Document Document Title
US09698801B2 Phase locked loop circuit control device and control method of phase locked loop circuit
A phase locked loop circuit control device includes: a phase locked loop circuit configured to generate a clock signal; and a control unit configured to, when being instructed to change a frequency of the clock signal from a current frequency to a target frequency, control the phase locked loop circuit to make the frequency change stepwise from the current frequency to the target frequency, in which the control unit changes the frequency of the clock signal by a first change amount in a first frequency range out of the range of the current frequency to the target frequency, and changes the frequency of the clock signal by a second change amount in a second frequency range out of the range of the current frequency to the target frequency.
US09698800B2 System and method for clock generation with an output fractional frequency divider
A system and a method generate clock signals using an output divider with modulus steps of half-integers (i.e., the output circuit includes a divider which divides by one or more of 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4 . . . ).
US09698798B1 Digital controller for a phase-locked loop
A digital control loop circuit is disclosed which is coupleable to an oscillator to form a configurable, digital phase-locked loop to generate an output signal having a configurable or selectable output frequency. A representative embodiment of the digital control loop circuit may include a memory storing a plurality of configuration parameters, at least one configuration parameter specifying the output frequency; and a digital controller coupleable to receive an input signal from a reference frequency generator having a reference frequency, the digital controller adapted to access the memory and retrieve the plurality of configuration parameters, and to generate a plurality of control signals to the oscillator both to generate the output signal having the output frequency in response to the plurality of configuration parameters, and to match a phase of the output signal to an input signal phase.
US09698792B1 System and method for clocking digital logic circuits
An electronic device includes multiple functional logic modules each having a corresponding settling time, a clock generator element, and multiple memory elements. The clock generator element generates multiple clock signals having clock periods of a common duration. Each clock signal has a first clock transition and a second clock transition during each clock period, and a latest second clock transition of the clock signals in a particular clock period precedes an earliest first clock transition in a subsequent clock period by the settling time. Each memory element is clocked by a respective one of the clock signals, and each memory element includes an input latch clocked on a first clock transition of the respective one of the clock signals, and an output latch clocked on a second clock transition of the respective one of the clock signals.
US09698785B2 Digital signal up-converting apparatus and related digital signal up-converting method
A digital signal up-converting apparatus includes: a clock generating circuit arranged to generate a reference clock signal; an adjusting circuit coupled to the clock generating circuit and arranged to generate a first clock signal and a second clock signal according to the reference clock signal; a baseband circuit coupled to the adjusting circuit for receiving the first clock signal, wherein the baseband circuit further generates a digital output signal according to the first clock signal; and a sampling circuit coupled to the adjusting circuit and the baseband circuit for receiving the second clock signal and the digital output signal, wherein the second clock signal and the digital output signal are non-overlapping; wherein the sampling circuit samples the digital output signal based on the second clock signal and then combines the sampled digital output signal in order to generate a combined digital signal.
US09698784B1 Level-sensitive two-phase single-wire latch controllers without contention
Systems and methods are described for a contention-free single-wire latch controller that includes first and second bidirectional signal pins (e.g., the L and R pins in the FIGS), a latch enable output pin (or signal), E, and a decision element (such as a NAND or a NOR gate). A first driving transistor may be coupled between the first bidirectional signal pin and a power rail. A second driving transistor may be coupled between the second bidirectional signal pin and the power rail. A first half-latch may be coupled to the first bidirectional signal pin. A second half-latch may be coupled to the second bidirectional signal pin.
US09698781B1 Dynamic clock gating frequency scaling
An electronic apparatus may be provided that includes a clock device to provide a clock signal, and a clock gate to receive the clock signal, the clock gate to be selectively provided in an enabled state or a disabled state. The electronic apparatus may also include a controller to determine a frequency transition and to control the clock gate to be in the enabled state or the disabled state based on the determined frequency transition.
US09698780B2 Apparatus and methods for leakage current reduction in integrated circuits
This disclosure relates to leakage current reduction in integrated circuits (ICs). In one aspect, an IC can include a digital logic circuit and a polarization circuit. The digital logic circuit can have a plurality of inputs and can include a plurality of logic gates. The polarization circuit can receive a standby signal and a digital input signal comprising a plurality of bits. When the standby signal is deactivated, the polarization circuit can control the plurality of inputs of the digital logic circuit based on the digital input signal. However, when the standby signal is activated the polarization circuit can control the plurality of inputs of the digital logic circuit to a low power state associated with a smaller leakage current of the plurality of logic gates relative to at least one other state of the digital logic circuit.
US09698779B2 Reconfiguring an ASIC at runtime
Methods for reconfiguring an ASIC at runtime without using voltage over scaling. A functional criticality of a set of logic in the ASIC is identified. Then, the set of logic are classified into a set of regions based on the functional criticality, each region of the set of regions having a target error threshold. Further, each region is power gated at runtime based on the functional criticality such that the target error threshold is achieved without using voltage over scaling.
US09698774B2 20V to 50V high current ASIC PIN diode driver
An apparatus having a first circuit, a second circuit and a third circuit is disclosed. The first circuit may be configured to translate an input signal in a first voltage domain to generate a complementary pair of first signals in a second voltage domain. The second circuit may be configured to logically switch the first signals to generate a complementary pair of second signals in the second voltage domain. The first signals may be logically switched such that both of the second signals are inactive before one of the second signals transitions from inactive to active. The third circuit may be configured to amplify the second signals to generate a complementary pair of output signals in the second voltage domain. Each of the output signals generally has a current capacity to drive one or more of a plurality of diodes in a diode switch circuit.
US09698773B2 Semiconductor device
The present invention is provided to easily manufacture an IPD as any of a high-side switch and a low-side switch. A level shifting circuit is coupled to an input terminal, a first terminal, and a grounding terminal. Drive power of the level shifting circuit is supplied from the first terminal. An output signal of the level shifting circuit is input to a driver circuit. The driver circuit is coupled to the first terminal and a second terminal. Drive power of the driver circuit is supplied from the first terminal. A transistor has a gate electrode coupled to the driver circuit, a source coupled to the second terminal, and a drain coupled to a third terminal.
US09698770B1 Low power reset circuit
A low power reset circuit includes a bias generator for receiving an operating voltage generated by a power supply and generating a bias voltage in response to the received operating voltage. The operation speed of a shaper for generating a shaped signal for indicating the operating voltage and the operation speed of a comparator for comparing a threshold reference voltage with the shaped signal are both controlled in response to the generated bias voltage. The comparator also generates a comparison signal for indicating a result of the comparison. In response to the comparison signal, a reset signal generator generates a reset signal for resetting protected circuitry powered by the operating voltage generated by the power supply.
US09698769B2 Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes: a diode-integrated IGBT element in a same semiconductor substrate having a diode element and an IGBT element driven by a drive signal towards a gate; a sense element having a diode sense element with a current proportional to a current through the diode element and an IGBT sense element with a current proportional to a current through the IGBT element; a switch element connected to a first current pathway through the diode sense element and to a second current pathway different from the first current pathway. The switch element is turned off to control the second current pathway to be discontinuous with the first current pathway when no current flows through the diode sense element, and is turned on to control the second current pathway to be continuous with the first current pathway and apply a current when a current flows through the diode sense element.
US09698765B1 Dynamic sense amplifier with offset compensation
A device includes a first and second inverters each having a signal input, signal output, high voltage supply terminal, and low voltage supply terminal. The signal input of the first inverter is coupled to the signal output of the second inverter, and the signal input of the second inverter is coupled to the signal output of the first inverter. A first transistor has a first conduction terminal coupled to a power supply node, a second conduction terminal coupled to the high voltage supply terminal of the first inverter, and a control terminal coupled to a first node. A second transistor has a first conduction terminal coupled to the power supply node, a second conduction terminal coupled to the high voltage supply terminal of the second inverter, and a control terminal coupled to a second node. First and second bit lines are capacitively coupled to the first and second nodes.
US09698763B1 Ultra low voltage ring oscillator with redundant inverter
Redundant inverters with multiple inverter stages enable lower operating voltages to be used. For example, the use of multiple inverter stages produces a strong “0” or a strong “1” output signal. The strong output signal facilitates self-oscillation of a ring oscillator at lower voltages.
US09698758B2 Methods for tuning an adaptive impedance matching network with a look-up table
Methods for generating a look-up table relating a plurality of complex reflection coefficients to a plurality of matched states for a tunable matching network. Typical steps include measuring a plurality of complex reflection coefficients resulting from a plurality of impedance loads while the tunable matching network is in a predetermined state, determining a plurality of matched states for the plurality of impedance loads, with a matched state determined for each of the plurality of impedance loads and providing the determined matched states as a look-up table. A further step is interpolating the measured complex reflection coefficients and the determined matching states into a set of complex reflection coefficients with predetermined step sizes.
US09698757B2 Analog baseband filtering apparatus of multimode multiband wireless transceiver and control method thereof
The ABB blocks 332, 334, 336, and 318 are configured to process the I/Q signals corresponding to the first or the second HB independently or the I/Q signals corresponding to the LB in cooperation by two. In detail, the first ABB I block 332 and the first ABB Q block 334 operate independently in the 3G/4G mode but they are configured to process the I signal (or Q signal) of the LB in the 2G mode. Likewise, the second ABB Q block 336 and the second ABB I block 318 operate independently in the 3G/4G mode but they are configured to process the Q signal (or I signal) of the LB in the 2G mode. The first ABB I/Q blocks 332 and 334 and the second ABB I/Q blocks 336 and 318 are arranged symmetrically to processing the I/Q signals cooperatively in the 2G mode. In detail, the second ABB Q block 336 is arranged close to the first ABB Q block 334 such that the capacitor regions included in the first ABB I/Q blocks 332 and 334 are connected to each other and the capacitor regions included in the second ABB I/Q blocks 336 and 338 are connected to each other.
US09698752B2 Method, system, and apparatus for resonator circuits and modulating resonators
Embodiments of resonator circuits and modulating resonators and are described generally herein. One or more acoustic wave resonators may be coupled in series or parallel to generate tunable filters. One or more acoustic wave resonances may be modulated by one or more capacitors or tunable capacitors. One or more acoustic wave modules may also be switchable in a filter. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US09698751B2 Radio frequency filtering circuitry with resonators
RF multiplexer circuitry includes a first signal path coupled between a first intermediate node and a common node, a second signal path coupled between a second intermediate node and the common node, first resonator circuitry coupled between the first signal path and ground, and second resonator circuitry coupled between the second signal path and ground. The first resonator circuitry is configured to allow signals within a first frequency pass band to pass between the first intermediate node and the common node, while attenuating signals outside of the first frequency pass band. The first resonator circuitry includes a first LC resonator. The second resonator circuitry is configured to allow signals within a second frequency pass band to pass between the second intermediate node and the common node, while attenuating signals outside of the second frequency pass band.
US09698749B2 Impedance matching device with coupled resonator structure
An impedance matching device is presented. The device includes an input terminal configured to receive a radio frequency signal, and an output terminal configured to couple to an amplifier. The device includes an impedance prematch network coupled to the input terminal and the output terminal. The impedance prematch network includes a first inductor, such as a first wire bond. The device includes a resonator structure including a second inductor, such as a wire bond, inductively coupled to the first inductor.
US09698748B2 Adaptive impedance matching
An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for limiting tuning of a matching network having variable reactive elements coupled to a variable load impedance to at least reduce an undesirable effect caused by an RF signal. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09698742B2 Electronic amplifier with a feedback circuit that includes a transconductance amplifier
An electronic amplifier has a feedback circuit with a transconductance amplifier.
US09698740B2 Mode linearization switch circuit
Aspects of this disclosure relate to a mode linearization switch circuit that can adjust an effective impedance provided to an output of an amplifier. In an embodiment, an apparatus includes an amplifier configured to amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal and a mode linearization switch circuit electrically coupled to an output of the amplifier. The mode linearization switch circuit can include a capacitor, a switch in series with the capacitor, and a series LC circuit in parallel with the switch.
US09698739B2 Automatic impedance matching using true power information
Aspects of this disclosure relate to systems and methods of performing dynamic impedance tuning. Certain aspects may be performed by or include a dynamic impedance matching network. The dynamic impedance matching network can determine a desired output power for a power amplifier, true power information for the power amplifier, and an output power delivered to a load by the power amplifier. In addition, the dynamic impedance matching network can determine whether the output power satisfies the true power information. Responsive to this determination, the dynamic impedance matching network may modify a load line impedance for the power amplifier using an impedance tuning network.
US09698738B2 Bandpass filter providing wide gain control range
A bandpass filter that provides a wide gain control range is provided. The bandpass filter performs channel filtering and gain control while maintaining the bandpass characteristic of the bandpass filter. The bandpass filter enables gain control for a wide signal amplitude range while maintaining performance characteristics, such as an out-of-band attenuation ratio capable of high linearity and good pass-band flatness.
US09698734B2 Power amplification system with adjustable common base bias
Power amplification system with adjustable common base bias. A power amplification system can include a first transistor having a base coupled to a radio-frequency input. The power amplification can further include a second transistor having an emitter coupled to a collector of the first transistor and having a collector coupled to a radio-frequency output. The power amplification system can include a biasing component configured to apply a fixed biasing signal to the base of the first transistor and to apply an adjustable biasing signal to the base of the second transistor.
US09698724B2 Connecting components for photovoltaic arrays
The invention includes an apparatus for mounting a photovoltaic (PV) module onto a structure where the apparatus includes a base portion, a stud portion, and a coupling portion. The coupling portion includes a male portion that acts as a spring under load and a clip portion that penetrates the PV module frame to create a grounding bond. The apparatus includes a lower jaw, shaped to pry open a groove, and a key portion that can compress to allow for tolerances. The invention further includes a clip with one or more tabs and one or more teeth. The invention further includes a replacement roof tile which includes a support structure with a horizontal flange, a vertical component, a horizontal component, a flashing with an upper surface and a lower surface, and a tile-shaped metal surface having a curvilinear shape that reflects the shapes of adjacent tiles.
US09698723B2 Roof attachment system
A roof attachment system has a stud for retaining a fixture to a roof and is mountable to and sealable with a roof. The attachment system includes a base and a retaining stud which projects upwardly from the base. A membrane is disposed over the base. Cooperative upper and lower mount plates include peripheral oppositely projecting teeth which form an intermediate axial gap. A retainer ring is disposed in into the gap and alternately engages against the teeth of the upper and lower mount plates to axially tighten the attachment components to provide a seal.
US09698722B2 Method and inverter with thermal management for controlling an electric machine
A temperature estimation module estimates each junction temperature of a corresponding semiconductor device, among a plurality of semiconductor devices, for each phase of an inverter. The temperature estimation module or the data processing system determines a hottest device with a highest junction temperature among the semiconductor devices. A thermal adjustment module or data processing system determines if the highest junction temperature parameter is less than maximum junction temperature parameter for the respective semiconductor device or deciding whether or not to adjust a duty cycle of the semiconductor devices.
US09698721B2 AC motor driving system and method thereof
AC motor driving system and driving method thereof are provided. The driving system and method are capable of increasing power factor, adjusting waveform of the DC ripple voltage for increasing driving efficiency. The driving system is basically constructed by connecting three circuits. The first circuit is a three-phase full wave rectifying circuit and is used to transfer commercial electricity to a first DC voltage. Then, the second circuit is used to transfer the first DC voltage to a second DC voltage that ripples voltage thereof having a semi-sinusoidal waveform. The third circuit is an AC driving circuit, and receives the second AC voltage for driving the AC motor. Thereby, the driving efficiency can be increased. The capacitance used in the present disclosure has low capacitance value, thus the power factor can be increased, and usage time of the AC motor driving apparatus can also be increased.
US09698710B2 Solar energy utilization system
A solar energy utilization system includes a solar panel, a motor driven by an inverter circuit functioning as a motor drive circuit with power output by the solar panel, a solar output voltage monitor functioning as a monitor that monitors an input or an output of the solar panel and also functioning as a monitor that monitors an input or an output of the inverter circuit, and a controller. The controller has a control mode in which the inverter circuit is controlled such that an output voltage of the solar panel is maintained at a voltage higher than a maximum power point voltage. In this control mode, the controller performs the control such that a rotation speed of the motor is changed repeatedly at predetermined timings.
US09698709B2 Motor driving device
A motor driving device includes an inverter circuit having switching elements; and a control device controlling the switching of the switching elements. The control device sets a carrier frequency to f1 when a two-phase modulation scheme is selected, and sets the carrier frequency to f0, which is half of the carrier frequency f1, when a three-phase modulation scheme is selected. Thereby, the frequency of the secondary component of a current flowing in a filter circuit of when selecting the three-phase modulation scheme may be deviated from the resonance frequency of the filter circuit. Accordingly, the current ripple generated in the filter circuit may be reduced even when selectively switching the modulation scheme for the PWM modulation among a plurality of modulation schemes.
US09698705B2 Electromechanical transducer device and analyte information acquiring apparatus
To suggest an electromechanical transducer device with a high S/N ratio, an electromechanical transducer device includes a first substrate; electromechanical transducer elements two-dimensionally arrayed on a front surface of the first substrate and configured to provide conversion between acoustic waves and electric signals; an electric wiring substrate that is a second substrate electrically connected with a back surface of the first substrate; a first acoustic matching layer provided between the first substrate and the second substrate; an acoustic attenuating member arranged on a back surface of the second substrate; and a second acoustic matching layer provided between the second substrate and the acoustic attenuating member.
US09698704B2 Modular high-frequency converter, and method for operating same
A converter includes multiple submodules that are serially connected on the input side to a DC power supply circuit via an inductor. Each submodule has an input-side half bridge and an at least single-phase output-side full bridge and an intermediate circuit capacitor connecting the half bridge and the full bridge forming an intermediate DC voltage circuit. According to the method, the submodules are alternately connected to the power supply circuit, thereby also connecting the intermediate circuit capacitor of the respective connected submodule to the power supply circuit, and the intermediate circuit voltage dropping across the respective intermediate circuit capacitor of each submodule is measured. The submodule to be connected is selected according to the voltage deviation of the corresponding intermediate circuit voltage from a specified target voltage value.
US09698696B2 Insulation type switching power supply apparatus
A power supply apparatus comprises: a transformer that includes primary/secondary windings that are electromagnetically connected to each other with polarities opposite to each other, an output switch that activates/inactivates an electric-current route that extends from an application terminal for an input voltage to a ground terminal via the primary winding a rectifying-smoothing portion that generates an output voltage from an induced voltage, a feedback voltage generation portion that monitors a switch voltage appearing at a connection node between the primary winding and the output switch and generates a feedback voltage in accordance with the output voltage, a reference voltage generation portion that generates a reference voltage, a comparator that compares the feedback voltage and the reference voltage with each other to generate a comparison signal, and a switching control portion that generates an output switch control signal by means of an on-time control method in accordance with the comparison signal.
US09698692B2 Multi-phase interleaved converter and control method thereof
A multi-phase interleaved converter includes n sub-circuits of phases, a current controller and a balancing controller. The n sub-circuits of phases have inputs connected in parallel and outputs connected in parallel in order to convert a direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) input voltage of one level into a DC or AC output voltage of another level. The current controller receives a current control command and a phase current value of a particular sub-circuit of a particular phase among the n sub-circuits of the respective phases to output a control signal for controlling the particular sub-circuit of the particular phase. The balancing controller receives phase current values of the n sub-circuits of the respective phases and receives a control signal output from the current controller to adjust the duty ratios of control signals applied to the other sub-circuits.
US09698689B2 Zero-voltage switching buck converter and control circuit therefor
A zero-voltage switching buck converter circuit and control circuit are provided. The buck converter circuit may include a first inductor, a smoothing capacitor coupled to the first inductor, a rectifier diode coupled in parallel with the first inductor and the smoothing capacitor, a control switch coupled to the first inductor, a control circuit configured to turn the control switch off and on repeatedly at a high frequency rate; and a snubber network coupled to the first inductor and the control circuit. The snubber network may include second and third inductors connected in series, wherein one terminal of the first inductor is connected to a node connecting the second and third inductors, and an auxiliary switch connected to the control circuit. A first terminal of the second inductor that is not connected to the node may be coupled to the control switch, and a first terminal of the third inductor that is not connected to the node may be coupled to the auxiliary switch.
US09698682B2 Low voltage DC-DC converter (LDC) control apparatus for preventing overheat of LDC and method of operating the same
Disclosed are an LDC control apparatus for preventing an LDC from being overheated, and a method of operating the same. The LDC control apparatus includes a comparator configured to compare a heat release temperature of an LDC with a predetermined criterion temperature, an adjustor configured to adjust a predetermined criterion current value according to a result of the comparison of temperature, and a controller configured to compare the adjusted criterion current value with an output current value being output from the LDC, and control the LDC by converting a control mode of the LDC according to a result of the comparison of current.
US09698680B2 Switching power device
A switching power device includes: a main circuit having a switching element and a coil that adjusts a current flowing through the coil and outputs a voltage; an output voltage detection circuit that outputs a first voltage; an error amplification circuit that outputs an error signal in response to a difference between the first voltage of the output voltage detection circuit and a second voltage; an oscillation circuit that outputs an oscillation signal; a driving circuit that outputs the driving signal to the switching element in response to a comparison result by comparing the oscillation signal of the oscillation circuit and the error signal of the error amplification circuit; and a soft-start control unit that controls the second voltage in response to the first voltage of the output voltage detection circuit when the first voltage reaches a soft-start threshold voltage between a standard detection voltage and a start detection voltage.
US09698675B2 Driving circuit, operation method thereof and display apparatus
Provided are a driving circuit and its operation method and a display apparatus. The driving circuit comprises a boost circuit unit, a load unit and a voltage monitoring unit, the load unit is connected to a power source providing an initial input voltage, the boost circuit unit is connected to both the load unit and the voltage monitoring unit, the load unit is connected to the voltage monitoring unit; the load unit provides a resistor of fixed resistance value; and the voltage monitoring unit determines whether an actual voltage input into the boost circuit unit is smaller than a predetermined voltage, and generates a reset signal which is used to control the driving circuit to restart if it is determined that the actual voltage is smaller than the predetermined voltage. The driving circuit can perform self-detection of its own electro-static electricity, and perform self-recovery when detecting that an electro-static current exceeds the maximum current that the driving circuit can withstand, such that the capability of anti electro-static electricity of the display apparatus is improved.
US09698673B2 Method for controlling an electronic circuit
A method for controlling an electronic circuit by means of the first, second and third operating parameters, comprises: determining a range of variation of the third parameter for each value of the first parameter by varying the second parameter, said ranges being different; determining a target value of the third parameter; if the target value is within one of the ranges, operating the electronic circuit by setting the third parameter to the target value; and in the opposite case, selecting the two ranges framing the target value and operating the electronic circuit by consecutively bringing the third parameter into each one of the selected ranges.
US09698671B2 Single-stage AC-to-DC converter with variable duty cycle
A single-stage AC-to-DC converter includes a bus capacitor, a power factor correcting module, a resonant converting module and a control module. The power factor correcting module generates, based on an AC (alternating current) input voltage, a first control signal and a second control signal, a DC (direct current) bus voltage across the bus capacitor and an intermediate voltage switching between the bus voltage and zero. The resonant converting module generates a DC output voltage based on the intermediate voltage. The control module generates, based on the bus voltage, the first and second control signals, each of which switches between an active state and an inactive state and has a duty cycle associated with the bus voltage.
US09698664B2 Magnetic power generator
A magnetic power generator (10) includes at least one rotor assembly (12) that is positionable at selected angles relative to the horizontal. The rotor assembly includes a plurality of spokes (20) emanating from a central rotational axis (26), with high-performance magnetic coils (22) mounted on the outer end portions of the spokes. The rotor assembly (12) is drivingly connected to AC/DC generator (32), the output of which is routed to a power transfer switching unit (40) which outputs electricity as either AC or DC and at various desired voltages. A programmable system controller (24) controls the polarity of the magnetic coils (22) mounted on the ends of the spokes (20), as well as the operation of the generator (32) so as to power and constantly change the polarity of the magnetic coils as the rotor assembly rotates, thereby to cause the rotor assembly to rotate by virtue of interaction with the Earth's magnetic field.
US09698658B2 Manufacturing device and manufacturing method for stator of rotating electrical machine
A manufacturing device for a stator of a rotating electrical machine includes a jig, a support section, link mechanisms and press sections. The jig has holding grooves into which linear portions of coils can be respectively inserted. The jig can be arranged on the inner side of a stator core while holding grooves respectively face the openings of slots. Each of the link mechanisms has a push-out member and a link. The link moves a corresponding push-out member in a direction from the bottom portion of the holding groove to a corresponding slot and in a direction from the slot to the bottom portion. The push-out members can concurrently apply a pressing force to all the coil ends of the coils from the axial direction of the stator core in synchronization with the link mechanisms.
US09698656B2 Motor incorporating power converter, and air conditioner, water heater, and ventilation blower incorporating the motor
A motor incorporating a power converter that includes a printed board on which an inverter IC, which converts a voltage of an external power supply into a high-frequency voltage and supplies the high-frequency voltage to a stator, is mounted, wherein on a surface of the printed board opposed to the stator, a high-voltage direct-current input wire, which is a copper foil provided on a surface on a stator side, is disposed. One end of the high-voltage direct-current input wire is electrically connected to a high-voltage input line of the external power supply and the other end of the high-voltage direct-current input wire is electrically connected to a high-voltage electrode of the inverter IC.
US09698649B2 Electrical machines and methods of assembling the same
A motor component for coupling a motor to a work component is provided. The motor component includes a flange coupled to the motor; and an adapter coupled to the flange. The adapter includes a shaft aperture and a pattern of a plurality of through-holes disposed about the shaft aperture and configured to couple to a plurality of pads of the work component. A method of assembling an electrical machine to a work component includes coupling a motor component to a motor of the electrical machine. The method further includes aligning a pattern of a plurality of through-holes of the motor with at least one pad of a plurality of pads of the work component. The method includes coupling the pattern of the plurality of through-holes to the at least one pad of the plurality of pads of the work component.
US09698646B2 Rotating electrical machine
A rotating electrical machine includes: a case; a rotor; a stator; a control portion including a field circuit portion used to supply a current to a control circuit and the field winding; a power circuit portion controlling a stator current; a heat sink installed so as to cool the control portion and the power circuit portion; a first waterproof portion providing waterproofing to signal terminals of the power circuit portion and the field circuit portion; a second waterproof portion provided with through-holes from which a part of the control portion and the power circuit portion is exposed and providing waterproofing between the control portion as well as the power circuit portion and the heat sink; and insulation portions installed in the through-holes of the second waterproof portion and isolating the control portion and the power circuit portion from the heat sink.
US09698644B2 Electric compressor for vehicle
A compressor equipped with an electric motor having a stator including a stator core, coils, and a string. The stator core is formed of laminated core plates and has crimped portions in boundaries between a yoke and bases of teeth. The crimped portions are spaced at equal intervals in a circumferential direction of the stator core. Coil ends are laced by the string in such a way that the string is not passed through teeth spaces having the crimped portions disposed outward thereof in a radial direction of the stator core, but passed through the teeth spaces that are located adjacently on opposite sides of each of the teeth spaces having the crimped portions disposed radially outward thereof and also passed through at least one of any two adjacent of the teeth spaces.
US09698642B1 Motor with multi-phase windings and series-stacked inverter
In one aspect, a system is described. The system may include a rotor, a plurality of magnets positioned adjacent to the rotor, and a stator defining a plurality of sections. Each of the plurality of sections of the stator may include a plurality of teeth. The system may also include a plurality of winding wires wound around the plurality of teeth of each of the plurality of sections of the stator. The plurality of winding wires wound around the plurality of teeth may define a plurality of single-phase sub-motors. The plurality of single-phase sub-motors have a magnetic design such that at least one of the plurality of single-phase sub-motors are rotationally offset from an adjacent single-phase sub-motor, which may improve motor performance and voltage isolation. The system may also include a plurality of inverters coupled to the plurality of winding wires.
US09698633B2 Electromechanical transducer
A transducer contains a rotor, on which permanent magnets are arranged in a concentrically radiant manner, and two stators are provided at both sides of the rotor. The stators are produced from a soft-magnetic material. Each stator contains a first stator section with radially outer supporting bars for first magnetic active faces of the stator being opposite the rotor and a second stator section with radial inner supporting bars for second magnetic active faces of the stators being opposite the rotor. An annular winding groove for receiving a winding is provided between the stator sections. Supporting bars are each arranged in an annular manner and each extend parallel to the rotor axis in the direction of the rotor. The magnetic active faces of the stators are end faces of projections which are uniformly spaced to one another and which protrude from the supporting bars in the direction of the rotor.
US09698629B2 Wireless power transmission system, power transmitting device, and power receiving device
In a power transmitting device constituting a wireless power transmission system, a voltage generating circuit applies a voltage between an active electrode and a passive electrode. In a power receiving device, a voltage generated between an active electrode that is opposed to the active electrode, and a passive electrode that is opposed to or brought into contact with the passive electrode when the power receiving device is placed on the power transmitting device is inputted to a load circuit as a power supply voltage. Passive electrodes of the power transmitting device are provided to electrostatically shield the opposed active electrodes with respect to the earth. Consequently, a wireless power transmission system, a power transmitting device, and a power receiving device are configured so the potential of the power transmitting device and the power receiving device during power transmission is stabilized to thereby prevent malfunction of the power receiving device.
US09698627B2 Device for optimizing electrical energy
The invention includes; a sealed housing made of a plastic or metal material; a conductive plate made of a copper material, positioned in the center of the housing, and respectively connected to power lines so as to accumulate magnetic energy generated in an internal polymer-clay nanocomposite; a base insulation plate having insulation characteristics so as to fix the conductive plate; electric wires which are power lines for transmitting the magnetic energy stored on the conductive plate to the outside; the polymer-clay nano composite filled in the bottom portion of the housing such that the conductive plate is submerged therein; an upper ceramic layer coated on the inner wall of the housing so as to promote the magnetic interaction of a ceramic compound in the upper space portion of the polymer-clay nano composite.
US09698626B2 Request control device, request control method, and computer program product for controlling electronic usage
According to an embodiment, a request control device includes a receiving unit, a generating unit, and a sending unit. The receiving unit is configured to receive a first electric power control request issued for purpose of controlling electric power usage. The generating unit is configured to generate a second electric power control request, which is different than the first electric power control request, at least using the first electric power control request. The sending unit is configured to send the second electric power control request.
US09698623B2 Integrated mobile phone case and charger
An integrated mobile phone case and charger for providing both a protective casing for a mobile device which includes an integrated solar cell for charging the battery of the mobile device therein comprises a case body defined by a front piece and a back piece, with the back piece including solar cells, electrical wiring, and a charging port. The front piece and back piece are configured to releasable attached to each other to form an enclosure in which a mobile phone or other mobile device is placed and secured. The solar cells electricity to be generated to be supplied to the battery of a mobile device disposed in the integrated mobile phone case and charger. A thermoelectric cooler and an electronics control unit may additionally be included in the case body to enable selective charging and cooling of a mobile device with the generated electricity.
US09698619B2 Device for energy mining
A device for collecting energy has a moving conducting body and with capacitive plates at the edge. When an incoming wave is incident upon the energy collection device, currents are induced on the moving conducting body, in turn having charges accumulated at the capacitive plates that are attached to the edge of the moving conducting body. As the accumulated charges move along with the conducting body, time-varying magnetic field is produced nearby, from which power is collected by various energy collection devices such as inductive and capacitive coupling devices. It is also possible to collect the energy by putting touch brushes on the charge-stored capacitive plates directly. Also the accumulated charges and consequently the amount of collected power are enhanced by applying the external magnetic field to the moving conducting body.
US09698618B2 Energy storage charging from an adjustable power source
An energy storage device includes an integrated fuel gauge that is operatively connected to the energy storage device. The fuel gauge evaluates an operating parameter of the energy storage device and dynamically determines a state of charge. The fuel gauge communicates a communication including a requested operating parameter to the charging component with the single communication line and the signal indicates to an operating system component a change of an energy storage device state. The signal is used to trigger an alert or interrupt that causes the operating system component to display the change of the enemy storage state based on the signal.
US09698614B2 Adjusting an extended power line disruption time and end-of-life used for at least one battery backup unit in a system
Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for adjusting an extended power line disruption time and end-of-life for at least one battery backup unit used in a system. A request is received to change from a first extended power line disruption time currently used in the system to a second extended power line disruption time. A first end-of-life and a second end-of-life correspond to the first extended power line disruption time and the second extended power line disruption time, respectively. A message is sent to a power distribution unit with information on the second extended power line disruption time to cause the power distribution unit to initiate a graceful shutdown of the system after power is supplied from the at least one battery backup unit for the second extended power line disruption time.
US09698613B2 Charging system and charging stand
A non-limiting example charging stand comprises a main body that includes an outer side member and the inner side member. The inner side member has an inserting portion for inserting a portable game apparatus. The inserting portion is set with a depth that hides a portion of a hinge but does not hide a cover constituting a part of a housing of the portable game apparatus when inserting the folded portable game apparatus in a vertical orientation. Accordingly, when viewing the portable game apparatus inserted in the charging stand from the front, it is possible to see a color, a pattern or an image of character that is applied to the cover. At this time, a color, a pattern or an image of character that is applied to an outer circumference surface (front) of the charging stand can be also seen.
US09698612B2 Rechargeable battery protection apparatus
A rechargeable battery protection apparatus includes: a battery module including a plurality of unit cells coupled in series between a positive terminal and a negative terminal, and configured to be coupled to a charger through a first external port coupled to the positive terminal and a second external port coupled to the negative terminal to charge the plurality of unit cells; a pack fuse on a high current path between the battery module and the charger; and a connector that forms a bypass path that bypasses a current between a first unit cell and a second unit cell among the plurality of unit cells to the pack fuse depending on an internal pressure of the battery module.
US09698611B2 Systems and methods for compensating current in a battery module
A battery module includes: a battery pack including multiple cells; control circuits corresponding to the cells, each control circuit including a control unit for managing the corresponding cell and a compensation unit for generating a corresponding compensation current such that the sum of the corresponding consumed current and the corresponding compensation current is equal to a target total current, where the control circuits include a first control circuit and a second control circuit, where the first control circuit includes a first control unit operating with a first consumed current, the second control circuit includes a second control unit operating with a second consumed current, and where the first control circuit conditionally generates a first compensation current and the second control circuit conditionally generates a second compensation current based on a comparison of the first consumed current and the second consumed current.
US09698609B2 Testing device power induced by current transformer
A system includes a testing device, a current clamp, and circuitry for converting an electrical current. The testing device is configured to measure a characteristic relating to electrical equipment and to transmit data representing the measured characteristic to a remote computing device. The electrical equipment includes an electrical conductor carrying an electric current. The current clamp forms a current transformer. The current clamp is configured to be clamped around the electrical conductor and the current transformer is configured to induce an electric current from the electrical conductor. The circuitry is configured to convert the induced electric current to a direct current that is usable to power the testing device.
US09698607B2 Secure wireless energy transfer
A wireless receiver for use with a first electromagnetic resonator coupled to a power supply, the first electromagnetic resonator having a mode with a resonant frequency ω1, an intrinsic loss rate Γ1, and a first Q-factor Q1=ω1/2Γ1, and the wireless receiver includes a load configured to power a system using electrical power, a second electromagnetic resonator configured to be coupled to the load and having a mode with a resonant frequency ω2, an intrinsic loss rate Γ2, and a second Q-factor Q2=ω2/2Γ2, wherein the second electromagnetic resonator is configured to be wirelessly coupled to the first electromagnetic resonator to provide resonant, non-radiative wireless power to the second electromagnetic resonator from the first electromagnetic resonator; and a communication facility to confirm compatibility of the first and second resonators and provide authorization for initiation of transfer of power.
US09698605B2 Power transmission apparatus, power transmission device and power reception device for power transmission apparatus
In a power transmission apparatus which transmits power from a power transmission device to a power reception device in a noncontact manner, the power transmission device includes a first main body supporting the power reception device on adjacent first and second surfaces, and a power transmission coil formed by planar coils which are respectively symmetrically disposed on the first and second surfaces with respect to an intersection between the first and second surfaces inside the first main body, and includes an extension region in which an occupation area of the coils gradually increases while becoming distant from a part close to the intersection. The power reception device includes a second main body that includes third and fourth surfaces which respectively face the first and second surfaces, and a power reception coil disposed in the second main body so as to correspond to the third and fourth surfaces.
US09698601B2 Voltage control apparatus, voltage control method, and power adjustment apparatus
A voltage control apparatus includes: a voltage value obtainment unit configured to obtain voltage values at the one or more voltage measuring points; an impedance obtainment unit configured to obtain a system impedance from a distribution substation to each of power adjustment apparatuses; a control variable calculating unit configured to calculate a control variable including at least one of (i) a value corresponding to an allowable upper limit of a voltage value at the first voltage measuring point and (ii) a value corresponding to an allowable lower limit of the voltage value at the first voltage measuring point, based on the voltage values at the one or more voltage measuring points and the system impedances; and a notification unit configured to notify the power adjustment apparatuses of the calculated control variable.
US09698596B2 Power converter module, photovoltaic system having a power converter module, and method for operating a photovoltaic system
A power converter module includes: a DC input terminal configured to receive an input voltage from a DC source; an intermediate circuit coupled directly to the DC input terminal; a DC output terminal configured to provide an output direct voltage; an AC output terminal configured to provide an output alternating voltage; a DC converter coupled between the intermediate circuit and the DC output terminal in order to receive an input voltage from the intermediate circuit; an inverter coupled between the intermediate circuit and the AC output terminal in order to draw an input voltage from the intermediate circuit; and a regulating device coupled to the DC converter and to the inverter, the regulating device being configured to regulate the input voltage of the inverter and of the DC converter to a maximum power drain from the DC source.
US09698595B2 Controlling dynamic systems by measuring the no-load voltage of a photovoltaic generator
The dynamic system is part of a dynamic apparatus having at least one photovoltaic generator, at least one battery and at least one device for controlling the dynamic apparatus. The method for controlling the dynamic system on the basis of sunlight involves electrically isolating the photovoltaic generator from the battery, reading the no-load voltage of the photovoltaic generator, determining a numerical value on the basis of the no load voltage, corresponding to the no-load voltage reading, and comparing the predetermined numerical value with at least one reference threshold value. When the predetermined numerical value corresponds to a value range limited by at least one such reference threshold value the dynamic system is controlled so as to thereon confer a configuration corresponding to the value range.
US09698593B2 Methods and systems for reducing the impact of a generator short circuit in a wind turbine
A method is provided for reducing an impact of an unbalanced short circuit event that occurs in a polyphase permanent magnet generator of a wind turbine. According to the method, an unbalanced short circuit event is detected in the generator of the wind turbine, and, in response to detecting the unbalanced short circuit event, at least one phase of the generator is shorted at a switch-point between the generator and a converter of the wind turbine to create a balanced short circuit in the generator. By doing so, the torque response of the generator is altered to avoid high amplitude torque oscillations that would otherwise occur as a result of the unbalanced short circuit event.
US09698590B1 Personal electronic injury protection device
The personal electrical injury protection device includes a first wireless transmitter, a first receiver, and a second receiver. The first wireless transmitter is adapted to be worn on an end user. The first wireless transmitter is in wired connection with at least one electrical sensor. The at least one electrical sensor is adapted to be attached to a limb of said end user, and is able to detect a change in voltage, and upon doing so shall signal the first receiver. The first receiver is in wireless communication with the first transmitter, and includes a speaker, and at least one light. The second receiver is adapted to turn off the main circuit breaker in order to stop electricity to be transmitted to all applicable circuits, and of which an end user has come into contact.
US09698587B2 Flat cable reeling device
An object of the present invention is to provide a flat cable reeling device reducing a size. A flat cable reeling device includes a case housing a flat cable, a center shaft provided in the case and fixing a first end side of the flat cable, a rotating table rotatively provided, centering on the center shaft, and a biasing means biasing the rotating table in a reeling direction of the flat cable. The rotating table is provided with a plurality of rollers adapted to reel the flat cable from an outside of the case along a circumferential direction of the rotating table. The rotating table is integrally provided with a disk-like table main body and a plurality of guiding portions formed to project from an upper surface of the table main body, and the plurality of guiding portions rotatively support the respective rollers and guide the respective rollers to be slidable in a radial direction of the rotating table.
US09698583B1 Junction box assemblies with spaced apart walls to hold a corrugated tube
An electric junction box assembly configured to store an electric component is provided. The electric junction box assembly includes a corrugated tube configured to hold a wire for supply power. The electric junction box assembly includes a junction box having an outer wall and a bottom wall. The outer wall includes an outer opening for receiving the corrugated tube. The junction box includes a plurality of inner walls. Each of the inner walls is spaced apart from each other so as to form an inner chamber and each inner wall further including an inner opening configured to receive the corrugated tube. Each inner chamber includes a drain hole so as to allow fluids to escape and prevent the electric components from being damaged by water or humidity.
US09698579B2 Method for routing wire bundles from a rotor shaft of a turbomachine
A method for routing wires from a rotor shaft of a turbomachine includes routing a plurality of wire bundles through an end portion of the rotor shaft and into an annular extension shaft which is coupled to the end portion of the rotor shaft, threading each wire bundle through a corresponding thru-hole of a plurality of thru-holes defined in an annular wire barrel, inserting the wire barrel into the extension shaft and fixedly connecting the wire barrel to the extension shaft.
US09698574B2 Method of forming an igniter circuit and structure therefor
In one embodiment, an igniter circuit may include a circuit to determine if the current through a load switch exceeds a threshold value, and to responsively disable a second switch that couples DC power to the igniter circuit.
US09698570B2 Optical semiconductor element and method of manufacturing the same
A quantum dot laser includes a GaAs substrate, a quantum dot active layer which has a barrier layer of GaAs and quantum dots, a GaAs waveguide core layer which is joined to the quantum dot active layer, and a lower cladding layer and an upper cladding layer which sandwich the quantum dot active layer and the GaAs waveguide core layer. The GaAs waveguide core layer extends from a front end of the quantum dot active layer and has a thickness which gradually decreases in a direction to depart from the front end of the quantum dot active layer, a refractive index of a first cladding layer is higher than a refractive index of a second cladding layer. With this structure, expansion of the optical mode diameter that is more than necessary is inhibited to prevent leakage of light, thereby obtaining sufficient optical output.
US09698566B1 Optical module
An optical module includes: a semiconductor laser emitting laser light; an optical device having a butt joint interface; an optical amplifier amplifying the laser light passed through the optical device; an equivalent resonator length adjustor inserted between the optical amplifier and the optical device; a wavelength spectrum measuring device measuring a wavelength of light output from the optical amplifier; and a refractive index adjustment circuit controlling a current applied to the equivalent resonator length adjustor based on a result of measurement performed by the wavelength spectrum measuring device to adjust a refractive index of the equivalent resonator length adjustor. Parasitic oscillation light in a plurality of Fabry-Perot modes is generated as the butt joint interface is one of reflection ends. The refractive index adjustment circuit adjusts the refractive index so that none of peak wavelengths of the parasitic oscillation light coincides with an oscillation wavelength of the semiconductor laser.
US09698565B1 Diode control device
A diode control device include a first terminal for receiving a first power supply voltage and a second terminal for receiving a second power supply voltage. A circuit of the diode control device applies a regulated voltage on the anode of the diode in response to a control voltage. The control voltage is equal to a preset voltage when a reference voltage is less than or equal to zero. Conversely, when the reference voltage is greater than zero, the control voltage is equal to the sum of the present voltage and a difference between cathode voltage of the diode and the reference voltage.
US09698562B2 Laser device
In a laser device, a different refractive index region 6B of a photonic crystal layer is arranged at a lattice point position of a square lattice. In the case where a plane shape of the different refractive index regions 6B is a nearly isosceles right triangle, two sides forming a right angle extend along longitudinal and horizontal lateral lines of the square lattice. A direction parallel to or vertical to an oblique side of the triangle and a direction of polarization in the periodic polarization inversion structure of a nonlinear optical crystal NL are the same.
US09698560B2 Laser ignition system
A laser ignition system, in particular for an internal combustion engine, including a vertical emitter and a laser-active crystal, the laser-active crystal being doped in at least some areas using ytterbium, the ytterbium-doped area having a length of 200 μm to 7000 μm. The monolithic laser is based on a YAG or LuAG host crystal having 3 differently doped areas: a laser-active ytterbium-doped area, an undoped area which determines the resonator length and therefore the pulse duration, and a chromium-doped or vanadium-doped area for the passive Q-switch. The resonator is delimited by 2 mirrors.
US09698556B2 Laser amplification device
Plural signal beams enter a planar waveguide laser amplifier from different directions to follow different paths therein, which reduces a region not contributing to amplification where no signal beam passes. Plural signal beams follow different paths in the planar waveguide, and a second signal beam utilizes the gain of a portion of the planar waveguide that a first signal beam cannot utilize. By this configuration, a region not contributing to amplification of the signal beams in the planar waveguide laser amplifier can be reduced, causing to efficiently amplify plural signal beams.
US09698552B2 Connector
A plurality of connector (40) is configured to be maintained in a state of being aligned in an aligned direction. The connectors (40) each include a housing (41) that may be angularly displaced about an axis parallel to a fitting direction with a counterpart housing (71). A plurality of the housings (41) are aligned in a direction intersecting the fitting direction and an angular displacement direction, and each has a through portion (52) through which electrical wires (100) for aligning the housings (41) in the aligned direction penetrates. A relieving portion (90) having a shape retracting in a direction for avoiding interference with the electrical wires (100) when the housings (41) are angularly displaced is provided on an inner face of each through portion (52).
US09698551B2 Mount for portable electronic devices
A mount for a portable electronic device is disclosed comprising: a support member arranged to engage against a surface of a device mounted thereto, the support member comprising a power connector having one or more electrical contacts to deliver electrical power to the device. The mount further comprises a first ring member coupled to the support member and a second ring member configured for attachment to a surface. The first ring member is configured to be rotatable relative to the second ring member, and the surface of the first ring member is provided adjacent to the surface of the second ring member. The first and second ring members also provide an aperture to enable an electronic connection to pass through the aperture to the power connector of the support member.
US09698548B2 Electrical busway splice connector
A splice connector for a busway system utilizes individual connectors made of a conductive material and having a u-shaped cross-section that fit over ends of a pair of busbars to be connected to each other, and within which are mounted multi-contact louvers that extend the length of the connectors to establish a low impedance electrical connection between the connector and the respective busbars. The louvers are secured in place by a dovetail groove that retains the louvers within the connectors and causes the individual contact sections of the louvers to bow outwardly so as to press against the busbars when the connector is fitted over the busbars. The connectors are snapped into insulative housing halves or sections that align the connectors with the busbars, and that provide isolation between horizontally aligned pairs of connectors.
US09698546B2 Blind-mate connector having sidewalls with notches for alignment
A blind-mate connector (10, 20, 100) has a barrel (11, 21, 105), a base (12, 22, 110) at the back end of the barrel, an insulator (17, 27) mounted in the base, and a center conductor (15, 25) extending from near the front end of the barrel, through the insulator, and extending beyond the back end of the base, with the center conductor being held by the insulator. One type has sidewalls (13, 23) extending rearwardly from the back end of the base, and alignment notches (14, 24) on the sidewalls, the alignment notches extending only partially from the back ends of the sidewalls toward the base. Another type has alignment tabs (125) extending rearwardly from the back end, and sidewalls (130) extending rearwardly from the back end of the base, the first tab being above the first sidewall.
US09698544B2 Electrical connector having a sloping outer shell and a light emitting member
A plug connector assembly (1) adapted to plug into a receptacle in two reversed directions, includes a mating member (10), a cable (30) electrically connected with the mating member, and an outer shell (50) including a main body (51), and a strain relief member (52) disposed at a rear end of the main body and enclosing the cable. The main body includes a front portion (510) enclosing a rear end (102) of the mating member, and a rear portion (511) opposite to the front portion and connected with the strain relief member. A thickness of the front portion is smaller than a thickness of the rear portion measured along a vertical direction. A thickness of the outer shell measured along the vertical direction is gradually increased in a constant slope along a front to rear direction
US09698541B2 Electrical receptacle connector
An electrical receptacle connector includes a metallic shell, an insulated housing, a plurality of first receptacle terminals, a plurality of second receptacle terminals, and a rear cover plate. The insulated housing is received in the receiving cavity. The first receptacle terminals and the second receptacle terminals are respectively disposed at an upper portion and a lower portion of the insulated housing. The rear cover plate includes a baffle plate and a connecting portion formed at one of two sides of the baffle plate and connected to the rear of the metallic shell. The rear cover plate is closeable and openable, so that the soldering condition between the first receptacle terminals and contacts of a circuit board can be checked when the rear cover plate is opened.
US09698532B2 Safety electrical lockout arrangement
A lockout frame arrangement for an electrical outlet box arrangement, comprising an electrical outlet box arranged for receipt of electrical outlets, a cover plate attachable to an open side of the electrical outlet box, for securement of electrical sockets therewithin, with a rectilinear outer cover capturing frame securely sandwiched between the cover plate and the open side of the electrical outlet box. An outer protective cover plate is matingly attached to and securable within a perimeter of the outer cover capturing frame.
US09698527B2 Electrical connector having a metallic reinforcing member
An electrical connector assembly includes: an insulative housing defining a receiving room; an arrangement module assembled on a rear end of the insulative housing and defining a riveting slot on a rear end thereof; a number of contacts retained in the receiving room and exposing to a rear end of the arrangement; a metal case enclosing the insulative housing and the arrangement module and having a riveting arm riveted into the riveting slot to fix the metal case on the insulative housing; and a reinforcing member assembled in the arrangement module and disposed near the riveting slot.
US09698522B2 Strain relief element for a cable and plug with strain relief element
A strain relief element for a cable. The strain relief element has a clamping collar in form of an at least partially closing ring for clamping the cable sheathing arranged in a clamping opening of the ring. The clamping collar having first and second half-ring clamping elements with a partial clamping opening each and hinged together through a first hinge. The clamping opening being defined by the two half-ring clamping elements folded towards each other and fixed with a clamping force executed by a clamping element. The strain relief element has a fixing collar means in form of an at least partially closing ring for fixing a corrugated tube surrounding the cable arranged in a fixing opening of the ring, the fixing collar having first and second half-ring fixing elements with a partial fixing opening each and hinged together through a second hinge.
US09698519B2 Water-proof connector for an electronic device
An electronic device includes a housing including an outer surface and an inner surface, the housing including an opening through which the outer surface and the inner surface communicate with each other. The external connection terminal also includes a female connector including a receiver configured to receive at least a part of a male connector inserted externally, the female connector including a conducting portion located to face the inner surface of the housing and electrically connectable to the male connector through the opening, and a seal located around the opening and located obliquely with respect to a direction in which the male connector is received.
US09698518B1 Wire connectors and wire connector kits
A wire connector kit and a method of protecting an electrical connection comprising a wire connector and a source of expandable sealant wherein the expandable sealant is injected into a wire connector after the electrical connection has been formed with the expandable sealant undergoing an in situ internal expansion from a site proximate the electrical connection to encapsulate and protect the electrical junction from the environment or through forming a sealant plug in a housing through an in situ expansion of the sealant plug to protect an electrical connection cocooned within the housing by the sealant plug.
US09698515B2 Port including movable connector
A port of a computing system includes a connector movable between a recessed position and an extended position. The connector is extended from the recessed position to the extended position in response to a plug.
US09698512B2 Electrical contact having cleaning system
Embodiments disclose an electrical contact including a metal housing and a fixed contact part, which is attached to the metal housing and has a contact surface that, during the attachment, is located within the metal housing, and a contact tab located outside the metal housing. The electrical contact includes a movable contact part, which can be inserted into the metal housing to form an electrical contact together with the contact surface of the fixed contact part. A cleaning system is provided in that at least one scraping edge is provided adjoining the contact surface, the movable contact part making contact with said scraping edge during insertion. A surface of the movable contact part passes over the scraping edge to remove possible dirt particles.
US09698511B2 Electric contact and socket for electrical part
An electric contact for preventing a terminal of an electrical part and the electric contact from sticking to each other after a continuity test to improve the durability of the electric contact; and a socket for electrical part using the electric contact. In the electric contact according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a foundation layer composed primarily of Ni, a surface layer composed primarily of Pd and Ag, and an outermost layer composed primarily of Sn or Au are formed on a surface of an electrically-conductive base material.
US09698507B2 Package structure of power module
A package structure of a power module includes an insulation frame, a first circuit substrate, an insulation cover, plural first pins, plural posts and a fastening element. The insulation frame includes a sidewall and a first coupling part. The first coupling part is externally protruded from the sidewall. The first coupling part includes a first mounting structure. The first circuit substrate is combined with a bottom part of the insulation frame. The insulation cover is combined with a top part of the insulation frame. The insulation cover includes a second coupling part. The second coupling part includes a second mounting structure. The plural posts are embedded in the at least one first coupling part of the insulation frame, and partially penetrated through the second coupling part. The fastening element is connected with the first mounting structure and the second mounting structure.
US09698504B2 Battery terminal
A battery terminal 1 includes a terminal main body 2 including an upper plate portion 10 and a lower plate portion 60 provided separately from the upper plate portion 10, the upper plate portion 10 including a upper plate mounting portion 20 having an upper plate mounting hole 21 through which a battery post 140 is to be inserted and an upper plate fastening portion 30 connected to the upper plate mounting portion 20, the lower plate portion 60 including a lower plate mounting portion 70 having a lower plate mounting hole 71 through which the battery post 140 is to be inserted and a lower plate fastening portion 80 connected to the lower plate mounting portion 70, and a bracket 100 configured to deform the upper plate mounting hole 21 and the lower plate mounting hole 71 to reduce them in diameter by being mounted on the terminal main body 2.
US09698500B2 Joint sleeve for high temperature insulated bus pipes
A joint sleeve is proposed for connecting busbar sections, each having connectable contacts. In an embodiment, the sleeve includes—a non-magnetic case defining butt ends occluded with non-magnetic flanges each having a hole securing the respective busbar section therein,—a fire-resistant coating covering the case,—an electrically insulated supporting tube disposed within the case and defining a chamber therein, enclosing the connectable contacts,—a grounding screen mounted on the supporting tube, and—a fire-resistant layer disposed between the case and the screen capable of thermal expansion upon heating thereof, thereby improving fire-resistance. Instead of the fire-resistant layer, another embodiment includes an annular air chamber formed between the case and the supporting tube, while the annular chamber is in communication with hollows, and the supporting tube is closed by another pair of flanges with holes securing the respective busbar sections. The sleeve allows for improving fire-safety of power consuming facilities.
US09698499B2 Wall mount component and wire clamp connector thereof
A wire clamp connector includes a connecting board, a plurality of conductive sheets, a plurality of conductive mounts, and a plurality of wire clamp components. The conductive sheets are disposed at one surface of the connecting board. The conductive mounts are disposed at the top of the connecting board and connected to the conductive sheets. The wire clamp components are disposed at the respective conductive mounts. Each of the wire clamp components includes a lock member and a clamping piece. The lock member pushes the clamping piece to push against a wire, so that the wire can be firmly positioned with the corresponding conductive mount. Furthermore, the wire clamp connector may be applied to the wall mount component so as to be mounted on a wall and connected to an electronic product.
US09698498B1 Connector with spring contact
The disclosed embodiments relate generally to a modular connector for a multi-conductor ribbon cable provided for power and data transmission to a network of devices. The modular connector is coupled to the conductors in the ribbon cable by insulation displacement members. When the connector is attached to the ribbon cable and disconnected from a device a continuous circuit path is provided and when connected to a device configurable circuit paths are provided.
US09698497B2 Repair sleeve
A repair sleeve has first and second end portions, each of which has a substantially cylindrical outer surface. The end portions are bored to receive a cable of a particular diameter. The inner surface of each end portion may be stepped or tapered. The center portion of the repair sleeve, between the two end portions, has an interior diameter substantially larger than the nominal diameter of the cable so that the repair sleeve can be use on a frayed cable or a cable with a failing splice. The repair sleeve is split longitudinally into two interlocking portions, which, when separated, allows the damaged cable or failing splice under repair to be inserted into a first one of the portions in a radial direction. The other portion is then inserted into the first portion and the repair sleeve is swaged onto the cable.
US09698494B2 Quadri-polarized antenna radiator, quadri-polarized antenna and quadri-polarized multi-antenna array
A quadri-polarized antenna oscillator, a quadri-polarized antenna, and a quadri-polarized multi-antenna array are provided. The quadri-polarized antenna oscillator comprises four polarized oscillators, wherein midpoints of the four polarized oscillators are coincident; a polarization direction of a first polarized oscillator is a horizontal direction; a polarization direction of a second polarized oscillator is perpendicular to the horizontal direction; a polarization direction of a third polarized oscillator has a 45° angle with the horizontal direction; and a polarization direction of a fourth polarized oscillator has a −45° angle with the horizontal direction. By integrating four polarized oscillators having different polarization directions into one antenna oscillator, the width of the MIMO multi-antenna is reduced, and the horizontal space between two columns of dual-polarized antennas is not required any more, thus the deployment of LTE and 4G networks are favorably implemented without extra space requirement to the top surface of a base station.
US09698493B2 Dual-polarized antenna radiating element and base station antenna
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a dual-polarized antenna radiating element. The dual-polarized antenna radiating element includes four radiators and a connecting part, where the four radiators are arranged in a cross shape, with each two of them oppositely disposed, the four radiators form a radiating plane, one end of each of the radiators is connected to the connecting part, and the other end extends in a direction away from the connecting part. Each of the radiators includes a first radiating arm and a second radiating arm, where the first radiating arm and the second radiating arm are asymmetric. In the embodiments of the present invention, a new resonant frequency band is added by using asymmetric radiating arms, thereby broadening the width of a resonant frequency band, so that the antenna radiating element can adapt to a broader resonant frequency band.
US09698492B2 Low-cost diplexed multiple beam integrated antenna system for LEO satellite constellation
A multiple beam integrated antenna system for a satellite including a support structure having an alignment plate. The antenna system further includes a plurality of feed horns mounted to the alignment plate, where each feed horn includes a plurality of tapered sections that support propagation modes for both up-link signals and down-link signals. A septum polarizer is mounted to an input end of each feed horn that converts linearly polarized signals to circularly polarized signals for the up-link signals and converts circularly polarized signals to linearly polarized signals for the down-link signals. A Y-shaped waveguide is coupled to each of the polarizers and includes separate receive reject and transmit reject filters so as to keep the up-link signals and the down-link signals from interfering with each other. Flex waveguides couple the transmit leg and the receive leg of each Y-shaped waveguide to RF modules.
US09698491B2 Multi-panel antenna system
A multi-panel antenna system may be disassembled and packaged into a container with substantially smaller dimensions than the assembled antenna system. The antenna system may include two or more reflector panels, such that a respective reflector panel can include a curved surface that may form a portion of a parabolic reflector, and can include an inter-panel fastener operable to align a side surface of the respective reflector panel with a side surface of another reflector panel. The antenna system may also include a mounting assembly that may be used to fasten a convex side of the two or more reflector panels to a surface external to the antenna system, and a feed assembly that may be attached to the mounting assembly.
US09698484B1 Method for automatically adjusting tunable passive antennas, and automatically tunable antenna array using this method
The invention relates to a method for automatically adjusting a plurality of tunable passive antennas, for instance a plurality of tunable passive antennas of a radio transceiver using several antennas simultaneously. The invention also relates to an automatically tunable antenna array using this method. An automatically tunable antenna array of the invention has 4 user ports, and comprises: 4 tunable passive antennas, the 4 tunable passive antennas operating simultaneously in a given frequency band and forming a multiport antenna array; 4 sensing units; 4 feeders; a signal processing unit delivering a tuning instruction; and a tuning control unit, the tuning control unit receiving the tuning instruction from the signal processing unit, the tuning control unit delivering tuning control signals to the tunable passive antennas, the tuning control signals being determined as a function of the tuning instruction.
US09698482B2 Antenna device
An antenna device of the present embodiment includes: a first conductive layer connected to a ground potential, a semiconductor device provided above the first conductive layer, a second conductive layer provided above the semiconductor device, a first via connecting the second conductive layer and the first conductive layer, a third conductive layer provided above the second conductive layer, a second via passing through the first opening, and an antenna provided above the third conductive layer. A dielectric is provided between the second conductive layer and the semiconductor device, between the third conductive layer and the second conductive layer, and between the antenna and the third conductive layer. The second conductive layer includes a first opening. The second via connects the third conductive layer and the first conductive layer.
US09698479B2 Two-dimensionally electronically-steerable artificial impedance surface antenna
A method and apparatus for electronically steering an antenna system. The apparatus comprises a dielectric substrate, a plurality of radiating spokes, and a number of surface wave feeds. The plurality of radiating spokes is arranged radially with respect to a center point of the dielectric substrate. Each radiating spoke in the plurality of radiating spokes forms a surface wave channel configured to constrain a path of a surface wave. Each of the number of surface wave feeds couples at least one corresponding radiating spoke in the plurality of radiating spokes to a transmission line that carries a radio frequency signal.
US09698473B2 Vehicle-mounted antenna device
An antenna device that is built inside a hollow body fixed to a vehicle comprises a composite antenna element that has an antenna length corresponding to a first frequency band and is bent so as to also function as a capacitive antenna corresponding to a second frequency band and to improve an antenna effective capacitance and that is disposed in a substantially planar manner. The composite antenna element is disposed such that a planar direction thereof is inclined toward a vertical-direction side with respect to a metal body of the vehicle, and is offset-disposed to a left or right side in the hollow body with respect to a vehicle traveling direction, and is grounded in a metal portion of the vehicle near a position where the composite antenna element is disposed.
US09698469B2 Antenna structure and wireless communication device using the same
An antenna structure includes a metal member, a first antenna, and a second antenna. The second antenna includes a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion. Both of the second portion and the third portion are connected to the first portion. Both of the first portion and the third portion are spaced from the first antenna, and are coupled with the metal member.
US09698462B2 Switch board of blade server and port configuring method thereof
A switch board of a blade server, a port configuring method thereof, and a blade server. The switch board includes a port configuring unit and a plurality of ports, where the port configuring unit is configured to divide the switch board into more than one virtual sub-switch-board, allocate the ports to the virtual sub-switch-boards, and configure each port of each virtual sub-switch-board to a first-type port or a second-type port, where the first-type port and the second-type port have different bandwidth; and each of the ports is configured to connect a server blade according to a configuration on the port configuring unit. The technical solutions of the present invention can meet a requirement for flexible port bandwidth configuration.
US09698459B2 Circuit on a thin carrier for use in hollow conductors and a manufacturing method
A substrate-based circuit (31) provides a carrier substrate (2), wherein a bond layer (5) is embodied on at least one part of the carrier substrate (2), and wherein a contact layer (6) which forms at least one conductor line (7) and/or at least one antenna element (8) is embodied on at least one first part (51) of the bond layer (5). The carrier substrate (2) provides at least one fastening element (20), which is deposited at the outer region of the carrier substrate (2) and projects beyond the outer region of the carrier substrate (2).
US09698453B2 Adjustable length battery electrolyte probe
Disclosed herein is an apparatus. The apparatus includes a sensor head section, a base section, a telescoping section, and an electronic component. The base section is connected to the sensor head section. The telescoping section includes a first end and a second end. The telescoping section is connected to the base section. The electronic component is proximate the first end of the telescoping section. The electronic component is protected from making contact with high current, electrically conductive battery elements and configured to sense battery parameters.
US09698452B2 Battery pack
A battery pack including a plurality of battery arrays, each battery array including unit batteries that each have a terminal, the plurality of battery arrays being stacked in a first direction; an insulator on at least one side of the battery arrays, terminals of the unit batteries being on the one side; and a sensing bar on the insulator, wherein the insulator includes at least one opening therein, at least one terminal being exposed through the at least one opening, and the sensing bar is electrically connected to the at least one terminal exposed through the at least one opening to sense a state of the battery array.
US09698449B2 Storage system and output controller
A connection mode of a plurality of arbitrarily connected storage units is detected and the plurality of storage units is controlled according to the detected connection mode.Six storage modules MOD1 to MOD6 are connected in series. A total voltage V(Total) and individual output voltages V(1) to V(6) of respective storage modules are supplied to an output controller ICNT. A controller PR of the output controller ICNT determines the connection mode depending on whether a determination equation is satisfied. When the number of storage modules is set to N, the total output voltage is set to V(Total), the individual output voltages are set to V(1), V(2), . . . , and V(N), and the number of parallels of the connection mode is set to M, (determination equation: V(1)=V(2)= . . . =V(N)=(1/M)×V(Total)) is used. When the determination equation is satisfied, (N/M) parallel M series is determined.
US09698442B2 Method for making membrane electrode assembly
The present invention relates to method for making a membrane electrode assembly. First, a carbon nanotube film is fabricated to act as a gas diffusion layer. Second, a catalyst layer is formed on the carbon nanotube film to obtain an electrode. Third, a proton exchange membrane is provided, and two electrodes are separately disposed on two opposite surfaces of the proton exchange membrane, thereby forming the membrane electrode assembly.
US09698438B2 Ventilation apparatus and control method thereof
A ventilation apparatus includes: a controller that determines whether insulation resistance between a fuel cell stack and an enclosure including the fuel cell stack is equal to or smaller than a preset value, and varies a degree of opening of a valve provided between an inlet provided on one side of the enclosure and an air blower injecting air to an interior of the enclosure through the inlet based on the determination.
US09698436B2 Operating method for a fuel cell system
An operating method is provided for a fuel cell system with a radiator structure which is flowed through by ambient air and a fuel cell stack, at least part of the outgoing air flow of the fuel cell stack can be guided onto the radiator structure such that, at the radiator structure, the guided outgoing air flow causes an increase in mass flow of the ambient air through the radiator structure according to the jet pump principle. At least part of the outgoing air flow of the fuel cell stack can be guided through a gas expansion machine. The division of energy which is contained in the outgoing air flow and can be recovered in the gas expansion machine and/or at the radiator structure according to the jet pump principle is changed by an electronic control unit in a manner which is adapted to boundary conditions. This division is set and changed, in particular, using the temperature of the medium to be cooled in the radiator structure and the required electrical power of the fuel cell stack, by the pressure drop in the gas expansion machine being set by targeted setting of the flow conditions prevailing therein and/or the magnitude of the outgoing air flow which is guided through the gas expansion machine being set via a controllable bypass of the gas expansion machine.
US09698435B2 System and method for cooling an aircraft fuel cell system
A system for cooling an aircraft fuel cell system comprising a first cooling circuit thermally coupled to a first fuel cell, to remove thermal energy generated by the first fuel cell during operation from the first fuel cell, and a first heat exchanger arranged in the first cooling circuit and adapted to transfer thermal energy, removed from the first fuel cell via the first cooling circuit, to the aircraft surroundings. The system comprises a second cooling circuit thermally coupled to a second fuel cell, to remove thermal energy generated by the second fuel cell during operation from the second fuel cell, and a second heat exchanger arranged in the second cooling circuit and adapted to transfer thermal energy, removed from the second fuel cell via the second cooling circuit, to the aircraft surroundings. The first cooling circuit is thermally couplable to the second cooling circuit.
US09698434B2 Heater
A heater includes a fuel cell stack assembly disposed within a heater housing and includes a plurality of fuel cells which convert chemical energy from a fuel into heat and electricity through a chemical reaction with an oxidizing agent. A combustor disposed within the heater housing receives an anode exhaust and a cathode exhaust from the fuel cell stack assembly and combusts a mixture of the anode exhaust and the cathode exhaust to produce a heated combustor exhaust. The combustor includes a combustor exhaust outlet for discharging the heated combustor exhaust into the heater housing. A baffle disposed around the fuel cell stack assembly and the combustor defines a heat transfer channel radially between the heater housing and the baffle. A flow director in fluid communication with the combustor exhaust outlet and the heat transfer channel communicates the heated combustor exhaust to the heat transfer channel.
US09698430B2 Lithium-lanthanum-titanium oxide sintered material, solid electrolyte containing the oxide, lithium air battery and all-solid lithium battery including the solid electrolyte, and method for producing the lithium-lanthanum-titanium oxide sintered material
A lithium-lanthanum-titanium oxide sintered material has a lithium ion conductivity 3.0×10−4 Scm−1 or more at a measuring temperature of 27° C., the material is described by one of general formulas (1-a)LaxLi2-3xTiO3-aSrTiO3, (1-a)LaxLi2-3xTiO3-aLa0.5K0.5TiO3, LaxLi2-3xTi1-aMaO3-a, and Srx-1.5aLaaLi1.5-2xTi0.5Ta0.5O3 (0.55≦x≦0.59, 0≦a≦0.2, M=at least one of Al, Fe and Ga), and concentration of S is 1500 ppm or less. The material is obtained by sintering raw material powder mixture having S content amount of 2000 ppm or less in the entirety of raw material powders for mixture, that is, titanium raw material, lithium raw material, and lanthanum raw material.
US09698427B2 Particle exhibiting catalytic activity
A particle exhibiting catalytic activity comprising (a) an inner core formed of an alloy material; and (b) an outer shell formed of a metal material surrounding the inner core, wherein the alloy material is selected such that the inner core exerts a compressive strain on the outer shell.
US09698426B2 Aluminum alloy foil for electrode current collector, method for manufacturing same, and lithium ion secondary battery
The present invention provides an aluminum alloy foil for electrode current collector, high in strength and superior in heat resistance after the active material coating/drying process of the manufacture of the battery, a manufacturing method thereof, and a lithium ion secondary battery. According to the present invention, an aluminum alloy foil for electrode current collector, including 0.1 to 0.5 mass % (hereinafter mass % is referred to as %) of Fe, 0.01 to 0.5% of Si, 0.01 to 0.2% of Cu, 0.01 to 0.5% of Mn, with the rest being Al and unavoidable impurities, wherein tensile strength of an aluminum alloy foil and a heat treatment selected from 24 hours at 100° C., 3 hours at 150° C., and 15 minutes at 200° C., is 210 MPa or higher, a manufacturing method thereof, and a lithium ion secondary battery are provided.
US09698425B2 Electrode material and method for producing the same
The present invention provides an electrode material in which unevenness in a supporting amount of a carbonaceous film is less when using an electrode-active material having a carbonaceous film on a surface thereof as the electrode material, and which is capable of improving conductivity, and a method for producing the electrode material. The electrode material includes an aggregate formed by aggregating an electrode-active material in which a carbonaceous film is formed on a surface. In the electrode material, an average particle size of the aggregate is 0.5 to 100 μm, a volume density of the aggregate is 50 to 80 vol % of a volume density in a case in which the aggregate is a solid, and 80% or more of the surface of the electrode-active material is covered with the carbonaceous film. Alternatively, the electrode material includes an aggregate formed by aggregating electrode-active material particles in which a carbonaceous film is formed on a surface. In the electrode material, an average particle size of the aggregate is 0.5 to 100 μm, a pore size (D50) when an accumulated volume percentage of a pore size distribution of the aggregate is 50% is 0.1 to 0.2 μm, and porosity of the aggregate is 15 to 50 vol % with respect to a volume in a case in which the aggregate is a solid.
US09698424B2 Aliginates as binders for battery cathodes
A cathode unit for a battery, in which the cathode includes a viscoelastic, and a polymeric gel former selected from the group of natural polysaccharides having a proportion of carboxylate or carboxylic acid groups of greater than or equal to 0.5 and less than or equal to 2.0 in relation to the number of monomer units. Also described is a method for manufacturing the cathode units and the use of a battery including the cathode unit according to the invention for power supply.
US09698418B2 High nickel cathode material having low soluble base content
The invention relates to cathode materials for Li-ion batteries in the quaternary phase diagram Li[Li1/3Mn2/3]O2—LiMn1/2Ni1/2O2—LiNiO2—LiCoO2, and having a high nickel content. Also a method to manufacture these materials is disclosed. The cathode material has a general formula Lia ((Niz(Ni1/2Mn1/2)yCox)1−kAk)2−aO2, wherein x+y+z=1, 0.1≦x≦0.4, 0.36≦z≦0.50, A is a dopant, 0≦k≦0.1, and 0.95≦a≦1.05, and having a soluble base content (SBC) within 10% of the equilibrium soluble base content.
US09698417B2 Mixed oxide of titanium and niobium comprising a trivalent metal
A lithium-free mixed titanium and niobium oxide, including at least one trivalent metal M, and having a molar ratio Nb/Ti greater than 2, said oxide being selected from the group including the material of formula (I) and the material of formula (II): MxTi1−2xNb2+xO7±δ  (I) where 0
US09698415B2 Nonaqueous electrolyte battery
A nonaqueous electrolyte battery includes a positive electrode containing an active material, a negative electrode, and a nonaqueous electrolyte, the negative electrode including a current collector and a negative electrode active material supported by the current collector, the negative electrode active material having a Li insertion potential not lower than 0.2V (vs. Li/Li+) and an average primary particle diameter not larger than 1 μm, and a specific surface area of the negative electrode, excluding a weight of the current collector, as determined by the BET method falls within a range of 3 to 50 m2/g.
US09698412B2 Negative electrode for power storage device and power storage device
A decomposition reaction of an electrolyte solution and the like caused as a side reaction of charge and discharge is minimized in repeated charge and discharge of a lithium ion battery or a lithium ion capacitor, and thus the lithium ion battery or the lithium ion capacitor can have long-term cycle performance. A negative electrode for a power storage device includes a negative electrode current collector and a negative electrode active material layer which includes a plurality of particles of a negative electrode active material. Each of the particles of the negative electrode active material has an inorganic compound film containing a first inorganic compound on part of its surface. The negative electrode active material layer has a film in contact with an exposed part of the negative electrode active material and part of the inorganic compound film. The film contains an organic compound and a second inorganic compound.
US09698408B2 Secondary battery
A secondary battery has a flat shape and houses a power generation element together with an electrolyte solution inside an exterior body. A terminal includes: a terminal main body including a nickel plane containing nickel on at least a surface thereof; an anticorrosive layer covering at least a part of the nickel plane that is more on the inside of the exterior body than a held portion; and a resin layer covering at least the held portion of a surface of the anticorrosive layer and having an internal extension portion extending from the held portion to the inside of the exterior body.
US09698405B2 Electric connector and battery comprising the same
An electric connector and a battery comprising the same may be provided. The electric connector (3) may comprise a core fixing part and an extension part (32) connected to the core fixing part. The core fixing part may include at least two hosting portions (31) each configured to hold an electrode tab of a winding core of a battery, respectively, and a connection portion (33) configured to connect the two adjacent hosting portions.
US09698398B2 Secondary battery module
Disclosed is a secondary battery module including: a plurality of unit cells, at least one or more unit cells among the plurality of unit cells being stacked so as to be in surface contact with each other; and an adhesive pad disposed between contact surfaces of the stacked unit cells. The adhesive pad enhances adhesion between the unit cells to prevent electrical sparks or short-circuiting. Therefore, the secondary battery module is stable and reliable in operation performance and electrical properties.
US09698397B2 Battery
A battery includes a flat wound electrode body formed by winding a positive electrode sheet and a negative electrode sheet with a separator interposed therebetween into a flat shape. The separator has an outer edge adjacent portion adjacent to either an outer edge of a positive electrode active material layer or an outer edge of a negative electrode active material layer. In a curve positioned portion disposed at least in a curved portion of the flat wound electrode body, the outer edge adjacent portion has a suppression portion for suppressing the occurrence or development of a crack.
US09698396B2 Separator for secondary battery comprising dual porous coating layer of inorganic particles with different surface characteristics, secondary battery comprising the same, and method of manufacturing the separator
The present disclosure relates to a separator for a secondary battery including a dual porous coating layer of inorganic particles with different surface characteristics, a secondary battery including the same, and a method of manufacturing the separator. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a separator including a porous substrate, a first porous coating layer, and a second porous coating layer is provided. According to the present disclosure, a method of manufacturing a separator including forming a first slurry, forming a second slurry, forming a first porous coating layer, and forming a second porous coating layer is provided. A separator according to the present disclosure has uniform dispersion of inorganic particles in a coating layer of the separator, and adsorbs an excess of metal ions generated in the battery when the battery is out of a normal operating temperature range, thereby ensuring safety of the battery.
US09698387B2 Method for producing an optoelectronic component and method for patterning an organic, optoelectronic component
Various embodiments may relate to a method for producing an organic optoelectronic component, including forming a first layer on or over a substrate, the substrate including at least one contact pad of the organic optoelectronic component, at least one electrode of the organic optoelectronic component being electrically connected to the at least one contact pad, forming a second layer on or over the first layer, and removing at least the second layer in at least one region of the substrate with the first layer and the contact pad. The adhesion of the substance or of the substance mixture of the first layer on the interface with the substrate is less than the adhesion of the substance or of the substance mixture of the second layer on the interface with the substrate.
US09698385B2 OLED display panel and display device including the same
The disclosed OLED display panel includes: an OLED unit, including one or more pixel light-emitting units, wherein light emitted from the pixel light-emitting units is transmitted in a first area; a rotatable optical component, arranged on a transmission path of the light emitted from the pixel light-emitting units, wherein the light emitted from the pixel light-emitting units is transmitted onto the optical component and then reflected by the same, and light reflected by the optical component, when the optical component is rotated, is projected onto a second area within a predetermine period, wherein the second area is larger than the first area; and a light-transmitting display substrate, arranged on a transmission path of the light reflected by the optical component and arranged corresponding to the second area.
US09698384B2 Organic light emitting diode display panel and its manufacturing method, display device
Provided are an OLED display panel and its manufacturing method, as well as a display device. The OLED display panel includes: a base substrate; and an organic light emitting unit, a pixel defining layer and a packaging substrate, arranged on the base substrate. The pixel defining layer is provided with a via hole at least one side of the organic light emitting unit. The via hole is filled with a total reflection-eliminating layer through which incident light is processed to obtain emergent light capable of arriving at an interface between the packaging substrate and an atmosphere at an incident angle smaller than a total reflection angle at the interface between the packaging substrate and the atmosphere.
US09698383B2 Organic light emitting diode display panel and display device
The present invention provides an organic light emitting diode display panel and a display device, and relates to the field of display technology, which can solve the problem that the display contrast of an existing organic light emitting diode display panel and an existing display device is reduced due to the reflection of ambient light. In the organic light emitting diode display panel and the display device of the present invention, a light gathering unit and a light absorption layer matched with each other are arranged in pixel defining regions, so that the incident ambient light can be gathered by the light gathering unit to the light absorption layer and absorbed by the light absorption layer, to reduce ambient light outgoing from the display panel due to reflection, and increase the contrast of the display panel.
US09698381B1 Manufacturing method for organic electroluminescent device and organic electroluminescent device
A manufacturing method for an organic electroluminescent device disposes a scattering layer between a substrate and an anode. The scattering layer is made of a titanium dioxide film, and the titanium dioxide film is formed by an electrospinning process. The density and thickness of an electrospun membrane can be adjusted through a voltage and a distance between electrodes during the electrospinning process. The process parameters are easy to be adjusted and operability is increased to effectively improve a light efficiency. When a light exit from the anode and enter into the substrate inside the device, the scattering layer will scatter the light to change a light path within a critical angle of a total reflection in order to reduce an incident angle. Accordingly, a light which is supposed to be total reflected will be refracted so as to improve the light efficiency.
US09698376B2 Packaging method and packaging structure of substrate
A packaging structure includes a substrate; a displaying component positioned on the substrate; a packaging cover plate arranged opposite to and spaced from the substrate; a loop of first enclosing resin arranged between the substrate and the packaging cover plate to enclose the displaying component and bond the substrate and the packaging cover plate together, where the first enclosing resin contains no spacer particle; and a loop of a second enclosing resin formed on an external circumferential area of the first enclosing resin and located between the substrate and the packaging cover plate, where the second enclosing resin is arranged to have a width smaller than a width of the first enclosing resin and contains therein spacer particles that are sized to define a predetermined spacing distance between the substrate and the packaging cover plate.
US09698375B2 Flexible display apparatus and method of manufacturing the same
A flexible display apparatus including: a first film including a first surface and a second surface that are opposite each other, and a first groove formed in the first surface, the first film having a first rigidity; a third film on the second surface of the first film; a fourth film facing the third film; an emission display unit between and encapsulated by the third film and the fourth film; and a second film on the fourth film and facing the first film, the second film having a second rigidity that is less than the first rigidity.
US09698364B2 Organic thin film transistor, preparing method thereof, and preparation equipment
An organic thin film transistor, a preparing method thereof, and a preparation equipment. The preparation equipment of an organic thin film transistor comprises: forming a gate electrode, a gate insulating layer, an organic semiconductor layer, and source-drain electrodes on a substrate; the step of forming the organic semiconductor layer comprises: blade-coating a solution in which an organic semiconductor material used to forming the organic semiconductor layer is dissolved to form the organic semiconductor layer. The preparing method can avoid the difference between the edge and the center of the substrate caused by the impact of centripetal force when a spin-coating method is applied, so that the yield of the organic thin film transistor devices is improved.
US09698363B1 RF-transistors with self-aligned point contacts
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate and a nanomaterial on the dielectric layer. The method also includes depositing a thin metal layer on the nanomaterial and removing a portion of the thin metal layer from a gate area. The method also includes depositing a gate dielectric layer. The method also includes selectively removing the gate dielectric layer from a source contact region and a drain contact region. The method also includes patterning a gate electrode, a source electrode, and a drain electrode.
US09698359B2 Synthesis of platinum and palladium complexes as narrow-band phosphorescent emitters for full color displays
Platinum and palladium complexes are disclosed that can be useful as narrow band phosphorescent emitters. Also disclosed are methods for preparing and using the platinum and palladium complexes.
US09698358B2 Nitrogen-containing polycyclic compound and organic electroluminescent device using the same
Disclosed are a nitrogen-containing polycyclic compound and an organic electroluminescent device including the same.
US09698355B2 Organic electroluminescent compounds and organic electroluminescent device comprising the same
The present invention relates to a novel organic electroluminescent compound and an organic electroluminescent device comprising the same. The organic electroluminescent compound of the present invention has high luminous efficiency, and thus can be used as a host in a light-emitting layer; and an organic electroluminescent device comprising the organic electroluminescent compounds of the present invention has long operating lifespan, provides improved current efficiency and power efficiency, and gives colors having high purity.
US09698354B2 Light-emitting element, light-emitting device, electronic device, and lighting device
Objects of the present invention are to provide: a light-emitting element having a long lifetime and good emission efficiency and drive voltage. One embodiment of the invention is a light-emitting element including, between an anode and a cathode, at least a stack structure in which a first layer, a second layer, and a light-emitting layer are provided in order from the anode side. The first layer includes a first organic compound and an electron-accepting compound. The second layer includes a second organic compound having a HOMO level differing from the HOMO level of the first organic compound by from −0.2 eV to +0.2 eV. The light-emitting layer includes a third organic compound having a HOMO level differing from the HOMO level of the second organic compound by from −0.2 eV to +0.2 eV and a light-emitting substance having a hole-trapping property with respect to the third organic compound.
US09698352B2 Amine compound and use thereof
To provide a novel amine compound which is especially suitable for a hole transport material for organic EL devices, and an organic EL device which employs such an amine compound and is excellent in the driving voltage, luminous efficiency and device lifetimeAn amine compound represented by the formula (1): (wherein X is a sulfur atom or an oxygen atom, each of R1 to R10 which are independent of one another, is a hydrogen atom, a deuterium atom or a phenyl group, and each of Ar1 and Ar2 which are independent of each other, is a C6-18 aromatic hydrocarbon group, a dibenzothienyl group or a dibenzofuranyl group, which, each independently, may have a substituent consisting of a methyl group, a methoxy group, a dibenzothienyl group, a dibenzofuranyl group or a 9-carbazolyl group.).
US09698344B2 Dielectric thin film on electrodes for resistance change memory devices
Embodiments of the present disclosure describe techniques and configurations for increasing thermal insulation in a resistance change memory device, also known as a phase change memory (PCM) device. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a storage structure of a PCM device, the storage structure having a chalcogenide material, an electrode having an electrically conductive material, the electrode having a first surface that is directly coupled with the storage structure, and a dielectric film having a dielectric material, the dielectric film being directly coupled with a second surface of the electrode that is disposed opposite to the first surface. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.
US09698342B2 Contact layer for magnetic tunnel junction element and manufacturing method thereof
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) element includes a first magnetic layer, a second magnetic layer and a non-magnetic layer between the first and second magnetic layers, a contact layer formed underneath the MTJ element, the contact layer being formed of a first material, and a first layer formed around the contact layer, wherein the first layer in contact with a side surface of the contact layer, has a first width extending parallel to a stacking direction of the MTJ element, and a second width extending perpendicularly to the direction of extension of the first width, the second width being less than the first width.
US09698341B2 Magnetoresistive device and method of manufacturing same
A magnetoresistive-based device and method of manufacturing a magnetoresistive-based device using a plurality of masks. The magnetoresistive-based device includes magnetic material layers formed between a first electrically conductive layer and a second electrically conductive layer, the magnetic materials layers including a tunnel barrier layer formed between a first magnetic materials layer and a second magnetic materials layer. In one embodiment, the method may include removing the first electrically conductive layer and the first magnetic materials layer unprotected by a first mask, to form a first electrode and a first magnetic materials, respectively, and removing the tunnel barrier layer and the second magnetic materials layer unprotected by a second mask to form a tunnel barrier and second magnetic materials, and the second electrically conductive layer unprotected by the second mask to form, and a second electrode.
US09698337B2 Piezoelectric ceramic, piezoelectric element, and electronic appliance
A piezoelectric ceramic includes: a metal oxide represented by General Formula (1); and 0.04 parts by weight or more and 0.36 parts by weight or less of Mn and 0.042 parts by weight or more and 0.850 parts by weight or less of Bi on a metal basis relative to 100 parts by weight of the metal oxide, wherein the piezoelectric ceramic includes a plurality of first crystal grains having a perovskite structure, and a plurality of second crystal grains provided at a grain boundary between the first crystal grains and having a crystal structure different from that of the first crystal grain, and the second crystal grain mainly contains at least one metal oxide selected from Ba4Ti12O27 and Ba6Ti17O40. (Ba1-xCax)a(Ti1-yZry)O3  (1) (where 0.09≦x≦0.30, 0.025≦y≦0.085, 0.986≦a≦1.02)
US09698336B2 Zinc oxide-cellulose nanocomposite and preparation method thereof
The present invention relates to a zinc oxide-cellulose nanocomposite made of cellulose and zinc oxide nanoparticles and to a preparation method thereof. The nanocomposite of the present invention is prepared by producing zinc oxide nanoparticles as seeds on the surface and/or inside of a cellulose film and growing the seeds into zinc oxide crystals to form a zinc oxide layer strongly attached to the cellulose film. The nanocomposite of the present invention has significantly improved piezoelectricity compared to simple cellulose piezoelectric paper and may be used for LEDs and photovoltaic power generation devices thanks to zinc oxide doped therein.
US09698335B2 Piezoelectric actuating device and valve equipped therewith
A piezoelectric actuator device, with at least one piezoelectric transducer which has at least one piezoelectric body and an electrode unit assigned to this piezoelectric body, with overall capacitance and including two electrodes lying opposite one another. At least one of the two electrodes of the electrode unit is divided into several individual sub-electrodes, spaced apart from one another and forming with the electrode lying opposite several sub-electrode pairs defining in each case a partial capacitance of the overall capacitance. A separate current-limiting resistor active during charge flow is connected in series to each sub-electrode pair. A valve, for controlling a fluid, is equipped with such an actuator device.
US09698334B2 Multi-layer piezoelectric element, and injection device and fuel injection system provided with the same
A multi-layer piezoelectric element includes: a stacked body comprising an active section, and inactive sections disposed at opposite ends in a stacking direction of the active section; an electrically-conductive bonding material disposed on a side surface of the stacked body from the active section to the inactive sections; and an external electrode plate attached, through the electrically-conductive bonding material, to the side surface of the stacked body, a spacing between a side surface of at least one of the inactive sections and the external electrode plate being wider than a spacing between a side surface of the active section and the external electrode plate, and the electrically-conductive bonding material situated between the side surface of at least one of the inactive sections and the external electrode plate being larger in thickness than the electrically-conductive bonding material situated between the side surface of the active section and the external electrode plate.
US09698333B2 Piezoelectric element unit and driving device
A piezoelectric element unit comprises an element body having internal electrodes laminated with piezoelectric layers therebetween and a pair of external electrodes electrically connected to the internal electrodes and an electric connection part for connecting a wiring part to the external electrodes. The electric connection part is composed of a conductive resin adhesive part and the conductive resin adhesive part is covered by a resin part.
US09698332B2 Hybrid device comprising a thermoelectric module, notably intended to generate an electric current in a motor vehicle and a heat exchanger
A hybrid device (80) comprises, in a first zone (91), at least one thermoelectric element (3) allowing an electric current to be generated from a temperature gradient applied between two of its active faces (4a, 4p). The device (80) further comprises a first circuit (1) able to allow the circulation of a first fluid, and a second circuit (2) able to allow the circulation of a second fluid of a temperature lower than that of the first fluid so as to create the gradient. The device (80) also comprises a second zone (92) so as to allow an exchange of heat between the second fluid and the first fluid. The device (80) is designed so that the first fluid passes through it by travelling in a single direction, referred to as first direction (L), wherein the first zone (91) and the second zone (92) are situated in series in the first direction (L).
US09698330B2 Thermoelectric device, in particular intended to generate an electric current in a motor vehicle
The invention relates to a thermoelectric device, comprising pipes (8), called hot pipes, through which a first fluid can flow, and elements (3p, 3n), called thermoelectric elements, that can be used to generate an electric current in the presence of a temperature gradient. According to the invention, it comprises fins (5p, 5n) that can be configured in a heat exchange relationship with pipes (9), called cold pipes, through which a second fluid can flow at a temperature lower than that of the first fluid, and in that the thermoelectric elements (3p, 3n) are in contact, on the one hand, with the hot pipes (8) and, on the other hand, with the fins (5p, 5n), such that said thermoelectric elements (3p, 3n) generate said current.
US09698327B2 LED illumination module and LED illumination apparatus
An LED illumination module in which LED bare chips are mounted on a mounting substrate at a high density, the module comprising many LED bare chips having the same specifications, the mounting substrate at least a surface of which is metal, and a reflection region in which the LED bare chips are sealed off with resin, wherein a surface of the reflection region of the mounting substrate is covered with an inorganic white insulating layer that functions as a reflection member, a unit LED chip group including a plurality of LED bare chips connected in series is disposed plural, the plural unit LED chip groups being connected in parallel, overall light flux is 10,000 lumens or more, and a mounting area density of the LED bare chips in the reflection region is 15 mm2/cm2 or more. An LED illumination apparatus including the LED illumination module is also provided.
US09698326B2 Optoelectronic semiconductor component
An optoelectronic semiconductor component including an optoelectronic semiconductor chip having a first surface, wherein the first surface is a radiation emission surface of the optoelectronic semiconductor chip, the semiconductor chip is embedded in a mold body, the first surface is elevated with respect to a top side of the mold body, and a reflective layer is arranged on the top side of the mold body.
US09698325B2 Light-emitting device including reflective layer
A light-emitting device comprises a substrate; a plurality of light-emitting diodes formed on the substrate, wherein each of the plurality of light-emitting diodes comprises a first conductivity type layer, an active layer on the first conductivity type layer, and a second conductivity type layer on the active layer; a reflective layer surrounding a sidewall of each of the plurality of light-emitting diodes; and a top electrode formed on the reflective layer and the plurality of light-emitting diodes.
US09698318B2 Light emitting device
A light emitting device includes a base member, a light emitting element, and a sealing member. The substrate includes a wiring portion. The element is arranged on or above the substrate. The sealing member covers the element, and at least a part of the substrate. The sealing member includes a wavelength conversion member. The part of the substrate is divided into first and second sections by a straight line that passes through the center of the part as viewed in plan view. The wiring portion is arranged so that its area on the first section side is larger than on the second section side. The element is arranged so that its area in the second section is larger than the first section. The height of the sealing member on the second section side is greater than on the first section side.
US09698317B2 Light emitting device having UV light emitting diode for generating human-friendly light and lighting apparatus including the same
The light emitting device includes: an ultraviolet light emitting diode emitting light in an ultraviolet wavelength region; and blue phosphors, green phosphors, and red phosphors excited by the ultraviolet light emitting diode, wherein white light is formed by synthesis of the light emitted from the ultraviolet light emitting diode, light emitted from the blue phosphors, light emitted from the green phosphors, and light emitted from the red phosphors, the white light includes ultraviolet light, green light, blue light, and red light, an intensity of a peak wavelength of the green light is in a range of 1.8 to 2.1 times the intensity of a peak wavelength of the blue light, and an intensity of a peak wavelength of the red light is in a range of 2.8 to 3.1 times the intensity of the peak wavelength of the blue light.
US09698308B2 Micro assembled LED displays and lighting elements
The disclosed technology provides micro-assembled micro-LED displays and lighting elements using arrays of micro-LEDs that are too small (e.g., micro-LEDs with a width or diameter of 10 μm to 50 μm), numerous, or fragile to assemble by conventional means. The disclosed technology provides for micro-LED displays and lighting elements assembled using micro-transfer printing technology. The micro-LEDs can be prepared on a native substrate and printed to a display substrate (e.g., plastic, metal, glass, or other materials), thereby obviating the manufacture of the micro-LEDs on the display substrate. In certain embodiments, the display substrate is transparent and/or flexible.
US09698302B2 Method for manufacturing on compound glass substrate multi-colored LED for use in video display board
A method for manufacturing on a compound glass substrate a multi-colored LED for use in a video display board includes preparing a first masking layer on a compound glass substrate; depositing a first-color epitaxial layer on the first-color LED growing region and the first masking layer, to form a first-color LED; removing the first masking layer and the first-color epitaxial layer on the first masking layer; preparing a second masking layer, wherein the second masking layer is used to mask another region except a second-color LED growing region; depositing a second-color epitaxial layer on the second-color LED growing region and the second masking layer, to form a second-color LED; removing the second masking layer and the second-color epitaxial layer on the second masking layer; and grinding, cleaning, and performing an electrical test on a surface of the compound glass substrate.
US09698301B2 Wafer processing method
A wafer processing method for dividing a wafer (including a substrate and a functional layer formed on the front side of the substrate) along a plurality of division lines. The functional layer is partitioned by the division lines to define a plurality of regions. The method includes the following steps: attaching a protective member to the front side of the wafer; cutting the back side of the substrate of the wafer in an area corresponding to each division line with a cutting blade, thereby forming a division groove having a depth not reaching the functional layer so that a part of the substrate is left in this area; applying a laser beam to the wafer from the back side of the substrate along the bottom of each division groove extending along each division line to thereby cut the part of the substrate and the functional layer along each division line.
US09698293B2 Solar cell module having interconnector and method of fabricating the same
A solar cell module having an interconnector and a method of fabricating the same are disclosed. The solar cell module includes a plurality of solar cells and an interconnector including a first area electrically connected to one of two adjacent solar cells of the plurality of solar cells, a second area electrically connected to the other of the two adjacent solar cells, and a third area connecting the first area to the second area. At least one of the first area and the second area of the interconnector has at least one uneven surface, and the third area of the interconnector has a substantially planarized surface.
US09698292B2 Tabbing ribbon and photovoltaic solar panel
In various embodiments, a tabbing ribbon for connecting at least one solar cell is provided, wherein the tabbing ribbon at least partially extends in a non-planar manner and includes a non-planar section.
US09698291B2 Solar cell panel and method for manufacturing the same
A solar cell panel and a method for manufacturing the same are discussed. The solar cell panel includes a plurality of solar cells each including a substrate and a plurality of electrode parts positioned on a surface of the substrate, an interconnector electrically connecting the electrode parts of adjacent ones of the plurality of solar cells to one another, and conductive adhesive films including a resin and a plurality of conductive particles dispersed in the resin. The conductive adhesive films is pressed between the electrode parts and the interconnector to electrically connect the electrode parts to the interconnector. A plurality of uneven portions are positioned on at least one of an upper surface and a lower surface of the interconnector.
US09698290B2 Solar cell module and method of fabricating the same
Disclosed are a solar cell module and a method of fabricating the same. The solar cell module includes a substrate, a solar cell panel located on the substrate and including a plurality of solar cells, a buffer sheet on the solar cell panel, and a bus bar connected to one of the solar cells while passing through the buffer sheet. The method of fabricating a solar cell module includes forming a solar cell panel including a plurality of solar cells on a substrate, forming a buffer sheet including a bus bar connected to one of the solar cells, and locating the buffer sheet including the bus bar on the solar cell panel. The bus bar passes through the buffer sheet.
US09698284B2 Individual finger isolation through spot application of a dielectric in an optoelectronic device
An optoelectronic device including at least one of a solar device, a semiconductor device, and an electronic device. The device includes a semiconductor unit. A plurality of metal fingers is disposed on a surface of the semiconductor unit for electrical conduction. Each of the metal fingers corresponds to a section of the optoelectronic device. A plurality of pad areas is available for connection to a bus bar, wherein each of the metal fingers is connected to a corresponding pad area for forming an electrical contact. The optoelectronic device includes a bad section, wherein the bad section is associated with a compromised metal finger and a compromised pad area. A dielectric spot coating is disposed above the compromised pad area to electrically isolate the bad section.
US09698283B2 Core-shell nickel alloy composite particle metallization layers for silicon solar cells
Materials and methods for fabrication of rear tabbing, front busbar, and fine grid line layers for silicon based photovoltaic cells are disclosed. Materials include conductive metallization pastes that contain core-shell nickel based particles.
US09698282B2 Optoelectronic component and method for producing an optoelectronic component
An optoelectronic component including a connection carrier comprising a structured carrier strip in which interspaces are filled with an electrically insulating material and an optoelectronic semiconductor chip attached and electrically connected to a top portion of the connection carrier, wherein the electrically insulating material terminates substantially flush with the carrier strip in places or the carrier strip projects beyond the electrically insulating material, and the carrier strip is not covered by the electrically insulating material on the top portion and/or on a bottom portion of the connection carrier.
US09698277B2 Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same
A transistor with stable electrical characteristics is provided. The transistor includes a first insulator over a substrate; first to third oxide insulators over the first insulator; a second insulator over the third oxide insulator; a first conductor over the second insulator; and a third insulator over the first conductor. An energy level of a conduction band minimum of each of the first and second oxide insulators is closer to a vacuum level than that of the oxide semiconductor is. An energy level of a conduction band minimum of the third oxide insulator is closer to the vacuum level than that of the second oxide insulator is. The first insulator contains oxygen. The number of oxygen molecules released from the first insulator measured by thermal desorption spectroscopy is greater than or equal to 1E14 molecules/cm2 and less than or equal to 1E16 molecules/cm2.
US09698275B2 Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing semiconductor device
To provide a transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer and having electric characteristics required depending on an intended use and provide a semiconductor device including the transistor, in a transistor in which a semiconductor layer, source and drain electrode layers, a gate insulating film, and a gate electrode are stacked in this order over an oxide semiconductor insulating film, an oxide semiconductor stack layer which includes at least two oxide semiconductor layers with energy gaps different from each other and a mixed region therebetween is used as the semiconductor layer.
US09698271B2 Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
To provide a semiconductor device having a structure with which the device can be easily manufactured even if the size is decreased and which can suppress a decrease in electrical characteristics caused by the decrease in the size, and a manufacturing method thereof. A source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer are formed on an upper surface of an oxide semiconductor layer. A side surface of the oxide semiconductor layer and a side surface of the source electrode layer are provided on the same surface and are electrically connected to a first wiring. Further, a side surface of the oxide semiconductor layer and a side surface of the drain electrode layer are provided on the same surface and are electrically connected to a second wiring.
US09698268B2 Methods of forming semiconductor devices, including forming a semiconductor material on a fin, and related semiconductor devices
Methods of forming a semiconductor device are provided. A method of forming a semiconductor device includes forming a semiconductor layer on a fin, where the fin and the semiconductor layer include first and second semiconductor materials, respectively. Moreover, the method includes defining first and second active fins that include the second semiconductor material, by removing at least a portion of the fin. Related semiconductor devices are also provided.
US09698266B1 Semiconductor device strain relaxation buffer layer
A method for forming a semiconductor device comprises forming a first buffer layer with a first melting point on a substrate. A second buffer layer is formed on the first buffer layer. The second buffer layer has a second melting point that is greater than the first melting point. Annealing process is performed that increases a temperature of the first buffer layer such that the first buffer layer partially liquefies and causes a strain in the second buffer layer to be substantially reduced.
US09698263B2 Surface tension modification using silane with hydrophobic functional group for thin film deposition
A semiconductor structure that includes crystalline surfaces and amorphous hydrophilic surfaces is provided. The hydrophilic surfaces are treated with silane that includes a hydrophobic functional group, converting the hydrophilic surfaces to hydrophobic surfaces. Chemical vapor deposition or other suitable deposition methods are used to simultaneously deposit a material on both surfaces and due to the surface treatment, the deposited material exhibits superior adherence qualities on both surfaces. In one embodiment, the structure is an opening formed in a semiconductor substrate and bounded by at least one portion of a crystalline silicon surface and at least one portion of an amorphous silicon oxide structure.
US09698262B2 Vertical fin field-effect semiconductor device
A vertical FinFET semiconductor device and a method of forming the same are disclosed. In one aspect, the semiconductor device includes a current-blocking structure formed over a semiconductor structure and a semiconductor fin formed on the current-blocking structure. The current blocking structure includes a first layer of a first conductive type, a layer of a second conductive type over the first layer, and a second layer of the first conductive type over the layer of the second conductive type. The semiconductor fin has a doped bottom portion contacting the current-blocking structure, a doped top portion formed vertically opposite to the doped bottom portion and a channel portion vertically interposed between the doped bottom portion and the doped top portion.
US09698261B2 Vertical device architecture
The present disclosure relates to a vertical transistor device having rectangular vertical channel bars extending between a source region and a drain region, and an associated method of formation. In some embodiments, the vertical transistor device has a source region disposed over a semiconductor substrate. A channel region with one or more vertical channel bars is disposed over the source region. The one or more vertical channel bars have a bottom surface abutting the source region that has a rectangular shape (i.e., a shape with four sides, with adjacent sides of different length, and four right angles). A gate region is located over the source region at a position abutting the vertical channel bars, and a drain region is disposed over the gate region and the vertical channel bars. The rectangular shape of the vertical channel bars provides for a vertical device having good performance and cell area density.
US09698257B2 Symmetric LDMOS transistor including a well of a first type of conductivity and wells of an opposite second type of conductivity
The symmetric LDMOS transistor comprises a semiconductor substrate (1), a well (2) of a first type of conductivity in the substrate, and wells (3) of an opposite second type of conductivity. The wells (3) of the second type of conductivity are arranged at a distance from one another. Source/drain regions (4) are arranged in the wells of the second type of conductivity. A gate dielectric (7) is arranged on the substrate, and a gate electrode (8) on the gate dielectric. A doped region (10) of the second type of conductivity is arranged between the wells of the second type of conductivity at a distance from the wells. The gate electrode has a gap (9) above the doped region (10), and the gate electrode overlaps regions that are located between the wells (3) of the second type of conductivity and the doped region (10).
US09698255B2 Semiconductor device having gate structure with doped hard mask
A method for fabricating semiconductor device is disclosed. The method includes the steps of: providing a substrate having at least a gate structure thereon and an interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer surrounding the gate structure, wherein the gate structure comprises a hard mask thereon; forming a dielectric layer on the gate structure and the ILD layer; removing part of the dielectric layer to expose the hard mask and the ILD layer; and performing a surface treatment to form a doped region in the hard mask and the ILD layer.
US09698252B1 Variable gate width FinFET
An improved FinFET has a gate structure on only a portion of the available surface on a fin, thereby providing a FinFET with a finer granularity width dimension. To form the FinFET, a first etch-resistant sacrificial layer and a second etch-resistant spacer layer are formed on the fin. The spacer layer is etched anisotropically to remove the spacer layer from the top and upper sidewalls of the fin while leaving the spacer layer on the lower sidewalls of the FinFET. A gate dielectric and conducting layer are then deposited and shaped to form a structure that is effective as a gate only on the top and upper sidewalls of the fin.
US09698248B2 Power MOS transistor and manufacturing method therefor
The present invention discloses a power Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) transistor, wherein a second U-shaped trench is formed below a first U-shaped trench, so that a field oxidation stress transition region can be extended, so as to greatly reduce current leakage caused by the field oxidation stress and improve the reliability of the device; and a charge compensation region is provided in a drift region at the bottom of the second U-shaped trench, and a super-junction structure is formed between the charge compensation region and the drift region to improve the breakdown voltage of the power device. According to the present invention, the second U-shaped trench and the charge compensation region are formed by a self-aligning process, so that the technical process is simple, reliable and easy to control, and can reduce the manufacturing cost of the power MOS transistor and improve its yield.
US09698246B1 LDMOS device with graded body doping
A laterally diffused MOS (LDMOS) device includes a substrate having a p-epi layer thereon. A p-body region is in the p-epi layer. An ndrift (NDRIFT) region is within the p-body region providing a drain extension region, and a gate dielectric layer is formed over a channel region in the p-body region adjacent to and on respective sides of a junction with the NDRIFT region, and a patterned gate electrode on the gate dielectric. A DWELL region is within the p-body region, sidewall spacers are on sidewalls of the gate electrode, a source region is within the DWELL region, and a drain region is within the NDRIFT region. The p-body region includes a portion being at least one 0.5 μm wide that has a net p-type doping level above a doping level of the p-epi layer and a net p-type doping profile gradient of at least 5/μm.
US09698245B2 Vertical transistor with air-gap spacer
A vertical transistor has a first air-gap spacer between the gate and the bottom source/drain, and a second air-gap spacer between the gate and the contact to the bottom source/drain. A dielectric layer disposed between the gate and the contact to the top source/drain decreases parasitic capacitance and inhibits electrical shorting.
US09698243B2 Transistor strain-inducing scheme
A transistor device includes a gate structure disposed over a channel region of a semiconductor substrate. A source/drain recess is arranged in the semiconductor substrate alongside the gate structure. A doped silicon-germanium (SiGe) region is disposed within the source/drain recess and has a doping type which is opposite to that of the channel. An un-doped SiGe region is also disposed within the source/drain recess. The un-doped SiGe region underlies the doped SiGe region and comprises different germanium concentrations at different locations within the source/drain recess.
US09698242B2 Semiconductor arrangement and formation thereof
A semiconductor arrangement and method of formation are provided. The semiconductor arrangement comprises a conductive contact in contact with a substantially planar first top surface of a first active area, the contact between and in contact with a first alignment spacer and a second alignment spacer both having substantially vertical outer surfaces. The contact formed between the first alignment spacer and the second alignment spacer has a more desired contact shape then a contact formed between alignment spacers that do not have substantially vertical outer surfaces. The substantially planar surface of the first active area is indicative of a substantially undamaged structure of the first active area as compared to an active area that is not substantially planar. The substantially undamaged first active area has a greater contact area for the contact and a lower contact resistance as compared to a damaged first active area.
US09698238B2 Method of forming ultra-thin nanowires
Provided is a method of forming a nanowire-based device. The method includes forming a mask layer over a substrate; forming an opening in the mask layer; growing an arsenic-based nanowire from the substrate that extends through the opening; removing the mask layer; forming a phosphorus-based layer over the arsenic-based nanowire; and removing the phosphorus-based layer.
US09698234B2 Interface layer for gate stack using O3 post treatment
Exemplary embodiments provide for fabricating a field effect transistor (FET) with an interface layer for a gate stack using an O3 post treatment. Aspects of the exemplary embodiments include: forming a semiconductor body upon a substrate; cleaning the surface of the semiconductor body; depositing a first dielectric layer on the semiconductor body; performing an O3 treatment to form a new interface layer that incorporates material from the substrate and material from the first dielectric layer; and performing gate stack processing, including deposition of a gate electrode.
US09698228B2 Transistor device with field-electrode
Disclosed is a transistor device. The transistor device includes a plurality of field structures which define a plurality of semiconductor mesa regions in a semiconductor body, and each of which comprises a field electrode and a field electrode dielectric; a plurality of gate structures in each semiconductor mesa region, wherein each gate structure comprises a gate electrode and a gate dielectric, and is arranged in a trench of the semiconductor mesa region; a plurality of body regions, a plurality of source regions, and a drift region. Each body region adjoins the gate dielectric of at least one of the plurality of gate structures, and is located between one of the plurality of source regions and the drift region.
US09698226B1 Recess liner for silicon germanium fin formation
Semiconductor device fabrication method and structures are provided having a substrate structure which includes a silicon layer at an upper portion. The silicon layer is recessed in a first region of the substrate structure and remains unrecessed in a second region of the substrate structure. A protective layer having a first germanium concentration is formed above the recessed silicon layer in the first region, which extends along a sidewall of the unrecessed silicon layer of the second region. A semiconductor layer having a second germanium concentration is disposed above the protective layer in the first region of the substrate structure, where the first germanium concentration of the protective layer inhibits lateral diffusion of the second germanium concentration from the semiconductor layer in the first region into the unrecessed silicon layer in the second region of the substrate structure.
US09698221B2 Semiconductor device
It is an object to provide the techniques capable of restraining avalanche breakdown at cells opposite to a corner portion of a gate pad. A MOSFET is provided with a corner cell, which is disposed in a region opposite to a corner portion of a gate pad in a planar view, and an internal cell, which is disposed in a region in the opposite side of the gate pad with respect to the corner cell. In a contour shape of the corner cell, a longest distance among distances each of which is shortest distance between a longest side and each of sides opposite to the longest side is equal to or less than two times of a length of one of equal sides or a short side of the internal cell.
US09698211B2 High sheet resistor in CMOS flow
An integrated circuit containing CMOS gates and a counterdoped polysilicon gate material resistor which has a body region that is implanted concurrently with the NSD layers of the NMOS transistors of the CMOS gates and concurrently with the PSD layers of the PMOS transistors of the CMOS gates, and has a resistor silicide block layer over the body region which is formed of separate material from the sidewall spacers on the CMOS gates. A process of forming an integrated circuit containing CMOS gates and a counterdoped polysilicon gate material resistor which implants the body region of the resistor concurrently with the NSD layers of the NMOS transistors of the CMOS gates and concurrently with the PSD layers of the PMOS transistors of the CMOS gates, and forms a resistor silicide block layer over the body region of separate material from the sidewall spacers on the CMOS gates.
US09698209B2 Semiconductor unit, method of manufacturing the same, and electronic apparatus
There are provided a semiconductor unit that prevents connection failure caused by a wiring substrate to improve reliability, a method of manufacturing the semiconductor unit, and an electronic apparatus including the semiconductor unit. The semiconductor unit includes: a device substrate including a functional device and an electrode; a first wiring substrate electrically connected to the functional device through the electrode; and a second wiring substrate electrically connected to the functional device through the first wiring substrate.
US09698200B2 Magnetism-controllable dummy structures in memory device
A device and a method of forming a device are disclosed. The method includes providing a substrate defined with first and second functional regions and first and second non-functional regions. The first non-functional region corresponds to a proximate memory region which is proximate to and surrounds the first functional region and the second non-functional region corresponds to an external logic circuit region which surrounds at least the second functional region. A magnetic memory element is formed in the first functional region and a logic element is formed in the second functional region. A plurality of magnetism controllable dummy structures are formed in the proximate memory region and external logic circuit region. The magnetism controllable dummy structures provide uniform magnetic field to the magnetic memory element and prevents electrical-magnetic interaction between the magnetic memory and logic elements on the same substrate.
US09698198B2 Memory device including a protection insulating pattern
Provided is a memory device, including a memory element on a substrate; a protection insulating pattern covering a side surface of the memory element and exposing a top surface of the memory element; an upper mold layer on the protection insulating pattern; and a bit line on and connected to the memory element, the bit line extending in a first direction, the protection insulating pattern including a first protection insulating pattern covering a lower side surface of the memory element; and a second protection insulating pattern covering an upper side surface of the memory element and including a different material from the first protection insulating pattern.
US09698196B2 Demodulation pixel incorporating majority carrier current, buried channel and high-low junction
A demodulation pixel improves the charge transport speed and sensitivity by exploiting two effects of charge transport in silicon in order to achieve the before-mentioned optimization. The first one is a transport method based on the CCD gate principle. However, this is not limited to CCD technology, but can be realized also in CMOS technology. The charge transport in a surface or even a buried channel close to the surface is highly efficient in terms of speed, sensitivity and low trapping noise. In addition, by activating a majority carrier current flowing through the substrate, another drift field is generated below the depleted CCD channel. This drift field is located deeply in the substrate, acting as an efficient separator for deeply photo-generated electron-hole pairs. Thus, another large amount of minority carriers is transported to the diffusion nodes at high speed and detected.
US09698195B2 Method for producing image pickup apparatus and method for producing semiconductor apparatus
A method for producing an image pickup apparatus includes: a process of cutting an image pickup chip substrate where electrode pads are formed around each of the light receiving sections to fabricate image pickup chips; a process of bonding image pickup chips determined as non-defective products to a glass wafer to fabricate a joined wafer; a process of filling a sealing member among the image pickup chips on the joined wafer; a machining process including a thinning a thickness of the joined wafer to flatten a machining surface and a forming through-hole interconnections, each of which is connected to each of the electrode pads; a process of forming a plurality of external connection electrodes, each of which is connected to each of the electrode pads via each of the through-hole interconnections; and a process of cutting the joined wafer.
US09698192B1 Two-color barrier photodetector with dilute-nitride active region
Embodiments described herein relate to a dual-band photodetector. The dual-band photodetector includes a barrier layer (10) disposed between two infrared absorption layers (8, 12) wherein the barrier layer (10) is lattice matched to at least one of the infrared absorption layers (8, 12). Furthermore, one infrared absorption layer includes dilute nitride to adjust the band gap to a desired cut-off wavelength while maintaining valence-band alignment with the barrier layer. Embodiments also relate to a system and processes for producing the photodetector fabricated from semiconductor materials.
US09698188B2 Solid-state imaging device and electronic apparatus
There is provided a solid-state imaging device including: one or more photoelectric conversion elements provided on side of a first surface of a semiconductor substrate; a through electrode coupled to the one or more photoelectric conversion elements, and provided between the first surface and a second surface of the semiconductor substrate; and an amplifier transistor and a floating diffusion provided on the second surface of the semiconductor substrate, in which the one or more photoelectric conversion elements are coupled to a gate of the amplifier transistor and the floating diffusion via the through electrode.
US09698186B2 Near-infrared-absorbing composition, near-infrared cut-off filter using same, camera module, and manufacturing method therefor
A near-infrared-absorbing composition includes a copper compound and a compound having a partial structure represented by Formula (1) described below and the content of the copper compound is in a range of 3×10−3 mol to 1 mol in relation to 1 g of the compound having the partial structure represented by Formula (1) described below, in Formula (1), R1 represents a hydrogen atom or an organic group.
US09698184B2 Image sensor and driving method thereof
With an image sensor in which the amplifier circuit is disposed at each pixel, there is such an issue that the threshold voltage of the transistor fluctuates so that the signal voltage fluctuates because a voltage is continuously applied between the source and the gate of the transistor at all times when using the amorphous thin film semiconductor as the transistor that constitutes an amplifier circuit. The gate-source potential of the TFT that constitutes the amplifier circuit is controlled so that the gate terminal voltage becomes smaller than the source terminal voltage in an integrating period where the pixels accumulate the signals, and controlled so that the gate terminal voltage becomes larger than the source terminal voltage in a readout period where the pixels output the signals.
US09698182B2 Digital imaging and pulse detection array
An imaging and pulse detection array includes: a plurality of pixels connected to a controller, the controller being configured to generate an image based on an image signal originating from each pixel in the plurality of pixels and configured to detect a pulse on at least one of the pixels in the plurality of pixels, and each of the pixels in the plurality of pixels including an imaging circuit and a pulse detection circuit, the imaging circuit and the pulse detection circuit including a shared circuit architecture, and wherein the imaging circuit and the pulse detection circuit include a shared portion.
US09698181B2 Semiconductor detector device
A semiconductor detector device comprises a layer of semiconductor material for generating charge in response to an input event and an array of pixels for collecting charge. Tracks are connected to the pixels to supply signals representing the collected charge to a reader circuit. The pixels are grouped into sets, all the pixels within a set being connected to the same track, the sets of pixels being interwoven so that so that any group of n adjacent pixels capable of collecting charge generated by a single input event is connected to a combination of n tracks that is unique to the group of pixels, where n has a value of one of 2, 3 or 4. This allows detection of position of the area of charge collection on the basis of temporally coincident signals on a combination of at least n tracks.
US09698177B1 Method for manufacturing N-type TFT
The present invention provides a method for manufacturing the N-type TFT, which includes subjecting a light shielding layer to a grating like patternization treatment for controlling different zones of a poly-silicon layer to induce difference of crystallization so as to have different zones of the poly-silicon layer forming crystalline grains having different sizes, whereby through just one operation of ion doping, different zones of the poly-silicon layer have differences in electrical resistivity due to difference of grain size generated under the condition of identical doping concentration to provide an effect equivalent to an LDD structure for providing the TFT with a relatively low leakage current and improved reliability. Further, since only one operation of ion injection is involved, the manufacturing time and manufacturing cost can be saved, damages of the poly-silicon layer can be reduced, the activation time can be shortened, thereby facilitating the manufacture of flexible display devices.
US09698174B2 Array substrate, liquid crystal display panel having the same and method of manufacturing the same
An array substrate includes a base substrate including a display area and a peripheral area adjacent to the display area, a gate line extending in a first direction, a data line extending in a second direction crossing the gate line, a switching element electrically connected to the gate and data lines, a color filter pattern and a dummy color pattern in the display and peripheral areas, respectively, a pixel electrode on the color filter pattern, and a light blocking pattern including a black matrix pattern partially overlapping the color filter pattern and a black boundary pattern overlapping the dummy color pattern. The black boundary pattern covers the peripheral area and includes a first portion which overlaps the dummy color pattern and a second portion which does not overlap the dummy color pattern. A cross-sectional thickness of the first portion is smaller than that of the second portion.
US09698167B2 Film transistor array panel and manufacturing method thereof
Disclosed is a thin film transistor array panel including: a substrate including a display area and a peripheral area; a second semiconductor layer disposed on the substrate, and disposed on a first semiconductor layer disposed in the display area and the peripheral area; and a passivation layer disposed on the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer, wherein the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer include an oxide semiconductor, and a thickness of the first semiconductor layer is different from that of the second semiconductor layer.
US09698163B2 Free-form display
A free-form display is disclosed which makes a step-like pattern adjacent to a free-form portion less visible. The free-form display has an active area and a bezel area, and at least part of a boundary between the active area and the bezel area has a free-form portion. The free-form portion comprises subpixel electrodes and a light blocking portion. A plurality of subpixel electrodes are placed in areas defined by a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines that intersect each other. A light blocking portion has openings exposing the subpixel electrodes, respectively, and is arranged to overlap the gate lines and the data lines. The active area comprises subpixel areas where the subpixel electrodes are placed, and a non-pixel area where no subpixel electrodes are placed. The openings of the light blocking portion adjacent to the non-pixel area, are made in different sizes.
US09698162B2 Backplane substrate and flexible display using the same
A backplane substrate and a flexible display having the same are provided. The backplane substrate includes a flexible base film having an active area with a plurality of sub-pixels and a non-display area around the active area; and an interlayer insulating film on flexible base film and including a plurality of connection holes provided in first columns and second columns with each of the first and second columns arranged in a first direction of the flexible base film. When the flexible base film is folded along a folding axis in a direction intersecting the first and second columns, the folding axis intersects at least one connection hole of the first and second columns.
US09698159B2 Semiconductor structure with integrated passive structures
A metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) with integrated passive structures and methods of manufacturing the same is disclosed. The method includes forming a stacked structure in an active region and at least one shallow trench isolation (STI) structure adjacent to the stacked structure. The method further includes forming a semiconductor layer directly in contact with the at least one STI structure and the stacked structure. The method further includes patterning the semiconductor layer and the stacked structure to form an active device in the active region and a passive structure of the semiconductor layer directly on the at least one STI structure.
US09698158B2 Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same
A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a stack structure, peripheral gate structures and residual spacers. The substrate includes a cell array region and a peripheral circuit region. The stack structure is disposed on the cell array region, having electrodes and insulating layers alternately stacked. The peripheral gate structures are disposed on the peripheral circuit region, being spaced apart from each other in one direction and having a peripheral gate pattern disposed on the substrate, and a peripheral gate spacer disposed on a sidewall of the peripheral gate pattern. The residual spacers are disposed on sidewalls of the peripheral gate structures, having a sacrificial pattern and an insulating pattern that are stacked. The insulating pattern includes substantially the same material as the insulating layers of the stack structure.
US09698157B2 Microstructure device and method for manufacturing the same
A microstructure body according to an embodiment includes a stacked body. The stacked body includes a plurality of unit structure bodies stacked periodically along a first direction. A configuration of an end portion of the stacked body in a second direction is a stairstep configuration including terraces formed every unit structure body. The second direction intersects the first direction. A first distance in a third direction between end edges of two of the unit structure bodies facing the third direction is shorter than a second distance in the second direction between end edges of the two of the unit structure bodies facing the second direction. The third direction intersects both the first direction and the second direction.
US09698154B2 Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a plurality of memory cell arrays, and an air gap structure. The substrate includes a cell region, a peripheral circuit region, and a boundary region. The boundary region is between the cell region and the peripheral circuit region. The plurality of memory cell arrays are on the cell region. The air gap structure includes a trench formed in the boundary region of the substrate. The air gap structure defines an air gap.
US09698153B2 Vertical NAND and method of making thereof using sequential stack etching and self-aligned landing pad
Alignment between memory openings through multiple tier structures can be facilitated employing a temporary landing pad. The temporary landing pad can have a greater area than the horizontal cross-sectional area of a first memory opening through a first tier structure including a first alternating stack of first insulating layers and first spacer material layers. An upper portion of a first memory film is removed, and a sidewall of an insulating cap layer that defines the first memory opening can be laterally recessed to form a recessed cavity. A sacrificial fill material is deposited in the recessed cavity to form a sacrificial fill material portion, which functions as the temporary landing pad for a second memory opening that is subsequently formed through a second tier structure including second insulating layers and second spacer material layers. A memory stack structure can be formed through the first and second tier structures.
US09698149B2 Non-volatile memory with flat cell structures and air gap isolation
High-density semiconductor memory is provided with enhancements to gate-coupling and electrical isolation between discrete devices in non-volatile memory. The intermediate dielectric between control gates and charge storage regions is varied in the row direction, with different dielectric constants for the varied materials to provide adequate inter-gate coupling while protecting from fringing fields and parasitic capacitances. Electrical isolation is further provided, at least in part, by air gaps that are formed in the column (bit line) direction and/or air gaps that are formed in the row (word line) direction.
US09698143B2 Wireless module with active devices
In a general aspect, a wireless multichip module can include a leadframe structure with portions configured to receive at least one flip-chip mounted semiconductor die, including one or more of an integrated circuit, a high side MOSFET and/or a low side MOSFET, which can form a half-bridge circuit that is encapsulated in a molding compound. The module can be assembled without any bond wires (e.g., be wireless). The module may include carry passive components including an external input capacitor and/or an internal input capacitor.
US09698142B2 Semiconductor device and method for forming the same
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate including a pad region and a peripheral region, a first buffer layer formed to include a capacitor over the semiconductor substrate in the pad region, a second buffer layer formed to include a first contact pad over the first buffer layer, and a third buffer layer formed to include a second contact pad over the first contact pad. The semiconductor device, by additionally forming a buffer layer at a lower part in the pad region, reduces a stress caused by wire bonding. Thus, an applied stress to a lower structure in the pad region is also reduced. As a result, the buffer layer prevents formation of an electrical bridge between the pad region and the peripheral region.
US09698139B1 Integrated circuits with electrostatic discharge protection
Integrated circuits with components for protection from electrostatic discharge are provided. An integrated circuit includes a first common line and a second common line. A first electrostatic discharge line is in electrical communication with the first and second common lines. The first electrostatic discharge line includes a first diode and a first clamping device.
US09698135B2 Mechanisms for forming package structure
A method for forming a package structure is provided. The method includes forming a plurality of conductive columns over a carrier substrate and forming an interfacial layer over sidewalls and tops of the conductive columns. The method also includes disposing a semiconductor die over a planar portion of the interfacial layer. The method further includes forming a molding compound to partially or completely encapsulate the semiconductor die, the conductive columns, and the interfacial layer such that the molding compound is in direct contact with the interfacial layer.
US09698134B2 Method for manufacturing a light emitted diode display
A method for manufacturing a micro LED display is provided. The method includes providing a plurality of LED elements on a first substrate, transferring, using a magnetic holder or a vacuum holder, at least two of the plurality of LED elements of the same primary color from the first substrate to a second substrate, performing the steps of the providing and the transferring with respect to three primary colors, forming an array of RGB LED units on the second substrate, each of the array of RGB LED units including a red LED element, a green LED element, and a blue LED element, interposing the array of RGB LED units between the second substrate and an LED driver wafer, detaching the second substrate from the array of RGB LED units, and interposing the array of RGB LED units between the LED driver wafer and a cover.
US09698133B2 Method of manufacturing a multichip package structure
A method of manufacturing a multichip package structure includes providing a substrate body; placing a plurality of light-emitting chips on the substrate body, the light-emitting chips being electrically connected to the substrate body; surroundingly forming surrounding liquid colloid on the substrate body to surround the light-emitting chips; naturally drying an outer layer of the surrounding liquid colloid at a predetermined room temperature to form a semidrying surrounding light-reflecting frame, the semidrying surrounding light-reflecting frame having a non-drying surrounding colloid body disposed on the substrate body and a dried surrounding colloid body totally covering the non-drying surrounding colloid body; and then forming a package colloid body on the substrate body to cover the light-emitting chips, the semidrying surrounding light-reflecting frame contacting and surrounding the package colloid body.
US09698131B2 Methods of forming 3-D circuits with integrated passive devices
Methods of forming 3-D ICs with integrated passive devices (IPDs) include stacking separately prefabricated substrates coupled by through-substrates-vias (TSVs). An active device (AD) substrate has contacts on its upper portion. An isolator substrate is bonded to the AD substrate so the TSVs in the isolator substrate are coupled to the contacts on the AD substrate. An IPD substrate is bonded to the isolator substrate so that TVs therein are coupled to an interconnect zone on the isolator substrate and/or TSVs therein. The IPDs of the IPD substrate are coupled by TSVs in the IPD and isolator substrates to devices in the AD substrate. The isolator substrate provides superior IPD to AD cross-talk attenuation while permitting each substrate to have small high aspect ratio TSVs, thus facilitating high circuit packing density and efficient manufacturing.
US09698129B2 Stacked integrated component devices with energization
This invention discloses a device comprising multiple functional layers formed on substrates, wherein at least one functional layer comprises an electrical energy source. In some embodiments, the present invention includes a component for incorporation into ophthalmic lenses that has been formed by the stacking of multiple functionalized layers.
US09698128B2 LED module and LED module mounting structure
An LED module includes a substrate having a main surface and a rear surface located opposite the main surface, a main surface electrode located on the main surface, a plurality of penetration electrodes connected to the main surface electrode and extending through the substrate, three or more LED chips arranged on the main surface electrode along a first direction, and a case arranged on the main surface to surround the main surface electrode. The LED chips include at least one LED chip that can emit red light, at least one LED chip that can emit green light and at least one LED chip that can emit blue light.
US09698127B2 Integrated device die and package with stress reduction features
An integrated device die and package is disclosed. The integrated device die includes a unitary body. The unitary body can have an upper portion comprising one or more active components. The upper portion can have first and second opposing lateral sides defining at least a portion of a periphery of the upper portion such that an upper surface of the upper portion is disposed between upper edges of the first and second opposing lateral sides. The unitary body can also have a lower portion monolithically formed with the upper portion. The lower portion can comprise a pedestal extending downwardly from the upper portion. The pedestal can be laterally inset from lower edges of the first and second opposing lateral sides. The pedestal can include a distal end portion configured to couple to a carrier.
US09698126B2 Heterogeneous annealing method and device
A method of integrating a first substrate having a first surface with a first insulating material and a first contact structure with a second substrate having a second surface with a second insulating material and a second contact structure. The first insulating material is directly bonded to the second insulating material. A portion of the first substrate is removed to leave a remaining portion. A third substrate having a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially the same as a CTE of the first substrate is bonded to the remaining portion. The bonded substrates are heated to facilitate electrical contact between the first and second contact structures. The third substrate is removed after heating to provided a bonded structure with reliable electrical contacts.
US09698104B2 Integrated electronic package and stacked assembly thereof
A wafer level packaging method entails providing electronic devices and providing a platform structure having cavities extending through the platform structure. The platform structure is mounted to a temporary support. One or more electronic devices are placed in the cavities with an active side of each electronic device facing the temporary support. The platform structure and the electronic devices are encapsulated in an encapsulation material to produce a panel assembly. Redistribution layers may be formed over the panel assembly, after which the panel assembly may be separated into a plurality of integrated electronic packages. The platform structure may be formed from a semiconductor material, and platform segments within each package provide a fan-out region for conductive interconnects, as well as provide a platform for a metallization layer and/or for forming through silicon vias.
US09698102B2 Power and ground routing of integrated circuit devices with improved IR drop and chip performance
An integrated circuit chip includes a semiconductor substrate having thereon a plurality of inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layers and a plurality of first conductive layers embedded in respective said plurality of IMD layers, wherein said first conductive layers comprise copper; a first insulating layer overlying said plurality of IMD layers and said plurality of first conductive layers; at least a first wiring line in a second conductive layer overlying said first insulating layer, for distributing power signal or ground signal, wherein said second conductive layer comprise aluminum; and at least a second wiring line in a third conductive layer overlying said second conductive layer, for distributing power signal or ground signal.
US09698100B2 Structure and method for interconnection
The present disclosure provides a method of fabricating an integrated circuit in accordance with some embodiments. The method includes providing a substrate having a first conductive feature in a first dielectric material layer; selectively etching the first conductive feature, thereby forming a recessed trench on the first conductive feature; forming an etch stop layer on the first dielectric material layer, on the first conductive feature and sidewalls of the recessed trench; forming a second dielectric material layer on the etch stop layer; forming an opening in the second dielectric material layer; and forming a second conductive feature in the opening of the second dielectric material layer. The second conductive feature is electrically connected with the first conductive feature.
US09698099B2 Semiconductor structure having a plurality of conductive paths
A semiconductor structure includes a first conductive path and a second conductive path configured to carry a first pair of differential signals representative of an in-phase signal. The semiconductor device further includes a third conductive path and a fourth conductive path configured to carry a second pair of differential signals representative of a quadrature signal corresponding to the in-phase signal. The first and second conductive paths are in a conductive layer of the semiconductor structure, and the third and fourth conductive paths are in another conductive layer of the semiconductor structure.
US09698097B2 Semiconductor device with air gap and method for fabricating the same
A semiconductor device includes a dielectric structure which has an opening exposing a surface of a substrate; and a conductive structure which is formed in the opening, wherein the conductive structure comprises: a first conductive pattern recessed in the opening; a second conductive pattern covering a top surface and sidewalls of the first conductive pattern; an air gap defined between sidewalls of the opening and the second conductive pattern; and a third conductive pattern capping the second conductive pattern and the air gap.
US09698095B2 Interconnect structure
An interconnect structure and fabrication method are provided. A substrate can include a semiconductor device disposed therein. A porous dielectric layer can be formed on the substrate. A surface treatment can be performed to the porous dielectric layer to form an isolation layer on the porous dielectric layer to prevent moisture absorption of the porous dielectric layer. An interconnect can be formed at least through the isolation layer and the porous dielectric layer to provide electrical connection to the semiconductor device disposed in the substrate.
US09698093B2 Universal BGA substrate
A universal substrate for assembling ball grid array (BGA) type integrated circuit packages has a non-conducting matrix, an array of conducting vias extending between top and bottom surfaces of the matrix, and one or more instances of each of two or more different types of fiducial pairs on the top surface of the matrix. Each instance of each different fiducial pair indicates a location of a different via sub-array of the substrate for a different BGA package of a particular package size. The same substrate can be used to assemble BGA packages of different size, thereby avoiding having to design a different substrate for each different BGA package size.
US09698083B2 Three-dimensional stack of leaded package and electronic member
An electronic device comprising a package comprising an encapsulated electronic chip, at least one at least partially exposed electrically conductive carrier lead for mounting the package on and electrically connecting the electronic chip to a carrier, and at least one at least partially exposed electrically conductive connection lead, and an electronic member stacked with the package so as to be mounted on and electrically connected to the package by the at least one connection lead.
US09698077B2 Heat conductive silicone composition based on combination of components, heat conductive layer, and semiconductor device
Provided is a heat conductive silicone composition disposed between a heat generating electronic component and a member for dispersing heat, wherein the heat conductive silicone composition contains (A) an organopolysiloxane having at least two alkenyl groups in one molecule and having a dynamic viscosity at 25° C. of 10 to 100,000 mm2/s, (B) a hydrolyzable dimethylpolysiloxane having three functional groups at one end expressed by formula (1), (C) a heat conductive filler having a heat conductivity of 10 W/m° C. or higher, (D) an organohydrogenpolysiloxane expressed by formula (2), (E) an organohydrogenpolysiloxane containing a hydrogen directly bonded to at least two silicon atoms in one molecule other than component (D), and (F) a catalyst selected from the group consisting of platinum and platinum compounds. The heat conductive silicone composition provides a cured object having a storage modulus, loss modulus, and coefficient of loss within appropriate ranges; peeling and pump out during heating/cooling cycle tending not to occur, and increases in thermal resistance being suppressed.
US09698075B2 Integration of backside heat spreader for thermal management
A microelectronic device includes semiconductor device with a component at a front surface of the semiconductor device and a backside heat spreader layer on a back surface of the semiconductor device. The backside heat spreader layer is 100 nanometers to 3 microns thick, has an in-plane thermal conductivity of at least 150 watts/meter-° K, and an electrical resistivity less than 100 micro-ohm-centimeters.
US09698069B2 Glass composition for protecting semiconductor junction, method of manufacturing semiconductor device and semiconductor device
Provided is a glass composition for protecting a semiconductor junction which contains at least SiO2, B2O3, Al2O3, ZnO and at least two oxides of alkaline earth metals selected from a group consisting of CaO, MgO and BaO, and substantially contains none of Pb, As, Sb, Li, Na and K, wherein an average linear expansion coefficient within a temperature range of 50° C. to 550° C. falls within a range of 3.33×10−6 to 4.13×10−6. A semiconductor device having high breakdown strength can be manufactured using such a glass material containing no lead in the same manner as a conventional case where “a glass material containing lead silicate as a main component” is used.
US09698067B2 Spacer system for a semiconductor switching device
A spacer system for a semiconductor switching device which is formed as a spacer ring and a plurality of insulating elements and supporting elements are arranged in an alternating manner around a circumference of the spacer ring. The insulating element includes a recess receiving a cathode gate connector element. The supporting element includes a projection receiving a spring system for clamping while assembling the switching device. The switching device includes a substrate, a cathode pole piece, an anode pole piece, strain buffer plates and a gate ring. Further connector elements, are electrically connecting the cathode pole piece and the gate ring of the semiconductor switching device to an external circuit unit. The space between the connector elements is minimized in order to reduce the gate circuit impedance, thus enabling an increased maximum turn-off current and further allowing for the use of larger semiconductor switching devices for high power applications.
US09698065B2 Real-time calibration for wafer processing chamber lamp modules
An apparatus, a system and a method are disclosed. An exemplary apparatus includes a wafer processing chamber. The apparatus further includes radiant heating elements disposed in different zones and operable to heat different portions of a wafer located within the wafer processing chamber. The apparatus further includes sensors disposed outside the wafer processing chamber and operable to monitor energy from the radiant heating elements disposed in the different zones. The apparatus further includes a computer configured to utilize the sensors to characterize the radiant heating elements disposed in the different zones and to provide a calibration for the radiant heating elements disposed in the different zones such that a substantially uniform temperature profile is maintained across a surface of the wafer.
US09698064B2 Semiconductor device having semiconductor chip mounted on lead frame
A semiconductor device uses a lead frame, in which an outer lead is electrically connected to an inner lead suspension lead via an inner lead. An encapsulating resin covers the inner lead and part of the outer lead, and a plated film is formed on an outer lead cut surface so that a solder layer is easily formed on all surfaces of the outer lead extending from the encapsulating resin. The inner lead suspension lead includes a narrowed portion that is smaller in cross-sectional area than other portions of the inner lead suspension lead to suppress impact forces generated when the inner lead suspension lead is cut.
US09698062B2 System and method for performing a wet etching process
A system and method for performing a wet etching process is disclosed. The system includes multiple processing stations accessible by a transfer device, including a measuring station to optically measure the thickness of a substrate, a controller to calculate an etch recipe for the substrate, in real time, and cause a single wafer wet etching station to etch the substrate according to the recipe. In addition, the system can measure the after etch thickness and calculate etch recipes, in real time, as a function of the final measurements of a previous substrate. The system can also include an in situ end point detection device for detecting the TSV reveal point while etching TSVs substrates. The system provides an automated solution to adjust etch recipe parameters in real time according to feedback concerning previously etched wafers and precisely control the TSV reveal height and etch duration using end point detection.
US09698060B2 Germanium FinFETs with metal gates and stressors
An integrated circuit structure includes an n-type fin field effect transistor (FinFET) and a p-type FinFET. The n-type FinFET includes a first germanium fin over a substrate; a first gate dielectric on a top surface and sidewalls of the first germanium fin; and a first gate electrode on the first gate dielectric. The p-type FinFET includes a second germanium fin over the substrate; a second gate dielectric on a top surface and sidewalls of the second germanium fin; and a second gate electrode on the second gate dielectric. The first gate electrode and the second gate electrode are formed of a same material having a work function close to an intrinsic energy level of germanium.
US09698057B2 Method of manufacturing strained source/drain structures
An integrated circuit device and method for manufacturing the integrated circuit device is disclosed. The disclosed method provides improved control over a surface proximity and tip depth of an integrated circuit device. In an embodiment, the method achieves improved control by forming a doped region and a lightly doped source and drain (LDD) region in a source and drain region of the device. The doped region is implanted with a dopant type opposite to the LDD region.
US09698055B2 Semiconductor fin structures and methods for forming the same
A method includes etching a semiconductor substrate to form a semiconductor strip and trenches on opposite sidewalls of the semiconductor strip. A spacer is formed on a sidewall of the semiconductor strip which is used as an etching mask to extend the trenches down into the semiconductor substrate. A dielectric material is filled into the trenches and then planarized to form insulation regions in the trenches. The insulation regions are recessed. After the recessing, top surfaces of the insulation regions are lower than a top surface of the semiconductor strip and a gate structure may be formed thereon.
US09698052B2 Method of manufacturing element chip and method of manufacturing electronic component-mounted structure using plasma etch to singulate element chip
In a method of manufacturing an element chip for manufacturing a plurality of element chips by dividing a substrate, where the protruding portions, which are exposed element electrodes, are formed on element regions, protection films made of fluorocarbon film are formed on a second surface and side surfaces of the element chip, and a first surface in a gap by exposing the element chip to second plasma after the substrate is divided by etching. Next, the protection films formed on the second surface and the side surfaces of the element chip are removed while leaving at least a part of the protection film formed in the gap by exposing the element chip to third plasma. Therefore, creep-up of a conductive material in a mounting step is suppressed by the left protection film.
US09698050B1 Method of manufacturing semiconductor device
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes loading, into a process chamber, a substrate including a first wiring layer having a first interlayer insulating film, a plurality of copper-containing films formed on the first interlayer insulating film and used as a wiring, an inter-wiring insulating film insulating between the plurality of copper-containing films, and a void formed between the plurality of copper-containing films, and a first diffusion barrier film formed on a portion of an upper surface of the copper-containing films to suppress diffusion of a component of the copper-containing films, and forming a second diffusion barrier film configured to suppress diffusion of a component of the copper-containing films on a surface of another portion, on which the first diffusion barrier film is not formed, in the copper-containing films.
US09698046B2 Fabrication of III-V-on-insulator platforms for semiconductor devices
Embodiments of the present invention provide III-V-on-insulator (IIIVOI) platforms for semiconductor devices and methods for fabricating the same. According to one embodiment, compositionally-graded buffer layers of III-V alloy are grown on a silicon substrate, and a smart cut technique is used to cut and transfer one or more layers of III-V alloy to a silicon wafer having an insulator layer such as an oxide. One or more transferred layers of III-V alloy can be etched away to expose a desired transferred layer of III-V alloy, upon which a semi-insulating buffer layer and channel layer can be grown to yield IIIVOI platform on which semiconductor devices (e.g., planar and/or 3-dimensional FETs) can be fabricated.
US09698044B2 Localized carrier lifetime reduction
A semiconductor structure includes a substrate, a first power device and a second power device in the substrate, at least one isolation feature between the first and second power device, and a trapping feature adjoining the at least one isolation feature in the substrate.
US09698043B1 Shallow trench isolation for semiconductor devices
A substrate incorporating semiconductor regions electrically isolated by shallow trenches filled with hexagonal, textured or columnar boron nitride. A process for filling shallow trenches in a semiconductor substrate with columnar textured boron nitride using pulsed plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (Pulsed PECVD) and plasma assisted atomic layer deposition (PAALD).
US09698039B2 Controlled spalling utilizing vaporizable release layers
Method for a controlled spalling utilizing vaporizable release layers. For example, a method comprises providing a base substrate, depositing a stressor layer and a vaporizable release layer on the base substrate, forming a flexible support layer on at least one of the stressor layer and the vaporizable release layer, spalling an upper portion of the base substrate, securing the spalled upper portion of the base substrate to a handle substrate, and vaporizing the vaporizable release layer.
US09698036B2 Stacked wafer cassette loading system
A substrate cassette loading system for docking substrate cassettes to a substrate processing system is provided. A plurality of ports passes substrates into the substrate processing system, wherein a first port of the plurality of ports is vertically above a second port of the plurality of ports. A plurality of cassette loaders provides substrate cassettes to the plurality of ports.
US09698027B2 Method of fabricating integrated circuits having a recessed molding package and corresponding package
A method may include providing an electrically conductive laminar base member having a die attachment portion and a lead frame portion, producing a distribution of holes opening at a front surface of the base member, attaching an integrated circuit onto the front surface of the base member at the attachment portion, and producing a wire bonding pattern between the integrated circuit and wire bonding locations on the front surface of the base member at the lead frame portion. An electrically insulating package molding compound may be molded onto the front surface of the base member so that the integrated circuit and the wire bonding pattern are embedded in the package molding compound which penetrates into the holes opening at the front surface of the base member. The base member may be selectively etched from its back surface to produce residual portions of the base member at the wire bonding locations.
US09698026B2 Systems and methods for annealing semiconductor structures
Systems and methods are provided for annealing a semiconductor structure. In one embodiment, the method includes providing an energy-converting structure proximate a semiconductor structure, the energy-converting structure comprising a material having a loss tangent larger than that of the semiconductor structure; providing a heat reflecting structure between the semiconductor structure and the energy-converting structure; and providing microwave radiation to the energy-converting structure and the semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure may include at least one material selected from the group consisting of boron-doped silicon germanium, silicon phosphide, titanium, nickel, silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, silicon carbide, n-type doped silicon, and aluminum capped silicon carbide. The heat reflecting structure may include a material substantially transparent to microwave radiation and having substantial reflectivity with respect to infrared radiation.
US09698022B2 Self-aligned floating gate in a vertical memory structure
Methods for building a memory device or electronic system may include a memory cell body extending from a substrate, a self-aligned floating gate separated from the memory cell body by a tunneling dielectric film, and a control gate separated from the self-aligned floating gate by a blocking dielectric film. The floating gate is flanked by the memory cell body and the control gate to form a memory cell, and the self-aligned floating gate is at least as thick as the control gate.
US09698020B2 CMOS Vt control integration by modification of metal-containing gate electrodes
A method of forming a semiconductor device is disclosed in various embodiments. The method includes providing a substrate containing first and second device regions, and a high-k film on the substrate, depositing a metal nitride gate electrode film on the high-k film, forming a metal-containing gate electrode film on the metal nitride gate electrode film in the second device region but not in the first device region, and depositing a Si-based cap layer on the metal-containing gate electrode film in the second device region and on the metal nitride gate electrode film in the first device region.
US09698015B2 Method for patterning a semiconductor substrate
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods for patterning rectangular features with a sequence of lithography, atomic layer deposition (ALD) and etching. Embodiment of the present disclosure includes forming first line clusters along a first direction and second line clusters over the first line clusters in a direction traversing the first direction. The first and second line clusters both include core lines formed from a core material, spacers formed from first and second materials by ALD and etching. After formation of the first and second line clusters, rectangular openings can be formed by selectively etching one or two of the core material, the first material or the second material.
US09698013B2 Methods and structures to prevent sidewall defects during selective epitaxy
Trenches (and processes for forming the trenches) are provided that reduce or prevent crystaline defects in selective epitaxial growth of type III-V or Germanium (Ge) material (e.g., a “buffer” material) from a top surface of a substrate material. The defects may result from collision of selective epitaxial sidewall growth with oxide trench sidewalls. Such trenches include (1) a trench having sloped sidewalls at an angle of between 40 degrees and 70 degrees (e.g., such as 55 degrees) with respect to a substrate surface; and/or (2) a combined trench having an upper trench over and surrounding the opening of a lower trench (e.g., the lower trench may have the sloped sidewalls, short vertical walls, or tall vertical walls). These trenches reduce or prevent defects in the epitaxial sidewall growth where the growth touches or grows against vertical sidewalls of a trench it is grown in.
US09698011B2 Process for growing at least one nanowire using a transition metal nitride layer obtained in two steps
The process for growing at least one semiconductor nanowire (3), said growth process comprising a step of forming, on a substrate (1), a nucleation layer (2) for the growth of the nanowire (3) and a step of growth of the nanowire (3). The step of formation of the nucleation layer (2) comprises the following steps: deposition onto the substrate (1) of a layer of a transition metal (4) chosen from Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta; nitridation of at least a part (2) of the transition metal layer so as to form a transition metal nitride layer having a surface intended for growing the nanowire (3).
US09698002B2 Method and apparatus for mass analysis utilizing ion charge feedback
A method of mass analysis and a mass spectrometer are provided wherein a batch of ions is accumulated in a mass analyzer; the batch of ions accumulated in the mass analyzer is detected using image current detection to provide a detected signal; the number of ions in the batch of ions accumulated in the mass analyzer is controlled using an algorithm based on a previous detected signal obtained using image current detection from a previous batch of ions accumulated in the mass analyzer; wherein one or more parameters of the algorithm are adjusted based on a measurement of ion current or charge obtained using an independent detector located outside of the mass analyzer.
US09697999B2 Mass spectrometer vacuum interface method and apparatus
A method of preparing or operating a mass spectrometer vacuum interface comprising a skimmer apparatus having a skimmer aperture and an internal surface of the skimmer apparatus, comprising disposing an adsorbent or getter material on the internal surface. The internal surface has a deposition region where matter from plasma flows may be deposited and the material is disposed on part or all of the deposition region. The disposing step may be performed before a first use and/or intermittently, especially to refresh a previously disposed material. Providing such material serves to trap or collect deposition matter which might anyway be deposited but in such a way that subsequent liberation of that matter is prevented or at least reduced.
US09697996B2 DDA experiment with reduced data processing
A method of mass spectrometry is disclosed comprising: performing a survey scan of a plurality of different types of parent or precursor ions, wherein the survey scan comprises analyzing the ion mobilities of the ions and mass analyzing the ions; determining the charge states of parent or precursor ions analyzed in the survey scan based on their determined combinations of ion mobility and mass to charge ratio; selecting a parent or precursor ion for fragmentation or reaction; and fragmenting or reacting the selected ion, wherein the fragmentation or reaction conditions are selected from a plurality of different fragmentation or reaction conditions based upon the determined charge state of the selected ion.
US09697992B2 System and apparatus for arc elimination
An apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a plasma generation element physically coupled to a first main electrode. The plasma generation element includes at least a first open end and a second open end. Each open end defines a nozzle such that the first open end directs an ablative plasma to a second main electrode and the second open end directs the ablative plasma to a third main electrode.
US09697991B2 RF impedance matching network
An RF matching network includes a control circuit configured to instruct at least one EVC to alter its variable capacitance, the alteration of the variable capacitance causing the matching network to achieve a preliminary match state, the preliminary match state having an associated first reflection parameter value at an RF source output; and upon the achievement of the preliminary match state, instruct an RF source to alter a variable RF source frequency, the alteration of the variable RF source frequency causing achievement of a final match state, the final match state having an associated second reflection parameter value at the RF source output; wherein the second reflection parameter value is less than the first reflection parameter value.
US09697990B2 Etching method for a structure pattern layer having a first material and second material
Provided is a method of plasma etching on a substrate using an etchant gas mixture to meet integration objectives, the method comprising: disposing a substrate having a structure pattern layer, a neutral layer, and an underlying layer, the structure pattern layer comprising a first material and a second material and the underlying layer comprising a silicon anti-reflective (SiARC) layer, a spin-on carbon hardmask (CHM) layer, an oxide layer, and a target layer; performing an first etch process to selectively remove the second material and the neutral layer using a first etchant gas mixture to form a first pattern; performing an second etch process to selectively remove the SiARC layer to form a second pattern; performing an third etch process to selectively remove the CHM layer to form a third pattern; concurrently controlling selected two or more operating variables wherein the first etchant gas include oxygen and sulfur-containing gases.
US09697989B2 Method for generating parameter pattern, ion implantation method and feed forward semiconductor manufacturing method
The present disclosure provides a method for generating a parameter pattern including: performing a plurality of measurements upon a plurality of regions on a surface of a workpiece to obtain a plurality of measured results; and deriving a parameter pattern according to the plurality of measured results by a computer; wherein the parameter pattern includes a plurality of regional parameter values corresponding to each of the plurality of regions on the surface of the workpiece. The present disclosure provides a Feed Forward semiconductor manufacturing method including: forming a layer with a desired pattern on a surface of a workpiece; deriving a control signal including a parameter pattern according to spatial dimension measurements against the layer with the desired pattern distributed over a plurality of regions of the surface of the workpiece; and performing an ion implantation on the surface of the workpiece according to the control signal.
US09697988B2 Ion implantation system and process
Ion implantation systems and processes are disclosed. An exemplary ion implantation system may include an ion source, an extraction manipulator, a magnetic analyzer, and an electrode assembly. The extraction manipulator may be configured to generate an ion beam by extracting ions from the ion source. A cross-section of the generated ion beam may have a long dimension and a short dimension orthogonal to the long dimension of the ion beam. The magnetic analyzer may be configured to focus the ion beam in an x-direction parallel to the short dimension of the ion beam. The electrode assembly may be configured to accelerate or decelerate the ion beam. One or more entrance electrodes of the electrode assembly may define a first opening and the electrode assembly may be positioned relative to the magnetic analyzer such that the ion beam converges in the x-direction as the ion beam enters through the first opening.
US09697987B2 Charged particle beam device
The scanning charged particle beam microscope according to the present invention is characterized in that, in acquiring an image of the FOV (field of view), interspaced beam irradiation points are set, and then, a deflector is controlled so that a charged particle beam scan is performed faster when the charged particle beam irradiates a position on the sample between each of the irradiation points than when the charged particle beam irradiates a position on the sample corresponding to each of the irradiation points (a position on the sample corresponding to each pixel detecting a signal). This allows the effects from a micro-domain electrification occurring within the FOV to be mitigated or controlled.
US09697981B2 Blanking system for multi charged particle beams, and multi charged particle beam writing apparatus
A blanking system for multi charged particle beams includes a blanking aperture array device to include a first substrate where a plurality of openings corresponding to passage positions of multi-beams are formed in a penetrating manner from the upper surface, and a plurality of electrode groups each having a pair of electrodes which are close to a corresponding one of the plurality of openings and are at opposite sides, on a same surface, of the corresponding one of the plurality of openings are arranged on the first substrate, a second substrate whose lower surface is electrically connected through a bump to the upper surface of the first substrate, and a mounting substrate whose upper surface is electrically connected through a bump to the lower surface of the second substrate.
US09697977B2 Magnetron and high-frequency heating apparatus having the same
A magnetron includes a yoke, an anode unit including an anode cylinder, radially arranged vanes, and first and second pole pieces at both sides of the anode cylinder, a cathode unit having a filament spaced apart from the vanes, and an output unit having an antenna lead connected to one vane to radiate high-frequency microwaves. The first pole piece includes a first flat portion, a slope at an inner side of the first flat portion, a second flat portion at an inner side of the slope and having a diameter of 9.5˜10.5 mm, a first hole formed in the second flat portion and having a diameter of 8˜8.2 mm, and a second hole formed in the slope for penetration of the antenna lead. The magnetron achieves higher and stabilized efficiency, restricted oscillation efficiency variation, lower energy consumption, and improved load stability without deterioration of oscillation efficiency.
US09697976B2 Compact dual element fuse unit, module and fusible disconnect switch
An embodiment of a fuse module has been disclosed. The fuse module includes a housing and a fuse element assembly contained within the housing. The fuse element assembly includes at least one fuse element unit having a plurality of trigger mechanisms and a perforated strip electrically connected to the trigger mechanisms. Increased ampacity ratings in a more compact arrangement provides for fuse modules having increased current protection capability that, in turn, provides for improved disconnect switching capabilities.
US09697971B2 Apparatus for controlling solenoid valve and control method thereof
Disclosed herein are an apparatus for controlling a solenoid valve and a control method thereof. The apparatus for controlling the solenoid valve, which controls the solenoid valve including a solenoid coil, includes a switching part configured to switch a current supplied to the solenoid coil; a pre-driver configured to output a driving signal for driving the switching part; and a microcontroller unit (MCU) configured to control the pre-driver so that a frequency of the driving signal output from the pre-driver to the switching part is randomly varied.
US09697970B1 Protective structure, socket, plug and method assuring a live wire and a neutral wire to be powered off simultaneously when overheating
The present invention discloses a protective structure, plug, socket and method assuring a live wire and a neutral wire to be powered off simultaneously when overheating. The present invention limits a live wire spring plate from contacting with a live wire conductive plate, and a neutral wire spring plate from contacting with a neutral wire conductive plate, such that when the live wire spring plate and the live wire conductive plate are overheated or the neutral wire spring plate and the neutral wire conductive plate are overheated, the live wire spring plate, the live wire conductive plate, the neutral wire spring plate and the neutral wire conductive plate can be separated apart at a same time.
US09697968B2 Electrical circuit breaker
This electrical circuit breaker includes at least one first fixed land, a support assembly equipped with at least one second land rotationally mobile, about a main axis, between a first position in which the second land is in contact with the first land and a second position in which the second land is separated from the first land and an arc-extinguishing chamber including a stacking of plates, a top arc-guiding horn, a bottom arc-guiding horn, equipped with at least one tab and a screen made of insulating material surrounding the bottom arc-guiding horn. The circuit breaker also includes two protuberances produced in a gas-producing material, which are mounted on the screen, arranged between the bottom horn and the top arc-guiding horn and facing the tab of the bottom arc-guiding horn, the protuberances having a prismatic or pseudo-prismatic form.
US09697966B2 Operating device
An operating device includes a knob, which is formed into a rod form, and a resilient body, which is formed into a ring form. Position limiting parts, which limit a position of the resilient body, include at least one primary rib, which is placed on one side of the resilient body in a longitudinal direction of the knob, and at least one secondary rib, which is placed on another side of the resilient body in the longitudinal direction of the knob. The at least one primary rib and the at least one secondary rib radially outwardly project from the outer peripheral portion of the knob within an extent that does not extend beyond the resilient body.
US09697965B2 Key structure with reduced resonant noise
A key structure with reduced resonant noise includes a base plate formed with a first supporting portion and a second supporting portion, a conductive film layer, an elastic conducting element, a linking rod, and a keycap on the linking rod. The linking rod has a main portion, a first arm extended from one end of the main portion and pivotally connected to the first supporting portion, and a second arm extended from the other end of the main portion and pivotally connected to the second supporting portion. The key cap has a bottom surface pivotally connected to the main portion of the linking rod. The base plate has openings under the linking rod and adjacent to the first supporting portion and the second supporting portion. The openings can reduce resonant effect of clapping sound in the keycap, when the keycap is pressed.
US09697962B2 Tap changer with an improved monitoring system
An on-load tap changer is provided having a plurality of modules, each of which is operable to change taps in a transformer winding. The tap changer includes a motor connected to rotate at least one shaft. The at least one shaft is connected to the tap change modules and is operable upon rotation to cause the tap change modules to each perform a sequence of operations that effectuate a tap change. A multi-turn absolute encoder is connected to the at least one shaft. A monitoring system is connected to the encoder and is operable to determine from the position of the at least one shaft where the tap change modules are in the sequence of operations.
US09697958B2 Movable contact of electric switch
A movable contact of a rotary switch, including a pair of contact blades for making an electrical contact to a stationary contact receivable between the contact blades. The movable contact includes a traction member for providing a traction force between the contact blades, wherein the traction member is a unitary piece including two frame portions for framing the pair of contact blades, the traction member including a spring portion for pressing one of the contact blades against the other contact blade, wherein the spring portion is arranged between the two frame portions arranged at a distance from each other.
US09697955B2 Capacitor device
A capacitor device has an accommodating case in which a plurality of accommodating parts are formed for accommodating capacitor main bodies. The plurality of accommodating parts are oriented so that the longitudinal directions thereof all face the same direction, and the plurality of capacitor main bodies are accommodated in the accommodating parts in a manner such that the sides having terminal parts are set up in the same orientation. The sides of the capacitor main bodies having the terminal parts are provided with engaging parts that engage with engaged parts provided to a predetermined element member, and the capacitor main bodies are accommodated all together in the accommodating case in a manner such that the engaging parts are engaged with the engaged parts.
US09697952B2 Non-contact electric power reception device, non-contact electric power transmission device, and non-contact electric power transmission and reception system
The non-contact electric power reception device includes an electric power reception portion and an electric load device. The electric power reception portion is configured such that best transmission efficiency at a power supply frequency of the power supply portion used for non-contact electric power transmission is achieved when the electric power reception portion is arranged with its position being displaced from a position of the electric power transmission portion. Preferably, the electric power reception portion is configured such that a peak frequency at which transmission efficiency at the time of change in power transmission frequency exhibits a peak and a power supply frequency match with each other when the electric power reception portion is arranged with positions in a horizontal direction of a central axis of the electric power reception portion and a central axis of the electric power transmission portion being displaced from each other.
US09697948B2 Semiconductor device and semiconductor module
The semiconductor device of the present invention includes an insulating layer, a high voltage coil and a low voltage coil which are disposed in the insulating layer at an interval in the vertical direction, a low potential portion which is provided in a low voltage region disposed around a high voltage region for the high voltage coil in planar view and is connected with potential lower than the high voltage coil, and an electric field shield portion which is disposed between the high voltage coil and the low voltage region and includes an electrically floated metal member.
US09697945B2 Magnetic film having wireless charging radiator condition, method of manufacturing the same, and wireless charging device using the same
Since the magnetic film of the present invention has a much thinner thickness compared to a corresponding conventional magnetic layer and radiator coil material assembly and has no adhesive layer or air layer between the magnetic layer and the radiator, permeability required at the time of charging can be improved, a loss rate can be reduced and high charging efficiency can be obtained, Furthermore, since a band width and a gain rate can be improved, the magnetic film can be very usefully applied to wireless charging products which pursue slimming in design.
US09697944B2 Device for delivering galvanic isolated digital video at high frequencies
A transmission line transformer (TLT) and a device for delivering serial digital signals at relatively high rates which comprises four such TLTs is provided. Each TLT has a primary and secondary coils winded at the same direction around a common core. Each of the primary and secondary coils comprises two segments of wires. The four segments of wires are grouped to a bundle which is axially twisted, wherein this twisting is characterized by a predefined number of full rotations relative to the axis of the bundle per a unit length, measured along this axis.
US09697942B2 Electromagnet
An electromagnet including a wire coil and a coil core, wherein the wire coil is accommodated on a coil body and includes a plurality of windings which surround the coil core and define a winding axis, wherein the coil body includes end pieces spaced apart along the winding axis and axially bounding the wire coil, which end pieces are connected to each other by at least two connecting webs extending along the winding axis and defining, together with a recess in at least one of the end pieces, an accommodating space for the coil core which is bounded by a rectangular envelope having at least one profile protruding inwards in a cross-sectional plane oriented perpendicular to the winding axis, and wherein the coil core has a recess which extends along the winding axis in at least some sections and which corresponds to the profile.
US09697931B2 Method of preparing large-area, three-dimensional graphene transparent electrode using electrospray process and large-area, three-dimensional graphene transparent electrode prepared therefrom
Provided are a method of preparing a large-area, three-dimensional graphene transparent electrode using an electrospray deposition method and a large-area, three-dimensional graphene transparent electrode prepared therefrom. More particularly, the present invention is related to a method of preparing a large-area, three-dimensional graphene transparent electrode using an electrospray deposition method, which may easily prepare a large-area graphene transparent electrode having high transparency and conductivity through an electrospray process and may obtain effects, which may not be realized in a two-dimensional transparent electrode prepared by a typical method such as CVD, due to a three-dimensional stack structure in which graphene is arranged perpendicular to a substrate, and a large-area, three-dimensional graphene transparent electrode prepared therefrom.
US09697930B2 Oxide superconductor wire and method of manufacturing oxide superconductor wire
An oxide superconductor wire includes: a tape-shaped oxide superconductor laminate that is formed by providing an intermediate layer on a front surface side of a metal tape-shaped substrate, providing an oxide superconductor layer on the intermediate layer, and providing a protective layer on the oxide superconductor layer; and a coating member that includes a metal tape and a low melting point metal layer, in which the metal tape has a wider width than that of the oxide superconductor laminate and covers the protective layer surface of the oxide superconductor laminate, both side surfaces of the oxide superconductor laminate, and both end portions of a substrate back surface side in a width direction thereof, and both end portions of the metal tape in a width direction thereof are provided to cover both the end portions of the substrate back surface.
US09697925B2 Electrical element comprising a layer of a polymeric material having an electrical conductivity gradient
The present invention related to an electrical element (100, 101, 102) including an electrically conductive element (3, 5, 10, 31, 32, 51), characterized in that the electrical element also includes a first layer (1) of a polymer material with electrical conductivity gradient obtained from a polymer composition including at least one polymer and conductive carbonaceous fillers.
US09697922B2 Radiation window with good strength properties, and method for its manufacturing
A radiation window foil for an X-ray radiation window comprises a mesh that defines a number of openings (902), said mesh having a first side surface (903) and a second side surface (904). A layer (906) spans said openings. Said layer (906) is on the first side of the mesh but spans said openings at a level closer to the second side surface (904) of the mesh than the first side surface (903) of the mesh.
US09697919B2 Anti-vibration tube support plate arrangement for steam generators
A means of offsetting semi-circular tube support plates typically present in heat exchangers with cross flow baffles, such as axial flow economizers, utilizing the motive force of steam generator pressurization. The offset slightly flexes the tubes, thereby providing a preload which minimizes the potential for tube vibration and wear.
US09697918B2 Apparatus and method for automatically loading a fuel pellet for manufacturing a nuclear fuel rod
A method for loading fuel pellets for manufacturing a nuclear fuel rod is provided. The method includes arranging fuel pellets in a row on a tray, aligning the fuel pellets in the row on the tray such that the fuel pellets are closely in contact with one another, obtaining a total length of the pellets in the row by measuring the fuel pellets in the row on the tray, and comparing the total length with a predetermined length. When the total length is smaller than the predetermined length by a difference greater than an average unit length of the pellet, one or more fuel pellets are added in the row until to increase the total length until the difference becomes smaller than the average unit length of the fuel pellet.
US09697915B2 Pit gate, pit equipment, nuclear power facility, and installation method of pit gate
A pit gate 15 that is accommodated in a slot 14 and that seals service water retained in a first pit and a second pit in a watertight manner includes a gate main body 21; a sealing member 22 that is provided on a surface opposite to the slot 14 in a gate main body 21 and that seals between the gate main body 21 and the slot 14 in a watertight manner; and an upper pressing clamp 23, an intermediate pressing clamp 24, and a lower pressing clamp 25 that are provided in the gate main body 21 and that moves gate main body 21 toward the sealing member 22 side due to the weight of the gate main body 21 itself.
US09697914B2 Nuclear power plant and passive containment cooling system
According to an embodiment, a nuclear power plant has a core; a reactor pressure vessel; a dry well; a wet well; a vacuum breaker; a containment vessel including the dry well, the LOCA vent pipe, the wet well, and the vacuum breaker; a cooling water pool placed outside the containment vessel; a heat exchanger at least partially submerged in cooling water; a gas supply pipe connected to the inlet plenum of the heat exchanger and the dry well; a condensate return pipe connected to the outlet plenum of the heat exchanger and the containment vessel; and a gas vent pipe connected to the outlet plenum of the heat exchanger and an outside of the wet well so that non-condensable gas inside the heat exchanger is released out of the wet well. The gas vent pipe is not connected to the wet well.
US09697913B1 Ferroelectric memory cell recovery
Methods, systems, and devices for recovering fatigued ferroelectric memory cells are described. Recovery voltages may be applied to a ferroelectric memory cell that is fatigued due to repeated access (read or write) operations. The recovery voltage may have a greater amplitude than the access voltage and may include multiple voltage pulses or a constant voltage. The recovery operation may be performed in the background as the memory array operates, or it may be performed when a host device is not actively using the memory array. The recovery operations may be performed periodically or may include discrete series of pulses distributed among several instances.
US09697911B2 Semiconductor storage device and test method thereof using a common bit line
Provided is a semiconductor storage device including: first memory cells; first word lines; first bit lines; a first common bit line; second memory cells; second word lines; second bit lines; a second common bit line; a first selection circuit that connects the first common bit line to a first bit line selected from the first bit lines; a second selection circuit that connects the second common bit line to a second bit line selected from the second bit lines; a word line driver that activates any one of the first and second word lines; a reference current supply unit that supplies a reference current to a common bit line among the first and second common bit lines, the common bit line not being electrically connected to a data read target memory cell; and a sense amplifier that amplifies a potential difference between the first and second common bit lines.
US09697905B2 Updating read voltages using syndrome weight comparisons
A method performed at a data storage device includes adjusting a first read voltage and a second read voltage to form sets of read voltages. First representations of data are read from a logical page in the non-volatile memory according to the sets of read voltages. The first representations of the data correspond to multiple values of the first read voltage and the second read voltage. The first representations of the data are stored in a memory and second representations of the data are generated based on the first representations. A value of the first read voltage is selected based on syndrome weights corresponding to the second representations.
US09697904B2 Integrated circuit for mirroring and amplifying a sensing current and operation method thereof
An integrated circuit includes a mirroring/amplifying unit suitable for mirroring and amplifying a sensing current that flows on a signal transmission line coupled to an internal circuit, and outputting an amplified current; a reference current generating unit suitable for generating a reference current; and a state determination unit suitable for comparing the reference current with the amplified current and determining a state of the internal circuit based on a comparison result.
US09697901B2 3D flash memory device having different dummy word lines and data storage devices including same
A three-dimensional (3D) flash memory includes a first dummy word line disposed between a ground select line and a lowermost main word line, and a second dummy word line of different word line configuration disposed between a string select line and an upper most main word line.
US09697894B2 Methods and circuit arrangements for determining resistances
A method may include applying a first current through the memory element and a first selection component. The memory element and the first selection component may be located along a memory line. The method may also include measuring a first potential difference across the memory line. The method may further include applying a second current through a second selection component, wherein the second selection component is located along a dummy line, and measuring a second potential difference across the dummy line. The method may additionally include determining the resistance of the memory element based on the first potential difference and the second potential difference. The first selection component may be activated and the second selection component may be deactivated to apply the first current. The first selection component may be deactivated and the second selection component may be activated to apply the second current.
US09697892B1 Generation and application of gray codes
The present disclosure includes apparatuses, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums for generation and application of gray codes. One example method comprises: selecting a particular N-bit member as a root member for a plurality of N-bit gray codes each comprising X members such that each of the plurality of N-bit gray codes comprise a same root member; and generating X−1 remaining members of the respective plurality of N-bit gray codes by performing X−1 member generation iterations, wherein each ith iteration of the X−1 member generation iterations generates respective ith members of the plurality of N-bit gray codes based on ith−1 members, with each one of the respective ith members comprising only those eligible neighbor members of a respective one of the ith−1 members, and with “i” being a whole number index from 1 to X−1.
US09697891B2 Sense amplifier circuits and methods of operation
A sense amplifier circuit includes a power node having a power node voltage at a power voltage level, a bit line having a bit line voltage, a sense amplifier output, an NMOS transistor and a PMOS transistor coupled in series between the power node and the bit line, and a logic gate configured to generate a sense amplifier output voltage at the sense amplifier output based on the bit line voltage. The NMOS transistor is configured to operate in a sub-threshold region to maintain the bit line voltage at a first level and operate in a region above the sub-threshold region to maintain the bit line voltage at a second level, and the first level is between the second level and the power voltage level.
US09697890B1 Memory and interface circuit for bit line of memory
An interface circuit is provided. A NMOS transistor is coupled between a first bit line and a ground. A logic gate is coupled between a gate of the NMOS transistor and a second bit line. A keeper controls a voltage level of the second bit line according to a reference voltage. A tracking circuit includes a plurality of reference bit cells and a pull-up device coupled to a reference bit line. Each reference bit cell is coupled to a read word line. When a bit cell coupled to the second bit line is accessed by a specific read word line, the reference bit cell coupled to the specific read word line drains a current from the pull-up device. The tracking circuit provides the reference voltage according to the current.
US09697882B1 Analog ferroelectric memory with improved temperature range
A ferroelectric memory and a method for operating a ferroelectric memory are disclosed. The ferroelectric memory includes a ferroelectric memory cell having a ferroelectric capacitor characterized by a maximum remanent charge, Qmax. A write circuit receives a data value having more than two states for storage in the ferroelectric capacitor. The write circuit measures Qmax for the ferroelectric capacitor, determines a charge that is a fraction of the measured Qmax to be stored in the ferroelectric capacitor, the fraction being determined by the data value. The write circuit causes a charge equal to the fraction times Qmax to be stored in the ferroelectric capacitor. A read circuit determines a value stored in the ferroelectric capacitor by measuring a charge stored in the ferroelectric capacitor, measuring Qmax for the ferroelectric capacitor, and determining the data value from the measured charge and the measured Qmax.
US09697876B1 Vertical bit vector shift in memory
Examples of the present disclosure provide apparatuses and methods for vertical bit vector shift in a memory. An example method comprises storing a vertical bit vector of data in a memory array, wherein the vertical bit vector is stored in memory cells coupled to a sense line and a plurality of access lines and the vertical bit vector is separated by at least one sense line from a neighboring vertical bit vector; and performing, using sensing circuitry, a vertical bit vector shift of a number of elements of the vertical bit vector.
US09697875B2 Data reception chip
A data reception chip coupled to an external memory including a first input-output pin configured to output first data and including a comparison module and a voltage generation module is provided. The comparison module is coupled to the first input-output pin to receive the first data and to compare the first data with a first reference voltage to identify the value of the first data. The voltage generation module is configured to generate the first reference voltage. The voltage generation module includes a first resistor and a second resistor. The second resistor is connected to the first resistor in series. The first and second resistors divide a first operation voltage to generate the first reference voltage.
US09697872B2 High speed serial peripheral interface memory subsystem
A memory subsystem is disclosed. The memory subsystem includes a serial peripheral interface (SPI) double data rate (DDR) volatile memory component, a serial peripheral interface (SPI) double data rate (DDR) non-volatile memory component coupled to the serial peripheral interface (SPI) double data rate (DDR) volatile memory component and a serial peripheral interface (SPI) double data rate (DDR) interface. The serial peripheral interface (SPI) double data rate (DDR) interface accesses the serial peripheral interface (SPI) double data rate (DDR) volatile memory component and the serial peripheral interface (SPI) double data rate (DDR) non-volatile memory component where data is accessed on leading and falling edges of a clock signal.
US09697864B2 Optical pickup, disk drive device, and optical element driving device
[Object] To prevent the occurrence of stuck without increasing the number of components and also to restore thread engagement of a rack with a lead screw to a normal condition.[Solution] Provided is an optical pickup including: a light source; an objective lens; an optical element; and an optical element driving device. The optical element driving device includes a lead screw having a threaded engagement portion with a thread groove formed in the threaded engagement portion, a drive unit configured to allow the lead screw to rotate, a thrust bearing configured to support an end portion of the lead screw on a side opposite to the drive unit in an axial direction of the lead screw, and a rack having a plurality of first tooth portions provided spaced apart in the axial direction to be threadably engaged with the threaded engagement portion and a second tooth portion provided closer to the thrust bearing in the axial direction than the first tooth portion to be threadably engaged with the threaded engagement portion, the first tooth portion and the second tooth portion being positioned on opposite sides across the lead screw, the rack being moved in the axial direction with a rotation of the lead screw. The lead screw includes a non-threaded engagement portion formed at the end portion of the lead screw on the thrust bearing side, the non-threaded engagement portion having no thread groove.
US09697863B2 Information recording medium and reproduction device
An optical disk (100) of the present invention includes (i) a medium information region (101) (a) in which type identification information is recorded by recesses and/or protrusions which are formed by a given modulation method and whose lengths are longer than a length of an optical system resolution limit of a playback device and (b) in which first address information is recorded in a first address data format and (ii) a data region (102) (a) in which content data is recorded by recesses and/or protrusions which are formed by the given modulation method and which include a recess and/or a protrusion whose length is shorter than the length of the optical system resolution limit and (b) in which second address information is recorded in a second address data format.
US09697860B2 Magnetic-disk glass substrate, magnetic disk and method for manufacturing magnetic-disk glass substrate
A magnetic-disk glass substrate of the present invention includes a pair of main surfaces, a side wall surface, and a chamfered surface between the main surfaces and the side wall surface. Regarding surface properties of at least one of the side wall surface and the chamfered surface of the glass substrate, an arithmetic average roughness (Ra) is 0.015 μm or less, and a bearing factor of a roughness cross-sectional area when a roughness percentage is 60% is 95% or more in a bearing curve of a roughness cross-sectional area.
US09697856B2 Methods of forming near field transducers and near field transducers formed thereby
A method of forming a near field transducer (NFT), the method including the steps of depositing a primary material; and implanting a secondary element, wherein both the primary material and the secondary element are chosen such that the primary material is densified via implantation of the secondary element.
US09697853B2 Magnetic recording head and magnetic recording and reproducing device
According to one embodiment, a magnetic recording head includes a magnetic pole and a shield. The shield has a first opposing surface opposing the magnetic pole. The first opposing surface includes a first opposing portion. The magnetic pole and the first opposing portion overlap in a first direction from the magnetic pole toward the shield. The first opposing portion includes a first protrusion.
US09697848B2 Noise suppression device and method of noise suppression
A noise suppression device includes a memory, and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to generate a first input signal and a second input signal by converting a first sound signal and a second sound signal from time domain to frequency domain, the first sound signal and the second sound signal being collected by a first microphone and a second microphone, respectively, based on the first input signal and the second input signal, determine a stationary noise model, calculate a signal to noise ratio (SNR) based on the first input signal and the stationary noise model, based on the SNR ratio, set a range of phase difference to suppress the first input signal, calculate a phase difference between the first input signal and the second input signal, and when the phase difference is within the range of phase difference, suppress the first input signal.
US09697845B2 Non-linear echo path detection
A user terminal comprising; a loudspeaker; a microphone; and an audio signal processing module comprising: a reference signal generator configured, prior to establishment of a communication event over a network with at least one further terminal, to generate and output an audio reference signal to the loudspeaker for playout; an echo removal module configured to perform echo removal on audio signals received via the microphone during the communication event; and a detector configured, prior to establishment of the communication event, to: determine characteristics of the reference signal; receive an audio signal output from the microphone which includes echo resulting from the outputted reference signal; determine characteristics of the received audio signal; compare the determined characteristics of the reference signal with determined characteristics of the received audio signal to detect a nonlinear echo path of the echo, and configure a component of the audio signal processing module based on this detection.
US09697844B2 Distributed spatial audio decoder
This invention describes a method for decentralized decoding of a multichannel audio signal by broadcasting the original encoded data and distributing the decoding process between a plurality of receiving units. This allows for the design and manufacture of scalable multichannel audio reproduction systems having an arbitrary number of output channels, composed of a plurality of generic decoder and loudspeaker units each generating fewer output channels. With distributed decoding, a manufacturer can use “off-the-shelf” stereo or mono signal processors, digital-to-analog converters and amplifier components in each generic decoding module, thus reducing manufacturing costs and complexity requirements for each module while offering unlimited scalability in the total number of output channels.
US09697843B2 High band excitation signal generation
A particular method includes determining, at a device, a voicing classification of an input signal. The input signal corresponds to an audio signal. The method also includes controlling an amount of an envelope of a representation of the input signal based on the voicing classification. The method further includes modulating a white noise signal based on the controlled amount of the envelope. The method also includes generating a high band excitation signal based on the modulated white noise signal.
US09697841B2 Spectral translation/folding in the subband domain
The present invention relates to a new method and apparatus for improvement of High Frequency Reconstruction (HFR) techniques using frequency translation or folding or a combination thereof. The proposed invention is applicable to audio source coding systems, and offers significantly reduced computational complexity. This is accomplished by means of frequency translation or folding in the subband domain, preferably integrated with spectral envelope adjustment in the same domain. The concept of dissonance guard-band filtering is further presented. The proposed invention offers a low-complexity, intermediate quality HFR method useful in speech and natural audio coding applications.
US09697838B2 Apparatus, method and computer program for generating a representation of a bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of an input signal representation using a combination of a harmonic bandwidth-extension and a non-harmonic bandwidth-extension
An apparatus for generating a representation of a bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of an input signal representation includes a phase vocoder configured to obtain values of a spectral domain representation of a first patch of the bandwidth-extended signal on the basis of the input signal representation. The apparatus also includes a value copier configured to copy a set of values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch, which values are provided by the phase vocoder, to obtain a set of values of a spectral domain representation of a second patch, wherein the second patch is associated with higher frequencies than the first patch. The apparatus is configured to obtain the representation of the bandwidth-extended signal using the values of the spectral domain representation of the first patch and the values of the spectral domain representation of the second patch.
US09697831B2 Speech recognition
A speech recognition system comprises: an input, for receiving an input signal from at least one microphone; a first buffer, for storing the input signal; a noise reduction block, for receiving the input signal and generating a noise reduced input signal; a speech recognition engine, for receiving either the input signal output from the first buffer or the noise reduced input signal from the noise reduction block; and a selection circuit for directing either the input signal output from the first buffer or the noise reduced input signal from the noise reduction block to the speech recognition engine.
US09697829B1 Evaluating pronouns in context
Methods, computer program products, and systems are described for receiving, by a speech recognition engine, audio data that encodes an utterance and determining, by the speech recognition engine, that a transcription of the utterance includes one or more keywords associated with a command, and a pronoun. In addition, the methods, computer program products, and systems described herein pertain to transmitting a disambiguation request to an application, wherein the disambiguation request identifies the pronoun, receiving, by the speech recognition engine, a response to the disambiguation request, wherein the response references an item of content identified by the application, and generating, by the speech recognition engine, the command using the keywords and the response.
US09697826B2 Processing multi-channel audio waveforms
Methods, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for enhancing the processing of audio waveforms for speech recognition using various neural network processing techniques. In one aspect, a method includes: receiving multiple channels of audio data corresponding to an utterance; convolving each of multiple filters, in a time domain, with each of the multiple channels of audio waveform data to generate convolution outputs, wherein the multiple filters have parameters that have been learned during a training process that jointly trains the multiple filters and trains a deep neural network as an acoustic model; combining, for each of the multiple filters, the convolution outputs for the filter for the multiple channels of audio waveform data; inputting the combined convolution outputs to the deep neural network trained jointly with the multiple filters; and providing a transcription for the utterance that is determined.
US09697824B1 Voice control system with dialect recognition
Voice command recognition with dialect translation is disclosed. User voice input can be translated to a standard voice pattern using a dialect translation unit. A control command can then be generated based on the translated user voice input. In certain embodiments, the voice command recognition system with dialect translation can be implemented in a driving apparatus. In those embodiments, various control commands to control the driving apparatus can be generated by a user with a dialect input. The generated voice control commands for the driving apparatus can include starting the driving apparatus, turning on/off A/C unit, controlling the A/C unit, turning on/off entertainment system, controlling the entertainment system, turning on/off certain safety features, turning on/off certain driving features, adjusting seat, adjusting steering wheel, taking a picture of surroundings and/or any other control commands that can control various functions of the driving apparatus.
US09697821B2 Method and system for building a topic specific language model for use in automatic speech recognition
An automatic speech recognition method includes at a computer having one or more processors and memory for storing one or more programs to be executed by the processors, obtaining a plurality of speech corpus categories through classifying and calculating raw speech corpus; obtaining a plurality of classified language models that respectively correspond to the plurality of speech corpus categories through a language model training applied on each speech corpus category; obtaining an interpolation language model through implementing a weighted interpolation on each classified language model and merging the interpolated plurality of classified language models; constructing a decoding resource in accordance with an acoustic model and the interpolation language model; and decoding input speech using the decoding resource, and outputting a character string with a highest probability as a recognition result of the input speech.
US09697819B2 Method for building a speech feature library, and method, apparatus, device, and computer readable storage media for speech synthesis
The present invention provides a method for building a speech feature library, as well as a method, an apparatus, a device and corresponding non-volatile, non-transitory computer readable storage media for speech synthesis. Because the speech feature library used in the present invention saves at least one context corresponding to each piece of personalized textual information and at least one piece of textual information semantically identical to the personalized textual information, when performing speech synthesis, even if the provided textual information is not personalized textual information corresponding to the desired personalized speech, personalized textual information semantically identical to the textual information to be subject to speech synthesis may be first found in the speech feature library to thereby achieve personalized speech synthesis, such that use of the personalized speech will not be restricted by aging, sickness, and death of a person.
US09697815B2 Effect circuit
To provide an effect circuit that can give round-shaped distortion effect to a music signal.An effect circuit 1 includes a input resistor R2 that is connected to a negative input terminal of an operational amplifier U1, a feedback resistor VR1 that is provided between a positive input terminal of the operational amplifier U1 and an output terminal of the operational amplifier U1, zener diodes D1 and D2 in each of which cathodes are connected and that are provided in parallel with the feedback resistor VR1, and diodes D3 and D4 that are connected in parallel so that each cathode and each anode are connected and are provided between cathodes of the zener diodes D1 and D2.
US09697812B2 Storage medium and tone generation state displaying apparatus
When a processor accepts an input of plural notes to be assigned for tone generation, according to a predetermined note determining rule called “assignment type”, the processor selects one or more notes to be sounded in each of plural parts from the accepted notes. The processor controls a display unit to display, for each of the plural parts, the accepted plural notes to be assigned for tone generation. At this time, non-selected one or more notes in respective parts are displayed in one style, and the selected one or more notes in the respective parts are displayed in another style different from the one style. Alternatively, the plural notes to be assigned for tone generation are displayed in one style, and, for each of the plural parts, the selected one or more notes are displayed in another style different from the one style.
US09697805B2 Method and apparatus for electronic device unlocking
An electronic device comprising: a sensor module for detecting a tilt of the electronic device; a touchscreen display; at least one processor configured to: control the display to display at least a part of a 3-dimensional (3D) object having a plurality of faces, each face comprising a respective plurality of elements; detect an unlocking pattern that is input using the object and a tilt value that identifies at least one value in an orientation of the electronic device that occurs while the unlocking pattern is being input; and at least partially unlock the electronic device based on the tilt value and the unlock pattern.
US09697801B2 Plotter including a display control for generating and supplying image data for use by a digital display device to control a state of one or more pixels
The present invention relates to a digital display plotter for plotting images on a digital display device 18. A cursive imagery generator 12 generates imagery inputs at a plurality of respective update phases during a refresh period of the display device. A control 20 for the display device activates selected pixels of the digital display device in response to respective said imagery inputs, activation being controlled subsequent to each update phase during a refresh period. An input store 14, 16 associates each cursively generated imagery input with an update phase that the imagery input was generated during a refresh period. The control 20 is responsive to the input store and configured to deactivate the selected pixels activated in response to each imagery input dependent on the associated update phase of each imagery input.
US09697800B2 Application latency determination method and system for wearable display devices
The present invention relates to latency determination for wearable display devices. In particular, the invention is particularly useful with regards to virtual reality (VR) headsets, augmented reality (AR) headsets or head mounted displays (HMD). It is an object to provide a system and method for determining application latency for a wearable display device. It is a further object of to provide a hardware independent system and method for determining application latency between a computing device and a wearable display device. With hardware independent systems and methods, different hardware, e.g. different wearable display devices, can be benchmarked and compared to each other accurately.
US09697791B2 3D image display device
Provided is a 3D image display device, including: a display panel displaying an image; a lens panel positioned on the display panel and has layers formed of different materials, refractive indexes of the layers being varied according to a driving voltage supplied from the outside; and a lens panel driver supplying the driving voltage to the lens panel.
US09697789B2 Multi-phase clock generating circuit and liquid crystal display panel
The present invention provides a multi-phase clock generating circuit and liquid crystal display panel, said circuit comprising: a shift register including N shift registration units, which are cascaded with each other; a first output terminal of nth shift registration units connected to a first input terminal of an (n+1)th shift registration unit; a thin film transistor set including N thin film transistors, said control terminals of said thin film transistors of a nth stage are respectively connected to said first output terminals of (N−n+1) shift registration units.
US09697787B2 Display device
A display device is provided. The display device includes a display panel, a gate driver, and a data driver. The display panel includes a plurality of pixels connected to a plurality of gate lines for receiving gate signals, a plurality of data lines for receiving data voltages, and a storage line for receiving a storage voltage. The gate driver is configured to generate the gate signals. The data driver is configured to operate individually in first and second frequency periods to generate the data voltages. The data voltages include a positive data voltage and a negative data voltage, and polarities of the data voltages are inverted every two data lines during the first frequency period and inverted every data line during the second frequency period.
US09697783B2 Display apparatus and method of driving the display apparatus
A display apparatus includes a first interpolator configured to generate first correction data for a first polarity corresponding to an input data using a first look up table which stores correction data for the first polarity compensating for a luminance difference between the first polarity and a second polarity opposite to the first polarity of a data voltage for the sub pixel, a first delay compensator configured to apply a correction value to the first correction data for the first polarity and generate second correction data for the first polarity, the correction value compensating for an RC delay based on a pixel position corresponding to the input data.
US09697780B2 LCD device with image dithering function and related method of image dithering
A liquid crystal display (LCD) device includes: a data source, for generating a N-bit pixel data, N being a positive integer; a digital gamma correction unit, coupled to the data source, for performing digital gamma correction on the pixel data to generate a (N+M)-bit digital gamma correction pixel data, M being a positive integer; an image dithering unit, coupled to the digital gamma correction unit, for performing image dithering on the digital gamma correction pixel data to generate a (N+M−K)-bit dithering compensation pixel data, K being a positive integer; and a converter, coupled to the image dithering unit, for converting the dithering compensation pixel data into an output image. A bit number of the converter is lower than a bit number of the digital gamma correction unit.
US09697779B2 Driving method and apparatus of liquid crystal display apparatus, and liquid crystal display apparatus
The present disclosure provides a driving method and apparatus of a liquid crystal display apparatus and a liquid crystal display apparatus, and belongs to a liquid crystal display field. The driving method comprises: generating gray scale data of sub-pixels according to received image data; taking a plurality of sub-pixels as a processing unit, generating gray scale voltage polarity signals, which are used for making gray scale voltages of the plurality of sub-pixels tend to zero entirely, respectively corresponding to the gray scale data of the plurality of sub-pixels; outputting the gray scale data and the corresponding polarity signal of the each sub-pixel to a source driver of the liquid crystal display apparatus. The present disclosure may improve display defects caused by turbulence in a common voltage, such as a green attachment, a crosstalk, a flicker, etc.
US09697769B2 Display device and drive method for same
In a display device having a pixel circuit including an electro-optical element in which brightness is controlled by a current, and including a drive transistor for controlling a current to be supplied to the electro-optical element, a drive method therefor includes: a noise measurement step of measuring noise; characteristic detection steps of detecting characteristics of the drive transistor and the electro-optical element; a correction data update step of updating correction data, which serves for correcting a video signal, based on detection results in the characteristic detection step; and a video signal correction step of correcting the video signal based on the correction data. When noise with a standard value or more is detected in the noise measurement step, processing of the correction data update step is not performed.
US09697763B2 Displays including addressible trace structures
The present invention relates to displays including resonant trace structures. Displays are disclosed that include a first array of first electrically conductive traces configured to conduct alternating current, each of the first electrically conductive traces can be coupled to a first microelectromechanical system (MEM) surface acoustic wave (SAW) frequency selective filter. The displays further include a second array of second electrically conductive traces configured to conduct alternating current, each of the second electrically conductive traces can be coupled to a second microelectromechanical system (MEM) surface acoustic wave (SAW) frequency selective filter. The displays further include a material located between at least a portion of the first array and the second array, the material having a property that changes to cause illumination at points of intersection between the first array and the second array in response to current conducted in one or more of the first electrically conductive traces and current conducted in one or more of the second electrically conductive traces.
US09697762B2 Driver and electronic device
In a display device including a driver that drives load lines in an electro-optical panel through capacitor charge redistribution, load capacitance among the load lines of the electro-optical panel differs depending on parasitic capacitance of a board on which the load lines are mounted, the type of the panel, and so on, and the accuracy of driving voltages drops due to such variations. The driver is provided with a adjusting capacitance group that corrects variation in load capacitance, and by adjusting a driving capacitance on the driver side, a ratio with the load capacitance is increased and accuracy of a post-driving potential is increased.
US09697759B2 Drive device, non-transitory computer readable medium, process for display medium and display apparatus
A drive device for a display medium includes a control unit that controls density of a display color of a predetermined range in which glare may likely occur, of display colors of an image displayed on a reflective type display medium, based on brightness information indicating brightness of irradiation beams irradiated on the display medium so that occurrence of the glare as to the display color of the predetermined range can be suppressed.
US09697757B2 Method and system of determining a location of a line fault of a panel
The present disclosure discloses a method and system of determining a location of a line fault of a panel. The method comprises: connecting a front end point of a metal wire that is determined to have suffered the line fault to a probe of a test instrument, the other probe of the test instrument being connected to a common electrode wire; performing a fusing-off processing on the metal wire according to a preset rule; and determining the location of the line fault of the metal wire based on a variation in the readings from the test instrument upon the fusing-off of the metal wire. The system comprises: a test instrument, one probe of which being connected to a front end point of a metal wire that is determined to have suffered the line fault, the other probe of which being connected to a common electrode wire; and a laser for performing a fusing-off processing on the metal wire. The short circuit of the metal wire may be localized at a pixel cell level using the method and system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.
US09697756B2 Timing controller including configurable clock signal generators according to display mode and display device having the same
A timing controller includes a display mode detection circuit configured to detect an image display mode of a display panel based on a plurality of first image data signals that are output in synchronization with a first clock signal having a first frequency, and to selectively activate at least one clock signal generation selected among a plurality of clock signal generators based on the detected image display mode, the clock signal generators configured to generate a second clock signal having a second frequency, respectively when activated by the display mode detection circuit, and to apply the second clock signal to a plurality of signal converting circuits, respectively, and the signal converting circuits configured to convert the first image data signals into a plurality of second image data signals that are output in synchronization with the second clock signal.
US09697754B2 Display mounting system and method
A system and method for mounting a display or sign to a ceiling, wall or window frame includes an elongated channel having magnets that are affixed to a ceiling grid and mounting hooks or the like to suspend the sign or display from the channel. The channel includes high friction strips on a neck for engagement by a pole end gripper on a pole for mounting the channel on the ceiling while the user stands on the floor. End caps may be mounted on the channel. Mounting plates may be affixed to the ceiling or wall for magnetically engaging the channel. A wall mount channel includes an offset neck for gripping by the pole end gripper. A magnetic clip including a string for suspending a display may be mounted with the pole end gripper. An embodiment of the channel includes hooks for engaging an open girder ceiling.
US09697752B2 Device with date of first use indicator, label for indicating a date of first use and a method of recording the date of first use of a device
A device includes a textile main body, and one or more indicator elements on the textile main body, or on a label fixed to the textile main body, for indicating date information. The indicator elements include a plurality of severable portions spaced from the main body or the label on which they are provided. Each of the severable portions is associated with date information such that by cutting one or more of the severable portions a date of use of the device or a date of inspection of the device is indicated. A device having indicator elements of this type has the advantage that the indication of a date of first use or a date of inspection can be made easily, can be read easily and will be durable over many laundry cycles.
US09697742B2 System for constructing mazes
A maze construction system for fire and rescue training exercises includes a plurality of panels that are tensionably supported between a ceiling and floor. Each panel includes at least one extendable column that terminates with a pad for contact with a ceiling surface. A flange along at least one vertical edge of the panels permits the panels to align at their edges. The panels are quickly assembled and disassembled, and are easily reconfigured to form new maze paths without requiring additional additional tools.
US09697741B2 Radiation training box
An apparatus used for training purposes contains an external casing, a primary shielding, a secondary shielding, and a control rod. The primary shielding and the secondary shielding are positioned within the external casing. The control rod and the secondary shield are used to adjust the radiation levels emitted from a radiation source placed within a hollow cylindrical portion of the control rod. A first rod receiving hole traverses the primary shielding. Likewise, a second rod receiving hole traverses the secondary shielding. The first rod receiving hole and the second rod receiving hole are concentrically aligned with a central receiving hole of the external casing to form a channel for the control rod to be slidably positioned.
US09697738B2 Simulator device of navigation on a sailing boat
Provided is a simulator device of a sailing boat including: a fixed structure, configured to support the simulator device on the ground, a support structure configured to firmly support the sailing boat, a rotatable connection means of the support structure to the fixed structure, configured to allow the rotation of the support structure around a substantially vertical axis and with respect to the fixed structure, and a tilting connection means of the support structure to the fixed structure, configured to allow the rotation or tilting of the support structure around a longitudinal axis, perpendicular to the vertical axis, wherein the tilting support includes an articulated quadrilateral including two lower hinges connected to a lower non-tilting element, two upper hinges connected to an upper tilting element, rods which connect said lower hinges to said upper hinges in an intersecting manner, and elastic contrast means of the tilting of said articulated quadrilateral.
US09697737B2 Automatic real-time flight plan updates
Systems and methods for processing aircraft flight information and flight plan information are described. Specific techniques are described for managing flight data in real time, sharing flight data between a plurality of systems, dynamically managing flight information, generating flight plan information, providing flight plan information to a user, and closing flight plan discontinuities.
US09697735B2 Drive assistance device
The device comprises: a first image capture means (7) for image capturing a host vehicle vicinity; a sonar (12) which senses an object in the host vehicle vicinity; a second image capture means (14) for image capturing the left front corner of the host vehicle; an image compositing means for forming a bird's-eye image on the basis of the images which are captured with the first image capture means (7) and the second image capture means (14); and a control means (5) for controlling a switch of a display of a display means (13). The control means (5) establishes the display switch condition of the display means (13) on the basis of the travel state of the host vehicle when the sonar (12) senses the object and the travel state of the host vehicle when the sonar (12) does not sense the object.
US09697732B2 Road marker or light based warning device
A road marker and related light based warning device are described. The road marker or device includes a thermal sensor that triggers the illumination of at least one light-emitting diode at a predetermined temperature. The temperature may be associated with ice formation. The light-emitting diode(s) may flash to alert motorists to hazardous road conditions. The road marker or device utilize simple components to increase reliability, particularly when the device is subjected to high heat such as when the device is mounted into hot tar seal. The device further includes a switching element that prevents rapid on/off cycling.
US09697725B2 Apparatus and method for providing battery information, and user terminal therefor
A battery information providing apparatus includes a short-range communication module for performing short-range communication; an information detector for detecting battery information; and a microprocessor for controlling the battery information to be transmitted by the short-range communication module.
US09697723B1 Illuminated doorbell touch pad system
An illuminated doorbell touch pad system is disclosed, having a chime control unit controlled by a micro-processor which continually calibrates according to a process for discriminating between a human touch and moisture, rain and small animals, for changes in capacitance of a metal housing enclosing an outdoor portion of the illuminated doorbell touch pad system.
US09697722B2 Methods, systems, and devices for managing a plurality of alarms
Present example embodiments relate generally to methods, systems, devices, computer readable medium, and logic for managing a plurality of alarms initiated by a plurality of alarm sensors. The method comprises receiving the plurality of initiated alarm. The method further comprises prioritizing the initiated alarms. The method further comprises creating an initiated alarm being a condition-based alarm when an initiated alarm satisfies an event condition. The method further comprises reprioritizing an initiated alarm when said initiated alarm satisfies a reprioritization condition. The method further comprises suppressing an initiated alarm. The method further comprises reporting an unsuppressed initiated alarm based on the prioritizing of said alarm. The method further comprises providing information comprising an operator action for the unsuppressed initiated alarm and an initiated alarm suppressed based on the unsuppressed initiated alarm.
US09697718B1 Room privacy device
A room privacy device sounds an audible alarm when a door to a room is not closed and sound is detected in the room. This helps prompt people in the room to close the door to maintain the privacy of the conversation and/or prevent sound in the room from disturbing others outside the room. In some embodiments, the room privacy device includes a door sensor for detecting whether a door is open, a microphone for capturing sound, and a speaker for providing an audible alarm. The room privacy device also includes a processor that causes the speaker to sound an audible alarm based on a signal from the door sensor indicative of the door being open and a signal from the microphone indicative of sound being detected.
US09697717B2 Power adapter warning system
A power adapter warning system includes a computing device that has a display screen and that is coupled to a power adapter device and at least one peripheral device. The computing device initializes and, in response, detects the power adapter device. The computing device then determines that the power adapter device does not provide sufficient power to complete a boot process and, in response, prevents power from being provided to the peripheral device(s). The computing device then performs the boot process such that the display screen is available for displaying information, and provides a power adapter warning message for display on the display screen. The peripheral device(s) may be connected to the computing device via USB connectors, and power may be disabled to the USB connectors to allow the computing device to perform the boot process using power provided by the power adapter.
US09697714B2 Location of cooperative tags with personal electronic device
The present disclosure relates to location and communication systems that can be utilized for locating people, pets and other objects with a software defined radio set. A personal electronic device (PED) such as a cellular telephone, personal data assistant (PDA) or other device that include a software defined radio set can be configured for operation as a locator device. The PED transmits a signal A transponder or micro-transponder (MT) that is tagged to an object is arranged to reply to a transmission received from the PED. The PED based locator is arranged to calculate a distance between the PED and the MT using the time-of-flight (TOF) between the transmission and the receipt of a reply. The absolute geographic position of the PED can be determined using satellite navigation information, while the position of the MT relative to the PED can be determined from the TOF information.
US09697713B2 Detector unit with multiple integrated sensing systems and visually pleasing housing
According to one embodiment, a multi-sensing hazard detector for detecting potential dangers may include a back plate and a front casing that is coupled with the back plate to define a housing. A circuit board and a plurality of components may be positioned within the housing. The circuit board may be communicatively coupled with the components. The components may include, among other components, an alarm device, an occupancy sensor, and a smoke chamber. The alarm device may be activatable upon the detection of a potential hazard to warn an occupant of a potential danger, the occupancy sensor may be configured to detect the presence and/or movement of objects external to the hazard detector, and the smoke chamber may be configured to detect the presence of smoke to cause a triggering of the alarm device. The housing may comprise a volume of less than 1024 cubic centimeters.
US09697712B2 Smart detection
Security and/or automation systems, collectively referred to as automation systems, may allow a parent to leave their child at home and feel comfortable. The automation system may receive a notification that the parents are leaving. The parents may set a child alone state or a babysitter state. The system may use settings determined by the parents to track child parameters. Restricted areas may include a parents liquor cabinet, a parents bedroom, an office, and the like. The automation system may additionally track the comings and goings of a child to determine if the child is out past a curfew, when the child left, when the child arrived at home, and the like. Additionally, the parent away state may implement a lock down on any firearms or other potential hazards in a home.
US09697709B2 Merchandise activity sensor system and methods of using same
Apparatus and systems using merchandise activity sensors for increasing the awareness of interactivity with merchandise on retail store displays (shelves, peg hooks, merchandise pushers, and other Point of Purchase displays) in order to facilitate more effective customer service, reduce theft and to provide additional analysis data related to merchandise/shopper interaction.
US09697708B2 Smart memory material lock devices
Tracking device embodiments, comprising: portable housing with a locking mechanism; band latched about a wrist; tampering detection device to detect tampering with the band, comprising: power source; latch configured to latch one end of the band within the housing; a shape memory material component connected to the latch; an electrical circuit for controlling the power source to heat the shape memory material component to cause the shape memory material component to change from a first length/shape to a second length/shape during supply of power to perform a locking function; a timer; two-way network communication device; a tracking element; tampering signal generation circuit. In embodiments, a tamper resistant container cap, comprises: cap housing releasably lockable to an open end of a container and a locking mechanism using a shape memory material component.
US09697707B2 Highly directional glassbreak detector
A glassbreak detector includes first and second different audio transducers. The first transducer is omnidirectional. The second transducer is highly directional. Control circuitry processes signals from both of the first and second transducers and determines if a glassbreakage profile is present.
US09697706B2 Integrated circuit with single wire haptic vibration control and selective open loop operation
Disclosed examples include methods and circuits to drive a haptic actuator, in which a single input signal from a host device has a first state representing a command to drive the actuator and a second state representing a command to stop the actuator. A control circuit provides a drive control signal to a driver circuit to drive the haptic actuator in response to the control signal transitioning to the first state, and to stop the haptic actuator in response to the control signal transitioning to the second state. A timer circuit places the circuit in a low power mode a predetermined time after the control signal transitions to the second state, or the control circuit places the circuit in the low power mode in response to a feedback signal indicating that the actuator has reached a stopped condition.
US09697704B1 Searchable binder with security lock
A searchable binder which is operationally compatible with a binder management system having a cabinet with shelves for removable storage of the binder. Each binder has a body with front and rear covers and a spine. Inside the body is a binder mechanism for removably retaining sheet media. Each binder has a binder contact mechanism mounted to the spine at the upper end, a binder lock mechanism mounted to the spine at the lower end, a binder identification circuit electrically coupled to the binder contact mechanism and the binder lock mechanism, and a visible indicator. The binder contact mechanism has a contact element extending outwardly of the upper end of the spine and engaged with one of several first conductive shelf elements of the binder cabinet. The binder lock mechanism has a lock bolt extending outwardly of the lower end of the spine with an end portion engaged with one of several grooved second conductive shelf elements of the binder cabinet to normally lock the binder in the cabinet. When a binder identification signal from a host computer is supplied to the cabinet conductive elements, it is transferred by the binder contact mechanism and the binder lock mechanism to the binder identification circuit. If the signal matches a binder identification code stored in the binder identification circuit, the binder lock mechanism is activated to the release position and the visible indicator is activated to aid the user in finding the binder.
US09697699B2 Banking apparatus with deposit accepting device
An automated banking machine that includes a check acceptor that is operative to receive checks from authorized machine users. The check acceptor is operable to continuously move a received check along its transport path while simultaneously rotationally orienting the check into alignment with the transport path. A check determined not to have at least one property of an acceptable check is returned to the machine user. Acceptable checks are processed and stored in the machine.
US09697698B2 Power management for an automated banking system
An automatic banking machine operates responsive to data read from data bearing records corresponding to authorized user or financial account data. The machine includes a card reader for reading data from user cards. The automated banking machine causes financial transfers related to financial accounts that correspond to data read from user cards. The automated banking machine also includes devices that control the supply of power to included devices to avoid exceeding power supply capacity.
US09697691B2 Exclusively match symbol video gaming
A game play on an electronically based system utilizes symbol collection outcomes along paylines to determine winning events in a virtual game. Even when the symbols used in the virtual game comprise or consist of playing cards displaying conventional ranks, suits and symbols, winning outcomes are determined only by accumulation of sets of symbols, without regard to linear order (straights and straight flushes) and random symbols within a suit (flushes). Accumulated symbols in an at least five symbols display game event as pairs, trips (three-of-a-kind), two pairs, full houses (three of one symbol plus two of a different symbol), four-of-a-kind and five-of-a-kind are determined to be winning events, while a flush, straight and even straight flushes may be or are required to be ignored. Optional and even preferred additional events are used in a draw poker variant (with playing card symbols or non-playing card symbols are used in an accumulated symbol gaming event).
US09697683B2 System and method for augmented reality gaming using a mobile device
Disclosed is a method and system for preventing replay attacks for mobile promotions associated with gaming devices. Upon the occurrence of a promotion winning event such as a designated outcome of a game played on the gaming device the user, via a software application accessible to their mobile device, forwards images of the event to a server over a network. The server determines entitlement to the promotion and analyzes data associated with the images and mobile device location and time to confirm that the event is new promotion winning event. Upon such confirmation an entitlement to the promotion is awarded to the user. The foregoing prevents unscrupulous users from logging multiple claims for the same promotion winning event.
US09697679B2 Gaming machine having liftable monitor
A gaming machine having a liftable monitor is provided, wherein the cabinet has a receiving space defined therein, and the cabinet is formed with at least one opening communicating with the receiving space; a display unit is mounted to the cabinet by a pivoting device for closing the opening. Each rotary shaft of the pivoting device respectively and pivotally connects to an interior of the cabinet and the display unit, and at least one supporting arm pivotally connects between the cabinet and the display unit, such that the display unit is movable supported and secured by the rotary shafts and the supporting arm to allow the display unit to be lifted and rotated relative to the cabinet for opening/closing the opening.
US09697678B2 Gaming machine
Provided is a gaming machine that is able to offer a variety of gaming patterns with avoidance of monotony during a free game that is a game played in a bonus game. A gaming machine, when a free game trigger is established, performs a control of shifting a game from a base game to a free game. In the free game, symbols are displayed in rotation and stopped in a symbol display region 4 in accordance with a result of a symbol lottery. In the display of the symbols in rotation, the symbols are scrolled in a direction reverse to a rotation direction employed in the base game.
US09697674B2 Multiple game tournament
Players may compete in a tournament that involves multiple different games.
US09697673B2 Gaming interruption and reconnection management
A method, system and computer program product for managing interruption and reconnection of a game session in a computer based gaming system having a computerized gaming machine devised for executing a game and being communicatively connected to a remote data storage, wherein: the execution of a game comprises at least one instance of determining a set of associated game session data; an identity code is reserved for identification of each execution instance of a game; each determined set of associated game session data is associated with said identity code and stored in the remote data storage; and if an interruption occurs in the execution of a game, then the identity code for the current game execution instance is associated with a status indicator indicating that said game execution has been interrupted.
US09697671B2 Tournament video poker
Each player who is participating in the video poker tournament plays a designated group of video poker hands. The designated group of video poker hands comprises preselected starting hands so that each tournament participant plays the same starting hands. After the group of video poker hands has been completed, the player with the highest score or highest amount of accrued credits is awarded a prize. Besides awarding a prize to the player with the highest score, other lesser prizes could be awarded to other players who have high scores. Prizes could also be awarded to players who achieve a final score of at least a certain level.
US09697669B2 Adjustable product magazine sleeve
A removable, adjustable product magazine for use in an article dispensing system includes a central support member including a back wall connected to a base, first and second sidewalls, and a follower. The central support and the sidewalls cooperatively define a product compartment having a front opening. The sidewalls include fastener slots for connecting the follower to one of the sidewalls. Advancement of the follower adjusts the depth of the compartment. Each of the sidewalls has front, rear, and bottom flanges for retaining products within the magazine, connecting the sidewalls to the back wall and base. The base and backwall have fastener slots for adjustable connection of the sidewalls, thereby enabling adjustment of the width of the compartment. The sidewall front flanges terminate above the base to provide a product exit port. The back wall includes an ejector port for providing access to an ejector cylinder to expel product units.
US09697668B2 Automatically configurable smart card and method of automatically configuring a smart card
An automatically configurable smart card comprises—a generic data structure provided for containing smart card specific data, and—a smart card operating system being adapted to automatically detect the generic data structure and to migrate the generic data structure.
US09697666B2 Money item dispensing
A method and system for auditing money items within a secure housing, the money items being collected from a multi-denomination money item storage unit and validated while being transported by a conveyor that deposits them back into the multi-denomination storage unit after they have been identified. The same process is done with the money items present in the at least one hopper.
US09697665B2 Coin dispensing device
A coin dispensing device includes a plurality of coin tubes storing coins, a coin withdrawing and discharging part, a change part which locates a change lever at a dispensing preventing position, in which the coin withdrawing and discharging part is prevented from discharging coins, by energizing a change lever solenoid and locates the change lever at a dispensing allowing position, in which the coin withdrawing and discharging part is allowed to discharge the coins, by a biasing force of a return spring when the energizing of the change lever solenoid is stopped, and a keeping means which keeps a state of the change lever. The coin withdrawing and discharging part withdraws and discharges the coins when the keeping means keeps the state of the change lever and the energizing of the change lever solenoid is stopped.
US09697663B2 Container with a selective opening and closing mechanism
A system and apparatus which includes one or more locking container devices comprising a closeable container for holding at least one object; lock coupled to the container and moveable between a lock position and an unlock position; and programmable timer circuit for actuating the lock at a programmed time which is either specified or randomly set. The container device alternatively includes a receiving component for sensing a change an external condition including but not limited to, geographic location, temperature, sound and one or more predetermined operations. The timer circuit is alternatively unlocked by receiving an unlock signal via an appropriate communication medium from a remote source. The container device also includes a transmitter for transmitting an appropriate signal to the remote source. An interface terminal is coupled to the remote source and configured to accept at least one external condition instruction to be transmitted to the receiving component.
US09697662B2 Lock control method requiring activation by a first channel and authorization by a second different channel
An activate signal is sent out from a remote controller via a first channel. An authorization process is activated after the activate signal is received by an access control terminal. A control signal is sent out from the remote controller via a second channel to the access control terminal. The access control terminal is unlocked if the control signal received by the access control terminal is verified by the authorization process to be consistent with a predetermined rule. The first channel is different from the second channel.
US09697661B1 Wireless access control system including closed door position and exterior area remote access wireless communications device based lock switching and related methods
A wireless access control system may include a remote access wireless communications device and a lock assembly to be mounted on a door. The lock assembly may include a lock, a door position sensor, interior and exterior directional antennas, lock wireless communications circuitry, and a lock controller. The lock controller determine whether the lock is manually unlocked, determine when the door is closed after being opened based upon the door position sensor, and determine whether the remote access wireless device is in an interior or an exterior based upon the directional antennas. The lock controller may also switch the lock to the locked position when the door is closed and when the remote access wireless device is in the exterior, and not switch the lock to the locked position when the door is closed and when the remote access wireless device is in the interior.
US09697660B1 Systems and methods for verifying user attributes
The disclosed computer-implemented method for verifying user attributes may include (1) receiving a request to verify an attribute of a user who claims to be a particular person, (2) determining that the attribute can be verified using a trusted record that is associated with the particular person, (3) determining that the trusted record is associated with a vehicle to which the particular person has access rights, (4) confirming that the user has physical access to the vehicle by performing an access-validation check, and (5) in response to confirming that the user has physical access to the vehicle, using the trusted record to verify the attribute of the user. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09697657B2 Techniques for access control using wearable devices
Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques for using little or no electric power to monitor whether a wearable device continues to be worn by a person such that it may continue to be used to access a secured item. An apparatus may include a processor component; a storage to store an access credential; a presentation component to wirelessly transmit the access credential to an access device to enable a grant of access to a secured item; a power source; and a clasp coupled to a wearable portion to prevent removal of the wearable portion unless the clasp is operated to change state from a clasped state to an unclasped state, the clasp to cause loss of electric power from the power source to the processor component and the storage when in the unclasped state to nullify the access credential. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09697654B2 System for managing mining machine and method for managing mining machine
A system for managing a mining machine is included in a mining machine that travels in a mine. The system includes: a positional information detecting unit configured to acquire positional information indicating a position of the mining machine; and a traveling path calculating unit configured to obtain, from each of a plurality of the mining machines, positional information about an actual traveling path on which each of the mining machines actually has traveled, and generate a reference traveling path in the mine with the obtained positional information.
US09697652B2 Method for monitoring state of health of a vehicle system
A method is provided for monitoring a state of health of a vehicle system and includes measuring a plurality of parameter values for the system at different running conditions as an end of line test, storing the parameter values in a fingerprint file, measuring the same plurality of parameter values that is comprised in the fingerprint file after a predefined time interval, adding a predefined ageing offset to the fingerprint file, where the ageing offset corresponds to a predicted wear of the system during the predefined time interval, thereby obtaining a time modified fingerprint file for the system, comparing the measured values with the time modified fingerprint file, and issuing a message if the measured values deviates from the time modified fingerprint file. The state of health can be compared with initial measurements such that the state of health of a vehicle system or component can be monitored over a longer time period.
US09697648B1 Text functions in augmented reality
Various systems and methods for implementing text functions in augmented reality are described herein. A system for implementing text functions in augmented reality includes a display to display a field of view to a user of the system; a gesture detection module to detect a selection gesture performed by a user of the system, the selection gesture defining a selection area in the field of view; a camera array to capture an image of the selection area; a text module to perform a text operation on text identified in the image; and a presentation module to present an indication of the text operation to the user.
US09697646B2 Converting a 3D model into multiple matrices
A method is disclosed for converting a 3D model into multiple matrices to extract information related to the 3D model in an automated manner. The extracted information may represent numerical information such as lengths, areas, or volumes, or may represent positional information describing the location of the objects of the 3D model relative to each other. The extracted information may represent the identity of the objects of the 3D model, or the compliance of the 3D model against a set of rules, codes, or requirements. The method serves a variety of medical, engineering, architectural, industrial, and gaming applications.
US09697643B2 Systems and methods of object shape and position determination in three-dimensional (3D) space
Methods and systems for capturing motion and/or determining the shapes and positions of one or more objects in 3D space utilize cross-sections thereof. In various embodiments, images of the cross-sections are captured using a camera based on edge points thereof.
US09697641B2 Alpha-to-coverage using virtual samples
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for converting alpha values into pixel coverage masks. Geometric coverage is sampled at a number of “real” sample positions within each pixel. Color and depth values are computed for each of these real samples. Fragment alpha values are used to determine an alpha coverage mask for the real samples and additional “virtual” samples, in which the number of bits set in the mask bits is proportional to the alpha value. An alpha-to-coverage mode uses the virtual samples to increase the number of transparency levels for each pixel compared with using only real samples. The alpha-to-coverage mode may be used in conjunction with virtual coverage anti-aliasing to provide higher-quality transparency for rendering anti-aliased images.
US09697638B2 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and data structure of image file
Two sets of image data, a first image and a second image, are prepared as image data. If image controlling information is received, an image setting controlling section determines, on the basis of this information, area dividing information which allocates one of the first image and the second image to each of the areas into which an image plane is divided in the same coordinate system. A decoding section decodes the two sets of image data for the respective first and second image that were loaded into a main memory, determines which image data to adopt for each pixel based on the area dividing information, and writes the adopted image data to a buffer memory. The decoding process and writing process are carried out in tile image units of a predetermined size using a working memory.
US09697631B2 Vector data processor, image recording system, vector data processing method, and computer-readable medium
A vector data processor (12) includes a thinning part (301), a central line acquiring part (302), and a superimposing part (303). A target figure includes a linear figure. The thinning part (301) processes target vector data (231) to acquire thinned data (232) by thinning the target figure indicated by the target vector data (231). The central line acquiring part (302) processes the target vector data (231) to acquire central line data (233) that indicates a central line of the target figure. The superimposing part (303) generates data that includes an instruction to record a combined figure obtained by superimposing the thinned figure and the central line one above the other. Superimposing the thinned figure and the central line enables the target figure to be thinned without line becoming broken. The shape of a rasterized figure can be approximated to the shape of a figure indicated by original data.
US09697624B2 Image processing apparatus, radiation tomography apparatus, and method of performing image processing
An image processing apparatus and a radiation tomography apparatus capable of acquiring a tomographic image of high visibility are provided. The image processing apparatus initially generates a map m showing an extending direction of a linear structural object seen in an original image P0. Then, the apparatus generates an extrapolated image P1 by adding the area positioned at the side section of the original image P0 to the side section so as to extend the linear structural object seen in the side section by referring to the map m. By adding the side section to the original image P0 while shifting the pattern of the side section so as to extend the linear structural object seen in the side section of the image, the subject image can be naturally compensated. After this operation, by generating the tomographic image D, a tomographic image D having improved visibility can be generated.
US09697621B2 Unwrapping 3D meshes into low-distortion texture maps
Techniques are disclosed for generating and using a conformal or UV mapping between an object's 3D representation (e.g., a polygonal mesh model) and a corresponding 2D representation (e.g., texture memory). More particularly, techniques disclosed herein generate a conformal mapping that allows the rapid identification of disparate locations in texture memory (e.g., those that span a seam) that are spatially similar at the corresponding 3D locations. The ability to perform 2D-to-3D-to-2D mappings quickly, grants the ability to filter across a conformal map's seams—an action that has previously been avoided due to its high computational cost.
US09697620B2 Borehole log data processing methods
A method of processing borehole log data to create one or more image logs involve modeling the log data as components of an image in the form i(x, y)=l(x, y)×r(x, y) (1), in which i(x, y) is an image representative of the log data, l(x, y) denotes an illumination value of the image at two-dimensional spatial co-ordinates x, y, and r(x, y) denotes a surface reflectance value at the co-ordinates x, y. Equation (1) is transformed to a logarithmic domain, and a Fourier transform is obtained of the resulting logarithmic domain expression to obtain a Fourier domain expression. The Fourier domain expression is high-pass filtered, and an inverse Fourier transform is obtained of the resulting filtered Fourier domain expression. An exponential operation is performed on the result of inverse Fourier transform to obtain a filtered image model expression. Values of the filtered image model expression are mapped to respective color values across the range of the filtered image model expression values. The mapped color values can then be displayed, printed, saved and/or transmitted as one or more image logs.
US09697619B2 Techniques for spatially resolving received light-based communication signals
Techniques are disclosed for spatially resolving received light-based communication (LCom) signals. In an example case where one or more LCom signals are in the field of view (FOV) of an LCom receiver, the image representing the FOV may be captured and segmented into non-overlapping cells, such as hexagonal, triangular, rectangular, or circular shaped cells. Each LCom signal may be interpreted as a unique pixel cluster comprising one or more of the cells. In some cases, the LCom signals in the FOV may be received from multiple LCom-enabled luminaires and/or a single LCom-enabled luminaire having multiple light panels. The benefits of being able to spatially resolve received LCom signals may include establishing a link with multiple LCom signals within the FOV of a receiver without conflict and/or determining the location of those LCom signals, improving signal to noise ratio, augmenting position information, enhancing sampling frequency, and improving communication speed.
US09697618B2 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, program, and image processing system
There is provided an image processing apparatus including a feature value calculation unit configured to calculate, as feature values, a polarity related to gradation of a skin image and a scale indicating image areas each having a pixel value that is similar to each other and that are different from surroundings of the image areas, and a feature section extraction unit configured to extract a feature section of the skin image on a basis of the feature values calculated by the feature value calculation unit.
US09697615B2 Movement indication
A method, system and apparatus for image capture, analysis and transmission are provided. A link aggregation method involves identifying controller network ports to a source connected to the same subnetwork; producing packets associating corresponding controller network ports selected by the source CPU for substantially uniform selection; and transmitting the packets to their corresponding network ports. An image analysis method involves producing by a camera an indication whether a region of an image differs by a threshold extent from a corresponding region of a reference image; transmitting the indication and image data to a controller via a communications network; and storing at the controller the image data and the indication in association therewith. The controller may perform operations according to positive indications. A transmission method involves receiving user input in respect of a video stream and transmitting, in accordance with the user input, selected data packets of selected image frames thereof.
US09697611B2 Apparatus and method for detecting error in lesion contour, apparatus and method for correcting error in lesion contour, and apparatus for inspecting error in lesion contour
An apparatus for detecting an error in a contour of a lesion includes an extracting unit configured to extract a contour of a lesion in each of a plurality of two-dimensional image frames that form a three-dimensional image, and an error determining unit configured to determine a presence or an absence of an error in a contour of a lesion in a target image frame of the two-dimensional image frames based on estimation information about the lesion in the target image frame and/or an energy value that corresponds to the contour of the lesion in the target image frame.
US09697607B2 Method of estimating imaging device parameters
A method is provided for estimating parameters of an imaging device with respect to an image of a scene said method comprising the steps of locating a target coordinate system in a scene, using an imaging device to capture an image of the scene, and processing the image using the target coordination system as a reference to estimate the parameters of the imaging device with respect to the image, wherein the target coordinate system comprises at least one planer target and wherein the at least one planar target contains a set of identifiable features with known relative positions.
US09697605B2 Method for the microscopic three-dimensional reproduction of a sample
A method for the three-dimensional imaging of a sample in which image information from different depth planes of the sample is stored in a spatially resolved manner, and the three-dimensional image of the sample is subsequently reconstructed from this stored image information is provided. A reference structure is applied to the illumination light, at least one fluorescing reference object is positioned next to or in the sample, images of the reference structure of the illumination light, of the reference object are recorded from at least one detection direction and evaluated. The light sheet is brought into an optimal position based on the results and image information of the reference object and of the sample from a plurality of detection directions is stored. Transformation operators are obtained on the basis of the stored image information and the reconstruction of the three-dimensional image of the is based on these transformation operators.
US09697603B2 Medical image data processing system and method for vessel segmentation using pre- and post-contrast data
An image data processing apparatus comprises a data receiving unit for receiving medical image data representative of a region of a subject, wherein the medical image data comprises for each of a plurality of points in the region of the subject a first intensity value and a second intensity value, each point having a respective position on an at least two-dimensional distribution of first intensity against second intensity, and wherein for each point at least one of the first intensity value and the second intensity value is obtained from a contrast-enhanced scan of the region of the subject; and a processing unit for rendering or segmenting the medical image data in dependence on the positions of points in the at least two-dimensional distribution.
US09697602B1 System and method for auto-contouring in adaptive radiotherapy
A method for performing automatic contouring in a medical image. The method may include receiving an image containing a region of interest and determining a first contour of the region of interest using a boundary detector. The method may include refining the first contour based on a shape dictionary to generate a second contour of the region of interest and updating at least one of the boundary detector or the shape dictionary based on the second contour.
US09697600B2 Multi-modal segmentatin of image data
The invention relates to a medical data processing method of segmenting image features in medical images generated with different imaging modalities, wherein the image features represent a corresponding anatomical structure in each of the medical images, the method being constituted to be executed by a computer and comprising the following steps: a) acquiring (SI) first modality medical image data describing a first modality medical image containing a first modality image representation of the anatomical structure; b) acquiring (SI) second modality medical image data describing a second modality medical image containing a second modality image representation of the anatomical structure; c) determining, based on the first modality medical image data and the second modality medical image data, modality transformation data describing a mapping transformation between the image information in the first modality image data and the image information in the second modality image data; d) acquiring color value data describing a color value of the image elements in the first modality medical image and in the second modality medical image; e) determining (S2-S7), based on the first modality medical image data, first modality segmentation data describing the result of segmenting the first modality image representation from the first modality medical image data; f) determining (S8-S10), based on the first modality segmentation data and the modality transformation data and the color value data, second modality segmentation data describing a result of segmenting the second modality image representation from the second modality medical image data.
US09697599B2 Determining a respiratory pattern from a video of a subject
What is disclosed is a system and method for determining a subject's respiratory pattern from a video of that subject. One embodiment involves receiving a video comprising N≧2 time-sequential image frames of a region of interest (ROI) of a subject where a signal corresponding to the subject's respiratory function can be registered by at least one imaging channel of a video imaging device. The ROI comprises P pixels. Time-series signals of duration N are generated from pixels isolated in the ROI. Features are extracted from the time-series signals and formed into P-number of M-dimensional vectors. The feature vectors are clustered into K clusters. The time-series signals corresponding to pixels represented by the feature vectors in each cluster are averaged along a temporal direction to obtain a representative signal for each cluster. One of the clusters is selected. A respiratory pattern is determined for the subject based on the representative signal.
US09697597B2 Method of correcting a three-dimensional image of an electronic circuit
Correction of an initial three-dimensional image of a deformed object comprises the provision of a model of the undeformed object comprising first zones, the determination in the initial three-dimensional image of second zones corresponding to the first zones, the determination of a first geometric transformation which maps the second zones to the first zones and the determination of a three-dimensional image corrected on the basis of the first geometric transformation and of the initial three-dimensional image.
US09697595B2 Content aware fill based on similar images
A user identifies an unwanted object in a source image. Related images are identified on the basis of timestamp and/or geolocation metadata. Matching masks are identified in the source image, wherein each of the matching masks is adjacent to the selection mask. Features in the selection and matching masks which also appear in one of the related images are identified. The related image having a maximum of features which are tracked to a source image matching mask, but also a minimum of features which are tracked to the source image selection mask, is identified as a best-match related image. By mapping the source image matching masks onto the best-match related image, a seed region can be located in the best-match related image. This seed region is used for filling in the source image. This allows the unwanted object to be replaced with a visually plausible background having a reasonable appearance.
US09697594B2 Noise enhanced histograms
Apparatus for binning an input value into one of a plurality of bins which collectively represent a histogram of input values, each of the plurality of bins representing a corresponding range of input values, the apparatus comprising: an input for receiving an input value; a noise source configured to generate an error value according to a predetermined noise distribution; and a binning controller configured to mix the received input value with the error value so as to generate a modified input value and to allocate the modified input value to the bin corresponding to that modified input value.
US09697592B1 Computational-complexity adaptive method and system for transferring low dynamic range image to high dynamic range image
The present invention provides a method for converting a low dynamic range (LDR) image to a high dynamic range (HDR) image, including obtaining an input LDR image; and in an HDR image database, selecting one or more HDR images that match the input LDR image as candidate images. Further, the candidate images are warped according to a spatial correspondence between the candidate images and the input LDR image. The input LDR image is decomposed to an illumination component and a texture component. The illumination component and the texture component are reconstructed respectively based on the warped candidate images. The reconstructed illumination component and the reconstructed texture component are combined to produce an output HDR image.
US09697586B2 Method and apparatus for generating an enhanced image from medical imaging data
In a method and apparatus for generating an enhanced image for display from medical imaging data of a subject, a feature of interest in the imaging data elongated in at least one dimension is determined. A location of a line through the imaging data along the feature of interest is obtained, and a projection image along the line is generated from the imaging data.
US09697585B2 Method and apparatus for displaying statistical chart
A method and an apparatus for displaying a statistical chart. The method includes determining whether a screen rotation event of switching from portrait-orientation display to landscape-orientation display is received. The method further includes obtaining additional to-be-shown data added during switch from a portrait-orientation-display drawing area to a landscape-orientation-display drawing area if yes, and drawing the landscape-orientation-display drawing area. The method further includes displaying a statistical chart in the drawn landscape-orientation-display drawing area, where the additional to-be-shown data is shown in the statistical chart. A statistical chart fills a drawing area in a landscape-orientation state.
US09697580B2 Dynamic pipeline for graphics processing
This disclosure describes an apparatus configured to process graphics data. The apparatus may include a fixed hardware pipeline configured to execute one or more functions on a current set of graphics data. The fixed hardware pipeline may include a plurality of stages including a bypassable portion of the plurality of stages. The apparatus may further include a shortcut circuit configured to route the current set of graphics data around the bypassable portion of the plurality of stages, and a controller positioned before the bypassable portion of the plurality of stages, the controller configured to selectively route the current set of graphics data to one of the shortcut circuit or the bypassable portion of the plurality of stages.
US09697579B2 Multi-processor graphics rendering
An operating system that includes an image processing framework as well as a job management layer is provided. The image processing framework is for performing image processing operations and the job management layer is for assigning the image processing operations to multiple concurrent computing resources. The computing resources include several processing units and one or more direct memory access (DMA) channels for concurrently rendering image data and transferring image data between the processing units.
US09697572B2 Method and system for repurposing lease analysis, accounting, administration, and market data comparisons
Lease calculations may be used by commercial real estate brokers, corporate tenants, landlords, financial professionals, financial advisors, accountants and/or the like, to compare financial aspects of one or more leases and/or contracts, determine the impact of new accounting rules on current and/or future leases, comply with current and/or future lease accounting rules, generate financial reports, generate market data comparables, allow clients and users to track, manage and administer lease information and repurpose independent data points to perform one or more of these or other lease calculations or actions.
US09697570B2 System and method for a trading interface incorporating a chart
A graphical interface and method are provided for displaying market information corresponding to a tradeable object. One graphical interface includes a chart region for displaying historical market data in relation to a first value axis, and a market grid region in alignment with the chart region. The market grid region comprises a plurality of areas for receiving commands from a user input device to send trade orders, and the areas are displayed in relation to a second value axis. A plurality of values displayed along the second value axis is a subset of values displayed in relation to the first value axis, and can be modified to a new plurality of values that corresponds to a new subset of values on the first value axis.
US09697566B2 System and mehtod for providing information about assets during a live auction
A method for providing information about an auction for a plurality of assets is provided. A plurality of assets that is made to be available during an auction is identified. Each of the plurality of assets includes an auction state. During the auction, a matrix interface is displayed. The matrix interface includes a plurality of entries, where each entry identifies a corresponding asset and the auction state of that asset. The auction state of one or more assets is dynamically updated during the auction.
US09697564B2 Normalized images for item listings
Disclosed in some examples is a method including receiving a selection of an outline template; displaying the outline template in an image preview screen of a digital image capture device; responsive to a capture of an image of the digital image capture device, cropping the image to an outline of the outline template; positioning the cropped image over a second image and sending a combined image formed from the image positioned over the second image to a commerce server, the combined image for use as a product image.
US09697563B2 System and method for providing electronic commerce data
A mechanism for providing electronic commerce data onto publisher's site. The mechanism also provides ability for a consumer to interact with that data to complete a purchase from within the publisher's website or application. A method includes retrieving merchandise data from a plurality of merchants and storing at least one group of merchandise data formed based on the merchandise data and content on a publisher site. The method also includes embedding the group of merchandise data on the content of the publisher's website and generating a merchandise frame in view of the embedment. The method further includes rendering the merchandise frame directly onto the publisher site. The method further includes rendering a universal check out frame on the publisher's site, which provides the user the ability to check out from multiple retailers within a single universal check out on a publisher's site.
US09697558B2 Information provision device, information provision method, information provision program, and computer-readable storage medium for storing said program
To determine candidates for product purchase in electronic commerce more easily when a user purchases an attracting product through electronic commerce, the server (14A) includes a retrieval API (164A). The retrieval API (164A) receives and analyzes identifying information from a user terminal (12A) having a function of acquiring identifying information for identifying a product and thereby identifies one or more products from the identifying information. Then, the retrieval API (164A) reads one or more product sales information corresponding to the identified one or more products from a product database (168) that stores product sales information related to sales of products. The retrieval API (164A) then stores the read one or more product sales information as a retrieval history into a retrieval history database (170) and transmits the one or more product sales information to the user terminal (12A) to be displayed as candidate product information on the user terminal (12A).
US09697555B2 Systems and methods for creating a user customized bank card
One form of the present invention contemplates a unique system for creating a customized bank card by a consumer/user based on instructions from a remote terminal. Other forms of the present invention contemplate unique apparatuses, systems, devices, hardware, software, methods, and combinations of these for creating customized bank cards.
US09697554B2 Method for quoting part production
One variation of a method for quoting manufacture of a part during construction of a virtual model of the part within a computer-aided drafting engine includes: receiving a quote file specifying a current manufacturing schedule and a pricing structure for a manufacturing facility; at a first time, in response to insertion of a first three-dimensional virtual geometry into the virtual model, calculating a manufacturing quote for the part based on the first three-dimensional virtual geometry and the quote file; displaying the manufacturing quote; at a second time succeeding the first time, in response to insertion of a second three-dimensional virtual geometry into the virtual model, updating the manufacturing quote based on the second three-dimensional virtual geometry and the quote file; and, at a third time succeeding the second time, submitting a form of the virtual model to the manufacturing facility for manufacture of the part.
US09697553B2 Method and apparatus for providing cross-benefits based on a customer activity
In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, a controller receives an indication of acceptance by a customer of an offer for a subsidy from a second vendor (e.g., a subsidizing vendor). The offer may define, for example, a reduction in the price charged for an item purchased from a first vendor and an obligation for the customer to fulfill in exchange for the subsidy. The customer is charged a second price for the items, which is less than the total price, and may even be zero.
US09697551B1 Transparency in hidden transaction details
Techniques and systems provide transparency in hidden transaction details for an item. A process comprises crawling one or more electronic marketplaces to identify an item presented in an item offering, extracting offer details in the item offering, emulating an ordering process for acquiring the item to determine transaction details that are revealed after the ordering process is initiated, and presenting at least a portion of the transaction details with item and offer details. In some embodiments, the offer details include a list price for the item, and the transaction details include a true price for the item with a hidden cost included in the true price. The hidden cost may be compared to a threshold to determine if it is excessive. A seller identified with the item offering may be designated with a rating indicative of a reputation of the seller for providing excessive hidden costs with item offerings.
US09697550B2 Devices, methods, and computer readable storage devices for providing offers based on aggregate need
Offers are provided based on an aggregate need. Data is collected data from a plurality of different communication devices. The data collected from each respective communication device indicates a need for a product associated with the respective communication device. An aggregate need for the product is determined based on the collected data. A determination is also made whether the aggregate need for the product meets a threshold. Responsive to determining that the aggregate need for the product meets the threshold, an offer for fulfilling the need for the product is sent to each respective communication device from which the data was collected that indicated the need for the product.
US09697546B1 Incentivizing user generated content creation
Systems, methods, and machine-readable media for incentivizing user generated content creation are provided. One or more points of interest for including in a notification to a user may be identified based on a location of a client device associated with the user and/or user interest signals. The identified points of interest may be scored by comparing the user interest signals, and a most relevant point of interest may be identified from the scored points of interest. A notification type may be determined based on the most relevant point of interest and the corresponding user interest signal, and used to provide to the user a notification including the most relevant point of interest and the user interest signal. A subsequent notification asking the user to generate content for the most relevant point of interest may be sent, in a case it is determined that the user acts on the provided notification.
US09697542B2 System for deploying voice over internet protocol services
A system for deploying Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services is provided. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a Call Session Control Function (CSCF) having a controller element to receive a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message from an originating communication device requesting communications with a terminating communication device, and establish an Internet Protocol (IP) connection between the originating communication device and an advertisement media system to present at the originating communication device an advertisement message that replaces a ringback tone associated with the terminating communication device. Additional embodiments are disclosed.
US09697541B1 System and method of controlling multimedia display for a game of chance
The present invention contemplates computer implemented methods, systems and computer program product for enabling user interaction with multimedia content in the context of a prize/game campaign. The invention contemplates incorporation of a scanned coded advertising image which has code on it and which activates the operation of an interactive advertising application on mobile device along with other elements of the invention.
US09697539B2 Method and system for presence detection
Various presence detection techniques are disclosed. In some embodiments, a system comprises a signal generator configured to generate a signal that includes a plurality of selected frequencies that are selected from among a set of candidate frequencies, wherein inclusion or exclusion of each candidate frequency in the signal encodes a bit of information and wherein the encoded information comprises a store identifier that identifies a retail store; and a transmitter configured to transmit the signal within the retail store; wherein presence of a device in the retail store is determined in response to reception of the signal at the device and extraction of the store identifier from the received signal by decoding the received signal.
US09697537B2 Product recommendations based on analysis of social experiences
A method for recommending products. The method may include receiving an identification element associated with an image or a visual code captured by a user. The method may include identifying a first item associated with the identification element, whereby the first item is a product or a service. The method may include identifying at least one of a tag and a keyword associated with the first item. The method may include identifying social media interactions within a social media network that reference at least one of the first item, the tag, and the keyword, whereby the social media network is associated with the user. The method may further include identifying a second item referenced in the social media interactions, whereby the second item is a product or a service. The method may also include determining a score for the second item based on an algorithm.
US09697535B2 System and method in a virtual universe for identifying spam avatars based upon avatar multimedia characteristics
A system and method in a virtual universe (VU) system for identifying spam avatars based upon the avatars' multimedia characteristics may have a table that stores multimedia characteristics of known spam avatars. It further may have an analysis unit that compares the multimedia characteristics of avatars against the multimedia characteristics of known spam avatars to determine if the avatar has known spam avatar characteristics. It may further have a scoring system to calculate a spam score based upon the similarities of the comparison and identifying the avatar as a spam avatar based upon the calculated spam score. It may further compare the calculated spam score with a spam score threshold wherein the avatar is identified as a spam avatar if the calculated spam score is equal to or greater than the calculated spam score. Multimedia characteristics include graphics, audio, movement, interactivity, voice, etc.
US09697534B2 Attribution marketing recommendations
The present disclosure includes systems and techniques relating to identifying value marketing activities. In some implementations, an apparatus, systems, or methods can include receiving conversion path information including data relating to user interactions with a content item associated with a marketing activity, determining a first attribution credit by applying a first attribution model to the received information, and a second attribution credit by applying a second attribution model to the received information, determining an attribution contrast ratio based on the first and second attribution credit, identifying an opportunity based on the determined attribution contrast ratio, and presenting a recommendation for the marketing activity based on the identified opportunity.
US09697533B2 Methods and apparatus to monitor media presentations
Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to monitor media are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a software development kit provider to provide a software development kit to enable an application developer to create an application developer to create a monitoring enabled application. The example apparatus further includes a monitoring data receiver to receive data collected from a media device executing the monitoring enabled application, the data collected via the monitoring enabled application, the collected data including a media identifier and at least one of a device identifier or a user identifier. The example apparatus further includes a data store to store the collected data, and a database proprietor interface to request demographic information from a database proprietor, the database proprietor interface to store the demographic information in association with the media identifier in the data store.
US09697532B2 Integrated platform employee transaction processing for buy your own device (BYOD)
Secure associate ordering and transaction methods and systems. An order for an alternative device different from a baseline device is received at an order processing platform. The alternative device is available for purchase by the associate at a cost differential between the alternative and baseline devices. The cost differential is based on a predetermined enterprise discount. A message including a secure link associated with the order is sent to the associate. Payment information associated with the cost differential is received by a secure payment (SP) platform from the associate via a secure website using the secure link. The payment information is submitted to a payment institution. The order processing platform receives a transaction confirmation from the SP platform when the payment information is accepted and adds at least features of the alternative device associated with the baseline device to a service account of the enterprise customer for the service provider.
US09697526B2 Systems and methods for authenticating goods
An item can be authenticated based on a first, second, third, and fourth identifier, wherein the identifiers are incorporated into various parts of product packaging. In some embodiments, the first, second, and fourth identifiers can be a QR code, a bar code, a serial number, any RFID tag, or a combination thereof, and the third identifier can be an image type, for example, a type of animal, and image location, for example, a quadrant. The identifiers can be scanned or inputted manually by a user. When the four identifiers are authenticated, the product is deemed to be authentic, whereas when the four identifiers are not authenticated, the product is deemed to be counterfeit. In some implementations, a user can authenticate the items using a smart phone, smart phone app, tablet, tablet app, website, web-based application, and/or the like.
US09697521B2 Authentication system and method
Aspects of the invention relate to a customer authentication system for authenticating a customer making a request related to a customer account. The customer authentication system may include multiple application level data receiving and processing mechanisms for receiving customer requests and collecting customer data. The customer authentication system may additionally include a central authentication system for receiving the customer requests and customer data from the multiple application level data receiving and processing mechanisms, the central authentication system determining, based on authentication policy, whether the collected customer data is sufficient to authenticate each customer in order to fulfill the customer request. The central authentication system may return its conclusions and instructions to the multiple application level data receiving and processing mechanisms. The customer authentication system may additionally include a fraud policy system for centrally managing authentication policy implemented by the central authentication system.
US09697520B2 Merchant configured advertised incentives funded through statement credits
An advertised incentive system receives advertised incentive configuration information provided by a merchant. The advertised incentive configuration information defines the content of advertised incentive banners. The advertised incentive banners are provided as needed to merchants to display on the merchant's website. Advertised incentive registration information is received from an account holder after the account holder interacts with the advertised incentive banner. Transaction information is received that contains a qualified purchase made by the account holder. The advertised incentive registration and the qualified purchase are matched. A statement credit is issued against the account holder's account and a debit is issued against the merchant's account in the amount of the statement credit.
US09697518B2 Tokenization in mobile environments
Data can be protected in mobile and payment environments through various tokenization operations. A mobile device can tokenize communication data based on device information and session information associated with the mobile device. A payment terminal can tokenize payment information received at the payment terminal during a transaction based on transaction information associated with the transaction. Payment data tokenized first a first set of token tables and according to a first set of tokenization parameters by a first payment entity can be detokenized or re-tokenized with a second set of token tables and according to a second set of tokenization parameters. Payment information can be tokenized and sent to a mobile device as a token card based on one or more selected use rules, and a user can request a transaction based on the token card. The transaction can be authorized if the transaction satisfies the selected use rules.
US09697516B2 System, methods, and computer program products for storing and managing program data
Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for storing and managing program data. A service provider ID having both generic and specific components is sent from a terminal to a mobile device. The mobile device determines whether the service provider ID sent from the terminal matches a service provider ID stored on the mobile device. If there is a match, the mobile device transmits, to the terminal, program data stored on the mobile device associated with the matched service provider ID. If no match is determined, the mobile device determines whether the generic component of the service provider ID sent from the terminal matches the generic component of a service provider ID stored on the mobile device. If there is a generic match, the mobile device transmits, to the terminal, program data stored on the mobile device associated with the generically matched service provider ID.
US09697514B2 Secure-transaction notifications
To facilitate conducting a secure transaction via wireless communication between a portable electronic device (such as a smartphone) and another electronic device (such as a point-of-sale terminal), the portable electronic device may, after a final command is received from the other electronic device, determine a unique transaction identifier for the secure transaction. In particular, the final command may be specific to an applet, stored in a secure element in the portable electronic device, which conducts the secure transaction. The secure element may generate the unique transaction identifier based on financial-account information associated with the applet, which is communicated to the other electronic device. Next, the secure element may provide, to a processor in the portable electronic device, an end message for the secure transaction with the unique transaction identifier.
US09697511B2 Method for securing transactions, transaction device, bank server, mobile terminal, and corresponding computer programs
A method for securing a transaction by an electronic card paired with at least one mobile terminal, wherein a banking organization in charge of managing transactions involving the card has previously recorded an identifier of the mobile terminal among data relating to the owner of the card. The securing method includes: transmission, by the mobile terminal, of at least one first signal including a message containing the identifier; receipt, by at least one transaction device near the mobile terminal, of the first signal; transmission, by the transaction device, of a second signal including at least the message to at least one remote banking organization; assignment, by a control server of the banking organization, to a transaction involving the electronic card, by a control server of the banking organization, of information representing proximity between the electronic card and the mobile terminal, according to the second signal received by the banking organization.
US09697508B1 Mobile payments using point-of-sale infrastructure
Existing infrastructure for processing credit card transactions at point-of-sale (POS) devices is leveraged to provide secure and convenient payment with a mobile device. A mobile transaction infrastructure that is integrated with the credit card interchange network receives information from the mobile device and passes this information to a gateway provider or a payment processor. By combining information from both the mobile device and the POS device, this backend infrastructure can uniquely identify a transaction and appropriately charge an account associated with the user of the mobile device. The transaction may be matched with the mobile device be based on location, time, transaction charge, and/or other factors.
US09697504B2 N-level replication of supplemental content
A method includes receiving a transacting media container having video content and an affiliate tracking identifier with first entity information associated with a first entity. The method also includes identifying second entity information associated with a second entity and retrieving supplemental content based on the second entity information. The method further includes adding the supplemental content to the transacting media container and the second entity information to the affiliate tracking identifier.
US09697499B1 User highlight match indicator
While consuming digital content, a user may highlight a portion considered relevant or of interest. When this user highlight corresponds with an existing highlight created by other users in a community of users, a highlight match indicator is presented to the user. This indicator provides a positive reinforcement to the user that they have serendipitously highlighted a portion which others in the community of users found relevant.
US09697498B2 Inferred salary distribution for schools
Systems, methods and a machine-readable media are described herein for a salary range engine to identify at least one attribute of a first member profile from a plurality of member profiles of a social networking service. The salary range engine correlates the at least one attribute with respect to at least a portion of trained salary data in a trained salary data repository. The salary range engine infers a target salary range based on a correlation between the at least one attribute of the first member profile and at least the portion of the trained salary data.
US09697493B2 System and method of providing replenishment and pick-up services to one or more cash handling devices
A transport carrier (i.e., an armored vehicle or any mode of transportation) may be equipped with cash storage and recycling capabilities. The transport carrier may be equipped to replenish funds as needed and/or pick up a surplus of funds. The transport carrier may be in communication with a financial institution and/or a central server. In some arrangements, the central server may dynamically route the transport carrier to cash handling devices as various locations in order to efficiently meet the needs of the devices and associated clients.
US09697490B1 Industry review benchmarking
Review data associated with a plurality of entities is received. Each of the entities is associated with a particular industry and the review data comprises review data obtained from a plurality of review sites. From at least a portion of the received review data, a review benchmark for the industry is determined. The benchmark is provided as output.
US09697487B2 Verification method and system
Systems and methods for verifying and monitoring employees are provided. Employees call-in to the system at scheduled times. If an employee misses a scheduled call-in, an alert can be generated. An employer notification process can generate the alert, notifying a supervisor of the employee's missed call. The alert can include the employee's name, the location of the employee, and the time he/she was supposed to call. Such systems and methods can be used to verify that a worker is at the proper location at the proper time and awake and alert during the entire time period that he/she is supposed to be working.
US09697483B2 Method and system for tracking and reporting environmental impact and agricultural-producer information
Embodiments of the present disclosure include methods and systems for tracking and reporting environmental impact and agricultural-producer information. In an example embodiment, a method comprises receiving first data associated with an impact on groundwater pollution or surface water pollution, the impact on the groundwater pollution or the surface water pollution resulting from a production of an agricultural product, the groundwater pollution or the surface water pollution comprising a contaminant of at least one of an inorganic or organic pollutant, the first data being received from a single representative sampling location; receiving second data associated with the impact on the groundwater pollution and the surface water pollution from at least one of a plurality of representative sampling locations; generating a benchmark percentage-based result based on the first or second data; calculating comparative data using the benchmark percentage-based result and at least some of the first or second data; and reporting the benchmark percentage-based result and the comparative data to a user.
US09697482B2 Method and system for tracking and reporting environmental impact and agricultural-producer information
Various embodiments of the present disclosure include methods and systems for tracking and reporting environmental impact and agricultural-producer information. In an example embodiment, a method comprises receiving first data associated with an impact on groundwater pollution or surface water pollution, the impact on the groundwater pollution or the surface water pollution resulting from a production of an agricultural product, the groundwater pollution or the surface water pollution comprising a contaminant of at least one of an inorganic or organic pollutant, the first data being received from a single representative sampling location; receiving second data associated with the impact on the groundwater pollution and the surface water pollution, the second data being received from at least one of a plurality of representative sampling locations; generating an aggregate result based on the second data; and calculating comparative data using the aggregate result and at least some of the first data; and reporting the aggregate result and the comparative data to a user.
US09697481B2 Method for operating a hospital information system
A method of operating a hospital information system, and a hospital information system are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the method includes providing a taskflow editing tool with a limited number of editing options to a user; creating a taskflow defining a number of tasks and connections of the tasks by the user using the taskflow editing tool; and performing an automated test run of the created taskflow, wherein the automated test run is checked according to a number of criteria and wherein results of the check are reported to the user.
US09697479B2 Pre-boarding auction system for airline seat upgrades
A system for upgrading airline seats during an online pre-boarding auction that is accessible through travelers' mobile devices. The auction starts at or after check-in but prior to the boarding of a flight. During the auction, travelers that have confirmed reservations for an airline flight are permitted to bid on one or more seat upgrades through their mobile devices. For example, the travelers may be bidding on upgrades from economy to first class, and the bids may be submitted through bidding applications installed on the travelers' mobile devices. The auction can be a live auction that updates the travelers on the status of the auction and receives bids from the travelers throughout the auction. The auction ends prior to boarding, and the winning travelers are sent upgrade confirmations, such as scannable boarding codes that can be used as boarding passes when boarding the flight.
US09697478B2 System and method for generating automated self-optimizing targeted e-mails
A system and method is disclosed for generating targeted e-mails based on individual subject behavior and interests, as determined by an application's website browsing behavior, online and offline purchases, ratings, and other implicit and explicit indications of subject preferences and interests. The subject's behavior data is collected directly from the subject's client browser or from the application's own information and used to generate profiles of the subjects that will be sent e-mails and the objects that will be recommended. Targeted content is generated by matching subject and object profiles in combination with any subject segmentation filters that the application provides. The e-mail targeting is optimized by measuring subject response to targeted e-mails and adjusting recommendation strategies used to generate subsequent recommendations. The system has application in personalization, behavioral targeting, Internet retailing, affiliate marketing, and online advertising, to name but a few applications.
US09697476B1 System and method for utilizing a model to process big data
A model is implemented that includes one or more classes. For each of the one or more classes of the model, a set of input variables of the big data set are represented as a matrix with non-zero values only provided as diagonal entries. A most likely class for each input variable is determined based at least in part on inverting the matrix. One or more predictions are determined for one or more output variables based at least in part on the most likely class of one or more input variables from the set of input variables.
US09697475B1 Additive context model for entity resolution
Systems and methods are disclosed for using an additive context model for entity disambiguation. An example method may include receiving a span of text from a document and a phrase vector for the span. The phrase vector may have a quantity of features and represent a context for the span. The method also includes determining a quantity of candidate entities from a knowledge base that have been referred to by the span. For each of the quantity of candidate entities, the method may include determining a support score for the candidate entity for each feature in the phrase vector, combining the support scores additively, and computing a probability that the span resolves to the candidate entity given the context. The method may also include resolving the span to a candidate entity with a highest probability.
US09697471B2 Device and method for managing plant model
A plant model management device according to one embodiment includes a generation unit and a combining unit. The generation unit receives a first set of prior probability distributions of a first set of automatic operation parameters. The first set of automatic operation parameters define a condition required for modeling a plant model that is a model based on data concerning a plant. The generation unit generates a first set of posterior probability distributions of the first set of automatic operation parameters and a first set of probabilistic plant models based on the first set of prior probability distributions. The first set of posterior probability distributions reflect compatibility with learning data that is past time-series data concerning a first explanatory variable and a first objective variable. The combining unit combines the first set of probabilistic plant models using the first set of posterior probability distributions to generate a first plant model.
US09697470B2 Apparatus and method for integrating manual and automated techniques for automated correlation in data mining
A method is provided for determining one or more causes for variability in data. The method includes selecting a first range of a multivariate model output data on a user interface and employing a computing system, operatively coupled to the user interface, to determine one or more process data causing a variability of the multivariate model output data in the first range when compared to a second range of the multivariate model output data. At least some of the process data includes data derived from a physical measurement of a process variable.
US09697465B2 Drawing an inference of a usage context of a computing device using multiple sensors
Disclosed are techniques (300, 500, 600) and apparatuses (102, 700) for drawing an inference using multiple sensors. These techniques and apparatuses enable a computing device to choose (302) a set of sensors that are capable of providing information for an inference, invoke (304) the chosen set of sensors to provide the information, receive (306) the information from at least a subset of the chosen sensors, and draw (308), based on the received information, the inference. In some cases, the set of sensors are chosen such that time or resources of the computing device can be conserved.
US09697460B2 Biological analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters
Described herein are novel biological converter switches that utilize modular components, such as genetic toggle switches and single invertase memory modules (SIMMs), for converting analog inputs to digital outputs, and digital inputs to analog outputs, in cells and cellular systems. Flexibility in these biological converter switches is provided by combining individual modular components, i.e., SIMMs and genetic toggle switches, together. These biological converter switches can be combined in a variety of network topologies to create circuits that act, for example, as switchboards, and regulate the production of an output product(s) based on the combination and nature of input signals received.
US09697451B2 RFID tag embedded within a molded connector and a tracking system therefor
An electrical asset for distributing power for use with a Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) tracking system and middleware. The electrical asset includes at least one electrical component defining an external surface and at least one radially extending portion or axially extending portion. An RFID transponder is overmolded with the at least one electrical component and embedded within the at least one radially extending portion or axially extending portion and below the exterior surface of the at least one electrical component. The transponder is configured to transmit a first signal to a transmitting and receiving device and receive a second signal from the transmitting and receiving device.
US09697450B1 Magnetic stripe data transmission system and method for reliable data transmission and low power consumption
A magnetic stripe data transmission (MST) driver and a method for driving the MST are disclosed. The MST driver is configured to transmit magnetic strip data comprising of streams of pulses. The MST driver comprises a pair of high side switches and a pair of low side switches. The pair of high side switches comprises a first switch and a second switch. The pair of low side switches comprises a third switch and a fourth switch. The first, second, third and fourth switches are arranged in a full bridge type configuration connected across a voltage source and a ground. An inductive coil is connected across outputs of the full bridge type configuration of the switches. The MST driver includes a switch driver configured to drive the pair of low side switches and the pair of high side switches under current slope control using pulse width modulation. The driven load current has a rising portion and a falling portion through the inductive coil in a forward direction or in a reverse direction with programmable load current rising and falling slopes to induce a recognizable back electromagnetic force at a receiver emulating the magnetic strip data during the load current rising and falling portions and to reduce power loss during time periods without signal transmission.
US09697449B2 Card with an offset field generator
An assembly of a card and a card reader, the card reader comprising a reading head configured to be positioned over a predetermined curve of the card while sensing the electromagnetic field and to output a signal relating to the field sensed, the card comprising an oblong field generator comprising at least two end portions configured to output at least part of the electromagnetic field, wherein the end portions are at least 1.8 mm wide and positioned so that, when projected on to a plane of the surface, an edge of each end portion is positioned no more than 0.5 mm from the curve and/or the curve not overlap the end portions in the projection. The curve is defined by the path of the reading head over the card. The card has a generator displaced in relation to standard cards where the generator is positioned directly under the curve.
US09697436B2 Method for selecting an image of an appliance with a suitable position or orientation of a door of the appliance
A method for selecting an image of an appliance with a suitable position or orientation of a door of the appliance is provided. The method includes obtaining a digital RGB image from a camera of the appliance and converting the digital RGB image to a device independent color space in order to generate at least one of a first chromatic primary plane image or a second chromatic primary plane image from the digital RGB image. The method also includes comparing the first or second chromatic primary plane images to a reference image.
US09697431B2 Mobile document capture assist for optimized text recognition
A device and method for providing a visual cue for improved text imaging on a mobile device. The method includes determining a minimum text size for accurate optical character recognition (OCR) of an image captured by the mobile device, receiving an image stream of a printed substrate, and displaying the image stream and a visual cue superimposed onto the image stream, wherein the visual cue is indicative of the minimum text size. The method further includes capturing a digital image of the image stream, wherein the digital image does not include the visual cue. Additionally, the method further includes notifying a user of the mobile device when text displayed within the image stream is at least as large as the minimum text size.
US09697430B2 Method and apparatus for identifying road signs
The invention relates to a method and a device for recognizing a road sign (Hz, Zz) by means of a camera from a traveling vehicle. The method has the following steps: acquiring at least one image of the surroundings of a vehicle by means of the camera, determining the presence of at least one road sign (Hz, Zz) in the at least one acquired image of the surroundings of the vehicle, determining (also estimating) motion blur in that image segment in which the present road sign (Hz, Zz) is situated, subtracting out motion blur in this image segment, which results in a sharpened image segment, and recognizing the road sign (Hz, Zz) while taking account of the sharpened image segment.
US09697425B2 Video object classification with object size calibration
A camera system comprises an image capturing device and an object classification module connected to the image capturing device. The object classification module is operable to determine whether or not an object in an image is a member of an object class. The object classification module includes multiple decision steps configured in a cascade configuration, wherein at least one of the multiple decision steps is operable to (a) accept an object as a member of the object class, (b) reject an object as a member of the object class, and (c) call on a next step to determine whether or not an object is a member of the object class.
US09697421B2 Stereoscopic camera apparatus
In order to provide a stereoscopic camera apparatus capable of rapidly and accurately detecting a three-dimensional object even when the three-dimensional object abruptly appears in an angle of view, a stereoscopic camera apparatus 100 includes: three-dimensional object detecting means 105, 106, 107; to-be-covered object detecting means 108 for detecting a to-be-covered object having a known shape; and to-be-covered object covering-detecting means 109 and 110 for detecting whether or not the three-dimensional object detected by the three-dimensional object detecting means covers the to-be-covered object when the to-be-covered object is detected by the to-be-covered object detecting means 108. When it is detected that the three-dimensional object covers the to-be-covered object, the to-be-covered object covering-detecting means 109 and 110 detect the three-dimensional object which covers the to-be-covered object by performing a process for determining whether or not the three-dimensional object is present in a simpler way, as compared to a case where the to-be-covered object covering-detecting means 109 and 110 detect that the three-dimensional object does not cover the to-be-covered object.
US09697418B2 Unsupervised movement detection and gesture recognition
Various arrangements for recognizing gestures are presented. A plurality of color images of a scene may be received. Each image of the plurality of color images may be processed to make a plurality of processed color images. The processing of an image of the plurality of color images may comprise grouping pixels of the image being processed into a plurality of clusters based on color. A gesture may be identified using movement of a cluster of the plurality of clusters in the plurality of processed color images.
US09697417B2 Exercise support system, exercise support apparatus, and exercise support method
An exercise support system includes a plurality of imaging devices, a 3D generation section, an evaluation reference memory, and an evaluation section. The imaging devices are configured to capture videos for movements of a person to be evaluated. The 3D generation section is configured to generate 3D model data of the person to be evaluated based on the video captured by each of the imaging devices. The evaluation reference memory is configured to store reference 3D model data that is 3D model data to become an evaluation reference of an exercise. The evaluation section is configured to evaluate the movements of the person to be evaluated by comparing between the reference 3D model data and the 3D model data generated by the 3D generation section in each body part of the person to be evaluated.
US09697416B2 Object detection using cascaded convolutional neural networks
Different candidate windows in an image are identified, such as by sliding a rectangular or other geometric shape of different sizes over an image to identify portions of the image (groups of pixels in the image). The candidate windows are analyzed by a set of convolutional neural networks, which are cascaded so that the input of one convolutional neural network layer is based on the input of another convolutional neural network layer. Each convolutional neural network layer drops or rejects one or more candidate windows that the convolutional neural network layer determines does not include an object (e.g., a face). The candidate windows that are identified as including an object (e.g., a face) are analyzed by another one of the convolutional neural network layers. The candidate windows identified by the last of the convolutional neural network layers are the indications of the objects (e.g., faces) in the image.
US09697412B2 Method of executing function of electronic device and electronic device using the same
Methods and apparatuses are provided for executing a function of an electronic device using fingerprint verification. A security level of the function to be performed is acquired, if the function requires the fingerprint verification. A fingerprint input of a user is received. A count of a number of matching points that exist between the fingerprint input and a prestored fingerprint is determined. The count of the number of matching points is compared with a minimum number of matching points corresponding to the security level of the function.
US09697410B2 Capacitive fingerprint sensor
A capacitive fingerprint sensor includes a compensation memory which stores a direct current offset parameter and a gain compensation parameter of each sensing unit of a capacitive sensing array. Therefore, the above-mentioned capacitive fingerprint sensor is able to individually compensate sensing signals measured by each the sensing unit and the sensing signals measured by each sensing unit have better uniformity and signal to noise ratio (SNR).
US09697409B2 Biometric sensor stack structure
Various structures and methods are disclosed for packaging a biometric sensor, such as a capacitive biometric sensor. Embodiments incorporate various placements of the biometric sensor, structure surrounding a biometric sensor, connection structures (electrical, physical, or both), and techniques for enhanced sensor imaging, sensor retention, and guiding a user's finger to a proper location above a biometric sensor. For example, A biometric sensor assembly can include an aperture formed in a trim with a cap disposed in the aperture. A biometric sensor may be positioned below the cap and a switch positioned below the biometric sensor.
US09697403B2 Indicia-reader having unitary-construction
A hand-held indicia-reading device includes a housing and a cable having a unitary-construction. The indicia-reader has a head portion with an indicia-reading system including a printed circuit board. The entire handle portion of the reader is typically over-molded onto a host-connector cable. The host-connector cable includes a circuit board connector on one end and a connector for connecting to a host at an opposite end extending from a base portion of the handle.
US09697402B1 System and method for integrated circuit handling and tracking
An example method of tracking information for integrated circuits (ICs) that are handled by a plurality of tools during manufacture includes: marking each of IC with a barcode after the ICs have been packaged; performing, at a first tool of the plurality of tools, one or more electrical tests of the ICs and storing electrical characteristics of each IC in association with the barcode of each IC in a database; querying the database with a specification to obtain a set of barcodes for candidate ICs having electrical characteristics that match the specification; scanning, at a second tool of the plurality of tools, the barcode of each of the ICs to select a plurality of ICs each having a respective barcode in the set of barcodes; and segregating the plurality of ICs from the ICs.
US09697399B2 Active radio frequency identification tag applied to logistics tracking system and communication method thereof
A communication method of an active radio frequency identification (RFID) tag attached to a product or a pallet is provided. The method includes: transmitting movement completion information to a reader by using a communication channel, which consumes power of a battery, at a time when movement of the product or the pallet which is moving is not sensed, the movement completion information indicating movement completion of the moving product or pallet; receiving a request message, requesting position information of the tag corresponding to the movement completion information, from the reader by using the communication channel; activating a positioning channel, which consumes relatively more power of the battery that the communication channel, to transmit positioning information to the reader by using the activated positioning channel in response to the request message received through the communication channel; and when the transmission of the positioning information is completed, deactivating the positioning channel.
US09697397B2 Utilization of motion and spatial identification in mobile RFID interrogator
A system and method of using motion or spatial identification technology with a mobile RFID reader to detect whether an RFID tag is part of a forklift load or other ambulatory space such as a shopping cart receptacle, includes determining whether a tag is within a defined space and/or whether a tag is in motion relative to a mobile RFID reader. The system and method determines whether a particular RFID tag is part of a forklift load/space, has been added to or removed, is an extraneous tag, etc.
US09697395B2 Mobile tag reader portal
Systems, methods, and apparatus for identifying parts with electromagnetic identification (EMID) tags are disclosed. In one or more embodiments, a method involves receiving, with a first antenna(s) on a mobile EMID reader portal, a first signal(s) from an EMID tag(s). The method further involves transmitting, with a second antenna(s) on the mobile EMID reader portal, a second signal(s) to an access point(s). Also, the method involves transmitting, with the access point(s), a third signal(s) to an EMID processing system and a location processing system. In addition, the method involves determining, with the location processing system, the location of the mobile EMID reader portal. Additionally, the method involves transmitting, by the location processing system, the location of the mobile EMID reader portal to the EMID processing system. Further, the method involves associating, by the EMID processing system, the EMID tag(s) with the location of the mobile EMID reader portal.
US09697394B2 RFID tag system and RFID reader/writer
An aspect of the present invention provides an RFID tag system in which a null point is hardly generated. The RFID tag system includes an RFID tag and an RFID reader/writer. The RFID reader/writer includes a transmitter that transmits a circularly-polarized radio wave to the RFID tag, a receiver that separately receives horizontal and vertical polarization components of a return wave from the RFID tag; and a received signal combiner that logically combines signals separately received by the receiver. The received signal combiner includes an optimum combiner that combines the horizontal polarization component and the vertical polarization component such that an S/N ratio of the received signal is enhanced compared with the case that the horizontal polarization component and the vertical polarization component are separately received.
US09697391B2 RFID transponder and method for operating the same
An RFID transponder having an analog front end receiver having an attenuator coupled to receive an RF-signal from an antenna and to attenuate the RF-signal, an amplifier having a fixed amplifier gain and being coupled to receive and to amplify the attenuated RF-signal and a control unit coupled to control a gain of the attenuator, wherein the control unit is configured to control the attenuator gain in response to a level of the amplified RF-signal, the control unit is configured to have a plurality of predetermined states causing the attenuator to increase (step-up) or to decrease (step-down), its gain by a predefined step size, wherein the step size of a step-up is equal to or smaller than the step size of a step-down and wherein the control unit is further configured to switch, upon reaching or exceeding a predefined threshold value, from a first to a second state having a smaller step size and causing the attenuator to change the gain such that the slope of the RF signal inverts and to switch, upon reaching the predefined threshold again, to a third state causing the attenuator to change a prefix of the gain.
US09697382B2 Method and system for providing security policy for Linux-based security operating system
A system for providing security policy for a Linux-based security operating system, which includes a template policy module configured to set an authority using policy information of a downloaded application so that the template policy module can set an access control rule for accessing a system resource of the application, a base policy module executing the access control rule for the system resource in accordance with the access control rule set by the template policy module, and a template policy module editor generating a custom application for the corresponding application using information output from the template policy module.
US09697381B2 Computing system with identity protection mechanism and method of operation thereof
A computing system includes: a communication unit configured to access a target account including a feature; a control unit, coupled to the communication unit, configured to: calculate a comparison result based on the feature, determine an anonymity threshold for conforming the target account with a comparison account, and determine the feature for the target account based on the comparison result and the anonymity threshold for displaying on a device.
US09697373B2 Facilitating ownership of access control lists by users or groups
Embodiments of the present invention support a flexible access control design that includes flexible ownership and assignment of access control lists (ACLs). The ACLs can be assigned to one or more resources, or items, or types of resources or items. A creator or owner of an ACL can grant privileges to others such that they may modify or assign the ACL. Each ACL can have one or more owners, i.e., users that can exercise control over the ACL. Any owner of an ACL can designate certain privileges to other users. These other users may then use the ACL based on the privileges granted to them.
US09697372B2 Methods and apparatuses for securing tethered data
Embodiments of a method and apparatus for securing and accessing files are generally described herein. In some embodiments, the method includes adding a communication portion to the file. The communication portion may communicate with an authentication agent on the first computing device. The method may include encrypting data of the file using a first key received through the communication portion from the authentication agent. The first key may be generated based on identification information of a second computing device in a trusted network of computing devices with the first computing device. The method may include saving the file to a remote file storage location.
US09697369B2 Captive portal that modifies content retrieved from designated web page to specify base domain for relative link and sends to client in response to request from client for unauthorized web page
The described captive portal techniques cause client devices to render and display designated web pages. One designated web page may be different than a requested web page such as when a client is not authorized to access the requested page and is instead caused to display a login portal. The captive portal may modify the designated web page to ensure that relative links lacking base domains now have specified base domains pointing to an authorized web server. The modified content is sent from the captive portal to the client device for display. Client web browser security measures related to redirection messages are thereby bypassed and load on the captive portal is minimal. Another designated web page may be the same as the requested web page such as when the requested page is an authorized page even for non-logged in clients. Authorized pages may be modified to add a login link.
US09697364B2 Semiconductor device and access restriction method
The present invention prevents unauthorized functions from being installed to a predetermined storage unit in the background through a communication function that is being used for authorized communication operations and further prevents confidential information from being read out and stolen from the predetermined storage unit. A semiconductor device adopts an exclusive control unit that exclusively controls communication performed by a communication unit capable of communicating with the outside and access to a predetermined storage unit. For example, the communication status of the communication unit is determined based on whether a communication clock is active or inactive, and the exclusive control is exercised based on the determination result.
US09697361B2 System and method of controlling opening of files by vulnerable applications
Disclosed are systems and methods for controlling opening of computer files by vulnerable applications. An example method includes: detecting a request from a software application to open a computer file on the user computer; determining one or more parameters of the file; determining a file access policy based on the parameters of the file, wherein the file access policy specifies at least access rights of the software application to the resources of the user computer; identifying vulnerabilities of the software application; determining an application launching policy for the software application based at least on the determined vulnerabilities, wherein the application launching policy specifies at least whether opening of the file is permitted or prohibited; and controlling opening of the file on the user computer and accessing of the computer resources by the software application working with the opened file based on the file access policy and application launching policy.
US09697357B2 Antivirus scan during a data scrub operation
For an antivirus scan during a data scrub operation, an antivirus scan is concurrently performed as an overlap with the data scrub operation, wherein the data scrub operation periodically inspects and corrects memory errors. The antivirus scan concurrently performing as an overlap with the data scrub operation is increased if a reduction in disk access by a host application is detected. A number of antivirus scan input/output (I/O) operations and data scrub I/O operations is reduced.
US09697353B2 Method and device for intercepting call for service by application
Disclosed are a method and a device for intercepting a call for a service by an application in an operating system of an electronic apparatus. The method comprises: loading an interception dynamic link library to a process where the service is located; replacing the address of an input/output control function in the process with a first address of the interception dynamic link library; when the application is calling the service, executing the interception dynamic link library based on the first address so as to obtain the name and information of the application as well as the information of the call, and replacing the address of the service to be called comprised in the information of the call with a second address of the interception dynamic link library; and executing processing based on the second address according to the name and/or information of the application. The invention increases the security of the operating system of the electronic apparatus.
US09697352B1 Incident response management system and method
A computer-implemented incident response management system, and corresponding method in which an incident response application is provided having a user interface; at least one central processing unit; an operating system and a database communicably coupled to said incident response application. The incident response application is configured to: receive, via said user interface, notification of a cyber or information security incident, together with data objects representative of entities related to said incident, files and/or data found during said incident, and/or observed actions and/or outcomes related to said incident; provide, via said user interface, an interactive representation of said incident, including information represented by said data objects, to selected users; receive, in the form of one or more Indicators of Compromise, data related to the detection of system compromise in connection with one or more of said data objects; and store said Indicators of Compromise in connection with a respective incident.
US09697342B2 Biometric authentication stripe
A device can include memory that stores information; a sensor that senses information; authentication circuitry that authenticates sensed information; and a field generator that outputs at least one magnetic field based at least in part on a portion of stored information responsive to authentication of sensed information. Various other apparatuses, systems, methods, etc., are also disclosed.
US09697338B2 High-resolution mass spectrometer and methods for determining the isotopic anatomy of organic and volatile molecules
A mass spectrometer including an entrance slit, an energy filter, a momentum filter and a detector array, the entrance slit, energy filter and momentum filter being configured to provide molecular analyte ions to the detector array at a mass resolution of about 20,000 or greater. A method for determining the isotopic composition of an analyte in a sample includes converting the analyte to molecular analyte ions, separating the molecular analyte ions using an entrance slit, separating the molecular analyte ions according to their energy levels, separating the molecular analyte ions according to their momenta, detecting two or more of the molecular analyte ions at a mass resolution of about 20,000 or greater to produce molecular analyte ion data; and analyzing the molecular analyte data to determine the isotopic composition of at least a portion of the analyte.
US09697337B2 Systems and methods for managing blood donations
Methods and apparatus collecting blood from patients and managing blood donations are provided, which may include any number of features. One feature is a blood collection device configured to collect blood from a patient and periodically transmit blood collection data from the device to a control system. Another feature is a system and method for updating firmware on a plurality of blood collection devices. In one embodiment, a software interface with a blood collection control can be used to specify a blood collection protocol, and the blood collection protocol can be then transmitted to one or more blood collection devices.
US09697336B2 Electronically initiating an administration of a neuromodulation treatment regimen chosen in response to contactlessly acquired information
In an embodiment, a method includes acquiring electronic data indicative of a property of a mammal without making physical contact with the mammal. The method also includes extracting digital information indicative of a physiological characteristic of the mammal from the electronic data indicative of the property of the mammal. The method further includes choosing from an electronically accessible treatment database a neuromodulation treatment regimen for administration to the mammal in response to the information indicative of a physiological characteristic of the mammal. The method also includes electronically initiating an administration of the chosen neuromodulation treatment regimen to a nervous system component of the mammal.
US09697334B2 Dialysis system having approved therapy prescriptions presented for selection
A dialysis system includes a dialysis machine including at least one dialysis fluid pump and a logic implementer configured to (i) receive a plurality of predetermined therapy prescriptions that have been approved remote from the dialysis machine by a doctor/clinician for a particular patient, at least two of the plurality of predetermined therapy prescriptions having different treatment durations, different dialysis fluids or different ultrafiltration removal amounts, (ii) store the plurality of predetermined therapy prescriptions for use in operating the dialysis machine, (iii) cause the stored therapy prescriptions to be presented, (iv) allow a selection of one or more of the presented therapy prescriptions for one or more upcoming treatment, and (v) operate the at least one dialysis fluid pump according to the selected one or more therapy prescriptions.
US09697332B2 Method and system for providing data management in integrated analyte monitoring and infusion system
Methods and systems for providing therapy related data management are provided. The subject systems include one or more device components, and at least one memory storage unit and at least one data storage unit associated with such one or more device components. The device components may include one or more of an analyte monitoring system, a fluid delivery device and a remote terminal. The subject methods include use of the subject systems to optimize treatment of a patient.
US09697326B1 Topology graph optimization
Embodiments are presented for topology graph optimization. A design geometry is represented as a graph. Engineering objectives and constraints are associated with a graph representation of a design geometry. The graph representation of the design geometry is iteratively refined for analysis using an optimization algorithm. The graph representation of the design geometry is evaluated according to constraints and objectives associated with the desired resulting design. The optimization results can be further refined by updating objectives and constraints. The optimization results may be machined directly.
US09697322B2 Hierarchical wire-pin co-optimization
A method and system to perform physical synthesis in a chip design process using hierarchical wire-pin co-optimization are described. The method includes providing boundary conditions to each of a plurality of macros of the chip design from a unit level controller, the boundary conditions including initial pin locations and an indication of which of the pins are movable pins for each of the plurality of macros, performing macro-level physical synthesis at each of the plurality of macros, and providing feedback to the unit level controller based on the macro-level physical synthesis performed at each of the plurality of macros, the feedback including a proposed new location for the movable pins of each of the plurality of blocks. The method also includes performing hierarchical co-optimization at the unit level controller based on the feedback from each of the plurality of macros to determine locations for the movable pins.
US09697318B2 State visibility and manipulation in integrated circuits
In a first mode, a control circuit generates a circuit design implementation with storage circuits in an integrated circuit by programming configuration memory bits via configuration resources. The storage circuits can be accessed for read and write operations during the execution of the circuit design implementation with the integrated circuit. In a second mode, the control circuit can perform read and write access operations at the storage circuits via configuration resources or via an interface circuit and interconnect resources that are allocated to the circuit design implementation. Typical applications for performing access operations at the storage circuits include fault injection and observation, statistical monitoring of the circuit design, initialization and distribution of certain signals including reset signals, event sampling, just to name a few.
US09697312B2 Integrated circuit including parametric analog elements
A design system is provided. In one embodiment the design system includes an input module to receive specification data for a designed circuit including a configurable integrated circuit (IC). The configurable IC includes a number of analog elements for which parameters can be set by the design system, and a plurality of configurable signal path elements including an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that is utilized in a plurality of different signal paths. The design system further includes a design module to generate a design for the designed circuit based on the specification data, and an output module to set parameters of at least one of the analog elements based on the design. Other embodiments are also provided.
US09697311B2 Spice circuit model for twinaxial cable
A method to generate a reduced delay twinaxial SPICE model is provided. The method may include measuring near-end S-parameter components and far-end S-parameter components of a twinaxial cable, reducing an original time delay of the far-end S-parameter components by multiplying each of the far-end S-parameter components by a complex exponential based on an equivalent delay length, a signal frequency, and an effective dielectric constant, simulating a signal transmitted across a twinaxial cable by running a 4-port SPICE model using the near-end S-parameter components and the multiplied far-end S-parameter components, and recording a magnitude and a phase of the transmitted signal with respect to frequency as outputs of the reduced delay twinaxial SPICE model.
US09697309B1 Metastability-hardened synchronization circuit
An integrated circuit (IC) includes a metastability-hardened synchronization circuit. The metastability-hardened synchronization circuit includes a plurality of sampling circuits, and a multiplexer. The sampling circuits sample an input signal to generate a plurality of sampled signals. The multiplexer generates an output signal from the plurality of sampled signals.
US09697308B2 System and method for generating an electromagnetic field model
A method for generating an EMF model includes establishing a time-domain finite data model associated with an electric device representing the electric device in the time-domain; utilizing the time domain finite data model, determining excitations representing an electrical characteristic of an electrical components of the electric device; and generating an EMF model by processing the excitations with a transformation routine determining an approximate representation of an EMF generated by the electric device. A system for generating the EMF model includes a modelling module establish a time-domain finite data model associated with the electric device and d representing the electric device in the time-domain. The modelling module utilizes the time domain finite data model to determine excitations representing an electrical characteristic of an electrical component of the electric device. The system includes a processing module generating an EMF model by processing the excitations with a transformation routine.
US09697301B2 Systems and methods for standardization and de-duplication of addresses using taxonomy
Systems and associated methods for address standardization and applications related thereto are described. Embodiments exploit a common context in a taxonomy and a given address to detect and correct deviations in the address. Embodiments establish a possible path from a root of the taxonomy to a leaf in the taxonomy that can possibly generate a given address. Given a new address, embodiments use complete addresses, and/or segments or elements thereof, to compute the representations of the elements and find a closest matching leaf in the taxonomy. Embodiments then traverse the path to a root node to detect the agreement and disagreement between the path and the address entry. Taxonomical structured is thus used to detect, segregate and standardize the expected fields.
US09697300B2 Graph syntax validation system and method
A graph syntax validation system, method, or computer-readable medium that receives: (i) an input graph, (ii) transformation rules, and (iii) a minimal valid graph. The system/method/computer-readable medium transforms the input graph into the minimal valid graph using the transformation rules that are comprised of source patterns and target patterns. The system/method/computer-readable medium recurrently transforms the input graph until either the input graph has been reduced to the minimal valid graph indicating that the input graph uses a valid syntax, or until it is determined that one or more transformation rules do not match the input graph indicating that the input graph uses an invalid syntax.
US09697299B2 Embedded system web server
A method for implementing a web server in an embedded system is provided. Registration information is received at the web server in the embedded system from a plurality of objects. Each object provides a link to itself in the registration information. The registration information is stored in a registry as a list of links mapped to the objects. A web page is dynamically generated at runtime by the web server based on the registration information in the registry to provide a user interface including a visual depiction of the links on the web page. The web page is provided to a web browser external to the embedded system such that the objects are accessible to the web browser based on the links through the user interface.
US09697296B2 System generated context-based tagging of content items
A method for selecting a tag for a content item includes obtaining a first content item; obtaining data associated with a first user; based on the data associated with the first user, selecting a first tag for the first content item; and generating a second content item comprising (a) at least a portion of the first content item and (b) the first tag.
US09697295B1 URL monitor with trick mode handling
A uniform resource locator (URL) monitoring system and method employs rules for dynamically managing URLs associated with streamed video content. The system monitors the content stream for URLs and, when a URL is detected, applies the rules to determine how to handle the URL. The system may disable selected trick modes to prevent additional content from being skipped. Alternatively, the system may display the URL while a trick mode is active and, if the URL is followed, suspend the trick mode and show the additional content. URLs encountered during trick modes may be captured and the URL or additional content presented when normal playback resumes. Additionally, the system may determine whether to fit saved URLs around other URLs later in the content stream, display saved URLs simultaneously with the later URLs, or replace the later URLs with the saved URLs based on the handling rules.
US09697294B2 Method and apparatus for managing contents by using content tag
Provided is a method of managing contents, the method including selecting at least one of the stored contents, generating a content tag including content information associated with the selected content, storing the generated content tag, transmitting the generated content tag to an external device, and deleting the selected content.