| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US09675360B2 |
Invaginator for gastroesophageal flap valve restoration device
An assembly for restoring a gastroesophageal flap valve includes a restoration device substantially free for rotation. The assembly comprises an elongated member configured to be fed through a throat, down an adjoining esophagus and into an associated stomach. The elongated member has a distal end. The assembly further comprises a gastroesophageal flap valve restoration device carried on the distal end of the elongated member for placement in the stomach, and an invaginator carried by the elongated member. The invaginator is configured to grip the esophagus and the elongated member and invaginator are coupled for restricted relative axial movement and substantially free relative rotational movement. |
| US09675359B2 |
Surgical instrument with preload assembly
A surgical instrument comprising a handle assembly, an elongated body portion extending distally from the handle assembly, a head portion and a preload assembly is disclosed. The head portion is disposed adjacent a distal end of the elongated body portion and includes an anvil assembly and a shell assembly. The anvil assembly is movable in relation to the shell assembly between spaced and approximated positions. The preload assembly is disposed in mechanical cooperation with the shell assembly and enables longitudinal movement of the shell assembly with respect to the elongated body portion. |
| US09675358B2 |
Conduit for peripheral nerve replacement
A biphasic material and devices comprising the same are provided for the development of conductive conduits that may be used for the treatment of peripheral nerve injury. These devices or conduits are designed such that repeated electric field gradients can be initiated to promote neurite and axonal outgrowth. Conducting conduits using doped synthetic and/or natural polymers create specifically patterned high and low conducting segmented materials, which are mechanically used to produce the electrical properties needed for nerve conduits. These electrical properties stimulate neurite outgrowth and axonal repair following a peripheral nerve transection. |
| US09675357B2 |
Apparatus for performing vascular anastomosis
A method for performing a coronary artery bypass graft procedure on a patient to connect a bypass vessel to a target vessel includes the steps of creating an opening in the patient that communicates with the thoracic cavity of the patient; providing a bypass vessel having a lumen and at least one free end; passing the free end of the bypass vessel from the thoracic cavity through the opening to a position outside the body of the patient; attaching a connector to the free end of bypass vessel while the free end of the bypass vessel is outside the body of the patient; passing the free end of the bypass vessel from the position outside the body of the patient through the opening and into the thoracic cavity; and connecting the free end of the bypass vessel to a target vessel with the connector. |
| US09675355B2 |
Surgical stapling device with a curved end effector
An end effector for use with a surgical instrument is disclosed. The end effector comprises a first jaw, a second jaw, a curved slot, and a cutting element. The cutting element comprises a laterally-offset cutting edge, a first camming surface, and a second camming surface. One of the first jaw and the second jaw comprises a plurality of staple cavities arranged in a plurality of curved staple cavity rows. |
| US09675353B2 |
Surgical fasteners and associated deployment devices
A surgical fastener and a related deployment device as well as their methods of use are disclosed. In one embodiment, the deployment device includes one or more surgical fasteners including a head and a distally extending coil body attached to the head. The head includes a through hole with an internal thread. The deployment device also includes a mandrel including a threaded portion located at a distal end of the mandrel. The threaded portion is engaged with the internal thread of the one or more surgical fasteners. A rotator is associated with the one or more surgical fasteners such that the rotator can selectively rotate the one or more surgical fasteners relative to the mandrel to displace the one or more surgical fasteners in a distal direction. |
| US09675349B2 |
Surgical stapling instruments including a cartridge having multiple staples sizes
A surgical stapling apparatus includes a staple cartridge and an anvil member. The staple cartridge includes a plurality of surgical fasteners disposed in rows of retention slots. The staple cartridge may have an annular or linear configuration of retention slots. The tissue contacting surface of the staple cartridge may be tapered or stepped. The anvil member has a tissue contacting surface that includes a number of pockets arranged for substantially aligning with the retention slots. In addition, the tissue contacting surface of the anvil member may complement the tissue contacting surface of the staple cartridge. |
| US09675344B2 |
Surgical instrument
A surgical instrument includes an implant, a grip, and a pre-set breaking point connecting the implant and the grip. The implant has a joining profile. |
| US09675341B2 |
Emergency self-retaining sutures and packaging
A removable self-retaining suture system and methods for use thereof in emergency situations. The system comprises one or more self-retaining suture segments and a grasp engagement element. The system may be used for temporary wound closure in a trauma victim, and may be easily removed upon the availability of proper medical care to the victim. |
| US09675340B2 |
Stitching device with long needle
A needle for use with an endoscopic stitching device includes a first end portion that is movable relative to a second end portion to allow the needle to convert from a first, mis-aligned orientation to a second, aligned orientation, thereby allowing the length of the needle in the aligned orientation to exceed the height of an end effector. |
| US09675338B2 |
System for providing surgical access
One embodiment is directed to a system for providing surgical access across a wall of a tissue structure, comprising a delivery member having proximal and distal ends; a first helical member having proximal and distal ends and a helical shape, the proximal end coupled to the delivery member distal end, the distal end extending distally of the delivery member distal end; an anchor member removably coupled to the helical member distal end; and a suture member coupled distally to a portion of the anchor member and extending proximally to a position wherein at least a portion of it may be freely manipulated by an operator; wherein upon rotation of the delivery member in a first direction, the first helical member and coupled anchor member are advanced across at least a portion of the wall of the tissue structure, pulling along the distal portion of the suture member in a deployed suture pattern which remains coupled to the anchor member, the deployed suture pattern being characterized in that it is substantially helical and represents a number of helical loops encapsulated by the wall of the tissue structure that is greater than about one helical loop, and is less than about three helical loops. |
| US09675337B2 |
Minimally open interbody access retraction device and surgical method
Devices, systems and methods for minimally open orthopedic spine surgery are disclosed. A first flexible screw-based retractor is designed to be coupled to each pedicle screw inserted into adjacent vertebral bodies. A retractor system is provided in which a first retractor blade is mounted to one of the screws and a second movable retractor blade is moved away from the first blade, in a medial direction, to create a working channel through which the disc space may be accessed for passing instruments and implants. Light may be incorporated into the device to illuminate the surgical field. One or all of the retractor blades may be made of a sterilizable plastic or metal and be disposable or reusable. |
| US09675336B2 |
Methods and devices for accessing and retracting a capsule of a joint
Devices and methods are disclosed herein for accessing the hip joint. A first device can be securely attached to the capsule of a joint. The first device can tent the capsule to increase the volume of the peripheral compartment. A second device can be biased against the first device to pierce the tented capsule and create a portal. Devices and methods are also disclosed herein for distending the capsule of a joint. A distention device may access a portal established within the capsule. The distention device can expand the capsule by applying an expansive force within the peripheral compartment. The distention device can maintain distention of the peripheral compartment while other devices access the joint. |
| US09675332B2 |
Surgical retractor
The invention relates to a surgical retractor, particularly for the retraction of a separated sternum, with a holding device and two spreader arms, wherein the spreader arms are mounted with one end on the holding device, at a distance from each other that is adjustable in a spreading plane, and at least two retaining elements for retention of bone material, for example of the separated sternum, are arranged on each of the spreader arms. To develop this retractor for sternotomy in such a way as to permit gentler opening of the separated sternum, it is proposed that at least one of the retaining elements is mounted such that its position can be modified in the retraction direction with respect to that end of the spreader arm mounted on the holding device. |
| US09675330B2 |
Multi-utility surgical instrument
A multi-utility surgical instrument may include a nosecone, a handle, a housing sleeve, an actuation facilitating sleeve, a piston tube, a hypodermic tube, and an end plug. The hypodermic tube may be disposed within the piston tube; the piston tube may be disposed within the actuation facilitating sleeve; the actuation facilitating sleeve may be disposed within the housing sleeve; the end plug may be disposed within a portion of the housing sleeve; the housing sleeve and the end plug may be disposed within the handle; the nose cone may be fixed to a distal end of the handle; and the hypodermic tube may be fixed to the nosecone. |
| US09675327B2 |
Apparatus and methods for noninvasive monitoring of cancerous cells
A system for noninvasively monitoring cancerous cells within bodily fluid accumulated due to ascites, pleural effusion or pericardial effusion is provided including an implantable pump having control circuitry; a charging and communication system configured to periodically charge and communicate with the implantable pump to retrieve performance data; and monitoring and control software, suitable for use with conventional personal computers, for configuring and controlling operation of the implantable pump and charging and communication system. The implantable pump is configured to move fluid containing cancerous cells from a body cavity to the bladder such that the fluid may be excreted during urination, collected and analyzed with an analysis station to assess progress of the cancer or efficacy of a cancer treatment program. |
| US09675326B2 |
Image reconstructing apparatus, image reconstructing method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium
An image reconstructing apparatus creates a reconstructed image for every calculation operation by performing predetermined repetitive calculation by iterative reconstruction for a plurality of images obtained by acquiring an object from different angles, extracts at least one reconstructed image under a predetermined condition from the created reconstructed images, displays on a display unit information corresponding to the extracted reconstructed images and information corresponding to the extracted reconstructed image, selects at least one reconstructed image in accordance with an instruction of an operator on the display unit, and outputs the selected reconstructed image. |
| US09675324B2 |
Portable ultrasonic probe
A portable ultrasonic probe includes a main body including a transducer to generate an ultrasonic wave and a folder portion including a display portion and pivotally coupled to an end portion of the main body, the main body includes a first heat radiation module configured to absorb and emit heat generated by the transducer, and the folder portion includes a second heat radiation module thermally coupled to the first heat radiation module when the folder portion is in a first position and configured to emit heat transmitted from the first heat radiation module. |
| US09675323B2 |
Internal ultrasound assembly with port for fluid injection
There are disclosed embodiments of devices and methods for imaging the inside of a body part, particularly a blood vessel. In particular embodiments, a catheter has a tip chamber, within which is an ultrasound transducer mounted on a pivot mechanism, a motor for turning the transducer, and an implement for pivoting the transducer. Examples of such an implement are a linear motor, a shaft or filament, and the pivot mechanism may be biased to return to a base position when the implement is not pivoting the transducer. In other embodiments, a mirror reflecting ultrasound signals from the transducer may be rotated and/or pivoted, using similar mechanisms. |
| US09675322B2 |
Enhanced ultrasound device and methods of using same
In one aspect, an enhanced ultrasound device may generally comprise an ultrasound probe including a housing and at least one transducer element disposed within the housing. The ultrasound probe may be configured to generate ultrasound image signals associated with an object being imaged. In addition, the device may include an acoustic receiver associated with the ultrasound probe. The acoustic receiver may be configured to generate auscultation signals associated with sounds generated by the object as the object is being imaged using the ultrasound probe. |
| US09675317B2 |
Interface identification apparatus and method
A medical imaging data processing apparatus for identifying an interface between anatomical features comprises a receiving unit configured to receive first medical imaging data that represents a region of a subject at a first time, and second medical imaging data that represents the region of the subject at a second, later time, a registration unit configured to perform a registration procedure to obtain registration data representative of a registration between the first medical imaging data and the second medical imaging data, and an interface identification unit configured to determine a variation of the registration data with location and to identify an interface between an anatomical feature and at least one further anatomical feature based on said variation of the registration data with location. |
| US09675307B2 |
Radiation imaging apparatus, radiation imaging system, and control method of radiation imaging system
A radiation imaging apparatus includes a plurality of pixels for acquiring a radiation image and a plurality of sensors for detecting radiation, a processing unit for sampling outputs from sensors constituting an effective sensor group, out of the plurality of sensors, and outputting information for control of irradiation in accordance with the sampled outputs. In a first period after the irradiation to the radiation imaging apparatus starts, the processing unit excludes, from the effective sensor group, a sensor, a value corresponding to an output from which has exceeded a first threshold, out of the plurality of sensors, and in a second period after the first period, the processing unit outputs the information in accordance with outputs from the sensors constituting the effective sensor group. |
| US09675306B2 |
X-ray scanning system
This specification discloses methods and systems for generating a stereo image of an object that is positioned within an imaging volume. The object is positioned within the imaging volume. Two stationary X-ray source points are selected and activated. X-rays from both stationary X-ray source points are transmitted through the object being scanned and detected using detector elements positioned across the imaging volume and opposite the stationary X-ray source points. Image data sets from the X-rays detected by the detector elements are generated and then combined to produce the stereo image. |
| US09675294B2 |
Estimation of the dry weight of a dialysis patient
In an embodiment, the invention relates to methods, apparatus, computer programs and computer program products for estimating a dry weight of a dialysis patient comprising the steps of determining a first fluid status of the patient between treatment sessions in a first stage, determining a second fluid status of the patient during treatment sessions in a second stage and estimating the dry weight based on the second fluid status. |
| US09675292B2 |
Evoked response testing system for neurological disorders
A dyslexia screening system suitable for clinical use includes an integrated headset that efficiently and conveniently performs an auditory evoked response (ERP) test by positioning electrodes about the ears of the subject. An integral control module automatically performs the test, providing simplified controls and indications to the clinician. A number of screening tests that are stored in the headset are periodically uploaded for billing, remote analysis and result reporting. A paradigm that characterizes testing performed for a subject along with the patient identification and/or patient demographics are stored in an associated fashion for later fusion and analyses with similar but not necessarily identically constructed ERP tests. |
| US09675290B2 |
Sensitivity calibration of in vivo sensors used to measure analyte concentration
Methods, devices, systems, and computer program products are provided to improve sensitivity calibration of an in vivo analyte sensor and usability of an associated analyte monitoring system. In certain embodiments, methods are provided that improve the user experience of using an analyte monitoring system. Certain embodiments of the present disclosure include features that reduce the amount of calibration or re-calibration performed by the analyte monitoring system. More specifically methods of using a suspect calibration attempt to avoid having to recalibrate by adjusting the calibration or mitigating effects of sensor signal attenuation that caused the calibration attempt to be suspect are provided. Additional features are disclosed. |
| US09675289B2 |
Method and glucose monitoring system for monitoring individual metabolic response and for generating nutritional feedback
A system and method for monitoring individual metabolic response and for generating nutritional feedback involve monitoring of a glucose level in a qualified subject. The method comprises the step of consecutively performing a plurality of measurements of a glucose level in the qualified subject by a measuring device. In the measuring device first data corresponding to the measured glucose level is generated. This data is further transmitted to an analysis device. There, second data is generated representing at least one measure for variability of a glucose level of the subject from a time-series of glucose measurements represented by the first data. The second data is compared with reference data and a result of the comparison is further processed for generating a conclusion about nutritional quality of foodstuffs consumed by the subject and/or about a risk of long-term health complications of the subject. Finally, feedback is provided corresponding to the conclusion on an output device. |
| US09675284B2 |
Apparatus and method for detecting and\or monitoring one or more compounds in blood
A platform has microneedles for determining blood levels of compound of interest, such as glucose. |
| US09675280B2 |
Method and system for tracking scores made by a player
Scores made by a player participating in a game can be tracked by using a sensor device coupled to the player to detect when the player attempts to make a score with a ball or other projectile. When a score is made, such as when something enters a goal, it is determined whether the projectile from the player is what made the score so that the score can be properly attributed to the player or another player. Attribution can be based on whether the score occurred within an appropriate time window, which could be computed from data from the sensor device. Attribution can also be based on the use of machine readable identifiers on the projectile, player, and/or goal. |
| US09675279B2 |
Method for determining the time point of a heart movement and corresponding apparatus
A method for determining a time point of a heart movement is described, wherein an EKG signal showing the heart movement is received. A first time point is determined, after which a mechanical signal characterizing the heart movement will probably be received, as a function of the received EKG signal. A mechanical signal is also received after the determined first time point. The time point of a heart movement can be concluded based on the receive time point of the mechanical signal. An apparatus for determining a time point of a heart movement is also described. The apparatus has a first receive facility, a timing facility, a second receive facility, and an evaluation facility. The evaluation facility is configured to determine the receive time point of the mechanical signal and to determine a time point of a heart movement based on the determined receive time point of the mechanical signal. |
| US09675277B2 |
Breast thickness measurement device and breast thickness measurement method
In this breast thickness measurement device and breast thickness measurement method, radiation is radiated from a plurality of different angles to a breast that is in a compressed state, a plurality of image data are generated by means of a radiation detector, and a plurality of tomographic images are generated by reconfiguring on the basis of each image datum after same has been generated. In each tomographic image, the thickness of the compressed breast is calculated on the basis of a tomographic image in which the focal point matches a first marker and a tomographic image in which the focal point matches a second marker. |
| US09675275B2 |
Extracorporeal devices and methods for facilitating cessation of undesired behaviors
Devices, Methods and Systems are disclosed for assisting patients in behavioral modification and cessation programs aimed at terminating undesired behaviors such as smoking, alcohol use and others. Patient devices with automated patient prompting for self-testing, analysis of test results and data logging are included in a networked system with a specifically designed treatment modality. |
| US09675271B2 |
Systems and methods for radiotherapy with magnetic resonance imaging
Systems and methods for delivery of radiotherapy in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging in which various conductors, shields and shims may be used to solve issues occurring when radiation therapy equipment is placed in the vicinity of an magnetic resonance imaging system. |
| US09675268B2 |
Detection and differentiation of sleep disordered breathing
A vector method for monitoring a subject's sleep-disordered breathing utilizing a single, anatomy-attached (anatomically outside or implanted inside), three-orthogonal-axis accelerometer(s), including the steps of (1) collecting from a sleeping subject three-orthogonal-axis data relating to at least one of sound data, subject posture, subject activity, snoring, and respiration, and (2) following such collecting, processing and analyzing collected data to detect associated, disordered breathing including assessing the presence of at least one of (a) sleep-disordered breathing generally, (b) sleep apnea specifically, and (c) differentiation between central and obstructive sleep apnea. Further involved is the acquiring of ECG data, and that the mentioned processing and analyzing include recognition of such acquired ECG data. |
| US09675263B2 |
Retractable mapping jacket
An accessory and system to provide a medical device with mapping and ablation functionality. The system may include an ablation device with a handle, a treatment element, and an elongate body. The ablation element may be located on the elongate body distal portion, and a mapping sleeve may be disposable about at least part of the distal portion of the ablation device and may include mapping electrodes disposed on the outer surface. The mapping sleeve proximal region may include a retraction element defining a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end being coupled to the proximal region of the mapping sleeve, such that retracting the retraction element toward the elongate body proximal portion pulls the mapping sleeve away from the treatment element of the ablation device. |
| US09675260B2 |
Photobiological measurement apparatus
A photobiological measurement apparatus 1 may include a second received light quantity information calculation unit 33 for calculating measurement data relating to cerebral activity, a data display controller for displaying the measurement data for a specified area of a subject's brain, is characterized: is being provided with a reference light-receiving probe 14, which is disposed at a position separated by a first setting distance r1 from the light-transmitting prober 12 that is shorter than a second setting distance r2, and a first received light quantity information calculating unit 32, which calculates skin blood flow data relating to the skin blood flow using first received light quantity information ΔA1 from the light transmitting probe 12 to the reference light-receiving probe 14, and in displaying the skin blood flow data at a specified position of the subject's scalp by indicating the measurement position on the subject's scalp and displaying the skin blood data. |
| US09675259B2 |
Physiological function detecting earphone and detecting method thereof
A physiological function detecting earphone includes an earphone body, an earplug mounted at one side of the earphone body and defining a window, a light processing module including a light sensing module towards the window, and a signal processing module. A detecting method using the earphone by a participant includes the steps of: the participant inserts the earplug in the ear canal thereof; the light sensing module senses the changes of light emitted through the window and then reflected by the wall of the ear canal; the light processing module processes the reflected light changes to get photoplethysmography (PPG) signals; and the signal processing module receives and processes the PPG signals to get physiological information of the participant. |
| US09675257B2 |
Impedance devices and methods to use the same to obtain luminal organ measurements
Impedance devices and methods to use the same to obtain luminal organ measurements. In at least one embodiment of an impedance device of the present disclosure, the impedance device comprises an elongated body having a distal body end, and a first electrode located along the elongated body at or near the distal body end, the first electrode configured to obtain one or more conductance values within a mammalian luminal organ within an electric field, wherein a measured parameter of the mammalian luminal organ can be calculated based in part upon the one or more conductance values obtained by the first electrode. |
| US09675256B2 |
Photoacoustic apparatus and method for controlling the same
Provided is a photoacoustic apparatus capable of recognizing variation in reception characteristic among a plurality of receiving elements that detect an acoustic wave in the photoacoustic apparatus, with a simple configuration unique to the photoacoustic apparatus.A photoacoustic apparatus includes a detecting unit including a plurality of receiving elements configured to detect an acoustic wave that is generated when an analyte is irradiated with light; a signal processing unit configured to acquire information about the inside of the analyte from a detected signal acquired from the detecting unit; an optical absorber configured to absorb the irradiation light; and a reception characteristic calculation unit configured to calculate reception characteristic information of the plurality of receiving elements on the basis of detected signals when the plurality of receiving elements receive an acoustic wave that is generated from the optical absorber. |
| US09675255B2 |
Electromagnetic tomography solutions for scanning head
An electromagnetic tomography system for gathering measurement data pertaining to a human head includes an image chamber unit, a control system, and a housing. The image chamber unit includes an antenna assembly defining a horizontally-oriented imaging chamber and including an array of antennas arranged around the imaging chamber. The antennas include at least some transmitting antennas and some receiving antennas. The control system causes the transmitting antennas to transmit a low power electromagnetic field that is received by the receiving antennas after passing through a patient's head in the imaging chamber. A data tensor is produced that may be inversed to reconstruct a 3D distribution of dielectric properties within the head and to create an image. The housing at least partially contains the antenna assembly and has a front entry opening into the imaging chamber. The head is inserted horizontally through the front entry opening and into the imaging chamber. |
| US09675252B2 |
Scanning optical systems
Scanning mechanisms that have application in confocal imaging use electromagnetic actuation to move elements in an optical system. An objective lens mounted to a flexure comprising a magnetic material is actuated in the axial direction by an electromagnet coil. An optical path may pass through the coil. Scanning in transverse directions may be provided using magnetically actuated flexible beams which move the tip of an optical fiber or other pinhole in one or more transverse directions. Actuators may be actuated using driving currents that include an AC component and a DC bias component. The scanning mechanisms may be miniaturized and may be constructed to provide real-time imaging. |
| US09675247B2 |
Alpha-matting based retinal vessel extraction
Retinal vessel extraction on color images of eyes are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises performing alpha matting on a multi-dimensional feature set derived from image data of a first image and performing retinal vessel extraction, including performing segmentation on the image by separating foreground and background image data from the first image using an output from the alpha matting. |
| US09675246B2 |
Borescopic optical system for medical diagnostic instruments and medical diagnostic instruments having interlocking assembly features
A medical diagnostic instrument or a plurality of disparate medical diagnostic instruments are configured with a common optical architecture that functionally creates a virtual eye to create closer proximity to a patient and therefore increase the field of view in regard to a target of interest. The optical system includes a distal optical element, at least one relay lens and an eyepiece lens in which the optical system can be integrated within at least one instrument or be provided using a releasable module. Additionally, at least one of a viewing assembly and illumination assembly of at least one medical diagnostic instrument can be assembled using a series of components that are connected by interlocking features. |
| US09675243B2 |
Ophthalmic photographing apparatus
An ophthalmic photographing apparatus is provided with a SLO optical system including a first optical scanner for scanning a laser beam to obtain a front image of an examinee's eye by the laser beam, a OCT optical system including a second optical scanner for scanning measurement light to obtain a tomographic image of the examinee's eye by use of interference between the measurement light and reference light, an optical path combiner for combining optical paths of the SLO optical system and the OCT optical system, an objective lens system placed between the optical path combiner and the examinee's eye, and a relay lens system placed between the second optical scanner and the optical path combiner. The second optical scanner is placed on a side closer to the relay lens system than a focal point distance of the relay lens is. |
| US09675242B2 |
Method and device for screening a state of ophthalmic fatigue of an individual
A method of screening a state of ophthalmic fatigue of an individual, includes steps: a1) of positioning a target (120) in relation to the individual in such a way that the target is visible by at least one of the two eyes of the individual, a2) of assessment by the individual of the sharpness of the target, and a3) of deducing a state of ophthalmic fatigue of the individual depending on whether the target is seen by the individual in a sharp or blurred manner. According to the invention, prior to step a2), there is provision for a step a0) of adjusting the size of the target and/or the position of the target in relation to the individual, as a function of the age of the individual. |
| US09675233B2 |
Signal transmission components for use with medical devices
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a medical device. The medical device may include an elongate member, having a proximal end and a distal end and at least two lumens extending therebetween. At least one of the lumens may be an imaging lumen configured to hold an imaging device, and an imaging device may be disposed inside the imaging lumen. A signal transmitting device may extend longitudinally through the imaging lumen. A distal end of the signal transmitting device may be operably coupled to the imaging device and a proximal end may be operably coupled to a processor. The processor may be located outside of the imaging lumen. The signal transmitting device may transmit signals between the imaging device and the processor. A grounded, braided catheter may be disposed within and extend the length of the elongate member, surrounding the imaging lumen. |
| US09675232B2 |
Bottle washer assembly for dishwasher appliance
Bottle washer assemblies for dishwasher appliances are provided. A bottle washer assembly includes a supply conduit defining a main passage for flowing wash fluid therethrough. The bottle washer assembly further includes at least one spray tine. The at least one spray tine includes a conduit defining a passage for flowing wash fluid therethrough, the passage in fluid communication with the main passage, and a rotatable impeller disposed within the passage. |
| US09675226B2 |
Robot cleaner system and control method of the same
A robot cleaner system may include a robot cleaner that may be automatically driven while performing a cleaning operation, a recharging base that receives the robot cleaner, and a remote control device that remotely controls the robot cleaner. The remote control device may also generate mapping information between an actual region and a virtual region based on image information generated by a camera provided on the robot cleaner, and/or image information generated by a camera on the recharging base. |
| US09675223B2 |
Vacuum cleaner floor seal
A vacuum cleaner suction head having a housing with a support for movement in the fore-aft direction on a surface. A suction inlet extends through the housing, and has a front edge and a rear edge. A sealing plate is pivotally mounted on the bottom of the housing to rotate about a pivot axis extending in a transverse direction. The sealing plate is movable between a raised position and a lowered position. The sealing plate is mounted in a trailing configuration in which, when the sealing plate is in the lowered position, the pivot axis is at the front of the sealing plate with respect to a fore-aft direction, and a lowermost point on the lower surface of the sealing plate is located behind the pivot axis with respect to the fore-aft direction. |
| US09675222B2 |
Cleaning robot having expanded cleaning territory
Disclosed is a cleaning robot having an expanded cleaning territory. The cleaning robot of the present invention comprises: a platform in which at least one corner of the exterior thereof has an angle of less than 90°; a first driving wheel of which the central axis is attached to the bottom portion of the platform at a predetermined first angle (θ) and a predetermined second angle (−θ) with respect to the forward direction of the platform; and a second driving wheel of which the central axis is attached to the bottom portion of the platform at the predetermined second angle (−θ) with respect to the forward direction of the platform. |
| US09675221B2 |
Recycling cleaning device
A recycling cleaning device includes a tub body, a sucking device and a tube. The tub body has a receiving space, an inlet communicating with the receiving space and a communication portion for communicating with the receiving space. The tub body is for arrangement on a barrel body and defines at least one passage with the barrel body. The sucking device is for disposed in the barrel body. The tube is connected with the sucking device and has an outlet. When the sucking device is disposed in the barrel body, the tube extends from an interior of the barrel body outside the barrel body through one of the passages, and the outlet is controllably arranged substantially toward the inlet of the tub body. |
| US09675216B2 |
Convolutely wound material
A convolutely wound material having a tail and a body. The tail is bonded to the body with foamed adhesive. |
| US09675214B2 |
Oversized bath pillow
A bathtub pillow for reducing a volume of water necessary for filling a bathtub and for providing support and comfort to a user's back, shoulders, neck, and head may include an outer shell defining an interior of the pillow, the outer shell having a front side, a backside, a left side, a right side, a top surface, and a bottom surface; a conformable filler filling the interior of the pillow; and a fastener attached to a surface of the pillow, the fastener being configured to removably attach to a surface of the bathtub. The pillow may be shaped to provide support to a user's back, shoulders, neck, and head. For example, the pillow may be vase shaped. |
| US09675213B2 |
Living hinge creation through vacuum forming of a thermoformable plastic sheet
A bathing vessel is made of a segmented sheet wall of layered materials that includes a first layer of polyurethane material, a second layer of polyurethane material attached to the first layer, a third layer of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material attached to the second layer, and a fourth layer of acrylic material attached to the third layer. The segmented sheet wall has a width a length and a first thickness. The segmented sheet wall has an integral first portion having a second thickness that is that is thinner than the first thickness. The first portion defines a first wall and a second wall in the segmented sheet wall and the first portion is corrugated. |
| US09675211B2 |
No-bean detection for coffee bean grinder
A method for detecting a state of a coffee bean grinder includes providing a supply voltage to a motor of a grinding apparatus, and monitoring with a motor stall detection sensor at least one operating parameter of the motor. The method further includes determining whether a motor stall has been detected based on monitoring the at least one operating parameter. The method also includes measuring using a weight sensor a weight of coffee grounds that have been ground by the grinding apparatus, and determining that no beans are present in a hopper that feeds coffee beans to the grinding apparatus when no motor stall has been detected and no change in weight has been detected at the weight sensor for a predetermined amount of time. A coffee bean grinder is also disclosed. |
| US09675206B2 |
Multi-position beverage dispenser
Embodiments are directed to a control unit comprising an input/output interface to receive a selection of a product, a dispensing unit in communication with the control unit, the dispensing unit receiving commands from the control unit, the dispensing unit configured to generate a first portion of the product in a first position and generate a second portion of the product in a second position, and a shifting mechanism coupled to the dispensing unit, the shifting mechanism moving a product containing device from the first position to the second position when the first portion of the product is complete, wherein the dispensing unit is configured to generate a portion of a second product in the first position when the dispensing unit is generating the second portion of the product in the second position. |
| US09675205B2 |
Beverage machine for short and tall cups
A heightening device (10) is arranged for heightening a short cup (3′) under a beverage outlet (20) of a beverage preparation module (2) configured to dispense beverage into a tall cup (3). The device (10) comprises: a bottom (12) for resting on a support surface (5); a platform (14) that is supported by the bottom and that is configured for receiving said short cup (3′) and heightening thereof over the bottom (12); and a means (15,16) for assembling the bottom and the platform as a unit (12, 14) to a corresponding assembling means (25, 26) of said beverage preparation module under said outlet. The assembling means (15, 16; 25, 26) of such device (10) and of the module (2) are disassemblable for separating the unit (12, 14) from the module and removing the unit from under such beverage outlet (20) to allow placement of the tall cup (3) on said support surface (5) under the outlet (20). |
| US09675203B2 |
Methods of controlled heating and agitation for liquid food or beverage product creation
Methods of controlled heating and/or agitation for liquid food or beverage product creation are disclosed. A method of producing a melted food or beverage liquid product includes receiving a receptacle containing frozen liquid contents in a chamber of a dispenser and identifying a characteristic of the receptacle and/or the contents. The method also includes melting at least a portion of the contents by selectively performing at least one of: heating the receptacle and/or the contents, supplying a dilution liquid to an interior of the receptacle, and/or applying motion to the receptacle and/or the contents in the receptacle. The selectively performing at least one of heating, supplying dilution liquid, and/or applying motion is based on the identified characteristic. The method further includes perforating the receptacle and dispensing the melted food or beverage liquid product from the receptacle. |
| US09675200B2 |
Brewing machine
The present invention provides a brewing machine, including: a brewing container, a valve device with a timer function, a timer and a seat frame. The brewing container is mounted on the valve device for brewing tea. The valve device is placed on the seat frame, and is capable of switching between a blocking position and an opening position. The timer can be used to set a brewing time. When the pre-set brewing time is up, the timer will switch the valve device to the opening position, so the brewed tea may flow into a container placed on the seat frame from the brewing container through the valve opening. With the brewing machine of the present invention, the over brewing situations which may cause the bitterness in the taste of the brewed tea can be prevented, and the convenience of the tea brewing process is also improved. |
| US09675199B2 |
Boil and boil-dry detection systems for cooking appliances using vibration sensors
A method of boil and boil-dry detection for cooking appliances. The method includes the steps: detecting vibrations that correspond to cookware situated on a burner assembly; generating a vibration signal based on the vibrations; and performing signal processing on the vibration signal. The method also includes the steps: collecting vibration data related to the vibration signal; and detecting boiling and boil-dry conditions for a liquid contained within the cookware based at least in part on an evaluation of the vibration data. |
| US09675196B2 |
Snap-fit scoop set
A snap-fit fruit scoop set includes a first, second, and third fruit scoop, each of the first, second, and third fruit scoops having a corresponding cutting hoop and a handle secured to the cutting hoop. Each of the first, second, and third fruit scoops also includes a locking feature formed on the applicable cutting hoop to enable the first, second, and third fruit scoops to be attached to one another via the locking features. |
| US09675194B2 |
Floor mat and method for assembling such a mat
A floor mat comprising several sections each provided with a trench designed to receive an insert, each section having first and second lateral grooves extending along respectively two longitudinal axes, and several joining elements, each joining element being configured to join two sections to one another, each joining element comprising a first set of main tabs inserted in the second lateral groove of a first section and a second set of main tabs inserted in the first lateral groove of a second section. |
| US09675192B2 |
Ordered food and drink conveying apparatus and food and drink conveying apparatus
The ordered food and drink conveying apparatus includes: a main belt conveyor to form a conveying path leading to a customer seat from a kitchen side of a restaurant; an auxiliary belt conveyor to be provided in extension from the main belt conveyor on the kitchen side to elongate the conveying path; and a control unit to operate the auxiliary belt conveyor and the main belt conveyor upon a conveyance start operation being performed and to convey the dish of the food and drink placed on the auxiliary belt conveyor to the customer seat, the control unit setting the auxiliary belt conveyor in a stop state enabling placement of the dish to be conveyed next on the auxiliary belt conveyor before stopping the main belt conveyor upon the dish being transferred onto the main belt conveyor from the auxiliary belt conveyor by performing the conveyance start operation. |
| US09675185B2 |
Refrigerated merchandiser with shelf air discharge
A merchandiser including a case that has an air inlet and defines a product display area with a customer access opening. The merchandiser also includes a canopy that has a first air outlet and a second air outlet, a first passageway connecting the air inlet with the first air outlet to direct a first airflow through the first air outlet at least partially across the opening to define a primary air curtain, and a second passageway in fluid communication with a HVAC system by ducting coupled between the merchandiser and the HVAC system to direct a second airflow defining a secondary air curtain from the HVAC system through the second air outlet at least partially across the opening. The primary and secondary air curtains cooperate with each other to minimize infiltration of ambient air into the product display area. |
| US09675184B2 |
Spiral exhibition hanger having time delay mechanism and capable of allowing commodities to be placed on or taken down
The utility model discloses a spiral display hanger having a time delay mechanism and capable of allowing commodities to be placed on or taken down, comprising a supporting arm, a spiral pipe, a time delay mechanism and a handle. A torque output shaft is provided on the time delay mechanism. The supporting arm comprises an upper supporting rod and a lower supporting rod, one end of the upper supporting rod being rotationally connected to a rotation center of the torque output shaft and the other end of the upper supporting rod being securely provided on a fixture, and one end of the lower supporting rod being also secured on the fixture and the other end of the lower supporting rod being a free end. One end of the spiral pipe is fixedly connected to the torque output shaft. The upper supporting and the lower supporting rod are penetrated through the spiral pipe to come into contact with the spiral pipe. The handle and the torque output shaft are in transmission connection with the time delay mechanism, respectively. In the utility model, commodities to be exhibited are hung in a sealed manner by turns of the spiral pipe. This increases the coefficient of difficulty and risk of stealing those commodities and thus provides for good anti-theft effect; and for businesses, the retail staff can conveniently place and take commodities on or down the hanger simply by rotating the handle, without requiring any specialized tool. |
| US09675183B2 |
Accessories suitable for use with an infant playpen and mount assembly for installing the same
A mount assembly includes a playpen frame, a support frame that can provide support for a bassinet in the playpen frame, and multiple bar segments to provide support for a utility accessory positioned side-by-side relative to the bassinet. The playpen frame includes two first upper side rail assemblies each having a fixed wall, and a second upper side rail assembly connected with the two first upper side rail assemblies. The support frame includes two connectors operable to respectively attach to and detach from the fixed walls. Each connector is formed to include a socket. The two connectors can attach to the fixed walls respectively near a middle of the two first upper side rail assemblies. The bar segments are mountable to the playpen frame, one of the bar segments once mounted to the playpen frame having an end portion resting in contact with the socket of one connector. |
| US09675179B2 |
Active response seating system
Novel Seats having a plurality of defined zones for supporting the human anatomy are disclosed. Seats including one or more recoil shields and/or inserts to assist in supporting or isolating certain desired portions of the human anatomy, as well as seats including both seat back structures and seat pan structures, with one or both including zoned configurations designed to support and stabilize specific structures of the human anatomy in a defined manner are also disclosed. The novel seats are useful, inter alia, for individually supporting certain anatomical areas and provide seat zones that collectively support, cradle and permit the human anatomy to be supported in a comfortable manner. |
| US09675178B2 |
Electric support system for sofa
An electric support system for sofa includes a linear drive device and at least one adjusting assembly, the adjusting assembly includes a side plate, a slider, a first connecting link, and a second connecting link, the slider is slidably configured on the side plate and driven by the linear drive device to slide on the side plate, one end of the first connecting link is pivotally connected to the slider, the other end of the first connecting link is pivotally connected to one end of the second connecting link, the other end of the second connecting link is an end adapted for fixing headrest, and the second connecting link is also pivotally connected to the side plate with a pivot configured between the two ends of the second connecting link. The headrest can be adjusted to any angle or any position without limitations. |
| US09675173B2 |
Drawer sidewall assembly
A drawer sidewall assembly includes an inner wall, an outer wall, and a buffer. The buffer is provided between the inner wall and the outer wall to reduce the gap formed by connecting the inner wall and the outer wall and to absorb vibrations. |
| US09675171B2 |
Outdoor appliance with retractable platform
A base has an open top, an aperture coaxial with the open top of the base, and an actuator. The device includes a cover for the aperture that is moveable between a first closed position and a second open position in response to a first displacement of the actuator, and a platform moveable from a first lower position within the base to a second raised position proximate the tabletop in response to a second displacement of the actuator. |
| US09675154B2 |
Compound suitcase
A compound suitcase includes a top cover and a base which are formed with a plastic material by injection. The periphery of the top cover is formed with a side wall. The periphery of the base is formed with a side wall. Support units are connected at four corners of the top cover and the base, respectively. Each support unit includes a support board and a support member coupled to the support board. A covering fabric surrounds the outer surfaces of the four support units to form a front surface, two side surfaces, and a rear surface. The upper and lower ends of the front surface, the two side surfaces, and the rear surface are connected to the top cover and the base, respectively. The upper and lower portions of the compound suitcase are hard case configurations, and the middle portion is a soft case configuration. |
| US09675149B1 |
Eyewear storage system
An eyewear storage system includes a plurality of articles of eyewear. A storage unit is provided. The storage unit may be coupled to a vertical storage surface. Each of the articles of eyewear is removably positionable in the storage unit. Thus, the articles of eyewear are accessible. The storage unit includes a non-abrasive material such that the storage unit is inhibited from abrading the articles of eyewear. |
| US09675145B2 |
Crutch holder
In one preferred form of the present invention there is provided a crutch holder 10 for holding a crutch 12. The crutch holder 10 comprises a body 14 providing a cavity 16 for receiving an end 18 of the crutch 12. A plurality of holding elements 22 are movably mounted relative to the body 14 and adapted to move from a first position 24 to a second position 26 in response to the end 18 being received so as to assist with maintaining the crutch 20 in an upright position. |
| US09675139B2 |
Device and methodology for adjusting cycling cleats to create neutral angular displacement
A tool (401) is provided for adjusting the orientation of cycling cleats on cycling shoes (503). The tool includes a radius (415) having a first protrusion (405) extending therefrom; a pedal adapter (411) which is disposed on a first major surface of the radius and which releasably engages a pedal on a bicycle or cycling machine; a cleat adapter (423), disposed on a second major surface of the radius, which releasably engages a cleat on a cycling shoe and which is rotatably adjustable with respect to the radius; a second protrusion (407) which protrudes from the radius and which overlaps the first protrusion; and a handle (409) which protrudes from the cleat adapter. |
| US09675138B2 |
Sports footwear
Sports footwear comprising an upper having a toe portion and a sole fixed to said upper. The sports footwear also comprises a protection element mounted on the side surface of the toe portion. This protection element is fixed permanently to the side surface of the toe portion and is provided with an outer surface provided with first coupling means for coupling a covering component on the protection element. The first coupling means of the protection element define a seat suitable for housing a fastening element for fastening the covering element onto the protection element. The seat has a direction of insertion which is substantially parallel to the side surface of the toe portion of the footwear on which the protection element is mounted. A covering component suitable for use with footwear is also described. |
| US09675137B2 |
Elastic coreless rope belt
An elastic coreless rope belt is a tubular braided rope of no core with stretch elasticity. Wherein the center part of the elastic rope belt along its length keep the same hollow shape, and at the periphery of the rope, it is provided with protruded knot parts of plural middle segment. At the plural middle segment, the diameter of the protruded knot can be changed with the changing of the axial tension. Once the axial tension is relived, the diameter and the shape will return to the origin. Thereby, it is convenient to make position limited buckling and loosening to the object hole. |
| US09675136B2 |
Customizable footwear
A customizable footwear system includes customizable footwear and a toy head. The customizable footwear has a main body for placement on a foot of a wearer. The main body has a toe region and a heel region. The toe region has a recess with at least one fastener. The toy head is nested within the recess of the main body and has at least one cooperating fastener removably attached to the at least one fastener of the customizable footwear. |
| US09675135B2 |
Reconfigurable apparel manufacture and business processes
Provided herein are methods for the modulation of appearance or material properties within items of apparel or equipment. Also provided herein are design articles having alterable designs. |
| US09675134B2 |
Footwear, and knitting method for knit fabric
Provided is a footwear that excels in productivity and shape retaining property. Footwear is knitted seamlessly with a flat knitting machine having at least a pair of a front and a back needle bed and includes a base knit fabric portion having a mixed section knitted using a first knitting yarn and a second knitting yarn interwoven along the first knitting yarn. The first knitting yarn configuring the mixed section of the footwear is a knitting yarn that is not a heat-fusible yarn, and the second knitting yarn is a heat-fusible yarn having thermal adhesiveness and heat-shrinkable properties. The second knitting yarn preferably has a configuration including a core made from a material that contracts by heat, and a sheath made from a material having a lower fusing point than the core. |
| US09675133B2 |
Reinforcing shank arrangement for footwear sole structure
An article of footwear may include an upper configured to receive a foot and a sole component fixedly attached to a bottom portion of the upper. The sole component may include a baseplate having a bottom surface. The sole component may also include an arrangement of ground engaging members extending downward from the bottom surface of the baseplate. The baseplate may further include a reinforcing shank arrangement including a plurality of reinforcing strips formed of a different material than portions of the baseplate adjacent the reinforcing strips, wherein at least one of the reinforcing strips forms at least a portion of a base platform from which at least one of the ground engaging members extends. |
| US09675129B2 |
Helmet with vent opening control
A helmet includes a shell defining a ventilation aperture passing from the outer surface of the shell to the inner surface of the shell. A ventilation control is secured to the inner surface of the shell. The ventilation control is configured to be reversibly displaced between a first position blocking a flow of air through the ventilation aperture and a second position permitting flow of air through the ventilation aperture. The ventilation control is configured to be reversibly displaced between the first position and the second position by a force applied upon an outer surface of the ventilation control opposite to the inner surface of the shell from within an internal volume of the helmet. |
| US09675128B2 |
Ergonomic faceguard for an athletic helmet
An ergonomic faceguard for a helmet, and a helmet including the ergonomic faceguard; the faceguard including a wire grid having a plurality of horizontal wires. The plurality of horizontal wires includes a horizontal wire configured to extend proximate to a user's chin, the horizontal wire including a pair of lateral sections for engaging a shell of a helmet and a front section extending between the lateral sections, with the lateral sections extending along a common plane and the front section deviating from the plane along which the lateral sections extend. The front section has an anterior point that is elevated at a height that is greater than a height of the lowest point in the front section. |
| US09675127B2 |
Protective helmet of reducible dimensions for sports use, in particular for use by cyclists
A protective sports helmet includes a cap structure having a plurality of structurally independent cap portions and mutually connected to flexible interconnecting members such that the helmet has at least one overall configuration of minimum dimensions when not worn, with the parts of the cap mutually adjacent to each other, separate from an operating condition having maximum dimensions when worn. The parts of the cap are held together by interconnecting members in positions at a suitable distance from each other configured to enclose a user's head. The portions include corresponding sections each extending continuously between the frontal and occipital extremities, of longitudinal extent between those extremities which predominates in comparison with their transverse extent, the sections extending substantially parallel and at a distance from each other so that in the configuration having the minimum dimensions adjacent sections abut each other along lateral sides which transversely bound each section. |
| US09675126B2 |
Athletic apparel with adjustable rise waistband
A garment includes a waistband having a first face and a second face, with a first support structure affixed to the first face and a second support structure affixed to the second face. The waistband is selectively adjustable between a first arrangement that provides the garment with a first style and fitting, and a second arrangement that provides the garment with a same style and different fitting. |
| US09675123B2 |
Padding system for medical clothing
A knee padding for scrub pants may include a base layer having a first surface area and a plurality of intermediate layers wherein each one of the intermediate layers has a progressively larger surface area than the intermediate layer proximate the base layer, thus forming a stepped pyramid-like padding. The padding may form a knee pad and be secured to scrub pants with stitching creating a uniform pattern. |
| US09675120B2 |
Multifunctional garment system and method of use
The invention is multifunctional garment(s) and/or multifunctional garment system(s) and method(s) of using the same that comprises a first piece or a first piece and one or more additional pieces that can be removably attachable to one another in at least one fashion. The invention possesses the attribute and ability of removably forming a single article of clothing out of multiple article(s) of clothing, or vice versa, by means of the fixation of fasteners to at least one garment. |
| US09675117B2 |
Atomizer for electronic cigarette and electronic cigarette having the same
An exemplary atomizer includes a mouthpiece assembly, two heating assemblies, a fixing assembly, an atomizing sleeve, a switching assembly. The two heating assemblies are configured for heating and atomizing oils of two different tastes respectively. One end of each heating assembly is engaged with the mouthpiece assembly. The fixing assembly is hermetically coupled to the mouthpiece assembly, and is configured for securing the two heating assemblies. The atomizing sleeve is hermetically connected to the fixing assembly, with the two heating assemblies nested therein. The switching assembly is coupled to ends of the two heating assemblies away from the mouthpiece assembly. The switching assembly is configured for enabling one of two heating assemblies selectively. |
| US09675114B2 |
Real time variable voltage programmable electronic cigarette and method
A real time variable voltage programmable electronic cigarette device has a main body, a controller, a memory, a visual indicator, a multidirectional joystick for operating and programming the electronic cigarette, a visual indicator for real-time status feedback, and a USB connector for computer connectivity. Programming the device includes the ability to create vaping profiles. The programmable function enables a user to set the voltage output and power output level applied to the atomizer when energized. |
| US09675110B2 |
Hot-wire control for an electronic cigarette
An electronic cigarette (“e-Cig”) may include functionality for monitoring and controlling the thermal properties of the e-Cig. The system and method described herein may monitor a temperature based on a resistor (i.e. hot wire) near the wick and model the thermal cycle of an e-Cig. The model can be used for controlling the temperature of the e-Cig and preventing burning. The temperature control may dictate optimal conditions for atomization and smoke generation in an e-Cig while avoiding hotspots and burning to the atomizer or cartomizer. |
| US09675109B2 |
Method and system for vaporization of a substance
A smoking device for generating and releasing smoking vapor free from contamination into the mouth of a user comprising a mouthpiece for providing vapor for inhalation to a user including a tubular casing containing a heater for heating a smoking substance at a substantially constant low temperature by regulating the flow of fuel by a thermal regulator and further having means for visual indication of the operation of the device. |
| US09675108B2 |
Battery assembly, atomizer assembly, and electronic cigarette
The present invention discloses a battery assembly, an atomizer assembly, and an electronic cigarette. The battery assembly is connected to the atomizer assembly to form the electronic cigarette. The battery assembly includes a battery sleeve and a first connection member, and the atomizer assembly includes an atomizer sleeve and a second connection member. The first connection member and the second connection member are connected with each other. A portion of the first connection member contacting the battery sleeve and/or a portion of the second connection member contacting the atomizer sleeve protrude(s) to form an anti-slip structure, and Teflon paste configured to enhance a connection strength between the first connection member and the battery sleeve and/or enhance a connection strength between the second connection member and the atomizer sleeve is spread on a circumferential outer wall of the anti-slip structure. |
| US09675105B2 |
Menthol-sorbed activated charcoal, cigarette filter, and filter-tipped cigarette
Menthol-sorbed activated charcoal stably holding menthol during storage, and smoothly releasing menthol only during passage of tobacco smoke therethrough is provided. The menthol-sorbed activated charcoal is featured in that to activated charcoal having a specific surface area of 1500 m2/g or more but 1700 m2/g or less as measured by the BET method, menthol is sorbed at a sorption rate of 80% or more but 92% or less with reference to the saturated amount of menthol for the activated charcoal. |
| US09675104B2 |
Cigarette paper additive having harm reduction function and application thereof
A cigarette paper additive having harm reduction function and application thereof are provided. The additive contains alkali metal salts of butane tetracarboxylic acid or cyclobutane tetracarboxylic acid which are prepared by reacting the butane tetracarboxylic acid or cyclobutane tetracarboxylic acid with alkali. The application thereof is evenly adding the aqueous additive solution at different concentrations to cigarette paper by a metering rod-type film transfer sizing machine in a sizing section of the cigarette paper production, and the produced cigarette paper is used for cigarette production that can effectively reduce release of CO, phenol and tar in the mainstream smoke, and has better effects of harm reduction and tar reduction. The method of the invention is easy, does not need to alter the existing cigarette paper production process, and has low cost and higher industrial application value. |
| US09675103B2 |
Smoking article and method
A smoking article provides one or more sheets of material that can be rolled and packaged, at least one sheet including cellulose. In one embodiment, cellulose and tobacco sheet material are separately rolled layers that can optionally be wrapped around a form casing (or pre-rolled inside) and then packaged. In another embodiment, the sheet is a laminated sheet of tobacco and cellulose layers that can be optionally wrapped around (or pre-rolled inside) a form casing. These sheets can be filled with custom tobacco to make one or more new cigars for an end user. In another embodiment, a complete cigar filled with tobacco material can be disassembled by an end user to produce tobacco and cellulose sheets, enabling the end user to form two new cigars using his or her own custom tobacco. |
| US09675102B2 |
Smokeless tobacco product comprising effervescent composition
The invention provides an smokeless tobacco composition adapted for oral use, the composition including a tobacco material and an effervescent material. The effervescent material includes an acid component and a base component, wherein the acid component includes a triprotic acid such as citric acid and at least one additional acid. The invention also provides a method for making a smokeless tobacco composition that involves first forming a granulation mixture, granulating the granulation mixture, and then blending the resulting granules with further blending components. Thereafter, the material can be formed into a predetermined shape, such as by compression or extrusion. The acid component of the effervescent material is divided into two portions, the first portion added to the granulation mixture and the remaining portion added during the blending step. |
| US09675098B2 |
Double fortified salt composition containing iron and iodine and process for the preparation thereof
The present invention relates to stable and white iron fortification and iron+iodine double fortification agents, their preparation and use in fortification of salt. These agents help overcome the normal difficulties encountered in iron and iodine fortification such as low iodine stability on storage, development of colour and odour, and use of unwanted additives to impart stability. In one of the invented products, both iron and iodine coexist in stable manner in the same matrix which allow for a more uniform distribution of iodine. The process of preparation is demonstrated to be scalable and utilizes commonly available raw materials which would enable the products to be synthesized in affordable manner. |
| US09675096B2 |
Green coloring of table olives with chlorophyll compounds
A process for coloring treated and untreated green olives by using chlorophyll, chlorophyllin, and copper chlorophyllin salts is presented. The process includes soaking salt out of the green olives in sodium chloride of density from about 0% to about 7%. The process also includes sinking the green olives into a first fluid solution holding sodium hydroxide and other metal hydroxyl groups from about 0% to about 3.5%, chlorophyll chlorophyllin salts and copper chlorophyllin salts, in a ratio of olive liquid from about 0.45 to about 4. The process then includes leaving the green olives in the first fluid solution from about 1 hours to about 72 hours, removing the green olives from the first fluid solution, washing the green olives with water, and sinking the green olives into a second fluid solution holding an acid until a PH of the green olives becomes less than about 4.6. |
| US09675085B2 |
Fluid distribution systems, cabinet assemblies including fluid distribution systems and related assemblies and methods
Fluid distribution systems for use in meat-handling facilities include a fluid distribution assembly for fluidly coupling with a fluid supply where the fluid distribution assembly comprises at least one valve for alternately supplying fluid to a first nozzle assembly and a second nozzle assembly. The fluid distribution assembly may further include at least one motor for oscillating the nozzle assemblies. Cabinet assemblies for use in meat-handling facilities may include a fluid distribution system. Valve assemblies may include a diverter for selectively supplying fluid to at least two outlets. Methods of washing at least a portion of a carcass include spraying fluid onto the at least a portion of the carcass with a first set of nozzle assemblies and with a second set of nozzle assemblies positioned over the first set of nozzle assemblies. |
| US09675084B2 |
Prevention of extract darkening and malodor formation during solubilization of plant cell wall material
Methods are provided for reducing color and/or unpleasant taste and/or malodor development in a composition comprising a plant material, such a cereal bran, in particular during solubilization processes of the plant material. Optimized solubilization methods are provided, wherein color and/or unpleasant taste and/or malodor development is controlled. Solubilized plant material, kit of parts, the use of such solubilized plant material, e.g. in food products or bioethanol are also provided. |
| US09675082B2 |
Cooking aid
A cooking aid comprising a sheet of flexible burn resistant material and a composition disposed on one face of the sheet, the composition comprising a mixture of vegetable or animal oil with a melting point below 20° C., vegetable or animal fat with a melting point above 20° C., and one or more herbs, spices and flavor enhancers. |
| US09675081B2 |
Modified biological control agents and their uses
Methods for improving the ability of a population of biological agents to compete and survive in a field setting are provided. The improved, modified population of agents is able to grow, compete with other microbial strains and fungi, and provide protection for plants from pathogens. Modified biological agents and modified populations of such agents that are herbicide tolerant or resistant are selected or engineered. In this manner, the protection from disease-causing agents is enhanced. Such modified populations can be added to soils to prevent fungal pathogens and the associated diseases thereby promoting plant growth. The present invention is useful for enhancing the competitiveness of modified biological agents particularly over other microbial agents which are not herbicide resistant. Disclosed compositions include selected or engineered herbicide resistant biological agents and modified populations of biocontrol agents. These modified biological agents can be used as an inoculant or seed coating for plants and seeds. |
| US09675079B1 |
Pathogen eliminating article
An antimicrobial article includes a first surface and an opposing second surface. The antimicrobial core is formed from an antimicrobial alloy comprising at least 50% molybdenum such that the antimicrobial alloy is configured to eliminate pathogens located proximate the first and second surfaces. |
| US09675075B2 |
Pest control composition
Disclosed is a pest control composition comprising at least one pyripyropene derivative of formula (I) or agriculturally and horticulturally acceptable salt thereof and at least one other pest control agent as active ingredients. The combined use of the two ingredients can provide a better insecticidal effect. |
| US09675074B2 |
Methods to reduce cold damage in cereals
The present invention is directed to methods for improving cold temperature damage recovery of a cereal grain comprising applying an effective amount of at least one gibberellin to the cereal grain during early vegetative growth stage. The present invention is also directed to methods for improving yield of a cereal grain comprising applying an effective amount of at least one gibberellin to a cereal grain suffering from cold temperature damage during the early vegetative growth stage. |
| US09675069B2 |
Cyclodextrin compositions, articles, and methods
Cyclodextrin compositions including one or more radiation polymerizable monomers and a cyclodextrin inclusion complex, the cyclodextrin inclusion complex including a cyclodextrin compound and an olefinic inhibitor of an ethylene generation in produce, are coated onto packaging materials and cured. Treated containers and treated package inserts having the cured cyclodextrin compositions are useful in packaging of respiring plant materials. |
| US09675068B2 |
Solid form sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) crawling pest elimination composition
A composition and method of eliminating pests combines water and a solid form of sodium lauryl sulfate to form a pesticide composition effective to cause mortality in pests. The composition is applied to the indoor structure in an area which the pests inhabit. The sodium lauryl sulfate can be in needle form, pellet form or powder form and constitutes between about 1% and about 10% by weight of the pesticide composition. The composition may be applied to an area inhabited by cockroaches, including, but not limited to, in crevices, cracks, corners, wall and floor junctures or other enclosed or partially enclosed areas of a structure. |
| US09675066B2 |
Feline scratch marking semiochemicals
Semiochemical compositions comprising a feline scratch marking semiochemical analogs of these semiochemical compositions and a method to prevent cats from scratching in particular places and on multiple objects are described. |
| US09675064B2 |
Microbicidal composition
An aqueous microbicidal composition having two components. The first component is a nonionic surfactant with structure: R2O(CH2CH(CH3)O)3(CH2CH2O)5H, where R2 is a mixture of C8-C14 linear alkyl groups. The second component is a benzoate or sorbate salt. The weight ratio of the nonionic surfactant to the benzoate or sorbate salt is from 1:0.12 to 1:109.7646. |
| US09675063B2 |
Stable, concentrated herbicidal compositions
A liquid herbicidal composition is provided, comprising: a. 20 to 35 percent by weight, based on the total weight of the composition, of a water-soluble herbicidal ingredient; b. a C12-C16 alkyl ether sulfate; c. an organic solvent; and d. an alkyl polyglucoside. The composition is stable; i.e., it occurs in a substantially continuous, single phase at temperatures as low as −20° C. It also has a viscosity of no more than 2000 cps at temperatures as low as 0° C. |
| US09675059B2 |
Rodent deterrent apparatus
A rodent deterrent apparatus has one or more deterrent features including a deterring light feature, a deterring sound feature and/or a deterring scent feature. A selection feature allows a user to select one or more of the deterring features to be activated. A motion detector may activate the deterring feature or features when motion is detected near the rodent deterrent apparatus. An accelerometer detects when the rodent deterrent apparatus is in motion and a controller may switch the apparatus to a power saver mode, wherein the deterrent features are not activated during motion, in order to save power. |
| US09675057B2 |
Self-pivoting fishing rod holder
Disclosed is a fishing rod holder that permits the fishing rod to pivot itself, so that the bait can stay relatively stable in the water when fishing. |
| US09675051B2 |
Wireless animal training, monitoring and remote control system
An animal training and/or monitoring system and an animal-worn device that is capable of receiving and sending various inputs and outputs, respectively, from/to a wireless mobile device. The wireless mobile device has a software application that allows a human user to wirelessly communicate with the animal-worn transceiver via direct, networked or cellular wireless protocols. The animal-worn device interacts with the applications on the wireless mobile device to allow for a variety of functions, such as the transfer of commands or stimuli to the animal, the transfer of data regarding the animal or its environment to the wireless mobile device, and/or the transfer of instructions from the animal-worn device to an external device. The wireless mobile device may also transmit new firmware to the animal-worn device to modify its inputs and outputs. |
| US09675047B2 |
Portable pet drying and washing apparatus
The present invention discloses a pet or animal drying and washing apparatus a two part housing structure with a slidable and removable inner housing shell with guides and an outer housing shell with recesses on their respective side walls so that they can be easily connected together as a single unit and form a heating flow passage there between. The outer shell having inner and outer walls conforming to a contour shape and having support and air channel blocks on a bottom floor to support an inner shell housing having a plurality of slotted vents disposed on side walls and back walls and between bottom floors of the inner and outer shell housings. A blower and heating unit is disposed within a back wall cavity of the outer shell housing and closed by a thermostatic control device to direct heated air in the heating flow passage. |
| US09675046B2 |
Animal tag
A tag for attachment to an animal including: a transponder casing (40) housing a transponder; a cartridge (12) for housing the transponder casing; a female component (10) and a male component (28) adapted to engage one another; said male component (28) having a pair of penetrating members (32, 34) and said female component (10) having a pair of apertures (14, 16), each aperture arranged to receive and retain a respective penetrating member when applied by an applicator through skin of the animal; wherein the cartridge (12) and transponder casing (40) are encapsulated within said tag to prevent dislodgment, movement or damage to the transponder. |
| US09675045B2 |
Reduced noise tag hanger
A tag hanger has a strap which can pass around a support structure, such as a D-ring on an animal collar, and a retainer assembly that clamps one or more tags to one end of the strap, restraining their motion to prevent noise caused by the tags jangling together. The other end of the strap attaches to the retainer assembly to secure the tag holder to the support structure. A blocking element can be included on the strap to prevent contact between the tags and the support structure. The retainer assembly can employ a hex-head bolt that serves as a base element and a threaded retainer shaft that passes through a retainer passage in the strap and through hanger passages in the tags; a nut threadably engaging the bolt can then serve as a clamping element to secure the tags to the strap. |
| US09675044B2 |
Animal enrichment devices
An animal enrichment device that includes a support coupled to a base and a mobile member coupled to the support such that the mobile member can move relative to the base and/or the support. The mobile member includes at least one food retaining element, which provides a first mode of food release. The mobile member and/or the support is at least partially hollow for storing food therein. Efforts by the animal to remove food from the at least one food retaining element will cause the mobile member to move relative to the base and intermittently release the food stored within the mobile member and/or the support, which provides a second mode of food release. |
| US09675034B1 |
Soybean cultivar 43383687
A soybean cultivar designated 43383687 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar 43383687, to the plants of soybean cultivar 43383687, to the plant parts of soybean cultivar 43383687, and to methods for producing progeny of soybean cultivar 43383687. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. The invention also relates to soybean cultivars or breeding cultivars, and plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 43383687. The invention also relates to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines, or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 43383687, and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing cultivar 43383687 with another soybean cultivar. |
| US09675032B1 |
Soybean variety 27Y13T9
Disclosed is the seed of a novel soybean variety, designated 27Y13T9, a sample of which is deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-123705. Also disclosed are plants, or parts thereof, grown from the seed of the variety, plants having the morphological and physiological characteristics of the 27Y13T9 variety, and methods of using the plant or parts thereof in a soybean breeding program. |
| US09675031B1 |
Inbred corn line LLM12BM
An inbred corn line, designated LLM12BM, the plants and seeds of the inbred corn line LLM12BM, methods for producing a corn plant, either inbred or hybrid, produced by crossing the inbred corn line LLM12BM with itself or with another corn plant, and hybrid corn seeds and plants produced by crossing the inbred line LLM12BM with another corn line or plant and to methods for producing a corn plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic corn plants produced by that method. This invention also relates to inbred corn lines derived from inbred corn line LLM12BM, to methods for producing other inbred corn lines derived from inbred corn line LLM12BM and to the inbred corn lines derived by the use of those methods. |
| US09675030B2 |
Soybean variety 01050762
The invention relates to the soybean variety designated 01050762. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety 01050762. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety 01050762 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety 01050762 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods. |
| US09675028B2 |
Soybean variety 01051998
The invention relates to the soybean variety designated 01051998. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety 01051998. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety 01051998 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety 01051998 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods. |
| US09675019B2 |
Cucumber hybrid SV4220CS and parents thereof
The invention provides seed and plants of cucumber hybrid SV4220CS and the parent lines thereof. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of cucumber hybrid SV4220CS and the parent lines thereof, and to methods for producing a cucumber plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another cucumber plant, such as a plant of another genotype. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of such plants, including the fruit and gametes of such plants. |
| US09675013B2 |
Watering device intended to be fitted to a growing container, comprising an independent reservoir
Device for watering plants configured to fit into a growing container, such as a pot. The device includes an external casing intended to be placed inside the growing container and to be at least partially buried. The casing delimits a housing having an open top end intended to protrude from or lie flush with the soil, and a bottom end having a passage in the soil. The device is further equipped with a water reservoir positioned inside the housing and having an orifice around which a water diffusion system is removably mounted. The diffusion system is designed to pass through the passage of the casing. |
| US09675012B2 |
Automated gravimetric screening platform system and method
A method for controlling soil moisture to perform water deficit experiments on a plurality of plants located in soil contained within a plurality of pots supported in a plurality of openings of a stationary platform includes lifting the plurality of pots with a plurality of load cell modules and weighing each of the plurality of pots with the load cell modules. The method also includes determining whether each pot needs to be watered based on the weight of the pot and the water deficit experiment, watering the pots through the load cell modules, if necessary, and lowering the plurality of load cell modules so that the plurality of pots are supported by the platform. |
| US09675005B1 |
V-slice insert for row crop planters
A v-slice insert for row crop planters includes a precision cast insert body which extends from an upper forward attachment end to a lower trailing end. The v-slice insert features a precision cast internal fertilizer tube receiving channel which protects a fertilizer tube, which, in turn delivers fertilizer to soil that eventually lies directly under planted seeds. The v-slice insert also includes a step feature near the fertilizer tube outlet to prevent the obstruction of the fertilizer tube with soil should the v-slice insert be moved in a reverse direction through soil during a turn. Further, side bulges in the sides of the v-slice insert fracture seed planting furrow side walls to facilitate closure of the furrow and complete covering of the planted seed. |
| US09675002B2 |
Seed meter system with singulator control
A seed meter system with singulators that are automatically controlled while planting to reduce instances of skips and doubles, without requiring stopping for manual adjustment of singulators. This allows the seed meter system to automatically adjust the singulators to compensate for variations in rotational speed of seed disks of the seed meters, variations in vacuum pressure within the seed meters, and variations in the size(s) of seeds being planted to reduce instances of skips and doubles while planting. Adjustments to the singulator may be made reactively by identifying seed delivery discontinuities such as skips and doubles and then making correction adjustments to attenuate singulator-induced stimulus that may influence seed delivery discontinuities. Adjustments to the singulator may be made proactively by identifying changes in seed meter performance characteristics or environment that lead to delivery discontinuities such as skips and doubles and, thus, influence seed delivery rate. |
| US09681595B2 |
Cover tape
The present invention relates to a cover tape and to an electronic component package that uses the cover tape, the cover tape including at least a substrate layer, a heat seal layer, and an antistatic layer, the antistatic layer containing (A) an ionic liquid including a cyclic quaternary nitrogen-containing cation, (B) a quaternary ammonium salt, and (C) a polyalkylene glycol being formed on a surface toward the heat seal layer, and an anion constituting the (A) ionic liquid including a cyclic quaternary nitrogen-containing cation and the (B) quaternary ammonium salt being one or more anions selected from the group consisting of carboxylic acids, sulfuric acid esters, phosphoric acid esters, sulfonic acids, and phosphoric acids. |
| US09681594B2 |
Electromagnetic shielding member
A electromagnetic shielding member whose tubular shape is maintained with a simpler structure. The electromagnetic shielding member includes a pluralities of first and second protrusions that are respectively formed at first and second edges in a circumferential direction of a metal plate member that has been bent into a tubular shape. The plurality of first protrusions are formed, spaced apart in a longitudinal direction, each of the first protrusions having a first wider portion closer to its tip than the first narrower portion. The plurality of second protrusions are formed, spaced apart in the longitudinal direction, each of the second protrusions having a second wider portion closer to its tip than the second narrower portion. The metal plate member is formed into the tubular shape so that the first protrusions and the second protrusions are engaged with each other and are interposed with each other. |
| US09681593B2 |
ESD protection device and method for manufacturing the same
An ESD protection device is manufactured such that its ESD characteristics are easily adjusted and stabilized. The ESD protection device includes an insulating substrate, a cavity provided in the insulating substrate, at least one pair of discharge electrodes each including a portion exposed in the cavity, the exposed portions being arranged to face each other, and external electrodes provided on a surface of the insulating substrate and connected to the at least one pair of discharge electrodes. A particulate supporting electrode material having conductivity is dispersed between the exposed portions of the at least one pair of discharge electrodes in the cavity. |
| US09681590B2 |
Cooling system with controlled apportioning of the cooled high pressure refrigerant between the condenser and the expansion valve
A cooling system that cools HV equipment includes a compressor that circulates refrigerant, a condenser that condenses the refrigerant, a gas-liquid separator that stores the refrigerant in liquid form that is condensed by the condenser, an expansion valve that reduces a pressure of the refrigerant, an evaporator that vaporizes the refrigerant that is reduced in pressure by the expansion valve, a first passage and a second passage through which the refrigerant flows from the gas-liquid separator toward the expansion valve, and that are provided in parallel, and a cooling portion that is provided along the second passage and cools the heat source using the refrigerant. The refrigerant in liquid form flows from the gas-liquid separator through the second passage. |
| US09681587B2 |
System and method for cooling electronic equipment
A cooling system and method in accordance with the principles of the present invention employs a fan cartridge that includes a fan and a fan controller and is configured for mounting within an electronics cabinet's warm air return path in a data center cooling system. The fan cartridge may also include a display panel which may be used to convey operational information relative to the fan cartridge. A plurality of such fan cartridges may be mounted within the electronic cabinet's warm air return path to provide redundant air flow supply for the associated electronics cabinet. |
| US09681583B2 |
Fixation of heat sink on SFP/XFP cage
An apparatus and system for a heat sink assembly, and a procedure for forming a heat sink assembly. The heat sink assembly includes a heat sink having a base and fins extending from the base, and a spring clip disposed on the heat sink between the fins. The spring clip includes a first tab that forms a first angle with respect to the base of the heat sink and including a second tab that forms a second angle with respect to the base of the heat sink. The first and second tabs are attached to the circuit board. By virtue thereof, a heat sink attachment to cage is provided that is space-efficient and permits a higher density of cages on a circuit board than do conventional arrangements. |
| US09681582B1 |
Pluggable connector and unitary housing shell configured to transfer thermal energy of the pluggable connector
Pluggable connector includes a connector housing having a unitary housing shell that includes a top wall, a bottom wall that is spaced apart from the top wall, and a side wall that extends between and joins the top and bottom walls. The pluggable connector also includes a communication assembly positioned within an interior cavity of the pluggable connector. The communication assembly includes internal electronics that generate thermal energy during operation. The top wall has an exterior surface that forms an output area configured to dissipate the thermal energy therefrom. The bottom wall has an interior surface that is coupled to the internal electronics such that the thermal energy is conveyed from the internal electronics into the bottom wall. The unitary housing shell forms a seamless thermal-transfer path that extends from the bottom wall, through the side wall, and to the output area. |
| US09681573B2 |
Slide rail assembly
A slide rail assembly includes first and second rails, a retaining member, and a bracket. The second rail is movable to a retracted position relative to the first rail. The retaining member is connected to the second rail. The bracket includes a side plate connected to the first rail, an end plate bent from the side plate, and a movable member movably connected to the side plate. The movable member has at least one retaining portion corresponding to the end plate. When the second rail is in the retracted position, at least a portion of the retaining member faces the movable member so that the second rail can, via the retaining member, restrict displacement of the movable member relative to the retaining member. |
| US09681570B2 |
Welded high-density low-profile interconnect system
An electronic device may have printed circuits to which electrical components are mounted. The printed circuits may have metal traces that form signal lines and contact pads. Vias or other conductive structures may be used in interconnecting the signal lines to the contact pads. The contact pads may have elongated shapes or other shapes and may be formed in arrays on the printed circuits. Laser welds or other electrical connections may be used to join contact pads on a first printed circuit to respective contact pads on a second printed circuit. The laser welds may form part of a rectangular region of welds or may form part of a non-rectangular region of welds such as a region with a curved edge. Alignment marks may be used in aligning the contact pads. |
| US09681565B2 |
Electrical insulator casing
Systems, processes, and manufactures are provided that employ a casing associated with an electrical component to provide some, most, substantially all or all electrical insulative protection necessary for the electrical component. This casing may be further employed with potting or other materials to supplement and add additional or different protections for the component. These additional protections can include additional insulative resistance, thermal protection, moisture protection and other buffers to and from the environment. |
| US09681562B2 |
Mount platform for multiple military radios
A platform for a military radio with a vehicle adapter amplifier has been developed. The apparatus includes a base for supporting dual AN/VRC-110 radio systems. The platform has a first power supply system that converts 110/220 alternating current into +6.75 Volts direct current, +13 Volts direct current and +200 Volt direct current. The platform includes a vehicle adapter power amplifier that provides range extension to said dual AN/VRC-110 radio systems. |
| US09681559B2 |
Thick film circuits with conductive components formed using different conductive elements and related methods
Disclosed herein are a variety of embodiments of thick film circuits with conductive components formed using different conductive elements and related methods for forming such circuits. One embodiment consistent with the present disclosure includes a multi-level thick film circuit formed on a substrate and having a first layer disposed on the substrate. The first layer may include a first conductive component formed using a first conductive element. The first conductive element may be a precious metal. The circuit may further include a second layer having a second conductive component. The second conductive component may be formed using a second conductive element. In one embodiment, the second conductive element may be a base metal. At least a portion of the first conductive element may directly contact at least a portion of the second conductive element such that the first layer is in electrical communication with the second layer. |
| US09681556B2 |
Contact protection for integrated circuit device loading
In one embodiment, a load frame and an integrated circuit device are aligned, with a base frame carried on a substrate, along a first alignment axis defined by a first alignment post extending from the base frame to the load frame, in a direction transverse to the substrate, and a first biasing device carried on the base frame is actuated to engage and bias the load frame toward the base frame aligned with the load frame, and to bias the integrated circuit toward the substrate. A latch latches the load and base frames together, aligned with and biased towards each other with the integrated circuit device and the substrate aligned with, and biased toward each other. Other aspects and features are also described. |
| US09681553B2 |
Changing printing control parameters based on measured solder paste deposits in certain subareas of a printed circuit board
It is described a method for changing parameters for controlling a transfer of solder paste onto a printed circuit board (150, 250). The described method comprises (a) identifying first subareas (256, 258) of the printed circuit board (150, 250), which exhibit a first repeatability with respect to the amount of solder paste being supposed to be transferred onto the printed circuit board (150, 250), (b) identifying second subareas (252, 254) of the printed circuit board (150, 250), which exhibit a second repeatability with respect to the amount of solder paste being supposed to be transferred onto the printed circuit board (150, 250), wherein the first repeatability is smaller than the second repeatability, (c) transferring solder paste onto the printed circuit board (150, 250) at least at the second subareas (252, 254) of the printed circuit board (150, 250), (d) measuring the amount of solder paste which has been transferred to the second subareas (252, 254), and (e) changing the parameters for controlling a transfer of solder paste onto the printed circuit board (150, 250) in response to the measured amount of solder paste which has been transferred to the second subareas (252, 254). It is further described a corresponding processing device, a system comprising such a processing device and a computer program for controlling and/or for carrying out such a method. |
| US09681550B2 |
Method of making a circuit subassembly
A frame 100 containing aperture(s) 102, 103, 104 is positioned on and joined to a permanent substrate 206a or temporary substrate 206b. Electrical component(s) 202, 203, 204 are placed into respective aperture(s) 102, 103, 104 with the leads 504, 1002 of the component(s) 202, 203, 204 positioned on and attached to the permanent substrate 206a or the temporary substrate 206b. Then an encapsulant 402, electrically insulating, but preferably thermally conductive, envelops the component(s) 102, 103, 104. At this point, temporary substrate 206b may be removed exposing component leads 1002. Or, if component(s) 102, 103, 104 are mounted on permanent substrate 206a, vias 502 extend from the surface of substrate 206a to leads 504. With leads 504, 1002 exposed, the completed subassembly 500, 1000 may be incorporated into various forms of reverse-interconnection process (RIP) assemblies as detailed in related applications. |
| US09681549B2 |
Conical inductor, printed circuit board, and optical module
A conical inductor provided in the present invention includes: a housing, a conical coil located inside the housing, a first pin and a second pin respectively connected to two ends of the conical coil, where one end of the first pin is connected to one end of the conical coil, the other end of the first pin is connected to a hole in a first side wall of the housing in a fastened manner, one end of the second pin is connected to the other end of the conical inductor, and the other end of the second pin is connected to a hole in a second side wall of the housing in a fastened manner; and each of the first pin and the second pin includes one segment of waveform segment fluctuating in a direction perpendicular to a top wall of the housing. |
| US09681540B2 |
Electrode member and touch window including the same
Disclosed is an electrode member. The electrode member includes a substrate, and an electrode provided in the shape of a mesh on the substrate. |
| US09681539B2 |
System and apparatus for plant monitoring and control
A system and apparatus for monitoring and control of the operation of various types of industrial plants, including power plants, nuclear power plants and plants including various types of mechanical, electrical and chemical machinery. The invention employs modular non-microprocessor based, non-software based digital hardware that enables communication between sensors and control logic and between the control logic and actuators that control a functional aspect of each plant. |
| US09681537B2 |
Method for producing a power printed circuit and power printed circuit obtained by this method
The invention relates to a process for manufacturing a power circuit board in which, on the one hand, a printed circuit board including an insulating substrate and a conductive track on one of the sides of the substrate, and on the other hand, a bus bar element, are provided. The bus bar element is welded to the conductive track using a laser. In order to make it possible to produce the weld by laser welding, even with a relatively thick bus bar, the welding is carried out in a zone that is thinner relative to the maximum thickness of the bus bar. Thus, a printed circuit board is obtained with a bus bar having a thick zone for conducting high currents and a thinner zone in order to allow the bus bar to be welded to the conductive track by laser welding. |
| US09681535B2 |
Assembled board
The assembled board includes: an insulating board including a plurality of product regions disposed in a central portion and a marginal region disposed in an outer peripheral portion; a conductor layer disposed on an upper surface side and a lower surface side of the insulating board, the conductor layer having a volume different between the upper surface side and the lower surface side; and a solder resist layer laminated on the upper and lower surfaces of the insulating board, and a plurality of openings are formed in the solder resist layer on a surface on a side with a smaller volume of the conductor layer so that a volume in the marginal region of the solder resist layer becomes smaller than a volume in the marginal region of the solder resist layer on a surface on an opposite side. |
| US09681522B2 |
Adaptive light system and associated methods
An adaptive light system including a color matching engine, a controller, and a plurality of light sources each configured to emit a source light. The color matching engine determines a dominant wavelength of a selected color, and a combination of the light sources that the controller may operate to emit a combined wavelength that approximately matches the dominant wavelength of the selected color. A color capture device transmits a source color signal designating the selected color. A method of adapting light comprises receiving a selected color, converting a value representing a dominant wavelength of the selected color, determining a combination of and percentages of colors emitted by the plurality of light sources that may be combined to form an adapted light that matches the selected color, and operating the light sources along with a white light to emit the adapted light. |
| US09681521B2 |
Lighting device
A first lighting device comprises an electromagnetic sensor operable to receive an electromagnetic signal from at least one other lighting device, an acoustic sensor operable to receive an acoustic signal from the other lighting device, and a signal processing module. The signal processing module is configured to determine a distance between the first lighting device and the other lighting device by comparing the acoustic and electromagnetic signals received from the other lighting device. For example, the signals may be emitted when the other device detects occupancy in a space, and the first device may control its light output in dependence on receipt of the signals and the distance from the device that detected the occupancy. |
| US09681519B2 |
Night light for reducing nighttime fears
Disclosed is a fear-reducing device including a light for providing illumination in a dark room occupied by a person and including a controller for controlling the light output levels of the light. The light has variable lumen output levels in response to light control signals from the controller for helping overcome night-fear of the person. The control unit automatically reduces the output levels over a tapering period of time extending for multiple weeks. The control unit automatically reduces the output levels over a dimming period for each day of the tapering period. The controller is remote from the light and communicates with the light with wireless communication. |
| US09681517B2 |
Dim-to-warm system and method of operating the same
A method of controlling a correlated color temperature for light output by a lighting device including a dim-to-warm circuit having a first light channel and a second light channel. The method including receiving a current input; measuring current of the current input to obtain a measured current value; and determining a light control value based on the measured current value. The method further including using the light control value, determining a first current value for applying a first current to the first light channel and determining a second current value for applying a second current to the second light channel; and providing the first current to the first light channel and providing the second current to the second light channel to obtain different desired correlated color temperatures for the light output at different ones of the light control values. |
| US09681516B2 |
Light emitting diode luminaire device and system with color temperature tunning
A lighting system is disclosed that includes one or more master circuit boards configured to power light emitting diodes. The lighting system includes modular light boards with arrays of light emitting diodes that interchangeably couple to the matched connectors on the master circuit board. The system preferably includes modular light boards having different two or more corresponding color spectra and a controller that allows for color temperature tuning and intensity tuning of light emitted from the modular light boards. |
| US09681515B2 |
LED structure with a dynamic spectrum and a method
An integrated LED structure and a method of adjusting the emission spectrum of an integrated LED structure, for photobiological process. The structure comprises a substrate; a plurality of optically isolated and electrically non-independent light emission areas integrated on the substrate; a light emitting semiconductor source of a first type mounted in the emission area(s); a light emitting semiconductor source of a second type mounted in the emission area(s); an electrical circuit layer for connecting the said light emitting semiconductor sources in serial fashion for each emission area; and wavelength conversion materials. The emission areas are controlled with a common electrical drive current, and the emission output can be tuned by adjusting the common current value, to enable use of one luminaire for a large variety of biomass growing applications. |
| US09681514B1 |
Dimmer configured for providing sinking and sourcing current outputs
A lighting dimmer circuit that provides sinking and sourcing current outputs. The sinking and sourcing dimmer circuit may comprise first and second amplifiers, first and second NPN transistors, and first and second independent feedback loops. The dimmer is configured for providing a variable output voltage signal (Vout) to a sinking load or a sourcing load. When the output voltage signal (Vout) is coupled to a sinking load, current flows from a positive power supply (Vpos), through the first NPN transistor, and to the sinking load. When the output voltage signal (Vout) is coupled to a sourcing load, current flows from the sourcing load, through the second NPN transistor, and to the ground. In addition to the independent feedback loops, the gain of second amplifier may be greater than the gain of the first amplifier to ensure there is no undesired contention between the first and the second NPN transistor. |
| US09681510B2 |
Lighting device with operation responsive to geospatial position
A lighting device is arranged to receive or determine information indicative of geospatial location (and optionally additional information such as time, time zone, and/or date) and automatically adjust one or more light output parameters (e.g., luminous flux, color point, color temperature, spectral content, and operating time) based on such information to operate one or more emitters differently on different days of a year. Information indicative of geospatial location may be received or provided by a user input element, a signal receiver, and/or at least one sensor. Brightness and/or spectral content of lighting device emissions may be further adjusted intraday based on sensed ambient conditions, conditions of an illuminated space or surface, information indicative of weather conditions, and/or user inputs. |
| US09681509B2 |
Light-emitting device package and electronic device including light-emitting device
A light-emitting device package includes a substrate; a light-emitting device provided on the substrate and configured to be driven by an AC power supply; and a capacitor connected in series with the light-emitting device, where a capacitance of the capacitor varies so that a current flowing through the light-emitting device and flowing through the capacitor is maintained at a constant value according to a variation in temperatures of the light-emitting device and the capacitor. |
| US09681505B2 |
Circuit arrangement and method for operating and dimming at least one LED
A circuit arrangement includes a converter having a converter switch and a driver for the converter switch. The driver includes an interface coupling to a dimming apparatus supplying a dimming value. The driver provides an RF signal with a duty ratio at the output of the driver. The driver modifies the RF signal by superposition of a PWM signal such that, in correlation with the supplied dimming value, a predefinable number of periods of the RF signal is chopped from the RF signal. The driver is configured to reduce the duty ratio of the RF signal during at least one predefinable period of the RF signal in order to adjust levels of dimming which correspond to dimming values which are between a first and a second dimming value which differ from one another by at least one period of the RF signal. |
| US09681502B2 |
Lighting device
In a first aspect of the present inventive subject matter, a lighting device includes a light-emitting device 1 including p-contact and n-contact that are separately arranged from each other on a first surface of the light-emitting element and a phosphor layer including a phosphor particle and covering the light-emitting element 1 except the p-contact and n-contact of the light-emitting element, the phosphor layer includes a higher density of the phosphor particle on a position of the first surface between the p-contact and the n-contact of the light-emitting element than on a position of a second surface that is an opposite surface of the first surface 1b of the light-emitting element. |
| US09681500B2 |
Enhanced microwave system employing inductive iris
A microwave heating system configured to heat a plurality of articles is provided. The microwave heating system includes a microwave splitter, a pair of microwave launchers, and at least one inductive iris disposed between the splitter and the launch opening of one of the launchers. A microwave launcher suitable for use in such a heating system is also provided. The launcher includes an inductive iris disposed within the interior of the launcher, spaced between its inlet and outlet and obstructing at least a portion of the microwave pathway. |
| US09681498B2 |
Heater with particle shield for noise
A heater includes a heating element, a pair of lead wires each connected to an end of the heating element, and an insulating base body in which the heating element and the pair of lead wires are embedded. The insulating base body contains a plurality of metal particles around the heating element, the metal particles being separated from the heating element. The plurality of metal particles and the heating element comprise an elliptical cross-section comprising a same major axis direction. With such a structure, when the heater is rapidly cooled to cause a crack on the surface of the insulating base body, the crack develops along the major axis direction of the metal particles and therefore rarely reaches the heating element. This resists breakage of the heating element. |
| US09681495B2 |
Method for scanning services with a multimode communication device
A system that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a group of preferences of service attributes is established based on a determination of a user behavior. A group is generated of user preferences of the group of preferences of service attributes according to a user profile. First and second service attributes from the group of preferences of service attributes are adjusted for each service according to the group of user preferences to achieve a desired balance of service offerings. Available services are identified operating in the television spectrum, and one of the services operating is selected responsive to the adjusting of the first and second service attributes according to the group of user preferences. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09681491B2 |
Discontinuous reception method, mobile station, base station and wireless communication system
A discontinuous reception method, mobile station, base station and wireless communication system are provided in the present invention. The discontinuous reception method in the wireless communication system includes the following steps: in case of a continuous carrier aggregation, setting a common On Duration timer and/or a common Discontinuous Reception inactivity timer for a primary cell and each secondary cell; and in case of a discontinuous carrier aggregation, setting an independent On Duration timers and/or an independent Discontinuous Reception inactivity timers for the primary cell and each secondary cells. The present invention realizes discontinuous reception of the carrier aggregation, thus saving power consumption of the mobile station. |
| US09681490B1 |
Network management and wireless channel termination
According to one configuration, an access point control resource receives channel allocation information indicating a change to allocation of channels in a wireless band currently used by multiple wireless access points to communicate with multiple communication devices in a network. The access point control resource uses the channel allocation information to identify a particular wireless channel (such as a de-allocated wireless channel) to be terminated from use by the multiple wireless access points. In accordance with the channel allocation information, when vacating use of the de-allocated channel, the access point control resource controls an order of terminating use of the particular wireless channel by the multiple wireless access points. |
| US09681488B2 |
Method and apparatus for discontinuous reception of connected terminal in a mobile communication system
A method and apparatus for controlling an active time period during a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) operation in a User Equipment (UE) in a mobile communication system. The method includes transitioning to an active state from a sleep state; extending an active time of the active state, if control data indicating transmission of new user data is received on a control channel; receiving a control signal indicating a termination of the active time; and transitioning to the sleep state from the active state, based on the control signal. |
| US09681485B2 |
Methods and systems for enabling end-user equipment at an end-user premise to effect communications when an ability of the end-user to communicate via a communication link connecting the end-user equipment to a communications network is disrupted
A method for effecting communications, such as telephone calls, accesses to data network sites, alarm system communications, and/or other communications, over a communications network. The method comprises: determining that an ability of first end-user equipment at a first end-user premise to communicate via a first communication link connecting the first end-user equipment to the communications network is disrupted; establishing a wireless communication link between the first end-user equipment and second end-user equipment at a second end-user premise; and causing information transmitted by or destined for the first end-user equipment to be exchanged over the communications network via the wireless communication link and a second communication link connecting the second end-user equipment to the communications network. Also provided are apparatus and computer-readable media containing a program element executable by a computing system to perform such a method. |
| US09681482B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving signals with a value indicated by a TPC command being accumulated for all parameter sets
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transmitting uplink signals to a plurality of transmission points in a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving information on at least one parameter set group through upper layer signaling, wherein each of the at least one parameter set group includes a plurality of parameter sets; detecting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) comprising indication information for indicating specific parameter sets which belong to one of the parameter set groups from among the at least one parameter set group; and transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) by using the specific parameter set, wherein each of the plurality of parameter sets includes information on a power control parameter and information on timing advance (TA) for transmitting the PUSCH signal. |
| US09681477B2 |
Digital radio communication
A method of digital radio communication between a first device (2) and a second device (8), where each device comprises a radio transmitter (4, 10) and a radio receiver (6, 12), the method comprising: a) said first and second devices (2, 8) establishing a connection using a predetermined protocol having at least one predefined message format; b) if said connection is subsequently broken, said second device (8) transmitting an advertising message at a first data rate indicating a desire to reconnect; and c) if a reconnection is not established, said second device (8) transmitting a further advertising message at a second data rate indicating a desire to reconnect, wherein said second data rate is lower than the first data rate. |
| US09681476B2 |
Wireless communication devices and methods for forming peer-to-peer (P2P) wireless connections between devices
Various embodiments include an apparatus having a wireless communication device (WCD) and methods for the WCD to wirelessly exchange messages with other devices. In some embodiments, such a WCD may send a message to reject an invitation to form a peer-to-peer (P2P) wireless connection between the WCD and a first device if the invitation is received by the WCD when the WCD has already established a P2P wireless connection with a second device. Other embodiments including additional apparatus and methods are described. |
| US09681472B2 |
Method and apparatus for mapping identities to device-to-device synchronization sequences
In one aspect of the teachings herein, Device-to-Device, D2D, synchronization signals are generated as a function of an abbreviated identifier associated with the D2D synchronization signals, e.g., the abbreviated identifier serves as a synchronization reference identifier or as an abbreviated device identifier for the wireless device transmitting the D2D synchronization signals. Advantageously, the abbreviated identifier is derived from a full identifier, e.g., a full-length device identifier taken from a full identifier space that is larger than the numeric range represented by the abbreviated identifier space. Use of the abbreviated identifier with its smaller numeric range results in more robust synchronization sequence detection at a receiver, and requires less complexity than would be required if sequence detection operated over the full identifier space. |
| US09681463B2 |
Coexistence priority selection
Methods and systems for auto coexistence priority selection for a SCO link are disclosed. Aspects of one method may include a first Bluetooth device communicating with a collocated WLAN device via a coexistence method. The first Bluetooth device, prior to executing a non-SCO task, which may comprise tasks that do not involve SCO packet transfer, may communicate low priority via the coexistence method if a Bluetooth SCO link is present between the first Bluetooth device and a second Bluetooth device, and if a current task being handled by the first Bluetooth device is a high priority task. If a SCO link is not present between the first and second Bluetooth devices, and if the current non-SCO task is a high priority task, the first Bluetooth device may communicate high priority via the coexistence method prior to executing the non-SCO task. |
| US09681461B2 |
Method and system of enhancing signal processing in a shared medium network
A method implemented in a device is disclosed for networking through signals transmitted across a shared medium network. The method starts with monitoring for a first signal on a shared medium of the shared medium network. The first signal is processed after it is received and while the first signal is being processed, a set of one or more signals is received on the shared medium. Then a set of one or more amplitude increases is determined, where each amplitude increase is from an earlier received signal to a later received signal. The set of one or more amplitude increases is compared to a threshold value and at least partially in response to the comparison, the device discards one or more signals from the first signal and the set of one or more signals. |
| US09681460B2 |
Wireless communication system, base station apparatus and mobile station apparatus
An apparatus for signal processing includes a scheduling unit and a transmitting unit. The scheduling unit is configured to assign one physical uplink control channel resource for transmissions of first group feedback information and second group feedback information. A first periodicity corresponds to the first group feedback information and a second periodicity corresponds to the second group feedback information. The transmitting unit is configured to transmit a transmission parameter of the first periodicity and the second periodicity and information of the assigned physical uplink control channel resource. The first group feedback information includes a transmission of reception quality information and transmission signal precoding information and the second group feedback information includes a transmission of transmission signal sequence information. |
| US09681459B2 |
Assignment of backhaul resources in cooperative wireless networks
A method assigns backhaul links in a cooperative wireless network including a control unit (CU) connected to a set of access points (APs) by a set of backhaul links, and wherein the APs are connected to an end user by wireless channels. A reliability of each backhaul link is determined to produce a set of reliabilities. A distance between each AP and the end user is determined to produce a set of distances. Using the set of reliabilities and the set of distances, probabilities of successful reception of a message transmitted from the CU to the end user via the backhaul links and the wireless channels are determined. Then, the backhaul links are assigned according to the probabilities of successful reception of the message by the end user. |
| US09681458B2 |
Methods for packet transmission protection and communications apparatus utilizing the same
A communications apparatus includes a radio module providing a predetermined wireless communications service and communicating with a peer communications apparatus in a predetermined frequency band in compliance with a predetermined protocol. The radio module includes a processor. The processor determines a maximum packet transmission duration, transmits information regarding the maximum packet transmission duration to the peer communications apparatus and negotiates a preferred packet transmission duration with the peer communications apparatus. |
| US09681457B2 |
Method and apparatus for coordinating inter-cell interference
Exemplary methods for coordinating inter-cell interference in a heterogeneous network comprising a macro cell and at least one small cell include obtaining, with regard to a terminal device in a small cell, a type of interference from the macro cell to the small cell, and determining a relationship between a number of uplink subframes and a number of downlink subframes in a current subframe configuration used in the macro cell. The methods also include allocating protected subframes for the terminal device according to the obtained type of interference and the determined relationship, and scheduling transmission in relation to the allocated protected subframes in the macro cell. |
| US09681448B2 |
Methods communicating radiation pattern information and related network nodes and base stations
Methods are provided to operate a first node in a radio access network including a plurality of base stations. The method includes communicating radiation pattern information for a radio access network transmission. The radiation pattern information is communicated between the first node and a second node, and the radiation pattern information includes an indication of power and an indication of direction associated with the indication of power for the radio access network transmission. Related network nodes and base stations are also discussed. |
| US09681446B2 |
Flexible Gaussian minimum shift keying in a cellular internet of things system
Methods, systems, and devices are described for wireless communication at a UE. A user equipment (UE) may utilize orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) for demodulating downlink messages and a combination of Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) and single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) for uplink modulation. The uplink modulation process may include generating a symbol vector with an M-point discrete Fourier transform (DFT), filtering the symbol vector with a frequency domain Gaussian filter, generating a sample vector from the filtered symbol vector utilizing an inverse DFT, and modulating the sample vector utilizing GMSK. In some cases, the uplink modulation may be based on a narrowband resource allocation received from a base station. |
| US09681442B2 |
Systems and methods for scheduling group access in wireless networks
Systems, methods, and devices for wireless communication are described herein. In some aspects, a method includes determining one or more classes of compatible transmissions from one or more wireless devices. The method further includes defining scheduled time slots for each of the one or more classes. The method further includes defining a channel access procedure associated with each of the scheduled time slots. The method further includes accessing a wireless medium during an associated scheduled time slot according to the channel access procedure by one or more of the wireless devices. |
| US09681440B2 |
Method and device for scheduling a wireless personal area network
The present specification sets forth a method for a device to transmit data in a wireless personal area network (WPAN), comprising the steps of: transmitting a transmission-band request message for transceiving non-contention data between a first coordinator and a second coordinator, the second coordinator operating in a different frequency channel from the first coordinator; switching an operating channel to the different frequency channel; receiving transmission-band allocation information corresponding to the transmission-band request message from the second coordinator through the switched different frequency channel; and transceiving data to/from the second coordinator according to the transmission-band allocation information. |
| US09681435B2 |
Mobile station device, radio communication method and integrated circuit
A mobile station device transmits a transport block in an uplink subframe. The mobile station device delivers acknowledgement (ACK) for the transport block to higher layers in a case that the transport block was transmitted by the mobile station device to a base station device and the transport block is disabled based on a physical downlink control channel received in a downlink subframe. |
| US09681434B2 |
Method of reference signaling resource allocation for control channel transmission in wireless communication system
In legacy systems such as 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) releases 8 to 10, the control channel is transmitted using the first few Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in a subframe. The limited control channel capacity will impact the system performance in future releases as more and more User Equipments (UEs) will be scheduled in a subframe with technologies such as MulitUser-Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) and Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) transmission being enhanced or introduced. A new Enhanced Control CHannel (E-CCH) is necessary to be designed, which will use the resource in the Physical Downlink Shared CHannel (PDSCH) in the legacy systems. The E-CCH will support UE-specific DeModulation Reference Signal (DMRS) based transmission and receiving. However, the configuration of DMRS for E-CCH is necessary to be known to UE in prior. This invention discloses multiple methods in which DMRS is configured for E-CCHs and respective eNB and UE behaviors. |
| US09681431B2 |
Method and apparatus for deactivating secondary carriers in mobile communication system using carrier aggregation
A method and an apparatus for deactivating secondary carriers in a mobile communication system using carrier aggregation are provided. A communication method, for a User Equipment (UE), includes activating a secondary carrier, starting a first timer upon activation of the secondary carrier, starting a second timer when the first timer expires, and deactivating the activated secondary carrier when the second timer expires. |
| US09681430B2 |
Methods and arrangements for semi-persistent scheduling
Base station, UE and methods therein associated with transmission resources allocated by Semi-Persistent Scheduling, SPS. The method in a UE comprises receiving information about a set of Modulation and Coding Schemes, MCSs from a Base Station, BS. The MCSs are associated with resources allocated by SPS. Further, the method comprises determining an MCS from the set, for communication on at least one resource allocated by SPS, and then transmitting and/or receiving data on the at least one resource allocated by SPS, using the determined MCS. |
| US09681427B2 |
Method for transmitting feedback information for downlink data, terminal, and base station
This application provides a method for transmitting feedback information for downlink data, a terminal, and a base station. The method includes: receiving, by a terminal from a base station, DCI used for downlink data group scheduling and location information of a first feedback resource, where the DCI is used to indicate a scheduling condition of each terminal in a scheduling group to which the terminal belongs; receiving, by the terminal according to the DCI, downlink data sent by the base station; and sending, by the terminal according to the scheduling condition, feedback information for the downlink data by using the feedback resource indicated by the location information of the first feedback resource. |
| US09681426B2 |
Method and device for transmitting uplink control signal in wireless communication system
A method for transmitting an uplink control signal of a terminal in a wireless communication system and a terminal using the method are provided. The method comprises the steps of: setting a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for a first antenna port; setting a second PUCCH resource for a second antenna port; and transmitting a same uplink control signal through the first and second antenna ports by using the first and second PUCCH resources, wherein the first and second PUCCH resources are orthogonal to each other. |
| US09681423B2 |
Method for efficiently transmitting physical channel in multi-carrier aggregation state to support broadband
The present invention relates to a wireless connection system, and more specifically to a method for efficiently transmitting a control channel in a multi-carrier aggregation state. According to one aspect of the invention, a method for enabling a terminal to transmit data in a broadband wireless connection system that supports multiband comprises the steps of: receiving uplink acknowledgement information from a base station through a first downlink component carrier among plural downlink component carriers available in the terminal; transmitting data to the base station through an uplink resource indicated by the uplink acknowledge information; and receiving feedback information from the base station through the first control channel of the first downlink component carrier, wherein the feedback information indicates whether there is an error in the reception of the transmitted data. |
| US09681422B2 |
Dynamic adaptive and non-adaptive mode switching
A method of operating a transceiver may comprise operating in an adaptive mode in which transmissions from the transceiver are halted after detection of interference, performing a clear channel assessment (CCA), as a result of the CCA, detecting energy from an interferer above a predetermined threshold, and switching operation to a non-adaptive mode in which the transceiver is configured to alternate transmission periods and idle periods according to a duty cycle. Then, the method may comprise performing an energy detect, as a result of the energy detect, subsequently detecting the energy from the interferer below the predetermined threshold, and switching operation to the adaptive mode. |
| US09681418B2 |
Wireless multicast communication
This document describes multicast communication between wireless devices. A scheduling frame may be wirelessly transmitted by a wireless device. The scheduling frame may include a multicast address indicating a group of intended receiving devices for a payload frame. The scheduling frame may further include scheduling information indicating an order for the group of intended receiving devices to transmit acknowledgement information for the payload frame. A payload frame may also be wirelessly transmitted by the wireless device. The payload frame may include payload information intended for the group of intended receiving devices. Additionally, acknowledgement frames may be wirelessly received by the wireless device from at least a subset of the group of intended receiving devices. The acknowledgement frames may be received according to the order indicated in the scheduling information. |
| US09681412B2 |
Method and device for providing a mobile device with service continuity over multiple access networks
Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, registering with a first access network to generate a first registration, detecting a triggering event, and registering with a second access network to generate a second registration while maintaining the first registration with the first access network. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09681409B2 |
Methods and wireless devices for enabling synchronization in D2D communications
A first and a second wireless device and a respective method performed thereby for enabling D2D communication there between are provided. The method performed by the first wireless device comprises obtaining (110) a timing reference and a time offset, from a wireless network; and transmitting (120), to the at least one second wireless device, an SA in accordance with the obtained timing reference, the SA comprising the time offset. The method further comprises transmitting (130) data, to the at least one second wireless device, in accordance with an uplink timing, wherein the uplink timing is based on the time offset and the timing reference. |
| US09681407B2 |
Time synchronization function rollover solution
Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer program products for time synchronization function (TSF) rollover solutions for short beacons. Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for wireless communications. The apparatus generally includes a processing system configured to generate a time stamp with a first value of a first portion of a counter and generate a frame including a first field with the time stamp and a second field having one or more bits with a second value of the first portion of the counter, and an interface configured to output the frame for transmission to a receiving device. |
| US09681405B2 |
Method and apparatus for applying a time alignment timer in a wireless communication system using a carrier aggregation technique
Operation of a terminal for determining which time alignment timer is applied to a certain condition when specific timers operate for each carrier-wave group in the event a wireless communication system using carrier aggregation techniques. A terminal performs communication without malfunctions using a timer suitable for a certain condition. The terminal operates the timer by receiving, from a base station, a message including a timing advance command and an index on a timing advance group (TAG), operating the timer for the TAG, the index has a value of 00 when the TAG includes a first cell. A terminal operates a timer by operating a first timer for a TAG including a first cell, operating a second timer upon receipt of a timing advance command for a second TAG that does not include the first cell, and, if the first timer has expired, deeming the second timer to also be expired. |
| US09681403B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing uplink time alignment
A method and apparatus of managing uplink time alignment in a wireless communication system is provided. A user equipment starts a time alignment timer which is used to control how long the user equipment is considered uplink time aligned and receives an expiry request message from a base station while the time alignment timer is running. Upon receiving the expiry request, the user equipment expires the time alignment timer and releasing uplink resources. |
| US09681400B2 |
Method of efficiently reporting user equipment transmission power and apparatus thereof
A method and an apparatus for efficiently transmitting or reporting a Power Headroom Report (PHR) of a User Equipment (UE) are provided. The method of transmitting the PHR of the UE in a mobile communication system includes configuring an extended PHR including an indicator corresponding to a variation factor of a maximum transmission power of the UE, and transmitting the extended PHR from the UE to a Base Station (BS). The BS may be notified of a maximum transmission power of the UE and a variation factor corresponding to the maximum transmission power in order to enable efficient scheduling. |
| US09681399B2 |
Configuration of cell groups in wireless communication devices
A wireless device transmits a first sounding reference signal (SRS) in a first cell overlapping in time with transmission of a packet in a second cell. The first cell and the second cell are different cells of the same cell group. The wireless device drops a second SRS in the first cell when the second SRS is configured for transmission in parallel with a preamble in a cell group comprising the first cell. The wireless device has sufficient power to transmit uplink signals. |
| US09681397B2 |
Format dependent power control for coordinated multipoint transmission
An apparatus determines a transmission power of a signal transmitted by a user equipment (UE) in a cell that is identified by a virtual cell identifier. The apparatus generates a power control command based on the determined signal power, and transmits the power control command to a plurality of UEs. Subsequent to transmission of the power control command, the apparatus receives a plurality of transmissions from the plurality of UEs. Some of the transmissions have different transmission powers. The different transmission powers of the signals transmitted by the UEs are due to the power control command and a predefined power offset associated with each respective UE. |
| US09681386B2 |
Wi-Fi low energy preamble
This disclosure relates to low energy communication techniques. According to some embodiments, a wireless transmission may be received by a wireless device. The wireless transmission may include a physical layer (PHY) preamble and PHY data. The PHY preamble may include destination information indicating a destination and length information indicating a length (or duration) of the wireless transmission. The destination and length information may be included prior to a portion of the PHY preamble configured for channel estimation. The wireless device may determine whether the wireless transmission is destined to the wireless device based on the destination information. If the wireless transmission is not destined to the wireless device, the wireless device may drop a remainder of the wireless transmission. |
| US09681385B2 |
Method and apparatus for optimizing power consumption of a terminal in a mobile communication system
The present invention relates to a method and to an apparatus for optimizing the power consumption of a terminal in a mobile communication system. The method for optimizing power consumption of a terminal in a mobile communication system comprises: a determination step of determining whether there is a need for changing a configuration for a discontinuous reception operation of the terminal; and a transmission step of transmitting, to a base station, a request message for a change in the discontinuous reception operation, if it is determined that the change is needed. |
| US09681382B2 |
Radio coexistence in wireless networks
Technology for reducing coexistence interference in a multi-radio device is disclosed. One method comprises applying discontinuous reception (DRX) to a user equipment (UE) having a plurality of radio transceivers. The DRX can include a long DRX cycle for the UE. One of a 2 milliseconds (ms), 5 ms, and 8 ms cycle start offset period may be provided for the long DRX cycle to reduce coexistence interference between the plurality of radio transceivers in the UE. The cycle start offset period is selected to provide at least one Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process reservation pattern to reduce the coexistence interference between the plurality of radio transceivers in the UE. |
| US09681379B2 |
Communication device for controlling communication through second communication system based on field intensity of received information of communication through first communication system and storage medium
A communication device includes a reception unit, a detection unit and a control unit. The reception unit receives broadcast information broadcasted through first communication of a first communication system. The detection unit detects a radio field intensity of the received broadcast information. The control unit controls second communication of a second communication system based on the detected radio field intensity, thereby activating or deactivating the second communication. |
| US09681376B2 |
Method and related equipment for sending signaling
The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and related equipment for sending signaling. The method includes: when a power consumption preference of a user equipment is changed to lower power consumption, determining whether a first timer used for restricting sending of a lower power consumption preference indication expires, and if a determination result is yes, sending a lower power consumption preference indication to a base station; and when the power consumption preference of the user equipment is changed to higher power consumption, sending a higher power consumption preference indication to the base station, or determining whether a second timer used for restricting sending of a higher power consumption preference indication expires, and if a determination result is yes, sending a higher power consumption preference indication to the base station. The present invention may improve user experience. |
| US09681370B2 |
Co-located network selection algorithm
A wireless device may automatically connect to a preferred wireless network, such as a preferred Wi-Fi network. The wireless device may order a plurality of wireless networks according to initial criteria, such as the time the wireless device last connected to each wireless network. Preference rules may then be applied to reorder the wireless networks. Each preference rule may be applied only if an associated score meets a threshold. A scan may be performed to determine which of the wireless networks are available for connection. The wireless device may automatically connect to the highest-ordered available wireless network. The scores associated with the preference rules may be modified in response to events that indicate a user preference for one or more of the wireless networks, such as manually switching from one network to another. |
| US09681367B2 |
White space utilization
The concepts relate to radio white space utilization. One example can obtain information about a location of a device. The example can access a white space database to obtain radio white space frequencies relative to the location. This example can also perform active scanning of at least some of the radio white space frequencies at the location and not perform active scanning on allocated frequencies. |
| US09681365B2 |
Group owner (GO) negotiation in peer to peer (P2P) communications to obtain group owner role
According to one embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable medium within a first network device operating as an access point and comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, causes performance of a number of operations including transmission and reception of Peer-to-Peer messages between two or more network devices having Peer-to-Peer functionality. Thereafter, negotiations are conducted by network devices to selection of a Group Owner (GO) for a Peer-To-Peer group. The negotiations comprise specifically selecting a set of one or more values that ensures the first network device obtaining the GO role for Peer-to-Peer communications within the Peer-to-Peer group instead of randomly selecting the one or more values for the negotiating of the GO role. |
| US09681363B2 |
Method and apparatus for manipulating uplink service area of access node in wireless network
The present disclosure provides a method and an apparatus for manipulating an Uplink (UL) service area of an access node in a wireless network. The method comprises determining whether a condition for updating a cell list for UL reception of a terminal device in proximity of the access node is met by considering a first set of Cell Individual Offsets (CIOs) for a set of cells. The first set of CIOs for the set of cells are respectively different from a second set of CIOs for the set of cells which are considered in determining whether a condition for changing a serving access node for Downlink (DL) transmission of the terminal device is met. The method further comprises updating the cell list for UL reception of the terminal device according to the determination. |
| US09681362B2 |
Systems and methods for selecting a network access system
A system according to some embodiments of the invention includes (1) a component (e.g. ANDSF) that provides a cell selection rule to a UE and (2) a component (e.g. an access node) that provides the UE with information about the load in the cell currently utilized by the UE. This enables the UE to determine whether to leave the cell, which may be a 3GPP cell, and use a different cell, which may be a non-3GPP cell, by applying the cell selection rule in conjunction with its knowledge about the load of the cell. |
| US09681357B1 |
System, method, and computer-readable medium for interaction with a device via a module-based device interaction system enabled for wireless communication
A system, method, and computer-readable storage medium that enable the monitoring and control of a device via a network, such as the Internet, via an interactive hardware module that interfaces with the device and communicates with a module server located locally or remotely from the placement of the module. The hardware module allows for the transmission and receipt of data between the device interfaced to the hardware module and the module server, thereby enabling the user manually or automatically to control or monitor the device via an access medium, such as an API. The hardware module and the device may be interfaced via a wired or a wireless connection. Furthermore, the hardware module and the module server may enable the activation of an inactive device from a remote location. |
| US09681356B2 |
Data forwarding in hybrid mesh networks
A system and method are disclosed for forwarding data in hybrid wireless mesh networks. The method includes configuring a number of mesh network nodes as potential relay nodes (PRNs) in an overlay network associated with a hybrid wireless mesh network, streaming data packets from a source node to a destination node using a native data forwarding algorithm of the hybrid wireless mesh network, dynamically identifying relay nodes (RNs) among PRNs in the overlay network, creating secondary paths for sending data packets towards selected RNs in the overlay network, and relaying data packets from RNs to the destination node using the overlay network. |
| US09681354B2 |
Signaling radio bearer optimizations and other techniques for supporting small data transmissions
Embodiments of an eNodeB and method for small data transfer in a Wireless Network are generally described herein. A method performed by circuitry of a User Equipment (UE) can include determining, by the UE, whether the UE is configured to be used for Machine Type Communication (MTC). The method can include determining whether the UE has small data (SD) to transfer. The method can include configuring the UE to use a small data signaling radio bearer (SDSRB) to send the SD, in response to determining that the UE is configured to be used for MTC and the UE has SD to transfer. An evolved Node B can determine whether the UE is configured to be used for MTC, determine whether there is SD to transfer to the UE, wherein SD comprises data that has delay tolerance, and configure the UE to use a signaling bearer to send the SD. |
| US09681346B2 |
Method for detecting uplink signal and relevant device and system
A method for detecting an uplink signal includes: detecting, by a micro base station according to configuration information about an uplink signal sent by a UE, whether the uplink signal is received in an uplink receive window of a macro base station, where the macro base station and the micro base station have synchronized clock rates, there is a fixed time difference t1 between the uplink receive window of the macro base station and an uplink receive window of the micro base station, and |t1|≧0; and if it is detected that the uplink signal is not received in the uplink receive window of the macro base station, after the micro base station advances the uplink receive window of the macro base station by a length of at least one cyclic prefix, detecting, by the micro base station, the uplink signal, and sending the uplink signal to the macro base station. |
| US09681344B1 |
Differential handling of buffered data during handover based on whether handover target is a relay with wireless backhaul
A method and system for transferring buffered downlink data for a wireless communication device (WCD) from a source base station to a target base station as part of a handover of the WCD from the source to the target base station. The source base station may have downlink data for transmission to the WCD buffered during the handover. A determination may be made as to whether or not the target base station is a relay base station with a wireless backhaul. If the target base station is determined to be a relay base station with a wireless backhaul, then the source base station may refrain from transmitting at least one portion of the buffered data to the target base station. |
| US09681343B2 |
Apparatuses, methods and computer programs for a mobile transceiver and a base station transceiver
Embodiments relate to apparatuses, methods and a computer programs for a mobile transceiver (100) and a base station transceiver (200). The mobile transceiver apparatus (10) comprises means for receiving (12) radio signals from two or more base station transceivers, the means for receiving (12) further having a receive sensitivity determining a possibility to decode data from a radio signal of one of the two or more base station transceivers, while also receiving radio signals from the other of the two or more base station transceivers. The mobile transceiver apparatus further comprises means for providing (14) sensitivity information on the receive sensitivity to an associated base station transceiver (200). The base station transceiver apparatus (20) comprises means for receiving (22) the sensitivity information on the receiver sensitivity and means for determining (24) configuration information on a measurement configuration for the mobile transceiver (100). The configuration information comprises information on a signal quality measurement at the mobile transceiver (100) on radio signals received from another base station transceiver and the configuration information comprises bias information for biasing the signal quality measurement, the bias information is based on the sensitivity information. |
| US09681342B2 |
Assistance information for evolved node B (eNB) parameter tuning
Technology for providing core network assistance information from a mobility management entity (MME) in an evolved packet core (EPC) is disclosed. An average radio resource control (RRC) connected state time for a UE is determined. An average RRC idle state time for the UE is also determined. An amount of time that the UE spends in cells of the EPC is identified to determine a number of handover procedures between cells in a selected time period. The core network assistance information communicated to a serving eNB of the UE to enable the serving eNB to reduce UE state transitions for the UE. |
| US09681339B2 |
Security processing method and system in network handover process
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a security processing method and system in a network handover process. The method includes: generating, by a network switching node, a target key after receiving a handover request; sending, by the network switching node, security information including the target key to a target network node, and receiving a handover response message sent by the target network node; and sending, by the network switching node, a handover command to a mobile terminal, so that the mobile terminal accesses a target network. By adopting the present invention, security processing in handover of a mobile terminal from a 3G network to an HSPA network or an LTE network may be completed in a case that the network switching node currently used in the network is not changed. |
| US09681336B2 |
Quality of service information configuration
Quality of service information can be used to facilitate wireless communication. A network entity, such as a terminal, as well as a network can initialize an authorization to establish a link using quality of service information. Various features can be integrated with the use of quality of service information, such as having quality of service reservation before a call and supplying a permanent identity for use in correlation. |
| US09681335B2 |
Methods for bandwidth efficient operations in wireless local area networks
A method of establishing a data transmission bandwidth between a transmitting node and a receiving node is provided. The method includes sending a request to send (RTS) message from a transmitting node to a receiving node, the RTS message indicating a data transmission bandwidth to be considered for use in subsequent data transmission and establishing a negotiated data transmission bandwidth comprising multiple channels, wherein each channel comprises a 20 MHz bandwidth, and wherein the multiple channels are at least one of contiguous and non-contiguous in frequency. |
| US09681334B2 |
Methods and apparatus for enabling load steering in heterogeneous radio access networks
According to a first aspect there is provided a method of enabling load steering between a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Radio Access Network (RAN) and a Wi-Fi RAN. The method comprises, at a server, generating overlap information associating one or more cells of the 3GPP RAN with one or more Access Points (AP) of the Wi-Fi RAN, wherein a cell of the 3GPP RAN is associated with an AP of the Wi-Fi RAN if it is determined that the cell overlaps with an area covered by the AP. The server then determines an off-load schedule for a cell of the 3GPP RAN, the off-load schedule indicating when an overlapping AP of the Wi-Fi RAN can reject an attempt by a user terminal to attach to the AP of the Wi-Fi RAN, and sends the off-load schedule to the Wi-Fi RAN. |
| US09681330B2 |
Apparatus and method for collecting radio frequency feature of wireless device in wireless communication apparatus
An apparatus and method for collecting the radio frequency (RF) feature of a wireless device in a wireless communication apparatus are disclosed herein. The RF feature extraction unit adds a tag having a unique value to a received radio signal, and extracts RF feature information from the radio signal. The MAC information extraction unit extracts the source MAC address and tag information of a MAC protocol frame from the received radio signal, and then removes the added tag. The tag comparison unit selects an source MAC address and RF feature information, when the tags have the same value, from the RF feature information and tag information from the RF feature extraction unit and the source MAC address and tag information from the MAC information extraction unit. The RF feature storage unit stores the selected source MAC address and RF feature information. |
| US09681329B2 |
Mobile WLAN gateway
A technique for operating a mobile station as wireless local-area network [“WLAN”] gateway. The mobile station is provided with a gateway application to control the following operations: activating (3-0) the WLAN means as a WLAN base station capable of communicating with at least one WLAN terminal over a WLAN network; creating a network identifier (3-2, 3-4) for the WLAN base station; assigning (3-8, 3-10) an internet protocol address for the at least one WLAN terminal; resolving domain name service [“DNS”] queries (3-12 . . . 3-18) in cooperation with an external DNS service system; assigning at least one port number for each protocol supported by the gateway application; and tunneling internet traffic (3-30 . . . 3-36) between the at least one WLAN terminal and an internet host over the broadband connection. |
| US09681317B2 |
Mitigating effects of predicted failures in a mobile network basestation due to weather
Basestation equipment in a mobile data network is subject to harsh environmental conditions at many remote locations. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has introduced a Mobile Internet Optimization Platform (MIOP) appliance, referred herein as the MIOP@NodeB. This appliance is placed at the edge or basestation of a mobile data network to provide a platform for hosting applications and enhancing mobile network services. The introduction of an edge appliance provides a platform for additional reliability functions. A predictive failure mechanism in the basestation appliance mitigates the effects of predicted failures in a mobile network basestation due to weather conditions. The predictive failure mechanism considers historical data, ambient environmental conditions, weather alerts and weather forecasts to take pre-emptive action to avert partial or total failure of the basestation equipment. |
| US09681311B2 |
Portable wireless node local cooperation
Disclosed herein are example embodiments for local cooperation between or among portable wireless nodes. For certain example embodiments, at least one device, such as a portable wireless node: (i) may identify at least one cooperative portable wireless node to participate in an antenna assembly configuration parameter architecture; or (ii) may communicate with at least one cooperative portable wireless node to share one or more antenna assembly configuration parameters that are associated with at least one orientation position of at least one portable wireless node. However, claimed subject matter is not limited to any particular described embodiments, implementations, examples, or so forth. |
| US09681309B2 |
Methods exploiting asymmetric capabilities for contention-based random access in mm-wave access systems
A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for operating a user equipment (UE) are provided. The apparatus receives beamforming capability information indicating one of at least a digital, analog, or hybrid beamforming capability, the beamforming capability associated with a millimeter wave base station (mmW-BS). Based on the beamforming capability information, the apparatus scans N transmit beams from the mmW-BS for each of M receive beam directions of the UE, determines one or more preferred scanned beams from among the N transmit beams, and establishes a wireless communication link with the mmW-BS based on the preferred one or more scanned beams. |
| US09681306B2 |
Method for selecting master CM in coexistence network
Disclosed according to one embodiment of the present invention is a method whereby a management device, which enables coexistence of television white space (TVWS) devices in a TVWS, sends a server a request for the selection of a master management device, the method comprising the steps of: determining whether a trigger condition for the process of selecting the master management device is satisfied; judging the management device as a candidate slave management device, and the other management devices as candidate master management devices, provided that the trigger condition is satisfied; and initiating the process for selecting the master management device, wherein the trigger condition may be based on the load balance parameter or geographical coverage parameter of the management device. |
| US09681302B2 |
Method, apparatus, and system for providing and using a trusted tag
A trusted authority, validation system and method are provided. The system and method may employ Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies to prepare and write signed validation signatures to tags as well as read and analyze validation signatures from tags. An NFC-enabled phone is also provided as a mechanism for facilitating the trusted authority and validation services described herein. |
| US09681295B2 |
Verification and checking methods for use in a multimedia IP core network, and servers
Disclosed is a verification method comprising reception of a registration request at a multimedia IP network core, the registration request containing a public identity of a user. The method also comprises interrogation of a user data server of the network core, comprising the transmission of a check request to the user data server in order to check a user's right to be registered with the registration server, the check request containing the public identity and a private identity. The method may be carried out by an interrogation server located upstream of the registration server. In addition, a piece of information is inserted by the interrogation server into the check request before it is sent to the user data server, the piece of information indicating if the private identity has been generated by the entity or received in the registration request. |
| US09681291B2 |
Method and device for confirming idle state signalling reduction (ISR)activation
A method and network device for confirming ISR activation, optimize the way of activating ISR to solve the defects of prior art that the characteristics of the ISR can not be fully utilized, caused by activating ISR only depending on the EMM combined procedures capability reported by UE. The method comprises: serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN) obtains the subscription data of user equipment (UE); and SGSN activates ISR for the UE when SGSN confirms there is no circuit switch (CS) domain subscription data in the UE's subscription data. Meanwhile, in the present invention other two methods and network devices for confirming ISR activation are also disclosed. |
| US09681290B2 |
Dummy phone numbers to manage states on mobile phones
A user is enabled to change state on a mobile phone through a peripheral device, such as a vehicle or headset. The mobile phone is coupled with the peripheral device by a communication link. Contacts stored by the mobile phone are copied to the peripheral device. The contacts include contact names and corresponding dummy phone numbers. Each contact name and corresponding dummy phone number is associated with a corresponding mobile phone state. A user can interact with the peripheral device to select a contact name of the contacts as if initiating a phone call with the corresponding dummy phone number to cause the corresponding mobile phone state to be activated at the mobile phone. Examples of mobile phone state activations/changes include activating an application in the mobile phone, or activating a particular SIM (subscriber identity module) of multiple SIMs of the mobile phone. |
| US09681289B2 |
Mobile communications terminal and method
A mobile communications terminal communicates data using a mobile communications network that includes base stations and mobility managers that can send and receive signalling packets for controlling user data communications between communications terminals and a destination. The communications terminal can communicate packets with the base stations via a wireless access interface provided by the base stations and send a signalling packet to the mobility managers, the signalling packet including user data intended for a destination, prior to establishing a signalling connection with the mobility managers. The mobility managers can, upon receiving a signalling packet from a communications terminal, detect the packet is not associated with any established signalling connection between the mobility managers and the communication device. The mobility managers can, responsive to the detection, transmit the user data in the signalling packet to the destination. Accordingly a short message may be sent in a reduced context or context-less manner. |
| US09681287B2 |
Method for providing information in system including electronic device and information providing server, and electronic device thereof
Exemplary embodiments may disclose a method for providing information in a system including an electronic device and an information providing server and an electronic device. The information providing method includes transmitting location information of a region that a user wishes to search and a local information request signal to the information providing server, by the electronic device, searching local information of the region using at least one social network service of at least one user located in the region, by the information providing server, in response to the local information request signal, transmitting the searched local information to the electronic device, by the information providing server, and displaying a local information user interface (UI) using the local information received from the information providing server and a map of the region, by the electronic device. |
| US09681286B2 |
Method and apparatus for confirming validity of candidate cooperative device list for client cooperation in wireless communication system
Provided are a method and an apparatus for confirming the validity of a candidate cooperative device list for client cooperation in a wireless communication system. A base station searches for at least one candidate cooperation device for a source device, then an effective period timer, for an effective time command list for a list of candidate cooperation devices for a source device, is initiated, and a determination is made as to whether the list of candidate cooperation devices is valid. The base station and the source device are connected through a first system, and the base station and one recommended candidate cooperation device selected from the list of candidate cooperation devices are connected through a second system. |
| US09681281B2 |
Mobile communication system, network apparatus, mobile station, and mobile communication method
A UE (20A) includes an application control information holding unit (23) configured to hold application control information at least including identification information of an application (21) to be restricted or permitted to perform communications among the multiple applications (21); a restriction instruction reception unit (24) configured to receive, via a radio base station, a communication restriction instruction to control communications of the application (21) to be restricted or permitted to perform communications among the multiple applications (21); and a restriction instruction notification unit (25) configured to notify an upper layer, which is configured to implement communications with the application (21), of reception of the communication restriction instruction based on the communication restriction instruction received by the restriction instruction reception unit (24). |
| US09681280B2 |
Emergency evacuation service
Various systems and methods for providing an emergency evacuation service are described herein. An apparatus to provide an emergency evacuation service comprises an emergency event detection module to detect the existence of an emergency event at a venue; a transceiver to request and receive evacuation instructions from an emergency evacuation system, in response to detecting the existence of the emergency event; and a controller to process the evacuation instructions and display, to a user of the apparatus, information related to the evacuation instructions. |
| US09681273B2 |
Infrastructure service information communication device and method
An infrastructure service information communication device and an infrastructure service information communication method are provided. The infrastructure service information communication device and the infrastructure service information communication method allow an STA to save a large amount of power in a process of carrying out infrastructure network service information discovery, which is also favorable for power saving of those STAs that are not engaged in the infrastructure network service information discovery. |
| US09681272B2 |
Facilitating mesh networks of connected movable objects
Wireless communication via a mesh network of connected movable objects is described. A method includes determining, by a device including a processor, a value of a characteristic of a first movable object of movable objects communicatively coupled to a wireless network, wherein the movable objects are automated vehicles, and wherein the determining the value is based on a likelihood of receipt of a message transmitted from the first movable object to a second movable object of the movable objects. The method also includes generating information usable to move the first movable object in a manner that satisfies a defined condition associated with the value. The information can be strength of a wireless communication channel between the first movable object and a second movable object of the movable objects. |
| US09681268B2 |
Mobile device position detection
A method may include calculating a first distance between first and second devices and determining a direction of a movement of the first device. The method may further include calculating a second distance between the first and second devices after the movement of the first device and determining the relative position of the first device with respect to the second device based on the direction of the movement, the first distance, and the second distance. |
| US09681266B2 |
Method for adjusting proximity service range and filtering method therefor
The present application provides a method for enabling a UE (User Equipment) detecting a proximity service to adjust the detection range. The method for adjusting the detection range includes the steps of: enabling the detecting UE having joined in the same group of the proximity service to compare the number of the UEs requiring a relay with a predetermined threshold value; enabling the detecting UE to decide whether to expand its detection range if the number of the UEs requiring a relay exceeds the predetermined threshold value; enabling the detecting UE to decide whether to reduce its detection range if the number of the UEs requiring a relay is less than the predetermined threshold value; and enabling the detecting UE to adjust the range class so as to expand or reduce the detection range. |
| US09681265B1 |
System to track engagement of media items
An engagement tracking system monitors user interactions with media items to calculate an engagement score of the media item. The engagement tracking system may be or include a group of one or more server machines configured to detect an exposure of a client device to a media item maintained by the engagement tracking system. In response to detecting the exposure of the client device to the media item, the engagement tracking system tracks a location of the client device based on access requests to location based media items. The engagement tracking system may thereby monitor client devices exposed to the media item in order to calculate an engagement score of the media item. |
| US09681263B1 |
Passive device monitoring using radio frequency signals
A rule-based machine learning system monitors frequency bands to detect transmissions from nearby active transmitters, such as those associated with wireless mobile devices. The system logs unique identifiers (UID) embedded in detected transmissions, recognizes patterns of UID detection over time, and selectively takes action when UIDs are detected and when they are expected but absent. |
| US09681258B2 |
Radio communication apparatus, radio communication method, computer-readable medium, slave device, and master device
When executing a predetermined application in which radio communication with a slave device is necessary, a master device scans an advertisement from the slave device by using previously-set one channel among three channels for advertising. When transmitting the advertisement to the master device executing the predetermined application, the slave device transmits the advertisement by using previously-set one channel among three channels for advertising. |
| US09681256B2 |
Abbreviated blind detection in wireless communication systems including LTE
A method and apparatus are provided for abbreviating the blind decoding process performed by a UE, such as an LTE UE, on control channel data such as PDCCH data of PRB pairs of a set of PRB pairs transmitted concurrently within a subframe. In some embodiments, only a prioritized portion of the PDCCH data is decoded, thereby expediting blind decoding. In some embodiments, a reduced number of encoding options for the PDCCH data is used, and blind decoding is expedited by considering only such options as possibilities. When blind decoding of the PDCCH data is completed before the end of the subframe, this may be used to identify and discard corresponding PDSCH data which is irrelevant to the UE. The prioritized portion may be adjusted as needed to include the CSS so as not to miss certain critical data. |
| US09681254B2 |
System and method for control and management of resources for consumers of information
A system and method is provided for using information broadcast by devices and resources in the immediate vicinity of a mobile device, or by sensors located within the mobile device itself, to ascertain and make a determination of the immediate environment and state of the mobile device. This determination may be used to control and manage the actions that the device is asked to carry out by or on behalf of the user. |
| US09681252B2 |
Service provisioning and activation in telecommunications network
A method (and related system and computer program product) of provisioning and activating subscriber services in telecommunications network elements in a telecommunication network of a network operator is disclosed. The method comprises receiving subscriber service requests sent from a plurality of source systems, for each received request, sending a positive or negative acknowledgement of the request back to the respective source system based on whether the request was properly received or not, for each positively acknowledged request, determining a series of operations necessary to be performed in a group of telecommunications network elements in order to fulfill the subscriber service request, and performing the determined series of operations whereby at least one change of state occurs in each element in said group of telecommunications network elements. The method is executed in a system environment with a limited total processing power for processing service requests from receipt to respective changes in the telecommunications network elements, and is characterized in that if the processing load imposed by all the received requests exceeds the total processing power, delaying the sending of the positive and/or negative acknowledgements back to the respective source system. |
| US09681251B1 |
Customization for preloaded applications
A mobile communication device. The mobile communication device comprises a processor, a memory, and an application stored in the memory that, when executed by the processor, parses an open mobile alliance (OMA) device management (DM) tree comprising a node that identifies a matrix, wherein the matrix comprises columns indexed by a brand identity, and rows indexed by a service identity, wherein the matrix cells store configuration values and wherein some configuration values are function calls, based on a brand identity of the mobile communication device, selects an entry of the matrix, and based on the selected entry, configures a preloaded application stored in the memory, whereby the mobile communication device may be configured remotely through a rule-based mechanism. |
| US09681249B2 |
Sound processing apparatus and method, and program
The present technology relates to a sound processing apparatus and method, and a program for enabling more stable localization of a sound image.A virtual speaker is assumed to exist on the lower side among the sides of a tetragon having its corners formed with four speakers surrounding a target sound image position on a spherical plane. Three-dimensional VBAP is performed with respect to the virtual speaker and the two speakers located at the upper right and the upper left, to calculate gains of the two speakers at the upper right and the upper left and the virtual speaker, the gains being to be used for fixing a sound image at the target sound image position. Further, two-dimensional VBAP is performed with respect to the lower right and lower left speakers, to calculate gains of the lower right and lower left speakers, the gains being to be used for fixing a sound image at the position of the virtual speaker. The values obtained by multiplying these gains by the gain of the virtual speaker are set as the gains of the lower right and lower left speakers for fixing a sound image at the target sound image position. The present technology can be applied to sound processing apparatuses. |
| US09681242B2 |
MEMS microphone system for harsh environments
A MEMS microphone system suited for harsh environments. The system uses an integrated circuit package. A first, solid metal lid covers one face of a ceramic package base that includes a cavity, forming an acoustic chamber. The base includes an aperture through the opposing face of the base for receiving audio signals into the chamber. A MEMS microphone is attached within the chamber about the aperture. A filter covers the aperture opening in the opposing face of the base to prevent contaminants from entering the acoustic chamber. A second metal lid encloses the opposing face of the base and may attach the filter to this face of the base. The lids are electrically connected with vias forming a radio frequency interference shield. The ceramic base material is thermally matched to the silicon microphone material to allow operation over an extended temperature range. |
| US09681238B2 |
System and method for auditory canal measuring, facial contouring
A computer-implemented method and system is provided, comprising extracting measurements of at least one auditory canal from at least one computerized imaging scan of the at least one auditory canal devoid of physical measurement aids; determining eligibility for at least one auditory canal device at least partly by comparing the measurements of the at least one auditory canal with predetermined measurements of the at least one auditory canal device; and providing an indication of the eligibility determination contemporaneously with the measurement extracting. |
| US09681236B2 |
Wireless sound transmission system and method
Method for providing sound to at least one user, involves supplying audio signals from an audio signal source to a transmission unit; compressing the audio signals to generate compressed audio data; transmitting compressed audio data from the transmission unit to at least one receiver unit; decompressing the compressed audio data to generate decompressed audio signals; and stimulating the hearing of the user(s) according to decompressed audio signals supplied from the receiver unit. During certain time periods, transmission of compressed audio data is interrupted, and instead, at least one control data block is generated by the transmission unit in such a manner that audio data transmission is replaced by control data block transmission, thereby temporarily interrupting flow of received compressed audio data, each control data block includes a marker recognized by the at least one receiver unit as a control data block and a command for control of the receiver unit. |
| US09681234B2 |
MEMS microphone structure and method of manufacturing the same
A MEMS microphone structure, comprising a semiconductor substrate having a cavity, a first dielectric layer having a through-hole communicating with the cavity, a lower diaphragm electrode formed above the through-hole and at least partially attached to the upper surface of the first dielectric layer, and an upper electrode structure with an insulating layer. The upper electrode structure comprises an annular supporter, a back plate having multiple holes, and an upper electrode connection. At least a part of the annular supporter extends downwardly to the lower diaphragm electrode while the rest of the annular supporter extends downwardly to the substrate. The back plate is suspended above the lower diaphragm electrode by the annular supporter, forming an air gap therebetween. An upper electrode is embedded in the insulating layer at the back plate and is lead out by the upper electrode connection. |
| US09681232B2 |
Control of multiple playback devices
Systems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to control audio playback devices are disclosed. An example first playback device includes a speaker driver, a processor, and a computer readable medium including a set of instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the first playback device to implement a method. The example method includes receiving, from a first audio information source, first audio information. The example method includes playing back the first audio information. The example method includes receiving, from a second audio information source, (i) a first message, and (ii) second audio information. Based on the received first message, the example method includes (i) determining that the first playback device and a second playback device are to playback the second audio information; (ii) stopping play back of the first audio information; (iii) playing back, via the speaker driver, the second audio information; and (iv) sending the second audio information to the second playback device. |
| US09681231B2 |
Digital/analog conversion apparatus
A digital/analog conversion apparatus to convert a digital signal into an analog signal. The digital/analog conversion apparatus can generate a high-quality analog signal, even when elements configuring the digital/analog conversion apparatus have variance, with high resolution and a small circuit size. The data conversion apparatus is provided with a first data converter to reduce the number of bits of an input signal, a second data converter to convert the format of the first output signal, and a third data converter for conversion into a code which corresponds to the history of the output from the second data converter. |
| US09681230B2 |
Acoustic system, output device, and acoustic system control method
An acoustic system includes a supply device, which is connected to a network and configured to supply an acoustic signal to the network, and at least one output device configured to output a sound based on the acoustic signal supplied from the supply device via the network. Also, the acoustic system includes a control unit, which is provided to the at least one output device on a one-to-one basis, and configured to control necessity/non-necessity of outputting the acoustic signal to an associated one of the at least one output device, based on frequency characteristics of the acoustic signal. |
| US09681222B2 |
Wearable device using bone conduction speaker
A wearable device using a bone conduction speaker, including a wearable band worn on an arm of a user, a communication module attached to the wearable band, an audio processor configured to process an audio signal transmitted and received through the communication module, a microphone configured to transmit a voice signal, which is input in sound by the user, to the audio processor, a bone conduction speaker configured to output a reception audio signal, which is processed by the audio processor, in bone conduction mode, and an echo canceller configured to cancel the voice signal in an audio signal output from the bone conduction speaker, is provided. |
| US09681221B2 |
Delegate unit and conference system with the delegate unit
Conference Systems are commonly used in meeting rooms or plenary halls to support the discussion of a plurality of participants. Such Conference Systems may comprise more than 50 or 100 microphone equipped delegate units, whereby each delegate unit can be assigned to a participant of the discussion. A delegate unit 1 for a Conference System is proposed, the delegate unit comprises a base body 2, a microphone stem body 3 comprising a microphone head 10 and a stem 11, whereby the microphone head 10 is arranged on the stem 11 and whereby the microphone stem body 3 is arranged on the base body 2, whereby the microphone head 10 has a directional microphone characteristic. |
| US09681220B2 |
Method for spatial filtering of at least one sound signal, computer readable storage medium and spatial filtering system based on cross-pattern coherence
Method for spatial filtering of at least one sound signal (M0; W(n)) includes the steps of: generation of a first, a second and a third captured sound signal by capturing of the respective sound signals by microphones characterized by directivity patterns of different orders; performing a short-time Fourier transformation of the captured, sound signal s; measuring a cross-pattern correlation or a cross-pattern coherence towards a desired direction ([phi]); calculation of a gain factor (G+) using a cross-pattern correlation based on time-averaged correlation or coherence between the first captured sound signal and the second captured sound signal; and applying the gain factor (G+) to the corresponding time-frequency positions in the third captured sound, signal (2.3; M0; W(n)). Independent patent claims also for a system and computer readable storage medium. |
| US09681219B2 |
Orientation free handsfree device
Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products are provided to indicate or automatically configure headphone channel orientation based on a physical orientation determination. An apparatus is provided that is configured to at least determine an orientation of the headphone device; analyze the determined orientation; and provide an indication of the determined orientation or adjust the output channel configuration of the apparatus for the headphone device. The apparatus may be further configured to determine the orientation of the headphone device based on at least one of: a head turn position; a direction of one or more audio signals; a direction of movement, wherein the movement is determined based on a determination of acceleration or trajectory of the headphone device; two or more compass data, wherein at least one compass is located in each of the apparatus and the headphone device; and a difference in characteristics of one or more audio signals. |
| US09681218B2 |
Loudspeaker system for a motor vehicle
A loudspeaker system for a motor vehicle has at least one loudspeaker which is arranged outside the passenger space of the motor vehicle and is acoustically connected to the passenger space by at least one pipeline. At least one sound damping device is connected to the at least one pipeline which leads from the at least one loudspeaker to the passenger space, and/or to another pipeline which is connected to the at least one loudspeaker. |
| US09681217B2 |
Electronic device including acoustically isolated serpentine port and related methods
An electronic device may include a housing having an audio output port therein, a display carried by the housing, and a baffle enclosure carried within the housing. The electronic device may also include an audio output transducer carried by the baffle enclosure and acoustically coupled to the audio output port, and internal partitions carried by the baffle enclosure to define a serpentine tuning port therein acoustically coupled between the audio output transducer and the display, and acoustically isolated from the audio output port. |
| US09681212B2 |
Headphones with multiple equalization presets for different genres of music
A headphone comprises a plurality of actuatable equalization selectors. Each of the selectors corresponds to an equalization setting that includes a preset distribution of relative amplitudes of sounds in predetermined frequency ranges. In one embodiment, each of the plurality of actuatable equalization selectors is a button-type switch. A knob-type switch or a voice recognition mechanism could also actuate an equalization setting. In a preferred embodiment, an equalizer identification indicator produces a communication perceivable to a headphone wearer and which corresponds to an equalization setting. The communication can be audible, preferably a human voice, or tactile, preferably vibration patterns corresponding to equalization settings. |
| US09681210B1 |
Liquid-tolerant acoustic device configurations
A liquid-tolerant acoustic device assembly includes a housing with an acoustic aperture connected to a through hole in the housing. An acoustic device such as a microphone or speaker that includes a liquid resistant membrane is coupled to the through hole utilizing a gasket. A protrusion is positioned between the through hole and the gasket. The configuration of the assembly may be tuned such that liquid present in the through hole is allowed to exit and/or functioning of the acoustic device is not impaired by the presence of the liquid in the through hole. The assembly may be incorporated into an electronic device. |
| US09681205B1 |
Pairing a health-monitoring wireless sensor device using a contact motion
A method, system, and a computer-readable medium for pairing a wireless sensor device with a mobile device are disclosed. In a first aspect, the method comprises providing a code within the wireless sensor device. The method includes contacting the mobile device against the wireless sensor device. In response to the contacting, the mobile device receives the code and is paired with the wireless sensor device. In a second aspect, the system comprises a processing system and an application to be executed by the processing system. In response to a contacting of the mobile device against a wireless sensor device, the application receives a code from the wireless sensor device and pairs the mobile device with the wireless sensor device. |
| US09681204B2 |
Methods and apparatus to validate a tag for media
Methods and apparatus to validate a tag for media are disclosed. An example method includes obtaining first identification information extracted from a tag distributed with media presented at a presentation location, obtaining second identification information determined from at least one of a) inherent information of at least one of audio or video of the media presented at the presentation location or b) a watermark embedded in at least one of the audio or the video of the media presented at the presentation, comparing the first identification information with the second identification information, and when first identification information does not substantially match the second identification information, preventing the tag from being used to report exposure of the media. |
| US09681203B2 |
Interactive content acquisition using embedded codes
Methods and devices are provided to obtain associated information for a multimedia content. One such method includes receiving a content at a receiver device equipped with a watermark detector, performing watermark detection on the received content to extract a payload of an embedded watermark. The payload comprises a first field that includes a server identifier and a second field that includes an interval identifier associated with the server identifier. The first field provides a mapping to an Internet address accessible to retrieve metadata associated with content segments identified by the watermark payload. In this method, based on the detected watermark payload, a query is formed and transmitted to a server identified by the Internet address, and a response to the query is received from the server that includes metadata associated with the content. |
| US09681196B2 |
Television receiver-based network traffic control
Monitoring data routed by a satellite television receiver that serves as a gateway in a home network. In the context of privacy control, the television receiver may be configured to detect certain types of data, such as social security or bank numbers, username/password information, device usage information, etc., routed by the same over a broadband connection to one or more resources located outside of the home network, and then implement one or more steps so that a user may be notified and the traffic possibly blocked to prevent or mitigate the unauthorized transfer or reporting of data. |
| US09681189B2 |
Paired devices
Disclosed herein is a media device. The media device comprises an output component configured to deliver an experience to a user. In addition, the media device comprises a pairing communication link for exchanging information about the experience with a paired user device, and a detection component configured to directly detect an indication received from the user device. The indication is received over an air interface other than the communication link. Further, the media device comprises a processing component for decoding the indication. It is configured to exchange information via the pairing communication link with the paired user device in response to decoding the indication, the information including information about an option. The processing component is further configured to detect selection of the option and modify operation of the media device to implement the selected option. |
| US09681187B2 |
Method for controlling broadcast receiving device
A method for controlling a broadcast receiving device includes receiving a first electronic program guide (EPG) via a broadcasting network via and a second EPG via the Internet, and combining first broadcast-related information generated from the first EPG and second broadcast-related information generated from the second EPG to generate and output third broadcast-related information. |
| US09681184B1 |
Tracking and verification for content promotion
Exposing consumers to content of secondary interest via a content distribution network is becoming increasingly difficult as Video on Demand gains popularity and consumers isolate themselves from secondary content, including: new programs, emergency alerts, etc. Additionally, ensuring that the consumers are consuming secondary content that is provided to them via the content distribution network poses technical difficulties for the service provider. Therefore, systems and methods that encourage consumers to consume secondary content and verify its consumption non-intrusively are of increasing importance to service providers. Providing consumers with the ability to opt in and out of tracking and verification for the promotion of content allows consumers to be provided secondary content and for the service provider to appropriately reward the consumers for consuming the content to encourage additional consumption of secondary content. Verification may include passive and active feedback from the consumer via a mobile computing device or set top box. |
| US09681183B1 |
Over-the-air digital television video stream tuning and casting
A display device and display techniques for receiving a digital television signal, outputting the digital television signal on a display screen, transcoding the digital television signal to a streamable format, and casting the transcoded digital television signal via a communication network to a remote device are described herein. In an example, the processing circuitry of a television device may be configured to convert digital audiovisual content to another format and transmit the digital audiovisual content to a secondary display device using a built-in Wi-Fi chipset, such as to enable screen mirroring, place-shifting, or portability of the audiovisual content. In a further example, the processing circuitry of a television device may be configured to convert digital audiovisual content to another format and transmit the digital audiovisual content to a secondary streaming device, such as a media server, to allow subsequent playback. |
| US09681181B2 |
Method and device for watching high-definition cable TV programs
A method for watching high-definition cable TV programs includes: a blue-tooth learning remote controller learning remote-controller controlling instructions of a high-definition cable TV set top box, and uploading the learned instructions to a smart terminal such that the smart terminal controls the high-definition cable TV set top box; the smart terminal controlling the high-definition cable TV set top box to choose high-definition cable TV programs; the high-definition cable TV set top box outputting a HDMI signal; the smart TV dongle receiving the HDMI signal, and outputting the HDMI signal to a high-definition TV; the smart TV dongle performing an encoding and a packing on the HDMI signal and then transmitting the packed signal to the smart terminal by using a wireless manner; and the smart terminal performing a de-packing and a decoding on the received signal and then playing the decoded signal on the smart terminal. |
| US09681178B2 |
Distributed presentation software for multiple instantiations in home network
One and only instance of a video service model component (for example, an electronic program guide (EPG) model description) is executed in a home network gateway, with multiple instantiations of a view/controller module associated with the model module being generated, one for each display device seeking to simultaneously display the video service. In this way the functionality of a single video service model is shared in the network without requiring the underlying model module itself to be replicated. |
| US09681176B2 |
Provisioning preferred media content
Allocating idle tuner resources to buffer or record broadcast programming determined to be desirable or preferred by any particular user or television viewer. |
| US09681175B2 |
Method for downloading content according to communication parameters, and associated content receiver
A method for downloading multimedia contents is disclosed. The multimedia contents exists in at least two versions. Each of the versions corresponds to a different required transmission bit rate and each of the versions is temporally divided into chunks corresponding to a determined duration, one chunk being identified by an item of information representative of a temporal position i and by an item of information representative of a version j. A content receiver implementing this method is also described. |
| US09681174B2 |
Television control interface with electronic guide
An on-screen menu method and system for controlling the functions of integrated electronic devices and a television schedule system and method for displaying television schedule information on a television screen includes a program guide having a schedule information area that depicts the programs that are being presented on each channel at each time during the day and an interconnected series of menus to control the features of the integrated electronic devices. An input device allows the viewer to move a pointer over different interactive areas of the guide and the function performed when the area is activated is displayed in a contextual help window. Various control glyphs provide for recursive interaction with the guide. |
| US09681173B2 |
Method of and system for processing a user request for a web resource, the web resource being associated with sequentially semantically linked documents
There are discloses a method of and a server for processing a user request for a web resource, the user request received at a server from an electronic device via a communication network. The method can be executed at the server. The method comprises: determining that the web resource comprises a plurality of sequentially semantically linked documents that are potentially responsive to the user request; determining a particular document of the plurality of sequentially semantically linked documents, the particular document being one that the user has completed using, the determination that the user has completed using the particular document being executed by means of: determining that the user has reached an end of the particular document; and if the user has not reached the end of the particular document, determining that the user has reached a pre-determined usage threshold within the particular document; generating a suggest to be displayed to the user on the electronic device, the suggest including a sequentially next document after the particular document. |
| US09681172B2 |
System and method for creating hierarchical multimedia programming favorites
A system that determines first data according to data associated with a first number of media content items accessed by equipment of a user. A request is determined from the equipment of the user to receive media content items that are associated with the first data and an index category of an indexed media content items guide. The indexed content items guide is searched to identify those media content items of a second number of media content items that have indexed content items guide data associated with the index category and the first data. Search results including a third number of media content items are determined based on the searching of the indexed content items guide. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US09681169B1 |
System for highly predictable performance of set-top boxes using downloadable conditional access
Providing a conditional access system (CAS) to a set-top box is described. An example method includes encapsulating a CAS application in a NCAS (Next CAS) container, and objects associated with the CAS application are executed in the NCAS container. Resources for the CAS application and other applications running on the set-top box are pre-allocated so that each application has a pre-fixed resource allocation upon startup of the set-top box. An execution of the CAS application is validated using a linked chain of trust. |
| US09681161B2 |
Method and apparatus for high bandwidth data transmission in content delivery networks
Methods and apparatus for delivering data over extant infrastructure within a content-based network. In one embodiment, the network comprises a cable network, and the infrastructure comprises that nominally used for on-demand (OD) services such as VOD. The method includes the allocation of dedicated end-to-end network resources via a “session request, as well as data flow control and packet size adaptation, by a data server based on feedback from the requesting/receiving client device (e.g., DSTB) within the network. Mechanisms for retransmission requests for error recovery are also provided. |
| US09681152B2 |
Coding position data for the last non-zero transform coefficient in a coefficient group
Methods and devices for video coding are described. When encoding a non-zero coefficient group (CG) prior to the last such group in a group scan ordering within a transform block, data representative of the true (x,y)-position of the last non-zero transform coefficient in a scan ordering within that CG is modified, to improve coding efficiency, based upon at least one of (a) an intra-prediction mode used to encode the block and (b) at least one coefficient group neighboring that CG. Upon decoding a CG thus encoded, the modification is un-done to retrieve the true (x,y)-position. |
| US09681148B2 |
Image coding method, image decoding method, image coding apparatus, image decoding apparatus, and image coding and decoding apparatus
An image coding method includes: writing, into a sequence parameter set, buffer description defining information for defining a plurality of buffer descriptions; selecting one of the buffer descriptions for each processing unit that is a picture or a slice, and writing buffer description selecting information for specifying the selected buffer description, into a first header of the processing unit which is included in the coded bitstream; and coding the processing unit using the selected buffer description, and the buffer description defining information includes long-term information for identifying, among a plurality of reference pictures indicated in the buffer descriptions, a reference picture to be assigned as a long-term reference picture. |
| US09681146B2 |
Decoding frames
A system for decoding a data stream, comprising: a first decoder configured to decode the data stream at a first rate so as to generate a first stream of frames for playback and arranged to continue generating the first stream despite encountering an error in a particular frame; a second decoder operable to decode the data stream at a second rate so as to generate a second stream of frames; and a controller configured to: detect the error and cause the second decoder to decode the data stream from the particular frame in dependence on error correction data, the second rate being faster than the first rate such that the second stream catches up with the first stream; determine when the second decoder catches up with the first decoder; and cause the second decoder to operate at the first rate so as to generate the second stream for playback. |
| US09681144B2 |
Methods, devices and systems for parallel video encoding and decoding
A method for decoding a video bitstream is disclosed. The method comprises: entropy decoding a first portion of a video bitstream, wherein first portion of video bitstream is associated with a video frame, thereby producing a first portion of decoded data; entropy decoding a second portion of video bitstream, wherein second portion of video bitstream is associated with video frame, thereby producing a second portion of decoded data, wherein entropy decoding second portion of video bitstream is independent of entropy decoding first portion of video bitstream; and reconstructing a first portion of video frame associated with video bitstream using first portion of decoded data and second portion of decoded data. |
| US09681142B2 |
Methods and apparatus for motion compensation with smooth reference frame in bit depth scalability
Methods and apparatus are provided for motion compensation with a smooth reference frame in bit depth scalability. An apparatus includes an encoder for encoding picture data for at least a portion of a picture by generating an inter-layer residue prediction for the portion using an inverse tone mapping operation performed in the pixel domain for bit depth scalability. The inverse tone mapping operation is shifted from a residue domain to the pixel domain. |
| US09681141B2 |
Error detection on variable length code decoder
Decoding of image data from a bit stream of encoded image data is performed. The image data was encoded in a selected domain by a transform function. A set of coefficients is extracted from the bit stream, wherein the set of coefficients represent a block of the image data. Each coefficient is compared to a theoretical model of a distribution of the coefficient data representative of the transform function. A decoding error is indicated when a coefficient does not lie within the theoretical model. |
| US09681140B2 |
Device and a method for encoding an image and corresponding decoding method and decoding device
A method for encoding an image represented in a perceptual color space is described. The image has at least a luminance component. The method includes transforming by a wavelet transform the luminance component to form at least one low frequency subband of wavelet coefficients, reconstructing a low frequency component for at least one spatial area of the low frequency subband, subtracting the reconstructed low frequency component from the wavelet coefficients of the spatial area, quantizing the wavelet coefficients of the spatial area responsive to the threshold, the threshold being proportional to the reconstructed low frequency component of the spatial area and encoding the quantized wavelet coefficients and the low frequency component. |
| US09681139B2 |
Method and apparatus for ROI coding using variable block size coding information
A video/image compression method based on an region of interest (ROI) can be performed in a variable block video encoder such as a HEVC. A ROI coding method using variable block size coding information partitions a maximum coding unit (LCU) block obtained from an image into coding unit (CU) blocks. To obtain a quantization parameter of each coding unit (CU) block, the value of its quantization parameter is assigned based on its first hierarchical depth information and its second hierarchical depth information by using the first hierarchical depth information related to the size of the coding unit (CU) block and using the second hierarchical depth information related to the size of a prediction unit (PU) block correspondingly represented in consequence of the partition of the coding unit (CU) block. The resulting values of a quantization parameter assigned to different coding unit (CU) blocks may be different. |
| US09681138B2 |
Encoding device, decoding device, encoding method, and decoding method
According to an embodiment, an encoding device includes an index setting unit and an encoding unit. The index setting unit generates a common index in which reference indices of one or more reference images included in a first index and a second index are sorted in a combination so as not to include a same reference image in accordance with a predetermined scanning order. The first index representing a combination of the one or more reference images referred to by a first reference image. The second index representing a combination of the one or more reference images referred to by a second reference image. The encoding unit encodes the common index. |
| US09681133B2 |
Two bins per clock CABAC decoding
CABAC coefficient decoding may be increased to two bins per clock by performing a calculation for a first bin followed by renormalization for the first bin in a first thread and performing a calculation for a second bin and renormalization for the second bin being after the first bin calculation and renormalization using a second thread different from the first thread. |
| US09681126B2 |
Motion vector coding apparatus, method and program for coding motion vector, motion vector decoding apparatus, and method and program for decoding motion vector
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, references to a motion vector in a neighboring block of an enhancement layer or in a block of a previously coded picture, and a motion vector of a base layer are equally handled. Accordingly, a motion_prediction_flag with identification information can be integrated for further improved coding efficiency. |
| US09681123B2 |
Time-of-flight phase-offset calibration
A method to calibrate an imaging array of a time-of-flight depth camera includes the act of modulating emission from a light source of the camera while synchronously biasing the imaging array. In this method, the modulated emission reflects from a compact reflector positioned a known distance from the camera and passes through an optical diffuser en route to the imaging array. For each pixel of the imaging array, a correction term is stored, which brings the output from that pixel into agreement with the actual distance between the camera and the compact reflector. |
| US09681121B2 |
Mobile display device
Mobile display device (100) for enabling a user to obtain either three-dimensional [3D] or two-dimensional [2D] viewing of content, comprising a 3D display (120) for enabling the 3D viewing of the content, a 2D display (140) for enabling the 2D viewing of the content, a display processor for displaying the content as 3D content 124 on the 3D display and for displaying the content as 2D content (144) on the 2D display, the 3D display and the 2D display being arranged on opposite faces (122, 142) of the device for enabling the user to obtain either the 3D viewing or the 2D viewing of the content by turning (102) the device about-face. |
| US09681120B2 |
Method, system, and computer program product for controlling stereo glasses
A method, system, and computer program product are provided for controlling stereo glasses. Left and right eye shutters of stereo glasses are controlled to switch between closed and open orientations and simultaneously remain in a fast switching orientation for a predetermined amount of time between the closed and open orientations. The fast switching orientation of each of the left and right eye shutters has at least one open time and at least one closed time. A duration from a first one of the at least one open time and the at least one closed time through a last one of the at least one open time and at least one closed time is equal to the predetermined mount of time. Each of the at least one open time of the fast switching orientation of each of the left and right eye shutters is shorter than or equal to 1/24 seconds. |
| US09681119B2 |
Image encoding method and image encoding apparatus
An image encoding method for an encoding system includes receiving a first image captured by a main camera and a second image captured by a sub camera provided in the same plane; comparing pixel values of pixels at first coordinates of each of the first and second images to obtain a first difference value; determining the first coordinates are in surface or back region in case of the first difference value is not more than or more than a first threshold value; pixel-shifting the second image by a first shift amount; and comparing the pixel value at the first coordinates of the first image with that of the second image after the pixel shift to obtain a second difference value, determining whether the first coordinates are in the surface or back region based on the second difference value, and recording into a second frame different from the first frame. |
| US09681114B2 |
System and method for adaptive scalable dynamic conversion, quality and processing optimization, enhancement, correction, mastering, and other advantageous processing of three dimensional media content
A method, implemented in at least one Depth Based Image Rendering (DBIR) data processing system, for improving the efficiency, quality, viewing comfort and/or visual impact of a 3D experience capable of being provided to at least one viewer of a 3D content media comprising a plurality of content sections in 2D+Depth format, in conjunction with the use of at least a portion of a plurality of predetermined 3D content modification techniques. |
| US09681112B2 |
Image display apparatus and method for controlling the image display apparatus
An image display apparatus including a remote control interface configured to receive a signal from a remote controller; a controller configured to calculate a first pointer position at which a pointer is to be displayed on a display of the image display apparatus based on the received signal, to determine a depth of a three-dimensional (3D) object displayed on the display of the image display apparatus, and to calculate a second position of the pointer based on the determined depth of the 3D object; and a video processor configured to display the pointer at the calculated second pointer position on the display of the image display apparatus. |
| US09681110B2 |
Luminescent wheel, light source unit having luminescent wheel device including same luminescent wheel, and projector
There is provided a luminescent wheel including a reflecting plate on which a diffuse plate and a luminescent material layer are provided in an end-to-end relationship with each other in a circumferential direction, a first supporting plate which is provided on one surface of the reflecting plate to support part of the diffuse plate, and a second supporting plate which is provided on the other surface of the reflecting plate to support part of the diffuse plate, and the luminescent material layer is formed on the reflecting plate. |
| US09681109B2 |
Systems and methods for configurable demodulation
Exemplary embodiments are directed to configurable demodulation of image data produced by an image sensor. In some aspects, a method includes receiving information indicating a configuration of the image sensor. In some aspects, the information may indicate a configuration of sensor elements and/or corresponding color filters for the sensor elements. A modulation function may then be generated based on the information. In some aspects, the method also includes demodulating the image data based on the generated modulation function to determine chrominance and luminance components of the image data, and generating the second image based on the determined chrominance and luminance components. |
| US09681108B2 |
Occupancy sensor and associated methods
A device to detect occupancy of an environment includes a sensor to capture video frames from a location in the environment. The device may compare rules with data using a rules engine. The microcontroller may include a processor and memory to produce results indicative of a condition of the environment. The device may also include an interface through which the data is accessible. The device may generate results respective to the location in the environment. The microcontroller may be in communication with a network. The video frames may be concatenated to create an overview to display the video frames substantially seamlessly respective to the location in which the sensor is positioned. The overview may be viewable using the interface and the results of the analysis performed by the rules engine may be accessible using the interface. |
| US09681103B2 |
Distributed control of a heterogeneous video surveillance network
A surveillance video broker arbitrates access by multiple clients to multiple surveillance video sources. Both clients and sources register with the broker. Each source independently specifies respective clients permitted real-time access to its video and conditions of access, if any. Preferably, the video source is a local surveillance domain having one or more cameras, one or more sensors, and a local controller, the source specifying clients or client groups permitted access, and independently specifying conditions of access for each client or client group, where conditions may include scheduled events, non-scheduled events, such as alarms or emergencies, and/or physical proximity. The broker automatically authorizes real-time access according to pre-specified conditions. Preferably, the broker can also arbitrate alert notifications to the clients based on pre-specified notification criteria. |
| US09681096B1 |
Light field capture
This disclosure pertains to operations, systems, and computer readable media to capture images of a scene using a camera array and process the captured images based on a viewer's point of view (POV) for immersive augmented reality, live display wall, head mounted display, video conferencing, and similar applications. In one implementation, the disclosed subject matter provides a complete view to a viewer by combining images captured by a camera array. In another implementation, the disclosed subject matter tracks the viewer's POV as he moves from one location to another and displays images in accordance with his varying POV. The change of the viewer's POV is inclusive of movements in the X, Y, and Z dimensions. |
| US09681089B2 |
Method for capturing content provided on TV screen and connecting contents with social service by using second device, and system therefor
Disclosed are a method for capturing content provided on a TV screen and connecting the content with a social service by using a second device, and a system therefor. A capture service system comprises: a service server for obtaining profile information on a user from a social service server in which a second terminal or the user is registered, if the user requests content, which is being reproduced in a first terminal, to be captured by using the second terminal; and a media server for capturing an image or video of the content according to copyright information of the content requested to be captured by the user. At this point, the service server can receive the captured image or video from the media server and provide the received image or video to the second terminal. |
| US09681088B1 |
System and methods for movie digital container augmented with post-processing metadata
A processing server that builds metadata is disclosed. The server comprises a processor, a memory, and an application stored in the memory. The application when executed by the processor formats data into a data container, wherein the data comprises audio and video files of a movie. The application then builds metadata, wherein the metadata details what post-processing has been done on the data, wherein the metadata identifies what processing and algorithms are applied to the data and supports selection of data by a playback device. The application then writes metadata into the data container, wherein the playback device applies additional post-processing to the data in the data container based on the metadata. |
| US09681085B2 |
Display apparatus
Disclosed herein is a display apparatus having a slim display body to display pictures. Main components, such as a switching mode power supply and a main board, are disposed in a base unit, and a drive board mounted to a display module is connected to the switching mode power supply and the main board such that power is supplied to the display module and the main board transmits and receives a control signal. The base unit serves as a stand to support the display body below the display body. Also, the base unit is fixed to the rear of the display body to mount the display apparatus to a wall. A connection unit to connect the display body and the base unit is provided to change the position of the base unit. The connection unit is hingedly rotatable with respect to the display body and the base unit. |
| US09681084B2 |
Ramp signal generator and CMOS image sensor using the same
Disclosed are a ramp signal generator capable of reducing the size of a feedback capacitor by using a current subtraction and a CMOS image sensor using the same. The ramp signal generator may include a current supply unit suitable for supplying a first current; a current subtraction unit suitable for subtracting the first current from a second current, or the second current from the first current; and a ramp signal generation unit suitable for generating a ramp signal according to a third current and a reference voltage. The third current is a result of the subtraction. |
| US09681082B2 |
Analog-to-digital converter configured to operate at high speed and image sensor including the same
Provided is an image sensor including a pixel array including a plurality of pixels and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to compare a reference voltage with an analog voltage output by the pixel array and latch and decode a comparison result. The ADC is controlled in response to clock information and a counter clock, which are obtained by expanding and encoding a master clock. |
| US09681080B2 |
DA converter, solid-state imaging device, driving method of solid-state imaging device, and electronic apparatus
Disclosed is a digital-analog converter including a current generation section, a current source transistor bias voltage keeping section, a cascade transistor group switch section, and a conversion section. The current generation section has at least one current source transistor group including a plurality of current source transistors and generates an output current based on a value of a digital input signal. The current source transistor bias voltage keeping section has a plurality of cascade transistor groups each including cascade transistors connected in series to the current source transistors and keeps bias voltages of the current source transistors constant. The cascade transistor group switch section selects one of the plurality of cascade transistor groups. The conversion section performs current-voltage conversion of the output current supplied via the selected cascade transistor group. |
| US09681069B2 |
Spatio-temporal light field cameras
Spatio-temporal light field cameras that can be used to capture the light field within its spatio temporally extended angular extent. Such cameras can be used to record 3D images, 2D images that can be computationally focused, or wide angle panoramic 2D images with relatively high spatial and directional resolutions. The light field cameras can be also be used as 2D/3D switchable cameras with extended angular extent. The spatio-temporal aspects of the novel light field cameras allow them to capture and digitally record the intensity and color from multiple directional views within a wide angle. The inherent volumetric compactness of the light field cameras make it possible to embed in small mobile devices to capture either 3D images or computationally focusable 2D images. The inherent versatility of these light field cameras makes them suitable for multiple perspective light field capture for 3D movies and video recording applications. |
| US09681066B2 |
Facilitating improved calibration of captured infrared data values by an IR imaging system in a thermography arrangement
A method for improved calibration of captured infrared data values by an IR imaging system in a thermography arrangement dependent on an infrared (IR) image depicting an observed real world scene. The IR image may be captured by a thermography arrangement including the IR imaging system, wherein infrared (IR) image is related to temperature dependent on IR calibration parameters. A predefined feature may be detected from the IR image, and the IR imaging system may be calibrated based on the predefined feature. |
| US09681063B2 |
Method of generating image by compensating excluded pixel data and image generation device therewith
A method of generating an image using an image capturing device includes generating an imperfect image excluding data corresponding to one or more pixel sensors by capturing an object while the object is focused. A defocused image is generated to include the data corresponding to the one or more pixel sensors generated using neighboring pixel sensors around the one or more pixel sensors while the object is defocused. The data corresponding to the one or more pixel sensors is extracted based on data in the generated imperfect image and data in the generated defocused image. A final image is then generated by reflecting the extracted data to at least one of the generated imperfect image or the generated defocused image. |
| US09681059B2 |
Image-capturing device
An image-capturing device includes an image-capturing unit 30 including a first image-capturing element 41, a second image-capturing element 51, a third image-capturing element 61, and a fourth image-capturing element 71, and includes an image processing unit 11, wherein a sensitivity of the fourth image-capturing element 71 is less than sensitivities of the first image-capturing element 41 to the third image-capturing element 61, and the image processing unit 11 generates high sensitivity image data on the basis of outputs from the first image-capturing element 41 to the third image-capturing element 61, and generates low sensitivity image data on the basis of an output from the fourth image-capturing element 71, and further, the image processing unit 11 generates a combined image using high sensitivity image data corresponding to a low illumination image area in the low illumination image area obtained from the low sensitivity image data or the high sensitivity image data, and using low sensitivity image data corresponding to an high illumination image area. |
| US09681057B2 |
Exposure timing manipulation in a multi-lens camera
The exposure of pixel lines in one or more image sensor regions is substantially synchronized. Each image sensor region is associated with a different lens in a multi-lens camera system. For a first pixel line in a first image sensor region and a second pixel line in a second image sensor region corresponding to the same portion of a field of view, the first pixel line and the second pixel line are sequentially or substantially simultaneously exposed. After exposing the first pixel line and the second pixel line, image information associated with the exposures is combined and output on the same readout line. |
| US09681056B2 |
Imaging system, display system, and optical device including plurality of optical systems that have a plurality of optical axes
An imaging system includes: an imaging device; and an optical device that forms a subject image on an imaging plane of an imaging element and that is freely attachable to and detachable from the imaging device. The optical device includes a combination of a plurality of optical systems to provide a plurality of optical axes. The plurality of optical systems include: a plurality of first imaging optical systems; and a second imaging optical system having a view angle narrower than that of each of the plurality of first imaging optical systems. The plurality of first imaging systems are respectively arranged to surround the second imaging optical system, as viewed from a subject side. |
| US09681055B2 |
Preview system for concurrently displaying multiple preview images generated based on input image generated by image capture apparatus and related preview method thereof
A preview system of an image capture apparatus has a processing circuit and a display apparatus. The processing circuit reads an input image, scales at least a portion of the input image to generate a first preview image, and derives a second preview image from a selected portion of the input image. The display apparatus displays the first preview image and the second preview image, concurrently. Besides, a preview method for an image capture apparatus includes at least the following steps: reading an input image; scaling at least a portion of the input image to generate a first preview image; deriving a second preview image from a selected portion of the input image; and displaying the first preview image and the second preview image on a display apparatus, concurrently. |
| US09681051B2 |
Method and apparatus for motion coded imaging
An imaging apparatus and corresponding method according to an embodiment of the present invention enables high-resolution, wide-field-of-view, high sensitivity imaging. An embodiment of the invention is a camera system that utilizes motion of an optical element, such as a spatial filtering mask or of the camera itself, to apply different spatial filtering functions to a scene to be imaged. Features of a spatial filtering mask implementing the different filtering functions are adjacent along an axis of the spatial mask, and a pitch of the features of the mask is smaller than a pitch of the sensor elements. An imaging reconstructor having knowledge of the filtering functions can produce a high-resolution image from corresponding low-resolution coded imaging data captured by the imaging system. This approach offers advantages over conventional high-resolution, wide-field imaging, including an ability to use large-pitch, lower cost sensor arrays, and transfer and store much less data. |
| US09681048B2 |
Image capturing apparatus and method for controlling the same
An image capturing apparatus includes an image capturing unit, a control unit, and a notification unit. The control unit controls the image capturing unit so that a first shooting operation and a second shooting operation are sequentially performed at an interval not smaller than a predetermined time period. The notification unit issues a notification constantly during the predetermined time period of the interval. |
| US09681047B2 |
Image feature extraction method and system
Disclosed is an image feature extraction method including a step of defining a combination of at least two kinds of solid angles along at least two directions, of an input spherical image; a step of determining respective values of the combination of the at least two kinds of solid angles, so that surface areas of spherical crowns of spherical segments, which are obtained by dividing the spherical image by the respective values of the combination of the at least two kinds solid angles, have a same value; and a step of generating, by utilizing the respective values of the combination of the at least two kinds of solid angles, an image feature template so as to conduct image feature extraction. |
| US09681046B2 |
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. |
| US09681045B2 |
Systems and methods for generating a panoramic image
Systems and methods for generating a panoramic image include capturing image data from a plurality of cameras and storing the image data within a memory buffer of the respective camera; transmitting image data from an upstream camera to a downstream camera; and combining, within the downstream camera, the image data from the upstream camera with the image data of the downstream camera as combined image data. Each of the plurality of cameras may include an imaging array for capturing image data of a scene; a receiver for receiving image data from an upstream camera of the plurality of cameras; a memory buffer for: combining the image data received from the upstream camera with image data captured by the imaging array to form combined image data, and storing the combined image data; and a transmitter for transmitting the stored combined image data to a downstream camera of the plurality of camera. |
| US09681038B2 |
Mobile terminal and method for setting a focal point value
A mobile terminal for capturing an image and a method for controlling the same are provided. The mobile terminal includes a camera unit configured to receive an external image and process the received image to an image frame, and a control unit configured to set a focal point value of the image frame received from the camera unit, wherein the focal point value is a focal point value obtained by correcting a first focal point value extracted according to a first scheme of detecting a focal point value by using a phase difference of the image by using a second focal point extracted according to a second scheme of detecting a focal point by using a comparison value of the image. |
| US09681037B2 |
Imaging apparatus and its control method and program
An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit for picking up an optical image of an object and generating image pickup data which can be refocused, a detection unit for detecting a focus state of the optical image of the object, a prediction unit for predicting an in-focus position of the optical image of the object on the basis of a detection result of the detection unit, and a focus adjustment unit for driving a focus lens on the basis of the in-focus position predicted by the prediction unit, wherein in a case where the imaging unit picks up a plurality of images from the object, the focus adjustment unit drives the focus lens to a position deviated from the in-focus position predicted by the prediction unit by a predetermined amount, and has a plurality of patterns of a position deviated by the predetermined amount. |
| US09681035B2 |
Method and apparatus for external control of a mobile device using an electromagnetic signal independently of whether the signal is compliant with proximity communications supported by the mobile device
A method and apparatus (100) are disclosed for wirelessly communicating by a proximity communication circuitry comprising an antenna with a proximate device (200) according to a proximity communication protocol. The proximity circuitry is disabled when not needed. Voltage in the antenna caused by an electromagnetic power signal (222) is detected when the proximity communication circuitry is disabled. The detection of voltage is independent of whether the electromagnetic signal (222) complies with the proximity communication protocol. An event is triggered in response to the detected voltage. Correspondingly a method and device (200) for externally controlling the apparatus (100) are disclosed in which a user command is detected and responsively to the user command, an electromagnetic signal (222) is transmitted to the apparatus (100) for triggering the event. The electromagnetic signal (222) has a regular wave form. |
| US09681034B2 |
Integrated substrate for anti-shake apparatus
An integrated substrate for an anti-shake apparatus defined with an optical axis includes: a substrate, a lens module, an anti-shake apparatus and an image-sensing module. The substrate includes a frame having a predetermined thickness. The frame includes a first surface, a second surface, a first circuit layout, and a second circuit layout. The lens module is located above the substrate on the optical axis. The anti-shake apparatus is furnished between the lens module and the substrate. The image-sensing module has an active side and an inactive side, and the inactive side is furnished onto the second surface. The active side is located on the optical axis in a manner of facing the lens module. The anti-shake apparatus is coupled to the first circuit layout, while the image-sensing module is coupled to the second circuit layout. The first and second circuit layouts comprise a plurality of first and second metal leads, respectively. |
| US09681031B2 |
Moving magnet for auto-focus
In some embodiments, the actuator module includes an voice coil motor base, a coil rigidly attached to the voice coil motor base, a lens movement mechanism suspended on the voice coil motor base by a suspension means configured to limit relative motion in linear directions orthogonal to an optical axis of the miniature camera, and a plurality of magnets rigidly mounted to the lens movement mechanism. |
| US09681024B2 |
Image processing apparatus, control method, and computer-readable recording medium configured to perform error diffusion process having and adder to add an error intergrated value diffused to the target pixel, the green noise and the predetermined noise, to the pixel value of the target pixel
An image processing apparatus receiving a pixel value of a multivalue image includes: an input noise generating section that generates a noise; a green noise generating section that generates a green noise from an output value of a binarized processed pixel; an adder section that adds an error integrated value, the green noise and the noise, to the pixel value of the target pixel; the threshold value processing section that binarizes the pixel value of the target pixel after adding the error integrated value, the green noise and the noise; a subtractor section that calculates an error value by calculating a difference between an output value of the binarized target pixel and the pixel value of the target pixel including the error integrated value and the noise; and an error integrating section that outputs the error integrated value by using the error value of the binarized processed pixel. |
| US09681022B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and recording medium
An image processing apparatus includes a geometric correction unit to generate a plurality of pieces of pixel value corrected image data having different pixel values based on object information of input image data, a synthesizer to select a pixel value to be applied to each pixel from the plurality of pieces of pixel value corrected image data to generate corrected image synthesized data, and a pseudo grayscale processor to perform a pseudo grayscale process on the corrected image synthesized data. |
| US09681021B2 |
Printing device, printing system, control method of a printing device, and storage medium
Terminating a wireless connection is simplified. A printer has a print unit configured to print on a recording medium; a wireless communication unit configured to connect wirelessly and communicate wirelessly with an external device; and a control unit configured to control the print unit based on print data received from the external device, and execute a communication termination process to terminate the wireless connection when a command instructing terminating the wireless connection is received from the external device. |
| US09681020B2 |
Creation and identification of unforgeable printable image information data
The present application relates to a method for producing and authenticating unforgeable printable image comprising information color values and inference color values. The present application further provides for unforgeable printed images. |
| US09681019B2 |
Control device and image processing system
A control device is configured to: control the scanner unit, when a first instruction is received from a user to insert a first scanned data in a first file stored in a file storage server, to scan a document to generate the first scanned data; and to provide a first insertion request to the file storage server through a communication interface, the first insertion request requesting the file storage server to insert the first scanned data at a target location in the first file, the target location being a location designated by the user through a terminal device that is configured separately from the control device. |
| US09681018B2 |
Information processing device and non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for print control
An information processing device is connected to a printing device, and has a storage device. Multiple pieces of application-generated data corresponding to multiple documents are generated by an application program. When a piece of application-generated data is obtained, it is temporarily stored in a storage device every time. When a particular print instruction is received, multiple pieces of application-generated data stored in the storage device are combined to generate a single piece of combined print data. The combined print data representing a combination of the multiple pieces of application-generated data respectively corresponding to multiple documents. The pages of images represented by the combined print data are continuously arranged, and is output to the printing device. |
| US09681017B2 |
Arrangement for image processing
A method and an apparatus arranged to obtain raw image data acquired by an image sensor to be applied in an image processing algorithm; adjust, in the processor miming the image processing algorithm, logical dimensions of the image such that logical width of the image is doubled and logical height of the image is halved; adjust the image processing algorithm to take into account the adjusted logical dimensions of the image; and apply the image processing algorithm with the adjusted logical dimensions of the image. |
| US09681016B2 |
Methods and systems for capturing, sharing, and printing annotations
Embodiments of the disclosure disclose methods, and systems for capturing, sharing and printing annotations. The method includes receiving a physical document including hand-written annotation, the hand-written annotation is made by a user corresponding to at least a portion of the physical document. The method further includes capturing the hand-written annotation and corresponding position information of the hand-written annotation, wherein capturing further includes capturing position information of the at least portion of the physical document. Further, the method includes storing the captured hand-written annotation, position information of the hand-written annotation and position information of the at least portion of the physical document. Moreover, the method includes associating the hand-written annotation to the at least portion of the physical document. Additionally, the method includes sharing the hand-written annotation with other users. |
| US09681014B2 |
Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus equipped therewith
An image reading apparatus has a light source unit for illuminating an object to be illuminated, a reading unit for reading the object illuminated by the light source unit, a reflective unit, having at least a first reflection mirror, for reflecting reading light reflected by the object toward the reading unit, and a first light blocking portion for partially blocking light except the reading light. The first reflection mirror has a reflecting surface for reflecting the reading light, and an end surface substantially orthogonal to the reflecting surface. The first light blocking portion extends in a longitudinal direction of the first reflection mirror toward the end surface of the first reflection mirror, with a tip end of the first light blocking portion being opposed to the end surface of the first reflection mirror with a gap therebetween. |
| US09681013B2 |
Methods and systems facilitating generation of digital representations of objects
Disclosed herein is a system, method and computer implemented method of facilitating generation of a digital representation of one or more physical objects. The method may include scanning a first part of the one or more physical objects to obtain image data corresponding to the first part. The scanning may be performed based on a first set of values corresponding to one or more parameters. The image data corresponding to the first part may be a digital representation of the first part. The method may further include determining a size of image data corresponding to the first part. Additionally, the method may include displaying information based on the size of the image data corresponding to the first part, prior to receiving image data corresponding to a second part of the one or more physical objects. |
| US09681012B2 |
Colour measurement device and colour measurement method
A color measurement device acquires an image of a relative position calibration chart. The relative position calibration chart includes a calibration figure having a given calibration feature that has a position that is detectable along at least one of a first and a second direction. A color measurement of the relative position calibration chart is performed. Relative position relationship-related information is derived based on the calibration feature in the image of the relative position calibration chart and the calibration feature in the color measurement of the relative position calibration chart. A color of each patch of a number of patches of a color chart is measured at a position corresponding to one of the patches while correcting the position of the patch based on the position relationship-related information. |
| US09681008B2 |
Sheet conveying apparatus and image reading apparatus
An operation panel is integrated into a conveying unit, and the operation panel and a conveying roller are displaced with respect to each other in a sheet width direction crossing a sheet conveying direction. The operation panel and the conveying roller are located in a manner at least partly overlapping each other in the sheet conveying direction and a height direction in the conveying unit. Further, the operation panel and the conveying roller are at least partly located within a range of a width of a sheet conveying area by the conveying unit. |
| US09681002B2 |
Improving charging information accuracy in a telecommunications network
A method for improving charging information accuracy in a telecommunications network with respect to a target user equipment includes: in case of a handover or cell change procedure from a first base transceiver station to a second base transceiver station regarding the target user equipment, transmitting first non-delivered packet data volume information from the first base transceiver station to the second base transceiver station using at least one of the following: an X2 interface between the first base transceiver station and the second base transceiver station, an S1 interface between the first base transceiver station and the core network and the S1 interface between the core network and the second base transceiver station, and user equipment history information regarding the target user equipment; and determining, based on the first non-delivered packet data volume information, the second non-delivered packet data volume information. |
| US09680987B2 |
Mobile terminal and controlling method thereof
A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed. The present invention includes a wireless communication unit configured to perform a wireless communication, a touchscreen having a front output unit exposed from a front side of the touchscreen and at least one lateral output unit exposed from a lateral side of the touchscreen, and a controller, if an event occurs, controlling an object to be displayed on the lateral output unit to notify that the event occurs, the controller controls a detailed information on the event to be displayed through at least one of the front output unit and the lateral output unit in response to a input to the lateral output unit. Accordingly, the present invention outputs an alarm indicating an occurrence of an event and facilitates a content or substance of the occurring event to be checked. |
| US09680986B2 |
Automatically disabling the on-screen keyboard of an electronic device in a vehicle
A keyboard deactivation module includes a processor configured to generate an on-screen keyboard control signal, a CAN bus interface configured to connect to a CAN bus of a vehicle, and obtain vehicle speed information indicating a current speed of the vehicle from the vehicle via the CAN bus, and a Bluetooth radio configured to transmit the on-screen keyboard control signal to a target electronic device. An on-screen keyboard of the target electronic device is enabled in response to receiving the on-screen keyboard control signal while the vehicle speed information indicates that the current speed of the vehicle is below a specified threshold, and the on-screen keyboard of the target electronic device is disabled in response to receiving the on-screen keyboard control signal while the vehicle speed information indicates that the current speed of the vehicle is above a specified threshold. The keyboard deactivation module is mounted in the vehicle. |
| US09680982B2 |
Emergency communication device
An emergency communication system for use with a home network manager having one or more associated network elements. The system may comprise a processor that may communicate with at least one of the home network manager and the associated network elements, a input interface that may receive a plurality of sequential inputs and/or a management interface that may enable a user to program a plurality of programmable responses to a number of the sequential inputs, wherein each programmable response may include a user-programmable action to be activated via at least one of the emergency communication system, the home network manager and/or the associated network elements when, for example, the input interface receives the number of the sequential inputs, wherein when the input interface receives the number of the sequential inputs, the processor may communicate a corresponding user-programmed action to the at least one of the emergency communication system, the home network manager and/or the associated network elements. |
| US09680980B2 |
Electronic device accessory
Electronic devices and accessories such as headsets for electronic devices are provided. A microphone may be included in an accessory to capture sound for an associated electronic device. Buttons and other user interfaces may be included in the accessories. An accessory may have an audio plug that connects to a mating audio jack in an electronic device, thereby establishing a wired communications link between the accessory and the electronic device. The electronic device may include power supply circuitry for applying bias voltages to the accessory. The bias voltages may bias a microphone and may adjust settings in the accessory such as settings related to operating modes. User input information may be conveyed between the accessory and the electronic device using ultrasonic tone transmission. The electronic device may also gather input from the accessory using a voltage detector coupled to lines in the communications path. |
| US09680979B1 |
Telephone number adjustment
A method to adjust a phone number is provided. The method may include receiving a first phone call at a telephonic device and obtaining a phone number from the first phone call. In some embodiments, the phone number may identify an origin of the first phone call. The method may further include prepending a digit to the phone number and storing the phone number with the prepended digit in a memory in the telephonic device. In some embodiments, the method may further include using the stored phone number to initiate automatic placement of the second phone call. |
| US09680978B2 |
Apparatus and method for providing incoming and outgoing call information in a mobile communication terminal
Methods and apparatuses are provided for providing information. Phone numbers are stored in an address book in a memory of the terminal. Call history information for a phone number together with a first option for editing of information associated with the phone number are displayed on a display of the terminal, if the phone number is in the address book. |
| US09680975B2 |
Electronic device with reworkable midplate attachment structures
An electronic device may be provided with a display mounted in a display frame assembly that includes a plastic structure overmolded over a display frame. A housing midplate may be used to provide the electronic device with mechanical rigidity and strength, and may also be used as a sensor plane. For sensor plane applications, accurate placement and assembly of the midplate in the housing can be critical. The housing midplate may be accurately assembled to the display frame using connections formed using welded tabs, welded and screwed nuts, overmolded plastic heat stake structures, or overmolded plastic structures and adhesive. Rework and repair operations may be performed by disconnecting connections such as welds using cutting equipment, by using solvent to dissolve adhesive, by unscrewing welded nuts, or by removing heat stake structures. Following rework or repair, a fresh midplate and associated components may be attached to the display frame. |
| US09680974B2 |
Unibody contact features on a chassis shell of a mobile device
Several embodiments include a mobile device. The mobile device can include a circuit board configured to interconnect one or more electronic components and a chassis shell adapted to form an outer perimeter of the mobile device and to enclose the circuit board. The chassis shell can have an integral unibody that includes a contact feature integral to the chassis shell. A sensor system can be in contact with the chassis shell on an opposite side of the contact feature. The contact feature enables the sensor system to detect touch events when a user interacts with the contact feature. |
| US09680969B2 |
Communication device, communication method, and program
A duplication identifier, a substitutor, and a memory controller perform the steps of: comparing information newly acquired by an acquirer and information stored in an operation data memory; determining whether or not at least a portion of the newly acquired information matches a portion of the information stored in the operation data memory; when it is determined that there is no matching portion causing the information acquired by the acquirer to be stored in the operation data memory; and when it is determined that at least a portion of the newly acquired information matches a portion of the information stored in the operation data memory, substituting the information of the portion determined to match the information stored in the operation data memory among the newly acquired information with predetermined information with a smaller volume than the information of the portion, and storing the information in the operation data memory. |
| US09680965B2 |
Software upgrades for offline charging systems within a network
Systems and methods for performing a software upgrade for a first offline charging system (OFCS) having a plurality of virtual machines implementing charging functions for offline charging. For the upgrade, a controller identifies a subset of the virtual machines in the first OFCS to remove from service, transmits a request to a distributor to reduce the distribution of the accounting requests in proportion to the number of the virtual machines removed from service, and removes the subset of virtual machines from service in the first OFCS. The controller also constructs updated virtual machines having the software upgrade in a second OFCS to replace the virtual machines removed from the first OFCS, and transmits a request to the distributor to increase distribution of the accounting requests to the second OFCS in proportion to the number of the updated virtual machines constructed in the second OFCS. |
| US09680964B2 |
Programming model for installing and distributing occasionally connected applications
An application executing in a virtual environment, such as a web browser, may be serviced by an application host, such as a webserver that maintains application resources or provides runtime services to the application. However, it may be difficult to configure the application to operate suitably when the application host is unavailable. Techniques for facilitating such operation include the storing of application resources in a computing environment (such as the local file system or a deployable mesh or cloud environment) while also initiating the application within the virtual environment in the context of the application host, which may reduce difficulties with isolation policies imposed by the virtual environment (e.g., cross-domain restrictions imposed by the web browser.) This configuration may promote the servicing of the application alongside other applications and data objects, e.g., the automated deployment and synchronization of the application among all devices comprising the user's mesh environment. |
| US09680961B1 |
Dynamic scheduling of electronic content updates
A method comprises a server receiving a message from a device requesting content, reading a first time record for the previous receipt of content, comparing the first time record with a second time record for the content stored in cache, and sending, when the second time record is newer than the first time record, the requested content. When time records match, the device is advised of refresh time and to request later. When the message lacks a time record, the requested content is sent. When cache does not contain requested content, a data loader obtains content from a server. A message to the device advises the time to obtain the content and to request again later. When cache does not contain the content and the server is unavailable, the data loader determines the time of network availability. A message then advises of availability time and to request again later. |
| US09680959B2 |
Recommending content based on intersecting user interest profiles
This technology may generate recommendations of relevant content, based on determining intersections among one or more user interest profiles of users, who interact either synchronously or asynchronously. This technology may retrieve interest profiles for particular users, determine intersections among all user interest profiles (or among individual content recommendations), and create a group interest profile, update the particular users' interest profiles based on the group interest profile created, and generate recommendations of content that is determined to be relevant based on the group interest profile. A user may select items from these recommendations of content, add the user-selected content recommendations to a common group pool, generate a group interest profile based on the common group pool, and generate recommendations of content based on the group interest profile. Scores for the recommendations of content may be calculated and the top scoring ones may be displayed to the users in the group. |
| US09680958B2 |
System and method for programmable radio access networks
Disclosed is a novel base station that has a layer 1-3 protocol stack to control and process incoming/outgoing flows with user equipment (UE) and a Random Access Network (RAN) hypervisor virtualizing one or more instances, each instance corresponding to an active profile associated with the base station. Each such instance is associated with a given profile comprising: (1) an admission control module, (2) a handoff control module, and (3) a scheduling module. Also provided is a controller having: (1) an interface to communicate over a network with such base stations over a communication protocol to send the details of new profiles or modifications of existing profiles to such base stations, (2) a profile management application managing a database of a plurality of active profiles associated with the one or more base stations, and (3) a controller operating system that ensures that no two active profiles in said profile management application create conflicts in any of the one or more base stations. |
| US09680957B2 |
Adaptive bandwidth consumption optimization for wireless data connections
Embodiments are disclosed for caching multimedia content. An example in-vehicle computing system that adaptively caches multimedia data, the in-vehicle system including a memory, a position sensor, a receiver, and a processor. The position sensor provides a position signal indicative of a present location of the system. The receiver wirelessly receives multimedia data from a remote multimedia data source. The processor stores the received multimedia data in the memory, transfers multimedia data in the memory to a queue for playback when an amount of multimedia data saved in the memory is at least a first threshold value, and adjusts a size of the memory when a wireless communication channel is not available between the system and a remote multimedia data source. |
| US09680953B2 |
Cache and delivery based application data scheduling
A device receives configuration information that instructs the device about when to send content to a user device. The device also receives content from an application server at a first time, and stores the content. The device determines, based on the configuration information, that the content is to be sent to the user device, and sends the content to the user device based on the determination. The content is sent to the user device at a second time that is later than the first time. |
| US09680952B2 |
Content delivery network (CDN) cold content handling
A method of content delivery in a content delivery network (CDN), where the CDN is deployed, operated and managed by a content delivery network service provider (CDNSP). The CDN comprises a set of content servers and a domain name system (DNS). For a given content provider, a determination is first made whether the content provider has “cold content” delivery requirements by evaluating one or more factors that include: total content size, size of content objects expected to be served, uniqueness of content, total number of content objects, and a percentage of the total content size that is expected to account for a given percentage of traffic. Upon a determination that the content provider has cold content delivery requirements, a subset of the CDN content servers are configured to implement a set of one or handling rules for managing delivery of the cold content from the CDN content servers. |
| US09680949B2 |
Remote selection and authorization of collected media transmission
A personal media system implemented as a tuple service allows remote access, selection, authorization, and transmission of personal media stored in a collection on a home network across a network to a guest network. A mobile client device enables browsing/searching for content, shows media players within a domain, finds a media player within a domain for a given media type, gets a media object, and renders a media object on a given media player within a domain. Each gateway has an agent that registers to the server and responds to commands from the server. The server acts as a hub for moving digital content objects between domains, provides media services on behalf of domains (e.g., transcoding, proxy streaming, etc.), provides a web interface to mobile client devices for control over user domains, sends commands to the personal media agents, and creates an accessible set of domains for a user. |
| US09680948B2 |
System and method for device failure notification
A method and apparatus of a device that notifies another device of a failed device is described. In an exemplary embodiment, a network element detects that a first device is unavailable, where the network element couples the first device to the second device. In response to detecting that the first device is unavailable, the network element configures a proxy for the first device. The network element additionally receives network data that is destined for the first device, where the second device originated the network data. If the proxy can process the network data, the network element transmits a response to the second device from the proxy, where the response indicates that the first device is unavailable, where the first response includes an address of the first device. If the proxy cannot process the network data, the network element drops the network data. |
| US09680947B2 |
Aggregated actions
Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems receive a first plurality of actions from a first entity with respect to a first plurality of objects. A global object related to each of the first plurality of objects is determined and a representation of the global object is displayed in association with a representation of the first entity. Additionally, in response to receiving user feedback on the representation of the global object displayed in association with the representation of the first entity, an instance of the global object that is unique to the first entity is created. The displayed representation of the global object is converted into a representation of the instance of the global object that is unique to the first entity. |
| US09680943B1 |
Proximity and time based content downloader
Methods and systems for transmitting content to a device are described herein. Methods include receiving location information relating to a device that is usable to identify an approximate location of the device; comparing the approximate location of the device with a location of a venue; and transmitting content to the device if the approximate location of the device is within a pre-determined range of the location of the venue for a predetermined range of time. The user can receive the content without the need for the user to be aware of and seek out that content. The transmission of content to the device may depend not only on the user's location, but also on the amount of time the user is at the location. Content may be selected based upon whether the approximate location of the device is within pre-determined ranges of the location of the venue. |
| US09680942B2 |
Data verification using access device
An embodiment of the invention is directed to a method comprising receiving, at a server computer, information for a portable device that includes a mobile device identifier and storing, by the server computer, the information for the portable device that includes the mobile device identifier in a database associated with the server computer. The method further comprising receiving, by the server computer, transaction data from an access device for a transaction conducted at the access device, determining, by the server computer, from the transaction data that the transaction is associated with the portable device, determining, by the server computer, a location of the access device, determining, by the server computer, a location of a mobile device associated with the mobile device identifier, determining, by the server computer, that the location of the mobile device matches the location of the access device, and marking, by the server computer, the stored information for the portable device as authentication verified. |
| US09680937B2 |
Communication method and apparatus
A method of, and apparatus for, network communication between a client computer initiator and a target data store. The method includes requesting, by the initiator, a data transfer session between the initiator and the target over a network. The request specifies quality of service parameters for the data transfer session. The method further includes receiving, from the target, a response accepting or denying the data transfer session based on the quality of service parameters; and establishing the data transfer session between the initiator and the target if the request is accepted. An advantage in communicating QoS requirements automatically on a per session basis between a client computer initiator and a target data storage resource is that QoS guarantees can be improved because the QoS determination can be carried out at the time the data transfer session is required. This enables the current access patterns on the storage resource to be monitored and an accurate determination regarding whether the QoS parameters of a desired data transfer session can be met. |
| US09680936B2 |
Rail systems mark-up language
A train control operation system, the system comprising a data collection server for collecting data relating to one or more elements of trains, a network for distributing data relating to the elements to subscribers and a subscription server for hosting definitions of elements which is accessible by subscribers of the system, so as to enable each subscribers to access the definitions from a single source. |
| US09680935B2 |
Grid gateway and transmission tower management system with multiple grid gateways
A grid gateway and a transmission tower management system having a plurality of the grid gateways are disclosed. The grid gateways are connected with one another to form a mesh network. A plurality of sensors are provided within a wireless transmission range of the grid gateways. The sensors collect and send environmental parameters to the corresponding grid gateway within the wireless transmission range, in order to choose an optimal transmission path in the mesh network through grid gateways to transmit. The environmental parameters are transmitted through the optimal transmission path to a server for storage and analysis. A grid gateway and a transmission tower management system having a plurality of the grid gateways have broad and local area wireless transmission ability, so as to overcome restrictions of topography and communication to execute broad area management and monitor tasks. |
| US09680927B2 |
Cloud tabs
The presently disclosed techniques related to data transfer and synchronization between multiple electronic devices. The multiple electronic devices may be logged onto a user's account with a cloud computing service so that they may transfer data relating to websites that they have accessed to the cloud computing service so that such data may be synchronized amongst the multiple electronic devices. A tab screen on each electronic device may allow a user to view the other linked devices as well as the websites that they have accessed so that the user may select such websites if so desired. |
| US09680921B2 |
Method, apparatus, and system for controlling voice data transmission
A method, apparatus, and system are provided for controlling data transmission in the field of voice communication. In the method: a server device receives a blocking request sent by a first terminal corresponding to a first user in a user group, where the blocking request carries an ID of a second user in the user group. The server device receives the voice data sent by a second terminal corresponding to the second user who is identified by the ID in the blocking request, and transmitting the voice data to terminals corresponding to other users in the user group apart from the first user and the second user. The voice data sent by any terminal corresponding to the second user is transmitted to the terminals corresponding to other users apart from the first user and the second user after receiving the blocking request carrying the ID of the second user. |
| US09680915B2 |
Methods for clustering networks based on topology discovery and devices thereof
A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and device for clustering a network includes obtaining information regarding a network including relationship information for a plurality of nodes of the network. A weight value for each of a plurality of directly connected pairs of the plurality of nodes is determined, wherein the directly connected pair are identified based on the relationship information. At least one topology score is generated for each of the plurality of nodes. A plurality of clusters is generated using the topology scores and one of the plurality of nodes as a seed node for each of the clusters. At least the seed node used to generate at least a subset of the plurality of clusters is output. |
| US09680911B2 |
Method and apparatus of short uniform resource locator lookup and feedback
A method of short uniform resource locator (URL) lookup and feedback of various examples may include: receiving a request related with a short URL associated with a target URL; identifying resource information of the short URL which is descriptive of credibility of network resources pointed to by the target URL; and making the resource information provided to a user. Another method of short URL lookup and feedback of various examples may include: receiving a request related with a long URL; identifying an identity of a website providing network resources pointed to by the long URL, the identity is a character string or a logo; generating a short URL which includes the identity; and making the short URL provided to the user. |
| US09680903B1 |
Delivery of video mail to controlled-environment facility residents via podcasts
Delivery of video to controlled-environment facility residents via podcasts may include accepting a digital video file or series of digital image files, such as from a non-resident, indicated as directed to a resident of the controlled-environment facility. Such video or image files may be uploaded, such as by the non-resident, via a provided user interface. The video file or series of digital image files are converted into a podcast. The podcast is cached in controlled-environment facility content server storage and the resident is notified of availability of the podcast. The podcast may be streamed and/or downloaded, within the controlled-environment facility, to one of the controlled-environment facility resident media devices. |
| US09680902B2 |
Media streaming method and device using the same
A media streaming method and a device using the same are introduced herein. The disclosure introduces a method for smooth and flawless playback of live media streaming in dynamic network environment. When network congestion occurs for a period, a media receiver may play media data as more as possible by adjusting the transmission order of media data meaningful to the receiver or a provider for providing the media data. In one embodiment, the disclosure introduces a method for smooth and flawless playback of live media streaming by caching a certain amount of media data and then playing them at an appropriate speed to catch up to the progress of the live media streaming, or by dynamically changing bit rates of the live media streaming in time by the provider to meet the most acceptable bit rate according to the network environment between the provider and the receiver. |
| US09680888B2 |
Private interaction hubs
A mobile device has memory storage to maintain hub data that is associated with a private interaction hub, where the hub data includes multiple types of displayable data that is editable by different types of device applications. The memory storage at the device also maintains private data that is displayable and is viewable with one of the device applications. The mobile device also includes a display device to display the multiple types of the hub data in a hub user interface of a hub application. The display device can also display the private data and a subset of the hub data that are both associated with a device application in a device application user interface. |
| US09680887B2 |
Autonomic collaborative workspace creation
Systems and methods provide for autonomic collaborative workspace creation. Patterns of artifact usage for a plurality of workspaces over a plurality of collaborative interactions may be determined. Some of the multitude of collaborative interactions may be between a subset of the plurality of workspaces. A workspace may be initialized with artifacts for a scheduled collaboration based on the patterns of artifact usage. |
| US09680884B2 |
Synchronized wireless display devices
This disclosure relates to techniques for synchronizing playback of media data between a source device and one or more sink devices in a Wireless Display (WD) system. WD systems enable mobile devices to share a local display of the source device with remote sink devices. The techniques of this disclosure include a management procedure at the source device to select a universal queue size for the source device and the participating sink devices. The source device selects the universal queue size based at least on supported queue sizes of the source device and the sink devices. The media packets are then held in queues having the universal queue size at the source device and the sink devices. The uniform queue size combined with compensation for transmission delay enables each of the devices to begin processing the media packets at the same time. |
| US09680879B2 |
Electronic messaging exchange
A computer-implemented system and method for secure electronic message exchange including coupling a control platform to a workstation of a plurality of workstations via a communications medium, where the control platform includes one or more apparatuses for monitoring, controlling, conversion, and billing, related to messages exchanged between a plurality of local users and a plurality of remote users. The system prevents forwarding or copying of a message sent by a local user of the plurality of local users and received by a remote user of the plurality of remote users, to another party by the control platform. The system and method also provides for authenticating the remote user with the control platform. |
| US09680877B2 |
Systems and methods for rule-based anomaly detection on IP network flow
A system to detect anomalies in internet protocol (IP) flows uses a set of machine-learning (ML) rules that can be applied in real time at the IP flow level. A communication network has a large number of routers equipped with flow monitoring capability. A flow collector collects flow data from the routers throughout the communication network and provides them to a flow classifier. At the same time, a limited number of locations in the network monitor data packets and generate alerts based on packet data properties. The packet alerts and the flow data are provided to a machine learning system that detects correlations between the packet-based alerts and the flow data to thereby generate a series of flow-level alerts. These rules are provided to the flow time classifier. Over time, the new packet alerts and flow data are used to provide updated rules generated by the machine learning system. |
| US09680876B2 |
Method and system for protecting data flow at a mobile device
A method and system for evaluating and enforcing a data flow policy at a mobile computing device includes a data flow policy engine to evaluate data access requests made by security-wrapped software applications running on the mobile device and prevent the security-wrapped software applications from violating the data flow policy. The data flow policy defines a number of security labels that are associated with data objects. A software application process may be associated with a security label if the process accesses data having the security label or the process is in communication with another process that has accessed data having the security label. |
| US09680875B2 |
Security policy unification across different security products
A management entity receives from multiple security devices corresponding native security policies each based on a native policy model associated with the corresponding security device. Each security device controls access to resources by devices associated with the security device according to the corresponding native security policy. The management entity normalizes the received native security policies across the security devices based on a generic policy model, to produce a normalized security policy that is based on the generic policy model and representative of the native security polices. |
| US09680873B1 |
Trusted network detection
Approaches for processing network requests based upon the perceived trustworthiness of the network. A software component renders a judgment, based on a policy that weighs one or more factors, about whether a network accessible to a device should be trusted. If the software component renders a judgment that the network should be trusted, then a network resource identified on a white list of trusted resources is allowed to be retrieved within a host operating system or in a first virtual machine. Conversely, if the software component renders a judgment that the network should not be trusted, then the network resource identified on the white list of trusted resources is prevented from be retrieved within the host operating system or the first virtual machine, and may instead be retrieved within a second virtual machine, which has a more restrictive set of access privileges than the first virtual machine. |
| US09680871B2 |
Adopting policy objects for host-based access control
A policy manager running on a client device receives policy data from a domain controller comprising a directory server and a file server. The client device runs an operating system that does not natively support policy retrieval from the directory server and file server. The policy manager identifies a policy type of the received policy data and identifies a policy processing plug-in associated with the identified policy type. The policy processing plug-in is connected to the operating system on the client device through a plug-in interface. The policy manager provides the received policy data to the identified policy processing plug-in for processing. |
| US09680867B2 |
Network stimulation engine
Methods, devices, and systems are disclosed for simulating a large, realistic computer network. Virtual actors statistically emulate the behaviors of humans using networked devices or responses and automatic functions of networked equipment, and their stochastic actions are queued in buffer pools by a behavioral engine. An abstract machine engine creates the minimal interfaces needed for each actor, and the interfaces then communicate persistently over a network with each other and real and virtual network resources to form realistic network traffic. The network can respond to outside stimuli, such as a network mapping application, by responding with false views of the network in order to spoof hackers, and the actors can respond by altering a software defined network upon which they operate. |
| US09680864B2 |
Remediating rogue applications
In one example embodiment, a remediating system may include a mobile communication device, to which an application is to be installed, and a remediator that may be configured to remediate the application and transmit the remediated version of the application to the mobile communication device for installation. |
| US09680863B2 |
Automated responses to security threats
Systems, methods, and software described herein provide security actions to computing assets of a computing environment. In one example, a method of operating an advisement system to manage security actions for a computing environment includes identifying a security incident for an asset in the environment, and obtaining enrichment information about the security incident. The method further includes identifying a rule set based on the enrichment information, identifying an action response based on the rule set, and initiating implementation of the action response in the computing environment. |
| US09680862B2 |
Trusted threat-aware microvisor
A trusted threat-aware microvisor may be deployed as a module of a trusted computing base (TCB) that also includes a root task module configured to cooperate with the microvisor to load and initialize one or more other modules executing on a node of a network environment. The root task may cooperate with the microvisor to allocate one or more kernel resources of the node to those other modules. As a trusted module of the TCB, the microvisor may be configured to enforce a security policy of the TCB that, e.g., prevents alteration of a state related to security of the microvisor by a module of or external to the TCB. The security policy of the TCB may be implemented by a plurality of security properties of the microvisor. Trusted (or trustedness) may therefore denote a predetermined level of confidence that the security property is demonstrated by the microvisor. |
| US09680859B2 |
System, method and apparatus to visually configure an analysis of a program
A method extracts views from an application program, where at least some extracted views include at least one view component, and presenting the extracted views to a user. In response to the user selecting a view component in a presented extracted view, the method presents a form to the user having a plurality of vulnerability types indicated for the selected view component and, for each vulnerability type, provides an ability for the user to set an indicator in the form as to indicate whether the view component is at least one of a source or a sink. The method further includes saving the form containing the user's input in conjunction with a user-provided label for the selected view component and a unique identification of the selected view component, and deriving an analysis policy configuration from the saved form that is formatted for use by a program security analyzer. |
| US09680858B1 |
Annotation platform for a security risk system
Among other things, information is acquired and stored that is indicative of security risks associated with security subjects and with entities to which the security subjects belong. The stored information is analyzed by computer to derive security indicators for the entities. With respect to entities selected by the users, security information is presented by computer to users. The security information includes security indicators for the entities and security information for security subjects. The security information for security subjects includes annotations provided by users. The annotations are managed by computer based on communications from the users. |
| US09680857B1 |
Cyber intelligence clearinghouse
Systems, methods, and computer-readable and executable instructions are provided for providing a cyber intelligence clearinghouse (CIC). Providing a CIC can include generating analysis data from intelligence information collected from a number of sources. In addition, providing a CIC can include calculating a number of fidelity scores from the analysis data, wherein the number of fidelity scores represent a trustworthiness of the number of sources. In addition, providing a CIC can include determining a number of events to block based on the number of fidelity scores. Furthermore, providing a CIC can include providing feedback data to the number of sources based on the number of fidelity scores and the number of events to block. |
| US09680856B2 |
System and methods for scalably identifying and characterizing structural differences between document object models
A security auditing computer system efficiently evaluates and reports security exposures in a target Web site hosted on a remote Web server system. The auditing system includes a crawler subsystem that constructs a first list of Web page identifiers representing the target Web site. An auditing subsystem selectively retrieves and audits Web pages based on a second list, based on the first. Retrieval is sub-selected dependent on a determined uniqueness of Web page identifiers relative to the second list. Auditing is further sub-selected dependent on a determined uniqueness of structural identifiers computed for each retrieved Web page, including structural identifiers of Web page components contained within a Web page. The computed structural identifiers are stored in correspondence with Web page identifiers and Web page component identifiers in the second list. A reporting system produces reports of security exposures identified through the auditing of Web pages and Web page components. |
| US09680854B2 |
Malware and anomaly detection via activity recognition based on sensor data
A system for malware and anomaly detection via activity recognition based on sensor is disclosed. The system may analyze sensor data collected during a selected time period from one or more sensors that are associated with a device. Once the sensor data is analyzed, the system may determine a context of the device when the device is in a connected state. The system may determine the context of the device based on the sensor data collected during the selected time period. The system may also determine if traffic received or transmitted by the device during the connected state is in a white list. Furthermore, the system may transmit an alert if the traffic is determined to not be in the white list or if the context determined for the device indicates that the context does not correlate with the traffic. |
| US09680852B1 |
Recursive multi-layer examination for computer network security remediation
Computer-implemented methods and apparatuses for recursive multi-layer examination for computer network security remediation is provided herein. Exemplary methods may include: receiving a first identifier associated with a first node; retrieving first metadata using the first identifier; identifying a second node in communication with the first node using the first metadata; ascertaining a first characteristic of each first communication between the first and second nodes using the first metadata; examining each first communication for malicious behavior using the first characteristic; receiving a first risk score for each first communication responsive to the examining; determining the first risk score associated with one of the second communications exceeds a first predetermined threshold and indicating the first and second nodes are malicious. Exemplary methods may further include: providing the identified malicious nodes and communications originating from or directed to the malicious nodes. |
| US09680842B2 |
Detecting co-occurrence patterns in DNS
Techniques for inferring the existence of suspicious software by detecting multiple name server requests for the same sets of non-existent domains. Implementations can allow for detecting the existence of malware or other suspicious software without requiring reverse engineering of the malware's domain generation algorithm. |
| US09680840B2 |
Password protected device unlock based on motion signature and proximity
A method is provided for the authentication of an electronic device using an authenticated wearable device. The method includes wirelessly connecting a wearable device and an electronic device. The method also includes detecting a movement on a touchscreen of the electronic device. The method also includes detecting a movement of the wearable device. The method also includes comparing the movement on the touchscreen and the movement of the wearable device. The method also includes unlocking the electronic device when the movement on the touchscreen matches the movement of the wearable device. |
| US09680839B2 |
Access permissions management system and method
An access permissions management system including a hierarchical access permissions repository including access permissions relating to data elements arranged in a data element hierarchy, wherein some of the data elements have only access permissions which are inherited from ancestral data elements, some of the multiplicity of data elements are prevented from having inherited access permissions and thus have only unique access permissions which are not inherited and some of the data elements are not prevented from having inherited access permissions and have not only inherited access permissions but also unique access permissions which are not inherited, some of which unique access permissions possibly being redundant with inherited access permissions, and an access permissions redundancy prevention engine operative to ascertain which of the unique access permissions are redundant with inherited access permissions and not to store the unique access permissions which are redundant with inherited access permissions in the repository. |
| US09680835B1 |
Proactive intrusion protection system
A system for proactive intrusion protection comprises a memory operable to store data identifying a plurality of compromising entities, comprising at least one of a device identifier or a contact identifier, and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and operable to receive, from a remote application associated with a remote device and with the system, information regarding a source of the incoming communication. The processor is further operable to determine an entity associated with the source of the incoming communication and to determine that the entity associated with the source matches at least one of the plurality of compromising entities based on comparing the data identifying the plurality of compromising entities and the entity associated with the source of the incoming communication. Furthermore, the processor is operable to send to the remote application a signal configured to block the incoming communication. |
| US09680831B2 |
Data permission management for wearable devices
Methods and apparatus for providing rule-based access to data stored on wearable devices are provided. A wearable computing device can store data that includes data about a wearer of the wearable computing device. The wearable computing device can receive a request for a portion of the stored data. The wearable computing device can determine a designated role associated with the request for the portion of the stored data. The wearable computing device can determine one or more rules regarding access to the portion of the stored data based on the designated role. The wearable computing device can determine a response to the request for the portion of the stored data by at least: determining whether the request is validated by at least applying the one or more rules to the request, and after determining that the request is validated, providing the requested portion of the stored data. |
| US09680829B2 |
Broadcast-based trust establishment
A method and apparatus for device authentication are provided. In the method and apparatus, authentication data for a first device is received. The first device is then authenticated based at least in part on demonstrated access to authentication data prior to broadcast of the authentication data. One or more actions may be taken in response to the authentication of the first device based at least in part on the demonstrated access to the authentication data. |
| US09680827B2 |
Geo-fencing cryptographic key material
In representative embodiments, a geo-fence cryptographic key material comprising a geo-fence description defining a geographic area and associated cryptographic key material is assigned to an entity for use in authenticated communications. The validity of the cryptographic material changes state based on whether the entity is inside or outside the geographic area. This is accomplished in a representative embodiment by suspending the validity of the cryptographic key material when the entity is outside the geographic area and reinstating the validity of the cryptographic key material when the entity is inside the geographic area. A geographic update service determines the validity of the cryptographic material in part using location updates sent by the entity. Entities that are not geo-aware can delegate the location update to a geo-aware device. Encryption can be used to preserve privacy. |
| US09680821B2 |
Resource access control for virtual machines
To provide enhanced operation of virtualized computing systems, various systems, apparatuses, methods, and software are provided herein. In a first example, a method of operating a computing system to control access to data resources by virtual machines is provided. The method includes receiving an access token and an instantiation command from an end user system. Responsive to the instantiation command, the method includes instantiating a virtual machine identified by the instantiation command using the access token as user data for the virtual machine during instantiation. The method also includes, in the virtual machine, executing a security module responsive to instantiation that transfers the access token for delivery to an authorization system, receiving credentials responsive to the access token, and accessing a data resource using the credentials. |
| US09680818B2 |
Method and apparatus for bulk authentication and load balancing of networked appliances
A new approach is proposed that contemplates systems and methods to support bulk authentication of an appliance associated with a user to all cloud-based services the appliance intends to access in one transaction instead of authenticating the appliance against each of the services individually. First, the appliance generates and transmits to an authentication service cluster an authentication request that includes its identification and authentication credentials in order to access to a plurality of services. Upon receiving the authentication request, the authentication service cluster authenticates the appliance for all of the services to be accessed based on the information in the authentication request. Once the appliance is authenticated, the authentication service cluster then retrieves entitlement information of the services to be accessed by the appliance, and identifies the service clusters/nodes that the appliance will connect to for the services with the fastest response time. |
| US09680815B2 |
Method and system for transmitting authentication context information
A system of the present invention uses an identity provider to provide the authentication services for multiple service providers. An identity provider communicates with one or more service providers. A user that wishes to gain access to a service provider is authenticated through the use of the identity provider. A user desiring to access a service provider is first authenticated by the identity provider. The identity provider determines if the user meets the desired class level and provides various information related to the authentication. When the user attempts to access a second service provider that is associated with the same identity provider, the second service provider accesses the identity provider and determines that the user was recently authenticated. The identity provider then transmits the relevant information regarding the authentication process to the second service provider, which can then allow or deny the user access to the second service provider. |
| US09680814B2 |
Method, device, and system for registering terminal application
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, a device, and a system for registering a terminal application. In the embodiments of the present invention, a download address information recommending request that is sent by a first terminal and carries a terminal identifier of a second terminal is received; and recommended download address information is returned to the first terminal, where the recommended download address information includes a terminal application download address and authentication information used for performing registration, so that the first terminal sends, to the second terminal, a recommending message carrying the recommended download address information, so as to make the second terminal register according to the terminal application download address and the authentication information used for performing registration. In this solution, less time is consumed and a registration success rate is high, which helps to improve an application activating rate for a user. |
| US09680812B1 |
Enrolling a user in a new authentication procdure only if trusted
A technique is directed to operating an authentication system. The technique involves receiving an enrollment request to enroll a user in a new authentication procedure in place of an earlier-established authentication procedure. The earlier-established authentication procedure is operative to authenticate the user at a first security level within a range of security levels. The new authentication procedure is operative to authenticate the user at a second security level within the range of security levels, the first security level being at least as high as the second security level within the range of security levels. The technique further involves, in response to the enrollment request, initiating the earlier-established authentication procedure to authenticate the user. The technique further involves, in response to completion of the earlier-established authentication procedure, performing an authentication enrollment operation associated with the new authentication procedure. |
| US09680809B2 |
Secure data storage on a cloud environment
A method for secure data storage in a cloud storage infrastructure comprises providing a set of first upload files to be stored in the cloud storage infrastructure, providing a set of first random noise files, splitting each file of the two sets into a group of fragments, recombining the fragments by randomly intermixing fragments from different groups thus generating a set of second upload files, encrypting each second upload file with a first encryption key and storing each first encryption key in a secure storage location, storing reconstruction information about the set of first upload files, the splitting, the recombining and the first encryption keys in the secure storage location, uploading each second upload file to a respective temporary cloud storage location, repeatedly moving each uploaded second upload file to a new temporary cloud storage location in predetermined intervals of time. |
| US09680807B2 |
Secure session capability using public-key cryptography without access to the private key
A server establishes a secure session with a client device where a private key used in the handshake when establishing the secure session is stored in a different server. During the handshake procedure, the server receives a premaster secret that has been encrypted using a public key bound with a domain for which the client device is attempting to establish a secure session. The server transmits the encrypted premaster secret to the different server for decryption along with other information necessary to compute a master secret and session keys for the secure session. The different server decrypts the encrypted premaster secret, generates the master secret, and generates session keys that are used in the secure session for encrypting and decrypting communication between the client device and the server and transmits those session keys to that server. |
| US09680804B2 |
Distributed learning and aging for management of internet protocol (IP) addresses
A device includes a security process unit (SPU) associated with a logical ring of SPUs. The SPU receives a packet with an address associated with a malicious source, and creates, based on the packet, an entry in a data structure associated with the SPU. The entry includes information associated with the packet. The SPU provides an install message to a next SPU in the logical ring. The install message instructs the next SPU to create the entry in another data structure, and forward the install message to another SPU. The SPU receives the install message from a last SPU, and sets a state of the entry to active in the data structure based on receiving the install message from the last SPU. The SPU performs a particular action on another packet, associated with the malicious source, based on the setting the state of the entry to active. |
| US09680797B2 |
Deep packet inspection (DPI) of network packets for keywords of a vocabulary
An aspect of the present disclosure provides deep packet inspection (DPI) of network packets for keywords of a vocabulary. In one embodiment, a mapping specifying association of respective keywords to corresponding unique pattern codes is maintained, with each pattern code being shorter in length compared to the corresponding keyword and being computed based on a formula. Upon receiving a network packet, a token (containing a sequence of characters) present in the network packet is first identified and the formula then applied to the identified token to generate a token code. The token is determined to match a specific keyword when the token code equals the pattern code corresponding to the specific keyword in the mapping. |
| US09680795B2 |
Destination domain extraction for secure protocols
Techniques for destination domain extraction for secure protocols are disclosed. In some embodiments, destination domain extraction for secure protocols includes monitoring network communications between a client and a remote server; determining if the client sends a request to create a secure connection with the remote server (e.g., in which the network communications are initiating a setup for a secure protocol-based connection); and extracting a destination domain from the request to create the secure connection with the remote server. In some embodiments, the secure protocol is a secure sockets layer (SSL) protocol or transport layer security (TLS) protocol, and the destination domain is extracted from the server name indication (SNI) of a client hello message sent from the client to the remote server. In some embodiments, destination domain extraction for secure protocols further includes applying a policy (e.g., a security policy) based on the destination domain to filter traffic using a security device. |
| US09680786B2 |
Communication and notification system and method thereof
The invention generally relates to a communication and notification system and method thereof, and more particularly to a method and system for providing, tracking, sending reminders, and receiving communications/notifications in response to end-users in a variety of commercial market segments, e.g., medical, governmental compliance and criminal. |
| US09680784B2 |
Messaging in attention critical environments
A method, executed by one or more processors, includes receiving a message that is addressed to a user, determining, via one or more sensors, whether the user is occupied with an attention critical situation, and conducting a user-directed response process responsive to determining that the user is not occupied with an attention critical situation. In some embodiments, the user-directed response process includes conducting a text substitution process on the message, presenting an abbreviated version of the message and a list of response options to the user, determining a response option that is selected by the user, and sending a response to the message that corresponds to the response option that is selected by the user. In some embodiments, the list of response options includes a plurality of message-dependent formulated responses, a null response, and a spoken response. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also disclosed herein. |
| US09680782B2 |
Identifying relevant content in email
Message management services can include processing an email to identify relevant content from among all content in the email and converting the identified relevant content into a simple, easy-to-read format. For example, message management services can apply multiple parsing strategies to an email. Each strategy can attempt to parse the email to identify relevant content and to output results that include any identified relevant content and an associated confidence score. The results having the highest confidence score can be selected. The identified relevant content included in the selected results can be converted into a flat string with stylings and links for displaying relevant content of the email in a simple, easy-to-read format. |
| US09680778B2 |
System and method using a simplified XML format for real-time content publication
A system and method for delivering content in real-time using advanced messaging technology that reduces the risk of content being lost or dropped in transmission. The system and method utilize a custom, simplified XML format to deliver real-time textual, numeric, and metadata content directly to subscribers. The XML tag set specifies all of the information needed to package, process, and distribute real-time content messages and includes an advanced tagging structure that allows granular content customization. Messages are built on the fly using multi-channel data processing techniques. The XML delivery system and method offers an array of real-time market-specific page-based “Alert” services and aggregated newswires with accompanying real-time numeric data feeds. These feeds contain proprietary assessments and other price data across a broad spectrum of global and regional commodity markets, including oil, petrochemicals, metals, electric power, natural gas, coal, and risk. |
| US09680777B2 |
Method, devices and system having out of office based presence
A communication device receives an out-of-office message regarding a first contact. An application executing on the communication device displays a name of the first contact and an out-of-office indication regarding the first contact without displaying said out-of-office message. |
| US09680776B2 |
Method and apparatus for instant messaging based on user interface
A method and apparatus for instant messaging based on a user interface is provided. The method comprises providing a window having a plurality of regions in the user interface, wherein the plurality of regions comprise at least one navigation region, and at least one message region to display one or more dialog windows; receiving a navigation input within navigation region; navigating among the one or more dialog windows based on the navigation input; and displaying the one or more dialog windows in the message region. |
| US09680775B2 |
Event scheduling
In one aspect, the invention is a computer program product residing on a computer readable medium having a plurality of instructions stored thereon. The instructions when executed by the processor, cause that processor to schedule a network-based media event; and to invite an attendee to attend the network-based media event. Other aspects of the invention includes a process and a method. |
| US09680772B2 |
System and method for managing configuration of virtual switches in a virtual machine network
Techniques for managing configuration of virtual switches in a virtual machine network are disclosed. In an embodiment, a virtual machine network that includes virtual switches is configured to revert back to a saved network configuration if a configuration change causes the connection between the VM management system and a managed node to be lost. For example, before any configuration changes are made, the active configuration is saved. If the new configuration supports a working connection between the managed node and the VM management system, then the saved configuration is no longer needed and can be flushed from memory. If, however, the new configuration causes the managed node to be disconnected from the VM management system, then the system reverts back to the saved configuration that was previously known to work. The saved configuration is used to reestablish the connection so that the network continues to function. |
| US09680769B2 |
Method for implementing E-tree service and provider edge device
The present invention discloses a method for implementing an E-tree service and a provider edge device, and relates to the field of network communications technologies. A local PE device obtains leaf PE attribute information of a peer provider edge PE device; when the leaf PE attribute information of the peer PE device indicates that the peer PE device is a leaf PE device and the local PE device is a leaf PE device, the local PE device forbids a pseudo-wire connection between the local PE device and the peer PE device. The technical solution of the present invention implements effective isolation between leaf nodes supporting an E-Tree service and therefore implements the E-Tree service in a VPLS network. |
| US09680767B2 |
Session admission in a communications network
A session admission process is provided which identifies the weakest link in a route between a first node and a second node and determines if the route is able to cope if the session is admitted. The suitability of a link is determined on the basis of: historical link performance; the predicted future performance of the link; and the predicted future demands on the link from other sessions supported by that link. |
| US09680765B2 |
Spatially divided circuit-switched channels for a network-on-chip
An apparatus may comprise a plurality of ports and a plurality of channel reservation banks. A channel reservation bank is to be associated with a port of the plurality of ports. The channel reservation bank is to comprise a plurality of channel reservation slots. The port of the plurality of ports is to comprise a plurality of circuit-switched channels through the port. The configuration of each of the plurality of circuit-switched channels to be based on information stored in a channel reservation slot of the channel reservation bank to be associated with the port. |
| US09680762B2 |
Method and system for providing QoS for in-band control traffic in an openflow network
A method for guaranteeing control traffic throughput in an in-band network configured for delivering control and data traffic, and considering both local and global views of the communication network. The method includes determining an initial configuration for forwarding first control traffic from the packet forwarding device, wherein the initial configuration comprises a first in-band queue for receiving the first control traffic that is delivered over the control path to the controller via a port in the packet forwarding device, and a first bandwidth reserved for the first queue. The method includes performing handshaking with the controller by sending a request to the controller confirming the initial configuration using a network control protocol, and receiving a response from the controller in association with the request. The method includes confirming or modifying the initial configuration based on the response. |
| US09680761B2 |
Consolidating messages in a message queue
In some implementations, state messages can be queued at a server device for transmission to a disconnected client device when the client device reconnects to the server device. To conserve resources, queued state messages can be consolidated, combined and/or deleted. |
| US09680750B2 |
Use of tunnels to hide network addresses
For a managed network including first and second managed switching elements that implement logical data path sets, some embodiments provide a method that establishes, from the first managed switching element, a network tunnel through a network to the second managed switching element. The network includes a set of unmanaged switching elements. Through the network tunnel, the network forwards logical network data to the set of unmanaged switching elements for the set of unmanaged switching elements to forward to the second managed switching element. The logical network is hidden from the set of unmanaged switching elements when the logical network data is forwarded through the tunnel. |
| US09680748B2 |
Tracking prefixes of values associated with different rules to generate flows
Some embodiments provide a method for a forwarding element that forwards packets. The method receives a packet and consults a tree structure to identity a prefix length associated with an IP address in the packet header. The method skips lookup of each subtable with a set of IP addresses that have a different prefix length than the identified prefix length. The method identifies a matching rule from a particular subtable. The method generates a flow based on the matching rule. The flow is used to process packets that have the same prefix. |
| US09680746B2 |
Source routing with fabric switches in an ethernet fabric network
In one embodiment, a computer program product includes a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith. The embodied program instructions are readable/executable by a processor to receive, by the processor, a packet via a network fabric, the network fabric having a plurality of interconnected fabric switches. The embodied program instructions are also readable/executable by the processor to determine, by the processor, a path through the network fabric by consulting a source-routing table. Moreover, the embodied program instructions are readable/executable by the processor to store, by the processor, source-routing information to a packet header for the packet, the source-routing information including the path. In addition, the embodied program instructions are readable/executable by the processor to send, by the processor, the packet according to an indication in the source-routing information. |
| US09680737B2 |
Telecommunications networks
A mobile telecommunications network includes a core network operable to provide core network functions; and a radio access network having control means, and radio means for wireless communication with terminals registered with the telecommunications network. In some embodiments the control means includes a client function operable to cause routing of traffic within the control means. |
| US09680732B2 |
Identifying influence paths in a communication network
A method for identifying influence paths in a communication network comprising a plurality of users is disclosed. The method comprises identifying network parameters indicative of a strength of connection between users of the network, combining the identified parameters to calculate a connection strength between users of the network, storing the calculated connection strengths as edge weights between the users of the network, identifying a source user and a target user for a path, and calculating a path between the source user and the target user according to the stored edge weights. Also disclosed is a method for compression of a network and a network element and computer readable medium. |
| US09680729B2 |
Deploying operators of a streaming application based on physical location attributes of a virtual machine
A streams manager monitors operator performance of a streaming application to determine when the performance of an operator needs to be improved or optimized. The streams manager in conjunction with a cloud manager automatically determines one or more preferred virtual machines in a cloud with a specified streams infrastructure that best meet the needs of the underperforming operator or application component based on physical location attributes of the preferred virtual machines. The cloud manager determines the physical location attributes of the candidate virtual machines. The streams manager or the cloud manager can then determine a preferred virtual machine of the candidates to deploy the operator based on the physical location attributes. The streams manager then modifies the flow graph so one or more operators of the streaming application are deployed to a preferred virtual machine determined according to the physical location attributes of the preferred virtual machine. |
| US09680728B2 |
Arrangements for monitoring network traffic on a cloud-computing environment and methods thereof
A method for monitoring data associated with a virtual computing environment is provided. The method includes receiving virtually-originated data, wherein the virtually-originated data originated from a virtual server in the virtual computing environment and transmitted in the form of data packets. The method also includes encapsulating the virtually-originated data using a tunneling protocol, forming encapsulated traffic. The method further includes transmitting the encapsulated traffic to a tap device, wherein the tap device decapsulates the encapsulated traffic to recover a version of the virtually-originated data and forwards the version of the virtually-originated data to a monitoring device. |
| US09680725B2 |
Method and apparatus for measuring a packet throughput in wireless communication system
A method and apparatus of measuring a packet throughput in a wireless communication system are provided. When determining a reference time for estimating packet throughput, a receiver determines the time that a data burst starts or ends in order to estimate the packet throughput considering a change in the data burst of the transmitter buffer. A measurement period is defined through the determined start time and end time of the data burst, and packet throughput is measured considering the total amount of the received data burst. The throughput of packet data may be estimated by each base station based on the same standard rule, so that the measured packet throughput values may be reliable, thus allowing the operator to make use of it as a parameter for MDT. |
| US09680723B2 |
Location-based website hosting optimization
A hosting provider may host a website at a first hosting location based on initial business information received from a hosting customer, perhaps while the hosting customer created an account. The initial business information may include, as non-limiting examples, whether the business is a local or non-localized business, business addresses and/or registered domain names. A domain name, particularly if it resolves to the website, may be analyzed for incorporated words, spelling, characters and/or top-level domain that may point to, or be more commonly used in, one or more geographical regions. The website may be moved to a second location based on the initial business information combined with subsequently collected business information, such as, as non-limiting examples, updated address information, marketing campaigns aimed at particular locations and/or based on the originating location of traffic to the website. |
| US09680718B2 |
Multifusion of a stream operator in a streaming application
Embodiments of the present disclosure include a method, a system, and a computer program product for fusing a stream operator into more than one processing element within a streaming application. The method includes receiving an instruction to concurrently fuse, into a second processing element, a stream operator of interest that is fused into a first processing element. The method includes determining whether the stream operator of interest is stateful. The method includes compiling, in response to determining the stream operator of interest is stateful, a clone of the stream operator of interest into the second processing element so that the clone is synchronized with the stream operator of interest. |
| US09680715B2 |
Assessing a service offering in a networked computing environment
An approach for assessing a service offering selected by a user in a networked computing environment (e.g., a cloud computing environment) is provided. In one aspect, a network environment containing the service offering is monitored for a software configuration activity performed by the user. This software configuration activity is analyzed to identify the software application that is being configured. A set of provider-managed service offerings can be searched for any provider-managed service offering that contains an offered application corresponding to that of the software application. This managed service offering can be included in an alternative suggestion for the service offering. |
| US09680714B2 |
Methods, systems, and fabrics implementing a distributed network operating system
Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for managing network switching. A network device operating system (ndOS) program includes instructions for exchanging switching policy regarding switching network packets in a plurality of ndOS devices having ndOS programs. The first ndOS program is executed in a first ndOS device, and the switching policy is exchanged with other ndOS programs via multicast messages. Further, the ndOS program includes instructions for exchanging resource control messages with the other ndOS devices to implement service level agreements in the switching fabric, where the ndOS switching devices cooperate to enforce the service level agreements. Further yet, the ndOS program includes instructions for receiving changes to the switching policy, and instructions for propagating the received changes to the switching policy via message exchange between the ndOS programs. The ndOS devices are managed as a single logical switch that spans the plurality of ndOS devices. |
| US09680712B2 |
Hardware management and control of computer components through physical layout diagrams
In one aspect, a system includes a service processor (SP), having a processor, a non-volatile memory and a communication interface. The SP receives a component information of components of a host computer from a basic input/output system (BIOS) being executed at a central processing unit (CPU) of the host computer through the communication interface, and stores the received component information in the non-volatile memory. When the SP receives a managing instruction from a remote management computer to change the component information of at least one designated component of the components of the host computer, the SP updates the corresponding component information stored in the non-volatile memory based on the managing instruction. Once the component information is updated, the SP may, in response to receiving the component information from the BIOS, send the updated component information back to the host computer through the communication interface. |
| US09680708B2 |
Method and apparatus for cloud resource delivery
A multi-cloud fabric includes an application management unit responsive to one or more applications from an application layer. The multi-cloud fabric further includes a controller that is in communication with resources of a cloud. The controller is responsive to the applications and includes a processor operable to analyze the application relative to the resources to cause delivery of the applications to the resources dynamically and automatically. |
| US09680706B2 |
Federated firewall management for moving workload across data centers
A method of providing firewall support for moving a data compute node (DCN) across data centers. The method receives a set of global firewall rules to enforce across multiple data centers. The set of global firewall rules utilize unique identifiers that are recognized by the network manager of each data center. The method distributes the specified set of global firewall rules to the network managers. The method receives an indication that a DCN operating on a first host in a first data center is migrating to a second host operating in a second data center. The method sends a set of firewall session states to the network manager of the second data center. The method receives an indication that the DCN on the second host has started and enforces firewall rules for the DCN on the second host by using the firewall session states and the global firewall rules. |
| US09680704B2 |
Compact and integrated key controller apparatus for monitoring networks
Compact and integrated local key controller apparatuses for remotely managing a network of wireless devices that are connected to a computer network switch. These apparatuses (including devices and systems) and methods of using them may provide secure and fully integrated, stand-alone wireless network controllers that may be accessed remotely without compromising the integrity of the network's firewall. |
| US09680703B2 |
Configuration command template creation assistant using cross-model analysis to identify common syntax and semantics
In one embodiment, a method for creating a configuration template for a set of devices includes determining command information for a plurality of devices, identifying a command structure from the command information which is common to a set of devices from the plurality of devices, and associating the set of devices to a common configuration template. |
| US09680701B2 |
Differentiating image files in a networked computing environment
In general, embodiments of the invention provide an approach to differentiate and/or customize image files in a networked (e.g., cloud) computing environment. Specifically, a plurality of images corresponding to a requested instance, and all configuration files corresponding to the plurality of images, will be identified. In identifying the configuration files, a first subset of configuration files that are common to all of the plurality of images, and a second subset of configuration files that are unique to individual images will be determined. The user can then individually select configuration files from the two subsets, and the requested instance can be generated based thereon. |
| US09680699B2 |
Evaluation systems and methods for coordinating software agents
A device, method, computer program product, and network subsystem are described for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy or for providing a first agent with code for responding to situational information about the first agent and about a second agent and for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy or for deploying the first agent. |
| US09680698B2 |
Operations, administration, and management (OAM) functions in a software defined network
Communication of a module to a datapath node is disclosed. A controller node receives connection information identifying a first datapath node in communication with a network. The controller node obtains Operations, Administration, and Management (OAM) information including an OAM action set that identifies one or more OAM actions the first datapath node is capable of implementing at the first datapath node. A first OAM tool module is determined that is operative to perform at least one of the one or more OAM actions identified in the OAM action set to implement a first OAM tool function. The first OAM tool module is communicated to the first datapath node. |
| US09680693B2 |
Method and apparatus for network anomaly detection
A network anomaly detector evaluates two complementary measurements of network statistics, a time variation and correlation among those statistics, to provide an extremely robust detection of network anomalies. In one embodiment, the variability and correspondence are compared against historically derived thresholds to provide for a system that accommodates to local network conditions and evolving network qualities. |
| US09680691B2 |
Connection abnormality detection method, network system, and master device
A technique is provided for detecting a connection abnormality of a slave device, in a network system including a master device and slave devices. The technique includes a connection abnormality detection method in a network system including a master device and a plurality of slave devices. In the network system, data is transmitted from the master device and then returned to the master device through respective slave devices. Each slave device has an upstream-side port and a downstream-side port. The connection abnormality detection method includes acquiring topology information of the network system, closing or opening the port of each slave device such that a serial topology is formed to include a target slave device located on the downmost stream side, transmitting inspection data after the control of the port, and detecting a connection abnormality of the device on the basis of a status of return of the inspection data. |
| US09680689B2 |
Fragmenting media content
Systems and methods relating to fragmenting content based on metadata are disclosed. In one embodiment, metadata is obtained from data that is accessible from an interface. A content descriptor, based on at least a portion of the metadata, may be utilized to determine fragment size. The content descriptor value may be derived from multiple forms of metadata, such as for example, genre, sub-genre, presence of live media, and combinations thereof. The fragments may be either virtual or physically discrete segments or files. In one aspect, the value may be the sole basis for determining the fragment lengths. In another aspect of the embodiment, the division of the content is conducted such that each resultant fragment comprises a single frame type. |
| US09680685B2 |
System and method for managing video content feeds
There is disclosed a method of distributing streamed content in a network, the network having a central server and at least a first node and a second node communicatively coupled to the central server, the streamed content transcoded at the central server as a first transcoded stream and a second transcoded stream, the first transcoded stream and the second transcoded stream being different in at least a bitrate used for transcoding. The method is executable at the central server. The method comprises receiving from a client device, via the network, a request for a portion of the streamed content, the request including an indication of an operational parameter associated with the client device; determining one of the first node and the second node best suited to deliver content to the client device; based on the indication of the operational parameter, determining one of the first transcoded stream and the second transcoded stream best suited for the client device; transmitting to the client device a connection signal, the connection signal including identification of (i) the one of the first node and the second node and (ii) the indication of the one of the of the first transcoded stream and the second transcoded stream. |
| US09680676B2 |
Communication system, communication device and communication method that can improve frequency use efficiency
A communication device receives a reception signal including at least a first reception signal and a second reception signal, where the first reception signal is a signal to be transmitted using a first set of subcarriers and the second reception signal is a signal to be transmitted using a second set of subcarriers which overlaps with at least one end of the first set of subcarriers in a time frame. The communication device also demodulates information indicating data included in the first reception signal after reducing the second reception signal transmitted by using one or more overlapping subcarriers of the second set of subcarriers from the reception signal. |
| US09680675B1 |
Methods and apparatus for automated adaptation of transmitter equalizer tap settings
One embodiment relates to a method of automated adaptation of a transmitter equalizer. A multi-dimensional search space of tap settings for the transmitter equalizer is divided into multiple single-dimensional search spaces, each single-dimensional search space being associated with a single tap of the transmitter equalizer. The multiple single-dimensional search spaces are searched in series, and a tap for a single-dimensional search space is set before searching a next single-dimensional search space. Another embodiment relates to a transceiver with adaptation circuitry configured to implement the above-described method. Other embodiments, aspects, and features are also disclosed. |
| US09680672B2 |
Haptic actuator including pulse width modulated waveform based coil movement and related methods
A haptic actuator may include a housing, at least one permanent magnet carried by the housing, a field member movable within the housing and comprising at least one coil cooperating with the at least one permanent magnet, and at least one mechanical limit stop between the housing and the field member. The haptic actuator may also include circuitry capable of generating a pulse width modulated (PWM) waveform for the at least one coil to move the field member from an initial at-rest position and without contacting the at least one mechanical limit stop. |
| US09680668B2 |
Delay resilient decision feedback equalizer
Described is an apparatus which comprises a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) having a first DFE tap path and non-first DFE tap paths, wherein the DFE includes a variable delay circuit in a signal path of the non-first DFE tap paths. In some embodiment, an apparatus is provided which comprises: a summer; a slicer to receive input from the summer; a first feedback loop to cancel a first post-cursor, the first feedback loop forming a loop by coupling the slicer to the summer; and a second feedback loop to cancel a second post-cursor, the second feedback loop forming a loop by coupling an input of the first feedback loop to the summer, wherein the second feedback loop having a programmable delay at its input. |
| US09680663B2 |
Tunnel endpoint device, communication device, communication system, communication method, and program
A tunnel endpoint device includes a control unit configured to establish a communication tunnel with a tunnel endpoint device as a communication peer and an interface configured to access a storage device including communication state information about a tunnel communication. The control unit is configured to be adapted to take over state information about a tunnel communication of another tunnel endpoint device via the storage device when receiving an externally supplied switching instruction. |
| US09680660B2 |
Self-service terminal
A self-service terminal comprises a plurality of devices, each device providing management information. A management agent is installed in the terminal and adapted to monitor the plurality of devices. In the event that management information from a device indicates that there is a fault, the management creates and transmits a notification. A communications stack is adapted to receive the transmitted notification from the management agent. A self-service terminal application is adapted to (i) monitor the communications stack to receive the transmitted notification, (ii) package the notification within a host message conforming to a host messaging format, and (iii) transmit the host message to a remote host via a legacy network. |
| US09680657B2 |
Cost optimization in dynamic workload capping
A mainframe computing system includes a central processor complex, a plurality of billing entities, each billing entity having a respective capacity limit, and a workload manager that schedules work requested by the plurality of billing entities on the central processor complex and tracks, by billing entity, a rolling average of millions of service units. The mainframe also includes a dynamic capping policy that identifies a maximum MSU limit, a maximum cost limit, a subset of the plurality of billing entities, and, for each billing entity in the subset, information from which to determine a MSU entitlement value and cost entitlement value. The mainframe also includes a dynamic capping master that adjusts the respective capacity limits of the subset of the plurality of billing entities at scheduled intervals based on the dynamic capping policy to favor billing entities having high-importance workload within the maximum MSU limit and maximum cost limit. |
| US09680654B2 |
Systems and methods for validated secure data access based on an endorsement provided by a trusted third party
Methods, systems, and techniques for securing access to stored data are provided. Example embodiments provide a Storage Management System (“SMS”) that is configured to facilitate protected information sharing. The SMS may restrict access to shared information based on one or more criteria that validate an entity's right to access the information. For example, the SMS may restrict access to entities that are located in a particular geographic region, that are using a particular type of hardware or software, that hold particular credentials, or the like. In some cases, the SMS may require that an entity's claim to meet on or more required criteria be validated by a trusted third party. |
| US09680647B2 |
Method of using a token in cryptography
Disclosed herein are techniques related to predetermining a token for use in a cryptographic system. A method includes providing a memento, mapping the memento to a candidate token according to a rule that updates a parameter, predetermine the token to be the candidate token, if the candidate token meets a test condition according to the rule, identifying a parameter value of the parameter, and providing the memento and the parameter value for future use as an input to re-generate the token. Another method disclosed herein is to re-generate the predetermined token for use in a cryptographic system. The method includes providing a memento associated with the predetermined token, providing a parameter value associated with the predetermined token, and providing a precept for mapping the memento to a candidate token. Further disclosed is instruction code for performing the techniques disclosed herein. |
| US09680645B2 |
Integrity verification of cryptographic key pairs
Method of integrity verification of cryptographic key pairs, the method including an integrity test with: at least one first step implementing one of the private and public keys and an initial test datum, the first step making it possible to generate a first result, at least one second step implementing at least the first result and the key not used during the at least one first step, the second step making it possible to generate a second result, and a comparison of the second result and of the initial test datum, characterized in that the test is re-executed upon each positive comparison, and in that the test is executed at least 2 times. |
| US09680643B2 |
System and method for the secure transmission of data
A system for securely transmitting data includes a control device and at least one security module. The control device is configured for producing a cryptographic key using a physically unclonable function (PUF). The at least one security module is configured for communicating with the control device at least one of confidentially and authentically using the cryptographic key. The control device has no storage for storing the cryptographic key. The control device includes at least one hardware device that is configured for providing a specific feature combination. The control device also includes a calculation unit that is configured for producing the cryptographic key using the specific feature combination and the physically unclonable function (PUF). The control device further includes a program-controlled device that is configured for executing a first computer program product, which is configured for performing the encrypted/authenticated communication with the security module via a first and second communication interfaces. |
| US09680641B2 |
Quantum key distribution using card, base station and trusted authority
Techniques and tools for quantum key distribution (“QKD”) between a quantum communication (“QC”) card, base station and trusted authority are described herein. In example implementations, a QC card contains a miniaturized QC transmitter and couples with a base station. The base station provides a network connection with the trusted authority and can also provide electric power to the QC card. When coupled to the base station, after authentication by the trusted authority, the QC card acquires keys through QKD with a trust authority. The keys can be used to set up secure communication, for authentication, for access control, or for other purposes. The QC card can be implemented as part of a smart phone or other mobile computing device, or the QC card can be used as a fillgun for distribution of the keys. |
| US09680640B2 |
Secure multi-party communication with quantum key distribution managed by trusted authority
Techniques and tools for implementing protocols for secure multi-party communication after quantum key distribution (“QKD”) are described herein. In example implementations, a trusted authority facilitates secure communication between multiple user devices. The trusted authority distributes different quantum keys by QKD under trust relationships with different users. The trusted authority determines combination keys using the quantum keys and makes the combination keys available for distribution (e.g., for non-secret distribution over a public channel). The combination keys facilitate secure communication between two user devices even in the absence of QKD between the two user devices. With the protocols, benefits of QKD are extended to multi-party communication scenarios. In addition, the protocols can retain benefit of QKD even when a trusted authority is offline or a large group seeks to establish secure communication within the group. |
| US09680638B2 |
Non alterable structure including cryptographic material
The present invention relates to a method to build a non-alterable structure and to such a non-alterable structure including data relative to a set of cryptographic material generated randomly or derived from a secret key linked to a business use, the non-alterable structure being intended to be transferred from a first entity to a second entity, the entities sharing at least an encryption/decryption key and a signature key, the structure comprising at least business data relative to the intended use of cryptographic material, an encrypted protection key encrypted with the encryption key, an encrypted set of cryptographic material encrypted with the protection key, a signature of the set of cryptographic material, the protection key and the data relative to the intended use of cryptographic material signed with the signature key. |
| US09680634B2 |
Synchronous transfer of streaming data in a distributed antenna system
Method and apparatus for generating a jitter reduced clock signal from signal transmitted over a communication medium includes receiving, with high speed data interface circuitry, a modulated signal that includes a binary encoded data stream. A recovered clock signal is generated from the modulated signal and tracks the long-term drift in the modulated signal. A jitter reduced clock signal is generated by filtering the recovered clock signal with a filtering circuit having a bandwidth sufficient to remove jitter while allowing the jitter reduced clock signal to track the drift in the modulated signal. |
| US09680633B2 |
Method and device for transmitting data by inductive coupling with controlled self-oscillation
In a general aspect, a method for transmitting data by inductive coupling can include applying, at a rate of a data-carrying signal, a plurality of bursts of a periodic signal to a tuned inductive antenna circuit. The method can further include producing, in the tuned inductive antenna circuit, an antenna signal, the antenna signal generating a magnetic field. The method can further include delimiting an amplitude of each burst of the plurality of bursts of the periodic signal in accordance with an envelope signal, the envelope signal having a rising edge and a falling edge. The delimiting can include shaping the falling edge of the envelope signal using one of a digital shaping circuit and an analog shaping circuit, such that a slope of the falling edge of the envelope signal is flattened as compared to a square envelope signal. |
| US09680632B2 |
Systems and methods for symbol time tracking
A method for communications is described. The method includes determining a symbol timing drift elimination amount for a received signal. The method further includes eliminating part of the symbol timing drift by adjusting a reference clock for the modem. Determining the symbol timing drift elimination amount may be based on at least one of a symbol timing drift estimate, a symbol timing error, a packet acquisition indicator, a packet validity indicator, demodulated bits or a carrier presence indicator. |
| US09680631B2 |
Signal recovery circuit and signal recovery method
A signal recovery circuit includes: a data acquisition circuit configured to collect a received data signal according to a transition edge of a received signal recovery clock; and a phase adjustment circuit configured to adjust a phase relationship between the transition edge of the received signal recovery clock and the received data signal according to a data value of the received data signal to be acquired by the data acquisition circuit. |
| US09680628B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting control channel in intra-cell carrier aggregation system
A method for receiving control channel and an apparatus in a wireless communication system are provided. The method includes transmitting, at a base station, information on a primary cell operating in a frequency division duplexing (FDD) mode and a secondary cell operating in a time division duplexing (TDD) mode, transmitting, at the base station, downlink scheduling information for downlink data, transmitting, at the base station, the downlink data in a first subframe according to the downlink scheduling information, and receiving, at the base station, control information corresponding to the downlink data on the primary cell, from a terminal. The control information is transmitted using a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) format determined based on a type of the first subframe of the secondary cell. |
| US09680626B2 |
Methods and systems for frequency multiplexed communication in dense wireless environments
Systems, methods, and devices for high-efficiency wireless frequency division multiplexing are provided. A method includes exchanging, at an access point, at least one frame reserving a wireless medium with at least one of a first and second wireless device. The method further includes receiving a first communication on a first set of wireless frequencies from the first wireless device. The method further includes receiving a second communication, at least partially concurrent with the first communication, on a second set of wireless frequencies from the second wireless device. The method further includes transmitting at least one acknowledgment of the first and second communication. The first set and the second set are mutually exclusive subsets of a set of wireless frequencies available for use by both the first and second wireless device. |
| US09680625B2 |
Method and node for listening
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and a node for listening. The method includes: receiving a listening reference signal in a listening pilot time slot; analyzing the listening reference signal received to obtain interference information of a node sending the listening reference signal and/or a resource configuration of a node sending the listening reference signal. By adopting the present invention, the node in the embodiments of the present invention receives the listening reference signal in the listening pilot time slot, and analyzes the received listening reference signal to obtain the interference information of a node sending the listening reference signal and/or the resource configuration of the node sending the listening reference signal, so as to listen to an interference condition and/or a resource configuration of an adjacent node. |
| US09680624B2 |
Method and system for mapping uplink control information
An uplink grant transmitted to a subscriber station indicates a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS) value for a first codeword transmission and a second MCS value for a second codeword transmission. A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) uplink subframe received from the subscriber station has a first subset of layers used for first codeword transmission and a second subset of layers used for second codeword transmission. Rank indication (RI) information is mapped onto both the first subset of layers and the second subset of layers. Channel quality information (CQI) is only mapped onto either the first subset of layers or the second subset of layers. If the first MCS value is different from the second MCS value, the CQI is mapped onto the subset of layers having a higher MCS value. |
| US09680619B2 |
Method and apparatus for operating sounding in wireless communication system in which uplink control channel resource dynamically changes
The present invention relates to a procedure for transceiving a sounding reference signal and to a method for operating sounding in a wireless communication system in which an uplink control channel resource dynamically changes. More particularly, the method for transmitting a sounding reference signal by a terminal in a wireless communication system according to the present invention comprises the steps of: receiving uplink/downlink configuration information transmitted from a base station; checking whether a conflict occurs between a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource region based on the uplink/downlink configuration information and a sounding reference signal (SRS); and skipping the transmission of the SRS upon the occurrence of a conflict. The present invention has the advantage of efficiently solving the problem of conflicts between the SRS and the uplink control channel resource without increasing the power consumption burden in the terminal or without excessive restrictions on an SRS transmission subframe or sounding band. |
| US09680617B2 |
Method of transmitting reference signal in unlicensed spectrum for LTE-LAA system and wireless device using the same
The disclosure is directed to method of transmitting a reference signal used by a wireless device in an unlicensed spectrum for a LTE-LAA communication system, and a wireless communication device using the same method. In one of the exemplary embodiments, the method would include not limited to receiving, via a first wireless receiver tuned to a licensed spectrum, a control message which at least indicates a pattern of a reference signal to be received; receiving, via a second wireless receiver tuned to an unlicensed spectrum, a first message which comprises the reference signal in the unlicensed spectrum; performing a measurement of the reference signal; generating a feedback based on the measurement of the reference signal; and transmitting, via a wireless transmitter tuned to the licensed spectrum, a second message which comprises the feedback of the reference signal in the licensed spectrum. |
| US09680613B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting sounding reference signal in radio communication system
Disclosed is a method for transmitting a sounding reference signal from a terminal to a base station in a radio communication system. More specifically, the method comprises the steps of: receiving a transmission instruction signal for transmitting a non-periodic sounding reference signal from a base station; determining a time resource for transmitting said non-periodic sounding reference signal based on a specific subframe for transmitting the preset periodic sounding reference signal; and transmitting said non-periodic sounding reference signal to the base station using said determined time resource. |
| US09680609B2 |
Transmitting device, receiving device, controlling node, and methods therein, for transmitting a block to the receiving device
Method performed by a transmitting device (101) for transmitting a block to a receiving device (102). The transmitting device (101) and the receiving device (102) operate in a wireless communications network (100). The transmitting device (101) transmits a block to the receiving device (102). The block comprises four bursts. The four bursts further comprise Uplink State Flag, USF, Stealing Flag, SF, and data and header fields. The USF and the SF fields are interleaved and mapped over the four bursts. The data and header fields are interleaved over one burst but repeated over the four bursts. The data and header fields are overlapping with and overridden by bits from the USF field in different positions in each burst. In a method performed by the receiving device (102), the receiving device (102) receives the transmitted block. In a method performed by a controlling node (140), the controlling node (140) selects a block format for transmission by the transmitting device. |
| US09680608B2 |
Communication protocol with reduced overhead
An apparatus includes a transceiver having a MAC controller and a PHY controller. The MAC controller is configured to selectively omit at least a portion of a field of a media access control (MAC) frame. The PHY controller is configured to insert the MAC frame into a physical protocol data unit and to selectively configure a portion of the physical protocol data unit to indicate omission of at least the portion of the field from the MAC frame. |
| US09680597B2 |
Optical branching/coupling device and optical branching/coupling method
In order to add a CDC function to a ROADM system currently incompatible with CDC, without requiring any service outage, an optical communication system of the present invention includes: an optical demultiplexing unit 1-1 and 1-2 which each demultiplexes a wavelength-multiplexed optical signal inputted thereto and an optical multiplexing unit 2-1 and 2-2 which each multiplexes together some of, specifically at least two or more of, the components of the wavelength-multiplexed optical signal having been demultiplexed by the optical demultiplexing unit 1-1 or 1-2; and an optical path selection unit 3 which selectively outputs either the optical signal multiplexed by the optical multiplexing unit 2-1 or that by the optical multiplexing unit 2-2, in a form of at least two or more output optical signals. |
| US09680590B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving signals in wireless communication system
An apparatus and a method for allocating resources for transmitting an HARQ ACK/NACK signal for a downlink subframe using a PUCCH format 3 in a time division duplex (TDD) system using a single carrier are provided. Since the resources are allocated through a resource indicator transmitted using a power control field transmitted on a PDCCH of the downlink subframe, the resources for transmitting the HARQ ACK/NACK signal may be allocated by effectively using resources allocated to a duplicately transferred control signal. |
| US09680589B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting ACK/NACK in a wireless communication system based on TDD
Provided is a method of transmitting ACK/NACK in a TDD-based wireless communication system. The method includes: receiving M downlink subframes associated with an uplink subframe n in each of two serving cells; determining four candidate resources based on the M downlink subframes received in each of the two serving cells; and transmitting an ACK/NACK response for the M downlink subframes by using one resource selected from the four candidate resources in the uplink subframe n, wherein the two serving cells includes a first serving cell and a second serving cell, and wherein among the four candidate resources, a first resource and a second resource are associated with a PDSCH or a SPS release PDCCH for releasing semi-persistent scheduling received in the first serving cell, and a third resource and a fourth resources are associated with a PDSCH received in the second serving cell. |
| US09680587B2 |
Traffic differentiation in a transport network
A Layer 1 transport network, such as an Optical Transport Network (OTN), transports traffic in Layer 1 data transport units. Traffic received at a node of the transport network is mapped to Layer 1 data transport units according to destination such that each Layer 1 data transport unit carries traffic for a particular destination of the transport network. The Layer 1 transport network can carry a plurality of different traffic types and the node can map the received traffic to Layer 1 data transport units according to destination and traffic type. Identification information can be added to an overhead section associated with the Layer 1 data transport unit to indicate at least one of: traffic type and destination of the traffic carried within the data transport unit. At a subsequent node, the Layer 1 data transport units are received and switched such that Layer 1 data transport units carrying traffic destined for other nodes bypass higher layer processing at the node and Layer 1 data transport units carrying traffic destined for the node are switched to a local output of the node. |
| US09680580B2 |
Wireless communication methods and apparatus
A method in a wireless system, including: receiving, at a wireless device, over first and second networks, from each of plural radios of the first and second networks, respective first and second sets of reference signals received from first radios of the first and second networks, and plural further reference signals received from remaining radios of plural radios of the first and second networks, the first radios of the first and second networks located at a common location; calculating first and second sets of normalized reference signals from ratios for each further reference signal of the first and second sets of reference signals with the first and second reference signals of the first and second sets of reference signals; comparing predictions of signal loss based on the first and second sets of normalized reference signals; and determining an estimate of shadow fading or signal reflectors using the comparison result. |
| US09680579B2 |
Dynamically adaptive frequency adjustments
Systems and methods may provide for implementing dynamically adaptive frequency adjustment. In one example, the method may include analyzing a first set of transmission information and a second set of transmission information based on a likelihood of transmission interference, and determining a dynamically adapted camera frequency, wherein the dynamically adapted camera frequency is to minimize the transmission interference. |
| US09680575B2 |
Relay device, station side device, and communication system and communication method using relay device
A relay device includes a relay processing unit that relays a downstream frame received by a first transceiver to a second transceiver, and relays an upstream frame received by the second transceiver to the first transceiver; and a control unit that follows upstream multiple access control performed by a station side device in a first line, for transmission of the upstream frame to be transmitted by the first transceiver to the station side device, and independently performs upstream multiple access control for reception of the upstream frame received by the second transceiver from a home side device in a second line. The control unit reports an amount of data that the home side device in the second line will be allowed to transmit, to the station side device in the first line before the data arrives at the second transceiver. |
| US09680574B1 |
Frequency domain optical channel estimation
An optical transceiver in an optical communications network, comprising a receiver configured to receive an optical signal comprising an X-polarization component that comprises a first frame and a Y-polarization component that comprises a second frame. The optical transceiver also comprises a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to determine, in a time domain, a phase estimate according to the first frame and the second frame, determine, in a frequency domain, a channel estimate for the optical signal according to a relationship between the first frame, the second frame, and the phase estimate, and determine a compensated optical signal according to the channel estimate. The optical transceiver further comprises a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to transmit the compensated optical signal to a downstream component in the optical communications network. |
| US09680573B2 |
Optical transceiver
An optical transceiver includes a main board, a fiber joint, a circuit board, a transfer board, metal traces, photoelectric elements, a lens set, a connection base, and an amplifier. The fiber joint is coupled to the lens set and connection base for positioning plural optical fibers. The connection base is coupled to the main board, and the circuit board is electrically connected to the main board. The transfer board is disposed between the fiber joint and circuit board. Each of the metal traces is arranged on both of two neighboring surfaces of the transfer board. The photoelectric elements are respectively coupled to metal traces on the surface of the transfer board facing the fiber joint, and axially aim to the optical fibers, respectively. The amplifier electrically connects the circuit board and the photoelectric elements via the metal traces. |
| US09680572B2 |
Information communication device
An information communication method is provided that includes continuously capturing an image of a subject that transmits a signal by changing luminance, with an image sensor. The method also includes displaying a captured image that includes a box and a subject image for identifying the subject, while continuously updating a position of the subject image on the captured image, according to a positional relationship between the image sensor and the subject established when the image of the subject is captured. The method further includes determining whether the subject image is in the box, and receiving the signal transmitted by the subject when it is determined that the subject image is in the box. In the receiving, information is obtained by demodulating a bright line pattern that appears in a second image data and corresponds to the plurality of exposure lines. |
| US09680570B2 |
Optical channel monitor for a wavelength selective switch employing a single photodiode
A method of monitoring at least one optical wavelength component of a WDM optical signal being routed through a wavelength selective switch (WSS) includes directing an optical wavelength component from a given input port of the WSS to a selected output port with a selected amount of attenuation. A rejected portion of the optical wavelength component giving rise to the selected amount of attenuation is directed to an optical monitor associated with another output port of the WSS. A power level of the optical wavelength component is determined by pre-calibrating a proportionality between the power level of the wavelength component and the power level of the rejected portion that is directed to the optical monitor. |
| US09680569B2 |
Method and system for optical connection validation in a reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) node
A method of validating connections in an optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM) that includes a plurality of modules configured to route optical signals through the OADM, and at least one multi-fiber cable connecting modules of the OADM. A light source coupled to a first port of a first module is controlled to emit a test light. A determination is made whether or not the test light is received at a first photo-detector connected to a second port. Continuity of a connection between the first port and the second port is validated when the test light is received at the first photo-detector. |
| US09680561B2 |
Situational awareness and position information for satellite communication terminals
An efficient and reliable way to send various information including position location information (PLI) and emergency messages (EM) using or within a mobile satellite system (MSS) using different message formats including short message (e.g., short burst data (SBD), etc.), between mobile users as provided. Embodiments also use global positioning systems (GPS) used in some cases with the PLI system. Various embodiments improve communications efficiency and reliability of message transmission through various types of MSS. Embodiments include a method or approach to interface SBD PLI messages from mobile end user terminals (EUT) to common operating picture (COP) application programs as provided. Exemplary methods interface and translate MSS short messages (e.g., SBD) to extensible markup language (XML) message format and communicate converted messages to COP application program within a computer using a TCP/IP interface. |
| US09680557B2 |
Method of operating relay station in wireless communication system
A method of operating a relay station in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes operating in a first mode comprising a first sub-mode and a second sub-mode, in the first sub-mode a first downlink and a first uplink between a base station and the relay station being simultaneously activated, in the second sub-mode a second downlink and a second uplink between the relay station and a mobile station being simultaneously activated, and operating in a second mode comprising a third sub-mode and a fourth sub-mode, in the third sub-mode the first downlink and the second uplink being simultaneously activated, in the fourth sub-mode the first uplink and the second downlink being simultaneously activated. |
| US09680555B2 |
Apparatus and method for multiple antenna systems
An apparatus including a plurality of radio ports for interconnection with radio circuits, a plurality of antenna ports for interconnection with antennas, interconnection circuitry configured to enable interconnection of each of one or more radio ports to different non-overlapping sets of P antenna ports, where P is controllable and P=2p, p being a whole number; and at least one control port configured to receive a control signal for determining P. |
| US09680552B2 |
Method and apparatus for reporting channel state information in wireless communication system
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system and, more specifically, to a method and an apparatus for reporting channel state information (CSI). Particularly, the method comprises the steps of: receiving a reference signal (RS) from a base station; and reporting, to the base station, the CSI generated by using the RS, wherein the CSI is measured on the basis of a specific CSI-RS set among a plurality of CSI-RS sets, beamforming weight vectors in a vertical domain which are set differently for each of horizontal domain antenna ports to which the same beamforming weight vectors in a vertical domain is applied. |
| US09680551B2 |
Method of determining two-stage codebook set applicable to 4TX cross-polarized antenna configuration
The invention provides a solution of designing a two-stage codebook set applicable to 4Tx cross-polarized antenna configuration and a method of determining a codebook in a multi-input multi-output communication system based upon the designed two-stage codebook set applicable to 4Tx cross-polarized antenna configuration. The first stage codebook relates long-term/wideband channel information and is based on DFT vectors, whereas the second stage codebook relates to short-term/narrowband channel information and is base on selecting columns of the first stage codebook and providing inter-polarization phase information. |
| US09680550B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting feedback about channel having spatial correlation
A method for a data signal on channels having spatial correlations by a Base Station (BS) is provided. The method includes estimating the spatial correlations of the channels, selecting a part of the channels based on a result of the estimation and transmitting a signal for channel estimation on the selected partial channels, and receiving channel estimation information estimated based on the signal from a User Equipment (UE) and generating a data signal to be transmitted to the UE on the channels using the channel estimation information. |
| US09680537B2 |
Radio base station, user terminal, radio communication system and radio communication method
The present invention is designed to reduce the increase in the amount of the calculation process in a mobile station and the amount of CSI feedback data, and also prevent the amount of overall system capacity from decreasing. This radio communication system (1) has a radio base station (200) which can form a plurality of beams that are vertically sectorized. The radio base station (200), using an array antenna (10), forms at least the first beam that is directed to the cell edge side and a second beam that is directed to the cell center side, in parallel. A mobile station (100) measures channel quality by extracting reference signals from each of the first beam and the second beam, generates a communication quality feedback signal including channel quality measured from at least one of the beams, and feeds this back to the radio base station (200) via the uplink. |
| US09680536B2 |
System and method for supporting antenna beamforming in a cellular network
The present invention is a method and system for supporting a beamforming antenna system in a mobile broadband communication network with an improved beam pattern, beam sweep pattern, pilot channel design with feedback and reporting rules, and control signaling design. Specifically, the improved beam pattern includes a method of supporting wireless communications in a wireless network forming at least two spatial beams within a cell segment where the at least two spatial beams are associated with different power levels, and separately, where at least two spatial beams can be moved across the cell segment according to a unique sweep pattern. The pilot channel design improves network bandwidth performance and improves user mobility tracking Feedback and reporting rules can be established using a particular field designator, CQI, in the preferred embodiment. |
| US09680535B2 |
Method and apparatus for reduced feedback FD-MIMO
A method for operating a base station includes receiving an uplink signal from a user equipment (UE), wherein the uplink signal includes a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) associated with a first precoder index of a codebook determined by a first and a second precoder indices, and a channel quality indicator (CQI). The method includes applying an open-loop diversity operation to at least one data stream including quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) symbols to generate N_B signal streams and applying a precoding matrix to the N_B signal streams to generate a larger number of N_TX data streams to be transmitted via a plurality of antennas. |
| US09680533B2 |
Computational bluetooth tag with backscatter
A backscatter modulation radio-frequency (RF) sensor and method for using the same are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the RF sensor comprises: an energy harvesting unit operable to convert incident RF energy to direct current (DC); a storage unit operable to store recovered DC power; one or more sensors for sensing; a backscatter communication interface to backscatter energy to communicate one or more packets using a frequency-shift keying (FSK) modulator; and a microcontroller coupled to the energy harvesting and storage units, the one or more sensors, and the backscatter communicator, the microcontroller operable to cause the backscatter communication interface to communicate sensed data from at least one of the one or more sensors while powered by energy previously harvested and stored by the energy harvesting and storage unit. |
| US09680532B2 |
Docking station for inductively charged portable electronic device
A docking station that securely holds a portable electronic device in a desired location with respect to a primary power coil for inductive charging of a battery of the portable electronic device is provided. In one embodiment the docking station includes a pair of opposed end stops spaced apart longitudinally along a base and a primary coil of an inductive charging system positioned below the base. The end stops are longitudinally adjustable to properly align a secondary coil of the portable electronic device with a primary coil. A flexible retention wall may be deflected to provide a biasing force on the portable electronic device. Walls of the end stops are generally curved toward each other and provide downward pressure to prevent vertical and horizontal movement. In another embodiment, a retainer clip is movably coupled with and selectively slides along the base to securely hold the portable electronic device. |
| US09680529B2 |
Electronically enabled in-person social networking
Techniques and devices for electronically enabled in-person social networking are disclosed. A device is worn on a first user's wrist or otherwise placed on or near a first user. The device is associated with the user and a user profile is established. When another user wearing or holding a similar device comes in close proximity to the first user, the profiles of the two users are compared to see if any attributes from both users' established profiles have a strong correlation or match. If so, an indication is displayed on the device, indicating to both users that a match between the two users has been determined. |
| US09680528B2 |
Communication between capacitive-isolated devices
Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to circuits, apparatuses and methods for communicating data between capacitive-isolated devices. According to an example embodiment, an apparatus includes a transmitter circuit configured to transmit a first single-ended data signal over a first signal path. The apparatus also includes a receiver circuit. The receiver circuit includes a differential amplifier having a first input coupled to receive a second single-ended signal from a second signal path of the plurality of signal paths and includes a second input coupled to receive a reference signal from a third signal path of the plurality of signal paths. The differential amplifier outputs a third single-ended signal indicative of a voltage difference between the first and second inputs. The receiver circuit also includes a common mode suppression circuit configured to remove a common mode voltage from the first and second inputs of the differential amplifier. |
| US09680526B2 |
Phase error detector and optical disc device
A phase error detector includes an N counter configured to frequency-divide a first clock by N, and output a signal at predetermined timing, an M counter configured to frequency-divide a second clock by M, and output a signal at predetermined timing, a comparator configured to perform phase comparison between a phase when a value of the N counter is 0 and a phase when a value of the M counter is 0, and perform phase comparison between a phase when a value of the N counter is equal to a value obtained by dividing N into a substantially predetermined value and a phase when a value of the M counter is equal to a value obtained by dividing M into a substantially predetermined value and a synthetic circuit configured to generate a phase error, based on comparison results of the comparator. |
| US09680524B2 |
Method of transmitting signal, and apparatus for performing the same
A signal transmission method and apparatus are provided. A signal transmission apparatus may include a time hopping apparatus configured to calculate a difference between values of time hopping patterns corresponding to adjacent symbol transmission periods, and to determine, based on the calculated difference, whether a position of a time hopping pattern corresponding to one of the adjacent symbol transmission periods is to be adjusted, and a transmitter configured to transmit a signal in the adjacent symbol transmission periods based on a determination result obtained by the time hopping apparatus. Additionally, a related signal reception apparatus is provided. |
| US09680523B1 |
System and method for transmitting ancillary data
A method and system for encoding ancillary information at a transmitter in a high-speed communications network, the method comprising: generating an electromagnetic interference (EMI) reduction signal; receiving an ancillary data symbol; generating an EMI reduction signal variation based on the ancillary data symbol; and varying a characteristic of the EMI reduction signal based on the generated EMI reduction signal variation to encode the ancillary data symbol in the varied EMI reduction signal. |
| US09680521B2 |
Transceiver front-end for blocking transmit or receive frequency signals
A transceiver front-end is connectable to a signal transmission and reception arrangement adapted to transmit and receive with respective frequencies. The transceiver front-end comprises at least one of a transmit frequency blocking arrangement and a receive frequency blocking arrangement. For instance, the transmit frequency blocking arrangement has a blocking and non-blocking frequency interval associated with the transmit frequency and receive frequency, respectively, and is adapted to block passage of transmit frequency signals between the signal transmission and reception arrangement and the receiver. At least one of the transmit frequency blocking arrangement and the receive frequency blocking arrangement comprises a network of passive components comprising at least one transformer and a frequency translated impedance adapted to have a higher impedance value in the blocking frequency interval than in the non-blocking frequency interval. |
| US09680520B2 |
Ambient backscatter tranceivers, apparatuses, systems, and methods for communicating using backscatter of ambient RF signals
Apparatuses, systems, ambient backscatter transceivers, and methods for modulating a backscatter of an ambient RF signal are described. An example system may include an ambient backscatter transceiver comprising an antenna that is configured to receive a backscattered ambient radio frequency (RF) signal. The ambient backscatter transceiver is configured to demodulate the backscattered ambient RF signal to retrieve first data. The backscattered ambient RF signal is generated by backscattering an ambient RF signal at a first frequency. The ambient RF signal is encoded with modulated to provide second data at a second frequency. |
| US09680519B2 |
Protective case for mobile device with integrated latch
A protective case for a mobile device is disclosed. The protective case includes a front cover, a back cover, and a relatively rigid shell. The front cover includes multiple fold lines that extend across the cover and allow adjacent regions of the cover to rotate or move relative to each other. The shell is configured to receive and retain the mobile device while providing user access to the mobile device. The shell has an outer surface configured to include a latch with an integrated hook. In operation, the latch hooks and retains one end section of the front cover to maintain the device in an angled use position when open. When in the fully closed position the latch fits within an aperture defined within a back end region of the front cover. Magnets incorporated into the front cover assist in maintaining the case in the fully closed position. |
| US09680517B2 |
Optimized wireless charging system
A transmission device that includes a fixed support for receiving an electronic appliance. The transmission device has at least one first and one second retaining elements defining between them a receiving space, the second retaining element being movable with respect to the fixed support along a main direction so as to give the possibility of adapting the size of the receiving space. The transmission device includes a transmission element attached to the retaining elements by a mechanism that includes a first return element connecting the transmission element to the first retaining element and a second return element connecting the transmission element to the second retaining element. The stiffness of the first return element is equal to the stiffness of the second return element. |
| US09680505B2 |
Transmitting apparatus and interleaving method thereof
A transmitting apparatus is provided. The transmitting apparatus includes: an encoder configured to generate a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codeword by LDPC encoding based on a parity check matrix; an interleaver configured to interleave the LDPC codeword; and a modulator configured to map the interleaved LDPC codeword onto a plurality of modulation symbols, wherein the modulator is configured to map bits included in a predetermined bit group from among a plurality of bit groups constituting the LDPC codeword onto a predetermined bit of each of the modulation symbols. |
| US09680503B2 |
LDPC code matrices
An LDPC parity check matrix, includes a systematic portion having a plurality of systematic elements and a parity portion having a plurality of parity elements. The value of each systematic element determines a cyclic shift to be applied to rows of an identity submatrix corresponding to that element. The value of each parity element determines a cyclic shift to be applied to rows of an identity submatrix corresponding to that element. The weights of two or more columns of the parity portion are the same. |
| US09680502B2 |
Message page integrity verification in automotive network auto-negotiation
A transmitting device may implement a checksum for integrity verification for a message page during an auto-negotiation period. The checksum may provide redundancy to ensure the integrity of the message page after transmission. The checksum may be calculated based on the message page and appended to the message page for transmission. A receiving device may receive the message page with the appended checksum and calculate a checksum locally using the received message page. The calculated and received checksum may be compared by the receiving device to verify the integrity of the message. |
| US09680501B1 |
De-serialization circuit and method of operating the same
A de-serialization circuit includes a clock generation circuit, a first and a second latch circuit. The clock generation circuit is configured to generate a set of phase clock signals based on a first clock signal and a control signal. Each phase clock signal of the set of phase clock signals being offset from adjacent phase clock signals of the set of phase clock signals by a phase value. The first latch circuit is configured to generate a first set of data signals based on the set of phase clock signals and an input data signal. The second latch circuit is configured to generate a second set of data signals based on a first phase clock signal of the set of phase clock signals and the first set of data signals. Each signal of the second set of data signals being aligned with each other, wherein the first clock signal is non-continuous. |