| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09654017B2 |
Structural frame cooling manifold
A variable speed drive includes a converter connected to an AC power source, a DC link connected to the converter, and an inverter connected to the DC link. The inverter converts DC voltage into an output AC power having a variable voltage and frequency. The inverter includes at least one power electronics module and associated control circuitry; a heat sink in thermal communication with the power electronics module and in fluid communication with a manifold. The manifold includes a tubular member having at least one vertical member portion and at least one horizontal member portion in fluid communication. A plurality of ports conduct cooling fluid into and out of the manifold. A bracket attaches the manifold to a structural frame. Brackets are provided for attachment of power electronics modules to the manifold. |
| US09654016B2 |
Step-up or step-down converter comprising a bypass capacitor
A converter includes a converter inductor, a converter diode, and a converter switch, wherein the converter inductor, the converter diode and the converter switch operate together to receive an input voltage and generate a converted output voltage. The converter further includes a bypass circuit that is connected in parallel with the converter switch; the bypass circuit includes a bypass capacitor connected in series with a diode, wherein a forward direction of the diode is the same as a regular direction of current flow through the converter switch. The converter also includes a discharge circuit configured to discharge the bypass capacitor, wherein the discharge circuit includes an inductor. The inductor of the discharge circuit is magnetically coupled to the converter inductor. |
| US09654014B1 |
Adaptive leading edge blanking time generation for current-mode switch-mode power supplies
A current-mode switch-mode power supply controller includes a switch controller, a falling edge detector, and leading edge blanking (LEB) time logic. The switch controller is arranged to control regulation of an output signal via current-mode regulation by turning a primary switch on and off based on a current sense (CS) signal and an LEB signal, such that the switch controller is arranged to cause the primary switch to remain on while the LEB time signal is asserted. The falling edge detector is arranged to detect a falling edge in the CS signal. The LEB time logic is arranged to provide the LEB time signal such that the assertion of the LEB time signal begins when a gate signal is asserted, and such that the assertion of the LEB time signal ends when the falling edge detector detects the falling edge in the CS signal. |
| US09654012B2 |
Converter and method for controlling the same using an overcurrent protection switch
A converter may include a transformer, an overcurrent protection switch configured to be installed at a primary side of the transformer to prevent an overcurrent, a comparator configured to detect a voltage of the overcurrent protection switch to convert the detected voltage into an output current sensing value and compare the output current sensing value with a reference value, and a protection controller configured to normally operate or forcibly turn off the overcurrent protection switch depending on a comparison result of the comparator. |
| US09654011B2 |
Control circuit and method of a power converter
A feedback signal stabilized by a capacitor and related to an output voltage of a power converter is used to acquire the output power information of the power converter, and a control circuit uses a second clock not related to the switching frequency of the power converter to count a duration time of the feedback signal being higher than a threshold. When the duration time is higher than a preset time, an abnormal output power of the power converter is distinguished and the power converter will be turned off. The feedback signal will not vary severely even if the output terminal of the power converter is interfered, and the counted duration time will not be influenced when the switching frequency is changing caused by a load changing. |
| US09654009B2 |
High efficiency DC-to-DC converter
A power converter is described herein. The power converter may be configured to enable a high-side switch when a resonating voltage at a switching net coupled between the high-side switch and a low-side switch reaches a maximum voltage while the power converter operates in a discontinuous current mode. The power converter may sample the resonating voltage at the switching net at a time when the high-side switch is enabled and compare the sampled voltage with a previously-sampled voltage of the switching net. A frequency of an oscillating signal that drives the activation of the high-side switch is periodically adjusted based on the comparison, which causes the high-side switch to be enabled at different times with respect to the resonating voltage. The frequency of the oscillating signal is continuously adjusted such that the high-side switch is enabled at time(s) where the resonating voltage reaches (or is near) its maximum voltage. |
| US09654008B2 |
Regulator circuit and method of operating regulator circuit
A regulator circuit includes a regulator output node, at least (N+1) regulator control circuits, and N drivers. N is an integer greater than 1. Each one of the N drivers includes a multiplexer, a driver stage, and a pre-driver stage. The multiplexer includes an input port and an output port, where the input port of the multiplexer is coupled with output nodes of the at least (N+1) regulator control circuits. The driver stage is coupled with the regulator output node. The pre-driver stage is configured to control the driver stage based on a signal on the output port of the multiplexer. |
| US09654004B1 |
3D integrated DC-DC power converters
Techniques for integrating DC-DC power converters with other on-chip circuitry are provided. In one aspect, an integrated DC-DC power converter includes: a GaN transistor chip having at least one GaN switch formed thereon; an interposer chip, bonded to the GaN transistor chip, having at least one power driver transistor formed thereon; TSVs present in the interposer chip adjacent to the power driver transistor and which connect the power driver transistor to the GaN switch; and an on-chip magnetic inductor formed either on the GaN transistor chip or on the interposer chip. A method of forming a fully integrated DC-DC power converter is also provided. |
| US09654001B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer laminate disposed on a semiconductor substrate, a first and a second low-side transistors, and a first and a second high-side transistors. Each of the transistors is disposed on the semiconductor layer laminate, and includes a gate electrode, a source electrode, and a drain electrode. The second low-side transistor is disposed between the first low-side transistor and the first high-side transistor, and the first high-side transistor is disposed between the second low-side transistor and the second high-side transistor. The source electrodes of the first and the second low-side transistors are combined into one source electrode, the drain electrodes of the first and the second high-side transistors are combined into one drain electrode, and the drain electrode of the second low-side transistor and the source electrode of the first high-side transistor are combined into one first electrode. |
| US09653996B2 |
Adaptive off time control scheme for semi-resonant and hybrid converters
In one implementation, a voltage converter includes a high side power switch, and first and second low side power switches. The voltage converter also includes a driver stage for driving the high side power switch and the first and second low side power switches, and an adaptive OFF-time control circuit coupled to the driver stage. The adaptive OFF-time control circuit is configured to sense a current through one of the first and second low side switches, and to determine an adaptive off time for the high side power switch based on the sensed current. |
| US09653995B2 |
Control device and method for regulating a multiphase DC-DC converter
The invention relates to a control device for regulating a multiphase dc-dc converter having at least one first converter branch and one second converter branch connected in parallel to the first converter branch. The control device comprises a switching signal generation device that is designed to determine measurement values for the current in the converter branches, to compare, for a first of the converter branches, the determined measurement value of the current in the first converter branch to a first upper threshold current value and a first lower threshold current value and, on the basis of the comparisons, to generate a first control signal for switching devices of the first converter branch, and for a second of the converter branches, to compare the determined measurement value of the current in the second converter branch to a second upper threshold current value and a second lower threshold current value and, on the basis of the comparisons, to generate a second control signal for switching devices of the second converter branch. The control device further comprises a threshold value generator, which is coupled to the switching signal generation device and is designed to generate upper and lower threshold current values for the switching signal generation device, to determine an actual current phase offset of the control signals for the switching devices in the first and second converter branches, and on the basis of the determined phase offset, to temporarily modify the second upper current threshold value and/or the second lower current threshold value. |
| US09653994B2 |
Power supply circuit and apparatus including the circuit
A power supply device supplying power to a device via a power line is provided, where the power supply device includes a first voltage generation unit configured to generate and supply a first direct voltage to the power line, a second voltage generation unit configured to generate and supply a second direct voltage lower than the first direct voltage to the power line, a measurement unit configured to measure a voltage of the power line, a control unit configured to control supply of the first direct voltage with the first voltage generation unit after starting supply of the second direct voltage with the second voltage generation unit, and a determination unit configured to determine a state of the power supply device based on the measured voltage and a first threshold value after starting the supply of the second direct voltage. |
| US09653991B2 |
Power converter and driving method for the same
A power converter may include an inductor, a switch turned on or turned off according to a control signal to control the flow of a current flowing through the inductor, and a control unit for outputting the control signal to turn on or turn off the switch by integrating a current flowing through the switch to compare the integrated current with the size of a preset reference voltage. The power converter and a driving method for the same may reduce errors of current control and have a simple structure. |
| US09653986B2 |
Multi-level step-up converter topologies, control and soft start systems and methods
A multi-level, step-up converter circuit includes an inductor including one terminal in communication with an input voltage supply. N transistor pairs are connected in series, where N is an integer greater than one. First and second transistors of a first pair of the N transistor pairs are connected together at a node. The node is in communication with another terminal of the inductor. Third and fourth transistors of a second pair of the N transistor pairs are connected to the first and second transistors, respectively. (N−1) capacitors have terminals connected between the N transistor pairs, respectively. An output capacitor has a terminal in communication with at least one transistor of the N transistor pair. |
| US09653985B2 |
Resonant converter and controlling method thereof
A resonant converter and its controlling method are provided. The resonant converter includes a bridge switching circuit receiving a DC input voltage through its power terminal, a resonant and transforming circuit, a rectifying and filtering circuit, and an over-current protecting circuit. The resonant and transforming circuit has at least one resonant capacitor charged/discharged in response to the switching of the bridge switching circuit. The rectifying and filtering circuit rectifies and filters outputs of the resonant and transforming circuit, and generates a driving voltage accordingly. The over-current protecting circuit is coupled to the power terminal and crosses over the resonant capacitor to form a clamp path. The over-current protecting circuit detects a current flowing through the resonant and transforming circuit or a load and determines whether to conduct/cut off the clamp path according to the detection result to limit a cross voltage of the resonant capacitor within a first voltage range. |
| US09653981B2 |
Linear actuator
A linear actuator with a high holding force providing good irreversibility, has a high efficiency, low friction screw mechanism and a stepper motor with high magnetic detent torque but a low output torque ripple. The phase torque is modified to minimize the effect of the detent torque on the output. torque. Preferably, the motor has asymmetric phases to compensate for the detent torque. |
| US09653978B2 |
Permanent magnet, and electric machine comprising same, and a method for producing the electric machine
Permanent magnet (10), containing at least one metal component (13) from the group of the rare earth metals, comprising a first coating film (20), which forms a cathodic protection against corrosion for the permanent magnet (10), the first coating film (20) containing a metal (23) which is more electronegative in the electrochemical series than the metal component (13) of the permanent magnet (10), wherein a second coating film (30), which is embodied in an electrically insulating fashion, is applied on the first coating film (20). |
| US09653973B1 |
Thermally enhanced hub motor
Apparatuses and methods relating to hub motors having enhanced thermal characteristics may include a hub motor having a stator comprising steel and a central axle (e.g., a mandrel and shaft) comprising a material with a substantially higher thermal conductivity than the stator (e.g., aluminum). Heat may be transferred from the stator through the axle of the motor to an outside heat sink. Manufacturing of thermally enhanced hub motors may include extrusion and/or cryogenic fitting methods relating to the central mandrel and shaft. |
| US09653964B2 |
Linear actuator
[Problem] To reduce the size of a linear actuator motor without increasing the operating noise thereof, and to thereby achieve a quieter, more compact linear actuator. [Solution] A linear actuator including: a shaft that is rotated in the forward and reverse directions by a motor via a double start worm and a worm wheel; a screw nut that is screwed and mounted to the shaft; and a piston tube that is fixed to the screw nut and that advances or retreats in accordance with the rotation of the shaft. The motor includes: a four-pole magnet; an armature formed by lap winding an armature coil; a commutator; brushes that are vertically arranged at positions offset by approximately 90°; and an equalizer for connecting coils in the armature coil that are to undergo potential equalization. |
| US09653961B2 |
Stator sleeve with integrated cooling for hybrid/electric drive motor
A hybrid system includes an electric motor/generator or eMachine with a stator received in a cooling sleeve. The stator is pressed into the cooling sleeve to form a press-fit connection. The press fit connection has sufficient strength to carry the complete torque generated by the eMachine, so the stator will never move relative to the sleeve through the life of the hybrid system. |
| US09653952B2 |
Half permanent magnet motor
A motor includes a rotor and a stator. The rotor includes a plurality of magnets, which function as first magnetic poles, and salient poles, which function as second magnetic poles. A ratio X1:X2 of a quantity X1 of magnetic pole portions of the rotor, which is the sum of the quantity of the magnets and the quantity of the salient poles, and the quantity X2 of slots is 2n:3n (n being a natural number). The sum of a magnetic pole occupying angle θ1 of the magnet and a magnetic pole occupying angle θ2 of the salient pole is 360°. The magnetic pole occupying angle θ1 is set in a range of 180°<θ1≦230°. |
| US09653950B2 |
Wireless power transmitting device and method for controlling to transmit wireless power signal in wireless power transmitting device
There is provided a wireless power transmitting device including a transmission coil configured to transmit a wireless power signal to a wireless power receiving device; a driving driver configured to generate a wireless power driving signal which is a driving signal for the wireless power signal; an alternating current sensor configured to detect an alternating current signal of the transmission coil which is generated by a wireless power receiving signal including wireless power receiving information of a wireless power receiving device; an alternating voltage sensor configured to detect an alternating voltage signal of the transmission coil, the alternating current signal being generated by the wireless power receiving signal from the wireless power receiving device; a signal processing unit configured to process the alternating current signal and the alternating voltage signal from the alternating current sensor and the alternating voltage sensor; and a wireless power transmitting controller that, when the alternating current signal and the alternating voltage signal of the transmission coil are detected and signal processing is normally performed on at least one of the alternating current signal and the alternating voltage signal, obtains the wireless power receiving information through the signal on which the signal processing is performed and controls the driving driver on the basis of the wireless power receiving information. Further, there is provided a method for controlling to transmit a wireless power signal in the wireless power transmitting device. |
| US09653946B2 |
Power distribution system
A power distribution system includes at least one server and a power distribution unit coupled to the at least one server. The power distribution unit includes a power distribution controller and a power input unit, a battery and a power switcher coupled to the power distribution controller. The power distribution controller detects a voltage of an alternating current (AC) received from power source by the power input unit. If the voltage is greater than a first threshold and smaller than a second threshold, the power distribution controller switches the power switcher to be coupled to the power input unit, and provides the alternating current (AC) to the at least one server. Conversely, the power distribution controller switches the power switcher to be coupled to the battery, and provides a direct current (DC) to the at least one server. Accordingly, power consumption and waste during power supply may be effectively reduced. |
| US09653938B2 |
Method and apparatus for improving electronics devices wireless charging using inertial sensors
In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, a method comprises: monitoring a motion of a handset from a wireless charger to detect a presence of the handset on the wireless charger (312); initiating a wireless charging when the presence of the handset is detected on the wireless charger and transmitting a charging notification to an end user (318); sending a battery full message for notifying the end user when the wireless charging is complete and terminating the wireless charging (316); setting the handset to a standby mode and initializing inertial sensor(s) to provide an interrupt signal (330); entering a maintenance charging mode of a battery of the handset when it is below a recharging threshold without notifying the end user (336); and continuing the maintenance charging mode of the wireless charging device until the battery is full (342) or the wireless charging device is removed from the wireless charger transmitter (340). |
| US09653937B2 |
Power supplying apparatus, power receiving apparatus, electrical vehicle, charging system, and charging method
It is an object of the present invention to provide a power supplying apparatus, a power receiving apparatus, an electrical vehicle, a charging system, and a charging method, the power feeding apparatus improving reliability by suppressing any decrease in charging efficiency and making charging control communication more resistant to high-frequency noise of a switching element. A power supplying apparatus for feeding power to an external apparatus, wherein the power supplying apparatus is characterized in having a power conversion unit, a power supplying unit, a control unit, and a communication unit. The power conversion unit includes a power conversion switching element capable of changing the a switching waveform of the switching element. The power supplying unit supplies power to the external apparatus, the power being generated in the power conversion unit. The communication unit communicates with the external apparatus. The control unit conducts a control so as to adjust the switching waveform of the switching element in the power conversion unit during a period in which the communication unit communicates with the external apparatus. |
| US09653930B2 |
Emergency system for power failures
An emergency system for power failures includes a single-cell or multiple-cell rechargeable battery selected from the group consisting of NiMH, NiCd, NiZn, Ag2O/Zn or lithium-ion, and a charging electronics system that charges the battery, wherein the charging electronics system provides a charging voltage at which the battery does not overcharge at a temperature of up to 80° C., and wherein the charging electronics system supplies a charging voltage at which the battery is transferred into a charging state and/or is kept in a charging state, in which the battery is charged to 5% to 30%. |
| US09653926B2 |
Physical property sensor with active electronic circuit and wireless power and data transmission
Wireless sensors configured to sense, record and transmit data are provided herein. In one aspect, the wireless sensor has a power harvesting unit; a transducing A-to-D converter unit, a microcontroller unit, and a transmitting coil. The power harvesting unit is configured to receive an external energizing magnetic field generated by an external interrogator and store the energy generated thereby. The transducing A-to-D converter unit has a passive electrical transducer configured to respond to variations in a physical property and a converter configured to measure a characteristic value of the passive electrical transducer and provide a digital signal that is indicative of the measured characteristic value. The microcontroller unit is electrically coupled to the power harvesting unit and the transducing A-to-D converter unit and is configured to receive the digital signal from the transducing A-to-D converter unit. The transmitting coil is configured to receive the digital signal and to transmit the digital signal to the external interrogator. Upon receiving a start signal, the transducing A-to-D converter unit charges a current through the passive electrical transducer until a reference voltage is reached and, upon reaching the reference voltage, the microcontroller unit receives the digital signal. |
| US09653924B2 |
Battery system
A battery system includes a power supply device which supplies power, a battery device in which a plurality of substantially identical battery units are connected in parallel, and a control device including a storage unit which stores information about a reference power value corresponding to predetermined conversion efficiency of the power conversion unit, an acquisition unit which acquires information about a supply power amount of the power supplied by the power supply device, and a selection unit which determines the number of battery units capable of distributing the supply power amount at a power amount greater than or equal to the reference power value and selects the battery units to which the power is supplied from the power supply device among the plurality of battery units, wherein the selected battery units are equal in number to the determined number. |
| US09653923B2 |
Resonant power management architectures
Disclosed are various embodiments of resonant power management of a mobile device. In one embodiment, a mobile device including a power management unit (PMU) including a resonant inverter, a plurality of AC/DC converters, and an AC bus configured to route the AC power from the resonant inverter to the plurality of AC/DC converters. The resonant inverter converts DC power from a power source to AC power that is converted to DC power by the AC/DC converters and supplied to loads of the mobile device. In another embodiment, a method for power management of a mobile device includes monitoring, by a PMU of the mobile device, an operating mode of the mobile device and adjusting an output frequency of a resonant inverter of an AC power distribution network of the PMU in response to a change in the operating mode of the mobile device. |
| US09653922B2 |
Power supply apparatus, control method of power supply apparatus, and power supply system
Provided is a plurality of power supply apparatuses connected in parallel with a grid that are capable of obtaining the same measured values of the same voltage.The power supply apparatus according to the present invention is connected in parallel with the grid and includes a voltage sensor 108 configured to obtain a first measured voltage value by measuring a voltage of the grid, a communication interface 114 configured to communicate with another power supply apparatus connected in parallel with the grid, and a controller 118 configured to obtain, via the communication interface 114, a second measured voltage value obtained by the another power supply apparatus by measuring the voltage of the grid and carrying out an adjustment such that the first measured voltage value and the second measured voltage value of the same voltage of the grid approximate to the same value. |
| US09653918B2 |
Autonomous thermal event control and monitoring system for a network vault
An autonomous thermal event control and monitoring system includes a processor component having an enclosure, a processor within the enclosure, a routine, a number of inputs from the processor, and a plurality of inputs to and a plurality of outputs from the processor for each of a plurality of feeders. The system also includes a human machine interface communicating with the processor. The inputs include for each of the feeders, a first input for a thermal sensor and a second input for a status of a network protector, a plurality of third inputs for statuses of a medium voltage interrupter, and a fourth input for a sudden pressure sensor of a network transformer. The outputs include for each of the feeders, a first output for a command to the network protector, and a plurality of second outputs for commands to the medium voltage interrupter. |
| US09653917B2 |
Energy management system
The present invention relates to an energy management system comprising an energy storage, a control system and a power converter supplying power to a load. The energy storage is arranged in individual energy units and the power converter is provided with a switching system for controlling the voltage over the load. The switching system comprises multiple parallel-connected power switches and at least one of the power switches is connected to each energy unit. The control system comprises individual control units, each being configured to monitor the status of a dedicated energy unit and produce an individual enable signal indicative of the status. Each power switch is configured to be controlled by the individual enable signal and a first control signal, wherein the control system is configured to connect multiple energy units in parallel to the load. |
| US09653915B2 |
Method and apparatus for detecting electro static discharge in electronic device
A system detects Electro Static Discharge (ESD) of an electronic device by sensing a ground voltage of an electronic device, comparing the sensed ground voltage with a predetermined reference voltage and if the sensed ground voltage exceeds the reference voltage, performs at least one predetermined operation of the electronic device. |
| US09653910B2 |
Power structure diagnostic method and apparatus for improved motor drive diagnostic coverage
Motor drive diagnostic and control methods and apparatus are provided in which rectifier and inverter switching devices are individually monitored for malfunctions, and detected malfunctions initiate implementation of a safety function to signal a drive controller to shut down non-safety-related processing, to discontinue command pulse signaling to the switching devices, and to disable optical transmitters between the drive controller and the rectifier and inverter switches, and an input contactor or other switching circuit is opened to disconnect input power from the motor drive after implementation of the safety function. |
| US09653909B1 |
Fault handling for motor controllers
In one aspect, a method is described. The method may include operating a plurality of circuit elements, and operating a plurality of fault-mitigation circuits. Each circuit element may include an energy storage element, each individual fault-mitigation circuit may be electrically coupled in parallel to a respective circuit element, and each individual fault-mitigation circuit may include a switch. The method may include detecting an electrical fault in one of the circuit elements and cycling the switch of the fault-mitigation circuit coupled in parallel to the faulty circuit element between an open position and a closed position until the storage element of the faulty circuit element is discharged of energy, at which point the switch remains closed. |
| US09653906B2 |
Overcurrent detection circuit, inverter, compressor, and air-conditioning machine, and adjusting method for adjusting overcurrent detection circuit
A current detection device for detecting an electric current flowing through an inverter, an overcurrent level generation device for generating an abnormality judgment reference value, an overcurrent detection device for generating an interruption signal to the inverter on the basis of an output of the current detection device and the abnormality judgment reference value, and an adjusting apparatus for correcting the abnormality judgment reference value of the overcurrent level generation device on the basis of the output at a time when a constant electric current is applied to the current detection device are provided. The overcurrent level generating device is provided with one or a plurality of resistance value adjusting sections, and generates the abnormality judgment reference value in correspondence to a resistance value of the resistance value adjusting section. The adjusting apparatus performs a zapping operation by means of applying a reverse-bias to a zener diode, and corrects the abnormality judgment reference value. |
| US09653905B2 |
Power supply and measuring device for an intelligent electronic device
The present invention relates to a power supply and measuring device for an electronic device (e.g. an IED), which is configured to provide supervision, control, protection, communication and/or monitoring functionalities for LV or MV circuits or apparatuses. The power supply device comprises a current transformer, which is operatively associated to a main power line. An input section of the power supply device comprises a burden regulating stage that is configured to regulate the equivalent electric load at the secondary winding of said current transformer. An output section of the power supply device provides a supply voltage suitable to feed said electronic device. |
| US09653904B2 |
Arc flash protection system with self-test
An method for automatically testing an arc flash detection system by periodically or continually transmitting electro-optical (EO) radiation through one or more transmission cables electro-optically coupled to respective EO radiation collectors. A test EO signal may pass through the EO radiation collector to be received by an EO sensor. An attenuation of the EO signal may be determined by comparing the intensity of the transmitted EO signal to an intensity of the received EO signal. A self-test failure may be detected if the attenuation exceeds a threshold. EO signals may be transmitted according to a particular pattern (e.g., a coded signal) to allow an arc flash detection system to distinguish the test EO radiation from EO radiation indicative of an arc flash event. |
| US09653901B2 |
Holding component for vehicle
In a holding component 1, for a vehicle, having: a fixing portion 10 which houses and fixedly engages with a mounting tool 101 having been moved upward through a lower opening 11H; and a holding portion 20 for holding a predetermined member 5 by an upper holding portion 21 and a lower holding portion 22 being engaged with each other, in a state where an engagement portion 23 provided in the upper holding portion 21 is housed in and engaged with an engagement housing portion 24 provided in the lower holding portion 22, a pressing portion 200 provided in the engagement portion 23 presses downward the mounting tool 101 which is engaged with and fixed to the fixing portion 10. |
| US09653899B2 |
Floor stand system for mounting an electrical box
A floor stand system for mounting an electrical box above a floor includes an electrical box mount having a mechanical interface thereon. A set of substantially interchangeable floor supports have mating mechanical interfaces at their upper ends for connecting to the mechanical interface on the electrical box mount. The set of floor supports includes a plurality of floor supports having different fixed lengths. The floor supports are substantially interchangeable so that one of the floor supports having a fixed length suitable for supporting the electrical box mount at a desired elevation above the floor can be selected and connected to the electrical box mount using the mechanical interfaces to create a floor stand suitable for supporting the electrical box mount at the desired elevation above the floor. |
| US09653898B1 |
Electrical outlet faceplate with electrical cord cleat
The electrical outlet faceplate with electrical cord cleat is a cleat plate that is for use with an electrical outlet faceplate. The cleat plate is a structure around which a cable can be secured such that the cable will not be disconnected or damaged inadvertently. The electrical outlet faceplate with electrical cord cleat is attached by a hinge to the electrical outlet faceplate allowing the cleat plate to be rotated to a position perpendicular to the electrical face plate while the cleat plate is in use and allowing the cleat plate to be rotated to a closed position flush to the electrical outlet faceplate when the cleat plate is not in use. The electrical outlet faceplate with electrical cord cleat includes an outlet faceplate, a cleat plate, and a hinge. |
| US09653893B2 |
Ceramic feedthrough brazed to an implantable medical device housing
One aspect is an implantable medical device with a feedthrough assembly having an insulator and a plurality of conducting elements extending therethrough. The feedthrough assembly is placed in a case with an opening defining a narrow space therebetween. A braze material fills the narrow space, thereby hermetically sealing the feedthrough assembly to the case. One of the feedthrough assembly and the case include a feature configured to securely hold the braze and in that the implantable medical device does not include a ferrule. |
| US09653892B2 |
Assembly of compactly integrated contactors in an electrical core
An electrical core comprising an assembly of power management and distribution contactors is provided. The power management contactors are attached to a first support element and the distribution contactors are carried by a second support element superimposed on the first so as to form a multilayer assembly. The distribution contactors are arranged in double symmetry about two axes perpendicular to one another. They are mechanically linked through a mechanical linkage element extending between two rows of contactors and which carries electrical connection elements connecting the contactors to an element for connecting to a power source. The contactors are assembled in modules according to their type. In particular, the management module comprises at least one modular element common to the power management contactors which is suitable for performing a given secondary function other than the function of establishing a contact. |
| US09653884B2 |
High reliability etched-facet photonic devices
Semiconductor photonic device surfaces are covered with a dielectric or a metal protective layer. The protective layer covers the entire device, including regions near facets at active regions, to prevent bare or unprotected semiconductor regions, thereby to form a very high reliability etched facet photonic device. |
| US09653870B1 |
Rare-earth doped gain fibers
Rare earth oxides doped multicomponent glass fibers for laser generation and amplification, including a core and a cladding, the core comprising at least 2 weight percent glass network modifier selected from BaO, CaO, MgO, ZnO, PbO, K2O, Na2O, Li2O, Y2O3, or combinations; wherein the mode of the core is guided with step index difference between the core and the cladding, a numerical aperture of the fiber is between 0.01 and 0.04; core diameter is from 25 to 120 micron, and a length of the gain fiber is shorter than 60 cm. |
| US09653867B2 |
Multi-wavelength source of femtosecond infrared pulses
A source of femtosecond pulses at center wavelengths of about 940 nm and about 1140 nanometers (nm) includes a mode-locked fiber MOPA delivering pulses having a center wavelength of about 1040 nm. The 1040-nanometer pulses are spectrally spread into a continuum spectrum extending in range between about 900 nm and about 1200 nm and having well defined side-lobes around the 940-nm and 1140-wavelengths. Radiation is spatially selected from these side-lobes and delivered as the 940-nm and 1140-nm pulses. |
| US09653866B2 |
Real-time wavelength correction system for visible light
A real-time wavelength correction system for visible light is co-operated with an optical system to make a parallel light beam split into a zero-order diffractive parallel light beam and a first-order diffractive parallel light beam. The zero-order diffractive parallel light beam focuses on a first back focal plane to form a first light spot. A drift of the first light spot is applied to determine an angular drift of the parallel light beam. The first-order diffractive parallel light beam is focused on a second back focal plane to form a second light spot. A drift of the second light spot is applied to determine an angular drift of the first-order diffractive parallel light beam. The angular drifts of the parallel light beam and the first-order diffractive parallel light beam, which are changed with real time temperature variation, are applied to correct the wavelength of the parallel light beam. |
| US09653865B2 |
Method for fitting cables with cable sleeves
A method for fitting cables (13) with seals (1), in which the seals (1) are accommodated via a transfer unit and mounted on the mentioned cable (13). While the seal (1) is being accommodated via the transfer unit, its orientation on the holding arbor (2) is mechanically-electrically and fully automatically checked. If a seal (2) is incompletely or partially punched through, it is removed from the holding arbor (2). Equally, a seal (2) which is not accommodated by the holding arbor (2), is removed from the accommodation area. Also a transfer unit for seals (1) or comparable cable fitting components for a cable processing plant, the transfer unit encompassing a holding arbor (2) for accommodating seals (1), wherein at least one force and/or pressure transducer (3) is situated on or in the holding arbor (2). |
| US09653864B2 |
Wire straightening apparatus
A wire straightening apparatus that straightens kinks of a wire that is fed along a wire feeding path includes one or a plurality of straightening mechanisms. Each straightening mechanism includes a plurality of first straightening rollers and one or a plurality of second straightening rollers. Each roller has a groove along its outer periphery, the groove gradually deepening toward a bottom portion. The bottom portion of the groove of each first straightening roller is spaced from the wire feeding path in a first direction, and the bottom portion of the groove of each second straightening roller is spaced from the wire feeding path in a second direction opposite to the first direction. With this structure, the wire can be made to follow a path that meanders as viewed from a direction perpendicular to axes of the straightening rollers. |
| US09653861B2 |
Interconnection of hardware components
A method and related apparatuses for disconnecting components of a hardware assembly. The components each include two connectors configured to disengage in a staged manner so that one set of connectors disconnects before the other set. If power connectivity is provided across one set of connectors, that connection can be configured to end before the connectivity between the other connectors. |
| US09653856B2 |
Portable universal serial bus (USB) cable keychain assembly with carabiner clip
A cable assembly for connecting a portable electronic device to a host device includes an upstream connector section comprising a upstream connector housing, an upstream connector secured to the upstream connector housing, and a downstream connector section comprising a downstream connector housing, a first downstream connector secured to the downstream connector housing, and a second downstream connector secured to the downstream connector housing. The cable assembly further includes a main body section having an attachment mechanism comprising a through hole formed in the main body, the through hole including on one side a carabiner clip comprising a spring-loaded hinged inwardly movable outer portion completing the through hole. |
| US09653852B2 |
RF-isolating sealing enclosure and interconnection junctions protected thereby
An interconnection junction for communications cables includes: a first connector; a second connector; and a sealing enclosure having a cavity and formed of a polymeric material, the sealing enclosure comprising an RF-isolating material. The first connector and second connector are joined and reside within the cavity of the sealing enclosure. |
| US09653844B1 |
Electronic device connectors with rotatable anchors
An electronic device has an anchor assembly is movably mounted inside the device housing. The anchor assembly has a magnet portion and a ferromagnetic portion, and has a magnetic field that is stronger proximate the magnet portion than the ferromagnetic portion. The anchor assembly rotates between first and second positions, with the magnet portion facing an edge of the device housing for forming a connection with another device, and with the magnet portion facing away from the edge of the housing, respectively. A biasing member biases the connector to the second position by magnetic attraction. |
| US09653843B2 |
Connector
A connector includes: a plate-like terminal which is connected to an end of an electric wire; a rear connector in which the plate-like connector is accommodated; and a front connector in which a box-shaped female terminal that is connected to the plate-like terminal by being assembled to the rear connector and that is to be connected to a counterpart terminal of the electric device side is received. The plate-like terminal and the female terminal are connected by a connection terminal composed of a soft material capable of absorbing both positional displacement between the plate-like terminal and the female terminal and vibration of the plate-like terminal. |
| US09653838B2 |
Dust and debris tolerant retractable cover connector
A debris exclusion and removal apparatus for connectors which have retractable cover configurations which include internal wafers that clean the connectors prior to mating. |
| US09653832B2 |
Conductive elastic member and connector
A conductive elastic member is formed by having a columnar member having elasticity, and plural wire rods which extend from one end face to the other end face of the columnar member in an axial direction and are formed in a state inclined with respect to the axial direction and have conductivity. At least a part of the plural wire rods are cabled in a direction of intersection mutually. |
| US09653831B2 |
Float adapter for electrical connector
A float adapter for an electrical connector that includes a conductive shell and an insulator received in the conductive shell. The insulator includes an engagement end, an interface end that is opposite the engagement end, and a reduced diameter middle portion therebetween. The insulator includes an inner bore that extends through the engagement end, the interface end, and the reduced diameter middle portion. The interface end has a lead-in tip portion that extends outside of the first end of the conductive shell. The lead-in tip portion has a tapered outer surface that terminates in an end face surface and a shoulder remote from the end face surface that defines an outer diameter that is larger than the inner diameter of the conductive shell. An inner contact is received in the inner bore of the insulator. The inner contact has socket openings at either end. |
| US09653830B1 |
Extending device for signal transmission and mainboard assembly
An extending device includes a first riser card, a signal coupling card and a second riser card. A first electric socket of the first riser card is disposed on a side surface of a first circuit board of the first riser card, and a first electric connector is disposed at an edge of the first circuit board. A second electric connector and a third electric connector of the signal coupling card are respectively disposed on both side surfaces of a third circuit board of the signal coupling card. The second electric connector inserts into the first electric socket. A second electric socket and an extending socket of the second riser are respectively disposed on both side surfaces of a second circuit board of the second riser. The third electric connector inserts into the second electric socket and the extending socket is electrically connected to the second electric socket. |
| US09653820B1 |
Active manifold system and method for an array antenna
A system and method uses an active manifold for an antenna array. The manifold can be assembled by a method including providing a first set of cards including a first set of antenna elements and a corresponding number of integrated circuit based time delay units or phase shifters for the first set of antenna elements. The first set of antenna elements is associated with a row of the antenna array. The method also includes providing a second set of cards including a second set of antenna elements and a corresponding number of integrated circuit based time delay units or phase shifters for the second set of antenna elements. The second set of antenna elements is associated with a column of the antenna array. |
| US09653818B2 |
Antenna structures and configurations for millimeter wavelength wireless communications
Methods, systems, and apparatuses are described for wireless communication using the mmW spectrum. In particular, antenna structures may include arrays of antenna elements to deal with line-of-sight issues. Further, antenna structures may be configured to produce a beam (e.g., signal) that is relatively narrow and has a relatively high gain to deal with losses, such as mentioned above. Still further, antenna structures may be configured to provide beam steering (e.g., beamforming) capability. Such antenna structures may be designed to be relatively compact to deal with the limited real estate available on modern wireless communication devices (e.g., cellular telephones). |
| US09653814B2 |
Mode generator device for a satellite antenna system and method for producing the same
The present invention is related to a device for generating waveguide modes for use in a feed horn of a satellite antenna system, said waveguide modes comprising at least one excitation mode of higher order than the fundamental mode, said device comprising a waveguide containing a first waveguide section with at least three longitudinal slots extending in the inner side of said waveguide, characterized in that said waveguide contains a second waveguide section with at least three longitudinal slots extending in said inner side of said waveguide. |
| US09653813B2 |
Diagonally-driven antenna system and method
An electronic device (100) includes an antenna system (150) having two antennas (110, 120). A first antenna (110) has a first antenna element (111) positioned near a first corner (191) of a planar, rectangular ground plane (165) and a second antenna element (115) positioned near a second corner of the ground plane that is diagonally across from the first corner. A second antenna (120) has a third antenna element (121) positioned near a third corner (193) of the ground plane that is adjacent to the first corner and a fourth antenna element (125) positioned near a fourth corner (195) of the ground plane that is diagonally across from the third corner. At low-band frequencies, the antenna elements (111, 115) of the first antenna (110) are driven out-of-phase relative to each other. Similarly, at low-band frequencies, the antenna elements (121, 125) of the second antenna (120) are driven out-of-phase relative to each other. |
| US09653808B2 |
Multilayer patch antenna
Disclosed is a multilayer-type patch antenna including: an upper patch antenna portion having a first through hole and a second through hole which are at a predetermined angle; a lower patch antenna portion having a third through hole and a fourth through hole which are at a predetermined angle, and a fifth through hole which is spaced from the third through hole and the fourth through hole; a first feeding pin which passes through the first through hole and the third through hole and protrudes from a lower end of the lower patch antenna portion; a second feeding pin which passes through the second through hole and the fourth through hole and protrudes from the lower end of the lower patch antenna portion; and a third feeding pin which passes through the fifth through hole and protrudes from the lower end of the lower patch antenna portion. |
| US09653802B2 |
Radar-based fill level measurement device having a security device
A radar-based fill level measurement device having a signal generator for the purpose of generating electromagnetic waves, and an antenna for the purpose of emitting the electromagnetic waves into a container, as well as for the purpose of receiving electromagnetic waves reflected out of the container, having a security device for the purpose of verifying the functional capability or improving the measurement quality of the radar-based fill level measurement device, wherein the security device has a reflector and an adjusting device, and is suitably designed to move the reflector between at least a first position, in which it reflects the electromagnetic waves, and a second position, in which it reflects the electromagnetic waves to a reduced degree, and wherein the security device has a drive which acts on the adjusting device. |
| US09653799B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling sidelobes of an active antenna array
A method of controlling sidelobe distribution in an active electronically steered array, including electronically reshaping the array aperture so as to reduce sidelobes over a selected region of a coverage volume of the array. In one example, reshaping of the aperture is achieved by electronically turning on and/or off selected radiators in the array to vary the angle of edge discontinuities of the aperture, and thereby move the main sidelobes off the principal plane(s) of operation of the array. |
| US09653797B2 |
Antenna module for near field communication
Embodiments of the invention provide an antenna module for NFC. According to at least one embodiment, the antenna module includes an antenna sheet patterned with a loop coil of a conductive metal material, a magnetic shielding sheet comprising a metal sheet, which is embedded in a magnetic sheet, and an adhesive film interposed between the antenna sheet and the magnetic shielding sheet. |
| US09653795B2 |
Node in a wireless communication network with at least two antenna columns
A node in a wireless communication network, the node comprising at least two antenna columns which are physically separated from each other, each antenna column comprising at least one dual polarized antenna element. Each antenna element has a first polarization and a second polarization. The node further comprises at least two four-port power dividers/combiners, each power divider/combiner having a first port pair and a second port pair, where, for each power divider/combiner, power input into any port in a port pair is isolated from the other port in said port pair, but divided between the ports in the other port pair. Antenna ports of antenna columns that are pair-wise physically separated, from those pairs of antenna columns that are most physically separated to those that are least physically separated, are cross-wise connected to the first port pair in corresponding power dividers/combiners. |
| US09653794B2 |
Broadband antenna and wireless communication device employing same
A broadband antenna is mounted aside a metal electronic element and includes a feeding portion, a first connecting portion, a second connecting portion, a coupling portion, and a ground portion. The first radiating portion and the second radiating portion are both connected perpendicular to the feeding portion. The coupling portion is spaced from the first radiating portion and the second connecting portion. The ground portion is connected perpendicular to a middle portion of the coupling portion and adjacent to the metal electronic element. These portions cooperatively use a low frequency mode and a high frequency mode. The ground portion increases an inductance performance of the broadband antenna, thereby decreasing interference caused by the metal electronic elements. A wireless communication device employing the broadband antenna is also disclosed. |
| US09653793B2 |
Systems and methods for reconfigurable filtenna
Embodiments relate to systems and methods for a frequency reconfigurable filtenna system. Implementations incorporate a reconfigurable band-pass filter within the feeding line of an antenna structure. The combination of the filter and the antenna may be referred to as a “filtenna”. Implementations integrate both the band-pass filter and the antenna within the same substrate, permitting easier, more efficient and more compact integration in the transceiver hardware. Moreover, by using this configuration, the biasing of the switching elements are not present in the radiating plane of the antenna. This reduces the negative effect of the biasing lines on the antenna radiation performance, as we!! as provides a tunable filtered antenna radiation characteristic. |
| US09653789B2 |
Antenna having planar conducting elements, one of which has a slot
An antenna includes a dielectric material having a first side opposite a second side, and a conductive via therein. A first planar conducting element is on the first side of the dielectric material and has at least one closed slot therein, and an electrical connection to the conductive via. A second planar conducting element is on the first side of the dielectric material. Each of the first and second planar conducting elements is positioned adjacent a gap that electrically isolates the first planar conducting element from the second planar conducting element. An electrical microstrip feed line is on the second side of the dielectric material, is electrically connected to the conductive via, and has a route extending from the conductive via, to across the gap, to under the second planar conducting element. The second planar conducting element provides a reference plane for the electrical microstrip feed line. |
| US09653787B2 |
Antenna system for a vehicle
Antenna system for a vehicle including a first directive antenna device and a second antenna device for a frequency band of operation, and a reflector plane, where the first directive antenna device includes a first ground plane, a first dielectric substrate, a first antenna group shorted to the first ground plane and having a first radiating conductor and a second radiating conductor, forming a first configuration and connected to the reflector plane by transmission lines electromagnetically coupled to the frequency band of operation, the reflector plane, disposed forming an angle with respect to the first dielectric substrate, the first directive antenna device radiating in a direction of radiation, and the second antenna device, connected to the first directive antenna device, radiating in an opposing direction to the first directive antenna device. |
| US09653786B2 |
Wearable antenna system
Smaller footprint electronic devices may be contained in a wearable housing, for example in a housing forming a portion of a watch that is worn on a user's wrist. Incorporating antennas into such small footprint devices often precludes the use of anything other than short range communications with another device. Incorporating an antenna into a watch band or bracelet provides a possible avenue to improving the long range communication capabilities and consequent utility of such smaller footprint electrical devices. |
| US09653784B2 |
Conformal, wearable, thin microwave antenna for sub-skin and skin surface monitoring
A wearable antenna is operably positioned on a wearer's skin and is operably connected the wearer's tissue. A first antenna matched to the wearer's tissue is operably positioned on the wearer's skin. A second antenna matched to the air is operably positioned on the wearer's skin. Transmission lines connect the first antenna and the second antenna. |
| US09653778B2 |
Electronic device with display frame antenna
An electronic device has a display mounted in a housing using a plastic display frame. The display has an active area and an inactive area. A display cover layer may have polymer coating layers in the inactive area. The display frame may lie under the inactive area. A patterned metal coating layer may be formed on the display frame. The patterned metal coating layer may have portions that form adhesion promotion structures for promoting adhesion between the frame and the adhesive. The patterned metal coating layer may also have portions that form antenna structures. The antenna structures may be used to transmit and receive radio-frequency signals and may be used as adhesion promotion structures. Adhesive may be interposed between the polymer coating layers and the metal coating layer on the display frame to attach the display cover layer and the display to the display frame. |
| US09653777B2 |
Electronic device with isolated cavity antennas
An electronic device may have a metal housing. The metal housing may have an upper housing in which a component such as a display is mounted and a lower housing in which a component such as a keyboard is mounted. Hinges may be used to mount the upper housing to the lower housing for rotation about a rotational axis. A slot-shaped opening may separate the upper and lower housing. A flexible printed circuit with ground traces may bisect the slot-shaped opening to form first and second slots. Cavity antennas may be aligned with the slots. Each cavity antenna may include a hollow carrier with a pair of speakers. The speakers may have ports that emit sound through aligned openings in the lower housing. Conductive gaskets surrounding the ports may acoustically seal the speaker ports while shorting the cavity antenna to the lower housing. |
| US09653776B2 |
Outdoor wireless access point and antenna adjusting method thereof
An adjusting method of an antenna of the outdoor wireless access point includes steps of A. moving the antenna in a predetermined pointing range, and obtaining received signal strength indications in multiple pointing directions at different time points; B. separating the pointing range into at least two sub-ranges, and averaging the received signal strength indications in all pointing directions in each sub-range; and C. moving the antenna pointing at the sub-range in which the average received signal strength indication is the highest and setting the sub-range as the next predetermined pointing range, and repeating the steps A to C until the step C is executed a predetermined times. Besides, the composition elements of the outer wireless access point are also disclosed. |
| US09653775B2 |
Microwave antenna adjustment apparatus
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a microwave antenna adjustment apparatus, which relates to the field of communications technologies and is invented for resolving a problem that an existing adjustment apparatus has a low horizontal adjustment precision and is costly. The present invention is applicable to adjustment of a microwave antenna. |
| US09653774B2 |
System and method for accurately directing antennas
A system for accurately directing a directional antenna, that includes a calibration system for finding the current azimuth of the antenna and a rotation sensor attached to the antenna, for measuring deviations from the current azimuth of the antenna. The calibration system includes a first GPS receiver located at the antenna's position; a second GPS receiver located adjacent to a visible object at a minimal distance from the antenna and in an arbitrary direction with respect to the first GPS receiver; rotatable optical means positioned adjacent to the antenna in an initial direction being parallel to the current direction of the antenna, the optical means being coupled to a meter for measuring the angle between the current direction and the direction to the visible object by rotating the optical means until seeing the visible object and means for calculating a first azimuth from the position of the first GPS receiver to the position of the second GPS receiver and the current azimuth of the antenna by subtracting the angle from the first azimuth. |
| US09653771B2 |
Directional coupler
A directional coupler includes: a main line connecting an input port and an output port; first to third subline sections each of which is formed of a line configured to be electromagnetically coupled to the main line; a first matching section provided between the first subline section and the second subline section; and a second matching section provided between the second subline section and the third subline section. The first and second matching sections are configured to cause changes in phase of high frequency signals passing therethrough, and have mutually different characteristics so as to create two attenuation poles in the frequency response of the coupling of the directional coupler. |
| US09653767B2 |
Antenna and printed-circuit board using waveguide structure
A waveguide structure including a plurality of unit structures, each of which at least includes a first conductive plane and a second conductive plane, which are arranged to partially face with each other, a plurality of transmission lines with one ends being open ends, which are disposed in a plane, positioned opposite to the second conductive plane, in a layer different from the first conductive plane and the second conductive plane, and at least one conductive via, which electrically connect between the first conductive plane and other ends of the transmission lines. |
| US09653766B2 |
Polarizer and a method of operating the polarizer
A polarizer, such as a septum polarizer, which may alter between two states wherein, effectively, the septum is rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the waveguide so that the polarization of the signals in the waveguide may easily be altered without having to alter receivers/transmitters connected to the waveguide. |
| US09653765B2 |
Gas diffusion electrodes for batteries such as metal-air batteries
The present invention generally relates to batteries and, in particular, to electrodes for use in batteries such as non-aqueous metal-air batteries, for example, lithium-air batteries, as well as in other electrochemical devices. Such devices may exhibit improved performance characteristics (e.g. power, cycle life, capacity, etc.). One aspect of the present invention is generally directed to electrodes for use in such devices containing one or more pores or channels for transport of gas and/or electrolyte therein, e.g., forming an open porous network. In certain embodiments, the electrolyte may be a gel or a polymer. In some embodiments, there may be network of such channels or pores within the electrode such that no active site within the electrode is greater than about 50 micrometers distant from a gas channel. In some embodiments, such systems may be created using electrodes containing gel or electrolyte polymers, and/or by forming electrodes having different wettabilities such that certain regions preferentially attract the electrolyte compared to other regions, thereby causing self-organization of the electrolyte within the electrode. Other aspects of the invention are generally directed to methods of making such batteries or electrochemical devices, methods of using such batteries or electrochemical devices, kits involving such batteries or electrochemical devices, or the like. |
| US09653764B2 |
Method and apparatus for recovering sodium from sodium-sulfur battery
A method for recovering sodium from a sodium-sulfur battery of the present invention includes a reaction step of injecting a treatment liquid toward the sodium housed in a sodium-housing component in the battery container and causing the sodium to react with the treatment liquid so as to generate a reaction liquid; and a circulation step of generating the treatment liquid by adjusting the concentration and liquid temperature of the reaction liquid, and, in the reaction step, while the entire amount of the sodium is reacted with the treatment liquid, the treatment liquid is continuously injected toward the sodium. |
| US09653763B2 |
Battery pack comprising a heat exchanger
A heat exchanger assembly includes a fluid transfer layer and a first external layer. The fluid transfer layer is made from an elastomeric material and the first external layer includes flexible graphite. The fluid transfer layer includes at least one channel and is configured to form a passage for receiving a thermal transfer fluid between the channel and a portion of the first external layer. |
| US09653762B2 |
Battery temperature regulation system and battery temperature regulation unit
Provided are a battery temperature regulation system capable of efficiently heating and/or cooling a battery, and a battery temperature regulation unit suitable for use in the battery temperature regulation system. The battery temperature regulation system 10 is provided with a thermally conductive member (e.g., a heat pipe 11) thermally connected to a battery 1, a heating device (e.g., a heater 12) that heats the battery 1 via the thermally conductive member and/or a cooling device (e.g., an air conditioning apparatus) that cools the battery 1 via the thermally conductive member. |
| US09653761B2 |
Secondary battery pack and authentication method
An authenticator (5, 11) is compatible with a plurality of authentication systems to authenticate an external device connected with a connection terminal (OUT, ID), and the authenticator executes authentication processes by the plurality of authentication systems in order, and permits transfer of electric power between the external device and a secondary battery part (1) when any one of authentication processes is successful. |
| US09653754B2 |
Nonaqueous electrolytes and nonaqueous-electrolyte secondary batteries employing the same
A nonaqueous electrolyte containing a monofluorophosphate and/or a difluorophosphate and a compound having a specific chemical structure or specific properties. The nonaqueous electrolyte can contain at least one of a saturated chain hydrocarbon, a saturated cyclic hydrocarbon, an aromatic compound having a halogen atom and an ether having a fluorine atom. |
| US09653753B2 |
Non-aqueous electrolyte solution and non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery employing the same
The demand for improvements in lithium non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries has been constantly increasing in recent years, but the durability—most prominently the cycle characteristics—have resided in a trade off relationship with properties such as the capacity, resistance, and output characteristics. A problem has thus been a poor overall property balance. In order to solve this problem, the present invention uses a non-aqueous electrolyte solution including, in addition to an electrolyte and a non-aqueous solvent, (A) at least one compound selected from the group consisting of carbonates having a carbon-carbon unsaturated bond, compounds represented by the following general formula (1), sulfoxides, sulfites, sulfones, sulfonates, sultones, and sulfates; (B) a fluorine atom-containing cyclic carbonate; and (C) a compound that has at least two isocyanate groups in the molecule. |
| US09653749B2 |
Secondary battery and secondary battery pack having the same
Provided are a secondary battery and a secondary battery pack having the same capable of preventing performance degradation by preventing an increase in an interface resistance of an electrode body accommodated in a pouch and capable of improving stability by preventing deformation of the electrode body to thereby prevent a fine short circuit even though the pouch is swelled due to a gas generate at a high temperature, by providing first members for reinforcing rigidity and second members deformed at the high temperature and capable of adhering the electrode body to one side or both sides of the electrode body accommodated and sealed in the pouch. |
| US09653746B2 |
Manifold for redox flow battery for reducing shunt current and redox flow battery comprising same
A manifold for a redox flow battery capable of effectively suppressing a shunt current has a supply flow pathway and an exhaust flow pathway respectively formed at a left side and a right side of an anode or cathode electrode electrolyte reaction unit so as to include a U-shaped curved portion, and the U-shaped curved portion is formed to be positioned on the upper part of the top or the lower part of the bottom of the first electrode electrolyte reaction unit. When the manifold is applied to a redox flow battery, the supply flow pathway and the exhaust flow pathway having the U-shaped curved portion are formed on the upper part of the top or the lower part of the bottom of the electrode electrolyte reaction unit to prevent an electrolyte existing in the inside of a stack and a pipe from passing through the U-shaped curved portion. |
| US09653745B2 |
Block copolymer, manufacturing method therefor, and polymer electrolyte material, molded polymer electrolyte, and solid-polymer fuel cell using said block copolymer
To provide: a block copolymer that exhibits excellent proton conductivity even under low-humidification conditions, exhibits excellent mechanical strength and chemical stability, and when used in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, allows high output and excellent physical durability; a polymer electrolyte material; and a polymer electrolyte form article and a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, using the same.The block copolymer of the present invention includes each one or more of: a segment (A1) containing an ionic group; a segment (A2) not containing an ionic group; and a linker moiety connecting the segments. The segment (A1) containing an ionic group comprises a constituent unit represented by a specific structure. The polymer electrolyte material, the polymer electrolyte form article, and the polymer electrolyte fuel cell according to the present invention are manufactured by using the above block copolymer. |
| US09653742B2 |
Fuel cell system
A fuel cell system control device includes a carbon amount determination unit for determining the carbon amount in fuel gas supplied to a fuel cell stack depending on required output of the stack, a temperature detector unit for detecting temperature of a steam reformer and temperature of an evaporator, an S/C determination unit for determining a range of steam/carbon ratio based on the temperature of the steam reformer, a water supply amount determination unit for determining a range of the water supply amount to the evaporator based on the carbon amount and the steam/carbon ratio, an evaporator operating state determination unit for determining whether the temperature of the evaporator is a temperature determined based on the range of the water supply amount, and a reformer control unit for controlling the steam reformer and a partial oxidation reformer based on the result of the evaporator operating state determination unit. |
| US09653741B2 |
Fuel cell stack
A fuel cell stack includes at least one membrane electrolyte assembly having an electrolyte membrane, an anode on a first surface of the electrolyte membrane, and a cathode on a second surface opposite to the first surface of the electrolyte membrane; and at least one supply member coupled to the electrolyte membrane and configured to supply a conductive material to the electrolyte membrane. |
| US09653740B2 |
Fuel cell system
A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell; a fuel supply source; a supply passage; a circulation passage; a gas-liquid separator; a discharge passage; a discharge valve; a differential pressure detecting portion; and a control unit, wherein the control unit estimates a flow rate of a fuel gas. |
| US09653739B2 |
Electrical connection material for solid oxide fuel cell, solid oxide fuel cell, solid oxide fuel cell module, and method for manufacturing solid oxide fuel cell
A method for manufacturing solid oxide fuel cells, which includes preparing an electrical connection material, preparing a stacked body by stacking a plurality of power generation cells with the electrical connection material interposed therebetween, and firing the stacked body while applying pressure on the stacked body in a direction of stacking the power generation cells. The electrical connection material includes a ceramic porous layer and a ceramic dense layer stacked on the ceramic porous layer, the ceramic dense layer having a porosity lower than a porosity of the ceramic porous layer. |
| US09653738B2 |
Method for producing stainless steel for fuel cell separator, stainless steel for fuel cell separator, fuel cell separator, and fuel cell
A stainless steel for use in a fuel cell separator is produced by subjecting stainless steel containing 16 mass % or more of Cr to electrolytic treatment and thereafter to immersion treatment in a solution containing fluorine. The electrolytic treatment is carried out by anodic electrolyzation or by a combination of anodic electrolyzation and cathodic electrolyzation, and an anodic electrolytic quantity Qa and a cathodic electrolytic quantity Qc preferably satisfy Qa≧Qc. The solution containing fluorine preferably has a temperature of 40° C. or higher, and hydrofluoric acid concentration [HF] (mass %) and nitric acid concentration [HNO3] (mass %) satisfying [HF]≧0.8×[HNO3]. |
| US09653736B2 |
Method of producing porous metal-carbon materials
A method for creating a metal-carbon composite. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of providing a polymer Schiff base transition metal film precursor having a chemical structure of the formula [M(Schiff)]n and a recurring unit and a transition metal selected from the group consisting of nickel, palladium, platinum, cobalt, copper, iron; Schiff is a tetradentate Schiff base ligand selected from the group consisting of Salen (residue of bis(salicylaldehyde)-ethylenediamine), Saltmen (residue of bis(salicylaldehyde)-tetramethylethylenediamine, Salphen (residue of bis-(salicylaldehyde)-o-phenylenediamine), a substituent in a Schiff base is selected from the group consisting of H—, and carbon-containing substituents, preferably CH3—, C2H5—, CH3O—, C2H5O—, and Y is a bridge in a Schiff base depositing the polymer Schiff base transition metal precursor film onto a support substrate; and heating the polymer Schiff base transition metal precursor film and support substrate in a furnace in an inert atmosphere. |
| US09653734B2 |
Electronically conductive polymer binder for lithium-ion battery electrode
A family of carboxylic acid group containing fluorene/fluorenon copolymers is disclosed as binders of silicon particles in the fabrication of negative electrodes for use with lithium ion batteries. These binders enable the use of silicon as an electrode material as they significantly improve the cycle-ability of silicon by preventing electrode degradation over time. In particular, these polymers, which become conductive on first charge, bind to the silicon particles of the electrode, are flexible so as to better accommodate the expansion and contraction of the electrode during charge/discharge, and being conductive promote the flow battery current. |
| US09653728B2 |
Graphene, power storage device, and electric device
An object is to provide graphene which has high conductivity and is permeable to ions of lithium or the like. Another object is to provide, with use of the graphene, a power storage device with excellent charging and discharging characteristics. Graphene having a hole inside a ring-like structure formed by carbon and nitrogen has conductivity and is permeable to ions of lithium or the like. The nitrogen concentration in graphene is preferably higher than or equal to 0.4 at. % and lower than or equal to 40 at. %. With use of such graphene, ions of lithium or the like can be preferably made to pass; thus, a power storage device with excellent charging and discharging characteristics can be provided. |
| US09653727B2 |
Metal tin-carbon composites, method for producing said composites, anode active material for non-aqueous lithium secondary batteries which is produced using said composites, anode for non-aqueous lithium secondary batteries which comprises said anode active material, and non-aqueous lithium secondary battery
A metal tin-carbon composite having excellent properties required for various use applications, a method for producing the composite at low cost and in a simple manner, and use applications of a non-aqueous lithium secondary battery produced using the composite are provided. A metal tin-carbon composite comprising metal tin nanoparticles (B) contained in a sheet-like matrix (A) composed of carbon, wherein the metal tin-carbon composite contains the metal tin nanoparticle (B) having a particle size of a range of 0.2 nm to 5 nm and does not contain a coarse metal tin particle having a particle size of 1 μm or more, a preferable method for producing the composite using a specific precursor, an anode active material for a non-aqueous lithium secondary battery comprising the composite, a negative electrode for non-aqueous lithium secondary battery using the anode active material, and a non-aqueous lithium secondary battery. |
| US09653725B2 |
Lithium rechargeable battery
The lithium rechargeable battery of the present invention is provided with a current collector and an active material layer containing active material particles 10 supported on this current collector. The active material particles 10 are secondary particles 14 in which a plurality of primary particles 12 of a lithium transition metal oxide are aggregated, and have a hollow structure that contains a hollow section 16 formed inside the secondary particle 14 and a shell section 15 that surrounds the hollow section 16. A through hole 18 that penetrates from the outside to the hollow section 16 is formed in the secondary particle 14. The ratio (A/B) in a powder x-ray diffraction pattern of the active material particles 10, where A is the full width at half maximum of the diffraction peak obtained for the (003) plane and B is the full width at half maximum of the diffraction peak obtained for the (104) plane, satisfies the equation (A/B)≦0.7. |
| US09653721B2 |
Rechargeable battery
A rechargeable battery including an electrode assembly including a separator, and a negative electrode and a positive electrode provided on opposite surfaces of the separator; a case accommodating the electrode assembly therein; a cap plate coupled to the case; a negative electrode terminal and a positive electrode terminal respectively connected to the negative electrode and the positive electrode, the negative electrode terminal and positive electrode terminal extending through a terminal hole of the cap plate; a safety member between the electrode assembly and the case; and a first resistance member connecting the safety member with the negative electrode. |
| US09653718B2 |
Unification-typed electrode assembly and secondary battery using the same
Disclosed herein is an integrated electrode assembly including a cathode, an anode, and a separation layer integrated between the cathode and the anode. The separation layer includes 3 phases including a liquid-phase component containing an ionic salt, which partially flows from the separation layer into the cathode and the anode during preparation of the integrated electrode assembly to increase ionic conductivity of the cathode and the anode, a solid-phase component supporting the separation layer between the cathode and the anode, and a polymer matrix having affinity for the liquid-phase component and providing binding force with the cathode and the anode. |
| US09653715B2 |
Packaged battery, stacked battery assembly, and film-covered battery
A packaged battery, an assembled battery, and a film-covered battery, which can prevent a dangerous state involving a high-pressure gas filled in the film-covered battery while ensuring a sealing reliability, are provided. The Packaged battery includes film-covered battery 1 including a battery element and exterior films forming a sealed space housing the battery element, and holding member 10 holding film-covered battery 1. The sealed space includes a housing section housing the battery element, and a pocket communicating with the housing section to expand when the pressure in the sealed space increases. The pocket includes a safety valve which activates when the pocket expands. Holding member 10 includes an opening and a cavity fitting the housing section therein. When the housing section is fitted into the cavity, at least part of the pocket and the safety valve protrude to the outside of the holding member from the opening. |
| US09653713B2 |
Folding cell holder
A battery cell holder that may be used to form interconnection of cells in series and/or parallel arrangements. The cell holder includes slots for receiving battery cells, conductive apertures within the slots for attaching a conductor to the cells, and a hinge. The cell holder is foldable about the hinge and includes a keying system that allows multiple cell holders to be interconnected to form battery packs of multiple sizes and arrangements. |
| US09653710B2 |
Electrical energy stores, and method for operating an electrical energy store
An electrical energy store and a method for operating an electrical energy store are described. The electrical energy store includes: a housing; at least one energy storage element situated in the housing; and at least one gas-tight cavity, to which an internal pressure is applicable, situated in the housing, with the aid of which a pressure is exertable on at least one section of the energy storage element by applying the internal pressure to the cavity. |
| US09653703B2 |
Electroluminescent device including a protective film between an electroluminescent element and a desiccant layer
In an organic EL display device (electroluminescent device) equipped with an organic EL element (electroluminescent element), the organic EL element is encapsulated by a TFT substrate (substrate), a counter substrate, and a sealing resin. A desiccant layer and a highly-moisture-permeable layer are laminated in this order on the organic EL element. The highly-moisture-permeable layer is in direct contact with the sealing resin. |
| US09653699B2 |
Method of manufacturing a display apparatus
Provided is a display apparatus and a method of manufacture. The display apparatus includes a first substrate with a plurality of organic electroluminescence devices, a second substrate with a color filter, the second substrate facing the first substrate, and an adhesive layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate so as to cover the plurality of organic electroluminescence devices, the adhesive layer being made of a material selected from the group consisting of a phenol resin, a melanin resin, an unsaturated polyester resin, an epoxy resin, a silicon resin and a polyurethane resin. |
| US09653688B2 |
Organic devices, organic electroluminescent devices and organic solar cells
An organic device, including an organic compound having charge-transporting ability (i.e., transporting holes and/or electrons) and/or including organic light emissive molecules capable of emitting at least one of fluorescent light or phosphorescent light, has a charge transfer complex-contained layer including a charge transfer complex formed upon contact of an organic hole-transporting compound and molybdenum trioxide via a manner of lamination or mixing thereof, so that the organic hole-transporting compound is in a state of radical cation (i.e., positively charged species) in the charge transfer complex-contained layer. |
| US09653685B2 |
Ink for functional layer formation, method for manufacturing light emitting element, light emitting device, and electronic apparatus
The ink for functional layer formation includes a first component that is a solute; and a second component with a boiling point of 280° C. or higher and 350° C. or lower, is a good solvent, and is at least one type selected from a group consisting of an aromatic hydrocarbon including at least two aromatic rings, aromatic glycol ether, aliphatic glycol ether, aliphatic acetate, and aliphatic ester. |
| US09653681B2 |
Semiconductor memory device
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of first resistance-change memory elements of a two-terminal type, a second resistance-change memory element of a two-terminal type, a rectifier element of a two-terminal type, a local bit line connected to ends of the first resistance-change memory elements, an end of the second resistance-change memory element and an end of the rectifier element, and a global bit line connected to the other end of the second resistance-change memory element. |
| US09653680B2 |
Techniques for filament localization, edge effect reduction, and forming/switching voltage reduction in RRAM devices
The present disclosure provides a system and method for forming a resistive random access memory (RRAM) device. A RRAM device consistent with the present disclosure includes a substrate and a first electrode disposed thereon. The RRAM device includes a second electrode disposed over the first electrode and a RRAM dielectric layer disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode. The RRAM dielectric layer has a recess at a top center portion at the interface between the second electrode and the RRAM dielectric layer. |
| US09653677B2 |
Magnetoresistive effect element and magnetic memory
The present invention makes it possible to inhibit an MR ratio from decreasing by high-temperature heat treatment in a magnetoresistive effect element using a perpendicular magnetization film. The magnetoresistive effect element includes a data storage layer, a data reference layer, and an MgO film interposed between the data storage layer and the data reference layer. The data storage layer includes a CoFeB film coming into contact with the MgO film, a perpendicular magnetization film, and a Ta film interposed between the CoFeB film and the perpendicular magnetization film. The CoFeB film is magnetically coupled to the perpendicular magnetization film through the Ta film. |
| US09653670B2 |
Method for producing an optoelectronic semiconductor component, and optoelectronic semiconductor component
In at least one embodiment, the semiconductor component includes at least one optoelectronic semiconductor chip having a radiation exit side. The surface-mountable semiconductor component comprises a shaped body that covers side surfaces of the semiconductor chip directly and in a positively locking manner. The shaped body and the semiconductor chip do not overlap, as seen in a plan view of the radiation exit side. |
| US09653669B2 |
LED package structure
An LED package structure includes a base, an LED chip disposed on the base, at least one metal wire, a phosphor sheet, and an encapsulation resin disposed in the base and encapsulating the LED chip, the metal wire, and the phosphor sheet. The LED chip has at least one electrode thereon. The metal wire has an apex and a loop height being defined by the apex. The metal wire is electrically connected to the electrode and the base. The phosphor sheet includes a B-stage resin and a plurality of phosphor powders mixed therewith. The phosphor sheet is adhered to the LED chip by the B-stage resin capable of viscosity and covers the top surface, the side surface, and the electrode of the LED chip. A thickness of the phosphor sheet is smaller than the loop height, and the apex of the metal wire is exposed from the phosphor sheet. |
| US09653663B2 |
Ceramic LED package
A package for multiple LED's and for attachment to a substrate includes a body, which includes a top body layer, a cavity disposed through the top body layer and having a floor for bonding to the multiple LED's, and a thermal conduction layer bonded to the top body layer and having a top surface forming the floor of the cavity and a bottom surface. The thermal conduction layer includes a thermally conducting ceramic material disposed between the floor and the bottom surface. The package also includes a plurality of LED bonding pads in direct contact with the floor and configured to bond to the multiple LED's and a plurality of electrical bonding pads in direct contact with the floor, proximate to the LED bonding pads, and in electrical communication with a plurality of electrical contacts disposed on a surface of the body. |
| US09653660B1 |
Chip scale LED packaging method
A chip scale LED packaging method includes the following steps: clamping an upper mold with a plurality of through holes and a plate-shaped lower mold together; allowing bottoms of the plurality of through holes of the upper mold to be sealed by the plate-shaped lower mold to form a pattern of a plurality of grooves; placing chips one by one in corresponding through holes of the plurality of through holes; pouring encapsulation gel into each of the corresponding through holes; separating the upper mold from the plate-shaped lower mold after the encapsulation gel is cured and molded; and separating each cured and molded encapsulation gel from each of the corresponding through holes of the upper mold and taking each cured and molded encapsulation gel out of the upper mold to obtain an individual chip scale LED package. |
| US09653658B2 |
Red phosphor and light emitting device including the same
A red phosphor including the composition represented by the following general formula. (x−a)MgO.(a/2)Sc2O3.yMgF2.cCaF2.(1−b)GeO2.(b/2)M2O3:zMn4+ where x, y, z, a, b, and c satisfy 2.0≦x≦4.0, 0 |
| US09653657B2 |
Semiconductor light emitting apparatus
A semiconductor light emitting apparatus comprised of a semiconductor light emitting device (100) having a layered semiconductor layer (110) configured by layering at least two or more semiconductor layers (103), (105) and a light emitting layer (104) to emit first light, and a wavelength conversion member that covers at least apart of the semiconductor light emitting device (100), absorbs at least a part of the first light and that emits second light with a wavelength different from that of the first light, characterized in that the semiconductor light emitting device (100) is provided with a fine structure layer, as a component, including dots comprised of a plurality of convex portions or concave portions extending in the out-of-plane direction on one of main surfaces forming the semiconductor light emitting device (100), the fine structure layer forms a two-dimensional photonic crystal (102) controlled by at least one of a pitch among the dots, a dot diameter and a dot height, and that the two-dimensional photonic crystal (102) has at least two or more periods each of 1 μm or more. |
| US09653651B2 |
Light emitting device and method for manufacturing light emitting device
A light emitting device that is inexpensive, is easy to manufacture, and has high light extraction efficiency is provided. The light emitting device includes an oriented polycrystalline substrate, a plurality of columnar light emitting parts, and a light confinement layer. The oriented polycrystalline substrate includes a plurality of oriented crystal grains. The plurality of columnar light emitting parts are discretely located on or above one main surface of the oriented polycrystalline substrate in areas in which there are no crystal defects, and are each a columnar part having a longitudinal direction matching a normal direction of the oriented polycrystalline substrate. The light confinement layer is made of a material having a lower refractive index than a material for the plurality of columnar light emitting parts, and is located on or above the oriented polycrystalline substrate so as to surround the plurality of columnar light emitting parts. |
| US09653649B2 |
Gallium nitride substrates and functional devices
The maximum value of peak intensities of cathode luminescence of a wavelength corresponding to a band gap of gallium nitride and in a measured visual field of 0.1 mm×0.1 mm is 140 percent or higher of an average value of the peak intensities of the cathode luminescence, provided that the peak intensities of the cathode luminescence are measured on a surface of the gallium nitride substrate. |
| US09653647B2 |
Ultrathin solid state dies and methods of manufacturing the same
Various embodiments of SST dies and solid state lighting (“SSL”) devices with SST dies, assemblies, and methods of manufacturing are described herein. In one embodiment, a SST die includes a substrate material, a first semiconductor material and a second semiconductor material on the substrate material, an active region between the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material, and a support structure defined by the substrate material. In some embodiments, the support structure has an opening that is vertically aligned with the active region. |
| US09653637B2 |
Air cooled photovoltaic cells
An apparatus is provided that comprises photovoltaic cells provided on a first rotatable member, an electric motor having an axial shaft, and a second rotatable member provided with an impeller. The photovoltaic cells capture and convert the solar energy into electrical energy. The electric motor is connected to and is in electric communication with the photovoltaic cells for powering the electric motor. The electric motor converts the electrical energy into mechanical energy for rotating the photovoltaic cells in a first direction about a central axis and for rotating the axial shaft connected to an impeller in a second direction about the central axis. The rotating axial shaft rotates the impeller at high revolutions per minute which generates a flow of air that is directed to the rotating photovoltaic cells on the first rotatable member. The photovoltaic cells are cooled by the air-flow and operate at a lower temperature. |
| US09653629B2 |
Substrate material of iron-nickel alloy metal foil for CIGS solar cells
The present invention relates to an exclusive alloy substrate material for CIGS solar cells. Particularly, the present invention provides a substrate material having a thermal expansion coefficient similar to that of a CIGS layer. The substrate material according to the present invention may prevent damage such as interlayer separation due to differing thermal expansion coefficients from occurring because the substrate material has a thermal expansion coefficient similar to that of the CIGS layer. |
| US09653628B2 |
Absorber layer for photovoltaic device, and method of making the same
A photovoltaic device includes a substrate, a back contact layer disposed above the substrate, and an absorber layer disposed above the back contact layer. The absorber layer includes at least two regions at respectively different horizontally locations. Each respective region has a respectively different concentration profile of an ingredient at a respective depth of the absorber layer. |
| US09653627B2 |
Arrangements with pyramidal features having at least one nanostructured surface and methods of making and using
One embodiment is a nanostructured arrangement having a base and pyramidal features formed on the base. Each pyramidal feature includes sloping sides converging at a vertex. The nanostructured arrangement further includes a nanostructured surface formed on at least one of the sloping sides of at least one of the pyramidal features. The nanostructured surface has a quasi-periodic, anisotropic array of elongated ridge elements having a wave-ordered structure pattern. Each ridge element has a wavelike cross-section and oriented substantially in a first direction. |
| US09653625B2 |
Method for manufacturing anti-reflective coating for solar cell having moth-eye structure and solar cell incliding the same
A method of manufacturing antireflective coating for solar cell having a moth-eye structure and a solar cell including the same are provided to greatly reduce reflectivity by forming an antireflective coating layer having a moth-eye structure on an upper electrode layer of the solar cell using a bottom-up method. A bottom electrode layer is formed on a substrate. A photoreactive layer is formed on the bottom electrode layer. The photoreactive layer is made of CIS (Copper, Indium, Selenide) materials. A buffer layer is formed on the photoreactive layer. A ZnO layer is formed on the buffer layer. A top electrode layer is formed on the ZnO layer. |
| US09653620B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device including a p or p+ doped portion and an n or n+ doped portion separated from the p or p+ doped portion by a semiconductor drift portion. The device further includes an insulating portion provided adjacent the drift portion and at least one of the doped portions in a region where the drift portion and the at least one doped portion meet. The device further includes at least one additional portion, wherein the at least one additional portion is located such that, when the doped portions and the at least one additional portion are biased, the electrical potential lines leave the semiconductor drift portion homogeneously. |
| US09653613B2 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
Provided is a transistor with stable electrical characteristics. Provided is a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor over a substrate, a first conductor in contact with a top surface of the oxide semiconductor, a second conductor in contact with the top surface of the oxide semiconductor, a first insulator over the first and second conductors and in contact with the top surface of the oxide semiconductor, a second insulator over the first insulator, a third conductor over the second insulator, and a third insulator over the third conductor. The third conductor overlaps with the first conductor with the first and second insulators positioned therebetween, and overlaps with the second conductor with the first and second insulators positioned therebetween. The first insulator contains oxygen. The second insulator transmits less oxygen than the first insulator. The third insulator transmits less oxygen than the first insulator. |
| US09653612B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a gate electrode having a first side wall at an end thereof, a gate insulating layer on a top surface and the first side wall of the gate electrode, an oxide semiconductor layer facing the first side wall, the gate insulating layer being between the first side wall and the oxide semiconductor layer, a first insulating layer on the oxide semiconductor layer, the oxide semiconductor layer being between the gate insulating layer and the first insulating layer, a first electrode connected with a first portion of the oxide semiconductor layer, and a second electrode connected with a second portion of the oxide semiconductor layer. |
| US09653602B1 |
Tensile and compressive fins for vertical field effect transistors
Various embodiments disclose a method for fabricating one or more vertical fin field-effect-transistors. In one embodiment, a spacer layer is formed in contact with at least one fin structure. The at least one fin structure contacts a source/drain layer formed on a substrate and includes a channel material. A high-k dielectric layer is formed in contact with the spacer layer and the at least one fin structure. A work function metal layer is formed in contact with and conforms to the high-k dielectric layer. A metal gate layer is formed in contact with the work function metal layer. The metal gate layer includes an intrinsic stress inducing a stress on the at least one fin structure. |
| US09653600B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of fabricating same
A semiconductor device and method of fabricating the semiconductor device are disclosed. The method includes forming a plurality of gate electrodes at a predetermined interval on a surface of a semiconductor substrate, forming spacers on sidewalls of the gate electrodes, depositing an interconnection layer conformally on the surface of the semiconductor substrate over the gate electrodes and the spacers, selectively etching the interconnection layer, wherein at least a portion of the interconnection layer that is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate and sidewalls of the spacers and located between adjacent gate electrodes remains after the selective etch, and forming an electrical contact on the etched interconnection layer located between the adjacent gate electrodes. |
| US09653596B2 |
Superjunction device and semiconductor structure comprising the same
The present disclosure relates to a superjunction device and a semiconductor structure having the same. The superjunction device includes a body region of a second conduction type, a drain region of a first conduction type, a drift region located between said body region and said drain region. The drift region includes first regions of a first conduction type and second regions of a second conduction type arranged alternately along a direction being perpendicular to the direction from the body region to the drain region, and a plurality of trench gate structures, each of them comprising a trench extending into said drift region from an upper surface of said body region and a gate electrode in said trench surrounded by a first dielectric layer filling said trench, and a source region of a first conduction type embedded into said body region. There is no source region along at least 10% of the total interface length between the first dielectric layer and the body region. |
| US09653591B2 |
Compound semiconductor device having at least one buried semiconductor material region
A semiconductor device includes a first compound semiconductor material, a second compound semiconductor material on the first compound semiconductor material, the second compound semiconductor material having a first doping concentration and including a different material than the first compound semiconductor material, a control electrode, and at least one buried semiconductor material region having a second doping concentration different from the first doping concentration. The at least one buried semiconductor material region is disposed in the second compound semiconductor material in a region other than a region of the second compound semiconductor material being covered by the control electrode. |
| US09653588B2 |
GaN substrate, semiconductor device and method for fabricating GaN substrate and semiconductor device
A gallium nitride (GaN) substrate, a semiconductor device, and methods for fabricating a GaN substrate and a semiconductor device are provided. The GaN substrate includes: a GaN base; an aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) layer, disposed on the GaN base; and a p-type conducting layer disposed on an active area of the AlGaN layer, and used to exhaust surface state negative electrons on the AlGaN layer and neutralize a dangling bond on the AlGaN layer. The p-type conducting layer is formed on the AlGaN layer, and a hole charge carrier in the p-type conducting layer can be used to exhaust the surface state negative electrons on an n-type AlGaN layer, neutralize the dangling bond on a section of the AlGaN layer, and prevent the forming of a virtual gate, so as to suppress a current collapse effect of the semiconductor device fabricated using the GaN substrate. |
| US09653586B2 |
Amplifier device comprising enhanced thermal transfer and structural features
A heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) amplifier device includes transistor fingers arranged in parallel on a substrate. Each transistor finger includes a base/collector mesa stripe shaving a trapezoidal shaped cross-section with sloping sides, and having a base stacked on a collector; a set of emitter mesa stripes arranged on the base/collector mesa stripe; and emitter metallization formed over the set of emitter mesa stripes and the base/collector mesa. The emitter metallization includes a center portion for providing electrical and thermal connectivity to the emitter mesa stripes and extended portions extending beyond the base and overlapping onto the sloping sides of the base/collector mesa stripe for increasing thermal coupling to the collector. A common conductive pillar is formed over the transistor fingers for providing electrical and thermal conductivity. Also, thermal shunts are disposed on the substrate between adjacent transistor fingers, where the thermal shunts are electrically isolated from the transistor fingers. |
| US09653585B2 |
Vertical gate-all-around TFET
A vertical tunneling FET (TFET) provides low-power, high-speed switching performance for transistors having critical dimensions below 7 nm. The vertical TFET uses a gate-all-around (GAA) device architecture having a cylindrical structure that extends above the surface of a doped well formed in a silicon substrate. The cylindrical structure includes a lower drain region, a channel, and an upper source region, which are grown epitaxially from the doped well. The channel is made of intrinsic silicon, while the source and drain regions are doped in-situ. An annular gate surrounds the channel, capacitively controlling current flow through the channel from all sides. The source is electrically accessible via a front side contact, while the drain is accessed via a backside contact that provides low contact resistance and also serves as a heat sink. Reliability of vertical TFET integrated circuits is enhanced by coupling the vertical TFETs to electrostatic discharge (ESD) diodes. |
| US09653582B2 |
Forming a Fin using double trench epitaxy
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor devices and more particularly, to a structure and method of forming a fin using double trench epitaxy. The fin may be composed of a III-V semiconductor material and may be grown on a silicon, silicon germanium, or germanium substrate. A double trench aspect ratio trapping (ART) epitaxy method may trap crystalline defects within a lower trench (i.e. a defective region) and may permit formation of a fin free of patterning defects in an upper trench (i.e. a fin mold). Crystalline defects within the defective region may be trapped via conventional aspect ratio trapping or three-sided aspect ratio trapping. Fin patterning defects may be avoided by utilizing a fin mold to grow an epitaxial fin and selectively removing dielectric material adjacent to a fin region. |
| US09653580B2 |
Semiconductor device including strained finFET
A semiconductor device includes at least one semiconductor fin on an upper surface of a base substrate. The at least one semiconductor fin includes a strained active semiconductor portion interposed between a protective cap layer and the base substrate. A gate stack wraps around the at least one semiconductor fin. The gate stack includes a metal gate element interposed between a pair of first cap segments of the protective cap layer. The strained active semiconductor portion is preserved following formation of the fin via the protective cap layer. |
| US09653577B2 |
Diluted drift layer with variable stripe widths for power transistors
A multi-finger lateral high voltage transistors (MFLHVT) includes a substrate doped a first dopant type, a well doped a second dopant type, and a buried drift layer (BDL) doped first type having a diluted BDL portion (DBDL) including dilution stripes. A semiconductor surface doped the second type is on the BDL. Dielectric isolation regions have gaps defining a first active area in a first gap region (first MOAT) and a second active area in a second gap region (second MOAT). A drain includes drain fingers in the second MOAT interdigitated with source fingers in the first MOAT each doped second type. The DBDL is within a fingertip drift region associated drain fingertips and/or source fingertips between the first and second MOAT. A gate stack is on the semiconductor surface between source and drain. The dilution stripes have stripe widths that increase monotonically with a drift length at their respective positions. |
| US09653575B1 |
Vertical transistor with a body contact for back-biasing
A method of forming a substrate contact in a vertical transistor device includes patterning a sacrificial layer to form an opening in the sacrificial layer, the sacrificial layer disposed on hardmask arranged on a substrate, and the substrate including a bulk semiconductor layer, a buried oxide layer arranged on the bulk semiconductor layer, and a semiconductor layer arranged on the buried oxide layer; forming oxide spacers on sidewalls of the opening in the sacrificial layer; using the oxide spacers as a pattern to etch a trench through the substrate, the trench stopping at a region within the bulk semiconductor layer; and depositing a conductive material in the trench to form the substrate contact. |
| US09653572B2 |
Method for fabricating semiconductor device
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes forming a dummy gate on a substrate, forming a dummy gate mask on the dummy gate, forming a gate spacer on the substrate, the gate spacer covering at least one sidewall surface of the dummy gate and the dummy gate mask, forming a recess on at least one side of the dummy gate by etching the substrate, and forming an epitaxial layer in the recess using an epitaxial growth process. The forming of the dummy gate mask includes forming an oxide layer and a dummy gate mask layer on the dummy gate. |
| US09653570B2 |
Junction interlayer dielectric for reducing leakage current in semiconductor devices
A semiconductor device includes a substrate and a p-doped layer including a doped III-V material on the substrate. A dielectric interlayer is formed on the p-doped layer. An n-type layer is formed on the dielectric interlayer, the n-type layer including a high band gap II-VI material to form an electronic device. |
| US09653569B1 |
Compound semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
A compound semiconductor stacked structure is constituted by including: a buffer layer; an n-type conductive region that is formed at one portion of the buffer layer; an channel layer that is formed on a top surface of the buffer layer and on a top surface of the n-type conductive region; and an barrier layer that is formed above the channel layer and contains Inx1Aly1Gaz1N (0≦x1<1, and 0 |
| US09653564B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same
There is provided a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method of manufacturing comprises a film formation process of forming a molybdenum layer that is mainly made of molybdenum (Mo), on at least one of a semiconductor layer, an insulating film and an electrode in the semiconductor device; a heat treatment process of heating the molybdenum layer at temperature of not lower than 200° C.; and a dry etching process of processing the semiconductor device that includes the formed molybdenum layer by dry etching, subsequent to the heat treatment process. |
| US09653561B2 |
Low on resistance semiconductor device
A semiconductor device is provided having a dual dielectric layer structure defined by a thin dielectric layer adjacent to a thick dielectric layer. More particularly, a high voltage metal oxide semiconductor transistor having a dual gate oxide layer structure comprising a thin gate oxide layer adjacent to a thick oxide/thin oxide layer may be provided. Such structures may be used in extended drain metal oxide semiconductor field effect transmitters, laterally diffused metal oxide field effect transistors, or any high voltage metal oxide semiconductor transistor. Methods of fabricating an extended drain metal oxide semiconductor transistor device are also provided. |
| US09653560B1 |
Method of fabricating power MOSFET
A method of fabricating a power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) is provided, and the method includes forming a semiconductor layer on a substrate, forming at least one first trench in the semiconductor layer, forming a thermal oxide layer on a surface of the trench, forming a first gate in the first trench, forming a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) oxide layer on the first gate in the first trench, forming a mask layer on the CVD oxide layer in the first trench so as to form a second trench between the mask layer and the thermal oxide layer, and forming a second gate in the second trench. |
| US09653557B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor region of a first conductivity type, a second semiconductor region having a second conductivity type, a first insulating layer on the first and second semiconductor regions, and field plate electrodes are provided in the first insulating layer at different distances from the first semiconductor layer. A first field plate electrode is at a first distance, a second field plate electrode is at a second distance greater than the first distance, and a third field plate electrode is at a distance greater than the second distance. The first through third field plate electrodes are electrically connected to each other and the third electrode is electrically connected to the second semiconductor region. |
| US09653553B2 |
Semiconductor substrate, semiconductor device and method of manufacturing semiconductor device
A semiconductor substrate of an embodiment includes a SiC layer having a surface inclined in a <11-20> direction plus or minus 5° from a {0001} face at an off angle of 0° to 10°. Area density of threading edge dislocation clusters in the SiC layer is 18.8 cm−2 or less, each of the threading edge dislocation clusters includes a plurality of threading edge dislocations on the surface, the threading edge dislocations included in each of the threading edge dislocation clusters exist in a region that extends in a [1-100] direction plus or minus 5° and has a width of 30 μm or less, each of the threading edge dislocation clusters includes at least three threading edge dislocations adjacent at an interval of 30 μm or less, and an interval of adjacent threading edge dislocations in each of the threading edge dislocation clusters is 70 μm or less. |
| US09653549B2 |
Semiconductor device formed with nanowire
A semiconductor device is provided. The semiconductor device includes a substrate; a first nanowire disposed over the substrate; a second nanowire disposed over the substrate; a first pad formed at first ends of the first and second nanowires, a second pad formed at second ends of the first and second nanowires, wherein the pads comprise different materials than the nanowires; and a gate surrounding at least a portion of each of the first and second nanowires. |
| US09653547B1 |
Integrated etch stop for capped gate and method for manufacturing the same
A semiconductor device includes a plurality of gate stacks spaced apart from each other on a substrate, an etch stop layer formed on an upper surface of each gate stack, a dielectric cap layer formed on each etch stop layer, a plurality of source/drain regions formed on the substrate between respective pairs of adjacent gate stacks, and a plurality of contacts respectively corresponding to each source/drain region, wherein the contacts are separated from the gate structures and contact their corresponding source/drain regions. |
| US09653546B2 |
Nanowire structure and manufacturing method thereof
A manufacturing method of a nanowire structure includes the following steps. A fin and a shallow trench isolation (STI) are formed on a substrate. A first patterned insulation layer is formed on an exposed upper part of the fin. The STI is then recessed for exposing a lower part of the fin. A second patterned insulation layer is formed in second regions for covering the first patterned insulation layer and the exposed part of the fin. The lower part of the fin is then removed for forming an upper fin and a lower fin in a first region. The STI is further recessed for exposing a portion of the lower fin and a portion of the fin in the second regions. The first patterned insulation layer on the first region is removed, and the upper fin is converted into a first nanowire. |
| US09653531B2 |
Methods of manufacturing a package
A method of manufacturing a package may include: providing a first device having a first redistribution layer (RDL) and an insulator layer disposed over the first RDL; and forming a first micro-bump line over the insulator layer of the first device. The first micro-bump line may extend laterally over a surface of the insulator layer facing away from the first RDL, and a first inductor of the package comprises the first RDL and the first micro-bump line. |
| US09653530B2 |
Organic light-emitting diode module equipped with vertical electric connection structure
An OLED module equipped with vertical electric connection structure includes a substrate, a plurality of OLED clusters, an anode wire structure and a cathode wire structure. The substrate is extended toward a first direction. The OLED clusters are located on the substrate in the first direction. The anode wire structure includes a bottom layer wire set, an insulation layer, a middle wire layer set and a top layer wire set. The bottom layer wire set is located on the substrate. The insulation layer is located on the bottom layer wire set. The top layer wire set is located on the insulation layer. The cathode wire structure is located on the substrate and extended axially thereof. The middle layer wire set runs through the insulation layer and forms vertical connection between the bottom layer wire set and the top layer wire set. |
| US09653524B2 |
Organic light emitting display apparatus
An organic light emitting display apparatus includes: a first pixel electrode and a second pixel electrode on a substrate and spaced apart from each other, each of the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode including a reflective layer; a pixel definition layer extending between and overlapping adjacent edges of the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode; a first intermediate layer and a second intermediate layer respectively on the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode; and an opposite electrode on the first intermediate layer, the second intermediate layer and the pixel definition layer and including a reflective layer. |
| US09653511B2 |
CMOS image sensor with peninsular ground contracts and method of manufacturing the same
A complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor with peninsular ground contacts includes (a) a substrate having a plurality of pixel units arranged in rows of pixel units and (b) a plurality of ground contacts for grounding the pixel units, wherein the ground contacts are formed in respective peninsular regions of the substrate within respective ones of the pixel units, and wherein each of the peninsular regions is only partly enclosed by a shallow trench isolation and the peninsular regions have alternating orientation along each of the rows of pixel units. |
| US09653508B2 |
Pad structure exposed in an opening through multiple dielectric layers in BSI image sensor chips
An integrated circuit structure includes a semiconductor substrate, and a dielectric pad extending from a bottom surface of the semiconductor substrate up into the semiconductor substrate. A low-k dielectric layer is disposed underlying the semiconductor substrate. A first non-low-k dielectric layer is underlying the low-k dielectric layer. A metal pad is underlying the first non-low-k dielectric layer. A second non-low-k dielectric layer is underlying the metal pad. An opening extends from a top surface of the semiconductor substrate down to penetrate through the semiconductor substrate, the dielectric pad, and the low-k dielectric layer, wherein the opening lands on a top surface of the metal pad. A passivation layer includes a portion on a sidewall of the opening, wherein a portion of the passivation layer at a bottom of the opening is removed. |
| US09653505B2 |
Method for fabricating photo detector having sensor element array and photo conversion element
A photo detector and a method for fabricating the same are provided. The photo detector includes a first substrate and a photo conversion element. The first substrate has a sensor element array for receiving a light with a spectrum in a specific wavelength range. The photo conversion element is disposed on the sensor element array, where the photo conversion element includes a photo conversion material layer and a doped photo conversion material column structure layer. A luminescent spectrum of the doped photo conversion material layer column structure layer is overlapped with the spectrum in a specific wavelength range, and a luminescent spectrum of the photo conversion material layer is non-overlapped with the spectrum in a specific wavelength range. |
| US09653501B2 |
Image sensor including color filter and method of manufacturing the image sensor
An image sensor including a color filter and a method of manufacturing the image sensor are provided. The image sensor includes a light-sensing layer configured to detect incident light, and convert the incident light to an electrical signal. The image sensor further includes a color filter layer disposed on the light-sensing layer, the color filter layer including color filters, each of the color filters being configured to transmit, among the incident light, light in a wavelength band to the light-sensing layer. The image sensor further includes an isolation layer disposed between the color filters, the isolation layer being configured to optically isolate the color filters from each other. An upper portion of each of the color filters has a cylindrical shape, and a lower portion of each of the color filters has a hemispherical shape. |
| US09653500B2 |
Optical cover plate with improved solder mask dam on glass for image sensor package and fabrication method thereof
An optical cover plate for image sensor package includes a transparent substrate, at least an annular dam structure, and a barrier layer. The annular dam structure is disposed on the transparent substrate and encompasses a light-receiving area. The barrier layer conformally covers at least a sidewall of the annular dam structure. A method of manufacturing the optical cover plate, an image sensor package and fabrication method thereof are also disclosed. |
| US09653498B2 |
Imaging device having electrode overlying photoelectric conversion layer and having electrical contact to electrode
An imaging device includes a plurality of pixels arranged in a pixel region, each of the plurality of pixels including a photoelectric conversion element including a first electrode provided above a substrate, a second electrode provided above the first electrode and a photoelectric conversion layer provided between the first electrode and the second electrode, an interconnection layer provided between the substrate and the first electrode, the interconnection layer including a first conductive member extending in a first direction, and a second conductive member arranged at a level lower than the first conductive member and extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, a first contact portion provided in the pixel region, the first contact portion electrically connecting the second electrode and the first conductive member, and a second contact portion electrically connecting the first conductive member and the second conductive member. |
| US09653496B2 |
Preparation method of poly-silicon TFT array substrate and array substrate thereof
A preparation method of a poly-silicon thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate and an array substrate thereof are provided. The preparation method includes: forming a photoresist layer on a poly-silicon layer, and exposing and developing the photoresist layer with a gray tone mask to form patterns of a photoresist completely-reserved region, a photoresist partially-reserved regions and a photoresist completely-removed region; removing part of the poly-silicon layer located in the photoresist completely-removed region, to form patterns of active layers; ashing the photoresist so as to expose part of the active layer located in the photoresist partially-reserved regions and inject P+ ions of high concentration into the part of the active layer, to form doping regions of patterns of source-drain electrodes of a P-type TFT; and stripping off remaining photoresist. |
| US09653495B2 |
Method of manufacturing display device
A method of manufacturing a display device includes: forming a gate electrode on a substrate; forming a gate insulating film on the substrate; forming an oxide semiconductor on the substrate; forming a source electrode and a drain electrode on the substrate; forming a passivation film on the substrate; forming a common electrode on the substrate; forming an interlayer insulating film on the substrate; forming a pixel electrode on the substrate; forming an alignment film on the substrate; radiating UV-rays onto the oxide semiconductor; and heat-treating the oxide semiconductor irradiated with the UV-rays. The radiating UV-rays is performed after the forming an oxide semiconductor, and the heat-treating is performed after the forming a passivation film. |
| US09653494B2 |
Array substrate, display panel and display apparatus
A thin-film transistor (TFT) array substrate is provided. The thin-film transistor (TFT) array substrate comprises a substrate having at least a display region; and a plurality of top-gated thin-film transistors formed over the substrate. The thin-film transistor (TFT) array substrate also comprises a plurality of scan lines and a plurality of data lines formed over the substrate in the display region and defining a plurality of sub-pixels, wherein a plurality of pre-reserved blank regions are configured among the scan lines, the data lines, and the plurality of sub-pixels in the display region; and a gate driver circuit formed over the substrate in the display region and disposed in the pre-reserved blank regions in the display region. |
| US09653487B2 |
Semiconductor device, manufacturing method thereof, module, and electronic device
A semiconductor device includes a transistor and a capacitor. The transistor includes a first conductive film; a first insulating film including a film containing hydrogen; a second insulating film including an oxide insulating film; an oxide semiconductor film including a first region and a pair of second regions; a pair of electrodes; a gate insulating film; and a second conductive film. The capacitor includes a lower electrode, an inter-electrode insulating film, and an upper electrode. The lower electrode contains the same material as the first conductive film. The inter-electrode insulating film includes a third insulating film containing the same material as the first insulating film and a fourth insulating film containing the same material as the gate insulating film. The upper electrode contains the same material as the second conductive film. A fifth insulating film containing hydrogen is provided over the transistor. |
| US09653483B2 |
Display motherboard, display panel and display device
The invention provides a display motherboard, a display panel and a display device for solving the problem of unsmooth cutting of the display motherboard in the prior art during cutting. In the display motherboard, the display panel and the display device provided by the present invention, a cutting area of the display motherboard is provided with a raised portion on one side close to sealant, and the raised portion can make the cutting stress more concentrated when the display motherboard is cut, so that adhesion of the sealant to substrates is reduced and thus the display motherboard is cut more smoothly. |
| US09653482B2 |
Display panel and display device
A display panel comprises a TFT substrate and a display medium layer. The display medium layer is disposed on the TFT substrate. The TFT substrate comprises a TFT and a substrate. The TFT is disposed on the substrate and comprises a gate, a metal oxide layer, a source, a drain and a protection layer. The gate is disposed corresponding to the metal oxide layer. The protection layer is disposed on the metal oxide layer. Each of the source and the drain contacts the metal oxide layer through an opening of the protection layer. One side of the gate or one side of the metal oxide layer partially overlaps at least one of the openings. In addition, a display device is also disclosed. |
| US09653479B2 |
Semiconductor device and electronic device
To provide a semiconductor device with excellent electrical characteristics or a semiconductor device with stable electrical characteristics. A semiconductor device includes a first transistor, a second transistor, a first insulator, a second insulator, a first wiring, and a first plug. The first transistor includes silicon. The second transistor includes an oxide semiconductor. The first insulator is located over the first transistor. The second insulator is located over the first insulator. The second transistor is located over the second insulator. The first wiring is located over the second insulator and the first plug. The first transistor and the second transistor are electrically connected to each other through the first wiring and the first plug. The first wiring has low hydrogen permeability. The hydrogen permeability of the second insulator is lower than the hydrogen permeability of the first insulator. |
| US09653472B2 |
Semiconductor device, method of fabricating the semiconductor device, and method of forming epitaxial layer
According to example embodiments, a method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes alternately stacking interlayer insulating layers and intermediate layers on a substrate, forming openings passing through the interlayer insulating layers and the intermediate layers to form recessed regions in the substrate, forming first epitaxial layers on recessed surfaces in the recessed regions, and forming second epitaxial layers using the first epitaxial layers as seed layers. The second epitaxial layers fill the recessed regions and extend above the substrate. |
| US09653459B2 |
MOSFET having source region formed in a double wells region
A MOS transistor comprises a substrate of a first conductivity, a first region of the first conductivity formed over the substrate, a second region of the first conductivity formed in the first region, a first drain/source region of a second conductivity formed in the second region, a second drain/source region of the second conductivity and a body contact region of the first conductivity, wherein the body contact region and the first drain/source region are formed in an alternating manner from a top view. |
| US09653448B2 |
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) diode in FinFET technology
In an embodiment, an ESD protection circuit is provided in which diodes may be formed between N+ and P+ diffusions within an insulated semiconductor region and in which additional diodes may be formed between adjacent insulated regions of opposite conduction type as well. The diodes may be used in parallel to form an ESD protection circuit, which may have low on resistance and may sink high ESD current per unit area. To support the formation of the ESD protection circuit, each silicon region may have alternating N+ and P+ diffusions, and adjacent silicon regions may have N+ and P+ diffusions alternating in opposite locations. That is a perpendicular drawn between the N+ diffusions of one adjacent region may intersect P+ diffusions in the other adjacent region, and vice versa. |
| US09653446B1 |
Integrated circuit containing standard logic cells and library-compatible, NCEM-enabled fill cells, including at least via-open-configured, AACNT-short-configured, TS-short-configured, and AA-short-configured, NCEM-enabled fill cells
An IC includes logic cells, selected from a standard cell library, and fill cells, configured for compatibility with the standard logic cells. The fill cells contain structures configured to obtain in-line data via non-contact electrical measurements (“NCEM”). The IC includes such NCEM-enabled fill cells configured to enable detection and/or measurement of a variety of open-circuit and short-circuit failure modes, including at least one via-open-related failure mode, one AACNT-short-related failure mode, one TS-short-related failure mode, and one AA-short-related failure mode. |
| US09653438B2 |
Electrical interconnect structure for an embedded semiconductor device package and method of manufacturing thereof
An electronics package includes a first dielectric substrate having a first plurality of vias formed through a thickness thereof, a metalized contact layer coupled to a top surface of the first dielectric substrate, and a first die positioned within a first die opening formed through the thickness of the first dielectric substrate. Metalized interconnects are formed on a bottom surface of the first dielectric substrate and extend through the first plurality of vias to contact the metalized contact layer. A second dielectric substrate is coupled to the first dielectric substrate and has a second plurality of vias formed through a thickness thereof. Metalized interconnects extend through the second plurality of vias to contact the first plurality of metalized interconnects and contact pads of the first die. A first conductive element electrically couples the first die to the metalized contact layer. |
| US09653433B2 |
Multi-chip structure and method of forming same
A device comprises a first chip and a second chip stacked together to form a multi-chip structure, wherein the multi-chip structure is embedded in an encapsulation layer, and wherein at least one edge of the first chip and the second chip is exposed outside the encapsulation layer, a redistribution layer on a surface of a first side of the encapsulation layer and a plurality of conductive bumps over the redistribution layer and connected to the redistribution layer. |
| US09653429B2 |
Multi-chip package structure having blocking structure, wafer level chip package structure having blocking structure and manufacturing process thereof
A multi-chip package structure includes a first chip, at least one blocking structure, a plurality of first conductive bumps, a second chip, a plurality of second conductive bumps and an underfill. The first chip has a chip connecting zone, a plurality of first inner pads in the chip connecting zone and a plurality of first outer pads outside of the chip connecting zone. The blocking structure is disposed between the first inner pads and the first outer pads and surrounds the first inner pads. The first conductive bumps are disposed on the first outer pads. The second chip is flipped on the chip connecting zone and has a plurality of second pads. The second conductive bumps are disposed between the first inner pads and the second pads. The underfill is disposed between the first chip and the second chip so as to cover the second conductive bumps. |
| US09653426B2 |
Method of manufacturing a semiconductor package having an integrated microwave component
A method of manufacturing an array of semiconductor device packages includes placing a plurality of semiconductor chips on a temporary carrier, covering the plurality of semiconductor chips with an encapsulation material to form an encapsulation body, providing a plurality of microwave components each including at least one electrically conducting wall structure integrated in the encapsulation body, forming a plurality of electrical interconnects each configured to electrically couple a semiconductor chip and a microwave component, and separating the encapsulation body into single semiconductor device packages each including a semiconductor chip, a microwave component and an electrical interconnect. |
| US09653425B2 |
Anisotropic conductive film structures
Anisotropic conductive film (ACF) structures and manufacturing methods for forming the same are described. The manufacturing methods include preventing clusters of conductive particles from forming between adjacent bonding pads and that are associated with electrical shorting of ACF structures. In some embodiments, the methods involve use of multiple layered ACF materials that include a non-electrically conductive layer that reduces the likelihood of formation of conductive particle clusters between bonding pads. In some embodiment, the methods include the use of ultraviolet sensitive ACF material combined with lithography techniques that eliminate conductive particles from between neighboring bonding pads. In some embodiments, the methods involve the use of insulation spacers that block conductive particles from entering between bonding pads. Any suitable combination of the described methods can be used. |
| US09653424B2 |
Semiconductor package with adhesive material pre-printed on the lead frame and chip, and its manufacturing method
This invention discloses a semiconductor package with adhesive material pre-printed on the lead frame and chip, and the manufacturing method. The adhesive material is applied onto the chip carrier and the pin of the lead frame and also on the front electrode of the semiconductor chip via pre-printing. The back of the semiconductor chip is adhered on the chip carrier, and the front electrode of the semiconductor chip and the pin are connected respectively with a metal connector. The size, shape and thickness of the adhesive material are applied according to different application requirements according to size and shapes of the contact zone of the semiconductor chip and the metal connector. Particularly, the adhesive zones are formed by pre-printing the adhesive material thus significantly enhance the quality and performance of semiconductor products, and improves the productivity. |
| US09653423B2 |
Integrated circuit structure having dies with connectors
An embodiment is an integrated circuit structure including a first die having a bump structure, and a second die having a pad structure. The first die is attached to the second die by bonding the bump structure and the pad structure. The bump structure includes a metal pillar, a metal cap layer on the metal pillar, a metal insertion layer on the metal cap layer, and a solder layer on the metal insertion layer. The pad structure includes at least one of a nickel (Ni) layer, a palladium (Pd) layer or a gold (Au) layer. |
| US09653422B2 |
Chip package and method for forming the same
A method for forming a chip package is provided. The method includes providing a first substrate and a second substrate. The first substrate is attached onto the second substrate by an adhesive layer. A first opening is formed to penetrate the first substrate and the adhesive layer and separate the first substrate and the adhesive layer into portions. A chip package formed by the method is also provided. |
| US09653418B2 |
Packaging devices and methods
A method of manufacturing a packaging device may include: forming a plurality of through-substrate vias (TSVs) in a substrate, wherein each of the plurality of TSVs has a protruding portion extending away from a major surface of the substrate. A seed layer may be forming over the protruding portions of the plurality of TSVs, and a conductive ball may be coupled to the seed layer and the protruding portion of each of the plurality of TSVs. The seed layer and the protruding portion of each of the plurality of TSVs may extend into an interior region of the conductive ball. |
| US09653413B2 |
Power grid conductor placement within an integrated circuit
An integrated circuit 2 is formed with standard-cell power conductors 14 which are overlaid by power grid conductors 20. The power grid conductors are offset in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the power grid conductors relative to their underlying standard-cell power conductor. This has the effect of increasing the conductor spacing possible to one side of the power grid conductor. Accordingly, a wider than minimum width power grid conductor may be provided which blocks only one of its adjacent track positions from being used by a routing conductor 22. |
| US09653412B1 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device
On a first wafer surface of a semiconductor wafer, a projection-depression shape is formed. On the first wafer surface, a resin member is so formed to have a resin outer peripheral end positioned away from a wafer outer peripheral end and expose the wafer outer peripheral end. By partially removing the semiconductor wafer, on a second wafer surface of the semiconductor wafer, formed is a recessed shape having a recessed-portion outer peripheral end positioned 0.5 mm or more inside from the resin outer peripheral end. After performing a processing on the second wafer surface, the resin member is removed. |
| US09653410B1 |
Transistor with shield structure, packaged device, and method of manufacture
A transistor includes a semiconductor substrate having an intrinsic active device, a first terminal, and a second terminal. The transistor also includes an interconnect structure formed of multiple layers of dielectric material and electrically conductive material on an upper surface of the semiconductor substrate. The interconnect structure includes a pillar, a tap interconnect, and a shield structure formed from the electrically conductive material. The pillar electrically contacts the first terminal, extends through the dielectric material, and connects to a first runner. The tap interconnect electrically contacts the second terminal, extends through the dielectric material, and connects to a second runner. The shield structure extends from a shield runner through the dielectric material toward the semiconductor substrate. The shield structure is positioned between the pillar and the tap interconnect to limit feedback capacitance between the tap interconnect and the pillar. |
| US09653409B2 |
Semiconductor package having a metal paint layer
Disclosed are devices and methods related to a conductive paint layer configured to provide radio-frequency (RF) shielding for a packaged semiconductor module. Such a module can include a packaging substrate, one or more RF components mounted on the packaging substrate, a ground plane disposed within the packaging substrate, and a plurality of RF-shielding wirebonds disposed on the packaging substrate and electrically connected to the ground plane. The module can further include an overmold structure formed over the packaging substrate and dimensioned to substantially encapsulate the RF component(s) and the RF-shielding wirebonds. The overmold structure can define an upper surface that exposes upper portions of the RF-shielding wirebonds. The module can further include a conductive paint layer having silver flakes disposed on the upper surface of the overmold structure so that the conductive paint layer, the RF-shielding wirebonds, and the ground plane form an RF-shield for the RF component(s). |
| US09653406B2 |
Conductive traces in semiconductor devices and methods of forming same
An embodiment device package includes a semiconductor device die comprising a passivation layer at a top surface, a first conductive line over the passivation layer and electrically connected to the device die, and a second conductive line over the passivation layer and electrically connected to the device die. The first conductive line is thicker than the second conductive line, and the first conductive line and the second conductive line are formed in a same device package layer. |
| US09653402B2 |
Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same
A semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same, the semiconductor device including a fin structure, a first liner, a first insulating layer and a dummy gate structure. The fin structure is disposed on a substrate, where the fin structure has a trench. The first liner disposed in the trench. The first insulating layer disposed on the first liner. The dummy gate structure is disposed on the first insulating layer and disposed above the trench, where a bottom surface of the dummy gate and a top surface of the fin structure are on a same level. |
| US09653400B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same
A semiconductor device is provided. The semiconductor device includes a first porous interlayer insulating film having a low dielectric constant and including a first region and a second region, a second interlayer insulating film formed on the first interlayer insulating film in the first region, a plurality of first conductive patterns formed in the second interlayer insulating film such that the plurality of first conductive patterns are spaced apart from each other, at least one second conductive pattern formed in the first interlayer insulating film in the second region and air gaps disposed at lateral sides of the plurality of first conductive patterns. |
| US09653399B2 |
Middle-of-line integration methods and semiconductor devices
An electronic device includes a middle-of-line (MOL) stack. The electronic device includes a top local interconnect layer and a contact coupling the top local interconnect layer to a gate of a semiconductor device through a first dielectric layer. The electronic device also includes one or more isolation walls between the contact and the first dielectric layer, wherein the one or more isolation walls include aluminum nitride (AlN). |
| US09653397B2 |
Semiconductor package and method of manufacturing the same
Disclosed herein are a semiconductor package and a method of manufacturing the same, which allows a conductive path to be provided to connect upper and lower portions of the semiconductor package. A semiconductor package according to the present invention includes a semiconductor chip, a substrate including an accommodating portion to accommodate the semiconductor chip, a sealing material configured to mold the semiconductor chip and the substrate to be integrated, a through wiring configured to vertically pass through the substrate, a wiring portion configured to electrically connect the semiconductor chip and one side of the through wiring, and an external connection portion to electrically connected to the other side of the through wiring and configured to be able to be electrically connected to an outside, wherein a wiring layer of the wiring portion is provided to be connected to the through wiring. |
| US09653394B2 |
Logic cell, semiconductor device including logic cell, and method of manufacturing the logic cell and semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a substrate; a plurality of conductive areas formed on the substrate at a first vertical level; a first wiring layer formed on the substrate at a second vertical level which is higher than the first vertical level, the first wiring layer including first lines that extend in a first direction, one first line of the first lines connected to a first conductive area selected from the plurality of conductive areas through a via contact; a second wiring layer formed on the substrate at a third vertical level which is higher than the second vertical level, the second wiring layer including second lines that extend in a second direction that crosses the first direction, one second line of the second lines connected to a second conductive area selected from the plurality of conductive areas; and a deep via contact spaced apart from lines of the first wiring layer in a horizontal direction and extending from the second conductive area to the one second line. |
| US09653390B2 |
Semiconductor device and semiconductor device manufacturing method
A semiconductor device of the present invention includes a semiconductor element, a surface electrode formed on a surface of the semiconductor element, a metal film formed on the surface electrode so as to have a joining portion and a stress relieving portion formed so as to border on and surround the joining portion, solder joined to the joining portion while avoiding the stress relieving portion, and an external electrode joined to the joining portion through the solder. |
| US09653389B2 |
High efficiency module
A module (1) includes a first functional device (2) and a second functional device (3). The first functional device (2) includes a base electrode, an emitter electrode and a collector electrode. The second functional device (3) includes at least one electrode. The module (1) further includes a conductive frame (4). One of the base electrode, the emitter electrode, and the collector electrode of the first functional device (2) is directly connected to the frame (4). The electrode of the second functional device (3) is also directly connected to the frame (4). The frame (4) includes a portion serving as a terminal for external connection. |
| US09653388B2 |
Integrating multi-output power converters having vertically stacked semiconductor chips
A electronic multi-output device having a substrate including a pad and pins. A composite first chip has a first and a second transistor integrated so that the first terminals of the transistors are merged into a common terminal on one chip surface. Patterned second and third terminals are on the opposite chip surface. The common first terminal is attached to the substrate pad. The second terminals are connected by discrete first and second metal clips to respective substrate pins. A composite second chip has a third and a fourth transistor integrated so that the second terminals of the transistors are merged into a common terminal on one chip surface. Patterned first and third terminals are on the opposite chip surface. The second chip is flipped to be vertically attached with its first terminals to the first and second clips, respectively. The third terminals are connected by discrete clips to respective substrate pins. The common second terminal is connected by a common clip to a substrate pin. |
| US09653387B2 |
Semiconductor component and method of manufacture
In accordance with an embodiment, a semiconductor component includes a support having a first device receiving structure, a second device receiving structure, a first lead, a second lead, and a third lead. A first semiconductor chip is coupled to the first device receiving structure and a second semiconductor chip is coupled to the first semiconductor chip and the second device receiving structure. The first semiconductor chip is configured from a silicon semiconductor material and has a gate bond pad, a source bond pad, and a drain bond pad, and the second semiconductor chip is configured from a gallium nitride semiconductor chip and has a gate bond pad, a source bond pad, and a drain bond pad. In accordance with another embodiment, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor component includes coupling a first semiconductor chip to a support and coupling a second semiconductor chip to the support. |
| US09653380B2 |
Method for manufacturing component built-in substrate
A substrate is disclosed, which can remove heat from a stacked body of semiconductor elements through a phase change of a coolant. The substrate of the application includes: a stacked body of semiconductor elements; a first channel forming a path, receiving circulation of a first coolant, in a surface of the stacked body; and a second channel forming a path, receiving circulation of a second coolant having a boiling point higher than the boiling point of the first coolant, in an inter-layer portion of the stacked body. |
| US09653376B1 |
Heat dissipation package structure
A heat dissipation package structure includes a substrate, a chip disposed on the substrate and a heat dissipation sheet. The heat dissipation sheet comprises a covering portion disposed on a back surface of the chip, a first lateral covering portion disposed on a first lateral surface of the chip and a first conducting portion disposed on the substrate. The back surface comprises a first width, the covering portion comprises a second width, the chip comprises a thickness, and there is an interval between the chip and the substrate. The second width is not larger than summation of the first width, double the interval and double the thickness for making the chip disposed between the heat dissipation sheet and the substrate is not within a completely sealed space so as to prevent the heat dissipation sheet from deformation and separation from the chip or the substrate cause of air expansion. |
| US09653374B2 |
3DIC package comprising perforated foil sheet
A structure includes a thermal interface material, and a Perforated Foil Sheet (PFS) including through-openings therein, with a first portion of the PFS embedded in the thermal interface material. An upper layer of the thermal interface material is overlying the PFS, and a lower layer of thermal interface material is underlying the PFS. The thermal interface material fills through-openings in the PFS. |
| US09653373B2 |
Semiconductor package including heat spreader and method for manufacturing the same
A semiconductor package includes a semiconductor chip on a package substrate, a heat spreader on the semiconductor chip, a molding layer, an adhesive film between the semiconductor chip and the heat spreader, and a through-hole passing through the heat spreader. The heat spreader includes a first surface and a second surface. The molding layer covers sidewalls of the semiconductor chip and the heat spreader and exposes the first surface of the heat spreader. The adhesive film is on the second surface of the heat spreader. |
| US09653371B2 |
Underfill material and method for manufacturing semiconductor device using the same
An underfill material enabling voidless packaging and excellent solder bonding properties, and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device using the same are provided. An underfill material is used which contains an epoxy resin and a curing agent, and a time for a reaction rate to reach 20% at 240° C. calculated by Ozawa method using a differential scanning calorimeter is 2.0 sec or less and a time for the reaction rate to reach 60% is 3.0 sec or more. This enables voidless packaging and excellent solder connection properties. |
| US09653369B2 |
Power semiconductor module comprising a case, base plate, and spacer
It is an object to provide a power semiconductor module having a case shared for base plates of different sizes and having a high-stability base plate. The power semiconductor module according to the present invention includes: a base plate; an insulating substrate disposed on a first main surface of the base plate; a semiconductor chip disposed on an insulating substrate; a case for enclosing the base plate except a second main surface of the base plate facing the first main surface, the insulating substrate, and the semiconductor chip; and a spacer provided between the outer periphery of the base plate and the inner periphery of the case and in contact with both. The spacer has a bonding surface with a side surface of the base plate and the first main surface in the contact with the outer periphery of the base plate. |
| US09653368B2 |
Display device and method of fabricating the same
A display device includes a display area, a test pad, a plurality of first test transistors, and at least one outline. The display area includes pixels coupled to data lines and scan lines. The test pad receives a test signal. The first test transistors are coupled between the data lines of the display area and the test pad. The at least one outline is coupled between one of the first test transistors and the test pad. The at least one outline is located in a non-display area outside the display area. |
| US09653367B2 |
Methods including a processing of wafers and spin coating tool
A method includes performing a spin coating process. In the spin coating process, a first fluid is dispensed to a surface of a wafer. The method further includes performing an inspection of an edge area of the wafer. On the basis of the inspection of the edge area of the wafer, a defect analysis is performed. In the defect analysis, it is determined if the edge area of the wafer has a defect that is indicative of an insufficient coating of the surface of the wafer by the first fluid. |
| US09653366B2 |
Method of dividing wafer
Disclosed herein is a method of dividing a wafer including an exposed area incising step of lowering a cutting blade to a preset lowered position for fully severing the wafer to cause the cutting blade to incise an exposed area of a wafer unit, an image capturing step of capturing an image of the exposed area which the cutting blade has incised in the exposed area incising step, with image capturing means, a determining step of determining whether or not it is possible to fully sever the wafer on the basis of the captured image in the image capturing step, and an adjusting step of increasing a distance by which to lower the cutting blade if it is determined that it is impossible to fully sever the wafer in the determining step. |
| US09653365B1 |
Methods for fabricating integrated circuits with low, medium, and/or high voltage transistors on an extremely thin silicon-on-insulator substrate
A method for fabricating an integrated circuit that include providing or obtaining an extremely thin silicon-on-insulator (ETSOI) substrate, dividing the ETSOI substrate into a low voltage field effect transistor (FET) region and one or both of a medium voltage FET region and a high voltage FET regions, and forming a low voltage FET within the low voltage FET regions and forming a medium and/or high voltage FET within the medium and/or high voltage FET region(s). Channel, source, and drain structures of the low voltage FET are formed in an upper silicon layer that is disposed above a buried oxide layer of the ETSOI substrate, whereas channel, source, and drain structures of the medium and/or high voltage FETs are formed at least partially below the upper silicon layer. |
| US09653364B1 |
FinFET device and method of forming the same
Provided is a FinFET device including a substrate having at least one fin, first and second gate stacks, first and second strained layers, first and second dielectric layers, and first and second connectors. The first and second gate stacks are across the fin. The first and second strained layers are respectively aside the first and second gate stacks. The first and second dielectric layer are respectively over the first and second strained layers, and the top surface of the first dielectric layer is lower than the top surface of the second dielectric layer. The first connector is through the first dielectric layer and is electrically connected to the first strained layer. The second connector is through the second dielectric layer and is electrically connected to the second strained layer. Besides, the width of the second connector is greater than the width of the first connector. |
| US09653363B2 |
Methods of fabricating FinFET semiconductor devices including dummy structures
Provided are a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a first active fin and a second active fin which protrude from a substrate and extend along a first direction, a first gate structure which is on the first active fin to extend along a second direction intersecting the first direction, a second gate structure which is located adjacent to the first gate structure in the second direction and is on the second active fin to extend along the second direction, and a dummy structure which is in a space between the first gate structure and the second gate structure. |
| US09653360B2 |
Vertical field effect transistors
Vertical field effect transistors (FETs) with minimum pitch and methods of manufacture are disclosed. The structure includes at least one vertical fin structure and gate material contacting with the at least one vertical fin structure. The structure further includes metal material in electrical contact with the ends of the at least one vertical fin. |
| US09653355B2 |
Flip chip package structure and fabrication process thereof
Disclosed herein are various chip packaging structures and methods of fabrication. In one embodiment, a flip chip package structure can include: (i) a pad on a chip; (ii) an isolation layer on the chip and the pad, where the isolation layer includes a through hole that exposes a portion of an upper surface of the pad; (iii) a metal layer on the pad, where the metal layer fully covers the exposed upper surface portion of the pad; and (iv) a bump on the metal layer, where side edges of the bump do not make contact with the isolation layer. |
| US09653354B2 |
Metal wiring layer forming method, metal wiring layer forming apparatus, and recording medium
A metal wiring layer can be formed within a recess of a substrate while suppressing the metal wiring layer from being formed at the outside of the recess. A metal wiring layer forming method includes forming a catalyst layer 5 formed of Pd on a tungsten layer W on a bottom surface 3a of the recess 3 of the substrate 2 without forming the catalyst layer 5 on a surface 3b of an insulating layer of the recess 3; and forming a Ni-based metal wiring layer 7 on the catalyst layer 5 of the recess 3. |
| US09653353B2 |
Tungsten feature fill
Described herein are methods of filling features with tungsten and related systems and apparatus. The methods include inside-out fill techniques as well as conformal deposition in features. Inside-out fill techniques can include selective deposition on etched tungsten layers in features. Conformal and non-conformal etch techniques can be used according to various implementations. The methods described herein can be used to fill vertical features, such as in tungsten vias, and horizontal features, such as vertical NAND (VNAND) word lines. Examples of applications include logic and memory contact fill, DRAM buried word line fill, vertically integrated memory gate/word line fill, and 3-D integration with through-silicon vias (TSVs). |
| US09653351B2 |
Method of manufacturing semiconductor device
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device may include: (a) loading a substrate into a process chamber, the substrate having: a process surface provided with a first metal film containing at least a first metal element; (b) forming a second metal film on the substrate loaded in the process chamber by alternately supplying a metal compound and a first reactive gas reactive with the metal compound to the substrate a plurality of times; (c) alternately performing steps (c-1) and (c-2) a plurality of times wherein the step (c-1) includes: forming an amorphous third metal film on the second metal film, and the step (c-2) includes: forming a fourth metal film on the third metal film; and (d) forming an amorphous fifth metal film on the fourth metal film by supplying the metal compound mixed with the second reactive gas to the substrate. |
| US09653350B2 |
Pre-treatment method for plating and storage medium
Catalytic metal nanoparticles can be attached on a base. A pre-treatment method for plating includes a catalytic particle-containing film forming process of forming a catalytic particle-containing film on a surface of a substrate by supplying, onto the substrate, a catalytic particle solution which is prepared by dispersing the catalytic metal nanoparticles and a dispersing agent in a solvent containing water; a first heating process of removing moisture contained at least in the catalytic particle-containing film by heating the substrate to a first temperature; and a second heating process of polymerizing the dispersing agent to have a sheet shape by heating the substrate to a second temperature higher than the first temperature after the first heating process and fixing the catalytic metal nanoparticles on a base layer by covering the catalytic metal nanoparticles with the sheet-shaped dispersing agent. |
| US09653347B1 |
Vertical air gap subtractive etch back end metal
After forming source/drain contact structures within an interlevel dielectric (ILD) layer to contact source/drain regions of a field effect transistor (FET), the ILD layer is recessed to expose upper portions of the source/drain contact structures. A sacrificial layer is then formed on a remaining portion of the ILD layer to laterally surround the upper portions of the source/drain contact structures. An interconnect conductor portion is subsequently formed to contact the source/drain contact structures by subtractive patterning of a metal layer that is formed on the sacrificial layer. Next, the sacrificial layer is removed, leaving a void between the interconnect conductor portion and the remaining portion of the ILD layer. A interconnect liner layer is then formed on a top surface and sidewalls of the interconnect conductor portion and on the remaining portion of the ILD layer. The interconnect liner layer encloses an air gap surrounding the upper portions of the source/drain contact structures. |
| US09653342B2 |
Trench having thick dielectric selectively on bottom portion
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes etching a semiconductor substrate having a top surface to form a trench having sidewalls and a bottom surface that extends from the top surface into the semiconductor substrate. A dielectric liner of a first dielectric material is formed on the bottom surface and sidewalls of the trench to line the trench. A second dielectric layer of a second dielectric material is deposited to at least partially fill the trench. The second dielectric layer is partially etched to selectively remove the second dielectric layer from an upper portion of the trench while preserving the second dielectric layer on a lower portion of the trench. The trench is filled with a fill material which provides an electrical conductivity that is at least that of a semiconductor. |
| US09653338B2 |
System and method for non-contact wafer chucking
A non-contact wafer chucking apparatus includes a wafer chuck and a gripper assembly coupled to a portion of the wafer chuck. The wafer chuck includes pressurized gas elements configured to generate pressurized gas regions across a surface of the wafer chuck suitable for elevating the wafer above the surface of the wafer chuck. The wafer chuck further includes vacuum elements configured to generate reduced pressure regions across the surface of the wafer chuck having a pressure lower than the pressurized gas regions. The reduced pressure regions are suitable for securing the wafer above the wafer chuck without contact to the wafer chuck. The chucking apparatus includes a rotational drive unit configured to selectively rotate the wafer chuck. The gripper elements are reversibly couplable to an edge portion of the wafer so as to secure the wafer such that the wafer and gripper assembly rotate synchronously with the wafer chuck. |
| US09653334B2 |
Plasma processing apparatus and method
A plasma processing apparatus includes a processing chamber, a plasma source that generates plasma within the processing chamber, a transfer carrier that has a holding sheet and a frame, the holding sheet holding a substrate, and the frame being attached to the holding sheet so as to surround the substrate, a stage that is provided within the processing chamber and has a gas supply hole formed in a mounting area of the stage for mounting the transfer carrier thereon, an electrostatic chucking part that is provided within the stage and electrostatically attracts the transfer carrier, and a gas supply part that supplies gas through the gas supply hole of the stage to assist separation of the transfer carrier from the stage. |
| US09653333B2 |
Method of manufacturing lighting emitting device with aligned-bonding
A method of manufacturing a light-emitting device comprises the steps of: providing a semiconductor light-emitting stack having a first connecting surface and a first alignment pattern; providing a substrate having a second connecting surface and a second alignment pattern; detecting the position of the first alignment pattern and the position of the second alignment pattern; and moving at least one of the substrate and the semiconductor light-emitting stack to make the first alignment pattern be aligned with the second alignment pattern. |
| US09653332B1 |
Wafer probe holder for planarity and orientation adjustment
A compact device allows individual or combined correction of wafer probe planarity and orientation misalignment. The device is made as a metallic block or as a strong plastic block and contains three sections, which are held together by a steel blade or by a steel blade and a rotation pin; the sections are split apart for “Phi”—orientation alignment or rotated against each-other for “Theta” planarity alignment. The steel blade provides secure and anti-backlash flexibility both in lateral (“Phi”) and perpendicular (“Theta”) direction. Alternatively the “Theta” alignment can use a rotation shaft or a small part of the original block left over as a bridge joining both sections. The device is inserted between the fixed probe support and the probe itself. |
| US09653318B2 |
Directional SiO2 etch using plasma pre-treatment and high-temperature etchant deposition
Methods for processing a substrate are described herein. Methods can include positioning a substrate with an exposed surface comprising a silicon oxide layer in a processing chamber, biasing the substrate, treating the substrate to roughen a portion of the silicon oxide layer, heating the substrate to a first temperature, exposing the exposed surface of the substrate to ammonium fluoride to form one or more volatile products while maintaining the first temperature, and heating the substrate to a second temperature, which is higher than the first temperature, to sublimate the volatile products. |
| US09653316B2 |
Plasma processing method and plasma processing apparatus
Disclosed is a plasma processing method which includes a gas supplying process, a power supplying process, and an etching process. In the gas supplying process, a processing gas is supplied into a processing container in which an object to be processed is disposed. In the power supplying process, a plasma generating power of a frequency ranging from about 100 MHz to about 150 MHz as a power for generating plasma of the processing gas supplied into the processing container, and a biasing power which is a power having a frequency lower than that of the plasma generating power are supplied. In the etching process, the object to be processed is etched by the plasma of the processing gas while the biasing power is pulse-modulated so that the duty ratio ranges from about 10% to about 70% and the frequency ranges from about 5 kHz to about 20 kHz. |
| US09653313B2 |
Stress relieving semiconductor layer
A semiconductor structure, such as a group III nitride-based semiconductor structure is provided. The semiconductor structure includes a cavity containing semiconductor layer. The cavity containing semiconductor layer can have a thickness greater than two monolayers and a multiple cavities. The cavities can have a characteristic size of at least one nanometer and a characteristic separation of at least five nanometers. |
| US09653310B1 |
Methods for selective etching of a silicon material
The present disclosure provides methods for etching features in a silicon material includes performing a remote plasma process formed from an etching gas mixture including chlorine containing gas to remove a silicon material disposed on a substrate. |
| US09653305B2 |
Semiconductor component with field electrode between adjacent semiconductor fins and method for producing such a semiconductor component
A semiconductor component includes semiconductor fins formed between a base plane and a main surface of a semiconductor body. Each semiconductor fin includes a source region formed between the main surface and a channel/body region, and a drift zone formed between the channel/body region and the base plane. The semiconductor component further includes gate electrode structures on two mutually opposite sides of each channel/body region, and a field electrode structure between mutually adjacent ones of the semiconductor fins. Each field electrode structure is separated from the drift zone by a field dielectric and extends from the main surface as far as the base plane. The gate electrode structures assigned to the mutually adjacent semiconductor fins enclose an upper portion of the corresponding field electrode structure from two sides. |
| US09653299B2 |
Semiconductor device producing method
A first laser pulse emitted from a semiconductor laser oscillator and having a first pulse width is entered onto a second surface of a semiconductor substrate in which a semiconductor device is formed on a first surface and dopants are added to a surface layer portion on the second surface side. A second laser pulse having a second pulse width less than or equal to 1/10 of the first pulse width is entered on an incident area of the first laser pulse in an overlapping manner. The relative positional relationship on a time axis between falling time of the first laser pulse and rising time of the first laser pulse is set such that the temperature of the first surface, which rises due to the incidence of the first laser pulse and the second laser pulse, does not exceed an allowable upper limit value which is predetermined. |
| US09653293B2 |
Semiconductor device manufacturing method and semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus
A manufacturing a semiconductor device of the present disclosure includes coating a photosensitive material on a workpiece; exposing the photosensitive material using a first exposure mask; performing a positive-tone development on the photosensitive material using a first developer after the first exposing; exposing the photosensitive material using a second exposure mask after the first developing; and performing a negative-tone development on the photosensitive material using a second developer after the second exposing. |
| US09653292B2 |
Method of manufacturing thin film transistor substrate, method of manufacturing display apparatus, thin film transistor substrate, and display apparatus
A method of manufacturing a thin film transistor substrate includes forming an amorphous silicon layer on a substrate, the substrate having a rectangular shape, and irradiating the amorphous silicon layer with a laser beam at a random pitch, such that the amorphous silicon layer is crystallizes into a polycrystalline silicon layer, wherein the laser beam has a major axis and a minor axis, the major axis being non-parallel with respect to sides of the substrate. |
| US09653291B2 |
Method for removing native oxide and residue from a III-V group containing surface
Native oxides and residue are removed from surfaces of a substrate by performing a multiple-stage native oxide cleaning process. In one example, the method for removing native oxides from a substrate includes supplying a first gas mixture including an inert gas onto a surface of a material layer disposed on a substrate into a first processing chamber, wherein the material layer is a III-V group containing layer for a first period of time, supplying a second gas mixture including an inert gas and a hydrogen containing gas onto the surface of the material layer for a second period of time, and supplying a third gas mixture including a hydrogen containing gas to the surface of the material layer while maintaining the substrate at a temperature less than 550 degrees Celsius. |
| US09653289B1 |
Fabrication of nano-sheet transistors with different threshold voltages
A method of forming two or more nano-sheet devices with varying electrical gate lengths, including, forming at least two cut-stacks including a plurality of sacrificial release layers and at least one alternating nano-sheet channel layer on a substrate, removing a portion of the plurality of sacrificial release layers to form indentations having an indentation depth in the plurality of sacrificial release layers, and removing a portion of the at least one alternating nano-sheet channel layer to form a recess having a recess depth in the at least one alternating nano-sheet channel layers, where the recess depth is greater than the indentation depth. |
| US09653286B2 |
Gallium nitride nanowire based electronics
GaN based nanowires are used to grow high quality, discreet base elements with c-plane top surface for fabrication of various semiconductor devices, such as diodes and transistors for power electronics. |
| US09653284B2 |
Thin film transistor, manufacturing method thereof and array substrate
A thin film transistor, a manufacturing method thereof and an array substrate are provided. The thin film transistor comprises: a gate electrode (11), a source electrode (15) and a drain electrode (16), and the thin film transistor further comprises a buffer layer (11) which is directly provided at one side or both sides of at least one of the gate electrode (11), the source electrode (15) and the drain electrode (16), wherein, the buffer layer (11) and at least one of the gate electrode (11), the source electrode (15) and the drain electrode (16) directly contacting the buffer layer (11) are conformal. Therefore, the adhesion between an electrode of the thin film transistor and a film layer contacting it is improved and at the same time an atom in the electrode of the thin film transistor is effectively prevented from diffusing to the film layer connected with it, and the reliability of the thin film transistor is improved and the production cost is reduced. |
| US09653281B2 |
Structure and method for tunable memory cells including fin field effect transistors
In a particular aspect, an integrated circuit includes a first gate structure coupled to a first fin field effect transistor (FinFET) device. The integrated circuit includes a second gate structure coupled to a second FinFET device. The first gate structure and the second gate structure are separated by a dielectric region. The integrated circuit further includes a metal contact having a first surface that is in contact with the dielectric region, the first gate structure, and the second gate structure. |
| US09653276B2 |
Enhanced spray formation for liquid samples
Methods and systems for generating ions from a liquid sample for mass spectrometry are provided herein. In various aspects, the methods and systems can enhance the break-up of a jet of the liquid sample upon injection into an ionization chamber. In some aspects, methods and systems perturb the liquid sample prior to discharge to increase the internal energy of the sample so as to enhance the formation of liquid droplets when the liquid sample is injected into the ionization chamber. |
| US09653274B2 |
Assemblies for ion and electron sources and methods of use
Certain embodiments described herein are directed to devices that can be used to align the components of a source assembly in a source housing. In some examples, a terminal lens configured to couple to the housing through respective alignment features can be used to retain the source components in a source housing to provide a source assembly. |
| US09653273B2 |
Ion optical elements
Ion optics devices and related methods of making and using the same are disclosed herein that generally involve forming a plurality of electrode structures on a single substrate. An aspect ratio of the structures relative to a plurality of recesses which separate the structures can be selected so as to substantially prevent ions passing through the finished device from contacting exposed, electrically-insulating portions of the substrate. The substrate material can be a material that is relatively inexpensive and easy to machine into complex shapes with high precision (e.g., a printed circuit board material). In some embodiments, discrete ion optical elements are disclosed which can be formed from a core material to which an electrically-conductive coating is applied, the core material being relatively inexpensive and easy to machine with high precision. The coating can be configured to substantially prevent outgassing from the core under the vacuum conditions typically experienced in a mass spectrometer. |
| US09653272B2 |
Mass-spectral method for selection, and de-selection, of cancer patients for treatment with immune response generating therapies
A method and system for predicting in advance of treatment whether a cancer patient is likely, or not likely, to obtain benefit from administration of a yeast-based immune response generating therapy, which may be yeast-based immunotherapy for mutated Ras-based cancer, alone or in combination with another anti-cancer therapy. The method uses mass spectrometry of a blood-derived patient sample and a computer configured as a classifier using a training set of class-labeled spectra from other cancer patients that either benefitted or did not benefit from an immune response generating therapy alone or in combination with another anti-cancer therapy. Also disclosed are methods of treatment of a cancer patient, comprising administering a yeast-based immune response generating therapy, which may be yeast-based immunotherapy for mutated Ras-based cancer, to a patient selected by a test in accordance with predictive mass spectral methods disclosed herein, in which the class label for the spectra indicates the patient is likely to benefit from the yeast-based immunotherapy. |
| US09653271B2 |
Methods and apparatus for performing mass spectrometry
The present disclosure relates, in part, to MS apparatus, methods, and/or software, having improved selectivity, sensitivity, specificity, resolution, mass accuracy and dynamic range over conventional MS technologies. In particular, the technology relates to apparatus, methods, and/or software wherein a combination of in-source fragmentation, ion mobility separation, and/or time-aligned parallel (TAP) sample ion fragmentations are utilized in mass spectrometry for the analysis of samples. |
| US09653266B2 |
Microwave plasma applicator with improved power uniformity
An apparatus for generating plasma includes a plasma discharge tube and a conductive coil helically wound around an outer surface of the plasma discharge tube. A waveguide is coupled to a microwave cavity surrounding the plasma discharge tube to guide the microwave energy into the plasma discharge tube such that the plasma is generated in the plasma discharge tube. The waveguide is positioned such that an electric field of the microwave energy is oriented at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the plasma discharge tube. A resulting induced electric current in the conductive coil affects power absorption in the plasma discharge tube, the predetermined angle being selectable such that power absorption in the plasma discharge tube is according to a predetermined profile with respect to the longitudinal axis of the plasma discharge tube. |
| US09653264B2 |
Inductively coupled plasma source for plasma processing
Plasma processing apparatus and methods are disclosed. Embodiments of the present disclosure include a processing chamber having an interior space operable to receive a process gas, a substrate holder in the interior of the processing chamber operable to hold a substrate, and at least one dielectric window. A metal shield is disposed adjacent the dielectric window. The metal shield can have a peripheral portion and a central portion. The processing apparatus includes a primary inductive element disposed external to the processing chamber adjacent the peripheral portion of the metal shield. The processing apparatus can further include a secondary inductive element disposed between the central portion of the metal shield and the dielectric window. The primary and secondary inductive elements can perform different functions, can have different structural configurations, and can be operated at different frequencies. |
| US09653250B2 |
X-ray source
An X-ray source with optical indication of radiation, which can be used in various measuring devices for parameters control and visualization of structure of industrial and biological objects, is proposed. The source comprises a vacuum housing, an anode irradiated by electrons and generating the divergent flux of radiation, an exit window for X-ray radiation, means for optical indication of X-ray radiation beam including a source of optical radiation and an optical mirror. The anode is made composite in the form of a thin film and a radiolucent substrate luminescent in the optical range. The anode structure is an exit window of the source, and behind it the coaxially arranged means of collimation and focusing of X-ray and optical radiation and means of optical visualization of X-ray focus are mounted. The proposed device significantly increases the accuracy and informativity of optical indication of X-ray radiation parameters. |
| US09653249B2 |
Transmission type target, radiation generating tube having the transmission type target, radiation generator having the radiation generating tube, and radiation imaging apparatus having the radiation generator
The present invention relates to a transmission type target having a diamond base material as the transmissive base material. The transmission type target includes a target layer containing a metal carbide constituted of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of molybdenum, tantalum, and tungsten and carbon; and a diamond base material supporting the target layer. The transmission type target inhibits the composition of the target layer from varying with the drive history of the transmission type target and inhibits the output of radiation from varying over a long time. |
| US09653247B2 |
X-ray apparatus and a CT device having the same
A two dimensional array distributed x-ray apparatus of this disclosure includes: a vacuum box which is sealed at its periphery, where the interior thereof is high vacuum; a plurality of electron transmitting units arranged in one plane in a two dimensional array on the wall of the vacuum box; an anode having targets corresponding to the plurality electron transmitting unit arranged in parallel with the plane of the plurality of electron transmitting units in the vacuum box; a power supply and control system having a high voltage power supply connected to the anode, a filament power supply connected to each of the plurality of the electron transmitting units, and a grid-controlled apparatus connected to each of the plurality of electron transmitting units; and a control system for controlling each power supply. |
| US09653237B1 |
Electrical switching apparatus and slot motor therefor
A slot motor is for an electrical switching apparatus. The slot motor includes: a support apparatus including a support element having a first leg and a second leg located opposite the first leg, the first leg having a first inner surface, the second leg having a second inner surface facing the first inner surface; a plurality of permanent magnets including a first permanent magnet and a second permanent magnet, the first permanent magnet being located on the first leg, the second permanent magnet being located on the second leg; and a number of U-shaped plates coupled to the support element. The first inner surface and the second inner surface are located between the first permanent magnet and the second permanent magnet. |
| US09653236B2 |
Electromagnetic relay
An electromagnetic relay which is improved in arc blocking performance without being increased in size is desired. An electromagnetic relay according to the present invention is provided with a fixed contact, a moving contact which is movable respect to the fixed contact, a pair of magnets which is arranged at the side of the fixed contact and the moving contact so that pole faces with mutually reversed polarity are separated from and face each other and a pair of arc cooling plates which is arranged in a spaces between the magnets and which has first surfaces which face each other across a gap and second surfaces which face a pole face of either of the magnets, respectively. |
| US09653231B2 |
Luminous keyboard
A luminous keyboard includes a lateral-emitting type illumination element, a light guide panel, a sensing circuit pattern, a light-transmissible substrate, a supporting plate, and plural keys. When one of the keys is moved toward the sensing circuit pattern, the sensing circuit pattern generates a corresponding non-contact key signal. The lateral-emitting type illumination element is used for providing a light beam to the light guide panel. Consequently, the light beam can be diffused to the whole light guide panel. The light guide panel has plural light-guiding dots for collecting and scattering the light beam. The light-transmissible substrate is arranged between the light guide panel and the plural keys, and has plural light diffusion structures corresponding to the plural keys. The light beam scattered upwardly by each light-guiding dot is sequentially transmitted through the corresponding light diffusion structure and the supporting plate and directed to the corresponding key. |
| US09653228B2 |
Cosmetic dome switch
The systems and methods described herein are directed to a switch for use in an electronic device. The switching assembly may include an elastically deformable actuator having a conductive inner surface and a cosmetic outer surface. The actuator may be disposed on an exterior surface of an enclosure that houses an electric circuit board of the electronic device. The enclosure may have one or more openings for providing an electrical connection between the actuator and the enclosed circuit of the electronic device. When the actuator is pressed, an electrical circuit may be closed and electric current may flow through the conductive inner surface of the actuator. The actuator may be combined with a perimeter element for snapping on and off the enclosure. |
| US09653223B2 |
Switch
A switch comprising a body case, a movable board that is movably disposed in the body case and a movable contact point disposed in the movable board is disclosed. A fixed contact point is provided in the body case with a lubricating agent applied thereto. The movable contact point makes pressure-contact with the fixed contact point, and is connected and disconnected from the fixed contact point corresponding to a position of the movable contact point changing by moving the movable board. Grooves are formed in a contact portion of the movable contact point with the fixed contact point to be arranged along the movement direction of the movable contact point. |
| US09653218B2 |
Electrolytic solution for electric double-layer capacitor, and electric double-layer capacitor
An electric double-layer capacitor is provided which is larger in electrostatic capacitance, and can be much higher in rated voltage, than that in the prior art using a liquid electrolyte solely composed of an ionic liquid. Having an electrolyte and electrodes, the capacitor incorporates an atom encapsulated fullerene or an atom encapsulated fullerene salt in the electrolyte. The electrolyte can either be a liquid solution or a solid. With the electrolyte being a solid, cations of the atom encapsulated fullerene or atom encapsulated fullerene salt may either be made movable or static in the electrolyte. |
| US09653217B2 |
Method of manufacturing surface-treated transparent conductive polymer thin film, and transparent electrode manufactured using the same
Disclosed is a method of manufacturing a surface-treated transparent conductive polymer thin film, including: 1) preparing a PEDOT:PSS ink composition; 2) forming a PEDOT:PSS thin film on a substrate using the ink composition; 3) applying a p-toluene sulfonic acid solution on the PEDOT:PSS thin film and then thermally treating the PEDOT:PSS thin film; 4) rinsing the thermally treated PEDOT:PSS thin film; and 5) drying the rinsed PEDOT:PSS thin film. |
| US09653208B2 |
Wireless power receiver and method of manufacturing the same
Disclosed are a wireless power receiver and a method of manufacturing the same. The wireless power receiver includes a first coil to wirelessly receive power, a second coil to make communication, and a first magnetic substrate having first and second recesses spaced apart from each other. The first coil is disposed on the first recess of the first magnetic substrate, and the second coil is disposed on the second recess of a second magnetic substrate. |
| US09653207B2 |
Inductive power transfer system
An inductive power transfer (IPT system) includes an AC-AC full-bridge converter (Tp1-Tp4) provided between the primary conductive path (Lpt) and an alternating current power supply (Vin). The system may include a controller for controlling the pick-up device to shape the input current drawn from the alternating current power supply (Vin). |
| US09653205B2 |
Electrode structure and the corresponding electrical component using the same and the fabrication method thereof
An electrical component is disclosed, wherein the electrical component comprises: a body; a conductive element, disposed in the body, wherein at least one portion of a first terminal part of the conductive element is exposed outside of the body; a conductive and adhesive layer, overlaying on the body and covering a first portion of the terminal part of the conductive element, wherein a second portion of the terminal part of the conductive element is not covered by the conductive and adhesive layer; and at least one metal layer, overlaying on the conductive and adhesive layer and covering the second portion of the terminal part of the conductive element, wherein the at least one metal layers is electrically connected to the second portion of the terminal part of the conductive element for electrically connecting with an external circuit. |
| US09653204B2 |
Symmetric multi-port inductor for differential multi-band RF circuits
Structures and methods for implementing high performance symmetric multi-port inductors are provided. The multiport inductor structure includes a plurality of conductors which are structured and arranged in turns to obtain symmetry between a plurality of selected input terminals connecting to respective ones of the plurality of conductors. |
| US09653202B2 |
Power converter and device integrating inductors in parallel of the same
A device is provided that integrates a plurality of inductors in parallel. The device includes a plurality of windings and a magnetic core structure. A number of the windings corresponds to a number of the inductors. The magnetic core structure includes a plurality of windows, wherein each window includes at least two windings coupled with each other. When a phase difference of the voltage phases is smaller than a predetermined value, voltage phases of two terminals of any two of the windings within the same window are substantially the same. |
| US09653200B2 |
Electromagnetic-valve controller
An electromagnetic-valve controller includes a control switch, a control portion regulating a supply current supplied to the electromagnetic valve by controlling a drive of the control switch and controlling to open or close the electromagnetic valve, and a current detection portion detecting the supply current. The control portion controls the drive of the control switch based on a detection result of the current detection portion. The control portion controls the drive of the control switch by using a first pulse signal having a duty ratio that is variable, in a closed period. The control portion controls the drive of the control switch by using a second pulse signal maintaining the supply current to be constant so as to maintain the electromagnetic valve to be in the fully closed state, in a closed-state maintaining period. |
| US09653199B2 |
Electromagnetic coil assemblies having braided lead wires and/or braided sleeves
Embodiments of an electromagnetic coil assembly are provided, as are methods for the manufacture of an electromagnetic coil assembly. In one embodiment, the method includes joining a first end portion of a braided lead wire to a coiled magnet wire. A dielectric-containing material is applied in a wet-state over the coiled magnet wire and over the first end portion of the braided lead wire. The dielectric-containing material is cured to produce an electrically-insulative body in which the coiled magnet wire and the first end portion of the braided lead wire are at least partially embedded. Prior to application of the dielectric-containing material, the braided lead wire is at least partially impregnated with a masking material deterring wicking of the dielectric-containing material into an intermediate portion of the braided lead wire. |
| US09653197B2 |
Wire harness, wire harness manufacturing method and wire harness manufacturing apparatus
A wire harness manufacturing method prevents inadvertent deformation of thermoplastic material and separation of thermoplastic material. A predetermined part of an electric wire 91 is accommodated in a through hole of a tubular body formed by connection between a first and second nest members (123, 124) of a nozzle (12), by integrally connecting first and second case body members (121, 122) of the nozzle (12), with the predetermined part of the electric wire 91 therebetween. An approximately tubular covering member (92) covering the predetermined part of the electric wire (91) is molded integrally with the thermoplastic material, by discharging thermoplastic material plasticized by a material plasticizing unit (11) from thermoplastic material discharge orifices (1213) and (1223) in the nozzle (12) to the outer periphery of the electric wire (91), while moving the electric wire (91) and the nozzle (12) relatively to each other. |
| US09653191B2 |
Copper alloy for electric and electronic device, copper alloy sheet for electric and electronic device, conductive component for electric and electronic device, and terminal
The present invention relates to a copper alloy for electric and electronic device, a copper alloy sheet for electric and electronic device, a conductive component for electric and electronic device, and a terminal. The copper alloy for electric and electronic device includes more than 2.0 mass % to 15.0 mass % of Zn; 0.10 mass % to 0.90 mass % of Sn; 0.05 mass % to less than 1.00 mass % of Ni; 0.001 mass % to less than 0.100 mass % of Fe; 0.005 mass % to 0.100 mass % of P; and a remainder comprising Cu and unavoidable impurities, in which 0.002≦Fe/Ni<1.500, 3.0<(Ni+Fe)/P<100.0, and 0.10 |
| US09653189B2 |
Canister transfer system with independent traveling shielded bell
A transfer system for spent fuel canisters includes a carrier, a shielded bell trolley movable along the carrier and carrying a shielded bell, and a canister trolley movable along the carrier and carrying a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the spent fuel canister into and out of the shielded bell. The canister trolley can move along the carrier independent of the shielded bell trolley and the shielded bell trolley can move along the carrier independent of the canister trolley. The shielded bell trolley and the canister trolley can be selectively interlocked for selected transfer operations. |
| US09653181B1 |
Smart self-repair device and method of self-repairing a package
A smart self-repair device and method of self-repairing a package is disclosed. The smart self-repair device may include a fuse array configured to store information regarding respective bits of a fail address in fuses. The smart self-repair device may include a self-repair control circuit configured to control repairing of not only a target mat in which a fail occurs, but also adjacent upper and lower mats sharing a sense amplifier along with the target mat, and to output fail address information corresponding to a fail mode, and row fuse set information or a column fuse set information. The smart self-repair device may include a data control circuit configured to output repair information to the fuse array based on the fail address information and the row fuse set information or the column fuse set information, and may include a control circuit configured to control a rupture operation of the fuse array. |
| US09653180B1 |
System method and apparatus for screening a memory system
A system and method of writing data to a memory block includes receiving user data in a memory controller to be written to the memory block. The user data is first written to a buffer. A screening pattern is written to at least one screening column and a first memory integrity test is performed based on at least one operational aspect of the memory block. The first memory integrity test includes reading screening column data from the at least one screening column and comparing the screening column data read from the at least one screening column to the screening pattern. The user data is written to at least one user data column in the memory block when the screening column data read from the at least one screening column matches the screening pattern in the first memory integrity test. |
| US09653178B2 |
Magnetic track storage unit, memory, and method for controlling magnetic track storage unit
A storage device, a memory, and a method for controlling a storage device, where the storage device includes a comb-shaped magnetic track, a first drive circuit, a second drive circuit, a first drive port, and a second drive port, where the comb-shaped magnetic track includes a first storage area, a second storage area, and a comb handle, and the first storage area and the second storage area include more than two memory bars. |
| US09653175B2 |
Determination of word line to word line shorts between adjacent blocks
A number of techniques for determining defects in non-volatile memory arrays are presented, which are particularly applicable to 3D NAND memory, such as that of the BiCS type. Word line to word shorts within a memory block are determined by application of an AC stress mode, followed by a defect detection operation. An inter-block stress and detection operation can be used determine word line to word line leaks between different blocks. Select gate leak line leakage, both the word lines and other select lines, is consider, as are shorts from word lines and select lines to local source lines. In addition to word line and select line defects, techniques for determining shorts between bit lines and low voltage circuitry, as in the sense amplifiers, are presented. |
| US09653174B2 |
Semiconductor storage device
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor storage device includes memory cell array including a memory cell, a bit line coupled to the memory cell, a sense circuit coupled to the bit line and being capable of charging the bit line, and a charging circuit, the memory cell array being disposed between the sense circuit and the charging circuit and being capable of charging the bit line. |
| US09653170B2 |
Pillar-shaped semiconductor memory device and method for producing the same
A pillar-shaped semiconductor memory device includes Si pillars arranged in at least two rows; a tunnel insulating layer; a data charge storage insulating layer; first, second, and third interlayer insulating layers; and first and second conductor layers, all of which surround outer peripheries of the Si pillars, the first and second conductor layers being located at the same height in a perpendicular direction. A row of the semiconductor pillars is interposed between the first and second conductor layers of Si pillars arranged in an X direction. Shapes of the first and second conductor layers facing the semiconductor pillars are circular arcs. Adjacent circular arcs of the first conductor layer are in contact with each other, and adjacent circular arcs of the second conductor layer are in contact with each other. A pitch length of the Si pillars in the X direction is smaller than that in a Y direction. |
| US09653154B2 |
Write abort detection for multi-state memories
Techniques are presented to determine whether a multi-state memory device suffers has a write operation aborted prior to its completion. In an example where all the word lines of a memory block is first programmed to an intermediate level (such as 2 bits per cells) before then being fully written (such as 4 bits per cell), after determining that intermediate programming pass completed, the block is searched using the read level for the highest multi-state to find the last fully programmed word line, after which the next word line is checked with the lowest state's read level to determine whether the full programming had begun on this word line. In an example where each word line is fully written before beginning the next word line of the block, after determining the first erased word line, the preceding word line is checked as the highest state to see if programming completed and, if not, checked at the lowest read level to see if programming began. |
| US09653152B1 |
Low voltage high sigma multi-port memory control
In an aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus is provided. In one aspect, the apparatus is a memory controller that includes a logic circuit configured to generate a select signal for selecting between first and second ports of a memory as a function of first and second port signals. Additionally, the memory controller includes a switch configured to connect and disconnect the first and the second port signals. In another aspect of the disclosure, the apparatus is a storage apparatus that includes a memory and a memory controller. The memory controller includes a latch configured to latch a first port selection signal to produce a first port signal and latch a second port selection signal to produce a second port signal. The memory controller also includes a switch configured to connect and disconnect the first and the second port signals and a logic circuit configured to generate a select signal. |
| US09653146B2 |
High capacity memory system using standard controller component
The embodiments described herein describe technologies for using the memory modules in different modes of operation, such as in a standard multi-drop mode or as in a dynamic point-to-point (DPP) mode (also referred to herein as an enhanced mode). The memory modules can also be inserted in the sockets of the memory system in different configurations. |
| US09653145B1 |
Semiconductor devices and semiconductor systems including the same
A semiconductor system includes a first semiconductor device and a second semiconductor device. The first semiconductor device outputs first to (M+1)th command/address signals (wherein, “M” denotes a natural number which is equal to or greater than two) and receives a detection signal to detect a normality/abnormality of a temperature sensor. The second semiconductor device enters a test mode in response to the (M+1)th command/address signal and compare first to Nth sensing codes (wherein, “N” denotes a natural number which is equal to or greater than two) generated by the temperature sensor with the first to Mth command/address signals to generate the detection signal. The second semiconductor device also executes a refresh operation in response to a refresh signal including a plurality of pulses whose cycle time is controlled by the first to Mth command/address signals. |
| US09653144B1 |
Apparatuses, methods, and systems for package on package memory refresh and self-refresh rate management
Methods, systems, and apparatuses relating to package on package memory refresh and self-refresh rate management are described. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a processor die, a dynamic memory die mounted to and overlapping the processor die, a first thermal sensor of the processor die disposed adjacent to a first hot spot from a first type of workload and a second thermal sensor of the processor die disposed adjacent to a second hot spot from a second type of workload, and a hardware control circuit of the processor die to cause a refresh of a capacitor of the dynamic memory die when either of an output of the first thermal sensor exceeds a first threshold value and an output of the second thermal sensor exceeds a second threshold value. |
| US09653142B1 |
Volatile semicondcutor memory device, refresh control circuit and method thereof
A refresh control circuit of a volatile semiconductor memory device is provided, where the volatile semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of memory cells respectively having a select transistor and a memory element, and the refresh control circuit of the volatile semiconductor memory device includes: a first comparison part, which compares a memory voltage of the memory cell of the volatile semiconductor memory device that is different to a general-memorizing memory cell with a specified threshold voltage, and outputs a comparison result signal, and stops self refresh of the memory cell until the memory voltage is decreased to be smaller than the specified threshold voltage. The memory cell is formed in a region adjacent to an array of the general-memorizing memory cell. |
| US09653139B1 |
Simultaneous plural wordline within a bank refreshing control device and memory device including the same
A refresh control device and a semiconductor device including the same, for preventing a row hammer failure from occurring, may include an enable signal generator configured to generate an enable signal for performing a smart refresh operation and a plurality of active controllers configured to generate a plurality of refresh signals for refreshing word lines located at different positions within one bank, based on receiving the enable signal. |
| US09653138B1 |
Magnetic memory and method of writing data
A memory includes a first magnetic layer, a second magnetic layer, a nonmagnetic layer between the first and second magnetic layers, a third magnetic layer synthetic-antiferromagnetic-coupled with the second magnetic layer, and a controller controlling a read operation and a write operation. The write operation includes a first operation, a second operation and a third operation. A first potential of the first magnetic layer is larger than a second potential of the third magnetic layer in the first operation. A third potential of the third magnetic layer is larger than a fourth potential of the first magnetic layer in the second operation. A fifth potential of the first magnetic layer is larger than a sixth potential of the third magnetic layer in the third operation. |
| US09653137B2 |
STT-MRAM bitcell for embedded flash applications
A spin transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) device and a method to perform operations of an embedded eFlash device are disclosed. The STT-MRAM device is configured to include an array of STT-MRAM bitcells. The array includes a plurality of bitlines (BLs) and a plurality of word lines (WLs), where the bitlines form columns and the wordlines form rows of STT-MRAM bitcells. Each STT-MRAM bitcell includes a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) element coupled in series to an access transistor having a gate terminal and source and drain terminals. The array includes a plurality of source lines (SLs) coupled to the source terminals of the access transistors. A SL of the plurality of SLs is coupled to source terminals of access transistors of two or more adjacent columns of the STT-MRAM cells. The shared SL is parallel to the plurality of BLs. The operations of such a STT-MRAM bitcell are configured to include: an initialization operation, a program operation, and a sector erase operation. |
| US09653135B2 |
Multi-port non-volatile memory
A multi-port memory cell including: first and second magnetoresistive elements, each of which is programmable so as to adopt at least two resistive states, in which: the first magnetoresistive element is coupled with a first output line and is programmable by the direction of a current which is passed through same; and the second magnetoresistive element is coupled with a second output line and is arranged so as to be magnetically coupled with the first magnetoresistive element, the second magnetoresistive element being programmable by a magnetic field generated by the first magnetoresistive element. |
| US09653126B2 |
Digital ramp rate control for charge pumps
Methods for controlling a ramp rate of an output voltage derived from one or more charge pumps and reducing variation in the ramp rate due to process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations are described. In some embodiments, the ramp rate of the output voltage from one or more charge pumps may be controlled using a ramp rate control circuit that uses a digital counter to adjust (or step up) the output voltage from the one or more charge pumps based on a ramp rate schedule. The ramp rate schedule may specify varying output voltage levels for the one or more charge pumps during a time period in which the output voltage charges up from a first voltage to a second voltage greater than the first voltage. |
| US09653123B2 |
Direct data connectors for a sealed device and methods for forming a direct data connector for a sealed device
According to various embodiments, a method for forming a direct data connector for a sealed device may be provided. The method may include: providing a substrate with a hole; and filling the hole with a filling material using a plating process. |
| US09653121B1 |
Heat-assisted magnetic recording device capable of detecting head malfunction based on different currents of sensors
A method comprises storing a first laser current value in response to a photodetector sensing that a threshold current for a laser diode of a HAMR head has been reached, the photodetector situated proximate the laser diode. The method also comprises storing a second laser current value in response to a sensor sensing that the threshold current for the laser diode has been reached, the sensor situated away from the laser diode. The method further comprises determining a difference (delta) between the first and second laser current values, repeating the storing and determining processes during subsequent use of the laser diode, and detecting a change in the delta indicative of a malfunction of the head. |
| US09653118B1 |
System and method for scheduling clips
An example method involves: accessing a first list that includes ordered clip identifiers C1 . . . Cn; accessing a second list that includes ordered player identifiers P1 . . . Px; making a determination that a clip identifier Cm is an initial one of the clip identifiers C1 . . . Cn to have a player-identifier assignment-restriction; responsive to making the determination, (i) determining that the clip identifier Cm is restricted to being assigned a player identifier Pz from the player identifiers P1 . . . Px, and (ii) assigning to each clip identifier C1 . . . Cm in reverse order a respective one of the player identifiers P1 . . . Px selected in a reverse ordered and looping fashion starting with the player identifier Pz; and traversing the clip identifiers C1 . . . Cm, and for each traversed clip identifier, causing a player identified by the one of the player identifiers P1 . . . Px assigned to the traversed clip identifier to load a clip identified by the traversed clip identifier. |
| US09653117B2 |
Interconnected multimedia systems with synchronized playback of media streams
Synchronous playback of time-based media received from one or more locations remote from a primary editing/mixing studio is achieved by time-stamping media samples with a local presentation time before streaming them to the primary studio. At the primary studio, samples having the same presentation timestamp are played back at the same time, independently of the samples' arrival time at the playback system. Media stored locally to the playback system may also be included as part of the synchronous playback using locally computed presentation times. In order to accommodate media streaming transmission delays, the playback system negotiates a suitable delay with the remote systems such that samples corresponding to a given presentation time are received at the playback system from remote locations prior to playback of media corresponding to the given presentation time. |
| US09653116B2 |
Video pin sharing
Techniques are provided for assisting users to share specific locations within videos. Specifically, controls are provided to enable a viewer of a video to drop a “video pin” on a location within a video. In response to the user dropping a video pin at a particular location in the video, a “video pin record” that indicates the selected location is automatically generated by a video pin application. The video pins may be used to identify specific time points in the video and/or specific time segments of the video. Video pin records may be shared with other users to allow the other users to immediately jump to the locations, within the video, at which the corresponding video pins were dropped. |
| US09653115B2 |
Systems and methods for creating linear video from branched video
Computer-implemented methods and systems for creating non-interactive, linear video from video segments in a video tree. Selectably presentable video segments are stored in a memory, with each segment representing a predefined portion of one or more paths in a traversable video tree. A linear, non-interactive video is automatically created from the selectably presentable video segments by traversing at least a portion of a first path in the video tree and, upon completion, is provided to a viewer for playback. |
| US09653102B1 |
Data reader with pinned front shield
A data reader may have a magnetoresistive stack consisting of at least magnetically free and magnetically fixed structures. The magnetically fixed structure can be set to a first magnetization direction by a first pinning structure separated from an air bearing surface by a front shield portion of a magnetic shield. The front shield portion may be set to a different second magnetization direction by a second pinning structure. |
| US09653100B1 |
Magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording capable of preventing unwanted erasure
A magnetic head includes a coil, a main pole, a write shield, and a return path section. The coil includes a coil element located on the trailing side of the main pole. The coil element has a front end face facing toward the medium facing surface. The return path section includes a first portion, a second portion, and an intermediate film interposed between the first portion and the second portion. Part of the first portion is interposed between the medium facing surface and the front end face of the coil element. Part of the second portion is interposed between the first portion and the front end face of the coil element. |
| US09653098B2 |
Tape head modules for performing azimuth recording and reading of tape media using a linear format
A tape head module for performing azimuth recording and reading of tape media (e.g., where data bands are disposed at an angle to the direction of media travel) to increase the storage density of tape media. An array of read and/or write elements of the tape head module is oriented along an axis different than those of first and second lateral (e.g., overwrapped) edges of the tape head module. Positioning the first and second lateral edges of the disclosed tape head module to be perpendicular to the direction of tape motion (e.g., so that the tape moves over the first and second lateral edges perpendicularly to the first and second lateral edges) automatically positions the array of read and/or write elements at an azimuth angle (e.g., non-perpendicular angle) to the direction of tape motion. Also disclosed are methods for fabricating such tape head modules and related tape head assemblies. |
| US09653094B2 |
Methods and systems for performing signal analysis to identify content types
Systems and methods are configured to process audio signals to identify content-types. Audio content is received at an audio decoder which decodes the audio content. The decoded audio content is segmented into frames by applying a windowing function to a given audio frame using a window having a time width related to a delay time of the decoder. A power spectrum estimate of a given frame is determined. A mel filter bank is applied to the power spectrum of the frame. A DCT matrix is applied to filter bank energies to generate a DCT output. A log of the DCT output is used to generate a mel coefficient 1. A threshold for the content is dynamically determined. The mel coefficient 1 and the dynamically determined threshold are used to detect a near silence between content-types and to identify the content-types. |
| US09653093B1 |
Generative modeling of speech using neural networks
Features are disclosed for using an artificial neural network to generate customized speech recognition models during the speech recognition process. By dynamically generating the speech recognition models during the speech recognition process, the models can be customized based on the specific context of individual frames within the audio data currently being processed. In this way, dependencies between frames in the current sequence can form the basis of the models used to score individual frames of the current sequence. Thus, each frame of the current sequence (or some subset thereof) may be scored using one or more models customized for the particular frame in context. |
| US09653092B2 |
Method for controlling acoustic echo cancellation and audio processing apparatus
A method for controlling acoustic echo cancellation and an audio processing apparatus are described. In one embodiment, the audio processing apparatus includes an acoustic echo canceller for suppressing acoustic echo in a microphone signal, a jitter buffer for reducing delay jitter of a received signal, and a joint controller for controlling the acoustic echo canceller by referring to at least one future frame in the jitter buffer. |
| US09653090B1 |
Complex exponential modulated filter bank for high frequency reconstruction
An apparatus and method are disclosed for filtering and performing high frequency reconstruction of an audio signal. The apparatus includes an analysis filter bank, a phase shifter, a high frequency reconstructor, and a synthesis filter bank. The analysis filterbank receives real-valued time domain input audio samples and generates complex valued subband samples. The phase shifter shifts a phase of the complex-valued subband samples by an arbitrary amount. The high frequency reconstructor modifies at least some of the complex valued subband samples. A phase shifter unshifts a phase of the modified complex-valued subband samples by the arbitrary amount. The synthesis filter bank receives the modified complex valued subband samples and generates time domain output audio samples. The analysis filter bank comprises analysis filters that are complex exponential modulated versions of a prototype filter with an arbitrary phase shift. |
| US09653089B2 |
Encoder, decoder and methods for encoding and decoding data segments representing a time-domain data stream
An apparatus for decoding data segments representing a time-domain data stream, a data segment being encoded in the time domain or in the frequency domain, a data segment being encoded in the frequency domain having successive blocks of data representing successive and overlapping blocks of time-domain data samples. The apparatus includes a time-domain decoder for decoding a data segment being encoded in the time domain and a processor for processing the data segment being encoded in the frequency domain and output data of the time-domain decoder to obtain overlapping time-domain data blocks. The apparatus further includes an overlap/add-combiner for combining the overlapping time-domain data blocks to obtain a decoded data segment of the time-domain data stream. |
| US09653085B2 |
Reconstructing an audio signal having a baseband and high frequency components above the baseband
A method and system for reconstructing an original audio signal is disclosed. The original audio signal has a baseband up to a cutoff frequency and high-frequency components not included in the baseband above the cutoff frequency. The system includes a bitstream deformatter that extracts a representation of the baseband, an estimated spectral envelope, and noise-blending parameters from an audio bitstream. The system also includes a spectral component regenerator that copies or translates all or at least some of the baseband spectral components to non-overlapping frequency ranges of the high-frequency components not included in the baseband to generate regenerated spectral components. The system further includes a gain adjuster that modifies a spectral envelope of the regenerated spectral components based at least in part on the estimated spectral envelope and the noise-blending parameters to generate gain-adjusted regenerated spectral components. |
| US09653078B2 |
Response generation method, response generation apparatus, and response generation program
A response generation method includes a step of recognizing a voice of a user, a step of analyzing a structure of the recognized voice, a step of generating a free response sentence in response to the voice of the user based on the analyzed voice structure and outputting the generated free response sentence, a step of generating the recognized voice of the user as a repeat response sentence, and a step of outputting the generated repeat response sentence before outputting the free response sentence based on the voice structure. |
| US09653077B2 |
Message processing device
A speech input recognition unit, an event processing unit, which processes an event including a speech recognition result or a command, an expert unit including a plurality of expert modules each of which processes the event in cooperation with the event processing unit, and an execution history management unit, which manages execution history of the expert modules are provided. The expert unit is, for recording a user speech as message text, provided with a speech processing expert module for producing standard format text and a speech processing expert module for producing free format text and a transmission expert module for sending the message text. |
| US09653075B1 |
Voice commands across devices
Aspects of the subject technology relate to a method for using a voice command for multiple computing devices. First voice input data is received from a first computing device associated with a user account, where the first voice input data comprises a first voice command captured at the first computing device. Second voice input data is received from a second computing device associated with the user account where the second voice input data comprises a second voice command captured at the second computing device. An intended voice command is determined based on the obtained first and second voice input data. Based on the intended voice command, a first target computing device is determined. First instructions associated with the intended voice command are provided to the first target computing device for execution. |
| US09653067B2 |
Interpretation of natural communication
A computer-implemented method, including receiving by one or more computer systems input information that represents a multi-dimensional communication; detecting, based on contents of the input information, a plurality of communication inputs; applying one or more weighted values to one or more of the communication inputs; assigning, based on application of the one or more weighted values, confidence levels to the communications inputs; determining which of the confidence levels are below a confidence threshold; executing one or more disambiguation rules to disambiguate the communication inputs with confidence levels below the confidence threshold; and generating a communication instruction to perform an action that is specified by the multi-dimensional communication. |
| US09653063B2 |
Acoustic reflectors
An acoustic reflector comprises a shell surrounding a solid elastomeric core free of joints. The shell transmits acoustic waves incident on the surface of the shell partially into the core to be focused and reflected from an area of the shell located opposite to the area of incidence so as to provide a reflected acoustic signal output from the reflectorpartially around the circumference of the shell and to combine constructively with the reflected acoustic signal output. The ratio of the speed of sound wave transmission in the shell to the average speed of the wave transmission in the core is preferably in the range of 2.74 to 3.4 best results being in the range of 2.74 to 2.86 inclusive. |
| US09653062B2 |
Method, system and item
A method of enabling a hearer to hear desired sound while also being able to be aware of ambient sound, comprises providing a first non-sound signal representative of said desired sound, deriving a second non-sound signal from said ambient sound, combining the first and second non-sound signals in providing a third non-sound signal, and converting said third non-sound signal into sound. |
| US09653061B2 |
Acoustic device, and electronic device and image forming apparatus incorporating same
An acoustic device includes an opening; a flange forming the opening; a first member including the opening and the flange; and a second member joined to the first member, thereby forming a cavity. The second member is formed of a material with a density lower than a material of the first member. |
| US09653060B1 |
Hybrid reference signal for acoustic echo cancellation
An echo cancellation system that uses a combined reference signal using a playback reference signal and an adaptive reference signal. The playback reference signal is generated from a playback signal sent to a loudspeaker and the adaptive reference signal is generated using beamforming on microphone inputs corresponding to audio received from the loudspeaker. The system applies a low pass filter to the playback reference signal and applies a high pass filter to the adaptive reference signal to generate the combined reference signal. The system may remove the combined reference signal from target signals associated with the microphone inputs to isolate speech included in the target signals. |
| US09653058B2 |
Reverberation-induced magnetic field alteration to enhance sound
A passive feedback mechanism by which sound produced by a musical instrument is enhanced by utilizing the reverberations from the sound to dynamically and passively alter the magnetic field in the vicinity of an electronic pickup is disclosed. This is accomplished by utilizing a component or material adhered to the instrument with the property to alter the magnetic field as the material vibrates in response to sound reverberation, one embodiment being a ferromagnetic surface coating. An electromagnetic pickup, sensitive to these variations in the magnetic field, is installed on or within the instrument. The changes in the magnetic field, in response to the music, are captured by the pickup and transformed into an electric signal with thus produce a unique and enhanced sound. |
| US09653057B2 |
Electronic wind instrument
An electronic musical instrument includes: a contact sensor that generates lip detection information from an operation by a performer; and a controller that derives a lip contact area from the lip detection information generated by the contact sensor, and performs musical note control of an electronic sound source in accordance with the derived lip contact area. |
| US09653049B2 |
Device for altering the tension of the strings of a stringed musical instrument
The invention relates to a device for altering the tension of the strings of a stringed musical instrument, of the type comprising a structural element, with at least one element for securing to the body of the instrument, said structural element comprising at least two runners each secured to at least one string of the instrument, and an actuation mechanism for actuating the runners in order to alter the tension of the strings of the instrument, comprising at least one slide carriage that can be moved by the action of at least one lever. |
| US09653047B2 |
Finger-pressed auxiliary device for a stringed instrument
A finger-pressed auxiliary device for a stringed instrument is provided. The stringed instrument comprises a body, a neck connected to the body, a fingerboard disposed on the neck, a plurality of frets disposed on the fingerboard at spaced intervals, and a plurality of strings extending along the length direction of the neck. The finger-pressed auxiliary device comprises: a plurality of finger-pressed plates extending along the length direction of the strings and each being disposed to correspond to a respective string; an upper support secured to the top of the neck; and a lower support secured to the bottom of the neck or the body. As the fingers only have to contact the surfaces of the finger-pressed plates, the pain associated with holding strings with fingertips is avoided. |
| US09653044B2 |
Interactive display system
A display system comprises a head-mounted projector including an exit aperture and a projection engine to project image light through the exit aperture. The image light is projected onto a retro-reflective display that reflects image light in a first dimension at above 90% efficiency within a 25 degree exit angular spread and reflects image light in the first dimension below 10% efficiency outside of a 35 degree exit angular spread. |
| US09653043B2 |
Input device for magnifying a screen content and method thereof
A method for magnifying a screen content executed by an input device is disclosed. The method is suitable for magnifying a display content of a computer device and includes that the input device receives an informed command from the computer device. The informed command indicates whether the operation system of the computer device supports a system magnifier. If the operation system supports the system magnifier, the input device outputs a first magnification command to the computer device according to pressing of a function key. The computer device initializes the system magnifier of the operation system and magnifies the screen content according to the first magnification command. If the operation system doesn't support the system magnifier, the input device outputs a second magnification command provided by the input device to the computer device, so that the second magnification command magnifies the screen content according to the second magnification command. |
| US09653042B2 |
Travel path analysis support device and method
A travel path analysis support device includes a processor that executes a procedure. The procedure includes: performing, in accordance with a selected first display color control, change control of display colors of respective regions obtained by mesh-dividing within the geographic region according to a time-wise change in a number of vehicles that pass through the respective regions; when an instruction for enlarged display of a partial region inside the geographic region is received at as given timing of a procedure by which display colors of the respective regions are changed by the change control, displaying the partial region enlarged, and selecting a second display color control based on a total number of vehicles that have entered the partial region within the time range since the given timing; and performing, in accordance with the selected second display color control, change control of the display colors of the respective regions. |
| US09653041B2 |
Image display device and method of displaying image
An image display device comprises an image display unit including first pixels and second pixels arranged in a staggered manner, the first pixels including sub-pixels arranged in a matrix in a first color gamut and second pixels including sub-pixels arranged in a matrix in a second color gamut different from the first color gamut; and a processing unit that determines an output of the sub-pixels corresponding to an input image signal. When sub-pixels including same color component are continuously lit in a straight line and there is a difference between outputs from adjacent sub-pixels including the same color component, the processing unit determines the output of the sub-pixels in the first pixel based on the first component after an adjustment component is eliminated, and determines the output of the sub-pixels included in the second pixel based on the second component and the adjustment component. |
| US09653039B2 |
Method, apparatus and system for changing to which remote device a local device is in communication via a communication medium through use of interruption of the communication medium
A method, apparatus and system for changing to which remote device a local device is in communication via a communication medium, communicates with a matrix switch forming part of the system by interruption of the communication medium by the local device. Upon receipt of a unit of information via interruption of the communication medium, the matrix switch causes the local device to be in communication with another remote device other than the remote device that it was previously in communication. In one embodiment, the switching is to a next available remote device of a plurality of remote devices while in another embodiment, the matrix switch switches the local device to a switch configuration device for further communication therewith via the communication medium, thereby allowing the local device to select which other remote device it desires to be in communication. |
| US09653037B2 |
Optical device and display device provided with same
An optical device (100) includes a first substrate (10) and a second substrate (20), and an optical layer (30) interposed therebetween. The first substrate includes a first electrode (11) and a second electrode (12), and the second substrate includes a third electrode (21). The optical layer contains a medium (31) and anisotropically-shaped particles (32) whose alignment direction changes in accordance with the direction of an electric field applied to the optical layer. The first electrode and the second electrode, which are interdigitated electrodes, are disposed so that their respective branches (11a, 12a) mesh with one another via a predetermined interspace. The relationships w1 |
| US09653036B2 |
Method and system for adjusting gamma voltage, and electronic device
The method for adjusting a gamma voltage comprises: applying a reference common electrode voltage and a to-be-adjusted gamma voltage to a display module; collecting first light intensity data when the display module displays a grayscale test pattern after the reference common electrode voltage and the to-be-adjusted gamma voltage are applied; plotting a testing gamma curve in accordance with the first light intensity data; when the testing gamma curve is not located within the acceptable range of the standard gamma curve, adjusting the to-be-adjusted gamma voltage currently applied to the display module, until the testing gamma curve is located within the acceptable range of the standard gamma curve; and when the testing gamma curve is located within the acceptable range of the standard gamma curve, determining the to-be-adjusted gamma voltage currently applied to the display module as a final gamma voltage. |
| US09653035B2 |
Voltage calibration circuit and related liquid crystal display device
The present disclosure provides a voltage calibration circuit. The voltage calibration circuit includes a coupling voltage detection circuit and a common voltage circuit. The coupling voltage detection circuit is used for detecting a coupling voltage in an initial phase and generating a compensation voltage according to the coupling voltage. The common voltage circuit is used for adjusting a common voltage according to the compensation voltage and outputting the common voltage to a display module in a display phase. |
| US09653031B2 |
Multi-type common voltage driving method, common voltage control apparatus, and display driving circuit
A multiple common voltage driving method adapted for a display is provided. The driving method includes following steps: taking a common-voltage switching time unit as a repeating time unit to provide a common voltage to define a reference voltage of the display. The common-voltage switching time unit has a plurality of different types of common-voltage pattern periods. A time length of each of the common-voltage pattern periods includes at least one frame. During the different types of the common-voltage pattern periods, the provided common voltage has different AC voltage swings or different DC voltage levels. |
| US09653026B2 |
Backlight controlling apparatus, backlight controlling method and program
A timing controller performs control to cause a backlight to emit light at first brightness for a first time in a period that original image data is displayed on a liquid crystal panel, and cause the backlight to emit light at second brightness darker than the first brightness for a second time longer than the first time in a period that intermediate image data generated based on the original image data is displayed on the liquid crystal panel. |
| US09653025B2 |
Display device and electronic apparatus
A display panel including pixels disposed on a substrate, where each of the pixels includes a light emitting element, and a capacitor. The capacitor of a first one of the pixels is partially overlapped, in a vertical direction, by respective pixel areas of two of the pixels. The anode of the capacitor of the first one of the pixels may be disposed closer to the substrate than a cathode of the capacitor, thereby reducing a parasitic capacitance between the capacitor and an anode of the light emitting element of one of the two pixels overlapping the capacitor. |
| US09653023B2 |
Display devices
A display device is disclosed. In one aspect, the display device includes a display panel including a plurality of pixels divided into a plurality of block regions. The block regions are arranged in a scan direction. The display device also includes a display panel driver configured to sequentially drive the block regions and apply a plurality of first emission signals to the pixels. Each of the first emission signals has an activation voltage. The display device further includes a timing controller configured to control the display panel driver. The display panel driver is further configured to incrementally change the activation voltages of the first emission signals applied to the pixels in each of the block regions in the scan direction. |
| US09653018B2 |
Light-emitting diode driving device, driving method and light-emitting diode lighting module comprising the same
A light-emitting diode driving device enabling an excellent heat-dissipation function and high-efficient driving is disclosed. The disclosed LED driving device comprises: a power source unit providing an alternate current voltage; a rectification unit communicatively coupled to the power source and rectifying the alternate current voltage; a driving signal generation unit configured to receive the rectified voltage from the rectification unit and generate a primary driving signal by using the rectified voltage; and an LED driving signal modulation unit communicatively coupled to the driving signal generator, the LED driving signal modulation unit configured to receive the primary driving signal and generating a secondary pulse driving signal by modulating the primary driving signal, and LED groups including LEDs and configured to receive the primary driving signal or the second pulse driving signal such that the LED groups operate responsive to the primary driving signal or the secondary pulse driving signal. |
| US09653016B2 |
Display device
A display device includes: a display panel including a display area, and a peripheral area disposed in the vicinity of the display area; a scan driver including a plurality of stages integrated on the peripheral area; a plurality of gate lines connected to the plurality of stages, respectively; and a plurality of pixel rows in the display area and connected with the plurality of gate lines, respectively. The plurality of stages and the plurality of pixel rows are each arranged in a first direction in a line, the peripheral area includes a fan-out region between the plurality of stages and the plurality of pixel rows, and at least one of the plurality of gate lines in the fan-out region is inclined with respect to the first direction, and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. |
| US09653015B2 |
Display devices with high resolution and spatial density modulation architecture
Architecture and designs of display devices are described, where the display devices possesses high spatial resolution as well as high intensity resolution and may be readily used in various projection applications, storage and optical communications. According to one aspect of the present invention, a display device includes an array of image elements, each of the image elements further includes an array of sub-image elements. These sub-image elements are driven by PWM as in digital modulation. A portion of an image element area, namely some of the sub-image elements, is turned on, which has the same perceived effect of turning on an entire image element for a specific time. In addition, various designs of an image element or a sub-image element are described. |
| US09653014B2 |
Method of driving an electro-wetting display panel and electro-wetting display apparatus for performing the same
A method of driving an electro wetting display panel includes applying a first data voltage to a pixel part of the display panel during a first section of a frame and applying a second data voltage different from the first data voltage to the same pixel part during a second section of the frame. The first data voltage is converted from display data based on a first gamma curve. The second data voltage is converted from the display data based on a second gamma curve. Light transmittance through the pixel part is changed based on movement of a fluid within the pixel part. |
| US09653005B2 |
Erasable loop scheduler
An erasable loop scheduler with a board and a loop system is disclosed. The board has a first and second side, each having a viewing pane that displays a different portion of the loop system. The loop system includes a grid system that can be configured like a calendar. A user can write out a full month of dates and appointments on the first side of the board and another full month of dates and appointments on the second side of the board. Once a row of events has passed, the loop system can be advanced, at which point the row of past events moves to the second side of the board. The user may then erase that row of events and replace with upcoming dates and appointments. Alternatively, the user may keep the row of events for future reference. |
| US09652995B2 |
Reward/punishment-and-control system
In one embodiment, one or more first computing devices receive, from one or more second computing devices associated with a first person, information concerning an activity, the information describing the activity, a reward associated with the activity, and a condition of the reward; transmit, to one or more third computing devices associated with the second person, the information; receive, from the third computing devices, a first response by the second person; and if the first response is an acceptance to the activity by the second person, then: receive, from the third computing devices, first sensor data relating to the activity; analyze the first sensor data to determine whether the condition of the reward is satisfied; and if the condition of the reward is satisfied, then transmit, to the second computing devices and the third computing devices, a second notice indicating that the condition of the reward has been satisfied. |
| US09652994B1 |
Piano learning guidance system
Disclosed is a piano learning guidance system, comprising a piano and two hand drums, wherein the piano comprises a control module, a storage module, a first LCD display screen, a second LCD display screen, a third LCD display screen, a key recording microphone and a plurality of first LED light bars in one-to-one correspondence to keys of the piano, and each first LED light bar is formed by a plurality of first LEDs; the storage module, the first LCD display screen, the second LCD display screen, the third LCD display screen and the key recording microphone are all electrically connected to the control module; the hand drum comprises a second LED light bar and a pressure sensor, and the second LED light bar is formed by a plurality of second LEDs; and the second LED light bar and the pressure sensor are electrically connected to the control module. |
| US09652987B2 |
Distributed remote sensing system component interface
A distributed remote sensing system including at least one gateway, at least one sensing device and a communication interface providing radio frequency communication through a shared frequency scheme between each sensing device and one of the at least one gateway and between each sensing device and another of the at least one gateway through a different frequency scheme. |
| US09652985B2 |
Vehicle guidance system
A vehicle guidance system (VGS) facilitates interaction between human operated vehicles (HOV), autonomous driverless vehicles (ADV), and/or semi-autonomous vehicles, on the roadway, allowing safe interface with each other and with other elements, for example, weather conditions, traffic control systems, road conditions, obstructions that enter the roadway (people, rocks, animals, debris falling onto roadway from other vehicles), etc. The system provides guidance, communication, and control for the vehicles on the roadway, by using a solar-powered system comprising post assemblies having solar panel(s), sensors, forward and/or downward lighting, and other indicators/alarms to signal to the vehicle or driver regarding road, bridge, weather, accident, speeding, or other conditions of concern in the vicinity for safety and/or operability of the vehicle/driver(s). |
| US09652977B2 |
Calibration technique for automated window coverings
A method for calibrating an automated window covering includes electromechanically actuating a window covering and measuring electrical current required to actuate the window covering. The method further measures movement of the window covering, where such movement includes one or more of a change in position and velocity of the window covering. The method estimates a size (e.g., height, width, area, etc.) of the window covering and/or an amount of force required to actuate the window covering based on the measured electrical current and movement. A corresponding apparatus is also disclosed herein. |
| US09652975B1 |
Integrated building occupant protection system for persons and pets
An integrated building occupant protection system includes alarm units having a controller, one or more sensors, a timer, a transceiver, an audio alert device, and a communication device. When a sensor detects a threat, the audio alert device is activated. The transceiver transmits an event signal to mobile devices associated with the building occupants. The controller uses response signals from those devices to pinpoint the location of the occupants, which may be broadcast by the communication device. The mobile devices may be cellular telephones or pet collar devices. The system is configured to perform periodic self-tests. A system for generating revenue by selling promotional time following the system tests is also provided. |
| US09652972B1 |
Maintenance of telecommunications network infrastructure based on alarm scoring
A method for prioritized action of telecommunication network alarms in a telecommunication network management system. The method comprises setting, by an alarm severity scoring application executing on a computer, an initial alarm severity score for each of the plurality of alarms based on network classification and a geographical location of an alarm, wherein the network classification of the alarms is performed by a network classify application. The method further comprises evaluating, by the alarm severity scoring application executing on the computer, each of the alarms based on a plurality of weighting factors, determining an alarm severity score based on the evaluation and the initial alarm severity score for each of the alarms, and prioritizing actions for the alarms based on the alarm severity scores. |
| US09652971B1 |
System and process for distributed network of redundant central stations
Techniques are described for distributing, to a distributed network of central stations, alarm events detected in monitoring system data collected by sensors included in monitoring systems located at monitored properties. A system receives monitoring system data collected by sensors included in monitoring systems located at monitored properties, tracks alarm events detected within the monitoring system data, and generates, for central station servers in a distributed network of central stations, load profiles that reflect a volume of alarm events being handled at each of the central station servers at a particular period of time. The system determines capacities to handle additional alarm events for the central station servers, determines relative priorities for the central station remote servers based on the determined capacities, and directs subsequent alarm events to the central station servers based on the relative priorities. |
| US09652965B2 |
System and method for transmitting alerts and notifications to a user
A system for transmitting alerts and notifications to a user. The system includes a user wearable portable data communication unit configured to set a predetermined period of time and select a geographical area by using a mapping software integrated with the user wearable portable data communication unit for geo-fencing the selected geographical area, an alerting unit configured in the user wearable portable data communication unit to transmit notifications and alerts to predefined list of contacts on determining the crossing of the user from the selected geo-fence area and exceeding the predetermined time period set by the user and a web based server unit in communication with user wearable portable data communication unit through a data communication network configured to store the predefined list of contacts, threshold levels, frequency, way points, current location of the user and software versions. |
| US09652964B2 |
Notification method and electronic device
An operation method and a device related to emergency situations are provided. A method for controlling an electronic device includes determining a designated situation, based on at least one piece of information obtained from outside the electronic device and information obtained from at least one sensor of the electronic device, determining features corresponding to the designated situation, and controlling the electronic device, based on at least one of the features and user status information. |
| US09652963B2 |
Provisioning and managing autonomous sensors
A autonomous sensor includes a sensor configured to measure one or more events, a network interface, and a processor. The autonomous sensor is configured to communicate with a plurality of other autonomous sensors using the network interface. The processor is configured to detect, while in a discovery state, if an event has occurred and enter an active state if the event occurred, when an event has occurred, enter an active state, transmit event data to a parent while in the active state, detect the presence of a neighboring sensor; and when the neighboring sensor is detected, while in a nomadic state, monitor the activity of the neighboring sensor. |
| US09652962B1 |
Systems and methods for safety and proximity sensing in industrial environments
A system includes a first electronic device configured to attach to an industrial machine or one or more areas of an industrial facility. The first electronic device is configured to transmit a signal indicative of a potentially hazardous condition with respect to personnel of the industrial facility. The system also includes a second electronic device communicatively coupled to the first electronic device and configured to attach to a hardhat of the personnel of the industrial facility. The second electronic device is configured to receive the signal from the first electronic device, determine whether a parameter of the signal is above a threshold, and generate an alarm when the parameter of the signal is above the threshold. The alarm is configured to indicate the potentially hazardous condition to the personnel. |
| US09652960B2 |
Device and method for routing a medical alert to a selected staff member
A method for routing a medical alert to a selected staff member 151-153, the method comprising receiving an alert signal generated by an alert generation device 121-126, obtaining the current location and identity of multiple staff members from a location tracking system 141-146 configured to track the locations of the multiple staff members, upon receiving the alert signal, selecting from the multiple staff members a selected staff member by at least determining that the distance between a location of the alert generation device and the location of the selected staff member is shorter than the distance between the location of the alert generation device and the location of at least one of the multiple staff members other than the selected staff member, and sending an alert signal to an individually addressable mobile device associated with the selected staff member. |
| US09652959B2 |
Smart wake
Methods and systems for security and/or automation systems are described. In some embodiments, the methods may include identifying an area of a premises associated with an occupant, identifying a wake up time associated with the occupant, identifying a location associated with the occupant, and initiating one or more automated actions based at least in part on the wake up time and the area. |
| US09652953B2 |
Surveillance of a secure area
Embodiments of the invention are directed to a system, method, and computer program product for surveillance of a secure area. The present invention typically includes a memory, a processor, and a module configured to monitor the secure area. In this regard, an embodiment of the present invention may receive an indication that a user is within the secure area and determine, using an authentication device sensor, whether the user has the authentication device to remain within the confines of the secure area. The user may have continued access to the secure area if the authentication device detected. On the other hand, the security personnel associated with the secure area may be notified of an unauthorized user when the authentication device is not detected. |
| US09652949B1 |
Sensor experience garment
The present invention includes systems and methods for enhancing audience sensory experience. Light-emitting diodes and vibrators may activate on an audience member shirt when an actor receives a hit while wearing a shirt having sensors. The audience member may choose to receive input from a particular actor's shirt. The audience member may also choose to view a replay of an event and activate the associated light-emitting diodes and vibrators. |
| US09652948B2 |
Haptic actuator including circuitry for generating drive waveforms based upon a beat frequency and related methods
A haptic actuator may include a housing, at least one coil carried by the housing, and a field member movable within the housing responsive to the at least one coil. The housing, at least one coil, and field member may define a resonant frequency. The haptic actuator may also include drive circuitry coupled to the at least one coil and being capable of generating first and second drive waveforms having respective different frequencies spaced about the resonant frequency to drive the field member at a beat frequency lower than the resonant frequency. |
| US09652943B1 |
Electronic play calling device, system, and process
An electronic play calling device, system, process is disclosed for calling plays displaying encoded representations associated with the plays is displayed on an electronic display board adjacent to a playing field. The electronic play calling device includes a play calling board, a power source, and several LED lights attached to the board and configured to illuminate a translated signal that is visible to a set of players on the playing field. |
| US09652939B2 |
System and method of conducting games of chance as a proxy or basis for another player
To bring the excitement to the people (majority, who are not experts in games), we present the examples, described here, for one person to be able to bet on and be part of the deal and excitement for a third party, as his agent, proxy, or shadow, to bet for him, or instead of him, or as if the first person was doing the game directly, or one betting for another, or one playing for another with the other person's money. That generates more excitement on the game or casino, with more participation, transactions, income, profit, loyalty, and repeat customers. This brings a lot of variations on the game, e.g., stock market model, or derivatives model, or hedge model. This can be applied to sports and table games or fantasy sports. This can be applied to online, real, mobile, fantasy, simulation, computer generated, human based, or casino games or settings. |
| US09652938B2 |
Game live auction system and method of operation
A method for conducting a raffle comprising reading an item identifier from an identification tag affixed to an item at an equipment management system, prior to an event related to the item. The raffle notification data is then transmitted to users after the event has occurred. A plurality of raffle ticket purchase requests are then received from the plurality of devices and are processed. The raffle tickets are then delivered to the plurality of devices, such as in electronic form. One of the raffle tickets is then selected, and winning notification data is transmitted to the associated device. The winner can authenticate the winning item by reading the identification tag affixed to the item after the event at the equipment management system. |
| US09652933B2 |
Slot machine game with expanding positions
Systems, methods, and program products are taught which provide a slot machine game that increases the size of the symbol array as a mystery feature. As the player spins the reels, the number of positions available on each reel grows randomly to allow more paylines. Other embodiments may include free spin bonuses, as well as bonus features that further increase the number of positions on each reel, and adjust the probability of reel expansions based on the current array size. |
| US09652932B2 |
Account adjusting system
An account adjusting system according to an embodiment of the invention comprises a game machine that pays an award corresponding to a kind of a prize of a game; and an account adjusting apparatus that adjusts an account for a user. The game machine has a paying section for determining an award corresponding to a kind of a prize of a game and a determining section for determining whether or not tax payment is required based on the award determined by the paying section, and when determining that tax payment is required, transmitting award information indicative of the award to the account adjusting apparatus. The account adjusting apparatus has a receiving section for receiving the award information; a tax payment amount calculating section for calculating a tax payment amount based on the award information; and a tax payment certificate providing section for producing an output to prepare a tax payment certificate based on the tax payment amount. |
| US09652931B2 |
Collusion detection
Various embodiments that may generally relate to collusion are described. Collusion detection may be used to prevent players in a wagering environment from violating the integrity of a game. Player actions may be tracked to develop a wagering profile that is specific to various game situations. A player acting in a manner that would be against their interest and against their defined profile may be considered a colluding action. Information about collusion actions may be presented for evaluation and/or anti-collusion actions may be automatically taken in response to such collusion actions being determined. |
| US09652930B2 |
Systems, methods, and apparatus for a bingo game having special ball functions
Systems, apparatus, methods and articles of manufacture provide for a bingo game including at least one special ball having an associated special function. In one embodiment, one or more special functions may have persistent effects on one or more bingo spaces (e.g., of a bingo card) and/or may be combined with the effects one or more other special functions. |
| US09652928B2 |
Gaming machine, gaming machine display and method
A gaming device, gaming device display and method are set forth which includes a first electronic, video display including L-shaped sub-displays mated to define a frame surrounding an opening which accommodates a second display. The second display may be a mechanical component extending through the opening to operate for example a pointer operating with the first video display to provide a game function. The opening may also be configured to reveal a mechanical, electro-mechanical or video display. |
| US09652925B1 |
Infection control systems and methods
Hygiene control stations and methods are shown and described. In one embodiment, the control station includes picking compartments with corresponding automated inventory control. Further, the control stations may include user instructions and best hygiene practices. In particular examples, the control stations include sensors and alarms to ensure proper usage. The result is control systems and methods to improve hygiene care, infection control, inventory management, and the like. |
| US09652922B1 |
Vending machine remote sensing of contents apparatus
A vending machine remotes contents sensing apparatus collects information from the actual delivery of a product, sends it on to an MCU, then to a CPU, to the internet, to a remote receiver with a web interface application on a web page for access by a service person for real time delivery information. |
| US09652921B2 |
Coin chute with anti-fishing assembly
A coin chute for a vending machine may include one or more anti-fishing assemblies located in the vicinity of the coin chute's opening for receiving coins. The anti-fishing assemblies may include one or more rotatable anti-fishing fingers that project into a coin channel. The anti-fling fingers may rotate out of the coin channel to allow inserted coins to pass. In addition, the anti-fishing fingers prevent withdrawal of inserted coins out of the coin channel. The anti-fishing assemblies may be in addition to anti-pull back assemblies that prevent inserted coins from being withdrawn back past a coin discriminator. |
| US09652914B2 |
Methods and systems for secure pass-set entry
Methods and systems for secure pass-set entry are disclosed. In one example, an authenticator device is configured to generate a pass-set menu to output in visual format on the display. An I/O device is configured to output audio corresponding to the pass-set menu to the user. A user input interface is configured to receive user actions to navigate the pass-set menu and receive user menu selections. |
| US09652911B2 |
Entry control system
An integrated security system which seamlessly assimilates with current generation logical security systems. The integrated security system incorporates a security controller having standard network interface capabilities including IEEE 802.x and takes advantage of the convenience and security offered by smart cards and related devices for both physical and logical security purposes. The invention is based on standard remote authentication dial-in service (RADIUS) protocols or TCP/IP using SSL, TLS, PCT or IPsec and stores a shared secret required by the secure communication protocols in a secure access module coupled to the security controller. The security controller is intended to be a networked client or embedded intelligent device controlled remotely by to an authentication server. In another embodiment of the invention one or more life cycle management transactions are performed with the secure access module. These transactions allow for the updating, replacement, deletion and creation of critical security parameters, cryptographic keys, user data and applications used by the secure access module and/or security token. In another embodiment of the invention a security access module associated with the security controller locally performs local authentication transactions which are recorded in a local access list used to update a master access list maintained by the authentication server. |
| US09652905B2 |
Diagnostic reporting for sensor integrated circuits
A sensor integrated circuit comprising a controller and a diagnostic module in communication with the controller. The controller is configured for providing a diagnostic reporting signal being a periodic superposition signal on a sensing output of the sensor integrated circuit and/or on a supply current of the sensor integrated circuit. The periodic superposition signal has periodic pulses with a predetermined fixed pulse duration and a predetermined periodicity. The controller furthermore is configured for altering the predetermined periodicity or predetermined fixed pulse duration of the periodic superposition signal upon a fault detection in the diagnostic module communicated to the controller. |
| US09652898B2 |
Mail creation system with improved control of print-data downloading
An apparatus includes a printer and a buffer coupled to the printer for temporarily storing sheets fed out from the printer. The apparatus further includes a control mechanism for monitoring the buffer to determine a number of sheets currently stored in the buffer. The apparatus also includes a data source device that is separate from the printer and is coupled to the printer for selectively providing pages of print data to the printer. The data source device is coupled to the control mechanism and is operative to provide the pages of print data to the printer in response to control signals from the control mechanism. |
| US09652897B2 |
Color fill in an augmented reality environment
A method for operation a head-mounted computing device that includes capturing an image of a three-dimensional environment external to the head-mounted computing device and identifying a surface within the captured image that is eligible for color fill operation, based on similarities in color parameters of contiguous pixels in the captured image. The method further includes receiving a color fill request via user input at the head-mounted computing device, the request being for a predetermined color and performing a color fill operation on the identified surface in response to receiving the color fill request by (a) generating a fill hologram having the predetermined color and a shape that conforms to the shape of the identified surface, (b) displaying the fill hologram in a world-locked manner so as to overlay the identified surface as viewed through the see-through holographic display of the head-mounted display device. |
| US09652894B1 |
Augmented reality goal setter
A method implemented on an augmented reality (AR) device includes receiving an image of an object at the AR device. The image is displayed on a display screen of the AR device. One or more activating actions are received at the AR device. As a result of the one or more activating actions: the object is identified, an identity of the object is sent to a server computer, information is received from the server computer regarding a percentage of completion towards a goal relating to the object and a representation of the percentage of completion towards the goal relating to the object is visually displayed on the image of the object. |
| US09652893B2 |
Stabilization plane determination based on gaze location
Embodiments are described herein for determining a stabilization plane to reduce errors that occur when a homographic transformation is applied to a scene including 3D geometry and/or multiple non-coplanar planes. Such embodiments can be used, e.g., when displaying an image on a head mounted display (HMD) device, but are not limited thereto. In an embodiment, a rendered image is generated, a gaze location of a user is determined, and a stabilization plane, associated with a homographic transformation, is determined based on the determined gaze location. This can involve determining, based on the user's gaze location, variables of the homographic transformation that define the stabilization plane. The homographic transformation is applied to the rendered image to thereby generate an updated image, and at least a portion of the updated image is then displayed. |
| US09652885B2 |
Method and system for x-ray image generation
A method for generating a virtual radiograph for display on a display device, including providing an image generation system having a processing circuit including a processor and a memory device, the image generation system coupled to the display device. The method further including retrieving three-dimensional image data of an anatomy stored in the memory and retrieving a three-dimensional bone model corresponding to a portion of the anatomy stored in the memory. The method further including associating the three-dimensional bone model with the three-dimensional image data such that the three-dimensional bone model defines first boundary containing a first bounded volume within the three-dimensional image data corresponding to the portion of the anatomy, and performing a volume ray casting process on the three-dimensional image data. |
| US09652884B2 |
System and method for generating a reference plane of a head
A method includes receiving a Computed Tomography (CT) image comprising a head of a subject from a CT scanner and detecting a first and a second petrous bone of the head in the CT image. The method further includes determining a nasion of the head in the CT image based on the first and the second petrous bone. The method also includes generating a reference plane of the head based on the nasion and the first and the second petrous bone. |
| US09652875B2 |
Systems and methods for generating a dense graph
Methods and systems for generating a dense graph are described. One of the methods includes receiving a graph and computing a threshold to apply to the graph. The method further includes determining whether the graph includes a first set of at least one node, determining whether a second set of at least one node from the first set meets the threshold, and removing the at least one node of the second set concurrently from the graph upon determining that the at least one node of the second set meets the threshold. The operation of removing is performed to generate an updated graph. The method includes determining whether a density of the updated graph is greater than a density of the graph and replacing the graph within the updated graph upon determining that the density of the updated graph is greater than the density of the density of the graph. |
| US09652872B2 |
System and method of medical imaging
A system of medical imaging including a marking module, a classifying module, a region-of-interest determining module, a curve acquiring module and a delay calculating module. The marking module is used for marking one or more feature regions from pre-scanned images; the classifying module is used for classifying the feature regions by using a classification algorithm model; the region-of-interest determining module is used for selecting a feature region of the same type as a specific diagnostic tissue as a region of interest; the curve acquiring module is used for acquiring a curve of CT values of the region of interest in function of time, based on a relationship between the CT values and scanning time points; the delay calculating module is used for detecting a peak value of the curve and calculating a scan delay time based on a time point corresponding to the peak value. |
| US09652868B2 |
Automatic color palette based recommendations
Systems and methods are provided for determining whether certain color image metadata is accurate. A color image and associated color image metadata provided by a source for inclusion in an electronic catalog are accessed. A color palette corresponding to the color image is generated. A color name associated with the color palette is determined. A determination is made as to whether the image metadata comprises a color name. If the image metadata comprises a color name, a determination is made as to whether the color name included in the image metadata corresponds to the color name associated with the color palette. If the color name included in the image metadata does not correspond to the color name associated with the color palette or if the image metadata does not comprise a color name, the color name associated with the color palette is added to the color image metadata. |
| US09652866B2 |
Electronic device and image processing method
An image processing method is provided. A first image is obtained at a first time point, the first image includes a first object image and a first background image, the first object image corresponds to the position of an object at the first time point. A second image is obtained at a second time point, the second image includes a second object image and a second background image, the second object image corresponds to the position of the object at the second time point, and the first and the second images are shot within substantially the same shooting range. A sum motion vector of the object is obtained according to the first and the second object images. The second object image is kept, and a process is applied to each pixel of the second background image in the second image to generate a third image. |
| US09652864B2 |
Three-dimensional object recognition device and three-dimensional object recognition method
A 3D-object recognition device includes: a matching unit to compare a 3D-object in an image based on the image data with a 3D-shape model corresponding to the 3D-object to associate correlated feature points with each other by pattern matching; a model updating unit to update the 3D-shape model based on the feature points associated by the matching unit; a motion estimation unit to estimate motion of the 3D-object based on a history of the position and attitude of the 3D-shape model updated by the model updating unit to estimate a 3D-shape model at an arbitrary time in the future; and a validity determination unit to compare the feature points associated by the matching unit with the 3D-shape model estimated by the motion estimation unit and cause the model updating unit to update the 3D-shape model based on only the feature points determined to be valid. |
| US09652863B2 |
Multi-mode video event indexing
Multi-mode video event indexing includes determining a quality of object distinctiveness with respect to images from a video stream input. A high-quality analytic mode is selected from multiple modes and applied to video input images via a hardware device to determine object activity within the video input images if the determined level of detected quality of object distinctiveness meets a threshold level of quality, else a low-quality analytic mode is selected and applied to the video input images via a hardware device to determine object activity within the video input images, wherein the low-quality analytic mode is different from the high-quality analytic mode. |
| US09652862B1 |
System and method for dynamic device tracking using medical imaging systems
A system and method are provided for generating images that track a position and shape of a medical device within a subject. The method includes acquiring image data from a subject along at least two disparate view angles, each view angle including a deformable medical device arranged in the subject. The method also includes receiving images reconstructed from the image data and exploring a search space to compare the images with a dynamic three-dimensional (3D) model at least using a deformation parameter to determine a position and shape of the deformable medical device within the subject. The method further includes displaying an image of the subject and deformable medical device arranged within the subject based on the position and shape of the deformable medical device within the subject. |
| US09652861B2 |
Estimating device and estimation method
An estimation method executed by a computer includes: extracting, from an image, a plurality of characteristic points satisfying a certain requirement regarding changes in gray levels between the plurality of characteristic points and surrounding points; identifying, as map points from the plurality of characteristic points, characteristic points existing on planes, by excluding corners of an object depicted on the image; extracting, from another image, another plurality of characteristic points satisfying the certain requirement; executing matching of the another plurality of characteristic points with the map points based on a region including the map points; and estimating, based on results of the matching, a position and an orientation of an imaging device while the another image is captured. |
| US09652855B2 |
Image processing apparatus that identifies image area, and image processing method
An image processing apparatus including: an acquisition unit configured to acquire a boundary between a target area and a non-target area from an image; a setting unit configured to set an undefined area on the periphery of the boundary in a width based on feature quantities of peripheral pixels of the boundary; and a generating unit configured to define an area excluding the undefined area from the target area as the foreground area, define an area excluding the undefined area from the non-target area as the background area, and generate area information that specifies the foreground area, the background area, and the undefined area. |
| US09652854B2 |
System and method for identifying an object in an image
A method for processing image data includes identifying a background scene in a background frame of an image. Each of a plurality of pixel locations in the background frame is set as a respective background pixel. For each of the pixel locations, a respective running mean and a respective running variance are determined based on a brightness component of the background frame at the pixel location. A subsequent frame is identified as a current frame. For each of the pixel locations in the current frame identified as a background pixel, the running mean is updated based on one of a plurality of mean weights and the running variance is updated based one of a plurality of variance weights. For each of the pixel locations in the current frame, an identification is made if the current pixel location is one of a background pixel and a foreground pixel based on a brightness component of the current pixel location in the current frame, the running mean of the current pixel location, and the running variance of the current pixel location. |
| US09652852B2 |
Automated generation of a three-dimensional scanner video
A method for automatically generating a three-dimensional (3D) video of a scene by measuring and registering 3D coordinates at a first position and a second position of a 3D measuring device, the 3D video generated by combining two-dimensional images extracted at trajectory points along a trajectory path. |
| US09652850B2 |
Subject tracking device and subject tracking method
A subject tracking device includes a processor; and a memory which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to execute, detecting at least one subject candidate area in which it is probable that a tracking target subject appears on an image that is received from an imaging unit; calculating a degree of blur of the subject candidate area for each of the subject candidate areas; determining that the subject appears in a subject candidate area having a degree of blur in accordance with a moving speed of the subject, out of the subject candidate areas; and deciding movement of the subject depending on a movement direction from an area in which the subject appears on a previous image that is captured by the imaging unit before capturing the image, to the subject candidate area in which the subject appears on the image. |
| US09652849B2 |
Techniques for rapid stereo reconstruction from images
Stereo image reconstruction techniques are described. An image from a root viewpoint is translated to an image from another viewpoint. Homography fitting is used to translate the image between viewpoints. Inverse compositional image alignment is used to determine a homography matrix and determine a pixel in the translated image. |
| US09652848B2 |
Image stitching in a multi-camera array
Images captured by multi-camera arrays with overlap regions can be stitched together using image stitching operations. An image stitching operation can be selected for use in stitching images based on a number of factors. An image stitching operation can be selected based on a view window location of a user viewing the images to be stitched together. An image stitching operation can also be selected based on a type, priority, or depth of image features located within an overlap region. Finally, an image stitching operation can be selected based on a likelihood that a particular image stitching operation will produce visible artifacts. Once a stitching operation is selected, the images corresponding to the overlap region can be stitched using the stitching operation, and the stitched image can be stored for subsequent access. |
| US09652847B2 |
Method for calibrating a digital optical imaging system having a zoom system, method for correcting aberrations in a digital optical imaging system having a zoom system, and digital optical imaging system
The invention relates to a method for calibrating a digital optical imaging system, comprising at least one motorized or coded zoom system and an image sensor, to a method for correcting aberrations in such an imaging system, and to an optical imaging system which is configured to carry out the methods according to the invention. During the calibration method, a reference object is recorded in various zoom settings and the image is corrected pixel-wise with digital-optical means using a previously determined model. To this end, distortion correction coefficients and image stability correction coefficients are ascertained. The real total magnification of the system is ascertained from the corrected image. The model ascertained in the calibration process also serves for correcting aberrations during operation of the imaging system. |
| US09652842B2 |
Method, apparatus and equipment of inspecting quality of LCD
A method, an apparatus and an equipment of inspecting the quality of an LCD are provided, the method includes: obtaining optical parameters of the LCD; capturing images of the LCD; and determining that the LCD is defective after determining that the optical parameters are not in the range of the preset optical parameters and/or the captured images of the LCD are not consistent with the pre-stored images. Through the technical solution of the present invention, it can effectively differentiate the defect types of a product and record the defect position of the product, thereby it can effectively reduce misjudgment or miss test caused by the visual differences between operators to improve the quality and yield of manufactured LCD. |
| US09652841B2 |
System and method for characterizing NANO/MICRO bubbles for particle recovery
A control system for a froth flotation system receives inputs from one or more sensors comprising images of a fluid having bubbles and particles therein; some of the bubbles are attached to some of the particles and suspended in the fluid. For at least some of the bubbles with attached particles, it is determined from the inputs at least two contact angles at different locations at which the respective bubble is attached to the particle. These contact angles are used to predict a process improvement by which bubbles would more efficiently float the particles out of the fluid, as compared to that represented by the input images. An output is then provided for driving a graphical display screen, the output comprising at least one of: a) a graphical representation of the determined at least two contact angles; and b) a graphical representation of the predicted process improvement. |
| US09652838B1 |
Object retrieval
Various approaches enable a user to capture image information (e.g., still images or video) about an object of interest such as the sole of a shoe or other piece of footwear (e.g., a sandal) and receive information about items that are determined to match footwear based at least in part on the image information. For example, an image analyze service or other similar service can analyze the images to determine a type of shoe included within the images based at least in part on patterns of other distinguishing features of the sole of the shoe. The image analysis service can aggregate the results and can provide information about the results as a set of matches or results to be displayed to a user in response to a visual search query. The information can include, for example, descriptions, contact information, availability, location data, pricing information, and other such information. |
| US09652837B2 |
Method of determining quality of heart and cupid optical effects of diamond device therefor
The present invention includes the steps of: storing data such as the symmetry, the variation degree in the area, the displacement of a tip portion, the depth of a slit, the shoulder widths, and the like of eight heart marks and the symmetry, the variation degree in the area, the displacement or sharpness of an arrow tip, and the like of eight cupid marks into a computer database; and performing arithmetic processing of the data and ranking determination of the quality of the heart marks and the cupid marks. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and device capable of objectively determining the quality on the basis of the same determination criterion using determination software in both of a case where the diamond is directly imaged by a CCD camera. |
| US09652836B2 |
Defect cell clustering method and apparatus thereof
Provided are a method of clustering defects generated in bad samples shown on a defect map of bad samples including bad products, and an apparatus thereof. The defect cell clustering method includes generating a sample defect map showing a defect cell distribution by cell positions of bad samples comprised of products each including one or more defect cells among products each partitioned into a plurality of cells, selecting at least some cell positions having one or more defect cells as clustering targets from the sample defect map, selecting one or more suspected bad equipments for each of cell positions included in the clustering targets using pass equipment information for the product, and grouping the clustering targets into one or more clusters according to position coherence between a first cell position and a second cell position included in one cluster, the cell position and the second cell position each having at least one suspected bad equipment. |
| US09652835B2 |
Image processing device, information storage device, and image processing method
An image processing device includes an image sequence acquisition section that acquires an image sequence that includes a plurality of constituent images, and a processing section that performs an image summarization process that deletes some of the plurality of constituent images included in the image sequence to generate a summary image sequence, the processing section selecting a reference image and a determination target image from the plurality of constituent images, detecting an unnecessary area from the determination target image, calculating a loss area based on deformation information about the reference image and the determination target image, and the unnecessary area, the loss area being an area that is lost when the determination target image is deleted, and determining whether or not the determination target image can be deleted based on the calculated loss area. |
| US09652834B2 |
Method and apparatus for viewing images
A computer-implemented method for viewing images on an interactive computing device comprises displaying an image from a stack comprising a display image and at least one compressed sub-image of nominally the same scene, each of the sub-images of the stack having been acquired at respective focal distances. Responsive to a user selecting a portion of the displayed image, the selected portion is mapped to a corresponding mapped portion of a sub-image within the stack according to the difference in focal distances between the displayed image and the sub-image. At least one row of compressed image blocks of the at least one sub-image extending across the mapped portion; and a reference value for a point in the compressed image stream of the sub-image preceding the row of compressed image blocks is determined. Using the reference, the row of blocks of the sub-image at least partially decoded, and a measure of focus for an area of the mapped portion coinciding with the decoded image blocks is computed to determine if at least that content of the sub-image should be displayed within a display image. |
| US09652831B2 |
Isotropic reconstruction of image data
An example of the invention relates to a method for the multidimensional reconstruction of image data in a reconstruction area based on projection measurement data which has been acquired using an imaging system, preferably a computed tomography system, wherein the reconstruction is carried out in three different spatial directions with predefined resolution widths; a resolution width in at least one spatial direction being automatically adapted to a resolution width in another spatial direction, such that the adapted resolution widths are substantially identical. |
| US09652826B2 |
Interpolation method and corresponding device
A method for estimating occlusion in a virtual environment comprising at least two objects and observed from a viewpoint. Thereafter, a second item of information representative of the distance separating a second fragment of a second object from the viewpoint according to an observation direction is computed; the second item of information is compared with a first item of information representative of the distance separating a first fragment of a first object from the viewpoint according to the observation direction and is stored in a first buffer memory. If the second item of information is less than the first item of information, then a third item of information representative of attributes associated with the second fragment is estimated, the second item of information is stored in a second buffer memory and of the third item of information is stored in a third buffer memory. If the second item of information is greater than the first item of information, then the first item of information is stored in the second buffer memory. |
| US09652825B2 |
Image enlargement method and apparatus
The present application discloses an image enlargement method and apparatus. The method includes: inputting a low-resolution image, where the low-resolution image includes at least one matching areas; searching one of the matching areas for an optimal contour template, where the optimal contour template is a contour template with a minimum total variation value in the matching area and the contour template set; finding a second pixel point according to a zoom ratio and a first pixel point in the matching area; performing local interpolation for the second pixel point according to the optimal contour template, so as to obtain an intermediate pixel value; repeating the foregoing steps until processing for all the matching areas is complete, and obtaining an initial high-resolution image according to all of the intermediate pixel values; and performing global interpolation for the initial high-resolution image to obtain a high-resolution image. |
| US09652822B2 |
Image correcting apparatus, image correcting method and computer readable recording medium recording program thereon
According to an embodiment of the present invention, an imaging apparatus includes an image acquiring unit, a correction region setting unit, and an image correcting unit. The image acquiring unit acquires an image. The correction region setting unit sets a region of correction of a face of a person in the image acquired by the image acquiring unit based on a position of the face of the person in the image. The image correcting unit corrects an image in the region of correction set by the correction region setting unit. Thus, according to the imaging apparatus of the embodiment, it is possible to obtain a face image of a desired shape more simply and easily. |
| US09652820B2 |
Method and system for utilizing transformation matrices to process rasterized image data
A method and system render rasterized data by receiving non-rasterized page description language data and a corresponding transformation matrix representing transformation operations to be performed. The non-rasterized page description language data is rasterizing to create rasterized data. The corresponding transformation matrix is decomposed into a plurality of individual transformation operation matrices and a discrete transformation operation value, from each corresponding individual transformation operation matrix, is generated for each transformation operation to be performed upon the rasterized data. The transformation operations are performed upon the rasterized data based upon the generated discrete transformation operation values. |
| US09652817B2 |
Automated compute kernel fusion, resizing, and interleave
In a pipelined application having different stages of processing, such as a graphics application or an image processing application, there may be a dependence of one compute kernel upon another. Data associated with individual kernels needs to be written and read. A technique to minimize a need to read and write kernel data to external memory utilize at least one of fusing kernels, resizing workgroups, and performing interleaving of kernels. |
| US09652816B1 |
Reduced frame refresh rate
Systems, apparatuses, and methods for adjusting the frame refresh rate used for driving frames to a display. A display pipeline is configured to drive a display using a reduced frame refresh rate in certain scenarios. The reduced frame refresh rate may be specified in frame packets which contain configuration data for processing corresponding frames. The display pipeline may drive idle frames to the display to generate the reduced frame refresh rate. When a touch event is detected, the display pipeline may override the reduced frame refresh rate and instead utilize a standard frame refresh rate until all of the frames corresponding to stored frame packets have been processed. |
| US09652815B2 |
Texel data structure for graphics processing unit programmable shader and method of operation thereof
A graphics processing subsystem and a method of shading are provided. In one embodiment, the subsystem includes: (1) a memory configured to contain a texel data structure according to which multiple primitive texels corresponding to a particular composite texel are contained in a single page of the memory and (2) a graphics processing unit configured to communicate with the memory via a data bus and execute a shader to fetch the multiple primitive texels contained in the single page to create the particular composite texel. |
| US09652814B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating and authenticating security documents
A method and system for generating a document for use with personal data and an image, including: inputting the personal text data into the processor; inputting the image into the processor; generating, by the processor, a personal identifier based on the personal text data, a first Message Authentication Code (MAC) based on the personal identifier; generating, by the processor, a first wave structure based on the MAC; generating, by the processor, waved microtext based on the wave structure and the personal text data; generating, by the processor, a letter screen image from the input image with the waved microtext; and outputting the letter screen image. A method and system for verification of the generated document is also disclosed. |
| US09652813B2 |
Risk analysis engine
In a risk analysis system, a risk analysis engine and a related method, incident information or activity information, which may be of a spatiotemporal nature, is analyzed. Behavioral patterns are identified in or derived from the incident information or the activity information. Observations are produced from matches of the behavioral patterns to behavior specifications. Based upon the observations, and asset vulnerability data, per-asset risks are derived. |
| US09652811B2 |
Generating graphic object collages
A regular mesh of rectangular cells (76) of uniform size is defined. The regular mesh is aligned with a non-rectangular layout boundary (18) such that a count of ones of the cells (76) having at least a prescribed fraction of their size contained within the layout boundary (18) is maximized. A layout (34) of frames (36) within the layout boundary (18) is determined based on the locations of the cells (76) with respect to the layout boundary (18), wherein the frames (36) define respective size dimensions and positions of respective views (47) of graphic objects (12) on a page (38). The views (47) of the graphic objects (12) arranged in accordance with the layout (34) of the frames (36) are outputted on the page (38). |
| US09652808B2 |
Providing E-receipts to customers
Embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, and computer program products for providing e-receipts to customers. Embodiments receive authorization from a customer for the customer to be enrolled in a point of transaction e-receipt communication program; receive transaction data corresponding to at least one transaction performed by the customer at a point of transaction of a merchant; and initiate communication, to the customer, of an e-receipt based at least in part on the received transaction data. Some embodiments receive authorization from a plurality of enrolling merchants for enrollment in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program; and build a cooperating merchant list comprising information corresponding to a plurality of cooperating merchants cooperating with a financial institution implementing the point of transaction e-receipt communication program. |
| US09652807B2 |
Computer system for generating calculator interface elements for remote device display
Described are computer systems for interactions with a user device and third party computers. In an embodiment, a computer system for determining and displaying total loss calculations includes accessing third party computer systems for a plurality of data items. The computer system may include data storage devices, computer processors, a communications device, and a memory coupled to the computer processors. The memory may store program instructions which are operative with the computer processors to provide to a user device for display a total loss calculator graphical interface, receive inputs from the user device, request data from third party computers based on the received inputs, determine whether the data needed to perform a total loss calculation has been received, and perform a total loss calculation based on the requested data from the third party computer and the user inputs received from the graphical interface provided to the user device. |
| US09652805B1 |
Multiple product quoting
A multiproduct quoting system facilitates the purchase of multiple insurance products from two or more insurance underwriters as a bundled insurance package. A multiproduct server renders consolidated views of the multiple insurance products or combined rates of the multiple insurance products based on a plurality of insurance scores. A payment server coupled to the multiproduct server renders individualized payment plans for each of the multiple insurance products. An insurance policy module in communication with the multiproduct server renders an integrated insurance document that reflects a user's selected insurance policy parameters. |
| US09652804B2 |
Deterministic and efficient message packet management
Methods, devices, and systems for facilitation of deterministic management of a plurality of electronic message packets communicated to an application via a network from a plurality of message sources. The facilitation involves receiving each of the plurality of electronic message packets from the network, determining an order in which each electronic message packet was received relative to the reception of others of the plurality of electronic message packets, and providing the order to the application. |
| US09652802B1 |
Indirect monitoring and reporting of a user's credit data
Methods and systems of monitoring and reporting of changes to a user's credit data are provided. One embodiment includes providing a service, hosted by a data server, that allows the user to access the service via a communication terminal. The service may also request enrollment data, including identity verification data, from the user. Further, the service may periodically access and monitor the user's credit data for a change in the user's credit data via a connection between the data server and a credit bureau even if the data server has not received sufficient identity verification data from the user. Additionally, the service may determine whether a change detected in the user's credit data is a significant event. When an event or a significant event in the user's credit data is detected, the service may alert the user of the fact that an event has occurred even if the data server has not received sufficient identity verification data from the user. |
| US09652800B1 |
Sell-side icon
A network-based reverse auction system value discovery system that involves at least four major customers: consumers, and the three sell-side customers bidder/sellers, product manufacturers, and advertisers who are not also product manufacturers. Initially, a shopping list is constructed containing e.g., widely available goods (WAGs). The shopping list is the base of the value discovery network and adds significant value for each of the four key customers. A sell-side icon may be used to add items to the shopping list. |
| US09652799B2 |
Product recommendation with product review analysis
Techniques for product recommendation involve receiving, from a user, a text input expressing a question asking for a product recommendation. In response to the question, an answer that identifies a product for recommendation to the user may be generated. A plurality of product reviews comprising natural language text evaluations of the product may be analyzed, involving identifying at least one passage of text in at least one of the product reviews as providing supporting evidence for the product in answer to the question. The answer and the at least one passage in the at least one product review identified as providing supporting evidence for the answer may be presented to the user in response to the text input. |
| US09652798B2 |
Systems and methods for identifying product recommendations based on investment portfolio data
The disclosed embodiments include, for example, systems and methods for providing recommendations of one or more alternative products to a user based on investment portfolio data. In one aspect, the disclosed embodiments may include a system that is configured to obtain information associated with one or more products of interest to the user. In certain aspects, the obtained information may identify a product previously purchased by the user, one or more products that form a shopping list of the user, and/or a product identified by the user as a potential purchase. The system may be configured to identify one or more alternative products that are similar to the products of interest and that are related to one or more securities associated with an investment portfolio of the user. In one aspect, the system may be configured to generate one or more instructions to transmit information identifying the one or more alternatives product to a device of the user. |
| US09652793B2 |
Stage-wise analysis of text-based interactions
The stages of an interaction between a potential customer (the user) and a sales representative (the agent) during a sales interaction are identified to understand the interaction factors that drive sales and, by doing so, to serve the customer better and thus increase sales. Initially, a user makes contact with an agent via a communications network. During the interaction, a dropping point is reached, i.e. the point in the interaction at which either the user or the agent ends the interaction. The dropping point and other interaction factors is analyzed. Based upon such analysis, various recommendations are made to the agents to improve the user's sales experience. |
| US09652788B2 |
Method and apparatus for logging privilege use in a distributed computing environment
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that logs the use of privileges in a distributed computing environment. The distributed computing environment includes a database system, one or more client applications, and a unified security management layer between the database system and the one or more client applications. During operation, the system receives a request from a client application to execute a business function in the distributed computing environment. The system determines a privilege associated with the requested business function, and logs that the request is associated with the privilege. The system then checks, in the unified security management layer, whether a user associated with the request is associated with a role that has the privilege. If the user is associated with a role that has the privilege, the system performs the requested business function. By checking and logging privilege access in the unified security management layer, the system facilitates tracking privilege use for the database system and the client applications in a single entity, thereby enabling security managers to more easily audit privileged operations in the distributed computing environment. |
| US09652781B2 |
Press release distribution system
A press release distribution system provides press release and other news to forum sites as posts. The forum software that runs at forum sites includes press release interface software or is adapted to receive press release interface plug-in modules for interfacing with the press release distribution system. The press release interface software or plug-in module may also monitor and/or analyze user data of forum members and/or forum activities of the users. The monitored user data and forum activities may be provided to the press release distribution system for analysis and generation of user profiles. Using the result of the analysis (e.g., user profiles), the press release distribution system can target particular users or forums to direct the press releases, news, or advertisements for most effective advertising campaign. |
| US09652780B2 |
Dynamically customizing user quotas
An online content management system determines a new account configuration to offer to a user, including the price and/or size of a user's quota of storage space in an account on the online content management system, based on usage characteristics of the account. An account management module tracks account usage. The account management module analyzes the account usage and applies a model to predict the willingness of the user to pay for a new account configuration. Responsive to the results of the prediction, the new account configuration is offered to the user. The user's feedback on the offered new account configuration is tracked. If the user accepts the offer, the user's account details are updated accordingly. If the user rejects the offer, this feedback may be added as input into future predictions of that user's willingness to pay for a new account configuration. |
| US09652779B2 |
Method and system for on-line survey recruitment ensuring availability of control group participants
A system and method are described for presenting on-line survey invitations to users over a network. The system enables selectively presenting survey invitations to users in accordance with a survey recruitment definition associated with a tag embedded within an on-line advertisement downloaded and executed on a user computer. If a determination is made by a survey recruitment server that a requestor is to be a potential control (unexposed) survey participant, then instructions are issued to the requesting user computer to obstruct presentation of the on-line advertisement which caused the issuance of the request for a survey invitation from the user computer. |
| US09652778B1 |
Advertisement conversion logging
An advertisement distribution system can log advertisement conversions using Near Field Communication (“NFC”). An online advertisement may be served to a user in response to a query or at a website. In response to the user selecting the advertisement, a landing page is displayed to the user and information regarding the advertisement is stored for logging purposes. The landing page may instruct the user to check in with an NFC-enabled device at an NFC base station of a merchant. The NFC base station transmits information identifying the merchant to the user's device and, in turn, the user's device transmits the information to the advertisement distribution system. The advertisement distribution determines that the advertisement resulted in a conversion using information regarding the advertisement and the information identifying the merchant received from the NFC base station via the user's device. |
| US09652770B1 |
Mobile wallet using tokenized card systems and methods
One embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method that includes sending, by a mobile wallet server, an identification number that is part of a substitute card number to be used by a mobile device as a mobile wallet, determining an actual card number based on the substitute card number and sending the actual card number and the identification number for processing a payment. |
| US09652766B1 |
Managing data stored in memory locations having size limitations
Described herein are storage systems, computer readable mediums, and methods for overcoming size limit storage limitations associated with storage systems. Processed transactions may be removed from an object so that input data may be stored at the object. In some implementations, the storage system removes the processed transactions from the object once a section of the object includes a threshold amount of data, and stores the processed transactions at a transaction datastore. Once the processed transactions have been removed from the object, the storage system may store the input data at the object. |
| US09652761B2 |
Systems and methods to facilitate electronic payments
Systems and methods are provided to facilitate online transactions via mobile communications. In one aspect, a system includes a data storage facility to store an account identifier of a user and a phone number of the user and an interchange coupled with the data storage facility. The interchange includes a common format processor and a plurality of converters to interface with a plurality of different controllers of mobile communications. The converters are configured to communicate with the controllers in different formats; and the converters are configured to communicate with the common format processor in a common format to facilitate electronic payment transactions using the account identifier. |
| US09652760B2 |
Receiving fingerprints through touch screen of CE device
Fingerprints for transaction authentication are received through the touch screen of a bank customer's CE device for purposes of approving or denying transactions with the customer's electronic debit or credit card (“e-card”). |
| US09652757B2 |
Automatic price display control by emulation of electronic cash register price lookup
A system and method for distribution of product price and/or sales data in a retail establishment. Product price and/or sales data is stored locally in a central computer or master electronic cash register (ECR), or remotely at a master computer. The price data can be pushed from the master ECR to an ECR emulation hub. Similarly, the ECR emulation hub can request product price data from the master ECR, local or master computers. Once the product price data arrives at the ECR emulation hub, it can be processed and sent to a display located near the appropriate product. The ECR emulation hub can also record and/or transmit prices actually charged for products over time to allow for automatic auditing of promotional pricing offers. The ECR emulation hub acts like an ECR, thereby requiring no special software or hardware modifications to existing pricing display systems that already support ECRs. |
| US09652756B2 |
Point of sale interface for an automatic beverage dispenser
A point of sale (POS) interface solution is provided to interface a POS system or POS terminal to an automated bar tending system, allowing a drink order to be entered into the automated bar tending system other than by a user interface on the automated bar tending system. The POS interface provides a drink order signal to a printer for printing a drink order on a ticket for processing a drink order and/or on a bill to present to the customer. The POS interface also provides a drink order signal to the automated bar tending system for displaying the drink order on the user interface. |
| US09652754B2 |
Method, medium, and system for payment on call in a networked environment
A computer-implemented method and system is disclosed in which a network-based e-commerce environment includes a merchant site to receive a voice call associated with a purchase transaction from a consumer, generate a payment request corresponding to the consumer purchase transaction in response to receiving the voice call, send the payment request to a payment site, and receive confirmation from the payment site that payment for the consumer purchase transaction has been received. |
| US09652751B2 |
Item-level information collection for interactive payment experience
Disclosed is a technology for collecting item-level transaction information for interactive payment experience. According to one embodiment, a merchant server can maintain a database including the information of financial accounts having a particular classification. The classification indicates that these financial accounts are associated with a payment service system. When the merchant server determines a requested financial transaction involves a financial account classified in the database, the merchant server transmits the item-level transaction information to the payment service system. The payment service system receives the item-level transaction information in real-time or near real-time and generates an interactive digital transaction receipt for a consumer. |
| US09652749B2 |
Mobile device and server for task assignments and pickup requests
Mobile device for communicating arrival information at a waypoint, communicating that information to a server, receiving a set of tasks (statically assigned or dynamically assigned) for the user (for example, from the server or from another user), displaying the set of tasks to the user, receiving a completion response (successful or unsuccessful) from the user, and proceeding to the next waypoint along a route/trip plan. A coordination server facilitates communication of a list of tasks assigned to a user to be performed at a specified location. The list of tasks is delivered to the user of the first mobile device by the coordination server (if such tasks exist) when the coordination server receives notification from the first mobile device indicating arrival at a specific location. |
| US09652747B2 |
Context based alert system
An embodiment allows for context based alerts/alarms. For example, an embodiment may automatically determine that a user is in a meeting with another person based on a meeting entry in the user's calendar. In such a situation the embodiment may divert an incoming phone call, which would ordinarily result in a ring tone, to go directly to voice mail based on the calendar entry. In an embodiment the alert may be delayed until the meeting concludes. Unlike conventional systems, various embodiments do not require a user to change notification rules, manually flip a hardware switch, or create a “Do Not Disturb” setting that allows just a single “silent” time during the day. An embodiment allows data in a calendar to automatically drive the behavior of how a notification panel operates. Other embodiments are described herein. |
| US09652745B2 |
Model-driven evaluator bias detection
A method for detecting bias in an evaluation process is provided. The method includes operations of receiving evaluation data from a candidate evaluation system. The evaluation data is provided by a set of evaluators based on digital interview data collected from evaluation candidates. The operations of the method further include extracting indicators of characteristics of the evaluation candidates from the digital interview data, classifying the evaluation candidates based on the indicators extracted from the digital interview data, and determining whether the evaluation data indicates a bias of one or more evaluators with respect to a classification of the evaluation candidates. |
| US09652742B2 |
System and method for conducting open innovation events
In various embodiments, an open innovation event is conducted with more than one (e.g., two, three, four, or more) rule regimes. During event registration, a rule choice module is used to facilitate selection by participants of a desired rule regime from a choice of possible rule regimes. An assignment module assigns participants to groups based at least in part on their rule regime selection. A problem distribution module electronically distributes to participants a problem to be solved during the open innovation event. An event operations module conducts the event with one rule regime applying to one group and a different rule regime applying to another group, so that each of two participant groups are subject to different rule regimes, with the different rule regimes selected from the choice of possible rule regimes. A solution submission module receives solutions from submitters. |
| US09652741B2 |
Desktop application for access and interaction with workspaces in a cloud-based content management system and synchronization mechanisms thereof
Systems and methods for synchronizing workspaces in a web-based collaboration environment with local folders on computers of collaborators of the workspaces are disclosed. Collaborators of a workspace can edit copies of work items either at the collaboration environment server or at the computer. Updates to all synchronized folders are automatically performed. Conflicts between edits made by different collaborators to the same file are flagged, and a notification is sent to the author attempting to make edits to a version of a file that has already been updated by another collaborator. |
| US09652737B1 |
System and method for inventory identification and quantification
A solution for inventory identification and quantification using a portable computing device (“PCD”) comprising a camera subsystem is described. An exemplary embodiment of the solution comprises a method that begins with capturing a video stream of a physical inventory comprised of a plurality of individual inventory items. Using a set of tracking points appearing in sequential frames, and optical flow calculations, coordinates for global centers of the frames may be calculated. From there, coordinates for identified inventory items may be determined relative to the global centers of the frames within which they are captured. Comparing the calculated coordinates for inventory items identified in each frame, as well as fingerprint data, embodiments of the method may identify and filter duplicate image captures of the same inventory item within some statistical certainty. Symbology data, such as QR codes, are decoded and quantified as part of the inventory count. |
| US09652733B2 |
Systems and methods for measuring and tracking radio-frequency identification tags
Systems and methods are provided for measuring and tracking radio-frequency (RFID) tags. Inlay data, converting data, and tag scan data can be received from entities in the supply chain and stored in a database. The tag scan data, including measurement and performance data, can be stored and used for applications such as determining whether RFID tags are defective. The tag scan data, inlay data, and converting data can be analyzed to produce analytic data for reporting and failure prediction purposes. Inlay-SKU combinations of RFID tags can be validated to ensure that the correct inlays are being utilized for RFID tags intended for particular products. More accurate inventory data may be obtained and costs for re-tagging products that have defective RFID tags may be reduced. Entities in the supply chain can also be assisted to comply with various quality control, licensing, and tracking requirements related to the RFID tags. |
| US09652731B2 |
Machine-readable delivery platform for automated package delivery
A user requests a package delivery from a package delivery system. The package delivery system provides the user with a machine-readable code for display at the delivery location. An aerial delivery device receives, from the package delivery system computing device, information associated with the delivery location of the package. The information comprises information matching the information in the machine-readable code associated with the delivery location and a delivery address. The delivery device secures the package for transporting to the delivery location and transports the package to the delivery address. The delivery device locates the machine-readable code on a display at the delivery address and verifies that the information from the machine-readable code is associated with the package. The delivery device deposits the package on the display. |
| US09652730B2 |
Automated system and method for knowledge transfer, agent support and performance tracking during a life cycle of business processes in an outsourcing environment
An automated system and method for knowledge transfer, agent support and performance tracking during life cycle of a business process in an outsourcing environment are disclosed. In one embodiment, knowledge information associated with the business process is captured. Further, standard operating procedures (SOPs) are created based on the captured knowledge information. Furthermore, a simulated business process is created based on the captured knowledge information upon reviewing the SOPs. In addition, agents are allowed to use the simulated business process and actual performance of the simulated business process is tracked. |
| US09652723B2 |
Electrical transformer failure prediction
A computing device predicts a probability of a transformer failure. An analysis type indicator defined by a user is received. A worth value for each of a plurality of variables is computed. Highest worth variables from the plurality of variables are selected based on the computed worth values. A number of variables of the highest worth variables is limited to a predetermined number based on the received analysis type indicator. A first model and a second model are also selected based on the received analysis type indicator. Historical electrical system data is partitioned into a training dataset and a validation dataset that are used to train and validate, respectively, the first model and the second model. A probability of failure model is selected as the first model or the second model based on a comparison between a fit of each model. |
| US09652720B2 |
Triggering on-the-fly requests for supervised learning of learning machines
In one embodiment, network data is received at a Learning Machine (LM) in a network. It is determined whether the LM recognizes the received network data based on information available to the LM. When the LM fails to recognize the received network data: a connection to a central management node is established, a request is sent for information relating to the unrecognized network data to the central management node, and information is received from the central management node in response to the request. The received information assists the LM in recognizing the unrecognized network data. |
| US09652714B2 |
Systems and techniques for predictive data analytics
Systems and techniques for predictive data analytics are described. In a method for selecting a predictive model for a prediction problem, the suitabilities of predictive modeling procedures for the prediction problem may be determined based on characteristics of the prediction problem and/or on attributes of the respective modeling procedures. A subset of the predictive modeling procedures may be selected based on the determined suitabilities of the selected modeling procedures for the prediction problem. A resource allocation schedule allocating computational resources for execution of the selected modeling procedures may be generated, based on the determined suitabilities of the selected modeling procedures for the prediction problem. Results of the execution of the selected modeling procedures in accordance with the resource allocation schedule may be obtained. A predictive model for the prediction problem may be selected based on those results. |
| US09652712B2 |
Analyzing health events using recurrent neural networks
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for using recurrent neural networks to analyze health events. One of the methods includes: processing each of a plurality of initial temporal sequences of health events to generate, for each of the initial temporal sequences, a respective network internal state of a recurrent neural network for each time step in the initial temporal sequence; storing, for each of the initial temporal sequences, one or more of the network internal states for the time steps in the temporal sequence in a repository; obtaining a first temporal sequence; processing the first temporal sequence using the recurrent neural network to generate a sequence internal state for the first temporal sequence; and selecting one or more initial temporal sequences that are likely to include health events that are predictive of future health events in the first temporal sequence. |
| US09652710B2 |
Method for recording the number of sterilizations of a piece for a medical device
A method for recording the number of sterilizations of a piece for a medical device. The piece can be a motor and/or a handpiece. The piece includes a temperature sensor and/or a pressure sensor and/or a humidity sensor and/or an angular position. The method includes the following steps: inserting the piece into the sterilization camber; detecting the sterilization based on the temperature and/or the pressure and/or the humidity and/or the angular position in which the handpiece is received in the sterilization chamber by the temperature sensor and/or the pressure sensor (102) and/or the humidity sensor and/or the angular position sensor. This solution allows recording of the number of sterilizations of a handpiece and/or a motor for a medical device, in particular for a dental device. |
| US09652708B2 |
Protocol for communications between a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and a connected device, and related systems and methods
Protocols, systems, and methods are disclosed for at least one RFID tag and a device, to communicate with each other using direct connections, wherein the at least one RFID tag and the device are configured to mate and directly exchange identification information. A message comprising a tag identification may be sent directly from the RFID tag to the device, and the RFID tag may receive a first acknowledgement from the device if the first tag identification was correctly received. A connection may be detected between the RFID tag and the device prior to directly exchanging information. The exchange of information may include sending data from the device to the RFID tag. |
| US09652706B2 |
Wireless IC device
A wireless IC device includes a wireless IC chip arranged to process a radio signal, a power-supply circuit board that is connected to the wireless IC chip and that includes a power supply circuit including at least one coil pattern, and a radiation plate arranged to radiate a transmission signal supplied from the power-supply circuit board and/or receiving a reception signal to supply the reception signal to the power-supply circuit board. The radiation plate includes an opening provided in a portion thereof and a slit connected to the opening. When viewed in plan from the direction of the winding axis of the coil pattern, the opening in the radiation plate overlaps with an inner area of the coil pattern and the area of the inner area is approximately the same as that of opening. |
| US09652703B1 |
Tag and seal employing a micromachine artifact
A tamper resistant seal including a population of particles embedded in an adhesive, the population including at least one micromachine artifact of a predetermined physical shape. |
| US09652701B2 |
System and method for routing and specifying print jobs utilizing product characteristics
A scoring and weighting system and method for providing print device selection on the basis of product characteristics that are specified for a print product is provided. The system determines the properties of one or more printing devices in relation to the product characteristics. The printing devices have one or more print mediums for providing the print product. A score is derived by determining a status respecting the conformity of the one or more print mediums to the product characteristics and evaluating the one or more printing devices' properties. Associating that score with each of the one or more printing device. Also, associating the print product with a print job and utilizing the score to route the print job to one of the one or more printing devices to produce the print product on one of the one or more print mediums. |
| US09652700B2 |
Power detection device, image forming apparatus, and power detection method
A power detection device includes a first zero-crossing detector, a current detector, and a second zero-crossing detector. The first zero-crossing detector detects zero-crossing timing of an alternating voltage of power supplied from a commercial power supply and outputs a voltage zero-crossing signal. The current detector detects current of the power. The second zero-crossing detector detects zero-crossing timing of the current detected by the current detector and outputs a current zero-crossing signal. A power factor is obtained based on a phase difference between the voltage zero-crossing signal and the current zero-crossing signal, and active power is calculated based on a root-mean-square value of the alternating voltage, a root-mean-square value of the current, and the obtained power factor. |
| US09652699B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method
An image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a setting unit configured to set whether execute gloss processing for reproducing a metallic luster is executed on a partial area of an image expressed by input image data, based on the input image data, and a recording unit configured to record on the partial area a color material corresponding to any of a complementary color of the partial area, black, and gray and to record thereon a color material for reproducing the color of the partial area in a case where a result of the setting unit indicates execution of the gloss processing. |
| US09652696B2 |
Apparatus and method for surface and subsurface tactile sensation imaging
A tactile sensor, computer readable medium, methods of using and manufacturing the tactile sensor, and methods and apparatuses for processing the information generated by the tactile sensor. The tactile sensor includes a planar optical waveguide comprised of a flexible and transparent layer; a light configured to direct light into the optical waveguide; a light sensor or an imager facing the optical waveguide and configured to generate signals from light scattered out of the optical waveguide; and a controller which may be configured to generate an image of the object and characteristics of the object. The waveguide may be configured so that some of the light directed into the optical waveguide is scattered out of the waveguide if the waveguide is deformed by being pressed against the object. A finite element and a neural network are used to estimate mechanical characteristics of the objects. |
| US09652694B2 |
Object detection method, object detection device, and image pickup device
An object detection device comprises a specific object detector configured to detect a specific object in an image, a scene model creation unit configured to create a scene model characterizing a background of the specific object in the image, and a filtering unit configured to filter object detection results of the specific object detector using the scene model to determine the specific object, wherein the scene model creation unit comprises a collection unit configured to collect regions other than the specific object to be detected from the image as samples, a feature extraction unit configured to extract first negative feature vectors from the samples, a clustering unit configured to cluster first negative feature vectors into a plurality of feature groups, and a classifier creation unit configured to create first classifiers each for respective one of the feature groups and to create the scene model by combining the first classifiers. |
| US09652686B2 |
Optimized fast feature detection for vector processors
This invention enables effective corner detection of pixels of an image using the FAST algorithm using a vector SIMD processor. This invention loads an 8×8 pixel block that includes four 7×7 pixel blocks including the 16 peripheral pixels to be tested for each of four center pixels. This invention rearranges the 64 pixels of the 8×8 block to form a 16 element array for each center pixel preferably using a vector permutation instruction. This invention uses vector SIMD subtraction and compare and vector SIMD addition and compare to make the FAST algorithm comparisons. The N consecutive pixels determinations of the FAST algorithm are made from the results of plural shift and AND operations. The corresponding center pixel is marked a corner or not a corner dependent upon of the results of plural shift and AND operations. |
| US09652685B2 |
Generating story graphs with large collections of online images
Embodiments presented herein describe techniques for generating a story graph using a collection of digital media, such as images and video. The story graph presents a structure for activities, events, and locales commonly occurring in sets of photographs taken by different individuals across a given location (e.g., a theme park, tourist attraction, convention, etc.). To build a story graph, streams from sets of digital media are generated. Each stream corresponds to media (e.g., images or video) taken in sequence at the location by an individual (or related group of individuals) over a period of time. For each stream, features from each media are extracted relative to the stream. Clusters of media are generated and are connected by directed edges. The connections indicate a path observed to have occurred in the streams from one cluster to another cluster. |
| US09652676B1 |
Video personalizing system, method, and recording medium
A video personalizing method, system, and non-transitory computer readable medium receiving user information for a viewer watching a first video, includes a biometric analyzing device configured to analyze the user information for biometric data, a viewer content analyzing device configured to analyze the user information for online content generated by the viewer in parallel to watching the first video, an expression analyzing device configured to analyze the user information for facial and eye reactions of the viewer, a text analyzing device configured to analyze the user information for text that the viewer reads, and a video selection device configured to select a second video out of a plurality of videos stored in a video storing unit in order to increase a satisfaction of the viewer based on the collective outputs the biometric analyzing device, the viewer content analyzing device, the expression analyzing device, and the text analyzing device. |
| US09652674B2 |
Ice analysis based on active and passive radar images
An ice analyzer includes processing circuitry configured to receive a radiometer image including a geographic area including ice, receive a radar image including at least a portion of the geographic area, perform ice/water discrimination of the radiometer image and the radar image, generate a passive ice/water mask and an active ice/water mask based on the ice/water discrimination, merge the passive ice/water mask and the active ice/water mask into a typing mask, and type the ice based on the typing mask. |
| US09652670B1 |
Omission detection
Omission Detection measures what is missing in a document, message, or file, and can perform this measurement for a single document, multiple documents, and even an entire repository. |
| US09652669B2 |
Reflecting handwriting attributes in typographic characters
For reflecting handwriting attributes in typographic characters, code parses calligraphic data from digitized handwriting on the touch screen display. The calligraphic data includes a character stroke slant and a character pixel matrix. In addition, the code renders the digitized handwriting with a render font selected in response to one or more of the character stroke slant and the character pixel matrix. |
| US09652665B2 |
Identification and de-identification within a video sequence
A method and system for de-identifying a video sequence are provided. The method may include the steps of capturing a video sequence, comprising a number of individual frames, including one or more users performing one or more actions, and using activity recognition to recognize one of the one or more actions. One or more of the plurality of frames may be defined as comprising the recognized one or more actions, and a portion of the one or more of the plurality of frames may be identified to remain visible. The non-identified portions of the one or more of the plurality of frames and the non-defined frames may be de-identified. This method may be applied to the determine of whether a user has ingested a medication pill. |
| US09652662B2 |
Image processing device and image processing method
An image processing device includes: a face detector which detects a face region including a face of a person from an input image signal; a determination portion which determines, in the input image signal of the face region, an addition amount of a pixel value to be added to the input image signal of the face region based on a size of a difference in a pixel value between adjacent pixels; and a signal corrector which adds the addition amount to the pixel value of the input image signal of the face region. |
| US09652661B2 |
Method and terminal device for image processing
The present disclosure relates to a method and terminal device for processing an image. The method includes: acquiring face information from a template image, if receiving a request for processing an image containing a face; and applying a photo makeover on the face according to the face information acquired from the template image. By acquiring face information from a template image and automatically applying a photo makeover on the face according to the face information acquired from the template image, manual setting for makeover parameters will be avoided and the efficiency will be improved. |
| US09652659B2 |
Mobile device, image reproducing device and server for providing relevant information about image captured by image reproducing device, and method thereof
A method executed by a server to provide a mobile device with relevant information about an object in a captured image received from an image reproducing device, the method including: receiving, from the image reproducing device, an image captured by the image reproducing device; receiving, from the mobile device, information corresponding to an application usage history of the mobile device; searching, based on the application usage history, for the relevant information about the object in the captured image; and transmitting to the mobile device the relevant information found based on the searching. |
| US09652658B1 |
Fingerprint check to reduce check fraud
A digital image of a surface of a check is received. A check scanning device captures the digital image as the check moves through the check scanning device. A fingerprint is impressed on the surface of the check. A computing system uses the digital image to determine an initial match score for the fingerprint image and an image quality metric to create an adjusted match score. An alert is presented based on the adjusted match score. |
| US09652656B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating organ image
A method and apparatus for generating an organ image are provided. An organ image generating method involves: receiving image data of a medical image of a subject; extracting an image of an organ from the medical image; receiving image data of a generic image of the organ; and generating image data of an organ image of the subject from the generic image of the organ and the extracted image of the organ. |
| US09652654B2 |
System and method for providing an interactive shopping experience via webcam
A system and method for providing an interactive shopping experience via webcam is disclosed. A particular embodiment includes enabling a user to select from a plurality of items of virtual apparel; obtaining an image of a user via a web-enabled camera (webcam); using a data processor to perform facial detection on the image to isolate an image of a face of the user; estimating the user's position according to a position and a size of the image of the user's face; modifying an image corresponding to the selected item of virtual apparel based on the size of the image of the user's face; and auto-fitting the modified image corresponding to the selected item of virtual apparel to the image of the user's face. |
| US09652651B2 |
System and method for identifying a genuine printed document
A system and method for verifying that a document is included in a document management system is disclosed. This system and method includes scanning of a scan track of a document, generating document data dependently upon the scanning, comparing the generated document data to stored document data, the stored document data generated dependently upon a prior scanning of the scan track of the document, and outputting an indication of the document being included in the document management system as determined by the comparing. |
| US09652645B2 |
Systems and methods to selectively connect antennas to receive and backscatter radio frequency signals
Systems and methods to selectively attach and control antennas via diodes. In one embodiment, a system includes: a reader having a plurality of reader antennas of different polarizations to transmit radio frequency signals; and at least one radio frequency device. The radio frequency device includes: a plurality of tag antennas of different polarizations; a plurality of diodes coupled to the plurality of tag antennas respectively; a receiver coupled to the plurality of diodes to receive the radio frequency signals from the tag antennas when the diodes are forward biased; and a set of one or more current controllers coupled to the plurality of diodes. In a receiving mode the controllers selectively forward bias the diodes to receive the signals from the reader. In a transmitting mode the controllers selectively change the state of the tag antennas to transmit data via backscattering the radio frequency signals. |
| US09652643B1 |
Powering RFID tags using multiple synthesized-beam RFID readers
Synthesized-beam RFID readers may be used to manage and provide information about RFID tag populations. In one embodiment, two or more synthesized-beam readers synthesize respective RF beams towards a tag location. The synthesized-beam readers may coordinate their pointing by means of a controller, a peer-to-peer network, or by using a master-slave arrangement. The synthesized-beam readers may coordinate their transmissions to increase the RF energy available to a tag at the pointing location. |
| US09652641B2 |
Card reader of a point-of-sale system
A card reader for a point-of-sale system that is configured to accept both magnetic strip-type and integrated circuit (IC) chip-type payment cards. The card reader is a component of a point-of-sale system including a portable computing device in communication with the card reader that is configured to present a first graphical user interface (GUI) when a magnetic stripe-type card is detected and a second GUI when an IC chip-type card is detected in the card reader. The card reader comprises a slot configured to receive the payment card, a magnetic reading device and an IC chip reading device. The card reader also includes a discriminator contact disposed within the slot that is configured to conduct across a surface of a metal pad of the IC chip-type card prior to the CI chip reading device making contact with the IC chip. |
| US09652637B2 |
Method and system for allowing no code download in a code download scheme
Aspects of a method and system for allowing no code download in a code download scheme are provided. A system-on-a-chip (SoC) may comprise a security processor, a ROM, and a one-time-programmable (OTP) memory. The security processor may enable fetching code from a restricted function portion of the ROM. The restricted functions may comprise code for booting up the SoC and code that prevents enabling security algorithms within the SoC. The security processor may then enable booting up of at least a portion of the SoC based on the fetched code. The remaining portion of the ROM may comprise code for downloading security code from an external memory, such as a FLASH memory, to an internal memory, such as a RAM, to boot up the SoC. Access to the restricted function portion or the remaining portion of the ROM is based on at least one bit from the OTP memory. |
| US09652632B2 |
Method and system for repairing file at user terminal
Provided are a method and system for repairing a file at user terminal. The method comprises: scanning a file at user terminal, determining whether the file is abnormal, and acquiring file characteristics information; if the file is abnormal, then according to the file characteristics information, acquiring from a cloud server a secure file corresponding to the abnormal file and uploaded before abnormity occurring, wherein the secure file in the cloud server is acquired by directly uploading file of user terminal; and replacing the corresponding abnormal file of the user terminal with the secure file. The method and system save the secure files of each user terminal in a cloud server, and when an abnormal file occurs in the user terminal, download the secure version of a corresponding file from the cloud server to replace the local abnormal file, thus ensuring recovery of the correct version of the file into the system, and solving the problems that the abnormal file cannot be restored to normal status during the conventional file repair process or cannot be repaired due to complexities caused by virus infection. |
| US09652629B2 |
Selectively wiping a remote device
A system and method for selectively securing data from unauthorized access on a client device storing a plurality of data types with reference to an authorization level indicated in a command. A command is received at a client device comprising an authorization level indicator. Based on at least one predefined rule, which may be implemented in an IT policy stored at the client device, each of the plurality of data types to be secured is determined, and then the data corresponding to those types is secured. The data may be secured by encrypting and/or deleting the data at the client device. The predefined rules associated with each authorization level may be configured by a user or administrator having an authorization level that exceeds the associated authorization level. |
| US09652627B2 |
Probabilistic surfacing of potentially sensitive identifiers
Probabilistic surfacing of potentially sensitive identifiers is provided. In one embodiment of the present invention, a method of and computer program product for surfacing of potentially sensitive identifiers are provided. An input string is read. The input string has a length. The input string is divided into a plurality of tokens. Each of the tokens has a predetermined length. A score is determined for each of the plurality of tokens. A composite score is determined based on the scores of each of the plurality of tokens. Whether the input string comprises an identifier is determined by comparing the composite score to a predetermined threshold. |
| US09652626B2 |
Method for controlling security system and electronic device thereof
A first electronic device, a second electronic device and methods for operating the same are provided. The method of the first electronic device includes obtaining wearing status information of a second electronic device which is wearable, and determining a security environment of the first electronic device based on the wearing status information. The method of the second electronic device includes detecting a wearing status of the second electronic device, confirming at least once of a security level and a user profile corresponding to the wearing status, and sending information of the security level or the user profile to a first electronic device. |
| US09652624B2 |
Method, host, storage, and machine-readable storage medium for protecting content
Methods and apparatuses for protecting content in a storage device are described. In one method, a host device obtains from the storage device first information on a controller of the storage device and second information on a memory of the storage device. The host device also obtains third information calculated based on the first information and the second information, and permits access to encrypted content stored in the storage device based on the third information. The host device is configured to receive the encrypted content from the storage device. |
| US09652620B2 |
Quantum communication device, quantum communication method, and computer program product
According to an embodiment, a quantum communication device includes a sift processor, an estimator, a determination unit, and a corrector. The sift processor is configured to acquire sift processing data by referring to a cryptographic key bit string in a predetermined bit string with a reference basis randomly selected from a plurality of bases via a quantum communication channel. The estimator is configured to acquire an estimated error rate of the sift processing data. The determination unit is configured to determine order of the sift processing data in which an error is to be corrected based on the estimated error rate and difference data between a processing speed of error correcting processing and a processing speed of privacy amplification processing. The corrector is configured to acquire one piece of the sift processing data in the order determined by the determination unit, and generate error correcting processing data. |
| US09652618B1 |
Systems and apparatuses for architecture assessment and policy enforcement
Example embodiments are disclosed herein for asset architecture evaluation and security enforcement within an enterprise computing platform. One example method includes receiving a proposed architecture for evaluation, wherein the proposed architecture for evaluation relates to integration of an asset into the enterprise computing platform. This example method further includes dynamically evaluating, by risk evaluation circuitry, the proposed architecture against embedded security policies, standards, baselines, or patterns established for the enterprise computing platform. In addition, the example method includes, in an instance in which dynamic evaluation of the proposed architecture identifies security gaps, determining, by the risk evaluation circuitry, changes to the proposed architecture that would remediate the identified security gaps. The example method further includes generating a report regarding the proposed architecture, wherein the report identifies any changes to the proposed architecture that would remediate the identified security gaps. Corresponding apparatuses and computer program products are also provided. |
| US09652617B1 |
Analyzing security of applications
In various embodiments, static, dynamic, and behavioral analyses may be performed on an application. A set of code fragments employed by the application may be determined. A set of device resources employed by the application may be determined. An application fingerprint is generated for the application and potentially malicious component and/or behaviors are identified. The application fingerprint encodes identifiers for the set of code fragments and identifiers for the set of device resources. |
| US09652612B2 |
Security within a software-defined infrastructure
There is a method and system that includes establishing a security container that describes a workload and a set of resources that corresponds to the workload in a software-defined environment, determining a set of security criteria for the security container, monitoring the workload and the set of resources for security events based, at least in part, upon the set of security criteria, and responsive to identifying a security event, adjusting one or more security mechanisms. The steps of monitoring and adjusting are operated within the software-defined environment. |
| US09652611B2 |
Mitigating a compromised network on chip
For mitigating a compromised network-on-chip, code appends a node identifier of a destination node to a packet transmitted in a multiprocessor system-on-chip (MPSOC). The MPSOC may include third-party components such as a network-on-chip. The code may detect a copy of the packet from the node identifier. In addition, the code may drop the copy of the packet in response to the copy of the packet being routed to an unintended node. |
| US09652606B2 |
Cloud-based active password manager
Methods and systems for periodically generating and managing passwords for one or more websites of users are disclosed. The users are provided with the ability to automatically replace their old passwords with new passwords for their one or more website accounts. The users can set a pre-determined frequency at which their passwords are to be updated and replaced with new passwords. The users can further define additional one or more rules based on which their passwords are updated. The methods and systems are further configured to auto log into user's website accounts with the updated passwords. |
| US09652604B1 |
Authentication objects with delegation
Authentication objects are usable to generate other authentication objects. A user associated with a first authentication object has access to a system. The first authentication object is usable to generate a second authentication object that is usable by a second user for access to the system in accordance with access granted to the second user via the second authentication object. The second authentication object may have various restrictions so that the second user does not obtain all access available to the first user. |
| US09652600B2 |
Merchandising media based on ownership audit
A machine performs an ownership audit on source media files whose media tracks are used, or proposed for use, in a mash-up media file. The machine may access a first group of media identifiers from a user's media library and identify authorized media files that the user is authorized to play or use in a mash-up. The machine may access a second group of media identifiers that identify source media files selected by the user for inclusion in a mash-up. The machine may determine whether all source media files are authorized and then present a notification that indicates whether the mash-up media file can be generated, or has been generated, exclusively from authorized media files. If a source media file is not authorized, the notification may include a suggestion that the user purchase an authorization to play the media file, use it in a mash-up, or both. |
| US09652599B2 |
Restricted code signing
A method and system is provided for signing data such as code images. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving, from a requestor, a request to sign the data according to a requested configuration selected from a first configuration, in which the data is for use with any of the set of devices, and a second configuration in which the data is for use only with a subset of a set of devices; modifying the data according to the requested configuration; generating a data signature using the modified data; and transmitting the generated data signature to the requestor. Another embodiment is evidenced by a processor having a memory storing instructions for performing the foregoing operations. |
| US09652598B2 |
Information processing device, control method, and storage medium
There is provided an information processing device including a communication unit configured to receive editing information of content data, an accumulation unit configured to accumulate the editing information, and a control unit configured to control whether to return the editing information to an external device in accordance with a right to use content corresponding to a requestor's identification information included in request information for requesting the editing information, the request information being received from the external device via the communication unit. |
| US09652597B2 |
Systems and methods for detecting information leakage by an organizational insider
A computer-implemented method for detecting information leakage by an organizational insider may include (1) identifying a set of organizational insiders of an organization, (2) identifying a set of public forums used by one or more organizational insiders, (3) identifying a set of messages posted to one or more public forums, (4) creating a message record corresponding to each message, with the record including a message summary, and a set of message metadata fields, (5) consolidating message records with common metadata fields into a message summary record, and (6) identifying, based on the message summary record, an information leakage threat. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. |
| US09652593B1 |
Search and retrieval of real-time terminal states maintained using a terminal state database
A system for providing a device independent communication layer for connecting two remote telemedicine terminal devices at least partly based on searching a terminal state database for device independent, real-time terminal states of remote telemedicine terminal devices, comprising: one or more databases for storing data entries with data indicative of terminal states of a plurality of first remote telemedicine terminal devices; a tracking module configured for detection of real-time terminal states of the plurality of first remote telemedicine terminal devices for communication with the system; a terminal state aggregation module configured to collect real-time indications of terminal states; a search module for searching the data entries and the stored data; a device independent communication layer for coordinating communications between remote telemedicine terminal devices; and a device connection module for establishing connections, over the device independent communication layer, between one remote telemedicine terminal device and another remote telemedicine terminal device. |
| US09652591B2 |
System and method for arranging objects in an operating room in preparation for surgical procedures
Systems and methods for arranging objects in an operating room in preparation for a surgical procedure. The objects are arranged based on surgical procedure information provided to a guidance station. The surgical procedure information dictates the desired placement of the objects. Placement of the objects is then guided according to their desired placement using one or more tracking elements. |
| US09652590B2 |
System and method to simulate maintenance of a device
A system and method to virtually simulate maintenance of a medical device located in a defined space by a user is provided. The system can include a main interactive touchscreen; and a central controller connected in communication with the touchscreen monitor. The central controller can execute a series of computer-readable program instructions to perform comparing a detection of contact by the user at the touchscreen relative to a graphic representation of a virtual view of the component of the medical device relative to one of a series of predefined tasks associated with a maintenance procedure of the medical device stored in a database, and generating a display illustrative of a completion of the maintenance procedure upon calculating a completion of each of the plurality of predefined tasks. |
| US09652588B2 |
Bioinformatics systems, apparatuses, and methods executed on an integrated circuit processing platform
A system, method and apparatus for executing a sequence analysis pipeline on genetic sequence data includes an integrated circuit formed of a set of hardwired digital logic circuits that are interconnected by physical electrical interconnects. One of the physical electrical interconnects forms an input to the integrated circuit connected with an electronic data source for receiving reads of genomic data. The hardwired digital logic circuits are arranged as a set of processing engines, each processing engine being formed of a subset of the hardwired digital logic circuits to perform one or more steps in the sequence analysis pipeline on the reads of genomic data. Each subset of the hardwired digital logic circuits is formed in a wired configuration to perform the one or more steps in the sequence analysis pipeline. |
| US09652584B2 |
Aircraft design systems and methods
A system comprises a configurator for providing a configuration definition that specifies existing engineering designs and manufacturing capability of aircraft structures that have already been designed and manufactured; and a processor for accessing the configuration definition from the configurator and filtering the configuration definition according to customer specifications for a new aircraft. The filtering selects existing designs and identifies existing manufacturing capability to fabricate structures for the new aircraft. |
| US09652582B1 |
Multi-instantiated block timing optimization
Electronic design automation systems and methods are presented for top-down timing budget flow in master-clone scenarios. In some embodiments, different instances of a master-clone block within an integrated circuit design are associated with different constraint files. The different constraint files are based on the different connections of each instance with elements of the integrated circuit design as well as the shared structure of the master-clone block. A top-down timing budget flow may then be generated based on the differing constraint files, and the integrated circuit design may be modified based on this analysis prior to generation of physical devices based on the design. |
| US09652581B2 |
Directed self-assembly-aware layout decomposition for multiple patterning
Aspects of the disclosed technology relate to techniques of combining directed self-assembly lithography and multiple patterning lithography. A coloring/grouping graph is first generated from layout data of a layout design. In the coloring/grouping graph, each coloring edge connects two nodes representing layout features that must be assigned to different masks, and each grouping/coloring edge connects two nodes representing layout features that should either be grouped together for DSA (directed-self-assembly) lithography or be assigned to different masks for multiple patterning lithography. The node groups formed by nodes connected with the coloring edges are colored. Colors of the nodes in one or more of node groups connected by the grouping/coloring edges are adjusted to convert one or more of the grouping/coloring edges into the coloring edges. After conversion, layout features represented by the nodes directly connected with the grouping/coloring edges are grouped together for generating guiding patterns. |
| US09652579B1 |
Methods, systems, and computer program product for implementing DRC clean multi-patterning process nodes with parallel fills in electronic designs
Disclosed are techniques for implementing parallel fills for electronic designs These techniques identify a shape and one or more neighboring shapes of the shape by searching design data of a region of a layout of an electronic design, classify the shape and the one or more neighboring shapes by examining respective characteristics of and to categorize the shape and the one or more neighboring shapes into one or more classes, implement one or more parallel fill shapes for at least one shape of the shape and the one or more neighboring shapes by aggregating the one or more parallel fill shapes to the at least one shape based in part or in whole upon the one or more classes while automatically satisfying one or more design rules, and perform one or more post-layout operations on the layout including the one or more parallel fill shapes. |
| US09652578B2 |
Layout design methods and layout design systems for performing the layout design methods
A layout design method may include receiving predetermined values related to first to third normal fin designs extending in a first direction and arranged in parallel in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, generating dummy fin designs based on the predetermined values, generating mandrel candidate designs based on the first to third normal fin designs and the dummy fin designs, decomposing the mandrel candidate designs to first and second mandrel mask designs, and generating a final mandrel mask design using one of the first and second mandrel mask designs that satisfies a predetermined condition. A first interval distance in the second direction between the first normal fin design and the second normal fin design may be different from a second interval distance in the second direction between the second normal fin design and the third normal fin design. |
| US09652577B2 |
Integrated circuit design using pre-marked circuit element object library
This disclosure describes an approach to create a library of pre-marked circuit element objects and use the pre-marked circuit element object library to design and fabricate an integrated circuit. Each of the circuit element objects are “pre-marked” and include embedded voltage markers having independent pre-assigned voltage values for each terminal in the circuit element object. When a circuit designer inserts a pre-marked circuit element object in a schematic design, the design tool determines whether each of the circuit element object terminal's pre-assigned voltage values match their corresponding nets to which they are connected. When the circuit designer completes the schematic design that includes valid nets throughout the schematic design, the design tool generates a layout design from the schematic design. The design tool, in turn, generates mask layer data from the layout design when the layout design passes verification testing. |
| US09652576B2 |
Detailed placement with search and repair
A method of detailed placement for ICs is provided. The method receives an initial placement and iteratively builds sets of constraints for placement of different groups of cells in the IC design and uses a satisfiability solver to resolve placement violations. In some embodiments, the constraints include mathematical expressions that express timing requirements. The method in some embodiments converts the mathematical expressions into Boolean clauses and sends the clauses to a satisfiability solver that is only capable of solving Boolean clauses. In some embodiments, the method groups several cells in the user design and several sites on the IC fabric and uses the satisfiability solver to resolve all placement issues in the group. The satisfiability solver informs placer after each cell is moved to a different site. The method then dynamically builds more constraints based on the new cell placement and sends the constraints to the satisfiability solver. |
| US09652575B2 |
Floorplan-optimized stacked image sensor and associated methods
A floorplan-optimized stacked image sensor and a method for designing the sensor are disclosed. A sensor layer includes multiple PSAs partitioned into PSA groups. A circuit layer includes multiple analog-to-digital converters each communicatively coupled to a different PSA. Each analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is semi-aligned to the PSA group associated with the PSA to which it is communicatively coupled. The floorplan of ADCs maximizes contiguous global-based space on the circuit layer uninterrupted by an ADC. The resulting circuit layer floorplan has one or more global-based spaces interleaved with one or more local-based spaces containing ADCs. |
| US09652572B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing logic synthesis
A method of performing logic synthesis of at least a part of an integrated circuit design. The method comprises identifying a first and at least one further module within the IC design that are mutually exclusive, selecting at least one register element within the first identified module and at least one register element within the at least one further identified module to be shared, and merging the first and at least one further mutually exclusive modules such that at least one common register element is shared between the first and at least one further mutually exclusive modules for the register elements selected to be shared. |
| US09652571B2 |
Reciprocal Quantum Logic (RQL) circuit synthesis
One embodiment of the invention includes a method for generating a Reciprocal Quantum Logic (RQL) circuit design via a synthesis tool. The method includes providing data associated with behavior and constraints of the RQL circuit design and a component library to the synthesis tool. The method also includes generating an RQL netlist circuit comprising a flip-flop device placeholder and a circuit system coupled to at least one of an input and an output of the flip-flop device placeholder via the synthesis tool based on the data and a component library. The method also includes separating the circuit system into circuit subsystems that are each associated with a separate respective phase of a clock signal via the synthesis tool based on inputs. The method further includes removing the flip-flop device placeholder from the RQL netlist circuit via the synthesis tool to generate the RQL circuit design from the RQL netlist circuit. |
| US09652569B2 |
Nanostructured dielectric materials for high energy density multi layer ceramic capacitors
A high energy density multilayer ceramic capacitor, having at least two electrode layers and at least one substantially dense polycrystalline dielectric layer positioned therebetween. The at polycrystalline dielectric layer has an average grain size of less than about 300 nanometers, a particle size distribution of between about 150 nanometers and about 3 micrometers, and a maximum porosity of about 1 percent. The dielectric layer is selected from the group including TiO2, BaTiO3, Al2O3, ZrO2, lead zirconium titanate, and combinations thereof and has a breakdown strength of at least about 1100 kV per centimeter. |
| US09652568B1 |
Method, apparatus, and computer program product for design and selection of an I/O subsystem of a supercomputer
For simulating a parallel supercomputing cluster, a simulation program includes a model of the system of compute nodes and a model of an I/O subsystem that stores checkpoints from the compute nodes. When executed, instructions in the simulation program perform the steps of receiving input parameters defining the compute nodes and the I/O subsystem, computing a total number of computational flops for a time between checkpoints and an amount of disk storage required to store the checkpoint data for different configurations of the parallel supercomputing cluster, and presenting a summary to a user of the computed number of computational flops for a time between checkpoints and an amount of disk storage required to store the checkpoint data for the different configurations of the parallel supercomputing cluster. |
| US09652566B2 |
Methods for simulating oxides in aluminum castings
A method of simulating aluminum oxides defects in aluminum castings comprises determining the free surface area for a plurality of particles of aluminum in an aluminum melt, storing the free surface area for each particle of aluminum, tracking the free surface area change during mold filling, and calculating the total area of entrained or surface oxide films based on the free surface area change during mold filling. The method may further comprise a scalar variable method and a discrete particle method coupled together to simulate the aluminum oxide defects in aluminum castings. |
| US09652562B2 |
Proximal equipment data capture
A system and method for capturing logged data from proximal equipment onto a form. A form creation application determines equipment in proximity to a portable computing device, receives a selection of a piece of equipment from a user, extracts logged data from the piece of equipment that is selected, determines a form with a structure to fill in with the logged data, parses the logged data and fills in at least one field in the form, generates graphical data for displaying the form to the user, provides the form to the user, receives input on the form from the user and stores the form and the input received on the form. |
| US09652560B1 |
Non-blocking memory management unit
Techniques are disclosed relating to handling page faults created by a processor unit. In some embodiments, such techniques may be used within the context of graphics processor units (GPUs) to reduce the chances that a page fault will result in a GPU-pipeline stall. In one embodiment, a processor includes a graphics processor pipeline and a memory management unit. The graphics processor pipeline includes a plurality of pipeline stages. The memory management unit is configured to determine that a first data request from a first of the plurality of pipeline stages causes a page fault, and to service requests from one or more others of the plurality of pipeline stages while the page fault is being serviced. |
| US09652559B2 |
Managing information assets using feedback re-enforced search and navigation
Embodiments of the invention provide an approach for creating, evolving and using a weighted semantic graph to manage and potentially identify certain information assets within an enterprise. The semantic graph may be generated by monitoring users navigating through search results which provide a set of information assets responsive to a search query. By recording the navigation path taken by many users, relationships between information assets may be identified. Further, once generated, the semantic graph may be used to present users with in indication of related information assets as part of the search results. Further still, the semantic graph may also be used to identify information assert “hubs” as well as information assets that may provide low utility to individuals within the enterprise. |
| US09652558B2 |
Lexicon based systems and methods for intelligent media search
A computer image search system for rapid retrieval of media files images corresponding to a sequence of input display commands, the system comprising: a programmable data processor operating under the control of a program to convert the display commands into data entries in an array of multi-bit data characters and words, each entry of the array corresponding to a set of descriptions of the image to be displayed; and a scanned-raster display device for generating illuminated points on a display surface in response to applied data signals causing the programmable data processor to perform the following operations: starting an indexer and loading an autocomplete data file; and performing operations until each media type M in an array of available media type is processed. |
| US09652555B2 |
Computing architecture for storing a graph database based on temporal aspects of its edges
Data specifying a new edge of a graph database may be received. A data store for storing the new edge may be identified from amongst a plurality of data stores utilized to store one or more portions of the graph database. Each of the plurality of data stores may be associated with a set of values corresponding to an aspect of edges of the graph database. The data store for storing the new edge may be identified based on the new edge being associated with a value corresponding to the aspect of edges of the graph database that is within a set of values corresponding to the aspect of edges of the graph database associated with the data store for storing the new edge. |
| US09652551B2 |
Automated effort judgement of user generated content
Techniques are described for estimating the effort involved in creating content on a content site. Embodiments of the invention may collect data by monitoring actions taken by a user creating content on the site, and may then calculate an effort value for the created content based on the collected data. The calculated effort value may then be used, for example, to determine a position in a moderation queue for inserting the user-created content, or to determine whether to feature a particular user on the site. |
| US09652549B2 |
Capturing and managing knowledge from social networking interactions
Presenting a marking element in a social networking interaction where the marking element includes a question specifier and an answer specifier, creating a knowledge element in response to a user activating the marking element on the social networking interaction or a portion thereof, and presenting a knowledge element indicator in the social networking interaction. |
| US09652544B2 |
Generating snippets for prominent users for information retrieval queries
Implementations include receiving trigger query data, the trigger query data identifying one or more trigger queries and one or more sets of authoritative users, each set of authoritative users being associated with a respective trigger query, providing a plurality of trigger query and authoritative user pairs, each trigger query and authoritative user pair identifying a trigger query and an authoritative user from a set of authoritative users associated with the trigger query, for each trigger query and authoritative user pair: generating a snippet based on user data, the user data being associated with the authoritative user in one or more computer-implemented services, each snippet being specific to the trigger query and specific to the authoritative user, and storing one or more snippets in computer-readable memory, each snippet being associated with the trigger query and the authoritative user for which the snippet was generated. |
| US09652538B2 |
Web crawler optimization system
Techniques for optimizing the performance of a webpage crawler are described. According to various embodiments, historical web crawler performance data is accessed, the data describing a performance of a web crawler during various time periods in one or more prior days. A capacity of the web crawler to fulfill uniform resource locator (URL) crawl requests for an upcoming given time period is then estimated, based on the historical web crawler performance data. Thereafter, a plurality of URL crawl requests are distributed to the web crawler during the upcoming given time period, based on the estimated capacity of the web crawler. |
| US09652537B2 |
Identifying terms associated with queries
Computer-readable media and computerized methods are provided for identifying terms associated with one or more queries, including aspects directed to manipulating a list of terms associated with a query class by extracting terms, identifying equivalences or relevant terms, and condensing or expanding the list of terms. In embodiments, synonymous terms can be identified. An updated list of terms can be written to a storage location in association with a query or query class. |
| US09652531B2 |
Prioritizing work and personal items from various data sources using a user profile
A method, system and computer program product for managing work and personal items. Information is received from a user to populate a user profile providing rules to determine a priority for work and personal items to be addressed by the user. Work and personal data sources (e.g., e-mails, social media) are monitored. The content in these monitored data sources are scanned and analyzed for work and personal items to be addressed by the user. These work and personal items are then presented to the user in a prioritized order based on the rules in the user profile. In this manner, the user is able to effectively manage the various work and personal items from various data sources by receiving a prioritized list of work and personal items that need to be addressed based on various factors that the user deems to be important as provided in the user's profile. |
| US09652527B2 |
Multi-term query subsumption for document classification
In general, embodiments of the present invention provide systems, methods and computer readable media for for generating an optimal classifying query set for categorizing and/or labeling textual data based on a query subsumption calculus to determine, given two queries, whether one of the queries subsumes another. In one aspect, a method includes generating a group of determining queries based on analyzing text within a document; receiving a group of classifying queries; and, for each determining query within the group of determining queries, determining whether at least one of the classifying queries is subsumed by the determining query; and updating the group of classifying queries in an instance in which the classifying query is subsumed by the determining query. |
| US09652525B2 |
Dynamic event detection system and method
A method for dynamic event detection based on content from a set of social networking systems including receiving content from the set of social networking systems, identifying a plurality of content associated with a geofence, the content that was generated within a predetermined time period, determining feature values from the plurality of content for each of a set of features, determining an event probability for the geofence based on the feature values, and detecting an event within the geofence in response to the event probability exceeding a threshold event probability. |
| US09652520B2 |
System and method for supporting parallel asynchronous synchronization between clusters in a distributed data grid
A system and method can support parallel asynchronous synchronization between autonomous clusters in a distributed data grid. The system can track one or more data changes, which are applied on one or more user caches in a source cluster, at a partition level. Furthermore, one or more cluster members in the source cluster can send one or more replication messages to one or more destination clusters, wherein said one or more replication messages include the one or more data changes. Then, the one or more destination clusters can process the received one or more data changes. |
| US09652518B2 |
Synchronization methods and systems
Synchronization architectures, methods, systems, and computer readable media are described. One exemplary embodiment includes a first software component which is configured to cause retrieval and storage of structured data for a first data class from a first store of the structured data on a device, such as a first data processing system, and is configured to synchronize structured data for the first data class in the first store with structured data of the first data class in a second store on a host, such as a second data processing system. The first software component is separate from an application software which provides a user interface to allow a user to access and edit the structured data. The first software component synchronizes the structured data through a second software component which interfaces with the host and the device and which controls an order of synchronizing and a plurality of data classes including the first data class. |