最新美国发明专利第2018-03-13期 - 专利汇|PatentHub专利检索|专利查询网|发明专利查询分析

Document	Document Title
US09918419B2	Flexible assembly machine, system and method An assembly machine includes a plurality of track modules, each track module including a section of track, the plurality of track modules connectable to form a continuous circuitous track, the continuous circuitous track configured to receive a dispensing head, the dispensing head configured to rotate about the continuous circuitous track and at least partially assemble an unfinished product. The machine includes a first feeder module attached to a first length of the continuous circuitous track configured to feed a component to the dispensing head, and a first placement module attached to a second length of the continuous circuitous track configured to receive the unfinished product. The dispensing head is configured to place the component on the unfinished product. The assembly machine is reconfigurable by attaching or removing one or more of the plurality of track modules, the first feeder module and the first placement module.
US09918417B2	Shield wire A shield wire is formed of eight twisted insulated core wires 1, an inclusion 2 between these respective insulated core wires 1, a tape 3 laterally wound around an outer periphery of a core formed of the insulated core wires and inclusion, a drain wire 4 disposed on an outer surface of the tape, a conductive fiber braided body 5 formed on an outer peripheral surface of the tape so as to interpose the drain wire, a sheath 6 that forms an outer peripheral surface of the braided body, and an adhesive layer 7 between the braided body and sheath. A braided body 5′ is adhesively integrated to the sheath 6′ by an adhesive layer; thus, the braided body 5′ is stripped with the sheath. This eliminates a need for a removal work of the braided body after stripping the sheath, thus ensuring good workability of the terminal processing.
US09918416B2	Electromagnetic interference shield An electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield may include a first shield section configured to be positioned on a first portion of an optical subassembly and a second shield section configured to be positioned on a second portion of the optical subassembly. The first shield section may be configured to contact the second shield section such that the first shield section and the second shield section are held in place when the first shield section and the second shield section are positioned, respectively, on the first portion and the second portion of the optical subassembly.
US09918407B2	Multi-layer heat dissipating device comprising heat storage capabilities, for an electronic device A heat dissipating device that includes a first heat spreader layer, a second heat spreader layer, a first spacer, a second spacer, a first phase change material (PCM), and a second phase change material (PCM). The first heat spreader layer includes a first spreader surface and a second spreader surface. The second heat spreader layer includes a third spreader surface and a fourth spreader surface. The first spacer is coupled to the first heat spreader layer and the second heat spreader layer. The second spacer is coupled to the first heat spreader layer and the second heat spreader layer. The first PCM is located between the first heat spreader layer and the second heat spreader layer. The first PCM is surrounded by the first spacer. The second PCM is between the first heat spreader layer, the second heat spreader layer, the first spacer and the second spacer.
US09918403B2	Single unit supporting hot-removal of storage devices and slidable insertion and extraction from an information handling system rack A rack-based information handling system (IHS) includes a rack containing at least one chassis having a plurality of bays open to laterally receive sleds that contain a plurality of information technology (IT) components that, when operational, enable the rack to function as an IHS. A storage sled including a stationary tray received in the chassis and a moveable trace received in the stationary tray. One or more hot swap bays that are horizontally arrayed in the storage sled in less than one (1) Server System Infrastructure (SSI) rack unit of height, wherein the moveable tray is extendable from the rack to a service position to expose all of its hot swap bays. Storage devices are insertable into a respective one of the hot swap bays of the storage sled. Each storage device may include a latching handle to lift and downward position the storage device in the corresponding hot swap bay.
US09918398B2	Vibration suppression mechanism for an electronic device Provided is a vibration suppression mechanism for an electronic device, which efficiently absorbs vibrations that adversely affect operation of the electronic device. The vibration suppression mechanism for the electronic device includes a holding unit that is constructed such that a vibration absorbing member is used at a contacting portion on a first surface of a holding member and a contact member protruding from a second surface of the holding member which is opposite to the first surface is held by the vibration absorbing member, the holding unit supporting the electronic device via the vibration absorbing member used at the contacting portion on the first surface or the contact member protruding from the second surface, and a housing for holding the holding unit in a mounted state under a state in which the contact member protruding from the second surface or the vibration absorbing member used at the contacting portion on the first surface abuts against a holding structure.
US09918397B2	Open chassis and server module incorporating the same Technology is provided for an open chassis for use with server modules. The open chassis includes an end frame having opposed upper corner portions and opposed lower corner portions. A pair of lower beams, each having a proximal end portion, are connected to a respective lower corner portion of the end frame. A pair of upper beams, each having a proximal end portion, are connected to a respective upper corner portion of the end frame. First and second columns extend between distal end portions of the lower beams and the upper beams. A cross-member extends between the distal end portions of the lower beams. Each beam includes an outward facing surface and an inward facing surface, and at least one of the beams includes a relief formed in its corresponding inward facing surface.
US09918389B2	Electroless metallization of dielectrics with alkaline stable pyrazine derivative containing catalysts Pyrazine derivatives which contain one or more electron donating groups on the ring are used as catalytic metal complexing agents in aqueous alkaline environments to catalyze electroless metal plating on metal clad and un-clad substrates. The catalysts are monomers and free of tin and antioxidants.
US09918388B2	Circuit substrate, method of manufacturing circuit substrate, and electronic component A circuit substrate includes: a mounting region having an exposed surface that is planarized, and in which a predetermined chip is to be mounted; patterns provided in the mounting region, and including respective top faces that form a part of the exposed surface; and solder bumps provided on the respective patterns, and having substantially same shape as one another.
US09918384B2	Dielectric bond plies for circuits and multilayer circuits, and methods of manufacture thereof A bond ply, comprising a first outer layer comprising a thermosetting composition and a filler composition; a second outer layer comprising a thermosetting composition and a filler composition that is of the same type as that of the first outer layer; and an intermediate layer disposed between the first and the second outer layers, and comprising a thermosetting composition and a filler composition that is of the same type as the first and second outer layers, wherein the thermosetting composition of the intermediate layer has a degree of cure that is greater than a degree of cure for each of the thermosetting compositions of the first and the second outer layers.
US09918382B2	Patterned metallization handle layer for controlled spalling A handle substrate having at least one metallization region is provided on a stressor layer that is located above a base substrate such that the at least one metallization region is in contact with a surface of the stressor layer. An upper portion of the base substrate is spalled, i.e., removed, to provide a structure comprising, from bottom to top, a spalled material portion of the base substrate, the stressor layer and the handle substrate containing the at least one metallization region in contact with the surface of the stressor layer.
US09918379B2	Circuit board A circuit board includes a substrate, two signal lines, two ground lines and two ground vias. The substrate includes a signal layer, a ground layer and an insulation layer. The signal layer is spaced apart from the ground layer. The signal lines are disposed on the signal layer with a first distance between the signal lines. The two signal lines are symmetrical about a reference line. The ground lines are disposed on the signal layer with a second distance between the first signal line and the first ground line. The second ground lines are disposed on the signal layer with one of the ground lines including two line portions having different widths. One of the ground vias is located at a joint between the two line portions. The two ground vias are symmetrical about the reference line.
US09918374B2	Control system of a balanced micro-pulsed ionizer blower In one embodiment of the invention, a method of automatically balancing ionized air stream created in bipolar corona discharge is provided. The method comprises: providing an air moving device with at least one ion emitter and reference electrode connected to a micro-pulsed AC power source, and a control system with at least one ion balance monitor and corona discharge adjustment control; generating variable polarity groups of short duration ionizing micro-pulses: wherein said micro-pulses are predominantly asymmetric in amplitude and duration of both polarity voltages and have a magnitude of at least one polarity ionizing pulses exceed the corona threshold.
US09918370B2	Electroluminescent devices and methods of making electroluminescent devices including an optical spacer An electroluminescent device and a method of making an electroluminescent device that includes one or more optical spacers are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes forming an electroluminescent element on a substrate. The method further includes selectively thermally transferring an optical spacer.
US09918368B2	Lighting device, lighting arrangement comprising lighting device and method for operating a lighting device A lighting device comprising a plurality of components (2) provided for generating radiation, a plurality of row lines (Z1, Z2) and a plurality of column lines (S1, S2, . . . , S5) is specified, wherein the components are in each case electrically conductively connected to a row line and to a column line and the lighting device is provided for the simultaneous operation of at least two components. A lighting arrangement comprising such a lighting device and a method for operating a lighting device are furthermore specified.
US09918364B2	Electronic circuit for driving LED strings including a plurality of regulation modules which function in sequence An electronic circuit drives a plurality of LED strings connected in series. The electronic circuit includes a regulation module corresponding to each LED string, with the regulation module connected to the cathode terminal of the corresponding LED string. Each regulation module is further coupled to receive a reference voltage in phase with a rectified a.c. voltage. The regulation modules execute in turn and in sequence a current-regulation phase as a function of a trend of the reference voltage. Each regulation module, when executing the current-regulation phase, functions to regulate the current that flows in the corresponding LED string and in any previous LED strings in the series connection so that the regulated current is proportional to the reference voltage.
US09918360B2	Light-emitting diode lighting apparatus A lighting apparatus using light emitting diodes is disclosed. A plurality of light-emitting groups are connected to each other in series at an output terminal of a rectification unit. Current diodes as current sources are branched from a node between the light-emitting groups. Current values set in the current diodes are set according to the amount of current flowing into the light-emitting groups. Therethrough, the amount of current flowing in each light-emitting group can be determined.
US09918356B2	Heating element and method for producing a heating element The invention relates to a heating element for a room in a building having a flat support which includes carbon nanotubes and a plurality of contacts, wherein the carbon nanotubes can be excited to infrared emission by connecting an electrical voltage to the contacts. The invention further relates to a method for producing such heating element, the support thereof being attached to a wall of the room. In order to simplify the heating element, according to the invention the support includes a flexible textile material in which the contacts are embedded and to which the carbon nanotubes are applied in an aqueous dispersion and the water is evaporated.
US09918351B2	Setup of multiple IOT networks devices The present disclosure relates to setup of IoT network devices, and specifically to setup of multiple similar IoT devices at substantially the same time using joint authentication. Embodiments include, for example, receiving, at an existing network device on a network, one or more communications, wherein the one or more communications include an indication that multiple new network devices are associated with the network; receiving an indication that the multiple new network devices have generated a setup access point; establishing a connection with the access point of each of the multiple new network devices; receiving identification information, wherein the identification information includes information identifying each of the multiple new network devices; and transmitting the identification information identifying each of the multiple new network devices, wherein when the identification information is received, the identification information facilitates generating an authentication query to authenticate one or more of the multiple new network devices.
US09918350B2	Method for performing discovery step and device therefor The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. Particularly, the present invention relates to a method and device by which a terminal performs a discovery step for D2D communication in a wireless communication system, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a first discovery signal (DS) including identification information of a target terminal from a member terminal of a first terminal group; checking whether the target terminal belongs to the first terminal group; and transmitting a second DS corresponding to the first DS, wherein if the target terminal belongs to the first terminal group, the second DS is transmitted to member terminals within the first terminal group, and if the target terminal does not belong to the first terminal group, the second DS is transmitted to a specific terminal within a second group different from the first group.
US09918348B2	Device-to-device relay selection Systems and methods are disclosed for selecting a relay device for device-to-device communication with a target device in a partial coverage scenario. The method may include determining that the wireless device is out-of-service, detecting a set of candidate relay devices, identifying one or more communication parameters associated with each candidate relay device of the set of candidate relay devices, calculating a selection metric associated with each candidate relay device of the set of candidate relay devices based on the identified one or more communication parameters, selecting at least one candidate relay device from the set of candidate relay devices based on the selection metric, and transmitting the data to the selected at least one relay device.
US09918344B2	Random access procedure for enhanced coverage support Embodiments described herein relate generally to a communication between a user equipment (UE) and an evolved Node B (eNB) that are both running in Enhanced Coverage (EC) mode. The UE and eNB may communicate in a contention-based random access procedure having an EC level that may be used to determine the number of times an RA preamble may be sent, and one or more RA response opportunity windows that may be used to receive one or more RA responses. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.
US09918336B2	LAA-LTE communication in an unlicensed spectrum A method includes transmitting, at an access point configured to transmit data over an unlicensed band, a single message prior to transmitting data over a channel of the unlicensed band. The method further includes receiving, at the access point, a plurality of responses from a plurality of user equipment acknowledging the single message in response to the single message.
US09918334B2	Processing method for data transmission, apparatus, and system Embodiments of the present invention provide a processing method for data transmission, an apparatus and a system. The method includes: receiving scheduling signaling sent by a base station, where the scheduling signaling includes a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process ID; and transmitting, within a same transmission time interval TTI, on a process that corresponds to the HARQ process identifier, data on a first logical channel element and data on a second logical channel element. According to the processing method for data transmission, the apparatus, and the system provided in the embodiments of the present invention, utilization of bandwidth resources for data transmission is improved. Therefore, data throughput of UE can be also effectively ensured.
US09918333B2	Method and apparatus for wireless communication on multiple spectrum bands A method and apparatus for simultaneously communicating on at least two carrier frequencies, of which at least one carrier frequency is a licensed band and at least one carrier frequency is an unlicensed band, includes broadcasting an operating status of the unlicensed band to a receiver device, collecting feedback data regarding channel conditions from the receiver device for both the licensed band and unlicensed band, determining, when a bandwidth request is received from the receiver device, whether to use the unlicensed band based on the channel conditions, transmitting an unlicensed band scheduling indication to the receiver device, and communicating with the receiver device using both the licensed band and the unlicensed band according to the transmitted unlicensed band scheduling indication.
US09918330B2	Soft-TDMA for wireless ad-hoc networks A method, network device and computer program product schedule packets received from a higher layer packet source for transmission from a network device onto a medium shared with at least one contending network device where access to the medium is controlled by a medium access protocol. Medium history information associated with the medium is obtained. A transmission schedule that provides for periodic opportunities to transmit a packet from the network device is determined in the network device. The transmission schedule minimizes contention with transmission from the at least one contending network device by taking into account the medium history information associated with the medium. At least some of the packets are provided to a medium access controller in the network device that operates in accordance with the medium access protocol, based on the determined transmission schedule. Packets output from the medium access controller are transmitted from the network device.
US09918327B2	Methods and network nodes for communication between a first network node and a second network node over a twisted pair wire A first network node of a cellular system is configured for communication with a second network node over a twisted pair wire. The first network node includes a receiver for receiving, over the twisted pair wire, an intermediate frequency signal from the second network node, which intermediate frequency signal has been converted from a high frequency signal having a frequency higher than the frequency of the intermediate frequency signal by the second network node, and a down-converter for converting the intermediate frequency signal to a low frequency signal having a frequency lower than the frequency of the intermediate frequency signal. The first network node also includes an up-converter for converting a received low frequency signal to an intermediate frequency signal having a frequency higher than the frequency of the low frequency signal.
US09918326B2	Optimizing resources in data transmission Methods and systems for providing data are disclosed. An optimal set of subcarriers can be determined for a data transmission when a plurality of devices have requested the data transmission. The optimal set of subcarriers can be determined based on similarities or differences between parameters assigned to subcarriers in capability profiles. Capacity loss and other information can be determined based on the similarities or the differences among corresponding parameters of the capability profiles. The data transmission can be transmitted to the plurality of devices via the optimal set of subcarriers.
US09918324B2	Method and system for delivering system information to user equipment in region of co-channel interference A method and system to deliver updated system information to one or more victim User Equipments (UEs) in connected mode within the dominant co-channel interference region in Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) environment is disclosed. The method enables the base station of a victim cell to trigger one or more victim UEs in the region of co-channel interference to apply a new signaling procedure for acquiring a new message block to be delivered by the victim cell. The method provides an error handling procedure for system information acquisition failure by the victim UE in the dominant co-channel interference region of the victim cell in HetNet. The method improves reliability of updated system information delivery and improves probability of system information acquisition in region of dominant co-channel interference.
US09918322B2	Radio resources management system A radio resource management (RRM) system and method manages radio resources in a wireless network of radio access points (APs). In some embodiments, the channel and/or frequency of radios of the APs are managed based on a prioritization scheme of the radios. In some embodiments, the transmit powers of the radios are managed based on the prioritization scheme. The priorities of the radios is partially based on the priorities of clients connected to the radios. In some embodiments, the RRM system is a centralized controller system. In some embodiments, the RRM system forms a hierarchical network of child and parent nodes. The parent nodes are configured to manage the radios associated with the parent and its child nodes. The parent node with the smallest number of child nodes, which are associated with the selected radio and its neighboring radios, is managing these radios.
US09918313B2	Spectrum allocation for base station Embodiments include processes, systems, and devices that allow a white space base station to request available frequency ranges for white space transmission in a local area. A white space finder service models a primary user device's transmission signal propagation area using terrain data associated with the local area of the primary user device. The white space finder service also determines, based on the location of the white space base station and the modeled propagation area, one or more locally available, non-interfering frequency ranges and provides them to the white space base station. The white space base station compares the provided frequency ranges to policies and selects one or more of the available frequencies that accommodate the policies. The white space base station also maps the transmission frequency ranges to virtual frequency ranges for transmission by a software-defined radio employing spectrum virtualization.
US09918310B2	Versatile radio receiver architecture An RF receiver comprises a down-converting and sampling circuit (104) adapted to: receive an RF input signal (RFIN) having a signal band (BWRF) comprising a plurality of sub-bands (BWIF), each sub-band comprising a plurality (2K) of channels separated by frequency channel spaces (ΔfCH); and perform frequency transposition and sampling to generate a discrete time signal in which a selected one of the plurality of sub-bands is brought from an initial frequency band to a lower frequency band (IF20±KΔfCH); and a discrete time filter (108) having a variable pass band, the central frequency (f0) of the discrete time filter being controllable to select any one of the plurality (2K) of channels of the selected sub-band.
US09918306B2	Method for receiving downlink control channel by means of terminal in wireless communication system and apparatus for same The present invention relates to a method for receiving a downlink control channel by means of a terminal in a wireless communication system and to an apparatus for same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for detecting downlink control information by means of a terminal in a wireless communication system that supports carrier aggregation, the method comprising: a step of receiving resource region information for an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) from a base station; a step of constructing at least one resource block as a search space for EPDCCH monitoring based on the resource region information; and a step of monitoring the search space to detect downlink control information. The resource region information is a resource region configuration based on cells to be cross-carrier scheduled.
US09918305B2	Enhanced system information decoding Methods and apparatus for decoding system information include determining a maximum repetition rate duration based at least in part on a master information block (MIB). The methods and apparatus further include generating a distributed system information block (SIB) decoding scheme for allocating radio frequency resources between a first subscriber identity module (SIM) and a second SIM. In some aspects, the distributed SIB decoding scheme includes a partitioned SIB decoding schedule for the maximum repetition rate duration and based at least in part on a continuous SIB decoding period. Additionally, the methods and apparatus include attempting to decode one or more SIBs during the maximum repetition rate duration according to the distributed SIB decoding scheme.
US09918304B2	Uplink control channel allocation in a communication system and communicating the allocation Various methods of allocating uplink control channels in a communication system are implemented at a resource scheduler or a user equipment (UE). In one method the scheduler reserves resources for a downlink data channel and signals a corresponding downlink data channel grant and also reserves resources for a persistent uplink control channel for a longer duration than the data channel grant. Signaling overhead associated with a grant for this persistent uplink control channel is reduced over a full dynamic grant. A predetermined rule can be used at the scheduler and at the UE to avoid overhead signaling associated with a grant for this persistent control channel. Predetermined rules at the UE and scheduler can also be used to reserve appropriate resources and select appropriate MCS levels for control information and the control information and uplink data can be transported over a common uplink channel when a time overlap occurs between an uplink data channel and the persistent control channel.
US09918300B2	Communication apparatus, control method thereof, and program A method for controlling a communication apparatus, includes specifying, before joining a wireless network, an external device that will be a data transmitting source, receiving related information relating to data to be transmitted from the specified external device, determining whether to receive the data to be transmitted based on the received related information, joining a wireless network when it is determined to receive the data to be transmitted, and receiving the data to be transmitted from the specified external device after joining the wireless network.
US09918299B2	Wireless communication method for device to device communication and user equipment Provided are wireless communication methods for D2D communication and UEs therefor. A wireless communication method involves transmitting either a first DCI or a second DCI based on whether a first UE and a second UE are to be in a communication type of groupcast or unicast. In the wireless communication methods, the first DCI and the second DCI are scrambled by the UE ID of the second UE if the first UE and the second UE are in the communication type of unicast upon transmitting the first DCI and the second DCI, and the first DCI and the second DCI are scrambled by the group ID if the first UE and the second UE are in the communication type of groupcast upon transmitting the first DCI and the second DCI.
US09918297B2	Location measuring method and apparatus using access point for wireless local area network service and method for estimating location coordinate of access point A method and apparatus for measuring a location of a communication terminal using an access point is provided. Information of nearby access points from the communication terminal is received. A predetermined number of nearby access points among the nearby access points is selected based on the received information. Location coordinates of the selected predetermined number of nearby access points are extracted. A barycentric coordinate is calculated using the extracted location coordinates. The calculated barycentric coordinate is determined as a final location of the communication terminal.
US09918290B2	Methods and apparatus for inter-cell device-to-device communication and discovery A method includes detecting a device to device (D2D) synchronization signal of a neighbor base station, transmitted from at least one other UE associated with the neighbor base station through a transceiver, determining at least one UE receive (RX) resource pool configured by the neighbor base station based on the D2D synchronization signal of the neighbor base station, and monitoring a D2D discovery or communication signal transmitted from the at least one other UE according to the at least one UE RX resource pool through the transceiver. A method includes determining at least one UE RX resource pool for at least one device associated with a base station, each UE RX resource pool comprising a repetition of a Scheduling Assignment (SA) pool and a data pool with a scheduling cycle, the SA pool comprising a SA bitmap, and the data pool comprising at least one repeated data bitmap.
US09918288B2	Methods, nodes and user equipments for finding neighboring user equipments with which a first user equipment may be able to communicate directly Disclosed is a method performed by a system of network nodes in a wireless communication network, for finding neighboring user equipments, UEs, with which a first UE (121) may be able to communicate directly. The system of network nodes includes a first base station, BS, (111), and the first UE is wirelessly connected to the first BS. The method comprises receiving, from a plurality of UEs (122, 123, 124, 125) wirelessly connected to the first BS (111) and from the first UE (121), power measurements performed on signals received from neighboring BSs (112, 113, 114, 115). The method further comprises determining (204) correlation values between the power measurements received from the first UE and the power measurements received from individual of the plurality of UEs by comparing a level of the power measurements of the first UE and a level of the power measurements of individual of the plurality of UEs, which power measurements are performed on signals received from the same neighboring BS, and, based on the determined correlation values, determining neighboring UEs for the first UE, out of the plurality of UEs, and sending identities, IDs, of the determined neighboring UEs to the first UE.
US09918285B2	Method and user equipment of uplink power control Disclosed are a method and user equipment of uplink power control. The method comprises the steps of: UE determines the target transmission power of uplink signal which transmitted on each synchronization uplink component carrier of current uplink sub-frame; Judging whether PRACH transmission exists on uplink secondary component carrier of current uplink sub-frame; If judged that there is, determining the PRACH target transmission power, and further judging that whether the sum of the uplink signal power and the PRACH target transmission power exceeds the maximum transmission power of UE; If judged exceeded, holding the PRACH target transmission power constant, and reducing the target transmission power of all or part of SC-FDMA symbol of uplink signal which is contained in current uplink sub-frame and needed to reduce power. The technical scheme of present invention is using for uplink power control when PRACH signal is overlap with other uplink signal.
US09918284B2	Methods and systems for downlink transmit power control command transmission Backwards compatibility may be achieved by transmitting an alternating pattern of uplink TPC commands in uplink timeslots. In one example, a served user equipment (UE) receives a downlink TPC command from a serving base station during a downlink timeslot in a sequence of downlink timeslots, and generates an uplink TPC command based on a received power level of the downlink TPC command. The served UE may then transmit the uplink TPC command in an uplink timeslot mapped to the downlink timeslot in which the downlink TPC command was received, as well as transmit an alternating pattern of uplink TPC commands in other uplink timeslots. The alternating pattern of uplink TPC commands may cause a neighboring base station to effectively maintain its transmit power level.
US09918283B2	Systems and methods for controlling and locating the source of a remote beacon signal Systems and methods for controlling and locating the source of a remote signal, comprising a first electronic device configured to transmit a first wireless signal containing information concerning a power level of the first electronic device, and a second electronic device configured to: measure a strength of the first wireless signal; approximate a proximity of the second electronic device to the first electronic device; identify, based on the approximated proximity and the information concerning the power level of the first electronic device, one or more changes to a configuration of the first wireless signal for optimizing power consumption of the first electronic device during a search for the first electronic device; and instruct the first electronic device, via a second wireless signal, to transmit the first wireless signal with the at least one or more identified configuration changes.
US09918281B2	Physical uplink shared channel power control method and apparatus that carry out power control in accordance with adjacent cell interference The present disclosure provides a PUSCH power control method and a PUSCH power control apparatus. According to the present disclosure, the interference of a current cell on its adjacent cells is determined in accordance with interference level information from the adjacent cells, so it is able to adjust PUSCH power for a current cell user, thereby to perform the power control in accordance with the interference among the adjacent cells.
US09918279B2	Method and apparatus for PUSCH/PUCCH power scaling considering dual connectivity in power limited state Provided is a method and apparatus for executing an uplink channel power control in dual connectivity configuration when power is limited. An appropriate power controlling method may be determined based on a priority, and may be applied to a UE that has dual connectivity with a Master eNB (MeNB) and a Secondary eNB (SeNB) in a network.
US09918278B2	Method and apparatus for operating based on power save mode in wireless LAN Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for operating based on a power save mode in a wireless LAN. The method for operating based on the power save mode in a wireless LAN may comprise the steps of: an STA receiving, from an AP, a beacon frame from a beacon frame time resource for the beacon frame, wherein a TIM included in the beacon frame indicates pending downlink data for the STA; the STA maintaining a sleep mode after receiving the beacon frame and until a monitoring start time resource for the downlink frame for delivering downlink data; and the STA receiving, from the AP, the downlink frame from a listen window including the monitoring start time resource.
US09918275B2	Method and system for waking sleeping trunking terminal up The present disclosure discloses a method and system for waking a sleeping trunking terminal. A trunking terminal determines whether to enter a sleeping mode in a standby status, calculates a waking monitoring time point of the group according to the group sleeping parameter of the group, enters the sleeping mode at a sleeping start time point of the trunking terminal, wakes up and monitors whether a group paging message is received at the waking monitoring time point of the group, wakes up, joins the group and monitors a group downlink sharing channel when the group paging message is received, and continues sleeping when the group paging message is not received. In a network side, a trunking switching center transmits a group establishment message to a base station. The base station calculates the waking monitoring time point, and transmits the group paging message at the waking monitoring time point.
US09918271B2	Optimized barred timer handling in high-speed scenario Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a moving user equipment (UE) or an application operable in a wireless communications network and methods in which an apparatus for wireless communication is configured to adaptively adjust a barred time for the moving UE by obtaining a dynamic characteristic of the moving UE; adjusting the barred time associated with the moving UE based on the dynamic characteristic to yield an adjusted barred time; applying the adjusted barred time to a resource management protocol; and executing the resource management protocol in a first wireless network in accordance with the adjusted barred time to access a first cell in the first wireless network.
US09918269B2	Method and apparatus for managing handovers in a wireless network A system that incorporates the subject disclosure may include, for example, monitoring a speed and an acceleration of a mobile communication device in a serving cell of a wireless network where the mobile communication device has a radio resource control connection with the wireless network, and selecting a first mobility speed group from among a plurality of mobility speed groups based on the speed and the acceleration of the mobile communication device, where handover parameter values are assigned to each speed group of the plurality of mobility speed groups, and where the handover parameters and their associated values are utilized for a handover by the wireless network from the serving cell to a target cell. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09918264B1	Reporting of information before a scheduled time A mobile device can send information to a server by first obtaining, by the mobile device, a scheduled time to send the information to the server. In response to determining, by the mobile device, that a trigger condition is met before the scheduled time, the mobile device sends at least a portion of the information from the mobile device to the server.
US09918263B2	Methods for efficient wireless communications and communication apparatus utilizing the same A communications apparatus and method for camping on a serving cell. The apparatus includes a radio frequency (RF) signal processing device, processing a plurality of RF signals to generate a plurality of baseband signals, a baseband signal processing device, processing the baseband signals, and a processor, determining whether a first predetermined threshold value related to cell reselection of the serving cell is greater than a second predetermined threshold value related to cell reselection of a predetermined neighbor cell, and when the first predetermined threshold value is greater than the second predetermined threshold value, determining not to perform cell reselection to reselect to the predetermined neighbor cell and determining to perform at least one radio activity instead in a predetermined period of time reserved for performing the cell reselection.
US09918262B2	Method and apparatus for forwarding data for small cell in wireless communication system A method and apparatus for forwarding data in a wireless communication system is provided. A small cell receives an indication which indicates stopping serving a small cell service from a macro eNodeB (eNB). Upon receiving the indication, the small cell starts to forward data to the macro eNB together with a sequence number (SN) status transfer message. The indication may be received via a form of a message or a form of an information element (IE) in a message.
US09918261B2	Mobile communication system, SGW, terminal communication method and control method A bearer management device that performs control to reliably receive an incoming packet call that is made while a mobile terminal device is moving is provided. A bearer management device (10) includes an incoming call control unit (11) that, in the case where a mobility management device (30) manages a location of a mobile terminal device (40) as a result of movement of the mobile terminal device (40) whose location has been managed by a mobility management device (20), suspends processing of an incoming call to the mobile terminal device (40) made during movement of the mobile terminal device (40) until receiving a notification about completion of movement of the mobile terminal device (40) from the mobility management device (30), and resumes incoming call processing to the mobile terminal device (40) after receiving a notification about completion of movement of the mobile terminal device (40) from the mobility management device (30).
US09918258B2	Anomaly correlation mechanism for analysis of handovers in a communication network Optimizing neighbor cell relationships for improving handover performance by interpreting handover failures is presented herein. A method can include receiving data representing a time series of failures of outgoing handovers corresponding to a wireless access point device, and determining, based on a determined condition corresponding to a metric, that a source cell of the wireless access point device is associated with an anomalous cell relation corresponding to the time series of the failures of the outgoing handovers in response to quantifying the time series based on the metric. In various examples, the quantifying can include quantifying the time series with respect to: a volume of the failures during a period of time, an entropy calculated on a probability distribution of the failures by determined relations between the source cell and target cells, and/or an entropy calculated on a probability distribution of determined outgoing handover outcomes.
US09918257B2	Method and apparatus for cell update while in an enhanced Cell—FACH state A method and apparatus for cell update while in a Cell_FACH state are disclosed. After selecting a target cell, system information is read from the target cell including high speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH) common system information. A radio network temporary identity (RNTI) received in a source cell is cleared and a variable HS_DSCH_RECEPTION is set to TRUE. An HS-DSCH medium access control (MAC-hs) entity is configured based on the HS-DSCH common system information. High speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) transmission is then received in the target cell. A CELL UPDATE message is sent to notify of a cell change. The HSDPA transmission may be received using a common H-RNTI broadcast in the system information, a reserved H-RNTI as requested in a CELL UPDATE message, or a temporary identity which is a subset of a U-RNTI. The MAC-hs entity may be reset.
US09918252B2	Rate adaptation for LTE-WLAN aggregation LWA (LTE/WLAN Aggregation) is a tight integration at radio level which allows for real-time channel and load aware radio resource management across WLAN and LTE to provide significant user perceived throughput (UPT) improvement. When enabling LWA, packets are routed to a base station (eNB) for performing PDCP functionalities as an LTE PDU. Afterwards, the eNB can dispatch the PDU either delivered over LTE link or WLAN link. The UPT improvement depends on how the eNB dispatches the PDU over LTE link or WLAN link. In one novel aspect, the eNB can acquire channel information, load information, and throughput estimation regarding with WLAN link and LTE link. As a result, the eNB can optimize UPT and LWA PDU dispatching algorithm.
US09918249B2	Method and apparatus for removing interference and receiving signal in wireless communication system The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. A method for a terminal for removing interference and receiving a signal in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: receiving configuration information for channel status information which has utilized interference measurements; and on the basis of the configuration information, measuring the interference from an interfering cell, and on the basis of the measured interference, measuring the channel status information from an interference measurement resource (IMR), wherein interference can be measured, in a resource block in which an IMR exists, on the basis of whether the interfering cell is transmitting data and the type of the signal transmitted from the IMR.
US09918247B2	Wireless communication system having cell saturation based content delivery Receiving Internet Protocol (IP) data content having an associated file type and service port number is disclosed. Determining a level of service for a portable wireless transceiver is further disclosed. The level of service may be associated with the file type, the service port number and a saturation of users in a cell of the wireless transceiver. On a condition the level of service is determined to be a partial service level, data content may be delivered to the portable wireless transceiver at a limited data rate. On a condition the level of service is determined to be a full service level, the data content may be delivered to the portable wireless transceiver at a data rate higher than the limited data rate.
US09918243B2	Measurement procedure under adaptive frequency separation According to some embodiments, a method in a wireless device comprises determining the wireless device is capable of narrow bandwidth operation. The wireless device obtains a parameter associated with a measurement pattern The measurement pattern comprises: a first time period and a second time period; a first type of radio measurements to be performed during the first time period on radio signals transmitted in a first set of physical resource channels; and a second type of radio measurements to be performed during the second time period on radio signals transmitted in a second set of physical resource channels. The wireless device determines a measurement pattern using the obtained parameter, and performs radio measurements of the first type during the first time period.
US09918240B2	Wireless communication using multi-dimensional antenna configuration Communications may be performed in a communications system using multi-dimensional antenna configurations. A WTRU may receive communications from a base station via one or more channels. The communications may be performed using multiple component codebooks. The WTRU may send channel state information (CSI) feedback for each component codebook to the base station for consideration when performing communications with the WTRU. The WTRU may determine the CSI feedback for each component codebook based on channel measurements. The component codebooks may include a horizontal component codebook and/or a vertical component codebook. The WTRU may send the CSI feedback for each component codebook to the base station independently or in the form of a composite codebook. The WTRU may determine a composite codebook a function of the component codebooks.
US09918237B2	Transmitting positioning packets Apparatus comprises means for monitoring at least one criterion for an adjustment of a transmit power of a positioning packet by a mobile apparatus, the positioning packet enabling a determination of a position of the mobile apparatus to be made; and means for, when it is detected that the at least one criterion is met, causing an adjustment of the transmit power of positioning packets at the mobile apparatus.
US09918234B2	Supplementing network coverage with a fleet of autonomous drones Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture (e.g., physical storage media) to supplement network coverage with a fleet of autonomous drones are disclosed. Example methods disclosed herein include configuring a first drone with information specifying a size and a target location associated with the coverage area. Disclosed example methods also include, when the first drone reaches the target location, monitoring for communication signals to determine whether a first coverage zone provided by the first drone and a second coverage zone provided by a second drone in a fleet of drones overlap. Disclosed example methods further include autonomously adjusting a position of the first drone to maintain overlapping of the first coverage zone provided by the first drone with the coverage area, but to reduce an amount of overlap of the first coverage zone with the second coverage zone.
US09918233B2	Antenna placement determination device Concepts and technologies are disclosed herein for an antenna placement determination device. An antenna placement determination device can include a signal sensor located at a first end of an extendible arm, a platform located proximate to a second end of the extendible arm, a drive system connected to the platform, and an actuator connected to the extendible arm. The actuator can be configured to extend and collapse the extendible arm. The signal sensor can be connected to the extendible arm by a joint, and a sensor actuator or sensor motor can rotate the signal sensor about the joint. The drive system can include a drive motor and a drive mechanism that is configured to transport the antenna placement determination device.
US09918229B2	Methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing access network protocol interworking and authentication proxying The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for access network protocol interworking and authentication proxying. One method includes receiving an authentication request from a node in an access network for authenticating a user using cellular network authentication. The method further includes, in response to the request, using a native protocol of the cellular network to obtain an authentication challenge from a node in the cellular network. The method further includes communicating the authentication challenge to the node in the access network. The method further includes receiving a response to the authentication challenge from the node in the access network. The method further includes determining whether the response matches an expected response. The method further includes, in response to determining that the response matches the expected response, communicating an indication of successful authentication to the node in the access network.
US09918228B2	Session completion through co-browsing A method, system and computer program product for session completion through co-browsing is claimed. The method can include establishing a content browsing session between a first computing device and a content server serving access to content to the first computing device and maintaining state data for the content browsing session. A co-browsing arrangement of the content can be created as between the first computing device and a second computing device and at least a subset of the state data can be cloned for use by the second computing device during co-browsing of the content. Thereafter, a modified form of the subset of the state data can be received from the second computing device resulting from the co-browsing of the content by the second computing device and the modified form of the subset of the state data can be provided to the first computing device for use during the content browsing session.
US09918226B2	Spoofing protection for secure-element identifiers The disclosed embodiments related to a first electronic device (such as a cellular telephone) that includes a secure element. In response to a challenge and a request for a secure-element identifier associated with the secure element, which are received from a second electronic device (such as a trusted services manager that loads content onto the secure element), the secure element provides to the second electronic device: the secure-element identifier, a certificate associated with a provider of the secure element, and a digital signature. The digital signature may include a signed version of the challenge and the secure-element identifier, which are encrypted using an encryption key associated with a provider of the secure element. In this way, the second electronic device may certify the secure element.
US09918225B2	Apparatuses and methods for wireless communication One feature pertains to a method operational at a device. The method includes performing authentication and key agreement with a session key management entity (SKME) device. The method also includes generating an authentication session key based in part on a secret key shared with a home subscriber server, the authentication session key being known to the SKME device. The method further includes generating a mobility session key based in part on the authentication session key, the mobility session key being known to a mobility management entity serving the device. Data sent from the device to a wireless communication network is cryptographically secured using the mobility session key.
US09918224B1	Systems and methods for preventing computing devices from sending wireless probe packets The disclosed computer-implemented method for preventing computing devices from sending wireless probe packets may include (1) storing a geolocation of at least one wireless network that was previously accessed by the computing device, (2) determining a current geolocation of the computing device, (3) determining that the current geolocation of the computing device is not within a predetermined distance of the geolocation of any previously accessed wireless network, and (4) preventing the computing device from sending any wireless probe packets in response to determining that the current geolocation of the computing device is not within the predetermined distance of the geolocation of any previously accessed wireless access point. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09918222B2	Recovery techniques in mobile networks A technique for protecting location information of a subscriber in a mobile network is disclosed. A User Mobility Server (UMS) receives a first query from a first call state control function (CSCF). The UMS transmits a call setup and a subscriber identity to a servicing-call state control function (S-CSCF). The S-CSCF may have no record of the subscriber identity due to a restart are some other event. The UMS receives a second query from the S-CSCF based in part of the subscriber identity. The UMS transmits a home address of a mobile station to the S-CSCF. The UMS may also transmit a profile download to the S-CSCF.
US09918220B1	Method and apparatus for managing and reusing mobile subscriber identification information to multiple devices Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a system that manages reuse of mobile subscriber identity information. The use of a same generic mobile subscriber identity information by multiple devices can be based on the mobility and/or device location. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09918218B2	Method and system for a networked self-configuring communication device utilizing user preference information A first personal electronic (PE) device may enable generation, updating, and/or storage of user configuration information. The user configuration information may comprise information pertaining to device configuration and/or operational preferences specific to the device user and/or various use settings, connectivity, and/or use of available resources. The generation, updating, and/or storage of the user configuration information may be performed manually and/or automatically, and may be performed directly within the first PE device and/or via networked devices, which may communicatively coupled to the first PE device. A second PE device may be enabled to be communicatively coupled to the first PE device and/or the networked devices. The second PE device may then be enabled to download existing user configuration information from the first PE device and/or the networked device, and the downloaded user configuration may be utilized to configure the second PE device.
US09918216B2	Home network domain selection for routing call to a visited network Embodiments provide a call control device, an HSS, an AS, and a user service processing method. The call control device includes: a receiving module, configured to: receive an access domain confirmation request message, comprising an identifier of the called UE, sent by a call routing device on a home network; a determining module determining, according to the identifier, that the home network communicates with a visited network of the called UE by using a CS domain on the home network; and a sending module sending an access domain confirmation response message, carrying instruction information, to the call routing device and the instruction information is used to instruct the call routing device to route the call to the visited network by using the CS domain on the home network.
US09918212B1	Method and system for user equipment identification in a network A method that identifies user equipment (UE) in both idle mode and connected mode in a cellular network is performed when an indication of an emergency situation is received. A geofenced area is established around a location of the emergency situation, one or more cells are identified in the geofenced area, and an emergency system transmits a request to change a location area identifier value to one or more network providing service to the one or more cells. The emergency system receives unique identities of UEs in the geofenced area that are provided when the location area identifier value is changed.
US09918211B2	Mobile emergency response network A mobile emergency response network may be utilized to respond to emergencies. Emergency response resources may be selected and deployed through the use of network communications between user equipment and network elements. In an example configuration, a mobile emergency response network may receive emergency data, determine an emergency is occurring, determine a resource requirement for the emergency, identify a mobile device associated with a user who meets the resource requirement, and send a request to the mobile device.
US09918204B1	High accuracy indoor tracking In one embodiment, a technique is provided for tracking a mobile device within a building. A course position estimate of the mobile device is determined using a positioning system. The course position estimate indicates a room in which the mobile device is located. One or more sensors of the mobile device capture a live point cloud of surroundings of the mobile device. Tracking software accesses a portion of a pre-captured point cloud of the interior of the building that serves as a reference. The portion of the pre-captured point cloud corresponds to the room indicated by the course position estimate. Once the initial pose is determined, an updated pose of the mobile device is determined when the mobile device is moved, based on a further comparison of the live point cloud to the portion of the pre-captured point cloud.
US09918199B2	Subject matter based tour guide A method for communicating tour information to a user of a mobile electronic device is disclosed. The mobile device receives from a global positioning satellite (GPS) system geographic coordinates of the mobile device, compares them with coordinates stored in a database having associated with them a point-of-interest. Once coordinates of a point-of-interest are located and determined to be within a predetermined distance from the mobile device, the system will select from the plurality of tour data, a preprogrammed tour corresponding to that POI. The internet may be accessed through the device's wireless transceiver in order to download internet material associated with the point-of-interest. The tour and internet material information is then communicated to the user through a user interface.
US09918187B2	Active wireless tag and auxiliary device for use with monitoring center for tracking individuals or objects The invention is directed to a location tracker and auxiliary device for use with a monitoring center for tracking individuals or objects. The location tracker has position determining circuitry and first wireless circuitry that communicates position data representative of the location of the location tracker to a remote location (e.g., a monitoring station). The location tracker also has second wireless circuitry that communicates with the auxiliary device. The location tracker has at least two operational modes. The location tracker switches operational modes when communication is established between the location tracker and the auxiliary device. The auxiliary device generally has an associated auxiliary device ID and wireless circuitry that communicates the auxiliary device ID to the location tracker.
US09918185B2	Machine to machine privacy protection An intelligent decision engine is configured on a mobile device that includes rules and criteria that the engine uses to determine whether to allow the mobile device to engage in M2M communications with an M2M device. The criteria may be based on user groups, location of the mobile device, privacy zones that may or may not include the M2M device, “black” and/or “white” access lists, time of day, traffic on a wireless link to a wireless network, etc. If the communication meets all applicable criteria it is permitted to commence, and if not, it is blocked.
US09918182B2	Mobile device and method of information transmission A mobile device and information transmission method are provided. The information transmission method is applied to the mobile device in M2M communication and includes the steps of determining whether a base station and the mobile device support transmission of capability information of the mobile device by a General Extension Message and determining whether the mobile device has transmitted the capability information to the base station when the base station and the mobile device support transmission of the capability information by the General Extension Message, wherein when the mobile device has transmitted the capability information to the base station, the capability information is not transmitted by the General Extension Message again.
US09918181B2	Synchronization method and synchronization apparatus for D2D communication in wireless communication system The present invention relates to a method for achieving synchronization for the device-to-device (D2D) communication of a first terminal in a wireless communication system, comprising the steps of: calculating a time advance of a second terminal using the information relating to the transmission timing of a second transmission point, the downlink transmission timing of a first transmission point, timing the receipt of a downlink signal from the second transmission point; and receiving a signal from the second terminal using the timing advance of the second terminal.
US09918177B2	Binaural headphone rendering with head tracking A sound enhancement system (SES) that can enhance reproduction of sound emitted by headphones and other sound systems is disclosed. The SES improves sound reproduction by simulating a desired sound system without including unwanted artifacts typically associated with simulations of sound systems. The SES facilitates such improvements by transforming sound system outputs through a set of one or more binaural rendering filters derived from direct and indirect head-related transfer functions (HRTFs). Parameters of the binaural rendering filters are updated based on the head tracking angle of user wearing the headphones to render a stable stereo sound image. The head tracking angle may be determined from sensor data obtained from a digital gyroscope mounted in a headphone assembly.
US09918175B2	Method, equipment and apparatus for acquiring spatial audio direction vector Method, equipment and apparatus for acquiring a spatial audio direction vector, the method including: determining a position of a sound source in a multi-sound system; setting a parameter comprising: a human response time Δt and a tolerance percentage δ; acquiring a sound signal from the sound source; and processing the sound signal by using the parameter and acquiring a corresponding spatial audio direction vector {right arrow over (E)} within each time interval Δt. A proportional constant D is determined according to a modulus of a spatial audio direction vector {right arrow over (E)}, and provides spatial information of depth for a virtual image corresponding to a multi-tone audio signal. A vector angle θE the spatial audio direction vector {right arrow over (E)} provides spatial information of direction for the virtual image corresponding to the multi-tone audio signal, to improve viewer's viewing experience. This invention figures out how to enrich audience experience by applying the spatial audio directional vector to glasses-free 3D display.
US09918174B2	Wireless exchange of data between devices in live events A method for wireless data exchange between devices in live events is presented. A method for exploring data of multiple devices in order to get information on the acoustic paths in different locations of venues is also provided. A method of exploring the microphones of sound-capturing devices of live event's audience is also presented.
US09918173B1	Adaptable sound quality device Devices for monitoring a sound pressure level of sound generated by a speaker. For example, the device may sample voltages at various points along a path of an audio signal, determine a current associated with the audio signal, and receive or infer an efficiency of the speaker. The device may then determine the sound pressure level based on the voltage, the current, and the efficiency to more accurately monitor the sound pressure level exposure of a user.
US09918168B1	Microphone A microphone is disclosed. The microphone includes a housing and a circuit board cooperatively forming an accommodation space to accommodate a MEMS chip. The housing forms a first sound channel and the circuit board forms a second sound channel. Further, the microphone includes a controller for controlling the switch of the first and second sound channels.
US09918162B2	Processing device and method for improving S/N ratio The present technique relates to an earhole-wearable sound collection device, a signal processing device, and a method for realizing sound collection at a high S/N ratio. In the earhole-wearable sound collection device, a microphone that collects emitted speech voice is provided in a space that is substantially sealed off from outside and connects to an ear canal of the wearer (the speaker). With the microphone being located in the space sealed off from outside, emitted speech voice that propagates through the ear canal of the wearer is collected. In a sound collection signal obtained through the ear canal, the emitted speech voice component is dominant over the noise component particularly at low frequencies. Therefore, the S/N ratio of an emitted speech voice collection signal is improved by an equalizing process for reducing muffled sound that is generated when sound is collected through the ear canal on the sound collection signal.
US09918161B1	Speaker box A speaker box is disclosed. The speaker box includes a housing; a speaker unit accommodated in the housing and including a diaphragm for generating sound; a front sound cavity cooperatively formed by the diaphragm and the housing; a sound channel communicating the front sound cavity with outside space of the speaker box; and a sound-absorbing device disposed in the sound channel. The sound-adsorbing device includes an accommodation housing, sound-absorbing powder filled in the accommodation housing and a separation net sealing the accommodation housing. The speaker box achieves designed acoustic parameters with good acoustic performance.
US09918157B2	Headphone type acoustic apparatus and control method therefor This headphone type acoustic apparatus includes a pair of housing blocks each including a headphone unit, a headband section that supports the housing blocks at both ends and includes a pair of speaker units, one or more sensors that obtain information for estimating a mounted state achieved by a user, and a control unit that estimates the mounted state based on outputs of the one or more sensors and controls, based on the estimated mounted state, outputs of the pair of headphone units and the pair of speaker units.
US09918155B2	Portable sound equipment A portable sound equipment having a body curved in C-shape, the body including an elastic part, an earbud holder provided to the body, an earbud detachably attached to the earbud holder, the earbud including a sound output module configured to output sound, a main board situated within the body, the main board configured to control the sound output module by being connected to the earbud, a sound cable connecting the earbud and the main body, a rotation module located within the body between an end portion of the body and main board, the rotation module configured to have the sound cable wound on an outer circumference thereof, a bridge coupled with the body to cover one surface of the rotation module, a flexible board disposed along the bridge and having one side connected to the main board and another side coupled to a microphone.
US09918154B2	Tactile vibration drivers for use in audio systems, and methods for operating same A tactile vibration driver for use in a headphone includes a support structure, at least one suspension member suspending at least one rigid member relative to the support structure, and a plurality of magnetic members attached to the at least one rigid member and configured to drive oscillating movement of the at least one rigid member and the at least one suspension member so as to produce tactile vibrations during operation of the tactile vibration driver. An audio system includes the tactile vibration driver. A method of operating an audio system includes driving a plurality of magnetic members attached to a rigid member of the tactile vibration driver to cause oscillations of the plurality of magnetic members and the rigid member relative to a suspension member and producing tactile vibrations responsive to receipt of an electrical signal.
US09918151B2	Optical network unit, and communications system and method An optical network unit (ONU), a communication system and a communication method are disclosed. The ONU includes a passive optical network media access control (PON MAC) module and a processing module, the processing module includes a physical bridge submodule and at least two ONU submodules connected with the physical bridge submodule, different ONU submodules correspond to different identification information; the PON MAC module is configured to: be connected with the processing module, determine corresponding ONU submodules according to identification information in network side data, and send the network side data to the physical bridge submodule; the physical bridge submodule is configured to: distribute the network side data to corresponding ONU submodules according to the ONU submodules determined by the PON MAC module; and the ONU submodule is configured to: process the received data, and send the data to the user interface module corresponding to the ONU submodule.
US09918148B2	Control plane assisted optical switch Systems and methods implemented by an all-optical switch configured to switch signals optically in an optical network include receiving and processing call information from a messaging/signaling session, wherein the call information relates to one or more calls on ports in the all-optical switch; and configuring the ports in the all-optical switch in the network based on the processed call information. The call information can include detection of one of a fault and a lockout on the one or more ports and an indication of faults in the optical network. One of a control plane and an SDN controller can be connected to the all-optical switch via the messaging/signaling session.
US09918147B2	Transmission apparatus and transmission method A transmission apparatus includes: a plurality of first devices; and a second device configured to output a data signal shared by the plurality of first devices and respective first clock signals to each of the plurality of first devices, and to control the plurality of first devices individually based on the respective first clock signals.
US09918146B2	Computing infrastructure optimizations based on tension levels between computing infrastructure nodes A system comprises a scoring engine comprising at least one processor and memory. The scoring engine is to generate, based on telemetry information obtained from a plurality of nodes of a computing infrastructure, a first availability score for a first node of the plurality of computing infrastructure nodes and a second availability score for a second node of the plurality of computing infrastructure nodes. The scoring engine is further to generate, based on the first availability score of the first computing infrastructure node and the second availability score of the second computing infrastructure node, an edge tension score for a link between the first node and the second node.
US09918141B2	System and method for monitoring and detecting television ads in real-time using content databases (ADEX reporter) The embodiments herein provide a system and method for monitoring and detecting Television (TV) ads in real-time using content databases. The method comprises an ingest process and a lookup process. An audio stream of an ad is chopped into predetermined timeframe samples. The chopped samples are stored in an ingest database. A TV broadcast stream of predefined length is chopped into samples which are compared with the ingest database. When the threshold value of a candidate is more than an average value, the candidate is shortlisted for further filtrations. Then the TV broadcast stream is compared with contents of an additional database. The additional database stores the whole length of an ingested ad without any chopping. A shifted search is performed on short listed candidates to detect the version of the ad played in the TV channel.
US09918140B2	Apparatus and method for identifying events A method in a network entity associates a unique identifier with an event, for example a television program. The method comprises the steps of receiving an original time reference allocated to the event, for example an original start time for the event, and generating a first identifier (event_ID) to identify the event, wherein the first identifier is based on a set of first identifiers (event_IDs) that have a predetermined repetition period. The method further comprises the step of generating a second identifier (program_ID) to identify the event, wherein the second identifier is unique over time and based on a function of the first identifier and the original time reference allocated to the event. Various embodiments describe how changes to the original time reference can be made, yet still allow the unique event identifier to be determined.
US09918138B2	Method for controlling multimedia playing, apparatus thereof and storage medium A method for controlling multimedia playing, an apparatus thereof and a storage medium are provided according to the present disclosure, which relates to the field of terminal technology. The method includes: dividing subtitle information of a multimedia file into multiple subtitle segments, where each of the multiple subtitle segments corresponds to a time tag; triggering to play a selected subtitle segment of the subtitle information; obtaining a playing start time of the selected subtitle segment according to a time tag corresponding to the selected subtitle segment; and playing the multimedia file from the playing start time.
US09918134B2	Method and system for content delivery A method and system for providing video content on a data network connected device having a display and a device display controller including a player. The method comprises the steps of a data network connected device, accesses a reference file including a plurality of player control parameter values and linking data for one or more content sources. Play control commands are provided to the player based on the play control parameter values. Content data is acquired by the player from one or more content sources via the data network using the linking data, and the content acquired from each source played on the display in accordance with the player control commands. The reference file may be a pre-existing reference file or a reference file created in response to a request to play the video content data. A reference file compiler is provided for generating the reference file.
US09918133B2	Electronic apparatus, display controlling method for electronic apparatus and graphical user interface A graphical user interface is disclosed which achieves an easy search for a desired item. When an operation inputting section accepts a selective operation input for selection of one of plural processing functions, plural representation images individually representing plural processing object items of the processing function are displayed in an array along one direction of a display screen such that one of the representation images can be selected as a noticed representation image by an inputting operation through the operation inputting section. A decision section decides whether plural processing object items of the selected processing function are divided in a plurality of groups. If the processing object items are divided in groups, then the group name of the group to which the processing object item of the noticed representation image belongs is displayed in the proximity of the noticed representation image.
US09918132B2	Pattern code recognition multimedia playback apparatus, and method for driving same The present disclosure describes a sensing technology. A pattern code recognition multimedia playback apparatus and driving method therefor according to some embodiments recognize pattern code by using pattern code recognition pen, extract multimedia data corresponding to the recognized pattern code from pattern code recognition set-top box, and control playback of the multimedia data, thus easily calling multimedia data stored in memory pack attached to the pattern code recognition set-top box with the pattern code recognition pen for recognizing pattern code printed on pattern code-printed material and promptly and easily watching the multimedia data played through display unit. The present disclosure provides various curriculums including animation, storytelling, dancing, and the like, to allow infants or preschool children to easily access contents to learn described in studying materials through the display unit, thus improving learning efficiency of the kids and assisting intelligence development, personality development, and emotion development.
US09918121B2	Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program To provide an information processing apparatus capable of using an application seamlessly executable across channels of different broadcast stations. Identification information “common” that is common to all business operators can be set as an organization ID for specifying a business operator providing an application. In addition, when the common identification information “common” is set as an organization ID of an acquired XML-AIT, an application controller (508) does not judge that an activation of an application corresponding to the XML-AIT is unpermitted based on the organization ID. Accordingly, it becomes possible to use an application seamlessly executable across channels of different broadcast stations, such as an application for a rating survey.
US09918120B2	Methods for phonetic information signaling The invention is: A method for decoding a service guide associated with a video bitstream comprising: (a) receiving a content fragment within the service guide, (b) receiving a name element within the content fragment, (c) receiving a description element within the content fragment and (d) decoding the service guide.
US09918118B2	Apparatus and method for playback of audio-visual recordings An imaging system comprising a panoramic visual image display, an associated directional sound playback device, and an associated motion reproduction device is disclosed. The imaging system conveys visual, sound and motion information related to a particular viewing direction to provide a realistic experience for the viewer. The imaging system can also comprise a panoramic visual image recording device capable of recording panoramic images, an associated directional sound capturing device capable of recording sound, and an associated directional motion capturing device capable of recording motion. Recorded panoramic images, sound and motion can be synchronously recorded to a common time code for simultaneous playback.
US09918107B2	Method of coding and decoding integral images, a device for coding and decoding integral images, and corresponding computer programs A method is provided for encoding at least one integral image representative of at least one object in perspective in a scene. The method implements the following steps: applying a discrete wavelet transform directly to the pixels of the integral image, delivering a plurality of transform coefficients; and encoding the delivered transform coefficients.
US09918106B2	Method and apparatus for processing video data A method for signalling an intra chroma prediction mode and a method for implementing the signalled intra chroma prediction mode, the intra chroma prediction mode taking an intropolation of previously predicted luma samples from neighboring blocks of video data to attain an intra chroma prediction of a current chroma prediction unit.
US09918102B1	Inter-prediction candidate selection in a mode decision An apparatus having a first circuit and a second circuit is disclosed. The first circuit may be configured to (i) fetch a plurality of reference samples from a memory to a plurality of slots in a buffer and (ii) motion estimate a plurality of current sample units of a current picture to generate a plurality of motion vectors. The motion vectors may be stored in a plurality of lines of a table. Each line generally identifies a corresponding slot in the buffer. Duplicates among the lines may be consolidated. The second circuit may be configured to evaluate the reference samples in the buffer based on the motion vectors to select a prediction sample unit.
US09918100B2	Picture coding device, picture coding method, and picture coding program, and picture decoding device, picture decoding method, and picture decoding program In a picture coding device, a significant coefficient information coding controller 706 and an arithmetic encoder 701 code significant difference coefficient information indicating that a difference coefficient value is not zero and significant for each of the difference coefficients in the partial region of the coding target. A difference coefficient value coding controller 707 and the arithmetic encoder 701 code difference coefficient values when significant difference coefficient information is significant for each of pixels in the partial region of the coding target. The significant coefficient information coding controller 706 decides a context for coding the significant difference coefficient information in the partial region of the coding target based on information indicating significance of the difference coefficient in the coded partial region.
US09918096B2	Method for selecting a pixel positioning solution to obtain an optimal visual rendition of an image An image processing method, implemented in a calculator, includes applying a process by group of pixels to an original image. For each group of pixels, calculating a cumulative sum of value or position differences of the pixels of the group of pixels, and for each group of pixels, allocating in a final image signal a pixel position of the group of pixels to each pixel value of the group of pixels so as to minimize the cumulative sum of differences calculated for the group of pixels according to the differences calculated. For each group of pixels, determining a filtering intensity according to the cumulative sum of differences calculated for the group of pixels, and applying to the group of pixels a filtering having the filtering intensity.
US09918088B2	Transform and inverse transform circuit and method A transform and inverse transform circuit is provided. The transform and inverse transform circuit includes: at least one quantization and inverse quantization circuit, including at least one quantization and inverse quantization unit, wherein each quantization and inverse quantization unit includes a plurality of first coefficients, and each quantization and inverse quantization unit performs quantization or inverse quantization on one of multiple ways of inputting data; and at least one one-dimensional transform circuit, coupled to the quantization and inverse quantization circuit, wherein the one-dimensional transform circuit includes a plurality of second coefficients, wherein the one-dimensional transform circuit performs one-dimensional transform on the inputting data processed by the quantization and inverse quantization circuit, wherein the plurality of first coefficients and the plurality of second coefficients are set up based on a video codec standard.
US09918087B2	Method for encoding an intra prediction mode Provided is a method that de-multiplexes a bit stream to extract intra prediction mode information and residual signals, restores an intra prediction mode of a current prediction unit using the intra prediction information and intra prediction modes of prediction units adjacent to the current prediction unit, generates reference pixels using one or more available reference pixel if there exist unavailable reference pixels of the prediction unit, adaptively filters the reference pixels based on the restored intra prediction mode, generates a prediction block using the restored intra prediction mode and the reference pixels, decodes the residual signal to generating a residual block, and generates a reconstructed block using the prediction block and the residual block. Accordingly, additional bits resulted from increase of a number of intra prediction mode are effectively reduced. Also, an image compression ratio can be improved by generating a prediction block similar to an original block.
US09918077B2	Object space calibration of plenoptic imaging systems A collimated object is adjustable to produce collimated light propagating along different propagation directions. The plenoptic imaging system under calibration captures plenoptic images of the object adjusted to different propagation directions. The captured plenoptic images includes superpixels, each of which includes subpixels. Each subpixel captures light from a corresponding light field viewing direction. Based on the captured plenoptic images, a calibration module calculates which propagation directions map to which subpixels. The mapping defines the light field viewing directions for the subpixels. This can be used to improve processing of plenoptic images captured by the plenoptic imaging system.
US09918075B2	Projector for displaying a 3-dimensional stereoscopic image A projector includes a lamp that emits projection light to project 3D picture, in which a right eye image and a left eye image are represented in a time division manner, to an object, a synchronization signal transmission section which transmits shutter synchronization signal to glasses having a right eye shutter and a left eye shutter to control the opened state or the closed state of the right eye shutter and the left eye shutter, based on the signal indicating a displaying period of the right eye image and the left eye image of 3D picture, and a lamp drive section that supplies AC current having peak overlapping with a period when the right eye shutter of the glasses is in the opened state and peak overlapping with a period when the left eye shutter of the glasses is in the opened state to the lamp, based on the signal.
US09918071B2	3D image sensor module and electronic apparatus including the same A three-dimensional (3D) image sensor device and an electronic apparatus including the 3D image sensor device are provided. The 3D image sensor device includes: a shutter driver that generates a driving voltage of a sine wave biased with a first bias voltage, from a loss-compensated recycling energy; an optical shutter that varies transmittance of reflective light reflected from a subject, according to the driving voltage, and modulates the reflective light to generate at least two optical modulation signals having different phases; and an image generator that generates 3D image data for the subject which includes depth information calculated based on a phase difference between the at least two optical modulation signals.
US09918070B2	Method for description of object points of the object space and connection for its implementation A method of description of points of an object from object space is disclosed, wherein for each point of the object of object space displayed on a graticule of a scanning device, information about point distance from the scanning device is registered and then stored to each point of the graticule of image as additional data. Furthermore, connection for implementation of said method covering a scanning device is disclosed, wherein a scanning system consists of at least two scanning devices connected to inputs of CPU central control unit, which includes a block of software applications and a block of computing module with evaluation software, whereas communication of the block of software applications and the block of calculation module with the evaluation software with CPU occurs via data buses, whereas CPU outputs are connected both on a block of internal memory and/or removable memory and a block of online outputs.
US09918067B2	Modifying fusion offset of current, next, second next sequential frames The present invention is drawn to a device for use with first stereoscopic data, second stereoscopic data and a display device. The device includes an input portion, a convergence data detecting portion, a convergence plane portion, a comparing portion and a modification portion. The input portion can receive the first stereoscopic data and the second stereoscopic data. The convergence data detecting portion can detect first convergence data within the first stereoscopic data and can detect second convergence data within the second stereoscopic data. The convergence plane portion can determine a first convergence plane based on the first convergence data and can determine a second convergence plane based on the second convergence data. The comparing portion can compare the first convergence plane and the second convergence plane and can generate a convergence plane comparison. The modification portion can modify the first convergence data based on the convergence plane comparison.
US09918060B2	Endoscope system and operating method thereof A light source unit emits multi-colored light. The amount of light of each color is controlled so that the multi-colored light has a first light emission ratio. A color image sensor images an object and outputs a multi-colored image signal. Again coefficient calculator calculates provisional gain coefficients based on the multi-colored image signal. A noise evaluation value calculator calculates a noise evaluation value based on the provisional gain coefficients and set color correction coefficients. A judging section judges whether or not the noise evaluation value is an allowance or less. In a case where the noise evaluation value is judged to be the allowance or less, a coefficient determiner determines the provisional gain coefficients as set gain coefficients, and a light emission ratio determiner determines the first light emission ratio of the multi-colored light as a set light emission ratio.
US09918059B2	Image display apparatus and image adjustment method of image display apparatus An image display apparatus includes an OSD processing section that displays a test pattern, which includes a plurality of index lines arranged in one of horizontal and vertical directions with respect to a pixel area of a liquid crystal light valve at regular intervals, in the pixel area, an input operation section that sets at least one of the plurality of index lines as a reference index line, and adjusts the intervals of the index lines of the test pattern so as to increase or decrease as a distance from the reference index line increases with respect to the direction of the arrangement of the index lines taking the reference index line as a reference, and an image correction section that corrects linearity of the image based on the intervals of the index lines adjusted by the input operation section.
US09918058B2	Information processing to allow projector units to project images in cooperation The present technology relates to an information processing apparatus and method that allow a plurality of projection units to project images more easily in cooperation. The information processing apparatus of the present technology forms a group for projecting one contents data in cooperation with other information processing apparatuses including projection units to project images and imaging units to shoot a subject and obtain shot images, shares correction information as information relating to correction made to images projected by the projection units of the information processing apparatuses belonging to the formed group among the information processing apparatuses belonging to the formed group, and updates the correction information for the subject information processing apparatus on the basis of the shot image obtained by shooting the image projected by the projection unit as a subject and the shared correction information. The present technology is applicable to projectors or cameras, or electronic devices including the both functions of projector and camera, computers controlling these devices, and others, for example.
US09918057B2	Projecting text characters onto a textured surface A method, apparatus and system of projecting text characters onto a textured document are described. The method comprises determining, from a captured image of the textured surface, a measure of the texture on the surface for a region of the textured surface over which the text characters are to be projected; selecting, based on a function of the determined measure, a glyph set, each glyph in the glyph set having visually contrasting inner and outer portions, the outer portion being sized proportionally to the inner portion according to the determined measure; and projecting the text characters onto the textured surface on of region using the selected glyph set.
US09918056B2	Projection device A projection device includes: a plate shaped member that is thermally conductive; a light emitting element that is disposed upon the plate shaped member and emits light; a bending member that bends light from the light emitting element into an orientation parallel to the plate shaped member; a modulation element that modulates light bent by the bending member; and a polarized light separation element that bends light modulated by the modulation element into an orientation going away from the plate shaped member.
US09918053B2	System and method for pulse-width modulating a phase-only spatial light modulator A method of pulse width modulating a spatial light modulator comprises determining a modulation sequence and applying the modulation sequence to the spatial light modulator in a time order method. The modulation sequence comprises a plurality of minor modulation segments. Each minor modulation segment comprises an always-on modulation segment in an always-on state. The plurality of minor modulation segments are temporally spaced such that the always-on modulation segments are spaced at predetermined intervals. Each minor modulation segment comprises at least one thermometer bit.
US09918052B2	Multiple stage modulation projector display systems having efficient light utilization Dual or multi-modulation display systems comprising a first modulator and a second modulator are disclosed. The first modulator may comprise a plurality of analog mirrors (e.g. MEMS array) and the second modulator may comprise a plurality of mirrors (e.g., DMD array). The display system may further comprise a controller that sends control signals to the first and second modulator. The display system may render highlight features within a projected image by affecting a time multiplexing scheme. In one embodiment, the first modulator may be switched on a sub-frame basis such that a desired proportion of the available light may be focused or directed onto the second modulator to form the highlight feature on a sub-frame rendering basis.
US09918049B2	Recall device A small wearable recall device is provided to capture images triggered by a combination of a detection of a capture condition (e.g., changes in motion, temperature or light level) followed by a relatively stable period, as detected by an accelerometer. By triggering on the combination of a detected capture condition followed by a detected stability condition, a clearer image of the environment of an interesting event is expected to be captured. The small size of the recall device makes it possible to integrate it into common portable consumer products, such as MP3 players, purses, clothing, hats, backpacks, necklaces, collars, and other human-wearable products.
US09918043B2	Snippet access systems and methods In one of many possible embodiments, a system includes a requesting media content processing subsystem and a network entity. The requesting media content processing subsystem is configured to transmit to the network entity a request to access a snippet of a media content instance. The network entity is configured to augment the snippet with additional media content and provide a user with access to the augmented snippet via the requesting media content processing subsystem.
US09918042B2	Performing electronic conferencing operations using electronic portals at different locations A technique performs electronic conferencing operations. The technique involves electronically conveying video of a local environment from local conferencing equipment (e.g., a local electronic portal) to remote conferencing equipment (e.g., a remote electronic portal) while electronically muting audio of the local environment. The technique further involves, while the video of the local environment is electronically conveyed from the local conferencing equipment to the remote conferencing equipment and while the audio of the local environment is electronically muted, detecting a user gesture within the local environment, the user gesture being detected electronically in a contactless manner. The technique further involves, in response to detection of the user gesture within the local environment, electronically unmuting the audio of the local environment.
US09918039B2	Interface systems for portable digital media storage and playback devices A docking assembly serves as an interface between (1) a portable digital media storage and playback (PDMSP) device, and (2) a media reproduction system. A remote controller preferably controls the docking assembly and PDMSP device, which may receive electric charge from the assembly. Media reproduction systems may reproduce audio and video signals in user-perceptible form. Telephonic relay capability is further provided between a telephonic PDMSP playback device and a telephonic remote controller by way of a telephone rebroadcast receiver associated with the docking assembly. Methods for downloading digital media files, and for creating or modifying playlists with a remotely controllable docking assembly adapted to provide a television-compatible video output signal, are further provided.
US09918032B2	Imaging device for reducing deterioration of A/D conversion accuracy An imaging device includes: an imaging section in which a plurality of pixels each having a photoelectric conversion element are arranged in a matrix shape; a clock generator that generates a plurality of phase signals having different phases; a reference signal generator that generates a reference signal which increases or decreases with a lapse of time; a comparator that is disposed to correspond to each column of an array of the plurality of pixels, performs a comparing process of comparing a pixel signal output from each pixel with the reference signal, and outputs a first comparison result signal and a second comparison result signal indicating a result of the comparing process; a latch section that is disposed to correspond to the comparator and latches logic states of the plurality of phase signals; and a latch controller.
US09918031B2	Solid-state imaging device and electronic apparatus having a pixel unit with one microlens and a correction circuit The present disclosure relates to a solid-state imaging device, a signal processing method therefor, and an electronic apparatus enabling sensitivity correction in which a sensitivity difference between solid-state imaging devices is suppressed. The solid-state imaging device includes a pixel unit in which one microlens is formed for a plurality of pixels in a manner such that a boundary of the microlens coincides with boundaries of the pixels. The correction circuit corrects a sensitivity difference between the pixels inside the pixel unit based on a correction coefficient. The present disclosure is applicable to, for example, a solid-state imaging device and the like.
US09918030B2	Imaging device and electronic apparatus with upper and lower substrates The present technology relates to an imaging device that can reduce the size thereof, and to an electronic apparatus.An upper substrate and a lower substrate are stacked. A pixel and a comparing unit that compares the voltage of a signal from the pixel with the ramp voltage are provided on the upper substrate, the ramp voltage varying with time. A storage unit that stores a code value obtained at a time when a comparison result from the comparing unit is inverted is provided on the lower substrate. The comparing unit is formed with a transistor that receives the voltage of the signal from the pixel at the gate, receives the ramp voltage at the source, and outputs a drain voltage. Accordingly, the imaging device can be made smaller in size. The present technology can be applied to image sensors.
US09918028B2	Image capturing apparatus comprising a plurality of processing circuits for correcting defective pixel by using information of defective pixel detected in different frames and control method for the same An image capturing apparatus comprises: an image sensor which has a plurality of pixels; and a plurality of processing circuits which correct images of different frames output from the image sensor. Each processing circuit includes: a first detection circuit which performs defective pixel detection on a portion of a region of the plurality of pixels which is different from portions of the region on which the other processing circuits perform defective pixel detection; and a memory which stores information on defective pixels for the entire region obtained by combining information on defective pixels detected by the first detection circuit and information on defective pixels obtained by the other processing circuits. Further, each processing circuit corrects the image of each frame output from the image sensor, using the information on defective pixels for the entire region stored in the memory.
US09918025B2	License plate illuminator An apparatus and a method for illuminating a license plate comprising a plurality of infrared emitting devices connected in series, parallel or combination thereof mounted on a core material or substrate in a frame. The apparatus emits infrared light in a wavelength responsive to cameras, security camera, road camera, video-photo-radar traffic camera and others. The infrared emitting device is positioned within the perimeter of the license plate. The apparatus is powered by the vehicle power system or a rechargeable power supply.
US09918019B2	Conversion method and conversion apparatus A conversion method for converting luminance of a video, including a luminance value in a first luminance range, to be displayed on a display apparatus includes: acquiring a first luminance signal indicating a code value obtained by quantization of the luminance value of the video; and converting the code value indicated by the acquired first luminance signal into a second luminance value determined based on a luminance range of the display apparatus, the second luminance value being compatible with a second luminance range with a maximum value smaller than a maximum value of the first luminance range and larger than 100 nit. This provides the conversion method capable of achieving further improvement.
US09918017B2	Image sensor apparatus and method for obtaining multiple exposures with zero interframe time A system, method, and computer program product are provided for obtaining multiple exposures with zero interframe time. In use, a first an analog signal associated with an image is received from at least one pixel of an image sensor. Next, a first amplified analog signal associated with the image is generated by amplifying the analog signal utilizing a first gain. Further, a second amplified analog signal associated with the image is generated by amplifying the analog signal utilizing a second gain. Finally, the first amplified analog signal and the second amplified analog signal are transmitted.
US09918015B2	Exposure control using depth information The invention is directed to exposure control in a camera. An exemplary method comprises determining depth information associated with a portion of an image frame; obtaining exposure data associated with the portion of the image frame; and controlling an amount of exposure for the portion of the image frame based on the depth information and the exposure data.
US09918009B2	Method and system for imaging in a luminaire There is provided a luminaire that includes a plurality of cameras supported by a member. One camera has a field of view overlapping the field of view of another camera.
US09918002B2	Mobile terminal and controlling method thereof A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed, by which a flying object equipped with a camera can be remotely controlled. The present disclosure includes a wireless communication unit configured to perform a communication with a flying object, a touchscreen configured to output a preview image received from the flying object, and a controller outputting a shot mode list on the preview image, the controller, if at least one shot mode is selected from the shot mode list, remotely controlling a flight location of the flying object in accordance with the selected at least one shot mode.
US09918000B2	Zero delay predictor signal synchronization system and method A method of synchronizing a remote device to image acquisition by a camera body including detecting a predictor signal of the camera body that occurs a known time prior to shutter opening and using that predictor signal to determine a synchronization time for synchronizing a remote lighting device. Wireless communication is used to synchronize the remote lighting device at the synchronization time. The determining of a synchronization time may occur before or after the wireless communication to the remote lighting device.
US09917997B2	Camera module The exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a camera module including a bobbin, a housing positioned at an outside of the bobbin, an elastic member coupled to the bobbin and the housing, a foreign object exhaust passage concavely formed at an upper surface of the housing, and an opening formed at the housing to open at least a part of the foreign object exhaust passage to an inside of the housing, wherein the foreign object exhaust passage is overlapped on at least a part of the housing-coupled elastic member to a vertical direction, whereby it is easy to wash foreign objects positioned between an elastic member and a housing to reduce an auto focus tilt defects generated after assembly.
US09917991B2	Camera actuator Some embodiments include an actuator assembly for mounting a moving component. In some embodiments, the actuator assembly includes a base substrate including a first portion for mounting comb drive actuators and a second portion for mounting the moving component. In some embodiments, the actuator assembly includes a plurality of comb drive actuators rigidly affixed to the first portion of the base substrate. In some embodiments, the plurality of comb drive actuators is flexibly affixed to the second portion of the base substrate by a plurality of respective mechanical flexures. In some embodiments, the respective mechanical flexures provide a flexible mechanical connection between the second portion and the first portion, and the plurality of comb drive actuators is arranged to control the motion of the second portion to adjust the position of the moving component in multiple degrees of freedom relative to first portion.
US09917990B2	Imaging systems with movable scan mirrors An imaging system is provided wherein a positioning stage is translated with respect to an objective lens component and a scan mirror is repositioned while a two-dimensional image is made of a biochemical site on a substrate. In an example embodiment, an imaging system comprises a camera, an objective lens component, a positioning stage, and a scan mirror controllable by a servo system that synchronizes movement of the positioning stage and the tilting of the scan mirror so that the substrate image is maintained stable during imaging of the continuously moving positioning stage.
US09917989B2	Method and apparatus of simultaneous spatial light modulator beam steering and system aberration correction A method and apparatus for simultaneous spatial light modulator beam steering and system aberration correction. The apparatus includes a spatial light modulator, a wide-field optical system, the wide-field optical system including at least one optical system aberration; and a camera. The wide-field optical system collimates a light beam toward the camera. The camera communicates with the spatial light modulator via a feedback loop that pre-corrects for the at least one optical system aberration.
US09917986B2	Controllers, control method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium A controller includes an acquisition unit that acquires paper type information from each of a plurality of image output devices managed in a management system, a grouping unit that performs grouping of a plurality of managed image output devices based on paper information acquired by the acquisition unit, and a display controller that displays the managed image output devices having undergone the grouping performed by the grouping unit on a display unit. If the acquisition unit acquires current-fed-paper-type information, the grouping unit performs the grouping based on the current-fed-paper-type information. If the acquisition unit does not acquire the current-fed-paper-type information, the grouping unit performs the grouping based on calibration-executable paper type information included in the paper type information acquired by the acquisition unit.
US09917985B2	Method and system for checking color among a printer having an in-line sensor and printers without an in-line sensor A method, a system, and a non-transitory computer readable recording medium are disclosed for a first printer connected to a second printer to perform color calibration for the second printer, wherein the second printer does not have a sensor, the first printer including a sensor which measures a media, which has been printed by the second printer and is being fed on a media path of the first printer. The method includes (a) determining the timing to instruct the second printer to print a first measurement chart; (b) instructing, at the timing determined at step (a), the second printer to print the first measurement chart; (c) measuring, by the sensor, the first measurement chart which has been printed by the second printer; and (d) outputting information corresponding to a result measured at step (c).
US09917984B2	Image forming apparatus and method converting component data of printing colors to data with special color added based on user-specified condition Certain embodiments provide an image forming apparatus, including: an image forming part to form an image made of plural pixels by using plural printing colors and a special color different from the plural printing colors; an input part of image data of the image; an image processing part to output component data of the plural printing colors from the image data for each of the pixels; a user interface to specify a condition for converting the component data of the plural printing colors into component data of a multi color in which the special color is added to the plural printing colors; and a conversion part to convert the component data of the plural printing colors from the image processing part into the component data of the multi color to the image forming part based on the condition of the user interface.
US09917982B2	Image reading apparatus creating shade correction data based on intermediate shade data and sensing a reference member a plurality of times An image reading apparatus includes: a sensor module which includes a light source and sensors; a reference member for creating black correction data and white correction data; and an image processor. The image processor corrects uneven density of an image resulting from interference of image signals from the sensors, by performing, on the image signals obtained by the sensors, shading correction using black correction data and white correction data. The image processor obtains causes the sensors to obtain image signals of the reference member, and creates the white correction data based on white data, and the black correction data based on intermediate data. At least one of when creating the white correction data and when creating the black correction data, the image processor causes the sensors to obtain image signals of the reference member a plurality of times.
US09917977B1	Methods and systems for automatically generating object type based one or more cut contours Disclosed herein are methods and systems for generating one or more cut contours based on object types. The method includes receiving from a user a print job including a first file having objects and receiving at least one object type and a cut width for printing the job at a printer. Based on the at least one object type, corresponding objects are extracted from the first file. Then, automatically cut contours are generated while creating a raster image for the extracted objects. The cut contour is generated at the cut width distance outside a boundary of each object. The cut contour then is embedded around each object in the raster image to generate a second file. The cut contour is embedded using a specific color. The second file including the cut contour in the specific color around each object is printed.
US09917975B2	Facsimile requirements monitoring Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for facsimile requirements monitoring during facsimile transmission of a form. In an embodiment of the invention, a method of facsimile requirements monitoring during facsimile transmission of a form is provided. The method includes loading a document directed for facsimile transmission by a facsimile data processing system, identifying within the document a facsimile requirement that a particular location within the document include end user supplied data, determining whether or not the particular location specified by the facsimile requirement includes end user supplied data, and generating an error message in the facsimile device responsive to a determination that the particular location lacks any end user supplied data.
US09917974B2	Recording medium and information processing unit There is provided a recording medium having a printer driver embodied therein, the printer driver causing, when executed by a processor, the processor to implement a method. The method includes: receiving, with the processor, an input of information that includes an instruction on setting a first region; and generating, with the processor, frame data that includes a first frame and an instruction marker. The first region is included in a medium region that corresponds to a print medium. The first frame surrounds the first region. The instruction marker is adapted to give an instruction on setting a position of the first frame in the medium region.
US09917973B2	Printing apparatus, method of controlling the same, and storage medium A processing mode set for a received print job is determined, and based on the result of the determination, the print job is processed in a first processing mode in which processing for rendering from print data to image data and print processing based on the image data resulting from the rendering processing are executed in parallel, or in a second processing mode in which the print processing based on the image data is executed after the entire rendering processing for rendering from print data to image data is complete.
US09917966B2	Printing apparatus, control method for the same, and storage medium to store specific data upon occurrence of interruption Upon occurrence of an interruption factor before image data for one page of a target document has been stored in a storage device, a printing apparatus performs control to store specific data in a storage area of the storage device in which the remaining image data of the target document is to be stored. In a case where an interruption factor occurs before image data for one page of the target document has been stored in the storage device, the printing apparatus performs printing based on the image data of the target document and the specific data stored in the storage device.
US09917963B2	Information processing device and information processing method An information processing device includes: an operation display unit that displays information for a user and receives an input from the user; and an information processing unit including a processor that executes a browser program. The information processing unit includes: a communication unit that functions by the processor executing the browser program, and acquires an operation program and a conversion script that provide a user interface for operating an equipment through the operation display unit; a conversion script processing unit that functions by the processor executing the conversion script on the browser program, analyzes a state of the equipment, and issues an event corresponding to the state of the equipment; and a display control unit that functions by the processor executing the operation program on the browser program, and provides the user interface corresponding to the event through the operation display unit in response to issuance of the event.
US09917956B2	Image processing apparatus, image processing system, and computer readable medium therefor An image processing apparatus is provided that includes a controller configured to control a communication device to transmit, to an information processing terminal device, image processing information indicating a specific one of image processing operations that has been selected at a time when the controller starts establishment of communication with the information processing terminal device, control the communication device to receive execution instructing information from the information processing terminal device, and control a specific one of image processing executing devices that corresponds to the received execution instructing information to execute the specific image processing operation in accordance with the received execution instructing information.
US09917955B2	Spectral transmissive measurement of media Systems, devices, and methods illuminate one or more areas on a calibration medium from a first side of the calibration medium with one or more respective light-emitting regions of a light source; detect light transmitted through the calibration medium at the one or more areas, thereby obtaining calibration-measurement information for at least one of the one or more light-emitting regions; illuminate one or more color patches on a color-measurement medium from a first side of the color-measurement medium with the one or more respective light-emitting regions of the light source; detect light transmitted through the one or more color patches printed on the color-measurement medium, thereby obtaining color-measurement information for at least one of the one or more light-emitting regions; and generate one or more transmissive measurements based on the calibration-measurement information and the color-measurement information.
US09917954B2	Methods and apparatus to determine a telecommunications account status Example methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture are disclosed to determine a telecommunications account status. An example method includes initiating a credit transfer request via the device identifier, determining, via a processor, whether an account associated with the device identifier comprises a prepaid type in response to receiving an indication of credit transfer success, and determining whether the account associated with the device identifier comprises a non-prepaid account type in response to receiving an indication of credit transfer failure.
US09917953B2	Systems and methods for call processing The present invention provides flexible, user-definable call screening processes. The user can optionally define to which telecommunication terminals a screened call is to be broadcast to and under what conditions. An incoming call is forwarded to a call management system that asks the caller to leave a voice message. The call management system selectively couples the call to a POTS line or a VoIP-capable device so that the user can listen to the incoming message and thereby screen the incoming call. Based on the screening, the user can instruct the call management system to connect the caller to the user.
US09917951B1	Call routing methods and systems Methods and systems for routing calls based on a minimum expected delay, classification, and priority of the call are provided. In some embodiments, when a call is received, the call is classified and prioritized within the classification. A minimum expected delay time is determined. Based on the minimum expected delay time, the classification, and the prioritization, the call is routed to a representative with instructions on how the call should be treated.
US09917948B2	Call processing method and apparatus A call processing method and apparatus are provided as a call processing solution. An example method comprises acquiring multimedia data from a calling subscriber before a call ends, where the calling subscriber is a subscriber that initiates the call, determining whether the call satisfies a preset call processing condition according to the multimedia data from the calling subscriber, and processing the call if the call processing condition is satisfied.
US09917946B2	Determining the availability of participants on an electronic call A method, computer program product, and system for determining the availability of participants on a communication session is described. According to an embodiment, a method for determining a participant's availability may include receiving status information associated with a first user participating in a unified telephony call, the status information indicative of an availability of the first user. The method may also include determining an availability status for the first user based on, at least in part, the status information. The method may further include providing, by the one or more computing devices, a status indicator associated with the first user to at least a second user participating in the unified telephony call based on the availability status for the first user.
US09917944B2	Mobile phone To provide a mobile phone which can be used without hampering convenience in a condition where functions of the mobile phone are switched and can improve operability. The mobile phone includes an optical sensor, a display element, a pixel circuit portion where a plurality of pixels having a plurality of transistors are arranged in matrix, an optical sensor control circuit which is connected to an optical sensor driver circuit for driving the optical sensor and reads a signal from the optical sensor, a display portion control circuit which is connected to a display element driver circuit for driving the display element and outputs an image signal for displaying an image on a display portion, a gradient detection portion for outputting a signal in accordance with a gradient of the mobile phone, and an arithmetic circuit for performing display in the pixel circuit portion by switching image signals output to the display portion control circuit with a signal from the gradient detection portion.
US09917930B2	Transmitting apparatus and receiving apparatus and signal processing method thereof Disclosed is a transmitting apparatus which includes: a packet generator generating a packet including a header and a payload from an input stream including a plurality of transport stream (TS) packets; and a signal processor signal-processing the packet, wherein the header includes a base header including a first field indicating a packet type which is the TS packets, and a second field indicating a number of TS packets included in the payload, wherein the base header further includes a third field set to a first value indicating that there is no additional header or a second value indicating that there is an additional header, wherein, when the third field is set to the second value, the additional header includes a fourth field indicating a number of deleted null packets with respect to each of at least one TS packet group including consecutive TS packets, and wherein the null packets deleted with respect to each of the TS packet group precede a first TS packet or follow a last TS packet included in each of the TS packet group.
US09917926B2	Communication method and communication system A client device comprises a connection destination register that transmits a client identifier to an address management device via a first node; a UDP controller that controls a UDP connection upon reception of a TCP connect from an application executer, and a TCP-session controller that establishes, between itself and the application executer, a first TCP connection identified by a connection identifier. A server device comprises a connection destination register that transmits a server identifier to the address management device via a second node; a UDP controller that controls a UDI connection; and a TCP session controller that establishes, between itself and a service provider, a second TCP connection identified by a connection identifier. A UDP connection via the first node and second node can be established between a communication serve processor and a communication client processor.
US09917925B2	Method for determining maximum segment size A method for determining a maximum segment size is disclosed. The method is used in an access point. The method includes: detecting a first MSS value between the access point and at least one device; setting a TCP MSS value of at least one TCP session established by the access point as a second MSS value; comparing the first MSS value with the second MSS value, and choosing a minimum value among the first MSS value and the second MSS value as a maximum value; and recording all the MSS values between the access point and the subsequent devices and the maximum value into a device MSS table.
US09917912B2	Efficient communication within hybrid cloud system Techniques for communicating between service nodes within a hybrid cloud computing system. These techniques include utilizing a messaging provider within an off-premise computing system to pass messages between off-premise servers holding a connection to an on-premise computer system and off-premise servers holding a connection to an end user computer system.
US09917910B2	Social content aggregation A method and system for delivering a service is provided. The method includes enabling a social application container computer system from an end user device, via an application program interface (API) executing in the social application container computer system invoked by an application running on the end user device. Transaction data describing a transaction request of a user of the end user device is collected from the end user device via the application and the API. Transaction specific context is generated based on the transaction data. User specific context is generated based on user data present in the transaction data.
US09917909B2	Preferred contact channel for user communications In one embodiment, a user of a social networking system requests to look up a contact's communication channel information in the user's address book. The social networking system provides to the user the contact's communication channels in an ordered sequence based on the user's social graph and communication information.
US09917908B1	Third party validation of web content A first server receives, from a client network application, a request for a network resource. The first server retrieves the requested network resource, where the requested network resource is handled by a second server that is different than the first server. The first server validates whether at least a portion of the retrieved network resource conforms to a set of one or more rules. If it does, the first server cryptographically signs the at least portion of the retrieved network resource thereby creating a digital signature. The first server transmits a response to the client network application that includes the at least the portion of the retrieved network resource and the digital signature. The client network application is configured to validate the first digital signature that validates that the portion of the network resource conforms to the set of rules.
US09917907B2	Location-based content aggregation and distribution In one embodiment, a method includes storing one or more content postings that each include data representative of one or more content instances. Each content posting is associated with one or more first users. The method also includes storing one or more data records associating one or more geographic locations with accessing of the content instances. The method also includes selectively sending one or more of the content postings for display on an access device associated with a second user based on a past geographic location of the access device.
US09917906B2	Methods and systems for managing a task based on geographical locations The present application discloses a location based task management method. A computational device obtains first location information concerning one or more geographical locations where a first client device has been located, and assigns a task to the first client device based on the one or more geographical locations. The task includes a task performance location. The computational device then receives from the first client device a first message that includes second location information corresponding to the task performance location and at least one additional information item. The at least one additional information item is captured by first client device at or near the task performance location after completing the task. The progress of the task is then managed based on the second location information, the at least one additional information item and a time difference between the assignment of the task and the receipt of the first message.
US09917903B2	Internet of things provisioning A method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium provides an installation of an IoT device in which the installation includes to store Internet of Things (IoT) management information, which includes IoT device information of the IoT device; upload the IoT management information to a network device in response to the storing of the IoT management information; store the IoT management information at the IoT device in response to the upload; present a map of the location; receive a designation of a location point on the map that indicates where the IoT device is to be installed; determine whether the IoT device is to be updated; update the IoT device in response to a determination that an update for the IoT device is available; calibrate one or more sensors of the IoT device; and configure the IoT device to transmit IoT data to another network device.
US09917899B2	Publishing configuration patterns for storage resources and storage performance models from client systems to share with client systems in a network computing environment Provided are a method, system and program for publishing configuration patterns for storage resources and storage performance models from client systems to share with client systems in a network computing environment. A determination is made of a configuration pattern of storage resources within the client computing environment and storage performance metrics for the configuration pattern of storage resources within the client. At least one storage performance model is created based on the determined storage performance metrics. Information on the at least one storage performance model and the configuration pattern of the storage resources for which the storage performance metrics were determined are published to the service provider.
US09917897B2	Publishing configuration patterns for storage resources and storage performance models from client systems to share with client systems in a network computing environment Provided are a method, system and program for publishing configuration patterns for storage resources and storage performance models from client systems to share with client systems in a network computing environment. A determination is made of a configuration pattern of storage resources within the client computing environment and storage performance metrics for the configuration pattern of storage resources within the client. At least one storage performance model is created based on the determined storage performance metrics. Information on the at least one storage performance model and the configuration pattern of the storage resources for which the storage performance metrics were determined are published to the service provider.
US09917896B2	Synchronous replication for storage area network protocol storage One or more techniques and/or computing devices are provided for implementing synchronous replication. For example, a synchronous replication relationship may be established between a first storage controller hosting local storage and a second storage controller hosting remote storage (e.g., replication may be specified at a file, logical unit number (LUN), or any other level of granularity). Data operations and offloaded operations may be implemented in parallel upon the local storage and the remote storage. Error handling operations may be implemented upon the local storage and implement in parallel as a best effort on the remote storage, and a reconciliation may be performed to identify any data divergence from the best effort parallel implementation. Storage area network (SAN) operations may be implemented upon the local storage, and upon local completion may be remotely implemented upon the remote storage.
US09917894B2	Accelerating transfer protocols Techniques and mechanisms described herein facilitate the acceleration of data transfer protocols via client side de-duplication techniques for transmitting data from a client device to a networked storage system while maintaining protocol usage characteristics. while preserving the same presentation semantics to the users. A data chunk may be determined at a client device by parsing a data stream generated at the client device via a network storage protocol. A fingerprint for the data chunk may be identified by applying a hash function to the data chunk. A determination may be made as to whether the chunk is stored at a networked storage system by transmitting the fingerprint to the networked storage system via a network. The client device may transmit a block map update request message including information for updating a block map to the networked storage system.
US09917892B2	Method, device, and system for AD-HOC resource selection A method, device, and system for selecting one or more devices and users to capture and share images of an event with other users includes establishing one or more ad-hoc groups with a resource management server. The resource management server communicates with one or more computing devices over a network to assign the computing devices to an ad-hoc group as a function of one or more users requesting to receive images captured at an event. For each ad-hoc group, the resource management server selects a device and a user to capture images of the event, which are distributed to the one or more users. Additionally, the computing devices may establish an ad-hoc group without the resource management server. A computing device of the ad-hoc group is selected to capture images of the event, which are distributed to users of the ad-hoc group through an ad-hoc network.
US09917891B2	Distributed in-order load spreading resilient to topology changes Methods, apparatus, and systems for distributing network loads in a manner that is resilient to system topology changes. Distribution functions and associated operations are implemented on multiple load splitters such that if a load splitter becomes inoperative, another or other load splitters can forward packets corresponding to flows previously handled by the inoperative load splitter without requiring flow state synchronization to be maintained across load splitters. The distribution functions are implemented in a manner that distributes packets for the same flows to the same servers through system topology changes, addressing both situations when servers fail and/or are taken off-line and when such servers or replacement servers are brought back on-line. The techniques are facilitated, in part, via use of redistributed flow lists and/or Bloom filters that are marked to track redistributed flows. A novel Bloom filter recycle scheme is also disclosed.
US09917890B2	Method and system for dynamically rebalancing client sessions within a cluster of servers connected to a network A dynamic rebalancer operates in a server cluster independently of routers directing traffic to the servers in the cluster. An analysis component uses configuration information and statistics information to determine which session, if any, should be moved. A filter component receives transfer instructions from the analysis component. When the filter component receives transfer instructions from the analysis component, the filter component adds a redirect command to the client request. The filter component continually redirects client requests within the session to the new server until the client receives the redirect command and begins to send client requests to the new server.
US09917889B2	Enterprise service bus routing system According to various example embodiments, a request transmitted from a client and directed to a service application is intercepted. A logical database (DB) host specified by a hint value included in the request is then identified. Moreover, a target physical DB host is identified, based on the identified logical DB host and DB host mapping information. Thereafter, the request is routed to an instance of the service application co-located with the identified target physical DB host at a particular data center.
US09917887B2	Methods for content inlining and devices thereof A method, computer readable medium, and application delivery controller apparatus for content inlining includes obtaining content from one or more servers as requested by one or more clients, obtaining external content from the one or more servers as referenced by one or more external references included in the requested content, modifying the requested content to include at least one of the external content, and servicing the client request by communicating the modified requested content.
US09917886B2	Method for distributing information contents, corresponding device and computer program product In an embodiment, information contents, such as, e.g., media contents arranged in pieces including blocks of bits, is distributed over a network including plural terminals at least one of which acts as a source of the pieces of information distributed. Various terminals in the network are configured to act as peer terminals with at least one first peer terminal sending the information to one or more second peer terminals. A set of blocks of a corresponding piece of information is received at the first peer terminal and the corresponding piece of information is reconstructed from the set of blocks received. The pieces of information distributed over the network are fountain encoded by XOR-ing the blocks in a piece, so that a received piece is reconstructable from a combination of a corresponding set of linearly independent XOR-ed blocks. The first peer terminal may start sending to the second peer terminal(s) blocks it is receiving before the corresponding piece of information is reconstructed and possibly subjected to integrity check at the first terminal. Fountain encoding the pieces of information is by means of plural sets of linearly independent XOR-ed blocks. A same piece of information is distributed to a plurality of peer terminals by sending thereto different sets of linearly independent XOR-ed blocks, thus avoiding undue redundancy in the information further propagated to other peers.
US09917882B2	Transparent deferred spooling store and forward based on standard network system and client interface A transparent batch file transfer is provided from a client to a server via a batch pool system. The batch pool system may be implemented by a proxy file server which is used to receive the file transfer from the client device and free the client device as soon as possible. The file transfer to an intended remote server is carried out by a batch transfer system at the proxy file server. The user of the client machine may then use their device to perform other tasks while the file transfer is completed by the proxy file server batch transfer system. The file transfer is coordinated by a background transfer module that is integrated with file system protocols. Hence, there is no new system or software for a user of the client to learn or operate.
US09917881B2	Apparatus, system, and method for transferring data across mobile terminals paired using near field communication (NFC) An apparatus and method for transferring data from a first mobile terminal to a second mobile terminal are provided. The method includes pairing the first mobile terminal and the second mobile terminal using Near Field Communication (NFC), selecting at least one item on the first mobile terminal to be transferred to the second mobile terminal, and confirming transfer of the at least one item to the second mobile terminal, and transferring the at least one item from the first mobile terminal to the second mobile terminal.
US09917875B2	System and methods for managing media content playback using social media data Methods and systems for managing the playback of media content via a website accessed by a user computer are described. According to aspects, the methods and systems may access and retrieve various data associated with media content such as engagement data related to an interaction by a user with the media content playback, as well as social media data relating to playback of a set of media content by a set of additional users. The methods and systems may analyze any combination of the data to identify a relevant media file that may be of interest to the user and provide the media file to the user computer for playback by the user. The analysis models may be continuously updated and used to improve media selection and streamline partnerships with third-party entities.
US09917872B2	Method and apparatus for performing adaptive streaming on media contents In an adaptive steaming system, a media server for performing adaptive streaming on media contents sends to a client device a media presentation description (MPD) file including information specifying streaming adaptation parameters. The media server receives a request from the client device. The request includes a data object location indicator and a query string containing at least one of the values of the streaming adaptation parameters. After receiving the request, the media server selects a data object to be returned to the client device based on at least one of the data object location indicator and the query string and sends a response with the data object to the client device.
US09917870B2	Streaming media presentation system One or more embodiments of the disclosure provide systems and methods for providing media presentations to users of a media presentation system. A media presentation generally includes a one or more media streams provided by one or more capturing users of the media presentation system. In one or more embodiments, a user of the media presentation system may share a media presentation with a viewing user. The media presentation system can provide a number of features to produce a media stream within a media presentation.
US09917869B2	System and method for identifying a segment of a file that includes target content An electronic device with one or more processors, memory and a display obtains a file header for a file that corresponds to a plurality of separately indexed clusters. The file is divided into segments one or more of which include multiple sequential clusters. The file header includes a segment index that enables identification of a segment that includes requested content. The device receives a request to seek to a respective position within the file. In response, the device identifies a first segment that includes content that corresponds to the respective position based on the segment index, obtains the first segment, and obtains a content index for a respective cluster within the first segment. After obtaining the first segment and the content index, the device identifies respective content within the respective cluster that corresponds to the respective position based on a content index and provides the respective content to a user.
US09917866B2	Arrangement of content on a large format display A technology for arrangement of interactive content on a large format display is disclosed. A heuristic determines content most likely to be interacted with by a user and rearranges content on the large format display to be closest to the user. For example, a window that was most recently interacted with can be arranged to be closest to a coordinate on the large format display that is closest to a user. Additionally, a display having a substantially “L-shaped” configuration allows for display of collaborative materials and video of remote participants simultaneously, which provides for a more natural interaction for a meeting participant interacting with the collaborative materials.
US09917863B2	Method and system for implementing mandatory file access control in native discretionary access control environments A method is provided for implementing a mandatory access control model in operating systems which natively use a discretionary access control scheme. A method for implementing mandatory access control in a system comprising a plurality of computers, the system comprising a plurality of information assets, stored as files on the plurality of computers, and a network communicatively connecting the plurality of computers, wherein each of the plurality of computers includes an operating system that uses a discretionary access control policy, and wherein each of a subset of the plurality of computers includes a software agent component operable to perform the steps of intercepting a request for a file operation on a file from a user of one of the plurality of computers including the software agent, determining whether the file is protected, if the file is protected, altering ownership of the file from the user to another owner, and providing access to the file based on a mandatory access control policy.
US09917859B2	Mitigation of anti-sandbox malware techniques Static analysis is applied to unrecognized software objects in order to identify and address potential anti-sandboxing techniques. Where static analysis suggests the presence of any such corresponding code, the software object may be forwarded to a sandbox for further analysis. In another aspect, multiple types of sandboxes may be provided, with the type being selected according to the type of exploit suggested by the static analysis.
US09917858B2	Honey user Systems and methods of managing the security of a networked environment based on activity associated with deployed pseudo-accounts are presented. In one embodiment, a plurality of pseudo-accounts are deployed in one or more networks, domains, or virtual machines and activity associated with the pseudo-accounts is collected to identify security risks to facilitate remediation and mitigation.
US09917855B1	Mixed analysys-based virtual machine sandbox A sandbox system includes a mixed analysis engine that allows for dynamic and static analysis of a sample process for malware. The sample process is executed in a virtual machine and interrupted to allow the mixed analysis engine to identify functions that are called by malware to perform a malicious behavior. The functions are correlated to identify a behavior node that is indicative of the malicious behavior, and behavior nodes are correlated to identify a behavior net. The behavior net is scored to determine if the sample process is malware.
US09917849B2	Security system for physical or virtual environments Systems and methods for performing intra-zone and inter-zone security management in a network are provided. According to one embodiment, an association is formed by a network security device between a first zone including a first set of devices and a first set of security policies defining a first type of security scanning to be performed on packets originated within the first zone and between a second zone including a second set of devices and a second set of security policies defining a second type of security scanning to be performed on packets originated within the second zone. A first zone packet is received by the network security device. It is determined whether the destination is within the first zone. If so, then the first type of security scanning is performed. A second zone packet is received by the network security device. It is determined whether the destination is within the second zone. If so, then the second type of security scanning is performed.
US09917844B2	Detection of undesired computer files using digital certificates Methods and systems for detecting undesirable computer files based on scanning and analysis of information contained within an associated digital certificate chain are provided. According to one embodiment, a determination is made regarding whether there exists a certificate chain associated with a computer file. If the certificate chain is determined to exist, then the certificate chain is evaluated by extracting information from the certificate chain and analyzing the extracted information. The computer file is then classified into one of multiple categories based on the evaluation. Finally, the computer file is handled in accordance with a policy associated with the category to which it was assigned. For example, a confirmed or suspected undesired file may be quarantined and/or an end user or an administrator may be notified regarding the confirmed or suspected undesired file.
US09917843B2	Secure data management techniques The present disclosure relates generally to secure data management techniques. Techniques are described for pairing devices and using the pairing information for granting or denying requests (e.g., data exchange requests) from the devices, for example, in a cloud environment, including Internet of Things (IoT) cloud. Devices can be paired with each other according to their identification information. Subsequently, when an original request is received from a first device, and a chasing request received from a second device, the pre-registered pairing information is used to determine whether the first and second devices form a valid pair and the original request is granted or denied based upon that determination. For example, the request may be granted only if it is determined that the first device and the second device have been previously paired. In certain embodiments, in addition to the pairing check, additional checks may be performed to determine whether to grant or deny the original request from the first device.
US09917839B2	Communication model based on user role A non-transitory computer readable medium includes instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, causes performance of operations. The operations include receiving, by a network device from a first user device, a first message addressed to a second user device and identifying a first user role associated with the first user device and a second user role associated with the second user device. The operations further include determining whether a set of predefined user role relationships authorizes a communication between user devices having the first user role and user devices having the second user role. In response to determining that the set of predefined user role relationships do not authorize the communication between user devices having the first user role and user devices having the second user role, the operations refrain forwarding the first message from the first user device to the second user device.
US09917837B1	Determining trusted sources from which to download content to a mobile device A method, system, and medium are provided for managing application and content downloads to mobile devices from trusted domains. A dynamically updateable list of trusted domains is provided to a mobile device. In response to an attempted download by a server, a component of the mobile device compares the server's domain to the list of trusted domains and allows the server to download content and/or applications without requiring permission from a user. The list of trusted domains can be updated over the air by communicating replacement lists to the mobile devices.
US09917836B2	Methods, systems, and media for providing access control for a computing device Methods, systems, and media for providing access control for a computing device are provided. In some implementations, methods for providing access control for a computing device are provided, the methods comprising: receiving a first request to authenticate the computing device from a first sender device; authenticating the computing device based at least in part on the first request; transmitting a session identifier and a session key to the first sender device; receiving an application identifier associated with the sender device from the computing device; determining, using a hardware processor, whether a sender application executing on the sender device is valid based at least in part on the application identifier; and transmitting the session key to the computing device in response to determining that the sender application is valid.
US09917832B2	Remote keychain for mobile devices An app of a mobile device registers the mobile device for a remote credential server (RCS) and receives a device token. When a credential for a remote asset is supplied on the mobile device it is routed to the RCS and stored external to the mobile device but referenced on the mobile device via an asset token. When the credential is needed, the device token and the asset token permit the RCS to authenticate and return the credential to or on behalf of the mobile device so that the mobile device can authenticate to and access the remote asset.
US09917826B2	Automated identity assessment method and system A method, system and software for assessing an entity (15) at a first user terminal (13) connected to a data network (10). A control system (11) is used to receive an access request (101) from the entity (15) or an assessing user (16) at a second user terminal (14). The control system (11) invokes or facilitates transmission of a time-delimited sequence of unpredictable prompts (18) to the entity (15) for a performance of visible prompted actions (20). A video recording (21) of the prompted action performance is stored in a data store (61) and the control system performs an automated assessment of the video recording (21) by a gesture recognition system (67d) and generates an assessment signal respectively including a positive or negative indication of whether or not said entity (15) validly performed said prompted actions.
US09917825B1	Quick-logon for computing device Methods and systems for verifying a user's identity on a computing device using two-factor authentication are described. More particularly, the system utilizes a personal identification number input by a user, together with one or more of a secure browsing feature, a device fingerprint, and a token generator to authenticate the user on the computer.
US09917824B2	Apparatus and method for Internet of Things (IoT) authentication for a mass storage device An apparatus and method are for providing security to a mass storage device using an Internet of Things (IoT) system. For example, one embodiment of a system comprises: a mass storage device to store data; an Internet of Things (IoT) device associated with the mass storage device; an IoT service comprising a database to store an association between the mass storage device and the IoT device; wherein to authenticate and unlock the mass storage device for use with a data processing device, the IoT device is to establish an encrypted communication channel with the IoT service and transmit a unique identification (ID) code to the IoT service uniquely identifying the IoT device to the IoT service; the IoT service to authenticate the IoT device using the unique ID code and to responsively transmit an unlock command over the encrypted communication channel to unlock the mass storage device; and the IoT device to responsively unlock the mass storage device upon receipt of the unlock code.
US09917823B2	Auditable retrieval of privileged credentials In an approach for providing auditable retrieval of privileged credentials in a privilege identity management (PIM) system, a processor invokes a checkout of a PIM credential, based on, at least, a determination that a PIM server cannot be accessed. A processor receives a request to access the PIM credential by a user. A processor receives validation of the request to access the PIM credential and an identity of the user. A processor retrieves the PIM credential from a database, wherein the database stores a plurality of PIM credentials owned by a system owner.
US09917820B1	Secure information sharing Techniques of information sharing involve processing queries from exchanges with multiple, non-colluding servers. Along these lines, each server stores a share of the query data such that readable query data may be reproduced only through combining the shares stored on a minimum number of the servers. In addition, a client wishing to submit a query encrypts any query input as well as a query function that provides an answer to the query. The client then sends a portion of the garbled query function to each of the servers. Each of the servers then evaluates their respective portion of the garbled query function using Yao's protocol in a serial manner so that one of the servers produces a garbled output. The client then determines the answer to the query by decoding the garbled output.
US09917816B2	People directory with social privacy and contact association features In one embodiment, a social networking system provides people look up service and establish anonymous communication session between users; creates contact association for future communication between users; and configures one or more privacy settings for users.
US09917812B2	Inline inspection of security protocols Systems and methods for inline security protocol inspection are provided. According to one embodiment, a security device receives an encrypted packet from a first network appliance and buffers the encrypted packet in a buffer. An inspection module accesses the encrypted packet from the buffer, decrypts the encrypted packet to produce plain text and scans the plain text by the inspection module.
US09917810B2	Common aggregator framework for SMS aggregators A method, system, and computer program product for short messaging service (SMS) aggregation system setup. A computing platform (e.g., a server, a multi-processor server, a cloud array, a processor, etc.) is configured to receive messages over a network (e.g., an aggregator carrier network) and to deliver the messages to a processing entity executing on the computing platform. The processing entity receives messages comprising a set of SMS configuration parameters such as SMS configuration parameters to identify an SMS aggregator identifier and SMS configuration parameters comprising an aggregator network type and/or an aggregator carrier name. The SMS configuration parameters are stored for later retrieval and used when formatting and sending SMS messages.
US09917808B2	Grouping electronic messages Arrangements relate to the grouping electronic messages by a messaging client. A plurality of electronic messages to a message recipient from a sender electronic messaging system can be received. Each of the electronic messages can include a container specification, which can include an identifier assigned by the sender electronic messaging system. The identifiers of the received electronic messages can be compared. A plurality of the received electronic messages having the same identifier can be grouped. The grouped electronic messages can be presented as a single electronic message to the message recipient.
US09917806B2	Method and a system for email address validation A device identifies an email address of a recipient listed in an email. The device determines whether the email address is erroneous and based on determining that the email address is erroneous, the device displays a recommended email address to a user.
US09917804B2	Multi-post stories In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, at a social-networking system, an identifier corresponding to a first post item stored in the social-networking system. A first set of users is associated with the first post item. The method also includes receiving, at the social-networking system, a second post item. A second set of users is associated with the second post item. The method additionally includes associating the first and second post items with a story structure. The method further includes providing one of the post items in the story structure to a client for display.
US09917803B2	Detection of false message in social media Communications in social networking environment are monitored and patterns of sharing a communication are identified. The patterns of sharing are compared to one or more criteria. A first probability of false information in the communication is determined. Responsive to determining the first probability of false information in the communication exceeding a first threshold, an additional validation of the communication is performed. A second probability that the communication contains false information is determined based on the additional validation. Responsive to determining that the second probability indicative of the communication containing false information exceeds a second threshold, an action to reduce dissemination of the communication may be performed.
US09917801B2	Method for the registration and certification of receipt of electronic mail The object of the invention is a method to receive e-mail from any transmitting user in a specific e-mail address, generating proof of all the operation transactions to deliver a certificate to the transmitting user as a trusted third party of the sending and delivery of an e-mail, indicating the content and the attachments, by the steps of reception in a mail server, sending of a copy to the recipient, its itemization in a database and its registration in the client register and database, where finally a data processing unit creates an electronic receipt with the transactional data, the data sent, the attachments and it digitally signs it creating the certificate that it sends to the initial user.
US09917800B2	System and method for centralized virtual interface card driver logging in a network environment A method is provided in one example and includes creating a staging queue in a virtual interface card (VIC) adapter firmware of a server based on a log policy; receiving a log message from a VIC driver in the server; copying the log message to the staging queue; generating a VIC control message comprising the log message from the staging queue; and sending the VIC control message to a switch.
US09917793B2	Data packet processing in SDN The present invention discloses a method and apparatus for processing a data packet in a software defined network SDN protocol-based network. The method comprises: receiving a data packet forwarded by a SDN switch in the network; obtaining a rule corresponding to a data flow where the data packet is located; determining, according to the received data packet, data flow characteristics of the data flow where the data packet is located; determining timeout information of the rule according to a predetermined matching relationship between the data flow characteristics and the timeout information, the timeout information indicating time that the rule will be kept in a flow table of the SDN switch; and sending the rule and the timeout information of the rule to the SDN switch for processing the data packet by the SDN switch according to the rule. By means of the method and apparatus of the embodiments of the present invention, the timeout information of the rule may be set flexibly, so that the performance of SDN is boosted efficiently.
US09917792B2	Virtualized application acceleration infrastructure In one example embodiment, a system and method is illustrated that includes processes a first data packet using a first operating system, the first data packet received from a first network. A second operation is shown that processes a second data packet using a second operating system, the second data packet received from a second network. Further, an additional operation is shown that determines a route associated with the first data packet and the second data packet, the route including at least one of a logical route or physical route. Moreover, an operation is shown that parses the first data packet into at least one first logical segment, and parsing the second data packet into at least one second logical segment. An operation is shown that transmits the first logical segment and the second logical segment as at least one data packet across the WAN.
US09917790B2	Storage device access mediation A system is configured to use a de-randomizer and budget data structure to economize I/O operations for a shared storage device while still allowing access to the device to a number of different entities. Embodiments can identify a comparatively low cost next operation as compared to other I/O operations, including a cost for seek time, for a first entity to dispatch to the storage device when the first entity has sufficient budget to have the I/O operation performed on its behalf and to identify an I/O operation for a second entity to dispatch to the storage device when there is insufficient budget for the first entity.
US09917788B2	Speculative generation of network page components Disclosed are various embodiments for speculatively generating network page components to reduce network page generation latency. A request for a network page is received. Speculative generation is initiated for multiple network page components that are capable of being included in the network page. A subset of the speculatively generated network page components that will actually be included in the network page is determined. The network page is then generated, where the subset of the speculatively generated network page components are included in the network page and others of the speculatively generated network page components are excluded from the network page.
US09917785B2	Schedule-based prioritization in contention-based shared-media computer networks In one embodiment, an intermediate node in a contention-based shared-media computer network determines a scheduled window within which a packet (with an assigned priority) should be transmitted by the intermediate node. In particular, the intermediate node may specifically determine whether an actual transmission time is prior to, during, or after the window, and sets a priority of the packet as either i) a reduced priority when the actual transmission time is prior to the window, ii) the assigned priority when the actual transmission time is during the window, or iii) an augmented priority when the actual transmission time is after the window. As such, the intermediate node may then transmit the packet from the intermediate node with the set priority at the actual transmission time.
US09917784B2	Dynamic resource allocation based upon network flow control One or more techniques and/or devices are provided for dynamic resource allocation based upon network flow control. For example, a first counter, corresponding to a count of communication availability signals provided by a network interface to a storage process, may be maintained. A second counter, corresponding to a count of communication unavailability signals provided by the network interface to the storage process, may be maintained. Responsive to the first counter exceeding a resource allocation threshold, additional resources may be dynamically allocated to the storage process during operation of the storage process. Responsive to the second counter exceeding a resource deallocation threshold, resources may be dynamically deallocated from the storage process during operation of the storage process. In this way, resources allocation for the storage process may be dynamically adjusted based upon real-time network flow control information indicative of whether the storage process is efficiently utilizing network communication channel availability.
US09917782B2	Equitable distribution of excess shared-resource throughput capacity Methods and apparatus for equitable distribution of excess shared-resource throughput capacity are disclosed. A first and a second work target are configured to access a shared resource to implement accepted work requests. Admission control is managed at the work targets using respective token buckets. A first metric indicative of the work request arrival rates at the work targets during a time interval, and a second metric associated with the provisioned capacities of the work targets are determined. A number of tokens determined based on a throughput limit of the shared resource is distributed among the work targets to be used for admission control during a subsequent time interval. The number of tokens distributed to each work target is based on the first metric and/or the second metric.
US09917781B2	Methods for intelligent data traffic steering Data traffic is intelligently steered by an adaptive load balancer through a software defined network (SDN) to which the load balancer is operatively coupled. The network has egress ports to which a plurality of servers is connected. The network has an SDN controller which generates statistical information concerning the network. Data traffic is steered through the SDN by the adaptive load balancer using a passive port method, a passive path, method, an active path method and an active path with quality of service (QoS) overlay method.
US09917780B2	Traffic control across a layer 2 layer 3 boundary in a software defined network Traffic control can be provided across a Layer 2-Layer 3 boundary in a software defined network. A network controller can receive information related to a number of conditions in a software defined network (SDN) from a number of network devices. The network controller can provide network traffic control across a Layer 2-Layer 3 boundary in the SDN based on the received information.
US09917779B2	Alleviating congestion in a cable modem A method, system and computer program product for ingress level filtering of packets is provided. The system includes a Media Access Control (MAC) and a buffer pool that includes buffers configured to store packets. The MAC includes a memory configured to store an incoming packet and an inspection engine coupled to the memory. The inspection engine is configured to parse the incoming packet to determine a priority level of the incoming packet, determine whether there is a buffer available in the buffer pool to store the incoming packet, and allocate a buffer in the buffer pool to store the incoming packet based on the priority level of the incoming packet.
US09917778B2	Packet transmissions There is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and a memory comprising code that, when executed on the at least one processor, causes the apparatus to: transmit, or arrange to transmit, a stream of packets to another apparatus; determine, at a first time, whether or not the number of packet pairs in the stream is above a threshold; and, if the number of packet pairs in the stream is determined to be below the threshold, configure future packet transmissions to the other apparatus to have more packet pairs.
US09917774B2	Content caching in metro access networks Techniques are described that enable local caching of content data within metro transport networks for delivery to subscribers of ISPs that are connected to metro transport networks. Routers within the metro transport network, including an access router, ISP-facing provider edge routers and one or more caching routers, establish an EVPN within the metro transport network. The access router outputs, within the EVPN and to the caching routers, EVPN route advertisements that advertise network address reachability information of the subscriber devices on behalf of the ISPs. Responsive to subscriber content requests that have been redirected from the ISPs and based on the EVPN route advertisements from the access routers, the caching routers of the metro transport network forward, by the EVPN, content from the local content cache to the access routers for efficient delivery to the one or more of the subscribers.
US09917772B2	Diameter message mirroring and spoofing Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: receiving a Diameter message at the DRA from an origin device, wherein the Diameter message includes a first destination address; establishing a context object based on receiving the Diameter message, wherein the context object is associated with a copy of the Diameter message; evaluating at least one rule, comprising modifying, based on a first reference to the context object, the copy to include a second destination address, and transmitting the copy to another device based on the second destination address.
US09917767B2	Maintaining a communication path from a host to a storage subsystem in a network Provided are a method, system, computer storage device, and storage area network for maintaining a communication path from a host to a storage subsystem in a network. A storage subsystem controls data transfer and access to a storage devices in a network, wherein the storage subsystem is coupled to a switch and the switch is coupled to a host in the network. A topological storage is coupled to the host, the switch and the storage subsystem, for storing a topological coupling relationship between the host and the switch and a topological coupling relationship between the switch and the storage subsystem. In response to determining a failed path between the storage subsystem and the switch coupled to the storage subsystem, the storage subsystem determines a first port on the storage subsystem in the failed path. The storage subsystem determines from the topology storage the topological coupling relationship between the host and the switch and the topological coupling relationship between the switch and the storage subsystem. The storage subsystem redirects, based on the topological coupling relationships, a message sent to the first port of the storage subsystem to an operational second port in the storage subsystem coupled to the switch.
US09917763B2	Method and apparatus for analyzing a service in a service session A service provided to an end user in a service session is analyzed. A plurality of measurements of at least one performance parameter of a network providing a service to an end user in a service session is received (501). The received plurality of measurements of the at least one performance parameter are divided (503) into a plurality of snapshots. The service is analyzed (505) by determining the compliance of the received measurements to the expectations of the end user for that service session within a snapshot.
US09917762B2	Microburst monitoring system A microburst monitoring system includes a port and a memory system with an egress queue and a shadow queue that are associated with the port. A networking engine is coupled to the port and the memory system and configured to receive and process packets to provide egress frames for forwarding through the port. The networking engine then stores the egress frames in the egress queue, and stores information about each of the egress frames in the shadow queue. When the networking device determines that the storage of the egress frames has caused the egress queue to reach a threshold, the networking device causes the information about each of the egress frames in the egress queue to be captured, and that captured information may be analyzed to determine a source device that is generating at least some of the packets to be throttled.
US09917759B2	Incident-based adaptive monitoring of information in a distributed computing environment According to one embodiment of the disclosure, a system monitors a first metric associated with a host device. The system accesses, at a monitoring frequency, data associated with the first metric. The system determines, based on the data, a metric rating for the first metric. The system further determines, based on the metric rating, whether the metric rating is above a threshold. The system modifies, based at least in part on the metric rating being above the threshold, a monitoring behavior of a probe.
US09917749B2	Cloud-based wireless network analysis A device may determine log information, collected by a user device, that may include information associated with communications between the user device and a base station. The user device and the base station may be associated with a wireless network. The device may analyze the log information to determine event information associated with the user device. The event information may include information associated with an event experienced by the user device during the communications between the user device and the base station. The device may generate action information based on the event information. The action information may include information associated with organizing, categorizing, classifying, or diagnosing the event experienced by the user device. The device may provide the action information.
US09917745B2	Validation of chained network services A method implemented in a network element, the method comprising identifying a first service function (SF) for validation, the first SF being associated with a service function chain (SFC), being applied to a data flow, and operating on a first network node, encoding one or more tests associated with the first SF in an operations, administration, and management (OAM) packet, and transmitting a validation request comprising the OAM packet towards the first SF to request validation of the first SF by execution of the tests.
US09917737B2	Systems and methods for programmable device installations According to at least one embodiment, a system including a server is provided. The server includes a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The at least one processor is configured to receive configuration information encoded in a QR code, the configuration information being based on one or more values of one or more configuration options for at least one programmable device. The at least one processor is also configured to determine if the configuration information is in accord with target configuration information and transmit a message indicating whether the configuration information is in accord with the target configuration information.
US09917736B2	Automated standalone bootstrapping of hardware inventory Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, methods, and computer storage media for automated standalone bootstrapping of hardware inventory that includes a provisioning workflow of discovering, validating, and configuring hardware inventory. In an exemplary embodiment, an in-rack computing device, such as a chassis manager or selected blade, initializes an intra-rack communication network with a hardware inventory of the rack. The in-rack computing device initiates intra-rack communication with the hardware inventory in the rack, using the intra-rack communication network, to discover at least a set of computing units in a hardware inventory. Intra-rack communications that include traffic received from the set of computing units. The in-rack computing device validates operational configurations of the hardware inventory based on comparing expected operational configuration parameters with actual operational configuration parameters, at least a portion of the operational configuration parameters retrieved from the information carried within the traffic received from the set of computing units.
US09917735B2	System and method for big data aggregation in sensor network A system for big data aggregation in a sensor network is provided, and the system includes a sensor network which comprises two or more sensor nodes connected to each other over a wired/wireless network and is configured to transfer sensor data generated by each of the two or more sensor nodes to a big data management unit by setting a destination address in the sensor data as an address of a big data management unit; and the big data management unit configured to distribute and dispersedly store the sensor data based on the set destination address of the sensor data.
US09917730B2	Peer-to-peer wireless controller topology provisioning system A peer-to-peer wireless controller topology provisioning system includes plurality of networking devices. A plurality of peer-to-peer wireless controllers are included in each networking device and are each configured to control a portion of a single wireless link with another peer-to-peer wireless controller. A management subsystem determines relative locations for each of the networking devices, and a number of peer-to-peer wireless controllers available in each of the networking devices. The management subsystem then uses a maximum hop constraint and a minimum bandwidth constraint to generate a peer-to-peer wireless controller topology for at least some of the peer-to-peer wireless controllers that are available in the networking devices. The management subsystem then provides the peer-to-peer wireless controller topology to each of the networking devices to cause each of the networking devices to configure their available peer-to-peer wireless controllers to provide wireless links according to the peer-to-peer wireless controller topology.
US09917729B2	Methods, systems, and computer readable media for multi-layer orchestration in software defined networks (SDNs) Methods, systems, and computer readable media for multi-layer orchestration in software defined networks (SDNs) are disclosed. In one example, the method includes receiving orchestration related data for implementing a network service using the network resources within the SDN, determining configuration information for the network resources based on the orchestration related data and protocol layer capability of the network resources, wherein determining the configuration information includes identifying the network resources having the protocol layer capability to provide network services, and providing the configuration information to the network resources.
US09917728B2	Software-based fabric enablement A first fabric abstraction layer couples to a data link layer and a physical layer of a network fabric device. The network fabric device is connected to other network elements within a network via at least one network connection, such as a fiber optic connection. A second fabric abstraction layer couples to the data link layer and an application of the network device. The second fabric abstraction layer provides an application programming interface (API) to the application. The API allows the application to generate configuration instructions for configuring the at least one network connection. Upon receiving the configuration instructions generated by the application, the second abstraction layer sends the configuration instructions to the first abstraction layer via the data link layer. The first abstraction layer then configures the at least one network connection to transmit data according to the configuration instructions.
US09917722B2	Modulation method and apparatus for signal transmission and reception in mobile communication system A method and a transmission device of a mobile communication system are disclosed. The method includes determining a modulation method for data transmission, determining the level of a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) according to the determined modulation method, determining the amplitude of a carrier wave and the phase of the carrier wave on the basis of the determined QAM level and the data to be transmitted, and, when the determined modulation method is a first modulation method, determining a sequence length, selecting a sequence form among sequences having the determined length according to the data to be transmitted, and generating a symbol modulating the data to be transmitted, on the basis of the selected sequence, the determined amplitude of the carrier wave, and the determined phase of the carrier wave.
US09917721B2	Separating and extracting modulated signals Methods, systems, and apparatus for receiving an input signal, where the input signal includes a carrier signal modulated with a first modulation signal and a second modulation signal, and where the second modulation signal is a TM signal. Demodulating the first modulation signal from the input signal. Modulating an un-modulated carrier signal with the first modulation signal to generate a third signal, where the third signal includes the carrier signal modulated by the first modulation signal. And, removing the first modulation signal from the input signal by subtracting the third signal from the input signal to extract the TM signal from the input signal.
US09917719B2	Apparatus and method for remote beam forming for dbs satellites A satellite broadcasting system is achieved where remote beam forming processors combined with wavefront multiplexers located among distributed ground stations are used to control downlink beam footprints and pointing directions. Digital beam forming (DBF) techniques allow a single satellite download broadcast antenna array to generate multiple independently pointed simultaneous downlinks, which may contain distinct information content. Allocation of some uplink back-channel elements as diagnostic signals allows for continuous calibration of uplink channels, improving downlink broadcast array and user broadcast performance. Wavefront multiplexing/demultiplexing allows all array element signals to be radiated by the broadcasting antenna array, with simultaneous propagation from ground stations to the broadcasting satellites through available parallel propagation channels in the uplinks of feeder links, with equalized amplitude and phase differentials. Further, additional wavefront multiplexing/demultiplexing pairs are further used to coherently broadcast signals from a remote beam forming facility on ground to cover areas through multiple broadcasting satellites.
US09917717B2	Apparatus for transmitting broadcast signals, apparatus for receiving broadcast signals, method for transmitting broadcast signals and method for receiving broadcast signals A method is provided for receiving broadcast signals. The broadcast signals are received. The received broadcast signals are demodulated by an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) scheme, a signal frame is parsed from the demodulated broadcast signals, data is decoded in the parsed signal frame to output baseband packets, the baseband packets are output-processed to output link layer packets, and the link layer packets are de-encapsulated to output Transport Stream (TS) packets by inserting a header for each TS packet of which a header is deleted based on information of a header of the link layer packets.
US09917713B2	Offset tunable edge slicer for sampling phase amplitude modulation signals In one example, an apparatus includes an offset tunable edge slicer having an input to receive a pulse amplitude modulation signal. The offset tunable edge slicer also has a plurality of possible offset settings corresponding to a plurality of different reference voltages of the offset tunable edge slicer. A multiplexer has an output coupled to the input of the offset tunable edge slicer and an input to receive a control signal that selects one of the plurality of possible offset settings for the offset tunable edge slicer. A phase detector has an input coupled to an output of the offset tunable edge slicer.
US09917708B2	Partial response receiver A signaling system is described. The signaling system comprises a transmit device, a receive device including a partial response receive circuit, and a signaling path coupling the transmit device and the receive device. The receive device observes an equalized signal from the signaling path, and includes circuitry to use feedback from the most recent previously resolved symbol to sample a currently incoming symbol. The transmit device equalizes transmit data to transmit the equalized signal, by applying weighting based on one or more data values not associated with the most recent previously resolved symbol value.
US09917706B1	Recovering independent waveforms from input bitstream data An example device in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure includes a non-linear compensator, an interpolator, a demultiplexer, and a demodulator. The non-linear compensator is to correct a non-linearity of the input bitstream data to obtain linearized bitstream data. The interpolator is to convert a non-constant sample rate of the linearized bitstream data to obtain constant sample rate bitstream data. The demultiplexer is to demultiplex the constant sample rate bitstream data into a first waveform and a second waveform. The demodulator is to demodulate the first waveform and the second waveform.
US09917702B2	System and method for managing items in a list shared by a group of mobile devices A method and system are provided for sharing data amongst a group of a plurality of mobile devices to manage tasks in a group project. To manage updates, the shared data is atomized such that individual databases in the shared data are separated or otherwise delineated into one or more records, each record having associated therewith, a value.
US09917699B2	Physical unclonable function imaged through two faces A physical unclonable function (PUF) imaged through two faces is disclosed. The PUF is difficult to counterfeit because the view through both faces must be duplicated for a successful counterfeit. PUF may be incorporated into a user-replaceable supply item for an imaging device. A PUF reader may be incorporated into an imaging device to read the PUF. Other systems and methods are disclosed.
US09917698B2	Management of certificates for mobile devices One embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method that includes accessing, by a mobile device management system, a profile for a mobile device. The method also includes negotiating, by the mobile device management system, with a certificate authority to obtain a certificate for the mobile device. The negotiating with the certificate authority includes imitating the mobile device based on the profile. The negotiating with the certificate authority also includes, based at least on the imitation, transmitting one or more certificate enrollment messages to the certificate authority. The negotiating with the certificate authority further includes, based on the one or more messages, receiving, at the mobile device management system, the certificate for the mobile device. The method further includes transmitting the certificate to a control agent hosted on the mobile device for installation.
US09917693B2	Providing security assurance information Systems, methods, and software can be used to provide security assurance information. In some aspects, a certificate request for a client process on a mobile device is received. A security assurance character for the client process is determined. Whether to grant the certificate request is determined based on the determined security assurance character. In response to determining to grant the certificate request, a certificate is generated.
US09917688B2	Consolidating encrypted image backups without decryption Consolidating encrypted image backups without decryption. In one example embodiment, a method for consolidating encrypted image backups without decryption may include individually encrypting, using a single encryption key, each block in a first set of blocks in a source storage, storing the first set of encrypted blocks in a first encrypted image backup, individually encrypting, using the single encryption key, each block in a second set of blocks in the source storage, storing the second set of encrypted blocks in a second encrypted image backup, and creating a consolidated encrypted image backup that includes a single encrypted block for each of multiple unique block positions represented by the first and second sets of encrypted blocks without decrypting any of the encrypted blocks.
US09917683B2	Method and apparatus for transmitting channel state information in wireless communication system A method of transmitting channel information by a User Equipment (UE) when an uplink sub-frame is used for downlink transmission in a communication system using a dynamic Time Division Duplex (TDD) UpLink-DownLink (UL-DL) configuration is provided. The method includes receiving reconfiguration information for reconfiguration of TDD uplink and downlink from an evolved Node B (eNB), measuring interference in a first sub-frame changed from an uplink sub-frame to a downlink sub-frame by the reconfiguration, and transmitting information on interference measured in only the first sub-frame to the eNB in an uplink sub-frame according to a predetermined timing.
US09917675B2	Enhanced polar code constructions by strategic placement of CRC bits Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques and apparatus for improving decoding latency and performance of Polar codes. An exemplary method generally includes generating a codeword by encoding information bits, using a multi-dimensional interpretation of a polar code of length N, determining, based on one or more criteria, a plurality of locations within the codeword to insert error correction codes generating the error correction codes based on corresponding portions of the information bits, inserting the error correction codes at the determined plurality of locations, and transmitting the codeword. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.
US09917670B1	DC correction in uplink multi-user transmission A communication device receives a trigger frame from an access point, the trigger frame configured to prompt the communication device to simultaneously transmit with one or more other communication devices as part of a multi-user uplink transmission. The communication device determines carrier frequency offset (CFO) information based on the trigger frame, and transmits the CFO information to the access point in response to the trigger frame so that the access point can use the CFO to process the multi-user uplink transmission.
US09917669B2	Access point and communication system for resource allocation An access point (AP) and a communication system are provided. The access point comprises at least but not limited to a transceiver, a network connection unit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured for the following steps. The AP receives channel access requests of the user equipments (UEs) from the UEs. Next, the AP transmits a channel request data according to QoS requirements of plurality of channel access requests of the UEs to the server. Afterward, the AP receives resource allocation information associated with the channel request data from the server, wherein the resource allocation information comprises an allocated result of physical channels and transmission power configurations. Subsequently, the AP allocates the physical channels to the UEs according to the QoS requirements of the channel access requests of the UEs and the resource allocation information.
US09917668B2	Systems and methods for detecting and propagating resizability information of oduflex connections A method, in a network element, for detecting and propagating resizability information of an Optical channel Data Unit flex (ODUflex) connection includes receiving resizability information in overhead associated with the ODUflex connection, wherein the resizability information indicates a number of available tributary slots and whether the ODUflex connection is symmetric; and adjusting the resizability information based on a change in the available tributary slots due to a bandwidth change at the network element. The systems and methods include a solution to communicate, in real time, the resizability information of an ODUflex connection utilizing the associated data path to carry it instead of the management/control plane.
US09917667B2	Host-to-host test scheme for periodic parameters transmission in synchronized TTP systems A system for testing synchronous TTP communication networks is provided. The system includes a first and second nodes coupled to a transmission bus. The first node is configured to generate a test command, which includes a test flag and a test round field, set the test flag, and transmit the test command and a plurality of parameters via the transmission bus using data frames. The second node is configured to receive the test command and the plurality of parameters from the transmission bus, determine whether the test flag is set, and compare parameter values in the received data frames with expected values in a test vector stored on the second node, for each of the plurality of parameters, in response to determining that the test flag is set. The first and second nodes are configured to communicate with each other using a TTP on a time slot basis.
US09917666B2	Method and device for receiving a broadcast service comprising switching between digital audio broadcasting (DAB) transmissions and enhanced multimedia broadcast/multicast transmissions (EMBMS) A method for broadcast service following for a vehicle includes a first step of continuously, or in given time intervals, estimating a signal quality and/or signal availability of the DAB service and/or the cellular network based broadcast service in a route section the vehicle is expected to reach in a given time span. The method also includes a second step of performing a handover from the DAB service to the corresponding cellular network based broadcast service dependent on the estimated signal quality and/or signal availability. The first step may depend on provided data base information. The first step may in addition, or in the alternative, depend on service information, which is included in a received DAB signal.
US09917655B1	Timing-modulated side channel Physical-layer information is conveyed within a packetized communication network via a timing-modulated side channel to yield low-latency physical interface control without consuming host-layer signaling bandwidth. Multi-modal transceivers at opposite ends of a signaling link optionally communicate to confirm mutual support and signaling headroom for timing-modulated information exchange before transitioning from an in-band feedback mode to a side-channel feedback mode.
US09917654B2	Chip for transdermal emission or augmentation of energy A hologram chip may be programmed to emit and/or augment energy tuned to interact with bodily functions through transdermal contact. The chip may be programmed by using a pair of Tesla pancake coils, each coupled to a spherical electrode and driven to create an energetic field between the electrodes. The hologram chip may be in contact with a transmitter coil. A tuning medium may be in contact with a receiver coil. A wave function generator may drive the transmitter coil until it is in resonance with the receiver coil causing an energetic field to form between the spherical electrodes. The longitudinal waves passed from the transmitter side to the receiver side may be conducted through the receiver pancake coil and through the tuning medium, which in turn may transmit the natural frequencies/information of the tuning medium through the longitudinal waves to the hologram chip on the transmitter coil.
US09917651B2	Feed signal generation for a phased array antenna A feed signal generator (10) for a phased array antenna, comprising: an input (12) to receive an optical spectrum having first and second phase-locked spectral components, respectively having first and second optical frequencies; wavelength selective separator apparatus (14) to separate the optical spectrum into a first optical signal being the first spectral component and a second optical signal being the second spectral component; an optical time delay element (16) to apply a time delay to the first optical signal to form a delayed optical signal; a heterodyning device (20) to heterodyne the delayed optical signal and the second optical signal to generate a feed signal (22) having a power proportional to a product of the amplitudes of the second and delayed optical signals and a phase proportional to the time delay; and optical amplitude control apparatus (18) to set an amplitude of the delayed optical signal such that the product of said amplitudes causes the power of the feed signal to have a preselected value.
US09917649B2	Method and apparatus for characterization and compensation of optical impairments in InP-based optical transmitter A method and apparatus for characterizing and compensating optical impairments in an optical transmitter includes operating an optical transmitter comprising a first and second parent MZ, each comprising a plurality of child MZ modulators that are biased at respective initial operating points. An electro-optic RF transfer function is generated for each of the plurality of child MZ modulators. Curve fitting parameters are determined for each of the plurality of electro-optic RF transfer functions and operating points of each child MZ modulator are determined using the curve fitting parameters. An IQ power imbalance is determined using the curve fitting parameters. Initial RF drive power levels are determined that compensate for the determined IQ power imbalance. The XY power imbalance is determined for initial RF drive power levels using the curve fitting parameters. The operating RF drive powers are determined that at least partially compensate for the first and second IQ power imbalances and for the XY power imbalance for the optical transmitter.
US09917648B2	Upstream interference eliminating transmission of digital baseband signal in an optical network Particular embodiments provide a method for delivering data in the upstream direction without the need for upstream radio frequency (RF) modulation. For example, in some embodiments, an optical network may reach to a gateway associated with a user device. The gateway may receive digital baseband data from the user device in the upstream direction. The gateway can then send the digital baseband data through the optical network without modulating the digital baseband signal via radio frequency. At the headend, because no modulation is performed in the upstream direction, there is no need for de-modulation in the headend. In one embodiment, a scheduler-based approach is used to avoid instances of optical beat interference in the upstream direction as only one upstream device that may interfere with other devices may be able to send data at one time.
US09917640B2	Optical coupler device and an optical monitoring device for monitoring one or more optical point-to-point transmission links Disclosed is an optical coupler device, especially for monitoring purposes in an optical point-to-point transmission link, which includes a first, a second and a third optical port and is configured to transmit a first optical signal received at the first optical port to the second optical port and to transmit a second optical signal received at the second optical port to the first and third optical port according to a monitoring split ratio with respect to the optical power of the second optical signal, the first and second optical signal having a wavelength lying in a first optical band. The device is further configured to transmit a third and a fourth optical signal received at the third and the second optical port to the respective other optical port, the third and fourth optical signal having a wavelength lying in a second optical band. The device is controllable with respect to the monitoring split ratio and includes a control means adapted to receive a control signal. The control means controls the optical coupler device with respect to the monitoring split ratio such that in a first work the second optical signal is transmitted to the first optical port, only, and in a second work mode a major portion of the optical power of the second signal is transmitted to the first optical port and a minor portion of the optical power of the second signal is transmitted to the third optical port.
US09917634B2	Demultiplexing apparatus, multiplexing apparatus, and relay apparatus A relay apparatus includes a reception analog filter that extracts a desired signal from a received signal, an A/D converter that converts the signal after passage through the reception analog filter into a digital signal, a demultiplexing unit that demultiplexes the digital signal converted by the A/D converter into m signals, a reception-side compensating unit that digitally compensates for an analog characteristic of the reception analog filter with respect to the m signals demultiplexed by the demultiplexing unit, and a multiplexing unit that multiplexes the m signals digitally compensated by the reception-side compensating unit. The reception-side compensating unit further demultiplexes each of x signals not sufficiently compensated among the digitally-compensated m signals into k signals, digitally compensates for the analog characteristic of the reception analog filter, and multiplexes the k signals after the digital compensation.
US09917631B2	Diversity monitoring antenna system Switching apparatus for use in RF transmission systems. The apparatus comprises first and second RF signal inputs, each coupled to an RF signal path including a coupler directing a portion of input RF signal power to corresponding first and second RF signal outputs. The apparatus includes an RF signal switching arrangement having a control input, a switch output, a first switch input coupled to the first RF signal path, a second switch input coupled to the second RF signal path, and the RF signal switching arrangement is operable by the control input to selectively connect the first or second switch input to the switch output. An RF signal monitoring output is coupled to the switch output, and a processor is configured to receive a switch command input and generate a switch control signal which is adapted to configure the RF signal switch arrangement in accordance with the switch command input.
US09917623B1	Digital beamforming architecture This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatus for digital beamforming. In one aspect, a subsystem of a spacecraft can include multipliers and a data distribution network including adders to provide beamformed signals.
US09917621B2	System and method for network uplink measurement based operation using UE centric sounding Embodiments are provided for uplink measurement based mechanism and control using user equipment (UE) centric sounding signals. The mechanism provides an alternative to DL-measurement dominated system control. Based on UL-measurements at TPs, the network obtains knowledge of users' channel and timing information, traffic, and interference, and is thus able to perform better control, including TP and UE clustering and optimization, and power control and link adaptation. In an embodiment method, a TP receives one-to-one mapping information indicating a plurality of UE IDs and a plurality of sounding channels assigned to the corresponding UE IDs. When the TP detects a sounding reference signal (SRS) from a UE, the TP is able to identify the UE using the detected SRS and the one-to-one mapping information. The TP then obtains measurement information for the identified UE, enabling better control and communications for uplink and downlink transmissions between multiple TPs and the UE.
US09917619B2	Provisioning devices using near-field communication Disclosed are various examples for provisioning a client device through near-field communication (NFC). An administrator device can provide configuration parameters to a client device in a factory-reset condition through an NFC bump. A second NFC bump can be performed that provides enrollment parameters to the client device, after which the client device can complete enrollment with an enterprise mobility management (EMM) service.
US09917616B2	Synchronization signal design for wireless devices in a long range extension mode Systems and methods related to a synchronization signal particularly well suited for wireless devices in an extended coverage area of a cell of a cellular communications network are disclosed. In one embodiment, a base station transmits a synchronization signal including multiple repetitions of a basic synchronization block during a coherence time of a downlink channel over which the synchronization signal is transmitted. The multiple repetitions of the basic synchronization block during the coherence time enable coherent combining during detection of the synchronization signal at wireless devices located in the cellular communications network. This coherent combining enables, for example, wireless devices located in an extended coverage area of a cell served by the base station to synchronize to the cell using a shorter synchronization signal than that which would be required if only non-coherent combining were used.
US09917614B1	Low noise amplifier for carrier aggregation and apparatus including the same Provided is an apparatus. The apparatus includes an input terminal configured to receive an input signal including at least one carrier, a first amplifier stage electrically connected to the input terminal, enabled in a first mode to output a first output signal by amplifying the input signal, and disabled in a second mode, and a second amplifier stage electrically connected to the input terminal, enabled in the second mode to output second and third output signals by amplifying the input signal, and disabled in the first mode.
US09917611B2	Molded pulp case for mobile device A removable case for a mobile device formed from a molded pulp that is capable of conforming to the shape of the mobile device. The elasticity of the molded pulp material allows it to conform to the shape of the mobile device and to retain the mobile device within the case. This elasticity also aids in the protection of the mobile device. The molded pulp case has a plurality of sides that cover at least a portion of the side walls of the mobile device and overlap a portion of the front panel of the mobile device. A back panel covers a substantial portion of the rear panel of the mobile device.
US09917609B2	System and method for automatic detection and enablement of a virtual SIM on a mobile device A method implemented by an enterprise server to facilitate activation of a virtual subscriber identity module (SIM) service on a mobile communication device. The method includes detecting a triggering event and in response to detecting the triggering event: determining that a SIM application on a physical universal integrated circuit card (UICC) currently inserted into the mobile communication device is associated with a mobile network operator (MNO) providing one or more virtual SIMs to which the enterprise server has access; determining whether the SIM application on the physical UICC is associated with one of the virtual SIMs provided by the MNO; and if the SIM application on the physical UICC is associated with a virtual SIM provided by the MNO, sending a message to the mobile communication device indicating that the mobile communication device is enabled for a virtual SIM service.
US09917600B2	Forward error correction with turbo/non-turbo switching A forward error correction and differentially encoded signal obtained via a communication channel is supplied to a soft-input soft-output (SISO) differential decoder that is bi-directionally coupled to a SISO forward error correction decoder. Over a first portion of a plurality of decoding iterations of the differentially encoded signal, the SISO differential decoder and the SISO forward error correction decoder are operated in a turbo decoding mode in which decoded messages generated by the SISO differential decoder are supplied to the SISO forward error correction decoder and forward error correction messages are supplied to the differential decoder. Over a second portion of the plurality of decoding iterations of the differentially encoded signal, the SISO forward error correction decoder is operated in a non-turbo decoding mode without any messages passing to and from the SISO differential decoder. Decoder output is obtained from the SISO forward error correction decoder.
US09917599B2	Coding schemes including alternative codings for a single code construct A coding scheme for coding “code constructs” (for example, alphanumeric characters) into “bit sequences,” where at least one of the code constructs is assigned at least two different bit sequences (that is, a first bit sequence and a second bit sequence). This is sometimes referred to herein as “alternative codings for a single code construct.” In some embodiments, at least one of the alternative codings includes bits that can be used for error detection and/or correction. In some embodiments, the code scheme will be similar to a pre-existing code scheme that does not have alternative codings for a single code construct so that the alternative-codings coding scheme is back compatible with data encoded under the pre-existing coding scheme.
US09917597B1	Method and apparatus for accelerated data compression with hints and filtering A processor includes a decoder to decode an instruction to compress an input data stream and an execution unit for executing the instruction. The execution unit to generate metadata for a current input of the input data stream, the metadata comprises a first hint based on a portion of a current input that represents the input data stream at a current offset, select a first pointer to identify a location in a history buffer in a hash chain, determine whether the metadata generated for the current input matches metadata previously generated for the first pointer, and filter the first pointer from a search for a best match for the current input in the history buffer based on the determination that at least a portion of the metadata for the current input does not match a portion of the metadata for the first pointer.
US09917591B2	Digital phase locked loop for low jitter applications A phase locked loop circuit is disclosed. The phase locked loop circuit includes a ring oscillator. The phase locked loop circuit also includes a digital path including a digital phase detector. The phase locked loop circuit further includes an analog path including a linear phase detector. Additionally, the phase locked loop circuit includes a feedback path connecting an output of the ring oscillator to an input of the digital path and an input of the analog path. The digital path and the analog path are parallel paths. The digital path provides a digital tuning signal the ring oscillator that digitally controls a frequency of the ring oscillator. The analog path provides an analog tuning signal the ring oscillator that continuously controls the frequency of the ring oscillator.
US09917590B2	Delay locked loop A programmable delay line comprises a delay stage responsive to an analog control signal and responsive to one or more digital control signals. The delay stage generates an output signal that is delayed relative to an input signal by a delay amount. The delay amount controlled by a value of the analog control signal and one or more values of the digital control signals. A method for controlling a delay locked loop circuit comprises providing, to a programmable delay line of the delay locked loop circuit, a one or more digital signals, and providing, to the programmable delay line, an analog signal. A first portion of a delay produced by the programmable delay line corresponds to values of the one or more digital signals. A second portion of the delay produced by the programmable delay line corresponds to a value of the analog signal.
US09917588B2	Level shifter and approach therefor Aspects of the disclosure are directed to communications between respective power domains (circuitry) that may operate in a stacked arrangement in which the each domain operates over a different voltage range. A first circuit provides differential outputs that vary between first and second voltage levels, based on transitions of an input signal received from a first one of the power domains. First and second driver circuits are respectively coupled to the first and second differential outputs. A third driver circuit operates with the first and second circuits to level-shift the input signal from the first power domain to an output signal on a second power domain by driving an output circuit at the second voltage level in response to the input signal being at the first voltage level, and driving the output circuit at a third voltage level in response to the input signal being at the second voltage level.
US09917582B2	Polarizer structure to control crosstalk in proximity sensor including a cover physically separates a photodetector from an object An optical sensor, optical system, and proximity sensor are disclosed. An illustrative proximity sensor is disclosed to include a light source, a photodetector including a photo-sensitive area that receives incident light and converts the received incident light into an electrical signal, and a plurality of polarization layers stacked on the photodetector that limit light from becoming received incident light for the photo-sensitive area to light traveling toward the photodetector along a predetermined path.
US09917578B2	Active gate-source capacitance clamp for normally-off HEMT A semiconductor assembly includes a first FET integrated within the semiconductor assembly and comprising gate, source and drain terminals. The semiconductor assembly further includes a low voltage switching device integrated within the semiconductor assembly and being configured to electrically short a gate-source capacitance of the first FET responsive to a control signal.
US09917576B2	High speed sync FET control A circuit arrangement is disclosed for controlling the switching of a field effect transistor (FET). A current controlled amplifier may be configured to amplify a current in a current sense device to generate an amplified current, wherein the current in the current sense device indicates a current through the FET. A comparator may be coupled to the current sense amplifier to compare a voltage corresponding to the amplified current with a voltage reference and to generate a comparator output based on the comparison, wherein the comparator output controls whether the FET is on or off.
US09917572B2	Semiconductor device, electronic component, and electronic device A semiconductor device includes a logic circuit capable of storing configuration data. The logic circuit includes a latch circuit, an arithmetic circuit, a delay circuit, and a first output timing generation circuit. The latch circuit has a function of receiving a pulse signal and a reset signal and outputting a first signal. The delay circuit has a function of receiving the first signal and outputting a second signal. The first signal controls power supply to the arithmetic circuit and the delay circuit. The second signal is obtained by delaying the first signal so as to correspond to a delay in a critical path of the arithmetic circuit. The first output timing generation circuit has a function of receiving a third signal obtained by a logical operation on the first signal and the second signal and outputting the reset signal.
US09917571B2	Resonant gyroscopes and methods of making and using the same Certain implementations of the disclosed technology may include systems and methods for high-frequency resonant gyroscopes. In an example implementation, a resonator gyroscope assembly is provided. The resonator gyroscope assembly can include a square resonator body suspended adjacent to a substrate, a ground electrode attached to a side of the resonator body, a piezoelectric layer attached to a side of the ground electrode, a drive electrode in electrical communication with the piezoelectric layer, and configured to stimulate one or more vibration modes of the square resonator body; and a sense electrode in electrical communication with the piezoelectric layer, and configured to receive an output from the square or disk resonator responsive to stimulation of the one or more vibration modes.
US09917570B2	Method and apparatus for signal filtering and for improving properties of electronic devices The present invention relates to nonlinear signal processing, and, in particular, to adaptive nonlinear filtering of real-, complex-, and vector-valued signals utilizing analog Nonlinear Differential Limiters (NDLs), and to adaptive real-time signal conditioning, processing, analysis, quantification, comparison, and control. More generally, this invention relates to methods, processes and apparatus for real-time measuring and analysis of variables, and to generic measurement systems and processes. This invention also relates to methods and corresponding apparatus for measuring which extend to different applications and provide results other than instantaneous values of variables. The invention further relates to post-processing analysis of measured variables and to statistical analysis. The NDL-based filtering method and apparatus enable improvements in the overall properties of electronic devices including, but not limited to, improvements in performance, reduction in size, weight, cost, and power consumption, and, in particular for wireless devices, NDLs enable improvements in spectrum usage efficiency.
US09917569B2	High-frequency module A high frequency module includes a first external connection terminal, a second external connection terminal, a filter unit, a first matching circuit, and a second matching circuit. The filter unit is connected between the first external connection terminal and the second external connection terminal. The first matching circuit is connected between the first external connection terminal and the filter unit. The second matching circuit is connected between the second external connection terminal and the filter unit. The first matching circuit and the second matching circuit are inductively or capacitively coupled to each other.
US09917567B2	Bulk acoustic resonator comprising aluminum scandium nitride A ladder filter includes a plurality of series resonators and a plurality of shunt resonators connected between an input port and an output port. At least one of the series or shunt resonators include a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator structure, which includes: a first electrode disposed over a substrate; an air cavity located in the substrate and below the first electrode; a piezoelectric layer disposed over the first electrode and comprising aluminum scandium nitride, the piezoelectric layer having a thickness in a range of approximately 1.0 microns to approximately 1.5 microns; and a second electrode disposed over the piezoelectric layer. The BAW resonator structure has an area, and the area is less than an area of a comparable BAW resonator structure comprising identical layers and materials except for an undoped aluminum nitride piezoelectric layer.
US09917563B2	Apparatus and methods for biasing of power amplifiers Apparatus and methods for biasing of power amplifiers are disclosed. In one embodiment, a mobile device includes a transceiver that generates a radio frequency signal and a power amplifier enable signal, a power amplifier that provides amplification to the radio frequency signal and that is biased by a bias signal, and a bias circuit that receives the power amplifier enable signal and generates the bias signal. The bias circuit includes a gain correction circuit that generates a correction current in response to activation of the power amplifier enable signal, and a primary biasing circuit that generates the bias signal based on the correction current and the power amplifier enable signal.
US09917561B1	Location activated volume control for vehicle A device and method for controlling the volume of played media through loudspeakers on a golf cart driven by a user with a Bluetooth connected device. A location receiver on the golf cart continuously signals a computing component a signal associated with a location of the golf cart on a golf course. If the golf cart is determined to be located in a volume control area, the volume of sound produced by an amplifier engaged with loudspeakers on the cart is reduced to a predetermined level for that control area. Other control areas can cause the playing of advertisements from the loudspeakers on the cart as it passes into them.
US09917556B2	Transmitter, transmission system, and transmission method A transmitter, a transmission system and a transmission method whereby AM-PM distortions can be compensated with high accuracy without affecting the functions of a predistortor, a ΔΣ modulator and so on. The transmitter includes: a baseband signal generation circuit that outputs the amplitude value and phase value of a baseband signal; a ΔΣ modulation circuit that performs a ΔΣ modulation of the outputted amplitude and phase values to output a pulse signal train; a power supply modulation circuit that supplies, to a pre-stage amplifier, a voltage determined in accordance with the outputted amplitude value; the pre-stage amplifier and a post-stage amplifier that amplify the outputted pulse signal train; and a filter circuit that generates an output signal from the pulse signal train as amplified and outputs the output signal. The power supply modulation circuit determines the voltage for canceling a phase error occurring in the post-stage amplifier.
US09917553B2	Low distortion output stage for audio amplifiers A circuit and method for an audio op-amp that is configured to minimize crossover distortion between push and pull components of the audio op-amp. The audio op-amp includes an input stage that receives differential input signals and generates an output that amplifies the difference between the input signals. The audio op-amp further includes an output stage that receive the amplified signal and generate an audio output signal for playback by a speaker system. The output stage includes a diamond driver circuit that buffers the input stage from the speaker system, a boost circuit that includes a pair of boosting transistors that amplify the current of the amplified signal, and a biasing circuit that provides bias currents to the transistors of the boost circuit in a manner that minimizes crossover distortion between the boosting transistors.
US09917548B2	Phase noise reduction in voltage controlled oscillators A voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), a method of designing a voltage controlled oscillator, and a design structure comprising a semiconductor substrate including a voltage controlled oscillator are disclosed. In one embodiment, the VCO comprises an LC tank circuit for generating an oscillator output at an oscillator frequency, and an oscillator core including cross-coupled semiconductor devices to provide feedback to the tank circuit. The VCO further comprises a supply node, a tail node, and a noise by-pass circuit connected to the supply and tail nodes, in parallel with the tank circuit and the oscillator core. The by-pass circuit forms a low-impedance path at a frequency approximately twice the oscillator frequency to at least partially immunize the oscillator core from external noise and to reduce noise contribution from the cross-coupled semiconductor devices.
US09917540B2	Mutual inductance voltage offset compensation for brushless DC sensorless motors A control circuit controls the operation of a brushless DC (BLDC) sensorless motor having a first terminal connected to a first winding, a second terminal connected to a second winding and a third terminal connected to a third winding. A driver circuit applies drive signals to the first and second terminals and places the third terminal in a high-impedance state. The drive signals include first drive signals at a first current amplitude and second drive signals at a second current amplitude different from the first current amplitude. A differencing circuit senses a first mutual inductance voltage at the third terminal in response to the first drive signals and senses a second mutual inductance voltage at the third terminal in response to the second drive signals. The differencing circuit further determines a difference between the first and second mutual inductance voltages and produces a difference signal that is used for zero-crossing detection and rotor position sensing.
US09917536B2	Linear ultrasonic motor and optical apparatus including the same A driving apparatus according to the present invention includes: a movable part including a vibrator including a piezoelectric element and a pressurization part for bringing the vibrator into pressure contact with a base part by applying impression force to the vibrator, the movable part being linearly driven; and a cover part for receiving reactive force of the impression force through intermediation of a rolling part, the cover part being fixed to the base part by a holding part extending in a direction crossing a movement direction of the movable part, in which the rolling part is sandwiched by a guide part of the movable part extending in the movement direction of the movable part and a cover guide part of the cover part extending in the movement direction of the movable part, and the movable part is positioned on an outer side beyond a side of the holding part facing the movable part.
US09917534B2	Power conversion device with a plurality of series circuits A power conversion device is provided which includes a plurality of series circuits each formed of a voltage source and a controlled current source. At least two of said series circuits formed of the voltage source and the controlled current source are connected in parallel. Further, parallel connection points of the series circuits connected in parallel form output terminals.
US09917533B2	Driver assembly A driver assembly comprises several semiconductor switches that are arranged in a plane so that distances between adjacent semiconductor switches in the plane are equally large, and so that each semiconductor switch has the same number of adjacent semiconductor switches.
US09917530B2	Reconfigurable converter A reconfigurable converter includes a power circuit receives a direct current (DC) power signal and provides an alternating current (AC) output signal across at least three phases. The power circuit comprises a plurality of legs, each leg comprising an output node. A coupling device provides a first output configuration and a second output configuration for the plurality of legs. In the first output configuration, the coupling device comprises a coupling portion coupling at least two output nodes to provide a common output terminal. In the second output configuration, the coupling device comprises separate output terminals, each connected to one of the at least two output nodes.
US09917528B2	Power device for delivering power to electronic devices An energy efficient apparatus includes a switching device, a frequency dependent reactive device, and a control element is provided. The switching device is coupled to a source of electrical power and includes a pair of transistors and is adapted to receive a control signal and to produce an alternating current power signal. The frequency of the alternating current power signal is responsive to the control signal. The frequency dependent reactive device is electrically coupled to the pair of transistors for receiving the alternating current power signal and producing an output power signal. The frequency dependent reactive device is chosen to achieve a desired voltage of the output power signal relative to the frequency of the alternating current power signal. The control element senses an actual voltage of the direct current power signal and modifies the control signal delivered to achieve the desired voltage of the direct current power signal.
US09917526B2	Method of driving FETs in saturating self-oscillating push-pull isolated DC-DC converter A converter includes a DC input; a transformer including first and second primary windings, first and second secondary windings, and first and second feedback windings; a first field-effect transistor; a second field-effect transistor; and a drive circuit connected to the first and second field-effect transistors. The drive circuit includes a bias circuit that applies a bias voltage to gates of the first and second field-effect transistors via the first and second feedback windings during start-up of the converter, wherein the bias voltage is reduced to zero or substantially zero after start-up of the converter; and a reset circuit that resets the bias circuit when the converter is turned off. The converter is a self-oscillating push-pull DC-DC converter.
US09917523B1	Control methods and switching mode power supplies with improved dynamic response and reduced switching loss A control method is used in a switching mode power supply to improve dynamic load response and switching loss. A PWM signal is provided to control a power switch and has a switching frequency. A cross voltage of a transformer in the switching mode power supply is detected to provide a de-magnetization time. The switching frequency is controlled in response to a sleep signal and a compensation voltage, which is generated based on an output voltage of the switching mode power supply. The sleep signal is provided in response to the de-magnetization time and a current sense signal, a representative of a winding current of the transformer. The switching frequency is not less than a first minimum value if the sleep signal is deasserted, and not less than a second minimum value if the sleep signal is asserted. The second minimum value is less than the first minimum value.
US09917520B2	Power supply including a flyback controller and buck converter Power adapters generally include a few components that make up the majority of the volume. One component that can consume a relatively large volume is a bulk capacitor. In accordance with the implementations described herein, the size (which can include the capacitance value or volume) of the bulk capacitor within a power adapter can be reduced. Moreover, by introducing a new control scheme, the bulk capacitor can be eliminated from the power adapter. This size reduction or elimination of the bulk capacitor from a power adapter can result in not only a smaller power adapter, but can also result in a lower cost for production of the power adapter and/or an improvement in the power factor and/or power efficiency of the power adapter. This type of relatively small adapter can be beneficial from a user experience perspective.
US09917519B2	Frequency hopping for reducing switching noise in a switching power converter A switching power converter is configured to control switching noise by implementing a plurality of pulse width modulation modes of operation. The peak current in each pulse width modulation mode of operation is controlled so that an output power for the switching power converter is continuous with regard to transitions between the pulse width modulation modes.
US09917514B2	Non PWM digital DC-DC converter A switched power converter includes a power stage for generating an output voltage according to a switching signal and an input voltage via a switching element. The switching signal is generated by a variable timing generator which is controlled by a compensator. The pulses of the switching signal are generated on a “need to have basis”. Hence, theses pulses may be generated independently of a PWM period. The pulses can be generated such that switching losses are minimized. A switching pattern can be matched to the load current pattern. Thus, the behavior of the compensator can be synchronized to a regular pattern of the load current. A high resolution variable timing generator may be employed.
US09917512B2	Power supply, electronic device including the same, and power supply method thereof An electronic device is provided, which includes a user interface unit configured to receive an input of a user command, a controller configured to perform an operation according to the input user command and to control the user interface to display a screen according to the result of the operation, and a power supply configured to provide a power to the user interface and the controller, wherein the power supply includes a plurality of converters configured to supply the power to respective loads of the electronic device, and the plurality of converters output voltage values that correspond to levels of the respective loads connected thereto.
US09917508B2	Charge pump circuit and methods of operation thereof A charge pump circuit, and associated method and apparatuses, for providing a split-rail voltage supply, the circuit having a network of switches that is operable in a number of different states and a controller for operating the switches in a sequence of said states so as to generate positive and negative output voltages together spanning a voltage approximately equal to the input voltage and centered on the voltage at the common terminal.
US09917507B2	Dynamic clock period modulation scheme for variable charge pump load currents A charge pump is connected to receive a supply voltage and a clock signal and generate an output voltage. The charge pump is connected to the supply voltage through a transistor whose gate voltage is set by a regulation voltage determined by feedback from the output voltage. The current supplied to the charge pump through this transistor is mirrored in a section that generates the clock signal, where the mirrored current is used by a current controller oscillator. This allows the pump's clock frequency to linearly track the load current, improving the pump's efficiency.
US09917502B2	Universal signal processing system and method One aspect of the present disclosure can include an electronic signal processing system and method used in a control system (e.g., for hour meter functionality, intelligent start/stop functionality, etc.). The system can include a rectifier component to receive a voltage input from an operation source during use. The voltage input can indicate that an engine is running. The rectifier component to convert the voltage input to a positive voltage input. The system can also include a constant current component to receive the positive voltage input from the rectifier circuit and to control a current based on the positive voltage input. The system can also include an optical component to provide an output based on the current and to communicate the output to a microcontroller during use of the operation source. For example, electronic signal processing methods and apparatuses are also described.
US09917501B2	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a plurality of transistors, each having a gate electrode including extending portions having a length obtained by dividing the gate electrode causing interruption to switching at a desired frequency, wherein current inflow terminals of the plurality of transistors are connected to each other and current outflow terminals of the plurality of transistors are connected to each other.
US09917497B2	Linear power generator A linear power generator has a gas pressure cylinder structure which causes reciprocating motion of a piston in an axial direction by supplying a high-pressure gas alternately to a left gas chamber and a right gas chamber of a cylinder which includes an electromotive coil, and alternately applying a gas pressure in the left gas chamber and a gas pressure in the right gas chamber to the piston which includes a permanent magnet in the cylinder, and which induces power generation of the electromotive coil by way of reciprocating motion of the piston which has the permanent magnet in the axial direction. The linear power generator encourages movement of the piston by supplying a first high-pressure gas into the left gas chamber and the right gas chamber, and keeps moving the piston by supplying a second high-pressure gas for supplementing the first high-pressure gas into the left gas chamber and the right gas chamber.
US09917494B2	Electrical conductor aligning device An electrical conductor aligning device that can, without mutual interference, easily, and in a short period of time, align a plurality of electrical conductors in an annular shape while overlapping in the peripheral direction. The coil element aligning device includes: holding sections, a slide mechanism and a cylinder mechanism. One leg of each coil element is held by the plurality of holding sections, the plurality of coil elements being aligned in an annular shape at a spacing such that there is no overlapping in the peripheral direction, and then the plurality of holding sections being moved inwards in the radial direction by the slide mechanism and the cylinder mechanism, thereby aligning the plurality of coil elements in an annular shape while overlapping in the peripheral direction.
US09917492B2	Rotor shaft jack An electric motor is provided. The motor includes a motor frame assembly including a motor frame and a motor housing. A stator is fixed relative to the motor frame assembly. A rotor including a rotor shaft is mounted in the motor frame assembly for rotational movement relative to the motor frame assembly about an axis. A rotor jack is operable to selectively support the rotor shaft. The rotor jack is shiftably coupled relative to the motor frame assembly for movement between a support position, in which the jack is shifted into supporting contact with the rotor shaft, and a retracted position, in which the jack is spaced from the rotor shaft.
US09917491B2	Ground ring and enclosure in an electric motor An enclosure for a ground ring includes an enclosure housing configured to accept a ground ring and hold the ground ring in a predetermined position around a shaft that is electrically connected to a drive shaft of an electric motor. The ground ring having a first opening for the drive shaft and the enclosure housing has a second opening for the drive shaft. The enclosure includes an attachment configured to hold the enclosure housing around the shaft to dissipate an electrical charge and to form a cavity that contains the ground ring and includes a predetermined gap between a perimeter of the second opening of the enclosure and a surface of the drive shaft.
US09917490B2	Tail cone generator with integral speed increasing gearbox A gas turbine engine is provided, comprising a tail cone and a low-pressure spool outside the tail cone. An input shaft may be coupled to the low-pressure spool and inside the tail cone. A differential may be coupled to the input shaft and inside the tail cone. A generator may be coupled to the differential and also disposed inside the tail cone. An oil pump may be configured to pump oil through the generator to the differential. A generator assembly is also provided. The generator assembly may comprise an input shaft, a differential coupled to the input shaft, a rotating transfer tube coupled to the differential, a generator coupled to rotating transfer tube, and an oil pump configured to pump oil from the generator, through the rotating transfer tube, and into the differential.
US09917489B2	Axial air-gap motor stator and fan having the same An axial air-gap motor stator and a fan thereof includes a motor stator. The motor stator includes multiple metal substrates stacked together. Each metal substrate has a port and multiple pole teeth disposed around the port. The two adjacent pole teeth on each metal substrate are disposed with a magnetic pole and the number of the pole teeth of each metal substrate is a natural number twice the number of the magnetic poles of each metal substrate. The magnetic poles of the metal substrates are arranged in a staggered manner. This avoids the problems of interference of magnetic poles and prevents the magnetic field from being affected.
US09917488B2	Motor including removable weights for balancing An electric motor includes a stator, a rotor, and weights removably attached to the rotor shell for use in balancing the rotor. The removable weights may be integrally formed with a rotor shell such that the weights and the rotor shell form a unitary, one-piece construction. The removable weights may be substantially uniformly spaced apart around an entirety of the outer perimeter of the rotor shell. In a method of making an electric motor, the stator is coupled to the rotor such that the weights are accessible for selective removal during balancing of the rotor.
US09917483B2	Bus bar unit Each of busbars of a busbar unit includes a main body part that extends along a circumferential direction of the stator so that a plate thickness direction coincides with an axial direction of a stator; a projecting part that projects radially outwardly of the stator from outer periphery of the main body part; an extending part bent from the projecting parts, the extending part extending in the axial and radial direction of the stator; and a connecting part provided on a tip of the extending part, the connecting part being connectable to the winding wire ends of the coils. A position of the connecting part is specified in accordance with length of the extending part in the axial and radial directions of the stator.
US09917474B2	Systems for providing emergency power during a power interruption Provided is a backup power system for providing power to a load when a primary lighting system is disabled. The backup power system includes an energy source configured to supply an amount of power to the backup power system, and a charger connectable to the energy source and a power source of the primary lighting system. The backup power system additionally includes a controller configured to measure a current value of the primary lighting system and determine a backup current value corresponding to an amount of backup current that is a fractional amount of the determined current value. The backup power system include a current source configured to provide the determined backup current.
US09917473B2	Power system, power management method, and program A power system 10 is provided with a power conversion device 110 connected to an input power supply 200, a battery 120 and a load 130 connected in parallel with each other to the output side of the power conversion device 110, and a control device 140 controlling charging/discharging of the battery 120, wherein the control device 140 receives output power of the power conversion device 110, determines, based on the received output power, charge or discharge power of the battery 120 such that the output power becomes close to a first value, and charges or discharges the battery 120 based on the determined charge or discharge power.
US09917472B2	Method and controller for controlling scheduled charging of electric vehicle A method and controller for controlling scheduled charging of an electric vehicle. A charging start time is scheduled in the electric vehicle. The electric vehicle is connected to a charger by means of a control line. A standby signal is transfers on the control line, and the charger enters into a charging standby mode. A charging control switch of the electric vehicle is then turned on (and subsequently off) for a first time at every first period so that the charger stays in the charging standby mode. At the scheduled charging start time, the charging control switch is turned on and left on so that the charger starts charging the electric vehicle.
US09917469B2	Vertical adjustable inductive charger phone adapter A number of variations may include a phone charger assembly that may include a housing assembly that may include a retainer body, a housing, a housing liner, a vent, and trim which may be constructed and arranged to house a cell phone. The housing may be dimensioned to store a multitude of cellphones in a vertical position. The phone charger assembly may further include a pawl assembly that may include a pawl ratchet, a plurality of screws, a pawl, and a release wherein the pawl assembly is constructed and arranged to raise and lower the housing within the phone charge assembly. Additionally, the phone charger assembly may include a gear rail assembly which may include at least one gear rail and at least one dampener. The gear rail assembly and pawl assembly may be constructed and arranged to raise and lower the housing within the phone charge assembly.
US09917468B2	Wearable charging apparatus A wearable charging apparatus configured for charging of a wearable device while the wearable device is in an operative position, such as on the wrist of the user the wearable charging apparatus includes a front housing portion, a rear charging portion, a coupling member and a charge system. The wearable device is positionable between the front housing portion and the rear charging portion. The front portion has a battery and the rear charging portion has a wearable charge coil that is placed in operable position relative to the wearable device and configured to electrically communicate with a coil within the body of the wearable device and coupled to a wearable battery therewith, to, in turn, transfer power from the battery within the cavity to the wearable battery.
US09917464B2	Electronic apparatus and charging/discharging management method thereof An electronic apparatus and a charging/discharging management method thereof are provided. The method entails disabling a charging/discharging path of a battery provided by the electronic apparatus and driving the electronic apparatus to enter a sleep mode according to a sleep mode control command, so as to ensure that the battery cannot supply power to the electronic apparatus through the charging/discharging path.
US09917459B2	Cross body charging for wearable devices Techniques to transmit power across a wearable device are provided. A wearable device can include a conductive transmission line and a set of contacts, the set of contacts configured to be releasably connected to a second set of contacts on another wearable device. As such, power can be communicated to the conductive transmission line through the sets of contacts and transmitted across the wearable device, via the conductive transmission line.
US09917458B2	Battery charging method and battery pack using the same A method of charging a battery includes performing a first charging operation in a first period, performing a second charging operation in a second period, and performing a third charging operation in a third period. Each of the first, second, and third periods includes a constant current supplying period and a constant voltage supplying period. Different currents are supplied in the constant current supplying periods of at least two of the first, second, and third periods. Different voltages are supplied in the constant voltage supplying periods of at least two of the first, second, and third periods. The second period is between the first and third periods, and the second period is longer than the first and third periods.
US09917457B2	Power tool with USB connection A battery pack includes a housing, at least one battery cell housed in the housing, a wireless transmitter housed in the housing, a button that initiates a pairing with an electronic device so that the battery pack may wirelessly communicate with the electronic device through the wireless transmitter, a connection section including a first electrical connector configured to supply power to a power tool and a charging port configured to supply power to an external device. The charging port can be in an on state in which the charging port is operable to supply power to the external device and an off state in which the charging port is not operable to supply power to the external device.
US09917456B2	Storing structure and electronic apparatus One aspect includes an apparatus, including: a storage part having a storage hole defined therein to store a pen-type input device by insertion; and a power-supplying terminal within the storage hole that moves toward and away from the pen-type input device from a side part of the storage hole; wherein, the power-supplying terminal moves outwardly from the side of the side part of the storage hold during the insertion of the pen-type input device into the storage hole; and wherein the power-supplying terminal moves inwardly and away from a side of the pen-type input device during extraction of the pen-type input device from the storage hole. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09917455B1	Charging unit and system for at least one electronic device The charging system charges electronic devices through the use of a charging base. Charging contacts within the charging base contact a charging adapter inserted into a port of the electronic device. The charging contacts of the charging base contact the charging contacts of the charging adapter to charge the device. A housing that partially encloses the electronic device limits the orientations in which the device can be inserted into the charging base. The housing promotes inserting the device into the charging base in a charging orientation that will charge the device.
US09917449B2	Method for connecting multiple battery cells of a battery and battery system having a battery with multiple battery cells and multiple battery-cell-monitoring modules which are respectively assigned to a battery cell The present invention relates to a method for connecting multiple battery cells (21) of a battery (11), wherein the multiple battery cells (21) can be connected in series to one another, and a single first control variable P1 and a single second control variable P2 are predefined for all the battery cells (21). In this context, in order to generate a desired output voltage of the battery (11), each battery cell (21) is electrically coupled to the battery (11) with a corresponding first probability, defined as a function of the first control variable P1, and in each case electrically decoupled from the battery (11) with a corresponding second probability, defined as a function of the second control variable P2. In addition, a value of the first control variable P1 and a value of the second control variable P2 are respectively predefined repeatedly with an update frequency which is dependent on the desired output voltage of the battery (11) which is to be generated.
US09917448B2	Battery module architecture with horizontal and vertical expandability A battery module architecture including a plurality of battery cells coupled electrically in series and having a combined battery potential proportional to the combined sum of the battery cells is controlled by microcontroller to balance battery cell voltages by a battery cell voltage balancer having a discharging circuit and a plurality of differential conductive connections each respectively coupled to positive and negative terminals of one of the battery cells.
US09917447B2	Systems and methods for synchronizing an appliance load to a local power generating capability An apparatus for synchronizing operation of one or more appliances to an amount of energy produced by a local power generator comprises a controller for reducing the power consumed by the one or more appliances in relation to an amount of power being generated by the local power generator. In one embodiment, the operation of the appliance(s) is controlled by the controller so that the system of appliance(s) and the local power generator does not consume any external energy (e.g., from a commercial power grid), despite variations in the amount of power delivered by the local power generator.
US09917446B2	Self regulated power converter According to one aspect, embodiments herein provide a power converter configured to monitor at least one of current and voltage at a bidirectional AC load terminal, determine, based on the monitoring, whether the power converter is receiving AC power from at least one Photo-Voltaic (PV) inverter or whether AC power is being drawn from the power converter by at least one load, determine whether an energy storage device coupled to the power converter is fully charged, and in response to a determination that the power converter is receiving power from the at least one PV inverter and a determination that the energy storage device is not fully charged, operate a power conversion unit in the power converter to convert the AC power received from the at least one PV inverter into DC power and provide the DC power to a bidirectional DC terminal to charge the energy storage device.
US09917442B2	Distributed micro-grid controller A system for management of distributed control and real-time data for an electric utility network having remote devices and legacy subsystems includes a distributed communications network and a plurality of nodes coupled to the distributed communications network. Each of the nodes includes a multi-protocol interface having a boundary protocol convertor comprising a protocol validation engine to validate messages and commands from the remote devices and an in-field distributed data analyzer. The multi-protocol interface provides a standard data model for the remote devices.
US09917433B1	Extension and retraction device and method An extension and retraction device including a housing and a slip ring mounted within the housing. The slip ring includes a stator and rotor rotatably mounted therein. The rotor includes rotor leads and annular sections defined circumferentially around the rotor. Each rotor lead includes opposite ends with one end electrically connected to one of the annular sections. The stator includes a contact for each annular section in sliding electrical engagement with the annular section. Each contact includes a stator lead having one end electrically connected to the stator and another end extending out of an opening of the housing. A reel is mounted within the housing with the reel and rotor rotatable about a substantially common axis. A cord extending through another opening of the housing is retracted into the housing when the reel rotates in one direction, and the cord is extended from the housing when the cord is pulled and the reel rotates in the opposite direction.
US09917427B2	Underground utility box assembly A utility box assembly includes a housing structure having an open upper end, a first peripheral channel around the open upper end, and a second peripheral channel disposed below the first peripheral channel and inwardly therefrom. A first sealing element is seated in the first peripheral channel, and a second sealing element is seated in the second peripheral channel. A cover is configured to cover the open upper end. The cover has an outer peripheral portion configured to engage the first sealing element, and a downward-depending flange configured to engage the second sealing element. A liquid-tight seal is provided by the compression of the first and second sealing elements within their channels when the cover is secured to the open upper end of the housing.
US09917425B1	Spark plug A center electrode including an electrode base member having a cylindrical shape with a bottom and a core member embedded in the electrode base member. The core member has a thermal conductivity higher than that of the electrode base member. The center electrode includes a plurality of shoulder portions which each include a diameter reducing portion having a diameter that decreases toward a front end of the spark plug in a direction of an axial line, an outer side surface that extends in the direction of the axial line, and an edge disposed between the diameter reducing portion and the outer side surface. One of the shoulder portions closest to an inner surface of the axial hole has a cutting mark that extends in a circumferential direction over a region from the diameter reducing portion to the edge.
US09917422B2	Semi-polar III-nitride optoelectronic devices on M-plane substrates with miscuts less than +/− 15 degrees in the C-direction An optoelectronic device grown on a miscut of GaN, wherein the miscut comprises a semi-polar GaN crystal plane (of the GaN) miscut x degrees from an m-plane of the GaN and in a c-direction of the GaN, where −15
US09917420B2	Quantum cascade laser integrated device A quantum cascade laser integrated device includes: first and second lower semiconductor mesas extending in a direction of a first axis; a covering region disposed on top and side faces of the first and second lower semiconductor mesas, and including first and second upper semiconductor mesas, the first and second upper semiconductor mesas extending in the direction of the first axis on the first and second lower semiconductor mesas, respectively; and first and second electrodes respectively disposed on the upper semiconductor mesas, the first lower semiconductor mesa and the second lower semiconductor mesa each including a quantum cascading core layer, the covering region including a current blocking semiconductor region embedding the first and second lower semiconductor mesas, and a first conductivity-type semiconductor region disposed on the first and second lower semiconductor mesas and the current blocking semiconductor region, and the first conductivity-type semiconductor region including an upper cladding region.
US09917416B2	Semiconductor laser oscillator A semiconductor laser oscillator includes a diode unit configured from a plurality of banks, in which one bank is configured from a plurality of laser diodes connected in series. The diode unit includes a wavelength locking mechanism for locking to a plurality of wavelengths. The semiconductor laser oscillator includes a controller configured to control input currents to the laser diodes of each of the plurality of banks individually in correspondence to a characteristic of a wavelength locking efficiency, and to control an output of the diode unit as a whole to a required output.
US09917413B2	Cooling apparatus for diode-laser bars A cooler for diode-laser bars comprises a machined base including a water-input plenum and a water-output plenum, and a top plate on which the diode-laser bars can be mounted. A stack of three etched plates is provided between the base and first plate. The stack of etched plates is configured to provide a five longitudinally spaced-apart rows of eight laterally spaced-apart cooling-channels connected to the water-input and water-output plenums. Water flows in the cooling-channels and in thermal contact with the first plate.
US09917412B1	Optical amplifiers with liquid crystal device An optical amplifier may comprise a first gain stage and a second gain stage. Each of the first and second gain stages may comprise a laser pump and an active fiber. A liquid crystal device may be coupled between an output of the first gain stage and an input of the second gain stage. A control unit may be coupled to the first and second gain stages, liquid crystal device and configured to control the first and second gain stages, and the liquid crystal device to provide a switchable gain. Light may pass through the first and second gain stages and be amplified by the first and second gain stages. The light amplified by the first gain stage may pass through the liquid crystal device and may be filtered by the liquid crystal device.
US09917411B2	Double fiber optic mode adapter An exemplary embodiment of the disclosure provides a double fiber optic mode adapter including: a fiber core having a variable core diameter; a fiber cladding having a variable cladding size; a first input interface corresponding to a first core diameter and a first cladding size; a second input interface corresponding to a second core diameter and a second cladding size; a thermally-tapered region wherein the variable core diameter of the fiber core transitions from the first core diameter to the second core diameter and the variable cladding size of the fiber cladding transitions from the first cladding size to a third cladding size; and an etched tapered region wherein the variable core diameter of the fiber core is constant and the variable cladding size of the fiber cladding transitions from the third cladding size to the second cladding size.
US09917408B2	Brush lead guide for a brush holder assembly A brush lead guide for a brush holder assembly configured to retain the leads extending from a brush in a desired position/orientation to ensure the leads do not interfere with movement of the brush within the brush holder. In some instances, the lead guide includes a first guide rail including a channel for receiving a first lead of the brush and a second guide rail including a channel for receiving a second lead from the brush. The lead guide maintains the leads in a position such that the leads are held within the width of the opening of the brush holder to ensure the leads do not interfere with movement of the brush within the brush holder during use of the brush holder assembly.
US09917402B1	Connector assembly with variable axial assist A connector includes a first-housing, a second-housing, a shroud, and a stacked-gear. The first-housing defines a guide-slot. The second-housing mates with the first-housing. The second-housing includes a linear-gear-rack extending from a second-outer-surface and engages the guide-slot. The shroud is moveable from an unmated-position to a mated-position. The shroud is longitudinally slideably mounted to and surrounding at least a portion of the first-housing. The shroud also includes a curved-gear-rack having a variable-pitch-radius. The stacked-gear is moveably mounted to the first-housing. The stacked-gear has a round-gear and a cam-gear having the variable-pitch-radius in communication with the round-gear. The round-gear engages the linear-gear-rack within the guide-slot. The cam-gear engages the curved-gear-rack such that the cam-gear moves in response to a movement of the shroud from the unmated-position to the mated-position. Rotation of the round-gear engaged with the linear-gear-rack axially pulls the linear-gear-rack into the guide-slot, thereby pulling the second-housing into the first-housing.
US09917401B2	Wire-to-board connector assembly The second housing has a side panel extending in the mating direction and at least three second connector lock portions protruding from the outer surface of the side panel, the second connectors each being arranged in the transverse direction of the second housing and separated by an interval, and the first housing has a side panel extending in the mounting direction, a locking arm portion formed in the side panel and covering at least a portion of the outer surface of the side panel of the second housing when the first housing and the second housing are mated, and at least three first connector locking portions each formed in the locking arm portion in the transverse direction of the first housing and separated by an interval, and each engaging a second connector locking portion when the first housing and the second housing are mated.
US09917400B2	Electrical connector housing The invention relates to a front housing of an electrical connector, particularly for sealed applications, said front housing being designed to be connected to a base and being configured to be at least partially received in a main housing of said electrical connector, said front housing comprising: at least one locking means configured to engage a corresponding locking zone of said main housing so as to lock said front housing to said main housing, and said front housing further comprising a plurality of contact sockets designed to each receive an electrical conductor to connect to said base. The invention further relates to a main electrical connector housing, to an electrical connector, to a base and to an electrical connector assembly.
US09917399B2	Reduced stress electrical connector An electrical connector including a main body, a base portion, and a tapered end. The electrical connector extends axially in a first direction and an opposite second direction. The main body is configured to connect to an electrical cable. The base portion abuts the main body at a first end of the base portion and has an outer shoulder at a second end of the base portion. The tapered end extends and tapers from the outer shoulder in the second direction. The tapered end includes a plurality of resilient fingers separated by slots. The fingers extend away from the base portion in the second direction to a distal end of the fingers. The slots extend radially through the tapered end. The slots further extend axially in the first direction from the distal end through the outer shoulder.
US09917397B2	Connector and connector device A connector includes a contact in an elongated shape that is electrically conductive, and a housing that has an internal space is formed. The contact includes a contact portion, a connection portion, a fixing portion, and a protruding portion. The contact portion is to be electrically connected to an electrically conductive member when the contact is housed in the housing. The connection portion is electrically connected to a core wire of an electrical wire. The fixing portion is provided on a side opposite to the contact portion relative to the connection portion, and fixes a covering of the electrical wire. The protruding portion is provided on an end portion side of the fixing portion opposite to the connection portion so as to protrude. The protruding portion reduces the amount of movement of the contact inside the internal space of the housing.
US09917394B2	Cable connector cover A cable connector cover includes, in one embodiment, a unitary body. The unitary body has a plurality of portions. The portions have different diameters for receiving a cable connector and establishing one or more seals.
US09917392B2	High density cabled midplanes and backplanes A cabled midplane includes a first support plate along a plane between a first connector set and a second connector set that connect to line cards on either side of the cabled midplane. The first connector set and the second connector set include connector slices. A wiring sub-layer includes cable slices to provide a connection between the first connector slice of a connector of the first connector set to the first connector slice of a connector of the second connector set, such that the first wiring sub-layer connects each connector of the first connector set, through one cable slice, to a connector of the second connector set. Additional wiring sub-layers are added, and a second support plate, parallel to the first support plate, is provided to encase and support the wiring sub-layers between the first support plate and the second support plate. Other apparatuses and methods are described.
US09917388B2	Multicore cable A cable includes a line and a coupling housing. The line includes a plurality of cores and a sheath. The sheath is radially outwardly disposed relative to the cores. Each of the cores has a conductor and an insulation surrounding the conductor. Each of the conductors is stripped of the insulation at an end of the cores. A coupling housing including a coupling ring, a pin housing, and a sealing element. The coupling ring embraces the pin housing and the sheath and is fixed to the sheath. The pin housing surrounds the stripped ends of the conductors. The sealing element is disposed between the coupling ring and the pin housing. The conductors are formed of a solid and coated steel wire and the stripped ends of the conductors are useable as pin contacts.
US09917384B2	Interface card fastening module An interface card fastening module is provided for assembling an interface card to a housing and electrically connecting the interface card with a main board having an insertion slot corresponding to the interface card, and the opening of the insertion slot is substantially parallel to the main board. The interface card fastening module includes a stopping member and an engaging member rotatably disposed on the housing so as to be movable between a release position and an engage position. Therefore, upon assembling the interface card to the main board, additional riser card would be not required. As a result, the space for installing an adapting member can be saved, and more components may be received in the housing or the size of the housing may become smaller. In addition, since the adapting member is no more needed, the manufacturing cost and assembling hours for the adapting member can be saved.
US09917382B1	MCCB current limiter lug adapter An adaptor assembly is provided. The adaptor assembly is structured to allow a cable of a first amperage to be coupled to, and placed in electrical communication with, a terminal of a different amperage. That is, an adaptor assembly includes a lug body and an adaptor body. The adaptor body is coupled to, and in electrical communication with, the lug body. The lug body includes a cable passage, wherein said cable passage has a cross-sectional area corresponding to a cable of a first amperage. The adaptor body includes a conducting surface, wherein said conducting surface has a surface area corresponding to a conductor terminal end mating surface of a second amperage.
US09917380B2	Multipurpose wire connection device A multipurpose wire connection device includes a base plate, a conductive plate, a wire fixation screw, a fireproof box, a support, and a dustpan-shaped housing. The support is disposed on the base plate. The fireproof box includes a rear panel, a bottom panel, two side panels, and an inserted plate. The wire fixation screw is mounted on the conductive plate. The housing is fixed on the bottom plate by a housing fixing screw. The multipurpose wire connection device prevents sparking and red burning of a ground screw when lightning current passes therein, due to corroded contact in long-term exposure to wind and rain. It avoids fire and explosion accidents. It avoids screw corrosion and facilitates ground resistance measurement. The multipurpose wire connection device can also be used for electrical relay, division, and branching. It prevents fire, explosion, rain intrusion, and rust development. It is easy to disassemble.
US09917376B2	Method for determining an antenna array A method for generating an electromagnetic wave with an antenna array, the antenna array including at least one antenna, at least one circuit having parameters having an influence on the electromagnetic wave generated by the antenna array and connected to at least one antenna, and the method comprising: selecting a criterion to be met for the wave generated by the antenna array; determining desired decomposition coefficients of a wave in a basis giving the possibility of attaining the selected criterion; and calculating the parameters having an influence on the electromagnetic wave generated by the antenna array for each circuit of the antenna array so that the difference between the decomposition coefficients on the basis of the wave generated by the antenna array and the desired decomposition coefficients be minimal.
US09917374B2	Dual-band phased array antenna with built-in grating lobe mitigation A dual-Band phased array antenna with built-in grating lobe mitigation includes an array of radiating elements capable of working at both bands and arranged at distances small enough, avoiding grating lobes with respect to the lower band within the desired field of view. The radiating elements are arranged in planar subarrays that can be steered independently from each other and each of the subarrays has a different boresight normal vector, so that grating lobes in the upper band is mitigated.
US09917371B2	Mid fed traveling wave antenna and a repeatable circuit segment for use therein The present invention provides a mid fed traveling wave antenna, which includes a signal feed point including a pair of terminals adapted for receiving a differential signal. The mid fed traveling wave antenna further includes a first transmission line branch extending from the signal feed point in a first direction, and a second transmission line branch extending from the signal feed point in a second direction, where each of the first transmission branch and the second transmission branch is terminated by a reflective termination. In at least one embodiment, the first transmission line branch and the second transmission line branch each have a respective length, where the length of the second transmission line branch is different than the length of the first transmission line branch.
US09917366B2	Antenna device and communication terminal apparatus An antenna device includes a base including a planar conductor disposed thereon, and a coil antenna. The coil antenna includes a coil conductor wound around a magnetic core. The coil antenna is arranged such that a coil opening of the coil conductor is closed to an edge of the planar conductor. A current passing through the coil conductor induces a current in the planar conductor. Thus, a first magnetic flux occurs in the coil antenna, and a second magnetic flux occurs in the planar conductor. Therefore, a third magnetic flux occurs in an area of the planar conductor. Accordingly, the antenna device achieves a small footprint, a small-sized communication terminal apparatus and a desired communication distance.
US09917365B1	Reconfigurable antennas for millimeter-wave systems that support multiple beams An apparatus may include two or more active antenna elements with a corresponding antenna pattern. The apparatus may further include a single radio frequency signal chain communicatively coupled with the two or more active antenna elements. The apparatus may also include multiple passive antenna elements in proximity to the two or more active antenna elements. The multiple passive antenna elements may alter the antenna pattern to form multiple simultaneous beams associated with the two or more active antenna elements.
US09917362B2	Hemispherical azimuth and elevation positioning platform An antenna positioner, and methods of positioning using the antenna positioner, that may track a satellite are described. An antenna positioner may include a base and a mount rotatably coupled to the base to turn the mount about an azimuth axis. The mount may support an antenna element so that the antenna element can rotate about the elevation axis with respect to the mount. A center drive shaft for the elevation drive may pass through the hollow portion of the mount along the azimuth axis to drive a bevel gear set, a first gear of the set being coupled to the drive shaft and a second gear of the set being coupled to the antenna element, to rotate the antenna element about the elevation axis. Drive compensation is provided to counteract elevation rotation resulting from cross-coupling of the azimuth and elevation axes by the bevel gear set during azimuth rotation.
US09917360B2	Remote electrical tilt unit, base station, and method for managing remote electrical tilt antenna Embodiments of the present invention provide a remote electrical tilt unit, a base station, and a method for managing a remote electrical tilt antenna. The method includes: receiving, by the remote electrical tilt unit, permission configuration information sent by a first base station through a group of AISG ports of the remote control unit; configuring management permission of the first base station on the remote electrical tilt unit according to the permission configuration information, where the management permission includes at least control permission and query permission, and control permission on the remote electrical tilt unit can be allocated to only one base station. In this way, multiple base stations jointly manage a remote electrical tilt unit in a remote electrical tilt antenna, and a problem that it is difficult to locate and troubleshoot a fault when configuration of the remote electrical tilt unit is incorrect is resolved.
US09917356B2	Band-notched spiral antenna A band-notched spiral antenna having one or more spiral arms extending from a radially inner end to a radially outer end for transmitting or receiving electromagnetic radiation over a frequency range, and one or more resonance structures positioned adjacent one or more segments of the spiral arm associated with a notch frequency band or bands of the frequency range so as to resonate and suppress the transmission or reception of electromagnetic radiation over said notch frequency band or bands.
US09917355B1	Wide field of view volumetric scan automotive radar with end-fire antenna A vehicular radar system includes a plurality of end-fire antennas including a first array of antennas positioned along a first plane and having a transmission end oriented in a first direction, a second array of antennas positioned along the first plane and having a transmission end oriented in a second direction that is different than the first direction, a third array of antennas positioned along a second plane above or below the first plane and having a transmission end oriented in the first direction, and a fourth array of antennas positioned along the second plane and having a transmission end oriented in the second direction. The vehicular radar system also includes at least one RFIC to control the plurality of antennas to scan for objects in the first direction, the second direction, and between the first direction and the second direction by transmitting signals of varying phases to the antennas.
US09917354B2	Multiband vehicular antenna assembly Exemplary embodiments are disclosed of multiband vehicular antenna assemblies with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) capabilities. In exemplary embodiments, a multiband antenna assembly is operable with more than two satellite navigation system frequencies (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS), BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), etc.). For example, a multiband antenna assembly may include a first patch antenna operable with at least three different satellite navigation system frequencies, e.g., GPS, BeiDou, and GLONASS, etc. The first patch antenna may be stacked on a second patch antenna. The second patch antenna may be operable with other frequencies, such as Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services (SDARS) signals (e.g., Sirius XM, etc.). The antenna assembly may also include a coupler that couples the signals from the feed ports of the first patch antenna.
US09917348B2	Antenna co-located with PCB electronics A PIFA is formed using a grounding plane in a printed circuit board and a metal chassis or shield. Rather than using the printed circuit board as the separator, an air gap or other gap than the printed circuit board is formed. The transmitter and/or receiver for the antenna may be mounted to the printed circuit board. The feed pin routes signals for the PIFA from the transmitter and/or receiver to the metal chassis or shield while being isolated from the grounding plane that acts as the radiating surface of the PIFA. Standoffs supporting the printed circuit board may be used to short, and another standoff may be used as the feed pin.
US09917346B2	Chassis-excited antenna apparatus and methods A chassis-excited antenna apparatus, and methods of tuning and utilizing the same. In one embodiment, a distributed loop antenna configuration is used within a handheld mobile device (e.g., cellular telephone). The antenna comprises two radiating elements: one configured to operate in a high-frequency band, and the other in a low-frequency band. The two antenna elements are disposed on different side surfaces of the metal chassis of the portable device; e.g., on the opposing sides of the device enclosure. Each antenna component comprises a radiator and an insulating cover. The radiator is coupled to a device feed via a feed conductor and a ground point. A portion of the feed conductor is disposed with the radiator to facilitate forming of the coupled loop resonator structure.
US09917345B2	Method of installing artificial impedance surface antennas for satellite media reception A method for fabricating and installing an artificial impedance surface antenna (AISA) includes locating a substantially flat surface having a line of sight to a satellite or satellites of interest, determining an angle θo between a normal to the substantially flat surface and a direction to the satellite or satellites of interest, selecting an antenna superstrate from a pre-fabbed stock of antenna superstrates, the selected antenna superstrate configured for having a peak radiation within two (2) degrees of the angle θo, laminating the selected antenna superstrate to an antenna substrate to form the AISA, and mounting the AISA on the substantially flat surface.
US09917344B2	Nonuniform corrugated diaphragm for MEMS tuners and actuators A cavity resonator tuning diaphragm comprising a plurality of inner corrugations, the plurality of inner corrugations having a first depth. An outer corrugation located between the plurality of inner corrugations and a perimeter of the diaphragm is also included, the outer corrugation having a second depth greater than the first depth. The addition of the outer deep corrugation provides increased thermal stability and reduced required actuation voltage.
US09917343B2	Waveguide to coaxial line transition having rigid hollow cone portions A coaxial to waveguide transition includes a first rigid portion comprising an inverted hollow cone, a second rigid portion comprising a hollow tube, and a third rigid portion comprising a hollow cone. The first rigid portion has a first end and a second end, and tapers inward at a first angle from its first end towards its second end. The second rigid portion has a first end and a second end, with the first end being partially disposed within the second end of the first rigid portion. The third rigid portion has a first end and a second end, with the first end of the third rigid portion being partially disposed within the second end of the second rigid portion. The third rigid portion tapers outward at a second angle from its first end towards its second end, where the second angle is less than the first angle.
US09917340B2	Fuel cell system to power a portable computing device The disclosed embodiments relate to the design of a portable and cost-effective fuel cell system for a portable computing device. This fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack which converts fuel into electrical power. It also includes a fuel source for the fuel cell stack and a controller which controls operation of the fuel cell system. The fuel system also includes an interface to the portable computing device, wherein the interface comprises a power link that provides power to the portable computing device, and a bidirectional communication link that provides bidirectional communication between the portable computing device and the controller for the fuel cell system.
US09917335B2	Methods for determining and controlling battery expansion Methods and systems for detecting and compensating for expansion of rechargeable batteries over time. An expansion detector may be coupled to or positioned proximate a rechargeable battery to monitor for expansion thereof. After expansion exceeding a selected threshold is detected, the expansion detector may report the expansion to an associated processing unit. The processing unit may undertake to arrest further rechargeable battery expansion by modifying or changing one or more characteristics of charging and/or discharging circuitry coupled to the rechargeable battery. For example, the processing unit may charge the rechargeable battery at a lower rate or with reduced voltage after detecting expansion.
US09917334B2	Apparatus and method for sensing swelling of battery Provided are an apparatus and a method for sensing swelling of a battery. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for sensing swelling of a battery includes: a sensing circuit configured to be coupled to one side of a housing of the battery; a current sensing unit configured to sense whether a current is conducted between the sensing circuit and the other side of the housing of the battery; and a determination unit configured to determine whether the battery is swelled by the sensing.
US09917333B2	Lithium ion battery, integrated circuit and method of manufacturing a lithium ion battery A lithium ion battery includes a first substrate having a first main surface, and a lid including an insulating material. The lid is attached to the first main surface of the first substrate, and a cavity is defined between the first substrate and the lid. The lithium ion battery further includes an electrical interconnection element in the lid, the electrical interconnection element providing an electrical connection between a first main surface and a second main surface of the lid. The lithium ion battery further includes an electrolyte in the cavity, an anode at the first substrate, the anode including a component made of a semiconductor material, and a cathode at the lid.
US09917327B2	Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery and method for producing nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a nonaqueous electrolyte. A positive electrode charge potential is 3.7 V or less with respect to a lithium metal potential. The nonaqueous electrolyte includes a cyclic disulfone compound having a specific structure in an amount of 0.1 to 4.0% by mass based on a total mass of the nonaqueous electrolyte.
US09917320B2	Sweep membrane separator and fuel processing systems A sweep membrane separator includes a membrane that is selectively permeable to a selected gas, the membrane including a retentate side and a permeate side. A mixed gas stream including the selected gas enters the sweep membrane separator and contacts the retentate side of the membrane. At least part of the selected gas separates from the mixed gas stream and passes through the membrane to the permeate side of the membrane. The mixed gas stream, minus the separated gas, exits the sweep membrane separator. A sweep gas at high pressure enters the sweep membrane separator and sweeps the selected gas from the permeate side of the membrane. A mixture of the sweep gas and the selected gas exits the sweep membrane separator at high pressure. The sweep membrane separator thereby separates the selected gas from the gas mixture and pressurizes the selected gas.
US09917313B2	Apparatus using fuel gas An apparatus using fuel gas is provided, ensuring charge amount of a battery. The apparatus includes battery, fuel gas reservoir unit, fuel lid, open/close detection unit for detecting open/close state of fuel lid, fuel gas condition detection unit for detecting pressure and/or temperature being condition of fuel gas reserved in the fuel gas reservoir unit, communication unit for communication with fuel gas supply device, and control unit for, upon reception of signal notifying that fuel lid is in open state from open/close detection unit, performing dispensing communication to notify the fuel gas supply device, via communication unit, of condition of fuel gas having been input from fuel gas condition detection unit. The control unit stops dispensing communication when control unit has determined, according to signal received from open/close detection unit that predetermined time has elapsed with the fuel lid remaining in open state after starting dispensing communication.
US09917309B2	Printed energy storage device An energy storage device includes a printed current collector layer, where the printed current collector layer includes nickel flakes and a current collector conductive carbon additive. The energy storage device includes a printed electrode layer printed over the current collector layer, where the printed electrode layer includes an ionic liquid and an electrode conductive carbon additive. The ionic liquid can include 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (C2mimBF4). The current collector conductive carbon can include graphene and the electrode conductive carbon additive can include graphite, graphene, and/or carbon nanotubes.
US09917305B2	Positive electrode active material, method of manufacturing the positive electrode active material, and lithium battery employing the positive electrode active material In one aspect, a positive electrode active material is provided, a method of manufacturing the positive electrode active material, and a lithium battery employing the positive electrode active material. The positive electrode active material may have high thermal stability and low capacity deterioration despite repetitive charging and discharging.
US09917303B2	Rechargeable lithium-sulfur battery having a high capacity and long cycle life A rechargeable lithium-sulfur cell comprising an anode, a separator and/or electrolyte, and a sulfur cathode, wherein the cathode comprises (a) exfoliated graphite worms that are interconnected to form a porous, conductive graphite flake network comprising pores having a size smaller than 100 nm; and (b) nano-scaled powder or coating of sulfur, sulfur compound, or lithium polysulfide disposed in the pores or coated on graphite flake surfaces wherein the powder or coating has a dimension less than 100 nm. The exfoliated graphite worm amount is in the range of 1% to 90% by weight and the amount of powder or coating is in the range of 99% to 10% by weight based on the total weight of exfoliated graphite worms and sulfur (sulfur compound or lithium polysulfide) combined. The cell exhibits an exceptionally high specific energy and a long cycle life.
US09917297B2	Method for preparing positive electrode active material for lithium secondary battery Disclosed are a method for preparing a positive electrode active material for a lithium secondary battery and a positive electrode active material for a lithium secondary battery, the method including: preparing a mixture of a precursor represented by Chemical Formula 1 below, a lithium composite oxide represented by Chemical Formula 2 below and capable of intercalating/deintercalating lithium ions, and a lithium feed material; and firing the prepared mixture: A(OH)2-a [Chemical Formula 1] Li[LizA(1-z-a)Da]EbO2-b [Chemical Formula 2]
US09917294B2	Battery cell assembly of novel structure and battery pack employed with the same Disclosed herein is a battery cell assembly including a battery cell array including two or more battery cells, each of which has an electrode assembly of a cathode/separator/anode structure disposed in a battery case together with an electrolyte in a sealed state, arranged in the lateral direction, and a protection circuit module (PCM) connected to the upper end of the battery cell array to control the operation of the battery pack, wherein the outer sides of the battery cells or the outer side of the battery cell array is coated with a resin by insert injection molding excluding electrode terminals of the battery cells.
US09917293B2	Battery parts having retaining and sealing features and associated methods of manufacture and use Battery parts having retaining and sealing features and associated assemblies and methods are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a battery part includes a base portion that is configured to be embedded in battery container material of a corresponding battery container. The battery part and base portion include several torque resisting features and gripping features that resist torsional or twist loads that are applied to the battery part after it has been joined to the battery container. For example, the base portion can include several internal and external torque resisting features and gripping features that are configured to resist twisting or loosening of the battery part with reference to the battery container material, as well as prevent or inhibit fluid leakage from the battery container.
US09917292B2	Battery cell and battery pack using the same A battery cell includes a first electrode terminal, a second electrode terminal spaced from the first electrode terminal, and at least one sub terminal coupled to one of the first electrode terminal or the second electrode terminal. The at least one sub terminal includes at least one convex area and at least two concave areas. Each of the convex area and the at least two concave areas to establish an electrical connection with an electrode terminal of adjacent battery cells.
US09917290B2	Battery module having holder A battery module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of rechargeable batteries having a terminal, a holder combined to end portions of the rechargeable batteries and having a first fastening portion, and a bus bar combined to the terminal, electrically connecting the rechargeable batteries, and having a second fastening portion to be fitted into the first fastening portion.
US09917289B2	Laminate, non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery separator including the laminate, and non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery including the laminate Provided is a laminate which is capable of ensuring a high level of safety by preventing an internal short circuit due to, for example, breakage of a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery while maintaining various performance capabilities of the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery. A laminate (10) includes: a porous film containing polyolefin as a main component; and a porous layer containing fine particles; the porous layer being laminated to at least one side of the porous film, in an electrical conduction test by nail penetration in which test a difference between (a) a test force of the laminate (10) which is brought into electrical conduction and (b) a test force of the laminate (10) in which a dielectric breakdown occurs, the difference being obtained by subtracting the test force (b) from the test force (a), is measured by use of a nail (2) of N50 specified in JIS A 5508 and under a condition in which the nail (2) descends at a descending speed of 50 μm/min, the difference being not less than 5 N and not more than 50 N.
US09917288B2	Lithium iron disulfide battery A lithium-iron disulfide battery with improved high temperature performance is disclosed. The separator characteristics are deliberately selected to be compatible with the electrolyte at the intended temperature. Additional or alternative modifications can be made in the form of a scaffold or laminated structure. A preferred polymer for such separators is polyimide.
US09917286B2	Power storage device, power storage system, electronic apparatus, electric vehicle, and electric power system A power storage device includes an outer casing and two battery units housed in the outer casing. Each battery unit includes a battery casing formed with a top casing and a bottom casing. The battery casing houses a battery block group in which battery lines are arranged in parallel in a direction substantially perpendicular to the battery line extending direction, and are arranged like stacked straw bags. The battery casing also houses partition plates that are inserted between adjacent battery lines facing one another, and are secured between the top casing and the bottom casing.
US09917285B1	Battery and connection apparatus A battery includes: a casing that houses a cell inside; and a terminal part that has connection terminals connected to electrode terminals of a connection apparatus, in which the casing includes a top face and a bottom face positioned on opposite sides in a height direction and two side faces positioned between the top face and the bottom face on opposite sides in a widthwise direction, a notch is formed by a level difference face that is continuous from the side face and a groove forming face that is continuous from the bottom face, and a guided groove that is open to the groove forming face is formed in the casing, and the guided groove is positioned on a further bottom face side than the level difference face.
US09917283B2	Rechargeable battery A rechargeable battery includes an electrode assembly including a first electrode plate, a second electrode plate, and a separator between the first and second electrode plates, an electrolyte having viscosity of about 1 Pa·s to about 15 Pa·s at a temperature from about 20° C. to about 25° C., a can having an opening on one surface through which the electrode assembly is inserted, the electrode assembly and the electrolyte being accommodated inside the can, and a cap plate that seals the opening of the can. A ratio of the height of the can to a cross-sectional area of the can is from about 12.5% to about 25%.
US09917282B2	Manufacturing method of light-emitting device, light-emitting device, module, and electronic device A highly reliable light-emitting device is provided. A yield in a manufacturing process of a light-emitting device is increased. A light-emitting device is provided in which a non-light-emitting portion having a frame-like shape outside a light-emitting portion includes a portion thinner than the light-emitting portion. A light-emitting element and a bonding layer are formed over a substrate. The light-emitting element is sealed by overlapping a pair of substrates and curing the bonding layer. Then, while the cured bonding layer is heated, pressure is applied to at least a portion of the non-light-emitting portion with a member having a projection.
US09917280B2	Display device A display device includes a first substrate, a pixel defining layer on the first substrate, the pixel defining layer configured to define a light emission area, a first electrode in the light emission area, a light emitting layer on the first electrode, a second electrode on the light emitting layer, a second substrate which is opposite to the first substrate, and a reflecting member on a lower surface of the first substrate. The reflecting member may include a first reflecting unit on the lower surface of the first substrate, the first reflecting unit having an aperture at a position overlapping the light emission area, and a second reflecting unit on the first reflecting unit.
US09917276B2	Display device A display device includes a driving circuit layer including a thin film transistor, a display layer at the driving circuit layer and overlapping a portion of the driving circuit layer, a window at the display layer, a first adhesive member between the driving circuit layer and the window, and a second adhesive member between the display layer and the window and spaced from the first adhesive member in a plane view.
US09917267B2	Electronic device comprising first opening and second opening with different widths A method for manufacturing a display device is provided. The method includes: forming, between a first substrate and a second substrate, a light-emitting element including an electroluminescence layer and a wiring over which a peeling layer formed by using the material of the electroluminescence layer is provided; and peeling whole of the second substrate from the first substrate so that the peeling layer over the wiring is simultaneously exposed.
US09917266B2	Bendable device with a window top layer and a body having extendable bending region A bendable device is provided. The device comprises: a display stack which comprises a window layer and at least one active layer, and a body which comprises an extendable bending region. The active layers are fixed to the window layer at the bottom side of the window layer. Edges of the window layer extend outwards in relation to the at least one active layer at two or more sides of the display stack, and the window layer is rigidly fixed to the body at the edges which extend outwards at the bottom side of the window layer. A method for assembling a bendable device comprising a display is disclosed.
US09917265B2	Copper(I) complexes, in particular for optoelectronic components The embodiments of the invention relate to copper(I) complexes of the formula A where X* is Cl, Br, I, CN, SCN, alkinyl and/or N3 (independently of one another), N∩E is a bidentate ligand with E being a phosphanyl/arsenyl group of the form R2E (in which R=alkyl, aryl, alkoxyl, phenoxyl, or amide), N is an imine-function, which is a component of an N-heteroaromatic 5-membered ring that is selected from the group consisting of pyrazole, isoxazole, isothiazole, triazole, oxadiazole, thiadiazole, tetrazole, oxatriazole or thiatriazole, and “∩” is at least one carbon atom, which is likewise a component of the aromatic group, the carbon atom being located directly adjacent both to the imine nitrogen atom as well as to the phosphorus or arsenic atom. The copper(I) complexes may be used in optoelectronic components, particularly in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).
US09917261B2	Organic compound, light-emitting element, display module, lighting module, light-emitting device, display device, electronic device, and lighting device A novel organic compound is provided. Alternatively, an organic compound that can be used as an electron-transport material of a light-emitting element is provided. An organic compound in which heteroaromatic groups each including two pyridine rings are bonded to the 2- and 8-positions of dibenzofuran is provided. The organic compound is an organic compound that can be used as an electron-transport material of a light-emitting element.
US09917259B2	Light-emitting element, light-emitting device, lighting device, and electronic device A light-emitting element is provided, in which n (n is a natural number of two or more) EL layers are provided between an anode and a cathode. Between the m-th (m is a natural number, 1≦m≦n−1) EL layer and the (m+1)-th EL layer, a first layer containing any of an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, a rare earth metal, an alkali metal compound, an alkaline earth metal compound, and a rare earth metal compound, a second layer containing a substance having high electron-transport properties in contact with the first layer, and a charge-generation layer containing a substance having high hole-transport properties and an acceptor substance in contact with the second layer are provided in this order over the anode. The charge-generation layer does not have a peak of an absorption spectrum in a visible light region.
US09917258B2	Phenylcarbazole-based compounds and fluorene-based compounds and organic light emitting device and flat panel display device comprising the same Provided are an organic light emitting device including: a substrate; a first electrode; a second electrode; and an organic layer interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode and including an emission layer, wherein one of the first electrode and the second electrode is a reflective electrode and the other is a semitransparent or transparent electrode, and wherein the organic layer includes a layer having at least one of the compounds having at least one carbazole group, and a flat panel display device including the organic light emitting device. The organic light emitting device has low driving voltage, excellent current density, high brightness, excellent color purity, high efficiency, and long lifetime.
US09917256B2	Compound for organic electroluminescent device and organic electroluminescent device including the same This invention relates to a compound for an organic electroluminescent device and to an organic electroluminescent device including the same. This compound for an organic electroluminescent device including the same is improved in thermal stability and light emission efficiency. When this compound is used as a hole transport layer material, a triplet energy of a phosphorescent light emitting material is increased, thus improving the efficiency of the organic electroluminescent device.
US09917255B2	Methods of making composite of graphene oxide and nanostructures A method of forming a graphene oxide based layer includes preparing a dispersion of graphene oxide and nanostructures, and spin coating the dispersion on a surface of a substrate to form a spin coated film thereon; and thermally annealing the spin coated film to form the graphene oxide based layer, where the mass ratio of the graphene oxide and the nanostructures in the graphene oxide based layer is in a range of about 1:0.01 w/w to 1:0.8 w/w. The nanostructures are functionalized with carboxylic acid. The nanostructures include carbon nanotubes, or nanofibers. The carbon nanotubes include single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs).
US09917254B2	Encapsulation package, display device and packaging method An OLED encapsulation package, a display device and a packaging method are disclosed. The OLED encapsulation package includes a substrate, a cover board and a encapsulation unit located between the substrate and the cover board; the substrate is provided with display components thereon, and the encapsulation unit encapsulates the periphery of the display components; the encapsulation unit includes at least a moisture sensitive layer therein, and the moisture sensitive layer is capable of discoloring upon encountering with water.
US09917251B2	Resistive memory cell having a reduced conductive path area A method of forming a resistive memory cell, e.g., a CBRAM or ReRAM, may include forming a bottom electrode layer, oxidizing an exposed region of the bottom electrode layer to form an oxide region, removing a region of the bottom electrode layer proximate the oxide region, thereby forming a bottom electrode having a pointed tip region adjacent the oxide region, and forming an electrolyte region and top electrode over at least a portion of the bottom electrode and oxide region, such that the electrolyte region is arranged between the pointed tip region of the bottom electrode and the top electrode, and provides a path for conductive filament or vacancy chain formation from the pointed tip region of the bottom electrode to the top electrode when a voltage bias is applied to the memory cell. A memory cell and memory cell array formed by such method are also disclosed.
US09917246B2	Composite substrate, production method thereof, and acoustic wave device A composite substrate production method of the invention includes (a) a step of mirror polishing a substrate stack having a diameter of 4 inch or more, the substrate stack including a piezoelectric substrate and a support substrate bonded to each other, the mirror polishing being performed on the piezoelectric substrate side until the thickness of the piezoelectric substrate reaches 3 μm or less; (b) a step of creating data of the distribution of the thickness of the mirror-polished piezoelectric substrate; and (c) a step of performing machining with an ion beam machine based on the data of the thickness distribution so as to produce a composite substrate have some special technical features.
US09917245B2	Piezoelectric element, method of manufacturing piezoelectric element, piezoelectric actuator, and electronic apparatus Provided is a piezoelectric element including a substrate, electrodes, and a piezoelectric film, the piezoelectric film including an oxide including Ba, Ca, Ti, and Zr, and at least one element of Mn and Bi in which: 0.09≦x≦0.30 is satisfied, where x is a mole ratio of Ca to a sum of Ba and Ca; 0.025≦y≦0.085 is satisfied, where y is a mole ratio of Zr to a sum of Ti, Zr, and Sn; and 0≦z≦0.02 is satisfied, where z is a mole ratio of Sn to the sum of Ti, Zr, and Sn; a total content Save of Mn and Bi is 0.0020 moles or more and 0.0150 moles or less for 1 mole of the oxide; and a total content Sbou of Mn and Bi in a region of the piezoelectric film adjacent to one of the electrodes is smaller than Save.
US09917243B2	Method of fabricating piezoelectric MEMS devices A single photo mask can be used to define the three critical layers for the piezoelectric MEMS device, specifically the top electrode layer, the piezoelectric material layer, and the bottom electrode layer. Using a single photo mask removes the misalignment source caused by using multiple photo masks. Furthermore, in certain exemplary embodiments, all electrical interconnects use underpass interconnect. This simplifies the process for defining the device electrodes and the process sequence for achieving self-alignment between the piezoelectric element and the top and bottom electrodes. This self-alignment is achieved by using an oxide hard mask to etch the critical region of the top electrode, the piezoelectric material, and the bottom electrode with one mask and different etch chemistries depending on the layer being etched.
US09917240B2	Thermoelectric element, method of manufacturing the same and semiconductor device including the same A thermoelectric element is provided as follows. First and second semiconductor fin structures are disposed on a semiconductor substrate. Each semiconductor fin structure extends in a first direction, protruding from the semiconductor substrate. First and second semiconductor nanowires are disposed on the first and second semiconductor fin structures, respectively. The first semiconductor nanowires include first impurities. The second semiconductor nanowires include second impurities different from the first impurities. A first electrode is connected to first ends of the first and second semiconductor nanowires. A second electrode is connected to second ends of the first semiconductor nanowires. A third electrode is connected to second ends of the second semiconductor nanowires.
US09917238B2	Thermoelectric element and thermoelectric module provided with same A thermoelectric element includes a p-type/n-type semiconductor element having an upper end surface and a lower end surface, a lower electrode that is joined to the lower end surface of the p-type/n-type semiconductor element to connect the p-type/n-type semiconductor element and another n-type/p-type semiconductor element adjacently thereto and has an area less than that of the lower end surface in a joint region therebetween. A joint portion is made of a solder and has a surface joint part joining the lower end surface of the p-type/n-type semiconductor element and a surface of the lower electrode while the lower end surface of the p-type/n-type semiconductor element and the surface of the lower electrode are opposed to each other A fillet part is formed to fill a space produced between intersecting surfaces, i.e., the lower end surface and a lateral side of the lower electrode, and composes a step part formed by the lower end surface and the lower electrode.
US09917232B2	Monolithic image chip for near-to-eye display A set of light emitting devices can be formed on a substrate. A growth mask having a first aperture in a first area and a second aperture in a second area is formed on a substrate. A first nanowire and a second nanowire are formed in the first and second apertures, respectively. The first nanowire includes a first active region having a first band gap and a second active region having a second band gap. The first band gap is greater than the second band gap. The second nanowire includes an active region having the first band gap and does not include, or is adjoined to, any material having the second band gap.
US09917230B2	Optoelectronic semiconductor chip An optoelectronic semiconductor chip is disclosed. In an embodiment the chip includes a semiconductor layer sequence having a bottom face and a top face, wherein the semiconductor layer sequence comprises a first layer of a first conductivity type, an active layer for generating electromagnetic radiation, and a second layer of a second conductivity type and a bottom contact element located at the bottom face and a top contact element located at the top face for injecting current into the semiconductor layer sequence. The chip further includes a current distribution element located at the bottom face, the current distribution element distributes current along the bottom face during operation and a plurality of vias extending from the current distribution element through the first layer and through the active layer into the semiconductor layer sequence, wherein the vias are not in direct electrical contact with the active layer.
US09917228B2	Semiconductor optical device A semiconductor optical device has a multilayer structure 30 including a first compound semiconductor layer 31, an active layer 33, and a second compound semiconductor layer 32. A second electrode 42 is formed on the second compound semiconductor layer 32 through a contact layer 34. The contact layer 34 has a thickness of four or less atomic layers. When an interface between the contact layer 34 and the second compound semiconductor layer 32 is an xy-plane, a lattice constant along an x-axis of crystals constituting an interface layer 32A which is a part of the second compound semiconductor layer in contact with the contact layer 34 is x2, a lattice constant along a z-axis is z2, a length along an x-axis in one unit of crystals constituting the contact layer 34 is xc′, and a length along the z-axis is zc′, (zc′/xc′)>(z2/x2) is satisfied.
US09917226B1	Substrate features for enhanced fluidic assembly of electronic devices Embodiments are related to systems and methods for fluidic assembly, and more particularly to systems and methods for assuring deposition of elements in relation to a substrate. In some cases, embodiments include a substrate including a plurality of wells each having a sidewall where a through hole via extends from a bottom of at least one of the plurality of wells; and a post enhanced diode including a post extending from a top surface of a diode structure.
US09917223B2	Solar cell panel A solar cell panel is discussed. The solar cell panel includes a plurality of solar cells each including a substrate and an electrode part positioned on a surface of the substrate, an interconnector for electrically connecting at least one of the plurality of solar cells to another of the plurality of solar cells, and a conductive adhesive film including a resin and a plurality of conductive particles dispersed in the resin. The conductive adhesive film is positioned between the electrode part of the at least one of the plurality of solar cells and the interconnector to electrically connect the electrode part of the at least one of the plurality of solar cells to the interconnector. A width of the interconnector is equal to or greater than a width of the conductive adhesive film.
US09917221B2	Solar power conversion system with directionally- and spectrally-selective properties based on a reflective cavity Solar power conversion system. The system includes a cavity formed within an enclosure having highly specularly reflecting in the IR spectrum inside walls, the enclosure having an opening to receive solar radiation. An absorber is positioned within the cavity for receiving the solar radiation resulting in heating of the absorber structure. In a preferred embodiment, the system further contains an energy conversion and storage devices thermally-linked to the absorber by heat conduction, convection, far-field or near-field thermal radiation.
US09917217B2	Solar antenna array and its fabrication and uses A solar antenna array may comprise an array of randomly placed carbon nanotube antennas that may capture and convert sunlight into electrical power. Methods for constructing the solar antenna array may use a mold and self aligning processing steps to minimize cost. Designs may be optimized for capturing a broad spectrum of non-polarized light. Alternatively, the array may generate light, and when connected in to an array of independently controllable sections may operate as either a reflective or light transmitting display.
US09917216B2	Flexible kesterite photovoltaic device on ceramic substrate Kesterite-based photovoltaic devices formed on flexible ceramic substrates are provided. In one aspect, a method of forming a photovoltaic device includes the steps of: forming a back contact on a flexible ceramic substrate; forming a kesterite absorber layer on a side of the back contact opposite the flexible ceramic substrate; annealing the kesterite absorber layer; forming a buffer layer on a side of the kesterite absorber layer opposite the back contact; and forming a transparent front contact on a side of the buffer layer opposite the kesterite absorber layer. A roll-to-roll-based method of forming a photovoltaic device and a photovoltaic device are also provided.
US09917211B2	Flash memory cells having trenched storage elements An embodiment of the present invention is directed to a memory cell. The memory cell includes a first trench formed in a semiconductor substrate and a second trench formed in said semiconductor substrate adjacent to said first trench. The first trench and the second trench each define a first side wall and a second sidewall respectively. The memory cell further includes a first storage element formed on the first sidewall of the first trench and a second storage element formed on the second sidewall of the second trench.
US09917208B2	Thin film transistor and method for manufacturing the same, and array substrate A TFT, a method for manufacturing the TFT, and an array substrate are disclosed. In the TFT according to the present disclosure, the nano conductive points that are independent from one another are formed in a channel area of the active layer, so that the channel area of the active layer can be divided into a plurality of sub channels that are independent from one another, and an equivalent electric field strength thereof can be increased. The larger the equivalent electric field strength is, the higher the carrier mobility ratio would be, and the larger the saturation current of the TFT would become. Therefore, the TFT with a higher definition and a higher aperture ratio can be manufactured.
US09917206B2	Oxide semiconductor element and semiconductor device A semiconductor element having high mobility, which includes an oxide semiconductor layer having crystallinity, is provided. The oxide semiconductor layer includes a stacked-layer structure of a first oxide semiconductor film and a second oxide semiconductor film having a wider band gap than the first oxide semiconductor film, which is in contact with the first oxide semiconductor film. Thus, a channel region is formed in part of the first oxide semiconductor film (that is, in an oxide semiconductor film having a smaller band gap) which is in the vicinity of an interface with the second oxide semiconductor film. Further, dangling bonds in the first oxide semiconductor film and the second oxide semiconductor film are bonded to each other at the interface therebetween. Accordingly, a decrease in mobility resulting from an electron trap or the like due to dangling bonds can be reduced in the channel region.
US09917203B2	Thin film transistor, manufacturing method thereof, array substrate and display apparatus A thin film transistor, a manufacturing method thereof, an array substrate and a display apparatus are disclosed. The manufacturing method includes forming a gate electrode (2), a gate insulating layer (3), an active region (4), a source electrode (5) and a drain electrode (6) on a base substrate (1) with the active region being formed of ZnON material, and implanting the active region (4) with nitrogen ion while it being formed, so as to make the sub-threshold swing amplitude of the thin film transistor less than or equal to 0.5 mV/dec. The manufacturing method reduces the sub-threshold swing amplitude of the thin film transistor and improves the semiconductor characteristics of the thin film transistor.
US09917201B2	Semiconductor device It is an object to provide a transistor having a new multigate structure in which operating characteristics and reliability are improved. In a transistor having a multigate structure, which includes two gate electrodes electrically connected to each other and a semiconductor layer including two channel regions connected in series formed between a source region and a drain region, and a high concentration impurity region is formed between the two channel regions; the channel length of the channel region adjacent to the source region is longer than the channel length of the channel region adjacent to the drain region.
US09917194B2	Self-aligned silicon germanium FinFET with relaxed channel region A self-aligned SiGe FinFET device features a relaxed channel region having a high germanium concentration. Instead of first introducing germanium into the channel and then attempting to relax the resulting strained film, a relaxed channel is formed initially to accept the germanium. In this way, a presence of germanium can be established without straining or damaging the lattice. Gate structures are patterned relative to intrinsic silicon fins, to ensure that the gates are properly aligned, prior to introducing germanium into the fin lattice structure. After aligning the gate structures, the silicon fins are segmented to elastically relax the silicon lattice. Then, germanium is introduced into the relaxed silicon lattice, to produce a SiGe channel that is substantially stress-free and also defect-free. Using the method described, concentration of germanium achieved in a structurally stable film can be increased to a level greater than 85%.
US09917193B2	III-N semiconductor layer on Si substrate A method of growing III-N semiconducting material on a silicon substrate including the steps of growing a layer of epitaxial rare earth oxide on a single crystal silicon substrate and modifying the surface of the layer of epitaxial rare earth oxide with nitrogen plasma. The method further includes the steps of growing a layer of low temperature epitaxial gallium nitride on the modified surface of the layer of epitaxial rare earth oxide and growing a layer of bulk epitaxial III-N semiconductive material on the layer of low temperature epitaxial gallium nitride.
US09917191B2	Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture thereof Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture thereof are disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes providing a semiconductor wafer, forming a gate dielectric over the semiconductor wafer, and forming a gate over the gate dielectric. At least one recess is formed in the semiconductor wafer proximate the gate and the gate dielectric, at least a portion of the at least one recess extending beneath the gate. The at least one recess in the semiconductor wafer is filled with a semiconductive material.
US09917185B2	Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same A semiconductor device according to the present invention includes a semiconductor layer provided with a gate trench, a first conductivity type source region formed to be exposed on a surface side of the semiconductor layer, a second conductivity type channel region formed on a side of the source region closer to a back surface of the semiconductor layer to be in contact with the source region, a first conductivity type drain region formed on a side of the channel region closer to the back surface of the semiconductor layer to be in contact with the channel region, a gate insulating film formed on an inner surface of the gate trench, and a gate electrode embedded inside the gate insulating film in the gate trench, while the channel region includes a channel portion formed along the side surface of the gate trench so that a channel is formed in operation and a projection projecting from an end portion of the channel portion closer to the back surface of the semiconductor layer toward the back surface.
US09917180B2	Trenched and implanted bipolar junction transistor The present invention concerns a monolithically merged trenched-and-implanted Bipolar Junction Transistor (TI-BJT) with antiparallel diode and a method of manufacturing the same. Trenches are made in a collector, base, emitter stack downto the collector. The base electrode is formed on an implanted base contact region at the bottom surface of the trench. The present invention also provides for products produced by the methods of the present invention and for apparatuses used to perform the methods of the present invention.
US09917179B2	Stacked nanowire devices formed using lateral aspect ratio trapping A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprises depositing alternating layers of a plurality of first dielectric layers and a plurality of second dielectric layers on a substrate in a stacked configuration, forming one or more first openings in the stacked configuration to a depth penetrating below an upper surface of a bottom second dielectric layer of the plurality of second dielectric layers, forming one or more second openings in the stacked configuration to a depth corresponding to an upper surface of the substrate or below an upper surface of the substrate, removing the plurality of second dielectric layers from the stacked configuration to form a plurality of gaps, and epitaxially growing a semiconductor material from a seed layer in the one or more second openings to fill the one or more first and second openings and the plurality of gaps, wherein defects caused by a lattice mismatch between the epitaxially grown semiconductor material and a material of the substrate are contained at a bottom portion of the one or more second openings.
US09917177B2	Contact structure and extension formation for III-V nFET FinFET devices including III-V fin structures and silicon-based source/drain regions are formed on a semiconductor substrate. Silicon is diffused into the III-V fin structures to form n-type junctions. Leakage through the substrate is addressed by forming p-n junctions adjoining the source/drain regions and isolating the III-V fin structures under the channel regions.
US09917173B2	Oxidation and etching post metal gate CMP A method includes forming a dummy gate of a transistor at a surface of a wafer, removing the dummy gate, and filling a metallic material into a trench left by the removed dummy gate. A Chemical Mechanical Polish (CMP) is then performed on the metallic material, wherein a remaining portion of the metallic material forms a metal gate of the transistor. After the CMP, a treatment is performed on an exposed top surface of the metal gate using an oxidation-and-etching agent comprising chlorine and oxygen.
US09917170B2	Carbon based contact structure for silicon carbide device technical field A method of forming a contact structure includes providing a silicon-carbide substrate having a highly doped silicon-carbide contact region formed in the substrate and extending to a main surface of the substrate. A carbon-based contact region is formed which is in direct contact with the highly doped silicon-carbide contact region and which extends to the main surface. A conductor is formed on the carbon-based contact region such that the carbon-based contact region is interposed between the conductor and the highly doped silicon-carbide contact region. A thermal budget for forming the carbon-based contact region is maintained below a level that induces metal silicidization of the highly doped silicon-carbide contact region.
US09917165B2	Memory cell structure for improving erase speed A split-gate flash memory cell for improved erase speed is provided. An erase gate and a floating gate are laterally spaced over a semiconductor substrate. The floating gate has a height increasing towards the erase gate, a concave sidewall surface neighboring the erase gate, and a tip defined an interface of the concave sidewall surface and an upper surface of the floating gate. A control gate and a sidewall spacer are arranged over the upper surface of the floating gate. The control gate is laterally offset from the tip of the floating gate, and the sidewall spacer is laterally arranged between the control gate and the tip. A method for manufacturing the split-gate flash memory cell is also provided.
US09917164B1	Fabricating raised source drain contacts of a CMOS structure The invention relates to a method for forming a field effect transistor. The method comprises providing a substrate with a channel layer, forming a gate stack structure on the channel layer, forming first sidewall spacers, forming a raised source and a raised drain on the channel layer and forming second sidewall spacers above the raised source and the raised drain. The method further includes depositing in a an insulating dielectric layer above the gate stack structure, the first sidewall spacers and the second sidewall spacers, planarization of the insulating dielectric layer and selectively etching the second sidewall spacers. Thereby contact cavities are created on the raised source and the raised drain. The method further includes forming a source contact and a drain contact by filling the contact cavities. The invention also concerns a corresponding computer program product.
US09917162B2	Fabrication of vertical field effect transistor structure with controlled gate length A method of forming a gate structure, including forming one or more vertical fins on a substrate; forming a bottom spacer on the substrate surface adjacent to the one or more vertical fins; forming a gate structure on at least a portion of the sidewalls of the one or more vertical fins; forming a gauge layer on at least a portion of the bottom spacer, wherein the gauge layer covers at least a portion of the gate structure on the sidewalls of the one or more vertical fins; and removing a portion of the gauge layer on the bottom spacer.
US09917155B2	Superlattice materials and applications A superlattice cell that includes Group IV elements is repeated multiple times so as to form the superlattice. Each superlattice cell has multiple ordered atomic planes that are parallel to one another. At least two of the atomic planes in the superlattice cell have different chemical compositions. One or more of the atomic planes in the superlattice cell one or more components selected from the group consisting of carbon, tin, and lead. These superlattices make a variety of applications including, but not limited to, transistors, light sensors, and light sources.
US09917149B1	Diode and method of making the same A diode includes a second semiconductor layer over a first semiconductor layer. The diode further includes a third semiconductor layer over the second semiconductor layer, where the third semiconductor layer includes a first semiconductor element over the second semiconductor layer. The third semiconductor layer additionally includes a second semiconductor element over the second semiconductor layer, wherein the second semiconductor element surrounds the first semiconductor element. Further, the third semiconductor layer includes a third semiconductor element over the second semiconductor element. Furthermore, a hole concentration of the second semiconductor element is less than a hole concentration of the first semiconductor element.
US09917148B2	Self-limited, anisotropic wet etching of transverse vias in microfluidic chips The present invention is notably directed to a method of fabrication of a microfluidic chip (1), comprising: providing (S10-S20) a wafer (10, 12) of semiconductor material having a diamond cubic crystal structure, exhibiting two opposite main surfaces (S1, S2), one on each side of the wafer, and having, each, a normal in the <100> or <110> direction; and performing (S30) self-limited, anisotropic wet etching steps on each of the two main surfaces on each side of the wafer, to create a via (20, 20a) extending transversely through the thickness of the wafer, at a location such that the resulting via connects an in-plane microchannel (31) on a first one (S1) of the two main surfaces to a second one (S2) of the two main surfaces, the via exhibiting slanted sidewalls (20s) as a result of the self-limited wet etching. The invention further concerns microfluidic chips accordingly obtained.
US09917145B2	Light-emitting device and electronic apparatus A light-emitting device includes a drive transistor for controlling the quantity of current supplied to a light-emitting element, a capacitor element electrically connected to a gate electrode of the drive transistor, and an electrical continuity portion for electrically connecting the drive transistor and the light-emitting element, these elements being disposed on a substrate. The electrical continuity portion is disposed on the side opposite to the capacitor element with the drive transistor disposed therebetween.
US09917142B2	Organic light emitting display device An organic light emitting display device includes a plurality of pixels defined on a substrate. Each of the plurality of pixels has a plurality of sub-pixels, and each of the plurality of sub-pixels has a light emitting area and a driving area. Widths in a first direction of the driving areas of the plurality of sub-pixels are identical to each other. A size of a light emitting area of a first sub-pixel of the plurality of sub-pixels is greater than a size of a light emitting area of a second sub-pixel of the plurality of sub-pixels.
US09917141B2	Light-emitting device having singlet and triplet compounds There is provided a light emitting device which enables a color display with good color balance. A triplet compound is used for a light emitting layer of an EL element that emits red color, and a singlet compound is used for a light emitting layer of an EL element that emits green color and a light emitting layer of an EL element that emits blue color. Thus, an operation voltage of the EL element emitting red color may be made the same as the EL element emitting green color and the EL element emitting blue color. Accordingly, the color display with good color balance can be realized.
US09917137B1	Integrated magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) in back end of line (BEOL) interconnects A method is presented for forming a semiconductor structure. The method includes depositing a barrier layer, such as a tantalum nitride (TaN) layer, over a dielectric incorporating magnetic random access memory (MRAM) regions, forming magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stacks over portions of the TaN layer, patterning and encapsulating the MTJ stacks, forming spacers adjacent the MTJ stacks, and laterally etching sections of the TaN layer, after spacer formation, to form an electrode under the MTJ stacks. The electrode protects the MRAM regions. The electrode can be recessed from the spacers.
US09917135B2	Method of manufacturing solid-state image sensor A method of manufacturing a solid-state image sensor is provided. The method comprises: depositing a gate electrode film above the semiconductor layer; etching the gate electrode film to form a first gate electrode patterned in a pixel region, leaving the gate electrode film in a peripheral region; depositing a first insulating film above the semiconductor layer after the forming the first gate electrode; removing the first insulating film formed in the peripheral region; etching the gate electrode film left in the peripheral region to form a second gate electrode patterned in the peripheral region after the removing the first insulating film; forming a second insulating film above the semiconductor layer after the forming the second gate electrode; and forming a side wall on side surface of the second gate electrode by etching the second insulating film.
US09917131B2	Semiconductor device, solid-state imaging device and electronic apparatus A semiconductor device including a first semiconductor section including a first wiring layer at one side thereof, the first semiconductor section further including a photodiode, a second semiconductor section including a second wiring layer at one side thereof, the first and second semiconductor sections being secured together, a third semiconductor section including a third wiring layer at one side thereof, the second and the third semiconductor sections being secured together such the first semiconductor section, second semiconductor section, and the third semiconductor section are stacked together, and a first conductive material electrically connecting at least two of (i) the first wiring layer, (ii) the second wiring layer, and (iii) the third wiring layer such that the electrically connected wiring layers are in electrical communication.
US09917130B2	Image sensor with reduced optical path Among other things, one or more image sensors and techniques for forming image sensors are provided. An image sensor comprises a photodiode array configured to detect light. The image sensor comprises an oxide grid comprising a first oxide grid portion and a second oxide grid portion. A metal grid is formed between the first oxide grid portion and the second oxide grid portion. The oxide grid and the metal grid define a filler grid. The filler grid comprises a filler grid portion, such as a color filter, that allows light to propagate through the filler grid portion to an underlying photodiode. The oxide grid and the metal grid confine or channel the light within the filler grid portion. The oxide grid and the metal grid are formed such that the filler grid provides a relatively shorter propagation path for the light, which improves light detection performance of the image sensor.
US09917121B2	BSI image sensor and method of forming same A backside illumination (BSI) image sensor and a method of forming the same are provided. A method includes forming a plurality of photosensitive pixels in a substrate, the substrate having a first surface and a second surface, the second surface being opposite the first surface, the substrate having one or more active devices on the first surface. A first portion of the second surface is protected. A second portion of the second surface is patterned to form recesses in the substrate. An anti-reflective layer is formed on sidewalls of the recesses. A metal grid is formed over the second portion of the second surface, the anti-reflective layer being interposed between the substrate and the metal grid.
US09917120B2	Pixels with high dynamic range and a global shutter scanning mode A CMOS image sensor may have back-side illuminated pixels and operate in a global shutter scanning mode. The CMOS image sensor may be implemented using three-layer chip stacking. The chip to chip electrical connections between the upper chip and the middle chip may be formed via hybrid bonding. Two bonding pads may be included in each pixel. The electrical connections between the middle chip and the lower chip may be formed at the periphery of the array. Using three-layer chip stacking with hybrid bonding allows for the transferring and storing of signals from the upper chip on the middle chip. A signal from low light level illumination and a charge overflow signal from high light level illumination may both be transferred to the middle chip. The image sensor may be able to use a global shutter scanning mode having high dynamic range.
US09917118B2	Photodetector array and method of manufacture The present invention is directed to photodiode arrays comprising a dielectric structure containing an array of face conductive areas (pads) and. Each photodiode is fully separated from each other. Every photodiode has a face electrode formed on sensitive side of the semiconductor substrate and an individual back electrode formed on the opposite side. The number of conductive areas on the dielectric structure is equal to number of photodiodes in the array. The photodiodes of the array are installed on the conductive areas so that their back electrodes have electrical contact with the corresponding conductive area. Each conductive area contains at least one individual conductive hole penetrating the dielectric package from the face side to the opposite side of the dielectric structure. The conductive holes going to backside of the dielectric structure are connected with the back conductive areas formed on back side of dielectric package.
US09917113B2	Array substrate and method of mounting integrated circuit using the same An array substrate including a display area and a non-display area surrounding the display area. The non-display area includes a pad portion including one or more first pads that each have a parallelogram shape.
US09917108B2	Thin film transistor array panel and method of manufacturing the same A thin film transistor array panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes: an insulating substrate; a polycrystal semiconductor layer formed on the insulating substrate; a buffer layer formed below the polycrystal semiconductor layer and containing fluorine; a gate electrode overlapping the polycrystal semiconductor layer; a source electrode and a drain electrode overlapping the polycrystal semiconductor layer and separated from each other; and a pixel electrode electrically connected to the drain electrode.
US09917107B2	Metal wiring and method of manufacturing the same, and metal wiring substrate and method of manufacturing the same A metal wiring suitable for a substrate of large size is provided. The present invention is characterized in that at least one layer of conductive film is formed on an insulating surface, a resist pattern is formed on the conductive film, and the conductive film having the resist pattern is etched to form a metal wiring while controlling its taper angle α in accordance with the bias power density, the ICP power density, the temperature of lower electrode, the pressure, the total flow rate of etching gas, or the ratio of oxygen or chlorine in etching gas. The thus formed metal wiring has less fluctuation in width or length and can satisfactorily deal with an increase in size of substrate.
US09917106B2	Embedded security circuit formed by directed self-assembly Embedded security circuits formed by directed self-assembly and methods for creating the same are provided herein. An example integrated circuit includes a set of one or more fin field effect transistor devices unrelated to one or more security devices of the integrated circuit; and an embedded security circuit structure comprising an array of fin field effect transistor devices related to the one or more security devices of the integrated circuit, wherein the array comprises a combination of (i) one or more fin field effect transistor devices with unbroken fin channels and (ii) one or more fin field effect transistor devices with broken fin channels, and wherein the combination forms a distinct code to be associated with the integrated circuit.
US09917104B1	Hybrid MOS-PCM CMOS SOI switch A hybrid MOS-PCM IC switch utilizes both MOS transistors and groups of parallel-connected Phase-Change Material (PCM) cells to control signal transmissions. The MOS transistors are separated by PCM cell groups, and the PCM cells are configured to generate similar COFF or lower values as the MOS transistors, whereby the hybrid switch is both smaller and exhibits lower FOM than standard CMOS SOI switches. When switched into an open (OFF/high-resistance) state, both the PCM cells and MOS transistors function to distribute high VBSR voltages, and the MOS transistors prevent unintended phase changes (ON/OFF switching) of the PCM cells by preventing exponential current flow. In the closed (ON/conducting) state, the PCM cells facilitate lower total RON, whereby the hybrid CMOS SOI switch achieves improved FOM. The MOS transistors may also function as drivers during programming (switching) of direct-heating-type PCM cells.
US09917099B2	Semiconductor device having vertical channel between stacked electrode layers and insulating layers According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a substrate; a stacked body provided on the substrate, the stacked body including a plurality of electrode layers stacked with an insulator interposed; a semiconductor body provided in the stacked body; and an insulating film. The semiconductor body includes a channel portion extending in a stacking direction of the stacked body, and a lower end portion of the semiconductor body provided between the channel portion and the substrate. The insulating film includes a charge storage film provided between the stacked body and the semiconductor body. A lower end portion of the insulating film surrounds the lower end portion of the semiconductor body. An upper surface of the lower end portion of the insulating film is provided at a lower height than an upper surface of the lower end portion of the semiconductor body in the stacking direction.
US09917097B2	Method of manufacturing semiconductor device According to an embodiment, a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a layered body by alternately stacking a first film and a second film in a plurality of layers, and etching a portion of the layered body to penetrate the layered body from a top to a bottom to form a predetermined shape. The second film includes a first processing object film having a predetermined composition and a second processing object film having a composition that causes the second processing object film to be etched by the etching more easily than the first processing object film. The second processing object film is included as at least one of layers of the second film.
US09917095B2	Nonvolatile semiconductor storage device A nonvolatile semiconductor storage device having a control gate formed on a semiconductor substrate and including a cylindrical through hole. A block insulating film, a charge storage film, a tunnel insulating film, and a semiconductor layer are formed on a side surface of the control gate inside the through hole. The tunnel insulating film includes a first insulating film having SiO2 as a base material and containing an element that lowers a band gap of the base material by being added. A density and a density gradient of the element monotonously increase from the semiconductor layer toward the charge storage film.
US09917092B2	Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: forming an insulating film above a semiconductor substrate; forming a conductive film on the insulating film; forming a dielectric film on the conductive film; forming a plurality of upper electrodes at intervals on the dielectric film; forming a first protective insulating film on the upper electrodes and the dielectric film by a sputtering method; forming a second protective insulating film on the first protective insulating film by an atomic layer deposition method, thereby filling gaps of a grain boundary of the dielectric film with the second protective insulating film; and patterning the conductive film after the second protective insulating film is formed to provide a lower electrode.
US09917089B2	III-V semiconductor CMOS FinFET device A method for forming a semiconductor device comprises forming an insulator layer on a semiconductor substrate, removing portions of the insulator layer to form a first cavity and a second cavity, the first cavity exposing a first portion of the semiconductor substrate an the second cavity exposing a second portion of the semiconductor substrate, growing a first semiconductor material in the first cavity and the second cavity. Growing a second semiconductor material on the first semiconductor material in the first cavity and the second cavity, growing a third semiconductor material on the second semiconductor material in the first cavity and the second cavity. Forming a mask over the third semiconductor material in the first cavity, removing the third semiconductor material from the second cavity to expose the second semiconductor material in the second cavity, and growing a fourth semiconductor material on the second semiconductor material in the second cavity.
US09917088B2	FinFET contact structure and method for forming the same A device comprises a substrate comprising a first portion and a second portion separated by an isolation region, a first gate structure over the first portion, a first drain/source region and a second drain/source region in the first portion and on opposite sides of the first gate structure, wherein the first drain/source region and the second drain/source have concave surfaces, a second gate structure over the second portion and a third drain/source region and a fourth drain/source region in the second portion and on opposite sides of the second gate structure, wherein the third drain/source region and the fourth drain/source have the concave surfaces.
US09917086B2	FinFET transistor with fin back biasing A semiconductor device includes a substrate and a fin over the substrate. The fin includes a source region, a drain region, a channel region, and a biasing region. The channel region and the biasing region sandwich one of the source and drain regions. The FinFET further includes a gate over the substrate. The gate engages the fin adjacent to the channel region, thereby forming a field effect transistor (FET). The biasing region is configured to bias the FET when a voltage is applied across the biasing region and the source region.
US09917084B2	Semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same A semiconductor device includes a fin field effect transistor. The semiconductor device includes a first gate electrode, a first source/drain (S/D) region disposed adjacent to the first gate electrode, a first S/D contact disposed on the first S/D region, a first spacer layer disposed between the first gate electrode and the first S/D region, a first contact layer in contact with the first gate electrode and the first S/D contact, and a first wiring layer integrally formed with the first contact layer. There is no interface between the first contact layer and the first wiring layer in a cross sectional view, and the first contact layer has a smaller area than the first wiring layer in plan view.
US09917080B2	Semiconductor device with electrical overstress (EOS) protection A semiconductor device with electrical overstress (EOS) protection is disclosed. The semiconductor device includes a semi-insulating layer, a first contact disposed onto the semi-insulating layer, and a second contact disposed onto the semi-insulating layer. A passivation layer is disposed onto the semi-insulating layer. The passivation layer has a dielectric strength that is greater than that of the semi-insulating layer to ensure that a voltage breakdown occurs within the semi-insulating layer within a semi-insulating region between the first contact and the second contact before a voltage breakdown can occur in the passivation layer.
US09917079B2	Electrostatic discharge protection circuit and method for radio frequency circuit An ESD protection circuit for an RF circuit includes first and second power supply voltage terminals for first and second power supply voltages and a power clamp coupled between the terminals. An RF input pad is configured to receive an input signal having an RF operating frequency. A resonance circuit is coupled to the RF input pad. A first ESD current path from the RF input pad to the first power supply voltage terminal includes the resonance circuit and a first ESD block configured to direct an ESD pulse of a first polarity toward the first terminal. A second ESD current path from the RF input pad to the second power supply voltage terminal includes the resonance circuit and a second ESD block configured to direct an ESD pulse of a second polarity toward the second terminal.
US09917077B2	Display device A display device includes at least one semiconductor body, which has a semiconductor layer sequence, which has an active region provided for producing radiation and forms a plurality of pixels. The device also includes a driver circuit that has a plurality of switches, which are each provided for controlling at least one pixel. A first metallization layer and/or the second metallization layer are electroconductively connected to at least one of the pixels. The first metallization layer and the second metallization layer are arranged overlapping one another in such a manner that, in a plan view onto the display device, the driver circuit is covered with at least one of the metallization layers at every point which overlaps with one of the pixels or is arranged between two adjacent pixels.
US09917076B2	LED package An LED package having a plurality of light emitting regions includes a plurality of LED chips. The LED package further includes a plurality of electrode portions on which each of the plurality of LED chips is mounted, and a package mold portion having a plurality of openings formed on one surface thereof so as to each emit light by the plurality of LED chips.
US09917075B2	Light-emitting device and the method of manufacturing the same The present application discloses a light-emitting device including a first support structure having a first surface, a plurality of light-emitting elements arranged on the first surface, and a first adhesive layer arranged on the first support structure. Each light-emitting element has a side wall, a bottom surface, a first electrode pad, and a second electrode pad arranged on the bottom surface. The first adhesive layer surrounds the side wall and does not directly contact the bottom surface. The first support structure includes a plurality of through holes located on positions corresponding to the first electrode pad and the second electrode pad.
US09917069B2	Hybrid bonding system and cleaning method thereof A method of cleaning an apparatus for processing a semiconductor wafer includes providing a first device having a first surface configured to load a first semiconductor wafer, a second device having a second surface configured to load a second semiconductor wafer, and a first cleaning module; and cleaning the second surface by moving the first cleaning module across the second surface in a first direction with respect to the second device.
US09917060B1	Forming a contact for a semiconductor device A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes forming a gate stack on a semiconductor substrate, forming a source/drain region on an exposed portion of the substrate, and forming a semiconductor material layer on the source/drain region. A first liner layer is deposited on the semiconductor material layer, and a second liner layer is deposited on the first liner layer. A conductive contact material is deposited on the second liner layer.
US09917054B2	Semiconductor device including a fuse formed on a high thermal conductivity insulating film As means for preventing a leakage of a fuse element cut by laser trimming due to a conductive residue or the like, an insulating film which has a high thermal conductivity and a relatively low adhesion is formed between an element isolation region and the fuse element in the case of forming the fuse element on the element isolation region in a groove on a main surface of an epitaxial substrate. When the fuse element is cut by performing the laser trimming, both of a part of the fuse element and the insulating film below the part of the fuse element are removed.
US09917053B1	Semiconductor device A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer comprising an upper surface and a recess through the upper surface and including a lower part, an upper part, and a side surface, the side surface terminating at the upper surface at an upper edge, an insulating member in the lower part of the recess, an insulating film comprising a first portion on the upper edge of the recess, a second portion on the side surface of the recess in the upper part thereof, and a third portion on a portion of the semiconductor layer adjacent to the upper edge of the recess, and an electrode on the insulating member and the portion of the insulating film covering the upper edge of the recess. The first portion of the insulating film is thinner than thicknesses of each of the second and third portions thereof.
US09917050B2	Semiconductor device including source/drain contact having height below gate stack A semiconductor device includes a substrate having source and drain regions, and a channel region arranged between the source and drain regions. The device further includes a gate structure over the substrate and adjacent to the channel region. The gate structure includes a gate stack, a spacer on sidewalls of the gate stack, and a conductor over the gate stack. The device further includes a first contact feature over the substrate and electrically connecting to at least one of the source and drain regions. A top surface of the first contact feature is lower than a top surface of the gate structure. The device further includes a first dielectric layer over the first contact feature. A top surface of the first dielectric layer is below or substantially co-planar with the top surface of the gate structure. The conductor at most partially overlaps in plan view with the first dielectric layer.
US09917048B2	Interconnect structure and method of forming the same An interconnect structure and a method of forming an interconnect structure are disclosed. The interconnect structure includes a low-k (LK) dielectric layer over a substrate; a first conductive feature in the LK dielectric layer, wherein the first conductive feature has a first sidewall, a second sidewall facing the first sidewall, and a first bottom surface contacting the LK dielectric layer; a first dielectric feature along an upper portion of the first sidewall, wherein a length of the first dielectric feature is at least 10 percent less than a length of the first sidewall; and a second dielectric feature along an upper portion of the second sidewall. The interconnect structure may also include a second conductive feature adjacent to the first conductive feature in the LK dielectric layer.
US09917047B2	Wiring board A wiring board of the present disclosure includes a core substrate, insulating layers, signal wiring conductors, ground wiring conductors, power-supply wiring conductors, a first mounting portion on which a first semiconductor device is to be mounted, a second mounting portion on which a second semiconductor device is to be mounted, many first-semiconductor-device connection pads connectable to signal electrodes of the first semiconductor device, many second-semiconductor-device connection pads connectable to signal electrodes of the second semiconductor device, and many signal connection conductors that connect the first-semiconductor-device connection pads to the second-semiconductor-device connection pads. The signal connection conductors include signal connection conductors of a first wiring group that extend only through a region above the top surface of the core substrate, and signal connection conductors of a second wiring group that extend through a region below the bottom surface of the core substrate.
US09917041B1	3D chip assemblies using stacked leadframes A stacked-chip assembly including a plurality of IC chips or die that are stacked, and a plurality of stacked leads. Leads from separate leadframes may be bonded together so as to tie corresponding metal features of the various chips to a same ground, signal, or power rail. Each leadframe may include a center paddle, which is disposed between two chips in the stack. The center paddle may function as one or more of a thermal conduit and common electrical rail (e.g., ground). The leadframes may be employed without the use of any bond wires with leads bonded directly to bond pads of the chips. A first IC chip may be mounted to a base leadframe and subsequent die-attach leadframes and IC chips are stacked upon the first IC chip and base leadframe. The die-attach leadframes may be iteratively bonded to an underlying leadframe and the bonded stacked leads stamped out of their respective leadframe sheets.
US09917040B1	Stress relieved thermal base for integrated circuit packaging A package is formed by a thermal base and a leadframe assembly. The thermal base includes a body of thermally conductive material having a top surface, wherein the top surface of the body includes a pedestal. An integrated circuit chip is mounted to the pedestal, the integrated circuit chip including bonding pads. The leadframe assembly includes leads and an encapsulant ring that partially embeds the leads. The leadframe assembly is mounted to the top surface of said body surrounding the pedestal. The pedestal is configured with a thickness that positions the bonding pad at a height substantially coplanar with the leads. Bonding wires extend from the bonding pads to the leads with a shortened length so as to provide for improved electrical characteristics of frequency response, impedance and inductance.
US09917039B2	Method of forming a semiconductor package with conductive interconnect frame and structure A method of forming a packaged semiconductor device includes providing a conductive frame structure. The conductive frame structure includes a first frame having leadfingers configured for directly attaching to a semiconductor device, such as an integrated power semiconductor device that includes both power devices and logic type devices. The leadfingers are further configured to provide high current capacity and a high thermal dissipation capacity for the power device portion of the semiconductor device. In one embodiment, the conductive frame structure further includes a second frame joined to the first frame. The second frame includes a plurality of leads configured to electrically connect to low power device portions of the semiconductor device. A package body is formed to encapsulate the semiconductor device and at least portions of the leadfingers and leads.
US09917034B2	Method and apparatus for cooling a semiconductor device A method and an apparatus for cooling a semiconductor device. The method comprises the steps of contacting a surface of the semiconductor device with respective end portions of an array of contact elements thermally coupled to a cooling fluid, and disposing a flexible, heat conductive sheet between the respective end portions of the contact elements and the surface of the semiconductor device for transferring heat generated in the semiconductor device to the cooling fluid via the sheet and the contact elements.
US09917029B2	Heat dissipater for main heat generating device with peripheral heat generating devices Embodiments of the present invention provide a heat dissipater and relate to the communications field. The heat dissipater includes a sub heat dissipater, a connecting apparatus, and a shared bracket; the sub heat dissipater is connected to the shared bracket through the connecting apparatus; the sub heat dissipater includes a first heat conducting surface, and the sub heat dissipater contacts a first heat source through the first heat conducting surface to dissipate heat for the first heat source; the shared bracket includes a second heat conducting surface, and the shared bracket contacts a second heat source through the second heat conducting surface to dissipate heat for the second heat source; and the second heat conducting surface and the sub heat dissipater are disposed in different positions of the shared bracket respectively.
US09917025B2	Printed wiring board and method for manufacturing printed wiring board A printed wiring board includes a first circuit board having a first surface and a second surface, and a second circuit board having a third surface and a fourth surface and having a mounting area on the third surface of the second circuit board. The first circuit board is laminated on the third surface of the second circuit board such that the first surface of the first circuit board is in contact with the third surface of the second circuit board, the first circuit board includes reinforcing material and has an opening portion exposing the mounting area of the second circuit board, and the first circuit board and the second circuit board are formed such that a ratio H1/h1 is in a range that is greater than 0.75 and smaller than 2.4, where H1 represents a thickness of the first circuit board and h1 represents a thickness of the second circuit board.
US09917024B2	Electronic component and method for electrically coupling a semiconductor die to a contact pad In an embodiment, an electronic component includes a dielectric core layer, one or semiconductor dies comprising a first major surface, a first electrode arranged on the first major surface and a second major surface that opposes the first major surface. One or more slots are arranged within the dielectric core layer adjacent the semiconductor die and a redistribution structure electrically couples the first electrode to a component contact pad arranged adjacent the second major surface of the semiconductor die. The semiconductor die is embedded in the dielectric core layer and a portion of the redistribution structure is arranged on side walls of the slot.
US09917021B2	Porous silicon relaxation medium for dislocation free CMOS devices A method for forming CMOS devices includes masking a first portion of a tensile-strained silicon layer of a SOI substrate, doping a second portion of the layer outside the first portion and growing an undoped silicon layer on the doped portion and the first portion. The undoped silicon layer becomes tensile-strained. Strain in the undoped silicon layer over the doped portion is relaxed by converting the doped portion to a porous silicon to form a relaxed silicon layer. The porous silicon is converted to an oxide. A SiGe layer is grown and oxidized to convert the relaxed silicon layer to a compressed SiGe layer. Fins are etched in the first portion from the tensile-strained silicon layer and the undoped silicon layer and in the second portion from the compressed SiGe layer.
US09917020B2	Methods for fabricating an integrated circuit having vertically overlapping short and long channel FinFETs An analog integrated circuit is disclosed in which short channel transistors are stacked on top of long channel transistors, vertically separated by an insulating layer. With such a design, it is possible to produce a high density, high power, and high performance analog integrated circuit chip including both short and long channel devices that are spaced far enough apart from one another to avoid crosstalk. In one embodiment, the transistors are FinFETs and the long channel devices are multi-gate FinFETs. In one embodiment, single and dual damascene devices are combined in a multi-layer integrated circuit cell. The cell may contain various combinations and configurations of the short and long-channel devices. A high density cell can be made by simply shrinking the dimensions of the cells and replicating two or more cells in the same size footprint as the original cell.
US09917018B2	Method and apparatus with channel stop doped devices Methods and apparatuses relate to implanting a surface of a semiconductor substrate with dopants, making undoped semiconductor material directly on the surface implanted with the dopants, and making a transistor with a transistor channel in the undoped semiconductor material, such that the transistor channel of the transistor remains undoped throughout manufacture of the integrated circuit.
US09917015B2	Dual channel material for finFET for high performance CMOS Silicon fins are formed in a bulk silicon substrate and thereafter trench isolation regions are formed between each silicon fin. The silicon fins in nFET and pFET device regions are then recessed. A relaxed silicon germanium alloy fin portion is formed on a topmost surface of each recessed silicon fin portion or on exposed surface of the substrate. A compressively strained silicon germanium alloy fin portion is formed on each relaxed silicon germanium alloy fin portion within the pFET device region, and a strained silicon-containing fin portion is formed on each relaxed silicon germanium alloy fin portion within the nFET device region. Sidewall surfaces of each compressively strained silicon-containing germanium alloy fin portion and each tensile strained silicon-containing fin portion are then exposed. A functional gate structure is provided on the exposed sidewall surfaces of each compressively strained silicon-containing germanium alloy fin portion and each tensile strained silicon-containing fin portion.
US09917014B2	Vertical air gap subtractive etch back end metal After forming source/drain contact structures within an interlevel dielectric (ILD) layer to contact source/drain regions of a field effect transistor (FET), the ILD layer is recessed to expose upper portions of the source/drain contact structures. A sacrificial layer is then formed on a remaining portion of the ILD layer to laterally surround the upper portions of the source/drain contact structures. An interconnect conductor portion is subsequently formed to contact the source/drain contact structures by subtractive patterning of a metal layer that is formed on the sacrificial layer. Next, the sacrificial layer is removed, leaving a void between the interconnect conductor portion and the remaining portion of the ILD layer. An interconnect liner layer is then formed on a top surface and sidewalls of the interconnect conductor portion and on the remaining portion of the ILD layer. The interconnect liner layer encloses an air gap surrounding the upper portions of the source/drain contact structures.
US09917012B2	Dicing method for wafer-level packaging and semiconductor chip with dicing structure adapted for wafer-level packaging A semiconductor substrate (1) is provided with integrated circuits. Dicing trenches (7) are formed in the substrate (1) between the integrated circuits, a polyimide layer (8) spanning the trenches (7) is applied above the integrated circuits, a tape layer (14) is applied above the polyimide layer (8), and a layer portion of the substrate (1) is removed from the substrate side (17) opposite the tape layer (14), until the trenches (7) are opened and dicing of the substrate (1) is thus effected. The polyimide layer (8) is severed in sections (18) above the trenches (7) when the tape layer (14) is removed. The semiconductor chip is provided with a cover layer (11) laterally confining the polyimide layer (8) near the trenches (7), in particular for forming breaking delimitations (9).
US09917009B2	Methods of forming a through-substrate-via (TSV) and a metallization layer after formation of a semiconductor device One illustrative method disclosed includes, among other things, forming a semiconductor device above a semiconducting substrate, forming a device level contact to the semiconductor device and, after forming the device level contact, performing at least one common process operation so as to form a through-substrate-via (TSV) in a trench in the substrate, a TSV contact structure that is conductively coupled to the TSV and a conductive metallization element that is conductively coupled to the device level contact.
US09917008B2	High speed, high density, low power die interconnect system A system for interconnecting at least two die each die having a plurality of conducting layers and dielectric layers disposed upon a substrate which may include active and passive elements. In one embodiment there is at least one interconnect coupling at least one conducting layer on a side of one die to at least one conducting layer on a side of the other die. Another interconnect embodiment is a slug having conducting and dielectric layers disposed between two or more die to interconnect between the die. Other interconnect techniques include direct coupling such as rod, ball, dual balls, bar, cylinder, bump, slug, and carbon nanotube, as well as indirect coupling such as inductive coupling, capacitive coupling, and wireless communications. The die may have features to facilitate placement of the interconnects such as dogleg cuts, grooves, notches, enlarged contact pads, tapered side edges and stepped vias.
US09917007B2	Method of forming opening pattern A method of forming an opening pattern including the following steps is provided. An ultra low dielectric constant layer, a dielectric hard mask layer and a patterned metal hard mask layer are sequentially formed on a substrate. A portion of the dielectric hard mask layer is removed to form a patterned dielectric hard mask layer by using the patterned metal hard mask layer as a mask. The patterned metal hard mask layer is removed after forming the patterned dielectric hard mask layer. A portion of the ultra low dielectric constant layer is removed to form a first opening by using the patterned dielectric hard mask layer as a mask.
US09917006B1	Method of planarizating film A method includes forming a patterned layer on a substrate having a first region and a second region being adjacent each other. The patterned layer includes first features in the first region. The second region is free of the patterned layer. The method further includes forming a material layer on the patterned layer and the substrate; forming a first guard ring disposed in the second region and surrounding the first features; forming a flowable-material (FM) layer over the material layer; forming a patterned resist layer over the FM layer, wherein the patterned resist layer includes a plurality of openings; and transferring the plurality of openings to the material layer.
US09917003B2	Trench liner passivation for dark current improvement A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate and a trench isolation. The trench isolation is located in the semiconductor substrate, and includes a bottom portion and a top portion. The bottom portion has a lining oxide layer, a negatively-charged liner and a first silicon oxide. The lining oxide layer is peripherally enclosed by the semiconductor substrate, the negatively-charged liner is peripherally enclosed by the lining oxide layer, and the first silicon oxide is peripherally enclosed by the negatively-charged liner. The top portion adjoins the bottom portion, and has a second silicon oxide peripherally enclosed by and contacting the semiconductor substrate.
US09917000B2	Wafer carrier, method for manufacturing the same and method for carrying a wafer A wafer carrier comprises a first foil, a second foil, and a chamber between the first and the second foil. The first foil has a perforation and is used for carrying the wafer. The first and the second foil are connected to each other so as to form the chamber. The chamber is configured to be evacuated to form a vacuum in the chamber, the vacuum causes an underpressure at the perforation, the underpressure forms a carrying force to the wafer to be carried.
US09916998B2	Substrate support assembly having a plasma resistant protective layer A substrate support assembly comprises a ceramic body and a thermally conductive base bonded to a lower surface of the ceramic body. The substrate support assembly further comprises a protective layer covering an upper surface of the ceramic body, wherein the protective layer comprises at least one of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) or a ceramic compound comprising Y4Al2O9 and a solid-solution of Y2O3—ZrO2.
US09916996B2	Vapor phase growth method of growing a film on a substrate while heating the substrate with a heating unit A vapor phase growth method of growing a film on a substrate by supplying material gases to the substrate while heating the substrate with a heating unit according to an embodiment, the method includes: measuring a temperature of the substrate with a radiation thermometer; executing a temperature feedback control to control an output of the heating unit to cause a measurement value of the radiation thermometer to have a set value when a film is not grown on the substrate; and executing a constant output control to maintain an output of the heating unit constant when a film causing thin-film interference in a wavelength measured by the radiation thermometer is grown on the substrate.
US09916995B2	Compact substrate processing tool with multi-station processing and pre-processing and/or post-processing stations A substrate processing tool includes N substrate processing stations arranged in a first transfer plane around a central cavity, where N is an integer greater than one. At least one of the N substrate processing stations is configured to process the substrate. M substrate processing stations are arranged in a second transfer plane around the central cavity, where M is an integer greater than one. The second transfer plane is arranged parallel to and above the first transfer plane. An upper tool portion includes the M substrate processing stations and a first portion of the N substrate processing stations. A rotatable lower tool portion rotates relative to the upper tool portion. A second portion of the N substrate processing stations rotates with the rotatable lower tool portion.
US09916993B2	Ion injector and lens system for ion beam milling The embodiments herein relate to methods and apparatus for performing ion etching on a semiconductor substrate, as well as methods for forming such apparatus. In some embodiments, an electrode assembly may be fabricated, the electrode assembly including a plurality of electrodes having different purposes, with each electrode secured to the next in a mechanically stable manner. Apertures may be formed in each electrode after the electrodes are secured together, thereby ensuring that the apertures are well-aligned between neighboring electrodes. In some cases, the electrodes are made from degeneratively doped silicon, and the electrode assembly is secured together through electrostatic bonding. Other electrode materials and methods of securing may also be used. The electrode assembly may include a hollow cathode emitter electrode in some cases, which may have a frustoconical or other non-cylindrical aperture shape. A chamber liner and/or reflector may also be present in some cases.
US09916990B2	Packaging substrate having a holder, method of fabricating the packaging substrate, package structure having a holder, and method of fabricating the package structure A packaging substrate includes a holder, a first conductive pad disposed on the holder, a core layer disposed on the holder, a circuit layer disposed on the core layer, a plurality of conductive vias disposed in the core layer, and an insulating protection layer disposed on the core layer, wherein the first electrical pad is embedded in the core layer. By combining the holder on one side of the packaging substrate, cracks due to over-thinness can be prevented during transferring or packaging. A method of fabricating the packaging substrate, a package structure having a holder, a method of fabricating the package structure are also provided.
US09916986B2	Single or mutli block mask management for spacer height and defect reduction for BEOL Aspects of the disclosure include method of making semiconductor structures. Aspects include providing a semiconductor structure including a plurality of spacer, an organic planarization layer, and a SiARC layer. Aspects also include forming an inverted mask on the semiconductor structure, the inverted mask including an inverted mask opening above a portion of the plurality of spacers and a portion of the TiN layer. Aspects also include eroding the portion of the plurality of spacers below the inverted mask opening. Aspects also include depositing a fill material masking the portion of the plurality of spacers below the inverted mask opening and the portion of the TiN layer below the inverted mask opening to generate a masked TiN layer segment and an unmasked TiN layer segment and removing a portion of the unmasked TiN layer segment.
US09916984B2	Self-aligned source and drain regions for semiconductor devices A method for forming a semiconductor device includes patterning a gate conductor, formed on a substrate, and a two-dimensional material formed on the gate conductor. Recesses are formed adjacent to the gate conductor in the substrate, and a doped layer is deposited in the recesses and over a top of the two-dimensional material. Tape is adhered to the doped layer on top of the two-dimensional material. The tape is removed to exfoliate the doped layer from the top of the two-dimensional material to form source and drain regions in the recesses.
US09916979B2	Methods for manufacturing a semiconductor device Methods for manufacturing a semiconductor device include forming a gate line extending in a first direction in a substrate, and an impurity region on a side surface of the gate line, forming an insulating film pattern on the substrate, the insulating film pattern extending in the first direction and comprising a first through-hole that is configured to expose the impurity region, forming a barrier metal layer on the first through-hole, forming a conductive line contact that fills the first through-hole and that is electrically connected to the impurity region, forming a first mask pattern on the conductive line contact and the insulating film pattern, the first mask pattern extending in a second direction that is different from the first direction and the first mask pattern comprising a first opening, and removing corners of the barrier metal layer by partially etching the barrier metal layer.
US09916975B2	Precursors of manganese and manganese-based compounds for copper diffusion barrier layers and methods of use Semiconductor devices and methods of making semiconductor devices with a barrier layer comprising manganese nitride are described. Also described are semiconductor devices and methods of making same with a barrier layer comprising Mn(N) and, optionally, an adhesion layer.
US09916974B2	Amino-silyl amine compound and the manufacturing method of dielectric film containing Si—N bond by using atomic layer deposition Provided are a novel amino-silyl amine compound and a manufacturing method of a dielectric film containing Si—N bond using the same. Since the amino-silyl amine compound according to the present invention, which is a thermally stable and highly volatile compound, may be treated at room temperature and used as a liquid state compound at room temperature and pressure, the present invention provides a manufacturing method of a high purity dielectric film containing a Si—N bond even at a low temperature and plasma condition by using atomic layer deposition (PEALD).
US09916971B2	Systems and methods of suppressing unwanted ions Certain embodiments described herein are directed to systems including a cell downstream of a mass analyzer. In some instances, the cell is configured as a reaction cell, a collision cell or a reaction/collision cell. The system can be used to suppress unwanted ions and/or remove interfering ions from a stream comprising a plurality of ions.
US09916968B1	In-source collision-induced heating and activation of gas-phase ions for spectrometry An electrode assembly is provided in a high sub-atmospheric pressure region of an ion source, between an ionization chamber and a vacuum region of a spectrometer, such as a mass spectrometer, an ion mobility spectrometer, or an ion mobility-mass spectrometer. The electrode assembly is spaced at a distance from an outlet of an ion transfer device. A voltage source imparts a potential difference between the ion transfer device and the electrode assembly to accelerate ions emitted from the outlet to a collision energy. The collision energy is effective to cause collisional heating of ions in the high sub-atmospheric pressure region without voltage breakdown. The collision energy may be set to cause unfolding of folded biomolecular ions and/or dissociation of ions.
US09916963B2	Specimen loading method, specimen stage, and charged particle beam device A specimen loading method for loading a specimen that contains water into a specimen chamber of a charged particle beam device, includes: a step (S100) of mounting the specimen on a specimen support; a step (S102) of covering a predetermined area of the specimen with a water retention material; a step (S104) of evacuating the specimen chamber in which the specimen having the predetermined area covered with the water retention material is placed; and a step (S106) of exposing the predetermined area covered with the water retention material.
US09916961B2	X-ray tube having magnetic quadrupoles for focusing and steering An X-ray tube comprising: a cathode including an emitter; an anode; a first magnetic quadrupole formed on a first yoke and having a magnetic quadrupole gradient for focusing an electron beam in a first direction and defocusing the beam in a second direction; a second magnetic quadrupole formed on a second yoke and having a magnetic quadrupole gradient for focusing the electron beam in the second direction and defocusing the electron beam in the first direction; wherein a combination of the first and second magnetic quadrupoles provides a net focusing effect in both first and second directions of a focal spot of the electron beam; and a pair of opposing quadrupole electromagnetic coils having alternating current offset being configured to deflect the electron beam in order to shift the focal spot of the electron beam on a target.
US09916957B2	Apparatuses, systems, and methods for ion traps Apparatuses, systems, and methods for ion traps are described herein. One apparatus includes a number of microwave (MW) rails and a number of radio frequency (RF) rails formed with substantially parallel longitudinal axes and with substantially coplanar upper surfaces. The apparatus includes two sequences of direct current (DC) electrodes with each sequence formed to extend substantially parallel to the substantially parallel longitudinal axes of the MW rails and the RF rails. The apparatus further includes a number of through-silicon vias (TSVs) formed through a substrate of the ion trap and a trench capacitor formed in the substrate around at least one TSV.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10