant coil. |
| US09620276B1 |
System, method and apparatus for transformer cooling
An air cooling system, method, apparatus and kit applied to lower transformer operating temperatures, such as governed by a tank or container of oil, allowing transformer components to run more efficiently at a lower temperature level, e.g., down from the hot level operating temperatures typical in stressed conventional devices. By lowering the operational levels to within or below the nominal operational temperature ranges for the equipment, and recovering heat generated during operation, several advantages are obtained. |
| US09620275B2 |
Method of constructing a rotor for a line start interior permanent magnet motor
A method includes: (1) providing a rotor for a line start interior permanent magnet motor wherein the rotor has rotor bars slots extending axially along a length of the rotor configured to receive rotor bar material, and magnet slots extending axially along a length of the rotor configured to receive magnetic material; (2) disposing rotor bar material in the rotor bar slots; (3) arranging a first end member on an axial end of the rotor; (4) disposing magnetic material in the magnet slots; (5) magnetizing the magnetic material; and (6) arranging a second end member on the rotor opposite the first end member. The step of arranging the second end member on the rotor occurs after magnetizing the magnetic material. |
| US09620269B2 |
Method and equipment for processing NdFeB rare earth permanent magnetic alloy with hydrogen pulverization
A method and an equipment for processing NdFeB rare earth permanent magnetic alloy with a hydrogen pulverization are provided. The method includes steps of: providing a continuous hydrogen pulverization equipment; while driving by a transmission device, passing a charging box loaded with rare earth permanent magnetic alloy flakes orderly through a hydrogen absorption chamber, having a temperature of 50-350° C. for absorbing hydrogen, a heating and dehydrogenating chamber, having a temperature of 600-900° C. for dehydrogenating, and a cooling chamber of the continuous hydrogen pulverization equipment; receiving the charging box by a discharging chamber through a discharging valve; pouring out the alloy flakes after the hydrogen pulverization into a storage tank at a lower part of the discharging chamber; sealing up the storage tank under a protection of nitrogen; and, moving the charging box out through a discharging door of the discharging chamber and re-loading, for repeating the previous steps. |
| US09620268B2 |
R-T-B based alloy strip, and R-T-B based sintered magnet and method for producing same
An R-T-B based alloy strip including columnar crystals of an R2T14B phase, wherein in a cross-section along the thickness direction, columnar crystals extend out in a radial fashion from the crystal nuclei, the R-T-B based alloy strip satisfying the following inequality (1), where D1 and D2 are, respectively, the average value for the lengths of the columnar crystals on one side and the average value for the lengths on the other side that is opposite the one side, in the direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the cross-section. 0.9/1.1≦D2/D1≦1.1/0.9 (1) |
| US09620267B2 |
Resistor and manufacturing method for same
In a method of manufacturing a resistor, a sheet-shaped resistive element having formed thereon a plurality of belt-shaped electrodes is cut in a direction crossing these belt-shaped electrodes to produce strip-shaped resistive elements. On the other hand, a metal paste containing a glass frit is printed in a pattern of belts arranged at regular intervals on a surface of a plate-shaped insulating substrate to form a plurality of adhesive layers. Then, the strip-shaped resistive elements are respectively applied to the adhesive layers on the plate-shaped insulating substrate, and these are fired in a nitrogen atmosphere. After firing, while a resistance value of a part between each adjacent two electrodes of each strip-shaped resistive element is measured, the strip-shaped resistive element is trimmed so that the resistance value becomes a predetermined value. Then, the plate-shaped insulating substrate having adhered thereto the strip-shaped resistive elements is divided into pieces. |
| US09620264B2 |
Method for manufacturing transparent conductive film
A method for manufacturing a transparent conductive film, including: 1) providing a conductive scraper including a slurry feeding mouth and a slurry discharging gap; 2) placing a transparent film including a prefabricated groove on a conductive moving table, moving the conductive moving table horizontally in relation to the conductive scraper, controlling the moving speed of the conductive moving table at between 0.1 and 1 m/min, and allowing the conductive slurry to flow out of the conductive scrapper via the slurry discharging gap; 3) applying a voltage between the conductive moving table and the conductive scraper, and driving the conductive slurry flowing out of the conductive scraper to fill the groove of the transparent film by an electrodynamic force produced by the voltage; and 4) curing the conductive slurry filled in the groove of the transparent film. |
| US09620263B2 |
Bus bar, bus bar module, and method of manufacturing bus bar
A bus bar (1) comprises: a laminated conductive wire (20) formed by arranging side by side in the longitudinal direction a first plate-shaped conductive wire (21) formed by spirally winding stripe conductors (11, 12) mutually adjacent in the width direction while bringing the opposing inner surfaces closer to each other, and a second plate-shaped conductive wire (22) formed by spirally winding the stripe conductors (11, 12) in the direction opposite the direction of the first conductive wire (21) while bringing the opposing inner surfaces closer to each other, and overlapping these wires (21, 22) so that the outer surfaces in the width direction face each other; and terminals (30) joined to the first conductive wire (21) and the second conductive wire (22) at both ends of the laminated conductive wire (20). |
| US09620258B2 |
Silver-based electrical contact material
The present invention relates to a new silver-based electrical contact material, in which silver is in a continuous phase and carbon being in a nano-dispersed phase is dispersed in continuous phase silver. The content of the dispersed phase carbon in the silver-based electrical contact material can be 0.02% to 5% by weight, on the basis of the total weight of the silver-based electrical contact material. According to the present invention, the carbon contains carbon in a diamond form. Such a silver-based electrical contact material shows excellent mechanical wear resistance and electrical performance. |
| US09620257B2 |
Composition made of polymers and electrically conductive carbon
Polymer compositions which are antistatic or have been made conductive and the production thereof. |
| US09620255B2 |
Nuclear control rod position indication system
A high temperature reed switch position indicator for a pressurized water reactor in which the drive rod housing is completely immersed in the reactor coolant. The reed switch sensor modules positioned along the control rod drive rod travel housing are constructed solely of metallic, ceramic and glass materials and are sealed within an outer housing to isolate the sensor assembly from the coolant. |
| US09620250B2 |
Spacer grid
A spacer grid includes interlocked straps comprising metal sheets or plates welded together to define a spacer grid having a top and bottom. The interlocked straps define a plurality of cells comprising vertical passages connecting the top and bottom of the spacer grid. The cells include: upper dimples proximate to the top of the spacer grid and distal from the mid-plane of the spacer grid; lower dimples proximate to the bottom of the spacer grid and distal from the mid-plane of the spacer grid; cantilevered upper springs having fuel rod engagement surfaces proximate to the top of the spacer grid and distal from the mid-plane of the spacer grid; and cantilevered lower springs having fuel rod engagement surfaces proximate to the bottom of the spacer grid and distal from the mid-plane of the spacer grid. |
| US09620249B2 |
Debris shield upper tie plate for nuclear fuel assembly and method to shield assembly from debris
A nuclear reactor fuel bundle assembly including: a fuel bundle including an array of fuel rods and water rods mounted in an upper tie plate and housed in walls of a channel, and a pore type debris shield mounted at least partially in the channel, above or below the upper tie plate, the shield extending to or over the walls of the channel, whereby deflecting and/or capturing falling debris from entering the fuel assembly, wherein the shield is design to be durable, yet flexible, and porous. |
| US09620248B2 |
Dispersion ceramic micro-encapsulated (DCM) nuclear fuel and related methods
The invention relates to the use of Dispersion Ceramic Micro-Encapsulated (DCM) nuclear fuel as a meltdown-proof, accident-tolerant fuel to replace uranium dioxide fuel in existing light water reactors (LWRs). The safety qualities of the DCM fuel are obtained by the combination of three strong barriers to fission product release (ceramic coatings around the fuel kernels), highly dense inert ceramic matrix around the coated fuel particles and metallic or ceramic cladding around the fuel pellets. |
| US09620244B1 |
Determining categories for memory fail conditions
Embodiments of the present invention provide methods, program products, and systems for testing a memory cell arrangement. Embodiments of the present invention can determine categories of memory fail conditions by checking memory cells of with a sequence of test parameter configurations for a malfunction using test parameters, storing for test parameter configurations for which a malfunction is detected, and assigning the respective test parameter configuration with a bit fail count comprising the number of malfunctioning memory cells. Embodiments of the present invention can be used to create a relational data structure representing test parameter configurations and can combine one or more test parameter configurations and can create a representation of the bit fail counts of the respective test parameter configurations. |
| US09620241B2 |
Shift register unit, method for driving the same, shift register and display device
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a shift register unit may include: a first control module, configured to transmit a start signal to a first node; a second control module, configured to pull a potential of a second node to a potential different from a potential of the first node, under a control of a first clock signal; a carry output module, configured to output a carry signal according to the potential of the first node and the potential of the second node; and a shift output module, configured to output a shift signal according to the potential of the first node and the potential of the second node. |
| US09620237B2 |
Semiconductor device and search circuit for and method of searching for erasure count in semiconductor memory
A semiconductor device and search circuit for and method of searching for a count of erasures in a semiconductor memory. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor memory in which data erasure is performed in units of blocks. A block management memory stores, corresponding to each of the blocks, a piece of erasure count data representing a count of erasures of data performed in the block. An erasure count search circuit successively reads the pieces of erasure count data from the block management memory so as to search for a block corresponding to a piece of erasure count data representing an intended erasure count from among the pieces of erasure count data read from the block management memory. The circuit also outputs an address of the searched block as an erasure count address. |
| US09620236B2 |
Level compensation in multilevel memory
Some embodiments include apparatuses and methods having a compensation unit to provide a compensation value based at least in part on a threshold voltage value of a memory cell. At least one of such embodiments includes a controller to select a code during an operation of retrieving information from the memory cell to represent a value of information stored in the memory cell. Such a code can be associated with an address having an address value based at least in part on the compensation value. Additional apparatuses and methods are described. |